"In little over an hour, Donald J. Trump suggested the United States should default on its debts for the first time in history, injected doubt over the country’s commitment to defending Ukraine from Russia’s invasion, dangled pardons for most of the Capitol rioters convicted of crimes, and refused to say he would abide by the results of the next presidential election. The second-term vision Mr. Trump sketched out at a CNN town-hall event on Wednesday would represent a sharp departure from core American values that have been at the bedrock of the nation for decades: its creditworthiness, its credibility with international allies and its adherence to the rule of law at home. Mr. Trump’s provocations were hardly shocking. ...”
Old Forest
"In J. R. R. Tolkien’s fictional universe of Middle-earth, the Old Forest was a daunting and ancient woodland just beyond the eastern borders of the Shire. Its first and main appearance in print was in The Fellowship of the Ring, especially in the eponymous chapter 6. The Old Forest lay near the centre of Eriador, a large region of north-west Middle-earth. It was one of the few survivors of the primordial forests which had covered much of Eriador before the Second Age. Indeed, it had once been but the northern edge of one immense forest which reached all the way to Fangorn forest, hundreds of miles to the south-east. The vicinity of the Old Forest was the domain of three nature-spirits: Tom Bombadil, Goldberry, and Old Man Willow. ...”
2010 January: The Lord of the Rings, 2018 January: An Atlas of Literary Maps Created by Great Authors: J.R.R Tolkien’s Middle Earth, Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island & More, 2019 January: The Largest J.R.R. Tolkien Exhibit in Generations Is Coming to the U.S.: Original Drawings, Manuscripts, Maps & More, 2020 January: Hear Christopher Tolkien (RIP) Read the Work of His Father J.R.R. Tolkien, Which He Tirelessly Worked to Preserve, 2020 August: The Complete Guide to Middle-earth - Robert Foster (1971), 2021 September: When the Nobel Prize Committee Rejected The Lord of the Rings..., 2021 October: When J.R.R. Tolkien Worked for the Oxford English Dictionary..., 2022 March: J.R.R. Tolkien Tolkien Estate, 2022 October: One Ring
Ukraine war: Inside the fight for the last streets of Bakhmut
"In a bunker just outside the city limits of Bakhmut, Ukraine's 77th Brigade direct artillery fire to support their infantry - their last line of defence on the western edge of the city. Ukraine is still clinging to the last few streets here. But the live video feed the artillery gunners watch intently, from a drone flying above the city, suggests that even if Russia can finally wrestle control, it would be little more than a pyrrhic victory. The prize is now a crumpled, skeletal city - with hardly a building left unscathed, and with its entire population vanished. The battle for the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut has been the longest and bloodiest of this war so far. Western officials estimate between 20,000 and 30,000 Russian troops have been killed or wounded here, while Ukraine's military has also paid a heavy price - and it still isn't over. ...”
NBC News: Ukraine drives back Russian forces around Bakhmut in its first significant gains in months (Video)
Singers perform in the opera The Terrible Revenge, based on the story by Nikolai Gogol, at the Lviv National Opera.
Dear Mother
"In the second half of the seventies, when I was in my twenties, I wrote letters home to Ireland from Barcelona. Early in 1976, for example, from my pension on the corner of Carrer de la Portaferrissa and Carrer del Pi, I described my first visit to the Liceu opera house. Dear Mother, The walls in this small, cheap hotel are thin. The man in the next room listens to opera on the radio. He looks like someone who has seen little daylight, but instead he has seen many operas, as he tried to explain to me in broken versions of several languages. Two days ago, he was waiting for me in the corridor. At first, I thought a fire had broken out or the police had, once more, attacked the people. ...”
The Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, ca. 1880.
Islam’s forgotten bohemians
"I was lying in the dust, staring into the African sun, when their swords came down on me. The crowd was about a hundred strong, all of them Muslims shouting in a sonic blur. First they began slicing my arms. Next, pulling my shirt open, they cut into my torso. My eyes were closed with pain by the time I felt a blade moving hard across my throat. I thought I would die there, in that poor Durban neighbourhood where, despite the warnings of middle-class South Africans, I had decided to go exploring that evening. ...”
