Latest news with #friendship
Washington Post
an hour ago
- Entertainment
- Washington Post
What parents need to know about ‘Elio,' ‘Bride Hard' and more
Age 6+ Moments of peril in heartfelt adventure about a lonely boy. Pixar's animated adventure follows a lonely orphaned boy named Elio (voiced by Yonas Kibreab) who is accidentally mistaken for Earth's leader by a council of peace-loving aliens. The movie is mostly light in tone but does include moments of peril and sci-fi violence. Kids intimidate Elio and nearly punch him; two clone characters disintegrate (not graphically); a menacing alien leader threatens destruction and takes Elio hostage; characters get caught in a dangerous debris field in space; and, at one point, a sympathetic figure seems like he might not make it. Characters also argue and face danger, and sneak into places they're not supposed to be in. Elio's deceased parents are referenced, and characters occasionally use words like 'stupid' and 'butt.' Positive messages about friendship, parenthood, emotional vulnerability and self-acceptance are woven throughout, and both the voice cast and characters offer diverse representation. (99 minutes)
NHK
2 hours ago
- Entertainment
- NHK
Harmony amid hostilities
More than three years of war between Russia and Ukraine have destroyed many friendships. But the gift of music can transcend borders and hostilities, as shown by a Russian pianist who continues to perform pieces by a Ukrainian composer with whom he has worked for decades. Russian pianist Alexey Lubimov has earned fans the world over for his virtuoso performances. The 80-year-old is a master of many styles, but lately, he has caused a stir by playing works of Ukrainian composer Valentin Silvestrov, 87. Russian pianist Alexey Lubimov spoke with NHK World before his Tokyo concert in April. The pair first met in 1968, when both Russia and Ukraine were part of the Soviet Union. Silvestrov would write pieces for Lubimov to play. The Russian says he was captivated by the Ukrainian's compositions: "For me, Silvestrov was the most gifted composer of all the young composers at the time. I watched and followed every transformation of his music style, from very avant-garde to very advanced." Ukrainian composer Valentin Silvestrov, left, and Lubimov have been part of the same music scene for nearly 60 years. An ultimatum The pair's longtime bond was put to the test in 2022, when their countries entered a full-scale conflict. Silvestrov fled Kyiv for Berlin. Soon afterwards, he told a German media outlet, "I don't want Russians to ever play my music again." Silvestrov's message in 2022 was aimed at all the Russian pianists with whom he had worked, including Lubimov. Lubimov told Silvestrov at the time that he understood his friend's feelings. "Silvestrov was so sad, so angry, that he forbade Russians to perform his music," the pianist recalls. Harmony transcending hostilities But Lubimov decided to keep Silvestrov's works on his set list. He held a concert in Moscow in 2022 condemning the invasion of Ukraine, and the event attracted the attention of the Russian police. Police officers in Moscow approached Lubimov as he performed a piece by Silvestrov in 2022. The police tried to stop the show, but Lubimov kept on playing. He was not detained, but the situation could have ended badly. Lubimov says the concert went ahead because "we had to continue Silvestrov's music so as not to forget it. We are not enemies to him or his music." When footage of the concert reached Silvestrov, he later told his Russian friend, "I am very happy. I am very proud of you." Silvestrov no longer bans his Russian friends from playing his compositions. Lubimov says he carries on doing so because so much is at stake. "Silvestrov is a messenger, and I am also a messenger for him. I try to transmit his message to the public, to the audience," he says. "It is not possible to express this message with words, but music can. It touches the hearts of people." Silvestrov's pieces were central to Lubimov's set list at his Tokyo concert in April. Lubimov began to experience vision trouble over the past few years, making it difficult for him to see the piano keys. He was once resigned to retiring due to these problems, but he says he changed his mind after Silvestrov's ultimatum led him to stage the peace concert in Moscow. Although Lubimov does not know how much longer he will be able to continue, he says he is determined to keep playing Silvestrov's music for as long as his mind and body allow.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Will you marry ... us? The friends stepping up as wedding officiants.
