Category Archives: New Utopia

There are two sorts of travelers: those who flee the cold and those who enjoy it. If youre a seasoned skier, theres no better time to hit the slopes than during winter. Skiing excursions, snow-capped mountains, and evenings spent by the fire? Sounds like paradise to us!

Here are the best winter wonderland vacations in the USA if youre wondering where to head next this winter.

Vail is, without a doubt, the most quintessential of winter towns. While there are lots to do in Colorados mountainous northern region all year, its definitely the most unique time of year to visit this alpine jewel.

If youre looking for a world-class mountain resort with everything you could ask for, look no further than Vail. Nestled beneath the Gore Range, Vail offers winter sports, outstanding restaurants, and luxurious accommodations.

During the winter months, Vail is bustling with skiers and snowboarders from all over the world. The town is home to some of the best ski slopes in the country and a variety of other winter activities.

If youre not into skiing or snowboarding, dont worry theres still plenty to do. You can go ice skating, dog sledding, snowmobiling, or even take a scenic gondola ride to the top of the mountain.

And when youre ready to thaw out, there are plenty of cozy fireplaces and aprs-ski bars to enjoy.

Known for its world-class ski resorts and unbeatable winter sports (think activities like wild snowmobiling, dog sledding, and ice skating). Park City in Utah offers a (mountain) range of things to do that youve got to experience at least once in your life.

Walking through this quaint little town will make you feel like youre wandering inside a real-life snow globe as you gawk at the century-old buildings and mansions that line the valleys.

Tip: January hosts the towns annual Sundance Film Festival, which is THE place to be if you want the chance to see some of your favorite celebrities (hey, you might even run across them at your hotel!).

Known for its snowy peaks and scenic beauty that will have your jaw dropping to the ground, Telluride is one of Colorados most picturesque mountain towns and a must-visit if what youre after is winter outdoor adventures galore.

While in Telluride, dont miss out on exploring a few of its hiking trails (make sure to check the weather conditions before you venture in), getting those Instagram vibes on at Hotel Madelines ice-skating rinks, and sledding down the San Juan Mountains.

If youre up for some serious mountain adventure, you can try your hand at ice climbing (yes, its a thing!) or venture deep into the mountains in a cross-country ski adventure.

If youd rather not break a sweat and would much prefer a relaxing vacay (or a combo of adventure and luxury), Tellurides surroundings host plenty of insanely beautiful hot springs where to can relax your muscles after a day of snowy adventures!

Whitefish is a charming town located in northwestern Montana, surrounded by the Rocky Mountains. The Whitefish Mountain Resort is one of the states top ski destinations and its perfect for all levels, from beginners to experts.

With 3,000 acres of skiable terrain and 300 inches of snowfall each year, Whitefish offers something for everyone with its myriad of activities, from skiing and snowboarding to dog sledding and ice skating.

Theres something incredibly charming about New England in winter, and Camden is the king of winter wonderlands in the area. Located on the charming Penibscto Bay, Camden Harbor feels like it came straight out of a Thomas Kinkade painting.

While visiting, make sure you book a unique ski adventure at Camden Snow Bowl, where youll get to get your shred on with the views of the ocean backdropping your every move.

Another must is to search for all the lighthouses in the area, which look as though they came straight out of a fairytale when dusted by white snow!

Nestled in the San Juan Mountains, Ouray in Colorado is your go-to if you want to feel as though youre walking around in Europe rather than the USA. Popularly dubbed the Switzerland of America, Ouray is the perfect place to head to for some serious wintery vibes and that fairytale feeling deep in the mountains.

Aside from its endless array of outdoor mountain adventures (and hot springs galore to relax your muscles in!), Ouray knows how to make the most out of the colder months with events like the Ouray Ice Festival and San Juan Skijoring, both of which celebrate winter sports and the importance they have on this gorgeous little town in the heart of the Colorado mountains.

Yellowstone National Park is a gem of a place any time of the year, but during the winter months, it becomes a mecca for those in search of a snowy utopia. Think snow-capped landscapes, forests dusted in snow, frozen lakes, and steaming geysers that make the landscapes look out of this world.

Another thing that makes this national park worth the trek? Yellowstone is set right next to Jackstone Hole, which means you can combine your visit to the national park with some serious aprs-ski scenes and luxury stays to relax in after a day spent adventuring!

If youre an outdoor enthusiast or looking for some excitement, consider taking a snowmobile tour of the park. If staying warm is more your style, but you want to see attractions like Old Faithful, then a snow coach tour is perfect for you if you want to explore the park on your own. Drive over to Mammoth Hot Springs!

This section of Yellowstone is open all year (weather permitting) and has unique thermal features and food and lodgings.

More popularly known for being the base to explore the Great Smoky Mountains, Gatlinburg in Tennessee has a ton more to offer for those who linger a while at this quintessential mountain town.

Aside from its classic alpine vibes, countless theme parks, and incredible food scene. Gatlinburg burst to life with several winter festivities, such as the Anakeestas Enchanted Winter festival, where youll find twinkling lights every step you take and delicious food to help you beat the winter blues.

Once youre done exploring Gatlinburg, head into the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, where youll find an array of winter sports to choose from and cozy cabins and chalets to experience winter in the middle of nature. Seriously, it doesnt get more magical than waking up and having a hot cup of cocoa in the middle of nowhere!

Although Shenandoah National Park is beautiful any time of year, it really comes alive in the winter. With its rolling hills and valleys blanketed in snow, the park looks like something out of a postcard.

If youre looking for a winter wonderland thats not too far from home, look no further. Just a few hours from Washington D.C., this national park is teeming with wildlife and offers incredible views of the Appalachian Mountains.

There are over 500 miles of trails to explore, and many of them are perfect for cross-country. There are also a number of ranger-led programs offered during the winter months, so you can learn more about the park and its wildlife.

Crested Butte, Colorado, is a quaint small town located in the Rocky Mountains. This town is well known for its excellent skiing and snowboarding and charming Victorian downtown area.

Crested Butte is the perfect place for you if youre looking for a winter adventure vacation with plenty of outdoor activities. In addition to skiing and snowboarding, you can also go snowshoeing, ice skating, and dog sledding.

And if you need a break from all the outdoor activities, be sure to check out Crested Buttes charming downtown area. This district is home to many unique shops and restaurants, as well as a few art galleries.

McCall, Idaho has two large ski resorts within 45 minutes of downtown. These resorts offer a variety of slopes for skiers and snowboarders of all levels. You can also participate in many other winter activities such as tubing, cross-country skiing, and ice skating.

If youre looking for an adrenaline rush, snowmobiling is a popular thing to do in McCall. There are many different companies that offer tours of the surrounding area. This is a great way to see the beautiful scenery of McCall while getting your heart pumping. We absolutely love heading out to Burgdorf hot springs on our snowmobiles. If you do choose to head out to Burgdorf, be sure to reserve your tickets in advance because Burgdorf now operates off of a reservation system.

McCall is still a great choice if youre looking for a more low-key winter vacation. This charming small town is on Payette Lake, making it the perfect place to go for a scenic walk or snowshoeing. And when youre ready to warm up, head to one of McCalls many breweries or coffee shops.

Insider Tip: When visiting McCall be sure to take Hwy 55 also known as the Payette River Scenic Byway its a beautiful drive along the river.

Leavenworth, Washington has two ski resorts within an hours drive. It is considered the outdoor recreation mecca of the Pacific Northwest. There are cross-country and downhill skiing, snowboarding, sledding, tubing, sleigh rides and snowmobiling opportunities. The town has a Bavarian theme, with nutcrackers, gingerbread houses, and hot spiced wine with making it a popular destination for visitors worldwide.

The Cascade Mountains provide a beautiful backdrop for all the outdoor winter activities available in Leavenworth. If youre looking for a winter wonderland vacation with plenty of outdoor activities, Leavenworth is the perfect place!

Theres no better place to enjoy the great outdoors than Grand Teton National Park. The views are simply breathtaking, and theres so much to do! From cross-country skiing and snowmobiling to ice fishing and dog sledding, youll never get bored. Just be sure to pack your warmest clothes!

With its glacial lakes, alpine meadows, and towering mountains, Grand Teton National Park is an outdoor paradise all year round. But in winter, the park really comes alive. The snow-covered landscapes make for some of the most beautiful scenery in the country. And with plenty of trails to explore, it

Theres nothing quite like seeing the Northern Lights in person. These natural phenomena are truly a sight to behold, and theres no better place to see them than Alaska.

Head to Denali National Park for some of the best views in the state. You can also try your luck in Fairbanks, where you have a higher chance of seeing the lights since its located under the aurora oval.

Lake Placid is a popular tourist destination in upstate New York, and for good reason. This picturesque small town is located in the Adirondack Mountains and is a great place to enjoy all kinds of outdoor activities. The town is home to the 1980 Winter Olympics and many other winter sports facilities.

