Looking at new records by Justin Timberlake and First Aid Kit

album reviews

Justin Timberlake explores new grounds, while First Aid Kit are held back by lack of originality

Album: Man of the Woods

Artist: Justin Timberlake

It’s hard to imagine what Justin Timberlake’s post-NSYNC career would have looked like if it hadn’t been shaped by the immaculate production of Timbaland and The Neptunes. This observation becomes all the more apparent when you listen to the popstar’s latest album, Man of the Woods – you can immediately discern the producers’ imprints on all their respective tracks, and while it doesn’t reflect too positively on the artist that his sound is so heavily reliant on the sonic wizardry of the people around him, it does help him come up with a few interesting tunes.

The primary production duties for the American singer’s fifth solo set – the title of which was inspired by his son Silas’s name which means “man of the forest” – are in the hands of The Neptunes (who also serve as co-writers for the songs they helm), and you can easily tell which tracks have been moulded by Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo without even reading the liner notes. But the record’s more adventurous flourishes have been provided by Timbaland and Danja. The funky (and clearly very divisive) ‘Filthy’, in particular, stands out, thanks in large part to the production, although you do have to give Timberlake props for releasing something that doesn’t sound like anything else on the charts as the album’s lead single instead of going for something safer and more radio-friendly.

But while experimentation may serve him well in places, elsewhere it falls a little flat. It’s the artist’s attempt to incorporate country and southern rock into this record that doesn’t always yield very exciting results. Chris Stapleton helps elevate the ballad ‘Say Something’, and ‘Livin’ Off the Land’ is perhaps the most successful effort at melding Timberlake’s style with country, but his Americana-influenced tunes aren’t exactly the singer’s strongest work. Plus titles like ‘Montana’ and ‘Breeze Off the Pond’ might suggest that these songs would have rustic leanings, but these tracks basically just offer more R&B-tinged pop fodder instead.

The different styles Timberlake wants to explore on the record make Man of the Woods feel unfocused and inconsistent, and the cringe-worthy lyrics (all co-written by Timberlake) that plague the album don’t exactly help either. There is some interesting stuff on offer here – although sonically that seems more indicative of the producers than the artist himself – and Timberlake deserves credit for trying something different this time around, but overall the results are more mixed than his fans would have hoped.

Highlights: ‘Filthy’, ‘Sauce’, ‘Say Something’
Rating: 3.5 out of 5

*****

Album: Ruins
Artist: First Aid Kit

After coming to the world’s attention with their YouTube video cover of the Fleet Foxes’ ‘Tiger Mountain Peasant Song’ almost a decade ago, Swedish indie folk duo First Aid Kit have impressed listeners by creating melodious ‘70s-reminiscent folk pop, powered by their sublime harmonies and gentle guitars. And while their fourth album, Ruins, sees the Söderberg sisters come up with another set of beautiful tunes, it is held back by the fact that there is nothing quite original or exceptional about their output.

Produced by Tucker Martine and written by the siblings themselves, the album revels in its throwback sound but doesn’t see Johanna and Klara move out of their comfort zone.

Inspired by a breakup as well as the evolution of their own relationship, Ruins benefits from the duo’s ability to come up with sweet melodies, and is at its best with songs like the country pop ditties ‘It’s a Shame’ and ‘Postcard’, which show just why the group has gained recognition. But elsewhere, it all sounds overly familiar and too polished for its own good.

There is no denying the Söderbergs’ songwriting talents though, and while Ruins may not be a very exciting, diverse, or inventive collection, it is still competently crafted and easily enjoyable.

Highlights: ‘It’s a Shame’, ‘Postcard’, ‘To Live a Life’
Rating: 3 out of 5

- Sameen Amer 

Instep, The News on Sunday - 25th February, 2018 *

Book befuddlement

quiz whiz

1. “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…” is one of the most well-known beginnings of a novel ever written. But which Charles Dickens’ novel is it from?
A. Oliver Twist
B. David Copperfield
C. A Tale of Two Cities
D. Great Expectations

2. According to estimates, who is the best-selling fiction author of all time?
A. Agatha Christie
B. William Shakespeare
C. Barbara Cartland
D. Danielle Steel

3. In her very prolific career, primarily as a children’s author, around how many books did Enid Blyton write?
A. 50
B. 100
C. 400
D. 700

4. What was the first play written by Shakespeare?
A. The Merchant of Venice
B. The Two Gentlemen of Verona
C. The Tempest
D. Troilus and Cressida

5. “What really knocks me out is a book that, when you're all done reading it, you wish the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the phone whenever you felt like it.” Which book is this line from?
A. Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Truman Capote
B. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
C. The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger
D. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