Sufi men dance inside a tent next to the Al-Ikhlas mosque in Alexandria, Egypt, during celebrations in honor of Sufi saint Sidi Burhan Al-Din Ali Al-Ikhlas Al-Sarkani.
Trump Is Found Liable for Sexual Abuse and Defamation
"A Manhattan jury on Tuesday found former President Donald J. Trump liable for the sexual abuse and defamation of the magazine writer E. Jean Carroll and awarded her $5 million in damages in a widely watched civil trial that sought to apply the accountability of the #MeToo era to a dominant political figure. The federal jury of six men and three women returned its verdict shortly after 3 p.m. after deliberating for only a few hours. The jury found that Ms. Carroll had not proved, by a preponderance of the evidence, that Mr. Trump had raped her, as she had long claimed. ...”
******Vanity Fair: The Stunning Clarity of the E. Jean Carroll–Donald Trump Verdict
NY Times: New York Law Gave Jurors Three Types of Battery to Consider in Trump Case
NY Times: Read the Filled-Out Jury Verdict Form in the Trump-Carroll Case
Air raid alerts for Kyiv, two-thirds of Ukraine
"Air raid sirens have been heard in the capital Kyiv and across two-thirds of Ukraine continuing more than a week of a renewed Russian air campaign. Ukrainian emergency services issued air raid alerts for Kyiv and most of central and eastern Ukraine early on Tuesday, extending from Vynnitsya in the west to all eastern regions and south to Kherson and the Odesa region on the Black Sea, the Reuters news agency reported. Officials in Kyiv said the city’s air defences were working to repel the attack. At least four people were killed on Monday as Russia sent a wave of drones and missiles into Ukraine in the early hours of the morning. ...”
Russia began its latest air campaign against Ukraine at the end of April
Do football managers matter?
"Managers can’t perform magic, although some people seem to think they can. They’re not David Copperfield or Harry Potter. They can’t work miracles or sprinkle some magical dust to make players know how to play football. Spending hours on analysis isn’t very useful. It doesn’t put you in better conditions to win the game. The tactics, the schemes, they’re all bull***t. Of course tactics matter, but players win the game. ... But don’t take my word for it. Everything you just read came straight from the mouths of Pep Guardiola, Jurgen Klopp, Antonio Conte, Marcelo Bielsa, Massimiliano Allegri, Erik ten Hag, Ernesto Valverde, Juanma Lillo and, of course, Sam Allardyce, who’s up there with all of them. ...”
Delphine Dora - Rêver l’imperceptible (2023)
"... Parsing messages from cryptic frequencies becomes a pathway through the fringes on Rêver imperceptible. Delphine Dora explores the resonances and vibrations in nature by piecing together disparate elements and finding surprising aural connections. Strings scrape and rattle in opposition to her ghostly vocals, all the while blithe creatures sing in the crisp air. Within soft drones built from piercing electronics and her voice, cocoon-like structures form, and tiny, magical moments spark to life. This is music where the details hold secrets. Esoteric whispers guide us forward, a beacon within the fractured darkness. By breaking things down into elemental specters, Dora finds new meanings and understanding in the world at large. A captivating listening experience. ...”
Ukrainians Return Home, Renewed and Resigned
"A new sound wafts through the open windows at night in this town near the front line: children hollering at each other down the block, even long after dark.The markets are full. Sales are surging at the local bike shop. Red tulips, planted by hand, are bursting open everywhere. It is remarkable — ‘Unrecognizable,’ one city official said — how different this small town in eastern Ukraine feels from a year ago. Last summer, Pokrovsk was a spooky landscape of boarded up houses and bushy yards. No one was around. Now it’s hard to take a few steps without passing someone on the sidewalk. Nothing has changed outside Pokrovsk. The front line is still 30 miles away. Ukrainians are still dying in droves. One of the biggest armies in the world, that of the Russian Federation, is still bombing cities while they sleep and trying to take as much territory as it can, at a terrifying cost. ...”
Out of the 11,000 residents before the war, about 1,500 remain in Siversk, according to authorities.
