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Grey Worm From 'Game Of Thrones,' AKA Raleigh Ritchie, Is An Unsullied Musician Too

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People may know Jacob Anderson as Grey Worm, the commander of the Unsullied on "Game of Thrones." Soon enough, they will know him by the name Raleigh Ritchie, Anderson's music moniker.

The combination of the characters Raleigh St. Clair and Richie Tenenbaum from Wes Anderson's "The Royal Tenenbaums," as noted by i-D magazine, Raleigh Ritchie has put out three EPs and is prepping to release his debut album later in 2014. With soulful singles like "Stronger Than Ever," he is quickly becoming one of our favorite new artists.

Give the song a listen below and make sure to check out more of his tunes on his Soundcloud.


These Photos Capture The Inspiring Talent Of Cairo's Blind Female Orchestra

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the other hundred
"The Other Hundred" is a unique photo book project aimed as a counterpoint to the Forbes 100 and other media rich lists by telling the stories of people around the world who are not rich but whose lives, struggles and achievements deserve to be celebrated. Its 100 photo stories move beyond the stereotypes and clichés that fill so much of the world's media to explore the lives of people whose aspirations and achievements are at least as noteworthy as any member of the world's richest 1 percent.


Cairo, Egypt
Photographer: Fernando Moleres


Shaimaa Yehia, 28, is a violinist with the Al Nour Wal Amal orchestra, a 40-strong ensemble of blind women from Cairo. The orchestra, which plays a full range of string and wind instruments, is run by the Al Nour Wal Amal Association, an Egyptian nongovernmental organization that takes in blind girls from Cairo’s poorest areas.

The association, founded in 1954 and whose name means light and hope, gives the girls a formal education in the mornings -- emphasizing literacy and vocational training -- and teaches them music in the afternoons.

Shaimaa entered when she was seven. In her first year, she was taught to read and write words and musical notes in Braille.

The following year, aged eight, she chose the violin as her instrument. She then spent five hours a day practicing and just one year later became a member of the association’s junior orchestra. At 12, she entered the senior orchestra, since then traveling with it across Europe to North America and Australia.

Unable to read music as they play, the orchestra’s musicians memorize it, typically carrying around 45 pieces in their heads at any one time, among them works by the Egyptian composer, Ahmed Aboeleid, and classical European pieces by Mozart, Brahms, Strauss, Tchaikovsky and others.

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Shaimaa on her way to vote in a national election. As well as being a violinist, she also has a university degree in English, which she teaches for a living.

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Members of the Al Nour Wal Amal orchestra take a break during a concert at the Manoel Theatre in Malta’s capital, Valletta.
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These Scribbles By Yoko Ono Will Inspire Your Inner Daydreamer

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Hans-Ulrich Obrist is an art curator, critic and historian of art. He is co-director of Exhibitions and Programmes and Director of International Projects at the Serpentine Gallery, London.

Some of the photos below were sent to me from Yoko Ono, and some of them are from her Instagram.

The project started when I read an article by Umberto Eco who lamented the disappearance of handwriting among kids. When I read that over breakfast, I thought that is totally true -- everything happens on a computer now. I thought it would be interesting to find ways to re-introduce handwriting to the digital age.

A few days later, I was in the studio of Ryan Trecartin in Los Angeles with writer Kevin McGarry, when Ryan said you should join Instagram. All of a sudden, he took my iPhone and downloaded the app onto the phone. He took a photo of me with his phone and put it on his Instagram account. I didn’t know what to do with my account.

I came back to Europe -- it was December -- and went on Christmas vacation with the great artists and poets Etel Adnan and Simone Fattal at the sea in France. We started speaking about handwriting, and I thought for the first time I could post sentences. I meet great artists, writers, scientists and architects, and I saw I could post their writings. A sort of visual tweet put on Instagram and then also on Twitter. It became a ritual. I believe in rituals. Now every day I post at least one thing on Instagram. For me, it is kind of a movement of some sort.

