An illustrators memories of meals gone by in pictures | Art and design
An illustrator’s memories of meals gone by – in pictures Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share via Email “Food is a big thing in my family,” says illustratorMaggie Cowles. “Growing up in New York, we’d to go to Chinatown all the time; family gatherings always happened in the kitchen.” She tries to capture that warmth of community and cooking in her elaborate dinner-table illustrations, evoking what she calls “food memory”.
Bronze Age pyramid found in Ukraine | World news
World newsBronze Age pyramid found in UkraineArchaeologists in Ukraine have unearthed the remains of an ancient pyramidal structure that pre-dates those in Egypt by at least 300 years. The stone foundations of the structure, which probably resembled Aztec and Mayan ziggurats in South America, were discovered near the eastern city of Lugansk.
It is thought they were laid about five millennia ago during the early Bronze Age by animists who worshipped a sun god.
Cahokia Jazz by Francis Spufford review fabulously rich noir
Book of the dayBooksReviewThe Golden Hill author turns his hand to the detective genre in a multilayered reimagining of 1920s America
Francis Spufford’s fabulous third novel is a piece of pulp fiction disguised as speculative history, or possibly vice versa: the tale plays both sides and switches lanes in a blur. It is set in an alternative 1920s America that is recognisable at the edges and unfamiliar at its core, centred on a First Nations people who have avoided the worst effects of manifest destiny to maintain a toehold of power in the febrile midwest.
Flung pickle token: artist asks $10,000 for McDonalds burger ingredient | Art
Matthew Griffin’s ‘Pickle’, 2022, an artwork exhibited in Auckland that comes from a McDonald’s cheeseburger Photograph: Courtesy of the Matthew Griffin and Fine Arts, Sydney.Matthew Griffin’s ‘Pickle’, 2022, an artwork exhibited in Auckland that comes from a McDonald’s cheeseburger Photograph: Courtesy of the Matthew Griffin and Fine Arts, Sydney.ArtFlung pickle token: artist asks $10,000 for McDonald’s burger ingredientNew Zealanders’ verdicts divided between ‘genius’ and ‘moronic’ as Auckland gallery exhibits fermented vegetable on ceiling
How the Finnish lifestyle of getting drunk while wearing pants became the new hygge
And… relax: the Finnish path to happiness relies on ‘kalsarikänni’, a term that literally means ‘drinking at home, alone, in your underwear’. Illustration: Phil Hackett/The ObserverAnd… relax: the Finnish path to happiness relies on ‘kalsarikänni’, a term that literally means ‘drinking at home, alone, in your underwear’. Illustration: Phil Hackett/The ObserverSelf and wellbeingLife and styleMany of us are familiar with the idea of stripping to our pants, opening a beer and watching TV.
Sex With Strangers review snowbound tale of books and bonking
TheatreReviewHampstead theatre, London
Emilia Fox and Theo James star in Laura Eason’s two-hander about an implausible relationship between writers in a Michigan B&B
The title is certainly titillating. However, Laura Eason’s intimate two-hander, first seen at Chicago’s Steppenwolf theatre in 2011, promises more than it delivers. It is as much about literary life and artificial identities as about sex.
It starts in a snowbound Michigan B&B that acts as a bolt-hole for reclusive writers.
The playlist: Christmas jazz Billie Holiday, Chet Baker, Miles Davis and more | Jazz
The playlistJazzThe playlist: Christmas jazz – Billie Holiday, Chet Baker, Miles Davis and moreA festive 10-song special, from White Christmas and an all-star version of Winter Wonderland to a capricious take on Santa Claus Is Coming to Town Billie Holiday – I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me WarmBillie Holiday, who died in 1959 at the age of 44, transformed the pop singing of her era and beyond. (Frank Sinatra regarded her to be his biggest influence).
Trump allies behind January 6 also leading Biden impeachment, says watchdog | Donald Trump
Donald TrumpTrump allies behind January 6 also leading Biden impeachment, says watchdogExclusive: Report says former president’s loyalists in the House, including Mike Johnson and Jim Jordan, continue to push 2020 election lies
The attempted US coup of 6 January 2021, never ended, according to a watchdog report, since the same Donald Trump allies behind that insurrection are now leading a sham impeachment effort against Joe Biden.
The report, marking three years since a mob of Trump supporters ransacked the US Capitol in a bid to overturn his election defeat, was produced by the Congressional Integrity Project and obtained by the Guardian.
A Stroke of the Pen: The Lost Stories by Terry Pratchett review a fantasists formative years
The ObserverTerry PratchettReviewThe Discworld creator’s short tales from the 70s and 80s reveal a young talent bursting with invention and wit
When Terry Pratchett’s first Discworld novel appeared, it was a revelation. Just as Douglas Adams shifted the foundations of sci-fi, Pratchett rejuvenated fantasy. Fantasy can boast world-beating authors, but hungry readers have also had to suffer portentous tales of men with swords declaiming at one another across prose that takes half a page to say: “Yeah, but are you a werewolf, though?
Choked by Beth Gardiner review the toxic truth about the air we breathe
Book of the weekScience and nature booksReviewDiesel fumes in London, smog in Indian and Chinese cities … a global survey of air pollution explores the fight for a cleaner future
Ambient air pollution, like smoking, can seldom be definitively linked to individual cases of debility or premature death, but it greatly increases the risks. In Choked, Beth Gardiner reports that it cuts short about 7 million lives worldwide every year. Recent research suggests the actual number is closer to 9 million, or roughly one in nine of all deaths.