Features

An everyday exotic yet practical, refined and well equipped executive saloon, the sporty, swift and smooth Maserati Ghibli is pitched at traditional premium saloons like the Audi A6, Jaguar XF and BMW 5-Series, and fashionable so-called “four-door-coupes” like the Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class, Audi A7 and BMW 6-Series GranCoupe. 

Evocatively resurrecting the former sports car and coupe Ghibli nameplate after a 15-year absence, when introduced in 2013, the contemporary twin-turbocharged V6 Ghibli also revisits the iconic Italian brand’s 1980s bi-turbo V6 foray into the executive saloon segment. But with seductively curvy lines, sharp ridges and moody face rather than a traditional angular three-box design, it is possibly the most glamorous in its class. 

Dramatic design

Dramatic, predatory and athletic, the Ghibli is brimming with dynamic tension. From its’ low-set concave vertical slat grille, squinting, heavily browed headlights and across its’ voluptuously carved sports car-like scalloped wings the Ghibli’s design creates a sense of motion and urgency. A flowing roofline, frameless windows, long bonnet, cabin-back silhouette and short high-set rear deck emphasise its luxuriously sporty demeanour.

Sculpted and sporty, the Ghibli’s curved surfacing features prominent sills, muscular Coke-bottle hips and rear haunches. Front views are dominated by the evocatively edgy Maserati Trident badge, while a wide lower intake lends the Ghibli a hungry and eager appearance, and three side ports accentuate its indulgently long bonnet. 

Low, wide and well proportioned with short front overhang and big footprint, the Ghibli is road hugging and hunkered down. With traditional front engine and rear-wheel-drive layout, the Ghibli has equal front-to-rear weight distribution, for balanced, neutral and adjustable handling characteristics. Meanwhile, scalloped wings serve as turning point markers to help place it on road through corners.

Swift and smooth

Located in a somewhat front-mid configuration and driving the rear wheels through a smooth and swift changing 8-speed automatic gearbox, the Ghibli’s Ferrari-developed 3-litre twin-turbocharged V6 delivers 325BHP at 5000rpm and 407lb/ft
throughout a broad 1750-4500rpm torque band. 

Despite being the entry-level model in the Ghibli range performance is swift with 0-100km/h dispatched in 5.6 seconds and a 263km/h top speed.

Smooth, versatile and powerful, the Ghibli’s refined and efficient engine spools quickly from tick over and features good throttle responses for fluent driving. 

Pulling hard from low-end, the Ghibli’s flat torque band ensures flexible responses and effortless cruising in tall gears over a broad mid-range, while urgent power buildup is underwritten by a wave of seemingly ever-accessible torque. 

Achieving its potential at relatively low-revving points, the Ghibli’s engine is nevertheless willing, responsive and eager through revs, and features a distant and subdued but visceral growl. With its broad mid-range muscle and direct fuel injection, the Ghibli returns good fuel efficiency, with 9.6l/100km consumption and 223g/km CO2 emissions on the combined cycle.

Supple and sporty

Smooth and supple yet agile, responsive and balanced, the Ghibli well reconciles sporty handling characteristics with comfortable ride qualities. 

Riding on double wishbone front and multi-link rear suspension with forgiving damper and spring rates the Ghibli absorbs imperfect road textures in its stride, especially when driven on Jordanian roads with more supple 235/50R18 tyres.

With optional lower profile 245/45ZR19 front and 275/40ZR19 rear tyres, as previously driven in Oman, the Ghibli may have generated more ultimate lateral grip. 

However, for local roads, the taller base alloy wheel and tyre choice delivers a more fluent ride, in addition to transmitting more nuanced road feel and steering precision over rougher surfaces.

Agile and pointy through winding country lanes, the Ghibli’s combination of keen handling and forgiving ride well-suited rural Jordanian switchbacks. 

Turning-in tidily the Ghibli’s supple suspension may allow for mild body lean, but weight transfer was well contained. Additionally, the Ghibli’s sweet chassis was balanced, nuanced and adjustable on throttle, while a limited-slip rear differential distributes power where needed.

Refined and stylish

Refined, stable and smooth at speed, the Ghibli’s ride dispatches rough textures with supple nuance and feels alert and ready. Over rebounds it recovers in a settled buttoned down manner. Inside, it is refined and well-insulated harshness, vibrations and noise. 

Meanwhile, the Ghibli’s electronic stability controls reassuringly and briefly intervene if grip limits are exceeded in corners.

