Bahrain Health & Lifestyle
Kareem Salama. Music Man
I think country music is misrepresented and misunderstood outside
the United States," said Kareem Salama, when he visited Bahrain
last month in a venture to promote country music to young children
at schools around the island. Kareem is a well educated Arab—American from
Oklahoma who studied a degree in chemical engineering, and is furthering
his studies in law. Yet being a talented man doesn’t reflect in his language
skills unfortunately. We laughed with Kareem when he told us about one of
his most memorable and amusing moments when he was performing in Italy. "It was 10pm and I yelled ‘Bonjourno’, thinking it meant good evening, but
everyone started laughing. I asked the translator why and she told me I just
yelled ‘good morning"’ Kareem tells us that his parents encouraged him to try
different things, including music. "My father funded the production of my first
album ‘Generous Peace’ while I was in graduate school." ln addition Kareem
has also released ‘This Life of Mine’, and subsequently, ‘Generous Peace
EP", his debut single. Following the international success of Flascal Flatts,
Keith Urban and Taylor Swift, Kareem has his feet firmly on the ground when
it comes round to being focused yet he does firmly agree that music isn’t all
about the money. "If anybody wants to become a musician they need to ask
themselves why they want to be a musician and if the reason is ‘fame’ or
‘money’, then find a better reason." Kareem who writes and performs his own
music believes that there is not a set order in the way music gels together.
"Sometimes the words come first and sometimes the melody comes first.
Sometimes they come at the same time." But the inspiration he gets comes
from a variety of places. "Sometimes it’s something I go through and I try to
process in a positive way. Sometimes it’s something I read. It would be difficult
to say I find inspiration in any one place."
Sophie Middleton: An eye for the prize
I just picked up a camera at university and realised
that I liked taking pictures," says photographer
Sophie Middleton in a snatched telephone call
between shoots. Even better, other people liked
her pictures too and "I have been working professionally pretty
much ever since." That was seven years age and ever since,
"I have covered a lot of different areas in photography since I
started." At the moment she makes most of her money doing
weddings, portraits and corporate work but, "I spent more
than a year doing photojournalism." As interesting as her
career to date undoubtedly is, it is not the reason that Bahrain
Confidential was interested in speaking to Sophie at this time.
No, the reason we wanted to speak to her is that one of her
pictures recently won the Bahrain section of Canon Middle
East’s regional photography competition, ‘Celebrating My City.’
She was one of just thirteen Local winners, all vying to take the
top spot and land herself the grand prize. Her stunning picture
is filled with vivid colour and implied movement. Taken in
Muharrag, Sophie says of the image: "I wanted to capture the
vibrancy and spirit of Bahrain." In this picture, we think Sophie
has captured a side of Bahrain too often forgotten. It will now
be put forward to be judged against the other national winners
to be crowned the best in the region. Does having her work
recognised for its artistic merit mean she has ambitions in that
direction too'? I would Iove to put on my own exhibition, I keep
learning everyday and I feel that I have so much more to add
to my portfolio before I put on an exhibition, but it will definitely
be in the near future." In photography there are two questions
that must always be asked. To the first - digital or film — Sophie
replies that "I have never used film." Having said that, she also then said that "lt might be something I really enjoy." The question - the Photoshop question - is harder to answer. She finally settles on
the following: "l don’t think you can use one without the other now that photography has moved to digital, they go hand in hand, that is
part of being a digital photographer. It is knowing how to use it without over doing it. Does that change what photography is? Probably,
but I don’t think it undermines it."
How to Change Your Life
If you had the magical power to change
yourself into what you would really like
to be, would you exercise that power? Of
course you would. First you would have
to strip away the fantasy and get down
to the nuts and bolts of what you would
really want of yourself. Most people, for
a number of reasons, never get past the
fantasy stage. Some are not aware they
really could make the change, while
others are too lazy. After all, change
requires effort.
Let’s get serious for a moment and ask ourselves some hard questions. Are you the sort of person you really want to be? If not, I challenge you to write down what sort of person you want to change into. It may seem that you need a magic wand — so be it, you possess a powerful magic wand, it’s called “choice”. Write down in detail and include the physical, mental and personality traits you want. And one more thing, include your spiritual self.
The largest stumbling blocks to a change in life is lack of belief. The belief factor can usually be overcome by a convincing argument, peppered with facts and garnished with persuasion. Clear away again the accumulated debris of self doubt and procrastination that prevents you from being honest with yourself and objective in your aim. Libraries of the world are full of stories of enterprises with humble beginnings, expanding into giant corporations and business empires, by insignificant people daring to do - finding they could - and becoming great. Read more
Effortless action
through perfect unity of mind and body, Bushido, Zen and the Dojo JKA Instructor and black belt Ehab Eshehawi tells the truth about karate.
Karate is not a game of points, weight classes or showy demonstrations. It is a martial art and a way of life that trains a practitioner to be peaceful; but if conflict is unavoidable, true karate dictates taking down an opponent with a single blow.
Health Updates
Yogi bear was right!
A clinical trial has found that honey is more effective at soothing a sore throat than a common active ingredient in children’s cough medicines. Honey has been used for centuries to relieve a tickly throat and scientists now believe it may be effective because it has constituents that kill microbes and also act as an antioxidant. That means it might prevent damage inside cells from chemical by-products of their activity. The study compared buckwheat honey with dextromethorphan, an ingredient in a range of branded medicines. Dextromethorphan is the most common active ingredient in children’s over-the-counter cough medicine in the US. The team enrolled 105 children with a night cough and their parents and split them into three groups. One group received a syringe-full of honey, one a syringe containing the medicine, and the third received an empty syringe. The team from Pennsylvania State University reported in the Archives of Paediatric and Adolescent Medicine that honey was more effective than dextromethorphan at relieving the severity, frequency and bothersome nature of the cough. The medicine was only slightly more effective than no treatment at all.
Diabetes Drug
Risk Avandia, taken daily by hundreds of thousands of patients to treat diabetes, has already been linked to heart attacks and heart failure, now research suggests it may also thin the bones, causing osteoporosis. Avandia is used to treat Type 2 diabetes, the form of the disease which is linked to obesity and which tends to occur in middle age. US researchers now say the drug boosts the action of cells that break down bone structure in a process known as resorption which leads to thinning of the bones. It was already known that the drug, which is also known as rosiglitazone, interferes with the building of new bone. The researchers, from the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in California, say the new discovery is particularly troubling, “These findings have potential clinical applications as they suggest that long term rosiglitazone usage in the treatment of Type 2 Diabetes may cause osteoporosis owing to a combination of decreased bone formation and increased bone resorption.” Avandia’s manufacturer, the pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline, acknowledges the drug carries an increased risk of heart failure however, the company denies that this occurs in patients without pre-existing heart conditions.
Information kindly provided by Bahrain Confidential - Your number 1 magazine for Bahrain