TMAG Vol 1 Issue 2

Dhaka Tribune

Tuesday, April 23, 2013 Volume 1, Issue 2

Look of the week

Sporty Fusion

FYI

A million dollar diet Beauty talk

Steal it from your Girlfriend Written in the stars

Adnan MS Fakir

Hot Topic

5 Steps to an Awesome Freshman Year

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CHECK IT OUT

Editor’s Note

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8 Written in the Stars Fakir finds Bangladesh

Dear Readers,

A weekly production of

DhakaTribune

Volume 1, Issue 2, April 23, 2013 Acting Editor Zafar Sobhan Magazine Editor Sabrina Fatma Ahmad TMAG Team Sabiha Mahmud Sumi Tashhid Abdullah Rubab Nayeem Khan Munira Ahmed Afshan Sattar Azfar Rahman Saudia Afrin Contributors Apurba Karmaker Fardeen Ameen Saniat Chowdhury Tahsin Momin Tabeen Siddiki Cartoonist Syed Rashad Imam Tanmoy

April is the month when those of you who have applied to colleges abroad will start getting those big envelopes with the replies. It is also the month for applicants to local institutions to be sitting for their entrance exams for the summer semester. This means, very soon, freshman year will become part of your reality, and with it, a number of concerns. We’ve decided to address all these concerns and provide tips, tricks and advice in our Hot Topic (Page 4-5) as well as our FYI (Page 2). You’ll also want to check out our crazy Youth Icon (Page 8). Speaking of “crazy,” we’ve gone nuts with our Look of the Week (Page 10).

If you liked what you read, do tell us how we’re doing. Got a cool room (or at least a corner you’re proud of?) Send us pics! Love doodling? Scan and send!

Think you’ve got some funky street style?

Share it with us. We’re trying to make this mag something YOU will enjoy, and we’d really appreciate your help.

Mail us at: tribune.tmag@gmail.com and let’s get a conversation going.

from the TMAG desk

Design Akila Seshasayee Divya Kukreti

Production Masum Billah Advertising Shahidan Khurshed

Email:info@dhakatribune.com, Website: www.dhakatribune.com

6 Accessorise Away

Navigating the choppy waters of freshman year

TMAG recommends the right stuff

More inside GOSSIP 3 Event Tweets 12 Confessions TMAG’S OF THE WEEK 2 Room of the Week: Ani Zaman 3 Doodle of the Week: Mayeesha Tasnuvah 6 Chic of the Week: Aranya Phookan 10 Guitar Tabs of the Week: Nemesis’ Shesh Gaan 11 App of the Week: Privacy Fix

Graphics Mohammed Mahbub Alam Asmaul Haque Mamun

Circulation Wahid Murad

4 Hot Topic

About the Cover This is TMAG’s Crazy issue.

And the fun starts right from the cover Model: Srabony Photo: Homayra Adiba

YOUR WORLD 9 Fiction: Bungee Jumping 9 Comic Book: The Massive 9 Book: Old Filth 10 Music: John Mayer 10 Movie: Kon Tiki 10 TV: Vampire Diaries 11 Car: Honda Jazz 11 Gadget hunt: Sony Xperia 11 Web critic: Thanks for Teaching Us HOROSCOPES 12 Your Forecast

Status of the week Watching a TV show called How TV Ruined Your Life and reading a book called How to Talk About Books You Haven’t Read...

Quote of the week “Me: Mom, I’m bored, what should I do?

Mom: Clean your room.

Me: I’m bored, not desperate!”

Lingo of the week

381: Derived from this equation - 3 Words, 8 Letters and 1 Meaning (I love you). TMAG’s thoughts: “The world is getting weirder by the minute, start building your bomb shelter.”

Guy: 381 Girl: Awww, 3812 Guy: Awww.

FASHION 6 Beauty check: Steal It From Your Girlfriend TMAG SAYS 2 Funk up your room: Style up those Walls 2 FYI: A Million Dollar Diet 3 School Survival: Freshman Fears 10 Playlist: Top 10 Love Tunes 12 Choose/Lose Your Other Half FUN 13 Personality quiz Real Life 8 Youth icon: A Cleaner Bangladesh on the Map 14 Non fiction: The Great Escape

7 Look of the Week Funking up a sari

TM AG TU E SDAY, APR I L 23 , 20 1 3

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Your Life

Funk up your room

Style up

those walls What is the point in having a room of your own, if you can’t make it uniquely YOU? Now, we’d all love to be able to afford a complete do-over, but since not all of us are Bruce Wayne, let’s start with something simple. Your walls. Here are a few tips on how to turn your walls into a canvas for self expression.

Shapes and patterns

A monochrome wall can be quite dull. To add visual interest you can use current wall paint as a background for various geometric patterns like triangles, circles, ovals in vibrant colours. Then discover the beauty in geometry.

For the “shippers”

Your favourite movie or game character could be a theme for your room. Posters, photos and collages featuring said character(s) could totally spice up a plain, boring wall, and what better way to show the love for your interests?

For the artsy types

Love art? Showcase it by displaying a mixed medley of paintings, framed prints, sketches, masks and artsy photographs. Do art?

Use your wall as a canvas and paint a mural! Either way, you’ll create a visual feast you’ll love looking at over and over again.

Sporty Chic

Play up with your favourite sport through creative wall painting.

Whether you’re a Formula1 fanatic or fond of playing cricket, these can be your room theme. To make it more realistic, over the background painting you can put real accessories of your game, like jerseys, player cards and more

Nature lover

Your “study” needs a quiet place, which you can personalise with knick knacks and photographs.

Choose a fresh, natural colour like spring green as background and paint a huge branch with lots of white flowers over it on your wall.

