Month: March 2021

Nick Cave is a man of many interest and goings-on. He just dropped a new album called Carnage, he made some erotic wallpaper (but sold none of it), and now, he is set to voice a bunch of trees in an online theater production called Dream, a 50-minute show that is set to run between March 12 and 20.

The plot is described on the show’s website, “A dreamlike journey into a forest: a story of transformation. Inspired by Shakespeare’s iconic play, A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Puck invites you on a magical journey between dusk and dawn. With a cloud of fireflies lighting the way, you explore the forest and encounter four sprites, Moth, Peaseblossom, Cobweb and Mustardseed. But storm clouds gather on the horizon, threatening destruction.” Press materials also describe Cave’s character, the Voice Of The Forest, as a “strange and mystical character who accompanies the audience as they explore the rivers, flowers and trees of a virtual midsummer forest.”

Jane Beese, head of music at Manchester International Festival, says in a press release, “Music is an integral part of the Dream experience and we’re thrilled that Nick Cave’s voice will sit alongside Jesper Nordin and Esa-Pekka Salonen’s living, dynamic score. With his mystical voice and dark vocal tones, Cave is the perfect person to represent the forest helping audiences traverse the otherworldly land of Dream.”

Learn more about Dream here.

In a lengthy new profile from The Los Angeles Times, Dua Lipa reflects back on her pre-fame life, what moving to LA right before the pandemic was like, and how becoming a pop star felt like her destiny. But one of the most interesting and timely subjects she discusses is the treatment of Britney Spears by paparazzi and the media in the early 2000s, and what it feels like to be under the microscope in that way as captured in the new documentary Framing Britney Spears.

Even though her second album, Future Nostalgia, helped cement Lipa as one of the most prominent new stars in the genre, she’s still not a massive icon like Britney was back in 2008 when her paparazzi run-ins were reaching a peak. Still, the level of scrutiny that Dua has received so far makes it easy for her to pinpoint what was going on with Britney, and how jarring it can be to experience that kind of scrutiny.

“The feeling of going down the street and they’re trying to catch you in this very awkward picture — it can be anxiety-inducing, honestly,” she told the Times. “And Britney’s time was pre-Instagram when everything was purely about the tabloids, and there were no laws in place about what paparazzi were allowed to do. She was being harassed — that’s exactly what it was.”

Read the full profile here.

Entertainment Weekly has released the first images from the long-in-the-works Space Jam: A New Legacy. There’s LeBron James in his Tune Squad jersey dunking an electric basketball with the Eiffel Tower and a waterfall behind him (this movie is going to be wild); there’s a slim Big Chungus, a.k.a. Bugs Bunny, looking nervous about something; and there’s the image that has most caught the internet’s attention, Lola Bunny with a different uniform style than in the original Space Jam starring Michael Jordan.

Director Malcolm D. Lee told EW that after watching 1996’s Space Jam for the first time in 2019, he was caught off guard by the “very sexualized” depiction of the Tune Squad’s only female athlete. “This is 2021. It’s important to reflect the authenticity of strong, capable female characters,” he said. Lola was “reworked” for A New Legacy to make her less the object of Bugs’ “Doll” affection and more “the team’s best non-LeBron player.”

This is the only safe for work reaction to the news:

As for the plot… Remember when I said this movie is going to be wild? Well:

Playing a heightened version of himself, [LeBron] James struggles to relate to his son Dom [played by 16-year-old Cedric Joe], who’s much more interested in creating games than playing them. When Dom’s tech skills draw the attention of a CGI humanoid named Al G Rhythm (Don Cheadle), the father-son duo get sucked into the Warner 3000 entertainment “Server-verse,” with the A.I. kidnapping Dom in the hopes of stealing some of the King’s followers (IRL he has about 80 million on Instagram). Cheadle doesn’t consider Al G a bad guy (what bad guy does?), but rather “an A.I. with a chip on his shoulder,” says the MCU veteran.

There’s no word on whether Bill Murray will be back for the sequel. Space Jam: A New Legacy, the first Looney Tunes movie since 2003’s underrated Looney Tunes: Back in Action, is scheduled to be released theatrically and on HBO Max on July 16.