Classy yet sporty and stylish inside, the driven Ghibli’s cabin featured leather upholstery, suede-like roof liner and open pore wood grain trim. With good fit, finish and quality almost everywhere, the Ghibli is also ergonomic and driver-focused, with supportively comfortable seats, well-adjustable driving position, clear instrumentation, good front visibility and useful storage spaces, including its 500-litre boot.

Offered with extensive trim personalisation and standard and optional modcon and safety features, standard equipment includes Bi-Xenon and adaptive lights, dual zone climate control, speed sensitive steering, rain sensor, Bluetooth connectivity and intuitive infotainment and driving menus. 

Optional equipment includes Satnav, sunroof, remote start, adjustable pedals, steering-mounted paddle-shifters and rear parking camera and other systems.

Competitive Archaeology in Jordan: Narrating Identity from the Ottomans to the Hashemites
Elena D. Corbett
Austin: University of Texas Press, 2014
Pp. 292

While there is mention of stones and columns, Elena Corbett’s “Competitive Archaeology” goes way beyond the digging sites to analyse how archaeology influences and is influenced by politics, history, nation-building and identity. The competition named in the title refers not only to the race to discover and appropriate particular artefacts, but to the rivalry among governments, institutions and individuals aiming to shape and possess the cultural heritage and historical narrative they imply.

Corbett’s work is groundbreaking in several respects. Much has been written about how archaeology contributes to national identity and historical narratives in Egypt, Iraq, Turkey and Israel, but, until now, there “have been no extensive considerations of the uses and meanings of archaeological heritage in Jordan.” (p. 13)

This is the first book to present “a history of archaeology in Jordan and Palestine, considered through the lens of Jordanian history and the importance of Jerusalem within changing narratives of that history.” (p. 3)

Corbett includes totally original research on how the late Ottoman authorities dealt with archaeology. She also injects the human element, contrasting the different angles from which foreign and local archaeologists view archaeological finds, and how professionals’ perception of antiquities may differ from that of the people who live in or among them. As she points out, most sites have multiple meanings, connected to the past and present. For example, “The Roman Theatre is not only a tourist attraction, but also a place for Ammanis’ mundane activities…” (p. 2)

Chapter 1 is titled “Archaeology is politics”. (p. 1) This assertion is shown to be true when early British (and American) exploration aimed to confirm that the material reality in the Holy Land corresponded to their biblical presuppositions — and to map the area for colonial and military intelligence purposes. It applies equally to the late Ottoman rulers’ emerging interest in archaeology and their highlighting of Muslim sites in the face of Western encroachments in Bilad Al Sham.

The second half of the book examines how the Hashemites approached the archaeological sites in Jordan’s territory — and for a time in Jerusalem and the West Bank — in order to construct a credible national narrative for their Kingdom. “They would ultimately cultivate many and varied aspects of Jordan’s holistic landscape, weaving together antiquity and modernity, to recalibrate narratives of the nation as circumstances dictated.” (p. 87)

In the course of this historical analysis, Corbett critiques Eurocentric approaches to archaeology, explains why some antiquities were prioritised over others, tells how the Arab reading public first became interested in archaeology, and “how narratives of antiquity might have fostered modern identity”. (p. 50)

Some of the most fascinating passages in the book discuss various theories about the origins of the Semites, Arabs, Canaanites, Nabateans and other ancient peoples of the area, and the interplay between these theories and modern Arab nationalism. Corbett is wise enough not to pronounce definitive conclusions about these theories, which are still subject to debate. The point is to show the connection between people’s ideas about the past and their contemporary self-image and sense of belonging.

Commentary on Jordan’s postage stamps, schoolbooks, tourism industry, the Historical Passageway at King Hussein Park, the new Jordan Museum and more further elucidate how heritage can be harnessed in the service of modernity and development. Along the way, Corbett presents a host of fascinating, little-known facts about Jordan’s past and present. To name only one, she points out the Jordanian archaeologist in charge of excavating and developing the Baptism Site is a Muslim, which has surprised some scholars and shown that Jordanians’ identification with heritage is not confined to their particular faith or tradition.

At first, the territory that became Jordan was neglected by most archaeologists. Situated between the holy landscapes of Jerusalem and the Hijaz, its known ancient sites, Petra and Jerash, were not thought to have the same religious resonance, and the latter was difficult to connect to indigenous civilisation (though locals surely did the actual building work).

However, from the 1950s onwards, archaeological work advanced to reveal the presence of a wide range of antiquities connected to the three monotheistic religions, and Jordan developed its own archaeological cadre. As a resource-poor country, “it is, perhaps, remarkable that Jordan has directed as many resources as it has for training archaeologists and caring for sites”. (p. 170)

VIENNA — The world’s first artificial leg capable of simulating the feelings of a real limb and fighting phantom pain will be unveiled by researchers in Vienna.

