If youre feeling all dreamy about the universe, heres a pro tip: dont tell Brian Greene. That guy can chill your cosmic buzz fast. I recently swung by the office of the Columbia University theoretical physicist full of happy, giddy questions and came away pretty much empty. Is there such a thing as a natural moral order? I wondered. Not in this universe, there isnt. What about a purpose to the universe, thenthe reason the whole 13.8 billion-year-old shebang with its hundreds of billions of galaxies and trillions of planets happened in the first place? Nope, Greene says, no such purpose, adding, And thats O.K. Maybe for him it is.

Surely, though, Greene will grant the existence of free willthat first item on the wish list of every freshman-year philosophy student who ever lived. Sorry, not a chance.

Your particles are just obeying their quantum-mechanical marching orders, Greene says. You have no ability to intercede in that quantum-mechanical unfolding. None whatsoever.

But heres the thing about Greene, founder of the World Science Festival; host of multiple TV series on PBS; and the author of five books, including the blockbuster The Elegant Universe and the just-released Until the End of Time: he says it all with such ebullience, such ingenuous enthusiasm, that if he told you the whole cold, amoral universe was ending tomorrow youd roll with it the way he wouldas just one more dramatic chapter in an extraordinary tale in which we all have a precious if fleeting role. Thats not to say everyone embraces his cosmic view so easily.

Ill be frank, Greene says. I have some students come in crying. And they say, This is kind of shaking my world up, and I say to them, Thats not a bad thing. Its fine to have your world shook. The pieces may fall back in the end to where you were, and they may not.'

On the day I saw him, the man who has made himself the master of some of the most abstruse aspects of physicssuperstring theory, spatial topographywas instead being mastered by one of the more basic ones: gravity. He was struggling about on crutches, the result of two ruptured spinal disks, which can give out over time whether or not youre the kind of person who can explain the attraction between the mass of the earth and the mass of your back.

When he makes his way from desk to couch, he drops down gratefully. Behind him is a whiteboard with a storm of equations written on it. The numbers and glyphs frame his face in a perfect metaphor for the impossibly complex ideas that play out in his head, then somehow emerge comprehensibly and coherently on the page.

Its a busy time for Greene. His World Science Festival will begin its 13th season in May in New York City and its fifth year in its satellite venue in Brisbane, Australia, in March. The Down Under version attracted a total of 700,000 visitors in its first four years. The New York edition has drawn a cumulative 2 million people and more than 40 million online views of its content.

Greene, 57, is also preparing for a promotional tour for his new book, and keeps up a full schedule of teaching, holding office hours and advising graduate students. During our conversation, he mentioned that he was booked to give an evening talk on superstring theory to a gathering of the universitys Society of Physics Students. Its a Friday night, a party night, but for the students and Greene, talking superstrings is a party.

Ive found that the theoretical physicists Ive spent the most time with are the ones who are just enthralled by the ideas and the minutiae of an equation working out, he says. The only difference I have seen relative to my colleagues is Ive never found pure research to be enough. Ive always felt like the world is so big and rich that I need to engage with it in different ways. And that can be the books, it can be the TV shows.

Greene comes by his love of performance rightly. His father was a vaudeville entertainer as well as a composer and voice coach. But Greenes own passion was math and science and then big sciencethe kind that seduces you with questions that both demand and defy answers, that can cross the line from science to something else entirely. Here, too, a close family member helped.

My brother is a Hare Krishna devotee, Greene says. Hes 13 years older than I am. When I was little and getting interested in math and physics, hed say, What are you learning? Id describe the Big Bang, and hed pull out the Vedas and read to me from them. It was a very interesting back-and-forth over the decades between the scientific pathway toward a certain kind of truth and the spiritual, religious pathway to a certain kind of truth.

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That tension plays out elegantly in Greenes new book, and to make sure no one misses the dialectic, the chapter names make it clear: Duration and Impermanence, Origins and Entropy, Particles and Consciousness. Greene takes one of his most powerful whacks at entropy, attacking the nettlesome business of the second law of thermodynamicsthe broad truth that all systems tend to disorder, which is often used to challenge the truth of evolution itself: that profoundly complex order can emerge from the chaos.

I resolve that tension in Chapter 3, Greene says, a boast that could pass as arrogant except that, well, he does resolve the tension in Chapter 3. It relies on the force of gravity. Without gravity, everything just spreads out, diffuses, and thats all there would be. But gravity has this wonderful capacity as a universally inward-pulling force which can undertake the following magic trick: it can pull things together, making it more orderly here, at the expense of releasing heat that makes it more disorderly out there. I call it the entropic two-step.'

Theres a lot of satisfaction in such neat solutions to head-cracking problems. But there is an equivalent neatness to the ostensibly dispiriting conclusions Greene reaches in his books and in his research: that unhappy business of a cold universe, an insentient universe, of the individual as just a quantum contraption, behaving as a product not of choice but of probabilities and randomness. Its where the free-will thing comes in: the universe is guided by quantum probabilities, and your choices are simply a part of that, the way a local breeze is part of the global weather system.

My feeling is that the reductionist, materialist, physicalist approach to the world is the right one, Greene says. There isnt anything else; these grand mysteries will evaporate over time. But despite such empirical bravado, Greene says more tooand whether he likes it or not, its not reductionist, and if its written in a book like Until the End of Time, it could be written in the Vedas as well.

Rather than feeling, Damn, theres no universal morality, Damn, theres no universal consciousness,' he says, how wondrous is it that I am able to have this conscious experience and its nothing more than stuff? That stuff can produce Beethovens Ninth Symphony, that stuff can produce the Mona Lisa, that stuff can produce Romeo and Juliet? Holy smokes, thats wondrous. The rational physicist with the deeply spiritual brother surely meant the holy as just a figure of speechbut if so, he picked an apt one.

This appears in the March 02, 2020 issue of TIME.

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Recent years have seen breakthroughs in neural network technology: computers can now beat any living person at the most complex game invented by humankind, as well as imitate human voices and faces (both real and non-existent) in a deceptively realistic manner. Is this a victory for artificial intelligence over human intelligence? And if not, what else do researchers and developers need to achieve to make the winners in the AI race the kings of the world?

Background

Over the last 60 years, artificial intelligence (AI) has been the subject of much discussion among researchers representing different approaches and schools of thought. One of the crucial reasons for this is that there is no unified definition of what constitutes AI, with differences persisting even now. This means that any objective assessment of the current state and prospects of AI, and its crucial areas of research, in particular, will be intricately linked with the subjective philosophical views of researchers and the practical experience of developers.

In recent years, the term general intelligence, meaning the ability to solve cognitive problems in general terms, adapting to the environment through learning, minimizing risks and optimizing the losses in achieving goals, has gained currency among researchers and developers. This led to the concept of artificial general intelligence (AGI), potentially vested not in a human, but a cybernetic system of sufficient computational power. Many refer to this kind of intelligence as strong AI, as opposed to weak AI, which has become a mundane topic in recent years.

As applied AI technology has developed over the last 60 years, we can see how many practical applications knowledge bases, expert systems, image recognition systems, prediction systems, tracking and control systems for various technological processes are no longer viewed as examples of AI and have become part of ordinary technology. The bar for what constitutes AI rises accordingly, and today it is the hypothetical general intelligence, human-level intelligence or strong AI, that is assumed to be the real thing in most discussions. Technologies that are already being used are broken down into knowledge engineering, data science or specific areas of narrow AI that combine elements of different AI approaches with specialized humanities or mathematical disciplines, such as stock market or weather forecasting, speech and text recognition and language processing.

Different schools of research, each working within their own paradigms, also have differing interpretations of the spheres of application, goals, definitions and prospects of AI, and are often dismissive of alternative approaches. However, there has been a kind of synergistic convergence of various approaches in recent years, and researchers and developers are increasingly turning to hybrid models and methodologies, coming up with different combinations.

Since the dawn of AI, two approaches to AI have been the most popular. The first, symbolic approach, assumes that the roots of AI lie in philosophy, logic and mathematics and operate according to logical rules, sign and symbolic systems, interpreted in terms of the conscious human cognitive process. The second approach (biological in nature), referred to as connectionist, neural-network, neuromorphic, associative or subsymbolic, is based on reproducing the physical structures and processes of the human brain identified through neurophysiological research. The two approaches have evolved over 60 years, steadily becoming closer to each other. For instance, logical inference systems based on Boolean algebra have transformed into fuzzy logic or probabilistic programming, reproducing network architectures akin to neural networks that evolved within the neuromorphic approach. On the other hand, methods based on artificial neural networks are very far from reproducing the functions of actual biological neural networks and rely more on mathematical methods from linear algebra and tensor calculus.

Are There Holes in Neural Networks?

