Latest news with #Ray
The Hindu
19 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The Hindu
Artist-filmmaker Vimal Chandran talks about ‘Ray', Sushin Shyam's debut indie track
Multidisciplinary artist and filmmaker Vimal Chandran's perpetual muse is the picturesque Pattambi town in Palakkad. He describes poorams (temple festivals) as cultural comic cons filled with colourful elements that stoke his curiosity to this day. His mildly cold, sepia-tinted frames set in the rural setting feature what he calls a retro-futuristic spaceship, unblemished by any Hollywood influence. His sightings of poothams (a ritualistic dance) and other ritualistic figures bleed onto his interpretations of the extra-terrestrials, as recently witnessed in the music video Vimal directed of Sushin Shyam's 'Ray'. It is Sushin's first independent solo and has garnered over one million views on YouTube. 'Sushin made this song around 12 years ago, and I happened to hear it last year at Ajay's (cinematographer Ajay Menon) house. Sushin was looking for ideas to visualise an English song about finding light in darkness, titled 'Light in your eye',' says Vimal, over a call from Palakkad. As he set out to envisage Sushin's vision, Vimal broadened the idea of what or who is an alien, exploring different forms of displacements prevalent in the current world. 'Ray', set in the '90s, begins with a family moving to a new place — one of them is a boy, who turns a few heads with his 'unusual' blue-coloured hair. His only companion is an MP3 player. One day, he encounters an alien, a young boy. Even though he feared the alien at first, they eventually became friends and realise the similarities between them. The alien's planet was on fire, and he, too, had a family there. The song ends with the alien finding a new home with the boy's family. 'We took four days to shoot it and gave the visuals to Sushin. He was moved by it and decided to rework his song. We decided to do the song in Malayalam and Vinayak Sasikumar wrote the lyrics,' says Vimal. 'None of us had a concrete interpretation of the core concept of the song, and the story was just a surface level structure. It was Vinayak who brought in the idea in one of the lines about how an alien sand particle becomes a pearl inside an oyster.' The alien Vimal explores the idea of 'the other' through this work and how people are alienated in our midst. 'When the video starts, the father is reading an article in a magazine, which has a cover about the immigrant crisis in the '90s. If you look at human history, everyone came from somewhere else. I wanted to show that people can coexist.' The appearance and aesthetics of the alien in the music video can be traced back to 2021, when Vimal was developing a digital art series, Folk SciFi, set in Palakkad. Initially, he struggled to integrate an alien into the setting, but later incorporated native cultural influences into the character, making it easier. 'They are mostly inspired by South Asian culture with their bright red colour. Their dress shares similarities with a kimono, a theyyam or a sadhu's costume.' He created 20 illustrations in this series and used them in creative films and brand collaborations. 'Developing the alien for the video was difficult, since it is present throughout the song. We had Ronex Xavier (makeup artiste) use prosthetics on his face during shooting. We had to transform the alien's face to remove that human look. A VFX team from Mumbai painted each frame and changed his face. The video has 65 per cent VFX, and it took seven months.' The early days Vimal began painting at the age of three with watercolour as his medium. 'My father had a keen interest in painting even though he was a maths teacher. He was my first guru,' says Vimal, who worked as a software engineer in Bengaluru. His foray into Photoshop was in college, when he was the editor of the college magazine. Since he could not afford to hire a software expert to design the magazine, he taught himself how to use the software. Once he started working, Vimal invested his salary in a camera and got into photography, which later developed into cinematography. He started with shooting small videos. In 2013, he resigned from his job and became a full-time artist. He worked on multiple brand collaborations including a campaign with Lamborghini in 2021, using influences from his Folk SciFi series featuring ritualistic forms such as poothan, kaali and so on. Vimal says, 'Growing up, I have lived here and experienced all of these things. After the pandemic, I attended a pooram, and the whole atmosphere felt like a sci-fi festival to me, which was a perspective I had never tried to explore. And as an artist, I had a chance to look back and reimagine these ideas.'
