Category: Culture

Ethnic cultures as newsmakers

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Paul Telegdy’s The Whole Spiel and Red Bull’s Terra Mater Studios developing ‘Tarzan’ and other drama series

The Whole Spiel — the new company co-founded by former NBC Entertainment chairman Paul Telegdy — and Red Bull’s Terra Mater Studios have teamed up to develop a slate of drama series.

 

The projects include a reimagined “Tarzan” series, wildlife crime investigation “Rogue,” geopolitical drama “A New King” and true history drama “The Executioner.”

 

In collaboration with Shingle Media and Friendly Fire, the “Tarzan” series will reimagine Edgar Rice Burroughs’ iconic hero for a new generation. The plot will follow Tarzan and Jane defending their home against fortune hunters who come to Africa.

 

“Rogue,” created and written by National Geographic Explorer Derek Joubert, is a thriller series set in the underground world of illegal wildlife trading. It will follow a multi-billion-dollar global conspiracy in the heart of Africa that shatters lives while fueling the narcotics trade, arms dealing and terrorism. The series will be co-produced with Joubert’s Wildlife Films.

 

Set inside a wealthy aristocratic family, “A New King” follows a young couple who is thrown into an unexpected spotlight, facing enemies both inside and outside the palace as they attempt to use their new powers to save their lives and the planet.

 

“The Executioner” tells the tale of Nuremberg henchman Franz Schmidt and the diary he kept of the 350-plus people he tortured and executed. Set in medieval Germany, Franz and his wife struggle to survive at the bottom of society to free their children from their hereditary duty to be professional killers.

 

The Whole Spiel is an entertainment startup founded by Paul Telegdy and Stefan Telegdy, while Terra Mater Studios is a subsidiary of Red Bull.

 

 

— Variety (EXCLUSIVE)

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Art & Life Culture Government Lifestyle

JFK limited series in development at Netflix from ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ co-writer Eric Roth, Chernin Entertainment

Netflix is developing a limited series based on the life of U.S. President John F. Kennedy, Variety has learned exclusively from sources.

 

The series will be based on the critically acclaimed book “JFK: Coming Of Age In The American Century, 1917-1956” by Fredrik Logevall. The book, originally published in 2020, is the first part of a planned two-volume biography of Kennedy. Part one examines his life from his birth up to his time as the junior U.S. Senators from Massachusetts.

 

Eric Roth is attached to write and executive produce the project. Peter Chernin and Jenno Topping of Chernin Entertainment will also executive produce. The search is currently on for a showrunner.

 

Reps for Netflix did not immediately respond to request for comment.

 

According to sources, Netflix sees the series as something like an American version of “The Crown,” their highly successful show about Queen Elizabeth II and the British royal family, given the highly influential history of the Kennedy family in America. Whether that means the show would follow the same pattern as “The Crown” — in which different actors come in every two seasons to play the main characters as they age — is unclear at this time.

 

Roth is a highly successful film writer. He won the Academy Award for best adapted screenplay for “Forrest Gump” in 1995. He has been nominated for six more Academy Awards since, including for his work on films like “Munich,” Bradley Cooper’s “A Star Is Born,” and most recently “Dune.” He is also one of the credited writers on Martin Scorsese’s upcoming film “Killers of the Flower Moon.” His other writing credits include “Ali,” “The Good Shepherd,” and “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” the last of which also earned him an Oscar nomination.

 

He is repped by CAA, Lenore Entertainment Group, and Jackoway Austen Tyerman.

 

Chernin Entertainment’s current TV slate includes shows like “P-Valley” at Starz, which has been renewed for a third season, and the upcoming epic “Chief of War” at Apple TV+ starring Jason Momoa. The company also recently co-produced the film “Luther: The Fallen Sun” starring Idris Elba, with Elba reprising the role of Detective Chief Inspector John Luther, and “Dicks: The Musical.”

 

Chernin Entertainment is repped by WME.

 

 

— Variety (EXCLUSIVE)

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Art & Life Culture Lifestyle

‘Divinity’ star Stephen Dorff discusses his Elon Musk-esque character and transforming into a monster that looks like a penis

SPOILER ALERT: This article contains spoilers for “Divinity,” which releases in New York on Friday, Los Angeles on Oct. 20 and goes wide on Nov. 3.

 

In his latest movie “Divinity,” Stephen Dorff’s character is introduced with an extended sex scene and ends the film transformed into a monstrous, muscular creature with a “mushroom cloud” head that looks suspiciously like a penis. It’s not your average sci-fi movie, to say the least.

 

“Divinity” is a black-and-white, out-of-this-world indie, written and directed by Eddie Alcazar, that premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival and received a SAG-AFTRA interim agreement ahead of its wide release. Dorff plays Jaxxon Pierce, the son of a scientist who invented a magical drug attempting to grant immortality. Years later, Jaxxon has taken control of his father’s company and corrupted his father’s original dream. The drug, called Divinity, grants its users youth and beauty, but it causes their minds to deteriorate and renders them infertile. Jaxxon and this alternate world, which have shades of “Eraserhead” and “Tesuo: The Iron Man,” have grown twisted and perverse over time.

 

Two brothers, played by Moises Arias and Jason Genao, arrive from the stars to heal this world, kidnapping Jaxxon in the process and pumping him full of Divinity. The constant drip of the drug drives Jaxxon mad, and he slowly becomes less of a human and more of a mindless monstrosity. By the end of the movie, Jaxxon, now a lumbering, massive creature played by bodybuilder Michael O’Hearn, battles the brothers to the death in a stop-motion fight scene straight out of “Street Fighter.”

