Quantcast
Channel: Culture & Arts
Viewing all 18483 articles
Browse latest View live

29 Times The Internet Straight-Up Blew Your Mind Into A Million Little Pieces

0
0

Every once in a while, the Internet blesses us all with truly transcendent knowledge. These are just a few examples of those ingenious thoughts. Prepare to feel just like this guy:






Did you hear that? It was the sound of your brain exploding. BOOM.

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.


'No-Excuses' Girl Born Without Hands Wins In National Handwriting Competition

0
0

This 7-year-old was born without hands, but she has a can-do attitude and stu-pen-dous writing skills.


Despite her disability, first-grader Anaya Ellick has beautiful penmanship and recently became a winner in the Zaner-Bloser 2016 National Handwriting Competition. 


Anaya, who was presented with a check and trophy, won the Nicholas Maxim Special Award for Excellence in Manuscript Penmanship. The category is for individuals in kindergarten through eighth grade who have a cognitive delay, or an intellectual, physical or developmental disability.



The competition was judged by occupational therapists. The first-grader was chosen over 50 others for the award. 


Tracy Cox, the girl's principal at Greenbrier Christian Academy in Chesapeake, Virginia, told ABC News that Anaya definitely exhibits some winning traits. 


"She is a hard-worker," Cox said. "She is determined. She is independent. She is a vivacious and a no-excuses type of young lady."



Cox mentioned the student, who doesn't use prosthetics, gets her picture-perfect penmanship with a special technique, a press release noted. Anaya puts her writing utensil between her arms and stands up at her desk so that she's positioned at the proper angle for writing. 



While achievement is certainly admirable, Anaya's mother Bianca Middleton told WTKR the first-grader's determination in writing reflects her attitude toward everything else in life. 


"She ties her shoes, she gets dressed by herself, she doesn't really need any assistance to do anything."

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

19 Songs That Beautifully Capture Motherhood

0
0

Countless musicians have paid tribute to their moms with gorgeous, heartwarming and fun songs. But many artists who have their own kids also celebrate motherhood with lyrics from the parent's perspective. 


In honor of Mother's Day, we put together a list of beautiful songs about motherhood, from famous musician moms.


1. "Sweetest Devotion" by Adele





"The song is all about my kid," Adele told USA Today in an interview last year. "The way I've described it is that something much bigger has happened in my life. I love that my life is now about someone else."


2. "Speechless" by Alicia Keys (featuring Eve)





Alicia Keys wrote "Speechless" after giving birth to her first child, a son named Egypt, in 2010. A tribute to her baby, the song's lyrics include, "When I wake up in the morning babe / Can't believe my eyes / Sweetest little part of destiny."


3. "I Hope You Dance" by Lee Ann Womack





This early-2000s chart topper was written by Tia Sillers and Mark Sanders and recorded by Lee Ann Womack. The music video features the singer dancing with her young daughters. As Womack told Billboard "[The song] made me think about my daughters and the different times in their lives. As a parent, you just hope those are the kinds of things you will make your children think of."


4. "My Baby" by Britney Spears





This Britney Spears song off the album "Circus" is about the singer's two sons, Sean Preston and Jayden James.


5. "Lovin' You" by Minnie Riperton 





Though the lyrics don't seem overtly maternal, Riperton reportedly wrote the melody for "Lovin' You" to lull her infant daughter Maya Rudolph to sleep so that she could spend time with her husband Richard Rudolph. In some versions of the song, you can hear her sing "Maya" toward the end. 


6. "Blue" by Beyoncé (featuring Blue Ivy)





"Each day I feel so blessed to be looking at you 'cause when you open your eyes, I feel alive," sings Beyoncé on this ballad -- which features the sound of her daughter, Blue Ivy Carter, talking as a toddler at the end.


7. "Lullaby" by The Dixie Chicks





The title is self-explanatory, and the lyrics are inredibly sweet, posing the questions, "How long do you wanna be loved? Is forever enough?"


8. "Mouth's Cradle" by Bjork





In the documentary on the making of her album, Medúlla, Bjork notes that the song "Mouth's Cradle" is about breastfeeding and motherhood, among other things.


9. "What I Never Knew I Always Wanted" by Carrie Underwood





Underwood pays tribute to her husband Mike and son Isaiah with this ballad, which includes the lyrics, "Never pictured myself singing lullabies / Sitting in a rocking chair in the middle of the night In the quiet, in the dark / You're stealing every bit of my heart with your daddy's eyes."


10. "Acapella" by Kelis





Believed to be an homage to her son, "Acapella" includes the lyrics, "Before you, my whole life was acapella / Now a symphony's The only song to sing." Kelis' "Song For The Baby" is another take on motherhood.


11."This Angel" by Jennifer Nettles





Written after she gave birth to her son, Jennifer Nettles' "This Angel" is about the transformative experience of becoming a mother.


12. "You Are My Baby" by Kimya Dawson





In this sweet song for her daughter Panda, Kimya Dawson sings, "I hope you will be gentle, kind, compassionate and free. No matter what, I"ll always love you unconditionally."


13. "Little Star" by Madonna





"God gave a present to me / Made of flesh and bones / My life, my soul / You make my spirit whole," sings Madonna on this 1998 track, which she recorded after giving birh to her daughter Lourdes.


14. "To Zion" by Lauryn Hill





Hill's "To Zion" is about the artist's son and her decision to have him when others in the music industry urged her to have an abortion.


15. "In My Daughter's Eyes" by Martina McBride





This beautiful song is an observation of the way a mother and daughter see each other and see the world around them.