Daily Mirror
a day ago
- Business
- Daily Mirror
'I tried instant coffee from Tesco, Aldi and Lidl - there was one easy winner'
A strong cup of coffee is the best way to start the day - but which supermarket instant coffee is the best? A coffee connoisseur put four brands to the test to find out If your morning routine typically begins with the click of a kettle, it's likely you're someone who relies on a caffeine boost to kick-start your day. While some might find a cuppa does the trick, others insist on a piping hot mug of coffee to shift into gear. Liverpool Echo writer Ray Bonsall explained: "While I've been known to venture into the world of coffee snobbery and I'm certainly a fan of an espresso based beverage (mine's an oat flat white), I am not shy of an instant coffee in the morning either." While it may fall short in quality, the undeniable speed and convenience of instant coffee was a win for her - and arguably, a more fitting method of preparation for those who opt for the caffeine-fuelled lifestyle. Without the luxury of time to brew a French press in the morning, Ray decided to put four instant coffees to the test to find the best speedy caffeine solution. Aldi - £2.69 for 100g The first coffee Ray sampled was from Aldi. Being the first sip of the day, she anticipated being hit by robust and bitter flavours. Instead, her initial sniff and taste of the grounds were rather underwhelming. As with all the coffees Ray tested, she first tried it black, adding two teaspoons of each blend per cup. Ray described Aldi's coffee being nearly undrinkable black, presenting a sharp sour taste without even the redeeming feature of bitterness to balance the tang. Like the aroma, the flavour was fairly weak. With milk added, it made for a passable and drinkable cup, but it didn't fill her with the joy that the first coffee of the day usually brings. Lidl - £2.69 for 100g Ray then moved on to Lidl's Deluxe blend. Similar to Aldi's coffee, she said it was undrinkable, describing its taste as sour and unpleasant. It came as a socker to her, as she generally enjoys the taste of black coffee. However, when Ray paired with milk, it served as a decent cuppa, offering more flavour than Aldi's version. Tesco Gold Blend - £3.10 for 200g After a couple of let-downs, Tesco's instant coffee surprisingly sparked her taste buds into life. The smell of the grounds, while not quite matching the delightful aroma of freshly ground beans, was unmistakably 'coffee-like' and even hinted at a subtly chocolatey scent. Although the instant coffee can't rival the real deal, this brew certainly packed a punch as a pick-me-up. It wasn't delicate or subtle - but it delivered exactly what you'd want from a strong cup of coffee in a greasy spoon or for a mid-afternoon office boost. Nescafé - £4 for 95g Next up was the branded stuff. Nescafe was much on par with Tesco's Gold Blend, delivering a strong taste that lingers as long as the caffeine kick (which isn't necessarily a good thing). Ray felt a caffeine jolt, though perhaps this was a placebo effect from the stronger taste. Nescafé might not be everyone's cup of tea when it comes to a pleasant coffee experience, but its gold blend is decidedly smoother than the classic red-lidded jar. However, she explained that for the price hike, Tesco's own brand is equally pleasing, if not marginally superior, and significantly more affordable. In conclusion, it appears that splashing out on posh packaging will land you a gentler and more understated cup of coffee. But if your instant coffee needs are simply strength and a degree of palatability, supermarket gold blends are your best bet.
Fox Sports
a day ago
- Sport
- Fox Sports
Which 10 MLB Teams Have the Most All-Star Selections of All Time?
The Detroit Tigers and the Los Angeles Dodgers lead all MLB teams with five players each representing them in the 2025 All-Star Game on July 15 in Atlanta. Both of those teams have had success, historically, with sending players to the All-Star Game. That said, which organizations have had the most players selected for the Midsummer Classic? FOX Sports Research compiled the list. 10 MLB Teams With the Most All-Star Selections 10. Chicago Cubs: 237 The Cubs will have a pair of starting outfielders — Pete Crow-Armstrong and Kyle Tucker — representing them in the 2025 MLB All-Star Game. LHP Matthew Boyd will also make his first All-Star Game appearance this season. Ernie Banks leads the franchise with 14 All-Star Game appearances, and legendary slugger Sammy Sosa also made the top five with seven. 9. Detroit Tigers: 248 The Tigers are tied for the lead of all organizations with five players selected for the 2025 MLB All-Star Game, including the American League team's starting pitcher Tarik Skubal, starters Gleyber Torres, Riley Greene and Javier Baez, and replacement reserve Zack McKinstry. Al Kaline has the most All-Star Game appearances in Tigers history with 15, while two-way star Ty Cobb made 12 teams. The Tigers hold a three-game lead over the Dodgers for the most wins this season, so it's no wonder they have such great representation. 