Tag Archives: June 2023

Renovations: A Tour Of A Modern Home In Sydney

The Local Project (June 13, 2023) – Inspired by the familiar warmth of a family home, Luigi Rosselli Architects has renovated an ageing house in a thoughtful and fluid way.

Video timeline: 00:00 – Introduction to the Family House 00:31 – An Eclectic Layered Home 01:13 – The Location and A Walkthrough of the Home 02:07 – The Brief 02:51 – A Focus on the Fire Place 03:07 – Glowy, Warm and Textural 03:25 – A Beautifully Crafted Kitchen 03:50 – The Feature Staircase 05:40 – Positive Outcomes 06:09 – Proud Moments 06:22 – Favourite Aspects of the Home

Structural interventions and refreshed interiors keep valuable portions of the home whilst welcoming in contemporary layers to fit a modern context. Upon entering the house, one is greeted by an old hallway and a beautiful, robust spiral staircase designed by S&A Stairs, which binds the home together.

The stairs demonstrate fine craftsmanship and attention to detail, featuring a continuous handrail with a smooth elliptical curve and a unique curved bend. At the top of the stairs is a lightwell that bathes the long hallway in light. Down the hallway are five bedrooms, three bathrooms and a sunken lounge that extends into the kitchen and dining beyond – all of which are bordered by a lush tropical garden.

The renovation is defined by a tangible fluidity, with one of the main reworkings being the relocation of the garage, which was previously located in the centre of the house. Instead, the garage has moved below the existing house to make room for the sunken lounge, creating a well-connected home with more usable space. The fireplace lies at the centre of this new area, adding to the warm and welcoming nature of the open living area, and features a fluted travertine around the edges which not only reveals the curves of its unique form but also brings texture into the lounge room.

Tours: Brooklyn Botanic Garden Bonsai Museum

Eastern Leaf Films (June 12, 2023) – A walking tour of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s Bonsai Museum. The museum is curated by David Castro, who does an amazing job of caring for the trees and their presentation.

Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s world-class bonsai collection is displayed in the C.V. Starr Bonsai Museum. Some of the trees are well over a century old, with many still cultivated in their original containers.

The display changes with the seasons, and as many as 30 specimens are on exhibit at any given time. More than 400 temperate and tropical bonsai trained in classic modes such as the windswept, slanted trunk, rock clinging, and forest styles are included in the collection, one of the largest on display outside Japan.

News: Trump Arraigned In Miami, Counteroffensive In Ukraine, Oslo Forum

The Globalist Podcast, Tuesday, June 13, 2023: Donald Trump is set to be arraigned in Florida today. We head to Miami for the latest.

Plus: Ukraine’s counteroffensive, NATO secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg’s possible replacements and why are Germany and France celebrating their friendship with free train tickets?

The New York Times – Tuesday, June 13, 2023

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NATO Members Use a Major Air Exercise to Send a Message to Russia

Lt. Gen. Ingo Gerhartz, second from left, of the German Air Force at the military air base in Wunstorf, Germany, on Monday.

More than 200 planes from 25 countries gathered in Germany for the largest-scale war games in decades, held with an eye on the war in Ukraine.

Fear and Mayhem as Russia’s War Comes Home

Attacks from Ukraine have killed at least a dozen Russian civilians and displaced thousands. But they have not fundamentally changed the calculus for Vladimir Putin.

Silvio Berlusconi, a Showman Who Upended Italian Politics and Culture, Dies at 86

He introduced sex and glamour to Italian TV and then brought the same formula to politics, dominating the country and its culture for more than 20 years.

JPMorgan to Pay $290 Million in Settlement With Epstein’s Victims

The proposed deal would settle a suit on behalf of victims who were sexually abused by Jeffrey Epstein, over claims the bank ignored warnings about him.

Travel Tour: Iseltwald On Lake Brienz, Switzerland

Jeka Traveler Films (June 12, 2023) – Iseltwald is a small fishing village that’s situated on the edge of Lake Brienz – one of the most stunning turquoise lakes in Switzerland. It’s part of the Jungfrau Region in Bernese Oberland and is not too far from the increasingly popular town of Interlaken.

Filmed on June 1, 2023

Opinion: Ukraine Strikes Back, Apple’s Vision Pro, The Global Cities Index

‘Editor’s Picks’ Podcast (June 12, 2023) A selection of three essential articles read aloud from the latest issue of The Economist – Ukraine strikes back, why Apple’s new Vision Pro gadget matters (9:00) and the results of our new global cities index (13:35).

Ukraine strikes back

The counter-offensive is getting under way. The next few weeks will be critical

Trailed ten days early with a blood-stirring video in which Ukrainian troops asked God to bless their “sacred revenge”, Ukraine’s counter-offensive is under way. For weeks its armed forces have conducted probing and shaping operations along the 1,000km front line, looking for weaknesses and confusing the Russians.

