The Litigators - a mixed bag

book review

Book: The Litigators
Author: John Grisham

It has been nearly twenty three years since John Grisham wrote his first novel; it has been nearly ten since he wrote one that was actually worth reading. Yet, whether they lack character development, or a compelling storyline, or even an ending, his books continue to sell by the bucket load (that too in oversized buckets capable of holding millions of copies), in part due to readers like me who just don’t know when to give up. I have read each of Grisham’s legal thrillers since first discovering his work in the ‘90s, and despite my better judgement, still continue to dutifully visit Grishamville every year even though the idea that Grisham is – or at least was – a good storyteller is starting to wear thin in the face of ever diminishing evidence.

So has his latest novel, The Litigators, managed to rejuvenate my faith in the author whose books used to be one of my favourite guilty pleasures?

A typical John Grisham affair, The Litigators once again takes the ‘little lawyer versus big corporation’ idea and runs with it. In the midst of a meltdown, a young lawyer, David Zinc, walks out of a high paying job at the world’s third largest law firm, and into a world of ambulance chasing at a “boutique firm” specialized in “hustling injury cases”, and run by only two attorneys/partners who should have been disbarred way before the book even began. After one of the partners stumbles upon a mass tort case against a drug company, he tries to turn the opportunity into a get rich quick scheme, embroiling the firm in a massive lawsuit that they then struggle to cope with. Meanwhile, David also pursues a lead poisoning case separately, fighting for the five-year-old son of Burmese immigrants who suffers severe brain damage after playing with a lead-tainted set of plastic toy teeth.

The novel has a promising and gripping start, which, coupled with the book’s underlying wit, offers a well of opportunities to the writer. The opportunity the writer has chosen, however, is neither the most original, nor the most interesting road that could have been taken.

The main plot isn’t very riveting, and the sub-plot is just too convenient. What Grisham seems to have wanted to do was contrast the two situations; what he has done is put together two stories that drain the suspense out of each other. So as far as legal “thrillers” go, The Litigators is disappointingly devoid of thrill. As for the characters, you’ve met them all before in one form or another. And yes, the writer has played off of the negative stereotypes of lawyers yet again, so there are no surprises there either.

That said, The Litigators is still better than most things John Grisham has written recently. It may be a predictable and formulaic legal drama, but there are glimpses of old Grisham in parts of the book, and you are likely to enjoy the novel, especially its wry humour, perhaps even more so if you can’t figure out where the story is heading.

- By Sameen Amer

Sunday Magazine, The Express Tribune - 26th February, 2012

The Fray display monotony on new album

album review

Album: Scars & Stories

Band: The Fray

Since gaining worldwide recognition for their single ‘How to Save a Life’, The Fray have sold millions of albums, garnered comparisons to bands like Coldplay and Keane, and been the soundtrack to many a melancholy TV moment. While fans have embraced their heartfelt music, the band’s radio friendly pop-rock has also earned them (perhaps a tad more than their fair share of) sneers, with detractors panning them for lack of variety and originality. Neither fans nor detractors are likely to change their minds about the group after listening to their third album, Scars & Stories, the follow-up to their 2009 self-titled sophomore release.

With famed producer Brendan O’Brien (known for his work with the likes of Bruce Springsteen, Pearl Jam, and Incubus) at the helm of the project, Scars & Stories marks a decade since the formation of The Fray, and sees the Denver based foursome stick to what they know best: inoffensive piano-driven soft-rock. Comprised of twelve songs, all penned by the band members themselves, the album lets the band display scars and share stories in a 45 minutes long sonic journey. The group has used a wide source of inspiration - much of it gained through travelling to different parts of the world - to weave a dozen stories, which are served through Isaac Slade’s earnest vocal delivery, and ride a wave of sublime tunes and smooth melodies.

The record commences with the soaring lead single ‘Heartbeat’, a tale of escaping adversity and embracing love and life, powered by an uplifting melody and wrapped in a Coldplay-esque aura. An odd story of a boxer (who loses a bout) and his lover follows in ‘The Fighter’, which makes way for the sensual ‘Turn Me On’, the somewhat typical second single ‘Run for Your Life’, the pensive ‘The Wind’, and ‘1961’, a song that seems to reference the Berlin Wall by way of a divide between two brothers. The piano dominates in the aching ‘I Can Barely Say’, a ballad that evokes fragility and longing to return to what once was. ‘Munich’, unpredictably inspired by the Large Hadron Collider, stands out with a strong chorus and thoughtful lyrics. The pace is picked up with the musically heavier ‘Here We Are’, before returning to the more familiar mid-tempo territory for the dreamy ‘48 to Go’, and the beautiful ‘Rainy Zurich’ which features guitarist Joe King on lead vocals (and proves that it wouldn’t be a bad idea for him to take this role more often in the future). The album draws to an ends with the poignant ‘Be Still’, that would be at home in the background of a poignant moment in a television drama, as, in fact, would many of these songs.

The deluxe edition also comes with five bonus tracks, all covers, including Annie Lennox’s ‘Why’, and Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Streets of Philadelphia’, and also features an appearance by Emmylou Harris on the cover of her song ‘Boulder to Birmingham’.

