#Myanmar’s Got Talent Live

[topvpnreviews4]

Top VPN Keys for Myanmar: A Comprehensive Guide

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[thinktosee]

THE BOOK OF NOBODY

Oftentimes, in fact, too often it seems, the mass media makes a splash about Somebody – from the photogenic rich, like Tesla/Twitter’s Elon Musk to the Ambani brothers of India. From the famous too, like Hannah Montana, oops, I mean the beautiful and talented Miley Cyrus to the controversially-independent Prince Harry. Countless essays and books are written and published about these personalities, in various industries stretching from sports, entertainment, business and politics. The reader is really spoilt for choice or to put it another way, we are pummeled with this unceasing artillery barrage of (inane?) news reports about the rich and famous. it’s no doubt gratifying to read of these personalities and their goings-on.

Now, what if the media pays more attention to the nobodies also? Say perhaps about our average Joe or Ah Soon or Wati or Raj?  Oh wait. The media does that already, when said person is arrested/convicted for an alleged crime, or worse, he/she is reported to be involved in an unfortunate mishap. I guess that’s how much real interest the media has in us, the ordinary folks. We make the news only as a sidebar and generally not about something we welcome. But hey! That’s life. The rich and famous get into the news for all the right reasons while we, for the wrong ones. Ok. I admit the rich and famous have something which we are informed time and again, we do not have. It is some, you know, government’s favourite word – talent. And this coming from folks who have been on state welfare/public purse most of their adult lives. And yet, we the ordinaries are informed by them, daily it seems, to upskill, as if we like totally lack talent. Gee. And why can’t we have high paying welfare jobs instead like theirs?  

Let’s get back to the rich, talented and famous shall we? What if the media really does its job? Report news, neither manufactured nor embellished in the newsroom. What this means is the ordinaries like us will get an even chance to make our life’s story known to the public. I think in the West, they are calling this equity? Now I don’t want to take anything away from Miley Cyrus or Kanye or Ye or whatever he calls himself now, I seem to have lost track. They do have enormous talent and chutzpah in their own, individualized way. And admittedly, I am also very partial, especially to Miley and her latest hit song, Flowers, which I think is just so enjoyable to listen to.  But let’s face it folks – the guy helping to construct our new HDB apartments has an interesting story to tell too. He likely came over here to work under very trying circumstances. Village life in India, Bangladesh or China is not quite self-sustaining. Jobs are few and far in-between and mostly slave wages. So he borrows from the village money lender, at exorbitant rates no doubt, to fulfil a pressing need – to earn a decent wage. Turns out he ends up in Singapore as a construction specialist, on a not-so-decent wage. But what choice has he got? He can’t change jobs midway as he’s on a contract and besides, he has to keep paying that interest and principal on the loan he took. In the meantime, he continues to repatriate what he can from his meagre salary to his growing family back home. Does he miss and pine for them? You betcha! Does our Filipino/Indonesian/Myanmar/Indian domestic helper have similar circumstances? Ditto! And yet, the media doesn’t want to talk about them or the ordinaries. They prefer us to read about people in glass towers rather than about folks whom we can really relate to, like the ones in dormitories or about aunties and uncles cleaning our parks and public toilets. These souls have a story to tell too. It may not be a bestseller like a Hillary Clinton or Prince Harry’s autobio, but hey, that does not mean it isn’t captivating. Theirs is a gargantuan human story! And what’s more, these folks are not on the public purse or permanent welfare! How do they do it? Isn’t it time we found out….in the news? I look forward to reading The Book of Nobody, if and when it is published.

[ammaralbraamisblog]

ID:114577

Date: 15, February 2021

Topic: World regions news summaries for tumbler:

Asia:

Malaysia

Thailand

Myanmar

Communities News Summaries:

- salalah

- Sadh

Important news and sport news and Business :

Thailand:

Min:He took 124 positive tests in the wet Pathum Thani

During testing more than 800 people were tested at the Pornpat Market, which will be closed until the Covid virus is brought under control

Sport:Osaka, Williams escaped from the fear pushing him to the last eight at the Australian Open

Beisness:NYSE flipflops, a company which is China Telecom will be delisted.

Malaysia:

Min:French hospitals to move into crisis mode from Thursday, says newspaper.

Sports: The wolves are fighting once again to deepen the King Southampton.

Beisness:Ringgit expected to trade higher versus greenback next week.

Myanmar :

Min:Japanese beer giant Kirin pulls out of Myanmar

Sport:Former UK snooker champion Doug Mountjoy dies aged 78.

Beisness:Experts ruled out that the Myanmar military coup would benefit the country's struggling economy, which was considered a promising "last line of defense".

Sources:

MyanmarTimes

MalayMail

Bangkok Post

State news :

State salalah:

This evening, in the Omani city

of Salalah, the works of the Gulf Forum for Plastic Arts, organized by the Omani Society for Plastic Arts in the Governorate of Dhofar, were concluded with the participation of 35 plastic artists from the countries of the Cooperation Council for the Arab Gulf States, including two from the State of Qatar, the artist Hassan Al-Mulla and the artist Hessa both.

The Gulf Forum for Plastic Arts, which lasted for four days, sought to extend bridges of communication, acquaintance and experiences among Gulf artists, in addition to refining artistic talents in the field of plastic arts by making paintings according to various artistic styles.

The activities of the forum, which was held under the slogan “Art brings us together,” included the organization of a competition for institutions of higher education in the Governorate of Dhofar in the field of plastic arts in addition to training workshops and a dialogue session that included a number of axes, including the reality of plastic art in the countries of the Cooperation Council for the Arab Gulf States and the most important challenges facing The plastic artist, in addition to the future vision of plastic art in the region, in addition to visiting a number of tourist places.

State sadh:

The Omani coasts of Dhofar

“Maria heliots” is the scientific name for the Omani abalone mollusks known locally as Abalone, and it is a mollusk that lives attached to the lower surfaces of marine rocks, inside an elliptical shell, and the surface is rough on the outside, with a row of holes on its sides It helps him to breathe, and he is nocturnal, as his movement is active in the dark and decreases during the day, and he remains hidden in burrows, rocks and rock crevices, so that it is not an easy pick for predators, and feeds on algae and seaweeds, according to what Dr. In Dhofar Governorate,Following up on Al-Araby Al-Jadeed: “Al-Ableh is one of the components of the rare marine wealth that the state of Sadah abounds in, and which is unique to the Sultanate of Oman without other Arab countries.

Sources:

I got the news on social media.

Listen to sport and business nwes by ammar al

https://soundcloud.app.goo.gl/E1XN8

[besttourismdeals-blog]

How To Find The Finest Places To Visit In India?

A place where there is stunning decent variety, India Travel fills all the faculties with amazement. From its old legacy and customs to its eminent design and staggering scenes, the nation offers something for each sort of voyager. Here are probably the best goals to design an occasion in 2018.

Kasauli A Place Tha Has Romance In Its Air

Kasauli is one of the most peaceful and lovely goals of Himachal Pradesh in the Solan Valley. Monitored by the snow-topped mountains, blossoming streams, splendid greeneries, knolls and canvassed in the cover of thick timber wood timberlands, the goal has got everything. The antique old amazing Victorian houses standing erect in the bumpy surroundings under the quiet condition give the goal an appealing delight as though plunged directly from paradise. And all the words I am having right now for its depiction is a direct result of my ongoing outing to Kasauli Tourism in the most recent end of the week. It was enchanted to such an extent that during the whole excursion it kept me suffocating in its excellence. Entertain yourself with the beautiful

Rajasthan A Place Of Culture, Fairs & Festivals

From fantasy castles and epic strongholds to brilliant celebrations and natural life experiences, Rajasthan, the Land of the Kings, is India at its dynamic best. Various strongholds and castles, including Jaisalmer's fantasy dessert station, Amber's nectar tinted fortress royal residence and Jodhpur's forcing Mehrangarh can be seen all through the state. Staggering crafted works and expressive arts were created and supported through support by the maharajas. Numerous vivid celebrations, from pompously enriched mounts at the camel and elephant celebrations in Pushkar and Jaipur, individually, to the rainbow blasts of Diwali and Holi, are praised over the district.

Get Visited Mesmerizing Karnataka

A staggering prologue to southern India, Karnataka is a prosperous, convincing state stacked with a triumphant mix of urban cool, sparkling royal residences, national parks, antiquated remnants, seashores, yoga focuses and unbelievable hang-outs. At its operational hub is the capital Bengaluru (Bangalore), a dynamic city renowned for its specialty lager and eatery scene. Taking off of town you'll experience the evergreen moving slopes of Kodagu, specked with flavor and espresso ranches, the grand quality of Mysuru (Mysore), and wildernesses abounding with monkeys, tigers and Asia's greatest populace of elephants. Head to the counter-social enclave of serene Hampi with loungers, hallucinogenic nightfalls and stone were strewn ruins or the happy, for all intents and purposes immaculate coastline around Gokarna, favored with excellent inlets and void sands.

The Appealing Himachal Pradesh

With fabulous cold pinnacles and plunging waterway valleys, lovely Himachal is India's open-air experience play area. From trekking and moving to the boat, paragliding, and skiing, it very well may be done here. Tangled geology of interlocking mountain chains likewise makes Himachal an awesome spot basically to investigate, by transport, vehicle, motorbike, jeep or foot. Towns roosted on stunning inclines captivate with fantasy design and their kin's agreeable warmth. Slope stations bid with an occasion air and frontier echoes, while explorer magnets draw with their delighted out vibe and mountain excellence. Such is the wealth of the Himachali jigsaw that in McLeod Ganj, the Dalai Lama's home-away-from-home, and in Lahaul and Spiti, with their hundreds of years old Buddhist societies, you may even think you've unearthed Tibet.

A Place Of God Kerala

For some voyagers, Kerala is South India's most peacefully delightful state. A thin waterfront strip is formed by its layered scene: practically 600km of wonderful Arabian Sea coast and seashores; a slow system of sparkling backwaters; and the flavor and tea-secured slopes of the Western Ghats. Simply going to this swath of soul-extinguishing, palm-concealed green will ease back your subcontinental walk to a pleasured out to wander. Kerala is a world away from the free for all of somewhere else, as though India had gone through the Looking Glass and turn into an out and out increasingly laid-back spot.

A Captivating Kashmir and Ladakh

The territory of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) unites three unimaginably various universes. Jammu and Katra, in the south, are the state's rail center points and a significant draw for residential explorers. Kashmir is India's Switzerland, drawing in swarms of nearby voyagers looking for cool summer air, elevated view and Srinagar's sentimental houseboat settlement. And afterward, there's the Himalayan place where there is Ladakh, which for most outsiders is the state's most noteworthy fascination. their immortal cloisters are set between parched gulches and taking off pinnacles, while emerald-green towns settle photogenically in good country deserts.

Get Visited The Attractive Uttar Pradesh

There are not many states more quintessentially Indian than Uttar Pradesh. The subcontinent's noteworthy and strict roots – Hindu, Buddhist, Islamic and common – interweave right now holy waterways and immense fields, showing insights vital. Beside famous Agra, UP is home to Varanasi, India's holiest city, acclaimed for its incineration ghats and lively services along the Ganges River. Stories disclose to us that Krishna was conceived in Mathura, while Rama was conceived in Ayodhya. Buddha gave his first message in Sarnath and passed on in Kushinagar, presently peaceful journey goals. Also, the Mughals and the Nawabs made their imprints too, abandoning structural and gastronomic artful culminations – especially in Lucknow (and obviously Agra).

Get Visited Madhya Pradesh

The spotlight doesn't hit Madhya Pradesh (MP) with a remarkable same brightness as it sparkles on increasingly commended neighboring states, so you can encounter travel wealth positioning with the best without that sentiment of simply following a vacationer trail. Khajuraho's sanctuaries bristle with probably the best stone cutting in India, their lovely sexual figures a simple cut of the compositional marvels of a locale exceedingly blessed by the gods with castles, fortresses, sanctuaries, mosques, and stupas, most wonderfully in the towns of Orchha and Mandu. Tigers are the other large news here, and your odds of recognizing a wild Royal Bengal in MP are on a par with anyplace in India. Journey cum-explorer safe houses, for example, Maheshwar and Omkareshwar on the Narmada River are injected with the otherworldly and relaxing vibes for which India is famous.

