All posts tagged: Bit

Rebecca Lucy Taylor aka Self Esteem on her pivot from music to acting: ‘I felt a bit dead’

Rebecca Lucy Taylor aka Self Esteem on her pivot from music to acting: ‘I felt a bit dead’

Published by Daniella Wilson

Get the latest entertainment news, reviews and star-studded interviews with our Independent Culture email Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter Rebecca Lucy Taylor – aka the pop star Self Esteem – recently woke up with two cold sores on her face. And that was just the start of it. “I felt very disturbed emotionally on Thursday,” she tells me, sipping a cup of tea. “I’m out of my depth and my comfort zone.” To blame? The unlikeliest theatrical collaboration of the year: Taylor is starring in a West End revival of David Hare’s 1975 play Teeth ’n’ Smiles. He’s a septuagenarian statesman of British theatre, who once wrote a theatrical portrait of Neil Kinnock so savage that the former Labour leader called it “the most uncomfortable three hours of my life”. She’s been deemed the musical oracle for female millennials; her gigs feature defiant choreography and women barking like dogs, and her official merch store sells a scarf emblazoned with the …

Rose Wylie, art world pioneer at 91: ‘Success, if it comes earlier, can entrap you a bit’

Rose Wylie, art world pioneer at 91: ‘Success, if it comes earlier, can entrap you a bit’

Published by Daniella Wilson

Get the latest entertainment news, reviews and star-studded interviews with our Independent Culture email Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter One evening this week, a taxi took Rose Wylie to the Royal Academy of Arts, but it dropped her off round the back. “I said, ‘this isn’t right. I want to go to the front’. The driver was surprised,” she tells me. The reason? The 91-year-old painter wanted to see the banner bearing her name that currently hangs across the front of the building, where her work is on show in a major exhibition. “I wanted to see it lit up,” she says, with a wry laugh. “I love it.” The response to The Picture Comes First, which is full of exuberant canvases several feet high – and several times the size of their minute nonagenarian creator – has been glowing. “Guaranteed to leave you in a better mood than when you arrived,” said Time Out. “There won’t be a more …

Even for fans like me, the Pokémon 30th anniversary ‘stuff’ is a bit much | Games

Even for fans like me, the Pokémon 30th anniversary ‘stuff’ is a bit much | Games

Published by Sam Flores

It has been almost impossible to escape Pokémon for the past few weeks. To mark the 30th anniversary of the original games, the Pokémon Company has been on an unprecedented promotional nostalgia trip for the entire month: there was a campaign where celebrities gushed about their favourite Pokémon, gifting us the memorable sight of Lady Gaga singing with a Jigglypuff, and Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen (great Game Boy Advance remakes of the original 1996 games) were rereleased on the Nintendo Switch. The Natural History Museum in London has opened a special Pokémon pop-up shop, and a limited-edition greyscale Pikachu plush toy sold out in about three seconds (they will be making more, to the disappointment of scalpers everywhere). The Guardian’s journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link. Learn more. And all that is just the start. We’ve seen the opening of a Pokémon theme park in Tokyo, the announcement of a tiny Game Boy-shaped music player that plays the games’ soundtrack, a collaboration with high-fashion brand JimmyPaul …

Bill Gates’ Daughter Says Her 5 Million AI Startup Will Succeed Entirely Due to Her Merits, Not Even a Little Bit Who Her Dad Is

Bill Gates’ Daughter Says Her $185 Million AI Startup Will Succeed Entirely Due to Her Merits, Not Even a Little Bit Who Her Dad Is

Published by José Betancourt

Sign up to see the future, today Can’t-miss innovations from the bleeding edge of science and tech Against all odds, Phoebe Gates has managed to raise $35 million for a browser extension, despite the pernicious disadvantage of being Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates’ daughter. In an episode of Yahoo Finance’s podcast Opening Bid Unfiltered, the younger Gates complained about the chip weighing on her shoulder, saying that she’s been determined to win over investors without rubbing her family dynasty in their face. “I have a chip on my shoulder,” Gates said, adding that she wants “no ties to my privilege or my last name.” Her company, Phia, just raised $35 million in capital, earning it an eye-watering valuation of $185 million. It’s pitched as an AI shopping extension that finds cheaper versions of things you’re looking for online — like a coupon code website that seeks out deals on your behalf. “Our target consumer is a young woman who’s hustling,” Gates, who has presumably never experienced an actual financial incentive for thrifty shopping, told Fortune. “She …

Why it’s a bit surprising that the U.S. is attending a key global flu meeting : NPR

Why it’s a bit surprising that the U.S. is attending a key global flu meeting : NPR

Published by Sam Flores

A shot for a flu vaccination. A late February meeting of scientists from around the world is figuring out the recipe for the best vaccine for the upcoming fall flu season. Jens Kalaene/picture alliance/via Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Jens Kalaene/picture alliance/via Getty Images For the past week, about 50 flu scientists from around the world have been cramming into a conference room at a Hilton hotel in Istanbul, Turkey. Their goal is to design a flu shot that will confer the best protection for the next flu season —starting in the fall of 2026. Each day, they pore over reams of data — about how the virus is evolving worldwide, how well last year’s shot performed, and which strains might be easiest to mass produce for a vaccine. The meeting, convened by the World Health Organization twice a year, is a critical moment for the WHO’s Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System. It’s also “really tedious,” says Dr. Dan Jernigan, who led the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Center for Emerging …

