All posts by Intellicurious

News, Views and Reviews for the Intellectually Curious

Lifestyle: Country Life Magazine- February 1, 2023

Country Life Magazine – February 1, 2023 –

Travel — Let Country Life guide you along the paths less travelled

The snapshot

Giardino dell’Iris, Florence, Italy

Keeping up with the dames

Jo Rodgers feels right at home in glamorous Paris, and we pick our favourite European hotels

Sleep like a champion

Here’s where to bed down after watching the Olympics in 2024

The magnificent seven

Seven spectacular islands—from Menorca to Manhattan

The Atlantic’s green lung

Rosalyn Wikeley gets away from it all in the ‘Hawaii of Europe’

Walking Tour: Island Of Murano In Venice, Italy

January 30, 2023: Murano Island – a Glassmaker’s Paradise since 1291, is a tiny Venetian island and home to Venice’s glassmaking industry. Murano glass production was moved to this Island from the main island of Venice because its production posed quite a fire hazard (Note: the buildings in Venice were constructed mostly of wood at that time and the extreme heat that is required to make glass liquid so as to mold and shape it obviously caused the Venetians some concern).

Video timeline: 0:00:00​ – Intro 0:01:06 – MURANO MUSEO 0:01:52​ – RIVA LONGA 0:04:25​ – PONTE LONGO LINO TOFFOLO 0:05:46​ – FONDAMENTA DA MULA 0:07:04​ – PONTE SAN PIETRO MARTIRE 0:07:58 – FONDAMENTA MANIN 0:09:40​ – CALLE BRESSAGIO 0:10:09​ – CALLE BRIATI 0:12:15 – FONDAMENTA PIAVE F. M. 0:13:15​ – FARO DI MURANO 0:13:49​ – CALLE BRESSAGIO 0:15:05​ – FONDAMENTA MANIN 0:15:42​ – PONTE DI MEZO 0:16:04​ – FONDAMENTA DEI VETRAI 0:17:11​ – PONTE S.CHIARA 0:18:03​ – PIAZZALE CALLE COLONNA

Soon enough, Murano Island became quite a hot spot for Venetian glass production indeed. Glassmaking has quite an exalted tradition in Venice. It is an art form, after all. In the 14th century, the daughters of Murano’s biggest glassmaking families were allowed to marry Venetian noblemen.

Filmed and edited by: EpicCityWalk

Culture: France-Amérique Magazine – February 2023

February 2023 - France-Amérique

France-Amérique – February 2023 Issue:

W.E.B. DU BOIS IN PARIS – An Exhibition against Racist Clichés

In 1900, the prominent sociologist worked with the Paris Exposition Universelle to showcase the newfound freedom and rapid progress of Black Americans. But Belle Epoque France was more interested in colonial expansion than social emancipation – which is the focus of an exhibition currently on display at the Cooper Hewitt in New York City.

FRENCH FOUNDERS – A Revolutionary Entrepreneur Network

Founded in New York City in 2014 by two expats, FrenchFounders drew its inspiration from the start-up model and is now shaking up communities of entrepreneurs living abroad. This new approach has since won over more than 4,000 members across the world.

L’AMOUR À LA FRANÇAISE vs. American Romance

Do we seduce each other in the same ways on both sides of the Atlantic? Are Americans prudish? Are the French more unfaithful? And how easy is it to be in a binational relationship? For Valentine’s Day, these questions are all answered by Bérénice Boursier-Baudouin, a Florida-based French psychotherapist.

Table of contents

  • FROM THE NEWSDESK – Bis Repetita: Another Attempt at Pension Reform in France. By Anthony Bulger
  • COME ON OUT – French Cultural Events in North America. By Tracy Kendrick
  • EDITORIAL – Woke, a Fashionable Dance. By Guy Sorman
  • INTERVIEW – Olivier Zunz: “Tocqueville Believed That Democracy Is a Constant Struggle.” By Guy Sorman
  • THE OBSERVER – Celebrating 60 Years of the Barbie Doll in France. By Anthony Bulger

Books: TLS/Times Literary Supplement – Feb 3, 2023

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This week’s @TheTLS , featuring Ferdinand Mount on fair play; @ScurrRuth on Janet Malcolm; @sophieolive on Mina Loy; @mjohnharrison on László Krasznahorkai; @pratinavanil on Nehru; @jamesamarcus on Melville and Mumford; @eliza_dearnley on pagan goddesses – and more.

News: Finland-Sweden NATO Debate, Nagorno-Karabakh, An Aging Italy

Finland’s Nato dilemma: will the country go it alone without Sweden? Plus: the blockade of the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region, Italy’s ‘silver tsunami’ and what does the 2022 Corruption Perceptions Index reveal about the state of the world?

Front Page: The New York Times – February 1, 2023

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Russia Sidesteps Western Punishments, With Help From Friends

A surge in trade by Russia’s neighbors and allies hints at one reason its economy remains so resilient after sweeping sanctions.

