HAMAS LEADER IS DEAD

Yahya Sinwar in Gaza City last year

"Yahya Sinwar, the Palestinian militant leader who emerged from two decades of prison in Israel to rise to the helm of Hamas and help plot the deadliest assault on Israel in its history, died on Wednesday. He was in his early 60s. His death was announced by the Israeli military on Thursday, which said he had been killed by a unit of trainee squad commanders who encountered him while on an operation in southern Gaza. A longtime Hamas leader who assumed its top political office in August, Mr. Sinwar was known among supporters and enemies alike for combining cunning and brutality. He built Hamas’s ability to harm Israel in service of the group’s long-term goal of destroying the Jewish state and building an Islamist, Palestinian nation in its place. He played a central role in planning the surprise assault on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, that killed about 1,200 people, brought 250 others back to Gaza as hostages and put him at the top of Israel’s kill list. ..."



 
NY Times: Opinion | How the Biden Team Plans to Build Peace From Sinwar’s Death - Thomas L. Friedman


People watch television news coverage of Sinwar’s death in a barbershop in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, on Thursday.
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The Jazz Singers


"As long as there has been jazz, there’s been people singing jazz. Jazz singing has usually been perceived as something ancillary to the core jazz tradition, but the truth is that it’s been at the music’s core from the very beginning: Louis Armstrong was not only the first jazz star as a trumpet player but also as a singer; the great tenor saxophonist Lester Young was an influence on the young Billie Holiday, and she was an influence on him—and a star in her own right. Frank Sinatra came up with jazz greats Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, learned about singing from them and other jazz musicians, and in turn was an example to follow for horn players—including Lester Young again. Jazz began as popular music. The Great American Songbook concept came about through singers adopting a body of songs from Broadway and popular radio, and turning them into standard material passed down to other singers and instrumentalists through the generations. ..."

Bandcamp (Audio)

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Bay Ridge, Brooklyn

Bay Ridge Parkway Row Houses

"Bay Ridge is a neighborhood in the southwest corner of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It is bounded by Sunset Park to the north, Dyker Heights to the east, the Narrows and the Belt Parkway to the west, and Fort Hamilton Army Baseand the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge to the south. The section of Bay Ridge south of 86th Street is sometimes considered part of a sub-neighborhood called Fort Hamilton. ... The arrival of the New York City Subway's Fourth Avenue Line (present-day R train) in 1916 led to its development as a residential neighborhood. Until the early 1970s, Bay Ridge was dominated by its Norwegian community, but by the late 20th and early 21st centuries, it had a large Arab, Irish, Italian, and Greek population. ..."





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The Issues 2024: Why the Labor Movement is So Important to Americans


"For the next few weeks, Literary Hub will be going beyond the memes for an in-depth look at the everyday issues affecting Americans as they head to the polls on November 5th. Each week at Lit Hub we’ll be featuring reading lists, essays, and interviews on important topics like Income Inequality, Climate Justice, LGBTQ Rights, Reproductive Rights, and more. For a better handle on the issues affecting you and your loved ones—regardless of who ends up president on November 6th (or 7th, or 8th, or whenever)—stay tuned to LitHub.com in October. ... Today we’ve gathered the best stories published at Lit Hub about one of the most important issues affecting Americans: the right to stand together for better working conditions. With an introduction from Kim Kelly, the author of Fight Like Hell: The Untold History of American Labor. ..."

LitHub 

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When Leonard Cohen Guest Starred on Miami Vice (1986)

"Leonard Cohen was Canada’s answer to Bob Dylan. While best known perhaps as a singer-songwriter who penned the tune 'Hallelujah'— which was covered by Jeff Buckley, John Cale and just about everyone else under the sun — he was also at varying points in his colorful life a poet, a novelist, a law student and a Zen monk. Well, you can add to this list guest star on Miami Vice. Yes. Miami Vice, Michael Mann’s decade-defining crime series that somehow made stubble, pastel colors and Don Johnson cool. ... You can see him and some truly breathtaking examples of ‘80s fashion in the clip above. Miami Vice had a habit of casting music icons. Little Richard, Frank Zappa, Miles Davis, Willie Nelson, and Eartha Kitt also appeared in the series. But, unlike Cohen, they didn’t act in French. ..."

