Observer - Hua Hin and Cha-am Regular features, stories and articles

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Regular features from October 2006 130th Issue

Storm Warnings-Is there an opportunity here?

The broad correction in global markets earlier this year was to be expected but the underlying causes point to stormy weather ahead. Expat Economy looks at the likely impact of rising inflation and the return of market volatility on hedge funds.

Equity markets fell across the board starting last May, pulled lower by concern over rising interest rates and profit taking after previous strong gains. Commodity markets also corrected with oil and metal prices reversing sharply.

But while the downturn may have been more of a hiccup than a collapse, it was also the first hint that several of the themes that have helped drive the recent market rally are beginning to lose steam and that new factors are coming in to play in global markets.

Equity markets have performed relatively strongly since March 2003 recouping most of the losses of 2001 by the first quarter of 2006 thanks to a combination of low interest rates, consistent economic growth, benign inflation and soft valuations.

The improving market conditions lured investors from the safe havens of bonds and cash back into equities. Low interest rates drove cheap borrowing, which buoyed consumer spending though, significantly, did not have a material effect on corporate capital spending as companies cleaned up their balance sheets instead of buying new equipment.

At the same time the rapid development of industrial nations, particularly China, and economic development created pricing pressure on commodities as demand soared but supply remained relatively static. Increased trading by alternative investment managers also helped lift prices.

Despite rising commodity values and strong growth, inflation remains benign, partly because the price of goods was driven lower by increased productivity in markets such as China and India. There is a limit however to how low prices can fall and many pundits believe they have started to bottom out.

In a recent study on the effects of globalization on inflation, International Monetary Fund analysts warned, “Strong global growth and diminishing economic slack have reduced the restraining impact of declining import prices on inflation, and with strong global growth expected to continue, the primary risk is that a further upturn in import prices could result in stronger inflationary pressures going forward”

Central banks, obviously in agreement with this view, have been raising interest rates globally.

A strong fall in the value of the dollar, which had been expected for some time, would also be inflationary. The greenback is under pressure because of the massive US trade deficit, while China and other Asian countries are under pressure to end long term pegs against the currency.

What does all this mean for Hedge Funds?

This uncertainty is likely to be reflected by higher volatility in most markets, as liquidity is drained by higher interest rates and investors become slightly more highly risk averse in the face of moderately slower economic growth.

This volatility will be highly beneficial for most hedge fund strategies, as it can create pricing inefficiencies for arbitrageurs and directionality for equity hedge managers, managed futures and global macro funds.

It will also create a more challenging trading environment, creating clear differentiation between skilled and less skilled investment managers.

It is significant therefore that MAN in this period is launching another guaranteed product closing on the 3 rd October. As regular readers know the return on hedge funds is entirely down to the manager so it is imperative if you go this route you go with the best

MAN. “Man MGS Access Ltd” is the name of the product which is targeting 13-16% for it's dollar class bonds with an 8-10% volatility.

From the 1st January 2003 Man MGS Access Ltd, hypothetical performance to 30th.April 2006 is a total return of 71.7% with an annualized volatility of 10.6%.

If you have US$50,000 I don't think there will be a better opportunity this year for the long-term investor.

As always your comments appreciated to info@swissinvestcenter.net

MAG'S PAGE

Here in the UK the summer months were dominated by tabloid tales of Heather Mills McCartney, the estranged wife of ex Beatle Paul.

Forget political faux-pas and airport chaos, never a day went by without a new photo of Heather M M appearing in the press, together with new and supposedly shocking revelations. Which lawyer had she hired? Where was she shopping? Was she anorexic?

But through it all she was pictured day after day in the same old pair of clumpy black platform sandals of the genre best left to rot at the back of a Charity shop.

Granted - we all know how easy it is to slip into a well-worn pair of comfy shoes to nip to Tesco. But lets face it, Heather only has to cope with one aching foot anyway, and still seems to manage 2 inch platforms with the ease of an acrobat.

Which can only lead us to the conclusion that the poor lass can't afford to extend her wardrobe, and explains why she turned down Sir Paul's first offer of 30 or 50 million pounds (depending on which rag you read) in return for a painless divorce.

Well I don't know about you ladies but around 10 million quid per year of marriage seems like a pretty good deal to me. Certainly enough to cosset your tootsies in Jimmy Choos for life.

Not for Heather M M though, who is apparently sticking out for half of the McCartney millions, which could net her over 400 million. She is also reported to be so upset over the whole divorce thing that she might flee to the States for some peace and quiet and - oh yes - even more fame and fortune. Please do dear.

