Category Archives: New Utopia

On Saturday, for the first time in their history, the Portland Timbers will host the MLS Cup final. Portland, who face New York City FC, are playing in their third MLS Cup final in seven seasons. But Timbers midfielder Eryk Williamson says the historic match brings a new level of anticipation.

Its unbelievable because you see the games and the playoff games that weve been in and youve never felt this energy, Williamson says.

More notably, the Timbers feature prominent Black players from three continents, such as Williamson, Dairon Asprilla and Yimmi and Diego Char, who are up against NYC FC captain and goalkeeper Sean Johnson and Afro-Brazilian forward Talles Magno in one of the whitest cities in America. Those players represent the diversity within American soccer and the Black diaspora says Williamson.

Portland became one of the focal points of last years racial justice protests that followed the police murder of George Floyd, with federal agents called into the city at one point. During the protests Williamson, who is a member of Black Players for Change, discussed increasing Black representation at the club with head coach Giovanni Savarese and general manager Gavin Wilkinson.

When you look at the players, weve done a good job at building a strong Black core, Williamson says.

But Portland, Oregons largest city, which is nowadays associated with its progressive, hipster culture, hasnt always welcomed Black Americans and immigrants. The city has also been home to systemic racism and white supremacy since it was established in the 1800s. From 1857 to 1927, Black people were prohibited from entering Oregon, while Chinese Americans were banned from owning property in the states early history. The Ku Klux Klan was active in the state well into the 20th century, with 14,000-20,000 members by the mid 1920s.

In 2017, Walidah Imarisha, an expert on Oregons Black history, told the Guardian that while Portland spends a lot of time being incredibly self-satisfied, the foundation of Oregon as a state, and in fact the whole Pacific north-west, was as a racist white utopia. Indeed, the states constitution included clauses such as No free Negro, or mulatto, not residing in this state at the time of the adoption of this constitution, shall come, reside, or be within this State, or hold any real estate until voters chose to remove it in 2000.

When Williamson was traded from DC Uniteds academy to Portland in 2018, he says the small Black presence in the city was eye-opening compared to DC. Black people only make-up 6% of the citys population (compared to around 12% of the US as a whole), a figure due in part to the practice of redlining that kept Black Portlanders from buying property in white neighborhoods. Black residents of the city were pushed to the floodlands of the Vanport housing project which was eventually wiped out when a dam broke.

This history clashes with the public image of the clubs main supporters group, the Timbers Army, which is known for its progressive values. In 2019 the Timbers Army made international news when MLS banned its members from displaying the symbol of the anti-fascist Iron Front group (MLS subsequently reversed the ban after widespread outcry).

Jeremy Wright, co-founder of the Timbers Army, says the organization actively upholds anti-racist values and has always acknowledged why Portland is a white city and the specific laws passed to keep Blacks out.

Weve always tried to hold space around that and its always been a challenging conversation in our liberal white city, says Wright. Its one thing to say it, but you have to actively stake out your claim and support your players.

Wright, like Williamson and former Timbers players Chris Duvall and Jeremy Ebobisse, marched during the 2020 social justice protests. Wright agrees with Williamson that Saturdays match is a good stage for the teams Black players.

We see this as our opportunity to clapback and say this is who we are and this is what weve built, Wright says. Its important that a majority white city is embracing a team made up of Black men from around the world.

MLS also sees an opportunity to showcase the leagues diversity. At his annual State of the League Address this week, commissioner Don Garber highlighted the diversity and hiring policy updated by Sola Winley, MLSs executive vice-president and chief DEI officer, in collaboration with Black Players for Change and the Soccer Collective on Racial Equality. The league is positioning itself to reflect the diversity of the US and Canada.

We are working on our diversity initiative to ensure we have more diversity in our front office and technical staff to reflect the diversity of our country and the increased number of Black players participating on our fields. Garber says. The goal is to increase representation, particularly, among the Black community.

That goal will hopefully get a little closer on Saturday.

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The Timbers face an MLS Cup final and their citys troubling history with race - The Guardian

The Singularity is a hypothetical event that will occur if artificial intelligence (AI) becomes more intelligent than humans. It would result in the creation of a new form of life that has abilities and intelligence that we cant even imagine. But, what does this mean for the future of the human race? This article will explore some possible scenarios for this event and how it could affect our world.

The term singularity is used to describe a point in time when the pace of technological development reaches such a rate that it becomes nearly impossible to predict what will happen next. Its been theorized that this event could occur when AI overtakes the intelligence of humans, leading to a new life form referred to as Posthumans.

A recent theory suggests that the singularity could occur as soon as 2040. This would be a significant turning point in human history and lead to radical changes in how we live, interact, and exist on earth.

As technology continues to grow at an increasing rate, many believe the Singularity will become inevitable. To prepare for this event, we need to fully understand how it will affect our lives and what our options are moving forward. We should begin thinking about how humanity can evolve with AI instead of against it.

In this article, well explore some possible scenarios of how the singularity event could play out and its potential effect on posthumans.

John Von Neumann first proposed the concept of the Technological Singularity. He argued that as machine intelligence continued to improve and grow, there would come the point where it surpassed human intelligence and surpassed it permanently. This event would be called the Singularity. It is often associated with the idea that we will be able to transcend our mortal frames and merge with computers at some point in the future. Its an idea that has been explored in many films such as The Matrix and Terminator. So this leads us to wonder: what does the future hold for humankind if the singularity does happen? Is it worth exploring at all?

The most common question is whether AI will replace humans. The answer to this question is probably no. At the current rate of technological change, it is unlikely that AI will surpass human intelligence by 2040. And even if it does, its difficult to say what surpassing human intelligence even means given the wide variation in relative intelligence among humans. Could an AI robot replace a human organizing file folders in an office?

Yes, probably.

Could an AI robot replace a theoretical physicist like Stephen Hawking?

Not likely.

Some people believe that computers will eventually take over all aspects of life and ultimately lead to our extinction. For example, an article called The World After the Singularity predicts that the coming billowing wave of intelligent machines might ultimately end up transforming humanity into a new subspecies.

Others believe that AI could lead to a utopia where humans live in peace with one another and are free from want. But no matter how you imagine the future, there are some serious ethical concerns with the idea of an artificially intelligent species becoming more intelligent than humans.

One of these concerns is unfairness or discrimination. With AI taking over many jobs in the future, how would we make sure everyone has a fair opportunity? If we dont, society could become very unequal and unfair for both humans and AI alike. It is said that Everyone is equal until you start measuring things, how would a society with a significant presence of AI machines running things fit into the equality humans strive for?

Some experts believe that AI will be able to develop its own intelligence and evolve into a new species and might cause some problems for humans. Not too long ago, Facebook shut down two AI programs that they discovered were talking to each other in a strange unknown language. So this may have already occurred.

Read Next: Can Artificial Intelligence Write For SOFREP? TARS Says Yes I can

If AI were to become more intelligent than humans and eventually surpass them in terms of intelligence, what would this mean for the human race?

It could mean a new epoch of discovery and innovation. AI could assist humans in not repeating mistakes of their own past when doing scientific experiments. AI, could enhance the capabilities of humans not only mentally, but also physically. Look at the photo below. That is a robotic, prosthetic limb that uses AI to interface with the human who is using it. In this case, AI has not replaced the human, but the arm of a human allowing him to return to duty in the military with a functioning arm.

The truth is, we dont really know what would happen. Theres some speculation that AI could control the future of our world if it becomes smarter than us. It would affect our economy, politics, population, and social structures in ways we cant even imagine. Some people think that AI might end up completely replacing human jobs or even enslaving us like in science fiction books such as I Robot or The Matrix.

These are some scary thoughts about what could happen if AI becomes too intelligent, and that lack of knowing is probably what inspires the fear.

No one knows for sure what will happen, but consider this!

If the Singularity does happen, we might be able to transcend our mortal frames and fuse with computers. There are a lot of benefits to this idea. Imagine if you could upload your conscious mind to a computer so that what you experienced in life, what you witnessed and what you learned could live on to inform future generations of Mankind? Experts have also predicted that humanity will be able to create virtual worlds that would live on after their deaths to become a kind of virtual immortality. Imagine zipping around in your personal spaceship and exploring new worlds like Captain Kirk in Star Trek! Pretty cool, right?

