Guyana Times Sunday Magazine

Sunday March 8, 2015

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For the love of her work From a humble background to becoming an individual effecting change through her post as a medical practitioner, Page 5 Areefa Alladin-Karan is a remarkable individual

2 Times Sunday Magazine

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March 8, 2015

Times Feature

Empowering with Life Skills Workshops I

n an effort to help in the development and empowerment of youths in Region Two, the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport is presently facilitating life skills workshops.

As part of its 2015 youth development and skills building programme, the ministry has a four 6-week training programme, to be held in selected Region Two communities.

Presently, there is a cake decoration and pastry making training programme at Little Red Village, Onderneeming Sand in Essequibo. The training programme is for young people 16 to 26.

There are 15 females, some of whom are single parents, who are currently involved in the training, which is being held at the community centre in the village.

This is the first time the young people in Little Red village are involved in such a training programme since the community was opened

by Food For The Poor Guyana Inc. The training is

R Learning pastry making

USA. This community is the first of its kind in the country. Prior to the establishment of the village, the area was known as Sandpit and was very bushy. This pro-

Ladies in Little Red village being taught cake decorating

presently done by a resource person who lives within the area.

Little Red on the Essequibo Coast was built

by Food For The Poor in 2009 in collaboration with the Roetheli family of the

gramme, by the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport, will significantly influence those in the village who are participating, to learn a life skill and be able to earn an income.

In an interview with

Guyana Times Sunday Magazine, Herald Alves, a youth worker with the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport, who is managing the programme, said at the end of the training programme the young people will be provided with certificates of participation. He added that there would be an exhibition to display the works of the young people in the community.

“The participants are very excited because it is the first time they are part of such a programme. They even want it to go on for another month, something that is being considered presently. When we are through with this programme in Little Red Village, we will focus on Wakapoa. There the tie-dying classes will be kept,” Alves outlined.

The training in Little Red village will conclude March 14, 2015.

Dave Baksh

ock music enthusiasts who are fans of the popular punk rock US band Sum 41 may recall the epic guitar solo in the song “In Too Deep”. Did you know that the guitarist, Dave Baksh, has Guyanese roots?

Both of Baksh’s parents are Guyanese: his father hails from De Willem on the West Coast of Demerara and his mother from Georgetown. Baksh is a Canadian musician, singer and producer.

In an interview with Guyana Times Sunday Magazine, Baksh said he visited Guyana a while back and learnt a lot about his family during his visit.

“It helped me appreciate my life and what my parents went through to become the people they are today. I remember being very proud of them when we got home and realized how much they had accomplished since moving to Canada. My parents have told me quite a bit about Guyana as well, mostly memories of growing up and a lot about the political climate while they were living there,” Baksh recalled.

Baksh reminisced about how he took up the guitar.

He and his older cousins were in bands and Baksh was eager to play music with them. Once he inherited the “town guitar”, which was passed from musician to musician where he lived, Baksh found a “peace” when he played. That ‘peace’ he still experiences today when he plays the guitar.

“It’s a moment where you can focus on one thing and make it perfect,” he declared.

Prior to Sum 41, Baksh played in a few rock bands.

“Some might say it was tough, but the true believers in this line of work enjoy the work and we were working 24 hours a day seven days a week. We

A lot of the people I played with still play music today,” Baksh remembered.

The guitarist stated that it was a great experience playing those bands.

He also learnt a lot about his playing, himself and the people around him. Most importantly, he learnt that “doing something you love gives purpose, and purpose is a wonderful thing. In most cases purpose drives you to better yourself and help others around you”.

In 1998, Baksh joined Sum 41 but left the band in 2006. “I felt we weren’t having fun anymore. The show was becoming like a vaudeville. I like routine, but I like changing the routine as well. Nothing seemed fresh anymore,” he disclosed.

According to Baksh, the rock band he is part of, The Organ Thieves, picked up where he, as a guitar play-

Dave on his guitar

were somewhere between free men and slaves as far as society was concerned.

In those bands we played out a lot, those were great days for rock and roll music. You could go and play a show anywhere and be in front of at least 20 people.

With ex-band mates of Sum 41. Dave is second from left

er, had left off.

“This band is more about feeling than technical playing and I think that was a main weakness of mine in my early 20s. Back then, I concentrated on being fast and clean, while sacrificing the feel and swing. I have learned so much playing with this band and have really gotten my ability to play groove under lock,” Baksh expressed.

The guitarist's advice for those who have rock bands in Guyana is: “Keep developing the scene, it is important to maintain a future for rock and roll in Guyana.

Tour your surrounding countries independently.

It is important for people to know we can play more than Tradewinds’ cover songs (no disrespect to the Tradewinds). Music saved me from my anger, my impatience and my inability to comprehend my own mind.

My best wishes to you all and I hope to see you play sometime while I'm there!”

guyanatimesgy.com

March 8, 2015

Times Sunday Magazine

3

Times Feature

S

From test tubes to intricate glass trees, Andrew Thom finds a multipurpose career

kilful in the ancient art of glassworking, Andrew Thom is a modern day glassblower who creates remarkable items with just his hands and a blowtorch. He shapes molten glass, turning and blowing it, often into works of art.

Glassblowing is an old glasswork technique that uses a blowpipe and furnace.

Today’s methods usually utilise compressed propane and oxygen, and its crafters are known as lampworkers.

Speaking with Guyana Times Sunday Magazine, Thom described himself as a scientific and artistic glassblower.

“I describe myself as a scientific glassblower because I make test tubes, and artistic because I create various glass ornaments. I have been doing this for the past 24 years and enjoy every moment of it,” Thom revealed.

After high school, Thom attended the Government Technical Institute.

He graduated from the institution but could not get a job.

A neighbour noticed this and asked Thom if he would like to learn something different.

Thom readily accepted.

“That was when he introduced me to Mr Denny, a glassblower. He is now in the US and about 90 years old. Mr Denny was very in-

strumental in teaching me glassblowing techniques and helping me to excel in it. Also, when I became employed by the Institute of Applied Science and Technology, which has the largest glassblowing workshop in the country, I received further training and was able to develop my skills,” Thom recalled.

Through a scholarship, Thom attended the Technical University of Nova Scotia in Canada, studying glassblowing. When he returned to Guyana, he registered his business, Creative Glass Works, in 1993.

Unfortunately, the business could not be established be-

Thom demonstrating glass blowing at last year's GuyExpo

cause of lack of funding.

“I never had the funding to do so, or anyone willing to invest in it. I am doing the artistic aspect of it as a hobby. Fortunately, I had the opportunity to showcase my talent in Antigua at the Go-Invest- Guyana on Show exhibition, and also at GuyExpo,” he noted.

It is impressive to observe Thom at work. He artistically uses florescent tubes to make vases, animal-shaped ornaments, and even writes out names in glass.

At his home, in a humble workshop, Thom fires up his Blowing the glass into various shapes

The finished swan he made in his workshop

The glass blower can also shape the glass into names for ornaments

blowtorch during his leisure time, to create artistic ornaments. He recently made an elaborate glass tree for a client, which was applauded as being distinct and artistic.

In his workshop, Thom demonstrated for Sunday Magazine how he makes a swan. He stretched and blew the heated, supple glass until it took a swan-like shape.

He then mixed red food colouring in water and filled the ornament. Thom moulded the glass expertly and effortlessly, creating a swan.

It was a spell-bounding process.

“I do make glass ornaments for clients and I am planning on establishing my own business. I consider my talent a gift because it comes so easily to me. The tree I did for a client took me about two days to complete. Grateful to my neighbour and Mr Denny for helping me develop my talent, I am now willing to impart what I know to all those interested. If I get the funding or resources, I can start a glassblowing programme,” he declared.

For more information on Thom’s work, call 611-1782.

4

Times Sunday Magazine

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March 8, 2015

Times Feature

Queenstown Village from plantation to one of the better developed communities of Essequibo

By Isahak Basir, CCH

W

ith the exception of Aurora and Danielstown, on the Essequibo coast, Queenstown is more prominent in its location for its sandy terrain, life-saving “raft” for indentured Indians and indelible landmarks of history.

Queenstown, with a population of seven thousand people, is midway of 32 miles of Essequibo road.

It is bordered by a popular cremation site, the Capoey Lake and an old Dutch compound, formerly at Capoey compound.

This pioneering village of the local government system came into being in

1840, when several village leaders pooled their cash and purchased several sections of land. Originally, of some 55 sugar plantations in Essequibo, Queenstown was cultivating coffee and cotton.

The present Anglican church, Saint Bartholomew, was erected on the foundation of the coffee complex owned by the whites at the time. The church, unique for its architecture, is a replica of a slave ship that brought slaves from Africa.

On the western side of Saint Bartholomew church, a symbolic pot is well preserved. This cast iron, round boiling pot is about four feet in diameter and can store about 100 gallons of water.

Interior of the St Bartholomew Anglican Church in Queenstown

Queenstown 1750. Mosque, Fulani Tribe

Villagers claim that this pot was used to cook food for the enslaved workers.

Historically, in the episode of slavery, the Muslim Fulani tribe was brought to Queenstown, where they built the first mosque in Guyana. Its people were referred to as “Fula Maan”.