Meanwhile DID YOU KNOW that the average woman in the UK admits to owning 20 pairs of shoes, with a significant number admit to about 100 pairs (and we all know what 'admits to' means don't we!) Unfortunately it isn't clear whether these figures include utility stuff like slippers and wellies, which to me don't count.

Nevertheless a quick inventory of the Mags' household revealed a sad total of only 13 pairs, including miscellaneous categories. Probably more than Heather M M, but still cause for concern, and a good enough excuse for a quick shopping trip.

It's always nice to have some kind of link between subjects, but this time there just isn't one, so it's straight from shoes to airports. In August suspected terror threats resulted in even more security checks and delays at UK airports. So it was in typically stoic British fashion that I waited patiently in several queues at Manchester airport while everything was x-rayed, lighters deposited in special boxes, and minimal hand luggage was checked.

Eventually reaching the departure lounge cafe there was just time for a final Guinness before boarding a flight to Hamburg. Then, as always happens, you need a final trip to the Ladies don't you?

Imagine then, just preparing to do what you need to do when an announcement tells you to evacuate the building immediately. Evacuate the what

As it happened the problem was the sudden collapse of a ceiling under a torrent of unusually heavy rain. Passengers were ushered back inside from various outdoor service areas while staff puzzled over alternative routes to the departure gates.

All was calm and the 'stiff upper lip' prevailed, but just one small point was a bit of a worry. Not one of the passengers evacuated from, and allowed to re-enter, the building appeared to have been checked at all.

Airport security? Sadly a dream.

THE TICKET

SURF DJ chart

When it comes to music, I'm not all that keen on ‘labels' and I don't mean Decca, Sony or BMG. I'm talking about the music industry's attempts to come up with a new label for every slightly different style of music to help keep the racks at HMV and Tower Records neat and orderly. This obsession with labeling is especially apparent in what many would term the ‘dance music' scene, a term which in itself I find misleading for two reasons. Firstly, ‘dance music' is certainly not the only music you can dance to. Secondly, many of the sub genres that are often placed into the dance music category are not made for dancing to, such as chill out, ambient, or trip hop.

I have decided to describe the category of my top 10 as ‘electronic music' tracks. Electronic, because on the whole, the records have been produced using modern sound editing techniques; music that's made using computers, software and hardware as opposed to being performed by bands playing traditional live instruments. ‘Tracks', rather than ‘songs' because many of them have no lyrics in and even those that do could be quite difficult to actually sing along to!

All of the tracks I have chosen are well produced and many were commercially successful. The most important influence in my decision to include each track is the feeling I get from listening to it, and every one of them holds a special meaning for me for one reason or another. There's no order in terms of preference, I've just listed them chronologically.

I play some of these tracks from time to time on my daily radio show on Surf 102.5 FM between 4pm and 7pm. For anyone who's interested, I've made a mix featuring all the tracks that feature in my top 10, and if you'd like a copy please contact me on 01-199 2067 or mattjlavender@yahoo.co.uk .

	ARTIST	TITLE
1	THE SOURCE FT CANDI STATON	YOU'VE GOT THE LOVE
2	MASSIVE ATTACK	UNFINISHED SYMPATHY
3	ACEN	TRIP TO THE MOON PART 3 (KALEIDOSCOPIKLIMAX)
4	ORIGIN UNKNOWN	VALLEY OF THE SHADOWS (AKA 31 SECONDS)
5	UTAH SAINTS	SOMETHING GOOD
6	UNDERWORLD	BORN SLIPPY
7	JOSH WINK	HIGHER STATE OF CONSCIOUSNESS
8	FATBOY SLIM	GANGSTER TRIPPIN'
9	DAFT PUNK	HARDER BETTER FASTER STRONGER
10	LEMON JELLY	RAMBLIN' MAN

BOOK REVIEW

Heart Talk: Say What You Feel in Thai (3rd Edition)

by Christopher G. Moore

Heaven Lake Press, Bangkok 2006

ISBN 974-9411897

370 pages

Reviewed by Bookworm

You may know that the Eskimos have more than 20 words for snow, and the Australian Aborigines have 16 words for water, but did you know that the Thai people have several hundred words/phrases for 'heart' -or more correctly, "feelings of the heart". This comprehensive guide to 'heart talk' explains 743 Thai phrases that include the word jai.

Most expats and tourists are familiar with khao jai ('understand' or 'enter heart').

