Monthly Archives: August 2022

Tapping into the popular theme of post-lockdown hedonism, Applebees is teaming up with Winky Lux for its new Saucy Gloss collab.

These lips are out of lockdown, is the first line of Taste my Face, the original song created by ad agency Grey Global for the campaign, which promotes a barbecue sauce-flavored collection of four lip glosses developed by Winky Lux. A glam music video directed by Hannah Lux Davis, known for Ariana Grandes Thank U, Next and Doja Cats Say So, features the limited-edition beauty products and positions Applebees as a date-night hotspot.

The music videos flashy style contains many elements of the party-centric night luxe aesthetic that has gained traction since pandemic reopenings began, including sparkly outfits, red velvet booths and chandeliers.

Winky Lux is a very intentionally extra brand, said Winky Lux CEO Natalie Mackey. She said Winky Lux is especially known for products you would use to go out, which are on the upswing this year after a makeup sales slump during lockdown. As young people are partying in full force again, makeup is trending up, she said, with glittery, shimmery and colorful products all seeing a sales surge.

Winky Lux generally embraces an indulgent mindset in its marketing, as opposed to the ascetic, minimalist wellness style that party-girl influencers (and some brands) have increasingly eschewed. Theres a lot of really serious marketing and branding in beauty, she said. Theres so much focus on this austere, very serious moment, and we feel theres a big opportunity for a fun voice in the industry.

Mackey said the brand was given access to the proprietary recipes of four signature Applebees dipping sauces to create products that would accurately match the flavor. After six months of work developing flavors, it came up with four glosses: Be My Honey Pepper, Sweet Chile Kiss, Get Me Hot Buffalo and Honey BBQ-T.

Its super weird to put on a lip gloss that tastes like barbecue sauce. Lets call it what it is. Its a completely new thing. But its a lot of fun. We really liked the challenge, said Mackey.

With the launch of the video, Applebees and Winky Lux become the latest to use the raunchy new normal advertising genre that has been adopted since the start of the pandemic by brands including Touchland, Suitsupply and Extra. With lyrics like Our chemistrys just too hot; no side of ranch can cool off, the songs music video features first dates over wings and ice water at a fictional, swanky nightclub-esque Applebees restaurant. With intentional ambiguity, a substance implied to be either sauce or lip gloss is shown smeared over dates mouth areas.

Applebees marketing team identified across all platforms that people wanted to kiss again, said Applebees CMO Joel Yashinsky. They had been behind masks; they had been sort of hidden, and the whole dating structure changed. Applebees is a date-night destination.

The video also highlights that its entire cast of four professional dancers and four actors are single. It prominentlyshowcases their social handles and encourages viewers to slide into their DMs for a shot at romance.

They were more than happy to provide the contact information, and people can reach out to them and see where it goes, said Yashinsky. Well follow if anything comes from [the campaign] that builds a long-term relationship for any of them.

The campaign will be promoted by both brands across social channels including TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, and is geared toward all ages, said Yashinsky. According to him, 80% of Applebees customer demographic is either Gen X, millennial or Gen Z. The campaign will be promoted exclusively online, likely reaching a younger audience than the brands traditional TV spots.

Its really about energy, and fun and games moments. [Its also] a chance to experience life back at the level of normalcy people are looking for, said Yashinsky.

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'These lips are out of lockdown': Applebee's goes night luxe with new beauty collab - Glossy

Fellas, is it true love if your vampire pseudo-girlfriend gives you a big ol' smooch to extract some extra blood from your mouth? This is the conundrum Ko finds himself dealing with this week in a humor-heavy installment of Call of the Night. As I said in the review last time, this series runs on vibes for a good while, so this episode doesn't do much beyond languish in the light taboos of these late night excursions. It's a chance for the audience to settle in with Nazuna and Ko, and it's also a chance for Akira to do the same in a much more literal sense.

Ko is flustered about the kiss because he's in middle school and you're supposed to be flustered about kisses when you're that age. His youth and inexperience also come through, with some painful pangs of recognition on my end, via his emotional phase transition from utter bewilderment to complete confidence. We all like to think we have it figured out at that age. It's important that he's immature, because his desire to become a vampire stems from that immaturity. He sees it as an escape from the bothers and doldrums of daily life. It is, in his mind, a natural extension of his insomniac adventures.