In the last decade, it was the connectionist, or subsymbolic, approach that brought about explosive progress in applying machine learning methods to a wide range of tasks. Examples include both traditional statistical methodologies, like logistical regression, and more recent achievements in artificial neural network modelling, like deep learning and reinforcement learning. The most significant breakthrough of the last decade was brought about not so much by new ideas as by the accumulation of a critical mass of tagged datasets, the low cost of storing massive volumes of training samples and, most importantly, the sharp decline of computational costs, including the possibility of using specialized, relatively cheap hardware for neural network modelling. The breakthrough was brought about by a combination of these factors that made it possible to train and configure neural network algorithms to make a quantitative leap, as well as to provide a cost-effective solution to a broad range of applied problems relating to recognition, classification and prediction. The biggest successes here have been brought about by systems based on deep learning networks that build on the idea of the perceptron suggested 60 years ago by Frank Rosenblatt. However, achievements in the use of neural networks also uncovered a range of problems that cannot be solved using existing neural network methods.

First, any classic neural network model, whatever amount of data it is trained on and however precise it is in its predictions, is still a black box that does not provide any explanation of why a given decision was made, let alone disclose the structure and content of the knowledge it has acquired in the course of its training. This rules out the use of neural networks in contexts where explainability is required for legal or security reasons. For example, a decision to refuse a loan or to carry out a dangerous surgical procedure needs to be justified for legal purposes, and in the event that a neural network launches a missile at a civilian plane, the causes of this decision need to be identifiable if we want to correct it and prevent future occurrences.

Second, attempts to understand the nature of modern neural networks have demonstrated their weak ability to generalize. Neural networks remember isolated, often random, details of the samples they were exposed to during training and make decisions based on those details and not on a real general grasp of the object represented in the sample set. For instance, a neural network that was trained to recognize elephants and whales using sets of standard photos will see a stranded whale as an elephant and an elephant splashing around in the surf as a whale. Neural networks are good at remembering situations in similar contexts, but they lack the capacity to understand situations and cannot extrapolate the accumulated knowledge to situations in unusual settings.

Third, neural network models are random, fragmentary and opaque, which allows hackers to find ways of compromising applications based on these models by means of adversarial attacks. For example, a security system trained to identify people in a video stream can be confused when it sees a person in unusually colourful clothing. If this person is shoplifting, the system may not be able to distinguish them from shelves containing equally colourful items. While the brain structures underlying human vision are prone to so-called optical illusions, this problem acquires a more dramatic scale with modern neural networks: there are known cases where replacing an image with noise leads to the recognition of an object that is not there, or replacing one pixel in an image makes the network mistake the object for something else.

Fourth, the inadequacy of the information capacity and parameters of the neural network to the image of the world it is shown during training and operation can lead to the practical problem of catastrophic forgetting. This is seen when a system that had first been trained to identify situations in a set of contexts and then fine-tuned to recognize them in a new set of contexts may lose the ability to recognize them in the old set. For instance, a neural machine vision system initially trained to recognize pedestrians in an urban environment may be unable to identify dogs and cows in a rural setting, but additional training to recognize cows and dogs can make the model forget how to identify pedestrians, or start confusing them with small roadside trees.

Growth Potential?

The expert community sees a number of fundamental problems that need to be solved before a general, or strong, AI is possible. In particular, as demonstrated by the biggest annual AI conference held in Macao, explainable AI and transfer learning are simply necessary in some cases, such as defence, security, healthcare and finance. Many leading researchers also think that mastering these two areas will be the key to creating a general, or strong, AI.

Explainable AI allows for human beings (the user of the AI system) to understand the reasons why a system makes decisions and approve them if they are correct, or rework or fine-tune the system if they are not. This can be achieved by presenting data in an appropriate (explainable) manner or by using methods that allow this knowledge to be extracted with regard to specific precedents or the subject area as a whole. In a broader sense, explainable AI also refers to the capacity of a system to store, or at least present its knowledge in a human-understandable and human-verifiable form. The latter can be crucial when the cost of an error is too high for it only to be explainable post factum. And here we come to the possibility of extracting knowledge from the system, either to verify it or to feed it into another system.

Transfer learning is the possibility of transferring knowledge between different AI systems, as well as between man and machine so that the knowledge possessed by a human expert or accumulated by an individual system can be fed into a different system for use and fine-tuning. Theoretically speaking, this is necessary because the transfer of knowledge is only fundamentally possible when universal laws and rules can be abstracted from the systems individual experience. Practically speaking, it is the prerequisite for making AI applications that will not learn by trial and error or through the use of a training set, but can be initialized with a base of expert-derived knowledge and rules when the cost of an error is too high or when the training sample is too small.

How to Get the Best of Both Worlds?

There is currently no consensus on how to make an artificial general intelligence that is capable of solving the abovementioned problems or is based on technologies that could solve them.

One of the most promising approaches is probabilistic programming, which is a modern development of symbolic AI. In probabilistic programming, knowledge takes the form of algorithms and source, and target data is not represented by values of variables but by a probabilistic distribution of all possible values. Alexei Potapov, a leading Russian expert on artificial general intelligence, thinks that this area is now in a state that deep learning technology was in about ten years ago, so we can expect breakthroughs in the coming years.

Another promising symbolic area is Evgenii Vityaevs semantic probabilistic modelling, which makes it possible to build explainable predictive models based on information represented as semantic networks with probabilistic inference based on Pyotr Anokhins theory of functional systems.

One of the most widely discussed ways to achieve this is through so-called neuro-symbolic integration an attempt to get the best of both worlds by combining the learning capabilities of subsymbolic deep neural networks (which have already proven their worth) with the explainability of symbolic probabilistic modelling and programming (which hold significant promise). In addition to the technological considerations mentioned above, this area merits close attention from a cognitive psychology standpoint. As viewed by Daniel Kahneman, human thought can be construed as the interaction of two distinct but complementary systems: System 1 thinking is fast, unconscious, intuitive, unexplainable thinking, whereas System 2 thinking is slow, conscious, logical and explainable. System 1 provides for the effective performance of run-of-the-mill tasks and the recognition of familiar situations. In contrast, System 2 processes new information and makes sure we can adapt to new conditions by controlling and adapting the learning process of the first system. Systems of the first kind, as represented by neural networks, are already reaching Gartners so-called plateau of productivity in a variety of applications. But working applications based on systems of the second kind not to mention hybrid neuro-symbolic systems which the most prominent industry players have only started to explore have yet to be created.

This year, Russian researchers, entrepreneurs and government officials who are interested in developing artificial general intelligence have a unique opportunity to attend the first AGI-2020 international conference in St. Petersburg in late June 2020, where they can learn about all the latest developments in the field from the worlds leading experts.

From our partner RIAC

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Future Goals in the AI Race: Explainable AI and Transfer Learning - Modern Diplomacy

DUBLIN, Feb. 21, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Nanoemulsion Market by Type and Application: Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast 2019-2026" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

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According to the report, the global nanoemulsion market was valued at $2.1 billion in 2018, and is projected to reach $4.9 billion by 2026, growing at a CAGR of 11.5% from 2019 to 2026. In 2018, North America accounted for nearly 41.8% share of the nanoemulsion market.

The growth in value sales for emulsifiers is attributable to surge in demand for different emulsifiers, which facilitate better taste. Thus, increase in willingness of customers for different tastes in food & beverages is expected to fuel the demand for nanoemulsifiers.

The food industry has been evolving in terms of innovations and demand. Manufacturers focus on key innovations that cater to the requirements of their target consumers. Increase in awareness toward health and wellness has been witnessed among people residing in developed as well as developing countries. This has led customers to indulge in various physical activities, such as jogging, running, and related activities.

Among these health-conscious consumers, few customers are indulged in performance enhancement programs by keeping a track of their performance and health on a daily basis. This has resulted in increased demand for various types of special proteins made using nanoemulsifying techniques. Thus, nanoemulsifiers are gaining increased traction among nutrition manufacturers, which significantly drives the nanoemulsion market growth.

Nanoemulsions specially made from food grade ingredients are being predominantly used to encapsulate the biologically active lipids such as polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), and Omega-3 fatty acids. Omega-3 fatty acid supplementation proves protective effect against cancer, sudden death, cardiac death, asthma, cognitive aging, myocardial infarction, and inflammation. Alpha-Linolenic Acid (ALA), also known as an Omega3 fatty acid, is one of two essential fatty acids. ALA is necessary for health and it cannot be synthesized within the human body.

Nanoemulsions with droplet size less than 100 nm are finding numerous applications in the field of cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and food industries owing to its small size advantage. These nano particles gives freshness to food, increase stability, and also improves digestibility of the food.

Nanoemulsifiers have witnessed higher rate of penetration in North America and Europe. However, low availability has been observed for this product in some major parts of Asia-Pacific and LAMEA, which is attributable to low performing macro-economic factors such as internet penetration and aggressive marketing strategies by the manufacturers. Thus, lower penetration of such products limits the growth of the nanoemulsion industry.

