Category Archives: Hedonism

Thor: Love and Thunder introduced entire new leagues of gods and cosmic entities into the Marvel Cinematic Universe but apparently we were supposed to get even more of them than we saw! A new Thor 4 deleted scene called "Looking for Zeus" has been released online, and it shows Thor Odinson (Chris Hemsworth) and his teammates Korg (Taika Waititi) and Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson) coming to Omnipotent City to seek an audience with Zeus only to be accosted by Zeus's son, Dionysus.

As you can see in the replies, most Marvel fans seem to be in agreement that Thor: Love and Thunder did well to remove this particular scene from the theatrical cut. More than a few people used the word "cringe" in reference to watching the scene. It is a pretty thin comedic gag using an obvious target: Dionysus is primarily known (and revered ) for being a god of wine, ecstasy, and general hedonism. That's not exactly a hard set of things to poke fun at and this scene doesn't go nearly as far or edgy as a comedic version of Dionysus could go.

Thor: Love and Thunder doesn't generally seem to be aging well with time, in the minds of a lot of Marvel fans. While fans initially embraced the silly fun of the film, and the spectacle of seeing Natalie Portman's Jane Foster take up the hammer, it's since sunk in that the story was full of holes, and that Christian Bale seemed to be in a totally different movie one that we only got bits and pieces of. Like all recent Marvel movie releases, the visual effects were also criticized for being spotty and inconsistent.

Criticisms aside, Thor 4 did open the door on a much bigger "universe" in the MCU. Omnipotent City revealed just how many "gods" there are operating in the MCU at least in this reality not to mention entities like Eternity, which seem to exist beyond the known boundaries of the MCU. If nothing else, the most exciting thing that Thor: Love and Thunder did was set up the stage of Thor's story in the MCU to be a War of the Gods event between the Asgardians and Zeus family of gods from Olympus starting with the formidable-looking Hercules (Brett Goldstein).

Thor: Love and Thunder will stream on Disney+ on September 8th.

See the article here:

Thor: Love and Thunder Reveals Another Major God in Deleted Scene - ComicBook.com

Lionsgate has revealed the trailer for Living starring Bill Nighy, in the reimagining of Akira Kurosawas Ikiru. Heres our glowing review from Sundance.

1953. A London shattered by WWII is still recovering. Williams (Bill Nighy), a veteran civil servant, is an impotent cog within the citys bureaucracy as it struggles to rebuild. Buried under paperwork at the office, lonely at home, his life has long felt empty and meaningless. Then a shattering medical diagnosis forces him to take stock and to try and grasp fulfilment before it goes beyond reach.

At a seaside resort, chaperoned by a local decadent (Tom Burke), he flirts with hedonism before rejecting it as his solution. Back in London, he finds himself drawn to the natural vitality of Margaret (Aimee Lou Wood), a young woman who once worked under his supervision and is now determined to spread her wings. Then one evening he is struck by a revelation one as simple as it is profound and with new energy, and the help of Peter (Alex Sharp), an idealistic new recruit to his department, he sets about creating a legacy for the next generation.

Directed by Oliver Hermanus, the film stars Bill Nighy, Aimee Lou Wood, Alex Sharp and Tom Burke.

Also in trailers Daniel Radcliffe stars in trailer for Weird The Al Yankovic Story

The film will open in cinemas across the UK and Ireland on 4 November.

Read more:

"Life just crept up on me..." Trailer lands for 'Living' with Bill Nighy - HeyUGuys

When Turins PalaOlimpico was transformed into a giant disco for the interval show that celebrated Italys contribution to dance music at this years Eurovision first semi-final, the last thing you would expect to see wasa band from Sheffield. But, after tracks by legends such as Giorgio Moroderand Robert Miles, Sophie and the Giants an act that cut its teeth in that other northern industrial city took the stage, performing last years singleGolden Nights to a TV audience that would top 160 million viewers across the contest broadcasts.

But while they are without a single hit at home, Sophie and the Giants will have been familiar to many of those millions across Europe, their Hypnotized a wistful and beguiling Italo disco revival song, released in the early weeks of the first lockdown having been one of the biggest hits of the year, going certified gold in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, platinum in Poland, and garnering over 250 million Spotify streams to date. And flame-haired Sophie Scott, with her commanding vocals, empowering lyrics and a costume wardrobe to die for, has emerged as a bona fide European disco queen. Notbad for a girl from Staines just a few years out of her teens. Hypnotized wasa collaboration with German producer Purple Disco Machine and reachedNo 2 in Italy. It just missed out on the Top 10 in Germany, where Sophie andthe Giants have found a home on Universals regional division and where their 2019 single, The Light, was already familiar to audiences due to its use in a Vodafone advert. Hypnotized, meanwhile, had been used in a Sky WiFi ad in Italy.

Having appeared in holographic form on the X Factor Italia stage in November 2020 (filmed against a green screen in Sophies Sheffield flat), 2021 saw a further burnishing of credentials in Italy. Falene, a seductive Latin-flavoured summer duet with Italian star Michele Bravi, found Sophie singing in both English and Italian, while Golden Nights was an Anglo-Italian collaboration with electro house pioneer Benny Benassi and star producer and songwriter Dardust.

At the beginning of this year, In the Dark, another retro Italo-disco collaboration with Purple Disco Machine, repeated much of the Europewide success of Hypnotized, and a highprofile appearance at the Sanremo festival followed, seeing Sophie perform with an Italian rock band of 20 years standing, Le Vibrazioni.

This Italian and German success for a fledgling British act seems less thanusual, but it has deep roots. Originally dubbed spaghetti disco, Italo discowould not have been possible without Italian electronic visionary GiorgioMoroder and it was driven by a handful of 1980s Italian producers, but it was given its name by German label ZYX and it was in Germany that the genre found much of its success. It seems those audiences are more than ready for the Italo disco revival that has been gathering pace in recent years and in which Sophie and the Giants have carved out a niche.

