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A Beloved American Ballerina, Ending An Era

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NEW YORK (AP) — It's a sunny October afternoon, and Wendy Whelan, who's been enthralling audiences for three decades at New York City Ballet, is engaged in her favorite activity: Getting down and dirty in the rehearsal studio, trying to figure things out.

She swoops high onto her partner's shoulders, soaring with the music, an otherworldy look on her face. Then — oops! — she breaks into giggles when an attempted landing doesn't quite work. Time to rejigger. Whelan, whose famous intensity onstage is belied by her frequent, easy laugh offstage, says she experiences sheer joy in rehearsals like this one. Maybe that's because she's spending it with colleagues she adores, longtime partners Craig Hall and Tyler Angle. Maybe it's also because at 47 — easily twice the age of many colleagues — she's in high-level form, having made a remarkable recovery from a hip reconstruction last year that saved her from a potentially career-ending condition.

And maybe it's because she's ending that ballet career now — on her own terms, and because she's ready.

After 30 years with City Ballet, almost to the day, Whelan dances her final performance Saturday, one that's sure to be marked by tears, hugs, and countless bouquets. Whelan is such a popular figure with NYCB audiences that the show sold out within minutes.

"I hope I'm not nervous," Whelan says of the big night. "But I know I will be."

And though retirements often are bittersweet affairs — in their implicit acknowledgment of time passing and bodies changing — Whelan says she has no regrets. "Nope!" she says. "It feels absolutely right."

Things didn't always feel so right. About three years ago, Whelan was pulled — too early, she thinks — from the role of the Sugarplum Fairy in "The Nutcracker," which she'd danced for many years. It felt, she says, "like the beginning of the end." A few months later, she began feeling serious pain in her hip. She felt like her heart was influencing her body, and vice versa.

Whelan had certainly dealt with physical adversity before. Growing up in Louisville, Kentucky, she was fiercely determined to become a ballerina. But her teachers noticed a spine curvature. At 12, she was diagnosed with scoliosis. One week a month, she'd go into the hospital and spend 20 hours a day in traction. At week's end, she'd be plastered into a body cast.

Even in that plaster cast, Whelan would attend ballet class. "It weighed 15 pounds — I got really strong," she says. Finally, she graduated to a plastic brace, which she wore for five more years.

At 17, Whelan joined City Ballet. Although she missed working with the legendary George Balanchine, spotting him only once in a hallway before he died, she worked with another key NYCB figure, Jerome Robbins. But she became best known for collaborations with contemporary choreographers, serving as a muse for, most famously, Christopher Wheeldon and Alexei Ratmansky — the two most accomplished choreographers in classical dance today.

"Chris and Alexei, they've really fed me for the last 10 years — kept me curious and excited and creative," Whelan says.

Wheeldon, in turn, has credited Whelan for launching his own career, with the 2001 work "Polyphonia." Four years later, he created "After the Rain" for her. In its breathtaking pas de deux, she appears — long hair flowing, no pointe shoes, in just a light pink leotard — almost to fly off into the air. She'll perform that work at her farewell, along with pieces by Ratmansky, Balanchine and Robbins.

To finish it off, Whelan will debut a special piece, created by both Wheeldon and Ratmansky at her request, with partners Hall and Angle.

Angle credits his partner with teaching him and many others about perseverance.

"For Wendy, it's about working, working, working until she gets it right," Angle says.

Just the other night, Angle says, he and Whelan were taking bows. "I turned and said, 'I hope you're having as much fun this season as I am,'" he says. "It's been so wonderful seeing her enjoy herself."

Whelan is definitively not hanging up her dance shoes. She's been moving gradually into modern dance, and is booked solid with numerous projects, including a tour next year with "Restless Creature," a series of duets with four modern choreographers.

"Exploration. That's what I love," Whelan says.

But for now, she has to stay fit and healthy for a few more days. She's not overly concerned. Karma, she says, is with her.

"I've paid some big dues," she says. "I've earned a good farewell."

John Green's First Book To Be Reissued In 2015

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NEW YORK (AP) — John Green's "Looking for Alaska," published nearly a decade ago, will be reissued in a special anniversary edition.

Penguin Young Readers announced Tuesday that an "enhanced" volume of Green's coming-of-age story set at an Alabama boarding school will come out in 2015, a decade after its original release. The book will include an introduction by Green, best known for his million-selling "The Fault in Our Stars"; the author's responses to reader questions; and previously unpublished material. "Looking for Alaska" was Green's first book and won the Michael L. Printz Award for best young adult novel. Sarah Polley, the actress and director, is planning a film adaptation of "Looking for Alaska."

Teen Recreates Classic Movie Scenes With Legos, Stop Motion, And Patience

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While the rest of us were out building basic houses with Legos, 15-year-old Morgan Spence was hard at work using the iconic plastic blocks to replicate classic movie scenes.

The Scottish teen reportedly spent three weeks tirelessly recreating 15 different famous film scenes using only Legos and stop motion video. The resulting clip was made to promote "Brick City," a new book from Lego masterbuilder Warren Elsmore that includes sets and movie posters from 60 iconic films -- built entirely from Legos, of course.