The recent innovation is the result of a twofold process, developed by Professor Hubert Egger at the University of Linz in northern Austria.

Surgeons first rewired remaining foot nerve endings from a patient’s stump to healthy tissue in the thigh, placing them close to the skin surface.

Six sensors were then fitted to the foot sole of a lightweight prosthesis, and linked to so-called stimulators inside the shaft where the stump sits.

“It’s like a second lease of life, like being reborn,” Austrian amputee Wolfgang Rangger, told AFP.

The former teacher, who lost his right leg in 2007 after suffering a blood clot caused by a cerebral stroke, has spent the last six months testing the new prosthesis.

“It feels like I have a foot again. I no longer slip on ice and I can tell whether I walk on gravel, concrete, grass or sand. I can even feel small stones,” he said.

The 54-year-old also runs, cycles and goes climbing. When he moves, the limp is barely noticeable.

Every time Rangger takes a step or applies pressure, the small sensor devices send signals to the brain.

“In a healthy foot, skin receptors carry out this function but they are obviously missing here. However, the information conductors — the nerves — are still present, they’re just not being stimulated,” Egger said.

“The sensors tell the brain there is a foot and the wearer has the impression that it rolls off the ground when he walks. All things considered, the procedure is a very simple one given the results.”

This is not the first time the Austrian scientist has caused a stir with his research.

In 2010, he presented a mind-controlled prosthetic arm, which the user directed with motor neurons previously connected to the lost limb.

For the artificial leg, the principle remains the same except that the process works in reverse: information is guided from the prothesis to the brain, rather than the other way around.

No more morphine

In addition to increasing balance and safety, the prosthesis provides another remarkable function: it has helped eradicate the excruciating pain Rangger had experienced for years following his amputation.

“I was barely able to walk with a conventional prosthesis, didn’t sleep for more than two hours a night and needed morphine to make it through the day,” he recalled.

But within days of undergoing the operation last October, the pain vanished.

As Egger points out, phantom pain occurs because the brain gets increasingly sensitive as it seeks information about the missing limb.

“Plus the amputation is often tied to a traumatic experience like an accident or illness, and the mind keeps reliving these memories,” he noted.

The advantage of the “feeling prosthesis” is that the brain once again receives real data and can stop its frantic search.

“Rangger is a very different person now to the one I met in 2012,” Egger said.

The two men were introduced to each other at a support group for amputees.

“It struck me that he never laughed and he had these dark rings under his eyes. It was awful.”

Importantly, post-surgery recovery is quick and there are no known health dangers associated with the intervention, he added.

“The only risk is that the nerves don’t reconnect properly and the feelings fail to return,” he said.

With the new technology ready, Egger now hopes that small companies will join his venture and start building the prosthesis to help bring down the market price.

At the moment, a high-tech foot model costs between 10,000 euros ($11,240) and 30,000 euros.

Egger believes his latest project could vastly improve quality of life for amputees, including in developing countries.

“People with amputations aren’t patients in the traditional sense, they aren’t sick — they’re just missing a limb,” he said.

“By giving them back mobility, they also regain their independence and are able to reintegrate into society. That’s what I work for.”

PARIS — With air passenger numbers set to double to 6 billion annually by 2030, the world’s premier air show in Paris will next week focus on green issues even as the aircraft sales war remains centre stage. 

The Paris Air Show brings together some 315,000 visitors and 2,260 exhibitors from 47 countries, with much of the attention focused on which big manufacturers, particularly Airbus and Boeing, will land the most orders.

But the event happens to be hosted in the same Le Bourget venue outside Paris that will welcome world leaders later this year as they try to hash out a global deal to curb greenhouse emissions.

So it is little surprise that this year’s air show, running June 15 to 21, will put a special focus on environmental issues and innovations.

Top industry officials, government ministers and environmental experts will meet on June 18 to discuss air travel’s impact on the climate, and there will be a week-long exhibition on the subject called “The Sky of Tomorrow”.

“Building planes that emit less and less CO2 remains a leading challenge for the aeronautic industry,” said Marwan Lahoud, president of GIFAS and one of the event’s organisers. 

“The Paris Air Show will be the chance to see the results and innovations achieved by manufacturers direct from the source,” he added.

Attendees will include Nobel Peace Prize co-laureate Philippe Ciais of France’s Climate and Environmental Sciences Laboratory, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, and a host of top air industry honchos.

The air industry’s contribution to climate change is complex and controversial. 