This is an act who have been an intriguing prospect from the off. Originally forming as a teenage fourpiece in 2017 as students at Guildfords Academy of Contemporary Music, they moved to Sheffield one of the cradles of British electronic music, after all and the band were on the cusp of the fame that came with Hypnotized when they described themselves with youthful arrogance as making the best pop music youve ever heard.

Debut single Monsters (2018), with its apparently Steve Reich-influenced opening, impassioned Florence Welch-meets-La Roux vocals, and emotionallyrics, certainly showed a maturity beyond their years. And while Waste My Air from the same years EP Adolescence, with its message of dont let people f*** with the time you have here, was an early indication of the thoroughly millennial theme of self-realisation in Sophie and the Giants lyrics, this is not necessarily music solely for the young.

The dance euphoria of Sophie and the Giants is infectious, and while Hypnotized seemed to speak directly to the times in early 2020, opening Feelburied alive, this city is airtight, and 2021s Right Now was intended as a post-pandemic anthem (Im all done waiting/ And Im coming up strongernow/ Oh, I made it), their just-released, late summer single We Own the Night has found them continuing to bring a refreshing, transcendent hedonism to chronically troubled times. As Sophie put it back on Monsters, the future beckons you.

SOPHIE AND THE GIANTS in five songs

Break the Silence (2019)A manifesto for honesty and courage, this track showcased the euphoric, emotional intensity this act is capable of.

Hypnotized (2020)A collaboration with German producer Purple Disco Machine, this was thesong that broke Sophie and the Giants through to European success, with itjust missing out on topping the Italian charts.

Golden Nights (2021)Featuring legendary music producer Benny Benassi, this song was includedas the latest word in Italian electronic music innovation at the Eurovision 2022 first semi-final interval show in Turin.

In The Dark (2022)Another collaboration with Purple Disco Machine, this single was heavy on the Italo disco nostalgia, with chiming synths and a keen sense of camp drama.

We Own the Night (2022)Sophie and the Giants latest release is all about unbridled hedonism and defiance of negativity.

Read the original here:

Disco giants: The Sheffield band hypnotising Europe - The New European

Im in Villefranche-sur-Mer on the French Riviera. Its twilight and Im eating at La Mere Germaine (Momma Germaine), a restaurant that got its start feeding hungry GIs in World War II. Germaines grandson runs the place and hes at my table artfully filleting six different fish before lovingly ladling on the broth.

He explains the Rivieras most famous dish to me as if I plan to cook it back at my hotel: Its a spicy fish stew based on recipes handed down from sailors in nearby Marseille. A true bouillabaisse must contain at least four types of fresh fish though we include six. It never has shellfish. We cook the fish in a tomato-based stock flavor with saffron and white wine. He finishes the lesson sprinkling in croutons and capping everything with a dollop of garlicky rouille sauce.

Indulging in perhaps the most expensive dish Ive ever eaten in Europe, Im engulfed in the Riviera good life. Im so close to the harbor I can toss my olive pits into the sea.

Several mega-yachts stoke envies just offshore. Ones named Lady Maura (Im told Maura is an ex-wife of a Saudi king). You never know whose stern line you might be catching around here. A skipper looking formal in his casual wear is shuttled ashore by his tidy mate in a tiny dinghy just picking up his statuesque date for the evening. Germaines grandson gives me a knowing wink.

Pondering my lavish meal along with the days sightseeing, Im reminded of the heritage of hedonism unique to this stretch of Mediterranean beach.

Some of the Rivieras priciest real estate stretches from where I sit, in Villefranche, to nearby Monaco. Just beyond the Lady Maura, Cap Ferrat, an extremely exclusive, largely residential community, fills a peaceful parklike peninsula. While youll never get past any gates, I spent a delightful day here just strolling and this isnt your average jogging trail. Following its well-groomed path, I got a glimpse of the villa where David Niven once lived, wandered the ritzy port of St. Jean-Cap-Ferrat, toured the ultimate Riviera mansion and gardens the Rothschild Ephrussi Villa, and stumbled upon a hidden little beach. Not very welcoming, it felt like the private domain of aristocratic nymphs and satyrs.

In towns all along the Riviera, graceful buildings from the turn-of-the-last-century line the harborfront reminders of the belle epoque. It was literally the beautiful age, when the world seemed to revolve around the upper class, and indulgence with abandon was a lifestyle.

A prime example of belle epoque luxury is the majestic Hotel Negresco, overlooking the grand Mediterranean promenade of Nice. The hotel offers some of the citys most expensive beds and the chance to step back into that age of ultimate refinement. Its exquisite Royal Salon combines belle epoque grace with engineering by the great French architect Gustav Eiffel. The chandelier is made of more than 16,000 pieces of crystal. It was built in France for the Russian czars Moscow palace but, because of the Bolshevik Revolution, he couldnt take delivery.

Just beyond Nice is the town of Antibes. Discovered after World War I, it enjoyed a particularly roaring 20s with the help of party animals such as Rudolph Valentino and the rowdy-yet-very-silent Charlie Chaplin. Locals claim that fun-seekers even invented water skiing there in the 1920s.

Picasso also enjoyed the good life in Antibes. In 1946, 65-year-old Pablo Picasso was reborn. World War II was over, and Picasso could finally escape the gray skies and gray uniforms of Nazi-occupied Paris. Enjoying worldwide fame and the love of 23-year-old Francoise Gilot, he moved to Antibes. He painted like a madman, spent mornings swimming in the Mediterranean, evenings partying with friends, and late nights painting again.

Ever-restless, Picasso had finally found his Garden of Eden his joy of life. In Antibes Picasso Museum, his Joie de Vivre shows the painters flower-child Francoise. She kicks up her heels and dances across a Riviera beach. Flute-playing satyrs, centaurs and fauns announce the newfound freedom of a newly liberated France and a newly liberated Picasso.

