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Archivists In Paris Are Saving Poems And Drawings Left By Passersby

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PARIS (AP) — The city of Paris has decided to collect and archive the notes, poems and drawings left by passers-by on informal memorials at the sites of the Nov. 13 attacks, to keep the memory intact of the moving and spontaneous show of solidarity and compassion toward the victims.


The decision was made the week following the attacks that left 130 people dead, the director of the Archives of Paris, Guillaume Nahon, said Tuesday.


City teams this month have been carefully gathering the pieces of paper damaged by rain. They have also removed faded flowers and consumed candles and have taken photos of the changing memorials.


"We're trying to combine two objectives: to maintain these memorials during the time of grief and at the same time, to save the tribute notes," Nahon said.


Every day, new messages are left by passers-by, including lots of children drawings.





Hundreds of them are now drying out in the rooms of the Archives of Paris. They will be treated against mold and scanned in order to be available to scientists as well as the public on a future website.


"To Justine, a young girl full of life (...) I will keep in memory these moments of joy and adventure I've spent with you in Santiago de Chile," one letter says, written on a schoolbook page.


Other messages celebrated Paris' lifestyle and used the Eiffel tower or French flag as symbols of peace.


Someone wrote: "We'll keep living, laughing, singing together, refusing the Barbary that kills innocent peoples."


Archivist Mathilde Pintault said "it is important to keep track of the amount of tributes that have been left and the diversity of these tributes, some from children, from older people, from relatives of the victims, from anonymous people."





Archivist Audrey Ceselli told the AP she works with a "sense of urgency" but tries not to read the highly emotional notes in order to be able to do her job.


"To go there is difficult for us, as Parisians ... we are paying attention to the notes because they are fragile, but we don't focus on the substance for now," she said.


The operation is a first for the Archives of Paris. Most of the tributes left following the January attack against satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo have been lost. The city is now trying to gather some photos taken at the time.


Raphaelle Fontaine, 22 year-old student from southwest of France visiting Paris for a few days, felt the need to come to the Bataclan concert hall, the site of the deadliest attack on Nov. 13, to light a candle.


"It would have been even sadder to throw all these messages away. They are part of Paris' history. To me it's a way to keep the victims' memory alive," she said.


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'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' Is Where You Can Visit Old Friends And Feel Like You Never Left

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Many "Star Wars" fans vividly remember their early experiences with that galaxy far, far away, which makes it near impossible to recapture the magic that was born such a long time ago. Just ask anyone who camped out to see "The Phantom Menace" in 1999 and would now rather forget about podraces and the Trade Federation altogether. 


But with "Star Trek" maestro and "Lost" co-creator J.J. Abrams at the helm, faith was ostensibly restored. It's been three years since Disney acquired Lucasfilm and announced that a fresh "Star Wars" trilogy was on its way. As I sat down Tuesday night for a New York press screening of the franchise's first installment in a decade, I could summon no word but "surreal" to describe the sensation. Knowing that Han, Leia and (in some mysterious capacity) Luke would appear on the big screen for the first time since 1983 felt like returning home to the company of friends, albeit ones with a few extra wrinkles. And yet, knowing the prequels' fate, one can only ask for a new hope.


When the credits rolled after this brand-new "Star Wars," I wanted to cheer, just as the audience frequently did throughout its 135 minutes. Here, once again, were our movie pals, whom we thought we'd now see only in the old, familiar places (meaning sporadic television airings on Sunday afternoons). As the film ended, the child in me -- the one who once dressed as Darth Vader for Halloween and, yes, even had Jar Jar Binks pajamas -- knew instantly that he would never forget his first experience with "The Force Awakens." 



By my count, the audience cheered 16 times -- beginning with the Lucasfilm title card and ending with, well, I can't tell you what. I'm not here to spoil the movie, or even to talk much about its plot. No matter your stance on Internet pop-culture spoilers, some details are best left unsaid. But I will tell you that the moments to elicit the loudest delight involved the arrivals of characters who were first introduced nearly four decades ago. One of them is the Millennium Falcon, which Luke Sykwalker once called a "piece of junk" and Rey -- the franchise's agile new heroine, played by Daisy Ridley -- similarly refers to as "garbage." Another is Leia, once a princess but now a general sporting a fresh hairdo and flanked by a red-armed C-3PO and a sedate R2-D2.


But our gift for waiting patiently -- and licking up every spare plot morsel Disney handed out along the way -- comes in the form of Han Solo and Chewbacca. They are stars of "The Force Awakens." Rey and her reformed-Stormtrooper ally Finn, played by John Boyega, are the franchise's new generation of heroes, but for now, they'd be nowhere without the Falcon's accomplished co-pilots. As fun as it's been to see a once sour Harrison Ford re-embrace "Star Wars" during the movie's press tour, it's even more gratifying to revel in how nostalgically Abrams and Lawrence Kasdan wrote Han. "I've got a bad feeling about this," Han tells Rey and Finn, recalling a frequent "Star Wars" line that he himself says inside the trash compactor in "A New Hope" and while dangling over the Ewoks' fire pit in "Return of the Jedi." Han, he of little "hokey" faith, is also the one to enlighten Rey and Finn about the past, before the wicked First Order replaced the Empire. "The crazy thing is, it's true -- the Force, the Jedi, all of it," he says with a hint of longing. "It's all true."



Han is a proxy for the audience, amazed that he's made it this far in the galaxy's history. Even naysayers become disciples sometimes. And that is the beauty of "The Force Awakens": It stands in awe of its predecessors, and without being corny, it is allowed to exist within a wistful framework. It is paced much like the films of the original trilogy, and its humor is even more riotous. Abrams employs reverence without making it a gimmick. The movie would rather plant an orbit for the many installments yet to come. To accomplish that, it needs to remind us of the story's history -- that, anyway, is where its power lies, which George Lucas forgot when he made the prequels. And to avoid dependency on the "Star Wars" of yore, it builds a new mythology in order to move ahead. 


Along the way, callbacks are sprinkled throughout -- in the visuals, the dialogue and the music, oh, the music! Han takes Finn and Rey to the elaborate home of an "old friend" named Maz Kanata, a motion-capture alien played by Lupita Nyong'o. Entering Maz's palace is like being transported back to Mos Eisley, even down to the way the scene is shot and edited, with rapid-fire glimpses of the new cantina's many odd inhabitants. In another scene, Rey uses a timeless Jedi mind trick to convince a Stormtrooper to drop his weapon, just like Obi-Wan Kenobi did when he insisted "these are not the droids you're looking for." Han also calls back to one of the franchise's most famous scenes when he asks, "Is there a garbage chute? Trash compactor?" while looking to vanquish a villain. Maybe it all becomes a bit too on the nose after a while, but who cares when it's this much fun? And, speaking of villains, you'll find ample references to Darth Vader and the Death Star, yet Kylo Ren and his massive Starkiller Base are entities unto themselves. The sneering cadence Adam Driver gives Ren is pretty special. (And yes, after all that speculation, you'll find out soon enough what Luke is up to. I won't say anything more about that right now.)