 

Dorff’s list of credits includes Marvel’s “Blade,” “Public Enemies,” John Waters’ “Cecil B. Demented,” TV shows like “True Detective,” “The Righteous Gemstones” and many more. But “Divinity” may be one of his most physically challenging roles. To play Jaxxon as a human, he had to pitch his voice up higher — not to mention be shirtless, tied up or essentially naked in most of his scenes.

 

Dorff discussed the long prosthetics process to play Jaxxon with Variety, as well as the surprising influence of Elon Musk (who gets a special thanks in the credits) and his plans for directing.

 

How did you first get involved with “Divinity”?

I’d seen Eddie’s short film, called “The Vandal,” and what he did with puppetry and effects. That went down pretty good at Cannes. I knew that Soderbergh and Darren Aronofsky and all these cool filmmakers really believed in him. After I’d seen his short, I was like, “Yeah, I’ll do something,” and then it was a question of what we were gonna do. He knew Soderbergh was gonna back him on this feature, but he didn’t know what feature. So it kind of was one thing that became this son of this scientist that started sounding kind of more sci fi. I just kind of let Eddie create it, and then it came time when there was a window to shoot it in Joshua Tree where the house was and we went on this fuckin’ crazy adventure.

 

Jaxxon is this nerdy scientist who transforms into a monstrosity. What drew you to the character?

Eddie is kind of a very unorthodox director, which, the kind of actor I am, can make you a little crazy. But I believed in him so much that I was willing to go there. I knew prosthetics were involved. I knew he was gonna go through these stages. Eddie wanted me to speak really high and talk up here, then he wanted me to be in spandex, naked, then basically mutilated and tortured. It was heavy for the short shoot. Very different than anything I’ve done. Eddie wanted him to have this Asperger’s feel. He would send me a lot of videos of Elon Musk and some of these odd, techie guys, these chats and interviews that go on forever where they’re talking about things I didn’t understand. I was watching their movements, what are these people like when they go home with all this money and knowledge? They’re kind of on a different level, but they’re in their own brain.

 

What was the prosthetic process like? How long did it take to play Jaxxon as he transformed?

That first stage is quite subtle. It’s really just the left side of my forehead protruding. The lesser amount of makeup took maybe a couple hours because then we have to cover my tattoos and do a bald cap. The big one was four and a half hours, where I couldn’t see out of my left eye while walking. They had to take me physically into set in that chair. It was just quite a frustrating performance, because there’s not much I can do besides be in these ropes. If I have to go to the bathroom, it takes a while to unrope me. I smoke, so it’s a whole fuckin’ thing to get me out. Fifty pounds of prosthetics, it’s a good way to quit smoking. Prosthetics, this movie — thanks, Eddie.

 

By the end, Jaxxon turns into this buff monster whose head looks pretty similar to a penis. Was that intentional?

I don’t really know. It kind of becomes this mushroom cloud. That guy at the end isn’t me. It’s a bodybuilder, Mike O’Hearn. He was really cool. My voice is there, but the ADR was really complicated because they wanted unique sounds. I had water in my mouth in the looping stage. I had this pump and I could gargle with this water and get this wet sound. It was really weird. I felt bad for that sound booth because it was all soaking wet at the end of it.

 

Are you drawn to these indie roles over more commercial projects?

There’s really no rule in my career, I don’t really follow any rules. When agents have told me in the past, “Oh, you should do this movie. It’s a big studio movie. That’s a John Waters movie, it’s gonna to be another indie.” Well, no, I’d rather work with John Waters than do this crappy movie that was a studio movie at the time. So I did the John Waters movie, and it was very successful and we had a standing ovation at Cannes and I got rid of those agents. I don’t really think that if I do a big movie, I have to do 10 more big movies right after. I feel like we do a big one and then I should do an intimate one. And then, “Oh wow, they want me to do ‘True Detective.’” That’s one of the best shows I’ve ever seen on TV since “The Sopranos.” Yeah, sure, I’ll do “True Detective.” “What’s this? ‘The Righteous Gemstones’ and Danny McBride?” He’s the funniest guy out there and wants me to give me my first comedy. Fuck yeah. I kind of organically feel it out.

 

Do you see yourself directing at some point in your career?

I’ve always said I would direct when I got into my 50s and I just turned 50 in July. It’s something I’ll do for sure. I think my first film will be more of a personal film that’s maybe simplified and really about performance and music and the elements. Not something that’s a concept. I’m not going to direct a video game movie or if some studio wanted me to direct a huge commercial film. I don’t think I would do that first, not to say that I wouldn’t want to do a big film after. Give it a few years, maybe when I’m 53 or 54 and see where we’re at.

 

 

— Variety

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Art & Life Business Culture Lifestyle

Writer references 8 ways leaders undermine their own influence

Influence is one of those underrated business skills that often separates successful leaders from non-successful leaders, but it’s not a skill you can learn in school. Influence is the ability to transform or change the opinion of others. So, what does it look like to build influence and become an influential leader?

There are eight lessons you must learn as, not doing them, will undermine your full leadership potential and result in opportunity loss:

1. Not taking radical responsibility 
When you’re a leader in a business, it’s crucial that you hold yourself accountable for the success of that business and strive to take responsibility for as much as you can. Your employees are doing a job that has been outlined by you and your leadership team, and if they aren’t succeeding in that role, responsibility from leadership is the only way performance can improve.  Now, I’m not saying you should own every single thing that may go wrong in your business — it’s more about recognizing the unique role you play in the organization and how your reception of problems affects your team. Never place blame on others if the responsibility is truly yours to fix an issue or respond to a challenge. Instead, acknowledge responsibility and lean on your team to execute the response.