After decades in the city, Picasso rediscovered the joys of village life. Shopping at the Antibes market, hed return home and turn groceries into masterpieces. With his distinct Cubist style, he captured sunbathers and munching locals. He was fascinated with the simple life of fishermen. Here on the Riviera, like so many others, Picasso found a pagan paradise, where civilized people could let their hair down and indulge in simple pleasures.

Travel, like a bouillabaisse, is the happy result of good things coming together. For the French Riviera, take a variety of beach towns, spice with modern art, toss in a pinch of history, sprinkle in some market fun and let simmer under the Mediterranean sun.

Edmonds resident Rick Steves (www.ricksteves.com) writes European guidebooks, hosts travel shows on public TV and radio, and organizes European tours. This column revisits some of Ricks favorite places over the past two decades. You can email Rick at rick@ricksteves.com and follow his blog on Facebook.

Read more here:

Rick Steves' Europe: Savoring the good life on the French Riviera | HeraldNet.com - The Daily Herald

The beautiful palm-fringed beach on the island of Holbox, Quintana Roo, Mexico. Photo / Getty Images

Whether you're looking for a lively getaway or a quiet escape, there's a travel hotspot to suit all shoulder-season tastes, writes Thomas Bywater.

In September, as winter thaws, there are only two appropriate courses of action: rejuvenate in some late-season sun, or dance till you're dead. In Europe and the US particularly, spring has a reputation for travellers letting their hair down. While spring might not align perfectly around the world, it offers the same appeal: world-class resorts at shoulder-season prices. But those wanting to avoid the riotous mass of students at leisure might be surprised by the more relaxed options nearby. The most successful spring breaks offer both.

Party in Cancun, Chill in Isla Holbox

Mayan ruins, margaritas and the bay of Mexico. The hedonistic Punta Cancun is a notorious party location that has been attracting revellers from the Americas for years. The proximity to tropical beaches, the pyramids of Chichen Itza and beach resort create a "vibey" atmosphere with a strong enough pull to reach into Australia and New Zealand. However, the candy-coloured towers of the Temptation resorts leave no ambiguity that this is a destination that is up all night. On the other side of the peninsula, the Isla Holbox is a far more laid-back experience.

Less developed, Playa Holbox is full of painted beach huts with a gentle onshore breeze. A couple of hours' drive from Cancun, the ferry from Chiquila costs 140 pesos ($10) per person. A pass to fish tacos, powdery beaches and a Mexican holiday that feels decades removed from the strip at Kukulkan.

Party on the Oversea Highway, chill in Merritts Mill.

The palm-lined beaches of the Florida Pan are notorious for wild and wanton spring break parties. Spring break in "Magic City" Miami is a hot mess around 90,000 party-goers arrive over the fortnight. A more low-key option would be along the Oversea Highway 1, from Key Largo to Key West. With shallow, batheable beaches on a string of islands, it offers the novelty of a four-hour road trip into the Gulf of Mexico and stops to satisfy party-seekers, beach-hoppers and their sense of adventure.

For a break from the Florida spring breakers, head north to the Panhandle. The quaintly named Apalachicola is exactly the paintbox-coloured beach town you imagine it to be. A little further inland the aquifers of the Merritts Mill wetlands are a naturally soothing experience. Get Up And Go Kayaking Florida run clear-bottom paddling tours out into freshwater groves, and it feels as far from Miami Vice as you can get.

Party in Palm Springs, chill in Scottsdale.

The oasis from which a thousand Instagram influencers bloomed, Palm Springs might be America's trendiest desert resort. And it knows it. Somehow the Palm Desert underwent a transformation from a Californian golf trap to the aesthete's spring break of choice. The Coachella music festival, with headliners from Harry Styles to Beyonce, has a lot to do with this. But on the other side of the desert, you'll find more chill in Scottsville.

Similarities are more than cosmetic. Palm Spring's famously chic Saguaro hotel began here. The original pastel-coloured desert retreat is every bit as beautiful, but with fewer people stopping for selfies. Similarly stunning desert landscapes without the filter can be found at Frank Lloyd Wright's desert home in Taliesin West and the SMoCA Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art.

Party in San Antonio, chill at Casa Ibango

Since the late 60s the White Isle has been a beacon for celebrity musicians and revellers from the UK to Australia. However, it was in the early 90s that the club culture exploded. 24-hour party people took over San Antonio and Ibiza city. Spring is the start of the party calendar. You'll find Cafe Mambo and the unforgettable Amnesia are booked out with international dance acts nightly. Accommodation options are also decidedly upbeat - the Ibiza Paradiso, for example, is a quirky art-themed hotel where guests are on display. However, on the north of the island, out of earshot of the 808s, is a different side to the island.

Santa Ines and San Juan offer a glimpse of a more bucolic existence in the Balearic isle. You'll find high-end eco-resorts such as Six Senses Ibiza alongside Mediterranean homestays, near the barber pole-like Punta Moscarter lighthouse. There are also some drippy hippie gems clinging on in the hinterlands, too. Why not indulge in a spot of "Gong Bathing" at Casa Ibango in the Ibiza highlands?

Party in Seminyak, Chill in Lombok

Isle of the Gods has a unique place in Indonesia. This is especially true for Kiwi and Aussie students on their spring holidays. The beachside resorts of Kuta and Seminyak exist somewhere along the boho-bogan continuum. In a remix of Elizabeth Gilbert's 2006 paperback, young party goers come here to Eat, Play, Rave. The "new age" hippie fantasy of Bali has been replaced by parasols, fish-bowl cocktails and swim-up bars. There are some more sophisticated haunts, such as Potato Head, which specialise in sustainably-minded hedonism.

