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Patrick Stewart And Ian McKellen Bid Farewell To Broadway With Amazing Tour Of NYC

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After a successful run on Broadway starring in both "Waiting For Godot" and "No Man's Land," our favorite best friends, Sirs Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen, are also closing the curtain on a delightful tour of New York City.

But like the true gentlemen they are, Stewart and McKellen have gifted us with extras from the pair's #GogoDididoNYC photo shoots as a bittersweet parting gift.

The new photos, which were tweeted out over the productions' last remaining shows, show the two actors posing on Citi Bikes, cheesing in front of the iconic Nathan's hot dog stand in Coney Island, and much more. These two can seriously come back anytime.

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Season 3 Of 'Catfish' Gets Dark

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"Catfish" is back!

The third season of MTV's popular show is set to air May 7 and the show's hosts Nev Schulman and Max Joseph say it's the darkest season yet.

"It’s not just the romantic catfish anymore," Schulman told Buzzfeed."It’s really about the many different ways people can, when they put their minds to it, manipulate and take advantage of other people in the real world using the Internet.”

In case you aren't familiar with "Catfish," the show is an expose on the multitude of ways you can be scammed online. In past seasons we've seen people create fake Facebook accounts, pretend to be a person of the opposite sex, and even steal a family member's identity in order to carry out romantic cyber-relationships. Schulman and Joseph play detectives -- Joseph is the Watson to Schulman's Holmes -- as they help victims who've reached out to the them, suspecting they've been fooled by someone they've met online. It's terrifying (and addicting) to watch, but this season, the stakes have been raised even higher.

“These aren’t all romantic stories,” Schulman said. “In some of these instances, people have catfished an entire town. There’s also a lot more cyber-bullying this season as well, and people who are using catfish profiles for a lot of different motives, not just to seduce people and fall in love with people, but also to use them and to turn people against each other.”

Backstabbing, betrayal and manipulation? Sign us up!

"Catfish" airs May 7 at 10 p.m. EDT on MTV.


Lanai Documentary Film Festival Announced By Billionaire Larry Ellison

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Billionaire Larry Ellison has a new plan for the Hawaii island he bought, but needs everyone’s help to make it happen.

He announced in a news release Tuesday that Lanai will host an international documentary film festival that aims to spark conversations for worldwide change by empowering the individual.

The schedule for the inaugural Lanai Documentary Film Festival is set to be announced this fall. The release says the plan is to showcase short and feature-length documentaries and direct participants to take tangible action on issues that will impact the world.

"Lanai DFF is unique in that you can watch a film that will speak to your heart and then be affected by a beautiful, natural setting that reminds us to care for people, wildlife, and the environment," Ellison said.

The main areas of focus are people, wildlife and the planet, but there will also be competitive categories.

'Aladdin' On Broadway Faces Backlash From Arab-Americans

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It's been a magical first month for the new Disney musical "Aladdin," which has packed the house and won over wary critics since its debut. The show's charm is twofold: it's a song-and-dance spectacular in the old tradition that happens to have one of the more diverse casts in Broadway history.

With, perhaps, one demographic exception. Months before the March premiere, a rumor circulated online that the 34-member cast includes no performers of Middle Eastern heritage. First posted anonymously on a theater blog by a self-identified Middle Eastern actor, the claim has since gone viral, gaining notice in recent weeks from sites like Racialicous and Jezebel.

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Actor Adam Jacobs, who played Simba in the Disney musical "The Lion King," is the star of "Aladdin." Photo by Deen Van Meer.


In an email to The Huffington Post, a Disney representative explained why the ethnic breakdown of the cast can neither be confirmed nor denied. Per the company's adherence to the policy known as "colorblind casting," ethnicity is left out of the casting process.

"Legally, the company is not allowed to ask potential employees about their ethnic background at any point during the hiring process," the representative wrote. "We encourage actors of all cultural backgrounds to audition for our shows and are fiercely proud of our talented and diverse cast."

Still, since auditions launched, the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee has been fielding complaints from actors and actresses, according to the committee’s national president, Samer Khalaf.