As part of this movement, from time to time, The WorldPost will post these ritual celebrations of the beauty of handwriting.

yoko 3

Future. Now
yoko ono1

Ask the clouds to remember
yoko ono 3

A statue was here
yoko ono 4

Grow Love with Me
yoko 2

Dream
yoko 1

Time To Tell Your Love
yoko ono 2

Breathe
yoko word

This is not here.

Hardwell Punks EDM Fans In New York City

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Hardwell pulled a Ryan Lewis when he confused EDM fans in Times Square. The DJ and an Elite Daily reporter walked around the busiest block in New York City and asked fans who their favorite DJs are. No one had any idea what the chart-topping DJ looked like, even though some passersby praised his music.

Times Square was also the setting where Hardwell unveiled his "I Am Hardwell" North American tour dates, and still, no one had any idea who he was. Whoops, guys.

Katy Perry Reportedly Demands Someone Cut Up Her Fruit, And Other Crazy Celebrity Tour Riders

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Divas may be suffering in their album sales, but those lows are certainly not slowing up the demands they make on tour. A recently leaked tour rider from Katy Perry's camp revealed the "Birthday" singer requires someone to wash and cut fresh fruits and veggies before every show. Staff are also reportedly forbidden to speak to her.

It has been said that celebrities include bizarre requests on their tour riders to simply ensure the venue is actually reading the riders. Real or fake, these ridiculous demands must've taken some serious brain-power to even come up with, let alone actually ask for:

Jon Cozart's New Disney Parody Reveals Even More Of What Happens 'After Ever After'

An Honest Trailer For 'Forrest Gump' Tells The Devastating Truth Of An American Classic

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This honest trailer for "Forrest Gump" is too real. It's true, Forrest "bombards complete strangers with his entire life story," and Jenny -- sorry, we mean "young Claire Underwood" -- is a "suicidal junkie hobo."

Screen Junkies sums it up perfectly: "Their one-sided relationship will serve as CliffsNotes to 40 years of white-washed American history." Plus, there's Lieutenant Dan with legs, Lieutenant Dan without legs, things momma said and lots and lots of running. We'll never look at "Forrest Gump" the same way again.

'The Last Of Robin Hood' Trailer Brings Errol Flynn's May-December Romance To Life

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Old Hollywood will return to the big screen in "The Last of Robin Hood," a biopic about Errol Flynn's relationship with teenage actress Beverly Aadland. Their relationship marked some of Flynn's final days before his death in 1959, the same year Aadland's movie career began and ended. Dakota Fanning plays the young actress, with Susan Sarandon stepping into the shoes of her pushy stage mother. Kevin Kline portrays Flynn, and he's the spitting image of the iconic screen star.

The trailer has a bit of a Woody Allen vibe going at first, but don't worry -- it doesn't take long to find all the schmaltz you'd want from a biographical film about Hollywood troubles. "The Last of Robin Hood' premiered at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival. It opens Aug. 29.


Susanne Bartsch Presents 'bARTsch' At The Hotel Chelsea Storefront Gallery

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New York City nightlife impresario Susanne Bartsch has been a legend within the scene for decades, playing an integral part in the evolution of its culture since the 1980s and helping to sustain life after dark during the hyper-regulated years of Rudy Giuliani's mayorship.

Now, Bartsch is embarking on a new endeavor outside of nightlife that centers around the talents of five artists who play integral roles in her regular events. Called "bARTsch," the one-night group exhibition at the Hotel Chelsea Storefront Gallery this Thursday will feature sculptures, paintings, photos and performances from this group of artists whose work crosses conceptual lines of gender and media, body and audience, visual art and performance.

"These artists are incredible and they can get lost in that party whirlwind," Bartsch told The Huffington Post. "[The purpose of] this exhibition is to take something I find really inspiring and really innovative and put it in a different context in order to showcase the massive talents of these artists."

The artists in the exhibition include Ryan Burke, One-Half Nelson, MuffinHead, Gage of the Boone and Erickatoure Aviance.

Burke and Muffinhead, two artists featured in HuffPost Gay Voices Associate Editor James Nichols' ongoing series "After Dark," will both showcase original, never before seen work at "bARTsch" this upcoming Thursday alongside their peers.