 

2. Not learning all communication styles
Every person communicates in different ways, and every person on your team may not communicate in the same way that you do, which can lead to butting heads and unclear expectations. This is why it’s crucial to not only learn how to engage with various communication styles but speak those communication styles, too. When you can effectively communicate with every member of your team, you’ll be able to influence team-wide actions that will have a lasting impact on your business.

 

3. Not practicing positive reinforcement
The carrot-vs-stick mentality is, in my opinion, not effective for a growing business. Instead, all business leaders should lean into positive reinforcement to support their team and organization. By positively enforcing behavior or actions you want to see from your team, you’re presenting yourself as a positive leader who appreciates your team and recognizes hard work. This perception will ultimately lead to employees seeking out that positive reinforcement and repeating it down the line, increasing your influence.

 

4. Not being very intentional about every meeting
Death by meeting is alive, even as many businesses have moved to a remote or hybrid workforce. In fact, the remote and hybrid structure of teams may be increasing the number of meetings managers and leaders are holding in order to make up for lost in-person engagement. But, excessive meetings are preventing employees from doing their jobs effectively, and taking away valuable work time can contribute to feelings of frustration.  If you’re a meeting enthusiast, make sure you’re being incredibly intentional about meetings — who really needs to attend that meeting, what’s the shortest amount of time needed to complete your agenda items, and will this meeting take away from other important projects in progress at that time? Your employees will be thankful for the intentionality and will be more engaged in those shorter, less frequent meetings.

 

5. Not employing a variety of perspective
Putting yourself in the shoes of others is a lesson you probably learned in childhood, but many adults lose sight of this important lesson as they develop opinions throughout their lives.  Having strong opinions is probably one of the most important qualities of a successful leader, but forcing those opinions on others or not understanding all angles before forming opinions is a potentially large pitfall. By taking the time to understand different perspectives on an issue or topic before taking a stance is an easy way to gain respect from your employees and build your influence. This shows them that your strong opinion is well-informed and that you’re open to different opinions. Even if your employees don’t agree, they will respect you nonetheless.

 

6. Not reframing your beliefs
Your beliefs should be one of the guiding principles of your business, but not everyone will automatically buy into your beliefs and direction right away. It takes time — and significant influence — to build that engagement with your employees. One way you can get your employees to adopt your beliefs as it relates to the business is to reframe them and meet your employees where they are. Now, this doesn’t mean completely changing  your beliefs for your employees — it means adjusting the delivery of beliefs. Reframing without losing sight of the core belief can be tricky, though, so as you’re looking for new ways to present your ideas, keep those central beliefs at the center and simply adjust the contextual information or how that information is presented.  A successful and influential leader will be able to adjust the communication of their beliefs to guide their colleagues or team and gain their support.

 

7. Not understanding that everything you say matters

When you’re in a leadership role, your employees, colleagues, and peers are constantly listening to and observing you, so everything you say really matters. Even a small comment can be perceived in several different ways by your employees, so it’s important to truly think before you speak and consider how a comment may be received by others. If people are listening and interpreting everything you say, it should be pretty obvious that you have influence, but if you abuse that power, respect and influence will decline, and employees won’t take you seriously.

8. Not avoiding perfectionism

A common misconception among new business leaders and owners is that they must strive for perfection. Perfect business plan, perfect teams, perfect products, and more. But, constantly looking toward perfection can make it harder to pivot or adjust when needed, and there will always — and I mean always — be something to improve.  I often tell business owners to not only not strive for perfection but to avoid it actively. This doesn’t mean completely neglecting your business, team, or product, but if there is growth and improvement, perfection doesn’t really matter. If you prioritize perfection yourself, that will trickle down to employees and create some potentially negative emotions about their jobs and their experience working for you. Leading by example is key, and aiming to be imperfect is a great way to show your employees that it’s okay to test, try, make mistakes, and learn.

The most important lessons in business can’t be learned in school
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: you don’t need to be the most highly-educated person in a room to be successful, and most of the lessons you’ll learn in business simply can’t and won’t be taught in a classroom. When it comes to influence, the development of this essential trait comes in all shapes and sizes, and variables like your team, your company, and your personality come into play significantly.  It takes time to build influence, but with some small adjustments to how you lead and interact with your colleagues, you can steer the ship with ease. 

 

About Brandon Dawson

Amid a $151 million exit from a business he founded with just $500K (and no outside capital or debt) and with over 130 acquisitions—and billions in value creation—to his name, Brandon Dawson is no ordinary Business Strategist. Today this esteemed business icon, sought-after lecturer, expert scaler and CEO advisor on entrepreneurship, leadership and business-building tactics is hell-bent on creating value for small to medium-sized companies operating in tumultuous industries or weathering storms … and achieve their loftiest goals despite.

 

With the release of his new book, “Nine-Figure Mindset: How to Go from Zero to Over $100 Million in Net Worth ” and with approximately 1 million ambition-minded followers across social platforms, Brandon is now helping executives worldwide achieve their personal, professional and financial goals beyond their wildest dreams. Drawing from his own unlikely and awe-inspiring journey, Nine-Figure Mindset combines his personal experiences with a wealth of wisdom and actionable strategies while also serving as a guidebook to next level achievements you’ve never imagined were possible. The book is a masterclass on success, aspiration and the transformative power of mindset.