16. "The One Thing" by Shakira





"You are the one thing I got right," Shakira sings of her first son Milan in this upbeat song about motherhood. 


17. "Lullaby for Wyatt" by Sheryl Crow





This 2008 song is dedicated to Sheryl Crow's son Wyatt, whom she adopted in 2007.


18. "Gabriel and Me" by Joan Baez





Baez wrote "Gabriel and Me" when her son was little. Today, Gabriel is grown and sometimes tours as a drummer with his mother's band.


19. "Lions and Tigers" by Sleater Kinney





This song perfectly captures parents' wishes, with lyrics like, "I'd like to show you a million things / I'd like to make the world for you a better place."

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

Wear These Native Designs Instead Of Urban Outfitters

0
0

These clothes will make you look cool -- without contributing to cultural appropriation.  


OxDx Clothing, by Navajo designer Jared Yazzie, mixes Native patterns with graffiti and punk-inspired designs to create shirts that call out issues that affect Native communities, like cultural misrepresentation and violence against women.


“I never thought about creating a statement, I just made stuff that reflects Native people,” Yazzie told The Huffington Post. “If it comes off as rebellious and angry, that’s just Native life -- because there are a lot of problems on the reservation.”



The problems Yazzie refers to are multiple, as Native reservations are notoriously underserved and underfunded, leading them to have the highest poverty rate of any race in the United States, the lowest high school graduation rate, and an alarmingly high suicide rate for Native youth, among other issues.


Yazzie’s clothes also focus on another key part of the Native experience: cultural misrepresentation. One prominent example is the Redskins team name and logo.


“I’m hoping to bring these issues to light -- and make beautiful things, because our culture and our people are beautiful,” Yazzie said. “I’d just like whoever wears them to be able to explain the story behind them.”


Here are five badass OxDx shirts, and what you'll achieve by wearing them.


1. Reverse The Narrative Around Colonization



“'Native Americans discovered Columbus.' Columbus is a funny thing to bring up among educated Native people. We joke about Columbus all the time: how we learned about him in school, and how he discovered America. He didn’t discover anything. All he brought was genocide and disease.” -- Jared Yazzie


Many cities and universities have begun to celebrate "Indigenous People's Day" rather than "Columbus Day," in a (belated) recognition of the fact that Native communities not only were already here when Columbus came to the Americas, but also were victims of genocide and marginalization thereafter.


 


2. Subvert Native Misrepresentation



“The ‘Mis-Rep’ tee is play on words: as in 'misrepresented.' The image is a combination of the Cleveland Indians logo and the logo of the punk band Misfits. I didn’t want to leave the logo as is, to have it out there for people to see and think of Native people that way. So I changed it, and now people have to ask what it means, get in conversation about it.” -- Jared Yazzie


From the Red Skins team mascot to Halloween’s annual surge of Pocahotties costumes, American pop culture regularly takes from Native culture without permission, and uses it (or misuses it, rather) for its own consumption.  


 


3. Don't Let Native Culture Fade Away



“There’s a chief on it, because in non-Native eyes, the image of a chief is how we’re perceived all the time. When I think of Native people, it’s not that. There are a ton of tribes, and we’re all so different -- in Arizona alone, there’s Hopis, Navajos, totally different tribes and traditional wear. But we’re all grouped in an image like that, of the headdress and the teepee. That’s how our culture is censored. The image is dripping because Native culture is slowly fading away.” -- Jared Yazzie


Native languages and culture have been under threat of disappearing. This is not only because of reductive stereotypes about Natives in modern culture, but also due to forced assimilation, such as sending Native children to boarding schools throughout the 1900's, where they were only allowed to speak English. Today, there are concerted efforts fighting to preserve Native languages for future generations.


 


4. Speak Out Against Environmental Injustice On Native Land



“He’s dressed as our elder men would dress, with the bandana, the necklace, rocking a chief blanket -- but he’s also wearing a respirator mask. He’s a Navajo specifically, because we have environmental problems on the res. Coal mining. My grandparents lived Black Mesa, and when we buried my grandma by the mine, we buried her in concrete, in case she got dug up from the mining. There’s also uranium mining on the res -- and it gets into the water system, and people are getting cancer. It’s kind of crazy to think that that’s home for us.” -- Jared Yazzie


Companies have been extracting uranium from Navajo land since the 1900's, leaving families with radioactive waste in their backyards. Millions of tons of uranium ore were extracted on Navajo land in the mid-20th century, causing health problems for generations, from birth defects to lung cancer.


 


5. Protest Native Women's Mistreatment



“It’s a woman protester. In Canada, there are missing and murdered indigenous women. There’s a road with hundreds of missing women, just on that one road -- and who are not accounted for. The police don’t look into it. We’re looked at as non-human, which is why these issues aren’t taken care of.” -- Jared Yazzie


Violence against women disproportionately affects Native women and girls: One in three Native women reports being raped in her lifetime -- making them 2.5 times more likely to experience sexual assault than any other race in the U.S. In Canada, the government is investigating the murders and disappearances of an estimated 4,000 indigenous women over 30 years. While indigenous women represent 4 percent of the Canadian population, they make up 24 percent of those murdered.


 


To check out more of OxDx’s clothing line, visit the website.

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

9 Books About The Sweet (And Not-So-Sweet) Realities Of Motherhood

0
0

Mother’s Day was established as a national holiday in 1914, and sons and daughters have been gifting their moms bouquets and warm sentiments ever since.


