Category: THE MOST RECENT NEWS

Marie Ulven Ringheim, also known by her pop project and stage name, girl in red, released her sophomore album, titled “I’M DOING IT AGAIN BABY!” on April 12, 2024. With its 10 tracks, the album chronicles the ordinary mishaps of the singer’s life in a fusion of laid-back alt-pop and rock melodies. 

Known for her mellow bedroom pop songs on queer love and mental health, the 25-year-old Norwegian singer-songwriter and producer has garnered a dedicated fanbase and solidified herself as one of the most notable young voices within the queer music community after singles like “we fell in love in october” and “i wanna be your girlfriend” went viral on social media in 2020. With this, she became a symbol of queer identification on TikTok with users adopting the phrase, “Do you listen to girl in red” as a discreet way to ask if someone is gay or a lesbian. 

Since then, her 2021 debut album, “if i could make it go quiet” received critical acclaim and commercial success. This was followed by a sold-out world tour and an opportunity to perform as an opening act for multiple shows of Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour last year. 

In a podcast interview, she described this new album as “super confident, super playful, fun and humorous,” with its sad songs coming from a place of “sincerity.” The confident energy of the album title is channeled in the first two tracks. “I’m Back” details her return — both personally and professionally — with relatable lyrics about feeling at peace with oneself again. Amidst the soft piano beats, she tells us, “I’m back, I feel like myself / I was gone for a minute ’cause I went to get help.” 

Though, where the first track gives self-assurance, the title track, “DOING IT AGAIN BABY” features a more sped-up experimental punk that emulates confidence, placing the singer at the public forefront as she adopts over-the-top personas. She sings, “Got those Japanese denim and loafers on my feet / Looking like a rockstar from the s-s-seventies.” This physical embodiment has her thinking, “I’m loving this new self-esteem / Like the one I had at seventeen.” The second half of the song finishes with a fast banjo that fits the thrilling new pride. 

“You Need Me Now” is the fifth and only feature track with pop singer Sabrina Carpenter as a collaboration. It’s a classic breakup song reminiscent of Olivia Rodrigo’s “good 4 u” as its emotions of rage fit well with its upbeat rock tunes. She begins, “I wanna say all bad things end / But right now, I’m not convinced.” Here, the aftermath of the singer’s failed relationship manifests into frustration because it seems like it hasn’t failed to end. She continues, “Yeah, you’re swinging right back like a pendulum, babe.” This frustration is elevated in a fast-paced chorus: “Don’t tell me you need me now / You got your feelings back.” Sabrina is then introduced in a spoken interlude. With the rhythm of the song subdued, Sabrina’s verse in the bridge evokes a playful rebuttal. “I’ll be somewhere by myself in Hawaii / Doin’ all the things we always wanted.” 

“Pick Me” is an overtly queer song about trying to win a girl over. Its incorporation of piano drops in the beginning with softer vocals creates sympathy for our singer: “Pick me over him /Let the loser win.” The tempo eventually builds up more loudly towards the end to convey frustration and hopelessness as the singer loses grip of the female muse as she leaves with the man instead.

Another song that brings attention to the singer’s inner struggles is “Ugly Side.” It’s snarky and self-questioning. “I was born with a case / Of imperfections and a whole lot of mental disarray,” she tells us. Again, the diaristic style of her lyrics that recounts common teenage insecurities makes her music relatable and appealing to young adolescents. 

One valid criticism of the album is the disordered placement of the songs that disrupts the overall flow. This is audibly noticeable from the get-go as the album is constantly switching between energetic tracks and the more somber, introspective ones. The more upbeat tracks like “New Love” and “DOING IT AGAIN BABY” could’ve been placed earlier to better complement the bold title. If you enjoy listening to albums in chronological order, this placement could make the listening experience exhausting or unsatisfying. Overall, girl in red’s musical beginnings having started in the private space of her bedroom have allowed her to pour honesty and intimacy into her lyrics, making her appealing and relatable to her young audience. 

