Monday, April 13, 2020

Sha’ban 20, 1441 AH

Doha today 230 - 290

BLAST FROM THE PAST: Hugo Torres holds a picture of himself as a seven-year-old with his mother Maria Luisa Castillo while at home on March 31 in Monrovia, California. Torres was nine when his
family went through the Mexico City earthquake of 1985. It was a tough time and he is using the lessons he learned from his mother back then during the coronavirus pandemic.

Cover
Story
Cold comfort
Families confronting coronavirus draw strength
from surviving wars and other disasters. P4-5
Hollywood Back Page
Fox & Friends co-host Young singer focuses on creating
contracts coronavirus. new music to stay positive.
Page 15 Page 16
2 GULF TIMES Monday, April 13, 2020

COMMUNITY ROUND & ABOUT

SERIES TO BINGE WATCH ON NETFLIX

PRAYER TIME
Fajr 3.53am
Shorooq (sunrise) 5.14am
Zuhr (noon) 11.36am
Asr (afternoon) 3.05pm
Maghreb (sunset) 5.57pm
Isha (night) 7.27pm

USEFUL NUMBERS The Witcher
DIRECTION: Lauren Schmidt
CAST: Henry Cavill, Freya Allan, Anya Chalotra
SYNOPSIS: The Witcher follows the story of Geralt of
Rivia, a solitary monster hunter, who struggles to find his
place in a world where people often prove more wicked than
monsters and beasts. But when destiny hurtles him towards
a powerful sorceress, and a young princess with a special
gift, the three must learn to navigate independently the
increasingly volatile Continent.

Emergency 999
Worldwide Emergency Number 112
Kahramaa – Electricity and Water 991
Local Directory 180
International Calls Enquires 150
Hamad International Airport 40106666
Labor Department 44508111, 44406537
Mowasalat Taxi 44588888
Qatar Airways 44496000
Hamad Medical Corporation 44392222, 44393333
Qatar General Electricity and
Water Corporation 44845555, 44845464
Primary Health Care Corporation 44593333 
44593363
Qatar Assistive Technology
Centre 44594050
Qatar News Agency 44450205 
44450333
Q-Post – General Postal
Corporation 44464444

Humanitarian Services Office
(Single window facility for the repatriation of bodies)
Ministry of Interior 40253371, 40253372,
40253369
Ministry of Health 40253370, 40253364
Hamad Medical Corporation 40253368, 40253365
Qatar Airways 40253374
Altered Carbon
DIRECTION: Laeta Kalogridis
CAST: Chris Conner, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Will Yun Lee
SYNOPSIS: The show is set in a future where
consciousness is digitised and stored in cortical stacks
implanted in the spine, allowing humans to survive physical
death by having their memories and consciousness ‘re-
sleeved’ into new bodies. The story follows specially trained
‘Envoy’ soldier Takeshi Kovacs, who is downloaded from an
off-world prison and into a combat ready sleeve at the behest
of Laurens Bancroft, a highly influential aristocrat. Bancroft
was killed, and the last automatic backup of his stack was
made hours before his death, leaving him with no memory
of who killed him and why. While police ruled it a suicide,
Bancroft is convinced he was murdered and wants Kovacs to
find out the truth.

uote Unquote
Q “A good
laugh is sunshine in
the house.”
— William Makepeace
Thackeray

Community Editor
Kamran Rehmat
e-mail: community@gulf-times.com Russian Doll car and killed, only to find herself alive and well, back at her
Telephone: 44466405 DIRECTION: Leslye Headland, Natasha Lyonne, Amy own birthday party earlier that night. When she dies again and
Fax: 44350474 Poehler her timeline resets, Nadia begins to question her own sanity
CAST: Natasha Lyonne, Charlie Barnett, Greta Lee as she strives to unravel the mystery of why and how this is all
SYNOPSIS: On Nadia’s 36th birthday, she is struck by a happening.
 Monday, April 13, 2020 GULF TIMES 3

BODY & MIND COMMUNITY

Exercise is important for body, mind
If you have symptoms of the common cold, it’s usually fine
to keep exercising. It may even help you feel a little better

Q
uestion: Can I
continue to exercise
even if I don’t feel
well, or should I hold
off until I start to feel
better?
Answer: The answer to that
question depends largely on
what’s wrong. For example, if you
have symptoms of the common
cold, it’s usually fine to keep
exercising. It may even help you
feel a little better. If you have
a fever or other more severe
symptoms, it’s best to put your
exercise routine on hold until
those symptoms go away.
Exercise is important for your
body and mind. Regular exercise
can help you maintain a healthy
weight, keep your blood sugar and
blood cholesterol levels in check,
increase bone strength and help
manage stress, just to name a few
benefits.
For healthy adults, the
recommendation is 150 minutes
of aerobic exercise each week.
That includes activities such
as running, biking, jogging,
swimming, brisk walking and
dancing. Many people break up
their weekly aerobic activity
into 30-minute sessions, five
days a week. In addition, your
exercise routine should include
at least two 20- to 30-minute
sessions of strength training a
week, which many people have
a tendency to forget. Remember,
too, that even if you don’t get
to the recommended level of HEALTHY LIFESTYLE: Regular exercise can help you maintain a healthy weight, keep your blood sugar and blood cholesterol levels in check, increase bone
exercise sometimes, any amount strength and help manage stress, just to name a few benefits.
of exercise, even if it’s just 10
minutes of walking, has benefits. should give your body some time
When you’re not feeling well, to rest and recover. A fever is your
it’s still fine to exercise in some body’s way of telling you to slow
cases. A good rule of thumb to down, and it’s important to listen
follow is if you have symptoms to that. As you recover after these
above the neck, such as a runny kinds of symptoms, go a bit slower
nose, sneezing, nasal congestion and decrease the intensity of
or a minor sore throat, you’re your workout when you return to
OK to exercise. In those cases, exercising.
exercise may even help you feel Due to the current
better by opening up your nasal recommendations for social
passages. However, you may want distancing during the Covid-19
to reduce the intensity and length outbreak, your fitness centre
of your workout, and limit group may be closed. Even if it’s not,
activities. you may want consider skipping
Instead of running, for example, the gym and take your workout
go for a walk. If you work out outdoors instead, or explore new
when you’re having some exercise options that you can do
symptoms of illness, make sure at home. Regardless of where
you stay attuned to your body’s you exercise, don’t forget to wipe
need for fluid. Drink to your level off equipment, including bikes,
of thirst. Be aware that if it’s warm weights, benches and yoga mats,
outside, you may need to take in after you’re done with them.
more fluid than usual. If you exercise when you’re
If you have symptoms of not feeling well, and then you
illness that affect you below the experience additional pain or
neck, such as chest congestion, symptoms when you exercise
a hacking cough, muscle aches, – or if you have other concerns
fatigue or an upset stomach, or questions about exercising
it’s best to take a break from when you’re ill – talk with your
exercising for a few days. RECOMMENDATION: For healthy adults, the recommendation is 150 minutes of aerobic exercise each week. That healthcare provider.
If you have a fever, you also includes activities such as running, biking, jogging, swimming, brisk walking and dancing. – Mayo Clinic News Network
4 GULF TIMES Monday, April 13, 2020

COMMUNITY COVER STORY

These days, he knows how

much it calms her to hear
the voices of her children

‘
DOWN MEMORY LANE: Hugo Torres looks through a family album in Monrovia, California.

