"Russian President Vladimir Putin has responded to Tuesday's drone attacks on the capital Moscow, accusing Ukraine of trying to frighten Russians. He said civilians were targeted, but air defences dealt satisfactorily with the threat.The defence ministry said at least eight drones caused minor damage, but Kyiv has denied responsibility. This is the first time the city has been targeted by multiple drones since Russia's invasion of Ukraine.Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said no-one was seriously injured. Several drones fell on an exclusive western suburb where senior officials live. Speaking on Russian TV, Mr Putin said the attack had been a response to what he described as a Russian attack on Ukraine's military intelligence HQ in recent days. The BBC is unable to independently verify whether any such attack took place. ...”
Club Ebony, a Historic Blues Venue Tied to B.B. King, Rises Again
"Club Ebony, a famed blues venue in Indianola, Miss., that was part of the chitlin circuit — a loose network of Black-owned clubs and venues in segregated American cities — has hosted hundreds of memorable moments. Bobby Rush, the 89-year-old blues singer, recalled one of his favorites in a recent interview: a scene from B.B. King’s 2014 homecoming concert. ... The audience cackled, and Rush joined King onstage with his harmonica to cap his friend’s final performance there, ending a tradition of annual concerts that began in 1980. ...”
From posh residences to art movie theater, the many lives of two Bleecker Street houses
"Near the corner of Bleecker Street and LaGuardia Place stand what remains of two houses. At almost 200 years old, time has taken its toll on these twin Greenwich Village dowagers. Cracked ground-floor doric columns, grimy window lintels, and a strange fourth four addition have dulled the beauty of 144 and 146 Bleecker Street. But a closer look reveals bits of loveliness, like the rosettes in terra cotta panels and Flemish bond brickwork.The story of these houses—combined into one building over a century ago and officially known as 144 Bleecker—mimics the story of the Greenwich Village neighborhood they’re part of. ...”
Battle of Brunete
"The Battle of Brunete (6–25 July 1937), fought 24 kilometres (15 mi) west of Madrid, was a Republican attempt to alleviate the pressure exerted by the Nationalists on the capital and on the north during the Spanish Civil War. Although initially successful, the Republicans were forced to retreat from Brunete after Nationalist counterattacks, and suffered devastating casualties from the battle. After the capture of Bilbao on June 19, the Republicans devised the attack on Brunete to divert Nationalist forces from the north and allow the fleeing Republicans time to reorganize. ...”
W - Bombing of Guernica, Death, destruction and deity: painting Guernica, The lost images of anarchist Barcelona, W - Guernica (Picasso)
W - Torkild_Rieber, salon - The oil man and his dictators: Benito Mussolini, Francisco Franco and the forgotten fascist history of Texaco (Adam Hochschild)
W - Hotel Florida (Madrid), NY Times: For Whom the Bell Tolled, amazon: Hotel Florida: Truth, Love, and Death in the Spanish Civil War
YouTube: The Spanish Civil War 6/6; How Did The Spanish Civil War Begin?, Reflecting On 500,000 Casualties Of War, How Stalin Was Inserted Into Spanish Conflict, The Meteoric Rise Of General Franco, How A Spanish Civil War Led To War With France, A History Of The Battle Of The River Of Ebro
YouTube: Ernest Hemingway on Fascism and the Spanish Civil War | PBS, George Steer report on the bombing of Gernika, Guernica, Ernest Hemingway: The Spanish Earth (1937) 53:56
Republican soldiers inside the Governor's Palace, the last bastion of the Fascist resistance. Earlier that day the Republicans had detonated mines powerful enough to blow away an entire wall. Photo Robert Capa
Kyiv hit by massive Russian drone attack as city marks its founding
"Ahead of the anniversary of its founding in 482 A.D., Kyiv suffered the largest drone attack since the start of the war with Russia, Ukrainian officials said Sunday.Ukraine’s air force said in a statement on Telegram that a ‘record number’ of 54 Russia-launched, Iranian-made ‘Shahed’ drones were launched at the city overnight, although it added that it had shot down 52 of them. NBC News was not able to independently verify these figures. The attack was primarily directed at military facilities and critical infrastructure in the center of Ukraine, including Kyiv, the statement said. ... Shahed drones are self-detonating aerial weapons in which the munition can loiter over a target until instructed to attack, destroying the weapon in the process. Iran is believed to have sent hundreds of these weapons to Russia since the beginning of its invasion last February. ...”