"This issue has always been there, in Hollywood and onstage, whether it's appropriate for people to play other ethnicities," Khalaf said. "To us, [the cast of 'Aladdin'] is problematic."

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Actress Courtney Reed plays Princess Jasmine, alongside Jacobs as Aladdin. Photo by Deen Van Meer.


Critics of colorblind casting argue that the practice exacerbates, rather than corrects for, the demographic imbalances that already exist in the world of theater.

According to a recent study of prominent New York theaters by the Asian American Performers Action Coalition, Caucasian performers held 79 percent of roles during the 2011-12 season. Of the roles that did go to minority players -- a subset that includes Middle Eastern, Asian-American, Latino, African-American and disabled performers -- the study found that only 10 percent were "non-traditionally cast." In other words, roles that could have been filled by a performer of any background nearly always went to Caucasian actors.

What's more, the credo that drives colorblind casting -- that the best person for the job should win -- is open to interpretation. Take "The Lion King," another major film-to-stage adaptation by Disney Theatrical Productions. Casting policies notwithstanding, ethnicity ultimately mattered when Disney petitioned the Actors' Equity union to keep certain South African members of the cast in the country because of the "unique quality" of their accents, as reported by Playbill.

"Aladdin," on the other hand, is a tricky claim for any ethnic group to stake. Its sun-baked setting of Agrabah, after all, took shape in Hollywood, and the original tale itself is also thought to be a Western invention.

No reference to "Aladdin" appears in Islamic record until after the story was made famous by the French book One Thousand and One Nights, often called Arabian Nights. Compiled by Antoine Galland, a French scholar and traveler, the 17th-century edition remains the pre-eminent collection of what were previously scattered stories, many of them orally told.

One theory is that Galland heard the tale of Aladdin from a Christian monk who fabricated it. Another theory holds that Galland made up the story himself. Aladdin's standalone name is not typical to Islamic folklore, which tends to revolve around stock protagonists all titled some variation of "Clever Hassan," "Clever Ali" or "Clever Mohammed." Adding to the confusion, Galland set the action in China, a flourish that armchair scholars like to cite as further proof that the story belongs to no one.

Hasan El-Shamy, an Egyptian-American folklorist at Indiana University who has written extensively on Galland's translation, said the French writer's tale popularized harmful notions of Islamic culture that have thrived in the West for centuries -- "that [Muslims] are an unrealistic people, that they are violent, that they are superstitious," he said. (The Chinese setting, he added, can be seen as an Oz-like backdrop: Just as Dorothy and the Wicked Witch of the West both speak English, Galland's characters are all meant to be Arabs no matter where they are.)

Critics of the 1992 movie attacked many such points, partly succeeding in canvassing Disney to change lyrics in the opening song, "Arabian Nights." A reference to ear-shearing was dropped, but the word "barbaric" was kept, because, a Disney executive told the Los Angeles Times, it referred to "the land and the heat, and not to the people."



The musical reflects these edits and more. Instead of what the Arab-American journalist Jack Shaheen termed the "shady-looking storyteller" who opens the movie, narrative duties in the musical go to the genie, played by the African-American actor James Monroe Iglehart. In one of many self-referential asides in the script (written by Chad Beguelin of Broadway's "The Wedding Singer"), Iglehart describes Agrabah as a "fictional" land where "everyone has a minor in dance."

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James Monroe Iglehart, as the genie, functions as both narrator and comic relief.


"The tone has changed a lot," Mahyad Tousi, a script consultant for the musical, told HuffPost. "What was inherently violent about the residents of Agrabah, who were all a bit cynical and angry [in the 1992 film] -- those things are all gone."

In an email with HuffPost, representatives from Disney protested the theory floated by British theater director Jamie Simmons that consultants with knowledge of Middle Eastern culture weren't hired to address sensitivity. Among those brought in, said the Disney reps, were the scholar and writer Reza Aslan and the producer and cinematographer Mahyad Tousi, who owns the New York-based "storytelling factory" BoomGen.

Even so, the show's producers missed "an opportunity" by hewing so strictly to Disney's casting policy in this particular case, said Sharon Jensen, executive director of the Alliance for Inclusion in the Arts, a minority rights organization.

