Word: gathering
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Hard Weather Boating Party, by Naomi Wallace, suffers from something like the opposite problem. The play knows where it's going; the problem is getting there. Three apparently unrelated men gather in a seedy motel room to plan a murder. Yet the first act is padded out with mostly aimless talk; only in the second act, when the three return after the semi-botched operation, do we learn what's on Wallace's mind. The men's target, it seems, is the chief executive of a chemical company that has been polluting the waters and sickening workers. It's nice...
...Wall movement (in which reformists posted calls for political change on a wall in the city center). It is followed by more shocking news: just before her execution, Shan's kidneys had been harvested for an influential Communist Party official who needed them. A fledgling protest haltingly tries to gather momentum in Muddy River - but when the democratic movement in Beijing is suppressed, Muddy River's hopes of change are also routed brutally...
...real focus at the Olde Bell is the common spaces. "It's all based around the table," says Crawford of the inn's public rooms. So the dining room has long, rustic tables ("with room for a roast," says Crawford). In an outbuilding dating from 1135, guests can gather around small tables next to crackling fires. The chef uses ingredients from nearby purveyors, like Machin's butchers in Henley, and has even been known to barter a meal in exchange for locally grown vegetables. Conveniently, the Olde Bell is within an hour's drive of central London, making...
...stand down from plans to test an intercontinental rocket. But on Sunday morning, North Korea launched it anyway - as it pledged to - saying the rocket bore nothing more than a communications satellite. With six U.S. cruisers equipped with Aegis anti-missile systems deployed in the region - to watch and gather intelligence, not fire on the rocket, Pentagon officials had said late last week - North Korea sent the Taepodong II rocket over Japan and into the Pacific Ocean. That, by itself, meant the launch for Pyongyang was a success: two years ago, an earlier version of the same long-range rocket...
...There's unlikely to be much awkwardness, however, when Obama encounters ordinary Czechs, among whom there is tremendous excitement over his visit. Thousands are expected to gather on Sunday when the President will speak at historic Hradcansky square next to the majestic Prague Castle, a site offering splendid views of the red-roofed, river-laced city. He is expected to talk about reducing the nuclear weapons proliferation. "I am absolutely thrilled," says Jiri Hlupy, 76, a set designer in the local movie industry. He hopes that Obama's presence will "wake up" squabbling Czech politicians...