Month: July 2021

Little Wings, the longstanding freak-folk project of Kyle Field, is undergoing something of a renaissance. When it comes to his earlier work with K Records, some of those initial albums from the early 2000s never got vinyl releases or made their way to streaming services. After his debut album, Wonderue got the reissue treatment back in 2019, more records from what was dubbed the “Wonder Trilogy” are rising back to the surface for fans to rediscover. Whether you were taken in by the band’s excellent latest album, People, 2015’s outstanding Explains, or have been following along for the past two decades (there’s plenty more intermittent material on Bandcamp, for instance), this limited 500 reissue of Little Wings’ second album is something to scoop up.

This particular record was initially released on K Records in 2000 and is being released on vinyl for the first time by the Greenpoint, Brooklyn label Grouptightener. As the follow-up to Wonderue, Discover Worlds Of Wonder produced songs like “Sand Canyon” and “The Shredder” which became fan favorites. The label’s notes on the reissue point out that the album was recorded in Portland, Oregon on a 16 track analog at Adam Selzer’s now-defunct but still iconic Type Foundry Studio. This particular album has hit Spotify via a 2015 digital reissue by Digisquad, so you can listen to it there first if you’d like. Then pick up a copy of the vinyl, because $25.99 is a steal. Get a copy here. If you haven’t heard Field’s music before, I suggest starting with “Light Brang,” above.

Get the record here via Grouptightener.

You’ve probably been hearing a lot about Ted Lasso recently, and with good reason: The feel-good Apple TV Plus comedy, about a almost relentlessly chipper football coach played by the IRL also nice Jason Sudeikis, just bowed its second season. And it got 13 Emmy nominations. And it’s got top shelf reviews. Critics and audiences don’t always see eye-to-eye, but in this case it appears they do.

As per Variety, Apple is claiming that Ted Lasso’s most recent bath of episodes drew the largest audience for any original TV show or film in the streamer’s relatively short history. That’s (allegedly) more than shows like The Morning Show, For All Mankind, Dickinson or The Mosquito Coast, and more than films like Greyhound, On the Rocks or Wolkwalkers.

A couple caveats here, though. For one, much like when Netflix up and claims that such-and-such a movie had huge numbers, this is straight from Apple itself, and there’s no other data to confirm whether it’s on the level or not. They also didn’t supply any numbers — just a vague claim of a record being busted.

What’s more, good numbers on Apple TV+ may not mean much when compared with other, bigger streamers. As Variety points out, the first season of Ted Lasso didn’t rank that high among other original streaming shows. But maybe enough people caught up with it to turn the second season into a juggernaut. But wherever the truth lies, this is still good news for good ol’ Ted!

(Via Variety)

After spending four years on a shelf thanks to the financial implosion of Orion Pictures, MGM very reluctantly released the Martin Short vehicle, Clifford, into theaters in 1994 where it proceeded to instantly bomb both financially and critically. However, the film took on a cult following thanks to repeated viewings on cable, and to the filmmakers’ shock, there is a whole audience out there who will swear that Clifford is one of the greatest comedies of the ’90s.

Among those fans is Oscar winner Nicolas Cage, who apparently recognized the greatness of Clifford from the jump. In an incredibly detailed and fascinating oral history of Clifford published by Vulture on Monday, Cage makes a surprising appearance, due to the diligence of writer Rob Turbovsky, who tracked down the actor to confirm an anecdote about gushing over Short on a plane.

Here’s how Short recalled meeting Cage:

Short: Nicolas Cage had just won the Oscar, and he came up on a plane … this is in my book, I think. I had never met him. I thought I must go over and congratulate him because he’s so great in that movie. And suddenly I looked, and there he is kneeling behind me, very sincerely telling me, with the great Nic Cage sincerity, “I destroyed my VHS machine because I rewound that [“Look at me like a human boy”] scene 35 times.”

By itself, that’s a pretty great anecdote, but immediately following it, Cage chimes in with his side of the story, and he truly lives up to the title of Clifford fan:

Nicolas Cage (actor, Clifford fan): It’s true, but that wasn’t the scene. It was the scene in the kitchen after Martin Short put the Tabasco in Charles Grodin’s drink, and Martin Short starts reenacting Charles Grodin’s physical response … [Attempts to stifle laugh, can’t, starts laughing.] … to the Tabasco. It’s just the funniest thing I’ve ever seen. I did keep reviewing it, because I got so much joy out of rewatching it. The more I would press play and rewind and play, the funnier it got. He does these beautiful things with his hands. He’s very physical. He’s like, [High-pitched] “And then you went … [makes hacking noise]!”

