Month: July 2021

It was one of the most talked-about shows of last year — a blend of horror and history and satire and racial commentary, and all based around the work of H.P. Lovecraft. Alas, it was too good to be true: As Deadline reported, HBO has made the surprising decision to not bring back Lovecraft Country for a second season.

The show — which starred Jurnee Smollett and Jonathan Majors as Black people traveling through the 1950s South, happening upon many dark secrets — premiered last summer, when the nation was gripped by protests over the murder of George Floyd. There were plans for what sounded like an even more ambitious second season. But it was not to be. HBO did not go into specifics behind their decision.

However, creator and showrunner Misha Green did tease what could have been. She dropped an image from the Season 2 “Bible,” revealing that it would begin “in a new world, and that new world sits precisely where The United States used to sit.” It shows a map of the “Sovereign States of America,” which is divided into four sections, including one called “New Negro Republic,” in the Southeast, and one called “Whitelands,” running just north of it, from North Texas into southern Jersey. One can only imagine…

(Via Deadline)

There has been no better show in MLB in 2021 than Shohei Ohtani — who after years of injuries is finally at his peak — and the AL MVP frontrunner kept the show going on Friday night when he hit two home runs early against Baltimore to become MLB’s first player to 30 dingers.

The lefty Ohtani pulled the first one deep past the right field wall off Orioles starter Keegan Akin. The homer, his 29th of the year, broke Anaheim’s franchise record for home runs before the All-Star break.

As a follow-up, Ohtani upped the level of difficulty. There’s nothing like the pop of an Ohtani dinger, but even more impressive with No. 30 was how far it went despite being launched to the opposite field.

The smash lifted Ohtani to the hallowed ground of 30 home runs before the All-Star break, which puts him on pace for about 61 on the season. With 30 homers, a .360 on-base percentage and a 173 OPS+, Ohtani has a good claim to be being the best hitter in baseball right now. Oh, and of course he pitches, too. The 26-year-old has thrown 60 innings across 12 starts and has a respectable 3.74 FIP.

But it’s moonshots like these that make him potentially the best show in baseball right now, and a player who should come out of the All-Star break with a chance at the AL MVP trophy.

Something went down in Hollywood today between Lil Uzi Vert and Saint Jhn.

According to a frequently updated report by TMZ, Saint Jhn and Lil Uzi Vert were involved in an altercation today at Dialog Cafe in West Hollywood. Uzi apparently came to the cafe because Saint Jhn was meeting with his ex-girlfriend Brittany Byrd. TMZ’s sources claim that Uzi and Jhn got into a physical altercation, and Uzi’s gun fell out onto the table when Uzi tried to land a punch and missed. Other reports claim that Uzi flashed the handle of his gun, causing everyone to flee the scene out of fear of a shooting.

According to Byrd, she was meeting with Jhn strictly for business purposes, but something about the two of them together set Uzi off. vByrd filed a police report later in the day at the West Hollywood Sheriff’s substation alleging that Uzi put a gun to her stomach and struck her during the altercation. Uzi and Saint Jhn have both yet to comment on the fight, though the artists never seemed to have beef before this and Uzi even featured on a song with Jhn, “High School Reunion, Prom” in 2020. You can hear that collab below.

A broken nose forced Devin Booker to don a mask and likely had a role in some of his cold shooting performances during the Western Conference Finals, but it also freed him up during a key Game Two to take in some advice from his point guard.

During an interview on Sirius XM NBA Radio this week, Suns managing partner Robert Sarver described being back in the locker room while Booker was getting stitches to stop from “gushing” blood, and watching as during this intense medical procedure, Booker has a phone to his face. The call came courtesy of Chris Paul’s personal security guard, and the face on the screen was Paul himself.

“Chris is on FaceTime telling Devin what to do,” Sarver said, “explaining to him which elbow he wants him to get to and how to get this person there and that person here, (saying) ‘don’t lose your temper, be calm, don’t try to strike back, you’re going to get this.’”

Of course, Paul is not the only maniacally competitive player in the Suns’ backcourt. According to Sarver, Booker himself nervously anticipated the end of the stitching procedure and the end of the Point God’s call so that he could get back out onto the court in time for a two-for-one opportunity on offense.

Bruce Lee’s appearance in Once Upon A Time In Hollywood has been a frequent topic of conversation in the months since Quentin Tarantino’s latest film hit theaters. The accuracy of Lee’s depiction in the film has been of particular concern, especially for Lee’s family. And now that Tarantino’s book of the same name has hit shelves, the director’s been asked publicly about that backlash and created a new round of discussion about the scene.

This week brought a Tarantino interview on Joe Rogan’s podcast where he was asked about the outcry that Tarantino didn’t portray the legendary actor’s personality and character well in a scene where he essentially challenges Brad Pitt’s character to a fight. Tarantino said earlier in the week that Lee’s daughter is allowed to get upset about it, but everyone else can, essentially, get lost.