A Ravishing Place Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu is the country of one of mankind's living old-style civilizations, extending back continuous for two centuries and particularly alive today in the Tamils' language, move, verse and Hindu religion. Yet, this profound South state is as powerful as it is drenched in the convention. Fire-loving fans who smear tikka on their foreheads in Tamil Nadu's broadly stupendous sanctuaries may surge off to IT workplaces – and afterward, loosen up at a stylish evening frequent in quickly modernizing Chennai (Madras) or with sun greetings in bohemian Puducherry (Pondicherry). At the point when the hot the disarray of Tamil sanctuary towns overpowers, getaway toward the southernmost tip of India where three oceans blend; to the awesome chateaus sprinkled across parched Chettinadu; or up to the cool, woods clad, untamed life sneaked the Western Ghats.

Heavenly West Bengal

A bit of fruitful land running from the tea-hung Himalayan lower regions to the sultry mangroves of the Bay of Bengal, West Bengal offers an exceptional scope of goals and encounters. In the tropical southern regions, the ocean washed village of Mandarmani strives for consideration with Bishnupur's fancy earthenware tiled Hindu sanctuaries and castles. The striped Bengal tiger stealthily who swims through sloppy rivulets in the beautiful Sunderbans. while a lot of European phantom towns line the banks of the Hooghly (a part of the Ganges) further upstream as tokens of the state's sea prime. In the cool northern slopes, the 'toy train' chugs its way up the enchanting British-period slope station of Darjeeling worshipped for its ringside perspectives on enormous Khangchendzonga. West Bengal additionally flaunts a lively craftsmanship scene, flavorful cooking, and a truly accommodating populace.

A Stunning Place Upper East States

Tossed over the most distant scopes of India, darkened from the more prominent world by ever-enduring backwoods and considerable mountain goes, The Northeast States are one of Asia's last extraordinary characteristics and anthropological havens. Offering outskirts to Bhutan, Tibet, Myanmar (Burma) and Bangladesh, these remote wildernesses are an area of tough magnificence, and a crash zone of ancestral societies, atmospheres, scenes, and people groups. Right now, swashbucklers, chilly Himalayan waterways spill onto Assam's huge floodplains, confidence moves mountains on the hazardous journey to Tawang, rhinos munch in Kaziranga's swampy meadows and previous talent scouts gradually grasp innovation in their tribal longhouses in Nagaland.

[pakbooks]

Myanmar’s Got Talent Live On MRTV-4

Myanmar’s Got Talent Live On MRTV-4

Myanmar’s Got Talent Live On MRTV-4, Myanmar’s Got Talent audience, This week is the Judges’ Audition More contestants remaining, and how to catch the audience with unique 🎉 Talent 😮 where tonight 🕘 (9:00), MRTV-4 Let’s give monitor

Myanmar’s Got Talent Live On MRTV-4 Click Myanmar’s Got Talent Live

[harrisonstories]

For the 30th anniversary of the Traveling Wilburys, Olivia Harrison did an interview with Laura Cantrell on Dark Horse Radio (11 Oct. 2018). Here is a transcript I’ve made of when they talked about the Romanian Angel Appeal and the Material World Foundation:

LAURA CANTRELL: In 1990 the Traveling Wilburys’ cover version of Nobody’s Child was released as the title track on the Nobody’s Child Romanian benefit album. The charity project was organised to raise awareness for that children’s organisation. The song itself has quite a history and was first recorded by Hank Snow in 1949. It made its way to the ears of many young skiffle bands in England by way of Lonnie Donegan in 1956. George first recorded the song in 1961 on the backing session The Beatles did with Tony Sheridan in Hamburg. Tell us how did the song make its way then into the Wilburys?

OLIVIA: When Nicolae Ceaușescu was overthrown in Romania, Western press went in, and revealed a lot of orphanages. Really severe crisis for a lot of infants and children, and I ended up going there. Linda, Yoko, and Barbara all wanted to do something. Elton [John] actually did as well, and before I knew it they had all donated money, so I thought I have to go down, and I went down and went into some orphanages. George was in the studio with the Wilburys, and he phoned me, and I said, “I’m in Bucharest.” “What are you doing there?”

CANTRELL: Wow.

OLIVIA: Somehow I bumped into Dave Stewart on the way down there – I mean – [laughs] not on the road down there, but somewhere I’d seen him in the days before, and he said, “I’m going to give you two songs. I’m going to give you a song so you can put it out as a single to raise money,” and I told George that. I said, “I have this song from Dave Stewart, so if you have any time and you think of it, maybe you guys could do a song.” You know, I went to sleep, and I woke up in the morning, and they had stopped what they were doing, and they recorded that song which was really amazing because you had all of them in the studio. They got the lyrics, maybe George remembered it. They chose it, thought it was a perfect song, it was. It was really generous of them because they were in full flow recording the second album, and they stopped, and it was literally I woke up, and he called me. They were still awake, and he did this. It was great.

CANTRELL: You were in different time-zones halfway across the world, and you make a suggestion one evening, and the next morning you wake up, and they’ve made it happen.

OLIVIA: He knew. You know, George knew I wouldn’t ask, and he knew the tones of my voice so obviously knew it was serious and how I was feeling there because it was pretty horrific. And in fact the Romanian Angel Appeal’s still going, and it had been adopted as a program by the government there so they’re still helping children.

CANTRELL: Wow. I know that you’re also involved with the work of the George Harrison Fund for UNICEF and the Material World Foundation that George started in 1973. It supports diverse charities, especially programs for children, people with special needs, cultural projects that support artistic expression – including some significant film restorations you’ve also funded. Any recent projects you want to tell us about?

OLIVIA: The fact that George did the Concert for Bangladesh in 197[1], and then in 2018 there are more refugees there than ever before is just a very sad situation, and I think 700,000 people are probably going to spend their whole lives in those camps. There’s no clear way back for them to Myanmar. One of the poorest countries in the world, Bangladesh, has taken on those refugees which is a big message to other countries and to our country as well. The GH Fund has – is you know, giving UNICEF some funds to provide some sort of semblance of normalcy for the kids in the way of schools so that they have somewhere to gather. It’s shocking what’s happening. You know, I have to keep my cool about it, but they need a lot of help. They really need help. We also have a boat program down there. I went down there maybe five years ago, and found a boat maker who is taking kids in the flood plains to schools. Schools didn’t exists at the time. We were going to have a floating school. [A nonprofit group] then built [floating] schools in those [flooded] areas to [get] the children to schools, and that’s working really well. And also Mexico the earthquake, we help a lot with that. Salma Hayek was great, and she did an appeal which we matched for that as well.

CANTRELL: Olivia, could you also tell us about the film projects and film restoration you’ve been involved with?

OLIVIA: George obviously had some interest in film.

CANTRELL: Yes.

OLIVIA: He actually did films through Apple, Little Malcolm with John Hurt, and that was early, and then of course he had Handmade Films and all those movies and great talent…and working with Marty Scorsese on [Living in the Material World] – Marty has a fantastic film foundation, and you know I started just asking what films would you restore? What’s at the top of the list? And we’ve done nine films now, and we really got to a point where I said – I grew up watching Mexican movies in LA. Marty was watching Italian neo-realist in New York, and George was probably watching George Raft and American movies or – I think his favourite movie was Jekyll and Hyde with Spencer Tracey. He loved that movie…so um…anyway, with the film foundation we just restored two Mexican films, and we’re gonna do another one and four early Charlie Chaplin films, and a wonderful documentary called The Memory of Justice. These films need to be preserved. Finding the masters, the negatives is you know, a big effort.

CANTRELL: Just the resources to actually do the restorations but figuring out, “Where are they?” and “Who has the print?” I mean it’s a far flung process.

OLIVIA: Well, the film foundation and Margaret Bodie whom I work with, I’m really just trying to enable them to do what they do. They’re the ones that do all the restorations. It’s a fantastic program. Really, you know, I feel really fortunate to be able to be a part of it.

CANTRELL: Fans of George might not understand all the far flung places that his influence still supports.

OLIVIA: You know, Material World Foundation was set up because George wanted to enable Ravi Shankar to bring Indian musicians and do a recording similar to the one that he heard very early on which was done for All India Radio called “Nava Rasa Ranga”, and it was an Indian orchestra that Ravi put together, wrote the music, and orchestrated which ended up really being very similar to what Ravi wrote at the Concert for George which was so amazing. I watched that, and I thought, there it is. There’s “Nava Rasa Ranga”, and it’s dedicated to George…so the foundation was set up to bring the musicians over so it really was for alternate philosophies and music and culture. It really has expanded, and it’s for the arts and people in need, and we’re really lucky to be able to – to help.

CANTRELL: Well it’s a lot of things to be proud of.

OLIVIA: Oh. Thank you.

CANTRELL: I’m sure George would be proud of them too.

Material World Foundation

GH Fund for UNICEF

[southeastasianists]

There is blood soaking through the wraps around his hands, and blood staining the white canvas of the ring and blood sluicing from the swollen gash that splits his brow. The unseen orchestra picks up the slap of fist against flesh and whips it to a droning frenzy as the stadium trembles with the fury of the crowd. A full head and shoulders shorter than his opponent, local Lethwei fighter Saw Darwait is struggling to stay on his feet. He locks arms with his foe, his eyes far away, before wrenching his head to the side in a vicious headbutt that tears a groan from the eager audience.

This is the World Lethwei Championship (WLC) Knockout War, and the gloves are off.

WLC, backed by a local property conglomerate and drawing talent from Singapore-based combat sports titan ONE Championship, is on a mission to launch the traditional Myanmar martial art of Lethwei to the fame – or infamy – of Southeast Asian sports such as neighbouring Muay Thai.

And with mixed martial arts fighters from as far afield as Poland and Portugal eager to bloody their knuckles against the best warriors Myanmar has to offer, it’s little surprise that the once-unknown sport is going from strength to strength.

Australian fighter and former kickboxing champion Michael Badato is here in the empty city of Naypyidaw, he says,  for a good time, not a long time. Speaking to Southeast Asia Globe before his match in the sparsely populated capital’s Wunna Theikdi Stadium, the Muay Thai master grins ruefully as he twists tape around his fingers.

“It’s definitely different when you’re fighting bareknuckle,” he said. “The sting of a punch is more shocking, so probably more distance, more combos, more timing – it doesn’t need to be a hard punch, it just has to be a snappy punch.”

Carved into the murals of the ancient temples of Bagan more than a millennium ago, Lethwei – known as the art of nine limbs for allowing its athletes to lash out with their head as well as the elbows, knees, feet and fists that fill out the arsenal of most Southeast Asian martial arts – has long been relegated to Myanmar’s rural hinterlands as the people’s favoured bloodsport. Now, draped in the trappings of a professional martial arts championship, the sport has found its way beneath the unflinching eyes of international audiences around the world.

“The entertainment is different, more bloody,” Badato said. “The sport is very unforgiving. People love to see that. People love to see raw emotions, nothing edited. Fair enough – you’ve got MMA and your kickboxing and Muay Thai, but when you’re up there, when someone makes a mistake, whether it comes from a counterpunch or a kick or just tiredness, they really do feel the pain and suffer. People love to see contact, knockouts. And it sells. UFC and MMA are the biggest and fastest-growing sports in the world… It’s a really bloody sport, and people like to see that.”

Brooklyn-born Chan Reach, now based in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh, moved to his parents’ homeland seven years ago with 13 professional MMA fights under his belt to train a new generation of Cambodian champions. Speaking behind the scenes at last month’s championship, he described how Lethwei’s notorious violence had drawn in crowds looking for some primal quality that more polished sports such as kickboxing are lacking.

“Lethwei is in its rawest form,” he said. “It’s like a street fight but with rules and with professional fighters. Before, Lethwei was known only in Myanmar – but now they have WLC; it gives a chance to the local Lethwei fighters to have international competitions and show the world their culture.”

Nou Srey Pov, 22, a Cambodian fighter schooled in the traditional martial art of Kun Khmer and a pupil of Reach’s, became the first woman to win a WLC match, in February. Speaking with Southeast Asia Globe hours before her fight against Shwe Nadi – the daughter of a local Lethwei legend – she said that adapting to the Myanmar fighters’ unorthodox style was a challenge.

“The first time, I wasn’t used to it yet,” she said. “I heard about it, but I didn’t expect it to go the way it went. I won, but I didn’t expect the headbutts and all that stuff. I just pretty much used Cambodian martial arts to negate Lethwei: a lot of elbows, a lot of knees and a lot of punches. And kicks also. So I just used elbows to negate the headbutts.”

