Category Archives: Hedonism

Magali Pascal lands in Singapore

Attention, fans of Emily In Paris: Magali Pascal, the Paris-born and Bali-based fashion couturier who conjured Emily Cooper's flirty asymmetrical frock in the second season of the series is now in Singapore.

Pascal and her eponymous label will be joining a line-up of other indie designers, including Indonesia's Peggy Hartanto and South Korea's Minjukim, who will present their Spring/Summer 2022 collections at multi-label boutique SocietyA.

The collection consists of 10 pieces that embody the hedonism of Bianca Jagger, a former model and Mick Jagger's ex-wife, and her heady disco days in the 1970s.

Another new designer to look out for at SocietyA is London-based designer Rejina Pyo, who perfectly captures the vibrancy of the season with her latest collection.

The Spring/Summer 2022 collections are available at Society-A.com and its flagship boutique at Ngee Ann City.

As a teen, Ms Coreena Ong experienced severe acne outbreaks and started experimenting with herbs and plants to treat her condition. Now 47, she has turned her passion for do-it-yourself skincare into a business with her beauty brand, Aspurely.

She spent years visiting herb farms and also worked with scientists and laboratories all over the world to build products that are said to be "pure, holistic yet high performance".

The result? Aspurely's clean skincare range, including its top products Anti-Aging Revival Serum ($149), Anti-Aging Sculpting Night Cream ($159) and Face Lifting Scalp Treatment ($169).

These three have extracts from the resurrection plant, a native of Rhodopes Mountain in Bulgaria and Greece, so named because it is the only plant known to have survived the last Ice Age due to its extreme resilience.

Ms Ong has also eliminated nasties such as colourants, sulphates and parabens from her products, choosing instead to use all-natural preservatives made from eco-certified botanicals.

Available at Aspurely's website.

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Style News: The Emily In Paris Dress in S'pore, new home-grown beauty brand Aspurely - The Straits Times

Concerts March 31st to April 4th

Wednesday, March 30, 20220

Show 5:30PM

Falling on the more melodic side of the post-hardcore world, Floridas Sleeping with Sirens create a whirlwind of emotion with their yearning and aggressive blend of metal and emo influences.

Show 8PM

From their halcyon days as Americas sweethearts to their current status as superstars who pioneered a genre, The Go-Gos preside over an amazing three-decade reign as high pop priestesses.

Doors 8PM, Show 8:30PM

Featuring guttural bass lines and a vivacious swagger, VCTRE hones in on the textures and boisterous musical attitude that has brought him a growing acclaim across the realm of low-end music.

Doors 6PM, Show 7PM

Tristan Prettyman parlayed her smoky alto voice and laid-back surfer-girl-from-San-Diego charm into an eight-year career studded with highlights.

Show 5PM

The American College of Gastroenterology is proud to host this webstream event. ACGs goal is to tap the connection and energy that music creates to shine a light on the importance of colorectal cancer screening and prevention.

Show 8PM

In 2019, ArtPower and Ariel Quartet embarked on a four-year endeavor, performing the complete Beethoven cycle, in honor of the composers 250th birthday in 2020. On April 1, 2022, the quartet will perform its final concert, completing all 16 string quartets.

Show 9:30PM

American DJ Deorro has taken the music world by storm over the last decade and in the spirit of all things EDM and dance.

Show 8:30PM

Canaan Cox is the definition of an entertainer. His music fuses contemporary country with the energy of pop and taste of R&B.

Doors 8PM, Show 9PM

Best known as the guitarist and vocalist for punk revivalists, Rancid, Lars Frederiksen has been a major player in the California punk scene since the 1990s.

Doors 8:30PM, Show 9PM

Hailed as one of the most exciting live acts on the road today, Roger Clyne & The Peacemakers are musical beacons of the Southwest fueled by witty and insightful lyrics, crunching guitar riffs, a dynamic rhythm section, and tequila.

Show 7PM

As a songwriter and collaborator, Charli XCX helped create some of the biggest pop singles of the 2010s, including Icona Pops 2012 smash I Love It and Iggy Azaleas 2014 chart-topping hit Fancy.

Doors 10PM

Fully equipped with a never-ending flow of four-on-the-floor beats, Gettoblaster has created their own sound by taking what theyve been influenced by for years and twisting it with modern day production and pushing the genre of jackin tracks to the future.

Doors 5PM, Show 5:30PM

High Tide Society (formerly AM Gold) is keeping it classy and re-creating all of your 70s and early 80s soft-rock hits from artists like Ambrosia, Bread, America, Steely Dan, Kenny Loggins, Exile, Orleans, Air Supply, Little River Band, Toto, Hall & Oates, Christopher Cross and more.

Doors 8PM

A steadfast and soulful young lady, she lets her heart do the writing and her voice tell the story. Shes country steeped in soul, in the spirit of the female pioneers of those genres.

Show 11AM

The all-day event consists of three concert sessions featuring performances by 15 choral groups and massed choirs.

Show 2PM

Shelton possesses a warm, masculine ease that has given his rowdier numbers a sense of sly humor, but this relaxed touch also made him an effective crooner of ballads, the ace in the hole that helped him cross over from country to the mainstream in the 2010s.

Doors 10PM

Dj Susie is an American social media star who has gained populairty through the eponymous Instagram account.

Doors 8PM, Show 9PM

The bands mission and destiny is simple: to build a mustache army and create a Soft Rock Explosion the likes of which has not been seen since Christopher Cross, Steely Dan, Ace, Kenny Loggins and The Little River Band ruled the airwaves and created AM Gold.

Doors 8PM

Grounded in the strong familial bond she has and the music heritage she was raised on, Payton brings a refreshing voice to her music that is resolute, both on and off stage.

Show 9:30PM

Oliver Heldens tracks produced under his own name tend to be melodic while maintaining a funky edge.

Doors 8PM

Canaans latest single As You Leave was released in January 2022 and received marquee playlisting on Spotify including New Boots, Wild Country, Breakout Country, and Next from Nashville.

Show 9:30PM

Snakehips produce left-field pop and hip-hop songs that feature a wide variety of guest vocalists, generally revolving around themes of hedonism and heartache.

