2016 Nobel Prize In Literature Awarded To Bob Dylan

 

STOCKHOLM, Oct 13 (Reuters) - Bob Dylan, regarded as the voice of a generation for his influential songs from the 1960s onwards, has won the Nobel Prize for Literature in a surprise decision that made him the only singer-songwriter to win the award.

The 75-year-old Dylan - who won the prize for “having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition” - now finds himself in the company of Winston Churchill, Thomas Mann and Rudyard Kipling as Nobel laureates.

The announcement was met with gasps in Stockholm’s stately Royal Academy hall, followed - unusually - by some laughter.

Dylan’s songs, such as “Blowin’ in the Wind,” “The Times They Are a-Changin’,” “Subterranean Homesick Blues” and “Like a Rolling Stone” captured a spirit of rebellion, dissent and independence.

More than 50 years on, Dylan is still writing songs and is often on tour, performing his dense poetic lyrics, sung in a sometimes rasping voice that has been ridiculed by detractors.

Some lyrics have resonated for decades.

“Blowin’ in the Wind,” written in 1962, was considered one of the most eloquent folk songs of all time. “The Times They Are A-Changin’,” in which Dylan told Americans “your sons and your daughters are beyond your command,” was an anthem of the civil rights movement and Vietnam War protests.

Awarding the 8 million Swedish crown ($930,000) prize, the Swedish Academy said: “Dylan has the status of an icon. His influence on contemporary music is profound.”

Swedish Academy member Per Wastberg said: “He is probably the greatest living poet.”

Asked if he thought Dylan’s Nobel lecture - traditionally given by the laureate in Stockholm later in the year - would be a concert, replied: “Let’s hope so.”

Over the years, not everyone has agreed that Dylan was a poet of the first order. Novelist Norman Mailer countered: “If Dylan’s a poet, I’m a basketball player.”

Sara Danius, Permanent Secretary of the Nobel Academy, told a news conference there was “great unity” in the panel’s decision to give Dylan the prize.

Dylan has always been an enigmatic figure. He went into seclusion for months after a motorcycle crash in 1966, leading to stories that he had cracked under the pressure of his new celebrity.

He was born into a Jewish family but in the late 1970s converted to born-again Christianity and later said he followed no organized religion. At another point in his life, Dylan took up boxing.

Dylan’s spokesman, Elliott Mintz, declined immediate comment when reached by phone, citing the early hour in Los Angeles, where it was 3 a.m. at the time of the announcement. Dylan was due to give a concert in Las Vegas on Thursday evening.

Literature was the last of this year’s Nobel prizes to be awarded. The prize is named after dynamite inventor Alfred Nobel and has been awarded since 1901 for achievements in science, literature and peace in accordance with his will. 

Article by The Huffington Post. Read it Here

You may not have heard of Michiyo Yasuda, but you know her work

 

Michiyo Yasuda, the artist who coloured some of Studio Ghibli's greatest films, has died at the age of 77.

She worked with iconic animator Hayao Miyazaki on 13 animated productions including My Neighbour Totoro and Howl's Moving Castle.

Her work helped Spirited Away win best animated feature at the 2003 Oscars.

She retired in 2008 but returned to work with Studio Ghibli on 2013's historical drama, The Wind Rises.

Yasuda first worked with Hayao Miyazaki in 1968 on The Great Adventure of Horus, Prince of the Sun, when the two were employed by Japanese animation studio Toei Doga.

Hayao Miyazaki founded Studio Ghibli in 1985 and Michiyo worked with the company from the start, leading the studio's colour department.

Ghibli has been celebrated for using hand-drawn elements in their productions, long after digital animation became the norm in animation (although their movies have been coloured digitally).

She spoke of her admiration for Hayao Miyazaki in 2009, shortly after the release of Ponyo, a Ghibli re-telling of The Little Mermaid.

"I have respected Mr Miyazaki since our days at Toei Doga, and I have always loved his way of thinking," she told The LA Times.

"Colour has a meaning and it makes the film more easily understood. Colours and pictures can enhance what the situation is on screen."

She was responsible for bringing characters such as Chihiro (the lost little girl in Spirited Away), Kiki (the optimistic young witch in Kiki's Delivery Service) and the iconic Totoro (My Neighbour Totoro) to life on screen.

Totoro became the logo for Studio Ghibli and even made a cameo appearance in Disney's Toy Story 3.

Her work on Spirited Away was praised in 2002 by US film critic Roger Ebert, who said the film was "A pleasure to regard, with its subtle use of colours, clear lines, rich detail and its realistic depiction of fantastical elements."

She also worked on critically acclaimed 1988 war movie, Grave Of The Fireflies, widely considered one of the most emotional animated movies ever made.

In 2007, The Colour Artisan of Animation, a book about Michiyo's work was published in Japan, celebrating her career.

Fans of Studio Ghibli movies have been paying tribute on Twitter.