 

Brandon sold his last business, Audigy Group, in 2016, which he bootstrapped and exited for $151 million—77x EBITA. Brandon worked with the public company who acquired Audigy Group and helped them grow from $18 a share to $94 a share within thirty-six months, adding $3.5 billion in market value.

 

Prior to Audigy, he was the chairman, founder, and CEO of Sonus which was a Warburg Pincus backed consolidation company. Dawson listed Sonus on the American Stock Exchange at just twenty-nine years old, making him one of the youngest to ring the opening bell.

 

Today, combining Dawson’s IP with Grant Cardone’s 10X mindset and his massive loyal community, they teamed up to co-found Cardone Ventures where Dawson serves as CEO and managing partner. This new venture has gone from zero employees to over 250 in forty-eight months, with the business being valued in excess of five hundred million dollars.

 

Dawson, a true visionary, has taken his public company experience, with over 130 acquisitions, and $500 million raised in various transactions and billions in value creation to now helping small to medium sized business owners across the world achieve their personal, professional, and financial goals through the growth of their businesses.

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Culture Lifestyle Perspectives Regulations & Security Science Technology

A California judge allows a group of lawsuits against Meta and others alleging social media is addictive for children to proceed based on a negligence claim

—  California state judge allows negligence claim to proceed

— Judge dismisses seven other claims filed by kids and parents

 

Joel Rosenblatt / Bloomberg:

 

 

Minors and parents suing Meta Inc.’s Facebook and other technology giants for the kids’ social media platform addictions won an important ruling advancing their collection of lawsuits in a California court.

A state judge on Friday threw out most of the claims but said she’ll allow the lawsuits to advance based on a claim that the companies were negligent – or knew that the design of their platforms would maximize minors’ use and prove harmful. The plaintiffs argue social media is designed to be addictive, causing depression, anxiety, self-harm, eating disorders and suicide.

More than 200 such suits filed across the country have been assigned to two judges in California — one in state court in Los Angeles and the other in federal court in Oakland. Judge Carolyn B. Kuhl’s ruling applies only to the cases in state court. Her decision is part of a larger battle in which statewide social media bans pit concerns about privacy and national security against personal freedoms and the use of wildly popular apps – especially among young users.

In the California case, lawyers representing minors cleared a legal hurdle that allows them to pursue a claim that Facebook, Instagram, Snap Inc., TikTok Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s YouTube knew that the physical harms of social media were “foreseeable and substantial,” Kuhl wrote her the ruling.

The judge pointed to the “obvious inequality” between “unsophisticated minors” and the internet companies “who exercised total control over how their platforms functioned.”

Internet companies have long relied on Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, a federal statute that has consistently shielded them from liability over comments, ads, pictures and videos on their platforms. Importantly, Kuhl ruled that laws protecting free speech and Section 230 don’t stop the negligence claim in the collection of California cases from going forward.

Kuhl ruled the social media companies could be held liable for the allegations because they are “based on the fact that the design features of the platforms — and not the specific content viewed by plaintiffs — caused plaintiffs’ harms.”

“This decision is an important step forward for the thousands of families we represent whose children have been permanently afflicted with debilitating mental health issues thanks to these social media giants,” lawyers for the plaintiffs said in a statement. “We are determined to use every legal tool at our disposal to hold these companies accountable for their actions and reach a just resolution.”

Google defended its practices in a statement Friday.

“Protecting kids across our platforms has always been core to our work,” José Castañeda, a Google spokesperson, said. “In collaboration with child development specialists, we have built age-appropriate experiences for kids and families on YouTube, and provide parents with robust controls. The allegations in these complaints are simply not true.”

The other companies didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment on the ruling but they too have defended their practices in the past. Antigone Davis, Meta’s Global Head of Safety, responded to one of the lawsuits in March saying the company wants teens to be safe online and offers more than 30 safety tools for kids and families, including supervision and age verification technology.

The judge also tossed out seven other claims in the lawsuit, including an argument that the companies should be held liable for the defective design of their platforms. The concept of product liability was “created in a different era to solve different problems,” Kuhl wrote. Social media present “new challenges” under the law, she said, because they’re not tangible. “One cannot reach out and touch them,” she said.

Lawyers representing minors in the similar collection of lawsuits filed in federal court also face a request by the companies to dismiss the litigation.

The case is Social Media Cases, 22STCV21355, Superior Court of the State of California, County of Los Angeles.

 

 

— Techmeme

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D&R Greenway Land Trust announces return to the ‘Speakeasy’ at the upcoming Masquerade Ball

D&R Greenway Land Trust’s Masquerade Ball, featuring musicians and visual artists, will be held at Hillside Farm on the evening of Oct. 28, from 5:30 – 9:30 p.m.

 

The Masquerade Ball will celebrate the vision and legacy of the late Betty Wold Johnson, in whose honor her family donated the 800-acre Hillside Farm to D&R Greenway in 2021.

 

A fierce champion of conservation and decades-long partner with D&R Greenway for land preservation, Betty Wold Johnson spent forty years assembling the estate, which encompasses extraordinary expanses of farm fields, meadows and forests, as well as historic structures and a Revolutionary War encampment site. She lived at Hillside Farm, where she built a distinctive home that uniquely interprets the past using modern materials and amenities.

 

“The addition of Hillside Farm to the long list of properties preserved by

D&R Greenway is just one more example of why I am proud to support their work.  This incredible property will be a tremendous asset for everyone in our community and I am thrilled it will be there, preserved and cared for, for future generations to enjoy.” 