There has been an increase in number of users in various social media sites with rise in internet penetration. Taking this into consideration, most of the key players in the nanoemulsion market strategize on promoting their products on these social media platforms. Thus, through social media marketing strategy, nanoemulsion market sights critical opportunity in gaining traction.

The key players operating in the global market include AQUANOVA AG, Keystone Foods, Shemen Industries Ltd., Frutarom Group, Jamba, WILD Flavors and Specialty Ingredients, Unilever Group, Nestle S.A., DuPont, and the Kraft Heinz Company.

Key Findings

Story continues

Key Topics Covered

Chapter 1: Introduction

Chapter 2: Market Overview 2.1. Market Definition and Scope 2.2. Parent/Peer Market Overview 2.3. Key Findings 2.3.1. Top Investment Pockets 2.4. Porter's Five Force Analysis 2.4.1. Bargaining Power of Suppliers 2.4.2. Bargaining Power of Buyers 2.4.3. Threat of New Entrants 2.4.4. Threat of Substitution 2.4.5. Intensity of Competitive Rivalry 2.5. Market Evolution/Industry Roadmap 2.6. Market Dynamics 2.6.1. Drivers 2.6.1.1. Growing Use of Nanoemulsion in Food & Beverages Industry 2.6.1.2. Rising Trend of Nanostructured Food Ingredients and Additive in Food & Beverages 2.6.2. Restraints 2.6.2.1. Higher Cost of Nanoemulsion Technology 2.6.3. Opportunities 2.6.3.1. Nano Technology Enduring Its Trend in Various Industry

Chapter 3: Nanoemulsion Market, By Type 3.1. Overview 3.2. Small-Molecule Surfactant 3.3. Protein-Stabilized Emulsions 3.4. Polysaccharide

Chapter 4: Nanoemulsion Market, By Application Type 4.1. Overview 4.2. Beverages 4.3. Dairy 4.4. Bakery

Chapter 5: Nanoemulsion Market, By Region 5.1. Overview 5.2. North America 5.3. U.S. 5.4. Canada 5.5. Mexico 5.6. Europe 5.7. U.K. 5.8. France 5.9. Netherlands 5.10. Germany 5.11. Turkey 5.12. Rest of Europe 5.13. Asia-Pacific 5.14. China 5.15. Japan 5.16. India 5.17. South Korea 5.18. Australia 5.19. Rest of Asia-Pacific 5.20. LAMEA 5.21. Brazil 5.22. South Africa 5.23. United Arab Emirates 5.24. Rest of LAMEA

Chapter 6: Competitive Landscape 6.1. Market Player Positioning, 2018 6.2. Competitive Dashboard 6.3. Competitive Heatmap

Chapter 7: Company Profiles 7.1. Aquanova AG 7.2. Dupont Nutrition & Biosciences 7.3. Frutarom Industries Ltd. 7.4. Jamba 7.5. Keystone Foods 7.6. Nestle S.A. 7.7. Shemen Industries Ltd. 7.8. The Kraft Heinz Company (Heinz) 7.9. Unilever Group 7.10. Wild Flavors and Specialty Ingredients

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/uxzrp0

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The Nanoemulsion Market: Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast 2019-2026 - Yahoo Finance

After a six-year hiatus and an open-ended conclusion, Star Wars:The Clone Warsis finally back and has a new home on Disney+ for its seventh and final season. Rather than the whole season getting released at once like the previous season, called The Lost Missions, which was dropped on Netflix in 2014, Clone Wars is doing weekly releases starting with The Bad Batch, the first episode in a new arc.

The clone soldier Captain Rex (Dee Bradley Baker) reports that the Separatists enemies are predicting their tactics. He announces to his Jedi General that hes infiltrating a Separatist base to investigate the situation. He doesnt tell his Jedi General one thing though: he has a theory that the Separatists are procuring their information from a surviving clone brother by the name of Echo, who supposedly perished back in The Citadel. Along with Commander Cody, he enlists the assistance of a four-crew team of clones with desirable mutations, clones that didnt come out with standardized physicality and possess abilities deemed useful on the battlefield. The team includes the leader Hunter, the brawny Wrecker, the nerdy bespectacled Tech, and the strong-and-silent type Crosshair.

Created by Dave Filoni and inspired by the 2003 proto-canon Genndy Tartakovsky hand-drawn Clone Wars, the prequel era-setClone Wars was initially quite distinctive in the Star Wars animated realm for its grit. The series had a rocky start back in 2008, but gained a slow and steady fanbase as quality rose. Releasing a series of anthologized arcs taking place within the same war, Clone Wars took advantage of the television format to unravel the idiosyncrasies of familiar characters like Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Yoda while expanding on background characters like the clones and fleshing out a grimy space fantasy world trapped in ceaseless war and politics that were left untouched by the movies.

When compared to the previousClone Wars episodes, which was the finale at the time, this season 7 premiere is a big technical step up. The CGI-renderings are slicker and more polished on a technical level, the show has grown significantly. In the days where Clone Wars wasnt expecting a revival, fans who watched the quasi-rendered version back in Unfinished Tales: Clone Wars panel at the 2015 Star Wars Celebration (which are online) know most of the beats of this final product, but fortunately, there is noticeable evolution in the script, especially in Rexs emotional odyssey for autonomous thinking highlighted by the new element of him burrowing his personal theoryand his sorrow as well. Rexs secretiveness about his theory about Echos survival underlines his long-term burgeoning independence from his military and birth conditioning.

Baker, once again, does the heavy-duty of voicing all the clones, accentuating each with personality and individual existence despite their identical appearance and voices. The Clone storylines were always the strongest when any clone character dealt with the existentialism of being bred into expendability, whether theyre conscious of it or not, and this premiere doubles down on that. As for the Bad Batch themselves, they pop as if they exist in their own spin-off universe somewhere, needing more fleshing-out as of now.

This first episode of an arc offers little more than some pulpy action, a slickly staged action sequence, and an enticing cliffhanger. The Bad Batch is not a spectacular comeback, all things considered, but its good to be back in the world. The clones, as well as Bakers vocal performance, anchor this episode. But so far, they deserve moreand I look forward to it.

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Star Wars The Clone Wars The Bad Batch Review - /FILM

Thesis Summary

Ambev S.A. (ABEV) is a distributor of beverages focused in Latin America. Currently, it is trading at historical lows which could offer a good entry point. I believe the business model is solid and expect it to remain profitable in the future. With a solid balance sheet, plenty of cash and an implied 2% yield, the company offers an interesting investment opportunity.

Ambev produces, distributes and sells alcoholic beverages and other refreshments. Its main products are beers which include Skol, Corona, and Budweiser. However, the company also sells a variety of juices, sodas and coconut water. Ambev operates in three segments which are divided geographically; Central America and the Carribean, Latin America South, and Canada.

The company has recently put out some disappointing results and the stock is now trading at its lowest ever, $3.63/share as of writing this. In this article, we will try to make sense of this to determine if this is a potential value buying opportunity. First, lets start with the most recent results available:

Source: Investor Relations 3Q Results

Both the quarter to quarter and yearly comparisons show a similar dynamic. Revenues have grown at a reasonable pace in the last year, around 7%, while EPS has not increased at all. This is due to a reduction in the gross and EBITDA margins.

Looking at the income statement, we can see that this is due to substantially higher costs of goods sold

Source: Investor Relations 3Q Results

Another interesting change is the difference between tax expenses, which in 2018 contributed $141 million while in 2019 it became an expense of $222 million.

In the section below I will cover some of the most relevant strongpoints of the company.

I like the Balance sheet, as the company is not overly indebted, with a Debt/Equity ratio of 0,04 and a quick ratio of 1. Looking at the evolution of the last few years, Ambev has done a good job of reducing its debt and this is no exception in the last year.

Source: Investor Relations 3Q Results

In the last year, the company has managed to increase assets and reduce total liabilities. Looking back, in 2009 Ambec had over $1 billion in long.term debt. Today, that number is much closer to $200 million. This is a testament to the proficient management and cash-generating ability of the company.

Ambev has the right to sell and distribute some of the biggest beer brands in the world, including the likes of Budweiser, Becks, and Corona. In terms of brand identity, the company has been for a long-time talking about Premiumization and is executing this practice quite well.

Source: cbc.co

Premiumization is the result of a change in the beer market. Consumers of beer are demanding more in terms of taste and branding, not every beer is made equally. To this extent, Ambev os well positioned as it has exclusive rights to some premium brands and is also developing and rebranding its beers. Recently it launched Skol Hops. Since close to 77% of the premium market in Brazil is dominated by the top 4 brands, there is plenty of room to take a bigger slice of the market from the incumbents. Furthermore, the company has a moat like characteristic, as it is the only distributor of these big names.

More importantly, Ambevs portfolio includes more than beer, with a wide array of other beverages that have in recent times performed quite well. Lets take Brazil, for example, one of the worst-performing segments.