You'll notice I haven't mentioned many flaws in "The Force Awakens." It's not because they don't exist. (The second half moves too quickly, making the action feel slightly smothering.) It's because, after so many years without these cinematic companions, it is fantastic to witness them again as they exist in our memories. So few characters who return to the big screen get the revivals they deserve, both in and outside of "Star Wars." That we can spend a few brisk hours with these and walk away enlivened is worth eons of anticipation. Our pals have returned to our loving arms, and new ones -- looking at you, BB-8 -- have joined them. Chewie, we're home.


"Star Wars: The Force Awakens" opens Dec. 18.


 


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The Dangerous Beauty Of One Of The World's Most Invasive Plants

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Kudzu are a breed of spiraling, scaling, spreading vines native to Japan. The plants are, according to legend, the most invasive plant species in the world, possessed with the ability to climb over trees so quickly they suffocate and kill the branches and trunks they shade from the sun.


Somewhere between scientific fact and mythological folklore, the vine is known for its monstrous appetite and unstoppable pace. As Harper's Magazine's Willie Morris wrote: "I thought the whole world would someday be covered by it, that it would grow as fast as Jack’s beanstalk, and that every person on earth would have to live forever knee-deep in its leaves."


Swedish photographer Helene Schmitz is one of the many enraptured by the lush, tangled vines. "It can spread at a rate of 30 centimeters [nearly 12 inches] in 24 hours," she explained to The Huffington Post, "and a single plant can grow 18 to 60 meters [around 60 to 200 feet] during the hot summer months in the American South. According to local mythology, one has to shut the windows at night in order to stop the Kudzu from entering the buildings."



The Kudzu was gifted from Japan to the United States at the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, and Americans were taken with the hypnotic, coiling vines that seemed to subsume all in their sight. When botanists raised concerns about the potential deluge of leafage underway, the American people shrugged it off, entranced by the beauty of the all-consuming greens. In the 1950s, authorities officially began attempting to control the beastly flora, but the attempts were fruitless. Today, the plants yawn wildly across Southern landscapes and coil their way into Southern literature, fables and memories. 


As time went on, Kudzu became an inexorable aspect of Southern life. As Bill Finch wrote in the Smithsonian Magazine: "In a few decades, a conspicuously Japanese name has come to sound like something straight from the mouth of the South, a natural complement to inscrutable words like Yazoo, gumbo and bayou."


As you can see in Helene's photographs, the plants have taken on a certain Southern spookiness; like an abandoned haunted house with an unseen force within it, the plants appear dormant, but not lifeless. 



In 2012, Schmitz traveled throughout Alabama, Georgia, South and North Carolina with her camera, documenting with cinematic intensity the prowess of the invasive green beast. She develops and scans the images in Sweden, and uses the digital files to produce the final photographs. 


In the eerie black-and-white images, the colossal plants resemble fairy tale foliage, with lurking faces and limbs that could emerge at any minute. They look bewitching, seeming to hold the possibility of violence.


"I find the notion of a plant being 'invasive' intriguing," Schmitz said, "since the term is normally used to describe actions of war. Bringing war terminology into mankind’s relation to an individual plant and its germination might even describe something about our relation to nature itself. I am also captivated by the cinematographic sense in which Kudzu transforms the landscape into something resembling an apocalyptic film set."



In the end, Schmitz's images don't just capture the Kudzu themselves, but the entire mythology surrounding them -- the fascination, the fear, man's urge to control and mythologize nature. The Kudzu, or at least our understanding of them, concretize our ongoing relationship with the environment, one that is not a backdrop to our daily lives but an active player with incredible and unpredictable power. 


"I am interested in how the forces of nature, in a threatening and terrifying way, take over and destroy the fragile social edifices we've built in our vain need to control and dominate," Schmitz explains. Schmitz herself participates in the Kudzu's rapid proliferation, as the stories we tell about natural forces are yet another attempt to take control of the uncontrollable. 


Helen Schmitz's "Kudzu Project" was recently on view at Turn Gallery in New York. 



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'Crazy Ex-Girlfriend' Has Successfully Sung And Danced Into Our Hearts

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"Crazy Ex-Girlfriend" is the kind of unhinged former beau you hope sticks around.


Turns out we're not the only ones who think so. The CW, the show's home network, just gave the green light for a full season of episodes, and Rachel Bloom's funny, frenetic performance as Rebecca Bunch earned her a Golden Globe nod for Best Actress in a Television Series - Comedy. The show's ratings make its long-term future uncertain, but if Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic scores were the metric for renewal, this one would be a sure bet.


When The Huffington Post caught up with Bloom after the Golden Globes nominations announcement, the star who first garnered attention with viral videos (her illicit ode to a sci-fi legend stands out) was commemorating the event in a pretty relatable way. "So far, I celebrated with a shower ... I was waiting for the nominations and have been kind of non-stop talking to reporters and doing press ever since." Even if attention gets in the way of her hygiene schedule, she's grateful for it. "It's a crazy, wonderful time. Probably one of the best mornings, if not the best morning, of my life."


"I called my co-creator Aline [Brosh McKenna], thinking I was going to wake her up with the news," said Bloom, after receiving the nomination. "She'd been watching the broadcast, too. We were both saying we were gonna play it cool, but we were like 'I didn't play it cool, did you?' 'I didn't either!'"





"Crazy Ex-Girlfriend" is similar to its Monday night successor "Jane the Virgin" in that it's an hour-long comedy that thrives within an unconventional format -- where "Jane" mastered the telenovela, "Crazy" takes on the sometimes-musical, with about two original songs in each episode. As a fan of both songs and outrageous situations (In the pilot, Rebecca moves from New York to West Covina, California, after learning her summer camp boyfriend is moving back), I was hopeful when I'd heard of the show's conceit, yet skeptical. Two high-quality original songs per episode was a tall order. I had fallen for the beginnings of "Glee" -- featuring mere covers -- and got burned by the show's nonsensical plot and eventual mediocrity. Would this show do the same?


My fears were unfounded. While the plot asks that our belief occasionally be suspended, Bloom's high-energy performance and bang-up supporting cast (Donna Lynne Champlin and Santino Fontana play just two of the many great foils) make the viewer a willing participant in the song-and-dance that is this high-powered lawyer's high-powered breakdown. The songs, from the relentlessly catchy ode to pre-date lady grooming called "The Sexy Getting Ready Song," to the Nicki Minaj-inspired "I Give Good Parent," are highlights of the show and add rather than detract; they serve to explain plot moments and character traits that lie beyond the bounds of mere spoken word.



"The show's a fucked-up romantic comedy," Bloom explained. "You know, someone moving across the country to be with their ex-boyfriend, and it's like, 'Oh, no, that's not a romantic thing at all!' ... Someone who makes that decision is probably suffering from at least anxiety and depression." The treatment of the main character's mental health is, like the catchy songs, another thing the show does with originality and honesty. "A person who does that, who really falls into the escapism of infatuation, chances are they're not a happy person to begin with," said Bloom.