Show 6:30PM

An expansive progressive metalcore band hailing from Orange County, California, Dayseeker make explosive metalcore and post-hardcore with an arena rock flair.

Doors 4PM, Show 5PM

Tumua Tuinei is one of Hawaiis top and hottest comics! Tumua has been doing comedy in the islands for five years. Recently he sold out 29 consecutive shows since December 2020.

Show 7PM

Teddy Swims contains multitudes. Its right there in his name Swims is an acronym for Someone Who Isnt Me Sometimes, and its a kind of shorthand for everything he stands for.

Doors 7PM

Unhappy with the current state of ska music, We Are The Union decided to stick out their own necks and tried to change things for the better in the summer of 2005. Instead of following typical ska punk conventions, WATU takes a harder-nosed approach to the genre.

Doors 7PM, Show 8PM

Watkins Family Hour is a bluegrass musical collaborative led by siblings Sara Watkins and Sean Watkins, who also form two-thirds of the Americana music group Nickel Creek.

Show 7PM

Conceived by Yo-Yo Ma in 1998, the GRAMMY Award-winning Silkroad Ensemble thrills audiences worldwide with a collective of artists representing dozens of nationalities and artistic traditions.

Doors 7PM

A rapper, singer, and musician with an aggressive style and an angry world view, Zero 9:36 rose from a cult figure in the Philadelphia hip-hop community to an alternative artist with a nationwide following by the time he was 22.

See you there, San Diego!

Excerpt from:

The Top Concerts In San Diego This Weekend - There San Diego

The gambling industry has seen a lot of growth over the last few decades. Today, you can bet on live dealer games from the comfort of your home. And thats not all; you can even participate in crypto gambling. Yes, virtual currencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litcoin, have become the order of the day in online casinos.

If those developments dont excite you, there are movies targeting gambling enthusiasts. This is not new, but nowadays, it has become almost a norm for dozens of movies to be released featuring a gambling theme.

So, if you love gambling, here are a few exciting movies you should add to your Netflix queue for your next binge.

Croupier starts on our list. Mike Hodge, the films director, narrates the story from the dealers perspective. This film delves deeper into the evil side of gambling yet still paints a fascinating picture of the industry.

People gamble for reasons other than money and fun. What would that be? If youre interested in learning more, you should definitely see this film.

David Niven plays James Bond in this film. He is compelled to come out of retirement in order to investigate reports of other spies deaths.

Bond is elevated to the head of MI6 several times throughout the film. Bond is able to withstand the sexual seduction of the female spy he meets, and he ends up playing Baccarat.

As a result, he hires a number of impostor 007s, including Vesper Lynd. Orson Welles and Woody Allen also star in this film.

Availlable on Netflix

This film is about friends who decide to head to Vegas to enjoy a night of hedonism.

This sounds a lot like the Hangover movie, but it has a completely different plot. They travel to celebrate an upcoming wedding; however, they run into a snag.

One of them employs a bank robber as the wedding planner, and everything goes horribly wrong. They wind up being pursued by cops, casino security, and even the boyfriend of a particular porn star!

Available on Amazon Prime

Casino, directed by Martin Scorsese, is based on a novel set in the 1970s in Las Vegas.

The film tells the interesting story of Sam Rosenthal. He is the owner of the Tangiers casino, which has several mob connections. This film explores how nasty Vegas can be while also highlighting how amazing the scene is.

Its exciting, but if you strike a deal with the wrong person, you might end up in serious trouble.

Available on Amazon Prime

About 80 years ago, Las Vegas was just another isolated outpost trying to make a living in Nevadas vast arid landscape. That is until some unscrupulous persons saw a chance to turn it into Sin City. It was a location where hedonism reigned supreme, and whatever happened there stayed there forever.

Bugsy Siegel was one of these dubious people. He was instrumental in transforming the Las Vegas strip into a gambling utopia. This film follows the life of this gangster, from his dealings in Las Vegas to his death in California.

Availlable on Netflix

This 2015 poker film is considered one of the best in the gambling genre. Contrary to other gambling films, it does not focus on a specific casino. Instead, it follows two buddies as they travel along the Mississippi River, playing poker. What is their ultimate goal? A high-stakes poker game in New Orleans!

Available on Amazon Prime

While you may miss the excitement of the dice turning and the presence of fellow gamblers pressed against each other, our list of gambling flicks is the closest thing to the thrill of the actual casino games.

So sit back and enjoy this Netflix adventure with your friends.

Read more from the original source:

The Greatest Gambling Flicks on Netflix - Inspired Traveler

With its chic restaurant scene and world-famous chefs, Paris attracts foodies of all stripes. Groups of female diners are an everyday sight, happy socializing as they enjoy exquisite dishes.

But that hasnt always been the case. In fact, there was a time when women were barely accepted as restaurant-goers.

In the mid-19th century, France, defeated at Waterloo but still culturally dominant, invented modern haute cuisine. Eating out became a pastime rather than a necessity for the countrys bourgeoisie, an opportunity for conspicuous consumption and business talk. In keeping with the times, women were largely excluded. Few cooked or even waited on tables in the capitals high-end restaurants, and even fewer visited them as customers without their husbands. Their unaccompanied presence would raise suspicions of prostitution.

Then, a new institution appeared at the turn of the 20th century: gastronomic clubs. These loose brotherhoods of food lovers consisted of artists, politicians, and businessmen who knew their camembert from brie. They went by fancy names, such as The Academy of Psychologists of Taste, and organized unforgettable feasts that were often covered by the press. Club members enjoyed not only delicious meals, but also the privilege of tasting foods that were inaccessible to the lower classes, bumpkins from the provinces, and, of course, women. It was thought that men wouldnt be able to focus on their food if there were women around, says Julia Csergo, an academic specializing in the history of French gastronomy. With their sexual appeal and chatter, women would distract them. And their perfumes and make-up would allegedly distort the smell and taste of food.

