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Social Theatre with an EdgeAt least 148,000 people opposed Northern Ireland’s "conscience clause" before Amnesty International gave it an official stamp of disapproval. Calling it a “conscience clause” is fitting; isn't it interesting how a group mind consisting of entire governments and countries still lacks a conscience? Imagine a girl complaining about how they can't take same-sex partners out on dates, only to hear, "Well, it's not so bad. Just go out with guys instead." Bisexuals are all too familiar with getting insensitive responses like that whenever we complain about our plight. It’s time to be heard on stage and everywhere else! Richmond, Virginia has the great fortune of attending the first performance of By the Bi on March 22. Ireland needs to hear this voice more than ever. With your help, By the Bi can make its European debut in Ireland! By the Bi sheds light on bisexual invisibility by extending an honest look at the unique issues that bisexuals face, including the stereotypes that flourish in such darkness. Through spoken word, dance, and visual art, performers reveal the harm that not only accompanies this invisibility, but the tragedies that remain unseen as Downs and Barbour describe below. I invite you to take a closer look at the minds behind this wonderful project. Stay in the know via Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram! The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
The Autistic Love Story at the Heart of it By Zack Budryk QuailBellMagazine.com Headcanon --an idea, belief or aspect of a character’s personality or physicality that is present in a piece of fanwork that does not correspond with information present in the canonical material. [source] I’ve written before on the frustration of being an autistic person and trying to find positive, non-patronizing representation in fiction, so extensively that I could probably write another article on the subject entirely using autocomplete. Such examples are few and far between, and almost always disputed; for example, Will Graham, the protagonist of Thomas Harris’ “Red Dragon” and the NBC series “Hannibal,” is all but confirmed to be autistic in the series pilot, but show creator Bryan Fuller has since feverishly backpedaled on the idea. In the meantime, I, like a lot of people, have sought solace in headcanons of characters I love who have features common to the autism spectrum. Which brings me to the much-beloved, recently-concluded NBC sitcom “Parks & Recreation.”
Leslie Knope (played by Amy Poehler), the show’s protagonist, has vibed autistic to me for a while. As this video points out, Leslie’s autistic traits originate from a much more grounded place: she’s hyper-focused on her “special interests,” extremely reactive, fairly literal-minded, and, while capable of deep empathy, tends to project her passions onto others. (“You made me watch all eight Harry Potter movies. I don’t even like Harry Potter,” her best friend Ann protests. “That’s insane! You love Harry Potter! You’ve seen all eight movies!” Leslie responds.) Leslie’s unflagging enthusiasm about even the most mundane functions of local government make even more sense under this interpretation: of course she’s enthusiastic about those functions, because they’re her routine. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
I Am Autosexual And Autoromantic I’m cheating on the world with the most forbidden lover. My affair is obvious yet obscured, something that everyone can see but few know the depth of. My lover is attuned to my wants and needs. I'm in a relationship with someone who follows me around everywhere, yet somehow manages to avoid impeding upon my need for gratuitous solitude. It's the kind of company where we can feel alone together. Despite having an x-ray view of your soul, this individual loves you and always has my best interest at heart. We spend our nights in a mansion located in the Beverly Hills section of the clouds. Although the rest of my lovers live on the outskirts of my dreams, their brief visits are just glimpses shy of a whole picture. They'll never know what it's like to live there full-time like this sweetheart and I do. Like most others, I was perplexed when I watched the My Strange Obsession about Nathaniel, a man from Arkansas who is in a relationship with his car, Chase. I had no idea that I would find out that he and I would have anything in common as far as birds, bees, and cars are concerned. But at the end of the day, both of our loves are “auto” in nature. We're both marked "A" in the alphabet soup of queerness and sexuality.
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The Sisterhood of the Traveling Erotic Novels When 50 Shades of Grey came out in 2011, I don't recall knowing of its existence. After all, I was a 15-year-old more concerned with eating Doritos. Or anything else.
