StageReviewImperial Theatre, New York Its storyline might come from the second volume of War and Peace, but this adaptation flips convention on its head to create truly unique musical theater When the dancers are leaping, the accordions wheezing, the lights flashing, the skirts swirling, and the vodka flowing, then Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812 feels thrillingly unlike anything else on Broadway. A chunk of War and Peace, adapted to a sung-through indie-folk-electro score by composer Dave Malloy and directed with breathless, breathtaking verve by Rachel Chavkin, this musical is a cannonball aimed at any show that has accepted proscenium staging as an unyielding norm rather than a conscious choice. [Read More]

The ObserverBiography booksReviewSofka Zinovieff’s tale of Lord Berners and his lover is packed with money, sex, secrets and bad blood“Beware of the agapanthus,” read a sign at Faringdon, the famously idyllic Oxfordshire home of the composer, novelist and aesthete Lord Berners. But it wasn’t the garden of which visitors – the glittering roll call included Gertrude Stein, Nancy Mitford, Igor Stravinsky and Salvador Dalí – needed to take care. In its heyday, Faringdon was a noted weekend haven, a stage set on which guests were invited thoroughly to enjoy themselves so long as they remembered always to play a suitably witty role. [Read More]

Tom ClancyObituaryTom Clancy obituaryBestselling novelist whose military thrillers, including Patriot Games, were made into hit films and spawned video gamesTom Clancy, who has died aged 66, dominated the bestseller lists of the 1980s, with a series of novels that thrust his appealing CIA analyst Jack Ryan into situations that combined the intricacies of cold-war politics with precise details of modern military operations and equipment. With the end of the cold war, Clancy moved seamlessly into the era of terrorism, with no decline in sales; only JK  Rowling and John Grisham joined him in meriting first printings of more than 2m copies. [Read More]

Gender'She couldn't take any more'At the age of 16, Lindsay Armstrong was raped. Her attacker was found guilty in court, but three weeks later she killed herself. Lindsay's mother tells Kirsty Scott why she believes her daughter's ordeal in the witness box was partly to blameAt 10.45pm on September 7 last year, Linda Armstrong made a call to her daughter Lindsay on her mobile phone, as she always did when the 16-year-old was out for the evening. [Read More]

RockyObituaryBurt Young obituaryActor who found fame, and an Oscar nomination, as the roguishly endearing Paulie in the 1976 film RockyIn the late 1960s, Burt Young dashed off a letter to Lee Strasberg, who ran the Actors Studio in New York, hoping to be taken on as a student. “Seriously, Lee, I don’t know if acting has anything for me, or vice versa, but I’m treading water,” he wrote. “So see me. [Read More]

There results of image searches for ‘unprofessional hair for work’ (left) and ‘professional hair for work’ (right) on Google. Photograph: GoogleThere results of image searches for ‘unprofessional hair for work’ (left) and ‘professional hair for work’ (right) on Google. Photograph: GoogleGoogle This article is more than 7 years oldDo Google's 'unprofessional hair' results show it is racist?This article is more than 7 years oldLeigh AlexanderSearch term brings back mainly results of black women, which some say is evidence of bias. [Read More]

Illustration: Jurgen Ziewe/The GuardianOnline trading apps are drawing in novice investors willing to risk everything on volatile stocks. Do they really know what they’re doing? by Sirin KaleNoor is whispering so her boyfriend won’t hear her. The 30-something designer from London is down about £14,000 as a result of her decision to get into investing, in addition to another £8,000 profit she made on bitcoin last year, but then lost. Nobody knows the full extent of Noor’s losses – hence the whispering. [Read More]

World newsLife sentence for Rwandan genocide leaderInternational tribunal rides criticism to convict militia chief for extermination of TutsisAn international court sentenced George Rutaganda, one of the most prominent leaders of the interahamwe militia that spearheaded the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, to life in prison yesterday after convicting him of genocide, extermination and murder. Although Rutaganda stood alone in the dock, the entire interahamwe was on trial with him for its role in mobilising large numbers of Hutus to murder about 800,000 Tutsis at roadblocks, in churches and in their own homes. [Read More]

Loomus Family

Loomus: An ascetic life

Steven Appleby

Fri 25 May 2012 19.05 EDT

• Share on Facebook
• Share on Twitter
• Share via Email

Topics

• Family
• Loomus

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTEoKyaqpSerq96wqikaKSZm7KiusOsq7KklWSwor7TqKanZ2JlfnN7zJqwaGpmZLOiucilsA%3D%3D

Louisiana This article is more than 2 months oldLouisiana pastor charged with sexual abuse of teenage girlThis article is more than 2 months oldMilton Martin, 56, of First Pentecostal Church of Chalmette, accused of abuse of girl, now 28, who was member of congregation Authorities in Louisiana have charged a Pentecostal pastor with sexually molesting a teenage girl who was a member of his church. Milton O Martin III, 56, faces one charge each of felony carnal knowledge of a juvenile – colloquially referred to as statutory rape – and of indecent behavior with a minor, records obtained by the Guardian show. [Read More]