Category Archives: New Utopia

The red velvet seats at the Brooks Atkinson Theater on West 47th Street were covered by tech tables of computers, cables and consoles operated by designers, directors and stage managers. An audience was not due until the first preview on Friday night.

But the anticipation was nevertheless high for a dress rehearsal of Six, the British musical dreamed up by two college students that imagines the wives of Henry VIII as pop stars.

In one of the more poignant examples of the pandemics toll on the theater, the musicals opening night turned out to be its closing night instead: The show had been scheduled to open March 12, 2020, the day Broadway shut down.

Now Six will find out if the loss of 18 months has cost the show any momentum; its original opening had been buoyed by advance sales, multiple productions, a hugely popular soundtrack and fans who had been following the show since its 2017 premiere at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

So there were effusive whoops and cheers from the crew in attendance when the curtain came up on the shows six queens, fully decked out in their sparkly costumes, glittering boots and in some cases crowns.

Were finding ways of readjusting the show to who these performers are now who these queens are at this moment in time, who their 2021 selves are, where these songs are coming from, said Jamie Armitage, who directed the musical with Lucy Moss. Theres a depth and fire to some of the performances which I havent seen before.

I think its the time away, realizing what theater means and what it means to congregate, Armitage continued, adding that the shows theme was newly resonant: The group is more powerful than the individual.

The productions diverse, all female cast and band and its message of sisterhood and self-empowerment also resonates with the lessons of the lockdown period, specifically a heightened awareness about the importance of equal opportunities for women and people of color. The musical concludes by calling out patriarchal structures.

The dress rehearsal went smoothly, running its 85-minute, intermission-free duration without any apparent technical hitch. And after the confetti had fallen on the curtain call, the two directors rehearsed the bows again. Then they introduced a new idea: The cast took selfies from the stage.

Six will start previews on Friday, the same night David Byrnes American Utopia begins a return engagement, as Broadways reopening gathers momentum. Another 28 shows are scheduled to begin performances before the end of the year.

As the Six actors dispersed for a dinner break before returning to the theater for notes Moss, who co-wrote the show with Toby Marlow, said she was feeling cautiously optimistic.

Until its open and running Im not going to be like, Were back, because who knows whats going to happen? she said. It makes you very grateful for every moment in the room.

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Six Is Back in Rehearsals and Hoping to Get to Opening Night - The New York Times

The new psychological thriller Don't Worry Darling, directed and staring Olivia Wilde, is being released by New Line Cinema in Fall 2022. However, we have a lot of news surrounding this project. Don't Worry Darling has a really interesting line-up which include Florence Pugh, Harry Styles, Chris Pine, KiKi Layne and Gemma Chan. Today New Line Cinema made the announcement that Don't Worry Darling will be released in theaters on September 23rd, 2022. So yes we have some time before the final film arrives, but we do get a little teaser to tide us all over.

Although it's not much to go by, at least we get a little inside look. The story (or what we know anyways) goes as follows. "A 1950s housewife (Florence Pugh) living with her husband in a utopian experimental community begins to worry that his glamorous company may be hiding disturbing secrets."

The original version of the script was written by Shane and Carey Van Dyke (The Silence). We know now that Katie Silberman reportedly did a complete rewrite for the Olivia Wilde directed film. We also know that Vertigo Entertainment's Roy Lee (IT, The Ring) produces alongside Wilde and Silberman, with Catherine Hardwicke as exec producer.

Don't Worry Darling began shooting in Los Angeles in late 2020, but like so many other movies, they had to halt production (for two weeks) after someone on set tested positive for COVID-19. The list of movies that this has happened with is never ending. Films including Jurassic World: Dominion, The Batman" and The Harder They Fall. Of course every time you stop and start again it delays the movie release. Don't Worry Darling wrapped production in February of 2021.

The early reactions from many people after seeing the teaser are good as they all get a disturbing feel from it. One thing for sure is that the Fans are not going to be happy about having to wait an entire year to see Florence Pugh and Harry Styles all over each other in the 1950s psychological thriller.

The idea that there is a perfect utopia set in the '50s is a fun concept. Of course nothing seems perfect and we know the deeper level is going to be kept secret until the movie is released. I imagine a full trailer will arrive sometime early next year or at least by summer as long as we don't have anymore delays in Hollywood or in the world.

With the cast that this movie has put together, it sounds like a hit and sounds like they will want to release on the current schedule. What do you think of the teaser trailer? Any predictions as to who is behind this utopia? The concept seems a little familiar as we have seen concepts like this before or at least parts of them. However this film looks like we have more to the story. Make sure you follow us for further news as well as any breaking news when it comes to movies.

Topics: Dont Worry Darling

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Don't Worry Darling Teaser Reveals Florence Pugh & Harry Styles in Olivia Wilde's Thriller - MovieWeb

Lets start with perhaps the craziest news out of New York Fashion Week: the brand Telfar is launching a TV channel. Designer Telfar Clemens staged a press-conference-cum fashion show on Sunday morning, with Clemens and his creative director Babak Radboy, along with musician Ian Isiah, filmmaker Leilah Weinraub, director Terence Nance, A$AP Ferg, musician Teezo Touchdown, and others answering questions from the audience about what this wild new venture would entail. The short answer: there will be two channels, TELFAR.TV, and FTV, created in partnership with Nance, which you can tune into on AppleTV or Roku. And viewers can submit their own content, which the brand will airproviding it is a vibe, said artist Kandis Williams.

