PAPER MAGIC UAE QUILLER - Tempoplanet
PAPER MAGIC UAE QUILLER - Tempoplanet
PAPER MAGIC UAE QUILLER - Tempoplanet
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FEBRUARY 2013<br />
THE FIRST MAGAZINE IN THE<br />
REGION TO USE MOBILE TAGGING<br />
THE WIDEST CIRCULATED YOUTH<br />
AND COMMUNITY FOCUSED<br />
MAGAZINE IN THE <strong>UAE</strong><br />
PG 12<br />
<strong>PAPER</strong> <strong>MAGIC</strong><br />
<strong>UAE</strong> <strong>QUILLER</strong><br />
FARAH AL FARDH<br />
PLUS+<br />
LOTSA DOSA<br />
MUSIC OBSESSION<br />
HEART, ART AND SOUL<br />
WHAT'S IN YOUR BAG
www.tempoplanet.com<br />
04 notes & cyberchatter<br />
05 uspace<br />
06 what’s hot<br />
08 tempo’s top 10 songs / on my ipod<br />
09 social meets<br />
10 my style blueprint<br />
11 music obsession<br />
12 cover story –paper magic<br />
14 city bites<br />
15 innovation competition: musahamiti<br />
16 youth talk<br />
17 people calendar<br />
19 doc in the house / remixing rumi<br />
20 heart, art and soul<br />
22 game hedz / tech talk<br />
23 trending<br />
24 moving forward<br />
26 the planetarians<br />
27 media<br />
28 what’s in your bag<br />
29 horoscope<br />
30 miss khulood<br />
12<br />
15 20<br />
Occasionally in life you come across those rare<br />
individuals who are not satisfied with following the<br />
tried and tested, but plunge themselves into risk<br />
and the totally new.<br />
Tempo this month celebrates three people who<br />
caught our eye, for their individuality, their vision<br />
and their courage. Henry Bennett is a restless<br />
soul; a performing artist and teacher who explores<br />
new dimensions in music and art. Farah Al Fardh<br />
is an Emirati who stumbled upon paper quilling,<br />
an esoteric European art form and has applied a<br />
creative energy into promoting it region-wide.<br />
Palestinian Mohammed Sawan is a talented rocker<br />
who wanted to start a band but, unable to attract<br />
the right people, decided to go it along anyway: the<br />
result is Obselion, a one man band with the sound<br />
of a full metal ensemble.<br />
Speaking of game-changers, I had the great<br />
fortune to meet a lot of inspiring entrepreneurs<br />
recently at the Booth-Booz conference on women’s<br />
entrepreneurship. Read about it in this issue.<br />
We salute those pioneers among us; and recognize<br />
their energy, passion and resiliency.<br />
Embrace your creative soul Abu Dhabi.<br />
Sana Bagersh<br />
Managing Editor<br />
bagersh@tempoplanet.com<br />
24<br />
MANAGING EDITOR<br />
Sana Bagersh<br />
FEATURES EDITOR<br />
Dr. Alma Kadragic<br />
EDITORIAL<br />
COORDINATOR<br />
Ajir Shujahi<br />
MARKETING<br />
DIRECTOR<br />
Manjul Abhishek<br />
DESIGN & LAYOUT<br />
Mark De Castro<br />
PHOTOGRAPHER<br />
Angeli Castillo<br />
DISTRIBUTION<br />
COORDINATOR<br />
Melaku Muluneh<br />
EDITORIAL<br />
CONTRIBUTORS<br />
Ahmed Samir<br />
Ali Suliman<br />
Azza El Masri<br />
Blakniss<br />
Dorian ‘Paul D’ Rogers<br />
Dr. DMS<br />
Nabeela Huda<br />
Saif Nasir<br />
Samarpan Chakraborty<br />
Sanah Chauhan<br />
Shahid Saeed<br />
Sharon Carvalho<br />
DESIGN BY }<br />
ADDRESS<br />
To reach editorial at Abu Dhabi Tempo email: editorial@tempoplanet.com. If you need to find out where you can pick up your<br />
copy call: 02 491 8624/25 or check out the list of Tempo distribution points on our website.<br />
NOTE TO ADVERTISERS<br />
Advertisers can request brand tagging with all advertisements. To reach advertising call: 02 491 8624/25, fax: 02 491 8626<br />
email: advertising@tempoplanet.com<br />
DISCLAIMER<br />
Tempo Magazine does its best to ensure the authenticity and accuracy of its contents, the publisher cannot accept any<br />
responsibility for errors, mistakes and inaccuracies. The publisher reserves the rights of this product and no part of this<br />
publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the permission of the publisher.<br />
download www.gettag.mobi<br />
to your smart phone<br />
run application<br />
click on tag beside each article to<br />
have fun with online content, videos<br />
& cool tags!<br />
Scan the QR CODE using your<br />
smart phone<br />
for Blackberry this is done through<br />
BBM<br />
for iPhone download BeeTag<br />
or Neo Reader<br />
MEDIA LICENCE NO. 1/105866/24295<br />
TO ADVERTISE IN TEMPO, CALL: 02 491 8624
POST YOUR VIEWS AND COMMENTS ON OUR FACEBOOK AND TWITTER PAGES<br />
The cover story (Tempo’s January<br />
issue) on the <strong>UAE</strong> Rally Drivers was<br />
very inspiring for a race lover like<br />
me.<br />
– Jim Sebastian<br />
Love your work guys! Keep up the<br />
good job.<br />
– Mohammed Rashid<br />
Dean Hoke @deanhoke<br />
Very nice piece on Kate Grasell<br />
by @AbuDhabiTempo about Abu<br />
Dhabi Infant Massage Course she is<br />
conducting.<br />
Azza E @aetheawesome<br />
@AbuDhabiTempo's Jan issue is<br />
here! I reviewed@jodimeadows'<br />
INCARNATE: "a beautiful story that<br />
raises a thought-provoking question"<br />
#review<br />
Author Jodi Meadows’ response:<br />
“ Jodi Meadows @jodimeadows<br />
- @aetheawesome Thank you! :)<br />
@AbuDhabiTempo "<br />
Constance Van Horne<br />
@cmvanhorne<br />
Great @Tamakkan this evening<br />
looking forward to next month<br />
already!<br />
DO YOU HAVE A BIZ SUCH AS<br />
A COFFEE SHOP, CAFÉ, HOTEL<br />
ETC THAT CATERS TO THE<br />
TEMPO CROWD (THE COOL<br />
18-35, UPWARDLY MOBILE<br />
DEMOGRAPHIC)? IF SO, YOU<br />
MAY QUALIFY FOR A TEMPO<br />
STAND. CALL US ON 02 491 8624<br />
TO FIND OUT MORE!<br />
Tweet@abudhabitempo<br />
Like us on Facebook<br />
Theresa F Weber @<br />
TheresaFWeber<br />
@AbuDhabiTempo<br />
Can’t wait to read<br />
January issue and @<br />
almakad's article on the<br />
beauty of Arab films<br />
#abudhabi . Your mag is<br />
a great resource!<br />
FUN FACT<br />
By Tony James<br />
No word in the<br />
English language<br />
rhymes with month,<br />
orange, silver, and<br />
purple.<br />
Guess ten words<br />
without rearranging<br />
any of its letters<br />
from the word<br />
“THEREIN”<br />
Answers:<br />
the, there, he, in, rein, her, here, ere,<br />
therein, herein.<br />
RESULT OF LAST<br />
MONTH’S VOTE:<br />
Tempo asked how did you<br />
welcome the New Year?<br />
68.0%<br />
32.0%<br />
0.0%<br />
0.0%<br />
1.<br />
2.<br />
3.<br />
WITH FAMILY<br />
WITH FRIENDS<br />
BY MYSELF<br />
AT WORK<br />
THIS MONTH’S<br />
QUESTION:<br />
If you could construct the<br />
perfect Valentine's date,<br />
what would be her/his<br />
overriding quality?<br />
Funny<br />
Intelligent<br />
Attractive<br />
TO VOTE<br />
GO TO<br />
tempoplanet.com<br />
TO ADVERTISE IN THE WIDEST CIRCULATED YOUTH AND COMMUNITY FOCUSED MAGAZINE IN THE <strong>UAE</strong>, CALL: 02 491 8624<br />
04 | www.tempoplanet.com
www.tempoplanet.com<br />
2013:<br />
YOUR HANDBOOK FOR LIVING A BETTER LIFE<br />
By Ali Suliman<br />
TALKING BOOKS<br />
By Azza El Masri<br />
TIME TRAVEL - KING ON KENNEDY<br />
11.22.63<br />
by Stephen King<br />
Hodder, 2012<br />
HEALTH<br />
• Drink plenty of water<br />
• Eat Breakfast like a king<br />
• Lunch like a prince<br />
• Dinner like a beggar<br />
LIVE WITH 3 E's:<br />
Energy, Enthusiasm & Empathy<br />
• Make time to pray, meditate — feed<br />
your soul.<br />
• Worry less, play more.<br />
• Read more books than you did in<br />
2012.<br />
• Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes<br />
each day.<br />
• Get enough sleep — you’ll need it.<br />
• Take a 10-30 minute walk daily and<br />
while you walk, smile.<br />
PERSONALITY<br />
• Don’t over-do things. Mind your<br />
limits.<br />
• Your energy is too precious — don’t<br />
waste it on gossip and envy; you<br />
already have what you need.<br />
• Dream more while you are awake.<br />
• Forget issues of the past. Don't<br />
remind your loved ones of their<br />
•<br />
•<br />
•<br />
mistakes. That will ruin your present.<br />
Life is too short to waste time hating<br />
anyone. Don't hate others.<br />
Realise that no one is in charge of your<br />
happiness except you.<br />
You don't have to win every argument.<br />
Agree to disagree (or being mistaken).<br />
SOCIETY<br />
• Call your family often.<br />
• Each day give something good to others.<br />
• Forgive everyone for everything. It will<br />
make you a better person.<br />
• Spend time with people over the age of<br />
70 & under the age of six —it will give you<br />
perspective.<br />
• Try to make at least three people smile each<br />
day.<br />
• Accept that what other people think of you<br />
is none of your business.<br />
LIFE<br />
• Do the right thing!<br />
• Know that however good or bad a situation<br />
is, it will change.<br />
• Present yourself well.<br />
• Make your inner most self happy, and you<br />
will be happy.<br />
Many attribute<br />
Stephen King to<br />
being the father of<br />
modern American<br />
horror literature,<br />
and inspiring an<br />
entire genre in<br />
books and movies.<br />
His book “11.22.63”<br />
is refreshingly<br />
different. This<br />
is not another horror novel, but his first<br />
foray into mainstream sci-fi: a book about<br />
time-travel.<br />
If you know your history, you’d know what<br />
11.22.63 stands for. It is a date that has<br />
changed the course of American history; on<br />
November twenty-two 1963 US President<br />
John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas,<br />
Texas.<br />
King was just a teenager when it happened,<br />
but the memory of that time is indelibly<br />
etched in his mind, and his writing<br />
brilliantly describes his memories with<br />
poignant detail. You can smell the sweat, feel<br />
the depression, the prevalent racism, and the<br />
working-classmen’s hardships – as well as<br />
King’s eloquent pathos.<br />
ONE UNIVERSE:<br />
THE FLOWER AND THE HUMAN<br />
By Samarpan Chakraborty<br />
A flower, an expression of a fulfilled tree<br />
The completeness of its life, a flower<br />
Its beauty is like the untapped competence of a human body<br />
Its blossoming is the celebration of human inclusiveness<br />
Its colour, its vibrancy, its life<br />
He looked at a flower and realized he is a flower<br />
Yet not blossomed, yet not complete<br />
I saw a tree and I saw me<br />
My life in harmony with the tree<br />
I closed my eyes and I saw<br />
The tree and me as one entity<br />
Since birth we were destined for this harmony<br />
She gave me life with every exhalation<br />
As I gave her mine<br />
For centuries half of you and me were living in a tree<br />
Being, breathing and blossoming within the tree<br />
And yet we go about exploiting what Mother Nature gave us<br />
Without a price, never considering it a loan, just for us<br />
Let us stop for a while and expand our senses, we see<br />
