The Best & Worst of Moms - A Times Excerpt

Full List
10 Worst Moms Ever

1. Mom on Futurama
2. The Mother in Pink Floyd's The Wall
3. Mrs. Robinson
4. Gertrude from Hamlet
5. Sophie Portnoy
6. Livia Soprano from The Sopranos
7. Medea
8. Enid Lambert in The Corrections
9. Margaret White in Carrie
10. Joan Crawford in Mommie Dearest

10 Best Moms Ever

1. Dumbo's Mom
2. Moms of The Joy Luck Club
3. Gaia
4. Rusty Dennis in Mask
5. Jochabed, Mother of Moses
6. Florida Evans
7. Whistler's Mother
8. Hester Prynne from The Scarlet Letter
9. Marge Simpson
10. The Queen Mother, From Aliens

Why has Israel banned the iPad? -An Excerpt

Why has Israel banned the iPad? By Bar Ben-Ari

The Communications Ministry announced Tuesday that it was imposing a blanket ban on the import of Apple's new tablet computer, the iPad, citing incompatibility with the European Wi-Fi standard, which is used in Israel. For this reason, several such computers have been confiscated by customs officials at Ben-Gurion Airport. Eden Bar Tal, director of the Communications Ministry, defends the ban.

The public is angry following your ban on importing the iPad. Why didn't you announce this earlier? The ban was only revealed when several of the devices were confiscated by customs officials.

The ministry does not deal in brands and packaging. In this case, customs identified the import of a wireless device, and it had to determine whether it was appropriate for Israel. It's true that there is something exotic about the name iPad, but this changes nothing. The goal is that all citizens enjoy the use of wireless networks in this country; importation of a device which is not suited to local standards is likely to cause them harm. Apple itself decided to postpone the release of the iPad into international markets. These are Apple's business decisions and not ours. We are concerned with one thing only: that no wireless technology will trample the wireless connections of other users. If the iPad meets the standards set in Europe, everyone will be able to enjoy them, and we won't be forced to block their entry.


Wasn't it possible to issue a warning earlier and prevent confiscation by the customs authorities?

There was no way at all. Apple's representative in Israel, iDigital, had no information; we tried ourselves to get the specifications from Apple engineers about the frequencies and transmission strength. We worked relatively quickly. Only a few people reached customs with them. It's new in the United States too, and I imagine that despite Apple's delay, there will soon be an iPad which meets European specifications.

Israelis who acquired the iPad abroad feel that the communications ministry is sticking its nose into their private shopping cart.

People who bought the device in America can't force their needs on other people. I don't get involved in what individuals do at their own expense, but you can't only be concerned about yourself. If I let transmitters in freely, that would be against the law and also an injury to the devices operating according to European standards in Israel.

But doesn't banning an electronic device that is much in demand constitute an injury to the rights of the individual?

I state unequivocally: The individual benefits from the fact that we regulate the importation of transmission devices so that it does no harm to general use.

High-tech entrepreneurs claim that the iPad's delayed arrival places Israel behind the United States in everything connected to the development of appropriate applications.

This is cheap demagoguery. Not one representative of a high-tech development enterprise came here with an iPad; we are talking about private consumers only. If someone wants to bring in a device in order to examine it in a laboratory, we check it out and give permission.

What is your opinion of the level of competition in the mobile phone market in Israel today?

In objective terms, based on foreign price indexes, Israel is not in a bad position. I would say that there could be more competition in the private sector. But the picture is brighter in the business market, and we are working to increase competition further. We are doing this with a double-edged strategy. One: more cellular operators. Two: expanded infrastructure. This includes landlines as well as mobile phones. Today the ministry is working on a tender for the physical infrastructure for another cellular operator [to work on the same model as the three current cellular providers - Cellcom, Partner and Pelephone], alongside virtual cellular operators [who provide service on the basis of the existing infrastructure of competing companies]. In the world there are those who take road A or road B, and those who take neither. We are working on both; more than that would be hard to find.

When will we get to the stage of more competition in the market?

At the beginning of this year we formally authorized the entry of virtual providers. Meanwhile, two companies have filed requests to take part in bidding and we expect more requests soon. There are two possibilities. From the moment we grant a license to a company it can go out and work with a cellular company on the condition that it uses its infrastructure. If the two sides do not reach an agreement, we can step in and dictate conditions. In my opinion, because the cellular companies know that we can intervene within six months, they will consider whether it is worth their while to delay the process. And even in the slowest forecast, we are talking about months and not years.

Do you think that plans for unlimited minutes or all-inclusive packages, such as exist in the United States, will suit Israeli consumers?

Competition is what suits consumers. Marketing in the absence of competition will not work in their favor. No imaginable offer will be worthwhile to the consumer without competition, and we are doing everything we can to have more service suppliers enter the market. This is the way the regulator can have an affect in the field.

Doesn't this call for a new player - smaller than those currently in the market - in order to offer plans with greater risks to the company?

It's hard to see such a thing happening in a place like Israel with three companies all the same size. Market evolution usually leads to one big player and two smaller ones. Israel is a special place with special behavior. When 5 percent of cellular subscribers represent more than 450,000 people, every percentage point counts. For us it's important to offer more possibilities to private customers, and that more companies will join the market and compete for their pockets.

Amsterdam in three parts: crazy, cultured and classic - An Excerpt

By : Ellen Creager McClatchy-Tribune

Amsterdam in three parts: crazy, cultured and classic

It's crazy, cultured and classic, a triptych, a puzzle. Some of it is sketchy. Most of it is culturally rich.

Which is the "real" Amsterdam? Take your pick.

On one hand, with its wafting pot smoke and bored prostitutes under glass, the city's infamous Red Light District is still a prude's nightmare and a rebel's dream.

On the other hand, any city that can claim Rembrandt, Van Gogh and Anne Frank is a must-see for even the most staid travelers.

Then again, Amsterdammers seem like the coolest people on the planet, not staid at all. Citizens ride their bicycles with a tidy grace around the town, some toting briefcases, some in green high heels, some on bikes they fold and carry right onto the trains.

Except ... tidy, the town is not. Too much enthusiastic renovation has stripped the "pretty" from the city. Scaffolding mars the Royal Palace on the shabby Dam Square. Construction blights the Rijksmuseum (the city's premier museum), the historic train station, the harbor and other landmarks. One can only hope the eventual result will be worth the long wait.

Bottom line? Come to Amsterdam expecting tradition, and you'll find it. Come expecting sex and drugs, and the city will oblige -- but know the scene is changing. Come expecting history, architecture and the chance to see paintings that make you glad to be alive, and you'll find that, too. Whatever you want, Amsterdam will be.

Go ahead, go crazy. Just use common sense.

"If you are alone and stoned and it's 2 in the morning, don't go in the parks at night. Don't walk around alone in the Red Light," said Aaron James Cole, sitting at the Basjoe Coffeehouse on a sunny morning, smoking hash.

In Amsterdam, it is legal to buy and smoke small amounts of pot and hash at coffeehouses. Prostitution in the city's Red Light District is also legal. About 25 percent of foreign tourists visit specifically to partake in these pastimes, according to Amsterdam's Mayor Job Cohen.

And that's the audience for Cole's new book, the 11th Edition of "Get Lost! -- The Cool Guide to Amsterdam" (Get Lost Publishing, $14.50, www.getlostguide.com). It reads like advice from a friend -- a literate friend who knows a lot about drugs.

"In the book, we tell them what the locals know," said Cole, 37, breaking off bits of hash and rolling them into a joint while pedestrians outside stroll past the coffee shop window.

For instance, the book explains the difference between a coffeehouse (pot and hash and coffee), a cafe (coffee and food) and a smart shop (plants and herbs that give a high).

The book also gives tips on everything from underground nightclubs to cheap lodging and food to prostitute protocol.

The biggest mistake tourists make, Cole says, is stopping to smoke the strongest joints they can buy before figuring out where their hotel is.

Second biggest mistake? Wandering alone at night in the Red Light, where pickpockets and drug dealers prey on the doped up and the dopes.

Oddly, it's the Red Light District's beauty and central location that confuses visitors into taking less care than they should.

