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hookhumor67-blog · 6 years ago

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Landscaper spends a DECADE transforming rundown 1960s home

Landscaper spends more than a DECADE transforming his rundown 1970s home into an incredible Balinese-inspired paradise

Landscape gardener John Couch purchased a nondescript property in Cheltenham, Melbourne, in 2006

He spent ten years transforming the suburban home into a Balinese-style resort inspired by his holidays there

Initially paying just $315,000 for the lot, it's now on the market with an asking price of $1.1 - $1.2 million

While the exterior looks like high maintenance Mr Couch purposefully chose easy-to-care-for greenery

By Matilda Rudd For Daily Mail Australia

Published: 02:24 GMT, 13 November 2018 | Updated: 04:36 GMT, 14 November 2018

When John Couch made the decision to sell his home in southeast Melbourne, he cried.

They could have been mistaken for tears of joy as he pondered a potentially huge profit for flipping a home he'd bought only 12 years ago, but they were really tears of pride at how he'd transformed a humdrum corner of suburbia into something akin to a lavish Balinese resort.

'I have put my heart and soul into it... I cried walking around and thinking about selling,' Mr Couch told realestate.com.au.

A vendor and landscape gardener, Mr Couch purchased the property in Cheltenham in 2006 for $315,000 and has spent the past 12 years transforming a rundown 1970s house into a tropical oasis inspired by his trips to Bali and Miami.

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Vendor and landscape gardener John Couch, purchased a property in Cheltenham in 2006 for $315,000 and has spent the past 12 years transforming the rundown 1970s home into a tropical oasis inspired by his trips to Bali and Miami

'Once that door is shut it doesn't matter what suburb you're living in, you're in paradise. Whoever gets this house will be living the dream.'

He hired a Bobcat and began transforming his 600-square-metre property into something out of a holiday brochure.

The result was a haven of foliage, complete with a three-tiered pond and water feature with a Buddha statue, chicken coop and an entertainment deck with a built-in fireside bathtub.

He hired a Bobcat and began transforming his 600-square-metre property into the home of his dreams

The result was a haven of foliage, complete with a three-tiered pond and water feature with a Buddha statue, chicken coop and an entertainment deck with a built-in fireside bathtub (pictured is the kitchen before)

It has just been put on the market with an asking price of between $1.1 and $1.2 million (pictured is the kitchen transformed)

It has just been put on the market with an asking price of between $1.1 and $1.2 million, with Hocking Stuart Mentone agent Robert Pullia saying its one of the best gardens he has ever seen in the heart of suburbia.

But for those potential buyers worried about maintaining the beautiful garden, Mr Couch said it was deceptively low-maintenance.

He decided not to plant any tropical trees, instead choosing ones that suit the relatively dry climate of Melbourne's summers and winters.

He decided not to plant any tropical trees, instead choosing ones that suit the hot and dry climate of Melbourne, with the potential for lower temperatures in winter

The home has the potential to fit 200 guests in the garden, making it an entertainer's delight, or it would suit a young couple, Mr Couch explained

The bedroom opens out onto an incredible outdoor oasis and a huge wooden deck (pictured)

All it requires is general weeding, mulching and a few 'big garden days a year' to cut back the palms.

The home has the potential to fit 200 guests in the garden, making it an entertainer's delight, or it would suit a young couple, Mr Couch explained.

It's also close to the Direct Factory Outlets, train station and local shops.

Melbourne or Bali? Mr Couch altered the exterior and interior of his 1960s home

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Source: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-6382161/Landscaper-spends-DECADE-transforming-rundown-1960s-home.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490

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hookhumor67-blog · 6 years ago

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From Michael Myers To ‘The Walking Dead’: The Evolution Of A William Shatner Face Mask

AMC

In 1975, William Shatner starred in a little-seen film horror film alongside John Travolta called The Devil’s Rain. It’s not a good movie. Roger Ebert hated it, saying that it was “painfully dull,” while The New York Times said it was as “horrible as watching an egg fry.” It was only released in Los Angeles and New York and probably would have been lost in the bowels of cinematic history, had it not been for one footnote.

In the film, all the actors had casts of their faces made, because in the movie, the characters’ faces melt, and they needed to make masks for the melting scenes. In the film, the prosthetic for Shatner’s melting face looked like this:

Bryanston Distributing Company

The Devil’s Rain was produced by Bryanston Distributing Company, the same production company that released the very first John Carpenter film, 1974’s Dark Star, as well as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Meanwhile, the original cast mold of William Shatner’s face from The Devil’s Rain was later used to by Don Post Studios to create Halloween (the holiday) masks of Shatner’s Star Trek character, Captain Kirk, which could be bought in stores.

Source: https://uproxx.com/tv/william-shatner-michael-myers-walking-dead/

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hookhumor67-blog · 6 years ago

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Rosie O'Donnell Suggests 2020 Job For Joe Biden, But It's Not President

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hookhumor67-blog · 6 years ago

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Intocable Set For 'Percepción' Tour of U.S. & Mexico: See Dates

Intocable celebrated 25 years of success with their latest studio album Percepción. Now, they're ready to party with their fans as they embark on the Percepción tour of the Americas.

Kicking off May 11 at the Coliseo Centenario in Torreón Coahuila, Mexico, Intocable will visit multiple cities in Mexico and United States, including Monterrey, San Francisco, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Mexico City, and Houston. The tour officially wraps up Nov. 22 at the Pharr Events Center in Texas.

