Author: Happy

Dot’s pursuers seem to be on the verge of being pursued themselves.Season 5, Episode 3: ‘The Paradox of Intermediate Transactions’The Coen brothers filmography is speckled with a specific type of abstract character, a dark and indomitable force of nature who isn’t quite human and operates on a code that is known only to him. Think Leonard Smalls (Randall “Tex” Cobb) in “Raising Arizona,” a mercenary biker who seems manifested from a nightmare, or Charlie Meadows (John Goodman) in “Barton Fink,” a gregarious insurance man who presents himself as “the common man” but reveals a second identity that is exceptionally uncommon.…

Melania Trump and Michelle Obama were seated side by side.In any other circumstance it would have been a shocking sight. But it was only fitting that in her death Rosalynn Carter, the pioneering woman who turned the role of first lady into a job, did one final thing no one else has been able to do this year: lure Melania Trump out of Mar-a-Lago and back into the public eye. Not only that, but she created a situation in which Mrs. Trump was seated right next to Michelle Obama.Mrs. Trump has eschewed almost every major event since leaving the White…

The agreement, which includes an increase in compensation of about 22 percent over three years, ends months of tense negotiations.After months of wrangling, New York City Ballet and the union representing its musicians announced on Tuesday they had reached a deal for a new contract.The three-year contract, which is expected to be ratified by members of Local 802 of the American Federation of Musicians, includes an increase in compensation of about 22 percent over three years, a central demand of the musicians, who had argued that they were underpaid because of salary cuts made during the pandemic.City Ballet and the…

When you imagine a life of luxury, what comes to mind? A mansion filled with walk-in closets the size of bedrooms? Garages housing sleek vehicles with German and Italian names?Whatever it is, it’s probably not a cordless Dyson vacuum cleaner, mounted in a 550-square-foot studio decorated with nothing but a bed frame.“I don’t know what I would do without my Dyson,” said Donna Chen, 26, a software engineer who lives under these exact conditions with her boyfriend in Brooklyn. “If I had to choose between saving my bed, my boyfriend or my Dyson in a fire, I’d choose my Dyson…

Modern Love in miniature, featuring reader-submitted stories of no more than 100 words.A New DreamWhen we lost our apartment, my job and your nest egg in the 2008 recession, you suggested we move into your van and drive south to stretch the paycheck you earned online. It was just you, me and our dog. Then I got pregnant in Peru, and we continued on with our baby in tow to Patagonia. We’d lost the American dream, but through life’s twists, we found a different one, on the road. After 14 years, 23 countries and four continents, we ditched the van…

Her anthem of female strength topped the Billboard R&B chart and reached No. 2 on the pop chart in 1971. Its appeal has endured.Jean Knight, a soul singer whose memorable single “Mr. Big Stuff,” a brassy anthem of female strength, rose to No. 1 on Billboard’s rhythm and blues chart in 1971, died on Wednesday in Tampa, Fla. She was 80.Her death, in a hospital, was confirmed by Mona Giamanco, a publicist for Ms. Knight’s family. She did not specify the cause.The gutsy narrator of “Mr. Big Stuff,” which was released on the Memphis-based Stax label, tells a wealthy ladies’…

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | How to ListenIt’s that time of year: After months of reading, arguing and (sometimes) happily agreeing, the Book Review’s editors have come up with their picks for the 10 Best Books of 2023. On this week’s podcast, Gilbert Cruz reveals the chosen titles — five fiction, five nonfiction — and talks with some of the editors who participated in the process.Here are the books discussed on this week’s episode:“The Bee Sting,” by Paul Murray“Chain-Gang All-Stars,” by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah“Eastbound,” by Maylis de Kerangal“The Fraud,” by Zadie Smith“North Woods,” by Daniel Mason“The Best Minds,” by…

This month, writer Suleika Jaouad revisits her second bone marrow transplant in the documentary “American Symphony.”In the months following her second bone marrow transplant, Suleika Jaouad’s TikTok algorithm started serving her videos of bearded dragons shedding their skin. For a writer whose work deals in ambiguities, that metaphor was tidier than she’d have preferred.Ms. Jaouad quotes Joan Didion and Emily Dickinson in casual conversation. She is the author of “Between Two Kingdoms: A Memoir of Life Interrupted,” a best seller which documents her first bone marrow transplant and its aftermath. Diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia in 2011, Ms. Jaouad recorded…

New female Eastern black rhino – Chester Zoo / SWNS Keepers at Chester Zoo were left thrilled following the safe arrival of a new eastern black rhino calf when mother Zuri gave birth in the daylight, allowing the staff to record the occasion. Rhino experts say it’s unusual for a calf to be born in daylight, which gave keepers the unique opportunity to witness its 2:45 p.m. arrival after a 15-month pregnancy. The eastern black rhino is listed as Critically Endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). One of three black rhinoceros subspecies, fewer than 600 of…

“Rockstar,” the country icon’s new double album of rock songs, is now the highest charting LP of her career. But her history with the genre runs deep.Rick Diamond/Getty ImagesDear listeners,At age 77, and with nearly 50 (!) solo studio releases to her name, Dolly Parton just scored the highest charting album of her career, the mammoth double LP “Rockstar,” which debuted on this week’s Billboard 200 at No. 3. (Darn those young whippersnappers Drake and Taylor Swift for standing in the way of Parton’s first No. 1!)“Rockstar” is not an album so much as a referendum on how incredibly well-liked…