                                                                             Daniel Motto, Trustee, D&R Greenway Land Trust

 

The theme of the Masquerade Ball is a return to the “speakeasy” culture of the 20s, 30s and 40s. A “secret” password will open the door to the private estate residence for registered guests. Libations and hors d’oeuvres will be served in the house and can be enjoyed in hidden nooks and crannies guests may discover. Scrumptious cheesecake desserts from Maddalena’s will top off the evening.

 

Live music from the era will keep the mood swinging and toes tapping throughout the evening. Bassist Justin Lee will lead a talented jazz trio with guitarist Raúl Abbad and singer Monika Ryan, a New York style classic jazz singer who recently released her fourteenth album, “Playfully.”  The local trio is a D&R Greenway community favorite; most recently they wowed the crowd at September’s Harvest Moon Ball at Point Breeze.

 

Adding to the beauty of the evening, four artist members of the Garden State Watercolor Society will collaborate throughout the evening to paint watercolor landscapes depicting Hillside Farm. Guests may bid on a painting to take home, a memorable piece of artwork created before their eyes during an unforgettable evening.

 

As the sun sets over the Hopewell hills, specially designed Art Deco-style lanterns will add a soft glow to the ambience of the evening, “lighting the way to preservation.” The lanterns will also be available as keepsakes to the highest bidders.

 

Guests are welcome to attend attired in fashions of the era, or to come as they are, all in the spirit of fun and romance. This is a perfect opportunity to gather friends to experience another era with a cool vibe, all the while supporting land preservation.

 

“This event will be as exciting and vibrant as the significant property where it is being hosted. Layered with history and preserved in perpetuity, Hillside Farm is the perfect place to relive the best parts of the past as we celebrate its important future.”                  

                                                                             Diana Moore, Trustee, D&R Greenway Land Trust  

 

 

Tickets to the event are available starting from $250 and can be purchased at www.drgreenway.org or by calling D&R Greenway at 609-924-4646. Proceeds support D&R Greenway’s work to preserve and care for land and provide public trails where people can benefit from being outdoors in nature. Guests at the Masquerade Ball will enjoy first time access to the private estate home, formerly owned by philanthropist Betty Wold Johnson and donated to D&R Greenway by her sons, owners of the Jets football team.

 

Proceeds from sponsorships and auction items will support D&R Greenway’s work to open Hillside Farm as a public preserve in the future. The property, most of which lies in Hopewell Township, is larger than Hopewell Borough. It is contiguous with two other D&R Greenway preserves (Cedar Ridge and Sourlands Ecosystem) and has sweeping views of D&R Greenway’s St. Michaels Farm Preserve across town.  It provides critical habitat for birds and other wildlife.  Altogether, D&R Greenway has protected over 3,000 acres of land in the immediate area. The Masquerade Ball is a sneak peek at the beginning of a preserve and an opportunity to support its creation, while celebrating the legacy of Betty Wold Johnson to preserve land and forge community.

 

Admission to the Masquerade Ball on October 28 is by advance ticket purchase by October 23 at www.drgreenway.org or by calling (609) 924-4646.

####

 

About D&R Greenway Land Trust: D&R Greenway Land Trust is an accredited nonprofit that has reached a new milestone of over 22,000 acres of land preserved throughout central New Jersey since 1989. By protecting land in perpetuity and creating public trails, it gives everyone the opportunity to enjoy the great outdoors. The land trust’s preserved farms and community gardens provide local organic food for residents of the region—including those most in need. Through strategic land conservation and stewardship, D&R Greenway combats climate change, protects birds and wildlife, and ensures clean drinking water for future generations.

 

D&R Greenway’s mission is centered on connecting land with people from all walks of life.

 

 www.drgreenway.org; info@drgreenway.org. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram.

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Breaking down ‘The Fall Of The House Of Usher’s’ Edgar Allen Poe references, from ‘The Raven’ to ‘The Black Cat’

SPOILER ALERT: This story contains spoilers for all eight episodes of “The Fall of the House of Usher,” now streaming on Netflix, and several works of Edgar Allan Poe that have been available to read for more than 150 years.

 

Mike Flanagan never met a haunted house he didn’t want to peel back the wallpaper on and see what horrors lurk beneath.

 

At Netflix, the writer/director has become a Halloween staple by exploring the hallowed halls of novelists Shirley Jackson “(The Haunting of Hill House)” and Henry James “(The Haunting of Bly Manor).” On the big screen, he even helmed a Stephen King-endorsed return trip to Overlook Hotel for “The Shining” sequel “Doctor Sleep.”

 

But for his final act at Netflix before his production company Intrepid Pictures begins an overall deal at Amazon, Flanagan gets lost in a different type of literary labyrinth –– the mind of Edgar Allan Poe. In “The Fall of the House of Usher,” Flanagan uses Poe’s 1839 short story to dismantle the dynasty of morally bankrupt Fortunato Pharmaceuticals CEO Roderick Usher (Bruce Greenwood), who built a legacy on his consumer’s dependence on his highly addictive opioid named Ligodone. But Flanagan doesn’t stop there: The series mines Poe’s archives for inspiration on how to gruesomely dispatch Roderick’s six children –– Frederick (Henry Thomas), Tamerlane (Samanatha Sloyvan), Victorine (T’Nia Miller), Leo (Rahul Kohli), Camille (Kate Siegel) and Perry (Sauriyan Sapkota). The line of succession is severed by fate in the form of a mysterious shapeshifting harbinger named Verna (Carla Gugino), with whom a young Roderick and his sister Madeline (Mary McDonnell) made a deal for boundless success in exchange for the lives of his eventual offspring.