That evening, after three rounds of vicious back-and-forth, Srey Pov was again crowned the victor in a unanimous decision from the judges. This, too, is a legacy of WLC’s programme to professionalise the sport: for millennia, Lethwei athletes have been expected to fight to the last man standing.

“In the local show, there’s no point system,” Reach said. “You have the knockout or it’s a draw. But  with the WLC, they do the points system here. For some Myanmar fighters, it’s new to them, but for foreign fighters, it’s what we need. But in terms of it being dangerous – it’s just as dangerous as Muay Thai or Kun Khmer, it’s just the same. The only difference is the headbutts. The headbutts can do a lot of damage – not only to the opponent but to yourself. In terms of long-term damage, I think Lethwei is up there.”

Artur Saladiak, a Polish Muay Thai practitioner living in London, has fought against some of the fiercest fighters Southeast Asia has to offer. That night, he would be fighting for the title of world champion in his weight range – and not without some trepidation.

“I was shocked by how strong they are, how tough they are, and I’ve been preparing to fight all five rounds because I knew that to stop them before the time [runs out, at which point the judges deliver the winner], it would be very hard,” he said. “You have more weapons, and that makes Lethwei a little bit more dangerous.”

Saladiak’s opponent would never see the fifth round. After ten minutes of a match that at times seemed more dance than dogfight, the Polish fighter flung the Kachin-born Saw Ba Oo against the ring ropes and kept him there with a vicious kick to the chest that left Ba Oo winded on the canvas. Keen to observe the ancient protocols of his adopted sport, the newly crowned light-middleweight Lethwei world champion prostrated himself before his fallen foe before launching into a traditional dance of triumph.  

Saw Nga Man, who’s known as “Saw Shark” and hails from a Kachin village famous for its Lethwei lineage, said that fighters such as Saladiak and Badato were bringing much-needed attention to his country’s culture.

“International fighters can fight in Lethwei, so we are very glad to see the kind of fighters that come and fight here,” he said. “Lethwei is now developing and developing, so later we hope that Lethwei can overcome Muay Thai.”

For Saladiak, the ferocity and intensity of Myanmar’s bareknuckle boxing has proven a winning combination.

“This sport is something new, but something that people will like,” he said. “People like violence and people like when blood is coming out of the face of another fighter, and that’s why people will prefer to watch Lethwei in the future.”

[wolves-in-the-world]

one way this could go is if he takes apollo's place in the two live crew job (apologies to apollo, I do love that he's their IRL thievery consultant and I do appreciate his incredible cuteness with parker, but this cat's gotta go somewhere) and quinn does still hang out at mcrory's afterwards.

there's no lockpick race with parker, just talking and comparing scores, and once she's slipped off to goodness-knows-where (quinn's going to have a fun time trying to find her bolthole later, purely to see if he can) and mikel's left eliot alone with a promise to stop by again soon (eliot never quite stopped looking unsettled after she admitted to that thing in myanmar), quinn goes over to make fun of him a bit.

quinn's only primarily a thief. doing the work he does, looking like he does - he can't always wear suits for work, this quinn, but even without the shoulder padding he looks like someone who can weather a punch - he does have to be able to hold his own.

(he's used guns a few times, when he's backed into a corner. maybe his early training prepared him for that more than he likes to admit to. maybe it's a natural talent. he's not telling.)

and he's heard of eliot. everyone in the game has heard of eliot. so it's pretty satisfying to sit down and steal his drink and poke at him a bit, and get nothing worse than growls in response. quinn's grinning by the time he leaves, and he assumes - short of maybe hearing from parker again - that'll be the last he hears of them.

until the warehouse in kyiv.

"if I stepped on your team's toes," says quinn, "I can assure you I didn't mean to."

"nothing like that. I came to offer you a job." eliot's arms are folded, his posture easy, knife holsters and finger tape and don't-pick-a-fight-with-me red.

quinn can admit he doesn't mind the help getting out of there, even if his hands are already free by the time the third goon drops.

they discuss the details of the job on the plane ride over.

"you telling me you want me to be you?" quinn says, low and amused.

"you handled yourself well back there," says eliot with a shrug. "besides, I know your career. you don't get a name like that for no reason. you're good at getting in and out of places alive, and that's what we need."

it's gratifying. it's amusing. of all the prospective employers, he got eliot spencer.

quinn takes the role to heart. although the team already knows, although archie surely guesses, chaos never has reason to suspect quinn's anything but a knockoff eliot.

the job goes off without a hitch. quinn gets shot at (not ideal) but gets to yeet chaos into a river, which is almost compensation enough.

and after he's said goodbye-for-now to parker and discreetly returned a pack of gummy frogs to hardison's pocket (minus the frogs; he split them with parker), he goes and shakes hands with eliot. which is strange, though there's nothing that says that hitters and thieves aren't equals. nothing that says a thief is just a thief.

"you know, about that favour," quinn says.

"yeah, you might want to hold onto that, pal. those lives won't last you forever." eliot's tone is casual, and still friendly, so quinn stays there too.

"we could always meet up anyway. I wouldn't mind learning a few tricks."

"and what makes you think I'd teach you?"

"oh I don't know," says quinn, their voices starting to fade into the distance. "I was thinking you might want to be fr..."

…there is an au here of a quinn who was trained (too young) not primarily as a hitter but as a thief, and for all that he insisted on mister quinn in his professional dealings, he became more broadly known as the cat with nine lives instead

[immadsq]

Who are we waiting for?

My Motherland, Pakistan came into existence on 14th August 1947, after many sacrifices. She was a result of the struggle of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah and the dream of Dr Allama Iqbal. The country has seen many ups and downs in 7 decades. Unfortunately, she fell into the hands of corrupt people, who are responsible for her decline. Thus the question arises, how can we overcome the different crises the Nation is facing?

When Pakistan came into being, Mr Jinnah, became the 1st Governor-General of the Dominion, and Nawabzada, Liaqat Ali Khan became the Prime Minister. The main motive behind the creation of Pakistan was to get independence from the British and Hindus.

Mr Jinnah realised that Muslims can’t survive under the tyrannical rule of the Hindus, he agreed to support Pakistan Movement and passed the Pakistan Resolution on 23rd March 1940. The motive was to safeguard the rights of the Muslims of the subcontinent. Had we not got independence, our condition would be the same as of Kashmir, so we must thank Almighty Allah for His blessing.

The main motive behind writing this article is to make our young generation realize that why we should love Pakistan and what is the importance of this.

In the current era, I have witnessed that the younger generation, particularly of my age and younger, have become more pro-West, which has eventually pulled out the love for their country from their heart. The first and foremost reason is our Education System. Our Education System is divided into different classes which have created social and moral gaps amongst the generations.

Amongst these divided younger generations, the elite class, who receive foreign education which includes O/A levels, Edexcel, oxford etc. I am from the people who have been in this education system, though I don’t belong to the elite class, this gave me a chance to analyze such people from up close. These people think that loving your country is backward and an old age trend, which it isn’t.

Love for your country gives you the determination to do something for the Nation. These people don’t study to live in Pakistan, they want to go abroad, and hence they don’t think it is important to love the country whereas if something bad happens, they are the ones who start abusing Pakistan. They have the privileges of social media and they get involved in anti-State trends, which in their terms seems to be modern.

This is causing damage to my country and must stop. The education system doesn’t allow them to learn how to love their country. The worst part is that they don’t even show respect to the National Anthem. Keeping in mind that it is because of Pakistan that these people have an identity.

The class lower in the economic ladder, i.e. the one whose children go to Government schools or other schools, has a completely different system. In this system, the students are expected to memorize everything in the books and nothing much is done for Nation-building. Both education systems need to focus on Nation-building and teaching the importance of love for the country. With due respect, the teachers and parents are equally responsible for this. It is the duty of both to teach the new generation to have a love for Pakistan.

The time is of Nation-building, in which, we as Nation have failed. More than 7 decades have passed, but what is the reason we are not growing at the required rate? The main reason, as mentioned above is the Education System, but I hope that the recent Single National Curriculum (SNC) can bridge the differences and bring towards the Nation-building of the young generation along with Science and Technology. Our young generation needs to understand that it is they, who have to lead this Nation soon.

I see that our young generation criticizes the country for its problems, but they don’t understand that they have to fix these problems. It is their time. Why are we under the false impression that someone will drop down from the sky to solve all these problems? It is easy to sit back and criticize but taking the right set of actions to tackle the problem requires struggle.

We complain about littering but when was the last time someone threw an empty wrapper of crisps in a dustbin here?

Why are we waiting for someone else to come and clean up our mess?

Why don’t we play our due role as a society and as individuals? It is we who have to criminalize littering. We already have laws/rules and enforcers, but don’t you think, that being a citizen of this Nation the responsibility equally falls on our shoulders?

Whether there is any human rights issue or any social or political issue, we always start blaming the government. The sole blame must not be put on the government, but also the people. People need to be educated and play their part in ending the problems in Pakistan. People verbally abuse Imran Khan but what contribution do the people make in the society? At least Imran Khan did contribute in different fields for this Nation, but did we? We both know the answer to that.

I understand that we have had multiple leadership crises, but why don’t we use our power to elect an honest, truthful and dedicated leader? We always get to vote after every 5 years, why don’t we use that to bring a change? Why don’t we elect a leader who serves us? To be honest, at last, we have got an honest and dedicated leader, it doesn’t matter whether you agree or disagree with that.

Before criticizing the problems, we must understand that the current government came to power 3 years ago whereas these problems have been present for the last 7 decades. It will take time to solve them, for that, we the people need to change our mindset. Now is the time to CHANGE YOURSELF.

Allah doesn’t change the condition of a Nation until or unless that Nation wants to change its condition. We need to come out of the colonial mindset. We live in an independent Nation, have an independent mind, but within the social and moral values.

Over the decades, we have murdered our social and moral values. We either become too liberal or too conservative. Why can’t we be somewhere in the middle? We, as a society need to pick where we stand. We usually talk about Jahaliat. Jahaliat is a term used to describe uneducated people whose mentalities are based upon social and individual behaviour, However, I think that this word is widespread here even in “so-called educated” people as well. Their behaviour in society includes night parties, taking drugs, drinking alcohol, etc. This is also a form of Jahaliat as such as that kind before the advent of Islam, these were the things common amongst the people, which our religion, Islam shunned. We, as a Nation need to reconsider the definition of Jahaliat so that bring an end to this. It is our responsibility to put an end to it.

There is a dire need for Nation building. We have a leader who wants to bring change, Nation-building, but we need to understand that it is not a one-person job, the entire Nation has to play its part in the Nation-building. We need to have the courage to defend our Nation from its enemies.

It is really important to know that this Nation is the only Nation that came into being with the slogan “Pakistan ka Matlab Kya La illaha illAllah“. We are the Nation that has faced International and internal conspiracies from time to time. Still International as well internal conspiracies are going on against the State. Why don’t we have the courage to fight these conspiracies? We can only get this courage when we love our country genuinely.

The Army, due to which we can sleep safely at night, respect them. We need to acknowledge them. Believe me, if we don’t have such a strong Army, our conditions would be worse than Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Palestine, etc. We must be thankful. I agree, there can be some factions, which are rebellious and they misuse authority but these exist in every army of the world. The most recent incident we have seen in Myanmar.

However, if we recall the Turkey coup of 15th July 2016, how the common people came out in the streets to defend their motherland. That’s the courage we need here. We need to determine our Nation’s stance. It is up to us whether we have to change or stay the same. Respect the Army which is sincere to this Nation and defends this her from internal and external enemies.

To conclude, I would say, that there are many sacrifices behind this Nation, we need to acknowledge them. We need to fight against our enemies, not join them. Now this is the era of fifth-generation warfare, in which there is the use of AI, Social Media, etc. We have to fight our enemies through this. Again, I would say, the sole responsibility of everything is not only the government but also on us, the people of Pakistan.

This Nation has a lot of talent in sports, business, IT, social and political leadership, and many more. We need to play our part for the Nation. We can only change when we have the intention to. Find solutions to the problems we have.

Get to the root cause of those problems, and then try to find the appropriate solutions. Remember, the solution to a problem must not be a problem itself, as it has become in many cases. We need Nation-building at our homes, at our school colleges or universities, as well as elsewhere. Bring out new ideas for the country. This is the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, it is our duty to make it a peaceful and prosperous country.