This looks best beside your cool shelves and desk.

How to

There are two ways you can do your wall theme. Go to any paint shop of Berger or other paint brands, choose the one you like best and contact your painter. Or you can make it a DIY project, get the paint, maybe get some friends and do it yourself.Once the paint dries, you add the accessories, and voila! A room that defines you.

Saudia Afrin

TM AG TU ESDAY, A PR I L 23, 2013

Big stock

FYI

A Million Dollar Diet Want to eat all your favourite junk food and still not grow an inch wider? Wishful thinking but not everybody is blessed with that sort of terrific metabolism.

However, size zero lost its charm way back! Instead of running after that reed thin body, why not concentrate on toning your existing one? Look curvy, yet fit with this new diet plan. You’ll be thanking your mirror later!

1. Eat right You’ve heard this a zillion times before but we feel the need to repeat it because it’s just that important. Substitute white bread with whole wheat - its high fiber content keeps your bowels smooth whole milk with low fat, and meats with veggies that are high in water content. It tricks your stomach into believing you’re full and hence you eat smaller portions.

A high amount of protein intake like chicken or fish helps you building body tissues faster. Curb the carbs gradually, opt for chapattis instead of rice.

2. Dieting does not mean starving If you starve yourself during meal time, chances are you’ll break down and gorge more later. Eat healthy snacks like almonds, low fat crackers and cheese, and fruits like apples or oranges etc.

3. Stay hydrated Summer time can sap your energy like no other time. Drink plenty of fluids to keep your energy up. No, we do not mean excessive amounts of fizzy drinks.

Go for skim milk, natural fruit juices or water. Artificially flavored sugar drinks or so-called energy drinks can actually be detrimental to your diet.

4. Stay fit You don’t have to pay huge entrance fees to an expensive gym to stay fit. Sweating automatically reduces your body fat so do things that make you sweat naturally.

No, don’t stand baking in the sun! Walk for an hour every morning or evening, do some easy sit ups or warm up exercises at home or simply turn up the music and dance like crazy! Cover up the salts lost in sweat with adequate amounts of water.

Remember, no proper diet is an instant gratification project. Looking toned and healthy requires patience and a positive outlook. So don’t expect to look like a fashion model by the end of the week and don’t give up halfway.

We promise you a noticeable difference within a month!

Munira Ahmed FAHAD ZAMAN

TMAG’s Room of the week!

Name

Ani Zaman Area

banani

TMAG absolutely loves the clutter, making it room of this week. What’s more awesome about the clutter is how each item has a meaning to a teen life and how it adds to the uniqueness of it at large.

Send in a picture of your room TO tribune.tmag@gmail.com and you may be crowned TMAG’s Room of the Week!

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Schoologistics

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School Survival

5 Common Freshman Fears

TMAG’s Doodle of the week!

This doodle was drawn by a 20-year-old Rubab Nayeem Khan in her English class

Munira Ahmed

The transition from school to high school is perhaps one of the most daunting phases in a teen’s life. Leaving the familiar set rhythms of school life and entering unknown territory will unnerve even the best of us

Models: Irad Mustafa, Alexandra Lowe, Shynese Walker,Natasha Rahman, Gaurav Ghosh Photography: Nafeesa Binte Aziz Cartoonist: Syed Rashad Imam Tanmoy

1. I don’t know anyone there.

Remember that almost everyone there is new. That does not automatically make them hostile territory.

Smile and look for a seat next to the friendliest person you see. It’s best to get in class early and strike up a conversation with your friendly stranger.

2. My classmates may be smarter than me Certainly you’ll find people who know more than you on certain subjects. That does not make you unintelligent. Asking questions can be a great conversation starter! Your questions should display intent to genuinely know the subject. Don’t make the other feel you are trying to demean or mock them.

3. I won’t be able to make it academically.

Your college experience is supposed to be academically tougher than school. Workload will increase and easy bonus points won’t come so easy anymore. None of that has to mean you’re doing poorly. It’s common to notice a drop in your grades as you settle into a new routine. Eve-

rything depends on how well and fast you adapt to the new environment.

4. I’m going to be nervous and homesick for my friends/school atmosphere.

You may feel ignored or lost but eventually it teaches you to be more responsible for yourself. Sure, you’ll make mistakes but there are people and support mechanisms on a college campus to help you. You’ll also miss the time you used to have to spend with school friends. There are easy ways to keep in touch with your old life, and though things will change as you go along your new one, you can have fun by balancing out both.

5. I don’t think I can handle all that stress.

Going to high school means you have outgrown school life. You prepared to take on your new challenges. It is helpful to remember that no one is having it easy. You are not the only one suffering. Enjoy competing with yourself; don’t give in to the momentary intimidation.

IF YOU ARE A CLASSROOM DOODLER, EMAIL YOUR DOODLE TO TRIBUNE.TMAG@GMAIL.COM AND SEE IT iN OUR WEEKLY!

EVENT TweetS Soft Expo 2013

Venue: Bangabandhu International Conference Center, Agargaon Sher-e-bangla Nagar May 2-5, 9am onwards

Ayesha Sultana Exhibition Venue: Dhaka Art Center April 20-30

3D Animated Film ‘TUKU’ (The Super Hero) Venue: Star Cineplex at Bashundhara City May 1

4th AIUB National Debate Festival 2013

Venue: American International University Bangladesh, Dhaka May 10, 07:30am

“Pitch2Win” Business Pitch Competition Venue: EMK Center, Dhaka May 18

Firefox OS App Days Bangladesh Venue: Jahangirnagar University Savar May 29

TM AG TU E SDAY, APR I L 23 , 20 1 3

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HOT TOPIC

5 Steps to an

Awesome Freshman Year In America

TM AG TU ESDAY, A PR I L 23, 2013

HOT TOPIC

Congratulations!

