Poor Things, adapted into an award-winning film from the novel by Alasdair Gray, imagines a female Frankenstein’s monster who is fundamentally human, and her creator, who much like Dr Frankenstein, is perhaps more monstrous himself. Yorgos Lanthimos’s previous films such as The Lobster and The Favourite were far from mainstream, even if The Favourite won … Continue reading “Poor Things: Frankenstein Revisited”
The electoral process for a U.S. President is long, with many candidates declaring their campaigns six or even 12 months before primary season opens in January. But this year, the primaries could lack suspense, with one incumbent candidate, President Joe Biden for the Democrats, and one Republican, Donald Trump dominating that party’s primary process despite … Continue reading “On the Election Road: U.S.A. 2024”
Heman Bekele, 14, from Virginia, has been named America’s Top Young Scientist 2023 for developing a soap that could replace expensive medicines as a treatment for some forms of skin cancer. The ninth-grade student was one of 10 finalists in this year’s 3M Young Scientist Challenge. The teens all applied for the challenge in a … Continue reading “Teen Scientist Wins Award for Soap to Treat Cancer”
Traditionally, the U.S. presidential election primary season starts off not with a primary but with a caucus. What’s the difference? Both primaries and caucuses are a way to choose candidates for a party’s election campaign. Not only party members vote – all voters can choose to register as Democrat or Republican when they sign up … Continue reading “Caucus vs Primary”
The West Side Story production that has just finished in Paris will be touring to Bordeaux, Lyons, Rouen and Nantes in February and March. A full stage production, it is in English with French surtitles. The musical comedy by Bernstein, Sondheim and Robbins is a reworking of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, with the Capulets and … Continue reading “West Side Story on Tour Around France”
The new Netflix TV series The Fall of the House of Usher is inspired by the famous Edgar Allan Poe story but in a pretty tangential way. The horror mini-series keeps the Usher twins Roderick and Madeline but far from being the last members of a dying family they are the heads of a family … Continue reading “Edgar Allan Poe 21st Century Reboot”
Hogmanay is the name for New Year’s Eve in Scotland. It was traditionally a much bigger celebration than Christmas in Scotland, and is still a big event. It’s associated with many traditions, some which will seem familiar and some specific to Scotland. As with new year celebrations in many cultures, it’s considered bad luck to … Continue reading “Happy Hogmanay!”
New rules about identity papers come into force on 28 December that will make taking school groups to the post-Brexit UK a bit easier. Many teachers had given up trying to take classes on trips to the U.K. since post-Brexit rules came in that required every pupil (like every French person travelling to the U.K.) … Continue reading “New Rules Make School Trips to the UK Easier”
Gertrude Stein is probably best known for her “salon” in Paris where she nurtured artistic talents as diverse as Matisse and Braque, Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald and James Joyce. But her experimental, minimalist writing has been highly influential on generations of creatives right up to today, as is shown in the Gertrude Stein and Picasso: … Continue reading “Gertrude Stein Multi-talented”
The Boston Tea Party wasn’t a social event. It was an act of rebellion and it helped start the movement for the U.S.A. to become independent from Britain. In 1773, Boston was the capital of Massachusetts, one of 13 British colonies in the future United States. For several years, the British government, in financial trouble, … Continue reading “Starting a Revolution with Tea in Boston”