The village was under white ownership for 40 years and the estate owner’s mansion still stands today in Cow Dam.

The name “rescue raft”, known in Queenstown, came about when sugar estates on Essequibo were rapidly closing down and dire hardship befell the hundreds of displaced indentured Indians.

It was Queenstown and Danielstown that kept the markets of Zorg, Hampton Court and Affiance alive.

The markets were loaded with corn bread, cassava products, pone and black pudding.

At Hampton Court market, on Fridays at around 2pm, a mule by the name of Corn Bread would forcefully break out from the stable and invade the market in search of corn bread.

Queenstown came in the limelight when it produced some brilliant academics, all of whom flourished in education, banking and legal fields. Some of those persons were the Ellis’, Bacchus’ and the Bostons.

The village, which is the base for one of the four NDCs in Region Two, always celebrated its anniversary with pomp and splendour, supported by home-coming overseas villagers.

Under European landlordism, Queenstown had a popular horse racing ground known as Talligin

Race Ground, where every two months, horseracing, supported by several estate owners, would attract thousands of sugar workers.

The race ground was closed in 1938 when a stipendiary magistrate by the name of Verasammy dismantled the last stable.

Queenstown farm workers gave solidarity to hundreds of marching indentured Indian sugar workers from Devonshire Castle on the way to Onderneeming Immigration Office when they were advised to turn back from Queenstown. That industrial action caused several sugar workers to be shot dead at Cabbage Dam in 1872, where there is now a monument at Devonshire Castle.

Another historic event

in Queenstown was a visit by the legendary Jamaican freedom fighter, Marcus Garvey in 1938, which led to an area identified for communal farming. This area is known as the Garvey Trail.

Massive sea-erosion in the late nineteen century resulted in the original road being relocated inland between Capoey Police Station and estate Le Union, leaving many relics on the foreshore.

Queenstown is now a thriving community with fuel stations, hotels, sawmilling operations, cottage industries, modern restaurants, good road signs, wellpaved streets and much more. It is a village of good standing and is considered an “icon” of development.

(Photos by Marco Basir)

Copper slave pot at the church

Estate owner mansion that still stands in Cow Dam

guyanatimesgy.com

March 8, 2015

Times Sunday Magazine 5

Times Women

From a humble background to becoming an individual effecting change through her post as a medical practitioner, Areefa Alladin-Karan is a remarkable individual

A

reefa AlladinKaran is a paediatric resident at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC). She works fulltime in the paediatrics department, which includes monthly rotations at the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), the paediatric ward and the outpatient and specialty clinic.

Notably, Alladin-Karan was instrumental in starting the first allergy clinic in Guyana at GPHC last year.

Graduating from the University of Guyana (UG) in 2009 with a distinction in medicine (MBBS), Alladin-Karan copped the Prime Minister's Medal for best graduating student in the school of medicine. Additionally, she holds an associate of science degree in pharmacy from UG (2003), graduating with distinction, and was best graduating student, receiving several awards.

Alladin-Karan is now pursuing a master's degree in paediatrics through UG and Mc Master's University in Canada.

“I probably had little saying in my choice as a health care professional. My family applied for me to attend UG and chose pharmacy as a pre-med course for me. I ended up liking pharmacy and completed it, after which I worked for a year as a pharmacist and then re-

Areefa Alladin-Karan at her UG graduation

when I was asked as a little girl what I wanted to be when I grow up, of course my answer was cane cutter.

I still get teased about this by my family members,” Alladin-Karan recalled.

Working in the department of paediatrics has gratified Alladin-Karan. She revealed that although it is a “very stressful job”, it is rewarding. Alladin-Karan and her team have saved many lives at GPHC - children who were very critical on admission and spent time in the ICU and on the wards, were discharged and are living normal lives today.

“I hope to make an im-

Alladin-Karan with one of her mentors, Dr Rambarran

alized that I wanted to do more clinical work, so I decided to study medicine,” Alladin-Karan disclosed in an interview with Guyana Times Sunday Magazine.

Alladin-Karan said she came from a family of farmers: mostly rice and cattle.

In her family, priority was given to education and she was “pushed hard” to get good grades.

“Everyone in my village, [in] Berbice, was cane cutters; it was the only profession I grew up knowing. So

pact in the lives of children in Guyana, especially in Berbice. There are no paediatricians in Berbice, so children and their parents have to travel to GPHC for clinics. I plan to go back to Berbice and improve child healthcare there. I received some training in allergy and immunology and plan to advance in that field.

There are a lot of children suffering from allergies in Guyana; I have tested and treated quite a few already.

I also plan to sub-specialize, but after I dedicate some time to my family. I am also very interested in research and academics. I am currently working on a new pilot study and if this is successful, it will transform newborn care in Guyana. I also teach in the School of Medicine at UG and would like to pursue post graduate study in education,” AlladinKaran outlined.

As a member of the Kidney Foundation of Guyana, Alladin-Karan plans to advocate for kidney awareness and early intervention for children at risk for kidney diseases, in order to prevent renal failure.

Alladin-Karan is also the assistant secretary of the Guyana Help the Kids Foundation, a charity with the goal of reducing mortality rates for children in Guyana. She revealed that the foundation is setting up an NICU in the regional hospitals and aims to have a

paediatrician at each regional hospital in order to improve delivery of care to children all over Guyana and not just the Georgetown area.

“Being a country girl from Berbice and starting UG at the age of 16 was a

challenge. I attended New Amsterdam Multilateral and I was very conservative. I had to live in the UG dorm and fend for myself. I didn't know how to cook nor travel on my own, and had to learn fast, “she admitted.

“I was also antagonized in a lot of my classes because I wasn't from one of the famous schools in Georgetown and I didn't do A Levels, but my hard work paid off when I graduated top of my class both times. I have also experienced a lot of difficulties with my family and personal life but I never felt sorry for myself and I always tried to make the best out of every situation so that life for my family can be better,” she revealed.

Alladin-Karan credits Dr Ramsundar Doobay, who pushed her and never settled for average performance.

Additionally, Sheik Amir and doctors Rambaran and Cummings, just to name a few, who recognized AlladinKaran’s potential and moti-

vated her to be the best. She also is grateful for the support from her family, especially her husband and parents.

“Medicine is an exciting field, but it is also very hard and challenging. You have to be dedicated and willing to sacrifice a lot of time and energy to become the best at what you do. You cannot settle for mediocrity. You have to always be ambitious and not let the opinion of others bring you down,” she declared.

“At the end of it all, when I look back at my life I have to say that I am very lucky that I didn’t have it handed to me, and I had to work hard and endured a lot to get where I am today. The values that were drilled into me by my mother are still with me. I wouldn’t trade my life and my family for the world.

Everyone chipped in some way or the other to help me to become who I am and for that I am very grateful,” she said.

With colleagues at GPHC (standing third from left)

6 Times Sunday Magazine

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MARCH 8, 2015

Times Book World

The Shaping of Guyanese Literature

2015 Literary Street Fair:‘Bringing Books Alive As We Celebrate Forty-Five’

By Petamber Persaud

L

iterary festivals, especially the ones staged outdoors, are long established in the psyche of people globally.

International indoor and outdoor festivals are hosted by countries all over the world: in London, it is known as the London Book Fair; Miami hosts its Miami Book Fair International while Australia has its Brisbane and its Perth Writers' Festivals, along with theNewcastle, New South Wales National Young Writers' Festival.

In Asia, Hong Kong hosts theHong Kong International Literary Festival, while India hosts its Jaipur Literary Festival and Malaysia holds theKuala Lumpur International Literary Festival and Writers' Festival. Singapore also has their Singapore Writers Festival.

In the Middle East region, Dubai ensures its Dubai Literature Festival, as does Turkey with theIstanbul Tanpınar Literature Festival.

In Europe, Germany stages the Berlin International Literature Festival as Sweden stages the Göteborg Book Fair in Gothenburg, Sweden.

Norway hosts theNorwegian Festival of Literature and the Czech Republic holds their Prague Writers Festival.

In North America, the US hosts the Boston Book Festival and theHollywood Book Festival, while in South America, Colombia

Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport Dr Frank Anthony viewing book display (Photo by Jason Yhap)

stages its International Poetry Festival of Medellín and Peru its Trujillo Book Festival.

Closer to home, in the Caribbean region, literary festivals are beginning to take hold of people’s imagination and states’ machinery in the new millennium.

Such regional festivals include Havana International Book Fair, Cuba, which was launched in 1982. Jamaica launched their Calabash International Literary Festival in 2000. St Martin also holds their Book Fair, an event begun in 2002, while Dominica launched theNature Island Literary Festival in 2005 and St Lucia launched WordAlive in 2005.

Trinidad would in 2011 launch the NGC Borcas Lit

Fest. Another Caribbean book fair, the Bim Literary Festival and Book Fair was launched in 2012. Anguilla Lit Fest at Paradise Cove Resort was also launched 2012.

Guyana,on Friday,Feb 20,2015, recently staged its third literary street fair on Main Street Avenue between Church and Quamina Streets, near the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport and the National Library.

This literary street fair coincided with the country’s 45thRepublic Anniversary activities. The participation and attendance was fair, and it could only get bigger and better from here on.