On screen, we see Rebecca go from happily assuring her new acquaintances she's totally fine, and totally not in love with said ex-boyfriend, Josh, to a few episodes later, when she's talking to an imaginary Dr. Phil and singing about having a sexy French depression. And yet, mental illness isn't trivialized -- Dr. Phil merely takes the place of Rebecca's own disparaging internal monologue, and glimpses of her past explain some of her current erratic tendencies. The show even addresses the trope in its "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend" title during the theme song. "It's a lot more nuanced than that," Rebecca chastises the cartoon sun who sings it at her.


"Aline and I are such feminists. We always created the show from a feminist perspective," Bloom explained, when asked about the title. "I don't know what else we would have called the show! 'Rebecca'? 'Moving to West Covina'? I don't know what that show is." 


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Bard College President Allegedly Referenced Nazi Rally In Sexual Assault Discussion

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A group of students filed an additional sex discrimination complaint against Bard College this month over past remarks the college president allegedly made about sexual assault.


The students, calling themselves the Bard Anti-Sexual Assault Initiative, allege the college violated the gender equity law Title IX when Bard President Leon Botstein made "victim-blaming comments" because of his role in handling sexual assault complaints.


In one instance, students allege Botstein invoked a Nazi reference in discussing a drunk woman being attacked, though the college said as they described it, it's a "gross distortion."


The complaint with the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights is the second to be filed against Bard, a liberal arts school in Annandale-On-Hudson, New York. A woman who said the college mishandled her sexual assault case submitted a federal complaint in November. In that case, Bard initially disregarded its own policy about how students deemed guilty of sexual assault would be punished. 


In an April 14 open house event cited in the new complaint, Botstein was asked about his role as final arbiter of college sexual assault cases. Three students who were present told The Huffington Post that during the discussion about sexual assault he commented: "You have to use common sense. A girl drinking a bottle of vodka and then going to a party is as wise as me walking into a Nuremberg Rally while wearing the yellow badge."


Botstein is Jewish and his family lost members in the Warsaw Ghetto in Nazi-occupied Poland. He has written about Jewish European culture, and as conductor of the American Symphony Orchestra he has celebrated the works of musicians whose careers Nazi rule interrupted. Botstein has served as Bard's president since 1975. 


At that April open house, Botstein then allegedly continued to emphasize that it's not the college's role to police the "personal lives" of its students, according to those three students present, and that sexual assault is something that exists in students' "private" lives. The students asked to remain anonymous out of fear of retaliation on campus. 



One student said she responded, "You can't equate sexual violence to intimacy. It's about power," to which she recalled Botstein exclaiming, "Oh, she's already a philosopher!"


"The event you are referring to was a regular open house with students in which there were informal discussions back and forth between students, the president, and others," said Mark Primoff, Bard spokesman. "[The] characterizations of the setting and his statements are gross distortions and bear no resemblance to his views on sexual assault."


A female student who was present at the April open house event said she believes she was denied a fair investigation in her sexual assault case with the college because of Botstein's role and his views. She had reported a sexual assault to Bard on April 14, the day of the open house, which launched a school investigation. In June, she received a letter stating that there was not enough materials presented to support a preponderance of evidence that the accused student committed sexual violence. It was signed by Botstein. 


OCR has shown a willingness to determine a school violated Title IX based on public statements, like at the University of Virginia. The agency said a dean's comments about the school's reluctance to expel students who commit sexual violence caused other students to believe UVA "does not take complaints of sexual misconduct seriously" and are, therefore, less likely to report their assault.


As of Dec. 9, the Education Department had 192 cases open for investigation at 157 colleges and universities over how they handled sexual assault cases. Twenty-three of those schools are in New York. The department has yet to determine whether it will investigate Bard. 


The Bard students who filed the complaints told HuffPost they are organizing on campus to plan for activism in the spring 2016 semester. Fall semester classes have concluded for 2015. 


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Tyler Kingkade covers higher education and sexual violence, and is based in New York. You can contact him at tyler.kingkade@huffingtonpost.com, or find him on Twitter: @tylerkingkade.


 



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Designers Imagine An Eco-Friendly World Where Waste Is Fashionable

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Hey, readers! Your friendly Huffington Post Arts & Culture fashion forecast here.


While other style sites may be preaching the trending glory of black lipstick and sheer tops, we have a hot tip that will surely set you apart from the pack. Cow intestines. Pig entrails. Yes, girl, I'm talking meat waste -- stripped, tanned, and slung around you're neck like you're a bohemian butcher about to hit the club.


"Hidden Beauty -- Inner Skins" is the latest project from Studio Gutedort, fronted by Germany-based textile designers Eva Schlechte and Jennifer Hier, whose work explores the intersection between nature and culture. Their art-meets-science-meets-fashion ventures revive forgotten materials and methods, bringing them contemporary relevance.


This particular project aims to illuminate the beauty and value in the meat parts most often left behind. Everyone loves leather but rarely do pig entrails end up on the pages of Vogue.



To prepare their meat products for the runway, the artists first clean and chemically acidify the innards, then tan them in vegetable tanning liquor for around two months. Finally, the pieces are dipped in three different types of fat, acidified once again, and colored to get that signature bloody animal carcass hue. 


The intestinal accessories harken back to a time when innards were all the rage, when, as The Creators Project reminded us, "kids played with pig bladder balloons, soldiers used raw animal bowel as swimming belts, and doctors stitched people up with sheep bowels." Don't you miss that time?


But to be real, there is an earthly beauty to the textured accessories, which resemble a leathery cousin of kelp. Toying with our instincts of attraction and repulsion, Studio Gutedort illuminates an eco-friendly world where waste is beautiful.



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Bolshoi Ballet Documentary Explores World Of Beauty And Violence

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MOSCOW (AP) — On the stage of the Bolshoi Theater, the dancers were all elegance and grace, leaping through the air and lifting their partners with seemingly little effort.


But up close in a rehearsal hall a few days before the performance, prima ballerina Maria Alexandrova and the other lead dancers were emotional, quarrelsome and at times gasping for breath from the sheer athleticism that ballet demands.


This inner, turbulent world of Moscow's famed ballet company is the subject of a new documentary film centered on a shocking 2013 acid attack that nearly blinded the company's artistic director and sent a star dancer to prison.


"Bolshoi Babylon" explores the infighting and political intrigue that culminated in the attack, including the extent of Kremlin involvement in the state theater. But most of all, the film celebrates the resilience of the dancers and the efforts by the Bolshoi to heal and restore its reputation.



The theater was torn apart when artistic director Sergei Filin had acid thrown in his face while returning home on a snowy January night and a popular soloist was arrested on charges of organizing the attack.


Pavel Dmitrichenko was found guilty after a bizarre trial that often focused less on the crime than on Filin's divisive management of the ballet company and his casting decisions. Among those to testify in Dmitrichenko's defense was principal dancer Nikolai Tsiskaridze, who had been publicly critical of the Bolshoi management and had been maneuvering to take over the theater himself. He was fired in the aftermath of the attack.


Alexandrova, the prima ballerina, said it was painful to watch the company being split into camps. She said she refused to take sides because it would have been inconceivable to betray dancers she had known since they were all children.