(Via EW)

The past three years have been a sprint for Arike Ogunbowale, even by her standards. A maniacally hard worker who can’t help but put too much on her own plate, she’s a glutton for being busy, even if she makes sure to cherish the ride. Less than three years ago she hit two of the most famous shots in the history of college basketball to claim a national championship at Notre Dame, and now she’s well on her way to, well, whatever she wants.

As an activist, creator, and hoops star, Arike has enough talent, hunger, and credibility to make those in her tight inner circle hesitant to even speak into existence a ceiling on what she can accomplish. Just this year, she is set to represent the U.S. at the Olympics, grow a distinctive fashion line, and potentially get the Dallas Wings to the postseason for the first time since they made her the sixth overall pick in 2019. But for now, she’s biding her time overseas while playing for Dynamo Kursk, the Russian team she’s led to the EuroLeague quarterfinals.

That’s where she is when she sits down with Dime for a Zoom call to talk about her career so far and what’s next. Considering the attention she’s gotten and all the ways in which her life has changed since she made two iconic buzzer-beaters in the 2018 Final Four, as well as how high she’s set her sights in the years since, one question naturally comes up: is it overwhelming?

Hardly a blink passes before her response, which doesn’t even take words to express. Just laughter, then finally a “no.” She loves it. Not the fame or glamour of being a high-profile athlete (indeed that path is admittedly harder to come by for women), but the attention. The opportunity to show more people how special she is, and the higher level still she knows she will reach. Hitting big shots was the inevitable byproduct of a passion for the game that burns as brightly as her smile, and the casual killer instinct that’s necessary to be comfortable in a moment like that. When you dominate, of course people will pay attention.

“That doesn’t make me uncomfortable at all,” she says.

She embraces it. Why do any of this if not for people to get excited? As we watch what happens when one of the most impressive players ever to come out of college basketball finally joins the WNBA, Arike is in many ways redefining the career a women’s basketball player can have.

—

Growing up, the Ogunbowale kids competed any way they could.

In their Milwaukee backyard, older brothers Dare and Mario cobbled together scrimmages in everything from soccer to tackle football to basketball, often inviting their cousin, Diamond, over to get in on the fun. The boys would roll around on the grass and take the “football” out of tackle football, but always made sure not to hurt the youngest, their sister Arike, lest they get an earful or worse from their father. Despite being the youngest Arike never backed down, taking part in all of the “ridiculous” challenges Dare concocted and, for the most part, dominating. They all got their athletic edge from their parents, with dad a rugby player in Europe and mom a highly-regarded softball player at DePaul.

Still, it was clear early that there was something special about Arike.

“I knew we’d have different paths,” Dare says. “It’s been like that since the beginning.”

As Arike grew into her outsized competitive spirit, she developed a work ethic to match and a tenacity on the basketball court that made her a state champion, a three-time Gatorade Player of the Year, and a top recruit. Being in a high school gym where Arike was playing was evidence enough of the type of star she was going to be, and schools from across the nation competed for her talent.

“When you see highlights of her in college or what she’s doing now in the pros, that’s how she was in high school,” says Notre Dame head women’s basketball coach Niele Ivey, who back then was an assistant coach and the program’s recruiting coordinator. “Everyone packed in and came to see her play; she was just exciting and fun to watch.”

Arike was just developing her poised and forceful style, which would become her trademark as a player and entertainer. That made Notre Dame a peculiar match, with the program renowned for shaping players through a strict system and collaborative program. Teammates doubted she would choose South Bend, and Arike admits she strongly considered programs like Ohio State and UCLA.

Paradoxically, the ways in which Notre Dame would force Arike — with all her flair, confidence, and dreams — to adjust were also what made the Fighting Irish a great match.

“It was just a perfect fit for me,” Arike says. “Three and a half hours away from home, academics was important, I’ve been in religious schools my whole life, and I (studied) business, so they have a top-five business school and top five in athletics every year. Then Coach (Muffet) McGraw and Niele really cared about me as a person, made it like a home away from home.”

Having coached several big personalities and towering talents in the years leading up to Arike’s recruitment, a basketball traditionalist like McGraw felt ready to coach Arike in a way she may not have when she took over the program in the late 1980s. The path paved by Skylar Diggins, Kayla McBride, and Jewell Loyd allowed Arike to thrive, and gave McGraw the confidence to hand her the reins.

“I think her confidence was contagious,” McGraw says. “I think it infected the entire team. I think her mindset of ‘we’re going to win this game’ was something that wore off onto all the other players. And she backed it up.”

