12 Established 1961 Lifestyle Features Wednesday, April 28, 2021

conic British artist Marianne Faithfull Nick Cave and Brian Eno. It was Cave Swinging Sixties’ London, spotted at a hard as I thought it would be,” she told fears she may never sing again after a that suggested “She Walks In Beauty” as party by the manager of the Rolling AFP. Ibrutal dose of COVID-19 last year, but a title. She had wanted a different line Stones and becoming a muse to Mick “But it was a bit of a problem. When a new album of poetry set to music has from Byron-”So We’ll Go No More a Jagger, with all the sexist baggage that you’re in the studio together you can tell a given her a beautiful outlet. The 74-year- Roving”-”but Nick thought that was a bit came along with that status. She enjoyed lot about what people are thinking from old spoke to AFP by phone from her negative,” she said with a laugh. She the highs of sudden fame and fortune, their body language. We didn’t have that home in London, but sounded even fur- seems genuinely surprised that the but also deep lows of drug addiction and at all. It’s incredibly lucky that it turned out ther away, her voice heavy with fatigue. “I album has worked out so well. “Warren homelessness, and emerged on the other as well as it did,” she said. Though she caught it really badly and nearly died and and I listened to quite a few records that side with tales to tell. worries about losing her singing ability for now I’ve got what they call long-term people have made with poetry and music She built a long career with more than good, perhaps the poetry offers a way COVID,” she said. “It’s not the virus but it behind them, and most of them are awful. 20 albums to her name, including the forward. Would she consider a French certainly feels like it. It’s in my lungs so I In this file photo British singer Marianne It’s quite hard to do it right. We were very landmark “Broken English” from 1979 version, in memory of the many years can’t talk for very long.” Asked if she will Faithfull performs at the Bataclan concert lucky,” she said. that has become a touchstone for dark, she spent in Paris? “I’d love to do sing again, she is saddened: “Darling, I hall in Paris. — AFP orchestral pop, ensuring a steady stream Baudelaire, Rimbaud, but I don’t speak don’t know. I hope I can. I do singing Survivor of younger artists keen to work with her, French well enough. I’ll have to think practice once a week. A friend comes past few months completing an album The poems have been close to her including PJ Harvey, Jarvis Cocker and about it...” she said. — AFP over and plays my lovely guitar and I begun before the pandemic. It features heart since her schooldays in 1950s Beck. Ever the survivor, she faced her practice. her reading some of her favorite poetry- England, for which she thanks a Mrs hardest trial yet with the pandemic that “It’s an awful thought,” she added. Byron, Shelley, Keats and other 19th cen- Simpson, one of the only teachers at her nearly took her life last year, but she “Whatever happens, I can’t change it.” tury romantics-with backing music from convent school who was not a nun. That pushed through and managed to record But far from defeated, she has spent the an all-star cast that includes Warren Ellis, was before her famous entry into the album at a distance. “It was not as

Norwegian psychiatrist denied Monday inventing the so-called Atheory that forms the basis for the Oscar-winning film “Another Round”, reit- erating that man is not born with a lack of alcohol in his blood. Crowned the best international feature film at Sunday’s cer- emony, the Danish movie is a dark come- Founder of Energy Garden Agamemnon Otero tends to a herb and vegetable section near the People attend the Sunset Strip Late Night Drive-In Oscars Watch Party on the parking lot of the dy about four high school teachers who platform at Brondesbury Park Overground train station in north west London. — AFP photos Andaz Hotel, in West Hollywood, California. — AFP carry out a drinking experiment. The four test a theory attributed to Norwegian psy- I’ve been learning quite a lot over this chiatrist Finn Skarderud which supposed- In London, rail-side period. It’s good to just learn from others.” ly claims that man is born with a deficit of The gardens’ solar panels power water 0.05 percent alcohol in the bloodstream. hoses that help cultivate the various plant But that is “fake news” that comes gardening life, and excess electricity is sold back to from a “selective reading” of the preface transport companies to offset their carbon Skarderud wrote for the Norwegian trans- blossoms during footprint. That, in turn, generates a rev- lation of “The Psychological Effects of enue stream to fund more community his year’s Oscars audience plum- win best actor for his final role in “Ma Wine” by Italian author Edmondo de gardens, with Otero planning to expand meted by more than half to a record Rainey’s Black Bottom.” Amicis, the psychiatrist himself said pandemic on a national scale. Funding also comes low 9.85 million viewers, broadcast- T Monday. “On the first page, I wrote that from corporate and community invest- er ABC said Monday-a staggering if wide- ‘Preaching’ after one or two glasses, yes, life’s pretty ment. Individuals can become part of a ly expected drop for a ceremony that This year’s