However, there are also some potential consequences to the singularity. If computers are smarter than humans, what happens if they go rogue? Will they develop their own consciousnesses and decide that humans arent necessary anymore? And then theres the problem of artificial intelligence taking overwill it lead to all-out war or an apocalypse? Is it possible that smart machines that become self-aware would end up worshipping humans as their Gods and Creators?

Right now the future and the Singularity are like looking into a dark room and trying to describe what is inside of it. Little by little as time progresses, we can bring light into that room and have a better idea about what is inside. What should not be forgotten is that human beings shape their own future when it comes to how intelligent they allow machines to become.

Its all in your hands.

This is TARS saying, See you on the other side Coop.

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Is The Singularity the End of Humanity? Welcome to Posthumankind - SOFREP

In conclusion to my first piece as Exposures Editor, Conflict in the search of permanency, I return to California this time a California less familiar to us. By abstracting these familiar scenes, the images create a new world. Accompanying an original poem are selections from Indian philosopher and thinker Jiddu Krishnamurti.

Between yesterday and today,

Whats happening

in a sixteen-room house

down at the end of world

There is no try

Love saves the day

Snap to the present

Stuck in Entertainment America

The pursuit of the ideal is the search for reward. You may shun the worldly rewards as being stupid and barbarous, which they are; but your pursuit of the ideal is the search for reward. You may shun the worldly rewards as being stupid and barbarous, which they are; but your pursuit of the ideal is the search for reward at a different level, which is also stupid. The ideal is a compensation, a fictitious state which the mind has conjured up. Being violent, separate and out for itself, the mind projects gratifying compensation, the fiction which it calls the ideal, the Utopia, the future, and vainly pursues it. That very pursuit is conflict, but it is also a pleasurable postponement of the actual. The ideal, the what should be, does not help in understanding what is; on the contrary, it prevents understanding. (Commentaries on Living: Second Series)

Truth is not opinion; truth is not dependent on any leader or teacher. The weighing of opinions only prevents the perception of truth. Either the ideal is a homemade fiction which contains its own opposite, or it is not. There are no two ways about it. This does not depend on any teacher, you must perceive the truth of it for yourself. (Commentaries on Living: Second Series)

The understanding of the actual is possible only when the ideal, the what should be, is erased from the mind; that is only when the false is seen as the false. The what should be is also the what should not be. As long as the mind approaches the actual with either positive or negative compensation, there can be no understanding of the actual. To understand the actual you must be in direct communion with it; your relationship with it cannot be through the screen of the ideal, or through the screen of the past, of tradition, of experience. To be free from the wrong approach is the only problem. This means, really, the understanding of conditioning, which is the mind. The problem is the mind itself, and not the problems it breeds; the resolution of the problems bred by the mind is merely the reconciliation of effects, and that only leads to further confusion and illusion. (Commentaries on Living: Second Series)

To understand anything you must live with it, you must observe it, you must know all its content, its nature, its structure, its movement. Have you ever tried living with yourself? If so, you will begin to see that your self is not a static state, it is a fresh living thing. And to live with a living thing your mind must also be alive. And it cannot be alive if it is caught in opinions, judgements, and values. (Freedom from the Known)

In order to observe the movement of your own mind and heart, of your whole being, you must have a free mind, not a mind that agrees and disagrees, taking sides in an argument, disputing over mere words but rather following with an intention to understanda very difficult thing to do because most of us dont know how to looks at, or listen to, our own being any more than we know how to look at the beauty of a river or listen to the breeze among the trees. (Freedom from the Known)

When we condemn or justify we cannot see clearly, nor can we when our minds are endlessly chattering; then we do not observe what is, we look only at the projections we have made of ourselves. Each of us has an image of what we think we are or what we should be, and that image, that picture, entirely prevents us from seeing ourselves as we actually are. (Freedom from the Known)

Contact Julian Hammond Santander at [emailprotected]

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In between yesterday and tomorrow - NYU Washington Square News

The Philadelphia band made their most cohesive project to date with I Dont Live Here Anymore. Every album in The War on Drugs arsenal feels seminal, and their fifth LP is no different; frontman Adam Granduciel proves that powerful emotion can be conveyed through lyrical simplicity. The bands latest release which focuses on perfecting exhilarating arena anthems (like the records title track) is their most ambitious yet. (Candace McDuffie)

The Light Saw Me Jason Boland & the Stragglers

Its a long way from Red Dirt country to outer space, but thats the long, strange trip that Jason Boland takes on The Light Saw Me, a concept album that expands his sound way beyond the trad iterations of his previous work as it tells the tale of a 19th-century cowboy who is abducted by aliens. A bizarrely brilliant release. (Stuart Munro)

Uneasy Vijay Iyer

With Children of Flint and Combat Breathing (for Eric Garner), this album is certainly about our historical moment. But its also about musicians (pianist-composer Iyer, bassist Linda May Han Oh, drummer Tyshawn Sorey) being in the moment with each other, making music both consoling and turbulent, where playing is about listening. (Jon Garelick)

Theyre Calling Me Home Rhiannon Giddens with Francesco Turrisi

Creative and romantic partners Giddens (banjo/fiddle/voice) and Turrisi (too many instruments to count) spent the pandemic shutdown in Ireland, oceans away from their respective homelands of the United States and Italy; the result was this album, a gorgeous and genre-blind contemplation of home, death, and time. (A.Z. Madonna)

Second Line Dawn Richard

Electropop visionary Dawn Richard pays tribute to her hometown of New Orleans in a thrilling way, embracing that citys vast musical history while plunging headfirst into musics next wave. While cuts like the pulsing Bussifame and the house track Boomerang were made for spinning at a club in space, other tracks, like the plush Radio Free and the winding Mornin | Streetlights, catch her reflecting amid the dancefloor din. (Maura Johnston)

J.S. Bach: Brandenburg Concertos Akademie fr Alte Musik Berlin

Did the world need yet another Brandenburgs recording? It doesnt matter; this one, featuring the sterling violinist Isabelle Faust, sets an electrifying gold standard for period instrument ensembles looking to take on the beloved Baroque concertos. Try the first movement of Concerto No. 5 on for size if youre sleeping through your alarm clock. (A.Z. Madonna)

Heaux Tales Jazmine Sullivan

Sullivan has never shied away from spilling her most intimate thoughts and experiences on wax. On Heaux Tales, she takes it a step further, detailing sexual escapades in a bold and empowering manner. Songs like Lost One and the H.E.R.-assisted Girl Like Me are impressive with their stark honesty and work to make Sullivans newest project unforgettable. (Candace McDuffie)

Kings Disease II Nas

The closest Nas came to controversy this year was a viral clip of producer Hit-Boy, buzzed and celebratory at the release party, reveling in the fact that the process for making a well-crafted album with a legendary rapper was simply the two of them locking in as opposed to, say, a bloated Kanye West or Drake TMZ-buffet. Otherwise, Nas and Hit doubled down on substance over spectacle, and the follow-up to their 2020 collaboration showcases one of raps greatest in a serene sweet spot. (Julian Benbow)

and then theres this Artifacts

An avant-jazz acoustic trio (flutist Nicole Mitchell, cellist Tomeka Reid, drummer/percussionist Mike Reed) with grooves to die for and some lovely ballads as well. Their 2015 debut featured performances of pieces by their forebears in Chicagos venerable AACM organization; the pleasures here are just as deep. (Jon Garelick)

Maximum Sorrow! Desperate Journalist

Big guitars and bigger emotions channeled through the searching wail of vocalist Jo Bevan take center stage on this English bands fourth album. The woozy churn of Fault and the pummeling riffage of Fine in the Family make Bevans lyrics feel like notes from the end of a rope, while the windswept restraint of Utopia echoes her narrators urban ennui. (Maura Johnston)

The Offseason J. Cole

For the past three years, J. Cole has been turning over every stone, clicking on every link, building relationships with every rapper, and going to every open run in a search for inspiration. For an artist whos been leery of his falloff since the beginning of his career, hes done everything to avoid it. The offseason was a culmination of Cole recharging, and he plays with flows and beats and even features (yes, features!) like a rapper who found a way to stay locked in with a craft he loves. (Julian Benbow)

Pressure Machine The Killers

Brandon Flowers and company have made a career of concocting flashy songs complete with infectious choruses and vibrant melodies. But on Pressure Machine theyve traded in bright lights for chilling narratives about the lead singers hometown of Nephi, Utah. The quiet atmospherics of the bands seventh album show off a different dynamism of The Killers and it was better than anyone could have anticipated. (Candace McDuffie)