We need to cooperate with our leaders to solve the problems. Thank Almighty Allah, who has given us the gift of independence, which most countries don’t have. We need to strengthen our family system, our social and moral values, and our stance for the love for the Nation.

Pay respect to your country, do something great for your country, contribute to her growth and prosperity and unite to thrive as a Nation. We need to step out of the provincial identities, we need to embrace our National identity. We need to respect each other’s rights. Pay attention to the country. These problems can only end when we try to end them. We, as a society need to fight for a common cause. We need to give exemplary punishments to criminals to avoid having others committing the same crime. Our schools must teach the students the importance of loving their country.

Pakistan is a very beautiful country, why are we wasting it? Why are we denying the gift of Allah? Come let’s unite as Pakistanis, and stop blaming the State, the institutions and the Government. Cooperate with them for your well-being. Respect for your country will give you the courage to defend and promote the growth of this country. We must not become the enemies’ allies. We have a lot of enemies in and out of Pakistan which we must beware of and fight.

In my vision, the future of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a Clean, Green, Healthy, Safe, and Responsible country. Just a collective effort is needed, let’s do it. Now is the time. Pledge this Independence Day. Be a Pakistani, Live Like a Pakistani. Be Proud to Be a Pakistani. Insha’Allah Great times are coming ahead.

I hope you liked my article. You have the full authority to agree or disagree but you must have a valid point to do so.

Thank You!

Pakistan Zindabad

For feedback, write in the comments below.

[lettersfromjuliet-blog1]

Easter Week

March 31, 2018

What a week. On Sunday when mom reached the hostel, she came prancing in with the little sombrero, which was hysterical, made even more so by the stares from the people around. That’s my mom, I love her. We sat and had a coffee then took the sky-train to the Chatuchak market to look around before I had to take off. I was meeting the rest of the group at the bus station to head down to Hua Hin. Mom and Marijo were going to spend a few more days in Bangkok.

On Monday, we went to a market and rode the carousel, then visited the Artist’s Village-- a beautiful environment-- and painted paper bags. We also went to see some elephants, which was sad. They were chained up and couldn’t walk very far, and one kept rocking back and forth, shaking his ears. Much different than how the elephants at Elephants World were treated. I wanted to cry.

In the afternoon, we went to Hua Hin beach, where I sunbathed, read, and took a beach stroll with Hannah. It was a well needed, relaxing afternoon, and I touch the Gulf of Thailand for the first time! That night, we went to another market.

On Tuesday we swept the outside of a temple for thirty minutes. I know. So much hard work. Insert sarcasm here. For the afternoon we went to Pine BEach, which was quite cool. The shore was lined with pine trees and it wasn’t overly crowded. Again, I read, took a beach stroll (trying to avoid stepping on the thousands of baby crabs in the sand), and this time, I pet the most adorable husky. Speaking of cute dogs, there’s Bruno, who lives at the accommodation, and I have the goofiest picture of him. He’s such a playful doggo.

Wednesday, I renewed my Visa, which was an entirely different ball game than it was in Sri Lanka. One would think it would take more time. But rather than an entire day, I was in and out of the office in about forty-five minutes. After, we went to the mangrove plantation, about an hour away, and spent another thirty whole intensely straining minutes cleaning the beach. Sarcasm. Again. After, we went to Skull Hill beach-- supposedly the most beautiful beach in Hua Hin. I wasn’t feeling the best and the wind was killer, sand was blowing in my face. I had already finished my book so I convinced Hannah to go on a hike with me and we were rewarded with a spectacular view that overlooked the jungle-covered hill that was met by white sand at the base and connected with the most saturated-blue ocean I have ever seen. In the distance, you could see Hua Hin stretching down the coast.

That night, I met up with mom and Marijo again and we went back to the hotel. This five star hotel. In Thailand. I’m truly living the dream at the moment. This place was giant, and the bed was so wonderful. You really do take for granted your own bed until you start traveling and sleeping on less than ideal ‘mattresses’.

Thursday was my favorite day of the week, and one of the most memorable from the trip so far. We went to Pa-La-U Waterfall in the morning. Apparently when you reach the very top, you also reach the Thailand and Myanmar border. The water wasn’t as blue as the one in Kanchanaburi, but i think the nature was better, maybe it’s because there were less people. While hiking, I kept feeling as if I was in a movie. The jungle was so beautiful, it’s hard to describe, completely unreal. After we had lunch at a restaurant on top of a hill with a gorgeous view. Then on to Monkey Mountain. These monkeys were more afraid of people than the ones from the first week, but it was still fun. We returned to the hotel and went for a swim, Marijo showed me her water aerobic dance, we dipped in the ocean and quickly fled a jellyfish in the waves-- which mom spotted without her glasses, and had Pina Coladas. To make the day even better, I had bruschetta,  and pasta and tiramisu for dinner. Oh so wonderful. My cravings were more than satisfied. Then we watched some street dancers (very talented) and went for a night beach walk where we saw pretty shells and some dead jellyfish during low tide. A quick trip to the sky bar and the wonderful day came to a close in a bed of clouds.

We attempted waking up for sunrise but it was overcast, so back to sleep we went. Friday consisted of a floating market, the Artist’s Village, a nap, appetizers, saying goodbye to Hannah and Daisy, and the Cicada market. This was one of my , if not the, favorite markets in Thailand. Very artsy with live music and plenty of food.

Saturday I went to breakfast with mom, where I complained about the funk I was in-- but I think it was helpful to get it off my chest. The we faced the Gulf of Thailand and sunbathed and spent some time in the sea and went for one last trip down the water slide. Of course, even going back to the room at 10:45, I managed to get sunburnt. But it’s not awful, and now my tummy will match my legs. It’s funny, the tan is a result of the sun killing my skin, but I think it looks so much better than paper white. Plus, it’s the first time I’ve had color in a long time. We were on our was to the bus station, but mom had to make one more story. She left her phone at the hotel so we went back for it and then we were off. I was able to be on the same bus as them, which whet to the airport. Mom and I cried a lot, not nearly as much as I expected we as we hailed a cab to take me to Mo Chit. And just like that, she was off. A week in Thailand and now she’s on a plane back to Chicago. And I barely made it onto the last bus to Singburi after getting caught in multiple traffic jams. But I got there. Not without anxious thoughts of finding my way back to Singburi in the middle of the night. I packed a bit when I got back, but couldn’t be bothered to completely organize everything. Slept alone in the room, a strange feeling after sharing one for four weeks. Was woken up by the absolute loudest thunderstorm I’ve ever experienced. Which was annoying and scary-- especially with it being Easter. God’s way of saying the tomb is open. Now here I am, 3:47 pm, Easter Sunday, in a van on the way back to Hua Hin for my last week in Thailand. God is good.

~a letter from juliet

Official Thai Tea Count: 14

Winner: Daisy

[pluienoir]

Pluie/Noir Interscapes 02 “Interior Design”

Sound Mixed and Compiled by Rubi Visual Interpretation by David Surman

Soundcloud Link: https://soundcloud.com/pluie-noir/pluienoirinterscapes02

Welcome to the new Pluie/Noir podcast series, Interscapes. 8 years after our debut we decided to press the reboot button and return to our roots. With a new format and back to a regular monthly schedule, Pluie/Noir Interscapes will feature audio collages, mixes, live interviews and live recordings from P/N artists, friends, and other collectives we admire.

Because less is more, instead of the usual triptych format, this series will feature one single visual interpretation of the music by a graphic artist. The artwork will be available to purchase in poster format on our rebooted Bandcamp page very soon, with cassettes or CD-r of the mixes as a bonus.

World events have taken the series out of its planned monthly schedule, but priority was on the safety and functional structure of the private lives of everyone involved in the project during these unprecedented times. 

For Interscapes 02 we welcome Rubi, a versatile german artist based in Myanmar, with a visual interpretation by english painter David Surman,

— Interview: Rubi

Hi Christina, welcome to the P/N Interscapes series. How have you been?

Hi there, and thank you so much for having me on your wonderful series! <3 I’m good, I’m enjoying what I can from the comfort of my own home together with my little kitty, currently working online and otherwise painting and reading a lot or watching movies!

Why did you move to Southeast Asia? Was it mere chance or a long-term goal?

A little bit of both, but I’d say it was intentional :) I moved here initially only for a short-term gig of three months early 2017 which I found really quite randomly but was very intrigued by. And honestly, I just liked it so much that I felt like I needed to come back and spend more time! I moved back to Yangon, Myanmar in August 2018 and have been here since, and I deeply love it – there’s a different energy in the air in Southeast Asia, people are kind and positive everywhere around you and there is still so much space on an economic and artistic level that it’s a very fulfilling place to be!

Your endeavours seem pretty vast. What did you study, what do you do for a living, and how do you entangle it with music?

Ha, I’m an economist and data scientist during the day. I’ve always been listening to and surrounding myself with music, but actually got deeper into DJing when I started my PhD in Barcelona in 2013 – I just felt like at the end of a long, mentally draining day I needed to use a very different part of my brain to really relax and let go, and getting creative with the music perfectly hit the spot. I’m currently teaching at a Liberal Arts and Sciences Institute here in Myanmar, which has the goal of bringing quality education to students from different walks of life, particularly those from ethnic minorities and less privileged backgrounds. 

I finally got to combine my two worlds by teaching a class in music psychology this term, where we are exploring the role of music in everyone’s life from early childhood, how it is used as a social identifier and its connection to politics and conflict. My students are in their early 20s, and I’ve put them on the guestlist for several of the club nights I’ve organized here and they think it’s the coolest thing ever to see their professor behind the decks haha!

How is the audio-visual arts scene in Myanmar and the surrounding Nations? Are you helping activate it somehow and what are you working on nowadays?

I’d say the scene particularly in this part of Asia is at an early stage compared to Europe, but driven by a lot of passion and daring, forward-thinking people. In most of the major cities, you’ll find a beautiful venue and a small dedicated crew of people behind it - some of my favourite places I’ve played at in the area are Savage and Observatory in Vietnam, the Resonant crew at B1 in Taipei and Club Kowloon in Hong Kong. Also, the early-stage vibe brings the liberating attitude that as a DJ it’s really just about making people dance, and there’s no ego yet about the tracks you play or how you achieve this – if you can manage a dance floor, you get a stamp of approval. 

Myanmar I’d say is the youngest scene by yet another margin, particularly because of its very recent coming-out of a military dictatorship. There’s a small number of local DJs and very few venues that dare to program (non-EDM) electronic music, and I was lucky to get a residency in my favourite club in town within the first month of arriving! I started my Out Of Sight events here, a monthly series which gained a very regular following and is the only one with international bookings in the whole country. Upon coming here, I didn’t really think I’d get to start another series of my own, especially inviting over so many DJ friends to come to visit and also contribute and explore the country while they’re here. Honestly, part of my joy in doing this has purely been getting inspired myself by seeing people play, bringing together a community of friends to dance through the night and just have a really great time. 

It’s been a very gratifying journey, not least because it received appreciation from people in town – many of the local DJs became loyal followers and very excited to see artists from different countries play here in Yangon. Over the past couple of months, I’ve had Adam Collins here, Exos (twice!), TC80, Avos & Moses Mawila, Max Davis and many more. So yes, I feel like I’ve made a small contribution to the scene in one particular place – and honestly, there is still so much space here for people doing things that it’s very fun and easy to create something impactful!

Tell us more about "Interior Design": How, why, when?

I’ve recorded this podcast at home in Yangon, on a chill midweek evening when I felt a little spark of inspiration. I honestly take forever to record podcasts, as you already know from me submitting this so late :) I get deeply into overthinking mode and since I don’t publish many mixes I want them to have a specific theme and vision behind instead of just putting tracks together – which usually ends up with me procrastinating for months until it finally clicks and I know exactly what I want to do. There are quite a few tempo changes inside as I tried to create an arch from very slow ambient tracks to something I’d play in the middle of a night and then back down again. But somehow all of the tracks I put feel deeply me and representative of the style I like, so I identify with it. 

The name was a last-minute hunch, but seemed fitting with the current phase of everyone spending time inside their homes and through this discovering maybe not just their furniture but also the building blocks of their inside world :)

And music-making? Is it something you want to explore?

I’ve actually gotten into playing acoustic music here with friends in recent months, and that’s been a really fun journey! I have a bunch of instruments at my home, and hosting small jam sessions has been one of my favourite pastimes. All of them are much more talented and experienced than me but have graciously taken me in so I’m constantly learning a lot. 