Verdict: Although the song order was a bit out of place, girl in red picks off from where she left off, writing from a place of personal struggles and ideals that her fans are yearning to hear again.

The post girl in red is doing it again appeared first on Highlander.

Los apagones en este mes ya se han vuelto habituales por motivo de la crisis energética que afronta Ecuador. No obstante, a comparación de días anteriores, los racionamientos de luz para este 27 de abril tienen una duración menor.

Pese a que se registran mejorías en los embalses de las hidroeléctricas a nivel nacional, el Ministerio de Energía aún no considera pertinente poner punto final a la crisis energética.

Estos son los horarios de cortes de luz que ya están definidos en varias zonas del país:

Guayaquil (Guayas)

Los apagones en la “Perla del Pacífico” cuentan con una duración, por bloques, de dos horas. Mayores detalles en el siguiente link: UN GYE Sábado 27 abril de 2024

Quito (Pichincha)

En la capital los cortes de energía, por bloques, mantienen una duración de dos horas y media. El cronograma tiene establecida su culminación a las 16:30. Mayores detalles en el siguiente link: 27_04_2024 (1)

Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas

En territorio Tsáchila, los apagones, divididos en cuatro bloques, cuentan con tres horas de prevalencia. Link con mayores detalles: SUSPENSIONES SANTO DOMINGO SÁBADO, 27 DE ABRIL DE 2024

Esmeraldas

En la provincia verde los apagones se mantienen por dos horas. Link con mayores detalles: ESM 27 ABRIL – CRONOGRMA DE CORTES 2024

Pastaza & Morona Santiago

Por su lado, en esta parte de la Amazonía los cortes de luz se distribuyen en un bloque de tres horas y los demás bloques de dos horas: Link con mayores detalles: Cortes-Pastaza-y-Morona-Santiago-sabado-27

(I)

The post Cortes de luz duran menos tiempo: Estos son los cronogramas que se cumplen en varias provincias del Ecuador este 27 de abril appeared first on Qué Noticias.

When it was announced that Tom Holland was starring in London’s West End adaptation of “Romeo and Juliet,” produced by The Jamie Lloyd Company, as the titular Romeo, fans were ecstatic. Although Holland was the only one that had been cast so far, tickets sold out in a matter of hours. At that point, it was obvious that this adaptation would receive much more attention than most West End plays do due to Holland’s name being attached. However, that extra attention quickly became ugly and racist when Francesca Amewudah-Rivers was cast as Juliet. In typical internet fashion, whenever a Black woman is announced to star in a role typically associated with a white woman, people are quick to attack Amewudah-Rivers.

There were the usual cries of “woke Hollywood” (despite Hollywood having nothing to do with a West End production), vows to boycott the movie (even though it is a play whose run is already sold out) and criticisms over “historical accuracy (despite Romeo and Juliet being a fictional story). But the worst part was all the criticism over Amewudah-Rivers’ looks, with thousands of trolls hiding behind anonymous Twitter and Reddit accounts calling her too “ugly” and “masculine” to play Juliet. It was a clear-cut case of misogynoir.

There was a quick response to this outcry. The production and the director of the play quickly put out a statement condemning the racial abuse towards Amewudah-Rivers. Playwright Somalia Nonyé Seaton organized an open letter signed by more than 800 Black actors in solidarity with Amewudah-Rivers. These are all important steps and people working in the theater industry should stand in solidarity with Amewudah-Rivers. But, it is hard to ignore how often Black actors who are cast in racebent roles like these are simply left to shoulder racial abuse on their own while the people who cast them stay silent. 

Again and again, racist attacks online dominate the narrative surrounding Black actors’ casting. Just recently, Leah Sava Jeffries faced it when she was cast as Annabeth in the new adaptation of “Percy Jackson.” But the backlash aimed at Amewudah-Rivers stands out for a couple of reasons. One, it isn’t even the first time a Black woman has played Juliet. In 2013, Condola Rashad played Juliet opposite Orlando Bloom on Broadway. Two, Black actors have been acting in Shakespeare’s plays since the 19th century. The theater community, for the most part, has embraced diverse casting and none of the actors of color that have been a part of this have been subject to online racial hate campaigns the way Amewudah-Rivers has because they were lucky enough to not be starring opposite Spiderman. 