In addition to skiing and snowboarding, you can also go ice climbing, dogsledding, and cross-country skiing. And when youre ready to warm up, head into town for some shopping or to enjoy a meal at one of the many restaurants.

If youre looking for a winter wonderland vacation with plenty of opportunities to try new things, Lake Placid is the perfect place!

Lake Tahoe is a popular tourist destination in California and Nevada, and for a good reason. This large lake is located in the Sierra Nevada Mountains and is a great place to enjoy all kinds of outdoor activities.

In addition to skiing and snowboarding, you can also go ice skating, sledding, and cross-country skiing. And when youre ready to warm up, head into one of the many towns that surround the lake for some shopping or to enjoy a meal at a restaurant.

If youre looking for a winter wonderland vacation with plenty of opportunities to try new things, Lake Tahoe is the perfect place!

Although most National Parks close during the winter months due to dangerous conditions, Yosemite National Park stays open all year round. This is good news for those of us who love to hike and explore in the snow!

One of the best things to do in Yosemite in winter is to go cross-country skiing or snowshoeing . There are miles of trails to explore, and you might even spot some wildlife along the way.

I hope that this list of places to explore has inspired you to get out and enjoy the winter wonderlands that are waiting for you! No matter where you go, youre sure to create memories that will last a lifetime.

The post Winter Wonderland Vacations- Places You Have To Visit This Year appeared first on Outside Nomad How To Travel.

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Winter Wonderland Vacations- Places You Have To Visit This Year - msnNOW

One of the many glitteringly clever quotes circulated in the wake of Hilary Mantels death last week was something she said about history. The longer version is wonderful (what did she ever say that wasnt?), but well clip this bit: Facts are not truth, though they are part of it And history is not the past it is the method we have evolved of organising our ignorance of the past. Its the record of whats left on the record. Yet using these fragments a few stones, scraps of writing, scraps of cloth Mantel could transport you so completely that you felt you were breathing the air of another century, feeling the emotions of other people, moving through other times.

This has an intense value. And yet, there is a certain type of historian who concerns themself or himself, lets face it very little with emotion, even though that is all anyone ordinary who was forced to live through events was feeling at the time. Anger, shock, hope, bewilderment, laughter, exhaustion, betrayal these are the trifling human offcuts of some loftier story, largely unmentionable byproducts of the grand machinations of greater men than them.

Im glad this isnt an affliction suffered by the documentary maker Adam Curtis, perhaps the BBCs last great maverick, whose landmark series on Russia between 1985 and 1999 arrives on iPlayer in two weeks. Last year, Curtis was handed a treasure trove: every piece of raw footage shot by the BBC in Russia since the 1960s. Tens of thousands of hours, only the tiniest fraction of which had ever made it to air. Out of this hoard and other material lying in the BBC archive, he has created seven brilliant and deeply empathetic films that cover what happened to Russia between 1985 and 1999 (the year Vladimir Putin took power). Its called TraumaZone: What It Felt Like to Live Through the Collapse of Communism and Democracy.

The films bring that world right up against your eyeballs, and prove themselves essential to our understanding of the Russia we have now, of the Russia from which Putin emerged, and of the staggering human cost of it all. And, perhaps, of what it feels like on the ground when ideologues with a plan decide to jolt the people towards a new utopia. Anyway, more on the UKs week in economic shock therapy in a minute.

We already know the historical facts of the Russia story: the hideous iniquities of communism, its tumultuous collapse, the grotesque corruption and betrayal that followed, the vast scale both ideological and geographical of the various cataclysms. These films take us from the Kremlin to the Siberian mining villages, from the Chechen frontline to peoples apartments, immersing us in every layer of Russian society. I showed Curtis the Mantel quote this week and he loved it. I found this extraordinary material tens of thousands of fragments of experience, he explained. What Im doing is taking these fragments and Im trying to create a world for you to get lost in, a sense of what it was like to live through that world. At the end of it, I hope you think and feel differently about what Russians went through and understand how Putin could emerge from that strange cataclysm.

This I can definitely confirm. I watched the films in early summer, yet seeing last weekends mostly female protest against Putins Ukraine mobilisation in Moscow, I was immediately transported back to Curtiss agonising footage of the mothers whose sons are conscripted into the Chechen war. The women in TraumaZone are what will stay longest with me the struggling babushkas, the sex workers in Moscows Cosmos hotel, the state toothbrush factory employees, the reformatory teens, the idealistic first Avon ladies, the extraordinarily charismatic young girl who begs at car windows in the Moscow traffic the women break your heart.

TraumaZone is a definite departure from Curtiss previous style. There is no Adam Curtis voiceover, no music unless its part of the original footage itself, no provocative central thesis. He feels the hot-take industry has swallowed up everything since 2016 and Im one of the worst offenders! and what the series offers instead is much more compelling and unusual. You can hear the flies buzzing on the steppes. You are in the middle of riots brutally suppressed by state police. You are watching as gangsters loot cars straight off the production lines. You are in the queue to be told there are still no potatoes in all of Moscow. Its difficult not to conclude that the hardline free marketeers had about as much empathy for the ordinary people as the Marxist intellectuals.

Which I accept might be starting to sound familiar closer to home. Dont worry, this isnt some glib bollocks about how were all the same underneath. Russians are not similar to us, because they have been through a totally different experience. In the 90s, they had the accelerated and frequently catastrophic collapse of not one but two of the dominant ideologies of the 20th century. We had Britpop.

Not that that stops some pointed jokes. A Russian journalist who recently fled Putins regime reflected sardonically to Curtis: You in Britain are Moscow in about 1988. Everyone knows the system isnt working. Everyone knows that the managers are completely looting it. They know that you know that they know, but no one has any concept of a possible alternative. The only difference is youve already tried democracy. Youve got nothing else left.

Ouch. It has certainly felt like a rather idiosyncratic form of democracy this week, watching a government without a mandate pursue radical economic shock policies on the basis of pure dogma, no matter the forecast human fallout. Over the course of TraumaZone we get to know Yegor Gaidar, the ultra-free marketeer architect of the shock therapy designed to radically remake Russias economy, who became despised by the Russians who bore the brunt of his malfunctioning ideals even as the oligarchs used them as cover to steal an entire country. There is an arresting closeup of Gaidars face at the funeral of Galina Starovoitova, the democratic reformer assassinated in her apartment building in 1998. What is his expression? Is it a flicker of an epic personal reckoning?

I kept wondering if I saw a flash of it on Kwasi Kwartengs face this week, when the cameras followed the chancellor on some no-comment walk out of the Treasury as the financial crisis he caused was playing out in real time. Or whether well see it when Kwarteng or Liz Truss is forced to encounter an ordinary victim who experiences their ideology as a repossessed house or hungry child, rather than something that sounds good in a pamphlet.

But perhaps these are the fleeting emotions we wish ideologues to feel, and not the ones they do. The one thing we can say with a general election possibly more than two years away is that no one but a tiny selectorate of 81,000 voted for this radical experiment. Is that democracy? Is that what keeps people believing in politics? Or are we entering a trauma zone of our own?

Marina Hyde is a Guardian columnist

Marina Hyde will join Guardian Live for events in Manchester (4 October) and London (11 October) to discuss her new book, What Just Happened?! For details visit theguardian.com/guardianlive, and order the book from Guardian Bookshop

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A new series immerses us in Russias 90s trauma and the human cost of economic shock - The Guardian

A mans black beard tickles my face. Were lying on a dirty carpet, in a gigantic hallway. He squeezes my seven-year-old-hand. Look up, he says. Above us a grand staircase turns, coiling in three wooden flights. Landings with balustrades lead to corridors, to 60 rooms, attics and basements. Since we arrived this morning, Ive run through the dark mansion, opening shutters, letting in light.

A girl pulled my hand, took me outside past a naked, white woman doing yoga, her nipples like red wine gums. An angry man shouted: Bloody kids! We became horses in an ancient apple orchard, cantered past sequoias as tall as the sky. In a vegetable garden, a boy gave me a Chinese burn. A little lost girl wailed. It might have been me. Everything here feels like it will never stop. My shoes have disappeared, along with my mum, my brother and my sister.

Look up, says the man with the beard. Hordes of men and women carry old mattresses down the staircase, emptying out the house. They have come from around the world London, the States, India and Africa to make this place into a community. I catch their conversation: Previously this dilapidated house, outbuildings and land was an old peoples hostel, an army base, and originally an English country house. It is 1979. It is tabula rasa! A black woman in a boiler suit walks past. She says: Every single thing will change!

If I climb up past their words and faces, beyond the staircase, there is a stained-glass ceiling: green, yellow, blue and crimson glass encased in lead. The ceiling is a turning kaleidoscope, an ever-changing view. It whirls.