The most prestigious of these groups was Club des Cent, the Club of the One Hundred, a slightly secretive, invitation-only foodie society founded in 1912. Some of the most exquisite dishes of the time were served at its legendary banquets, such as the famous Belle Aurore Pillow, or Loreiller de la Belle Aurore, pt en croute with a lavish stuffing of up to 15 different types of meat, and Poularde Albufera, an elaborate chicken dish named after one of Napoleons generals. However, the club would not admit any women on the grounds that they were not able to appreciate fine food. The informal rule, according to Csergo, also reflected womens meager presence in Frances public life: From its outset, Club des Cent sought to attract powerful people from politics, media, and industry, she says. Practically no women held those positions at the time.

But by the 1920s, Frances feminist movement counted hundreds of thousands of suffragettes, campaigning for womens right to vote. When Club des Cent officially excluded women by unanimous vote in 1928, it was time for female foodies to strike back.

There are different accounts of how the first womens gastronomy club was formed that year, but all point to one motivationa response to the unbearable sexism of male clubs. According to one story, Maria Croci, an author and translator, came up with the idea at a gathering arranged by Rachilde, a literary figure of the time. Men say that women dont know anything about good cooking, Croci protested, irritated by Club de Cents well-publicized exclusionary stance. Rachilde, an avowed feminist, encouraged her to respond in kind. Croci and Gabrielle Rval, another author, decided to found Le Club des Belles Perdrix, The Club of Beautiful Female Partridges, whose membership included playwrights, journalists, poets, and artists such as Aurore Sand, granddaughter of George Sand.

Another possibility is that the club was the female answer to Le Dejeuner de Grand Perdreau, a male-only gastronomic club whose gargantuan feasts attracted men of letters. Many of the original Belles Perdrix, including Crocis husband, were married to members of that particular club.

For several years, Les Belles Perdrix would meet at the finest Parisian restaurants to indulge in all things gastronomy, cook, and judge the skills of various professional chefs. On one occasion, Auguste Escoffier, the father of modern French cuisine, cooked for them a lavish meal that included veal sweetbread in slices -la-favorite, foie gras parfait -la-Sainte-Alliance, and roast partridge wrapped in vine leaves. Surprisingly, they did not totally exclude male gourmets. Each member was allowed to invite a male companion once a year, as long it was not her husband. In 1936, they founded one of Frances first culinary schools, the short-lived Acadmie des Cordons Bleus, aimed at promoting female chefs.

In 1930, Croci and Rval published Les Recettes des Belles Perdrix, part recipe book, part feminist manifesto. They never claimed explicitly that their club was feminist, even if it included feminist figures. But its very existence was unsettling for a society that treated gastronomy as a male domain, says Nelly Sanchez, an expert on the history of French womens literature who edited a recent edition of the book. They went to restaurants where women would only go accompanied by men. So they reclaimed fine dining as a female right.

Associated with the hedonism of the interwar period, the Belles Perdrix would not survive World War II. Sanchez speculates that Crocis fascist leanings, combined with the fact that many members of the club were Jewish, possibly led the club to be swept away by the upheaval that engulfed Europe.

Club des Cents men-only policy had one exception: members were allowed to bring their wives to its annual gala. Towards the end of that event in 1929, the clubs president took the opportunity to remind members why fine dining was a manly affair: I salute the men at this table, without whose skill and knowledge, and whose capacity for [food] appreciation, this truly noble feast could never have happened, he said.

That rubbed one attendee the wrong way. Ethel Ettlinger was a bubbly, confident American who had little time for chauvinists, and she stood to make a toast of her own. Her oratorical skills in French were good enough to push back against what sounded like gastronomic machismo, an anachronism in the era of suffragettes. Wasnt it women who ran the kitchens and ordered meals? Hadnt they trained the worlds most acclaimed cooks? She ended her short speech with an ambitious statement: I have no doubt whatsoever that we could arrange a meal in every way as splendid and satisfying as the one we have just enjoyed.

The enthusiastic applause she won from the other women was tacit approval of her suggestion. They decided to arrange a stupendous banquet to show their husbands that they were worth their salt, cheese, and wine. One offered her chteau to host the event. Frances famous Republican Guard officiated, with a horn quartet announcing the arrival of each course. Le Cercle des Gourmettes had just been born. Its name itself was a whimsical revolt against the rigidity of the French language; even today, the word gourmette signifies a type of bracelet, rather than a female foodie.

Les Gourmettes met every two weeks for a restaurant visit or a private lesson with a professional chef, followed by a lavish meal. Although they didnt do much cooking themselves, the clubs rules required members to be ardent connoisseurs of the culinary arts; able to cook, order a perfect dinner, and arrange immaculate service and table settings.

By the early 1950s, the club was still going strong, with Ettlinger as its leader. Looking for American members, she asked a certain Julia Child, an expat taking cooking classes in Paris, to join. Although not strictly a feminist, Child enjoyed the cultural mlange and kinship with women who loved gastronomy. It was terribly amusing, as I met all types of Frenchwomen and learned quite a bit about cooking, Child would reminisce years later.

Through the group, she grew close to Simone Beck and Louisette Bertholle, two French women who shared her passion for food. The three of them would arrive hours before the meal to assist the chefs and learn new skills. Together, they started a cooking school, initially called Lcole des Gourmettes as a nod to the original Gourmettes. In 1961, they published Mastering the Art of French Cooking, a book that would introduce French cuisine to an American audience, while Child would become a household name with her TV show The French Chef. She once remarked that it was her experience as a Gourmette that marked the real beginning of [her] French gastronomical life.

Almost one century later, the legacy of the first womens gastronomy clubs is indisputable. Today, the French capitals high-end restaurants are full of groups of women, enjoying tasty dishes without having to worry about being mistaken for prostitutes.

However, a whiff of old-school sexism persists. Club des Cent, now a venerated institution of French gastronomy, still does not accept women as members. And if you scratch the surface of modern restaurant life, some things havent changed over the years. If you go today to a restaurant during lunch break, you will notice fewer women than men sitting alone, says Csergo. For some, its still a taboo, so they bring their own meal and eat at the office or a public space. Despite all the progress, the revolution started by the trailblazers of female fine dining remains unfinished.

Gastro Obscura covers the worlds most wondrous food and drink.Sign up for our email, delivered twice a week.

