Month: July 2021

Maria Taylor had her final ESPN broadcast on Tuesday night when the Bucks beat the Suns in Game 6 of the NBA Finals to win the championship, signing off of ABC’s brief postgame coverage alongside Adrian Wojnarowski and Jalen Rose, who thanked her for her work all season as the show was headed off the air.

On Wednesday, Taylor and ESPN confirmed that would indeed be the end of her tenure at the Worldwide Leader, with both sides offering brief statements kindly thanking the other. It has been reported for some time that NBC Sports was the frontrunner for Taylor’s services, and not long after the official release emerged of Taylor parting with ESPN, word broke from Andrew Marchand of the New York Post that Taylor was indeed headed to NBC and could join the company as soon as Friday for the start of their Olympics coverage from Tokyo.

For NBC, if a contract is completed, Taylor is expected to be part of its forthcoming Olympic coverage that begins in earnest on Friday.

While several sources said Taylor is headed to NBC, nothing is official yet. The top network spokesman is in Japan for the Olympics and did not immediately return messages.

It remains to be seen when exactly Taylor makes her NBC debut and in what role, but it’s a big get for NBC and opens Taylor up to a number of higher profile opportunities. With Al Michaels expected to leave the Sunday Night Football booth after the Super Bowl next year and Mike Tirico being the heir apparent to take over play-by-play duties, Taylor would be the frontrunner to take over the Football Night in America hosting duties. Her college football chops also mean Notre Dame football coverage is in play in the mean time, as well as other possible roles at the network — and with Amazon’s Thursday NFL game too.

In any case, Taylor seemingly won’t be off our television screens for very long, as she will apparently be popping up for Olympic coverage, either from studio stateside or in Tokyo, sooner than later.

As Marvel prepares to drop its first official animated project, Marvel’s What If…?, on Disney+, the studio is starting to tip its hand that the series is just the start of its plans to move beyond live-action properties. In a new interview, Victoria Alonso, Marvel’s executive VP of film production, revealed that the home of The Avengers is getting ready to go big on animated MCU projects that will be produced in house.

“We’re going to have our animation branch and mini studio, and there will be more to come from that as well,” Alonso told Variety. “We’re super excited about animation, which is my first love.”

The announcement marks a noted push for Marvel’s What If…?, which recently dropped an ambitious trailer featuring the voice talents of the late Chadwick Boseman, who recorded his lines shortly before his death. The actor is still playing Wakanda Prince T’Challa, but in this reality, which may or may not have been affected by the events of the Loki finale, he’s scooped up by Michael Rooker’s Yondu and becomes the Guardians of the Galaxy‘s Star-Lord. And that’s just one of the wild scenarios the animated series will explore when it arrives on Disney+ next month.

Here’s the official synopsis for Marvel’s What If…?:

“What If…?” flips the script on the MCU, reimagining famous events from the films in unexpected ways. Marvel Studios’ first animated series focuses on different heroes from the MCU, featuring a voice cast that includes a host of stars who reprise their roles.

Marvel’s What If…? starts streaming August 11 on Disney+.

(Via Variety)

Sexy Beasts (Netflix series) — A dating show where no contestant knows what anyone else (including their opponents and the “picker”) looks like, so that everything’s based upon personality? That sounds rather unorthodox. A dating show in which said contestants (and the picker) are clad in “fantastical, cutting edge prosthetics” to transform them into animals, aliens, robots, and more? This sounds completely off-the-hook, as well as fascinating. No one will be able to look away from this hot mess.

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:: Season 1 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.

Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans (Netflix film) — This franchise installment picks up after the events of the Tales of Arcadia films, and those heroes must now come together to banish the evil Arcane order and defend humanity. Of course, the Arcane Order has ancient titans on their side and the darkest of magic, so vanquishing them won’t be a simple feat.

The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon — Emilia Clarke, Mark Ronson, Brandi Carlile

In case you missed this pick from last week:

Gunpowder Milkshake (Netflix film) — Look, Netflix original action films might seem like they’re in plentiful supply these days, but this one’s worth particular notice. Karen Gillan portrays the assassin-daughter of an elite assassin, portrayed by Lena Headey, and the pair come back together again to help protect a young girl from an organization known as The Firm. Nope, Tom Cruise does not make a cameo in this picture, but there’s a group called The Librarians, who are played by Michelle Yeoh, Angela Bassett, and Carla Gugino. Essentially, we’ve got three generations of badass ladies here, doing their best to wipe out pesky henchmen and raise a lot of hell.

Seattle Storm star Sue Bird and Miami Marlins infielder Eddy Alvarez have been chosen by their peers as flag bearers for the United States at the Tokyo Olympics. Bird is competing in her fifth Olympics in search of as many gold medals. Alvarez won a silver medal as a speedskater in the 2014 Olympics.