The tree as a part of you and also a part of me.<br />
The book 11.22.63 starts in 2011, with Jake<br />
Epping, an English teacher from Lisbon<br />
Falls, Maine, who has just come out from<br />
a bitter divorce and who is chosen for a<br />
dangerous mission: catch Lee Harvey Oswald<br />
and prevent the Kennedy assassination. And<br />
don’t mess up.<br />
Jake leaves behind the information era and<br />
his identity to go back to the times of soaring<br />
American industrialism, the Cold War, Elvis<br />
and the marriage ideal of the 1950s. This is<br />
where he meets Sadie, a high school librarian<br />
with a troubled past. But this is no romance<br />
novel, I assure you; Jake is on a quest and<br />
although his feelings for Sadie often make<br />
him reconsider his purpose, he never wavers.<br />
I devoured this book greedily, and (I<br />
confess) I abandoned chores and scholarly<br />
commitments. There are very rare books<br />
that hook you from the first sentence, but<br />
Stephen King is an expert in that. If you<br />
like big books (and I do mean big), and you<br />
like a good story then please embrace the<br />
genius of Stephen King and get his latest<br />
novel 11.22.63 now because King proves, yet<br />
again, to be one of the best storytellers of our<br />
generation!<br />
www.tempoplanet.com | 05
YOUR GUIDE TO THIS MONTHS’ HOTTEST EVENTS<br />
www.tempoplanet.com<br />
ABU DHABI ART HUB<br />
January 12 – February 7<br />
Venue: Abu Dhabi Art Hub<br />
Abu Dhabi<br />
A first-of-its-kind live and<br />
work art community for local<br />
and international artists today<br />
officially opened its doors,<br />
unveiling a robust events calendar<br />
and unique programs integrating<br />
art perspectives with the<br />
community.<br />
Details:<br />
www.adah.ae<br />
H.H. SHAIKH SULTAN<br />
BIN ZAYED AL NAHYAN<br />
CAMEL’S FESTIVAL<br />
February 1 – February 15<br />
Sweihan Area, Al-Ain<br />
H.H. Shaikh. Sultan Bin Zayed<br />
Al Nahyan Festival for the<br />
traditional camel races, beauty<br />
contests and sloogi race in<br />
Sweihan city, have dedicated<br />
special shows for 'Asayel'<br />
(pedigree) and 'Majahim' (darkskinned)<br />
camels, and the wellknown<br />
and rare 'camel beauty<br />
contest'. The festival also has<br />
a traditional souq and a camel<br />
auction with various contests for<br />
traditional handicrafts.<br />
Details:<br />
www.abudhabi.ae<br />
GOURMET ABU DHABI<br />
February 5 – 20<br />
Venues: Across Abu Dhabi's finest<br />
dining restaurants<br />
Gourmet Abu Dhabi – the annual<br />
culinary festival which runs<br />
across 20 of Abu Dhabi’s leading<br />
restaurants from February 5-20<br />
features a masterful collection of<br />
the world’s leading masterchefs<br />
. On the sideline of the event is<br />
the 2013 Gourmet Stars Awards<br />
– an annual highlight of the <strong>UAE</strong><br />
capital’s annual culinary festival.<br />
Thirty-nine finalists have been<br />
selected for the 10 hotly contested<br />
public accolades.<br />
Details:<br />
www.gourmetabudhabi.ae<br />
TRI YAS<br />
February 8<br />
Venue: Yas Marina Circuit<br />
Yas Island<br />
Tri Yas 2013 is the region’s only<br />
first day and night triathlon –<br />
swim legs will be in daylight in the<br />
Yas Marina, bike and run legs will<br />
take place under full flood lights<br />
on the Formula 1 track and on Yas<br />
Marina Circuit roads respectively.<br />
This follows the same race format<br />
as the Formula 1 Etihad Airways<br />
Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Transition<br />
will be in the Formula 1 pits to<br />
provide a unique experience.<br />
Details:<br />
www.yasmarinacircuit.com<br />
YAS RACING SERIES<br />
February 14<br />
Venue: Yas Marina Circuit, Yas Island<br />
Bring your own car out to a Yas Track Day and feel like a champion and<br />
push your vehicle’s limits on our highly advanced Formula 1 circuit.<br />
Maneuver the configurations of this sensational track and get familiar<br />
with its turns and corners. You will be based out of Support Pit’s airconditioned<br />
garages with qualified Yas Racing School instructors to give<br />
driving tips and light coaching. You can follow one of YMC pace cars<br />
for a few laps to get to know the circuit and the best routes through the<br />
corners. The half-day and full-day sessions allow you to test your skills<br />
and the performance of your car in a safe and controlled environment.<br />
Details:<br />
www.yasmarinacircuit.com<br />
SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS<br />
February 24 – March 2<br />
Venue: National Theatre, Abu Dhabi<br />
Under the patronage of H.H Sheikha Reem Bint Ahmed Bint Hamdan Al<br />
Nahyan, the legendary live performance of Snow White and The Seven<br />
Dwarfs will be showcased at the National Theater in Abu Dhabi. This<br />
spectacular play uses the highest technical equipment that offers optical<br />
illusions, which have amazed audiences around the world. It expands the<br />
imagination of children by showing a different and exciting perspective<br />
of this legendary children’s tale.<br />
For more details, visit www.skyevent.ae<br />
06 | www.tempoplanet.com<br />
TO ADVERTISE IN THE WIDEST CIRCULATED YOUTH AND COMMUNITY FOCUSED MAGAZINE IN THE <strong>UAE</strong>, CALL: 02 491 8624
MUSIC<br />
View the #1 song in the <strong>UAE</strong><br />
TEMPO’S MUSIC CHART LETS YOU DISCOVER THE LATEST TOP 10 SONGS<br />
IN THE EMIRATE, WHILE KEEPING EYE ON YOUR FAVOURITE ARTISTS.<br />
SUIT & TIE (FEAT JAY Z)<br />
JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE<br />
LITTLE THINGS<br />
ONE DIRECTION<br />
I KNEW YOU WERE TROUBLE<br />
TAYLOR SWIFT<br />
DRINKING FROM THE BOTTLE<br />
(FEAT. TINIE TEMPAH) – CALVIN HARRIS<br />
DON’T STOP THE PARTY<br />
(FEAT. TJR) – PITBULL<br />
MY LIFE<br />
(FEAT. EMINEM & ADAM LEVINE) – 50 CENT<br />
HO HEY<br />
THE LUMINEERS<br />
IMPOSSIBLE<br />
JAMES ARTHUR<br />
DIAMONDS<br />
RIHANNA<br />
LOCKED OUT OF HEAVEN<br />
BRUNO MARS<br />
1<br />
2<br />
3<br />
4<br />
5<br />
6<br />
7<br />
8<br />
9<br />
10<br />
HALA SALEH is a 20 year old student who can’t<br />
start her day without listening to music.<br />
1.<br />
2.<br />
3.<br />
4.<br />
5.<br />
6.<br />
7.<br />
8.<br />
9.<br />
10.<br />
Thrift Shop (feat. Wanz) – Macklemore and Ryan Lewis<br />
Everything Has Changed (feat. Ed Sheeran) – Taylor Swift<br />
If I Didn’t Know Better – The Civil Wars<br />
Mercy (feat. Big Sean, Pusha T & 2 Chainz) – Kanye West<br />
Folsom Prison Blues – Johnny Cash<br />
The One That Got Away – Katy Perry<br />
Fortune Teller – Maroon 5<br />
Glad You Came – The Wanted<br />
Good Girl – Carrie Underwood<br />
Kezzabeh – Joe Ashkar<br />
1.<br />
Suit & Tie (feat. JAY Z) – Justin Timberlake<br />
1.<br />
Suit & Tie (feat. JAY Z) – Justin Timberlake<br />
2.<br />
I Knew You Were Trouble – Taylor Swift<br />
2.<br />
I Knew You Were Trouble – Taylor Swift<br />
3.<br />
Ho Hey – The Lumineers<br />
3.<br />
Drinking from the Bottle (feat. Tinie Tempah) – Calvin Harris<br />
4.<br />
Locked Out of Heaven – Bruno Mars<br />
4.<br />
Impossible – James Arthur<br />
5.<br />
Don’t You Worry Child (feat. John Martin) – Swedish House Mafia<br />
5.<br />
Don’t Stop the Party (feat. TJR) – Pitbull<br />
6.<br />
Don’t Stop the Party (feat. TJR) – Pitbull<br />
6.<br />
Kiss You – One Direction<br />
7.<br />
Beauty and a Beat (feat. Nicki Minaj) – Justin Bieber<br />
7.<br />
Locked Out of Heaven – Bruno Mars<br />
8.<br />
Home – Phillip Phillips<br />
8.<br />
Clown – Emeli Sande<br />
9.<br />
Daylight – Maroon 5<br />
9.<br />
My Life (feat. Eminem & Adam Levine) – 50 Cent<br />
10.<br />
Sweet Nothing (feat. Florence Welsh) – Calvin Harris<br />
10.<br />
Skyfall - Adele<br />
08 | www.tempoplanet.com TO ADVERTISE IN THE WIDEST CIRCULATED YOUTH AND COMMUNITY FOCUSED MAGAZINE IN THE <strong>UAE</strong>, CALL: 02 491 8624
In Abu Dhabi there’s a tight little group that is passionate about one<br />
thing: language! Meet ‘AD Speaks:’ a multinational community that<br />
promotes the idea of all languages, communication and friendships.<br />
THE MANTRA<br />
WE ALL WANT TO<br />
SPEAK. WE ALL WANT<br />
TO SHARE. WE ARE ALL<br />
WILLING TO LISTEN.<br />
THE LOCATION AND TIME:<br />
Roul’s Cafe at Central Market. They meet every Tuesday<br />
7-9 for the entire group. Sunday 10-12 for women only.<br />
THE IDEA:<br />
People from all over the world<br />
(Columbia, Syria, Canada,<br />
Russia, France, India, and so<br />
on) come together to learn the<br />
language you’d like to have,<br />
and have a good time while<br />
doing so.<br />
HAROL<br />
Arrived from Columbia<br />
without the knowledge,<br />
or understanding of the<br />
English language. He<br />
joined the AD speaks<br />
a while ago he can now<br />
speak the language with<br />
unquestionable ease – he<br />
can keep up with any<br />
conversation.<br />
KHALED<br />
From Egypt. Learning<br />
French and English.<br />
He says AD Speak is a<br />
fabulous experience, and<br />
said it is one of the best<br />
experiences he had in<br />
Abu Dhabi. He teaches<br />
Arabic to others.<br />
THE ORGANIZERS: Patricia, Carol and Rosa<br />
HANAA<br />
From Syria says she’s<br />
had great help the group<br />
in learning English.<br />
She also hopes to learn<br />
Spanish and French.<br />
JANINE<br />
From Canada. Trying to learn the<br />
Arabic language said a challenge<br />
is to find and understand your<br />
own learning style. Her Arabic<br />
mentor commended her great<br />
ability in handling the language.<br />
Connecting: www.facebook.com/ADspeaks<br />
www.tempoplanet.com | 09
PHOTOGRAPHS BY: ANGELI CASTILLO<br />
SAM J. MACHIN<br />
29 } MUSICIAN<br />
FASHION STATEMENT:<br />
I heard Jess C Scott say “A fit,<br />
healthy body is the best fashion<br />
statement,” but that sounds like<br />
a lot of effort to me! So I just try<br />
to look at all the bands I grew up<br />
listening to, and then pick and<br />
choose the bits of style that I like.<br />
DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONAL<br />
STYLE IN LESS THAN 10 WORDS:<br />
Indie Rock, London, not Boy George.<br />
FAV BUY OF THE PAST MONTH:<br />
Probably my denim shirt from H&M. I was<br />
looking for ages for one the right colour and<br />
fit, and now and again H&M comes up with<br />
the goods.<br />
WHICH IS YOUR FAV STORE TO<br />
SHOP IN?<br />
I’d say Bershka, Pull & Bear, H&M, and<br />
Springfield is where I can usually find<br />
something to spend my money on!<br />
DOES THE <strong>UAE</strong> HAVE STYLE?<br />
Well, I suppose there is a tendency for<br />
quite a show-off kind of culture with all the<br />
money knocking about here, but now and<br />
again you do see some pretty ballsy outfits!<br />
