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One by one, the guests got up from the table and returned with their instruments. It was around ten-thirty on a warm, breezy night in December, and at the house of Caetano Veloso, Brazils most celebrated musician, an after-dinner custom was under way. One person came back with a guitar, another with a Brazilian-style ukulele called a cavaquinho, and a third with a tambourine and a tantam drum with a long, thick neck. They sat in a semicircle around a large coffee table in the living room. Behind them, a set of sliding doors had been opened to admit the coastline of Rio de Janeiro. The lights of Leblon Beach dotted the dark bay.

Veloso, who is seventy-nine, cracked a can of Coke, and sat down in a cushioned seat across from the players. He was all in whiteslide-on Vans, checked pants, a shirt buttoned to the neck. In the nineteen-sixties, Veloso looked like a Christ of the counterculture, with curly hair that reached his shoulders. When he was arrested by the military dictatorship, in 1968, for playing music judged to be desvirilizante (literally, de-virilizing), the authorities cut it off. Now his hair is gray and more sparse. His dark-olive complexion has lightened with age, and for years hes worn a pair of wire-framed glasses that give his handsome, birdlike face a look of subdued watchfulness.

The loose Brazilian term for the jam session unfolding in the living room was a roda de samba. Its staple is the samba, an Afro-Brazilian form with a two-four beat. Usually, the musicians remain seated, and are surrounded by dancers who press in close; here, the arrangement had the relaxed energy of a lounge show. The sambistas eased into some old standards with shuffling rhythms and choruses sung in shaggy unison. Mosquito, a trim singer in a T-shirt and sneakers, took a matchbook out of his pocket to add some sandy-sounding percussion. Linda, linda, Veloso purred from his seat.

Paula Lavigne, his wife and manager, sat next to him, rolling a joint. She describes the state of awe and ecstasy that her husband inspires as the Caetano effect. People talk fitfully in his presence. They rush to mention their favorite of his albums, or they quote from songs that have become de-facto Brazilian national anthems.

Brazilians arent the only ones pulled in. Madonna once bowed down to him on a stage in So Paulo. David Byrne, whos known Veloso since the eighties and has performed with him at Carnegie Hall, considers him an unclassifiable inspiration. Theres this guy whos got elements of Cole Porter and the Beatles and Bob Dylan, all these kinds of things that people might be familiar with, he told me. But that wouldnt do it to describe him. In addition to composing hundreds of his own songs, Veloso is known for idiosyncratic covers of Brazilian classics, Spanish-language boleros, themes from Italian cinema, and hits by Nirvana and Michael Jackson. He has recorded some fifty albums, and plays to sold-out theatres in Europe and the United States, to say nothing of Latin America, where hes regarded as a fine artist and a pop celebrity. Once, when Veloso was on tour for an album called Abraao, meaning Big Hug, an admirer embraced him so hard that he spent days in bed with a tweaked back.

Velosos preferred place in these gatherings at home is somewhere off to the side, so he can chat in relative peace. He is soft-spoken, even shy. As a boy, he once wrote, I was timid and extravagant. He can seem suspiciously modest for a world-famous musician. Many of his contemporaries are technically superior, hell say. But there is this more mysterious aspect to his talent, he told me: The atmosphere that comes with my voice. He described it as my presence, my personality, which echoed an old song of his, called Minha Voz, Minha Vida, or My Voice, My Life. His liquid tenor, melodic and trance-like, is one of the most distinctive voices in music. Away from the microphone, he listens intently, and goes into languorous digressions full of references to books and films. The theatre director Peter Sellars has written of Veloso, What if John Lennon was a world-class intellectual with an insatiable curiosity for Third World literature and a deep adoration for Hollywood cinema, as seen from the wrong end of a telescope? What if Stevie Wonder could see and he loved movies?

Lavigne took advantage of a brief lull in the music to direct everyone downstairs. I dont want our neighbors thinking this is the house of Ronaldinho, she said, referring to the soccer star notorious for his partying. The musicians moved to a stairway by the front entrance. Veloso grabbed another Coke and a fistful of cashews, and skipped over to join them.

The apartment is in a gated complex, on a steep, winding hill. Vast and luxurious, it became Veloso and Lavignes full-time home only recently. They were staying there in March, 2020, while their house was under renovation. Once the coronavirus pandemic began, they never left. A descending staircase led to what had become Velosos COVID bubble. There was a room with a massage table and medicine balls for daily exercise. Next to it was a recording studio, where he made his latest album, Meu Coco, which came out late last year.

By now it was well after midnight, and inside the studio, recording his own music, was Zeca, the second of Velosos three sons. All of them are musiciansand, like their father, insomniacs. The hours of high activity at the Veloso residence fall roughly between dinner and dawn. Eventually, the guests made it outside to a porch with an adjacent bar. The beach peeked through a curtain of lush palms, and a bluish light in the distance illuminated Rios famous soapstone sculpture of Christ the Redeemer, overlooking the city from Mt.Corcovado.

The music started again, and Veloso shimmied in a boyish trance. His feet scissored off the ground to the beat. One of the guitarists picked up the melody of a song from Velosos new album. Its title was Sem Samba No D, or Without Samba It Just Wont Do. The strumming grew soft as Veloso cut in, singingin a velvety voice barely louder than a whisper. The group leaned in as if he were about to share a secret.

