#read the whole article

[iwanthermidnightz]

LATELY, YOUNGER FANS of Harry Styles and Taylor Swift have been trying to piece together the puzzle of exactly who Dita Von Teese is. The burlesque legend had a cameo in Styles’ leading man debut Don’t Worry Darling then popped up in the video for Swift’s Midnights single “Bejweled.”

Von Teese, meanwhile, has been blissfully unaware that a new generation is discovering her.

“It’s really funny when things like this happen,” she says over Zoom. “I’m not very active on TikTok even though I have one. On Instagram, Facebook, and everything, I don’t really dig too much. I’m not trying to hunt for accolades. When you start to hunt for the good stuff, you’re gonna find some bad stuff.”

Von Teese has remained a steady and successful presence in the burlesque scene. She has been crucial in helping re-popularize the performance style, often becoming the de facto face of it. In the aughts, she made appearances on shows like America’s Next Top Model and RuPaul’s Drag Race. All the while, she has built a steady touring career, including her current Glamanoatrix revue that will traverse North America from New Year’s Eve through late February.

Over the summer, she got a call out of the blue from Taylor Swift’s people pitching her on a scene in the video for “Bejeweled.” The track is the second single off Swift’s tenth album Midnights and was accompanied by Swift-directed, cameo-filled visual that also features Laura Dern, Haim, Jack Antonoff, and make-up artist and entrepreneur Pat McGrath.

Swift herself also spoke with Von Teese ahead of the video. “She said, ‘I watch people be inspired by you. You’re on everybody’s mood board but nobody ever credits you or features you.’ She wanted to do that. I thought that was really nice that she said that. That’s the kind of attitude that makes me want to share my trade secrets.”

Swift’s costume designer Joseph Cassell came by Von Teese’s house on day to take a look at her collection and then made water-proof, “PG” recreations of the Catherine D’Lish originals for the shoot.

Von Teese filmed her appearance in August. In the video, she and Swift do mirror performances of the burlesque diva’s martini glass dance, in two of the glasses from Von Teese’s personal performance collection. They didn’t rehearse; Swift had been studying Von Teese’s videos and took some early tips.

“We worked it out on set in a matter of several hours. She’s a pro. I think the one thing she had the hardest time with was the stocking peel. I was able to talk her through it,” she says.

Vintage glamour is a new look for Swift, and Von Teese loved seeing the pop star dip into her world. “She’s so fan to look and such a good sport,” she says. “It’s such a delight to work with somebody like her who is not afraid to express gratitude and shine the spotlight on other people because she realized it doesn’t take away anything from her own power as a woman. A lot of people just see the mood board and they say they’re inspired by someone and they just run with it. I liked that she was not afraid to say ‘Thank you for being part of my video’ to everybody that’s in it. You don’t get that you don’t get that a lot in show business”

[peoplevsbirds]

[kosmogrl]

100 small acts of love by The New York Times 💌

[sentientsky]

wait but can we talk about how jarring it is to read official news releases ab this show after marinating for months in the good omens fandom on tumblr?? like, i'll read a piece from an actual news site that goes something like,,, "Good Omens explores the dynamic between two unlikely friends--one angelic, one demonic--as they navigate their lives on Earth in the aftermath of a failed attempt to enact Armageddon. Throughout the course of the second season's six-episode run, Crowley (as played by Dr. Who's David Tennant) and Aziraphale (played by the delightful Michael Sheen of Prodigal Son) must face down power-hungry demons, unexpected visitors, and new job prospects, all while playing matchmaker for a couple of shopkeepers in the area. In the wake of an overwhelmingly positive reception from fans, there's discussion of an upcoming season 3."

and it's like,,, I-- WHAT??? is this how non-brainrotted individuals approach the story? did we even watch the same show???

cause meanwhile, for the past three months, we've all collectively been like,,,

we really truly are living in the eye of the hyperfixation hurricane, huh?

[heritageposts]

The grandfather, who is also blind as a result of severe diabetes, feels isolated despite having his family around him. "If an air strike targets the house or the neighbourhood, I cannot move, not even using the wheelchair. I am completely paralysed, I cannot see and I can barely hear and move my arms. What has helped me is that we evacuated by car when the situation was less dangerous," Abujubein told MEE. . . . "What did the world that has long talked about human rights and the rights of people with disabilities do for us? My granddaughter has a subject about human rights in school. The first time they learned about people with disabilities, she was happy that she could reflect on me," Abu Jubein laughed. "She came to me repeating what she had learned about their rights and how they should be given a special treatment." "Now where is this special treatment? Did the world at least call for the evacuation of the displaced from Gaza until the end if the attacks?" "Even hospitals are targeted. When the Israeli occupation started bombing hospitals and then besieged al-Shifa Hospital, we thought that this would be the start of an international revolution against the occupation, because the protection of patients and children inside hospitals is the core value of human rights." "But, surprisingly, nothing happened."

. . . full article on MME (18 Nov 2023)

[suellenalmeida]

"When we see strong-willed, self-determined women, particularly women of color, presented as symbols of female desirability whom men should aspire to make themselves worthy of, paradigms shift in the culture. When we consider women who follow their callings just as admirable as those who follow their hearts, we all win.

More Sydneys, please."

Los Angeles Times - Opinion: Why did seeing a strong Black woman on ‘The Bear’ make me cry?

