RO BE
KATHLEEN
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May 24, 2012
photos by
Joey Shaw
SIMPLICITY H magazine - H7 Media Group - Year V - Issue 57 - ISSN 1828-6437
Publication Director Mark Jennings
May 10, 2012 - Year V - Issue n.57
Editor in Chief Linda Orsini Art Director Davide Leali Executive Editor Monica Censi Fashion Director Arianna Cerri Managing Editor Michele Soldano Senior Features Editor Jennifer Leviance Graphics Angelo Cristaldi Maria Pozzi Executive Contributors New York Maureen Logbrad Paris Ophelie Henry London Antoine Muller Los Angeles Joshua Osvaldt Advertising Matteo Bergamini
Amazing Simplicity
W our last issue.
e did it, one more time. We reached over 150,000 readers on our website with
Today we are going to publish
one of the best issues ever. Because the style has changed, the graphic is growing better and better and most important we have an amazing feature with a wonderful Kathleen Robertson. She’s not only stunning. She’s one of the most simple and real women that you can meet in Hollywood. An incredible woman, wearing like a Diva and feeling like a normal Mom. Also, in this issue a lot of news. Together with our contributors we wanted to start develop the new project that we’ve been dreaming about in the last 5 years. Thank you every1.
“I believe that everything happens for a reason. People change so that you can learn to let go, things go wrong so that you appreciate them when they’re right, you believe lies so you eventually learn to trust no one but yourself, and sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together.”
ISSN 1828-6437
Public Relations Elisa Marchionni Published by H7 Group and H7 Magazine www.h7magazine.com Rome Via A. Salandra 18 Roma 00187 Italia info@thehmag.com London Portland House Bressenden Place London SW1E 5RS United Kingdom Warning: all images and texts are copyright protected. Every reproduction is not permitted without our permission.
Marilyn Monroe Kathleen Robertson photographed by Joey Shaw
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14 - PORTRAIT Kathleen Robertson
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26 - ALSO Royal Diamond 30 - MUSIC Reviews 34 - PULSE Space X 38 - COOL STUFF For a Better Life 42 - REPORTAGE e-Scooters
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48 - LANDING Locked Room Mysteries 52 - DESKTOP Tidal Power 54 - MORE A Glimpse of Life After Nato
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62 - FITNESS Build A Better Muscle 66 - REAL LIFE I’m One Drink From Death 70 - DRINKS & FOODS How to Make an Omelette
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72 - TIPS Europe Travel 78 - GAMES Max Payne 3 80 - BOOKS The Skinny Rules
ONTENT
10 - NEWS Every Week is a New World
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NEWS The eurozone crisis is the single biggest threat to the global economy, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
The economy of the 17 nations that use the euro will shrink 0.1% this year, before rebounding to 0.9% growth next year, the OECD predicts. By contrast, the US economy will expand by 2.4% this year and 2.6% in 2013. The OECD also seemed to back calls by some Europeans to combine spending cuts with measures to boost growth. “The crisis in the eurozone remains the single biggest downside risk facing the global outlook,” said OECD chief economist Pier Carlo Padoan. In November last year, the organisation warned of a “deep recession with large negative effects for the global economy” if the eurozone did not tackle the crisis. On Tuesday, it said: “The immediate dangers of such developments have receded somewhat since last autumn, although... the dangers have not disappeared. “Failure to act today could lead to a worsening of the European crisis and spillovers beyond the euro area, with serious consequences for the global economy.” The OECD predicted that the UK would grow by just 0.5% this year and by 1.9% in 2013. This comes after figures showed that the UK had returned to recession in the past two quarters. ‘Growth-friendly’ Ahead of an informal summit of European Union leaders in Brussels on Wednesday, the OECD seemed to back calls from the new French president to enact measures such as “increasing European Investment Bank funding for infrastructure projects”. Reform fatigue is increasing and tolerance for fiscal adjustment may be reaching a limit” It also said that “better use” could be made of the European Central Bank’s balance sheets and called for “a further easing in the euro area”. “Fiscal consolidation and structural measures must proceed hand in hand, to make the adjustment process as growth-friendly as possible,” the OECD said. The organisation expects the unemployment rate to stay high in the euro area 10.8% this year and above 11% next year. The jobless rate is currently 10.9%, the highest since the euro was formed in 1999. Mr Padoan also noted the backlash against austerity measures across Europe, which has seen street protests and led to the election of Francois Hollande. In elections earlier this month, the majority of Greeks voted against those parties backing the drastic austerity measures that had been agreed with the EU. “Elections in a number of euro-area countries have signalled that reform fatigue is increasing and tolerance for fiscal adjustment may be reaching a limit,” he said. “Rising unemployment and social pain may spark political contagion and adverse market reaction”, with countries outside the euro also at risk of being hit, he added. The OECD is an organisation that consists of 34 countries, including the US and Western European nations.
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One of the two South African farm workers accused of murdering white supremacist leader Eugene Terreblanche in 2010 has been found guilty. The court convicted Chris Mahlangu, but acquitted a second accused, Patrick Ndlovu, who was just 15 at the time. There is tight security outside the court in the north-western town of Ventersdorp. The 2010 killing highlighted South Africa’s fragile race relations, 16 years after white minority rule ended. When news emerged of Eugene Terreblanche’s violent death in April 2010, South Africa braced itself for racial tensions. But as the trial of the two farm workers progressed, it became clear that this was nothing more than a grisly criminal case.” However, the BBC’s Karen Allen, who is in Ventersdorp, says fears that the killing could trigger political violence, dividing the country along racial lines, have not been realised. She says the case has brought to the fore allegations of wage exploitation and a sexual motive, along with claims of a botched police investigation. Scores of members of Terreblanche’s Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging (Afrikaner Resistance Movement - AWB) wearing military fatigues have set up camp outside court, with their trademark red, white and black, swastika-style flags planted defiantly in the ground, our correspondent says. Not far away, supporters of the two black farm workers are singing songs from the struggle against white minority rule and the police have set up cordons to keep the two sides apart. But there have been a few scuffles between the two groups. Judge John Horn said there was no evidence that Ndlovu had played an active role in the killing, but he was convicted of housebreaking with intent to steal. During the trial, a lawyer for Ndlovu, who has been named for the first time as he was a minor at the time, said he had been subject to “appalling conditions... not fit for human habitation [and] child exploitation” on the farm. The lawyer said his client had not killed Terreblanche, but had found his body and called the police. Who was Eugene Terreblanche? 1941: Born on a farm in the north-western town of Ventersdorp 1973: Co-founded AWB to protect rights of Afrikaner community 1993: AWB vehicle smashes into World Trade Centre in Johannesburg during talks to end apartheid 1994: AWB invades tribal homeland of Bophuthatswana and is defeated; three AWB men die 1998: Accepts moral blame for 1994 bombings that killed 21 2001: Jailed for attempted murder of farm worker 2004: Released from prison 2008: The AWB - whose flag resembles the Nazi Swastika - is revived. 2010: Murdered on 3 April on his farm in Ventersdorp
The lawyer said his client had not killed Terreblanche, but had found his body and called the police.
Written by Davide Arinori
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Kodak’s efforts to enforce a digital image patent have been dealt a blow by the US International Trade Commission. A preliminary ruling by the body recommended that a claim against Apple and Blackberry-maker RIM should be ruled invalid because of the innovation’s “obviousness”. The patent, submitted in 1997, relates to a way of creating image previews. Kodak filed for bankruptcy protection in January and is seeking to sell many of its patents to secure its future. The firm said it planned to appeal, but its share price fell by more than 25% after the announcement. A full panel of the ITC’s judges is now expected to issue a final ruling on the matter on 21 September. Patent auction Kodak decided to stop making digital cameras in February after warning that it was running short of cash. However, it still makes money from its portfolio of 1,155 digital imaging patents which have been licensed to more than 30 companies. It had previously used the patent to “produce preview images of acceptable quality” while in live view mode to secure a licensing deal with Samsung. It had also taken legal action over the technology against Fujifilm, HTC and others. While the latest ITC ruling noted that Apple’s iPhone 3G model and several Blackberry devices had infringed the patent, the judge indicated this was not grounds for the devices to be banned from sale in the US, on the grounds that the innovation did not deserve its patent status. The judgement calls into question whether the firm’s other digital imaging patents could suffer a similar fate - threatening the value it might raise by auctioning them off. However, one expert told the BBC it would be rash to say interest in the sale would now dwindle. “You have to look at each patent on a case-by-case basis, and the fact that one case has been ruled to be too ‘obvious’ to enforce should not be generalised to mean all of Kodak’s other patents are invalid,” said Ilya Kazi from the UK’s Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys. “Such rulings are quite normal because when litigation occurs the defendants are incentivised to dig deeper than the US Patent Office did when it originally granted the patent. “But that doesn’t mean you should throw out the baby with the bathwater and assume the same applies to the the company’s other technologies.” 12 | H mag
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“nothing is a mistake. i feel we are truly defined by what we do when things aren’t going well. what you choose to do with that time, and how you move forward. That’s what defines you.”
Kathleen Robertson photographed by
Joey Shaw Los Angeles, California Make up and Hair Style Opus Beauty Kathleen Robertson is wearing Diesel Alberto Guardiani Patrizia Pepe 14 | H mag
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Today, what kind of woman is Kathleen Robertson?
I try to live a balanced, simple life. I am thankful for all that i have.
For everyone, life is full of good and bad moments; what do you consider your greatest success ever?
My “real” life is what I’m most proud of. I have an incredible family and friends. I was raised by two amazing parents who are still married and very much in love. That is true success.
Written by Martina Timoni
And the biggest mistake you’ve done?
Nothing is a mistake. I feel we are truly defined by what we do when things aren’t going well. What you choose to do with that time, and how you move forward. That’s what defines you.
What is the real meaning of the word “beauty” for you? Simplicity. Lack of artifice. Truth. Love. Joy.
What do you consider attractive in a man? A pure heart.
How do you organize your time between the family and your job?
It’s not easy and anyone who says it is lying! It’s a balance each and every day. I think it’s important to be fully present when you are with family. No iPhones. No computers. We make a point of just being together and talking. Being in nature… being truly alive with one another.