"For people who are Arab-American or Persian-American or Turkish-American, the opportunities are still so few. With very few exceptions, they are still limited to stereotypes," Jensen said. "It seems to me, where there's an opportunity to open things up artistically, you should."

Jensen's reading echoes the sentiment that set the controversy off. "I was ecstatic," wrote the anonymous actor who first publicized the casting issue last fall. "Middle Eastern actors would have the opportunity to play a wide variety of roles: the ingénue, the hero, the villain ... instead of the stereotypical roles we are always cast in: the taxi driver with one line, the belly dancer with no lines."

Instead, the revived Alan Menken song about the hero and his buddies, "Babkak, Aladdin, Omar and Kassim" -- which never made it into the 1992 film -- is now staffed, respectively, by Brian Gonzales, Adam Jacobs, Jonathan Schwartz, and Brandon O'Neill.

"It's like doing 'West Side Story' and having no Latinos," Khalaf said. "Would that be okay with the Latino community?"

'Game Of Thrones' Fans Apparently Want More Peter Dinklage

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What do "Game of Thrones" fans want more than anything? More nudity? Death to King Joffrey? No.

According to YouTuber Daniel Koren, what viewers really desire from the hit show is more Peter Dinklage. Many fans have a soft spot in their hearts for Tyrion Lannister, who has managed to (for the most part) resist the evil that seems to permeate so much of his family and remain a decent person.

The "Game of Thrones" theme song is certainly catchy and epic, and when Peter Dinklage's name is set to the tune, there's a good chance it'll get stuck in your head.

Will we actually get more Peter Dinklage in Season 4? We can only hope. Meanwhile, watch the video above and think of the possibilities.

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Famous Stolen Painting Recovered After Hanging On Autoworker's Kitchen Wall For Years

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ROME (AP) — A Paul Gauguin still life stolen from a wealthy collector's home in Britain decades ago has been recovered after hanging for 40 years in a Sicilian autoworker's kitchen.

The worker bought the painting along with one of lesser value by another French artist, Pierre Bonnard, for about $100 at a 1975 Italian state railway auction of unclaimed lost items, said Maj. Massimiliano Quagliarella of the paramilitary Carabinieri art theft squad. Italian authorities on Wednesday estimated the still life's worth in a range from 10 million euros to 30 million euros ($14 million to $40 million).

"The painting, showing fruit, seemed to fit in with dining room decor," Quagliarella told The Associated Press about the now-retired autoworker's choice of placement in his kitchen, first in Turin, then in Sicily.

The painting is believed to have "traveled" on a Paris-to-Turin train before it was found by railway personnel who put it in the lost-and-found depot, said Gen. Mariano Mossa. After the autoworker retired to Sicily, the man's son, who studied architecture at university, noticed a telling detail: a dog curled up in the corner.

Dogs were sometimes a signature motif for Gauguin's work.

The man's son contacted an art expert to get an evaluation. The expert concluded the work was likely a Gauguin painting, and contacted the Carabinieri's division dedicated to recovering stolen and trafficked art and ancient artifacts.

The painting — named "Fruit on a Table with a Small Dog" — depicts two bowls brimming with brightly colored grapes, apples and other pieces of fruit. On the front is a painted "89" — an indication it was created in 1889. It now measures 46.5 by 53 centimeters (about 18 by 20 inches) — slightly smaller than when Gauguin created it because the thieves cut the painting out of its frame, police said.

The painting will remain in the custody of the art squad because the police have yet to receive an official notice that it is stolen, Quagliarella said. The art squad traced it using newspaper articles in 1970 reporting the theft of a wealthy London family's art collection.

Italy's culture minister, Dario Franceschini, called the painting's recovery an "extraordinary" find.

London's Scotland Yard has been in contact with the Italian police but said in a statement Wednesday it had not been possible to trace the records of the theft. Italian police found a photo of the painting in a June 28, 1961, auction in London.

Chris Marinello of Art Recovery International, which helps track down stolen artworks, said the story of treasures ending up in lost-and-found departments was not unprecedented.