ScotlandNow notes the charming scenes cover a wide swath of the genre, including everything from "Dirty Dancing" and "Singing in the Rain" to "Titanic" and "Pulp Fiction."

And you thought your Lego AT-AT Walker was cool.

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This Is The Painting That Saved Bill Murray's Life

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Whether he's crashing bachelor parties, nailing surprise karaoke performances or golfing in Internet-breaking PBR pants, Bill Murray never ceases to surprise us. And that's exactly what he's done with a touching story from the early days of his career.

This week, the Chicago Sun-Times' Cindy Pearlman notes the Illinois-born actor, who's in Toronto promoting his latest film, "St. Vincent," credits a painting at the Art Institute of Chicago with saving his life.

After his first experience on a stage did not go well, Murray has said, he headed toward Lake Michigan thinking, "If I’m going to die, I might as well go over toward the lake and float a bit." Before he reached the water, however, he arrived at the Art Institute and saw the "The Song of the Lark," a painting that truly moved him.

The painting, by 19th-century French realist painter Jules Breton, depicts a young peasant woman working in a field at sunrise.

song of the lark
(Photo by APIC/Getty Images)


During a February press conference in London, where Murray was promoting "The Monuments Men," he said: "I thought, 'Well there's a girl who doesn't have a whole lot of prospects, but the sun's coming up anyway and she's got another chance at it.' So I think that gave me some sort of feeling that I too am a person and I get another chance everyday the sun comes up."

The Breton painting isn't the only item in the museum that has been tied to the former "Saturday Night Live" star. A 17th-century Dutch chiaroscuro woodcut that's part of the museum's collection bears an eerily striking resemblance to the actor.

Comedian Livia Scott Raps An Awesome Tribute To Joan Rivers

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It's been just a little over a month since the comedy world lost one of its queens, Joan Rivers, and the tributes continue to roll in.

If you're still grieving over the loss of the sharp-witted comic and "Fashion Police" star, this memorial rap by comedian and UCB performer Livia Scott, with music by Rebecca Vigil, should make things a little easier.

With an "8 Mile" feel and a Joan-appropriate chorus -- "Joan Rivers: A legendary bitch and a dope ass kicker" -- this song is perfect for remembering why Rivers was such an icon:

And she didn’t just kick open doors for women comics / She spoke truth to power, she was fearless, supersonic / Giving shit to the establishment on Fashion Police / And telling jokes about abortion in the 1960s.


Warning: some NSFW language and mild Beyonce bashing.

Everything You Need To Know About Rembrandt's Last 20 Years, On View Now

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LONDON (AP) — There are few artists with a more famous face than Rembrandt. The Dutch master painted himself repeatedly throughout his career.

Four large self-portraits gaze at visitors entering a mammoth new Rembrandt show at the National Gallery in London. He looks by turns quizzical, stoic and defiant, and the exhibition seeks to show that even this best-known of artists was a man of surprising facets. "Rembrandt: The Late Works" covers the 20 years before Rembrandt's death in 1669, aged 63. It was a time of personal upheaval. Despite his renown as an artist, he struggled with debt and faced bankruptcy. His common-law wife, Hendrickje Stoffels, and his son, Titus, both predeceased him.

And yet, said curator Betsy Wieseman, it was a period of intense creativity.

"I think he was very good at compartmentalizing," Wieseman said Tuesday at a preview for the show. "His art was certainly affected by these dramatic events in his life, but I think the art was also an escape for him, and a therapy in a way."

Organized with Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum — it travels there in February after its London run — the exhibition includes more than 90 paintings, drawings and prints from collections around the world.

One key painting almost didn't make it.

"The Conspiracy of the Batavians Under Claudius Civilis" belongs to Sweden's Royal Academy of Fine Arts and has not left Sweden in 45 years.

"The loan was only secured a couple of weeks ago," Wieseman said. "It's just absolutely crucial to the show and it really, really was a dramatic, last-minute Hail Mary pass."

The painting is a survivor of a mysterious episode in Rembrandt's career. It's part of a huge work depicting a tribal uprising against the Romans. For the 17th-century Dutch, the episode symbolized their liberation from Spanish rule.

The work was commissioned for Amsterdam's grand new Town Hall, but was displayed for only a few months before being removed. The reason is unknown; it's possible the work's intensity was too much for the burghers of Amsterdam.

As the exhibition illustrates, Rembrandt could be unflinching — there's blood and brains galore in "The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Joan Deyman" — but also tenderness, in delicate nudes and quiet, intimate portraits of the artist's son.

The works on show embrace a vast array of techniques and moods. There are experiments with light and shadow; delicate drawings of Dutch forests and farms; large portraits of society worthies; scenes from mythology and the Bible.

But it's the faces that linger in the memory.

Elderly merchant's wife Magaretha de Geer looks like a woman not to be trifled with in Rembrandt's portrait of her. Vanity, seriousness and detached amusement seem to flit across the faces of "The Sampling Officials of the Amsterdam Drapers' Guild."

