Я люблю Индию (хотя из этих писем могло показаться, будто это не так). Индия лучится благодатью и красотой… Но – я не люблю людей, которые населяют эту страну, я не раз уже писал об этом, и теперь скажу снова: большинство жителей Индии не достойны того, чтобы жить здесь... Текст: Глеб Давыдов, фото: mo, Глеб Давыдов
“Индусы” как нация это, в принципе, большая условность, фикция. Индию с древнейших времен населяют народы и племена, которые почти не в состоянии друг друга понять. Поэтому и до сих пор многие “индусы” говорят друг с другом исключительно на английском. Текст: Глеб Давыдов, Фото: mo и Глеб Давыдов
Вперед, вперед, ввысь, в суккумвитские переулки. Перехожу дорогу, распугиваю прохожих, одного хватаю за плечо и медленно поворачиваю к себе, он, конечно, шокирован, бедный. Да, друг, мне тебя искренне жаль, но мне надо кое-что понять. Всматриваюсь в лицо, кропотливо так исследую сантиметры желтеющей кожи, анализирую разрез глаз, мимику. Фото: mo и Глеб Давыдов, текст: Михаил Побирский
…в моих мечтах Панама – это шляпа волшебника, где умещается все, что угодно… вновь перечисляю себе, как гармоничны здесь: традиционная панамка и бейсболка из США, доллар и монета бальбоа, колье Swarovski и кольцо в носу индейской женщины... Фото и текст: Розалина Курлова
Растрепанные садду, начинающие йоги, нищие калеки, торговцы, пилигримы, бэкпекеры, наркоманы, святые, грязные коровы, собаки, бабочки – все сплелось здесь в единый разноцветный водоворот. Ришикеш, да и вся вообще Индия – это ад, куда осознанно спускаются самые святые и неосознанно тянутся самые убогие… И те, и другие – в поисках света. Фото и текст: Глеб Давыдов и mo
Ken’s sweater is all done, but for the making up, and the neckband. Honestly, I can point at a million projects of my youth and tell you that the number one thing that stood between me and greatness back then … Continue reading
Yesterday was dreadful. I was a misery case for much of the day – no need to go into any details, I’m pretty sure we’d all have no trouble thinking up a few good reasons to feel crappy at present, … Continue reading
Years ago I saw this thing – I think it was a dogs alleged diary contrasted with a cats. The dog is all “8:45, eating breakfast, my favourite thing! 9:15, going in the backyard, my favourite thing! 9:30, I see … Continue reading
Once up on a time, back when we all took buses, I would see people sitting on the bus and I would boggle at how they were doing it. I don’t mean riding the bus, I was riding the bus … Continue reading
I know that from the outside looking in, I probably appear to be a pretty structured person, but the truth is that I’m always right on the edge of slipping into total chaos over here, and only the rigorous controls … Continue reading
It was predictable, I suppose that I would be challenged by this time. Not just working my way through grief- but the challenge so many of us are dealing with – where all of a sudden you’re locked in your … Continue reading
I’m running a little behind, I know. I should have shown you Elliot’s Sweater last week, and then yesterday we could have talked about Easter (what a weird one, eh?) and then today I should be showing you some spinning … Continue reading
Who am I kidding. Not only am I not back in the saddle, I am unclear on where the horse I am supposed to put the saddle on might have got to. I try really hard not to be the … Continue reading
This has been one of the hardest things of my life to write about. To find the words that match the experience we have just had, that Meg and Alex have had… I have thought so much about it. I … Continue reading
It is with broken hearts that our family tells you that our darling Charlotte Bonnie died suddenly yesterday morning. Though we only had two days with our beautiful girl, she has left the mark of a lifetime. We ask for … Continue reading
People who love boozers always said it was the atmosphere, not the alcohol, that attracted them. The lockdown has proved us right
Some forgotten heroes – or mistreated victims, if you prefer – of the coronavirus outbreak are pubs. People who love pubs always said it was the atmosphere, not the alcohol, and people who didn’t love them thought we were just spinning them a line. Now we have proof, because we are drinking as much as we ever did and yet we complain almost constantly.
That debate has ended, anyway, because the people who miss pubs now talk only to each other. We start off complaining about the pub, then segue, almost shyly, into: “Are you managing to drink quite a lot?” “Jesus Christ, you should see the state of my recycling bin. It only got collected two days ago. Today I had to climb into it to compress the cans with my body weight.” “I actually can’t carry as much beer as I want to drink,” said one friend. “One night, I ended up buying a bottle of gin.”
Zoe Williams is a Guardian columnist
Continue reading...I have always maintained a professional relationship with my two female lodgers but spending more time together recently led to a lapse in judgment
I share my house with two female lodgers. We’re all single at the moment but we have always maintained a professional relationship with each other. In the current circumstances, we are obviously spending more time together. The other week, the inevitable happened. After a few drinks, I ended up getting intimate with one of them on the sofa. The following day, she didn’t bat an eyelid but we agreed to put it down to too many beers.
The thing is, I now see her in a new light. She is 20 years younger than me and I find her sexually attractive. I’m struggling to keep that line drawn. We still have a great relationship, sharing drinks and a chinwag, but I feel different. Should I tell her how I feel and run the risk of everything going pear-shaped?
