A federal report details how a potential “super-spreading event” in Chicago likely infected 15 people at two family gatherings, three of whom died of COVID-19.

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“I’ll always rememberrrrrr.”

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Quarantined Americans continue to obsess over Tiger King, the Netflix doc series about zookeeper-turned-convict Joe Maldonado-Passage, aka Joe Exotic, who’s currently serving a 22-year jail sentence on a number of convictions, including murder-for-hire. Among Joe’s many, many colorful qualities is that he’s been seeking a pardon from outlandish and possibly dangerous figure: Donald J. Trump. And on Wednesday, someone finally asked the president about a man whose story was too disturbing for Larry David.

As per Deadline, the question was posed during the president’s daily coronavirus press conference by The New York Post’s Steven Nelson, who asked if he’d given a though to pardoning one of the most-watched stars of the quarantine. Alas, Joe may have to wait a bit longer for a pardon.

“I know nothing about it. He has 22 years for what? What did he do?” Trump asked Nelson. When the reporter listed his crimes but added that Joe still claimed innocence, the president replied, “You think he didn’t do it? Are you on his side? Are you recommending a pardon?” Finally he broke out an old Trump chestnut: “I’ll take a look.”

At least there’s one bit of closure here: Donald Trump has not yet watched Tiger King. He’s been trying to belatedly solve a pandemic, so he may not having time for a seven-episode show, though he’d probably admire how Joe underpaid his staff. We’ll see what comes first: a pardon for Joe Exotic or widespread national testing for COVID-19.

(Via Deadline)

To close out 2019, Trippie Redd shared the fourth installment of his A Love Letter To You mixtape series. Laced with 21 songs, the project proved to be his most successful release, debuting at No. 1 on the Billboard album charts with 104,000 in first-week sales. In February, Trippie shared the deluxe version of the album, featuring 8 new song. One of those was “Yell Oh,” a collaboration with Young Thug, which proved to be the fan-favorite. Nearly two months later, Trippie Redd returns with a video for the song.

Attempting to “illustrate the various nightmares that result from the illicit use of drugs,” as reads the disclaimer at the start, Trippie Redd and Young Thug are portrayed as claymation figures. The rappers hit the road after spending time at a strip club, tearing through the city, all while snatching diamonds from a restricted area. They also escape from the police thanks to oversized Percocet pills, and stop by a gas station to pump their car with Promethazine, as well as purchase some alcohol.

Unbeknownst to Trippie and Thug, their journey has caused a stir in the city, bringing large amounts of attention to them both. Shortly after pulling over by a lake for a quick breather, a swarm of “Opps” surround them, firing at them. Trippie and Thug are able to escape from the ambush and head back on the road. Unfortunately, their luck soon runs out during their high-speed getaway as they fall into the mouth of an underground monster.

The video comes just a month after Trippie was sued by Three 6 Mafia for an uncleared sample of their song “Hit A Muthaf*cka,” which he used in his A Love Letter To You 4 track “Death.”

Watch the video for “Yell Oh” above.

Like its predecessor, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, opinions have been running hot ever since The Rise of Skywalker hit theaters in December as rabid fans have continued to argue over the film’s various strengths and weaknesses. Each time a cast member or filmmaker chimes in with their thoughts, the fan fighting only kicks up a notch, and that’s sure to be the case with Domhnall Gleeson weighing in on the fate of his character General Hux.

(Spoilers for The Rise of Skywalker ahead.)

Not far into the film, Hux is revealed to be a spy for the Resistance. Although, his motivation isn’t to aid the galactic freedom fighters, but to essentially stick it to Kylo Ren. Unfortunately for Hux, his betrayal is quickly snuffed out, and he’s gunned down by General Pryde (Richard E. Grant) who becomes Ren’s new right-hand Imperial officer. Star Wars fans enjoyed the exciting reveal and wish they could’ve seen more of the traitorous Hux scheming behind Kylo’s back, and apparently Gleeson feels the same, according to a new interview with IndieWire:

“It would’ve been nice to stick around a little bit longer, for sure,” Gleeson said in a recent phone interview. “It would’ve been nice to see the spy thing play out a little bit, but J.J. [Abrams] knows what he’s doing, and I heard a kind of gasp in the cinema when it happened, so I guess he was right.”

While Gleeson would’ve liked to have more screen time, it did soften the blow that he was replaced by Grant whose work he’s admired for a very long time. “There are a lot of worse people to bow out to,” Gleeson said. The actor is also aware of the limitations of trying to fit several epic storylines into one movie. “There’s always stuff that you would like to see more of, but you can’t have a 17-hour film, I’ve been told. Apparently that’s not allowed, so I was happy with what was there.”

