The courtyard around the Louvre Museum’s famed glass pyramid is to become the stage for a giant interactive performance orchestrated by French visual artist JR as part of celebrations for the structure’s 30th anniversary.

An army of volunteers on Tuesday started pasting a colossal 160,000-square-foot paper image over the courtyard to prepare for the trompe l’oeil.

The image will create the illusion of a larger pyramid emerging from rocks as if it had been discovered by an archaeological excavation.

The 70-foot-high glass-and-steel pyramid, designed by Chinese-American architect I.M. Pei, now aged 101, was controversial when it was inaugurated in the classical setting of the Louvre in March 1989. But has since become a beloved Paris landmark.

“The pyramid has always inspired me, the way it mixes the ancient and the modern,” JR told Reuters. “This time, a big part of it is to confront the modern with archaeology.”

The new trompe l’oeil will be fully visible from Friday evening only from the museum’s roof. JR’s team has installed two giant screens on the courtyard to allow visitors to see the result from the ground.

For two days, Saturday and Sunday, the courtyard will be open for visitors to walk on it and observe the optical illusion.

“Once everything is pasted, people will be over the image and it will fade away and disappear,” JR said.

The interactive part of the project – volunteers enrolling to paste 32-foot-long paper strips and tourists walking, watching and appearing on the video shot from above – is what attracted the Louvre authorities.

“The visitor is always at the heart of our concern, with always the goal to better welcome them,” Louvre president Jean-Luc Martinez said.

The performance is a continuation of a giant trompe l’oeil three years ago that made the pyramid disappear behind a giant black-and-white photo.

The pyramid is the most popular of a series of ambitious projects launched by then President Francois Mitterrand in the 1980s and 1990s that changed the image of the French capital.

“Les grands travaux,” as they were dubbed, were criticized at their conception because their modern shape conflicted with traditional Parisian architecture.
…

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The courtyard around the Louvre Museum’s famed glass pyramid is to become the stage for a giant interactive performance orchestrated by French visual artist JR as part of celebrations for the structure’s 30th anniversary.

An army of volunteers on Tuesday started pasting a colossal 160,000-square-foot paper image over the courtyard to prepare for the trompe l’oeil.

The image will create the illusion of a larger pyramid emerging from rocks as if it had been discovered by an archaeological excavation.

The 70-foot-high glass-and-steel pyramid, designed by Chinese-American architect I.M. Pei, now aged 101, was controversial when it was inaugurated in the classical setting of the Louvre in March 1989. But has since become a beloved Paris landmark.

“The pyramid has always inspired me, the way it mixes the ancient and the modern,” JR told Reuters. “This time, a big part of it is to confront the modern with archaeology.”

The new trompe l’oeil will be fully visible from Friday evening only from the museum’s roof. JR’s team has installed two giant screens on the courtyard to allow visitors to see the result from the ground.

For two days, Saturday and Sunday, the courtyard will be open for visitors to walk on it and observe the optical illusion.

“Once everything is pasted, people will be over the image and it will fade away and disappear,” JR said.

The interactive part of the project – volunteers enrolling to paste 32-foot-long paper strips and tourists walking, watching and appearing on the video shot from above – is what attracted the Louvre authorities.

“The visitor is always at the heart of our concern, with always the goal to better welcome them,” Louvre president Jean-Luc Martinez said.

The performance is a continuation of a giant trompe l’oeil three years ago that made the pyramid disappear behind a giant black-and-white photo.

The pyramid is the most popular of a series of ambitious projects launched by then President Francois Mitterrand in the 1980s and 1990s that changed the image of the French capital.

“Les grands travaux,” as they were dubbed, were criticized at their conception because their modern shape conflicted with traditional Parisian architecture.
…

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Teen hearthrob Justin Bieber has told fans he is putting new music on hold while he struggles with “deep rooted issues” that he hopes will stop him from falling apart.

Bieber, 25, said in a lengthy Instagram post for his 106 million followers, that “music is very important to me but nothing comes before my family and my health.”

“I am now very focused on repairing some of the deep rooted issues that I have as most of us have, so that I don’t fall apart, so that I can sustain my marriage and be the father I want to be,” the Canadian singer wrote on Monday.

Bieber’s posting follows an admission on Instagram earlier this month that he had been “struggling a lot. Just feeling super disconnected and weird.”

The “Sorry” singer, who shot to fame as a baby-faced 15-year-old, married model Hailey Baldwin last September in a New York civil ceremony. They have no children.

In 2017 he abruptly pulled out of his “Purpose” world tour, citing the need for rest.

