London

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Damien Hirst Paintings 'Shockingly Bad'
 Damien Hirst Paintings 
 'Shockingly Bad' 
ART REVIEW
Oct 14, 2009 1:09 PM CDT

Damien Hirst Paintings 'Shockingly Bad'

British artist's exhibit got much hype, but only because he's famous, say critics

(Newser) - “Bad boy of British art" Damien Hirst decided to put his headline-grabbing, conceptual art projects aside and return to painting. Critics, however, are not impressed with the exhibition of 25 new paintings, which opened today:
  • “There are many painters in evening classes much worse than Hirst,” writes
...

New Museum Piece Shows Viewers Total Blackness

Miroslaw Balka's How It Is , at the Tate Modern, displays the void

(Newser) - The Tate Modern's latest installation is an enormous steel container—100 feet long, 43 feet high, and 30 feet wide—that envelops visitors in total darkness upon entering. How It Is, by Polish artist Miroslaw Balka, is lined with a suede-like material that is 10 times darker than black paint....

Iconic London Paper Goes Free After 182 Years

Owners eliminate cover price as Evening Standard hemorrhages cash

(Newser) - The Evening Standard, London's 182-year-old afternoon newspaper, will become a freesheet later this month in an attempt to pump up the struggling title's circulation. The Standard, purchased by Russian oligarch Alexander Lebedev last year for the fire-sale price of one pound, loses $16 million a year and may fire staff...

UK Stylist Quits Over 'Average Size' Runway Models

Designer Mark Fast responds to complaints about starving catwalkers

(Newser) - A London stylist quit in a snit after a fashion designer chose three "average size" models for his runway show, reports the Guardian. Mark Fast, known for his body-hugging mini-dresses, used three models sizes 8 and 10 to show off his collection yesterday. The move followed a warning by...

World's Tallest Man Wants to Meet 'Lots of Girls'

Sultan Kosen is more than 8 feet tall

(Newser) - The world's new tallest man, Sultan Kosen, is in it for the chicks. "I want a car that I can fit in, but more than that I want to get married," says the 27-year-old Turk. The 8-foot-1-inch Kosen, who has pituitary gigantism, also nabbed the 2010 Guinness...

Mohammed Now London's Most Popular Boys Name

Prophet's name knocks Daniel into second place in British capital

(Newser) - Mohammed has beaten out old favorites like Jack and Oliver to become the most popular name for baby boys in London, the Telegraph reports. British government figures show that the name—when variant spellings like "Muhammed" are included—is more than twice as popular in the British capital as...

Best Layover Mini-Vacations
 Best Layover Mini-Vacations 
TRAVEL
Sep 14, 2009 5:33 PM CDT

Best Layover Mini-Vacations

Who needs the boring airport when you can get out and explore?

(Newser) - Stuck with a long layover? You don’t have to idle in the airport. Condé Nast Traveler presents its readers' best suggestions for killing an hour or 4:
  • Honolulu: Take a 25-minute cab ride to Waikiki Beach to enjoy the sand, surf, and views of Diamond Head crater.
  • London: Get
...

British Bridges Duel on Twitter
 British Bridges Duel on Twitter 
Sep 12, 2009 6:30 AM CDT

British Bridges Duel on Twitter

London Bridge Tweeters mercilessly mock Tower Bridge's dreary updates

(Newser) - Britain's best-known bridges are battling it out on Twitter, the Daily Telegraph reports. The steady stream of monotonous updates from London's Tower Bridge's official Twitter feed—"I am opening for the SB Lady Daphne, which is passing upstream"—inspired someone to set up a spoof account for nearby...

Once-Homeless Rapper Wins Prestigious UK Prize

Speech Debelle is first woman to win Mercury in 7 years

(Newser) - Years of living in hostels and on the streets of London proved, at long last, a winning combination for rapper Speech Debelle, who today was awarded Britain’s prestigious Mercury music prize, the Guardian reports. Speech Therapy, the debut album by the 26-year-old (real name Corynne Elliot), represents a “...

