Nigerian teenager sets world painting record with canvas that's bigger than a soccer field
ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — A 15-year-old Nigerian has set a Guinness World Record for the world's largest art canvas to raise awareness for autism.
Kanyeyachukwu Tagbo-Okeke, who is autistic, executed a painting featuring a multi-colored ribbon — the symbol for autism — surrounded by emojis, covering 12,304 square meters. That's a lot bigger than a typical soccer field, which is 7,140 square meters.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Winnipeg Free Press
an hour ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Springsteen's Berlin concert echoes with history and a stark warning
BERLIN (AP) — Veteran rock star Bruce Springsteen, a high-profile critic of President Donald Trump, slammed the U.S. administration as 'corrupt, incompetent and treasonous' during a concert Wednesday in Berlin. He was addressing tens of thousands of fans at a stadium built for the 1936 Olympic Games that still bears the scars of World War II and contains relics from the country's dark Nazi past. 'Tonight, we ask all who believe in democracy and the best of our American experiment to rise with us, raise your voices, stand with us against authoritarianism, and let freedom reign,' he said. Springsteen, long a political opponent of the president, has made increasingly pointed and contentious public statements in recent concerts. He denounced Trump's politics during a concert last month in Manchester, calling him an 'unfit president' leading a 'rogue government' of people who have 'no concern or idea for what it means to be deeply American.' Springsteen is no stranger to Berlin. In July 1988, he became one of the first Western musicians to perform in East Germany, performing to a ravenous crowd of 160,000 East Germans yearning for American rock 'n' roll and the freedom it represented to the youth living under the crumbling communist regime. Weekly A weekly look at what's happening in Winnipeg's arts and entertainment scene. An Associated Press news story from that period says 'fireworks steaked through the sky' and hundreds of people in the audience waved handmade American flags as they sang along to 'Born in the USA.' Almost four decades later, Springsteen issued a stark warning: 'The America that I love, the America that I've sung to you about, that has been a beacon of hope and liberty for 250 years, is currently in the hands of a corrupt, incompetent, and treasonous administration.'
Winnipeg Free Press
3 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
How the ‘F1' soundtrack came together, with a little help from Lewis Hamilton
NEW YORK (AP) — The pinnacle of motorsport, Formula One, has its own music. The swift rhythms of a six-cylinder engine reaching 15,000 rpm; the ear-to-ear glissando of a spirited overtake in a DRS zone; the A-list concerts that follow most race weekends. So, when it came to making the summer tentpole 'F1,' starring Brad Pitt and Damson Idris, the team behind the film knew its sound had to be massive, too. That comes courtesy a score by the many-time Oscar winner Hans Zimmer and a huge soundtrack releasing as 'F1 The Album' via Atlantic Records — the team behind the award-winning 'Barbie' album — the same day as the movie, June 27. The soundtrack features original music from Chris Stapleton, Myke Towers, Blackpink's Rosé, Tate McRae and many more. The creative forces behind it all — film producer Jerry Bruckheimer, director Joseph Kosinski and Atlantic Records West Coast President Kevin Weaver — tell The Associated Press how 'F1 The Album' came together. An ideal partnership In the years that it took to create 'F1,' Kosinski had 'earmarked big music moments' across the movie's narrative, explains Weaver, who oversaw and produced the project. His team at Atlantic Records took those notes and came up with ideas for songs, artists and writers, collaborating with soundtrack executive producers Kosinski and Bruckheimer. They enlisted Atlantic artists, like Ed Sheeran and Rosé, but also looked elsewhere. 'It's mostly, if not solely, about what the film needs,' Weaver says. 