It’s perhaps no coincidence that the holiday should fall in May, when fields’ worth of flowers are in bloom. But to correlate parenthood with a sunny day doesn’t quite do the relationship justice; mother-child relationships can be messy, and that’s worth celebrating, too.


Below are nine of our favorite books -- both fiction and non -- about the realities of motherhood.



The History of Great Things by Elizabeth Crane


A mother and her daughter take turns telling each other’s life stories, filling in what they don’t know about the other with their own assumptions, fears and perceptions. It’s more than a clever approach to storytelling; Crane’s novel reminds us that even in our most intimate relationships, there’s always more to discover. It’s also a warm meditation on grief and ambition.


Read our review of The History of Great Things



The Argonauts by Maggie Nelson


Refusing categorization quite actively, The Argonauts is many things: It’s a love story between the author and her partner, a critical look at the ways labels can be destructive, and an honest illustration of how pregnancy -- and motherhood -- can impact the professional lives of women. As an academic and a poet, Nelson’s dealt with snide remarks on her personal life choices from contemporaries, but the joy her son brings her is incomparable. She faces the physical pain of pregnancy and childbirth head-on, never shying away from the unfortunately taboo topics.


Read our review of The Argonauts



Cinderella Ate My Daughter by Peggy Orenstein


Orenstein’s made a career out of reporting on the lives of young women. Her most recent book, Girls & Sex, arose from interviews with women in their teenage years about hookups, blackouts, and the line of consent. Before that, though, she turned her critical eye towards America’s Disney-fueled princess culture, which she notes can contribute to young women actively disempowering themselves. Orenstein’s reporting is always rooted in her own fears and wants for her daughter, granting the books a nicely subjective tone.


Read our review of Girls & Sex by Peggy Orenstein



Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? by Jeanette Winterson


“I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t setting my story against hers,” Jeanette Winterson wrote in a memoir centered on her adoptive mother, whom she refers to both reverently, if a little coldly, as Mrs. Winterson. The younger Winterson credits her mother, a devout Christian, for her love of fiction and storytelling, and for introducing her to the power of words in the first place.  



After Birth by Elisa Albert


The joys of motherhood are well worth the little agonies -- or so the story goes. But Albert is more interested in telling the stories of those little agonies -- the ways our bodies and lives are transformed when we have children. She serves her grievances straight-up, demeaning her sudden lack of independence, and in doing so makes it okay to feel frustrated and to express those frustrations.



The Story of the Lost Child by Elena Ferrante


Of course Ferrante, whose Neapolitan novels make the ebbs and flows of unromantic, female friendships feel as epic as any war or political drama, writes honestly and touchingly about motherhood. The theme ripples throughout each book, first with Elena’s attempts to separate herself from her mother’s tendencies, which she fears she’s inherited. In the later books, her own love for her daughters is inextricable from her feeling that they impede upon her writing time, illuminating the multitudes of parenting.



Hausfrau by Jill Alexander Essbaum


Anna, the heroine of Essbaum’s tumultuous anti-love story, feels trapped. While her husband works, she stays home with their three children, until an individual pursuit leads to an affair with a classmate. It’s a story about escaping domestic banality, but also about whether seeking such freedom can still be considered a moral choice.


Read our review of Hausfrau



Baby by Paula Bomer


The squeamish need not pick up a copy of Bomer’s stories, which aim to unearth the gritty side of deeply personal relationships, be it a crumbling marriage or a torrid mother-son connection. Whether or not you go in for the almost surreal violence dished out by Bomer, her work allows others to feel comfortable discussing taboo feelings about family.



Dept. of Speculation by Jenny Offill


“All my life now appears to be one happy moment,” Offill writes in her spare book about a family healing from fracture. She’s quoting the first man in space, but in her case, the quote refers to mothering a young daughter, and watching her child bloom into a full-fledged human, with an individual personality. These joys are disrupted when she loses trust in her partner, but the narrator manages to glean joy from beauty, even during her family’s darkest hours.

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

The Art Of Being Adrien Brody

0
0

Attending an Adrien Brody art show feels like something out of a movie. For a man who's already portrayed Salvador Dalí in "Midnight In Paris," it's easy to believe Brody playing an artist, but a little harder to accept that he actually is one. That is, until you see him surrounded by his art. 


Brody debuted his first art collection, "Hot Dogs, Hamburgers and Handguns," at Art Basil in Miami in December. The Oscar-winning actor is currently showing his second public series, "Hooked," at Art New York until May 8. Certain pieces of "Hooked" reflect similar views found in his first series, like a Starbucks mermaid holding two guns to her head underneath a "BRODYBUCKS" banner.



When I arrived at Pier 94, Brody was busy, so I wandered around the vast art collection, taking in glitzy VIPs and various figures in the art world introducing themselves to each other. An art dealer whispered to me that Leonardo DiCaprio and his famous gang of friends were stopping by this week to check out the exhibit.


Brody eventually waltzed back to his exhibit, apologizing for his tardiness. Sporting paint-splattered hands and a long white robe, the actor easily slipped into the part of "painter." The New York native told me his new series is "less overtly dark" than his first show, as "Hooked" instead encourages viewers to find light in the darkness.


Even without his famous name, Brody's fiery (and occasionally funny) art stands out amid the large show. His work is colorful and comedic when it's supposed to be, while depressing and reflective when focusing on more environmental issues. It's clear that he's passionate about his work and we spoke at length about certain jokes and twists hidden within his various pieces. 



When I asked him the obvious --  what it's like being an actor in the art world --  Brody said it's been a "weird thing" for him.