In 2006, the Duchess of Argyll lost a tiara, a diamond Cartier brooch and other jewels at Glasgow Airport. Six years later they were put up for auction — it turned out they had been sold by the airport as unclaimed property. After negotiations, they were returned to the duchess.

Marinello said there could be a battle for ownership of the recovered paintings in Italy. Under Italian law, the autoworker could have a right to them if he could prove he bought them in good faith, he said.

"I'm sure this is not the last we will hear of this," Marinello said.

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AP reporters Jill Lawless and Danica Kirka contributed to this story

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Follow Frances D'Emilio on Twitter at www.twitter.com/fdemilio

Jimmy Kimmel Fans Celebrate April Fools' By Being Terrible To Each Other

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If you could prank someone, who would it be?

Earlier this week, Jimmy Kimmel called on his fans to make just that decision. He also asked them to film it, send it in and let him show it to millions of people.

To nobody's surprise, there was plenty of participation. On April Fools' Day Kimmel televised the pranks -- everything from a pregnant woman pretending her water broke to a man posing as a plant -- and it's safe to say the fans pulled through... and possibly ruined their relationships.

Check out the video above to see the pranks that made Kimmel's cut.

Despite Ban From Leaving China, Artist Ai Weiwei Stages Major Exhibition In Berlin

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BERLIN (AP) — A prison cell, a pair of jade handcuffs and an installation built with rubble from a demolished studio: Dissident artist Ai Weiwei is drawing heavily on his troubles with the Chinese authorities at a spectacular new show in Berlin.

Ai has filled a floor of the Martin-Gropius-Bau museum with pieces large and small for his exhibition "Evidence," which opened Wednesday and was billed by organizers as his biggest yet. Ai is barred from leaving China, but still made his presence felt unmistakably in the selection of works. "Some are related to my current condition, related to my concerns; some are more aesthetic presentations of the kind of concerns that I always have with art, art history," Ai said in a video message.

Ai, 56, is one of the world's most famous artists, celebrated abroad with exhibitions from Tokyo to London and known for his striking "Bird's Nest" stadium at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. But he has irked authorities at home by using his art and online profile to draw attention to injustices in China and to push for greater transparency.

Much of the new show is overtly political, reflecting on issues such as surveillance and environmental problems. On such work, "Mask," is a marble mask atop a tombstone, alluding to China's problems with smog.

Some pieces reflect tensions between tradition and modernization in China. Visitors are greeted by an atrium filled with more than 6,000 antique stools gathered from villages across China's north — uniform-seeming yet individual objects left behind by history. They also can see a set of Han dynasty vases covered in metallic auto paint — the vases' antique features overlaid by a symbol of modern consumerism.

Ai's own story is ever-present. Over the years, he has been alternately encouraged, tolerated and harassed by officialdom. In early 2011, a studio he had built in Shanghai was abruptly demolished; Ai used concrete and brick rubble from the site to create the work "Souvenir from Shanghai."

In April of that year, Ai was arrested and held for 81 days during a wider crackdown on dissent. On his release, it was announced that he had confessed to tax evasion and been slapped with a $2.4 million bill.

The Berlin show includes "81," a replica of his cell with a tiny window and naked light bulb. He's also exhibiting computers confiscated from his office and a jade replica of a pair of handcuffs.

Exhibition curator Gereon Sievernich said he visited Ai several times in Beijing and that, despite Ai's absence, "all the work here has been done from his studio."

"He has a team of 20 people and it was a perfect collaboration, and of course we used the Internet and all these tools we have these days," Sievernich said, adding that Ai also provided organizers with a short text explaining his thinking for each of the exhibition's 18 rooms.

Ai said in his video message: "I still hope I can come to see the show and share the moment."

The show opens to the public Thursday and runs through July 7.

These Photos From McGill Law's Feminist Collective Challenge Stereotypes About The 'F-Word'

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The word "feminist" has a bad reputation, but a new campaign from the Feminist Collective at McGill Law School shows us that the "f-word" encompasses a huge range of people.