8. Cleveland Guardians: 267 The Guardians' best two hitters were selected for the 2025 All-Star Game in Steven Kwan and Jose Ramirez, the American League's starting third baseman. The Guardians have struggled as of late, enduring a 10-game losing streak from June 25 to July 6, but Kwan and Ramirez's cases were strong enough to overcome that. Lou Boudreau and Bob Feller are tied for the record of most All-Star selections for Cleveland with eight each. 7. San Francisco Giants: 273 The Giants' impressive pitching staff is well-represented with All-Star notoriety as starting pitchers Logan Webb and Robbie Ray earned nods, as did reliever Randy Rodriguez. Ray, however, was replaced by New York Mets' starter David Peterson because Ray will be starting against the Dodgers on Sunday. Willie Mays leads the Giants' franchise with 24 All-Star Game selections, and because of his greatness, he earned a statue outside of Oracle Park. 6. Cincinnati Reds: 279 Elly De La Cruz was the only 2025 All-Star Game selection for Cincinnati before starting pitcher Andrew Abbott was selected to replace Dodgers' starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto. The Reds currently sit one game back of the Giants for the final National League wild card spot. Pete Rose is the franchise's all-time All-Star selection leader with 16, 13 of which came while playing for Cincinnati. Rose also leads the league in most hits of any player with 4,256. 5. Atlanta Braves: 283 While the Braves currently have their worst win percentage since the 2017 season, they still sent three players to the 2025 All-Star Game. Ronald Acuña Jr. is the only starter from Atlanta, and his selection was indicative of his instant impact, as he has only played in 42 of their 92 games this season. First baseman Matt Olson also made the team, as did left-handed pitcher Chris Sale, who is out with an injury and was replaced by San Diego Padres reliever Robert Suarez. Hank Aaron is the Braves' all-time leader in All-Star Game appearances with 24, but the number is slightly inflated as there were two games in each of the seasons between 1959-1962. 4. Boston Red Sox: 318 Alex Bregman was the only position player the Red Sox sent to the 2025 All-Star Game, but he has been out with a quadriceps strain since May 23 and will miss the Midsummer Classic. The Red Sox will still have a pair of pitchers representing them in AL Cy Young award candidate Garrett Crochet, and renaissance reliever Aroldis Chapman. Legendary hitter Ted Williams leads the Red Sox franchise with 18 All-Star Game appearances. 3. Los Angeles Dodgers: 327 The Dodgers had the most 2025 All-Star Game selections with five but are now tied with the Tigers after McKinstry replaced Houston Astros shortstop Jeremy Pena. The Dodgers had two pitchers in Yamamoto and Clayton Kershaw, but Yamamoto will miss his first opportunity to pitch in the Midsummer Classic because he's starting in the Dodgers' game on Friday. Kershaw is the Dodgers' leader in All-Star Game appearances with 11. 2. St. Louis Cardinals: 330 The Cardinals are second to only the Yankees in World Series victories, so it makes sense they are also second in All-Star Game selections. While Brendan Donovan is their only participant this season, the Cardinals have ridden a team-approach to a respectable 50-44 record. Stan Musial has the most All-Star Game selections of any Cardinals player. 1. New York Yankees: 448 The Yankees are arguably the greatest MLB franchise of all time, largely because of their 27 World Series victories, but their lead in All-Star Game selections is also impressive and a factor in that argument. This season, Aaron Judge and Jazz Chisholm Jr. will represent them as position players, while Carlos Rodon replaced Max Fried, who will miss the 2025 All-Star Game. Some of the players who lead the franchise in All-Star Game selections include Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra and Derek Jeter. Check out all of our Daily Rankers . Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? 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San Francisco Chronicle
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- San Francisco Chronicle
Origins of Robbie Ray, Giants All-Star? Learning new things, intensity and a Chuck E. Cheese throwdown