"On one level I relate to it, I understand people see you, they're exposed to you in a certain way," Brody said. "But even as an actor, you're limited by what people feel you are. What they've read about you, you know, if you're in the tabloids. Or, if you've only done dramatic films, you couldn't possibly have a sense of humor, and if you've only done comedic movies, you couldn't be a great dramatic actor."



Brody used his filmography as proof that he's tried to break through the public's perception of him, which makes a second act in art easier to comprehend. But with standout and award-winning roles in films like "The Pianist," "Midnight In Paris" and "The Grand Budapest Hotel," Brody understands that it might take time for some of his fans (or new art peers) to accept him as an artist. 


"Most people think actors are incredibly vain, and probably most actors are," the Queens native explained. "And maybe I am vain, to a certain extent, but the purpose of doing this is far from vanity." 


Instead, the star of the upcoming movie "Manhattan Night" sees his art as a method of authentic communication. Brody, who says he grew up drawing and painting, might've been an artist first -- possibly instead of an actor -- if he'd gotten accepted into art school when he was younger. But despite his early rejection, he has no regrets about the career path he went down. 


"It's so difficult to be successful in any creative art form, so whatever cards were dealt, whatever mistakes I've made, or whatever good fortune I've had, I'm really grateful for [it] at this point," Brody said. "I'm grateful to be able to have a voice to then expand my creative expression and share that with people. And that's the result of, you know, making it in another creative art form."  


-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

A Glorious Survey Of Moms In Art History

0
0

Mary Cassatt is perhaps the most well-known painter of mothers. A contemporary of Edgar Degas during the 19th- and 20th-century era of Impressionists, she filled many a canvas with depictions of motherhood, sketching and painting the intimate bond forged between mom and child.


While male artists before her never shied away from rendering Pieta-style images of mothers as divine nurturers, Cassatt is credited with introducing a "New Woman" in the late 1800s. This "New Woman" was both a mother and an active member of society, shown "as the model of intelligence and accomplishments" engaging in intellectual activities. Mary's own mother Katherine Cassatt believed in educating her daughter on the social issues and current events, probably contributing to Mary's desire to create scenes like this, focused on a woman reading the daily newspaper Le Figaro.


During Cassatt's time, the upper-middle class "New Woman" was transgressive. Today, artists are painting, sculpting, photographing and recording the many, many complexities of motherhood faced by women of all classes, that challenge and explore the idea that mothers can "do it all." As a reminder of how art has reflected a shifting image of motherhood, here are just a selection of our favorite moms in (mostly Western) art history. 


Happy Mother's Day to Mary, Whistler's mom, "Migrant Mother," and all the other strong women in art:





























Photo dated 1898, found via Pinterest ❤️

A photo posted by @breastfeedingart on





To see more of Sylvia Maier's work, see our recent coverage of her paintings here.

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

These Beautiful Photographs Explore The Wide Spectrum Of Gender Identity

0
0

Our culture's understanding of -- or at least willingness to acknowledge -- how diverse the range of human gender identities can be has evolved in recent years, thanks in part to an increase of visibility of these identities in popular culture. As a result, more and more people are living as their authentic selves and gender is being conceived of as a spectrum of identities, not a simple binary consisting of only "male" and "female."


Gender as a Spectrum, a new book from photographer Joseph Wolfgang Ohlert with text by Kaey Kiel, showcases a range of identities and experiences that fall across that wide spectrum of gender identities. Each portrait shot by Ohlert is accompanied by an interview with Kiel.


"I personally think the human mind needs categories to just simply function. The question is who defines these categories and what power does these definitions [hold]?" Keil told The Huffington Post. "Is it just a definition without any judgement or is it a definition to separate the good from the bad? We still live in a patriarchy where masculinity is something good and femininity [seen as] the weak point. This means to examine. gender is a step into the direction of real equality."


In the interview below, Kiel discusses Gender as a Spectrum, the people featured in the project and the book's message.



The Huffington Post: What inspired the book? What are you trying to accomplish?


Kaey Kiel: The idea was to make a portrait book with people who don't define themselves in the binary [system of] gender. Joseph is a brilliant photographer when it comes to captuing the personality of a person. His portraits are very vulnerable and strong at the same time. Another important thing for the book was to let the people speak for themselves. Specially with such a complicated matter as self-definition and gender, it's important to let the people use their own words to describe themselves. The media still doesn't give much space for trans and non-binary people to use their own language.



How did you find the subjects for the book?


Many of the people in the book are friends of mine I've know throughout the years. Especially in Berlin, there is something of a scene for queer people -- and I am not talking about gays and lesbians. My idea was to do [the project] with only with trans*people but Joseph said we should not limit the idea and have a spectrum of people in the book.


So now it's as colorful as the rainbow, which sounds very cliché but it's true and a great thing. After asking a few friends of mine to join in, Joseph also started looking online for interesting characters. We are both artists living in one of the most exciting cities of the world -- our network is pretty big and so we've met a lot of people.



Do you feel like our culture is finally beginning to understand just how complex and important gender is?


Gender or the idea of what gender is was always an important part in many cultures way before today. In other non-Western cultures, different gender concepts already existed. I think what the difference is nowadays is the media. The pool of information is so enormously big that it can be confusing sometimes.


We still live in a patriarchy where masculinity is something good and femininity [seen as] the weak point. This means to examine gender is a step into the direction of real equality. As soon as we learn to understand, we can overcome the fear of the strange.



Do you feel like in the future people will conceptualize gender in the same way that we do today?