As a record, Scars & Stories displays both the band’s strengths and weaknesses. The instrumentation shows growth and is more confident; the yearning in the lyrics is palpable; and the harmonies are limited but effective. But put together as an album, the twelve songs face the same issue as The Fray’s previous work: monotony. The movement suggested by the album’s cover doesn’t make its way to the actual disk, and some of the songs are more than likely to leave you wondering if you’ve heard them before. Scars & Stories isn’t an ambitious record made to reinvent alternative rock and attract a whole new legion of fans. It is a safe record made to share some more standard soft rock with their fans, and it sticks to what the band is known for.

There is nothing wrong with most of the songs in isolation, but put together, there is something oddly non-descript and unmemorable about the album as a whole. The disk fails to offer anything new or different, which is why it comes off as middling, and that is what is so frustrating about the set: that the band seems content with generic mediocrity. Whereas the progression is evident for some other bands - for instance think of the direction that Coldplay have taken on Mylo Xyloto - The Fray seem happy in churning out more of the same. That said, if you like melodic pop rock, then you probably won’t mind the monotony. Even if the album does not make an immediate impact on the listener, it does grow on you with each listen. Multiple spins will give you a chance to appreciate the character of each track, and perhaps the songs will work better as singles than as an album in sequential rotation.

Overall, Scars & Stories is a collection of mostly mid-tempo pop rock ditties that are competent but lack originality. If you give the album a cursory listen, you probably won’t find the tracks to be instantly memorable, but repeat listens will help you get acquainted with each of them. The songs follow a familiar path and retreat to the band’s established nook, making no effort to exceed expectations. But while one side sees this as lack of variety, the other celebrates it as consistency. So if you didn’t enjoy their first two offerings, then Scars & Stories won’t change your mind; but those who have liked The Fray’s previous material will most likely not be disappointed with the new record.

Highlights: ‘Heartbeat’, ‘Munich’, ‘Rainy Zurich’ and ‘Be Still’.

- By Sameen Amer

Instep, The News on Sunday - 19th February, 2012

Reaping the Harvest - a chat with Sajid & Zeeshan

interview

They first conquered the music scene with their song King of Self. Now they’re back with a brand new album, and releasing it in a novel way: as a free download, one song at a time. Sajid Ghafoor and Zeeshan Parwez are the flag bearers of English music in the Pakistani music industry, and their sophomore album, The Harvest, shows just why the duo has captured the interest of listeners everywhere. Here’s what they had to say about their new release:

Us: Please tell Us about your new album, The Harvest.

Sajid & Zeeshan: The title says it all. We worked hard for this one and followed a process to bring out the good crop. Musically and lyrically this album is a step ahead of our previous album. We tried to push ourselves more this time and we’re glad the response is quite good.

Us: How were the songs made? And how did they come together to form the album?

S&Z: All the songs were composed and written the same way it happened for the previous album, One Light Year at Snail Speed. No formula was ever used. It was more like starting off where we left it. The lyrics revolve around the “self” and everything that relates to the “self” – the achievements, the losses, the acceptance, the will to keep moving ahead; thinking for and thus beyond the self. It’s about happiness, pain, gratitude, celebration…anything that moves the soul from the inside.

Us: How has your sound progressed since the first album, One Light Year at Snail Speed?

S&Z: We believe it is more mature, includes more genres, and has some interesting tunes for everyone. It is the sort of album where anybody will be able to connect to its music and lyrics. It’s easy listening and gentle to the soul too.

Us: Your sophomore album comes nearly five years after your debut. Why the delay?

S&Z: The album was ready a year back, but we had issues such as which record label to go with and why, etcetera. Finally we decided it’s best to give it out to our fans for free. Even last time we faced some distribution issues. At least this time, it’s only a click away at sajidandzeeshan.com.

Us: Why did you choose to release the album digitally and for free? Who suggested this idea, and how did you decide this was the best way to unveil the new material?

S&Z: We decided that mutually, and we only did it for one reason: to make sure our music spreads as far as it possibly can.

Us: Will the album also get a physical release? If so, when?

S&Z: In CD format? Not really, but if anyone wants to, they can easily download our music and burn it on a CD and get the printouts for the covers too, and there you go, the CD is right there! :)

Us: Internationally, some musicians choose to give away their music for free while also finding ways to monetise their work. Do you also have a particular business model in mind?

S&Z: Nothing in mind yet. We’re going with the flow of things. Though as musicians based in Pakistan, just like any other musician out here, we all rely on concerts when it comes to money.

Us: Which song(s) from the album are each of you most proud of?

S&Z: We love the whole album. It’s hard to pick just one or few of them. To us they’re all gems.

Us: You recently released the video of Start with a Scratch. Please tell us about the video.

S&Z: It’s the first song from the album and we tried something new here. It made sense to go with the first track. The video was pretty tiring but rewarding at the same time. It was a lovely experience as this time we had quite a few locations to shoot. The concept of the video is simple. The video resonates with the lyrics of the song, and gives out the same “feel” to the eyes that the song gives to the “ears”. That was our concept, to blend it well.

Us: Which video(s) are you planning to release next?

S&Z: Personal Beast, Sanity, and Everything Changes a.k.a. Out of My Way.

Us: Do you think English music has progressed since you first appeared on the scene? Do you think it now has a wider audience and/or greater acceptance?

S&Z: Comparatively? Yes. Otherwise? Not really. But still glad things are progressing. These days more people are doing music in English and that is only happening since more people are listening to English music too.

Us: What can we expect from Sajid & Zeeshan in the coming months?

S&Z: More music and hopefully concerts too.

- S.A.

