Almost half of the children surveyed by Oxford University Press chose ‘Queen’ as their top word, with ‘happy’ and ‘chaos’ in second and third place
“Queen” has been chosen by young people as the Oxford children’s word of the year for 2022.
Almost half of children surveyed by Oxford University Press (OUP) chose “Queen” as their word of the year. In second place was “happy”, chosen by 36% of children, with “chaos” coming in third with 14% of the vote.
Continue reading...Dance company Marrugeku has put together a blistering Australian take on the hit song and video, taking in our colonial past and our treatment of refugees
When Childish Gambino’s song This s America was first released in 2018, its elaborately choreographed and racially loaded film clip inspired a storm of speculation as people tried to decode what likely became the most talked-about music video of all time. Which of the dance moves were based on Jim Crow caricatures? Is the shooting of the gospel choir a rejection of spiritual upliftment? Is the last shot a reference to Get Out? And just what did the galloping horse mean?
Then remakes began to stream in from around the world. This Is Iraq, This Is Sierra Leone, This Is Nigeria, This Is Barbados, This Is Malaysia: all tackling racial injustice, human rights abuses, political hypocrisy and greed through dance and song.
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Continue reading...The far-right Republican congresswoman was served with a cease-and-desist letter after she soundtracked a promotional video with his 1999 hit Still Dre
Dr Dre has successfully blocked Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene from using his music in any context to do with her political career after she used his 1999 hit Still Dre to soundtrack a promotional video.
In the nearly two-minute video, posted on 9 January with the caption, “It’s time to begin … and they can’t stop what’s coming”, the far-right Georgia lawmaker walks out of her office in slow motion to the familiar first notes of the song, which features Snoop Dogg.
Continue reading...Former Sex Pistol competing to represent Ireland with love letter to wife of 44 years who is living with the illness
John Lydon has said he is competing to represent Ireland at this year’s Eurovision song contest primarily in order to raise awareness of Alzheimer’s disease. The former Sex Pistols frontman (once known as Johnny Rotten) will appear with his band, Public Image Ltd, on the Late Late Show on 3 February, performing Hawaii, a love letter to his wife of 44 years, Nora Forster, who is living with the illness.
“I’m doing it to highlight the sheer torture of what Alzheimer’s is,” said the singer, who holds an Irish passport as well as US citizenship. “It gets swept under the carpet, but in highlighting it, hopefully we get a stage nearer to a cure.” Lydon insisted that spreading this message was much more important than competing to win, so he isn’t listening to the five other entrants.
Continue reading...Beck rose to fame with the Yardbirds before fronting the Jeff Beck Group and making forays into the jazz-fusion sound he pioneered
Jeff Beck, the celebrated guitarist who played with the Yardbirds and led the Jeff Beck Group, has died aged 78, his representative has confirmed.
Beck died on Tuesday after “suddenly contracting bacterial meningitis”, the representative confirmed. “His family ask for privacy while they process this tremendous loss,” they added.
Continue reading...Riverdance star has undergone surgery and is in care of doctors, according to Instagram account
Michael Flatley, best known for his Riverdance show, has been diagnosed with an “aggressive” form of cancer.
A post on the Irish dancer and director’s Instagram account said: “Michael Flatley has been diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer. He has undergone surgery and is in the care of an excellent team of doctors.”
Continue reading...Discovery of stuffed animals from central Africa and recordings from ‘human zoo’ inspires exhibition
It was when part of a Scarborough museum was being redeveloped more than a decade ago that builders found a blocked-up door. Behind it they discovered bags filled with asbestos and, under that, a collection of taxidermied animals that had been collected by a Victorian big game hunter and left to the museum.
Neglected, outdated and ethically problematic, the temptation may have been to shut the artefacts away again. Instead, the Scarborough Museums and Galleries opted to do something else with the archive bequeathed by Col James Harrison – some of it much more morally challenging than stuffed antelope heads.
Continue reading...The 80th annual ceremony saw a diverse slate of winners as host Jerrod Carmichael took shots at its troubled history
A year after going on mute – no red carpet, no stars, no television broadcast in 2022 – the Golden Globes returned to form at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles: open bottles of champagne, over time and overstretched, gesturing toward improving its longstanding diversity issues while taking shots from host Jerrod Carmichael.
The night’s big winners were The Fabelmans, Steven Spielberg’s semi-autobiographical family drama that also won him best director, and Martin McDonagh’s The Banshees of Inisherin, while the network darling Abbott Elementary, HBO’s prequel House of the Dragon and The White Lotus took home the top TV awards.
Continue reading...House of the Vettii features ornate and erotic friezes – and a fresco of the god Priapus with a huge phallus
An ornate house – containing a fresco featuring a huge phallus – that was owned by two freed men freed from slavery in the ancient city of Pompeii has reopened to the public.
The House of the Vettii was buried by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD74 before being rediscovered in a largely preserved state during excavations in the late 19th century.
Continue reading...American novelist wrote about rural working class communities and those who died trying to break out in his native north-east
Russell Banks, an award-winning fiction writer who rooted such novels as Affliction and The Sweet Hereafter in the wintry, rural communities of his native north-east and imagined the dreams and downfalls of everyone from modern blue-collar workers to the radical abolitionist John Brown, has died. He was 82.