I like, too, that Call of the Night has yet to truly admonish Ko for these childish whims. The series feels no ethical impetus to argue that he should return to school and don the usual responsibilities of adolescence and eventual adulthood. Rather, it only cares about extolling the virtues of being a truant and hanging out with cool people beyond the ken of authority figures. It's a goofy distillation of the rakish appeal of vampiric romances with normal humans. Regular life sucks, and it sucks doubly when you're 14. Nazuna is Ko's ticket to something more fulfilling; she even says herself that people sleep better when they're satisfied with their day. Call of the Night argues that if you're disappointed with the direction of your waking life, it's validperhaps even therapeuticto scorch the earth and vie for something different. There's a certain amount of naivete and hedonism baked into that philosophy, but these too are the appeals of vampire fiction.

Nazuna is also, in his mind, Ko's ticket to adulthood. Vampires don't have to worry about school or gossip or curfews. Vampires only care about prowling the streets, dancing in the moonlight, and, in Nazuna's case, retro gaming. Naturally, there's a lot more to it than that, but Ko, unsurprisingly, has yet to grapple with what his undead life would truly be like. And that's not to mention the irony that Nazuna doesn't have a much clearer idea of what being grown up is all about either. Whether it comes to romance or responsibilities, the pair are on about equal footing, and Call of the Night's dirty jokes are a great example of that. They possess the exact tenor of two teens shooting the shit. The show still dips into fanservicey cuts and closeups, but sex is more often a punchline in this episode. And when things do get serious, it's about Nazuna using her modicum of experience to frankly explain the difference (and connection) between love and lust to Ko, who comes out of that misunderstanding with a better grasp on his emotions. There's no doubt the series wants to titillate, but it's definitely interested in exploring the nuances of its relationships too.

Akira, unsurprisingly, ends up being the most level-headed out of the trio. As a nightowl of a different breed, she understands Ko's attraction to the other side, but she also makes sure to verify that Nazuna isn't just using him like a refillable tube of blood Gogurt. While the humor in the second part stems from the innate sketchiness of their necking and sleeping arrangements, it eventually gives way to a moment of vulnerability between two friends. If anyone were going to chastise Ko for leaving school, it'd be her, but Akira instead expresses relief and support. She's there to be his friend if he ever becomes a vampire, and she's there to help if he ever changes his mind. Reading in between the lines, we can conclude it's likely that she has, or at least had, some feelings for him, so it's heartwarming to see their friendship deepen. Despite all the raunchy humor, this is, quite genuinely, a wholesome episode.

As far as the adaptation itself goes, Call of the Night's sense of staging remains strong. This is the most lowkey installment yet, and the storyboards nevertheless manage to keep the dialogue in motion. Again, while it's hard to say the degree to which Tomoyuki Itamura is actually involved in the production, his influence has clearly worked its way down into the anime. There are lots of cuts reminiscent of Monogatari here; I'm thinking in particular of the playfully quick closeups on Nazuna's mouth as she works her way through various synonyms for a woman's bosom. The reaction beats are good too, with the adaptation branching out into different color schemes and framings to better punctuate its jokes. And for the blood-sucking scenes, the emphasis on the subtle motions of her hands and teeth helps instill intimacy and sensuality into these moments, and I'd like to see the show continue to focus on these.

All in all, this is a pretty standard and unchallenging fourth episode. It's not going to change your mind about the series, but if you're still watching it, you've probably already concluded Call of the Night is in your nocturnally inclined wheelhouse anyway.

Rating:

Call of the Night is currently streaming onHIDIVE.

Steve's Twitter DMs are open to vampires and vampires only. Otherwise, catch him chatting about trash and treasure alike on This Week in Anime.

LOVE Island has come to an end, but eagle-eyed fans will be watching the couples closely for many months and even years to come.

All the finalists look loved up on the final episode last night - in which Ekin-Su Clclolu and Davide Sanclimenti took the prize money.

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But relationships post-show have lasted anything between a few days to indefinitely.

Many couples from previous series have ended up married and even with children.

Others who were expected to last longer sadly failed at challenges in the real world.

So who does celebrity psychologist Dr Arthur Cassidy - who has watched and analysed the Love Island 2022 series - think will last this time?

He reveals his predictions in collaboration with Buzz Bingo

Nine months plus

Dr Arthur suggested there was a lot of potential for Andrew Le PageandTasha Ghouri, who he believes should have come in second or third place.

But, having already become officially a couple in the villa, will life outside be as sparkling as they hoped?

Dr Arthur said: Love Islands first couple to be official boyfriend and girlfriend need to explore what being a couple really means outside the villa and how they will handle arguments and differences besides long term commitment.

Most read in Mental Health

How will they overcome boredom with each other and routine behaviours?