Continue reading... (Air Texture)
Shuffling Mestizo melodies meet eerie techno in this stellar compilation taken from Ecuador’s pulsating club scene
While most would name Colombia as the home of South America’s forward-thinking club scene, neighbouring Ecuador has quietly been carving out its own dancefloor identity in recent years. The country has produced breakout talents such as DJ Nicola Cruz and home-grown labels like ZZK and Wonderwheel Recordings, operating under the social restrictions of a largely Catholic state and in the midst of devastating austerity measures. Most of its key players reside in Quito, and bring together a community at the capital’s inclusive nights, including Cruz’s La Sagraria.
Often marked by downtempo, undulating house rhythms and samples of Andean pan flutes and instruments such as the lute-like charango, their output is organic-sounding. Yet Place: Ecuador, a new charity compilation, showcases a grittier and more kinetic side to the scene. It’s the fourth release in New York label Air Texture’s location-specific charity series (previous editions have covered Georgia, Colombia and the Netherlands), benefiting the indigenous Waorani people’s legal battles against the Ecuadorian government’s sale of their land for mineral rights.
Continue reading...(New Deal)
With his fourth solo album the acclaimed producer faces down the confusion of modern life with intoxicating calm
Blake Mills has picked up Grammy nominations for his production work on Laura Marling’s Semper Femina, John Legend’s Darkness and Light and Perfume Genius’s No Shape. However, the fourth solo album by the 33-year old Californian former touring guitarist should turn the spotlight towards his own work. Mutable Set is intended as a “soundtrack to the emotional dissonance of modern life”. Themes range from precious people and experiences to disappointment and isolation, though this isn’t conventional singer-songwriter fare.
Continue reading...Mark Cousins’ latest encyclopedic romp is a glorious enterprise that unearths footage from some of the greatest film-makers ever – all of them women
A perfect lockdown gift has landed, one which might have sounded daunting in ordinary times: a 14-hour documentary about female directors, which goes live from next week on BFI Player. This glorious enterprise unearths footage from some of the greatest movie-makers of this century and the last – all of them female. At the same time, the BFI is showing 36 of the hundreds of films mentioned, so that viewers can enjoy full immersion over weeks, possibly awarding themselves a degree in, say, The Cinema of the Second Sex afterwards.
Narrated by women including Tilda Swinton and Thandie Newton, Women Make Film – A New Road Movie Through Cinema is the latest encyclopedic romp from the Northern Irish film historian and documentary-maker Mark Cousins, who previously directed the 15-hour television series The Story of Film: An Odyssey, in 2011. The new documentary will be released in palatable chunks over five weeks from 18 May, and aims to open a conversation on the lost legacy of women behind the movie camera.
Related: Angry young women: how radical, female film-makers defined the spirit of '68
Continue reading...Coming live from Melbourne, London and Huddersfield, the Last Leg presents its take on the week’s events. Plus: VE Day 75: An Evening Celebration
The lighthearted TV responses to lockdown have been abundant so far, from video-linked episodes of Have I Got News For You to Matt Lucas’s sketches and Grayson Perry’s Art Club. Yet, none have quite managed to capture the mix of anxiety, uncertainty and unexpected humour many of us have been experiencing – which is where the Last Leg comics come in. Live from Melbourne, London and Huddersfield, the trio will present their typically incisive take on the week’s events. Ammar Kalia
Continue reading...Her freaky, filthy tracks frequently break the internet – most recently with a guest spot from Beyoncé – but the Houston rapper won’t let the internet break her
Given that her lyrical prowess has made her one of the hottest rappers in the US, it’s hardly surprising that Megan Thee Stallion is good at anecdotes. We’re talking over Zoom – Megan looking impeccably high-glam, worthy of a Real Housewives reunion – as she regales me with how she ended up recording a remix with her idol.
“I got a call: Beyoncé wants to do a remix to Savage,” she says, shaking her head with disbelief. “And I was like ... what? Shut up. Shut up. You’re lying. Beyoncé don’t want to get on nothing with me. Come on, it’s me! I know I’m Megan Thee Stallion, but dang!”
I can’t be mad at the next girl for wanting to be the best. Why can't we both agree that we bad?
Continue reading...Vinnie and the gang decide to rob a circus, as Joseph Gilgun’s hit comedy – part-Shameless, part-Ocean’s Eleven – returns for a second run
At first glance, Brassic (Sky One) looks as if it might have been the first quarantine comedy. The second series begins with Vinnie (Joseph Gilgun) skulking around the fictional Lancashire town of Hawley in full DIY hazmat get-up, with his hood up over a hat, a scarf pulled over his face, and sunglasses, despite the weather being a near-permanent state of grey drizzle. It even goes a bit Tiger King, when a robbery takes an unexpected feline turn.
But Brassic is only accidentally of the moment: there’s far too much non-social-distancing going on, for a start. It was filmed last year, while the first series was airing, and it became Sky’s biggest original comedy in years. That’s no surprise. It had an easy appeal and a raucous sense of humour, with real heart behind the madcap antics.
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