Basquiat Playing Cards
"Basquiat Playing Cards are a tribute to one of America’s most influential and beloved modern artists—featuring authentic sketches, drawings, and paintings from the brief but spectacular career of an inspirational icon. Jean-Michel Basquiat’s signature neo-expressionist style has transcended cultures and engaged the social landscape for several decades. His work combines elements of street graffiti and social commentary in the context of fine art. Some consider his paintings as a form of introspective visual poetry. Every aspect of Basquiat playing cards features artwork approved by the estate of Jean-Michael Basquiat. From the tuck case to the fronts and backs of every single card, you will find official Basquiat art—a unique visual language that continues to inspire future generations. ...”
2013 April: Saving Basquiat: Seeing the Art Through the Myth-Making at Gagosian, 2015 February: Now's the Time, 2015 May: Basquiat: The Unknown Notebooks, 2015 December: The Notebooks, 2017 June: New Art, New Money (February 10, 1985), 2021 November: Downtown 81 - Edo Bertoglio (1980-81), 2022 February: In Orlando, 25 Mysterious Basquiats Come Under the Magnifying Glass
Thérèse Raquin - Émile Zola (1868)
"Thérèse Raquin is an 1868 novel by French writer Émile Zola, first published in serial form in the literary magazine L'Artiste in 1867. It was Zola's third novel, though the first to earn wide fame. The novel's adultery and murder were considered scandalous and famously described as ‘putrid’ in a review in the newspaper Le Figaro. Thérèse Raquin tells the story of a young woman, unhappily married to her first cousin by an overbearing aunt, who may seem to be well-intentioned but in many ways is deeply selfish. Thérèse's husband, Camille, is sickly and egocentric and when the opportunity arises, Thérèse enters into a turbulent and sordidly passionate affair with one of Camille's friends, Laurent. ...”
The Dnipro River, Axis of Life and Death in Ukraine
"The thunder of artillery echoes night and day over the mighty Dnipro River as it winds its way through southern Ukraine. With Russian and Ukrainian forces squared off on opposite banks, fighters have replaced fishermen, surveillance drones circle overhead and mines line the marshy embankments. Carving an arc through Ukraine from its northern border to the Black Sea, through Kyiv, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, the Dnipro shapes the country’s geography and economy, its culture and its very identity. And now it helps define the contours of battle — as it has for millenniums, a barrier and a conduit to warring Scythians, Greeks, Vikings, Huns, Cossacks, Russians, Germans and many more. ...”
Getting ready to plunge into the water of the Dnipro River to mark the Orthodox Christian feast of Epiphany in Dnipro.
Oh, Run Into Me, But Don't Hurt Me ! - Female Blues Singers Rarities 1923-1930
"Between crudeness and despair, a few forgotten female blues singers. If, out of these fourteen female singers recorded in the 1920's, some have managed to put food on the table for a while, none became famous or rich, and most remain completely unknown. What can be said about a singer whose entire work fits on a single-sided 78rpm record? (It makes me think of those antique authors of whom all we have are titles of work). What circumstances led to this recording? Who decided to do it? For whom was it intended? Why wasn't it followed by more recordings? Hypotheses get lost in places and times themselves forgotten. What remains are these miraculous voices. ...”
Clouds of Sils Maria - Olivier Assayas (2014)
"This multilayered, immensely entertaining drama from the great contemporary French director Olivier Assayas is a singular look at the intersection of high art and popular culture. The always extraordinary Juliette Binoche is stirring as Maria, a stage and screen icon who is being courted to star in a new production of the play that made her famous—only this time she must assume the role of the older woman. Kristen Stewart matches her punch for punch as her beleaguered assistant, called upon to provide support both professional and emotional for her mercurial boss. ...”