Bieber has not released an album since 2015’s “Purpose” although he came out with single “No Brainer” in July 2018 with DJ Khaled and other artists, and a remix of Spanish language global hit “Despacito” in 2017 with Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee.
…

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Teen hearthrob Justin Bieber has told fans he is putting new music on hold while he struggles with “deep rooted issues” that he hopes will stop him from falling apart.

Bieber, 25, said in a lengthy Instagram post for his 106 million followers, that “music is very important to me but nothing comes before my family and my health.”

“I am now very focused on repairing some of the deep rooted issues that I have as most of us have, so that I don’t fall apart, so that I can sustain my marriage and be the father I want to be,” the Canadian singer wrote on Monday.

Bieber’s posting follows an admission on Instagram earlier this month that he had been “struggling a lot. Just feeling super disconnected and weird.”

The “Sorry” singer, who shot to fame as a baby-faced 15-year-old, married model Hailey Baldwin last September in a New York civil ceremony. They have no children.

In 2017 he abruptly pulled out of his “Purpose” world tour, citing the need for rest.

Bieber has not released an album since 2015’s “Purpose” although he came out with single “No Brainer” in July 2018 with DJ Khaled and other artists, and a remix of Spanish language global hit “Despacito” in 2017 with Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee.
…

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The family of the Grammy-nominated Swedish electronic dance DJ Avicii (ah-VEE’-chee) is launching a foundation in his memory.

The international pop star, whose name was Tim Bergling, died in Muscat, Oman, on April 20, 2018. He was 28 years old. Police say there was no evidence of foul play.

His family announced Tuesday that the Tim Bergling Foundation will initially focus on supporting people and organizations in the field of mental illness and suicide prevention. It also will be active in climate change, nature conservation and endangered species.

The foundation’s objectives may be pursued in Sweden and abroad.

The international pop star performed his electronic dance songs at music festivals around the world and landed on U.S. radio with his country-dance mashup “Wake Me Up.”

He retired from touring in 2016.
…

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The family of the Grammy-nominated Swedish electronic dance DJ Avicii (ah-VEE’-chee) is launching a foundation in his memory.

The international pop star, whose name was Tim Bergling, died in Muscat, Oman, on April 20, 2018. He was 28 years old. Police say there was no evidence of foul play.

His family announced Tuesday that the Tim Bergling Foundation will initially focus on supporting people and organizations in the field of mental illness and suicide prevention. It also will be active in climate change, nature conservation and endangered species.

The foundation’s objectives may be pursued in Sweden and abroad.

The international pop star performed his electronic dance songs at music festivals around the world and landed on U.S. radio with his country-dance mashup “Wake Me Up.”

He retired from touring in 2016.
…

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Chicago police have dropped all charges against television actor Jussie Smollett, who was accused of falsely reporting that he had been the target of a hate crime.

Smollett’s attorneys announced the news Tuesday, saying their client’s record had been “wiped clean.”

A spokeswoman for the Cook County prosecutor’s office said, “After reviewing all of the facts and circumstances of the case, including Mr. Smollett’s volunteer service in the community and agreement to forfeit his bond to the City of Chicago, we believe this outcome is a just disposition and appropriate resolution to this case.” She added that Smollett will forfeit a $10,000 bond payment.

But Chicago police as well as mayor Rahm Emanuel have spoken out angrily about the development. “This is without a doubt a whitewash of justice,” Emanuel said, complaining that the grand jury in the case heard “only a sliver” of the evidence.

Chicago police superintendent Eddie Johnson said, “Do I think justice was served? No. What do I think justice is? I think this city is still owed an apology.”

Smollett, who is black and gay, responded publicly to the decision, thanking family, friends and fans who supported him and vowing, “I have been truthful and consistent on every level since day one. I would not be my mother’s son if I was capable of one drop of what I have been accused of.”

Smollett reported in January that he had been sent a threatening letter and was then attacked on the street by two men he didn’t know who wrapped a rope around his neck and attempted to pour bleach on him while yelling racial and homophobic slurs. He also said they yelled, “this is MAGA country,” referring to President Donald Trump’s slogan, “Make America Great Again.”

Police later said that Smollett had staged the attack himself, paying two physical trainers $3,500 to carry it out.

Smollett plays a gay character on the television show Empire, which is filmed in Chicago.
…

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Chicago police have dropped all charges against television actor Jussie Smollett, who was accused of falsely reporting that he had been the target of a hate crime.

Smollett’s attorneys announced the news Tuesday, saying their client’s record had been “wiped clean.”