But to turn back the clocks to a more relaxed Balinese experience, you can take the hour-and-a-half ferry ride to Lombok. You'll find pristine beaches and free-range livestock among the coconut groves, but there are also some comforts. Upmarket accommodation options include the Hotel Tugu Lombok in Tanjung.

More here:

Spring break: Top spots to party and relax, from Bali to the Balearics - New Zealand Herald

Tapping into the popular theme of post-lockdown hedonism, Applebees is teaming up with Winky Lux for its new Saucy Gloss collab.

These lips are out of lockdown, is the first line of Taste my Face, the original song created by ad agency Grey Global for the campaign, which promotes a barbecue sauce-flavored collection of four lip glosses developed by Winky Lux. A glam music video directed by Hannah Lux Davis, known for Ariana Grandes Thank U, Next and Doja Cats Say So, features the limited-edition beauty products and positions Applebees as a date-night hotspot.

The music videos flashy style contains many elements of the party-centric night luxe aesthetic that has gained traction since pandemic reopenings began, including sparkly outfits, red velvet booths and chandeliers.

Winky Lux is a very intentionally extra brand, said Winky Lux CEO Natalie Mackey. She said Winky Lux is especially known for products you would use to go out, which are on the upswing this year after a makeup sales slump during lockdown. As young people are partying in full force again, makeup is trending up, she said, with glittery, shimmery and colorful products all seeing a sales surge.

Winky Lux generally embraces an indulgent mindset in its marketing, as opposed to the ascetic, minimalist wellness style that party-girl influencers (and some brands) have increasingly eschewed. Theres a lot of really serious marketing and branding in beauty, she said. Theres so much focus on this austere, very serious moment, and we feel theres a big opportunity for a fun voice in the industry.

Mackey said the brand was given access to the proprietary recipes of four signature Applebees dipping sauces to create products that would accurately match the flavor. After six months of work developing flavors, it came up with four glosses: Be My Honey Pepper, Sweet Chile Kiss, Get Me Hot Buffalo and Honey BBQ-T.

Its super weird to put on a lip gloss that tastes like barbecue sauce. Lets call it what it is. Its a completely new thing. But its a lot of fun. We really liked the challenge, said Mackey.

With the launch of the video, Applebees and Winky Lux become the latest to use the raunchy new normal advertising genre that has been adopted since the start of the pandemic by brands including Touchland, Suitsupply and Extra. With lyrics like Our chemistrys just too hot; no side of ranch can cool off, the songs music video features first dates over wings and ice water at a fictional, swanky nightclub-esque Applebees restaurant. With intentional ambiguity, a substance implied to be either sauce or lip gloss is shown smeared over dates mouth areas.

Applebees marketing team identified across all platforms that people wanted to kiss again, said Applebees CMO Joel Yashinsky. They had been behind masks; they had been sort of hidden, and the whole dating structure changed. Applebees is a date-night destination.

The video also highlights that its entire cast of four professional dancers and four actors are single. It prominentlyshowcases their social handles and encourages viewers to slide into their DMs for a shot at romance.

They were more than happy to provide the contact information, and people can reach out to them and see where it goes, said Yashinsky. Well follow if anything comes from [the campaign] that builds a long-term relationship for any of them.

The campaign will be promoted by both brands across social channels including TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, and is geared toward all ages, said Yashinsky. According to him, 80% of Applebees customer demographic is either Gen X, millennial or Gen Z. The campaign will be promoted exclusively online, likely reaching a younger audience than the brands traditional TV spots.

Its really about energy, and fun and games moments. [Its also] a chance to experience life back at the level of normalcy people are looking for, said Yashinsky.

Excerpt from:

'These lips are out of lockdown': Applebee's goes night luxe with new beauty collab - Glossy

Fellas, is it true love if your vampire pseudo-girlfriend gives you a big ol' smooch to extract some extra blood from your mouth? This is the conundrum Ko finds himself dealing with this week in a humor-heavy installment of Call of the Night. As I said in the review last time, this series runs on vibes for a good while, so this episode doesn't do much beyond languish in the light taboos of these late night excursions. It's a chance for the audience to settle in with Nazuna and Ko, and it's also a chance for Akira to do the same in a much more literal sense.

Ko is flustered about the kiss because he's in middle school and you're supposed to be flustered about kisses when you're that age. His youth and inexperience also come through, with some painful pangs of recognition on my end, via his emotional phase transition from utter bewilderment to complete confidence. We all like to think we have it figured out at that age. It's important that he's immature, because his desire to become a vampire stems from that immaturity. He sees it as an escape from the bothers and doldrums of daily life. It is, in his mind, a natural extension of his insomniac adventures.

I like, too, that Call of the Night has yet to truly admonish Ko for these childish whims. The series feels no ethical impetus to argue that he should return to school and don the usual responsibilities of adolescence and eventual adulthood. Rather, it only cares about extolling the virtues of being a truant and hanging out with cool people beyond the ken of authority figures. It's a goofy distillation of the rakish appeal of vampiric romances with normal humans. Regular life sucks, and it sucks doubly when you're 14. Nazuna is Ko's ticket to something more fulfilling; she even says herself that people sleep better when they're satisfied with their day. Call of the Night argues that if you're disappointed with the direction of your waking life, it's validperhaps even therapeuticto scorch the earth and vie for something different. There's a certain amount of naivete and hedonism baked into that philosophy, but these too are the appeals of vampire fiction.

Nazuna is also, in his mind, Ko's ticket to adulthood. Vampires don't have to worry about school or gossip or curfews. Vampires only care about prowling the streets, dancing in the moonlight, and, in Nazuna's case, retro gaming. Naturally, there's a lot more to it than that, but Ko, unsurprisingly, has yet to grapple with what his undead life would truly be like. And that's not to mention the irony that Nazuna doesn't have a much clearer idea of what being grown up is all about either. Whether it comes to romance or responsibilities, the pair are on about equal footing, and Call of the Night's dirty jokes are a great example of that. They possess the exact tenor of two teens shooting the shit. The show still dips into fanservicey cuts and closeups, but sex is more often a punchline in this episode. And when things do get serious, it's about Nazuna using her modicum of experience to frankly explain the difference (and connection) between love and lust to Ko, who comes out of that misunderstanding with a better grasp on his emotions. There's no doubt the series wants to titillate, but it's definitely interested in exploring the nuances of its relationships too.