Fashion designer Zandra Rhodes — subject of a Rembrandt-style portrait by photographer Rankin for a project that accompanies the exhibition — said it was the depth of Rembrandt's images that set him apart.

"In his early life he's like all the other Dutch painters," she said. "And then his work gets very, very intense."

"It's a bit serious for me to own," she added. "I'd rather have a Rubens."

"Rembrandt: The Late Works" is at the National Gallery from Wednesday to Jan. 18, and at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam from Feb. 12 to May 17, 2015.

Follow Jill Lawless on Twitter at http://Twitter.com/JillLawless

How Oh Honey Became The Fall's Most Buzzworthy Band

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About two years ago, Danielle Bouchard was greeting customers at the Harry Potter exhibit at Discovery Times Square in New York. On those days, she would look across the way at Best Buy Theater, wishing her name was on the marquee.

Well, now it is.

Bouchard is one half of Brooklyn-based folk-pop duo, Oh Honey, and she -- along with her bandmate, Mitchy Collins -- will play that very theater on Nov. 7.

In an interview with The Huffington Post, Bouchard -- honey blonde in a black lace dress and black thigh highs -- told the story with a soft sincerity while Collins looked on. The two are currently preparing to embark on a national tour with fellow Brooklyn-based band -- and "very close friends," said Collins -- American Authors.

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Catching up with @dannibouchard + @mitchycollins of the harmonious @ohhoneymusic for @huffingtonpost. Check them out on tour with American Authors this fall!

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"I feel like it's like watching a movie of my life happen and waiting for myself to catch up," Collins said of the past few months. "A lot of work and not a lot of sleep. But, in a good way."

Collins is spot-on about the band's quick ascent; the two linked up to form Oh Honey in May 2013. Since then, they've signed with Atlantic Records and toured with the likes of The Fray and James Blunt. They released their debut EP, "With Love," in November 2013, and their second EP, "Sincerely Yours," on Tuesday. Their single, "Be Okay" -- a top-25 hit at Hot AC radio outlets nationwide -- was covered on Glee's landmark 100th episode and appears in numerous commercials:



The track is a prime example of why the duo has caught on so quickly; it is an undeniably catchy folk-pop anthem, and Collins and Bouchard make harmony look easy.

And their personalities blend like their voices. When asked to describe their sound, the two riff off of one another until they land on one word, in unison: "Optimistic."

But Oh Honey needed more than optimism to become a reality. While Bouchard had never toured before Oh Honey, Collins, now in his late 20s, has worked in music since his teens and is hardly a stranger to the difficulties of the field.

"You feel like your life is forgetting about you at times," Collins said. "You're so confined to what you're doing and then your friends and family and loved ones are still going on about their lives."

But for the duo, the rewards are very much worth the challenges.

"It's funny, because you'll be out for so long and you're missing home," Bouchard added. "And then you'll be home for two weeks and you'll think, 'I miss tour.' I feel like we're really ready to get out on the road."

oh honey album

Though the band is buzzing to put their music out there, they'll miss their home base in New York. (Bouchard lives in Greenpoint, Brooklyn; Collins recently relocated to Los Angeles, but will split time between coasts.)

"I'm a vegetarian," Bouchard said, "and it's really hard on the road. I always miss those cute little veggie spots that I love in Brooklyn."

"Yes," Collins said. "The food. The pizza."

"It all comes down to food," nodded Bouchard.

In the future, the duo may bring a bit of Brooklyn on tour with them: they'd like to link up with a local bee farm -- which exist on rooftops in Williamsburg and Bushwick, Bouchard explains -- to sell their own honey at their shows, though neither are enthused at the thought of farming bees themselves.

"No, I do not want to farm bees," Bouchard said, laughing.

"I don't know how much the idea of being surrounded by bees is enticing," Collins added.

Catch Oh Honey on tour with American Authors, beginning Oct. 21, or stream their new EP, "Sincerely Yours," now.

Guy Finds Very Valuable Magic Card, Goes Nuts (VIDEO)

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"Holy ... boosh" is right.

A Magic: The Gathering enthusiast filmed himself opening up a deck from Magic's first set and discovering an Alpha Black Lotus, which, as Gawker points out, could be worth $27,000.

"Holy boosh!" the collector seems to say as he uncovers the card. "That’s an Alpha frickin' Lotus!” That shouldn’t happen. Oh my gosh, I did it."

It's hard to tell, but it seems as if his hands may be shaking from excitement.



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Chad Kroeger Reveals Haters Are Responsible For Nickelback's Continued Existence

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Chad Kroeger, lead vocalist and guitarist of Nickelback, has responded to the crowdfunding campaign determined to ban his band from ever entering the U.K. again. He loves it.

In an interview with Pulse of the Radio, Kroeger explained how he finds all the controversy that continuously circles his personal life and band hilarious.

"All these critics, they're just tireless," Kroeger told Pulse of the Radio. "They keep ragging on the band. If they had stopped writing all this stuff about us, there would be no controversy left in the band and we probably would have died out years ago. They don't know that they're still responsible for us being around today."

Essentially, Nickelback is a Hydra, and hatred is the sword that sprouts two new heads with each swing.