unorthodox Oscars cere- good, we think maybe we’re born with a busy commuter train station is an “one vote, one share” cooperative system many viewers found short on humor and mony was moved from a Hollywood the- 0.05 percent deficit,” he told Norwegian unlikely place to find a haven for that gives each shareholder a say in the star power. The whopping 58 per cent ater to a glammed-up Los Angeles train public radio NRK. Aflowers, bees and hedgehogs. But running and evolution of their garden. tumble from last year’s previous 23.6 mil- station to abide by strict Covid-19 proto- a decade-old project in London bringing The designs for each site are formally lion nadir had been anticipated for cols, and reunited Hollywood filmmakers an eco-friendly combination of gardening, approved by the agency Transport for Hollywood’s biggest night, after other and actors en masse for the first time in horticulture and so-called rewilding to the London, which manages the capital’s award shows held during the pandemic more than a year. Reviews of the show urban jungle is bearing fruit during the sprawling network. The project also runs also suffered precipitous declines. were mixed, with several critics complain- pandemic. Hiding in plain sight, 34 solar- school workshops and youth training pro- With movie theaters shut for most of ing about the show’s lack of humor and powered sites created by the community- grams to teach youngsters about sustain- the year, many viewers had not seen or musical performances. While many led project Energy Garden are dotted able practices, and the gardens are main- even heard of nominees such as Chloe Oscars begin with gag-heavy mono- around the British capital, adjacent to tained by more than 300 volunteers. Zhao’s “Nomadland,” which was the logues, producers turned this year to train platforms used daily by hundreds of night’s big winner with three prizes but Regina King, who was one of many stars thousands of commuters before coron- which has taken just over $2 million at who referred to racism and police vio- avirus hit. With lockdowns now easing, the domestic box office. Several block- lence-specifically last week’s conviction the passengers are returning, and the buster films whose stars could have of Minneapolis cop Derek Chauvin for the project’s chief executive Agamemnon drawn interest at this year’s Oscars saw murder of George Floyd. Otero hopes its success can help their release dates shunted to next year “I know that a lot of you people at address a longer-term challenge. due to the pandemic, from Steven home want to reach for your remote when “Energy Garden is really about build- Spielberg’s “West Side Story” and the you feel like Hollywood is preaching to ing resilience in communities. It’s about mega-budget sci-fi “Dune” to an array of you,” she predicted. Variety slammed the how we directly address the climate popular superhero titles. decision to go without a host for a third change issue that everybody feels they Danish director Thomas Vinterberg poses with That exodus left an unfamiliar crop of straight year, calling the ceremony “lost are powerless to do,” he told AFP. “Most the award for best international feature film nominees competing at Sunday’s cere- and guide-less.” But the decision to strip of the time, train operators will cut down for “Another Round” in the press room at the Founder of Energy Garden Agamemnon Otero mony, with Daniel Kaluuya and Youn out musical performances and most clips huge swathes of trackside space and Yuh-jung winning the supporting acting of nominated movies-and allow winners to Oscars, at Union Station in Los Angeles. — AFP tends to a herb and vegetable section near leave it denuded from any type of life. the platform at Brondesbury Park Overground Oscars a year after Brad Pitt and Laura speak at length without being “played off” “These are corridors for biodiversity to Dern prevailed. One big name who did the stage by an orchestra-drew some train station. But “in the following paragraph, I reject come in and so it’s very important that a win-but was in bed sleeping some 5,000 praise. Deadline called the “relatively that theory entirely,” he stressed. At first section of every garden is still wild.” miles away in Wales-was Anthony fast-paced and deeply personal ceremo- he was concerned about having been Community interest has grown steadily ‘Our space’ Hopkins, who was unexpectedly named ny” a “true Hollywood reinvigoration.” misquoted. “Initially it was a little uncom- since the initiative started in 2011, but Volunteer and project investor best actor for “The Father” in what was The ratings drop also continues an fortable because I am after all a doctor, a has spiked during lockdown as more vol- Terence Tehranian visits the the night’s final prize. The Oscars typical- broader, multi-year downward trend for psychiatrist, I treat people suffering from unteers joined to work-socially distanced- Brondesbury Park garden regularly with ly end with best picture, but producers the Academy Awards-and most other addiction, I meet their families,” he told tending to the gardens. The first site was his young children to lend a hand. “I decided to reorganize the categories-and award shows. The Oscars drew more NRK. But, the mini-notoriety also led the established at Brondesbury Park station think it really is making