DO YOU HAVE ANY FASHION<br />
PET HATES?<br />
I never quite see the point in people having<br />
those Chinese or Japanese symbols as<br />
tattoos, especially when they don’t speak<br />
or understand it! A lot of people in the UK<br />
have them these days, like for instance<br />
their children’s names or something, and<br />
naturally 99% of the people who see it will<br />
also not know what it means….so what’s<br />
the point?!<br />
10 | www.tempoplanet.com<br />
TO ADVERTISE IN THE WIDEST CIRCULATED YOUTH AND COMMUNITY FOCUSED MAGAZINE IN THE <strong>UAE</strong>, CALL: 02 491 8624
MUSIC OBSESSION:<br />
MUSIC<br />
By Nabeela Huda<br />
THE <strong>MAGIC</strong> OF OBSELION<br />
It began back in 2006 when a young<br />
Mohammad Sawan found himself at<br />
his friend’s house listening to his friend<br />
playing the electric guitar. He was<br />
enthralled. Soon afterwards, a 23-yearold<br />
artist with an undying love for music<br />
emerged.<br />
Mohammad Sawan was born and raised in<br />
Abu Dhabi. After he graduated high school he<br />
applied for a job at Virgin Megastores to save<br />
up for college and music. Now he performs<br />
gigs around town, as the one-man band called<br />
Obselion.<br />
“ I had been trying to look for and reach new<br />
people to jam with and to start a new group.<br />
I couldn’t find anyone, so unfortunately,<br />
or fortunately, I had to do the entire thing<br />
on my own. Imagine a 5-piece band but one<br />
guy composing each instrument and writing<br />
everything! Beat by beat. Note by note. Word<br />
by word. What resulted was my Extended play<br />
(EP) “The Calm Fire”. I was lucky that a good<br />
friend of mine, Abbas Al Mossawi, agreed to<br />
help me and provide vocals since I’m not good at<br />
singing high notes like him. I thought to myself<br />
if there’s a chance to make this EP sound better<br />
why not go for it? And I was very happy with the<br />
final product.<br />
“ How I came up with the name ‘OBSELION’ is<br />
interesting. I spent a week trying to think of<br />
cool, catchy, and unique band names. I woke up<br />
one day and headed to the washroom to freshen<br />
up after a rough night and all that was screaming<br />
in my head was “OBSELION”. It didn’t make<br />
much sense to me but it sounded incredible!<br />
I googled the word and there was absolutely<br />
nothing about it, no definitions at all. So while<br />
brainstorming endlessly with my high school<br />
teacher, Mr. Wayne Brown, he exclaimed, “You<br />
know what, the right definition for Obselion is<br />
"Uncontrollably Devoted to Passion." And that<br />
stuck !<br />
“ A high point for me was my participation in<br />
the talent-hunt, Yas Rock Factory that was held<br />
by Flash Entertainment. I won a spot and got<br />
the chance to play on the Flash Forum stage<br />
alongside several other great <strong>UAE</strong> bands from<br />
all genres on the same night 30 Seconds To Mars<br />
took performed.<br />
“ Thinking back, I believe that my English<br />
teacher from my last year of high school<br />
impacted me a lot. He himself is a musician<br />
and a music producer and he knows a lot about<br />
music. I was ecstatic to learn that he loved my EP<br />
especially the song “The Cure”. But early on I was<br />
inspired and entranced by my friend’s guitar<br />
strokes. I loved the energy. The first music my<br />
friend taught me was the intro to ‘In the End’ by<br />
Linkin Park. From that point on I loved music<br />
more than I ever thought I would. Since then my<br />
life has completely changed.<br />
“The Calm Fire contains six tracks and<br />
is 23 minutes long. Two of the tracks are<br />
instrumentals, a mix of dub step and post<br />
rock. And the other four tracks are just pure<br />
face-melting metal-core. A line from my song<br />
Dear Dreamer says” ‘I will never give up on my<br />
dreams. And I swear from what I feel, someday<br />
it will be real’. I say believe and achieve your<br />
dreams”.<br />
The Calm Fire is available online at<br />
www.obselion.bandcamp.com to<br />
download it for free.<br />
http://obselion.bandcamp.com/<br />
track/the-calm-fire<br />
www.tempoplanet.com | 11
<strong>PAPER</strong> <strong>MAGIC</strong><br />
<strong>UAE</strong> <strong>QUILLER</strong>, FARAH AL FARDH<br />
By Sanah Chauhan<br />
Although new to the Arab world,<br />
the art of paper quilling dates back<br />
centuries. What started off as a<br />
hobby for Italian and French nuns<br />
during the Renaissance is now an<br />
increasingly popular art form being<br />
practiced all over the world. This<br />
gentle art form involves rolling up<br />
strips of paper into shapes and designs<br />
that are used to decorate wedding<br />
invitations, birth announcements,<br />
greeting cards, scrapbook pages, and<br />
boxes and even art displays.<br />
At the vanguard of the paper quilling movement<br />
in the <strong>UAE</strong> is Farooha Humaid Al Fardh,<br />
the only Emirati paper quilling artist to be<br />
recognized both locally and internationally.<br />
Tempo caught up with her to learn more about<br />
this unique art.<br />
AN ARTISTIC DISCOVERY<br />
Farooha, 33, always had a passion for arts and<br />
crafts throughout her school life. She graduated<br />
in 2002 from Zayed University’s College of<br />
Communication and Media Sciences but was<br />
introduced to paper quilling in 2004 quite<br />
by accident…<br />
12 | www.tempoplanet.com<br />
“That was when I twisted my ankle and was<br />
advised bed rest for a month. I had to find a<br />
way to pass my time. I came across a book called<br />
Paper Twirling on Amazon, which included<br />
everything from the instructions to the<br />
materials required for the craft.”<br />
She showed her artwork to her relatives, friends<br />
and colleagues, and they all encouraged her<br />
to develop her skills. Soon she started to sell<br />
her artwork through an online forum for <strong>UAE</strong><br />
women. “The first of my artwork to be sold were<br />
in the shape of colourful sheep! And during the<br />
month of Ramadan, I sold 350 sheep! That was a<br />
great beginning for me.”<br />
FROM SHEEP TO STARDOM<br />
Her success with the sheep art resulted in many<br />
queries regarding in an online forum, and soon<br />
Farah began posting DIY Paper Quilling articles<br />
online to explain how to make basic shapes and<br />
designs. These articles spread word of mouth<br />
about the artform throughout the Arab world<br />
and was especially noticed by one of the forum<br />
members, who happened to be an employee at<br />
Sama Dubai TV.<br />
The Sama TV reporter invited Farah to present<br />
her artwork on a TV show called “Marasi”<br />
and soon after that Farah received a deluge of<br />
invitations from other channels. Farah was<br />
invited to channels like Rotana Khalijeya, Al<br />
Arabiya, Noor Dubai TV, Abu Dhabi TV, Al Ain<br />
TV, Dubai TV, Sharjah TV and Decision<br />
Makers TV.<br />
In January 2009 Farah launched the first ever<br />
Arabic/English website on the art of paper<br />
quilling. “I called the website “Farooha,” my<br />
nickname, and soon I was getting lots of traffic<br />
and inquiries.” In fact the website became so<br />
popular that it went on to win the Tamaiaz<br />
Award from Mawarid Finance in May 2009 in<br />
the presence of Sheikh Majed Bin Mohamed Al<br />
Maktoum.<br />
In 2009, Farah joined The Quilling Guild in<br />
the UK and was the first appointed regional<br />
representative from the <strong>UAE</strong>. She then joined<br />
the North American Quilling Guild, the Japan<br />
Quilling Guild in 2010 and the Dutch Quilling<br />
Guild in 2011.<br />
SPREADING THE WORD<br />
Farah’s endeavours to spread the art of quilling<br />
in the Arab world have been successful. After her<br />
television appearance on Sama Dubai TV, Farah<br />
was invited by Dubai Women’s Association<br />
to conduct quilling workshops. She also had<br />
a kiosk in Modhesh Fun City for two months
called “Al Fardh Crafts” where she sold many<br />
craft books and tools related to paper quilling.<br />
In a bid to promote quilling in schools Farah<br />
conducted workshops in Ras Al Khaimah for art<br />
teachers from different emirates to promote the<br />
art in their own classes. “In all the encounters<br />
where I demonstrated the art, people were seeing<br />
quilling for the first time. It was amazing to see<br />
how people reacted to my work.”<br />
In July 2009 Farah participated at the First Doll<br />
Exhibition at Dubai Festival City where she was<br />
the only Arab among 15 artists from around<br />
the world. Through this exhibition Farah<br />
started creating 3D figures or miniatures and<br />
introduced the first Emirati 3D figures.<br />
In 2010, she conducted a workshop at Zayed<br />
University, which was part of the “Refresh”<br />
Festival and in the same year also participated<br />
in the RAK Economic Department creativity<br />
and talent exhibition. Farah was especially<br />
thrilled when she was asked to participate in the<br />
<strong>UAE</strong>’s 40th <strong>UAE</strong> National Day, and where she<br />
organized a quilling demonstration.<br />
She says her next step is to start teaching classes<br />
formally. “ There are a lot of art enthusiasts<br />
who are looking for new creative options to<br />
explore.” She adds: “I know that all it takes is to<br />
get people started as quilling is very addictive.<br />
It’s like that commercial for Pringles: Once You<br />
Pop, You Can't Stop. I want everyone to try it and<br />
experience the joy that it brings.”<br />
www.tempoplanet.com | 13
PRESENTS<br />
LOTSA DOSA<br />
By Nabeela Huda<br />
ARE YOU IN SEARCH OF A DISTINCTIVE<br />
INDIAN CUISINE? THEN YOU SHOULD<br />
TRY THE ‘DOSA,’ THE FERMENTED RICE<br />
BEAUTY THAT IS THE STAPLE FOOD OF<br />
THE SOUTH INDIANS, AND THAT IS SIMPLE<br />
YET DELECTABLY VERSATILE. HERE’S A<br />
QUICK GUIDE:<br />
WHERE: SANGEETHA<br />
WHAT: Masala Dosa<br />
BUILD: Perfectly round Indian<br />
crepes with two dips: coconut<br />
mint and coconut chili.<br />
COMMENT: Searching for<br />
a rich, authentic experience I<br />
went to check out Sangeetha on<br />
very busy Electra Street. What I<br />
found was the most unaffected<br />
Indian experience ever! The<br />
double floored small space and<br />
the servers dressed in culturally<br />
resonant apparel reminded me<br />
of the Indian ferry sailors of<br />
the 90’s. Within 10 minutes my<br />
order arrived. It was served in<br />
a large circular hot aluminium<br />
plate. If I could have Masala Dosa<br />
for the rest of my life, it would<br />
need to be exactly like this! It was<br />
incomparable fermented rice,<br />
and it came with a mushy filling<br />
