People

Linda McCartney Photographs

Linda McCartney: a life through the lens The Telegraph

Linda Eastman McCartney may have married a Beatle, but her big break came from the Rolling Stones. In 1966 Linda Eastman snared an invite aboard a yacht on the Hudson River, attending a publlicity event for the Rolling Stones. By 1967 she was embedded in the global rock ‘n’ roll scene, photographing her future husband Paul McCartney, at a ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’ album launch party in 1967.

On May 11, 1968 Linda became the first woman to have a photo on the cover of Rolling Stone, with her portrait of Eric Clapton.

Linda McCartney: Life in Photographs from Taschen comes in two editions; a limited (250 copies) Collector’s Edition which includes a pigment print on Hahnemuehle paper numbered and signed by Sir Paul McCartney ($1800), and a Trade Edition ($69.99). 240 pages. Read on at Amazon.

Beatles’ LOVE

Paul McCartney, Yoko Ono, Olivia Harrison and Beatles producer Sir George Martin will attend LOVE’s June 8 show at Las Begas’ Mirage Hotel and Casino. The Cirque du Soleil spectacle has had an enormously successful run in Las Vegas since it opened in 2006.

Guy Laliberté, Guides Cirque du Soleil NYTimes

“There are three capitals of entertainment in the world: Las Vegas, New York and London,” announces Mr. Laliberté, the only person smoking in the vast campus here where two-fifths of his 5,000 employees work. “So far the only one I truly conquered is Vegas. New York and London are still on my checklist.”

Living

2003 Desert Garden

Sheikh Zayed’s Memorable Garden from the Desert at Chelsea The National

The late Sheikh Zayed, founding president of the UAE, was a passionate garden enthusiast and patron of the Chelsea Flower Show’s organisers, the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). His 2003 entry, Garden from the Desert designed by Christopher Bradley-Hole is the most memorable.

His brief was to create an abstract impression of Abu Dhabi and its desert origins, reflecting Sheikh Zayed’s vision to transform the desert landscape with the mass planting of trees and lush vegetation. The garden’s design was based on five elements: stone, sand, water, grass and salt; the planting replicated the flora of Arabian oases and wadis, an arid landscape transformed by water, featuring plants such as Spanish broom, asparagus, iris, poppies and the iconic date palm tree.

The garden celebrated his success.

Chelsea Flower Show 2011 | B&Q’s Garden Takes Top Prize Daily Mail

Designed by award-winning team Laurie Chetwood and Patrick Collins, the vertical window boxes stood at nine metres tall, the highest garden ever constructed at Chelsea.

The garden was entirely edible and wanted to show that everyone can grow their own food, whatever the size of indoor or outdoor space.

Highlights from this year’s Chelsea Flower Show The National

India’s Elephants

Kerala: Punnathurkotta, where the elephants reside The Hindu

Officials in India argue that while the white tiger faces extinction, elephant populations aren’t declining. India has over 27,000 elephants, an increase from over 21,000 in 2005, that live in 26 elephant reserves spread over an area larger than the Congo.

The challenge in India (and also large parts of Africa) is how humans and elephants live together, Over the last 20 years, elephants in India have lost 20% of their habitat, causing an increase in human-elephant conflict. Mining projects in Central India are considered the biggest threat to elephants, which are sacred animals in India. Last year the Indian government declared Elephant as the National Heritage Animal of the country. Read on at Hindustan Times