Inevitably the steady slumber of Kanye West’s video for his song ‘Famous’, the repeated inhalations and exhalations, the subtle grabs for the bedsheets, the settling oneself on pillows, the occasional whinny and snore, have been disrupted by louder noises of condemnation as the preeminent artist of his generation once more finds his way to the altar of controversy, and at the…
Aries (20 March – 19 April) You’ve always considered yourself a touchy-feely kind of person, but this month when a damp hand finds your nether region you may wonder to yourself, was this really our anniversary? * * * Taurus (19 April – 20 May) Stressful times call for modes of release, but squirting the cream canister so firmly makes the…
With the WWE brand split just weeks away the company’s writing staff, mentally stretched at the best of times, are reported to have succumbed to mad panic as they struggle to determine which of their alleged superstars will feature on Raw, and which on a reconfigured Smackdown, which for the first time will emanate live on Tuesday nights from the…
First as Secretary of State for Education and now as the chief architect of Brexit, in the public consciousness Michael Gove basks in the rosy glow of a Britain long since passed. O-levels, the Commonwealth, even the Australia from which Gove would derive his points-based immigration system, all these are twentieth-century constructs, but ask any one of Gove’s closest allies and…
As she outlined her credentials and sought to shrug off claims that the next Prime Minister of the United Kingdom must be he who can loudest shout ‘Brexit!’, Theresa May admitted that bitterness and strife are the way of today’s Conservative Party, pointing the finger squarely at asylum seekers and immigrants. Brushing aside questions about her rival Michael Gove – suggesting that ‘What…
Did you know that the piñata isn’t only a Mexican custom? A conflux of Mesoamerican tradition and Chino-European celebration which was once commonly associated with Lent, hitting decorated papier-mâché with a stick in order to release candy or other goodies is part of the culture throughout much of Latin America. And when Mexico exited the Copa América Centenario at the quarter-final stage, succumbing 7-0…
She wasn’t supposed to be here today. Back in the summer of 2007, as a fledgeling 19-year-old songstress without a record to her name, Adele – who suffers from stage fright and anxiety attacks – played in front of a handful of people at Glastonbury tucked away inside the confines of the Guardian tent, an experience she’d sooner forget than…
The year 2016 is turning into a lot of different things to a lot of different people. But collectively it provides us with an all-too-rare chance to witness a Strawberry Moon, so let’s come together this one night only, toss off our robes, wash our hair in the river, and get down to party! What is this Strawberry Moon? The Strawberry Moon was…
A man who had scarcely considered the words ‘modern’ or ‘art’ before, never mind in the same phrase or sentence, reported a distressing experience at the newly expanded Tate Modern after staring hopelessly for five hours at the Seagram Murals by Mark Rothko. Tate Modern recently unveiled the Switch House, a monolithic extension designed by Herzog & de Meuron and built…
A ‘Walk for Peace’ through the heart of Kenya’s Rift Valley was rudely interrupted in the early hours of this morning by the bellowing voice and pulsing veins of Dick Pound, former president and ongoing associate of the world anti-doping agency WADA. The walk – which aimed to calm a spate of cattle rustling and other bovine-related violence across Kenya’s northern regions…
