Category Archives: Hedonism

On one hand bioethicists bemoan the high costs of medical care and promote health care rationing forthe elderly, seriously disabled, and dying.

On the other, they promote expanding publicor insurance funding of health care to ensure that peoples desires are satisfied and to promote social justicemedicine harnessed in the service of hedonism,the ethical theory that pleasure (in the sense of the satisfaction of desires) is the highest good and proper aim of human life.

For example, California requires all group insurance plans to cover fertility treatments for gays and lesbians in the same way they do biologically infertile heterosexual couples. The Obama Administration promulgated a regulation so that Medicare now funds sex change surgeries.

Now this. Advocacy has commenced in the UK to have the socialized NHS fund uterus transplants so that men who identify as women can give birth. From the Daily Mail story:

Transgender women who were born male should be given womb transplants so that they can have children, leading NHS doctors have told The Mail on Sunday. And fertility experts say taxpayers should fund such transplants for those who identify as women, on the basis of equality enshrined in law.

Leading the debate on the controversial procedure is medical ethics lawyer Dr Amel Alghrani, who is pressing for a talks on whether womb transplants for trans-women should be publicly funded. Dr Alghrani, of Liverpool University, also predicts that a successful programme would lead to others demanding wombs including gay and straight men who wanted to experience the joys of carrying a child.

This would be wrong on so many levels, ranging from safety concerns for both patient and potential future baby, the prospect of doctors and hospitals being forced to participate even if it violates their religious or moral beliefsalready beginning to happento the question of whether going to such extremes to satisfy individual yearnings constitutes wise and public policy.

But make no mistake: Powerful political and cultural forces will bearepushing us hard in this direction.

This much is sure: If the current trends continue, there is no way we will ever be able to adequately control healthcare costs.

Read the original post:

Why We Will Never Control Healthcare Costs - National Review

Steph and Matt Brown, founders of Founding Drinks, which makes Wild Knight vodka, on their stand at the Royal Norfolk Show 2017. Picture: Bethany Whymark

Archant

Email this article to a friend

To send a link to this page you must be logged in.

The makers of Wild Knight vodka, husband and wife team Matt and Steph Brown, have signed a deal with Hedonism Wines in London with their first delivery expected early next month.

Positioned in the luxury-laden streets of Mayfair, Hedonism is considered one of the citys foremost wine stockists.

Mr Brown said: Hedonism is a really good name and gives the Norfolk brand good visibility. We are really chuffed to be in there. They are very interested in the product, how it is made and what you can do with it.

We want to be in top bars and more retailers, so this is a good start.

The duo, based near Swaffham, are now trading as Founding Drinks and believe their products, Wild Knight vodka and Nelsons Gold caramelised vodka, are standing their ground in the gin-fuelled UK spirit market.

More here:

Norfolk makers of Wild Knight vodka score first London stockist - Norfolk Eastern Daily Press

It is an edible optical illusion. The latest ruse from Dominique Ansel looks like a kiwi fruit, its fuzzy on the outside and tangy sharp within. But this is no virtuous fruit, its hedonism in the form of chocolate and ice cream what more would you expect from the creator of the Cronut and winner of the Worlds Best Pastry Chef 2017?

In a month of record temperatures, ice cream has been an essential part of diets. Iced coffees popularity is waning because it takes too long to make you will be the most hated person in the caf as a queue forms behind you. Instead, London is making advances with iced cream.

As well as the kiwi fruit theres black ice cream and frozen eclairs. Ansel describes his dessert as a sorbet for summer.

Kiwi has a unique taste and texture a sweet, slightly tart and juicy centre, that works really well as a cold, refreshing sorbet, says Ansel. I recreated that fuzzy skin with a layer of milk chocolate so that its actually edible, and rather than actual kiwi seeds we use poppy seeds, which adds a little extra bite.

Unique: Dominique 's Ansel kiwi ice cream

Meanwhile, the clair-specialists at the Melba coffee shop on the Strand have concluded that ice cream is the ideal way to improve the French classic. Savoy executive chef Ludwig Hely is letting customers choose from a range of mouth-watering ice cream flavours and toppings to personalise their Icclairs, which are (as the name suggests) an ice cream and clair mash-up.

When the redesigned Melba reopens on Monday, customers can choose from popping candy, cookie dough and candyfloss toppings (along with more grown-up options such as caramelised hazelnuts and chocolate pearls) to lash over scoops of dark chocolate, Sicilian pistachio and wild berry ice cream.

