culture

How many times have you returned from a fabulous vacation only to find that your clothes have mysteriously shrunk? Maybe it’s time to give your vacation a makeover. Instead of spending a week stuffing your face at the resort’s all-inclusive buffet, then sleeping it off by the pool (not that there’s anything wrong with that),…

After a furious spate of trades late last week, the baseball trade deadline, the annual ritual of speculation that signals we’re starting into the homestretch of the pennant races, came and went. The usual construct for trades is that pennant contenders part with young prospects for short term veteran help from losing teams.  Thus the…

From the NY Times: GOMA, Congo — It was around 11 p.m. when armed men burst into Kazungu Ziwa’s hut, put a machete to his throat and yanked down his pants. Mr. Ziwa is a tiny man, about four feet, six inches tall. He tried to fight back, but said he was quickly beaten down.…

From CNN: A gunman walked into an LA Fitness gym outside Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, turned off the lights and fired off 50 rounds, killing three women before killing himself Tuesday evening, police said. The man didn’t speak but was carrying a gym bag with a note inside it. He was found dead in the gym lying…

From Al Jazeera: Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, has arrived in Kenya as part of an African tour to push her government’s commitment to tackling the continent’s trouble spots. The seven-nation trip comes three weeks after Barack Obama, the US president, visited Ghana in an effort to bolster ties with the nation. Clinton kicked off her 11-day tour from Kenya, which…

From CNN: Two American journalists, detained in North Korea since March, arrived Wednesday morning in California after former President Clinton helped secure their release. An aircraft carrying Clinton, Euna Lee and Laura Ling touched down shortly before 6 a.m. PT (9 a.m. ET) amid tight security at Bob Hope Airport in Burbank outside Los Angeles.…

From ESPN: ATLANTA — A 20-year-old Atlanta man was charged Tuesday with murder in the shooting death of ex-boxing champion Vernon Forrest, although authorities said they do not believe he was the triggerman. Demario Ware was also charged with aggravated assault and armed robbery, Atlanta police Lt. Keith Meadows said. The 38-year-old Forrest was shot…

“The essence of all art is to have pleasure in giving pleasure.” — Mikhail Baryshnikov As reality TV shows go, So You Think You Can Dance is the unlikeliest of hits: No one’s throwing temper tantrums on the Fox show, no one’s serving up diva ‘tude or pursuing world domination through Machiavellian manipulations. There are…

In the remembrances of model Naomi Sims, 61, who died over the weekend, there have been a host of references to her as the “first black supermodel.” The Oxford, Miss., native was given that title because of her appearance on the cover of Ladies’ Home Journal in 1968, at a time when the “black is…

When it comes to integrating hip-hop and jazz, Robert Glasper has raised the bar substantially. The pianist and composer focuses on the feel of hip-hop rather than the sound, often avoiding the easy route of dressing up his music with Hip-Hop 101 guideposts—turntable wizardry, digital beats and boastful raps. His collaborations with Mos Def, Q-Tip,…