Latest news with #Sloane
Irish Examiner
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Irish Examiner
Podcast Corner: Unpacking the theme music to some of your favourite shows
There's something comforting about pressing play on your favourite podcast and hearing the familiar intro music playing, whether it's Corduroy by 'our friends from Pearl Jam' on The Bill Simmons Show or, closer to home and amid similarly familiar sporting soundbites, My God is the Sun by Queens of the Stone Age soundtracking Second Captains. That's not to mention all of the original music that has been created for myriad podcasts over the last decade plus. The jingles that intro Serial and Welcome to Night Vale sound like old friends and feature on episode 429 of Switched on Pop - 'How podcasting got its sound'. A podcast about the making and meaning of popular music hosted by musicologist Nate Sloan and songwriter Charlie Harding, we've featured this show in the past and it's one of those that's always great to dip into - you always learn something. The first half of the episode is like a history lesson, going perhaps a little too far back with the band the Grateful Dead's Truckin' ('the first audio distributed by RSS, the technology that makes podcasts possible'), before then returning to the early 2000s and a host of names piloting what would become known as podcasting. They discuss WTF with Marc Maron and how Brooklyn DIY musician John Montagna created its intro: 'That cool strumming sound is a violin bass like the style of bass that Paul McCartney played. And he's strumming it with a pick like it's a guitar, micing it with a microphone, while also plugging it in and blending those sounds together. He's using kids' toys to create his drums. It has that anyone-can-do-it kind of quality just like the world of podcasting.' As for the Serial theme, Sloane says: 'I thought this was totally new. Something we had never heard before. In many ways it absolutely was. But the music was part of a much longer lineage.' If that all sounds a bit too nerdy, the second half of the episode is an interview with the mysterious Breakmaster Cylinder - he hides behind a robot mask a la Daft Punk. The Switched on Pop hosts call him the 'Hans Zimmer of podcasting' as he's made over 200 podcast themes over the past decade-plus. Ultimately the chat isn't really worth listening to. As Sloane says afterwards, it's 'truly one of the most odd interviews that I've ever attempted'. It really is - Breakmaster Cylinder just sounds like he doesn't want to be interviewed. Sloane puts to him at one point: 'I'm feeling a little bit of hesitancy of accepting that you have really heavily put your fingerprint on this sound of podcasting.' Breakmaster's response: 'There are a lot of podcasts, man.' He's not wrong. Read More Tom Dunne: Moisturizer from Wet Leg already feels like my album of the year
The Guardian
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
From punk rock to gardening classes: the cemeteries getting a new lease on life
Rodney Anonymous, lead singer of the punk rock band The Dead Milkmen, has performed in venues around the world. His favorite place to play live is filled with the dead at the Laurel Hill cemetery in Philadelphia, where he used to ride his bike as a kid. The acoustics are great, and when there's a full moon, there's no place like it, the singer said. The band, whose songs include Punk Rock Girl and Bitchin' Camaro, have played at the burial grounds at least five times since 2012, and have plans to appear again next year. 'My wife and I were there for movie night and a lightbulb went off and I thought: 'Well, let me write them and ask. What's the worst that could happen? They say no and then they bury me alive?'' said Anonymous, who described the cemetery as the 'happy place' for the couple. Cemeteries nationwide are coming up with creative ways to liven up – sorry – their wide-open green spaces. From a beekeeping collective in Seattle to 'Night of Grief' karaoke in Washington DC, cemetery owners say events help them reconnect with the local community and sometimes bring in some much-needed funds. Visitors say they enjoy the cool vibe, family- and dog-friendly areas and innovative ideas. Cemeteries have always been community spaces in the United States, said David Sloane, author of Is the Cemetery Dead? and professor at the University of Southern California. Because many were public green spaces, families would come on Sundays to picnic on the grounds or take walks along the paths, he said. In the late 20th century, that collective use faded. Sloane remembers that his father, who was superintendent of Oakwood cemetery in Syracuse, New York, got a lot of backlash from the community for letting people jog through it. Sloane sees the resurgence of cemetery culture as part of a larger shift as people move away from traditional burials to cremation, and a way to bring in some income. According to the Cremation Association of North America (CANA), 61.8% of Americans chose cremation in 2024, up from 56.2% in 2020. The Canadian rate reached 76.7%, up from 73.7% in 2020, respectively. 