John Mayer
Paradise Valley
Columbia
****
"From time to time I go looking for your photograph online / but some kind of judge in Ohio is all I ever find," sings the Connecticut-born singer-songwriter John Mayer on Dear Marie, one of many fine songs on his sixth album, Paradise Valley. It's a choice example of his knack for the everyman (or woman) lyric, for who among us hasn't Googled a childhood sweetheart whose whereabouts we no longer know?
It's also just possible that Dear Marie and the wistful, piano-led I Will Be Found – "I'm a little lost at sea / I'm a little birdie in a big old tree" – reflect an artist who has grown especially tired of the media circus that surrounds him. For the paparazzi, the lure isn't Mayer's 20 million album sales and seven Grammy awards – it's his trail of celebrity girlfriends; a long list that includes Jessica Simpson, Jennifer Aniston and his current partner, Katy Perry.
Though Mayer has sometimes seemed complicit in the drama, you have to admire his staying power and quality-controlled productivity. Produced by the trusted aid Don Was (The Rolling Stones; Van Morrison), Paradise Valley comes hot on the heels of 2012's Born and Raised – and this despite Mayer undergoing two rounds of throat surgery.
If anything, his voice sounds stronger than ever here; honeyed and warming on the joyous, Afro-guitar-infused opener Wildfire, and perfectly weighted on the smooth pop soul of Who You Love, a duet with Perry that finds her raising her game, then spoiling things a little by dissolving into a hammy, coquettish laugh that seems designed to seduce radio pluggers.
But this is a mere peccadillo, and there's very little to gripe about here. Waitin' on the Day and Badge and Gun boast the easy classicism of a capable songwriter and Frank Ocean's lead vocal on bijou poem Wildfire (two songs here share that title) is a treat.
It's Paper Doll, however, that will likely gather most gossip-column inches. "You're like 22 girls in one / and none of them know what they're running from," sings Mayer in another Afro-pop-flavoured nugget. Some have suggested this is a response to Dear John, a song by another of Mayer's exes, the country singer Taylor Swift.
artslife@thenational.ae
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Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
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The Brutalist
Director: Brady Corbet
Stars: Adrien Brody, Felicity Jones, Guy Pearce, Joe Alwyn
Rating: 3.5/5
Another way to earn air miles
In addition to the Emirates and Etihad programmes, there is the Air Miles Middle East card, which offers members the ability to choose any airline, has no black-out dates and no restrictions on seat availability. Air Miles is linked up to HSBC credit cards and can also be earned through retail partners such as Spinneys, Sharaf DG and The Toy Store.
An Emirates Dubai-London round-trip ticket costs 180,000 miles on the Air Miles website. But customers earn these ‘miles’ at a much faster rate than airline miles. Adidas offers two air miles per Dh1 spent. Air Miles has partnerships with websites as well, so booking.com and agoda.com offer three miles per Dh1 spent.
“If you use your HSBC credit card when shopping at our partners, you are able to earn Air Miles twice which will mean you can get that flight reward faster and for less spend,” says Paul Lacey, the managing director for Europe, Middle East and India for Aimia, which owns and operates Air Miles Middle East.
Why the Tourist Club?
Originally, The Club (which many people chose to call the “British Club”) was the only place where one could use the beach with changing rooms and a shower, and get refreshments.
In the early 1970s, the Government of Abu Dhabi wanted to give more people a place to get together on the beach, with some facilities for children. The place chosen was where the annual boat race was held, which Sheikh Zayed always attended and which brought crowds of locals and expatriates to the stretch of beach to the left of Le Méridien and the Marina.
It started with a round two-storey building, erected in about two weeks by Orient Contracting for Sheikh Zayed to use at one these races. Soon many facilities were planned and built, and members were invited to join.
Why it was called “Nadi Al Siyahi” is beyond me. But it is likely that one wanted to convey the idea that this was open to all comers. Because there was no danger of encountering alcohol on the premises, unlike at The Club, it was a place in particular for the many Arab expatriate civil servants to join. Initially the fees were very low and membership was offered free to many people, too.
Eventually there was a skating rink, bowling and many other amusements.
Frauke Heard-Bey is a historian and has lived in Abu Dhabi since 1968.
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Sebastian Stefan, Sebastian Morar and Claudia Pacurar
Based: Dubai, UAE
Founded: 2014
Number of employees: 36
Sector: Logistics
Raised: $2.5 million
Investors: DP World, Prime Venture Partners and family offices in Saudi Arabia and the UAE
War 2
Director: Ayan Mukerji
Stars: Hrithik Roshan, NTR, Kiara Advani, Ashutosh Rana
Rating: 2/5
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Five famous companies founded by teens
There are numerous success stories of teen businesses that were created in college dorm rooms and other modest circumstances. Below are some of the most recognisable names in the industry:
- Facebook: Mark Zuckerberg and his friends started Facebook when he was a 19-year-old Harvard undergraduate.
- Dell: When Michael Dell was an undergraduate student at Texas University in 1984, he started upgrading computers for profit. He starting working full-time on his business when he was 19. Eventually, his company became the Dell Computer Corporation and then Dell Inc.
- Subway: Fred DeLuca opened the first Subway restaurant when he was 17. In 1965, Mr DeLuca needed extra money for college, so he decided to open his own business. Peter Buck, a family friend, lent him $1,000 and together, they opened Pete’s Super Submarines. A few years later, the company was rebranded and called Subway.
- Mashable: In 2005, Pete Cashmore created Mashable in Scotland when he was a teenager. The site was then a technology blog. Over the next few decades, Mr Cashmore has turned Mashable into a global media company.
- Oculus VR: Palmer Luckey founded Oculus VR in June 2012, when he was 19. In August that year, Oculus launched its Kickstarter campaign and raised more than $1 million in three days. Facebook bought Oculus for $2 billion two years later.
Tamkeen's offering
- Option 1: 70% in year 1, 50% in year 2, 30% in year 3
- Option 2: 50% across three years
- Option 3: 30% across five years