On the electronic music side, I feel most compelled by making more experimental and ambient things as it feels like there is a larger range of freedom for exploration. I’ve been sampling some of the sounds in my surroundings for a while as the hustle and bustle here sounds so different from what I’m used to in Europe, so we’ll see what comes out of it!

Short, medium and long term goals?

Honestly, I’m a pretty chill person, so my overall goal in life is just to spend my time in an interesting and creative way, surround myself with people I love and somehow leave a positive trace with what I do. If I manage to keep combining all of these things I’ll consider myself a lucky and successful human!

— Interview: David Surman

Hi David, such a pleasure to have you at P/N. How are you, all things considered?

Thank you for asking, I’m very good right now. The pandemic has shifted my reality in all sorts of unexpected ways. I had coronavirus after taking a trip to Madrid, then New York. I came back to London and got sick immediately. I’m so glad to have fully recovered. I’m enjoying the empty London.

Have you lived abroad and explored different artistic fields apart from painting, or has it always been about England and canvases?

I was introduced to painting when I was a teenager by an artist Rob Fairley who my dad knew. I had always drawn a lot, but I didn’t consider being a painter until much later. I actually trained to be an animation film director, which seems so ridiculous to me now. I thought of it as a pragmatic choice -- the kind of profession which is somewhere between a reliable job and artistic freedom. Little did I know that hand-drawn animation would all but disappear. 

I absolutely loved good quality animation, films like Akira and Ghost in the Shell, and the Studio Ghibli films. I wanted to make them, and I also wanted to disappear into them. I started seriously painting again in my early 30s after a decade of working in animation and videogames in the UK and Australia. The timing has been perfect for me, as I started to paint really when I was ready. Australia changed my work, it made me think about colour and light and scale. I made films and animations and games there with my partner Ian Gouldstone before we came back to the UK and I started to paint full time around 2013.

I'd discovered your work through Sound Of Vast's "5th Anniversary Series". It featured a series of paintings from your "Paintings for the Cat Dimension" exhibition/installation. What was it about?

That was such a wonderful collaboration, and the team at Sound of Vast are brilliant. My exhibition was a series of 12 paintings of the same cat motif, a mother with two kittens, interpreted in 12 different ways. I wanted to make a statement on what it means to paint in the post-internet era, without giving in to the impulse to simply paint or reproduce imagery directly from online culture. So I created a cat motif in response to the prevalence of cats online from the beginning. The real statement though was the stylistic shifting around. I wanted to say “we are playing with identity all the time, why should an artist be an authentic singular identity?” I wanted to show that an artist can wear many masks, and they’re all authentic in representing artistic action.  

Do you consider the internet, social media and contemporary sub-cultures the biggest influences of your work?

I don’t believe you get to choose your influences so much in art. By the time you’re 8 years old or so, your plastic little brain has been shaped by certain formative things. For me, there are two fascinations, first the natural world, which nourishes the animal side of me. The second is the artificial human world of images, electronic media, videogames, movies, art. 

As much as I would like to be integrated into nature like a romantic dreamer I firmly believe humans are stuck outside of nature, so we have to make a new nature for ourselves to comfort and distract ourselves. This is art, and it takes many shapes, from youtube to painting to music. I see all these things as fundamentally the same, art is doing something with love. I see a lot of love in internet cultural activity and so it influences me. Though I have no idea how visible all this is in the work.

Your work isn't shy of colour or texture. Is this rooted in your fascination for animation?

When you learn to animate you become totally dedicated to line. It’s through moving lines that things come to life. Drawing is emphasised more than painting, and so colour and surface are less emphasised. When I came back to painting I really savoured the ability to subtly control the colour of the image and also the final quality of the paint. I go for strong colour because of various factors. You’re certainly right about animation being an influence, I think the colours of well-made cel painted animations are astounding. Particularly in good quality anime feature films of the 80s and 90s. 

My approach is also calculated, I am interested in having an impact followed by a slowly shifting understanding, and you need to push colour to achieve that. Also as I have gotten older and become more and more conscious of art history I feel a sort of obligation to have courage with colour and put out my ideas in a clear way.

Do you listen to music while painting? Does music have an impact on you while you paint?

I absolutely listen to music when I paint, and I am totally repetitive in my choices. I listen to David Bowie’s discography on repeat, and Kate Bush too. If I need to go to a particular mindset I will listen to Bach, Tchaikovsky, Wagner, Glass. Bowie and Bush are just always there, timeless, every aspect of it is totally known and listening to them while painting just greases everything along nicely. I would like to be a curious listener and search for different music, but I think I’ve become extremely focused on the experiences of the eye, and perhaps not so much the other senses.  

"Raucous Bird" is your visual interpretation of Rubi's podcast. Why did you choose this particular work?

Listening to Rubi’s work I was thinking a lot about the space of music, and the way we lose a sense of direction. It becomes spatial, but there isn’t necessarily a top or bottom. This is very different from visual art, which relies a lot on a structure of top, bottom, and so on. It made me think of the paintings of cockatoos I’ve made, who I saw often in Australia, playing fun games in the trees. They appear weightless and live to enjoy the space and their own free bodily movement. For me, the music creates a wonderful association with this memory.

Short, medium and long term goals?

To make exciting paintings that have an impact, and to bring the work to new places. That’s the priority for me at any given time. Thanks so much for asking such great questions. 

— Links:

https://soundcloud.com/itsmerubi https://www.davidsurman.com

W: https://pluienoir.tumblr.com M: info (at) pluienoir.com

[fellowhuman-being]

In addition to the Indonesian Reverse Flag Incident, Apparently There are 4 Other Shameful Things at Sea Games Malaysia 2017

The mistake of Indonesian flag printing in Sea Games 2017 guidebook has made Indonesian people's heart hurt.

Based on Kompas.com, the Malaysian Government finally apologized directly to the people of Indonesia in front of Indonesian Minister of Youth and Sports, Imam Nahrawi, over the incident of the reversed Indonesian flag printed in the book of souvenirs at the opening of the 2017 SEA Games. 

The apology was delivered by the Malaysian Minister of Youth and Sports, Khairy Jamaluddin, after a meeting with Mr. Imam at Shangrilla Hotel, Kuala Lumpur, Sunday (8/20/2017).

As a form of apology, the Government of Malaysia has ordered not to distribute all the books and re-print new books that will be sent back to the state guests.

And besides Indonesia, there are other incidents that make the participating countries also disappointed. 

1. Reversed Flag

The flag error only occurs to Indonesia. Meanwhile, the flag of 10 other SEA Games participating countries are printed correctly.

Well, I’m telling you for you who don’t know. Indonesia and Poland have similar flags. Indonesia’s flag has red on the top and white at the bottom, while Poland is the other way around. You can check it on the internet. So the flag displayed in the booklet is POLAND’s flag, NOT INDONESIA’s flag.

Not only that, errors also occured in special magazine of Sea Games 2017. In the magazine, it featured the 2011 General Champion of Sea Games which was won by Indonesia, but the Indonesian flag was swapped with Thai flag.

2. Indonesian Athletes are Treated Uncomfortably

Adapted from BolaSport.com, before the uprising incidents of Indonesia's pride flag, Nadia Anggraeni, the Indonesian representative in high jump sports, has discovered the ineptness done by the SEA Games 2017 committee.

Nadia found it weird as she and her entourage had to be moved to another hotel when they got to the destination hotel.

The athlete also admitted that she did not get any vehicle service for going to exercise.

"I think Malaysia is deliberately provoking our emotions from the beginning, the hotel where we stay was suddenly moved, and we are not provided with vehicles to go to the training ground," said the high jumping athlete.

Nadia said, as the host, of course Malaysia would do many ways to ruin the concentration of their opponents.

Nadia also advised to all Indonesian athletes that every athlete should control their emotions before the match.

3. Out of Food

As quoted from TribunTimur.com, the Indonesian soccer team players did not get any food. The case occured when they would have breakfast at the hotel where they stayed. As can be seen in the photo that circulates around the internet, the assistant coach of Bima Sakti could only look at the empty food.

The coach could only see some bread that eventually was devoured by the players and the official national team of Indonesia because he doesn’t want his team to be starving. Until now there has been no confirmation from the hotel or the organizers of SEA Games 2017.

4. Yellow Card for Evan Dimas

The decision was really detrimental to Indonesia because previously, Evan has been given a yellow card so that automatically he should be absent in the next game.While in fact, the next game will bring Indonesia to fight Vietnam whose national team known as the “tiger” in the Asian region. Imam Nahrawi immediately asked U-22 national team to appeal against the decision. "It is clear that I am witnessing a disadvantageous decision, for Evan Dimas, who is actually a victim but given a yellow card, I ask the coach and manager of the U-22 National Team to appeal against this decision," he said in his Instagram account @nahrawi_imam.

5. The Female Sepak Takraw Team Walked Out

The National Team of Indonesia for Sepak Takraw entered in the final round in Sea Games 2017. In the final game, they have to face the home team, Malaysia, on Sunday (08/20/2017). Unfortunately, the women's takraw team chose to retreat and walk out when they took a 16-10 lead over Malaysia in the second set. The players and official decided to leave the game because they felt cheated by the main referee, Muhammad Radi, who came from Singapore. "Since the first set there has been an indication of cheating, when my team want to do a service, but they always get canceled," said assistant coach of women's football team Abdul Gani in the recording received by JUARA. “Sould we play like that? It's a shame for our players, it looks like it's set up," he added. "The reason for our players 'services are often canceled is because our players' legs are considered faulted. Maybe the referee does that so that Malaysians  can win, as there are arrangements. As a coach, I see it as not normal," he said. After the match, the Minister of Youth and Sports (Affairs), Imam Nahrawi directly motivated the players who were crying in the locker room. He himself also looks disappointed by the referee team who act unsportsmanlike.

Source:

http://www.tribunnews.com/sport/2017/08/21/lima-insiden-yang-bikin-kontingen-indonesia-kecewa-di-sea-games-2017-malaysia?page=4

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-sea-games-malaysia-indonesia-idUSKCN1B004S

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-40996126

Since I was a child, I always admired the Olympics, Sea Games, AFF, Euro, World Cup, and many other sport competitions. I always get excited with the result especially when my country, Indonesia, participates in the competition. Cause this is the time when Indonesian can be seen as a country that is full of talented people, NOT only in badminton, but also in other fields.

But, this morning I woke up with a lot of disappointment. Reading this article literally broke my heart. I LITERALLY HAVE NO EXCITEMENT TO EVEN UPDATE ABOUT SEA GAMES ANYMORE. It’s USELESS with these many bad treatments to the people of my country, even if I’m actually sure our athletes will not give up with those unsportmanlike behavior cause we have what so called “Sharp Bamboo Spirit” or “Semangat Bambu Runcing”. (Note: I’m sure Indonesians understand this term).

I grow up always looking at similar news on my TV: “Indonesia’s disputes with Malaysia over folk songs”, “Malaysia claims Indonesia’s as their territory”, and many other disputes. Most of my life, I always see my country being denounced by Malaysia as a LOSER just because we can’t protect our own culture, history, and territory and because our leaders love PEACE so much. So whenever Malaysia is setting up a fire or looking for a trouble with us, we always try to back off so that there will be no war between both countries. But it doesn’t mean we didn’t fight, especially when it comes to our heritage and territory.

But in fact, this doesn’t happen to Indonesia only.

1. Myanmar Team Was Not Given Any Transportation After Beating the Malaysian national team 

After winning over the host, Malaysia, with a score 5-0 on Thursday (17/08/2017), abandoned women's national team from Myanmar could not return to the hotel because the bus driver was not there.

There are rumours that the driver was suddenly arrested by the Malaysian police. 

2. Broadcasting Restrictions for Burmese

Burmese people could not watch all their soccer matches due to broadcast restrictions from local Malaysian committees. 

They reasoned that they could not broadcast the game, because the stadium does not have adequate facilities to conduct live broadcasts.

Source: http://bogor.tribunnews.com/2017/08/20/tak-cuma-bendera-indonesia-yang-terbalik-ini-5-insiden-memalukan-di-sea-games-malaysia-2017?page=4

http://www.tribunnews.com/sport/2017/08/20/selain-insiden-bendera-terbalik-ternyata-ada-4-hal-memalukan-lainnya-di-sea-games-malaysia-2017?page=4

Lol, well I guess the #ShameOnYouMalaysia trending was there for a reason, not only because we are all disappointed, but because of their unprofessionalism as the host.