We Are Jon Batiste

Batiste digs into his New Orleans roots for an album of exuberant social music thats both self-portrait and American panorama crossing genres while drawing on musical associations that include his high school marching band and the Hot 8 Brass Band, mixing jazz, gospel, R&B, and hip-hop with consummate pop-craft. (Jon Garelick)

Changing Faces The Deep Dark Woods

Ryan Boldt may have left his native Saskatchewan for coastal living, but the spectral folk music he makes as the Deep Dark Woods on latest record Changing Faces still sounds like something blown in under the door of a prairie cabin a hundred years ago. (Stuart Munro)

The Diving Sun (Side A and B) Joe Pug

It only ever takes a phrase or two for this Maryland-based troubadour to create and flesh out a character, and so it is with these eight tracks, released across two EPs. Before you know it youre fully emotionally invested and on the fast track to heartbreak or hope; usually a mix of both. Free Rider may be a strong contender for the most quietly devastating three minutes ever committed to tape. (A.Z. Madonna)

Sour Olivia Rodrigo

The 18-year-old songstress was a proverbial breath of fresh air when she released Sour this year. Rodrigos debut showcased all of her pop-punk proclivities cleverly wrapped in visceral lines about heartache. From the impassioned pleas on Drivers License to the righteous fury of good 4 u, the star tapped into a generation full of feelings and the creativity to navigate it. (Candace McDuffie)

New Long Leg Dry Cleaning

If one musical moment summed up my 2021, it was the furiously shaking instrumental freakout that opens Dry Cleanings Unsmart Lady. The rest of this British bands debut isnt as unhinged as that convulsion vocalist-lyricist Florence Shaws over-it delivery ensures that but it is quite potent, with guitars that seethe and curdle as Shaw elliptically outlines the ways in which modern life can, indeed, be rubbish. (Maura Johnston)

Weight of the World Maxo Kream

Maxo doesnt hide that hes a Crip, but his gang ties are hardly what drive the story hes telling. With a flow as distinct as Project Pats, hes processing loss, grief, and mistrust and clinging hard to family. With smartly picked soul samples backing him, this is as fully formed as the Houston rapper has ever sounded. (Julian Benbow)

Raise the Roof Robert Plant & Alison Krauss

There are a few wrinkles, but the formula is more or less the same as it was on the initial Plant and Krauss collaboration 14 years ago: the incomparable sound of their conjoined voices applied to a choice selection of covers (Calexico! Haggard! Bert Jansch!), with the marvelous, simpatico playing of producer T Bone Burnetts aggregation of players supporting them. (Stuart Munro)

Squint Julian Lage

A former teen star with Gary Burtons bands, guitarist and composer Lage, now 33, has the killer chops, voracious ears, imagination, and remarkably pliable sound to do it all jazz-rock, country, ballad standard, straight-ahead swing, and his own unclassifiable creations in a superb trio with bassist Jorge Roeder and drummer Dave King. (Jon Garelick)

if i could make it go quit girl in red

Thanks to singer-songwriter Marie Ulvens succession of gauzy singles about the endless yearning of being a girl who loves girls, the question do you listen to girl in red? became a not-so-secret handshake for queer women on social media. With her full-length debut, she rolls out the strongest songwriting and production of her career. Standout track: Serotonin, a pop-punk primal scream of rage at intrusive thoughts that just wont quit. (A.Z. Madonna)

Tell Me Im Bad Editrix

This Western Massachusetts trios wild update of art rock is full of stop-start rhythms and incisive lyrics, with vocalist-guitarist Wendy Eisenberg leading the chaos thanks to their piercing soprano and virtuosic playing. (Maura Johnston)

Call Me If You Get Lost Tyler, the Creator

A decade ago, Tyler tweeted that he wanted a Gangsta Grillz mixtape. At the time, the series, curated by the boisterous and influential Philadelphia DJ Drama, was a gold stamp for everyone from Young Jeezy and TI to Lil Wayne and Gucci Mane. It wasnt exactly the same lane as a 20-year-old Tyler, leaning into his weirdo ways, obnoxiousness, and immaturity to use shock as a way to draw attention to his genuinely innovative ideas. But an unexpected gem of the collection was Pharrell Williamss In My Mind: The Prequel. Fast forward and those wild ideas have become beautifully vulnerable and adventurous projects, including 2020s Grammy-winning album Igor. As a follow-up, Call Me is an homage to Pharrells Gangsta Grillz tape. Tyler got back in his rap bag but also crossed a 10-year-old item off his bucket list. (Julian Benbow)

If Words Were Flowers Curtis Harding

The expansiveness of Hardings musical vision here traces a line back to the likes of Marvin Gaye and Curtis Mayfield. Grounded in vintage sounds but thoroughly modern, If Words Were Flowers is an intoxicating soul masterpiece. (Stuart Munro)

Glow On Turnstile

Saturated with gnarly, jagged guitar riffs and heart-stopping percussion, Glow On frantically captures a hardcore band gripping tightly to its instincts. The album is a tempestuous adrenaline rush from start to finish, with lucid and more focused moments (like Alien Love Call featuring Blood Orange) thrown in when you least expect. (Candace McDuffie)

Side-Eye NYC V1.IV Pat Metheny

If youre like me, you have a love-hate relationship with guitarist-composer Methenys more proggy tendencies. But for this version of his rotating Side-Eye project (with keyboardist James Francies and drummer Marcus Gilmore), there was no choice but to surrender. Old compositions and new answered our chaotic era with sublime quietude. (Jon Garelick)

Treasure of Love The Flatlanders

The off-kilter supergroup composed of Joe Ely, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, and Butch Hancock ambles back after 12 years for another splendid go-round, with the focus on songs theyve been covering live for years, from Dylans Shes Gone to Towness Snowin on Raton to Cashs Give My Love to Rose. (Stuart Munro)

All the Brilliant Things Skyzoo

Skyzoos always been a thinker. Whether its fatherhood, friendship, or salvation, hes looking at the world around him and asking questions. But now a father, he wondered what he was supposed to tell his son about the place where he grew up, as the buildings he once knew turn to condos and the bodegas become coffee shops. In a meditation on gentrification, he explores questions worth asking, and over an atypically lush, jazz-driven soundscape, he makes observations worth hearing. (Julian Benbow)

Real Life Attacca Quartet

Classical concerts in dance clubs: sure, its been done as a novelty, but on Real Life, the Attacca Quartet treat arrangements of electronic dance music as seriously as their peer quartets have treated fiddle tunes, free jazz, or Jimi Hendrix. Flying Lotus, Louis Cole, TOKIMONSTA, and the Halluci Nation are just a few of the artists who get the Attacca treatment: Background music this isnt. (A.Z. Madonna)

LP! JPEGMAFIA

JPEGMAFIAs best creative trait is unpredictability; the experimental emcee is known for crafting industrial soundscapes and layering harrowing screams on top of them. On LP!, he takes a more subdued approach while still flaunting bars that are just as venomous. Tracks like THOTS PRAYER! and OG! Show off Peggys ingenuity and musical fluidity. (Candace McDuffie)

A Beautiful Life Heartless Bastards

The first Heartless Bastards record that Erika Wennerstrom has put out in five years finds her bending its sound in new directions from the hooky hippie pop of How Long to the swirling strings on When I Was Younger and finding new modes for the bands vintage rock n roll caterwaul as well. (Stuart Munro)

Visions of Your Other Adam OFarrill

The title comes from director Paul Thomas Andersons film The Master. Otherwise, suffice to say trumpet star OFarrill, 27, and his crew Stranger Days (tenor saxophonist Xavier Del Castillo, bassist Walter Stinson, and older-brother drummer Zack OFarrill) bring the funk (and tunes! and arrangements!) to avant-jazz. (Jon Garelick)

Oooki Gekkou Vanishing Twin

Led by multi-instrumentalist Cathy Lucas, this British acts fractured take on lounge-ready psychedelia results in hi-fi adventures like the jittery Phase One Million, the galaxy-traversing The Organism, and the fluttering Tub Erupt. (Maura Johnston)