By Esmeralda happening, of losing everything,”

Tarin said. “I understand her. I’ve
Bermudez inherited the same anxiety.”
Every time she left, it was turmoil

T
he phone rings every few
for me. I thought the earth would fall hours.
apart and swallow her up “Are you OK, my son?
Are you wearing a mask?
Please don’t go out.
Please don’t touch anything.”
— Hugo Torres, now 42, then 7, recalls From his home in Washington,
DC, Haris Tarin, 41, does his
mom who was rushing out kids when best to answer his mother’s calls.
an 8 magnitude earthquake struck, These days, he knows how much it
calms her to hear the voices of her
killing 10,000 children, spread across three states.
“She’s been through so much,
she’s constantly afraid of the worst
For families who have
survived untold hardship — war,
persecution, natural disasters —
the coronavirus pandemic has
provoked a mix of emotions and
coping methods. There’s a lingering
trauma, an instinct to protect your
own, to focus on life’s most urgent
needs. In some cases, the elders
who lived through the worst of
times, many of them immigrants,
have become the greatest source of
strength.
Tarin’s mother, Latifa Tarin,
doesn’t linger on lectures or advice.

COVER STORY
When she calls from Phoenix, she
wants to know if her son, a senior
policy adviser for the federal
government, has enough money
in his bank account. “I’m going to
send you something,” she says.
“You don’t need to,” Tarin tells
her. “We’re OK.”
Back in Afghanistan, when life
was good, the mother of six used
to manage every detail of her
home while her diplomat husband
travelled.
After the Russians invaded in 1979,
the Tarins, like millions of families,
lost everything. Latifa forged ahead
alone, smuggling three of her kids
into Pakistan to reunite with her
husband. For three weeks, the family
rode at night on camel and donkey
over rugged mountains as helicopters
rumbled in the sky, threatening to
bomb them.
Tarin was 6 years old. He was
so terrified, he’d sometimes vomit
from the nerves. He’d watch in
awe as his mother, barely 5 feet
tall, would scold the gun-toting
smugglers if they tried to cheat
them out of food — all paid for in
advance by Latifa.
“If she needed to scream, she
would scream at them,” he said.
“She did everything to keep us
safe.”
Today, as the Covid-19 death
toll swells by the day, it is Tarin
and his siblings who do everything
to protect Latifa. She lives in an
apartment attached to her second
eldest son’s home. She used to
see several of her children and
grandchildren daily. Now, she sees
their faces only in photographs that
decorate her walls.
“Are things getting any better out
there?” she often asks by phone.
“No,” Tarin tells her. “People are
still dying.”
Recently, Latifa lost a family
friend to the virus. She knows about
10 others who also got sick. Not
long ago, she revealed to Tarin that
his great-grandfather and great-
uncle died in the 1918 Spanish Flu
pandemic.
“I could tell that in her mind
she was still trying to piece it all
together,” Tarin said.
Many Afghans like to call
themselves resilient, he said.
They’re expected to be tough, to
move forward.
“But there’s trauma and pain
that comes from going through so
much.”
Mariya Parodi, who lives in
New York City, likes to search for
meaning in her family’s history.
One day, when she has children
of her own, she wonders how she’ll
explain this pandemic, along with
all the other trials her kin have
endured.
Her great-grandmother, Etya,
lost all 10 of her siblings during the
Holocaust. Her grandmother, Fanya,
survived the Siege of Leningrad. Her
mother, Rimma, lived through the
fall of the Soviet Union.
At 9 years old, Parodi arrived in
the US as a refugee, part of a new
generation looking for a fresh start.
Today, she’s 32 and lives in Queens,
just 20 minutes from her mother
and grandmother.
“We talk every day and take care
of each other,” said Parodi, who
works for Amnesty International.
EVENING OF LIFE: Yoshio Nakamura on April 1 at his home in Whittier, California. Nakamura was in 11th grade when
his Japanese American family was put in an incarceration camp. It was 1942 and his family lost everything — their farm,
equipment, horse and dog — to live for several years in a camp surrounded by barbed wire.
When the outbreak began, she
worried about her grandmother,
who lives alone in her apartment.
At 84, Fanya is a joyful woman,
constantly focused on the positive.
Still, those first few days on the
phone, Parodi said there was a
brief moment, when she could tell
that her grandma was struggling to
make sense of things.
“How is it that I survived the
war, but I’m still living through this
now?” she told Parodi. “I thought
the worst of my life was over.”
During the Siege, about 80 years
ago, Fanya’s family shared a small
apartment with five other families.
Food was scarce. Fires ignited by
German bombs painted the sky
an eternal pink. In the winter, the
pipes froze and the families were
forced to burn their furniture and
books to keep warm.
“There was always this constant
fear,” Parodi said.
MEMORIES OF ANOTHER DAY: Haris Tarin, senior policy adviser with the Department of Homeland Security
Office for Civil Rights & Civil Liberties, on April 2 in Chino Hills, California. Tarin’s family fled Afghanistan in the 1980s
after Russia invaded. His mom lives with the trauma of their escape, three weeks on camel and donkey through the
mountains. These past few weeks, she’s been filled with anxiety, calling him and her other children every few hours.
A few days ago, the family faced
another scare as Parodi’s mom,
Rimma, began to experience
Covid-19 symptoms. The secretary,
who works at a health centre,
had fatigue, chest pain and was
struggling to breathe. When an
ambulance rushed her to the
emergency room, Parodi imagined
the worst.
She couldn’t bring herself to tell
her grandma. “I worried how she
might take it,” she said.
But Fanya found out anyway. And
when she did, Parodi was surprised
by her response. “She was totally
calm,” she said. “She told me we
need to wait and that everything
was going to be just fine.”
The next day, they were relieved
to hear that Rimma was released
from the hospital. She was home
resting and taking her medication.
Hugo Torres has learned by
now that life can change in just an
Monday, April 13, 2020
COMMUNITY
instant.
He was a boy, just 7, when Mexico
City’s 1985 earthquake struck,
killing an estimated 10,000 people
and leaving tens of thousands
injured or homeless.
The morning of the magnitude-8
quake, Torres’ mother, Maria Luisa,
was rushing to get the kids out the
door for school. When the ground
began to jolt, his mom and youngest
sister were flung across the floor.
“We were so shook up, terrified,”
Torres said.
Moments later, they learned
they’d been fortunate. The city
was devastated. Their little, brick
house was nearly intact. But for the
next five months, the family would
go without electricity or running
water. They struggled to find the
most basic necessities.
Maria Luisa had to stand in food
lines for hours. She left her son in
charge of his sisters, 5 and 3 years
GULF TIMES 5
old.
“Every time she left, it was
turmoil for me,” said Torres, now 42
and living in Monrovia. “I thought
the earth would fall apart and
swallow her up.”
Over time, the responsibility
Maria Luisa placed on his her
son’s shoulders influenced him in
countless ways. It prepared him for
the uncertainty of this pandemic.
“This is the biggest thing we’ve
faced since then,” said Torres, a
Realtor. “But I know how to buckle
down, how to tighten our belts and
not add to the paranoia that’s out
there.”
His mother, now 63, still lives
in that humble brick house in
Mexico City. She moved back a
few years ago to care for her own
mother. She’s stocked her shelves
with plenty of food to weather the
outbreak.
“She’s mighty and quite
resourceful,” Torres said. “I know
she’s going to be all right.”
Yoshio Nakamura was in 11th
grade when his family received
notice that they had two weeks to
abandon everything they knew.
It was 1942, Pearl Harbour had
just been attacked, and about
120,000 people of Japanese decent
were stripped of their lands and
incarcerated in desolate camps.
“It was demoralising,”
Nakamura, 94, said. “To be blamed
for something you didn’t do, just
because of how you look.”
The retired college administrator
has found himself reflecting a lot
lately on everything his family
endured as he hears news of Asians
nationwide being harassed or
shunned due to the virus pandemic.
It’s hurtful to hear that Asians, yet
again, are suffering consequences
they do not deserve.
Sheltered at home in Whittier, he
sometimes feels as powerless today
as he did the day the government
forced his Japanese immigrant
father to surrender his small El
Monte farm and board a train with
his children to a incarceration
centre up north. Armed soldiers
and century towers surrounded the
premises. So did barbed wire.
Ultimately, the family would
spend several years in captivity.
They were later relocated to a more
deserted camp in Arizona.
Looking to prove his allegiance
to the US, Nakamura eventually
volunteered to fight in World War
II. He joined the 442nd Infantry
Regiment, a unit composed almost
entirely of second-generation
American soldiers of Japanese
ancestry.
Many days were filled with dread,
but Nakamura said he’s grateful
for his experiences. Along the way,
he said there were teachers, fellow
soldiers and mentors who looked
after him and inspired him.
“You learn to have a little more
compassion for others,” he said. “To
appreciate all the things people are
willing to do help you.”
Today, when he feels
overwhelmed by the death toll, the
scarcity of hospital supplies and
misinformation, he thinks of all the
health workers risking their lives.
He hopes that years from now,
the world will remember them as
heroes. — Los Angeles Times/TNS
6 GULF TIMES Monday, April 13, 2020