Some will know the difference between dii jai (glad or happy) and jai dii (kind/ good hearted).

Others with greater understanding of Thai know that hua jai (head of heart) is the actual physical heart organ and hua jai waaiy is the term for a heart attack.

But there's much more to it than that, as Moore explains:

"To understand the Thai word jai is to understand the importance of heart which provides access to the Thai way of looking at themselves, others and life. The word jai means both heart and mind....the heart phrases.are another way of imagining the nationhood of Thailand, the identity of the people, a looking glass peering deep into the cultural heritage."

This book offers more than a mere dictionary for sweet talking to your Thai partner, or learning the many subtle different ways in which various emotions, feelings, 'face' and consciousness are shaped in Thai metaphors, proverbs and everyday language. There's a lot of studious work and cultural understanding that has gone into this. Each phrase is accompanied by a brief translation, then an extended explanation in concise English showing what it really means in Western thinking, together with examples of situations in which it is commonly used. Moore expands on an extended consideration of the Thai Psyche through the use of 'heart' phrases, rather than providing only a handy language reference book, as this entry demonstrates:

Satisfy One's Heart

sãa jai (adj,) ** lkB&

When you know someone who has got their just desserts, then use sãa jai. They have done something and the time has come to pay their dues. The notion of justice behind the phrase is karmic justice, The English equivalent would be the phrase: "What goes around, comes around." Schadenfreude is also a close approximation, An employer has promised his secretary a raise, and then later he breaks the promise. A week later the employer loses a big contract with a customer. The secretary may think to herself about the boss: sãa jai. If she said it to the boss she might be dismissed. (p.202)

The book is divided into 14 chapters covering thesaurus-type subheadings such as complacency, moodiness, resentment, satisfaction, insults, etc, and interestingly, "Hand Talk" -how some of these emotions are expressed by deaf Thai people in sign language. It includes an index both in English and in transliterated Thai with Thai script, so finding the correct phrase in this lengthy work is made less difficult, both for the farang and the Thai reader.

Despite these aids I think it unlikely that there is a very wide native Thai-speaking market for the book, and I'm unsure what farang readership it is aimed at. It is a very useful addition to the library of any non-native Thai speaker at a high or scholarly level, but perhaps not that essential for most farangs with low to average abilities in Thai. In addition it concentrates only on "heart" phrases, but does not include many common phrases used in 'love talk', perhaps more useful to many foreign visitors, and covered fairly well by Benjawan Becker's fourth Thai language book. I'm also a little disappointed by the included phonetic guide, which while erudite and succinct, is perhaps too brief concerning tonal explanation and not that helpful in distinguishing between the 'K' sounds (aspirated and unaspirated plosives), unless you are a linguistics scholar. The usage of capital EE and OO for Thai vowels is also a bit awkward. While there is a perennial and complex problem of transliterating the Thai language, I think there are better reader-friendly options, especially for the semi-proficient Thai reader and speaker.

In short it's either a useful coffee table book for a mixed Thai-farang household, than can be dipped into now and again, or a fairly scholarly reference work by an author who knows Thailand well, and explains Thai emotional subtleties very clearly. I'd certainly enjoy having it on my bookshelf, but doubt if there are that many other farangs over here who would bother to read all of it, though reading handy snippets on a regular basis would certainly improve your understanding of the Thai mindset, language, and cultural differences.

SECOND JOHN PEEL IS ANNOUNCED

A second John Peel day will be held on 12 October to mark the anniversary of the late DJ's last BBC Radio 1 show. Bands, artists and DJs will be encouraged to stage concerts and club nights in honour of the celebrated broadcaster and new music champion.

"I hope many bands and venues will want to celebrate John's anniversary," said his widow Sheila Ravenscroft. "Everyone should have a fantastic night."

Last year more than 500 music events took place around the UK and the world.

As well as airing a selection of classic Peel sessions, Radio 1 will report live from John Peel day events. The station is also planning a John Peel night, to take place during its Electric Proms season in Camden, north London, between 25 and 29 October.

"Last year's first John Peel day was a phenomenal success," said Jason Carter, Radio 1's live music and events editor. He described 12 October "as a day in which we can celebrate the great man, new music and continue his legacy".

The son of legendary DJ John Peel is following him into broadcasting by joining an internet radio station. Tom Ravenscroft, 26, will start hosting his own show on Channel 4 Radio, Slashmusic, from Thursday. "The aim of Slashmusic is to give exposure to the vast amount of fantastic music out there that is relatively unknown," he said. Over 12,000 unsigned acts have uploaded tracks to the Channel 4 website and Ravenscroft will select the best.

