When we visit a new place, even for a few hours, we start paying attention in different ways. We notice colors, sounds, architecture, landscapes, food, and other details that we take for granted when we are home. We start seeing the world with fresh eyes. That shift in perspective is one of the reasons travel and creativity are so closely connected. Travel Encourages CuriosityOne of my favorite parts of traveling, is that you find yourself wondering what's down a side street, what's inside a little shop, where a trail might lead, or what story is behind an old building. Those little moments of curiosity often become the most memorable parts of a trip. I've found that some of my favorite photos and stories happened when I followed a side quest instead of sticking to the plan. Creativity works the same way. It grows when we're willing to explore, ask questions, and stay open to unexpected discoveries. A canal in Venice, Italy If I had to choose one photo that perfectly represents curiosity, it might be this one. Venice is a city that seems designed to make you wonder what's around the next corner. Every narrow street, bridge, and canal invites exploration. I took this photo while wandering through the city with no particular destination in mind, simply following whatever looked interesting.That's one of the reasons I think travel and creativity are so closely connected. Travel encourages us to ask questions and stay open to discovery. What is down that street? Where does that bridge lead? What's hidden around the next corner? Some of the most memorable moments of a trip happen when we step away from the plan and allow ourselves to explore. Travel Gives You New PerspectivesExploring the world shows us that there is more than one way to live, create, eat, and experience life. We notice the ways that color, space, food, or routines compare. This can influence the photos we take, the stories we want to tell, and the details we notice when we come back home. Every adventure adds another layer to what we draw from when we create. Alexander Hamilton’s home in New York One of my favorite things about travel is the opportunity to connect with history in a more personal way. This photo is Alexander Hamilton's home, and standing in front of it made me think about how much different it feels to experience a place in person rather than just reading about it. Travel has a way of bringing stories to life. It helps us connect the dots between people, places, and events in a way that feels more real and memorable. Travel Creates Stories Worth TellingOne of the reasons I think travel and creativity go so well together is that travel gives us so many stories to tell. As memory keepers, we're constantly looking for moments worth documenting, and travel naturally creates them. Of course there are the big moments we expect to remember, but often it's the smaller ones that stay with us. The view from a hotel window on the first morning of a trip. The funny conversation during a long drive. The unexpected detour that ended up being the highlight of the day. Finding those stories and deciding how to tell them is a creative act. Whether you're making a scrapbook page, writing in a journal, creating a photo book, or putting together a monthly roundup, you're taking experiences and turning them into something meaningful. Travel simply gives us a lot of material to work with. Bottle of Coca-Cola delivered by room service in Perugia, Italy My husband was itching for a Coke Zero, so he called room service and asked if they had one. They brought it to him in a silver bucket. What a presentation! This was one of those small travel moments that probably wouldn't make anyone's must-see list, yet it's exactly the kind of thing that helps tell the story of a trip. Travel Helps You Notice MoreOne of the easiest ways to become more creative is to become more observant. Travel naturally encourages this because we're surrounded by things that feel new. We notice different colors, textures, architecture, signs, landscapes, simply because we are in a different location. The more we practice paying attention, the more material we have to work with when we create. I love the small details that helped me remember what a place actually felt like. FOUR SEASONS RESORT HUALALAI on the big island of Hawaii One of my favorite parts of traveling is seeing how light changes a place. The same pool and lawn looked completely different at sunrise and sunset. Spending time surrounded by new scenery gave me the opportunity to pay attention to details like light and sky. As a photographer and memory keeper, those small observations often become the stories and images I remember long after the trip is over. Travel Inspires New IdeasSometimes creativity needs a change of scenery. Being somewhere different exposes us to new adventures, designs, foods, traditions, and ways of thinking. You might see a scene you want to use on a scrapbook page, a photography idea you'd like to try, or a story you feel inspired to document. Having a collection of small ideas gathered along the way can continue influencing our projects long after we return home. David Byrne concert at The Colosseum at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada David Byrne and his crew are wildly creative, and watching this concert definitely inspired me. I found myself wanting to be more bold with color and creative projects. One of my favorite parts of the show was when he shared photos, videos, and images that went with the music. I loved seeing the pictures that he took of the neon graveyard in Las Vegas. So cool!By stepping outside your normal routine and paying attention to what you discover, you encourage curiosity. Those experiences become part of the creative well we draw from every time we pick up a camera, open a journal, or sit down to document our lives. That's one of the reasons I think travel and creativity are so closely connected. The more we explore, the more stories, memories, and ideas we have to bring into our creative work.