It’s the first time the U.S. will have two flag bearers after an International Olympic Committee change mandated each nation have one male and one female representative. Alvarez is the first baseball player to serve as flag bearer for the U.S. Bird is the second women’s basketball player after Team USA’s head coach Dawn Staley in 2004.

“It’s an incredible honor to be selected the flag bearer for Team USA,” Bird said in a release. “I know what that means, because I got to witness Dawn Staley go through it when she was selected in 2004. It’s an honor that is bigger than the moment in that you’ve been selected by your fellow Team USA athletes to represent the entire delegation, and it will last forever. Also, in the moment, I got to witness what it was to lead Team USA into the Opening Ceremony, and it’s an incredible feeling and once again, such a huge honor. Also, I know this isn’t about me. This is about all the players who either came before me and set the tone for what the USA Basketball women’s program is now, and also the players that I’ve been fortunate enough to play with. So, it’s not just about me. It’s representing all of them.”

The women’s basketball team — in search of its seventh consecutive gold medal — celebrated Bird’s news as a team:

“It is an honor and a privilege to be named as one of the flag bearers by my fellow Team USA athletes for the Opening Ceremony,” said Alvarez in a release. “Being a first-generation Cuban-American, my story represents the American Dream. My family has sacrificed so much for me to have the opportunity to wave this flag proudly. I am grateful for my time with US Speedskating and USA Baseball, as well as for all of my teammates, and I am humbled to lead Team USA into the Tokyo Olympic Games.”

The opening ceremony will air live at 6:55 a.m. ET on Friday, July 23. The primetime presentation of the ceremony will air at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBC.

The mental image of Senator Ted Cruz in a tight, spandex onesie is nightmarish, to say the least, but according to a recent interview from Representative Eric Stalwell, it’s the uniform he’s more suited to wear.

Let us explain.

Stalwell, an outspoken opponent of Donald Trump and the Democrats’ choice for impeachment manager, recently gave an interview on the MeidasTouch podcast (via Insider), to which he revealed some surprising information about his colleagues across the aisle. In speaking with the show’s host, Stalwell said that many of his fellow Congressmen, including Cruz and Representative Matt Gaetz, were “better suited to work at the WWE” and accused them of putting on an act because that’s “what they think the fans want.”

“That’s what’s so frustrating,” Stalwell continued. “And this may sound crazy, but if you ran into Matt Gaetz or Ted Cruz or Jim Jordan at the Santa Monica Pier, you would say: ‘These are nice guys! Boy, they’re nothing like what I see them do on Twitter or TV.’”

Stalwell said he had many run-ins with Gaetz before “Trumpism” took hold and the change in the politician was fairly startling. He accused Gaetz of playing a character, revealing that the divisive Florida native would often “laugh at himself about how stupid he had to act to keep the act going.” With Cruz, Stalwell said that during the impeachment trial, the senator from Texas told him he was “doing a great job” when they’d run into each other on Capitol Hill, something that shocked Stalwell since Cruz had launched a public smear campaign against him when the trial started.

“I’m like what the f— is this guy talking about? He just scorched me on Fox News, like, the night before. He tweets at me every other week,” Stalwell said. “But to him, if you’re a pro wrestler, like, it doesn’t matter that you hit me over the head in the ring with a steel chair. It’s all fake, right? You’re just doing what the fans want, so I should just be cool with it because he projects onto me what he does. He thinks that I’m just performing as well. And that’s what’s most sickening, is that I don’t even know what these guys believe. Like, I really don’t.”

Does anyone?

(Via Insider)

Roadrunners have been cropping up a lot in pop culture lately. There’s the Anthony Bourdain documentary on HBO Max, Brockhampton’s penultimate album, and, of course, the high-speed Looney Tunes character who constantly threatens the safety of Wile E. Coyote and appears in the LeBron James Space Jam reboot currently out in theaters and streaming on HBO Max. Joining this menagerie of pavement pounders, Migos released the video for their latest single from Culture III today, and yep, that’s right, it’s “Roadrunner.”

In the video, the Atlanta trio naturally hits the desert, taking over an outdoor compound for a performance in which they deck themselves out in motocross gear and army surplus. A team of black-clad, female dancers runs through some choreography reminiscent of late-90s Aaliyah videos, and the boys pose atop various luxury motor vehicles in their solo shots.

Speaking of the desert, they’re set to return in autumn for Las Vegas Weekender Fest promoting Culture III, where they’ll host a variety of hedonistic events alongside big-name supporting acts like Duke Deuce, Gunna, Kash Doll, Lil Yachty, and 2021 XXL Freshman Rubi Rose. Meanwhile, singles like “Straightenin’,” “Modern Day,” “Avalanche,” and the Cardi B-featuring “Type Sh*t” continue to make waves.

