DazeBlog

TheatreReviewTheatre 503, London Dexter Flanders’ tender debut about a fractured family shows the tensions and compromises faced by Black gay men Through the story of one beautiful, fractured family, this debut play by Dexter Flanders shows how complex, and at times how devastating, the Black gay experience can be. Shortlisted for the Alfred Fagon award, Foxes is a deeply moving story of faith, family and what’s deemed forgivable. Everything is happening too quickly and all at once for Daniel (Michael Fatogun). [Read More]

Pretending to be an anchor can help to balance during the exercise. Photograph: Alamy Stock PhotoPretending to be an anchor can help to balance during the exercise. Photograph: Alamy Stock PhotoShortcutsFitnessFitness experts say 15 minutes a day of standing on one foot could help build that elusive six-pack. And if you’re not used to doing it, the added brain strain will burn even more calories If you want to improve your balance and strengthen your core then you should try imitating a flamingo – or at least how the wading bird tends to stand on one leg. [Read More]

The ObserverBooksReviewNo one can doubt JM Coetzee's ambition in Elizabeth Costello, but does his achievement match up?Elizabeth Costello by JM Coetzee Secker & Warburg £14.99, pp233 When a composer turns the incidental music for a play into a concert suite, or recasts a film score as a symphony, no one turns a hair. But when an acclaimed novelist offers his public a book with an invented protagonist which seems more like a series of essays or lectures than an actual work of fiction, as JM Coetzee has done with Elizabeth Costello, he is crossing more lines than Grieg or Vaughan Williams ever did. [Read More]

Mexico This article is more than 9 years oldManuel Uribe, once world's heaviest man, dies in Mexico at age of 48This article is more than 9 years old Record weight was 1,230lbs or 560kg Official says Uribe moved to hospital by crane A Mexican man once listed as the world's heaviest human being died Monday, at the age of 48. Manuel Uribe had slimmed down to about 867lbs (394kg), well below his then-record peak weight of 1,230lbs (560kg), which was certified in 2006 as a Guinness World Record. [Read More]

UK newsMeet the mates, the minders and the man called CrocodileLloyd Honeyghan, friend Steve 'Crocodile' Fitch, 'cheerleader' Tyson's motivator-in-chief has served five years for manslaughter, a fact not lost on the opponents it is his job to intimidate. Clad in trademark combat fatigues, the Crocodile has been at ringside for all Tyson's big fights, for which he earns £150,000. In 1996 he was chased across a casino floor in Las Vegas by British fight fans after he stared at Frank Bruno while drawing a finger across his throat. [Read More]

Social historyObituaryMoshe Lewin obituaryLively, provocative scholar of Soviet social historyMoshe Lewin, who has died aged 88, was one of the foremost scholars of Soviet history. Misha Levin, as he was more familiarly known, was a vibrant and creative intellectual whose work, expressed in a language and style distinctively his own, and informed by his life experiences, made a major contribution to the field of social history. His magisterial work Russian Peasants and Soviet Power (1968) explores the clash between the world of the peasants and the priorities of an industrialising state in the late 1920s that had little sympathy or comprehension of the peasants' outlook. [Read More]

Henry CecilObituarySir Henry Cecil obituaryChampion British racehorse trainer whose career was crowned by the success of FrankelSir Henry Cecil, who has died of cancer aged 70, was one of the most successful and popular racehorse trainers of the past century. His tally of 25 classic winners is unsurpassed since 1900, while his achievement in becoming champion trainer 10 times has been bettered only once. In 2012 his career was crowned by his training of the " [Read More]

Thursday quizLife and styleSnow White, tricky shapes and a dog in a church – take the Thursday quizFifteen questions on general knowledge and topical trivia, plus a few jokes, every Thursday. How will you fare? The quiz master is away on his early Christmas holidays, but never fear, before he left, he carefully crafted a quiz for you in advance. We say carefully crafted, but as you’ll discover, it quite quickly slides into in-jokes and the wilfully obscure, and was possibly written after too much festive eggnog. [Read More]

The narratives have changed, so Lawrence’s anger isn’t just tolerated – it’s splashed across Vanity Fair’s November cover: ‘It’s my body, and it should be my choice.’ Photograph: Patrick Demarchelier / Vanity FairThe narratives have changed, so Lawrence’s anger isn’t just tolerated – it’s splashed across Vanity Fair’s November cover: ‘It’s my body, and it should be my choice.’ Photograph: Patrick Demarchelier / Vanity FairJessica Valenti columnJennifer Lawrence This article is more than 9 years oldThe Jennifer Lawrence nude photo hack response is the end of the 'shamed starlet'This article is more than 9 years oldJessica ValentiSorry she’s not sorry, but the Vanity Fair interview is a righteous, hell-yes moment for our feminist times [Read More]

UK news'Murdered and betrayed': earl's son vents anger as jury retires· Stepmother branded 'evil' in court outburst · Former escort girl and her brother await verdictThe 10th Earl of Shaftesbury's youngest son and heir yesterday described the brother and sister on trial for his killing as "cold, deceitful and without compassion for a man they murdered and betrayed". Turning on his stepmother, Jamila M'Barek, at a court in Nice, he told her: " [Read More]