The Nair Newsline

What’s Up

Nairs in Oz : In the short month of February, school began, Vinod started his new job, and Renu changed work times to suit everything else.

Fantastic Food!
Cupcakes:
Makes
12
Ingredients
• 2 cups self-raising flour, sifted
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup milk
• 125g butter, melted, cooled
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla Essence
• Icing
• 1 1/2 cups pure icing sugar
• food colouring, optional
• 1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons water

Method
1. Preheat oven to 200°C. Grease a muffin pan or cupcake holders. Alternatively, line holes with paper cases.
2. Combine flour and caster sugar in a bowl. Make a well in the centre.
3. Add milk, butter, eggs and vanilla to flour mixture. Using a large metal spoon, stir gently to combine.
4. Spoon mixture into prepared muffin pan. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Stand in pan for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool.
5. Make icing: Sift icing sugar into a bowl. Add food colouring and water. Stir until smooth and well combined. Spoon icing over cupcakes.
6. You could also try buying a pack of gel tubes and you can decorate your cupcakes. Other options include whipped cream, chocolate ganache, nothing- if the cupcakes are sweet enough to you.

Spumoni
Ingredients:
Chocolate ice cream
Pistachio ice cream
Strawberry ice cream
Shelled pistachios, coarsely chopped
Whipped cream
Directions:
Allow chocolate ice cream to soften at room temperature for 20 minutes. Pack it into the bottom of a casserole in an even layer. Freeze until solid (about 45 minutes).
Repeat process with pistachio ice cream (layering it on top of the chocolate ice cream), then again with strawberry ice cream (layering it on top of the pistachio ice cream).
Slice and serve with whipped cream, sprinkling the chopped pistachios on top


Laugh out Loud!
You have all heard Why did the chicken cross the road? So here’s some different answers for you:

DR. SEUSS:
Did the chicken cross the road?
Did he cross it with a toad?
Yes!
The chicken crossed the road,
But why it crossed,
I've not been told!

ERNEST HEMINGWAY:
To die. In the rain.

MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.:
I envision a world where all chickens will be free to cross roads without having their motives called into question.

GRANDPA:
In my day, we didn't ask why the chicken crossed the road. Someone told us that the chicken crossed the road, and that was good enough for us.

ARISTOTLE:
It is in the nature of chickens to cross the road.

BILL GATES:
I have just released eChicken 98, which will not only cross roads, but will lay eggs, file your important documents, and balance your checkbook-and Internet Explorer is an inextricable part of eChicken.

EINSTEIN:
Did the chicken really cross the road or did the road move beneath the chicken?

THE BIBLE:
And God came down from the heavens, and He said unto the chicken, "Thou shalt cross the road." And the chicken crossed the road, and there was much rejoicing.

Art and Craft:
If you saw last month’s Art and Craft section, you’d know NN is going to aid people in drawing. This month here’s a selection of drawing resources you could be interested in looking at.

Books: It’s so EASY to find a how to draw book. It’s at your local bookstore. It’s on the internet.
Just go to http://www.amazon.com and search for How to Draw books. No, slash that. LEARN to draw books. Search for How to Draw, and you’ll find books with three steps for drawing some various creatures- rough shapes, a perfect line drawing, and a nice sketch. If you had learnt to draw, you’d be able to figure that out on your own (drawing shapes then adding detail) but if you haven’t, you probably can’t copy that perfect sketch out.

How to Draw Anything: Mark Linley
Why am I reviewing this? Because I’ve got it! This book takes you through drawing landscape, animals, still life, cartoons, people. It’s simple, clear and not detailed. It gives you a rough idea of how to draw.
The book is structured such that the author narrates to you what you need to learn and do, and says “Draw Figure 50” and you look at Figure 50, and copy it. He states somewhere that though you are just copying, it is a good skill as when you draw from life you copy. Plus he does recommend if you are drawing cats, look at a real cat or a photo and try that, not just keep copying his drawings.

http://www.drawspace.com/lessons/
This site has PDF form lessons for Beginners up to Advanced, so it’s pretty good. It’s free, and if you can read this blog you can do the lessons; on the internet as they are. Teaching you various skills, if you want you may join and post your drawings for others to critique, or critique theirs. However you do not need to join to access lessons which I say is GREAT!

http://drawingsecrets.com/lpages/ARTMISC/
This is a sign up sort of thing, so if you won’t do that don’t bother. Just enter name and email to get 2 cool drawing ebooks and weekly drawing exercises to help you improve. I’m trying it and if I find flaws/advantages I’ll let you know in Art and Craft sections monthly.
The EBooks are 7 Tips to Get Better at Drawing (or some other name) and each tip is explained thoroughly with exercises on some.
The other is a book on Leonardo Da Vinci. It’s about his history and I assume it’s for inspiration. I haven’t read it yet.

http://drawright.com/vaceface.htm
This is just one single exercise. I don’t actually know why I have put it on here but I have. Why not draw it in one of your drawing practices. If you find it so good you want to purchase the quite expensive lessons (Drawing on the Right hand side of the brain) then go ahead.

http://www.learn-to-draw.com/
A drawing website. It’s got lessons, how to draw, exercise. It’s just as good as any other. But a neat advantage is no sign up stuff!

http://www.how-to-draw-and-paint.com/learntodraw.html
This is a great simple lesson. Check it out and then you can get to any other page on the site you like. You could get a Watercolour Ebook but I tried and when I tried to open the file it didn’t work. It may work for you though.






















