T LOunge for September 18th, 2023

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PinVyTa Covent Garden Restaurant – London, UK

It’s MONDAY, darlings! Let’s get SWANKY! Beats the alternative, i.e., sitting around and moping in a decidedly unswanky manner, right? Plant your ass on something plush. Let’s get to work. And by that we mean the work of not working.

Thank You For The Music: An Oral History Of Mamma Mia!
When Meryl Streep arrived in Tokyo for the Japanese premiere of Mamma Mia!, she was alerted that there may be a surprise guest in the audience. Empress Michiko, the first commoner to marry into the Japanese Imperial family, is revered across that country for her peerless grace and elegance. She is also, apparently, a pretty big Mamma Mia! fan; the stage musical premiered in Japan in 2002, becoming the same sensation with audiences there that it had everywhere else. With a film adaptation starring Streep about to hit theatres, the empress, then 74, expressed interest in attending the premiere as a guest of honour.
“We weren’t allowed to know if she was gonna be there,” Streep recently told Vogue. “But if she did come, we were all instructed not to talk or look at her as a sign of respect.”

The Deep Bond (And Short Affair) Between Lee Miller And Man Ray
Lee, the forthcoming biopic starring Kate Winslet and directed by Ellen Kuras, was envisioned by its creators as an antidote to the more conventional – and rather less inspiring – films that might have been made about Lee Miller (1907-1977). As Antony Penrose, Miller’s son and biographer, told writer Wendell Steavenson, the other scripts that had come his way in years past tended to be “formulaic and traded too much on Lee’s beauty and being a model. They didn’t explore her intellectual capacity or her skill as a photographer.” Lee, on the other hand, makes the latter its focus, dramatising Miller’s hair-raising tenure as a correspondent for Vogue during the Second World War. “I wanted to tell the story of a flawed middle-aged woman who went to war and documented it,” affirmed Winslet.

Anderson Cooper on Having Second Thoughts About Defending CNN’s Trump Town Hall, His Complicated Vanderbilt Legacy and “Plunging Ahead” After Chris Licht
As the veteran journalist hits the 20-year mark at ‘Anderson Cooper 360,’ the THR Titan reveals how he copes with CNN work drama and how his new podcast taught him that grief and loss have defined his entire career: “I wanted to go places where people were suffering.”
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-features/anderson-cooper-cnn-trump-town-hall-vanderbilt-legacy-chris-licht-1235591312/
Should you be friends with your kids?
Parents can have a great relationship with their kids without being their friend.
When it comes to raising children, there is no shortage of platitudes: “Parenting doesn’t come with an instruction manual,” “It’s a lifetime job,” “Children are always listening.” One question that endures in modern parenting culture is one about the relationship between parent and child — should you be friends with your kid?

Take the visitor’s approach to exploring your own city
You don’t need to be a tourist to appreciate where you live.
Tourists often get a bad rap, but, in a broad sense, they have the right idea when it comes to venturing into new places. Given the limited nature of vacations, tourists often are urgent in their exploration. Armed with lists and tagged locations on Google Maps, travelers usually have some semblance of a plan. When it comes to our own cities and towns, we have our preferences and go-tos; we’re always on the go without room for spontaneity. Moving through our hometowns with a renewed sense of wonder and curiosity can be just as restorative as traveling to another destination — that is, if we’re able to detach for a moment from our routines.

Drew Barrymore Halts Talk Show Return After Backlash, Will Resume When Strike Ends
“I have listened to everyone, and I am making the decision to pause the show’s premiere until the strike is over,” Barrymore wrote on Instagram. “I have no words to express my deepest apologies to anyone I have hurt and, of course, to our incredible team who works on the show and has made it what it is today. We really tried to find our way forward. And I truly hope for a resolution for the entire industry very soon.”

The best ski resorts in the world
From Lech to Niseko, consider this your ultimate edit of where to hit the slopes come ski season
If your thoughts have already turned from sun to snow, you may want a hand picking your piste this ski season: whether you’re prioritising pristine slopes, excellent après options or a wide array of winter sports, you’ll find your perfect choice in our edit of the best hotels in the most sought-after locations.
Europe has many excellent resorts, but if you fancy packing your skis off further afield, try Niseko in Japan, which is worth the journey for its famously pure powder.