Us Magazine, The News - 17th February, 2012

Twenty Twelve

cover story

Uprisings, economic crises, sovereignty violations … we all saw what 2011 dished out. Now it’s time to have a look at what 2012 might have in store for us. There is no doubt we will see political intrigues, sports scandals, new (and not so new) movies and music, and even an apocalypse or two. So read on and find out what is coming up. (Keep in mind, though, that the expected events are subject to change. Except the apocalypse; that will definitely happen! I mean, they’ve even made a movie about it, so it must be true!)

General
Apocalypse now, or maybe later
As usual, this year has been declared ‘the year of’ a number of things. Will those titles actually have any relevance to the year’s events? Perhaps we should hope they do. 2012 has been named the International Year of Cooperatives (jointly owned and beneficial enterprises), to highlight their “economic viability and social responsibility”; The Year of Sustainable Energy for All, to draw attention towards the “importance of energy for sustainable development”; and also the Alan Turing Year, in the hopes of bringing the world together in not knowing who Alan Turing was.*
But the most anticipated event of 2012 is the long awaited and repeatedly delayed apocalypse. Yes, this is the year that the world finally ends (and no, we don’t mean that metaphorically), at least according to some Mayan calendar and a movie by Roland Emmerich. Supposedly, the Mayans didn’t bother putting any years past 2012 on their super calendar and this must mean that they knew something we don’t know. Or it could just mean they ran out of space, or figured that by 2012 people would probably want a new calendar. But hey, let’s not get picky. Just be prepared for the occurrence of “cataclysmic or transformative events” on the 21st of December.
One thing that IS ending this year, at least for the rest of the century, is the chance to see Venus pass directly between the Sun and Earth. That’s right folks, 2012 is the last year of the solar transit of Venus for this century (its next occurrence is expected in 2117). This must be important to somebody, somewhere.

*He was a mathematician and computer pioneer who is widely considered to be “the father of computer science and artificial intelligence”. You’re welcome!

Politics
The winds of no change
Very often changing governments have meant new faces, same policies. Let’s hope this year will be different and for the better, as many countries are scheduled to have elections. After the uprisings of 2011, various Arab countries are set to choose new leaders. On the back of their financial crisis, Greece is going to elect a new parliament, while Russia picks a new President, with Vladimir Putin (who has already served two terms as President and is currently the Prime Minister of Russia) returning as a candidate. The US of A sees Barack Obama’s bid to win re-election for a second term as President, just so he can stay content in the knowledge that he would have been the next President of America had the planet continued to exist past December. On the home front, our politicians will continue to use cricket metaphors while we continue to cringe. Oh and rest assured that the media will leave no storm in a teacup unstirred!

Movies
No originality expended
Brace yourself for an onslaught of sequels, reboots, and adaptations, as nearly all of Hollywood’s most anticipated films of 2012 come from established franchises. Batman returns in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises (July), which reportedly marks Christian Bale’s final outing as The Caped Crusader; James Bond is back in Skyfall (October), with Daniel Craig taking on the role for a third time; Jason Bourne resurfaces sans Matt Damon, with Jeremy Renner taking over the character in The Bourne Legacy (August); Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones reprise their characters in Men in Black III (May), which comes ten years after its predecessor MIIB (2002); and The Amazing Spider-Man (July) marks a reboot of the Spider-Man franchise with Andrew Garfield cast in the lead role. Also returning is the cast of The American Pie in American Reunion (April); the ensemble of action heroes in The Expendables 2 (August); and the vampires and werewolves of The Twilight Saga in the second and final instalment of Breaking Dawn (November). The adaptation of The Great Gatsby, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire, is also set to come out, but it is unfortunately slated for a December 25th release, and we all know the world will have ended by then, so that’s a shame. But months before the apocalypse hits, Marvel will unleash its crossover superhero film, The Avengers (May), uniting Iron Man (Robert Downey, Jr.), The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), and Captain America (Chris Evans) for a high budget adventure.
Major hopes for a new blockbuster franchise lie on the much hyped adaptation of Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games (March). But if it’s a blast from the past that you crave, then you’re in luck: some of the most successful films of all time – including Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (February), Titanic (April), and Finding Nemo (September) – are set to be rereleased in 3-D this year.
Animation fans can look forward to the adaptation of Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax (March); the return of the hapless animal crew in Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted (June); meet Dracula in Hotel Transylvania (September); and “discover the meaning of true bravery” in Pixar’s newest adventure, Brave (June).
But the film that is most anticipated by everyone who is me, is The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (December), the first part of the adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkien’s book and a prequel to The Lord of the Rings film trilogy; it better be a life affirming catalyst to world peace, or some of us will be very disappointed in Peter Jackson.

Music
Compelling reasons to purchase a set of earplugs
2012 will face no shortage of new music internationally. Returning to the soundscape are pop rock band The Cranberries, who were reasonably popular in the ’90s and are set to make a return after a nearly decade long hiatus, as are Ska outfit No Doubt who plan to release their first new album in eleven years; alt rock band Garbage who return with the follow-up to Bleed Like Me (2005); rock band Soundgarden who unveil their first new record since 1996’s Down on the Upside; and pop rock legends the Beach Boys, who have a 50th-anniversary reunion tour slated for the year, along with plans of working on a new album. Following the falling out of Fallout Boy, Pete Wentz’s new project Black Cards are expected to offer their debut set, and new albums are also expected from Nicki Minaj, Chris Brown, Keane, Paramore, Matchbox Twenty, The Smashing Pumpkins, Green Day, Linkin Park, Creed, Bruce Springsteen, Muse, The Killers, Aerosmith, Alanis Morissette, Christina Aguilera, Ke$ha, and Leona Lewis. Oh and Madonna is set to release her twelfth studio album in March, which almost makes one wish the apocalypse would hurry up and strike a few months earlier than scheduled.
In the local scene, as well as music from much hyped upcoming Lollywood films, like Kaptaan (based on the life of cricketer turned politician Imran Khan) and Waar (directed by Bilal Lashari), artists including Ali Zafar and Roxen will also release music for Bollywood projects. A new Jal album might also see the light of day, plus new music might (with emphasis on the word “might”) also be released by Sajid and Zeeshan, Annie Khalid, and Junaid Khalid (refer to the Rewind article for details).