But Arike’s growth into a leader and the player who would add another trophy to Notre Dame’s collection was slower than expected. She joined a veteran team, and despite earning playing time and All-Freshman accolades, she didn’t traipse up the pecking order like she expected. McGraw made her earn it. By conference play, Arike was more comfortable, but it was hard to stomach the idea of accepting a small role for the betterment of the group.

Growing up, Arike had never had to think much about how to lead or what it means to be in peak physical shape. Greatness, being the best to ever play, that was all firmly in her line of sight even as a high schooler. Playing a role? That was a shock to the system.

“It was hard for me,” Arike says. “I didn’t get the playing time that I envisioned and it was easy to point the finger like why is (McGraw) not playing me? I could be at any school playing 40 minutes, averaging 20-something points, but I’m here subbing. After that, I just had to look at myself and (realize) maybe I wasn’t as ready for college basketball as I thought.”

During the summer after her freshman season, Arike dedicated herself to slimming down and becoming a more vocal leader. That’s also when she began training and working out with Durrell Johnson, who was introduced through Diamond Stone (Arike’s cousin and a former NBA draft pick) and would become part of her small inner circle of confidantes. They worked hard all summer, and despite the grind of school come fall, Johnson was surprised by how quickly Arike would finish assignments he gave her, whether physical or skill-based. The work continued through her sophomore season and into the next summer, when even Ivey noticed Arike came back 20 pounds lighter heading into year three at Notre Dame.

The team needed it. Four players, including All-American forward Brianna Turner, missed all or part of the year due to all of them suffering ACL tears. But the group rounded into form around Arike, went 35-3, and marched through the first two weekends of the NCAA Tournament to set up a Final Four showdown with four-time defending champion UConn.

Friends, family, and alumni all came to watch as Arike and her teammates tried to lock down the program’s first championship in nearly two decades. Notre Dame came into the weekend with the worst odds to claim the title and had lost to UConn earlier in the season, but managed to force overtime this time around.

With less than a minute to go in the extra period, Arike missed a free throw, which quickly turned into a game-tying three on the other end. McGraw called a timeout, then drew up a play for post scorer Jessica Shepard. The Huskies denied it, the ball found Arike’s hands, she drifted to the right corner, a step inside the three-point line, and patiently swished in the shot.

“I’ve seen her do that 100 times where she crosses somebody and then pulls up, and it just so happens to be at the buzzer,” Dare remembers.

“She’s a shot-maker,” adds Ivey. “She lives for those moments. When she steps on the court, she thinks she’s the best player on the court. That’s an intangible that not a lot of players have, and she has that.”

That shot made her famous, but the next one made her a college hoops legend. With the score tied at the end of regulation and three seconds left in the title game against Mississippi State, the Irish skipped a full-on set play and gave the ball to their star. Arike got to the same spot, only with far less time to get her balance, which ended up meaning she took a three without needing to. The hurried, one-legged shot, one of the most iconic in the sport’s history, was pure.

Somewhere in the lower bowl, Dare leapt up in exhilaration. His phone fell to the floor, screen shattering, as he celebrated with his father and his best friend and Wisconsin teammate Austin Traylor. With the long build toward an NCAA title complete for the “princess” of the family, April 1, 2017 became for Dare one of the “happier days of my life and our family’s lives.”

For Arike, it isn’t so much the statuesque image or even the gratification that sticks with her a few years later. Rather, it was seeing the dozens of alumni who joined the title team in the locker room postgame.

“It just felt like this is exactly what I wanted from a school, the type of environment and relationships you build in college, so it was a good feeling to be around everybody,” she says.

—

That process at Notre Dame is similar to the challenge that she faces early in her WNBA career with the Dallas Wings, who haven’t had a bevy of postseason success. Arike has still yet to taste the WNBA playoffs, coming one game short in the abbreviated 2020 Bubble season despite leading the league in scoring and being named to the All-WNBA first team.

“I don’t honestly think it’s even a (specific) goal that she has,” Dare says. “Yeah, she wins first-team All-WNBA and that’s great, but that didn’t mean that she was the best, you know?”

Nobody around Arike is surprised at her rise, or that she’s still not satisfied.

