https://www.facebook.com/103596379009431/

Das Leckerchen, проспект Павла Тичини, 1в, Kyiv (2026)

11/05/2022

Oussekine: The police killing that shocked France
If there is one work that defines modern French cinema, it's 1995's La Haine, the bruising drama about three young immigrant men living in Paris' suburbs. But Matthieu Kassovitz's tour-de-force was in fact partly inspired by a real-life tragedy which is now receiving its own dramatisation. New miniseries Oussekine, which is the first original French commission from Disney+, tells the story of what happened in 1986, when French-Algerian student Malik Oussekine died in police custody, provoking national uproar.

More like this:

– La Haine and the great screen rebels

– The death that politicised New York's art world

– 10 TV shows to watch in May

When it comes to events in France's recent history to look back on, Oussekine's death could hardly be more pertinent. "It had an immediate impact on French society. It caused the cancellation of planned government reforms of universities, known as the Devaquet law," says Fabien Lemercier, the French correspondent for film website Cineuropa. "But more importantly, it had a very strong and still ongoing influence on how the French public views and denounces police violence." What's more, it raised serious questions about the country's treatment of immigrants, especially from its former colonies, that are still extremely resonant today, at a time when the recent presidential campaign was contested by the far-right politician Marine Le Pen, who is known for her anti-immigrant policies, and coloured by questions around French identity, European citizenship and the treatment of the Muslim community.

04/05/2022

The traveller trying to change the world
Jeff Shea has a quixotic goal: preserving vast areas of the world for people to roam free.
I
If you ask Jeff Shea where he’s going or where he’s been, you better grab a drink, sit back in your favourite chair and brace yourself for a long story.

The 60-year-old California-based adventurer has walked across Papua New Guinea, Transylvania, South America’s Altiplano and the Atacama Desert. He has led expeditions into the unexplored wilds of Venezuela, and in 2007, he was part of an expedition to Greenland that discovered Stray Dog West, the world’s northernmost chunk of land. In his spare time, he’s also summited the highest peaks on all seven continents; when he climbed Everest, he eschewed the traditional, ‘easy route’ by tackling the world’s highest mountain via the (statistically) riskier North Ridge from Tibet.

Shea travels to the beat of his own drum, rarely moving directly from point A to B or following in anyone else’s tracks. Travel clubs for country collectors, like the Traveler’s Century Club, Most Traveled People and The Best Travelled, divide the world up into 325, 875 and 1,281 territories respectively. Those lists aren’t comprehensive enough for Shea, who has his own list that divides the world into 3,978 parts. (He has visited 2,330 of them and vows to complete the rest before his travelling days are over.)

03/05/2022

The rebirth of Tasmanian indigenous culture
Although many people believe that this ancient culture and people were lost, recent years have seen a seismic shift in recognition for indigenous Tasmanians.
A
Among the sand dunes that line Tasmania's north-east coast, a campfire burns. Carleeta Thomas stands beside the fire, tending the muttonbird that cooks in the flames, surrounded by a series of wooden sleeping pods dotted through the scrub.

The oily muttonbird, or short-tailed shearwater, has been a traditional palawa (Tasmanian Aboriginal) food for as long as anyone knows, and these sleeping pods have been designed to replicate palawa huts found on Tasmania's west coast.

Today, they're an immersive piece of the wukalina Walk, a guided hike along the larapuna/Bay of Fires coast that is the first tourism business owned and operated by the palawa community. They're an expression of an ancient culture and people that even someone as young as 21-year-old Thomas, wukalina Walk's head guide, has often been told was dead.

"When I went to high school, there were still people that were saying 'I swear Truganini was the last Tasmanian Aboriginal'," she said. "I didn't really know how to respond to that. I knew I was Aboriginal."

The myth that Bruny Island woman Truganini was the last Aboriginal Tasmanian has persisted since her death in 1876, less than 80 years after Tasmania was settled by Europeans. In those early decades, palawa suffered a series of atrocities, from being forced into missions by the state's so-called Chief Protector of Aborginals, George Augustus Robinson, to be "civilised and Christianised", to the Black Line of 1830, when settlers formed a moving human chain across the island to try to capture the remaining Aboriginal population. The settlers were outsmarted: only two palawa were reported as captured.

The treatment of the palawa has been described as a genocide, though the lineage survived, with some palawa women taken to Bass Strait islands off the north coast of Tasmania by British and American sealers.

30/04/2022

One of the world's smallest capital cities
Built on land reclaimed from the sea, Seychelles' tiny capital city can't get any bigger – but with a vibrant culture and fascinating history, it doesn't need to.
O
One minute I was out over a seemingly endless ocean en route to Seychelles. The next, dark granite cliffs filled the plane's window, swirling in and out of the clouds with all the dark mystery of ships lost at sea. I became convinced that the plane was about to land on the water or crash into a mountain, so little space did there seem to be between the two.