A Decade (and a Bit More) of Writing for SKEPTICAL INQUIRER

A Decade (and a Bit More) of Writing for SKEPTICAL INQUIRER

Published by Sam Flores

The anniversary slipped by without my noticing it, but recently, while hunting down one of my earlier articles, I was reminded that my first online piece for Skeptical Inquirer, “Happiness, Religion, and the Status Quo,” was published on December 4, 2014. So, as of December 2024, I completed a decade writing the “Behavior & Belief” column for SI. As I recall, back in 2014, Barry Karr, then executive director of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry, noticed that I’d been writing blog posts on superstition and other skeptical topics for Psychology Today. He contacted me and said, “If you ever want to write for Skeptical Inquirer, we would be happy to have you,” or words to that effect. I didn’t have to give it a second thought. I’d subscribed to SI for years and assigned it in my psychology classes, so the chance to write a column for SI was a dream come true. I said, “Yes, please!” and never looked back. Soon after I began writing online, Kendrick Frazier asked to add some of my …

Why we all need a bit of Valentine’s spirit – and the gifts worth giving | Valentine’s Day

Why we all need a bit of Valentine’s spirit – and the gifts worth giving | Valentine’s Day

Published by Sam Flores

You can be a Grinch about it or, as Jess Cartner-Morley wrote in her latest Filter edit, you can embrace it for the “daft festival of joy in the bleakest moment of the calendar” that it is. Valentine’s Day, if nothing else, is a reminder in the depths of unromantic February to cherish those you love. And let’s be honest, the world needs a bit more of that sentiment right now. The Guardian’s journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link. Learn more. But there are Valentine’s Day gifts, and there are Valentine’s Day gifts. In our guide, we decided to eschew the throwaway and unimaginative in favour of a selection of thoughtful, creative ideas that will last well beyond 14 February (we included flowers, because who doesn’t love flowers, but opted for longer-lasting stained-glass alternatives and subscriptions over a single bunch of blooms). Banished are flammable teddies and high-sugar supermarket chocolates; instead, there’s a candle that melts into a massage oil, a mini photo book, and a …

Jennifer Garner Bit a Chunk Out of a Stunt Man’s Ear “Like Mike Tyson”

Jennifer Garner Bit a Chunk Out of a Stunt Man’s Ear “Like Mike Tyson”

Published by Daniella Wilson

Jennifer Garner has an intense fight scene in the new season of The Last Thing He Told Me, but she didn’t need an introduction to her scene partner — she had previously bit a chunk out of his ear. The veteran actress, who is an executive producer and leading force of the Apple TV series, took the stage Tuesday at the streamer’s press day inside Santa Monica’s Barker Hangar where she shared the juicy tale that had co-star Nicolaj Coster-Waldau shocked and perplexed (in an amusing way). Following a clip of the scene introduced by moderator and executive producer Laura Dave, who authored the novel on which the series is based, Garner added some context to what the crowd of 300 journalists, influencers and content creators had seen on the big screen. The scene, featured in the trailer below, finds a uniformed man, played by veteran actor and stunt performer Sala Baker, knocking on the door of Garner’s Hannah Hall just as she receives a text that directs her to “get out of the house.” …

Woman ‘bit Trump after being forced into oral sex’ – Epstein files | World | News

Woman ‘bit Trump after being forced into oral sex’ – Epstein files | World | News

Published by Sam Flores

Trump has once again featured in fresh Epstein files (Image: Getty) Donald Trump has been named  in the Epstein files after the US justice department released 3 million pages of documents. It includes some 2,000 videos and 180,000 images from the files, after thousands of other pages had already been made public. There is no suggestion that being named in the files implies wrongdoing. One document claims that an unidentified woman was made to perform oral sex on the president, 35 years ago. In the sensational release it is alleged that a young woman bit Mr Trump whilst performing the sex act. Numerous people have been pictured in the files already, including the former president Bill Clinton. Images of the women in the files have been redacted, aside from those of the convicted paedophiles, Jeffrey Epstein’s, accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell. Maxwell is currently serving 20-years behind bars for her role in recruiting underage women for the paedophile. Neither Mr Trump or Mr Clinton have been officially accused of wrongdoing. Earlier document releases allege that Mr Trump …

Melania review – First Lady is a preening, scowling void of pure nothingness in this ghastly bit of propaganda

Melania review – First Lady is a preening, scowling void of pure nothingness in this ghastly bit of propaganda

Published by Daniella Wilson

Get the latest entertainment news, reviews and star-studded interviews with our Independent Culture email Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter Melania Trump – born Melanija Knavs – has led an undeniably fascinating life. Raised in the 1970s, in what was then Yugoslavia, she grew up in a state-run housing complex in present-day Slovenia. A teenage modelling contract saw her whisked around Europe and then, in the Nineties, to the United States, where she eventually met the unassuming, mild-mannered property tycoon, Donald Trump. It is a journey that bridges Europe and America, an aspirational story of a little girl with nothing but a perfect jawline; the sort of tale that draws the eye of Hollywood. Of course, this is all information I have extracted from Melania Trump’s Wikipedia page, because it is strikingly absent from the new Amazon documentary, Melania, which has just received a mysterious theatrical release. Instead, Melania focuses on 20 days running up to the second Trump inauguration in …