Halloween Partygoers to Raise Money for the IKEA Monkey's Home this Saturday in Toronto

Vegan Social Events, created by Love Wild Live Free, has partnered with UNIVERSEOFÁLI to bring the wonderful world of OZ to life, for their 3rd Annual Halloween Charity Event, benefiting Story Book Farm Primate Sanctuary!

The 'WIZARD OF ODDZ' Halloween Charity Event, benefiting Story Book Farm Primate Sanctuary, is proudly presented by UNIVERSEOFÁLI in partnership with Vegan Social Events, created by Love Wild Live Free. 

Guests will journey down the yellow brick road to find themselves at the historic and exclusive Armour Heights Officers Mess. 

This gala-style, costumed event is Toronto's only vegan-friendly Halloween party. It will bring together party-goers from Toronto's professional and corporate communities, the vegan community, the International and Canadian Military communities and the general public, in a non-judgmental and inclusive space.

The 'Flying Monkeys' Balloon Raffle will rule the sky as guests explore the various themed rooms around the mansion. Guests will be welcomed with appetizers by Chef James Snow of Canada Catering and complimentary tasting items curated by Kupfert & Kim, Panago Pizza, Culcherd, and more. 

Pockets Warhol

The event will include a Silent Auction, featuring paintings by Pockets Warhol, a Capuchin Monkey from Story Book Farm Primate Sanctuary, whose artwork has garnered attention from worldwide news outlets and celebrities including Ricky Gervais and Dr. Jane Goodall. 

Entertainment will include Candy Warhol of Bangs & Blush and live performances featuring a musical number by event co-organizer, Alexandria Beck of UNIVERSEOFÁLI. 

Beck is an international recording and performing artist and has performed for audiences of up to 60,000 people, including royalty and Heads of State, and opened the first Vancouver Olympic venue. She has been featured on TMZ, CBC, and was the in-house opera singer for the world's foremost luxury department store, Harrods.

• What: 'WIZARD OF ODDZ' Halloween Charity Event 2017
• When: Saturday, October 21, 2017
• Where: Armour Heights Officers Mess, 215 Yonge Boulevard, Toronto
• Time: 8:00 PM - 1:00 AM 
• Event Details: lovewildlivefree.com/blog/halloween-2017

Meet Darwin the “IKEA Monkey”

This event proudly supports Story Book Farm Primate Sanctuary, home to Darwin the 'IKEA Monkey', a Japanese Macaque whose photo went viral in December 2012, after he was found wandering an Ikea parking lot in North York, Ontario. This 100% volunteer-run sanctuary does important and necessary work, by currently providing a permanent home for 19 primates retiring from biomedical research, zoos, universities, and private residences. 

The exotic pet trade is a growing trend in Canada; according to CTV News, Canada has the worst record in the Western world when it comes to protecting animals. Unfortunately, animal testing for medical and cosmetic purposes still takes place in Canada. As one of two primate sanctuaries in Canada, Story Book Farm Primate Sanctuary offers 'freedom from fear', and a place of healing and recovery for primates in need.

U N I V E R S E O F Á L I, is a collective of music, cosplay, and charity. Created by International Recording and Performing Artist, Canadian Military Veteran, Award-winning Cosplayer, and Animal rights and Vegan Advocate, Alexandria Beck.

Love Wild Live Free is a lifestyle blog created by Avra Epstein, a Toronto-based lawyer, animal rights and vegan advocate and creator of Vegan Social Events. Love Wild Live Free has gained a dedicated following and was named by BlogTO as one of "15 Instagram Accounts for Toronto Vegans to Follow."

SOURCE: Love Wild Live Free

As Halloween Creeps Up, 60-Foot Spider Arrives On Orlando's Biggest Web

The invasion of the 60-foot arachnid (Denise Spiegel/Visit Orlando)

Disclaimer: The following might not be suitable for anyone suffering from acute arachnophobia....

Friday the 13th brought the arrival of the newest addition to Orlando's Halloween scene: An invasion of spider-centric social media opportunities, including a 60-foot arachnid and 400-foot web (the largest on the East Coast), tailor made for sharing on the "Web."

As the world's Halloween Vacation Capital, Orlando features an unparalleled 10 weeks of highly-themed holiday experiences including seasonal attractions, special events, hotel packages, and even the largest horror convention in the nation.

"Orlando does Halloween on a scale like nowhere else," said George Aguel, president and CEO of Visit Orlando, the official tourism association for the region. "And we know that social sharing is a big part of Halloween, it's even the most Instagrammed day of the year, so we are showcasing that our themed vacation experiences create both unforgettable memories and the world's coolest photo opportunities."

