Month: July 2021

After 25 years on the air, beloved children’s series Arthur is coming to an end, and if we weren’t so bummed about it, we’d definitely insert that clenched first meme here. The news comes not only as a shock for fans, but for D.W. voice actor Jason Szwimmer as well, who was told about the show’s cancelation when he invited series developer Kathy Waugh on his Arthur-themed podcast, Finding DW. Waugh chose the podcast to make the big announcement, revealing to Szwimmer that “Arthur is no longer in production” and the cast had their wrap party two years ago. However, Waugh went on to reassure fans (and Szwimmer) that the show still has a final season coming and you’ll be able to catch Arthur and friends in various PBS public service announcements in the meantime.

Following Waugh’s appearance, Arthur executive producer Carol Greenwald confirmed the show will be leaving PBS following its winter 2022 season. She then further elaborated on the future of the Arthur, stating the show “will continue to be available on PBS Kids for years to come” and “producer GBH and PBS Kids are continuing to work together on additional Arthur content, sharing the lessons of Arthur and his friends in new ways.”

Arthur’s end marks the end of one of the longest-running children’s series in television history. The four-time Emmy award-winning cartoon first debuted on tv back in 1996, and since then has released 240 episodes. However — despite as prolific and long-running as that may seem — Waugh believes even 25 years was far too short a journey for the lovable aardvark.

“I think they made a mistake, PBS, and I think Arthur should come back and I know I’m not alone in thinking they made a mistake. I don’t know if it was a ratings issue or if it felt like it needed to be retired. To me, it felt evergreen, like it was never going to end. But it did end. We finished the last episode [of] Season 25 two years ago.”

In a time where fans have brought back plenty of shows before, our fingers are still crossed Arthur might find a home elsewhere. However, if nothing else, the final season of Arthur will air in the winter of 2022.

With the Delta variant causing a spike in COVID-19 cases, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has reinstated a mask mandate, which reportedly did not go over will with freshman Congresswoman Lauren Boebert. The gun-toting Colorado representative started off Wednesday morning by tweeting out her thoughts on the latest health protocol which requires the “wearing of a well-fitted, medical grade, filtration face mask is required when an individual is in an interior space and other individuals are present,” according to Raw Story.

“My thoughts on @SpeakerPelosi’s anti-science, totalitarian mask mandate,” Boebert wrote above a video of Donald Trump saying the word “bullsh*t.”

However, Boebert’s protest reportedly didn’t stop with the Trump video. Two Capitol Hill reporters say Boebert threw a mask at a House staffer after she arrived inside the Congress chamber without observing the mandate.

“Wow. GOP Rep. Lauren Boebert just threw a mask in the face of a floor staffer when she came to the floor not wearing one, per someone watching the exchange,” Politico’s Sarah Ferris tweeted.

“Rep. Lauren Boebert just threw a mask back at a Democratic floor staffer who tried to give her one, per source on the House floor who saw it happen,” ABC’s Ben Siegel tweeted. “As of last night, the latest House guidance requires mask wearing on the floor and in most group meetings/spaces.”

Of course, the outlandish behavior has been par for the course for Boebert, who (like Marjorie Taylor Greene) arrived in Congress on a wave of QAnon support. However, Boebert’s actions have not been going over well with some constituents, who expressed concern last month after the freshman representative shirked her campaign promises to be an advocate for small business owners.

“But she has been so terribly disappointing,” Pueblo, Colorado resident Gus Garica told Politico. “I am humiliated and embarrassed when she speaks on the House floor. She screams all the time, and she seems to have affiliated herself with white supremacists.”

(Via Raw Story)

On July 1, college athletes found themselves eligible to make money off of their name, image, and likeness, signing endorsement deals and more to finally begin profiting off of their followings and popularity while in school. For some, it just means being able to make a little money off of smaller deals, but for those who have created massive online followings or play at prominent positions at big programs, it has provided an opportunity for much greater earning potential.

Alabama quarterback Bryce Young, an incoming freshman who has yet to even step foot on the field for the Tide, has already racked up nearly seven figures in NIL deals, according to Nick Saban. That type of money is out there for big players and big programs, and because of it, top recruits suddenly find themselves with some interesting decisions to make as they aren’t afforded the same opportunities in high school.

