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Sweet documentary about Sean DeLear, of LA punk band Glue, who never landed a major record deal but was famous among celebrities That’s Sean DeLear, pronounced like “chandelier”, born Anthony Robertson in 1964. You probably haven’t heard of him: DeLear was the lead singer of a band called Glue on the underground post-punk scene in Los Angeles in the 1980s and 90s. On stage, he performed in drag, singing punk songs dressed like a 1960s go-do dancer in cute little dresses. The band never landed a major record deal, and DeLear died from cancer in 2017. This sweet, scrappy documentary has been lovingly put together by his friend Markus Zizenbacher.It’s not the first posthumous attempt at recognition for DeLear. In 2023, his teenage diary, written in 1979, was published under the title I Could Not Believe It. Extracts of this queer black memoir are read here on the voiceover – and they are glorious. Even aged 14 years old, living with his Christian parents in a conservative suburb of Los Angeles, DeLear was proudly, joyfully gay, though this was before the terror of Aids. The interviews in the film with his mum and brother, an evangelical pastor, feel a little bit thin; his family accepted his sexuality, they say, but not much else. Continue reading…

Denk’s appointment breaks with the tradition of diplomats and politicians heading the agency.

1,000 tonnes of dog waste hits the ground daily in the UK – how can we reduce its environmental impact? Scientists weigh up the best options, from flicking it into the undergrowth to reusing newspapersWhen Laura Young got Cooper the cavapoo in 2020, she knew that single-use plastic poo bags weren’t going to cut it. “Having a dog is a lifestyle extra,” says the 28-year-old environmental scientist. “I was aware that I wanted to try not having a negative environmental impact.” But where to start? The shelves seemed to be divided into two camps: bog-standard, single-use plastic wisps, and shiny, expensive bags brandishing eco buzzwords. “I was conscious that compostable bags weren’t the solution,” says Young. “But initially that’s all I could find and so that’s what I bought.”Often marketed as biodegradable, compostable or made from an alternative material such as cornstarch, they promise a more environmentally friendly option than single-use plastic. (Plastic poo bags, frequently made from low-density polyethylene, will sweat in landfill for thousands of years, breaking down into harmful microplastics and releasing climate-warming methane as they go.) Continue reading…

You may be surprised by how much value you can add by lending your support without giving moneyAn important part of a school’s leadership, a governor helps provide strategic direction for its running. The role usually involves termly meetings of the full governing body and membership, and meetings of one of the subgroups. You will also be expected to be on any complaint, exclusion and disciplinary panels. There is always a lot of paperwork to read. Continue reading…

On April 28, the Russian army killed five residents of the Donetsk region.

An inexplicable power outage hit Spain and Portugal on Monday, knocking out traffic lights, causing congestion and disrupting airport operations and other means of transport.

The teen’s father, Richard Le, his stepmother Linh Hoang and his 5-year-old sister Katie Le, were among 11 people killed.

New Democratic Party (NDP) chief Jagmeet Singh, known to be a pro-Khalistan leader, on Tuesday resigned after he failed to retain his seat in the Canadian elections.

In the Kherson region, 12 people were wounded over the past day due to Russian aggression.