The endless variety means there are plenty of excuses for repeat visits, and if the Icclairs taste anywhere near as good as they look then youre in for a good dessert.

Similarly eye-catching is Judes pitch-black coconut ice cream, flavoured with coconut ash. This emo sounding ingredient creates an intense coconut flavour but the only way to know for sure is to head to the Pear Tree Caf in Battersea to try it yourself. Its bound to make you stand out from the next person with a 99.

Its possible to have a perfectly varied diet of different ice creams. Summer has never been so cool.

View post:

London's experimental new ice-creams and sorbets - Evening Standard

The cover of Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band. It may be not be far from the truth to say that the Beatles were exponents of what is known as Christian humanism.

On June 25th, 1967, three weeks after the release of Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band, the Beatles heralded a great leap forward in communications when they sang All You Need is Love live in the first satellite television broadcast. Transmitted to 24 countries, their performance reached an audience of 400 million.

In the era of Brexit, it is poignant to remember the moment, half a century ago, when the music of four Britons was transcending national barriers and enlarging the sum of human happiness.

It is true that war was raging in Vietnam in the summer of 1967 and that days after Sgt Peppers came out the Six Day War erupted between Israel and its Arab neighbours.

Yet the so-called summer of love over which the Beatles presided was not just moonshine. The trouble was that its utopian spirit was betrayed by hedonism and drug abuse. Its easy, runs the suspect refrain of All You Need is Love.

After the groups demise in 1970, John Lennon wondered what the Beatles had achieved beyond spawning a generation of narcissists in gaudy dress. His own idealism was not dead; he went on to compose Imagine.

Increasingly, though, idealism was no match for cynicism.

To the punk generation, Lennon was a charlatan who lived in luxury as he exhorted people to imagine no possessions. Yet punk, with its surly commitment to doing as you like, had more in common with the Beatles and the 1960s counterculture than was at first apparent.

So did Margaret Thatcher, the Conservative prime minister who came to power in 1979. It is often said that the 1960s cult of self-exploration yielded to the self-fixated individualism that defined Thatchers Britain.

HG Wells likened moments of historical promise to the sun briefly peeping through a cloudy sky. An image of Wells was among those selected by the Beatles to adorn the cover of Sgt Peppers.

Also included in their pantheon were James Joyce, George Bernard Shaw and Aldous Huxley. The latter appealed to them because of his essay The Doors of Perception (1954), in which he extolled the potential of psychedelic drugs to transform human consciousness.

Their heroes were humanitarians and internationalists who would recoil at the distinction between people from somewhere and people from nowhere made by Theresa May and champions of Brexit.

It is surprising perhaps that no great Christian personality figures among them. For where did the Beatles derive their commitment to love and peace from if not Christs example?

The groups flirtation with the Hindu guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi has obscured the extent to which they remained quintessential products of Christian upbringings.

It was ironic that they were branded as infidels in the United States after John Lennon claimed that the Beatles were more popular than Christ. When they sang All You Need is Love they were preaching the Christian gospel.

A born mutineer, Lennon might have jibbed at being labelled any kind of Christian. But it may be not be far from the truth to say that the Beatles were exponents of what is known as Christian humanism.

The Beatles were a historical phenomenon shaped by a national past that was imperial and Christian. In the 20th century, Christian Britain fought two world wars, interrupted by the Great Depression of the 1930s, as it struggled to preserve its power.

The creation in 1945 of the welfare state was a tribute to the advocacy of progressive rationalists yet it also owed more than a little to Christs injunction to love your neighbour as yourself.

The social democracy that nurtured the Beatles had deep Christian roots. And what was the enduring assumption that Britain was a force for good, a nation with a global mission, if not the legacy of a Christian culture?

Christianity and empire retained their hold on the British imagination even as the Beatles appeared to be saying goodbye to all that. Arguably, they represented a continuation of the British empire by musical means, a late benign outpouring of imperial energies.

If the Beatles enjoy a special niche in world culture, it is because the generosity of spirit enshrined in their music speaks to people everywhere. Unlike the Brexiteers, they were not just British patriots. They were patriots for humanity.