Quinn Ewers could be the first to reach this crossroads, as the top recruit in the 2022 cycle is committed to Ohio State for next year, but is considering foregoing his senior season in Texas to enroll at Ohio State a year early because he too has close to a million dollars in NIL deals on the table right now. Ewers and his family spoke with Yahoo’s Pete Thamel about the decision they are facing, noting Ewers has been taking his final required English class online so that, should he choose to, he could enroll at Ohio State this fall and join the Buckeyes in camp next week.

“I don’t really know, I don’t have a final decision made quite yet,” Ewers said in a phone interview on Wednesday. “I’m leaning toward leaving and going up to Ohio, just so I don’t have to deal with UIL stuff and can get comfortable with Ohio and Columbus and start to learn.”

In Texas, Ewers would be barred from signing such deals, and leaving that much money on the table is certainly hard to do. It also doesn’t hurt that the Ohio State quarterback situation coming into this season is seen as wide open, and there is a path to playing sooner than later in Columbus. What decision Ewers makes in the coming week could be a landmark moment for college football, and also could apply pressure to state high school athletics associations to consider taking a different stance on NIL for their athletes. Ewers situation is certainly unique to the elite of elite recruits, but, particularly in a place like Texas where high school football is so important, the possibility of seeing some of the top talent, particularly at the quarterback position, pass on senior seasons to enroll early might be the thing needed to make them take a step back and reassess their stance on players making money as high schoolers.

While fans have been waiting for a follow-up to Silk Sonic’s debut single, “Leave The Door Open,” the superstar duo have been tight lipped on when the follow-up will actually drop. After performing the song at the BET Awards, they hinted that a new song was on the way, but it was a bait and switch, and no new music came.

Now, that might all be changing though, as a new tweet shared by both Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak is inviting fans to something happening this Friday. “You’ve been invited to Silk Sonic’s Summertime Jam this Friday,” the poster reads. While that doesn’t shed a whole lot of light on what will go down at the event, it is promising that new music will be involved, in some capacity.

After all, what is there left to do when it comes to promoting “Leave The Door Open”? The song already went No. 1 a couple times, and they performed it live not just at the BET Awards but also at The Grammys. If Friday doesn’t include some more new music from this supergroup duo — or at least an update on when new songs will drop — the fan reaction is already evident from responses to the tweet announcement:

Fingers crossed!

In a new interview with Youtuber Kerwin Frost, Lil Nas X does what he does best — creates hype. Though we already knew that Kanye had been involved with Nas X’s latest single, “Industry Baby,” as a producer on the record, we don’t know how the two got involved. And when Frost tries to ask the young rapper about how the connection went down, he refuses to reveal it! Of course, only making everyone that much more curious.

“How did that happen? I actually can’t tell you,” Nas begins (around 25:10 if you want to follow along in the interview). “I can’t, not yet at least. It’s just like a thing, you want to protect connections. We talked, he’s a pretty cool guy, super down to earth. He’s super talented. He showed me some stuff. He’s working on some great music. It’s nice to work with somebody who’s done that for so long, so much longevity and still going. And like constantly evolving. Not even just evolving, but completely changing into something else… he’s also doing something different and new. Over and over and over again recreating himself.”

Well, that does keep it pretty cryptic, but maybe what Nas can’t reveal yet is that he has more new music coming with Kanye. Or maybe a third party introduced them and and song with all three artists is coming soon. Either way, working with Kanye is another feather in Lil Nas X cap, and while he’s readying his debut album, odds are there will be plenty more dramatic moments along the way.

Check out the full interview above.

Turning The Tables With Robin Roberts: Season 1 (Disney+ series) — The host jokingly described this as a “tea party,” but really, it’s a gathering of groundbreaking women throughout the entertainment industry. Those ladies include Jamie Lee Curtis and Tig Notaro, along with several other guests who present their own incredible journeys and reveal how they found true purpose. The series aims for authenticity and vulnerability as these women reveal what led them to evolve and expand their careers.

Love Is Blind: After The Altar: Season 1 (Netflix series) — After couples marry without ever seeing each other, the one-year mark is bound to be filled with a certain number of messes. Join this dubious anniversary party and see how well (or not) the dating-show experiment went.

Tattoo Redo: Season 1 (Netflix series) — Bad tattoos (and poor judgment) happen, and the most talented of artists know how to transform them into something much better. The twist here, though, is that these clients can’t choose their own coverup designs; that’s up to their loves ones, so we’ll see how these turn out.