It's absolutely the right choice to have Robbie Ray start for the San Francisco Giants on Sunday with the first-place Dodgers in town. It's also too bad fans won't see him pitch in Atlanta on Tuesday evening. Ray is twice an All-Star now but has yet to appear in the event. It's baseball's loss — his flair is tailor-made for the big stage. While the 33-year-old appears mild-mannered with his easy grin and his messy mop of hair, or perhaps just lefty-eccentric with those much discussed tight pants and grunt-tastic efforts on the mound, pitching coach J.P. Martinez suggests Ray has an alter ego. 'I always say he looks like Razor Ramon, the old professional wrestler.' Martinez said. 'I'm trying to get Robbie in costume at some point, I'm going to peer-pressure him into it. And the more I think about it, the more I like play off that analogy, it's such a good metaphor for Robbie because he's actually really goofy, but he pretends like he can play the really serious, aggressive role.' The Razor Ramon — Razor Ray? — comp does fit well with the tight pants. And then there is the Chuck E. Cheese brawl. (In the spirit of pro wrestling, we exaggerate for comic effect.) 'We were in Hickory (N.C.) on my son's 11th birthday, so we had a bunch of kids and all the team over to Chuck E. Cheese,' said Chris Michalak, Ray's Class-A pitching coach. 'All the guys were having a blast, and the next thing I know, there's Robbie and another player starting to get into it, like face to face at Chuck E. Cheese. At my son's birthday party, I've got to break up a fight at Chuck E. Cheese. If I hadn't, fists would have been flying. 'But: Are you kidding me? We're at my son's birthday party — you guys can't just have pizza and go play some video games? You've got to go toe-to-toe …. at Chuck E. Cheese?! To this day, I bring it up every time I see him.' Ray verifies Michalak's account. 'I was 19!' he said, sounding simultaneously chagrined and amused. 'I don't even remember what it was about, but yes, it was at a child's birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese.' Another wild Robbie Ray fact: He played on a travel ball team in Tennessee that featured two other future big-leaguers, and Ray was the star of the show, making for a nice little subplot for Sunday's start against Los Angeles. 'I hit leadoff,' former Astros and A's utility player Tony Kemp said. 'Mookie Betts hit second. And Robbie Ray hit third. Robbie was the best hitter on that team.' This is not something Ray keeps to himself, understandably. 'Oh yeah, I tell everyone that all the time I was a way better hitter than Mookie,' he said. ' All the time.' Betts is 1-for-2 with a walk and a strikeout against Ray in the big leagues going into Sunday's series finale. Kemp recalls being wowed by Ray even before he joined that star-studded club. Ray had previously played for a makeshift local team and, Kemp said, 'When we were freshmen, we faced Robbie in a doubleheader and he pitched a complete game against us and hit a three-run home run. He was pretty much the sole contributor in the game.' Ray caught the second game of the doubleheader, and afterward, Kemp's coach, Steve Ashcraft, approached Ray 'and was like, 'Hey, do you want to come play for a real baseball team? '' Ray recalled. 'I said sure, and he said, 'OK, we have another game here tonight. Come down, we'll have a jersey for you.'' Back then, Ray said, he was a better first baseman and offensive player than a pitcher, but left-handers always wind up getting mound time. As a freshman, he threw 76 mph, but he took some lessons from former Giants left-hander Gino Minutelli and by the time he left Brentwood (Tenn.) High, he was throwing up to 93 mph and had offers from Vanderbilt and Arkansas. 'I didn't have a super max-effort delivery, like I do now, I was kind of all arm,' Ray said. 'It was sort of just sling it in there.' Minutelli helped him with grips and command, and Ray had a big 12-6 curveball and a changeup to go along with the fastball. 'We had some good battles,' said Kemp, who went to local rival Centennial High. 'He was a goofy kid who didn't take himself too seriously, but his mentality was different. He wanted to have fun but he also worked really hard. He had that on-off switch. That's what made him so good.' A year after the Nationals drafted Ray in the 12 th round in 2011, he added a slider, which he honed over the next three years, ultimately ditching the curveball and replacing it with a knuckle curve in 2017. 'Robbie's always working,' said Michalak, recalling how amped Ray was about working on a new hand position for a pitch before his final start of the year in the Carolina League. 'It was a meaningless bullpen session and everyone else was thinking about going home, and here's Robbie still trying to find something to get better. His determination is his best asset.' The piece de resistance in Ray's quest to become a frontline starter stemmed from a disastrous warmup session before a 2017 start in Miami pitching for the Diamondbacks. Ray lost the zone entirely, and pitching coach Mike Butcher had to think on the fly. 'They were getting relievers warmed up quick, it was so bad,' Ray said. 'My last pitch went over the backstop and into the stands. Mike walked in from the bullpen with me and said, 'I want you to try something: Throw max effort, every pitch, for as long as you can. Just give us everything you can.'' That game is best known for giving rise to the Robbie Ray Grunt. ('It just came out!' he said. 'I don't know why.') But the more important development was that going full-bore suited Ray perfectly. 