The foundation is set and the scope for regional and international participation will come. Guyana has a lot

to offer in the field of literature.

Guyana’s First Street Book Fair was staged Friday Feb 18, 2011, on Main Street avenue opposite the Ministry of Culture, Youth & Sport. Yours truly played a major role in organizing that initial groundbreaking event, whose theme was ‘A Reconnection to Books’.

The organisers and partners (listed here) perceived the need for that reconnection and hence the street book fair – putting books

within reach, within the pathway, of readers, potential readers and bibliophiles.

After the first literary street, there was a twoyears hiatus. Then the second literary street fair was staged in 2014, again under the patronage of the culture, youth and sportministry.

That event demonstrated a number of issues apart from the main objective of bringing books to the people. One of those issues dealt with the custodians of books/publications: people who work behind publications preparing them for exhibition.

First to note about these valued custodians is that they are more than mere keepers of books. They dispense numerous other book related services. Some are publishers, editors, creators, entertainers, guidance councillors, promoters of literature, promoters of the arts, and enablers of the literary arts.

To appreciate the above it will be useful to note the role of the entities participating in the literary street fair: • The Ministry of Culture, Youth &Sport, comprising the Department of Culture, the Department of Youth and the Guyana Classics • National Trust

Interested patrons at the 2015 street fair (Photos by Jason Yhap)

• Ministry of Education • The University of Guyana Library • The National Library • The Guyana Book Foundation • G e o r g e t o w n Reading and Research Centre • Guyana Institute of Historical Research • National Centre for Education, Research and Development (NCERD) • The Guyana Annual Magazine of which the 2014-2015 issue is dedicated to A J Seymour.

• Mrs Maureen Rampertab Such a literary street fair is hoped to stir the imagination, to provide a relaxed and casual atmosphere for writers and readers to mingle, and to build a faithful following of people who know the value of literature and the importance of a literate society to the development of country.

In his remarks declaring the fair open,the CYSminister of captured the idea of a literary street fair in a theme he coined:“Bringing Books Alive as We Celebrate in Forty-Five”.Responses to this author telephone (592) 226-0065 or email: oraltradition2002@yahoo.com

guyanatimesgy.com

March 8, 2015

Times Sunday Magazine 7

Times Heritage

S

t James -the- Less Anglican church on David Street, Kitty in Georgetown, was designed

by Rev George Fox. The site was donated by a parishioner and its construction completed in 1857. It was consecrated by Rev William

Percy Austin and dedicated May 14 that same year.

Once a chapel attached to the parish of St George’s, it became a parish itself on Feb 20, 1940. In 1943, works to enhance the church began, and included an ornamental screen at the back

of the altar (the reredos), which was carved by Cedric Winter, in 1945.

As described by Rev Fox, the church is considered, “an ideal model of what a church in the tropics should be.”

According to L.

ments of the local climate as his basis for designing St James-the-Less.”

The history of the Anglican Church in Guyana is said to be traced back to 1781 when an Anglican reverend named William Baggs, Chaplain to George Rodney, arrived on a short-lived visit to Guyana. It was not until 1796 that the church took root when a Reverend Francis MacMahon started holding church services on the site of what is now Parliament building.

Internal view of round east end

St James-the -Less Church

Demerara Railway is the oldest railway in the South American region.

(Photo from 'Historic Photographs of Guyana' by National Trust of Guyana)

High Street, Kingston, Georgetown n.d. (Photo from 'Historic Photographs of Guyana' by National Trust of Guyana)

Hernandez, writing in the Oct 2011 National Trust Heritage magazine, the mainly timber building comprises a “high pitched roof, roof lights, open interior and timber lattice external walls.”

Writing in the Guyana Review, Hernandez would note that its designer “did not design a building in the prevailing revival styles of Gothic or Classical Architecture, but instead he used the liturgical requirements of the Church and the environmental require-

In 2013, a letter writer in a local newspaper sent in a photo of a watercolour painting of the church, done in the late 1960s. (John Criswick)

8 Times Sunday Magazine

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MARCH 8, 2015

Times Travel & Tourism

Ireng River

T

he Ireng River, also known as Rio Mau, forms the border between Guyana and neighbouring Brazil. It is accessible from the Guyana side south of Lethem, located on the border with Brazil.

Boat trips along the Ireng River and its tributary, the Rio Takatu, are ideal for birding enthusiasts.

Ireng is considered the most picturesque of Guyana's many rivers. Orinduik Falls and Takagka Falls are some of the waterfalls along the Ireng River. Another spectacular waterfall on the river is the almost 100-metre (close to 330 feet tall) Kurutuik Falls.

(Photos copyright to Michael C. Lam. TheMichaelLamCollection.com) (Cover photo: Striking blue skies over Ireng River)

Spectacular view of the Ireng (Photo by David Stanley)

Camping on the bank of the Ireng River

Downriver at Orinduik

Ireng twilight

Picturesque view of the river

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March 8, 2015

Times Sunday Magazine 9

Times Healthy Living

Stress and your health

S

tress comes in many forms and levels; some people worry more than others and some handle stress better than others do.

The danger lies in how stress affects our health, especially as we age. Stress can affect our immune system and our heart rate, leading to other health problems down the road.

Drs M. Roizen and M. Oz, in their book, “You Staying Young� (2007) have grouped stress factors into three categories.

On-going low-level stress

To think you have to and can eliminate all stress is unreasonable and unhealthy. Life is stressful, no matter what you do or who you are, they say. Work, family or interaction with strangers and friends can generate what they call a constant hum of stress. This kind of stress may bother or fatigue us, but is not harmful to our health.

Nagging unfinished tasks

One of the most upsetting forms of stress is the one that gnaws away at you every day until you reach what you consider is your limit

and go into full stress mode.

A seemingly constantly nagging spouse, a seemingly forever leaky tap, or that deadline looming when you are staring at a pile of paperwork that hasn’t seemed to have moved, are all more destructive stress factors that can influence our health physically and mentally.

Major life events

You know the kind: death, illness, unemployment and such can wreak havoc on your mental and physical health. In fact, Roizen and Oz state that statistics show three major

What you should know about stomach flu S

tomach flu or viral gastroenteritis (its medical name), is caused by viruses that attack the stomach and intestines.

The name of this virus is Norovirus. This is a family of viruses most often to blame for adult gastroenteritis, although others include adenovirus and astrovirus. (Rotavirus is the most common cause of viral gastroenteritis in babies and young children).

Norovirus can spread quickly in any crowded place, causing outbreaks from infected faeces or vomit that find their way into our mouths. Very diligent hand washing is your best defence, Gary Rogg, MD, an internist at Montefiore Medical Centre in New York City, tells Health magazine.

Viral gastroenteritis can be spread from person to person or by touching a contaminated surface, but you can also get viral gastroenteritis from sewage-contaminated food or water, or meals prepared or handled by an infected person.

Compared to other viruses, noroviruses can be resilient and live for days on household surfaces, which, along with the fact that few virus particles are needed to cause an infection, is why they spread easily.

Diarrhoea, vomiting, and stomach pain don't hit you immediately after you're infected with a gastrointestinal virus, but typically develop gradually, over one or two days. (Other types of food poisonings however, hit hard and fast).

Stomach flu is what doctors call "self-limiting," meaning they play themselves out and rarely require medical treatment.

You should start to feel better after two or three days.

(You may be back to normal in a day or two with food

Very diligent hand washing is your best defence

poisoning).

Dehydration is the biggest risk with stomach flu.

You need to replace lost fluid, but you're also losing sodium, potassium, and other minerals, known as electrolytes, and they also need to be replaced.

Drink Pedialyte or similar oral electrolyte solutions that contain salts and sugar, as well as water, if you have severe diarrhoea.

Sports drinks aren't a great choice, because the mix of salts and sugars they contain isn't exactly right in terms of replacing fluid lost to diarrhoea and vomiting.

Putting water into your body without adding electrolytes will dilute the electrolytes that remain in your

body, Dr Rogg explains, while taking in sugar without salt can make your diarrhoea worse.

There is no treatment for viral gastroenteritis, besides time and symptom relief. Antidiarrheal medications may also help ease cramps and diarrhoea, but you should avoid them if you have bloody diarrhoea or a high fever as it can make the illness worse, according to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

Antibiotics are useless.

See a doctor if your symptoms aren't getting better after three days, you have prolonged vomiting that prevents liquid intake; you see blood in your stool or vomit, or have high fever.

life events in a one-year period can make your body feel and act thirty-two years older in the next year.

Stress can have different implications for your life and health, which is why they underscore the need for

you to develop coping strategies and support systems to help you weather these stressful times.

10 Times Sunday Magazine Times Fashion

A

creative fusion of fabric results in designer Marlon Agrippa’s most fashionable collection yet.

Infusing linen, tulle, satin, and Indian cotton, Agrippa was able to design his most admirable collection so far.

“The focus of Pure Complement was for the male to complement the female rather than competing with her while flirting around a theme, ‘water’,

which in itself spoke of purity and allowed for much thoughtfulness and a deep sense of humanity and decency,” the designer said in an interview with Guyana Times Sunday Magazine.