"They were all my partners. I danced with all of them, with Tsiskaridze, Filin and Dmitrichenko," she said over a coffee latte and fresh orange juice after a rehearsal. "We grew up together."



What fascinated filmmakers was that each of the figures engaged in the power struggle within the Bolshoi had powerful, rich and politically connected backers on the outside who wanted to influence the theater.


The Bolshoi has a special status in Russia, where it is considered a national treasure and a symbol of Russian culture if not of Russia itself. And as a state theater, it has close links to the Kremlin.


"It's hard to imagine that in a theater as famous as La Scala in Milan, for instance, you'd have the president or the head of the government summoning the new director to his office to discuss the theater. Or that you'd have ministers who are behind the scenes kind of lobbying to try to make sure that their candidate is the head of the ballet company," said Mark Franchetti, a veteran Moscow-based British journalist who produced and co-directed the film. "That's what the Bolshoi is like."


The film asks whether the Bolshoi is a mirror of Russian society, where corruption flourishes. Bolshoi general director Vladimir Urin, who was brought in after the attack, speaks openly in the film about the need to curb government interference and make sure "the most talented dancer will dance."



Franchetti said the emotional nature of some of the dancers and the drama inside the theater also struck him as very Russian. On the other hand, he said, he found the world of the Bolshoi ballet to be "quite hermetically sealed," inhabited by 250 dancers obsessed with their art.


"We live in a complex country, which puts its mark on everything," Alexandrova, who features in the film, said during the interview. "And it's a complex theater made up of beautiful, strong, ambitious people with strong characters. We have no other kind here."


In the week before Alexandrova was to perform "A Legend of Love," she and the four other lead dancers ran through the full ballet in a rehearsal hall. Their bodies glistened with sweat and their chests heaved from the physical exertion. When a lift or combination was less than perfect, tempers flared.


The film's director, Nick Read, said it was this exertion and emotion that impressed him the most. Ballet is usually shot from a wide angle, but he decided to move in close to show the dancers at work.


"A lot of the material is there to eulogize their incredible physicality and ability and determination and dedication," Read said, speaking from London.


In contrast to the dancers, Filin does not come off well in the film.



"He's a very closed character, a very evasive and ultimately divisive character," Read said, noting that it was only when filming was in its final stages that Filin agreed to be interviewed.


Filin describes managing the ballet company as emotionally trying, thankless and "hellishly hard work." He ends by saying he regrets ever taking the job.


After the filming was finished, the Bolshoi announced that Filin's contract will not be renewed when it expires in March. He will be replaced by Makhar Vaziev, who directed the ballet at the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg before moving to La Scala in 2009.


Alexandrova said she has great respect for Vaziev.


"To leave sunny, warm Italy, where everything is different — sunny, open and calm — and to choose Russia, where nothing is calm. That's an extraordinary step," she commented.


_____


"Bolshoi Babylon" airs on HBO on Dec. 21 at 9 p.m. EST.


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Watch 100 Years Of Popular Toys In Under 3 Minutes

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Gift-giving season is upon us, and parents everywhere are scouring the Internet and local stores for the year's most in-demand toys and games.


In this new video, Mode looks back over a century of playthings and puts a spotlight on some of the most popular toys of the past ten decades.


From the spinning top to the Cabbage Patch Kids doll to the self-balancing "hoverboard," the world of popular toys has certainly evolved.


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26 Gifts For Anyone Who Loves Stationery

Modern Film Adaptations Of Jane Austen, Ranked

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Dec. 16 is Jane Austen’s 240th birthday, and in the past two centuries, her seminal novels have been read and reread passionately by generations. More than that, however, they’ve captured the imagination of the culture in a way few other authors’ works have. Like Shakespeare, Austen has had her work adapted into major motion pictures, sequels, TV series and so much more.


Most notably, Austen’s novels are so recognizable and relatable that they’ve been repeatedly adapted as modern reimaginings -- not all of them successful. Look, I get it. It’s tough to update Jane Austen’s novels for the present day. We still read them, and long to retell them, because they feel so deeply universal; their themes of love, family, duty, judgment and prejudice resonate across the centuries.


They are also, however, very much novels of their time: They satirize the specific, rigid social dynamics and restrictions of Austen’s era. Plots that hinge on sexist inheritance laws and archaic courtship codes simply don’t translate to an age when inheritance laws are generally gender-neutral, women don’t need a dowry to get married or support themselves, and a man breaking a loveless engagement isn’t a sign of his caddishness.


Perhaps it’s no surprise, then, that the most successful Austen updates take liberties with the superficial details when necessary, focusing more on maintaining the spirit of each work. If Austen were writing Pride and Prejudice today, she likely wouldn’t have written about a family with five young sisters whose mother is desperately trying to marry them all off before the age of 22; a single, 32-year-old single girl struggling with both career and dating prospects provides a more current lens for critiquing social expectations and norms.


Most importantly, modern adaptations shouldn't focus on transposing the sappy romances to the modern day. At heart, these books care about class divides, women's oppression, and other substantive issues -- or at least an acute sense of the absurdities of society. A movie that shows a modern couple named Elizabeth and Darcy going through the steps of falling in love while losing the underlying humor and painful life learning that the book depicts would not be a worthy update. That said, I like to think there are at least a few modern movie versions of her novels Austen wouldn't faint after viewing.


Here are eight modern film reimaginings of Jane Austen novels, ranked in order of descending cringeworthiness (spoilers literally everywhere):


8. Lost in Austen (2008), based on Pride and Prejudice



The Good: 


This is at the bottom of the list, but it’s sort of an interesting concept. Our heroine, Amanda Price, a passionate fan of Pride and Prejudice who can’t find a modern romance to suit her Darcy-honed views of courtesy and wit, finds herself switching places with Elizabeth Bennet via a magical door. She finds she doesn’t fit into that world quite as well as she thought.


The Bad:


What actually results is a three-hour-long Mary Sue fanfiction, in which our obnoxious and dimwitted protagonist somehow bewitches every man (and some women) she meets, from Bingley to Darcy, and must constantly refuse amorous advances to ensure things “go right.” Amanda doggedly devotes herself to the task of ensuring everything goes as it should in the book, despite the heroine of the book being AWOL, and proceeds to make everything far worse. What could foster the delicate flame of romance more effectively than shouting, “But you must fall in love with Jane Bennet! It’s your duty! That’s just what happens!” at someone? Of course, suddenly lunging at Bingley and trying to stick her tongue down his throat seems even more counterproductive, but Amanda tries that as well, for reasons that remain unclear. Things only go downhill from there, such as when Amanda totally gives up pretending she doesn't know everything that should happen to these people who think they're leading a normal, non-fictional life, and starts saying insane things to people like, "The funny thing is, you're actually going to marry Elizabeth Bennet, but she's not here." OK, OK, sure, I believe you, just sit down quietly while I wrap you in this special coat with arm restraints!


What Would Jane Think?