6. In Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird, what is the result of Tom Robinson’s trial?
A. Guilty verdict
B. Innocent verdict
C. Hung jury
D. Case dismissed

7. Which author is considered the father of modern fantasy literature?
A. H. P. Lovecraft
B. C. S. Lewis
C. J.R.R. Tolkien
D. L. Ron Hubbard

8. How old was Sylvia Plath at the time of her death?
A. 25
B. 30
C. 35
D. 40

9. Terry Pratchett’s fantasy Discworld setting consists of a large disc resting on the backs of four of which animals that are in turn standing on the back of an enormous turtle as it slowly swims through space?
A. Elephants
B. Giraffes
C. Hippopotamuses
D. Horses

10. What is the longest novel ever written?
A. War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
B. Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
C. Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
D. Remembrance of Things Past by Marcel Proust

11. J. K. Rowling’s manuscript for the first Harry Potter book was rejected by how many publishers before it was finally picked up by Bloomsbury?
A. 8
B. 12
C. 19
D. 23

12. What is the best-selling fiction book of all time?
A. The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
B. Fifty Shades of Grey by E. L. James
C. The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery
D. Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes

*****

Answers:

1. C
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way – in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.”
That is the first line of A Tale of Two Cities (1859), a historical novel by English writer Charles Dickens (1812 – 1870), one of the most acclaimed writers of the Victorian era.

2. A or B
While precise sales figure don’t exist, it is estimated that the works of both English mystery writer Agatha Christie (1890 – 1976) and English playwright and poet William Shakespeare (1564 – 1616) have sold between 2 billion and 4 billion copies each.
English romance novelist Barbara Cartland (1901 – 2000) is estimated to have sold 500 million to 1 billion copies, while American romance novelist Danielle Steel’s sales figures are thought to be between 500 million to 800 million.

3. D
The popular English children’s writer Enid Blyton (1897 – 1968), who published her first book, Child Whispers, in 1922 went on to write hundreds of children’s novels plus poetry and short story collections. Blyton is estimated to have written more than 700 books.

4. B
There is disagreement over the order in which Shakespeare wrote his plays (and whether he wrote them at all) but The Two Gentlemen of Verona is believed to be the English writer’s first play. Thought to have been written between 1589 and 1593, Verona isn’t regarded as one of his stronger works.
While there can’t be a precise chronology because of a lack of definitive evidence, the plays Henry VI (in three parts), Richard III, Titus Andronicus, and The Comedy of Errors may also belong to Shakespeare’s earliest period.

5. C
The line appears in American writer Jerome David Salinger’s (1919 – 2010) acclaimed The Catcher in the Rye (1951), the only full-length novel he published in his lifetime before retreating into seclusion.

6. A
Harper Lee’s (1926 – 2016) To Kill a Mockingbird (1960) – the only book she published till its “sequel” Go Set a Watchman (2015) – was centred on the story of a lawyer who compassionately takes on the unpopular case of a black man falsely accused of raping a white girl, but despite evidence proving his innocence, the defendant is still found guilty by a prejudiced system.

7. C
The South African-born English writer John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (1892 – 1973) created an enchanting mythical world in his magnum opus The Lord of the Rings (1954 – 1955) – an epic trilogy consisting of The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King – as well as its companions The Hobbit (1937) and The Silmarillion (1977), and is regarded as the father of modern fantasy literature.

8. B
U.S. poet Sylvia Plath (1932 – 1963) committed suicide at the age of 30. She died a few months after she had separated from her husband, British poet Ted Hughes (1930 – 1998) – whom she had married in 1956 – after finding out about his infidelity. Her poetry volumes as well as a semiautobiographical novel, The Bell Jar (1963), gained popularity after her death.

9. A
A large disc resting on the backs of four huge elephants which are in turn standing on the back of an enormous turtle … that’s the setting of fantasy writer Terence David John Pratchett’s (1948 – 2015) Discworld novels.

10. D
According to Guinness World Records, Valentin Louis Georges Eugène Marcel Proust’s (1871 – 1922) novel À la recherche du temps perdu (Remembrance of Things Past or In Search of Lost Time), published in seven parts between 1913 and 1927, is considered the longest book ever written. The novel is over 3000 pages long and contains an estimated 9,609,000 characters.

11. B
Written while she was living on state benefits and completed in 1995, British novelist Joanne Rowling’s (born in 1965) manuscript for her first novel, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (1997), was submitted to twelve publishing houses – all of them rejected it. A year later, it was accepted by publishing house Bloomsbury, after the eight-year-old daughter of their chairman showed an interest in the book.