Source: Investor Relations 3Q Results

NAB, (Non-Alcoholic Beverages) grew by 13.6% in terms of revenue. While profitability is still an issue here, it is clear that the company has a wide array of products that are in demand.

Finally, it is worth mentioning that Ambev pays a dividend, and why wouldnt they? Despite lower profitability, the company still has a healthy and growing cash & ST investment position of over $3.5 million. The company has consistently been paying out around 10 cents per share a year. This gives it a yield of around 2.71% at a payout ratio of only 20.17%. While there are many higher yields out there, it is an attractive source of income. Combined with the current potential for capital appreciation, this makes an investment in Ambev even more attractive.

In the section below I will cover some of the most relevant weaknesses of the company.

One of the main headwinds Ambev has been facing is that of reduced profitability. Even though the company remains quite profitable, with a 59.51% Gross margin, it is undeniable that the trend in the last 5 years has been downward.

Source: Seeking Alpha

As we can see. Gross Margin has decreased by over 10% in the last 5 years. This is due to increased input prices and also differences in local currencies purchasing power. Will Ambev be able to stop the bleeding? In this regard, the company is integrating various forms of logistical and data related technologies to optimize distribution. We should see this affects the next couple of years. Secondly, we can expect margins to improve if/when the South American region begins to grow quicker and people have more disposable income

This is another interesting point that can be seen as a weakness. While Ambev has a very well-diversified portfolio in terms of products, most of its operations are centered in Latin America. This means the future of the company is very much tied to the macroeconomic growth of the area. However, it is important to realize that, in the long-run, microeconomic factors should outweigh the macro. If you believe in the profitability of Ambevs business model, this shouldnt be a reason for concern.

Overall, it is not just Ambev that has been underperforming, but the whole sector. We must understand that markets are always changing, and to keep growing companies must adapt to the new demands of consumers. For example, people growing up now have become a lot more health-conscious, and alcohol is losing its appeal, as are sugary soft drinks. In terms of beer, there has been a great shift in recent years to craft beer. People want to feel that what they are drinking is special, and that is part of what premiumization is about. Changes in demand offer both a great challenge and an opportunity.

In terms of valuation, Ambev is now trading somewhat below the market. It has a P/E of 22, 6.72% below the market, and it is also quite undervalued if we look at EV/EBITDA. While this in and of itself is not enough for me to invest, combined with the relatively secure dividend, the current price offers an opportunity to capitalize on what could be a low-point in terms of the share price.

Overall, the company still has profitable operations and has a certain degree of resilience to competition and recession. My rating for this stock is just above neutral although I do not have a position.

Disclosure: I/we have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

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Ambev: Value And Income - Seeking Alpha

While in Chicago for NBA All-Star Weekend, HoopsHype had the chance to sit down with former No. 1 overall pick Greg Oden. We discussed the bust label, his battle with depression and substance abuse, life after basketball, his advice for Zion Williamson, returning to Ohio State to get his degree, his off-court endeavors and more. You can listen to the full interview above or read the transcription below.

Last year, you graduated from Ohio State University with a degree in Sports Industry. First of all, congratulations! Why did you decide to return to school and what did it mean to you to earn your degree?

Greg Oden:Thank you! It meant a lot. It was a promise that I made to my mom and now, Im a college graduate! That always feels good to say. Honestly, what originally made me go back is because, at the time, I was thinking about getting into coaching at the college level and you need a college degree, so thats what got me there. Once I got my degree, I felt like I could do a lot more.

Do you still want to get into coaching at some point or have you moved on from that entirely?

GO: Right now, in this moment, Ive started doing other things. But I think coaching is always going to be something thats in the back of my head, just because I love teaching and being around basketball. Since I cant play now, the best way for me to be around the game is on the coaching side. It will happen in the future. But for right now, Im the athlete adviser for a financial education company called Edyoucore. We talk to athletes about taking advantage of what they have now, being more engaged in their finances, looking into investments and being more conscious of their spending because you never know when your career could be over. You might want to save and make sure you have as much money put aside as you possibly can.

Id imagine its rewarding to positively impact so many players and help them avoid going broke.

GO:It feels good. Hopefully they listen! Nobody wants to be that cautionary tale. Its funny, I remember watching the 30 for 30 film Broke and they didnt do a story on me, but they talked about me and how injuries can end a career early. I was sitting there watching it with my friends, like everybody else, and I hear Greg Oden and everyone is looking at me. I was like, What the fu**?! Do I get residuals for this?! Whats going on?! (laughs)

Youve talked about how your self-worth was completely tied to basketball so when the game was taken away from you due to injuries, that was very hard for you. What was that like and how were you able to come to the realization that theres more to life than basketball?

GO: When I was away from the game. It wasnt until I wasnt playing anymore and my life didnt revolve around basketball anymore. Yeah, thats one of the toughest things that you can do. When basketball was taken away from me, I looked up and was like, Who am I? What do I want to do? What do I enjoy doing? I felt like every other college student just this past year when I graduated and I was like, Alright, there goes the excuse that Im going to school. What the hell do I want to do? What do I enjoy doing? Being able to find out who you are, what you enjoy doing and how you can make an impact in this world, its tough.

But, for me, I have a little daughter and a family, so the one thing that I knew I wanted to be is a great dad; I wanted to take care of my family. I was blessed to play the game of basketball, which gives me a little cushion to figure out whats next and try new things and learn what it is that I enjoy doing. I wanted to find something that gives me the most time at home with my family, which is what I love the most. Theyre my main priority.

What are some of the hobbies and interests that you discovered?

GO: I still love going to the movies. I am probably the biggest fan of basketball because all I do is watch games all day, every day. I play a little bit of golf. Im not good yet, but I play a little bit. I work out a lot, just trying to not get fat. (laughs) And I spend a lot of time with my daughter.

Whats your favorite movie?

GO: Okay, so my favorite movie of last year was Knives Out. I loved Bad Boys For Life. Im excited to see Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey. Since its Valentines Day weekend, my wife and I are going to see The Photograph. Im a big Marvel guy too. I cant wait for the spin-off shows like The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and Loki to come to Disney+.

I dont think fans realize how isolating and depressing the injury-recovery process can be. Ive talked to players like Derrick Rose about how having injury after injury and not being able to do the thing you love takes a toll on a person (physically and mentally). How tough was that, especially when there are a lot of setbacks?

GO: Yeah, trying to get yourself back to where you were is tough, especially when its someone like Derrick Rose because the dude was MVP. When youre trying to get back to that level, back to the No. 1 player in the country, thats really tough. But hes doing an amazing job and hes become an amazing pro. I applaud his heart to even be out there, and I love watching it as a fan. But youre right, youre lonely and you want to be out there with your guys. You want to be able to do the things that the team and the city you play for brought you in to do. You want to bring a championship and do great things on the court, but you just physically cant. Thats tough. Mentally, youre trying to deal with that. Sometimes, if youre at a young age, you dont even know how to deal with yourself and your own thoughts, and now youre all by yourself. How are you handling that? How are you going to get up every day knowing that it hurts? Its really tough mentally.

I think its very brave that youre so candid about those dark times in your life and it may help others who are going through their own struggles. Youve said that when you returned from playing in China in 2016, you were depressed and drinking daily. What was going through your mind then and how did you get out of that funk?

GO: Well, when youre by yourself, you need to cope. I had to think about this: I used to drink a lotand I never thought about this, but it used to numb my body. So I never thought about all of the pain that I was in. And one thing thats big in Ohio is opiate abuse. I had an abundance of pills and I was drinking and taking them. I had to deal with that stuff. I remember calling Coach [Thad] Mattaand just feeling like I didnt even know who I was and I couldnt sit by myself and be quiet. He was like, Just come to the gym, come to practice. I started going back to practice and, honestly, getting basketball back in my life and having something to do every day was something that was huge in helping me get out of that funk. Then, once I was there, he told me, You know, theres this degree-completion program I was like, Hmm, alright. Then, when I was going back to school, I actually had to concentrate and I couldnt be hungover every day. It gave me a path. And once I went down that road, I realized, You dont have to drink every day to feel okay or feel something. Youre just numbing yourself. Then, I had a family. My daughter made me want to live a better life and do things right for her because, eventually, shes going to hear these things about me. Im going to have to talk to her about some of the things that Ive done in my life, but I want to help her be a better young woman and make better decisions in her life.

How important was your support system? It sounds like Coach Matta and your family have played a crucial role in helping you get your life back on track,

GO: Its amazing. Im married now, so its great to have my wife there to tell me when Im doing terrible and when I can do better. And my daughter, just to see the smile on that girls face She doesnt care what youre going through, I have to be Daddy every day. Thats something that everybody needs. We try to act like we dont need people who are there for us, but it helps to have somebody you can talk to, to run things by, to trust and to share your life with. For me, those people are my family.

Fans and some media members throw around terms like bust. You had no control over your injuries, but Im sure some people still said awful things and criticized you. Did you get a lot of mean comments and what was it like dealing with those?