If you received a big fat envelope in the mail this month, chances are you made it through a crazy admissions process and are on your way to becoming a budding college freshman.

Here are five things you should remember to do once you get there

By Shoaib Alam

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4

Most American colleges have campus organisations run by students from the subcontinent.

There might even be an active Bangladeshi student association. Join them. Yes, there will be drama. Yes, the election results will be dubious at the end of each term. And someone will definitely leave the speakers out in the rain after the Pohela Boishakh concert, so you might have to meet the Student Activities Committee on a chilly Sunday morning to explain that. But there will also be biryani and cool free tee shirts.

Bottom line: The brown crew will get you when you say things like ‘still waiting for the lift’ or ‘no ban on YouTube!’ Plus, you have much to glean off deshi seniors, like which professor prefers to be addressed as Dr on the cover of her term papers.

At the same time, keep a balance. Don’t pigeonhole yourself to the South Asian crowd, even for the biryani. College is about trying new things and finding out what you’re all about. Join the clubs that match your interests and hobbies.

If you have none to speak of, try something that looks interesting.

Like the Muggle Quidditch team or the college newspaper. If your interest doesn’t have a club representing it, read the student manual and get one up and running.

Images: Big stock

5

Get to know your career consultant

3

Ask for help

2

Study like a beast

Get Active

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Lectures in college won’t always be more challenging than what you have studied in Bangladesh.

There is, however, one key difference in your preparation to handle the information: in high school, you spent hours training your brain to recall information, with homework problem sets, illustriously photocopied notes, horrible surprise tests and a bunch of midterms and half-yearly exams crammed into the academic year. All were geared to getting you ready for the big day, i.e. the final test.

In college, each semester goes by before you can say Katniss Everdeen. The weight of your entire grade may rest on three precious tests. Meanwhile, the responsibility for digesting and recalling information is entirely yours. So give yourself mock tests like the ones you took in Bangladesh.

Practice recalling what you’ve learned under test conditions. Use flash cards to remember important details and join study groups for discussion. And if it’s 4 am on the morning of the test, and you still don’t get differential calculus, don’t panic and log on to Khan Academy.

Writing for college professors is different from scripting stuffy essays for your high school English scrooge. If you have trouble setting up an argument in your first college paper, schedule an appointment with the writing center, email or meet your TA, or visit your professor during office hours.

The writing centre on any college campus is dedicated to improving argumentation and organization in academic writing. You will meet friendly writing consultants (fancy title for trained college students) who will guide you through the process of writing from brainstorming to final draft. It’s important to remember that they won’t be writing for you.

But they will advise you, so even if you only have a few stray ideas, jot them down and take them to the writing center.

Additionally, don’t be afraid to ask questions. If you don’t know what a strong thesis is or how to cite your sources (always cite your sources), ask your writing consultant, a senior, your TA or your professor. Ask anyone! There’s really no point in wasting precious time feeling alone and intimidated by the task in front of you. Remember, there are people who will help you but you need to ask for it.

The career services office is a great resource for landing that dream job for the happily ever after, following, you know, the bliss of college.

In their arsenal of magical things there will be a golden list of successful alumni in every field and key contacts within companies that frequently recruit on campus.

Get to know your career services office. Attend their workshops to learn how to write the perfect resume and what to wear to job interviews. If your career services office offers mock interviews, be sure to take a few before heading out to a real one. This will prepare you for the pitfalls of the personal interview process.

Meanwhile, get to know your career consultant personally: they are mentors who can help you land internships and jobs. Feel free to ask them any and every question you have about a career – it’s their job to help you.

5

Relax. Have fun. And keep in touch with your roots

The four years you spend away in college are also four of the best of your life. Enjoy them. Take a walk outside, eat dinner with friends at your favorite hole-in-the-wall, go to concerts, hear important people say important things and stay up late debating your philosophical views on the size and shape of potato wedges. It’s all part of the college experience.

However, it’s equally important to keep in touch with your family and friends from Bangladesh. Just as you will get homesick after a few weeks abroad, your parents will have to get used to you being far away. This takes time and effort on everyone’s part so call and ask how they are doing. Share some of your experiences with them, so they feel connected to your glamorous college life. Make sure you keep lines of communication open if you have younger siblings who (secretly) look up to you.

Also, don’t forget about your friends from home. Remember that you will need people to hang out with once you move back to Bangladesh for the long months of summer. With Facebook, Whatsapp and Google Hangout, there really is no excuse for losing touch with buddies from school while you are away at college.

TM AG TU E SDAY, APR I L 23 , 20 1 3

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FASHION FACE-OFF

Beauty Check

Wardrobe Check

Steal It From your Girlfriend

Big stock

Chic of the Week

Guys, if you’re tired of girls stealing your styles and then looking better in your clothes than you do, here’s a cool way to get back. Steal some of their beauty secrets!

That’s right. Shows like Mad Men and Boardwalk Empire have brought back the suave, well-groomed guy, and it’s perfectly legit to have your own look-good regimen. We’ll show you six ways:

Accessorise Away!

Not everyone is a fan of heavy makeup or dressy clothes. You can glam up your look anyway by accessorising right

Big stock

1

Stop washing your face with soap

It’s great for getting grime off your body, but the skin on your face needs a little more care, and that’s why they invented cleansers and face wash.

Also, wash your face before you go to bed, to remove any residue left over from shaving foam and aftershave that might clog your pores.