Books
iPad killers since 2400 BC
Bibliophiles are in luck, as 2012 promises a host of new releases. Stephen King offers the eighth novel of his fantasy horror series Dark Tower, titled The Wind Through the Keyhole (April), and might also release Dr. Sleep, the sequel to The Shining (1977). Percy Jackson author Rick Riordan’s The Mark of Athena, the third book in The Heroes of Olympus series, comes out in autumn. Author James Patterson has a number of projects in the works, with books co-written with writers including Maxine Paetro, David Ellis, Mark Sullivan, and Michael Ledwidge set to be released this year. Jeffrey Archer continues the Clifton Chronicles with The Sins of the Father (March/May). John Grisham will publish his mandatory yearly novel in the form of Calico Joe (April) and will also give us the third instalment of his young adult legal thriller series Theodore Boone (May). And fans of the Vampire Diaries series can look forward to The Hunters: Moonsong (March). Plus autobiographies are expected from everyone from Arnold Schwarzenegger (actor, former Governor of California, and now ex-husband of Maria Shriver) to N-Dubz singer/The X Factor (UK) judge Tulisa Contostavlos (who is reportedly writing an autobiography at the ripe old age of 23), so as long as you’re ok with reading celebrity dross, there’s no chance you’re going to run out of things to read this year.

Sports
Run, Usain, run!
Pakistan has the chance to maintain its nearly two decade long streak of 0 gold, 0 silver, and 0 bronze medals at the Summer Olympics, as the Games of the XXX Olympiad (July – August), the biggest sporting event of the year, make their way to London; the city, which has the honour of hosting the Games for a third time, will also be the venue for the Paralympics (August – September). Meanwhile, the inaugural Winter Youth Olympics will be held in Innsbruck, Austria (January). Also, along with all the regular events for various sports, some other bigger tournaments are also on the cards. Football fans will get to enjoy the UEFA European Football Championship (June–July). In cricket, Australia hosts the Under19 Cricket World Cup, while Sri Lanka hosts the ICC World Twenty20 tournament. And who knows, maybe this year the Pakistani cricket team might actually be in the news not for scandals but for actually winning a tournament! Stranger things have happened! If nothing else, it would at least be a sign of the apocalypse, which would only be fitting.

So there you have it – dodgy politics and impending global doom. Looks like it’s going to be an interesting year. Or perhaps it’s going to be just like every other year. In any case, stay tuned in late December to find out if we were right or not. Of course, since the world’s going to end, chances are it won’t matter if we were right or wrong, because we won’t be around to comment. But just in case…

- S.A.

Us Magazine, The News - 6th January, 2012

Rewind (part ii - Pakistani music in 2011)

music

Musicians look back at Pakistani music in 2011, and share their plans for this year

Haniya Aslam: Some very exciting music came out last year. We had Uth Records at the beginning of the year, and I had Ramlal’s Naughty Boy on repeat for a couple of months. The soundtrack of Karachi – The Musical blew me away also. And over the past month I heard Natasha Ejaz’s new single Jahaan, Poor Rich Boy’s debut track Alice, and two new tracks from a the new band Fables of Cantt. All very innovative and exciting music. Can’t wait to see what 2012 has in store for us!

Ali Zafar: I think, considering the potential in Pakistan, music was still at the back burner. However thanks to online social networking, one did come across some very interesting stuff. I liked a song Alice by a Pakistani band abroad, and I liked Aalu Anday, too.

Zeeshan Parwez: Music-wise, I’m proud of what was achieved by the bands selected in Uth Records, season one. The likes of Yasir & Jawad, Ramlal, Jumbo Jutt, Athar Sani, Usman Riaz, and Natasha Ejaz were my favourites for this year. It has been a low one for me personally. I was really expecting our album to get [released] last year, but it just kept on getting delayed, because of security conditions and etcetera. We hope the new Sajid and Zeeshan album will surface soon because we don’t want to keep our fans waiting anymore. On the other hand, I’m working on my solo audio project that I plan to release mid of this year, Insha’Allah.

Faakhir Mehmood: Pakistan has immense music talent and as usual music making continued in Pakistan in the year 2011; however Indian produced music grabbed more limelight and attention! Sadly, the economy woes and law and order problems in our country continued to haunt the music based entertainment industry. Pakistani musicians continued to look towards Bollywood for a break and in the process failed to stand up for their fair share on Pakistani airwaves (music and entertainment TV channels), despite PEMRA prescribed percentage that guarantees more airplay and preference to Pakistani music.
My favourite Pakistani track in 2011 was Aalu Anday. I like the overall direction that Pakistani music is taking and feel that it will arrest the decline it’s been facing with its sheer free spiritedness and the strength of its originality. As far as I am concerned, I released a new album, Jee Chaahay, after a lapse of over six years and retained my signature sound. The response has been overwhelming and the tours and concerts have started to take shape. Quite a few music videos are in the pipeline as I will continue to invest in our industry. I am ending this year on a very satisfying note and looking forward to a great new year.