A series of photographs posted on the McGill Feminists Tumblr shows people who identify as feminists. The images challenge tired stereotypes about feminists, namely the idea that anyone who would call themselves the "f-word" is a man-hating, white, liberal woman.

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Feminists can wear makeup, take their husband's surname and want to spend more time with their children. Feminists can be suit-wearing, cigar-smoking men of color. Feminists can come from all sorts of different backgrounds.

These images remind us of how author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie defined feminism in her April 2013 TEDx Talk, as quoted in the Beyoncé's music video for "Flawless." Her take? "Feminist: A person who believes in the social, political and economic equality of the sexes."

The portraits from McGill's Feminist Collective remind us just how many different types of people share these beliefs. Check out more images below, and head over to the Tumblr page to see the rest of the collection.

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[h/t Ms. Magazine]

10 Things We Love About '10 Things I Hate About You'

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This week marks the 15th anniversary of "10 Things I Hate About You," the high-school romcom detailing the complicated love affairs of sisters Bianca (Larisa Oleynik) and Kat Stratford (Julia Stiles). Also starring Heath Ledger, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and David Krumholtz, "10 Things" earned just $38 million at the domestic box office, narrowly topping its $30 million budget, but the movie became a cult hit with its quotable lines and Shakespearean inspiration.

In celebration of the release of "10 Things," we've collected 10 things we love about the film. Indulge your nostalgia and take a look:

1. The concept of being whelmed.
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2. The '90s prom scene to end all '90s prom scenes.


3. Julia Stiles' pre-"Save the Last Dance" dance moves to "Hypnotize."


4. Larry Miller as single dad Walter Stratford with his creative parenting techniques.
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5. All of Kat Stratford's feelings.


6. Andrew Keegan playing the ultimate high school butthead.


7. Joseph Gordon-Levitt getting back in the game.
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8. Allison Janney as the erotica-writing, cat-loving school guidance counselor, Ms. Perky.


9. The lesson of the subtle differences between like and love.
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10. Heath Ledger's marching band-assisted rendition of "Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You."

'Everyone Matters Day' Aims To Make The World A Kinder Place For All

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"I wanted to be less judgmental."

That simple sentiment was the impetus behind Everyone Matters -- a global awareness campaign which advocates for every person's right to dignity and respect, without judgment or shame. According to the campaign's website, founder HealthCliff Rothman's personal journey to becoming "a better person," morphed into a worldwide movement, bringing together local governments, celebrities and the public at large in order to help people embrace inclusiveness and tolerance.

Wednesday marks the first Everyone Matters Day and it's aimed at amplifying the message that the bullying and mistreatment of certain people because of their differences is not acceptable.

"Everyone Matters is about everybody’s value, that we all count, that we should all should stand tall for who we are, as we are," Rothman told The Huffington Post in an email. "It’s about judging each other less, and ourselves less."

Find out how you can get involved here, and check out some of the celebrity supporters below, who each penned a slogan of "inclusiveness, pride in identity or tolerance."


'Game Of Thrones' Gets An Emoji Recap

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Text messaging has gotten approximately 1000 times better since the creation of emojis. Can you even remember a time when you had to send texts without the help of tiny cartoon animals and food items?

As it turns out, emojis are good for more than just talking to your friends. YouTuber Cara Rose DeFabio has created a recap of the third season of "Game of Thrones" with emojis, and it's uncanny how easily the story can be told with a few silly icons.

For a fun way to catch youself up before the fourth season premieres on April 6, check out the "Game of Phones" video above.

19th Century Painting Rendered In 3D Is Aesthetically Awesome

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Don't you love when old and new come together to create something wonderful?

Hungarian graphic artist Zsolt Ekho Farkas was on vacation with his wife when she pointed out Gyula Benczúr's painting "Budavár repossession" in a booklet and asked him if he could render it in 3D. Challenge accepted!

Watch in this video as 21st century technology is applied to the 19th century painting to create an aesthetically awesome and mesmerizing work of digital art. If you'd like to learn more about Farkas' other work, be sure to visit his website here.

Rare Video Footage Proves The 'Godfather' Of House Music Will Live On Forever

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Consider yourself warned: This clip will probably bum you out that time travel still isn't a thing.