Neil Berry is author of Articles of Faith: the Story of British Intellectual Journalism. He has written for the New Statesman, the Times Literary Supplement and Arab News

Read the original:

All they needed was love: the Beatles' spirit spoke to us all - Irish Times

Catwalk models for the Comme des Garons mens fashion week spring/summer 2018 collection in Paris. Photograph: Bertrand Guay/AFP/Getty Images

Comme des Garons spring/summer 2018 menswear collection was shown in Paris on Friday evening. This is always a must-see show for the fashion crowd and they were present and correct in the Salle Wagram ballroom, sitting around a square catwalk.

But the Japanese label, designed by Rei Kawakubo, is now also on the mainstream radar. Kawakubo is the subject of Art of the In-Between, this years exhibition at New Yorks Costume Institute, which hosts the Met Ball in May. The Met Ball is now familiar as a razzle-dazzle evening with an alpha guest list and celebrity hedonism as standard. It appeared that Kawakubo, a sphinx-like figure rarely seen at a fashion opening, had been inspired by attending one of the biggest parties of the year: this Paris collection was one for after dark. The music was fit for a rave, and circles of coloured light were projected on to the catwalk. The models danced in groups and some even smiled. This was in contrast to typical shows for the label more often sedate affairs with models walking slowly down the catwalk.

Models had their hair slicked down, as if sweaty from a night in a warehouse. Their clothes looked appropriate for all-night dancing. Most wore wide-legged shorts, trainers and suit jackets. These had patches of different fabric sewn to them, including neon faux fur, as well as pieces of pinstripe. Several outfits featured pastel sequins on jackets and shorts, a winning combination even beyond the dance floor. The final looks were more unsettling, featuring jackets with parts of dolls sewn into the back.

One of the most upbeat collections from Kawakubo in the past few years, it was greeted by extended applause from the audience. Kawakubo, who chooses not to bow after her show, was nowhere to be seen.

Film director and writer John Waters, who once took part in a Comme des Garons show, has said the the clothes are integral to a look he described as disaster at the dry cleaners. The brand is, however, a commercial success with an annual revenue of 219.97m. While it may be the likes of Waters and friends who buy the catwalk collections, many more invest in perfumes, wallets classic shirts and T-shirts. The association with one of fashions genuine visionaries is what they are buying into.

The Art of the In-Between exhibition explores Kawakubos avant garde take on fashion. With more than 150 designs, it was themed around diametrically opposed ideas absence/presence, high/low, object/subject. But fashion/antifashion is perhaps the one that remains the most fitting. Comme des Garons remains a label able to do both.

Read the rest here:

Comme des Garons' spring collection designed for a warehouse rave - The Guardian

about 8 hours ago Updated: about 7 hours ago

Glastonbury: Jeremy Corbyn is due to appear on Saturday afternoon, opening for the outspoken hip-hop duo Run the Jewels. Photograph: Yui Mok/PA Wire

The chorus started at 10pm on Thursday in the dark sweaty depths of the Glastonbury silent disco. Just a low rumbling at first, it built into a loud roar with hundreds of festivalgoers singing, at the tops of their voices: Oh . . . Je-rem-y Cor-byn.

Glastonbury this year may boast appearances from the biggest acts in the world, Ed Sheeran and Radiohead among them, but judging by the T-shirts, flags and impromptu musical outbursts, the man of the hour is the Labour partys 68-year-old leader.

Corbyn is due to make an appearance at the festival on Saturday afternoon, opening for the outspoken hip-hop duo Run the Jewels. It is in a stark contrast to last year, when the politician was forced to cancel a Glastonbury speech after the result of the EU referendum and questions about his future as party leader.

Heather Cuss, a 33-year-old from south London, said: Theres always a community atmosphere at Glastonbury, but this year its definitely all about Jezza. Weve seen musicians playing with Corbyn necklaces, and everywhere you walk you hear people break out into Jeremy Corbyn chants. Even bands from abroad have been giving him a shout-out, as theyve clearly heard everyone going, Jeremy Corbyn, Jeremy Corbyn, and theyre joining in.

In the dance area Shangri-La on Thursday, the New York brass band were leading the crowds in the Oh, Jeremy Corbyn chant, and the giant sand sculpture near the Park Stage was of Corbyn riding on the back of a fox and chasing Theresa May through fields of wheat.

The political antics continued into Friday, when a man dressed as May in a full red suit and wig was chased through the crowd at the bandstand by eight foxes, to riotous cheers.

