Quantcast
Channel: Culture & Arts
Viewing all 18485 articles
Browse latest View live

Coachella Announces 2015 Lineup With Drake, Jack White, AC/DC Set As Headliners

0
0
The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival is returning to Indio, California for another two-weekend festival in 2015, taking place on April 10-12 and April 17-19. AC/DC, Jack White and Drake will headline this year on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, respectively. Tickets are available for purchase starting on Jan. 7 at 12 p.m. PT. Check out the full lineup below and let us know what you think of this year's selected talent in the comments.

coachella 2015


Scientists Discover Ancient 'Magical' Amulet With Odd Two-Way Inscription

0
0
A strange "magical" amulet dating back about 1,500 years has archaeologists buzzing.

One side of the stone amulet, which was unearthed in 2011 in the ancient city of Nea Paphos in southwestern Cyprus, bears a 59-letter inscription that reads the same way backward and forward:

ιαεωβαφρενεμουνοθιλαρικριφιαευεαιφιρκιραλιθονυομενερφαβωεαι.

That's Greek to you, of course. So here's the palindrome's English translation: "Yahweh is the bearer of the secret name, the lion of Re secure in his shrine."

ancient amulet

The other side of the amulet shows several images, including one depicting the mummified Egyptian god Osiris in a boat and another of Harpocrates, the Greek god of silence, as well as animals and symbols.

If that sounds a bit jumbled, it is.

"It must be stated that the depiction is fairly unskilled and schematic," Dr. Joachim Sliwa, a professor at Jagiellonian University's Institute of Archaeology in Krakow, Poland, wrote in a paper describing the artifact. "It is iconographically based on Egyptian sources, but these sources were not fully understood by the creator of the amulet. As a result, various misinterpretations and irregularities arise... we are dealing with considerable deviations from basic Egyptian iconographic concepts."

Such amulets were used as good luck tokens to protect their owners from harm, Ewdoksia Papuci-Wladyka, the Jagiellonian University professor who led the team of archaeologists who made the discovery, told LiveScience in an email. This particular one suggests that "Christian and pagan religions coexisted in Paphos in times of [the] amulet being in use," she said in the email.

The paper was published in the journal Studies in Ancient Art and Civilization.

'Jaws'-Themed Baby Crib Takes A Giant Bite Out Of The Internet

0
0
One sculptor's baby crib creation is pushing nursery decor to a new, jaw-dropping level.

jaws bed

Staten Islander Joseph Reginella has a toy line called Toxic Teddies and works for a sculpture studio called Themendous, he told The Huffington Post. In addition to making sets and sculptures for theater groups, musicians (including Lady Gaga), and retail displays, Reginella also helps build whimsical children's furniture. After creating an airplane bed for a client, the sculptor "thought it would be funny if someone ordered a terrifying bed instead of something cute or mainstream," he told Buzzfeed.

As noted on Reginella's Facebook page, he fine-tuned his idea by referencing a design his buddy drew over the summer after a "Jaws"-related conversation they had at a bar.




Around the same time, Reginella learned that his best friend and fellow "Jaws"-enthusiast Mark Melaccio was expecting a baby boy with his wife Cindy. So the sculptor and honorary uncle-to-be got down to work.

Fast-forward, and today 2-month old Mikey Melaccio is the adorable recipient of a pretty wild shark attack bed. And he "loved it!" Reginella said. The bed only took about two weeks to build and just a few days to reach Reddit notoriety.





Reginella says the response has been "overwhelming" and he's even received requests from other parents who want their own "Jaws" crib. Baby Mikey's dad Mark Melaccio was also quite overwhelmed by his son's viral fame, he told The Huffington Post, adding that some people on the Internet have accused him of "traumatizing" his baby. "It's not like we are planning on using it in place of his actual crib!" he said.

Both Reginella and Melaccio said they were glad that people are "getting a good laugh" out of the creative crib and hope Mikey does as well when he grows up.

We imagine that when the baby starts talking, some of his first words might be, "We're gonna need a bigger bed."



Like Us On Facebook |
Follow Us On Twitter |
Contact HuffPost Parents

News Stories Get Reenacted By Lego People To Give You The Short Version

0
0
You might not have time to read the news, but you definitely have time to see it acted out by toys.

The Short News gives you exactly that with a site and Instagram account full of news headlines reenacted by Lego people and captions that give you the broad strokes of the story.

We're not gonna lie, this almost makes us want to dig that old box of Legos out of our mom's attic and bring them to work.





For more, head over to The Short News.