How do you prepare for a role?
It depends on the role. Everything from interviewing real people who have lived that life, or been exposed to the world to buying and reading every book you can get your hands on about the subject matter. Sometimes its more external, sometimes more internal. Some characters resonate more and you just “get” them immediately. Some take more detective work.
“Some characters resonate more and you just “get” them immediately. Some take more detective work.”
The last book you’ve read?
I’m in the middle of ashley judd’s memoir right now called “all that is bitter and sweet”. It’s fantastic.
How do you like to wear in your free time?
Flip flops on my feet and a t-shirt and jean shorts, no makeup, hair off my face and 16 | H mag
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My “real” life is what I’m most proud of. I have an incredible family and friends. I was raised by two amazing parents who are still married and very much in love. That is true success. 18 | H mag
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PORTRAIT my glasses.
What kind of music do you listen when you need to relax? Cocteau twins. or Sigur ros.
When did you start acting?
Young! Started doing theatre when i was in my early teens.
What do you miss the most of your childhood?
Wow. I guess just the little fleeting moments, being young and full of such wonder. Knowing that everything was mine to be discovered.
I know you are an iper-active successful woman. What do you consider the worst, dark and unknown side of your job? The hardest part of what I do is the unknown. But that’s also the best part as well.
Are you religious? If yes, what kind of religion you follow?
I am very spiritual. I don’t follow a specific organized religion, although I was raised anglican.
For you, what can really turns a low budget movie into a box office success? The writing.
The best script ever?
The pilot episode script for my series BOSS written by farhad safinia and directed by gus van sant was the best television pilot I had ever read. Hands down.
What’s the most exciting side of your job?
Travelling to new cities, countries, working with such incredibly talented, varied people is a constant source of inspiration for me.
What is “success” for you?
“Living the life you are meant to live. Choosing the life you want and the person you want to be every day. And most i m p o r t a n t l y, giving of your love to others.”
Living the life you are meant to live. Choosing the life you want and the person you want to be every day. And most importantly, giving of your love to others.
Any regrets? Nope. 20 | H mag
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Travelling to new cities, countries, working with such incredibly talented, varied people is a constant source of inspiration for me. 22 | H mag
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ALSO ‘Royal’ diamond Beau Sancy sells for $9.7m The 35 carat Beau Sancy diamond is at least 400 years old One of the world’s oldest and most famous diamonds, the Beau Sancy, has sold for $9.7m (£6m) at auction in Geneva - twice its reserve. The 35-carat gem was worn by Marie de Medici at her coronation as queen of France in 1610. It has since passed among the royal families of Europe, used to show off their wealth - and pay their debts. The pear-shaped, rose-cut stone attracted fierce bidding and was won by an anonymous buyer. “It’s extremely rare for a diamond of this importance to come on the market,” said David Bennett of auction house Sotheby’s. “It’s never been out of royal hands, it’s of immaculate provenance, it’s in all the history books of famous stones.” After being worn at Marie de Medici’s coronation, the diamond was pawned by Mary Stuart to finance the fight by her brother, the future Charles II, for the English throne, following the English Civil War. Later still it was the centrepiece in the crown of the first king of Prussia, and it was sold by the Royal House of Prussia, the descendants of those who once ruled Prussia. But, as its buyer was anonymous, no one knows whether it is royalty or commoner who owns the Beau Sancy now, reports the BBC’s Imogen Foulkes in Geneva.
Hawaiian surfer breaks wave-riding record at Nazare, Portugal Surfer Garrett McNamara breaks the world record for riding the biggest wave ever thought to have been ridden. A 44-year-old Hawaiian surfer has been recognised by Guinness World Records for riding the biggest wave ever thought to have been ridden. Last November Garrett McNamara caught a 78ft wave at Nazare, off the coast of Portugal, beating the previous 2008 record by more than a foot. McNamara began surfing at age 11 and became professional six years later. He has described his achievement as a stroke of luck and has used his feat to urge people to follow their passions. I knew it was big, but I didn’t know how big” The giant wave was located above an underwater canyon famous for being the world’s biggest wave generator. McNamara has said that on the day he broke the record, he at first had not wanted to take a ride but his friends urged him to catch a few waves. “Everything came together. Everything felt right,” he said. Hundreds of thousands have viewed the video and photographs of McNamara’s ride. 26 | H mag
They show his figure dwarfed by a giant wall of water. “I knew it was big, but I didn’t know how big,” he said. He later sent the footage and pictures to surfing expert Sean Collins, who guessed the wave was 85-90ft tall. Collins died in December. Last week, McNamara was awarded $15,000 (11,600 euros) for the ride at the Billabong XXL Global Big Wave Awards in California. Judges for the awards examined the footage and pictures from different angles. They also compared McNamara’s height in a crouch and the length of his shin bone with the wave’s top and bottom before reaching a verdict, event director Bill Sharp told the Associated Press. Commenting on the record, McNamara said: “The world would be a much better place if everyone was doing what they wanted to do.” However, the UK Guardian newspaper quoted him as saying: “I’m not sure I want to ride that peak again.”
Commenting on the record, McNamara said: “The world would be a much better place if everyone was doing what they wanted to do.”
Oldest living kidney donor pleased ‘to feel useful’ Nicholas Crace: “Within a week I was bicycling and mowing the lawn” An 83-year-old man has become the oldest person in the UK to donate a kidney while still being alive, the NHS Blood and Transplant service has said. Nicholas Crace, from Overton in Hampshire, is also the oldest “altruistic” kidney donor - he will never meet the recipient of his organ. He said: “It’s nice to feel in old age that one can still be useful.” His surgeon said a kidney from a live donor “performs better, works quicker and lasts longer”. Mr Crace, who enjoys visiting friends, gardening and volunteering, made the decision to donate last year in the months after his wife, Brigid, died. He said he was no longer able to donate blood after turning 70 and when he looked at donating bone marrow he found out he needed to be under 40. However, there was no age limit for kidneys, even “from somebody as ancient as me”, he said. He said he was struck by the plight of people waiting for a kidney. “Apart from going to hospital four times a week, they have a very restricted diet and can’t travel so they live a pretty miserable life and it’s so easy to make that life more agreeable simply by giving them a kidney.” There were more than a dozen visits to hospital, to check he was fit enough for the surgery and that his kidneys were up to scratch, before the transplant was allowed to go ahead. Mr Crace said: “I don’t think age makes much difference really. It’s whether you’re healthy or not that’s the important thing.” Mr Crace’s example shows that people of all ages can potentially save and dramatically improve the lives of complete strangers by donating a kidney” Sam Dutta, the surgeon who performed the operation at the Queen Alexandra HoH mag | 27
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“An altruistic donor coming forward is an amazing thing for us, the recipient just gets a new lease of life.”
spital, in Portsmouth, said: “A living donor kidney performs better, works quicker and lasts longer than one from a deceased donor. “All the detrimental factors related to being on dialysis are completely taken care of by a good functioning kidney. “An altruistic donor coming forward is an amazing thing for us, the recipient just gets a new lease of life.” It used to be the case that “living donations” could only take place between between family members or life-long friends. But the rules were changed to mean “altruistic donation” could take place if people were motivated by a desire to help others. NHS Blood and Transplant’s lead nurse for living donation, Lisa Burnapp, said: “Mr Crace’s example shows that people of all ages can potentially save and dramatically improve the lives of complete strangers by donating a kidney. “One in three of all organ transplants in the UK is now from a living donor and living kidney donation currently helps to transform around three patients’ lives every day.” Annabel Ferriman, who heads the charity Give a Kidney - One’s Enough, said: “Altruistic donors are very special people. “They have the imagination to understand the suffering that people go through on dialysis while waiting for a transplant and the courage and generosity to do something about it.”
Russian man jumps in chute to escape girlfriend It is not clear why the man went to such lengths to avoid his girlfriend A man in central Russia had to be rescued by emergency workers from a rubbish chute after he jumped into it to hide from his girlfriend. He plunged three floors from the eighth floor of an apartment building in Tyumen, Siberia, before getting stuck. Residents then heard the 31-year-old man’s cries for help. Rescue workers had to use tools to cut him free. He was not seriously hurt. He had had a row with his girlfriend, officials said, without elaborating. Soviet-era buildings in Russia frequently have a metal rubbish chute in the stairwell, with a latch opening on each floor.
Written by Jason Wirell
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Tyumen emergency service officials contacted by the BBC said the incident happened late on Wednesday, but the man is already back at work. “According to the 31-year-old victim, he jumped into the metal chute on the eighth floor to escape his girlfriend,” a statement on the service’s website said. The officials said there had been a similar incident in Tyumen a few years ago, again with a happy outcome.
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MORTEN harket
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he a-ha frontman’s fifth solo LP paints him as a maestro of melancholy. In October 2009, a-ha called time with a dignity lacking in most disbanding pop combos. There were no public rebukes or backstage fisticuffs, just an acknowledgement that it was “time to move on” and the promise of farewell tour. Fourteen months later, having played 73 shows from Rio to Oslo, they stayed true to their word. There’s a similar dignity to Morten Harket’s first solo album since the split. It’s a grownup synth-pop affair featuring songs that vary in pace all the way from a fairly slow mid-tempo to, ooh, a fairly fast mid-tempo. Actually, Out of My Hands doesn’t sound too different from the last few a-ha albums, but it’s also fresh enough to recall Echoes, Will Young’s stellar electro-pop LP from last year. Harket’s clearly operating within his comfort zone, which sometimes leads to blandness; even his impeccable vocal performances can’t save the glib platitudes of I’m the One or Lightning’s banal chorus. It could also explain the occasional lapse of judgement. When I Reach the Moon begins with jagged guitar riffs that clash with the prevailing musical sweetness. The anti-capitalist sentiments of Burn Money Burn are both cripplingly vague and a bit rich: fans can buy Morten Harket tote bags and “chunky mugs” from the singer’s official website. And Just Believe It features what sounds suspiciously like a dubstep breakdown. Harket, a preposterously well-preserved man of 52, gets away with this ‘down with the kids’ moment, but only just.
