The Portable Door review Harry Potter-ish YA fantasy carried by hardworking cast

 Posted on June 15, 2024  |  2 minutes  |  392 words  |  Delta Gatti

MoviesReviewJeffrey Walker’s adaptation of the young-adult fantasy novel retains its edge thanks to its performances, but gets stuck on the whole door thing Adapted from Tom Holt’s 2003 young-adult fantasy novel, this is a passable attempt at kickstarting a new Harry Potter-style franchise set in a fusty-quirky institution, dosed up with extra Gilliamesque grotesquery. Co-produced by the Jim Henson Company, the production design is poky and intense, and the cast – with Christoph Waltz and Sam Neill larking it up – give it their all. [Read More]

What is the easiest way to accurately weigh your own head? I''ve tried both lying on the bathroom sc

 Posted on June 15, 2024  |  4 minutes  |  652 words  |  Christie Applegate

SPECULATIVE SCIENCEWhat is the easiest way to accurately weigh your own head? I've tried both lying on the bathroom scales and water displacement, but cannot get a consistent result Sam, London You can do it approximately by the following method: if you assume that the average density of tissue and bone in your head is similar to that in the rest of your body (taken as a whole), then all you need to do is determine the volume of your head, the volume of the rest of your body, and then multiply the ratio of the two by your total body weight. [Read More]

You will get it wrong but you cant make it worse: 16 ways to talk to people who are gri

 Posted on June 15, 2024  |  16 minutes  |  3209 words  |  Delta Gatti

Illustration: Paul Blow/The Guardian Illustration: Paul Blow/The GuardianDeath and dyingComedian Cariad Lloyd has spoken to hundreds of bereaved people for her award-winning series Griefcast and a new book on dealing with loss. She shares the lessons she has learned ‘So, where do your parents live?” Um … Your heart pauses for a second. You clench your drink. You take a breath in … Oh, they’re still looking at you – you haven’t said anything yet. [Read More]

Dont Look at Me Like That by Diana Athill review a reissued gem

 Posted on June 14, 2024  |  3 minutes  |  454 words  |  Brenda Moya

Diana Athill at Oxford, just before the second world war. Photograph: Ramsey and Muspratt/Diana AthillDiana Athill at Oxford, just before the second world war. Photograph: Ramsey and Muspratt/Diana AthillFictionReviewIn the only novel by the acclaimed memoirist, first published in 1967, a young woman comes of age in 1950s EnglandBest known as an editor and memoirist, Diana Athill also wrote two books of short stories and this novel, first published in 1967 and now reissued. [Read More]

FSA recalls four types of cheese after possible E coli contamination | Food safety

 Posted on June 14, 2024  |  2 minutes  |  384 words  |  Merlyn Hunt

Food safetyFSA recalls four types of cheese after possible E coli contamination Food Standards Agency announces recall on Christmas Eve, saying products should not come in contact with other foods Four types of cheese have been “precautionarily” recalled due to a possible E coli contamination before Christmas Day. The Food Standards Agency (FSA) announced the recall for Mrs Kirkham’s Mild and Creamy Lancashire, Mrs Kirkham’s Tasty Lancashire, Mrs Kirkham’s Mature Lancashire and Mrs Kirkham’s Smoked Lancashire on Christmas Eve. [Read More]

I had to seek therapy: what happens when an NBA career ends before its time?

 Posted on June 14, 2024  |  9 minutes  |  1799 words  |  Christie Applegate

NBAKenneth Faried’s talent earned him a slot on the Team USA roster and a $50m contract. But he found himself on the outside as NBA tactics changed Kenneth Faried is around 7,200 feet above sea level. At times, though, the former Team USA starter and Denver Nugget, he has felt much lower. His G League season with the Mexico City Capitanes concluded in late March, the team narrowly missing the playoffs. [Read More]

John Balance | | The Guardian

 Posted on June 14, 2024  |  3 minutes  |  607 words  |  Christie Applegate

ObituaryJohn BalanceJoint founder of Coil, a focal point for English avant garde pop musicIn 1983, John Balance, who has died after a fall aged 42, founded, with his then partner, Peter Christophersen, the band Coil. The original collective, briefly called ZosKia, also featured Marc Almond on vocals, and John Gosling. Coil's first release was How To Destroy Angels (1984), 17 minutes of "ritual music for the accumulation of male sexual energy" [Read More]

Man and teen stepson die after hiking in extreme heat at Big Bend in Texas | US news

 Posted on June 14, 2024  |  2 minutes  |  358 words  |  Merlyn Hunt

US news This article is more than 6 months oldMan and teen stepson die after hiking in extreme heat at Big Bend in TexasThis article is more than 6 months oldThe boy died after falling ill during the hike, and his stepfather was killed in a car accident as he tried to find help, authorities said A Florida man and his teenage stepson died after hiking in extreme heat at Big Bend national park in south-west Texas, according to officials. [Read More]

The Old Ways: a Journey on Foot by Robert Macfarlane review

 Posted on June 14, 2024  |  4 minutes  |  707 words  |  Brenda Moya

Nicholas Lezard's choiceTravel writingReviewIn the final book in his trilogy about landscape and the human heart, Macfarlane turns his attention to sacred encounters and wild walksFinding a bad word to be said about Robert Macfarlane is no easy task. The inside front cover of the paperback lists 15 authors who made The Old Ways one of their books of the year last year; the next four pages contain quotations from 35 reviews, all saying, essentially, " [Read More]

Amy Winehouse's manager Nick Shymansky: Shed be so sweet and funny. But there were warning sig

 Posted on June 13, 2024  |  18 minutes  |  3691 words  |  Delta Gatti

The ObserverAmy WinehouseInterviewAmy Winehouse's manager Nick Shymansky: ‘She’d be so sweet and funny. But there were warning signs…’Interview by Kathryn BromwichAs the much-heralded Amy Winehouse documentary by Senna director Asif Kapadia hits cinemas, we speak to her former manager and four others whose lives were touched by the doomed soul singer Amy Winehouse: rare and unseen – in pictures Nick Shymansky met Amy Winehouse when she was 16, and worked as her manager between 1999 and 2006. [Read More]