Annie Khalid: My favourite of the year was Neray Aah by Overload; the audio and the video were amazing, and if asked to pick my favourite of the year, I think it would be that. If I have to pick a release for 2011 that I didn’t like, I think it would be Komal Rizvi’s version of Someone Like You, originally by Adele, simply because I think that when you are dealing with such an amazing song like Someone Like You, you automatically expect the artist who is doing a cover or their version of the song to be absolutely spectacular, but it fell short of that. Although I really admire Komal Rizvi and I think she is a really good artist, I feel it was a song she shouldn’t have done. As for me, a few of my videos got released this year and I did many tours. Besides that, I got the opportunity to represent Pakistan on an international platform with the ‘Lebara Norway’ campaign and my collaboration with the international pop band A1. I take things as they come, and I really can’t think of any lowlights. Alhamdulillah, last year was very good for me. About my future projects...well, more collaborations as I have said, a few surprises, and many more tours and videos are in store.

Mustafa Zahid: 2011 [music] scene for me was a lot better in terms of shows and overall, thanks to the country’s security situation that’s getting a bit better. Favourite release was Call’s album Dhoom, and not to forget Overload’s Batti; superb track really. As for Roxen, our new video featuring Bunny was released and we got superb response for that. Looking forward to more collaborations, specially the one we have done with RDB. 2012 will have Roxen written all over it. Tons of music is in the pipeline with a lot of Bollywood music, too. Fingers crossed!

Junaid Khan: The overall music scene in Pakistan is not so well, though I have to give it to the artists who are not losing hope and still continuing to produce good music so that this industry can hold its grounds till it revives again. Also the brands are playing a very important role to support this industry and the artists. Brands like Coke and Ufone and Pepsi have been doing their respective bit in giving a huge international platform for this industry; let’s hope they continue to do so. There are quite a few who are actually doing a great job lately. Out of the latest, I would say Qayas and QB are really talented. We need artists like these in the industry to follow the footsteps of the ones who gave this country a huge name in the world in music. As I mentioned earlier, I like the fact that the artists are still pushing to make their name in the market though there isn’t much support for any new talent, which is a good sign. For me, I think, the career has been a smooth sail, and also for the ones who actually emerged during the 2003 era. Musicians who have emerged from that time have been stable throughout because that was the prime time for this industry, but any new talent emerging now is finding it real hard because focus has shifted from entertainment to news due to wrong decisions on the part of the government to give excessive licenses to news channels. For me, Call launched its new album a few months back by the name Dhoom; we are currently doing shows throughout Pakistan. Other than that, I am also focusing on a few solo tracks apart from Call, which will be released within the next few months. Plus I am doing a few acting projects under the Momal Productions banner; the current one on air is Mujhey Roothney Na Dena, and next is Mataa-e Jaan, set to release at the end of January, Insha’Allah.

- By Sameen Amer

Us Magazine, The News - 6th January, 2012

MMXI

cover story

It was a year of shakeups – political, economic, and even seismic. The last twelve months have reshaped the world we live in, while changing our lives, thoughts, and perspectives. As we bid adieu to 2011, we take a look at some of the significant events of the year:

January
- Arab Spring: From the very start of the year, it was fairly obvious that 2011 would not exactly be the best year to be a dictator. Sure enough, the uprising of the Arab people eventually led to many leaders stepping down or being ousted. Fuelled by a desire to seek change, the waves of protests resulted in the fall of the governments of Tunisia’s Zine El Abidine Ben Ali (January); Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak (February); Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi (August), who was overthrown and later killed in October; and Yemen’s Ali Abdullah Saleh, who signed an agreement in November to relinquish office the following month.
- Terrorist attacks: Terrorism continued to rear its ugly head periodically throughout the year. 2011’s major attacks included the bombing at the Domodedovo International Airport in Moscow (January) that claimed 37 lives; the twin attacks in Norway (July) that resulted in 77 casualties; and the bombing in Mogadishu, Somalia (October) that killed a 100 people; as well as attacks in various regions of Pakistan. Also terrorising us was an army of mosquitoes that cruelly spread dengue fever in Pakistan, which remained a threat throughout the year.

February
- Cricket spot-fixing scandal: Upholding the tradition of always being in the news for all the wrong reasons, Pakistani cricket continued to suffer due to the previous year’s spot-fixing allegations. The ICC tribunal found Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif, and Mohammad Amir guilty of corruption, and banned them (for terms of between five and ten years) in February; the cricketers, as well as agent Mazhar Majeed, were given jail sentences (of 30, 12, 6, and 32 months respectively) in November. Speaking of the sport, the tenth ICC Cricket World Cup tournament took place from February to April, but we couldn’t co-host it and we didn’t win it, so it can’t have been all that important anyway. What do you mean “sour grapes”?!

March
- Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami: Mother Nature refused to give humanity a break for yet another year. A 9.0 magnitude earthquake shook Japan and triggered powerful tsunami waves, wrecking havoc and resulting in the loss of over 15,000 lives. The most powerful known earthquake ever to have hit the country, the catastrophe caused widespread destruction and also damaged the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant. Later in the year (October), Turkey (Van) was also jolted by a magnitude 7.2 earthquake which took over 600 lives.

