NOOKS AND CRANNIESWhy do we have plastic washing-up bowls within our sinks? Why don't we just wash up in the sink? Richard Buckley, London
Why do we have plastic tubs within our sinks? Because it's something that is self-perpetuated by the inflexible mind and passed on down to like-minded offspring. The only proper reason to have one is if you have only one sink AND you like to rinse immediately after washing an individual item AND don't mind the silly thing taking up space on your worktop.
Rome city guideRome holidaysRome-based writer Amanda Ruggeri picks some of the most colourful, convenient and comfortable pensiones in the capital As featured in our Rome city guide
Il Boom B&BAt Boom, stay with Angelo, his son, their three cats … and countless famous actresses whose pictures grace the walls of the three rented rooms (named, respectively, Magnani, Loren, and Vitti). On the top floor of a century-old palazzo (no lift), it has retro crown-moulded ceilings, a vintage jukebox, and there's even a life-sized Marilyn Monroe cut-out in the kitchen.
BeautyDitch the wet wipe: tried and tested makeup removal from the expertsOur global obsession with wet wipes is littering beaches and clogging up drains. Part of the problem is the increased use of them to remove makeup. Here, experts explain what you should use to take off your mascara
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ObituaryEllen BergmanTireless director, choreographer, writer, wife and motherIn 1945 Ellen Bergman, who has died aged 87, directed her first play at Helsingborg City Theatre in Sweden. When Ingmar Bergman was appointed the theatre's artistic director, she was made resident choreographer. Their partnership was soon to be extended, and after divorcing art photographer Christer Stromholm, she cohabited with Bergman until their marriage in 1947.
Ellen, theatre director, choreographer and writer, produced four children in as many years.
FictionReviewThis impressive debut about a young woman’s journey through 1970s London and Bristol to the mystical rituals of Jamaica has been longlisted for the Women’s prize
In this startling debut novel, longlisted for the Women’s prize, a young woman is lured into an underworld of violent gangsters, and communes with her Jamaican ancestors through DJ toasting over dub music. Jacqueline Crooks has crafted a richly textured world, artfully drawing on her youthful experience of raves and gangs in 1970s west London, as well as supernatural beliefs in Obeah (an African diasporic tradition of healing and spell-casting).
The ObserverAutobiography and memoirReviewThis colourful, self-deprecating memoir charts the author’s journey from light-fingered record shop employee to editor of Q magazine until it folded in 2020, with guest appearances from Paul Weller, Mark E Smith et al
Those of us who cut our teeth on the weekly music press are, by nature, bullishly nostalgic for the days when NME and Melody Maker sold hundreds of thousands of copies, reputations and heated pub exchanges hinging on their contents.
My best shotPhotographyInterviewPhotographer Jeff Wall's best shotInterview by Andrew PulverIt took a year to set this up. I gave the woman on the left a budget and told her to furnish the place and live in itI had no real subject in mind when I started work on this picture. I was simply interested in a problem I had noticed in my interior shots: they often felt really closed in. So I decided to find an interior with an exterior.
OpinionWomen This article is more than 1 month oldThis silly ‘short hair’ row tells us much more about my country than any Miss France contestantThis article is more than 1 month oldAgnès PoirierThe fuss over Eve Gilles’ gamine coiffure is bizarre in a nation that is supposed to celebrate femininity in all its forms
In December, Britain has pantomimes and France has silly beauty controversies. The latest one, which erupted on social networks last weekend, must be one of the most bizarre witnessed since the beginning of the Miss France pageant, 103 years ago.
US news This article is more than 2 months oldUS bodyguard sentenced to prison in Dubai over fan ‘slap’ appeals for helpThis article is more than 2 months oldAdvocacy group Detained in Dubai says Cornell Whitfield was protecting singer Trey Songz from ‘aggressive’ man in March
The family of a Miami bodyguard who was sentenced to prison in Dubai after stepping in to prevent a fan reaching the R&B singer Trey Songz is appealing for help.
WomenJournalist Katie Couric and many others have tweeted their objections at the Modern Family actor’s performance – acccusing both the Emmys and Vergara of actual sexismName: Sofia Vergara.
Age: 42.
Appearance: Voluptuous, soignee, revolving.
Revolving? Yes, on a display stand.
A display stand? Yes! At Monday’s Emmy awards, for a joke, while Bruce Rosenblum gave a speech about the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, over which he presides.
I see.