Peel, who died in October 2004 aged 65, was BBC Radio 1's longest-serving DJ and championed countless up-and-coming acts. He also introduced his son to music from an early age - at 11 he saw Nirvana play at the Reading Festival. Last year Ravenscroft made John Peel's Record Box, a documentary about his father's favourite songs.

GAMES REPORT

The PlayStation 3 is Sony's seventh generation era video game console, third in the PlayStation series. It is the successor to the PlayStation 2 and will compete against Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii. The PS3 is scheduled for release on November 11, 2006 in Japan, November 17, 2006 in North America, and March, 2007 in Europe and will ship in two initial configurations, the main difference being a 20 GB or a 60 GB hard disk being fitted. Sony said the later European launch was because of "the delay in the mass production schedule of the blue laser diode within the Sony Group, thus affecting the timely procurement of key components to be utilised in PlayStation 3." The delay affects all PAL territories, which includes Europe, Australasia, Russia, Middle East and Africa.

Even by the considerable standards of past next-generation consoles, the Sony PlayStation 3 has been subject to almost ludicrous levels of pre-release hype. The system was unveiled at E3 2005, where it faced derision for having a glut of unsubstantiated CGI demos of games that weren't running on any specific hardware. Information trickled out over the course of the next year until the company's press conference at E3 2006, where Sony presented the system's final design, release date and price, and first wave of titles--to once again face derision. The PlayStation 3 will be available in two different configurations: a $600 model with a 60GB hard drive, built-in wireless networking, and an HDMI video output and a $500 model with a 20GB hard drive but no Wi-Fi or HDMI.

The PS3 comes with a built-in Blu-ray drive, which allows it to double as a high-def movie player, making its otherwise hefty $600 price tag seem like a bargain compared to that of dedicated stand-alone $1,000 plus Blu-ray players. Blu-ray will be the format of choice for PS3 games, and the high-density discs offer much more storage space than those of Sony's competitors; Blu-ray discs max out at 50GB and can theoretically go up to 200GB, while the competition use standard DVDs, which top out at a comparatively cramped 8.5GB. This means the PS3 has the potential to offer more expansive games, with better graphical textures, more full-motion HD video, and plenty of extra content. Sony is also planning to do away with region coding for games, partly because multi-territory releases (with region-specific languages, for instance) will fit all the versions on one disc. The Cell processor being fitted in the PS3 should make it especially adept at such processor-intensive activities as up converting video and emulating past PlayStation games. You'll be able to play your PlayStation and PlayStation 2 games, right out of the box, on the PlayStation 3. Like the Xbox 360 and the Nintendo Wii, the PS3 supports multiple wireless controllers, up to seven simultaneous game pads, as well as the Bluetooth wireless standard. There will be some connectivity between the PS3 and Sony's PlayStation Portable handheld system via USB (and possibly Wi-Fi). The most novel usage shown so far was for F1 06, a racing title where the PSP acted as an external real-time rear view mirror.

As great a price $600 will be for a Blu-ray player, it's awfully high for a games console. It's twice the price that the PS2 was at launch in 2000, and its $200 more than the high-end Xbox 360, which may very well get a price drop before the PS3 launch. The decision to include a neutered PS3 for $500 may also be a bad one. As well as the lower memory, it will have no HDMI port, no built-in Wi-Fi, and no built-in flash-memory reader. The HDMI port is needed if studios decide to activate the so-called Image Constraint Token on their Blu-ray movies (at present they're said to be holding off on doing so). While Microsoft caught some flak for releasing a bare bones Xbox 360 Core System, that version was easily upgradeable to the exact same specs as the more expensive deluxe version. By contrast, there's no way to add an HDMI port to the basic PS3, and despite some positive early indications from Sony, the upgrade path for the hard drive, the flash-memory reader, and Wi-Fi compatibility remains vague.

There are a couple of other possible drawbacks to choosing the PS3 over it's rivals, such as the less impressive motion-sensitive technology in the controller and the so far relatively unimpressive look of the games available compared to the Xbox, however there are indications that the console will evolve over time. Sony appears to be betting that hard-core gamers--and high-def fanatics looking for a sub-$1,000 Blu-ray player--will be happy to run up their credit card debt come November 17. But for parents searching for a holiday gift, the cheaper Xbox 360 and Wii will be tough competition, indeed.