Criterion: Juliette Binoche on the Art of Being Directed, Less Is More: Kristen Stewart in Clouds of Sils Maria
2017 June: Summer Hours (2009), 2020 December: Form and Function: On the Object Lessons of Summer Hours
Russia accuses Ukraine of trying to kill Putin with Kremlin drone strike
"Moscow has accused Kyiv of staging a drone attack intended to kill the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, in the Kremlin, and vowed to retaliate. The Kremlin said on Wednesday that two drones had been used in the attack, but that they had been disabled by Russian defences. In a statement published on its website, the Kremlin stated it considered the attack a planned terrorist act and an attempt on the life of the president of the Russian Federation. ... Putin’s spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, said Putin was not in the Kremlin at the time of the attack. Peskov added that Putin would spend the day at the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence outside Moscow.The Ukrainian president, Volodomyr Zelenskiy, denied that Ukraine was involved in the attack. ...”
Drone seen exploding over the Kremlin
Abortion Wins Elections - New York Magazine
"New York Magazine commissioned Pentagram’s Emily Oberman and team to create powerful illustrations for the cover story of its March 27, 2023 issue, a blueprint for how Democrats can harness the issue of abortion to win elections, and overturn Dobbs. New York asked Pentagram to come up with a bold, unexpected typographic treatment on the subject of abortion rights. The cover image features the words ‘Abortion Wins Elections,’ arranged in the shape of an American flag, evoking both traditional patriotism and optimism, characteristics not often associated with abortion. ...”
Chicano Moratorium
"The Chicano Moratorium, formally known as the National Chicano Moratorium Committee Against The Vietnam War, was a movement of Chicano anti-war activists that built a broad-based coalition of Mexican-American groups to organize opposition to the Vietnam War. Led by activists from local colleges and members of the Brown Berets, a group with roots in the high school student movement that staged walkouts in 1968, the coalition peaked with a August 29, 1970 march in East Los Angeles that drew 30,000 demonstrators. …”
W – Chicano Moratorium, W – Brown Berets, Union del Barrio, W – “Strange Rumblings in Aztlan” by Hunter S. Thompson
Chicana-Chicano Agonists, These Pictures Capture The Raw Energy Behind The Chicano Movement, In the Chicano Movement, Printmaking and Politics Converged
W – Chicano, W - Chicanismo, W – Chicana feminism, W – Aztlán, W – TELACU, W – Las Adelitas de Aztlán, W – Rosalio Muñoz, W – Gloria Arellanes, W – Soledad Alatorre
YouTube: The Chicano Moratorium: Why 30,000 People Marched Through East LA in 1970, Chicano Moratorium, National Chicano Moratorium Committee East Los Angeles protest August 29, 1970, LA Raza at the Autry: Exhibit highlights social protest photography, 5 Things To Know About The Black Panthers
August 29, 1970: A Day Every Chicana/o Must Always Remember
Ukraine Wants to Push Forward. Not So Fast, Says Its Black Soupy Mud.
"The troops of Ukraine’s 43rd Separate Artillery Brigade have just about everything they need to begin the expected spring counteroffensive. They are well rested, have plenty of ammunition and are now in possession of several advanced German-made self-propelled howitzers, which have replaced their old Soviet artillery pieces. But for the moment, they are barely moving forward, stalled not by ferocious Russian attacks, but by an enemy no less tenacious: the viscous central Ukrainian mud. ... Deep and black, with a consistency similar to a mixture of cookie dough and wet cement, the spring mud is one obstacle that the Ukrainian military, for all its ingenuity, finds difficult to overcome. It jams weapons and steals the boots from soldiers’ feet. Wheels and treads spin and spin, only digging military vehicles deeper into the mire. ...”
Some harbor hope that a deal involving Gershkovich could also help Kara-Murza, who is well-known in Washington circles
Metal Box Rebuilt in Dub - Jah Wobble (2021)
"... Metal Box Rebuilt in Dub is something of an oxymoron, in titular terms at least. Dub technique and effect were paramount amongst the original album’s calling cards and it was nigh on perfect. What Wobble does, then, is revisit the album without the keening vocals that at least gave the pop kids something to cling onto; while adding the kind of sheen that only forty years of advancing technology could provide. It is less, however, a rebuilding than it is a re-sketching, with piano and orchestration making odd bedfellows to our memories of, say, the original ‘Swan Lake.’ ...”