April
- Royal wedding: Prince William and Catherine Middleton tied the knot in a ceremony that became one of the most talked about and watched events of the year, because the Royal Family is not an outdated archaic institution with no relevance in an advanced modern society at all; besides, who wouldn’t want to encourage a parade of wealth at the expense of taxpayer funds? Now let’s all obsess over what Kate and Pippa Middleton wore today because that seems like a highly pertinent issue that requires our daily attention.

May
- Death of Osama Bin Laden: The US achieved a decade old milestone and solved all the problems of world terrorism by killing Osama Bin Laden in a Navy SEAL raid in Abbottabad. In doing so, they also debunked the myth that the US needs to even pretend that international conventions and laws should at least appear to be adhered to. This did not do wonders for the already-strained relationship between America and Pakistan, made worse because of the drone strikes and several incidents (like US CIA contractor Raymond Davis committing double murder in Lahore in January, and then being released in March after the families accepted blood money; and the NATO attack that killed Pakistani soldiers (see November).) In not entirely related news, somebody may or may not have sent someone a memo about something or the other; meanwhile, in a parallel universe, politicians were honest, no one was evasive, and everything made sense.
- The end of The Oprah Winfrey Show: The highest-rated talk show in American television history came to an end, leaving us with the question: what will we not watch now? We are certainly going to miss not watching it.
- Dominic Strauss Kahn’s resignation: Dominic Strauss Kahn stepped down as the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) after he was accused of assaulting a hotel housekeeper in New York; the charge was later dropped in August.
- Apocalypse prediction: The world failed to end yet again when the much anticipated Rapture was a no show. People wandered around disappointed as the May 21st deadline (professed by Harold Camping) came and went; similarly, the complete destruction of the world did not follow on the assigned date in October. Or well the end of the world stuff did come true for a couple of things, like OBL’s life, Oprah’s show, and Kahn’s career! We also saw an end to the idea that America has to follow international guidelines when it comes to things like recognising the sovereign rights of countries and other such trivial matters.

June
- French Open: Chinese tennis player Li Na became the first Grand Slam singles champion born in an Asian country by winning the French Open. Spain’s Rafael Nadal was the victor in the men’s tournament, but the overall year belonged to Serbia’s Novak Djokovic who won the Australian Open, US Open, and Wimbledon.
- Duke Nukem Forever released: Against all the laws of existence Duke Nukem Forever was finally released after being in development for 15 years. It may have taken forever to see the light of day, but it was totally worth the wait because the game was so well made and sophisticated and…wait, no it wasn’t. Instead, it was The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (released in November) that wowed critics and was named the ‘Game of the Year’ at the Spike VGAs (December), and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 which impressed gamers and made $1 billion a record 16 days after its release in November.

July
- NASA Space Shuttle program concluded: NASA retired its shuttle fleet after 30 years of service, with the final flight of Atlantis.
- British phone-hacking scandal: While the space program had been working to explore the stars, News of the World had been busy snooping on stars; the British tabloid, a subsidiary of Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation was at the centre of a phone-hacking scandal that purported that the paper had hacked not only the phones of celebrities, but also of deceased people and their families, thereby resulting in the closure of the publication and an inquiry into the scandal.
- South Sudan secession: After a referendum on independence in January, South Sudan seceded from Sudan, becoming an independent state and the world’s newest nation.
- Harry Potter finale: The Harry Potter film series came to an end with the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2, which became the highest grossing movie of the year, squeezing out the (hopefully) final drops of cash from the franchise and making over US$1.3 billion. Now can we all finally move on? Please?
- Somalia famine: Following a severe drought in East Africa, the worst in decades, a famine was declared in southern Somalia; the crisis has taken tens of thousands of lives and left millions of people in need of assistance, and also affected parts of various neighbouring countries. Humanitarian agencies requested US$2.48 billion to address the crisis, and $1.12 billion were subsequently committed in the coming weeks, leaving them about $1.3 billion short…which also happens to be the amount that people spent on Harry Potter tickets; the number later come down to less than a billion with over 70% of the target met.

August
- Asia floods: Parts of Thailand suffered from some of the worst flooding to hit the country following heavy rains. Monsoon rains also caused floods in Pakistan’s Sindh, affecting the lives of millions of people.
- Steve Jobs stepped down as CEO: Apple Inc.’s game-changing visionary Steve Jobs resigned as the CEO of the company that he co-founded in 1976, ending the reign of one of the world’s most influential businessmen; he passed away less than two months later.

September
- The Occupy movement: Starting from Wall Street before spreading to “over 1,500 cities globally”, the Occupy movement saw “the 99 percent” stand up to “[fight] back against the corrosive power of major banks and multinational corporations over the democratic process, and the role of Wall Street in creating an economic collapse that has caused the greatest recession in generations.” Well done for standing up for sanity, and good luck with trying to change the way the entire world works; should be easy.
- India-Bangladesh border pact: India and Bangladesh signed a pact to resolve the enclave situation in the countries.

October
- Seventh Rugby World Cup: The World Cup of that sport we don’t play was held in that country that we’re not. Somebody won. (Ok fine, it was held in New Zealand and won by New Zealand. There. Happy?)
- Seven billion population: The number of people in the world reached seven billion this year; according to reports, the most significant population increases since the last billion have been in China, India, and the house of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.