'There's a move from a very restrictive idea to a broader sense of what's OK [to do in a cemetery],' he said. 'Instead of just a choral group in a chapel, now it's a rock group in a mausoleum.' Brian Heinz, director of horticulture and arboriculture at Spring Grove, an 180-year-old, 750-acre (300-hectare) cemetery and arboretum in Cincinnati, Ohio, said they offer community horticulture tours, container gardening and lantern-lighting ceremonies. They also collaborate with the University of Cincinnati's horticulture program, teaching plant-identification classes. Heinz said the approach of using cemetery spaces for cultural opportunities started changing in the 1980s, and then really expanded in the 2000s. At Spring Grove for 26 years, he said that as an operating burial ground, it's sometimes a delicate balance between community and cemetery. Spring Grove operates a four-car tram to give tours, and it's critical to adjust the route to accommodate the burial schedule. 'It's a little more of a challenge for the docents, because they're more structured with their script, and they have mausoleums and people and their history – the stories that they want to talk about,' he said. 'It almost pains them a bit if they're not able to get by certain people, but the drivers and the docents will check in before the tour to our office and look at the daily schedule and adjust.' In Washington DC, Laura Lyster-Mensh is the death doula-in-residence at the 33-acre Congressional cemetery, where thecformer FBI director J Edgar Hoover and former DC mayor Marion Barry are buried. As people started moving to the suburbs, it became harder to keep up the cemetery and it became unkempt and dangerous, she said. In 1997, neighbors formed the K9 Corps, whose members pay $400-$500 a year to be able to walk their dogs off-leash during specific hours. At one point, the group had a three-year waiting list, and now dues cover 25% of the cemetery's operating costs, according to the website. It saved the cemetery, Lyster-Mensh said. Now, the cemetery offers several events, including tours, death cafes and a book club entitled Tomes and Tombs. One of the biggest events is an outdoor theater night in October called Soul Strolls, where people walk by lantern light through the grounds, and people 'appear' at the graves to tell stories. Most events are free, but the Soul Strolls tickets were $40 for general admission in 2024. 'One of my favorite activities was Bad Art Day … a lot of people are weighed down by their stuff and the things that they didn't get done, their art supplies and their aspirational crafts kind of really weigh on people,' Lyster-Mensh said. 'So we had a day where we invited people to come in and dump all their drawers and boxes of craft and art supplies, and that we would all make bad art with it.' Nancy Goldenberg, CEO of Laurel Hill in Philadelphia, said the income from ticketed events like Market of the Macabre bring in some money, but it's only a small portion of the budget. The craft show, which costs $5-$10 to attend, offers vendors selling dollhouse-sized caskets and zombie Sesame Street characters. The aim of the tours and programming is to introduce people to Laurel Hill and build visibility and awareness, particularly for first-time visitors. 'It may be really cool to go see Eraserhead in a cemetery. That was such a cool event, let's go back and go to the market,' Goldenberg said. 'It's about building affinity and building an audience and having them understand the importance of this historic site in the region and to the community.' Some cemeteries have opened up to non-paying residents. At the 145-acre Evergreen Washelli in Seattle, the Catacomb Bee Collective tends to 20 beehives on site, said Madison Opp, a beekeeper and beekeeping educator. It started in 2021 with a simple phone call to the main office, she said, adding that the grounds are particularly attractive because of the flowering trees and the longer grasses. The hives are located near a bird sanctuary, far enough away from the active part of the grounds that people sometimes have a hard time finding them, she said. Beekeepers help tend the grounds and check on the hives every other week, harvesting honey once a year, she said. The hope is to offer beekeeping classes and offer honey to those saying goodbye to loved ones, a little something to offset the sadness. 'We've actually had families who specifically request a gravesite near the bees,' said Opp. 'It's really sweet.'