'Twitter Opera' Wins Over Londoners

900 authors wrote Twitterdammerung libretto in tweets

(Newser) - The first-ever Twitter opera—a melding of high tech and high art with a libretto written in chunks of 140 characters—received an unexpectedly positive reception when it opened pver the weekend, the Washington Post reports. One critic called Twitterdammerung “an accident waiting to happen.” But it “...

Tweed Bedded Woman After Rape Claim Girl Walked: Source

Details emerge of 'degrading' assault

(Newser) - Jack Tweed got "intimate" with another woman who was in his bed when police came to arrest him on rape charges Friday, a source tells the News of the World. Tweed allegedly brought three women home from a London nightclub the night before, and began kissing one when...

Stewart Spotted 'Ghost' in Godot

(Newser) - Actor Patrick Stewart reported seeing a "ghost" in the wings while performing Waiting for Godot in London, reports the Telegraph. The former Star Ship Enterprise captain was apparently not up to snuff during one scene. When co-star Ian McKelllan asked him what happened, Stewart replied: "I just saw...

London Cameras a Bust: 1 Crime Solved Per 1K

(Newser) - Surveillance cameras are nearly worthless in the fight against crime, a London police report concluded, with fewer than one crime solved annually for every 1,000 cameras.The UK is one of the world's most monitored countries, with one camera for every 14 people and 1 million cameras in London...

Fired Disabled Woman: Abercrombie a 'Sweatshop'

Brit won nearly $15K for wrongful dismissal

(Newser) - The 22-year-old British student with a prosthetic arm who won nearly $15,000 in a discrimination lawsuit against Abercrombie & Fitch compares its working conditions to a sweatshop. “I found it disturbing,” Riam Dean tells the Daily Mail. “There were so many people in such a tiny...

Abercrombie Loses Lawsuit Over Clerk's Prosthetic Arm

(Newser) - The London woman banished to the Abercrombie & Fitch stockroom because of her prosthetic arm has been awarded more $13,000 by an employment tribunal, the BBC reports. Riam Dean wore a cardigan to cover the joint between her prosthesis and her body, but the sweater clashed with the retailer’...

Men Swipe $65M in UK's Biggest Jewel Heist

(Newser) - Two well-dressed men escaped from one of London's most expensive jewelers with $65 million worth of rings, necklaces, and watches last week, in what the Telegraph calls the biggest heist in British history. Yesterday authorities released surveillance footage of the robbers, who used three cars to make their getaway. Their...

Coming Soon: Viagra Ice Cream
 Coming Soon: Viagra Ice Cream 
Aug 11, 2009 9:43 AM CDT

Coming Soon: Viagra Ice Cream

Libido-boosting ice cream cocktail hits London

(Newser) - The Viagra of ice cream is hitting a London department store, and as long as you’re over 18, you can try a cool scoop of the hot stuff yourself: The Sex Pistol packs in libido-boosting ingredients like arginine and guarana and comes with a shot of absinthe on the...

Nanny: Diplomat Made Me a Slave
Nanny: Diplomat Made Me a Slave
Aug 9, 2009 2:33 PM CDT

Nanny: Diplomat Made Me a Slave

Sexually assaulted and beaten, she reveals horrors facing UK's migrant workers

(Newser) - A migrant worker in Britain took what looked like a plush job as a diplomat’s nanny—only to be treated as a sex slave with little recourse to the law, the Independent reports, uncovering a predicament faced by other workers. “I was trapped. I was paid nothing, never...

Abbey Road Crosswalk May Hit the Road

(Newser) - The Abbey Road crosswalk made famous by the Beatles' album cover may be eliminated because hordes of fans are making it unsafe, say legislators. Accidents at the London intersection have climbed as an increasing number of fans pose on the striped crosswalk for photos, reports the Telegraph. “Maybe it...

New Generation of UK Rappers Steps Out

Kids are coming out of the woodwork earlier to become Internet sensations

(Newser) - Grime—a musical genre fusing, among other things, hip-hop, electronica, and Caribbean influences—is being rejuvenated and redefined by “youngers,” the new generation of Internet-savvy MCs reaching for the charts, the Independent reports. “The ‘olders’ grew up listening to rap and hip-hop and other artists from...

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