Although planes are thought to be responsible for only around 2 per cent of global greenhouse emissions, some researchers have found that the different types of gases released and their high altitude may have more powerful short-term effects. 

The industry’s global mouthpiece, the International Air Transport Association, has set a target of being carbon neutral by 2020 and halving CO2 emissions by 2050, primarily through increased use of cleaner fuels.

But an EU attempt to impose a tax on the most polluting airlines collapsed in 2012 in the face of opposition from Chinese, Indian and American companies. 

Despite that, many firms are seeking to cash in on the trend for greener technologies. 

Airbus will show off its prototype, all-electric plane, the E-Fan, at next week’s air show.

And EGTS International will demonstrate its “Green Taxiing” system that allows planes to taxi on the ground without the main engines, using a backup power unit to drive motors on the wheels.

Sales war

For the general public, all eyes will be on the sky with flying displays by around 40 aircraft each day, including fighter jets such as France’s Rafale, Pakistan’s new JF-17 Thunder and Ukraine’s Antonov 178. 

Airbus has also confirmed it will display its A400M military transport plane for the first time since a fatal crash in Spain last month caused by a massive engine failure.

But while many visitors are looking up, industry insiders will have their eyes firmly on the bottom line, watching the all-important competition for sales among the big manufacturers. 

The industry needs between 300 and 400 sales next week to keep its production lines ticking over through 2020, said Ben Moores, a senior analyst at IHS Aerospace, Defence and Security.

Airbus chief Fabrice Bregier said 2015 may not break records, but was set to be a good year with “several hundred” orders lined up. 

Boeing’s Randy Tinseth said the Seattle-based company had “a lot of things in the pipeline on the mid and long-haul planes”.

Airbus narrowly pipped its US rival at the last show in 2013, registering $39.3 billion in confirmed sales to Boeing’s $38 billion. That year’s show saw a total of $115 billion in orders for the industry as a whole.

The commercial aviation sector remains buoyant, breaking records last year with 2,888 orders, according to Deloitte Global, a consultancy. 

But the defence sector is struggling, it said, led by declines in the United States which has shed 168,000 jobs since 2010. 

Paris is a particularly important venue for smaller companies that have fewer chances to show off their wares. 

Canada’s Bombardier is particularly hungry for sales after its new C Series aircraft struggled through development delays and difficult market conditions, said Moores, while Pakistan is desperate to secure its first-ever order for the JF-17.

The show opens to the public on June 19 for the final three days.

TRENTON, New Jersey — Johnson & Johnson has begun a research partnership to find the root cause of Type 1 diabetes and stop the hormonal disorder in its tracks. It’s the healthcare giant’s first project under its ambitious initiative to prevent or at least intercept and reduce harm from many diseases.

In a collaboration with immunologist and Washington University professor Dr Emil Unanue and his colleagues, researchers at J&J’s Janssen Pharmaceuticals will explore how specific immune system cells are involved in the initiation and progression of Type 1 diabetes.

The disease, also called juvenile diabetes, affects about 5 per cent of Americans with diabetes, roughly 1.25 million people. For reasons that aren’t clear, the immune system attacks and destroys beta cells in the pancreas that make the hormone insulin, which is needed to convert blood sugar into energy. As a result, patients must take insulin every day for life. When diabetes is poorly controlled, complications including blindness, amputations and kidney failure can result.

“We hope to be able to manipulate the [immune] system in such a way that this no longer drives the destruction of beta cells, while maintaining protection against infections and tumours,” said Dr Joseph A. Hedrick, leader of that project.

Hedrick noted the findings might help in fighting other autoimmune diseases, including psoriasis and rheumatoid arthritis.

The project is among 17 new collaborations with academic researchers and healthcare companies announced early Thursday by Johnson & Johnson, which is based in New Brunswick, New Jersey.

In another intriguing project, J&J’s Janssen Biotech unit will use computer microchips designed to simulate functions of human organs to predict which experimental drugs are most likely to be effective and safe in people. The goal is to be able to do more realistic testing of drugs in the laboratory, before they’re tested on animals and people, with “organs on chips”.

Created by J&J partner Emulate Inc. of Cambridge, Massachusetts, these microenvironments are designed to mimic responses of organs such as the liver or lungs as drugs flow through the chips’ tiny hollow channels, which are lined with living human cells and tissues. The chips simulate the responses of cells to medicines or chemicals, from beneficial results to toxic reactions.

That project is aimed at averting a problem that continues to frustrate researchers and patients alike, the failure of promising medicines after the start of expensive human testing, which usually runs for several years before drug developers seek approval from regulators — or throw in the towel.