Miami Vice had a habit of casting music icons. Little Richard, Frank Zappa, Miles Davis, Willie Nelson, and Eartha Kitt also appeared in the series. But, unlike Cohen, they didn’t act in French.

Below you can see a montage of 20 rock stars who appeared on Miami Vice during its run.

Appearing on the episode “French Twist,” Cohen plays Francois Zolan, a French secret service agent who is up to no good. Though he’s in the episode for only a couple of minutes and almost all of it on the phone, Cohen just manages to ooze menace. You can see him and some truly breathtaking examples of ‘80s fashion in the clip above.

Miami Vice had a habit of casting music icons. Little Richard, Frank Zappa, Miles Davis, Willie Nelson, and Eartha Kitt also appeared in the series. But, unlike Cohen, they didn’t act in French.

Below you can see a montage of 20 rock stars who appeared on Miami Vice during its run.

Appearing on the episode “French Twist,” Cohen plays Francois Zolan, a French secret service agent who is up to no good. Though he’s in the episode for only a couple of minutes and almost all of it on the phone, Cohen just manages to ooze menace. You can see him and some truly breathtaking examples of ‘80s fashion in the clip above.

Miami Vice had a habit of casting music icons. Little Richard, Frank Zappa, Miles Davis, Willie Nelson, and Eartha Kitt also appeared in the series. But, unlike Cohen, they didn’t act in French.

Below you can see a montage of 20 rock stars who appeared on Miami Vice during its run.

Open Culture (Video) 

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The Trump Voters Who Don’t Believe Trump

"One of the more peculiar aspects of Donald J. Trump’s political appeal is this: A lot of people are happy to vote for him because they simply do not believe he will do many of the things he says he will. The former president has talked about weaponizing the Justice Department and jailing political opponents. He has said he would purge the government of non-loyalists and that he would have trouble hiring anyone who admits that the 2020 election wasn’t stolen. He proposed 'one really violent day' in which police officers could get 'extraordinarily rough' with impunity. He has promised mass deportations and predicted it would be 'a bloody story.' And while many of his supporters thrill at such talk, there are plenty of others who figure it’s all just part of some big act. There is, of course, evidence to the contrary. During Mr. Trump’s term in office, some of his autocratic rhetoric did become reality.  ..."

NY Times
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A Great Disorder: National Myth and the Battle for America by Richard Slotkin

"The stories that a country tells itself are just as critical to its functioning as its army, its laws, its borders, and its flag. Where did the country emerge from, and where might it be heading? Such questions of national mythology are especially fraught in the United States, still relatively young in the world, big, rich, powerful, multiethnic, and operating on a set of profoundly contradictory ideas. That it might be possible to make sense of American political division by naming those myths and interpreting the news of the day through their filter is the guiding ambition of Richard Slotkin’s exciting and detailed new decoder ring of a book, A Great Disorder: National Myth and the Battle for America. ..."

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Culture of Jamaica

 

"Jamaican culture consists of the religion, norms, values, and lifestyle that define the people of Jamaica. The culture is mixed, with an ethnically diverse society, stemming from a history of inhabitants beginning with the original inhabitants of Jamaica (the Taínos). The Spaniards originally brought slavery to Jamaica. Then they were overthrown by the English. Jamaica later gained emancipation on 1 August 1838, and independence from the British on 6 August 1962. Black slaves became the dominant cultural force as they suffered and resisted the harsh conditions of forced labour. After the abolition of slavery, Chinese and Indian migrants were transported to the island as indentured workers, bringing with them ideas from their country. The official language of Jamaica is Jamaican Standard English, which is used in all official circumstances in the country. In addition to English, there is a creole derivative called Jamaican Patois (pronounced patwa) which is the common dialect among Jamaican citizens. ..."

Wikipedia 

What Is the Culture of Jamaica?

