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The big picture: Robbie Lawrence’s search for the tartan spirit
Sun, 02 Jun 2024 06:00:24 GMT
The photographer’s shot of girls at the Highland Games was taken during five years visiting traditional gatherings
I’m not aware of a Highland Games prize for the neatest hair bun, but if there were one, this row of contenders would take on all-comers. The picture is included in Robbie Lawrence’s Long Walk Home, a double volume of photographs that are the result of five years of travels in Scotland and Scottish outposts in the US in search of the true tartan spirit of Highland gatherings. “Every event I photographed,” Lawrence writes by way of introduction, “whether on a dusty sports field in Denver, or at the local park in Burntisland, is at its core a coming together of friends and family to enjoy sports, dance and music.”
To begin with, on this quest, Lawrence hoped to strip away the myth-making, to look beneath the kilt of the games, to capture something like their authentic nature. He abandoned that idea, however. Instead, his pictures of grunting caber tossers and spry country dancers, and pipe bands emerging from dreich summer weather, became an attempt “to engage with the myriad of fabricated ideas surrounding the modern Highland Games”, the ways in which those rooted in glens by daily fact or inherited memory find joy in their Scottishness.
Long Walk Home is published at the end of the month by Stanley/Barker (£75 for a double volume)
Continue reading...From magical moonlit swims to midnight hikes and listening to owls, I have embraced my insomnia and discovered the joy of ‘night journeys’
As I slip out of my clothes, my stomach pinches with fear. The beach – Pevensey Bay in East Sussex – is inky black and eerily empty. The sound of slurping seawater seems noisier than usual, the air smells brinier than it does during the day, and the night breeze feels cool and sharp.
My previous efforts at night swimming have been unsuccessful – the current too strong, the waves too wild, my imagination too extravagant. But tonight I’m determined. My daughter Imogen shouts to encourage me and the emergence of a full moon steadies my nerves. Within moments I am bobbing about amid glittering moonshine, laughing and gasping, and wondering why it has taken me half a century to do something as simple and magical as a moonlit dip.
Continue reading...Keir Starmer launched his campaign bus on Saturday with his senior shadow cabinet members, but Tory ‘big beasts’ appeared to have deserted the PM in Redcar
We may be in an era when elections are fought with TikTok memes and Instagram reels, but one thing has stubbornly refused to give way in the digital age: the good old battle of the campaign buses. On Saturday, Rishi Sunak unveiled the Conservatives’ bus that will tour the country during the 2024 election, emblazoned with the slogan: “Clear plan. Bold action. Secure future.”
It is – arguably – a slightly snappier version of John Major’s bus in 1997, which bore the words: “You can only be sure with the Conservatives.”
Continue reading...At Gerry’s the sandwich is elevated to a noble art, so roll up your sleeves and get stuck in
Gerry’s Hot Sub Deli, 50 Exmouth Market, London EC1R 4QE. Sandwiches £8.25-£13.50, poutine £6.75-£10.70, dessert £4.25, wine £6.95 a glass, beer £3.95 a half pint
Happiness is a handful of lunch and dressing running down your forearms. Certainly, anything that demands to be eaten alongside a roll of kitchen paper deserves to be taken seriously. By these criteria, which I’ve just invented, but now cleave to like holy scripture, the food at Gerry’s Hot Subs on London’s Exmouth Market deserves to be taken very seriously indeed. Lunch there is messy. Prepare to wipe yourself down afterwards or even nip home for a shower. But my, it’s good. The fact is, everybody can make themselves a sandwich, but you don’t want just anybody to make one for you. The frame is so very tight: some form of bread as vehicle for everything else. It demands a compulsive interest in detail combined with a profound understanding of what will make for a single, multi-textured mouthful. Followed by another and another.
Continue reading...A family of four can pay £176 to see the latest immersive experience – one of many that is putting a strain on families hit by the cost of living crisis
As half-term drew to a close in England, families short on inspiration might have been grateful to learn of a new day out: on Friday, the Paddington Bear Experience opened its doors in London, promising a “unique and fun-filled interactive experience” spanning more than 2,400 sq metres (26,000 sq ft) and including themed rooms, character interactions – and marmalade sandwiches.