GO: You read those?! First off, I dont read comments at all. I may read the first three comments, which are usually people you know, but I dont scroll down and care about that stuff. Honestly, with the word bust, I used to throw it around when talking about myself. I kind of took the power away from it by saying it, like, I might be a bust, but thats somebodys else personal thought. I had an opportunity and it didnt work out, which was unfortunate. It didnt turn out the way that it was supposed to, but I think I was actually one heck of a basketball player back in the day. Funny story about that word bust: If you go to YouTube and type in Greg Oden highlight video, the best one is actually the one titled Greg Oden: A Bust? Go watch that. Ive watched it. I actually watch it a lot, it makes me feel good about myself! (laughs)

When you were healthy, you were incredible. It was just the injuries that limited you. Former Blazers GM Kevin Pritchard told me a crazy stat: You, Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge only played 62 games together because of injuries. In those 62 games, you guys were 50-12. When healthy, you guys were dominant! Do you think about different what-ifs about your career (like how special that team couldve been) or do you try not to focus on those things?

GO: Oh, theres nothing to do except think about the what-ifs! Thats a great stat! That was a good team and I definitely loved playing with those guys. I still text with Brandon Roy every now and then, and I love watching LaMarcus Aldridge play. For him to become an All-Star and the player that he is and to have such a long career, Im just so happy for him. I wish I was able to be part of it and that we couldve grown that team even more for Coach Nate [McMillan], for Kevin [Pritchard], for everybody involved in that Blazers organization. I really wish we couldve stayed together and been healthier, but it just didnt work out that way. But I will always have those great memories and Im forever grateful to the city of Portland and everybody in the organization and Mr. Paul Allen for taking a chance on me and giving me an opportunity to play with those guys.

In The Athletics feature on you, it said that youd watch Kevin Durant play and it would make you cry. Did Durant having so much success as the No. 2 pick in 2007 make things even more difficult for you?

GO: It said that? (shakes head) No, Im happy for KD. I hope and pray that he can come back from this injury and be just like he was before or even better. Im nothing but a fan of KD. I wouldnt say that I cried. I had some feelings inside like, Damn, I was picked first I wish I could be doing those things! I wish I could be the businessman that he is, the good dude that he is. But Ive never felt anger or like, That should be me! Im a fan of basketball and a fan of him. I wish him nothing but the best and I hope he comes back next year and takes Brooklyn to a championship.

If you could go back to when you were dealing with the injuries and give yourself advice, what would you tell yourself?

GO: I would tell myself to be more involved and understand my body more. There were so many setbacks and I feel like if I actually understood what was happening with my body and what each of the injuries entailed, maybe we couldve approached it differently and maybe I could possibly feel a little bit better and still be playing. That would be nice to think. But, honestly, Id tell anybody: Dont just listen to what somebody is telling you, make sure you actually understand what theyre talking about. Why did this happen? What are the next steps? Whats the treatment plan and how am I going to get healthy?

You seem like youre in such a good place mentally right now. What do you attribute that to?

GO: I think its because Im maturing, getting older, actually figuring out who I am and getting comfortable being myself. Its tough when youre young and you get a lot of money and you still havent figured yourself out as a person. Like I told you, in May, I graduated and I was like, Well, what the hell do I do now? But Im happy just being me. Living my life and being me. Whats wrong with being a happy, positive human being? I dont have everything figured out in life, I really dont. But Im enjoying it and Im so blessed that this is the path that I went down, and Im really accepting that. And my wife kind of puts me in my place when I need it. (laughs)

You were labeled a phenom in high school and received a ton of hype. Then, after one NCAA season, you entered the NBA as the No. 1 overall pick. But in college and early in your NBA career, you suffered numerous injuries. This is similar to Zion Williamsons journey so far. Given what youve been through, what would you tell Zion?

GO:Have fun! Enjoy every minute of it, but also make sure that youre understanding whats going on. Make sure that youre taking advantage of the situation that youre in. Have meetings with these owners, talk to the mayor of New Orleans and get in those rooms. Build that brand of Zion while youre the man right now. Really, the biggest thing that I want to say to him is take advantage of this. But have fun. Dont take yourself or all of this noise too seriously. Enjoy it! Also, realize that you put the work in and you deserve this, and keep on working to get even better.

You played with Mike Conley growing up and you guys had a ton of success together. For those who dont know, you and Mike won three-straight state titles in high school and led Ohio State to the NCAA national championship game in 2007. Are you and Mike still close?

GO: Yeah! I told you about seeing the movie Knives Out. Well, when I saw it, I was the third wheel on a date with Mike and his wife! (laughs) We were in Utah.

What do you make of the Houston Rockets decision to stop using a center, relying instead on PJ Tucker and Robert Covington at the 5?

GO: I think its just the evolution of the basketball player. Now, you have a seven-footer whos able to bring the ball up the court, run the offense, shoot the three to spread out the floor and then he canalsotake you down in the post and dunk on you? I mean, thats just a good basketball player to me. I see what Houston is doing and thats a real advantage for them because they get to play fast. As a seven-footer, its going to be tough for you to guard a backcourt player like that. But also, on the other end, when you get a big who can shoot threes but also knows how to go into the post, hes going to be like, Yeah, PJ Tucker come guard me!Thats going to be tough for them, but theyve got some guys on that team that can really [defend]. I think Coach [Mike] DAntoni is really going to make it work because hes a really good coach, and they have great players who understand and who can adapt. But so will the rest of the league. Other teams and players will evolve as well.

Youre so recognizable. Unlike guards, its harder for you to blend in given your seven-foot frame. What is it like not being able to leave your house without being recognized and how do you deal with that?

GO: I use my daughter sometimes. If I dont want to talk to nobody, I just pick her up and keep it moving. (laughs) No, but really, its been happening to me since I was a kid. If they come at me with respect, I give them the time that I can. But understand that I have things to do and please respect my privacy and my time with my family. Dont be an a-hole about it and Ill give you my time.

Thats should be a general rule for life: Dont be an a-hole.

GO: Yes, it should! Definitely. I forgot where I heard that, but I always say it. Dont be an a**hole. Thats the only thing you need to know. (laughs) Thats the rule of life: Dont be an a**hole!

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Greg Oden Q&A: "I took the power away from 'bust' by saying it" - Hoops Hype

Haafiz Shahimi is a man who plays with fire. The visual artist, who specialises in pyrography printmaking, mesmerises as he harnesses flames to burn imprints onto canvas, as if in a dance with the flickering fire, before he puts it out with a swipe of his hand.

We get a glimpse into this unique process at Core Design Gallery, where Haafiz is holding his second solo exhibition, AWAS. For this, he has temporarily moved his studio to the space, making his self-developed stylepart of the showcase.

While there are a number of local and international artists who work with pyrography, few have experimented or developed their technique to the point this emerging artist has. There is Etsuko Ichikawa, who uses molten glass as a drawing brush, and the famed Cai Guo-Qiang, who works with gunpowder.

Haafizs works distinctively resemble paintings. In fact, to the untrained eye, they often look like a blend of watercolour and ink works, which speaks of the complexity of the pyrographic images. It is a technique he has developed over a decade, with the last five to six years showing particular growth and evolution.

A lot of my new works in this exhibition couldnt have been done back in the day, either because the technology wasnt out yet, or my experiments werent complete yet, and the ideas werent mature enough. So AWAS is kind of like a reincarnation or rebirth of my previous, older works, now coming into this body and form, fully using pyrography, explains Haafiz as we examine his newer pieces.

The work that encapsulates the artists current maturity in technique most evocatively is the first piece one spots as one walks into the gallery. Titled Self-Less, the fiery and dramatic self-portrait, rendered on layered jute, combines both his signature metal plate chops with the use of 90-degree inverted burn and direct petrol burn, a process where he sprays petroleum directly onto the material, then sets it on fire.

Theres an interesting story behind this. An older version of this work is called Self-Fish, which was the first time I worked with jute. The experience really changed me; it opened up a lot of possibilities for me in making works of this style, recounts Haafiz. Where he used charcoal and ink to complete the image in that piece, Self-Less is almost entirely made using pyrography, with only dye employed to prep the jute and gold paint, and pencil sketches to add finishing touches to the large work.

It also represents a philosophical milestone in his journey as an artist. Less is to be humble. The work is, for me, [symbolic] of how far Ive come. I believe when you just work hard, lessen your sense of self, your ego, to not let it get in the way, youll get there.

As one walks through AWAS, the increasing depth and sophistication of imagery becomes apparent in the more recent works. Haafiz points out, In the first ones, there is always a certain rawness, which I think is appealing in its own way, but the second or third ones are more advanced. For me, the hardest part of the process is to come out with the image itself, not the technical aspect of creating it. I find that the more complicated the imagery, the more a sense of visual richness comes through when it comes to using pyrography.

In terms of inspiration, the artist who says he prefers to paint free hand without sketching ahead nowadays draws strongly from nature, as well as Malay or Southeast Asian mythology and folklore. His style takes its cue from batik painting, albeit in a contemporarised context.