The newest additions launched this week include:

Giant Spider Selfies and Light Show

Giant Spidey Selfie time! (Denise Spiegel/Visit Orlando)

Photo opportunities with a 60-foot spider that overran the Coca-Cola Orlando Eye, turning the 400-foot observation wheel into a massive spider web. The lair gets even spookier at night with a 10-minute kaleidoscopic light show synchronized to an iconic Halloween soundtrack. 

Limited-time Custom Snapchat Filter

Sharing the Spidey Selfie on Snapchat (Denise Spiegel/Visit Orlando)

Now through Halloween, a new custom Orlando Halloween snapchat filter frames the unforgettable photo opportunities for visitors to share their own Spider Selfie with friends and family. 

Social media video starring Orlando's "Spider Dog" 

Adding a "trick" to these treats is a social media video of Orlando's "Spider Dog," a prankster pup who scurried about in spider costume, scaring unsuspecting guests in the dark of night.

• For a full list of Halloween events and attractions throughout Orlando, visitors wanting to plan a ghoulish getaway can visit the destination's new web page, VisitOrlando.com/Halloween and follow #OrlandoHalloween on Visit Orlando's social media channels.

Dead Waters Haunted House (Denise Spiegel/Visit Orlando)

Orlando: Halloween Vacation Capital℠
AAA recently named Orlando the top destination for fall travel, based on AAA travel bookings.

As the Halloween Vacation Capital, Orlando brings the season to life through 10 weeks of highly themed activities including theme park events, attractions, the largest horror convention in the nation, spooky hotel packages and much more. 

The world famous theme parks also bring a unique level of cinematic-level sophistication to these entertainment experiences, whether it is the spine-chilling terror of Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Orlando, or the family-friendly fun of Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party at Walt Disney World and Halloween Spooktacular at SeaWorld Orlando.

Halloween Spooktacular (Denise Spiegel/Visit Orlando)

• October kicks off the height of the Halloween season in Orlando, although some of the festivities started as early as August 25 and extend as late as November 4.

SOURCE: Visit Orlando

Bonus Video

New Star Trek Klingons Are Rooted In Our Own Distant Past – Ancient History Expert

A ship of klingons. (Netflix/Jan Thijs)

By Eve MacDonald, Cardiff University

Star Trek has always reflected the contemporary political atmosphere and ideologies in which it is created. From the original series in the 1960s with its peace, love and interracial kiss, to the 1990’s post-Cold War Next Generation, the world-view of progressive western ideology has featured strongly in the stories of everyone’s favourite group of space explorers.

The original Klingons of the 1960s. © 1969 Paramount Pictures

Across each new iteration, the Klingons – a humanoid warrior species – have often been the alien of choice. The 1960s Klingons were bad, untrustworthy, duplicitous enemies, but visually they looked pretty close to the sapiens on the Starship Enterprise. They were the “other”, but that “other” was also us. They were the Cold War Soviets mixed with a bit of the Japanese from World War II (another enemy, the Romulans, also wore that hat).

In Star Trek: The Next Generation, the Klingons were more physically differentiated by exo-skeletal additions but they were friends now, not enemies any more, and although slightly erratic allies they fought on the same side as the Federation. It was the post-Cold War world.

Us and them
So what to make of the new Netflix series Discovery and its version of the Klingons? Set further in the past than the other series, watchers have been given a race of new/old Klingons which is physically extraordinary, kitted out like badass Egyptian warriors. Gone are progressive views of understanding the commonalities of our existence. The classical “us” and the space age “other” has been reborn.

Klingons, the next generation. © 1991 Paramount Pictures

What is so intriguing about these new Klingons is that they exhibit all the extremes of real-life exotic enemies from timeless representations going back to the ancient Greeks. They are portrayed as incomprehensible beasts to the federation: the Klingons participate in self-harm, believe in rebirth in flames, and have a physical appearance that has extended their exo-skeleton to make them look more like wild animals than anthropomorphic beings. They appear like beasts, as exotic as Durer’s famous drawing of a rhinoceros was to his 16th-century audience.

The new Klingon uniform was clearly inspired by ancient Egyptian breastplates, wired like ribs across their shoulders and upper chest. Even more Egyptianising is the death practice of the Klingons that sees the corpse being wrapped as a mummy, and placed in a beautifully decorated space sarcophagus. These sarcophagi are then stuck to the outside of their space ships. The way that the Klingon dead and their death cult travel together through space and time removes any previous common “humanity” that had existed in the other Star Trek series. The Klingons are now so far from the “us” who reside in the opposite ship as to be almost incomprehensible.