"Don't Let Nickel Back" operator Craig Mandall promptly responded to Kroeger:

"Chad Kroeger has responded to this campaign, saying he 'loves it.' We therefore expect all Nickelback fans to immediately contribute, as it will make him very happy. If you don't support our efforts to ban Nickelback, you'll be going against Nickelback. Is that what you want?"

Nicholas Hoult Is Down To Brave The Wilderness With Bear Grylls

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If you were looking to swoon over the loveable Nicholas Hoult in "Young Ones," you might find yourself a little disappointed. In the film, from director Jake Paltrow, it's actually quite difficult to like Hoult's character, Flem Lever. He's a ruthless man who manipulates those closest to him -- including characters played by Elle Fanning and Kodi-Smit McPhee -- in order to survive in an otherwise hopeless, post-apocalyptic world where water is the most precious commodity.

"It was 115 degrees, just baking hot, people passing out from heat exhaustion. There wasn't a whole lot of having to act that side of the story," Hoult told HuffPost Entertainment of the film's shoot, which took place in Springbok, South Africa, over a five-week period.

The brutal conditions on the film might help explain why, when we asked if he had to choose one person to survive in a post-apocalyptic setting with, Hoult had a strategy all planned out.

"I'd pick Bear Grylls. I like watching those shows, and I do watch them with the idea of like, 'If this happens I have to remember this stuff if I'm stranded,'" Hoult said. "Watching Bear Grylls climb inside a camel carcass in the desert to survive, I'm like, 'All right, if I'm ever stuck in the desert...'"

But his list of three essential items he'd bring is a little less practical.

"I'd need some sort of music player. I love anything from hip hop to old soul ... kind of an eclectic mix. I'd bring a book, too ... I'm currently reading J.D. Salinger's 'Nine Stories.' And a toothbrush," he said. "I'd definitely bring a toothbrush."

"Young Ones" is out in limited release on Oct. 17.

These Girls Nailed It Lip Syncing 'Let It Go' At New York Comic Con

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These two preteen girls went to New York Comic Con in cosplay finery Sunday, but they didn't expect to be on stage themselves.

Before the start of a panel with the cast and crew of the Fox TV series "Gotham," warm-up host Michael Daniels spotted the 11-year-old dressed as Elsa from "Frozen," and promptly invited her and a friend to the stage to lip sync the film's mega-hit, "Let It Go."

What ensued was a delightful performance in which the girls gained more confidence as the song went on, and the audience responded accordingly: with some major applause.

H/T Daily Dot

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How The Cast Of 'This Is Our Youth' Got Tavi Gevinson To Talk About 'Some Of Hitler's Concepts'

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The cast of "This Is Our Youth" certainly knows how to keep things interesting.

Michael Cera, Tavi Gevinson and Keiran Culkin invented a risky game to play secretly during interviews about their hit Broadway play, they told HuffPost Live's Ricky Camilleri on Tuesday. The idea is simple: the group comes up with an outlandish or inappropriate phrase, and the cast member who works it into casual conversation wins anywhere from $5 to $20.

The winner so far is Gevinson, who managed to say "some of Hitler's concepts" during a discussion about the play (see it at 2:50 in this video).

Watch the cast chat about the game and some other phrases they've considered playing with in the video above, and see the full HuffPost Live conversation here.

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Finally! The IKEA Alternatives You've Been Dreaming Of Have Arrived

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If you love the Swedish aesthetic of IKEA but hate the time and frustration that often comes with the assembling it, you're in luck -- you now have some choices.

The first option is still IKEA, but this new collection promises to go "from flatpack to furniture in less than five minutes." Well, as IKEA US Product PR Representative Janice Simonsen told HuffPost Home via email, "It's actually closer to 10 to 15 minutes."

Either way, the line is known as REGISSÖR, and the majority of its assembly is possible without tools, though there is a base that needs to be assembled via conventional hardware. The non-tool pieces from it feature special wedge dowels for assembly. The entire line, which includes a bookcase, a coffee table and several cabinets, range from $139 to $349. The pieces are made from a lighter, mostly hollow material that reduces stress on furniture joints.



"The beauty of the design is that it creates a sturdy but lightweight product, reducing weight and shipping costs and reducing the amount of material needed for the final product," Simonsen said. "This creates a big 'win-win' in terms of the sustainability of the product."

But if you're not willing to wait until the line debuts in the spring (and if you have some extra funds lying around), there's a pretty good chance you're going to be a major fan of Hem.

Swedish for "home" and launched by the company Fab, Hem is marketing itself as "the first affordable high-end design brand created to serve online-direct customers." In other words, as Hem's VP of Communications, Désirée Maurd, told HuffPost Home via email, "We sell to the end-consumer directly from our own online store. In the (high-end) design furniture industry this is not very common -- usually you need to find a retailer."

It'll still cost you double (or even triple) for a Hem table than it would for one from IKEA, but it might be worth the investment, as the brand claims on its website to "obsess over materials and finishes to create products you'll want to hold on to for a very long time."