There’s a similar dignity to Morten Harket’s first solo album since the split. It’s a grown-up synthpop affair featuring songs that vary in pace all the way from a fairly slow mid-tempo to, ooh, a fairly fast mid-tempo. In typical Scandinavian fashion, the album’s best moments are its gloomiest. Keep the Sun Away is a noble mope of a pop song, almost like middle-aged emo, while Quiet drips with romantic longing and a sense of what might have been. Best of all is Listening, a stately ballad written by the Pet Shop Boys on which Harket addresses a reticent lover. “I know your tastes in food and wine, but not what’s really on your mind,” he sings dolefully. Of course, that’s pretty classic Tennant-Lowe songwriting. It’s also a perfect fit for Morten Harket, still a maestro of melancholy. 30 | H mag
There's much to adore from the bluesy folk duo on this second set. They may hail from leafy Sussex, but Jessica Jones and Katherine Blamire are more American than most Americans. Indeed, their career path as Smoke Fairies and their musical values could hardly be more representative of the 50 states. Heavily steeped in Americana, they lived in New Orleans for a culture-soaking sojourn, many years before the release of their debut album Through Low Light and Trees. And it was in Austin, Texas where they broke through with performances at the 2010 music conference South by Southwest. Arguably more fascinating still is that, beneath the unassuming facade, they are international-class networkers who released a single on Jack White’s Third Man label in 2009. It’s not been a fleeting relationship: White asked them to be the support for his solo shows of 2012. It’s clear what White sees in them: there’s a purity to their vocals from the moment Let Me Know opens this second album with some epic wailing in unison before it settles into a lolloping, echo-strewn lilt, not a million miles away from an underproduced Pierces. White might also have noted the doom-laden undertow to their lyrics; while if June Tabor were more worldly she might wrap herself around songs of betrayal and crushed hopes such as The Three of Us, the impossibly claustrophobic but unashamedly melodic Take Me Down When You Go (“something dies when you fall in love”), and the title-track. Most of all, like White himself, for all their artistic questing, Smoke Fairies’ music could have been made at almost any time over the past 50 years. Indeed, only the slightly incongruous buzzsaw guitar to The Three of Us and the late-period Fleetwood Mac tendencies of Version of the Future suggest World War II has been and gone. This quest for “authenticity” can undermine as much as it intrigues – Film Reel would have been the major beneficiary of some 21st century production oomph and Awake is tastefully restrained where it should be slightly unhinged. For all its charms, 2012 will certainly offer less one-paced albums than Blood Speaks. Sometimes you wish they’d let themselves go a little more, but there’s much here to adore.
Arguably more fascinating still is that, beneath the unassuming facade, they are international-class networkers who released a single on Jack White’s Third Man label in 2009. It’s not been a fleeting relationship: White asked them to be the support for his solo shows of 2012.
Written by Robert Fueller
In gentler, less reality-TV-show-saturated times, 21-year-old Salford chanteuse Ren Harvieu would have been a shoo-in for the highlight song spot on every light entertainment programme in the schedule, such is the instant familiarity of her gilded pipes and her, at times, astonishingly mature delivery of the Big Pop Chorus. No production line, Brit-school graduate, Harvieu is an instinctive, ingenuous singer whose naturally potent instrument instantly recalls Linda Ronstadt, Dusty Springfield and occasionally, on this soaring, sometimes melodramatically produced debut long player, the likes of lamé-and-sequin belters such as Cilla Black and Shirley Bassey. H mag | 31
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Launch success for SpaceX mission
“There’s so much hope riding on that rocket, so when it worked, and Dragon worked and the solar arrays deployed, [company employees] saw their handiwork in space and operating as it should - it was tremendously elation. It’s like winning the Superbowl.”
California’s SpaceX has launched on a mission to resupply the space station - the first cargo delivery to the orbiting outpost by a private company.
The mission has major significance because it marks a big change in the way the US wants to conduct its space operations.
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he firm’s Falcon rocket, topped by an unmanned Dragon freight capsule, lifted clear of its Florida pad at 03:44 EDT (07:44 GMT; 08:44 BST).
Nasa is attempting to offload routine human spaceflight operations in low-Earth orbit to commercial industry in a way similar to how some large organisations contract out their IT or payroll.
The initial climb to an altitude some 340km above the Earth lasted a little under 10 minutes. Within moments of being ejected, Dragon opened its solar panels.
The carriage of freight will be the first service to be bought in from external suppliers; the transport of astronauts to and from the station will be the second, later this decade.
It also unpacked equipment.
its
navigation
It will take a couple of days to reach the station. The plan currently is for the vessel to demonstrate its guidance, control and communications systems on Thursday, at a distance of 2.5km from the International Space Station (ISS). If those practice proximity manoeuvres go well, Dragon will be allowed to drive
They will empty Dragon of its 500kg of food, water and equipment, before releasing it for a return to Earth at the end of the month. to within 10m of the station on Friday. Astronauts inside the platform will then grab the ship with a robotic arm and berth it to the 400km-high structure. They will empty Dragon of its 500kg of food, water and equipment, before releasing it for a return to Earth at the end of the month. For Elon Musk, the CEO and chief designer at SpaceX, Tuesday’s lift-off was a special moment. “Every bit of adrenalin in my body released at that point,” he told reporters. 34 | H mag
“We’re really at the dawn of a new era in space exploration, and one where there’s a much bigger role for commercial space companies,” Mr Musk said.
The US agency hopes these changes will save it money that can then be invested
“It’s a great day for America. It’s actually a great day for the world. There are people who thought we’d gone away, and today says we’ve not gone away at all,” he said, alluding to the retirement of the agency’s space shuttles last year. in exploration missions far beyond Earth, at destinations such as asteroids and Mars. SpaceX mission control celebrates a successful ascent to orbit for Falcon and Dragon “Although there’s a lot ahead to complete this mission, we’re certainly off to a good start,” Charles Bolden, the Nasa administrator, told reporters. “It’s a great day for America… It’s actually a great day for the world. There are people who thought we’d gone away, and today says we’ve not gone away at all,” he said, alluding to the retirement of the agency’s space shuttles last year.
Written by Jason Brosch
SpaceX has many new systems it has to demonstrate in the coming days, and has tried to lower expectations ahead of the mission, repeating often that its aim H mag | 35
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PULSE is to learn things it did not previously know. Nasa has set the California company a series of development milestones. Only when those have been met fully will a $1.6bn ISS re-supply contract kick in. The agency is also looking to engage a second cargo partner. Orbital Sciences Corporation of Virginia is slightly behind SpaceX in its development schedule, although it started work on its Antares rocket and Cygnus capsule system later. Orbital expects to fly a first mission to the vicinity of the ISS later this year or early in 2013.
The vehicle will lift the Dragon cargo capsule into orbit on a mission to resupply the space station.
“We’re really at the dawn of a new era in space exploration, and one where there’s a much bigger role for commercial space companies,” Mr Musk said. “I think perhaps there’s some parallels to the internet in the mid-90s where the internet was created as a government endeavour but then the introduction of commercial companies really accelerated the growth of the internet.” The vehicle will lift the Dragon cargo capsule into orbit on a mission to resupply the space station. It will be the first time a commercial company has provided such a service. Although billed as a demonstration, the mission has major significance because it marks a big change in the way the US wants to conduct its space operations. Both SpaceX and another private firm, Orbital Sciences Corp, have been given billion-dollar contracts to keep the space station stocked with food and equipment. Orbital hopes to make its first visit to the manned outpost with its Antares/Cygnus system in the coming year. Single-sourcing space transportation capability will just result in a new monopoly and will evolve the same cost structure as the old”
Air Force Station.
Lift-off for the Falcon is timed for 04:55 EDT (08:55 GMT; 09:55 BST). It is going up from Cape Canaveral
The ascent phase should last a little under 10 minutes, with the Dragon capsule being ejected just over 300km (185 miles) above the Earth. The conical spaceship will then deploy its solar panels and check out its guidance and navigation systems before firing its thrusters to chase down the station. 36 | H mag
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ou love the bidet-equipped toilet in your bathroom. So much so that it makes you cry thinking of spending a weekend in the lake away from it. Just because you’re out in nature, though, it doesn’t mean you’ll have to make do wiping yourself down with dried leaves that fell off the trees. Heck, no. That won’t happen, especially with the Hygienna Solo around.
A portable bidet that you can keep in your pocket, it lets you enjoy the comforts of water sprinkling in your bottom wherever you choose to do the dirty deed. Whether you go in the smelly bathroom at the gas station, the barely-working toilet in the lakehouse cabin or a hole you dug a couple miles deep in the woods, you can enjoy the convenience of a proper hose down just like you get at home. The Hygienna Solo is a simple attachment (3 x 1 inches) that you can screw onto plastic water bottles to effectively turn them into a functional handheld bidet. That way, in case you have an emergency on the road, you can simply stop at a gas station, pick up a water bottle from the mini-mart, walk into the bathroom and immediately use it as a functional bottom sprinkler. Convenient. The accessory is compatible with the PET containers used by most of the popular bottled water brands, from Dasani to Poland Spring to Nestle Pure Life. It can also fit into plastic Coke and Pepsi bottles. According to the company, the angle of the nozzle has been optimized to ensure it sprays water exactly on those desired areas with minimal aiming adjustments on the user’s part. Sounds gross? Sure. Doesn’t sound any grosser than wiping down with a tissue on your hand, though. A future with handheld gadgets that do magical things is a wonderful future indeed. Until those gadgets drain their batteries mere hours after you leave the house, that is. That can all change with Fuel Cell USB Charger from Liliputian Systems Inc. (LSI), which can replenish your smartphone’s battery up to fourteen times all on its own. Unlike standard portable charging devices that you’ll need to plug in before leaving the house, the pocket-sized unit uses small refill cartridges that you can buy from a store. About the size of a cigarette lighter (and will, in fact, be manufactured by cigarette lighter makers), each cartridge is filled with chemicals that the device will then turn into usable energy for feeding into your USB gadget of choice. The LSI Fuel Cell USB Charger looks no bigger than a lot of today’s large-screen smartphones, allowing you to carry it in-pocket for ultimate portability. Unlike previous portable fuel-cell solutions that used methanol or sodium borohydride, the new system uses butane, leading to charge times that, in all seriousness, 38 | H mag
puts previous efforts to shame. The device can pass on the juice to any gadgets that charge via USB including smartphones, music players and, yes, your favorite USB Itch Remover. Retailer Brookstone will be the first to get the device, which they will sell at an as of yet unannounced brand name. No pricing has been announced for the actual Fuel Cell USB Charger, but the cartridges should be roughly around the price of a Starbucks coffee. Not bad, especially for something that can seriously bail you out of a gadget emergency. With all sorts of digital options for displaying pictures, regular photo frames may well be going out of commission. That doesn’t mean they won’t make for clever decorative pieces, though. And that’s exactly what the Airframe does. Designed by James Kim, it’s an old-school frame for photographic prints that’s been styled to look like an airplane window. Line up your bedroom wall with these and you can make your flight sim games feel just a little more realistic. Just make sure to choose photos that make it appear like you’re actually inside a plane (yes, of course,we mean photos of flying unicorns and UFOs). The Airframe measures 24.8 x 33.8 x 2.8 cm, with a semi-rounded display case that can show off 8 x 10 inch prints. The frame is made from polycarbonate, with an ABS protective sheet covering the photo. Not only does it mimic an airplane window’s shape, they also included a decorative curtain that, unfortunately, can’t be pulled down (would be awesome if you could though). If you want to display a Google Map print or an aerial photograph of your city, the Airframe could very well be the perfect casing for it. In case you can’t decide what photo to display, each comes with a print (the one with clouds and plane wing in the first picture) that depict in-flight views with the set. Put in the right hands, the Airframe could make for an awesome wall decor. Provided, of course, that you can find the clever photos to match.