"It's the center of the trash and the tackiness and sleaziness, but it's also the oldest neighborhood in Amsterdam and the most beautiful," says Cole, a Californian who has lived in Amsterdam 15 years.

The scene is changing, however.

The number of coffeehouses and prostitutes are being cut to combat organized crime.

In September, the Dutch government proposed barring foreign tourists from coffeehouses entirely and reducing the amount of pot one can legally buy. That hasn't happened yet, but it's possible in 2010.

Under one proposal, patrons would need a Dutch bank debit card to buy pot.

And get this -- a new health law bans tobacco smoking inside businesses. Patrons now have to hide cigarettes in coffeehouses but not their joints, which are not considered health risks.

Cole can feel Amsterdam becoming more conservative.

"It's very much retro thinking. They're tightening the grips here," said Cole, who also is a drummer, professional stilt walker and father of a toddler. On the other hand, compared with other world cities, Amsterdam remains incredibly liberal.

The book's editor, John Sinclair, wishes he'd had a coffeehouse guidebook when he first went to Amsterdam.

He is best known for his 1960s years as a pot-promoting Ann Arbor, Mich., political activist. He's now a poet, editor and grandfather.

"It usually takes about three to four times there to really know what you're doing," said Sinclair. "We remember going to Amsterdam and not knowing anything."

------

It's not easy for an upstart museum to compete with Amsterdam's famous halls of masterpieces.

But the czars are the stars at Amsterdam's newest museum, the Hermitage Amsterdam, which opened in June.

"At the Russian Court: Palace and Protocol in the Nineteenth Century" is its rapturous first exhibit.

One wing shows the royal Romanov family's daily life -- I mean, if your daily life included shimmering robes and solid silver hairbrushes. (One cool item: Czarina Alexandra's pregnancy dress in striped pink.)

Another wing shows the public face of the royals, including phenomenal gowns, shoes, bags, thrones and jewels.

The main floor showcases opulent ball gowns and men's formal dress displayed in cases that revolve as grand dance music plays. A gimmick? Yes, but it sparks excitement.

To an American, it may seem odd that an ode to the Russian royal family should be showcased in Amsterdam, a city that gained power through the efforts of merchants, not kings. But the Netherlands had a Russian queen in the 1840s -- Anna Pavlovna. And recent arts contacts between the countries sparked interest to open a Hermitage in the Dutch city.

Housed in a 17th-century building that served as a senior citizens home until 2007, the museum is on the Amstel canal near the Magere bridge. Already drawing 3,000 visitors a day, the museum was extremely busy when I visited, but it didn't diminish the pleasure of seeing so enjoyable a show.

This particular exhibit (www.hermitage.nl, admission $21) runs through Jan. 31. After that, two major exhibits per year will be mounted.

Most of the 1,800 items in this Dutch show had been packed away in the vaults of the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia. That museum has 3 million items and can display only 65,000 at a time.

Heaven only knows what other goodies they've got in storage just waiting to make an appearance in Amsterdam.

------

I'm sorry to be such a conventional tourist, but my visit to Amsterdam required windmills, Rembrandt and Anne Frank -- in other words, the classics.

Windmills: I'm not talking about those boring white wind turbines. I'm talking the real thing. From Amsterdam's Centraal Station it was a quick 15-minute train ride to Zaanse Schans (www.zaanseschans.nl) in Zaandam. The historic district has eight of the last working windmills in Holland. One makes paint. One cuts lumber. One mills grain with a thunk, thunk, thunk.

Zaanse Schans also has a tourist-friendly cheese farm, farm animals, shops, little museums and restaurants; I especially liked the Antiek & Curiosa antiques shop for one-of-a-kind souvenirs.

Zaanse Schans is not modern. It's not hip. Tough. I wanted to see it.

Super famous paintings: My highlights? The original of "The Bedroom" by Vincent Van Gogh at the Van Gogh Museum, which contains the world's most amazing and bittersweet collection of the painter's work (www.vangoghmuseum.com, $18 ).

At the Rijksmuseum next door, the stars are "The Nightwatch" by Rembrandt and "The Milkmaid" by Johannes Vermeer -- which I saw two days before they lent it to New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it will hang through Nov. 29.

The Rijksmuseum is undergoing a snail's pace 10-year renovation. The good news is it's crammed the best stuff into a single exhibit so hurried tourists can see highlights quickly (www.rijksmuseum.nl, $15.50).

Anne Frank: From 1942 to 1944, Jewish businessman Otto Frank hid his family in the secret annex of his Amsterdam office building -- until the Gestapo came. His daughter's diary was found after the war and turned into an international best seller.

You'll walk through the Anne Frank House (www.annefrank.org, $12.25) with a lump in your throat. Most moving to me was Anne's bedroom, with its faded magazine movie star photos and little postcards pasted up on the walls, a sign of the young teen she was.

The other thing that got to me? Seeing her original diary with its little red plaid cover.

------

IF YOU GO:

GETTING THERE: From Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport, take one of the frequent trains to Centraal Station, which deposits you in downtown Amsterdam within 20 minutes.

LODGING: Try the Grand Hotel Amrath. It's in a historic building with a pool, free mini-bar and free wireless and is within walking distance of most attractions. (About $260 per night at www.amrathamsterdam.com; Expedia sometimes has deals on this hotel.)

MONEY: The Netherlands uses the euro ($1.45 equals 1 euro). Get the best exchange rate by using a bank card or credit card to withdraw euros at an ATM at Schiphol Airport when you arrive.

GETTING AROUND: Most locals walk or ride a bicycle. Wear good walking shoes for the cobblestone streets or rent a bike from one of the many rental spots.

To get to the big museums or parks in the south of town, use the tram (about $4 per ride; pay on the tram).

The train to Zaanse Schans mentioned in the story, left, is about $19 round-trip.

FOR MORE:

www.iamsterdam.com

www.getlostguide.com

------

Ellen Creager: ecreager@freepress.com

------ © 2009, Detroit Free Press.

Visit the Freep, the World Wide Web site of the Detroit Free Press, at http://www.freep.com.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

Jakarta hit by worst violence in decades - An Excerpt

Photo credit : Oxymanus

Jakarta hit by worst violence in decades
Anne Barrowclough - From: The Times April 15, 2010 2:04PM

HUNDREDS of rioters have clashed with police over a sacred Muslim cleric's tomb in Indonesia, killing two policemen and injuring at least 145.
Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono immediately ordered an investigation into the worst civil unrest for decades in Jakarta, the Indonesian capital, which left one police officer with his hand sliced off.
The riots began over an apparent misunderstanding over the fate of the tomb of Habib Hasan bin Muhammed Al Hadad, a revered 18th century Arab cleric known to Indonesians as Mbah Priok.

Shortly after dawn members of the public order branch of the police, known as Satpol, arrived to evict squatters and remove illegal buildings on the land surrounding the tomb. But residents of Tanjung Priok port, where the tomb is located, believed the police and city officials were there to tear it down and attacked them, spurring running battles that lasted for several hours.
Around 2,600 police and security forces used tear gas, rubber bullets, water cannons and batons to beat back the protesters who retaliated with rocks and petrol bombs.
Television footage showed chaotic scenes. Satpol officers armed with shields and batons were filmed repeatedly beating a resident, while other images showed residents kicking and throwing rocks at an injured police officer lying on the ground.

A reporter said he saw several protesters, including teenagers, being beaten by police and dragged away bleeding.

By nightfall the situation was so tense that 500 security forces had to be evacuated to a nearby police station because leaving by road was seen to be too dangerous. Just after midnight, with the rioters’ numbers swollen to 1000, they attacked and set fire to five police cars parked outside a hospital where the injured had been taken, and patrolled the surrounding hills searching for wounded policemen.
“The mass anger was horrible and beyond our expectation for what was a simple case,” said Jakarta city spokesman Cucu Kurnia. He said seven of the 130 wounded were in critical condition, including a security officer who had his stomach slashed open with a machete and another whose hand was cut off.

Mr Kurnia insisted the officials and police were not there to destroy the tomb.”We did not intend to demolish the tomb, but we want to evict the illegal settlers,” he said.

Both sides blamed the other for the violence. Demonstrators claimed that Satpol officers targeted two teenagers who broke from their ranks, while police claimed the protesters attacked first.