The Wonderful World Of Mickey Mouse: Batch 2 (Disney+ series) — The Sensational Six (Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Daisy Duck, Goofy, and Pluto) return for more adventures that traverse locations and time periods with special guests, so tuck in and relax with some retro entertainment.

Chip ‘N’ Dale: Park Life: Season 1 (Disney+ series) — If you still aren’t ready to return to reality, then tuck into this revisiting of this buddy-comedic pair, who only want to find some nuts, alright?

In case you missed these picks from last week:

Turner & Hooch (Disney+ series) — The beloved 1989 Tom Hanks film gets the reboot treatment with Detective Scott Turner’s son taking the helm. Josh Peck stars as a U.S. Marshal who’s saddled with an unruly canine, only to realize that this pup is actually the partner of his dreams. Hooch is portrayed by five French Mastiffs, which means that series doesn’t take CGI shortcuts, and these dogs will charm everyone.

Marvel Studios: Assembled: The Making of Loki (Disney+ series, releasing in the wee hours of Wednesday morning) — This immersive documentary-type series brings us a fresh installment to help us feel a little bit better about having to wait for Season 2 of all of the Lokis and their mercurial pursuit of the glorious purpose. Tom Hiddleston has an absolute blast playing the MCU’s trickster god, and hopefully, we’ll hear more about that crushing moment and the new big bad cruising into Phase 4. This is the best Disney+ show so far, and Loki’s so beloved that you might binge the whole season all over again.

Following GOAT gymnast Simone Biles’ decision to withdraw from Olympic competition in Tokyo while citing the need to focus on mental well-being, let’s just say that Piers Morgan didn’t gracefully react. That’s no surprise, given that Piers is not known for a diplomatic approach to anything, yet his response is rich when one looks back at how Piers walked out of a live broadcast during a temper tantrum and subsequently quit Good Morning Britain while bashing Meghan Markle for daring to allege that she endured racially charged remarks from a Royal Family member.

Piers’ knee-jerk response (and refusal to believe) Meghan already came back to bite him in the butt on one occasion. That would be when Piers condemned racist online attacks made against three Black soccer players (Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka) who missed penalty kicks in the European Championship final. Piers didn’t seem to care about appearing hypocritical in the wake of how he treated Meghan Markle, a Black woman, when she experienced racism. And Piers isn’t afraid of looking hypocritical while criticizing Simone Biles, either.

Here’s what Piers wrote about Simone in his lengthy Daily Mail column, where he dragged how Simone said that competing was no longer “fun.” He then managed to make this all about himself while discussing his own walk-out at length and beefing over how no one called him “brave” or “inspiring”:

Well sorry if it offends all the howling Twitter snowflake virtue-signallers, but I don’t think it’s remotely courageous, heroic or inspiring to quit.

And yes, I say that as someone who walked off the set of Good Morning Britain earlier this year during an argument with a co-worker about Meghan Markle, the person who more than any other has fuelled this cynical new phenomenon of shutting down legitimate criticism by disingenuously playing the mental health and race cards.

What happened to me exposed the ludicrous hypocrisy at the heart of the social media quitter-lovers.

I only left for a few minutes before returning to my desk, but that was long enough for Twitter to forever brand me a gutless coward and snivelling weak-minded weasel.

Indeed, after I tweeted criticism of Simone Biles yesterday, thousands of people promptly bombarded me with the now infamous meme of me walking off, and savagely mocked for quitting.

Oddly, they didn’t think ME quitting was as brave, heroic and inspiring as Ms Biles quitting!

Piers then admitted that “It WAS gutless and cowardly of me to walk off,” and he claimed that he made things right by going back on air to continue debating with co-worker Alex Beresford. However, Piers later quit the show, so I’m not sure what his actual point is? Whatever the case, there’s some Piers-shredding going down on social media.

Piers proceeded to argue with those who responded to him before attempting to reclaim this GIF of him storming off set, while declaring, “and anyone who does it should be celebrated as one of the world’s great heroes…”

As the coronavirus pandemic shut down live entertainment in 2020, Post Malone was among the artists who were forced to cancel his fan-oriented festival. However, there’s some good news for those fans who missed out last year: Dates have been set for Posty Fest‘s return. The third annual event will take place October 30-31, 2021, at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, TX, and it marks the first time the festival will take place over a full weekend. Pre-sale begins July 29 at 10 am local time while general sale opens up on Friday, July 30. You can get more information here.

