Conductor Xabi puts Real back in tune

News of Xabi Alonso's return must have been music to Carlo Ancelotti's ears. Though still not fully fit, the midfield maestro has single-handedly instilled the balance and solidity the Italian coach has harped on about time and time again this season.

Where Illarra, Khedira and Modric were never quite in tune in their bid to step into Alonso's shoes - starting moves, anchoring the midfield, winning back possession and linking up with the attack - the Basqueman has once again proven himself a stellar conductor. Under his baton, the rest of the midfield orchestra is back on song.

Xabi's presence has freed up Khedira from any playmaking duties, allowing him to cover a lot more ground, pressing the opposition, breaking up play and making runs into the box from deep. His revival was even capped by a good goal against Sociedad. Modric, meanwhile, has greater licence to join in attacks alongside Ronaldo, Bale and Benzema. He mustered two shots on target in the 5-1 victory, an aspect of his game that has been conspicuously absent this season.

In a nutshell, Real is a different beast with Xabi in the team. It concedes fewer chances and bosses proceedings better: the 66% possession 'Los Blancos' recorded in the first half had dropped to 58% by the final whistle, with the former Liverpool man being subbed off midway through the second period.

After the match, Ancelotti expressed his delight with his conductor and the two instrumentalists either side of him, who have established themselves as the Italian's first-choice midfield trio. "It's important for them to get a regular run of games. They each offer something different, though we can also perform well with other combinations", he concluded.

'Reina had an agreement with Barcelona

The goalkeeper's father Miguel has claimed the Spain international was set to join the Catalans in the summer but the move fell through when Victor Valdes opted to stay

On-loan Napoli goalkeeper Pepe Reina had agreed a deal to join Barcelona this summer before the move collapsed, according to the player's father.

The Spain international, who began his career in Catalunya and made his senior debut for the club in 2000, was heavily linked with a return to Camp Nou during the summer before he moved to the Partenopei from Liverpool on a season-long deal.

Miguel Reina has now revealed his son had agreed terms to return to the Blaugrana earlier this year, but the move was ultimately scuppered when Victor Valdes - who is set to leave the club - opted to stay for another season.

"A few months ago Pepe was in talks with Barcelona. They had an agreement and he was all set to go," he told Minuto 116. 

"But in the end Victor Valdes did not leave. That's why the transfer fell through."

Barca have been linked with a host of goalkeepers since Valdes made clear his desire to join a new club, with Borussia Monchengladbach's Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Celtic's Fraser Forster and Manchester United shot-stopper David de Gea among those linked with a possible switch to Camp Nou.

The Assam Rape Festival In India Begins This Week

Pictured here is the starting of last year’s Assam Rape Festival, which locals say was a big success.

Assam, INDIA — Men in India are already beginning to celebrate as the annual Assam Rape Festival is just days away. Every non-married girl age 7-16 will have the chance to flee to safety or get raped.

Madhuban Ahluwalia who heads up the annual festival told reporters why the event is so important. “This is a long time tradition in Assam dating back thousands of years,” says Ahluwalia. “We rape the evil demons out of the girls, otherwise they will cheat on us and we will be forced to kill them. So it is necessary for everyone.”

The Assam Festival began in 43 BC when Baalkrishan Tamil Nadu raped everyone in his village of Doomdooma. Baalkrishan Tamil Nadu is remembered every year at this event, in fact the trophy given to the man with the most rapes is called “The Baalkrishan”.

24-year-old Harikrishna Majumdar told reporters that he has been training all year for this event. “I’m going to get the most rapes this year. I’ve been practicing all year. I rape my sister and her friends every day. I will be rape superstar number one! I will get the Baalkrishan prize this year for sure!”

12-year-old Jaitashri Majumdar told reporters she almost made it through last year’s festival without getting raped. “I came so close to not getting raped. I almost got to the ‘rape-free-zone’ at the edge of town, but at the last minute 9 men jumped on me and raped me. Luckily I am just recovering now so I can participate in this year’s events, otherwise I would be put to death by stoning.”

34-year-old Brian Barnett from Toronto who is visiting Assam on business told reporters he will be missing the festivities this year. “My company did not tell me anything about a rape festival happening while I was here. Are you serious, a rape festival? I’m getting the f*ck out of this backwards country tonight.”

India is second in reported rapes in the world only behind the United States, though critics are quick to point out that is only because most rapes in India go unreported. 

Is the Universe Unnatural?

There is a question that is beginning to haunt the world of science; it’s been rearing its ugly head for the last several decades. The question is simply, “is the universe unnatural?”