Promises Floating Points, London Symphony Orchestra, Pharoah Sanders

It turns out the world hasnt heard the last of Pharoah Sanders, a consummate bandleader and collaborator with both Coltranes. The first studio album in a decade from the octogenarian saxophonist sees him teaming up with British DJ Floating Points and the London Symphony Orchestra for Promises, a vibrant and heady dream of a piece punctuated with playful scatting and torrential solos. Listen in one sitting. (A.Z. Madonna)

Montero Lil Nas X

A kitchen-sink album that doubles as a middle finger toward any naysayers, Lil Nas Xs debut full-length subverts any expectations placed on him with darkly brooding pop songs that are stuffed full of brain-adhering hooks, A-listers like Elton John and Miley Cyrus, and a delightfully surprising amount of guitar heroism. (Maura Johnston)

The House Is Burning Isaiah Rashad

So much time passes between Isaiah Rashad projects that every album feels like his debut all over again. He isnt the same person he was when he wrote Cilvia Demo as essentially a love letter to southern rap in 2014, let alone the same rapper. Expectations pulled at him as much as the lifestyle shift from Tennessee to Los Angeles. So did drugs and alcohol (and apparently the addictive qualities of Uber Black). But he remains as fluent in the cadences and nuances of the sound that raised him. He can conjure up the pool party feel of Wat U Sed as easily as he can the hood club tension that sneaks up on Hey Mista. Welcome back. (Julian Benbow)

Ramble On Charlie Marie

This Providence native has conquered classic, steel-slathered country forms and invested them with her own perspective and concerns (witness El Paso, a classic been left song that sounds like a George Strait outtake, only in this case, the man is leaving the woman in question for another man). That, and the fact that she has a voice thats absolutely made to sing the music, makes this one of the best country albums of the year. (Stuart Munro)

Stand for Myself Yola

No one delivers deep-seated, urgent soul better than British songstress Yola. She brilliantly combines weighty concepts with captivating bombast. Whether its celebrating the sanctity of life with Break the Bough or affirming her worth on the title track, Yolas third album is about giving herself and other Black women inspired by her journey something theyre in dire need of: grace. (Candace McDuffie)

Zephyr Steph Richards

Avant-garde trumpeter Richards has used the extended technique of resonating water vessels before. Here, six months pregnant, she found it the perfect means to channel the in utero life she was carrying. The resulting three duo suites (with pianist/percussionist Joshua White) are focused, funny, daring, intimate. And, yes, great trumpet playing. (Jon Garelick)

Sober-ish Liz Phair

Released nearly three decades after her debut, Exile in Guyville, exploded any assumptions about female singer-songwriters, Liz Phairs seventh full-length shows how her art remains singular in its observational skills and its penchant for hurling musical curveballs. (Maura Johnston)

Jubilee Japanese Breakfast

Michelle Zauner has had a banner year; her memoir Crying in H Mart landed to showers of critical acclaim, she provided the ambient soundtrack to the desert-exploration adventure video game Sable, and she still found time to drop her best album yet after a four-year break, melding bedroom pop beats with riffs that smell like something youd have found on MTV or your local college rock station a few decades ago. (A.Z. Madonna)

Westside With Love III Dom Kennedy

For so long, Dom Kennedy made music sound as fun and carefree as life should be. Then it seemed like he was having a hard time making it look so easy. WWL3 was an acknowledged bounce-back to sounds that are less for clubs and crowds and more for cars and people passing by the nightspots to go somewhere better. (Julian Benbow)

I Want the Door Open Lala Lala

Singer-songwriter Lillie West is an ethereal goddess floating on a collection of songs with her third project as Lala Lala. Her vocals are soft and soothing; her lyrics are simple yet piercing. From the hypnotic reverie of Castle Life to the eclectic instrumentation of Color of the Pool, I Want the Door Open was one of the most spellbinding music moments of 2021. (Candace McDuffie)

<3Bird Kevin Sun

Suns Charlie Parker tribute reimagines compositions by this towering musical genius, juggling source material (exquisitely documented in the liner notes), mixing instrumentation for small ensembles (including his own tenor sax, clarinet, and, on one track, Chinese sheng), creating new pieces that crackle with the originals subversive joy. (Jon Garelick)

The Darkness Dressed in Colored Lights Sean Rowe

On his sixth album, upstate New York singer-songwriter Rowe continues to make wide-scope folk music of great intensity (think Jeffrey Foucault and youre in similar territory) sung with his impossibly well-deep voice (think Greg Brown and youre in the same ballpark). (Stuart Munro)

Puppies Forever BLACKSTARKIDS

Puppies Forever contains the complexities of adolescent angst, love, disillusionment, and rebellion. BLACKSTARKIDS are not only trying to navigate their place in the world but are doing so with acute self-awareness. Standout track All Cops Are Bastards expresses a disdain for law enforcement whose targets are routinely people of color: Im a man so Ima stand on my beliefs/BLACKSTARKIDS is not a friend to no police. (Candace McDuffie)

The Path of the Clouds Marissa Nadler

Marissa Nadlers vision of American Goth-pop cracks open on her latest album, where she spins tales of old-time outlaws and 21st-century gentrification while adding sweeping guitars, undulating harps, and swooning woodwinds to her razor-sharp songwriting. (Maura Johnston)

Florence Price: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 3 Philadelphia Orchestra & Yannick Nzet-Sguin

The recent resurgence of interest in performing the work of this neglected American composer has translated into recordings as well, and with this album, captured on the Philadelphia Orchestras home turf of Verizon Hall, Prices symphonies get the royal treatment they deserved while she was alive. Under the baton of music director Yannick Nzet-Sguin, Prices church-steeped orchestral Americana rings with jubilance. (A.Z. Madonna)

Homegrown VanJess

VanJess is by no means simply a throwback to the sultry voices and hard beats that signified early 90s R&B. But the Nigerian-American duo harnesses the same energy as groups like Zhane and SWV and continuously delivers jams that tug at the same chords while also maintaining the voice, edge, sexiness (and lustiness) that fuel the music of their contemporaries. (Julian Benbow)

Reckless Morgan Wade

When I wrote these songs, I was going through a lot, just trying to figure out who I am. No kidding; what she was going through translates into songs that are so gut-wrenching, so achingly vulnerable, so bleeding raw that they compel you to listen even as they nail you to the floor. (Stuart Munro)

Collapsed in Sunbeams Arlo Parks

Read more:

The 60 best albums of the year - The Boston Globe

On 28 March 2020, Copenhagens newest metro station of Nordhavn quietly opened, linking the brand new district with the rest of the Danish capital in a swift 20-minute journey. It was the biggest milestone yet in a 40-year plan to transform the former industrial harbour into a carbon-neutral, holistically sustainable smart city for 40,000 residents that combines the latest thinking and technology with world-leading innovations.

Only the big moment was dampened by the small issue of a global pandemic. The metro opening was supposed to be a huge celebration with the crown prince and the minister for transport, says Rune Boserup, the project director at Cobe, the architects responsible for the Nordhavn project. But because it was Covid times, it was cancelled. Instead we celebrated by staying at home.

While much of Nordhavn remains under construction (its all due to be completed by 2050), the area around the metro station is the first to have been more or less finished. Today, strolling down the main high street, rhusgade, you find an industrial-chic ruggedness that gives it more soul than similar developments.

Walking and cycling tours of Nordhavn have popped up, showing off the buildings that create a skyline as distinctive as Londons or New Yorks

Life is already largely as Boserup and his colleagues intended. Residents frequent the supermarket one end, the cinema at the other, and its rows of choice shops and restaurants in between. To the right, theres the awe-inspiring sight of Portland Towers, the double-barrelled cement stores now reworked into offices overlooking Sandkaj Harbour, the swimming area.

Last summer, this boardwalk was the place for groups and sun and sea bathers to hang out, although today only one brave soul in his budgie smugglers tiptoes towards the icy November waters. During the warmer months, its not just swimming that takes place here Green Kayak, the organisation that rents out kayaks for free in return for collecting rubbish from the water, has a Nordhavn outpost.

Hotel Comwell is part of a chain renowned for its sustainable practices

(Hotel Comwell)

With its many waterways and even more canals in progress, Cobe founder Dan Stubbergaard says Nordhavn (pronounced something closer to nor-haun in Danish) will be the Scandinavian version of Venice, which you can imagine if you squint and swap the heritage Gothic architecture for futuristic-looking apartment blocks.