2

Slather on the SPF

Sunlight can turn animal hide into leather. Imagine what it can do to your skin. It’s not just for when you’re hitting the cricket pitch or football field. Use it every day to prevent some serious sun damage.

3

Embrace the pumice

No use hitting the streets in your summer flip-flops if your gnarly feet scare everyone away. Scrub, scrub and exfoliate. It’s the best cure for cracked heels, and your feet will smell better too.

4

Bye-bye chappy lips

5

Floss daily

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Clean your nails

1. The right bag If your outfit is salwar suit or saree, carry a medium sized matching or contrasting clutch that lets you keep your essentials in. A bigger bag looks great with jeans and casual tops and is roomy enough to carry a small water bottle, your phone charger, your sunscreen/shades etc for longer hang outs.

2. The right hair tie You cannot always let your hair down in summer. It can get frizzy and give you a messy look. When going to a place with proper air conditioning, funky hair bands look great with sleeveless summer tops. In places where you may sweat, use a scrunchy or jaw clip to hold your hair up. It gives you a cleaner and simpler look.

3. The right scarf Summer’s for light scarves as winter’s for wool! Glam up any plain tee with a contrasting colored, lightweight scarf

and wrap it in a casual knot. Carry a similar colored bag for a synchronized look. You can get a good variety at the street shops outside Gawsia.

4. The right jewelry Don’t deck up for a low key outing with friends. Medium sized, dangling earrings look great with a sleeveless tee and a scarf wrapped right. For family dinners and those occasional weddings, go for small, elegant pendants and matching ear drops.

Simplicity is forever in!

5. The right shoes Dressy pumps with 1.5-2” heels look fabulous with dresses and evening wear but not everywhere. For a simple outing with friends, slip-ons look awesome! You can get pumps, peep-toes and a whole other range and variety of flats for about Tk150 only at Gawsia Market, Genetic Plaza etc.

Munira Ahmed

Because seriously, who’d want to kiss something that feels like a snake shedding its skin? Eww. Exfoliate with your toothbrush, and then rinse and apply balm.

ARANYA PHOOKAN Age: 21 yrs Email your street style photo in to TRIBUNE.TMAG@GMAIL.COM and be crowned TMAG’s chic of the week!

You can brush your teeth and gargle with mouthwash all you want, but it’s not going to fix your breath if you have food stuck between your teeth.

If a ferocious bird like the eagle can clean its talons after a kill, so can you.

Sabrina F Ahmad

TM AG TU ESDAY, A PR I L 23, 2013

Big stock

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FASHION FACE-OFF Look of the Week

Sporty Fusion Why should saris be saved for serious occasions only?

We decided to funk up a nice, bright summer-friendly cotton sari with fun sneakers. Not a look you want to sport at a formal event for sure, but perfectly kosher for being silly with friends.

Take TMAG’s PERSONALITY QUIZ Now!

People are classified into four basic temperaments.

Which are you? Take the quiz and find out!

Question 1 What most resembles your typical Friday night?

A Calling around to find out where the party is B Staying home, maybe watching a movie or reading C Inviting my friends to go out and party D Seeing what my friends are up to and joining in

Mostly A’s - Phlegmatic

What do you find most fearprovoking?

A Failure B A sudden, life-changing event C Everyone hating you D Living a spiritually meaningless life

Question 3

Mostly B’s - Sanguine

How would your friends describe you?

A Easy-going B Charismatic and fun C Deep and sensitive D The instigator; leads the group

Pros:Typically sociable, charismatic, warm-hearted, compassionate, and sensitive side. Creative and talkative, it is easy to see what draws people to sanguine personality types.

Cons: Tendency to be forgetful, which can manifest itself in some cases in chronic lateness. Sarcasm can also be a biting trait of a sanguine personality type.

Question 4

Model: Srabony Make up: Sifa’s Corner Photography: Homayra Adiba

If your answers are :

Kind, attentive and affectionate in nature. Although shy and quiet, Phlegmatics are often curious and diplomatic, as well as reliantly rational.

Cons:Fears change and uncertainty, and can be seen as stubborn and even lazy. Phlegmatics tend to deal with problems passive-aggressivly rather than facing them head on.

Question 2

Sari: Sari stores in New Market, Mirpur market, Bailey Road, Gulshan Avenue Sneakers: Bata Jewellery: Relish Designs

C Clothes that make a statement and reflect how you’re feeling; you are the trend-setter D Trendy and fashion-forward; you like to have fun and your clothes express that.

What do you find most attractive in a romantic interest?

A Someone easy to talk to who isn’t too needy; it’s nice when you don’t have to make all the decisions B Someone fun-loving and caring; it’s nice to have someone who’s always up for anything, just like you.

C Someone who has depth of character; you’re not looking for a fling; you’re looking for a meaningful relationship with someone who understands you.

D Someone who lets you take the reigns; you need someone to be in your life without taking control of it.

Question 5 Which describes your style best?

A Mostly dark and neutral tones; you prefer comfort over making a statement.

B Stylish and relatively simple; you know what works and you stick to it.

Pros:

Mostly C’s - Melancholic Pros:Thoughtful, considerate, and ponderous. They are creative and independent, preferring to do things alone in order to meet their own high standards.

Cons: Melancholics are susceptible to depression and moodiness, and can be self-oriented due to their innate introversion, which can in turn make them difficult to relate to.

Mostly D’s - Choleric.

Pros: Ambitious and comfortable in leadership positions. They attack their tasks passionately, with aggression and zeal.

Cons: Cholerics can also be overly dominant or tyrannical, and may experience severe “moodiness” when they fail to meet their goals or experience set-backs.

