Hollywood actress Shailene Woodley has reached a plea deal that calls for no jail time over her involvement in protests against the Dakota Access oil pipeline in North Dakota.

 

The “Divergent” star was among 27 activists arrested Oct. 10. She livestreamed her arrest on Facebook.

 

Woodley initially pleaded not guilty to criminal trespass and engaging in a riot, misdemeanors carrying a maximum punishment of a month in jail and a $1,500 fine.

 

She signed a court document Friday agreeing to plead guilty to misdemeanor disorderly conduct, serve one year of unsupervised probation and forfeit $500 bond. The agreement is awaiting a judge’s approval. Woodley was scheduled to stand trial this Friday.

 

Opponents of the $3.8 billion pipeline worry about potential environmental damage. About 750 protesters have been arrested since August.

 
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Driving around the hallowed grounds at Vicksburg National Military Park in the state of Mississippi reminded National Parks traveler Mikah Meyer of another famous battlefield: Gettysburg, in Pennsylvania. The Battle of Gettysburg was the bloodiest battle of the American Civil War and where President Abraham Lincoln gave his immortal “Gettysburg Address.”

Gettysburg of the south

“Having lived in Maryland before this trip, which is very close to Gettysburg — one of the most popular battlefields to visit — I heard people often talk about Vicksburg as kind of a similar experience… just in the South,” Mikah said.

Tour Vicksburg National Military Park:

Like Gettysburg, Vicksburg is a large battlefield site, with licensed national park guides who cheerfully help visitors navigate the grounds.

Mikah, who’s on a mission to visit all of the more than 400 sites within the National Park Service, says he felt lucky to have had “one of their best guides,” David Maggio, who accompanied Mikah during his drive around the battlefield to explain the significance of the site.

Vicksburg is the key!

As the National Park Service explains it, at the time of the Civil War, the Mississippi River was the single most important economic feature of the continent — the very lifeblood of America. Upon the secession of the southern states, Confederate forces closed the river to navigation, which threatened to strangle northern commercial interests.

President Abraham Lincoln told his civilian and military leaders, “See what a lot of land these fellows hold, of which Vicksburg is the key! The war can never be brought to a close until that key is in our pocket…”

47 day siege

Historians say the battle that took place at Vicksburg between the Union (northern) and Confederate (southern) armies was a turning point in America’s civil war.

“It was actually a 47 day siege,” Mikah explained. “The Union was trying to control access of the entire Mississippi River… so the only thing stopping them from having a complete shipping route was this last Confederate stronghold at Vicksburg.”

Aware that the Union army was planning to take Vicksburg, the Confederates built a perimeter around the entire city, so that when the Union came the defenders would have more of a buffer zone. They were fortified so well, apparently, that despite various attacks, General Ulysses S. Grant and his soldiers were never able to penetrate them.

War tactics

“So rather than beat them, they (Union Army) just laid siege to their fortifications for 47 days until they ran out of food and ran out of clean water,” Mikah explained. “There were examples of everything from General Grant throwing dead animals in the creeks that supplied them water so that it would spoil their water and poison them… to kind of really starve and dehydrate them into giving up, which they eventually did after 47 days.”

The National Park Service states that Vicksburg’s surrender on July 4, 1863, coupled with the fall of Port Hudson, Louisiana a few days later, divided the South, and gave the North undisputed control of the Mississippi River, thus providing President Lincoln with the highly coveted key to victory.

Today, Vicksburg National Cemetery, spread out across 47 hectares (116 acres), holds the remains of 17,000 Union soldiers. The first national cemeteries established by Congress in 1862 were to provide a burial place for “soldiers who shall die in the service of the country,” so that applied only to Union troops.

Confederate dead from the Vicksburg campaign, originally buried behind Confederate lines, were re-interred in the Vicksburg City Cemetery, in an area called “Soldiers’ Rest.” Approximately 5,000 Confederates have been re-interred there, of which 1,600 are identified.

Historic accuracy

Mikah observed that the battlefield is an extremely well laid-out park and very historically accurate “because it was turned into a park in the 1800s, so when they were creating it, they had soldiers from both the Union and the Confederate fill out maps, and basically put markings where their unit was.”

“So as you drive around now, there’s a stone marker in every single place that there was a unit.”

There are also many stone monuments where those units were… and “every state that had people in the battle also built a memorial, so you have these really gorgeous memorials that are set up all around the perimeter of this battle,” Mikah added.