Albrecht Durer’s rhinoceros, 1515. Wikimedia

Ancient monsters
Though their appearance may be drawn from history, these new, hostile Klingons are base zealots and unrelentingly evil – with an obvious comparison to be made with Islamic State. They are simply our enemy: we possess no shared values, they lie in ambush and react with unremitting violence across the first episodes. The federation officers of the Discovery series are conflicted about reacting to the aggression – and as such are depicted at first as wishy-washy and weak. The ideals of the previous series, including the “prime directive” – that crews must not interfere with the development of civilisations – have disappeared and are replaced by sneering Klingons who seek martyrdom and mock the concept of “coming in peace”.

I wonder what Star Trek’s creator Gene Roddenberry would have felt about this easy dismissal of the ideals of peaceful inter-species cooperation? In the new Star Trek, violence is the only means to counter violence. For the creators it makes it much easier to accept this by physically placing the Klingons further back in our human past. Their representation in costume like exotic, alien ancients, and practice of a cult of death, further distances them from our so-called “western” humanity. By physically animalising the Klingons this becomes an easy retreat to the mythical beasts of old. As the monstrous Gorgon sisters were to the ancient Greeks these Klingons are to the Federation.

This new form of Klingon enemy seems to be reflecting shifting attitudes towards peace and war in today’s world. More than anything this only serves to confirm how far our society has shifted away from hope and idealism for the future. It will be interesting to see how this new Klingon war is resolved in the next chapter of the first season, and whether hopeful aspiration will return or fear of the other is all we can aspire to.

About Today's Contributor:
Eve MacDonald, Lecturer in Ancient History, Cardiff University

This article was originally published on The Conversation. 

Epic Records & Sony Pictures Animation Announce The Star Official Soundtrack Album Available October 27

The Star Official Soundtrack Album

In anticipation of the worldwide release of Sony Pictures Animation's animated motion picture The Star, in theaters November 17, 2017, Epic Records and Sony Pictures Animation will release The Star: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack in stores and online October 27, 2017. 

• The album, featuring new music from Mariah Carey, is available for pre-order here

The soundtrack assembles new music from a bevy of powerhouse superstars befitting of the cast's blockbuster pedigree. Leading the tracklisting, Mariah Carey performs the film's theme song "The Star."

• The first track for instant grat is "Life is Good" by A Great Big World. 
• Following that, on October 17th, Fifth Harmony will release "Can You See".

In addition, Kirk Franklin, Kelsea Ballerini, Zara Larsson, and more serve up new tracks recorded specifically for The Star. Each artist got into the spirit with show-stopping and standout performances.

Spring Aspers, Head of Music for Sony Pictures, commented, "The filmmakers of The Star have delivered a funny but faithful turn on the nativity story, and Mariah Carey's soulful performance of the film's theme song adds a layer of depth and emotion that will have audiences feeling the spirit. This compilation is full of covers of Christmas classics old and new that not only perfectly fit the film, but make the perfect soundtrack for the season."

• Check out the full tracklisting below.
• Get ready for The Star to shine on stereos and big screens everywhere this year.

Tracklisting:

• Mariah Carey – "The Star"
• Kelsea Ballerini – "Children Go Where I Send You"
• Kirk Franklin – "We Three Kings"
• Fifth Harmony – "Can You See"
• A Great Big World – "Life Is Good"
• Zara Larsson – "Mary, Did You Know"
• Yolanda Adams – "O Holy Night"
• Saving Forever – "What Christmas Means to Me"
• Jessie James Decker – "Breath of Heaven (Mary's Song)"
• Casting Crowns – "His Eye Is on the Sparrow"
• Jake Owen – "What Child Is This?"
• Pentatonix – "Carol of the Bells"*

*digital-only bonus track

The Star - Poster

In Sony Pictures Animation's The Star, a small but brave donkey named Bo yearns for a life beyond his daily grind at the village mill. One day he finds the courage to break free, and finally goes on the adventure of his dreams. On his journey, he teams up with Ruth, a loveable sheep who has lost her flock and Dave, a dove with lofty aspirations. Along with three wisecracking camels and some eccentric stable animals, Bo and his new friends follow the Star and become unlikely heroes in the greatest story ever told – the first Christmas. 