But the experience comes at a cost: with weekend ticket prices of £49 for adults and £39 for children, a family of four can expect to pay £176 for the 70-minute event – and a lot more should they wish to peruse the books, games and toys available to buy in Mr Gruber’s antiques shop afterwards.
Continue reading...India is in the final stages of a general election, and almost one billion people are registered to vote. The country's prime minister ,Narendra Modi, has been in power for more than 10 years, and his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) is seeking a third term.
But critics of Modi and the BJP say his government has become increasingly authoritarian, fracturing the country along religious lines and threatening India’s secular democracy. At the same time, the space for freedom of speech has been shrinking while disinformation and hate speech has exploded on social media.
The Guardian’s video team travelled through India to explore how fake news and censorship might be shaping the outcome of the election
Brian Krebs reports on research into geolocating routers:
Apple and the satellite-based broadband service Starlink each recently took steps to address new research into the potential security and privacy implications of how their services geolocate devices. Researchers from the University of Maryland say they relied on publicly available data from Apple to track the location of billions of devices globally—including non-Apple devices like Starlink systems—and found they could use this data to monitor the destruction of Gaza, as well as the movements and in many cases identities of Russian and Ukrainian troops...
Is this what the “pro-life” movement wanted?
The post Sterilization, Murders, Suicides: Bans Haven’t Slowed Abortions, and They’re Costing Lives appeared first on The Intercept.
ICC warrants against Israeli officials would mean they can’t travel — and their patrons in the U.S. would be pressured over continued arms sales.
The post Can a U.S. Ally Actually Be Held Accountable for War Crimes in the ICC? appeared first on The Intercept.
Thinking about visiting Denmark? From saying hello, to talking about owls in the bog, here’s how learning a little local lingo can enhance your trip and leave you feeling like an egg yolk …
OK, we’ll admit it. Danish isn’t the easiest language to learn – pronouncing certain words involves some invigorating tongue gymnastics and a talent for gulping down glottal stops. With just 6 million native speakers, Danish hardly matches widely spoken Mandarin (941 million speakers) or Spanish (486 million speakers) either.
But mastering a few basics – how to order a coffee or commenting on the weather by talking about windswept pelicans (seriously, read on) – can deeply enrich your experience when visiting Denmark. The Danes are a convivial bunch and will truly appreciate your efforts getting to grips with their Old Norse-descended syntax (no matter how foolish you may feel). Try to speak Danish in a snug cafe or pub and it could lead to some illuminating conversations and lifelong friendships. Heck, you might even be able to watch an episode of The Killing/Borgen with the subtitles off when you get back home too …
Continue reading...From biking adventures to city breaks, get inspiration for your next break – whether in the UK or further afield – with twice-weekly emails from the Guardian’s travel editors. You’ll also receive handpicked offers from Guardian Holidays.
From biking adventures to city breaks, get inspiration for your next break – whether in the UK or further afield – with twice-weekly emails from the Guardian’s travel editors.
You’ll also receive handpicked offers from Guardian Holidays.
Continue reading...The megadonor’s plan for a $25 million research center at Cornell fell apart. So he took his money to Texas A&M.
The post Leonard Leo Built the Conservative Court. Now He’s Funneling Dark Money Into Law Schools. appeared first on The Intercept.
The art gallery boss on the role of museums today, the politics of sponsorship and how Cornelia Parker influenced her decision-making
Maria Balshaw, 54, has been the director of Tate since 2017, the first woman to hold the position. She grew up in Northampton, and after university worked as an academic. In 2002, she switched careers, as the director of Creative Partnerships, a government programme that aimed to develop creativity in young people by bringing schools and artists together. In 2006, she became the director of the Whitworth in Manchester, where she oversaw a building project that doubled its space; in 2011, she took on the role of director of Manchester City Galleries as well. In 2015, she was made a CBE. Her new book, Gathering of Strangers: Why Museums Matter, is based on the lectures she gave in 2022 at Murray Edwards College, Cambridge, when she was Slade professor of fine art.
Did you change your mind about anything while you were working on this book?