"One of the reasons I find this exhibit so exciting is that the artists involved are not bound to any particular genre whatsoever," Muffinhead told The Huffington Post. "We are modernist/futurist romantic, pop art hyper-surrealists drawn naturally to theater and grandeur. It's a spectacularist movement that has existed for quite some time and, benefiting from exhibits like this one, has the potential to bloom into a genre all it's own."

raining blood
"Raining Blood" Mixed Media/ Acrylic on Vintage Chinese Advertisement
Courtesy of Muffinhead


"The series that I'm showing is called La Piqûre de L'amour (The Prick of Love) based on a dying modern romance," Muffinhead continued. "The main installation features a conjoined mannequin dressed in a kimono and covered in rows of about 5,000 straight metal pins. I wanted it to be aesthetically pleasing but to also represent the pain of love, heartbreak and loss."

ryan burke
Courtesy of Ryan Burke


"I'm showing 3 new sets of portraits which involve altering the face using materials intended for other purposes," Burke told The Huffington Post. "These create new identities; humanoid creatures which have their own aesthetic not directly relatable to any culture in the past or present. I'm also doing a collaborative performance piece with choreographer Olga Dobrowolska and wearing a gown designed by Domonique Echeverria."

"bARTsch" will take place this upcoming Thursday, June 26, at the storied Hotel Chelsea Storefront Gallery. An RSVP is required for this event -- see the flyer below for more information.

bartsch

This Homeless Man Gives Free Books To Kids To Turn Reading Into A Lifelong Habit

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If anyone proves you should never judge a book by its cover, it's Philani Dladla.

Sporting a flat-bill baseball hat, a colorful, striped dress shirt and beads dangling from his neck, Dladla may not look the part of a stereotypical bookworm -- especially as he lives on the streets.

Termed the "pavement bookworm" by South African filmmaker Tebogo Malope, Dladla has attracted attention near and far because of his unconventional methods of making money while homeless. Instead of panhandling, Dladla reviews books and discusses authors with passers-by -- impromptu book club sessions, essentially -- to earn an income, according to SA People News.

Malope discovered the homeless 24-year-old late last year in Johannesburg, when he posted a sidewalk interview with Dladla (seen above) chatting about books and the positive influence they have on readers. Ever since, the pavement bookworm has gained international popularity and attracted far more pedestrians interested in some literary chats.

While Dladla earns money from selling the books he has on hand to adults, he gives away books for free to kids.

"They can still take this reading thing and turn it into their habit," Dladla said in the video interview. "Their lifelong habit."




A photo of kids receiving books posted on Dladla's Facebook page.

To Dladla, his love of books goes far beyond enjoying a good read -- diving into storytelling, he said, saved him from drug addiction. Now, he hopes his passion for books rubs off on the people he engages everyday.

"Reading is not harmful. There’s no such thing as harmful knowledge," Dladla said in the video interview. "[Reading] is only going to make you a better person."

Dladla isn't alone in his belief in the positive influence of books on young people. On Monday, iconic American author James Patterson announced he will donate 45,000 books to schools in New York City. Sixth-graders in the city's five boroughs will benefit from the donation.

But you don't need to donate thousands of books in order to make a difference, if you ask Dladla.

"You don't have to be rich to change the world," he wrote on Facebook. "Start with the little that you have. If you inspire one person you've already changed the world."

If you would like to donate books to Philani, please contact Tebogo Malope on Facebook.


h/t Reddit

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If 'Ghostbusters 3' Were Filmed In Claymation AND Directed By Quentin Tarantino

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Who you gonna call?!

You already knew the answer was "Ghostbusters." But did you expect stop-motion, violence-prone ghostbusters?

We didn't either, until claymation master Lee Hardcastle decided to mash up Ghostbusters, clay, and the directing tactics of Quentin Tarantino -- just in time for the film's 30th anniversary.

Beware, though. Tarantino's love of gore is just as prominent in Hardcastle's claymation as it is in real life. Clay heads are rolling.

These Colorful Splashes May Look Like Sculptures, But They're Not (PHOTOS)

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Think these splashes of color are sculptures? Think again.