'It really kind of boils down to whose voice would sound best in these various moments. … Who can accomplish what Joe and Jerry needed from a storytelling perspective?' And what they needed were big bespoke songs to meet the film's intensity and match its inclusion of huge classic rock songs, like Queen's 'We Will Rock You.' All the songs featured on 'F1 The Album' are originals, which is why Tate McRae's 'Sports Car,' despite its fitting name, is not on it; instead, she offered 'Just Keep Watching.' Atlantic, usually Weaver, would play the label's song choices against filmed sequences in the editing room, Bruckheimer explains. 'So, if there's a race and we need to end it with a song he'll play, you know, maybe 10 songs against that sequence and it's the best song that wins. It's not usually the song that we think is going to be the biggest hit or features the biggest artists,' Bruckheimer says. 'It's the one that works for a particular sequence.' A global focus with a diversity of talent 'F1 is such a global sport. I wanted the soundtrack of the film to reflect that,' Kosinski says. That meant tapping artists 'from all over the world to give it a feel that the sport really has.' Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton, who consulted on the project, made sure that need for global inclusivity was clear from the start, says Kosinski. 'Sometimes here in Hollywood we can get a little myopic in terms of our cultural focus,' he says. 'And this sport, it is inspiring to me to just see how eclectic it is.' He would send Hamilton demos of the soundtrack and get his opinion: 'I sent him the Burna Boy track,' Kosinski remembers. 'Louis was like, 'This is going to be a giant hit.'' 'We were very intentional about genre and demographic,' Weaver adds. 'We have pop records. We have Afrobeat records. We have electronic records. We have country songs.' The result is a collection of 17 tracks with broad appeal — not unlike the lineup of a major summer music festival. 'It sounds amazing,' Bruckheimer says. 'The soundtrack blends perfectly in with every scene that we put the music against.' A variance of approaches Artists on the 'F1' soundtrack found inspiration and participated in different ways. 'Sometimes it was bringing an artist in and showing them a scene, like Rosé,' who then created to that, says Kosinski. Chris Stapleton did the same. Other artists were simply given a concept or an idea to inspire them and would record a track that would later be tailored to a specific scene. For Sheeran, Kosinski came up with 10 key phrases as lyrical prompts, words that 'identify Sonny Hayes,' the film's protagonist played by Pitt. Sheeran's song, 'Drive,' was written with John Mayer and Blake Slatkin 'specifically for the end title of the movie,' adds Weaver. 'It's kind of the culmination of the Brad Pitt character.' Other artists have deep ties to Formula One — like the DJ Tiësto, who has regularly performed at F1 grands prix across the globe as part of 'a long-standing relationship' with the motorsport, as he tells the AP. Atlantic Records asked if he'd like to pitch any songs for the movie — and he actually ended up in the film, portraying himself in a big Las Vegas nightclub scene. 'I hope I win an Oscar for this,' he jokes. 'I jumped right on it,' Tiësto says of the opportunity. 'Dance music and racing, there's a connection because they're both high energy. And with F1, it's a perfect combo and it brings people together from all over the world.' That's true for the Dutch DJ especially: His song for the soundtrack, 'OMG!,' features Missouri rapper Sexyy Red. 'She heard the song, and she really loved it and, yeah, she wanted to write lyrics for it,' he says. 'It was a really cool collaboration.' For rapper Roddy Ricch, participating in the soundtrack was simply an opportunity to 'be in the company of great company,' he says, name-checking Doja Cat and Don Toliver. 'I just love being a part of things that's great.' His song, 'Underdog,' arrives in a big race moment and takes a conceptual approach to the motorsport. Weekly A weekly look at what's happening in Winnipeg's arts and entertainment scene. 'Sometimes when you're in the race of life, you feel like you may be doubted, you may be under pressure,' he says of the song's messaging. 'Just keep your head up and finish the race. The marathon continues.' The movie's director has one particular wish for the album. 'I hope people come away discovering something,' Kosinski says. 'An artist they've never heard before … and if they aren't fans of Formula One, hopefully they come away with interest or a passion for the sport.' ___ AP Sports Writer Alanis Thames contributed reporting from Miami.