2011 September: Can, 2011 February: Plight & Premonition, 2011 June: Persian Love, 2013 October: Flux + Mutability - David Sylvian and Holger Czukay (1989) , 2014 June: Holger Czukay - Der Osten Ist Rot, Rome Remains Rome (1984/7), 2012 June: The Lost Tapes, 2016 March: Invaders Of The Heart - Jah Wobble (1982), 2017 April: Jah Wobble, The Edge, Holger Czukay - Snake Charmer (1983), 2017 June: The Legend Lives On… Jah Wobble In Betrayal (1980), 2017 July: Can - The Singles (2017), 2017 September: Holger Czukay (1938-2017), 2019 September: Holger Czukay - Cinema (2018), 2020 December: Future Days (Remastered) - Can (2014), 2023 February: Can: Live in Stuttgart 1975
Ash Grove
"The Ash Grove was a folk music club located at 8162 Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles, California, United States, founded in 1958 by Ed Pearl and named after the Welsh folk song, ‘The Ash Grove.’ In its fifteen years of existence, the Ash Grove altered the music scene in Los Angeles and helped many artists find a West Coast audience. Bob Dylan recalled that, ‘I’d seen posters of folk shows at the Ash Grove and used to dream about playing there.’ ... When travelers returning from Cuba gave talks or showed Cuban films, the Ash Grove became the target of angry demonstrations and threatened violence by Cuban exiles. A series of fires, including what patrons believed was an arson attack, led to the club’s demise in 1973. …”
Life in Ukraine’s Trenches: Gearing Up for a Spring Offensive
"In a thicket of trees between two vast farm fields, a plywood trapdoor built into the forest floor opened to reveal stairs leading underground. Inside was a subterranean bunker, cut into the black earth, where Ukrainian troops from a mortar unit awaited coordinates for their next target. The men squeezed past one another down a shoulder-width dirt corridor lit with LED strips, staring at tablet computers showing a live drone feed of the terrain outside. Blast waves from artillery shells and rockets shook the bunker, and a radio crackled with a warning of incoming Russian helicopters. But the soldiers were focused on their screens, specifically on a line of Russian troops and heavy equipment dug in a short distance away and marked with red plus signs. That would be their target. ...”
Soldiers from Ukraine’s 110th Territorial Defense Brigade taking cover as they fire a mortar round on nearby Russian positions on Monday in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region.
Patti Smith - Summer Cannibals (1996)
"In early 1994, my late husband Fred Sonic Smith and I were preparing a second album together. We had several songs in mind, one being Summer Cannibals. While strumming the chords, Fred told me a story of his youth in the MC5. He woke up early one morning at a stopover in Georgia, feeling a lot of conflicting emotions. He loved playing music and was a true musician, but the stress and excess of being on the road was taking its toll. He already felt, at the age of twenty, as if he was being devoured. ...
Swagger and Tenderness: The South Bronx Portraits by John Ahearn & Rigoberto Torres
"Inspired and enabled by the people who live in the vibrant community where the Bronx Museum is located, local artists John Ahearn and Rigoberto Torres have become world-famous for their portraits of their South Bronx neighbors. ... This major survey exhibition mirrors the creative and loving residents of the South Bronx whose personal stories and innovative aesthetics both reflect and shape culture internationally. Ahearn and Torres are often praised for uplifting their subjects, thus representing social justice, diversity, dignity, and equity. ...”
“Joe Conzo at 17,” 2020, Acryic on plaster
Pet Shop Boys Lost In Russia
"Pet Shop Boys have released a new EP, Lost [YT playlist], of four tracks recorded in 2015 for Super, but held off the album for not fitting thematically. The Lost Room meditates on the alienation of military school, with images from the German film Die Junge Törless [Trailer, 3m] used in the video. I Will Fall is a love song Neil said he could hear George Michael singing. Skeletons In The Closet might be talking about Russia's unwillingness to deal with Stalinism. Kaputnik continues the Russia theme. And finally, Living In The Past seems to be a VERY new song, and again deals with Russia. The video has a demo version of the song. ...”