And therein lies the real root of the hatred against Amewudah-Rivers from people who haven’t read Shakespeare since 10th grade English class. They do have a vaguely perceived idea that racebent casting is “wrong” because of racism. But they also hate that a dark skinned Black woman like Amewudah-Rivers gets to play the love interest of a beloved white male actor like Tom Holland. To be clear, it is because of misogynoir. Now Amewudah-Rivers can’t just celebrate being cast as the lead of one of the most famous plays of all time, she has to brace herself to overcome the narrative that she isn’t worthy of the role created by people uninterested in seeing a Shakespeare play anyway. 

But she is worthy of the role. And she deserves to have the people surrounding her stand up for her and take steps to protect her. That includes Tom Holland, who has stayed silent so far even though the majority of the people attacking Amewudah-Rivers have been his fans. Besides the director of the production, the majority of the people sticking up for Amewudah-Rivers have been other Black women. But the white actors and the people who cast these Black actors cannot stay silent in the face of racial abuse like this and then call themselves allies.

The post Racist backlash against Black actresses — this is still happening in 2024 appeared first on Highlander.

As the seasons change and the Riverside weather slowly transitions towards a friendly warmth, University of California, Riverside (UCR) students can look toward a plethora of new events this quarter to get into the spirit of spring. One such event is BLOSSOM, hosted for the second time by the Associated Students Program Board (ASPB) on April 17, 2024. The mid-spring indie music concert features local artists of all types, cutely designed t-shirts for those who line up early and, of course, flowers.

Theme

With ASPB’s last event being outer space themed, ASPB switches it up and opts for an old internet and floral aesthetic reminiscent of the beginning of the digital age that can be seen in their merchandise and Instagram posts. While it was solemnly utilized outside these mediums, this would be typical of smaller ASPB events. Regardless, students still enjoyed the exclusive limited edition BLOSSOM ringer tees and other attractions that ASPB offered for this year’s event.

Attractions and Amenities

While for many, the merchandise still proved to be a large draw for many concert-goers, students were also able to enjoy a wide array of attractions and amenities. After obtaining the exclusive ringer tee, almost all students gravitated towards ASPB’s bouquet-making station, leaving with lovely sets of flowers perfect for spring vibes. 

Nearby the stations were tables with student artists and three small shops stationed as well, including HugHugKissKiss, Rooted In Love and My Skeleton Heart. There students were able to purchase trinkets, Mother’s Day cards, plants and assortments of stickers, accompanying the floral theme excellently. At the student artists tables, artworks and pieces from James Barragan, Sara Paulin-Martinez, Anna Monterroso, Sarah Zohary, Sovian Quesada, Jennifer Gomez and Litzy Cruz were all on display for all to see.

Of course, food trucks and the photo booth proved themselves to be a mainstay for concerts.  FryDay Food Truck, DD’s Chick and Cat Shack provided for mid-concert munching and photobooth gave students a way to immortalize the fun times during the festival in photos with a choice of various props. ASPB also had its own station where concert participants could help themselves to free posters from older ASPB experiences, a welcome addition for many who seek to hold onto the memories of the well-executed events. 

Student performers

After students helped themselves to the attractions, they would make their way to the actual show and lay blankets on the lawn in front of the Bell Tower. The first student organization to perform would be Wushu at UCR. Equipped with bow staffs, swords and other weaponry, organization members had an opportunity to put on a dazzling demonstration of martial arts one by one. As they ended their show, all members came together striking a dynamic pose, receiving praise from the UCR audience.

After, the 909 Dance Troupe, formally known as the 909 Hip Hop Dance Troupe and, subsequently, Tartan Seoul took the stage with multiple teams performing and captivating the audience. The dance teams got the crowd more and more excited as they started flawlessly performing well-known choreographies of today’s hip-hop and Korean pop hits. Concertgoers were treated to dance renditions like Le Sserafim’s EASY and ENHYPHEN’s Sacrifice (Eat Me Up) leaving the crowd hyped up and ready for the first band to come in.