[marshmallowpeeps]

Fear of a Black Hobbit The demand to keep politics out of art is too often a demand for art to conform to conservative politics. By Adam Serwer

[archervale]

Omg screenrant we can finally agree on something

[spn2006]

"However, where Supernatural fails in execution, it succeeds in concept, meaning that it's almost more fun to write about the show than actually watch it."

This is from a review of Supernatural on SMRT-TV from literally 2006. Barely a full season of the show had been out yet and people were already talking about the blackout poetry-like appeal of this show for 90% of fans I'm fucking screaming

[finelythreadedsky]

i am FUMING

men think about the roman empire, women think about celebrities and their friends and families?????? amazing work, send it to print!!!!!!

[palms-upturned]

For US unions like the UAW — which has thousands of members in weapons factories making the bombs, missiles, and aircraft used by Israel, as well in university departments doing research linked to the Israeli military — the Palestinian trade union call to action is particularly relevant. When the UAW’s national leadership came out in support of a cease-fire on December 1, they also voted to establish a “Divestment and Just Transition Working Group.” The stated purpose of the working group is to study the UAW’s own economic ties to Israel and explore ways to convert war-related industries to production for peaceful purposes while ensuring a just transition for weapons workers.

Members of UAW Labor for Palestine say they have started making visits to a Colt factory in Connecticut, which holds a contract to supply rifles to the Israeli military, to talk with their fellow union members about Palestine, a cease-fire, and a just transition. They want to see the union’s leadership support such organizing activity.

“If UAW leaders decided to, they could, tomorrow, form a national organizing campaign to educate and mobilize rank-and-file towards the UAW’s own ceasefire and just transition call,” UAW Labor for Palestine members said in a statement. “They could hold weapons shop town halls in every region; they could connect their small cadre of volunteer organizers — like us — to the people we are so keen to organize with; they could even send some of their staff to help with this work.”

On January 21, the membership of UAW Local 551, which represents 4,600 autoworkers at Ford’s Chicago Assembly Plant (who were part of last year’s historic stand-up strike) endorsed the Palestinian trade unions’ call to not cooperate in the production and transportation of arms for Israel. Ten days later, UAW Locals 2865 and 5810, representing around forty-seven thousand academic workers at the University of California, passed a measure urging the union’s national leaders to ensure that the envisioned Divestment and Just Transition Working Group “has the needed resources to execute its mission, and that Palestinian, Arab and Muslim workers whose communities are disproportionately affected by U.S.-backed wars are well-represented on the committee.”

Members of UAW Locals 2865 and 5810 at UC Santa Cruz’s Astronomy Department have pledged to withhold any labor that supports militarism and to refuse research collaboration with military institutions and arms companies. In December, unionized academic workers from multiple universities formed Researchers Against War (RAW) to expose and cut ties between their research and warfare, and to organize in their labs and departments for more transparency about where the funding for their work comes from and more control over what their labor is used for. RAW, which was formed after a series of discussions by union members first convened by US Labor Against Racism and War last fall, hosted a national teach-in and planning meeting on February 12.

Meanwhile, public sector workers in New York City have begun their own campaign to divest their pension money from Israel. On January 25, rank-and-file members of AFSCME District Council (DC) 37 launched a petition calling on the New York City Employees’ Retirement System to divest the $115 million it holds in Israeli securities. The investments include $30 million in bonds that directly fund the Israeli military and its activities. “As rank-and-file members of DC 37 who contribute to and benefit from the New York City Employees’ Retirement System and care about the lives of working people everywhere, we refuse to support the Israeli government and the corporations that extract profit from the killing of innocent civilians,” the petition states.

In an election year when President Joe Biden and other Democratic candidates will depend heavily on organized labor for donations and especially get-out-the-vote efforts, rank and filers are also trying to push their unions to exert leverage on the president by getting him to firmly stand against the ongoing massacre in Gaza. NEA members with Educators for Palestine are calling on their union’s leaders to withdraw their support for Biden’s reelection campaign until he stops “sending military funding, equipment, and intelligence to Israel,” marching from AFT headquarters to NEA headquarters in Washington, DC on February 10 to assert their demand. Similarly, after the UAW International Executive Board endorsed Biden last month — a decision that sparked intense division within the union — UAW Labor for Palestine is demanding the endorsement be revoked “until [Biden] calls for a permanent ceasefire and stops sending weapons to Israel.”

[shedidntevenswear]

twitter is currently roasting her quote comparing her rercordings to horcruxes or infinity stones and its now that i am shocked i have to remind people....taylor is extremely millennial! hasn't really been super online in several years so her frame of reference is 2015 tumblr jokes and earlier! if you dont like it get out!

[asurrogateblog]

did y’all know that in the 70’s bands could put records on the back of cereal boxes as a promotional gimmick and the records would actually work if you cut them out and played them

[svnflowermoon]

y'all go from being feminists to tearing these women down within seconds oh my god it's 2024 can we please stop viciously tearing one woman down to bring another up i don't care what side you take but saying vile shit about either woman and their music is disgusting, please grow up

[whenyoulosesmallmind]

Nicklas Bäckström & the Washington Capitals (+ nickeovi) ― Immortality, Clare Harner | insp.

credits: x. x. x. x. x. x. x. x. x. x.

[dickpuncher420]

i shouldve been an animal w a comfortable ~10 year life span. being a human is too complicated and goes on for far too long