November
- NATO cross-border attack: An attack by NATO forces on a Pakistani border check post killed 24 Pakistani soldiers in an incident that was universally condemned and further deteriorated the relationship between Pakistan and USA; the incident also resulted in the evacuation of Shamsi Airfield, closure of NATO supply routes, and Pakistan boycotting the Bonn Conference.
- European debt crisis: European countries continued to face financial woes, with the EU scrambling to get things under control through measures like a €78 billion rescue deal for Portugal (May), and a write-down of 50% of Greek bonds (October). The handling of the financial crisis also contributed towards the shuffling of some governments, with leaders stepping down following opposition; this included the resignation of the Prime Minister of Greece, George Papandreou (November), and Italy’s Silvio Berlusconi (November), who was forced out of office following private scandals and after losing political support.
- 11-11-11: That was kinda cool. Just sayin’.

December
- Most Earth-like planet discovered: The discovery of Kepler 22-b, an extrasolar planet orbiting around a distant Sun-like star’s habitable zone, was officially announced, giving humanity the hope that maybe someday we can move there and ruin that planet too.
- New Year’s Eve: No, not the horrific Garry Marshall film that came out a few weeks ago; the real thing. As the year reaches its end, it leaves us with many cliff-hangers: Will Barack Obama win re-election? Will Silvio Berlusconi stop embarrassing himself? And will the world finally end? Stay tuned – the next 366 days will reveal all the answers.

Have a great year, y’all!

*****

Farewell

• Abdul Hameed (83) – Pakistani writer.
• Amy Winehouse (27) – British singer.
• Andy Rooney (92) – American television personality, appeared on 60 Minutes (1978 – 2011).
• Andy Whitfield (39) – Welsh actor, best known for his leading role in the television series Spartacus: Blood and Sand (2010).
• Anne McCaffrey (85) – Irish-American science fiction writer.
• Dan Wheldon (33) – British racing driver and champion.
• Dennis Ritchie (70) – American computer scientist, created the C programming language.
• Elizabeth Taylor (79) – British-American actress, star of films such as Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958), BUtterfield 8 (1960), Cleopatra (1963), and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966).
• Hakim Ali Zardari (81) – Pakistani politician, father of Asif Ali Zardari.
• Harry Morgan (96) – American actor, star of series including Dragnet (1967–1970), and M*A*S*H (1975–1983).
• Jamil Fakhri (65) – Pakistani actor, most remembered for his performance in the TV series Andhera Ujala.
• Joe Frazier (67) – American boxer, heavyweight boxing champion.
• Kim Jong-il (70) - Supreme leader of North Korea (1994–2011).
• Moin Akhter (60) – Pakistani actor and comedian.
• Munir Dar (76) – Pakistani field hockey player, member of Olympic gold and silver medal winning squads.
• Nusrat Bhutto (82) – Iranian-born Pakistani First Lady, widow of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.
• Pete Postlethwaite (64) – British actor, appeared in movies including In the Name of the Father (1993), The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997), and Inception (2010).
• Peter Falk (83) – American actor, best known for playing the lead role in the television series Columbo.
• Randy Savage (58) – American professional wrestler.
• Salmaan Taseer (66) – Pakistani politician, 26th Governor of Punjab.
• Shahbaz Bhatti (42) – Pakistani politician, Federal Minister for Minorities Affairs.
• Steve Jobs (56) – American businessman, co-founder of Apple.

- By Sameen Amer

Us Magazine, The News - 30th December, 2011

Rewind (music in 2011)