Original Article by: By Michael Baggs for Newsbeat 

Read it Here

Defining Psychopaths-Hannibal Lecter, Series VS Movies VS Books

Oh Please, If you love Penny Dreadful and Dexter you know exactly how satisfying this gif is.

I tried to make sense of why I was so obsessed with Hannibal, But, I couldn’t. There was always fuss about the comparison. Is the movie better than the book? Or was the book better than the Television series?  Or movie being better than both the books and the Television series? So what did I do to see the difference? I watched the movie, and I read the book.

Silence of the Lambs, the movie, was unusually faithful to the book.  Dozens of lines of dialogue were right away lifted from the book; many of the best ones, in fact.  The screenplay was also skillfully modified, since almost every change in the movie was a development on what was in the book, and things that were polished over in the movie were things that the book defined in more detail than we really needed to know.

The film contains less description than the book, of course. But here is the main story-line; So Dr. Hannibal Lecter is approached by a young cadet with tortured past about an interview, which is later revealed to be part of an investigation regarding a serial killer that skins his victims. During their encounters, Hannibal gets fond of Clarice Starling, cadet and with a main saying, ‘Quid Pro Quo’ he offers Clarice a chance to capture the Buffalo Bill, the serial killer. Using the details provided by Lecter, Clarice guesses that Buffalo Bill considers himself a transgender (when he isn’t) and is creating a "woman suit" because he craves their skin. Clarice figures out that he knew his first target, Francesca Bimmel, and then travels to Ohio to search for more clues. Her search leads her to a local seamstress. The seamstress was no longer living there, but the new tenant turns out to be the murderer. A chase through the serial killer’s puzzle-like basement starts, resulting in Starling gunning down Jame Gumb and rescuing Catherine Martin.

So the long speeches Hannibal gives when talking to Clarice were often hard to grasp in the book but they are amply clear in the film, with Anthony Hopkin’s phenomenal performance.  Since almost all of the dialogue in the book is imitated exactly in the film, I find myself hearing Anthony Hopkins say each word which I could listen every time I watched the film, and I would just hear the story as it was in film, instead of thinking, hey this is a book. There was a song I really felt intrigued from; it was called ‘Goodbye Horses’ which refers to an eastern philosophy to represent the five senses. It narrates that the flying part means that a person would escape the shell of this body to become something else. The words were, “Goodbye Horses, I’m flying over you, Goodbye horses, I’m flying, flying, flying over you”

According to IMDB this film won Oscars in all five categories: Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Actor, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay. Fun fact is that Anthony Hopkins won Best Actor for acting for almost 16 minutes in the film. And he did a great job doing them. Here is what I learned in the film:

Everyone goes through the phase of change or metamorphosis, the storyline explains how people transform under certain conditions and every character in the film wants to bring a change.

On a scale of 1 to 10, I would rate the movie 9 being the best adaptation I have seen, along with Lord of the rings or the Hobbit. The book 10 because it is one of the most intriguing, most beautifully written books I have ever read.

THIS WEEKEND: In 25 Cities Worldwide, Thousands Rally against Nuclear Weapons on 71st Anniversary of Hiroshima and Nagasaki Bombings

“Who will keep us safe?”

Marking the 71st anniversary of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, thousands of Global Zero activists will participate in a global day of action calling for an end to the nuclear threat. Activists will tour/ride/hike in Karachi, Lahore, Faisalabad and Islamabad, tracing the blast of a “small” nuclear weapon and highlighting the zone of devastation in which most injuries would be fatal, overwhelming any possible humanitarian relief efforts.

FIND A “BIKE/RIDE AROUND THE BOMB” EVENT HERE:

http://www.globalzero.org/ride‐around‐the‐bomb

“We live in a world still recovering from cold war politics, and nuclear weapons are horrific relics of that time. We cannot afford to continue on this trajectory of clinging to outdated weapons that jeopardize our security every day. Whether by accident or design, entire cities could be erased in a matter of minutes, ending human civilization as we know it.” 

Said Haneen Khalid, South Asia Field Organizer at Global Zero.

“A world in which our safety hangs in the balance is not a world we want to leave behind for future generations. The time to take action to protect our safety is now.” 

In 25 cities around the world, including 4 in Pakistan, 3 in India, and 17 in the US, grassroots activists will demand action to eliminate all nuclear weapons everywhere as they “Ride Around the Bomb.” The demonstrations also come at a time when President Barack Obama, facing public pressure to live up to the nuclear commitments he outlined in Prague in 2009, is reportedly considering a series of executive actions to reduce the global nuclear threat, including a bold reform that would end U.S. policy permitting first use of nuclear weapons.

Sharing Smiles-One Lays Pack at a Time

You have movie plans with your siblings and what is the first thing you do?

You buy munching Items!

I'm not sure about you but I buy three things.

Lays-Candies-Soft drinks

I went to the groceries store and while I was scanning the place for edibles I saw a funny looking addition to the chips stands outside. This:

How Creative!