Released on March 15, the album is home to 14 new tracks, including recent singles “Nadie es Indispensable” and “Beso Incompleto." Percepción was produced by Don Was, who has worked with artists such as The Rolling Stones, John Mayer and Willie Nelson, to name a few. With Was at the mixing desk, they created album that fuses alternative rock, cumbia, rock 'n’ roll, and other genres, combined with the group’s ever-essential Tejano sound.

During their tour, Intocable will deliver their greatest hits and new songs. See the confirmed dates below.

May 11 -- Torreón Coahuila, Mexico @ Coliseo Centenario May 17 -- Monterrey, Mexico @ Show Center May 18 -- Monterrey, Mexico @ Show Center May 24 -- Saltillo, Mexico @ Nuevo Centro Metropolitano May 25 -- Tuxtla Gutierrez, Mexico @ Foro Chiapas May 30 -- Calvillo, Mexico @ Teatro del Pueblo May 31 -- Pachuca, Mexico @ Plaza de Toros June 1 -- Queretaro, Mexico @ Auditorio, Josefa June 13 -- Riverside, CA @ Riverside Municipal Auditorium June 14 -- Anaheim, CA @ House of Blues June 15 -- Anaheim, CA @ House of Blues June 16 -- Salinas, CA @ Fox Theater June 21 -- San Francisco, CA @ Fillmore Theater June 22 -- Stockton, CA @ Bob Hope Theater June 23 -- Del Mar, CA @ Del Mar Fairgrounds July 5 -- El Paso, TX @ El Plaza Theater July 6 -- Phoenix, AZ @ Comerica Theater July 7 -- Las Vegas, NV @ House of Blues July 12 -- Boise, ID @ Revolution Concert House July 13 -- Salt Lake City, UT @ The Complex July 14 -- Denver, CO @ Paramount Theatre July 19 -- Salem, OR @ Oregon State Fair & Expo July 20 -- Pasco, WA @ TRAC Center Aug. 15 -- San Luis Potosi, Mexico @ Palenque Feria Aug. 30 -- Duluth, GA @ Atlanta Coliseum Aug. 31 -- Raleigh, NC @ The Ritz Sept. 1 -- Charlotte, NC @ Fillmore Sept. 6 -- Washington, DC @ Fillmore Sept. 7 -- Philadelphia, PA @ Theatre of the Living Arts Sept. 14 -- Thackerville, OK @ WinStar World Casino Sept. 28 -- Mexico City, Mexico @ Mexico City Arena Oct. 5 -- Puebla, Mexico @ Estacionamiento Metropolitano Oct. 18 -- Vivalia, CA @ Visalia Convention Center Oct. 19 -- Tijuana, Mexico @ Audiorama El Trompo Oct. 25 -- Modesto, CA @ Gallo Center for the Arts Oct. 26 -- Santa Rosa, CA @ Luther Burbank Center for the Arts Nov. 2 -- San Jose, CA @ City National Civic Nov. 7 -- Sacramento, CA @ Ace of Spades Nov. 8 -- Sacramento, CA @ Ace of Spades Nov. 9 -- Hollywood, CA @ Dolby Theatre Nov. 16 -- Houston, TX @ Arena Theatre Nov. 22 -- Pharr, TX @ Pharr Events Center

Source: https://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/8510401/intocable-set-for-percepcion-tour-of-us-mexico-see-dates

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hookhumor67-blog · 6 years ago

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Azealia Banks Returns With New Holiday-Themed EP 'Icy Colors Change': Listen

Fans in search of Azealia Banks' long-awaited sophomore LP, Fantasea II, are going to have to keep looking, but the Harlem native decided to drop off a compact three-track EP just in time for the holiday season.

Icy Colors Change popped up on streaming services Thursday (Dec. 20) without much of a warning from the 27-year-old.

The only original work on the project is the title track, of which Banks teased the framework for last December. The other pair of songs feature Azealia showing off her range by tapping into her R&B side, as she covers a couple holiday classics in Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane's "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," as well as Frank Loesser's "What Are You Doing New Year's Eve."

Banks has weathered a turbulent year, putting it lightly. The "212" rapper's been engaged in feuds with just about everyone from tech billionaire Elon Musk to Kanye West. She's even taken aim at Nick Cannon and the cast of Wild 'N' Out following a controversial appearance on the show that left her feeling embarrassed.

It's a positive sign to her focus is, at least temporarily, back on the music. Stream Icy Colors Change below.

Source: https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/hip-hop/8491291/azealia-banks-returns-with-new-holiday-themed-ep-icy-colors-change

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hookhumor67-blog · 6 years ago

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Vidgo Soft Launches Pre-Paid vMVPD Targeted to Spanish Speaking Market

In limbo since debuting at CES 2016, rebooted streaming company finally ready to hit the market

After boldly announcing itself on the nascent virtual MVPD scene at CES 2016, then wandering into the startup wilderness, Vidgo is finally conducting a soft launch.

Now under different ownership and management, the Atlanta-based start-up this week made two skinny tiers of Spanish-language, soccer-rich channels available under pre-paid conditions to users of iOS and Android devices. (The company said apps for Roku, Fire TV, Chromecast, and Apple TV will debut in the coming weeks.)

Related: Is Long-Gestating vMVPD Start-Up Vidgo Finally Ready to Launch?