A spokeswoman for the Cook County prosecutor’s office said, “After reviewing all of the facts and circumstances of the case, including Mr. Smollett’s volunteer service in the community and agreement to forfeit his bond to the City of Chicago, we believe this outcome is a just disposition and appropriate resolution to this case.” She added that Smollett will forfeit a $10,000 bond payment.

But Chicago police as well as mayor Rahm Emanuel have spoken out angrily about the development. “This is without a doubt a whitewash of justice,” Emanuel said, complaining that the grand jury in the case heard “only a sliver” of the evidence.

Chicago police superintendent Eddie Johnson said, “Do I think justice was served? No. What do I think justice is? I think this city is still owed an apology.”

Smollett, who is black and gay, responded publicly to the decision, thanking family, friends and fans who supported him and vowing, “I have been truthful and consistent on every level since day one. I would not be my mother’s son if I was capable of one drop of what I have been accused of.”

Smollett reported in January that he had been sent a threatening letter and was then attacked on the street by two men he didn’t know who wrapped a rope around his neck and attempted to pour bleach on him while yelling racial and homophobic slurs. He also said they yelled, “this is MAGA country,” referring to President Donald Trump’s slogan, “Make America Great Again.”

Police later said that Smollett had staged the attack himself, paying two physical trainers $3,500 to carry it out.

Smollett plays a gay character on the television show Empire, which is filmed in Chicago.
…

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The seven women busily making and packing sanitary napkins in a small manufacturing unit in Kathikhera village had never heard that word while growing up. That is no surprise: menstruation is a taboo subject in village homes. 

That is why when the venture was launched over two years ago, several women quit after being taunted by villagers for doing “dirty work.” Those who persevered did not dare acknowledge what they were doing. 

“We used to tell everyone we are making diapers. When people came to buy them we were very embarrassed to admit that we are actually making pads,” says 22-year-old Rakhi Tanwar. “I did not even tell my father and brother about the work I was doing.” 

The venture was born in a village home after a crowd funding initiative by a student group in the United States helped purchase a machine to make affordable sanitary napkins. The group also funded a documentary that was set in the village. Made by Iranian-American filmmaker Rayka Zehtabchi, it bagged the Oscar in the short documentary category this year. 

In this small conservative community, getting the unit going was a struggle until the arrival of the film crew and the making of the movie gradually revolutionized attitudes toward menstruation. The film chronicles the impact of the cultural stigma that surrounds the subject: an estimated 20 per cent adolescent girls drop out of school after puberty and menstrual hygiene poses a challenge due to lack of access to sanitary products. 

Sneha, the protagonist of the documentary, testifies to the silence that surrounds the subject: her mother never told her about menstruation. She recalls how she was ridiculed for her work. “Sometime I came home and almost wept at the way people treated me. I was often tempted to leave. People looked at me with such contempt,” says the village girl who had never imagined her work would one day make her walk down the red carpet in Los Angeles.

There has been a dramatic change since those early days. “Those who did not want to hear about this subject or talk to us now converse about it more openly to us and to each other,” she says. “It is treated as a normal topic. This is a huge opportunity. This is what we wanted, that it should not be considered a “dirty” subject.” 

The women who were once turned away from village homes when they went to explain about sanitary products now get a willing ear. Sanitary pads, which in India, are usually discreetly kept under a shelf, are openly displayed in the Kathikhera village shop and even men turn up to buy them for their wives. Mothers say they will discuss the topic with young daughters. 

“I never shared anything with my friends also,” says Rakhi laughing shyly. “But these foreigners who came to make the movie have removed the shame we used to feel.”

The quiet social revolution taking place in Kathikhera has been made possible due to the efforts of a social entrepreneur in South India who devised a machine to make low-cost sanitary napkins after he discovers his wife uses rags.

​Besides menstrual hygiene, there have been other gains from the project: financial independence and a new-found determination to achieve goals among the women involved in the Kathikhera project. They use only their first name because they say they want to have their own identity. Sneha aspires to become a police officer, although she says women’s issues will always be a part of her mission. Rakhi, who wants to be a teacher, is using the $35 salary a month from her work at the factory to fund her postgraduate studies. 

The unit is providing the first ever avenue of employment in a village where women were confined to housework. 

The road has not been easy for women like Sushma, a mother of two who lives in an extended family. It was never supportive of her work and her husband insisted she must do all the housework despite the job she took on. But the recognition that came to the village after the Oscar award have changed all that. “Now my family allows me come to work early. My sisters-in-law willingly do my share of the housework,” says Sushma, who is determined to carry on with her job.