Clemens and his crew are funnyIve been wondering when a fashion brand would bring breakout Teezo into the foldand the high-energy presser suggested his team could really make must-see television. Isaiah strolled up and down the aisles as a whammy-barred guitar wailed, singing a songa drip is not a droprevealing details about the show and future bag drops. (He sang, for example, that there are usually about 10,000 bags in each drop, but over 100,000 people and bots trying to get one).

The TV channel is an ambitious act of possible genius, and a savvy retail innovation. The panelists spoke about no longer wanting to be another person or businesss content, about wanting to reject the corporations and platforms that exploit their talents for money and entertainment. In that way, its a challenge to OnlyFans, to Instagram and Instagram Live, maybe even to Substack and TikTok and especially to the Real Housewives empire and the Kardashian industrial complexgiving the direction and control back to creators themselves. Its also a very forward-thinking idea: livestream shopping has been the nut that many Silicon Valley entrepreneurs and social media platforms have been trying to crack for a few years now. Towards the end of the presentation, the team wheeled on a cart draped with a black sheet and pulled it off to reveal a new bag, in a duffel shape; youll only be able to buy it on Telfars channel, which is also a way, the team explained, for them to avoid the bots that have frustrated those logging on for the regular drops. The Isiah song wasnt a joke: the TV channel marks the end of drops and the beginning of drips.

A lot of fashion heads inside and outside the industryparticularly on social mediadream about populism in fashion. Frankly, its hard to square that with the very idea of fashion, which, in its quest for constant novelty, premium on fantasy, and adoration of exclusivity, is impossible to disentangle from capitalism. But the idea that anyone who wants a Telfar bag can get one seems like a populist fashion utopia. And while Clemens and Radboy have moved further and further away from the industrys mainstream over time, that shifthas also made them a lot more populistmuch more than other New York-based designers who talk about dressing real people, whoever they are.

Thom Browne is another designer who, against the odds, has created a utopia of populist fashion. Of course, his suits are much pricier than a Telfar bag, but what launched as a startling disruption of the American menswear uniform has become something inclusive and joyous. A Thom Browne show is like a Rick Owens show, where many of the attendees are fans and clients, dressed in his mad variety of tweaked-out prep. While most designers use tailoring to establish rules, Browne uses it to abolish them, so his uniform in fact becomes a costume for liberation. The middle section of his three-part show really sang: suiting fabrics, including a soft gray wool seersucker, wool twill, and pinstripes, were cut into monastic sheaths layered over long pencil skirts.

The whole thing was pared back for Browne, who can also be chaotically camp. He dressed a number of star attendees, including Russell Westbrook and Jordan Clarkson, in skirts, which underscored how he has become a leader in American gender fluid fashion. Earlier this week, a buyer told me that Americans dont care about craftsmanshipthey care about mass media. That might sound a little depressing, until you realize just how powerfulnot to mention elegantthe image of Westbrook in a knife-pleat pencil skirt is. Browne loves a wacky fashion show, and I guess he is basically the David Mamet of the runway, favoring floweriness over logic. But without any cynicism, he has embraced celebrity as a way to change everyones mind about whats masculine, whats pretty, and whats courageous. And what could be more mass than that?

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From Telfar to Thom Browne, Is Fashion Finally Populist? - GQ

Zimbabwe born artistKudzanai Chiuraiis a phenomenon. He is one of the most challenging and inventivefiguresin contemporary African art. From large scale photos of fictional African dictators to experimental films and protest posters, rich oil paintings and minimal sculptures, his work is housed in the worlds top galleries and collections.

Chiurai, though, frequently shrugs off gallery spaces to show in warehouses, on the street or in urban locations. His latest project,The Library of Things We Forgot to Remember, ishousedin a boutique shopping complex, 44 Stanley, in Johannesburg. It is built around his collecting practice focused on preserving archives and memorialising social and cultural history from southern Africa. Hes turned his own personal library and archive into a public art project.

Kudzanai Chiurai. Photo: Facebook.

Its an idea informed by Chiurais obsessiveinterest in historyand accumulation of artefacts such as books, pamphlets, zines, newspapers, vinyl records, politicalposters, audio recordings and other ephemera materials that explore the relationship between cultural production and social movements.

The work takes a pointedly nontraditional approach toarchivism. The selection and acquisition are determined by interaction. It is managed as a kind of commons where people can share and benefit from the artists collection and what is donated by others. Whereas most archives and libraries stress the preservation of materials, Chiurais library promotes access, physical engagement, and active use of the materials to maintain their continued relevance.

The library reflects Chiurais artistic repertoire, which deploys the use of mixed media to address social, political and cultural issues. It calls to mind his groundbreaking 2011 exhibitionState of the Nationwhich explored conflict by constructing an African utopia that enabled him to merge forms and mediums, juxtapose political ideas, evoke historical figures like a speech by slain Congolese independence leaderPatrice Lumumbadelivered by artist Zaki Ibrahim alongside a performance by contemporary musician Thandiswa Mazwai.

In his work Chiurai imagines new ways to activate, share, present and reinvent the archives, as he does with his latest project, the library.

