Tell me im pretty

LONDON: When I was at primary school there was a particularly fierce dinner lady who saw it as her duty to make sure all children always ate everything on their plates. Whenever we tried to sneak some vinegary beetroot or a nasty bit of gristle past her she would send us back to finish it with the admonition: “Think of the starving children in Africa.” Even when I was nine I did not find this argument terribly compelling. I wanted to tell her to give my beetroot and my cold, powder-mash potatoes to the starving children, but one look at her face assured me that this would be a bad call. WHAT NOT TO SAY TO STAFF I thought of her last week when I read about Jeremy Mayhew, a senior member of the City of London’s governing body. He told staff at its Barbican arts centre to stop feeling sorry for themselves because at least they still had jobs. He would have made a fine dinner lady. As would Bill Michael, UK chairman of KPMG, who told his underlings on a video call that … [Read more...] about Commentary: Telling staff to ‘quit whining’ breaks management’s golden rule

REUTERS: England fast bowler Jofra Archer has said they have not forgotten about the 'Black Lives Matter' movement after former West Indies bowler Michael Holding criticised the country's board (ECB) when players stopped taking a knee before matches. England and West Indies players took a knee before each game in their three-test series in July but the symbolic gesture was discontinued for the Pakistan series as well as the two limited overs series against Australia. The ECB had released a statement justifying their decision to stop taking a knee which was described as 'lame' by Holding, who also took issue with Australian captain Aaron Finch's statements when the visitors said they would not take a knee. "We have not forgotten, no one here has forgotten about 'Black Lives Matter'," Archer said. "I think it is a bit harsh for Michael Holding to not do some research before criticising. I'm pretty sure he doesn't know what is going on behind the scenes. "I don't think he has … [Read more...] about ‘No one has forgotten about Black Lives Matter’, Archer tells Holding

I t was a New York winter day, frozen and gray and violently blustery. Indoors, out of the fearful cold, people seemed somehow gentler toward one another – strange in New York City – as if it was enough to battle the elements, no need to battle each other. Inside his manager’s neo-turn-of-the-century apartment, on a sofa near the radiant fireplace, sat Jimi Hendrix , in a gentle, almost reticent frame of mind. The light snow had begun to fall. You could see that through the narrow slits where the curtain allowed the merest sliver of daylight and streetscene to penetrate into the gloomy dark room. On the same sofa, and on a richly upholstered chair next to it, sat the members of Jimi Hendrix ’s new band. He had broken up the old Experience (Noel Redding on bass, Mitch Mitchell, drums) at some indeterminate point during the Fall. He had been living and jamming with an all-purpose crew of musicians – everything from older black gentlemen from the South who played blues guitar, to … [Read more...] about Hendrix: The End Of A Beginning, Maybe

James O'Keefe wants you to think that he's a journalist. That the undercover videos shot for his Project Veritas are all that keep rampant liberalism from running roughshod over the republic. Freedom has manifold enemies, from National Public Radio to Planned Parenthood, and the only way to hold them in check is to secretly record members of these flagrantly liberal organizations, then edit the videos in such a way as to make it seem that those organizations sell baby organs, celebrate prostitution and send conservatives unwanted subscriptions to The Nation . The final step is to promulgate these videos to right-wing organizations like Breitbart and Fox News, where the editors believe exactly what O'Keefe does about the Clintons and CNN and are therefore not going to be bothered by an organization that, while it claims to be journalistic in nature, is a fairly accurate approximation of Soviet propaganda. (I grew up in the Soviet Union, so this is not an exaggeration.) Speaking of … [Read more...] about James O’Keefe’s New York Times ‘Investigation’ Is an Exercise in Overwhelming Dishonesty

During a virtual session on Evolving Narratives: The Digital Dreamscape at the Jaipur Literature Festival , filmmakers Sudhir Mishra and Vikramaditya Motwane , author Vikram Chandra, Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) member Vani Tripathi Tikoo and Vice President, Content of an OTT platform Monika Shergill discussed how more books are being adapted into films and series now. Due to the flexibility of digital platforms, directors have an option to tell the story in the format (films/series/shorts) they think better suits the book. It is not as much about directors as it is about writers and actors Discussing how writers are finally getting their due with books being adapted into series, films or short films, and how streaming platforms are allowing creators to tell these stories, Vikramaditya Motwane said, “If Sacred Games had to be made into a two-hour film (instead of a series) we would have lost so many lovely characters, who became fan favourites. I think … [Read more...] about Vikramditya Motwane, Sudhir Mishra discuss book-to-screen adaptations at Jaipur Lit Fest