(Via IndieWire)

Happy NXT TakeOver day! Kind of!

Welcome to this week’s Wednesday Night Wars open discussion thread. This week we’ve got the USA Network approximation of NXT TakeOver featuring a number one contender ladder match for the women’s division and Johnny Gargano versus Tommaso Ciampa in a match four years in the making, against an AEW Dynamite that includes the first match in the TNT Championship tournament, Britt Baker vs. Hikaru Shida in a match about a sandwich, and more.

On tonight’s cards:

AEW Dynamite

• TNT Championship Tournament Match: Cody vs. Shawn Spears
• Hikaru Shida vs. Dr. Britt Baker
• Best Friends vs. Kenny Omega and his best friend Michael Nakazawa
• Brodie Lee in action
• Chris Jericho on commentary

NXT

• Johnny Gargano vs. Tommaso Ciampa
• NXT Women’s Championship Number One Contender Ladder Match: Candice LeRae vs. Mia Yim vs. Io Shirai vs. Tegan Nox vs. Dakota Kai vs. Chelsea Green

As always, +1 your favorite comments from tonight’s open thread and if we get enough of the good shit, we’ll include 10 of the best in tomorrow’s Best and Worst of NXT and AEW reports. Make sure you flip the comments by selecting “newest” in the drop down menu under discussion, and enjoy the show!

The goalposts have really been moved on what one would call a vacation these days. To call something a vacation it used to require a trip on an airplane or at least a car ride of more than five hours.

Today, things are different.

In April 2020, a trip to the liquor store to pick up some milk or Snickers bar feels like a getaway. It makes the good ol’ days when we could come and go as we please seem like some type of illusion.

Lithuanian traveler, writer, and journalist Liudas Dapkus, invited people to relive their adventures abroad by recreating their favorite travel photos in their homes.

In many of the photos people are wearing the same clothes and standing in the same positions, but the background isn’t quite as picturesque.

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People have been posting their photos under #quarantinetravelerchallenge.

Liudas kicked off the challenge with a photo of himself holding his Maine Coon, Česlovas. In the original 2018 photo taken in Queensland, Australia, Liudas is holding a koala.

via Liudas Dapkus / Facebook

Liudas’ post inspired some great attempts to relive some great travel moments, but they all fell short of the original glory.

aisteborjas/ Instagram

The toilet photo was just slightly less dangerous of an undertaking.

via Travel Planet Keliones

That lake looks a little tough to water ski on.

jurgakas / Instagram

The second photo is slightly less of a religious experience.

via Audra KondroteReport

No danger of being bitten by a monkey in photo one.

svagarm / Instagram

Photo number two kinda sucks.

Egle Geniene

Wrong species, ma’am.

via Gabrielė Štaraitė /FAcebook

Nope.

Travel Planet kelionės

She didn’t even have the enthusiasm to jump.

Rasa Tilvikiene

We know Hollywood Blvd. when we see it.

A Komanda

Well, we hope she at least has the memories.

Travel Planet kelionės

This dude’s towel origami needs some work.

via Travel Planet kelionės

it’s hard to surf when you’re 35 feet above sea level.

via TravelPlanetKeliones

The smile is the same, but the background is not.

TravelPlanetKeliones

The water pressure is slightly different in photo number two.

via Vitalij NaumenkoReport

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You might know Jehnny Beth from her work in the thrashing post-punk band Savages. But now, Beth is setting out on her own. Her debut solo album is called To Love Is To Live, and was inspired by David Bowie’s swan song Blackstar. Beth tried to get into a similar headspace as Bowie for the record, telling the New York Times that she worked on the project “as if I was going to die.” This sentiment comes through in the music — an earnest and unabashed attempt at reconciling with life and the anxieties of death.

Ahead of To Love Is To Live, Beth sat down to talk her love for Nine Inch Nails, Bill Murray, and her new book in the latest Indie Mixtape 20 Q&A.

What are four words you would use to describe your music?

Oneiric, strange, erotic, and cruel.

It’s 2050 and the world hasn’t ended and people are still listening to your music. How would you like it to be remembered?

Well 2050 isn’t actually very far away… I’m pretty sure humanity will still be consumed by the same fears, the same kind of love and obsessions, so my album should do just fine.

What’s your favorite city in the world to perform?

I have great memories of Mexico and Porto (Portugal), the audiences are so passionate there, but luckily I have always found incredibly generous audiences pretty much everywhere I have been around the globe.

Who’s the person who has most inspired your work, and why?

