February 10, 2023

Bossa Nova Jazz Playlists

Melody Note 멜로디노트

February 10, 2023

Siouxsie And The Banshees - Sick Child

Label: Polydor – 523725-2, Wonderland (3) – 523725-2
Format:
CD, Album
Country: Europe
Released: 16 Jan 1995
Genre: Rock
Style: Pop Rock, Alternative Rock

February 9, 2023

The Most Vegan-Friendly Cities Across the U.S.

From East Coast to West Coast to no coast.

https://www.thrillist.com/travel/nation/best-us-cities-to-travel-to-for-vegan-food



When I went vegan in 2003, I was living in Wisconsin, a state known for meaty, stick-to-your-ribs food slathered in cheese and gravy. Until a few trendy spots started serving tofu to a mostly collegiate clientele, finding even a mediocre veggie burger was a rare treat that I did not take for granted. To satisfy my craving for plant-based food, I began crisscrossing the country, making vegan friends everywhere, and compiling an ever-growing list of the best vegan food in the United States. Back then, word of mouth was everything.

Fast forward to 2023, and the options for meatless meals have gotten even more mouthwatering and varied—but still usually just within certain cities. You’re still not likely to find much more than a salad in many towns in the good ol’ US of A. While I’m not saying you shouldn’t travel to charming villages with all the views but not a single filling lentil and tahini farro bowl, a vegan friendly mecca may be nearer than you thought—and it’s always good to know what your nearest escape options are. In some cases, the best food is found in fully vegan establishments, while in other cases, “omnivore” restaurants have the tastiest vegan options. If you find yourself traveling across the country in 2023, expect to find relief and a full belly in these—sometimes expected, sometimes surprising—cities, from East Coast to West Coast to no coast.



snip

February 9, 2023

Pema Studio designs home in Portugal as "a dense and closed fortress"

https://www.dezeen.com/2023/02/04/forte-house-pema-studio-portugal/









Architecture practice Pema Studio drew on the idea of a protected fortress when creating the Forte House, a blocky, white-rendered home that replaces a neglected existing structure in Santo Tirso, Portugal. The dwelling is set back from a retained façade and sits within existing stone perimeter walls on the site, creating an exterior space around its edges with private, skylit patios.















"The house is designed in a complex balance between the creation of a dense and closed fortress and the reinterpretation of the typical patio house, looking for a protected oasis in its intimate relationship with the sky," said Pema Studio. "The intervention starts from a massive block that impertinently detaches from the limits and mimics the land plot outline."









The retained façade and a metal gate of the former building now lead into an entrance courtyard, sheltered by a sloping roof punctured by a large opening. Set back from the street, an entrance is tucked into the northern side of the home's white exterior, leading into the more secluded study and bedroom at the front.










"The old façade, an element of the pre-existing [fabric], is one of the few remaining elements," said the studio. "With the necessary functional changes, it was restored and rehabilitated as an element of cohesion and framing with the adjacent urban fabric, reducing the intervention's impact on the street," it continued.

snip

February 9, 2023

IDIN Architects uses glass and mirrors to blend Bangkok cafe into garden site

https://www.dezeen.com/2023/02/02/idin-architects-nana-coffee-roasters-bangkok-cafe/







Thai practice IDIN Architects has created a series of minimal, pavilion-like structures for Nana Coffee Roasters in Bangkok, which feature mirrored mosaic ceilings to reflect the surrounding gardens. Located in Bangkok's Bangna district, the project occupies an oasis-like site of dense greenery alongside a busy road.







IDIN Architects were tasked with expanding an existing structure on the site, which houses the cafe and roasters' "Slow Bar" by adding a new "Speed Bar" serving area, additional seating, and bathroom spaces. Rather than create a single, large structure, the practice created three narrow, mono pitched steel structures at the front of the site, with glass walls and mirrored ceilings that would allow the surrounding gardens to "infiltrate the gaps in between."