You have a beautiful smile, the bearded man whispers in my ear. His hair touches my cheek, and I dont like it. Everyone here has long hair. Suddenly, I long for our old house, our quiet Sussex street, for my father who has left us, and for my books. When I look down, away from the ceiling, the man has gone. I am alone on the carpet, in the crowd, in the house. I stay there for 15 years.

In the months prior to our arrival, the community-building group, mainly socialists and Marxists, meets in Liverpool. Most members contribute to purchasing the mansion, forming a housing co-operative. The young South African journalists, academics, London feminists, German filmmakers, Californian ballet dancers, Indian writers, American dropouts and drop-ins have rejected capitalism and the patriarchy. Armed with worn paperbacks on Karl Marx, kibbutzim, yoga, rebirthing, alternative education, ecology, and radical feminism, in each of them is a small page of world history. Most of them are postwar boomers, propelled here by global demonstrations for peace and womens rights, by the anti-apartheid movement, May 1968 and constant strikes. In Britain, newspapers grumble about the winter of discontent. Drums beat for change, and we follow their beat.

When we move in, we are assigned a unit. Over the course of a neverending meeting, tea grows cold. Adults argue: What do we do with this space? The house, an Indian man insists, is an egalitarian cake to be sliced into equal parts. A woman (called Deidre who has re-named herself Eagle) shouts above the rest: The ground floor kitchen, lounge, yoga room, dining room, store rooms and the rest will be communal; the second and third floors, divided into private living spaces: units. Everyone agrees.

Our first unit, just off the second-floor landing, has bedrooms for my sister, brother and me, and a rundown bathroom (with no hot water). Our mums bedroom (she is still called mum then) is also our living room; as well as containing a bed and a sofa, theres a table with a kettle. Along our corridor are other units, and a communal bathroom that an angry man paints pink. Turn right or left, we are interconnected, and no door has a lock, nor person a key.

Every Friday evening, meetings are held; our home and way of life are designed, every decision taken by consensus. Crouched between a strangers legs, during a discussion about washing-up, I hear a man explain that Le Corbusier believed the house was a machine for living in. Furious, a woman rushes out, slamming the door. Another woman yells: George Kateb said utopian thought was a tradition about the perfect society, harmony, perpetual peace all human wants satisfied Everybody nods. Despite the emphasis on consensus, I begin to notice that certain voices rule the roost. Power is grabbed by the domineering, the scary, by those who claim to do the most communal work. Group dynamics create a de facto elite, a nomenklatura, a steeled hierarchy.

The Adults live the adventure of chosen austerity, and so the Kids grow up in semi-poverty

As time passes, influenced by the adults hodgepodge of textbook utopias, we undergo linguistic enculturation. Old things are re-named. New words dreamed up. Our mum must be called by her first name, C, freeing her from the patriarchy. She becomes one of the Adults, a powerhouse in dungarees. The other social group is the Kids. From now on, I am in this independent gang, playing British Bulldog, climbing trees, watching the suicide scenes in the film Harold and Maude (1971) on repeat. We must be hard, tough. If the Kids overhear someone using the terms Mum or Dad, the child is ridiculed. Needing a parent is weak. We are all individuals. We are equal, we spout precociously.

Our language is classified, and Adults correct us when we get it wrong. Belief becomes dogma. On the bad list: nuclear family (mother, father, 2.5 children), capitalism, femininity, pink Barbies, and any type of individual success. Good words include: group, feminism, working-class struggle, revolution, and poor. It is good to be poor, and no one has much money, despite most of the Adults coming from affluent, middle-class homes. In the community, the Adults live the adventure of chosen austerity, and so the Kids grow up in semi-poverty, with little heating, toilet water freezing over (I sleep wearing a woollen hat and gloves in winter), clothes shared between 20 children, no school trips, and free school dinners. People bullied me every day at school, my sister tells me afterwards. They said I didnt wash, which was true, that I smelt, which was also true, and that we were poor. It was true as well.

Often in those years, I experience a glorious sense of freedom. It courses through my veins. Anything is possible. I wander through the woods, imagine building houses, read feminist manifestos and Carlos Fuentes and survival books, and talk to everyone I meet. I learn to avoid the nextdoor unit where the couple writhes beneath a sheet. Instead, I climb the stairs to see a musician, and ex-convict. I sit on his lap, beside a photograph of Woodstock, and he repeatedly tells me that he loves me and will marry me. Later, another man invites me, when his wife is away, to stay overnight in his unit. All of this continues for years.

Decades on, I see myself, a little bookish girl, opening door after door, and often closing them again quickly, shocked by a weeping woman, a father slapping a son, a couple having sex. I am profoundly troubled, in the Freudian sense of the uncanny; the grotesque sensation of what is intimate being revealed anew. But, quickly, I adapt, and learn to shrug it off, normalise things. One day, a therapist will tell me it is like the pride felt by a child soldier given a gun a defence mechanism.

Months after we move into the community, journalists and visitors arrive at our door. We become efficient guides. Aged eight, chaperoning a couple of potential members, and wound up like a radical clockwork doll, I theorise on our three-floored home: We are not income-sharing. People have jobs outside. There is a weekly cooking rota. One communal vehicle. I explain temporal organisation, how gongs announce meetings, meals, schedules for cleaning, garden work, renovating outbuildings, and milking cows. We are not hippies, I say. This distinction is vital. The Adults insist: we are more serious. Equally, the word commune is forbidden, we must always say community. Our image to the outside world is regulated, controlled.

Communal food (I do not tell visitors) involves daily queues, eating en masse, and continually being seen. The institutional panopticon provides an incessant gaze. Sometimes, meals are feasts of roast dinners made with produce from our smallholding (chickens, lambs, goats, cows). Devouring Laura Ingalls Wilders books, I feel the pages have come to life. Like her, we are pioneers.

But often food is inedible, burnt or raw: a brown swamp of peanut butter soup, homemade bread oozing uncooked dough. Few Adults have the skill to cook for 40-plus mouths. When we are starving, C occasionally makes us boiled eggs, and in the kitchen people glare when we scoop up yolks, as cooking non-communal food is against the unwritten rules. But these eggs are precious, an exception. For a moment, we become more important than the crowd.

I feel myself pinned beneath glass, an object prodded and dissected, displayed in a collection of freaks

Youre so brilliant, one Adult tells me. So mature. A year after joining, we are filmed for a documentary. As I dream of being on TV, I strategically make a fried egg for my breakfast, wearing what I believe is a cool blue anorak.

Over the years, were regularly interviewed for radio, newspapers, Channel 4 and the BBC. As I get older and the lure of stardom fades, I realise that each reporter has an agenda; our utopia is either heaven or hell. People project their fantasies about harmony, freedom, drugs, orgies, rock and roll. For decades afterwards, when I talk about the community, I feel myself pinned beneath glass, an object prodded and dissected, displayed in a collection of freaks. Societys mirror reflects a distorted view, but its one I cannot escape. This home may have no locks or keys but we are stuck here.

In communities such as these, children are the product of the utopian dream. We carry the weight and responsibility of the social experiment, the adults fantasy. We must not demand wiped noses or regular bedtimes. Our job is to glow with pastoral, Rousseauesque light, running free. In our community, Kids politics are maintained with informal interventions. In the dusty Kids Room where we never play a skinny white woman, Firefly, puts us in a circle, screeching: Today, you get the power to decide about life. What do you want? Bewildered, we remain silent. What do you want? She screams. Ban the Royal Family, one of us tries. She nods: Yes! Make women equal to men. She nods again, laughing loudly. Suddenly, we are laughing with her, the laughing we do when we raise fists to fighter planes, support the miners, or mock beauty queens. Our laughter is radical. We are free.

Information is given to us regardless of age. We must use the word vagina, stick our finger in chicken intestines examining excrement, understand economic theories, tied aid, nuclear war, our rent prices, MCPs (male chauvinist pigs), every man as a potential rapist, and Nicaraguas destabilisation by the CIA. We must face the real, in Lacanian terms, related to that which is strictly unthinkable. There is no application of child development theory or safety belts provided for the knowledge that the real is a tunnel that has no end. The poet Ren Char wrote in Leaves of Hypnos (1943-44): Lucidity is the wound closest to the sun. Often, like Icarus, I fly too close and I am burnt.

I am being led, blindfolded, down a corridor. Feel, a familiar voice says; excited, I obey. My nine-year-old fingers touch something silky. Smell, and there is the scent of roses, a balmy cloud. Stop. Someone whispers. Jump! I hesitate, my heart beating, and then leap, landing on something wobbly. My blindfold is ripped off, and I am in the yoga room. A bouncy castle is inside, and we giggle, Adults and Kids, bouncing up and down. It is a party.