But officals joined protesters in accusing Satpol of excessive violence. Last week, a number of organisations had demanded that the controversial force be disbanded, blaming it for repeated human rights violations.

Mr Kurnia told a news conference that Satpol officers could not restrain themselves after they were attacked. Wanda Hamida, a member of the Jakarta Provincial Legislative council, said that Satpol officers were out of control, even attacking city officials. “If a (council) member can get punched by Satpol, how about the people? Satpol was just so brutal,” Ms Hamida told the Jakarta Globe newspaper.
Local resident Amin told the newspaper he and his father and brother were delivering water to friends guarding the tomb site when they were attacked by police officers. He said first his father was punched and when he tried to protect him he too was attacked. “They pulled off my clothes until I was almost naked. Then they tied a rope around my hands so I could not do anything while they kicked and punched me,” he said.

But other rioters, armed with wooden sticks, beat any wounded police officers they could find in the streets while others searched cars in the area for fugitive police, ordering motorists to show their identity cards.

By early this morning, relative calm had settled over the area.
Mr Yudhoyono has ordered Jakarta’s governor to meet all parties involved and put any evictions on hold until a solution can be reached

____________________________________________________________
Officers strive to polish brutal image

Indah Setiawati , The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Fri, 04/16/2010 10:46 AM | City

The city’s public order officers, widely known as Satpol PP, have long been an unpopular arm of Jakarta’s law enforcement structure.

The force is made up of around 10,000 officers, who are the foot-men tasked with the administration’s dirty jobs, be it cracking down on street vendors, demolishing illegal billboards and buildings, or policing beggars and street musicians.

In the wake of Wednesday’s riot at Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta, these officers again took center stage, only this time they have received wide public sympathy.

Three were killed while another 59 were injured attempting to disperse a crowd of people and clear land owned by the city authority.

Sudi Sastrorejo, 60, said his son-in-law, Urip Widodo, had worked as public order officer for five years.

“Contrary to what people think of Satpol PP, my son-in-law is a good person.

“He always tries to help others and has many friends,” he said of Urip, who was severely injured on Wednesday.

Urip is currently being treated at Tarakan hospital, Central Jakarta.

Sudi said that after five years with the force, his son-in-law was still employed as a contract worker.

Public Order officers come from various background aside from the regular high-school graduates.

They are recruited from pockets of Jakarta’s poorest neighborhoods and all are employed as contract workers rather than permanent civil servants.

The contract-based officers are paid less than Rp 1.2 million a month, while the civil servants who organize the officers and drive the patrol trucks can earn more than Rp 2 million.

“Compared with the job’s risks, it’s not worth it,” said Tomi Chayono, an officer with the Central Jakarta municipality.

Tomi is currently recovering from an injury after he was hit by a motorcycle while chasing a 3-in-1 car jockey.

Higher ranked officers in the squad are usually senior civil servants or retired low-ranking military or police officers.

Senior officer Boman, for example, is a retired Army officer who joined the force in 2000 to supplement his pension and support his family.

Public order officers are no different from other impoverished Jakartans, but the squad has to bear the burden of squashing fellow citizens as part of their duty.

Hambali, who has served the squad for 10 years, voiced the job’s internal conflict.

“When it comes to work, it is a burden on my conscience. It’s a dilemma. The vendors are looking for money to eat, and so am I,” he said.

“But since they don’t comply with the rules, it is my job to put them in order,” Public Order division has a long history, stretching since the Dutch colonial in 1620.

The Dutch established the so called BAILLUW, an agency consisting of policemen who also function as judge and prosecutor handling disputes between the residents.

Yogyakarta was the first to establish Public Order officer Detasemen Polisi Pamong Praja on Oct. 30, 1948. On March 3, 1950 the whole Java and Madura had set up the squad following an enactment of Public Order Agency Law in 1947. (map)

Bangkok's Royal King of Jazz - An Excerpt

Thailand's King - Photo credit : Oxymanus

For six decades, His Majesty the King Bhumibol Adulyadej has inspired, entertained and encouraged the Thai people in countless ways. One of these is through music, and His Majesty’s songs, ranging from jazz to classical to patriotic anthems, have been performed not just in Thailand but internationally by some of the world’s leading musicians and orchestras

On Saturday nights, a group of some 10 professional and amateur musicians, most in their 60s and 70s, gather together at Klai Kangwol Palace by Hua Hin beach for a jazz rendezvous.

These well-seasoned musicians take their time to find their seats, with instruments in hand, lips to the mouthpiece, fingers to the keys, until the band leader looks up, “Ready? …”

Suddenly, as if rejuvenated by the spell of the music, the gray-haired band members come alive with youthful exuberance, adroitly creating sounds as fresh as musicians in their prime.

On the saxophone is none other than 78-year-old HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

Until the wee hours of Sunday morning, the King and his Au Sau Wan Suk Band members fill the sultry air of Hua Hin with smooth jazz from a wide selection of styles — Dixieland, New Orleans, Big Band chart-toppers — sometimes with an interlude of one of the King’s own compositions.

Until his retirement from public performance some two decades ago, the King had awed Thai audiences with cool jazz, then novel to Thai society, in a weekly radio broadcast of concerts from university and public stages that ran from the early 1950s through to the 1970s.

As if a king blowing his sax for the joy of his subjects isn’t remarkable enough, His Majesty also made Thailand internationally famous for his role as a highly-recognized musician, particularly in the jazz world. His name has been listed in jazz websites and jazz encyclopedias, from the esteemed Vienna music academy in Austria to the coveted Yale music school in the US.

Marking the 60th anniversary this year of his first musical composition, the prolific King has produced 48 outstanding pieces ranging from romance to march to ballet suites, in classic, blues, jazz, pop and alma maters. Many of them have become all-time classics including Saeng Tien (Candlelight Blues) Sai Fon (Falling Rain) and Porn Phi Mai (New Year’s Greeting), to name a few. And not only in Thailand, some fine selections of his compositions have reverberated across the globe in prestigious concert halls and informal settings alike as his songs have been included in the albums of some leading jazz musicians and prestigious international orchestras.

THE KING WITH MUSICAL EARS

“To glorify His Majesty’s musical talent isn’t flattery. For, from my professional point of view, the King’s musical talent is genuine,” says a close aide to His Majesty the King, himself a distinguished musician who wishes to maintain anonymity, “He is quite extraordinary as a composer and remarkable as a musician”.

An articulate composer, the self-taught King has developed music-writing skills and become accomplished in this craft. “In his early teenage years in Switzerland, he took private saxophone lessons. The rest – jazz music and song composition – was self-taught through reading and grueling practice. The technique he has developed in music writing is so comprehensive that he could excel in it by producing outstanding works of music. He composes music with a complexity of notes simultaneous with chords, and yet maintains all the requirements of music’s rules. This is a process that only a few song writers could achieve,” says his aide.

“His Majesty’s compositions,’’ he goes on, “are diversi- fied in style and mood. When His Majesty creates a romantic song, it is truly sweet and romantic. But when he produces a march, it is filled with all the bold elements required for this martial style. And both achieve a distinct beauty.”

UNWAVERING DETERMINATION

Nevertheless, what he sees beyond HM the King’s gifts is his unwavering determination. “When the King intends to do anything, he would work hard until he achieves. The same is true in his determination to acquire musical skills,” he says.

This is evident with his mastery of skills that, sometimes, outdoes professional foreign musicians during their jam sessions.

The musician recalls a visit by the Preservation Hall Jazz Band from New Orleans some years back. The impromptu
LEFT TO RIGHT: In the late 1940s, HM the King, who is self-taught, composed music while a student in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Several of HM the King's compositions reflect his love and passion for his vivacious queen.

HM the King was the first Asian composer to receive membership in Die Akademic fur Musik und Darstellende Kunst (The Institute of Music and Arts of the city of Vienna).
CLOCKWISE, FROM LEFT: For over a decade, His Majesty has inspired the public as well as university students with his cool jazz in live performances with Au Sau Wan Suk Band.


His Majesty took the clarinet and jammed with the Dixieland Jazz Band during a reception hosted for him in Hawaii in 1960.

His Majesty the King also performed with the “King of Rock ‘n’ Roll,” Elvis Presley, during His Majesty's visit to the US in 1960.