Since the 19th century, researchers have focused on making medicines to treat and occasionally even cure illnesses. In recent decades, there’s been a shift towards prevention in some not-too-complex conditions, such as use of cholesterol-lowering pills to limit plaque buildup in blood vessels, preventing heart attacks and strokes.

Now Johnson & Johnson and its partners are taking advantage of recent huge advances in genetics, data analysis and other science to try to prevent or alter the course of more complicated conditions early on.

In the Type 1 diabetes project, the researchers will study the function of antigen-presenting cells, immune system sentinels that “sample” nearby tissues to find tumour cells and signs of infection. When they detect such abnormalities, these lookouts “present” antigens —little bits of protein from the suspicious cells — to other immune-system cells, activating them to attack the invaders.

In autoimmune disorders, that sentinel system goes haywire and immune cells attack the body. In Type 1 diabetes, the antigens presented by the sentinels actually are normal protein bits from the beta cells in the pancreas that make insulin, but other immune cells attack and destroy those beta cells and the patient soon needs to take insulin to survive.

Figuring out how to block that autoimmune process theoretically could stop or slow progression of Type 1 diabetes.

NEW YORK — Russell Fredrick’s middle son was 12 when he wouldn’t quit playing around in class and ignoring his homework, so the barber did what he does best. He picked up his clippers and cut off his fade.

But it wasn’t just any cut. It was a complete shave intended as a form of discipline when other tactics like taking away gadgets failed to work.

“After I shaved him bald, I told him that if things continued I would get more creative with each cut,” said Fredrick, co-owner of A-1 Kutz in Snellville, Georgia. “But I never had to because he straightened up his act.”

Fredrick and his son — one of three — are success stories in a social media trend: parents taking electric razors to the heads of their misbehaving tweens and teens to create ugly cuts as a form of punishment, then publicly posting the handiwork on YouTube, Facebook and elsewhere.

After Fredrick put a photo on Instagram of his son’s shave late last year, parents began to approach him for embarrassing, old-man cuts dubbed Benjamin Button specials or the George Jefferson, named for their baldness up top and fringe left on the sides and around the base like the movie and TV characters they’re named for.

He’s done more than 20 since February, free of charge.

“Whenever people come in and ask for it we do it,” said the 35-year-old Russell. “You’ve got to reach these kids before law enforcement has to do the punishing.”

The spate of ugly-cut videos over the last six months or so has lit up debate over public shaming as discipline and fits into a broader trend of parents using social media video to humiliate their kids online, from yelling and screaming to smashing their computers or phones for infractions like bad grades or breaking curfew — to outright corporal punishment.

Clinical psychologist Claudia Shields of the Chicago School of Professional Psychiatry has helped parents find healthy ways of disciplining their children based on behavioural research. She’s far from convinced that public shaming works.

“The most effective ways of changing behaviour, as surprising as it may seem, do not involve any form of punishment. I prefer discipline based on positive reinforcement. Many parents think that these are ‘weaker’ forms of punishment, but over and over, we find that this is more effective,” she said.

Much has been made over the recent death of a teenage girl who killed herself in Tacoma, Washington, and a video shared online that shows her father scolding her after her hair was cut short. Police said, however, that the girl’s death appears unrelated to the video and the father didn’t share it on social media himself.

In recent weeks, there’s been a curious, positive backlash to the bad hair videos, with far happier endings than the tears or downcast eyes of the young recipients. Some copycats have put up videos pretending they’re going to do the deed only to hug it out with their sons instead.

“There’s no way in the world I would ever embarrass my son like that,” said Wayman Gresham, a 45-year-old father of four in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

He created one of the parodies with his 12-year-old Isaiah and put it on Facebook on June 6. It’s been viewed there more than 21 million times and shared around the Internet.

“It doesn’t take all of that. Good parenting starts before he even gets to the point of being out of control,” Gresham implores in the video. “Good parenting is letting your child know that you loved him regardless of what they are and who they are and showing them the way by example.”

Gresham criticises the profanity parents used in some of the ugly-cut videos. In a recent interview he added: “I’m not against discipline but I am against humiliating and just snatching the dignity away from a child. If you’re going to discipline your child I think it should be done out of the public eye.”

Fredrick, too, has his limits. He won’t bad-cut the hair of girls, for instance. And the youngest boy was 9. He doesn’t consider ugly cuts effective on kids younger than that.

“If this is what parents want to do, I feel like you have to do whatever it takes to reach a kid,” he said. “If you take a phone away or video games away and that’s not reaching him, you have to do something. You can’t whoop them. If you whoop them you get in trouble with law enforcement, so you have to do something or let these kids run wild.”