In this epoch of life where everyone walks with the tension lines on their heads and think they never smile again for them people Lay’s Pakistan recently unveiled their new campaign, which gives out a very light yet positive message to the people with the aim to "Pass A Smile" to each other and celebrate as "one smiling nation”. Their pack has a smile on it and the only you have to do is hold the pack of Lays up to your face and what you have seen is you were already smiling. You don't have to pretend or make fake smiles as your face automatically smiles! So you have a delicious taste with a smile as well.

The lays smile challenge is all about passing smiles and Lays! not only for you but for all of your friends, so this summer not only can you take fun selfies with the new lays #PassAsmile pack but you can also share lays on every fun trip you take with your friends or maybe just enjoy a movie night with a bunch of buddies and the new #PassASmile Lays pack! It is for the first time in Pakistan that this type of a fun packaging has been introduced in the snack industry. Just think about it just by buying a pack of lays you get a selfie prop for yourself and all of your friends just pass the new Lays #PassASmile pack and pass on smiles and lays. This Pass A smile packaging is available for all the delicious flavors of Lays. So what are you waiting for? Grab a PassASmile Lays pack and add fun to your daily snack time! But, Lays Pass a smile campaign has something else for you too,  Lays Pakistan is giving you happiness of winning Rs. 100,000 DAILY for 50 days and a MEGA PRIZE of an Audi A3 sedan!

It looks like this btw. DIE WITH EXCITEMENT OMG.

Can you believe it? OH MY GOD who can think like this? And the amazing thing is you don't have to break rocks for entering in this lucky draw you only have to scratch the code behind the pack and send it via SMS to 9005. I am trying it very now and *fingers crossed* for it but the most important part is that you have to keep the pack safe with you for the lucky draw!

Haven't tried yet? Why not? Don't miss out a chance to smile.

Beyond Sanity Publishing for Lays Pakistan

What we are up to!

It is exciting to see people with talent and the will to write joining hands to create beautiful art and literature.

That being said, I announced last year that Beyond Sanity Publishing is accepting submissions for a paperback anthology of the best work submitted. Last date to submit was May 31st. So right now I am going through hundreds of different poems and stories to see what comes where. I will announce the final list in July!

So that leaves us with little over a week. way too much to do, so little time. Beyond Sanity Publishing is currently working on the following projects:

• The Youth Of Pakistan by Hafiza Noor.ul.Ain
• Psychaotic by Irum Zahra (2nd Edition)
• The Tales of Crucified Blunt by Areesh Fatmee
• Five Wishes and the prophecy of the prince by Faran Kiani
• Out of the labyrinth by Zoha Hidayat and Saja Ali
• Reneging Quiescence by Dr. Samiha Zubair
• Eliminating Riba- A Way Forward by Summan Waseem

Many other projects are in pipeline as well, including my personal favorite, Humans of ICG. I studied in Islamabad College for girls for 12 years and it was a long long time. I learnt so much and I went through so many emotional changes during that time. ICG was and is a place where we made friends, had endless gossip sessions, motivational pep talks sessions, Oh and the students week was the best of all. Funfairs, concerts, book fairs. What was not there?

Sadly, not me anymore. Everyone graduated and then their sisters are there and their cousins and the cycle goes on. The story goes on. So I decided to make a Facebook platform where everyone who has attended ICG can submit a story of their time in ICG and other students can read and share and relate to the same things.

We have also started a giveaway, Enter Here! winner will get a free BOOK from us and an Eid gift! How cool is that. 

Then, we are currently taking submissions for book reviews ans marketing. If you're already a published writer, let us help you in promoting your work to our audience.

Highlight of this week is Noor.ul.ain's National Television Interview, that you can watch Here.  We are so proud of her. To order her book, please drop an email at beyondsanitybooks@gmail.com

SUMMERS! Send us your summer book collection. we want to know what you'e reading.

Have fun!

Keeping Pukhtoon Tradition Alive- Nandara Opens in Islamabad!

Fireworks- Mouth watering Food- Music

What are we talking about? Heaven? No, The Launch of Nandara Cuisine !

In the eccentric sector of E-11, we see marquees and wedding music and what not. But what if you are tired of all that and just want to sit in a peaceful restaurant with good traditional food that makes you feel as if you are in a different place.

'Nandara' is a Pushto word which means 'Vision', The owner, Mr. Inam Shah Kakakhel did a great job with the interior of the place as it was presenting a perfect 'Nandara' of both culture and Innovation.

That is what I felt on 13th of May, YES. Friday the 13th! Turns out, it can be pretty exciting when 'Khumariyaan' is playing at a new place which serves one of the best cuisine in Islamabad.

Red carpet event had the best event management by 360 Affairs, which is based in Islamabad. It brought a great deal of amazing people from all fields of life. Event was covered by Roz and DunyaTV. 

See the coverage here

The launch of Launch Of Nandara Cuisine was a treat for eyes, ears and taste buds. The 4.8 rated restaurant on Facebook had 3 hours of the best music with the best food. Here is a glimpse of what I saw!

If I could chose a place to sit and forget the world, It'll be Nandara. You can see the menu and further details Here.

Have a great weekend everyone!