Tinashe

Tinashe's inescapable "2 On" was one of the defining songs of 2014, and her unpredictably smoky Aquarius, was the year's best R&B album as well. A fledgling perfectionist whose label let her take her time with her debut, the former child actress has managed to get along with collaborators as disparate as Nick Jonas, Calvin Harris and, um, Charlie Sheen. SPIN caught up with the 21-year-old over the phone to learn how much hard work goes into making such relaxing music, and how she spent the best year of her life thus far.

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Aquarius was two years in the making, what kind of strings did you have to pull to get people off your back about rushing it? I was lucky to have a label that wanted to make sure when I presented my debut that I felt I was ready. They never put that much pressure on me to hurry or to rush. The most pressure came from myself, because obviously I was ready to move to the next chapter of my life. I wanted to put something out that was amazing and I had to take time until it was really ready.

Is it true that you didn't listen to any outside music while you were working on it? Well, not any. [Laughs.] I listened to music at the end of the day. I'm always trying to discover new stuff in magazines, blogs. But when I was doing the album, I didn't focus on that as much I was really more into creating my own.

What would you put on at the end of the day? I was trying to go back to my old school taste. Like, I always listened to Sade, Janet Jackson, Michael Jackson. People my parents played in the house growing up I always come back to that.

I love how Aquarius bridges different eras of R&B with current sounds. Like "2 On" reminds me of a lot of millennial jams, like "AM to PM." I don't know if it was necessary intentional, but I tried to have versatility within the music while still being consistent. I feel like at the end of the day, I always would try to make music that I wanted to listen to, stuff that I liked and wanted to hear.

Like Sean Paul? You quote him in "2 On." While we were writing the song I thought it was a really relatable melody and I love when people hear relatable melodies in songs. It's not even necessarily that they know where it's coming from; they just know that they like it, and I wanted to have that element in the song.

Did you really record over 100 songs for the album? Yeah, almost 200.

How many of those are going to see light of day? A couple of them have ended up on separate projects. One of the songs is on the Hunger Games soundtrack. So they're finding their own homes. If not, I don't know. They can release them when I'm dead.

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SPIN 2014 Exit Interviews: Tinashe

Five sisters, who had been inmates of Sri Aurobindo Ashram, have threatened to end their lives if anyone, including the Ashram Trust or Police, launches action to evict them from the premises as per the directions of the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court on December 9 directed Jayashreee Prasad, Arunashri Prasad, Rajyashree Prasad, Nivedita Prasad and Hemalata Prasad to vacate the premises within seven days, and if they failed to vacate the Jurisdictional police station All Mahila police station, Puducherry, should evict them from the premises, Ambabhikshu House.

Post on blog

The sisters also posted on their blog the copy of a letter addressed to the Trustees of Sri Aurobindo Ashram demanding assurance from them that they direct the police to stop the execution of the Supreme Court order and give a written undertaking to that effect.

All of us have decided to end our lives rather than face anymore injustice, harassment and victimisation. We are also going to leave suicide notes naming all of you and many others concerned responsible for constraining us to end our lives. Our suicide notes will cause adverse repercussions to the Ashram community as a whole.

'Restore facilities'

The sisters have also urged the Ashram Trust to restore all facilities of medical, laundry as provided to every inmate till the final outcome of the trial and the disposal of the pending cases.

The dispute could be traced back to 2002 when the Ashram took disciplinary action against Hemalata Prasad based on a report by a commission headed by a retired judge, constituted by the Madras High Court.

The enquiry concluded that the allegations against Hemalata is quite serious and if such misconduct is ignored and no action taken it will set a bad precedent and jeopardise the noble principles on which the Ashram is established.

Later the sisters brought up a sexual harassment allegation against the Ashram Trust and other members. The Ashram maintained that the allegations were false and ill-motivated.

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Sisters in Aurobindo Ashram threaten to end lives

BANGKOK

Last week, Yangons V Gastro Bar displayed a flier on its Facebook page depicting Buddha in vibrant, neon colors, wearing large DJ headphones, next to the words "Buddha.bar." It promoted discounted drinks and electronic music.

