Duran Duran to Perform Special Concert in Miami Beach for SiriusXM

Duran Duran to Perform Special Concert in Miami Beach (Image via DuranDuran.com)

SiriusXM announced yesterday that GRAMMY Award-winning, iconic British band Duran Duran will perform a special invitation-only show for SiriusXM on Saturday, December 9 at the Faena Theater in Miami Beach.

• The exclusive performance for SiriusXM will feature Duran Duran playing signature music from throughout their career, including songs from their most recent, Top 10 charting studio album, Paper Gods. 

Donald Sutherland at the 2014 Art Basel Miami Beach (Image via HuffPost)

This very special performance for SiriusXM coincides with 2017's Art Basel in Miami Beach, the world renowned premier art show and gathering for Modern and contemporary art. It will also be the penultimate show on the band's two year Paper Gods World Tour before they return to the studio in January 2018.

"As long-time fans of SiriusXM, we are really looking forward to performing this special show at such a beautiful and intimate venue in Miami," remarked Duran Duran's John Taylor. "It's going to be an up close and personal affair, a truly one-of-a-kind evening, and we look forward to getting to know everyone who attends." 

"Duran Duran is one of those bands that has continued to deliver indelible music and style for decades," said Scott Greenstein, President and Chief Content Officer, SiriusXM. "This intimate concert for their most die-hard fans takes us back to the Faena Theater in the heart of Miami's South Beach. Duran Duran is a great way to kick off the holiday season with SiriusXM." 

• Duran Duran's special concert for SiriusXM in Miami is the latest exclusive performance for SiriusXM subscribers. Previous shows this year include Eagles at the Grand Ole Opry House, Dwight Yoakam at The Stephen Talkhouse, Guns N' Roses at the Apollo Theater and Chicago at Whisky a Go Go.

The private performance will air live on Saturday, December 9 via satellite on The Pulse (ch. 15) and 1st Wave (ch. 33) and through the SiriusXM app on smartphones and other connected devices, as well as online at siriusxm.com.

• SiriusXM subscribers since November 1, 2017 can enter for the chance to win a trip to Miami including airfare, hotel stay and a pair of tickets to the show! 

  ➧See Official Rules for complete details at siriusxm.com/DuranDuran

SiriusXM subscribers with streaming access can also listen to SiriusXM's 200+ channels at home on a wide variety of connected devices including smart TVs, Amazon Alexa devices, Sony PlayStation, Sonos speakers and more. 

➧Go to SiriusXM to learn more.

• For more information on Duran Duran, visit duranduran.com.
• For more information on SiriusXM, please visit siriusxm.com.

Source: SiriusXM

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Proof that Britain is a Nation of Diversi-tea, With 24 Million Ways to Make a Cuppa... and a Bagful of Science in the Blending from Tetley

Academic James Hind (left) & Tetley Master Blender Sebastian Michaelis (right) examine the prefect blend (PRNewsfoto/Tetley)

The YouGov research, commissioned by Tetley Tea to mark its 180th birthday and analysed by mathematician Dr James Hind of Nottingham Trent University, factors in all possible variables when it's time to pop the kettle on.

From brew time, milk levels and dunking behaviour to sweetener choice, water (or milk) first and overall water temperature, the reality is that it all boils down to personal taste.

As for the most commonly drunk cuppa, this involves 60 seconds of brewing, a dash of cold semi-skimmed milk, three dunks of the teabag, no sugar, drunk hot from a mug and made by the drinker themselves.

But according to master tea blender, Sebastian Michaelis, whose taste buds are insured for £1m, all 24 million possible cuppas start with one perfect blend, revealing there is still science behind the art of the individual cuppa.

That's why he has spent months with Dr Hind in the Tetley tea rooms, where over 40,000 cups of tea are tasted every week, developing a mathematical equation for the perfect blend that is the basis for 24 million possible cuppas. 