The $19.99-a-month “Latino” base tier will feature 25 live-streamed channels, including beIN Sports, Canal Sur, Galavision, TV Azteca, TYC Sports, Univision and Univision Deportes. And the $29.99-a-month “Latino Mas” bundle will add Bandamax, De Pelicula, De Pelicula Clasico, Ecuavisa, Foro TV, Ritmoson, Telehit and TI Novelas.

The pre-paid service requires no credit card or credit checks and is targeted to a first-generation immigrant population acclimated to a cash economy—an audience of millions of consumers, Video CEO Shane Cannon noted, that is underserved in the pay TV market, even by suppliers like Dish Network’s Sling TV, which is rich in international programming choices.

Cannon said the company will add an English-language package later in 2018 if the launch is successful.

Vidgo introduced itself with a more mainstream-focused programming package in 2016, under the direction of Robert Kostensky, a former DirecTV sales and and distribution executive. In fact, a webpage still exist, touting a launch in 12 markets in the summer of 2016, and a national rollout by the end of that year.

But as Vidgo’s debut got delayed, the vMVPD market steadily saturated, with DirecTV Now, Hulu with Live TV, YouTube TV and fuboTV joining the ranks. Cannon replaced Kostensky as the lead executive last year, with new backers— described as a top five network—also stepping in.

According to Vidgo’s Crunchbase profile, the company has raised $500,000 in seed funding to date. But Cannon said a new, more sizable funding round is at hand.

Notably, Vidgo is marketing Sunday’s soccer game between Barcelona and Real Madrid, dubbed "El Clasico," which will be broadcast by beIN Sports.

Source: https://www.multichannel.com/news/vidgo-finally-soft-launches

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hookhumor67-blog · 6 years ago

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It’s time for music and music technology to be a voice for migrants

From countries across Europe to the USA, migration is at the center of Western politics at the moment. But that raises a question: why aren’t more people who make music, music instruments, and music tech louder about these issues?

Migration – temporary and permanent – is simply a fact of life for a huge group of people, across backgrounds and aspirations. That can involve migration to follow opportunities, and refugees and asylum seekers who move for their own safety and freedom. So if you don’t picture immigrants, migrants, and refugees when you think of your society, you just aren’t thinking.

Musicians ought to be uniquely qualified to speak to these issues, though. Extreme anti-immigration arguments all assume that migrants take away more from a society than they give back. And people in the music world ought to know better. Music has always been based on cultural exchange. Musicians across cultures have always considered touring to make a living. And to put it bluntly, music isn’t a zero sum game. The more you add, the more you create.

Music gets schooled in borders

As music has grown more international, as more artists tour and cross borders, at least the awareness is changing. That’s been especially true in electronic music, in a DJ industry that relies on travel. Resident Advisor has consistently picked up this story over the last couple of years, as artists spoke up about being denied entry to countries while touring.

In a full-length podcast documentary last year, they dug into the ways in which the visa system hurts artists outside the US and EU, with a focus on non-EU artists trying to gain entry to the UK:

Andrew Ryce also wrote about a visa rate hike in the USA back in 2016 – and this in the Obama Administration, not under Trump:

US raises touring artist visa fees by 42%

Now, being a DJ crossing a border isn’t the same as being a refugee running for your life. But then on some other level, it can allow artists to experience immigration infrastructure – both when it works for them, and when it works against them. A whole generation of artists, including even those from relatively privileged Western nations, is now learning the hard way about the immigration system. And that’s something they might have missed as tourists, particularly if they come from places like the USA, western Europe, Australia, and other places well positioned in the system.

The immigration system they see will often come off as absurdist. National policies worldwide categorize music as migrant labor and require a visa. In many countries, these requirements are unenforced in all but big-money gigs. But in some countries – the USA, Canada, and UK being prime examples – they’re rigorously enforced, and not coincidentally, the required visas have high fees.

Showing up at a border carrying music equipment or a bag of vinyl records is an instant red flag – whether a paid gig is your intention or not. (I’m surprised, actually, that no one talks about this in regards to the rise of the USB stick DJ. If you aren’t carrying a controller or any records, sailing through as a tourist is a lot easier.) Border officials will often ask visitors to unlock phones, hand over social media passwords. They’ll search Facebook events by name to find gigs. Or they’ll even just view the presence of a musical instrument as a violation.

Being seen as “illegal” because you’re traveling with a guitar or some records is a pretty good illustration of how immigration can criminalize simple, innocent acts. Whatever the intention behind that law, it’s clear there’s something off here – especially given the kinds of illegality that can cross borders.

When protection isn’t

This is not to argue for open borders. There are times when you want border protections. I worked briefly in environmental advocacy as we worked on invasive species that were hitching a ride on container ships – think bugs killing trees and no more maple syrup on your pancakes, among other things. I was also in New York on 9/11 and watched from my roof – that was a very visible demonstration of visa security oversight that had failed. Part of the aim of customs and immigration is to stop the movement of dangerous people and things, and I don’t think any rational person would argue with that.

But even as a tiny microcosm of the larger immigration system, music is a good example of how laws can be uneven, counter-intuitive, and counterproductive. The US and Canada, for instance, do have an open border for tourists. So if an experimental ambient musician from Toronto comes to play a gig in Cleveland, that’s not a security threat – they could do the same as a tourist. It’s also a stretch of the imagination that this individual would have a negative impact on the US economy. Maybe the artist makes a hundred bucks cash and … spends it all inside the USA, not to mention brings in more money for the venue and the people employed by it. Or maybe they make $1000 – a sum that would be wiped out by the US visa fee, to say nothing of slow US visa processing. Again, that concert creates more economic activity inside the US economy, and it’s very likely the American artist sharing the bill goes up to Montreal and plays with them next month on top of it. I could go on, but it’s … well, boring and obvious.