I no longer talk to the man I married when I was 29. But I'm still quite close to the man who married … both of us. At the time, my fiancé and I were living in Brooklyn, just a couple of blocks from my dear childhood friend Erik Kaiko and his wife, Megan. The four of us shared a CSA and frequent after-work happy hours. Asking Erik to officiate my wedding was a no-brainer; he was an actor, an excellent public speaker and a true friend we knew we could count on. We weren't at all religious, and Erik had already gotten ordained over the internet in order to officiate another friend's wedding, so it all made sense. Another bonus was that we were having a tiny wedding — immediate family only — and the officiant loophole meant we could 'invite' a couple of our best friends without opening the floodgates to actually inviting all our friends. The ceremony and wedding day were wonderful, and it is absolutely no fault of Erik's that we divorced a year and a half later. Why go the friend route? A recent survey on religious activity in the U.S. shows that nearly half of 18-to-29-year-olds identify as 'religiously unaffiliated,' which suggests that they may be looking beyond ministers, rabbis and other spiritual leaders to help them tie the knot. And, as Erik himself points out, 'Our generation is accustomed to looking for ways to do things differently, in a more personal way — and getting married is a significant life milestone that is a good example of that.' But what goes into asking a friend to fill this role, and what makes someone wedding officiant-worthy? Yahoo Life spoke to real couples and their officiants to find out. 'I decided to ask a friend to officiate my wedding because I wanted it to be a deeply personal service,' Lynn McKay in Syracuse, N.Y., shares. Her friend Acacia O'Connor was an obvious choice because 'they are smart, funny, thoughtful and eloquent," McKay says. "I knew that they would make the service special. They said yes immediately (of course).' McKay wanted to differentiate her wedding ceremony from the more religious or run-of-the-mill ones she had attended or seen depicted. 'I had been to various weddings where I couldn't connect to what the officiant was saying,' she explains, 'and I felt like Acacia made it both personal and meaningful.' O'Connor has been asked to officiate multiple friends' weddings. 'It wasn't for my love of the institution of marriage, that's for sure!' they laugh. O'Connor has never been married, is not monogamous and 'isn't the biggest fan of tradition,' they say. But they're a good friend, a writer, a good public speaker and seem to have a certain ... vibe. 'I'm priestly? If that makes sense?" O'Connor says. "I get the sense people think of me as someone who will have thoughtful things to say in creative ways, which is something you want in a wedding ceremony.' O'Connor also felt it was an honor to be asked. 'I felt an incredible amount of trust in me, asking me to play that role,' they explain. 'I'd much rather officiate than be in any type of bridal party. (I'm nonbinary and before that I was gender non-conforming, so that definitely is partly why I'm not bridal party material.) Honestly, other than the affianced, the officiant is kind of the star!' And why limit it to weddings? "Bring on the divorce rituals and the funerals — I can do it all!' they joke. When Brandi Ryans of New Jersey got married in 2010, it was important to have someone she could count on after a series of major letdowns. She and her now-husband had put down a deposit on a wedding venue only to discover soon after that it had closed and the owner had fled the country, with their hard-earned thousands of dollars. 'It's kind of funny now, looking back on how weird and dramatic and incredible our wedding was,' Ryans says. After being scammed the first time around, reliability became a huge priority when the couple went about rebooking their wedding. 'We never really thought about anyone other than Julie,' Ryans says of the trusted friend who ended up serving as the officiant. 'She was always a part of the puzzle we could count on.' Julie had already married some other friends, and 'we just knew that she was a beautiful person and she knew us and we trusted her.' Thankfully, that second planned wedding went off without a hitch. Kasey Freer and Jen Hillman, in Philadelphia, got married in 2012. They asked their friend Bev Canepari to officiate 'because she was a consistent part of each of our lives before Kasey and I fell in love,' Hillman tells Yahoo Life. Adds Freer: 'Bev was there when we met and has remained a great friend.' Hillman points out that, as a same-sex couple, she and Freer 'weren't even allowed to get married for the first couple years of our relationship, so when marriage equality was finally passed, we needed our favorite people to be a part of it." Canepari says she was "both overjoyed and extremely nervous' when Hillman and Freer asked her to marry them. After all, she had been the one to introduce them, and 'may have done a little matchmaking,' she admits. Getting certified to perform the ceremony was easy, but 'standing up in front of a crowd of their loved ones to marry them, well, that was a little harder," she adds. "But once I saw them both beaming with love for each other at a beautiful spot they had chosen in Prospect Park, my job was easy!' Nearly 15 years later, Hillman and Freer are still together. (Says Canepari: 'The feeling that I was part of that? Priceless.') The feeling is mutual. '[I] can't think of anyone else we would have wanted to make it official," Hillman says. "It was truly a celebration, and the party continues today when we bring our kids to visit Bev and her family.' And then there's my old friend Erik, now living in Chicago. Not only did he officiate my wedding and those of multiple other friends, but he has also played music at friends' weddings. And because what goes around comes around, he and his wife decided to have a friend officiate their own ceremony. Other friends (including me on banjo — a brave choice) were asked to perform. "Having someone who would honor our wishes in terms of the overall tone of the ceremony, the length, everything like that" was important, he says. 