Plugin Boutique has announced a limited time Summer Sale on audio plugins and sound packs by Bogren Digital, offering discounts of up to 65% off regular for the next few weeks. The promotion includes top rated products such as the Eloy Drums Kontakt Player-powered virtual drum instrument, Trivium AmpKnob Bundle of amp sim plugins, IRDX [...] The post Save up to 65% on Bogren Digital’s audio plugins & sound packs appeared first on Rekkerd.org.

Quantastical Sound has recently released a free sympathetic string machine for Windows and macOS (VST3, AU and AAX). Synpathy is a string machine built around sympathetic resonance. The voices you hold share one field and feed into each other, the way real strings do on a soundboard. A held chord doesn’t sit still. It blooms [...] The post FREE: Synpathy string machine plugin by Quantastical Sound appeared first on Rekkerd.org.

Plugin Boutique has announced a limited time promotion on Zynaptiq’s new pitch-shifting plugin for music production, sound design and post production. Pitchshift PRO is offered at a 74% discount for the next few days. It combines multiple high-quality pitch algorithms, ranging from the classic delay-line design to advanced resynthesis, time-stretching, and state-of-the-art hybrid processing. The [...] The post Pitchshift PRO pitch-shifting plugin by Zynaptiq on sale for $69 USD appeared first on Rekkerd.org.

[5.2.x] Added stub release notes and release date for 5.2.17. Backport of 09c8b50bc8e59f7ec2d97df1bfb3fbd3ae0d4522 from main.

Robin Trower - Gold To Grey Vance Kelly - Hurt So BadStevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble -. Life Without You Chris Rea – Maxwell street John Lee Hooker & Robert Cray - Mr. Lucky Legendary Blues Band - Pay BackPopa Chubby - The Peoples Blues Chick Willis - Voodoo Woman Billy Hector - Whiskey Eric Clapton – Spiral Jimmy Thackery - Blues 'Fore Dawn (Instrumental)