Dr Arthur added: Whilst Andrew demonstrates empathy he needs to work substantially harder on his maturity and emotional intelligence to survive in this relationship.

He is definitely seen as impressive by Tashas father Tarek and this is the key factor and main hurdle to cross in order to develop their reciprocal love and journey across the months ahead.

A year or two

Dr Arthur has high hopes for Damiyah - Dami HopeandIndiyah Polack- who have been on a rollercoaster of a journey in the villa but consistently shown fun, love and humour.

He said: [Damis] Irish charm and intelligence has endeared him to Indiyah as he only had eyes for her once he entered the villa.

It was a case of what we call mere exposure and a primacy effect, firm love and commitment shows authenticity and reality.

Dr Arthur said despite Dami needing approval from Indiyahs mum - who grilled him on her visit - Indiyah has become much more mature and forgiving of Damis past betrayal.

In the future, they need to work really hard on core principles, beliefs and shared attitudes and how they will handle arguments and solve problems as a couple in the real world.

Two or three months, at a stretch

Dr Arthur said: I'm not convinced that this relationship or rather friendship has any of the necessary ingredients for a realistic coupling up in the real world, their core values are oceans apart.

Luca BishandGemma Owen were able to score second place, but many fans suspected they were disappointed with the result.

Dr Arthur said: Gemma particularly feels perhaps a little threatened by the cohesive maturity and emotional stability seen in Ekin-Su and Davides love, commitment and clarity.

Her jealousy for Ekin-Su and Davide is evident throughout.

Luca shows more stereotypical male traits of dominance hedonism and craves excitement.

Dependent and possessive love has been expressed by him the past few days.

Dr Arthur said this relationship - or more so a superficial friendship - doesnt have legs because the two Islanders showed no evidence or discussion about core beliefs and adherence, nor shared mutual activities.

He added: Much depends on her [Gemmas] mum's approval of Luca. My advice to Luca, cast your fishing net deep into the Mediterranean.

Six to nine months

Its not what we want to hear - Dr Arthur believes the winning couple dont have much more than nine months in their prospects.

He sees a mutual love and respect between the two, and a clear journey of love.

However both still show insecurities for a healthy long term relationship, he said.

Trust is going to be a major issue for both at this point in time.

Post-show they must develop their developmental aspects of worldview, core beliefs, moral reasoning, and similarity or dissimilarity of outlook.

Both are excited about their future but the real world's challenges and temptations will pose a genuine threat to the development of their love relationship.

They need to work on their emotion focused coping skills and also their problem focused coping strategies.

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Im a psychologist and heres how long I think Love Island couples will last... - The US Sun

While the most gripping true crime stories take us into the darkest parts of the soul, rarely does a case open the ugly heart of the nation itself. The labyrinthine case thats come to be dubbed the Murdaugh murders feels like one that could only happen in America a tale of generational power and corruption. This is a Southern Gothic morality play about a wealthy but fading Southern family whose huge amounts of wealth and influence fueled a jaw-dropping spree of recklessness, greed, and murder.

What one article aptly called a lot of dead people and crime involves the Murdaugh (pronounced Murdock) family, which has amassed power and wealth in South Carolina for over 100 years. But that century of power has crumbled in just half a decade due to a long list of financial crimes and five suspicious deaths beginning in 2015: an alleged homophobic hate crime; a deadly boating accident; a mysterious fall and insurance scam; the double murder of the family matriarch and favorite son; and a bizarre roadside incident that may have been another insurance scam. The whole tangled web culminated in the recent indictment in a South Carolina county court of the floundering patriarch, Alex Murdaugh, for the 2021 murders of his wife and son bringing the total number of charges he is facing to over 80.

Murdaugh pleaded not guilty to the murder charges on July 20, setting the stage for what will likely be a bombshell trial accompanied by a media circus. Thats thanks in part to a hit podcast that began as one local journalists attempt to bring attention to the case. Now the Murdaugh murders have become a national true crime obsession.

Ready to dive into the details? You might want an oxygen tank for this one; as you might expect from just this summary, these are dark waters.

The Murdaughs have wielded power over South Carolinas Lowcountry, the lush, mossy wedge at the bottom of the state, for over 100 years ever since Randolph Murdaugh Sr. founded his law office in Hampton County in 1910.

The firm eventually grew into a large, powerful practice continued by his son, Randolph Jr., and his grandson, Randolph III. From 1920 to 2006, all three men also successively held the post of solicitor (a.k.a. prosecutor) for South Carolinas 14th Circuit Court. The Murdaughs 86-year stretch serving as circuit solicitors was the longest such family legacy in US history. As you might imagine, it also gave the family an unprecedented amount of power and influence, not just over Hampton County but over the other four counties under the circuits jurisdiction.