Officials and village elders have become more open to discussing women’s issues with Action India, the charity that helped set up the venture. “When we used to hold meetings to create awareness about menstrual hygiene, they used to say that we are spoiling their women,” recalls Suman, a social worker with the group that focuses on reproductive health issues. She says they were accused of promoting the venture to make profits while burdening households with more expenses. “Now that atmosphere has changed. They want to join hands with us. They ask us about our problems.” 

As a quiet village that had never heard of the world’s biggest film awards basks in the stardust that has fallen on it since the Oscar win, the hope is that the documentary’s bigger message will resonate in other parts of rural India. The winds of change are blowing. Action India has already set up one more pad making unit in a neighboring village with the aim of transforming lives for more young women.
…

your ads here!

The seven women busily making and packing sanitary napkins in a small manufacturing unit in Kathikhera village had never heard that word while growing up. That is no surprise: menstruation is a taboo subject in village homes. 

That is why when the venture was launched over two years ago, several women quit after being taunted by villagers for doing “dirty work.” Those who persevered did not dare acknowledge what they were doing. 

“We used to tell everyone we are making diapers. When people came to buy them we were very embarrassed to admit that we are actually making pads,” says 22-year-old Rakhi Tanwar. “I did not even tell my father and brother about the work I was doing.” 

The venture was born in a village home after a crowd funding initiative by a student group in the United States helped purchase a machine to make affordable sanitary napkins. The group also funded a documentary that was set in the village. Made by Iranian-American filmmaker Rayka Zehtabchi, it bagged the Oscar in the short documentary category this year. 

In this small conservative community, getting the unit going was a struggle until the arrival of the film crew and the making of the movie gradually revolutionized attitudes toward menstruation. The film chronicles the impact of the cultural stigma that surrounds the subject: an estimated 20 per cent adolescent girls drop out of school after puberty and menstrual hygiene poses a challenge due to lack of access to sanitary products. 

Sneha, the protagonist of the documentary, testifies to the silence that surrounds the subject: her mother never told her about menstruation. She recalls how she was ridiculed for her work. “Sometime I came home and almost wept at the way people treated me. I was often tempted to leave. People looked at me with such contempt,” says the village girl who had never imagined her work would one day make her walk down the red carpet in Los Angeles.

There has been a dramatic change since those early days. “Those who did not want to hear about this subject or talk to us now converse about it more openly to us and to each other,” she says. “It is treated as a normal topic. This is a huge opportunity. This is what we wanted, that it should not be considered a “dirty” subject.” 

The women who were once turned away from village homes when they went to explain about sanitary products now get a willing ear. Sanitary pads, which in India, are usually discreetly kept under a shelf, are openly displayed in the Kathikhera village shop and even men turn up to buy them for their wives. Mothers say they will discuss the topic with young daughters. 

“I never shared anything with my friends also,” says Rakhi laughing shyly. “But these foreigners who came to make the movie have removed the shame we used to feel.”

The quiet social revolution taking place in Kathikhera has been made possible due to the efforts of a social entrepreneur in South India who devised a machine to make low-cost sanitary napkins after he discovers his wife uses rags.

​Besides menstrual hygiene, there have been other gains from the project: financial independence and a new-found determination to achieve goals among the women involved in the Kathikhera project. They use only their first name because they say they want to have their own identity. Sneha aspires to become a police officer, although she says women’s issues will always be a part of her mission. Rakhi, who wants to be a teacher, is using the $35 salary a month from her work at the factory to fund her postgraduate studies. 

The unit is providing the first ever avenue of employment in a village where women were confined to housework. 

The road has not been easy for women like Sushma, a mother of two who lives in an extended family. It was never supportive of her work and her husband insisted she must do all the housework despite the job she took on. But the recognition that came to the village after the Oscar award have changed all that. “Now my family allows me come to work early. My sisters-in-law willingly do my share of the housework,” says Sushma, who is determined to carry on with her job.

Officials and village elders have become more open to discussing women’s issues with Action India, the charity that helped set up the venture. “When we used to hold meetings to create awareness about menstrual hygiene, they used to say that we are spoiling their women,” recalls Suman, a social worker with the group that focuses on reproductive health issues. She says they were accused of promoting the venture to make profits while burdening households with more expenses. “Now that atmosphere has changed. They want to join hands with us. They ask us about our problems.” 