"The main buildings in the front [of the site] are the result of maintaining continuity in the roofline with the existing building, which extends into three masses where the Speed Bar and indoor seats are located," explained the studio. "Green areas of the landscape infiltrate the gaps between these masses and flow into the interior with the use of reflective glass mosaics on the ceiling." "Through this concept, the boundaries between the three practices - architecture, interior, and landscape – are blurred," it continued.







Contrasting the black steelwork of the existing building, the new structures have been built using white steel frames and concrete, with oversized roofs that extend to shelter external terraces. The southernmost structure contains the new bar, with a large, white counter accompanying by black stools runnings along its entire length and continuing through a glass end wall to become an external table with mirrored legs.

snip

February 9, 2023

Citrons et Huitres oyster bar in Paris creates impression of "diving into an aquarium"

https://www.dezeen.com/2023/02/03/citrons-et-huitres-oyster-bar-marion-mailaender/





French interior designer Marion Mailaender has completed a seafood bar in Paris named Citrons et Huîtres, which features oyster-shaped door handles and a stainless steel counter informed by fishmongers. Mailaender, who specialises in creating spaces "with a great sense of humour", designed the bar to resemble an elevated market stall, where guests can dine inside or take away platters of oysters and shellfish.









Citrons et Huîtres has a raw steel facade informed by the storefronts of local fishmongers, which have floor-to-ceiling windows that open onto the streets of Paris. Guests enter the bar through a door with a bronze handle shaped like an oyster shell, while a matching neon sign is fixed on the facade above the bar's name. The name Citrons et Huîtres was chosen to reference a still-life by French Impressionist painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir, who once had his studio in the same building that now houses the oyster bar. "At the height of his glory in 1900, Renoir created Citrons et Huîtres, a piece of art that celebrates the most beautiful shellfish, classified as a national heritage of French art," said the owners.





Inside, the space has a vaulted ceiling that reaches more than four and a half metres in height, which is painted blue together with the walls to create the impression of "diving into an amazing aquarium", the owners said. The walls are decorated with prints by Mailaender's husband, the artist Thomas Mailaender, who used a cyanotype printing process dating back to 1842 to produce ethereal blue photographs of coastal scenes.







Countertops are rendered in stainless steel and finished with a "pearly sheen", while coral-coloured stools line the bar. The bar serves local French oysters from Brittany, presented on stainless steel trays that complement the interior. "Like a market stall with its stainless steel seafood counter, Citrons et Huîtres invites guests to savour the most incredible oysters while sipping on a glass of white," the bar's owners explained.

snip

February 9, 2023

5 arrested after brutal attack on a black schoolgirl by a gang of whites in Surrey, England

POS white female adult screaming over and over for the white girls to kick her in the face needs to be locked away for years.



https://twitter.com/Yvie777/status/1622989242401005569

Five arrested after Ashford schoolgirl hurt in racial attack

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-surrey-64565514

Five people have been arrested after a teenage girl was injured in what police have described as a "serious racially aggravated assault" outside a school.

A 16-year-old girl, two girls aged 11, a 39-year-old woman and a 43-year-old man have been arrested.

A sixth suspect, a 15-year-old girl, is being urged to hand herself in.

Surrey Police were called to reports of a fight between a group of girls on the junction of Salcombe Road and Stanwell Road in Ashford at 14:30 GMT on Monday.

snip

https://twitter.com/Nadine_Writes/status/1623342236355252224

February 8, 2023

Jets for Ukraine will not be immediate, says No 10 after Zelensky plea

President meets the King and invokes Churchill during visit

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/zelensky-uk-rishi-sunak-pmqs-live-latest-news-2023-m03grdt78

https://archive.is/sarEz



The prime minister Rishi Sunak has asked the Ministry of Defence to look into sending fighter jets to Ukraine as part of a “long-term solution” (Steven Swinford writes).

President Zelensky urged Britain to provide Ukraine with fighter jets in an impassioned speech to MPs in parliament during a surprise visit to London. “Thank you in advance for all your British planes,” he told them. Boris Johnson, the former prime minister, said Britain should deploy 100 Typhoon jets and 100 Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine now.