As Arike’s position coach in South Bend, Ivey constantly had to bring her A-game as well, knowing Arike would quickly accomplish whatever was put in front of her. “We tried to bring out the best in her while also allowing her to be a star,” says Ivey. Arike would often invite Ivey’s son, Jaden, now a freshman at Purdue, to work out with her, knowing the boy was a dedicated hooper as well. Ivey was surprised when those invitations would come as late as 11 p.m. or midnight, even on practice days. Johnson has observed it as a trainer when Arike demands to work with the men in the facility and never complains about the grind.

And at Notre Dame, she became a leader, which should serve her well on a young Dallas squad.

“She knew when it was her time to speak and when it was not, and how she could get people to listen to her, and what she could say and how she could say it,” McGraw remembers. “Some people can be kind of abrupt, (but) she was a little more gentle.”

Arike has learned how to accept criticism and be coached. She can absorb a scolding without flinching, then go out and dominate like it never happened. Sometimes, as McGraw jokes, that includes taking the court and making the same flashy play that got her yelled at in the first place, but more often than not, it has worked.

In the near-term, Arike is shooting for a WNBA championship. She speaks of it almost as a formality, the inevitable result of hard work. Beyond that, she’s not sure what shape her career will take. On one hand, she has helped shepherd in a new era of women’s basketball, one with new opportunities for athletes and a larger spotlight on the game. But she’s also the type to never be satisfied.

“Even though this situation is tough (in Dallas) with two losing seasons, this is where I want to be and I want to be in that legacy of helping win a championship for a team,” Arike says. “I for sure won’t be 100 percent satisfied at that point, but in my near future, that’s the biggest thing right now.”

If history tells us anything, Arike can will the Wings toward a title, but the challenge for any female athlete is to expand their influence and stardom beyond the limitations of women’s sports. Increased investment and coverage give many in the game a sense that this generation can have it better. By being herself, Arike can benefit from those trends — and continue to propel them.

After graduation from Notre Dame, Arike became connected with her agency and financial advisor through Dare, but as she met with Erin Kane, who would go on to represent her, it was Arike who did most of the talking. Kane represents many of the top athletes in the WNBA and understands the obstacles to growing the profile of someone in Arike’s shoes, but was impressed with Arike’s depth of knowledge, even as a teenager. Arike knew what she wanted out of her career but also how hard it would be to achieve. Arike trusted her own hustle, but only wanted people in her corner who could match it.

Now that her career is established, Arike is taking time to figure out, with her family, agent and close friends like Ivey and Marina Mabrey, a teammate at Notre Dame and in Dallas, how to give back to all the communities she’s part of. That includes Milwaukee and Dallas, but also Nigeria, where her father was born. Careful not to get ahead of herself with promises, Arike admits that’s where her heart lies right now.

Impact can be circular, in that you need some to affect some. For instance, fashion and clothing were interesting and creatively fulfilling for Arike and Dare long before they had the resources to do anything with that passion. Getting to actually design products and launch a brand is a thrill for the siblings, even in this early stage. Dare isn’t sure what will come of it, but Arike is more optimistic.

Since she was a child, dressing up her friends and family has been a favorite way to express herself. During chilly seasons overseas, it’s an easy way to pass the time and have fun. In addition to getting tattoos every chance she gets, Arike hopes to continue showing her sense of style with her fans. She’s a Nike athlete, but sneaker brands have been slow to fully embrace women’s basketball, so Arike is taking it into her own hands.

She also loves interacting with fans on social media, despite the ugliness that gets sent female athletes’ way from time to time. Amidst travel to and from Russia and a lot of time alone, it’s a lot of Netflix bingeing and fawning over her dogs — typical 20-something stuff. After all, there’s room in the grind for some fun stuff, too. But there’s also a lot of time to improve as a player and think about what comes next.

—

Despite finishing as the runner-up for Rookie of the Year in 2019 (behind Napheesa Collier, over whose outstretched arms she hit the Final Four dagger), Arike did lead the WNBA in scoring in 2020 and make the All-WNBA First Team as Dallas finally cracked the top half of the league in offense. This offseason, after a couple months off to decompress and let her body recover, Arike started putting together counter-moves and off-ball techniques to score despite the defensive hounding she deals with every night. She can get a shot off no matter how many hands are in her face, but as she rediscovers chemistry with Mabrey and becomes a leader for the young Wings, her game has to grow.