The samba was born in the Brazilian state of Bahia, and so was Veloso, in 1942. The town where he grew up, Santo Amaro, was like something out of a Jorge Amado novel or a Fellini film; it was full of music, dancing, and voluble eccentrics. There were three cinemas, where Veloso watched daily showings of foreign movies. When he got restless, he visited the nearby capital, Salvador, which had a university and theatres that put on avant-garde plays and performances. His parents were modest, middle-class peoplea postal employee who worked from home and a housewife with eight children, two of whom were adopted. The house was large but crowded, filled with extended family and a regular procession of daily visitors. An older cousin, whom Veloso and his siblings called Bette Davis behind her back, professed a desire to live in Paris and be an existentialist. In one corner of the first floor was a small piano where Veloso, with the help of a sister, tried to replay, by ear, the songs they heard each day on the radio. A turn of the dial brought Portuguese fados, Latin American folk tunes, Brazilian crooners, and classics from the American Songbook.

In his late teens, he moved with his younger sister Maria Bethnia to an apartment in Salvador, where he traded the piano for a guitar, and took up painting and film criticism. Missing home, he would put Ray Charles on the turntable and weep while listening to Georgia on My Mind. Occasionally, he composed simple, nostalgic songs of his own, drawing inspiration from his childhood haunts. References to Santo Amaro abound in Velosos work. The years are passing by, he wrote in a later song. And I havent lost you/My job is to translate you. In conversation, Veloso likes to quote an old poet friend who says, Rio de Janeiro is Brazil. So Paulo is the world. Bahia is Bahia.

Velosos greatest inspiration was a Bahian by the name of Joo Gilberto. In 1959, when Veloso was seventeen, Gilberto released the album Chega de Saudade, which introduced a style called bossa nova. The music featured intricate yet understated harmonies, sly dissonances, and a repertoire of rediscovered Brazilian songs that had fallen into obscurity. It was a new old sound, Veloso told me. Bossa nova became an international sensation, particularly in the U.S., but Veloso experienced it as a private epiphany. Every aspect of the music appealed to him, from its samba rhythms and limpid vocals to the enigmatic personality of its evangelist. Gilberto, who had moved to the U.S. in 1963, visited Salvador, staying at the house of an acquaintance with his wife, Micha, who was pregnant. All the young musicians in the city flocked to pay their respects. Veloso was joined by one of his closest friends, a young singer named Gal Costa, who got nervous and ran off, leaving him alone at the bus stop. When Veloso arrived, Gilberto wouldnt come out of the bedroom. Eventually, the visitors coaxed him into the living room, but only after Gilberto ordered them to turn off the lights. It was the closest Veloso would come to meeting his idol for many years. Everything was a strange new joke with him, Veloso told me. It was dark. The light of the street lamps was coming in through the window. You could see, more or less, Michas belly and the outline of his face.

Other encounters in Salvador were less poetic but more eventful. Walking down Rua Chile one afternoon, Veloso bumped into the most important collaborator of his artistic life: Gilberto Gil, a buoyant Black musician with sharp, arching eyebrows and the charged air of a revolutionary. Gil was a prodigy of limitless interests and played the guitar unlike anyone Veloso had ever seen. They were the same age, and were united by a fascination with the Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, and the blues. I learned how to play the guitar by imitating the positions of Gils hands, Veloso said.

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How Caetano Veloso Revolutionized Brazil's Sound and Spirit - The New Yorker

Film Rating: . 3.5/5 & Review Rating

This is the tale of a young woman who finds herself torn between two suitors. With her extended family, Rinku Suryavanshi (Sara Ali Khan) lives in the city of Siwan in Bihar. It was Rinkus extended relatives who murdered her parents as a kid. In love with an unknown guy, Sajjad (Akshay Kumar), Rinku has eloped with him many times. Maternal grandma (Seema Biswas) is fed up with her after the most recent unsuccessful elopement attempt. Tell her family that she wants to marry any guy who is willing to settle outside of Bihar. In their town, they saw Vishu (Dhanush). As a medical student, hes in town for a week of summer camp.

Mandakini or Mandy (Dimple Hayati), his girlfriend, and he are already engaged and planning their wedding. Rinku is kidnapped by his family and forced to marry Rinku. The next day, they arrange for train travel for them to Delhi. Vishu is in a trance as he reflects on the events of the previous night while riding the train. Vishu learns from Rinku that she has fallen head over heels in love with Sajjad and would be leaving with him as soon as she arrives in Delhi.

Vishu is pleased to learn that the marriage is arranged just for her benefit. He eventually makes it to Delhi, where he enrolls at a university to further his education. That Sajjad has gone to Africa to learn magic and will be back in 10 days, Rinku informs him.

Its time to go to Madurai for Vishu. Thats why he advises Rinku to remain at his hostel until Sajjad returns. Alternatively, she might accompany him to Madurai for his wedding. Vishu and Mandy get engaged in Madurai, and Rinku joins them. Before long, Mandy stumbles upon a wedding video of Vishu and Rinku. The remainder of the film is based on what occurs after that.

This is the tale of a young woman who finds herself torn between two suitors. With her extended family, Rinku Suryavanshi (Sara Ali Khan) lives in the city of Siwan in Bihar. It was Rinkus extended relatives who murdered her parents as a kid. In love with an unknown guy, Sajjad (Akshay Kumar), Rinku has eloped with him many times. Maternal grandma (Seema Biswas) is fed up with her after the most recent unsuccessful elopement attempt.

Tell her family that she wants to marry any guy who is willing to settle outside of Bihar. In their town, they saw Vishu (Dhanush). As a medical student, hes in town for a week of summer camp. Mandakini or Mandy (Dimple Hayati), his girlfriend, and he are already engaged and planning their wedding. Rinku is kidnapped by his family and forced to marry Rinku. The next day, they arrange for train travel for them to Delhi. Vishu is in a trance as he reflects on the events of the previous night while riding the train.