Yes. It helped me firm up my thoughts on things where our intention was good, but we didn’t get it right, like the Hogarth show [Hogarth and Europe, in 2022, widely criticised for its disapproving, culture wars tone]. We were too didactic, and we’ve learned from that. I’ve started to understand that the problem with the [museum] paradigm is that you’re supposed to be the authority. Actually, what’s more useful is not to be frightened of your expertise while also accepting that others will want different positions and views, too.
“It’s hard to see this wildly disproportionate response as anything other than an attempt to chill speech on this issue.”
The post Columbia Coincidentally Rewrites Disciplinary Rules Just in Time to Screw Over Student Protesters appeared first on The Intercept.
Is this what the “pro-life” movement wanted?
The post Sterilization, Murders, Suicides: Bans Haven’t Slowed Abortions, and They’re Costing Lives appeared first on The Intercept.
Spike Island, Bristol; Tate Britain, London
Illness, racism and mortality are indelibly fused – on film, with X-rays and his own body – in a superb survey of work by the late British artist Donald Rodney. Elsewhere, carnival is outshone by church
Years ago, I saw a work by the British-Jamaican artist Donald Rodney that I have never forgotten. It was a house of dark shadows on a wall, configured out of hospital X-rays. In front of it sat a faceless figure, not much more than tattered clothes held up by a broken tree that rose like a spine – or a lynching – out of its frayed shirt collar.
Scissors, words and hands appeared in pale silhouette against the X-rays, intimating the past like a silent movie. Rodney referred to his Black family tree, his ancestral home. The House That Jack Built was made, quite literally, from medical evidence of the disease that would eventually kill him, as it had been fatal to the 75 million Black souls remembered here: Caribbean victims of sickle cell anaemia.
Continue reading...Janhvi Kapoor plays a medical student with the prospect of a pro career in the game, with Rajkummar Rao as the husband who coaches her
Hindi cinema has thus far spent 2024 in retreat, its commercial failures compounded by a successful run of south Indian crowdpleasers. Timed with Kohli-like precision to arrive at the conclusion of the IPL, this gentle cricket-themed romance may not be enough to overturn the prevailing industry narrative; it comes on like a brisk middle-order batter, fifty compiled after heavier hitters have gone for a duck. Yet director Sharan Sharma locates a palpable emotional heartbeat within the material while following a sound gameplan: deliver two hours of absorbing storytelling with admirable stars on solid form. Like the sport the film describes, this movie business is simpler than it often looks.
As with 2019’s sly charmer Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga, everything starts with Rajkummar Rao and a bait-and-switch of sorts. It opens as just a boys’ story, with Rao’s petulant club player Mahendra blowing a crucial trial game by hogging the final-over strike. An equally nondescript career in sporting goods awaits, until his wedding-night recognition that Mahima (Janhvi Kapoor), the distractible med student he’s been offloaded onto by exasperated parents, knows cricket better than he does and furthermore bats far better than he ever could. What follows, as Mahendra pivots to coaching and nudges his wife towards the spotlight, is a small monument to partnership building.
Continue reading...The fitness coach talks about tubs of ice-cream, pints of coke, cleaning the dishes and getting the workouts out of the way
Up early? Usually 7.30am – not super early. I get up and do my workouts to get them out of the way.
Advice for Sunday slobs? If you’re hectic and stressed through the week, you should see the weekend as a chance to exercise, prep meals and get an early night, because what you do on the weekend determines how you feel on Monday.
Were Sundays always healthy? No. Years ago I’d be coming out of a nightclub at 3am. I met my wife, Rosie, at a rave. I like a day on the sofa watching movies, having a cuddle, but it’s not like when we had one baby who slept all day. The kids demand attention.
What are you watching? Rosie and I just watched Baby Reindeer. But with the kids – a five-year-old, a four-year-old, a one-year-old and one on the way – we’re more likely to be watching Kung Fu Panda or princess films on Disney.
What are you eating? I might make an egg and bacon sandwich for breakfast. I love going out for a good Sunday roast with a pint of coke and a sticky toffee pudding. I’m quite greedy and could do a tub of Ben & Jerry’s in a single sitting. But not every day!
Sunday housework? I have to clean repeatedly. I’ll do breakfast, maybe a recipe, share a video, then do lunch… And I work from home. And Rosie works from home, too. I can’t keep up with all the cleaning.