Missy (Michelle Gomez) drinking tea  (Image via BBC)

The equation for the perfect blend:

Perfect Blend=Sin(Y114.5⁄)√ZB+CS(π−W)(5T⁄) 

• Y = years of experience (180 years for Tetley) 
• W = Weight of tea in the teabag (3.125 for Tetley) 
• T = duration of training for blenders (5 years for Tetley) 
• Z = Zing (1-30) 
• B = Body (1-30) 
• C = Colour (1-45) 
• S = Sparkle (1-50) 

The key variables centre on the process of perfecting a blend from crop to cup, including years (Y) of experience and weight (W) of tea in the teabag.

Also captured is the duration of training (T) for the master tea blenders and the colour (C), size and density of the leaf; the brew's purity of colour (its sparkle - S); the weight of the tea in the mouth (its body - B) and the overall liveliness of the tea on the palate (its zing - Z). 

Madame Vastra's Sontaran butler Strax serving tea (image via Horrorpedia)

Sebastian Michaelis comments: "What I found fascinating is that there are so many possible ways of making a cup of tea, but there is no secret method for the perfect cuppa. Everyone takes their tea a little differently, which is why no one can quite make it as perfectly as you. Whether you add milk or not, drink it weak or strong, what is crucial to a great cup of tea however is the blending. 

The complexity of the equation reflects the many layers required to craft the nation's favourite drink. Blending tea, like blending whisky or champagne, is both a science and an art. Tetley tea blenders spend five years training and honing our ability to be able to taste and grade any of the thousands of different varieties of tea in the world in just 15 seconds. 

Without the right balance of flavours, brightness and body, your tea would taste less like a Grand Cru and more like cheap plonk!" 

With the blend perfected, the nation's nuances and twists on how they take their tea then come in to play. 

• According to the research, 48% brew the teabag for at least a minute, with almost a third of UK tea drinkers considering brewing time the most important factor when it comes to making tea. 

• Whilst one in 10 Brits favour a more traditional take on the cuppa, drunk from a teacup rather than a mug, a small but significant 3% of white tea takers opt for the less traditional in heating up the milk first! 

• 44% of people think they make the best cup of tea and 14% say they prefer ones made by their partners. Meanwhile, office tea rounds could soon be on their way out, with only 1% preferring their colleagues' method of making tea. 

• Despite 'hot' being the most common temperature for tea to be consumed, 24% of Brits prefer theirs 'warm' and a whopping 72% take no sugar, with 17% instead opting for replacements such as honey or sweeteners. 

• As for what makes the worst cup of tea, putting in too much milk comes top (20%), followed by splitting the tea bag by squeezing it too hard (16%) and reheating tea in the microwave (15%). 

SOURCE: Tetley

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First Transgender Day of Remembrance Cenotaph Statue to be Unveiled in Palm Springs

Transgender Day of Remembrance 2017 Cenotaph Sculpture by Heath Satow

On November 20, the Transgender Community Coalition will host their annual Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDoR) honoring the memory of those whose lives were lost in acts of anti-transgender violence in the past year. 

• The event will take place at Palm Springs City Hall, 3200 E. Tahquitz Canyon Way, from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m., with the vigil commencing at 5 p.m.

"One out of eight transgender people of color face murder in their lifetime, and one out of 12 Caucasian trans people face murder in their lifetime," says Thomi Clinton, Chief Executive Officer and founder of the Transgender Community Coalition in Palm Springs.

• Speakers at this year's event include: the CEO of the Transgender Community Coalition with Gwendolyn Ann Smith, founder of the TDoR, Ian Harvie, Transgender comedian and actor from the award-winning TV series Transparent, Ryan Sallans, Transgender author and advocate and Ashlee Marie Preston, Transgender producer and activist.

This year, Palm Springs' Transgender Community Coalition unveils the first Transgender Day of Remembrance Memorial Cenotaph Sculpture. The non-profit organization commissioned the life-size sculpture to honor victims of transgender violence. 

The statue was inspired after the death of a transgender woman, Yaz'min Sanchez, who was shot and burned behind a garbage bin in Florida. Sanchez' body left a silhouette where her remains were discovered.