The library

Initially, in 2017,The Library of Things We Forgot to Rememberwas of no fixed abode, usually incorporated into the artists own exhibitions. But the concept of a mobile library was altered by the COVID-19 pandemic, which restricted movement and live events. The library is about gathering, not just materials, but people. It is supposed to be a meeting place.

Now, Chiurai also invites others to curate this archive, to re-arrange it for regular public viewing in a rented space. Heconsidersthe library to be:

itself a form of liberated zone. It functions independently I find a different librarian every time and different people see the process of cataloguing differently. Some look at it visually, and some aurally and so different librarians bring different things to my attention.

The library includes the artists extensive collection of vinyl records associated with liberation movements in southern Africa from the 1970s-80s, notably ZimbabweanChimurengaand South African anti-apartheidstruggle music. There are also recordings of speeches by historical political figures such asIan Smith,Kwame Nkrumah,Mobutu Sese Seko,Dr Martin Luther Kingand even a dramatic re-enactment of the trial ofBlack Panther Partyco-founderBobby Seale.

The collection has continued to grow. In 2018 it obtained digital recordings from the US-based educational project,Freedom Archives radio interviews with political figures and women involved in the liberation movements in Zimbabwe, South Africa, Namibia, Guinea- Bissau, as well as the US civil rights movement. Other materials are donated by individuals and institutions.

Accordingly, Chiurai treats these traces of struggle with great care. Some of these historical documents and posters are now framed and hung on the white walls. Once, these materials chronicled life in Black Africa or Black America as it happened. Now, they are artefacts of frozen moments in history. His library is conceived as a place of contemplation and reflection. There is a big green couch and listening stations.

The art of remembering

The Library of Things We Forgot to Rememberis part of an effort toexpand ideasof what a library can be and its decolonisation. It is an extension of new ways people are using the library as a place of inquiry and conversation with the past.

Perhaps, what is fascinating is that Chiurais library is not static, but re-arranges in the hands of a guest librarian, and has travelled from its first iteration in Harare, to Cape Town, Kalmar, Sdertlje and Johannesburg. Previous librarians have been the political writing platformChimurengain Harare, writer and DJ El Corazone in Cape Town, and film director and deejaySifiso Khanyilein Johannesburg.

What Chiurai is doing is to incubate a new model for artistic creation and knowledge production that interferes with the circulation, display and preservation of cultural objects. Who has a right to assign value? Who decides what is history? What kinds of materials should be collected? How can access be expanded to new publics?

Visitors also have a responsibility. They are not just passive observers, but collaborators, interpreters, and readers. The library becomes a place of provocation that allows multiple registers of value, because value is negotiated. Its also about the reinvention of the library as a space for multiple forms of contemplation. It is still a destination for artists, scholars, curators, and collectors to research and engage with southern African history.

Remembering is a virtue that Chiurai extols. In Black communities it is often an expensive luxury, a privilege. But through this new space arranged in the form of a hybrid gallery, community center, library and archive, remembering is translated into a collective process of reimagining and of sharing heritage. It is also testament of the generosity behind Chiurais art practice, of care and community.

Tinashe Mushakavanhuis a Post-Doctoral Fellow, University of the Witwatersrand.

This article first appeared in The Conversation. Read the original here.

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How Zimbabwean Artist Kudzanai Chiurai Has Reinvented the Idea of a Library - The Wire

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Noticeably absent is the celebration from state health officials for the Pacific Islander community shattering the states goal of reaching 80 percent vaccination for Oregonians of color. Thats because the numbers dont accurately reflect the rate of vaccinations for Oregon Pacific Islanders. In reality, community health workers believe the number of vaccinated Pacific Islanders is far lower than what OHA reports.

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Literary Arts presents The Moth: Portland Mainstage. True Stories, told live. Held at Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall.

The artificially high vaccination rates amongst Oregons Pacific Islander community reveal a long history of undercounting and underinvestment in one of the state's fastest growing racial groups.

This community has long been invisible because nobody was tracking Pacific Islanders, even from the federal level, said Joe Enlet, the Micronesia Consul General in Oregon. So, there indeed is a gap between communities and these systems.

Enlet believes population data for Pacific Islanders in Oregon may be undercounted because of the way Micronesian people move to the US.

Data from the Oregon Health Authority showing the vaccination rates by race and ethnicity. Oregon Health Authority

As of 2014, more than half of Pacific Islanders living in Multnomah County were born outside of the countrymost likely on an island signed on to the Compact of Free Association (COFA) agreement with the US. COFA is a financial agreement between the US and the Federated States of Micronesia, Republic of the Marshall Islands, and Republic of Palau. The US assists the COFA islands financially in return for control over the islands land, water, and air space. The agreement also allows COFA islanders to move to the US without a visa, green card, or any restrictions on their length of stay. COFA islanders hold a nonimmigrant status in the US, but can never become US citizens.

According to Enlet, who serves as a diplomat for the Micronesian islands, Oregon has the highest concentration of COFA Islanders within the contiguous United States, with hundredsif not thousandsof COFA Islanders moving to the state every year. But, because COFA Islanders arent processed through US immigration channels, the racial data of COFA Islanders is not being captured and included in the states population data, leading to the chronic undercounting of the Pacific Islander community.