If I had to guess, jokes about it on Memebase and its sudden appearance in bookstores is how it caught my attention. When more hype about it started surfacing in 2012, I was shocked at its popularity. After all, what made this any different any other adult novel? Now don't think I'm criticizing those who read 50 Shades. But I will never consider it more than Twilight fan fiction. And, no, I have not and will not see the movie. But I will thank E.L. James for helping to create a hilarious tradition among my friends. It was Christmas of 2012 when it officially began. My longtime friend Sarah, our newish friend Aaron, and I were celebrating "Friends-mas" together (basically Christmas) together. According to Sarah, Aaron was unsure of what to buy me for Christmas, and she suggested he buy me 50 Shades as a gag gift. So when I got to my gift from Aaron, I reached down into the bag and felt a twinge of excitement. It was a book! Aaron and Sarah looked at each other and snickered. Then I realized what he had gotten me. It had a sleek, shiny cover with a Target sticker on it. I saw that familiar silver tie and groaned. "I get a discount...because I work there." said Aaron. I snorted. "Yes, yes, I'm well aware of your discount. Thanks...I think." They laughed, and like the good sport I am, I joined them. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
A Pop Culture Story as told by Twitter Most of the time, Twitter is the bastion of cat pictures and five-minute internet memes. Other times, it becomes a gladiator pit, featuring a battle with much larger implications.
In a recent interview on "The Breakfast Club," Amber Rose made some damning statements regarding 25-year-old rapper, Tyga. She called him out for dating Kylie Jenner, the 17-year-old girl of Kardashian fame, and publicly denounced the relationship, stating: "She's a baby. She needs to go to bed at 7 o'clock and relax. Have a glass of milk. That's ridiculous. He should be ashamed of himself. He has a beautiful woman (Blac Chyna) and a baby and left that for a 16-year-old who just turned 17. Like naw...." This, of course, induced a storm of reactions across the Internet, but most notably from the Kardashian sisters, who took it upon themselves not to decry the relationship between an adult man and a minor, but to remind Amber Rose that her past as a stripper absolves her of any legitimacy. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
50 Shades of Rape
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The Grateful EightThere’s a certain challenge in making a prediction list for awards shows. As my Golden Globes prediction post showed, there’s a high chance of failure. After all, if you’re outside the voting group, you can’t really get an idea on how people will vote. You can try to follow what previous award shows have given their awards to, or you could go with your gut and try to pick what you personally think the winners will be. Both methods can result in poor judgment and missed choices. It’s very rare to get a perfect score, even if you go to a Las Vegas bookie for help. Still, I want to make an attempt to predict the awards. What I’m going to do is go through the categories, say what I think will win and what I think should win. It’s something that allows me to analyze how other awards shows have awarded the win, while also giving me a chance to explain my own personal preferences and why they are worthy of merit. Here we go: Best Documentary-Short Subject, Best Live Action Short Film and Best Animated Short Film I’m grouping these three together early for one specific reason: I can’t predict them. At awards shows, some people can only vote for certain categories if they have some understanding of the subject or work in the field. For example, Academy members who work in Special Effects can vote for Best Special Effects. With these three categories, there’s very few opportunities for most people to see any of the nominations. They’re usually aired solely in major cities like New York or Los Angeles. If a small town (like mine) gets them, it’s usually a one day exclusive event at a theater chain. In short, I’m really shooting in the dark with these three, so I’ll ignore them. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Why We Keep Getting Lied To Once again, it seems that our trust in the media has been betrayed.
Brian Williams, a (formerly) well-respected news anchor and television journalist of "NBC Nightly News," has recanted his story about being shot down in a Chinook helicopter was inaccurate. Back in 2003 when the Iraq War started, Williams reported that the helicopter ahead of his was hit and nearly knocked out of the sky. But within the 12 year span, Williams added embellishments that somehow focused the story on him. After some of the retired soldiers took to social media, Williams issued an apology. "I made a mistake in recalling the events of 12 years ago. I want to apologize. I said I was traveling in an aircraft that was hit by RPG fire. I was instead in a following aircraft," said Williams. But it was not very convincing to his audience. Backlash and memes emerged shortly after the apology was issued, and Williams was suspended for 6 months without pay. Embellishments and fabrications aren't new in the media. The National Enquirer makes a living off of stories that stretch the truth. How many Elvis resurrection stories does it take to get to the center of the conspiracy? Go in any chain grocery store and you'll see scandalous headlines right next to the register. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Her Backstory is Not Her Art The recent absence of Lady Gaga and her avant-garde/wacky antics from the national stage have left a gaping hole in our collective psyche. So her appearance on Howard Stern earlier this week was very much welcome—not to mention, ultimately illuminating.