Echo is among the few songs written by HM the King with English lyrics.
session soared to the height of its thrilling mood so much so that one trumpeter impulsively strode down the bandstand blowing his trumpet. Simultaneously, he heard another trumpet blazing down from the stand. He almost threw his own trumpet away with amazement as the crisp sound from the stand was so powerful and so distinctive. It was His Majesty the King who blew it.

Once, a young clarinetist was impressed by His Majesty’s tremendous power in performance despite his age, and asked his advice in fingering techniques to attain highpitched tones that he could not achieve. His Majesty pointed to his lips saying that it was the strength of the lip muscles, not the fingers, he recalls.

Unlike singers, whose voices may falter with age, outstanding musicians mostly can maintain their performance if they continuously rehearse. His Majesty, he further explains, is dexterous with all wind instruments and excels in all. While in session, he would start with saxophone, switch to clarinet, trumpet and sometimes trombone.

Not so many musicians could switch from woodwind to brass, since they require different techniques and skills. The woodwinds use reeds to make sound, while a brass instrument such as a trumpet doesn’t. Brass instruments use the lips in place of the reeds. The only famous jazz musician who is adroit in both instruments that I know of is the late Benny Carter, he elaborates.

IMPROVISING WITH IDOLS

Over several decades, the King’s Au Sau Wan Suk Band has received such international jazz idols as Benny Goodman, Lionel Hampton, Jack Teagarden, James Moody, Benny Carter, Les Brown, Maynard Ferguson, The Preservative Hall Jazz Band, and many more as guest musicians for impromptu sessions.

It is here with these idols that one can observe the King at his very best. Unlike when he plays with his house band, whose members are mostly amateurs, His Majesty would master his jazz supremacy with all the techniques he has acquired to match with these visitors.

His Majesty’s first encounter with an international jazz idol occurred in 1960 during his state visit to the United States. His two jam sessions with Benny Goodman in New York were reported in Time in its June 18, 1960, edition:

His Majesty went to dinner with the King of Swing, Benny Goodman, (and 94 others) at the suburban estate of New York’s Governor Nelson Rockefeller. For 90 minutes after dinner, King Bhumibol and Benny led a foot-stomping, starch-melting jam session. Next day, the King toted a sax up to the 22nd story roof garden above Benny’s Manhattan House apartment for the fulfillment of a jazzman’s dream.... The King stood them toe-to-toe for two hours, paid his royal respects to The Shiek of Araby (in 17 eardrumming choruses), savoured Honeysuckle Rose, swung low On the Sunny Side of the Street.

In the article The King of Jazz, by Harry Rolnick, published in Sawasdee magazine in 1987, American singer Patti Page described her audience with the King: It was like a dream come true. I had heard about his compositions, but only when I had them in my hands did I see how fine they were....

For two hours,Rolnick reported, she sang the works of His Majesty, with her personal accompanist, while the King made changes when necessary.

The late jazz icon Lionel Hampton was also quoted in the same article as saying: “He is simply the coolest king in the land.”

Recently, the world of jazz has literally recognized the King by putting his name in one of the recent editions of the Encyclopedia of Jazz that came out some four years ago, his close aide says: “If you flip to the B index, you will find his name and a short description of his works. He is the only Thai musician to earn such an honour.”

Back in 1964, he recalls, when HM the King visited Vienna, Austria, for a state visit, he attended a concert where five of his finest pieces, Kinari Suite, Sai Fon, Yam Yen, the Royal Marines March and the Royal Guards March, were performed. Not only was the audience in the concert hall appreciative of HM the King’s compositions but also music lovers across Austria, as the concert was broadcast live on radio.

After the concert, His Majesty received overwhelming accolades with a long standing ovation as the composer. Two days after the concert, he was conferred with the 23rd honourary membership of the world-renowned Die Akademic fur Musik und Darstellende Kunst (The Institute of Music and Arts of the city of Vienna). He was the first Asian composer to receive such an honour.

FROM CLASSICS TO JAZZ

As a school boy in Switzerland, His Majesty received early training in classical music. But saxophone lessons, which later became HM the King’s most favourite instrument, occurred by chance. In the book, Chaonai Lek Lek, Yuwa Kasat, by HRH Princess Galyani Vadhana, the Princess recalled that it was King Ananda who bought a secondhand saxophone for 300 Swiss Francs and intended to take lessons. At the last minute, he changed his mind and sent his younger brother, Prince Bhumibol to the class in his place.

Eventually, King Ananda joined the class with his clarinet. The one-hour, twice-weekly classes with Alsace musician Mr Weybrecht were split into two half-hour classes to accommodate King Ananda on clarinet. For two years the classes continued and often ended with an hour-long trio session with Mr Weybrecht and King Ananda on clarinet and Prince Bhumibol on saxophone.

Despite their classical music training, both King Ananda and Prince Bhumibol were more inspired by the exciting beats of blues and jazz, containing rousing rhythms and freedom of expression. The teenage royals started collecting gramophone recordings of jazz icons with King Ananda preferring Louis Armstrong and Sidney Bechet,while Prince Bhumibol opted for Duke Ellington and Count Basie. King Bhumibol practiced his instruments to the strains of blues and jazz from these recordings. He played along with recordings of Sidney Bechet’s soprano saxophone, Johny Hodges’ alto saxophone and Duke Ellington’s piano.

His Majesty’s favourite instruments are the saxophone, clarinet and trumpet. He also plays guitar and piano.

AN ASPIRING COMPOSER

It was during 1946, when the then18-year-old Prince Bhumibol visited Bangkok, accompanying King Ananda, that his potential in music writing was taken seriously.

Encouraged by King Ananda, the aspiring prince started composing where his heart was the blues. He wrote fragments of scores and showed them to HH Prince Chakrabandhu Bensiri Chakrabandhu, himself a musician, who, in turn, asked the young prince to complete the compositions and offered help with lyric composition.

In April 1946, his first composition was accomplished. It was named Saeng Tien (Candlelight Blues). Soon afterwards, his second composition, Yam Yen (Love at Sundown), rolled out, again with the help of Prince Chakrabandhu on the lyrics. By the time Prince Bhumibol tried his third piece, he smoothed the scores out almost effortlessly within a single day. Sai Fon(Falling Rain) was its name.

Over a span of five decades, the King has created 48 musical numbers. Out of them, five include lyrics and melody by the King himself: Echo, Still on My Mind, Old- Fashioned Melody, No Moon and Dream Island. Two of his compositions were created from lyrics about patriotism: Kwan Fun An Soong Sud (1971) and Rao Su (1976).

Having excellent ears for music and a quick wit, HM the King is admired for his ability to compose a song on the spur of the moment, without any assistance of a musical instrument. “Sometimes, we got music scores on a piece of scrap paper or an envelope with bars and notes on it. When the King was inspired, he would write the melody out of what he heard in his head. Later on, the melody would then be completed with a piano,” the close aide says.

How His Majesty composed the song Rak (Love, 1995) was quite extraordinary, he adds. His Majesty blew his sax while reciting the lyrics. His close aide would write down the notes from what he blew. After finishing, he asked for the rough notes to be completed, after which the arrangement was done.

Alexandra, a song to welcome Princess Alexandra, was written in a similar prompt fashion, upon the visit of the princess in 1959. In “The King of Jazz,” the late former prime minister and musician MR Seni Pramoj recalled the princess's visit: “I remember when we were waiting for Princess Alexandra to arrive. About 20 minutes before the plane landed, His Majesty came over to me with a sheet of music. He had written a welcoming song for Princess Alexandra and he expected me to write a poem to go with the music! Of course with royal command like that, I had no choice but to write it.”

In similar impromptu fashion, Porn Phi Mai (New Year’s Greeting) was swiftly composed on New Year’s Eve, 1951. Wishing to bless his subjects with a song, His Majesty together with Prince Chakrabandhu took turns to alternately compose the melody with a saxophone until its completion that evening. The song became an instant hit and has been played during New Year celebrations for over 50 years.

THE KING’S BANDS

From his early trio sessions in his Alsace teacher’s studio in Switzerland, both King Ananda and the then Prince Bhumibol often took pleasure in musical companionship. During their visit to Thailand in 1946, King Ananda and Prince Bhumibol invited some amateur musicians for casual weekend sessions.