Sunday arguments? I’m good at cleaning the dishes, the bowls, the cups. But I get bored and lose attention with the knives and forks. And I’ll leave clothes in a pile on the chair, because I might change my outfit three times a day…
Sunday me-time? If the sun’s shining, I’ll go out for an hour or two on the motorbike – I’ve got a Triumph cruiser.
It is the competition that Real Madrid like to think they own and the reasons why were mapped out in graphic detail at Wembley. Yet again. Borussia Dortmund brought the punch of the underdog and they played with a stirring liberation in the first half, creating chances and, well, missing them. It was impossible to think they would not regret it.
Madrid reset at half-time and when they started to press, everybody knew they had seen this movie, especially the ending. If Vinícius Júnior was a symbol of Madrid’s travails in the first half – booked for a lunge at the Dortmund goalkeeper, Gregor Kobel; guilty of a lack of conviction, at times – he relocated his game to dazzling effect thereafter.
Continue reading...
Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are the most popular digital assets today, capturing the attention of cryptocurrency investors, whales and people from around the world. People find it amazing that some users spend thousands or millions of dollars on a single NFT-based image of a monkey or other token, but you can simply take a screenshot for free. So here we share some freuently asked question about NFTs.
NFT stands for non-fungible token, which is a cryptographic token on a blockchain with unique identification codes that distinguish it from other tokens. NFTs are unique and not interchangeable, which means no two NFTs are the same. NFTs can be a unique artwork, GIF, Images, videos, Audio album. in-game items, collectibles etc.
A blockchain is a distributed digital ledger that allows for the secure storage of data. By recording any kind of information—such as bank account transactions, the ownership of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), or Decentralized Finance (DeFi) smart contracts—in one place, and distributing it to many different computers, blockchains ensure that data can’t be manipulated without everyone in the system being aware.
The value of an NFT comes from its ability to be traded freely and securely on the blockchain, which is not possible with other current digital ownership solutionsThe NFT points to its location on the blockchain, but doesn’t necessarily contain the digital property. For example, if you replace one bitcoin with another, you will still have the same thing. If you buy a non-fungible item, such as a movie ticket, it is impossible to replace it with any other movie ticket because each ticket is unique to a specific time and place.
One of the unique characteristics of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) is that they can be tokenised to create a digital certificate of ownership that can be bought, sold and traded on the blockchain.
As with crypto-currency, records of who owns what are stored on a ledger that is maintained by thousands of computers around the world. These records can’t be forged because the whole system operates on an open-source network.
NFTs also contain smart contracts—small computer programs that run on the blockchain—that give the artist, for example, a cut of any future sale of the token.
Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) aren't cryptocurrencies, but they do use blockchain technology. Many NFTs are based on Ethereum, where the blockchain serves as a ledger for all the transactions related to said NFT and the properties it represents.5) How to make an NFT?
Anyone can create an NFT. All you need is a digital wallet, some ethereum tokens and a connection to an NFT marketplace where you’ll be able to upload and sell your creations
When you purchase a stock in NFT, that purchase is recorded on the blockchain—the bitcoin ledger of transactions—and that entry acts as your proof of ownership.
The value of an NFT varies a lot based on the digital asset up for grabs. People use NFTs to trade and sell digital art, so when creating an NFT, you should consider the popularity of your digital artwork along with historical statistics.
In the year 2021, a digital artist called Pak created an artwork called The Merge. It was sold on the Nifty Gateway NFT market for $91.8 million.
Non-fungible tokens can be used in investment opportunities. One can purchase an NFT and resell it at a profit. Certain NFT marketplaces let sellers of NFTs keep a percentage of the profits from sales of the assets they create.
Many people want to buy NFTs because it lets them support the arts and own something cool from their favorite musicians, brands, and celebrities. NFTs also give artists an opportunity to program in continual royalties if someone buys their work. Galleries see this as a way to reach new buyers interested in art.
There are many places to buy digital assets, like opensea and their policies vary. On top shot, for instance, you sign up for a waitlist that can be thousands of people long. When a digital asset goes on sale, you are occasionally chosen to purchase it.