As a quiet village that had never heard of the world’s biggest film awards basks in the stardust that has fallen on it since the Oscar win, the hope is that the documentary’s bigger message will resonate in other parts of rural India. The winds of change are blowing. Action India has already set up one more pad making unit in a neighboring village with the aim of transforming lives for more young women.
…

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A documentary “Period. End of Sentence,” which won an Oscar last month, centers on a small village in Uttar Pradesh state in Northern India where a machine to make affordable sanitary napkins was installed with the help of a crowdfunding initiative by a student group in the United States. The film, made by Iranian-American filmmaker Rayka Zehtabchi,  has revolutionized attitudes toward the subject of menstruation. Anjana Pasricha brings this report.
…

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A documentary “Period. End of Sentence,” which won an Oscar last month, centers on a small village in Uttar Pradesh state in Northern India where a machine to make affordable sanitary napkins was installed with the help of a crowdfunding initiative by a student group in the United States. The film, made by Iranian-American filmmaker Rayka Zehtabchi,  has revolutionized attitudes toward the subject of menstruation. Anjana Pasricha brings this report.
…

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Big-eared baby elephant Dumbo may be the star of Walt Disney Co.’s remake of its 1941 animated movie classic but the film was shot without its adorable star ever making an appearance on set.

The cast of the live action “Dumbo,” arriving in movie theaters worldwide this week, had to act opposite an assortment of models and stunt men and women while the elephant was being created by computer-generated imagery (CGI).

“It is weird that you’re making a movie with all these great actors and the main character is not there,” director Tim Burton told Reuters Television.

“Dumbo,” which stars Colin Farrell, Danny DeVito and Michael Keaton, is the tale of an elephant born to a struggling circus who is ridiculed for his huge ears, until he uses them to fly and becomes the main attraction of the show.

Farrell, who plays the father of two children who adopt Dumbo, said he never saw an elephant while making the film.

“There wasn’t an elephant to be found. They did have models.

They had a beautiful huge model in luminous green of an elephant that played Dumbo’s mom, Jumbo, and then they had multiple, multiple stand-ins for Dumbo,” Farrell said.

“They had a model that didn’t move. They had a couple of actors… dressed in green spandex onesies and they’d come in and do their thing, and they had stilts on the front of their arms and their movement was extraordinary and the character work was extraordinary,” Farrell added.

One of the stand-ins was Burton himself.

“You should see me get on all fours,” Burton said. “Throwing my trunk all over the place.”

Farrell said he didn’t get to see Dumbo until he watched the finished film for the first time as a member of the audience.

“Dumbo falls down, and the straw goes awry and then the ears come out and I’m seeing it for the first time. Beautiful, really lovely to see. They did extraordinary work,” he said.
…

your ads here!

Big-eared baby elephant Dumbo may be the star of Walt Disney Co.’s remake of its 1941 animated movie classic but the film was shot without its adorable star ever making an appearance on set.

The cast of the live action “Dumbo,” arriving in movie theaters worldwide this week, had to act opposite an assortment of models and stunt men and women while the elephant was being created by computer-generated imagery (CGI).

“It is weird that you’re making a movie with all these great actors and the main character is not there,” director Tim Burton told Reuters Television.

“Dumbo,” which stars Colin Farrell, Danny DeVito and Michael Keaton, is the tale of an elephant born to a struggling circus who is ridiculed for his huge ears, until he uses them to fly and becomes the main attraction of the show.

Farrell, who plays the father of two children who adopt Dumbo, said he never saw an elephant while making the film.

“There wasn’t an elephant to be found. They did have models.

They had a beautiful huge model in luminous green of an elephant that played Dumbo’s mom, Jumbo, and then they had multiple, multiple stand-ins for Dumbo,” Farrell said.

“They had a model that didn’t move. They had a couple of actors… dressed in green spandex onesies and they’d come in and do their thing, and they had stilts on the front of their arms and their movement was extraordinary and the character work was extraordinary,” Farrell added.

One of the stand-ins was Burton himself.

“You should see me get on all fours,” Burton said. “Throwing my trunk all over the place.”

Farrell said he didn’t get to see Dumbo until he watched the finished film for the first time as a member of the audience.

“Dumbo falls down, and the straw goes awry and then the ears come out and I’m seeing it for the first time. Beautiful, really lovely to see. They did extraordinary work,” he said.
…

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In March 1969, newlyweds John Lennon and Yoko Ono skipped a honeymoon and instead staged a “bed-in” in Amsterdam to promote world peace during the Vietnam War.

Dressed in white, the artistic duo received visitors and held press conferences from bed in the presidential suite atop Amsterdam’s Hilton Hotel from March 23-29.

A photo exhibition and other events remembering Ono and Lennon, the Beatles songwriter who was shot and killed in New York in 1980, are being held this week in the Dutch capital to commemorate the events 50 years ago.