Im not Corbyns biggest fan, but hes become this celebrity icon here, said Lizzie Gibney, another 33-year-old, who said that despite her doubts about Corbyn as a leader, she had been heartened by how he had revitalised the youth vote. Getting out the young vote was an incredible achievement, and energising that group of people who hadnt been targeted by politicians before, and thats what you really feel being here. Corbyn fever is genuinely everywhere you go.

Olly, a 24-year-old, was one of the many festivalgoers at Worthy Farm, near Pilton in Somerset, sporting a Corbyn T-shirt. Im wearing it because Corbyn has put Labour back to where it should have been, he said. Im definitely going to see him talk and will probably do some chanting too.

Indeed, it seems that this year politicians are the new rock stars. The former shadow chancellor Ed Balls, enjoying his first Glastonbury, was stopped for selfies every five minutes as he walked around Shangri-La and was met with shrieks of delight and songs everywhere he went, to the bemusement of his wife, Yvette Cooper, who hasnt been to Glastonbury for 30 years.

Andrew Myors, who is 30, and Matt Foncette, who is 32, said they had been among those singing the Corbyn when one of the DJs played The White Stripes track Seven Nation Army the backing music for the chant and the whole field erupted into song.

Coming here, you realise how much of a phenomenon Corbyn is, said Myors. And it isnt just one type of person whos here and joining in these songs: hes united all these people who come to Glastonbury to watch completely different genres of music. And its such a different vibe from last year. I definitely dont think there were many people singing woop Brexit chants at Shangri La.

With the recent terror attacks and political uncertainty after the UK general election, the mood at Glastonbury was one of defiance and that, while the world outside the festival walls might be crumbling, the spirit of community and hedonism would not be tainted.

Sixty-two-year-old Lesley Wright and 54-year-old Shan Shanahan, who have been friends for 15 years and live in the same village in south Wales, were at Glastonbury for the first time, with Wrights husband, who uses an electric wheelchair. The festival, they said, had always been on their bucket list.

Ive been so overwhelmed by the spirit of this festival, its definitely something the world needs right now, said Wright. All coming together as a community, and speaking as one. Its all ages, everybody is here, its amazing. With everything thats going on, we should be coming together like this more than ever.

Coming here with somebody with a disability is a feat in itself, but I will tell you something: the facilities are amazing. Were just going to go with the flow, just go and see whos giving the good vibe.

Guardian

Read the original post:

Corbyn chants, T-shirts and sculptures: Jeremania hits Glastonbury - Irish Times

Hopeful Thinking by Wil Darcangelo

To what end, pleasure? Is there vibration to joy? If we could see ecstasy how would we employ it?

Pretend you had a button that, when pressed, made all the colors around you more vibrant. Dispense with the question of whether the environment itself is changing or merely your perception of it. It doesn't matter. How do you feel as the colors become deeper at your command? How do those two facts combine? Both the improvement in the landscape entangled with the power to command it. It would be a rush, yes?

Would you hold down the button all day? What of your poor button finger? When does happiness become indulgence? Who defines moderation? "An it harme none, so mote it be," the old Wiccan Rede says. So long as no harm comes, do as you will. It sounds like permission to do anything you want -- just don't hurt anybody or break anything.

But that's when it gets complicated. Should you be gay if it "hurts" your grandmother? Should you eat an entire box of Ding Dongs? Should you abuse the purpose of drugs because it doesn't hurt anyone else? Should you pursue your dreams even when they are not shared?

How do we recognize when someone else's happiness is dependent upon our misery? Pleasure, satisfaction and joy are worthwhile, sacred pursuits. They are the very reason we exist. Our free will gives us the platform to explore every pathway to happiness available. Including the ones that trick us. Yet those are the ones from whom we learn the most.

We place a disproportionate amount of judgment upon the pleasure others experience. We question their motivation and their dedication. We question their faith. We deem them selfish and ungodly. Hedonists. The word hedonism literally means pleasure-ism. The ideology of self-gratification as a life practice. A word created in the early 19th century so that philosophers could debate the ethics of pleasure.

The word has also taken an additional, more pleasant definition. Hedonism is also an ethical system of belief where pleasure is in the interest of the highest good. That's where the good stuff is. It is the intersection of pleasure and ethics. The old Wiccan Rede again. Perhaps it is good to indulge. Perhaps we draw the line too far and pinch ourselves off from the flow of life. How much joy do we push away?

