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☆ ‘Book Club: The Next Chapter’ Review: Cinema Pinot Grigio
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-11 | by ( Amy Nicholson | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The 2018 comedy “Book Club” had a simple, sturdy spine of a plot: Four longtime friends (Diane Keaton, Jane Fonda, Candice Bergen and Mary Steenburgen) power up their sexual prowess while panting over — and mocking — the best seller “Fifty Shades of Grey.” At some point during the brainstorming of “Book Club‌: The Next Chapter,” the returning director Bill Holderman and his co-screenwriter Erin Simms must have decided they could ditch the book gimmick. With a cast this beloved, who cares what they’re reading? This sequel opens with a formal quote from “The Alchemist” and, when pressed, mutters about how its author Paulo Coelho embraces fate. But that’s just a spaghetti-thin excuse to send the pals on a frenetic adventure through Italy with no time to crack open a paperback. Our close familiarity with the cast is the sole thing giving this fluff a sheen of emotional weight.

☆ Oyakodon Is Bliss in a Bowl
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-07 | by ( Sam Sifton | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Oyakodon Is Bliss in a BowlGood morning. Bryan Washington has a lovely column in The New York Times Magazine this week about the joys of oyakodon (above), the Japanese rice bowl with chicken and egg. The name translates to “parent-and-child bowl.”Bryan’s eaten oyakodon all over Japan, and he’s perfected it in his home kitchen. …MondayI love this Ali Slagle recipe for crisp gnocchi with sausage and peas, draped in mustard and melted Parmesan cheese. It’s a hearty meal that feels like spring, but if you want to plush it up a little against a cold snap, add a splash of heavy cream.

Charles III has commissioned new works for his coronation, adding to the rich tapestry of pieces composed for the occasion. The first coronation music was likely sung chants, which, starting in 1603 with the coronation of James I, were refashioned into coronation anthems now with English text. Both have since become staples in the coronation service. And at the most recent coronation, comparisons between Elizabeth II and Charles III are unsurprisingly being made. Charles III’s coronation is set to usher in the new Carolean era, in the hopes that it will reflect its namesake Charles II and his contributions to art and music.

☆ ‘That! Feels Good!’ by Jessie Ware Review: Disco Bliss
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Mark Richardson | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

What to Watch: The 17 Best New Movies and TV Shows From MarchThis copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact Dow Jones Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit www.djreprints.com. https://www.wsj.com/articles/that-feels-good-by-jessie-ware-review-disco-bliss-4ffd61d1

At the same time, U.S. officials are expanding holding capacity for migrants at the border while piloting faster asylum screenings. The Biden plans aim to address a likely increase in unauthorized immigration after COVID border restrictions that have been in place since 2020 are set to end on May 11, barring any last-minute legal or congressional intervention. The expansion of refugee processing in Latin America would come as the Biden administration has yet to restore refugee admissions after they were slashed under Trump. Miller noted that an estimated 660,000 migrants are currently in Mexico, citing United Nations figures. CBP has capacity to detain 6,000 migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border and plans to add space for 2,500 more, Miller said, adding that the agency has stepped up its ability to quickly transport migrants away from the border.

☆ The Best of Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour Openers
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Is it the best song on Haim’s sprawling and fantastic 2020 album “Women in Music Part III”? Even though she was born in 2000, “Care” shows how intuitively she understands something about the sort of scuzzy, anthemic indie-pop that underground labels like Slumberland Records were releasing in the ’90s. (A “Best of Slumberland Records” playlist in a future installment of The Amplifier? Muna featuring Phoebe Bridgers: “Silk Chiffon”Two Eras Tour openers for the price of one! Far and away my favorite song from Muna’s 2022 self-titled album, this one is pure pop bliss and a refreshing reverie of queer joy.

☆ Switzerland faced a full-scale bank run if Credit Suisse went bankrupt, Swiss regulator argues
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( Ruxandra Iordache | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

It would have erased the holding company Credit Suisse Group, along with the parent bank Credit Suisse AG and its branches, while retaining the Credit Suisse (Schewiz) AG entity because of its "systemic importance." "The parent bank Credit Suisse AG would have gone under – a Swiss bank with total assets of over CHF 350 billion and ongoing business also running into many billions," Angehrn warned. Many other Swiss banks would probably have faced a run on deposits, as Credit Suisse itself did in the fourth quarter of 2022." Angehrn said the regulator has been in recent dialogue with the U.S., but did not experience international pressure in its supervision of Credit Suisse. The authorities would have risked not stopping a looming financial crisis by using the tool of resolution, but rather triggering such a financial crisis."