By experimenting increasingly with abstraction, Haafiz has found an ideal pairing for his pyrography style, as we see a nuance and softness that evokes Eastern mysticism vibes. He describes it as the process of creating the visual image of a soul.

The element of fire is common within Malay culture. Unlike Western visual arts that have their landscape, figurative, abstract art, or Chinese art which is ink, landscape, calligraphy and pottery the Malay art form draws predominantly from nature and folklore. Also, I am a silat practitioner, so being conscious of the essence of the soul, the roh, is the norm, he observes.

This is most obvious in two works: Buraq and Saka Hitam. The former, being the creature that carries Islamic prophet Muhammad up to the heavens, is traditionally forbidden to be portrayed. Haafiz says that is why he imagines the essence of it instead. The latter features the werecat, or harimau jadian, a shapeshifting mythical animal associated with black magic and witchcraft in Malay folklore.

But perhaps it is Haafizs figurative works that are the most emotive. In an older series, he created portraits with lines burnt onto the canvas with metal rods. The inspiration came from a contractor friend of his. I wanted to incorporate an element of his work, which were the rods used in forming concrete pillars, he shares. The Fall of Time (2015) is also a mark of time passing by, each burnt line signifying both visibility and invisibility, as life fades away gradually.

As we end our tour, the burning question is, why the fascination with fire? Haafiz smiles, The key is the adrenaline. I like cooperating with fire, to let it create the work. The unpredictability and viciousness of it, the heat and distortive element attracts me. My role is to control it and play with it. Its also learning about your limitations, to know where you can go and cannot go with it. Yet I see the possibilities within that something so destructive to turn it into something beautiful.

'AWAS',Core Design Gallery, 87 Jalan SS15/2A, Subang Jaya.Until March 15. Mon-Fri, 11am-6pm; Sat-Sun, noon-6pm by appointment. See here for more information.

This article first appeared on Feb 10, 2020 in The Edge Malaysia.

Original post:
'AWAS': Pyrographer Haafiz Shahimi's new artworks are fuelled by Malay mythology - Options The Edge

What makes Fire In The Radios music especially powerful is that they always seem to be reaching for the starsand preparing to fall. The Philadelphia four-pieces music is driven indie rock with a distinct shimmer on it that reminds one of jangling semi-goths like The Smiths. But guitarist-vocalist Richard Carbones moaned vocals and the use of heartrending minor chords throughout give their sound an inherent sadness. The result is Monuments, their plucky, atmospheric third album thats full of soaring aspirations while feeling firmly rooted in the clumsy realworld.

Before watching our exclusive premiere of EX-SF, we caught up with Fire In The Radio about what theyre going for with album number three.

What are you most excited for fans to hear on Monuments?

The evolution of our songwriting and the work we put into it. We wrote 30 demos that were chiseled down to the 11 songs on the record. It was a great collaboration between us and producer Jesse Ganger (Japandriods/White Lung). We spent quite a bit of time thinking about how we wanted the guitars, drums, and bass to sound. We made a conscious effort to amalgamate influences and push them to a point where we created something unique. Lyrically, Rich and Jonathan [Miller, guitars and vocals] worked hard to write narratives that were compelling and a clearer reflection of who we are as aband.

Is there a track on the album that you think sums up where Fire In The Radio aretoday?

There are two: Ex-SF and Tulare. We have always tried to build diversity into the songs we write. These tracks tend to showcase variations on creating songs that are energetic and melodic, yet retain a popelement.

Youve said that you were driven on this record to write songs the people who placed their trust in you would want to hear. What, in your opinion, do they want? What did you feel like they wereowed?

Hope. This record would not exist but for the people who have supported us and given us the opportunity to make more art. We always say we have friends, not fans. Weve received several messages over the last few years from people telling us how our songs have helped them through hard times or have been a soundtrack to great moments in their lives. Whether these people knew it or not, these messages inspired us to keep going. Its easy in the current climate to feel helpless or small. We wanted to write a record that acknowledged those feelings, while instilling a sense of hope in people who have helped us along theway.

Tell me about the title and the cover. What are the monuments in question, and how did the design of the sleeve come together?

As we were writing this record, Rich sent around a picture he took on the 4th of July. The silhouettes, smoke, and fading fireworks were demonstrative of how traditional monuments have lost their meaning in recent years. At the same time, we liked the juxtaposition that people could be their own monuments, or that songs could serve as monuments to a particular place and time where people were empowered to seek change. This became a guidepost for therecord.

Is there something about Philadelphia that inspires you today? What is it like being a Philly rock band rightnow?

Philadelphia has undergone a fairly significant transformation over the past several years. On the back of a robust artistic community, there has certainly been gentrification that many would say is a negative. At the same time, there remains a vibrant scene that celebrates local music. As a result, there are several great venues to play and bands to collaborate with. Philadelphia has a storied history as a city that celebrates rocknroll, and that still rings truetoday.

Check out our exclusive premiere of Fire In The Radios EX-SFbelow:

Originally posted here:
Fire In The Radio Roll With The Punches In Their Cinematic New Video - Kerrang!

One of the most prominent and proficient cabaret artists in the business today, Molly Pope has had a thriving career as a cabarettist for a decade, garnering accolades and gaining fans, both of which are now reaching outside of New York City into other cities and states, hardly surprising to anyone who has seen a Molly Pope show. For a while, though, New York audiences have been missing the uniquely gifted Pope, as her wish for some downtime and a focus on her first-ever venture into songwriting gave way to a brand-new musical, POLLY MOPE. Last fall, Pope re-entered the scene with Molly Pope, A GAY MAN, AND A PIANO and, come 2020, the one and only Molly Pope is ready to unveil for a wider audience that which has been brewing in her ever-creative mind. As she prepares for a performance of her show at The Duplex next week, Ms. Pope took a call from me during which we talked about her process, her artwork, and the need for a strong woman to make her own way in the world of the arts.

This interview has been edited for space and content.

Molly, you've got a show that's running at The Duplex and you've got one coming up at Joe's Pub. I understand that these are not new shows, but that the one at The Duplex is a continually evolving program.

Yes. It's titled Molly Pope, a Gay Man, and a Piano. I have had many different gay men at the piano. I've had female music directors, I've had straight music directors, so it hasn't been exclusively gay. But that certainly is what it usually is. And given that, I thought, "Well, you know, I should have a rotating pattern, why not?" That means that I can swap out songs, each one of the music directors has their own friends and fans, that will certainly help with ticket sales.

You are one of the most popular cabaret artists in the business. Why are you worried about ticket sales?

Oh, you're never not worried. I mean, you're never not worried about ticket sales, honestly. I suppose you could reach a certain visibility where you don't have to worry about it, but I would probably still always be... worried isn't the right term, more just like conscious of it. And you know, until you're sold out, you got to keep promoting.

I couldn't get into your show last fall. Try as I may, I couldn't get in.

So that was actually the first dry run of Molly Pope, a Gay Man, and a Piano, and that was actually the only cabaret show I did in all of last year. When you can promote a show as such, you can sell pretty quickly.

Why only one show in New York in an entire year?

I needed her to take a step back The past two years I took a big step back from doing regular cabaret shows, but that coincided with doing a lot of work on Polly Mope, which is the solo musical, 'cause I've been at this for over a decade and I don't personally subscribe to the notion that you have to keep going no matter what. And I needed a break.

How did it feel having a year off from your craft?

I was working a survival job that paid me a pretty good rat,e and I needed a break from performing, so I invested all of my energy into paying down as much debt as I could, for about two years, because working on a solo musical was quite different from putting together my regular kind of cabaret show. So the creativity was still there, it just took a different form and I think it was really good for me. And, not surprisingly, one of the effects was that I found myself thinking I have put so much energy into this survival job and I started thinking maybe I don't want to perform. But then I had that aha moment of, Oh no, it's actually because I put all of my energy into a survival job and now I need to sort of like recalibrate, maybe go back the other way and change up the energy commitment to the survival job and give myself more energy for performing.

Did the time away give you a fresh view when you came back?

I think so. I think it also just gave me some perspective and understanding of what I do that is unique and specific to me. The great thing about cabaret is it's all apples to oranges. You really can't compare two performers because what everybody's doing, by the nature of cabaret, is very specifically them, and it felt good to sort of go, "Okay, I have a thing that I do and I do it really well and I'm not going to try to do or be something else because someone else is having success doing it." That's a great lesson to learn.

You have created a brand that is so unique that it's given you a greatly respected reputation -- did you come out of the gate with that brand or is that something that you had to develop over time?