The same can be said for her impact as a global citizen. Arike is proud of the impact WNBA players made from the Bubble and is still considering how they can keep it up. She incorporates Black icons into her fashion presence and has earned the trust of Dare as a guiding light in the activism space, but wants to be careful how she wields influence. She is eager to get out in Dallas as the COVID shutdown comes to an end, and wants to help young disadvantaged people in Milwaukee. Her focus is largely local, and personal to her experiences.

And through her involvement in the More Than A Vote campaign and her efforts to help turn Notre Dame’s Edmund P. Joyce Center into a voting center last fall, Arike is not shirking the optional and challenging parts of being a female pro athlete in this moment. She even recently took time to speak with a group of young female athletes from her father’s home country of Nigeria, discussing her schooling, career and heritage.

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“To see her expand that role, to see her impact the world more, to watch her understand her impact and her reach, that’s the part that I am so proud of,” says Ivey, who helped develop a culture of outspokenness and activism at Notre Dame. “The fact that she realizes her power, she’s walking in her power every day, and she’s doing so much more than just sticking to sports, I love that about her.”

Of course, it’s heavy to place upon a player the weight of growing an entire sport, league and movement. Some run away from it. And while Arike doesn’t need to sweat the path forward for the WNBA financially or how to knock down the social impediments to the growth of the game, she’s confident things will keep improving.

“Everybody has that responsibility to try to grow the game because it’s come a long way but it still has a long way to go, but that just comes with being true to yourself and doing what you do,” Arike says. “Going out there and playing, showing your personality and showing the game is fun to watch, that it’s exciting.”

Mentors like Sylvia Fowles, the veteran center and three-time champion who Arike met during a USA Basketball event in 2019, share an easygoing persona that is instructive of how Arike could handle herself over time. Having a teammate like Mabrey who knows Arike and her passions should help her flourish in Dallas. The groundwork is there.

Because organized basketball is still relatively young on both the men’s and women’s side, eras can be measured by the players who dominated within them. Those around her take it seriously when she aspires to be the greatest to ever walk on the court.

“She’s definitely helped change the face of the women’s game,” Ivey says. “You have Pat Summitt, Candace Parker, all these powerful women, even Cheryl Miller back in the day, I think Arike’s one we will talk about someday and say she paved the way, she moved the game forward.”

It almost seems immaterial now to peg possible achievements to someone whose potential is as boundless and whose personality is as laid-back as Arike’s. She says she has no idols, no specific players she measures herself against. Her greatness is internal, something known when it’s seen.

When she considers what someone who has somehow missed those Final Four shots or her infectious on-court swagger ought to know about her, Arike chuckles. Why would she worry about that, when all it takes to get educated on all that makes her great is to turn on a TV, or buy a ticket to a game?

“They should just check me out and see if they like me,” she says.

Well, if it isn’t the consequences of our own actions.

MAGA rioter Richard Barnett is learning a hard lesson in taking responsibility for one’s bad behavior and he’s just not coping with his punishment well. Barnett, who stormed the Capitol with his fellow insurrectionists on Jan. 6th and infamously posted photos of himself sitting with his feet up on Nancy Pelosi’s desk, is currently being held on charges related to the riot. Though a federal judge granted Barnett’s release on “strict conditions,” Chief U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell overruled that decision meaning Barnett has been stuck behind bars while awaiting trial.

According to Newsweek, Barnett showed up to his virtual hearing on Thursday and threw a temper tantrum after the judge set his next court appearance for early May.

“I’ve been here a long time,” Barnett yelled. “Another month … It’s not fair … You’re letting everyone else out. I need help.”

Barnett has pled not guilty to all charges pending against him, despite sharing images and videos of himself on social media. In one, he has his feet propped on Speaker Pelosi’s desk, her ransacked office in the background, as he sports a stun gun on his hip. In another, Barnett can be seen displaying a piece of mail he stole from Pelosi’s office for media outlets covering the riots. When asked about the envelope, Barnett replies that he “left a quarter” in exchange for it and left Pelosi a note that read, “Nancy, Bigo was here you b*tch.”

Though Barnett seemingly lost it at the prospect of more jail time, his lawyers were able to calm him down after the judge granted him a “time out” during the hearing to explain that the next scheduled court date did not reflect his upcoming bond hearing. Barnett’s lawyers said they plan to address the issue of his bond earlier than the hearing in May.