COMMUNITY
‘Qatar’s blockade strategy: a needed
framework to fight climate change’
Dr Anatol Lieven, Professor at Georgetown University – Qatar, authors a
major new book on climate change that challenges contemporary wisdom on
the issue: Climate Change and the Nation State: The Realist Case
which he lays out in his new book:
Climate Change and the Nation
State: The Realist Case.
In the book, the professor
draws on lessons from history to
argue that only nation states have
the power to enact the kind of
dramatic change needed to prevent
environmental disaster.
“Qatar’s experience made me
think about how countries with
a very strong state-led effort
can respond to crises,” he said.
The success of that effort and its
contribution to a surge in national
patriotism, he says, provides
a study on how understanding
climate change as a threat to the
vital interests of nation states
could generate the needed national
responses.
In his book, Dr Lieven draws
on history to demonstrate how
appealing to patriotism was a
successful response not only to
war but to challenges like the need
for painful economic and social
reforms. In particular, he explores
the ‘New Deal’, the expansive relief
and reform measures enacted by
US President Franklin Roosevelt
during the Great Depression in the
1930s.
“Successful measures to
change societies and economies
have always been driven by
national states, not international
organisations,” he said, pointing to
the example of national responses
to the global pandemic – a crisis
from which international bodies
have been almost wholly absent.
“When combating the pandemic,
what really counts is the ability to
close borders, forbid gatherings,
close transportation routes. Only
individual states can do this.”
And for climate change, he says,
while international agreements
and grassroots efforts are needed,
“all of these are ultimately AUTHOR: Professor Dr Anatol Lieven was previously a correspondent in
directed towards pressuring state South Asia and the former USSR, and an expert at think tanks in Washington
DRAWING HISTORY: In the book, the author draws on history to governments into taking action.” DC. He teaches on Nationalism, International Relations, US Foreign Policy and
demonstrate how appealing to patriotism was a successful response not only Lieven calls for states to adopt Comparative Political Systems at Georgetown University in Qatar.
to war but to challenges like the need for painful economic and social reforms. different national versions of a
In particular, he explores the ‘New Deal’, the expansive relief and reform ‘Green New Deal’, dedicated to State: The Realist Case is published Systems at Georgetown University
measures enacted by US President, Franklin Roosevelt, during the Great building alternative energy, public by Penguin in the UK and Oxford in Qatar. He is a member of
Depression in the 1930s. transport networks, technological University Press in the USA. An the South Asia Advisory Board

T
he speed and scale
of Qatar’s state-
led response to the
blockade is a lesson in
the national resilience
and adaptation needed to change
the devastating course of climate
change around the world, says Dr
Anatol Lieven, author of a major
new book on climate change that
challenges contemporary wisdom
on the issue. This observation
of Qatar’s rapid economic shifts
and infrastructure development,
said Dr Lieven, contributed to
his thinking on climate change,
innovation, economic growth,
new jobs and social solidarity.
The huge amounts of money now
being poured into economies
to combat the economic effects
of the pandemic should be
targeted at these goals, not spent
indiscriminately.
Climate Change and the Nation
updated paperback edition will
be published in 2021. Professor
Dr Anatol Lieven was previously a
correspondent in South Asia and
the former USSR, and an expert
at think tanks in Washington
DC. He teaches on Nationalism,
International Relations, US Foreign
Policy and Comparative Political
of the British Foreign and
Commonwealth Office, and has
taken part in numerous panels
to discuss climate change and its
impact on world politics. He has
also published on the subject in
journals and newspapers including
The Observer (UK) and The
National Interest (USA).