DeSantis Takes On the Education Establishment, and Builds His Brand

A proposal by Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida to overhaul higher education would mandate courses in Western civilization, eliminate diversity programs and reduce the protections of tenure.

Why Black Families Are Leaving New York, and What It Means for the City

Black children in particular are disappearing from the city, and many families point to one reason: Raising children here has become too expensive.

‘Terrorism Has Returned’: Pakistan Grapples With Attack That Left 101 Dead

The attack raised fears of a new wave of militancy from the Pakistani Taliban and sparked a heated debate over the government’s ability to meet that threat amid an economic and political crisis.

New Zealand Design: RK Residence In Wellington

The Local Project (January 31, 2023) – Inside a calm and minimal modern architectural home located in the seaside town of Eastbourne, Wellington, RK Residence by Seear-Budd Ross incorporates distilled detailing and minimal finishes.

Video timeline: 00:00 – Introduction to the Calm, Minimal and Modern Home 00:21 – The Idea Behind the Home 00:46 – The Location of the Home 01:08 – Natural Characteristics 01:39 – A Light-Filled Connection 01:57 – The Plan and Topography 02:11 – Utilising Timber 03:35 – Refinement and Detail 03:51 – Fisher & Paykel Integrated Appliances 04:16 – Favourite Aspects of the Home 04:40 – Simplicity, Craftsmanship and Atmosphere

Completing interior design and architecture, Seear-Budd Ross has created a family home that offers a calming atmosphere, as well as an interior space filled with distinct characteristics. Designed as two singular volumes, the front of the house is made to incorporate public entertainment and living quarters, whilst the second singular volume holds the private rooms.

Placed between the two volumes, the courtyard provides a moment of transition between each volume and an abundance of natural light. Still and meditative, the design of RK Residence was planned to include sweeping views from the back of the home to the harbour beyond. Whilst following the house tour inside a calm and minimal modern architectural home, the architects have used high-quality materials throughout – including bandsawn flooring and cladding, tumbled paving in the courtyard and honed stone in the kitchen.

With locally-sourced timber helping connect the home to its surrounding landscape, the architects have used New Zealand pine on the exterior cladding, whilst the interior employs macrocarpa timber, bringing a unique scent and texture to the home. Inside a calm and minimal modern architectural home, the architects have worked with Fisher & Paykel to fit the kitchen with appliances that have been refined down to their essence.

As such, integrated appliances have been employed inside a calm and minimal modern architectural home to impart a seamless look throughout – including the Fisher & Paykel ovens, integrated fridge and freezer and dishwasher drawers. Furthermore, the stove top and rangehood provides a unified look and supports the open plan entertaining space. Creating moments of simplicity through refined architectural and design choices, the architects have used the typology of Eastbourne to establish a natural characterisation throughout. Finished with neutral tones, both the exterior and interior reference the coastal surrounds.

The architects have imparted a meditative atmosphere for the owners to enjoy for years to come. Acting as a counterpoint holiday home to the clients’ rural home, RK Residence by Seear-Budd Ross is a journey of refinement that begins from the exterior and continues inside a calm and minimal modern architectural home.

West Africa Views: The Cliff Of Bandiagara, Mali

UNESCO – The Bandiagara site is an outstanding landscape of cliffs and sandy plateaux with some beautiful architecture (houses, granaries, altars, sanctuaries and Togu Na, or communal meeting-places).

Several age-old social traditions live on in the region (masks, feasts, rituals, and ceremonies involving ancestor worship). The geological, archaeological and ethnological interest, together with the landscape, make the Bandiagara plateau one of West Africa’s most impressive sites.

News: The Last Boeing 747, New Zealand Inflation Rate, Book Stores Future

January 31, 2023: Monocle’s US Editor, Christopher Lord, joins us from Seattle as Boeing delivers the last 747 that it will ever build. Plus: how did New Zealand set the inflation target rate for the world? And what can we learn from Barnes & Noble’s expansion plans?

Front Page: The New York Times – January 31, 2023

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Blinken Meets Netanyahu at Turbulent Moment for Israel

The secretary of state and the Israeli leader had a ‘candid’ conversation amid deepening rifts over the Palestinians, Ukraine and a rightward shift by Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.

Initial Police Report on Tyre Nichols Arrest Is Contradicted by Videos

The police report was the latest instance in which video evidence offered a starkly different account of police violence than what officers had reported themselves.

Wall St. Is Counting on a Debt Limit Trick That Could Entail Trouble

If the debt limit is breached, investors expect Treasury to put bond payments first. It’d be politically and practically fraught.

For Giffords, Progress on Gun Safety Is Like Her Recovery: ‘Inch by Inch’

A 2011 mass shooting left Gabrielle Giffords, then a Democratic congresswoman, partly paralyzed and unable to speak fluently. She has since built a powerful advocacy group.