It’s hard not to feel glum as I write this post on the 250th anniversary of my country. I remember celebrating the 200th as a teenager. As I recall it, it felt like the country was ready forward to better times. The Vietnam War and Watergate were over. Americans celebrated the 200th with exuberance. Today, the stagnant, possibly toxic state of the Reflecting Pool, along with Trump’s hijacking of Congress’s America250 funds for his personal Freedom250 group to create an empty and lifeless Great American State Fair on the National Mall, perfectly symbolize Trump’s enshittification of America. However fitting it may be to be glum, a country cannot move forward if it has no hope. So I offer the following hopeful thoughts about the U.S., starting with a speech made some years ago. A man wrote me and said: “You can go to live in France, but you cannot become a Frenchman. You can go to live in Germany or Turkey or Japan, but you cannot become a German, a Turk, or a Japanese. But anyone, from any corner of the Earth, can come to live in America and become an American.” Yes, the torch of Lady Liberty symbolizes our freedom and represents our heritage, the compact with our parents, our grandparents, and our ancestors. It is that lady who gives us our great and special place in the world. For it’s the great life force of each generation of new Americans that guarantees that America’s triumph shall continue unsurpassed into the next century and beyond. Other countries may seek to compete with us; but in one vital area, as a beacon of freedom and opportunity that draws the people of the world, no country on Earth comes close. This, I believe, is one of the most important sources of America’s greatness. We lead the world because, unique among nations, we draw our people — our strength — from every country and every corner of the world. And by doing so we continuously renew and enrich our nation. While other countries cling to the stale past, here in America we breathe life into dreams. We create the future, and the world follows us into tomorrow. Thanks to each wave of new arrivals to this land of opportunity, we’re a nation forever young, forever bursting with energy and new ideas, and always on the cutting edge, always leading the world to the next frontier. This quality is vital to our future as a nation. If we ever closed the door to new Americans, our leadership in the world would soon be lost. . . . It is bold men and women, yearning for freedom and opportunity, who leave their homelands and come to a new country to start their lives over. They believe in the American dream. And over and over, they make it come true for themselves, for their children, and for others. They give more than they receive. They labor and succeed. And often they are entrepreneurs. But their greatest contribution is more than economic, because they understand in a special way how glorious it is to be an American. These words were spoken by Ronald Reagan, in his last address as President. I know many immigrants and first-generation Americans for whom Reagan’s words ring true even today. Many are my current or former students. One is my son-in-law, who is first-generation American and ethnically Chinese-Dominican. How could that even be?! His family’s story perfectly exemplifies what Reagan was talking about. His grandmother was a teenage peasant in a small Chinese village during Mao’s famine. She wanted to leave the country to avoid starvation. She lied about her age so she could marry a young man in the village and plan their exit together. In those days, China prevented emigration to non-Communist countries. But it allowed them to emigrate to Cuba, which had recently undergone its Communist revolution. Cuba offered them visas on condition of spending some years of virtual slave labor in its sugar plantations. That was better than starving, so they agreed. But they wanted freedom. After serving the requisite years, they were allowed to leave Cuba for the Dominican Republic. They still had to live under a dictatorship. But they enjoyed more freedom and opportunity. They set up a small grocery store and restaurant in a remote village, attained modest prosperity, and raised a daughter there. Still seeking more freedom, the family immigrated to the U.S. Their daughter gave birth to my son-in-law in New York City. Contra J.D. Vance, and in line with Reagan’s perspective, he’s a more patriotic American than many of my students whose families trace their American ancestry further back. Birthright citizenship truly is a great thing. The share of immigrants in the U.S. population reached a local demographic peak (15-16%) under the Biden administration. (ICE brutality under Trump 2 has pushed it down slightly.) Every time this has happened in U.S. history with people entering from new corners of the world, an immigration backlash has occurred. But every time, the U.S. has gotten over the backlash. If Americans are true to our history, we will do so this time as well.

When Himeka sees Ouji with another girl, she knows the pain of Andersen’s mermaid dancing at her love’s wedding. When Lara observes it, she relives the moment when her prince rejected her for being different, for being a mermaid rather than a human.

Aug 5, 2026 (Geneva, Switzerland) Obtaining an international registration is only the beginning of the journey. Throughout the life of a registration, changes may be needed to reflect business developments, portfolio strategies, or administrative updates.||This webinar will explore how the Hague System enables holders and representatives to centrally manage their international design registrations through a single procedure. Participants will gain an overview of the key post-registration services available, including recording changes in ownership, updating the name or address of the holder, appointing a representative or updating the name or address, renewing registrations, and other portfolio management actions.||Whether you are a current Hague System user or considering using the System to protect your designs internationally, this session will provide practical guidance on managing your registrations efficiently throughout their lifecycle.

AOFN Audio has recently released a stereo modulation effect inspired by the Gristleizer, a classic effects pedal from 1979. Designed to make sound move in a pattern, Grizzly will pulse, swell, or chop on a rhythm you control. An internal LFO (triangle, square, saw up, saw down) drives a modelled JFET stage that can either [...] The post FREE: Grizzly stereo modulation effect plugin by AOFN Audio appeared first on Rekkerd.org.