Artists and presenters worldwide often simply ignore this visa system because it’s slow, expensive, and unreliable. And so it costs economies (and likely many immigration authorities) revenue. It costs societies value and artistic and cultural exchange.

Of course, scale that up and the same is true, across other fields. Immigrants tend to give more into government services than they take out, they tend to own businesses that employ more local people (so they create jobs), they tend to invent new technologies (so they create jobs again), and so on.

Ellis Island, NYC. 12 million people passed through here – not all of my family who came to the USA, but some. I’ve now come the other way through Tegel Airport and the Ausländerbehörde , Berlin. Photo (CC-BY-ND “>A. Strakey.

Advocacy and music

Immigration advocacy could be seen as something in the charter of anyone in the music industry or musical instruments industry.

Music technology suffers as borders are shut down, too. Making musical instruments and tools requires highly specialized labor working in highly specialized environments. From production to engineering to marketing, it’s an international business. I actually can’t think of any major manufacturer that doesn’t rely on immigrants in key roles. (Even many tiny makers involve immigrants.)

And the traditional music industry lean heavily on immigrant talent, too. Those at the top of the industry have powerful lobbying efforts – efforts that could support greater cultural exchange and rights for travelers. Certainly, its members are often on the road. But let’s take the Recording Academy (the folks behind the Grammy Awards).

Instead, their efforts seem to fixate on domestic intellectual property law. So the Recording Academy and others were big on the Music Modernization Act – okay, fine, a law to support compensation for creators.

But while the same organization advocated on behalf of instruments traveling – domestic rules around carry-on and checked instruments – but not necessarily humans. So it could be that there’s more interest in your guitar getting across borders than people.

I don’t want to be unfair to the Recording Association – and not just because I think it might hurt my Grammy winning chances. (Hey, stop laughing.) No, I think it’s more that we as a community have generally failed to take up this issue in any widespread way. (I sincerely hope someone out there works for the record industry and writes to say that you’re actually working on this and I’m wrong.)

More than anything else, music can cross borders. It can speak to people when you don’t speak their language, literally. When music travels, emotion and expression travels – artists and technology alike.

It’s personal – isn’t it for you?

I personally feel the impact of all of this, now having been seven years in Berlin, and able to enjoy opportunities, connections, and perspective that come from living in Germany and working with people both from Germany and abroad. I feel hugely grateful to the German state for allowing my business to immigrate (my initial visa was a business visa, which involved some interesting bureaucracy explaining to the Berlin Senate what this site is about). I’ve even benefited from the support of programs like the Goethe Institut and host governments to work in cultural diplomacy.

I’ve also had the chance to be involved writing in support of visas and financial backing for artists coming from Iran, Mexico, Kazakhstan, and many other places, for programs I’ve worked on.

And all of this is really a luxury – even when we’re talking about artists traveling to support their careers and feed themselves. For so many people, migration is a matter of survival. Now that we’ve lived the system, we have an added obligation to make it work for them. Sometimes the threats to their lives come from geopolitical and economic policies engineered by the governments we come from – meaning as citizens, we share some responsibility for the impact others have felt. But whether or not that’s the case, I would hope we feel that obligation as human beings. That’s the basis of international rule of law on accepting refugees and granting asylum. It’s the reason those principles are uncompromising and sometimes even challenging. Our world is held together – or not – based on that basic fairness we afford to fellow humans. If people come to where we live and claim their survival and freedom depends on taking them in, we accept the obligation to at least listen to their case.

Those of us in the music world could use our privilege, and the fact that our medium is so essential to human expression, to be among the loudest voices for these human rights. When we live in countries who listen to us, we should talk to other citizens and talk to our governments. We should tell the stories that make these issues more relatable. We should do what some people I know are doing in the music world, too – work on education and involvement for refugees, help them to feel at home in our communities and to develop whatever they need to make a home here, and make people feel welcome at the events we produce.

That’s just the principles, not policies. But I know a lot of people in my own circle have worked on the policy and advocacy sides here. I certainly would invite you to share what we might do. If you’ve been impacted by immigration obstacles and have ideas of how we help, I hope we hear that, too.

Some likely policy areas: Supporting the rights of refugees and asylum seekers Supporting refugee and asylum seeker integration Advocating for more open visa policies for artists – keeping fees low, and supporting exchange Advocating the use of music and culture, and music technology, as a form of cultural diplomacy Supporting organizations that connect artists and creative technologists across borders

And so on…

But I do hope that as musicians, we work with people who share basic beliefs in caring for other people. I know there’s no single “community” or “industry” that can offer that. But we certainly can try to build our own circle in a way that does.

Some examples from here in Berlin working on refugee issues here. I would argue immigration policy can find connections across refugees and migrants, asylum seekers and touring musicians, as everyone encounters the same larger apparatus and set of laws:

Photo at top: CC-BY Nicola Romagna.

Source: http://cdm.link/2018/11/opinion-immigration-music-advocacy/

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hookhumor67-blog · 6 years ago

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New Music: Lil Baby & Gunna “Drip Too Hard”

Tue 11 Sep 2018

New Music: Lil Baby & Gunna “Drip Too Hard”

Posted by Missinfo.tv Staff under New Music No Comments

Lil’ Baby and Gunna are those of Atlanta’s new stars, tearing up the streets and clubs this year. The two are coming together on a joint project called Drip Harder, expected to arrive later this year. Before more details and a release date are announced, the QC and YSL representers connect with producer Turbo on the song “Drip Too Hard.” Hear the two rappers get fresh and stunt hard below.

