THOUSAND OAKS, California (AP): The goal for Tiger Woods has always been to be better than he was the year before. Despite losing his marriage and every tournament he played, he still gave himself a pass grade for 2010.
"As a golfer, I learned so much more this year than any other year - and as a person, infinitely more," Woods said Tuesday. "So it's been a very successful year, even though it was a very painful year, as well."
That year comes to a close with the Chevron World Challenge, which starts Thursday featuring an 18-man field of players inside the top 50 in the world ranking. Woods has won the last two times he played, although he missed the last two years - in 2008 while recovering from knee surgery, and last year because of the Thanksgiving night accident that led to revelations of his infidelity.
It was a year that Woods described as "harder than anyone could have imagined."
On Tuesday of tournament week a year ago, the Florida Highway Patrol cited him for reckless driving and fined him $164 for running his SUV over a fire hydrant and into a tree outside his home, while a magazine had a cover story from a cocktail waitress who said she had 300 text messages to prove her 31-month affair with Woods.
His personal life was just starting to unravel.
Woods said he never thought about walking away from golf for the entire year, shooting down speculation in a book that he would enlist in the Navy. Woods said as a kid, he either wanted to be a pro golfer or a Navy SEAL.
"I love playing the game of golf," Woods said. "It's fun, it's certainly challenging, and it's also something that I know when I do it right, I'm pretty good at it."
That was not lost on Ian Poulter as he hit balls on the range Tuesday morning and talked about the world ranking, amazed that Woods has lost more ranking points than any player has earned this year.
Poulter recalled a time not long ago when the distance between Woods and whoever was No. 2 in the world was greater than No. 2 and the player ranked 100th or lower.
"It shows how good," Poulter said, pausing. It sounded as though he was ready to say "how good he was," but the Englishman caught himself, because he believes Woods will return. "It shows how good he can be when he's at his best."
Can he get it back?
"I think it's in him even more," Poulter said.
Woods talked about the need to change his personal life and his golf swing, but he never explained until Tuesday why he had to change a swing that had brought him 31 tour victories, including six majors, under Hank Haney.
"As I played throughout the summer, I kept trying to do the things that I was working on with Hank over the years, and it just wasn't working anymore, and it got to a point where I just couldn't do it," he said. "It's kind of hard to try and play tournament level golf, major championship golf especially, when at the time I was struggling with which way the ball was going to go. That's not fun."
Why wasn't it working?
"For some reason, it just wasn't," he said. "And it was time to go a different route."
Woods is back to work this week, although only he knows to what degree his life is back to normal. He had a board meeting with the Tiger Woods Foundation on Monday night - Woods picked up the tab for dinner - and more meetings as the host of this tournament on Tuesday before a press conference and some work on the practice range.
He no longer is grilled about his personal life, including his divorce in August.
Instead, the focus has shifted back to his golf game, and there hasn't been much to report on that front. Woods went without a win on the PGA Tour for the first time in his career. He lost his No. 1 ranking for the first time in five years to Lee Westwood of England.
The Chevron World Challenge does not count as official on the PGA Tour, although it does offer world ranking points, and Woods mathematically will have a chance to get back to No. 1 this week with a victory. That seems unlikely given his recent form.
Woods was asked why he hadn't won this year, whether it was mechanical or mental, long game or short game.
"All of the above," Woods said. "I think I've dealt with a few things off the golf course, and on the golf course I've had to make some changes in my game. You combine all that together, it's very hard to be efficient for 72 straight holes."
He has shown flashes - 7 under over his last seven holes in a Ryder Cup singles match, 6 under in his last six holes in Australia.
Still, this year goes down as an anomaly with Woods. No majors. No wins. And a career-worst 68th on the money list.
"It's been difficult, but also it's been very rewarding at the same time," Woods said. "It forced me to look deeper into myself and ... how I grew up and how those things didn't match with the person who I am, and getting back to that, getting back to how my parents raised me. It's been good. I'm very excited about the future because of that."
Source: http://thestar.com.my/sports/story.asp?file=/2010/12/1/sports/20101201085708&sec=sports
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
A cheesy haven
By JAYAGANDI JAYARAJ
CHEESE lovers should drop by O’ Gourmet’s Cheese Room, the first walk-in fromagerie with over 100 varieties of cheeses from around the world at Bangsar Shopping Centre in Kuala Lumpur.
The chilled room, strictly maintained at 2°C to 4°C, is not only a haven for cheese lovers but also a great place to learn about cheese as well.
