Celeste Interview Question worth reading

Celeste got fired over her love of music - now she's won the BBC Sound of 2020

Congratulations on winning the Sound Of 2020. How does it feel?

There's an element of heightened expectation, potentially. You really want to make sure you live up to it but, ultimately, it's really encouraging to know you're on the right track.

What do you hope it will do for your career?

Hopefully it'll mean more people will hear my music. At the moment, there are people listening to it - but it's not, like, everyone in England, so I hope that will widen out.

Let's go right back to the beginning... What were you into as a kid?

All sorts of things. I was very hyperactive and I was very much into sports, and on Saturday I'd go to ballet. The teachers there took a liking to me and they told my mum, I could go to a performing arts school on a scholarship. So I went there for a year when I was 10.

What was that like?

It was really intense, everyone was being nurtured to be a product of the school.I remember saying to my mum, "Everyone's like robots!" So I went back to normal school with my friends.

Was there a lot of music at home?

None of my family played a musical instrument - but there was such an appreciation for lyrics and melody. On a Friday night, we'd put music on and my step-dad would pick it apart, he'd be like, 'the strings in this part are nuts'. So without really thinking about it, I began to take note of those things myself.

Which artist got you hooked?

My granddad had this cherry red Jaguar, and he only had three CDs in it - but one of them was Aretha Franklin, and that's the one I remember the most.

I love her for her storytelling - just how she structures her songs and her raw delivery and her emotion. From the first note she sings, it doesn't relent. That's something I'm interested in, in any music I listen to. It just has to be really raw and real and true.

Is it true that you started collecting vinyl in your teens?

Yeah! There was a charity shop at the top of my mum's road and I used to go in there and rummage around the vinyl section. Initially, I was just interested in the artwork - I didn't even have a record player at the time!

A few years later, I got to listen to those things I'd been collecting for three years, music from the 50s and 60s like Billie Holiday and Sarah Vaughan and Shirley Bassey, and I was like, "Woah, this sounds amazing!"

Were you already thinking you could become a singer?

Actually, at my college we were all encouraged to go to university and I started really optimistically. I took on loads of subjects - English literature, history, fine art and media studies - but then my dad passed away in the first term. I came back after that a bit bewildered and confused. I stopped working and going to classes, and I wasn't handing in my work.

My teachers were confused because I hadn't told them, or even my friends [about my dad dying]. When I finally explained, they gave me the opportunity to drop some subjects - and that's when I took up music. But most of the focus I put into that was in my own time. It wasn't in that class.

Was it hard to be creative in school?

Definitely. If you're slightly more introvert, which I was at the time, you don't necessarily want to sing in a room of 20 or 30 people.

But I had some friends who played in bands and they were like, "We've heard you can sing, do you want to come round to our house after school and try and play some stuff?" And I loved it. It was self-discovery through my friends helping me build my self-confidence.

What was your first gig?

We played a cover of Wild Wood by Paul Weller, and some other songs in a little bar underground near the seafront in Brighton. I just remember the process of being in that room and performing took over; and any nerves I had evaporated. People were surprised because they'd known me growing up but they had no idea I could sing.

Daydreaming was the song that got you noticed. When was that written?

I was actually working in a pub! It was one of the hottest days of the year and all my friends were texting me like, "We're going to the beach!" but I was stuck in work.

And there was a little side door that used to blow open sometimes; and a tiny beam of light came through and hit the stage my boss had built to the left of the bar. I started imagining what it would be like to be to be in one of those amazing concert halls of the 1930s, singing under the spotlight - which was the light coming from the door - and I started writing down the lyrics for Daydreaming.

"Another day, another wage, work again / I'll play away, I'm drifting, not listening," and those were my thoughts exactly.

Your family obviously play a big role in your music. Isn't that your mum on the artwork for She's My Sunshine?

Yes it is! That song's about her and the cover is mum in 1994 when she was pregnant with me. The other day she was like, "I've gone viral!" I was like, "I don't think so".

Father's Son also talks about growing up in a single-parent family.

Yeah, a lot of my friends grew up in similar situations, especially my male friends, and we'd been having conversations about whether they'd inherited traits from their fathers, even though they hadn't grown up in the same household.

When I met my dad for the first time as an adult, we had a very similar personality but it wasn't something witnessed and learned from him. So I thought, "Yeah, maybe I am my father's daughter".

Why do you sing "Father's Son" in the song?

I went to a football match with my friends and there was graffiti on the wall that said, "Father's Son". I remember it like a film: England had lost, and it was all smoky and there was a pandemonium on in the background - people throwing traffic cones up in the air and all this stuff. But the phrase really struck me.