DANCE & MUSIC FESTIVAL

Bangkok's 8th International Festival of Dance & Music

September 5 - October 7

Venue: Main Hall, Thailand Cultural Centre

(MRT Thailand Cultural Centre)

Contact: Thaiticketmaster.com

RAMAYANA

Kalakshetra is one of India's premier institutions devoted to the performing arts. Started in 1936 by Rukmini Devi Arundale, as a cultural academy for preservation of traditional dance and music it has become a centre of excellence. Kalakshetra has been recognised by the Indian parliament as an institution of national importance.

The talented dancers will present two episodes from the Ramayana: Extracts from Choodamani Pradanam and Maha Pattabhishekam. In Choodamani Pradanam Hanuman gives the Choodamani to Sita while Maha Pattabhishekam depicts the war and Rama's coronation.

The performance is supported by musicians and singers. There will be simultaneous translations in English and Thai.

Ticket price: Baht 1,500/1,200/1,000/800/400

Remaining Schedule

OCTOBER 1 AT 7.30 PM.

RAMAYANA BY KALAKSHTERA THEATRE, INDIA

TWO NEW EPISODES: EXTRACTS FROM

CHOODAMANI PRADANAM & MAHA PATTABHISHEKAM

PRESENTED BY: THE EMBASSY OF INDIA

OCTOBER 4 AT 7.30 PM.

TOSCA WORLD PREMIERE OPERA IN THREE ACTS

PERFORMED BY: ASCOLI PICENO OPERA THEATRE, ITALY

COMPOSER: GIACOMO PUCCINI CONDUCTOR: ANTONIO CIPRIANI

PRESENTED BY: THE EMBASSY OF ITALY

OCTOBER 5 AT 7.30 PM.

ORCHESTRA INTERNAZIONALE D'ITALIA

WITH CHORUS AND SINGERS FROM FERMO, ITALY

PRESENTED BY: THE EMBASSY OF ITALY

CONDUCTOR: BUNDIT UNGRANGSEE

OCTOBER 6 - 7 AT 7.30 PM.

CARMEN

PERFORMED BY: AIDA GOMEZ FLAMENCO BALLET, SPAIN

PRESENTED BY: THE EMBASSY OF SPAIN

TOSCA

This three-act opera, a tragedy set in Napoleonic times, by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa is based on Victorien Sardou's drama, La Tosca. First performance was in Rome, 1900.

Tosca's lover Cavaradossi is arrested and tortured for helping a political prisoner. Tosca promises herself to the chief of police to save Cavaradossi from death. But all in vain and the tragedy ends with Tosca throwing herself off the prison roof when Cavaradossi's mock execution turns out to be real.

The opera is performed by one of Italy's most famous opera companies, the Ascoli Piceno Opera Theatre. The Bangkok staging is billed as the world premiere.

The costumes and sets for the opera have been designed by Gianni Quaranta, a world famous production designer in the world of films and theatre. In 1987 he received an Oscar for Best Production Designer in James Ivory's Room With a View; he had three previous Academy nominations to his credit before this. He has also received two British Academy Awards (BAFTA) for Franco Zeffirelli's La Traviata and Room With a View. As a set designer Gianni has worked with the most renowned opera houses around the world.

Ticket price: Baht 5,000/4,000/3,000/2,000/1,000

ORCHESTRA INTERNAZIONALE D'ITALIA

The Orchestra Internazionale d'Italia was founded in 1986, and ever since has given more than 600 symphonic concerts and opera performances for several theatres, concert associations and festivals in Italy and abroad. It has been awarded the European Prize for Culture as Symphonic Orchestra in 1997.

The orchestra has been conducted by leading conductors and has collaborated with artists like Mutter, Accardo, Ughi, Perahia, Bell, Schellenberger, Quarta, Rachlin, Igor Oistrakh, Rampal, Tureck and singers like Pavarotti, Carreras, Bruson, Blake, etc.

In Bangkok it will be conducted by Bundit Ungrangsee, whose career spans the five continents. He has appeared in front of leading orchestras such as Orchestra of St. Luke's in New York, Utah Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra and most recently, the prestigious La Fenice Theatre in Venice. In September 2002 Ungrangsee was named laureate and co-winner in the inaugural Maazel-Vilar International Conductors' Competition, held at Carnegie Hall in New York City.

Ticket price: Baht 2,500/2,000/1,600/1,200/600

CARMEN

Aida Gomez , one of Spain 's leading Flamenco dancers was born in Madrid in1967 and got an honorary degree in dance at the age of twelve. She then went on to join the National Ballet Company and establish herself as a dancer of note.

