Is Blockbuster video about to make a comeback?

The mysterious reactivation of the long-moribund brand’s site, accompanied by a cryptic message, has fans asking if a mighty return is on the cards A few days ago, something strange happened in a forgotten corner of the internet. The website for Blockbuster, the long-dormant obsolete VHS rental chain, twitched back into life. It doesn’t always work – there’s more than a fighting chance that you’ll be taken to an error page – but if the winds are blowing in just the right direction, you’ll see a brand new landing page,…

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Good Friday skipping: English Heritage aims to jump-start neglected Easter tradition

‘Long rope day’ endured for hundreds of years but is now largely forgotten, says charity For centuries in some parts of England, people would get together on Good Friday – to skip. Men, women and children would mark the start of the Easter weekend by jumping over long lengths of fishing rope or washing lines, sometimes aiming to jump for the entirety of what became known as “long rope day” or “skipping day”. Almost – but not quite – everywhere, the custom has been all but forgotten. This Easter, however,…

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‘I can’t take up a weapon, so I create’: how Ukraine’s artists are taking on Putin’s Russia

Putin’s invasion was designed to eradicate Ukraine’s sense of identity and history. But the nation’s artists are weaponising their work to mount a powerful act of resistance When I meet him, artist Oleksiy Sai, along with his wife and son, have slept the night in their studio, a warren of rooms tucked behind an unassuming courtyard in central Kyiv. It’s on the ground floor, and with good walls, so they reckon it’s reasonably safe from Russian rockets. Safer, that is, than their apartment: the previous day they were woken by…

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