Fredrick is quick to point out that he gives away nice cuts as well to reward kids for excellent grades and to honour their birthdays. And the mother of his first Benjamin Button, named for the reverse-ageing Brad Pitt character in “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”, returned to let him know her son received an award at the end of school this year for best academic improvement.

“I try to talk to the kids a little first,” he said. “They’re usually pretty much embarrassed and feeling bad about what’s going on. Nobody’s come back a second time.”

Among thousands of comments on several of the videos are those questioning the motives of parents. Are they looking for viral attention for themselves? That’s hard to prove or disprove, but Gresham’s not the only parent to sound off online after viewing a particularly trash-talking, clipper-happy couple and their two shorn sons in a six-minute video.

Phillip Scott, an oil and gas industry worker in Houston, has nearly 400,000 subscribers to his YouTube channel, The Advise Show TV. He recently flagged that version featuring the brothers who got the hair punishment, one for taking a knife to school and the other for fighting with girls, according to the video.

“This goes way back in African American communities,” Scott said in an interview. “I’m 35 and I remember it was happening then. My dad is 58 and he’d talk about it here and there, too.”

Scott has three daughters and a 10-year-old son. He’s never gone the hair route, but he doesn’t judge parents who use it on teen boys for serious infractions, as a last resort.

“A grown man I know said, ‘Hey, I’m glad my dad did that because I was really getting into trouble’,” Scott said. “Hair is a big thing, but it will grow back. Which way are we going to have it? Are we going to have the parents do the discipline or the police do the discipline? I prefer the parents.”

LONDON — For centuries, women and sometimes men have squeezed their feet into tiny shoes or balanced on towering heels to feel sexy, empowered and to show their wealth and status.

Now their sacrifice is being celebrated in a new exhibition, “Shoes: Pleasure and Pain”, which opens at the Victoria and Albert Museum  in London on Saturday.

From a 2,000-year-old pair of Egyptian gold sandals to child-like Chinese slippers for bound feet, to Christian Louboutin’s red-soled stilettoes, the 250 exhibits reveal how fashionable shoes have always been more than footwear.

“The exhibition is about the obsession of shoes. It’s looking at the power of shoes, how they can tell about status and privilege,” curator Helen Persson told AFP.

Luxury shoes have long been the preserve of the rich and idle. Regardless of the cost, high heels, sumptuous fabrics and delicate designs have no place in the field or factory, or indeed in running for a bus.

Where women today have Manolo Blahnik or Jimmy Choo, 19th-century Egyptians had 28.5-centimetre wooden bath clogs and 17th-century Venetian ladies had to balance on their maids to walk in towering “chopine” platforms.

Advances in engineering have made many shoes more comfortable but also enabled designers to make them higher and more outlandish, exemplified by Noritaka Tatehana’s gravity-defying heel-less shoes.

“Even though they seem so extreme and not wearable, they were designed to be worn,” said Persson of the exhibits, which are taken from the V&A’s archives as well as loans from other museums and private collectors.

“It’s this intriguing thing — we accept that shoes are pleasure, but also have a bit of pain. And we seem to have accepted that for 2,000 years.”

‘No concern for normality’

The exhibition starts with the most iconic shoe of all, Cinderella’s slipper. Made by Swarovski for the recent Disney movie, it is a testament to the power of footwear to change the wearer’s life.

Alongside it is a shoe owned by former England football captain David Beckham, a working-class boy turned global superstar, personalised with the name of his son Brooklyn.

Shoes are also about fantasy. One section of the exhibition is dedicated to their role in seduction, from fluffy, kick-off mules to black leather lace ups worn during the “porn-chic” trend in London in the 1890s.

Many of the exhibits were worn by celebrities, from Queen Victoria to Marilyn Monroe, or made by top designers, emphasising the role of shoes as an aspirational item.

There are the golden “Angel wings” by Alexander McQueen worn by Lady Gaga, Vivienne Westwood’s blue platforms from which Naomi Campbell toppled onto a Paris catwalk, and a version of the Duchess of Cambridge’s nude courts.

“The shoes here are saying, I am important, I belong to the highest societies, I have no concern for the normality of life,” Persson said.

There are shoes embellished with fur, feathers, gold plate and lavish embroidery, epitomising how footwear is often seen as “jewels for the feet”. One 19th century pair from India have a ruby, diamond, emerald and sapphire trim.