She was soon to form her own company: Aida Gomez Flamenco Ballet. Soon after the Spanish Ministry of Culture selected her as Artistic Director and she thus became the youngest ever director of the Spanish National Ballet. She was also awarded the Silver Medal by the Instituto de Cultura del Teatro Bellas Artes and in 2004 the National Dance Prize.

Aida Gomez and her company are known for the intensity they bring to flamenco as also for their innovations. In Bangkok the company will present Carmen, her latest production along with 25 dancers.

Ticket price: Baht 2,500/2,000/1,600/1,200/600

AMERICAN FOOTBALL

For those of you who have seen the game on TV but don't know what is happening and for those who want to check out the rules here are the basic essentials.

The purpose of the game is to move the ball towards, and ultimately into, the opposition's end zone. This is achieved by either running with the ball until tackled, or throwing the ball downfield to a teammate.

There are 11 players from each team on field. The game is split into four 15min quarters. Three time-outs are allowed per half for each team and 12min are allowed for half time.

In the event of a tie there is a 15min sudden-death overtime.

Downs are the most fundamental, and confusing, part of the NFL rulebook. The attacking team, or offence, needs to move the ball forward in chunks of at least 10 yards, which is why the pitch has yardage markings. They have four chances, or downs, to gain those 10 yards. When the ball has advanced that far another first down is earned, with four more chances to go a further 10 yards. If the offensive team fails to move 10 yards within four downs, possession is surrendered, although the ball is usually kicked, or punted, to the defending team on fourth down. While most scoring comes from near the defending team's end zone, a touchdown can be scored from anywhere on the field, and on any down.

These are the complicated movements involving all 11 players teams use to move the ball downfield. Plays are called by the head coach or quarterback, who is the attacking lynchpin of any team. While the term usually refers to attacking teams, defending teams also use set plays to stop their opponents' forward movement.

A touchdown (six points) is scored when a team crosses the opposition's goal line with the ball, or catches or collects the ball in the end zone.

Field goal (three points) - These are usually attempted on fourth down if the kicker is close enough to the end zone to kick the ball through the posts, or uprights.

Extra point (one or two points) - A point is earned by kicking the ball through the uprights after a touchdown (similar to a rugby conversion). Two points are earned by taking the ball into the end zone again.

Safety (two points) - Awarded to the defensive team when a member of the offensive team is tackled with the ball in his own end zone.

Although there are only 11 players from each side on the field at any one time, an American football team is made up of 45 players, ranging in size, speed and their roles within the team.

The offence. A team's attacking players who attempt to move the ball forward and score touchdowns.

The key man is the quarterback. On the quarterback's signal, the centre snaps the ball back between his legs to the QB (similar to rugby league's play-the-ball). The quarterback can then either run with the ball, hand it to a running back, or pass it downfield to one of his receivers.

The plays used by the quarterback can either be pre-arranged or improvised to take advantage of the game's changing shape.

The defence. The role of the defence is to stop the other team from scoring by tackling the ball carrier, intercepting passes or causing fumbles. The defence is made up of big, powerful players trying to stop the other team from running the ball, and fast, athletic players trying to prevent the quarterback's passes from reaching his receivers. The defence's power players also attempt to tackle, or sack, the quarterback before he has thrown the ball, while any defender can cause a fumble by knocking the ball from a ball carrier's grasp.

Special teams. Responsible for all plays involving kicks or punts. Special teams play a small but vital role. They come onto the field to execute field goal or extra point attempts, and when the team wants to punt the ball downfield on fourth down. They are also responsible for trying to block the opposition's kicks and punts, as well as attempting to return them as far as possible in the other direction

ARTS & CULTURE

DIE BRUCKE TO ORPHIC CUBISM

Die BrŸcke (The Bridge) was a group of German expressionist artists formed in Dresden in 1905. Although they were named for a passage in Friedrich Nietzsche's Thus Spake Zarathustra that spoke of humanity's potential to be the evolutionary “bridge” to a more perfect future (†bermensch), Die BrŸcke's members instead aimed to make a ‘bridge' between traditional neo-romantic German painting and modern expressionist painting.

Die Brücke was one of two groups of German painters fundamental to Expressionism, the other being Der Blaue Reiter group (“The Blue Rider”) formed in Munich in 1911.

