Daily Archives: October 7, 2021

Two titans of terror nearly met in a horror movie so bonkers it would make Freddy vs. Jason look like a kids movie. OK, that might be a bit dramatic, but its a fact that Halloweens Michael Myers nearly had a big screen battle with Hellraisers Pinhead.

Cast your mind back to the heady days of the early aughts, and the aforementioned Freddy vs. Jason has just made$116.6 million at the box office. As a result, studios all over Hollywood were looking in the back of their IP closets for any potential franchises, they could mash together in the hope of earning a bit of cash.

While scraping out the bottom of their particular barrel, Dimension Films found that they owned the rights to both Michael Myers and Pinhead, so the obvious solution was to let them fight. Dimension set a release date and started planning their ambitious crossover withHellraiser writer and director Clive Barker, and Halloweens own original co-writer and director John Carpenter both approached to work on the movie.

Barker was going to write it, and Carpenter would direct. In an interview with Den of Geek,Pinhead actor Doug Bradley revealed some of the Pinhead vs. Michael Myers plot details. He explained that Clive Barker didnt want the two horror icons to just have a fistfight for no reason. He instead was looking for a natural way to have the characters crossover.

Clive said that the versus bit, the Michael Myers vs Pinhead bit was a bit beside the point it was a bit boring given that Michael doesnt speak, which makes him a disappointment to Pinhead, Bradley explained. Clive wasnt interested in a mano-a-mano confrontation. He was interested in finding the places where the Hellraiser and Halloween landscapes might have crossed over.

Bradley explained that Barker planned to reveal that Myers was asadomasochistic sexual pervert and serial killer, and it was this twisted hedonism that would pique Pinheads interest in the mute killer.

Unfortunately, before work could properly begin on the movie, the whole thing was torn apart like Frank Cotton at the end of Hellraiser. Halloween producerMoustapha Akkad who owned the rights to the character hated the idea and put a stop to the movie.

Interestingly, though, Den of Geek reports that this wasnt the first time the duo nearly crossed over. In the late 90s Dave Parker, the moviemaker behindPsycho Granny andTwinsanity, pitched a Cenobite versus silent stalker action movie.

Parker outlined his vision for the movie to Fangoria. He planned on revealing that it was the Lament Configuration -the puzzle box that summons Pinhead and his mates that had, in fact, turned Michael into an unstoppable killer.

I was just trying to come up with a plausible way to get [Michael and Pinhead] to fight. So, why does he all of a sudden go out and kill his sister on Halloween? Hes trick-or-treating in a flashback, and he goes up to this one house and sees the guy with the black boots, who gives him the box, he explained. He opens it, and the Lord of the Dead Sam Hain escapes from Hell and takes over Michaels body because he doesnt want to be in Hell. Now, Sam Hain is who the Shape is, and thats why he cant be killed.

The story would then move to the modern day where some unnamed people (presumably helpless teens) discover the evil puzzle box in the old Myers house, and Hell literally breaks out as Pinhead tries to drag Sam Hain, possessing Michaels body back to Hell. Unfortunately for Parker, he was a few years too early for Dimension, and the studio rejected his Helloween movie for fear it would flop. I bet they regret that now.

If you want to see Michael Myers in a movie that actually got made, you can see the silent serial killer in Halloween Kills when it hits theatres on October 15. Check out our review here.

{"schema":{"page":{"content":{"headline":"Halloween nearly crossed over with Hellraiser in Michael Myers vs. Pinhead","type":"news","category":"halloween"},"user":{"loginstatus":false},"game":{"publisher":"","genre":"Horror","title":"Halloween","genres":["Horror","Thriller","Movies"]}}}}

Read more:

Halloween nearly crossed over with Hellraiser in Michael Myers vs. Pinhead - The Digital Fix

It started with trench coats worn back to front, like trippy shift dresses.

Next came soft, drapey silhouettes in cool, muted tones, which looked as though they had been expertly fashioned out of bed sheets. (If your bed sheets were the finest known to mankind, you are to understand). There were towering shoes whose heels were seemingly made from bottles of nail varnish, cake candles and even broken eggs as well as denim midi skirts festooned with clouds of silk.

While the Loewe collection was inspired by Renaissance painter Pontormo there was also, to the naked eye at least, a certain homage to craft fashion; the notion of creating new, daring silhouettes through experimentation with what one already has. Exquisitely draped tops were blended with hard resin fronts, sculptural metal pieces were attached to classic black dresses, while trousers came with fun knee holes.