See more here:

The All-Female Culinary Clubs of 20th-Century France - Atlas Obscura

As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect.

So begins Franz Kafkas The Metamorphosis, in which Samsa is reviled for his transformation into a mammoth cockroach. His family hides him away until he dies. Then they go on with their lives, thankful to not deal with that problem anymore.

What do we do with this absurdist 20th-century story? Its a tale that compels readers to question our own metamorphoses or changes. Over the course of our lives, we all change and grow, so how do these developments (or, in the case of Samsa, mutations) affect those around us? After all, we do not belong to ourselves. We cannot become beasts or angels without it hurting or helping our families, friends, and neighbors.

If youre Meilin Lee in Turning Red, however, such wisdom of age-old philosophy is seemingly disregarded.

Philosophy is about the love of wisdom, and our culture is training us to either desire or disdain wisdom. Every world religion has a different conceptualization of wisdom, but for Christians, Wisdom is Jesus Christ.

When watching Disney films, I dont expect the animation to move my family toward that highest end (although I was surprised by Encanto), but I do hope their movies dont persuade my children against the grain of conventional wisdom. Unfortunately, Turning Red is a film that departs from that wisdom and embraces a messy philosophy.

I had high hopes for the movie, and I watched it with my children on the day it was released. I could not wait to see a contemporary Asian hero and the foregrounding of the mother-daughter relationship. (I enjoyed Brave, and I consider it a win when Disney doesnt kill off the parents of the heroes.) Granted, the movie is not aimed at my children, who are all under eight; parents should aim to watch it with their 10- to 12-year-olds.

From the opening monologue of the protagonist, Mei, I could see where the movie was headed:

The number one rule in my family? Honor your parents. Of course, some people are like, Be careful. Honoring your parents sounds great, but if you take it too far, well, you might forget to honor yourself. Luckily, I dont have that problem. Ive been doing my own thing. Making my own moves I wear what I want, say what I want, and I will not hesitate to do a spontaneous cartwheel if I feel so moved.

The humorous conclusion to this opening narrative can distract the audience from the problematic assumptions it conveys. From this moment forward, audiences realize that Mei is not free to wear, say, or do what she wants because her mother Ming is an overbearing control freak. The audience is then set to cheer Mei on toward freedom from her mother to get her own way and to be able to wear, say, and do whatever she so desires.

America has been divided over the past two years during the pandemic between those who proclaim their freedom to wear what they want (i.e., to not wear masks) and those who believe that we should be responsible to our neighbors and wear masks. Yet people are rooting for Mei to have the opportunity to wear whatever she wants.

Of course, that is not reality. We all must wear certain things in certain places: You cannot go shirtless on airplanes; you cannot teach public school with low-cut blouses or miniskirts; you cannot dress up as the murderer from Scream and preach from the pulpit. We have all had to learn to place restrictions on our personal autonomy to function well together in society.

The impetus for Meis freedom comes from an unexpected source: her inherited ability to transform into a red panda whenever she experiences a strong emotion. From the perspective of the director (Domee Shi, who cowrote the story with Julia Cho), the panda transformation symbolizes coming of age: this experience of growing up, of suddenly waking up one day and realizing you grew a couple of feet, youre covered in body hair, and youre hungry all the time.

Normally when teenagers begin this process of metamorphosis, the adults in their lives (parents, teachers, etc.) teach them how to control their urges. In the movie, Mei expresses her newfound sexual desires by fantasizing about half-naked boys with mermaid tails. By contrast, in a Christian sexual ethic, we submit our desires to God. Under a self-disciplined will, we wait and look forward to their fulfillment in the proper time and place.

Instead, Turning Red portrays the limitation of our urges as a form of oppression, denouncing any attempts to regulate anothers actions. The enemy is the mother, who explains to Mei, Theres a darkness to the panda. You only have one chance to banish it. Otherwise, youll never be free. This beliefthat self-mastery leads to freedomfollows millennia of tradition.

Turning Red opts for a different approach. Mei says, Weve all got an inner beast. Weve all got a messy, loud, weird part of ourselves hidden away. And a lot of us never let it out. The goal, the film suggests, is to let out the beast.

Yet only Mei exercises the privilege to let out her beast. The film would have fallen apart if her mother Ming were permitted the same freedom to let out her inner beast, which is the size of King Kong and destroys much of the city in one night. Apparently, theres an unknown standard for who gets to release the beast within.

The film ends with a call for viewers to do like Mei and free their beasts within. People have all kinds of sides to them. And some sides are messy, Mei reflects. The point isnt to push the bad stuff away. Its to make room for it, live with it.

We can pretend that childrens films dont deal with philosophy, but these explicit claims in the film are hard to ignore. While I applaud the realistic admission that we all have inner mess, the encouragement should be toward self-control and social harmony. This film does little more than normalize our #momfail culture.

Children repeat what they see and hear. In Frozen, I was grateful when Elsas victorious belting of Let It Go was shown to be disastrous for the community and not a laudable theme song, so I dont grimace every time my kids dance to it.

However, I was not happy when Frozen II pretended that the answer to Elsas discomfort in her life was that you are the one youve been waiting for all of your life. You cannot be waiting to meet yourself. The story is much better than that: Youre waiting for the One who made you. When choosing films for our children, as Christians, we need to consider the worldview being broadcast to their imaginations.

I expected Turning Red to be about a young girl learning to be a proud Asian teenager growing up in Toronto. Instead, the story shows a preteen discovering the benefits of capitalism, exploitation, and hedonism. When Mei wants to go to a boy band concert against her controlling parents wishes, she disobeys and lies to them, extorts money from her schoolmates, sells her image like a wannabe influencer, and embraces the part of herself that always wanted to twerk.

By the movies end, Mei has degraded the ancient practices of her ancestors into a money-making endeavor and transformed her family temple into an irreverent, Disneyesque tourist site. When her mother tries to advise her, she responds, My panda, my choices (a vaguely veiled affirmation of the pro-choice movement slogan My body, my choice).