Well, I just hope that Indonesia will not be like its neighboring country and will be a better host of Asian Games 2018 as anyway, this olympic is in a higher level than SEA Games 2017.

https://www.indonesia.travel/en/post/indonesia-set-to-host-18th-asian-games-2018-in-jakarta-and-palembang

http://www.straitstimes.com/sport/indonesia-ready-for-2018-asiad

[chris-carson]

The Economist

Up until that day Arthur had spent his life on one branch of a family tree ripe with independent wealth. When they met, his parents joined their respective fortunes—his father’s from a string of agricultural technology patents and his mother’s from a high profile corporate law practice—to bring him, their only child, into a very comfortable nest. He had a cousin that made a fortune with an app that alerts users that their laundry is dry. One aunt made a fortune ghostwriting bestsellers for entrepreneurial men that, like her son, make apps. His uncle was publisher and editor-in-chief of an iconoclastic political magazine called The Ambiguous Review . Then, of course, there were his grandfathers, on both sides, whom he only ever learned to describe as “businessmen.” Call it a blessing or call it a delusion, but Arthur never thought about money. When he finally attempted to fly the nest he only fluttered softly to the ground like a maple seed, where he sank into reverential daydreams about his own lineage. He wasn't mesmerized by the fortunes, no, but by all the ability, the talent. He was sure that equal, or greater, talent was waiting in him for its moment to flower. It was only a matter of finding the right habitat. After four years of college in San Francisco, and three more years there waiting to blossom, Arthur had relocated to Washington DC, to more fertile ground in which to take root.

The week he arrived, the whole historical DC skyline was erased by a thick gray blizzard that, when finally settled, had buried the eastern seaboard under feet of snow. As the city stalled, trying to clear the streets and dig out the metro stations, Arthur stayed indoors, typing. He was planning on starting a blog about DC, an insider's look at the world’s most powerful city. He wrote a few pieces that he never published. Then as quickly as it came, the snow melted away. From his window Arthur could watch clouds of honking geese push their gracefully rounded weight through the thick, misty air. He watched as people, thawed out of their apartments, made their way back to work. But Arthur had no work to go to. He had a freezer full of bagged food from Trader Joe’s and in between episodes of “House of Cards,” Arthur Isaacs began to worry about his future. Something would have to happen.

And something did happen. Arthur’s publishing uncle called one afternoon to say he had a good friend in DC, an economist named Lev Reissmann. He was the world's foremost expert on Sri Lankan rubber imports. Arthur recognized the name from college when Reissmann came to lecture, Arthur’s sophomore year. After hearing him speak, Arthur changed his major for the third time in two years to study economics. When Arthur learned that his uncle knew Reissmann, not as the wizard that had predicted Myanmar's boom in thumbtack sales, but as Levy, fellow Cub Scout and childhood friend, Arthur saw a chance to make a big connection in a city built on connections, and finally do something for himself.

All Arthur had to do was find P Street and hurry to the meet Reissmann. He was already late, but heading in the right direction now, he walked down a long street. Victorian town houses rose above him on either side, with long thin fronts, the paint faded to colors like soft pastel and red brick faded to orange. They were squeezed together like layers in ancient rocks. The leafless limbs of the magnolia trees lining the street bent arthritically in all directions. Parked along the sidewalk was a steady stream of placid luxury sedans and station wagons. The narrowness of the street made it seem like a dry bone that had shrunk under the heat of time. But with the sun at his back Arthur walked quickly through the whole scene, up to a tall house fronted by thick brown stone steps. There was the  figure of a man standing at the wide window holding a road atlas but gazing past it and onto the street from under a red baseball cap. It was Reissmann.  

The front door was nearly ten feet tall with a big brass door knob and a glinting mail slot. The big front window jutted out from the front of the house and through a thinner pane of glass on the side, Arthur looked into the front parlor room at Reissmann, still standing at the window. The immaculate room could have swallowed Arthur’s entire studio and held room for more. The fireplace alone was larger than Arthur’s kitchen. It was framed by a glittering marble mantle, cut with straight stately lines. Books lined the walls from floor to ceiling. Billowing white sofas sat carelessly in the center of the room surrounding a low table carved from wood fine and red. Arthur stood at the window on the porch waving, trying to catch Reisman's attention but couldn't. Arthur’s own reflection in the glass waved back at him, like it were mocking him from the center of that wonderful room.

How nice it would be to live in one of those, instead of these tiny apartments in these old buildings. In San Francisco, he had shared a basement apartment with his girlfriend Anne Marie, and standing in the cold he suddenly thought of the musky smell that permeated from the carpeting and the constant battle against black mold in the bathroom. Before his last rainy season out west, Arthur remembered getting a call from his cousin, who mentioned that a tech millionaire was looking to invest in something artistic, like a movie. Arthur felt confident he could write a screenplay. He told his girlfriend Anne Marie about the opportunity. She was a small young woman, almost squat, with plump red cheeks and little pea-shaped brown eyes that would droop at the corners when she was excited, and she was excited by the news, as she was by all of Arthur’s opportunities, and much of what he thought and spoke.

“Oh babe, that is so great. I’m so happy for you” Anne Marie had said.

She was working as a waitress in a hotel restaurant to earn a little bit of money while she got her graphic design portfolio together for graduate school. Every night she made a point of bringing sushi home just in case Arthur had forgotten to eat dinner. So while Arthur ate salmon nigiri dipped in soy sauce, he glowed vibrantly with all the ideas he’d ever had over the years that could be used for a screenplay.

But on a night when the rain came, without a sign of letting up, Anne Marie returned from work with her leather jacket pulled over her head, the paper bag of sushi soaked through and torn. After eight months on the screenplay, Arthur had taken a lot of good notes, but hadn't put anything to paper.

“I hope the sushi isn't wet,” Anne Marie said, shaking herself off at the door, and combing her fingers through her dripping hair. Arthur was reading on the couch, a little drunk.

“Hi babe,” Anne Marie said, but Arthur didn't answer.

She walked over to him. “Are you not talking to me tonight?” she asked.

“No, I’m sorry,” Arthur said, “I’m just busy doing some writing.”

She bent down to kiss him. Walking off to the kitchen she asked, “How has the writing been going?”

“Fine,” Arthur said.

“Are you getting a lot done?” she asked.

“Yes,” he said.

“When can I read it?” she asked.

She came back with a glass of water and the sushi on a plate that she placed for Arthur on a low table they kept in front of the sofa and sat down next to him.

Arthur didn't answer. Anne Marie turned the television on. He was better off without her. He was better off here, in the city of his future. It was only a matter of ringing the doorbell. Arthur fired his hand quickly at the brass encased doorbell and heard it chime inside. When he turned back to look in through the window Reissmann was gone, the road atlas rested on the back of one of the white couches. But nobody answered the door. Arthur worried he had done something wrong. Had he imagined hearing the chime? Maybe he had imagined pressing the bell all together. Maybe this wasn't even the right house. In a panic, Arthur fired his hand again. As he did, the door opened and a now hatless Reissmann, bundled in a dusty wool coat and scarf, appeared at the door as the second bell chimed just above the old man’s head. Reissmann gasped and jumped back in surprise.

“Sorry to keep you waiting, Mr. Isaacs,” Reissmann said, hard lines cutting through his forehead, below his marble white hair.

“No, I’m sorry,” Arthur said, “Are you okay? I just didn’t think you heard me.”

“Yes, I’m fine and I can tell you I heard that,” Reissmann said, ducking back inside the house, leaving the door open. Arthur watched him shuffle down the long shadowed hallway to a block of light coming from the back of the house. Arthur began to follow him, only to realize, after three or four steps in, that he had not, in fact, been invited inside. He quietly made his way back out, hoping Reissmann wouldn't see him. Arthur heard muffled voices coming from the back. Dipping his head back through the doorway into the shadows, he asked, loudly, “What was that?” No answer. When Reissmann came back outside holding a briefcase he told Arthur, “I wasn't speaking to you,” and locked up the house.

They walked down the street, back in the direction Arthur had come from. The sun in the late afternoon was low in the sky. It spread a thick blonde light over everything that briefly reminded Arthur of San Francisco. Anne Marie used to squeeze honey that was the same color as the light spreading over everything into her mint tea. Thinking of her like that made it hard for Arthur to concentrate on whatever it was Reissmann was talking about. All that honey she would go through, how greedily she’d squeeze that bear-shaped bottle into her favorite tea cup.

“You live on such a beautiful street,” Arthur said suddenly, cutting Reissmann off in the middle of an anecdote about his son’s tenure.

“Yes, I suppose I can take a little credit for the street,” Reisman said. “You see, when my wife and I bought our place — that was nearly fifty years ago now — this whole street was just full of empty houses. We basically had our pick of where we wanted to live and bought the place for a little more than the money we had in our pockets. Not really, of course, but you get the idea. It was cheap. Now it must be worth...well, millions!”

“You are very lucky,” Arthur said, unsure himself what he meant by lucky.

“Luck has nothing to do with it. We are still working on the house, of course, and that means, still paying for it,” Reissmann said.

“But at least it is yours,” Arthur said.

“Yes,” Reissmann said, “it is ours.”

A silence fell between them as they paused at an intersection. Arthur looked at Reissmann who looked back and gave a forced and toothy smile. Reissmann’s teeth were in bad shape, small, birdlike and brown, his lips were all chapped and cracked and dry. Looking closer, Arthur saw his small and crooked fingers gripping the faux leather briefcase. His chinos had bleach stains near the pockets. He had loosened his scarf, warmed by the walk, revealing the wide collar on his dress shirt poking out of his sweater like a gaping mouth trying to swallow that little head of his.

“I have a late meeting this afternoon, in just about half an hour. I thought we could get coffee at the Bolingbrook Institute, where I work, and bring it to my office, instead of going to the cafe to chat,” Reissmann said as they crossed the street.

When they arrived at The Bolingbrook, Arthur looked up towards the angled glass structure donning the front of the tall, brick building, home to one of DC’s most influential think tanks. Looking up, he could see people walking quickly from one floor to another, working on the world’s finest economic quandaries. They were as busy as ants, moving like quick geckos in a terrarium. Arthur didn't know the first thing about what they did at the Bolingbrook Institute, but he still pictured himself charming Reissmann into an internship, then watched himself rushing down those white steel steps, looking out from inside the glass box at a hopeful young man looking up from the street the way Arthur was. He could see himself invite the boy up to give him an opportunity, just like the great Lev Reisman did for him. He saw it all before even going inside.

Inside though, Reissmann led him silently downstairs to the cafe. Arthur ordered a simple black coffee, while Reissmann got a large cafe au lait. The young woman working the counter had big eyes brown as acorns like they were painted onto her soft, full, brown face. As Arthur tried to pay Reissmann for the coffee, Reissmann was busy following this young woman along the counter, saying, “And please, more milk than coffee.”

She nodded at him without a word. Reissmann, though, was eager to talk. “Your hair looks very pretty today,” he said. She didn't respond as she turned to fill the tall paper cup with more milk. When she turned back, Reissmann asked her, “How are you?”

She nodded and handed him the cup. He took it and said, “Gracias,” with a long, roll of the R. He held up one dollar for her to see, then stuffed it in the tip box with a smile.

This woman was not Mexican or Spanish, and Arthur could see that, but he didn't think he should say anything. He watched Reissmann struggle with his stiff fingers to pour honey into the cup, but didn't offer to help.

Upstairs, Reissmann’s office was spacious, but mostly empty. There was a desk in the center of the room, some wires running from the dusty computer on the desk, back to the outlet below the wide window on the room's back wall, directly behind Reissmann, who sat behind the desk. There was a filing cabinet in the corner. All the drawers were open and empty. Along one wall were stacks of old boxes that looked to be deflating like old pumpkins. There were no bookcases, no phones, the computer wasn't on. It was hard to tell if somebody was just arriving, or on his way out. Reissmann got right to the point.

“We don't have much time,” he said. “So tell me how it is you think I can help you?”

“Well this is a big help,” Arthur said, “just meeting with me like this. I know you are busy, so thank you. I guess I’d like to know if you have any advice for a young person who's just moved here, any advice on how they can make it.”

As he was finishing talking, Reissmann raised his cup to his lips. Arthur watched as the loose top slipped off and he spilled a stream of milky yellow coffee into his lap.  Reissmann shrieked and leapt out of his chair.

