In recent years, Love Island has become as ingrained in the British calendar as April showers in spring, and that sludgy stuff that appears in the road when cars drive over fallen leaves in autumn. Love Island is summer, summer is Love Island and as all seasonal phenomena must it drew to a close last night. Deflate your novelty doughnut-shaped rubber ring; hang your bikini over a chair to finally dry.

The thing about events that come around every year, however, is that while theyre sometimes comforting, they can also be boring. Last night, denied of the banter outcome (that is, a win by Chloe Burrows and Toby Aromolaran, a couple with the delightful, fizzy energy of two Beroccas dissolving in the same glass), we instead looked on politely as Liam Reardon and Millie Court were crowned the winners of Love Island 2021, the prosaic prom king and queen of the villa.

From Selling Sunset to Love Island, are reality TV relationships the real thing?

As usual, the couple shared the 50,000 prize money, and Love Island 2021 ended with the whimper of predictability in its ears. It has been a problem throughout the season, from the challenges (if fans are moaning that a task wherein contestants spit sauce into each others mouths has become par for the course, surely theres something wrong), to the fact that contestants themselves are now all too conscious of what awaits them in the outside world valuable brand deals, celebrity treatment if only they can stay on TV long enough.

Self-awareness on reality TV can be a good thing it can provide storylines and humour but it can also take away the authenticity and spontaneity that makes the medium so exciting (the nation raised its collective eyebrows this year, as Jake Cornish asked Liberty Poole to be his girlfriend just under four weeks into the series, giving her a bracelet hed brought into the villa with him.) Coupled with the fact that unlike its antecedent Big Brother, Love Islands format rarely changes, there was often a strong sense that everyone in the villa was just going through the motions.

Its a shame because, at its best, Love Island is still compelling viewing, reflecting heterosexual mores through the funhouse mirror of the impossibly attractive. It is still frequently entertaining to watch contestants spend all day talking about their relationships despite only having been in them for a week, while wearing elaborate swimwear and showing off abs that look as though theyve been painted on. When the cast give themselves over to the experience (which to their credit is often), its there that pockets of magic are found, even this year.

There was the aforementioned Toby as the worlds most confused philanderer, winner Liam roleplaying as a dad during the baby challenge by asking everyone Hows your mother? like hed just bumped into them at Tesco and of course the deep and tender friendship between Kaz Kamwi and Liberty Poole (the rightful winning couple), the latter of whom left the villa with days to go, announcing that while her relationship had broken down, she had found real love self-love in the villa.

Viewers are perceptive we want to invest in the contestants and their relationships, and its instances like all of the above that help us to do that. But we too are so aware of Love Islands behemothic status and everything that surrounds it, that the show can seem like a victim of its own success.

That said, dont expect to see Love Island going away anytime soon. When a programme has achieved cultural phenomenon status, its tough for execs to wave goodbye to it, even when its no longer at the height of its powers (look how long Big Brother ran past its prime). And, despite the issues that have plagued the show, ITV seems determined that Love Island will ride again. For years, there have been consistent concerns around race and diversity during casting, plus the sustained harassment of contestants (including racist abuse and death threats) via social media. Add to this a record 25,000 Ofcom complaints this year, declining viewing figures, and the growing, irksome sense that the shows makers want things both ways, telling viewers to be kind via online posts while courting and stoking controversy on camera and there are plenty of factors that would derail any other reality series.

However, they dont seem likely to stop the Love Island train from leaving the station, at least for now. Indeed, host Laura Whitmore announced during last nights final that applications for next years instalment are open on ITVs website. Lets just hope that next time, the shows makers nurture its magic.

