Art Blog

  Irish cheeses like these from Sheridan's in Dublin are among the panoply of first-rate foods now ... [+] being sold and served throughout Ireland. Sheridans Cheesemongers More often than I care to be, I am asked by a) people who are thinking of going to Ireland and b) people who have never been to Ireland and c) people who worry about what to expect from the food, the teeth-grinding question, “Is there really anything to eat in Ireland besides fish and chips and corned beef and cabbage?” Such ignorance persists among those same people who think all Indian food is a form of curry, all Thai food is searingly hot and all German food is heavy. (Actually, that last one is pretty close to the truth.) The fact that corned beef and cabbage is more of an Irish-American favorite than it is in the Old Country shows just how myopic the question is. And even if one were to factor in a well-deserved reputation for rather bland cooking even twenty years ago in Ireland, the answer to the questio...

  A man in FDNY clothes seen taunting pro-abortion rights protesters outside a church, in a video that went viral this weekend on social media, isn't actually affiliated with the department in any way, officials said Monday. The video depicts a man at the front of a group on the steps of Old St. Patrick's, squaring off with protesters who both support abortion rights and oppose the expected imminent reversal of Roe vs. Wade. The man, wearing a jacket with various FDNY logos and an "America First" cap, appears to tell the women they do not have a choice in having children; he appears to tell one woman that her body is his and she will have his baby. “A video circulating from a protest in Manhattan over the weekend shows an individual wearing a FDNY sweatshirt. The individual in the video is not a member of the FDNY. The comments made do not represent the views of the FDNY. The matter is under investigation," Deputy Commissioner of Public Information Frank Dwyer sa...

  BROCKTON — A group of kindergartners at the Mary E. Baker Elementary School sat on a large, navy blue rug, eagerly waiting for Catherine Piazza to hand them a brightly colored, egg-shaped shaker. As she waded through the pond of young students, Piazza reached into a bag and pulled out the small musical instruments, passing them out one by one. Piazza made her way back to the front of the classroom and started the music — a folk song from Ghana sung in the language of Akan. As the music played, some students shook their shakers as hard and as fast as they could, while others shook them slowly to the beat of the music. Piazza visited the class as part of ImagineARTS, a program created by the South Shore Conservatory to bring arts, music and dance education to kindergarten classrooms across Brockton every week. "It is a 45-minute lesson that is just, from start to finish, completely arts-infused," said Holly Jennings, the director of the program. Catherine Piazza leads the Ima...

  Philippine presidential candidate Marcos Jr. Votes STORY: About 65 million Filipinos are eligible to cast ballots on Monday to decide on the successor to President Rodrigo Duterte after six years in power, plus thousands of other posts, from lawmakers and governors to city mayors and councillors.The election pits Vice President Leni Robredo against former senator and congressman Ferdinand Marcos Jr, the son and namesake of a dictator whose two decade rule ended in a public revolt and his family's humiliating retreat into exile.Opinion polls put Marcos, popularly known as "Bongbong," leading his rival by over 30 percentage points, having topped every poll this year. That means Robredo will need a late surge or low turnout if she is to win the presidency.Voters started lining up long before polls opened at 6 a.M. (2200 GMT Sunday), with polling stations due to operate for longer than usual because of COVID-19 precautions.Polls close at 7 p.M. And an unofficial vote count ...