Apple’s Vision Pro is an incredible machine. Now to find out what it is for

The Apple Vision Pro headset in a showroom on the Apple campus in Cupertino, California.

The meaning of “spatial computing”

Apple’s message is clear: after desktop and mobile computing, the next big tech era will be spatial computing—also known as augmented reality—in which computer graphics are overlaid on the world around the user.

Amoral cities are flourishing in a turbulent geopolitical era

Visitors at Jewel Changi Airport mall in Singapore

Our index ranks economic performance over the past three years

 In order to assess which are thriving in this new era, The Economist has compiled a rough-and-ready index. It scrutinises a sample of ten locations, looking at changes in four measures—population, economic growth, office vacancies and house prices—over the past three years.

Reviews: The ‘African And Oceanic Art’ Collection Of France’s Hélène Leloup

Sotheby’s (June 12, 2023) – Hélène Leloup is one of the art world’s true pioneers, bringing together a spirit of adventure, a detailed anthropological approach and deep knowledge to become one of the foremost specialists in African and Oceanic art in Paris and New York. 

Now aged 96, Hélène is regarded as France’s most important and passionate dealer of sub-Saharan and Oceanic art, an adventurer and explorer, ground-breaking gallerist and collector, and eminent specialist in Mbembe and Dogon art, ever since her first foray to Dakar in 1952.

Tech Products: Noise-Cancelling Headphones

Wall Street Journal (June 10, 2023) – Noise canceling is a hallmark feature of top headphones across brands, from Apple and Beats to Sony and Bose. Behind the simplicity of the technology from a user perspective, though, is cutting-edge hardware running sophisticated algorithms.

Video timeline: 0:00 A sound wave and its inverse 0:32 Destructive interference 1:30 Noise-canceling headphones’ origins 3:17 What background noise to remove 4:46 Transparency modes or aware modes

What kind of audio processing is necessary to eliminate background noise when listening to music or watching a movie? WSJ dives into how noise canceling works, how the technology has changed and where things are headed.

#NoiseCanceling #Headphones #WSJ

Travel: The Most Popular Hikes In Britain (2023)

The Guardian (June 12, 2023)The nation’s 10 favourite walks this year were calculated by OS through data collected from its OS maps app between April 2022 and April 2023.

Walkers descend the path from Whernside.

 1. The Yorkshire Three Peaks, North Yorkshire

A true hiking adventure, test yourself by clambering the peaks of Ingleborough, Pen-y-ghent and Whernside and down again during a day-long challenge. You’ll walk past aqueducts, lakes, rivers and moorlands and witness stunning North Yorkshire scenery throughout. The views from the summit of Whernside during sunset are a sight to behold. 

A view from the Chilterns.

2. Bottom Wood Route, Chilterns, Oxfordshire

The walk starts by taking you through a conservation area surrounded by woodland and a nature reserve. Roam through fields, along wide country tracks and underneath canopies of ancient trees with most of the walking in the countryside and very little along roads.

View on Grasmere to the Langdale Pikes walk

3Grasmere to the Langdale Pikes, Lake District

The circular route from Grasmere to Pavey Ark, one of the Langdale Pikes, and back offers the perfect combination of relatively easy terrain underfoot and outstanding views throughout. Highlights include the views from near Blea Rigg up Langdale Valley to Bowfell, and down the Great Langdale valley towards Windermere.

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Previews: The New Yorker Magazine – June 19, 2023

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The New Yorker – June 19, 2023 issue: Roz Chast’s “Fireworks Megastore”. The artist discusses stumbling across surprises while shopping, and rebelling against efficiency.

How Dowries Are Fueling a Femicide Epidemic

Top panel shows a red sunset bottom panel is a woman with her hand over her chest and a man's hands on her shoulder

Every year in India, many thousands are killed in marriage-payment disputes. Why does this war on women persist?

By Manvir Singh

In September 21, 2021, my mother sent a message to my extended family’s WhatsApp group: “Neeti had a heart attack and suddenly passed away—too tragic!” Neeti was a daughter of her sister, and someone I’d known all my life. But my cousin and I inhabited different worlds. I was born and raised in suburban New Jersey; she was a lifelong Delhiite. To me, Neeti and her identical twin, Preeti, exuded an urban glamour. At weddings, they sported chic, oversized sunglasses and matching, pastel-colored Punjabi-style outfits. Their faces looked a lot like my mom’s: long, with prominent cheekbones and almond-shaped eyes.

Biden’s Dilemma at the Border

America’s broken immigration system has spawned a national fight, but Congress lacks the political will to fix it.

Two people wear fatigues shown from the waistdown.

By Dexter Filkins

Earlier this year, in a helicopter above the Mexican border, a team of Texas state troopers searched for people crossing into the United States. As they flew over a neighborhood west of El Paso, the radio crackled with the voices of Border Patrol agents on the ground below, calling out migrants who were evading them.