The film stars the voices of Steven Yeun, Gina Rodriguez, Zachary Levi, Keegan-Michael Key, Kelly Clarkson, Anthony Anderson, Aidy Bryant, Ving Rhames, Gabriel Iglesias, Patricia Heaton, Kristin Chenoweth, Christopher Plummer, and Tracy Morgan and Tyler Perry and Oprah Winfrey. Directed by Timothy Reckart, the screenplay is by Carlos Kotkin, with a story by Simon Moore and Carlos Kotkin. The film is executive produced by DeVon Franklin, Brian Henson, and Lisa Henson, and produced by Jennifer Magee-Cook.

SOURCE: Epic Records

Bonus Video:

The Music from The Star by Various on VEVO.

Tears For Fears Still Rule The World With Their Greatest Hits Album Out November 10

Tears For Fears Still Rule The World

Everybody still wants to rule the world…

Following a sold-out summer arena tour highlighted by their triumphant UK return in front of 65,000-plus fans as special guests of The Killers during British Summer Time Festival at Hyde Park, Tears For Fears – Roland Orzabal [vocals, guitar, keyboards] and Curt Smith [vocals, bass, keyboards] – close out 2017 with the release of their first career-spanning Greatest Hits album, Rule The World. The collection arrives everywhere November 10, 2017 on UMe. It's available for pre-order at the band's official site now. 

• Check out the full tracklisting below.

Not only does Rule The World feature classics such as "Everybody Wants To Rule The World," "Shout," "Mad World," "Head Over Heels," "Woman In Chains," and more, but it also boasts the first original music from the duo since 2004. This year, they recorded two new tracks—"I Love You But I'm Lost" and "Stay"—for inclusion on the collection. 

The single "I Love You But I'm Lost" bristles with the enigmatic energy of classic Tears For Fears, while the subtle acoustic "Stay" ranks among their most emotional fare. Both fit comfortably alongside the anthems that have defined three generations.

• For a glimpse of what to expect, listen to "I Love You But I'm Lost", click here.

It's just the beginning though. The new music hints at very big plans for Tears For Fears in 2018 and beyond!

TRACKLISTING:

• Everybody Wants To Rule The World
• Shout
• I Love You But I'm Lost*
• Mad World
• Sowing The Seeds Of Love
• Advice For The Young At Heart
• Head Over Heels
• Woman In Chains
• Change
• Stay*
• Pale Shelter
• Mothers Talk
• Break It Down Again
• I Believe
• Raoul And The Kings Of Spain
• Closest Thing To Heaven

*/new for 2017

About Tears for Fears
Beyond selling 30 million albums worldwide, performing to countless sold out audiences, and winning various awards, the DNA of Tears For Fears — Roland Orzabal [vocals, guitar, keyboards] and Curt Smith[vocals, bass, keyboards] — remains embedded within three generations of artists. Quietly casting a shadow over rock, hip-hop, electronic dance music, indie, and beyond, their music has been sampled by Kanye West, The Weeknd, David Guetta, Drake, and more, while getting covered by Lorde, Adam Lambert, Ally Brooke Hernandez, Gary Jules, and Disturbed, to name a few. Meanwhile, classic songs figure prominently everywhere from The Wire and Donnie Darko to Straight Outta Compton and Mr. Robot.

Representing an inimitable intersection of pop palatability, clever and cognizant lyricism, guitar bombast, and new wave innovation, their catalog spans a string of classic album, namely the gold-certified debut The Hurting [1983], quintuple-platinum BRIT Award-winning Songs from the Big Chair[1985], and Seeds of Love [1989]. The latter proved to be Roland and Curt's last collaboration together until Everybody Loves A Happy Ending in 2004, which rekindled the creative fire between them. Breaking another quiet spell, the boys engaged in a three-year touring whirlwind across North America, Japan, South Korea, Manila, and South America beginning in 2010. 

 2013 saw them return with their first recorded music in a decade: a cover of Arcade Fire's "Ready to Start." It proved to be a welcome addition to their three-decade discography of immortal hits ranging from "Mad World," "Change," and "Pale Shelter" to "Everybody Wants To Rule The World," "Shout," "Sowing The Seeds of Love," and "Everybody Loves A Happy Ending." 

Following a sold-out 2017 co-headline tour with Hall & Oates and standout sets at Rock In Rio and "British Summer Time" in Hyde Park, they release their first official career-spanning Greatest Hits collection, Rule The World. It features the first new original compositions between Roland and Curt together since 2004: "I Love You But I'm Lost" and "Stay."

TearsForFears.com | Facebook.com/TearsForFears | Instagram: @TearsForFearsMusic | Twitter: @TearsForFears

SOURCE: UMe

Bonus Video: