Tête-à-tête

Hello readers, friends, anime freaks!
Let me start off with a round of thanks to those who mailed in their responses about the anime fan forum…be sure to check your mail. For all those other anime fans out there who are interested in joining the network, drop me a line.

While readers send in their two bits about why they like anime, Niloy (of Sites Unseen fame) has something to say on the issue, which he wants to share with us:
"A: "Hey, what are you doing tonight?"
B: "I'm going to watch some anime."
A: "Anime, what's that?"
B: "You know, Japanese animation."
A: "Oh! You mean, like cartoons?"
B: "NO! ANIME ARE NOT CARTOONS!"

There goes a typical anime fan, defending his divine anime from the evil ignorant "idiots" who fail to appreciate that anime and cartoons are miles apart. But then, if not cartoon, what is it? It's not a movie, a funny 3D animation (also cartoons), nor even a puppet show. It is only a cartoon heavily inspired (and modified) by Japanese art style and culture, often with gross yet weird violence (think of blood spraying as if it's sprayed with a hosepipe!). Yes, this form of cartoon is mainly catered to adults. But there are cartoons for adults too… Simpsons or South Park, anyone?

Niloy's nothing if not outspoken. Do the readers have anything to add? The anime discussion on Tête-à-tête ends next week, so mail me back quick!

Send your polls, opinions, and queries to thegirlnextdoor1@hotmail.com or teteatete_tgnd@yahoo.com
By The Girl Next Door

BD Bytes

Manzurul Alam Beg
He was once considered one of the eleven best photographers in the world

You may have seen the big sign board that reads BASDOC while making a turn in front of the science laboratory, and perhaps you've wondered what the abbreviation stands for. Manzurul Alam Beg was the head of the Reprographic Division of the Bangladesh National Scientific Documentation Centre (BANSDOC…now you know) for twenty-five years, between 1963-1988. He was one of the most famous photographers this country has produced till date.

Born in 1931 in Rajshahi, Beg was interested in photography and photographic technology since his childhood days. Actively interested in pursuing it as a career, he took photography courses at home and abroad, and went on to receive training in the art at the Technical Training Centre of the Pakistan Air Force in Karachi in 1949. This he followed up with UNESCO training in microfilming, also in Karachi in 1957. In 1968, he received training on document reproduction at the Hatfield College of Technology in the UK. This preceded a diploma degree in photography from the British Institute of Reprographic Technology, which he received in 1976.

In 1960, Beg founded the first training centre for photography in Bangladesh. It was called the Beg Art Institute of Photography. He was the convenor of the Bangladesh Photographic Society (BPS), and received a Cento Photo Contest Prize at Ankara in 1968, where his entry was the third-place winner. He went on to with the Top Prize Photokina in Germany in 1978.

Winning the honour of FPAD, the highest honour in photography, at the first international conference held in Calcutta in 1982, Manzurul Alam Beg received recognition as one of the eleven best photographers in the world for that year. He added another feather to his cap in 1987, when he was honoured as ESFIAP at the Federation International de L'Art Photographique (FIAP) at their 19th congress in Germany.

Receiving honorary life membership at the Worldview International Foundation (WIF), he was honoured with the title of FBPS in 1983, the highest honour of photography in Bangladesh.

Manzurul Alam Beg devoted his entire life to promoting and popularising photography as an art medium. He wrote a number of books on photography, and among them, Adhunik Photography, Photography Formula, and Dark Room Solution are notable. This famous photographer died in Dhaka in 1998.

By Durdana Ghias
Source: The Banglapaedia

Soulful Poetry

Poetry, ah! Its nothing but the words from your heart uttered by your mouth, and the words from your mouth treasured in your heart. Read my soulful poetries, take them down to your heart, and make sure they don't go any downwards.

Air Conditioner
Oh! Air conditioner.
You go round and round and round...
Oh, sorry! You are a fan!!

Love
Love is a joke.
It makes you broke.
Sometimes so broke,
It gives you stroke.
Love makes me choke.
A frog shall croak.

Load-shedding
Load-shedding, urghhh!!
Where is bodna?
Where is water??

Coconut
Oh, coconut!!
Are you coco?
Or, are you nuts??

Shout out

Hey people,
Busy times coming up as we get ever closer to the most impatiently awaited celebration of the year....EID! Rising Stars will have a special Eid edition, and as a special treat Shout Out will keep no holds barred. This means that all usual rules WILL NOT apply, and any and all sorts of messages will be printed. Mail us at shoutout13@hotmail.com. Thank you and enjoy the column!

Hi Farhana,
Nice to see you again in school. I have been missing you a lot over the last couple of days. But I am relieved that the school has re-opened and I am just enthusiastic to see you. Anyways, take care.
Your caring friend,
Tommy.

Hey everyone!
Just wanted to say we would like to ask you guys to join www.tunesBD.com - which is a clean musical forum/site but it also has some other cool things! We would like to specially ask our lost buddies to come over because we miss you a lot.
With love,
Shaon, Imran, Nisho, Rubaiyat, Shumanta

By Crucified

[ATTENTION:
This column is NOT responsible for any negative (or otherwise) outcome of the messages printed in it. Please do not abuse the column by using it to play pranks etc. Also, all email addresses will be printed at the reader's expense and we do NOT take responsibility any inconvenience to anybody. ]

"The Break"

Get your slice of the underground scene in the latest magazine brought out by MAFC with Editor Rayan Ali and Managing Editor Ashraful Islam, along with Gibran Tanwir as Senior Writer and Nawajesh Karim, Raffan Imam, Robin and Tisha as staff. The first issue has already come out on the 5th of September, and the next will come out at the start of the next month. For internet edition, visit www.mafcworld-bd.com

Word Power

1. hidden meaning     _ m _ l i _ a _ i o n
2. excess s            _ _ e _ f l u _ u s
3. common           _ e r _ a c u _ a r
4. tragedy           _ a t _ o s
5. gloomy            m _ r _ y
6. corrupt            f r a _ d _ _ e n _
7. chore             _ r u _ g _ r _
8. figure out         d _ c _ _ h e r
9. self governing     a _ t _ n _ m _ u s
10. argue          _ q u _ b _ l e

Answers
1. implication. 2.superfluous. 3.vernacular. 4.pathos. 5. murky.
6. fraudulent. 7.drudgery. 8.decipher. 9. autonomous. 10. squabble.
Taking one point for every correct answer, your result:
0 - 2: Poor.
3 - 5: Average.
6 - 8: Good.
9 - 10: Exceptional.