Jamaica Global Online: Jamaican Culture 

YouTube: Jamaican Culture and Lifestyle: Its Richness and Vibrant Existence
 

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Paris 1874: The Impressionist Moment

Claude Monet - Impression, Sunrise (1872)

"How did impressionism begin? Discover the origins of the French art movement in a new look at the radical 1874 exhibition considered the birth of modern painting. A remarkable presentation of 130 works includes a rare reunion of many of the paintings first featured in that now-legendary exhibition. Revisit beloved paintings by Paul Cézanne, Claude Monet, Berthe Morisot, and Camille Pissarro and meet their lesser-known contemporaries. See the art norms they were rebelling against and learn what political and social shifts sparked their new approach to art. Don’t miss the unique chance to immerse yourself in the dynamic Parisian art scene of 1874—we are the only American stop for this historic exhibition. ..."





Edouard Manet - The Railway (1874)
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“Those Folks Never Had Their Lights Turned Off.” On the Literary Importance of Highlighting the Haves and the Have-Nots


"Since reading Naomi Kanakia’s essay, 'Contemporary Literary Novels Are Haunted by the Absence of Money,' I’ve been recalling how often, nearly fifty years ago, Ray Carver and I complained about the same issue. At one point in our lives, we lived next to one another in dumpy motel cabins near Iowa City that rented for $10 a night. We regularly loaned each other a ten-dollar bill to avoid eviction. ... He tossed out similar comments about writers, no matter how much he loved what they wrote (and he did)—John Cheever, Ann Beattie, John Updike—also the postmodernists who then dominated the literary scene—Thomas Pynchon, John Barth, Robert Coover. ..."

LitHub

Raymon Carder
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Waiting Hours for 3 Minutes in the Criterion Closet (Well, Van)

"The hottest event at this year’s New York Film Festival isn’t a film at all. It’s a van. Parked next to Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center, the mobile version of the Criterion Closet — a tiny space stocked with the prestigious DVDs and Blu-rays of films in the Criterion Collection — attracted a line that wrapped around the block. It was a chance for festivalgoers to enact their own version of the Closet Picks videos, in which celebrities like Bill Hader, Ayo Edebiri and Willem Dafoe visit a product-filled closet in the company’s Manhattan office. They pick out their favorite titles and evangelize about their choices while not so coincidentally on tour promoting their latest projects. (Dafoe’s haul included Luchino Visconti’s 'The Leopard' and the actor’s own 'The Last Temptation of Christ'; Edebiri left with Wes Anderson’s 'Bottle Rocket,' among other titles, and Hader’s selections included the western 'My Darling Clementine.') ..."

NY Times 



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Siti of Unguja (Romance Revolution on Zanzibar) - Siti Muharam (2020)


"... Siti Muharam has the 'Golden Voice' of Zanzibar. Following in the pioneering footsteps of her Great Grand-Mother, Siti Binti Saad was no easy choice for Muharam. With the guidance of this album's Music Director, Matona’s and a tip-off from Andy Jones (film maker that documented and positively influenced the life and death of Bi Kidude ). Muharam's golden timbre has been allowed to soar for the world to hear. On her song is carried the legacy, lyricism and odyssey of the 'Mother of Taarab', her Great Grand-mother, Siti Binti Saad. The production of this album was able to reference Siti Binti Saad’s times and bring in the percussive Kidumbak: style and strip away Taarab’s formal layering to give a feel of the eclecticism of Zanzibar’s swahili street culture that influenced Siti Binti Saad. ..."




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Early computer art by Barbara Nessim (1984)


"Whilst searching for something else entirely I stumbled across these images and was struck by just how beautiful they are. The September 1984 (Vol 9, No 10) issue of BYTE magazine features cover artwork by Barbara Nessim and section pages by Liz Gutowski under direction of Barbara Nessim. Larger versions are at the bottom of this blog post. They were drawn during a residency at Time Life in NYC, simply because that was the easiest way Barbara could gain access to a colour computer with suitable capabilities: a Norpak IPS-2 Videotex (NAPLPS/Telidon) system. This offered 6 drawing modes (arc, rectangle, circle, line, dot and polygon) and 12 colours, of which half were shades of grey, plus black and white. And at a resolution of 256x200. ..."