There still is a long way to go, as you can see especially in states with the [anti-queer] bathroom bills. That's a disaster! I think there will always be more conservative people who try to repress new ideas and concepts, but nowadays the people have more power themselves. If you want, you can have a voice -- even if it's just through social media. In the end you will find out that you are not alone and there are always people who try to listen and understand.


I think concepts of what gender and sexuality mean are changing a lot. I see much more younger people come out as trans -- the possibility to transition and the openness that young people have to express themselves has changed very much in the last two decades and I think that will go on. But, to be honest, I think we are not getting rid of the boxes, like male or female. I think we will have many more boxes and we learn that it's totally ok to be fluid and change throughout your life. Maybe one day gender will be like a hair color; maybe a perm is a bit complicated and it could hurt and burn on your head. But if you like to try and are not afraid of the risk, why not simply try another color every month?



What message do hope people to take away from this project?


We want to show that there are already many more boxes you can choose from and feel comfortable with [than just "male" or "female"]. But, in the end, I think it's important to show that we are all people. We all have feelings! We all have our package that we have to carry. And we all have our dark moments. So why not put some glitter over it and sparkle?


Check out more photos from Gender As A Spectrum below and head here for more information about the book.






-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.


7 Trans Models Share Their Journeys To Becoming Comfortable In Their Own Skin

0
0



A beautiful new multimedia showcase is bringing together seven transgender models openly living as their authentic selves.


"My New Skin" is a photo and video project from Israeli photographer Ziv Sade that was inspired by personal relationships Sade has with trans and gender-nonconforming friends. Initially distributed through queer social media network Moovz, it follows these seven transgender women, including some models at the beginning stages of their transition and some who identify as being considerably further along in their transitions.


"I hope that people will be a bit more educated from this," Sade told The Huffington Post. "I hope we captured the charm of the girls and their true story about transformation -- and humanized them. I hope to inspire other young and old men and women to [be more] accepting and tolerant -- to listen and not judge. To forgive and to love. To see the beauty that I’m seeing -- in these girls and in everyone -- how “different” it is [to be] beautiful."


Check out the video component of "My New Skin" above and a selection of the photos below. More of the project can be viewed via Moovz.


-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

Why It's Worthwhile To Sketch Out Your Dreams

0
0

We know that writing down our dreams can help us remember them better in the morning, while also serving as a quick guide for decoding their real-life meanings


But have you ever considered drawing your dreams? 


Sketching your nighttime visions isn't just a whimsical alternative to keeping a journal. Experts note that as adults, coloring works to relax our brains, combat stress and shift our focus to a calm, positive place for a deeper sense of overall wellbeing.


That's why HuffPost is partnering with Refinery29 to make some of your best dreams come to life. Post an interpretive original artistic image depicting a surreal dream you've had and tag #DreamOn, #contest, @huffingtonpost and @refinery29. Winners will receive a dream package filled with fun tools to bring your dreams to life. 


For inspiration, here's a sketch Refinery29 illustrator @byisabel drew of a dream had by our very own Editor-in-Chief Arianna Huffington:



"In the dream, I was on a train going on a long journey and everything happening in my life was scenery along the way," Huffington says of the sketch above. "Some of it was beautiful; I wanted to linger over it awhile and perhaps hold on to it or even take it with me. Other parts of the journey were spent grinding through a barren, ugly countryside. Either way, the train moved on. And pain came whenever I would cling to the scenery, beautiful or ugly, rather than accept that it was all grist for the mill, containing some hidden purpose, a hidden blessing, or a bit of wisdom. Over the years, as I’ve revisited variations of this dream again and again, I’ve come to see it as a great lesson for living life as if — as the poet Rumi put it — everything is rigged in our favor."


To learn more about the contest's official rules, click here.


Sleep tight, dreamers!

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

Donald Trump Supporters Are Furious With This 'Family Guy' Spoof

0
0

"Family Guy" has riled up Donald Trump's supporters.


Fans of the presumptive GOP presidential nominee were furious with the FOX cartoon, which spoofed Trump during its campaign for an Emmy nomination.


In an image that went viral, the show's animators placed star character Peter Griffin in front of a lectern. With orange-tinged skin and a sweeping blond combover, he looked remarkably like the billionaire businessman.





"As long as we're voting for dumb loudmouths, can I get an Emmy?" the caption read.


Trump, no stranger to engaging in heated Twitter battles, did not comment on the image, which the show sent to Emmy voters last week in an effort to snag a nomination in the outstanding animated program category.


But boy, are Trump's fans enraged. They posted hundreds of critical comments on the cartoon's official Facebook page after it shared a link to The Hollywood Reporter's article documenting the parody.



"Years of watching every episode of 'Family Guy,' no more," one commenter wrote.


"['Family Guy' creator Seth MacFarlane] needs to stop trying to shove his political views down our throat [sic]," added another. "It's idiots like him who are trying their best to destroy this country." 


Some criticized the show "for hiring more liberal writers" while a few demanded the program be canceled altogether. However, other "Family Guy" fans came to the cartoon's defense, and urged Trump's supporters to "lighten up."


The heated debate occurred days after street artist Pegasus revealed that he had received death threats from Trump supporters over a piece that likened the real estate magnate to Adolf Hitler.


While the "Family Guy" spoof may have made an impact with Trump supporters, it was unclear what the Emmy voters thought of it. Nomination voting begins on June 13.


 


Editor’s note: Donald Trump regularly incites political violence and is a serial liarrampant xenophoberacistmisogynist and birther who has repeatedly pledged to ban all Muslims — 1.6 billion members of an entire religion — from entering the U.S.