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Love Island: the tired TV behemoth thats lost its magic - The Guardian

A new event on the Tobin Centers Will Naylor Smith River Walk Plaza is using rhythm to help people overcome their blues. Offered free to the community at 9 a.m. every third Saturday through November (Sept. 18 this month), the drum circle course is lead by Jorge Ochoa, an occupational therapist and founder of TamboRhythms, which uses rhythmic expression to promote fun and functional living. Drumming activates both hemispheres of the brain, he says, adding that studies have shown it can improve mood while also releasing endorphins, and in turn, decreasing stress. Drumming also increases energy levels, concentration and self-awareness, he says. A variety of percussion instruments are available each month for use during the event, and students dont need any experience or equipment. Through TamboRhythms, Ochoa offers drumming sessions at schools and community centers, including for organizations that serve individuals with special needs or mental illness. He says group drumming helps develop sensory skills while promoting social participation. For everyone, the ability to hit an instrument and participate in a positive group activity provides the kind of stress relief that can be tough to accomplish on your own

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Try a Free, All-Ages Drum Circle Course at the Tobin Center - San Antonio Magazine

Skip to main content Peter Williams, We traveled to distant worlds, 2019. Collection of Davis Museum at Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA. Courtesy of Luis De Jesus Los Angeles

Peter Williams, a genre-bending painter who explored the past and present of Black America through surreal narratives, has died at 69. Luis De Jesus Gallery in Los Angeles, which represents the artist, said that Williams passed away on August 19 following complications from a long illness.

Williamss prolific practice was guided by his strong moral and political convictions, and addressed issues from mass incarceration to slavery and unequal wealth distribution. Working in an Afrofuturist style, he cast his colorful, often fractured scenes in distant solar systems and injected them with a good dose of wry humor.

He was a painter who painted for himself and was not afraid to poignantly portray the truths of contemporary society. His passing is a huge loss for us and his many friends and colleagues in the art world, gallery director Luis De Jesus said in a statement.

Throughout his 45-year career, Williams, who was based in Wilmington, Delaware, shifted between abstract and figurative modes, though in an 2020 interview with Forbes he referred to himself as a figurative narrative painter. He liked to skewer the traditions of modernism, often portraying its grid as a prison for non-white artists. In some works, figures holding or wearing African masks burst out of Mondrian-like bands of red, yellow, and blue in an explosion of densely packed dots.

Williamss most recent work focuses on the killing of unarmed Black men and children by police in America. In the large-scale painting The Arrest of George Floyd (2020), he depicted Floyd screaming as disembodied white hands grab him and a blue eye looks on untroubled. In another work dedicated to Floyd, Williams incorporated symbols of corporate greed, suggesting that Americas wealth is built on the suffering and exploitation of Black people.

My work has always had a political ethos, it comes out of my self-awareness as a black American, he told Forbes. This work is a compendium of modernist form and the politics of right now.

Williams was born in 1952, in Nyack, New York, and earned a B.F.A. from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design and an M.F.A. from the Maryland Institute College of Art. At 17, he was given his first solo show, at the Pat Merenstein Gallery in Nyack, which led to more shows in the region, including one at the Woodstock Music Festival.

A car accident during a college trip to New Mexico led to the loss of one leg; he had lifelong pain. He cited the trauma as a major influence on his practice, in particular the use of a recurring cast of characters as means to tell stories of hardship and triumph.

Williams was known as a passionate mentor and had recently retired from from the fine arts department at the University of Delaware, which he joined following a 17-year tenure at Wayne State University. His many accolades include the Artists Legacy Foundations 2020 Artist Award and a 2021 Guggenheim Fellowship.

Williams paintings are held in the permanent collections of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Walker Art Center, the Whitney Museum, and the Detroit Institute of Arts, among other institutions. His work appeared in the 2002 Whitney Biennial and the 2017 edition of the Prospect New Orleans triennial, and examples are slated to appear in a solo show at Luis De Jesus next year.

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Comment It always comes around sooner than you think. With a large slice of fantasy, cultural mythology, and suspension of disbelief, it's time to get out the tinsel and celebrate the arrival of this year's Gartner hype cycle.

Officially the "Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies, 2021", the research documents trends the tech industry would like to talk about, even if few emerge fully formed into anything we would understand as the real world.

Top of the gift list this year are nonfungible tokens (NFT), sovereign cloud, data fabric, generative AI, and composable networks, all supposedly arriving to help beat the competition in some way or other, the omnipresent analyst organisation said.