After King Bhumibol ascended the throne and subsequently returned to Switzerland, he continued the pastime by inviting Thai students to join music gatherings both in Switzerland and in Paris.

Upon his return to Thailand for a permanent stay in 1950, he initiated a jazz band and named it “Lai Khram.” The band members included M.L. Vimvathit Rabibadhana, M.C. Waewchakra Chakrabandhu, M.L. Dej Snidvongse, M.C. Kamolsarn Jumbala, M.C. Chumpokbutr Jumbala, M.L. Udom Snidvongse, M.R. Pong-amorn Kridakara, M.R. Seni Pramoj, Surathern Bunnag and M.L. Praphand Snidvongse. The band’s regular singers included M.C. Murathapisek Sonakul and M.C. Kajornchobkitikuna Kitiyakara.

In 1952, His Majesty established a radio station within the Amporn Satharn Palace and named it after the initials of the palace as “Au Sau Amporn Satharn Radio Station.”. Through broadcasting, the dynamic Lai Khram band thrilled its radio audiences with vibrant selections of jazz numbers. It performed along with several bands including the Kaset band under the supervision of HH Prince Chakrabandhu Bensiri Chakrabandhu.

Eventually the Lai Khram band members grew in number. To accommodate them all, His Majesty expanded the band and called it Au Sau Wan Suk (Friday Au Sau). A special characteristic of the band was that His Majesty would join in on its live broadcasts every Friday evening. His Majesty would select music as well as recordings for the programme and encouraged call-in requests. Occasionally, it was His Majesty himself who personally took the calls.

On weekends, the band members would convene at Klai Kangwol Palace for private musical sessions with the King. The fun-filled event sometimes lasted till sunrise as band members marched down the beach with their instruments in the crisp morning breeze to greet the day with their jazz.

Past and present members of the band have included M.R. Seni Pramoj, M.L. Praphand Snidvongse, Uthis Dinakara na Ayudhaya, M.L. Seri Pramoj, M.L. Usni Pramoj, Manrat Srikranond, Dej Thiewthong, Thavorn Yaovakhan, Suvit Ungsavanond, Nondha Buranasomphop, Kavee Angsawanond, Apichitr Sukchand, Uab Hemaratchata, Santhad Tanthanand, Aniruth Thinnakorn na Ayudhaya and Dr Phathorn Srikranond. Singers have included Khunying Savitri Srivisarnvaja, Khunying Chamari Snidvongse na Ayudhaya, Khun Kanda Thammamongkhol, Thanpuying Suvaree Dhepakam and Pallop Suwannamalik.

During the early period of its establishment, the band ventured beyond the radio station and palace boundaries into the public, especially in universities. Apart from playing music for generations of university students, His Majesty also composed alma maters for Chulalongkorn, Thammasat and Kasetsart universities.

Eventually, the Au Sau Wan Suk band gradually faded out of public performance owing to His Majesty’s increasing engagements in rural development projects.

But the band’s jazz spirit is still alive and well. “Our band is still going strong playing regularly with the King,” says Rear Admiral ML Usni Pramoj, a privy councilor and band member. “His Majesty’s arduous tasks have been so overwhelming that we wish the music would help in releasing his stress. For everyone has to have a way to relax. And music is one of the best. We are so honoured to have the chance to serve him.”

Not only did His Majesty become an inspiration for professional musicians, but a mentor for those amateurs working in different fields. In 1986 His Majesty gathered those working with him in several rural development projects, including agriculturists, volunteer doctors, court of- ficials, aides and security officers to form a brass band, naming it “Sahai Pattana” (Development Friends). Instead of exercising as routinely scheduled, His Majesty sacrificed his evening hours to train the brass band members, with Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn first on the list.

THE MAESTRO

A maestro in his own right, the septuagenarian King has been lauded for his role not only as a great king but also a great musician. His splendid music legacy has left its mark on numerous albums both locally and internationally.

“Jack Teagarden asked royal permission to include a royal composition on his album. So did the Les Brown Big Band, which asked for six compositions, as well as the Claude Bolling Big Band from France and Ted Peace,” says his close aide.

Already, a committee has been set up to screen requests for public performance and recordings of the King’s compositions. “In the past, there were those who inadvertently adapted or changed the King’s compositions, which is inappropriate,” says the musician. “They should respect that anyone who composes does not wish to have their pieces rewritten. The committee, therefore, is set to screen and approve requests.”

Although the King’s latest composition, his 48th, called Menu Kai (Egg Menu) came out in 1995, he believes that it would not be the last. “I think the King is still working on his compositions. And more will be coming out to the public.”

By Hua Hin beach on Saturday nights, the indomitable music maestro still serenades his modest audience. The strains of his sax have “echoed” throughout the country, entertaining millions of his subjects, from the past to the present, who have heard and appreciated their King’s compassion through his music.

As one of his English-language compositions, Echo, goes:

“Of it is nothing left
But the echo
Though time is unforgiving
I know
Our love will
Linger on
For eternity”

Oxymanus : Echo is a very beautiful song indeed !!!!!!!! Please listen .


Note : Article was published in the Bangkok Post on January 20, 2006 on the ocassion of His Majesty's 60 years of ascension to the Thai Royal throne.

14 Ways To Get Free Money....... American Style - An Excerpt

Famed economist Milton Friedman once said "There's no such thing as a free lunch." Personal finance experts Ken and Daria Dolan of Dolans.com love Milt, but are going to disagree with him on this one. In fact, today they are going to show you 14 ways to get your hands on free money. You read that right, free. To take advantage of any of the tips outlined here, the only price you'll have to pay is some legwork.

1) Free Money: Unclaimed Funds
According to the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators (NAUPA), one out of eight people in the U.S. have unclaimed assets ... with average claims of $1,000! If you have a 1 in 8 chance of getting some free bucks, isn't that worth exploring? Anything from a forgotten bank savings account you had as a kid to a utility bill deposit from a long-ago rental may still be waiting for you to an inheritance from a long lost relative. Most unclaimed assets are turned over to state governments until they're claimed or until a certain number of years pass ... so get a move on! Visit www.unclaimed.org to start your state search, or write to your state treasurer directly.

2)Free Money: College Scholarships
If your child or grandchild is about to enter college, be sure not to miss free money in the form of scholarships. That's free money you don't want to miss! College scholarships can be as little as $500 or as high as tens of thousands. It's free money, so apply for every scholarship you can find! Even small scholarships add up, so be sure to contact local organizations such as the Rotary Club and women's civic organizations. Free online services such as www.Fastweb.com offer a ton of sources for finding scholarships for which your child may qualify. Also, be sure to check with your child's high school (as well as his top college picks) for even more scholarship opportunities.

3) Free Money: 401(k) Matching Funds

Your boss may not have given you a raise this year, but he still might give you some free money. If your employer offers 401(k) matching contributions, you're getting just that! So, if you are lucky enough to still have 401(k) matching (many employers have cut this benefit during this recession) be sure you are enrolled, and be sure you contribute the maximum amount they will match. Otherwise, you're missing out on free money every year--money that will grow exponentially over the years and that you can enjoy once you retire.

4) Free Money: Rewards Programs

There's hardly a store you can go into these days that doesn't ask you to join its reward program. Sometimes they come in the form of "tickets" that the merchant stamps or punches each time you make a purchase. Once you've gotten so many punches, you earn a free something. Others let you earn points for every dollar you spend, then let you redeem the points for free stuff. Rewards clubs are offered on everything from movie theaters to restaurants to retail stores. Sign up and earn some freebies every time you spend.

5) Free Money: Credit Card Incentives

Credit cards are worse than banks these days when it comes to "nickel and diming" you to death. So, let's turn the tables on them for a change and talk about how you can get some free money from your credit card company. While some rebate programs are getting stingier as credit standards tighten, there are still some very attractive cash-back (free money!) cards worth checking out. Examples include American Express' Blue Cash program, which can earn you up to 5% back on everyday purchases such as groceries and gasoline and Discover card, which pays you cash back on every purchase.