Watch the video for “Roadrunner” above.

Megan Fox doesn’t drink alcohol anymore due to comments she made at the 2009 Golden Globes. The Jennifer’s Body actress told Who What Wear that while attending the ceremony, she sat at the same table as Blake Lively and the Jonas Brothers (all five — Fox, Lively, the Jonas Brothers — are still famous; pop culture is cyclical). “At the Golden Globes, they always put those giant bottles of Moët champagne on the table — I went through multiple glasses of that,” Fox said. “Now I don’t drink and this is why, I was belligerent and said a bunch of sh*t I shouldn’t have said on the red carpet after that.”

Fox knows that she “got in a lot of trouble for whatever I said on the red carpet at this event,” but confesses that “I don’t remember why, but I know I did. You can look that up.”

[In] the moment Fox is referring to, she is seen being interviewed on the red carpet by former E! host Giuliana Rancic.

After Rancic calls her “beautiful,” Fox responds, “I’m pretty sure I’m a doppelganger for Alan Alda. I’m a [offensive and outdated term for someone who is transgender]. I’m a man. No, I’m so painfully insecure I’m on the verge of vomiting right now. I’m so horrified that I’m here and embarrassed and scared.”

Fox also said that she “really want[s]” Salma Hayek’s breasts and that her then-fiancé Brian Austin Green didn’t want to be her Golden Globes date because “he’s a man, he has an ego.” She is now dating Machine Gun Kelly, and although she doesn’t drink alcohol, she did drink ayahuasca during a trip to Costa Rica with her musician boyfriend. “It was incredibly intense. Everybody’s journey is different. The second night, I went to hell for eternity,” she said about the experience. “Just knowing its eternity is torture in itself, because there’s no beginning, middle or end. So you have, like, a real ego death.”

(Via EW)

A gut-wrenching story shared by a Yosemite park ranger shows why it’s so important for people to be mindful of surrounding wildlife.

Yosemite is a 750,000-acre national park that occupies four separate counties in northern California.

Last week, the national park shared the first-hand account of a park ranger who took care of the body of a dead bear cub that was struck by a car. Sadly, the ranger says that it happens far too often in Yosemite. “I try to remember how many times I’ve done this now and, truthfully, I don’t know. This is not what any of us signs up for, but it’s a part of the job nonetheless,” the ranger wrote.

The ranger received a call about a bear that was struck by a car and after an hour’s drive, they located the cub by the side of the road, next to a part that had fallen off of a car.

“I turn my gaze from the car part down the embankment on the side of the road and there it is,” the post reads. “A cub. Its tiny light brown body lying just feet from me and the road, nearly invisible to every passerby. It’s a new cub — couldn’t be much more than six months old, now balled up and lifeless under a small pine tree.”

There’s not much the ranger can do but move the cub to a wooded area away from the road so that scavengers are safe from speeding cars when preying on the body. The ranger realizes the cub is a female and wonders what the future could have held for the bear if tragedy hadn’t struck.

“This immediately triggers thoughts of the life this bear may have lived — perhaps she would have had cubs of her own,” they wrote.

After lying the body down in the forest, the ranger heard a stick snap behind them. It was the bear’s mother.

“From behind me there’s a deep toned but soft sounding grunt. I immediately know what it is. It’s a vocalization, the kind sows (female bears) make to call to their cubs,” the ranger wrote. “I turn and look in its direction and there she is, the same bear from before intently staring back at me. It’s no coincidence. I can feel the callousness drain from my body. This bear is the mom, and she never left her cub.”

The mother had stuck by the cub for over six hours.

“Now here I am, standing between a grieving mother and her child. I feel like a monster,” they wrote.

The ranger then set up a remote camera to document the situation and left the scene.

via Keep Bears Wild

Vehicle collisions have become a leading cause of death for black bears in Yosemite and over 400 such collisions have occurred along roadways in the national park since 1995.

There are currently an estimated 300 to 500 black bears living in the national park.

The ranger hopes that their emotional post will put a face to the numbers and encourage people to be more mindful of wildlife in the park and beyond.

“So please, remember this. Remember that when traveling through Yosemite, we are all just visitors in the home of countless animals and it is up to us to follow the rules that protect them,” they wrote. “Go the speed limit, drive alertly, and look out for wildlife. Protecting Yosemite’s black bears is something we can all do.”

It was announced recently that Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys is directing an upcoming documentary about the late New Orleans music legend Dr. John. That seems like a natural fit, given that Auerbach produced John’s final album of original material, 2012’s Locked Down. However, John’s estate isn’t on board, as they shared a statement declaring that the currently untitled film is unauthorized by them.