Despite the title, the exhibition does not explore the pain or damage of wearing towering, tight heels — instead, it offers a sumptuous display of craftsmanship and an insight into a passion shared by the curator.

“I do love the way they make me feel,” said Persson, wearing a pretty pair of red heels. 

“Putting on a pair of high-heeled shoes, I do feel more confident — my body changes, I do like that. Although I do really like it when I take them off as well.”

CHIANG SAEN, Thailand — In the lush, green hills of northern Thailand, a woman painstakingly picks coffee beans out of a pile of elephant dung, an essential part of making one the world’s most expensive beverages.

This remote corner of Thailand bordering Myanmar and Laos is better known for drug smuggling than coffee, but Blake Dinkin decided it was perfect for a legitimate enterprise that blends conservation with business.

“When I explained my project to the mahouts [elephant riders], I know that they thought I was crazy,” the 44-year-old Canadian founder of Black Ivory Coffee, which uses the digestive tract of elephants to create a high-end brew for coffee connoisseurs.

Initially, he considered using civet cats to make “kopi luwak” coffee, which uses beans collected from the droppings of the Asian cats. But the quality of the end product has weakened as demand has grown in Southeast Asia — including in Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam.

Civet cats are also often kept in cages and force-fed beans, a chasm away from Dinkin’s desire to support rather than damage the environment.

Lions and giraffes also made the shortlist of prospective coffee filters, but eventually Dinkin settled on elephants after discovering that the creatures sometimes eat coffee during periods of drought in Southeast Asia.

He also teamed up with an elephant rescue charity which saves the creatures from the tourist trade.

But making coffee from pachyderm poop was harder than expected. 

“I thought it would be as simple as taking the beans, giving them to the elephant, and out will come great coffee,” said Dinkin, adding that the initial result was “horrible” and undrinkable.

“It took me another nine years to actually succeed in doing what I wanted,” he said.

Lose a lot of beans

The enzymes in the elephant’s stomach function as a kind of slow cooker, he said, where the coffee beans marinate alongside the herbs and fruits the animal also eats. 

As the beans work their way through the elephant’s digestive tract — a 17-hour process — the digestive acid takes the bitterness out of the bean.

“I lose a lot of beans in the bath in the morning,” he said, explaining that the elephants sometimes defecate in the river while bathing. 

The mahouts’ wives collect the coffee beans from the elephant dung, before washing and drying them in the sun, a division of labour that is helping to boost the local community’s income. 

To make a kilo of coffee, the elephants have to have consumed around 33 kilos of the beans, along with their usual ration of rice and bananas. 

But the rewards are worth it.

The rarity of the drink is a key part of its branding. In 2015, their third successful harvest, Black Ivory produced 150 kilogrammes of coffee.

At around $1,880 per kilogramme — or $13 for an espresso-sized cup — it does not come cheap.

But riding the “grand cru” trend for coffee, it is sought after by customers eager to pay sky-high prices for unusual products.

Black Ivory coffee will soon be available at high-end establishments in Paris, Zurich, Copenhagen and Moscow. 

But for now it is sold exclusively at luxury hotels in Asia, mostly in Thailand but also Singapore and Hong Kong. 

John Roberts, the director of the foundation that supports the elephants, which have all been rescued from the tourist trade in Bangkok, was initially sceptical of feeding elephants coffee beans. 

But he has since warmed to the project.

“The caffeine doesn’t come out of the coffee bean until it’s boiled... so it’s fine for them to eat it,” he said.

In addition, families of mahouts are paid for collecting beans and 8 per cent of the sale price is donated to the foundation, helping to pay for veterinary treatment and facilities for the animals.

Caramel and chocolate

For all the hype, it has yet to win round all coffee lovers.

From his Cafe Lomi in Paris, Aleaume Paturle, said the elephant dung brand is more gimmick than taste sensation.

“It’s fun but it’s not the best product. To make the best coffee, you’ve got to control fermentation — and when this is happening in the stomach of an animal, this is harder,” he said. 

But even if the beverage’s taste is “a bit inconsistent”, the fact that the beans have passed through an elephant in Thailand gives the product a romantic appeal that will help sales, he said. 

Playing music from a computer or computer-like device has become the most common way to listen to it and by far. Time-honoured radio broadcasts still play a role in our life, if only while driving, audio CDs aren’t dead yet and TV does its part too in pleasing our ears with exquisite sound, but all existing means combined represent very little compared to computer music payback.

The trend continues unabated with Apple’s announcement this week that a streaming audio service will soon be made available by the company. This will be different from Apple’s iTunes that makes you download and save the music on your device first before being able to play it back.