The World of Imagination:
Shelby’s Story Chapter 4:

Chapter 4: Discovery

“Jenny, I think we should go to Mr Cruz.”
“Shelby, my father and him hate each other. He won’t like us.”
“What about Adam? We could just stay with him for the day or until your dad is let out.”
“I guess we have no other option, Shelby. Let’s head out.”
She tapped start and shut down. Then she tapped - let out people, which enables people to get out of the computer. We went through the whole process again and regained human shape.

“The policeman made it out much quicker than us.”
“He used emergency mode, Shelby. All he had to do was jump on it and he’d be out. The problem is if you are caught using it and you are not a policeman, you must have a reason or pay a fine.”
“Makes sense to me,” I said.
We took a taxi, except Taxis weren’t normal cars. They were solar cars, cute, round, and stylishly furnished. Jenny handed the driver a few coins bearing the dolphin-star emblem.
We had some fun together, splashing in the fountain and grabbing two burgers and fries from the shopping centre with Jenny’s money. We met Adam at the beach near where we were, lying in the sand. He didn’t mind us joining him.
He took us surfing, canoeing, and then we had a ‘sand fight’; throwing wet sand at each other.
Then, as we sat near the waves, sipping the drinks we had just bought, he looked kind of sadly at me.
“Why not tell her the truth, Jenny. How is it going to spoil your life? You’ve got nothing to lose…”
Jenny’s smile disappeared but she seemed to agree. “Your dad… The truth is…Albert knows where he is. And… that’s because… Albert has kidnapped him.”

“What?!” I said feeling scared.

“Albert is a gambler. He cheats too, and wins himself thousands. Your dad used to gamble too, with Albert. That’s why he left your mum; she didn’t want him wasting her savings. Then when he found out Albert was a cheater, he started a new life. Abandoning Albert, he founded Stars Island. Getting in builders, architects, and many other people was done by him, and slowly Stars Island formed. Over 12 years, it has blossomed and is running brilliantly, as you’ve seen. Nowhere else is as advanced as us, with our bubble cars, Digiworld, Underwater leaves, and more. Your dad hadn’t created those things, but he had picked the people that did. He was soon a millionaire as the islands business flourished and people moved here. Albert, after being caught by police for Match Fixing a test cricket game, was sent to prison and grew crazy- I lived with my mum back then. He found out about Philip, and came to Stars Island. Tracked him down, kidnapped him, but he never told me where yet. His plan is that he wants all Philip’s money- sort of a ransom except, Philip himself will be paying out his own ransom. Albert is a dirty, crazy, idiot, I am just so glad to be away from him today, even though it was only for a few hours! My mum got cancer and died- so I was forced to live with this criminal while he kidnapped your dad.”

I stared at her as she explained one of the biggest mysteries I had ever encountered. Slowly I grasped what she was saying, and pulled my sense together to reply.

“Mrs Wilson showed me the letters. I was too stupid to understand… I’m no detective. Where is the founder, you shouldn’t even be here, it all fits now. I’m so sorry Jenny. You’ve been wound into this mess that your dad made. And… you know, my mum passed away from cancer too.” I never said died, or dead. They were too strong. Instead, she passed away, and moved to live with God. In my mind I liked to soften things a bit but keep them real.
“Adam did you know all of this?” I asked.
“Some little… just basically the kidnapping, and the dirty lunatic bit. Not really the whole story. Now I do.”

I smiled at Jenny. “Now that that’s out of the way, we can have the swim we were talking about!”
As a small smile appeared on her face, I remembered a certain time that day I had thought it was ‘snobbish’.

Your Space:
Ask for your own copy of the Shelby’s Story Complete version with pictures!
Meanwhile, send us any news and what you like in here, what you don’t.
We’d love from you:
Recipes
Stories/Poems/Drawings
News of your life
Jokes
Opinions

Website of the month:
http://www.gocomics.com/: I love reading the Calvin and Hobbes. What’s your fave?

Current Subscribers: Anita Menon

Nair Newsline January 2011

What’s Up:

Vinod Nair has got a new job as a chef for a company called Sodexo. He cooks for the miners on a site called ( ). Vinod has to work for two weeks, and has a break for one week. He cooks breakfast and dessert, and is really happy with his new job! So we wish him luck and congratulate him!