Amid flowers and self-made signs reading “Hair Peace” and “Bed Peace,” the couple put forward a simple strategy for achieving world harmony: reject violence of all forms.

“If you believe violence will solve the problem, that’s up to you. I don’t,” John told one reporter. “Nobody’s ever tried the peace thing.”

The incident was memorialized in “The Ballad of John and Yoko,” released shortly before the Beatles broke up: Drove from Paris to the Amsterdam Hilton / Talking in our beds for a week / The news people said, “Say what you doing in bed?” / I said, “We’re only trying to get us some peace.”

In 2012, Ono released for free Bed Peace, a documentary about the Amsterdam bed-in and a second bed-in the couple held several months later in Montreal, Canada.

At one point, Ono dismisses a book of poems and manifestos handed to her by a self-styled “revolutionary.”

“I’m sorry, no matter how beautiful your poem is, if you can’t share with people, it’s crap,” she said. To honor their memory, a white “Peace Tulip” will be planted outside the hotel Thursday.

Commemoration events

Other commemoration events in Amsterdam include a film evening, concert and tour of the famous room #902.

Fifty years later, world peace has not yet arrived.

Skeptics at the time pointed out that not everybody can afford to stay in bed all day or be as famous as John and Yoko.

“Stop asking if it’s going to work, do something yourself,” an annoyed Lennon told one reporter in the documentary. “Grow your hair, wear a sign.”
…

your ads here!

In March 1969, newlyweds John Lennon and Yoko Ono skipped a honeymoon and instead staged a “bed-in” in Amsterdam to promote world peace during the Vietnam War.

Dressed in white, the artistic duo received visitors and held press conferences from bed in the presidential suite atop Amsterdam’s Hilton Hotel from March 23-29.

A photo exhibition and other events remembering Ono and Lennon, the Beatles songwriter who was shot and killed in New York in 1980, are being held this week in the Dutch capital to commemorate the events 50 years ago.

Amid flowers and self-made signs reading “Hair Peace” and “Bed Peace,” the couple put forward a simple strategy for achieving world harmony: reject violence of all forms.

“If you believe violence will solve the problem, that’s up to you. I don’t,” John told one reporter. “Nobody’s ever tried the peace thing.”

The incident was memorialized in “The Ballad of John and Yoko,” released shortly before the Beatles broke up: Drove from Paris to the Amsterdam Hilton / Talking in our beds for a week / The news people said, “Say what you doing in bed?” / I said, “We’re only trying to get us some peace.”

In 2012, Ono released for free Bed Peace, a documentary about the Amsterdam bed-in and a second bed-in the couple held several months later in Montreal, Canada.

At one point, Ono dismisses a book of poems and manifestos handed to her by a self-styled “revolutionary.”

“I’m sorry, no matter how beautiful your poem is, if you can’t share with people, it’s crap,” she said. To honor their memory, a white “Peace Tulip” will be planted outside the hotel Thursday.

Commemoration events

Other commemoration events in Amsterdam include a film evening, concert and tour of the famous room #902.

Fifty years later, world peace has not yet arrived.

Skeptics at the time pointed out that not everybody can afford to stay in bed all day or be as famous as John and Yoko.

“Stop asking if it’s going to work, do something yourself,” an annoyed Lennon told one reporter in the documentary. “Grow your hair, wear a sign.”
…

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The Wayfarers Chapel on the California coast is often called the “glass church.” It’s a hidden gem tucked away among large redwood trees. Angelina Bagdasaryan gives us a look at the building, which is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Anna Rice narrates the story.
…

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The Wayfarers Chapel on the California coast is often called the “glass church.” It’s a hidden gem tucked away among large redwood trees. Angelina Bagdasaryan gives us a look at the building, which is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Anna Rice narrates the story.
…

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When polo comes to Lagos, the champagne flows and exuberant fashion colors adorn the green fields.

While most Nigerians would never trade their love of soccer, the commercial capital still hosts the biggest polo tournament in West Africa, with trophies fiercely disputed against a backdrop of glitz and glamour for the upper class.

“Polo has shifted from just the sports to a fashion statement,” said Mudrakat Alabi-Macfoy, wearing an airy white kaftan with a multi-colored floral necklace and head wrap at the Lagos Polo Club.

“For me it is something fun, something playful, something whimsical, something comfortable… a bit of color, a bit of pop,” said Alabi-Macfoy, who works as a lawyer when not watching polo.