Banks, a professor emeritus at Princeton University, died Saturday in upstate New York, his editor, Dan Halpern, told the Associated Press. Banks was being treated for cancer, Halpern said.
Continue reading...New York Times suggests Spare could be one of most divisive celebrity memoirs as comedians and talkshow hosts weigh in
Concern, comedy, and confusion – Prince Harry’s upcoming book has generated different reactions across the US, his adopted home country.
Excerpts from the autobiography Spare were leaked last week with bombshell revelations, including an alleged physical assault by his brother William; the brothers requesting that their father, now King Charles, not marry Camilla; and Harry’s apparent killing of 25 Taliban soldiers while serving in the British army in Afghanistan.
Continue reading...Organisers plough on with plans after Brexit meant Leeds missed chance to be European capital of culture
When Leeds was denied its chance to become European capital of culture in 2023 due to Brexit, it should have been the killing blow to what it had been hoped would be a massive year-long cultural celebration.
But, refusing to be beaten, cultural leaders ploughed ahead regardless, and now almost a decade of planning and ideating will culminate on Saturday in the launch of Leeds 2023, the city-wide cultural festival.
Continue reading...American withdrew after recording guest vocals on the Mancunian’s yet-to-be-released new record
Morrissey has spoken out after Miley Cyrus dropped out of a guest spot on his upcoming album, denying the singer had done so over his political stances, which he said are “most certainly not far right”.
In a lengthy statement posted on Thursday, the former frontman of the Smiths also attacked “cancel vultures” and alleged the existence of a campaign to “put [him] out of circulation”.
Continue reading...Col Tim Collins says ‘we don’t do notches on rifle butt’ and kill-count talk could increase Harry’s personal security risk
High-profile British veterans have criticised the Duke of Sussex’s claim he had killed 25 Taliban soldiers while serving with the British army in Afghanistan and warned the high-profile admission could increase the risk to his personal security.
The retired army veteran Col Tim Collins, best known for delivering a rousing speech before the start of the Iraq war in 2003, said the prince’s kill-count talk was crass and “we don’t do notches on the rifle butt”.
Continue reading...One of Tokyo’s most famous buildings was dismantled in April due to asbestos fears. Now 23 of the capsules have been saved for posterity
Tatsuyuki Maeda had more reason than most to feel a pang of regret as he joined admirers and passing office workers to watch Nakagin Capsule Tower being dismantled.
The building was not just one of Tokyo’s most famous structures; for more than a decade it had been Maeda’s occasional home – a pied-à-terre in the heart of the city he had coveted since he first set eyes on it from his nearby workplace.
Continue reading...Lockdowns were good news for book trade as people read more and sought out bookshops when they reopened
The number of independent bookshops in the UK and Ireland climbed to a 10-year high in 2022, as the book trade defied the odds in an otherwise brutal year for high street retailers.
The lifestyle changes brought about by the coronavirus pandemic lockdowns were a boon for the book trade, as Britons with more time on their hands read more and sought out bookshops when they reopened.
Continue reading...The English Australian actor, who had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, died at home in Sydney in December
Neighbours and A Country Practice actor Joan Sydney has died at the age of 83.
The English Australian actor, who had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, died at her Sydney home on 28 December. Her long-time friend and fellow actor Sally-Anne Upton confirmed the news on social media on Friday.
Continue reading...With only six months worth of funding left, library’s director general faces ‘very big decisions’ on the future of Trove
The future of Trove, the National Library of Australia’s expansive public digital archives, is in doubt with just six months funding left, with the library’s director general revealing that it is facing “very, very big decisions” in the next few months, if the government does not step in with funding.
Trove, a free online resource used by thousands of researchers, academics and members of the public, receives more than 20m hits each year. It has been treading water for the past six years, drip-fed by the federal government to the tune of about $5m annually.
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Continue reading...Removing sculptures from Greece was like ‘removing Eiffel Tower from Paris’, says actor
The removal of the Parthenon sculptures from Athens was akin to removing the Eiffel Tower from Paris or Stonehenge from Salisbury, Stephen Fry has said, as he called for the return of the classic Greek sculptures to their country of origin.
The actor and writer, who has been advocating for the return of the sculptures held at the British Museum in London, said there was a “win-win” solution to the centuries-old debate over ownership of the Parthenon marbles. He called for a cultural partnership under which other incredible Greek artefacts would be exhibited in the UK for the first time.
Continue reading...Gaelic origins of Icelandic words and landmarks challenge orthodox view of Viking heritage, says author
According to folklore, a Gaelic-speaking warrior queen called Aud was among Iceland’s earliest settlers. Her story is central to an emerging theory that Scottish and Irish Celts played a far bigger role in Iceland’s history than realised.
A book by Thorvaldur Fridriksson, an Icelandic archaeologist and journalist, argues that Gaelic-speaking Celtic settlers from Ireland and western Scotland had a profound impact on the Icelandic language, landscape and early literature.
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