Akira, unsurprisingly, ends up being the most level-headed out of the trio. As a nightowl of a different breed, she understands Ko's attraction to the other side, but she also makes sure to verify that Nazuna isn't just using him like a refillable tube of blood Gogurt. While the humor in the second part stems from the innate sketchiness of their necking and sleeping arrangements, it eventually gives way to a moment of vulnerability between two friends. If anyone were going to chastise Ko for leaving school, it'd be her, but Akira instead expresses relief and support. She's there to be his friend if he ever becomes a vampire, and she's there to help if he ever changes his mind. Reading in between the lines, we can conclude it's likely that she has, or at least had, some feelings for him, so it's heartwarming to see their friendship deepen. Despite all the raunchy humor, this is, quite genuinely, a wholesome episode.

As far as the adaptation itself goes, Call of the Night's sense of staging remains strong. This is the most lowkey installment yet, and the storyboards nevertheless manage to keep the dialogue in motion. Again, while it's hard to say the degree to which Tomoyuki Itamura is actually involved in the production, his influence has clearly worked its way down into the anime. There are lots of cuts reminiscent of Monogatari here; I'm thinking in particular of the playfully quick closeups on Nazuna's mouth as she works her way through various synonyms for a woman's bosom. The reaction beats are good too, with the adaptation branching out into different color schemes and framings to better punctuate its jokes. And for the blood-sucking scenes, the emphasis on the subtle motions of her hands and teeth helps instill intimacy and sensuality into these moments, and I'd like to see the show continue to focus on these.

All in all, this is a pretty standard and unchallenging fourth episode. It's not going to change your mind about the series, but if you're still watching it, you've probably already concluded Call of the Night is in your nocturnally inclined wheelhouse anyway.

Rating:

Call of the Night is currently streaming onHIDIVE.

Steve's Twitter DMs are open to vampires and vampires only. Otherwise, catch him chatting about trash and treasure alike on This Week in Anime.

LOVE Island has come to an end, but eagle-eyed fans will be watching the couples closely for many months and even years to come.

All the finalists look loved up on the final episode last night - in which Ekin-Su Clclolu and Davide Sanclimenti took the prize money.

1

But relationships post-show have lasted anything between a few days to indefinitely.

Many couples from previous series have ended up married and even with children.

Others who were expected to last longer sadly failed at challenges in the real world.

So who does celebrity psychologist Dr Arthur Cassidy - who has watched and analysed the Love Island 2022 series - think will last this time?

He reveals his predictions in collaboration with Buzz Bingo

Nine months plus

Dr Arthur suggested there was a lot of potential for Andrew Le PageandTasha Ghouri, who he believes should have come in second or third place.

But, having already become officially a couple in the villa, will life outside be as sparkling as they hoped?

Dr Arthur said: Love Islands first couple to be official boyfriend and girlfriend need to explore what being a couple really means outside the villa and how they will handle arguments and differences besides long term commitment.

Most read in Mental Health

How will they overcome boredom with each other and routine behaviours?

Dr Arthur added: Whilst Andrew demonstrates empathy he needs to work substantially harder on his maturity and emotional intelligence to survive in this relationship.

He is definitely seen as impressive by Tashas father Tarek and this is the key factor and main hurdle to cross in order to develop their reciprocal love and journey across the months ahead.

A year or two

Dr Arthur has high hopes for Damiyah - Dami HopeandIndiyah Polack- who have been on a rollercoaster of a journey in the villa but consistently shown fun, love and humour.

He said: [Damis] Irish charm and intelligence has endeared him to Indiyah as he only had eyes for her once he entered the villa.

It was a case of what we call mere exposure and a primacy effect, firm love and commitment shows authenticity and reality.

Dr Arthur said despite Dami needing approval from Indiyahs mum - who grilled him on her visit - Indiyah has become much more mature and forgiving of Damis past betrayal.

In the future, they need to work really hard on core principles, beliefs and shared attitudes and how they will handle arguments and solve problems as a couple in the real world.

Two or three months, at a stretch

Dr Arthur said: I'm not convinced that this relationship or rather friendship has any of the necessary ingredients for a realistic coupling up in the real world, their core values are oceans apart.

Luca BishandGemma Owen were able to score second place, but many fans suspected they were disappointed with the result.

Dr Arthur said: Gemma particularly feels perhaps a little threatened by the cohesive maturity and emotional stability seen in Ekin-Su and Davides love, commitment and clarity.

Her jealousy for Ekin-Su and Davide is evident throughout.

Luca shows more stereotypical male traits of dominance hedonism and craves excitement.

Dependent and possessive love has been expressed by him the past few days.

Dr Arthur said this relationship - or more so a superficial friendship - doesnt have legs because the two Islanders showed no evidence or discussion about core beliefs and adherence, nor shared mutual activities.

He added: Much depends on her [Gemmas] mum's approval of Luca. My advice to Luca, cast your fishing net deep into the Mediterranean.

Six to nine months

Its not what we want to hear - Dr Arthur believes the winning couple dont have much more than nine months in their prospects.

He sees a mutual love and respect between the two, and a clear journey of love.

However both still show insecurities for a healthy long term relationship, he said.

Trust is going to be a major issue for both at this point in time.

Post-show they must develop their developmental aspects of worldview, core beliefs, moral reasoning, and similarity or dissimilarity of outlook.

Both are excited about their future but the real world's challenges and temptations will pose a genuine threat to the development of their love relationship.