Whether streaming music directly over the web or saving it on your device first after download, the fact is plain to see: we now mainly use computers, tablets and smartphones to enjoy music. Soon there will be hardly any other means. CDs and the like will belong to the past and will probably remain in the playground of a few die-hard nostalgic collectors, just like vinyl LP records are now.

To playback music with a computer-like device you need a software application or programme — an app to put in trendier terms. We’ll just call it a player to keep things simple.

Whereas some web channels have their own integrated player, like for instance YouTube that alone accounts for a huge part of music streaming (albeit with video too), you typically need to choose a player.

With a Windows-based computer the easiest choice for those who like simplicity and do not want to bother looking for another product, is the player that comes built-in the system, being the well known Windows Media Player. The company also has a more advanced version called Windows Media Centre that has been around for more than 10 years now.

Interestingly Microsoft seems to have abandoned its Media Centre in the upcoming Windows 10 operating system. Perhaps because it never reached the popularity it was supposed to and because of many other similar products that are available from third parties and that do a very good job.

Among other players that are highly rated with Windows (and Mac too) is J River’s Media Centre (JRMC). This is as close as possible to the perfect player with extensive settings, top quality audio sound especially if connected to high definition external audio systems, customisation, easy and fast search, and so forth. The latest and full version of JRMC is not free and comes at $50. It is worth every dollar.

There are a few other good players that come free for Windows and Mac, and then there are countless ones for portable devices like tablets and smartphones, be it Android or iOS. There are actually too many out there and the choice is overwhelming. VLC, JetAudio, Poweramp and SoundCloud remain easy to use and very popular. They all do the same thing more or less and the choice is a pure matter of personal taste.

I am writing this article while at the same time I am looking at the Technics turntable I bought back in 1981. It was the last turntable or record player I would buy. It still sits here on the bookshelves of my living room, inert, idle and disconnected from the audio amp next to it, like a sweet reminder of the way things were.

As an expatriate, the first thing I did, after moving to a foreign country, was to get a dish antenna fixed onto the roof of my new house. This was ensured in order to watch the news channels that were broadcast from my homeland. I could not do much about what was happening there, because I was now here, and there was a vast distance separating us, but at least it kept me abreast of what our politicians, thinkers, writers and industrialists were doing. 

If truth is told, most of the time their activities filled me with dread. Laws were broken; ministers were imprisoned on haphazard corruption charges that were suddenly dropped when the government changed, misleading election promises were made to the voters, crime was on the rise and Maggi noodles — India’s favourite comfort food — got banned. 

The last one was so random that I am still reeling from shock. For the uninitiated, Maggi is a Swiss brand (owned by Nestlé) that made the famous “two minute noodles”. It manufactured a variety of other products also like sauces, powdered soups and bouillon cubes but when Maggi noodles appeared in India in the year 1983, it became an instant success and captured almost 90 per cent of the noodle market share. 

Why did a product from Switzerland become so popular with Indians whose staple diet till then was either rice or wheat? Well, firstly it was quick to make and like its advertising jingle, was ready in two minutes. That was a great support for all working mothers who had to feed hungry children after coming back from office. Secondly, it could be made healthy and nutritious by adding some vegetables to it and finally, the unusual flavours like “masala”, which were especially tailored for the Indian palate, enhanced its taste some more. 

What started off as a blessing for career-oriented mums very quickly became an essential favourite with bachelors, college kids and young professionals also. One no longer needed to learn elaborate cooking skills in order to satisfy their hunger pangs. All one had to do was boil half a saucepan of water, add Maggi noodles and its sachet of seasoning, and watch the water evaporate. That was it. A plateful of delicious noodles was ready to eat. 

University students, struggling with exam anxiety, had their own individual Maggi stories. Personally I would have failed those tests if my roommates did not make Maggi noodles for me during the midnight hour. It was the only thing that kept me up studying for so late. 

My husband once made a wok full of Maggi noodles that he refused to share with anyone. He was carrying it to carefully when I asked him the time. Involuntarily he turned his wrist to look at his watch and the noodles splattered to the floor. Undeterred, he went back to the kitchen and made a fresh batch for himself, while our dog had an extra after-dinner treat of the damages. 

But last week Maggi noodles were prohibited in India because seven times higher than permissible levels of lead were found in it. We had just got home from a party and listened to this random news in disbelief. 

“Do we have any Maggi packets from India?” my husband asked. 

“Yes, why?” I questioned. 

“I’m going to make myself some,” my spouse announced. 

“You want help?” I offered. 

“Just don’t ask me the time,” he warned. 

“Never,” I said, shaking my head solemnly.