“It’s fine,” Reissmann said.

“At least it is more milk than coffee, right?” Arthur said.

“Something like that,” and sitting back down Reissmann added, “I don't know what happened.”

“I do,” Arthur said.

“Excuse me?” Reissmann asked.

“The top wasn't on all the way,” Arthur said. “I noticed it downstairs too, but didn't think it was my place to tell you, or say anything.”

Reissmann looked at Arthur for a moment, his lips taut like he was about to say a hundred things, but couldn't start somewhere. “Anyway,” he started after a moment, “to answer your question. Young people have been moving to DC for as long as I've been here and seem to make it, as you say, just fine without any advice from me. You see?”

Arthur nodded.

“In fact, I think there have been entirely too many young people moving here and expecting the city to give them all kinds of things, expecting the city to change for them in all kinds of ways. They don't appreciate the history. They don't appreciate the culture. They don't want to work hard. In fact, it is as if all they want is advice.”

As he went on and on, Arthur saw, in the lines around his forced smile, could hear, between his polite tone, exasperation and annoyance. He thought about San Francisco again, about the last time he spoke to Anne Marie, when he told her he was thinking about leaving and he could see in both the shape her face took and the way her eyes moved, that the surprise and confusion had morphed into anger and resentment. He remembered the way she challenged him to simply say what he wanted, whether it was to leave her or stay with her, it didn't matter but just be a man and say it and stop the excuses. He never did. He told her he was going to visit family on the east coast, but never intended to see her again, and somehow, listening to this old man talk about what he learned in the Peace Corps, Arthur finally understood what it must have been like for her, trying to talk to a cowardly, selfish man.

“Well, thanks for your time,” Arthur said, standing to go, “It was a pleasure to meet you.”

“Sure thing,” Reissmann said, “and good luck.”

The two men never saw each other again, but when Arthur got home he found an email from Reissmann waiting for him with the name and number of a reputable temp agency. There was no response to the Facebook message he had sent Anne Marie a few days before, telling her that he was going to meet Reissmann for coffee. Arthur opened their messages and looked at the little thumbnail picture of her for a minute, then wrote, “Well that couldn’t have gone any better. I think I may get a fellowship at Bolingbrook!!” She never responded to that message either. San Francisco was having a heat wave and the nights there were suddenly warmer and Anne Marie was happy to find herself enjoying bourbon for the first time in her life, and giving up mint tea completely.

[ursafilms]

The New Millennium and                 American Express

Production got positively dull after my last video game with Lucas, Force Commander in 1997. The company pulled it just after casting. Too bad because if you wanted to cast aliens (No. Not those.) and save money on prosthetics, San Francisco should be your first stop. A collection of some very talented people came through every casting session in the Bay Area, but the effects of living in one of the stranger parts of the world had taken its toll.

Casting in New York City had everything from strong character actors to every flavor of leading man and woman. Casting in Los Angeles showcased the concept of The Beautiful People. Casting in San Francisco would generate a remake of Tod Browning’s Freaks.

The tapes from Force Commander’s casting sessions looked like a rehearsal day for George Lucas’ latest meeting of the Imperial Senate. Somewhere in San Francisco’s past the circus came to town and all the performers escaped one night and polluted the gene pool. If PT Barnum had been around in the late 20thcentury, he’d never have gone into the business. The competition in Northern California would have been too stiff.

But alas, Force Commander died on the boardroom floor.

****

My four year run of bloated corporate gigs ran into the recession of 2000 and 2001. Since I cultivated TV, film, and commercial clients, a return to those sources of income presented itself and I took advantage of the ability to cross business sectors.

First up? A return to the world of ad agencies.

American Express ran a series of ads in the early 2000s that utilized the concept of ‘the chase.’ One of them had an Olympic sprinter running through the streets of Rome to catch the thief who had stolen her AMEX card.

Another concept showcased a Mister Softee ice cream truck pursuing a criminal on a Vespa through the streets of San Francisco. That thief had stolen the AMEX card of Michael Andretti, who had stopped by to purchase an ice cream cone.

And that’s where I came in.

The production company, Anonymous Content, a major player in the commercial industry, called to check my availability to manage, not line produce, the job for American Express. I had moved on years ago from production manager, who is one of the most beleaguered individuals you will see on any film set. If you spot someone on a production who looks old for their age and isn’t some Hollywood retread with too much cosmetic surgery, that’s the P.M.

No small amount of convincing later, Anonymous Content had their P.M.

Me.

The job had too many tempting elements to turn down. International buy. Michael Andretti as the on-camera principal driving the ice cream truck. But most importantly, a proposed duplication of the famous chase scene from Bullitt.

So I sucked it up and took the job. Money did not motivate this. Line producers are paid much more than P.M.s and get compensated for more days. P.M.s also have a tendency to work sixteen hour days and are treated by every other person in every other department like the new sex offender in the neighborhood.

Other than that, it’s a great gig in the industry.

The job lost any of its remaining bloom early and went south in a hurry. It all started with the second phone call from Anonymous Content explaining their UK partner, Gorgeous Enterprises would send the line producer from London.

Said line producer would travel from their UK office along with the director, and a camera operator since there are none of those in Bay Area. We’re not talking the Director of Photography. This is someone further down the pecking order and not a shot composer. Literally, about a step up from a button pusher.

The third phone call informed me that a staff coordinator would be joining us, as would the production designer, another Brit.

By the time the fifth phone call came in, I had ten people from England piling onto a Bay Area junket right in the middle of The World Cup. They did spare me from bringing Roger Deakins from London in to shoot the commercial. I only had to drag some guy from L.A. and hire his 1stA.C. who wanted his 2ndA.C. That was an interesting conversation.

1stA.C.: “Let me give you my 2ndA.C.’s contact information.”

Me: “I’m not dating, but thanks for thinking of me.”

1stA.C.: “No, you’ll need it to talk to him about his travel arrangements.”

Me: “Now you’re messing with me. I’m supposed to travel a secondassistant cameraman; put them up at a hotel; give them per diem; and listen to their complaints about how badly production is treating the crew?”

1stA.C.: “This is not unreasonable. When you go out of town, don’t you bring your coordinator with you?”

Me: “No.”

That threw him. He hung up and the next thing I knew, Caliguletta, the line producer from London and Gorgeous Enterprises, called me.

Caliguletta: “I understand you and the A.C. are having a disagreement.”

Me: “It’s not a disagreement. There is no reason to bring a second assistant cameraman up from Los Angeles. A first, yes. Second, no.”

Caliguletta overrode me, and the contingent from Los Angeles, which now included the Key Grip and his Best Boy, had grown to equal that of the Junket Junkies from the U.K., with the addition of the 2ndA.C.

The bloat continued.

The shooting boards timed out at 97 seconds for a 30 second spot. For those of you with a firm grip on math that gave the director a more than three to one amount of creative to go into editorial and subsequently jack up thosecharges. All that says to me, because this particular director is not alone in this type of indulgence, is that the decision making gene in creative types is non-existent.

****

With all the junkets arranged and the prep finished, principal photography began.

On the first shoot day, the director decided to go three hours into meal penalties to get a shot of a Tai Chi group going through their exercises in a city park. Shockingly, the crew and the above-the-line Junket Junkies complained about the three hour old lunch, which many of them do because Junket Junkies don’t actually DO anything on a set. They show up. Eat. Complain. Go back to their hotels. Drink. Eat. Sleep far too few hours. Wake up late for call. And start the entire process all over again.

After the last complaint about lunch was registered with Caliguletta, she walked me around the block and divulged that the lack of a hot truck in the Bay Area would present an ongoing problem. When I countered that perhaps the six meal penalties on a cast and crew of about a hundred might present a larger issue, the response exposed Caliguletta’s financial POV of the job.

Caliguletta appeared non-plussed about the damage to the bottom line. I should have heeded her disinterest as a harbinger of things to come. Quite frankly the job housed and fed a production coordinator, a 2ndA.C., and a camera operator. I’m an idiot for not noticing the Moscow May Day Parade of red flags flying earlier.

The balance of the lunchtime meals for the job now included reservations for a party of about 25 every day for lunch at one of the tonier San Francisco establishments. At the very least, Caliguletta appeared satisfied the above-the-line Junket Junkies would be able to run up a $75 per person lunch tab.

Then the teamsters piled on with the help of Anonymous Content.

During the prep for the job, I went through the production company contracts. The usual ones were in place, DGA, SAG commercials, IATSE, 600 and 52 Cameramen and the dreaded Teamsters. There were a few subcontracts for the overstaffed Vanities Department, and I had to deal with local members of the IA as well as the L.A. crew and, of course, the U.K. members, which fortunately limited itself to the camera operator.

The accounting department of Anonymous sent me all the requisite paperwork and documents. I covered off on minimal staffing for drivers and at the very least, had 15 Teamsters on my job including the transportation coordinator and captain. In the middle of all the hiring, no one,

including Caliguletta and the staff personnel at Anonymous informed me of the need for Gang Boss for the Teamsters.

When someone finally told me about, I offered to hire a Gang Boss if their contract required it.

Me: “A Gang Boss? Okay. I’ll call the union and have one sent out.”

Hysterical Person of Unknown Department: “There are no Gang Bosses in San Francisco.”

Me: “That might be an impediment to quickly resolving this.”

Hysterical Person of Unknown Department: “You moron. You should know this.”

Me: “Actually, the 37 people I queried at Anonymous and Gorgeous should have helped me with their contract when I called and spent an hour making sure I had proper staffing. Also, the producer might have mentioned this.”

Hysterical Person of Unknown Department: “You’re incompetent. The Teamsters are going to hit us with a fine.”

Me: “Oh, go tell Caliguletta. That money stuff doesn’t seem to bother her.”

The Teamsters did hit Anonymous with a fine, and sent me a Gang Boss from Los Angeles. I now had a Gang Boss, a Transportation Captain, and a Transportation Coordinator managing eight vehicles and 12 drivers.

On top of all this hilarity, the World Cup or The Endless Insomnia Cure as I call it, started its 28 month round robin, multiple elimination, one-and-not-quite-done contest of six hour games ending in 0-0 ties.

Conveniently, The Endless Insomnia Cure had chosen the other side of world, Korea and Japan, as the countries in which to conduct its business. As such, the conscientious Junket Junkies decided that attending the midnight start between Myanmar and Bhutan at the local Faux Public House seven hours before call time of the first shoot day might be a brilliant idea.

Sleep-deprived and upset that Bhutan had prevailed by a score of 0-0, the director, camera operator and Caliguletta showed up the morning of shoot day one and immediately hated the craft service, an honor normally reserved for the ad agency.

Not enough fair trade coffee. No chocolate biscuits. Produce which appeared to have been picked by underage children. What hot food did make it to the first table did not have a vegan option.

In their defense, I’d hired the great husband and wife team that had been providing craft services for Bay Area shoots for a decade and had an excellent reputation. Of course, the wife chose this day to come down with the flu and in typical crew person fashion didn’t bother to tell me.

Nor did her husband, but all is forgiven since he was on his own trying to feed about 80 people who had breakfast at home amnesia. I assigned a P.A. to help him and turned my attention to important things. Like getting the director a chocolate biscuit, the instructions to which came over the walkie-talkie.

Caliguletta: “Director wants a latte and a chocolate biscuit.”

Me: “Okay, I’ll send the P.A. out that’s helping Craft Services. There’s a Starbucks near a Starbucks near here.”

Caliguletta: “You don’t have her anymore. Locations sucked all the P.A.s up for traffic and crowd control.”

Me: “That’s too bad. I was actually going to have them get me a chocolate biscuit too, since I don’t know what the Hell it is.”

Caliguletta lost her temper, which I ignored.

Me: “I’ll get another P.A., but you have to give me a few minutes, or give me one of the 15 I’ve already hired to send out. I’m by myself in this Motorhome. My coordinators are back at the office dealing with tomorrow’s shoot. Speaking of coordinators, why don’t you send the one we brought over from England out. He’d at least know what a chocolate biscuit looks like.”

Caliguletta: “He’s at camera with me.”

Me: “Doing what?”

Another loss of temper.

To Caliguletta’s credit she treated me with a low level of contempt during the balance of the shoot, and I’d soon find out why. But first, let me mention another unnecessary $5000 expenditure to throw on the bonfire. And I won’t even bother to cover the $2500 directional sign in original Mandarin that increased the running length of the spot to one hundred seconds.