They need to work on their emotion focused coping skills and also their problem focused coping strategies.

See the original post here:

Im a psychologist and heres how long I think Love Island couples will last... - The US Sun

While the most gripping true crime stories take us into the darkest parts of the soul, rarely does a case open the ugly heart of the nation itself. The labyrinthine case thats come to be dubbed the Murdaugh murders feels like one that could only happen in America a tale of generational power and corruption. This is a Southern Gothic morality play about a wealthy but fading Southern family whose huge amounts of wealth and influence fueled a jaw-dropping spree of recklessness, greed, and murder.

What one article aptly called a lot of dead people and crime involves the Murdaugh (pronounced Murdock) family, which has amassed power and wealth in South Carolina for over 100 years. But that century of power has crumbled in just half a decade due to a long list of financial crimes and five suspicious deaths beginning in 2015: an alleged homophobic hate crime; a deadly boating accident; a mysterious fall and insurance scam; the double murder of the family matriarch and favorite son; and a bizarre roadside incident that may have been another insurance scam. The whole tangled web culminated in the recent indictment in a South Carolina county court of the floundering patriarch, Alex Murdaugh, for the 2021 murders of his wife and son bringing the total number of charges he is facing to over 80.

Murdaugh pleaded not guilty to the murder charges on July 20, setting the stage for what will likely be a bombshell trial accompanied by a media circus. Thats thanks in part to a hit podcast that began as one local journalists attempt to bring attention to the case. Now the Murdaugh murders have become a national true crime obsession.

Ready to dive into the details? You might want an oxygen tank for this one; as you might expect from just this summary, these are dark waters.

The Murdaughs have wielded power over South Carolinas Lowcountry, the lush, mossy wedge at the bottom of the state, for over 100 years ever since Randolph Murdaugh Sr. founded his law office in Hampton County in 1910.

The firm eventually grew into a large, powerful practice continued by his son, Randolph Jr., and his grandson, Randolph III. From 1920 to 2006, all three men also successively held the post of solicitor (a.k.a. prosecutor) for South Carolinas 14th Circuit Court. The Murdaughs 86-year stretch serving as circuit solicitors was the longest such family legacy in US history. As you might imagine, it also gave the family an unprecedented amount of power and influence, not just over Hampton County but over the other four counties under the circuits jurisdiction.

Randolph IV and Alex, two of Randolph IIIs sons, followed in their fathers footsteps and became lawyers. Because South Carolina eventually prohibited lawyers from serving in the conflicting dual roles of public prosecutor and private attorney, the men didnt serve as solicitors but still served as volunteer prosecutors assisting their father while continuing the familys law practice. The solicitors office ultimately fired Alex, and the family law firm changed its name from Peters Murdaugh Parker Eltzroth and Detrick, usually shortened to PMPED, to Parker Law Group earlier this year, likely to escape the growing stigma of the Murdaugh name especially its association with Alex Murdaugh.

Alex, pronounced Alec, was a golden child who sired golden children. Born in 1967, he followed in his familys footsteps and studied law at the University of South Carolina, where he met athlete-turned-sorority-sister Margaret Maggie Branstetter. They married in 1993 and subsequently had two sons, Buster, born in 1996, and Paul, born in 1999. The family lived in opulence, dividing their time among a beach house, a couple of private islands, and a massive 1,772-acre estate known as Moselle which, like the law firm, was renamed to escape its connections with the Murdaughs.

But the family also lived lives of hedonism; Alex and both of his sons would face accusations of drug and alcohol addiction and wild, out-of-control behavior in the lead-up to the series of crimes. In particular, Alexs years of extravagant living led to a litany of alleged financial crimes including fraud, embezzlement, and multiple attempted insurance scams all of it adding up to an alleged $8.5 million in theft and leading to multiple homicides.

The Murdaughs power arguably hindered the initial and follow-up investigations into these deaths, leading to accusations of cover-ups and corruption. Ultimately, what began as separate investigations into separate crimes would knot themselves into an interconnected web of tragedy. These deaths all dramatically different but all potentially linked by the Murdaughs reflected something of the chaos the Murdaughs brought with them, despite their stature and reputation.

On July 8, 2015, 19-year-old Hampton student Stephen Smith phoned his mother to tell her hed run out of gas. Later that night he was found lying in the middle of the road miles away from his truck. Hed died of blunt force trauma, and his body had been laid out in the middle of the road like a snow angel, according to his mother.

Authorities with the South Carolina Highway Patrol initially assumed Stephen was the victim of a hit-and-run after leaving his truck and walking to get gas, and closed the case accordingly, despite numerous observations by police that suggested Smiths death was a homicide. But police also later noted that the scene looked staged, and town gossip began to swirl that Smith, who was rumored to be dating Buster Murdaugh at the time, had been the victim of a hate crime or that the Murdaugh brothers had a role in his death.

In June 2021, while the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, or SLED, was investigating the other murders related to the Murdaugh family, authorities reopened the investigation into Smiths death, issuing a statement implying they were somehow connected. So far no charges or indictments have been issued, but the investigation is still open, and Smiths mother has stated that the latest indictments into the other murders give her hope that we will get justice.

On February 2, 2018, the Murdaughs longtime housekeeper, Gloria Satterfield, suffered a severe head injury at the Moselle estate and died on February 26 of complications including a stroke. The cause of her death is unclear, since the coroner was never notified and Satterfields body was never autopsied; authorities later paradoxically described her death as both natural and resulting from an accidental trip and fall.

Still, Satterfields death might not be exactly suspicious had it not been for what came next: According to multiple criminal indictments and multiple lawsuits, Alex Murdaugh and two other men, banker Chad Westendorf and fellow attorney Cory Fleming, then conspired to steal Satterfields $4.3 million insurance policy by misleading Satterfields sons and diverting all the funds to Alex himself through a phony business Alex created called Forge an irony, since Murdaugh would later be charged with multiple counts of forgery. As part of the scam, Alex convinced Satterfields sons to sue him for liability so that they would be able to receive a hefty liability settlement. But he then kept all the money for himself.