Although Meis mother is a caricature of a helicopter mom, her poor parenting should not excuse Meis bad decisions. Nor should Meis choices be seen as though they could occur without negative consequences.

If parents want to show Mei as a model because she is an Asian girl hero coming into her own, in spite of her unbiblical projections, they should at least consider the costs and talk about her failings.

After watching Turning Red, I discussed with my children the characteristics in her that I considered unworthy of imitation. While none of us is perfect, we should all look to imitate models of people who pursue goodness.

When I ask my children, Whom do you want to be like when you grow up? I want the answer to be Jesus. Instead of liberating the messy beast within them, I hope that the films they see, the books they read, and the music they listen to will be pointing toward a higher end.

Jessica Hooten Wilson is the Louise Cowan Scholar in Residence at the University of Dallas and author of several books, including The Scandal of Holiness.

Read the original post:

'Turning Red' Teaches Kids to Feed, Not Tame, the Beast Within - ChristianityToday.com

I once had a glimpse of this bulletproof image up close. It was 2006, and while his stock in England had never been higher in the wake of the previous summers Ashes, he still carried the notoriety of an earlier phone-sex scandal, in which he had left several lewd messages on the answering machine of a British nurse while married. Before I was due to interview him at a London brokerage, a few traders asked if he could man the switchboard for a photo op. Sure, boys, he grinned, that glint in his eye. Ive always been pretty good on the phone. You could have heard the roar of laddish acclaim the other side of Canary Wharf.

Warne was fortified not just by his genius as a cricketer but by his irresistible charisma. While many men wanted to be just like him, his legions of female admirers were often left helplessly in his thrall. During a 2001 one-dayer in Bangalore, an insistent noise could be heard from the Ladies Stand at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. Shane Warne, Shane Warne, the women were chanting. You are a big flirt. They then broke into a Hindi love song, The Heart Is Very Indian. At this point he spun around, flashed that roguish smile and blew them three flamboyant air kisses. Warnes untouchable reputation was sealed.

His priceless value to his sport lay in how he even won over people who did not normally like cricket. This is a man who, despite cultivating the type of bonzer bloke image promoted by Castlemaine adverts, still managed to seduce the siren of London high society, Elizabeth Hurley. Even after the pair split after three years together and a brief engagement, Warne could not help but marvel at the incongruity of it all. Everyone thought, Whos this knockabout Aussie with this posh English rose? he reflected. To his critics, it was this chapter that brought an unhealthy fixation with body image. Warne, for his part, always claimed that the relationship changed him in more subtle ways, leading him away from his pursuit of instant gratification.

Right through to the devastatingly premature end, he could be confounding and complex, but always a figure of electrifying charm. For 15 years, he bestrode international cricket, and for the next 15 he only added to his mystique through a life of compelling extremes. His peers were correct: for as long as he was around, it was, in every sense, Warnes world.

Read the original here:

Shane Warne's charisma, sorcery and hedonism transcended cricket and landed him in the gossip pages - The Telegraph

PARIS As physical runways return, so does the street-style set, and with them, a sense of whats to come on the contemporary label scene.

With 90s inspirations galore and the logo still going strong, itll be a season of plenty where brands compete for the attention of consumers keen to dip their toes into trends.

For the Sandro woman, temperatures might take a dive but the heat will be dialed right up, as she heads back to the heyday of the Paris club scene, with a wardrobe fit to go to the original incarnations of the Palace and Bains-Douches hotspots full of jewel tones and flirty numbers.

Never one to be locked into a particular decade, the midriff baring will slide toward the early 2000s for a chic hedonist clubbing spiel, with Britney Spears as a muse. The Parisian labels studio also twisted bourgeois codes and the yuppy wardrobe of the Sandro man of the season imagining the citys girls pairing their preppy cardigans with threads nodding to whichever musical hedonism the Sandro woman is into.

On offer are patchwork denims, fringed blanket jackets, shearling with geometric prints and T-shirts proclaiming hippies were right.

Faith Connexion longed for a post-pandemic sense of renewal and landed on big branding. The Gothic script from its launch in 2000 was resurrected for this collection, blown up and scrawled across slim tweed suits, mini bomber jackets and baggy jeans. Founder Maria Buccellati called the visibility from having the name front-and-center empowerment for the brand.

The collection pushes to new volumes in its silhouettes and pulls its references from everywhere; no era is left untouched. From the 50s in slim suits, a Lurex disco dress recalled the 70s and the oversized hip-hop cargo fit and grunge flannels of the early Aughts all are reinterpreted here for the cool kids.

Nothing is too much. Its like bling but with French flair and very elegant, she said. Reuse became a touchstone for sustainability. Old collections were upcylced into new wares, and suede jackets are reversible for leading a double life. In another first, the brand also launched shoes, a sky-high platform boot in leather and leopard print with plans for more to come.

At Maje, artistic director Judith Milgrom wanted to return to the roots of the label, so Parisian sexiness will be the name of the game. Think Vogue circa 1988, remixing bourgeois lady-like options with youthful codes like denim then and now athleisure, and the mix of menswear-inspired coats and puffers.

Lengths are therefore abbreviated on tops and bottoms, showing legs or midriffs, and asymmetric cutouts played into the tropes of the big houses. No-brainer staples were in the mix, too, like oversize coats and todays ubiquitous puffers.

Fuzzy cardigans with contrasting and golden buttons, paired with a miniskirt for prim-and-proper brunch, or bejeweled jeans and a crop top for a day on the town were some of the loos shown around a bottle green kiosk similar to the very-Paris gazebos in public gardens or newsstands.

Accessories werent forgotten, with flap bags and chunky footwear galore hitting the right balance between cool and practical.

The end result looked like a snapshot of cool Parisian influencers one part major labels, one part vintage finds and a dash of whatevers trending right now at an easy-to-love price point.

Also mining their identity as purveyors of accessible French understated chic was Longchamp, where creative director Sophie Delafontaine looked at what a proper Gallic winter break means: physical activities and an aprs-ski spread.

What the Longchamp woman is packing will sound unseasonably light at first glance, going from little blousons, old-fashioned tweed jackets, skinny-rib sweaters or even long pleated dresses. But layering was the name of the fall game, with a color palette that paired bold oranges and blues of sports gear with winter warm tones inspired by the work of French designer Charlotte Perriand.