Visiting Vicksburg, “was a very unique experience,” Mikah said, “and thus far, one of the most interesting and most well-told battles of the Civil War” that he’s seen.

Mikah invites you to learn more about his travels across America by visiting his website, Facebook and Instagram.

 
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Adele fans who didn’t catch her on her world tour that’s winding down may be out of luck in the future.

The New Zealand Herald reports Adele told the audience during Sunday night’s show in Auckland that “touring isn’t something I’m good at” and she doesn’t know if she “will ever tour again.”

The concert was Adele’s last one before she formally finishes the tour in her hometown of London with four sold-out dates at Wembley Stadium this summer.

 

Adele sang through heavy rain at the outdoor show in Auckland on Sunday. Photos show her in a drenched dress for part of the concert and also donning a plastic poncho.

 

She joked that she “just spent two hours in hair and makeup for nothing.”
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Authorities have made an arrest stemming from a shooting involving hip-hop star Fetty Wap in his New Jersey hometown that left three people wounded.

 

The shooting happened outside a 24-hour deli in Paterson at about 5 a.m. Sunday.

 

Authorities on Monday charged Raheem Thomas with assault and weapons offenses.

 

Investigators say the rapper, whose real name is Willie Maxwell, and several friends, became involved in a heated altercation with another group.

 

Officials say the rapper was not hurt and the three victims were taken to a hospital.

 

There was no immediate word on the extent of the injuries to the shooting victims. The investigation is ongoing

 
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Stars and fans will gather Saturday for a public memorial to honor late actresses Debbie Reynolds and Carrie Fisher nearly three months after their deaths. 

 

The ceremony honoring the lives of the mother-daughter duo will be at Forest Lawn-Hollywood Hills, the storied cemetery that is their final resting place. People will be granted attendance at the event on a first-come, first-served basis, and it will be live-streamed beginning at 1 p.m. PDT. 

 

The ceremony is slated to feature music by James Blunt and “Star Wars” composer John Williams and display Hollywood memorabilia that Reynolds collected throughout her life. 

Deaths a day apart 

Fisher, 60, an actress and writer who starred as Princess Leia in the original “Star Wars” trilogy, died December 27 after suffering a medical emergency days earlier aboard a flight from London. Reynolds, 84, an Oscar-nominated actress who shot to fame after starring in “Singin’ in the Rain” at age 19, died the following day after being briefly hospitalized. 

 

“She said, ‘I want to be with Carrie,’” Reynolds’ son, Todd Fisher, told The Associated Press after his mother’s death. “And then she was gone.” 

The back-to-back deaths of two prominent actresses were stunning, but they were made even more poignant by the women’s complex history. Fisher and Reynolds had a strained relationship that Fisher explored in her writing, but they later reconciled and became trusted confidantes brought closer by painful events in their lives. 

 

Reynolds lost one husband to Elizabeth Taylor, and two other husbands plundered her for millions. Fisher struggled with addiction and mental illness, which she candidly described in books and interviews. 

Fisher’s last role

 

Fisher died after finishing work on “The Last Jedi,” the eighth film in the core “Star Wars” saga. Disney CEO Bob Iger said this week that Fisher appears throughout the film, and her performance will not be changed. 

 

Reynolds earned an Oscar nomination for her starring role in “The Unsinkable Molly Brown.” 

 

The actresses participated in an HBO documentary on their lives called “Bright Lights,” which aired in January. 

 

Todd Fisher organized Saturday’s memorial to give fans an opportunity to honor his mother and sister. Fisher’s daughter, actress Billie Lourd, is expected to attend. 

 

Stars including Meryl Streep, Tracey Ullman and Stephen Fry mourned the actresses at a private memorial in January. 
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Fallingwater is a house in rural southwestern Pennsylvania designed in 1935 by architect Frank Lloyd Wright. Although it is not easy to get to, Fallingwater is a must-see, and not just for architecture buffs. VOA’s Masha Morton takes us on a tour.
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Academy Award-winning filmmaker Danny Boyle reunites with his original Trainspotting cast twenty years later to make a sequel that deals with aging, accountability, friendship and, once again, betrayal. Trainspotting 2 becomes a worthy companion to the original, as VOA’s Penelope Poulou reports.
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Academy award-winning filmmaker Danny Boyle reunites with his original Trainspotting cast 20 years later to make a sequel that deals with aging, accountability, friendship and once again, betrayal.

Those who saw the original film remember four friends in their twenties. They are up to no good, living on the fringes, immersed in drug culture and pulling a heist. Their exuberant youth and reckless lifestyle captured the popular culture of the 90s.