I think I came out of the gate with, definitely, a really strong visual. I did my hair in a beehive for probably six years, and a cinch-waist full skirt, very mid-century. It was a coincidence, but it sort of fell alongside Mad Men being hugely popular -- that was not my intention. And I think what has happened is I've slowly stripped that away. Number one, I didn't want to keep doing the same look and the same vibe, and I had a couple of people... actually, I did a one-off at 54 Below and Julie Halston was there, who I don't know, but I was all done up and I got up and sang my song when I came off stage she said, "You don't need to do all that stuff". And I said, "What?" She said, "All this hair, makeup, whatever... just sing." And I said, "What?" And that was a really important moment, clearly because I remember it. So it's still very much that tiny vibe. And those are all of my reference points. I still try to give you a look that's very reminiscent. Honestly, I feel like it's almost more like a 1940's kind of look. But I don't rely on the visual presentation as much as I used to. I think it was really great that I started out with a really strong visual and now I can tone it back and bring it to something a little more natural.

The vintage mood seems to be really important to you. When did that develop in your personality?

I was extremely close with my grandma, my mom's mom. I joke, but it's true that as an adolescent I had more fun hanging out with her and watching TCM. Sometimes... I was a teenager but she would crack a bottle of white wine and we would just drink a bottle of white wine and stay up until one o'clock in the morning watching TCM. I got all of my musical tastes from her. I think it was to an extent that I can be organic - I think that it, very much, is in me. With my grandma, I always thought we were actually like really good friends, contemporaries, sometimes even more so than a grandmother and her granddaughter.

Do you remember what your grandmother's favorite movie was?

Ooooh, her favorite movie... We watched so many. I can say there was a lot of Nat King Cole, a LOT of Nat King Cole. I think I probably listened to Nat King Cole more than any other singer. And she liked Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, and Judy Garland. It's sort of all those big names.

Is your grandmother still living?

She's not.

Did she get to see you perform?

Not as much as I would have liked, she passed away at the end of my freshman year of college, so she did get to see me as Dolly in Hello, Dolly! and Mame in Mame during high school, but she never got to see me make the evolution into being a cabaret and nightclub performer. She actually sang with a big band at one point when she was pretty young, so I think I inherited a lot of her, including the singing

It must make you feel very good, knowing that every time that you walk on stage, what you're doing is informed by this beautiful relationship you had with her.

Oh yeah. And I have a ring and a necklace of hers that I wear every single day.

That's really lovely. You just said you played Dolly Levi and you played Mame when you made the transition from doing characters in musical plays to writing your own material for cabaret, did you feel like you were going to have to leave behind one thing to create the next?

I have played characters and done plays and musicals, some really great ones, but it became clear that, especially when you're 24 and you sound like a mid-career Ethel Merman, it's difficult to be cast because the way my voice sounded and the way I look, casting directors just could not get over their perceived disconnect, shall I diplomatically say. And at that point there were two Friday night musical theater open mics: there was Mostly Sondheim at TheDuplex and there was The After Party up at the Laurie Beechman and I would go every Friday night. And when I started out, I would have to wait until like 1:30 in the morning to get up and sing. But I kept going and eventually I was sort of a sub guest host for Mostly Sondheim. And the process wasn't really sitting down and writing stuff, it was more, "Okay, I need to keep people within the room and drinking until 4:00 AM." And you figure out really quickly what's funny and what's not funny and what works and what doesn't work. So it was really like I learned by doing,

When did you write your first full-length cabaret?

The first one I did, I think it was 2007, it was called The Diva-Lution of Molly Pope.

I remember it.

I was really proud of that title. I had a friend of mine named Matt direct it - he was sort of coaching me - but in terms of actually writing stuff, certainly with the solo musical because you have to write a book for the show, I don't know that I could pinpoint when I started writing for myself because it's such a natural evolution, like "Oh, I made that joke into the microphone. Okay. Well, I should keep that."

When you create a new show, do you completely leave behind the old ones or do you occasionally revisit them and bring them back?

Oh yeah. I mean not necessarily a show in its entirety, but bits and songs, I do bring them back. I think that Molly Pope, a Gay Man, and a Piano is pretty much 100% new, but there are things that I've thought, "Oh, I want to bring that back sometime."

Tell me about Molly Pope, a Gay Man, and a Piano.

It actually grew out of working on Polly Mope, the solo musical. I premiered Polly Mope last May at the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia and I was used to my shows being a fairly small affair, you know, like two people involved: me and a music director. In this case, I was afforded the truly incredible opportunity to have a lighting designer and a set, and a stage manager, and all of a sudden there were 15 people in the room and I started to say, "When do I get back to just me, a gay man, and a piano at The Duplex? 'Cause it felt like, while I was having this crazy fulfillment in this new area of my creativity, I was feeling like I was supposed to get back to basics.

I heard you sing the song Polly Mope at Poetry/Cabaret, I remember before you sang it, you said something about sounding like Ethel Merman -- is she one of the voices that inspired you as you were studying musical theater or is that just the sound with which you were born?

That's just the sound that came out. She definitely was not a major influence.

And how do you feel about having that kind of voice in an era of Ariana Grande's?

Well, I'd say that's why I do cabaret. That's why I create my own work because I'm not interested in --- I can't belt C's. I can hit a C the way Judy Garland can hit a C -- like, at the end of the Born in a Trunk medley. That is a specialty. I need to plant my feet and get ready for that. And I would say 90% of musical theater roles I would be right for, they need you to be able to belt C's for days. And for a long time, I tried to get my voice to do that, but it doesn't want to do that. And I also don't like waiting around for someone to hand me an opportunity. So that's why cabaret was so great 'cause it's wonderful -- I can sing whatever I want, regardless of the context from the source material, and I can sing it in whatever key I want.

I've noticed that the word Cabarettist is frequently applied to your name. That's actually not an English word. That's a German word that's been anglicized for you. Who made that brilliant decision?

I think it was me. I know Amy Jo Jackson... I think that she uses the term as well but with a K, and it was sort of a side effect of... a lot of people were using chanteuse to describe themselves and that didn't really feel right, and any other term like that didn't seem quite right. I really like the word Cabarettist because it's a reference to the cabaret form of show, and I thought, all right, even if it's not a word, and I have had press people be like, "Well, we can't use this word." And I said, "Well, yes you can."

I absolutely agree with you. The word applies to you perfectly and changing it to a C so that it fits the American language is really a perfect choice.

Yeah, it's just an accurate label. This is my medium and this is the kind of performer I am.

How many shows do you have right now that you could perform at the drop of a hat?

The drop of a hat? That would be challenging. I would probably need a day to brush up. I did a sprawling show, my one and only show of 2018, Molly Pope Live at Carnegie Hall at The Duplex. I'd probably be able to brush up that pretty quickly 'cause it was all sort of greatest hits. But for years I did shows with just like random titles, always my name in the title. There was Molly Pope Okay. There was Molly Pope, Goddammit. So just any excuse to throw together a set.

When you have a name like Molly Pope, you have to use it.

Yeah, it is. It is a pretty helpful name.

Yeah. How did you come up with Polly Mope?

My dad is a big fan of spoonerism, which is when you swap the first letters or the first couple letters of a two-word phrase. So growing up, at Christmas he would say Cerry Mistmas and not Merry Christmas. At the end of The Night Before Christmas, my cousin would always say nood gight instead of good night. So I grew up switching... like Burger King becomes Kurger Bing and fruit punch is puit frunch. That's something that my brain automatically does in a lot of instances, and as I got older and,as it became clear that I was struggling with something which, at this point, is diagnosed as manic bipolar two, I thought, "God isn't that ironic, that my name spoonerizes to Polly Mope." It just felt so accurate.

Are you still pursuing acting away from the cabaret industry?

In so much as I am asked to do stuff. I don't have an agent. I don't have a manager. I've never had great luck with either, which, I also take responsibility in that because I'm not really good at that side of all of this, and also terrible at auditioning. So I get asked to do stuff and I am happy to, and I've done some really, really great plays over the past couple of years, but it's not really something that I'm actively pursuing. I am so much more invested in creating my own work.

Creating your own destiny is always more rewarding.

Yeah.

I guess the ideal situation for you is to have someone see you in one of your own shows and say, Hey, how would you like to take two months off from cabaret and come play Fanny Brice for us?

If I could belt those C's, which I can, theoretically, yes. (Laughing)

Well, not being a singer, I wouldn't know a C from a D.

(Laughing) Well good. You should come to one of my shows and I'll tell you everything is a C.

I have your shows on my calendar! As a woman and a strong woman who likes to control her own destiny, do you make time every single day to write or is it something that happens when inspiration hits?

It's more when a deadline hits. I mean, sometimes I'll jot something down to be used in the future. But I am definitely someone who, until I have a deadline, AKA show booked, it's really difficult for me to have any discipline about creativity.

Well, then it should make you happy to know that I've interviewed at least four other people who have the same system.

Yup!

They book the show so that they have to write the show.

Yeah.

So you have your life and when the time is right, you sit down and you say, I'm going to be a cabaret artist right now. That must be very relaxing.