Its a welcoming thought. Whereas other designers have optimism (and hedonism) in their eyes this coming season, creative director Jonathan Anderson is different; a dreamy realist if you will, understanding that in a world on the brink of economic collapse, perhaps the best thing a girl can do is look in her existing wardrobe and think big.

Craft has, of course, always been at the heart of Loewe. The 175-year-old fashion house started life as a family-run leather goods company where luxury craftsmanship was what made Loewe stand out from the crowd - as well as helped it become the leather goods brand of choice for the Spanish royal family, no less. (The brand also launched one of the most important craft prizes in the world back in 2016 with the Loewe Foundation Craft Prize). This collection then felt both deeply connected to what this brand stands for, but also for the way fashion is heading.

Delightfully there was also a nod to the last 18 months, something other designers have been loath to do, presuming its easy to whip everyone out of the gym leggings theyve been wearing since 2020 and instead into mini dresses and bodysuits.

Big, soft tracksuits (which looked suspiciously like shell suits to those of us born south of 1986) made an appearance as did a Loewe take on Uggs with soft slouchy teddy bear boots. Even the now classic Loewe Flamenco bag was reimagined in soft, teddy bear fabric.

In many ways, Loewe is one of the most exciting fashion brands of the moment: daring but real; luxurious but fun; future-facing but an acknowledgment of what has come before. Which is exactly what this collection showed.

This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io

More here:

Loewe's SS22 Show Was The Perfect Celebration Of 'Craft Fashion' At PFW - elle.com

Its hard to tell if Andy Bell spent 18 months or 18 seconds pondering his outfit for the opening night of Erasures first post-pandemic tour an understated below-the-nipple bright blue corset and yellow tartan trews combination. Wonder Woman crossed with Lindsay Wagner Bionic Woman She-Ra slash Powerpuff Girl, he tells the crowd. Bells keyboard-prodding bandmate and studiously un-flamboyant foil Vince Clarke, in his inimitable having-none-of-it way, sports a trim grey suit, tie pin glinting under the stage lights.

The perennial bridesmaids of British synth-pop (32 consecutive UK Top 40 singles; only one No 1, the Abba-esque EP) are back to business, and its the fun and daft serotonin rush we all badly need. The duo have described their 18th album The Neon as a trip back to the beginning. Hey Now (Think I Got a Feeling) finds Bell beating the darkened city streets again, mildly off his box, looking for love and finding only empty hedonism, Clarkes vintage synth-scape cascading around him like sodium glow. The sound of new-old Erasure cant help but pale by comparison as the old-old classics drop Who Needs Love Like That, Blue Savannah and A Little Respect in the first half-hour alone but they remain a band who have never lost their essence.

A frontman from the say whatevers on your mind school of stage talk, Bell babbles entertainingly on his dislike for doing the dishes during lockdown, on messing with his iPads facial recognition technology by sometimes showing it his bum. Between the sight of two female backing singers in extravagant frocks swaying sweetly on an adult-sized swing set, and the morning-after tenderness of piano ballad New Horizons which leaves some in the crowd hugging tearfully, others sitting down for a breather its a heady cocktail.

The party hits a new high after Bell cuts loose quite literally, Clark theatrically snips him out of his corset with a pair of scissors for a final Hi-NRG dad-dancing flourish of Stop!, Victim of Love, Oh lAmour and Chains of Love. Lost in the moment and with hits still to burn as curfew comes, theyre practically chased off stage by the house lights going up.

This article was amended on 4 October 2021. A previous version stated that Erasure did not have a UK No 1 single; in fact, their 1992 EP Abba-esque reached No 1 on the UK singles chart.

Here is the original post:

Erasure review a heady cocktail of corsets and classics - The Guardian

In 2021, there isnt much dynamism to writing a song off the back of a drug-induced experience. In fact, going through the latest releases it could be very easy to pinpoint exactly what drug each artist was on when writing the track, such is the prevalence and wider public acceptance of art and narcotics going together like eggs and bacon. From The Beatles to Drake and everyone in between, nothing is off-limits for music.

Writing songs about drugs and taking narcotics used to be a covert operation. To create a track about ones penchant for substances today would be a little bit vulgar. Censorship is now so relaxed that writing a song about drugs is almost pointless. Back in the 1960s, as recreational drugs became a part of the swinging culture, using the secret codes within pop music to hidden references became a mark of a bands anti-establishment stance. Illicit songs soon became commonplace. However, there is something extra special about the songs written when inspired by LSD.