In a stunning photo series, meant to illustrate the essence of photography, colorful splashes of liquid appear as floating sculptures after the tossed fluids are captured on film mid-air at a speed of 1/3,200th of a second. The project, created by New York-based photographers Jeremy Floto and Cassandra Warner of Floto+Warner Studio, is known as "Colourant."

"We call them floating sculptural events," Floto wrote in an email to The Huffington Post. "They pass you by at an imperceptible flash."

While the human eye may not be capable of capturing the fleeting moment as the brightly colored liquids hang in the air, Floto and Warner can immortalize the events with the help of a camera. The duo, who are husband and wife, assert that they do not use Photoshop in any of their images. Instead, they set up a camera with a high-speed shutter in a landscape scene -- they shot the project in northern Nevada and Iowa -- and snap the images as the water-based splashes of color meet gravity's pull.

"There is meant to be a bit of magic here," Floto explained, "something counter to our daily experience in the world."

See some of the photos from the "Colourant" series, below.



(Hat tip, Digg)

'Columbusing': When White People Think They Discovered Something They Didn't

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You know that moment when white people think they've "discovered" something, but in fact, it existed LONG before they deemed it a thing? For example, rock & roll, twerking, or how about America.

Thanks to this hilarious sketch from CollegeHumor, we now have a word for it: Columbusing.

Miley Cyrus did NOT invent twerking -- but a lot of white people think she did. A perfect example of something being "Columbused." Get it? Us, too.

Need more examples? Check out the video above.

When 'Do You Have Weapons?' Is Heard More Often In Schools Than 'Do You Have Dreams?'

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In 2012, at the entrance of a West Philadelphia high school, an armed officer asked the poet Denice Frohman if she had a weapon on her. Standing before firearms and metal detectors, Frohman held up her weapon: a book.

The officer was unamused.

This March, at the 2014 College Unions Poetry Slam Invitational at the University of Colorado Boulder, Frohman described the encounter in a spoken word performance with fellow poet Dominique Christina. In a video uploaded last week by Button Poetry, you can see the poets' performance, in which Frohman goes on to relate what happened when she stood before a classroom full of students at that same West Philadelphia high school.

"I asked them if they have dreams," Frohman recites in the video. "Eleven students raised their hands barely above their shoulders / As if they were sitting in history class unsure of the right answer. / One student in the first row, named Luciano, is waiting for me to tell him what page to turn to."

The poets attribute the students' struggle to "No Child Left Behind," an educational reform policy often criticized for forcing public school teachers to "teach to the test." Frohman and Christina suggest that another kind of learning, one that embraces differences and identities, one where George Washington Carver is not one of the few people of color in the curriculum, is sorely needed.

School can be, the performance suggests, either a force of erasure or, much more ideally, a source of empowerment.

In the poem, Frohman recalls the sense of revelation she felt when she first read a Latina author in school.

"The wind in my chest stood up. It had been 18 long years of textbooks filled with everything but me. For the first time, for the first time, my body knew a world that could hold it."

Watch the video above to see their performance.

10 Striking Photos That Capture What Autism Looks Like Around The World

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Photographer Debbie Rasiel spent two years taking pictures of children with autism spectrum disorders all over the world. She discovered that "while living conditions, resources and treatment vary by region, autism presents the same."

Mother to a 23-year-old with autism, the New York-based documentary photographer started her project because of a desire to bridge the gap between two of the things she's most familiar with: autism and art.

"I wanted to offer those not familiar with autism an opportunity to see what autism looks like, a safe space where social mores would not prevent them from staring," Rasiel told The Huffington Post.

Her project, titled "Picturing Autism," was recently exhibited at the SOHO20 Chelsea Gallery in Manhattan. The stunning photos of children with ASD from areas of New York, Mexico, Peru, Indonesia and Iceland are still available on Rasiel's website.

Rasiel connected with many of her international subjects through the Global Autism Project, an organization that provides services to individuals with autism worldwide. She met others through families who needed a photographer for personal portraits. But with each of her photo shoots came newfound awareness of what autism means to each community.

"No matter the cultural experience or socioeconomic divide, the educational circumstance or language barrier, everything falls away when two mothers talk about their concern for their children's future," she said.

Check out some of the "Picturing Autism" photos below and see Rasiel's website for more.