We have interpreted our scriptures to mean that only God should give us joy. But there is so much joy in the world. Might there be as many pathways to God as there are licks in an extra large ice cream cone or gasps from an extra long session of lovemaking? We have placed too many restrictions on what is acceptable and beaten ourselves to death with guilt. Indulge, but evaluate.

"An it harme none ..." also refers to yourself. Do not harm yourself. Love life, but be wise. I tell my kids in the Tribe that if you're going to do something stupid, be smart about it. We even put it on a T-shirt. Raise the vibration of this earth with your Joy. Do it on purpose. Think of it like a bell which the entire Universe can hear. Notice other people's happiness! Masha'Allah! And happiness will be drawn to you. For you will be irresistible to it.

Wil Darcangelo, M.Div, is the spiritual coordinator at First Parish Church of Fitchburg and the Director of the Tribe Music Mentorship Project. Email wildarcangelo@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @wildarcangelo. His blog, Hopeful Thinking, can be found at http://www.hopefulthinkingworld.blogspot.com.

The rest is here:

WIL DARCANGELO: Hedonism has its advantages - Sentinel & Enterprise

A local council in Spain has become so fed up with the raucous behavior of drunk British tourists it has published a list of 64 things which are banned.

Authorities in the town of Magaluf, a holiday resort on the island of Majorca which is popular with the package holiday market, have published the list after years of outrageous antics left locals furious.

Oceans of cheap alcohol, scores of sleazy bars, and a plentiful supply of banned drugs have turned this once peaceful place into a haven for young people hell bent on hedonism. Urinating and vomiting in the streets, plus brawling and fighting, have become standard behavior in recent years.

In 2014 an 18-year-old British girl was filmed performing oral sex on 24 men in two minutes at Magaluf bar to win a $5 cocktail.

Under the new guidelines, banned activities include walking around topless, having sex in a public place and, bizarrely, climbing trees.

Fines of up to 3,000 euros will be levied on anyone caught in the act as local businesses say they want Magaluf to be more family friendly to improve its appalling image.

The rules were drawn up last October and will be imposed for the first time this summer. An increased police presence will help to enforce them. Magaluf is visited by about 1 million Britons a year.

The 64 rules are: 1 Not arguing or fighting in public places 2 No abusive language 3 Respect others 4 Dont damage street furniture 5 Co-operate with the police or officials 6 Respect tourist facilities 7 Dont cause any interference to public events 8 Dont give false information about your identity 9 Dont carry any sort of prohibited weapon 10 Dont disrespect police officers 11 No shining of laser beams 12 Respect any physical barriers put in place by the police 13 Event organizers to guarantee peoples safety 14 Bar and cafe owners have to ensure good order 15 They mustnt serve anyone already drunk 16 And not to anyone under 18 17 Never serve drink or food to consume on the street 18 Stop customers going out in the street with glasses or bottles 19 Dont damage litter bins, statues, parks, gardens and so on 20 Forbidden to rip off branches from trees 21 Mustnt carve names or initials into the bark 22 Dont climb trees 23 Dont throw litter into the road 24 Mustnt damage flowers in parks 25 Dont cause discomfort to others with skateboards or balls 26 No defecating, urinating or spitting in public places 27 Dont throw down chewing gum, cigarette butts, cans, papers, containers etc 28 Interfere with street lighting 29 Ban on any type of graffiti 30 No scratching surfaces 31 Public event organizers must ensure proper conduct of guests 32 Adhere to safety rules on the beaches 33 Dont swim when red flag flying 34 Or bathe anywhere it is prohibited 35 Wash any sort of item or garment under the beach showers 36 Leave jars, buckets or containers under them 37 Drink directly from the showers 38 Absolutely forbidden to have sexual relations in a public place or anywhere visible from public places 39 No begging 40 No collecting money for sand castles unless structures are approved by council