TM AG TU E SDAY, APR I L 23 , 20 1 3

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written in the Stars

A cleaner Bangladesh on the map Poet, student, journalist, film-maker ... boat builder? Adnan MS Fakir wears many hats.

Sometimes all at once. We’re looking at the insane adventure that begins with a dream and takes this week’s youth icon all over the country on a bizarre amphibian vehicle of his own making. Chapter One of this quest culminated in the first volume smash hit documentary “Finding Bangladesh.” Tanzia Amreen Haq chats with the man himself about his current project and his broader ambitions finding bangladesh (facebook)

A

rmed with a tripod and a crazy set of wheels he calls his “damsel in distress,” Adnan Fakir makes his way through Bangladesh every few years to complete his project “Finding Bangladesh,” with a grin on his face and an army of friends on his back. You look through some of the pictures and clips of their adventures and sometimes his friends are literally on his back.

While he was in school, he was known for being quite the romantic poet. The years that followed got to know him as a film maker. But the inspiring thing about Adnan is how he founded a movement involving the youth and the beauty of Bangladesh from an idea to promote tourism in Bangladesh with a fresh take that was conceived over tea with his friends.

Finding Bangladesh part one came into light on August 9, 2008 after almost two years of intense shooting and frustrated hair pulling. Once started though, the project gained momentum like an avalanche and grew to involve marketing and merchandise departments, and finally airing on Channel I a month or so after the release. Shooting covered the historical sights in Dhaka and Rajshahi, introducing the unique concept of the film to the Bangladesh audience, who were not expecting a group of kids cycling a boat all over the place.

Round two

Work for round two began in 2010 with a bigger team, bigger equipment and

TM AG TU ESDAY, A PR I L 23, 2013

much higher aspirations. Adnan’s aim was to incorporate youth culture with the way finding Bangladesh would be shot, so this time the crew involved graphics designers, a story telling concept and the older and whackier Adnan as director.

Starting off with research, the finding Bangladesh team went through swamps and crocodiles, rain and mud to scout locations in Barisal and Khulna, all done by kids in school and university. While the shooting team went scouting, the editing team in Dhaka sat together and made story boards, used shooting clips to create awesome effects for the film and annoyed a lot of parents. Hanging out at the sets of finding Bangladesh was like being inside a magical eight ball that a kid’s shaking to his heart’s content. Once the film gets out, which will when Adnan gets back from his masters studies in the UK, you can see for yourself what this group of crazy young enthusiasts have accomplished using pocket money and borrowed equipment.

Adnan’s dreams for Bangladesh go beyond promoting tourism. Initiated from 2011, he also fronts the project renewal organization, a movement to clean up dirty lake water from lakes around Dhaka primarily and recycle paper.

So that’s a little bit of Adnan Fakir.

Writer, poet, philanthropist with a giant heart and a bear hug to match. Makes you think about the hundred reasons not to do something and the determination of doing it anyway.

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In these harsh times of impending climate change and the global economic crisis, apocalyptic stories about the end of the world have been everywhere and they usually fail to deliver. Thus when I heard about the basic plot of “The Massive” I approached with apprehension but two pages into the comic I was hooked.

The Massive doesn’t rely on shock value, Kristian Donaldson’s incredibly controlled but captivating art asks the fundamental question of is it worth fighting for your values when the world all around you is sinking? The main character Callum Israel operates a group of environmentalists known as The Ninth Wave, struggling to preserve their beliefs about the environment in a world that has been torn apart by a series of catastrophic natural disasters.

Where most tales about the end of the world go wrong is focusing too much on the tidal waves and earthquakes instead of the character but The Massive takes the different route, focusing on the ordinary man and asking refreshingly human questions such as just what gives these characters strength to keep on surviving now that everything they believed in has been obliterated?.

Brian Wood is a writer you may be familiar with, he’s contributed to legendary comics such as X-Men, done artwork for iconic video games such as Grand Theft Auto but this is the comic through which he has finally cemented his reputation as one of the best in the business, With great artwork, incredibly relatable characters and a thrilling storyThe Massive is a must read!

Fardeen Ameen

BUNGEE JUMPING Tania was not sure. Her consciousness was tumultuous. Should she or should she not do it? That was the dominant voice in her head. The others meekly replied “aosjdnfsduonfsavd … misdgjaajdg …” before being drowned out by a great scream from the dominator. It called upon the two other important elements besides itself – reason and emotion.

Reason said, “It is safe; there are so many people doing this every day.

There is no cause to be afraid. There are a lot of professionals handling this.”

Emotion said, “But what if there is that one bad day and one bad moment and I’m the victim?”

The argument went on until the dominator said, “Enough. I believe Reason makes more sense.”

Does it not always?

So Tania braced herself, clenched her fists and took a shot. It was one of those things that she’d promised she would do. Not doing it would make her feel that she had let herself down. She had heard that bungee jumping was a very exhilarating sport but instinct always told her “safety first.” Thus the argument raged on in her head. In fact it had gone on for so long that the impatient voices of others waiting had jarred her back to the present.

So she made the decision to jump.

She made sure all the safety

measurements were in place. All the other professionals were there to check them out properly. Tight chord – check.

Tight belt – check. Properly knotted – check.

And Tania jumped. One last time Emotion screamed, “But what if ...”

It didn’t matter. The experience was exhilarating. It was unbelievable and it was wonderful.

Alas. She should have listened to Emotion just this one time because God did have other plans.

Tania had jumped but `she had not been there to notice the professional’s horror-stricken face as he saw the chord snap before his eyes.