Written by Martina Haller
You keep it classy. Even when drinking trashy beer. So instead of chugging out of a bottle or can, you pour the suds down a glass and sip from there. Unfortunately, being classy hasn’t kept you from being clumsy, so broken glasses have become a near-constant part of your existence. And that just won’t work. Sure, plastic cups would eliminate those shattered pieces of glass decorating your floor on a nightly basis, but there’s absolutely nothing classy about cheap ass plastic cups. The Silipint offers a way out of that dilemma. H mag | 39
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REPORTAGE
e-Scooters As fuel prices soar and cities become more congested, car manufacturers and the public - are beginning to back the idea of e-scooters.
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he first shock came when the price hit $2. Then it hit $3. Then $4. Today, many Americans are braced for a time when the price of a gallon of gas tips through the $5 mark for the first time. But soaring gas prices are not just confined to the US. In Canada a gallon will set you back $5.75, $6.75 in Australia, and approaching $9 per gallon in the UK, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. As a result, people are looking for cheaper ways to travel. And one of the ways they are doing that is swapping four wheels for two. According to the US Motorcycle Industry Council, for example, sales of new motorcycles and scooters were up 8.8% for the first quarter of 2012 compared with the same period last year. Scooters alone were up 16.9% over last year. It is easy to see why. They are perfect for whizzing around congested cities. They are easy to ride, easy to park, and typically cheap to buy and run. From the streets of London to New York, Taipei to Shanghai, the scooter is leaving other modes of transport in its dust. But despite their jaunty image, and associations with glamourous Italian socialites, scooters have a darker side. Their small gasoline engines are highly polluting, and they are very noisy. The Environmental Protection Agency in the US says that its studies “show that motorcycles have much higher emissions than cars”. Modern cars have emission control equipment, such as catalytic converters, that is impossible to fit into the smaller exhaust of a scooter. So, although they use less petrol, they actually produce more air pollution than a car over the same distance. “A motorcycle emits as much hydrocarbon in 10 miles as a car driven 850 miles,” says the EPA. “These emissions form smog and contain toxic compounds such as benzene.”
Swap station
But there could be an answer. Electric scooters provide all of the convenience of their dirtier cousins, but are almost silent, and do not release any emissions from the vehicle. They are already huge in China, where there are an estimated 120million electric bikes and scooters on the roads. And now big manufacturers are getting in on the act. Honda, BMW, Peugeot and 42 | H mag
VW have all shown off concepts, although few have, so far, come to market. Even fewer have found mass appeal. But that could soon change. Earlier this month, automotive giant Daimler announced plans to bring an electric scooter to market by 2014 (it has already started production of an electric bike). “The decision in favor of the escooter has been made,” said the firm’s Dr Joachim Schmidt at the launch. “With this step, we are adding a further important component to our smart mobility concept for urban mobility in the future.” The smart escooter, as it is known, is currently being developed and refined. But when it was first unveiled at the Paris Motor Show in 2010, the firm said that it would have a top speed of 28 mph (45km/h) and a range of 62 miles (100km) on a single charge. That may sound ideal for the city commuter, but there are still bumps in the road before these two-wheelers can displace the scooters of old. One of the biggest is the small batteries used to power the scooters. These are enough for short hops in cities, but for heavier users they just don’t currently cut it. “Most of our customers are fleets, and they use this type of scooter for sushi and pizza deliveries” says Gilles Chelard, in charge of R&D for Matra, a European manufacturer of small electric vehicles. “For a fleet it’s a nightmare to charge more than one or two scooters on the same plug, with a tangle of cables.” Relatively small battery capacities and recharging times that can run into hours compound the problem. That is why Matra has come up with an ingenious battery swapping station, that they are calling Bat’Lib. The version they showed me is about the size of a refrigerator, but has 10 small doors on the front. The idea is that a driver simply swaps out a battery on an electric scooter for a fully charged one, as easily as you could swap the battery on your mobile phone. “This swapping station allows us to charge …nine batteries at a time, because there is always one spare slot for charging a battery that is being swapped” says Chelard. On most scooters the battery is located under the saddle. To swap it, a rider lifts up the seat, and pulls the battery out. He or she swipes an ID or touch card against a reader on the swapping station, to identify themselves; a door pops open and the rider dumps the empty battery. As soon as he closes the door, another one pops open revealing a fully charged battery to plug back into the scooter. The whole process takes just 10 seconds. It is similar - in concept at least -to systems that are currently being tested for electric cars by Californian company Better Place. As batteries can account for a huge proportion of the weight of an electric car, its systems have to be much larger and automated. Its switch stations look like automated car washes. Drivers pull in, and then sit tight as their battery is replaced. They are currently being tested in Israel. And, although they have huge potential benefits, widespread deployment is a long way off. The cars and the swapping stations have to be designed to work together, and if we are ever to see them replace the ubiquity of petrol stations, then car manufacturers will have to come together to agree a common battery design. Scooters, on the other hand, are much easier - the small size of a scooter battery makes it a quick and easy swap, by hand. The first places to use this new scooter swapping station are likely to be the fleet clients that Chelard mentioned, in particular delivery scooters. As and when that happens, the buzzing sound of the local pizza delivery bike at all hours of the day and night could be a thing of the past. Perhaps there is a silver lining to high gas prices after all?
Written by Isabella Fogli
“Most of our customers are fleets, and they use this type of scooter for sushi and pizza deliveries”
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REPORTAGE
Facebook sale glitch embarrassing, says Nasdaq
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fter an initial spike in price, Facebook shares ended the day almost unchanged
Nasdaq boss Robert Greifeld has said he is “humbly embarrassed” about the technical glitch that led to a delay in trading of Facebook shares on the New York exchange on Friday. Trading was delayed by about 30 minutes due to late order cancellations, reports suggest. Facebook shares ended the day at $38.23, just above the company’s initial pricing of $38. The offer price valued the site at $104bn (£66bn).
However, Mr Greifeld said that once the glitch had been fixed, trading had been “successful”.
Disappointing “This was not our finest hour,” said Mr Greifeld. As a result of the glitch, a number of investors were unsure whether their buy and sell orders had actually gone through. However, Mr Greifeld said that once the glitch had been fixed, trading had been “successful”. For other technology firms hoping to follow Facebook on the road to IPO riches, any sign that the bubble may burst is deeply worrying.” More than 566 million shares in the company changed hands, a record volume for US market debuts. Investors will watch with interest as Facebook shares begin their second week of trading on Wall Street later on Monday after the disappointing 0.6% rise on Friday. Some analysts suggested the share price would have fallen had it not been for underwriters stepping in to buy up stock. Strong demand in the run-up to the flotation had led the company to increase both the price and the number of shares available for sale. Other internet companies have had mixed experiences recently when they have started selling shares. Online games maker Zynga’s shares fell 5% on their first day of trading in December 2011. However, shares in business networking site LinkedIn more than doubled on their debut in May last year, while Groupon shares jumped 30% on their debut in November.
Strauss-Kahn faces ‘gang rape’ inquiry Mr Strauss-Kahn’s lawyers say he is the victim of a “lynching campaign” A French prosecutor has ordered an initial inquiry into claims that ex-IMF head Dominique Strauss-Kahn was involved in “gang rape” in Washington. The allegations come from a Belgian prostitute who said she was at a hotel sex party in the city in December 2010. Mr Strauss-Kahn, 63, is already under investigation with three other men over their alleged roles in a prostitution ring. He denies the allegations. 44 | H mag
A charge that he attempted to rape a US hotel maid was dropped last year. But the case put an end to Mr Strauss-Kahn’s career at the International Monetary Fund and dashed his hopes of running as Socialist candidate for the French presidency. In March, prosecutors in the northern French city of Lille placed him under formal investigation in connection with what has become known as the Carlton affair, after the Lille hotel in which several orgies are alleged to have taken place.
‘Non-consensual sex’
Businessmen Fabrice Paszkowski and David Roquet and policeman Jean-Christophe Lagarde, who were named with Mr Strauss-Kahn as part of the Carlton affair, have also been implicated in the Washington hotel investigation. It is claimed that the men hired prostitutes for sex parties in France and the United States while Mr Strauss-Kahn was in charge of the IMF. According to a statement from the Lille prosecutor, the investigation centres on an incident “that could be described as gang rape”. The allegations are said to have come to light from evidence given by a Belgian pro-
Police in Washington say they have checked their records for l6 December at the city's W hotel, named by media as the hotel involved, and have found no reports detailing allegations of such activity. stitute who told Belgian police that she was forced into certain acts of non-consensual sex while in Washington on 16 December 2010. She has not filed a complaint. “I didn’t scream but I said clearly and loudly that I didn’t want to,” the woman is said to have testified. But a second Belgian prostitute has called her account of events into question, in an interview with French media. Police in Washington say they have checked their records for 16 December at the city’s W hotel, named by media as the hotel involved, and have found no reports detailing allegations of such activity. Earlier this month, the former IMF managing director’s lawyers denied the accusations against him, saying he was the victim of a “lynching campaign”.