Agrippa is not only a fashion designer but also an interior decorator who enjoys the art process of transforming a simple house into an extraordinary home.

For more information on this collection, call 675-4268.

(Photos by Helio Phoeli)

March 8, 2015

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March 8, 2015

Times Sunday Magazine 11

Star Times Hollywood

T

aron Egerton is an English-born actor. He is known for his role as Dennis "Asbo" Severs in the British television series “The Smoke”. He appeared in the British drama film “Testament of Youth” and starred in the leading role in “Kingsman: The Secret Service”, which brought him much fame. Egerton made his acting debut in 2013 with a small role in two episodes of “Inspector Lewis”, a British television detective drama, as Liam Jay. The actor was named one of GQ's 50 best dressed British men in 2015.

12 Times Sunday Magazine

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March 8, 2015

Times Hollywood

Leonardo DiCaprio is 'single' and not dating Rihanna, says rep

L

eonardo DiCaprio isn't dating anyone.

Responding to swirling rumors saying that he is romantically linked to Rihanna, his representative told the Los Angeles Times that the actor "is single and has been for some time."

The rep added that

DiCaprio had in fact "been focused shooting" his new film "The Revenant" in Canada "for months." The adventure drama is helmed by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu who recently won the Best Director at the Oscars for his work in "Birdman".

People began speculating

if DiCaprio and RiRi were an item a few weeks ago, after they were reported attending a birthday bash at the Playboy Mansion. They were spotted again at another birthday party at a West Hollywood hotel shortly after.

The pair also hung out together at the "FourFiveSeconds" singer's own birthday party last month. In a couple of photos obtained by TMZ, the two were seen standing next to each other while lighting cigarettes. Citing sources at the event, the site reported the rumored lovers were engaged in plenty of PDA. A source even described Riri as clingy, saying, "She's the baddest b***h in the party, but she's following him everywhere." (AceShowbiz)

Man charged with murder for stabbing two Nicki Minaj’s tour members

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man has been charged for stabbing two Nicki Minaj tour members back in February. According to Homicide Capt. James Clark, Pierce Boykin of Philadelphia was charged on March 3 with murder, attempted murder and other charges in the deadly stabbing of Devon Pickett.

Pierce was previously only charged with attempted murder in the stabbing of Nicki's other tour member Eric Reed.

James told The Associated Press that the

murder charge was later tacked on after new evidence pointed Pierce for both stabbings. Pierce, who was arrested on Monday, February 23, is currently in custody and his attorney could not be reached for comment on the court decision.

Devon and Eric were stabbed by Pierce outside Che Bar & Grill on early Wednesday, February 18. Devon was stabbed in the torso while Eric suffered stab wounds to his left arm and left side. They were rushed to Albert Einstein Medical Center but unfortunately Devon didn't survive.

Nicki later shared the sad news on Twitter, writing, "Two members of my team were stabbed last night in Philly. One was killed. They had only been there for two days rehearsing for the tour."

She also posted a photo of Devon and Eric on Instagram along with caption, "#Rp @myfabolouslife - these guys flew into Philly for my tour rehearsals 2 days ago and were both stabbed last night. #RIPDAYDAY condolences to your family. Unbelievable. Eric (on the right) is recovering. Another senseless act of violence that took the life of a great guy. So sad." (AceShowbiz)

Adam Levine reacts adorably to young Justin Bieber goes shirtless, talks about growing up too fast fan with Down Syndrome

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A

dam Levine had a sweet fan meeting with a young boy with Down syndrome. Christopher Warner is a big fan of the rock star and his teacher Avery Stanert decided to create a video to prove how much he loves Levine and his music.

"He has just been fascinated with Maroon 5 and especially Adam Levine. He loves to listen to their music during work breaks," the special education teacher told Today.com. "He draws pictures of them. He just absolutely loves them."

The YouTube video quickly went viral and caught the attention of Hot 99.5's "The Kane Show", which then helped arrange a meeting between Warner and Maroon 5. "They arranged for backstage passes and tickets," Stanert said. "They immediately called the record label and worked it out."

When the band had a concert at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. on Monday night, March 2, Warner, his mom and some of the school teachers got VIP access to the concert. They also met the group backstage. But Warner was a bit nervous when meeting his idol. He crouched on the floor to hide, and Levine helped make the boy feel comfortable by suggesting that everyone lay down on the floor beside him.

"He was very shy at first.

I kind of got down on the floor and he was hiding behind me," Warner's mom Cecilia told ABC News. "Then Adam said 'That's OK, we'll all get down on the floor.' It wasn't beneath him to lay down on a locker room floor with Christopher."

Kane also shared an adorable picture from the encounter on his Twitter page.

"Christopher was so overwhelmed he had a panic attack so @adamlevine @maroon5 @internjohnradio laid down to take a pic," so he captioned the pic. (AceShowbiz)

ustin Bieber goes shirtless again, this time on the cover of Men's Health magazine.

The Canadian heartthrob, who just turned 21 a few days ago, shows off his muscular physique for the magazine's April edition that's hitting newsstands on March 10.

In an accompanying interview, the singer opens up about reinventing himself and growing up. "I do aspire to be a class act," he tells the mag. "This has really been a big year for me, as far as figuring stuff out.

This is almost like a full 180 from how I was. Yesterday a year from yesterday - I was in jail."

Bieber goes on to blame

his behavior in the past year on the fact that he had to spend his teenage years in the spotlight. "I had to grow up so quick. And it was almost like I grew up for the public but I didn't necessarily grow up," he explains.

"There were things I had to do, as far as the way I had to make relationships and con-

versation, but as far as actually growing up, there were a lot of things I missed out on."

While he's willing to move forward from his immature history, Bieber admits, "There's a part of me that I don't ever want to grow up." He continues, "I want to always remain... to have that sense of purity inside of me where I don't... I don't want to lose that sense of purity."

Elsewhere in the interview, Bieber says that the biggest misconception people have about him is that he's "self centered." He also reveals that Ben Affleck is his man crush. "I think his vibe is cool," he explains.

(AceShowbiz.com)

Taylor Swift grants 4-year-old terminally-ill fan's final wish

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aylor Swift reached out to her young fan Jalene Salinas who's battling terminal brain cancer. The country/pop singer called the San Antonio, Texas tot and had a 20-minute FaceTime conversation with her and her mother, Jennifer Arriagas.

Jalene's parents had been working hard to tick off all the dream items on her bucket list as her condition worsened. Her final wish included dancing with Swift, and the singer learned about it as #ShakeItOffJalene started trending on Twitter.

"I'm so sorry you're having a bad night, I'm so happy to talk to you though and

I'm so happy you like 'Shake it Off' " the country/pop star told her little fan during the video-call. "You look beautiful tonight, you really do.

You're just as pretty as your pictures."

According to Jennifer, Jalene's face lit up when she saw her idol's image on the phone although she was in pain and didn't talk much during the conversation. "I got back from London and I heard about her," Taylor told the mother. "It's just unfathomable to have to watch your baby go through this." (AceShowbiz)

Foo Fighters’ frontman stops show to fulfill blind fan's request

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oo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl made someone very happy at the band's show in Sydney last week, temporarily pausing the performance to fork over a drumstick to a blind fan in the front row.

"There's a guy in the

front row," Grohl said, explaining his action to the crowd of more than 50,000 people. "He's got a sign that says, 'Drumstick for a blind guy please?'"

The band was happy to oblige, grabbing a stick from drummer Taylor Hawkins

and passing it on as fans cheered the kind gesture.

Grohl has long had a reputation as an all-around good guy, once even reaching into a turbulent crowd to top off a fan's beer. (Huffington Post)

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March 8, 2015

eeksha Seth is an Indian actress and model. A finalist in Femina Miss India in 2009, she made her acting debut in the Telugu drama film “Vedam” (2010). Seth signed on for two more films, with the Ravi Teja-starrer “Mirapakaay”, which emerged a commercial success. Two weeks later, after “Mirapakaay”, the action drama “Wanted”, her debut as a lead female character, released and was another box office success.

She made her Bollywood debut in “Lekar Hum Deewana Dil” (2014), produced by Saif Ali Khan, opposite Armaan Jain, cousin of Kareena Kapoor and Ranbir Kapoor.

guyanatimesgy.com

Times Sunday Magazine 13

Star Times Bollywood

14 Times Sunday Magazine

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March 8, 2015

Times Bollywood

Rani Mukerji honoured for highlighting the issue of child trafficking

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ani Mukerji has been honoured with an award for her efforts to highlight the protection of the girl child through her film “Mardaani”.

The actress has been selected for the National Award for the Best Representation of the Cause of Safety, Security and Protection of Women and Girl Child by the Institute for Gender Justice, IANS reports.

Commenting on the honour, chairperson of the organisation Sreerupa Mitra Chaudhury said: "The representation of women in the media, both print and electronic, has been, if not to say much, targeted at commodification of women.

"This has had a dire consequence on the status of women which is reflected in the perpetual crime against women in the society.

"This award is an endeavour to recognise those

agents who want to represent women and girl child in a better light and not commodify them. This award is a result of our endeavour to encourage stake holders and functionaries."

According to Sreerupa, Rani "epitomised the spirit of the countless involved in the long fight against human trafficking" in her role as Shivani Shivaji Roy in “Mardaani”.