That undercounting has likely inflated the reported vaccination rates for Pacific Islanders in Oregon. Community leaders doing on-the-ground vaccine outreach know those numbers are inaccurate.

When those numbers came out, at first we were surprised, and maybe a little suspicious, said Jacinta Galeai of the Samoa Pacific Development Corporation (SPDC), a community organization performing vaccine outreach in southern Oregon.

Galeai and other community health workers are suspicious of the high numbers because they still see vaccine hesitancy and vaccine access problems within their communityand because many Pacific Islanders in Oregon have minimal access to public health services and infrastructure. Because COFA Islanders are not US citizens, they are barred from accessing public health programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). Historically, COFA nonimmigrants were unable to enroll in Medicaid, until decades of advocacy and a global pandemic inspired the federal government to restore the groups healthcare eligibility at the end of 2020.

While the recent change in Medicaid eligibility was welcome, Enlet says the damage of not having access to affordable healthcare had already been done.

If people had the option of Medicaid [before the pandemic], they would have at least built up some level of community immunity, Enlet said. If you're excluded from those programs, on a health level, on a policy level, on a social level, everything is working against you. No wonder COVID-19 thrives in our communities.

Enlet believes the history of Pacific Islander people not being able to access public and civil programs contributed to the high numbers of COVID cases within the Pacific Islander population in Oregon. According to OHA, Pacific Islanders have the highest rate of COVID cases out of all racial and ethnic groups. As of September 8, Pacific Islanders average 11,564 COVID cases per 100,000 people. In comparison, white Oregonians average 4,331 cases per 100,000 people. During the surge of COVID cases in the summer of 2020, Pacific Islanders made up three percent of COVID cases despite only representing 0.5 percent of the state population.

Its expected that undercounting has probably skewed those case rates as well. Enlet believes that the first time many COFA islanders ever had to document their race in Oregon is when they were reporting a positive COVID case or being admitted to the hospital, meaning the number of COVID cases was likely disproportional to the underreported population size.

Despite unreliable state data, the stories of COVIDs impact on the community show that the high case rates cant be exclusively attributed to inflation.

I think we all experienced [the impacts of COVID] upfront and personal, said Manumalo Alailima, executive director of the United Territories of Pacific Islanders Alliance Portland (UTOPIA PDX), a nonprofit supporting queer and trans Pacific Islanders. We had family members and friends die early on. It was constantright when you had one funeral, there was another funeral.

Alailima lost five of their family members to COVID, and cites the profound suffering the pandemic caused for the Pacific Islander community as one of the reasons community groups worked so hard to bolster vaccine outreach.

Manumalo Alailima (left) at a cultural event hosted by the Oregon Pacific Islander Coalition. Courtesy of Samoa Pacific Development Corporation

According to Jackie Leung, the executive director of Micronesian Islander Community Oregon (MIC), collaborating was key to raising awareness about each organizations services outside of the community they regularly served. The coalition also turned to faith-based groups and neighborhoods with high Pacific Islander populations to share information with people who did not regularly engage with nonprofit services.

In an effort to connect with vaccine skeptics, the coalition also hosts vaccine events in tandem with other community services, like back-to-school events where they distribute school supplies and food boxes, as well as vaccines. Kapiolani Mickey, a MIC community health worker, said those community events provided her with opportunities to interact with unvaccinated people in person and correct misinformation about the vaccine.

Mickey, whose husband died of COVID in January, uses her personal experience with the virus to explain the vaccines importance to people who are hesitant about getting the vaccine.

I still cry about it when I talk about it, but that's the only way I can relate the message to the community, Mickey said. I always tell them, Don't be afraid of the vaccine because the vaccine is not gonna kill you, but COVID will.

Alailima of UTOPIA PDX is proud of the work the coalition has done to vaccinate community members, but does not trust the states data to give an accurate portrayal of vaccination rates in the community. According to OHA data, new weekly COVID cases within the Pacific Islander community have minimally decreased since vaccines were introduced to the public at the beginning of 2021. In 2020, Pacific Islanders averaged 29 weekly COVID cases. Since mid-June 2021, when the OHA reported Pacific Islanders reached at least an 80 percent vaccination rate, the community averaged 22 new COVID cases per week. The decrease is promising, but not what health workers would expect from an 80 to 90 percent vaccination rate.

The states reported vaccination rate does not match what Pacific Islander health workers are hearing on the ground. Alailima and Galeai are currently coordinating new vaccine clinics in southern Oregon, where community members are reporting clusters of unvaccinated Pacific Islanders. Additionally, most of the coalition members offer wrap-around COVID services, like food delivery, bill support, and COVID testing. For the past month, Alailima says UTOPIA PDX has been addressing a barrage of [COVID] cases that has kept the groups wrap-around service providers busyanother indication that vaccination rates are lower than OHA data indicates.

Volunteers with UTOPIA PDX prepare hot meals and take-home food supplies for a vaccine clinic. Courtesy of UTOPIA PDX

We shouldn't be content or comfortable, said Galeai with the SPDC. We still have to keep talking and keep looking for people in our community who have not been vaccinated.

The SPDC is leading the coalitions vaccination efforts in southern Oregon, aiming to address pockets of unvaccinated Pacific Islanders in the states more rural areas. In the Portland metro area, the coalitions vaccine events are still vaccinating up to 40 people per event and the groups are expecting to ramp up again once the vaccine is approved for children under 12.