Performance

First off of the lineup was a band from the Inland Empire, Porkboii. The band started off strong as students lounging on the lawn were bopping their heads along to the music. It was the classic image of chill vibes with the band playing as the sun set behind the Bell Tower. The band played music from their discography including their newest single “WJ,” “Junebug” and “Criminals.” Before ending their set, Porkboii addressed the crowd, calling out that “everybody deserves all the beautiful things that the world has to provide,” before starting their last song.

With the colors overhead illuminating the three-man band, Foxtide set the perfect ambiance for their set. Some songs the band played included “Ocean Blue,” “Paradise” and their version of “Put Your Head on My Shoulder.” The band was heavily focused on the build-up of their songs at the beginning. Among the build-ups, the band would often take instrumental breaks throughout the songs, showcasing their talents. The instruments highlighted their soft vocals as the band worked off of each other seamlessly. As Foxtide continued to play, a few crowd members stood up to the front to jump and dance along to the music. The band made sure to conclude on a high note, keeping the crowd ready for the next set.

Closing off BLOSSOM was a Latinx band from Dallas, Texas, Luna Luna. The band had a slow serenade-like start, entrancing the crowd with its music. The band played music that had the crowd swaying and vibing to their songs. Luna Luna played a mix of their best songs including “Solo Tu,” “80’s Tune” and “lonely lullaby.” Much of the songs had dance pop, Latin alternative and electric riffs. It was a set that could satisfy fans of different genres with its versatility and range of songs. Fans in the crowd called out to the band and were hyped by their talents shown throughout the set. 

BLOSSOM was a perfect celebration of local artists all around and has UCR students hoping for a three-peat next year. With students spread throughout the lawn on picnic blankets facing the Bell Tower, the set was the epitome of a chill and relaxed aura. The concert was a huge success that had the students focused on more than just the attractions and fully focused on the performances. More relaxed than their other smaller concerts such as AREA951 and Winter SOULstice, BLOSSOM was perfect for fans of indie or those simply looking for a nice night on the lawn with friends and good music.

The post BLOSSOM 2024 was spring vibes at its finest appeared first on Highlander.

From Director Chris Renaud, known for “Despicable Me” and “The Secret Life of Pets,” the 2012 feature film adaptation of Dr. Suess’ beloved children’s story, “The Lorax,” presents a sickening view of a future devoid of nature. The film opens in Thneedville, a fictional town in which grass and trees are made of plastic, and atmospheric pollution is so severe that citizens are compelled to purchase fresh air for their homes. One man in particular, the film’s de facto villain, Aloysius O’Hare, is worth billions of dollars with his air-industry monopoly. He makes a spectacle of his wealth and status by flying in an O’Hare Air blimp, a surely high-pollutant vehicle that adds to the environmental degradation of Thneedville.

Despite all this, however, the people express nothing but jubilation at living in such a manufactured place. In the first high-energy musical number of the movie, smiling citizens affectionately refer to their city as “have-everything-you-need-ville,” a paradise in which things that appear glaringly problematic to any mature viewer, like radioactive water that turns a boy glow-stick green, are not to be fretted over. It is then revealed in act one that most of these people have never seen living trees. With no concept of what the world used to look like, they are content in their man-made bubble.

It’s only when the film’s main protagonist, a tween boy named Ted, first ventures outside of town to investigate what happened to the trees that the true state of nature is revealed. The barren wasteland beyond the steel border wall encircling Thneedville is utterly depressing. It’s depicted in an almost monochromatic indigo, a stark departure from the vibrant and varied tones of the city, which has a definite emotional impact. Thunder claps as Ted rides his motorbike through fields of tree stumps to the sole dwelling outside town boundaries, the Once-ler’s house. The Once-lor, who hides behind a boarded-up window when Ted comes to talk to him, clearly regrets the actions of his younger self, an entrepreneur with a lofty dream whose greed blinded him from the devastating effects his business practices would have on the environment.