6)Free Money: With a "Thank You"

Another way to get free money from your credit card company and other places with which you do business is to sign up for the Thank You Network (www.thankyou.com). You earn points for every dollar you spend with participating credit cards and retailers, such as Citibank, Expedia and more. You then use those points to buy things on the Thank You Network. You can "buy" everything from an iPod to office equipment to a $100 gift card to your favorite retailer (like Barnes & Noble, Gap and Home Depot to name a few). Free money! What's not to like?

7)Free Money: Government Grants
There's been a lot of talk about government grants during these days. Much of it is rubbish or flat out scams, but there are opportunities to lock up some free grant money if you know where to look. These are NOT federal assistance nor are they loans. (You don't have to pay them back.) A grant is simply an award given to an individual or organization that will have a public benefit. For example, business grants can help support small businesses, which in turn can help the economy as a whole. There are 26 federal agencies that offer over a thousand grant programs in areas such as the arts, energy, health, business, housing and more. There are also a number of non-profits and charities that offer grants and assistance.

8)Free Money: Housing Grants
There are billions of dollars in housing grants offered including those aimed at helping first-time homebuyers, low-income renters and those with poor credit. Home renovations are also often subsidized by housing grants. Currently, there are grants to cover replacement costs for heating and cooling repairs in your home. There are other grants available for weatherization and even energy-related home repairs. Find out more at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development web site at www.hud.gov. While HUD does not directly offer grants to individuals, it works with local governments and other organizations to assist individuals in finding grants and other assistance.

9)Free Money: Grants for Women

There are grants aplenty targeted at helping women with a variety of needs. For example, there are grants for women who want to get a college degree or start a business. There are even some that will help subsidize a lower-income household. Some grants are modest (e.g. the Amber Grant's $500) while others offer awards in the tens of thousands -- the latter of which are most common for women-owned businesses.

10)Free Money: "Green" Grants.

It's no secret: Green is "in!" And, thanks to federal money reserved for renewable energy, in an effort to decrease national energy consumption, there is "green" grant money to be had for both small and large businesses ... as well as individuals. These grants are designed to help offset the costs of installing renewable energy systems. For example, if you're a homeowner and are about to convert your hot water heating system into a solar-powered one, you may very well qualify for a green grant. The exact amounts of these types of grants vary from state to state; but generally speaking, the grant can cover 50% -- and sometimes more -- of total project costs.

11)Free Money: Personal Grants
If you're the head of a family in need, then a personal grant may be for you. So far in 2009, more than $160 million in federal grant money has provided temporary assistance to struggling families. Funds can help with childcare expenses and even utility bills and groceries. Personal grants are generally awarded through your local, state or federal government branches, but can sometimes be found through private organizations. Be sure to check out www.govbenefits.gov for more information on government grants, along with benefits and assistance programs to help needy families.

12)Free Money: Health grants
If you're struggling to pay for healthcare due to a lack of sufficient health insurance, you may qualify for a health grant to cover your medical costs. A health or medical grant can help cover a myriad of expenses -- from hearing aids and eye glasses to dental work and even prosthetics. Grant amounts can run from $5,000 to $500,000. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) manages over 300 grant programs. These programs cover medical costs, transportation, at-home services and even Medicare and Medicaid costs for the elderly and needy. Check out www.hhs.gov for more info.

13)Free Money: Grants for Minorities

You may be eligible to receive a grant based on your ethnic background. These grants mainly offer scholarship-type funds, but there are also others available for those starting a new business. The top ones include the United Negro College Fund for African Americans, the Hispanic Scholarship Fund Institute for Latin-Americans, and the Tribal Colleges Education Equity Grant for Native Americans.

14)Free Money: Business Grants

In 2008, more than $100 million in grant money went to small businesses. You may qualify for a business grant simply if you want to locate your business in a small town. Your may qualify if you want to start a business in an area that needs an economic push. You may qualify if your business employs the disabled. The list goes on and on.Search www.grants.gov for any "hidden" -- AND FREE -- funds that could be available to you right now!


NOW YOU CAN LAUGH YOUR WAY TO THE BANK !!!!!!

INTERVIEWS - an excerpt

Celine Dion Shares Her 'World' in New Documentary + Exclusive Video
By Jessica Robertson Posted Apr 15th 2010 11:02AM

Celine DionExclusive: It's an early Tuesday morning when Celine Dion picks up the phone at her Florida home. Her voice is instantly perky, bathed in her trademark pronounced French Canadian accent. It's a mere three weeks away from the release Dion's documentary 'Celine: Through the Eyes of the World,' which chronicles the mutliplatinum, Grammy-winning singer's 2008 'Taking Chances' world tour with three hours of backstage, onstage and offstage footage. It's a welcome insight into Dion's universe, which is as big and ever-possible as her voice. And, that's to say, seemingly infinite. Dion spoke with PopEater about the film, her biggest transformation and what almost turned out to be her own personal 'Titanic.'

You just turned 42. How did you celebrate your birthday?
Actually, [it was] pretty intimate. It was very relaxed, which is great. The last one, on tour when I turned 40, it was a big thing. You know, I was in Australia with a lot of people, on top of the world, so it was quite something. And 41, I'm not sure that I remember. [Laughs] But this time, 42 was just with the family -- we were, maybe, 10 people. My mom was here, my son [Rene-Charles, 9], my husband [Rene Angelil], some friends and a few members of my family who happened to be in Florida at the time. It was just a little brunch, very simple. Just perfect.

The simple ones are often the best ones.
It's true. Because you have time to talk and listen and share. When it's very very big, it's overwhelming sometimes. I'm not saying that it's not fun, but all the time, the same thing, it would be too much.

You're releasing your first tour documentary, titled 'Celine: Through the Eyes of the World,' in a couple of weeks, which chronicles your recent 'Taking Chances' tour. What can fans expect from this footage?
It was quite an amazing adventure -- traveling the world. It was very different this time for me to do this tour, for a few different reasons, actually, because there's places that I have never been before -- for example, South Africa, Dubai, Malaysia. That was very very exciting. And [to have] my son on tour with me, and also my mother -- it was a family adventure. As an artist, it was extraordinary to be able to visit and see my fans again. And at the same time, to make, on top of that, the best of it and see the world and see treasures and see beauty -- just see the different ways of living and cultures. It was just so nourishing, you learn so much. We grew. Everyone from this tour grew tremendously.


Was it difficult to embark on the tour given you had just wrapped a five-year stint in Las Vegas?
At first we went away with this idea of touring even though I just finished the five years in Vegas. It was a kind of crazy thing -- to go on tour. But I guess it was for the momentum, and I didn't want to postpone. I don't have a tendency to postpone things when they are presented to me, especially when it involves different people -- for example, my mom. No one's getting younger and I really wanted [my mom] to come. We wanted to bring a photographer and a crew, just for us to bring home memories -- to put a little music together and once in a while to have a night of giving ourselves a movie to watch. To say, "Oh, do you remember this?" and "Oh, look at this picture, look at us."

It was kind of ... not intimidating but, you know, a camera crew and photographer taking pictures constantly, you kind of hold back a little bit. But I also have to tell you that it didn't take us very long to feel very comfortable because we became friends and they became part of every move that we were making. I really think that that's why this thing worked because we forgot that they were there and we also knew that this thing was going to stay private. So everything was extremely natural. There's our arguments, there's tension, people get sick, cancel shows, we meet extravagant people, there's ups and downs. They decided that the footage was so good that maybe it was going to be a good idea, if we wanted to, to share it with the fans. To give the fans an opportunity to feel like they're traveling with us, not only for them to see the performance onstage but especially ... I'm sure the fans who are following an artist's career, they're curious about how it is to be on the plane with them, how it is to be at a restaurant with them. We decided to get them a VIP pass, in a way.

They decided to put the movie in theaters for two weeks. And I have to admit that even though we were all in the movie -- it was our movie, our life for a year, our experience with traveling -- when I went to the movie theater and you see yourself, and you see your adventure on a big screen, it's incredible. I laughed, I cried, I remembered things that honestly I had almost forgotten. It was such a treasure. You see my family, you see my hard work, you see the love that I have for the family, for the people that I appreciate in my life that really help me to achieve and to be who I am. You see the world.