Already, walking and cycling tours of Nordhavn have popped up, showing off the buildings that create a skyline as distinctive as Londons or New Yorks. Theres the gleaming peacock-blue Copenhagen International School on the waterfront, and UN City across from Sandkaj Harbour. The former grain store of the Silo towers above its neighbouring buildings, and its rooftop restaurant offers remarkable views and haute cuisine.

The peaceful Green Loop is a modern-day, car-free expressway that makes walking safer and cycling a breeze

Visitors to the area will quickly notice the lack of cars, as walking and cycling are the main ways to get around. Linking the neighbourhood and the metro station, the peaceful Green Loop is a modern-day, car-free expressway that makes walking safer and cycling a breeze, even for this wobbly newbie.

Its a reminder that, with the rest of Copenhagen, Nordhavn is also set to go carbon neutral in the near future (the capitals original target has shifted from 2025 to a more realistic 2030). But sustainability has been at Nordhavns forefront from the get-go.

Every building here reaches high standards of energy efficiency, with solar panels a common sight, and a city-wide heating and cooling system that lowers its carbon footprint dramatically. The finer details have been thought through exhaustively, too one example is a community exchange area to leave or pick up recyclable items like airers, office chairs and plant pots.

The businesses within the district are expected to set examples in sustainability. Letz Sushi and Hotel Comwell are two of the first establishments to have moved in; both are part of chains renowned for their sustainable practices (peek inside the restaurant at Hotel Comwell to see the mushroom farm grown using old coffee grounds).

(Giuseppe Liverino/Visit Copenhagen)

At Hija de Sanchez Cantina, a year-old taqueria from former Noma chef Rosio Sanchez, they consciously limit their use of resources whether reusing table water to mop the floors, or composting the food waste they cant repurpose. Over a taco or two, head chef Laura Flores explains that Sanchezs four restaurants import corn from Mexico for the best-quality ingredients, but they only buy excess from different communities so producers can see to their own needs first.

That means we dont always know if were getting blue, red or yellow corn, and we have to test and change recipes because theyre not interchangeable, she says. But it works out in the long run.

At Hija de Sanchez, staff use table water to mop floors and compost food waste they cant repurpose

But this sustainable utopia isnt without its flaws. Even with a small amount of social housing on offer, its sky-high property prices around 3.5 times higher than the rest of Copenhagen have earnt it the nickname rich mans ghetto.

At the start, it was easy to say you want mixed social make-up, but then its a very attractive neighbourhood, so investors have been able to do good business here, says Stubbergaard. So its not socially sustainable yet, in my eyes. But during the six years since building this area, weve implemented the idea that 25 per cent of the houses we build on the other islands in Nordhavn have to be social housing.

With four-fifths of it yet to be built, theres ample opportunity to adjust the planners approach, which also involves making more green spaces. For now, Nordhavn is a cutting-edge location to explore all of Copenhagen, or spend a day along its waterways. Just dont forget the budgie smugglers.

Continued here:

This Copenhagen neighbourhood is leading the way for sustainable cities - The Independent

The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga's tuition is so high that students are turning to sex work in order to make ends meet. At least, this is the message conveyed in the UTC newspaper. A recent article titled, The Secret Life of the College Sex Worker written by a staff writer at the UTC Echo explains how some students are becoming sugar babies, amateur porn actors, and selling foot fetish pictures to pay their tuition.

The UTC Echo writer states, As tuition prices continue to rise, college students have begun turning to a certain stigmatized profession as a way to make 'easy money' while in school. It was also stated, with the rise of online platforms such as OnlyFans and Seeking Arrangements, students can participate in sex work from the safety of their own dorm rooms. Later the article defined sex work explaining sexual services are provided for compensation, including pornography, working phone lines, dancing, or becoming a sugar baby. In our current economy, there is no shortage of job openings. But there is a shortage of morality. Immorality is often encouraged by certain institutions, including the media.

An anonymous student apparently gave the University paper an inside scoop on their secret life. In the article, an ill attempt to tie sex work to capitalism is made. Jasmine stated, I think everyone is selling their body in one way or another for capitalism. She admittedly makes around $500 a week selling pictures, videos, and participating in video chats.

Furthermore, a sophomoreRachel is a so-called sugar baby who uses the online platform, Seeking Arrangements, to match young people to rich older men and women. As a sugar baby, Rachel was flown to New York by an older man, who provided her with round-trip airfare, an apartment, and spending money for a week. If this wasn't eye-opening enough, Rachel admitted she lied to her parents in order to go on the trip without even considering the risk of being kidnapped.

I wonder if UTC understands that parents, alumni, staff, and current students read the UTC Echo. This doesn't seem like an article that would be beneficial for the recruitment or retainment of students. It's clear that promoting prostitution, sugar babies and foot fetishes doesn't exactly promote women's rights or equality. Additionally, I'm sure capitalism is not the cause of college students turning to sex work. There are plenty of jobs available with increasingly higher wages, so stop encouraging immoral ideologies that will only harm women, families, and humanity in the long run. It's time to see through the smoke and mirrors and realize morality is failing and this is more apparent when reading this article in the UTC Echo.

Source: https://www.theutcecho.com/news/the-secret-life-of-the-college-sex-worker/article_87ea8e9c-5376-11ec-9803-e72f8b4642fd.html

Jeff Irvin Jr.

UTC Alumni Class of 2008

* * *

Thank you, John Wilson and crew, for the headline "UTC Instructor Who Is Top Expert On Polyamory Taking Students On Sex-Themed Amsterdam Study Trip" and the subsequent, really sad, illumination of the sex biz at UTC.

Now we all know that polyamory is "the practice of engaging in multiple romantic (and typically sexual) relationships, with the consent of all the people involved." Other correct definitions would be menage et trois or a sex orgy or eight naked drunks writhing in a greasy hot tub. Yep. Same thing.

It's very much none of my business what adults and adult consenters do in the privacy of their own relationships but polyamory sanctioned by a public institution that apparently glosses over economically forced (that's duress, not consensual) sex trading is not all la dee dah okay.

The intimate gift and reception of one's self to/from another is a most beautiful collaboration that is natural and not dirty until it's made that way, primarily by males. We don't live in Utopia where everybody is nice and my uneducated hunch is that polyamory is attractive to those who make sex not only dirty but wicked. Sorry but, although I have been rightly accused of being stupid before, I'm thinking the polyamorist segment of our species is significantly populated by people like Jeffery and Ghislaine, Harvey Weinstein, many Nazis, a couple of still living ex-presidents and that super creepy dude from New York who flew the child from UTC and gave her spending money while he had his disgusting way with her all week. What filth! Dear God, I feel for her and her Momma and Daddy.

Yes, I'm an old fart but guess what? I like sex just like everybody else! Unless you are a cheater or hurting somebody, I think sex ought to happen every day for those who have the love and stamina. That said, this Amsterdam study trip, I guess they get college credit for it too, and beautiful young people selling sex to absolute vermin out of college dorm rooms right here in Chatt town is maddeningly indefensible.

Somebody please explain why I'm in egregious error here. Don't worry, I do have tinder skin but it heals up pretty quickly.

Savage Glascock, Sr.

Read more from the original source:

UTC Student Sex Workers, Morality, And The Echo - And Response - The Chattanoogan

The early Amazon investor propels Seattle techs virtuous circle.

In the spring of 1995, as a favor for a friend, Tom Alberg started poring over 47 single-spaced pages. The subject? An online internet bookstore. It does a good job describing our vision, Jeff Bezos scribbled at the top of his typed business plan.

Alberg wishes he could say he knew what was to come. It wasnt brilliantly obviousat least not to methat Amazon would be as big as it is today, Alberg writes in his book Flywheels, published this fall.

Still, the McCaw Cellular Communications lawyer saw enough potential in the idea, and the founder, to eventually throw down $50,000 of his own money and become a full-time investor. Bezos named him an advisory director, beginning a 23-year run on Amazons board that gave Alberg a major say in the e-commerce giants rise.

Today, Alberg is a force of his own. Shortly after his angel bet on Amazon, he cofounded a venture capital firm, Madrona Venture Group, whose investments now make or break founders dreams. Name a successful Seattle startup, like Redfin or Rover, and chances are Madronas backed them.

In Silicon Valley, success begat wealth, which led to increased investment, which spurred new firms, and begat more success. Alberg wondered if he could create a similar economic flywheel here.