Most irritating would likely be the disappearance of any social satire; even though Amanda soon finds out she’s not as good at being courteous and proper as she’d imagined, she ultimately doesn’t seem to see substantive problems with the milieu Austen herself found deeply flawed -- she actually abandons the modern world to be Mr. Darcy’s trophy wife, even after he basically called her a slut for not being a virgin. Austen would be shocked by the weakness Bingley shows; he becomes a raging alcoholic after Jane marries Collins to save her family. Plus, Wickham is redeemed through a twist of the Georgiana storyline, despite the two other storylines in the novel through which his dastardliness is proven. Can you say “massive, gaping plot hole”?


7. Scents and Sensibility (2011), based on Sense and Sensibility



The Good:


Puns, of course! Also, fortunately, the plot doesn’t hinge on a sexist inheritance law, but on Mr. Dashwood being convicted of running a Ponzi scheme, ruining the family’s finances and reputation and leaving his wife and daughters unhireable. Meanwhile, Margaret’s expensive medical condition dictates that her older sisters find lucrative jobs. Not terribly likely as a set-up, but somewhat plausible! Good effort.


The Bad:


The tenuous plausibility unravels from there. Marianne's serious boyfriend, Willoughby, claims to have an important new job in Switzerland, yet there's no question of him helping his possible future sister-in-law obtain life-saving medicine with his purportedly huge paychecks. Fortunately, help is on the way! Marianne's homemade lotion, which looks sort of like Dannon raspberry-flavored yogurt and appears to be made of the same ingredients, turns out to magically heal everything from muscle strains to surface wounds (because science). Elinor’s boss Fran, the equivalent of the Dashwoods' cruel sister-in-law, makes a dastardly attempt to steal the miracle lotion formula in hopes of keeping her failing spa above water. But with the help of hunky Brandon, Marianne’s coworker, and Ed, a patent lawyer and Fran's brother, the lotion makes their fortune. Marianne drops her cheating boyfriend Willoughby. Fran is ruined, to great comic effect. Marianne and Brandon get married. Elinor and Ed fall in love. More magical lotion is in the offing. Probably they will cure cancer with lotion soon and everyone will get married. Ooookay, then! This would all be bad enough, but there are also plot holes galore. Yikes.


What Would Jane Think?


Austen would weep over an adaptation that abandons the razor-sharp wit and eloquent wisdom of Sense and Sensibility in favor of this version's unforgivably clunky dialogue. Some noteworthy lines: “This never would have happened if Dad hadn’t stolen money!” and “No, what you did was worse! You told me there were no jobs available at your office!” and “So, are we gonna cook up your little hobby?” ("Cook up your hobby"? Was the script written by Google Translate?) This version also makes Willoughby so unattractive and openly sleazy, and Brandon so hot and charming, that Marianne’s emotional arc toward valuing steadiness and sense is eliminated. Miss Austen would not approve.


6. From Prada to Nada (2011), based on Sense and Sensibility



The Good: 


Again, a somewhat believable premise -- after Mary and Nora’s father dies, they find he’s bankrupt, and they have to leave their decadent lifestyle to move in with their aunt in East Los Angeles. In place of the original critique of the misogynistic and class-obsessed British society of the 1800s, the movie highlights cultural and class tensions between the girls and their poorer Mexican neighbors, which infuses a new relevance into Austen’s depictions of prejudice and snobbery.


The Bad:


And yet ... the result is that Mary is portrayed as a rather racist, hateful girl who has no interests outside dating, getting her nails done, and going shopping. Somehow, we're supposed to believe that Bruno (Colonel Brandon), a smoldering artist with a heart of gold, falls for her after she repeatedly calls him a gang member and homeless due to his accent and inexpensive clothing. Plus, when adorable lawyer Edward kisses Nora, she rejects him because he’s the boss at a job she badly needs. So, of course, he goes out and gets engaged to some girl his sister knows just a few weeks later. What?? This isn’t the 19th century anymore -- why, exactly, doesn't he just have a rebound fling? Meanwhile, Nora shows her "sense" by putting up a sign advertising free legal advice even though she’s still in law school -- a violation of ethics, if not the law itself. Good thing she played it safe and didn't date the boss!


What Would Jane Think?


This shallow, nasty Mary is a far cry from Austen’s basically lovable but foolish girl. Does she have any redeeming qualities? Nora, meanwhile, doesn't seem exactly sensible, especially since she eventually commences her relationship with Edward by signing the deed to a house with him. A house. What could possibly go wrong?


5. The Lizzie Bennet Diaries (2012), based on Pride and Prejudice



The Good:


This web series takes the form of a vlog, which is sometimes irritating but occasionally captures the wit and charm that pervade Pride and Prejudice. Mr. Collins is recast as a potential business partner, who hires Lizzie’s more practical best friend Charlotte Lu after Lizzie idealistically refuses to take on a role in his digital media firm, an interesting modern twist on the Collins narrative. Lydia’s disgrace takes the form of a sex tape, which is given a more sensitive treatment than she gets in the novel. The racial diversity of the cast also offers a refreshing update.


The Bad:


Much of the acting is wooden, and the vlog format is somewhat abused. For example, Will Darcy and Bing Lee always seem to burst in to cause a dramatic scene right as Lizzie is recording her one five-minute vlog of the week. Hm. The plot line in which Darcy and Caroline convince Bing to dump Jane stays, but in a modern context it’s sort of baffling why such a good guy would dump his girlfriend via a tweet notifying her (and everyone) he’s moved across the country, even if his friends say she sucks. Additionally, Bing is purportedly a medical student. Has anyone on the show ever met a medical student? They really can't pull up stakes and move from city to city on a whim, guys. A little too much faithfulness to the original here.


What Would Jane Think?


She’d probably be a bit confused why people with these exact names were enacting one of her exact plots in a world in which she exists. Yes, Austen is mentioned in one of the first episodes. The plot holes would drive her nuts. Plus, Lizzie’s open mockery of her family on the Internet seems like exactly the sort of rudeness and lack of consideration Austen would despise, not like Lizzie’s more restrained archness.


4. Metropolitan (1990), based on Mansfield Park



The Good:


Rather than adhering to the plot of Mansfield Park, the book it’s inspired by, "Metropolitan" relies more on thematic parallels, which allows the characters to weave in some intriguing conversation about the book itself without any collapsing universe weirdness. It also successfully allows the film to update themes of hypocrisy and principle vs. passion to the New York upper class of the 20th century. Idealistic, middle-class Tom Townsend, a Princeton student, finds himself falling in with a band of uppercrust students during the winter debutante season, despite his reservations about the social scene. Quiet Audrey, a Fanny Price double who loves Mansfield Park, falls for him, though at first he has eyes only for popular, gorgeous Serena Slocumb.


The Bad:


Okay, it’s an odd, confusing movie with a wandering, directionless plot and mostly grating characters. Not exactly fun Friday night viewing with a bottle of wine.


What Would Jane Think?


She’d probably rue the dearth of laughs and the lack of a tight, well-designed plot, but I think she’d appreciate how the film considers the thematic elements of Mansfield Park and how they apply in the modern age. All in all, not bad!