"For you to be associat-

ed with a movie addressing such an important and urgent cause attracts the attention of the viewing public and focuses their attention on this pertinent issue," she said.

"The role so naturally played by you of an empowered and courageous police officer has given the correct message, and the promotional clip that aired on the TV channels to promote the movie also correctly urged people to watch the movie with their entire family, since human trafficking is an issue that every man, woman and child should be aware of, and this awareness is our best tool in this fight."

Reacting to the honour, Mukerji said in a statement: "It is really heartening to see that not only has the film been loved by audiences worldwide but it has transcended the realm of filmmaking and become

something that inspires the people who have been tirelessly working for years for the cause of child trafficking and are the real heroes.

"I feel humbled to meet these people and I'm glad that I'm able to contribute in a small way. This award is special as it recognises my contribution to cinema in a different manner."

In the film, the actress portrays police officer Shivani Shivaji Roy, who tracks down a child trafficking racket.

Mukerji recently attended a dinner in London hosted by The British Asian Trust to mark the launch of a new anti-trafficking fund.

The charity dinner was also attended by Prince Charles and Nobel Peace Prize winner Kailash Satyarthi, who revealed that he was personally moved by the actress's commitment and her performance in the movie. (Digital Spy)

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anbir Kapoor has said that marriage will happen for him "organically".

The actor, who is dating Katrina Kaif, said that age is not a factor in deciding when to settle down.

He told IANS: "I am very happy in my life right now.

I've not decided when I will

get married. I think marriage is something which should happen organically.

"I'm not the kind of person who will say, 'I am 32 now, let's get married' or, 'The time is running out'.

The day I would want children, the day I feel me and my partner feel, 'It's an organic thing now so get married', is when I will get married."

While Kaif has been reticent about discussing her relationship status, she recently opened up about the Barfi star, describing him as a "big part of [her] life".

Romance is thought to have first blossomed between the couple on the sets of “Ajab Prem Ki Gazab Kahaani”.

Kapoor recently denied rumours that the couple were engaged. (IANS)

Amitabh Bachchan to promote road safety awareness

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mitabh Bachchan is promoting road safety awareness in Maharashtra.

The actor, who has lived in the Indian state for 45 years, said he would like to play a role in promoting road safety, the Hindustan Times reports.

After a month-long road safety awareness drive, Bachchan told citizens of Thane: "When I can promote tourism in Gujarat, I can very well promote road safety awareness in Maharashtra."

The Shamitabh star said that driving licences should only be issued after vigorous testing and warned parents against giving cars to their children before they are capable drivers.

The 72-year-old actor, who was recently appointed as Maharashtra's horticulture ambassador, said that he has a strong affinity with Maharashtra and will endeavour to learn Marathi.

Bachchan is also the face of Gujarat tourism.

(Digital Spy)

India's first zombie comedy ‘Go Goa Gone’ to release in Japan

“G

o Goa Gone” is set for release in Japan.

Co-directed by Raj Nidimoru and Krishna DK and produced by Saif Ali Khan, the film is scheduled to release in the country on March 21.

Confirming the news, Kumar Ahuja - president of business development at Eros International - said in a statement: "The Japanese market has shown a fair appetite for Indian films.

"After the successful out-

ings of our previous movies in Japan, we hope the demand for Indian films there continues and these new releases enjoy a successful run too."

India's first "zom-com" “Go Goa Gone” features Saif Ali Khan as zombie hunter Boris along with Kunal Khemu, Virr Das and Puja Gupta.

Eros has previously released films like “Robot”, “Om Shanti Om” and “English Vinglish” in Japan.

(Digital Spy)

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MARCH 8, 2015

Times Sunday Magazine

15

Times Trends

Trending Now

Search on for the next Miss World Guyana

Atisha Gaskill

Star of the week

Reigning Miss World Guyana Rafieya Husain

T

he Miss World Guyana committee has sent out a call for eligible women to apply to be the next Miss World Guyana.

Below are some of the requirements listed on the Miss World Guyana website: Contestants must complete the Miss World Guyana 2015 official contestant entry form and attend an interview which will be held on the day of application or at any time to be determined by the organizer, Majesty International. A copy of the contestant’s passport or certified birth certificate must be attached to the contestant form. Original documents must be presented for verification. The organizer reserves the right to reject any application that fails to satisfy the aforesaid requirements.

Contestants must be of good moral character and possess charm, poise, and personality and have beauty of face and figure.

Contestants must also have the ability to show compassion and intelligence and speak intelligently in public places.

Contestants must be persons whose background is not likely to bring into disrepute/negative controversy to the Miss World Guyana 2015 or the Miss World title.

Contestants warrant that their performances do not infringe the rights (including copyrights) or defame or embarrass any person, firm or company.

The contest is open to all single natural born female citizens of Guyana not less than 17 years of age or not more than 24 years and 364 days of age on the date of the Miss World final in the relevant year, and who usually uses the prefix “Miss” before her name. The minimum height requirement is 5 feet 5 inches tall.

Contestants eligible are those who have never been through any ceremony either valid or invalid, and whether civil, religious or tribal, which is recognized as a marriage ceremony in any part of the world and has never given birth to a child.

Contestants below 18 years of age are required to obtain their parent’s/legal guardian’s consent on the official contestant entry form.

Contestants should have no criminal records in and out of Guyana.

Closing date for applications is March 20, 2015.

For more information on the requirements of the pageant, visit http://missworldguyana.gy or Miss World Guyana on Facebook.

Miss World Guyana 2013 Ruqayyah Boyer

B

orn in Georgetown, Guyana, Atisha Gaskill migrated to the US where she is an accomplished track-star and youth leader. She completed her high school diploma at the Woodbridge Senior High School, US, and is now pursuing a career in forensic psychology at the Northern Virginia Community College. The stunning beauty was a contestant in the Miss World Guyana 2014 pageant whereshe used the platform she was given at the pageant to educate the public on indicators of human trafficking victims and perpetrators – a topic about which she still passionately spreads awareness. As a philanthropist, Gaskill has been involved in various charitable activities in Northern Virginia, Washington, DC and Guyana. Some of these activities include feeding and clothing the homeless and donating school supplies to those in need in Guyana.

16 Times Sunday Magazine

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March 8, 2015

Times Art

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ixty-eight-year-old master artisan George Tancredo scaled more than 15 feet up the tall balata tree, as agile as a man quarter his age. Harnessed by thick steel rope and spiked shoes, he continued to score the bark, high on the trunk of the tree, into a pattern of converging ridges that would allow the milky resin to drip through the narrow channels and down into a collection bottle at the base of the tree.

Commercial balata latex harvesting started in Guyana’s Kanuku Mountains region in the late 1880s. Tancredo was barely out of school when he started working in the then thriving balata industry.

Back in 1976, two companies had been operating in the Rupununi since the late 1950–1960s, training and employing young men and school leavers to harvest the resin from the balata trees in the forest, for export sales as insulation or vehicle tire components.

However, by the 1980s, the balata industry was in decline due to the emergence of cheaper, synthetic alternatives, forcing Tancredo, and others like him, to seek

Tancredo’s Noah's Ark

new sources of income.

While he was still at school, Tancredo had been inspired by his school teacher, Patrick Abrahams, who ran after-school classes in handicraft, especially miniature sculptures which he first taught using bees wax and then moved on to balata. Tancredo and a few others in the village of Nappi,

Balata resin dripping into a collection bottle

Members of Nappi Balata Artisans

who had by then practiced and developed their artistic skills into a recognized craft form, looked into transforming their craft into their livelihood.

“Finding colours to make the sculptures realistic was a problem,” disclosed Tancredo. “It took me years to find how to make colours, before it became possible to buy some in Lethem.

I learned from the Wai Wai craft, from deep South Rupununi, how to make red dye from Annatto fruit picked from the tree, then I accidentally discovered the use of clay mixed with coconut oil for orange and brown, potato starch for violet, and kerosene oil for black,” he recalled.

“George did all the hard work and cleared the path, so by the time we came along, finding colours was easy!” confessed Nicodemus Joseph, himself an accomplished balata artisan who started his career as Tancredo’s apprentice.

In the absence of resources and markets, Tancredo’s creativity stretched to inventing his own tools for his craft. Clipped bicycle

spokes, butter knives, deliberately twisted scissors, are all now firmly established as essential items in the inventory of ‘specialist tools’ used by the current balata artisans in Nappi.

As sales advanced, orders began to build for the balata artisans in Nappi.

Tancredo’s reputation started to spread as his craft evolved from miniature sculptures to ‘scenes’ of local and Amerindian life; images of the animals in the forest; and later to chess table and pieces; even Noah’s Ark, complete with Noah’s family and several pairs of animals, inspired by a drawing he saw in a bible.

“I get my inspiration from nature, people and everything around us, but I also look at books, drawings, and photographs for details and accuracy of colours.”

Tancredo noted.

The first Nappi Balata Artisans (NBA) group was formed with support from Conservation International (CI) in 1995. With two main US-based distributors supplying primarily to CI-Washington customers, the group achieved sol-

id growth in that market, while at the same time developing a national market in Georgetown.