Vishu learns from Rinku that she has fallen head over heels in love with Sajjad and would be leaving with him as soon as she arrives in Delhi. Vishu is pleased to learn that the marriage is arranged just for her benefit. He eventually makes it to Delhi, where he enrolls at a university to further his education.

That Sajjad has gone to Africa to learn magic and will be back in 10 days, Rinku informs him. Its time to go to Madurai for Vishu. Thats why he advises Rinku to remain at his hostel until Sajjad returns. Alternatively, she might accompany him to Madurai for his wedding. Vishu and Mandy get engaged in Madurai, and Rinku joins them. Before long, Mandy stumbles upon a wedding video of Vishu and Rinku. The remainder of the film is based on what occurs after that.

The life narrative of Himanshu Sharma is one that is both original and out of the ordinary. The script, on the other hand, elevates an otherwise uninteresting story into something worth seeing. The author has included a number of heartwarming and remarkable scenes. So even if things go a little crazy, one doesnt mind. A highlight of the film is the humorous speech delivered by Himanshu Sharma, who is a perfect fit for the role he plays.

The film is superbly directed by Aanand L Rai. In a number of moments, you can see how his storytelling has progressed. Keeping the audiences interest and successfully executing a narrative like this is his greatest achievement. Aanand is a breath of fresh air compared to any other filmmaker. In addition, he offers an insightful remark on mental illness. However, the second hand may have been crisper and more logical.

ATRANGI RE is off to a great start. First-half highlights include Rinku and Vishus forced marriage, their talk on a train, and other memorable sequences. In front of an emotional Rinku, Vishu delivers a stunning speech in Tamil. Its a stunner in the last moments before the break. Even after the intermission, the movie remains engaging, despite the fact that some of the events are tough to swallow. Its tough to fathom how Rinku manages to live in peace at an all-boys dormitory with no one taking notice. Because of Vishu and Rinkus love tale, all hostel mates gather together and contribute to participate in the lunacy, which is even more implausible. While the conservative audience would be turned off by this last surprise, those who are yearning for something hatke would go crazy for it.

The performances in ATRANGI RE are top-notch. In LOVE AAJ KAL [2020], Sara Ali Khan tried her hand at another atrangi role, but it didnt work out. But in this film, she shows to be one of the most promising performers of our day. As the film unfolds, one sees that this character is so rich and complicated. This was no simple figure to play. On the other hand, Sara plays it like its no big deal.

When it comes to Dhanushs performance, you can count on the fact that hell deliver. Although hes had a number of notable roles, this one takes the cake for him. In the dramatic speech, the dancing in the loos or when he loses it on the train and auto rickshaw, hes of course remarkable. In certain instances, he doesnt speak, but he uses his silences and gaze to convey a lot of information.

In a supporting role, Akshay Kumar excels. In terms of star power, hes a big draw. As the sidekick, Ashish Verma (Madhusudhan) always delivers. Dimple Hayathi and Seema Biswas are great in their little parts. Aside from Gopal Dutt (Rinkus divorce lawyer) and Pankaj Jha (Rinkus mother), there isnt much else. They were supposed to do more. Babe Rinkus Mannat Mishra is adorable.

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Atrangi Re Review: Mixes together the pair and employs a bewildering series of story bends. - UMAR FAROOQ

The Tragedy of Macbeth cast : Denzel Washington as Macbeth, Frances McDormand as Lady Macbeth. Director Joel Coen

Macbeth is perhaps an unparalleled drama by William Shakespeare as the focus is more on the riving guilt that results in a splitting conscience, post crime, than the events leading to the act of butchery itself. It is more about punishment (mostly self-inflicted) than crime. Though one could argue that the reasons for Fyodor Dostoevskys Raskolnikov in Crime and Punishment and Shakespeares Macbeth were different, the consequences of their heinous acts are much similar in nature.

Considering that The Tragedy of Macbeth is a Joel Coen project, bereft of any contribution by his brother Ethan Coen who has otherwise remained a collaborator in most films produced by the duo, one feels akin to sipping vintage wine when watching it. The film is aptly handled by allowing it to breathe, and viewers are made to imbibe it at a sober pace lest too much smother the palate in a single sip.

The Tragedy of Macbeth is a tour de force that assiduously encapsulates a tale of conspiracy and betrayal in a monochromatic format. And yet, the film never falters in exuding the many shades of a human character, the credit for which partially goes to the extraordinary ensemble of actors.

While Michael Fassbender appeared as a haughty warrior in the Justin Kurzel version of Macbeth; in this film, actor Denzel Washington appears vulnerable, more mature and astute than brusque and impulsive. The fact that Macbeth had his share of fragile moments was initially proved by his vacillation over assassinating the King, leading him to even confess to his wife that he is willing to junk his murderous ambition.

The cold-hearted personality portrayed by Washington and his consistency in dialogue delivery straight from the original text to retain the essence of this Shakespearean drama is noteworthy. He takes the right pauses and allows viewers time to absorb a moment.

Case in point is the scene where King Duncan, enacted by Brendon Gleeson, bestows upon Macbeth the title of Thane of Cawdor but soon declares it is Malcolm, his son, who is next in line to be King of Cumberland. The disappointment and fiery ambition, which begins nesting in Macbeth, becomes apparent in Washingtons poker face; best captured in the words of the character, False face must hide what the false heart doth know. The characters repressed rage finds vent in the next scene where he admits, The Prince of Cumberland! that is a step/ On which I must fall down, or else oerleap,/For in my way it lies.