'We wanted to control the atmosphere of the event, not have that dictated by someone or something else (like 'the church').' He adds that it would have felt inauthentic "to get married by a member of the clergy or in a church, in terms of how non-religious I am." He's also been happy to return the favor. "I was someone they could trust to not only tick all the boxes legally, but also perform the ceremony in a way that felt appropriate for them," he says of officiating two weddings in a two-year span. But what about all the hassle (and cost) associated with being part of a wedding? 'It is 100% an honor to be asked to officiate a friend's wedding!' Erik assures me (promising he is not just saying this because he officiated mine). 'It was not a headache to me because, in all honesty, I did not spend all that much time preparing,' he laughs. Of course, even the best officiant can't cast a magic spell that will make the marriage actually stick. I divorced less than two years after my wedding, as did half the couples Erik and O'Connor married — spot-on with the national average, which shows about 50% of marriages end in divorce. 'I'm batting .500 as far as marital solvency,' admits O'Connor. 'But my friends in the couples are happy where they are at in their lives, and that's what matters.' One silver lining, for those of us who did divorce, is the long-lasting friendships we've maintained with our officiants. Erik is still friends with all of the people he's married, minus my ex (solidarity). 'You and I can get together whenever,' he texts me, 'and we can pick up right where we left off.' O'Connor says the same thing about their friendships with couples whose weddings they officiated many years ago. 'They're the type of friendships where if they called me on the phone, I would pick up, no hesitation, and I would show up for whatever they needed,' they say. 'Very Bill Withers 'Lean on Me' vibes.' McKay agrees. 'The marriage did not last — certainly not because of the officiant choice — but the friendship did,' she says. 'Acacia has been and will continue to be a force of good in my life, and I am honored to be their friend, 'til death do us part.'🚨 Do you have a relationship problem that could use the help of Amy Robach and T.J. Holmes, our celebrity advice columnists? Fill out this form or email us — askamyandtj@ — your question (the juicier the better).
The Independent
4 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Rod Stewart reveals why he can no longer consider Donald Trump a friend
Veteran rocker Rod Stewart has renounced his friendship with Donald Trump, claiming the businessman completely changed after becoming president of the United States. The 80-year-old singer said he previously had a close relationship with Trump as the pair have owned nearby multi-million pound properties in Palm Beach, Florida since 1991 and 1985 respectively. Speaking to Radio Times , Stewart said: 'I'm not a great fan of Trump. I knew him very, very well. I used to go to his house.' He added that he lives 'literally half a mile away' from him. 'We're both on the beach. I used to go to his Christmas parties. He's always been a bit of a man's man. I liked him for that. But he didn't, as far as I'm concerned, treat women very well. 'But since he became president, he became another guy. Somebody I didn't know,' he said. Asked if he could still count Trump as a friend, Stewart responded: 'No, I can't anymore. As long as he's selling arms to the Israelis – and he still is. How's that war ever gonna stop?' Stewart's remarks come amid a rough friendship patch for Trump as the president's so-called 'bromance' with tech billionaire Elon Musk came crashing down earlier this month. Rod Stewart has renounced his friendship with Donald Trump (Getty) 'Without me, Trump would have lost the election,' Musk claimed on X as the relationship disintegrated. Meanwhile, the president hit back on TruthSocial: 'Elon was 'wearing thin,' I asked him to leave. I took away his EV Mandate that forced everyone to buy Electric Cars that nobody else wanted (that he knew for months I was going to do!), and he just went CRAZY!' Elsewhere in Stewart's interview, he opened up about his forthcoming set at Glastonbury Festival, which will see him perform in the Legend's Slot at 15.45pm on the Pyramid Stage on Sunday, 29 June. Enjoy unlimited access to 100 million ad-free songs and podcasts with Amazon Music Sign up now for a 30-day free trial. Terms apply. Try for free ADVERTISEMENT. If you sign up to this service we will earn commission. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent. Enjoy unlimited access to 100 million ad-free songs and podcasts with Amazon Music Sign up now for a 30-day free trial. Terms apply. Try for free ADVERTISEMENT. If you sign up to this service we will earn commission. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent. 'It's like when you're playing a cup final: you're trying to treat it like another game. But, of course, it's not. It's special,' he said. 'It'll be glamorous, it'll be sexy and we've got a little orchestra coming on to play with us… and we may have some bagpipes.'