☆ Picasso: Love Him or Hate Him?
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( Deborah Solomon | April | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +14 min

It is not hugely cool to profess a love for Picasso these days. This is what Picasso’s detractors — like Hannah Gadsby, the Australian comedian and Picasso basher, who will help curate a Picasso show at the Brooklyn Museum opening on June 2 — often miss. Picasso, by contrast, brought the weight of lived experience into his work, even when he was tethered to archetypal subjects. “The Mother” (1901), an early painting by Picasso, shows a view of motherhood purged of Renaissance idealization. The conventional view of the painting holds that the women are “dolled-up cocottes,” as John Richardson glibly put it in his biography of Picasso.

☆ A US veteran joined Ukraine's International Legion, then made a shock defection to Russia. Ex-comrades say he was incompetent and left behind a trail of chaos.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-18 | by ( Alia Shoaib | Bethany Dawson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

Those who fought with him in Ukraine told Insider he was unstable and erratic on the battlefield. "Bama is a highly unstable character," Nance told Insider. The warning signs continued, as McIntyre told Smith that he was wanted by the FBI for threatening to kill personnel at the White House, Smith. "As time went on, he confided to me that he had converted to Islam and that he was planning to do a jihad," Smith told Insider. "When you screw up, a company gets rid of you, pulls you off the line, and sends you back to the battalion," Nance told Insider.

☆ Ignorance Really Is Bliss When it Comes to Investing
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( Spencer Jakab | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The opening shot in “Animal House” pans across the campus of idyllic Faber College, focusing on a statue of its founder inscribed with the words “KNOWLEDGE IS GOOD.”The statement is so obvious as to be laughable—the perfect way to kick off an hour and 49 minutes of not-so-subtle humor. But is knowing more always good? In investing at least, it isn’t. It could even hurt.

☆ Five Best: Books on Hollywood
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( Charles Elton | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

FlickerBy Theodore Roszak (1991)1. “Flicker” is the love child of Pauline Kael and Umberto Eco—a 700-page novel that combines religious philosophy and film theory, with some tantric sex thrown in. “There was no bliss to compare with the discovery of a lost von Stroheim scene or a Pabst without torn sprockets,” he muses. His search for the mysterious Castle takes him into a sinister Catholic organization called Oculus Dei, which will do anything to destroy Castle’s legacy. If “Flicker” sounds unlike anything you’ve ever read, it is—and gloriously so.

☆ Cyberattack on food giant Dole temporarily shuts down North America production, company memo says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( Sean Lyngaas | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —A cyberattack earlier this month forced produce giant Dole to temporarily shut down production plants in North America and halt food shipments to grocery stores, according to a company memo about the incident obtained by CNN. “Dole Food Company is in the midst of a Cyber Attack and have subsequently shut down our systems throughout North America,” Emanuel Lazopoulos, senior vice president at Dole’s Fresh Vegetables division, said in a February 10 memo to retailers. “They [customers] are upset, but it happens,” Russell told CNN. Customers started asking questions about the bare shelves, Underwood said, prompting the store to post the Dole memo about the cyberattack on its Facebook page. The multibillion-dollar company — officially known as Dole Plc after a 2021 merger between Dole Food Company and Ireland’s Total Produce — sources produce from dozens of countries around the world.

☆ Meetings aren't ‘the enemy’: HR expert's No. 1 lesson from 3 years of no-meeting Wednesdays
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Natasha Piñon | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

"Their calendar looked like a massive game of Tetris, where they didn't have breathing space," Rogerson, now the company's global head of people, recalls. Sixty-seven percent of workers say excessive meetings prevent them from doing their best work, a 2019 survey from consulting firm Korn Ferry reported. "If you've been in back-to-back meetings, even having an hour break is just bliss," Rogerson says. But making these no-meeting days work is a bit more complex than simply banning meetings from your Wednesday calendars, Rogerson says. You might not end up with fewer meetings on your weekly calendar, either — and, turns out, that's perfectly fine.