Trainspotting became a cult movie and few could believe that a sequel could measure up. Yet, Danny Boyle’s Trainspotting 2 becomes a worthy companion to the original.

As in all Danny Boyle films, Trainspotting 2 takes us on a wild ride from its first frame. The camera focuses on treadmills at a gym and on a seemingly fit Mark Renton, running on one full speed when suddenly he falls off with a bang. He’s just had a heart attack. With this jolting introduction, Boyle reunites the cast from the original Trainspotting, which became a cult film in the 90s.

In this sequel, 20 years have gone by since Renton betrayed his gang after their heist in London, running away with the money. Now Renton, a broken man with a broken marriage, returns from Amsterdam to Scotland and to his ‘frenemies,’ seeking redemption. “He’s had a heart attack and he’s come back. These are the only people that really know him that he knows. And I suppose it’s a midlife crisis of sorts or a life crisis of sorts,” says Ewan McGregor, who played Mark Renton in 1996 and rose to stardom when the original Trainspotting became such a hit. The movie was a landmark in the lives of each of the cast members, but also for the filmmaker who — despite his wide-ranging success — reserves a special spot in his heart for this film.

In a way, Trainspotting 2 is Danny Boyle’s return to a familial place dealing with his own existential crisis. The filmmaker tells VOA he didn’t want to make just another sequel. He wanted a companion piece reflecting on the life of these aging men, who failed to amount to much in life and stubbornly cling to a youth that is not there.

“I think we were all conscious returning to it. How much a huge part it played in our individual careers. It gave us a life into the world which was surprising! We set the film to resemble the first film, everybody was paid the same, there wasn’t huge amounts of money, we didn’t treat it as a cash cow, we were not cashing in on our successful original, and we also wanted to surprise people with what the film has to say,” says the Oscar-winning filmmaker.

The reunion is dramatic. Simon, played by Jonny Lee Miller, schemes revenge, and Begbie, the most feral of them all, played by Robert Carlyle, recently escaped from prison and has vowed to kill Mark Renton. But the most redeeming character is Spud, played by Ewen Bremner. The hopeless addict, stuck in an endless loop of addiction and rehab, attempts suicide but is saved by Mark Renton.

“There are scenes in it which we benefited from addicts who told us that ‘you can’t really eradicate addiction,’ what they do in modern treatment is replace it with another obsession, an alternative obsession which is often sports. But in Spud’s case, it’s actually this writing and it was certainly true in Irvine Welsh’s case, the original writer. So, the film becomes ironically full of hope by the end,” says Boyle.

Spud goes on to write the original story of Trainspotting. Boyle says he wants to create this loop between the two films, showing that despite our aging process, our outlook to life is not linear. Like any other Danny Boyle film, Trainspotting 2 offers exuberant music, electrifying visuals, brutal scenes and yet its success lies in the honesty and tenderness with which the filmmaker and screenwriter John Hodge treat the aging characters.

“If you’re gonna do a sequel, a 20 years later sequel, the actors are not going to be able to hide from that. You’re gonna feel it in every frame of the film. It’s gonna be the protein of the film. And so, it’s a more confessional film, although there is a lot of the film that enjoys some of the pleasures that you get from the first film,” says Boyle.

Whether it appeals to the nostalgia of the older fans or the fast sensibilities of younger ones, Trainspotting 2 is slated to be another Danny Boyle success.
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Think your home furnishings are a dust magnet? New York’s Cathedral of St. John the Divine just spent 16 years cleaning and conserving its rare, supersize wall hangings.

 

Now the historic house of worship is inviting the public to enjoy the fruits of its labor – “The Barberini Tapestries, Scenes from the Life of Christ,” which once graced the Vatican and European palaces. They were designed by baroque master Giovanni Francesco Romanelli; created by weavers for Francesco Barberini, the nephew of Pope Urban VIII, from 1644 to 1656; and donated to the cathedral in 1891, a year before its cornerstone was laid.

 

Centuries ago, tapestries were appreciated not only for their beauty but also for being a warm buffer against chilly palace walls.

 

These days, they’re kept well-groomed by experts at the Gothic cathedral’s textile conservation laboratory – a labor-intensive process using dental probes, tweezers and a HEPA vacuum with microsuction attachments.

There’s also a special “bathtub” – measuring 20 by 16 feet (6 by 4.9 meters).

In addition to removing the standard dust and dirt, the massive undertaking included work on tapestries that suffered smoke and water damage during a 2001 fire.