Fantastic Food:

Pista Kulfi:

This yummy treat is a pistachio ice-cream, extra creamy, and an Indian Favourite.

How to make it:

Whip 400ml Evaporated Milk in a bowl.

In a separate bowl, whip 200ml Cream. When it is about the consistency of Whipped Cream, Add 1 Cup of Sugar. Grind some Pistachios with 4-5 Cardamom Seeds. Add this to the Cream and Sugar as well. Finally, mix in the Evaporated Milk and it’s almost ready! Just pour it into your chosen mould or container and freeze it for atleast 4 hours. Yum!

Art and Craft:

Is your resolution to learn to draw? If not, why not make it a fun goal to do in your spare time? If you DO make time for this, the Nair Newsline can help you on your way.

Why should I learn?

If you have to ask, then you probably shouldn’t. but the benefits are that it’s fun (though frustrating- to get better you will have to keep going for ages), once you learn you can do much more like paint, sculpt, capture things around you, even draw people! (Which would be really cool. I mean, wouldn’t it be nice if you could draw someone and capture how they look and what they are feeling realistically?) But if you can’t spare time- which is the only thing you really need to do it that you don’t already have- then don’t do it.

How much time is ideal?

About half an hour a day sounds pretty good because it’s not too much but it’s enough to get lots done. But if you’re really busy, you could try to do it every second day for 20 minutes, or maybe just 10 minutes of rough sketching a day. Create any plan according to your needs, and stick to it. You don’t have to show up every time. It’s like a class- you wouldn’t do it if you were sick or had something else on, but you’d go otherwise.

What are different ways to learn?

· Classes. You could sign up for drawing lessons, if you wanted to. This is actually easier in some ways because if you don’t then nobody is going to tell you that you have to draw, you have to do it yourself.

· Books: Plenty of How-To-Draw Books can be easily found. What to buy: A book that suits your requirements. Ie. If you want to learn drawing with pencils, you’ll need a book specifically on that. Or if you are a beginner and want to draw things realistically, you should look for something for beginners. Check out Amazon.com for reviews and get something there, or just go to your local bookshop- it’s bound to have something on it! Check out the Nair Newsline’s Drawing Resources, it’s coming in February.

· Sites: It’s easy to find online lessons, from Ehow or About lessons, to a specific site. They are [mostly] free, which is an advantage on lessons or books, but it’s hard to find the right- or a good- one. Just search How to Draw, or Online Drawing Lessons, and look at lots before you choose. The Feb issue of NN will say stuff on sites, what exactly they contain, etc.

What do I need?

All you need to start is pencil and paper! Though sites and books will often tell you to buy a range of materials, you really don’t need to. It’s your choice.

If you do buy things like technical pens, kneadable erasers, and drawing pencils, you will find it easier to shade and do things each site tells you to.

But the rational side will say that first you should be really interested, dedicated, and work with what you have before going and buying stuff!

Both are true! So do whatever you want! Drawing at it’s purest could just be drawing in dirt with a stick!

All you need to learn to draw is basically, draw.

Some guy called Sinclair Lewis was once invited to talk to come students about the writer’s craft. He stood at the head of the class and said, “How many of you are really serious about being writers?” A sea of hands went up. Lewis then asked, “Well, why aren’t you at home writing?” And with that he walked out of the room.

Drawing is pretty much like that. Though you need some knowledge to put you on the right track, if you want to do it and do it you will reach your goal.

Laugh out Loud:

New year’s jokes:

*May all your troubles last as long as your New Years Resolutions.

*Youth is when you’re allowed to stay up late on New Year’s Eve. Middle Age is when you’re forced to.

*Many people look forward to the New Year for a new start on old habits.

*An optimist stays up until midnight to see the New Year in. A pessimist stays up to make sure the old year leaves.

*People are so worried about what they eat between Christmas and New Year, when they really should be worried about what they eat between New Year and Christmas!

* He who breaks a resolution is a weakling; He who makes one is a fool.

. The World of Imagination

Chapter 3 of “Shelby’s Story” by Karuna Nair:

Would you like a copy of the Full Version of Shelby’s Story with art and the original layout, for free? Just Subscribe to the Nair Newsline! Once you’re subscribed, you just need to request for a copy of the book! Check out details on how to subscribe at Your Space this issue!

Chapter 3: Confusion

“Get into the bubble, Shelby, Jenny.”

“What about the airport?”

“Oh, we checked there while you were with Adam, Philip isn’t there.”

“Where are we going?” Jenny asked.

“Marshland, we’re going to Mrs Wilson. She will help you look… I have things to attend to.”

I didn’t bother asking who Mrs Wilson was. I would find out soon enough.