Classic hardcore band Agnostic Front, who helped develop the NYHC sound along with the Cro-Mags, are embarking on a short tour to bring the hardcore reality to towns blighted by normie ideation. Like many hardcore bands, Agnostic Front has found itself shoved behind the “new hardcore” which is basically emo and jumpcore with more drama. The band are reclaiming their place in history and music. Dates Sat. Oct. 10 – Pittsburgh, PA – The Crafthouse Sun. Oct. 11 – Huntington, WV – West Edge Factory Mon. Oct. 12 – Columbus, OH – Ace of Cups Tue. Oct. 13 – Lakewood, OH – Mahall’s Wed. Oct. 14 – Buffalo, NY – Rec Room Thu. Oct. 15 – Syracuse, NY – The Song & Dance Fri. Oct. 16 – Cheshire, CT – Counterweight Brewing The label says: Preparing to launch a brutal assault for the senses, NYC’s hardcore pioneers AGNOSTIC FRONT will set stages ablaze alongside fierce punk act BÉTON ARMÉ and rising hardcore punk collective RESTRAINING ORDER. This run of show dates across North America kicks off in Pittsburgh, PA, on October 10, 2026. Vocalist Roger Miret shares: “We are excited to do this quick short run with Baton Armé and Restraining Order to wrap up this years busy World Wide Tour in support of our new record Echoes In Eternity” Having obliterated stages and festivals around Europe over the summer months, AGNOSTIC FRONT are back on home soil for a short and intense run this fall. The dates see AGNOSTIC FRONT’s unmissable authentic raw aggression unleashed alongside a line up that showcases a hard-hitting sonic display of hardcore punk from around the US. Preparing to launch a brutal assault for the senses, NYC’s hardcore pioneers AGNOSTIC FRONT will set stages ablaze alongside fierce punk act BÉTON ARMÉ and rising hardcore punk collective RESTRAINING ORDER. This run of show dates across North America kicks off in Pittsburgh, PA, on October 10, 2026. Vocalist Roger Miret shares: “We are excited to do this quick short run with Baton Armé and Restraining Order to wrap up this years busy World Wide Tour in support of our new record Echoes In Eternity” Having obliterated stages and festivals around Europe over the summer months, AGNOSTIC FRONT are back on home soil for a short and intense run this fall. The dates see AGNOSTIC FRONT’s unmissable authentic raw aggression unleashed alongside a line up that showcases a hard-hitting sonic display of hardcore punk from around the US.

Fixed #36027 -- Made error response rendering thread-sensitive. Error response handling frequently makes use of the database, and so must use the request specific connection sensitive worker thread. Previously response_for_exception was dispatched on the event loop's default executor. This potentially leads to pool exhaustion, and deadlock, when using database pooling option, or a large number of permanently held open database connections when not using pooling. Connections held open were not subject to cleanup. If closed server side, the reported "connection is closed" would be seen until application restart. Moving error response rendering to the request specific connection sensitive worker thread resolves both of these issues. The thread_sensitive=False was set in e17ee4468875077b90b70bb6a589ebad7493f757 to maintain the prior behaviour when asgiref switched the thread_sensitive default to True. There was no specific reason for the non-tread-sensitive behaviour beyond that. (With hindsight it was always incorrect for the reasons here.)

[6.0.x] Added stub release notes and release date for 6.0.8 and 5.2.17. Backport of 09c8b50bc8e59f7ec2d97df1bfb3fbd3ae0d4522 from main.

[6.0.x] Fixed #36925 -- Listed further shared features for InlineModelAdmin. Backport of 21b3a4c4c528ca827adda14b6c4cf045afba6d4f from main.

[6.1.x] Removed outdated Python 2 references from contributing docs. Backport of 957d0cee7167757ae221ffde59d2cf0a322e89c7 from main.

Waves Audio has announced the release of a new audio plugin built to create what great reverbs have always given records: a sense of space that feels emotional, alive and inseparable from the music. Atlas Reverb delivers pure algorithmic reverb built with the classic DSP approach. Not just impressive in solo. Not just a captured [...] The post Waves releases Atlas Reverb algorithmic reverb effect plugin appeared first on Rekkerd.org.

Fixed #37032 -- Documented that the CSRF context processor is always enabled in its reference documentation.