Die Brücke members isolated themselves in a working-class neighbourhood of Dresden and developed a common style based on vivid colour, emotional tension, violent imagery, and an influence from primitivism. After first concentrating exclusively on urban subject matter, the group ventured into southern Germany on expeditions arranged by Mueller and produced more nudes and Arcadian images. The group disbanded in 1913 due to artistic differences. A successor group formed in 1919, the Dresdner Sezession, included painter Conrad Felixmüller among others.

Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider) was a group of expressionist artists established in Munich in 1911.

Wassily Kandinsky, Franz Marc, August Macke, Alexej von Jawlensky, Marianne von Werefkin and others founded the group in response to Neue Künstlervereinigung's (another artists' group of which Kandinsky was a member) rejection of Kandinsky's painting Last Judgement from an exhibition. Gabriele Münter and Paul Klee were also involved. The group, which had no clear manifesto, was centred on Kandinsky and Marc.

The name, Der Blaue Reiter, derived from Marc's enthusiasm for horses and Kandinsky's love of the colour blue. For Kandinsky, blue is the colour of spirituality; the darker the more it awakens human desire for the eternal (see his book On the Spiritual in Art, 1911). Kandinsky had also done an artwork of the same name (Der Blaue Reiter) in 1903.

Der Blaue Reiter organized exhibitions in 1911 and 1912 that toured Germany. They also published an almanac featuring contemporary, primitive and folk art, along with children's paintings. In 1913 they exhibited in the first German Herbstsalon.

Their approaches and aims varied from artist to artist; however, they all sought to express spiritual truths through their art. They believed in the promotion of modern art and the connection between visual art and music, the spiritual and symbolic associations of colour, and a spontaneous intuitive approach to painting. Members were interested in European medieval art and primitivism as well as the contemporary, non-figurative art scene in France.

As a result of their encounters with cubist and Rayonist ideas, they moved towards abstraction. They finally disbanded because of the outbreak of the First World War in 1914; Franz Marc and August Macke were killed in combats. Wassily Kandinsky, Marianne von Werefkin and Alexej von Jawlensky were forced to move back to Russia because of their identity as Russian citizens. There were also differences in opinions within the group. As a result, Der Blaue Reiter led a short life of three years from 1911 to 1914.

An extensive collection of paintings by the Der Blaue Reiter group is exhibited in the Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus in Munich, Germany.

Der Blaue Reiter was one of two groups of German painters fundamental to Expressionism, the other being Die Brücke formed in Dresden in 1905.

Cubism is usually regarded as the most important and influential art movement since the Italian Renaissance; it was an avant-garde art movement that revolutionized European painting and sculpture in the early 20th century.

In cubist artworks, objects are broken up, analyzed, and re-assembled in an abstracted form — instead of rendering objects from a single fixed angle, the artist depicts the subject from multiple angles simultaneously as an attempt to present the subject in the most complete manner. Often the surfaces of the facets, or planes, intersect at angles that show no recognizable depth. The background and object (or figure) planes interpenetrate one another creating the ambiguous shallow space characteristic of cubism. It was a complete and clearly defined aesthetic.

Georges Braque and Pablo Picasso, then residents of the Montmartre quarter of Paris, France are generally considered to be the movement's main innovators. They began working on the development of Cubism in 1908. They met in 1907, and worked closely together until the outbreak of World War I in 1914.

French art critic Louis Vauxcelles first used the term “cubism” “(bizarre cubiques)” in 1908. This was after seeing a picture by Braque and describing it as ‘full of little cubes' after which, the term was in wide use but the two creators of cubism refrained from using it for a quite some time.

The cubism movement expanded by the gathering of artists in Montparnasse, and was promoted by art dealer Henry Kahnweiler. It became popular so quickly that by 1910 critics were referring to a “cubist school” of artists influenced by Braque and Picasso. However, many other artists who thought of themselves as cubists went in directions quite different from Braque and Picasso, who themselves went through several distinct phases before 1920. The Puteaux Group, an offshoot of the Cubist movement, to which artists like Guillaume Apollinaire, Robert Delaunay, Marcel Duchamp, and Fernand Léger belonged, also became famous. Cubism influenced artists of the first decades of the 20th century and it gave rise to development of new trends in art like futurism, constructivism, vorticism and expressionism.

Two distinct phases of cubism have been identified, analytical and synthetic.