Straight away I thought, "Maybe I'm my father's son, because I'm surrounded by men and I feel this affinity with them, but I'm also myself and I'm still feminine". That's why I wanted to write the song in the way I did.

Your most recent single, Strange, has taken on a life of its own.

I'm really pleased. Initially, people thought it wouldn't be easy to get it played on daytime radio, so I'm pleased I stuck to my guns.

The first time I first sang it, I got a feeling I'd be singing it a lot more...

The vocals are incredible. You're barely there, it's almost like a whisper, but it's so moving because of that.

Thanks very much! It's funny because I was actually in America when I recorded it and there were a lot of fires at the time. There was so much ash and smoke in the air that I found myself really husky, so when I went to the studio, I couldn't sing to the full extent. It made me approach singing and the chord structure in a different way. I went in with a whisper, because I was trying to be careful with my voice.

I think it's that song in particular that's earned you the Sound Of 2020 and the Brit award... so what do you have planned for the rest of the year?

I've hit the ground running in January and I'm not going to stop! I'm still working on my album and I'm aiming to complete it by the end of this year. I'm just hoping everything will align.

Why human-piloted giant robots are not likely to happen

Not likely to happen

From their height and weight to the source of their energy, the challenges behind building real-life human-piloted giant robots (or mechs) are so huge that they may not be practical on the battlefield – no matter how cool they look in the movies.

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20171212-why-human-piloted-giant-robots-are-not-likely-to-happen

Five things to note from Trump's speech

Last night, shortly after Iran launched more than a dozen ballistic missiles toward US forces in retribution for the US assassination of Iranian General Qassem Suleimani, Donald Trump tweeted that "all is well".

The following morning, he attempted to explain why he sees it this way.

Here are five key passages from a 10-minute speech that suggests, for the moment, a tense situation may be easing somewhat.

Retribution: Vengence/Revenge

We have emerged unscathed

"By removing Soleimani, we have sent a powerful message to terrorists: If you value your own life, you will not threaten the lives of our people."

Much of Trump's morning touted what had already been accomplished, not what was to come. He focused on establishing why Soleimani - the "world's top terrorist", he claimed - was a nefarious character who had long deserved the punishment Americans delivered.

Unscathed  No causalities or injury

A grand entrance with a 2020 message

"As long as I am president of the United States, Iran will never be allowed to have a nuclear weapon."

The president started his speech with a teaser, as it's called in the news business. Before even saying good morning, he started with a guarantee - a show of strength and a promise of security.

There were a lot of theatrical touches to the president's Tuesday morning appearance. He stood before a phalanx of stern-looking, award draped military leaders, flanked by senior members of his administration.

The imagery of his entry into the room, his figure silhouetted against a blaze of light from an open window, bordered on the messianic. While his delivery was muted and short-of-breath - and the speech itself was a hodgepodge - pictures still carry punch in American politics

phalanx - A body of troops/soldiersflanked - be on one side ofsilhouetted - Outlinehodgepodge - Confused mixture

Bluster- Aggressive way with little effect

President Trump's speech was a curious amalgam of threats, bluster - a touch of de-escalation.

Nonetheless he still slapped on more economic sanctions against Tehran. He triumphed in the killing of Gen Soleimani, whom he described as "the world's top terrorist".

But there were essentially three key messages. First, de-escalation. There were no US casualties caused by the Iranian missile strikes. He said that Iran was "standing down", presumably returning its deployed missile forces to their bases. He did not threaten an immediate US response.

Secondly - the nuclear deal. He called upon the other signatories to the 2015 nuclear agreement - the JCPOA - which the US long ago abandoned, to similarly give it up as a bad job.

Thirdly, stressing US energy independence, he called upon Nato countries "to become much more involved in the Middle East process". This will inevitably be seen as another signal that the US is tiring of its role in the region and THAT will not be welcomed by his allies either in the Middle East or in Nato.

So this was a speech full of Trumpian contradiction and the few references to a brighter future for the Iranian people provided little tangible hope of any new diplomatic initiative. So in the wake of the US drone attack and Iran's missile strikes it appears to be back to business as usual.

Americans baffled by size of Australia

Americans are confessing they had “no idea” how big Australia is as the size of its bushfires is compared to the size of the US.

Aussies know just how big our country is and most of us know how much of it is currently burning.

But it seems our American friends don’t.

“I didn’t realise Australia was so large! Is this to scale?,” one man asked on Twitter when science host Kyle Hill posted a map of the bushfires compared to the size of the US.