Pretty Woman is among the many movies about the world's oldest profession that make it seem kind of glamorous. These movies don't. Here we go. Klute (1971) Warner Bros. The first film in Alan J. Pakula's Paranoia Trilogy — which also includes The Parallex View and All the President's Men — this dark thriller stars Jane Fonda as Bree Daniels, who believes she's being stalked by a deadly john. She works with a detective played by Donald Sutherland who of course thinks he can save her, in every sense. Fonda (above) won her first Best Actress Oscar for playing Daniels, a complex character who initially seems to enjoy her job — except for the part of being stalked, of course. Midnight Cowboy (1969) United Artists - Credit: C/O The first and only film with an X rating ever to win Best Picture, Midnight Cowboy tells the seedy story of Joe Buck, a Texas boy who moves to the big city and dresses up as a cowboy to sell his wares. He falls under the shaky wing of Rico "Ratso" Rizzo, played by Dustin Hoffman, who gets to deliver the often-imitated line "I'm walkin' here!" Directed by John Schlesinger and written by Waldo Salt, the film is notable for its empathetic portrayal — especially by 1960s standards — of low-level street hustlers, and its willingness to just spend time with its characters without judgement or false moralizing. There's a long story behind the film's rating, which was eventually changed from an X to an R. Leaving Las Vegas (1995) MGM - Credit: C/O At first, it seems like Mike Figgis' drama is going to go along with the heart-of-gold trope as Elisabeth Shue's Las Vegas sex worker, Sera (above), tries to save Hollywood washout Ben (Nicolas Cage) from his plan to drink himself to death. But then things get darker and darker, especially in a horrific scene in which Sera takes on multiple awful young clients. Leaving Las Vegas is a sad, sad movie, but Shue imbues Sera with dignity and supreme likability throughout, even as her plans collapse — and she still holds onto her dreams. Cage won a Best Actor Oscar, and Shue was nominated for Best Actress but lost to Susan Sarandon for her role in Dead Man Walking. Sarandon is great but Shue absolutely deserved to win for a harrowing, tough performance in one of the most bluntly sad movies about the oldest profession. It's one of those movies so great we'll never watch them again. Monster (2003) Newmarket Films - Credit: C/O Charlize Theron played hard against type as she de-glammed for this searing, uncompromising Patty Jenkins film inspired by the story of real-life serial killer Aileen Wuornos. Suggesting that Wuornos first descended into murder out of desperation, mental illness and self-defense, Monster makes you kind of sympathize with a serial killer — until you definitely don't. Wuornos' claims of self defense soon turn into empty justifications. Theron deservedly won a Best Actress Oscar for the role. Taxi Driver (1976) Columbia Pictures - Credit: C/O The young Jodie Foster is heartbreaking as a child so caught up in street life that she doesn't comprehend how horribly she's being exploited by the smooth-talking Sport (Harvey Keitel) in this masterful collaboration between director Martin Scorsese and screenwriter Paul Schrader. With Mean Streets, Taxi Driver is one of the best and most-imitated time capsules of 1970s New York City grime, and it's a testament to the film's narrative virtuosity that by the end we're rooting hard for obvious psychopath Travis Bickle (Robert De Niro) to do what needs to be done. De Niro and Foster were both nominated for Oscars in this, one of the most enduring and harrowing movies about sex trafficking. My Own Private Idaho (1991) New Line Features - Credit: C/O A highlight of 1990s indie filmmaking, this Gus Van Sant drama follows narcoleptic hustler Mike (River Phoenix in one of the best roles of his too-short life) in a journey from Portland to Idaho to Rome with fellow hustler Scott Favor (Keanu Reeves). The film is a very loose adaptation of Shakespeare's Henry IV, and Reeves believed in Van Sant's script so much that he rode over 1,300 miles by motorcycle to convince Phoenix to make the movie with him. It's one of the most even-handed movies about sex work to focus on men. Requiem for a Dream (2000) Artisan Entertainment - Credit: C/O If you want to convince people not to do heroin, show them Requiem for a Dream, Darren Aronofsky's brilliant but painful adaptation of Hubert Selby Jr.'s novel about people who turn to drugs to escape reality — and end up in a much worse place than they started. Things turn out especially horribly for Marion Silver (Jennifer Connelly, above), whose despair culminates in a party scene you'll wish you could forget. It's