And Lee’s daughter Shannon, who previously told Tarantino to “shut up” when discussing the portrayal, apparently is still upset indeed. When reached for comment about the latest comments by The Hollywood Reporter, Lee responded with a full opinion piece that expressed her frustration with this enduring controversy and that others continue to defend Tarantino and his perception of Lee.

Why does Quentin Tarantino speak like he knew Bruce Lee and hated him? It seems weird given he never met Bruce Lee, right? Not to mention that Mr. Tarantino happily dressed the Bride in a knock-off of my father’s yellow jumpsuit and the Crazy 88s in Kato-style masks and outfits for Kill Bill, which many saw as a love letter to Bruce Lee. But love letters usually address the recipient by name, and from what I could observe at the time, Mr. Tarantino tried, interestingly, to avoid saying the name Bruce Lee as much as possible back then.

If only he’d take the name Bruce Lee off his lips now.

The full piece is certainly worth reading if the historical accuracy of Once Upon A Time In Hollywood is of concern to you. And her frustrations are certainly valid given the continued difficulties minorities have faced in Hollywood in the decades since Lee stopped acting. Shannon Lee describes the scene as a classic example of how “white Hollywood” viewed her father and his work, and she detailed the various ways his impact on cinema has been minimized both during and after his career ended.

I’m tired of hearing from white men in Hollywood that he was arrogant and an asshole when they have no idea and cannot fathom what it might have taken to get work in 1960s and ’70s Hollywood as a Chinese man with (God forbid) an accent, or to try to express an opinion on a set as a perceived foreigner and person of color. I’m tired of white men in Hollywood mistaking his confidence, passion and skill for hubris and therefore finding it necessary to marginalize him and his contributions. I’m tired of white men in Hollywood finding it too challenging to believe that Bruce Lee might have really been good at what he did and maybe even knew how to do it better than them.

Shannon Lee’s main point here is that, whether intentional or not, Tarantino is using Lee’s image and the controversy here to promote both his movie and, now a book. And she seems hopeful to end the cycle of news about the matter with the piece, concluding the piece saying “I think it’s time for both of us to walk on.” We’ll see if this is, indeed, the end of the discussion. But Lee’s statement is certainly worth reading in full to let her get the last word here.

[via THR]

Scottie Pippen has had quite the week or so. Pippen has called out a number of individuals in some form or fashion, from negatively comparing Kevin Durant to LeBron James (and drawing the ire of KD in the process), to seriously critiquing Ben Simmons, to calling out Phil Jackson for allegedly being a racist.

One such person who drew Pippen’s ire was Charles Barkley. Pippen made light of how he can be diminished on Inside the NBA for never winning a ring, then said of Barkley’s reputation for being a tough player, “He only got arrested for throwing some little white guys out of a window. I ain’t never seen him fight a Black man unless there were referees around. He plays his role like he’s tough. I don’t know nobody he done whooped.”

On Friday, Barkley appeared on the Dan Patrick Show to respond to Pippen, and more or less said that the reason he’s saying these sorts of things is he has a book to sell.

“I’m disappointed in Scottie, because he’s burning every bridge,” Barkley said. “I know he has a book coming out. Listen, Scottie was a very good player, I’ve always liked Scottie, too. I’ve always liked him, I’ve never had a disagreement or an argument with him. But he’s taking shots at me, and I’m just laughing, because I’m like, ‘Yo, man, you do know we’re, like, 60 years old. We don’t have beefs anymore, we’re like 60.’

“I was disappointed he’s taking shots at Michael, Phil Jackson, and myself,” Barkley went on to say. “But I understand he’s got a book coming out. And I just think it’s silly and stupid, to be honest with you. Listen, hey, we know you’ve got a book coming out, stop trying to take shots at big fish, he’s big game hunting. You come after myself, you come after Michael, you come after Phil Jackson, and we know you’ve got a book coming out. But it really just makes you look stupid and silly in the long run, to be honest with you.”

With how things have gone here, we fully expect Pippen to respond sooner rather than later.

This week, portions of the continental United States saw record temperatures that caused deaths, power outages and generally made a lot of people realize climate change is impacting the world much more severely than politicians seem to realize. And to top all that off, now the ocean caught on fire.

Social media lit up with concern and much-deserved hyperbole when video emerged of a fire right in the Gulf of Mexico. Apparently caused by a broken oil pipe near a Pemex oil platform. The result was a literal fire in the middle of the ocean, with crews trying to somehow contain it amid millions upon millions of gallons of water.

The first video looks somewhat like it’s all taking place underwater somehow, but it actually is ignited oil on the surface of the water. You know, like Cleveland In 1969-style.

Basically every video of this thing was horrifying.

We already know that there’s a Door to Hell in Azerbaijan that was created by a similar gas incident, and who can forget the eternal fires underneath the (mostly) abandoned city of Centralia, Pennsylvania. So there’s definitely some precedent here.