While the Oregon Pacific Islander Coalition members are kept busy with responding to the immediate community needs caused by the pandemic, getting people vaccinated is a surface level issue in comparison to the root causes that created health disparities within the Pacific Islander community in the first place, according to Enlet.

Weve been sounding the alarm for the longest time, and so now it's like, here you go, this is a direct result of non-investment, said Enlet. This is a critical moment for decision makers and policy makers to focus on vulnerable communities, because they will cost society, in the long run. If you don't take care of them right now and invest in these communities, this is whats going to happen.

Investment, according to Enlet, means creating more opportunities for COFA islanderswho cant voteto participate in civic decisions, as well as making them eligible for basic government safety net programs, like SNAP and TANF.

Access to safety net programs is just human rights, Enlet said, noting that solutions to addressing health disparity need to go further. I shouldn't spend my time saying [the programs are] a solution because everybody already has to have that right.

Oregon Pacific Islander Coalition members also want to see the infrastructure they built during the pandemic maintained and used to build a better relationship between public health systems and the Pacific Islander community after the threat of COVID subsides. Alailima of UTOPIA PDX is grateful for the support the coalition has received from county health departments, like funding for community health worker positions and vaccine supplies, but stressed that the swell of Pacific Islander public health infrastructure the coalition built during the pandemic only got the community caught up to where they should have been all along.

Were expected to serve our community because no one else is doing it, but we definitely did not have the technical assistance to get us to the place where our counterparts have been for decades, Alailima said.

The coalition believes they have a better chance of getting that technical assistance from local health authorities now that the pandemic has made the communitys health disparities too obvious to ignore.

The data was in front of them before COVID, Galeai said, but it's screaming at them now.

More:

How Flawed Population Data Conceals the Reality of COVID for Oregon Pacific Islanders - The Portland Mercury

Festival Goers in Long Island, NY & Fairfax County, VA Are Invited to Experience the Immersive Wonderland of Lights

2021 Theme 'Shine Again' Features a New Exhibit Entitled "Lumi's Utopia"

NEW YORK, Sept. 8, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- LuminoCity Inc., a multimedia entertainment company that transforms captivating stories into multidimensional experiences, announced the return of its one-of-a-kind holiday event, LuminoCity Festival, with its 2021 festival theme, 'Shine Again.' Inspired by the power and warmth of light overcoming the darkness, the LuminoCity Festival features exhibitions of spectacular light art displays and is a celebration of cultures and the world around us. Touted by TimeOut Magazine as a must-see experience, we are so excited to show you a brand new experience this year!

The LuminoCity Festival features exhibitions of spectacular light art displays and is a celebration of cultures and the world around us.

For the first time ever, the LuminoCity festival will be taking place in 2 different locations Roer's Zoofari in Fairfax County, Virginia (opening October 15) and Clark Botanic Gardens in Long Island, New York (opening November 12) local residents and families are invited to venture through the forest of warm glowing lights.

"We are excited to announce the details for our third annual LuminoCity Festival, which we are thrilled to host in two new locations this year," said Xiaoyi Chen, CEO of LuminoCity. "As one of the only expansive holiday experiences to safely open in 2020, it was an honor for us to bring some hope and joy to many individuals and families last year. For 2021, we hope to inspire even more with our theme, 'Shine Again,' and create an unforgettable and joyous holiday event that everyone can share with their loved ones."

Set upon a world lit-up with towering luminous sculptures, The LuminoCity Festival will take you to dazzling new worlds with Lumi, the LuminoCity mascot, as your guide. The immersive outdoor event will be a festive timed-entry experience for guests of all ages! Be prepared to stop and stare at all the handmade sculptures the festival has to offer. Featuring new light art installations, highlights of the 2021 LuminoCity Festival include the all-new 'Lumi's Utopia' as well as our annual 'Lumi's Friends' exhibit.

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Following the conclusion of Lumi's children's art event that took place this summer, Lumi's Utopia will feature the artwork from six young artists. Their 2D art designs, whose inspiration was 'My Favorite Gift,' will be brought to life as large 3D light-art sculptures to be viewed by all attendees of the 2021 LuminoCity Festival, creating an unforgettable experience for the talented young artists.

Our annual "Lumi's Friends" Exhibit is back by popular demand! LuminoCity's lantern artists will bring to life several of today's most popularand furrysocial media stars as part of "Lumi's Friends." Through the unique partnership with these furry friendsincluding @smoothiethecat & @turboroofestival goers will get to enjoy the artistic sculptures that capture each of the personalities of their favorite social media pets brought to life through light and color. The immersive experience is fun for all! Come with your friends, family, and loved ones. And make sure you have your camera ready to take photos with Lumi and the gang!

2021 LuminoCity Festival Locations

Clark Botanic Gardens: Long Island, NY (November 12, 2021 to January 9, 2022)Tickets Available Here

Roer's Zoofari: Fairfax County, VA (October 15, 2021 to January 2, 2022)Tickets Available Here

Ticket Information: Timed entry admission tickets will run between $22 to $76 for visitors to experience the full LuminoCity Festival immersive experience. An admission ticket is required for each visitor ages 3 and up.