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

Machines Won’t Replace Us, They’ll Force Us to Evolve

0
0

Something big is happening in design and engineering.


For all of human history, we have created tools that help us do what we want to do — faster, better, cheaper. But we have always had to direct those tools; tell them exactly what to do for us to achieve our goals. This hasn’t changed from the time of stone tools (which we had to wield with our hands) to modern digital design tools (which we wield with the click of the mouse).

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

Artist Pays Tribute To The Everyday Queens Of Brooklyn And The Bronx

0
0

"A Bronx-Brooklyn Queen is a woman who is self-assured and self-confident without being cocky or egotistical," artist Tim Okamura explained to The Huffington Post, "who knows that the source of her beauty is internal, and is then transmitted externally; a woman who commands respect and admiration because of the positive energy she radiates."


Okamura came up with the term himself, inspired by the strength and grace of so many of the women he encounters on the streets of New York. Although the title specifically references the majesties of Brooklyn and the Bronx, his series depicts New York women from all five boroughs. 


"She defies stereotype and is impervious to prejudice and superficial judgement," he continued. "She leads by example and inspires others to elevate their consciousness in the same way she has. Her light shines unconditionally as she has manifested the queen she was destined to be."



The artist was listening to 3rd Bass' song "Brooklyn Queens" when the idea first came to him -- to portray the women he admired as undercover royalty, the iconic urban emblems of New York serving as regal insignias. 


For his subjects, Okamura enlisted mostly friends he'd known for years, and a few new queens he met during the painting process. "Typically, I see a particular spark in someone's eyes that draws me to them, something about their energy I find compelling. I sort of trust that the universe will put me in contact with people that I'm supposed to paint. It's a gut feeling and when I delve further into their personal story it always seems to confirm my instincts."



Generally, Okamura didn't need to give his subjects a whole lot of direction other than the main instruction of his shoots: be yourself. "I wanted them to tap into the 'regal' aspect of their natural state, just to project being a queen in a way that felt right to them. I'm just looking for that moment of truth when someone poses, and try to then capture that on canvas."


The stunning paintings juxtapose hoodies and tiaras, graffiti and golden crests, as everyday queens assume the poses immortalized in Renaissance and Baroque portraits. In the vein of artists like Kehinde Wiley, Rashaad Newsome and Frohawk Two Feathers, Okamura endows contemporary black subjects with imagery traditionally associated with classical status and prestige, simultaneously alluding to the dearth of black bodies in art history. 


Through the series, Okamura hopes to inspire his viewers to discover and nourish their own inner queens. "I hope that people find themselves compelled to spend some time with the work, to move beyond that initial visceral reaction of 'this is a portrait of someone I don't know' and really discover deeper connections, hidden layers to the narratives," he added, "and perhaps metaphors for the human condition we are all experiencing."


-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

15 Under-The-Radar Movies You Won't Want To Miss This Summer

0
0

Now that "Captain America: Civil War" has introduced summer movie season, we'd like to spotlight a few titles that won't drum up $182 million in opening-weekend grosses. Which isn't to say they shouldn't: These 15 films, mostly independent projects, are antidotes to the big-budget spectacles that will flood theaters across the next four months. 


Instead of another gaudy "Alice in Wonderland," try the shape-shifting dystopia of "The Lobster." Kevin Hart and Dwayne Johnson have a bro comedy coming in June, but we suspect you'll laugh far more at "Love & Friendship," "Hunt for the Wilderpeople" and "Don't Think Twice." And as global threats take hold in "Independence Day: Resurgence" and "Jason Bourne," you might opt to see Bryan Cranston bring Pablo Escobar to his knees in "The Infiltrator" and Michael Keaton bring McDonald's to its feet in "The Founder." You can even have your blockbusters and eat the indie gems too. Best of both words! Here are 15 smaller releases to prioritize this summer. Sorry to all the Angry Birds who were harmed in the process.



(All release dates are subject to change.)

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

Ballet Dancer Erik Cavanaugh Shows Grace Comes In All Sizes

0
0



Erik Cavanaugh wrote on his Instagram page that he is "attempting to change the mind and shape of dancers."


Based on the online popularity he has achieved recently, it looks like he's well on his way.


Cavanaugh, 23, from Pittsburgh, exhibits uncommon grace and agility in videos of his solo, often improvised, performances.


One video of his highlights (above) was posted by the New York Post on Facebook and has received hundreds of thousands of views.


 "The attention is crazy," he told The Huffington Post.





Cavanaugh also posted a video on EllenTube, writing, "One of my biggest goals in life is to meet and dance for Ellen [DeGeneres), as well as show the world that ... dreams are possible as long as you work and push yourself."


He danced in high school musicals and performed solo and group pieces in college, he told HuffPost.


But now he's winning over one of the biggest audiences of all -- the Internet.


"I never expected a video of mine to be shared and go viral," he said.


Bravo, Mr. Cavanaugh.







-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.


The Bottom Line: 'The Seed Collectors' By Scarlett Thomas

0
0

It might take many chapters of The Seed Collectors for readers to notice that the novel is as much fantasy as it is realism, but author Scarlett Thomas’s deft smatterings of magic appear before the narrative does.


The opening lines muse, “Imagine a tree that can walk. Yes, actually walk. Think it’s impossible? You’re wrong. It’s called the walking palm.” The speaker is Clematis (or Clem) Gardener, a botanical documentarian talking about her award-winning new film, “Palm,” on the radio. The words sound fantastical, but are presented with the ring of truth; many readers may also be familiar with the term “walking palm” (it’s a real plant) and have heard of its ability to gradually shift its roots and move over ground (a trait that many scientists believe to be mythical).