The work of NBA members was soon on display alongside major world artists, in various locations including the Smithsonian Museum in Washington and, through the initiative of a British volunteer, a permanent display of some of George Tancredo’s work has been housed at Castellani House art gallery, in Georgetown, for the past 15 years.

Due to a combination of challenges, NBA collapsed by mid-2000. Currently, less than a handful of persons remaining in Nappi can practice this traditional art. Among them is Julita Fredricks, the only female balata artisan, who learnt the craft from her husband.

Like Nicodemus who apprenticed with George,

rienced a surge in revival among the surviving members. Renewed interest in balata sculptures has led to increasing orders from private and public sectors including the Protected Areas Commission who is responsible for the management of National Parks such as Kaieteur Falls, among other natural attractions.

Regular orders in manageable quantities have been streaming in; the growth of tourism in the Rupununi alongside improvements in road, transportation, and communications infrastructures, as well as banking services have reduced some the obstacles the group has for accessing markets.

Growth of events such as the Rupununi Christmas Fair, Rupununi Business Forum and Expo, the rodeo and the 3-Nation Frontier Festival in Brazil have all

Nicodemus Joseph demonstrating balata-working in Nappi

Julita started by painting the sculptures made by Guy. “As I watched what Guy was doing, I started to practice by sculpting the finishing patterns and textures and adding small features like eyes, ears, hands and tails,” stated Julita. “Now I do my own figures, especially my favourite, the Cock of the Rock.”

In 2014, the NBA expe-

helped increase the profile of this unique art form and the amazing skills of the people engaged in the craft.

Today, far from the bustle of markets and cities, the Nappi Balata Artisans can still be found practicing their art using simple traditional methods and experimenting with producing new animals, forest scenes and local culture imagery.

Julita sculpting a balata Cock of the Rock

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March 8, 2015

Times Sunday Magazine 17

Times Tech

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eports indicate that the Apple iPhone 6S may feature RAM upgraded to 2 GB, along with an Apple SIM card. It is also reported that the iPhone 6S/7 may have a two-lens system that should provide better quality photos in dim light, as well as force-touch, a technology also said to be on the upcoming Apple watch.

However, the most significant feature, which may also set phone carriers fuming, is that Apple may be contemplating releasing the phones with the pre-installed Apple SIM, which will allow customers to choose their carrier as soon as they take the phone out of the box.

Previously, wireless

Tech BYTE

H

HBO in Discussion for Online-Only Streaming

BO network is in talks with Apple Inc, Google Inc and some other companies to be its launch partner for the highly anticipated HBO Now video streaming service, according to two media reports.

HBO, ramping up plans for an a-la-carte version of its premium channel, is in talks with at least five companies, including Apple and Google, to distribute the web-only service, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

TiVo Inc, which makes digital video recorders, is in discussions with HBO about distributing the service, chief executive Tom Rogers told Bloomberg.

Time Warner Inc, which owns the HBO pay-tv ser-

Tech BYTE

U

vice, announced the video streaming service in October in order to hold on to or attract subscribers who are ditching pricey cable television subscriptions.

The service's retail price is expected to be $15 a month and will launch next month, timed to

the season premiere of HBO's blockbuster series "Game of Thrones," the International Business Times reported, citing sources familiar with the matter.

HBO Now will give consumers direct access to HBO with only a broadband connection.

The Weasel and the Woodpecker

nless you aren’t online, by now you must have seen the amazing shot by amateur photographer Martin LeMay, who recently captured an incredible image of a weasel riding on the back of a green woodpecker.

Taken on Monday in a park close to London, LeMay’s shot quickly went viral after it was posted online, picking up millions of views on news and social media sites around the world. The photo was, of course, not without its critics and sceptics.

He spoke with the BBC about how he was able to snap the photo, saying that while walking with his wife he heard some “distressed squawking”.

He reached for his camera – a Canon 70D DSLR – and snapped a few shots

Tech news

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A

volved: “They crash landed a little in front of us,” he told BBC. “We probably startled the weasel, and the woodpecker flew off into the bushes, and off up into a tree.” His photo is now generally accepted as authentic as well.

SIM when it is bought directly from an Apple Store.

If Apple does integrate its SIM into its new iPhones, it will still have to go through tough resistance from the telecom companies.

The iPhones are expected to be announced in September.

Rock Band 4 is coming

armonix is officially getting the band back together. The maker of music games like Fantasia and Dance Central is reprising its once-massive Rock Band franchise after a five-year hiatus.

It will release Rock Band 4 on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One this fall.

Rock Band 4 will work with whatever songs you have already purchased through your Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 versions of

Tech news

as the bird took off from the ground. “…there was this sudden realization that there was something on its back, which was really exciting,” he said.

The story does have a happy ending for all in-

carriers have told the Cupertino-based company not to go through with such plans of introducing its own SIMS. Companies that did sign up to go along with using an Apple SIM in the iPad Air 2 have placed certain restrictions as to how much freedom a user has with that

the game. Harmonix is moving them all to the new-generation version of the game, with more than 2,000 songs in the catalogue.

Wired notes that the company says Rock Band 4 is the only version it will release on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. It will update the game with new features and add new songs, but it won’t release Rock Band 5 (or Rock Band: One Direction, etc.) on this generation of consoles.

‘Freak Attack’ makes Apple, Android Users vulnerable to hackers

pple and Google say they are working on a fix to a security flaw known as "Freak Attack", in the Android and iOS operating systems.

The flaw affects the browser, leaving users of Apple or Google devices vulnerable to hackers while surfing the web.

Google says it has already offered a fix to device makers, while Apple says its fix will be ready within a week.

A number of commercial website operators are also taking corrective action after being notified in recent weeks.

So far, there is no evidence hackers have exploited the weakness.

Researchers blame the problem on an old government policy, abandoned

over a decade ago, which required U.S. software makers to use weaker security in encryption programs sold overseas due to national security concerns.

18 Times Sunday Magazine

guyanatimesgy.com

March 8, 2015

Times Home & Cooking

Recipe of the Week

Malasadas (Portuguese Doughnuts) Designers have known for ages that mirrors can be incorporated into any room design. Here are a few ideas to consider if you want to integrate a mirror into a room in your home.

Ingredients: 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons water, divided 1/3 cup plus 3/4 teaspoon sugar, divided 1 1/4 teaspoon instant yeast

3 eggs 2 tablespoons butter, melted 4 cups sifted pastry flour 1/4 teaspoon salt Vegetable oil for frying Sugar for dusting

Method: In a small bowl, combine 2 tablespoons of the water, 3/4 teaspoon of the sugar, and the yeast. Let stand for 10 minutes. The mixture should be foamy. If not, discard and repeat with new yeast.

In a small bowl, combine the remaining water with the eggs and melted butter; set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine the remaining sugar with the flour and salt. Add the yeast mixture and mix on low speed. Add the egg mixture and continue mixing on low speed until incorporated. Increase the speed to medium and mix until the dough is smooth and shiny, about 5 minutes.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature for 1 hour. Refrigerate overnight.

Heat 3 inches of oil to 350°F in a tall, heavy-bottom pot. Working in batches, carefully drop 2-tablespoon-sized balls of dough into the oil and fry until golden brown and cooked through, about 4 minutes. (Be sure the temperature of the oil returns to 350°F before frying a new batch.)

Transfer the fried malasadas to a plate lined with paper towels. Toss with granulated sugar before serving. Makes 24

Mirrors can complement the architecture or furniture style in a room, like these mirrors and the sideboard

Mirrors can make objects seem like they are floating, bringing drama to a room

GREATEST KITCHEN TIPS

W

hen making potato salad, add the dressing to warm potatoes for the best flavour. Once cooled, the potatoes will not absorb the dressing as well.

Let raw potatoes stand in cold water for at least half an hour before frying to improve the crispness of french-fried potatoes.

For a different flavour and less fat, use chicken stock instead of butter or milk when whipping up mashed potatoes.

If your cake recipe calls for nuts, heat them first in the oven then dust with flour before adding to the batter to keep them from settling to the bottom of the pan.

D Floor to ceiling mirrors not only make a small space seem larger but also add visual interest to a room

HOME HELP

ip a new broom in hot salt water before using. This will toughen the bristles and make it last longer.

Fresh ginger will last longer by storing it in a pot of sand.

At your next party, chill your canned and bottled beverages by putting in top load washer and covering with ice. After you have removed all the drinks just spin out the water.

To remove a postage stamp without damaging it, place a couple drops of water on the stamp and microwave for about 20 seconds. The stamp will come off easily.

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MARCH 8, 2015

Times Sunday Magazine19

Family Times

PARENTING

So What Kind of Parent Are You?

R

esearchers have found that there four types of parenting styles that usually depend on what the parent feels the child needs from themthough parents don’t just fit into just one category, while parenting strategies may vary for age and from child to child.

Authoritarian Parenting

Authoritarian parenting occurs when parents establish the rules without explanation and expect that children follow all of the rules all the time without ex-

ception.

Children of authoritarian parents may develop self-esteem problems or become hostile or aggressive.

grow up to be responsible adults who feel comfortable expressing their opinions.

Permissive Parenting

Permissive parents may take on more of a friend role than a parent role and not offer much discipline. They tend to be lenient and have an attitude of "kids will be kids."