As in many institutions, our parties concentrate culture, carnival and rituals. Together, we decorate, dress up, imagine and invent. As Elias Canetti observed, these crowds are irresistible. From the age of 10, I learn to construct majestic empires from nothing, write my own plays, act and sing. Sorting through piles of old clothes at jumble sales, I make costumes from rags, vintage suits and diamant brooches. The pastel jewels sparkle.

But there is no respite from communality. Even on regular days, there is little calm. The stimulation can be overwhelming, like being trapped inside a utopian fairground, whirling on rides, turned inside out, upside down, every day.

Years later, having developed an international career in hospitals as a therapist and consultant, I read Erving Goffman and Michel Foucault, and begin to draw lines of commonality between the way the community and institutions function. In their work on prisons, psychiatric hospitals and religious retreats, both thinkers analyse the power in insular social establishments estranged from the outside world. In Asylums (1961), Goffman writes:

The barrier to the outside world, built into their physicality and practices, symbolises their total character. Goffmans interest in total institutions stems from their nature as forcing houses for changing persons; each is a natural experiment on what can be done to the self.

Attempting to build an alternative anti-capitalist home, an equally repressive institution has been established

Yet this is not what our utopia was intended to be, and Foucaults words (quoted by Hubert Dreyfus and Paul Rabinow in 1982) come to me: People know what they do; frequently they know why they do what they do; but what they dont know is what what they do does. It is necessary to differentiate between theory and practice, intention and impact, to examine what these utopian machines did to certain childrens sense of self.

As I grow up, I experience two languages, two value systems and ways of being, an inside and outside. At school, and with my dads family, no one uses the same words to describe home, meal, bedtime, adult, parent, child. My dad comes to visit. When I call him by his first name, his face falls. I never do it again. We live in units, but a unit is a number, not a home. It is as though, while attempting to build an alternative anti-capitalist home, an equally repressive institution has been established. As Hannah Arendt writes in The Origins of Totalitarianism (1951), the self-compulsion of ideological thinking ruins all relationships with reality. Institutional power structures get replicated, their impact ignored.

Initially, I invite school friends to the community. When a seven-year-old girl comes to play, I accidentally electrocute myself (there is bad wiring in the house), then we stumble upon a home birth. My friend bursts into tears. No one from school is ever allowed to come again. Aged nine, I confide to another pupil: I am going to marry a man at the community. He loves me. My words spread around the class, and I am bullied for weeks. In a misguided attempt to get sick and miss school, I take solitary cold baths in the communal bathroom. Nobody notices. I dont fall ill.

Slowly, I learn to adapt, to change my colours like a chameleon. It is necessary, for there is little movement between the interior and the exterior. Estranged from the outside world, I experience the dangers of power and group dynamics victims and aggressors in confined spaces. Professionally, I will later specialise in group therapy and team-building, influenced by the paediatrician and psychoanalyst Donald Winnicott, avoiding closed, totalitarian groups and opting instead for holding people, encouraging permeable, creative spaces where individuals can evolve inside groups connected to other groups. In this work, I am ethically engaged in the wellbeing and safety of the people in my care.

Our utopia was hard work for children. In writing this essay, I have been struck by my childhood sense of deep solitude, the paradox of a child alone in crowd. Living among the horde of Kids is often harsh and cruel. We must not rely on our parents when we fall, are bullied, or are just tired and sad. Deal with it, the Adults say. Curiously, rather than attempt to share childcare between men and women, in a move to free women from the domestic care, we are abandoned to each other, ourselves. Often, I take care of two or three children while still a child myself. In their respective studies of the kibbutz the largest utopian movement in history Melford Spiro and Bruno Bettelheim in the 1950s and 60s examined the effects of children living separately from parents. Bettelheim quotes a nursery worker, who cared for children for more than 30 years, saying: Lets face it, the kibbutz wasnt built for children, but to make us (the adults) free.

Interestingly, many community adults come from military and boarding-school backgrounds, and have been cut off from their own parents at an early age. It appears, as Lily Dunn writes in her memoir Sins of My Father (2022) about her membership of a cult in the 1970s, that these adults are replacing one institution for another. They reproduce another generation of children left to fend for themselves.

Our small, childrens bodies are also political. As Foucault writes: The human body is the principal actor in all utopias. Yet liberation can become a form of control. Hairy is necessary because women have body hair. Mud is also required because it is egalitarian and natural. One day a man says: The Kids dont need to be washed. Were going back to zero. In his essay The Great Relearning (1987), Tom Wolfe focuses on the San Francisco hippy movement and its relationship to dirt, how it encouraged people to share cups, toothbrushes and beds. Wolfe describes a local doctors shock at the lack of hygiene and the return of fungal diseases. The hippies disregarded the basic practices of cleansing alongside the laws of morality. For years after we leave the community, I dont understand daily bathing.

Our bodies are interchangeable, constantly exposed. The Kids form one creature with multiple heads: fed together, sharing clothes, sleeping in each others beds. Until I am 15, I do not own my own swimming costume. Likewise, we must conform to a certain aesthetic. A little girl, I am in awe of the community womens bodies, carrying bales of hay like men. They are like machines, and I long to have an unadorned body like this, that I think is like a boys. No make-up or jewellery. As Spiro saw in the kibbutz, socialist clothing must be utilitarian, pragmatic. Yet, secretly, I also dream of ribbons and flummery. My biggest inspiration is when hundreds of punks gatecrash a community house party, a riot of DIY, made-up glory.

Someone at the community jokes (or not) that we should all leave school and work in a factory

Sometimes, I just long to fit in. As a teenager, in the pink communal bathroom, I find an old, blunt razor left in a dirty sink, and I drag it over my leg hair, my bikini line and my armpits. Afterwards, I find out my sister did the same thing. It burns and cuts but we will do anything to feel normal.

In his novel The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1984), Milan Kundera offers Terezas words in relation to communism and intimacy:

Her mother sees the world as a vast concentration camp of bodies.

In the communal utopia, there is an institutionalised loss of intimacy, from the imbruted bodies to the open doors.

Unconditional equality also influences our activities and education. An academic child, aged 11, I am the only pupil in the village school to pass the 11+ exams. But I am not permitted to go to the grammar school where this distinction takes me. Someone at the community jokes (or not) that we should all leave school and work in a factory. As Khieu Samphan, a Khmer Rouge leader, reportedly once said: Zero for him, zero for you, that is true equality.

Despite my secret, desperate longing to go to the Grammar, I explain to my dad: The system is not equal and the words are stones in my mouth. Instead, alongside all the Kids, I go to a politically acceptable comprehensive. By 13, unable to fit in with the nice girls, I cut my hair short, bleach it blonde, and wear leopard skin, red lipstick and thick black eyeliner. An outsider, I become best friends with the dropouts and the estate kids whose parents vote for the National Front. Together, we bunk off school, smoke cigarettes, start drinking, taking drugs and self-medicating. At communal meals, my clothes and make-up are scorned, but the rest of my rebellion goes unremarked. C says nothing. I have been brought up to look after myself.

We call our mum C, but beyond this our connections with the other members of the community are ambiguous, and this is where our home differs greatly from the structured kibbutz. Are we objects formed by an ideology? Are we brothers, sisters, friends, comrades or family? When the sexual abuse occurs, is it incest? For 15 years, a river of Adults parents us, flowing in and out of our lives: therapists, gurus, journalists, academics and scientists. Each of them has something to tell us. They teach us to play an instrument, to code, or to make 100 jars of marmalade.

Yet, as Winnicott writes, in child development one of the vital components of the good enough parent is consistency. The Adults make pottery with us, shout, grumble and tickle us. Certain Adults love, hit, hate and abuse us, and then disappear. When people leave the community, we rarely ever see them again, and I miss some of them. It is as though our family has evaporated into the night as if we are all replaceable elements, as if horror can be processed by a living machine.

When I look back, it is at a childhood that was majestically free and patterned by incessant danger. We learnt to be articulate, challenge gender roles, tap the golden seams of creativity, dissect society, lead groups, and keep-calm-in-a-crisis. I am well versed in survival skills. But surviving is not living. The secure intimacy of home was a gaping hole, that locus and feeling described by Maya Angelou in 1986 : The safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned.

In the community, there is regular trauma, sexual, physical and mental abuse. When these events are brought to light, such as an adult repeatedly hitting a child in a communal space, occasionally there is an emergency meeting. Conclusions are drawn: You know, no one is ever to blame, we are all damaged, and We are all essentially good. By the time I am ready to leave for university, the ambivalent stance of some members is hard to tolerate. Despite my adherence to the community and my belief in the politics, the paradoxes and dehumanisation become unbearable. Constantly, I compartmentalise, separating the different parts of my life, building impenetrable walls of silence. It is only later, after much writing, reading, therapy and forming my own family, that I finally begin to confront the disturbing blueprint of the utopian machine, and understand my spot on the assembly line.