"There's an apparent demand for alternatives for consumers graduating from IKEA, wanting higher quality, thorough design and authentic materials," Maurd added. "We are definitely producing higher-end designs than say, IKEA, with high quality finishes and materials. We are not targeting the lower end or value end of the market."

And, while the verdict's still out on the global brand that just launched a few days ago, Hem does also offer customizable options that might just give them a leg up on the competition.

Take a peek at some pieces from Hem and see for yourself if this is the IKEA alternative you've been wishing for, or if you're just fine waiting until the new IKEA line debuts.



ikea hem lamps
Left: Hem's Levels Lamp Medium Copper ($399), Right: IKEA's Hektar Pendant Lamp ($29.99)




ikea hem shelf
Left: Hem's Verso Shelf Standard ($349), Right: IKEA's Hjalmaren Wall Shelf ($119)




ikea hem rug
Left: Hem's Geo Outline Rug Grey ($259), Right: IKEA's PS 2014 Rug ($79.99)




ikea hem side table
Left: Hem's Pal Stool Yellow ($149), Right: IKEA's Stockholm Nightstand ($99)




ikea hem chair
Left: Hem's Bento Chair Black ($299), Right: IKEA's Idolf Chair ($59)




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Harry Potter Spinoff 'Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them' Will Be Released As A Trilogy

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Warner Bros. made a huge -- but not so surprising -- announcement on Wednesday, revealing that the Harry Potter spinoff series, "Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them," will be released as a trilogy and not a stand-alone film.

The first "Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them" movie was scheduled for a Nov. 8, 2016 release, and now Warner Bros. has set the next two films' release dates in, respectively, 2018 and 2020. David Yates will direct the first movie.

The series is a return to J.K. Rowling's wizarding world and follows Newt Scamander, a magical animal specialist who wrote a textbook that Harry Potter refers to throughout his time at Hogwarts (though "Fantastic Beasts" is set 70 years before he goes to school). Rowling wrote the book in 2001 and will serve as a screenwriter.

The announcement was made at today's Time Warner investor event, where other huge TV and film news broke: Netflix will stream "Friends" starting on Jan. 1, 2015, HBO Go will be available to purchase without cable and Warner Bros. already has three more Lego-branded movies lined up for the next four years. Plenty of superhero movies, too.

This Kid Magician Will Wow You With His Mad Skills

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This is Moritz Mueller, and he has two silver coins. Or does he?

moritz-magic


Moritz is a young magician from Germany who's been wowing netizens this week with his superb sleight of hand.

“Hey well done, sir! This was very impressive!” one YouTuber enthused on Wednesday after watching the quick-fingered Moritz perform a cool coin trick.

“Holy crap, that's awesome!” wrote another.



This particular trick was invented by Moritz himself, according to the YouTube description.

The video was uploaded in late September but enjoyed a viral surge this week after being shared on Reddit. It’s been watched more than 149,000 times thus far.

As his video continues to make waves, novice and experienced magicians alike have lauded Moritz’s skill.

“Moritz Mueller has a brilliant ‘smooth touch’ that transforms classics into poetry,” French magician Dafedas B wrote on Facebook. “I recommend his material.”

Julian Casablancas' Radical Reinvention

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The following article is provided by Rolling Stone.

By PATRICK DOYLE

This place is pretty cool," says Julian Casablancas. It's a late-summer evening, and the 36-year-old Strokes frontman is browsing through a volunteer-run radical bookstore a few blocks from his Lower East Side apartment. There's a pet white rat perched on the shoulder of the spiky-haired woman near the checkout counter, and Jimmy Cliff is on the stereo. Casablancas is leafing through a copy of Noam Chomsky's "How the World Works," then notices a book about CBGB, the historic punk club that closed in 2006. "We were about to play 'Modern Age' for the first time, and the sound guy shut us off," he says, recalling an early Strokes show from 2000. "They were such dicks. I mean, the place is obviously legendary, but I didn't cry for it when it closed. I'm like, 'Just open one in Times Square.'"

The Strokes' days as a club act didn't last long: The year after that CBGB gig, Casablancas' band would reinvigorate New York rock with its debut, "Is This It," and pave the way for a generation of rockers from the Black Keys to the Arctic Monkeys. ("They opened doors for us, because we started getting booked into clubs for being a garage-rock band," says the Keys' Dan Auerbach.) Casablancas would become famous as the deadpan, elegantly wasted personification of New York cool. These days, though, he's the sober, married father of a four-year-old boy, Cal, and spends most of his time at his home in upstate New York. When he stays up late, he might be jotting down passages from Howard Zinn's 'A People's History of the United States' or checking out lefty websites like Truthout and Truthdig. "Anything with the word 'truth' in it, I'm good," he says with a self-aware smile.

Julian Casablancas Blends Screams, Synths on Demented New Solo Tune

He's also just completed a new solo record, "Tyranny," released on his own label, on which he's backed by a band called the Voidz. The album is musically dense and politically charged. It's a far cry from the Strokes' sharp tunes, and Casablancas is clearly OK with that. "This is the final destination – this record is what I've been wanting to make since the first record," he says, referring to his debut solo LP, "Phrazes for the Young." "If anything, I'm just hungry to try to inspire something as big if not bigger [than the Strokes], but with more meaning. You know? Especially now that I'm a little older."