Tabeen siddiki

A grand finale

sabiha mahmud sumi

Graduation was right around the corner when we decided it was time we did something crazy. After our dorm-parent had gone off to bed we threw our chappals out my dorm-room-window and climbed down the lattice from the balcony on the first floor. We headed out to where our graduation ceremony was to be held and spent time sitting on the bare grass recollecting all our childhood memories at Kodaikanal International School, a boarding school in India. At about 3am we headed back to the main campus. Rachel had climbed over, and I was helping Richa do the same when I noticed a school-guard walking straight towards me, yelling Tamil words I did not understand. I was half-way up the gate when he grabbed my foot and started pulling. I shook him off, and hoisted myself up, and in the excitement of doing so, accidentally stepped on one of

the spikes on top of the gate and tore a chunk of flesh from under my right foot. I didn’t realize I had been leaving behind a trail of blood until we swooped into one of the squash courts to hide out until the guard had stopped searching for us. Rachel ripped her t-shirt and helped bandage my wound to stem the bleeding. I could not be rushed to the dispensary as dorms were not yet open. My friends walked and I limped out of the squash court at 7am, leaving behind a bloody smudge on the wall for memory’s sake. I was interrogated by my dorm-parent and the nurse at the dispensary. I blamed it on broken glass pieces and my clumsiness. All was good except my finale walk down the red carpet on graduation day.

Moral of the story: Crazy ideas can have painful consequences.

book

WHEN YOU LOSE IT ALL

NON-Fiction

Fiction

comic

YOU WRITE IT

Old Filth

by Jane Gardram Slow books. When I was a child I used to call the “big books” my parents read slow books because the stories in them never seemed to go anywhere. It has taken me a while to get over my aversion to books that promise a staid, stately pace. And thankfully, in the process, I have managed to introduce myself to works of literature that don’t need a fast paced plot to make them interesting.

Old Filth by Jane Gardram is one such book. It tells the story of a lawyer, Sir Edward Feathers; parallel plots that trace both through his childhood and his adult life. It is a quiet story, filled with British-isms and references to the old British Raj. The story shifts from Feathers’ childhood as a “Raj Orphan” to Old Filth, the man. Filth, really is an acronym for “Failed in London, Try Hong Kong”. This man, Feathers, is a bit of a mystery and Gardram teases us with details about his life, showing us his deep grief at the sudden death of his wife, his acceptance of her adultery and the emotional distance that he maintains. One could argue that his distance is a classic example of the British reserve, but a deeper look will reveal a flawed, broken individual, who isn’t so much crippled by sorrow as he made detached by.

Gardram’s choice of moving the story forward a step before halting it to show us tragiccomedic scenes from Old Filth’s life only work to showcase poignant perspectives of a life that is both empty and bursting at its seams.

This book is a slow book in every respect. The word that would describe best it would be a synonym of quiet, understated and beautiful all put together. Gardram weaves a quirky, melancholic world, one that doesn’t leave you when you’re done reading.

Tareq Adnan

Sabiha Mahmud Sumi

TM AG TU E SDAY, APR I L 23 , 20 1 3

10 tmag Guitar Tabs Shesh Gaan by Nemesis

BUZZIN’

This week’s best TV

The story is set in Mystic Falls, a fictional town in Virginia which has a rich history of supernatural and haunted events.

The plot opens with its protagonist Elena Gilbert, 17 (Dobrev) who meets Stefan Salvatore a 162 year old vampire, and falls deeply in love with him. Their relationship is soon distressed by the presence of Stefan’s older brother Damon, a malicious bloodthirsty vampire who toys with his brother’s patience by showing an interest in Elena, because she is a dead ringer for their previous shared love interest Katherine Pierce.

Stefan unlike his brother values humanity and refrains drinking their blood. Damon, who has no such hangups, is thus stronger than Stefan. As different as they are, they both lead human lives, hiding their thirst for blood amongst mortals but the history of Mystic Falls soon begin to unveil their pasts. Their return to the town shines light upon the hidden abilities of those around Elena. This, along with the fact

Half Step Down

Intro

G, C add9, Em7, C add9 (x2)

Verse

G, C add9, Em7, C add9 Chaader dori diye beye uthi G, C add9, Em7, C add9 Taar-e alo diye tomay khuji G, C add9, Em7, C add9 Khujte giye ami amay bhuli G, C add9, Em7, C add9 Tobe tomay peye ami shur tuli

Chorus

C add9, Em7, D, Thomke taakiye thaki dariye C add9, Em7, D, Shur khujte giye jai hariye

Bridge/Interlude Am,

C add9, G, D, (x2)

TOP LOVE

10

MOVIE

tunes

1. Nothing else matters Metallica 2. Happy together Turtles 3. Wonderful tonight Eric Clapton

5. Just the way you are Bruno Mars 6. Can’t help falling in love Elvis Presley 7. Amazed Lonestar 8. My girl Temptations 9. Your song Elton John 10. VCR The X X

TM AG TU ESDAY, A PR I L 23, 2013

music

that a vampire doppelganger is out to jeopardize her life, puts her in an emotional rollercoaster ride.

Stories also revolve around characters living in Mystic Falls, specifically Elena’s younger brother Jeremy Gilbert played by Steven R McQueen, best friends Bonnie Bennett (Katerina Graham), and Caroline Forbes (Candice Accola), as well as Matt Donovan (Zach Roerig) and Tyler Lockwood (Michael Trevino).

The show marries elements of high school drama with generous doses of fantasy. Aside from the eternal love triangle, Williamson has been able to nail the conflict between mortals and immortals in a manner that leaves his viewers impatient for the next season. If you can’t get enough of your fang-tasy, this show is worth a try.