It is the perfect temperature to store cheese as it keeps it in the correct form.
“Anything below that can freeze the cheese and above that can melt it. To maintain the freshness when you store it in your fridge, pack the cheese in plastic cling wrap to prevent it from getting dry,” he said.
Gourmet wine and cheese consultant Sebastien Le Francois is available at the Cheese Room from 3pm to 6pm every day except on Sundays to take enquiries on cheese and wines.
“Cheese is like wine too. Both products are left to mature. Everyone has a favourite and every cheese differs in taste as there are many factors that influence it,” he said, at the launch of the Cheese Room recently.
The factors include milk source, production location and weather. While some cheese may not taste good when it is newly opened, it gets better as it matures. Cheeses made from cow, sheep or buffalo milk also have distinct tastes.
“Cheese made using milk from animals near the mountains and the sea will have different tastes too. It also depends on the season. Milk may taste different during the winter as the cows feed on preserved food compared to summer when they feed on fresh grass in the meadows.
“The difference in milk will influence the taste of the cheese,” he said.
There are also different ways of making cheese that appeal to a variety of cooking and personal preferences.
“Some are pressed and some are mouldy. In France, there are more than 365 types of cheese and you can have a different flavour everyday,” said Francois, adding that cheese could be used in pasta and pizzas, or can be eaten on its own or with bread, as it was packed with calcium.
He also explained why people drank red wine with cheese, although white wines also brought out cheese flavours well.
“Cheese is normally served after the main course, which is often taken with reds. So most people would just carry on with the red for their cheese. Besides, it is difficult to switch to white from red,” he said.
Source: http://kuali.com/news/story.aspx?file=/2010/11/26/ku_inthenews/7449013&sec=ku_inthenews
Here's a special video of cheese.
CHEESE lovers should drop by O’ Gourmet’s Cheese Room, the first walk-in fromagerie with over 100 varieties of cheeses from around the world at Bangsar Shopping Centre in Kuala Lumpur.
The chilled room, strictly maintained at 2°C to 4°C, is not only a haven for cheese lovers but also a great place to learn about cheese as well.
It is the perfect temperature to store cheese as it keeps it in the correct form.
“Anything below that can freeze the cheese and above that can melt it. To maintain the freshness when you store it in your fridge, pack the cheese in plastic cling wrap to prevent it from getting dry,” he said.
Gourmet wine and cheese consultant Sebastien Le Francois is available at the Cheese Room from 3pm to 6pm every day except on Sundays to take enquiries on cheese and wines.
“Cheese is like wine too. Both products are left to mature. Everyone has a favourite and every cheese differs in taste as there are many factors that influence it,” he said, at the launch of the Cheese Room recently.
The factors include milk source, production location and weather. While some cheese may not taste good when it is newly opened, it gets better as it matures. Cheeses made from cow, sheep or buffalo milk also have distinct tastes.
“Cheese made using milk from animals near the mountains and the sea will have different tastes too. It also depends on the season. Milk may taste different during the winter as the cows feed on preserved food compared to summer when they feed on fresh grass in the meadows.
“The difference in milk will influence the taste of the cheese,” he said.
There are also different ways of making cheese that appeal to a variety of cooking and personal preferences.
“Some are pressed and some are mouldy. In France, there are more than 365 types of cheese and you can have a different flavour everyday,” said Francois, adding that cheese could be used in pasta and pizzas, or can be eaten on its own or with bread, as it was packed with calcium.
He also explained why people drank red wine with cheese, although white wines also brought out cheese flavours well.
“Cheese is normally served after the main course, which is often taken with reds. So most people would just carry on with the red for their cheese. Besides, it is difficult to switch to white from red,” he said.
Source: http://kuali.com/news/story.aspx?file=/2010/11/26/ku_inthenews/7449013&sec=ku_inthenews
Here's a special video of cheese.
Hachiko: A dog's story
There's a statue in Edinburgh to Greyfriars Bobby, the Skye terrier who sat by his master's grave for 14 years in the 1860s. His tale has been filmed, as has that of his Japanese equivalent, an Akita dog called Hachiko, whose years of waiting for his late master at Shibuya station in the 1930s is also commemorated by a bronze statue. For no very good reason Hachiko's story has been re-created in an idyllic Rhode Island community, where a Japanese puppy turns up one day by accident and is adopted by commuting musicologist Richard Gere and his wife.