To mint an NFT token, you must pay some amount of gas fee to process the transaction on the Etherum blockchain, but you can mint your NFT on a different blockchain called Polygon to avoid paying gas fees. This option is available on OpenSea and this simply denotes that your NFT will only be able to trade using Polygon's blockchain and not Etherum's blockchain. Mintable allows you to mint NFTs for free without paying any gas fees.
The answer is no. Non-Fungible Tokens are minted on the blockchain using cryptocurrencies such as Etherum, Solana, Polygon, and so on. Once a Non-Fungible Token is minted, the transaction is recorded on the blockchain and the contract or license is awarded to whoever has that Non-Fungible Token in their wallet.
You can sell your work and creations by attaching a license to it on the blockchain, where its ownership can be transferred. This lets you get exposure without losing full ownership of your work. Some of the most successful projects include Cryptopunks, Bored Ape Yatch Club NFTs, SandBox, World of Women and so on. These NFT projects have gained popularity globally and are owned by celebrities and other successful entrepreneurs. Owning one of these NFTs gives you an automatic ticket to exclusive business meetings and life-changing connections.
That’s a wrap. Hope you guys found this article enlightening. I just answer some question with my limited knowledge about NFTs. If you have any questions or suggestions, feel free to drop them in the comment section below. Also I have a question for you, Is bitcoin an NFTs? let me know in The comment section below
The fitness coach talks about tubs of ice-cream, pints of coke, cleaning the dishes and getting the workouts out of the way
Up early? Usually 7.30am – not super early. I get up and do my workouts to get them out of the way.
Advice for Sunday slobs? If you’re hectic and stressed through the week, you should see the weekend as a chance to exercise, prep meals and get an early night, because what you do on the weekend determines how you feel on Monday.
Were Sundays always healthy? No. Years ago I’d be coming out of a nightclub at 3am. I met my wife, Rosie, at a rave. I like a day on the sofa watching movies, having a cuddle, but it’s not like when we had one baby who slept all day. The kids demand attention.
What are you watching? Rosie and I just watched Baby Reindeer. But with the kids – a five-year-old, a four-year-old, a one-year-old and one on the way – we’re more likely to be watching Kung Fu Panda or princess films on Disney.
What are you eating? I might make an egg and bacon sandwich for breakfast. I love going out for a good Sunday roast with a pint of coke and a sticky toffee pudding. I’m quite greedy and could do a tub of Ben & Jerry’s in a single sitting. But not every day!
Sunday housework? I have to clean repeatedly. I’ll do breakfast, maybe a recipe, share a video, then do lunch… And I work from home. And Rosie works from home, too. I can’t keep up with all the cleaning.
Sunday arguments? I’m good at cleaning the dishes, the bowls, the cups. But I get bored and lose attention with the knives and forks. And I’ll leave clothes in a pile on the chair, because I might change my outfit three times a day…
Sunday me-time? If the sun’s shining, I’ll go out for an hour or two on the motorbike – I’ve got a Triumph cruiser.
Freewheel around Scandinavia’s capital of cycling and discover the greenest way to see Denmark
Denmark is a haven for cyclists of all abilities, with 11,000km of marked cycle routes to ride. From adventurous cycling on multi-day trips that take in the country’s most varied scenery, to day trips and wine tours, these are the country’s best bike routes for everyone, from hobbyists to expert-level athletes.
To make it extra easy, accommodation options line the routes, including simple campsites and shelters, run by the Danish Nature Agency and offered for free or almost free, as well as B&Bs and hotels especially set up for cyclists, with bike rooms, e-bike charging stations and rooms made available for fixing your bike as you go. Aktiv Danmark has a list of bike-friendly accommodation and there is also a group of Danish Bike Hotels that have bike facilities. Bike rental is available in major cities and towns all over the country.
The Harbour Circle
Start in Denmark’s capital with this 13km cycling route around the main harbour. It’s easy to fit into a short break, and takes in Copenhagen’s harbour swimming spots, waterside wine bars such as Rosforth & Rosforth, major attractions such as the colourful Nyhavn waterfront, and off-the-beaten-track treasures such as Cafe Slusen, where you can eat sardines from the tin and sip beer with a calm view of the entire harbour.
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