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74-Year-Old Singer Overcomes Stutter, And Wows 'America's Got Talent' Judges With Performance

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Frank Dmitri can teach you a thing or two about overcoming obstacles.

The 74-year-old recently took the stage on "America's Got Talent," and earned a standing ovation for his rendition of Sinatra's "I've Got the World on a String."

Dmitri stutters, and for many years he lacked the confidence to pursue his love of singing. Watch as overcomes that hurdle and delivers the performance of a lifetime.

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Park Ranger Deryl Nelson Claims He Was Fired For Dancing On The Job

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A park ranger's love of public dancing may have sent him waltzing into the unemployment line.

Deryl Nelson, 51, worked at Coolidge Park in Chattanooga, Tennessee, for seven years. About a year into into the job, he drew cheers for joining a group of visitors doing the Macarena.

After that, there was no stopping him and he would boogie oogie oogie at impromptu moments.

"It's all about enjoying what you do and that's the way I feel," Nelson said told WRCB TV. "[It's] clean fun. It's nothing like doing any bumping and grinding."

Some say otherwise.

Work was a kick for Nelson until recently when he was booted off the job after a woman named Melissa Parsons filmed one of his dance sessions and posted it online.

The raw video of Nelson's dance shows him at one point laying on the ground with his legs folded under his body while he seems to pump his pelvis towards the sky.

"As a parent and seeing all the parents that were covering their kids eyes and turning their heads away, it wasn't something you would expect to see in Coolidge Park or anywhere from a grown man, especially a man in uniform," Parsons told NewsChannel9.com. "He went all the way to the ground, he came back up from the ground, he was grabbing areas that you would see on a rated R movie."

WATCH: Deryl Nelson The Dancing Park Ranger



When Nelson's supervisors saw the video, they terminated him for what the city calls, "conduct unbecoming a public employee."

Chattanooga city officials say they do not comment on personnel matters, but this isn't Nelson's first dance with danger.

According to city records, Nelson was suspended for crashing a car while on duty. In 2013, he was suspended for five days for "addressing inappropriate remarks to a co-worker," according to UPI.com.

Last year, he also won an award from the police department for helping save a woman's life at the park, MercuryNews.com reported.

News about Nelson's termination has moved some people to their feet.

A Facebook group called Bring Back Deryl Nelson: The Dancing Park Ranger has attracted about 486 supporters, about the same number that has signed a Change.org petition addressed to the City of Chattanooga.

Nelson refuses to take the termination lying down -- literally — and wants his job back.

"This is my song and nothing going to bring me down," he said, according to TimesFreePress.com. "I love life and I love dancing!"




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PangeaSeed Wants To Save Sharks With Art (PHOTOS)

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While diving in Japan in the late 2000s, Tre’ Packard noticed something. “In areas that are supposed to be rich in shark populations,” he said, “there were no sharks. I found out there was a global trade in their fins, and I was blown away.”

This was before most had learned of the market for shark fins, and Packard, who grew up around water and says he loves everything about marine life, knew he had to react.

“Something shifted in me,” he told The Huffington Post. “When you see something you love in trouble, you can either sit on the sidelines or you can jump in.” So Packard created PangeaSeed, an international organization based in Honolulu that uses the arts as a way to connect people to the ocean, to show there are other ways of seeing and thinking about marine life, such as sharks.

“A lot of people don’t care about sharks, due to negative media and sensationalism. Anytime there’s a shark attack anywhere in the world, it gets blown out of proportion,” he said. “Media loves a bad guy, unfortunately.”

PangeaSeed is an international nonprofit that works with activists, artists, researchers and volunteers to organize street mural projects (what it calls Sea Walls) and art exhibitions around the world, produce short documentaries, and school visits. Packard will soon add another level to PangeaSeed: expeditions. In July, with help from art distributor 1xRun, Packard and selected artists will go to Isla Mujeres in Mexico to paint another Sea Walls mural, but before anybody starts to paint, they’ll all swim with whale sharks.