Gere, who appeared as an American visiting his Japanese relatives in Akira Kurosawa's penultimate movie, Rhapsody in August, and in Shall We Dance, an American version of a Japanese picture about ballroom dancing, is clearly attracted by Japanese and Chinese culture. But Hachiko: A Dog's Tale is pretty pointless, and the director, Lasse Hallström, who made his name with the remarkable Swedish movie My Life As a Dog, continues to punch below his weight with another candied slice of sweet-natured Americana.
Behind Koreatown's Far East Movement, a deep history [Updated]
Far East Movement, the Los Angeles electro/rap group, reached a notable milestone recently. Not only did its third album, "Free Wired," debut at #24 on the Billboard charts, one of the highest charting debuts by any all-Asian American group, but its latest single, “Like a G6,” is the #1 single in the country (having already crowned digital charts for weeks).
[Update: The chart position of "Free Wired" was misrepresented in the original version of this post. The text in the above paragraph has been changed to reflect the correct chart placement.]
By coincidence, on Oct. 12, 2010, the day "Free Wired" dropped, TV’s "Glee" featured Asian American actors Jenna Ushkowitz (Tina) and Harry Shum Jr. (Mike) joyfully singing and dancing their way through “Sing!” from "A Chorus Line." Three nights earlier, "Glee" star Jane Lynch hosted "Saturday Night Live" with musical guest Bruno Mars, the Filipino-Puerto Rican crooner whose iTunes-topping “Just the Way You Are” was just pushed aside by "Like a G6.”
This confluence seemed to be a long time coming. Prior to FM, the last group of Asian Pacific Islander descent to run the dance floor might have been the Jets, the Tongan-German, Minneapolis-based family band that had a string of dance/R&B hits, including “Curiosity” and “Crush on You.” That was back in 1985.
When I began writing about Asian American artists in the early 1990s, the common hope was for a “breakthrough” superstar that could pry open the gates of the record industry by convincing skeptical label execs that “we” were marketable. Perhaps the sales of "Free Wired" will create a trickle-down effect for other Asian American artists. However, FM's success is the culmination of a long-term movement to part the doors of opportunity with a thousand nudges rather than a single magic bullet.
Behind FM’s climb to the top are at least two intersecting histories of “Asian American music” (an ill-defined term, but bear with). One history begins in the early 1970s, at the very birth of the idea of “Asian America” as a social and political term unifying disparate ethnic groups. (FM, a group whose members are of Chinese, Filipino, Korean and Japanese descent, practically stand in as a poster child for pan-ethnic Asian America). Besides rallies and newsletters, activists used music to promote this nascent, umbrella identity.
For example, arguably the first album by a self-identified Asian American group was the 1973 eponymous debut of the folk trio A Grain of Sand. In line with the political source of their creative inspirations, their songs tackled cross-ethnic unity, labor solidarity and antiwar sentiments. A lost history lies behind these groups and their now-obscure releases, be it the eclectic, jazz/spoken word stylings of the Bay Area band Yokohama, California, or “The Ballad of Chol-Soo Lee,” a 1978 single released in San Francisco to raise awareness about the case of a Korean immigrant wrongly convicted of murder. By the time my generation came of age, the musical vehicle for social and cultural outreach shifted from that of folk and jazz to hip-hop. In the first half of the 1990s, a wave of politically charged collegiate rap artists came and went, including UC Davis’ Asiatic Apostles and Rutgers University’s Yellow Peril.
Most of these groups followed the Funkadelic principle of freeing minds and hoping butts would follow, but on an album like "Free Wired," with its catchy club anthems such as “Girls on the Dancefloor” and “Like a G6,” FM has gone the other way: butts first, minds maybe. Yet the group certainly walked the same path as many of those now-forgotten, Asian American rap pioneers.
Early in its career, FM paid its dues at countless college and community performances, many sponsored by Asian American student organizations. That grass-roots circuit dates all the way back to the days of A Grain of Sand and serves as a crucial outlet for exposure and revenue, not just for rap acts but for guitar-wielding singer-songwriters, up-and-coming comedians and moody indie rock bands too. However, as much as FM represents a kind of capstone for this 40-year movement for cultural visibility, they affirm a deeper, longer history as well, less political in intent but no less passionate.
After all, “Asian American music” exists only as far back as the socio-political concept of Asian America itself. But long before the late 1960s' social movements brought about such awareness, music and performance were a distinct part of Asian lives in America since practically the earliest waves of immigration.