Footwear also played on city girl in the snow trope, with snow boots augmented with colorful nylon poofing up to the knee. They added a welcome playful note to a well-built classic wardrobe.

Beyond the seasonal lineup, the preeminence of the racehorse, reworked into a camouflage print, motifs used on quilted outerwear, outlined in sneakers soles or used for chunky metal hardware on the seasons bags nodded to the overarching idea that drove contemporary brands this season an affirmation of brand signatures as a way to identify who their consumers are.

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Contemporary Labels Mine the '90s and Their Own Playbooks at Paris Fashion Week - WWD

Happiness is one of the most important goals in life. During the pandemic, it trended as the most searched word on Google. But heres why the pursuit of happiness can be bad for you.

It can make us more self-centred. The active pursuit of happiness can exacerbate individualistic tendencies to seek out pleasures at the expense of others (breaking up a friendship because it is not fun), society (driving fast may make you happy, but it endangers peoples lives) or the environment (keeping the air-conditioning on overnight).

Ironically, that self-centredness, apart from not serving others well, also makes people who pursue happiness more lonely. Focused on making ourselves happy, we forget the basic principle of happiness, which is to look outside ourselves for true happiness.

Those who score the highest in any happiness rankings report good social support (for instance, supporting others when in need and in return being offered support), live meaningful lives that allow them to contribute to society (put effort into developing skills that serve others well), experience abundance of positive emotions which are often created in the company of others (we smile 30 times more often in a group than in solitude).

This is the irony of the single-minded pursuit of happiness. Focusing on ourselves and wanting to be happier reduces our chances of experiencing happiness.

It can make us realise that were unhappy. The idea that we should be searching for it can highlight the absence of happiness in our lives. The more we value happiness, the more likely it is that we will be disappointed with our current situations.

Even worse, the more desperate we become about finding happiness, the more likely we are to experience symptoms of depression.

It can make us blame ourselves for being unhappy. The implication that we should all be happy and that it is easy to achieve can make us feel like there is something wrong with those who are not happy, causing further distress.

Our obsession with happiness has spawned an industry of people and organisations promising quick-fix ways to make us happy. This is just one of the reasons why the narrow focus on happiness can be damaging.

Apart from happiness not being good for the pursuers, it is often inappropriate to talk about happiness when interacting with people suffering extreme poverty, experiencing political injustice, living through devastating conflicts or facing natural disasters. To put it simply, being happy is not a priority in these situations.

Advocating for initiatives to increase happiness can lead to people feeling alienated and misunderstood. In traumatic times, exhorting people to be happy can come across as tone deaf or lacking in compassion.

If we focus too narrowly on the pursuit of happiness, we are at risk of forgetting about wellbeing, which runs deeper than simple hedonism and includes connections with people, life purpose, a sense of accomplishment and self-worth.

Here are five ways to improve your wellbeing:

Ensure that you can meet the basic needs of yourself and those you care for.

Allocate regular time for pleasurable activities, such as a walk, playing a game or watching or listening to something you enjoy.

Invest in building and maintaining positive relationships. Meet with friends, keep in contact with family members, nurture your work relationships.

Stay connected with what makes your life meaningful. For example, supporting a movement, following a faith or committing fully to your personal or professional role.

Make things better for your community by, say, advocating for better services, volunteering in your community, or challenging unfair practices.

Christian van Nieuwerburgh, Professor of Coaching and Positive Psychology, RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciencesand Jolanta Burke, Senior Lecturer, Centre for Positive Psychology and Health, RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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Why the pursuit of happiness can be bad for you - and what you should pursue instead - News24

In this guest spot, The Tall Planners, Kate Smither shares with B&T about what the next wave of consumerism is going to look like.

Human beings love a bit of hedonistic behaviour occasionally. But, for the last two years, the world (and pleasure) has been put on hold. It has seen a day to day where inaction has become more common than action and delays have become expected. It has been a world where tragedy has replaced joy. Two years on hold has resulted in a today marked by pent up emotions, pent up energy and the stalled pursuit of pleasure.

Consumerism has gone through stages that mirror the different types of hedonism. From egoism to utilitarianism and everything in between. So, when it comes to understanding the next wave of consumerism framing it up through the lens of hedonism, sheds some light.

The question is, how will this pent-up consumer energy manifest? Will it release as unadulterated hedonism? or will it be a more cautious, more careful pursuit of something more significant and accessible?. And for our industry, how will brands, advertising and marketing respond to a new consumer mindset whichever way it reveals itself?

Experts in the science of brands can assert this with more authority than I can, but I think there has been a shift in hedonism and our consumerist tendencies. I think our relationship with brands has changed forever. I think we are entering a new era of the more pragmatic, more realistic consumer, where brands are no longer being looked at as advertising one-night stands. They are being seen as more enduring, more authentic and this is ringing in a new era of long-term brand building.

Back in the Gordon Gekko days of greed is good, hedonism and revelling in everything excessively without control defined what is now seen as the golden age of consumerism. The days when advertising just had to drive desire and the consumer craved more and more. They lapped up the new and success was marked by the things they had. It was an era of hedonistic egoism. But this mindset could never last. It had to max out before competition and craving consumed itself.

With financial collapses in the decades that followed, consumerism swung back the other way and the: austerity era entered. Marked by a lack of fanfare and a consumer weightiness it held people back. But, there are no signs of that the same weightiness rising again in 2022. The whole world has been paused and this mutuality of experience, is making people reframe everything, consumerism included. Its not making them stop. Its making things such as hedonism less about self and more about a utilitarian collective. More about happiness for all as an aim.

The language of this new middle ground hedonism relies on words like happiness, nurturing, joy, comfort, empathy. All very fundamental human needs and emotions. All very shared and less me. They show a shift in aspiration towards more realistic and more meaningful products and people. They show what people are craving rom brands, more empathy, more humanity.