12. D
Spanish writer Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra’s (1547 – 1616) Don Quixote (1605) is thought to be the best-selling book of all time, having sold an estimated 500 million copies.
Other best-selling titles include Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities (1859) (which has sold an estimated 200 million copies) and J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings (1954 – 1955) (150 million).

- S.A.

Us Magazine, The News - 23rd February, 2018

Battle of the Sexes - fascinating story, uneven execution

movie review 
 

Battle of the Sexes 

Starring: Emma Stone, Steve Carell, Sarah Silverman, Bill Pullman, Alan Cumming, Elisabeth Shue, Austin Stowell, and Eric Christian Olsen
Directed by: Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris
Tagline: He made a bet. She made history. 

Even nearly 45 years after it took place, the famous showdown between women’s tennis star Billie Jean King and former men’s champion Bobby Riggs remains one of the most well-known fixtures in tennis history. Fans of the sport who are old enough to have witnessed the 1973 match are certain to remember the hoopla around the encounter, but even those of us born years or even decades after it actually took place are likely to be familiar with at least the bare basics of the contest and how it went down.

It’s this sporting event, the circumstances leading up to it, and the people at its heart that are the subject of the film Battle of the Sexes.

The movie is primarily centred on the life of American tennis legend Billie Jean King (portrayed by Emma Stone) and her role in inspiring changes in women’s tennis during the 1970s.

When a tournament decides to offer women eight times less than the men’s prize money despite equal ticket sales, King – who is dissatisfied with both the compensation and respect that is being given to sportswomen – takes matters into her own hands and sets up her own tournament for female players.

Meanwhile, Bobby Riggs (Steve Carell) – a retired former champion who had been one of the world’s top tennis players in the 1940s – tries to make his way back into the limelight by challenging 29-year-old King to a match, claiming that he could beat any top female player even at age 55 since the women’s game is inferior to the men’s game.

King refuses to play the match, but after Margaret Court accepts the offer and then loses the contest, King is prompted to accept the challenge in the hopes that she will be able to defeat the male chauvinist and earn female players the respect they rightfully deserve.

Directors Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris do a fine job defining the personal and cultural stakes of the event. Yet they fail to make the narrative sufficiently gripping and suspenseful.

There is too much going on in Battle of the Sexes, and not all of it is equally fascinating. The filmmakers not only explore King’s passion for tennis, her struggle for women’s rights and equality, her life off the court, her relationship with her husband (Austin Stowell), and her extramarital affair with a hairdresser (Andrea Riseborough) which distractingly gets a lot of emphasis in the movie, but they also take a look at Riggs’ personal life, his relationship with his wife (Elisabeth Shue), and the impact of his gambling addiction on their marriage. The execution starts to feel unfocused as less compelling storylines are explored at length while more vital topics and interesting characters only get a perfunctory treatment. Coupled with the uneven tone, the results are less than dazzling.

The cast, however, is very impressive. The acting of the leads, especially, is top notch. Stone is terrific as the protagonist and does a good job relaying her character’s societal struggles and inner conflicts. In the role of King’s nemesis, Carell also does a great job portraying the colourful, controversial, self-promoting Riggs. In the supporting roles, Sarah Silverman – who plays King’s supporter and co-founder of the women’s team – gives a memorable performance in an otherwise unmemorable project, but Bill Pullman (in the role of Jack Kramer, whose refusal to pay the women equally spurs King’s actions), Stowell, and McNamee’s characters leave you wishing the actors had been given more to do and had a better chance to make an impact.

Its execution could have been less predictable, the camerawork could have been better, the storytelling could have been cleaner, and the direction could have been more focused. On the whole, while Battle of the Sexes benefits from its fascinating story inspired by real events and a terrific roster of actors who bring their characters to vivid cinematic life, the film suffers because of its overlong running time (2 hours) and its desire to check too many narrative and ideological boxes.

Rating: 3 out of 5

- Sameen Amer

The Express Tribune Blogs - 21st February, 2018 *

Winter Olympic odyssey

quiz whiz

With the Pyeongchang Games in full swing, it’s time to test your Winter Olympic knowledge with our sporty little quiz.

1. The Winter Olympics are being held in Pyeongchang County, South Korea, this year from 9th February to 25th February. Which edition of the Winter Olympic Games is this?

A. 13th

B. 23rd

C. 33rd

D. 43rd

2. Where were the first Winter Olympics held?

A. France

B. Canada

C. United States

D. Greece

3. The Winter Olympics, like the Summer Olympics, take place every four years, with the winter games and summer games alternating at a two year gap. But until when were the Winter and Summer Olympics held in the same year?