 

Each episode is named for the Poe story that serves as its narrative spine, but none are to-the-letter adaptations. Instead, Flanagan filters this modern take on the toxicity of power and the persistence of karma through Poe’s creations, offering a sort of Sackler-esque family slaughterfest dressed up as a greatest hits homage to the master of the macabre.

 

Whether you know Poe or not, here’s how “The Fall of the House of Usher” faithfully adapts –– and sinisterly subverts –– his classics.

 

 

— Variety

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Resort Aquatica transports readers to tropical paradise full of deadly secrets

NORFOLK, Va. — Calvin Banks had a privileged life laid out neatly in front of him: one that would feature incredible wealth, just like his billionaire father’s. Yet those plans are dashed when he drunkenly totals his Lamborghini and cuts his girlfriend’s life short in one fell swoop.

 

In Resort Aquatica, Frederic Lee brings glamorous characters and an even more immaculate underwater oasis to life. This enthralling debut explores themes of power, corruption, secrets and survival.

 

In a scheme to outrun justice, Calvin breaks court orders and sets off for an island resort pocketed within the mystical angles of the Bermuda Triangle. The magnificent Resort Aquatica is an ideal tropical destination built of white marble that rises up in tubular stacks amid the neon seascape.

 

Upon arrival, Calvin encounters Resort Aquatica’s rich and savvy owner, Eve Rampant, who clearly exploits her bigwig guests and poor workers for the sole purpose of profit. Eve lords over the palatial estate heavy-handedly, yet with a beautiful smiling face and the assistance of her five obedient daughters.
To Calvin’s awe, he discovers that the Rampant women are devious mermaids who naturally spring up from the seas on temporary legs each summer. Then, out of nowhere, Calvin finds himself entangled in a binding contract cooked up by Eve that forces him to serve the whims of the Rampant women for decades to come — and keep his mouth shut about their scaly secret. Can Calvin find a way to free himself from this contract and escape Resort Aquatica?

 

“My book offers a fresh take on mermaids, presented in a tropical fantasy adventure full of deadly secrets, romance and deceit,” Lee said. “It’s the perfect literary escape!”

 

About the Author

Frederic Lee is an author and journalist for the Financial Times. Previously, he was a policy reporter in Washington D.C., where he interviewed many notable members of Congress, including Senators Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders and Ted Cruz. Lee graduated from the University of Virginia, where he was trained by writers who hold high accolades, including Emmy Award winners. Resort Aquatica is his first book. He is currently working on his next book, The Last Mermaid Queen, a prequel to Resort Aquatica.

 

Connect with Lee on Instagram (@fredericlee360) and TikTok (@freddielikesbooks), or visit his website at https://fredericlee.wordpress.com/.

 

Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/Resort-Aquatica-Frederic-Lee/dp/B0BTSKVJ6N/

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Art & Life Culture International & World Lifestyle

Artist Spotlight: Molly Burch inspired, dreamy album features her soaring vocals to express relatable music

The first lyric on Daydreamer might be its best. “I don’t wanna waste my time again obsessing ‘bout how nothing fits,” indie rocker Molly Burch sings on the string-heavy ‘Made of Glass.’ This lyric, and others like it that jumped out when listening to her fourth album, are astoundingly tuned-in to the angst, loneliness, and sometimes endless yearning all young people can relate to.

 

“I’m so fragile, it’s not even funny,” she sings on the same song; “I’ve fallen out of love with myself” on synthpop lead single ‘Physical;’ “I chase the feeling of being your favorite” on the jangly, upbeat ‘Unconditional.’

 

Armed with inspirations ranging from Kate Bush to Ariana Grande — which was surprising at first, but after hearing her cover ‘needy’ on tour, it totally fits — Burch uses her soaring vocals amidst lush arenas of sound to create an ethereal and dreamy album.

 

We caught up with Molly Burch for the latest edition of our Artist Spotlight series to talk about the process of recording, her relationship to the music industry, and the relatability of her lyricism.

 

There’s this really entrancing quality to the record — your vocals soar in the realm of Kate Bush and they’re backed by this lushness of chamber pop. Who were some of your inspirations for this record, either with writing or its sound?

 

I love Kate Bush so much. Such a compliment. With this, sonically, Jack [Tatum] and I listened to a lot of city pop and 80s music. We both really wanted strings and horns, and really lush instrumentation. I think he did a really great job of like the balance of synths, but also a lot of natural sounds. And for vocal inspiration, I always have Ariana Grande on my playlists. It’s always like a mix of modern pop, lots of Madonna, ’80s throwbacks.

 

When I was listening to Daydreamer for the first time, the word that kept coming to me was ‘astute.’ There are so many good observations and snappy lyrics about life, anxiety, and the self. I wanted to ask about your writing process — are you a sit-down thinker, or does stuff come to you in the middle of the day that you hurry to jot down?

 

That’s so nice. I kind of struggled my whole career with confidence with my writing. And because I always sort of see myself as a vocalist, like, that’s my instrument. And I took a while to get the confidence to write songs. And I really didn’t until my first album, Please Be Mine. My last album, Romantic Images, I was so focused on the sonic shift, I did want the production to be more clean and more pop. And this album, I was more focused on writing and lyrics. I also took longer to write this album — I started in 2021. So it was more of a year and a half of writing a lot of songs, and being really nitpicky.