As the Once-lor begins telling Ted the story of the trees, the film returns to a view of the world before it was destroyed by industry. When the Once-ler first arrived, the region was a lush wonderland. Many species thrived together in harmony; fish sang and danced in a glistening river and families of bears frolicked among the brightly colored truffula trees. This was an ecosystem undisturbed by the Anthropocene. The sublime portrayal of the world as it was makes the world Ted inhabits seem even more dismal in comparison, an intentional and effective move on the part of the filmmaker.

If only the Once-lor had heeded the warning of the eponymous Lorax! The Lorax, who “speak[s] for the trees,” acts as the voice of the environmentalist movement in the film. The wise, orange, mustachioed creature is summoned down to earth when the young Once-ler chops down his first tree. The Lorax urges him to leave, and then, failing to persuade him to do so, makes the Once-ler promise that he won’t chop down any more truffula trees.
Before he departs, The Lorax utters a prudent assertion to the young businessman; “A tree falls the way it leans, be careful which way you lean.” If the Once-ler had kept his promise, the wooded landscape would have still existed for Ted’s generation to enjoy. But he didn’t. It was only because the Once-ler began to harvest trees to mass-produce thneeds, and didn’t stop harvesting, that the world ended up in the state of ruin that it did. As demonstrated in the song “How Bad Can I Be,” he acted with total disregard for anything but his self-interest and the perpetual accumulation of more and more wealth.

This narrative parallels the real history and trajectory of global climate change. The aggregate pollution from factories and power plants has already had catastrophic effects on the planet. If society doesn’t find a way to put corporations in check to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, and soon, the real world may come to resemble the lifeless dystopia depicted in “The Lorax.”

Luckily, though, since “The Lorax” is a movie made for children, its final act goes to a more optimistic place. The Once-lor reminds Ted of the power he holds as a determined young person to change Thneedville, and consequently the world, for the better. Empowered by his penitent old mentor, Ted returns to the city to remind people of the suboptimal reality they’re all living in and ultimately act as a catalyst for environmental restoration and the take-down of O’Hare Air.

The film leaves viewers young and old with a feeling of hope, displaying the transformative power of individual and collective action to solve the world’s most pressing problems. Its main takeaway: if we as a society pay attention to what’s most important and care enough to overcome large-scale transgressions, we can create a future to be proud of. It’s never too late.

The post Radar Replay: ‘The Lorax’ speaks for the trees of not just Thneedville but for the world appeared first on Highlander.

Landy Párraga, ex candidata a Miss Ecuador 2022, al medio día de este domingo, 28 de abril, fue asesinada. La también modelo se encontraba dentro de una cevichería del centro comercial La Cuadra, ubicado en la parroquia El Guayacán de Quevedo. A dicho lugar llegaron individuos armados y dispararon contra la mujer oriunda de la provincia de Los Ríos.

#ATENCION
Ex candidata a Miss Ecuador ,Landy Parraga fue asesinada en un restaurante de Quevedo ,provincia de Los Rios. #Ecuador pic.twitter.com/hXZeBJamOj

— EDISON MENDOZA (@FLACOMENDOZA1) April 28, 2024

La policía llegó al sitio del atentado para cercarlo e iniciar con las respectivas investigaciones. Párraga, de acuerdo a medios locales, se encontraba en Quevedo desde este 27 de abril, ya que le habían invitado a la boda de un amigo.

• Quién fue la candidata al Miss Ecuador 2022 que se cayó en la tarima en pleno desfile en traje de gala y cuál participante la ayudó (VIDEO)

Más detalles sobre Landy Párraga

La víctima era virreina de Quevedo. En su cuenta de Instagram Párraga tiene resaltados sus estudios en comunicación social y su cargo como CEO en la Importadora Lanmi Store.

La quevedeña, previamente, tomó gran relevancia mediática cuando su nombre apareció involucrado en el caso Metástasis. Ella fue expuesta en los chats del narcotraficante Leandro Norero el pasado 08 de enero.