Yahoo
11 hours ago
- Health
- Yahoo
My best friend died at 11 after telling me to live my life for him
Ryan Quinn remembers the first time he met Aaron Murphy, the boy who would become his best friend. He was three and it was his first day at nursery. "After my mum dropped me off, I got very upset. It was the first time that I'd been on my own without her," he said. "As I turned around to go and find her, Aaron was standing behind me. We became inseparable instantly. "We were the closest of friends. We had so much in common. We had a love for Minecraft and for Star Wars." Just months into the friendship between the two boys from Dunfermline, Aaron Murphy was diagnosed with neuroblastoma - a rare form of childhood cancer which develops in nerve tissue and usually affects children under five. After various treatments, Aaron's cancer entered remission. But when he was 10, his cancer returned. He went through further treatment, but there was nothing that could save him. He died three weeks shy of his 12th birthday. Ryan was supposed to visit Aaron in hospital that evening but was picked up from school early. "I was so excited," he said. But the atmosphere in the car on the way home was silent. "When home, my mum sat down next to me and put her arms around me. 'Aaron's gone, Ryan,' she said." Losing a close friend at the age of 11 brought unimaginable grief to Ryan. He was angry at the world and at the disease that took his friend. "I became very reclusive and very depressed," said Ryan. "About three months after Aaron passed away, I started high school, which was hard because it was a massive change. "Suddenly I started this new school where I didn't really know anyone and my best friend wasn't there." On what would have been Aaron's 18th birthday, Ryan has shared what it was like to lose his childhood friend while they were both children themselves. Now 17, Ryan wants to turn his grief into a vehicle for change. "I thought I could put the anger and passion I felt into something - which was campaigning for children's cancer and raising awareness," he told BBC Scotland News. Aaron's last words to his friend were "Live your life for me, Ryan" and that is what he is trying to do. He says he is determined to honour his request. Ryan has undertaken fundraising and lobbying. Last year he did a sky-dive in memory of Aaron to raise money for a charity called the Team Jak Foundation which provides support for families and friends of people affected by cancer. It helped Ryan to deal with his grief and he said he wanted to pay them back. Earlier this year he spoke at the Scottish Labour Party conference. After that he managed to secure a meeting with Scotland's Health Minister Neil Gray who invited him to the Scottish Parliament to discuss the issues that Ryan is highlighting. Mr Gray told Ryan he was committed to improving outcomes for children and young people with cancer. Thoughts turned to Aaron during the meeting. "I thought, 'What would Aaron think of what I'm doing?' "There was one empty chair at the table. "I am confident that Aaron was sat in it, and I hope I did him proud." June is a hard month for Ryan. As he reaches adulthood, he has lots of questions about what happened to his best friend. He said " Recently I bought my first car after passing my driving test and the first thought I had when I put the key into the ignition was 'Why do I get to do this and Aaron doesn't?' And I'm constantly reminded of that as we approach Aaron's 18th birthday." Six years on from Aaron's death, Ryan says he misses his friend more than ever. "I loved Aaron with my whole heart and I always will," he said. "Aaron's death inspired me to be a campaigner so that he and the other children and young people who die from cancer each year are never forgotten. "I want to make sure that Aaron's story gets to the right places and on the right people's desks and I hope that meaningful change will be made." More stories from Edinburgh, Fife & East More stories from Scotland 'Radiographer started crying during my cancer scan'