of mashed potato and coconut<br />
mint dip to die for.<br />
RECOMMENDATION:<br />
Great food at a bargain price<br />
- you can eat enough to feed a<br />
nation!<br />
RATING:<br />
WHERE: ARAB UDUPI<br />
RESTAURANT<br />
WHAT: Masala Dosa<br />
BUILD: Paper-thin Masala<br />
Dosa with a choice of dips and<br />
‘aloodaal’ (lentil and potato<br />
mixture)<br />
COMMENT: One of the oldest<br />
Indian restaurants in the <strong>UAE</strong>,<br />
Arab Udupi still leads the South<br />
Indian pack. My order of masala<br />
dosa when it reached my table<br />
was a sight to see! Spanning an<br />
entire arm’s length (kid you<br />
not), it was an impressive sight.<br />
I loved it, not only because of<br />
its value-for-money to size-ofdinner-plate<br />
ratio (literally),<br />
but in terms of taste as well! I<br />
enjoyed the flakes that tore off<br />
the bread, the dips that were of<br />
consistent thickness, and texture<br />
of the dosa.<br />
RECOMMENDATION:<br />
A little more expensive then<br />
Sangeetha, but one taste of it and<br />
you will regret not having tried<br />
it earlier!<br />
RATING:<br />
WHERE: ARYAAS<br />
RESTAURANT<br />
WHAT: Aryaas Special Dosa<br />
BUILD: Vibrant conical<br />
beauties in every colour<br />
COMMENT: Located in<br />
Karama, Dubai, Aryaas offers<br />
an extensive menu of dosas,<br />
uttapams (Indian pancakes), and<br />
idlis (rice cakes) using authentic<br />
ingredients of rice flour, lentils<br />
or semolina. This popular<br />
restaurant is a treat to the mouth<br />
and to the wallet. Their gorgeous<br />
dosa came in multiple colours<br />
(green, yellow and orange!) along<br />
with a wonderfully pungent<br />
‘sambar’ chutney of coriander,<br />
coconut and tomato. The dosas<br />
were a delight to eat, with juices<br />
dripping everywhere.<br />
RECOMMENDATION:<br />
Make sure to lick the last bit<br />
of sauce from your fingertips<br />
because the chutneys are far too<br />
precious to waste!<br />
RATING:<br />
WHERE: FOODLANDS<br />
WHAT: Rava Dosa<br />
BUILD: Buttery thicker and<br />
crispier, with aachar (pickles).<br />
COMMENT: Foodlands on<br />
Airport Road in Abu Dhabi and<br />
Salahuddin Road in Dubai, is<br />
a pleasing family restaurant<br />
that offers a variety of Indian<br />
cuisines (as well as some that are<br />
Persian and Chinese). In search<br />
of the mighty dosa, I couldn’t<br />
wait to try out their version.<br />
What I was served were rava<br />
dosas that were very buttery, hot,<br />
soft and waiting for your teeth<br />
to sink into them. Thicker than<br />
most regular dosas, these were<br />
also somehow crispier but just<br />
perfect with the accompanying<br />
seasoned squishy potatoes.<br />
RECOMMENDATION: If<br />
you’re going to binge, the taste<br />
makes the ghee factor worth it.<br />
RATING:<br />
14 | www.tempoplanet.com
INNOVATION COMPETITION:<br />
MUSAHAMATI FOR YOUTH<br />
By Ajir Shujahi<br />
Musahamati is a competition launched<br />
by the Abu Dhabi Awards aimed at<br />
promoting innovation among youth<br />
in Abu Dhabi. Khaled Al Falasi,<br />
Senior Strategic Communication<br />
Officer at Executive Affairs presented<br />
Musahamati at Tamakkan, and Tempo<br />
caught up with him to find out more<br />
about this exciting initiative...<br />
KHALED, TELL US ABOUT<br />
MUSAHAMATI.<br />
Musahamati, meaning ‘My Contribution’ in<br />
Arabic, encourages the youth in Abu Dhabi to<br />
identify an issue within the community and<br />
provide a creative solution that will make a<br />
positive change. Recognizing that youth are an<br />
integral part of our community and the Emirate<br />
of Abu Dhabi, the Abu Dhabi Awards launched<br />
the initiative ‘Musahamati’ as a competition is<br />
open to citizens and residents, between 16-23<br />
years old.<br />
WHAT ARE ITS OBJECTIVES?<br />
The initiative has been designed to encourage a<br />
sense of social responsibility amongst the youth<br />
in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. We aim to promote<br />
creative thinking and community solutions by<br />
showcasing participants and winners as local<br />
innovators and role models. Also, we hope to<br />
instill the Abu Dhabi Awards values of giving,<br />
selflessness, commitment and inspiration.<br />
HOW DOES IT WORK?<br />
Well, first you need to apply. Participants choose<br />
a category and then define a specific issue that<br />
they aim to resolve and results they intend to<br />
achieve. The categories are: Environmental<br />
Preservation & Awareness; Culture & Heritage;<br />
Technology & Innovation; Healthy Lifestyle<br />
and Social Responsibility. Submissions are<br />
only made via an entry form available on www.<br />
musahamati.ae.<br />
Then, if you’re selected, you must attend<br />
the Shortlisted Workshop: the shortlisted<br />
submissions are invited to a workshop, where<br />
they will be offered advice from experts.<br />
The third step is final proposal submission<br />
from shortlisted participants:participants<br />
have threeweeks tosubmit final proposals.<br />
Then, you will have to provide the final<br />
presentations:shortlisted participants present<br />
proposals to the judging committee. Finally, the<br />
winner will be announced! Initial support will be<br />
provided to bring the idea to life.<br />
WHAT CRITERIA DOES THE<br />
APPLICANT HAVE TO FULFILL?<br />
Good question! All submissions will be judged<br />
against the following criteria: how achievable<br />
they are – practical, meets community needs.<br />
How sustainable – efficiently maintained over<br />
a sustained period; offers the potential for<br />
a lasting effect; not a one-off initiative. Is it<br />
original, inspirational? Ideas must be unique and<br />
motivational for members of the community.<br />
Research is very important: you will need to<br />
provide sufficient qualitative and quantitative<br />
analysis and research to support the idea.<br />
Another question to ask yourself is: is my idea<br />
scale-able? That is, is it flexible and adaptable?<br />
Can it be reproduced elsewhere? Cost-efficiency,<br />
too, should be considered: submissions that<br />
demonstrate low cost and high benefits are<br />
preferred.<br />
WATCH THE EXCITING VIDEO<br />
CAMPAIGN DESIGNED BY BRANDMOXIE<br />
Be sure to send in your submissions before<br />
the deadline which is February 23.<br />
Follow @musahamati and<br />
#musahamati<br />
www.tempoplanet.com | 15
TECHNOLOGICALLY<br />
AFFECTED DEATHS<br />
By Ahmed Samir<br />
ENLIGHTENMENT:<br />
STANDING YOUR GROUND<br />
By Saif Nasir<br />
Not much goes untold these days. So much of our lives<br />
is broadcast to everyone we know electronically: who we<br />
know and become “friends” with, who we’ve met, where we<br />
went, and what happened. We’re witnessing the death—<br />
or at least, farthest possible truncation — of enquiry and<br />
privacy; the former dying because we rarely have to ask<br />
to know something (we can find nearly anything about<br />
someone on their profiles), the latter seeing its demise<br />
in the phenomenon of the internet-sharing of<br />
nearly everything!<br />
Why do we feel the compulsion to share everything online? Is it<br />
arrogance, and we think everyone inhabiting our social-pages wants<br />
–or, worse still– deserves to know? Or is it a latent god-complex<br />
and we’re aching to delineate every facet of our existence to our<br />
“followers”? The name “follower” connotes a certain subservience,<br />
doesn’t it? Are we really looking to share our mind’s contents by<br />
tweeting, or are we all secretly looking to build our deserved fanbase?<br />
Unabashed self-advertisers, the lot of us!<br />
People will always try to enforce thoughts and opinions on<br />
you, thinking they know all there is to know about you,<br />
and all that can be done in response to a life’s situation<br />
facing you.<br />
Maybe it’s their dumb human propensity to proclaim themselves<br />
infallible, but it is your responsibility to stand your ground firmly,<br />
and not let others’ opinions shake your confidence. Those around<br />
you will try to change you, but it’s your (our) collective job to fight<br />
back if we truly truly believe in the actions we take.<br />
This idea of influence branches out and reaches far, and to many<br />
areas. In the end, they all intertwine and lead back to the same point:<br />
don’t let the outside world change your opinion of who you are, how<br />
you act, what you do, what you believe in, the decisions you make,<br />
and so on.<br />
And it’s impacting conversation, too! The real world kind of<br />
conversation (distinction for in-person, face-to-face conversation).<br />
Instead of actively participating in it – listening, assimilating what<br />
I’m told, replying accordingly – when, say, I’m told a story about<br />
something that happened earlier, I’m reduced to replying with, “I<br />
know, you already tweeted about it” – or – “Yeah, you posted pictures<br />
of it on Facebook,” or some other equally abominable variation of the<br />
same. There — the practice of revealing, in-conversation storytelling<br />
is dead, too!<br />
The modern human finds himself in a state of uber-connectedness<br />
never before experienced by any of his hierarchal kin. Seconds<br />
after you think of that witty remark and tweeting it, someone half<br />
the world away would be chuckling at it, and your visit to that new<br />
restaurant, they know about that too, along with your relationship<br />
status, and, much to<br />
the indignation of the<br />
thoughtful few who<br />
remember them, your<br />
birthday as well. It’s<br />
a violent deluge of<br />
personal information<br />
unfolding itself for<br />
whoever wishes to be<br />
informed (calling all<br />
stalkers!), and you<br />
have to wonder if it’s<br />
good for so much to<br />
be bandied around<br />
like cheap candy.<br />
For the time being, though, this information explosion is staying,<br />
and it’s clear, too: unless I decide to be a hermit and revoke every<br />
concession to technology, I won’t have my privacy back. Well, there’s<br />
an idea…<br />
It is your life to live. The choices you make might be faulty, but<br />
they are your choices that you made of your free will, and that is<br />
something every person has, and that is ultimately how you will<br />
learn; that is how you will become better as a person. You live<br />
and learn, as they say. So recognize that to be human is to make<br />
mistakes.<br />
Countless times in my writing, painting, life, people would not give<br />
me advice, but would rather try to forcibly make me do what is in<br />
their minds as they are convinced that this is the best thing to do.<br />