Randolph IV and Alex, two of Randolph IIIs sons, followed in their fathers footsteps and became lawyers. Because South Carolina eventually prohibited lawyers from serving in the conflicting dual roles of public prosecutor and private attorney, the men didnt serve as solicitors but still served as volunteer prosecutors assisting their father while continuing the familys law practice. The solicitors office ultimately fired Alex, and the family law firm changed its name from Peters Murdaugh Parker Eltzroth and Detrick, usually shortened to PMPED, to Parker Law Group earlier this year, likely to escape the growing stigma of the Murdaugh name especially its association with Alex Murdaugh.

Alex, pronounced Alec, was a golden child who sired golden children. Born in 1967, he followed in his familys footsteps and studied law at the University of South Carolina, where he met athlete-turned-sorority-sister Margaret Maggie Branstetter. They married in 1993 and subsequently had two sons, Buster, born in 1996, and Paul, born in 1999. The family lived in opulence, dividing their time among a beach house, a couple of private islands, and a massive 1,772-acre estate known as Moselle which, like the law firm, was renamed to escape its connections with the Murdaughs.

But the family also lived lives of hedonism; Alex and both of his sons would face accusations of drug and alcohol addiction and wild, out-of-control behavior in the lead-up to the series of crimes. In particular, Alexs years of extravagant living led to a litany of alleged financial crimes including fraud, embezzlement, and multiple attempted insurance scams all of it adding up to an alleged $8.5 million in theft and leading to multiple homicides.

The Murdaughs power arguably hindered the initial and follow-up investigations into these deaths, leading to accusations of cover-ups and corruption. Ultimately, what began as separate investigations into separate crimes would knot themselves into an interconnected web of tragedy. These deaths all dramatically different but all potentially linked by the Murdaughs reflected something of the chaos the Murdaughs brought with them, despite their stature and reputation.

On July 8, 2015, 19-year-old Hampton student Stephen Smith phoned his mother to tell her hed run out of gas. Later that night he was found lying in the middle of the road miles away from his truck. Hed died of blunt force trauma, and his body had been laid out in the middle of the road like a snow angel, according to his mother.

Authorities with the South Carolina Highway Patrol initially assumed Stephen was the victim of a hit-and-run after leaving his truck and walking to get gas, and closed the case accordingly, despite numerous observations by police that suggested Smiths death was a homicide. But police also later noted that the scene looked staged, and town gossip began to swirl that Smith, who was rumored to be dating Buster Murdaugh at the time, had been the victim of a hate crime or that the Murdaugh brothers had a role in his death.

In June 2021, while the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, or SLED, was investigating the other murders related to the Murdaugh family, authorities reopened the investigation into Smiths death, issuing a statement implying they were somehow connected. So far no charges or indictments have been issued, but the investigation is still open, and Smiths mother has stated that the latest indictments into the other murders give her hope that we will get justice.

On February 2, 2018, the Murdaughs longtime housekeeper, Gloria Satterfield, suffered a severe head injury at the Moselle estate and died on February 26 of complications including a stroke. The cause of her death is unclear, since the coroner was never notified and Satterfields body was never autopsied; authorities later paradoxically described her death as both natural and resulting from an accidental trip and fall.

Still, Satterfields death might not be exactly suspicious had it not been for what came next: According to multiple criminal indictments and multiple lawsuits, Alex Murdaugh and two other men, banker Chad Westendorf and fellow attorney Cory Fleming, then conspired to steal Satterfields $4.3 million insurance policy by misleading Satterfields sons and diverting all the funds to Alex himself through a phony business Alex created called Forge an irony, since Murdaugh would later be charged with multiple counts of forgery. As part of the scam, Alex convinced Satterfields sons to sue him for liability so that they would be able to receive a hefty liability settlement. But he then kept all the money for himself.

The Satterfield insurance scam was just one of a laundry list of instances where Alex embezzled and defrauded money from clients at his law firm, usually by settling their cases for large sums of money and then failing to tell them about it while he spent the clients settlement payout on himself. He repeated the same pattern with, among others, Hakeem Pinckney, a college football player who became quadriplegic following an auto accident. Pinckney died in 2011, and his family never saw the more than $750,000 payout.

In Satterfields case, Alex evinced additional suspicious behavior around her death, including arriving on the scene before the EMTs and insisting he heard Satterfield say his dogs caused her fall, contradicting her own statement later that she had no idea what caused it.