Swimming with whale sharks is the most incredible wildlife experience you can have," Packard said. "I want to go down there and get these artists in the water with these animals to give them a direct connection with them, and then turn and do a series of large-scale murals throughout Isla Mujeres to serve as reminders, educational tools and inspirational pieces. We really want to activate the local community and inspire stewardship.”

You can follow PangeaSeed’s expedition -- they embark on July 20 -- on Instagram and Facebook. Check out some of PangeaSeed's Sea Walls murals, from locations such as Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Honolulu, Los Angeles and Mexico, below.

tulum mexico pangeaseed

sri lanka 3 pangeaseed

pangeaseed vietnam fish farming

galle mural pangeaseed

shark toof honolulu

pangeaseed sri lanka manta

pangeaseed seawalls la

seawalls sri lanka pangeaseed

seawalls taipei taiwan

Everybooty: A Multi-Genre, Multi-Gender Celebration Of Queerness For NYC Pride

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One of Brooklyn's most iconic Pride Week parties is returning to the Brooklyn Academy of Music again this year with an incredible line-up that speaks to the diversity of the New York City queer community.

Called Everybooty, this party is curated through an intersectional effort by a number of other large-scale Brooklyn parties and their promoters: SPANK, HEY QUEEN!, Earl Dax and Big Art Group. One of the most open and accepting Pride celebrations to take place during Pride Week, Everybooty is a radical-mashup of artists whose work is actively producing and shaping the future of our queer culture.

This party is inspired by the Pride festivities of San Francisco’s Castro District that provide a platform for local artists, with this being the fourth annual installation of the New York event. A number of high profile names are on the bill, including Justian Vivan Bond, drag king Murrary Hill, Brooklyn drag artist Untitled Queen, indie-folk-pop artist Julia Weldon, comedian and activist Red Durkin, comedic performer Erin Markey and songwriter and videographer Shane Shane.

The Huffington Post chatted with Sarah Jenny and Sean Bumgarne, two curators for Everybooty, about the event this week, what the pair are trying to accomplish and what attendees can expect.

everybooty

The Huffington Post: What makes Everybooty one of the most accepting and diverse parties one could attend during Pride week?
Sarah Jenny: This collaboration is a mindful one -- we’ve brought together a range of really talented curators invested in highlighting both emerging and established artists and aim to reflect the New York LGBTQ community back to our guests by bringing performers who span the spectrum of gender expression, sexuality, age, and racial identities. It’s really important to us to create a respectful and spirited space that allows queers of all stripes to feel at home and proud of our big, beautiful community.

Sean Bumgarner: Everybooty was inspired by the idea of creating a huge exciting celebration that actually brings together the whole community into an idyllic mash-up that rarely exists. Because we are the only party that has such a crazy mix of party and performance promoters involved that create their own events (Spank, Hey Queen!, Earl Dax /Pussy Faggot, Big Art Group) we know we are bringing all kinds of party people and performers together that normally do not get a chance to play together.

everybooty

Why is Everybooty such an important part of Pride?
Jenny: We want to highlight alternatives to mainstream Pride -- and, in doing so, we wanted to showcase queer, gay, trans or gender non-conforming artists and performers who deserve space to showcase their talent. It was really an opportunity to create something both fun and of substance –- to remember our common histories of struggle, resistance and resilience. It’s also nice to see it has inspired so many other like-minded events.

Bumgarner: Just four years ago there were very few pride events beyond the sanctioned events or more circuit focused larger all-guy dance events. Looking around this year we are thrilled that we have been part of and perhaps inspired a new round of excitement around celebrating and taking pride in the community and creativity of NYC. We continue to find new ways to celebrate all the artists, performers, DJs and musicians that make NYC’s queer culture so vibrant.

How has Everybooty grown since 2011?
Jenny: Each year has been an amazing new adventure! We went from pretty DIY our first year, bringing in 2,000 guests to explore a range of spaces and performances to a free outdoor festival-style party at DeKalb Market to BAM, where we have incredible facilities and resources to put on a professional show. Each year, the performers change but fans of Everybooty come back for more – knowing they’ll get a spectacular night.

What can attendees expect?
Jenny: Magic, mayhem and lots of surprises.