41 Any activity which might cause obstruction on public highway or interfere with other peoples mobility 42 No begging in the street 43 No authorized services in the public space, such as tarot, clairvoyance, massages or tattoos. 44 No tipping off anyone about the presence of the police 45 Comply with noise limits ie with music on the beach 46 Dont drink alcoholic beverages in public spaces when it may cause discomfort to people who use the public space and in living locally (unless at a previously authorized event). 47 Dont drink alcohol if it is going to harm the peacefulness of an area or lead to drunkenness. 48 Or if drinking alcohol is done in a demeaning way which would upset other people 49 Or if there are children around. 50 Behave at organised events or it is the duty of the organizer to call the police. 51 Put drink containers into bins 52 Dont throw down bottles or cans etc on the street 53 Bottle parties in the street in public places are banned 54 Respect the right of people to rest, especially between 8pm and 8am 55 No taking away drinks, whatever containers they are in, to have in the street. Owners should have warning signs in various languages, including English 56 Commercial establishments cant sell alcohol between midnight and 8am 57 Illegal to take drugs or other substances in public places 58 Forbidden to go naked or semi-naked in the street 59 Must wear tops ie no bare chests in public places away from the beach 60 Forbidden to use any glass vessel or glass in the sand and adjacent areas 61 Cant use soap or gel under the public showers 62 No balconing (jumping from a balcony into a swimming pool) 63 Dont coerce others to do balconing 64 No gambling in the street

Read more:

Spanish Party Town Publishes 64 Rules to Stop Hedonism of Drunk Tourists - Heat Street

The touring production now at the Paramount in Seattle reels you in with its classic mix of jaunty numbers at the Weimar-era Kit Kat Klub and foreshadowing of the terror to come.

There arent many moments in musical theater that stick in your craw like the rug-pulling finish of If You Could See Her from Cabaret, in which a playful tune about a romance with a gorilla turns suddenly poisonous.

The John Kander and Fred Ebb musical, with a book by Joe Masteroff that traces back to a Christopher Isherwood novel, has the ability like no other to follow a shot of razzle-dazzle with a deeply discomfiting chaser.

The latest national tour, now on stage at the Paramount, is proof enough. At a recent performance, laughs and applause had a way of dissolving into uneasy quiet as the shows depictions of fascism and hate revealed themselves, smuggled in discreetly under cover of hedonistic decadence.

by John Kander, Fred Ebb and Joe Masteroff. Through June 25, Paramount Theatre, Seattle; tickets from $30 (800-745-3000 or stgpresents.org).

This production by Roundabout Theatre Company (last seen in Seattle with an effervescent tour of Anything Goes at the 5th in 2013) brings to the stage Sam Mendes and Rob Marshalls 2014 Broadway revival, a re-creation of their 1998 Broadway revival, which was, in turn, based on Mendes 1993 London production.

So yeah, this Cabaret has been around.

Why shouldnt it stick around? Its got the goods, reeling you in from the first strains of Willkommen, set inside the never-ending party of the Kit Kat Klub in Weimar-era Berlin. Were welcomed by the Emcee (Jon Peterson), whose leering naughtiness is matched by the dancers around him. (Peterson keeps upping the ante, going right up to the edge of too self-aware of his giggly kinkiness.)

This is the kind of place where sexual adventures of all kinds can help shut out the horrors of the surrounding world until, of course, they cant anymore.

Its also the meeting place for Sally Bowles (Leigh Ann Larkin, whose tremendous voice covers for some over-emoted line readings) and Cliff Bradshaw (Benjamin Eakeley, appropriately Boy-Scout-stiff).

Shes an unsuccessful British singer and hes an unsuccessful American novelist, and together, they engage in a bit of amour fou while the world still allows them to. (Cliff is portrayed differently in different stagings; here, he seems to be openly, if a bit reluctantly, bisexual.)

Also playing out: A more sensible but similarly fated romance between Cliffs landlady, Frulein Schneider (Mary Gordon Murray) and Jewish fruit dealer Herr Schultz (Scott Robertson).

Like most revivals of Cabaret, this one has a score that cuts some original numbers and incorporates some from Bob Fosses stellar film adaptation. Good thing Larkins raucous Mein Herr and plaintive Maybe This Time are standouts.

Even in scenes outside the nightclub, Mendes and Marshall ensure its presence is felt, with Petersons ever-watchful Emcee eyeing the proceedings, often perched atop an upper level that houses the band (many doing double duty as members of the ensemble).

The encroaching threat of Nazism is communicated overtly in Masteroffs book and in Marshalls choreography, like when a chorus kick line seamlessly transitions into a goose step.

But even more potent is the sudden awareness that those previously jaunty club numbers have been drained of any sense of carefree fun, with lighting and costume shifts to match.

By the time Sally reaches the shows titular song, the lurid flashbulb lighting has gone out, replaced with just a single spot on a minimally adorned Larkin.

Life is a cabaret, old chum is a lyric with enough irony baked in that it doesnt require the blunt visual rejoinder, but the strategy is plenty effective just the same.