Los Angeles-based metal artist Heath Satow created the breathtaking sculpture, illustrating the life-size figure, made of steel butterflies (symbolizing metamorphosis or transition), lying on their side. 

• The sculpture aims to inspire needed conversations aimed at ending discrimination and violence against transgender people in the United States and across the world.

Transgender Day of Remembrance - Leaflet

About Heath Satow:

(Via Transgender Day of Remembrance)

Heath Satow (b. February 6, 1969) is an American artist who works primarily in fabricated metals. He received national attention for his 9/11 Memorial sculpture of hands – created with 3,000 stainless-steel doves – lifting one of the twisted steel beams from the World Trade Center to the sky. 

His passion is art that expresses social justice issues and the inequality of the discriminated and oppressed. Inspired by the scale model that Thomi Clinton presented to him, he has created a unique piece of Cenotaph art – an empty tomb or a monument erected in honor of a person or group of people – that embodies the murders and injustices faced by the transgender community in hopes of increasing public conversation to support transgender equality. 

The piece was inspired by the murder of transgender woman of color Yaz’min Sanchez, who was thrown into a Florida alley and burned to death. The scorched burned marks from her remains inspired a breathtaking sculpture of a person laying in a somber fetal position covered in butterflies. 

• Butterflies are the spiritual symbol of transgender people. These butterflies represent the spirits of those we have lost preparing to return to their Creator in the heavens.

About Transgender Day of Remembrance:

Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDoR) was founded in 1999 by Gwendolyn Ann Smith when she held a vigil for Rita Hester, a transgender woman that was murdered. It has become a global event to address the violence and oppression against this community.

It is a time when the community that supports LGBTQ+ equality comes forward with their direct support to end violence against the transgender, intersex, gender non-conforming and non-binary communities. 

SOURCE: Transgender Community Coalition

The Video:

World's First And Most Extensive Exhibition Celebrating Marvel's Visual And Cultural Impact To Premiere At Seattle's Museum Of Pop Culture In April 2018

MoPOP and SC Exhibitions commissioned several renowned Marvel artists to create a series of posters for the Seattle show which will be released over the months to come. Michael Allred’s interpretation shows Spider-Man swinging from the Space Needle

Marvel: Universe of Super Heroes will feature more than 300 original artifacts, including some of Marvel's most iconic and sought-after pages, costumes and props, many of which have never-before been seen by the public. These will be displayed in a major retrospective at the Museum of Pop Culture (MoPOP) in Seattle, opening on April 21, 2018.

• The exhibition will tell the Marvel story through comics, film and other media, taking place as it celebrates 10 years of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and ahead of the 80th anniversary in 2019.

Rare artifacts and interactive set design creates a multifaceted and vivid experience for visitors. (Concept artwork by Studio TK)

"Our show takes us from the origins of the Marvel Universe to the present, providing a chance to see some of the rarest and most precious objects to have survived from the past 80 years of pop culture history," says curator Ben Saunders about the exhibition, which is being produced by MoPOP, SC Exhibitions and Marvel Entertainment.

Marvel statues invite visitors to interact and become part of the scenery with great photo opportunities throughout the exhibition. (Concept artwork by Studio TK.)

The exhibition will trace the story of the company and its influence on visual culture – including how it's responded to historical events and addressed wider issues such as gender, race and mental illness – as well as uncovering the narratives of individual characters such as Captain America, Spider-Man, Black Panther and Doctor Strange. It will honor the so-called "imaginauts" such as Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, who have made the Marvel saga one of the most expansive fictional universes ever created.

"Marvel transformed the idea of the Super Hero in the 1960s—and beyond—by ratcheting up the visual spectacle, emotional dynamism and philosophical sophistication of the action-adventure comics genre," says Brian Crosby, head of Marvel Themed Entertainment. "Marvel has always been a reflection of the world outside your own window and one of its most compelling messages has always been, that anyone—regardless of race, religion or gender—can be a Super Hero."

Immersive set pieces will bring the comic book world to life, and the exhibition will be accompanied by an immersive soundscape created by acclaimed composers Lorne Balfe and Hans Zimmer.