Sunday evenings are the one time in the week where there is no communal meal and we choose our food. The crowd thins and the institution fades. C makes baked potatoes with grated cheese. The four of us take the meal to our unit. In her room, for a flimsy moment, we sit together as a family. Plates balanced on our knees, we watch TV, often Upstairs, Downstairs, a British period drama depicting the lives of a wealthy London family upstairs, and their servants downstairs. C passes around a jar of pickled beetroot. The beetroot juice dyes our meal, bleeding into potato and cheese. Hard as we try, we cannot stop the red juice flowing, it seeps into our food like the communal words, the lock-less doors and the river of people. Everything on our plates turns slowly pink and purple.

Names, dates and places have been changed.

Read more from the original source:

Why the communal utopia was hard work for its children - Aeon

For more of the latest and greatest product releases, check out our full collection of the best new gear.

September is in the books and yes, it's officially fall. But looking back on the month that was, there were a lot of new cool gadgets that were announced this month. From all the new iPhones to Bose's newest noise-canceling wireless earbuds, Sonos's first "miniature" subwoofer and a lot of cool soundbars and loudspeakers, we break it all down.

(For the best announcements of last month, August 2022, click here.)

The Bowers & Wilkins PX8 are the company's new pair of flagship noise-canceling headphones and, at $699, they are the most expensive pair you can buy (other expensive competitors are Apple's $549 AirPods Max and the Master & Dynamic $599 MW75.) The new headphones are essentially a higher-end model of the B&W's recently released PX7 S2 ($399), with superior drivers and made of more luxury materials. They are available in two finishes: black or tan.

Price: $699

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Teenage Engineering is well-known for its creative gadgets and its latest one is no different. The PO-80 Record Factory is a unique kind of turnable because it is capable of both cutting and then playing a vinyl record. That's right, you can connect it to an audio device (via a 3.5mm jack) and make a vinyl record. These are tiny 5-inch vinyl records, granted, so don't expect to record an entire album (although there is an adapter for making 7-inch records). The PO-80 Record Factory is powered by USB and has its own built-in speakers; you can also hook it up to an external speaker via a 3.5mm connection.

Price: $149

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One of the standouts from Amazon's big hardware event was the Kindle Scribe. It's the company's newest and most high-end e-reader, but it's most notable because it's the first Kindle to work with a stylus (called the Scribe Pen); it attaches to the side of the Kindle Scribe and you can use it to take notes, leave page markers or even draw.

The Kindle Scribe is available for preorder and is expected to ship before the holidays.

Price: $340

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The other big standout from Amazon's big hardware event was the Halo Rise, which is a bedside alarm and sleep tracking device. The Halo Rise has a built-in light and clock that will gradually warm (mimicking the sunrise) to gradually wakes you up. It also has integrated sensors for sleep tracking; it tracks your breathing patterns as well as room conditions like temperature, light levels and humidity, and then gives you information about your sleep that you can access in Alexa app. It is not a speaker does not come integrated with Alexa, but it will work with an existing Alexa smart speaker.

The Halo Rise is available for preorder and will ship later this year.

Price: $140

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The Freewrite Alpha is Astrohaus's most affordable smart typewriter to date. For those who don't know, a smart typewriter allows you to type on a monochrome screen and be free of the internet's many distractions (such as email). It connects to Wi-Fi and you can access the document you've typed afterward. Astrohaus is running an Indiegogo campaign for the Freewrite Alpha right now, and it's expected to ship in 2023.

Price: $249

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Skullcandy has announced its first gaming headsets in years. There are three different models PLYR ($130), SLYR Pro ($100) and SLYR ($60) and all are relatively affordable and compatible with PC as well as the latest consoles. The SLYR and SLYR Pro are both wired headsets, while the PLYR is a wireless headset and has some more advanced features and even a Tile integration to help you find it if it gets misplaced.

Price: $60 $130

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Logitech announced a new version of its popular wireless mechanical keyboard, the MX Mechanical Mini this time it's specifically made for Mac setups. The original model was compatible with Mac, but the new model is part of the "Designed for Mac" series. The only real difference is that it has the same key caps and configuration as a Magic Keyboard, plus the keyboard is available in either space gray or pale gray to match your Mac.

Price: $150

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Nothing didn't officially announced a new product, but it did release a teaser video and a bunch of lavish press photos of its upcoming pair of wireless earbuds called the Ear (stick). They are expected to be very different from the company's Ear 1, and they'll come in cylindrical and vibrantly-colored charging case. They are expected to be fully announced later this year.

Price: TBD

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The Victrola Stream Carbon is the first turntable that works natively with an existing Sonos speaker system. It's a collaboration between Victrola and Sonos and, after you set it up, it'll appear in the Sonos app just like any other Sonos component; from there, you just group it with your other Sonos speakers are boom you're rocking out to vinyl. There's no extra components needed. In addition to working perfectly with Sonos, it's also just a really gorgeous and high-end turntable.

Price: $799

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Polaroid is temporarily jumping out of the realm of instant film cameras and into... portable Bluetooth speakers. That's right, the company announced four different Bluetooth speakers the P1 ($60), P2 ($130), P3 ($190) and P4 ($290) (from left to right: starting from the smallest and most affordable to the largest) that each have a colorful-yet-retro flair.

They work like most other portable Bluetooth speakers (although none are rugged) but the kicker is that each works with the company's new companion app (Polaroid Music), which allows them to stream a number of different radio stations.

Price: $60 $290

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The Meze Audio 109 Pro is the Romanian hi-fi company's first pair of dynamic open-back headphones. They're designed to be super lightweight and comfortable, but yet they're also made with premium materials like wood, steel and leather so they'll feel pretty lavish.

The 109 Pro are modeled after the company's well-loved 99 Classics ($309), but they have an all-new beryllium coated dynamic driver that promises rich, detailed and accurate sound. At $799, they are open-back headphones for budding audiophiles looking to make the jump into the world of serious hi-fi.

Price: $799

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The Sony SRS-XV900 is the company's newest Bluetooth party speaker, and it's effectively a larger version of its existing SRS-XV700. At 58 pounds, it's a far-cry from being classified as a "ultra-portable" speaker, but it does have a built-in battery (that gets up to 25 hours of playtime) so you can move it around your backyard as you see fit. It has multiple analog connections and can be used to power your other mobile devices. And yes, you can customize its built-in LEDs to light up however you see fit.

Price: $900

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This is Mophie's newest portable power bank that doubles as a stand for your iPhone. It's fully compatible with MagSafe, meaning it can fast charge any iPhone 12, iPhone 13 or iPhone 13 at up to 15 watts. It has a 10,000-mAh capacity, which is enough to nearly double the battery life of your iPhone. Additionally, it has a USB-C PD input/output port that you can use to charge a second device along with your iPhone.

(Mophie also announced updated models of its other portable powerbanks, including the powerstation mini, the powerstation and the powerstation pro XL.)

Price: $130

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Focal announced an upgraded version of the super high-end Utopia headphones that it first released in 2016. The new open-back cans have an updated and more lightweight design (the earcups also have a new honeycomb pattern on them), but they also boast improved sonic performance thanks to new M-shaped drivers and M-shaped grills that, according to the company, enable "even clearer and more accurate musical reproduction." The only real downside is the Focal increased the price of the new models by about a grand.

Price: $4,999

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Logitech's Brio 500 is effectively an updated version of the company's c922 Pro. It delivers similar picture quality 1080p at 30 fps or 720p at 60 fps but it does have a new ultra-wide lens and more advanced autofocusing capabilities that can automatically keep you in frame. The Brio 500 also has a built-in microphone and a privacy shutter, and it comes in three different colors. It's positioned as a moderately affordable option for anybody looking to up their Zoom game (it's also compatible with Microsoft Teams and Google Hangouts) with upgrading to a more expensive 4K webcam.

Price: $130

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The Bowers & Wilkins 700 S3 is the company's third-generation line of 700 series loudspeakers. The line includes a total of eight loudspeakers including three floor-standing speakers, three stand-mounted speakers and two center-channel speakers and they all borrow technologies of the company's high-end line of 800 Series Diamond speakers, but deliver them in a slightly more accessible package.

Price: $1,500 (center-channel) $7,000 (floor-standing)

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DJI announced the Osmo Mobile 6, its latest handheld gimbal designed to help you take more stabilized photos and videos with your smartphone. This sixth-generation model has a couple marked improvements over its predecessors. It has a new wheel control on the side of the handle that can help you quickly zoom-in (or out) and focus on your subject. There's a new "quick launch" feature that, as the name gives away, will help you quickly launch to the DJI camera app so that you can get shooting faster than before. And there's a new status panel screen that'll more easily show you how much battery the gimbal has left.