That also goes for a finale that employs concentration-camp imagery and a thundering wall of sound to hammer home one more moment of unease and a crystal-clear message.

The partys over.

Link:

Review: True to the original, 'Cabaret' revival trades in hedonism, horror - Seattle Times

In the summer of 2013, I hadnt yet been kissed or gotten drunk, I could count the friends I had on one hand with several fingers to spare, and I spent most of my time visiting my beloved grandpa in hospital. But whilst my reality was filled with NHS wards, tea from paper cups and religiously completed Times crossword puzzles, my imaginary life was lines of coke off a dashboard, sitting in the lap of a sugar daddy, Californian sunsets, gambling and sweeps of silky straight hair. I had discovered Lana Del Rey, and she was giving me the gift that she continues to reliably provide: the summer you would have, were your moral standards and instinct for self-preservation several notches lower, if you had never heard of feminism and if, crucially, her brand of honey-glazed hedonism could actually exist as a reality.

Sceptics will say that Lana Del Rey produces the same album every two years, and fans agree, yet continue to glug it down like the Diet Mountain Dew she immortalises in Born To Die: it may not be nourishing or good for you, but its teeth-rotting sweetness cannot be resisted. She cherry-picks motifs from hip hop and rock, siphoning off the best of superficial cool from both genres to feed her persona. Breathy, slow vocals, building over rich soundscapes, sing of manicured degeneracy where Rey again and again stars as the wronged heroine, devoted only to her bad-boy lover and the wild American road. She presents the 18-rated version of a Disney story, as she plays the role of the adored princess. Although she has candy necklaces sticking to the skin instead of a tiara, and her Prince Charming arrives on a motorbike rather than a white horse, the fantasy of feminine passivity lives on. If I get a little prettier can I be your baby?; I can be your china doll if you want to see me fall; Im your jazz singer and youre my cult leader: Beyonces Flawless is certainly not playing on Reys speakers on the beach, as she instead decides to hark back to an age where womens liberation was as far off as heathaze over the sea, and similarly impalpable.

Related Preview: Accidental Death of an Anarchist

However, even as a seasoned, strident Angry Feminist, I cannot drag myself away from her mythic world, where submission is glamour and pain is beauty. In the long, indulgent, spoken-word piece of the Ride video, Rey proclaims I believe in the country America used to be. As problematic and rage-inducing as this isremember segregation, Lana? Where does that fit into your rose-tinted view of the past?what she really means is, I believe in the country America never was. It is a hand-clapping, I do believe in fairies, I do, I do moment, as her will to live in this romanticised American dream creates and keeps alive a version of it in her music.

She is the master of creating a fantasy, as vivid settings spring into life from a few choice words: Glass room, perfume, cognac, lilac fumes creates the heady casino of Off to the Races, whilst blue hydrangeas, cold cash divine, cashmere, cologne and white sunshine conjures a picket-fenced, Gatsbyesque mansion for Old Money.

This talent for visuals comes across in her distinctive aesthetic. Her fashion is predominately 1960s prom queen, but with an edge of trailer-park princess. Gucci shoes encrusted with lacquer cherries will be downplayed by loose cotton dresses, the leather jackets and band t-shirts may be Chanel and Yves St Laurent, but whos to know she didnt pick them up from WalMartthe key is making her low-fi, lazy summer vibe seem effortless. Instagram videos seem to capture moments when she is off-guard, singing along to her own music in the car or simply blinking languidly, listening to Joni Mitchell: the implication is that she drives to the shops in extravagant old Hollywood fake eyelashes, and never snaps out of moody, melancholic nostalgia. On winning the Brit Award for International Solo Artist in 2013, she used her acceptance speech to thank her managers and her label for helping her turn her life into a work of art, and it does seem as if her every move consolidates the image of herself presented in her songs: if there are edges to her persona, they are safely out of public sight.

Related Kate is no oil painting

In a recent interview for Elle, Rey ominously claimed that her new album would be more political. That, combined with a recent Instagram speech about North Korea, suggests that she might be finally waking from her opiated dreams and dipping a tentative, kitten-heeled toe into the real world. I cant help but be suspicious of the prospectas the world rolls to hell in a handcart, she provides a much needed summer holiday from real life.

See the original post:

Honey-glazed, hedonistic, and hyper-real - Cherwell Online