This new realism is echoed in the 3 big trends that Accenture identified coming out of the pandemic. A retreat to local and the desire to maintain the connections people have developed, a more conscious consumerism and awareness of the social impact and (finally) an increasing focus on health. Together these trends show a more collective and aware consumer, a consumer trained into a scarcity mindset rather than one of abundance. A consumer who is more aware than the ones who came before and for whom happiness is as great a thrill as unadulterated pleasure.

So where does advertising sit in this more pragmatic world?

Advertising still has to entertain, and it still has to drive desire and meet consumer needs, It still has to even be a bit sexy. None of that has gone away. It just needs to do it in an accessible, more enduring way. It needs to deliver it in a way that is true of the brand and that these more realistic and self-aware consumers cant (and wont) call bullshit on

Analysis from Depsoitphotos published in The Drum gives a small peek into the way creativity is starting to respond to the craving for happiness and contentment in the aesthetics of communications. It is showing up in what they call the meeting of the old and the new. They suggest that 2022 will be the year where the future and the past co-exist and stand side by side. They cite a rise in searches for pastel images, psychedelic 70s inspiration and even an increase of 383% in the number of searches for candid faces as clues to this new relevance

If the early ads from the Superbowl are anything to go by, this retrofuturistic co-existence of future and past is playing out in the big brand ads well all be looking at in the next few weeks.

From a reunion of Austin Powers to the being themselves lives of celebs (in Amazon Alexa) to harking back to brand icons from Budweiser, brands are projecting happiness that eases people back into life with a degree of familiarity and playfulness.

In the spirit of the realistic yet still aspirational, there are three examples that stand out, Booking.com, Expendis and UberEats.

Booking.com, with its Idris Elba led, very honest presentation of the brand, sells not the dream of travel, but it sells the very grounded does what it says on the tin expertise. UberEATS shows a similar honesty. In its Dont eats work, it brings a smile to viewers by not hiding from its own branding confusion, instead just having some fun with it. Finally, there is the accurately entitled Stuff from Expedia where Ewan McGregor delivers an ode to the practical approach of a new consumer mindset.

A brilliant planner I used to work with had a phrase that feels like the best advice to brands and marketers right now, the phrase was pull yourself towards yourself. Not let yourself go crazy and lose yourself, not even pull yourself together but instead a call to really understand who you are and why you exist. To take the time to understand your DNA and what is fundamentally your difference.

The brands that have spent the time pulling themselves towards themselves over the last couple of years will be the ones that let people show their hedonistic sides in a careful, conscious way.

These are the brands that will grow in the long term and build trust along the way. These are the brands that are a match fit for a new wave of consumer passions coming their way.

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The Tall Planner Kate Smither On How Careful Hedonism Is The New Trend - B&T

I

t was during either my third or fourth live-streamed DJ set, not long into the pandemic, when I broke down in tears. I wasnt alone and in the months that followed, too many of my fellow DJs began to hang up their headphones. Many people in the scene retrained; it felt like the game was up. But fast forward to today and as people emerge from the cocoon of Covid restrictions, the rest of the year is somehow shaping up to be one of the most exciting, vibrant and even revolutionary times in Londons club scene for a generation.

The hunger to go out has never been greater and the desire for different experiences than what we had before is palpable. After years of stasis, a new generation of talent has finally broken through plus everyone is looking kinda amazing out there at the moment, which I put down to the inordinate amount of naughty club wear bought during dull lockdown days. So take this VIP wristband and saunter through whats new in 22.

Sex sells

Queer House Party

Probably the most interesting party in London right now is Crossbreed, a rave that celebrates kink and sex positivity. Its staggering popularity reflects the story of our shifting sexual attitudes a story which, frankly, everyones too busy having fun to tell right now.

Motivated as much by activism as hedonism, Crossbreed parties (crossbreedworld.com) offer both top DJs and purposeful spaces for sex. No surprise, theyre absolutely not for everyone. Uncomfortable with queerness? Not for you. Scared of wearing something provocative? Dont bother. Unwilling to take onboard issues like consent, white male privilege, neuro-diversity or the basics around pronouns? Stay home. Trust me.

As a signifier of the huge community it has created, and the general desire for nights that are both progressive and pervy in a consensual way Crossbreeds parties have tended to sell out in minutes. So from February, they will be held weekly at Hackney Wicks Colour Factory (8 Queens Yd, E9, colourfactory.com), which is currently being overhauled to accommodate a permanent playroom, a sweet new soundsystem plus an erotic installation from filmmakers Four Chambers. Theres a simultaneous spike in popularity for like-minded events such as Meat, Thorn, HTBX and HOWL (which are nomadic nights, but will also appear at Colour Factory), or established parties like LGBTQ+ fetish night Klub Verboten (which likewise moves around, with venues released on the day) proof that Londoners crave human adventure more than ever. The next Klub night is on February 18, with another two planned for March. Another not to miss is Queer House Party (@queerhouseparty), who play regularly across town; theyre next at The Garage (20-22 Highbury Corner, N5, thegarage.london) on February 26.

Four to the floor

If you havent been out in too long, heres a warning that the tunes are likely far harder and faster than you might remember. London has gone techno mad in the last few years and a fresh wave of female DJs are leading the hardcore charge. Pay attention when you see Saoirse, Loraine James, Elkka, Peach and Or:la on a bill, to name just a few, while venues such as Phonox (418 Brixton Rd, SW9, phonox.co.uk), E1 (110 Pennington St, E1W, e1ldn.co), Pickle Factory (13 The Oval, E2, ovalspace.co.uk), Fold (Stephenson St, E16, fold.london) and Venue MOT Unit 18 (Surrey Canal Rd, SE14, @venuemot) are typically able to scratch any techno itch.

Its also worth noting that London has its own non-male festival coming in April to various venues across Hackney Wick: Risen (ra.co) will celebrate the divine feminine, which according to festival director Kitty Bartlett signifies the energy of all the amazing women, non-binary and trans individuals across the entire music industry, who are fighting against the traditional patriarchal structures that clearly arent showing any sign of weakening after the pandemic. Risen also has a frankly outrageous amount of DJ talent on its line-up already, including Jayde Ward, Scarlett OMalley, Amaliah and more. If youve seen that price list doing the rounds online that charges straight, white, cis men more for entry, then youre already onto what Risen does.