Continue after the jump….

New Music: Lil Baby & Gunna – “Drip Too Hard”

Previously: Gunna Feat. Young Thug & Lil’ Baby – “Oh Okay” (Video)

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Source: http://www.missinfo.tv/index.php/lil-baby-gunna-drip-too-hard/

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Counterpart Canceled at Starz After 2 Seasons

Starz has decided not to continue on with Counterpart.

The J.K. Simmons-led sci-fi spy drama's Season 2 finale, which airs on Sunday, Feb. 17, will serve as its series finale, unless the production company responsible for the series, MRC, is successfully at shopping the series around to another home.

Deadline reports that Starz's decision to cancel the series came earlier this year and that MRC is currently trying to relocate the show for a potential third season on one of the streaming services.

Showrunner Justin Marks confirmed the news via Twitter on Monday. "It's been an absolute dream for this team... we got to make EXACTLY the show we wanted to... perfect cast, perfect crew on 2 continents... and we're so grateful to our network for the time we had," he wrote. "Fingers crossed that our wonderful studio, MRC, can find a way to keep the dream alive!"

In a statement about the decision to say goodbye to the show, Starz's President of Programming Carmi Zlotnik said, "Justin, Jordan [Horowitz], J.K. and the entire cast and crew delivered a beautifully executed series. It was a pleasure working with this team on two seasons of expert storytelling brought to life by best-in-class performances across the board."

Counterpart was one of TV Guide's picks for best series of 2018, with one of the most stunning episodes of the year and a pinnacle performance of duality from Simmons.

Barring any renewals at another location, then, Sunday's Season 2 finale episode of Counterpart will mark its unexpected end.

Counterpart's Season 2 finale airs Sunday, Feb. 17 at 8/7c.

Source: https://www.tvguide.com/news/counterpart-canceled-starz/?rss=breakingnews

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‘Legion’ Casts Professor X And Sets An End Date

FX’s delightfully bonkers X-Men spin-off series Legion is coming back for eight more episodes starting this June. This third season will also be the ambitious show’s last, as revealed by the cast and crew at the Television Critics Association winter press tour on Monday. SyFy reports creator and showrunner Noah Hawley said, “It felt like three acts of a story and a natural place to end it.” He went on to hint at where the last eight episodes may go, saying that David Haller (Dan Stevens) has a fragile ego and “can’t see himself as a bad person. He has to see himself as a good person or his mind will fracture even more.”

Speaking of David’s fractured mind, we’re finally going to see the X-Men character hinted at when David was having a conversation with his own subconscious, a subconscious which took David’s physical form but spoke with a different accent because Legion gonna Legion. That X-Men character is Professor X, who was David’s biological father in the comics. The official Twitter for the show announced that both of David’s biological parents have been cast. (Show us all the mutants.)

Professor X will be played by Harry Lloyd, who you probably recognize as Viserys Targaryen from Game of Thrones. David’s mother, Gabrielle Haller, will be portrayed by Stephanie Corneliussen (who played Joanna Wellick on Mr. Robot).

Starz / Getty

Source: https://uproxx.com/hitfix/fx-legion-professor-x-cast-season-3/

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hookhumor67-blog · 6 years ago

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The State of Bisexual Representation in Our Pop Culture: 2018 Edition

2018 has been a mixed year for bisexual representation. Shows like The Bisexual and Sally4Ever have focused on female characters exploring their sexuality, but film has mainly shied away from focusing on bi representation. As a medium, television has more storytelling room, so perhaps it is easier to fit in bisexual characters, but film needs to be making the push for more diversity in sexual experiences.

Representation is not arbitrary, and not just a box-ticking exercise, but helps shape and shift perceptions in the real world. This is important for people of any minority, and the statistics show the level of mental health problems that come with being bisexual. Studies have found that “approximately 40 percent of bisexual people have considered or attempted suicide, compared to just over a quarter of gay men and lesbians”. Although representation of gay and lesbian people needs to improve, it is clear that if progress is going to be made in regards to the mental health of bi people, it needs to happen quickly. Bisexual people are not just a small minority, but as a study by the Williams Institute found, in the US, “Among adults who identify as LGB, bisexuals comprise a slight majority (1.8% compared to 1.7% who identify as lesbian or gay)”. This highlights the need for more bisexual representation on screen, especially for men, as they are less likely to identify as such. That is why it is heartening that more shows are including positive depictions of bisexual people.

Bisexuality on screen is not always explicit, not always explained, and there are schools of thought on both sides of the fence. Some people think not uttering bisexuals bisexaul is progressive and others feel it is holding progress back. The same debate is being had in real life, with some bisexual and pansexual people choosing not to label their sexualities, whilst others feel the label is vital if progress is to be made. I personally feel that whatever someone wants to identify as is fine, as long as it is not actively harming anyone in the LGBTQ community. I personally don’t think it hurts the bi community for people to classify themselves as fluid in real life, but I don’t think there has been good enough representation on screen for the label to be discarded in the media. Two of the Main offenders who refuse to audibly call their characters bisexual over the years continued in this vain in 2018. The protagonists in How to Get Away with Murder and Orange is the New Black show bisexual characters but refrain from having them identified as such on screen. There have been many think-pieces about this over the years, but they haven’t forced the shows into making a change. It can be argued that this representation is normalizing bi identities by taking away the dramatic coming out, and by showing them living their lives authentically. It is a nice idea, but only works if enough good representation has already been shown in the media.