Authorities in Myanmar, also known as Burma, took note. They arrested the bars general manager, New Zealand native Philip Blackwood, and his two Myanmar business partners, Tun Thurein and Htut Ko Ko Lwin. The men now face charges under a law that outlaws words or images that deliberately offend religion.

The three, who are being held without bail, face fines and a jail term of up to two years. Days after being detained, they have yet to find legal representation because of the cases sensitivity. Blackwood is scheduled to appear in court Thursday.

Rights groups say the law in question, Section 295 of the penal code, is unjust. It was the second most frequently used law to charge political prisoners in the past, according to Burmas Forgotten Prisoners, a 2009 report released by New York-based Human Rights Watch.

Phil Robertson, the rights groups Asia director, said the law is so broadly and vaguely written that it can be easily abused by authorities or religious extremists, and the government should consider changing it.

"Unfortunately, the practice and defense of religion has gone to a more extreme stage in Burma, and what we can see is the willingness of the government to misuse provisions of law that are broadly drafted to take advantage of that, Robertson said. What we're also seeing is the effective criminalization of expression of views that go against some of the more extreme forms of Buddhism that are promulgated by the likes of the [anti-Muslim] 969 Movement and the mabatha."

The mabatha is a newly formed organization of monks, who refer to themselves collectively as the Organization to Protect Race and Religion and are becoming increasingly influential.

Robertson points out that the organization has used Section 295 to justify discriminatory practices against Muslims, whom they regard as a threat to Buddhism.

Hours after V Gastro Bars Buddha flier appeared on Facebook, the image had been shared several thousand times on social media. It since has been removed from the original page, replaced with an apology.

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Myanmar Detains 3 for Allegedly Offending Buddha

The Insane Clown Possethe face-painted, Faygo-swilling horrorcore duo behind viral profundities like "Fuckin Magnets, How Do They Work?"has inspired an FBI investigation into their fans alleged gang activity, the stoning of Tila Tequila, and a cult following of thousands, who convene annually at "The Gathering of the Juggalos."

Now, the ICPs devotees have inspired the worlds first Juggalo-themed art exhibition, called Where the Juggalo Roam, on view until December 20th at Start Gallery in Detroit.

The works are comprised entirely of oil paintings by British artist Lucy Owen, who immersed herself in juggalo culture for several months after learning of Insane Clown Posse for the first time last year. She would soon find herself drawing unlikely inspiration from the bandnot just visual fodder for her paintings, but ideas on how to live one's life, too (although she's still not sure how magnets work).

"I was online one day, and saw a self-proclaimed juggalo getting tons of abuse from posters on a forum," Owen tells Co.Design. A bit of online research revealed "widespread mockery" of juggalo culture. "It was like watching poor little fat kids get bullied on the playground," she says.

Owen started to listen to ICP and Twiztid, the bands proteges, to better understand this killer clown bands cult following and its haters. While she found some of their violent lyrics hair-raising (a random sampling: "I'm hating sluts/Shoot them in the face, step back and itch my nuts"), she decided she had to come to America "to see some real live juggalos." Off she went to The Gathering, a three-day festival in Detroit.

Though she was initially terrified ("What if the juggalos turn on me?"), Owen ultimately found The Gathering "magical." "They were lovely," she says. "Everyone was deeply charming and polite and respectable. I was impressedthat wasnt the case at more mainstream music festivals Id been to."

The paintings in "Where the Juggalo Roam" resulted from Owens experience becoming not a full-on juggalette, but what she describes as "a friend of the family." They portray these maligned, deliberately clownish characters in a fantastical but humanizing light.

"As a creative person, I learned a lot of things from Twiztid and Insane Clown Posses business model," she says. Theirs is a business strategy that flies in the face of hard-sell, self-promoting models most pop stars use. Here you have two guys from financially depressed backgrounds in Michiganknown as Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dopewho have openly called themselves 'The least talented band in the world,'" a designation Owen disagrees with. "They disturb and disgust people, yet "theyve created an empire out of nothing."