It is noteworthy that Joel Coen has reinvented Macbeth in a very American way which seems to assert itself through Washingtons diction. But, since the play is based in 11th century Scotland, his American accent sticks out like a sore thumb. An English accent may have been fair but then, as they say, fair is foul, and foul is fair.

Frances McDormand as Lady Macbeth, on the other hand, perfects hers except minute slips. She impresses with her measured acting; not overdoing parts where the chances of going overboard were ample. McDormands Lady Macbeth, compared to Marion Cotillards in Kurzels version, equals in embodying the conniving nature of the character that influences Macbeth to murder the King. In this, she appears more fastidious and subtle than hysteric and desperate. The mark of a mature and scheming woman is prominent. It is the literal translation of Lady Macbeths wish, and fill me from the crown to the toe top-full/Of direst cruelty.

McDormands soliloquy, during a fit of somnambulism, is a scene worth admiring. She aptly appears as a woman in trance but moves one when she sort of breaks the fourth wall and makes a gesture at the camera, sparking a doubt as to whether the state of trance is but a conscious act. Lady Macbeths death would perhaps always remain shrouded in mystery and thus a matter of debate. In the play, though she dies off-stage, suggesting suicide, the movie leaves one wondering if she really killed herself.

Certain slips, pertaining to attention-to-detail, fail to evade viewers. Theres not a scratch on either Macbeth or Banquo as they return from a bloody war against the Irish invaders, even as the apparently wounded Captain reports to King Duncan that both the Scottish generals fought with great valour and violence.

The setting of the film, shot on a sound stage, creates a closeted ambience where each character holds a secret, which, if it were to trundle out of the cupboard, could scuttle their cynical ambitions. Macbeths secret constricts and suffocates him like a serpent coiled around his neck, making him eventually slip into delirium.

The chiaroscuro effect casts a glimpse into the psyche of the characters and their motives which are both virtuous and sinister. This finds evidence where Lady Macbeth, while walking down a long corridor, approaches from a brighter section of the passageway but gradually steps into the shadowy part while she reads a letter from her husband. She is enticed at the prospect of him becoming King, just as the witches prophesied.

Wry humour and suspense are the sine qua non of Coen Brothers films. Their neo-Western crime thriller No Country for Old Men made one quake in their boots as a rotating doorknob in a dark and hushed motel room indicated the arrival of hitman Anton Chigurh in search of his target.

Here, in a tense situation, the comic relief is brought forth by Jacob McCarthys Wheyface a servant who informs Macbeth about the approaching troops but is instead assailed with a barrage of expletives such as creamfaced loon, goose-look and lily-livered boy. The forlorn and muddled Wheyface, and his quick retreat in the face of a hurricane of insults, is what tickles the funny bone.

The success of The Tragedy of Macbeth would remain incomplete without acknowledging the intense music by Carter Burwell that relays the mood of the film at times, euphoric, and at others, despondent. The director of photography Bruno Delbonnel creates hypnotic visuals on screen, which look like charcoal sketches on a white paper. In the main, this film can be termed as the finest Macbeth ever adapted for the screen as it retains the charm of the play being enacted on stage.

The Tragedy of Macbeth is available for viewing on Apple TV+

(The writer is a reporter, The Statesman, Kolkata)

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Darkness within, darkness without - The Statesman

Fifteen years ago this week, Russian President Vladimir Putin delivered a vitriolicspeech at the Munich Security Conference in which he denounced the United States as a hyperbolic superpower, challenged Europe to reexamine security institutions across the continent, and questioned the rationale for expanding NATO. Sound familiar? On the fifteenth anniversary of his manifesto, as the world sits on the precipice of yet another conflict in Ukraine, Putin has dusted off the same talking points and the same demands, announcing last week that once again fundamental Russian interests were ignored. And just as the Bush administration did a decade and a half ago, the Biden administration is engaging in a series of talks which, while likely leading nowhere, are validating Putins bad behavior and giving him a bigger presence on the world stage than he deserves.

Founded more than fifty years ago, the Munich Security Conference has grown into a major annual event attended by world leaders, American and European defense ministers, parliamentarians from both sides of the Atlantic, journalists, policy experts, and more. The conference was, for decades, the place where U.S. defense secretaries reinforced Americas security commitment to Europe and occasionally chided their counterparts about contributing more to transatlantic security.

But on February 10, 2007, Putins litany of grievances disrupted this pattern, transforming the conference into a launch party for a resurgent Russia. The blockbuster tirade led to a series of diplomatic discussions and high-level strategic framework meetings that were, while interesting, ultimately fruitlessthe same kind of meetings which are being repeated now to address the Ukraine crisis.

U.S. and European policies leading up to the February 2007 conference provided Putin useful material for his rant. In the months preceding the conference, the Bush administration in concert with Americas European allies was pursuing multiple, concurrent policies intended to strengthen transatlantic security. Bulgaria and Romania had agreed to host U.S. forces. NATO was close to extending membership invitations to Albania, Croatia, and Macedonia, having invited seven nations of Central and Eastern Europe to join in 2002. NATO had also made the decision to take over responsibility for the entirety of Afghanistan via the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) mission. As the Alliance began preparations for its April 2008 summit in Bucharest, its members were discussing whether and how to draw Georgia and Ukraine closer. And, the month before the conference, newly minted Secretary of Defense Robert Gates had made the decision to place the third site of the nations missile defense system on the territory of some of NATOs newest members in Central and Eastern Europe.