 

My process is just yeah, sitting down. I wrote both on the piano and guitar and I’ll basically finish a song: chords, lyrics, pretty much, and then take it to Dailey, who’s my boyfriend and guitarist. We’ll make the demo and flesh out parts and have an idea. And then of course, some of those ideas changed a lot when Jack produced them.

 

In the first track, ‘Made of Glass,’ you talk about the downsides of being a sensitive person, which I can totally relate to. You sing “I’m so fragile it’s not even funny.” Can I ask what inspired this song?

 

This song is totally in the perspective of my 13-year-old self. I just kind of wanted to paint the picture of that angst and that first wave of feelings of insecurities. I really struggled with body dysmorphia: that was sort of when it first started with disordered thinking and eating. I would just stay in my room a lot and just really obsess over getting dressed and not being able to feel okay in my body and feel okay socializing. I still feel a lot of those things today, even though I’m past a lot of it and can mask better. I still will obsess over things not fitting. I just truly wrote that line to just help myself get over that. Because, logically, I know, it’s ridiculous. But that anxiety will really take over a lot, and I can become very obsessive.

You also end with the lyric “I’m made of glass/ And I’ll always be like that.” This finality, this personality trait you just know of yourself — do you think that makes being a sensitive person easier or harder?

 

I think easier. I was always kind of shamed because I’m different in my family — I always feel like my sister and my mom are tougher and I’ve always been called the sensitive one. I always felt so much shame about that, and that I needed to be change to be strong. Over the years, I’ve grown to accept that and love that about myself. I’d rather be extra sensitive and empathetic than rather not. I feel like it’s a strength. I do still feel like I’m fragile, but I’m also very strong.

 

Totally. I’m from a Jewish mother and an Italian father — growing up at family gatherings, all I’d hear is “You’re so quiet!”

 

My mom is Jewish as well, and the first time she met Dailey, she said, “Do you ever talk? Is he mute?” I love them so much, but there’s a lot of big personalities, and as the youngest, I shrunk down.

 

‘Physical’ was the first song I heard on the album, which made me really intrigued. Even though the instrumental is so upbeat, there’s this lyric that sticks out to me: “I guess the pills help/ But they really only make me feel less.” If it’s not too personal, would you mind explaining the meaning behind this lyric?

 

Absolutely. The whole song is really about my struggles with PMS, which goes hand in hand with anxiety, depression, and body issues. I wanted the lyrics to be broad enough so that people who don’t experience that can also relate, with generalized anxiety or something. I started taking anti-anxiety meds for PMS, and it really did help, but I just started feeling less. It didn’t fix everything, just brought everything down. Which can be good, and bad.

 

I also enjoyed it because I took it as a means of sticking up for yourself even when you feel awful, even when you don’t feel like a person. In all of the verses, you describe feeling flat, maybe not even physical, but in the chorus’ ending, you counter: “I’m not the one-dimensional girl of your mind/ I’m a literal woman moving through life.” What was the thought process behind this dichotomy?

 

Yeah, definitely. I wanted the verses to feel more insecure and the chorus to feel powerful, telling someone who doesn’t understand what you’re going through and can write it off. I feel like that happens a lot, with PMS, or periods, like, ‘Oh, you’re just on your period.’ But people don’t really understand that it’s so under researched. Women’s health in general, is just horrific. Nobody cares. And you’re going through so much mental illness during that time. It’s pretty intense. I wanted that line to tell someone off, like, ‘Don’t downplay what I’m going through.’ I have to remind myself of that all the time. Literally every month. I have to go through mental gymnastics of calming myself and saying, “This will pass.”

 

I read that ‘Tattoo’ is an ode to your late friend, and I think it’s a really beautiful song, especially the part where you say you got one of her tattoos in the same spot to remember her by. What does this song mean to you and what was the writing process like?

 

That song was the hardest song for me to write, ever. I’d never taken so long to write a song, and it went through a lot of different forms. I was like, ‘Maybe I’ll write a pop song.’ I wanted to write a song that maybe she would like. I really like where it landed, with the help of Jack’s production. I wanted it to be this ballad, but I did want weird elements. In the chorus, he added this strange ethereal guitar part. I love the ups and downs of it.

 

Basically, one of my best friends passed away in college. She was such an important person, and totally changed my life. I never wanted to write a song about her because it was too personal, but with this album, which is about my relationship to music and how I feel as an artist, she was the first person I played music with and really brought me out of my shell. She was so, so opposite. The only person I feel like I can compare her to is Sinead O’Connor: someone who is so bold and different. I truly feel like there was no one like her. She was so fun and extraverted and had this big orange curly hair, so beautiful. Everyone was drawn to her. I wanted to basically write a letter to her now, and wanted to talk about her and capture her essence and think about what she’d be like now. Part of me thinks she’d have a really hard time with it. She missed social media: that would have made her so anxious. She would have been blocked from everything. She Facebook messaged me a video of her talking out of her vagina. Yeah, she would have been banned on all platforms. That’s the line where it goes: “You wouldn’t believe it/ I think you would hate it.” Pandemic, everything that’s happened… She was so deeply sensitive, I think it would have been too much. That’s something that I tell myself, to make myself feel better, almost, that she would have hated it here and she’s in a better place. It’s definitely a special song to release, and why I wanted it to be a single too.

That’s so beautiful. So ‘Unconditional’ mourns a relationship where you inhabited the ‘giver’ role, and the other person was the “taker,” who was afraid of commitment. What was the turning point for you, of realizing, like, “Hang on. This isn’t benefiting me?”