These Totally Badass Photos Prove Anyone Can Be A Fitness Model

0
0
Photoshop isn't always the way to go -- and photographer Benjamin Von Wong just proved that with his mesmerizing black-and-white fitness photo series.

When photo website SmugMug decided its company gym would be a lot cooler if it were filled with photos, President and co-founder Chris MacAskill asked Von Wong to do the job. Although MacAskill said he wanted simple black-and-white shots, Von Wong had other ideas.

After asking for volunteers, Von Wong transformed SmugMug employees into fitness models by using $20,000 worth of lighting equipment, a homemade rain machine and absolutely no Photoshop.

"This wasn’t a professional athlete photoshoot. We were taking average people who hardly have any photoshoot experience and trying to make them into something more," Von Wong said in an interview with SmugMug. "The true magic of the shots comes from people doing something they had never imagined they would before."

Von Wong and MacAskill weren't the only ones who loved how the portraits turned out; the models were also thrilled.

“I’m a 62-year-old grandma. And still, somehow, he manages to make me look great!” one participant said, according Von Wong's post on Medium, while another said, “When people saw the photos it was a lot of shock and awe. I didn’t even think I looked like that.” 

As for Von Wong, he encourages photographers to always "think outside the box."

"There are no rules if the only requirement is to make people look awesome," he writes on his blog. "Don’t limit yourself to the same safe shots, try different things. You never know what you’ll discover."

Check out some of Von Wong's portraits, below:

fitness model 1

fitness model 2

fitness model 3

fitness model 4

fitness model 7

fitness model 8

Ruby Rose To Play Litchfield Inmate In 'OITNB' Season 3

0
0
Australian model and DJ Ruby Rose will play a new Litchfield inmate in the upcoming season of "Orange Is the New Black." BuzzFeed confirmed the casting news with Netflix Monday after Rose spoke about her role in an interview with Elle magazine.







Netflix told Buzzfeed that Rose will play Stella Carlin, a new addition to Litchfield who draws interest from fellow inmates with her "sarcastic sense of humor and captivating looks."

The model made headlines in July when she released a short film that powerfully explored the way gender is performed in our culture. Soon after, she shared a message via Facebook:

You know what needs to stop just as much as homophobia, bullying within the LGBT Community... A 'bisexual' isn't just greedy.. 'Pansexual' exists and isn't a cop out.. 'Straight' people can be gay huge advocates and blessings to the community... you can identify as trans without surgery, you can be gender fluid... in fact guess what... you can be whoever you are and like whoever you like and WE should spread the love and acceptance we constantly say we don't receive.

Man Films 1 Word Each Day For A Year To Create Poignant Time-Lapse Video

0
0
In this video, YouTuber Ben Schmidt filmed himself saying one word a day for 365 days, and strung them all together to create a beautiful reflection on time.

While the time-lapse clips, featuring different backgrounds, clothes and haircuts, is absolutely mesmerizing, Schmidt also leaves us with some profound words:

"New revelations, big and small, change our opinions, how we act and sometimes our very outlook on life. Seemingly small decisions can change our lives forever by giving us opportunities to make new friends, change career paths and maybe even fall in love."

Watch the entire video above.

Like Us On Facebook
Follow Us On Twitter

Play-Doh Recreations Of Famous Photos Blend Kindergarten Craft With Postmodern Panache

0
0
When you were a kid, you likely spent many a day turning gobs of multicolored Play-Doh into apples, beasts, monsters and snakes, among myriad other things. Over the years, however, you've sadly given up the stuff, and thus have probably never known the very adult possibilities of playing with the dough today. Well, if you're anything like London-based Eleanor Macnair, those possibilities might look a lot like a Henri Cartier-Bresson photograph.

In her ongoing series "Photographs Rendered in Play-Doh," Macnair does exactly what it sounds like -- she turns famous photographs both historical and contemporary into vibrant tableaux of kid-safe modeling clay. The results take you to a magical land, where your kindergarden class meets your most recent trip to the Met, and it's absolutely wonderful.

jada
Original photograph: from Waiting by Jana Romanova


"It all started on a whim, at a performance in the form of a photo pub quiz run by MacDonaldStrand, in Brighton, in August 2013," Macnair explained to The Huffington Post. "One of the rounds was to make a reproduction of a famous photograph using Play-Doh. It is said that you only need one good idea in life. I didn’t have one so, in the spirit of postmodern re-appropriation, I used MacDonaldStrand’s idea. And so it began."

The artistic endeavor cost Macnair only 40 pounds -- enough to cover the play-doh, two chopping boards and a highball glass to use as a rolling pin. Making each image takes about an hour, much of which is spent carefully examining the original photograph and determining which details need to be translated. Luckily, some of her sculptural details can be reused, before they return to the cans from which they came.

"The green blanket from the Cartier-Bresson later became a snake in the Madame Yevonde, the bushes in the Becher, the hood in the Judy Joy Ross and the hosepipe in the Stephen Shore. The works no longer exist and I’m usually the only one who has ever seen them in their three-dimensional state. I like the idea that they are ephemeral and can have no market value."

marco
Original photograph: Untitled from Biophilia series I by Marco Vernaschi


The project soon took off online, to Macnair's surprise. "I’ve tried to use the momentum of the project to highlight photographs and photographers I think are worth seeing, especially some who may be overlooked. Unlike a serious photography blog I don’t have to comment or pass judgement on the photographs, I just recreate them, link to the original and my work is done."

"I’ve continued using Play-Doh because it’s cheap, quick, unpretentious and accessible," Macnair continued. Just like her medium of choice, Macnair herself is humble to the extreme. "Some of the comments I get on the project are 'I could have done that' or 'I could have done that better' –- and I totally agree with these comments. I’m the first to admit that I’m not an artist and I haven’t continued to project to produce 'works of art' –- I’ve just been interested to see where it goes."

For oh-so-many more photos, check out the Tumblr here. 'Photographs Rendered in Play-Doh' published by Macdonald Strand is available for £19.99.


'Urban Yoga' Project Connects Our Bodies To The Streets Around Us

0
0
As we write this post, photographer Anja Humljan has exactly seven minutes left to gather funds on Kickstarter for her project "Urban Yoga." She needn't hustle though, because she's already reached her goal; in fact, she's $1,524 past her $10k ambitions. Well over 200 people pooled together to make the Slovenian artist's dreams come true.

Those dreams, if you hadn't guessed, involve photographing rather agile individuals practicing yoga in urban spaces. "The Urban Yoga Photo Book" is meant to compile images taken over the course of a year in New York, Paris, Madrid and Ljubljana, showcasing the ways in which our bodies are capable of mimicking the natural and artificial worlds around us.

yoga

"As an architect and yogi, I believe cities should not be regarded as something which disturbs our harmony, but rather as a vital element that contributes to it," she writes on her Kickstarter. "So, I went off the mat and into the city to change the way we feel, breath and think about urban environment."

“Sometimes we feel like the urban environment limits our freedom, causes stress, and disturbs our inner peace,” she added in My Modern Met. “But only few people know that it is not geometry and function, but what we touch, smell, taste and hear that defines most whether we feel good or bad in an urban environment.”

As contorted bodies dangle off sidewalk railings and rest peacefully against subway columns, Humljan aims to emphasize how our urban surroundings are often built to accommodate our daily lives, rather than disrupt them. A woman in a white body suit bows, ploughs and planks in settings as surprising as a bathroom or truck bed and as tranquil as an empty tunnel or perch beside a pond. In nearly every portrait, Humljan is able to find balance between human and architecture.

The photographer debuted her series as a magazine during Paris Fashion Week, but has since turned to Kickstarter in hopes of producing a hardbound book. The PDF version of the book, available to the fans who supported her campaign, will be available in March.





21 Wedding Photos That Look Like Something Out Of A Fairy Tale

0
0
It's been said that love is the closest thing we have to magic. And when you put a couple in love in the right location with some romantic lighting, the results can be positively enchanting.

Below are 21 wedding photos that look like they could have been torn out of the pages of a fairy tale.



Keep in touch! Check out HuffPost Weddings on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest. Sign up for our newsletter here.

Photos Of Charlie Hebdo Rallies Show France Come Together In Solidarity

0
0
Huge crowds gathered in Paris in a show of support for the staff of the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo. The weekly paper was attacked by three heavily armed gunmen on Wednesday in the worst terror attack Paris has seen in decades. Ten journalists as well as two police officers lost their lives in the assault.

Demonstrators in Paris were seen holding up pens as a symbol of support for the slain journalists. France's Le Monde put the number of people in the streets of the capital at over 15,000.

Charlie Hebdo has been targeted in the past for its cartoons satirizing religious extremism. In 2011, a firebomb attack destroyed the offices of the paper, and its staff has received repeated death threats over depictions of the Prophet Muhammad.

Rallies in support of Charlie Hebdo were planned in major cities across France.

In a statement posted to Facebook, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo announced that a silent solidarity march will be held on Thursday in the center of Paris.

Here are photos of the rallies in solidarity with Charlie Hebdo.

hebdo
A man raises a pen during a rally in support of the victims of today's terrorist attack on French satyrical newspaper Charlie Hebdo at the Place de la Republique in Paris, on January 7, 2015.

hebdo
Journalism students hold a banner reading in French: 'Journalism students : Solidarity' as they raise pens during a gathering at the Place de la Republique (Republic square) in Paris, on January 7, 2015, following an attack by unknown gunmen on the offices of the satirical weekly, Charlie Hebdo.

hebdo
People gather in front of the city hall of Rennes, western France, on January 7, 2015, following an attack by unknown gunmen on the offices of the satirical weekly, Charlie Hebdo.




Je suis Charlie #charliehebdo #republique #deuil #vsco #vscocam

A photo posted by Samuel Lagarto (@samuel_lagarto) on










Les gens apportent des fleurs, des bougies ... #JeSuisCharlie

A photo posted by cloneweb (@cloneweb) on




#jesuischarlie

A photo posted by lucie_s (@lucie_s) on





#IlEstCharlie

A photo posted by Jean-Baptiste Roubière (@__jbr__) on







hebdo
People take part in a rally in support of the victims of today's terrorist attack on French satyrical newspaper Charlie Hebdo at the Place de la Republique in Paris, on January 7, 2015.


A Nearly Naked Shia LaBeouf Cage Wrestles In Sia's New 'Elastic Heart' Video

0
0
If you want to see a nearly nude Shia LaBeouf cage wrestle, Sia has you covered. Her new video for "Elastic Heart," the third single from "1000 Forms of Fear," pits LaBeouf opposite "Chandelier" dancer Maddie Ziegler for a five-minute interpretive dance turned cage match. Ziegler sports another blond wig and flesh-colored bodysuit in the video, which, like "Chandelier" and "Breathe Me," was directed by Sia and Daniel Askill. Watch below.

2-Year-Old Bob Marley Impersonator Proves Every Little Thing Is Gonna Be Alright

0
0
Two-year-old Myles Kingston Sadler might be Bob Marley's most adorable and enthusiastic fan. According to his mom Suze Sadler, Myles has been listening to the reggae icon "since he was in [her] belly."

"Our family is from Haiti and Jamaica, so we have always played Bob Marley in our household," Sadler told The Huffington Post. Around his first birthday, the toddler started singing along to Bob Marley songs and re-enacting his moves. "Every time he sang a Bob song, he did it with so much passion and soul," Sadler said.

Myles' mom decided to record her son's infectious Bob Marley performances "to document his journey into music." The result: over 20 videos of the rasta cutie that are so endearing and fun, it's impossible not to smile while watching.

Sadler hopes that her son's love for Bob Marley will bring joy to others and encourage peace. "Maybe if all the children gathered around and sang all these wonderful songs of love, peace and unity, then world will be a better place."

For more of Myles Kingston Sadler's insanely cute Bob Marley videos, keep scrolling:











H/T RightThisMinute



Like Us On Facebook |
Follow Us On Twitter |
Contact HuffPost Parents

Artists Around The World Show They Won't Be Silenced By Terrorism After Charlie Hebdo Attack

0
0
Gunmen stormed the offices of Charlie Hebdo -- a satirical newspaper headquartered in Paris -- leaving 12 dead Wednesday, including cartoonists Jean "Cabu" Cabut, Georges Wolinski and Bernard Verlhac (also known as Tignous), as well as the publication's editor/publisher Stéphane "Charb" Charbonnier.

In the immediate aftermath, illustrators and artists around the world were moved to express grief and frustration, showing solidarity with their slain colleagues in political cartoons aimed at defending freedom of speech, while also condemning religious extremism. Many of the visualizations capture the absurdity of the terrorist attack in a universal language -- cartoons.

Take a look at some of the most powerful images:





































“My heart goes out to Charlie Hebdo.”






“Today, I am a press cartoonist. Today, I am a journalist. Today, I draw for Charlie Hebdo.”




“The world has gotten so serious that humor has become a risky profession.”







“To arms, companions!”



“Died for the freedom of expression.”







“Oh no… not them…”




“Ducks [slang: newspapers] will always fly higher than guns.”




Salman Rushdie Responds To Charlie Hebdo Attack, Says Religion Must Be Subject To Satire

0
0
In response to today's shooting at French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, Salman Rushdie released a statement defending the art of comedic criticism, writing, "I stand with Charlie Hebdo, as we all must, to defend the art of satire, which has always been a force for liberty and against tyranny, dishonesty and stupidity."

Rushdie's words are particularly relevant given that his own work -- a magical realist novel inspired by Muhammad's life -- led Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini to issue a fatwa against him in 1989. His 2013 memoir Joseph Anton further promotes the right to offend.

Here's Rushdie's full comment, originally posted on English Pen:

Religion, a mediaeval form of unreason, when combined with modern weaponry becomes a real threat to our freedoms. This religious totalitarianism has caused a deadly mutation in the heart of Islam and we see the tragic consequences in Paris today. I stand with Charlie Hebdo, as we all must, to defend the art of satire, which has always been a force for liberty and against tyranny, dishonesty and stupidity. ‘Respect for religion’ has become a code phrase meaning ‘fear of religion.’ Religions, like all other ideas, deserve criticism, satire, and, yes, our fearless disrespect.


UPDATE: Rushdie, along with other acclaimed authors, signed PEN American Center's official response to the attacks, which concluded, "Today’s effort to silence criticism by murdering the artists and writers who voice it must be met with a far wider movement to defend the right to dissent, which forms the spine of free expression."

'Guardians Of The Galaxy' Earns Surprise Writers Guild Award Nomination

0
0
The Writers Guild of America has unveiled the nominees for its 2015 prizes. Most of the finalists were expected, but box-office behemoth "Guardians of the Galaxy" made a surprise appearance in the Adapted Screenplay list. Also a surprise: "Whiplash" being slotted for Original Screenplay one day after the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences determined it would treat Damien Chazelle's script -- based on a short film he made previously -- as an adaptation.

Not included in the WGA's awards are "Birdman," "Selma" and "The Theory of Everything," which weren't eligible according to the guild's guidelines. Plenty of scripts that the WGA deemed ineligible have gone on to attract the Oscars' attention, including 2013's "12 Years a Slave," for which John Ridley won the Academy Award. This year's snubs include "Unbroken," "Inherent Vice," "Interstellar," "Obvious Child," "Love is Strange" and "Big Eyes."

Read on for the full list of nominations. The 2015 Writers Guild Awards will be held at simultaneous ceremonies in New York City and Los Angeles on Feb. 14.

Original Screenplay
"Boyhood," Written by Richard Linklater

"Foxcatcher," Written by E. Max Frye and Dan Futterman

"The Grand Budapest Hotel," Screenplay by Wes Anderson; Story by Wes Anderson & Hugo Guinness

"Nightcrawler," Written by Dan Gilroy

"Whiplash," Written by Damien Chazelle


Adapted Screenplay
"American Sniper," Written by Jason Hall; Based on the book by Chris Kyle with Scott McEwen and Jim DeFelice

"Gone Girl," Screenplay by Gillian Flynn; Based on her novel

"Guardians of the Galaxy," Written by James Gunn and Nicole Perlman; Based on the Marvel comic by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning

"The Imitation Game," Written by Graham Moore; Based on the book Alan Turing: The Enigma by Andrew Hodges

"Wild," Screenplay by Nick Hornby; Based on the book by Cheryl Strayed


Documentary Screenplay
"Finding Vivian Maier," Written by John Maloof & Charlie Siskel

"The Internet’s Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz," Written by Brian Knappenberger

"Last Days in Vietnam," Written by Mark Bailey & Kevin McAlester

"Red Army," Written by Gabe Polsky

Here's Why You Should Find Your Home In Other People

0
0
Up until now, Blue Hawaii has consisted of two members: Alex "Agor" Cowan and Raphael "Ra/Raph" Standell-Preston. The pair first met at Agor and his brother's now shut-down Montreal loft and venue, Lab Synthèse, a locale that provided space for emerging musicians such as Grimes, Majical Cloudz and Tops. Raph and Agor immediately started dating, which led to a multi-year relationship of living together, world traveling, cheating on each other and eventually romantically breaking up simultaneously with the release of their 2013 album "Untogether." The album art was originally going to just have a picture of New Zealand swimmers, but ended up consisting of faded versions of the two hugging each other. The ending of their personal relationship surrounding the release became the focus.

And then they went on a multi-year tour together.

Agor's just released "Agor Edits" comes out of this tour, where the two ended up improvising their pre-existing songs to fit the various cultures they would encounter around the globe. This will be the last release from Blue Hawaii for a while, as Raph will focus on her other project, BRAIDS, for that band's album in 2015. By the end of the year, Blue Hawaii may be more of an amorphous project with solo DJ songs from Agor and female vocalists other than Raph. The pair was once described as "the two islands of Blue Hawaii" by Interview Magazine, but despite all that has happened and is happening, these two islands are actually closer than they seem.

blue hawaii

In an interview with HuffPost Entertainment, Agor described the specialness of Arbutus -- the label that rose out Lab Synthèse -- which hinged partly on how it was "very much based on a close, tight-nit geographical situation." At the end of our discussion, it was brought up that in a previous back-and-forth interview Blue Hawaii had with another musician, Doldrums, Agor seemed to go off script. "Do you think that it's important for people to stick together or does it make most sense to chase after things in your best interest as a person?" he asked. Agor was willing to answer this question himself and said:

I think if you're trying to be successful at the same time as balance a kind of community, it's just important to know your goals before you set out on your path. Just lay out clearly what it is that you're prepared to do and not prepared to do. I think if you want to be successful at all costs, then that's fine, and you should just kind of make that clear with the people that you're working with ... Personally I live more of a life really intertwined with the people around me. I think both are totally valid ways of living and if you plan on doing one or the other, it's just important to let everyone know, so no ones surprised.


Agor and Raph have gone around the world entering other people's spheres, where they've shaped their own music to fit the various ears. They've played for people and more people and more people, all of whom have had different tastes in different rooms. In a previous interview with AdHoc, Agor talked about one hangout at a friend's in Germany where at their family dinner with German grandmas, house and techno played and "no one batted an eye, it was really normal there." The two have become experts in entering uncertain spaces.

Perhaps it'd seem as if there was no exit to the pain of a breakup if you ended up touring with that person around the world. But sometimes, home is other people too. Settle down in a Blue Hawaii and see where you end up.

This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.


The name "Blue Hawaii" evokes an idyllic, but perhaps unattainable home. Agor has yet to find one himself.

blue hawaii

Earlier this year in an interview with PopGun, Agor mentioned that "lately [he's] really been wanting to find a home." He hasn't had much luck finding a location yet.

Agor: (Laughs) Yeah, definitely, like, destined to roll around the Earth for a while longer I think. I'm kind of blessed and cursed with so many opportunities that it becomes difficult to stay put. I have a European passport and a U.S. work visa and I'm a Canadian citizen so I can pretty much live anywhere. And I've found that the opposite has kind of happened where I just don't live anywhere because I can live anywhere. Just like with touring and all this stuff, it's very easy for me to not really settle down. I haven't really found a spot. I'm going up to L.A. and want to spend some time in the States, but I have not found a home.





Blue Hawaii started on a Montreal record label that Agor founded with his brother after their loft venue was shut down. The label was based on that community.

452472646

Agor: I was going to university in Montreal and my brother came from England and we just started this loft together. We had shows and that's kind of where everyone met, like Grimes and Sean [Nicholas Savage] and Majical Cloudz and Tonstartssbandht. All these bands that at some point released under Arbutus. We all kind of started by playing shows at this loft. And when it got shut down by the cops I think Seb just wanted a way to keep the music alive (laughs), so he did that by starting a record label. That's when I started the band with Raph and it's all kind of history from there.

Since some of the artists from this loft scene have gone on to become huge music stars, it could be assumed that some jealousy may exist within the group. But Agor thinks it's just "awesome how people that make different styles of music can be really good friends and get along."

A: I think the relationship kind of comes from the fact that we're all just friends. And less so based on that our musical styles are that similar. And that's what made it different from other labels I think. Take a label like Captured Tracks or Young Turks or something and those ones have a very clear vision of the style of music that they release. I think for Arbutus it was more based on the fact of geography and that we knew each other, which is really cool. Then the only disadvantage to that is when the bands start to outgrow the record label and start to move away, you kind of lose what it is that gave the record label its identity in the first place -- which is basically having everyone together there as friends.

Image: Getty



Their 2013 album, "Untogether," was named after Raph and Agor's breakup, which coincided with the album's release. But "Untogether" ended up bring the two closer.

"It's just this sort of opposite little trick that happened."

blue hawaii

Agor: (Regarding the album art) Yeah that was decided very much with regards to the title. I think initially the cover was going to be some swimmers in New Zealand and I was like, "OK, that's an OK cover, but this means a lot more." Just the idea of holding somebody, but not really getting at what is going on at their core and their essence and kind of missing something really essential. Unless they're kind of hugging right through that and wanting to hold on to the past, but it being illusory. A lot of demons come out in that cover art for sure.

The breakup and the album happened together.

A: Like at exactly the same time as the release. Which is also why it's called "Untogether." Because we were living together and making the album and dating, but not really being together. I also think it's just kind of this ironic thing that happened, like we released [the album] and by releasing it and touring it, we actually managed to get a lot closer together. It's just this sort of opposite little trick that happened.



Eventually, the end of Raph and Agor's relationship also marked the beginning of the band becoming more professional.

"Not dating definitely helps us treat the music more seriously I think."

blue hawaii

The band was basically just a side project in their minds until the release of "Untogether" in 2013.

Agor: I think that until maybe a year and a half ago, until we really broke up, we never really took the band that seriously anyway though. It was just kind of something we were doing. I was working in this art gallery and living in Montreal and we were kind of just making music on the side. It wasn't something I was like doing for my life. And then, ironically, when we broke up is kind of when I started to take it more seriously. We do tour now and we're a lot more like a professional band now that we're not actually dating. So I think that it kind of helps it in some ways, because, I don't know, we have this thing that keeps us together that's in some ways just different than a relationship. I think we have many, many kinds of relationships with each other and the music is just one of them, but not dating definitely helps us treat the music more seriously I think.





Blue Hawaii's sound reshaped while on tour as the band improvised their electronic setup to different cultures.

TK TK gifs

Agor: I think the reason why our music maybe changed from more of a minimal or more relaxed kind of sound on a recording to being a fairly energetic, more like a rave, party kind of situation live, was because we were touring so much in those developing music markets. We needed to find a way to really connect with everyone, kind of like viscerally. And by having the music be danceable, I guess it was kind of immediate in a way that it didn't require people to understand the lyrics and even really know our music that well before getting into it ... It was just really cool because people would go crazy for that stuff in like Mexico and Russia, parts of Asia, and then bringing it back to America and some parts of Western Europe it's just interesting to see the differences in people's reactions and how the energy changes depending on the market.

Blue Hawaii's style of improvisation is almost like the early days of jazz halls where musicians would keep playing and extend sections to fit the mood of the dancers.

A: I think that it's always just important to create the music that you are currently really feeling. I think beyond trying to make music that will work in different cultural settings, we just made music that was working for us and one of the main reasons why we developed the sound we did live was just coming out of improvisation. We went on tour with this band, Purity Ring, last year and we didn't have a full set, we just had like three songs that I made doing really short loops off the album and would add techno drums on top from like techno songs and then we just kind of jammed out the rest of the set ... We just kept on jamming and kept on jamming and Raph eventually wrote words and it all just kind of developed live. A reaction to needing to have material and kind of not having it. And just kind of being this strange electronic, almost jam band, which doesn't exist ... Improvising and kind of not knowing exactly where the night is going to take us and in that way reacting to the different cultures.





In 2015, Blue Hawaii may actually transition into more of a solo project with the same name.

blue hawaii

Agor: Raph is going to be spending 2015 with Braids and I'm going to take things in a certain direction where the project can be understood more as production and a DJ sort of project as well as what Raph and I do together. I think, ideally, I get to a point where I'm releasing more of these mix-tape style things that aren't even only Raph singing on them. Like I work with other vocalists to kind of maintain that dreamy sound that is Blue Hawaii, but expand it to include more vocalists and also some instrumental stuff and basically just turn the project into more my own thing. Just to kind of give room for Raph. I guess she's going to be playing the year with Braids and then when we get back together to be able to record, probably in late 2015 or something like that, there'll be a platform that will have grown so Blue Hawaii won't just be where it left off. It'll be somewhere new.

I've thought about it being a multi-disciplinary project, not just like Raph and I together, but also Raph singing [solo] and also instrumental stuff. Kind of like, I don't know, The xx and Jamie xx. I really respect the way they've been able to do that.

The band may be staying together in some capacity in the future.

A: I think that we'll still be writing songs at that point ... When Raph comes back and we get back together and we write songs, I think at that point we'll decide if they're going to be Blue Hawaii or they'll be something like Raph's solo stuff that I'm producing, maybe. We'll kind of assess it when it gets to that point.



Despite their past and what comes of the future, Raph and Agor found they at least hadn't lost each other after all their touring around the world.

"It's kind of like having a home in each other wherever we'd be."


TK TK gifs

Agor: It's definitely an odd thing to knowingly go into a situation where we spend tons of time, like in close quarters with each other, after having dated. But I think even though we're not dating, it's just so, I can't even express or stress how nice it is, to be near somebody that you do trust and hold dear in a situation or in a world where things are constantly changing. I think part of it is just, we know we like each other and trust each other and that means warmth. And it's kind of like having a home in each other wherever we'd be, we still, we just became such good friends that it was like, yeah I'm bringing a little piece of home, especially to all these crazy places that we got to go to.



Top Image: Arbutus. Unless otherwise noted, all other images Facebook of Blue Hawaii

Comedians React To Charlie Hebdo Shooting With Shock, Sympathy And Support For Satire

0
0
"For those who would trivialize the idea, this was what an actual attack on freedom looks like."

Those are the words of former editor of the The Onion, Joe Randazzo, in reaction to the horrific shooting of a dozen people, which included satirists, cartoonists and innocent bystanders, at French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo on Wednesday.

Randazzo penned a response for MSNBC in which he reflected on casual jokes his staff used to make about a similar situation happening at one of America's most established satirical newspapers, one that has made light of threats of terrorism against comedians in the past.

"Our joke at The Onion was, like most of our jokes, borne out of some reality. We received hateful letters and emails on a semi-regular basis. I’ve personally spoken on the phone with at least two individuals who threatened to rape me and kill my family. At one point, we even had to call the police. But I never could have imagined anything like this," he wrote.

The current staff of The Onion commented on the shooting with a new article posted Wednesday afternoon:




Charlie Hebdo paid dearly for its daring political cartoons that often satirized Jihadists and Islamic extremism, but the worldwide comedy community stands by them in protecting the right to free speech. Scroll down for some of the most poignant reactions on Twitter so far.

Sienna Miller To Slip Into Broadway 'Cabaret'

0
0
NEW YORK (AP) — Sienna Miller will step up to play the fishnet-and-bowler hat wearing chanteuse Sally Bowles on Broadway.

Roundabout Theatre Company said Wednesday that Miller will take over from Emma Stone on Feb. 17 and play the final six weeks of the show's run through March 29. Michelle Williams last year made her Broadway debut in the role, handing it to Stone on Nov. 11. The current revival of the revival that ran from 1998-2004 also stars Alan Cumming as Emcee, Linda Emond and Danny Burstein. It's directed by Sam Mendes and co-directed and choreographed by Rob Marshall.

Miller, who is currently co-starring in Clint Eastwood's "American Sniper," made her Broadway bow in Patrick Marber's "After Miss Julie" and starred in the 2011 West End revival of Terence Rattigan's "Flare Path."

Set in 1931 Berlin, "Cabaret" centers on the world of the indulgent Kit Kat Klub as it becomes intertwined with the world outside, which gets more precarious on the brink of World War II. The songs by John Kander and Fred Ebb include "Willkommen" and "Tomorrow Belongs to Me."

"Cabaret," both the Broadway show and 1972 film starring Liza Minnelli, Joel Grey and Michael York, are based on the 1951 Broadway play "I Am a Camera," which, in turn, was based on Christopher Isherwood's book "Goodbye to Berlin."

___

Online: http://www.roundabouttheatre.org

___

Mark Kennedy is at http://twitter.com/KennedyTwits

Meryl Streep Defends Russell Crowe's Remarks On Actresses

0
0
Russell Crowe evoked some Internet wrath this week when comments he made about actresses needing to find age-appropriate roles seemed to imply he thought ageism wasn't an issue in Hollywood. Crowe's remarks, which originated in an Australian Women's Weekly interview published before Christmas, named Meryl Streep and Helen Mirren as two women capable of finding fitting film parts.

"The best thing about the industry I'm in -- movies -- is that there are roles for people in all different stages of life," Crowe said. "To be honest, I think you'll find that the woman who is saying that [the roles have dried up] is the woman who at 40, 45, 48, still wants to play the ingénue, and can’t understand why she's not being cast as the 21-year-old."

Streep vouched for Crowe's sentiments during an "Into the Woods" press conference on Tuesday, clarifying that she thought his remarks had been taken out of context.

“The Russell Crowe thing, I’m so glad you asked about [it],” the 65-year-old Streep said. “I read what he said -- all of what he said. It's been misappropriated, what he was talking about. He was talking about himself. The journalist asked him, 'Why don’t you do another 'Gladiator,' you know, everybody loved that.' He said, 'I'm too old. I can't be the gladiator anymore. I'm playing parts that are appropriate to my age. Then the conversation went on to actresses. So that was proving a point, that he was talking about himself, as most actors do. That aside, I agree with him. It's good to live in the place where you are. [...] You can put old age on; it's a lot harder to take it off."

Watch Streep's full remarks below:



CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story misstated Streep's age as 64.
Viewing all 18485 articles
Browse latest View live




Latest Images