A. 1936

B. 1942

C. 1976

D. 1992

4. Which country has won the most Winter Olympic medals ever?

A. United States

B. United Kingdom

C. Norway

D. China

5. Who is the most medalled athlete of all time in Winter Olympic history?

A. Ole Einar Bjørndalen

B. Raisa Smetanina

C. Stefania Belmondo

D. Claudia Pechstein

6. Soohorang, a white tiger, is the mascot of the 2018 Winter Olympics. What does his name mean?

A. Smart tiger

B. Protection tiger

C. Fierce tiger

D. Peace tiger

7. Which new discipline has been added to the Winter Olympics this year?

A. Big air snowboarding

B. Mixed doubles curling

C. Mass start speed skating

D. Mixed team alpine skiing

8. Which country has been banned from this year’s Olympics by the International Olympic Committee (IOC)?

A. North Korea

B. Ukraine

C. Russia

D. Myanmar

9. How many medals has Pakistan won at the Winter Olympics?

A. 0

B. 0

C. 0

D. 0

10. Muhammad Abbas was Pakistani’s first athlete to compete in the Winter Olympics. Which sport did he compete in?

A. Alpine skiing

B. Freestyle skiing

C. Figure skating

D. Speed skating

11. How many Pakistani athletes are competing in the 2018 Winter Olympics?

A. 0

B. 2

C. 4

D. 8

12. Where will the next Winter Olympics be held?

A. Istanbul, Turkey

B. Tokyo, Japan

C. Beijing, China

D. Madrid, Spain

*****

Answers:

1. B

This year, the Winter Olympics are being held for the 23rd time. The 2018 Winter Olympics are, in fact, officially known as the XXIII Olympic Winter Games. 2,952 athletes from 92 National Olympic Committees are slated to compete in 102 events in 15 sports discipline altogether in the 2018 Games.

2. A

The Games were first held in Chamonix, France in 1924, and were held every four years from 1924 to 1936, before being interrupted in 1940 and 1944 by World War II, and subsequently resumed in 1948.

3. D

The Summer and Winter Olympics were held in the same year until quite recently: the 1992 Games were the last to be held in the same year. In 1986, the International Olympic Committee voted to separate the Summer and Winter Games and place them in alternating even-numbered years. This change became effective from the 1994 Games, held in Lillehammer, Norway, which became the first Winter Olympics to be held separately from the Summer Games.

4. C

Over 40 countries have won medals at the Winter Olympics, but the country topping the all-time Winter medal count is Norway. Out of the more than 2800 medals awarded since 1924, Norway has won 329 of them.

The U.S. is second in the tally (282 medals) and Germany is third (228 medals).

5. A

Norwegian biathlon champion Ole Einar Bjørndalen (born in 1974), the most successful biathlete of all time, is also the most medalled Olympian in the history of the Winter Olympic Games. He competed in six Olympics from 1994 to 2014, and won 13 medals – 8 gold, 4 silver, and 1 bronze.

6. B

Soohorang (수호랑), a white tiger, gets his name from the Korean words “sooho” which means “protection” and “horangi” which means tiger.

The mascot of this year’s Winter Paralympics is Bandabi (반다비), an Asiatic black bear. His name is derived from the Korean words “bandal” which mean “half-moon” and “bi” which connotes commemoration to celebrate the games.

The Games motto is “Passion. Connected.”

7. A, B, C, and D

All four of these disciplines have been added to the Winter Olympics this year

8. C

In December 2017, the IOC suspended the Russian Olympic Committee due to the state-sponsored doping scandal. Russian athletes whitelisted by the IOC were allowed to compete neutrally in Pyeongchang, but not under the Russian flag.

9. 0

Sigh.

10. A

Alpine skier Muhammad Abbas (born in 1986) was Pakistan’s first competitor at the Winter Olympic Games in 2010. He finished in 79th place out of the 103 skiers in the men’s giant slalom event.

11. B

Skier Muhammad Karim has qualified for the Alpine skiing men’s giant slalom event, and Syed Haman Shah has qualified for cross-country skiing, men’s 15km freestyle event.

12. C

Beijing will be the host city for the XXIV Olympic Winter Games, and will become the first city to host both the Summer and Winter Olympics.

- S.A.

Us Magazine, The News - 16th February, 2018

Food fluster

quiz whiz

Food – it’s an essential part of your life, but how much do you know about what you eat? Test your foody knowledge and satiate your craving for some scrumptious trivia with our delectable little quiz.