Suddenly the bubble was fulling hard to the ground. My mouth froze and I clung to the couch, terrified. Were we crashing the bubble?

I found out that we were instead plunging through metres of cold water. Halfway through the journey, I could see a large metal object, resembling a ship. But I wasn’t sure what it was. Tossing us two pairs of glasses and a small piece of grass each, Albert got out of the bubble and swam away.

“Eat the grass,” Jenny said.

“I did as she told. The grass was sweet and soft, and suddenly I felt lighter and I was breathing much slower.

“It helps you stay underwater- you can breathe, and if you can’t swim you can easily float with the lightness.”

“Jenny- what is THAT?” I pointed to the large metal ship I saw earlier.

"It’s a water powered ship.

She opened the bubble and surprisingly, spoke while in the water.

“Follow me.”

We swam past a few opaque domes and then suddenly fell down a step.

“Ground level,” Jenny said. “You can walk here.”

“Helloo Jennifer. Is this Shelby?”

“Yes. Shelby, this is Marie Wilson, my personal tutor. She is helping us look around Marshland for your dad.”

“Actually- make sure NOT to tell Albert, but we have a slight change of plan. I just want to show Shelby- some letters sent to your dad. You, Jennifer, can do your maths test,” said Marie. And then Marie handed me some white leaves with thin black writing on them.

The black writing on those leaves bore-

• “You, Mr Shauister, are vile and should be sent off the earth. How dare you do this to Him? How dare you!! Our town was nice enough to actually let you in here anyway, what with YOUR records.”

• “To Al, I have made sure He is not put in Marshland. The citizens know too much about you.”

• “Shauister, What have you done with Him? Soon we will be sending you away- our men are searching the island for the great founder. Mr Cruz.”

What did these mean? Obviously Mr Shauister had done something wrong… but what? And who was He, or Him?

“Can I go outside Mrs Wilson?”

“Yes Shelby. Don’t go out of Marshland, ok.”

I headed out and looked at the small white cubes and friendly people chatting or swimming around. What had the letters meant? Maybe I shouldn’t be with Mr Shauister… who else would help me though? Mrs Wilson, Mr Cruz, the innkeeper… I didn’t really need him.

But I decided not to leave him until I knew his crime and found my dad. At least I had someone to be my personal bubble-driver.

“Shelby! Albert has called and is ready to pick you up and keep looking! Remember what you learnt in today’s lesson, I’ll meet you later!” It was Mrs Wilson.

I knew I would remember the letters. They were such a mystery to me.

“Girls! We are heading to DigiWorld- not to look for Philip, just to run a quick errand. Get in the bubble!” said Albert.

“Where is Digiworld?”

“It’s in a computer lab…” Jenny replied.

I rested my fingers on the bubbles clear surface as I wondered what Digiworld was. Stars Island was clearly fascinating, no matter how strange it was!

“What exactly IS Digiworld?”

“Digiworld is a suburb… like a computer suburb- where each computer is a house.”

Jenny seemed to be talking a lot more. Then I realized so was I. I was always incredibly shy around new people, and I had just met Jenny and Albert this Day. What a huge day! I would be missing out on a lot if I hadn’t chosen to go to Stars Island.

“We’re here,” Albert said briskly.

We walked into a large room filled with many computers. The first 5 were marked “Guest Computer-Use the analyser.”

Albert pulled out a large leather chair with wires and a screen attached to it.

“Sit down Shelby.”

I sat in it and watched as Jenny strapped wires over my arms and plugged them into the screen. I felt a pulling, like someone was tugging my shirt. Then after that I experienced the feeling of flying, sort of floating on thin air with a lot of adrenalin. Now I felt normal again. But- I was inside the computer! I walked around, and tried to speak. It came out in a text bubble. This was like some crazy kids movie… and my dad had created this? Wow.

A few minutes later, Jenny was beside me, smiling.

“Have you done this before?” I asked her.

“No, we live in Sky Dome… We haven’t been there yet.”

“Ok,” I nodded.

Then I watched as Albert strapped himself into the seat, and pressed the button.

“BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!!! Intruder Alert! Intruder Alert!”

Two guards dressed in white with dolphins on their uniform rushed in and surrounded Albert. A police officer jumped out of a small keyhole in a computer’s hard drive, regained his body, and went to join them.

“You have the right to remain silent, Intruder. You will be questioned and your status danger will be double-checked.”

“Am I going to be let out?” Albert said.

“Yes, only after questioning.”

As they left, I wondered where me and Jenny could go.

Your Space:

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Site of the Month: http://thedisneyfifty.blogspot.com

My new blog especially for reviews on Disneys Animated Movies! You can catch them on My Life blog (karunanair99.blogspot.com) as well, but the specific Disney 50 site features pics and is for non-members.