Well, again, it's on my timeline. My ears are always open for a song to catch my ear and I have a giant list in my phone of songs that I might want to sing someday. I jot down in an endless note on my phone if there's an idea for a bit or a joke or something like that. And I guess that it really is, you know, cause I'm 38 and I'm going to say I'm in a different place than where I thought I would be when I got to New York City almost 20 years ago. But where I am is: I'm not pounding the pavement and I don't necessarily carve time out of every single day to sing, but I feel like I have more control over it.

Polly Mope is all original material, but you just said that you hear songs that you want to sing. Do you make your shows out of a combination of original material and material that was written before?

Polly Mope is the first time I have ever attempted songwriting. And that started in earnest at the Kimmel Center, I think it was summer of 2017, cause I felt wildly out of my depth but I knew that this was an opportunity to evolve, to try songwriting. Because originally I did conceive of the show and I did a version of it in Provincetown, and it was all covers. But I was presented with this opportunity, this residency and I thought, "Well, you might as well try, and if you fail, fine, but you will at least have tried to see what you could do." (Laughing) Now I also realized, "Hey, I have a bunch of really talented friends I should ask them if they want to collaborate with me," which I did. And that's what made everything possible because I had really wonderful people who I trusted to not look down on me because I had never written songs before. And I think that's how I held on to a cabaret thread because there are a lot of songs I have written with my music director Matt Aument. But then I also wrote songs with five or six other people. So it doesn't sound like the same people wrote every single song.

Listening to you describe it, it sounds like a piece of theater. Is there a chance that it could be booked into a space where it could sit down for a while?

Oh, I would love that. I call it a solo musical that's disguised as a cabaret.

What is it about cabaret that drew you to it?

Just the independence of it. There are no rules, there absolutely are no rules and there is actually no such thing as making a mistake in cabaret. It's how you deal with a mistake. And because the nature of it being live and so intimate, I finally learned that the audience kind of loves you even more if something goes wrong and you deal with it, you're a real-life human being in front of them and you keep going.

Molly Pope, a Gay Man and a Piano plays The Duplex February 27, March 26, April 23, May 28 at 9:30 pm. For information and tickets please visit The Duplex website

Polly Mope plays Joe's Pub on March 16th at 7 pm. For information and tickets please visit the Joe's Pub website

Find Molly Pope online at her website

Photos of Molly Pope by JD Urban

View original post here:
BWW Interview: Molly Pope of MOLLY POPE, A GAY MAN, AND A PIANO at The Duplex - Broadway World

Making Federal Buildings Beautiful Again: Three Comments on the Executive Order

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A draft of an executive order titled Making Federal Buildings Beautiful Again is moving forward towards possible signing by President Donald J. Trump. The proposed document favors Classical Greco-Roman design typologies for federal buildings in Washington, DC and elsewhere throughout the USA. This order would revise the current rules that regulate the design of federal buildings contracted through the GSA (General Services Administration a Federal agency managing the construction, administration, and upkeep of US Government buildings and real estate). It was initiated by the National Civic Art Society, a Washington, DC based nonprofit organization that disapproves of what the US government has been building for decades. According to the New York Times, the chairman of the National Civic Art Society, Mr. Marion Smith, stated that: For too long architectural elites and bureaucrats have derided the idea of beauty, blatantly ignored public opinions on style, and have quietly spent taxpayer money constructing ugly, expensive, and inefficient buildings.

By Michael W. Mehaffy, Ph.D.

Whether or not one is a supporter of President Trump (and I personally am not) this action is likely to provoke a much-needed debate about the mandating of style. It is interesting to hear some architects howling over this proposed action, at the same time that they have often sought to impose their own preferred style a variant of modernism or neo-modernism. Often this has been done through interpretation of the Venice Charters Article 9, that new works must bear a contemporary stamp, which they interpret as mandating modernism. (They conveniently ignore Article 6, which states that wherever the traditional setting exists, it must be kept... No new construction, demolition or modification which would alter the relations of mass and color must be allowed.)

Now that the shoe is on the other foot, perhaps we should all step back and take a deep breath, and assess what really matters in new design. Is it solely the predilections of the architect community, in their sovereign judgments of what is good (often modern) architecture? Or are there broader goals, and a broader community that should have a voice? Is there a necessity to consider the evolutionary gifts of the past, and the evidence for their continued ability to deliver beautiful, enduring, sustainable habitat?

The time has come that the profession must produce a better answer to this question.

Michael W. Mehaffy is Senior Researcher with the Ax:son Johnson Foundation and the Centre for the Future of Places at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, and an author, educator, urban designer, planner, and strategic development consultant with an international practice. He has held teaching and/or research appointments at seven graduate institutions in six countries, and he is on the editorial boards of two international journals of urban design. After graduate study in architecture with pioneering architect Christopher Alexander at U.C. Berkeley, he received his Ph.D. in architecture at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands. He recently wrote about the Venice Charter and its use to enforce style here:

By Nikos A. Salingaros, Ph.D.

It is well-accepted that the publics preference for a wholesome, restorative architecture in our greatest public institutions has been ignored during the past several decades. In its stead, we have seen monstrous, unfriendly buildings funded by the US Federal Government. Worse than the erection of inhuman and ugly environments is the fact that those images have come to represent the Nation. In their visual impact, how different is the impression they give of American Democracy from the totalitarian dictatorships that have used the same brutal and faceless architecture to express their power over their citizens?

As soon as word of the presidents executive order on creating a more beautiful and human official face for the United States as expressed in its major government buildings was out, all hell broke loose. The usual group of architectural bullies who had intimidated past administrations into accepting absurd or totalitarian designs for public buildings felt their continuing hegemony threatened. They of course are protesting, crying out about loss of freedom of expression and other stock justifications for their past bullying. Journalists and architectural critics joined in the chorus of protests, again with the usual emotional trigger phrases about pluralism, deceptively ignoring how for years those architectural bullies stamped out any attempts at pluralism.

This has become an attack on traditional architecture, using the president as a target, which is a smoke screen. The architectural problem for public buildings is serious but not political, and this proposal is the first optimistic solution to be offered in decades.

Nikos A. Salingaros is Professor of Mathematics at the University of Texas at San Antonio, and a well-known architectural theorist and urbanist. Author of several books on architectural and urban theory, he directs Masters and Doctoral students in architecture at universities around the world. He shared the 2018 Clem Labine Traditional Building Award with Michael Mehaffy, and is the Winner of the 2019 Stockholm Cultural Award for Architecture. He received a Ph.D. in Theoretical Physics from Stony Brook University. He was the principal editor of Christopher Alexanders four-volume book The Nature of Order. Salingaros recently published a review of James Stevens Curls book Making Dystopia.

By Ann Sussman, R.A.

President Trump and the National Civic Art Societys recommendation to make federal buildings beautiful again shunning modern architecture and reverting to classical traditions is a very good one. Not only because it will make the nations capital more coherent, it will make Washington, DC a more memorable place generally, and one which people enjoy seeing and being in.

We live in a remarkable time in the early 21st-century where we can better understand how the human experience functions, including how perception happens. New biometric tools let us track in real time how stressful or soothing new buildings are, and how the body implicitly responds without our conscious awareness to our surroundings. This new science has brought to the fore the fact that though we live in modern times, our bodies remain ancient, and that evolution has pre-set our response to visual stimuli more than most realize. Classical and traditional architecture meets our bodies and brain where they are, in an evolutionary sense, providing the bi-laterally symmetrical, hierarchical facades that we are hard-wired to easily see and enjoy taking in. Modern architecture, with its blankness, random arrangements, and asymmetries, does not.

We now know that many post-war buildings stress the brain and that creates stress responses, leading to everything from headaches to pedestrians avoiding entire new sections in a city. Apple founder Steve Jobs once said: The broader ones understanding of the human experience, the better design we will have. That is true not only for computers but also for the places we call home. The more we know about ourselves, and our animal nature, the more we can accommodate it by creating successful human habitat.

Ann Sussman, RA, an author, researcher and college instructor is passionate about understanding how buildings influence people emotionally. Her book, Cognitive Architecture, Designing for How We Respond to the Built Environment (2015) co-authored with Justin B. Hollander, won the 2016 Place Research Award from the Environmental Design Research Association (EDRA). In 2019, she co-sponsored the 1st International Conference on Urban Experience and Design at Tufts University (Ux+design2019), bringing together creative thinkers to explore evidence-based design practices and biometric tools for assessing the human experience of place. She has given more than 80 lectures at regional conferences and universities, including at Greenbuild/Berlin in 2018 and Greenbuild/Amsterdam in 2019. This year shes scheduled to present a biometric workshop at the AIA National Conference in Los Angeles in May. Currently, she teaches an introductory course on perception, Architecture & Cognition, at the Boston Architectural College. Her articles explaining how biometrics reveal how the human brain and body respond to architecture include:

This article was originally published on Architexturez.net.

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Making Federal Buildings Beautiful Again: Three Comments on the Executive Order - ArchDaily