Lessons in Chemistry is the hotly-anticipated new TV show that sees Brie Larson play a societal norm-challenging female scientist
Groundbreaking.
Lessons in Chemistry may, at first glance, give you the icky feeling of having to head back to school, but rest assured that this new Apple TV+ will be the best education you’ll ever receive.
Starring Brie Larson, the eight-episode limited series, which is based on the novel of the same name by Bonnie Garmu, will see the Oscar winner in the inspirational lead role of female scientist Elizabeth Zotts.

Is The HR-ification Of Love Ruining Romance?
Back to work culture is now infiltrating the dating sphere
Celebrity singles-or-not aside, when it comes to seeking and sustaining love, we’re living in the age of efficiency: it’s all performance reviews and radical optimisation. Fun can wait and mystery sucks; strategy – a plan devised to achieve long-term goals under conditions of uncertainty – is sexy (apparently). Welcome to the HR-ification of romance. […] In TikTok-world there’s been conversations about a ‘romantic probation’ and over 5 million hits on the #ThreeMonthRule. It’s not unlike a probationary period of employment, whereby a clear set of rules and expectations are imposed – either mutually or instigated by one person for the other to abide by. If these ‘needs’ are not met after three months, you simply terminate the contract. Thank you, next.

Donyale Luna Changed The Face Of Fashion In The ’60s. Now, The Revolutionary Black Model Is Finally Getting Her Due
As HBO releases a new documentary about Donyale Luna’s incredible life, revisit her daughter Dream Cazzaniga’s personal essay about her mother’s legacy from the May 2019 issue of British Vogue.
To set the record straight, it helps to start at the beginning. My mother was born Peggy Ann Freeman in Detroit in 1945, giving herself the name Donyale Luna as a teenager. She was the middle daughter of three: very bright, her life revolved around school, church and local theatre productions. Her father worked in manufacturing while her mother acted as a secretary for the Young Women’s Christian Association. In 1963, the fashion photographer David McCabe was visiting Detroit on assignment when, outside the city’s famous Fisher Building, he spotted my mother – already nearly 6ft tall and with her trademark willowy frame – in her plaid Catholic-school uniform on her way to a rehearsal. As he tells it, he felt compelled to let her know that if she was ever interested in modelling, she should come to Manhattan and he would help her.

How Thom Browne’s Gray Suit Conquered American Fashion
The designer’s eccentric tailoring has long had a cult following. Now it’s filtering into the mainstream.
Browne, who is fifty-seven and launched his namesake ready-to-wear business twenty years ago, is hardly the first fashion designer to implement a dress code among employees—for decades, the Belgian designer Martin Margiela has required staff to wear long white coats, or blouses blanches, at all times—nor is he the first to take a schematic approach to dressing his customers. Chanel’s little black dress was, as Vogue put it in 1926, a “uniform for all women of taste.” But, in an industry known for chasing novelty, Browne has built one of the most influential brands by iterating on a single idea. His deceptively humble goal is, as he regularly tells his staff, “to make the gray suit look interesting.”

Someone paid $189,000 to buy Freddie Mercury’s Tiffany and Co. mustache comb
Over 30,000 items owned by Freddie Mercury were sold at auction for $50.4 million, per Bloomberg.
Someone paid $189,000 to own a mini Tiffany and Co. comb that the Queen frontman used to brush his mustache.
Other items sold include a piano he used to write “Bohemian Rhapsody,” and a silver bangle he wore in the song’s video.

Royal Family are forced to end 170-year Balmoral tradition after neighbour ends agreement
For almost two centuries the royals have leased sporting rights on an estate near Balmoral. That has now come to an end
The Royal Family will no longer be able to hunt on an estate near Balmoral after the owner terminated a 170-year agreement.
For almost two centuries, the royals have leased the sporting rights at Abergeldie, which is located between Balmoral and King Charles III’s property of Birkhall. The tradition was first established in 1852 by Prince Albert, who bought Balmoral for his wife Queen Victoria. The sprawling estate has been a summer retreat for the royals ever since.