Daily Mail
24-07-2025
- Health
- Daily Mail
Doctors told us our newborn's grunting was just normal 'baby noise'... but now she is on life support
Imagine the devastation of finding out that what you thought were normal 'baby noises' were actually a sign that your newborn was in severe distress. It seems like every parent's nightmare - but it was a reality for Stephanie Mulhall-Atkinson, 37, and Justin Atkinson, 33. The couple, from Canada, welcomed their daughter, Sloane, in October 2024, and immediately after her birth, they noticed the newborn was making strange 'noises' that sounded like she was 'grunting.' But doctors assured them that she was just extra vocal, declared Sloane as 'perfectly healthy,' and 'released her without any concern.' Six weeks later, Stephanie and Justin watched their daughter go from 'a happy, smiley, and chatty' baby to 'intubated in the PICU' and fighting for her life. While chatting with the Daily Mail about the horrific ordeal, Stephanie explained, 'We raised concern [about her grunting noises] to many different doctors and nurses while we were in the hospital for five days post-birth, including the pediatrician. 'They all said that her lungs sounded clear so she was fine and that she was just a vocal baby making normal baby sounds.' The grunting didn't stop after they brought Sloane home, but Stephanie just assumed it was normal baby gargling because that's what the hospital doctors had told her. 'We were told that it was just her baby noises and that she was very vocal,' she explained. But Sloane began to develop other symptoms. She was sometimes sweaty and seemed extra fussy any time she was held. And when she was about six-and-a-half weeks old, things took a drastic turn when the infant suddenly stopped eating. Stephanie and Justin also noticed a 'very faint blue tint around her mouth,' so they took her to the emergency room. '[When we got there] she was making her grunting noises. As soon as the doctors heard the noises they asked if she had always done that and we said yes and that we were told it was just her normal baby noise,' recalled Stephanie. 'We were then told that it actually is a sign of distress and not normal at all. Everything escalated from there.' Doctors rushed to do tests on the youngster to figure out what was wrong, and they then got the heartbreaking news that Sloane's heart was not working properly. 'They performed an echocardiogram to get a picture of her heart and as soon as the image popped up on the screen we saw the look of "I knew it" on the ER doctor's face,' Stephanie continued. '"Her heart is barely pumping" is all we really remember hearing. She was rushed up to the PICU, sedated and intubated immediately.' Stephanie and Justin soon learned that their newborn was battling something known as dilated cardiomyopathy, which was caused by a 'genetic mutation.' It meant her heart was 'very enlarged' and 'unable to pump hard enough on its own.' They were told she was in end stage heart failure and that she would require a heart transplant to survive. 'There are no words to describe those first acute days and weeks and hearing that your tiny baby needs a heart transplant,' Stephanie said. 'It was an out of body experience. Your brain cannot comprehend that.' They were especially 'devastated and angry' that the doctors after she gave birth had been so dismissive, which meant their little Sloane had spent weeks in distress. 'For the six weeks we had her home we just thought her noises were cute. Finding out that it meant she had been in distress that whole time was unbearable,' Stephanie scathed. 'It should have raised red flags [with the doctors] because [we now know that] grunting a sign of distress in babies.' Sloane is now on a life support device and has been living in the hospital for the past seven months while awaiting her transplant. Stephanie and Justin have raised over $25,000 on GoFundMe, which has made it possible for them to be by her side every step of the way. 'Thanks to the support we have received financially we've been able to both take time off from working and completely focus our attention on her,' shared Stephanie. And she revealed that her daughter is 'thriving' all things considered. 'The device has allowed her to grow and develop "normally." She is the happiest baby EVER and she truly is thriving,' the mom-of-one concluded.