An example of not explicitly labelling a character was discussed recently by Tessa Thompson, who starred as bisexual character Valkyrie in last year’s Thor: Ragnarok. She defended her character not explicitly being shown as bi, stating, “I played her as a woman that’s queer. I hope that we get to a space, in terms of the stories that we tell, where that’s something that gets to exist, and it doesn’t have to be noteworthy”. Her defense is well-meaning but the operative phrase in her statement is, “I hope we get to that space”. Thompson is bi and was clear in the promotion for Thor that her character is too, but we are not at a place in society where representation on screen can all follow the progressive mold of not identifying. Although I hope sexualities do not have to be spelled out in the future on screen, for now, it needs to be explicit in order to educate and to normalize.

Looking back at the year of Bisexual film and TV it is best to review them on the representation shown. Does it fall into any of the negative traps laid above? Does it skirt around the issue? Or does it show a happy and healthy character or relationship? Below is the good and the bad of bisexuality in film and TV.

The Good

The Bisexual

Desiree Akhavan burst onto the scene with 2013’s wry Appropriate Behaviour. She finally directed her second feature, the heartwarming and vital gay conversion therapy film, The Miseducation of Cameron Post earlier this year. She followed the success of that film a few months later, with the aptly titled, The Bisexual. The show follows a 30-something American women, who after breaking up with her partner of 10 years (the masterful Maxine Peake) starts to experiment with her sexuality. Under a different showrunner the show could have perpetuated negative stereotypes, but identifying as Bisexual herself, Akhavan allows The Bisexual to upend all negative conventions. She sleeps with men and women, and does, as the show suggests, show the life of a bisexual woman. Funny, smartly-observed and as awkward as her debut feature, The Bisexual is the best example you will find this year, and maybe any year of a bisexual woman just figuring her life out.

Casual

The under watched and underappreciated Casual finished its run on Hulu earlier this year. It was A real gem of the past few years, sharing a tone with Bojack Horseman, with a tenth of the hype. This dramedy took the tired dysfunctional family setting and rejuvenated it bringing the will they/won’t they to the sibling relationship. I could talk about Casual for the rest of the article, but I’ll get focused on the sexuality of the daughter, Laura, played to perfection by Tara Lynne Barr. In previous seasons we witnessed Laura date both men and women, but there was always a sense she was still figuring out her attraction to the latter. That was no longer the case in the final season, as Laura happily dated women, showing no signs of doubt or internalized homophobia. Although she didn’t date a man in the final season, this was an important portrayal, as it busts the myth that being bisexual means you have to date men and women to an equal degree. You could go your whole life without dating either, but still be attracted to both, while still identifying as bisexual. Laura’s attraction to men and women was cemented in the first three seasons, making her happily dating women without renouncing her attraction to men a rarely seen but positive portrayal.

The Bi Life

Billed as a queer equivalent to Love Island, The Bi Life is a dating show where every contestant identifies as bisexual. Whilst not becoming the cultural megahit that Love Island has become in the UK, The Bi Life is a huge step forward in bisexual representation. Airing in the UK, and fronted by Queer drag icon, Courtney Act, the show both normalized and educated the idea of bisexuality. It showed the aching truth of dating when bi, but included 3 to 4 scenes in each episode where the contestants discussed the stereotypes surrounding bisexuality and the effect it can have on family and friends. The Bi Life entertained, educated and ultimately warmed the heart, making it a vital piece of television in 2018.

Dirty Computer

Highlighting the lack of bisexual representation in the film world, I am forced to stretch the definition of film for Dirty Computer, the film accompaniment to Janelle Monae’s album of the same name. Running over 40 minutes and so much more than an extended music video, Dirty Computer is a great piece of feminist, avant garde and importantly, queer film making. Bursting with invention, striking visuals, and a love story at its core, Monae didn’t just make one of the best albums of the year, but also one of the best films.

Brooklyn Nine-Nine

Although Stephanie Beatriz’s character, Rosa Diaz came out on Brooklyn Nine-Nine in 2017, Diaz and Beatriz herself continued spreading positivity this year. Near the end of season five, Diaz found a love interest played by Jane the Virgin’s Gina Rodriguez, and the show continued to treat her sexuality the way it has always treated queer characters; perfectly. The positivity didn’t just end with the show though, and Beatriz has continued to be an advocate for her bisexual identity. After she was accused of picking a side when she married a man, Beatriz explained her sexuality in the most direct way possible, stating, “I’m bi till the day I die”.

Jane the Virgin

Fans of Jane the Virgin had long speculated (and in some cases hoped) that the character Petra was bisexual. The show confirmed this in 2018 when it gave her a love interest in the form of a new character Jane (not the virgin), played by the always brilliant Rosario Dawson. Because Petra dreamt of romancing Jane for so long, the romance was teased over a few episodes. However, once it was confirmed, the couple became a pitch-perfect example of bisexual representation. The show is campy, so the relationship was not without its highs and lows, and going into the next season, it is not clear whether they will continue dating. However, in the time that they were, it was not presented stereotypically in the slightest. Jane the Virgin (which has always been great on queer stories) got this one right.