To Putin, these policies provided a way to portray Moscow as the victim of U.S.-led dominion in Europe with scant regard for Russias interests. Another Russian leader might have smiled on developments that brought democracy, rule of law, and free markets closer to a Russia struggling with long-term economic stresses, crumbling infrastructure, and declining demographics. Putin saw them are threats to his rule. Instead of seeing NATOs ISAF mission as an opportunity for cooperation against the common threat of Islamic extremism, Putin portrayed it as NATO destabilizing his near abroad.

No one in the U.S. delegation or the international audience was prepared for what Putin would unload over nearly 45 minutes. The strident Russian president spent the majority of his speech and the following Q&A period railing against the Bush administration, staring down Gates and the U.S. congressional delegation led by Sen. John McCain throughout. He criticized the United States for being arrogant, for its uncontained hyper use of force, for having overstepped its national borders in every way, and for not adhering to the rule of law. He called America out for its policies on missile defense. He criticized NATO actions in Kosovo.

For the first two-thirds of the speech, which focused on castigating the United States, many of the Europeans in the audience were disturbingly open to Putins message. I remember sitting with the rest of the American delegation, seeing agreeable expressions and nods of approval from our European friends and allies.

But the Europeans trance broke when Putin redirected his ire toward the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). He claimed the organization was being transformed into a vulgar instrument designed to promote the foreign policy interests of one or a group of countries, paying insufficient attention to relations between the spheres, and making states dependent and, as a consequence, politically and economically unstable. This naked paranoia startled the Europeans. It made them concerned that Putin had bigger ambitions about transforming Europe, and that his rant was not only about President Bush and his policies, but about Europe and the institutions that keep it free and peaceful. The unease was palpablethe Europeans were happy to criticize American leadership, but deeply suspicious of any plan to replace the institutions it supported.

Putins remarks and Gatess responseone Cold War was quite enoughled to a yearlong effort known as the 2+2 talks, with Gates and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and their Russian counterparts trying to define areas of cooperation, such as counterterrorism and nonproliferation, and trying to soothe areas of contention, such as missile defense and military deployments in Europe. Yet despite honest attempts at good relations, the issue of NATO membership for Ukraine and Georgia loomed over the discussions as neither side was willing to accept the others position.

Putins Munich speech was a watershed moment in Russias relations with the free world. It made many in Europe aware of the danger Putin represented, but it also created division among them (and among Americans) about how to respond to Moscow. It put the United States in the lead position for engagement with Putin about his concerns and grievances. And it served as the manifesto for the revanchism Putin has pursued ever since. Perhaps the biggest and most lasting effect of Putins speech was the reaction it generated from the West, which sought to engage him and reason away his concerns. This helped to legitimate his grievances and his desire to be treated as the leader of a great power.

Since 2007, Putin has remained intent on shaping political and security developments in Russias periphery. He wants to be seen as a necessary player on the world stage. He wants Russia to be seen as global power whose approval must be sought. As he said at Munich and many times thereafter, he seeks to reestablish Russian influence in the world.

Successive U.S. administrations and European governments have failed to convince Putin that he could have more influence by playing a constructive, cooperative role than a destructive, antagonistic one. His countrys forces wreaked havoc in Georgia in 2008 and Ukraine since 2014, splintering the territory of both nations and launching disinformation campaigns which have degraded their democratic processes (and those of other democracies as well). Putin and his cronies have paid relatively little compared to what damage they have been able to inflict militarily, psychologically, and diplomatically on millions of people.

With potential violence and devastation an order of magnitude greater than anything Europe has seen since World War II awaiting only Putins order, the Biden administration is again engaging in strategic framework talks with Russia, entertaining Moscows grievances and revisionist fantasies. Thankfully, United States and Europe have rejected Putins proposals, which essentially amount to a do-over of the Cold War. No doubt, talking is better than fighting, but the cost of talking is legitimizing Putins quest for dominion over Russias neighbors, as if that were the kind of thing about which the United States could or should negotiate.

For the most part, the collective position the transatlantic community has taken has been the right one: There needs to be an unambiguous message to Putin that any hostile actions by Russia against Ukraine will be met with consequences. For this threat to be seen as real and enforceable, NATO, the European Union, and individual European nations must be unified in their willingness to impose penalties on Russia for yet another attempt at disrupting peace and redrawing borders in Europe.

The United States and Europe have an opportunity to learn from past ineffective engagements with Putin and have this round turn out differently. Ideally, American and Europes leaders would adopt a stronger position of deterrence regarding Russias new offensive in Ukraine so as to make the penalties so severe that they force those around Putin to calculate the cost and benefits.

Putin told the world at Munich fifteen years ago that he has a narrative of how the West wronged his country, and he has used that story to appeal to the Russian people and to satisfy his need for validation, legitimacy, and special treatment. Taking his insecurities and Cold War nostalgia seriously gives him what he wants. By making clear that the consequences of aggressive action in Ukraine will be severe international political, economic, and military isolation would hit Putin where it matters.

Originally posted here:

Putin Announced His Manifesto Against the West Fifteen Years Ago. His Story Hasnt Changed. - The Bulwark

Stepping into the Gothic Theater felt like entering another realm, a dream within our own reality. Washed Outs sold-out crowd of eager and open supporters came to be taken by the signature chillwave monsoon of drum pads, wavey bass and processed vocals. The audience stepped up to the stage and was welcomed into a trance of heavenly visuals and hypnotic rhythm. Right on time, opener Brijean floated onto the stage. The ultra-chill duo comprised of Brijean Murphy and Doug Stuart set the tone from the very first tap of Murphys bongos. Quickly, the crowd assumed a collective sway as the two blanketed everyone with soft harmonies and scintillating chimes. The haze of purple light hitting the stage, coupled with the sweet whispers from their latest release with Poolside, Better When Were Close, delivered a uniquely exquisite opener experience.