It is claimed that the men hired prostitutes for sex parties in France and the United States while Mr Strauss-Kahn was in charge of the IMF.
The initial charge of “aggravated pimping as part an organised gang” carries a potential prison term of 20 years. A rape conviction can prompt a similar sentence. H mag | 45
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LANDING
Why are locked room mysteries so popular? Locked room mysteries - featuring seemingly impossible murders - have intrigued crime fans since the golden age of detective fiction. What's their appeal, and how many ingenious solutions can writers devise, asks Miles Jupp.
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our walls, a door, a ceiling and floor. As crime scenes go, it doesn’t seem particularly promising. Yet for over a century, some of the most ingenious detective writers in the world have been wringing suspense and excitement from locked room murders. Last month, I found myself locked in a freezing cell in the Tower of London.
Hear more from Miles Jupp on Radio 4’s Miles Jupp in a Locked Room on Monday 21 May at 16:00 BST With me was Paul Doherty, a history mystery writer, who detailed the myriad ways in which he could easily kill me in just such an environment, with disconcerting relish. Doherty, who has written more than 90 novels, calmly ran through a long list of macabre possibilities of how one might be done away with - by means of snakes or poison or even felled by arrows fired in through a slit. The locked room genre is littered with examples of seemingly impossible murders. Perhaps a bloodied corpse is found in a room which had been locked for months. Or a victim, paranoid for his safely, concealed alone in a bank vault, is murdered nonetheless. As crime novels go, such stories are a world away from contemporary, grimy police procedurals or Ruth Rendell-style tales of psychopaths and loners. Locked room murder mysteries do not aim to shine a light on the darker and more brutal realities of our existence. Each one is a puzzle. In The Hollow Man (1935), by John Dickson Carr, Dr Gideon Fell grapples with two cases. One of a man shot dead in a locked and guarded bedroom, the other a murder on a snow-covered street. There are no footprints which could account for the murderer. Paul Halter’s The Seven Wonders of Crime (2011) has Detective Owen Burns and Achilles Stock deal with a serial killer who models his murders on the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. 48 | H mag
Soji Shimada’s Tokyo Zodiac Murders (1981) sets out how - 40 years before the novel starts - a crazed artist has apparently butchered his family in a bid to create the perfect woman. Jump forward to 1979. Can the crime be solved? Complete with maps and drawings of the crime scene, this book turned Japan on to the pleasures of the locked room mystery. This is a world in which detectives, often posh or whimsical, grapple to solve crimes that should not have been achievable in the first place. Writers of locked room mysteries are not interested in the psychology of the killer, or the drink problem of the detective. What fascinates them is the thrill of setting up a fiendish crime, and challenging the reader to solve it.
Written by Maurice Deschaux
Mild-mannered Robert Adey has an encyclopaedical knowledge of the locked room murder genre. In his 1991 bibliography he lists more than 2,000 of them, and at home has a bulging file bringing his research up to date. Within the covers of his innocentlooking book is a resource that could launch the career of any would-be crime novelist, or indeed serial killer. The volume contains page after page describing bodies found dead in castles, lighthouses, submarines and deserted houses. What they have in common is that their being killed should have been inconceivable. And yet they are all stone dead. (Apart from a very few who were pretending in order that they might fool a detective or be switched at the last minute for the body of their identical twin brother. Or a waxwork - over the years these writers have tried almost everything.) But if the list of puzzles at the front of the book are intriguing, it is at the back of Adey’s book where things get even more interesting. Here one can peruse the solutions to these crimes which have bamboozled the most wily of readers and tested the powers of the most perceptive of detectives. Within this list of solutions can be found bats who dislodge ceremonial daggers so that they plunge into the heart of the victim, or vicious cats whose claws have been dipped in poison, sliding doors, hidden panels and gas-filled glass vials crushed under heel. Each one reveals something of the extraordinary ingenuity of writers of locked room mysteries.
Within the covers of his innocent-looking book is a resource that could launch the career of any would-be crime novelist, or indeed serial killer.
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DESKTOP
Tidal power gets a stormy birth off coast of Scotland On paper, it looks like a blindingly obvious idea: take a version of a wind turbine and plant it on the seabed so that its blades spin in the flow of the tides and so generate electricity.
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Could one really imagine great armies of turbines scattered across the ocean floor?
Written by Gerard Holsener
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nlike wind, the tides are totally predictable for decades ahead. The turbines, well below the waves, are also out of sight and probably out of mind. And the tidal currents are of course utterly carbon-free. For an island nation surrounded by some of the world’s most powerful tides, optimistic estimates say this form of power could - and should - play a big part in keeping British lights on. It is one reason why Scotland has been described as a Saudi Arabia of renewable energy potential. Well, I’ve been to the baking Saudi oil fields and it was hard to conjure up a resemblance during a visit this week to Orkney, the front line of tidal energy research to the north of the Scottish mainland. A launch took us between the islands where the waters surge at high speed between the Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea and back again every six hours. The first challenge is the weather. This is an unbelievably harsh environment in which to build anything, let alone manage a vast fleet of tidal machines beneath the waves. As we lurched through a heavy swell along the shores of the tiny island of Eday, icy winds racing at up to 40mph brought a succession of heavy showers of rain, sleet and even hail. In the middle of May. We were being taken to see one of the latest devices to go through the trial of everything Orkney could throw at it: a Norwegian turbine called the Hammerfest 1000, a giant three-bladed propeller perched atop nearly 1000 tons of steel structure sitting on the seabed. Except that we couldn’t see it because it is well below the surface, deep enough to avoid any shipping. Only the ghostly images from a remotely-operated vehicle - a robotic submarine confirm that the giant machine is down there, spinning in the turbulent sea. This turbine is being tested by the energy firm Scottish Power. It was chosen because it had survived off Norway for half-a-dozen years without falling apart. In an infant industry, that counts for something. This must be a little like the pioneering days of steam or aviation” Scottish Power’s plan is to deploy ten of the devices off Islay next year and then, later, up to 100 in the Pentland Firth.As the boat heaves in the waves and the gusts tear at our waterproof clothing, I shout questions to the company’s senior man on board, Keith Anderson.The most obvious is one about scale, and it is something that relates to the dozen or so different marine renewable technologies now being tested in Orkney.If each Hammerfest machine delivers its advertised 1MW of power, then wouldn’t you need 1000 of them to hope to match the output of a typical gas or coalfired power station? Could one really imagine great armies of turbines scattered across the ocean floor?
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MORE
A glimpse of life after Nato in Afghanistan’s wild east
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s the Nato summit in Chicago finalises the arrangements for handing back control of Afghanistan, the BBC’s Andrew North in the east of the country examines where this leaves the people of Nangarhar and Jalalabad. Farmer Haji Zerak greets his visitor in the usual way of Afghanistan’s eastern Pashtuns. A light touch with his right hand on the other man’s left shoulder, then a warm handshake - symbolising in Islamic teaching both men’s sins being washed away. But this is not supposed to be a social call. His visitor, the local district governor, has arrived in Achin with a posse of heavilyarmed policemen and a team of labourers wielding long sticks. They have come to his isolated mountain hamlet in Nangarhar province to cut down Haji Zerak’s fields of poppy. The opium they produce is the source of most of Europe’s heroin demand - and illegal. But things are rarely as they seem in Afghanistan. Deal done For a man who says he has “no choice” but to grow poppy, Haji Zerak looks relaxed as the labourers lay into the green bulb-heads nodding in the wind. The local authorities lack the will to eradicate all the poppy fields It is the eradication workers who look worried. Glancing up at the hills they urge each other to hurry. The police have placed spotters on the ridgelines. This is Taliban country. Taxes on the drugs trade help fill their coffers. Several eradication workers have been shot and killed in recent weeks on these slopes abutting the Pakistani border. With a foreign television crew filming this time, their nerves are understandable. But after a few small fields are whacked flat, they stop and leave. A cow ambles past another terraced field of poppy below - with more beyond. Many of the plants the workers chopped down had already flowered or been harvested. Tell-tale score-lines mark the bulb-heads, oozing dark brown opium resin. A deal has been done. The local authorities eradicate a few fields - but the farmer keeps most of his crop. The Afghan authorities have neither the resources nor the will to do more - especially with such lucrative drug profits at stake. Abandoned outposts When I last came to these starkly beautiful hills - the “opium basket” of Nangarhar province- seven years ago, drug production was starting to 54 | H mag
fall. Opium growing in Nangarhar is expected to rise this year Bad weather and crop disease created better alternatives. But this year, the UN drugs control agency predicts a rise in opium growing in Nangarhar. We don’t stay long. The hilltop lookouts radio down that local mosques are calling on villagers to look out for foreigners. The Afghan police drive away fast in large pick-up trucks, paid for by Western taxpayers. But although the police are up here, it is not clear that they are in charge. We pass abandoned US outposts on the road back to nearby Jalalabad, sand spilling from ruptured blast barriers. In the distance are the wooded peaks of the Tora Bora range, where Osama Bin Laden made his last stand against US bombers in 2001, before vanishing into neighbouring Pakistan. There is an end-of-an-era feeling here, as the latest empire to invade these hills pulls back. The Americans handed over security control in Nangahar to the Afghan police and army in January. This weekend’s Nato summit in Chicago is supposed to cement the handover process and work out how to pay the future bill of supporting Afghanistan. Cricket match Jalalabad’s film-makers have received threats from the Taliban, and need heavy security in their studio Things are better in Jalalabad, a compact city on the fertile plain of the Kabul river and famous for its fruits. The streets are full of life. But this is still a place on edge, not sure how much will last. At the city’s sole film studio, the Shaiq Network, better security has allowed them to make more movies. But there is still no cinema to show them as it was closed during the civil war in the 1990s All their films are distributed on DVD. And they can only work behind high walls and machine-gun watchtowers. Large cracks in their office windows tell of past Taliban bomb attacks. When they need to cast female roles, they often have to bring actresses from Pakistan because conservative attitudes to women appearing on screen run deep. Taliban warning letters often arrive and director Rahimullah Sapi says he’s “100 per cent concerned” about the future as Nato retreats. The Americans are still here, but cut off behind barricades of concrete and razor wire. Their main base at the airfield - the launch pad for the operation that killed Bin Laden - was attacked again last month.