The very nature of LSD, or acid as it is more colloquially known, is that it transports the user through visual changes and mind-altering experiences, into a brand new plane of thinking. Ask anyone with experience of the drug and they will likely tell you just how much it changed their life, sometimes for the good and sometimes for the bad, but a seismic change nevertheless. Below, were picking out five classic songs which capture the essence of this transformation.

Apple co-founder and one of the centurys most brilliant minds, Steve Jobs once said, Taking LSD was a profound experience, one of the most important things in my life. It is this massive change of ones minds eye that invigorated much of music in the 1960s and 1970s as the drug became a prolific influencer on the pop charts. While acid rock arrived in the mid-1960s, perpetrated by bands like Jimi Hendrix Experience and Pink Floyd, its presence can be felt in every decade since.

Of course, drugs quickly go in and out of fashion but it would seem there is something holy about the hallucinogen, LSD. In every decade there is some reference to its power, some nod to the notions it helped to forge and a realisation that it provides many artists with the escape from reality they need to fully achieve their creative vision.

Below, we see five of those visions unfurl as we pick out our favourite songs inspired by acid.

Of course, no list about LSD would be complete without the addition of The Beatles and their seminal acid anthem. Though not directly written about drugs, they certainly influenced this piece as the words for I Am The Walrus leapt right up from the page. The song was directly inspired by Lewis Carrolls Alice in Wonderland and sees Lennon use an allegory to create a mystifying point. Walrus is just saying a dream, recalled John in his infamous 1980 interview with Playboy.

In the same 1980 Playboy interview, Lennon confirmed: The first line was written on one acid trip one weekend. The second line was written on the next acid trip the next weekend, and it was filled in after I met Yoko Id seen Allen Ginsberg and some other people who liked Dylan and Jesus going on about Hare Krishna. It was Ginsberg, in particular, I was referring to. The words Elementry penguin meant that its nave to just go around chanting Hare Krishna or putting all your faith in one idol.

It sees Lennon put down on paper the fuzzy drug-fuelled sessions that underwrote the bands output at this time and also showed that songs dont necessarily have to mean anything to be considered great.

Grace Slick was widely known as one of the most prominent voices of the scene which flourished out of San Francisco in the 60s, professing free thought and the utmost pursuit of creativity. The track, White Rabbit, is one of her finest and became an anthem for narcotics but Slick says that beyond drugs the song is about following your curiosity. The White Rabbit is your curiosity.

The singer also revealed that the songs references might have been shocking to some but seemed a natural progression to her, suggesting it may well be because of the previous generations own experimentations, Our parents read us stories like Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland and The Wizard of Oz, Slick recalled.

She added: They all have a place where children get drugs, and are able to fly or see an Emerald City or experience extraordinary animals and people And our parents are suddenly saying, Why are you taking drugs? Well, hello!

While we may have noted that the mystification of drugs has been so neatly washed away from pop music that much of the modern chart is littered with drug references that have simply slipped by you, that doesnt mean every artist is willing to label their track as such.

Far from the mark of commendation drugs were in the 1960s and beyond, to have an explicitly drug-related song in modern times is just a little passe. One such track is The Flaming Lips Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, which, despite being clearly flecked with the wild imagery of acid, has never been specifically declared as an LSD anthem.

Not only is the story that unfurls with Wayne Coynes lyricism a little on the odd side, but the singer is a known admirer of the drug. Couple this with the air-filled joy of the track and it isnt hard to draw a line between the two references.

One more addition from the Fab Four and while there are plenty of their songs inspired by drugs, and acid, in particular, this one was so neatly connected to the song we just had to add it in. Back in August 1965, The Beatles were holed up in a rented mansion hidden deep within the mountains above Beverly Hills, California. It was the perfect breeding ground for the newly famous Beatles to open up the taps on their celebrity and head straight for hedonism.

One such celebrity was Peter Fonda who somehow broke into the mansion to join the band during a particularly deep acid trip. For both Lennon and Harrison, this acid trip wasnt their first rodeo and, while believing in their new-found LSD enlightenment, the duo pushed both Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr to join them on their journey into the mind-melding trip. While Starr agreed, McCartney refused, Macca later shared his maiden voyage with his pal, Lennon.