As Cage tells it, as soon as he spotted Short on the plane, he had to talk to him, and he loves that Short remembers the exchange.

“I saw him on an airplane, and I said, ‘Mr. Short, I’ve got to tell you: You’re a genius, man. I mean, you are a genius.’ I really mean that,” Cage told Vulture. “I think he’s as good as it gets, and there’s nobody funnier. So I’m glad he remembers that moment.”

(Via Vulture)

Mike Lindell has made another bold prediction. And unlike his last bold prediction, he’s serious this time.

The pillow man with the bad hair previously claimed that his good buddy Donald Trump would regain the presidency on August 13, around the time of his cyber symposium in Sioux Falls, South Dakota that he says will be more popular than Elvis Presley’s famous “Aloha From Hawaii” concert. “Over a billion people watched that ‘Aloha From Hawaii’ because at that time, it was epic. This is going to be so important for the whole world to see — I’m hoping the word keeps spreading so that everybody at least tunes in,” Lindell told Salon. He’s so confident in the influence of his cyber symposium that by this time next month, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will have resigned, because… reasons?

“It gives me hope that even your Democrats… they’re seeing now firsthand what government can do and how bad socialism and communism can be. When we get through this and the Supreme Court pulls down this election — like I’ve been telling everybody — when they do this, it’s going to be a great uniting and that gives me hope,” Lindell told Steve Bannon on Real America’s Voice. He continued:

“Once we have this symposium, how are the pathways of Donald Trump coming back? The first one would be, once we have the symposium, by the night of the 12th or the morning of the 13th, if everyone has seen it, including the administration that’s in there now that didn’t win, maybe, you know, Biden and Harris would say, ‘Hey, we’re here to protect the country and resign!’”

That’s a solid Joe Biden impression.

Anyway, let’s say Biden and Harris do say “hey, we’re here to protect the country and resign” on the morning of the 13th — that’s a The Rock’s legs-sized “let’s say,” but follow me here — Lindell seems to think that Trump would become president again.

That is not how the line of succession works. It goes president, then vice president, then speaker of the house, which in this case would mean President Pelosi. I’m sure that would go over well with the MAGA-heads. It does not go president, then vice president, then former president. In the line of succession, Trump falls somewhere between the White House chef and Cousin Greg. To be fair, there’s not not a chance!

Lindell’s claim had the unintended consequence of making President Pelosi trend:

(Via Raw Story)

The Fox and Friends gang decided to be responsible last week (well, two of the co-hosts did) while urging people to get vaccinated, but maybe it’s time for Steve Doocy and Brian Kilmeade to get back-to-basics, so to speak by dropping misinformation about weed and generally claiming that it’s going to be the slippery slope by which civilization collapses.

Alright, so talking about a slippery slope is a little bit hyperbolic, but so is the claim that violent crime is rising because too many people are out there smoking weed (when really, the rising Delta variant rates should be the primary on-air concern). Yet the crew is concerned about rising crime, obviously, which they’ve already shown while telling people to avoid Times Square a few months ago. Now, Steve Doocy wishes to highlight how the chief cop in D.C. “finds a direct connection between violence and the pot users.”

After an introductory set-up about how New York City smells like “urine and pot,” Doocy raised the alarm on how Washington, D.C. police Chief Robert Contee warned against the downside of removing accountability for those who smoke weed. Contee argued that it leads to robberies, shootings, and this led to a discussion about how the co-hosts believe that people are having psychotic breaks (?) because of the weed.

“It’s hard to put the toothpaste back in the tube,” Doocy argued. “They’ve legalized pot in a bunch of places, and now, they’ve seen violent crime spike, and are gonna say, ‘You know what? We’ve made a mistake.”

Strangely enough, Brian Kilmeade stayed quiet during Doocy’s plea to end what they seem to believe is “Reefer Madness.”

Most likely, there’s probably plenty of munchies and couch dozing going on out there…

A spearfisherman in Australia appears to have escaped death after a photographer with a drone stumbled across him being harassed by an aggressive shark.