music

A look back at music in 2011

• R.E.M. released their fifteenth album, Collapse into Now, then disbanded and left us wondering if life was worth living anymore.
• Adele kept us from giving up on the music-making segment of humanity by serenading us with her sophomore record 21, which yielded hits like Rolling in the Deep and Someone Like You.
• Blink-182 released Neighborhoods, their first new album since 2003. It was supposedly “ambitious” and “deep” and “dark”, and actually quite boring.
• In news that we wish was made up, Katy Perry became the first female artist in history to achieve five number one singles – California Gurls, Teenage Dream, Firework, E.T., and Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.) – on the US charts from one album for the very atrocious Teenage Dream.
• Global marketing construct and queen of shock tactics Lady Gaga unveiled her new album Born This Way, which became an instant contender for worst album cover of the year.
• The White Stripes officially disbanded nearly four years after releasing their sixth and final album, Icky Thump (2007).
• The music world saw a heartbreaking loss of talent as singer Amy Winehouse passed away at the age of 27 from alcohol poisoning. A posthumous compilation featuring some of her unreleased songs and demos was issued later in the year.
• American Idol returned for a tenth season with Steven Tyler and Jennifer Lopez joining Randy Jackson on the judging panel. Scotty McCreery became the youngest male winner of the show, while Lauren Alaina finished as the runners up. Meanwhile, J.Lo tried to revive her music career with the predictably awful Love?, and separated from Marc Anthony (which would explain the ? after Love).
• The X-Factor made its way to America, bringing Simon Cowell and Paula Abdul together again in a bid to find yet another mediocre pop singer. The season was won by Melanie Amaro (while pop group Little Mix won the UK version of the program). Cheryl Cole was first hired as a mentor for the US show, but then eventually replaced by Nicole Scherzinger.
• Another reality show The Voice also set out to find singing talent. The winner? Some guy contestant. The real winners? Judges Adam Levine and Christina Aguilera, who were propelled to the top of global charts with one of the biggest hits of their careers in the form of the Maroon 5 and Xtina song Moves Like Jagger. The Maroon 5 singer also scored a hit with Stereo Hearts, his collaboration with Gym Class Heroes.
• World’s most well-known cover band Westlife decided to part ways after drowning their listeners in a sea of saccharine ballads for 14 years. They will never be forgotten forgiven.
• Girls Aloud member Nicola Roberts released her well-received debut solo album, Cinderella’s Eyes.
• Musicians (including Beyoncé, Christina Aguilera, Cee Lo Green, Ne-Yo, Jamie Foxx, and Smokey Robinson) gathered to pay tribute to the late King of Pop at Michael Forever – The Tribute Concert in October, the same month in which Cirque du Soleil’s show Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour also debuted. The following month, MJ’s personal physician Conrad Murray was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter, and sentenced to four years in prison.
• Kim Kardashian got married. 72 days later, Kim Kardashian filed for divorce. If that wasn’t bad enough, the reality TV “star” made an ill-advised foray into music with her single Jam (Turn It Up); the results were just about as bad as you’d expect. The world went from not knowing whether she can sing, to knowing that she definitely can not. The saving grace: a portion of the proceeds went to charity.
• Speaking of talent-challenged famous-for-being-famous celebrities, Paris Hilton’s second album failed to surface, although the prospect of it loomed eerily over the music-listening world like an impending catastrophe. She did, however, decide to torment us with yet another reality series, titled The World According to Paris, which was thankfully cancelled after one season.
• Britney Spears churned out more auto-tuned dance-pop in Femme Fatale, which inevitably landed at the top of the charts.
• Beyoncé told us who run the world (girls!), and released her fourth album, the very creatively titled 4.
• Take That “progressed” as a five-piece, and recorded the theme songs for the movies X-Men: First Class (Love Love) and The Three Musketeers (When We Were Young).
• Glee returned for a third season as The Glee Project winners made their way onto the show. The series continued to butcher pop songs and also continued to sell a boatload of records.
• Death Cab for Cutie’s seventh album, Codes and Keys, hit the shelves, while the band’s front-man Ben Gibbard and his wife actress/singer Zooey Deschanel decided to part ways after two years of marriage, only days after the release of She & Him’s Christmas album.
• The Grammy Awards went all cool on us, giving Arcade Fire’s The Suburbs the ‘Album of the Year’ award, making them the first indie act to win the accolade. The big winners of the ceremony, however, were country pop trio Lady Antebellum, who took home five honours including ‘Record of the Year’ and ‘Song of the Year’ for their single Need You Now.
• Justin Bieber made millions with his documentary/concert film Justin Bieber: Never Say Never, and then decided to ruin Christmas by releasing a Xmas album, titled Under the Mistletoe. The set included a cover/duet of Mariah Carey’s All I Want for Christmas Is You which basically sounded like Bieber wailing over the original recording of the song.
• Rebecca Black came under the spotlight when her vanity single Friday went viral on YouTube and became the most disliked video on the website. Suddenly Justin Bieber didn’t seem all that bad after all. Although it kinda was worth it just for the parodies!
• But Friday’s status as the “worst song ever” was challenged when Design the Skyline’s Surrounded by Silence made its way to unsuspecting ears and then subsequently made them bleed.
• Pop group Steps got back together, nearly ten years after breaking up, upon realizing that all their attempts at having solo careers had pretty much tanked. Other groups that reunited include The Darkness, Bloc Party, and Black Sabbath.
• Nicki Minaj tried to tell us what the super bass sounds like (“boom-badoom boom, boom badoom-boom” apparently), and also saw success with her single Fly which featured Rihanna.
• Rihanna released a new album, Talk That Talk, and about 348162 singles, and was all over the charts.
• Swedish House Mafia tried to save the world.
• Jessie J released her debut album. People liked it, for some strange reason.
• The Stone Roses reunited 15 years after disbanding, proving that if you wish for something long enough, it happens!
• Coldplay released their fifth studio record, Mylo Xyloto, which fell significantly short of being life-altering.
• Roxette made their first new album in nearly a decade; after listening to it, we’re not quite sure why they bothered.
• Panic! at the Disco came out with their first new album as a two piece, and also worked with fun. for the split single, C’mon.
• Jay-Z and Kanye West joined forces to record the highly praised Watch the Throne.
• Bruno Mars continued to exist.
• The Streets gave us their final set of songs in Computers and Blues before ending the group.
• Elbow, The Decemberists, Kasabian, Bon Iver, Arctic Monkeys, Fleet Foxes, and Radiohead wowed with fantastic new albums.
• Lou Reed and Metallica collaborated to record Lulu, a project that was deemed as a “catastrophic failure on almost every level”.
• James Blake conquered the post-dubstep arena with his self-titled debut.
• Danger Mouse and Daniele Luppi unveiled their five-years-in-the-making album, Rome, which featured vocal contributions from Jack White and Norah Jones.
• Following the destruction of Oasis, Liam Gallagher’s Beady Eye made their debut album Different Gear, Still Speeding, while Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds produced their self-titled debut set, with both receiving generally positive reviews.
• And artists including Foo Fighters, Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Strokes, Evanescence, Beastie Boys, Daughtry, Nickelback, Eddie Vedder, Limp Bizkit, Incubus, Florence and the Machine, Kelly Clarkson, Chris Brown, Aqua, Selena Gomez & the Scene, Demi Lovato, and Lady Antebellum were among the many singers and musicians who returned to the charts with new albums.

- S.A.

Us Magazine, The News - 30th December, 2011