Price: $159

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The Sub Mini is a smaller and more affordable version of Sonos's exisiting Sub; it costs $429 and weighs 14 pounds, while the larger Sub costs $749 and weighs just over 36 pounds. The Sub Mini works much the same way as the Sub, adding bass to a Sonos home theater or speaker system, but it's specifically designed to be paired with Sonos's smaller soundbars and speakers, like the Beam (Gen 2), Ray or a stereo pair of Ones. The only downside is that you can only pair one Sub Mini with a Sonos soundbar, unlike the Sub which you can pair two with Sonos's flagship soundbar, the Arc.

Read our review of the Sonos Sub Mini, here.

Price: $429

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DJI announced its newest action cameras, the Osmo Action 3. It borrows the classic design of the 2019-released Osmo Action and pairs it with the sensor and shooting capabilities (maxes out at 4K at 120fps) of the 2021-released Action 2. Additionally, DJI has given the new camera significantly dual touchscreens, improved battery life (up to 160 minutes) and faster charging capabilities. It also has a new quick-release mounting system.

Price: $329+

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The Fujifilm X-H2 is the company's newest mirrorless camera and it's very similar to the recently-released X-H2S. It has the same processor, built-in image stabilization and electronic viewfinder. The big difference is that the Fujifilm X-H2 has a huge 40.2-megapixel APS-C sensor, which is the highest resolution that the company has put into any of its X Series cameras.

Price: $2,000 (body only)

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GoPro introduced its newest action camera and this year there are two to choose from. The Hero 11 Black is the company's newest flagship model, while the all-new Hero 11 Black Mini (pictured) is a shrunk-down version that's almost half the size. Compared to last year's model, the Hero 11 Black looks pretty identical, but GoPro integrated it with a larger sensor that enable some higher-resolution photo and video capturing capabilities. The "Mini" version is exactly the same, but lacks the dual touchscreen displays.

The GoPro Hero 11 Black is available now while the Hero 11 Black Mini will be available on October 25.

Price: $300+ (Mini); $400+

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Amazon introduced an updated version of its entry-level Kindle. It still costs $100, but has been upgraded with a nicer and brighter screen, improved battery life and it supports USB-C charging. That's right, micro-USB be gone! This 11th-generation Kindle will be available on October 12.

Price: $100

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Astell&Kern announced its new flagship portable hi-fi player, the A&ultima SP3000, and it is luxurious. It's made of high-end 904L stainless steel, just like a Rolex watch, and has gorgeous and large (5.46") touchscreen. It is decked out with a new high-end DAC (AK4499EX) and should support pretty much any lossless audio codec (up to 32-bit/768kHz). It runs an Android operating system so accessing your lossless service be it Qobuz, Tidal or Apple Music should be a breeze.

Price: $3,699

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The iPhone 14 is very similar to last year's iPhone 13. It's the same size and has a nearly identical 6.1-inch display. It also has the same A15 Bionic chipset. However, Apple did give it a few notable upgrades under the hood. It has improved rear and selfie camera systems for better low-light photography; there's a new Action Mode for improved image stabilization when shooting video. It has satellite connectivity which is a first for any iPhone. And maybe most notably, Apple has done away with the "mini" version and instead replaced it with a "plus" version, which has a 6.7-inch display similar to the Pro Max.

Read our review of the iPhone 14, here.

Price: $799+

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The new iPhone 14 Pros were probably the biggest standouts from this week's Apple's event. They have an all-new floating pill-shaped notch, called the Dynamic Island, that's interactive and designed to more-easily control apps (like Music, Timer or Maps) when they are running in the background. They have a vastly improved rear triple-camera system, including a 48-megapixel main camera with the largest sensor ever put in an iPhone. And they are powered by Apple's super new powerful chipset, the A16 Bionic.

Read our review of the iPhone 14 Pro, here.

Price: $999+ (Pro); $1,099+ (Pro Max)

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Bose announced the second-generation models of its noise-canceling wireless earbuds. Compared to the 2020-released QuietComfort Earbuds, the new models have a completely new design that's noticeably smaller, plus Bose has drastically improved the noise-cancellation and transparency modes; in fact, Bose claims that these have the "worlds best noise cancellation" of any true wireless earbuds.

Price: $300

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Apple announced the second-generation models of its AirPods Pro. The new wireless earbuds look pretty similar to their predecessors and cost exactly the same $249 but Apple has given them a more advanced H2 chipset, superior audio and twice as powerful active-noise cancellation. There are new capacitive touch controls on each earbud that allows you to adjust volume (a first for an AirPod). They have a more durable case that can wirelessly charge on a Qi charger, MagSafe charger or (most excitingly) an Apple Watch puck. They will ship with an additional size eartip that's "extra small." And the case has a built-in loop that you can attach a small lanyard that Apple will sell separately.

Read our review of the AirPods Pro 2, here.

Price: $249

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The Apple Watch "Ultra" is a completely new line of Apple Watch that's larger, more rugged, more sophisticated and more expensive than any other Apple Watch. It has a bigger and redesigned digital crown and an all-new "Action" button that can be customized to do things like quickly start specific workouts. It has a bigger battery that lasts 36 hours (or up to 60 hours when in low-power mode). And it has a new Compass app and an app specifically designed for recreational scuba divers called Oceanic Plus.

Read our review of the Apple Watch Ultra, here.

Price: $799

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Apple also announced new flagship and budget-friendly Apple Watches in the Series 8 and SE (Gen 2), respectively. Both look nearly identical to their predecessors, admittedly, but Apple gave both a few notable improvements. The new SE has a faster processor, comes in new colors and has a new $249 starting price (which is $30 cheaper than before). The Series 8 has new sensors for body temperature monitoring (which is mostly aimed at women's reproductive health). Both new Apple Watches also can detect if you're in a serious car crash and call for help.

Read our review of the Apple Watch Series 8, here.

More here:

The Best and Coolest New Gadgets of September 2022 - Gear Patrol

Halloween pumpkins: Alternatives to carving

Don't want to make a mess carving pumpkins this Halloween? Try these techniques instead.

ProblemSolved, USA TODAY

With the falling of leaves and spiced latte orders come the autumn feels, and despite the still summer-like weather, Austin is home to pumpkin patches, corn mazes, hayrides and pumpkin hunts.

Here's a list of farms and other places blooming with fall festivities. See websites for pricing and current hours, which can be affected by weather. Is your favorite spot missing? Email ehopkins@statesman.com and we'll add it to our list.

More:The ultimate list of Austin live music for the rest of 2022

Along with hundreds of domestic farm animals, Crowe's Nest is a utopia of fall festivities. Stop by the working farm and rescue wildlife sanctuary for fall festival every Saturday and Sunday through the month of October. (10300 Taylor Lane in Manor; crowesnestfarm.org)

This adventure farm is where visitors can find pig races, a large petting zoo and traditional pumpkin patch fare as part of the Georgetown-based farmstead's fall festival. The annual spree of all things harvest season runs through Nov. 20. Sweet Eats is cashless, and pets are not allowed. (14400 E State Hwy 29; sweeteats.com)

Indian Springs Ranch has it all: pumpkins to pick, animals such as American bison, zebras, white and water buffalo, face painting, fall-themed photo ops, kid's swings and food and craft vendors. (403 Elm View Way, Manchaca; indianspringsranchatx.com)

Home to hayrides, Candy Cornkid Maze, pumpkin paintings and scarecrow stuffings, this Marble Falls farmstead is one way to get your fall season fix. All visitors are welcome through Nov. 6. (1801 FM1980, Marble Falls; sweetberryfarm.com)

When autumn blooms, a pumpkin patch or festival is a must-do, and Dripping Springs Pumpkin Festival is among the best sites. The five-acre farm is the place for over 50 fall-inspired games, activities and attractions. (419 Founders Park Road in Dripping Springs; drippingspringspumpkinfestival.com)

Through Oct. 30, the family-run farm is a mainstay for pumpkin houses, farm animals, photo opps, axe throwing and an unlimited dose of fall fever. (2651 Bob White Road, Temple; therobinsonfamilyfarm.com)

Spend a day at this family-owned farm with Mama Mary, who provides a peek into rural Texas outside Austin's bustling metro area. Visitors can pick out the perfect pumpkin, ride hay wagons and barrel trains, and get lost (but not really) in the land's tractor tire playground or hay maze. (5701 Williamson Road, Creedmoor; mamamarysfarm.com)

Nestled inside the oak tree-filled hills of South-central Texas, stop by the four-generation farm for pumpkin picking and painting and other fall activities from through October. (3117 TX-159, La Grange; texasjersey.com)