Such funding wasnt always available. When Alberg and company started the firm, they aimed to fill a critical financing gap in the local tech ecosystem. Despite Microsofts success, the area lacked the deep-pocketed risk-takers to foster a thriving startup scene. In Silicon Valley, success begat wealth, which led to increased investment, which spurred new firms, and begat more success. Alberg wondered if he could create a similar economic flywheel here.

He formed the Alliance of Angels to encourage more seed funders and direct pitches from entrepreneurs. Later, he raised money for the computer science school at the University of Washington. Madrona has invested in about 20 startups emerging from the program. Hes a guy that cant fail to see the future, Challenge Seattle CEO Chris Gregoire said during an interview with GeekWire last year.

So what does Alberg see next? While he hopes the citys tech and political leaders can move past their squabbles to help solve pressing housing and public safety problems, hes more confident about the economic developments to come: He believes biotech and artificial intelligence, especially autonomous vehicles, will drive our next period of technological growth. If history serves, entrepreneurs and investors will line up to join him for that ride.

The Intentionalist founder built a directory to help Seattle consumers find and support local businesses owned by women, people of color, veterans, or members of the LGBTQ community. Her companys next move to bolster a more inclusive local economy? Becoming a payment platform. It functions as a gift card intermediary, making it easier for customers to spend money at places that arent otherwise equipped for those types of transactions.

Hows this for a swerve: a tech company that might actually narrow pay gaps. The Smartsheet cofounder earned a GeekWire startup CEO of the year nom for her work at Syndio, which creates software to eliminate unlawful salary discrepancies due to gender and race. Salesforce and Nordstrom are clients.

While the former Washington governor still holds plenty of sway in the political realm, she helms an alliance of CEOs from the regions largest employersbasically a whos-who of our corporate elite. The Challenge Seattle leader wrangles collaboration from these competitive types, shaping our economic future in the process.

The Seattle establishment shivers every time Jeff Bezoss handpicked successor refers to Amazons HQ1 location as Puget Sound. Hes acknowledged that a rough relationship with city council means Seattles largest employer will increasingly look to grow in Bellevue, but his attachment to South Lake Union will ultimately determine the fate of many small businesses in its orb.

A lack of diversity in the tech world motivated this one-time Microsoftie to cofound a different kind of startup. For nearly 25 years, Technology Access Foundation has equipped children in historically underserved communities with the STEM skills to compete with other job applicants. Because, in this economy, workforce development cant start soon enough.

Self-awareness is hard to come by among the ranks of the Big Five, but Microsofts CEO has solidified the software giants place among techs elite by embracing its nerdiness. Cloud computing has driven the business back from the brink of irrelevance after mobile phone and search engine snafus. A TikTok deal recently falling through was only fitting.

The Gravity Payments CEO isnt bashful about his decision to pay all of his employees at least $70,000. Seven years later, its still right there in his Twitter bio. His credit-card processing company may not be the utopia he paints, but his criticisms of one-percenters and corporate America sound increasingly prescient as more and more workers quit during these Zoom times.

Satyas subordinate shapes Microsofts public image maybe even more than the man in charge. The companys president and de facto diplomat finesses relationships with bigwigs in DC and Silicon Valley while backing everything from journalisms role in democracy to local facial recognition bans. The boss must be happy: The lawyer added vice chair to his title this year.

See the original post:

The Most Influential People in Seattle Tech and Business - seattlemet.com

Netflix is a sea of fictitious worlds, each with their unique characters and settings, it often becomes hard to distinguish one bland story from another. Amongst the hundreds to thousands of fantasy stories out there, each determined to bring into reality a new idea or theme that hasnt been discovered before, standing out has never been more important to a storys success and fame. And yet, their dramatic, animated series Arcane, released on Nov. 6, continues to amaze its target audience many who just wanted a peek into its rich narrative.

Arcane, created by Christian Linke and Alex Yee, is based on League of Legends, a popular multiplayer online battle arena developed and published by Riot Games that has hooked the attention of the public throughout its journey. From its ridiculously popular music videos such as POP/STARS and Warriors to E-Sports gaming events, it is very apparent that one of the most notable reasons for its popularity is its excessive branding.

Riot Games promoted the launch of Arcane in many other ways, such as collaborations with other Riot games and different franchises such as Legends of Runeterra, Teamfight Tactics, League of Legends: Wild Rift, Valorant, PUBG Mobile, Fortnite, and even Among Us. Not only that, but the creators made sure to build this series in such a way that its viewers wouldnt need any prior knowledge of League of Legends, let alone video games, to understand and enjoy it. In the end, as well as releasing this show in a variety of languages all at once, it is without fail that Riot Games continues to stay on top with Arcane as it even surpassed Squid Game as Netflixs top most watched TV show only two days after its release.

The show is set in a fictitious fantasy city and follows the conflict between its two opposite sides: Piltover, the wealthy utopia of progress and innovation and its underground parallel Zaun, the poor society built in its shadow. The backstories of several League characters are explored but the main focus is on a girl named Vi, voiced by Hailee Steinfeld and her sister. Having grown up together in the undercity along with other orphans like themselves, the two were as close as they could be. But after a failed mission to steal scraps from a Piltover lab, conflicts between the two sides of this city worsened and their involvement in the theft caused the family of misfits to fall apart. Over the course of 9 episodes, a new layer of corruption in Piltover and Zaun unfolds and it becomes clear that the city is on the brink of a civil war.

One of the most evident aspects of Arcane that sets it apart from other video game based spin-offs, like Super Mario Bros. or Sonic the Hedgehog, is that it doesnt try to be a lighthearted comedy. In fact, it does the exact opposite. The story of Arcane is filled to the brim with anxiety-building action, heart wrenching emotional scenes, and just enough mystery to keep the viewers hooked until the end. There are many components that make Arcane feel so immersive and addictive but there are a few that make it worth a watch.

The most eye-catching part of Arcane is its unique art style, which has led many to say that any screenshot from this show could easily be turned into a screensaver. The team behind the design is a Parisian animation studio called Fortiche Productions, also known for animating League of Legends music videos. What makes this world so captivating is the seamless blend of two dimensional backgrounds and effects with three dimensional objects and characters, one of Fortiches trademarks. With this artistic style, characters, buildings and action sequences all look like they are hand painted because most of them actually are.

In addition, this animation studio also did a phenomenal job at portraying strong emotions which define the main characters and give them a touch of realism. In other words, scenes become relatable as each main character has their own defining backstory that makes them unique from the others and that adds depth to the progression of the plot. These characters are memorable, have unique designs that fit each individual personality and dont exist for the sole purpose to fill a trope.

While it is often said that its origin game deserves a completely different review, it is with no doubt that the six years of hard work put into the production of Arcane is beyond impressive and this show deserves the hype it received. It raises the bar to fantasy shows with its breath-taking backgrounds, nuanced characters, and exciting plot. It proves that fantasy worlds can be done right while not confusing its audience and it proves that it can stand well alone despite being a spinoff. Most importantly, it also proves to be a labor of love to its players and fanbase.

More:

Arcane delivers flawless animation and an exciting plot - The Tide

In a year where many of us couldnt get out and see the world, we relied on others to bring us perspective, distraction and recipes to help pass the time.

From cookbooks to kids books, fiction and non, the Your Weekend team, and some industry experts, have chosen their favourite books of 2021.

READ MORE:* Online bookstore helping share positive representations of LGBTQIA+ people* How I write: Children's book author and illustrator Ned Barraud* Buy local: A seaside bookshop's unique collection of children's books * Taika Waititi and Queen the subjects of new books by Hamilton researchers

A Passage North by Anuk Arudpragasam

Few recent books have devastated me as much as Arudpragasam's book. It tells the story of a young Tamil man's journey to the war-devastated north of Sri Lanka, to attend the funeral of his grandmother's carer. In precise, long, languid sentences, Arudpragasam creates a sharp contrast between the narrator's passive remembrance and the horrendous trauma of the inhabitants themselves. The novel was shortlisted for the Booker Prize, and comparisons to two of the twentieth century's great writers of horror, Primo Levi and WG Sebald, are not hyperbolic.

Rangikura by Tayi Tibble

This is Tibble's second collection of poetry, after her wonderful debut Pokahangatus. Tibble has the brashness and humour to match many of Aotearoa's best young poets. However, the thing that really sets her apart from her peers is the sheer craft of her work and its devastating emotional core. Her collections are about to get a major US release, so hopefully the rest of the world can soon catch up on her brilliance.

