Wham! 10 Days in China review – pop meets politics in George and Andrew’s great leap east

The duo’s groundbreaking 1985 tour reveals a strange collision of pop stardom and communism, a re-edit of Lindsay Anderson’s efforts that got him fired Here is a documentary that has a very important story to tell, maybe more important than it feels comfortable admitting. It’s about two separate subjects – or maybe three: Wham!, China and film-maker Lindsay Anderson. A superpower nervously edging towards western-style openness, a pop band nervously doing what needed to be done to make it big in the US, and a great film director, needing the money, taking on a project he didn’t really believe in. In 1985, Wham!’s beetle-browed manager Simon Napier-Bell had a cunning plan for how George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley could break the US: Wham! would be the first ever western pop band to perform in mainland China. They would play where the Beatles, the Stones and Elvis had never played, and the resulting global publicity would launch them into the US. (He was right – it did.) In our modern ag...

Will Smith recalls the ‘hellish experience’ of drinking a hallucinogenic drink

Will Smith recalls the 'hellish experience' of drinking a hallucinogenic drink. Actor Will Smith called drinking ayahuasca a "hellish experience." Actor Will Smith recalled the experience of drinking the hallucinogenic drink ayahuasca. It is reported by Insider. The artist said that he had a two-year break in his career, during which he went to Peru and tried ayahuasca. He noted that he made "14 journeys", one of which he called "an infernal experience." "I drink, I sit, and then suddenly I start to see how all my money is flying away, and my house, and my career. And I'm trying to grab onto my money and my job. My whole life is falling apart," Smith shared. He added that he then began to hear the voice of his daughter Willow, who was shouting, "Help me!" The shaman present at the ceremony asked the actor to calm down, after which he focused on his daughter and forgot about his home and career. "My money is still disappearing, but I am completely calm, although hell is going on in my head," the artist recalled. According to him, this experience helped him realize that he can survive any difficulties in life, and 99 percent of the things that a person worries about never happen. Ayahuasca is a decoction made from the Banisteriopsis caapi vine, used as the base of the drink. It is traditionally used in the ancient spiritual practices of the indigenous people of the Amazon - the rites of "communication with the spirits." Representatives of indigenous communities often use them as a way to combat diseases of a different nature, as well as to harmonize relations between tribal members.

from Celebrity Insider https://ift.tt/GRil1dZ
via IFTTT https://ift.tt/el4YIna

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The Miracle Club review – Maggie Smith can’t save this rocky road trip to Lourdes

‘I lost a friend of almost 40 years’: Nancy Meyers pays tribute to Diane Keaton

Malaika Arora scolds 16-year-old dancer for inappropriate gestures: “He is winking, giving flying kisses”