Located 30 miles from downtown Austin, the 118-acre farm offers a five-acre corn maze, farm animals, live music, face painting, duck races and other activities. Through Nov. 6. (1115 FM 969, Bastrop; bartonhillfarms.com)

More:Regal Arbor, longtime Austin art house movie theater, has closed

Scour Evergreen Farms for the annual pumpkin hunt, along with a pumpkin launcher, train ride, a bounce house, fishing pond, kid zip line and other fall fare. (242 Monkey Road, Elgin; evergreen-farms.com)

The pumpkins "are rolling into town" (at Pioneer Farms to be exact), according to this event's website. Visitors are promised art, fire shows and thousands of hand-crafted pumpkin displays. Tickets are by time slot, with no walk-up sales, through Oct. 30. (Pioneer Farms, 10621 Pioneer Farms Drive ; http://www.pumpkinnights.com/austin)

Run wild at Texas Pumpkin Fest. The annual festival, now at a new location in Leander, has more space to explore the area's harvest and Halloween season activities. (8760 FM 2243, Leander; texaspumpkinfest.com)

Read the original post:

Here's a list of pumpkin patches in and around Austin - Austin American-Statesman

In Song of Myself published in 1855, American poet Walt Whitman remarked, I am large, I contain multitudes. He may not have work in mind, but his statement does have implications for the all-pervasive generalist versus specialist debate of the 21st century. There are myriad versions of ourselves that seldom manifest at jobs and the way we carry on with our lives. Quietly conscious of unfulfilled destinies, many of us wonder if there could be more to life than the mandates of punishing work schedules.

The strongest critique against tinkering and dabbling with our various selves comes from Scottish economist and philosopher Adam Smith. In The Wealth of Nations (1776),he spoke about how the division of labour premised on deep specialisation was essential for augmenting productivity in the capitalist system. He explained with great panache the efficiency that can be brought about if everyone focused on one narrow task and stopped indulging in what Walt Whitman called multitudes.

Smith was prescient in many ways. Doing one narrow job made perfect sense in the industrial age. It unleashed great economic productivity, but it came at the cost of experimentation and curiosity.One of Smiths most serious readers was Karl Marx who agreed with the analysis as applied to the economic system. Where he differed with Smith was the overall efficacy of such a system focused on hyper-specialisation. Marx said we dull our lives and cauterise our talents by specialising without knowing why.

As you can tell, both Smith and Marx made sense. There was, at least in the industrial era, a clash between the demands of the employment market and the free, wide-ranging potential of our work lives.In 1930, John Maynard Keynes predicted that by the end of the century, technology would have advanced so comprehensively that we would all be working 15-hour work weeks. Technology has advanced much more than Keynes wildest imagination, but hardly anyone works 15-hour a week today.One theory proffered by LSE anthropologist David Graeber is the emergence of bullsh*t jobs. He asks why did the Keynesian utopia never materialise. The standard response to Graeber is the exponential increase in consumerism. Given the choice between less hours and more toys and pleasures, we have collectively chosen the latter.

Graeber says it is as if some powerful force out there is making up pointless jobs just for the sake of keeping us madly busy. In socialist states like the Soviet Union, where employment was considered both a right and a sacred duty, being busy was equated to doing actual work. It was too common to find three clerks earning a pittance employed to sell a piece of meat. Tired of the woeful inefficiency, market competition was supposed to fix it, but even according to the latest surveys carried out in countries, ranging from the UK to Sweden to the US and India, somewhere between 35-60 percent of employees believe their work makes no difference. There is a crisis of meaning even though these jobs pay the bill for the time being. The answer, Graeber believes, isnt economic; it is moral and political. The ruling class figured out that a happy and productive population with free time on their hands is a danger.

I believe that the time for meaningless jobs is coming to an end. Coronavirus-induced pressures on economies will lead to a massive disruption in our work lives. Passion economy is not only a window to a new kind of employment, but an emergence of an operating system where people will have to stop being busy for the heck of it, pause to figure out what problem needs their attention and then plan to create more meaningful jobs that both pay the bill and propel us to explore our multitudes.In this pursuit, the ability to reinvent ourselves will be the most important skill. Reinvention is not easy as a solitary pursuit. We will need our collective networks, combined resilience and a mind that questions established systems that make no sense today.

It is hard to say whether Whitman, Smith, Marx or Keynes will prevail, but perhaps a new system will be cocreated by all of us. Technology and artificial intelligence will no doubt be an important factor, but it will only make sense if contextualised atthe human level, not onlyfor the big enterprises and governments, but also formicro networks, micro communities, micro institutions and micro cultures.

Utkarsh Amitabh

CEO, Network Capital; Chevening Fellow, University of Oxford

Twitter: @utkarsh_amitabh

Excerpt from:

As time for meaningless jobs comes to an end, reinvent to stay relevant - The New Indian Express

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Layered subsurface in Utopia Basin of Mars revealed by Zhurong rover radar - Nature.com

norman lebrecht

September 25, 2022

The Greek-Russian conductor Teodor Currentzis tried to draw a line under his Putin financing by announcing a new orchestra, called Utopia. Its opening performances will be heard next month in Viennas Konzertahaus and Berlins Philharmonie.

Just two problems.

Berlins Tagespiegel has remembered that the city already has an orchestra called Utopia. Founded by Mariano Domingo, it has been playing since 2008, bringing together musicians people with and without disabilities. Tricky, to be using the name of a disability charity.

Next, Currentzis has claimed he has broken with his Russian sponsors, the Putin bank VTB and the energy supplier Gazprom, which is promising to freeze the nuts off western Europe this winter. Even though he was pictured with them only this month.

Meanwhile, Currentzis refuses to name the shadowy backers of his new Utopia. For all we know, the finance may still be coming from front organisations for Russias war backers.

So if you go to hear Utopia, best to leave your conscience at home.

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Conductor is in trouble with his name, and his no-names - Slippedisc - Slipped Disc

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Deepak Chopra and SEVA.LOVE, a first-of-its-kind platform that is empowering a culture of wellbeing in the metaverse, today announced "ChopraVerse," the metaverse for wellbeing collaboration with Utopia (www.chopraverse.io).

Maria Bravo and Deepak Chopra

Utopia is a Web3 ecosystem brought together by Alejandro Saez, Maria Bravo, Eva Longoria, and Javier Garcia. Deepak Chopra and Mara Bravo have been collaborating to create positive change in the development, well-being, health and social inclusion of the most vulnerable for over 20 years through the humanitarian Non-Profit organization Global Gift Foundation.

The ChopraVerse initiative is part of Seva.Love's ongoing mission to create a more conscious Web3 community for a peaceful, just, sustainable, healthier and joyful world. The House of Enlightenment, designed by Vera Iconica Architecture, is Deepak Chopra's personal home in the metaverse that was initially designed for the physical world incorporating eastern wisdom design principles and the latest in wellness architecture.

The Metaverse today is mostly about gaming. The ChopraVerse is about creating a world which enhances our wellbeing. A world that will be photorealistic and inhabited by human avatars and AI beings. A world where no one will feel alone one that offers infinite experiences and possibilities. As part of the initial launch, The ChopraVerse will make the "Deepak Chopra - House of Enlightenment" available for everyone to experience in the metaverse and also enable downloadable blueprints for build in the physical world via NFTs.

"ChopraVerse is creating homes for multidimensional living, nourishing the body, mind, spirit and environment as a unified experience in awareness. It will give everyone an opportunity to generate their own abode for the return to wholeness and healing", says Deepak Chopra, world-renowned pioneer in integrative medicine, NY Times best selling author and co-founder of Seva.Love.

Story continues

"The Utopia and ChopraVerse collaboration will enable an ecosystem in the digital world for impactful collaborations within the metaverse, where we aim to bring global action to educate the world, connecting philanthropists, embracing brands and businesses using the power of the blockchain to raise awareness on building a more ethical and transparent world, a community of philantropreneur's, spreading kindness fast to where it's needed", says Maria Bravo, co-Founder Utopia and Global Gift Foundation.

Utopia will be the Presenting sponsor of the next Global Gift Gala that will take place in Paris on November 19th. Bringing together the worlds of business, celebrity, and philanthropy the Gala is one of the most important charitable initiatives in the world organized by the philanthropic non-profit organization Global Gift Foundation.

Taking place every year in Paris, Cannes, London, Marbella, Madrid, DubaiandAbu Dhabi,the event will be hosted for the first time also in Tokyo on December 5th.

Utopia, which recently acquired Virtual Voyagers, has carried out more than 230 projects related to the metaverse for major brands such as META and Vodafone, winning more than 20 awards for innovation and creativity. "The opportunity Web3 technology currently presents to creators, developers and businesses is exciting on many levels. Utopia is born from the dream, duty, and vision of achieving a connection between the tangible and virtual world - in which we will live in an ethical, inclusive, and responsible way," says Nino Saez, co-founder and CEO of Utopia.