Wearing torn jeans and a denim jacket, Casablancas is approachably low-key. In conversation, he's enthusiastic and earnest, genially holding forth on issues like Net neutrality and media bias. "He's extremely affable and outgoing these days," says the Strokes' longtime manager, Ryan Gentles. "I'm not talking about the guy I first met. I'm talking about now: the sober, mature, grown-up dad Julian."

As Casablancas leaves the bookstore, he drops $5 into a jar for donations and heads out into the street. Over the next few hours, he'll be approached by a couple of fans who treat him like an old friend. At one point, a guy carrying a skateboard and wearing a baseball cap says he loves the new stuff with the Voidz. "Thanks, man!" Casablancas says. A few moments later, he adds, "That was a cool-looking dude."

Hear Julian Casablancas' Experimental New 11-Minute Song 'Human Sadness'

Part of the Strokes' early mystique came from the perceived glamour of their Manhattan private-school background. Many early stories on the band noted that Julian's father, John Casablancas, was the founder of the massive Elite Model Management, which had supermodel clients like Cindy Crawford and Naomi Campbell. His parents divorced when he was eight. His relationship with John was contentious, and Julian was already drinking a lot by the time he was in high school, eventually dropping out. "He was such a charming, larger-than-life guy," Casablancas says of his dad, who died last year. "I think I always just wanted to be closer to him. That translated into teenage rebelliousness."

He was closer to his stepfather, the artist and academic Sam Adoquei, who grew up in Ghana and introduced Casablancas to the music of radical Nigerian funk titan Fela Kuti. Adoquei has been shaping Casablancas' view on art and music throughout his career, even offering suggestions on songwriting. (Casablancas has played a role in his stepdad's art, as well. Adoquei's 2011 book, "Origin of Inspiration," a treatise on the best way to live a creative life, is full of ideas he used to try out on Casablancas. "I told Julian once that I wrote it because he left and became busy, and the kid I was sharing my ideas with was no longer there," says Adoquei.) His stepdad still gives Casablancas notes on his work, sometimes tough ones. "He will sometimes say, 'You might not like it,' " Adoquei says. "I am tough on junk art."

Tyranny incorporates everything from hardcore punk and African rhythms to metal solos and robotic voices. "We'd listen to a world-music song and a metal song, and we wanted to bridge those gaps," Casablancas says. The writing process was sometimes emotional: Julian's father died while his son was writing songs for Tyranny: The 11-minute-long track "Human Sadness" seems to address some of that grief when Casablancas echoes the poet Rumi: "Beyond all ideas of right and wrong there is a field/I will be meeting you there." Says Julian, "It was intense. Even if you were not close with your father, once that leaves, it's like the roof came off your house."

In Pics: 25 Must-Hear Albums for Fall 2014

Casablancas and the Voidz spent more than two years writing the album, and recorded it over seven months in a studio above New York's Strand Bookstore, usually working from 7 p.m. until sunlight. "I thought I was a perfectionist until I met Julian," says Voidz bass player Jake Bercovici. "I think we spent 20 days looking for one keyboard tone."

Casablancas fought hard to get to this point. After the Strokes' initial success, the youthful fun many associated with the band had evolved into a serious alcohol problem for Casablancas. He got to the point where he was drinking vodka in the morning. "I was probably charming 10 percent of the time, when I had a perfect buzz," he says of his drinking days. "You think, 'I'm brave and I'm crazy and I can drink.' But it's really like, 'I can't socially talk to people without having a stupid fake confidence that's obnoxious.' You think it's like truth serum, but it's more like asshole serum."

He began a long period of recovery. "I was hungover for, like, five years. Like, literally four years after I stopped drinking, I still didn't feel 100 percent. I still had that feeling of being a little hungover, and you just don't want to go downstairs to the deli, and you just want to stay inside. I felt kind of really roughed up by it."

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In 2009, he released his solo debut LP, composing songs on his laptop in his apartment. At the same time, he took a step back from his leadership role in the Strokes, ceding more control of their songwriting, "keeping the peace," he says. The results, as heard on their last two albums, 2011's "Angles" and 2013's "Comedown Machine," lacked the hooks and emotional impact of their first three albums. "I maybe wasn't as iron-fist-y as I had been in the past, but that was on purpose," he says. "Because that created all these issues [with the rest of the Strokes]. I wouldn't want to fight or argue about it. I was like, 'You like it better that way? Fine.'"

Throughout all this, the Strokes have remained a beloved, huge concert draw. Fans flew in from all over the world to see them play their first show in three years at the Capitol Theatre, in Port Chester, New York, last May. "I was almost in tears," says Gentles. "I've missed a total of maybe 12 Strokes shows ever, and it was the best I've ever heard them." The next week, they played at New York's Governors Ball festival, to the largest main-stage crowd of the weekend. (After the band had finished its set, the crowd noticeably thinned out for headliner Jack White.)