The Seychelles is an archipelago of 115 islands, a sublime meeting of sea and land beneath a sky of impossible blues. Everything here, from the towering volcanic spine on the largest island of Mahé to the 1,800 kilometres of ocean that separate Mahé from mainland Africa, seems to happen on a grand scale.

Everything, that is, except Victoria, Seychelles' tiny capital city.

There are other capitals around the world with smaller populations: San Marino or Vatican City, for example; or a handful of tiny Pacific Island cities. Even so, Victoria's population of around 30,000 is modest by the standards of most seats of national power.

29/04/2022

Are Baby Boomers having the best time in bed?
Older adults are often passed over in conversations about intimacy. But they may be having more fun than everyone else.
S
Society loves to focus on the s*x and dating lives of Gen Z and millennials. How are they dating, what s*xual orientations are they identifying with and what are their relationships like? But as glossy as young love may be, dating and s*x don’t begin and end in young adulthood.

In fact, both activities can improve significantly with age. Multiple studies show people who’ve lived longer may just be having the best s*x. For example, a 2016 study of more than 6,000 adults in the US showed “age had a positive relationship with s*xual quality of life”, with researchers concluding that older respondents had developed what they dubbed “s*xual wisdom” – which referred to not just s*xual prowess, but also respondents’ aptitude as a considerate and giving partner.

“With life experience, people might be learning more about their own s*xual preferences and their partners’ likes and dislikes,” says Miriam Forbes, senior research fellow at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia, who worked on the study.

Similarly, research on the s*x lives of adults in their 60s to 80s, conducted by Dr Peggy Kleinplatz, director of the optimal s*xual-experiences research team at the University of Ottawa, overwhelmingly showed the subjects’ intimate lives had improved with the years. And a 2018 study out of Israel showed that adults aged 60 to 91 had transitioned their focus “from lust to love” and from “getting to giving” s*x over time.

With a body of research suggesting skill, expertise and better communication in both s*xual and romantic desires come with experience, younger people may stand to learn much about relationships from their older peers. It could even reshape the narrative of our s*xual journeys, deconstructing traditional notions of who is having the best s*x and when.

29/04/2022

Why singles are 'pre-screening' their dates
First dates used to be about drinks, maybe dinner. But post-pandemic singles are opting for low-key options that allow them to ‘screen’ potential partners.
B
Before the pandemic, Louise, 33, was a prolific dater. She would typically meet someone new from a dating app once a week, and her standard first date would be “a drink or three after work”.

But when Covid-19 hit, and happy hour in her home city of London was replaced by virtual drinks and Zoom pub-quizzes, her dating life shifted, too. Louise found herself embracing phone calls and video dates with potential suitors – and she was surprised to find she enjoyed the change of pace.

“It was a positive move to get to know someone over a long period of time,” she says. “I found the slower pace suited me. I think taking away alcohol was a big factor, as you have clearer judgement and opinions on someone. The lockdowns made me really take a step back, and look at the way I was approaching dating.”

When restrictions lifted, Louise chose not to dive back into her pre-pandemic dating habits. Instead, she wanted to take the best bits of dating at a distance and use them in a new approach to looking for love. She had particularly enjoyed going on walks during the months when bars and restaurants were closed but meeting outdoors was still permitted, so she continued to suggest active, outdoor dates, rather than opting for dinner and drinks.

Now, a first date for Louise is more commonly a dog walk or an activity that she would otherwise do with a friend, like a gig she’s already interested in going to. She also tends to send voice notes or call potential dates before meeting in real life.

“Before Covid, I would go on dates with the mindset of ‘may as well see what they’re like’,” she says. “But by going into dates with this attitude, the chances were that it wasn’t going to be a very good match. Now that I’m back in the office, going to sports clubs and seeing friends, I don’t want to waste my time on pointless, mindless dates – I want them to be fun, and with someone I genuinely want to get to know better. So, I make sure that I take the time to get to know someone first, to make sure that we’re on the same page.”

27/04/2022

The return of Bali's lost 'superfood'
During Covid-19, people once again began to latch onto the benefits of moringa, a tree that's a highly nutritious food, medicine and magical talisman all rolled into one.
"Look at how fine those leaves are," said Dika Nanta, pointing up to the waving branches of a spindly tree. "They're so wispy that at first glance it's hard to imagine why Balinese people sometimes call this tree 'the broomstick of the gods'."

The moringa tree (Moringa oleifera) we were looking at really was quite unremarkable – less statuesque than the rambutan tree nearby and far less imposing than the mango trees on the other side of the road. Yet moringa (daun kelor in Bahasa Indonesia) was once believed to have such intense magical properties that a simple sprig of this "broomstick of the gods" would be used to brush the evil spirits away from the resting place of a deceased person.