Very often I forget that it is within my capability to refute and deny<br />
them what they want.<br />
They will push. Just push back harder. Keep in mind that I am not<br />
advocating disobedience; we all need to listen to our elders, and we<br />
have to listen to the words and guidance of others. Consider them.<br />
If you feel like the option presented is a better one, then follow<br />
through and act on it. Think things through, always. Don’t let others<br />
cause you to be confused or in the dark, because that’ll be nothing<br />
more than a catalyst to have you make regrettable decisions. As<br />
Victor Hugo said, “The soul in darkness sins, but the real sinner is<br />
he who caused the darkness.”<br />
16 | www.tempoplanet.com<br />
TO ADVERTISE IN THE WIDEST CIRCULATED YOUTH AND COMMUNITY FOCUSED MAGAZINE IN THE <strong>UAE</strong>, CALL: 02 491 8624
FEB<br />
Snow White and the<br />
Seven Dwarves<br />
@ Abu Dhabi<br />
National Theatres<br />
Dubai Polo<br />
Club Series<br />
@ Dubai Polo &<br />
Equesterian Club<br />
Figure it out<br />
@ Dubai Festival<br />
Centre<br />
Jan 14 –Feb 27<br />
Short & Sweet<br />
Workshops Dubai<br />
@ Dubai<br />
Yas Drifts Night<br />
@ Yas Marina<br />
Circuit<br />
24 25 26 27<br />
Nada<br />
28<br />
Micheal Jackson<br />
History Show II<br />
featuring Kenny<br />
Wizz @ Souk<br />
MadinatJumeirah<br />
Child actress<br />
and love, Dakota<br />
Fanning’s birthday<br />
Dubai Duty Free<br />
Tennis Championship<br />
@ The Aviation Club<br />
ME Tech<br />
@ Madinat Jumeirah<br />
Barbados beauty<br />
Rihanna’s Birthday<br />
Meydan Race Nights<br />
@ Nad Al Sheba<br />
Barry Hilton in Stand-<br />
Up Chameleon<br />
@ Souk<br />
MadinatJumeirah<br />
17 18 19 20 21 22<br />
Arjun Suria<br />
23<br />
Camel Festival<br />
@ Sweihan Area<br />
1-15<br />
MEFMA Annual<br />
Conference<br />
@ The Address,<br />
Dubai Marina<br />
Lovable Rachel from<br />
friend’s, Jennifer<br />
Aniston’s Birthday<br />
Les Contradictions<br />
de la Vie<br />
@ The Mojo Gallery<br />
Jan 14- Feb 28<br />
Valentines Day<br />
Dubai Jazz Festival<br />
@ Dubai Festival City<br />
14-22<br />
Call for Artists<br />
@ Arsh Art Gallery<br />
N.B.<br />
10 11 12 13 14 15 16<br />
Omega Dubai Desert<br />
Classic<br />
@ Emirates Gulf Club<br />
Al Ain Fun Fair<br />
@ ADNEC<br />
Convention Centre<br />
Al Ain<br />
Gourmet Abu Dhabi<br />
@ Abu Dhabi<br />
5-20<br />
Abu Dhabi Art Hub<br />
@ Abu Dhabi<br />
<strong>UAE</strong> Wooden<br />
Powerboat<br />
Championship<br />
@ Break Water,<br />
Abu Dhabi<br />
5th Emirates Classic<br />
Car Festival<br />
@ Emaar Boulevard<br />
3 4 5 6 7 8<br />
Alessandro Lauria<br />
Yas Track Day<br />
@ Yas Marina Circuit<br />
9<br />
Wild Wadi’s Swim<br />
@ Burj Al Arab<br />
Columbian sensation<br />
Shakira’s Birthday<br />
my january to do list my january eco pledge<br />
1<br />
2
doc in the house<br />
Dr. DMS | A doc from the Bronx<br />
remixing rumi<br />
Dorian ‘Paul D’ Rogers<br />
"YOU LOOK FINE,<br />
WHAT'S YOUR PROBLEM?"<br />
AND “DOES THIS HURT?”<br />
A POET’S TWIST ON THE ANCIENT CLASSICS OF<br />
RUMI. PAUL D’ TAKES A CLASSIC POEM AND<br />
REMIXES IT TO GIVE IT A CONTEMPORARY SPIN.<br />
The Breeze At Dawn<br />
by Rumi<br />
The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you.<br />
Don't go back to sleep.<br />
You must ask for what you really want.<br />
Don't go back to sleep.<br />
People are going back and forth across the doors<br />
where the two worlds touch.<br />
The door is round and open.<br />
Don't go back to sleep.<br />
The Pillow that Became You<br />
by Dorian "Paul D" Rogers<br />
Do you think that everyone manifests pain the same way? How can you<br />
tell if a person is in pain when they’re not screaming or actually telling<br />
you? These are in fact, legitimate questions that every doctor faces and<br />
that many researchers try to answer. It is a genuine medical conundrum<br />
and causes a lot of stress to everyone involved, including doctors.<br />
You would think it was straightforward, but the more one looks into<br />
it, the murkier the facts become. Does gender make a difference? As a<br />
child, I always assumed that girls were “sissies,” because they would cry<br />
with a little rough play. Did they cry because they were hurt? Or because<br />
they were annoyed? Fast forward a few years and women are now often<br />
praised for their high pain “threshold”. I often hear “It’s not as bad as<br />
childbirth,” (or other such similar references to child birth) with giving<br />
birth presented as the most painful human experience.<br />
How about cultural expressions of pain? I have seen some cultures<br />
screaming “whoop, whoop”, while slapping the top of their heads during<br />
minor procedures, while others remain calm and collected. We often<br />
credit more flamboyant cultures with low thresholds, and histrionic<br />
behavior, but I wonder if it’s not so much about the level of pain, but<br />
rather the expression of it.<br />
Then, there are the traumas: the awake gunshot victims, amputees, burn<br />
victims etc, who at times surprise us with their calm presentation. Are<br />
they in pain? Hell yeah! Folks describe them as “being in shock”. But why<br />
are they so calm? Occasionally staff assumes they are comfortable and<br />
thus give them nothing.<br />
So how do we tackle this problem? Usually using an incredibly stupid<br />
question: “on a scale of one to ten, ten being the worst pain you can<br />
imagine for example being stung by killer bees and set on fire at the same<br />
time, what do you rate your pain as?” Amazing advancement in science!<br />
You can even safely try it at home. Believe it or not, that’s what hospitals<br />
are starting to do everywhere. Obviously it’s flawed, right? Sure, but that<br />
is all we’ve got. Medicine is an art. I hope that it will never be reduced<br />
to the pathetic checklists that are being served to us in plentiful supply<br />
these days. If you could do this at home, then I’d be out of a job...<br />
You consist of downy feather.<br />
Became a fifth of your original size<br />
and just a fraction of your weight.<br />
You've lost all the melanin that hued you,<br />
Now you're neutral and lily white.<br />
More plump.<br />
Less personal.<br />
More silent treatments.<br />
Less arguments.<br />
You make me want to go back to sleep.<br />
This is my gradual way of letting you go.<br />
The white flag over tea and cookies.<br />
There were too many gunshots before.<br />
Artillery shells carpeted the bedroom floor.<br />
There are no true winners in war.<br />
It was the fighting that killed us.<br />
I hold you tightly nightly, daily if my schedule allows.<br />
Lovers wonder why I don't cuddle with them,<br />
or share intense stares.<br />
They swoon if I don't spoon,<br />
flip over on their backs and roll their eyes like dice.<br />
Maybe I'd be more sensual in bed if you were hidden.<br />
Too big for the dresser drawer.<br />
I could tuck you under cover and blanket<br />
and make love over the sheets like the heartless do.<br />
You've made me a celibate wreck.<br />
I'm officially single but unofficially still yours.<br />
Your remain my singular regret.<br />
Maybe it's better this way.<br />
Ages have past and now your scent has aged on my bed sheets.<br />
Smells of crushed rose and trampled intentions.<br />
I mention you as small talk on road trips and airplane rides<br />
when travelers ask why I brought you along.<br />
I want to go back to sleep.<br />
Let me wean with this baby bottle.<br />
Let me fast with cloth and cushion like the children do.<br />
Stay inanimate for me just a little while longer<br />
so I can heal in absentia<br />
of the woman that is probably way over me.<br />
www.tempoplanet.com | 19
HEART, ART<br />
AND SOUL:<br />
MUSIC HENRY BENNETT<br />
By Ajir Shujahi<br />
Henry Bennett, a 27-year-old<br />
performer and teacher in Abu<br />
Dhabi, fits the profile of the<br />
impassioned artist who is bursting<br />
with a need to express himself<br />
artistically, and to find recognition<br />
for his unique and refreshing<br />
performances. Born in Liverpool<br />
to English/ Iris parentage, Henry<br />
went to cathedral school in Oxford<br />
and studied music at university<br />
in London. Tempo caught up<br />
with him to learn about his latest<br />
artistic forays...<br />
20 | www.tempoplanet.com<br />
INTRODUCE HENRY TO US.<br />
I am a singer, pianist and cellist and enjoy<br />
all kinds of experiments with sound and the<br />
immersive arts. I hate television but love<br />
French cinema. I play football once a week<br />
and like climbing mountains in remote parts<br />
of the world. I love meeting new people. I am<br />
easily overwhelmed with emotions and prone<br />
to bursting into tears over the most basic<br />
expressions of humanity.<br />
IS IT TRUE THAT YOU LEFT HOME<br />
AT THE AGE OF EIGHT TO PURSUE<br />
MUSIC?<br />
Yes, I left home at eight to pursue a singing<br />
scholarship - my parents let me make the<br />
decision myself! The first major hurdle was<br />
overcoming my homesickness. I cried myself<br />
to sleep every night for two weeks and had to<br />
be separated from the other children because<br />
I was keeping them awake at night. After my<br />
tears had dried, nothing seemed quite the same<br />
ever again. Leaving home was one of the hardest<br />
things that ever happened to me but I haven't<br />
looked back since! I like to constantly challenge<br />
myself - all the career related obstacles that have<br />
come my way have been of my own making. I<br />
believe that the biggest test is always getting to<br />
know yourself.<br />
WHO OR WHAT IS THE SOURCE OF<br />
YOUR INSPIRATION?<br />
I'm greatly inspired by the imagination and<br />
inventive scope of children. There's nothing<br />
more heartwarming than hearing the sound<br />
of a baby giggling, or conversely as disturbing<br />
as a child's screams in the night time. I deeply<br />
admire truly independent thinkers for being<br />
themselves. A personal hero of mine is the<br />
composer Oliver Messiaen who had a rare<br />
neurological condition called synaesthesia<br />
which caused crossover between his senses.<br />
He literally saw colours in music and devised<br />
a system of composition which adhered to his<br />
unique spectral understanding.<br />
His music conjures up a bizarre new world of<br />
uniform abstraction; it's an alien landscape<br />
with laws unto itself. He was a devoted man<br />
who was fascinated and enthralled with nature,<br />
spending many hours notating bird-song in<br />
his garden. He was famous for his incredible<br />
improvisations on the church organ and was the<br />
first to incorporate electronic sounds into the<br />
symphony.