Play safe

Feel It

Its ironic that as trends gently hark back to the Nineties heyday of renegade illegal raving think fast breakbeats, bucket hats, trance-evoking artwork and a Cyberdog-ish contrast between noir and neon clothes the reality is that the warehouse party era is, sadly, well and truly over. One positive byproduct of things being more legit is that security is slowly getting much better in clubs many London promoters are doing the work to educate security staff to: not assume gender, treat people whove overindulged with care (and not like criminals), and smile and listen, rather than to shout and intimidate. As a general rule of thumb, check to see if a club has a respect policy posted online. Im proud of Little Gay Brother (littlegaybrother.com), a queer night Im a resident at, for doing great work in this area. Im also proud that at their NYE bash, the dancers did a routine that reimagined a Downing Street party fortified by poppers rather than M&S finger foods. If youre into Little Gay Brother, try the weekly nights they host with Jodie Harsh, Feel It. These run every Friday at Omeara (6 OMeara St, SE1, omearalondon.com) from 10.30pm. With nights stretching until 5am and last entry at 3am, its one for those looking to go the distance.

Drag never drags

Having flown the flag for a certain lineage of tongue-in-cheek, east London drag for more than a decade, last week Sink the Pink (sinkthepink.com) announced its last ever party on April 15 (tickets sold out in 10 minutes, but theres a resale happening in April). And while that side of town is still the heartland check out Mimis at Bethnal Green Working Mens Club (42-46 Pollard Row, E2, workersplaytime.net) these days you dont even need to be east to experience east London drag culture. In the former cells of Bow Street Magistrates Court, in the heart of Covent Garden, sits Common Decency a spanking new late-night lounge bar under the Nomad Hotel (28 Bow St, WC2E, thenomadhotel.com). Adding to the bars mischievous air and cocktail-fuelled giddiness, inveterate DJ huns including Bestley and Jonjo Jury, plus drag icons such as Maxi More create a mood as stellar as the names who passed through the cells in its previous incarnation: Wilde, Westwood, Kray, Pankhurst and even Doherty.

Tear up the usual

Charlie Bones

If the tyranny of unchanging tempos and the hegemony of that 4/4 hntz-hntz sound leaves you cold, refresh yourself with the polar opposite by seeing Beiruti record collector Ernesto Chahoud and London hero Charlie Bones throw down at their wild parties at Peckhams Well Seasoned (95a Rye Lane, SE15, peckhamlevels.org). Both Chahoud and Bones come with boxes of truly divine and obscure records from a sweltering mix of styles breakneck blues, psych rock, gritty disco and Arabic jazz and then purposefully throw them down with a gleeful disregard for the dull convention of beat matching. It makes every song an explosive event, and combined with their genuine, non-dickish boisterousness, makes for a great party. The pairs latest gig has just passed, but Charlie plays next on February 18 at Well Seasoned, and you can follow his Instagram @doyoubabyyy for show updates. Chahouds next gig is at Dalstons Jago (440 Kingsland Road, E8, thejagodalston.com), when he presents the Beirut Groove Collective & 60s Rebellion. Hes on @ernesto_chahoud.

Other destinations for escaping conventional dance music include DJ nights at Cafe OTO (18 Ashwin St, E8, cafeoto.co.uk), late-nighters at arts space Ormside Projects in Bermondsey (32 Ormside St, SE15, ormside.co.uk), and coming up soon General Echo Sounds punk special in Walthamstow on Feb 11 (61 Tower Hamlets Rd, E17, @generalechosound). Incidentally, if you ever feel adrift from the sounds of London DJ culture, dial in Londons galaxy of amazing radio stations: Rinse, Balaami, NTS, Worldwide, Amateurism, Soho Radio and Charlie Bones own Do!! You!!! Channel would all be a wonderful way to start.

Go big or go home?

Printworks

London still has big spaces made for big nights out, but they are getting fewer and fewer. Vast post-industrial playground Printworks (Surrey Quays Rd, SE16, printworkslondon.co.uk) remains an incredible destination, while stalwarts such as Egg (5-13 Vale Royal, N7, egglondon.co.uk) and Fabric (77a Charterhouse St, EC1, fabriclondon.com) gave themselves a cheeky mid-pandemic refurb the latter boasting a whole new look to Room 2. Meanwhile, after three decades dancing, the Ministry of Sound (103 Gaunt St, SE1, ministryofsound.com) is still a thing; each week, theres something on Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

London loves little

TOLA

Still, what the city currently excels at is intimacy: small events in small venues that create a big, big mood. At late-night parties at Spiritland Royal Festival Hall (Belvedere Road, SE1, spiritland.com), people tend to arrive at the same time, stay to the end, and then leave as one like a church congregation. Theres not a constant churn of punters coming in and out. Instead you always build a rapport with people around you, a bit like a party on a desert island. Its a genuinely lovely vibe, even before you factor in the honey-dipped soundsystem, delicious cocktails and their expert DJ programming which takes in Lakuti and friends on March 12 and Severino and Josh Caff on March 18.

Similar spots that boast world-class DJs in unnaturally small spaces include The Gun in Hackney (235 Well St, E9, thegunwellstreet.com), TOLA in Peckham (56 Peckham High St, SE15, tolapeckham.com), NTs Loft in Dalston (1 Westgate St, E8, ntloft.co.uk) plus Lion and Lamb near Old Street (46 Fanshaw St, N1, thelionandlamb.co.uk) where Fabrics Craig Richards and friends often perform beguiling techno hypnosis in a space smaller than most superclubs cloakrooms. Another spot to look out for is an ornate former chapel called Stone Nest on Shaftesbury Avenue (136 Shaftesbury Avenue, W1D, stonenest.org). Wildly influential DJ and producer Joy Orbison has just launched a monthly Thursday session there called Just For You. Its free entry but get there early theres only space for 250 dancers.

Hopefully see you at the next one in February, and frankly at all the places mentioned above. And never on a DJ livestream, ever, ever again.

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Hedonism is back! From drag nights to micro-raves, heres where to party in London - Evening Standard