For more information about the LuminoCity Festival, and to plan a visit for 2021, visit http://www.luminocityfestival.com and be sure to follow us on Instagram

Media Kit

Media Contact: Justine Chen 317248@email4pr.com 929-370-3907

Set upon a world lit-up with towering luminous sculptures, The LuminoCity Festival will take you to dazzling new worlds.

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LuminoCity Festival Returns for Anticipated 2021 Holiday Season in Two Brand-New Locations - Yahoo Finance

Ever tried to catch a wave after two weeks in hotel quarantine?

Sally Fitzgibbons has.

"It was super draining, every time you felt like you've never surfed before," she told AAP of her repeated efforts to get back to speed during the most extraordinary of World Surf League seasons.

"You see waves coming, paddle in, but miss them for the first three days.

"You're waiting for your proprioception to come back, your balance and awareness on board.

"There was a lot of 'oh my gosh I don't think I'm going to make it' moments and then even then it's if you don't make this next COVID-19 test it'll be the end of the road.

"It's felt like at any moment someone's going to just turn the lights out.

"It'll be nice to rest that system."

The Australian world title hope will finally get that chance once the Rip Curl WSL Finals are run and won as early as this weekend at California's Lower Trestles.

Only seven events have been possible in a campaign that began in Hawaii in December.

A fatal shark attack in Honolua Bay forced the women's Maui Pro to be shifted to the Banzai Pipeline for the first time, but not before the event was paused when WSL CEO Erik Logan contracted COVID-19.

The virus then played constant havoc on the tour schedule, while the sport's Olympics debut added further logistical hurdles for Fitzgibbons.

Despite it all, three thirds and a win at Rottnest Island's debut event means Fitzgibbons has registered her equal-best WSL season since finishing second in three straight campaigns between 2010-12.

Admitting that "some days she fell in a heap", Fitzgibbons said the secret to coping was "to get comfortable with the silence of it all".

Ranked third in the new top-five finals format, the 30-year-old believes "utopia is within reach" after a gutting quarter-final loss stopped her short of a sought-after Olympic medal.

She could meet compatriot Stephanie Gilmore (fourth seed) in her knockout heat, the winner of that to battle Tatiana Weston-Webb for the right to face top seed Carissa Moore in a best-of-three final.

"You can go 'urgh' and contemplate everything that's happened," Fitzgibbons said.

"But you don't need tol; just show up and let the experience show you in a way.

"If it's your day it'll happen.

"That moment, in the ultimate amount of pressure, you find that little bit of space in yourself to bring out your creative genius.

"On any given day it may not be there, but we just search for utopia and lean on those glimmers of hope that some components of it will be."

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Surfing 'utopia' within Fitzgibbons' reach - 7NEWS.com.au

Sonic recently celebrated his 30th anniversary, showcasing new games, new merch and a fantastic symphony that played through many classics from throughout the years.

However, another aspect that doesnt get talked about often is the amazing community that has allowed fans to create Sonic games in their own image - the games that they had hoped SEGA would one day develop.

In recent years, these fan games have become so sophisticated that they easily rival the official games, with remakes of past zones that have new control schemes to make Sonic fresh and exciting.

With this in mind, weve got three fan games that we simply had to tell you about, and how they showcase just what a Sonic game can be capable of.

This is a free-roaming take on Green Hill Zone that features many surprises. Released in 2017, it was developed for a fan game contest thats held every year, and this was created with an aim of seeing just how a 3D Sonic game could work with a different control scheme, and graphics that look as though theyve been made in the mid-nineties.

Think of a Sonic game that crosses with Breath of the Wild, with a sprawling Green Hill Zone, and you have Sonic Utopia. The control scheme is retro-inspired but works well, with the mouse able to make Sonic jump or perform a super peel out, while the WASD and space keys all control the blue blur with ease. You never feel like you lose sight or control, and everything is in your grasp.

Theres plenty of Easter eggs in this fan game, with a hidden area that houses Labyrinth Zone, a level from Sonic 1 which would guarantee anxiety as the drowning music will constantly play.

The SEGA Master System versions of Sonic games dont get much love. The most recent appearance of the 8-bit games were in Sonic Adventure DX, released back in 2003 as hidden games once you collected enough emblems throughout the game.

Fortunately, the community came through here, but went one step further. Both Sonic 1 and Sonic 2 have been remade from the ground up, but also with new features that borrows from the 2017 release of Sonic Mania Plus.

You get extra zones, such as Marble Zone - a level from Sonic 1 on the SEGA Genesis, but also has music that was discovered by the community. Theres also other characters to play as, such as Tails, Knuckles, Mighty and Ray.

Super forms are also here once you collect the 7 Chaos Emeralds, and theres even abilities lifted from other 8-bit Sonic games, such as the Rocket Shoes from Sonic Chaos. Add on a boss rush mode and even more secrets to uncover, youve got two remakes here that SEGA should take notice of. They not only give the two Master System games a new lease of life, but also showcase how the new features give the impression that theyve always been a part of these games for thirty years.

Its still a work in progress, but you can play the remakes right now on your PC or Android device, in native widescreen.

Think of this as the fan game equivalent of Sonic Generations, but with classic zones from the Master System and Genesis era remade into a modern take.