In a nation with the world’s highest number of people in extreme poverty, the often-dubbed “sport of kings” is prohibitively expensive for the majority.

First introduced by British colonial servicemen, polo has been played in Nigeria for over a hundred years and nearly all the teams are owned by local multi-millionaires.

“It is an expensive sport because, you know, your horses are like babies,” said Koyinsola Owoeye, who has been playing polo since 2007, seduced by his father’s love of the sport.

A horse can cost about $40,000 — then there is upkeep.

“Maintenance is not easy. Today they can be well, tomorrow they can have, you know, malaria, fever, colic, or even get injured on the field or on their way to the tournament,” Owoeye said.

The 2019 Lagos International Polo Tournament, which wound up on Sunday, fielded 33 teams from Nigeria, Argentina, South Africa, Kenya and the United Kingdom.
…

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When polo comes to Lagos, the champagne flows and exuberant fashion colors adorn the green fields.

While most Nigerians would never trade their love of soccer, the commercial capital still hosts the biggest polo tournament in West Africa, with trophies fiercely disputed against a backdrop of glitz and glamour for the upper class.

“Polo has shifted from just the sports to a fashion statement,” said Mudrakat Alabi-Macfoy, wearing an airy white kaftan with a multi-colored floral necklace and head wrap at the Lagos Polo Club.

“For me it is something fun, something playful, something whimsical, something comfortable… a bit of color, a bit of pop,” said Alabi-Macfoy, who works as a lawyer when not watching polo.

In a nation with the world’s highest number of people in extreme poverty, the often-dubbed “sport of kings” is prohibitively expensive for the majority.

First introduced by British colonial servicemen, polo has been played in Nigeria for over a hundred years and nearly all the teams are owned by local multi-millionaires.

“It is an expensive sport because, you know, your horses are like babies,” said Koyinsola Owoeye, who has been playing polo since 2007, seduced by his father’s love of the sport.

A horse can cost about $40,000 — then there is upkeep.

“Maintenance is not easy. Today they can be well, tomorrow they can have, you know, malaria, fever, colic, or even get injured on the field or on their way to the tournament,” Owoeye said.

The 2019 Lagos International Polo Tournament, which wound up on Sunday, fielded 33 teams from Nigeria, Argentina, South Africa, Kenya and the United Kingdom.
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Larry Cohen, the maverick B-movie director of cult horror films “It’s Alive” and “God Told Me To,” has died. He was 77.

Cohen’s friend and spokesman, the actor Shade Rupe, said Cohen passed away Saturday in Los Angeles surrounded by loved ones.

Cohen’s films were schlocky, low-budget films that developed cult followings, spawned sequels and gained esteem for their genre reflections of contemporary social issues.

His 1974 “It’s Alive,” about a murderous mutant baby, dealt with the treatment of children. Bernard Herrmann, Alfred Hitchcock’s frequent composer, supplied the score.

His New York-set 1976 satire “God Told Me To” depicted a series of shootings and murders carried out in religious fervor. Andy Kaufman played a policeman who goes on a shooting spree during the St. Patrick’s Day parade. There were also aliens.

In Cohen’s 1985 film “The Stuff,” Cohen skewered consumerism with a story inspired by the rise of junk food. It’s about a sweet yogurt-like substance that’s found oozing out of the ground and is then bottled and marketed like an ice cream alternative without the calories. The “stuff” turns out to be a parasite that turns consumers of it into zombies.

“It wasn’t just going to a studio like a factory laborer and making pictures and going home every night,” Cohen told the Ringer last year. “We were out there in the jungle making these movies, improvising, and having fun, and creating movies from out of thin air without much money.”

“You’ve gotta make the picture your way and no other way,” he added, “because it can’t be made otherwise.”

Cohen’s approach — he would often shoot extreme scenes on New York City streets without permits or alerting people in the area — made him, like Roger Corman, revered among subsequent generations of independent genre-movie filmmakers. A documentary released last year, “King Cohen: The Wild World of Filmmaker Larry Cohen,” paid tribute to Cohen.

“Larry Cohen truly was an independent freewheeling movie legend,” the writer-director Edgar Wright (“Shaun of the Dead,” ″Baby Driver”) said on Sunday, praising him “for so many fun, high-concept genre romps with ideas bigger than the budgets.”

The New York-native Cohen began in television, where he wrote episodes for series like “The Fugitive,” ″The Defenders” and “Surfside 6.” New York would be the setting for many of Cohen’s films, including 1982′s “Q,” in which a giant flying lizard nests atop the Chrysler Building.