HAPPY HOUSE: Vibrant art and colours in the sitting room.
When the party starts:
a home to lift the spirits
Festivities are on hold at this double-fronted home. But zingy colours, playful details
and a bubbling hot tub mean it’s still a house of fun, writes Serena Fokschanner
T
heir friends will tell
you that Paul Price and
Fletcher Cowan know
how to throw a good
party. In summer it’s
not unusual to find at least 100
guests spilling out, brimming
beverages in hand, from the kitchen
of their north London home into
the garden with its bubbling hot
tub. Those previral get-togethers
are, of course, on hold for now. But
even without the people, here’s an
interior to lift the spirits. The tutti-
frutti carpets and walls bustling
with modern art add up to a home
that’s sociable – and comfortable.
Price and Cowan are quick to
credit the interior designer Peter
Mikic with the exuberant effect.
They all met, inevitably, at a dinner
party. Before founding his business
10 years ago, Mikic used to run a
fashion label. Price is the CEO of a
luxury fashion brand and Cowan,
who presents a fashion show on
US channel E!, studied fashion at
Central Saint Martins. So the three
share a taste for art, colour and
unpredictable juxtapositions.
“I don’t do matchy-matchy, I
prefer things to be on the more
interesting side,” says Mikic, an
Australian who has lived in the UK
for more than 20 years. “Paul and
Fletcher have more parties than
anyone I know. This house reflects
that. It’s them down to a T.”
In a part of London better
known for slender townhouses,
the 1870s property is a rarity.
Wide and double-fronted, it has
a host of unusual features: ornate
plasterwork motifs on the walls
downstairs and dashing Moorish-
style arches upstairs where there
are three bedrooms and a walk-in
wardrobe.
“I was the first person to see it
when it went on the market six
years ago,” says Price, an American
with strong opinions on how things
should look. “I walked in, saw the
wonderful, original staircase and
made an offer on the spot. It just
spoke to me.”
INSIDE OUT: The living area with metal-framed windows.
Mikic’s brief was to transform
the three-storey interior, which is
believed to have operated as a print
factory during the Second World
War. This may have been when the
first two floors were subdivided
into a warren of small rooms with
disproportionately wide hallways.
One of the first things Mikic did
was to reorganise the space by
opening up the main reception
rooms. “The idea was to create
relaxed and comfortable spaces for
entertaining and living,” he says.
Original details were also restored.
Layers of paint were scraped off
the staircase to reveal the ebonised
handrail, and the parquet floors
were sanded back to their golden
19th-century colour.
“The house now has distinct
zones; the reception rooms are for
living and entertaining, the lower
ground floor for cooking, eating,
and working,” says Mikic, who
added a gym as well as a library for
Cowan in the lower-ground floor.
For this sociable couple, a new
Monday, April 13, 2020
COMMUNITY
dining room was a priority. The
kitchen has a convivial island for
cooking and chatting: “Paul loves
to cook and I love to eat: that’s us in
a nutshell,” says Cowan.
To bring light to the lower-
ground floor, Mikic also installed
floor-to-ceiling metal-framed
windows that span the back wall.
“Before that there was only a
small door and two small windows
overlooking the garden,” says
Price. “Now you feel a real sense
of connection between the outside
and inside.” By contrast, the
upstairs bedrooms, with their layers
of muted colours and understated
furnishings, were designed as a
peaceful retreat.
Apart from a few artworks by
friends, such as LA artist Jonas
Wood or the photographer Alex
Prager, most of the furniture
and objects were bought for the
house. Parisian flea markets or
Alfies antique market in northwest
London are their stamping grounds
for mid-century design. “A mix,
GULF TIMES 7
not too 1960s or 1970s, but a bit of
every era,” insists Price.
In the sitting room, the
multicoloured sideboard inlaid with
Murano glass is a 1980s prototype
by Italian fashion designer Emanuel
Ungaro. It was the catalyst for the
rug – as colourful as a pointillist
painting – which Mikic designed,
picking up the icing-sugar colours
in the bespoke sofas. The pair of
60s armchairs, with their original
fabrics intact, were found online
at 1stdibs. The pink walls are one
of Mikic’s custom-made colours:
“I usually hate pink, too sugary or
Barbie,” says Price. “But this won
me over.”
Nearby, the glossy grand piano is
a mechanical one that plays itself.
The music is the “only issue in our
relationship”, says Price, “I’m fond
of a show tune, which Fletcher
can’t stand.” But they agree on the
classics: “Barbra Streisand, Elton
John, Queen, Madonna… Hey,
there’s a theme here.”
– The Guardian
8 GULF TIMES Monday, April 13, 2020
COMMUNITY
Baker: how to make 10 of t
Keen to bake for your family or housemates, but put off by previous
attempts? Here are delicious options – including some that don’t require
yeast, and one that doesn’t even need an oven, writes Dale Berning Sawa
Meera Sodha’s coconut yoghurt flatbreads with garlic mushrooms.
I
n times of great uncertainty,
knowing how to make your
own bread and thereby feed
your family, is palpably
reassuring. The very act of
kneading dough is calming, like
Play-Doh for adults. So, of course,
newbie bakers are all over social
media, obsessing about “bubbling
mothers” (AKA sourdough starters).
Look a little closer, though, and
they’re not very happy. “We are
all baking bread and some of us
are not so good at it,” tweeted one
journalist, dejectedly. That’s because
sourdough is high-maintenance
baking. People write memoirs
about mastering the technique. By
contrast, watching Noji Gaylard
making South African steamed
bread (see below) is like hugging a
baby. Three minutes and 30 seconds
of pure calm. His recipe, alongside
the others included in our 10 basic
breads, is easy enough for even the
most inexperienced baker.
But first a note about yeast. As
Adrian Chiles has noted, it appears
to have been stockpiled right off
all the shelves. So, if you do have
any, set aside a portion of whatever
leavened dough you make to leaven
the next (variously called old
dough and pâte fermentée; you’ll
find plenty of instructions for this
online). And, if you don’t, you could
try making your own yeast. Lisa
Bedford, the self-styled Survival
Mom, has written a really thorough
how-to. I appreciate that making
your own yeast somewhat negates
the premise of this piece, but you’ve
got to admit it’s awesome that you
can.
Also, reserve any pasta or potato
cooking water for your bread baking.
As Nigella tweeted: “It will help the
bread’s texture and rise.”
Flatbreads
At its simplest, a flatbread is flour
and water mixed into a dough, rolled
into balls, rested, flattened and
Pitta bread griddled. Dan Lepard tweeted the
CUIS
basic ratio: 500g of any wheat flour
(white, wholemeal, self-raising,
plain) to 300g cold water. Add some
form of oil to the mix, and you
get everything from chapatis and
rotis (Meera Sodha fills hers with
coconut, raisins and almonds) to
tortillas and lavash. Jamie Oliver
switches things up a bit, using
yoghurt, self-raising flour and a
little baking powder, and cooks
with griddle pan over a high heat.
Elsewhere, his coconut flatbreads
are made with just coconut milk and
self-raising flour and fried in butter.
Quick bread
AKA batter bread, this is the
base recipe used in such things
as apple bread, banana bread and
the French savoury cake studded
with everything from meat and
olives. You mix dry ingredients
(flour, baking powder, salt) with
wet ingredients (milk/buttermilk/
yoghurt, oil and eggs) and flavour
it any way you like. Kristin “Baker
Bettie” Hoffmann gives you every
option thinkable: sweet, savoury,
gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan
and without baking powder (she
separates the eggs, and whips the
whites to get the rise needed).
Texture-wise, this is more on the
muffin/cake side of things, so if
that’s not what you’re after, read on.
Soda bread
The original no-kneader, and
as Chiles put it last week, a gift
to the yeastless. The rise comes
from bicarb, so that ingredient is a
must, but flour-wise it’s flexible:
wholemeal, oatmeal, rolled oats,
plain, self-raising, rye or whatever
mixture you can manage. Liquid-
wise, milk, yoghurt, buttermilk,
Nigella’s pasta water: they’ll all
work, too. You’ll want a dollop of
salt and sweetness (honey, soft
brown sugar); Chiles flavours
his with treacle and Marmite,
and nothing has ever endeared a
columnist to me more. And there’s
nothing to say you can’t jazz it up
further: Oliver puts dark chocolate
and hazelnuts in his.
No-knead crusty loaf
The New York Times calls this the
world’s easiest yeasted loaf; a step-
up from the already groundbreaking
easy method devised by Jim Lahey
(if you’re a budding bread person,
I recommend his books). You mix
plain flour with yeast, salt and
lukewarm water into a loose dough,
cover and let rise for two to five
hours. Then you shape it and bake it.
The crustiness comes from having