Written by Lola Mendez
At the city’s sole film studio, the Shaiq Network, better security has allowed them to make more movies.
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T h e Av e n g e r s t o p s U S b o x office again
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uperhero movie The Avengers has topped the US and Canadian box office for the third week in a row, taking $55.1m (£34.8m), studio estimates suggest. The film easily saw off new release Battleship, which took $25.4m (£16.1m). The Avengers also raked in another $56m (£35.4m) globally over the weekend - taking its total worldwide earnings to $1.2bn (£758m). The Disney blockbuster sees a team of Marvel comic-book heroes team up to fight an extra-terrestrial threat. Among the cast are Robert Downey Jr, Scarlett Johansson and Chris Hemsworth who have appeared in previous Marvel movies as Iron Man, Black Widow and Thor respectively. Paul Dergarabedian, analyst for box-office tracker Hollywood.com, said: “The Avengers is dominating the marketplace so profoundly that the newcomers are having a tough time breaking in now.” Sacha Baron Cohen’s new film The Dictator was a new entry at number three Universal’s Battleship, which stars Liam Neeson, Taylor Kitsch and Rihanna in the adaptation of the board game, did not do as well as anticipated on its North American release. Nikki Rocco, Universal’s head of distribution, admitted: “I would be glad to be number two if we opened to a better number. But given the presence of an absolute juggernaut in the marketplace, there’s nothing you can do.” Sacha Baron’s latest film The Dictator, which sees the British comedian play thirdworld despot Admiral General Aladeen, went straight in at number three with $17.4m (£11m) over the weekend. The Johnny Depp/Tim Burton vampire spoof Dark Shadows dropped from second place to fourth, while pregnancy comedy What to Expect When You’re Expecting, starring Cameron Diaz and Jennifer Lopez, debuted at number five.
Bee Gees singer Robin Gibb has died aged 62 after a lengthy battle with cancer.
The announcement was made by his family with “great sadness”. British-born Gibb’s musical career began when he formed the Bee Gees with his brothers Barry and Maurice in 1958. The group are among the biggest-selling of all time with hits spanning five decades, including Stayin’ Alive, How Deep Is Your Love, Massachusetts and Night Fever. He had an incredibly witty sense of humour and was fun to be around” Gibb’s family said in a statement: “The family of Robin Gibb, of the Bee Gees, announce with great sadness that Robin passed away today following his long battle 58 | H mag
with cancer and intestinal surgery. “The family have asked that their privacy is respected at this very difficult time.” Broadcaster Paul Gambaccini described the singer as “one of the major figures in the history of British music”. The singer Dionne Warwick, whose biggest hit Heartbreaker was written by the Gibb brothers, said of Robin: “He was wonderful. He was a jokester. “He had an incredibly witty sense of humour and was fun to be around. All three of them were sensational gentlemen first, just fun loving guys.” ‘Phenomenal legacy’ Robin Gibb speaking in 2011: “We felt we had licence to go into areas where other people would fear to go” The Gibb brothers were born in the Isle of Man but grew up in Manchester, later moving to Australia. The Bee Gees notched up album sales of more than 200 million worldwide since their first hits in the 1960s. “Everyone should be aware that the Bee Gees are second only to Lennon and McCartney as the most successful songwriting unit in British popular music,” Gambaccini said. Robin Gibb had “one of the best white soul voices ever”, he said, adding that the group’s accomplishments had been “monumental”. “Not only have they written their own number one hits, but they wrote huge hit records for Barbra Streisand, Diana Ross, Dionne Warwick, Celine Dion, Destiny’s Child... the list goes on and on.” Former UK prime minister Tony Blair, a friend of Gibb, has paid tribute, saying he would “miss him very much”. “Robin was not only an exceptional and extraordinary musician and songwriter, he was a highly intelligent, interested and committed human being,” Mr Blair said. Canadian singer Bryan Adams wrote: “Robin Gibb RIP. Very sad to hear about yet another great singer dying too young.” Fleetwood Mac’s Stevie Nicks wrote: “The soundtrack of my wonder years is vaporizing one artist at a time with these iconic musical losses lately.” Justin Timberlake, meanwhile, described Gibb as “a truly brilliant musician”, adding: “One of my idols. My heart goes out to the Gibb family in this time of sorrow.” Former BBC Radio 1 DJ Mike Read, who was a family friend, said: “Robin had the voice, the pathos, and he was a great writer. “He had a gift for melody and a gift for lyrics and left a phenomenal legacy, a phenomenal catalogue.” Referring to the Bee Gees, he said: “They had every award, every gold disc, every platinum disc, the Grammys, the lot, and had been doing it so long but were still so good at it.” Gibb had battled ill health for several years.
Written by Lola Mendez
“Robin was not only an exceptional and extraordinary musician and songwriter, he was a highly intelligent, interested and committed human being,” Mr Blair said.
In 2010, he cancelled a series of shows after suffering severe stomach pains while performing in Belgium. He went on to have emergency surgery for a blocked intestiH mag | 59
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FITNESS
Build a better
Muscle Ever wonder why some people make better sprinters than marathoners? Or why chicken consists of white and dark meat? The simple answer: not all muscles are created equal.
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ur muscles are made up of individual muscle fibers. These fibers fall into three different categories: slow twitch type 1, fast twitch type 2a, and fast twitch type 2b. As their names suggest, they also contract differently, serve different functions and impact the color of your chicken meat!
the complete opposite of slow twitch fibers. The type 2b fibers contract very rapidly and generate a huge amount of power – but only for very short bursts. These fiber types are associated with anaerobic training – which means that they do not use oxygen to generate energy. Sports that are highly dependent on fast twitch type 2b muscles include the 100-meter sprint or the high jump. Chicken breasts consist mostly of this type of fast twitch muscle because chickens only fly to escape immediate danger.
Fast twitch (type 2a) muscle fibers
Also called “fast twitch oxidative glycolytic”, are like the best of both worlds. They can generate energy either in the presence or absence of oxygen. With respect to fatigue and power, again, they’re in between both the type 1 and type 2b fibers. To continue with our running example, the distance most suited to type 2a muscle fibers would be the 1000 meters. Generally speaking, humans have an even amount of slow twitch and fast twitch muscle fibers. However, certain factors may shift the balance in favour of one type over the other. Genetics is one major factor that scientists are trying to tease apart. And since we still haven’t developed an easy-to-use gene-testing kit, your best hint at your genetics is probably your body type:
Ectomorphs
Are typically very lean, with smaller shoulders and a very fast metabolism. These people are the lucky souls who can eat whatever they want and still somehow manage to stay thin. The muscles of an ectomorph are made up of a higher proportion of slow twitch (type 1) fibers. Not surprisingly, this body type is also the ideal for anelite marathon runner.
Slow twitch (type 1) muscle fibers
As the name suggests, contract slowly. They are associated with aerobic training – which means that they use oxygen to generate energy. Of all the muscle-fiber types, slow twitch fibers are the most resistant to fatigue and also the most efficient at burning triglycerides (the body’s fat stores). Therefore, slow twitch muscle fibers help athletes run marathons or ride a bicycle for long periods of time. In humans, muscles that are predominantly made up of type 1 fibers include the postural muscles. Chicken legs also contain a large number of slow twitch fibers, which is why they can spend most of the day running around. Fast twitch (type 2b) muscle fibers Also called “fast twitch glycolytic”, are 62 | H mag
Not surprisingly, this body type is also the ideal for anelite marathon runner.
Mesomorphs
Have that stereotypical “athletic build”. They are strong and rectangular-shaped with defined muscles. When exercising, they find it very easy to build muscle mass. Mesomorphs have a higher proportion of fast twitch muscle fibers. The good news is that even though our genes “think” they control everything, we can work around them. Each muscle contains a combination of all three fiber types. And, with the right kind of training, you can develop specific muscle fiber types. Scientists still aren’t sure if the muscle fibers actually convert from one type to another or if the fibers that are targeted simply get bigger. Regardless of the mechanism, it is nice to know that anyone can run a marathon with the proper training! H mag | 63
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FITNESS Muscles are one of those things that most of us take completely for granted, but they are incredibly important for two key reasons:
They are efficient at turning fuel into motion, they are long-lasting, they are selfhealing and they are able to grow stronger with practice.
Muscles are the “engine” that your body uses to propel itself. Although they work differently than a car engine or an electric motor, muscles do the same thing -- they turn energy into motion. It would be impossible for you to do anything without your muscles. Absolutely everything that you conceive of with your brain is expressed as muscular motion. The only ways for you to express an idea are with the muscles of your larynx, mouth and tongue (spoken words), with the muscles of your fingers (written words or “talking with your hands”) or with the skeletal muscles (body language, dancing, running, building or fighting, to name a few). Because muscles are so crucial to any animal, they are incredibly sophisticated. They are efficient at turning fuel into motion, they are long-lasting, they are self-healing and they are able to grow stronger with practice. They do everything from allowing you to walk to keeping your blood flowing! When most people think of “muscles,” they think about the muscles that we can see. For example, most of us know about the biceps muscles in our arms. But there are three unique kinds of muscle in any mammal’s body:
Written by Mike Rosenberg
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Skeletal muscle is the type of muscle that we can see and feel. When a body builder works out to increase muscle mass, skeletal muscle is what is being exercised. Skeletal muscles attach to the skeleton and come in pairs -- one muscle to move the bone in one direction and another to move it back the other way. These muscles usually contract voluntarily, meaning that you think about contracting them and your nervous system tells them to do so. They can do a short, single contraction (twitch) or a long, sustained contraction (tetanus). Smooth muscle is found in your digestive system, blood vessels, bladder, airways and, in a female, the uterus. Smooth muscle has the ability to stretch and maintain tension for long periods of time. It contracts involuntarily, meaning that you do not have to think about contracting it because your nervous system controls it automatically. For example, your stomach and intestines do their muscular thing all day long, and, for the most part, you never know what’s going on in there.