2008 September: Pet Shop Boys, 2010 November: Pet Shop Boys - 1985-1989, 2011 January: Behaviour, 2011 May: Very, 2011 December: Bilingual, 2012 March: "Always on My Mind", 2012 August: Nightlife, 2012 September: "Where the Streets Have No Name (I Can't Take My Eyes off You)", 2012 December: Release, 2013 March: Pandemonium Tour, 2013 November: Leaving, 2014 April: Introspective (1988), 2014 August: Go West, 2015 January: "So Hard"(1990), 2015 February: "I'm with Stupid" (2006), 2015 July: Thursday EP (2014), 2016 May: "Twenty-something" (2016), 2017 September: Left To My Own Devices / The Sound of the Atom Splitting (1988), 2019 May: It's A Sin (1987), 2021 April: Pet Shop Boys Share Live Cover Of Blur's 'Girls & Boys'
Critic films hilarious taste test of best croissants in Paris while surrounded by riot chaos
"Paris may be on fire and full of stinking rubbish - but that should not prevent you from enjoying your morning croissant. That's the message from fearless video reviewer Luis Sal, who braved riots and strikes on a city-wide taste test of flaky pastries last Thursday. The 25-year-old Italian found himself at the centre of a day of action against President Emmanuel Macron's decision to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64 without a parliamentary vote last month. 'My name is Luis and today I'm in Paris to try the top five croissants, and we're going to see which one is the best,' he says in a YouTube video which had 650,000 views within a day of being posted. Luis is immediately shoved in the back by a riot policeman, as La Rotonde – Mr Macron's favourite Paris restaurant – burns in the background. ...”
Liverpool and how it became the football mural capital of the UK
"It is a glorious spring morning in north Liverpool and John Barnes is gazing up at the latest striking addition to Anfield’s growing collection of street art. Covering the entire end wall of a terraced house on Balfour Street, a five-minute stroll from the stadium he once graced as a player, it consists of two images of Barnes: a close-up of his face — brow furrowed, lips pursed — and another of him unleashing a left-footed shot. …”
Russian Lawyers Ask Court to Ease Crackdown on Speaking Out
"A group of leading Russian lawyers on Tuesday asked the country’s highest court to declare unconstitutional a law banning criticism of the armed forces, in a rare display of opposition to the draconian censorship imposed by the Kremlin in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine. The complaint, filed by three lawyers and supported by 10 more, most of whom are still in Russia, asked the Constitutional Court to strike down the measure, which has emerged as the Kremlin’s most effective tool for stifling dissent in the country. ... The censorship laws effectively ban anything that does not correspond to the Kremlin’s depiction of the war, which it continues to call a ‘special military operation.’ They have virtually silenced debate in Russia. ...”
A man walks past an inscription reading 'No to war' left on a wall in Moscow on Jan. 26.
The Comedians Who Helped Define Generation X
"Last May Prime Video launched the sixth season of the legendary sketch comedy show The Kids in the Hall. Not a reboot, but a continuation following a 27-year hiatus. The five actor-comedians who make up the troupe — Dave Foley, Bruce McCulloch, Kevin McDonald, Mark McKinney, and Scott Thompson — are older and some of their preoccupations have changed, as death, which pervaded the original series, creeps closer and the generation gap between the troupe and young audiences widens. But to the relief of most critics and fans, they’re still outsiders looking in at mainstream society with curiosity and contempt. ...”
YouTube: Buddy Cole Kids in the Hall Gay Bar Monologue, Chicken Lady - Phone Sex, Comfortable High, Into the Doors, etc.
2011 July: Kids in the Hall, 2015 June: The Kids in the Hall's Scott Thompson on Why Their Comedy Is Timeless
Tucker Carlson, a source of repeated controversies, is out at Fox News.
"Fox News said Monday that it was parting ways with Tucker Carlson, its most popular prime time host who was also the source of repeated controversies and headaches for the network because of his statements on everything from race relations to L.G.B.T.Q. rights. The network made the announcement less than a week after it agreed to pay $787.5 million in a defamation lawsuit in which Mr. Carlson’s show, one of the highest rated on Fox, figured prominently for its role in spreading misinformation after the 2020 election. In making its announcement, Fox offered a terse statement of gratitude. ...”
2022 May: How Tucker Carlson Stoked White Fear to Conquer Cable
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