"Technology innovation is a key enabler of competitive differentiation and is the catalyst for transforming many industries," according to Brian Burke, research vice president at Gartner. "Breakthrough technologies are continually appearing, challenging even the most innovative organisations to keep up. Leading organisations will lean on the emerging technologies in this year's Hype Cycle to build trust and new growth opportunities against a background of continued strategic change and economic uncertainty."

The Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies is unique among most Gartner Hype Cycles, the press release babbles on, because it distils insights from more than 1,500 technologies into a succinct set of "must know" emerging technologies and trends that show promise in delivering a high degree of competitive advantage over the next five to 10 years.

In a statement singularly lacking in self-awareness, Melissa Davis, research vice president at Gartner, added that organisations should "cut through the hype surrounding emerging technologies" as if her esteemed employers were not providing a continual stream of risible hyperbole.

Now, The Register has published a definite debunking of the hype machine, pointing out that, even on its own terms, many of its earlier predictions fail to see the light of day in any recognisable form. For example, just five years ago Smart Dust, 4G printing, and General Purpose Machine Intelligence appeared on the list. Quantum computing seems to appear and disappear from the list almost at random as if springing from some kind of probability field.

Other items appear out of nowhere. The aforementioned NFTs, now darling of the post-bonkers blockchain bubble, is right at the top of the hype cycle for 2021. And yet, just a year ago, it was nowhere to be seen, at least according to the media-shared graph.

Conversely, concepts said to be on the up last year, such as two-way brain-machine interfaces, have disappeared without a trace on this year's chart. It's enough to make a confused observer wonder if the whole enterprise is even a vaguely reliable predictor of future technologies, or heaven forbid a pantomime engineered to keep Gartner's name and logo in the spotlight.

But for those who keep score, the highlights of this year's list includes quantum machine learning, machine-readable legislation, and homomorphic encryption.

Maybe we are indeed entering the season when if you believe something enough, it just might come true.

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Gartner Gartner on the wall, which is the hypest cycle of them all? - The Register

From losing weight by tapping into your psyche, to better understanding what motivates you to make sustainable lifestyle choices, behavioural psychology can help you to improve your health and reduce your environmental impact

Do you want to reduce single-use plastic but never remember to take a reusable cup when buying your takeaway coffee? Or maybe you know that too many cakes arent good for your health but somehow they keep making their way into your shopping basket. Most of us have fallen prey to cognitive dissonance; when our actions dont marry up with our beliefs.

What can we do to overcome this? One solution that innovators and academics are championing is the use of behavioural psychology the study of the connection between our minds and behaviour to help bridge the gap between intention and action.

The approach is used by Noom, a digital health platform that provides educational articles, tools for tracking progress, and support from virtual coaches, to help people work towards their health goals. It draws upon cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), a popular talking therapy that helps people manage problems by changing the way they think and behave, as an integral part of its programme. The curriculum encourages self-awareness and provides gentle nudges to help people stay on track.

Behavioural psychology helps bridge the gap between intention and action. Image: Sam Owoyemi

Many people depend on a willpower-only approach when trying to implement new habits, says Nooms chief of psychology, Andreas Michaelides. But this often doesnt work in the long-run. When it comes to losing weight, for example, people may approach it as a fairly easy task because its just a matter of reducing calories. However, Michaelides says weight loss is not easy at all.

Have you ever heard a friend say, I know what to do, but I just cant do it? If weight loss only amounted to the sum of calories in and calories out, people would not struggle on this journey, or there would not be a prevalence of obesity in our society. Unfortunately, the reasons for eating certain foods are not always easy to identify or change.

To change a habit, he continues, you must work against the brains natural urges to repeat common, established processes. These changes are difficult to accomplish as you will need to combat natural impulses and solidified habits. Whats more, he explains, is that as you try to rewrite these habits in your brain, decision fatigue and willpower depletion often follow.