Is there one memory in particular, be it with your mother or son, that stands out from the rest of the tour?
Just one moment? Oh, my God ... they had, like, I think 1,000 hours of movies and they just skipped to three hours. You know when we do the safari and my son's eyes are bigger than any tiger you can see ... when my son's starting to lose his baby teeth and celebrating my mom's birthday all together. We don't even remember we're at the end of the world. I think we were in Australia at that time. It was very emotional meeting Mr. [Nelson] Mandela -- meeting with him and my mom, because my mom is my hero and Mr. Mandela is a hero as well. It was just intense. Everything was intense.

You mentioned your five-year residency in Las Vegas with performances every night, and you'll be returning to Sin City in 2011. What was the most rewarding part of that experience for you?
At first, to be given the opportunity as a singer to have an incredible show, to have a coliseum built specifically for the show, the biggest screen in the world, the best dancers. I mean, there were, like, 40-something dancers onstage performing every night -- an amazing visual, theatrical show directed by Franco Dragone, who's done such amazing work with Cirque du Soleil. It was amazing to believe that every single night you sing the same songs and 10 minutes before the show you don't believe that you're about to do the same thing again, and it's like, "Oh, my God," you know? But then the show starts and it's magic again. Obviously, I love what I do -- you have to love what you do. But the magic of show business itself -- knowing that you're surrounded with the best people and people still come night after night to see our show.

Did you have any hesitations taking on a production of such stature and duration?
When we started that show, it was, in a way, against all odds because I thought that, if I may phrase it this way, that the Titanic was going to sink again. I remember before the Titanic came on, the vibe was so negative and so like, "Oh, my God, it's going to be bad." I felt that in Vegas the feeling was not that positive -- I thought that I was going to break my neck, I was having a lot of stress, I was touring the world and now I'm going to be in Las Vegas, and they were like, "What is she doing?" It was a little bit nerve-wracking, but a few months prior to the show, we focused and we followed our instincts and believed in what we were working on. We felt like it was the greatest thing for us. It turned out to be an amazing experience onstage and, at the same time, stability for my family. I just had a baby and we moved to Vegas. He was a year-and-a-half old and I was going to perform every night, and for me to return home every night was a big deal. I never had that before. I had been on the road since I was very, very young. So for me to have a home for five years straight sounds pretty strange maybe, even though I'm performing every night, but I'm still sleeping on the same pillow. It was a big deal to return to my son, which he was really taken care of by my sister Linda, who's the godmother, and her husband, Alain, who's the godfather. I knew that I could go on and do my singing, knowing that the child could have stability, his home, his security -- feeling safe was very essential for me to go on. And it was a perfect experience because I could raise my family, play and have a normal life, if I may say, and feel like a normal mom.

How has being a mother changed you as a person?
Totally. It's not that it transforms you -- it gives you a meaning. I was just, all my life, very focused in serving my voice. When I had my son, it gave me a meaning of, like, this is the best reward that I can ever have. What a great feeling that I feel -- I felt big, I felt strong, rewarded ... I felt like I had such a responsibility. Singing is such a pleasure and it's so fun, but it's not important. Raising a child is extremely important, it's the biggest responsibility you can ever have. He needed me, and I was making a difference in his life, and it made me feel so wonderful. It was so amazing when I gave birth to my son that I didn't want to come back to show business. I loved being a mom so much that I did not want to sing again. I didn't feel the need to. And until I had the spirit that, when he was a year-and-a-half and I wanted to sing in Las Vegas and I could do both -- it was possible to do both -- then it was incredible. It was a balance, it was beautiful.

You mentioned you've been singing and touring since you were 12. Is there any part of you that feels you may have missed out on the adolescent experience?
Well, you talk about normal life -- I'm not quite sure what normal is anymore. The first thing that's not normal, I think, is that I did not go to school until I was, like, 18 years old, for example. I stopped going to school at a very young age, then I took some private school and then I stopped for my career. So that was different and unusual, but it worked for me. I didn't really have friends ... I was very, very focused on my singing and I took singing lessons, still today. I just totally focused on my career and detached myself of any activity or boyfriends or anything. I had my family obviously, thank God, and I had my career that I was focusing on. I went to school to learn English, to even be more busy, and start singing in English and be fortunate with this language, as well. Then I was always extremely busy and active in the music industry. So time flew and I'm 42 now, and it's just ... time just passed so quick. But if I look at a normal teenager -- not that I'm not normal -- but a different life of a teenager who goes to school and has to look for a job and hopefully realized their passion and do what they love, maybe they will start doing that by the age of 23 or 25 or who knows. To start a career at 12 years old is quite unusual, but I don't regret anything.

Many would say your life, up to this point, has been very much a fairy tale. Could you possibly want for more? What is it that you want for the future?
Ooh -- I think I just want to be where I am today. I love my life. I am extremely fortunate. I hope to remain healthy, that would be the main thing. My health will bring me wherever I'm supposed to be. I keep dreaming. I'm positive, I take one thing at a time, I have my wonderful husband and my beautiful son and my entire family -- we're very close -- and honestly there's nothing else for me to wish for. I want to be, in 10 years, exactly where I am today: healthy and happy.



________________________________________________________



Interviews : Talking Cyber-Security With Homeland Security Advisor (and Former Hacker) Jeff Moss

by Jon Chase — Apr 13th 2010 at 2:50PM

To get a look at the world of cyber-security from an insider, Switched turned to noted and notorious hacker Jeff Moss, a.k.a Dark Tangent. Moss got his start hacking the phone system before founding DefCon, the long-running annual hacker convention in Las Vegas, in 1992. He then took his l337 skillz to big industry by founding the network security consultancy firm Black Hat. Moss's descent into respectability was completed in 2009 when the Obama administration hired him as an advisor to the Department of Homeland Security.

What exactly does your government gig as an advisor entail?

I'm one of 24 members of the council. In the post-9/11 world an act was passed that imposed advisory councils on various aspects of Homeland Security to prevent groupthink and provide an outside opinion to the secretary or other people who want it. Apparently, the different Homeland Secretaries have used the councils in different ways. Tom Ridge used the advisory council a lot, the previous secretary used them less, the current secretary is using them more. But because cyber is on the mind of pretty much everybody now, everyone has a question or an interest.

If you were to ask a techie what the government's handle is on cyber-security they'd say we're way behind the ball. Have you found that to be true?

Actually I was surprised by how many more smart people I've run into that I didn't believe existed in government. Some of them are really amazing, like the chairman of our committee, Judge William Webster. He's a living legend. He's the only person to have been director of both the CIA and the FBI, and also worked at the NSA. His breadth and depth of experience is just... cool. Through inference I had assumed there must be this big bureaucratic layer somewhere that just slows everything down but I haven't found that yet. I know it exists but I haven't found it. What I've found instead is a lot of legal barriers that are out of the control of everyone's hands except different committees in Congress.

So what are the central security issues our country faces?

We're dealing with a structure that's not designed well to fight cyber-crime. And that's the same thing with a lot of other communications and privacy laws. You can see this fight going on right now on U.S. cyber command in the military. Is it a war-fighting thing, or is an intelligence thing? And people use that today to talk about bigger issues like who really is in charge of cyber-security.

When we go to war there's a very clear chain of command and processes that have to take place. So what is the US policy in terms of cyber-warfare or taking offensive action using the 'Net?

I'm not a policy maker, but as far as I can tell, cyber is just another component of the different military domains -- air, sea, land. You have this emerging domain but it's unclear if it will be its own, or if it'll be sprinkled on top of all the other branches of the military: the Army, Air Force, Navy and Marines. If it's a war function, it's very clearly under the control of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the President. The thing that's different with a cyber act is that we haven't figured out what is considered an act of war and what isn't. I have a feeling that until there's a loss of life, it'll remain that way.

So what is the state of the union, as it were?

During the Cold War we weren't shooting at each other with the Russians; there was all this covert action and spy versus spy activity. So that's where we currently are as well, everybody is spying on everyone else and stealing and robbing from each other. It's like two big buckets: organized crime wants your money and nation-states want the secrets. They go about it differently though. Organized crime doesn't really care if they get noticed because good luck finding them, and the attack model doesn't need them to stay in place for months at a time -- they get in, get as much money as they can and get out.