After years of anticipation, Ernest Weatherly Greene Jr., known by stage name Washed Out, entered the stage. From the jump, Greene delivered a sonic experience which begged you to ask Are we in heaven? He kicked off by the set with Too Late, off his latest album, Purple Noon, released in 2020.

This is the first tour weve done as a band in two or three years so thanks so much for showing up.

It was as if no time had passed since his debut album, High Times, released in 2009. Washed Out displayed the rare ability to impart the inimitable sensation of falling uncontrollably in love or floating carelessly in open water. Switching from keys to drum pad to acoustic guitar, Greene laid it all out on the stage. The trance continued with the track All I Know, and a collective gaze was met by a spectacle of lasers hovering above bobbing heads.

This is the Purpose Noon tour. Were playing a lot of new stuff but were playing some old ones too. This is one I think youmight know.

In response, the crowd was sent into a frenzy with the hit Feel it All Around, known by many as the insanely catchy theme to Portlandia. The energy was palpable with not a single body standing still. For those not dancing their face-off, a more dreamy position was assumed with eyes closed in delight. Despite the already animated current, Greene shouted, Were going to pick up the tempo a little bit, and blasted the crowd with the dance track from Within and Without, Amor Fati. Audience members wore giddy grins as they bounced around, captured by the bright beams backlighting the stage.

As quickly as the show was kicked off, the three-piece band scampered off stage. Shouts from the crowd begged for more and they re-entered for an extended version of Get Lost from Mister Mellow with the words take a hit and get lost emblazoned behind them. Knowing the end was near, the room held a sense of hopeful nostalgia. In the end, the show was rounded out with a classic from their 2011 album Eyes Be Closed. Greene tapped his drums sticks together, gazing out into the crowd with a huge smile, leaving everyone in sweet revelry.

All photography by Shelby Moeller

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Review Washed Out Sent Gothic Theater Into A Trance - 303 Magazine

Hemant Joshi who has popular tracks like Ekla Jivishu', 'Dayalu Dwarka Vala', 'Kem Bani Gya Che Bija Na', 'Sorath in Amirat', and 'Shiv Aradhna' amongst many others to his credits, is all set to release a new song 'Girnari Trance' towards the end of February.The makers recently wrapped the shooting and will soon release it on social media platforms. 'Girnari Trance' is a Tandav track sung by Hemant Joshi. The lyrics are written by Mensi Vadher and the music is directed by Hemant Joshi. The DOP team includes Vishal Makwana and Vivek Makwana.To know more about the song and the making, ETimes contacted Hemant, and here is what he shares, "We have finally finished shooting and shall release it without further delay. I hope that the song brings together generations as it has Tandav and trance on the same loop. I have been working on my western classical and this is one such attempt where I have tried to create the fusion between the Indian and western worlds. The beats are something that would keep it going for the audience connecting at different levels. A lot of hard work and research has got us here and we are all set to see this song flourish."Read Also:

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Hemant Joshi on his new release 'Girnari Trance': I have tried to create the fusion between the Indian an - Times of India

Colombia and the world are still pending the evolution of the health of the cyclist Egan Bernal, who is admitted to the Clinic of La Sabana, after the accident he suffered last Monday.

After several days the uncertainty continues, his followers hope that the Tour champion of France in 2019 and current winner of the Giro d'Italia is in good health and overcomes this difficult situation.

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We have no doubt that hard times are coming, that Bernal's battle to get ahead is much more demanding than a full season. The corridor is playing it all, there is no tomorrow. It is known that he lives a complicated present and that the first objective is for the human Egan Bernal to get ahead physically and medically, because the cycling Egan Bernal can wait.

On roasted Monday, around 10:01 in the morning, at km 33 of the Bogot-Tunja road, Bernal was riding his time trial bike and crashed into the back of a bus, which stopped to drop off a passenger. .

He was transferred by ambulance to the Clnica de la Sabana and presented the following injuries: mild head trauma, non-displaced cervical spine fracture, perforation of the lung with the presence of air and bleeding in the thoracic cavity, fracture of the t5 and t6 thoracic vertebrae. and fracture of the femur and the right patella.

As the hours and days passed, Bernal showed improvement, he was gradually awakened and it was confirmed that he had mobility in all four extremities, something that reassured.

It may interest you: (Egan Bernal: Alejandro Valverde wins in Mallorca and dedicates the victory to him)

However, the race has not ended for him, until now he is in the prologue, of a complicated test, the most difficult of his 25 years of life.

There have been several cyclists who have had similar or stronger accidents than those of the Cundinamarca cyclist. Some have recovered and have returned to the road, others have not, they have hung up their bicycles.

EL TIEMPO spoke with two of them, the Spaniards Joseba Beloki and Pedro Horrillo, who went to the ground, hit rock bottom, but they recovered and came 'back to life'.

Beloki and Horrillo are a light, a guide in this situation of uncertainty and they tell how they got out of the tunnel, how they overcame that competition that Bernal, the best Colombian cyclist of the moment, has reached.

From the road to the hospital

On July 14, 2003, the ninth stage of the Tour de France was held between Bourg d'Oisans and Gap of 184 km, and the world was able see live the fall of Beloki, who left a curve, was dispatched down the ravine and remained on the asphalt.