An aerial view showing destruction in the front-line city of Bakhmut, in eastern Ukraine, on May 23, 2023.
Blood On His Hands: Henry Kissinger
"TA SOUS, Cambodia — At the end of a dusty path snaking through rice paddies lives a woman who survived multiple U.S. airstrikes as a child. Round-faced and just over 5 feet tall in plastic sandals, Meas Lorn lost an older brother to a helicopter gunship attack and an uncle and cousins to artillery fire. For decades, one question haunted her: ‘I still wonder why those aircraft always attacked in this area. Why did they drop bombs here?’ The U.S. carpet bombing of Cambodia between 1969 and 1973 has been well documented, but its architect, former national security adviser and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who will turn 100 on Saturday, bears responsibility for more violence than has been previously reported. An investigation by The Intercept provides evidence of previously unreported attacks that killed or wounded hundreds of Cambodian civilians during Kissinger’s tenure in the White House. ...”
What Makes a Garden a Work of Art? Piet Oudolf Explains.
"There is a transcendent quality to the gardens of the Dutch designer Piet Oudolf, which overtake us with the sense that we have arrived at a place where we would like — and very much need — to spend more time. Drawn into the complex textural mosaic of muted colors, we can exhale. ... And yet, Mr. Oudolf is quick to point out, his work is the art and craft of garden making. It is not ecological landscape restoration. His medium is naturalistic, yes, but it is not nature. ...”
In his gardens, the Dutch landscape designer Piet Oudolf creates complex textural mosaics of muted colors. This one is at Hauser & Wirth Somerset, an international art gallery in South West England.
What Does Russia’s Success in Bakhmut Mean for the War in Ukraine?
"Russia has declared victory in its devastating, nearly yearlong assault on Bakhmut, and its Wagner mercenaries have begun to withdraw. Ukraine, whose forces have made small gains on the outskirts, has signaled that it is now focused on making it difficult for Moscow to hold onto the city. Whatever comes next, Ukraine’s setback in Bakhmut is a significant moment in Russia’s invasion, its first military success since last summer. Ukraine says a small number of its soldiers are still in the eastern city, but Kyiv has all but conceded that the intense and bloody defense of the city is over. ...”
Best Live Albums: 50 Must-Hear Classic Records
"The best live albums capture the very essence of a band’s energy in concert and manage to make a listener feel like they were actually there for what, in many cases, are historic performances. Because it’s one thing creating magic in the studio. Doing it live is something else, adding a whole new level of excitement (and, often, creativity) to the music. Here are just a few of the best live albums ever put to tape. ...”
Seeing Beyond the Beauty of a Vermeer
"The afternoon I discovered Vermeer, I was passing time by browsing the books and publications piled up on the shelves at home in Lagos. I was 14 or 15. Amid the relics of my parents’ college studies (Nigerian plays, French histories, business-management textbooks), I found something unfamiliar: the annual report for a multinational company. I don’t remember which company it was, but it must have had something to do with food or drink, because on the front cover was a painting of peasants in a rolling field and on the back was a painting of a woman pouring milk. ...”