On the nation-state side, they're pretty much after secrets. It's a bit different because they don't want a political blow-out, unlike organized criminals who don't care if there's a front page story in the New York Times. There's no embassy to protest to. But if you're a nation-state that is spying, you don't want to cause a lot of drama. During the Cold War there were all sorts of handshake agreements where you'd trade spies if they got caught, a sort of gentleman's agreement about what you do and don't do. That doesn't seem to exist in the cyber version of spying. That stuff hasn't been sorted out. It's only been recently, when Google announced the spying in China, that we started this debate on a grander scale.

Because enterprise doesn't want customers to think that their business in trouble?

Or because they want to do business in China. Adobe admitted briefly that they had been attacked, but out of all the other 30-plus odd companies that were affected, none have come forward and identified themselves. There must be a reason why they're doing that. This started a much-needed debate.

You think it really was a watershed moment?

Yeah, until now it's been ten years of security guys standing around saying, "Yup, this is just what is happening, it's happening all the time, everybody knows it's happening and it's not a big deal." It wasn't something talked about in the newspaper or on the radar of politicians. It took an American icon, a powerhouse tech company, to stand up and do something and [now] it's on everybody's thoughts.

In terms of state of the union then you're saying the Internet is fundamentally flawed right now?

Well, I mean it's not flawed, it's doing exactly what it was designed to do, it's just people are now using it for different purposes. It wasn't designed as an e-commerce or entertainment platform -- it was an academic collaboration platform. You find out the Internet works very well for carrying information, but it's just not doing a fantastic job of moving credit card data in a secure fashion. It's basically impossible to get 100-percent attribution, 100-percent knowability of who is attacking you.

How difficult is it going to be to change that? Is that the Internet's legacy forever or do we need to create a start over and create a separate Internet?

I mean everybody in the industry is painfully aware of all the shortcomings and there's a million security vendors trying to sell you a million bells and whistles to fix whatever particular ailment there is that day. But fundamentally, out of the big architectural issues, a secure DNS (Domain Name System, or the 'code' that translates binary to text) is the most visible. We must fix the DNS to be more secure. That doesn't solve everything, but it's something that's important and moving forward rapidly. By rapidly, I mean it it'll be probably five to six years before it's widespread.

How hard is it to get the attention these problems deserve?

I don't know about other countries but the U.S. generally learns through pain. You know, you get bombed in WWII and you go "Oh, I guess we're at war." It's that same mentality that's hindering us in the electronic age.

So the public and the government and industry are still in a learning, childhood stage.

Everything is hooked up to the Internet. It's so complicated and has so many interdependencies nobody really knows how it works. For instance, what happens if a DNS stops working for a day? What does that affect? Maybe I can't go to my Web site. But would your voice telephone still works, and would you still be able to book an airline ticket if you called up a travel agent? Would you be able to process a credit card at the grocery? I mean everyone's built a million systems differently that plug into the Internet one way or another, so you have all these complex interactions. A lightning strike in Texas might make things stop in California.

Do you think the market will change things or is government regulation the future of the Internet?

Unfortunately, I think regulation is. I'm not a fan, but years ago people were suggesting that what's going to happen is that, at some point in the future when there's enough money, the insurance companies will get involved because some company will get broken into and they'll have all these losses and the insurance companies will say we're not going to insure you unless you do X, follow these best practices and follow this checklist. Now that doesn't mean they're secure, it just means processors follow guidelines. Well, people expected the same thing to happen with insurance, where through normal market forces if you want to do something risky, your insurance premiums would go up. But that never happened. I've never heard someone say, "I have to install a security upgrade or else my rates will go up." That was supposedly our last gasp, because if insurance doesn't work, that only leaves regulation. Insurance didn't work, so now we're in the regulation phase.

Is there an Achilles heel of the Internet we all should we worried about until things get fixed?

Hmm. [Pauses] Poke around with anything enough and you can cause a problem, but I don't want to give a recipe for what to attack.
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'Top Chef Master' Marcus Samuelsson Talks Reality TV, Cooking at the White House and More

By Lauren Williams on Apr 13th 2010 5:16PM

Celebrity chef Marcus Samuelsson's career is like a celebration of culinary diversity. Whether he's wowing New York food critics at his Swedish restaurant Aquavit, promoting African cuisine in his award-winning cookbook, 'The Soul of a New Cuisine' or acting as guest chef at the Obamas' first White House state dinner, the Ethopian-born, Swedish-raised chef shows his reverence for the tastes and flavors of the world's diverse food culture. He's bringing this worldly food philosophy to the latest season of Bravo's 'Top Chef Masters.' Samuelson took some time to chat with Black Voices about being on the show, what it was like cooking at the White House and stress-free entertaining.

As a young chef starting out, did you ever see yourself competing on television?

The reality is that when I started out as an intern in the late '80s, the cooking industry had different dimensions and internet and television weren't as strong as they are now. Internet didn't exist. So if you wanted to be a chef, you worked in a restaurant, and that's your way up. Today there are so many other platforms. So no, I didn't envision it, but i think it's important that you are flexible enough and curious enough to change with the times.

As "masters," you and your competitors are at the top of your field. But did being on 'Top Chef Masters' ever make you feel like a novice again?

Absolutely. It's very humbling, because every situation is different. You're cooking in front of judges, not in front of customers, and cooking in front of 25 different cameras. That's new for anybody. But I think that's great about the'Top Chef Masters' contest. You're putting yourself out there, and part of the experience is to learn. I learned a lot.

On 'Top Chef Masters,' you play for charity instead of cash prizes. What charity did you choose?

UNICEF's Tap Project. It's very personal to me. It's clean water. Clean and clear water. For me, coming from Ethiopia, we did not have clean or clear water in the village where I'm from. So it was easy for me to find a charity I wanted to work for.

What food philosophy did you bring to the show?

America is the most diverse cooking country in the world, and me being an immigrant and loving diversity, you know I brought that to the challenge. I think that its important to, when you're not cooking in a restaurant setting, to be flexible and have a wide repertoire to go to. The diversity has helped me.

What's next for you after the show?

This fall [after Labor Day], I'm opening the Red Rooster. It's an exciting time in my life to open a restaurant in Harlem. I live in Harlem, and it's something I've always wanted to do. Harlem is known for Sylvia's, but i think it's time for a new great restaurant in Harlem. It will be a speakeasy basement. A farm-to-table approach with the food It's going to be an affordable restaurant with a big bar. We'll focus on some food dishes you might think about when you're in Harlem and also some new dishes you might not think about. Some surprises.

Last fall, you were selected to be the guest chef at the first White House State dinner. What was that like?

It was fantastic, obviously, because it was their first state dinner, and there was a lot at stake. And it was also honoring the prime minister of India, which is a big food country, so that inspired me a lot. [I was inspired by] what the first lady had thought about in terms of her gardens and her vision of fresh food. She's out there every day talking about food and freshness and moving for kids, and so my menu reflected India, reflected the First Lady's thoughts, reflected America, and those were all of the things I put into that state dinner. And I was very proud to carry that torch that was important for them.

From cooking for the President and other dignitaries to pleasing guests at your restaurants, you must know a bit about the art of entertaining. What can you share?

First you have to think about how would you like to entertain yourself, whether it's for a state dinner or not. You walways want to think about who you're entertaining. Is it their 50th bday party? Is it their retirement party? You want to say, who is the guest of honor? And then what does he like? What does she like? Once you establish that, you want to think about yourself. Am I going to be bogged down in the kitchen all day or am I going to plan the dinner out so that I can participate in the party. As a host, it's important that you're also there talking to your guests, talking to your friends. Make yourself available.

Do you entertain a lot? What do you make for your guests?

Me and my wife [model Maya Haile] entertain a lot in Harlem. We have a big grill outdoors and a big patio, and we love cooking outside. Maybe we do fish burgers on the grill or maybe my wife does an Ethiopian chicken dish. I love just cooking outside and buying whatever in season, getting a nice rub or marinade and just putting something on the grill. Eating just really fresh. When you're cooking outside, you don't have to put that much labor into it, because it's all about getting together and eating fresh food.

Note :
Chef Marcus Samuelsson, owner of many restaurants, including Aquavit in New York, Tokyo, and Stockholm (he was born in Ethopia, orphaned as an infant, and adopted by a family in Sweden).