HOW HAS YOUR EXPERIENCE AS<br />
TEACHER BEEN?<br />
Wonderful so far. It's been rewarding from a<br />
personal and emotional perspective and also<br />
in relation to my development as a musician.<br />
I find the teacher-student relationship to be<br />
symbiotic. You both learn a great deal from<br />
the experience. I always see a little of myself<br />
in my students and have greatly enjoyed<br />
having the opportunity to meet people like<br />
me from all over the world. It was fascinating<br />
to live and work with non-english speaking<br />
university students in Central China. Much<br />
faster than I imagined it possible, we found<br />
ways to communicate in a way that transcended<br />
language. Music truly is a universal dialect.<br />
TELL US ABOUT YOUR RECENT<br />
PROJECT IN MANARAT AL<br />
SAADIYAT.<br />
On January 16th I debuted my project 'Recycled<br />
Rhythms' at Manarat al Saadiyat. It is an<br />
interactive musical experience which I installed<br />
as part of 'Eco-scape' in association with the<br />
Ministry of Culture's Eco-future exhibition.<br />
I collected donations of hundreds of empty<br />
bottles, cans, coat hangers, old pots and pans,<br />
cutlery, bottle tops, bits of piping, old tools and<br />
much more which were used by kids to build<br />
their own musical instruments. We recorded<br />
the sounds and overlaid them to create an<br />
improvised soundscape- it was really cool! I'm<br />
now looking forward to taking the project on<br />
tour and into schools.<br />
WHERE DO YOU SEE YOURSELF<br />
IN FIVE YEARS?<br />
In five years I'll be 32 which seem pretty old,<br />
so I should probably have written my first<br />
second and third symphonies by then! I will<br />
continue to explore new parts of the world<br />
but hope to settle on a concrete aesthetic<br />
which will define my work. I am constantly<br />
developing ideas about new ways to make<br />
music and have yet to find an identity which<br />
caters to all of my creative needs. Perhaps<br />
I will become the first 'king of all trades'!<br />
I'm now contemplating taking masters in<br />
opera. Who knows what the future holds?<br />
Whatever it is it will be fun I am sure.<br />
WHAT DO YOU<br />
SAY TO ASPIRING<br />
MUSICIANS AND<br />
READERS?<br />
I would like to make an<br />
appeal to young musicians<br />
and Tempo readers to<br />
become more active in the<br />
community. There are so<br />
many ways to revitalize<br />
your life by being more<br />
creative. Turn off your<br />
television. Turn off your<br />
computer. Go to an art<br />
gallery. Start a band. Take<br />
singing lessons. Make a<br />
collage. Join a choir. Write<br />
poetry. Tell stories. Invent<br />
plays. These experiences<br />
can change the way we<br />
see the world for the<br />
better. They open our<br />
horizons and broaden our<br />
understanding of life.<br />
If you are a school or art house and<br />
are interested in hosting Henry’s<br />
Recycled Rhythm event please contact<br />
rhythmsrecycled@gmail.com<br />
www.tempoplanet.com | 21
game hedz<br />
Blakniss | Original game head from Atari to XBox!<br />
tech talk<br />
Shahid Saeed | Talker for the Non-Techies<br />
DEAD SPACE 3<br />
Dead Space 3 is out and you should be playing in the dark and shivering with fear.<br />
We played the demo before the game came out and immediately had reservations<br />
about weapons customization. I didn't need customized weapons in the first two -<br />
why would I need them now? That, and it seemed to be way more time consuming<br />
and complex than it needed to be. I think lots of gamers are going to pass up the<br />
bench customization and just go for existing blueprints.<br />
The other downer was a strong feeling of deja vu. Yes different enemies, yes a new<br />
environment but - meh. So what? That said, the demo was only a very, very, very<br />
small peak into the game - and developers never give away any important stuff in<br />
demos. So, maybe the post mortem will be far more positive.<br />
MSI NETBOOK<br />
U180 N2600<br />
MSI U180 a 10.1-inch<br />
netbook powered by<br />
Intel’s Cedar Trail<br />
platform is pretty<br />
much what you would<br />
expect from a small<br />
and lightweight<br />
netbook.<br />
It has LED backlit<br />
1024X600 screen,<br />
packs with Intel’s<br />
Atom N2600 dual-core Processor, GMA 3650 graphics, up to 2 GB of<br />
DDR3 RAM, 320 GB of Hard Disk Drive and so much more.<br />
This pretty versatile device is priced at AED 999 at various Carrefour<br />
stores across <strong>UAE</strong>.<br />
LENOVO IDEAPAD<br />
S400NOTEBOOK<br />
Lenovo IdeaPad S400 a premium<br />
looking with its metallic<br />
exterior notebook is powered<br />
by Intel’s 3rd generation Intel<br />
Core i5 1.7 Ghz CPU, 14-inch<br />
HD widescreen (1366X768)<br />
LED Display running on Intel<br />
HD Graphics 4000, 4GB DDR3<br />
RAM, 500 GB Hard Disk Drive,<br />
3 USB ports, and other features.<br />
It is also loaded with Microsoft<br />
Windows 8.<br />
MARK OF THE NINJA<br />
If you haven't found this little gem on XBox Arcade, give it a whirl. With graphics<br />
in a very Samurai Jack kind of style, the story is intriguing and the game play<br />
tons of fun in this sideways scroller. You have your customary upgrades with<br />
an imaginative choice of weapons and distraction items from darts that cause<br />
hallucinations to a portable box you can hide in when necessary.<br />
A Ninja fighting to protect the integrity of his clan; you are sent on a suicide<br />
mission that comes with twists, turns and a couple surprises. It's a stealth game no<br />
doubt, but you can always let the blades fly if you are so inclined. The game tends<br />
to reward stealthy movement and stealthy kills.<br />
Pick it up for 1200 MS points.<br />
MY FAV APP } USER: ATA UR REHMAN SHEIKH<br />
AWQAF <strong>UAE</strong>:<br />
The General Authority and Islamic Affairs<br />
and Endowments of United Arab Emirates has<br />
launched its Mobile Application which offers a<br />
broad range of services, including Adan alerts,<br />
Fatwa questions and answers, mosque locator,<br />
Qibla directions, as well as information on hajj<br />
and umrah.<br />
You can also download Friday sermons, books and publications.<br />
The app is available for free download on iPhone, iPod Touch,<br />
Android and Blackberry Smartphones.<br />
The S400 is priced at AED 2299<br />
at Carrefour <strong>UAE</strong> with a free bundle comprising :Touchmate Tablet,<br />
Touchmate Mouse and Touchmate headset.<br />
NEWS & GOSSIP<br />
US$ 100 CHARGE FOR SENDING A MESSAGE TO<br />
MARK ZUCKERBERG??<br />
Sending a message to Facebook founder Zuckerberg carries a $100<br />
price tag, according to Mashable. That’s also what it costs to message<br />
Facebook COO Sheryl Sandburg, CFO David Ebersman, and several<br />
other Facebook members.<br />
A Facebook representative told CNN that they are testing some<br />
extreme price points as a spam filtering mechanism. The messaging fee<br />
is one of several new revenue streams Facebook is testing.<br />
WINDOWS MESSENGER TURNING OFF<br />
Starting from 15 March 2013 is the cut off date set by Microsoft to get<br />
everyone using Windows Messenger to migrate to Skype.<br />
In November 2012 Microsoft made the announcement that they will<br />
be switching off Live Messenger<br />
in early 2013 but they gave no<br />
specific date at the time. To help<br />
people migrate before March 15<br />
Microsoft had provided a way to<br />
talk and swap contacts between<br />
Messenger and it has added<br />
an upgrade button to replace<br />
messenger with Skype.<br />
Follow me on<br />
@shahidaasi<br />
22 | www.tempoplanet.com<br />
TO ADVERTISE IN THE WIDEST CIRCULATED YOUTH AND COMMUNITY FOCUSED MAGAZINE IN THE <strong>UAE</strong>, CALL: 02 491 8624
WHAT’S COOL, FUNNY AND QUIRKY ON THE NET<br />
The Tube<br />
DRIVE THRU INVISIBLE DRIVER PRANK<br />
Sit back and don’t hurt yourself laughing at people freaking out to a ghost driving a<br />
car through a drive-thru!<br />
AMAZING BURJ KHALIFA FIREWORKS 2012<br />
Missed out the chance to watch fireworks live front of the largest tower in the<br />
world? Don’t worry, head out to youtube!<br />
PEP GUARDIOLA REFUSES TO SHAKE HANDS<br />
Ouch! The Spanish football player refuses common courtesy with the Portuguese<br />
heartthrob? That must have hurt…<br />
<strong>UAE</strong> VS. IRAQ, ARABIAN GULF CUP 2013<br />
For those who have missed the finals of Gulf Cup 2013, watch all goals and full<br />
highlights where the team <strong>UAE</strong> lifts the Gulf Cup 2013<br />
Blogwatch<br />
Twitter Tweeps<br />
A dedicated women magazine<br />
that deals with topic such as<br />
Arabic cuisine, beauty, gardens,<br />
pregnancy and so on.<br />
Follow Us<br />
A fun loving and inspiring author<br />
with a huge fan following.<br />
@abudhabitempo<br />
Like Us<br />
www.emaratiya.com<br />
facebook page<br />
@AlexanderMcNabb<br />
www.tempoplanet.com | 23
Sana Bagersh addresses the conference<br />
MOVING FORWARD:<br />
WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS AND THE FUTURE OF MENA<br />
By Alma Kadragic (@almakad) | Photos by Christina Fernandes<br />
An Arab woman in this region has<br />
three men who influence her life, said<br />
Sana Bagersh (@Bagersh) to women<br />
attending the “Women Entrepreneurs<br />
in MENA” in Dubai last month: her<br />
father, brother, and husband. Bagersh<br />
spoke at the conference organised by<br />
Chicago Booth and Booz and Co to<br />
explore issues relating to women’s<br />
economic empowerment, and to<br />
specifically address ‘The Third Billion’<br />
– the number of women entering the<br />
workforce in the next decade.<br />
Bagersh said these three individuals impact a<br />
woman in three ways: what she studies, if and<br />