Satterfields sons were ultimately able to recover more than $6.5 million from subsequent lawsuits; meanwhile, authorities received permission to exhume Satterfields body in June 2022 in order to continue the criminal investigation into her death.

Mystery still surrounds the death of Mallory Beach, but one thing is clear: Without the events of February 24, 2019, we might not even be talking about the Murdaughs today.

That evening, 19-year-old Paul Murdaugh and a group of friends were returning to the Murdaugh estate by boat after a night of partying. According to nearly all witnesses present, Paul insisted on piloting the boat himself despite being extremely intoxicated. He was reportedly in a belligerent, angry state and refused to give up the wheel, driving erratically and too fast along one of the areas many twisting waterways. At some point during the early morning hours, Paul crashed the boat into Archers Creek Bridge, ejecting multiple passengers from the boat, including 19-year-old Mallory Beach. It took a week for authorities to recover Beachs body.

Despite the clear signs of intoxication, however, authorities failed to record his intoxication levels at the scene; at the hospital later that night, multiple witnesses confirmed that Paul was still drunk and uncooperative. They also observed that Alex Murdaugh arrived at the hospital and began to threaten and attempt to coerce witnesses there, encouraging them to stick to a version of events that cleared Paul of wrongdoing; one witness described the atmosphere as a weird, corny teen drama.

Mallory Beachs death led to a flurry of lawsuits and a criminal investigation focusing on Paul Murdaugh. The Beach case also coincided with growing financial troubles for Alex Murdaugh and suspicion about his many fraudulent activities, and later court documents revealed a man who seemed desperate to shift blame away from his son. Instead, in 2019, Paul was charged with three criminal counts of felony boating under the influence; he eventually pleaded not guilty.

Beachs family sued the entire Murdaugh family, more or less, for her wrongful death, alleging that Alex Murdaugh and his brother Randolph, and Paul Murdaugh and his brother Buster, had conspired to cover up the cause of her death. Community members also accused the Murdaughs of using their power and influence to delay the trial. In the lead-up to the trial, no less than three different law officials recused themselves because of their close ties to the Murdaugh family.

In June 2021, Paul Murdaugh was just days away from what would have been a costly and expensive trial for Beachs death. He would never make it to the court date.

During the summer of 2021, more and more public interest grew around Paul Murdaughs upcoming trial. After 30 years, Maggie Murdaugh was estranged from her husband Alex, living at the familys beach house and reportedly looking into divorce. Alex was neck-deep in fraud schemes whose payouts were dwindling, facing a costly divorce and potentially steep legal fees for his son. He also claimed to be battling what he later described as a 20-year opioid addiction.

On June 7, 2021, Alex Murdaugh reportedly lured Maggie to Moselle, prompting her to text a friend that Alex was acting fishy; hes up to something, she allegedly wrote to her friend. Upon arriving at the estate, Maggie met her son Paul at the familys dog kennels. While they were there, mother and son were gunned down with two different weapons Maggie with an assault-style rifle, Paul with a shotgun. Alex appeared on the scene shortly afterward and called 911 to report the deaths. An autopsy later confirmed both died of multiple gunshot wounds.

The double homicide of the Murdaughs caused Alex Murdaughs house of cards to collapse. He immediately fell under suspicion for the murders, and the case made national headlines. Three days after the murders, his father, Randolph III, died. On September 3, 2021, Murdaugh resigned from the familys law firm after the firm confronted him over his years of suspected embezzlement. The firm later sued him, and law enforcement opened its own criminal investigation into the alleged fraud.

The following day, on September 4, 2021, Alex called 911 to report a strange roadside incident in which he claimed to have blown a tire. When a stranger stopped to help him, Alex reported, they shot him in the head instead. Though someone clearly shot and grazed Alex in the head, even witnesses at the scene didnt believe his story; it kind of looks like a setup, so we didnt stop, one 911 caller reported.

On September 14, Alex gave up the real plot: Hed intended to have a friend shoot and kill him so that his surviving son, Buster, could receive Alexs $10 million life insurance payout. Authorities promptly arrested Murdaugh and his accomplice, Alexs alleged drug supplier and former client Curtis Smith, charging Smith with assisted suicide and both men with conspiracy to commit insurance fraud. Alexs law license was immediately suspended, and he was later disbarred.

Alex posted bond and checked himself into a drug rehab center, only to be arrested for felony fraud charges in the Satterfield case when he emerged. This time, his bail was denied and his assets were frozen.