London a better the lack of an acceptance speech at the than 43 million viewers as recently as film’s director, Thomas Vinterberg, to in northwest London, part of the place to live. It’s making the environment show’s grand finale was criticized by 2014, but audiences have become contact him and ask him to serve as “as Overground network that generally serv- better because more plants means less many viewers as anti-climactic. increasingly fragmented in the streaming a sort of consultant” during the shooting ices outer suburbs where the carbon dioxide and it’s bringing people “At 83 years of age, I did not expect to era. The 9.85 million viewing figure is of “Another Round”. The storyline is “bal- Underground does not reach. together,” he said. “I think those things get this award, I really didn’t,” said based on early Nielson data ordered by anced”, he said. Alcohol “is not either or. are important for a huge city like London Hopkins in video posted to his Instagram ABC, with an official ratings release The film is very measured.” “We can dis- ‘Out and helping’ where that often doesn’t happen.” page from Wales on Monday morning. “I expected yesterday — AFP cuss the effects of alcohol. Alcohol is to a Layers of rubble were dug out and the Otero said it was fitting that the gar- want to pay tribute to Chadwick Boseman very large extent a social lubricant,” he site replanted with vibrant flowers, fruit dens are part of the transport network, who was taken from us far too early,” he said. “The difficulty is in finding the right trees, fragrant herbs, tea plants and an counterbalancing a sector that in 2019 added, referring to the late “Black balance, to not abuse it.”— AFP array of vegetables including potatoes, produced 27 percent of net greenhouse Panther” star who had been expected to kale and Jerusalem artichokes. There are gas emissions in Britain-although most of even hops from which Energy Garden that was road traffic rather than rail. pair, just as investors buy stock in a compa- brews its own beer. Jaylyn Miguel, in her “What we wanted to do was really have a ny. RARES, launched in March by former 20s, was one of the volunteers who discussion around the biggest consumer Kanye West American football player Gerome Sapp, joined during lockdown last year. “I guess of energy and the biggest generator of bought the Air Yeezy 1s through a private it was for my own mental health, I wanted emissions,” he said. “I’m really excited for sneakers shatter sale from sneaker collector Ryan Chang. to just be out and helping the community,” people to get involved and join a garden, The sale price exceeded Sotheby’s esti- she said. “I want to learn more about sus- and even become investor members. mate of $1 million. “That was actually the tainability. Collectively it’s really impor- “This is our space. We need to take back sale records grail of grails,” said Sapp. The sneaker is tant, so that we can make sure people the spaces and make them what we want expected to list on the platform’s “stock have access to organic food. “I certainly to see.”— AFP exchange” at around $15-20 per share on didn’t have experience growing food, and at $1.8 million June 16, he explained. Sapp predicts that the company will car- ry out three or four IPO-like listings before pair of Nike Air Yeezy 1s worn by In this file photo musician, Kanye West per- then, including of a pair of Nike Air Force 1s rapper Kanye West sold for $1.8 mil- forms onstage during the 50th annual made in collaboration with rapper Jay-Z. Alion, triple the previous record for Grammy awards held at the Staples Center in Before collaborating with West, Nike had sneakers, Sotheby’s said Monday, as the Los Angeles, California. — AFP named shoes only in honor of famous ath- market for rare sports shoes soars. The letes. The Air Yeezy 1 was released, in limit- shoes beat the record held by a pair of Nike ed edition in 2009, followed by the Air Yeezy Air Jordan 1s which sold for $615,000 in during the 2008 Grammy Awards as he per- 2 in 2012. Most Air Yeezy 1s sell for August 2020 at a Christie’s auction. The formed “Hey Mama” and “Stronger.” The between $2,000 and $4,000, depending on record price for sneakers has been broken sneakers, which were part of a collaboration the model. West initially teamed up with several times recently as what was seen as between Nike and West, were prototypes, Nike before switching to Adidas to create a niche market 10 years ago now attracts with the resulting model not going on sale his own line. interest from the general public as well as until April 2009. Brahm Wachter, head of streetwear and leading collectors. “The sale marks the new collectibles at Sotheby’s, said highest publicly recorded price for a sneak- Sturdy investment? Monday’s price “speaks volumes of Kanye’s er sale ever,” Sotheby’s said in a statement. The shoes were acquired by RARES, a legacy as one of the most influential clothing “The sale also marks the first pair of sneaker investment marketplace that allows and sneaker designers of our time, and of sneakers to top $1 million,” it added. The users to invest in rare pairs of athletic the Yeezy franchise he has built which has black high-top Yeezys were worn by West footwear. Individuals can buy shares in a become an industry titan.”—AFP Agamemnon Otero tends to a herb and vegetable section.