Gasikara Kolotora sy Kolontsaina

GREENSBORO, N.C. -- Calling Bob Rigaud a "luthier" sounds badly out of tune. The word is just too high-strung, even if it really defines Rigaud. It means "guitar maker." Forget those comic caricatures. He's not an aging hippie music fanatic with shaggy hair, beard, tattoo or two, who punctuates sentences with "cool" and calls people "dude." Rigaud is clean-shaven. His graying hair is neatly cut. His clothes resemble those worn by men of his age, 58, around house and yard. He doesn't use slang, although he can wow visitors with the jargon of guitar making. He discusses frets, necks, inlays, bridges and other guitar parts. He works in a three-room shop behind the 1930s craftsman-style house he shares with his wife and helper, Ruth Ann Rigaud. Orville, a chubby cat named for pioneer guitar maker Orville Gibson, keeps him company at work. Rigaud views his creations as music makers and works of art. Using the finest woods and techniques learne

VIENNA (AFP) - Sheet music of all of Mozart's works is now available online for free, following an initiative by Salzburg's International Foundation Mozarteum in honour of the 250th anniversary of his birth. ADVERTISEMENT "With over 400,000 hits on the website in the first 12 hours, one can say demand surpassed our expectations," Mirjam Nellman, spokeswoman for the foundation, based in Mozart's birthplace of Salzburg, told AFP Tuesday. "The server is a little slow at the moment because of strong demand, but we are working on it," she added. The unique initiative, entitled NMA Online -- for "Neue Mozart Ausgabe," or new Mozart edition -- was launched with the help of the Packard Humanities Institute in Los Altos, California. "The purpose of this web site is to make Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's musical compositions widely and conveniently accessible to the public, for personal study and for educational and classroom use," the Mozar

James Bond is one of the best-travelled film characters ever, his missions taking him all over the world, from the Middle East to Florida to tropical ocean islands. The latest 007 adventure is no exception, with Daniel Craig making his debut as James Bond on November 17th in Casino Royale at glamorous locations in Venice and the wild island of Madagascar - the setting for his first mission. Located in the Indian Ocean, off Africa's east coast, Madagascar is home to five per cent of the world's plant and animal species, and is a remote, huge island that is ideal for an adventure holiday. Among the tour operators offering packages to the island are Explore, who have a 19-day tour that works as an introduction to the reserves and cultural sights of the south of the island. One of the country's most famous residents are the endangered Lemur primate species, indigenous only to Madagascar. Starting in the capital, Antananarivo, the tour visits Ambohimanga The 19-day tour costs £2

A popular hotel in the Bahamas is about to be transformed into the Liberian Embassy in Madagascar — a perplexing development considering Madagascar's location off the coast of Africa - for the forthcoming James Bond film. The Palm Beach Post reports that the Buena Vista, a 200-year-old mansion with a legendary restaurant where waiters in burgundy jackets serve charcoal-broiled lobster and curried grouper to such illustrious patrons as Nicolas Cage, Michael Caine and Julio Iglesias, will double for a location in Casino Royale. Stan Bocus, the dapper Italian who has owned the Buena Vista for 31 years, said the old colonial building will be painted to make it look even older when it is transformed into the embassy, where the new James Bond will take on bad guys in the upcoming Casino Royale. Filming starts there on February 23rd — and the paper's report will go back to catch a glimpse of Daniel Craig as the new 007. MI6 Note: This news confirms that the Bahamas will be doubling fo

Two major steps to Oscar were taken Wednesday as the Producers Guild of America and the Writers Guild of America announced nominations for their annual film awards. The Producers Guild's five candidates for this year's Darryl F. Zanuck Producer of the Year award for Best Theatrical Motion Picture are the drama about forbidden romance, "Brokeback Mountain"; the Truman Capote biopic "Capote"; the racially-charged drama "Crash"; the Edward R. Murrow biopic "Good Night, and Good Luck" ; and the Johnny Cash biopic "Walk the Line." The PGA also cited five nominees for Best Animated Motion Picture: "Chicken Little," "Madagascar," "Robots," "Tim Burton's Corpse Bride" and "Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit." On the WGA side, the guild tapped "Brokeback Mountain," "Capote," "The Constant Gardner," "A History of Violence" and &qu

"Star Wars: Episode III -- Revenge Of The Sith" is the world's number one film of 2005. It grossed $848.5 million (Lm303 million) at the box office. 45% of that income came from US theatres with the other 55% from the rest of the world. Local audiences contributed very little to this sci-fi thriller bonanza as Star Wars films never are very popular in Malta. Second placed is "Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire" which tallied $715.3 million. It is UK"s number one film for 2005. The following are the world's top ten films for 2005. Star Wars: Episode III -- Revenge Of The Sith - $848.5 million Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire - $715.3 million War Of The Worlds - $588.9 million Madagascar - $525.7 million Charlie And The Chocolate Factory - $471.9 million Mr. & Mrs. Smith - $454.8 million Batman Begins - $371.9 million Hitch - $368.1 million Fantastic Four - $329.5 million Wedding Crashers - $283.1 million by Mario Azzopardi