“Wow. I honestly never realised it was that large of a land mass. This is eye opening.”

The ABC reported how the raging fires have burned over 12.35 million acres of land - with at least 24 people killed and more than 2,000 homes destroyed by the blazes.

Australia has been dealt a massive blow with these fires. Even after the first green shoots come up through ashy forest floors, and even after burned out homes start to get rebuilt, the tourism industry will be suffering.

This is a problem because tourism is a huge industry. It generates $110 billion in economic activity every single year, according to estimates by the Tourism and Transport Forum. 

baffled : bemused "an unexplained occurrence that baffled everyone"

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Australia is being ravaged by the worst wildfires seen in decades, with large swathes of the country devastated since the fire season began late July.

A total of 24 people have died nationwide, and in the state of New South Wales alone, more than 1,300 houses have been destroyed. State and federal authorities are struggling to contain the massive blazes, even with firefighting assistance from other countries, including the United States.

All this has been exacerbated by persistent heat and drought, and many point to climate change as a factor making natural disasters go from bad to worse.

Where are the fires?

There have been fires in every Australian state, but New South Wales has been hardest hit.

Blazes have torn through bushland, wooded areas, and national parks like the Blue Mountains. Some of Australia's largest cities have also been affected, including Melbourne and Sydney -- where fires have damaged homes in the outer suburbs and thick plumes of smoke have blanketed the urban center. Earlier in December, the smoke was so bad in Sydney that air quality measured 11 times the "hazardous" level.

What is causing the fires?

Each year there is a fire season during the Australian summer, with hot, dry weather making it easy for blazes to start and spread.

Natural causes are to blame most of the time, like lightning strikes in drought-affected forests. Dry lightning was responsible for starting a number of fires in Victoria's East Gippsland region in late December, which then traveled more than 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) in just five hours, according to state agency Victoria Emergency.

Humans can also be to blame. In November, the NSW Rural Fire Service arrested a 19-year-old volunteer member on suspicion of arson, charging him with seven counts of deliberately setting fires over a six-week period.

Why are the fires so bad?

Fire season in Australia is always dangerous -- the 2009 Black Saturday fires killed 173 people in Victoria, making it the deadliest bushfire disaster on record. But conditions have been unusually severe this year, fanning the flames and making firefighting conditions particularly difficult.

Australia is experiencing one of its worst droughts in decades -- the country's Bureau of Meteorology said in December that last spring was the driest on record. Meanwhile, a heatwave in December broke the record for highest nationwide average temperature, with some places sweltering under temperatures well above 40 degrees Celsius (about 113-120 degrees Fahrenheit).

Strong winds have also made the fires and smoke spread more rapidly, and have led to fatalities -- a 28-year-old volunteer firefighter died in NSW in December after his truck rolled over in high winds.

Experts say climate change has worsened the scope and impact of natural disasters like fires and floods -- weather conditions are growing more extreme, and for years, the fires have been starting earlier in the season and spreading with greater intensity.

What has been the damage so far?

Entire towns have been engulfed in flames, and residents across several states have lost their homes. The heaviest structural damage occurred in NSW, the country's most populated state, where close to 1,300 homes have been destroyed and over 440 damaged.

In total, more than 5.9 million hectares (14.7 million acres) have been burned across Australia's six states -- an area larger than the countries of Belgium and Haiti combined. The worst-affected state is NSW, with 3.6 million hectares (8.9 million acres) burned.

What is being done?

State and federal authorities have been working to combat the fire crisis for months.

NSW declared a state of emergency in December, which grants "extraordinary powers" to the NSWRFS commissioner, including the authority to allocate government resources and direct government agencies in taking action. The state of Queensland also briefly declared a state of emergency in November.

There are 2,300 firefighters working on the ground in NSW alone, and more support is on the way -- the US, Canada, and New Zealand have sent additional firefighters to help.

The Australian Defence Force is assisting in firefighting efforts around the country.

The federal government has also sent in military assistance like army personnel, air force aircraft, and navy cruisers for firefighting, search and rescue, and clean-up efforts.

Morrison said his administration was allocating at least 23 million Australian dollars ($16.2 million) in disaster recovery payments to affected families and businesses, and up to 6,000 Australian dollars ($4,200) each for volunteer firefighters called out to fight fires for more than 10 days.

When will the fires end?

Unfortunately, Australia is only just entering its summer season. Normally, temperatures peak in January and February, meaning the country could be months away from finding relief.

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/01/01/australia/australia-fires-explainer-intl-hnk-scli/index.html