Children who grow up with permissive parents tend to struggle academically. They may exhibit more behavioural problems since they will likely not appre-

Authoritative Parenting

Authoritative parents also have rules that children are expected to follow, however, they allow some exceptions to the rule. They often explain their reasons for the rules to children.

Children raised with authoritative discipline often

ciate authority and rules.

Uninvolved Parenting

Uninvolved parents tend to be neglectful. There tends to be few, if any, rules or expectations. Children may not receive any nurturing or guidance and they lack the much need parental attention.

When parents are uninvolved, children tend to lack self-esteem and they perform poorly academically. They also exhibit frequent behaviour problems.

Reflections To A Friend Within this little book of thine, Are thoughts of many a friendly mind, Express'd in words, on which you'll gaze In after years, with feelings kind.

And while you're scanning o'er each page, These lines I write, perchance you'll see, And tho' they're penn'd by careless hand, You'll know that they are penn'd by me.

By Grammar G

Colourful language you can use I

n some old languages, there are no words for the colour blue, one word for grey and grey hues, or no word to distinguish between blue and green, but two words for black.

Perhaps you'll think of school-days In ancient Greece, famous then, writers would describe the sky as Of happy school-days, long since past, bronze; or blood, tears and honey When you and I, in careless youth, as green.

Thought that those days would English, it seems, has many always last. words for lots of colours – some so unusual they may hardly ever be Thomas Frederick Young used or heard. Let’s take a look at a few of these: 1. The pot is aeneous.

(Pronounced: AW-EN-EEUS/ AY-EEN E E - U S ) That means its bronze coloured.

2. Ailsa has long, atrous (AH-TRESS) hair. Jet-black.

3. The sky is bloncket today. itch Doctor to sick tribesman: “Drink this potion The sky is grey/ of ground bat wing, lizard tail, alligator scale and light grey-blue. hawk feathers.”

4. An infus-

JOKES

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Sick tribesman: “I drank that yesterday and it didn’t work!”

Witch Doctor: “Okay, take two aspirins and call me in the morning.”

H

ow to Get Out of Dressing Up 1. Stuff a pillow under your clothes and say they don’t fit anymore.

2. Remind your parents that Al Capone and The “Teflon” Don always dressed up and look how they turned out.

3. Feed your dress up clothes to starving moths.

P

ep Talks MANAGER to his fighter: “Don’t be afraid of him.

Remember, if he were any good, he wouldn’t be fighting you.”

BOXER in his corner during the match: “Did I do him any damage?”

Trainer: “No. But keep on swinging. The draft might give him a cold.”

MANAGER to boxer: “When I told you to show him what you’re made of, I didn’t mean to let him knock the stuffing out of you.”

A

t a championship high diving contest, a spectacular dive was performed to wild applause. Then came the announcer’s voice over the loudspeaker: “Ladies and gentlemen! I have some good news and some bad news.

The good news is that the judges awarded the magnificent dive you just witnessed a perfect score. The bad news is – there was no water in that pool.”

cate coloured beetle. Muddy brown 5. That dress is pavonated. It is peacock blue.

6. The book is so old its pages look luteolus. That means yellowish.

7. A bombycinous shade would

look lovely on the wall. You would get a pale yellow wall.

Would you like to know some more colourful words? There’s aurulent – gold-coloured; castory – brown/ dull brown; gamboge – yellow (strong yellow or reddish-

yellow); stramineous – straw-coloured, and watchet – light/pale blue.

Just a few of the many colourful wordsin the English language that you shouldn’t get into trouble using.

Battle of the Monkey and the Crab Continued from March 1

W

hat happened after the monkeys defeated the crabs and the crabs called their council of war?

Then came a rice-mortar, a pounder, a bee, and an egg, and together they devised a deep-laid plot to be avenged.

First, they requested that peace be made with the crabs: and thus they induced the king of the monkeys to enter their hole unattended, and seated him on the hearth.

The monkey, not suspecting any plot, took up the hibachi, or poker, to stir up the slumbering fire, when bang! went the egg, which was lying hidden in the ashes, and burned the monkey’s arm.

Surprised and alarmed, he plunged his arm into the pickle-tub in the kitchen to relieve the pain of the burn.

Then the bee, which was hidden near the tub, stung him sharply in his face already wet with tears. Without waiting to brush off the bee, and howling bitterly, he rushed for the back door.

But just then some seaweed entangled his legs and made him slip. Then down came the pounder tumbling on him from a shelf, and the mortar too came rolling down on him from the roof of the porch, and broke his back and so weakened him that he was unable to rise up.

Then out came the crabs in a crowd, and, brandishing on high their pinchers, they pinched the monkey to pieces.

Then came a rice-mortar, a pounder, a bee, and an egg, and together they devised a deep-laid plot to be avenged.

THE END

20 Times Sunday Magazine

MARCH 8, 2015

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Times Sunday Puzzle

Fill in the sentence below so that the first two words combine to make the third word. For example: "The ____ was closing in, making his ____ harder but through his ____ of contacts he was able to evade the police." You would fill in NET, WORK, and NETWORK. The ____ count in the imported food was particularly worrying as there weren't ____ holes in the packaging, which had been shipped from ____. see solution on page 23

see solution on page 23

see solution on page 23

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MARCH 8, 2015

Times Sunday Magazine 21

Times Kids

Creature Corner

T

P.pipa

he pipa toad,of the genus Pipa, comprises several toad species that all live in northeastern South America. They can also be found in Trinidad and parts of Central America.

The pipa toad more familiarly known is the Surinam toad (P. pipa).The other species are named P. arrabali: Arrabal’s Surinam toad; P. parva: Sabana Surinam toad;P. snethlageae: Utinga Surinam toad and P.carvalhoi: Carvalho’s Surinam toad.

They have a flat, leaf-shaped body, which, along with its colouring, helps to camouflage them underwater where they spend most of their life, though they do breathe air.

The pipa toad’s tube-like nostrils enable it to breathe at the surface without exposing its body to predators, while its antennae-like fingers enable it to navigate as well as detect prey such as crustaceans, molluscs and insects in murky water.

The female pipa rears her tadpoles on pits in her back until they can fend for themselves.

REBUS REASONING

See if you can solve the following to find the word, or phrase, they represent:

The objective of the game is to fill all the blank squares in a game with the correct numbers. Every row of 9 numbers must include all digits 1 through 9 in any order. Every column of 9 numbers must include all digits 1 through 9 in any order. Every 3 by 3 subsection of the 9 by 9 square must include all digits 1 through 9.

please see solution on page 23

see answers on page 23

Connect the dots and colour

Answers 3 and 8

22 Times Sunday Magazine World of Wonder

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MARCH 8, 2015

FIRST LADIES OF THE WHITE HOUSE EXPLORING THE REALMS OF HISTORY, SCIENCE, NATURE AND TECHNOLOGY

By Laurie Triefeldt

PART ONE OF FOUR — COLLECT ALL FOUR AND MAKE A GIANT POSTER

By any other name Generally, the first ladies of the United States are the wives of U.S. presidents. Women who are not wives, but who organize social functions for presidents, are referred to as White House hostesses. Hostesses are called upon to help a president whose wife has died or is too ill to serve as an official hostess.

The job Traditionally, the work of most first ladies has focused on arranging social activities, such as presidential receptions and dinners. However, some first ladies have been much more involved in political and social issues. Today, the American people are not surprised when a first lady chooses to work on important issues and social causes, but in the past, women who voiced strong opinions were much less common.

Did you know?

Three presidents married while in office. John Tyler, a widower, wed Julia Gardiner in New York City in 1844. Grover Cleveland, a bachelor, became the only president to be married in a White House ceremony when he wed Frances Folsom in 1886. After his wife Ellen died, Woodrow Wilson married Edith Bolling Galt in 1915.

According to the “First Ladies by the White House” and the “National First Ladies’ Library,” the wives of four presidents died before their husbands were sworn into office, but are still considered first ladies: Martha Jefferson, wife of Thomas Jefferson; Rachel Jackson, wife of Andrew Jackson; Hannah Van Buren, wife of Martin Van Buren; and Ellen Lewis Herndon Arthur, wife of Chester A. Arthur.

Power and personality Since the American Revolution, there have been 46 U.S. first ladies. Traditionally, the wife of the president takes on this role, but daughters, daughters-in-law, nieces and friends have stepped in when the president was a widower or a bachelor. Being first lady is an unpaid position with no official duties, but many first ladies have had a staff. Each first lady has made her mark on the presidential home and the politics of her time.

Martha Washington

Martha Dandridge Custis Washington 1731-1802 Wife of George Washington, first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Although the phrase “first lady” was not yet used to describe the president’s wife and the White House did not yet exist, as the nation’s first first lady, Martha established many of the customs and traditions associated with being the wife of a U.S. president.

During Washington’s presidency, the capital of the United States was initially in New York and later in Philadelphia; the couple worked and lived in both of these cities. When they retired from public life, they returned to their home, Mount Vernon in Virginia.

Abigail Adams 1744-1818 Wife of John Adams, the first vice president and second president of the United States (from 1797 to 1801), and the mother of John Quincy Adams, the sixth president.