"The ChopraVerse will transform how we interact and experience wellbeing in the digital and physical world. Our collaboration with Utopia will enable us to experience interoperable metaverse experiences in real-time, 3D virtual worlds that can be experienced synchronously, maintain presence and have a collaborative experience," says Poonacha Machaiah, co-founder and CEO of SEVA.LOVE. "While the NFT world is incredible, it is still evolving, and we saw a gap in the market to build a wellbeing community and make real social impact via the metaverse."

The ChopraVerse roadmap has planned NFT drops which will serve as access tokens to the ChopraVerse in Utopia. Additionally, there will also be a limited number of NFTs that will integrate blueprints and wellbeing design principles, by licensure through the Architect, Vera Iconica Architecture, that can be leveraged to build homes in the physical world. "The House of Enlightenment was designed both to be built in the physical world and to be experienced by many in the digital world as a home that optimizes health and wellbeing in harmony with nature. It is an education and awareness tool that anyone can go into to learn meditation or how your surroundings are impacting your health and behavior and what you can do to elevate your state of being," says Veronica Schreibeis Smith, CEO & Founding Principal, Vera Iconica Architecture.

The ChopraVerse platform has built on its partnership with Deepak Chopra and is collaborating with other global wellbeing experts, products and services within its own metaverse while also integrating with brands and experiences in the Utopia metaverse.

Photos & Video are available to download at the below links:

For more information please visit: http://www.chopraverse.io

About Seva.LoveSeva.Love is the metaverse for wellbeing initiative that has been founded by serial technology entrepreneur Pooancha Machaiah and world-renowned pioneer in integrative medicine, personal transformation and NY Times bestselling author Deepak Chopra, MD.

Seva.Love is championing wellbeing and social impact in Web3 by curating leading artists, influencers, wellbeing experts and creating conscious communities. For more information please visit https://www.seva.love/ and follow us at twitter: @sevaislove instagram: @sevaislove discord: https://discord.seva.love/

About UtopiaUtopia Group is a Web3 ecosystem brought together by four founders, Alejandro Saez, Maria Bravo, Eva Longoria, and Javier Garcia - with the mission of disrupting how businesses operate and innovate using the power of blockchain technology.

The Utopia Group's vision is to focus on bridging the gap between the physical and digital worlds. Through Utopia's acquisition of Virtual Voyageurs, the group will offer strategic consulting services, particularly developing metaverse applications an experiences, as well as educational programs and initiatives in the world of Web3.

Utopia will be expanding the use case of Web 3 and blockchain technology to disrupt the company's philanthropic initiatives and increase the impact of the founders' efforts. Our family Global Gift Foundation has projects all over the world they have managed to empower for over 10 years now, projects such as, Casa Angeles, Harmony House Quang Chau Orphanage and building new projects together, a sub kitchen, refugee Camp and a senior living home.

About Vera Iconica ArchitectureFounded in 2010 in Jackson by Wyoming native and Wellness Architecture pioneer, Veronica Schreibeis Smith, Vera Iconica specializes in Architecture, Interior Design, and Real Estate Development and is known globally for its Wellness Kitchen. For more information please visit https://veraiconica.com/and follow at instagram: @veraiconicaarchitecture

Eva Longoria, Javier Garcia, Alejandro Saez, and Maria Bravo.

Living Room - Deepak Chopra House of Enlightenment Vera Iconica Architecture, Inc.

SOURCE Seva.Love; Utopia

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Deepak Chopra & Seva.Love Announce "ChopraVerse: House of Enlightenment," the Metaverse for Wellbeing in Collaboration with Utopia -...

Here's a collection curated by The Associated Press' entertainment journalists of what's arriving on TV, streaming services and music platforms this week.

MOVIES

Andrew Dominik's long-delayed, NC-17 rated epic about Norma Jean Baker, or Marilyn Monroe, is finally here. "Blonde," which will be available on Netflix on Wednesday, looks at the life and mythology of the Hollywood icon, played by Ana de Armas, through an experimental and fictionalized lens, with stunning recreations of classic film moments from "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" and "The Seven Year Itch," brought to life by Chayse Irvin's cinematography, Jennifer Johnson's costumes, and de Armas's committed performance. But this is no celebration of Hollywood's "Golden Age" or one of its brightest stars; it's an often brutal critique of that industry and the surrounding culture and how it failed her time and time again.

For something infinitely lighter and seasonally appropriate, head over to Disney+ on Friday for "Hocus Pocus 2," which brings the witchy Sanderson Sisters (Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy) back to Salem. The first film, which was released in 1993, was neither a box office success nor a critical favorite by any stretch, but kept a hold on those who saw and loved it as children. And almost every years since, "Hocus Pocus" has had a spike in sales around Halloween time. This sequel adds some TV comedy favorites to the mix like "Veep's" Tony Hale and Sam Richardson and "Ted Lasso's" Hannah Waddingham.

In a new documentary "Nothing Compares," Irish filmmaker Kathryn Ferguson looks at the life and career of Sinad O'Connor, from her rise to her de facto exile from the pop establishment and beyond. The film, which begins streaming on demand for Showtime subscribers on Friday before premiering on air on the channel on Oct. 2, uses archival footage, some previously unseen, and a new interview with O'Connor to tell her story.

AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr

MUSIC

The first video from Bjrk's new album shows her in a psychedelic mushroom forest with a phalanx of bass clarinet players, which seems pretty on-brand. The Icelandic star releases "Fossora" on Friday and says the title is a word she made up the feminine version of the Latin word for "digger." Bjrk has described the collection as a "mushroom album." Two of the album's tracks, "Sorrowful Soil" and "Ancestress," were inspired by the death of her mother. Her last album was "Utopia," which was light and airy. "This time around/the feeling was landing/on the earth and digging my feet into the ground," she wrote on social media.

Rita Wilson is flexing her big-name connections with her new album, "Rita Wilson Now & Forever: Duets," out Tuesday. It sees Mrs. Tom Hanks collaborating with numerous artists, including Elvis Costello, Keith Urban, Willie Nelson, Smokey Robinson, Leslie Odom Jr., Josh Groban and Jackson Browne. Each tune explores songs from the '60s and '70s, from the Bee Gees' "Massachusetts" to Fleetwood Mac's "Songbird." She sings "Let It Be Me" with Browne, "Slip Slidin' Away" with Nelson and "Where Is The Love?" with Robinson.

Can't make it to Broadway for one of the fall's loveliest shows? Then just stream the cast album of James Lapine and Stephen Sondheim's "Into the Woods," with an all-star cast including Sara Bareilles, Brian d'Arcy James, Patina Miller, Phillipa Soo, Gavin Creel and Joshua Henry. In the musical, several classic Grimm fairy tales are thrown into a blender and then emerge intertwined, unmoored and unfinished. Bareilles' version of "Moments in the Woods" is utterly sublime. The stream starts Friday.

AP Entertainment Writer Mark Kennedy

TELEVISION

Kerry Washington ("Scandal") is behind the camera as an executive producer for Hulu's "Reasonable Doubt," debuting Tuesday. Emayatzy Corinealdi stars as a L.A. defense attorney who chooses results over protocol and has a complicated personal life. Jay-Z's debut album and discography are cited as inspiration for the show and episode titles, with hip-hop, R&B and neo-soul featured on the soundtrack. Michael Ealy and Sean Patrick Thomas co-star in the first scripted drama from Disney's Onyx Collective, which focuses on programming from creators of color and underrepresented voices.

Marcia Gay Harden and Skylar Astin play a mother-son odd couple in CBS' new dramady "So Help Me Todd," debuting Thursday. The Oscar-winning Harden's attorney Margaret Wright is organized to a fault; Astin's Todd is the black sheep in a successful family, an effective private eye who lost his license because he balked at following the rules. She decides the best cure for her wayward but talented offspring is to put him to work for her law firm as in-house investigator, and he accepts. Humor, mysteries and family dysfunction are promised to ensue.

"How I Got Here" combines a roots-discovery trip, family bonding and travelogue, which pretty much means something for everyone. In each episode, a parent returns to their native country young adult child in tow to explore the sacrifice and circumstances that led to their decision to seek a new home. Each 10-day trip allows time to sample the local food, scenery and cultural highlights in countries including Chile, Israel, Italy and Zambia. The BYUtv series debuts at 2:30 p.m. EDT Sunday followed that night by episode two in its regular 6 p.m. slot.

AP Television Writer Lynn Elber

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Catch up on AP's entertainment coverage here: https://apnews.com/apf-entertainment.

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New this week: 'Reasonable Doubt,' 'Blonde' and Bjrk - Star Tribune