(Via Newsweek)

This one’s for the nerds who have been clamoring for the ultimate in baseball customization for years — a stadium creator attached to MLB: The Show. And with the game’s first step into the next-gen (and onto consoles other than those made by Sony, who produces the game), it’s finally coming (to the next-gen version of the game). And as one of those nerds, I’m giddy over the news of something whose absence I’ve bemoaned for years.

I’m also fully aware that such enthusiasm leaves me vulnerable to heartbreak should the Stadium Creator fall short of my admittedly unrealistic expectations. But the release of a new, mode-specific tease from MLB: The Show starring Puppet Fernando Tatis Jr. and Puppet Coach makes it a little safer to get excited. Not as excited as Puppet Tatis likely is over his cut of Human Tatis’ new mega-contract, but pretty close!

Trumpeting over 1,000 unique customizable features and packs that pull from modern architecture (with what seems like the ability to pull in some iconic features from existing stadiums, like the Coke bottle slide at Oracle Park in San Francisco) to fantasy themes (not sure what’s up with those sky pods!), the Stadium Creator shows real promise. Imagine the time you’ll sink into this and the bunch of different looks and weirdo dimensions you can bring to life. Ponder all the dingers when infield pop-ups become game-breakers. Useable in Diamond Dynasty and Franchise, there’s a real chance to both please the eye and affect the action in a meaningful way if that’s your aim.

The real big takeaway from the video, besides getting a somewhat extended look at the Creator in action, is the reveal that community shares are going to be a thing. As we’ve touched on before, the community is what really takes any sports game worth a damn to a close to maximum level. From expanded rosters to logos and jerseys, there’s a whole group of damn artists who sink a bunch of time into perfecting these things. And so that’s what I’m personally counting on with the Stadium Creator. From inspired choices that bring the weirdness to builds that come close to looking like some classic stadiums that haven’t made it into the game (the OG Yankee Stadium, Tiger Stadium, Ebbets, the Astrodome), there’s real potential to go beyond our own limits with the creator tool and experience what others are putting out. Welcome back, unrealistic expectations!

There are, of course, all kinds of questions still. Primarily, how high we can fly with the creator and the ease of use that is directly connected to that question. It’s also an open question if we can bring those builds into online play (my guess is no, but I am open to a pleasant surprise). But for now, this is something to get excited about ahead of the April 20 release of MLB: The Show 21.

Republican Rep. Steve Scalise is facing backlash on social media after he fired off an inaccurate and incendiary tweet demanding that Americans should be angry with the new voting rights bill that passed the House. The reform bill known as HR1 would expand voting rights to underserved groups and remove intrusive and outdated barriers to participating in the democratic process. Naturally, allowing disenfranchised citizens easier access to voting doesn’t sit well with Scalise who once reportedly referred to himself as “David Duke without the baggage.”

“Every single American should be OUTRAGED by this,” Scalise tweeted. “Democrats just voted to ban voter ID nationwide and force every state to permanently expand mail-in voting.”

In a way, Scalise got what he wanted. Americans are outraged, but mostly with him.

“Banning voter ID” is a GOP talking point that former vice-president Mike Pence also used in an op-ed on the Daily Signal. However, that claim is not accurate and was fact-checked by Daniel Dale ahead of HR1 passing the House. Via CNN:

This is false. The bill does not prohibit states from having voter identification requirements. Rather, it requires states to allow voters who do not show ID to instead submit a signed statement under penalty of perjury attesting to their identity and eligibility to vote.

As for the mail-in ballot claim in Scalise’s tweet, which Pence also referenced, here’s what’s really happening, according to Dale: “The Democrats’ bill does not require states to send out ballots that voters have not explicitly solicited. Rather, the bill requires states to give all voters the option of requesting a mail-in ballot without an excuse.” In short, yes, there will be greater access to mail-in voting, but it will not be forced on voters. Of course, if you think allowing more Americans to vote is a bad thing, as Scalise and Pence do, then obviously you won’t be a fan of this move.

(Via Steve Scalise on Twitter)

Cats are notoriously weird. Everyone who’s had cats knows that they each have their own unique quirks, idiosyncrasies, preferences, habits, and flat-out WTFness.

But even those of us who have experience with bizarre cat behavior are blown away by the antics this “cat dad” is able to get away with.