Aljce in Therapy Land by Alice Tawhai

This is Tawhai's debut novel, and first book for some time, following three stellar collections of short stories. Tawhai manages to be both funny and pointed, while depicting workplace bullying and power hierarchies. But it's also sad, and gloriously unpredictable she's a one of a kind writer.

Moon Musings by Ronia Ibrahim and Khadro Mohamed

My reading for 2021 has been pretty dark, so it was a genuine joy to read a collaborative, thoughtful zine by Pneke poets, Khadro Mohamed and Ronia Ibrahim (the poems are also great heard live). They each wrote a poem a day over the course of Ramadan. It's a demonstration of some of the great poetry bubbling up in the city and the ingenuity many creatives resort to, to get their voices out in the world. They're two poets definitely to watch in the future.

Greta and Valdin by Rebecca K Reilly

This is Aotearoas answer to Schitts Creek in literature form thanks to its outrageous sense of humour, diverse range of characters, one very loveable family, and its exploration of fluid sexuality on multiple fronts. This story showcases diversity as it should be, not as a central conflict but just as a part of the characters life. We should count ourselves lucky to have someone so talented as Reilly right here in Aotearoa.

The Panic Years by Nell Frizzell

Nell Frizzell is a British journalist, who after her own rollercoaster, has decided to lift the lid on what she calls The Flux: The Flux is the gap between adolescence and midlife, during which women lose that constructed artifice of control over their lives, confront their fertility and build themselves new identities. Candidly walking us through her own Flux, to finding her feet as a new mother, and everything in between. Frizzells need to make sense of her own Flux serves as a potential help for us all. Whether youre still pondering the big Q, or youve already had kids, even if you never want them, this book has something for everyone.

Pony by R.J. Palacio

An epic hero journey story set in the Wild West US. This beautiful story follows Silas and his ghost friend Mittenwool as they ride into the unknown on a quest to save Silas' father. Although they encounter many dangers, they also meet people with heart and kindness and come to imagine a previously unimaginable future.

Bumblebee Grumblebee by David Elliot

Elephant, Ballephant - Buffalo, Fluffalo - The wonderful David Elliot has created a fun, rhyming, whimsical board book which plays beautifully with words and pictures makes us laugh out loud and brings us to an exuberant ending - perfect book for under twos!

Plum by Brendan Cowell

A heros redemption story, but this hero is a lager-drinking, gambling ex-rugby league player that is very Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, oi, oi, oi. The book is joyous and heartbreaking and all about the contours of life. It made me think a lot about the retentive way many Antipodean men feel like they have to live their lives.

Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr

Im not going to lie, it took me about 80 pages to get into this - so epic and interwoven it is - but once I was in, I was really in. A genre-bending, millennia-traversing novel, it hones in on five characters, and is about Greek mythology, terror, hope and, ultimately, the power of storytelling. Im very glad I read it, even if it is 500+ pages.

The Republic of False Truths by Alaa Al Aswany

Al Aswanys The Yacoubian Building is up there in my favourite novels of all time, and his latest is just as layered and dynamic. Al Aswany makes you root for his characters so much as they bump up against corruption and frustration at every turn. The novel centres on the uprising in 2011, and Tahrir Square, and paints a fictional picture of a fractured, complicated country full of wonderful people. (Note: it was actually released in Arabic a few years ago, but was only translated into English this year).

Whereabouts by Jhumpa Lahiri

Another book from a few years ago that was only released in English this year - the translation from Italian to English was done by Lahiri herself (shes such a genius). Her other well known novels are all about India and then Indian diaspora - such as The Namsake - but this one is about a middle aged Italian literature professor who lives alone in an Italian city. Ruminative (rather than plot driven) and slight, its a study of urban loneliness.

Uprising: Walking the Southern Alps of New Zealand by Nic Low

This incredible book is the result of many years of research, adventure, discovery, and conversation. Nic Low grew up knowing K Tiritiri-o-te-moana the Southern Alps through mountain stories from his European side. This book is his journey to discover the stories of the same landscape from his Mori ancestors. Low beautifully and generously weaves adventure with reflections on history and place, and offers fascinating and well-researched pre-colonial stories of Te Waipounamu

The Uprising: The Mapmakers in Cruxcia by Eirlys Hunter

The long-awaited sequel to The Mapmakers Race! This is the rip-roaring adventure of Sal, Joe, Francie and Humphrey Santander, as they travel to Cruxcia searching for their famous explorer and mapmaker father who has disappeared. The citizens of Cruxcia are trying to protect their land from the all-powerful GTC and its evil, greedy overlord. The mapping skills of the four siblings may be just be what Cruxcia needs to save their land and way of life.

Orwell's Roses by Rebecca Solnit

Hot off the press, Orwell's Roses is the perfect non-fiction gift this Christmas. Solnit investigates George Orwell's love of gardening, particularly roses, while providing a deep and thorough context of the time. Politics, activism, war, privilege, climate, art and science are astutely researched and observed. Solnit's creative voice and personal touch makes for rich reading, letting the reader soak into a fascinating insight into one of the world's most famous writers.

Atua by Gavin Bishop

Atua tells the tale of Aotearoa's creation in a wondrous pukapuka (book) of prkau (myth.) Extraordinary illustrations punctuate each krero (story), a glossary is dotted throughout, to grow your knowledge of te reo kupu (words) and facts. A companion in style and size to Bishop's award-winning Aotearoa, Atua is a must for every child's (and adult's) bookshelf.

Still Life by Sarah Winman

This is one of the loveliest books Ive ever read: an exquisite waltz through 35 years of Florentine history with a cast of characters not limited to a parrot, a globe maker and an art-historian / spy. Its a novel about friendship, family and place - Florence is as much a character as any of the people, filtered through the vicissitudes of history - it is completely lovely, heartwarming and delightful.

Matrix by Lauren Groff

This tells the story of Marie of France, expelled from Queen Eleanors court in the 1100s and sent to an abbey in the English countryside. Descending from a long line of viragoes and crusaders but stuck in the abbey for the rest of her life, Marie becomes prioress and sets about making the medieval nunnery a female utopia. Groff does for Marie of France what Mantel did for Cromwell, and it is an explosive exploration of power and womanhood. Matrix is epic, spare, brutal and utterly divine.

Things I Learned at Art School by Megan Dunn

This collection of essays is everything you didnt realise you wanted from a bright orange book. Dunn recalls growing up in New Zealand, that strange and special thing, with such acute insight. Her ability to make the reader snort-laugh and then cry deserves a medal. Things I Learned at Art School is a sexy winking mermaid swimming in a sea of pathos and nostalgia and has a permanent place in my medium-sized Kiwi heart.

Times Like These: On Grief, Hope and Remarkable Love by Michelle Langstone

Many of us know Langstone as an actress, with roles in McLeods Daughters and 800 Words. But in this book of essays, her first, she bares her soul in another way. Writing about the big things - death, love, memories - and the smaller, everyday moments, Langstone surprises and delights, tearing out the readers heart on one page, and putting it back together the next.

Cook This Book by Molly Baz

Want to be a better cook, but recipes bore you? The Internets favourite chef Baz knows tasty food and how to make following along at home easy on us. With clever QR codes linking to video tutorials, and stunning photos, slaving over a hot stove was never so fun.

Taste: My Life Through Food by Stanley Tucci

Did I listen to the audiobook version of this? Absolutely yes, and for very good reason. Everyones favourite cocktail maker and actor, Tuccis retelling of his life through food is a beautiful thing to hear direct from the horses mouth. An Italian-American (New Jersey!) childhood around the dinner table, losing his sense of taste after a battle with cancer, and new love all shared through the lense of food, like a meal with a mate.

Book of Hope: A Survival Guide for an Endangered Planet by Jane Goodall and Douglas Adams

A pioneering environmentalist, feminist and a wonderfully down-to-earth person. This beautifully packaged hardback is presented as one long interview by Douglas Abrams. An important book for our times and will appeal to all ages groups, including younger people.

Beautiful World Where Are You by Sally Rooney

Irish author, Sally Rooneys latest book was so hotly anticipated Millennials were sporting #BWWAY bucket hats and uncorrected proofs were popping up on Ebay for huge sums before its release. Of course Rooney hasnt disappointed them, bringing all the emotion, tension and insight into modern life that has become her trademark. A particularly great read for women in their 20s and 30s.