The same day as the bookstore stop, Casablancas is eating dinner – an avocado salad in a Dominican restaurant where he also had lunch – and thinking about all the conflicted emotions brought up by the band and its continued fame.

"It feels humbling and validating that you're doing some things right," he says about the Strokes. "But it's the same thing with an actor: If a movie does really well at the box office, they make 10 of those afterward because that's what they think people like. . . . If something has commercial value, it doesn't mean it's good."

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The night before the release of Tyranny, the band plays a secret show at a loft in Brooklyn, billing themselves as Rawk Hawks. When word of who is really playing gets out, a crush of fans packs the small space. Wearing an oversize New York Jets jacket despite the sweltering heat of the room, Casablancas attacks the mic and howls his aggressive new songs. The sound is light-years from the Strokes, but girls still scream at his every gesture and people yell for him to turn up his vocals.

For now, Casablancas will take that over an arena gig with his original band. "It's still fun to see people react," he says of the Strokes' recent concerts. "But do I emotionally feel anything from it? No. Like a little while ago, I saw someone perform a cover of some Top 40 song in an empty bar, like he probably just learned it two days ago. He was probably enjoying playing that more than I enjoy playing 'Last Nite.' I just smiled about it."

The Family Halloween Costume You Didn't Know You Were Waiting To See

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Professional seamstress and costume designer Steph Peterson is known for the super-creative and elaborate Halloween costumes she makes for her family. Last year, the Petersons dressed as characters from "Labyrinth," and the year before, they wore "Beetlejuice" costumes (you can see those costumes below).

Continuing the Halloween tradition, Steph recently finished this year's family costume -- Seymour, Audrey, Orin, and Audrey II from "Little Shop of Horrors."

little shop of horrors


"We initially were going to do The Princess Bride, but no one seemed too excited about that," the mom and costume designer told The Huffington Post in an email. "I heard a song from 'Little Shop of Horrors' and thought it would be a fun one to do. The kids had seen it before, but we watched it again and everyone got excited about doing it as a group."

While most of the costumes were created from vintage items Steph purchased and altered, she made her Audrey II ensemble from scratch. "Audrey II was all carved out of two types of foam," she said. "It's actually pretty lightweight. Only about 7lbs for the whole thing."

After years of making creative family costumes, you'd think the designer mom would run out of ideas. But Steph is not worried. "My kids love classic movies, so we have a lot of options!"

As promised, here are photos of the Petersons' past Halloween costumes:

2013: Labyrinth

labrynth



2012: Beetlejuice

beetlejuice



2011: Gage as Edward Scissorhands; Bailey as The Red Queen

edward scissorhands


Visit Peterson's Etsy shop, Deconstructress, for more of her incredible designs and scroll through the slideshow below for (slightly easier to make) family costume ideas.



More Halloween Ideas: See costumes for families, couples, babies, moms-to-be and more.



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Ansel Elgort Got Addicted To World Of Warcraft For 'Men, Women & Children'

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Ansel Elgort made his big-screen debut in "Carrie" on Oct. 18, 2013. It kicked off a busy 52 weeks. Since the release of that horror remake, Elgort has appeared in three films: "Divergent" ($288 million worldwide), "The Fault in Our Stars" ($303 million worldwide) and Jason Reitman's latest, "Men, Women & Children" (out now). Elgort now has 2.1 million Twitter followers. More than 3.8 million people follow him on Instagram.

"As we speak right now, we have to stay in a car outside the hotel because there are probably 40 fans waiting for pictures," Elgort, 20, told HuffPost Entertainment during a recent phone interview from London. "So we can't get out of the car because we have to finish the interview first before I go out and take pictures with all of them. That's how my life has changed, but other than that it's pretty much the same."




Elgort is but one of the famous names in "Men, Women & Children." Adam Sandler, Jennifer Garner, Judy Greer, Rosemarie DeWitt, Kaitlyn Dever, Dean Norris, J.K. Simmons and the voice of Emma Thompson play prominent roles in Reitman's ensemble drama, which the "Juno" director co-wrote with Erin Cressida Wilson.

"I had really, really high expectations," Elgort said about the project. "I was like, 'This guy has made incredible movies. This guy is going to be the most famous director I've ever worked with.' And he was. I could trust him because I knew he had made amazing movies."

Based on Chad Kultgen's book of the same name, "Men, Women & Children" is about how people living in 2014 interact within a world overrun by social media and a constant reliance on technology. Reitman and his production staff created an entire Internet for the actors to use on set. Facebook, text messaging and Tumblr play major roles in the film's narrative.

"I think there isn't a more current story than this right now," Elgort said. "That was so great, script-wise. This was so truthful and so real. Movies aren't being told this way yet."

Elgort plays Tim Mooney in the film, a high school football player who quits the team after his mother and father split up. To deal with the disintegration of his family -- and his mother's sudden move across the country -- Tim dives headlong into two key relationships: One with a fellow student named Brandy (Dever), and the other with a massively multiplayer online role-playing game, or MMORPG, not unlike World of Warcraft.

