The Guardian

Leonard Cohen is John Donne to Bob Dylan’s Shakespeare

~ Michael Stevenson ~ Leave a comment


The first time I thought consciously about Leonard Cohen’s death was in 2002. I was listening to his 2001 album Ten New Songs while crawling my way through the writing of a novel in which each chapter took its title from one of the poems in The Songs and Sonnets of John Donne. I remember hearing the following lines, among the hundreds of Cohen’s that I’ve come to revere: “So come, my friends, be not afraid/ We are so lightly here/ It is in love that we are made/ In love we disappear.” […]

Read Full Story: Leonard Cohen is John Donne to Bob Dylan’s Shakespeare | Music | The Guardian

An emerging British folk music scene: archive, 15 October 1963 

~ Michael Stevenson ~ Leave a comment

The Guardian, 15 October 1963: The modest boomlet is showing every sign of turning into a super colossal folkburger, with plenty of chips on every plate and juice there for the squeezing

There has been a minor folk-song boom for as long as most addicts can remember. Nothing spectacular, nothing bloated, but steady, devoted, sure – a lasting, rippling tide of interest.

It started in the mid-fifties when skiffle’s bubble burst. Skiffle was really a convenient compromise, folksy and portentous enough to engross those repulsed by rock’s simpleton thumps but needing scant talent to bolster its pretensions. Anyone could expel a nasal screech or scrape a washboard but, long ago and far away, Leadbelly first plucked out the tune; and that made it all respectable. […]

 

Full Story at: An emerging British folk music scene: archive, 15 October 1963 | Music | The Guardian

Hitchcock experts rush to defend director over Tippi Hedren’s claims of sexual harassment

~ Michael Stevenson ~ Leave a comment

Actress says she repelled advances on The Birds set but film crew dispute story.

Cinema historians, former cast and crew and Alfred Hitchcock’s official biographer have rushed to the defence of the director after claims that he sexually harassed and bullied actress Tippi Hedren during the filming of The Birds in the 1960s

 

Source: Hitchcock experts rush to defend director over Tippi Hedren’s claims of sexual harassment | Film | The Guardian

Ed Vaizey calls for minimum wage for ‘gig economy’ self-employed | Business | The Guardian

~ Michael Stevenson ~ Leave a comment

The call came from Ed Vaizey, who until July was the minister for digital industries, and if heeded would require a major change in business models for fast-growing firms relying on self-employed contractors paid on a piecework basis.

They include companies such as the taxi app firm Uber, which has 40,000 drivers enrolled on its system in the UK, and delivery giant Hermes, which relies on 10,500 self-employed couriers to deliver parcels for retailers including John Lewis and Next. Neither currently guarantees workers the minimum wage.

Uber last week said it would appeal against an employment tribunal ruling that its drivers should not be classed as self-employed and so should receive the minimum wage. HM Revenue and Customs is also investigating whether Hermes couriers are wrongly classed as self-employed following an investigation by the Guardian that uncovered concerns some were earning below the £7.20 national living wage that is statutory for employees and workers aged 25 and over, but not the self-employed.

READ FULL STORY at Source: Ed Vaizey calls for minimum wage for ‘gig economy’ self-employed | Business | The Guardian