Nanta, who graduated from Udayana University with a bachelor's degree in landscape architecture, grew up in a village near Ubud (considered Bali's spiritual heartland) and recalls eating moringa regularly as a child, most often boiled in a spicy stew. More recently, in his official capacity as "Botanical Guru" at the new Raffles Bali, he has become fascinated by both the science and traditional beliefs behind what he refers to as "Bali's tree of life".

"Moringa was traditionally a common part of the Balinese diet," he said. "It began to fall into disuse long before modern science latched onto the spectacular nutritional benefits of what is now known in the West as a superfood."

According to a 2013 study on traditional uses of Moringa oleifera published in International Journal of Phytotherapy Research, the plant's dried leaves contain seven times the Vitamin C of oranges, nine times more protein than yoghurt, 10 times more Vitamin A than carrots and 15 times the potassium of bananas. It's thought to have 17 times more calcium than milk and 25 times more iron than spinach.

26/04/2022

The revival of a forgotten American fruit
Across large swaths of North America, an ancient fruit is growing wild but largely forgotten. However, a community of foodies, farmers and scientists is eagerly trying to change that.
"Where, oh where, is pretty little Suzie? Where, oh where, is pretty little Suzie? Where, oh where, is pretty little Suzie?" asks the traditional folk song. "Way down yonder in the pawpaw patch."

Suzie knows more about pawpaws than most, it seems. North America's largest native edible fruit grows wild in 26 US states, including Texas, Ohio, West Virginia, New York and Michigan and all the way up to Ontario, Canada. Yet most people have never heard of it.

That's because pawpaws have never been sold on a large scale. Commercial farmers have long shunned them because they need a special growing environment of low, wet areas and because they spoil only a few days after harvest – so you won't see the yellow-green fruit next to the grapes at the grocery store. Nevertheless, a community of avid pawpaw fans across the US – from festival organisers and chefs to scientists and independent farmers – is expanding the love for this forgotten fruit, and they want you to love it too.

"They are so delicious," said Michael Judd, author of For the Love of Paw Paws: A Mini Manual for Growing and Caring for Paw Paws – From Seed to Table. During the harvest season (typically a few weeks in late summer or early autumn), his diet consists mainly of pawpaws taken right off the branch. "It's a nutrient-rich superfood," he added, listing off the pawpaw's many attributes: antioxidants, all the amino acids, magnesium, copper, zinc, iron, potassium, phosphorus, vitamin C.

To help get the word out, Judd will be hosting his seventh annual pawpaw festival this September, on his farm in Frederick, Maryland, which includes tastings, jam making, pawpaw ice cream, music, lectures and more.

25/04/2022

The country that became a 'micronation capital'

A micronation isn't a real country by definition, yet sometimes these mock states take on a life of their own and come surprisingly close.
I
In a Sydney suburb in 1981, a teenage George Cruickshank and his two friends painted a border line in his backyard and declared the 10-sq-metre patch the provisional territory of the Empire of Atlantium. After being crowned Emperor George II, Cruickshank issued a unilateral declaration of independence from the Commonwealth of Australia. The trio hoisted a flag and the micronation of Atlantium officially came into being.

Atlantium is one of more than a hundred micronations across the world. A micronation is a self-proclaimed sovereign state that lacks a legal basis for its existence. As a consequence, micronations are not recognised by established nation states, but that does not deter them from assuming the ceremony, pomp and even governance structures of them.

Imitation is not necessarily a form of flattery, however. Micronation founders like Cruickshank seek to challenge the notion of a nation state by proving how artificial a construct they really are.

"The idea of a sovereign nation state having complete authority over its citizens within defined borders is only a fairly recent development, and it led to all of the horrors of the 20th Century," says Cruickshank.

While the interest of Atlantium’s other co-founders eventually waned, Cruickshank became increasingly absorbed by the affairs of his micronation. He issued stamps, minted coins and banknotes, appointed diplomatic representatives and designed a series of flags and insignia. He also adopted a decimal calendar system which divides the year into 10 months.

In 2008, he bought an 80-hectare rural property about 350km (217 miles) from Sydney, which became Atlantium’s administrative capital. The emperor spends most of his weekends at Concordia in the Province of Aurora, where he drafts policy statements and exchanges letters with other micronation leaders and Atlantium’s "unaccredited diplomatic representatives" in the United States, Singapore and Switzerland. Atlantium’s national anthem takes its name from the province. The Auroran Hymn is the excerpt of a soaring symphony by 19th Century composer, Camille Saint Saens.

Das Leckerchen

11/05/2022

04/05/2022

03/05/2022

30/04/2022

29/04/2022

29/04/2022

27/04/2022

26/04/2022

25/04/2022

Address

Website

Alerts

Shortcuts

Share

Category