In the interview, Gaga revealed that she was sexually assaulted at age 19. Here's how she explained withholding that information from her fans (note: She never owed us this information, or an explanation): "I'll be damned if somebody's going to say that every creatively intelligent thing that I ever did has boiled down to one dickhead that did that to me." Gaga, with her trademark frankness, raises a good point: How much should we let the personal experiences of an artist color our interpretation of their work? And at what point does this become problematic? Tragedy, of course, has always inspired great art. The 9/11 attacks, for instance, elicited countless sculptures, paintings, drawings, poems and other forms of art. In cases like this, there's a very clear purpose: help the community process its collective trauma. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Top Three Songs, Year Inconclusive By Christopher Sloce QuailBellMagazine.com Retrospective loses meaning when it becomes a product of immediacy. All those top ten, top twenty lists, if you’re lucky, half of it holds any meaning ten years from now, any sort of relevance. But never underestimate someone for attaching narrative and meaning to what they fear has none. Patterns, however, always exist. And in my top three songs, I see one.
Vince Staple’s “Nate” begins with the line: “As a kid, all I wanted was to kill a man.” Here is the conclusion of favorite song number two, Jason Isbell’s “Elephant”: “There’s one thing that’s real clear to me/nobody dies with dignity/we just try to ignore the elephant somehow.” Favorite song number three, Flying Lotus’s “Coronus, the Terminator” is on an album called You’re Dead! Flying Lotus said himself the song is about the apocalypse, which, from my understanding, nobody makes it through. I also understand at some point in time, we killed the author. But it’s on an album called You’re Dead! There are sonic disparities: “Nate” is a horn blaring, soul sampling hip-hop song that’s as good of a deconstruction of parents as Phillip Larkin’s “This Be the Verse," only Phillip Larkin’s parents weren’t crips, and British poetry sounds bad in your car. “Elephant” is a lonely acoustic ballad that sounds like the engineers recorded it on a microphone soaked in sawdust. “Coronus, the Terminator” is a space gospel song with handclaps. And they’re all about the biggest change any of us will ever go through. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Built on Rock, not Sand By Christopher Cruz QuailBellMagazine.com As a married 24 year old guy, the way that I think about Valentine's Day tends to be different than how my friends do. Friends usually respond in one of two ways. The first response generally comes from those who aren't in relationships. They treat the holiday with contempt, scoffing at the day's commercial nature. That is fair, I suppose. Valentine's Day, like most holidays, has been tainted by businesses vying for our dollars. And the truth is, Valentine's Day tries to remind those with nobody that they need someone, and that is a farce.
But my other friends, usually those with significant others, treat the holiday with veneration. It is the holiday for determining a relationship. It may be a good night or a bad night. If one unit of the couple decides that this holiday is important, and the other doesn't, then the one who doesn't might spend time in the doghouse. But the truth is, no Valentine's Day outing will make your relationship better. No outing will save your relationship. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Revisiting The Lupercalia Festival
Keep in mind that Roman pagans threw festivals that were a lot more like BDSM festivals than anything remotely family-friendly by modern standards. Lupercalia's shenanigans make 50 Shades of Grey look like vanilla extract. So clearly, bringing back the Lupercalia festival is the cure for all of this mediocre madness. I think that if we examine our roots, people will finally understand that, as modern people, we deserve better than 50 shades of NO WAY.
Roses and chocolates? No, honey; whips and animal sacrifices. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
The Journey Writing The Hammer and Cycle
revolutionary zeal. “Yes, yes,” he answered firmly. “Most definitely.” Stepping back to his podium, he likely caught my eyes bugging at the thought: you really just said that! And it was, of course, mentioned the idealism backfired. But that precise moment stood out and remained my direction even two decades after the Cold War’s symbolic, if not literal, end. Two decades late? Indeed.
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What We Talk About When We Talk About Superheroes In many ways, being an actor and being a superhero are the same thing. There’s a public demand for your service, you have to completely assume a role different from who you are, you are judged on your ability to perform, you are forced to keep your public and private life separate, and there’s always a chance that you will fail greatly and people can suffer because of that. The giant robot can destroy the city, or your poor box-office returns will cost people their jobs. Either way, it’s a path that can lead to greatness or failure, and the burden is placed on the hero in question.
Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Birdman is about a movie in which the superhero is an actor, but this time, what’s at stake is not just his livelihood and the livelihood of those around him, but also his own sanity and his own sense of importance. It’s about Riggan Thomson (Michael Keaton), an actor who is starring in a Broadway play he directed and adapted from the Raymond Carver story “What We Talk About When We Talk About Love.” Riggan was most known for playing the titular superhero in the first three Birdman movies in the 90’s, and now that he’s pushing 60, the play is his chance to reclaim his glory and prove what he is capable of. This is not an easy task. The film follows the days leading up to the play’s grand premiere, with several preview shows suggesting that the play can be a wild success or an unmitigated disaster. A crazy method actor (Edward Norton) is brought in to fill a part, and in his attempts to be truly in character he gets drunk on stage and nearly rapes his co-star (Naomi Watts). Riggan’s daughter, Sam (Emma Stone), acts as his assistant, trying to bounce back after a stint in rehab. She comes to represent the mistakes and choices Riggan made in life, and his failure as a father is shown in how she tries to function as an adult. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Ban it all—because it's more than spray tans Seriously, as a society, how do we let the exploitation of children exist? Beauty pageants are very unlike child modeling and acting, where the projects are typically age-appropriate–pageants on the other hand, misrepresent sexuality in overtly pedophiliac ways. While it boggles my mind that parents not only condone these contests, but participate in them, it is even worse for our society to allow it.
Beauty pageants, at their most obvious and innocent, set children up for low self esteem and skewed body images. If they lose, which are most of the participants, they will feel unattractive and unwanted. Children, intrinsically, are too young to understand and quantify rejection, especially rejection based on their self-image, which has barely developed to begin with. The premise of these contests is to sexually parade around little girls–with hair and makeup applied as though they are twenty-one-years-old. The real question is: who wants to see little girls dressed as adults, and why? Since the girls are too young to truly give consent, how can this possibly be legal? For children, how can they truly understand the attire is merely fantasy, and not real? How could they possibly deduce that superficial beauty is not as important as developing your inner personality, when they are being paraded on a stage? At Psychology Today, Martina M. Cartwright, a professor at the University of Arizona, stated “that it’s not uncommon for teens who used to be in pageants to develop eating disorders and have body image problems.” The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
To Make it Count
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The Subtle Delights of Meditation “Simplicity, patience, compassion.
These three are your greatest treasures. Simple in actions and thoughts, you return to the source of being. Patient with both friends and enemies, you accord with the way things are. Compassionate toward yourself, you reconcile all beings in the world.” - Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching It could be said that simplicity in action is the way to wisdom. When one is not caught up in a frenzy of possessions and things to do, one can reflect, self-reflect, and attempt to find a sense of calm in regular life. I find simplicity in everyday actions, actions that may not be immediately recognized as meditations. When I think of meditation, I see myself sitting cross-legged in front of my small altar, back straightened and eyes almost closed with a stick of incense burning below a painted statue of Lakshmi. I don't think of the little things I do that have the same effect on my mind that meditation has. A little more than a week ago, I found that I had accidentally slipped into a sort of meditational state. I was spreading layers and layers of Mod Podge over collaged necklace pendants I had made, and I suddenly realized that the repetitive and simplistic action had made my mind free of almost all thoughts. Of course, when I realized this, I stopped being in that meditational and calm state, and I started thinking. But what I was thinking was if that felt like meditation, then perhaps many other regular things in my life were disguised meditations, too. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
An Unorthodox Tradition By Gretchen Gales QuailBellMagazine.com Valentine's Day is devoted to the cootie covered, mono-carrying vermin couples and the people that hate them. While lovers frolic their way to fancy restaurants and exchange overpriced chocolate, others must wallow in single-dom. Tradition dictates that those without a significant other must cry themselves a pity party on the couch, watching reruns of Full House or some other heartfelt 80s or 90s show. And as much as I love Full House, you can cry over the beauty of John Stamos any day. Instead, start a fun new tradition with a lifelong friend.
Like mine for example. I've been single most of my life, and though that is not the case at the moment, I am still loyal to my true Valentine, Sarah. We met in 2006 as classmates in chorus, but got to know each other at a friend's Halloween party. We braced the chaos of Busch Gardens after being abandoned by our chaperon so she could ride the new coaster. We fumbled through puberty and became exceptionally hot as a result. We essentially live at each other's houses. Ten years of friendship, and decades more to come. But this tradition started sophomore year of high school. We were more than likely sitting around, moaning that we couldn't get dates and everyone else could. We were two eligible bachelorettes that were much more entertaining than most girlfriends...at least in our own mind. Now, I don't remember how we got the idea, but if I had to guess, it went something like this: The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Bridges to Cross
I can’t remember the last time I went to a movie and liked it so much it made me mad. I think it was good that I left this movie upset about what was shown in the film because it meant that the film worked for me. Artistically, the film was flawless. People were really upset that director Ava DuVernay was snubbed at the Academy Awards, and I am now one of those people. The style of the film was incredible, with some really good shots and mise-en-scene. Several scenes of King and his supporters were bathed in a mix of shadow and yellow light, showing the troubling places they reside but also the warmth, love, and support that could be found as well.