In addition to bringing back his personal festival, the Dallas native has been scheduled to play a number of big-name festivals throughout the year. This past weekend, he took the stage at Rolling Loud Miami‘s comeback show and this weekend, he’s billed as one of the headliners of Lollapalooza in Chicago. In September, you can catch him at Governor’s Ball in New York City.

Meanwhile, he’s been promoting a new song, which could potentially be the lead single to one of two albums he’s rumored to have planned this year. “Motley Crew” finds Post returning to a rap-centric sound after experimenting with country and rock styles on his last album, Beerbongs & Bentleys, and featured a NASCAR-themed music video and a limited-edition merch collection with Siberia Hills.

If someone were to say “video games” to you, what are the first words that come to mind? Whatever words you thought of (fun, exciting, etc.), we’re willing to guess “healthy” or “mental health tool” didn’t pop into your mind.

And yet… it turns out they are. Especially for Veterans.

How? Well, for one thing, video games — and virtual reality more generally — are also more accessible and less stigmatized to veterans than mental health treatment. In fact, some psychiatrists are using virtual reality systems for this reason to treat PTSD.

Secondly, video games allow people to socialize in new ways with people who share common interests and goals. And for Veterans, many of whom leave the military feeling isolated or lonely after they lose the daily camaraderie of their regiment, that socialization is critical to their mental health. It gives them a virtual group of friends to talk with, connect to, and relate to through shared goals and interests.

In addition, according to a 2018 study, since many video games simulate real-life situations they encountered during their service, it makes socialization easier since they can relate to and find common ground with other gamers while playing.

This can help ease symptoms of depression, anxiety, and even PTSD in Veterans, which affects 20% of the Veterans who have served since 9/11.

Watch here as Verizon dives into the stories of three Veteran gamers to learn how video games helped them build community, deal with trauma and have some fun.

Band of Gamers

www.youtube.com

Video games have been especially beneficial to Veterans since the beginning of the pandemic when all of us — Veterans included — have been even more isolated than ever before.

And that’s why Verizon launched a challenge last year, which saw $30,000 donated to four military charities.

And this year, they’re going even bigger by launching a new World of Warships charity tournament in partnership with Wargaming and Wounded Warrior Project called “Verizon Warrior Series.” During the tournament, gamers will be able to interact with the game’s iconic ships in new and exciting ways, all while giving back.

Together with these nonprofits, the tournament will welcome teams all across the nation in order to raise money for military charities helping Veterans in need. There will be a $100,000 prize pool donated to these charities, as well as donation drives for injured Veterans at every match during the tournament to raise extra funds.

Verizon is also providing special discounts to Those Who Serve communities, including military and first responders, and they’re offering a $75 in-game content military promo for World of Warships.

Tournament finals are scheduled for August 8, so be sure to tune in to the tournament and donate if you can in order to give back to Veterans in need.

Courtesy of Verizon

Sorry Mario, looks like Nintendo is taking your medical license to another castle. Earlier today, Nintendo released a notice announcing they are officially shutting down match-three mobile game Dr. Mario World after just over two years of service. According to the post, the game will officially shut down on November 1, though as of today, diamonds — the game’s premium currency — are no longer available to purchase.

In addition to announcing Dr. Mario World‘s imminent departure, the post also listed out what players can expect once the game’s been taken down. Once Dr. Mario World leaves digital marketplaces, all players who attempt to boot up the game will receive an end-of-service notification and be unable to play the game. However, former players will be able to look back at their play history with Dr. Mario World Memories, a web page that will become available after the game’s service ends.

The news of Dr. Mario World‘s discontinuation comes as little surprise considering the game’s lackluster performance. According to Games Industry Biz, the mobile game is by far Nintendo’s least successful title, “generating 13 million installs and $13.9 million in overall revenue since its launch.” When compared to Fire Emblem Heroes $891.5 and Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp‘s $242.1 million, it’s easy to see why Nintendo decided to call it quits on Dr. Mario World.

For those still looking to get their Dr. Mario fix, the original Super Nintendo title is available to download via the Switch’s digital marketplace.