SINE
the world’s easiest breads
Focaccia
a broiling panful of water – or a few
ice cubes – in the bottom of the oven
to steam the loaf while it cooks.
Pitta
Putting yeast in a wheaten
flatbread essentially means it can
puff up while baking, to create those
soft pockets so perfect for picnics.
Yotam Ottolenghi puts sugar in
his dough and seven spices in his
chicken filling, and, well, what
more could you want? Although it
is technically possible to make them
completely lean, Felicity Cloake
doesn’t recommend it: the fat
contributes to flavour and shelf-life.
Hard dough bread
A Jamaican speciality, this is a
plain-flour yeasted dough, enriched
with butter and sugar. It takes a
short knead (you want the dough
nice and elastic) and a 45-minute
rest. You then roll it out flat with
a rolling pin and – to give it that
moist, dense crumb – roll it right
back up again into a tight log,
tucking the ends in (DaJen Eat’s Jen
and her grandmother Cynthia will
show you how). Then, after a short
rest, it is baked golden brown in a
loaf pan.
Steamed bread
The one loaf you don’t need
an oven for. This South African
beauty involves mixing a very
sticky batter of plain flour, salt,
sugar, yeast (no oil) and lukewarm
water in a bowl with a wooden
spoon. (Gaylard’s demo is quite
A no-knead crusty loaf.
Bagels
possibly the most mesmerising
cooking video I’ve ever come
across. It’s now my lockdown
backdrop.) Cover with a lid to let it
rest, then beat it once more and let
it rest again. Pour into a buttered
bowl and place in a large pot for
which you have a lid, with enough
boiling water to come halfway up
the side of your bowl, adding water
when necessary to keep the steam
going. It is cooked when, as with a
cake, a knife stuck into the centre
comes out clean.
Maple oat breakfast bread
This takes a couple more
ingredients (maple syrup and
rolled oats) and an overnight rest
(eight hours or more), but it makes,
as Food52 notes, darn good toast.
Monday, April 13, 2020
COMMUNITY
Much like in soda bread, the oats
impart a welcome bite. As with the
no-knead crusty loaf, you’ll need
an oven-safe heavy-based pot
with a lid to achieve consistent,
high heat and a good seal so the
moisture doesn’t escape.
Focaccia
Nigel Slater once said that he
thought focaccia was the bread
to attempt first, before any trad
white loaf. “A batch rarely fails.”
Now most recipes will ask for
strong white bread flour and/or 00
flour (used for making pasta). But
Marcella Hazan makes hers with
plain flour, and she’s not someone
to mess with. You’ll need a good
amount of olive oil (River Cottage
uses 150ml), some flaky salt and
GULF TIMES 9
something like a baking stone – a
heavy cookie sheet will do.
Bagels
Surprisingly easy to make at
home, as Jennifer Garner demos
in episode 15 of her aptly named
Pretend Cooking show. Sure, there
is the extra step of poaching before
you bake, but you can use plain
flour and honey for the dough (or
strong bread flour and malt syrup,
if you want to be fancy). Food52’s
Kenzi Wilbur says the hardest
part is waiting an excruciating 30
minutes once you have removed
them from the oven. But I’ve never
known anyone able to resist freshly
baked anything, so why would you
even attempt to do that here? Butter
at the ready… – The Guardian
10 GULF TIMES Monday, April 13, 2020

COMMUNITY INFOGRAPHIC
Try This
1
You’ll need
• Large mug or
A tiny storm
small cooking pot In this experiment,
a whirlpool, or vortex,
• Very hot water of spinning water
• Food color behaves in a surprising
way.
• Small ice cube
• Spoon Ask your helper to put hot
water in container; add a few
• Adult drops of coloring
helper

3 Drop ice cube

gently into center
of whirlpool and
watch what
happens
2
Stir water slowly with
spoon in one direction

What happened? That pulls water inward

The ice turns with
the water, and if
conditions are just
right, it will start to
spin faster
Cold water (which is across the top of the water
more dense than
warm) flows
downward from the
melting ice

NOTE: You may Some tornados

need to repeat
experiment a few and hurricanes
times to make it get their power
work well Water moving
from this
Source: University combination toward the
of Wisconsin
of temperature center follows a
meteorology
(weather science) difference spiral path, and
professor David
and rotation pushes the ice
Houghton
faster

Graphic: Staff, Tribune News Service

 Monday, April 13, 2020 GULF TIMES 11

LIFESTYLE/HOROSCOPE
Working from home? Follow these
tips to avoid neck, lower back pain
A
s many people are
working from home
during the coronavirus
lockdown without a
proper desk, they could
be sitting in the wrong posture for
hours which can lead to pain in
the neck and lower back. Health
experts have suggested that simple
tips like not taking their laptop to
bed, taking adequate breaks and
having a healthy diet can help you
avoid these problems.
People should be extra careful
not to fall sick during this period
as the work from home mode and
closure of gyms have disrupted
physical activity schedules of many,
the experts said.
“We should keep in mind
that this lockdown period is for
our safety from a disease, and
doesn’t allow us to be careless and
invite other diseases like cervical
pain, backache, arthritis etc.,”
Monu Singh, Senior Consultant
in Orthopaedics at Narayana
Superspeciality Hospital,
Gurugram, told IANS.
“As people are not going out
daily for office now, it has definitely
broken their physical activity
schedule including walking,
gymming and to balance that
schedule they should take out
at least one hour everyday for
routine exercise and other physical
activities which can be done at
home like yoga and other free hand
exercises,” he said.
The doctor suggested that while
working from home people should
use a table and chair, keep their
back straight and posture right.
They should keep taking
adequate breaks to avoid sitting
for too long in front of a laptop
or any screen for that matter, he
said, adding that diet is extremely
important in these times of
restricted activity.
“Avoid snacking, don’t keep
munching unhealthy food, add
more fruits and fibres to your daily
meal with plenty of fluids and keep
your calcium intake right,” Singh
said.
Subhash Jangid, Director and
COMMUNITY
Unit Head, Bone & Joint Institute,
Fortis Memorial Research Institute
in Gurugram has advised people to
do neck stretching exercises and
keep the neck and back muscles
strong in this period of lockdown.
“People with cervical issues
should avoid any heavy weights,”
Jangid said.
“For people with back problems,
you can walk in your home. Make
a schedule, fix a time and walk at a
length for half-hour to stay active.
In case you do not have ample space
for a walk, take out your yoga mat
or a bedsheet, you can do pilates
or soft yoga poses to improve your
core strength and stability,” he said.
Some such exercises are – chair
stand, single leg raise, heel raise,
front plank on table.
People can also do a plank and a exercises. “Stand or walk around people who are working from home
child’s pose to gain strength for the while talking over the phone, rather need to be more careful.
back. than sitting down,” the doctor said. “Do ‘Surya Namaskar’ every
The doctor added that dancing According to Viju Thomas morning and walk in your room. If
is a great way of staying active and (PT), Head Of Department, one is already on therapy then be in
keeping the family bond strong. Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation contact with your physiotherapist
Alternatively, one can do skipping, Department, Sri Balaji Action and keep taking advice to follow,”
Zumba, yoga or pilates or floor Medical Institute in New Delhi, said Thomas. – IANS

Aries
March 21 — April 19
Taurus
April 20 — May 20
Gemini
May 21 — June 20

You like to feel needed, Aries, but today you might throw up your
hands and say, “Enough!” You’ve given so much of yourself for so
long that friends and loved ones tend to think of your largesse as a
right rather than a privilege. Today, remind them of their error. Take
a day off from indentured servitude. Go to a fancy restaurant and
enjoy being waited on. Don’t forget to leave a big tip.
You could be overwhelmed with information today, Taurus, as
you receive more phone calls and e-mail messages than you can
possibly answer. Be clear about your priorities and stick with them.
Otherwise, you’re likely to spend the day being batted around the
court like a tennis ball. Take a lot of deep breaths throughout the day
and make an effort to keep your temper in check.
Your mind is like a sponge today, Gemini, eager to absorb all sorts
of information. Take care that the information you’re absorbing is
accurate. There’s a high likelihood that the fascinating news you
hear is mostly a mix of fantasy and fiction. Go to the source and get
the facts before acting on this information. If necessary, do your own
research online or in the library.