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Every Falsehood, Exaggeration and Untruth in Trump’s and Harris’s Stump Speeches


"With Election Day fast approaching, former President Donald J. Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris are accelerating their campaigns in battleground states and honing their closing arguments to sway voters and mobilize support. Two recent speeches by the candidates — Mr. Trump in Las Vegas and Ms. Harris in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. — offer a glimpse at how their approaches and messages differ. Though their speeches in the next month will likely vary — Mr. Trump’s especially, given his habit of ditching prepared remarks for preferred tangents — they are expected to follow the same familiar contours. Here’s a fact-check of their speeches from two rallies in September. ..."
 

NY Times

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What the Supreme Court Can Learn From a 14th-Century Italian City-State

Lorenzetti’s “The Effect of Bad Governance.”

"... The governance of that republic was so fair-minded and so respected that the Sienese people had frescoes made to honor it. The frescoes, painted by Ambrogio Lorenzetti, still can be seen today on the walls of Siena’s city hall, the Palazzo Pubblico. This month, at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, an exhibition opens that showcases art Lorenzetti and his peers made during this flourishing moment in their city’s history: Siena: The Rise of Painting, 1300–1350. But to see Lorenzetti’s frescoes and absorb their civic lesson you must travel to Italy and stand in the room where they are painted. I did so, by accident, many years ago. I have never forgotten. ..."

LitHub 

Met Museum - Siena: The Rise of Painting, 1300–1350 

Laphams Quarterly: The Renaissance of City-States 

amazon: Siena: The Rise of Painting, 1300–1350

 Arnolfo Shows the Plan to Enlarge Florence (detail), by Giorgio Vasari, c. 1564. Palazzo Vecchio Museum, Florence.

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'Apocalypse 91… The Enemy Strikes Black’: Public Enemy’s Daring Album

"The making of Public Enemy’s fourth album, Apocalypse 91: The Enemy Strikes Black, had hit its stride. Recorded primarily at The Music Palace studios in Long Island, the album found Chuck D, Flavor Flav, Terminator X, the S1Ws, Gary 'G-Wiz' Rinaldo, and the Imperial Grand Ministers of Funk lighting the studio on fire with blazing socio-political commentary and heart-thumping production. Then disaster struck. Parked outside of a Soho studio, longtime Public Enemy producer Hank Shocklee was the victim of a robbery. The thieves made off with the bones of every track they’d been working on, bringing an abrupt halt to any progress they’d made. ..."


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Brooklyn Museum at 200 Celebrates Beauty and Art’s Hidden History

The Brooklyn Museum’s reinstalled American Art collection includes, from left, Joseph Stella, “The Virgin”; Emma Amos, “Flower Sniffer”; Kenzo Okada, “Flower Study”; Loïs Mailou Jones, textile design, 1928, reproduced on wallpaper by Flavor Paper.Credit...
 
"At 200 years young, the Brooklyn Museum, the second largest art museum in New York City, has begun celebrating the bicentennial of its founding. And it’s doing so in characteristic fashion — meaning in ways that make traditionalists crazy. It is emphatically re-emphasizing what it has, basically, long been: an institution with the heart and soul of an alternative space enclosed in the body of a traditional museum. And it does so with two large-scale season-opening projects. One is a complete rehang and rethink of its American art galleries, filtering centuries of art from two hemispheres through a post-Black Lives Matter lens. The other, less radical, is a community-based roundup of new work by more than 200 contemporary artists living and working in the borough. Let me wedge in some history here. ..."


Credit...The American (Art) Study in the Brooklyn Museum offers alternate histories, and lenses, on artworks, updated with ongoing interpretation.
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How to Make Poetry Comics

"... A poetry comic is a perfect way to capture the here and now. Where are you? What do you see? What are you thinking about? Make a poetry comic that’s a window into the present moment. Now get up and go for a walk down the block. Be sure to bring your sketchbook. Let the page create a sense of direction. Let your character move horizontally through the panels of the comic as you move through the world. ... It might be a fun exercise to try this with a well-known poem you love. Say, one by William Carlos Williams or Emily Dickinson. Other times, you’ll sketch a wordless comic strip. Can words enhance the pictures? Can they do more than merely repeat what’s happening visually? ..."
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Judge Unseals New Evidence in Federal Election Case Against Trump