2009 September: Vermeer's Masterpiece, The Milkmaid, 2011 February: Vermeer: Master of Light, 2013 October: Vermeer, Rembrandt, and Hals: Masterpieces of Dutch Painting from the Mauritshuis, 2015 December: This Is Not a Vermeer ™, 2017 January: The Art of Painting (1665–1668), 2021 December: Museum rivalry ‘could make Dutch Vermeer show last of its kind’, 2021 December: Okay Cupid: Reopening Vermeer’s love letter to contradiction, 2022 October: A New Brushstroke Analysis Reveals Vermeer...
Detail of “A Lady Writing.”
The Battle for Bakhmut, in Photos
"Even for those who witnessed the battle for Bakhmut, the longest and likely the deadliest clash of the war in Ukraine, words often failed. Soldiers who fought in the shell-racked city strained to articulate the carnage. The reek of the trenches around the city and the unceasing howl of shellfire, they said, recalled the Battle of Verdun in 1916, which lasted 300 days and was one of the bloodiest of World War I. By the time the Russians declared ‘victory’ on Saturday, relentless bombardment had turned former shops and homes to charred ruins. As Ukraine shifted focus to the fighting on the outskirts, President Volodymyr Zelensky acknowledged that the city was gone, saying ‘Bakhmut is only in our hearts.’ It was an arc of destruction captured by photographers from The New York Times over the past year. ...”
Ukrainian soldiers riding on an armored vehicle in Bakhmut in November.
The Playoffs: A Dispatch
"These years, the only basketball I watch is the playoffs, but I take them very seriously, because they’re so fleeting, dramatic, and sublime. I love the ever-changing narratives. The pregame handshakes. The postgame interviews. The controversial tweets. The stupid commercials one can’t help but memorize. I love when a player ‘gets hot’ and their teammates keep funneling them the ball. The rarely seen, silent green siren that flashes when a coach uses their challenge to dispute a call. The sudden announcement of a technical foul and the way the mood shifts during the single, solitary free throw. I love catching glimpses of the players’ tattoos of babies, ancestors, dates, signatures, playing cards, angels, lions, phantoms, and crosses emitting sunbeams. ...”
Rachel B. Glaser, Ref Huddle, 2023.
Turn The Heat Up - Shemekia Copeland (1998)
"The daughter of the late bluesman Johnny Copeland steps up to the plate with this, her debut album for the Alligator imprint. Although only 19 at the time of this recording, Copeland comes to this album with a mature style and vast amounts of assuredness. While comparisons to Koko Taylor and Etta James will be plentiful, Shemekia has enough tricks up her sleeve to make this a disc well worth checking out. Eight of the 14 tunes aboard are co-written by producer John Hahn and strong musical support is summoned up from guitarist Jimmy Vivino, with guest turns from Joe Louis Walker and ‘Monster’ Mike Welch, while the Uptown Horns show up on three tunes, including the title track. ...”
The longest battle of the Ukraine war might finally be over
"Russia has claimed control of Bakhmut, a city at the center of one of the most prolonged and brutal battles of the Ukraine war. Moscow is declaring it a major victory, but it is one that comes at an astounding cost. And exactly what the city’s capture means for the future course of the conflict is far less clear. Bakhmut holds limited strategic value, though the approximately nine-month-long battle took on political and rhetorical significance for both sides. It also imposed real losses, as the battle for control of the city mutually attrited Russian and Ukrainian forces and firepower. Over the weekend, Russia’s Ministry of Defense announced that Russia had finally taken Bakhmut, and Russian President Vladimir Putin celebrated the ’liberation’ of the city. Both credited the Wagner Group, the paramilitary group tied to the increasingly vocal oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin, for its role in the operation. ...”
***NY Times*** - Bakhmut Is Gone: An Aerial Look at the War’s Destruction
****NY Times **** - Why Bakhmut? It’s a Question as Old as War.
NBC News: Russian forces claim full control of Bakhmut, ending brutal battle that became a symbol of Ukrainian resistance (Video)
Drone footage taken by The New York Times captured the scorched buildings, destroyed schools and cratered parks that now define the city in eastern Ukraine.