Abigail was intelligent and politically astute and had a sharp tongue — she was teasingly called “Mrs. President.”

She was the first first lady to live in Washington, D.C. Abigail supported women’s property rights and believed in education for women.

Martha Wayles Skelton Jefferson 1748-1782 Wife of Thomas Jefferson, third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. Although she died 18 years before Jefferson became president, she is still considered to be an official first lady. Their daughter, Martha Jefferson Randolph, often served as White House hostess and was the first to Martha give birth in the presidential mansion in Jefferson Washington, D.C. Randolph

Abigail Adams

Just scandalous Rachel Jackson, Andrew Jackson’s wife was a bigamist. She married Jackson before she was officially divorced from her first husband. She died after Jackson was elected president but before his inauguration. Rachel’s niece Emily Donelson served as White House hostess during most of Jackson’s administration.

SOURCES: World Book Encyclopedia, World Book Inc.; www.whitehouse.gov; National Museum of American History; www.history,com; www.firstladies. org/biographies; http://ourwhitehouse.org; www.whitehousehistory.org

Dolley Payne Todd Madison 1768-1849

Elizabeth Kortright Monroe 1768-1830

Wife of James Madison, fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. As first lady, she helped furnish and decorate the recently completed White House. When the British set fire to the White House in 1814, Dolley saved many historic documents, including an important portrait of George Washington.

Wife of James Monroe, fifth president of the United States from 1817 to 1825. Although popular in France, Mrs. Monroe was thought to be very aloof by many of her American peers.

This was due to her preference for very formal White House functions and her decision not to make regular social calls.

Angelica Singleton Van Buren 1818-1877

Sarah Childress Polk 1803-1891

Daughter-in-law of Martin Van Wife of James K. Polk, the Buren, eighth president of the 11th president of the United States United States from 1837 to 1841. from 1845 to 1849. Behind the This young woman took on the scenes, this first lady was an mantle of first lady for the widowed accomplished politician and president. She also helped speechwriter. refurbish and decorate the White House.

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MARCH 8, 2015

Times Sunday Magazine 23

World Times

U

S student Camren Brantley-Rios recently spent 30 days on a "bug diet", saying that traditional meats such as pork and beef are unsustainable and he wanted to try out what many consider the diet of the future.

"For dinner I had mealworm fried rice. It was pretty good. I seasoned the mealworms with soy sauce and threw them in," he tells ‘Weekend’ on the BBC World Service.

Many people would find the idea of eating grubs and insects distasteful, if not repulsive. However, a 2013 report from the Food and Agricultural Organisation advocate seating insects, while May 2014 saw the world's first international conference on insect eating, organised in response to the

Insects consume fewer resources than mammals to produce the same amount of protein

report.

It brought out a plethora of insect recipes and many brave foodies in the media that has since been silent until Brantley-Rios. For the last month, he has been eating insects for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

"I'm mainly sticking to three species," he says.

Scrambled eggs with wax-

worms, bug-burgers with cheese, creole crickets these are just everyday meals.

There has long been a stigma attached to humans eating insects – called entomophagy – in the west that has influenced many nonwestern countries as well.

Adena Why, an entomologist from University

Mealworm dish in a Chinese restaurant

of California, Riverside, is trying to encourage more Brantley-Rios’ and discourage faddism and the notion in America and Europe of a "bizarre food movement".

Arnold van Huis, the conference organiser, an au-

thor on the FAO report, and a tropical entomologist from Wageningen University in the Netherlands, feels people now equate entomophagy with poverty, instead of a rich, timeless, dietary tradition.

He’s not wrong. "There's not really a need to eat bugs in America because we have it so nice,”Brantley-Rios, who had to turn to the internet to find his ingredients, suggests to ‘Weekend’.

Nevertheless, van Huis says he's seeing increased investment in insect farming start-ups, especially in Africa.

Meanwhile, BrantleyRios knows that one person eating insects won't make much difference. To have a real environmental impact, millions would have to follow his example.

For now, he has managed to gain some converts among his friends.

"A lot of my friends who I didn't expect to eat bugs are asking to do it too," he says.(Source: BBC News Magazine; The Guardian)

Overfishing leads Thailand boats to seek slave labour

D

ecades of overfishing and the international demand for cheap seafood mean Thai boats are increasingly turning to slave labour, a rights group said Wednesday.

As workers flee appalling conditions aboard the boats, and catches decline and costs rise, vessel operators have resorted to using trafficked, bonded and forced la-

bour to fill the shortfall and staff their fishing boats, the London-based Environment Justice Foundation (EJF) said.

To remain profitable, boats are forced to stay at sea for longer and go further afield than ever before.

Some unregistered “pirate” boats are fishing the waters of other countries, also fuelling demand for modern-day

Rebus Answers 1. Head “is over” Heels: Head over heels 2. Frank “is in” Stein: Frankenstein 3. Come “is backwards or backing” kid: Comeback kid

Brain Teaser Answer GERM, ANY, GERMANY

SUDOKU

KID SUDOKU

slaves, the EJF said in a report.

Thai waters are one of

the world’s most over-fished regions, and Thai boats now catch just 14 percent

of what they caught in the mid-1960s, according to the EFJ.

“Producers and consumers of Thai seafood are embroiled in one of the most outrageous social and ecological crimes of the 21st century,” EJF executive director Steve Trent said in a statement.“Ecosystem decline and slavery exist in a vicious cycle,” he noted.

In response to an EJF report about trafficking in the fishing industry published earlier this month, the Thai Foreign Affairs Ministry said the government was “acutely aware” of the vulnerability of migrant workers and others. It said it had stepped up efforts to “proactively identify and protect victims of trafficking”.

Thailand is the third largest seafood exporter in the world, with exports valued at $7 billion in 2013, EJF said.(Source: euronews)

The Philonoist

Q: Is it true that we use only 10 per cent of our brain?

T

CROSSWORD

he claim that we only use 10 per cent of the brain has its origins among early 20th century psychologists,bolstered later by misquotes of Einstein that humans use only a small portion of their brain.

This theory went mainstream on television, in movies, magazines, books and advertisements- with psychics adding that 90 per cent of the brain holds remarkable, unexplored potential for super mental abilities and feats.

Scientists now know that this theory is untrue, and they are notsure how the 10 per cent figure came about in the first place.

They don’t know what areas of the brain are supposedly not being used either.

This is because scientists know today that damage to just a small area of

20th century hard disk advertisement citing the theory (Photo: faculty.washington.edu)

our brain can bring terrible effects, contrary to the theory that supposes if 90 per cent of the brain were removed, an individual could still function normally.

Brain scans reveal activity throughout the entire brain (even in sleep),many for some complex activities or thought processes, and not in isolated portions as the 10

percent theory suggests.

There is no scientific evidence whatsoever to date, to support the 10 per cent theory.We use 100 per cent of our brain, scientists say.

24

Times Sunday Magazine

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MARCH 8, 2015

Fun Times

Archie

Have faith in your attributes. Don't hold your(March 21April 19) self back. If there is something you want, go after it.

Indecision or hesitation will result in a missed opportunity.

ARIES

Get promises in writing.

TAURUS Collaboration or joint ven(April 20tures will be a source of worry May 20) if you are too trusting. Make sure your needs are covered before you sign an agreement.

You should make personGEMINI al changes or home improve(May 21ments that you have been June 20) considering. A fresh or updated look will improve your selfconfidence and put you in a better state of mind.

CANCER (June 21July 22)

Don't be too demanding.

If you want to feel secure, be sensitive to the feelings of others. Offer to take on more responsibility or make an effort to be more easygoing.

LEO Get out and promote your (July 23- ideas. Your talent will be wastAug. 22) ed if you don't share what you can do. Don't overlook resources that could boost your qualifications.

Dilbert

Investment opportunities VIRGO look favorable. Check out prof(Aug. 23- it-sharing or high-interest fiSept. 22) nancial opportunities. Your fiscal future depends on making a smart, conservative, long-term decision. Do what's right and best for you.

LIBRA There will be ulterior mo(Sept. 23- tives behind a new acquainOct. 23) tance. Before you divulge too many secrets, you need to be sure that your words won't be repeated or used against you.

Peanuts

Don't forget to mention SCORPIO any minor irritations when (Oct. 24Nov. 22) booking medical appointments or addressing health issues. Fresh air and exercise will help if you are feeling bored or lethargic.

Avoid making a rash SAGITTARIUS promise or hasty decision.

(Nov. 23- You need to think matters Dec. 21) through before making a long-term commitment. Don't give in to peer pressure. Make choices based on facts.

You will regret allowing any-

CAPRICORN thing or anyone to deter you from (Dec. 22- reaching your goals. Favorable Jan. 19) changes are imminent, but conces-

Calvin and Hobbes

sions will be necessary. Tackling new challenges will make you a worthy candidate.

Your intuition can help AQUARIUS you achieve any goal you (Jan. 20Feb. 19) set. Paying off debt, winning something or being offered a cash gift is in the stars.

Celebrate with someone special.

Don't dwell on past issues.

PISCES (Feb. 20- The more time you spend March 20) worrying, the less time you'll have to take advantage of new opportunities. Eliminate matters that are no longer relevant.