The Satterfield insurance scam was just one of a laundry list of instances where Alex embezzled and defrauded money from clients at his law firm, usually by settling their cases for large sums of money and then failing to tell them about it while he spent the clients settlement payout on himself. He repeated the same pattern with, among others, Hakeem Pinckney, a college football player who became quadriplegic following an auto accident. Pinckney died in 2011, and his family never saw the more than $750,000 payout.

In Satterfields case, Alex evinced additional suspicious behavior around her death, including arriving on the scene before the EMTs and insisting he heard Satterfield say his dogs caused her fall, contradicting her own statement later that she had no idea what caused it.

Satterfields sons were ultimately able to recover more than $6.5 million from subsequent lawsuits; meanwhile, authorities received permission to exhume Satterfields body in June 2022 in order to continue the criminal investigation into her death.

Mystery still surrounds the death of Mallory Beach, but one thing is clear: Without the events of February 24, 2019, we might not even be talking about the Murdaughs today.

That evening, 19-year-old Paul Murdaugh and a group of friends were returning to the Murdaugh estate by boat after a night of partying. According to nearly all witnesses present, Paul insisted on piloting the boat himself despite being extremely intoxicated. He was reportedly in a belligerent, angry state and refused to give up the wheel, driving erratically and too fast along one of the areas many twisting waterways. At some point during the early morning hours, Paul crashed the boat into Archers Creek Bridge, ejecting multiple passengers from the boat, including 19-year-old Mallory Beach. It took a week for authorities to recover Beachs body.

Despite the clear signs of intoxication, however, authorities failed to record his intoxication levels at the scene; at the hospital later that night, multiple witnesses confirmed that Paul was still drunk and uncooperative. They also observed that Alex Murdaugh arrived at the hospital and began to threaten and attempt to coerce witnesses there, encouraging them to stick to a version of events that cleared Paul of wrongdoing; one witness described the atmosphere as a weird, corny teen drama.

Mallory Beachs death led to a flurry of lawsuits and a criminal investigation focusing on Paul Murdaugh. The Beach case also coincided with growing financial troubles for Alex Murdaugh and suspicion about his many fraudulent activities, and later court documents revealed a man who seemed desperate to shift blame away from his son. Instead, in 2019, Paul was charged with three criminal counts of felony boating under the influence; he eventually pleaded not guilty.

Beachs family sued the entire Murdaugh family, more or less, for her wrongful death, alleging that Alex Murdaugh and his brother Randolph, and Paul Murdaugh and his brother Buster, had conspired to cover up the cause of her death. Community members also accused the Murdaughs of using their power and influence to delay the trial. In the lead-up to the trial, no less than three different law officials recused themselves because of their close ties to the Murdaugh family.

In June 2021, Paul Murdaugh was just days away from what would have been a costly and expensive trial for Beachs death. He would never make it to the court date.

During the summer of 2021, more and more public interest grew around Paul Murdaughs upcoming trial. After 30 years, Maggie Murdaugh was estranged from her husband Alex, living at the familys beach house and reportedly looking into divorce. Alex was neck-deep in fraud schemes whose payouts were dwindling, facing a costly divorce and potentially steep legal fees for his son. He also claimed to be battling what he later described as a 20-year opioid addiction.

On June 7, 2021, Alex Murdaugh reportedly lured Maggie to Moselle, prompting her to text a friend that Alex was acting fishy; hes up to something, she allegedly wrote to her friend. Upon arriving at the estate, Maggie met her son Paul at the familys dog kennels. While they were there, mother and son were gunned down with two different weapons Maggie with an assault-style rifle, Paul with a shotgun. Alex appeared on the scene shortly afterward and called 911 to report the deaths. An autopsy later confirmed both died of multiple gunshot wounds.

The double homicide of the Murdaughs caused Alex Murdaughs house of cards to collapse. He immediately fell under suspicion for the murders, and the case made national headlines. Three days after the murders, his father, Randolph III, died. On September 3, 2021, Murdaugh resigned from the familys law firm after the firm confronted him over his years of suspected embezzlement. The firm later sued him, and law enforcement opened its own criminal investigation into the alleged fraud.

The following day, on September 4, 2021, Alex called 911 to report a strange roadside incident in which he claimed to have blown a tire. When a stranger stopped to help him, Alex reported, they shot him in the head instead. Though someone clearly shot and grazed Alex in the head, even witnesses at the scene didnt believe his story; it kind of looks like a setup, so we didnt stop, one 911 caller reported.

On September 14, Alex gave up the real plot: Hed intended to have a friend shoot and kill him so that his surviving son, Buster, could receive Alexs $10 million life insurance payout. Authorities promptly arrested Murdaugh and his accomplice, Alexs alleged drug supplier and former client Curtis Smith, charging Smith with assisted suicide and both men with conspiracy to commit insurance fraud. Alexs law license was immediately suspended, and he was later disbarred.

Alex posted bond and checked himself into a drug rehab center, only to be arrested for felony fraud charges in the Satterfield case when he emerged. This time, his bail was denied and his assets were frozen.

By now, the case was a national sensation making regular mainstream headlines in large part thanks to one local journalist. Mandy Matney had allegedly alienated her former news outlet by pursuing the Murdaugh case in more depth than her editors wanted. In 2020, she joined the South Carolina website FITSNews.com just so she could cover the Murdaughs. Days after the murders of Maggie and Paul, Matney and FITS launched the Murdaugh Murders podcast, which broke down the voluminous case piece by piece starting with what she dubbed South Carolinas Chappaquiddick.