"I got addicted to World of Warcraft for a couple of months leading up to the movie, just to feel what that's like," Elgort said. "It really does suck you in and it makes you feel terrible after you've played the whole day and haven't done anything in real life. It felt heavy. You feel like there is something weighing you down. I guess that's what having an addiction is like. When you're not playing, you feel like you want to be. But you know it's a waste of time. It's tough."

Elgort, who was familiar with the game and has many friends who play, said he knew any aggressive immersion in World of Warcraft was a terrible idea on face value. But there was part of him that was almost happy as well: "I had an excuse to get addicted to one of the most addicting video games in the world. That's sick."

Fortunately for the star, he was able to stop playing when production on "Men, Women & Children" began. Some of his other friends, however, weren't able to draw a line.

"I had a friend who had a job and lost it because he played too much," Elgort said. "He worked for Yahoo! and he lost his job because he stopped showing up to work."

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Fam selfie #menwomenandchildren who's seeing it in NYC tonight!!?

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Those kind of real-world consequences make up a large part of "Men, Women & Children"; it's a movie less about the dangers of the Internet and more about what happens to people when cyberspace, in all its forms, takes priority over flesh-and-blood reality.

"It doesn't really control my life, but [social networking] definitely part of it. I think it's part of everyone's life now. Whether or not you're a 'celebrity,'" Elgort said when asked about his social media presence. "Everyone uses technology now. Everyone is on social media. Everyone has an Instagram account. Everyone is posting some pictures. [...] In some ways, social media is a great thing; it's a great way for keeping in touch. There's a reason why it's so big. We can't forget about the good parts of it, but it has become an addiction for a lot of people."

Elgort said he avoids being too reliant on Twitter and Instagram by turning off his push notifications, and while he primarily uses those accounts for business, there's still some room for personal fulfillment.

"I have a personal Facebook where I have 60 friends now," he said. "I try to keep that real."

Chris Noth Has A Lot To Say About 'Sex And The City' And Carrie Bradshaw

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Chris Noth has not played Mr. Big since 2010, but he recently got frank about the "Sex and the City" series during an interview with News.com.au, including a discussion about how his character has been misunderstood all these years.

"One of the things I tell people is that [Big] never tried to pretend he was anything other than what he was," he said. "It was [Carrie] who tried to pretend he was something he wasn’t. He was always honest about himself -- he never cheated on her. The relationship just didn’t work, and he went on to get married while she went on to … how many boyfriends did she have? She was such a whore! [laughs] There’s a misconception that Carrie was a victim of him, and that’s not the case -- she was a strong, smart woman."

Noth thinks 2010's grandiose "Sex and the City 2" got a poor critical response because it hit theaters during the recession. Also, because the movie took the ladies out of New York City and to Dubai. New York is "an integral part of that show," he said, but the New York depicted in the show is not the one he loves.

"New York was a much bigger, more interesting place than just fashion and glitz and all that crap," he said. "It’s become its own nightmare -- it’s become Dubai, which is why I don’t spend much time there anymore. It’s full of tourists, Times Square is Disneyland … It’s almost like New York became the [fantasy] city that 'Sex and the City' depicted, which I find particularly boring."

He compared "Sex and the City" to HBO's other series centered around female friends living in New York, "Girls." While "Sex and the City" was "materialistic, with the fashions, shopping and apartments," he said, "Girls" actually "shows the reality of the struggle" of what it's like to live in New York.

Noth has been synonymous with Big since the show first aired in 1998. He recently told the Sydney Morning Herald that "it can get a little tiring" behind the man behind such a big character. But Mr. Big may return if the "Sex and the City" franchise continues with a third film installment. Stars Sarah Jessica Parker and Kristin Davis teased fans by tweeting about some "news" earlier this month.

Noth, however, remained coy when speaking with news.com.au.

"Sure, I’ve heard rumors, but they’ve been sayin’ that s**t for 10 years," Noth said of the tweets. "It’d be a great thing, but for now it’s all just Tweety-pie s**t."

How One Musician Helped A Teen With Hearing Impairment Enjoy Her First Live Concert

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Dutch teenager Vera van Dijk was born with a severe hearing impairment that made it impossible to understand her mother's voice or listen to pop music. But thanks to one savvy musician, the 19-year-old was recently able to experience her first live music concert, as reported by Alt Sounds.

The innovative concert was part of mobile company Vodafone's "Firsts" series, which celebrates the many ways technology can help people enjoy new experiences. As part of the series, thousands of Vodafone voters selected popular progressive Netherlands musician Kyteman to compose music specifically tailored to Vera's limited hearing range.

Though a special cochlear implant hearing aid she received two and half years ago allows Vera to hear a certain range of sounds, music remains difficult for her to enjoy. For Vera, the excitement of a live music concert always held an allure.

As she says in the heartwarming video, "At a concert, I want to experience a big family feeling. All these people coming together and listening to music together."

To make that happen, Kyteman composed music tailored to Vera's hearing strengths and weaknesses. Vera tested the music in studio to ensure that she could hear all the notes and instrumentals. Then, Kyteman performed the music with an 18-piece orchestra for a crowd of 400 people in Amsterdam this past August -- including Vera.

Rock on.

[h/t Alt Sounds]

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