"... Those accounts were among new evidence disclosed in a court filing made public on Wednesday in which the special counsel investigating Mr. Trump made his case for why the former president is not immune from prosecution on federal charges of plotting to overturn the 2020 election. Made public by Judge Tanya S. Chutkan of the Federal District Court in Washington, the 165-page brief was partly redacted but expansive, adding details to the already extensive record of how Mr. Trump lost the race but attempted nonetheless to cling to power. The brief from the prosecution team led by the special counsel, Jack Smith, asserts that there is ample evidence that Mr. Trump’s efforts to remain in office were those of a desperate losing candidate rather than official acts of a president that would be considered immune from prosecution under a landmark Supreme Court ruling this summer. ..."





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Apples, Clogs and Pottery: Parees Celebrates Asturian Identity

Marat Morik. Faro

"In its seventh year, the Parees Festival continues to enrich Oviedo’s urban landscape, adding three new murals and bringing its collection to a remarkable total of forty works. Local, national, and international artists have left their mark on the city through this contextual muralism festival, each piece echoing the rich cultural fabric of Asturias. Organized by the Oviedo Municipal Foundation of Culture, Parees stands out as one of the few mural festivals that authentically reflects the city’s community, history, and environment—almost as if the walls are narrating the soul of Oviedo. This year’s festival underscores its commitment to Asturian identity by paying tribute to regional symbols such as Faro pottery, the iconic wooden clog (madreña), and the apple, deeply ingrained in local tradition. ..." 


Marat Morik. Faro
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Viennese coffee house culture


"The Viennese coffee house is a typical institution of Vienna that played an important part in shaping Viennese culture. ... The social practices, rituals, and elegance create the very specific atmosphere of the Viennese café. Coffee houses entice with a wide variety of coffee drinks, international newspapers, and pastry creations. Typical for Viennese coffee houses are marble tabletops, Thonet chairs, newspaper tables and interior design details in the style of historicism. ...Unlike some other café traditions around the world, it is completely normal for a customer to linger alone for hours and study the omnipresent newspaper. Along with coffee, the waiter will serve an obligatory glass of cold tap water and during a long stay will often bring additional water unrequested, with the idea to serve the guest with an exemplary sense of attention. ..."
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Murder Ballads by Various

"100 track collection of vintage Murder Ballads, songs that have evolved from British & European Folklore, murders & tragedies to American outlaws & gangsters... featuring Folk, Blues & County icons such as... - Big Bill Broonzy, Blind Willie McTell, Bob Dylan, Brownie McGhee, Burl Ives, Champion Jack Dupree, Charley Patton, Charley Pride, Earl Johnson, Ethel Waters, Johnny Cash, Josh White, Kid Bailey, Lead Belly, Lefty Frizzell, Long 'Cleve' Reed & Little Harvey Hull, Lonnie Donegan & His Skiffle Group, Marty Robbins, Mike Seeger, Mississippi John Hurt, Peggy Seeger, Pete Seeger, Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Red River Dave McEnery, Roscoe Holcomb, Sippie Wallace, The Louvin Brothers, Woody Guthrie - a sub-genre of the traditional ballads, make up a notable portion of traditional ballads, many of which originated in Scandinavia, England, and lowland Scotland in the premodern era. In those, while the murder is committed, the murderer usually suffers justice at the hands of the victim's family, even if the victim and murderer are related. Perspectives are numerous. ..."

Bandcamp (Audio)

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N.Y.C. Streets Won’t Be Like This Forever (for Better or Worse)

Herald Square in 1986.

"For now, this is the final installment of Street Wars. But to be clear: The battle for space on New York City’s streets is not over. It’s obvious to anyone on New York’s streets — in buses, on foot, on bikes or in cars — that the current situation feels unsustainable. Street-space conflicts are brewing in all parts of the city, and we — and you — should keep an eye on them. Right now, New York has not only the worst traffic in the United States, but also the worst traffic in the world. In addition to being annoying, traffic is an environmental and public health issue. Idling motors contribute to air pollution that is bad for our lungs. ... A delayed fire truck or ambulance can be a matter of life and death. And there are other battles brewing. ..."