I think it’s fair to say that I wouldn’t be the artist I am today without the influence and love of my long-term partner and collaborator Johnny Hostile. This year is our 15th year together and he continues to inspire me on a day to day basis. Johnny is the fuel. He empowers me by giving me the reality of that life which creates the music and the work, and helps me to maintain it over the years.

Where did you eat the best meal of your life?

The best meal of my life would have to be a meal that I remember with love, and that would be something my grandma would have cooked in my childhood, most certainly a dessert, probably a French prune pie, in her garden on a summer afternoon.

What album do you know every word to?

Well… mine! And Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea by PJ Harvey.

What was the best concert you’ve ever attended?

Nine Inch Nails Lollapalooza 2014.

What is the best outfit for performing and why?

When I started performing in Savages it was clear to me that, being a female front person, journalists would spend more time talking about my outfit than my music, so I started dressing simply with black clothes, like a work outfit, so they would have nothing to talk about but my lyrics.

Who’s your favorite person to follow on Twitter and/or Instagram?

@johnnyhostilephoto: Johnny Hostile started photography when we moved from London to Paris 3 years ago. His work inspired a collaboration between his photos and my writing on the subject of freedom and sexuality that we compiled in a book called Crimes Against Love Memories (C.A.L.M) published in June 11th 2020 by White Rabbit Editions.

What’s your most frequently played song in the van on tour?

“WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE.”

What’s the last thing you Googled?

A link to a video that a fan did of one of my old songs. The link didn’t work…

What album makes for the perfect gift?

White Light / White Heat, The Velvet Underground.

Where’s the weirdest place you’ve ever crashed while on tour?

Someone’s back garden shed… somewhere near Norwich, UK, 2008, winter time.

What’s the story behind your first or favorite tattoo?

My tattooist (Joe Moo) is a friend and I love his work. I only have red tattoos. My favourite tattoo is the one that says “I Am Here”. That’s the epitaph I want on my grave when I die.

What artists keep you from flipping the channel on the radio?

Idles, Fontaines D.C, King Krule, Black Midi, Ezra Furman, Liam Gallagher, NIN, Kelly Lee Owens, Underworld, Mica Levi, Bill Evans, Nina Simone, Vivaldi, Schubert, Mozart, Massive Attack, Lee Hazelwood & Nancy Sinatra, Marianne Faithfull, Fever Ray, Grace Jones… the list goes on and on…

What’s the nicest thing anyone has ever done for you?

My mother wrote me a letter before Xmas and it was the nicest letter I ever received, it profoundly changed my relationship to her and to the world. She told me how much she loved me and how she supported me in what I am doing even though she doesn’t always understand. Made me realize that we truly can’t be happy without being loved.

What’s one piece of advice you’d go back in time to give to your 18-year-old self?

Don’t be afraid to be who you are – they will get used to it.

What’s the last show you went to?

Idles in Alexandra Palace. I lost my t-shirt in the moshpit, very erotic.

What movie can you not resist watching when it’s on TV?

Old french comedies, or any kind of good comedy, anything with Bill Murray.

What would you cook if Kanye were coming to your house for dinner?

I’d hide his wife’s jewelry first.

To Love Is To Live is out May 8 via Caroline Records. Pre-order here.

The Chicago Bulls are currently searching for a new executive vice president of basketball operations, as they finally appear ready to move on from the Gar Forman-John Paxson duo as their top basketball decision makers. On Wednesday, we learned five of the names the Bulls have brought in for virtual interviews, including some formerly disgraced executives in Danny Ferry and Bryan Colangelo, both of whom were ousted from their last full-time jobs for very different reasons.

Arturas Karnisovas, currently the GM in Denver, is the presumptive frontrunner for the job, which isn’t surprising given his track record with the Nuggets, but also the fact that he’s currently not the lead decision maker in the organization, operating below VP Tim Connelly. However, there is another name that would like to throw his hat in the ring for the position: Brooklyn Nets guard Spencer Dinwiddie.

Dinwiddie, like so many of us, is clearly very bored and was thrilled to have something to occupy his time, and about 50 minutes after his first tweet (a time period he clearly was figuring out a grand plan) he fired off a thread about what he would do as the player-VP of the Chicago Bulls — starting with some good old fashioned tampering in the form of inking himself to a max deal after signing with Rich Paul, provided Klutch promises to bring Anthony Davis home to Chicago.

I see no reason why the Bulls should not explore this possibility. The man, who was a one-time member of the organization when he played for its G League squad, clearly has a plan, even if we can debate how successful the roster he wants to piece together would be, and that is more than we can say about the Bulls front office for the better part of two decades. I fully endorse Dinwiddie as player-VP because, if nothing else, it would be chaos and I like chaos.