☆ Salary Transparency Is Coming — so I Decided to Tell Everyone What I Make
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-16 | by ( Aki Ito | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +37 min

But there's a glaring catch to my support for pay transparency: I haven't actually practiced it in my own life. To find out why, I decided to commemorate the dawning age of salary transparency by telling pretty much everyone in my life what I earn. Norway responded to pay transparency with yet another level of transparency, and that brought down the level of snooping.. Thanks to its nationwide experiment, Norway has been fertile ground for scholars trying to measure the consequences of extreme pay transparency. But I do believe that as more states implement pay-disclosure laws — and as Gen Z increasingly comes to dominate the workforce — salary transparency is going to become the new norm.

☆ Faithless singer Maxi Jazz dies aged 65
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, Dec 24 (Reuters) - Maxi Jazz, the lead vocalist of British electronic music band Faithless and known as the voice in trance hits such as "God Is a DJ" and "Insomnia", has died aged 65, the band said on Saturday. He gave proper meaning and message to our music," the other two core members of Faithless, Rollo and Sister Bliss, said in a statement on Facebook. The band said on Twitter that Jazz had died peacefully in his sleep. He helped form Faithless in 1995, which then grew into one of the most popular dance bands in Britain and round the world. His words and performances touched so many of us," British DJ MistaJam wrote of Jazz on Twitter.

I love giving and getting gift cards for the holidays, even though some people say they're impersonal. They offer the gift of timeNot only are you gifting store credit to their favorite places to shop, but gift cards also offer the gift of time. Plus, I can purchase gift cards online, or go to a store that offers a wall of different gift cards from other retailers to choose from. I've also scooped up discounts on gift cards during special promos, like 10% off gift cards up to a certain amount. Picking out gift cards to folks on my gift list have long been my go-to for the holidays, and as a gift card devotee, that's not going to change.

☆ Companies are too quick to lay off employees in a recession, one entrepreneur says. Instead, they should focus on retaining valuable 'human capital.'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-13 | by ( Jennifer Ortakales Dawkins | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Instead, he said, business owners should look at other ways to cut costs. This article is part of Talent Insider, a series containing expert advice to help small business owners tackle a range of hiring challenges. He attributed that outcome to the closer relationships business owners have with their employees. But Niddel said it's not enough to ask employees to take a pay cut if the founder isn't doing so as well. For example, Luzio and her chief operating officer took larger pay cuts than the rest of the staff.

☆ Here's what a 2023 recession could mean for entrepreneurs and how they can prepare
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Jennifer Ortakales Dawkins | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

If we're heading into a recession, entrepreneurs will have to prepare their businesses now. If these predictions are accurate, entrepreneurs will need to begin preparing their businesses now for the challenges ahead. Insider spoke with founders and experts to understand how a recession could affect entrepreneurs' bottom lines and the steps they could take now to prepare. Ryan Niddel, a serial entrepreneur and growth specialist, said a recession was not an ideal time to be in debt. "Even in a recession, there are market sectors that continue to do well or even, in some cases, do better," he said.

When my husband unexpectedly became a stay-at-home dad, our family thrived. Once I became used to having a stay-at-home spouse, I realized how deeply the patriarchy penetrated. For three years, my husband was a stay-at-home dad. My husband didn't choose to be a stay-at-home dad; it merely happened through circumstance. My husband's position is seasonal, so come spring, I will again have a stay-at-home partner, at least for a few months.

☆ The 11 Best Flannel Shirts for Men, According to Style Experts
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-27 | by ( ) www.wsj.com time to read: +5 min

By Rachel MoselyWhether your current climate is mild wintry bliss or more like cold-weather chaos, the flannel shirt can be a wardrobe hero this season. To find out, we asked fashion pros for their flannel favorites, from bold plaid and buffalo-check versions to subtler monochromatic pieces. Formal(ish) pickFor an elevated spin on flannel, consider this wool-cashmere option from Ralph Lauren, suggests New York City-based stylist Andrew Franco. Patchwork printA mix of multihued, cotton flannel panels gives this shirt an eye-catching effect. Pair the flannel with chinos, corduroys, denim or even sweatpants to “go all in on the skater look,” Tsui adds.