He was urgently evacuated. The Eleven team runner was taken to the hospital and there the doctors confirmed a fracture of the head of the femur, the elbow and the wrist of the right arm. He was second in the general, only 40 seconds separated him from the leader, the American, Lance Armstrong, but that remained in history, because the multiple fractures took him out of the option of winning the test, in which he finished second once and two more from third.

These are very difficult moments that one lives. Today I think that in these cases the best thing is to put one in the real situation, Beloki told EL TIEMPO.

And he added: You wake up and what you want is to know when he's going to ride a bike again and that's not it, the first thing is to know if you look good. It is ideal not to create false expectations to put that recovery plan to work, which must go hand in hand with the physical.

Beloki was late coming back. Eight months of hard work and sacrifice passed. They were days of great pain and of becoming aware that he could get ahead.

The key is to have a clear objective. The first is that he has to fight through several mountain stages, flat, others with fans. Want to be a cyclist again? He can do it, he is a young boy, who has a lot ahead of him, but who has to look good, first for his daily life, said the former runner.

For him, the situations are different. He says that he could not be the same as before for several reasons, and that the main one was that the accident was in a race, fighting for the maximum goal of winning the Tour, the best competition in the world, and he could not overcome that.

Egan has a lot going for him, he was close to having injuries that are not even worth talking about, he got away, he's alive and that for him should be the most important thing.

I was risking my race, I lost the chance to fight for the Tour. It was months of hard work to get back and I never recovered well. Egan has a lot going for him, he was close to having injuries that are not even worth talking about, he got away, he is alive and that for him should be the most important thing, said Beloki.

For the podium of the Vuelta a Espaa in 2022 (he was third) there is another fundamental part at the moment: the people around Bernal.

Your environment has to understand it. In this case you have to support it with sincerity, not invent other things. That is important, that his people know how to direct him, it is that one must feel supported by all those who are close, it is the only way that one gets up from those accidents, he concluded.

Daz in a coma

Horrillo had some tough days. He was in a coma for 12 days, following the crash on the eighth stage of the 2009 Giro d'Italia, when he went off the road and into an 80-meter abyss.

They took him out on a stretcher, which was tied to a rope that pulled the helicopter, who took him urgently to a hospital in Bergamo.

The doctors intubated him, because the injuries warranted it: head trauma, multiple fractures of the ribs and vertebrae, of the knee and femur, and a pneumothorax that required drainage after his splintered bones punctured his lungs.

Today, He says that he wants to erase those hard moments, but he can't. He says that he has followed step by step what has happened with Egan Bernal, whom he knows by the way, because he has seen him train in the Basque Country in Spain.

It may interest you: (The Colombian cyclist Winner Anacona, positive for covid-19)

Horrillo knows what the Colombian cyclist is going through, but based on his experience and what he knows about Bernal, he is optimistic that he will succeed.

Egan's path is hard, difficult, complicated, with a lot of sacrifice, but it is nothing different from what he found in his job, that is cycling, he said.

And he added: You have to change the chip and understand that all the sacrifices he has made are training for the great test that lies ahead. His most difficult moment is now and I am convinced that he will give one hundred percent.

Horrillo did not compete again. He recovered, they almost amputated his leg and the doctors informed him that he was going to be in a wheelchair.

It is that these experiences help one to mature. They tell me that he could not walk again and two months later he was getting me out of the wheelchair. Each organism and injuries, even if they are the same, are different. Egan has several of the ones I had, but if I was able to stand up, he can too, but I want to make it clear that the road is very long, he said.

Horrillo is in favor of Bernal taking things calmly, not despairing. Because, he says, right now he wants to run out and get on his bike and win the Tour again.

You have to lower your threshold of anxiety, because what you want is to be yourself again and you have to control that.

I think it will look good, because the body of a high-performance athlete like his is the instrument of work, it reaches unforeseen limits, because a normal person cannot do it. They were going to amputate my leg, I was in a coma for 12 days, my body was not capable of withstanding an amputation. I had a double pneumothorax, the response of the lungs was dilated, that was serious. In that case it was complicated, but I came out, Egan can do it, said Horrillo.

Currently, he is 47 years old, has ridden two Tour de France, three Giros d'Italia and eight Vueltas a Espaa, and believes that haste is Bernal's worst enemy today.

There is no need to speed up any process, efforts in this type of process are not good advisers. You have to go step by step, you have to balance each step you take. I am optimistic. You cannot be pressured, neither by the media nor personally. You have to calm down and be aware of what you have and how to get out of it. You have to lower your anxiety threshold, because what you want is to be yourself again and you have to control that, the rush is not very good, said Horrillo, who works for one of the sponsors of the race at the Tour.

he agrees with Beloki on the subject of the environment, he warns that it is extremely important that those close to him help him all the time.

You have to have a proper perspective, because the recovery line must be ascending, not descending. You have to live day by day, because sometimes you work intensely and everything can fall apart. He is in the best team in the world, he cannot be better aired, that will help him, as will his family, he specified.

Both pray for the recovery of the Colombian and from Spain they sent him positive messages, those that they received when they were in similar circumstances, in a bed and in the midst of pain and sadness for what happened.

Lisandro RengifoJournalist for EL TIEMPO@lisandroabel

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The former cyclists tell how they overcame the hard trance, after their heavy accidents. - The Times Hub

In 2021, Anjunadeep favourite Ben Bhmer embarked on an emotional and stunning journey in the form of his latest album Begin Again. Written from a dark and hard time in his life, it allowed him to reflect and ultimately take fans on an incredible journey through the most emotional side of uplifting and relaxing trance soundscapes. Now, Ben Bhmer takes four of the top favourites out of the 11-track body of work and reimagines them in a beautiful way alongside composer and producer,Rob Moose, onThe Apparitions EP.