The stories behind 4 holdout buildings that refused to bow to the wrecking ball
"It’s hard not to cheer on a New York City holdout building. You know holdouts: smaller walkup buildings, usually one-time residences, that somehow managed to remain intact over the past century or so in a city filled with developers who would love to get their hands on them—or at least the land they occupy.Some holdouts are in beautiful shape, a testament to former and current owners who had the means and the will to maintain their original loveliness. This French Renaissance-style holdout, at 612 West 116th Street, began its life in 1906 as the Delta Phi fraternity house for the Columbia University chapter, according to the Landmarks Preservation Commission report for the Morningside Heights Historic District. ...”
The Portable Nietzsche
"The works of Friedrich Nietzsche have fascinated readers around the world ever since the publication of his first book more than a hundred years ago. As Walter Kaufmann, one of the world's leading authorities on Nietzsche, notes in his introduction, ‘Few writers in any age were so full of ideas,’ and few writers have been so consistently misinterpreted. The Portable Nietzsche includes Kaufmann's definitive translations of the complete and unabridged texts of Nietzsche's four major works: Twilight of the Idols, The Antichrist, Nietzsche Contra Wagner and Thus Spoke Zarathustra. In addition, Kaufmann brings together selections from his other books, notes, and letters, to give a full picture of Nietzsche's development, versatility, and inexhaustibility.”
2016 April: Anarchism and Friedrich Nietzsche, 2021 February: Walter Kaufmann’s Classic Lectures on Nietzsche, Kierkegaard and Sartre (1960)
How Russia is creeping back into football Tifo Football
"Since Russia invaded Ukraine, firstly in 2014, but in far greater and deadlier numbers on February 24th 2022 the country has been isolated politically, economically and culturally. And Russia has been suspended from UEFA and FIFA. But they want to qualify for the 2026 World Cup. How could they do that? Would they have to move federations? Well, it has been done before. James Montague explains. Philippe Fenner illustrates.“
Illustration by El Lissitzky (1890-1941) from USSR Builds Socialism, 1933.
Victorious
"In the aftermath of SSC Napoli’s league victory, Nigerians descended on the official Serie A Twitter account to protest what they considered to be an unfair (and ‘racist’) attempt to acknowledge someone other than Victor Osimhen as the hero of the club’s successful campaign. And, while other players no doubt played a part in a team’s success, few would argue against Osimhen, born in Lagos, being the standout star of Napoli this season. His composure in front of goal and his dynamic presence leading the line has earned him accolades and has unified a country desperately in need of a rallying point after a contentious election cycle. ...”
1969: The Velvet Underground Live – The Matrix, San Francisco
"1969: The Velvet Underground Live is a live album by the Velvet Underground. It was originally released as a double album in September 1974 by Mercury Records. … Spin magazine’s Alternative Record Guide included it in the top 100 alternative albums of all time in 1995. … On October 19, 1969, in the End of Cole Ave. club, Dallas, a fan who happened to be a recording engineer brought along his professional gear; and in November at The Matrix in San Francisco, the band was given permission to use the in-house four-track recording desk. The band were given two-track mixdown tapes from the recordings for reference, but nothing was done with them until 1974, after the band had dissolved and Lou Reed had become well known as a solo artist. …”
In Bakhmut, the Tides of Battle Are Ever Shifting
"Ukrainian soldiers were waiting for just the right moment to attack. Then they received critical intelligence: Russian mercenaries on the other side of the front line outside Bakhmut were about to rotate out and be replaced by other soldiers. It was time to go. ... It was the morning of May 6, the beginning of three days of fighting on the outskirts of Bakhmut that has shifted momentum in the fiercest battle of the war. Soldiers from Ukraine’s 3rd Separate Assault Brigade battled with the Russians across forest belts where the trees rose like scorched matchsticks. They stormed trenches littered with the dead. They followed armored personnel carriers across open fields as the two sides exchanged heavy gunfire. ...”