Analytical cubism. Picasso and Braque worked alongside one another (1906-1909 pre-cubism) and then started to work hand-in-hand to further advance their concepts into what was later termed “analytical cubism” (autumn 1909 to winter 1911/1912), a style in which densely patterned near-monochrome surfaces of incomplete directional lines and modelled forms constantly play against one another. Braque would later describe their relationship as being like ‘two mountaineers roped together'. Picasso's painting of the Les Demoiselles d'Avignon is, by many art historians, not considered cubist; however, it is considered essential in the development of the movement. In this work Picasso first experiments with seeing the same object, or figure in this case, from various directions. Impressed by the painting, Braque experimented further with this idea. The developments of both men in the field would lead to what would be cubism.

Some art historians have also identified a secondary phase in this analytical period, the “Hermetic” phase, in which the works are characterized by being monochromatic and hard to decipher. The painters gave clues as to what is portrayed by leaving some identifiable object. For example a pipe, which leads to identifying that a person is smoking it. During this time the cubists neared abstraction. Some alphabetic letters were introduced to the works during this phase, to also serve as clues. Braque introduced these, which gave immediate connection to everyday objects like a bottle of rum or a newspaper.

Synthetic cubism. The second phase of cubism, began in 1912; it is called “synthetic cubism”. These works of art are composed of distinct superimposed parts — painted or often pasted onto the canvas — and are characterized by brighter colours, something that they had previously tried to reintroduce, but were unsuccessful in doing so in a smooth transitory way. Unlike analytic cubism, which fragmented objects into its composing parts or facets, synthetic cubism attempted more to bring many different objects together to create new forms.

This phase constitutes the birth of the collage and of papier collŽ. Picasso invented the collage with his Still Life with Chair Caning, in which he pasted a patch of oilcloth painted with a chair-caning design to the canvas of the piece. Braque, interested by Picasso's technique, first employed papier collŽ in his piece Fruitdish and Glass. Papier collŽ consists of pasting material to a work much in the same way as a collage, except the shape of the patches are objects themselves. For example, the glass on the left in Fruitdish and Glass is a piece of newspaper cut into the shape of a glass.

While Braque had previously used lettering, the two artist's synthetic pieces began to take the idea to a new extreme. Letters that had hinted to the objects became objects themselves. Newspaper scraps are among the most usual items the artists pasted to their canvases. They went further by adding paper with a woodprint, or other types of scraps. Later they pasted advertisements, as well. This helped reintroduce colour into the cubist works.

Besides employing mixed media, Picasso and Braque varied their paint applications with decorative painting techniques such as combing, faux graining and adding sand for texture. They often drew objects and added shadows with graphite or charcoal, mixing drawing and painting techniques. Picasso especially made use of pointillism and dot patterns to suggest transparent planes and to differentiate space.

In modern life, many people use cubism. This may include advertisements or as computer desktop backgrounds. The band Franz Ferdinand use cubism and avant-garde art on their music videos and cover art for their records. A classic example of cubism in architecture is The Wotruba Church in Vienna, built between 1974 and 1976; the church startles at first glance, resembling more an enlarged piece of abstract sculpture. The building consists of 152 asymmetrically arranged concrete blocks of a size between 0.84 m3 (1,84 t) to 64 m3 (141 t); the highest block measures 13.10m. The church, which borders the Wienerwald , is 30 metres long, 22 metres wide, and 15.5 metres high. The unusual design created some local resistance. It provides visitors with the unique opportunity to enter into an art form more often viewed on a much smaller scale.

There were also critics (Andre Salamon, Guillaume Apollinaire), poets (Max Jacob, Pierre Reverdy, Gertrude Stein) and following Jacques Lipchitz, other sculptors such as Raymond Duchamp-Villon and Elie Nadelman who were soon drawn into the sphere of cubism.

Robert Delaunay practiced what he called “Orphic cubism” which is identified with the Puteaux Group.ORPHISM or Orphic cubism is a term coined in 1912 France by the poet Guillaume Apollinaire. He used the French term Orphisme to label the paintings of Robert Delaunay, relating them to Orpheus, the poet and symbol of the arts of song and the lyre in Greek mythology. The term may also be used in reference to the paintings of Delaunay's wife, Sonia Terk and to the Czech painter, Frantisek Kupka along with other members of the Puteaux Group.

Founded by Jacques Villon, the Orphists were rooted in cubism but moved toward a pure lyrical abstraction, seeing painting as the bringing together of a sensation of bright colours. The movement influenced artists such as Patrick Henry Bruce and Andrew Dasburg as well as members of the German Blaue Reiter group and the Canadian and American Synchromist movement.