Selecting the tracks Home with JONAH, Slow Wave with Gordi, Beyond Beliefs, and Erase with lau.ra to take on this new journey, this is where classical and trance mix perfectly. With trance already not being too far from some of the same elements that is found within classical music, this is the two genres combined at their best.

I first discovered Rob through his work with Phoebe Bridgers on her Copycat Killer EP and instantly knew I wanted to work with him one day. That day came sooner than I thought. When we started the project neither of us were sure on how it would all come together or what form it would take, but I couldnt be happier with the end result! It is so special to hear such a unique take on my music and I hope you enjoy listening to it. says Ben Bhmer via Instagram

Wanting you to stop and take in every detail sounding through your speakers,The Apparitions EP is more than successful in taking fans on a spiritual journey where they can take a moment out of their busy schedules to stop, breathe, and reflect. With all tracks certainly being tear-jerkers, there wont be a dry eye in the house once this is put on. Not losing the magic of the originals but rather adding to them and building upon them, these are another set of tracks that are sure to become beloved within his fanbase.

Talking about the overall structure of the EP, Rob Moose stated:

I loved getting to work with Ben and the featured singers on this project. In the beginning, we werent sure what shape our collaboration would take, and almost as a lark, I tried muting all the album stems and building the entire structure with just strings. To my delight, Ben liked this approach, and I went deep with all the stems, studying FX artifacts and minute timings to try to translate electronic sounds onto a body of strings without losing the magical idiosyncrasies of the original work. I hope that the EP feels familiar to fans of the album, but pulls their ears and their hearts in unexpected directions.

The Apparitions EP is out now via Anjunadeep.

Image Credit:tobias_schult_photography

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Ben Bhmer & Rob Moose release stunning EP 'The Apparitions' - We Rave You

Name: Hypnotic cinema.

Age: New for 2022.

Appearance: Just like a film.

But, in this case a piece of film-making so mesmerising and incantatory that it leaves viewers in a kind of trance? No, just a regular film. They hypnotise you before it starts.

Where? In Sweden.

At every film? For now, the policy is only in place before some films at this years Gteborg film festival.

What happens? Audiences are treated to a preliminary session with a hypnotist, the aptly named Fredrik Praesto, who stands in front of a projection of a large spinning spiral.

Are you sure this isnt a film? I think Ive seen it. Im sure. After about 20 minutes of relaxation exercises, everyone closes their eyes for a countdown. Once theyre under, they open their eyes, and the film starts. Afterwards theres another quick countdown to lift the spell.

Why do they do this? To experiment with the film experience, to challenge our ideas about how to watch a film, said Jonas Holmberg, the director of the festival.

Oh. I thought maybe it was to stop people using their phones. Audience members did report higher levels of concentration, so maybe they were less prone to that sort of distraction.

I mean, anything to stop the constant talking and all the laughing in the wrong places. Thats not a bad idea perhaps hypnosis could be deployed more widely as a way of controlling unruly audiences.

I guess people have forgotten how to behave in public since Covid forced a two-year break from going out. Well, there have been a few recent incidents. A studio audience member was criticised for shrieking maniacally during a recent broadcast of Dancing on Ice.

Annoying, but its not exactly Turandot, is it? And, just before Christmas, the singer Beverley Knight was complaining about rowdy drunks repeatedly spoiling performances of her West End show The Drifters Girl. My advice is to stay your ass at home, she said.

But, can hypnosis really calm drunkards intent on wrecking an evening of musical theatre? Its got to be worth a try, dont you think?

Im worried they might include a hypnotic suggestion to stop me bringing my own Maltesers from home. As long as you dont eat them too loudly, no one will know.

Do say: I really enjoyed The Matrix Resurrections. Somebody snap me out of it, for pitys sake.

Dont say: Your eyelids are getting heavy. Your limbs are like lead weights. So stay your ass home.

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Cinema hypnosis: is this the answer to noisy post-lockdown audiences? - The Guardian

The Power of the Dog from Jane Campion is due to become a serious Oscar contender in 2022, with the spectacular revisionist western treating cinemas oldest genre with a contemporary attitude. Starring Benedict Cumberbatch in the lead role, Campion has recently revealed that she let the actor improvise in the trance of method acting until the films climax, meaning she never truly knew how he was going to act on screen until the project was complete.

Starring as the dominant, though charismatic, rancher Phil Burbank, Campions story follows the life of a family of cattle farmers that also includes George (Jesse Plemons), his new wife Rose Gordon (Kirsten Dunst) and her son Peter (Kodi Smit-McPhee). Leading the line with an intimidating watchful eye, in one of the films final scenes Cumberbatchs character goes into a rage of fury after Rose sells his cowhides.

In conversation with IndieWire, Campion reveals this scene was almost entirely improvised, noting: I didnt have a clue what he was going to do. In rehearsal, we never went there. We never went to that place to look at what he might do there. Shocked and pleasantly surprised by his improvised performance, Campion added: When I first saw him let it rip, I was absolutely stunned, thrilled, because I felt like this is what we need, this is what the film needs, to see the threat of Phil explode.

Though Cumberbatchs method acting style may put him among the top of the pile for Oscar glory, it certainly annoyed his co-stars, with Jesse Plemons reporting that the actor pissed me off on the set of the film after calling him big boy in character.

Out now on Netflix, The Power of the Dog is due to win big at the Academy Awards, with Cumberbatch, Campion, Plemons and Dunst all in the line for golden glory.

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Jane Campion was "stunned" by Benedict Cumberbatch's method acting - Far Out Magazine