The Insane Clown Posse has sold more than 7 million releases and earns upwards of $10 million a year (insert evil clown laugh).

"The message in their lyrics and in the way they operate is to just keep trying, and not to worry if people dont like you or your work. I took a lot from that," Owen says. "Its kind of strange." It's a valuable lesson for any artist or designer, struggling and face-painted or otherwise. Owen tried to live by this sentiment while making her paintings, which draw from photographs she took at The Gathering, photographs she found online, and her imagination.

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Zen And The Art Of The Juggalo

San Francisco, California (PRWEB) December 16, 2014

There is nothing more relaxing than playing a tile-matching game after a long busy day. Today G5 Entertainment brings Zen to players leisure time, launches an engrossing free-to-play pair-matching solitaire game, Mahjong Journey, on iPad. Download Mahjong Journey now and the relaxation will be as easy as a tap.

Embark on a magical journey through Asia in this addictive Mahjong Solitaire adventure! Enjoy a new take on Shanghai Solitaire and help a young girl and her grandfather traverse China, India and Japan in search of her lost parents. Progress by pairing tiles in order, dismantling hundreds of layouts. Collect achievements for special accomplishments while taking advantage of innovative gameplay twists like Shuffle, which allows to get out of a difficult situation, or Firecracker, a tool for blowing up multiple pairs of tiles. Visit the Forbidden City, Virupaksha Temple, the Taj Mahal and the famous Mount Fuji while fulfilling challenging quests and earning gold stars for completing levels as fast as possible!

Mahjong Journey diversifies challenge with relaxation by stirring up time-sensitive levels with the ones without any time limits. Helpful tools vary from a regular hint that shows which two tiles could be paired to an eye that highlights all pair-able tiles. This grade-A game features 120 immersive levels and 132 types of tiles to match, wrapped in technicolor graphics and rich sounds. Upcoming free updates will be adding more and more to the tile pairing fun. Check it out now!

The game is developed and published by G5 Entertainment.

Key Features:

Game trailer: Mahjong Journey for iPad

Assets: ftp://ftp.g5e.com/PR/

When: Today, December 16, 2014

Where: iTunes Store: Mahjong Journey for iPad

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G5 Brings Zen to Gamers Hectic Days with Mahjong Journey (iPad) Today

SAN FRANCISCO (PRWEB) December 16, 2014

Of all places to find peace, quiet and contentment, one wouldnt think of a big city bus to top the list. Douglas Meriwether, or Driver Doug as he likes to call himself, is probably one of the only exceptions. The veteran San Francisco transit operator finds life lessons in just about every aspect of his daily job and hopes to share those with others.

In Meriwethers new book, The Dao of Doug: The Art of Driving a Bus or Finding Zen in San Francisco Transit: A Bus Drivers Perspective, he outlines helpful tips and tricks for other bus drivers learning the trade and passengers, whether new to public transportation or daily riders.

Useful tips include:

Meriwether describes the book as a guidebook on how to ride a trolley bus in San Francisco and appreciate public transportation for reasons many tend to forget.

Its a view from the trolley cockpit and how to apply safe driving techniques to real life, Meriwether said. I wrote this book for new operators who just finished training and for newly arrived city dwellers, unfamiliar about getting around San Francisco. I hope I can increase awareness for the way it was before the car became king.

For more information visit http://www.DaoofDoug.com.

The Dao of Doug: The Art of Driving a Bus or Finding Zen in San Francisco Transit: A Bus Drivers Perspective By Douglas Meriwether ISBN: 978-1-4525-6650-4 (e-Book) ISBN: 978-1-4525-6651-1 (hardcover) ISBN: 978-1-4525-6649-8 (softcover) Available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Balboa Press online bookstores.

About the author

Douglas Meriwether has been a transit operator for the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) for 16 years. Meriwether currently resides in San Francisco where he works nights as a bus driver on Mission Street.

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Finding Zen in Public Transit: A Bus Drivers Perspective