 

Basically, I was thinking about how I felt being an indie artist in the music business. This feeling really started when the pandemic hit, feeling like I have no control over anything. That’s just how it is in this business — up and down, sometimes you feel good and sometimes you feel horrible. It’s sort of a confident perspective, like, “Hey, I’m great, why don’t you like me?” I just wanted to have fun with it and have some salty, cheeky lines.

 

Let’s talk about ‘Heartburn’, which I think is the most interestingly-produced track on the record. It has nods of city pop with these big, explosive horns. How did this song come to be?

 

Dailey and I were just kinda messing around — the demo is so different, it’s a synthy, much chiller 80s track. I made lyrics afterwards and Jack took it and was really city pop-inspired. It was something he’d always wanted to do, and he sent me a little taste, like, “Do you like this?” Every time he said that, I was like, ‘Go for it!’ It was the first time he completely wrote all these parts for horns and strings, and it was a really cool experience to watch him do that.

 

Even though you start with the incredible lyric, “First time in a while got no man on my mind/ I’d rather chase my dreams on a Saturday night,” on the chorus, you admit that “Heartburn season” always gets the best of you, and you find yourself yearning. What is “heartburn season” and why do you think it’s so powerful?

 

So the title’s a nod to Nora Ephron, her movie Heartburn. I associate her and her movies with fall, and to me, whenever it’s fall, I get so nostalgic. When it’s not fall, I get so focused, but when it turns, I get this yearning vibe.

 

I really enjoyed how ‘Beauty Rest’ has this analysis of capitalism and how we’re forced to segment our lives in order to even live. You sing, “Too many people out here, I guess / Realizing their dreams on a daily basis.” Where did the inspiration for this song come from?

 

I believe this was the first song I wrote for the album, which kind of formed it. It was right when I was putting out my last record, Romantic Images, and the summer of 2021. Summer is my least favorite season, and I hate being hot. It was still pandemic-times, and we couldn’t tour. I think there was this misconception that, “Okay, 2020 bad, 2021 good! Normal!” I feel like we were all confident, putting out an album, and then it was like every single person on earth put out an album. I was feeling so overstimulated, so depressed, not being able to tour. I was basically dealing with all of the things I don’t like about putting out an album: thinking about how it’s doing, what’s the press like, etc. I get very seasonally depressed in the summer and happy in the fall and winter. I was thinking about capitalism commodifying your art. It just felt like everyone was working so hard. I felt like, “I wish we could all just chill out and not worry so much.”

 

What are you most excited about when touring this album?

 

It’s always fun to play new songs live, and we’re doing all the new songs, except ‘Heartburn’, because it was too tricky to figure out with all the horns. It’s just fun to see the fans. I love the structure of tour. We brought our dog, which is so fun, and kind of crazy, but it’s been nice. He loves the van, and he takes the tour well, which is good for mental health. I’m hoping to tour Europe and the UK next year, that’s something we haven’t been able to do since the pandemic.

 

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity and length.

 

 

Molly Burch’s Daydreamer is out now via Captured Tracks.

The post Artist Spotlight: Molly Burch appeared first on Our Culture.

 

 

— Our Culture

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Art & Life Culture Lifestyle

No label, no clothes: Megan Thee Stallion announces ‘Completely Independent’ comeback album with nude ‘Act One’ teaser

Megan Thee Stallion officially split with her old label, 1501 and announced a “completely independent” new album with a nude “act one” teaser.

 

 

Source: Jemal Countess/GA / Getty

 

After years of bitter beef with her former label, Megan Thee Stallion is entering her comeback era. The rapper is deep in her for her new self-funded project. On Thursday, she teased “act one” of her upcoming project with a sexy and spooky nude photo.

 

Megan Thee Stallion via new IG post. pic.twitter.com/CekmkPubDX

— Stallion Access (@stallionaccess) October 12, 2023

Let’s begin… pic.twitter.com/6o6Wb3hlgV

— TINA SNOW (@theestallion) October 12, 2023

 

The “Savage” star took to Instagram to flaunt her “body-ody-ody” on Instagram Stories. She wore nothing but long, sharp, fang-like nails and the glow from a green light.

Megan Thee Stallion I will never eat another bite. pic.twitter.com/zJ0nbp3hga

— B. (@BriDASH) October 13, 2023

 

Megan also posted a series of three photos spelling out “Act One” with a snake swallowing its tail as the “O” on Instagram. She captioned the trilogy “Let’s Begin” with a snake emoji on each picture.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Megan Thee Stallion (@theestallion)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Megan Thee Stallion (@theestallion)

 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Megan Thee Stallion (@theestallion)

 

The three posts include a scary series of shots continuing the snake theme. One carousel features a close-up of fangs fit for a queen, Megan baring her sexy snake-like grill, and the rapper seemingly ready to bite a woman lying at her knees.

 

Other shots include Megan holding a white snake and stacks of spiked bracelets on her wrists. Thee Stallion undeniably ate that while looking like a snack across the cryptic clips and photos.

#ACTONE 🐍 MEGAN THEE STALLION! pic.twitter.com/g1QGmhrqxj

— YesHomo2.0 (@0Yeshomo2) October 13, 2023

 

Whatever the Traumazine rapper has in the works, she recently confirmed no labels can hold her back this time.

 

Read more about Megan Thee Stallion’s “completely independent” announcement after the flip!

 

 

— Bossip