Visitors can stroll through the streets of New York City, catching a glimpse into artists’ studios to learn about the creators behind the comics and gaze at original props from Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and more. (Concept artwork by Studio TK.)

The exhibition has been curated by an outstanding team that includes three scholars of comics – Benjamin Saunders, Matthew J. Smith and Randy Duncan, all of whom are university professors and experts in their field. MoPOP curators Brooks Peck and Jacob McMurray, as well as renowned comics writers and editors Ann Nocenti and Danny Fingeroth, have also contributed.

Tony Stark’s Lab is one of many different settings in which visitors can immerse themselves and interact with their favorite characters. (Concept artwork by Studio TK.)

"This is the largest exhibition ever staged at the Museum of Pop Culture," says Brooks Peck, curator, MoPOP. "We're thrilled to present more than 300 original artworks, props, costumes, and genuine relics of pop culture history, from the earliest incarnations of super heroes in comics to ground breaking movie moments reflecting the timeless appeal of the Marvel universe."

Marvel: Universe of Super Heroes - Logo (PRNewsfoto/Museum of Pop Culture)

SOURCE: Museum of Pop Culture

Bonus Videos:

Barbie Honors Ibtihaj Muhammad With One-Of-A-Kind Doll At Glamour Women Of The Year Live Summit

Barbie honors Ibtihaj Muhammad as a Barbie Shero with one-of-a-kind doll in her likeness at the Glamour Women Of The Year LIVE Summit

Today, Mattel honors Ibtihaj Muhammad, the first American Olympian to compete while wearing a hijab, as a Barbie Shero by gifting her a one-of-a-kind doll in her likeness. The doll was unveiled at the Glamour Women of the Year LIVE Summit, an annual event that gives young women the opportunity to hear from select past and present Women of the Year honorees, as well as other influential leaders from a variety of fields, in Brooklyn, NY. 

Muhammad is the latest honoree as part of Barbie Shero program that recognizes women who break boundaries to inspire the next generation of girls. 

• Muhammad was presented this doll by last year's Shero, body activist and model, Ashley Graham.

"Through playing with Barbie, I was able to imagine and dream about who I could become," said Ibtihaj Muhammad. "I love that my relationship with Barbie has come full circle, and now I have my own doll wearing a hijab that the next generation of girls can use to play out their own dreams." 

One of TIME magazine's "100 Most Influential People" of 2016, Muhammad not only breaks boundaries with her swordsmanship, but with the launch of her clothing line, Louella. Noticing a gap in the marketplace, Muhammad designs new fresh and vibrant looks for the modest fashion industry.

"Barbie is celebrating Ibtihaj not only for her accolades as an Olympian, but for embracing what makes her stand out," said Sejal Shah Miller, Vice President of Global Marketing for Barbie. "Ibtihaj is an inspiration to countless girls who never saw themselves represented, and by honoring her story, we hope this doll reminds them that they can be and do anything."

"Ibtihaj Muhammad has challenged every stereotype—which to me is the definition of a modern American woman," said Glamour Editor-in-Chief Cindi Leive. "Last year, she was the first athlete from the U.S to compete in the Olympics wearing a hijab, and today we are thrilled to celebrate Ibtihaj as the first hijab-wearing Barbie. She will play a tremendous role in ensuring that girls of the future see themselves represented fully and beautifully in our culture." 

• The doll will be available for purchase in 2018. For more information and images, visit Barbiemedia.com and Glamour.com. 

Ibtihaj Muhammad (image via The Independent)

About Glamour:
Glamour is one of the biggest fashion and beauty media brands in the world, currently reaching an all-time high of one out of eight American women, with 9.7 million print readers, more than 11 million unique monthly users online, and over 14 million followers across social media platforms. 

Glamour believes in the power of women being themselves and stands with women as they do their own thing: honestly, authentically, and awesomely. Across every platform, Glamour is the ultimate authority for the next generation of changemakers.

SOURCE: Mattel, Inc.

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