3. Bride and Prejudice (2004), based on Pride and Prejudice



The Good:


Once again, racial prejudice stands in for the rigid social caste restrictions of Austen’s time -- more effectively this time. Will Darcy, an American businessman in town with his Indian-British friends Balraj and Kiran, finds lively, ambitious Lalita fascinating, but has offensive, stereotypical views about Indian women, at one point suggesting that his friends who’ve sought out Indian brides wanted their submissiveness and simplicity. Lalita’s refusal to marry for a green card and her desire for a professional life of her own, along with her liveliness, perfectly embodies a modern Lizzie. Her mother’s blatant matchmaking even makes it understandable why Darcy would persuade his friend Balraj to leave off his pursuit of Lalita’s sweet sister Jaya.


The Bad:


The Bollywood numbers inject vibrance and fun into the film, but sometimes my musical-hating heart wished they would stick to simple dialogue. Plus, why must filmmakers persist in having family members force engagements or relationships on adult men in these 21st century stories? It’s hardly convincing. When Darcy's mother invites a wealthy American woman to an event and introduces her to Lalita as his girlfriend, it's not a realistic bit of matchmaking; it's insanity.


What Would Jane Think?


I’d like to think (naively?) she’d love the application of her social critique to the racial dynamics between her own homeland, its offshoot America, and the land Britain colonized, though I have to imagine she’d find the musical numbers a bit overly sentimental at points.


2. Bridget Jones’s Diary (2001), based on Pride and Prejudice



The Good:


Bridget, our modern-day Lizzie, is a thoroughly believable character: She's fairly pretty, but given to overeating, over-drinking and not doing anything nice with her hair. She's 32, just at the age where everyone else is freaking out about whether she'll die alone. She wants to meet a nice man to date, but instead is drawn to rakish flirt Daniel Cleaver (Wickham), the ultimate sexy bad boy, who is convincingly attractive but unsurprisingly a huge cheater. She's a regular girl, with a stubborn tendency to speak her mind, who finds herself starting off on the wrong foot with reserved barrister Mark Darcy -- and it's quite understandable, and charming, to see how they're first repelled, then attracted, by the difference between her chaotic excess and his repressed dignity. Other plotlines, such as the Lydia/Wickham and Jane/Bingley stories, have wisely been jettisoned, allowing more room for Bridget and Darcy to flourish. Plus, we get to see Mr. and Mrs. Jones (Bennet) in a world where Mrs. Bennet could get fed up with her husband's quiet contempt and leave him for a career and an affair with a TV presenter, the closest we get to a Lydia/Wickham situation in this rendition.


The Bad:


Bridget is believable, and lovable, but frankly a bit Lydia-esque. It's hard to imagine her taking Lizzie's spot in the original novel; she'd certainly laugh too much in company and run away with Mr. Wickham, well-meaningly.


What Would Jane Think?


She would be shocked by Bridget's self-description as a "wanton sex goddess," and would mourn the loss of the more explicitly class-based commentary. Bridget's social awkwardness serves as a barrier to romance, rather than a modern alternative to class and poverty such as race in Bride and Prejudice, making for a more surface-level comedy.


1. Clueless (1995), based on Emma



The Good:


An appropriately free hand with the adaptation results in a plot that feels natural enough that it could have been an original movie -- the ultimate compliment. For example, protagonist Cher sets her sights on a conquest, much like Emma does with Frank Weston, but instead of her target being in a secret relationship, he turns out to be ... gay. A very modern situation faced by high schoolers! The dialogue possesses a sly wit, perhaps not enough to equal Austen, but clever enough to do her proud. Cher and her social scene are deftly skewered, yet she and her friends remain somehow endearing, just like Emma herself. All in all, "Clueless" is a delectable blend of high school social satire and romantic comedy; the execution is flawless.


The Bad:


Nothing. How dare you?


What Would Jane Think?


"My work here is done."


A version of this post was originally published last year.


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Photo Contest Honors Animals Who Just Can’t Get Their S**t Together

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Wildlife is majestic. Beautiful. Awe-inspiring.


Most of the time.


Sometimes, though, nature is just plain ridiculous, and luckily for us, we have photographers to prove it.


This is the first year of the Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards, a Tanzania-based competition meant to honor the world’s funniest wild animal photos. The grand prize winner gets a one-week photographic safari vacation in Tanzania, while first and second runners-up are awarded with fancy cameras.


The winners were announced last month, but the photos are resurfacing online this week, and we know you're up for crazy animal antics anytime. 



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What Happens When Parents Try To One-Up Each Other At Christmas

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"What lengths are you going to in order to make sure your children have the best, brightest, most perfect Christmas ever!? And is going to those great lengths making you into a passive aggressive b***h??"


These are the questions the funny ladies of The BreakWomb address in their newest video, "Best Christmas EVER!!!"


Between the over-the-top gifts, too-perfect Christmas cards and elaborate decorations, things can get a little competitive around the holidays. But as the moms learn, you shouldn't lose sight of what really matters. 


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Here's How To Win The 'Star Wars' Soundtracks On Vinyl

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"Star Wars" fans, it's time to dust off your record players. 


Sony Classical is reissuing all the original "Star Wars" Episodes I-VI soundtracks on vinyl. The music, all composed by John Williams, comes in a set of 11 LPs and will be released worldwide on January 8, 2016.


But if you don't want to wait that long, you can enter to win the collection before its public release, exclusively on The Huffington Post. All you have to do is enter your name and email below. (If you're having trouble seeing this widget on mobile, you can also enter here.) 










And if you're looking for a challenge, take our "Star Wars" music trivia quiz: 





Oh, and once you're done with that, feel free to have an imaginary fight in your garage with a lightsaber. (We hear it's good luck.) 




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A Card Trick To Explain Why Everyone Should Be A Feminist

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You don't need magic to see that the fight for gender equality is still an ongoing battle. Still, Hudson Taylor decided to use it to illustrate the importance of feminism.


In a video posted in July, the magician performs an ongoing card trick while talking about his own journey of understanding the realities of gender inequality. As Hudson offers information about the gender pay gap and the percentage of women affected by street harassment, he magically reveals cards from the deck with numbers that correspond with the statistics. Taylor then emphasizes that fighting for feminist ideals (aka human rights for people of all genders) shouldn't just be left to women.


"How can fathers and sons, husbands and brothers not be doing more?" he asks in the video. "At what point does complacency become complicity?"


Hudson hopes his video will help engage men as allies to the women who are negatively affected every single day by gender inequality.


"I believe that ending any form of discrimination cannot rest solely on the shoulders of those who are impacted by it," Taylor told HuffPost. "I believe that gender equality isn't an aspiration but a destination."


Nailed it.


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Merriam-Webster's Word Of The Year Says A Lot About The State Of America

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According to Merriam-Webster, this year has been the year of -isms. Feminism, socialism, racism, terrorism -- American rhetoric in 2015 was filled with the suffix. Or so says our country's "most trustworthy dictionary," which just deemed "-ism" its word of the year.


"A suffix is the Word of the Year because a small group of words that share this three-letter ending triggered both high volume and significant year-over-year increase in lookups at Merriam-Webster.com," the dictionary professed this week. It specifically identified the four -isms above as popular search terms, along with fascism, communism and capitalism. 


What might have prompted these searches?




















While there are 2,733 English words ending in -ism entered in Merriam-Webster’s Unabridged dictionary, these seven -isms accounted for millions of lookups in 2015. Merriam-Webster says that searches for "socialism" in 2015 have increased by 169 percent since last year, while searches for "racism" have increased by 50 percent and searches for "communism" increased by 38 percent.


The dictionary also notes that searches for terms like "terrorism" and "fascism" spiked after the attacks in Paris, Colorado Springs, and San Bernardino this year. 


"In November, some conservatives began using fascist to describe Trump’s proposals and style, and at the beginning of December, writers for Slate and The New York Times and a commentator on CNN all referred to Trump as a 'fascist,' sending many people to the dictionary."


Socialism and capitalism shared the No. 1 and 2 spots in Merriam-Webster's 2012 ranking of words, influenced by the popularity of the terms during Obama's reelection campaign. In 2008, the word was similarly relevant to the time period: it was bailout.


You can compare "-ism" to the words of the year chosen by Oxford and Dictionary.com, which are, respectively, the emoji known as "Face with Tears of Joy," or,  , and "identity."


Merriam-Webster bestowed honorable mention upon a few other terms -- marriage, hypocrite, respect, inspiration and ... minion. Yes, minion, referring to a small, yellow creature endemic to the world depicted in the 3D animated film "Minions," made the cut. 


 


Past Words Of The Year





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Artist Lip-Syncs Entire GOP Debate While Dressed As A Clown

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For anyone out there who watched Tuesday night's terrifying Republican debate in a state of total wonder and disbelief, artist Rachel Mason is here to make the already surreal experience a bit more trippy. 


Mason whipped out her handy Internet-based alter ego FutureClown to do what she does best, reenact the whole disastrous event. "I have just been mesmerized by the debates as a public spectacle," Mason told The Huffington Post, "and obviously with Donald Trump being a viable candidate, it really blurs the line between reality and fiction."


In the video above, Mason dons white face paint, sad clown makeup and a typical jester ensemble. Illuminated by an ominous red glow, FutureClown perfectly lip-syncs every word that came out of the mouths of Ted Cruz, Donald Trump, Ben Carson, Carly Fiorina, Chris Christie, Marco Rubio, Rand Paul, John Kasich and Jeb Bush. Yes, Mason achieved the near impossible task of making Trump look more clownish than he's already appeared.





You'll feel an indescribable urge to giggle and vomit when you see FutureClown, with the voice of Ben Carson, pronounce: "We need to make sure any place -- I don't care if it's a mosque, a school, a theater, it doesn't matter! If there are a lot of people getting there, engaging and radicalizing activities, we need to be suspicious of it. We need to get rid of all this PC stuff. People are worried about -- people are going to say that I'm Islamophobic or what have you. This is craziness!" 


Despite being very politically engaged, FutureClown will abstain from voting come the 2016 election. "FutureClown doesn't vote," Mason said. "I view candidates as people who are obsessed with winning. And candidates on both sides, left and right, have much more in common with each other than almost anyone else. It really is an outrageous thing to want to be the president of any country. I truly question the motivation of anyone that wants to do it. And that includes candidates whose views I support."


In the past, FutureClown has reenacted Wendy Davis and Rand Paul's Filibusters -- the latter timing in at 13 hours. She also mouthed a version of "Stairway to Heaven" in a Guitar Center with middle school students.


Mason's work recently appeared on "The F Word," a documentary on fourth wave feminist artists. Learn more about it here

 

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This Fat-Positive Pin-Up Calendar Is Everything

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A young female artist has created an entire pin-up calendar dedicated to fat positivity, and it's amazing. Jen Oaks, an illustrator from Oakland, California, published a 2016 calendar called "Minx!" on Monday, via her Instagram and Etsy accounts. 


The beautifully illustrated calendar book puts a spin on the classic pin-up archetype, featuring full-figured girls. And -- spoiler alert! -- you don't have to be thin to be incredibly sexy. On her Etsy page, Oaks wrote that her inspiration for the calendar came from "a fixation with '70s Playboy, Russ Meyer films, and the urge to illustrate some vintage clothing."


Below are just a few of the fun and flirty illustrations. See more images on Oaks' Instagram










 


 


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'Mozart In The Jungle' Asks An Age-Old Question: Is Classical Dead?

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"Is classical music dead?"


That's the first question classical music podcaster Bradford Sharpe (Jason Schwartzman) lobs at Thomas Pembridge (Malcolm McDowell), former conductor of the fictional New York Symphony, on Amazon's "Mozart in the Jungle."


On the show, a dramatic comedy following 26-year-old oboe player Hailey Rutledge's (Lola Kirke) struggle to earn a seat in the famous orchestra, Thomas calls the mere suggestion that classical music is dead "sheer and utter nonsense." He declares classical music "as vibrant now as it's ever been."


But the question is one the classical community has been asking itself for decades (if not centuries), and one "Mozart in the Jungle" flirts with often -- whether as obviously as Bradford's interview or more subtly.


At the crux of the show's first season is a young new conductor, Rodrigo De Souza (Gael García Bernal), whom the orchestra's financiers hope will breathe new life into their institution. Inspired by the real-life conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Gustavo Dudamel, Rodrigo is a rock star of a leader who mixes a tireless work ethic with his bohemian interests in culture and people. He hears music, somewhat cheesily, in the traffic on the street. But relating a centuries-old art form to people living modern lives is a real challenge for the classical music vanguard.


"One thing that the show does is it demystifies the concept of a bunch of fuddy-duddies who are worshipping the dead relics of bygone art," co-creator Paul Weitz told The Huffington Post. Professional classical musicians -- including Dudamel -- have approached their teams wanting to be involved with the show to reach younger fans, explained Weitz and Schwartzman, who also helped create the Golden Globe-nominated series along with Roman Coppola and Alex Timbers. In Season 2, Rodrigo conducts the L.A. Philharmonic -- the real L.A. Philharmonic -- on screen for a few minutes, a task for Bernal that Weitz said "involved a bit of tequila."



Classical musicians, Weitz explained, are "hoping the future of classical music does not involve vastly reduced audiences." So does everyone who loves the art form, which is why the question remains so hotly debated. In 2014, an article in Slate titled "Requiem: Classical Music In America Is Dead" set classical musicians, critics and fans off writingpassionaterebuttals. Another, "The Lost Art Of Listening," published in Australian newsmagazine The Monthly, decried Kids These Days, inspiring a spirited discussion in the comments.


Despite whatever troubling omens have presented themselves over the years -- aging audiences, new technology, changing middle-class tastes -- few believe the death of classical music is completely unavoidable. Funding -- be it public or private -- has always been able to tip the scales. A 1926 piece in The New York Times asked whether the day might come "when the public is as eager for orchestra music as it is for opera or theatre or moving picture" before diving into more encouraging facts, such as patterns of repeat concertgoers. Another, in 1969, bemoaned the problems of the "Big Five" orchestras in Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, New York and Philadelphia, arguing for increased federal funding. Decades later, Venezuela's El Sistema, the federal program that provides music education to underprivileged youth -- and produced Dudamel -- has successfully encouraged the art form.


But there are a hundred other points of debate in today's discussion on classical music's sustainability. Making a living as a musician is hard in every genre. The onus is on the next generation, who must reach out to their peers to share the merits of fine art. Classical isn't the only old-school institution facing challenges in the 21st century -- in the face of the Internet, so is the music industry at large. But the fact may stand that classical is unique: With its buttoned-up dress code and scheduled applause, it might be too dated and stiff.


"Mozart in the Jungle" contains all of these questions. To make ends meet, Hailey plays in the pit orchestra for a terrible rock musical on Broadway and gives private oboe lessons to privileged kids, going home to a sizable but inconveniently located apartment. She's thrown into the famous New York orchestra, bearing witness to its entertainingly colorful and sometimes incestuous forced-family dynamic, as Rodrigo's assistant. She socializes, albeit tangentially, with the wealthy, aging patrons who subsidize their art at a party. Her boyfriend, a Juilliard-trained dancer, wonders whether the sacrifices they make are worth it, before taking a commercial gig. 


The show strives to show us the encouraging signs of life in the classical community (and the less stodgy side) by presenting characters living solidly 21st-century lives while pursuing careers that are merely unconventional. With their instruments down, they're just like anyone else -- to a hilarious extent.



The series draws inspiration from oboist Blair Tindall's 2005 memoirMozart in the Jungle: Sex, Drugs and Classical Music to pull back the curtain even further, embracing the most comically depraved elements of the community. One member of the New York Symphony deals prescription meds to the others. A cellist sleeps with a married conductor. Yet real professional musicians have told the show's creators that it actually doesn't go far enough in illustrating the debauched elements of the biz. One unnamed musician recalled a performance in Japan where, upon arrival at their hotel, musicians found prostitutes in each of their rooms, as a gift. (Adding to the absurdist scene, most of the out-of-town guests were gay.)


Amazon's "Mozart in the Jungle" succeeds in making relatable a group of people long thought to occupy an insular realm of dignity and class. Yet the challenges and contradictions inherent in the classical world in 2015 seemed to weigh on Schwartzman when we spoke. 


"My hope is that this music ... should be broken down and destroyed every so often, and given to young people to play with. Every time we're like, 'Oh, this is Beethoven, we shouldn't harm it!' That's how it will die," he told HuffPost. At the same time, its connection to the past is too valuable to toss aside.


"A lot of art you go and just look at on the wall. But if you're a musician, you can really connect with the composer -- it's like a time capsule," Schwartzman said.


The series won't solve any of classical's problems, but it can help answer the question for the present day. By letting us peek into the charmingly eccentric world of Hailey and Co., "Mozart in the Jungle" shows us classical still indeed has a pulse.


Season 2 of "Mozart in the Jungle" debuts on Amazon Prime Dec. 30.


 


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Scientists Are Weirdly Obsessed With Bob Dylan

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It turns out Bob Dylan has had a major influence not only on music and pop culture, but also on the scientific community.


Since 1970, there have been 727 references to the singer-songwriter's work in biomedical literature, according to a new study.


And research shows the number of scientific articles referencing his songs and albums has increased "exponentially" since 1990.





By far the most cited Dylan song over the years has been "The Times They are a-Changin,'" with 137 references. “Blowin’ In The Wind" comes in second, with 36 references, according to the study, which was published in the Christmas edition of The BMJ.


In all, 213 of 727 references were classified as "unequivocally citing" Dylan. And some are as clever as they are ridiculous. 


For example, a 2015 article published in Frontiers in Plant Sciences was titled, “Knockin’ on pollen’s door: live cell imaging of early polarization events in germinating Arabidopsis pollen” -- a reference to Dylan's 1973 song “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door.”


And then there's the 2013 paper about stem cells and brain development, "Like a rolling histone" -- a reference to the 1965 track "Like a Rolling Stone."


The list goes on: "Dietary nitrate -- a slow train coming"; "Blood on the tracks: a simple twist of fate?"; "Don't think twice, it's all right -- contralesional dependency for bimanual prehension movements"; and “Bringing it all back home: how I became a relational analyst.” 



According to the research team, the recent study was inspired by a discovery in 2014 that a group of scientists at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden was sneaking Bob Dylan lyrics into their papers as part of a long-running bet.


In order to figure out just how far Dylan had permeated medical literature, the team used a list of all Dylan’s song and album titles and cross-referenced it against Medline, which collects journal citations and abstracts for biomedical literature from around the world.


As LiveScience reports, researchers found that Dylan references were not unique to the Karolina Institute, and that some countries -- namely the United States and Sweden -- appeared to appreciate Dylan more than others.


They also attempted to explain why Dylan citations increased after 1990, hypothesizing that "some of the young and radical students of the 1960s who listened to Dylan ended up as medical doctors and scientists and, perhaps more importantly, as editors of journals in the 1990s and onwards."


The study even touches on Dylan's own respect and appreciation for the medical field.


In the song “Don’t Fall Apart on me Tonight,” recorded in the early 1980s, Dylan laments: "I wish I’d have been a doctor / Maybe I’d have saved some life that had been lost / Maybe I’d have done some good in the world / ’Stead of burning every bridge I crossed."


As for whether the medical profession shows the same respect for Dylan, the researchers write, "The number of articles citing his work suggests that it does." 


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All The Gift Exchange Names That Truly Capture The Spirit Of The Holidays

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When you're a kid, the holidays typically bring piles of presents faithfully picked out from your wish list. For adults, the gift-giving tradition lingers, but the form isn't always so indulgent. 


Offices, church groups, large families and friend groups -- for grown-ups, these settings tend to be rife with holiday gift swaps in which cheap gag gifts and complicated rules reign supreme.


For the nice, there's Secret Santa, or Kris Kringle, a pretty straightforward gift exchange. For the naughty, there's the White Elephant-style exchange, and that gets complicated fast.


While the basic options are simple, twists, rule additions and different names run rampant. Some versions of White Elephant allow the first person to pick a gift to be the last to steal one; some "retire" a gift that's been stolen more than three times. White Elephant games typically involve cheap, gag gifts, while variants like Yankee Swap may stipulate more desirable gifts to encourage competitive gifting and stealing.


But mostly terms -- like Yankee Swap, Cutthroat Christmas, and Dirty Santa -- are used interchangeably. Yankee Swap might ring a bell for fans of "The Office," as one Christmas Michael Scott (Steve Carell) throws the office into turmoil by turning their Secret Santa into a swap at the last minute.





One thing's for sure though; you can set the tone quite effectively for your party game by calling it Snatchy Christmas Rat instead of a Pollyanna Swap.


Many of the terms historically used -- Chinese Christmas, Redneck Santa, Eskimo Bingo -- have fallen out of favor due to their offensive implications, and we suggest steering clear of those. Meanwhile, a plethora of creative new ones have sprung up, including a proposed Jewish alternative called Mysterious Maccabi and a seemingly endless supply of rather literal terms. 


Here are some of our favorite options. Happy swapping!



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