Here’s how we ended up with another $5K charge on the San Francisco city permit bill.

The director and Caliguletta tasked the locations department with the removal of a streetlamp so the director could squeeze the Mister Softee Ice Cream truck down the one alley in Chinatown that couldn’t quite fit its width. I completely understand his insistence since Chinatown in San Francisco only has about a thousand slightly wider alleyways that look exactly like the one he picked. Quite frankly, Chinatown in San Francisco is a neighborhood of a thousand alleyways that look exactly alike. $2500 for removal and replacement.

Caliguletta waved her hand and made it so.

****

But the highlight of highlights had to be the $10,000 hazard pay fee we had to pay the stunt driver of the Mister Softee Ice Cream truck.

During the car chase scene in Bullitt, the Bad Guy GTO and Steve McQueen’s Mustang both jump a ridiculously steep hill in a neighborhood in San Francisco. It’s in Nob or Russian Hill. As long as I lived in the Bay Area I never knew where one of those neighborhoods started the other ended. The director decided to duplicate that jump using the Vespa and Mister Softee.

Did I mention that Michael Andretti drove Mister Softee?

Yes, he did. However for the stunt, we hired a SAG certified stunt driver. He received $10,000 per jump given the hazardous nature of the request. The operator of the Vespa, a Bay Area local, had the Bullitt chase scene on his bucket list. No one looked forward to that day more than these two stuntmen, and money did not enter into the equation. Maybe.

The day arrived. The street, clear of cars, save for two which necessitated a tow. Ridiculous because part of the art direction called for automobiles to be parked on both sides of the stretch of the jump, but, of course they had to be camera friendly cars, whatever that means. A week later, two irate citizens of San Francisco would be knocking on the production office door a few days later to demand reimbursement of the $227 fine and the $75 ticket. Reasonable requests given that production had only given them TEN DAYS NOTICE.

You can guess how much money the two received as reimbursement.

As I mentioned, the expensive vagaries of production dictated that the cars on both sides of the street be under the jurisdiction of the company, so spots were driven and filled by the location P.A.s (The ones hired by me, but no longer available to get lattes and chocolate biscuits, whatever they Hell they were.) and after parking the film-friendly cars, they hustled up and down the sidewalks warning occupants not to venture out until an ‘All Clear’ could be heard over the megaphone.

For some stupid reason, I left the confines of the motorhome to watch the jump. I’d not seen one take in four days. Sadly, I also had a walkie-talkie so the A.D. department enlisted me to help signal the Vespa and the Mister Softee Ice Cream truck from the top of the hill, clear it, and descend towards the multiple camera positions. I asked where the six other 2ndAssistant Directors were and got rebuffed immediately with some sort of gobbledygook from the 1stA.D., a harried Englishman with a shaved head who hailed from L.A. The incomprehensible excuses mounted and I finally broke the stream.

Me: “So they’re out getting lattes and chocolate biscuits?”

Sid Vapid, the A.D.: “If that lazy git of a production manager did his job, they wouldn’t have to.”

Me: “Really? If that lazy git of an A.D. and location manager could lock down a neighborhood with fewer resources than Eisenhower had at D-Day, I’d have a spare P.A. or two. So why don’t you just kiss my—”

Sid Vapid, the A.D.: “Sorry mate, got a set to run. Cheers!”

Whenever anyone from England says “Cheers” to you, they have an image in their mind of shoving an icepick into one of your eyeballs.

I stationed myself on the side of the hill opposite the down side towards the camera positions. The San Francisco based stunt man sat on the Vespa and continued to figure out how many laws of physics he could break before he ended up room temperature with an ID tag on his toe, or crushed to the size of Jeremy Piven. The driver of the Mister Softee Ice Cream truck looked so calm, I thought I’d have to shove a mirror under his nose to see if it would fog.

That’s when I noticed the walkie-talkie lying just to the ice cream truck driver’s right. Sid, the A.D. ran through the instructions over the walkie once more.

Sid: “The call will be Roll A Camera, Roll B Camera, Roll C Camera, and then Background! All that before I call Action!”

During Sid’s clear cut description of the call, I noticed the ice cream truck driver’s walkie cutting out at, oh, every word. The only word(s) that the ice cream truck driver heard was “Action!”

I figured this out when I heard the gunning of the ice cream truck’s engine and the release of the emergency brake. I got on the walkie.

Me: “Sid (Not his real name)! The truck is making the jump! Get everyone off the street!”

Sid: “Who’s the sodding b%$t@rd that sent the truck!?”

Me: “You. I’ll explain later. He’s approaching the crest of the hill.”

Have no idea what transpired on the down jump side of the street, but I sprinted to the top and saw an absolutely spectacular stunt. The driver got several feet of air under the vehicle and just before it would have taken out the entire front end of the truck, it landed on the front tires and flew down the hill.

You will have to take my word for it, as none of the three cameras rolled a millimeter of film on the event. The stunt driver hit the brakes somewhere around Lake Tahoe and turned around. After stopping for moment to speak with the A.D., he continued back up the hill for another take, which would net him another $10,000.

He sang “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” as he passed by me. He even smiled and waved.

****

The shoot ended a day later with the last of the shots needed to put together the film festival entrant, “Bullitt Redux.” While the crew from L.A., after diving into the hotel swimming pool at 3am, left for southern California, Yours truly and the production staff returned to the office to wrap the job and get the London contingent back across the pond.

The job wrapped smoothly, especially for such a large one. Credit goes to Joyce Quan, who dealt with the accounting and Petra Janopaul, who dealt with more production details than I think actually existed on the job.

I’ll even credit myself for putting up with the bunch from England who did seem more interested in the results of The World Cup than the seven figure job on which they worked. I worked on it. Petra and Joyce worked on it. I know I saw parts of the art department working on it. Even caught a glimpse of the 2ndA.C. changing a lens one of the days.

I still don’t know what a Gang Boss does.

We packed up the office, a temporary set-up in San Francisco’s Presidio, and I started my next gig, an episodic television show for John Wells of West Wingfame.

But not before a few things happened.

About a week after the shoot, I received a long email with a request to explain about 20 purchase orders and their attached invoices. A few examples:

P.O. #XYZ212 – Hotel Unknown –   

Room Service for Tuesday 6/12                     $453.27

Room Service for Wednesday 6/13                $377.02

Room Service for Thursday  6/14                   $298.98

Room Service for Friday  6/15                        $477.55

Room Service for Tuesday 6/19                     $822.88

Room Service for Wednesday 6/20                $375.30

Room Service for Thursday  6/21                   $654.01

Room Service for Friday  6/22                        $468.24

GRAND TOTAL                                               A LOT

NOTE FROM PRODUCTION: Given that the entire out of town crew was on Per Diem and received most of their meals during scouting and shooting, to what do we attribute these charges?

P.O. #XYZ277 – Bob’s Electric –      

Installation of 220V Service                           $750.00

Removal of 220V Service                               $750.00

GRAND TOTAL                                            $1500.00

NOTE FROM PRODUCTION: Since your country is on 110V service, is there any reason to install and then remove, just a day later, a 220V service?

P.O. #XYZ243 – City of SF –            

Removal of streetlamp                                 $1200.00

Replacement of streetlamp                          $1200.00

Nuisance Fee                                                $ 100.00

GRAND TOTAL                                            $2500.00

There were at least 15, if not 20, more P.O.s called into question. Having closed the office and completed the wrap, did not stop me from feeling obligated to look through the purchase orders and the invoices one more time as courtesy. I had reviewed them the first time during the official wrap, and every single one had been signed off by Caliguletta, the line producer.

A couple conversations took place between me and the head of the accounting department. I’ve consolidated them.

Me: “I’ve reviewed the P.O.s and the invoices and found nothing the second time through that I didn’t find the first time. Caliguletta signed off on the lot of them. I didn’t see any missing signatures.”

Angry Accountant: “The job is $100,000 over budget. How do you explain that?”

Me: “We spent more money than what was in the budget.”

Angry Accountant: “This is no joke. You’ll need to re-actualize the job.”

Me: “Okay. Let me see if I can rent a couple of the offices we used for the shoot, and I’ll check and see if Joyce and Petra are available. As soon as I tie that up, I’ll request—”

Angry Accountant: “We’re not spending any more money on this job.”

Me: “You don’t know how great it is to hear that. I don’t think that sentence left Caliguletta’s lips the entire time she was here.”

Angry Accountant: “Oh, so it’s the line producer’s fault, is it?”

Me: “Yes. That’s their job. The P.M. can tell you how the money got spent, but only the line producer can tell you why. I think you need to check with Caliguletta.”

Angry Accountant: “She quit a couple days after the shoot.”

Me: “That should tell you all you need to know.”

Angry Accountant: “So you won’t reactualize the job?”

Me: “Not for free.”

A few days later the executive producer from Anonymous Content and Gorgeous Enterprises had me on the phone. As calmly as possible I delineated the excess on the job that Caliguletta seemed perfectly fine with approving. As far as my own transgressions, I admitted to a lack of haute cuisine and that the amount of the Teamster’s fine for the lack of a Gang Boss could be withdrawn from my salary. They demurred, but did insist that my next job for either company had better have Wolfgang Puck manning the hot truck.

[tirsaroundtheworld]

Kuala Lumpur

Welcome to the first episode of my solo adventure! Actually it is more like a pilot as it covers just a few days; just enough to get warmed up for the coming weeks. I was well reminded of my soleness when leaving Sri Lanka, as I was asked for Mr. Hemmes at the airport several times and I spent the 4 hours on board the plane next to a very empty seat. Upon arrival, it was time to test my skills in terms of finding money and, a lot more interesting, my way out of the airport and into the city. Those of you who know me well will probably crack up by the thought of my major talent with directions, but I can assure you that I managed to find a hostel without any issues! 💪 Arrived and well, my 4 days of exploring Kuala Lumpur started and here's what I did: # With an average walking distance of about 20 km per day, I explored different areas of Kuala Lumpur by foot. Being centrally based in China Town, the Petaling and Central markets, the 'main' street Bukit Bintang, the KL Tower, the Petronas Twin towers, the KLCC Park, the bird and butterfly parks and the Merdaka Square were all perfectly walkable. One afternoon I got on a random Go KL free bus and just drove around looking at the life outside the bus window. I most enjoyed a beautiful sunset in KLCC Park, looking at the changing sky behind the Petronas Towers, while a peaceful yet quite spectaculair and colorful fountain show with music set the mood just right. 🌇 # One day I spent with a family friend who lives in Sunway, one of the suburbia of KL, and knew me when I was a baby. She took out all day to show me around the area, once known for its palm trees and 'resort living' but now filled with an over the top luxury resort with theme park in the backyard, a HUGE mall with 800 stores, an ice skating park and a bowling alley and an ever growing number of highways to connect it with the city. To cool down we enjoyed a nice swim in their local club and we did a culinary tour involving Chinese dim sum for breakfast, Malaysian coconut ice cream for lunch, Indian roti for dinner and the best homemade chocolate cake for dessert (and maybe for breakfast the next morning too 😁), all so delicious! I sure had another image in mind when I imagined a suburb, thus it was even more eye popping to experience the immenseness of this place. But mostly it was just wonderful to get to know each other a bit better! 😌 # In the end I have not been alone for that much time at all! From the night of my arrival until the moment I had to leave for the airport I have been meeting people in the hostel and even just in the streets so I ended up not having to spend any of the long city walks, amazing dinners or rainy evenings by myself! I can almost state that it was harder to say no and stick to my own plan at times! 👍 It feels like I am off to a good start and I am ready to find out what will happen on the next episode of Tirsa vs. world. Myanmar, here I come. Please be as welcoming as KL! 🇲🇲

[fashion4pk-blog]

MRTV-4 Live Myanmar’s Got Talent 4th Semi Final

MRTV-4 Live Myanmar’s Got Talent 4th Semi Final

MRTV-4 Live Myanmar’s Got Talent 4th Semi Final, Myanmar’s Got Talent Semi-Final (4th Week) – 01.09.2019 Their ability Talent this week wondering what went down? And the awaited fourth day, I will wait for today -9 00 TV front

MRTV-4 Live Myanmar’s Got Talent 4th Semi Final

You still love fans are arranged #Facebook_Live

👉 MGT19: Feng Yi 👉 MGT20: Nay Myo Si Thu Soe 👉 MGT21: Dark Spirit 👉 MGT22:…