So what to do? It is essential to set small, realistic goals that will help build your confidence around these new habits, Michaelides says, adding that our mental wellbeing can be affected if we keep failing at something we think we should be able to master through willpower alone.

Can behavioural psychology help us embrace more sustainable habits? Image: Louis Hansel

When diets fail people tend to turn on themselves as they start to feel inadequate or see themselves as the failure. However, the more we break down unrealistic goals and expectations, the more we can begin to see that we can make changes. By providing users with bite-sized courses broken down into 1-3 minute modules, this is exactly what Noom aims to do.

Sustainable thinking

This idea that success comes when information in our brains is split into manageable chunks also feeds into a psychological approach being investigated by researchers from the University of Geneva. They published a paper last year on how decision-making around sustainability can be improved through the concept of mental accounting.

The idea is centred around how people tend to create separate budget compartments in their minds, linked to specific things. For example, if someone goes to a concert but cant find their ticket, they are unlikely to buy another as they have already spent their concert budget.

One aspect of mental accounting is called the spillover effect, which refers to the fact that we tend to justify one behaviour by another. Someone who makes the effort to cycle to work every day will use this argument to justify, to himself or others, buying a plane ticket to go on holiday to the Seychelles, says Tobias Brosch, professor of the psychology of sustainable development at the university.

A possible strategy to prevent this could be to encourage people to think of separate mental accounts for each different behaviour, just like they might do in a purely financial sense, as in our concert ticket example. For example, one for everyday transportation and one for flights or holidays. The urge to justify behaviour would then be impeded due to the lack of fungibility [exchangeability] between accounts, Brosch says. Perhaps that person would then use any financial savings that came about through cycling, on another environmentally friendly everyday transport-centred goal, such as buying an electric car.

When it comes to any personal goal health, environmental or otherwise Michaelides believes the possibilities are endless when we approach them through a behavioural psychology lens. Behaviour is an essential component of many of the goals we want to achieve. By expanding your knowledge of how behaviour change works, you can apply these principles to any area of your life.

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How behavioural psychology can help you put your intentions into action - Positive.News

Emma Corrin and Josh O'Connor prepared royally for their scene-stealing roles as Princess Diana and Prince Charles.

In a recent interview with W Magazine, Corrin, who uses they/them and she/her pronouns, and their co-star, O'Connor, explained that for their painstaking roles in the fourth season of the Netflix hit, The Crown, the two were committed to capturing every inch of a love story going awry in the public eye.

"We both spent a long time during prep researching the nuances of failed marriages," O'Connor told the outlet. "Our care for our own characters and each other's meant that whatever the scene was, we were completely focused on telling a truthful and real account of those moments."

Corrinwho recalled a particular scene of the Princess dancing to Billy Joel's "Uptown Girl" at London's Royal Opera (while the Prince sulked in his house box)also opened up about the perception they had on the relationship while playing the Princess of Wales.

The Crown Cast Vs. the Royals They Play

"We see her burning, youthful spirit exploding out in these dance scenes," Corrin recalled, "and in the way she tried to get through to Charles how she felt about him."

Another heartbreaking scene involved Princess Diana surprising her then-husband with a unique wedding anniversary gift: a recording of her performance of "All I Ask of You" from Andrew Lloyd Webber's hit musical, The Phantom of the Opera. Fans of the series may recall Prince Charles making fun of the present to his sister, calling it "monstrous."

Netflix

And although Corrin goes on to credit their co-star for getting them through those tough moments during filming, O' Connor praised his on-screen love interest for their self-awareness.

"Emma has a natural wisdom," O'Connor told the outlet. "They understand the pressures associated with being in the public eye better than anyone I know, including people who've been in the public eye for many years."

It's worth noting that for their portrayals, both Corrin and O' Connor have snagged countless awards respectively. For their individual roles as the royal couple, both O'Connor, 31, and Corrin, 25, each won a Golden Globe award, and Screen Actors Guild award, and both have been nominated for a Primetime Emmy.

Also, fun fact: Corrin commemorated Princess Diana's ring during her audition for The Crown in the most unique way: by getting her nails to match the priceless accessory. Check out the details in the interview with W above!