Cancer
June 21 — July 22
Leo
July 23 — August 22
Virgo
August 23 — September 22

If you aren’t careful, there’s a strong possibility that you’ll overindulge
today, Cancer. Your career frustrations may manifest in the form of
overeating or reckless spending. These are just symptoms masking the
real problem. If you can take some time to meditate, you’ll calm your
nerves and reveal the root of your frustration. Once you have the facts,
it will be easier to devise an effective solution.
You’re too hard on yourself, Leo. If things haven’t gone exactly
as planned over the last few days, there’s no sense in berating
yourself over it. As long as you did the best that you could, what’s
the problem? It’s likely you’ve experienced a delay and not a
cancellation. All signs indicate that your goals will come to fruition
even though it might take longer than you’d anticipated.
You’re especially intuitive today, Virgo. If this is a fairly new
occurrence for you, you could be at a loss as to how to make the
most of this gift. Only you can know for sure, but one suggestion is
to reflect on changes that you’d like to make at work. Pitch them to
your boss. With today’s keen insight, you’ll almost be able to read his
or her mind and anticipate any objections.

Libra
September 23 — October 22
Scorpio
October 23 — November 21
Sagittarius
November 22 — December 21

Today’s planetary aspects indicate that this is likely to be a day of
excess, Libra, some of it good, some of it not so good. Take care not
to overindulge in food and drink. You could be merely acting out
your stress with such behaviour. You’d be better served to meditate
and get to the root of the problem. On the other hand, money could
come your way, possibly a lot of it!
You should make an effort to be patient and tolerant, especially at
the office, even though you might not feel like it, Scorpio. You’ll likely
take a lot of deep breaths as projects get delayed and meetings drag
on. There isn’t much you can do about it. Stay focused and trust that
everything will be resolved by day’s end. In the meantime, don’t step
on anyone’s toes. Your colleagues’ nerves are raw.
This could be a day of inner turmoil, Sagittarius. You’ll rethink some
of your fundamental values, unsure if they’re still relevant to your
life. It’s clear that some soul searching is needed. There are no right
or wrong answers, only what is in your heart. If your goal is to live
authentically, then you’ll need to make some big changes in your life.
Don’t act rashly. Think things through before taking steps.

Capricorn
December 22 — January 19
Aquarius
January 20 — February 18
Pisces
February 19 — March 20

You need to pull yourself up by the bootstraps, Capricorn. Why not
take a few steps back and try to look at your life more objectively?
Regardless of what you might be thinking at the moment, you do
have a terrific life. Stop and count your blessings. Make a list and
keep it in your wallet to refer to at low moments. Force yourself to be
festive tonight. It will do you good to get out.
A particularly tricky situation could occur at work. If you aren’t
careful, you could lose your cool. Make a concerted effort to keep
your wits about you, Aquarius. It could be that a colleague is baiting
you, but that’s no reason to take it. Keep to yourself as much as
possible today. Close your office door. At home, go to bed early.
Relax with a good book. All will be calmer tomorrow.
Your life seems seriously out of balance, doesn’t it, Pisces? Today
provides an opportunity to rethink what is truly important. Consider
exercise as one way to improve your health and manage your stress
level. Once you get started with a healthy regimen, you’ll see how it
helps you gain perspective. It’s likely that the cause of all this stress can
be eliminated when viewed through a different lens.
12 GULF TIMES Monday, April 13, 2020

COMMUNITY CARTOONS/PUZZLES
Wordsearch Adam

Pooch Cafe

AMMO RAID KHAKI COMBAT

DRILL BASE SENTRY MESS
PARADE HELMET BOOTS UNIT
ARMY RIFLE MARCH CONVOY
FIGHT BATTLE TANK OFFICER
POST JEEP CAMP WAR
ATTACK SALUTE MEDAL
GUARD BERET UNIFORM

Codeword
Every letter of the alphabet is used at least once.
Squares with the same number in have the same letter
in. Work out which number represents which letter.
Puzzles courtesy: Puzzlechoice.com

Garfield

Sudoku

Bound And Gagged

Sudoku is a puzzle based

on a 9x9 grid. The grid is
also divided into nine (3x3)
boxes. You are given a
selection of values and to
complete the puzzle, you
must fill the grid so that
every column, every anone
is repeated.
 Monday, April 13, 2020 GULF TIMES 13

PUZZLES COMMUNITY
Super Cryptic Clues Colouring

Across
1 Service in US state shortened
(4)
3 Happiest sort of deadlines? (8)
9 Superficial display takes
everyone in (7)
10 Drink that’s a hit (5)
11 Standing up before empty
court (5)
12 A doctor with oxygen — it is
nifty (6)
14 Dislike of French examination
(6)
16 Rod held by gunners
somewhere in Africa (6)
19 Journalists’ boss rioted madly
(6)
21 River extremely strange? Not
so (5)
24 Agreement in Berlin on port
wine (5)
25 Room containing ancient bag
(7)
26 I, a setter, revised work (8)
27 Consult bishop about busy
workers (4)
Down
1 Metal held by female is
deceptive (8)
2 Fish to go on ice? (5)
4 Two hands required for tropical
fruit (6)
5 Thanks for each slender light
(5)
6 Payment when one’s finished
work in boarding house (7)
7 Part of London that’s not quite
so warm (4)
8 Second thoughts about former
dishes (6)
13 Sell up, but first look for
antelopes (8)
15 Young Kermit playing old tape
(7)
17 Talk nonsense when given
something to eat (6)
18 Composer getting drunk with
Liszt (6)
20 Pamphlet that’s followed, so
we hear (5)
22 Don’t take time off (5)
23 Courage that may be needed
on icy roads (4) Answers

