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CultureWatch Reviews: Amsterdam, A History of the World's Most Liberal City; The Virgin of Bennington; DVD Tips: Foyle's War & Doc Martin's Return
Russell Shorto’s gifts include a keen eye for individual little stories that add a delicious depth to his writing, and thus to our understanding of times and events in Amsterdam; A History of the World’s Most Liberal City; The Virgin of Bennington becomes a meticulous and admiringly recorded history of Betty Kray’s dedication, imagination, and development of the Academy of American Poets; DVD Tips include a look at Doc Martin's long-waited Season 6 and the beginning of filming for Foyle's War's next season more »
The Miami Heat Comes to Call; A Fiftieth Birthday
The First Lady dunks with the Miami Heat. Perhaps she'll join her brother, Craig, coaching basketball as well teaching preparation of healthy meals. First Lady Michelle Obama and daughters Sasha and Malia also prepared burritos while volunteering at the DC Central Kitchen in Washington, DC, on Martin Luther King Day more »
Last Vermeer to Remain in Private Hands: A Young Woman Seated at a Virginal
Aside from a picture owned by Queen Elizabeth II of England, this is the only other Vermeer known to be owned privately. It is also the most recent to be firmly attributed to the master. In addition to myriad investigations in the 1990s and after, recent analysis has found that it was painted on canvas cut from the same bolt of cloth that Vermeer used for The Lace Maker, which today hangs in the Louvre. more »
Just Icing on the Cake, Part One
Roberta McReynolds takes us on another of her adventures: "I allowed the cake to cool and readied myself for the process of turning my cake into two even layers. It seemed that the cake didn’t understand its role. The pieces falling off the sides of the cake as I attempted to side the wire through reminded me of icebergs calving off glaciers." more »