Blue Self-Portrait by Nomi Lefebvre review sex, art and neurosis

 Posted on June 18, 2024  |  5 minutes  |  906 words  |  Valentine Belue

FictionReviewSchoenberg’s music, Thomas Mann’s writing and the aftermath of Nazism overlap in an ingenious novel brimming with ideasThe first of Noémi Lefebvre’s three critically acclaimed novels to appear in translation comes courtesy of the relatively new but already impressive indie press Les Fugitives. Its commitment to making the work of hitherto untranslated French female authors available in English is a heartening crusade in these dark times. So far it has given us Nathalie Léger’s fascinating, genre-bending Suite for Barbara Loden and Ananda Devi’s excellent Eve Out of Her Ruins. [Read More]

Caroline Aherne: Queen of Comedy review an unforgettable celebration of comedy brilliance

 Posted on June 18, 2024  |  5 minutes  |  932 words  |  Kary Bruening

TV reviewTelevision & radioReviewCraig Cash and other friends and collaborators look back at the phenomenal, but sadly all-too short, career of a woman who insisted comedy didn’t need jokes, only people With its handful of wonderful festive episodes, The Royle Family still means Christmas for many viewers. It is a fitting time of year, then, for Caroline Aherne: Queen of Comedy, an intelligent, joyful and sensitive celebration of its late creator and star, which serves as a reminder that she was responsible for much more than one of the finest British comedies of all time. [Read More]

Cocktail of the week: Vermuteria's Alcazar

 Posted on June 18, 2024  |  2 minutes  |  237 words  |  Kary Bruening

First, we take a manhattan ... Vermuteria’s Alcázar. Photograph: Dan Matthews/The GuardianFirst, we take a manhattan ... Vermuteria’s Alcázar. Photograph: Dan Matthews/The GuardianThe good mixerCocktailsThink manhattan, but with a Spanish flavour and a velvety, nutty finish The AlcazarThis is our take on a manhattan, using ingredients from Jerez in Spain. The technique of “washing” a spirit in beurre noisette gives a beautiful, velvety, nutty finish, but you can also make this with straight brandy. [Read More]

Former Mayo Clinic resident charged with fatally poisoning wife in Minnesota | Minnesota

 Posted on June 18, 2024  |  4 minutes  |  768 words  |  Chauncey Koziol

Minnesota This article is more than 2 months oldFormer Mayo Clinic resident charged with fatally poisoning wife in MinnesotaThis article is more than 2 months oldConnor Bowman, a poisoning specialist, is also accused of researching drug found in wife’s bloodstream A poison specialist and former medical resident at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota is charged with fatally poisoning his wife, a 32-year-old pharmacist who died days after she went to a hospital in August with stomach distress. [Read More]

How to draw an ogre | Children's books

 Posted on June 18, 2024  |  2 minutes  |  271 words  |  Jenniffer Sheldon

How to draw… an ogre Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share via Email Lee Wildish teaches you how to draw a ferocious ogre this half term! It’s the very same ogre that is outwitted by George in the hilarious adventure Doughnuts for a Dragon which Lee illustrated. The words are by Adam and Charlotte Guillain Lee Wildish Mon 27 Oct 2014 04. [Read More]

The mood is heating up: Germany fears strikes will play into hands of far right | Germany

 Posted on June 18, 2024  |  6 minutes  |  1273 words  |  Jenniffer Sheldon

The ObserverGermany‘The mood is heating up’: Germany fears strikes will play into hands of far rightAngry protests by farmers, hauliers and railway workers risk being exploited by populists such as Alternative für Deutschland The symbolism that German farmers chose to express their discontent with the government in the first days of the new year was as unambiguous as it was ominous: by the side of rural roads across the country, there were sightings of makeshift gallows dangling traffic-light signs, a reference to the colours of the three governing parties. [Read More]

Weatherwatch: The Grote Mandrenke |

 Posted on June 18, 2024  |  2 minutes  |  246 words  |  Chauncey Koziol

WeatherwatchWeatherwatch: The Grote MandrenkeFew great weather events in British history were as devastating as the "Grote Mandrenke", the great drowning of men, which took place in mid January 1362. A huge south-westerly gale originating in the Atlantic Ocean swept across Ireland, Britain, the Low Countries, and northern Germany, causing at least 25,000 deaths. The first warning of the storm came from Ireland, where homes and buildings in Dublin were devastated by the high winds. [Read More]

Why Jackson Pollock gave up painting

 Posted on June 18, 2024  |  7 minutes  |  1394 words  |  Chauncey Koziol

Jackson Pollock, Number 34 1949. Courtesy of The Pollock-Krasner Foundation ARS, NY and DACS, London 2015/Munson Williams Proctor Arts Institute/Art Resource, NY/Scala, FlorenceJackson Pollock, Number 34 1949. Courtesy of The Pollock-Krasner Foundation ARS, NY and DACS, London 2015/Munson Williams Proctor Arts Institute/Art Resource, NY/Scala, FlorenceArt and designWith their sooty pools and block structures, the ‘black pour’ paintings of Pollock’s late period mark his rejection of sex and the erotic aspects of his drip techniques. [Read More]

Biz Markie obituary | Rap

 Posted on June 17, 2024  |  6 minutes  |  1253 words  |  Valentine Belue

RapObituaryBiz Markie obituaryRapper known for his playful humour who was at the centre of a landmark lawsuit over samplingBiz Markie, who has died aged 57 after suffering from diabetes, earned himself the nickname of “Clown Prince of Rap” for the way he preferred humour and tunefulness to the guns and gangs scattered through the lyrics of more menacing, gangsta-style rappers. He was a fan of the comedians Benny Hill and Richard Pryor, and admitted that “I’d rather have a smile than to be serious. [Read More]

Black Friday. Sofa Sunday. Cyber Monday. Are you ready for a week of shopping hell?

 Posted on June 17, 2024  |  2 minutes  |  399 words  |  Aldo Pusey

Shops and shoppingThe end of Thanksgiving in America marks the start of a frenzied period of Christmas consumer actionName: Shopping hell week. Age: Mentioned first in 1960s Philadelphia. Appearance: Two frazzled parents angrily tug-of-warring the world’s last Bratz doll for ever, in hell. This had better not be about Christmas shopping. It’s still November, you idiot. Tell that to all the consumers of the world. They’re going to spend seven days from this Friday going absolutely bananas. [Read More]