According to Reuters, though, the fire had been put out by Friday night. Still, feel free to add this to the growing list of ways humanity is quite literally setting the planet on fire in startlingly dramatic, supervillain-like ways. I’m sure it’s all going to be fine.

Click to download here.

Men will literally send laundry detergent to their therapists before they will go to therapy.

Quit your squealing, piggies. That sweet, sweet gabagool flavored slop is back with that divorced dad energy you find so attractive. Guest Noel Brown from the Stuff They Don’t Want You To Know, Ridiculous History, and Movie Crush podcasts joins Matt and Vince to talk about The Sopranos season five premiere, “Two Tonys.”

When season 5 starts, Tony and Carm aren’t officially divorced but they are separated enough for Tony to shoot his shot with Dr Melfi, and he’s not exactly Steph Curry. As discussed in the podcast, he’s coming on strong and looking psychologically sweaty. Tony’s undeniable raw magnetism is well-documented on this podcast, but in this episode, his raw animal instincts are on display in the least appealing way imaginable. He’s like a Rottweiler with his lipstick out trying to hump Melfi’s leg as she backs away. That might get a disgusting weirdo like you riled up, but it’s not working for Melfi.

Tony’s not the only animal lurking around, as AJ runs into an actual bear in the backyard. If this were a podcast for nerds, there would likely be some kind of discussion about the symbolism here. “Tony is the bear and the bear is Tony!” the nerds are shouting as Matt, Vince, and Noel agree that AJ sounds like a whiny little baby when he cries for his mommy.

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-Description by Brent Flyberg

I Think You Should Leave returns later this month for a second season the Internet’s biggest meme fans have been waiting for since the glorious premiere of the Tim Robinson sketch show in 2019. The announcement of a Season 2 release date came with a medley of some of the show’s greatest hits, and ahead of the long weekend the show’s Twitter account returned with a full version of a Season One classic.

The Turbo Team shared a video of the acoustic version of “Friday Night,” the best song ever sung at a mother’s funeral.

“Friday Night,” of course, is all about the limitless potential of an evening that kicks off the weekend. From the fourth episode of the first season, the sketch features Robinson driving in a car with a bumper sticker that says “honk if you’re horny” on it. Conner O’Malley’s character is more than willing to oblige, setting up one of the weirder sketches of the season that culminated in an equally touching and bizarre burial scene in a cemetery.

We already saw a bit of this last month, as part of a medley of songs from Robinson and Sam Richardson along with musician Phredley Brown. That sequence contained a ton of hits, though the meme-filled show did have too many songs to fit in there: “The Day That Robert Palins Murdered Me” was nowhere to be seen.

Perhaps that will drop before the July 6 return of I Think You Should Leave. But either way, being just a long weekend away from more of the show is welcome news, indeed.

A mother’s experience job hunting with a one-year-old child highlights the reality many parents face and how employers can be part of the solution.

Mother-of-two Maggie Mundwiller, 38, was laid-off six weeks after her one-year-old Mylo was born in the middle of the pandemic. Finding a job over the past year has been hard enough, let alone with a newborn baby.

“A lot of people are not able to pay for the childcare if they’re unemployed even if there is one parent that is employed,” she told WMUR. “You have so many other bills that you have to pay for.”

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She recently interviewed for a marketing position at a senior living facility and received a last-minute call from the company to come in for a follow-up. However, her family had prior commitments they couldn’t get out of to watch the baby.

Mundwiller asked the company if they could reschedule the interview because she had no one to look after her child. The company told her not to worry, because it’s child-friendly. “So, I just let them know, OK we’ll be there in a few hours and Mylo will be interview ready,” Mundwiller said.

Mudwiller dressed little Mylo up in a dapper suit, gave him his first resume, and cleaned up his stroller so they could make the best impression possible. She hoped to “make a good impression and make light out of a situation that’s a little bit different than what we’re used to,” she said.

The interview went well because she felt she had nothing to hide. “The interview certainly felt more laid back than a traditional one. I could be my authentic self without hiding parts of my personal life,” she told Buzzfeed.

The video of her and Mylo getting prepped for the interview went viral on TikTok earning over nine million views. It even caught the attention of Senator Elizabeth Warren.

“I remember what it was like as a young mom trying to juggle a big new job—standing in the driveway, bouncing my baby on my hip, panic mounting because the babysitter hadn’t come yet,” Warren wrote on Facebook. “That’s why I’m in this fight for quality, affordable child care.”

Mudwiller was completely shocked that her video was seen by the Senator.

In a follow-up video, Mudwiller revealed that she had got the job and that all she and Mylo had to do was make sure they were the right fit for the company.

The mother-of-two is happy that she was able to highlight an issue that so many parents face and to give them a voice. “You can tell that there’s just so many people that relate and there hasn’t been a voice for them, and so I feel like finally there’s a voice for people who are struggling in the same way that I have been,” she said.

Mudwiller’s interview made her realize how important it is for companies to cater to employees with children so she’s working on a website for parents that lets them know which employers are child-friendly.