Before there’s much time to ponder the existence of the walking palm, however, the narrative puts it back on the shelf, a quiet part of the scenery. Clem, with her prize-winning documentary on the palm, makes up just one stem of the branching Gardener clan, and The Seed Collectors occupies itself by skimming easily from one to the next, landing on each and sucking out their darkest neuroses as efficiently as a literary mosquito.


The whole saga began with Charles Emery Augustus Gardener and his wife Gita, the parents of Oleander and Emery Augustus Charles Gardener, who married Beatrix and spawned Plum and Augustus. The Gardener family, appropriately, has a long family tradition of working with plants -- horticulturalists, botanists -- and female children, who might give up the Gardener name upon marriage, are all given botanical names to maintain that link. There’s handsome, rakish botanist Charlie, Clem’s brother; their cousin Bryony, who shops, eats, and drinks compulsively to distract from her issues with her husband and children; and their great-aunt Oleander, a guru to the stars whose recent death has left family friend Fleur Meadows in charge of running Namaste House.


One generation back, the family’s plant-based calling took a tragic turn. Clem and Charlie’s mother Grace, Bryony’s parents Plum and Quinn, and Fleur’s mother Briar Rose, all famous botanists, disappeared during a mission to an obscure island, where they hoped to find seed pods that held the key to enlightenment. After their parents vanished, Fleur found refuge with Oleander -- one of the few in the family who seemingly knew the fatherless Fleur was related by more than friendship to the Gardeners -- building a quiet life on the outskirts of Namaste House, where Oleander dished out lentil soup and spiritual guidance to the Beatles and emotionally lost pop starlets.


The death of her protector leaves Fleur in a position of power she’s uneasy with; instead of working quietly at a sheltered retreat, where the pensive, sylph-like woman could shield herself from a love she knew she couldn’t have, she’s suddenly tasked with guiding the souls of people who seem equally fragile and lost.


But it’s not just Fleur who’s roiled by Oleander’s death. In addition to leaving Namaste House to her protege, the guru has bequeathed a mysterious seed pod to each of the Gardeners -- the very valuable seed pods their parents disappeared pursuing. The inheritance may be valuable, but in what way, the Gardeners don’t exactly know yet; it also may be dangerous, but how, they don’t exactly know either. As Fleur, desperate for guidance, travels to far-flung locales in search of a magical book bequeathed to her by Oleander she hopes will lead her to enlightenment, the rest of the family are quietly drifting into their own crises, led by unchecked appetites and unnoticed needs. The Gardeners are a clan in the business of enlightenment, discovery, and clear categorization, but in reality, their souls are murky and the ties that bind them tangled and weak.


The touches of the fantastic in The Seed Collectors are so light and enter so gently that they sneak up and past, almost before the reader has a chance to notice that something completely impossible is happening in the very human and recognizable world of the Gardener family. It’s a testament to Thomas’ sleight of hand, though sometimes it almost seems unnecessary, a distraction from the deeper questions at play. The constant question of the novel, though, sparks from these moments of make-believe as much as from the relatable, real-world moments: What if things were otherwise? What would you do, who would you be, if the factors standing in your way weren’t there? And, if you really think about it, are those factors really standing in your way?


At every moment, Thomas is nudging us to ask whether we, and the world, are the way we assume they are, and whether a mere shift of frame could change everything and reveal a greater truth.


The Seed Collectors might hinge around fanciful seeds, magical thinking, and enchanted books, but sometimes, as any fan of zen koans would likely agree, it’s the most baffling and impossible scenario that clears our eyes to the everyday.


The bottom line:


A searing family saga with dollops of magical realism, The Seed Collectors is an exquisitely nimble novel about self-knowledge, love and self-love, and the many ways we shape our lives. 


What other reviewers think:


The Guardian: "These are a lot of ideas to hold together and it’s Thomas’s writing that unifies them. Her prose is splendidly alive, full of unexpected phrases and delicious cadences."


Publishers Weekly: "Ebullient prose, engaging characters, lively imagination, illuminating details -- Thomas is an original, and her novel is consistently entertaining."


Who wrote it?


Scarlett Thomas is an English author who has published eight previous novels, including Our Tragic Universe and The End of Mr. Y, which was longlisted for the Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction in 2007. 


Who will read it?


Readers who love thorny family sagas and stories that closely interweave realism with elements of fantasy.


Opening lines:


“Imagine a tree that can walk. Yes, actually walk. Think it’s impossible? You’re wrong. It’s called the walking palm. Its thick dreadlocky roots rest on the ground rather than inside it, and when it has had enough of being where it is, it quietly uproots itself, like a long-wronged wife, and walks away, at a speed of just over one metre per year. In the time it takes a walking palm to flounce out, nations will fall, people will die of old age, ancient secrets will be told, and new-born babies will grow into actual people who … ”


Notable passage:


“It is a chilly spring morning in Hackney, but in Charlie’s mind he is somewhere else, somewhere perhaps sub-tropical, definitely pre-fertile-crescent, somewhere where there is no wheat swaying in the breeze and quietly enslaving people. In this place, Charlie, a hunter-gatherer wearing a simple garment made not from cotton but from skin, plucks some blueberries from a tree. He steals a small amount of honey from a bees’ nest, perhaps led there by a honey-guide -- a bird that evolved along with humans and uses its song to tell people where to find bees’ nests in return for the beeswax the humans drop. Perhaps there are some primitive wild oats too -- dodgy, but not as bad as contemporary wheat, which studies have shown stimulates the same neurological pathways as opiates. Charlie should use these ingredients to make a simple muesli, in which the nuts and fruits far outnumber the oats, but, even though he knows it is unlikely that you would come across a microwave in this pre-agricultural, sub-tropical wilderness, he still fancies porridge after his run.”