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REAL LIFE
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When mum Joanne Patterson was diagnosed with chronic liver disease, she was told one more drink could kill her.
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or three years she had downed up to three bottles of wine and eight cans of lager a day – a staggering 45 units, over three times the recommended weekly limit of 14 units for a woman. Even more shockingly, she cared for her three children – Dale, now 22, Louis, now 14, and Ella, now seven – while under the influence of alcohol, even picking them up from school inebriated. But two years ago, Joanne, then only 39, was told her excessive boozing had caused irreparable damage to her liver. She has now stopped drinking but, over the past 18 months, she has spent 300 days in hospital and must take 100 tablets a week just to stay alive, costing the NHS thousands of pounds. Doctors have warned Joanne, from Sunderland, that her liver could fail at any time – leaving her children without a mum. She says: “I put alcohol before my children. I feel so guilty. They know I’m very ill and it’s heartbreaking. The other day, Ella asked: ‘Will you die if you have one more drink?’ I had to say yes.” Joanne speaks out after recent statistics revealed that hospital admissions for people in their 30s with alcoholic liver disease have risen by 61 per cent. “People need to know drinking can be harmful,” says Joanne.
™I put alcohol before my children. I feel so guilty. They know I'm very ill and it's heartbreaking. The other day, Ella asked: `Will you die if you have one more drink?' I had to say yes.∫ “I never thought I could die.” Joanne had always drunk socially, but following the breakdown of her relationship, when Ella was two, in 2006, she started going out more. “I drank because I felt I had missed out on life because I became a mum so young,” says Joanne, who had Dale at 18. 66 | H mag
“I was bored. I wanted a break and to let my hair down. My mum looked after the kids on Friday nights so I’d have two glasses of wine at home, then about eight pints of lager when I was out.” Things soon began to spiral out of control when Joanne began drinking during the day. She says: “I began opening a bottle of wine at 3pm on weekends, while the kids played upstairs. It relaxed me and I loved the taste. I’d finish the bottle while I made tea. Once they’d gone to bed, I’d open another. “I didn’t get hangovers – just a fuzzy head sometimes – but I thought I could still be a good mum. I wasn’t thinking about the effect it was having on my kids.” Jobless Joanne’s boozing rapidly increased and she confesses that, by 2007, she was downing up to three bottles of wine and eight cans of lager a day. She would start drinking in the morning while the boys were at school and Ella was at nursery. “I was lonely, and it became a habit,” she says. “I’d ‘lose’ whole days at a time and not be able to remember anything. “I’d get the shakes if I hadn’t had a drink for a while. I went down to less than 7st because I wasn’t eating properly.” Naively, Joanne insists her children “adapted to her boozing” and that they always had food and clean clothes. She says: “They became independent at an early age and Dale helped with the younger ones. They didn’t get upset. My mum told me to stop drinking, but I was in denial.” Shockingly, Joanne, who spent up to £70 of her £150 weekly benefits on booze, did the school run when over the limit. “I’m embarrassed to admit it,” she says. “I’m thankful nothing happened. The head once asked if I’d been drinking. I admitted I’d had a glass. He didn’t ask again. “I think they realised I had a problem though – I’d drink a can of lager before parents’ evening to stop my shakes.” But, in December 2009, Joanne’s health deteriorated. Her hands and stomach became swollen and she suffered excruciating stitches. In hospital, doctors broke the devastating news that her liver was failing. She recalls: “The hospital flushed chemicals through my body to get rid of the toxins. I was put on drips and given drugs, but my body was breaking down. Seeing my kids upset at the sight of me was heartbreaking. “A doctor told me that if I had another drink I’d be dead. My liver would be unable to cope. It was the wake-up call I needed. I had to choose life over drink. My three kids needed a mum.” Remarkably, Joanne managed to go cold turkey. Knowing that one drink will kill her, and the damage it has wreaked on her body, she hasn’t touched alcohol for two years. She now attends a clinic for recovering alcoholics. “I was so ill, I couldn’t face a drink, so resisting wasn’t hard,” she says. “I knew that if I had one, I’d be playing Russian Roulette with my life. I couldn’t do that.
“I think they realised I had a problem though – I’d drink a can of lager before parents’ evening to stop my shakes.”
Written by Dorian Legher
“Now I mainly socialise with my family. I go to the local pub once a week with a neighbour, but I just drink tonic water.” But the damage has been done. H mag | 67
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FOOD
HOW TO Make An OMELETTE 1 Gather 2-5 eggs, depending on how much you want to eat. Eggs cook quickly, so it is best to select and cut up all of your ingredients prior to cooking. Chop these into bite-size pieces. Some common omelet additions include onions, ham, bell peppers,green onions, spinach, sausage, olives, diced tomatoes and mushrooms. Use any or all of the ingredients, in a combination of your choice. 2 Break the eggs. It is best to crack your eggs one at a time in a bowl or a cup (this will keep spoiled ones from getting mixed in). Put them into a glass or plastic bowl. After breaking the eggs, be sure to wash your hands thoroughly to prevent salmonella poisoning.
Even if you are in a hurry, do not cook omelets at too high a heat. Eggs cook quickly, and you will most likely end up burning the eggs if the heat is too high. Plan ahead. For super-quick omelets, already have your favorite additions pre-cut. Cutting vegetables and meats or grating cheese takes longer than actually cooking an omelet.
3 Beat the eggs until they are completely mixed (the yolks and the whites). You can either use a fork, or wire whisk to mix/beat your eggs. For something as simple as an omelette, a fork will suffice. For a single-serve omelette, you can use about two eggs. At this stage you can add salt, pepper, and other herbs and spices to the eggs. 4 Place your other ingredients together in a separate bowl and lightly stir them to mix up the ingredients. Set aside some shredded cheese. 5 Pour about a tablespoon of butter onto the pan. Put the heat on low to medium heat, and pour on the eggs, spreading them evenly with a spatula. Adding a splash of milk or water will help make the eggs fluffy. 6 While the eggs are firm on the bottom, but still slightly runny on top, sprinkle shredded cheese over eggs. You will know that the omelette is done when there is no liquid left in the eggs. 7 Take three-quarters of your ingredients, and evenly sprinkle them over the eggs. 8 Pay special attention that the eggs are not sticking to the bottom of the pan, and use your flipper or spatula around the edges of the omelet to make sure that it is not sticking. Gently roll the sides of your omelet, about an inch or two. Then roll or fold the ends of the omelet, closing in the ingredients. 9 Roll your omelet onto your plate, or use the spatula and lift it onto your plate. 10Place the remaining ingredients on top, and sprinkle with cheese.
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Written by Elizabeth Rose
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TIPS
Europe Travel
Money- Saving American travelers may have felt betrayed by their national currency over the past five years, but the dollar is finally gaining some ground. Its value against the euro increased 9.2 percent between January 2010 and January 2012.
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merican travelers may have felt betrayed by their national currency over the past five years, but the dollar is finally gaining some ground. Its value against the euro increased 9.2 percent between January 2010 and January 2012.
Pair a stronger dollar with unsteady European economies, as well as growing tourist markets and emerging destinations, and the happy conclusion is this: Europe travel can be affordable again, and not always where you expect it. Follow Travel + Leisure to the European destinations where you’ll find the most bang for your buck this year. In Berlin, a slew of new hotels—the city currently has 30,000 more hotel beds than New York City—is creating competition and driving down prices (the average room rate is about $111 per night). And here’s a money-saving tip: Berlin recently introduced the Berlin Welcome Card, which covers two days of public transportation and admission to more than 160 urban attractions for $22.75. The Berlin Brandenburg International Airport (BER) opens in June and
And here’s a money-saving tip: Berlin recently introduced the Berlin Welcome Card, which covers two days of public transportation and admission to more than 160 urban attractions for $22.75. 72 | H mag
will have new routes to up-and-coming Eastern European destinations. Cities such as Bucharest, Romania, and Zagreb, Croatia, are great values (hotel rates in both cities decreased 20 percent in 2011). Americans will also be pleased by the cost of visiting Hungary; the dollar is up 25 percent against the Hungarian forint since July 2011. To the west, Iceland continues to be a savings hub for Europe travel. Icelandair flies from the U.S. to Continental Europe with stops in Reykjavik; packages— some as low as $80 for hotels, meals, and spa treatments—encourage overnight stays. Americans were the second biggest growth market to Portugal in 2011 (after Brazil), where eating out in Lisbon, for instance, costs a fraction of what it does in other European capitals. “Its appeal is similar to that of Spain and Italy but at much better value,” notes Travel + Leisure A-List travel agent Judy Nussbaum. Any true Italy addicts can take some comfort that a stronger dollar will help in Florence and Venice. But to really stretch your travel budget in Italy, veer off the beaten path to regions like Puglia, where you’ll be rewarded with more than freshly made pasta and century-old olive groves. Read on for more money-saving tips, such as when to take the plane versus the train, and a breakdown of the best European chain hotels.
When to Visit Europe
Timing is everything. Conventional wisdom has it that summer is the time to visit Europe; according to the Department of Commerce’s Office of Travel & Tourism Industries, June and July are the peak months for U.S. travel there. Though those few extra rays are nice, the best values fall outside these heavily trafficked months. Airfares to Europe start to fall for departures in mid- to late August, just before the school year, and stay low through the end of March (except during the winter holidays and around spring-break time in the U.S.). Though room prices at big-city hotels tend to remain steady year-round, European resorts also have dramatic seasonal rate shifts. For example, at Adronis Luxury Suites, in Santorini, Greece, there’s a 7 percent difference between high- and shoulder-season rates. Shoulder-season travel also means fewer crowds and, more often than not, suitable weather. Spring means more frequent showers, but the flowers are in bloom in the English countryside. In August, temperatures in Paris soar to uncomfortable highs as residents exit en masse. But arrive in mild and sunny May, and you’ll have a greater chance of encountering locals, thanks to an outdoor-café scene in full swing. In some cases, even the off-season may be prime for visits: in Russia, cultural life is at its height in the winter.