Guardian: What happened in the Russia-Ukraine war this week? Catch up with the must-read news and analysis (Video)
The 80th Air Assault Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces firing a barrage of rockets in the direction of Bakhmut during a night operation.
"Be More Radical Than Me!": A Conversation with Béla Tarr
"The Hungarian auteur Béla Tarr bid a farewell to the active filmmaking at the age of 55 with the 146-minute long reckoning The Turin Horse (2011), consisting of 30 takes. His filmography counts nine features that elevated him into the pantheon of world cinema, earning Tarr epithets as legend, master, cult or visionary, among others. ... However, the core of his work features his singular aesthetics and bleak visions of the post-communist landscape, notably in Damnation (1988), the cinephiliac 432-minute long treat Sátántangó (1994), and Werckmeister Harmonies (2000). His distinctive style stems from black and white, spellbinding photography shot in long takes and meticulously choreographed camera movement hypnotically paced along desolate, melancholic, austere and enigmatic imagery what eventually led to Tarr’s label as a radical filmmaker. ...”
2012 January: The Man from London, 2012 January: The Turin Horse, 2022 September: Damnation (1988), 2022 September: : Sátántangó (1994), 2023 April: Time and Its Other: The Temporal Landscapes of Béla Tarr
Danton - Andrzej Wajda (1983)
"Gérard Depardieu and Wojciech Pszoniak star in Andrzej Wajda’s powerful, intimate depiction of the ideological clash between the earthy, man-of-the-people Georges Danton and icy Jacobin extremist Maximilien Robespierre, both key figures of the French Revolution. By drawing parallels to Polish ‘solidarity,’ a movement that was being quashed by the government as the film went into production, Wajda drags history into the present. Meticulous and fiery, Danton has been hailed as one of the greatest films ever made about the Terror. ...”
Ukraine could join ranks of ‘frozen’ conflicts, U.S. officials say
"U.S. officials are planning for the growing possibility that the Russia-Ukraine war will turn into a frozen conflict that lasts many years — perhaps decades — and joins the ranks of similar lengthy face-offs in the Korean peninsula, South Asia and beyond. The options discussed within the Biden administration for a long-term ‘freeze’ include where to set potential lines that Ukraine and Russia would agree not to cross, but which would not have to be official borders. The discussions — while provisional — have taken place across various U.S. agencies and in the White House. It’s a scenario that may prove the most realistic long-term outcome given that neither Kyiv nor Moscow appear inclined to ever admit defeat. ...”
Hundreds of graves where the remains of civilians killed by Russian forces are buried east of the capital Kyiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, May 17, 2023.
International Brigades: Battle of Jarama, Battle of Guadalajara (1937)
"The Battle of Jarama (6–27 February 1937) was an attempt by General Francisco Franco's Nationalists to dislodge the Republican lines along the river Jarama, just east of Madrid, during the Spanish Civil War. Elite Spanish Legionnaires and Moroccan Regulares from the Army of Africa forced back the Republican Army of the Centre, including the International Brigades, but after days of fierce fighting no breakthrough was achieved. Republican counterattacks along the captured ground likewise failed, resulting in heavy casualties to both sides. ...”
YouTube: GREAT BATTLES OF THE SPANISH CIVIL WAR - EP. 5 - THE BATTLE OF JARAMA, EP. 6 - THE BATTLE OF GUADALAJARA
2011 July: Spanish Civil War - 75 Year, 18 July, 2012 March: 1984 (For the Love of Big Brother), 2012 June: "The Spanish Earth", Written and Narrated by Ernest Hemingway, 2013 January: The Real George Orwell, 2015 August: Songs of the Spanish Civil War, 2016 September: George Orwell - Homage to Catalonia (1938), 2017 January: Guernica (2016), 2019 September: What Makes Guernica So Shocking? An Animated Video Explores the Impact of Picasso’s Monumental Anti-War Mural
Italy: Autonomia - Post-Political Politics
"The only first-hand document and contemporaneous analysis of the most innovative post-'68 radical movement in the West, the creative, futuristic, neo-anarchistic, postideological Autonomia. Most of the writers who contributed to the issue were locked up at the time in Italian jails.... I was trying to draw the attention of the American Left, which still believed in Eurocommunism, to the fate of Autonomia. The survival of the last politically creative movement in the West was at stake, but no one in the United States seemed to realize that, or be willing to listen. ...—Sylvère Lotringer ...”
