Coney island on van dyke

Heinrich Böll’s short story, ‘Anecdote Concerning the Lowering of Productivity’ might be one of the most famous tales of the internet era. Although it was originally published in 1963, its brevity and “gotcha” ending have made it the prime subject for IM and social media sharing. It’s so popular it’s one of those things that are so misattributed, misquoted, and modified that at a certain point nobody knows where it originally came from. All of you surely know it already. A smug tourist attempts to lecture a scruffily dressed fisherman about how to live his life and ends up receiving quite the lesson. The story is fantastic, definitively one of Böll’s best, but it has been shared so many times on grandma’s Facebook page and co-opted by so many wellness gurus that I can’t help cringing at it. Speaking to these surfers that have spent their lives pouring their blood, sweat, and tears to improve their local communities, the overused tale suddenly came back to me, and I must … [Read more...] about Surfers tell us why Western Australia is the best place in the world to live like a retired rockstar

GLAAD , the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) media advocacy organization, today announced the nominees for the 34th Annual GLAAD Media Awards . Current RuPaul’s Drag Race stars Salina EsTitties and Sasha Colby announced nominees in select GLAAD Media Awards categories in a ‘ GLAAD Drag Story Time’ video that just debuted on GLAAD’s YouTube. In the video, Sasha Colby commented on recent attacks on drag performers across the country: “Performers like us are being threatened with anti-LGBTQ bills, nasty protests, and even violence. You know what’s scary? People with guns, not queens with books!” In 2022, GLAAD found over 140 incidents of anti-LGBTQ protests and threats targeting drag events, including events run by the organization Drag Story Hour. The 34th Annual GLAAD Media Awards nominees were published, released, or broadcast between January 1 and December 31, 2022. The GLAAD Media Awards ceremonies, which fund GLAAD’s work to accelerate … [Read more...] about GLAAD Announces Nominees For The 34th Annual GLAAD Media Awards

Even on a specialty level, horror just works post-pandemic with the latest pop from a strong showing by a trio of films, Fear and Infinity Pool , released this weekend, and Skinamarink in week three. Fear hails from Deon and Roxanne Avent Taylor’s Hidden Empire Film Group , the all-Black production company behind cult hit Meet The Blacks (2016) and The House Next Door: Meet The Blacks 2 , released into a shaky theatrical marketplace in June of 2021 that made nearly $3 million U.S. Fear , directed by Deon Taylor, was self-distributed by Hidden Empire Releasing on 974 screens, opening to an estimated $1.28 million for a per-screen average of $1,315. The breakdown: Fri: $466.9k (includes $132k in Thursday sneaks); Sat: $504k; Sun: estimated $310k. Shows were sold out in key markets across the country including LA, New York, Sacramento, Atlanta, Miami, DC, and Chicago. The 50% increase from Friday to Saturday, not including Thursday previews, shows … [Read more...] about ‘Fear’, ‘Infinity Pool’, ‘Skinamarink’ Scare Up Cash In Indie Horror Bonanza – Specialty Box Office