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Emma Corrin and Josh O'Connor Researched This Before Playing Princess Diana and Prince Charles - Yahoo Entertainment

Education Minister Chan Chun Sing said that to navigate an increasingly complex and competitive world, Singapore students have to pursue more diverse interests and capabilities, beyond what is taught and tested in schools (Develop diverse strengths for a more complex world: Chan, Aug 17).

This suggests that formal education may no longer provide the necessary skills and knowledge to take on challenges of the future.

The beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic saw the acceleration of the democratisation of education.

Coursera, co-founded by Singapore-educated Andrew Ng, reported a 644 per cent year-on-year increase in course enrolment during a 30-day period last year. Other massive online open course platforms also reported astounding growth.

As the viability of these offerings enters the public consciousness, we must re-evaluate the role of formal education in Singapore, and acknowledge and tap the global talent pool of educators who are at the top of their domains.

Mr Chan's words allude to a concession that we can no longer forecast future needs, which would require an approach beyond what formal education can offer at present.

I see this as a shift in dynamics towards relevant, high-quality, modular, just-in-time continuing education and training schemes.

What then do we do with the six years of compulsory education in Singapore?

We must instil in our students a good sense of self-awareness and a sound moral compass.

To that end, schools should make philosophy a core subject, and make sure it is contextualised authentically.

As an educator who coaches student roboticists to represent the nation and win top honours on the biggest stages, I am intimately aware of the limitations of our current system and am stoked about the changes Mr Chan's words suggest.

I look forward to a formal education system that is more flexible and efficient in delivering the outcomes we desire by moving from pedagogy, where one is taught, to heutagogy, where one determines one's own learning.

Kenneth Chow

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Forum: Make formal education system more flexible to deliver new outcomes - The Straits Times

One episode that stands out among the others is Season 6, Episode 12, "Scott's Tots," which received the most mentions. Reddit user u/jdeluca87 wrote, "SCOTTS TOTS FOR SURE! Took me 3 attempts to finish that episode," and u/Alternative_Body 7345 commented the episode "makes me want to hide under the couch."

Throughout the series, Michael inadvertently exhibits homophobic, racist, sexist, and generally offensive behavior, but the only ones who suffer are his employees, and it's difficult not to feel sympathy towards a man who so desperately just wants to be liked. However, in "Scott's Tots," Michael's bad judgment and overall stupidity have far-reaching consequences. The episode reveals that 10 years earlier, Michael promised a class of underprivileged children that if they graduated from high school, he would subsidize their college educations. When it comes time to pay the tab, Michael has to skip out on the bill. Michael admits that this one was by far the most generous out of all the empty promises he's made.

We have to agree with u/interestingmongoose's critique, who stated the episode "always makes me cringe."

Link:
Fans Agree That These Are The Hardest Episodes Of The Office To Watch - Looper

When it comes to personal growth, there aint no mountain high enough. Life is an upward journey of more knowledge, insights and skills. The best of us know this, but the ones who stand out most are the ones who couple this climb with impact. Taking the higher consciousness and grander knowledge gained, they return to their base to spark change.

These are the kinds of graduates the emba X by ETH Zrich and University of St.Gallen produces. The mountains provide the ideal backdrop and metaphor for the emba X, according to Senior Programme Advisor Claudio Feser. It is about going high, but its also about coming back and making a change, he explains.

Feser is talking about the key advantage of the emba X: personal development. It is the vital path in developing tomorrows responsible leaders. A pioneer in this aspect, the emba X dedicates close to one-quarter of the credited curriculum to personal development and skill building interventions. The setting? Switzerland where mountains cover two thirds of the country making it the perfect study environment to train body, mind, and soul.

The 18-month, joint programme is Europes most relevant Executive MBA. It is rigorous and most importantly, future-focused thanks to a partnership that bridges the gap between technology and business.