There were also some expertly staged moments as well. One particular shot I loved was one with King and Johnson having an argument in the Oval Office with a portrait of George Washington between the two men. It’s a sign of how one president crusaded for liberty and how another is being called to do the same. There’s also a moment where King and company are in jail and the source of light is behind King. King’s face is almost entirely in shadow, but we’re able to make out enough of his features, suggesting that he’s still a present figure even though the bigoted law enforcement of Selma has put him away. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Where the real and the unreal meet Editor's Note: Here's a tip—read the author's short story, "Slave Hands," first. You might think that a story like “Slave Hands” began with a real-life little kid, a personal experience or at least some schoolyard talk. But it didn’t. It started in two different bars and with two grown island men. The first was Clifford Gardiner, owner of the hotel on North Caicos where I used to stay before we built a house there. In those early days of my visits, I wanted to learn more of the island history than tourists are given. I had been to Wade’s Green, the ruins of an American Loyalist plantation, and asked Clifford to tell me more about it. “Nothing to tell. They grew cotton, and when the crop failed, they left.” Clifford had been born on North, but either he didn’t know or didn’t care about his own island’s history. Several years later, I was in a South Caicos bar talking with some local guys, because that’s what you do when you miss the plane to North and are stranded overnight. I asked one man his last name, because that’s also what you do in a Turks and Caicos bar...find out which of his cousins you know or whose family on North has a branch on South. Oddly, he didn’t want to tell me his surname. I pushed. “No, no,” he said. I’d been drinking enough to push more, and joked that maybe it was Hitler? He looked at me seriously. “Kinda like that,” he said. “It’s Stubbs.” I was baffled. There are lots of Stubbses in the islands. So he explained to me that if you are black and named Stubbs, it means your people were the slaves of one of the Stubbs brothers, the white plantation owners of the 1700s. The man was ashamed to admit that he was descended from slaves. Many years later, those bar conversations would create my fictional Joseph Stubbs, 10 years old and embarrassed by the girl he loves because of his big hands. Even as I wrote him, I was prodding the poor kid. “C’mon, Jospeh. This is your history. Own it. Not with anger, but with pride and class.” #Real #Unreal #History #HistoricalFiction #BlackHistory #AfricanAmerican #AmericanHistory #BlackFolklore #Memory Visit our shop and subscribe. Sponsor us. Submit and become a contributor. Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
10 Reasons Why Christian Men Should Not Marry Me So my sister posted a little gem of a post on my Facebook wall the other day.
Titled 10 Women Christian Men Should Not Marry, this blog post hopes to steer good Christian men away from women who would bring them to wreck and ruin. At first I thought this was actually satire à la The Onion, but no, the author was serious. The original blog post has over 1,000 comments, with many picking it apart already and Liz Boltz Ranfeld made sure to add more red flags for men of righteous character to watch out for in the finding of a wife. In order to further help these men and to help them not waste their precious time, I give you 10 reasons why I’d be a terrible wife for a Christian man. 1. I’m an “unbeliever” The quotation marks are there for a reason. As I’ve talked about here and here, Jesus is still my favorite, and I think his teachings are really awesome. However, there are a list of things I believe that for many disqualify me from claiming the title of “Christian.” In short, I take the metaphorical view of the creation story in Genesis and a liberal view of the rest of the Bible. I am a feminist (more on this in a sec) and believe that everyone can love and marry whomever they choose. I have no issue if someone uses feminine pronouns for G-d, and I truly believe all dogs (and people) go to heaven. For the above reasons and many others, I’m sure NYCPastor would say that I am not a Christian. Pretty sure there’s countless others he’d disqualify because, let’s be honest, much of evangelical Christianity is about who is out rather than who is in. Tl;dr: I’m a heathen, so stay away. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Pressed like a Disney Song Personal. Powerful. Prass. Natalie Prass. Last night's show at the Broadberry in Richmond, Virginia was a much needed blast of clear, fresh air despite the winter chill. With an influx of punk/garage/jam rock in my beloved Richmond's music scene, Natalie Prass certainly was the light, ethereal sound I needed after indulging heavily in rock and roll. Enough said here: "This next song got pressed like a Disney song, which is cool." - Prass on "It Is You" The floor was packed with wide-eyed viewers ready to lay eyes and rest ears on the soft-soprano songstress. This wasn't just any concert, rather, this evening marked the long-awaited (four years to be exact) self-titled album released by Richmond label, Spacebomb Records. Prior the show, a few friends recommended I listen to her album and I instantly fell for her delicate and crystal clear voice. Unsurprisingly, Natalie and her band were knock outs in the live performance. The album evokes a timeless sound peppered with retro influences via the likes of Carpenters and Dolly Parton paired with a twinkling brass section dabbled with piano and flute; yet Prass remains unique in her refreshing and light voice: a vocal alchemist with the power to turn a gut-twisting heartbreak of apocalyptic proportions into a floating lotus. A few standouts from an outstanding album include the track "Christy" which pays homage to Dolly Parton's "Jolene," where Prass' voice and the accompanied strings intertwine so tightly you're holding your breath until the end. And "Fool" a tattered postcard in the back of your closet from that unrequited love that you finally toss in the trash during your Saturday house cleaning. "So tonight, you'll come back to an empty house, with a note signed, 'Sincerely, Your Fool.'" - Fool Prass' album is an emotional and honest tribute to her vocal and lyrical talents. The album and the live show equally pierce your eardrums to kick start that beating metronome we call our heart. To put it simply: go see her live. Natalie Prass is officially on tour, and with Ryan Adams, another musical must-see. Until then, check out and groove out to her new album via vinyl, CD, and/or MP3 here. #Real #ConcertReview #NataliePrass #Spacebomb #Richmond #Music #Awesome Visit our shop and subscribe. Sponsor us. Submit and become a contributor. Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
The Night They Re-Invented Champagne By Colleen Foster QuailBellMagazine.com Remember those inflatable kiddie pools? You know, the glorified balloon baskets of idyllic childhood summers? A parent filled them with the garden hose to leave you and your preschool friends to splash away the afternoon in the backyard. Fun, right? But you can’t swim laps in a kiddie pool, and no matter how much you flail, you won’t get a bubbling jacuzzi. And that’s exactly what this nouveau reworking of Gigi, at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., is trying to do. Let’s back up a sec. Or maybe a half century. In a reversal of the typical order of operations in entertainment, this is a stage musical that followed a movie. Lerner and Loewe, one of the A-Teams of the Golden Age of Broadway, first brought Gigi into being in the 1958 movie starring Leslie Caron. In 1973, it was given legs and had a brief, unimpressive Broadway run. Based on a 1944 novella by Colette, the predictable storyline bubbles along as she grows from naïve ingenue to slightly less naïve woman. (Really, we’re talking Madeline to Belle here. This ain’t no Spring Awakening.) When wealthy bon vivant Gaston Lachaille notices, they fall into mutual gauzy love. This newest revival, with a rewritten book by Heidi Thomas and direction by Eric Schaeffer, local theatrical legend who is worthy of his reputation, strives to escape its dated framework. Songs are ejected and reinserted into different characters’ mouths, such as “Thank Heaven For Little Girls,” now sung by two matronly ladies instead of an aging bachelor. A few years have been added to Gigi’s age and Gaston’s has been ratcheted back a few, to reduce the Lolita factor. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
No, Virginia, vaccines don't cause autism. By Zack Budryk QuailBellMagazine.com I still remember the sketch that made me fall in love with the comedy duo Key & Peele. In spring 2012, their self-titled show featured a meeting between Barack Obama and congressional Republicans. To the Republicans’ surprise, Obama begins parroting conservative talking points on taxes and immigration…and they find themselves physically compelled to disagree with him. “Ain’t I a stinker?” Obama deadpans directly into the camera. On the surface, this seems like an exaggeration to the point of absurdity, but then last week, in the wake of several measles cases linked to a child at Disneyland whose parents refused to give them the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine, Obama endorsed universal vaccination in a pre-Super Bowl interview. Within a day, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was telling a crowd in the U.K. that parents should have the option to forego vaccinations. Kentucky Senator and one-shot “Justified” villain Rand Paul, never one to be outdone either in wingnuttery or willingness to say absolutely anything to be president, this Tuesday took it further, saying that even though vaccines are “a good thing,” they should be voluntary, because they can cause “profound mental disorders.” (This came less than three weeks after Paul insisted that anyone capable of “hop[ping] out a truck” shouldn’t be eligible for disability payments, so it’s unclear why he thinks mental disorders are such a big deal.) In a pleasant surprise, famed neurosurgeon Ben Carson, M.D., who post-retirement has reinvented himself as a wingnut presidential favorite with a Glenn Beck-level fetish for Nazi comparisons, went against the grain and allowed his medical background to win out, telling Buzzfeed that public health outweighed any personal objections to vaccination. |
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