Crazy-Ex Girlfriend

The underappreciated tour de force that is, Crazy-Ex Girlfriend introduced its third bisexual character in 2018. That’s right, 3 bisexual characters on one show. To show three bisexual characters on one program, without falling into any negative tropes, is really going the extra mile. This normalizes bisexuality and is exactly the kind of representation the community needs. There is not much more to say about this, except for, we love you Rachel Bloom.

Sally4Ever

Sally4Ever, which is still in the middle of its first season is a heightened, absurd story of a woman married to a man, falling for another woman. At times the show plays into stereotypes, but it is nice to see a show that isn’t obsessed with the dramatics of it all, and instead allows the relationship to work in a bizarre world. It plays like an absurd The Bisexual, and is a reminder that representation doesn’t always have to be stale and factual, it can be great fun too.

The Bad

Alex Strangelove

Alex Strangelove is an interesting addition to the bad category, because for the most part, the film is similar to the better-known, Love Simon. It follows a high-school student who comes to grips with his sexuality, finally realizing and accepting that he is gay. The film is funny, sweet, but ultimately standard, diverting romcom fare. The problem, however, is how it shows Alex coming to grips with his sexuality. The film presents bisexuality as a stepping stone, and whether accidentally or not implies that it is a safe middle ground. It can often take many gay people time to truly come to terms with their sexuality, and pondering the idea of their bisexuality is a legitimate step on many people’s journey. Some gay people ultimately suppress their same-sex desires and come out as bisexual before accepting their homosexuality. But the idea that it is a stepping stone can be toxic, as it can imply it is a phase. So, for that reason it is in the bad category, but it hopefully highlights that representation is not always good or bad, but sometimes there is just more that needs to be done.

Bohemian Rhapsody

In the recently released Bohemian Rhapsody, Freddie Mercury, as played by the magnetic Rami Malek, tells his female partner that he is bisexual. She responds, “Freddie you’re gay”. Her response is authentic and a painful reminder to any bisexual man that we are coded as gay if we have any same-sex attraction. For many, getting past the binary straight/gay divide is too much, as they believe bi people must choose. The film does nothing to dissuade the audience that Mercury is in fact gay, and like what often happens, our specific identity is erased. This film did nothing to counter this, and is a continuation of how the film world treats male bisexuality.

Riverdale

Riverdale has not shied away from sexuality and queer storylines in its three seasons on the air, and even included a bisexual character in the first season. Although that character, Moose, is now peripheral as the show continues onto season 3, in the past year audiences were baited, but ultimately let down by a bisexual storyline. Head cheerleader, and all-round ice queen, Cheryl Blossom had shown interest in men early on in the shows run, but started to engage in a same-sex romance in season 2. At its infancy, Madelaine Petsch, who portrays Cheryl stated, “I would say she is bisexual”. Hopes were raised, but after her romance with Toni Topaz was cemented, Petsch changed her tune, confirming that after talks with the showrunner, “Cheryl is a lesbian”. This is a hard blow for bi representation. Not because Cheryl had previously shown interest in men, but because her bisexuality had been publicly confirmed. Stating it publicly, then denouncing it is painful, and stings harder considering Cheryl is dating a great representation of bisexuality on the show, Toni Topaz. The flip-flopping perpetuates the stereotype that bi people need to choose a side, and damages the great representation Riverdale had established with Moose and Topaz.

Bi representation is getting better and despite its flaws, 2018 has been a great year and a great step forward. TV is embracing queer identities more every year, and is finally starting to allow queer characters to live happy lives. Film is failing all queer identities, but its lack of bi representation is shocking, and its lack of meaningful positive representation of queer identities in general is disgraceful. 2018 has been a step in the right direction, but more needs to be done to highlight different voices, and make more people in 2019 comfortable to proclaim, “I’m bi till I die”.

Source: https://filmschoolrejects.com/bisexual-representation-pop-culture-2018/

#read more #see more #check it out #interesting #learn more

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hookhumor67-blog · 6 years ago

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Industry Leaders Discuss What They're Doing to Make Concerts More Sustainable at Billboard Live Music Summit

When a powerhouse like Katy Perry speaks, folks tend to pay attention. Just ask Aran Rush, VP of arena operations at the sustainable concert venue Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California.

"We did have plastic straws for our general population, because we were still nervous about transitioning over," said Rush when discussing the venue's environmentally-friendly practices. "But we used plant-based straws everywhere else. And then we had Katy Perry come and she asked us to switch over. And ever since she came in January, we switched over to only plant-based straws," he continued. "Sometimes you just need a little spark to start it."

This was just one highlight of the panel Beyond Plastic: Music and the Business of Social Change at the Billboard Live Music Summit in Beverly Hills on Wednesday (Nov. 14), at which moderator Michael Martin -- founder and CEO of Effect Partners, a non-profit whose r.Cup initiative partners with sports and music venues to cut down on their single-use plastic waste -- hosted leaders in the music industry's ongoing sustainability movement to discuss reducing the plastic-waste footprint at venues across the country.

In addition to Rush, the panelists included Nic Adler, festival director at Goldenvoice; Tom Chauncey, senior agent, CEO, and founder of Partisan Artists agency; Dianna Cohen, CEO of the environmental non-profit Plastic Pollution Coalition; and Farid Mosher, senior guest services manager of the event production company C3.

One notable change agent who received honorable mentions from the panel was singer-songwriter Jack Johnson, who has been a leading proponent of sustainable event venues for the past 15 years and has inspired a multitude of other artists, venues and concert promoters to get involved. Chauncey, who has represented Johnson for over a decade, noted that getting venues on board back in 2003 was a challenge, but that now they're beginning to take it upon themselves.