Matt Woods was sitting on his balcony in Bondi Beach, Australia when he sent out his Mavic 2 Zoom to take some photos of the ocean when he noticed a spearfisherman fending off what appears to be a mako shark.

“I spotted the shark straight away as there was a big bait ball of fish and as I got closer I could see it was also circling the diver in the water,” Woods told The Daily Mail. “The diver was fending the shark off and poking it with his spear gun. The shark then went after his float that is attached to the diver. He was charging it and trying to bite it, thrashing it about.”

Imagine being the spearfisherman. You’re all alone in the ocean, there’s no one to help you, and for what feels like an eternity a shark with massive teeth is trying to take a bite out of you.

Nick Wegner of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography says that a mako shark is one of the last fish you want to come across when you’re out in the ocean. “I’d compare a mako to something like a cheetah, but bigger and with larger teeth and more muscle,” Wegner said.

Drone Footage Shows Diver Fending Off Shark || Dogtooth Media

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The shortfin mako can swim up to 60 MPH and can freefall with the speed of a skydiver.

However, mako shark attacks are very uncommon. According to Business Insider, there are only 10 documented mako attacks since people began keeping records in 1580. Although it’s assumed that many have gone unreported.

But as you can see in the video, the spear fisherman was far from safe.

Woods and his girlfriend immediately notified local lifeguards of the attack and he continued to monitor the situation with his drone.

“I felt as if we helped as best we could,” he continued. “We got on the phone to the lifeguards straight away on my girlfriend’s phone while I stayed over the shark on my drone the whole time so we could guide them in.”

For almost half an hour Woods watched the shark bite at the fisherman’s orange float.

“I was pretty concerned for the diver as the shark looked angry. I’ve never seen anything like it before, only whales. I always seem to miss sharks. We know there are sharks here all the time but nothing like this,” Woods continued.

It took about 30 minutes for the lifeguards to clear the beach of swimmers and hop on their jet skis to get out to the fisherman. When they arrived the loud sound of the jet skis scared the shark away. The lifeguards were then able to extract him from the dangerous situation.

Woods then went down to the beach to try and meet the spearfisherman but couldn’t find him. “I went looking for the diver after trying to try and meet him but couldn’t find him,” he said.

Thankfully, he found him when it mattered most.

The Collective Music Group takeover continues with 42 Dugg’s “Turnest N**** In The City” video. Like other recent videos from Yo Gotti’s label like EST Gee’s “Price Tag” and Moneybagg Yo’s “Wockesha,” it features straightforward images of the rapper performing interspersed with computer effects like freeze frames, cutouts, and visual effects. Yo Gotti makes his customary cameos as well, while 42 Dugg shows off his money and jewelry on a yacht, surrounded by women.

42 Dugg is jointly signed to both Yo Gott’s CMG and Lil Baby’s 4PF after impressing both rappers with his 11241 Wayburn mixtape in 2018 and broke out in the mainstream after appearing on Lil Baby’s My Turn album on the songs “Grace” and “We Paid.” Earlier this year, he released his song “4 Da Gang” with Roddy Ricch, gaining even more momentum — momentum which culminated in his selection to the 2021 XXL Freshman List alongside fellow Michigan rapper DDG, Pooh Sheisty, and more. He further distinguished himself with his verse in the XXL Freshman Cypher, closing out a session including Flo Milli and Rubi Rose. The added exposure makes now the perfect time to turn up the promotion on his May mixtape, Free Dem Boyz, and build on the hard work that he’s put in — which is finally paying off.

Watch 42 Dugg’s “Turnest N**** In The City” video above.

Free Dem Boyz is out now on CMG and 4PF.

Looks like Ben Affleck is back from vacation with recently reignited flame Jennifer Lopez and already suited up to reprise his role as “the world’s greatest detective.” Recently leaked photos from the set of the upcoming Flash film reveal what appears to be Affleck — or perhaps his stunt double — on set and shooting some scenes involving the Batcycle. Based on the photos, Affleck’s batsuit (while still pretty dang clunky) is slightly different than the ones we’ve seen before — though it could just be the version the stunt double is sporting. What is certain about this suit however, is that it will be the last time we’ll see Affleck wearing it.