ETH Zrich is a world-renowned institution of innovation and technology. The University of St.Gallen a Triple Crown accredited leader in education is known to foster an entrepreneurial spirit that sparks positive economic and social change. The combination provides two ideal student experiences for the price of one, boasting twice the professors, support, perspectives, facilities, and networking opportunities.

Together, ETH Zrich and the University of St.Gallen cover the topical subjects of technology, international management, leadership, business innovation, and social responsibility in a hybrid format. Around 30% to 40% of the emba X is delivered online while the rest of it is taught on-site at both institutions.

While horizons are broadened with an interdisciplinary approach, toolkits are filled with the Personal Development Plan a holistic, customisable offering that drives student transformations, evolving professionals into experts. Expert input, consulting, coaching, mentoring, individual and group activities in both digital and physical formats facilitate this growth.

Skill Building Interventions are just as robust they are one or two-day workshops modelled in line with the four core components of behavioural skill development: Modelling, instruction, rehearsal, and feedback.

Feser, the mind behind the emba Xs unique focus on personal development and skill-building, is a practitioner himself. With three decades of experience at McKinsey & Company, hes witnessed the evolution of business first-hand. The exposure helped him strategise the right formula to ensure aspiring business leaders are agile enough to keep up in the ever-evolving world of business.

We grouped key competencies into three areas: higher cognitive skills, higher social and emotional skills, and integrative skills, he shares. This is what the Personal Development Plan and Skill Building Interventions focus on. We aim to help people gain a higher level of self-awareness and interpersonal awareness. In the end, they become more effective as leaders.

Students apply newfound knowledge with 11 days of real work via tailored social, business innovation, and company projects. Throughout their journey, they are guided by industry leaders that double as faculty members all of whom are ever willing to provide feedback and advice.

They learn specific tools, techniques, and methodologies not just during these 11 days, but throughout the programme. By continuously nudging them to use these tools, they graduate fully understanding the subject and are immediately able to add value to organisations, says Feser.

By being able to study in both Zrich and St.Gallen learners get the best of both worlds in one country. Source: University of St. Gallen

Theres no better place to study new and improved business practices than in the heart of Europe and surrounded by the Alps. Apart from Swiss delicacies like sinful chocolates and fine cheeses, Switzerland is known for its economic influence, entrepreneurial atmosphere, and education system. The country also has centuries of experience in leveraging technology as a means to help local communities.

Amid the hustle and bustle, theres plenty of room for inspiration. Here, lofty, snow-covered mountains slice the sky and those who reach the peak know theyre only halfway through their journey.

The emba X experience was developed from this perspective, offering its students a journey that is filled with hurdles, accomplishment, teamwork, self-discovery, and ultimately, celebration. From a programme perspective, we want people to reach new heights, says Feser.

By being able to study in both Zrich and St.Gallen learners get the best of both worlds in one country. Zrich is the nations largest city, famous for being fast-paced, ultra-vibrant, and the centre of economic life and education. Meanwhile, St.Gallen is nestled between Lake Constance and the Alps exuding the feel of a quaint, charming, traffic-free old town.

With an emba X, theres no need to choose from one or the other click here to begin your journey to business mastery on the ultimate alpine trek.

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emba X by ETH Zrich and University of St.Gallen: The peak of your personal growth - Study International News

Rolling clouds and a setting sun were the artistry Mother Nature painted for the Inland Empires Saturday night hip-hop tidal wave of Atmosphere, Cypress Hill and DJ Z-Trip at the Pavilion at Riverfront.

A venue of stairs, grass and concrete floor filled up as the seconds were peeled away until Z-Trip took to his turntables with an arsenal of vinyl records. With most modern DJs, you usually get the artist pressing play on a laptop, which is the complete opposite with Z-Trip.

A DJ for more than 30 years and known for his vinyl-only approach of mix tapes and live shows, Z-Trip creates pure amazement with his needle sliding right into the track with precision each and every time.

Each crackle and pop through the speaker unleashed the horde into a world of genre-blurring tracks from Snoop Dogg to Led Zeppelin. This started a fire in the crowd that the daunting clouds could not suppress.