The subway in 1979.
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Walter Benjamin Warned Us Against the Illusions of Capitalist Progress

Membership card for the Bibliothèque nationale de France. 

"The German writer Walter Benjamin has become one of the most influential cultural theorists of the last century. Benjamin took his own life in September 1940 to avoid falling into the hands of the Gestapo, but the Nazi regime could not snuff out his extraordinary intellectual legacy. Benjamin’s unorthodox Marxism and ideas about culture and history have inspired several generations of critical thought about the world made by capitalism. His relationships with figures such as Bertolt Brecht and Theodor Adorno have also inspired a range of scholarly work, while his description of revolution as an 'emergency brake' saving humanity from the disasters of capitalism resonates more than ever in a time of ecological crisis. ..." 





Galerie Vivienne (1916) photographed by Charles Lansiaux
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Israel Strikes Lebanon Again After Killing Hezbollah Leader


"Israeli airstrikes battered areas near Beirut again on Saturday evening, hours after Hezbollah confirmed that its longtime leader Hassan Nasrallah had been killed in an Israeli bombing that flattened residential buildings near Lebanon’s capital the night before. The assassination, which Israel said hit the Iranian-backed militia’s underground headquarters, was a stunning escalation of Israel’s campaign against Hezbollah in a conflict that has gone on for nearly a year. Hezbollah began firing into northern Israel on Oct. 8 in solidarity with Hamas, which is also supported by Iran, and Israel frequently responded, intensifying its attacks dramatically over the last two weeks, fueling fears of an all-out regional war that could draw in bigger players like Iran. Mr. Nasrallah was a towering figure among anti-Israel forces across the Middle East and beyond, and his death struck a tremendous blow to Hezbollah. He played multiple roles in the lives of the group’s members, serving at once as a religious guide, political strategist and commander in chief. ..."






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Silk Roads


"Not many exhibitions turn the history of the world upside down. The British Museum’s mesmerising Silk Roads does, by showing how Asia, Europe and north Africa shared their cultures more than a millennium ago. Far from developing in isolation, let alone in a 'clash of civilisations', east and west were once mutually connected by epic trade routes known as the Silk Roads that carried China’s precious discovery, silk, across the then-known world. If that sounds dry, the British Museum turns it into a fairytale of magic and beauty, as you follow the merchants’ routes to fabulous oases, desert palaces, synagogues, mosques and burial mounds. You reach the first oasis by clay camel, to be precise a two-humped Bactrian camel of painted ceramic, nearly a metre tall, rearing its head in a bellow you can almost hear. ..."




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A career in three acts: The three movies that define Ingrid Bergman


"When Ingrid Bergman arrived in Hollywood in 1939, she was already a celebrity in her native Sweden. With a radiant, cherubic face and quiet intelligence, the 24-year-old wasn’t exactly a carbon copy of glamorous stars like Bette Davis and Vivian Leigh, who were dominating the box office at the time, but she knew what type of actor she wanted to be. She had been spotted by Hollywood mogul David O Selznick, and although she accepted his invitation to come to the US, she refused to change her name or swap her natural beauty for a studio makeover. Throughout her five-decade career, Bergman remained fiercely independent, even as she was typecast as an unassailable 'good girl' in her movies. When, in the 1950s, she was banished from Hollywood and the United States for her affair with Italian film director Roberto Rossellini, she pivoted to European cinema, appearing in some of the best movies of her career. ..."



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Runaway Jury - Gary Fleder (2003)


"Runaway Jury is a 2003 American legal thriller film directed by Gary Fleder and starring John Cusack, Gene Hackman, Dustin Hoffman and Rachel Weisz. An adaptation of John Grisham's 1996 novel The Runaway Jury, the film pits lawyer Wendell Rohr (Hoffman) against shady jury consultant Rankin Fitch (Hackman), who uses unlawful means to stack the jury with people sympathetic to the defense. Meanwhile, a high-stakes cat-and-mouse game begins when juror Nicholas Easter (Cusack) and his girlfriend Marlee (Weisz) appear to be able to sway the jury to deliver any verdict they want in a trial against a gun manufacturer. ..."




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