'He was all over the place, and I was like, 'Robbie, just throw the freaking s--- out of it, man, just turn it loose' ' Butcher said. 'And he gets back on the mound, and he is grunting like Steffi Graf or Monica Seles in the U.S. Open. I was like, 'This is pretty loud, but he's blowing guys away.' Every single pitch was big, like 97-98 with a power slider. He'd just figured it out.' That same year, Ray was hit on the side of the head by a 108 mph liner off Luke Voit's bat, a scary moment that left him in a heap and bleeding; he got off the field under his own power but was wobbly and was diagnosed with a concussion. 'My ears were ringing, it took a minute for me to be able to hear everybody, but I knew I was OK,' he said. Even so, the first time back out after taking a drive off the head can be hairy, and the Diamondbacks sent Ray to their minor-league complex to get past any nerves. 'They set the machine to just fire balls at me on the mound,' said Ray, who now wears a protective insert inside his cap. 'Of course my first game back, I took a line drive off the shin very first thing.' The changeup was a work in progress for a long time until his well-publicized call to fellow All-Star Tarik Skubal last winter to get tips; adding that pitch sent this season into overdrive. Ray has gone from throwing changeups less than 4% of the time to 13%, and opponents are hitting just .220 against it — and it makes his fastball (.200 average against) and slider (.170) all the better. 'The changeup is just another level to his game,' Martinez said. 'We have a running joke — if he throws a changeup and a guy swings, we look at each other and we go (mimics talking behind his hand) 'Not a heater! ,' because guys are always going to be on his fastball as much as they can because it's such a good fastball.' Ray won the AL Cy Young award with Toronto in 2021 using his fastball 62% of the time, and now, after adding the changeup, he's down to about 53% fastballs and is again putting up All-Star numbers just two years removed from Tommy John surgery that included a flexor-tendon repair. It usually takes pitchers about two years to return to close to full effectiveness, but in Ray's case, he's even better — his ERA to is 2.63 compared to 2.84. When Ray felt the flexor tendon blow in the second inning of a game with Seattle on March 31, 2023, he showed some max-effort grit. Though the elbow was toast, he worked two more innings. 'I knew it popped, it felt like somebody took a knife and was grinding my elbow, but I thought, 'If I come out now, I'm going to bury our bullpen. I've got to get as deep as I can into this game,' ' he said. 'I couldn't make it worse, the damage was done. So I started throwing pancakes.' He walked five and gave up three earned runs but accomplished his goal, Seattle only needed to use three relievers. In early May, he underwent surgery and that offseason, the Mariners dealt him to the Giants for Anthony DeSclafani, Mitch Haniger and cash; the Giants, who had talked to Ray when he was a free agent, were willing to wait for Ray to recover fully, and now the team has him through 2026. 'It's super-cool that Robbie is constantly adapting,' said Curt Casali, who caught Ray in Seattle and San Francisco. 'He's always been just a pro's pro, but he's got some snark to him — he's not afraid to talk s--- and I love that. Robbie always stays true to himself. 'You have to be very confident and in touch with your own game to be able to be that good for multiple teams and he's in that upper echelon.' Butcher recalls once asking Ray if he wanted to be good, or if he wanted to be great. 'I said, 'There are a lot of good players in this league, but do you want to be a dude? Do you want to be an All-Star, a Hall of Famer? '' Butcher said. 'He checked all the boxes. He wants to be great. He wants to be the best left-handed pitcher in the game, he wants strikeout titles. 'He knows what he wants to be and how he's going to get there. He could win a Cy Young every year, he's that good.'
Fox Sports
2 days ago
- Sport
- Fox Sports
Mets pitcher David Peterson replaces Giants left-hander Robbie Ray on NL All-Star roster
Associated Press New York Mets pitcher David Peterson was added to the National League roster for the All-Star Game on Thursday, replacing San Francisco left-hander Robbie Ray. It's the first All-Star selection for Peterson, who is 6-4 with a 3.06 ERA in 18 starts. The lefty tossed seven-plus innings of one-run ball in New York's 3-1 loss at Baltimore on Thursday. Peterson is the fourth All-Star from the Mets, joining shortstop Francisco Lindor, first baseman Pete Alonso and closer Edwin Diaz. Ray is going to be inactive for Tuesday night's Midsummer Classic at Atlanta. He is slated to pitch for the Giants on Sunday against the Los Angeles Dodgers. The 33-year-old Ray is 9-3 with a 2.63 ERA in 19 starts this season. He won the 2021 AL Cy Young Award with Toronto. The Giants have three All-Stars: Ray, right-hander Logan Webb and reliever Randy Rodriguez. __ AP MLB: recommended Item 1 of 3