where she works, and how she is funded in case<br />
she becomes an entrepreneur. She said that<br />
government policy has great transformational<br />
impact in favour of women. She said the<br />
latest <strong>UAE</strong> Cabinet Decision for the inclusion<br />
of women in company and organizational<br />
boards has a strong trickle-down influence to<br />
three distinct audiences: it sends a message to<br />
women – validating them and their efforts; it<br />
lets fathers/ brothers/ husbands know that such<br />
change is sanctioned by the government and is<br />
great for nation building, and three, it sends a<br />
message to employers that women are worthy of<br />
these leadership positions.<br />
“In my case,” Bagersh said, “my father let me go<br />
to university in the US, my brothers supported<br />
me, and at this time in my life, I count on my<br />
husband for being there for me personally and<br />
professionally. Bagersh is the managing editor<br />
of Tempo, CEO of BrandMoxie and founder of<br />
Tamakkan, a leading entrepreneurship support<br />
network.<br />
Four years ago New York Times journalist<br />
Nicholas Kristof (@NickKristof) and his wife<br />
Sheryl Wu Dunn (@WuDunn) published “Half<br />
the Sky,” a book about how empowering women<br />
is the key to helping individuals, families,<br />
and ultimately entire societies improve their<br />
standard of living.<br />
That kind of thinking was behind the<br />
conference organized by Booz & Company<br />
and the alumni of the University of Chicago<br />
Booth School of Business. The starting point<br />
was the Third Billion Index created by Booz &<br />
Company to link data from a number of sources<br />
to identify the national environment for women<br />
at work around the world.<br />
Figures for 128 countries ranked them in<br />
categories such as “At the Starting Gate,”<br />
“Taking the Right Steps,” and “On the Path to<br />
Success.” No MENA country was beyond “the<br />
Starting Gate.” The <strong>UAE</strong> is number 109 of 128<br />
countries in empowering women; India is 115;<br />
Saudi Arabia is 123; Finland is at the top.<br />
In the next ten years one billion women – the<br />
third billion - are expected to join the world’s<br />
24 | www.tempoplanet.com TO ADVERTISE IN THE WIDEST CIRCULATED YOUTH AND COMMUNITY FOCUSED MAGAZINE IN THE <strong>UAE</strong>, CALL: 02 491 8624
Dr. Leila Hoteit addresses the conference<br />
A member of the audience asks a question<br />
Sana Bagersh chatting with delegates<br />
workforce. Many of them will start their own<br />
businesses, but it won’t be easy.<br />
Dr. Leila Hoteit, Principal, Booz & Company,<br />
listed four challenges that women make it<br />
difficult for working women and entrepreneurs<br />
alike:<br />
• Becoming acknowledged as more than only<br />
caregivers<br />
• Recognizing importance of investing<br />
in women’s future – education, health<br />
services, day care for children<br />
• Thinking small – only microfinance<br />
available, not larger loans<br />
• Lack of gender-specific data so that status<br />
of women can be separated from general<br />
categories<br />
Governments can help by providing<br />
women with:<br />
• Education<br />
• Equal pay for equal work<br />
• Maternity leave<br />
• Paternity leave<br />
• Childcare<br />
• Support to entrepreneurs<br />
All of this is most important in the GCC,<br />
according to Dr. Hoteit, because women here are<br />
three times more likely to be unemployed than<br />
men.<br />
During coffee breaks when she wasn’t on<br />
stage, Bagersh was pelted with questions from<br />
participants who wanted to ask questions more<br />
privately.<br />
Everyone at the conference seemed to agree<br />
that there is much work to be done to empower<br />
women in MENA and thereby help combat<br />
unemployment and social problems.<br />
TO ADVERTISE IN THE WIDEST CIRCULATED YOUTH AND COMMUNITY FOCUSED MAGAZINE IN THE <strong>UAE</strong>, CALL: 02 491 8624<br />
www.tempoplanet.com | 25
THE PLANETARIANS<br />
THE POWER OF THE<br />
DATE PALM UNLOCKED:<br />
ENVIRONMENTAL POLUTION AND WATER SOURCE<br />
By Tempo Research Dept<br />
DATE PALM TREES ARE<br />
EVERYWHERE AROUND<br />
US. THEY ARE INTRINSIC<br />
TO THE HISTORY OF THIS<br />
REGION AND ARE KNOWN<br />
FOR THEIR INCREDIBLE<br />
GIVING PROPERTIES. IN<br />
THE PAST EVERY PART<br />
OF THE PALM HAD A<br />
TANGIBLE USE FOR<br />
PROVIDING SHELTER<br />
AND SUSTENANCE.<br />
Yet during the process of date farming large<br />
amounts of waste product are generated from<br />
the trees. In fact, an estimated 180,000 tons of<br />
date palm leaves are generated annually by date<br />
palm plantations in the Middle East and also<br />
North Africa.<br />
Innovative research from Sultan Qaboos<br />
University could hold the answer. SQU<br />
researchers have found a new way of putting<br />
palm tree waste to good use. They have<br />
discovered that extracts from palm date leaves<br />
are effective in removing chemicals from the<br />
water released from medical institutions, like<br />
hospitals and clinics.<br />
SQU researchers are piloting the use of a<br />
treatment plant for use as a natural way to<br />
treat the contaminated water. To render<br />
waste-water sterile before it is released into the<br />
sewers system, chemists use dehydrated carbon<br />
derived from the waste date palm leaves to aid<br />
in the filtration process.<br />
The process involves extracting the carbon<br />
from the leaves using sulfuric acid at 170°C<br />
through a process known as carbonization.<br />
Carbon produced in this manner removes the<br />
pharmaceutical chemicals as well as heavy<br />
metals making the water safe for irrigation.<br />
SQU principal researcher El-Said El-Shafey<br />
explained that this method of removing the<br />
chemicals from water was developed over more<br />
than a decade of research. Although the team<br />
was also successful in producing dehydrated<br />
carbon from other kinds of agricultural waste,<br />
El Shafey said that the date palm leaves have<br />
been more effective than other forms of<br />
agricultural waste.<br />
The findings of SQU are a significant step<br />
in curbing environmental pollution in<br />
treatment plants all over the world. The use of<br />
dehydrated carbon from agricultural waste can<br />
also help solve the problem of dwindling water<br />
supplies by changing treated waste-water into<br />
potable water.<br />
26 | www.tempoplanet.com
media<br />
Dr. Alma Kadragic<br />
NEW TRENDS:<br />
PUBLISHING DIY<br />
By Alma Kadragic (@almakad)<br />
At some point around the late<br />
1970s when I joined the team<br />
producing news for Good<br />
Morning America at ABC News,<br />
I became aware of a colleague<br />
named Terry Irving.<br />
I was based in New York, and he was in<br />
Washington DC, but news was produced in<br />
both places, and we talked on the phone and<br />
intercoms as we rushed to meet deadlines at 7:01<br />
and 7:31 and again at 8:01 and 8:31, and later<br />
if news broke while GMA was on the air on the<br />
west coast (3 hours behind east coast NY and<br />
DC). In time we worked together on big events<br />
like elections and presidential trips. Then I was<br />
sent to London and in 1983 to Warsaw as bureau<br />
chief. In 1990 I left ABC News and broadcasting<br />
to start my own PR agency.<br />
Committed to Washington DC, Terry went from<br />
ABC to FOX, MSNBC, some dotcoms, some<br />
consulting, and eventually CNN. By 2010 he<br />
was out of TV news and looking for something<br />
different. Overseas and after I was no longer at<br />
ABC, we lost touch. If it weren’t for a Facebook<br />
group called ABCeniors, we might still be out<br />
of touch. A year or so ago, I started following<br />
ABCeniors and saw that Terry often posted news<br />
tidbits about people we had worked with and<br />
chapters from the books he’s been writing.<br />
Terry is also on Twitter (@terryirving) and that’s<br />
how we now communicate, although we use<br />
email too. What I like is that he’s writing about<br />
what he knows and doing it very well. One of<br />
the books he’s writing is “Courier,” a thriller<br />
about a motorcycle rider who picks up film shot<br />
by professional crews for a major TV network<br />
bureau in Washington DC. That was Terry’s first<br />
job with news, and he is an expert on motorcycle<br />
riding, something I never knew about.<br />
He turns out to relish the roads and highways<br />
of the US capital. The courier gets chased by<br />
baddies and has to figure out how to bypass<br />
traffic and get the film – which has to be<br />
developed and edited – to the news studio in<br />
time for the evening news broadcast. “Courier”<br />
is set in late 1972 when President Richard Nixon<br />
had been re-elected and after the robbery at the<br />
Watergate apartments that didn’t seem like a<br />
big story but culminated in the resignation of<br />
Nixon in 1974. It’s also when the city is enduring<br />
the big dig for the future metro system –part of<br />
the story as well.<br />
The first two chapters of “Courier” are available<br />
on line: See www.terryirving.blogspot.comfor<br />
an idea of the book’s flavor. When I read them, I<br />
emailed Terry that the story was good. In return<br />
he sent me the full manuscript of “Courier” and<br />
asked me to write a review. I started reading<br />
about 6 pm and finished three and a half hours<br />
later. Then I wrote the review: go to the Facebook<br />
page for “Courier”: http://www.facebook.com/<br />
terryirvingcourier and scroll down quite a while.<br />
What happens next? Terry has a deal with<br />
Createspace which is part of Amazon. For<br />
USD 2500 he gets “editing, proofing, a book<br />
cover, a choice of interior formatting options,<br />