Number of seasons: 4 Rating: 8.1/10 Rubab Nayeem Khan

The Heyerdahl Experiment While people considered his theories to be a mad man’s rantings, Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl had the audacity to prove that early settlers from South America once inhabited Polynesia by sailing across the Pacific Ocean in a raft made out of Balsawood.

Pål Sverre Valheim Hagen has been stellar throughout the movie and was able to portray Heyerdahl’s ambition.

The director has done a brilliant job in bringing out the 1947 Kon-Tiki expedition of Thor Heyerdahl; unlike

Sabiha Mahmud Sumi

4. You are the sunshine of my life Stevie Wonder

The Vampire Diaries: Love Bites

many renditions of real life stories, his direction was crisp in terms of settings, the characters where relevant and the focus was entirely on Heyerdahl’s findings.

It takes time to get used to the lack of English, but the movie soon takes shape into a unique, engrossing experience. If you’re getting a little tired of chick flicks and action, this might just be the refresher you need.

Rating: 7.2/10 Rubab Nayeem Khan

The organic Mayer in Born and Raised While trying to cope with a severe throat condition called granuloma, John Mayer was able to procure the fifth studio album, “Born and Raised” on May 22, following the last four albums that hit the top ten in the billboards 200. He was lucky enough to work with Grammy award-winning co-producer Don Was. The initial lineup consisted of Chuck Leavell, the transcending keyboardist of The Rolling Stones, The Allman Brothers Band and Eric Clapton, while Chris Botti, Sara Watkins, Jim Keltner and Greg Leisz makes guest appearances. Fans usually go for live performances although this time the scenario is a little different because of his throat condition. Songs like “Queen of California” with strict

acoustic shards, “The Age of Worry” where Mayer looks for peace in a more anthemic Celtic feel. “Shadow Days” introduces a mellow Southern rock trend. In “Speak For Me” he turns towards Lindsey Buckingham with a gentle mood. The grooviest of songs must be “Something like Olivia” although its still loose, soulful and church flavored. “It Gets Hard to Fake What I Won’t Be” explains the title song “Born and Raised.” Songs like “If I ever get around to living,” “Walt Graces Submarine Test,” make the album worth while where Mayer was saying, “I think it’s gonna be more organic, more natural lyrics and chords and artful simplicity.”

Tashhid Abdullah

tmag 11

TECHSTER

WE RECOMMEND Game

app of the week

all in one

Heavy Rain Imagine living in a city left terrorised by a serial killer. Would the four walls around you be enough to make you feel safe? Would you be able to sleep at night knowing it could be your child that the Origami Killer comes to murder next? As more and more victims keep disappearing, and the odds stack up against you, the only question that will truly matter in the end is how far are you prepared to go for love?

Highlighting this question as the backbone of the game, Heavy Rain puts players in the shoes of four unrelated individuals linked by a common agenda – finding the Origami Killer. A desperate father, a junkie FBI agent, a has-been Private Investigator, and an insomniac; four people who never met before, all thrown in to the same path of battling wits

and emotions as they are led to the Origami Killer.

With a storyline of such integrity and depth, Heavy Rain emphasises puzzle solving methods instead of action, lending suspense and drama. In a game where the storyline evolves according to decisions players make, Heavy Rain is an absolute thriller of a ride that has many different possible outcomes.

There are very few games that genuinely invoke a true immersion into the character perspective. Heavy Rain is one of them. A powerful interactive drama, this game is a musthave for your collection.

Heavy Rain is a console based game, only available on the PS3. If you want to grab a copy, you can find the game at all major game stores in Dhaka.

Azfar Rahman

Annoyed by Google and Facebook and all these other corporations tracking your every click and mining your personal data to get rich? Here’s a useful extension that values you as a person, not as a human pay cheque.

PrivacyFix is a useful extension for Chrome and Firefox which will first analyze your browsing history to give you an estimate of how much you’re earning for these companies through AdSense, and then it will go about blocking the data miners. You get a report on how many websites are using your data, and in what ways, along with a health bar to show you your level of protection. Facebook and Google get zilch.

Now that’s definitely an extension worth having. You can download it at https://www.privacyfix.com Sabrina F Ahmad

Gadget hunt

Need a slamming gaming headset?

Does it get hard for you to hear your cinematic dialog when your parents are yelling at you in the background?

Is your one-person shooter game experience lacking due to sound quality, or microphone quality? Do you wish you had fewer wires to deal with when you are trying to isolate yourself and delve into that game you’ve been meaning to play? If your answer for all those three questions was a yes, then you ought to get yourself the coolest headset of all times, the E-3lue Mazer Type X. The closed-type headset pairs up with a microphone that is specially made with a tone tuning plate making sound quality a hit. It also brings you optimum bass effect to make your audio experience far more excit-

ing that your computer or TV speakers. A few features include: a mysterious LED illumination that changes colour; a specialized bass effect; an all new suspension design; multifunctioning tone tuning plate; and a switchable microphone button.

2012 HONDA JAZZ: AFFORDABLE?

Where to buy this gadget: KhulaBD store Located in: Uttara, Dhaka Visit their online store at khulnabd.com/khulnabdstore and their facebook page at facebook.com/khulnabdstore Contact numbers: +88 01753016694, +88 02 968315

Sabiha Mahmud Sumi

web critic

Thanks for teaching us Did you have an awesome teacher back in the day that totally changed your life? Do you wish you could thank him/her with a sort of grand gesture?

Thanks for Teaching Us is a crowd sourced campaign to honour those individuals who have spent so many hours and so much elbow grease into shaping young minds and creating wonder for learning. It’s a temporary project that’s up online until October 14.