As Harrison descended into a deep fear of death, Fonda tried to lighten up proceedings by recalling his own near-death experience. It stuck with Lennon and became the basis of the Revolver song She Said, She Said, the song written about Peter Fonda being suitably uncool, man.

What list about the musical effect of LSD would be complete without The Grateful Dead. Outwardly and openly honest about their consumption of the drug, before, during and after their infamous shows, the band rarely directly referenced it. Instead, Jerry Garcia et al would play their cards close to their chest.

The bands lyricist, Robert Hunter was also a well-known lover of the drug but was caught on the wrong side of it one fateful night when he drank an apple juice that contained a gram of crystal LSD, apparently worth over $50,000. During his trip, he experienced the deaths of Abraham Lincoln, JFK and many other assassinated figures.

When he had recuperated, it was enough to send Hunter to the drawing board with his pen and paper ready to write up the Deads tune Black Peter. It recalls the deaths of the aforementioned figures as well as his own as he writes: All of my friends come to see me last night / I was laying in my bed and dying / Annie Beauneu from Saint Angel / Say the weather down here so fine.

There is a paisley passion to of Montreal that quickly confirms their penchant for the drug. Their addition to the list is one of the most painstakingly obvious. Titled Lysergic Bliss in reference to the drug it leaves no questions to be asked of lead singer, Kevin Barnes as he lays it all out.

If we were a pair of jigsaw puzzle pieces / We would connect so perfectly, sings Barnes perhaps suggesting that he not only sought out experience with the drug but comfort too, he provides a new vision of the narcotic. While most songwriters focus on the mind-altering visuals or transportation cognitive behaviours, Barnes seemingly pens a complete love song to the warmth and comfort the escape gives him.

Released in 2008 as the titular track of Jenny Lewis album, Acid Togue was directly inspired by one fateful evening. Most of the songs on our list have a positive edge to their sound, Lewis, however, focuses on her first acid trip as a teen and how it shaped her life.

It culminated in a scene not unlike something from Fear and Loathing in Las Vegasthe scene where Hunter S. Thompson has to lock the lawyer in the bathroom., recalled Lewis when speaking to Rolling Stone. I sort of assumed the Hunter S. Thompson character and my friend she had taken far too much decided to pull a butcher knife out of the kitchen drawer and chase me around the house. That is not exactly what you need.

At the end of that experience, she continues, my mom was out of town on a trip of her own and she returned to find me about 5 lbs lighter and I hadI was so desperate to get back to normal I decided to drink an entire gallon of orange juice. I saw that it was in the fridge and decided that this would sort of flush the LSD out of my system, but I didnt realise that it did exactly the opposite.

Most popular

Originally posted here:

From The Beatles to The Grateful Dead: Seven classic songs inspired by LSD - Far Out Magazine

According to an excerpt from former White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham's new book, "I'll Take Your Questions Now: What I Saw in the Trump White House," former President Donald Trump told Grisham that Justin Trudeau's mother, Margaret, had sex "with all of the Rolling Stones."

The exchange on board Air Force One in early 2020, according to Grisham. The former president was in an overall "good mood" and chatted with Grisham about topics like going vegan.

"I was sitting with him in his cabin, and for whatever reason - maybe he had just read something or seen his face on TV - Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau popped into the president's head," Grisham says, setting up the exchange.

"Are you OK if I say this?" Trump reportedly prompted Grisham before making the bold claim.

"That was always a troubling question. Who knew what was going to come out of his mouth? Sure, I nodded," Grisham writes.

"Trudeau's mom. She [had sex with] all of the Rolling Stones," Trump said, according to Grisham's recounting.

Margaret Trudeau, the one-time wife of former Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau and current Prime Minister Trudeau's mother, is an author and actress. According to Vanity Fair, Margaret has lived a "life of glitz and unbridled hedonism," including a 1977 Rolling Stones concert where she reportedly "sang and strutted" and Mick Jagger's feet and "stared at him worshipfully throughout the performance."

She also hosted a party with the Stones in her hotel suite, only for Jagger to later tell the Evening Standard that Trudeau is a "very sick girl in search of something. She found it-but not with me. I wouldn't go near her with a barge pole."

For her part, Margaret Trudeau has denied any affair with members of the band, though she later said, at a conference on mental health, "I should have slept with every single one of them."