The prime minister’s official spokesman said: “The prime minister has tasked the defence secretary with investigating what jets we might be able to give but, to be clear, this is a long-term solution rather than a short-term capability, which is what Ukraine needs most now.”



However, the No 10 spokesman stressed the practical problems with sending planes rapidly, in particular that Ukrainian pilots have not had the necessary training. The government announced this morning that it would soon begin training Ukrainian pilots, but the typical training process for British pilots lasts several years.

snip

Typhoon FGR4

February 8, 2023

Yes voters lose appetite for new Scottish independence referendum

Stewart McDonald and Alex Neil pour cold water on general election plans

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/yes-voters-lose-appetite-for-new-scottish-independence-referendum-wzzg6gcn9

https://archive.is/r5Cqp

Support for an independence referendum this year has fallen by 13 points in a month among those who voted Yes in 2014

Support for holding a referendum on Scottish independence in the coming months has plummeted among Yes voters, according to new polling. Research carried out by YouGov between January 23 and 26 found that backing for a referendum this year stands at 52 per cent among people who voted Yes in 2014, a fall of 13 points since December. The new research was released as senior SNP figures poured cold water on Nicola Sturgeon’s plan to hold a “de facto” constitutional contest.

YouGov found that 37 per cent of independence voters were opposed to a referendum taking place this year, an increase of eight points, while 11 per cent did not know, up by four points in little over a month. Among the general population, 8 per cent back a vote this year while 62 per cent are against and 10 per cent unsure.

In December, YouGov found that 38 per cent of people wanted a referendum to take place this year with 52 per cent opposed and 9 per cent unsure. Separate polling for JL Partners, carried out between January 30 and February 1, has found that support for a referendum being held within the next year stands at 26 per cent. The survey of 1,008 people found that 61 per cent were opposed and 13 per cent were undecided.



Sturgeon has said that she wants to hold a referendum in October, but given that the UK government has refused to agree — and the Supreme Court has ruled that Holyrood cannot unilaterally call a vote — she instead plans to use the next general election as a “de facto referendum”. Under that plan, as it was originally sketched out, if a majority of the electorate voted for pro-independence parties then Sturgeon would take that as a mandate to begin Scotland’s exit negotiations from the UK.

snip

February 8, 2023

UK top court rejects challenge to Brexit deal's N. Ireland protocol

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/uk-top-court-rejects-challenge-100119347.html



LONDON (Reuters) -The United Kingdom's Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed a challenge to the lawfulness of the controversial Northern Ireland Protocol, which governs post-Brexit trade between the British province and mainland Britain. The legal challenge, brought by pro-Brexit activists and former leaders of Northern Ireland's largest unionist parties, argued that the protocol, which left the province in the bloc's trading orbit, undermined its place in the United Kingdom.

However, the Supreme Court unanimously dismissed the appeal, which has likewise been rejected by Northern Ireland's High Court and Court of Appeal. It concluded the protocol neither breached the 1800 Acts of Union, nor the 1998 Northern Ireland Act, which followed a landmark peace deal that ended three decades of violence between Irish republicans and pro-British unionists.

The protocol, designed to protect the European Union's single market without creating a land border on the island of Ireland, has disrupted trade between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom since it came into force in 2021. It has also sparked anger in pro-British communities, leading to the challenge which was brought by former Democratic Unionist Party leader Arlene Foster, Traditional Unionist Voice leader Jim Allister and David Trimble, the late former Ulster Unionist Party leader among others.

The British government and the EU are involved in lengthy talks to hammer out a solution to the trade issues, but a deal so far remains elusive. "A solution to the protocol was never going to be found in the courts, but the cases have served to highlight some of the reasons why unionists have uniformly rejected the protocol," DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson said. "The Protocol represents an existential threat to the future of Northern Ireland's place within the Union. The longer the Protocol remains, the more it will harm the union itself."

snip