Bumgarner: Four plus floors (the whole building!) packed with readings, performance, dance, bands and DJs. If you come early a beautiful rooftop sunset experience and readings curated by Justin Bond. If you stay late some killer bands and sweaty dancing on a huge sound system.

Everybooty will take place this Friday, June 27 at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. Tickets purchased here by Thursday at 11:59 p.m. will be discounted with the code 30339.

Here's What Happens When You Randomly Interview Tegan And Sara At Firefly

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Always heed your mother's advice, especially when that advice is to drive down to Firefly Music Festival , alone, at 6:30 in the morning. "It'll be fun!" she told me. "Just go!"

Fast forward to 12 hours later, and I had somehow weaseled my way into landing an interview with Tegan and Sara, the sister duo I had adored for the last 10 years. After some brief editing of the nervous laughter and enthusiastic "Hell yeah!" responses on my part, here's the conversation that ensued:

I'm so excited to be here with you guys. "I Know I Know I Know" was my favorite song for like, five years.

Tegan Quin: We just recently added “I know I know I know” back into our setlist! We’re relearning everything from "So Jealous" because we're coming up on the 10th anniversary. Can you believe it's been 10 years?

That makes so much sense, because 2004 was just the most emo year of my life and you guys got me through that.

Tegan Quin: We didn’t really understand “emo” or what that whole scene was but I remember meeting Andy Greenwald and he had written that book, “Nothing Feels Good.” He was writing about the emo scene and that’s when I started to be like, 'Oh shit, this is like, a thing that’s happening' and we kind of got caught up in all of that. It’s funny how it’s changed though. It’s kind of splintered and it seems like a lot of those bands aren’t really doing much.

Yes, did you guys ever play Warped Tour back in the day?

Tegan Quin: We were offered it, but we turned it down. At that point we weren’t into festivals. Especially in those years, we were a much more organic band, so we had like 10 guitars on stage. You don’t have a soundcheck, the sound sucks, your show sucks. It just was harder. Now we have our own soundboard. Things are easier. And I think festivals have become a really exciting way for you to get in front of an audience that knows who you are but wouldn’t necessarily come to your show. So it’s giving us a bigger audience than we would if we were just playing our own shows.

Your current music has definitely veered more toward EDM than acoustic sounds.

Tegan Quin: It’s a different time, and you’ve got to embrace it. Sara and I think that’s why we’re still relevant after 10 years. We’re not trying to make the same record, and we’re not trying to be the same band we were. We are evolving and allowing time to catch up with us. I think that’s a big part of what’s happening in music. We’re all having to accept that things are changing.

Even if your sound is more EDM, it's still moody music. House music can actually be really deep and I’m not so sure people get that.

Tegan Quin: And it's that way with pop music, too. That’s why we made "Heartthrob." Because we felt like, even someone who’s extremely popular and mainstream as Taylor Swift, she’s singing really deep shit. She’s talking about really sad things. I think what Sara and I’s goal was to try and take the content and the deepness, vulnerability, and realness of "So Jealous" and match it with what’s popular today.

Sara Quin: And also, we don’t listen to that kind of music anymore. A lot of kids will come to our shows and be like "I liked 'So Jealous,' I wish you guys still sounded like that" and I’m like well when we were making those records, I listened to music that sounded like that and now I don't.

Tegan Quin: Sara's listening to Kanye.

Sara Quin: I started listening to Beyonce, Alicia Keys, Robyn ... for me to go back and do "So Jealous" or "The Con" again would be so disingenuous. It would be faking a style that is not me anymore. I think that’s the evolution that will hopefully keep us around for a long time, is that we don’t want to bore each other. If Tegan sent me a song that sounded like off "The Con," I’d be like, "Sounds like 'The Con.' Let’s modernize it." I think that’s what Tegan and Sara is. We’re not a band. We’re two songwriters, and every one of our records is really different than the one before. We’re in a time where we’re interested in pop music, and who knows what we’ll be doing in two or three years from now. But for the time being, what’s interesting to us is what’s currently happening in music.

Tegan Quin: Look at how many different bands are playing this festival. We’re at a time where you can just like any kind of music, and Sara and I are really embracing that.

tegan and sara

tegan and sara

tegan and sara
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