Wordsearch Codeword
Solution
14 GULF TIMES Monday, April 13, 2020
COMMUNITY
How will film scenes be shot post
coronavirus, wonders Shoojit
What happens to hugs on screen once
the Covid-19 storm passes? Will actors
be confident about their scenes with
other actors, or cautious?
Filmmaker Shoojit Sircar cannot help
mulling over the matter, in the course of
a weekend spent at home doing precious
little, amid the ongoing lockdown that
looks all set to be extended by two more
weeks.
“How the cinema world conducts
shooting intimate scenarios in the film to
be seen and planned, after all this is over.
Especially the intimate scenes. How
close or how far, or cheat story telling in
those intimate scenes for sometime,” the
Piku director wrote on Instagram.
Actress Dia Mirza commented: “Guru,
the entire process of making a film is
Bringing Mithun, Naseer
together was a big deal
for me: Agnihotri
By Arundhuti Banerjee
D
irector Vivek Agnihotri’s The
Tashkent Files released a year ago
on April 12, and he recounted the
experience of making the film
recently.
The story of the film claims to address
the mysterious death of late Prime Minister
Lal Bahadur Shastri by weaving fiction with
facts, and it features Mithun Chakraborty,
Naseeruddin Shah, Pankaj Tripathi, Shweta
Basu Prasad, Rajesh Sharma and Vinay Pathak
among others.
Agnihotri confesses bringing Naseer and
Mithun together in his film was a “big deal” for
him. Incidentally, the two veterans had already
worked together in four films before The
Tashkent Files – in Khwab (1980), Hum Paanch
(1981), Swami Dada (1982), and Ghulami (1985)
– but that was 33 years ago.
“Actually, that could have gone against the
film if all these huge talents were not utilised
correctly. Every actor who came on board,
came with conviction. Of course, bringing
Mithun da and Naseeruddin sir was a big
deal for me. Initially, I was scared. They did
not work together for 30 years for whatever
personal reason. But when I went to them with
the script, we were fortunate that they did the
film. Naseer sir smiled when I said that Mithun
da will be there in the film. Mithun Da did not
say anything when I said that we also cast
Naseer sir,” Agnihotri recalled.
In the film, the two senior actors played a
pair of seasoned fictional politicians.
The director added: “Both of them are
genius and we know that, but their acting
styles are very different. Naseer would come
preparing every single dialogue, and he
likes rehearsing. Mithun da likes to bring
spontaneity in his performance. Since their
approaches are different I was thinking how
would I match up – what if there was tension
between two veterans?”
intimate! So many people all coming
together to create moment after moment
in unity and synchronised effort. Aap
intimate scene ki baath kar rahe ho, how
will all that change? Will we be masked
and gloved as a crew? Only time will
tell.”
A user had this witty quip: “Go back to
the 60s/70s, show two flowers swaying.”
Another pondered over the very future
of film shoots, and not just intimate
scenes. “How will the industry shoot at
all, if they ban gatherings of 50 or more
people?” the user wondered.
Another user suggested performing
a health check-up for actors before
shooting intimate scenes: “Probably all
the actors involved would be asked to go
through a medical test first.”
“I think time has come for virtual
intimacy till we find corona vaccine,”
opined another user. – IANS CONCERNED: Shoojit Sircar asks if actors will be confident about intimate scenes or cautious.
CANDID: Vivek Agnihotri confesses bringing Mithun Chakraborty and Naseeruddin Shah together
in The Tashkent Files was a big deal for him.
Remembering the first scene both actors
that he directed, Agnihotri said: “That scene
did not have much dialogue. I realised that as
a director I have to make sure I directed them
in a way to bring out the best from them.
Once I started talking more, there was fluidity
among three of us and that translated in their
performance. Rest, we can see in the film!”
Agnihotri claims his film is being highly
viewed on OTT during the ongoing lockdown.
“I think it happened because when the film
released, it had a difficult release. We got
a limited number of screens because the
big-budget multistarrer Kalank also released
around the time. Our film was a serious one,
and many film critics refused to review the
film. Surely that affected initially. The bigger
win happened with its digital release. People,
especially the youth, started talking about the
very essence of the story – search for truth
and right to truth,” claimed Agnihotri, adding:
“Unless you question the system and debate,
we cannot remain as thinking individual.”
— IANS
BOLLYWOOD
STRESS-FREE: Rohitashv Gour believes
watching comedy shows at this time is
very helpful because we get to laugh.
Watching comedy shows now
is helpful: Rohitashv
Actor Rohitashv Gour feels that
watching comedy shows at this time of
distress, is great.
“I agree that corona has taken a toll
on the whole world, but if in this time
we take too much stress and panic, then
our lives will become a mess. So it would
be better to keep a positive attitude and
try to spread positivity around through
the medium of Facebook, Twitter,
Instagram,” he said.
“Watching comedy shows at this time
is very helpful because we get to laugh,
which is a good thing. We become stress-
free for some period of time and our
minds get diverted,” he added.
His comedy show Bhabiji Ghar Par Hai
is being telecast now.
“This is a good thing as people who
have missed the old episodes will
catch up and we are getting very good
responses on Twitter, Facebook and
Instagram. People are very happy,” he
said.
The actor has also been seeing some of
the episodes. “After seeing myself in the
show, I feel that I would have done a little
better and will try to improvise in the
coming episodes,” he said.
On what he is watching now, he said:
“I always try to watch comedy shows.
I would recommend shows such as
Lapataganj, Malgudi Days. Movies
such as Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro is a good
option. In old shows, you can see Mr.
Yogi, Wagle Ki Duniya and Yeh Jo Hai
Zindagi.” – IANS
 Monday, April 13, 2020 GULF TIMES 15
HOLLYWOOD COMMUNITY
Fox & Friends co-host
contracts coronavirus
opponents were using against
By Stephen Battaglio him.
One Fox Business Network