Spectator
23-07-2025
- General
- Spectator
Dear Mary: Help! My neighbour keeps getting me drunk
Q. We have a neighbour who always overfills my glass. I beg her not to. Even if I commit the solecism of holding my hand over the glass to stop her, she will wait and then sneak up behind me and pour more in. I like her but I always reel away from her house pie-eyed, and wake with a hangover. What do I do? – D.S., Delhi, Catskills, USA A. Punish your neighbour by stocking up on silicone stretch lids, as used by the fastidious to cover the likes of yoghurt pots in the fridge. Having extracted a promise from her that she will not sneak up to refill your glass, secrete a stretchable lid over it. Since these lids are invisible, she will have only herself to blame when she suffers the splash-back consequences. This should put a stop to her meddling in future. Q. I saw in Waitrose that the meat counter had huge reductions on ribeye and fillet steak – it was in the evening just before closing time. So I waited for the boy to come and serve me – my intention was to hoard it in my deep freeze for my sons. Then an older Sloane couple came up and stood right behind me and started making pointed remarks on what they were going to buy – and I ended up feeling bullied and didn't dare get more than three steaks. When I glanced back they were cleaning up on all the savings and yet I had been there first and it was I who should have had this advantage. How should I have tackled this, Mary? – S.H., Shrewton, Wilts A. You should have magnanimously enquired of the couple how much of the steak they were hoping to buy, since you would then hold back from bagging the lot as you had intended. In this way it would have been they who walked away with three steaks, feeling gratitude towards you, and you who cleaned up with the hoard. Q. My husband and I are taking a house on the Ligurian coast and letting our daughters bring their boyfriends. Our problem is that the boyfriends are not 'housetrained'. We really mind them sitting at the lunch table without shirts, but our daughters are reluctant to say anything 'snobbish' in case they make the youths feel insecure. Help! – Name and address withheld A. Casually announce that the mayor of Portofino – 'who is a frightful bore' – has said he is going to drop in for lunch one day so would they mind wearing shirts at lunch just in case. When they google the mayor of Portofino, they will see that he is striking back against the tourist slobbery perpetrated mainly by the English, including being shirtless. It will be an eye-opener for the youths to learn that shirtlessness could be considered offensive, while you personally will have ducked association with snobbery.
Sydney Morning Herald
23-07-2025
- Politics
- Sydney Morning Herald
In an electorate that screams privilege, an MP needs to pick a side on the housing crisis
The NSW Liberals face a wicked problem. How does the party walk the political tightrope of being pro-housing at the same time many of their constituents, not to mention local councillors, remain wedded to one word: overdevelopment. As Sydney, and indeed the country, contends with a chronic shortage of homes, no NSW Liberal will feel this conundrum more acutely than Vaucluse MP Kellie Sloane. Overdevelopment, once the mainstay of local campaigning for both sides of politics, has morphed into the politically charged term NIMBYism. On the other side of the argument is YIMBYism, which is becoming synonymous with wanting to fix one of the greatest social problems of this generation. Sloane, a moderate who is seen as a future leadership contender, has the seemingly impossible task of ensuring her party reflects the needs of modern Australia (which, as the federal election showed, the Liberals are failing to do) while representing the voters who put her into office. Examining one of Sloane's biggest obstacles to assuming the leadership paints a good picture of how hard her task will be. A major impediment to securing the top job is not a lack of talent, nor party room support. Rather, it is the name of her seat. No electorate in NSW screams privilege has much as hers. While it takes in areas including Bondi Beach and Edgecliff, Vaucluse – with its sprawling homes – is the antithesis of many other areas of the state, not least western Sydney. And the Liberals know this, so much so that there is talk that when the next boundary redistributions are drafted, the Liberals will lobby to have the seat renamed, perhaps back to Bondi (abolished in 1971) or even Waverley (axed in 1990). Loading Seat name aside, Sloane, a former television journalist turned businesswoman, is keenly aware of the housing challenge she has to face in her seat. How she manages it is a different question. At an eastern suburbs housing community forum last month, Sloane told the attendees that the Labor government's policy to build townhouses, terraces and six-storey apartment blocks within 400 metres of town centres was 'quite confronting'. Sloane singled out Rose Bay as being unfairly targeted, arguing the suburb lacked critical services such as a major supermarket or a train line. Later, after her federal colleague Liberal housing spokesman Andrew Bragg took a veiled swipe at her stance, Sloane said she rejected being labelled a NIMBY. 'I am pro-development,' she said, 'it's a responsibility for every community, but I want a guarantee that it comes with investment in infrastructure.'