George Yoshida’s remarkable history, "Reminiscing in Swingtime," traces Japanese American jazz bands in Los Angeles back as early as 1920s. Earlier this year, the San Francisco Historical Society hosted an exhibit, "Swinging Chinatown," chronicling the colorful history of Grant Avenue nightclubs from the late 1930s onward. Also in the 1930s, author Carlos Bulosan famously wrote of listening to Filipino American jazz musicians play along Seattle’s King Street.
Then there was the soundtrack for "Flower Drum Song," the novel turned Broadway musical turned film, which, in 1961, enjoyed three weeks atop the pop album charts. Though Rodgers and Hammerstein wrote the music, almost all the singers were Asian American, including Seattle’s Pat Suzuki, who went on to enjoy a prolific solo career singing pop standards.
This roll call runs deeper than many realize and includes everyone from Hawaii’s Don Ho and his bestselling “Tiny Bubbles” (1966) to 1970s disco divas like Bombay-born, New York-made Asha Puthli and Filipino-Chinese-Irish singer Yvonne Elliman to '80s "Star Search" winner Gerry Woo. This doesn’t even touch California’s dense, decades-old network of Asian American DJs from San Francisco to Cerritos, Stockton to Carson, spinning the kind of energetic hip-hop and freestyle dance tracks that form part of the DNA of FM’s club hits.
If these various histories laid down the kindling, the emergent Internet tools of self-expression and distribution of the last 10 years showered down sparks. Popularity metrics are now calculated by more than simply Billboard sales; they’re also tracked in YouTube hits and re-Tweets. Technology alone won’t provide Web stars self-sustaining careers, but after generations of invisibility in the conventional pop industry, at least Asian American youth now master more means to achieve visibility.
It would be premature to call this a golden age of Asian American musical performance, but the modicum of success attained by artists such as Far East Movement, Bruno Mars, New York’s Legaci (Justin Bieber’s backup singers) and others serve as a reminder of a simple but powerful truth: Despite stale caricatures of Asian Americans as introverted model minorities (a stereotype found all too easily elsewhere in the pop world), their desire to perform is neither new nor unusual. I think of my 5-year-old half-Chinese, half-Japanese American daughter. She took her recent kindergarten pictures on an auditorium stage and came home to tell us what it was like, standing up there: “It felt good.” Yeah, it does.
-- Oliver Wang
source: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/music_blog/2010/11/behind-koreatowns-far-east-movement-a-deep-history.html
Teacher in racism row replaced
PORT DICKSON: A chief invigilator who allegedly uttered racist remarks before about 200 students in a school here during an SPM examination last week has been replaced.
The duties of the female teacher, from SM Radin in Lukut near here, has been taken over by another teacher from SM Dato’ Abdul Samad.
It was learnt that she was replaced a day after the alleged incident was reported.
Deputy Education Minister Datuk Dr Wee Ka Siong said the invigilator was suspended immediately after the incident.
“In this case, even if action has been taken after the incident, the Examination Syndicate director has already told me that this person will not carry out her duties as an invigilator.
“So, let the Education Ministry officer handle this,” he told reporters at the Parliament lobby here yesterday.
He added that a special committee, which was already in existence, would look into the allegations.
“For every case, we have a system. We lodge a report to the committee, hand it over and it will review it.
“So, it’s in the reviewing stage now,” he said.
The teacher, who was overseeing students at SM Raja Jumaat in Lukut, had allegedly told them that they should go back to either China or India if they did not understand Bahasa Malaysia.
She was apparently making an announcement when a group of students began making noise.
When she told them to be silent, they ignored her.
It was then she made the remarks.
A police report was lodged the following day after the students notified their parents about the incident.
The teacher has since apologised to the students.
Teluk Kemang MIC division head Velu Munusamy said disciplinary action must be taken against the invigilator for being insensitive.
“The ministry must investigate the claim and take the necessary action.
“Replacing her is not enough,” he said.
Velu said MIC state chief Datuk V. S. Mogan would be meeting state education director Abdul Halim Abdul Razak over the matter.
by SARBAN SINGH and TEH ENG HOCK
Source: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/12/1/nation/7531276&sec=nation
The duties of the female teacher, from SM Radin in Lukut near here, has been taken over by another teacher from SM Dato’ Abdul Samad.
It was learnt that she was replaced a day after the alleged incident was reported.
Deputy Education Minister Datuk Dr Wee Ka Siong said the invigilator was suspended immediately after the incident.
“In this case, even if action has been taken after the incident, the Examination Syndicate director has already told me that this person will not carry out her duties as an invigilator.
“So, let the Education Ministry officer handle this,” he told reporters at the Parliament lobby here yesterday.