The podcast was so successful it reportedly ranked among the worlds top podcasts in 2021; its currently being developed as a true crime drama series for a division of Universal. HBO Max is also developing a true crime documentary series about the case. The more attention Matney drew to the case, the more investigators appeared to ramp up their own work. Between November 2021 and July 2022, dozens of indictments were doled out against Alex Murdaugh and his co-conspirators. Community accusations leveled against the family for abusing its influence continued too, as yet another solicitor recused himself from the case, and evidence allegedly connecting Alex to the double murders was suppressed from the public. Youll know a Murdaugh did it if no one is arrested, ran one apocryphal Facebook comment.

On July 14, 2022, however, Alex Murdaugh was indicted for the double homicide of his wife and son. Today is one more step in a long process for justice for Maggie and Paul, said Mark Keel, head of South Carolinas State Law Enforcement Division.

But Alex Murdaugh apparently doesnt intend to make the process easy. On July 20, he pleaded not guilty, in what will likely be the first of many controversial court proceedings. With attorneys filing for gag orders in the case and the community arguing for transparency, the spectacle about to unfold may give onlookers a glimpse into what that century of accumulated power has really achieved. Will Murdaugh, with his high-powered state senator attorney, be able to convince a jury of his innocence? What would that say about South Carolinas small-town political landscape?

The murders surrounding the Murdaugh family already seem to have revealed a justice system that turned a blind eye while Alex Murdaugh committed felonies for years to say nothing of murder. For so long, the Murdaughs were allowed to rule their corner of the world because they knew that system in a way most people dont, even as their exercise of those privileges drove themselves and those around them to ruin. Questions still remain regarding the deaths of Stephen Smith and Gloria Satterfield, along with the extent and full nature of Alex Murdaughs long list of fraudulent activities. Though the murders of Paul and Maggie Murdaugh may be headed toward resolution, theyre just one aspect of a case that will likely have many twists and turns to come.

Originally posted here:

The Murdaugh murders: Five suspicious deaths, 100 years of family power - Vox.com

F

estivals: built around hedonism, escapism and pure recklessness, pretty much everyone is sure to provide a bizarre experience or two to rustle up at the dinner table. One of my earliest memories is of the beginning of a weekend in a sludgy field, when a man in front of me was being searched for drugs okay, so, perhaps this isnt a story for the dinner table, but lets just say they found some, hidden in a bag for life, somewhere I wont mention. My other, only slightly less gruesome takeaway from the same experience is of the lacking food offering. Soggy pizza and bland, bone-dry burgers made for a dire culinary experience. This was reflective of what festivals traditionally were, where at worst, eating was considered highly improper, and at best, if you felt faint, youd sneak off for a pee and quickly skull the most wholesome thing you could find, which would invariably be something watery from a van thatd make you feel sick just to look at.

For some time now, though, the draw of many festivals culinary offerings have been as big if not bigger than the music. Since the arrival and relative success of Alex Jamess (albeit rather lame) Cotswolds-based Harvest Festival and then Big Feastival, an increasing number of people are booking their weekend in a field because they want to be fed by accomplished chefs as much as they want to sway along to Jamie xx or Years & Years. And this summer, there are more, bigger and better food offerings than ever.

Wilderness is offering a record number of drinking and dining experiences theres an even more impressive Veuve Clicquot champagne garden and food by Quo Vadis chef Jeremy Lee, Springs Skye Gyngell, Sam Buckley of Where The Light Gets In and Niklas Ekstedt of Ekstedt At The Yard to name a few. Meanwhile, this year the founders of Lost Village are expanding their food offering to include intimate woodland-set chefs tables by Kols Santiago Lastra and Rafael Cagali of Da Terra. And new kids on the block The Good Life Society Summer Camp are hosting a series of food-focused micro-festivals for 100 people, with headliners including MasterChef winner and founder of Wahaca Thomasina Miers and foodfluencer Max La Manna. Likewise, earlier this summer 8,000-acre estate Wilderness Reserve teamed up with The Balvenie and Laurent Perrier to host an intimate retreat based around whisky and champagne tastings, with feasts hosted by Lisa Goodwin-Allen, Sat Bains and Ivan Tisdall-Downes. Plus, last weekend at Westival the team behind Roots, a supper club series designed to showcase the fare of up-and-coming chefs, put on a pop-up by Olly Oakley and Lexi van Breugel.

Moreover, if you dont fancy making a weekend of it, there is an increasing number of get-gluttonous-and-go-home days out. Tom Kerridges Pub In The Park has expanded across the entire country, and there are plenty of solely food and drink offerings including Wing Fest (celebrating all things Chicken elbow related, duh), Meatopia, Savour Festival, the National Geographic Traveller Food Festival, Hampton Court Palace Food Festival, London Craft Beer Festival, the London Dessert Festival, Taste Of London and the Ice Cream Festival to get stuck into. And even if youre off to Reading/Leeds, youll be able to eat stonebaked pizza, gourmet mac n cheese, succulent stacks from Burger and Beyond, and even, er, Nandos.

So what changed? Andy George, co-founder of Lost Village, says that festival-goers interest in food at events is on the up because people are rightly thinking more and more about what they put in their body and the effect it has on the environment. Plus, post-Covid, were all appreciating both the ability to eat out and the art of conversation a lot more. Jeremy Lee, who is hosting a banquet at Wilderness for the first time, says, I think there is a great interest in food for the simple reason that folk love nothing more than a great dinner, and they are vital for adding structure to these few days of endless delights. Not to mention, as the organisers of younger festivals find their feet, it seems to be encouraging fine dining chefs who may not have considered serving festival fare in the past to get involved. Renowned Brazilian chef Rafael Cagali, whose Bethnal Green restaurant has two Michelin stars, believes Its a great opportunity to do something outside of my bubble and try to represent Da Terra in a totally different environment.

Will wellies be necessary? That depends on the weather. Just dont forget to pack your appetite.

View post:

Nevermind the headliners: how head chefs became the festival draw - Evening Standard