November marks Native American Heritage Month, and the following 10 LGBTQ+ Indigenous trailblazers are bringing important representation to TV, challenging traditional gender expectations at powwows and elevating issues affecting Indigenous people, such as the epidemic of missing and murdered Indigenous women. Tom Williams / CQ Roll Call via AP fileRep. Sharice Davids, a member of the Ho-Chunk nation, became the first LGBTQ Native American elected to Congress and one of the first Native American women to serve in Congress after winning her race for Kansas’ 3rd Congressional District in 2018. Scott, of Aurora, Colorado, who uses she and they pronouns, leverages her platform to highlight issues affecting the queer Indigenous community. “I just want to flood the industry with Indigenous people, Indigenous models, Indigenous stories, and Indigenous designers.”Kali Reis (KO)Kali Reis, who is Seaconke Wampanaak and Cape Verdean, is a trailblazing Indigenous two-spirit athlete who wears many hats. Native American Heritage Month invites non-Native folks in joining us in recognizing our histories and celebrating our communities.

☆ In My Tiny Kitchen, This Pan Is All I Need to Cook Almost Anything
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( ) www.wsj.com time to read: +5 min

That’s why when the brand offered for me to test a sample of the Small Fry, an 8.5-inch nonstick stainless steel frying pan, I was in. But conveniently, Great Jones’ small lid fits both the frying pan and the small saucepan (which comes with a lid). I shouldn’t have been surprised by my near-infatuation with this petite frying pan, as every Great Jones item I’ve tried has met my high standard for function and form. The ceramic dish was, again, almost startlingly easy to clean, a common theme I’ve noticed with Great Jones gear. When I shop Great Jones, I don’t have to forfeit anything.

☆ Best new family movies on Netflix? 'Enola Holmes 2' is excellent
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-04 | by ( Ani Bundel | Ani Bundel Is A Cultural Critic Who Has Been Writing Regularly Since Her Work Can Also Be Found At Elite Daily | Weta'S Telly Visions | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

The sequel to Netflix’s hit feature film “Enola Holmes” may not have the cleverest title, but “Enola Holmes 2” is just as quick-witted and charming as the original. A quirky take on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s classic mysteries, Enola is more than ready for another adorable, all-ages romp. Springer’s books, and the films, invent a female character that Doyle never conceived of, and put her front and center. “Sherlock Holmes” is one of the most adapted mysteries series in history. Hopefully the success of the “Enola Holmes” franchise encourages them to make more.

☆ U.S. whistleblowers aiding migrant children feared retaliation -watchdog
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-27 | by ( Ted Hesson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Jose Luis Gonzalez/File PhotoWASHINGTON, Sept 27 (Reuters) - U.S. government workers feared retaliation for raising concerns last year about the treatment of unaccompanied migrant children on a Texas military base, where children have been held amid record arrivals at the U.S.-Mexico border, according to a watchdog report released on Tuesday. There are currently 589 children at the base, the official said, and children stay, on average, for 13 days before being released to parents or other sponsors. ORR's parent agency agreed with all the report's recommendations, including ensuring that employees and contractors are aware of whistleblower protections. In a letter to the inspector general, the agency pledged to more explicitly specify the protections in contractor agreements and trainings. To alleviate overcrowding in border stations, HHS opened several emergency shelters to house unaccompanied children until they could be placed with sponsors in the United States.

☆ How to adapt Jane Austen -- and why it's so hard to get right
▼ + stars: | 2022-08-07 | by ( Scottie Andrew | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

Over the years, Austen adaptations have made millions, been nominated for more than a dozen Oscars and several Emmys, and convinced viewers the world over that Mr. Darcy is the gold standard of suitors. Pride vs. Miss Prejudice," two of several Austen adaptations starring Asian protagonists. "Austen is a way for today's readers to both romanticize about soul mates and also sustain their self-respect," said Brodey, who's published several papers on Austen. What the best Austen adaptations get rightA strong Austen adaptation doesn't need to parrot the original text or even take place in late 18th-century England. The Austenites CNN interviewed agreed -- for an Austen adaptation to succeed, it needs to maintain the spirit of her work, especially her incisive depth and incomparable wit.

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