On the heels of the passing of Grammy-winning house music pioneer Frankie Knuckles, the Media Burn video archive shared a previously unseen mini-documentary of the Oct. 25, 1986 opening of the Power House club in Chicago on Wednesday. The documentary was produced by filmmaker Phil Ranstrom.

The clip features a brief interview with Knuckles, plus footage of patrons dancing to what Knuckles coined as "disco's revenge" and a performance from the Steve "Silk" Hurley-led J.M. Silk. These were the glory days of Chicago house.

"House music to me represents yet another form of black music that has broken from the street into peoples' homes," Simon Low, then an executive with RCA Records, says in the clip. "House music is intrinsically a Chicago phenomenon. You can hear it. I mean, all this music they're playing tonight has come out of Chicago."

Knuckles had his own Chicago club, the Power Plant, from 1982 to 1987. He then began the residency at Power House, but according to Tim Lawrence, author of "Love Saves the Day: A History of American Dance Music Culture, 1970-79," Knuckles left Chicago for New York after Power House closed and was renamed the Music Box in 1988.

"How hot is house music now?" an interviewer asks Knuckles in the video.

"On a scale of 1 to 10, it's 12."

(h/t Gapers Block)

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Frankie Knuckles performs during the 2013 Wavefront Music Festival at Montrose Beach on July 6, 2013 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Daniel Boczarski/Getty Images)

Before The Beat Drops: Well$' 'Lil Tommy' And The 'Revenge Of The African Booty Scratcher'

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Before The Beat Drops is an artist introduction series dedicated to bringing you the rising acts before they make their break. Our unlimited access to music of all kinds is both amazing and overwhelming. Keeping your playlists fresh, we'll be doing the leg work to help you discover your next favorite artist.

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Charlotte, N.C., may not be the first city to come to mind when thinking of hip hop hotbeds, but thanks to a rising echelon of talent, that's about to change. Leading that charge is 19-year-old Leroy Shingu, who goes by the name of Well$.

Born and raised in the "Queen City" to Congolese illegal immigrants, Well$ was largely left in the care of his Jordans-fitted grandma (see video below) who barely speaks any English. His precarious relationship with his parents as a teenager started shifting Well$ toward a life of crime. Sent to spend some time with his cousin Alec Lomami, hip hop would soon be his only concern.



"He showed me a really different side of rap," Well$ said. "Being that I am African I came up around French rap -- he was listening to American rap. When I was either 15 or 16, I went to go visit Alec. We were just kicking it and he pushed me to rap. You could say he put the mic in my hand."

He continued: "Anyone can easily get on the computer, record something and put it out. I wanted to put a lot more time into my craft, so I didn’t put anything out until two years ago. Just waiting and working to where we felt like, 'Hey, you’re good enough for people to hear.'"

Influenced by French rappers like Joke, Shurik’n and the collective 1955, as well as American rappers like Pac Div, Wiz Khalifa and Kid Cudi, Well$' style is a blend of old school French and modern American hip hop. His effortless flow and propensity for storytelling shines on tracks like "Lil Tommy," produced by Shurik'n and The Black Hearts Club. The HuffPost Entertainment exclusive track was inspired by a video from French rapper Youssoupha, as well as the recent incarceration of one of his cousins after a shooting.

"Lil Tommy" is the second release off of Well$' upcoming mixtape, "MTSYD: Revenge of The African Booty Scratcher." The title addresses the ethnic shaming he faced growing up as an African, even within subcultures.

"Growing up African is like you’re in limbo," Well$ said. "To the white people, you’re black, and to the black people you might as well be white. It was difficult because I was black, but black people didn’t really accept me. I got made fun of for being African. I never understood. It was like, I look just like you guys, you know, my last name is different, I dress just like you guys, but I never fit in. I heard all growing up, 'You African booty scratcher.' It's actually in the movie 'Boyz N The Hood.’ So 'Revenge of the African Booty Scratcher' is for every African who realized that they should be prideful in who they are. Don’t hide who you really are. You shouldn’t be afraid to express where you’re from."