Americans will also be pleased by the cost of visiting Hungary; the dollar is up 25 percent against the Hungarian forint since July 2011.
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TIPS
With Kids
There are many amazing places to see in Europe that both kids and parents will enjoy. From medieval castles to Euro Disney, there are many sites that kids will revel in. Taking kids traveling takes a little preparation and planning. In order to make sure your vacation goes smoothly, take adequate time to plan out your stops along the way. This will result in happy kids and it is one of those parenting truths that happy kids equals happy parents. Ensure the Hotel is Kid-Friendly Before Arrival Making sure that a hotel destination is kid-friendly before arrival is a must. Though many hotels are welcoming to kids, some places cater to vacationing adults. When calling to make a hotel reservation, ask the hotel what kind of child services they have available. Is there a kids pool? Does the hotel offer kids accessories, like beach toys, changing stations, or even babysitting services? If no child services are offered, its probably a good idea to pass it up, even if they say they are “kid-friendly”.
Renting a furnished house is another excellent option when traveling Europe with kids, since there will be no other guests or neighbors. Some house rentals come with private pools and beaches, making an excellent homeaway-from-home for families. Renting a furnished house is another excellent option when traveling Europe with kids, since there will be no other guests or neighbors. Some house rentals come with private pools and beaches, making an excellent home-away-fromhome for families. Logistics of Traveling Europe With Kids Traveling Europe by rail is great for singles, but with kids it can be a hassle. Renting a car allows families the freedom to come and go as they please, and with kids this can make a vacation much easier. Cars can be taken from country to country, which in Europe isn’t very far. Child seats and boosters can be ordered in advance from most car rental companies when needed. Renting a car allows families to make their own time schedule instead of needing to comply with bus and train schedules, a huge bonus when traveling with kids. There are many car agencies in Europe that specialize in tours-by-car. 74 | H mag
Think about how the child will be carried. Even when renting a car chances are a great deal of walking will still be done. Small legs will tire easily, and tired kids are cranky kids. Many backpack companies make special kids backpacks with back support that make walking around with kids much easier. Some pack backs have added storage space for things like snacks, diapers, and other kid necessities needed along the way.
POPULAR TOPICS
For very young kids, a good stroller is a must. Choose a lightweight and collapsible kind that will be easy to travel with and store. If traveling by car, it is much easier to transport strollers and seats, which is one of the reasons why traveling by car is recommended. Traveling Europe with kids during the off-season can be cheaper and more relaxing than traveling during high-season. Avoiding large crowds will make keeping track of kids easier. Traveling during the off-season will mean shorter lines, less waits, and less people for excited kids to annoy. Summer is usually the high season for European travel, so try visiting in the spring or fall. Winter is the high season along the Mediterranean coastline, but northern countries can be great to visit during winter, especially since most kids love snow.
Traveling Europe with kids during the off-season can be cheaper and more relaxing than traveling during highseason.
European countries are very kid-friendly and there are many hotels and resorts that are especially set up for travel with kids. Exposing kids to different cultures and allowing them to witness historical places up close will make a lasting impression on them. Being able to walk inside a medieval castle and explore prehistoric caves can be more educational than sitting in a classroom. With a little preparation, traveling to Europe with kids can be the best vacation ever.
How to stay cool and hydrated
Many don’t realize how warm it gets in Europe, especially around the Mediterranean. So, staying cool and hydrated can sometimes be tricky. Consider packing powdered sports drinks that you can buy in little to-go sized packs. They are easy to travel with and can easily be added to any bottle of water. Also, when planning your itinerary add a break indoors or go back to your hotel for a rest around 2-5 pm, when the day is hottest. Bring your debit card as travel currency. – When traveling to Europe, instead of carrying around traveler’s checks, having to pay conversion fees on a credit card or exchanging dollars for Euros at a high rate, I bring my debit card.
Written by Denise Collins
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GAMES
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MaX
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T Summary: The tragedies that took Max Payne’s loved ones years ago are wounds that won’t heal. No longer a police, nearly washed up and addicted to pain killers, Max takes a job in São Paulo, Brazil, protecting the family of wealthy real estate mogul Rodrigo Branco to finally escape his troubled past. But as events spin out of his control, Max finds himself alone on the streets of an unfamiliar city, desperately searching for the truth and fighting for a way out.
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3
here’s a fantastic moment halfway through Max Payne 3. The titular hero has reached his boiling point, shaved his head, and gone underground into Sao Paolo’s gritty favelas. Things are looking down. A local gang has robbed him of guns, watch, and even his sunglasses. He’s been kicked into a ditch full of trash and sewage. And as he traverses through a stream of filth and philosophizes about his lot in life, we understand how he’s somewhat complicit in perpetuating this societal imbalance through his steady stream of gunfire to protect the wealthy. It’s a segment that feels like a filth-smeared complement to Uncharted 2’s critically lauded “Tibetan Village” section. And it’s a moment that beautifully epitomizes the experience. At its most distilled essence, Rockstar’s fabled series is a giant shooting gallery. You move from spot to spot in a rather confined experience, all while largely doing the same activity. But once you pile on the layers of depth –its hallucinatory visuals, exciting locales, gruesome executions, and the ugly consequences of addiction – you’ve got the makings of a phenomenal action title. Even out of the hands of original dev team Remedy and writer Sam Lake, Max Payne 3 updates everything for a new age, and resultantly, it’s a must-play game. Max Payne 3 finds our hero in Sao Paolo, albeit older, heavier, and scarred from the events of the prior games. He’s working security detail for Rodrigo Branco, a wealthy Brazilian banker whose trophy wife, Fabiana, has been abducted by a notorious street gang, Comando Sombra. The Branco family, from hard-partying Marcelo to local politician Victor, are well-off and offer Max plenty of exposure to the city’s elite. And its bottles of brown liquor. Max isn’t quite the hard-boiled cop or the star-crossed and conflicted hero of the prior two games; instead, he has grown into a self-medicating mercenary. Whereas painkillers were used as a healing device in the prior games, Max not only uses them as ingame healing, but constantly comments about his dependency on pills. On many occasions, you’ll see him in cutscenes with booze in hand, or waking up with a hangover. As every single attempt to rescue Fabiana fails, Max and his partner Raul Passos find themselves getting more desperate, and find out just how deep the motives behind this abduction get. Based on your familiarity with law enforcement, poverty, and blatant civil and human rights violations in large South American cities (or viewings of movies like Brazilian action blockbuster Elite Squad), some of this may not be so shocking. But it’s still well-told. Along the way, you’ll shoot your way through a variety of colorful and beautifully designed locales – each following the game’s formula of big slow-motion setpieces and opportunities for big action movie-driven moments – from a nightclub shootout that evokes Tom Cruise’s stand-off in Collateral (gray suit included) to a bloody escape from a soccer stadium to the same level of massive moments that drove John Woo’s finest Heroic Bloodshed genre. Written by Dorothy Heller
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BOOKS
THE LAST DIET BOOK YOU’LL EVER NEED
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Bob Harper is a world-renowned fitness trainer and star of the NBC reality series The Biggest Loser, which finished thirteenth season in 2012. With several bestselling fitness DVDs, his own line of supplements, an online fitness club, as well as the inspirational book Are You Ready? to his credit, Harper still teaches a local spin class where he resides in Los Angeles with his dog Karl. Greg Critser is a longtime science and medical journalist. The author of the international bestseller Fat Land: How Americans Became the Fattest People in the World, he lives in Pasadena, California. 80 | H mag
ith so much conflicting weight-loss advice out there to confuse your efforts, it’s no wonder you haven’t been successful losing weight and keeping it off. But with Bob Harper, superstar trainer and co-host of NBC’s hit show The Biggest Loser as your personal authority and coach, you can and will finally shed the pounds—whether you want to lose two or two hundred! Distilling Bob’s vast knowledge of nutrition, weight-loss strategy, and human nature down to twenty simple, nonnegotiable principles, The Skinny Rules will help you step away from a reliance on processed foods and the need for so much sweet and salt and step into a newly thin lifestyle. And Bob’s methods couldn’t be more straightforward. Taking the guesswork out of implementing the Skinny Rules, Bob offers a month’s worth of menu plans and more than 90 delicious, rule-abiding recipes for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks to keep you cooking and eating skinny for life. You’ll be happily astounded to see the variety and volume of the tasty food on your plate! He also includes terrific tips for what to stock in your fridge and what to prepare every weekend in order to set yourself up for success during your too-busy-to-cook weekdays. A virtual GPS to your weight-loss goals, The Skinny Rules takes the mystery out of the process, offering the fastest route to your skinny destination. LOSING WEIGHT IS NOW AS SIMPLE AS 1-2-3 . . . AND 3-15-18-20 TOO! Rule #3: Eat protein at every meal, making some kind of fish your go-to protein as often as you can. Take your weight and divide it by two—that’s more or less how much protein you should be eating in grams every day. Rule #15: Eat at least ten meals a week at home (and cook them yourself). Restaurant portions are usually 40 to 50 percent bigger than what you’d serve at home—the more you eat out, the more you overeat. Set yourself up for success by preparing my turkey meatballs, hummus, and roasted vegetables on the weekend so that you will have goto staples and no excuses! Rule #18: Go to bed slightly hungry. Denied fuel for more than five hours, your body will start burning its own fat and sugar. Make a point not to eat after dinner and you’ll be burning fat while you’re sleeping. Rule #20: Enjoy a splurge meal once a week. Unlike episodic bingeing, splurge meals are an ingredient in your diet. When you plan something, you are in control. RULE 1 DRINK A LARGE GLASS OF WATER BEFORE EVERY MEAL—NO EXCUSES! This has got to be the easiest rule there is. Which is a good place to start. But it’s also one of the most important rules there is. You simply must stay hydrated. At a minimum I want you to drink a large glass of water before every meal. But I’d prefer that you drink at least five glasses of water a day, the first one within fifteen minutes of waking. Written by Martin Tucker