 

Ten tapestries, their images woven with wool and silk yarn in rich earth tones, deep blue, green and russet, are displayed around the cathedral, with a focal point at the Chapels of the Seven Tongues, which honor immigrant populations. They’re accompanied by fragments from a severely fire-damaged tapestry of “The Last Supper,” as well as before-and-after photos from the blaze.

 

The works, hung with hand-sewn fabric fastener, are 15 feet (4.7 meters) high and up to 19 feet (5.8 meters) wide.

There’s plenty of room, though. The Episcopal cathedral in upper Manhattan is larger than France’s Chartres and Notre Dame cathedrals combined.

 

Rare books, period objects and computer kiosks provide context on the “cultural, dynastic, political and religious worlds of the Barberini family,” organizers say.

 

The exhibit, which also will offer educational activities, runs through June 25. The suggested admission contribution is $10.

 

The tapestries and artifacts will travel to the Jordan Schnitzer Museum in Eugene, Oregon, in the fall.
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Bob Dylan’s new album “Triplicate” explores American standards from the 1930s, ’40s, and ’50s, but the veteran singer-songwriter says that does not mean he is yearning for the past.

Dylan also is unconcerned whether his fans like the album — the third in as many years that features cover versions of classic songs like “Stormy Weather,” “As Time Goes By” and “Stardust.”

“These songs are some of the most heartbreaking stuff ever put on record and I wanted to do them justice. Now that I have lived them and lived through them, I understand them better,” Dylan, 75, told music writer Bill Flanagan in a rare interview.

“It’s not taking a trip down memory lane or longing or yearning for the good old days or fond memories of what’s no more,” he added in the lengthy Q&A, posted on the bobdylan.com website on Wednesday.

The three-disc album “Triplicate” will be released on March 31. It follows 2015’s “Shadows in the Night” album of Frank Sinatra covers and 2016’s similar “Fallen Angels” in marking a strong contrast from the early, socially conscious folk and rock compositions for which Dylan remains most famous.

Songs ‘for man on the street’

Asked what his fans might think of the cover albums, Dylan said: “These songs are meant for the man on the street, the common man, the everyday person. Maybe that is a Bob Dylan fan, maybe not, I don’t know.”

In the wide-ranging interview, Dylan also touched on his admiration for the late Amy Winehouse, calling her “the last real individualist around”; his and George Harrison’s abortive bid years ago to record with Elvis Presley (“he [Elvis] did show up; it was us that didn’t”); and the power of early rock ‘n’ roll music, (“Rock ‘n’ roll was a dangerous weapon, chrome-plated, it exploded like the speed of light, it reflected the times, and especially the presence of the atomic bomb, which had preceded it by several years.”)

Cohen, Russell, Haggard missed 

Dylan also spoke of the loss of fellow musicians like Leonard Cohen, Leon Russell and Merle Haggard, all of whom died last year.

“We were like brothers, we lived on the same street and they all left empty spaces where they used to stand. It’s lonesome without them,” he said.

No mention was made of Dylan’s Nobel Prize for literature, and his nonattendance at the annual Nobel award ceremony in Sweden. Dylan is due to perform in Sweden next week as part of a European tour.
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A major World War II museum opened in northern Poland on Thursday amid plans by the conservative government to change its content to fit the government’s nationalist views.

The Museum of the Second World War in Gdansk is at the center of a standoff between the historians creating it and Poland’s populist government, which is seeking a court order to have it closed and then wants to reshape its current multi-national focus.

The museum was initiated in 2008 by then-Prime Minister Donald Tusk. But the current Law and Justice government, hostile to Tusk, wants to merge it with another museum and make it highlight Poland’s military effort in fighting the German Nazis and the nation’s own tragedy that, they believe, is not well enough known in the world.

Court to decide dispute

 

The dispute between the museum and the government is to be decided by a court in the coming weeks.

Meanwhile, the government has cut the museum’s annual subsidy from the requested 20 million zlotys ($5 million) to 11.5 million zlotys ($2.9 million), director Pawel Machcewicz said.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, he said the huge exhibition places Poland’s war experience at the center of Europe’s and the world’s war history. It says out of some 5.5 million Poles killed in the war, over 5 million were civilians.

War veterans get first look

He invited Culture Minister Piotr Glinski to visit the museum, saying  “let’s hope he will see for himself that it shows Poland’s history in the right way, that it fully explains Poland’s history to foreigners.”

War veterans, relatives of the fighters and schoolchildren were the museum’s first visitors.   
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