The Seed Collectors
by Scarlett Thomas
Soft Skull Press, $26.00
Publishes May 10, 2016


The Bottom Line is a weekly review combining plot description and analysis with fun tidbits about the book.

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

Explore The Blissful Spirituality Of Southern India In 'Gurukulam'

0
0

In an ashram in southern India, life is built around spiritual reflection. A new documentary, "Gurukulam," dives deep into that world by following a Hindu teacher and his students. Their rituals, set against the backdrop of a beautiful remote forest, complement the fundamental questions they raise about the nature of existence and identity. 


The Huffington Post has an exclusive trailer for the film, directed by religious scholars Neil Dalal and Jillian Elizabeth. Exploring the rich textures of its setting, the trailer signals a documentary that offers rare insight into a corner of the world ripe with sacred contemplation. "Gurukulam" opens in limited release on June 3.





HuffPost also has the movie's exclusive poster:


-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

Artist's Stunning Image Honors The Moment One Woman Defied A Neo-Nazi March

0
0

A photograph of Afro-Swedish activist Tess Asplund confronting hundreds of neo-Nazis at a rally in central Sweden has gone viral on social media -- and now it's inspiring tributes from around the world.


Spanish artist Luiso García created the above illustration as an homage to Asplund. The text in Spanish reads: "Long live people of color." 


The original image, by photographer David Lagerlöf, shows Asplund with her head high and her right first raised in defiance as she stands directly in front of a group of marchers. The photo was soon shared around the world as a symbol of resistance to hate.






Asplund is involved in the organization Afrophobia Focus, which confronts and investigates discrimination against people of sub-Saharan African ancestry. She said she stood up to the rally on impulse. “I was thinking: hell no, they can’t march here! I had this adrenaline. No Nazi is going to march here, it’s not okay,” she told The Guardian.


The marchers Asplund challenged belong to the Nordic Resistance Movement, an extremist group operating in Sweden, Finland, Norway and Denmark.


The white power movement is gaining ground in Sweden, a country with one of the most generous asylum policies in Europe. There has been a recent surge in support for the anti-immigration Swedish Democrats, a party with a neo-Nazi past.


Asplund's act of protest is a reminder of how a singular image has the power to drive a conversation around the world. 



A version of this post originally appeared on HuffPost Spain and has been translated into English and edited for a U.S. audience. 

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

7 Ripped Women Smash The Stereotype That Strong Isn’t Feminine

0
0

Strong is sexy. 


Just ask the women featured in Elle India's recent photography feature, "These Muscular Women Are Overthrowing Every Feminine Stereotype." The piece features seven women of different professional backgrounds -- from a bodybuilder to a makeup artist -- who discuss the pride they have in their bodies. 


The women featured also address (and shut down) the idea that being visibly muscular is somehow in conflict with their femininity. 


“I have my curves, breasts and hips, and I’m still a woman — just a very strong one," says Natasha Noel, a 23-year-old yoga instructor who used to be chastised for not looking "feminine" enough. “My teachers used to tell me to be more delicate, ‘like a woman.’ Strength has always fascinated me more than flexibility. Being strong is sexy, it’s empowering.”


See the gorgeous photos below and read more over at Elle India


-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

Your Bedroom Could Become A Work Of Art, Thanks To Yayoi Kusama

0
0

If you're pining for an opportunity to upgrade your Airbnb listing -- the one you've sparsely decorated with thrift store tchotchkes and a color palette you'd describe as "blandly dispassionate" -- look no further.


Thanks to a partnership between Airbnb and London's Tate Modern museum, you can stop poring over the interior details of your one-bedroom nook or two-level condo. Instead, let famed artist, and queen of all things bespeckled, Yayoi Kusama spruce up your digs.


You need only apply on the Tate Modern's website (before May 10, 2016, at 11.59 pm British Summer Time), and you could win the opportunity to have the Japanese icon, known for her "Infinity Mirrored Room" and "Fireflies on the Water" installations, breathe new life into your drab quarters, upping your rental game by at least 1,000 percent. 


According to the Tate's website, interested Airbnb hosts must be in charge of a private room or entire home located in the Greater London area in order to apply. Their submissions should measure in between 50 and 300 characters; so a pithy application story is a plus. If selected, the winner will not only watch their Airbnb listing blossom into a bona fide work of art, they'll also receive tickets to the Tate Modern extension party on June 16 -- this is how the museum reminds eager Kusama fans that a new Tate Modern building will be debuting this summer.


Earlier this year, the Art Institute of Chicago partnered with Airbnb to recreate Vincent van Gogh's former bedroom in Arles, France. While we can't deny the allure of staying in a post-Impressionist dreamscape, there's something even more intriguing at play for the Tate's lucky winner. Not only will the chosen one acquire a bedroom's worth of Kusama originals (which can fetch millions at auction), he or she will likely become the belle of Airbnb.


Who wouldn't want to stay in a rental that looked like this?



... or this?



... or this?



... or this?



... or this?



... or this?



... or this?



... or this?



... or how about this?



Really, the polka-dotted possibilities are endless. Hurry up and apply for your chance to get Kusamafied here. And while you're waiting for the results, read more about the wonder that is Yayoi.

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

Viewing all 18483 articles
Browse latest View live




Latest Images