How it works is simple. You go to the site, post your note, and it’s up on

Car Talk

a virtual bulletin board for the world to see. If you’re still in touch with the teacher the note is for, you link him/ her to it, and all’s dandy. If you’re not, tweet or Facebook the link, and maybe it will reach your intended after an adventure on the Internet. And in the meantime, anyone who visits the site will get to see how awesome your teacher was.

If that sounds like a sweet, walletfriendly idea, head on over to http:// thanksforteaching.us/ and post away!

Sabrina F Ahmad

While the local car market is being dominated by Toyota, its Japanese rival Honda has also decided on taking its fair share. Honda’s main aim is to target the middle class people. With this in mind Honda launched the 2012 Honda Jazz in the Bangladesh Domestic market.

Price: Tk19.90 lakhs and above Standard features: 4 Disk Brake, Panoramic Roof with electric sunshade, Smart Keys, Steering Mounted Audio Control, 1 Disk Player With IPod/Aux/ USB, 16’ Light Weight Alloys, Fog Lights, HID, Leather Wrapped Gear Knob, and Power-retractable Door Mirrors Pros: Aesthetically pleasing, relatively large boot space, great mileage.

Cons: Availability of spare parts, poor resale value.

Tahsin Momin

TM AG TU E SDAY, APR I L 23 , 20 1 3

12 tmag

TEENARAMA

TMAG tells you to

Choose or Lose “I’m 18 and I started dating this guy who’s two years younger than me. But when we are together with our friends he does this thing where he jumps up on my lap and asks me to coddle him. I’m his girlfriend, not his mom!”

Lose!

“This senior friend who once tutored me asked me out. He’s a really nice guy, and so far he hasn’t done anything artificial to impress me, and his concerns about me seem genuine. He was my teacher, and I do like him. But I’m confused!”

Choose!

Blush Much?

LET US BE THE JUDGE OF YOUR SITUATION. EMAIL YOUR STORY TODAY TO TRIBUNE.TMAG@GMAIL.COM

1

I sneezed so loudly in front of the dining table that my snot landed on a piece of bread which was on my friend’s plate. I tried to talk him out of eating it, but he refused to listen to me.

2

I went to the beach at Coxs’ Bazar to pick up some shells for my friend back home, and I ended up grabbing a chunk of human poo.

3

The hand showers in our toilets weren’t working so I had to sneak into the teacher’s washroom to borrow a “Bodna.”

4

I walked into a pole while checking out this guy, who was checking me out.

5

When I came home from class, I realised there was a huge gash near the thigh of my leggings.

6

I was practicing a football move in the shower and I slipped and injured my chin on the commode.

7

I aimed and threw a wet tissue paper at my friend, and I accidentally hit our history teacher.

8

My cousin made me eat Pudin Hara and it gave me gas the entire day.

9

10

11

My boyfriend dumped me two weeks before my A’ level exams because he thought I was cheating on him. I failed all my subjects spectacularly.

I am at least a 9 on a 10 scale and my boyfriend dumped me for a stick in shapeless clothes. I wouldn’t even give her a 2.

The backward idea of girls being safer indoors is still in action but what’s hurtful is when your seventeen year old boyfriend thinks the same and would lecture you for hours for being out till 10pm with your friends when he does it too with his friends. Why is it okay for him and not me?

EMAIL YOUR CONFESSION TO TRIBUNE.TMAG@GMAIL.COM

TM AG TU ESDAY, A PR I L 23, 2013

Aries: You might want to understand the difference between “laughing with others” and “laughing at others”. If you talk the talk, getting attention will be easy peasy. Someone has been eyeing you, and not in a creepy way; don’t sweat it.

Taurus: Spend a little on yourself, you’ve earned it. Get busy with your mates and you’ll stay out of trouble. But, you’ll soon be guided by your mischief, which isn’t such a bad thing especially when you’ve got someone liking your whacked out ideas.

Gemini: If the going gets tough, it’s no reason for

Libra: If you are getting a good vibe about the week, then good things are meant to happen. Hang with your mates, expect a great time. If someone’s faking their identity, snoop through and solve the mystery.

Scorpio: Guard your goodies- someone’s eyeing them in a creepy way! You are in peoples good books with your neatness and punctuality, which will earn you brownie points. You might slip every now and then, but your courage will swoop in and save the day.

Sagittarius: Attend to your impulses, but try to look for a reason in your actions.

HOROSCOPE you to give up-Lighten up and this feeling shall pass. It’ll benefit you if you follow you heart for a change, because that throbbing piece of flesh isn’t always wrong.

Cancer: If people are poking their nose in your matters, tell them to ‘talk to the hand’. Keep your stuff organised so that you remember where you have kept them. Treat yourself to some peace and quiet with that certain someone.

Leo: Pay a little attention; it might reward you at the end of the week. Keep your priorities in check. Don’t let your emotions spin out of control.

Virgo: Don’t ask for too much. People aren’t feeling all ‘loving and giving’ this week.

Finish your work, achieve greatness then maybe climb a building and beat on your chest like King Kong.

Cautiousness is a gift at times, don’t question it. Expect new acquaintances- some might be influential. Put it to good use!

Capricorn: It’s okay to drown in romance once in awhile, but not cool to make irrational decisioans in the process. If you are planning something big for the future, you might want to let the grownups in on this one.

Aquarius: Create a little chaos in the kitchen and cook something! If details are being thrown at you from all directions, being flabbergasted won’t do!

Start with one problem and you’ll get them solved one at a time.

Pisces: Your opinions won’t matter if majority isn’t on board with them. Expect to see a competitive side to yourself this week. Don’t try too hard to achieve some kind of flare in your life. If you have thought about it then it’ll happen at some point. Relax.