According to a 2020 Vanity Fair report, Affleck is hanging up the cowl and his role as Batman once he finishes up his work on The Flash. In fact, producer Barbara Muschietti revealed it was already a “question mark” for the team on if Affleck would even be involved in The Flash, as he had been “having a very hard time playing Batman” in his previous films. However, according to director Andy Muschietti, the team is happy to have Affleck on board, as he expressed the importance of Batman in the upcoming film:

“He’s a very substantial part of the emotional impact of the movie. The interaction and relationship between Barry and Affleck’s Wayne will bring an emotional level that we haven’t seen before. It’s Barry’s movie, it’s Barry’s story, but their characters are more related than we think. They both lost their mothers to murder, and that’s one of the emotional vessels of the movie. That’s where the Affleck Batman kicks in.”

Though while we say Affleck’s departure from DC is both imminent and final, perhaps we can never say never when it comes to actors returning as Batman. After all, Affleck won’t be the only Batman returning in The Flash. According to reports, Batman and Batman Returns actor Michael Keaton will also be playing Batman in the film– or at least a version of him. You see, much like what Marvel is currently doing, The Flash movie will focus on the DC multiverse, largely borrowing it’s plot from the famous DC Comics’ story Flashpoint.

The Flash, led by star Ezra Miller and featuring Affleck, Keaton, and Sasha Calle as newcomer Supergirl, scheduled to release November 4, 2022.

Get ready to do your “dark bidding on the internet” because the vampires from What We Do in the Shadows are parting with several occult oddities in the latest trailer for the show’s third season. In the trailer, Nandor’s (Kayvan Novak) over-worked and under-appreciated familiar Guillermo (Harvey Guillén) is seen assisting the vampires with some spring cleaning as he photographs items such as a loose bone, an evil bucket, and a tried-and-true “sex rock” and posts them on eBay to sell. While the clip doesn’t give us a whole lot of information in regards to what the FX series’ third season has in store for us, it does remind us just how much we miss Nandor, Nadja (Natasia Demetriou), Laszlo (Matt Berry), Colin (Mark Proksch), and all their zany hijinks.

For those who have yet to watch What We Do in the Shadows, the comedic mockumentary follows four vampire roommates living in Staten Island trying their best to acclimate to modern times, stay out of the sunlight, and avoid vampire hunters. The series is a spin-off of the hit film of the same name and is executive produced by the film’s original creators (and New Zealand legends) Jemaine Clement (Flight of the Conchords) and Taiki Waititi (Thor: Ragnarok), in addition to Paul Simms, Garrett Basch, Scott Rudin, Eli Bush, and Stefani Robinson.

Luckily we won’t be waiting too much longer to reunite with our undead friends and see how many pennies their creepy clutter earns them. Season 3 of What We Do in the Shadows premieres on FX on September 2, with episodes available for streaming the next day on both Hulu and FX.

There have been a number of rumors leading up to Draft week that we could see a flurry of action and some significant moves heading into Thursday night, and the first domino fell on Monday afternoon between two Western Conference rivals.

The New Orleans Pelicans and Memphis Grizzlies have agreed to a blockbuster deal that will see the Pelicans clear significant cap space for this summer, while Memphis adds a quality backup point guard in Eric Bledsoe and, most importantly, moves up from No. 17 in this year’s Draft to No. 10, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

The Lakers pick being sent to Memphis is also, per Andrew Lopez, top-10 protected for 2022 (although, that likely won’t come into play).

Getting off of both Bledsoe and Adams’ contracts while taking back just Valanciunas clears $21 million off of their books, which is a massive number and now allows them to seriously get into the Kyle Lowry sweepstakes. Valanciunas is also arguably a better fit alongside Zion Williamson because he is more comfortable and capable of stepping out to the perimeter to create more space at the rim for Zion, who emerged as the best rim finisher in the league last season.

For Memphis, it is clear they were comfortable using their cap space to take on two hefty contracts if it allowed them to move up in this draft to the top 10 (and add a non-lottery first next season), and they clearly have a strong feeling that the player they want desperately to join their excellent young core will be there at No. 10 overall. Who that is, exactly, remains to be seen, but Moses Moody and Josh Giddey have been names many have considered as strong candidates for a team trading up into the lottery to target.