By now, the case was a national sensation making regular mainstream headlines in large part thanks to one local journalist. Mandy Matney had allegedly alienated her former news outlet by pursuing the Murdaugh case in more depth than her editors wanted. In 2020, she joined the South Carolina website FITSNews.com just so she could cover the Murdaughs. Days after the murders of Maggie and Paul, Matney and FITS launched the Murdaugh Murders podcast, which broke down the voluminous case piece by piece starting with what she dubbed South Carolinas Chappaquiddick.

The podcast was so successful it reportedly ranked among the worlds top podcasts in 2021; its currently being developed as a true crime drama series for a division of Universal. HBO Max is also developing a true crime documentary series about the case. The more attention Matney drew to the case, the more investigators appeared to ramp up their own work. Between November 2021 and July 2022, dozens of indictments were doled out against Alex Murdaugh and his co-conspirators. Community accusations leveled against the family for abusing its influence continued too, as yet another solicitor recused himself from the case, and evidence allegedly connecting Alex to the double murders was suppressed from the public. Youll know a Murdaugh did it if no one is arrested, ran one apocryphal Facebook comment.

On July 14, 2022, however, Alex Murdaugh was indicted for the double homicide of his wife and son. Today is one more step in a long process for justice for Maggie and Paul, said Mark Keel, head of South Carolinas State Law Enforcement Division.

But Alex Murdaugh apparently doesnt intend to make the process easy. On July 20, he pleaded not guilty, in what will likely be the first of many controversial court proceedings. With attorneys filing for gag orders in the case and the community arguing for transparency, the spectacle about to unfold may give onlookers a glimpse into what that century of accumulated power has really achieved. Will Murdaugh, with his high-powered state senator attorney, be able to convince a jury of his innocence? What would that say about South Carolinas small-town political landscape?

The murders surrounding the Murdaugh family already seem to have revealed a justice system that turned a blind eye while Alex Murdaugh committed felonies for years to say nothing of murder. For so long, the Murdaughs were allowed to rule their corner of the world because they knew that system in a way most people dont, even as their exercise of those privileges drove themselves and those around them to ruin. Questions still remain regarding the deaths of Stephen Smith and Gloria Satterfield, along with the extent and full nature of Alex Murdaughs long list of fraudulent activities. Though the murders of Paul and Maggie Murdaugh may be headed toward resolution, theyre just one aspect of a case that will likely have many twists and turns to come.

Originally posted here:

The Murdaugh murders: Five suspicious deaths, 100 years of family power - Vox.com

F

estivals: built around hedonism, escapism and pure recklessness, pretty much everyone is sure to provide a bizarre experience or two to rustle up at the dinner table. One of my earliest memories is of the beginning of a weekend in a sludgy field, when a man in front of me was being searched for drugs okay, so, perhaps this isnt a story for the dinner table, but lets just say they found some, hidden in a bag for life, somewhere I wont mention. My other, only slightly less gruesome takeaway from the same experience is of the lacking food offering. Soggy pizza and bland, bone-dry burgers made for a dire culinary experience. This was reflective of what festivals traditionally were, where at worst, eating was considered highly improper, and at best, if you felt faint, youd sneak off for a pee and quickly skull the most wholesome thing you could find, which would invariably be something watery from a van thatd make you feel sick just to look at.

For some time now, though, the draw of many festivals culinary offerings have been as big if not bigger than the music. Since the arrival and relative success of Alex Jamess (albeit rather lame) Cotswolds-based Harvest Festival and then Big Feastival, an increasing number of people are booking their weekend in a field because they want to be fed by accomplished chefs as much as they want to sway along to Jamie xx or Years & Years. And this summer, there are more, bigger and better food offerings than ever.

Wilderness is offering a record number of drinking and dining experiences theres an even more impressive Veuve Clicquot champagne garden and food by Quo Vadis chef Jeremy Lee, Springs Skye Gyngell, Sam Buckley of Where The Light Gets In and Niklas Ekstedt of Ekstedt At The Yard to name a few. Meanwhile, this year the founders of Lost Village are expanding their food offering to include intimate woodland-set chefs tables by Kols Santiago Lastra and Rafael Cagali of Da Terra. And new kids on the block The Good Life Society Summer Camp are hosting a series of food-focused micro-festivals for 100 people, with headliners including MasterChef winner and founder of Wahaca Thomasina Miers and foodfluencer Max La Manna. Likewise, earlier this summer 8,000-acre estate Wilderness Reserve teamed up with The Balvenie and Laurent Perrier to host an intimate retreat based around whisky and champagne tastings, with feasts hosted by Lisa Goodwin-Allen, Sat Bains and Ivan Tisdall-Downes. Plus, last weekend at Westival the team behind Roots, a supper club series designed to showcase the fare of up-and-coming chefs, put on a pop-up by Olly Oakley and Lexi van Breugel.