How Do I Deal With a Shoes-Off Home?
A reader does not feel comfortable going barefoot at a host’s request.
How do you deal with visits to “shoeless” homes? It’s often a surprise, so you can’t plan ahead with cute socks or by making sure you’ve recently had a pedicure. Not to mention that shoes are part of an outfit — and keep your feet warm. I’ve been confronted with this more often in the last few years, and I’m never comfortable removing my shoes. Any advice?

Hugh Jackman Spotted on a Walk in N.Y.C. After Announcing Separation from Deborra-lee Jackman
Hugh and Deborra-lee said in a statement Friday announcing their split, “Our journey now is shifting and we have decided to separate to pursue our individual growth”
“We have been blessed to share almost 3 decades together as husband and wife in a wonderful, loving marriage,” they said in an exclusive statement to PEOPLE. “Our journey now is shifting and we have decided to separate to pursue our individual growth.”
The statement continued, “Our family has been and always will be our highest priority. We undertake this next chapter with gratitude, love, and kindness. We greatly appreciate your understanding in respecting our privacy as our family navigates this transition in all of our lives.”

‘The Talk’ Postpones Return on CBS, Following Drew Barrymore
“The Talk” has pushed back its return, following Drew Barrymore’s decision to pause her talk show amid criticism during the writers strike.
“‘The Talk’ is pausing its season premiere scheduled for September 18. We will continue to evaluate plans for a new launch date,” a spokesperson for CBS tells Variety in a statement.

Voicecaster Owner Reveals What Voice Actors Need to Be Successful: ‘It’s Not the Voice That Matters. It’s What You Can Do With It’
“Something I often hear is, “I was told I have a great voice and should get into voiceover.” That’s great, but VO isn’t really about the voice. It’s about HOW you use your voice and what you can do with it. It’s called voice acting and you still have to be an actor first and foremost. I’ve heard some incredibly distinct, unique, interesting voices — but if they don’t know how to use that voice, it doesn’t matter. “

How to Use Baking Soda to Absorb Odors (Plus, the Science of Why It Works)
Learn how this natural cleaning product neutralizes unwanted smells.
Baking soda is one of the most effective natural cleaners to use in your home. While it can do everything from eliminate stains on clothes to remove soap scum in your shower, one of the most well-known uses for baking soda is odor removal. Whether you have an unwanted smell lingering in your garbage can or your carpet or furnishings smell like pet hair, baking soda has been used to neutralize odors for generations. But have you ever wondered if this tried-and-true cleaning technique is actually effective? To get to the bottom of it, we asked experts to explain how baking soda works as an odor eliminator.

Are Your Houseplants Getting Enough Light? Knowing the Difference Between Indirect and Direct Light Matters
Keep your houseplants happy by giving them the right type of light.
Whether you’re an experienced or beginner gardener, few things are more rewarding than watching your houseplants grow. But in order to make that happen, you need to give your plants adequate light, which provides them with energy they need to survive. While all plants need some sort of light source, how much light they require varies from plant to plant—maybe your snake plant can thrive in low light but your monstera needs bright indirect light.
If you’re unsure of where in your home to put your houseplants, it’s helpful to know the most commonly used terms in relation to houseplant lighting, including direct, indirect, window directions, and beyond.

One of Santa Fe’s Most Exciting Neighborhoods Is Getting an Impressive Contemporary Art Museum This Month
The Vladem Contemporary will be a secondary location to the New Mexico Museum of Art.
Ever since the New Mexico Museum of Art opened in 1917, the contemporary art museum has been housed in a Pueblo Revival-style building in Santa Fe Plaza. Now more than a century after its opening, it’s keeping up with its commitment to modern arts and culture by expanding with a second building called Vladem Contemporary in the burgeoning Railyard district of the city. The new space will hold its grand opening on Sept. 23.

25 Best Things to Do in Florence, Italy
From Renaissance art to gelato shops, here’s how locals recommend exploring the Tuscan capital.
If a European getaway — the type where you spend your days museum hopping, visiting historical sites, drinking wine, and doubling your usual daily step count — sounds like your ideal next adventure, it’s time to book a trip to Florence. The capital of Italy’s Tuscany region, Florence is known as the birthplace of the Renaissance, and it is still home to famous works by Michelangelo, Botticelli, and Leonardo da Vinci, among many artists of the same era.

[Photo Credit: vytacoventgarden.co.uk, collidaniela.com]

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