"When we go back to these [venues], a lot of [venues] will say to us, 'Back in 2008, we really appreciated all the points that you were putting out. We just kept doing it from then,'" said Chauncey. "And that was exactly what we were hoping [would happen], is that it would start to become [normalized]."

Johnson certainly walks the walk when it comes to sustainability. On his last tour alone, the musician completely eliminated single-use plastic straws while cutting out over 36,000 single-use plastic water bottles and over 100,000 single-use plastic cups. And he's not the only artist who has been doing his part; Cohen noted that a number of other musicians including Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne, Ben Harper and Crosby, Stills & Nash have all devoted themselves to the burgeoning movement.

"What ended up happening is they started ... on their [tour] riders asking venues ... in a very kind and sweet way, a letter saying, 'We're really dedicated to reducing our plastic footprint, and we'd like you guys to help us do that,'" said Cohen, whose organization is made up of over 750 businesses and organizations across the globe. "So [it] really started in a very grassroots [way]."

These loud voices have helped spread the gospel of sustainability to individuals and organizations on every end of the festival and touring circuit, many of whom have adopted a more open attitude to the movement in recent years. But as the panelists noted, fans have a responsibility too.

"Everybody has a role in sustainability at a festival," said Mosher, who cited the use of composting bins as an example. "We have to provide all the resources available, from bins to waste hauling, but also a fan needs to throw the compostable products in the appropriate bin.... As festival producers, it is our responsibility that we're connecting all those dots, that we're providing all the resources available in order to see these sustainability programs be successful."

Chauncey believes it's an easy ask for most concert-goers to do well by the environment. "The fans wants this," added Chauncey. "This is not a hardship for the audience. In fact, I think it's an add-on. It's a plus."

Of course, reducing plastic waste is also the responsibility of the corporations who produce the bottles and straws in the first place, and Cohen believes more needs to be done to put pressure on manufacturers like Coca-Cola and Pepsi to do the right thing.

"Corporations have chosen particular packaging that they use to bring food and beverages to the public," she said. "And unfortunately, over the last 50, 60 years, they've also managed to put the onus and responsibility for all that packaging ... on the public."

Adler believes the government also plays a significant role in the equation. "I'm not one for regulation, but I don't think we're gonna actually see major significant change unless we have regulation from the top. If California says, 'Hey, no more water bottles at music festivals,'" said the promoter, who helps put on the annual Coachella music festival, "I guarantee you that Live Nation and AEG and C3 and whoever are gonna get in a room and figure it out real fast."

Near the end of the panel, an audience member brought up the question of cost. What, she asked the assembled group, can the industry do to help bring down the price of more expensive items like, say, paper straws, which cost on average about two cents more than plastic? To that, Adler had a ready answer.

"I think people would spend an extra two or three dollars now if they understood what the costs are gonna eventually be if we don't make change," he said.

Source: https://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/news/touring/8485124/industry-leaders-discuss-what-theyre-doing-to-make-concerts-more

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hookhumor67-blog · 6 years ago

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Everything We Know So Far About ‘You’ Season 2

Lifetime

Plentiful spoilers for You‘s first season will be found below.

As a Lifetime show, You scored critical acclaim but went largely unnoticed by the masses, only to emerge as a killer hit when it streamed on Netflix over the holidays. The streaming service then boasted that the highly addictive stalker-drama reached 40 million viewers, many of whom were perhaps too entranced by Joe Goldberg, the sociopathic lead embodied by Penn Badgley, who’s aghast at people lusting after his character. Yet there’s definitely going to be more “hot” stalker drama coming to perplex Badgley while he unnerves everyone again. So, what do we know about this second season?

The Why: The overriding reason for the second season, of course, is that the series exploded in popularity on Netflix, which snatched the property up for more (bye bye, Lifetime). Not only that, but plenty of loose ends and a cliffhanger provided for excellent jumping off points for Joe to continue his stalking antics with his narration queuing up the black comedy that makes this series more than a guilty pleasure. There’s a solid chance that the number of streamers has eclipsed 40 million by now, and those people will binge the hell out of a second season. (Netflix is also now serial killer central, although they half-heartedly discourage lusting over these convicted criminals.)

The When: The series will launch on Netflix sometime in 2019. “Sometime soon,” according to the official You Instagram page, though this will probably happen in the fall, given that the first season debuted on Lifetime in September 2018. Showrunner Sera Gamble told NME that the series would resume filming sometime in February, and the writers are currently working on carving out the latter half of the season.

Lifetime

The Who: John Stamos isn’t yet confirmed to reprise his role as the weed-addled therapist, but Penn Badgley will definitely return as Joe Goldberg. But who will he stalk, now that he’s killed his true love, Beck (Elizabeth Lail)?

Well, the first season cliffhanger unfurled a startling revelation — Joe’s ex-girlfriend, Candace Stone, wasn’t dead, as we’d been led to believe, given that she previously dropped off the face of the earth. Joe’s own visions of Candace made it seem that he was being haunted by her, but since she shows up in the flesh, Candace will likely play into the second season, according to an Entertainment Weekly interview with Gamble. In addition, actress Ambyr Childers has been elevated to a series regular for the second season, so yup, there’s gonna be much more Candace. Will she live? That’s difficult to predict since her twist appearance in the season finale differed from author Caroline Kepnes’ first book and places the character in uncharted territory.

Source: https://uproxx.com/tv/you-season-2-what-we-know/

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