Moreover, if you dont fancy making a weekend of it, there is an increasing number of get-gluttonous-and-go-home days out. Tom Kerridges Pub In The Park has expanded across the entire country, and there are plenty of solely food and drink offerings including Wing Fest (celebrating all things Chicken elbow related, duh), Meatopia, Savour Festival, the National Geographic Traveller Food Festival, Hampton Court Palace Food Festival, London Craft Beer Festival, the London Dessert Festival, Taste Of London and the Ice Cream Festival to get stuck into. And even if youre off to Reading/Leeds, youll be able to eat stonebaked pizza, gourmet mac n cheese, succulent stacks from Burger and Beyond, and even, er, Nandos.

So what changed? Andy George, co-founder of Lost Village, says that festival-goers interest in food at events is on the up because people are rightly thinking more and more about what they put in their body and the effect it has on the environment. Plus, post-Covid, were all appreciating both the ability to eat out and the art of conversation a lot more. Jeremy Lee, who is hosting a banquet at Wilderness for the first time, says, I think there is a great interest in food for the simple reason that folk love nothing more than a great dinner, and they are vital for adding structure to these few days of endless delights. Not to mention, as the organisers of younger festivals find their feet, it seems to be encouraging fine dining chefs who may not have considered serving festival fare in the past to get involved. Renowned Brazilian chef Rafael Cagali, whose Bethnal Green restaurant has two Michelin stars, believes Its a great opportunity to do something outside of my bubble and try to represent Da Terra in a totally different environment.

Will wellies be necessary? That depends on the weather. Just dont forget to pack your appetite.

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Nevermind the headliners: how head chefs became the festival draw - Evening Standard

Who knew it was possible to take so much pleasure in watching people banter and brawl and have panic attacks over stuff that means absolutely nothing to you?

By that, I dont mean that the financial worldso stylishly and sexily dramatized in HBOs Industry, launching into season two August 1is something I dont care about. I mean literally that its incomprehensible. The young brokers and analysts spit industry jargon at approximately a million words per minute: a mind-bending barrage of futures and shorts and positioning thats pure yadda yadda yadda to me, as abstract and alien as the subatomic realm of quarks and neutrinos. But it doesnt put me off. In fact, Im enthralled. This trading floor is a killing field of emotional and erotic carnage as much as its a place where fortunes are made and lost in a millisecond.

Lots of people (and critics) I know took a pass on the first first season of Industry, which revolves around a group of college graduates working at Pierpont & Company, a fictional London investment bank. Theyve been hired on a trial basis and know that only half of them will survive an imminent cull (RIF, short for Reduction In Force) and secure permanent jobs. Not that anything is long-lasting or stable in this rapid-turnover world.

Both established traders and the Pierpont managers charged with training and monitoring the new recruits live in a constant state of paranoid anxiety about their quarterly performance; they spend their days cosseting elite clients who might be flight risks. The fast-churn lifestyle demands release, and its found in drugs and alcohol, eruptions of rage, badinage so brutal its basically hazing, and raunchy sex that shreds the rules about not mixing business and pleasure. Quick learners, the students take to the debauched afterwork culture as avidly as the daytime fray of speculation and deal-making.

The core group includes Yasmin (Marisa Abela), a smart and sensual woman from a wealthy Middle Eastern family who gets treated like an errand girl by a male supervisor who cant see past her chic surface; Robert (Harry Lawtey), a working class white boy whod rather sniff coke and sext Yasmin than study markets; and Gus (David Jonsson), a Ghanian-British Etonian who studied classics at Oxford and quickly finds the financial world unfulfilling. Floating at the center of the bunch is Harper (Myhala Herrold), a mysterious, mixed-race young American fueled by voracious ambition and intelligence.

Harper has never been in any doubt that she is an underdog. In the first season, while sitting in a bathroom cubicle, she overhears a pair of posh fellow trainees complaining about how she allegedly has an unfair advantage in the competition for a permanent job, since she enjoys the minority capital of being black and female. (When Harper emerges from her stall, Yasminone of the twois still standing by the sink and simperingly apologizes: I was the less cunty one.). Harpers grit and willingness to do almost anything to get a trade done are what hooked her boss Eric (Ken Leung) into hiring her. He sees a younger version of himself: a scrappy and mischievous American with no pedigree. In season one, Harper returned the favor in a dramatic series of backstabbing maneuvers that kept Eric on top, if only temporarily.