F
host, Trish Regan, was cut from HEALTHY: Tom Hanks returned
ox and Friends weekend the prime time lineup after to the small screen for the first
co-host Jedediah Bila she delivered a segment that time after he tested positive for
is the latest TV news described the unfolding crisis as coronavirus.
personality to test an “impeachment hoax.”
positive for Covid-19. Fox News has also equipped Hanks hosts show at
Bila, 41, told her Instagram and the vast majority of its staff to home after Covid-19
Twitter followers last Thursday work from home in an effort to diagnosis in March
that she is home recovering from contain the spread of the virus.
the disease caused by the novel The channel has also put its Hollywood actor Tom Hanks
coronavirus. She said she and her on-air talent in public service returned to the small screen for the
husband have both tested positive announcements promoting social first time after he tested positive for
but their infant son, born in distancing and made a $1 million the coronavirus in March. He said
November, is not sick. joint donation with Facebook to he and his wife are doing great.
“I’m very much on the mend, Feeding America’s Covid-19 relief The 63-year-old served as host
so please don’t worry,” she said in fund. for the first-ever Saturday Night
the post. This week, Fox News Live at Home episode, reports
Bila is the first Fox News management distributed people.com
personality known to be suffering thermometers and facial coverings Hanks opened the show with a
from Covid-19. She last appeared to all essential employees still Tiger King reference, speaking to
on Fox & Friends on March 29. reporting to the company the camera from his Los Angeles
Bila typically sits alongside headquarters in midtown home. “Hey all you cool cats and
co-host Pete Hegseth, who Manhattan. kittens,” he said.
was among the network’s early But Fox News prime time “It’s me, your old pal. Don’t be
and most vocal sceptics on the hosts Sean Hannity and Laura afraid, this shaved head was just
seriousness of the coronavirus. Ingraham have continued to for a movie. My hair is growing
During a March 8 Fox & clamour for the reopening of back very slowly,” Hanks shared,
Friends Weekend segment on the the economy and have pushed referencing the Baz Luhrmann-
coronavirus, Hegseth said, “The for wider distribution of directed film about Elvis Presley he
more I learn about this, the less hydroxychloroquine to treat the HEALING: Jedediah Bila said that she and her husband have both tested was filming in Australia, where he
there is to worry about.” virus, even though evidence of its positive but their infant son is not sick. was self-quarantining.
By mid-March, Fox News hosts effectiveness is anecdotal. “Hey, it’s good to be here, though
and commentators shifted away Three TV news professionals audio technician, died on March the virus – Chris Cuomo, who is it is also very weird to be here.
from doubting the severity of the have died from Covid-19 since 19. Maria Mercader, a veteran continuing to do his prime-time Hosting Saturday Night Live from
pandemic, after receiving heavy mid-March, the latest being Tony producer and executive for CBS programme while in isolation at home. It is a strange time to try and
criticism for supporting President Greer, a longtime camera operator News, died on March 29. his Long Island, NY, home, and be funny, but trying to be funny is
Donald Trump’s claim that it was for ABC’s Good Morning America. CNN has two on-air afternoon anchor Brooke Baldwin. SNL as whole thing. So we thought,
a “hoax” his Democratic Party Larry Edgeworth, an NBC News personalities who have contracted – Los Angeles Times/TNS what the heck? Let’s give it a shot,”
Hanks said.
“But why me as host? Well,
for one, I have been the celebrity
Comic relief? Saturday Night Live canary of the coal mine for the
returns with remote episode coronavirus, and ever since being
diagnosed, I have been more like
This should be interesting. At a time when America’s dad than ever before
the country is greatly in need of a few laughs, since no one wants to be around
Saturday Night Live will return this weekend me very long and I make people
with a remotely produced instalment. uncomfortable,” he said.
NBC’s late-night sketch comedy show His monologue was not one
is set to air the installment at 11:30pm without a joke.
ET/PT Saturday. SNL, which suspended “Now I was diagnosed back in
production amid the novel coronavirus crisis, March with the coronavirus. I was
will produce new material remotely while first diagnosed down in Australia.
continuing to practice social distancing. Now the folks in Australia are
The episode will include the popular fantastic in every way but they use
Weekend Update segment as well as other Celsius instead of Fahrenheit when
original content from SNL cast members. they take your temperature,” he said.
There will not be a host. “So, when they come in and they
It appears to be an experiment for now as say, ‘You’re 36,’ which seemed very
NBC has yet to establish a weekly schedule for bad to me. But turns out 36 is fine,
the show going forward. SNL hasn’t produced ANCHORS: Colin Jost and anchor Michael Che during Weekend Update. turns out 38 is bad. So basically
new episodes since the Daniel Craig-hosted it’s how Hollywood treats female
March 7 episode because of the spread of the The return of SNL could be a welcome The show’s opening that night featured actors.”
coronavirus. The show had been scheduled dose of levity, especially for viewers in the a moving monologue by then-mayor Rudy Speaking about his quarantine
to return March 28 with John Krasinski as the show’s home base of New York City, where Giuliani (who had urged executive producer attire as of late, Hanks said he
host and Dua Lipa as the musical guest. Covid-19 infections and deaths have ravaged Lorne Michaels not to delay the season’s had some help from his wife Rita
The news comes as many late night and the community. launch), and a performance of The Boxer by Wilson. “But now my wife and I
syndicated daytime talk shows have returned Since its first season in 1975, SNL has had Paul Simon. are doing fine, doing great. We’re
featuring hosts and special guests recording many opportunities to address the nation in After Giuliani’s monologue, Michaels hunkered down, like all of us should
from home as the industry continues to times of crisis and/or sombre news. The first stepped on stage to ask him if it was OK be. In fact, this suit, this is the first
deploy conferencing technology, like Zoom, episode of SNL‘s 27th season aired 18 days for the show to be funny again. “Why start time I’ve worn anything other than
to keep sheltered-in-place audiences after the 9/11 terrorist attacks on New York now?” Giuliani responded. sweatpants since March 11. My wife
entertained. City. – The Mercury News/TNS had to help me put it on,” he said.
– IANS
16 GULF TIMES Monday, April 13, 2020
COMMUNITY
Young singer focuses on creating
new music to stay positive
By Mudassir Raja
W
hen life gives you lemons,
make lemonade. This is
best being practised by a
young girl during these
challenging times where
we have to remain inside our homes for
safety.
Janna Thomson is only 14 but she
has already begun making her mark as a
young musician and singer. Like millions
of other people around the world, she
along with her family is also forced to stay
home in Qatar. She has, however, been
trying to make maximum use of this time
by rehearsing and learning more about
music.
A British-Arab, who was born and
bourght up in Qatar, Janna says has her
dreams and ambitions to achieve like
many other young girls. She is steadfast as
far as her dreams of becoming well versed
with music go, and believes the challenges
thrown by the novel coronavirus outbreak
will not affect her love for music.
Sharing about herself further, Janna
told Community, “I participated in the
Voice Kids last season and won the Qatar
national music competition and currently
I’m active on social media with over 5
million views and hundreds of thousands
of lovely people who support me and
encourage me across all social media
platforms.”
When asked how she is trying to cope
with the unusual phenomenon of social
distancing, the talented girl said: “I am
fortunate enough to be taught by my
father that ‘when life gives you lemons,
make lemonade.’ No matter what the
circumstances are, you need to stay
positive and find ways to productively
deal with the situation you are in, whether
is of your own making or forced upon you
by nature or circumstances. I am just as
scared as most people with regards to the
coronavirus, it is unfortunate that young
people like myself and my sister are faced
with such a serious global challenge, we
wish that we had not to experience this so
early in our life time.
“However, we have taken positive steps
towards social distancing, we setup our
home environment to suit our needs and
we had several family meetings to discuss
ideas for study, work, entertainment
and how to protect ourselves from being
exposed to this awful virus. We setup a
small gym at home with basic equipment
where we hold family and individual
fitness classes, we setup a space for movie
nights where we watch movies together
and we setup a great space for study times
and enabled ourselves to study online and
co-operate with friends and teachers to
take on our study challenges. My mother
is helping us daily with that and doing a
great job supporting us even when we are
non-co-operative. In addition to this,
myself and my younger sister setup our
hobby space where we practice music and
painting and learning new skills online. In
addition to all of these activities with my
family, I spend some of my time talking to
my friends online. My father also started
“I previously taught myself
how to play piano and always
wanted to learn to play guitar,
and guess what? Now I have
the time and I’ve have already
started to practice, and I am
getting better all the time. I also
have more time to share my
singing and musical interests
online with the rest of the
world. I’ve managed to create
several videos and record
several new songs and posted
them on YouTube on my Janna
Thomson Page and enhanced
my Instagram account and
gained many more followers
and fans”
— Janna Thomson
holding Qur’an reading classes with us
and we are very happy about that.”
The young singer is happy because
staying at home has allowed her to have
some extra time for composing new
music and rehearsing. “Yes, I previously
taught myself how to play piano and
always wanted to learn to play guitar,
and guess what? Now I have the time
and I have already started to practice,
and I am getting better all the time. I also
have more time to share my singing and
musical interests online with the rest of
the world. I managed to create several
videos and record several new songs
and posted them on YouTube on my
Janna Thomson Page and enhanced my
Instagram account and gained many more
followers and fans. I have also managed to
work on my home studio and improve it so
that I can finally produce a full art package.”
When asked what she has planned for
future regarding creating new music, Janna
said: “I recently completed and shared
four new songs and managed to place my
music on iTunes, apple music, Google
Music, Amazon and Deezer and I am very
happy about that. After all, I am still just a
young girl, and hopefully will continue on
my journey of self-discovery and share my
music with many more people around the
world.” SUBSCRIBE: Scan the QR code above to follow Janna Thomson’s YouTube channel.