“Dame Edna Everage – the flamboyant alter-ego of comedian Barry Humphries for 57 years – took centre stage at Sydney’s Capitol Theatre to confirm that her farewell tour, Eat Pray Laugh!, would really be her final outing.” The 78-year-old Humphries hasn’t ruled out further appearances by his other characters, most notably the monstrously uncouth diplomat Sir Les Patterson.
Author: Matthew Westphal
Watch Graffitists Paint London Underground Trains
“The DDS Crew have been breaking into London tube stations to paint trains for more than 20 years. Transport for London accuses them of causing £10m damage. Recently they have been filming themselves in the act.”
The Ten Greatest Pianists Of All Time, As Chosen By Great Pianists
Limelight magazine polled a spectacular selection of artists – among many others, Alfred Brendel, Stephen Hough, András Schiff, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Piotr Anderszewski, Imogen Cooper, Denis Matsuev, Jonathan Biss, David Fray, Paul Lewis, Till Fellner, Pascal Rogé, and Lars Vogt. And the winners are …
Suspects Held In Theft Of Compostela’s Most Valuable Manuscript
“A former church caretaker, his wife, son and another woman have been arrested in connection with last year’s disappearance of a priceless medieval text from the Santiago de Compostela Cathedral in northwest Spain, police said on Wednesday. The Codex Calixtinus, a 12th century collection of sermons and liturgical passages [and music], vanished from a safe deposit box in the cathedral.”
The Louvre Opens Its First Satellite Museum
“Strictly speaking, overcrowding is not the reason why the Louvre is building a $200 million facility in the Pas-de-Calais region of France. It has more to do with the accessibility of the town of Lens – which can be reached by train in two to three hours from Paris, London and Brussels – and a deep need for urban renewal in an old coal industry center that lost its last mine in 1986, pushing unemployment to 15 percent.”
Why Religion Makes You Behave Better
“Can religion make you a more honest, upstanding person? Who better to ask than Dan Ariely” – the media’s favorite behavioral economist – “whose new book, The Honest Truth About Dishonesty, is about why people lie and cheat? Ariely says the answer is yes but not for the reason you might think.”
NY City Ballet To Cut Saratoga Season To One Week
“The New York City Ballet’s residency at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center will be cut to one week in 2013, with other visiting ballet companies filling the gap for week two. The reason: Both SPAC and the NYCB say they can’t afford a longer stay.”
A Look At Some Of Timbuktu’s Historic Sites That May Not Survive The Month
“Because you may never be able to be visit them yourself if you haven’t already, here are the photos and stories of some of Timbuktu’s most important historical sites” – which the extremist rebel group Ansar Dine is threatening to destroy.
Make Haste, Slowly: Hollywood Has At The WikiLeaks Saga
“Movie studios are jostling to be the first to bring the story of WikiLeaks and its founder, Julian Assange, to the big screen. But when Hollywood attempts to harness a swift-moving news story – particularly one lacking a finale – the task can be more complicated than simply casting a look-alike.”
Documentary Arguing That Princess Di Was Murdered Is Withdrawn
“The Keith Allen directed documentary Unlawful Killing, that claims that Diana was murdered in a plot involving her father-in-law Prince Philip, will not be released after producers failed to secure insurance to protect distributors against legal action” under UK and French libel laws.