Z-Trip was just the opener, but he had two showings that were split by the lyrical juggernauts of L.A.s Cypress Hill and Minnesotas Atmosphere. The early 1990s showed the planet the sound of West Coast hip-hop, and newly formed Cypress Hill was the team who piqued the ears of the counter culture with pro-cannabis lyrics.

With the launch of their 1991 self-titled album, Cypress Hill changed everything for the culture of rap, at which time cannabis-specific lyrics were typically subdued or minimal in mainstream hip-hop.

As clouds billowed from the side stage-mounted fog machine when Cypress Hill took the stage, the floor filled with hundreds of fans all eager to hear B Reels vocal delivery. Track after track brought the crowd from the concrete to the sky as they partied with the lyrical masters.

Fans were blessed with the sounds of A to the K, then it got funky in the clouds with Phuncky Feel One before landing back on Earth with Hand on the Pump, then they mesmerized by DJ Lord and Eric Bobo as the duo jammed on the tables and drums that spun the crowd into an eruption with the beat dropping of Dr. Greenthumb.

Enough smoke had cleared as Hits From the Bong loaded up a chaos of dancing that did not let up until the last note cleared the speakers from set-ender (Rock) Superstar. With ears buzzing and high-fives tossed out like candy at a parade, the crowd continued with groovy beats by Z-Trip as Atmospheres crew loaded up on the Pavilions stage.

A wind of change swept through the venue, and as clouds moved, so did the fans to the front of the stage awaiting co-headliner Atmosphere. Slug (Sean Daley), Atmosphere frontman, took the stage, and DJ/producer Ant (Anthony Davis) accompanied Slug, as the Minnesota duo has been creating influential albums since 1996.

We want you to meet your new two best friends Atmosphere, Slug said. Roars of applause and screams of excitement engulfed the audience while Slug simultaneously snatched his mic out of its resting place. The intro to Puppets chimed out piano keys, streaming over the PA system, and was muffled by the crowds enthusiasm.

With their endless options of hits, the set list had the creative trademark of Atmosphere that fans have loved since the late 1990s. Rolling out 20 tracks in a meager 90 minutes is no small feat, but that is Slug and Ants standard issue set that they have delivered since I first saw them 15 years ago.

The family-friendly crowd was home to the dancing antics of children of all ages. With spoken-word intros, piano samples and melodies also creating a rare vibe for dancing for fans of all ages, Atmosphere left nothing to the imagination.

Flowing from The Loser Wins and crowd-pleaser Onemosphere, Slug and the Spokane crowd became tied in unison as heads, closed fists and peace-signed hands bounced to Pour Me Another. God Loves Ugly brought the rain-soaked fans into Sunshine, a track that embraces listeners in a blanket of buttery-smooth positivity and offering warm spiritually.

With an open letter to his son Jacob, Slug conveyed his feelings in Little Man, a song that speaks about his relationship with his son and his dad, Craig, and closes with a verse about his self-awareness and accountability. The 4-minute track focuses on multiple open-for-interpretation scenarios that create that special bond between Atmosphere and fans.

As the rain was subsiding, the bass hit Shrapnel, Scapegoat and Smart Went Crazy, all of which Slug speaks to listeners from the heart of a man with a message about personal issues from which Atmosphere creates.

Slug dropped a freestyle with such liquid silkiness out of the nothingness of space and time that it seemed impossible it wasnt laid out in front of him. But with a mind full of positivity and lyrics to showcase his connective capabilities to his surroundings, multiple minutes were ignited by his creative flame and one-of-a-kind approach to freestyling.

Through the closing seconds of meticulous freestyle flow, Atmosphere arrived at the end of the set with Trying to Find a Balance, a song with underlying hints of living a life of moderation. In true Atmosphere style, the beat ended, and the duo walked right off stage, apropos of one of their lyrics: You never need an encore if you leave it all out onstage.

Playgrounds are irresistible.

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Review: Atmosphere, Cypress Hill unleash a tidal wave of hip-hop at Pavilion at Riverfront - The Spokesman-Review