Released in 2020 as a demo and updated for SAGE 2021 (Sonic Amateur Games Expo), which is a festival celebrating fan games of Sonic and more. You can play Angel Island Zone and Ice Cap Zone from Sonic 3 alongside Oil Ocean Zone and Mystic Cave Zone from Sonic 2, and Aqua Lake Zone from the Master System version of Sonic 2.

Everything has been given a remake in every level, while staying true to the source material - from the badniks to the music, even to the bosses that were originally included.

You can run at high speeds and explore each zone before you face off against the boss. The game controls just like Sonic Forces and Sonic Generations on PC, so make sure you have a controller ready to go for this.

Its built on the Unity engine, so there arent high specifications here, but playing it in ultra settings in 1440p is a sight to behold, especially if youre using headphones. Everything feels immersive, its almost as if its DLC to Sonic Generations, its that good.

Theres always been an underwritten fact that a community of Sonic fans have had their idea of how a Sonic game should play, and its only in the last five years that weve seen them match up to the official games.

Remade levels that would have had a minimal chance of appearing, alongside remade 8 bit games that have not been seen since the Gamecube release of Sonic Adventure DX.

Its the fans that keep part of this memory of Sonic alive - that feeling of running fast, and with no gimmicks. While theres been plenty, from transformations into a werewolf in Sonic Unleashed, to blatantly copying Super Mario Galaxy with Sonic Lost World in 2014, the fan games go back to the zones that many remember, but in a style that works for the modern era.

With Sonic ready to celebrate the next thirty years, it would be great to see another game in the style of Sonic Mania, one made by fans who know what makes a Sonic game fun. To see this made with Sonic Encore, it could appeal to those fans who felt left out with that release, and even introduce others to remade zones that have only been seen in their original forms for the last thirty years.

But regardless of what SEGA has planned for the blue blur, you can always depend on the passionate fans to impress with games like these, and hopefully we see the company take notice of these incredible efforts soon, just like they did for Sonic Mania.

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How fans have created the Sonic games you've always wanted - TechRadar

Containerized cargo is stacked high on a China Shipping Line freighter at Miami Beach, Florida. ... [+] (PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP via Getty Images)

So far, the Biden administrations trade policy has not been much different than the America First trade policy championed by Donald Trump. That may surprise some observers, given that economists viewed the Trump trade policy as imposing significant costs on consumers and businesses while unsuccessful in achieving its aims. To better understand the views of the business community on the Biden administrations approach to trade, I interviewed John Murphy, senior vice president for international policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Stuart Anderson: The Biden administration has launched a comprehensive review of U.S. trade policy and set the goal of making it worker-centric. Whats your impression of this approach to date?

John Murphy: Its early, but theres both progress and frustration for the business community. The administration has pledged to restore regular order to trade policy by working more closely with Congress and the private sector, and theres good dialogue today. U.S. Trade Representative Tai deserves kudos for ending the long-running U.S.-EU trade dispute over aircraft subsidies and rejecting unwarranted tariffs on imports from Vietnam.

As for that worker-centric approach, its evident in the outreach to organized labor. This has led the administration to focus on issues such as union organizing rights in Mexico, for example. From our perspective, though, the U.S. needs to get back on offense on trade: Other countries are charging ahead with their own trade negotiations while the U.S. has not entered into a major new market-opening trade agreement in a decade. Forty million American jobs depend on trade: A worker-centric trade policy should open markets for their exports.

Anderson: Does business support this trade policy review?

Murphy: Yes, but as a country we need to expedite it, and we shouldnt get bogged down on questions that are pretty straightforward. Theres no reason the U.S. shouldnt move ahead with the trade negotiations with the UK and Kenya, for example. Declaring we have to address domestic economic priorities first isnt an answer: Trade is one of the best tools to strengthen our domestic economy.

Anderson: What about the tariffs Biden inherited from Trump?

Murphy: The business communitys frustration with the tariffs is growing. Theyre costly, they cover hundreds of billions of dollars of imports, and theyre still there. American families and companies are paying these taxes, as they have from the beginning.

Take the steel tariffs: Steel prices have soared by more than 300% in the past year, and six million American workers are employed by manufacturers that use steel as a critical input. Turning the U.S. into an island of expensive steel puts Americas most innovative and fastest growing manufacturers at a disadvantage relative to their global competitors. And steel imported from allies in Europe, Japan or Korea presents no threat to U.S. national security, which is the focus of the Section 232 statute. Tariff relief is an urgent priority.

Anderson: Were there costs to the Trump administrations trade policy?

Murphy: The Trump administration made tangible progress in select areas like digital trade, as we saw in a U.S.-Japan agreement and USMCA (United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement). The structural reform commitments in the U.S.-China trade deal represent tangible progress. But the repeated threats to withdraw from trade agreements and the imposition of tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars of imports imposed real costs. By 2019, the drag on investment was visible, FDI (foreign direct investment) declined and U.S. manufacturing fell into a recession; for agriculture, it would have been a depression absent government support. The reason folks dont talk about it more today is the coronavirus pandemic hit and produced an even bigger disruption. We should learn from this record.

Anderson: What are the Chambers priorities on trade policy in 2021 and 2022?

Murphy: In addition to rebooting a market-opening trade agenda and untangling the tariffs, we want to establish the foundation of a trade policy that supports growth in tomorrows industries to ensure continued innovation, growth and job creation here at home.