Landy supuestamente habría mantenido una relación sentimental con quien apodaban “El Patrón”, rescata Ecuavisa.

(I)

The post Landy Párraga asesinada a balazos en Quevedo: Ella fue candidata a Miss Ecuador 2022 y nombrada en el caso Metástasis appeared first on Qué Noticias.

Alex Garland’s “Civil War,” released on April 12, 2024, takes place in a near-future America where the nation is factionalized and eating itself alive. Bearing a two-starred flag, California and Texas formed an alliance known as the Western Forces in hopes of usurping the President (Nick Offerman) while other states vowed allegiance to him. The President is a dictator, three terms deep and bunkered in the White House, unconcerned about pulling the desolate country out of the civil war. So, across the country, artillery lights up the sky, riots break out and ghost towns and refugee camps flourish.

Capturing this devastation on their route to D.C. to interview the President is a group of war photographers led by Lee (Kirsten Dunst), a trauma-afflicted veteran. The team consists of adrenaline junkie Joel (Wagner Moura), fledgling Jessie (Cailee Spaeny) and Sammy (Stephen McKinley Henderson), whose best photojournalism days are behind him. The emotional bonds that Garland, the writer of the film, tries to string along never yield into the pseudo-family we expect the eclectic band to become. Regardless, the collective responsibility, the heavy air in the press van and (mostly) unspoken understanding of the death driving their work requires is always communicated well.

Lee and Jessie’s mentor and mentee relationship is the film’s throughline, but it’s far too superficial to justify its foreground. Save for Sammy, who has little purpose except for being a warm presence and a brief moment of glory, Lee is the least interesting character, solely defined by her trauma — a trope that demands wariness (absent here) if used. Lee sees her younger self in Jessie, so we understand there is a passing down of burden, trauma and passion between the two, slowly occurring as the novice overcomes her nerves and throws herself into the conflict, encapsulated in the penultimate scene. Still, because of Lee’s passivity, there aren’t enough scenes of her influence being exerted, leaving Jessie’s metamorphosis up to circumstance and herself.

A slant that “Civil War” seems to only graze, through monochrome snapshots of Jessie’s photographs, is how events, people and places become immortalized through photography. That is to say, there is a missing, deeper reflection from the team on their work after a life-threatening shoot. A brief scene where Jessie scans and observes her negatives is the closest we get to such thought. Garland does, in certain interlude-like scenes, reach for another type of profundity: beauty amidst the destruction, but it never assumes form. Working against this half-hearted gesture is the film’s assemblage — the hard cuts to violence or graceful melodies succeeding the other are thrifty at best and manipulative at worst which blunts the building and releasing of pressure.

Punctuated across this fluctuation of tension are stops, rarely voluntary, in the team’s road trip. Viewing these scenes altogether results in a rather antithetical, inconsistent depiction of war and violence. Take the sequence involving an encounter with a jingoist militia soldier (Jesse Plemons) or the sniper standstill; each is played out to rack the nerves but is vaguely written to convey the notion that war is senseless. The violence here is appalling but, more importantly, blunt, making it all the more potent. It’s also difficult to think of a recent film where bullets sounded so heavy and resounding, appropriately deadly unlike its expected slick or dampened on-screen persona.

Contrast this to the film’s final act, where the photographers arrive at the White House, a now bombed-out frontier under heavy invasion. The need to have a conventional show-stopping climax devolves “Civil War” into that like a video game, betraying its unglamorous depiction of war for the very opposite. The approach of keeping the camera close to the actors rather than their surroundings is lost with the camera and Garland is seemingly more interested in helicopters and tanks blowing up the faceless enemy. It’s a formally well-executed finale, but like the rest of the film, it is non-committed and scatterbrained in thought.

Verdict: Lacking charged characters and a holistic vision, “Civil War” plays like a film in its conceptual stages.

The post ‘Civil War’: Photographing a fallen nation appeared first on Highlander.