and all the technical bits (ISBN number and<br />
Library of Congress listing, etc).” That includes<br />
distribution on www.amazon.com and Amazon.<br />
com.uk plus five other retail channels and 25<br />
copies for friends.<br />
FOR USD 2500 HE<br />
GETS “EDITING,<br />
PROOFING, A<br />
BOOK COVER,<br />
A CHOICE OF<br />
INTERIOR<br />
FORMATTING<br />
OPTIONS...<br />
Terry adds, “the print process<br />
is, of course, FREE. It's free<br />
because they don't print the<br />
book until someone orders<br />
it. Welcome to the Brave New<br />
World of Print On Demand.”<br />
None of this prevents a<br />
publisher from contracting<br />
to publish copies of the book<br />
in the normal way. Terry hopes that will happen<br />
soon. Meanwhile, he’s already written most of<br />
the next book about courier Rick Putnam and<br />
his friends. It’s called “Warrior.”<br />
He’s also written the e-book “The Unemployed<br />
Guy’s Guide to Unemployment”: see it at<br />
http://unemployedguysguide.blogspot.com/<br />
and started a new blog for seasoned journalists<br />
whose careers have always been in writing but<br />
who now want to dip a toe into self-publishing:<br />
www.getmerewrite.me.<br />
I know some people who have self-published,<br />
but they’ve done one book and stopped. Terry is<br />
more interesting because he’s going about it in<br />
an organized manner testing the limits of social<br />
media to promote his work. I hope he succeeds.<br />
He may be a role model for some of us.<br />
TO ADVERTISE IN THE WIDEST CIRCULATED YOUTH AND COMMUNITY FOCUSED MAGAZINE IN THE <strong>UAE</strong>, CALL: 02 491 8624<br />
www.tempoplanet.com | 27
ABU DHABI EDITION<br />
RITA GHWAYEEN<br />
Jordanian, age: 23<br />
INTERIOR DESIGNER<br />
wallet - splash<br />
body spray - bench<br />
earrings - splash<br />
lip balm - hnm<br />
necklace - pierre cardin<br />
perfume - chanel<br />
pencil - all prints<br />
Images by<br />
ANGELI CASTILLO<br />
PHOTOGRAPHY<br />
To view more, please visit<br />
angelicastillophotography.wordpress.com<br />
28 | www.tempoplanet.com
horoscope<br />
FILE 219: CHAOS<br />
Client Archives 2012<br />
COMPANY} AQUAJOURNEY VERANTA<br />
PRODUCT} SOLARPOWERED GOGGLES<br />
DATE} 20 DAYS TO PRODUCT LAUNCH<br />
Did we receive the box samples?<br />
We did, but the packaging doesn’t…..um, fit<br />
What??!<br />
The goggles don’t fit, sir<br />
Why?<br />
We couldn’t get the blister packs…<br />
Why not?<br />
The artwork wasn’t ready<br />
Why didn’t you ask Arun?<br />
He told me to speak to Anna<br />
What did Anna say?<br />
Anna’s left to renew her visa<br />
And Dana?<br />
On maternity leave<br />
So let’s get the blister packs!<br />
But we’ve already ordered the boxes<br />
How many…?<br />
Thirty thousand… no, sixty thousand, I think<br />
Tell Peter to call the supplier<br />
Peter’s been moved to sales<br />
Well contact China now<br />
They’re closed for the Chinese New Year<br />
Call BrandMoxie!<br />
Sir?<br />
GET ME BRANDMOXIE NOW!!!!<br />
BrandMoxie<br />
When all hell breaks loose<br />
ADVERTISING•STRATEGY•PR•CHAOS CONTAINMENT<br />
TEL: 02 491 8624/25 • FAX: 02 491 8626<br />
www.brandmoxie.com<br />
ARIES: Your forceful manner makes waves in the workplace. Keep your<br />
opinions to yourself this month and you will be a lot happier from 9 a.m.<br />
to 5 p.m. Your personal life blossoms when an old friend comes back into<br />
your life later in the month. Leo and Sagittarius play important roles.<br />
TAURUS: Your strong, steady nature will keep you calm during a<br />
tumultuous month at work. You won’t fall prey to co-workers’ worries.<br />
However, it’s a different story when it comes to romance. An evening<br />
with that special someone will allow you to open up and let your<br />
emotions show.<br />
GEMINI: You’ll feel like you’re on an emotional roller coaster when<br />
it comes to family this month. Relatives will be spending a lot of time<br />
with you and sharing their true feelings. Don’t hold your emotions in.<br />
Venting them will help bring you back to an even keel. Look to friends<br />
for relaxation.<br />
CANCER: Bask in the glory at work this month as you successfully<br />
complete a difficult project. Your superiors will be impressed. Your social<br />
life improves and your phone won’t stop ringing. Friends you haven’t<br />
heard from in quite a long time will be in touch. Taurus and Gemini are<br />
involved.<br />
LEO: Your outgoing personality is a hit with superiors at work. They<br />
need someone to go after the heavy hitters and it very well could be<br />
you. Your loyalty to a good friend could put you in a difficult situation<br />
this month. Don’t lose someone close to you just because you’re feeling<br />
impetuous.<br />
VIRGO: Even though it may be hard for you, you’re going to have to sit<br />
still when it comes to a family event this month. Let relatives make the<br />
plans and only give your input if asked. It all will work out for the best.<br />
A friend will look to you for advice later in the month. Try not to be<br />
judgmental.<br />
LIBRA: Don’t let work get you down this month. It’s only a job; so many<br />
more important things go on after 5 p.m. Romance blossoms later in<br />
the month. You’ll be swept off your feet when you least expect it by<br />
someone whom you never thought could interest you. Gemini and Aries<br />
are involved.<br />
SCORPIO: You know who you are and what you can do, so don’t be a<br />
showoff at work early in the month. It can make you look foolish in front<br />
of your boss. Family matters are of prime importance this month. Show<br />
loved ones how much you care — even if they do drive you crazy at times.<br />
SAGITTARIUS: Don’t let a mistake at work get you down late in the<br />
month. Just explain yourself and correct the error. You don’t lie well, so<br />
don’t try it. Your family ties grow stronger this month. As for romance,<br />
you’re riding a wave of excitement. Enjoy it and start thinking about the<br />
future.<br />
CAPRICORN: Keep your shoulder to the wheel at work this month. Don’t<br />
let petty arguments among co-workers distract you. A close friend will<br />
need your help. Give him or her support. However, stand your ground<br />
when he or she makes a ludicrous request. You’ll be thanked for it later.<br />
AQUARIUS: Don’t be a follower at work this month. Now’s your chance<br />
to take the lead and show everyone what you’re capable of. A loved one<br />
will seem aloof this month, but don’t overreact. He or she just needs to<br />
be alone for a little while. Respect his or her wishes. You’ll be close again<br />
soon.<br />
PISCES: Life is your stage this month — make your mark wherever you<br />
go. However, don’t let your satiric nature go overboard. Remember to<br />
respect other people’s feelings. Show compassion to a friend in need later<br />
in the month. He or she is counting on you for advice.<br />
TO ADVERTISE IN THE WIDEST CIRCULATED YOUTH AND COMMUNITY<br />
FOCUSED MAGAZINE IN THE <strong>UAE</strong>, CALL: 02 491 8624<br />
www.tempoplanet.com | 29
MISS KHULOOD:<br />
FOOD<br />
By Sharon Carvalho<br />
K’S COOKIE SHOP<br />
Khulood Al Mehairi is the face<br />
behind K’s Cookie Shop, a cool new<br />
retail concept that offers cookies<br />
with culinary pizzazz and a personal<br />
touch. Tempo visited Khulood at her<br />
cute shop on Muroor Road to sample<br />
her yummy cookies and to see what<br />
makes her tick.<br />
When you meet Khulood you see that she is<br />
the perfect embodiment of a young, successful<br />
and ambitious Emirati woman who is following<br />
her dreams. At the mere age of 25, Khulood<br />
is currently working on getting a master’s in<br />
business administration, while also managing<br />
her very own business. The Abu Dhabi native<br />
Khulood has a degree in Communications<br />
and Media Sciences from Zayed University<br />
and enjoys cooking, reading, travelling and<br />
photography.<br />
Khulood realised her passion for baking in 2010<br />
and starting baking on a small scale from home:<br />
“I loved baking, and I’d make batches of cookies,<br />
experimenting with different ingredients, and<br />
constantly fine tuning the flavours”.<br />
Then in 2011 she opened her own store so she<br />
could sell her cookies. “If you come to my store<br />
you’ll find 13 different cookie varieties, but<br />
apart from these I like to constantly come up<br />
with new ones - usually personalised cookies<br />
for special occasions such as National Day and<br />
Christmas.”<br />
Khulood says the main inspiration behind the<br />
cookies is her sisters who have encouraged her<br />
right from the start. “I saw cupcakes that come<br />
decorated in different flavours and designs and<br />
so I decided to try to do something along the<br />
same lines but for cookies.”<br />
What’s even more interesting are the unique<br />
names that she has for each flavour; names such<br />
as “Almond Avalanche”, “Pistachio Punch”,<br />
“Mocha Metropolis” and “Chocolate Chic”.<br />
Speaking about the challenges she faced<br />
Khulood said understanding and complying<br />
with government regulations was one of the<br />
biggest initial stumbling blocks. “It’s not easy<br />
starting your own business, and it is especially<br />
hard establishing something from scratch.” But<br />
even though it was a bumpy start, Khulood says<br />
she is now building a steady client of fans who<br />
love her cookies. “All I wish is for my business<br />
to flourish and I want people to recognize and<br />
support the shop as a local brand”.<br />
Her advice to aspiring entrepreneurs is: “Dream,<br />
dream, dream and then take action. Do things<br />
with a twist. You can freak out inside but you<br />
should never show it! Just go out and do it.”<br />
30 | www.tempoplanet.com