Ukraine says it shot down Kinzhal missiles, one of Russia’s most advanced weapons.
"Ukraine’s air defense intercepted six hypersonic Kinzhal missiles fired by Russia early Tuesday, Ukrainian officials said. If confirmed, the strikes would be further evidence of Ukraine’s ability to shoot down one of the most sophisticated conventional weapons in Moscow’s arsenal. In one of the largest aerial assaults since early March, Russia also launched nine Kalibr cruise missiles from ships in the Black Sea, three short-range ballistic missiles from land and a number of drones, according to the commander in chief of Ukraine’s Armed Forces. All of the drones and missiles were shot down, the military said. Russia’s Defense Ministry said that at least one Kinzhal was used in the attack, which it claimed was a ‘concentrated strike’ involving high-precision long-range weapons that hit ‘all assigned targets.’ ...”
Russia fired a wave of missiles and drones overnight, many aimed at Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, but all were shot down, Ukrainian officials said.
Manet/Degas
"This exhibition examines one of the most significant artistic dialogues in modern art history: the close and sometimes tumultuous relationship between Edouard Manet and Edgar Degas. Born only two years apart, Manet (1832–1883) and Degas (1834–1917) were friends, rivals, and, at times, antagonists who worked to define modern painting in France. By examining their careers in parallel and presenting their work side by side, this exhibition investigates how their artistic objectives and approaches both overlapped and diverged. Through more than 150 paintings and works on paper, Manet/Degas takes a fresh look at the interactions of these two artists in the context of the family relationships, friendships, and intellectual circles that influenced their artistic and professional choices, deepening our understanding of a key moment in nineteenth-century French painting. ...”
YouTube: Manet and Degas: Musée d'Orsay explores the friendship and rivalry between two artistic giants, EXPOSITION MANET / DEGAS
Manet, Plum Brandy, ca. 1877 / Degas, In a Café, 1875–76.
Best Music Arrangers: 20 Artists You’ve Heard But Not Seen
"Any musical composition can be reconceptualized – Franz Liszt arranged his own works for piano and transformed Bach’s organ music – and the best music arrangers in jazz, pop, and rock have become world-famous. (Quincy Jones and Nelson Riddle are just two of the absolute modern masters.) Music arrangers can decide which instruments will be used, which notes will be repeated, and what sections of the music are repeated, and in which order. Their subtle changes to the choice of instruments, tempo, key, or time signature can make all the difference to the success of the final record. Here we pick 20 of best arrangers in popular music over the past century. ...”
As Ukraine Makes Inroads in Bakhmut, Devastation Still Reigns
"With the furious battle for the city of Bakhmut raging at their backs, a squad of Ukrainian soldiers tore through an open field, racing to get out of range of falling Russian artillery. But before they could make it to safety, they said, they got a flat tire. The three soldiers — known by the call signs Omar, Chip and Bandit — had spent the day on Friday taking part in Ukrainian offensive operations on the edge of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine, blasting Russian tanks and armored vehicles. But after surviving another brutal day of battle, they worried that the punctured tire might doom them. Omar, 36, hopped out of the car and used a screwdriver to put a plug in the hole. Within moments, they were off again. ...”
President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine, left, and Chancellor Olaf Scholz of Germany traded compliments in front of reporters on Sunday.