also on our list of great movies we'll never watch again. Sin City (2005) Miramax - Credit: C/O This mostly black-and-white masterpiece, directed by Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller based on Miller's graphic novels, does nothing to minimize the struggles of the hardworking women of Old Town. But it also stresses that pretty much all of them — including the very blue-eyed Becky (Alexis Bledel, above) — can very much hold their own. When one would-be john Jackie Boy (Benicio Del Toro) pulls a gun on Becky, she intones: "Oh sugar. You just gone and done the dumbest thing in your whole life." Then her reinforcements arrive and things go very badly for Jackie Boy and his boys. Vivre Sa Vie (1962) A publicity image from Vivre Sa Vie. Panthéon Distribution Release In 12 vignettes, Jean-Luc Godard directs his then-wife and muse Anna Karina in this tough drama about a struggling woman who works in a record shop, mourning her collapsing marriage and dreaming of stardom. Instead, she descends into the world's oldest profession, and things only get worse from there. The film's bittersweet title translates to "My Life to Live." Tangerine (2015) Magnolia Pictures - Credit: C/O Director and co-writer Sean Baker may be the greatest chronicler of modern-day hustlers, and Tangerine, shot on iPhones, is one of the best films of our relatively young century. It follows to transgender sex workers (Kitana Kiki Rodriguez and Mya Taylor) who stage a donut-shop confrontation with a cheating boyfriend. Comic, tragic, totally empathetic and gorgeous throughout — especially the drive-thru carwash scene — Tangerine is also, according to Rotten Tomatoes, it's No. 4 on the list of the best Christmas movies ever made. The Florida Project (2017) Credit: A24 Sean Baker's followup to Tangerine is another wild, brutally honest look at the life of a woman selling herself — one in perhaps even more desperate straits than the protagonists of Tangerine. The film stars first-time actress Bria Vinaite as Halley, who works out of a cheap motel on the outskirts of Orlando's magic kingdom as she tries to shield her daughter (Brooklyn Prince) from the hardship of her life and make their sad surroundings feel like the happiest place on earth. Willem Dafoe (above, with Vinaite) earned an Oscar nomination for his role as motel manager Bobby, who doesn't need money to have endless generosity. This is a real faith-in-humanity movie, even when things seem impossibly bleak. Almsot every Sean Baker film is in some sense about the world's oldest profession, including the next one on our list... Anora (2024) NEON - Credit: C/O Baker's 2024 story about a dancer and escort who finds herself in a relationship with a Russian oligarch's son seems like a Pretty Woman fantasy — at first. But then Ani, aka Anora, discovers some grim realities about her new beau's life. The movie is somehow frank, suspenseful, very funny and deeply sad, all at once. Anora cleaned up at the Oscars, winning Best Picture, Best Director for Sean Baker, Best Actress for lead Mikey Madison, and more. It also won the Palme d'Or at Cannes. Jeanne Dielman, 23, Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975) Credit: Olympic Films If you've never heard of this film, you're not alone — but film cognoscenti who took part in last year's prestigious Sight and Sound poll declared it the greatest film of all time. You can decide for yourself next time you have three hours and twenty-one minutes to spare, because that's the runtime of this French film, made by Chantal Akerman when she was just 25, about a widowed single mother who supports her son by entertaining male clients in her humble apartment. Whether its the best movie ever made is up for debate (among those who've actually seen it, at least) but it's one of the most remarkable movies about the oldest profession in the way it presents it, nearly 50 years ago, as just another job. If you like this list, you might also like this list of movies that do sugarcoat the world's oldest profession. And please follow us for more stories like this. Main image: A publicity image from Vivre Sa Vie. Panthéon Distribution Release Editor's Note: Corrects main image and links.

Plugin Boutique has launched a promotion on a bundle Excite Audio’s series of effect plugins that is designed for shaping, modulating, and transforming audio. The Motion Bundle is offered at a 50% discount for the next few weeks. Whether you’re sculpting intricate textures with Harmonic‘s distortion and bitcrushing, crafting expansive soundscapes with Dimension‘s sophisticated delays [...] The post Save 50% on Motion series effect plugins by Excite Audio appeared first on Rekkerd.org.