As most of you are aware, particle physicists at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) announced in July of 2012 that they had finally discovered the elusive Higgs boson – that discovery has since been confirmed. The confirmation of the Higgs’ existence was one of the greatest triumphs of science in 2012, confirming the nearly 50-year-old theory that aims to explain how elementary particles have mass. Arkani-Hamed from the Institute for Advanced Study explained, “the fact that it was seen more or less where we expected to find it is a triumph for the experiment, it’s a triumph for the theory, and it’s an indication that physics works.”

This discovery, however, was a double edged sword.

The Higgs has gotten all of the media attention; however, quantum theories also suggest that scientists should have found a host of other particles along with the Higgs in order to really show that the whole theory makes sense. Thus far, these particles haven’t been found. That might not sound like a big deal, but without these accompanying particles, using our current understandings of quantum theory, the Higgs’ mass in reality is exponentially different than what is predicted by the modified theories.

Image Credit: ATA Wolerian Walawski

Of course, something somewhere is wrong. It could be that we are missing a piece of the puzzle that allows a Higgs boson with a mass 126 giga-electron-volts to exist (in contrast to 10,000,000,000,000,000,000 giga-electron-volt Higgs our math currently says should exist due to its interactions with other particles), or it could be that somewhere our math is fundamentally wrong, or the universe could simply beunnatural.

“Naturalness” is a term coined by Albert Einstein, and it is used to describe the elegantly intricate laws of nature. In a natural universe, absolutely everything can be explained with the aid of mathematics. All of the constants of nature are refined by the physical laws of nature and the entire puzzle makes perfect sense. In a unnatural universe, the horrible idea that some of the fundamental laws of nature are an arbitrary byproducts of the random fluctuations in the fabric of spacetime becomes a reality.

The LHC has been nothing short of a revolutionary force in advancing our understanding of the cosmos. Many times, revolutionary understandings present uncomfortable truths; because the LHC did not find the particular zoo of particles scientists were looking for, it’s forcing a large number of physicists to grapple with the idea of an unnatural universe. Hope is not lost for a natural order though. The LHC will start smashing protons together again in 2015 in a final search for answers and naturalness. If the search turns up empty handed, what will happen then?

Image Credit: XKCD

Firstly, it’s very probable that the multiverse theory will take center stage as one of the most plausible models explaining our universe. If the universe is unnatural, and contains arbitrary constants that allow for conditions in our universe perfect for life to arise, physicists reason that, in order to balance out the improbability of such a universe, there must be other universes with differing laws of physics. One such hypothesis containing a multiverse construct, string theory, theorizes about 10^500 multiverses exist. With so many universes, it is extremely likely that this random chance would eventually produce a life-favoring universe, and the rest is history.

String theory is an extremely polarizing hypothesis. You either love it or hate it. Edward Witten, also a physicist at the Institute of Advanced Study, said, “I would be personally happy if the multiverse interpretation is not correct, in part because it potentially limits our ability to understand the laws of physics.”

All of the weight of what happens next rests with the scientists at the LHC. Whatever they find (or, don’t find) in the next decade will fundamentally shape our understanding of absolutely everything. Scientists will probe the very heart of physics in an attempt to determine whether we live in an overly complicated standalone universe or if we simply exist in a very friendly bubble in a larger multiverse.

In case the doors of unnaturalness and naturalness both seem unfavorable, some physicists have envisioned a third door for a modified naturalness. The main proponents of this model are Joe Lykken of the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Batavia, Illinois and Alessandro Strumia of the University of Pisa in Italy. The basic premise of this hypothesis suggests that scientists are misjudging the affects of other particles on the mass of the Higgs boson. Their idea is far from airtight, when additional particles are thrown in, such as dark matter, the model falters.

Image source

Strumia has said that he isn’t an advocate of the modified naturalness hypothesis, but he wants to open a discussion for the consequences of such a theory. Even though it has problems now, the same line of thinking could help to resolve some of the problems of seemingly arbitrary constants. Modified naturalness, and naturalness for that matter, has a much larger problem standing in the way. Neither can adequately explain why the universe didn’t annihilate itself in the big bang.

Is the universe natural, unnatural, or does it have a modified naturalness? The most exciting thing about that question is that we are on the brink of having an answer. Whether the answer is comfortable or uncomfortable, pleasant or unpleasant, desirable or undesirable, we are poised to head into a new era of scientific understanding.

Negredo: I could see Messi moving to England

Manchester City striker suggests that the Argentine superstar could "get bored" of La Liga and would not be surprised if he decided to try his luck in England

Manchester City striker Alvaro Negredo says that he could see Barcelona sensation Lionel Messi moving to the Premier League in the next few years.

Messi has carved out a reputation as one of the game's greatest ever players with his remarkable performances for the Primera Division giants over the last decade, scoring over 300 goals for the club and winning the Ballon d'Or on four occasions along the way.

Negredo, however, believes that the Argentina international might grow bored of playing in Spain in the coming years and has urged him to join the Liga exodus to the Premier League should he ever decide to leave Camp Nou.

"I could see someone like Messi coming to England and following players like David Silva, Juan Mata, Santi Cazorla, David de Gea and myself. He could play well in any league in the world," said the Spaniard, as quoted by the Daily Mirror.

"Maybe in two or five years he will get bored with La Liga, want a change and come over here.

"The Premier League is the best place to be for the world's top stars. Having been here for a few months, it is better than I thought it would be. Your expectations go up here."

Another Star Wars film in the making

Disney purchased Star Wars production company Lucasfilm for $4.05 billion in 2012 and promised at least three more films in the series. PHOTOS: FILE

LOS ANGELES: The next movie in the Star Wars franchise will arrive in theatres on December 18, 2015, Walt Disney Co said on Thursday, two weeks after producers hired a new writer to shepherd the script into production.

Disney purchased Star Wars production company Lucasfilm for $4.05 billion in 2012 and promised at least three more films in the series, one of the biggest movie franchises of all time.

“This, obviously, is one of the most important movies we have in the next few years, and we’ve chosen a date we believe will allow the creative team the time to make a great film,” Disney chief executive Bob Iger said in a conference call with Wall Street analysts.

The pre-Christmas date puts the film’s release in the prime holiday movie season, a departure for the Star Wars franchise. The previous six films have all been released in May, in time for the summer movie season.

Filming of the new movie, currently called Star Wars: Episode VII, is set to begin in spring 2014 and will be directed by JJ Abrams, who is best known for directing the most recent films in the Star Trek science fiction series.

Filming will take place in England, returning the franchise to its British roots as the six previous Star Wars films were all partly filmed at studios in Britain.

No acting choices have been announced, but original cast members Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford have been in talks to appear in the upcoming film.

Last month, producer Kathleen Kennedy said Lawrence Kasdan would team with Abrams to write the screenplay, replacing Oscar-winning screenwriter Michael Arndt on the project.

Kasdan co-wrote the screenplays for the second and third Star Wars films, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi.

The Star Wars franchise, which was created by director George Lucas, has grossed more than $4.4 billion at the worldwide box office since the first film was released in 1977

Adnan Butt: Pushing musical talent online

Young entrepreneur hopes to build online audience for Pakistani musicians.

LAHORE: 

Innovator, achiever and budding entrepreneur Muhammad Adnan Butt has big plans for Pakistani music. With his musical venture Walnut Studios, he combines his digital marketing experience and sheer passion for music to help local independent artists connect with an audience at a global level. And what better way of doing that than connecting them with the world online?

Butt aims to provide local musicians with the opportunity of making their work more accessible at major international platforms including YouTube and Spotify, which will further help them generate royalties. In an attempt to do so, his company has recently decided to partner with Dream Digital, a European music syndication company and an Indian music enterprise, Culture Machine.

“Partnerships with these companies allow us to syndicate our content on platforms that we cannot connect with on our own. Especially being a Pakistani firm, setting up individual contracts with Spotify, Amazon or YouTube is next to impossible. Through this partnership, we want to focus on producing good content,” says Butt, who is also part of the Shell LiveWIRE International Hall of Fame for entrepreneurs.

Apart from this association, the studio is also working on launching its first online music competition, Pakistan Superstar. The competition will try to utilise the company’s digital and social media apparatus to select top musical talent who will be then chosen to record singles in the company’s Lahore-based studio. Most of the content will be user-generated but will initially be looked into by producers at the studio.

“We don’t want to deviate from our original goal. We want their talent to be recognised through the digital platform and give them the opportunity to record at our studio,” explains Raja Nabeel Banwa, who is heading the project, scheduled for a launch by the end of this month.

The independent project hopes to select 10 people who would be judged by a panel of experts online and the songs will be selected by the label, itself. “Most competitions do have an online component but we only want to do this online. We are ignoring television because we are trying to make a point that it is Pakistan’s first digital music reality show,” asserts Banwa.

The studio is managed by Hassan Omer of SYMT and Nabeel Banwa of Char-Payee. It has been producing music by local artists at subsidised rates in the hopes of generating content that can connect with the global market. The label is now producing seven to nine professionally produced tracks and is hoping to create a wider interest for Pakistani music abroad. The major markets are India, Middle East, Europe and Africa

“When YouTube was banned, Pakistani artistes stopped believing in the possibilities of monetising or selling their content. But I believe we can make our presence felt in the international market,” remarks Butt.