For example, the idea of negotiating a digital trade agreement with partners in the Asia-Pacific and elsewhere presents real opportunity. New digital trade tools are allowing huge numbers of small businesses to tap foreign markets. Services trade is now growing twice as fast as merchandise trade, thanks to digital tools. But protectionist barriers to digital trade are also spreading, so an agreement to keep the digital trade lanes open is important.

Its equally important to avoid self-inflicted wounds. The pursuit of an intellectual property waiver for Covid-19 vaccines at the WTO (World Trade Organization) not only wont help increase vaccine productionwhich is growing rapidly by any accountbut threatens to divert limited supplies of critical inputs away from the facilities best prepared to manufacture these complex medicines. Creating industry partnerships is the path forward, not breaking patents.

Anderson: What role would you like to see Congress play in trade policy?

Murphy: The Constitution gives Congress the exclusive authority to regulate foreign trade and levy tariffs, and too much of this authority has been delegated to the executive. We strongly support legislation to ensure that Congress always has a say in the imposition of tariffs. And further down the road, we hope to see Trade Promotion Authority restored to ensure that Congress sets the priorities for trade negotiations and is consulted in trade talks.

Anderson: What would be the Chamber of Commerces ideal trade policy for the United States?

Murphy: A trade policy utopia . . . doesnt utopia mean a place that doesnt exist? But as an organization that represents businesses of every size, sector and state, we are leery of proposals that would impose costs on the many to advantage the fewand usually a well-connected few at that. This is too common in trade policy, across history and around the world. Historically, America has gotten this right much of the time, more than many other countries, and Im optimistic we can do so in the future.

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Chamber Of Commerce Frustrated With Tariffs But Sees Trade Progress - Forbes

Gail Omvedts anticaste writings have a unique influence on the Dalit-Bahujan movement in Post-Independent India. Her intellectual activism was organised around a critique of inequality and the struggle for social justice in India. We know that Omvedt was influenced by Buddha, Kabir, Phule, and Ambedkar. Her work clearly outlines the vision of a casteless, classless, and democratic just society, and reflects the important ways in which the non-brahmin movement and the dissenting religious imagination produce the anti-caste intellectual thought in India. Indeed, Omvedts literature reminds us of the radical bhakti movements in the fifteenth to seventeenth centuries as a society of equalitarianism and the rejection of the traditional brahminic hegemony.

In 2012, when I was in the first year of my Bachelors degree, back in Nagpur I came across her writings. I read her first seminal book The Cultural Revolt in a Colonial Society: The Non-Brahman Movement in Western India. It took me one whole day to finished her book. After finishing it, my interest in Omvedts work increases in great detail. The second book which caught my attention was We Will Smash This Prison: Indian Women in Struggle. Her scholarly writings shown the concrete problem of organising autonomous womens movement in India. For her, womens liberation from daily caste experience and patriarchy was important for social emancipation.

Omvedts commitment to democracy as well as her superb writings provide a rich account of the socio-cultural meaning of the Dalit movement. In many ways, her contribution to Dalit literature emerged as a strong voice of the oppressed caste in the state of Maharashtra and later in other states. Interestingly, Omvedt suggested that Dalit protest was a key factor in shaping the discourse of rights and constitutional safeguard. It is worth noting that her intellectual activism focused on the agency of the Dalits and challenged the limits of the politics of the left and Hindutva impulses to rediscover India.

My friend had gifted me Omvedts book Seeking Begumpura: The Social Vision of Anticaste Intellectual. The book acquires significance because it traces the cultural movement of depressed classes and their social experiences. She offers a critical understanding of Indian history. In contrast to Gandhis village utopia of Ram Rajya, she emphasises the relevance of Dalit-Bahujan anti-caste intellectuals in the era of globalisation.

Omvedt grasped the importance of morality as a movement from a Phule-Ambedkarite perspective. She charted the utopian vision and underlined the new social and political project against communalism. She deeply engaged with the unequal and culturally diverse society through her numerous writings and activism. While rejecting orientalist, nationalist, and Hindutva imaginations of India, she undoubtedly gave a distinct development turn to it by avowing egalitarianism, Buddhism to reconstruct the world.

Although I did not Omvedt personally, but her rare blend of work brings together the Dalit-Bahujan history, politics, culture, a religious movement, and of lives that had been buried under long Brahmanic tradition in India. Being a social thinker, she provided deep insights into the grassroots level of Dalit leadership like Dadasaheb Sambhaji Tukaram Gaikwad who played a revolutionary role in organising the Mahad Satyagraha in 1927. Omvedts scholarship is valuable for researchers, activists, farmers and all those who are engaged in progressive social movements in India.

Besides being active in the social and cultural movement, Omvedt was significantly involved in the social transformation of Dalit women. She presents a social world where caste humiliation and class exploitation and gendered violence exist as a fact of the everyday life of the marginalised section. In fact, Omvedts valuable work asks for forging democratic solidarity among all the marginalised sections to reinvent India. In todays higher learning education, Dalits-Bahujan students actively face caste discrimination, and anti-caste literatures have been withdrawn from the university syllabus. This needs to be challenged.

The writer is a PhD Scholar at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai

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Gail Omvedts anti-caste vision - The Indian Express