Winnipeg Free Press
4 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Brian Wilson, Beach Boys leader and summer's poet laureate, dies at 82
NEW YORK (AP) — Brian Wilson, the Beach Boys' visionary and fragile leader who helped compose and arrange 'Good Vibrations,' 'California Girls' and dozens of other summertime anthems and became one of the world's most influential and admired musicians, has died at 82. Wilson's family posted news of his death to his website Wednesday. Further details weren't immediately available. Since May 2024, Wilson had been under a court conservatorship to oversee his personal and medical affairs, with Wilson's longtime representatives in charge. The eldest and last surviving of three musical brothers — Brian played bass, Carl lead guitar and Dennis drums — he and his fellow Beach Boys rose from local act to national hitmakers to international ambassadors of the American dream. Wilson himself was celebrated for his beautiful music and pitied for his demons. He was one of rock's great Romantics, a tortured soul who in his peak years embarked on an ever-steeper quest for aural perfection. The Beach Boys rank among the most popular acts of the rock era, with more than 30 singles in the Top 40 and worldwide sales of more than 100 million. 1966's 'Pet Sounds' was voted No. 2 in a 2003 Rolling Stone list of the best 500 albums, losing out, as Wilson did from the start, to the Beatles' 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.' The Beach Boys, who also featured Wilson cousin Mike Love and family friend Al Jardine, were voted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1988. Fans ranged from Elton John and Bruce Springsteen to Katy Perry and Bob Dylan. The Who's drummer, Keith Moon, fantasized about joining the Beach Boys. Paul McCartney cited 'Pet Sounds' as a direct inspiration on the Beatles and said the ballad 'God Only Knows' often moved him to tears. Their music was like an ongoing party, with Wilson as mastermind and wallflower. He was a tall, shy man, partially deaf (allegedly because of beatings by his father, Murry Wilson), with a sweet, crooked grin, and he rarely touched a surfboard unless for publicity. But out of the lifestyle that he observed and such musical influences as Chuck Berry and the Four Freshmen, he devised a magical and durable soundscape — easy melodies, bright harmonies, vignettes of beaches, cars and girls that resonated worldwide. Decades after its first release, a Beach Boys song can still conjure up instant summer — the wake-up guitar riff that opens 'Surfin' USA'; the melting harmonies of 'Don't Worry Baby'; the chants of 'fun, fun, fun' or 'good, good, GOOD, good vibrations'; the behind-the-wheel chorus ''Round, 'round, get around, I get around.' Beach Boys songs have cheered on generations from iPods and boom boxes, radios and 8-track players, and any device that could be placed on a beach towel. The Beach Boys' innocent appeal survived changing trends and times and the group's increasingly troubled backstory — Brian's many personal trials; allegations of their father's mismanagement and physical abuse; feuds and lawsuits; the alcoholism of Dennis Wilson, who drowned in 1983. Brian Wilson's ambition took the Beach Boys into territory far beyond the simple pleasures of their early hits — transcendent, eccentric and destructive. They seemed to live out every fantasy, and every nightmare, of the California myth. Weekly A weekly look at what's happening in Winnipeg's arts and entertainment scene. Brian Wilson was born June 20, 1942, two days after McCartney. His musical gifts were obvious and as a boy he was playing piano and teaching his brothers to sing harmony. The Beach Boys started as a neighborhood act, rehearsing in Brian's bedroom and in the garage of their house in suburban Hawthorne, California. Surf music was catching on locally and Dennis, the group's only real surfer, suggested they cash in. Brian and Love hastily wrote up their first single, 'Surfin,'' a minor hit released in 1961. They wanted to call themselves the Pendletones, in honor of a popular shirt. But when they first saw the pressings for 'Surfin,'' they discovered the record label had tagged them 'The Beach Boys.' Other decisions were handled by their father, a musician and apparent tyrant who hired himself as the manager and holy terror. By mid-decade, Murry Wilson had been displaced and Brian was in charge. Their breakthrough came in early 1963 with 'Surfin' USA,' so closely modeled on Chuck Berry's 'Sweet Little Sixteen' that Berry successfully sued to get a songwriting credit. It was their first Top 10 hit and a boast to the nation: 'If everybody had an ocean / across the USA / then everybody'd be surfin', / like Cali-for-nye-ay.' From 1963-66, they were rarely off the charts, hitting No. 1 with 'I Get Around' and 'Help Me, Rhonda' and narrowly missing with 'California Girls' and 'Fun, Fun, Fun.' For their many television appearances, they wore candy-striped shirts and grinned as they mimed their latest hit, with a hot rod or surfboard nearby. Wilson often contrasted his own bright falsetto with Love's nasal, deadpan tenor. The extroverted Love was out front on the fast songs, but when it was time for a slow one, Brian often took over. 'The Warmth of the Sun' was a song of despair and consolation that Wilson alleged — to some skepticism — he wrote the morning after President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. 'Don't Worry Baby,' a ballad equally intoxicating and heartbreaking, was a leading man's confession of doubt and dependence, an early peek at Brian's crippling insecurities. His first marriage, to singer Marilyn Rovell, ended in divorce and he became estranged from daughters Carnie and Wendy, who would help form the pop trio Wilson Phillips. His life stabilized in 1995 with his marriage to Melinda Ledbetter, with whom he had daughters Daria and Delanie. He also reconciled with Carnie and Wendy and they sang together on the 1997 album 'The Wilsons.' Melinda Ledbetter died in 2024.