Read more:

Trump told his press secretary that Justin Trudeau's mom had sex with 'all of the Rolling Stones,' according t - Business Insider India

Non-fiction books in the 1970s reflected the concerns of the time: feminism, intersectionality, anxieties about the decline of the Modern age, fascination with space and science.

During the decade, the wave of scientific and social progression was hugely impressive for the time, paving the way for many of the modern scientific and social structures that are considered normal in todays society. To explore deeper, look no further: weve gathered a list of the best books of the 70s.

Widely regarded as a classic of radical feminist literature, Sexual Politicsbegan as Kate Milletts PhD dissertation and explores the subjugation of women in art and literature in the 20th century. Taking inspiration from Simone De BeauvoirsThe Second Sex, the non-fiction book discusses the gender politics of prominent authors like D.H. Lawrence, Henry Miller, etc. and how they view sex in a patriarchal and sexist way.

Technically, The Black Woman does contain some elements of fiction with poetry and short stories included. However, the anthology is also comprised of conversations and non-fiction essays by now-celebrated African-American female writers (like Alice Walker, Nikki Giovanni, Audre Lorde) that discuss issues around gender, race, politics, labour, intersectionality and education. The Black Woman was a groundbreaking work that paved the way for some of the most exciting, astonishingly talented Black voices in the late 20th century.

Nancy Milfords non-fiction biography is written on one of the most intriguing celebrities of the 20th century, Zelda Sayre later known as the wife of F. Scott Fitzgerald. If the names sound familiar, its probably because the couple were famed for their careless hedonism in the 20s, became synonymous with the glitter of the jazz age, and their turbulent relationship and lifestyle inspired most of Fitzgeralds writing (including The Great Gatsby).

Zelda: A Biography details Zeldas Southern upbringing, her passionate relationship with Fitzgerald, and the torturous pull between her own immense gift for writing, art and creativity, against the push of her husbands burgeoning career.

A memoir published in 1973 by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston and James D. Houston,Farewell to Manzanardetails the devastating experiences of author Jeanne Wakatsuki and her family before, during, and following their relocation to the Manzanar concentration camp, where the United States government forcibly relocated and incarcerated Japanese Americans during World War II. An episode in history that is notoriously overlooked.

Reported as one of the most influential books on political philosophy after WWII, and winning the 1974 National Book Award,Anarchy, State and Utopia details a defence of minarchist libertarianism, discussions of entitlement theory, distributions of justice, morality and the State, a framework for utopia, and more. The book emerged from a course taught at Harvard by the author and fellow American political philosopher Michael Walzer, at Harvard University, titled Capitalism and Socialism where Nozick represented the arguments of Anarchy, State and Utopia, and Walzer represented the side of complex equality.

The Message in the Bottleis a collection of non-fiction essays on semiotics that explore the emerging dominant ideologies of the end of the modern age: Judeo-Christian values and self-determinism versus the rationalism of science. The collection of essays often weave together linguistics, existentialism, theology, anthropology, and literary criticism, raising pertinent, philosophical questions that will challenge the reader to question their own beliefs and values about the way in which we operate in the world.

Originally from Poland, but famed for his extensive reportage across Asia, Africa and the Middle East, Ryszard Kapuciskis body of work is one of the most fascinating examples of consistent, engaging war reportage in the 20th century. Another Day of Lifefollows the journalist in Angola during the Angolan Civil War, which began in 1975 from Angolas independence from Portugal to 2002. The book details the fall of the capital city Luanda and an exposition on the Peoples Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) who presided as the de facto government during the war.

Renowned American astronomer, Carl Sagans The Dragons of Edenis a non-fiction, Pulitzer-prize winning book on the mechanisms of the evolution of human intelligence. Combining the fields of anthropology, evolutionary biology, psychology, and computer science, the books thesis revolves around a statement made in an earlier lecture by Sagan, [wherein] the mind [is] a consequence of its anatomy and physiology and nothing more.

While he experienced later success in fiction with Bonfire of the Vanities, Tom Wolfes beginnings were in journalism in particular, New Journalism: a style of writing that incorporated literary techniques. The Right Stuff emerged from Wolfes fascination with astronauts after being assigned coverage of the launch of NASAs final lunar mission, Apollo 17, in 1972. The non-fiction book follows the background of the space race and the American postwar research with experimental rocket-powered, high-speed aircrafts, as well as going into depth about the selection of the first Project Mercury NASA astronauts.

Go here to read the rest:

The best non-fiction books of the 1970s - Happy Mag