He added that a special committee, which was already in existence, would look into the allegations.
“For every case, we have a system. We lodge a report to the committee, hand it over and it will review it.
“So, it’s in the reviewing stage now,” he said.
The teacher, who was overseeing students at SM Raja Jumaat in Lukut, had allegedly told them that they should go back to either China or India if they did not understand Bahasa Malaysia.
She was apparently making an announcement when a group of students began making noise.
When she told them to be silent, they ignored her.
It was then she made the remarks.
A police report was lodged the following day after the students notified their parents about the incident.
The teacher has since apologised to the students.
Teluk Kemang MIC division head Velu Munusamy said disciplinary action must be taken against the invigilator for being insensitive.
“The ministry must investigate the claim and take the necessary action.
“Replacing her is not enough,” he said.
Velu said MIC state chief Datuk V. S. Mogan would be meeting state education director Abdul Halim Abdul Razak over the matter.
by SARBAN SINGH and TEH ENG HOCK
Source: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/12/1/nation/7531276&sec=nation
Long queue to buy Apple’s wonder tablet
KUALA LUMPUR: Hundreds of buyers queued up for hours for the launch of the Apple iPad at the Mid Valley Megamall yesterday.
They arrived as early as 8am before the official launch at 10am, so as to be among the first to buy the tablet in Malaysia.
Many employees were deployed to maintain order as long queues formed outside Apple’s authorised reseller, Machines, at the mall here.
The iPad is designed to browse the web, read email, listen to music, browse photo albums, watch videos and read eBooks.
It features a large 24.6cm LED-backlit multi-touch screen and allows users to navigate through the Internet easily with specially programmed applications.
First in line was Kelvin Goh, 30, who took half a day off and rushed from his office after reading of the launch in The Star yesterday.
“I do not mind waiting as long as I get the iPad today. It is a Christmas present for a friend,” said Kelvin who was initially supposed to go to Singapore to get the product.
Lecturer Mayudia Mohtar, 30, laughed hysterically after unwrapping the box containing her new iPad.
She said she had “run away” from work for fear that the stock of iPad would run out if she waited until after office hours.
Retired worker Lee Kian Toon, 55, however said the price of the iPad was a little too high.
“I have to admit it is a very good product but mass production should be able to bring the price down in the future,” said Lee.
Communications officer Nataskia van Dam, 26, from the Netherlands. found the iPad very intuitive.
“Even my mum can use it. This is a Christmas present for my mum from my dad. She is going to love this one as she can read books on it,” said Nataskia, who is visiting her family in Malaysia.
Mark Mcqueen, 46, said he could now use the iPad during flights.
“A 17-inch screen is just too big for me, especially in the airplane,”
“However, my wife is a bigger Apple fan and she is waiting at home to confiscate the iPad,” said Mcqueen.
by REENA NATHAN
Source: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/12/1/nation/7531794&sec=nation
They arrived as early as 8am before the official launch at 10am, so as to be among the first to buy the tablet in Malaysia.
Many employees were deployed to maintain order as long queues formed outside Apple’s authorised reseller, Machines, at the mall here.
The iPad is designed to browse the web, read email, listen to music, browse photo albums, watch videos and read eBooks.
It features a large 24.6cm LED-backlit multi-touch screen and allows users to navigate through the Internet easily with specially programmed applications.
First in line was Kelvin Goh, 30, who took half a day off and rushed from his office after reading of the launch in The Star yesterday.
“I do not mind waiting as long as I get the iPad today. It is a Christmas present for a friend,” said Kelvin who was initially supposed to go to Singapore to get the product.
Lecturer Mayudia Mohtar, 30, laughed hysterically after unwrapping the box containing her new iPad.
She said she had “run away” from work for fear that the stock of iPad would run out if she waited until after office hours.
Retired worker Lee Kian Toon, 55, however said the price of the iPad was a little too high.
“I have to admit it is a very good product but mass production should be able to bring the price down in the future,” said Lee.
Communications officer Nataskia van Dam, 26, from the Netherlands. found the iPad very intuitive.
“Even my mum can use it. This is a Christmas present for my mum from my dad. She is going to love this one as she can read books on it,” said Nataskia, who is visiting her family in Malaysia.
Mark Mcqueen, 46, said he could now use the iPad during flights.
“A 17-inch screen is just too big for me, especially in the airplane,”
“However, my wife is a bigger Apple fan and she is waiting at home to confiscate the iPad,” said Mcqueen.
by REENA NATHAN
Source: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/12/1/nation/7531794&sec=nation
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