"Revenge of The African Booty Scratcher" will be available for download in late April.

Fake 'Gravity' Scene Imagines What Would Happen If Superman Saved Sandra Bullock

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Because writing about "Gravity" didn't end with the Oscars, here's a (fake) alternate opening scene for the movie, where Sandra Bullock's character, Dr. Ryan Stone, is saved from the infinite void of space by Superman. The video comes from YouTube user Krishna Shenoi and combines elements of Alfonso Cuaron's film with Christopher Reeve's Man of Steel. Watch below, via Reddit.

'Monstrous Feminine' Photos Remind Us That Beauty Standards Are More Than Unnatural

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Being a presentable, well-groomed woman involves shaving your legs, painting your nails, and performing other regular beauty rituals. These tasks have become so normalized that many women don't think twice about them -- something Jessica Ledwich hopes to change.

The Melbourne-based photographer's photo series, "Monstrous Feminine," depicts beauty rituals as acts of mutilation, making viewers re-think the standards of femininity and what some women undergo in order to meet them.

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"Like most women, I spent a lot of time reading fashion magazines as a young girl," Ledwich told The Huffington Post in an email. "I didn't think much about the messages that were constantly being pushed but I was aware of this sense of women's sexuality being something that was scary, uncomfortable and somewhat threatening and this strong sense of fear surrounding the idea of aging."

Ledwich also told HuffPost that she hopes her images will make viewers question the increasing normalization of beauty treatments that once seemed extreme.
I personally think what is really disturbing now is the way that the expectation of a women to engage in beauty treatments, procedures and cosmetic surgery, is so ingrained in our culture that we don't even think twice about it. These procedures are almost so mainstream now that you book them to fit between your grocery shopping and your laundry. There are a whole generation of young women who not only think it is normal to do this but that its desirable and worse, expected.


Some of her most arresting images are available below. Check out more of Ledwich's work (some of it NSFW) on her website.


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'True Blood' Final Season Gets Premiere Date On HBO

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HBO will debut the seventh and final season of "True Blood" on June 22 at 9 p.m. EDT, the network announced in a statement on Thursday, April 3.

The first teaser for the season will air just before the "Game of Thrones" Season 4 premiere on Sunday, April 6. In the same statement, the network also announced that "The Leftovers," a new drama based on Tom Perrotta's novel by the same name, will debut on Sunday, June 15 at 10 p.m. EDT. HBO will also air a teaser for that before "Game of Thrones." "The Leftovers" stars Justin Theroux, Amy Brenneman, Christopher Eccleston, Liv Tyler, Charlie Carver, Max Carver, Carrie Coon, Ann Dowd, Michael Gaston, Emily Meade, Annie Q, Margaret Qualley, Amanda Warren and Chris Zylka. Damon Lindelof is the series' showrunner.

Last year, "True Blood" star Stephen Moyer, who plays Bill Compton, told HuffPost TV that he would direct the first episode of the final season. "We start shooting in January," he said at the time. "I’m really excited, really sad. It’s just a group of people that I absolutely love and it’s certainly the happiest and warmest set I’ve ever been on, so that’s going to be hard to walk away from."

'2001: A Space Odyssey' Behind-The-Scenes Photos Depict The Making Of Stanley Kubrick's Classic

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Forty-six years after its release, "2001: A Space Odyssey" remains one of cinema's crowning achievements. Many directors cite the Stanley Kubrick classic as having influenced their filmmaking, and the movie is still a fixture of film-studies classes everywhere. Now, take a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the 1968 sci-fi classic.



[h/t Reddit]

'Say Something' Gets Soul In This Jazzy Cover From Postmodern Jukebox

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Scott Bradlee and Postmodern Jukebox are an unquestionably amazing team in their own right, but when you put them together with rising star Hudson Thames, it's like magic.

During a trip to Los Angeles, Postmodern Jukebox put together a spontaneous collaboration video with Thames. The result was a smooth, addictive and jazz-laced cover of A Great Big World and Christina Aguilera's hit "Say Something."

It's not the first time Postmodern Jukebox has wowed us, and we're certain it won't be the last.
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