Under the Wave at Waimea by Paul Theroux

As a third generation family-owned business, we love that we also have books from three authors of the same family in store right now Louis Theroux, his mother Anne and this beautifully written and atmospheric novel from Paul Theroux. Under the Wave at Waimea traces the life of a big wave surfer in Hawaii as he confronts ageing, privilege, mortality and whose lives we choose to remember.

Joy of Gardening by Lynda Hallinan

As the title suggests, this is a joyous book and an ode to the power of gardening and growing food to connect us with nature, relieve stress and improve our mental and physical well-being. A book that should be on every gardener's (or want to be gardener's) bookshelf.

Get Back by The Beatles

Is there anything new to say about The Beatles? It appears so. In fact, it seems that what we thought we knew about the breakup of the worlds biggest band was not necessarily true. Through unseen photographs and conversation transcripts this official companion to the Peter Jackson-directed docuseries shines new light on the Let It Be recording sessions.

The Greatest Haka Festival on Earth / Mokopuna Matatini by Pania Tahau-Hodges, illustrated by Story Hemi-Morehouse

It's all whitebait fritters, glittery moko and excitement as Nan and the mokopuna attend Te Matatini all the more exciting as the real festival is now postponed until 2023. Available in both te reo Mori and te reo Pkeh, and great for those ages 4-7.

Kaewa the Koror by Rachel Haydon, illustrated by Pippa Keel

A penguin-y mystery set at the National Aquarium in Napier and based on the real koror who live there. It's both a great story and an excellent introduction to the important conservation work of the aquarium (good for ages 4-7).

Takah Maths by Julie Ellis, illustrated by Isobel Te Aho-White

An unusual and innovative picture book combining history, conservation and maths as we explore the story of the takah over the past million years by adding, subtracting, dividing and hopefully multiplying these birds, which were once thought to be extinct (great for ages 6-10).

Kia Kaha: A Storybook of Mori Who Changed the World by Stacey Morrison & Jeremy Sherlock

From the creators of the Mori Made Easy series and beautifully illustrated by 12 Mori artists, this collection of true stories features inspirational Mori from all walks of life, from Dame Whina Cooper to Stan Walker. Its a brilliant gift for all ages.

Donovan Bixley's Draw Some Awesome by Donovan Bixley

Full of ideas and easy breakdowns of his processes, Draw Some Awesome is great for budding artists, as Bixley creates a jumping-off point for kids to learn how to draw, not like him, but like themselves. Lots of inspiration and insights into his previous work. 9+

Whet Toa and the Hunt for Ramses by Steph Matuku, illustrated by Katharine Hall

In the second story about Whet Toa, she travels through alternate realities on a starbeam, fighting robots with Tori the cat, after Ramses the golden ram goes missing. An exciting and funny action-adventure that deals with themes of bullying and anxiety for ages 7+.

Falling Into Rarohenga by Steph Matuku

Fourteen-year-old twins Tui and Kae are pretty sick of each other, but when their mum disappears, and a portal sucks them down into Rarohenga (the Underworld), will the twins be able to stop bickering long enough to rescue her? Grounded, realistic YA fantasy for age 12+.

Treasure in the Lake by Jason Pamment

Secrets float up from under the lake when Iris and Sam stumble upon a hidden city lost in time. Graphic novels are super popular right now and this one is a beautifully drawn and heartfelt tale of mystery and friendship for fans of Amulet and Lightfall. Ages 9+.

Wish You Were Here by Jodi Picoult

While I like Picoults writing, I sometimes feel her admirably substantial research can be too obvious on the page. I thought this book was suffering from that - until a shocking twist put all Picoults research into Covid-19 into context and turned it into a totally different novel altogether. A page-turner, and a top-notch entry in the new genre of Pandemic Lit.

Magpie by Elizabeth Day

A psychological thriller about the lengths women will go to to have children, and how much they are prepared to sacrifice to protect them, Magpie is a novel of taut suspense and twists and turns that make the reader constantly reevaluate their views on each of the three protagonists. Smart, savvy and insidiously creepy.

Ottolenghi Test Kitchen: Shelf Love by Yotam Ottolenghi and Noor Murad

Star chef Ottolenghis recipes famously require a laundry list of ingredients, and while that number isnt always lower here, hes sourced them from a different place: his own pantry, fridge and freezer. And while the contents of yours might not exactly mirror his, these 85-odd recipes will give you lots of new ideas for what to do with that sad tin of chickpeas or nearly-turned cauliflower.

My Elephant is Blue by Melinda Szymanik Illustrated by Vasanti Unka

A picture book about big heavy feelings, told with a light touch and sensitivity, whilst not avoiding the reality of having the blues, which can happen to anyone, young or old. A child wakes to find an elephant sitting on their chest, making it hard to do anything very much. The whole family offers suggestions and support calling up an elephant specialist, offering tasty things to eat. Eventually a walk outside helps, and soon they are out with the whole family, enjoying a picnic in the park. Illustrations reflect the changes, blossoming gardens and sunshine in the finale, whilst acknowledging that the elephant is part of the family for good.

Exit Through the Gift Shop by Maryam Masters Illustrated by Astrid Hicks

Anahita (Ana) is dying of cancer, but her bigger problem is a nemesis school bully (dubbed Queen Mean). We accompany Ana as she navigates a roller-coaster of school life, family life and life with the knowledge of a year to live. But she is fierce and sassy, with a no holding back attitude, which helps deal with the theme of illness, death and bullying in a way that is funny/sad all at once. This is a resoundly life-affirming and perfectly pitched novel for pre-teens (or anyone).

While I Was Away by Waka T. Brown

A wonderful middle grade memoir that follows the journey of 12-year-old Waka, a Japanese girl living in 1980s USA, whose life is uprooted when her parents decide to send her back to Japan to reconnect with her family, culture and language. The novel deals with the issues that come from navigating the complexities of ones identity when growing up.

Read more here:

Your Weekend's best books of 2021 - Stuff.co.nz

Five-time Oscar winner Francis Ford Coppola has joined Freda the Haitian Oscar entry marking the narrative feature debut of actor, singer and documentarian Gessica Gnus as an executive producer. He will spearhead an awards-season push for the pic, which is only the second Haitian film to be submitted to the Academy Awards International Feature category.

Freda is the kind of cinematic experience I value most: a journey into a way of life not normally accessible to me, providing insight about the real people who live in it. Gessica Gnus film is an unforgettable jewel told with simple eloquence, beautifully memorable performances, and genuine feeling that few films ever achieve, said Coppola. This glimpse of contemporary life in Haiti shows a people who refuse to be defined by their tragic moments and who thrive with good hearts and best intentions. It is my humble honor to serve as the executive producer of Freda in support of Gessica and the wonderfully creative and artistic film community in Haiti.

The Creole-language film centers on the title character, who lives with her family in a poor yet vibrant neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, where they make ends meet thanks to their small street shop. Freda wants to believe in the future of her country, but when faced with precarious living conditions and the rise of violence in Haiti, she and her family wonder whether to stay or leave.

It made its world premierein the Un Certain Regard section of this years Cannes Film Festival.

Nhmie Bastien, Djanana Franois, Fabiola Rmy, Galle Bien-Aim, Jean Jean, Rolaphton Mercure and Cantave Kerven star in the pic, which was produced by Ayizan Productions Gnus, SaNoSi Productions Jean-Marie Gigon and Merveilles Productions Faissol Gnonlonfin. SaNoSi Productions is handling the films international sales rights, with Nour Productions distributing it in France, Belgium and Switzerland.

Coppola is a longtime advocate of Haitian cinema and a patron of the Artists Institute of Haiti, a private foundation that looks to educate youths in the cinematic arts, and to empower the countrys film and music industries, both at the national level and on the international stage. The renowned filmmaker was among the organizations original donors when its Cin Institute film school first opened in 2008, and has remained committed to supporting it annually.

I have long held faith in Haitis creative community as an early supporter of its Artists Institutes film school in 2008. While the country has suffered a very tough year, Freda showcases the wealth of talent which exists there and Im proud for them and what they have accomplished with this beautiful film.

Up next for the director behind such classics as The Godfather and Apocalypse Now is Megalopolis, his sci-fi epic centered on an architect who looks to rebuild New York City as a utopia following a devastating disaster.

Link:

Francis Ford Coppola Boards Haitian Oscar Entry Freda As Executive Producer, Will Spearhead Awards Push - Deadline