Cohen’s 1973 blaxspoitation crime drama “Black Caesar,” scored by James Brown, was about a Harlem gangster. He and star Fred Williamson reunited the next year for “Hell Up in Harlem.”

Cohen later directed Bette Davis’ last film, “Wicked Stepmother,” in 1989. More recently, he wrote the 2002 Colin Farrell thriller “Phone Booth” and 2004′s “Cellular,” with Chris Evans.

Cohen was often his own producer, director, writer and sometimes prop-maker and production manager. “Otherwise,” he told the Village Voice, “I’d have to sit down with producers, and producers are a real pain in the ass, believe me.”
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Jordan Peele has done it again. Two years after the filmmaker’s “Get Out” became a box-office sensation, his frightening follow-up, “Us,” debuted with $70.3 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday.

The opening, well above forecasts, had few parallels. It was the largest debut for an original horror film (only the “It” remake and last year’s “Halloween” have surpassed it in the genre) and one of the highest openings for a live-action original film since “Avatar” was released 10 years ago.

In today’s franchise-driven movie world, seldom has a young director been such a draw. But moviegoers turned out in droves to see what kind of freak-out Peele could muster in his sophomore release.

“Peele has really crafted an extraordinary story that I think once again is going to capture the cultural zeitgeist,” said Jim Orr, distribution chief for Universal. “He is recognized as just an amazing talent. He crafts films that make you think, that are extraordinarily well-acted, well-written and are amazingly entertaining.”

“Us” took over the top spot at the box office from “Captain Marvel,” which had reigned for two weeks. The Marvel Studios superhero release slid to second place with $35 million in its third week. In three weeks of release, it’s made $910 million worldwide, and will soon become the first $1 billion release of 2019.

Other holdovers — the animated amusement “Wonder Park” and the cystic fibrosis teen romance “Five Feet Apart”— trailed in third and fourth with about $9 million each in their second week.

But the weekend belonged overwhelming to “Us,” which more than doubled the $33.4 million domestic debut of 2017′s Oscar-winning “Get Out.” The former “Key & Peele” star’s first film as writer-director, “Get Out” ultimately grossed $255.4 million on a $4.5 million budget.

“Us” cost $20 million to make, meaning it’s already a huge hit for Peele and Universal Pictures, which notched its third No. 1 release of the year following “Glass” and “How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World.”

It’s also, as Peele has said, more thoroughly a horror film. While “Us” has drawn very good reviews (94 percent fresh on Rotten Tomatoes), audiences gave it a relatively low “B″ CinemaScore. Paul Dergarabedian chalked that up mainly to moviegoers feeling shell-shocked when they emerged from the theater.

“Us” stars Lupita Nyong’o and Winston Duke as vacationing parents whose family is faced with eerie doppelgangers of themselves. The film added $16.7 million from 47 international territories.

While “Us” was propelled by a number of things, including Nyong’o and buzz out of its SXSW premiere, the main selling point was Peele. The 40-year-old director already has an imprimatur matched only by veteran filmmakers like Clint Eastwood.

“It’s really difficult for a director to become a superstar whose name gets people in theater, and Jordan Peele has done just that,” said Dergarabedian. “He’s a superstar director with a brand all his own, and that’s with two feature films under his belt. That’s pretty astonishing. That just doesn’t happen.”

After a sluggish January and February, the overall box office has rebounded thanks to “Captain Marvel” and “Us.” The weekend was up 15.3 percent from last year, according to Comscore.

The weekend followed an especially tumultuous week in Hollywood. On Monday, Warner Bros. chief Kevin Tsujihara stepped down following a sex scandal. On Wednesday, the Walt Disney Co. completed its $71.3 billion acquisition of 21st Century Fox.

In absorbing one of the six major studios in 20th Century Fox, Disney quickly made many layoffs and shuttered Fox 2000, the Fox label behind hit book adaptations like “Hidden Figures” and “Life of Pi.”

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Where available, the latest international numbers for Friday through Sunday are also included.

1. “Us,” $70.3 million ($16.7 million international).

2. “Captain Marvel,” $35 million ($52.1 million international).

3. “Wonder Park,” $9 million ($5 million international).

4. “Five Feet Apart,” $8.8 million ($6.2 million international).

5. “How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World,” $6.5 million ($6 million international).

6. “A Madea Family Funeral,” $4.5 million.

7. “Gloria Bell,” $1.8 million.

8. “No Manches Frida,” $1.8 million.

9. “Lego Movie 2: The Second Part,” $1.1 million ($6.2 million international).

10. “Alita: Battle Angel,” $1 million ($1.6 million international).

 
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