Kareem and Fifi are the cat parents of Chase, Skye, and Millie—literally the most chill kitties ever. They share their family life on TikTok as @dontstopmeowing, and their videos have been viewed millions of times. When you see them, you’ll understand why.

Take Chase’s spa days, for example. It may seem unreal at first, but watch what happens when Fifi tries to take away his cucumber slices.

When she puts them back on his eyes? WHAT?! What cat would let you put them on once, much less get mad when you take them off?

This cat. Chase is living his best life.

But apparently, it’s not just Chase. Skye and Millie have also joined in “spaw day.” How on earth does one couple end up with three hilariously malleable cats?

Oh, and if you think they must have been sedated or something, look at how wide awake they are during bath time. That’s right, bath time. Most cats hate water, but apparently, these three couldn’t care less. How?

They’ll literally do anything. The Don’t Stop Meowing channel is filled with videos like this. Cats wearing glasses. Cats wearing hats. Cats driving cars. It’s unbelievable yet highly watchable entertainment.

If you’re worried that Kareem gets all the love and Fifi constantly gets the shaft, that seems to be a bit for show. Look at Chase and Fifi’s conversation about her leaving town for a business trip:

The whole channel is worth checking out. Ever seen a cat being carried in a baby carrier at the grocery store? A cat buckled into a car seat? Three cats sitting through storytime? It’s all there. (Just a heads up: A few of the videos have explicit language, so parents might want to do a preview before watching with little ones.) You can follow the couple and their cats on all their social media channels, including Instagram and YouTube if TikTok isn’t your thing, here.

If you weren’t a cat person before, these videos might change your mind. Fair warning, however: Getting a cat because you want them to do things like this would be a mistake. Cats do what they want to do, and no one can predict what weird traits they will have. Even if you raise them from kittenhood, they’re still unpredictable and weird.

And honestly, we wouldn’t have them any other way.

It’s been nearly three decades since Wu-Tang Clan formed their iconic group in NYC. To celebrate the group’s legacy, Wu-Tang are releasing a photobook featuring never-before-scene pictures spanning their entire career. But it’s not just any photobook. Rather, the book comes enclosed in a specially-made, 400-pound chamber.

Titled Wu-Tang Clan: Legacy, the 300-page commemorative book is the “biggest and rarest book in the history of Hip Hop,” according to Wu-Tang’s website. Each copy is signed by Wu-Tang members, dated, numbered, and accompanied by certificates of authenticity.

It’s limited to only 36 copies, hence the “rarest book” description, and will arrive alongside a bronze chamber individually designed by sculptor Gethin Jones. For the chamber, Jones took inspiration from the bronze ritual bowls used in the Zhou Dynasty, whose first ruler was King Wu-Wang.

Speaking about the photobook in a statement, CEO of Wu-Tang Clan Management John ‘Mook’ Gibbons expressed his anticipation about the project. “From conception to the present day, this is the story of the undisputed greatest hip-hop group of all time being unveiled through rare and never before seen photos,” he said.

Watch a teaser video for the Wu-Tang Clan: Legacy book above and find out how to order it here.

Many universities around the country have apparel deals with giant brands like adidas, Under Armour, or Nike. On Thursday, Florida A&M announced a partnership that would last six years and see the school linked directly to Nike’s biggest athlete, LeBron James.

The HBCU’s men’s and women’s basketball teams will sit be known as “Team LeBron” programs, with the King’s signature crown logo on all their gear as well as new, one-of-a-kind FAMU Rattlers LeBron sneakers. The deal was reported by Nick DePaula of ESPN.

In a subsequent tweet, DePaula noted that Nike will increase its commitment to HBCUs as part of this deal, giving Florida A&M and other HBCU student-athletes access to development programs, internships and networking opportunities.

James, meanwhile, had previously teased that he had something in the works with the school after he wore these sneakers during a game.

This is yet another prong to James’ commitment to HBCUs, as James gets ready to lead his team as a captain in this weekend’s NBA All-Star game, through which the NBA will donate $3 million in proceeds to HBCUs. Other NBA stars like Chris Paul and Steph Curry have over the past year doubled down on their financial support of HBCUs as a way to develop opportunities in Black communities around the country. Nike and James’ unique partnership with Florida A&M is yet another version of that support.