Travel Tour: The Island Of Mykonos In Greece (2023)

Tourister Films (July 19, 2023) – A walking tour that starts in Mykonos Town, where you’ll see the iconic white buildings with their blue accents and charming alleyways. Then, the famous windmills and Little Venice, two of the island’s most photogenic spots.

Video timeline: 0:00:00 Intro Scenes 0:02:18 Mykonos

From there, we’ll venture out to some of the island’s beautiful beaches, including Psarou, Paradise, and Super Paradise.

Arts/Books: Times Literary Supplement – July 21, 2023

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Times Literary Supplement (July 21, 2023) – Moral catastrophe – The great inflation in Germany in 1923 and the Hitler putsch; Pioneer’s in Women’s Sport; Colson Whitehead’s Harlem; Dangerous children; Dating The Tempest and Shakespreare’s tutor….

Politics: The Guardian Weekly – July 21, 2023

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The Guardian Weekly (July 21, 2023) Hollywood on strike; extreme heat is here. Plus the Women’s World Cup kicks off.

When the result of the Hollywood actors’ strike ballot was announced last Thursday, the big-name stars of Oppenheimer left the film’s London premiere.

This show of solidarity by Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, Cillian Murphy and Florence Pugh was a demonstration of the far-reaching effects of creatives taking to the picket lines. For our big story, arts reporter  Vanessa Thorpe looks at what the historic joint walkout by writers and actors means for all of us as movie-goers and TV viewers as well as the stars, lesser-known actors and technicians struggling to make a living.

And we look at what lies behind the dispute with our film editors  Catherine Shoard and Andrew Pulver while Los Angeles reporter Lois Beckett hears from actors finding it ever harder to make a living in the age of streaming and the use of AI in the entertainment industry.

News: U.S. Soldier In North Korea, Nuclear Subs In Busan, Saudi Arabia-Turkey

The Globalist Podcast, Wednesday, July 19, 2023: A US national is detained in North Korea and Washington deploys submarines near Busan, South Korea. Hazel Smith of Soas University of London explains the situation.

Plus: Saudi Arabia signs a major arms deal with Turkey and Germany recommends an unusual solution for extreme heat.

#AI #UN #BBCNews #deepfake #russia #facts #trump #jacksmith

The New York Times — Wednesday, July 19, 2023

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Trump Says He’s Target in Special Counsel’s Investigation Into Jan. 6

Donald J. Trump speaks into a microphone against a dark background.

It would be the second time the special counsel has notified the former president that he is likely to face indictment, this time in connection with the criminal investigation of the Capitol attack.

Michigan Charges 16 in False Elector Scheme to Overturn Trump’s 2020 Loss

Meshawn Maddock, a former co-chair of the Michigan Republican Party, is facing charges related to the 2020 election.

Among those facing felony charges was Meshawn Maddock, a Trump ally and a former co-chair of the Michigan Republican Party.

Phoenix Breaks Heat Record Set in 1974

As much of the South bakes, Phoenix blazed past a milestone set half a century ago for consecutive days with 110-degree or higher temperatures.

A Current War Collides With the Past: Remnants of World War II in Ukraine

World War II has been an ideological battlefield in today’s war in Ukraine, and it is cropping up on the actual battlefield as well.

Technology Quarterly – The Economist (July 2023)

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TECHNOLOGY QUARTERLY (JULY 22ND 2023) The most personal technology. Demand for, and expectations of, in vitro fertilisation are growing. The technology is struggling to keep up, write Catherine Brahic and Sacha Nauta.

In vitro fertilisation is struggling to keep up with demand

Developing the technology to change that is proving a difficult task

With the possible exception of Adam and Eve, all human beings born before 1978 were conceived inside a woman’s body. Today the world contains at least 12m people who started off in laboratory glassware. On average, four more are born every three minutes. That is a worldwide rate of roughly one newborn in 175.

IVF remains largely a numbers game

And plenty of clinics are taking advantage: the second of seven articles on the technology of fertility

Most healthy young couples seeking to get pregnant will try for a few months before they are successful. Those who are not will try for months more, or years, before concluding they need help and stepping into the waiting room of an ivf clinic. They often arrive in a state of acute emotional vulnerability, clutching at the hope that doctors will help.

Historic Tours: The ‘Towie Barclay Castle’, Scotland

Wall Street Journal (July 18, 2023) – The Towie Barclay Castle in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, once visited by the late Queen Mother, has all the features of a traditional castle like shot holes, gun loops and stone walls.

Video timeline: 0:00 Towie Barclay 1:32 Entry, kitchen and dining 2:48 The Great Hall 3:56 The library 4:54 The garden 6:39 Maintaining the castle

The 2.7-acre castle grounds, also includes a walled garden, gardener’s cottage and carriage rooms. But it’s also a family home that was purchased by a husband and wife for £4,000 in 1972. Homeowner Karen Ellington opens up the castle doors to share the restoration journey from ruin to refuge.

Design Tour: Waterfront Modern Home In Sydney

The Local Project (July 18, 2023) – Nestled in a serene waterfront location just north of the Sydney CBD, Northbridge is a modern house that seamlessly integrates with the surrounding landscape and topography of its site.

Video timeline: 00:00 – Intro to the Waterfront Modern House 00:33 – The Serene Location 00:58 – A Walkthrough of the Home 01:29 – Separation by Stairs 02:08 – Key Interior Features 02:48 – The Intimacy of the Lower Level 03:31 – A Focus on the Exterior Landscape Architecture 04:13 – Considerations of Designing Waterfront Houses 05:05 – The Rewarding Aspects

Working with the challenge of a sloped, narrow block and existing elements, including a natural watercourse, rocky outcrops and mature tree ferns, became crucial to the design of the home. To work around the decline of the terrain, the modern house is made of varying levels that cascade towards the water.

Accessed via an external bridge that looks down over a courtyard, the top floor of the residence features a central staircase with a lounge room to one side and a dining and kitchen area to the other – both spaces open to an expansive balcony with breathtaking north-eastern views. The level below the entry houses the bedrooms, which dial around the central staircase – two of which face towards the views with an outlook that engages the tops of the tree ferns.

The lowest living area of the house links directly to the garden, enabling a beautiful intimacy with the landscape to enter into the modern house. In this sense, the garden and surrounding views are central to the home’s design. Structurally, the central staircase provides a sense of circulation and symmetry. From this vertical atrium, there are sweeping horizontal and vertical views through to the garden and down to the water beyond.

Behind the living room is a tranquil courtyard that offers shelter from the wind, as well as a pool that leads to another garden continuing down to the harbour. Down there the cube-shaped house can be seen from a different perspective – glimpsed through a curtilage of an enchanted garden of tree ferns, palms and curved sandstone walls.

#ModernHouse #Architecture #Sydney

Travel: A Tour Of Palma, Island Of Mallorca, Spain

Tourister Films (July 18, 2023) – Palma is a resort city and capital of the Spanish island of Mallorca (Majorca), in the western Mediterranean. The massive Santa María cathedral, a Gothic landmark begun in the 13th century, overlooks the Bay of Palma.

The adjacent Almudaina is a Moorish-style Arab fortress converted to a royal residence. West of the city, hilltop Bellver Castle is a medieval fortress with a distinctive circular shape.