1. In which country was chicken tikka masala invented?

A. India

B. Pakistan

C. Bangladesh

D. United Kingdom

2. What is the world’s favourite fast food item?

A. Burger

B. Sandwich

C. Pizza

D. Fries

3. Which of these is not a variety (cultivar) of mangoes?

A. Neelam

B. Zafran

C. Dopehri

D. Langra

4. How many flowers must honeybees visit to produce 1 pound of honey?

A. 2 thousand

B. 20 thousand

C. 2 million

D. 20 million

5. What is Pakistan’s largest food crop?

A. Rice

B. Wheat

C. Sugarcane

D. Onion

6. In which country did pasta originate?

A. Italy

B. Greece

C. France

D. China

7. What is the main ingredient in cotton candy?

A. Flour

B. Milk

C. Sugar

D. Eggs

8. “Curry”, the term used to refer to the popular South Asian cuisine, was derived from the Tamil word “kaṟi”, which means:

A. Spices

B. Sauce

C. Savoury

D. Southern

9. When you put it in a bowl of cold water, a fresh egg will:

A. Spin

B. Float

C. Sink

D. Stand on one end at the bottom of the bowl

10. On average, how many animals are killed every day in the world for food?

A. 20 thousand

B. 550 thousand

C. 60 million

D. 400 million

11. Approximately how many teaspoons of sugar are in a can – which is usually 355 ml (12 oz) – of soft drink?

A. 3

B. 5

C. 9

D. 13

12. Paddington 2 is currently busy amusing critics and audiences alike. Which food item is Paddington Bear particularly fond of?

A. Marmite

B. Marmalade

C. Meringue

D. Macarons

*****

Answers:

1. D

While its origin is disputed and there are multiple differing claims about its invention, chicken tikka masala is believed to have originated in Glasgow, Scotland at an Indian restaurant by a chef of Bangladeshi or Pakistani origin.

2. D

Fries – French-fried potatoes or chips – are the most ordered fast food item in the world. Their origin is also disputed – both the French and the Belgians claim it was them who created the dish, but whoever it was … thank you!

3. C

There are hundreds of mango cultivars in the world. Dopehri isn’t one of them; however, Dusehri is.

The varieties of mangoes in Pakistan include: Alphonso, Anmol, Anwar Ratole, Chaunsa, Langra, Neelam, Sindhri, and Zafran.

4. C

To produce a pound of honey, honeybees must visit around 2 million flowers and fly nearly 55,000 miles. A bee goes to around 50 to 100 flowers during one collection trip and can visit up to 5,000 flowers in a single day, but produces only about 1/12 teaspoon of honey in its lifetime. Collectively though, a bee colony can make 60 to 100 pounds of honey per year.

5. B

Wheat – the most widely grown crop in the world – is also Pakistan’s largest food crop. Pakistan ranks among the top 10 largest producers and suppliers of the crop globally with roughly 25 million metric tons produced yearly.

The most important crops of the country are wheat, sugarcane, cotton, and rice, which together account for around 75% of the total crop output.

6. A

Pasta, a staple of traditional Italian cuisine that is basically dried wheat dough, originated in Italy, with early reference dating as far back as the 1150s in Sicily.

7. C

Cotton candy is made entirely of sugar, sometimes with a bit of food colour or flavouring added. The sugar is heated, liquefied, and spun into cotton candy. The final product is lightweight and contains mostly air – about 1 ounce (30 grams) of sugar is used to make a typical serving of the confection.

8. B

Curry – the subcontinental cuisine that is popular worldwide in its many variations – probably got its name from the word “kari” which means sauce.

9. C

The easiest way to check if an egg is fresh without cracking it? Put it in a bowl of cold water.

A fresh egg will sink to the bottom and rest on its side.

An older, less fresh egg will stand in an upright position at the bottom of the bowl.

A stale egg will float to the surface and may no longer be suitable for consumption.

10. D

Estimates differ and the number certainly varies, but it is believed that 56 billion farmed animals – not including fish – are killed every year for human consumption, and as many as 150 billion animals are killed altogether in the world per year by the meat, dairy, egg, and fish industries. That roughly comes down to 410 million per day, or over 4700 per second.

11. C

Most soft drinks – including colas and lemon flavoured beverages – contain around 39 grams of sugar, which is roughly nine teaspoons of sugar. That’s nearly 150 calories per can!

12. B

The beloved character from deepest, darkest Peru famously loves marmalade. British author Michael Bond (1926 – 2017) was inspired to write the Paddington stories after finding a lone teddy bear on a shelf in a store near Paddington Station in London on Christmas Eve 1956. The series eventually became massively popular around the world, and now Paddington has his own film series. 2014’s Paddington and 2017’s Paddington 2 are both delightful and highly recommended to everyone everywhere.

- S.A.

Us Magazine, The News - 2nd February, 2018