Everything is temporary in Industrys worldan employees value can fall as swiftly as a stock plummets. (Nobody owes anybody a tomorrow here, one Pierpont bigwig says.) And everyone is fake: the new employees, their managers, and the clients alike are engaged in an endless jockeying game of fronting and confidence projection. Grueling office days, whose work rate is sometimes propped up and propelled by semi-legal stimulants, blur into nocturnal sessions of almost harrowing hedonism, fueled by booze and coke and pills of many kinds. The alcohol and the stripes chopped out on the tops of toilets inevitably fuel sexual escapades: one-night stands, threesomes, selfie-porn texts, mutual masturbation via Zoom. Its like a zombie version of the counterculture: all the 1960s demands for erotic liberation and pharmacological freedom have been absorbed, but without any elevation of consciousness and with all the power structures and class hierarchies intact.

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HBO's Industry is the Missing Link between Euphoria and Succession - Vanity Fair

Last year, Magixx, was signed with Mavin Records and there after his debut self titled extended play was unveiled. His co-sign was no different from Boy Spyce who was launched earlier this year, alongside the release of his debut EP, and that of Ayra Starr, who had a graceful year in review with Magixx the same year they were launched.

Meanwhile, the beautiful talents that these artistes posses speaks of enough cultural novelty. It has spoken once for Magixx after his critically acclaimed debut extended play, it spoke generously for Ayra Starr and Boy Spyce, and now it ultimately speaks for the Mavin all stars after they jointly dished out the Donjazzy produced Overdose featuring Crayon, Magixx, Ladipoe, Ayra Starr and Boy Spyce. It is the same flare for good music that Magixx propagates his sophomore extended play which shoulders his carefree attitude. He craves fun, non-stop enjoyment with his quite beautiful approach to sonic diversity, telling his plush and intense love tales that might yield an unending romance with his woman.

Also, Magixx, pays attention to detail, it is one of the quality Atom EP flows with down to a smouldering cohesion that powered each track. The opener All Over, has Magixx crooning his endearing love for his lover. While he seemed entangled in between her love, he spectacularly chorused all over with a certain amount of grit and carefree attitude attached as to how he has grown affection with readiness to spend all his dime on her. However, his pen game is on the spike. And upon Weekenjoyment, he plays around the core of Yoruba local percussions to relish splendour and hedonism as the saxophone politely graces the song, it enlivens the beauty, as it becomes another track akin to Fela Kutis creations. In addition, his diversity shined through, and it wasnt short lived on the project either.

With Shaye, he embraced all of his carefree nature completely, the one that vouches for an edge to edge fun and enjoyment. Particularly, the one that loves to party and relish in the vibe all along as Magixx alludes his turn up to Tiwa Savage, and went further to give an happy ending to the project there after. Finally, Forever, was the closing track where he goes back to the tail end of love, confessed his love interest and accepts that hed be with his woman forever. Unarguably, this is one of the most outstanding track off the project. However, Magixx is just getting started and this project alludes to his carefree attitude and nature that often falls in love.

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Magixxs Atom EP, alludes his love and care free attitude, he is only getting started - More Branches

In what feels like no time at all, DIY event space and music venue Gut Level has become a much-loved pocket of queer club culture in Sheffield. Its ethos of community and collaboration is manifested through providing a platform for people who are traditionally underrepresented in the music industry - so queer / LGBTQ+ people, women and non-binary folks - and nurturing a safe space which encourages skill sharing, intersectional collaboration and grassroots creative activities. Oh, and they throw turbo mega parties too.

However, their home on Snow Lane has fallen foul of property developers, a story which is all too familiar for people who set up DIY spaces in Sheffield. Posting on Instagram, GL said: Insecure tenancies, accelerated gentrification and the appearance of luxury accommodation on every street corner has made it virtually impossible for small independent spaces to exist long-term in central locations.

The t-shirt is bold and defiant

But the Gut Level organisers have refused to let the unexpected eviction get them down and are forging ahead with plans for the future. To raise funds for said future theyve launched a t-shirt campaign in collaboration with Everpress. All funds from the campaign will go straight into Gut Levels piggy bank so they can continue supporting the future of the organisation, and funding grassroots, queer and DIY activities in Sheffield.

With Queer Hedonism is Alive in the North emblazoned across the front, the t-shirt is bold and defiant. You can buy yours via Everpress until 4 August.

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Queer Hedonism is Alive in the North | Now Then Sheffield - Now Then Magazine