The statement reads (via Stereogum):

“The Official Estate of Malcolm John Rebennack, Jr., p/k/a Dr. John, clarifies that the Estate has not authorized the recently announced documentary on the life of Dr. John purportedly to be produced by Impact Artist Productions (and Management) and Radical Media. For clarity, Impact Artist Productions (and Management) does not manage or speak for the Estate, which has its own team with, as Mac would say, a gang and a half of legalizers. The Estate thanks Mac’s fans for their support and assures that the Estate will ‘Walk On Guilded Splinters’ to deliver new music and an officially authorized documentary, to be announced In The Right Place at the right time.”

Auerbach previously said of the project, “I’m thrilled to be partnering with RadicalMedia and Impact Artist Productions to try my hand at directing a documentary feature for the first time and I’m honored to have the subject be my friend Dr John. He was such a unique individual and a shining example of the great melting pot of American music. From his mysterious voodoo stage persona Dr John, to his real, humble self Mac Rebannack — the street poet, the family man, the junkie, the Grammy award winner and all that’s in between, this documentary will introduce the world to him in a way they haven’t seen him before. I’m still learning bits about him that I never knew, and I hope the movie provides a lens into the story of the life of Dr. John.”

It’s been just shy of a year since Chicago-based trio Dehd released their self-assured third studio record Flower Of Devotion. The band haven’t been able to tour behind the release, but that’s about to change later this month when Dehd embarks on their 2021 fall tour. To celebrate, Dehd tapped a number of their musician friends to rework their Flower Of Devotion songs on for remix album.

Dehd herald their upcoming Flower Of Devotion Remixed LP with a version of “Flying” reimagined by the band Physical Medium. The new version distorts the track into lo-fi territory, trading in the cutting guitars and hollow drums heard on the original version for a more dreamy sound.

In a statement about the “Flying” rework and the remix album as a whole, guitarist Jason Balla said:

“I’d like to give Physical Medium a special shout out for planting the seed and really opening my eyes and ears to the world of remixing. Their passion for it has been infectious. What I love about dance music is that it exists to put my body into motion. It can do so many things that a normal song can’t because of its humble mission: keep the asses shaking. Dance music is just plain fun. In this spirit, we invited 14 friends to chop up Flower Of Devotion and put it back together as they saw fit. No rules, no guidelines. The songs went all over the place and it was really amazing to hear songs I knew so well become something new altogether. Hearing one of our voices or a guitar line in a new context really showed me how much room as a band we have to explore. It’s already impacted how we approach writing at practice, figuring out the basics and then asking ‘now what?’”

Listen to “Flying – Physical Medium Remix” above and check out the Flower Of Devotion Remixed tracklist and Dehd’s 2021 North American tour dates below.

1. “Flying – Physical Medium Remix”
2. “Disappear – 03sem Remix”
3. “Loner – Protomartyr Remix”
4. “Apart- Accessory Remix”
5. “Drip Drop – Freak Heat Waves Remix”
6. “Flood – 100% Cement Remix”
7. “Haha – Rxm Reality Remix”
8. “Letter – Sunglow Remix”
9. “Desire – Lala Lala Remix”
10. “Month – In The New Age: Scott Monroe Remix”
11. “No Time – Dom Rabalais Remix”
12. “Moonlight – Lionlimb Remix”
13. “Nobody – Miranda Winters Remix”

09/10 — Chicago, IL @ Pitchfork Music Festival
09/11 — Chicago, IL @ Empty Bottle
09/18 — St. Augustine, FL @ Sing Out Loud Festival
10/01 — Milwaukee, WI @ Cactus Club #
10/03 — Detroit, MI @ El Club #
10/04 — Toronto, ON @ The Baby G #
10/06 — Montreal, QC @ L’esco #
10/07 — Brooklyn, NY @ Market Hotel #
10/08 — Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda’s #
10/09 — Peekskill, NY @ First River Festival
10/27 — Austin, TX @ Stubb’s Waller Creek Amphitheatre *
10/28 — Dallas, TX @ Granada Theater *
10/29 — Houston, TX @ The Heights Theater *
10/30 — San Antonio, TX @ Paper Tiger *
11/01 — Phoenix, AX @ The Van Buren *
11/02 — San Diego, CA @ The Observatory North Park *
11/03 — Los Angeles, CA @ Zebulon
11/04 — Los Angeles, CA @ The Wiltern Theatre *
11/06 — Oakland, LA @ Fox Theater *
11/08 — Portland, OR @ Aladdin Theater *
11/09 — Vancouver, BC @ Hollywood Theatre *
11/10 — Seattle, WA @ Moore Theatre *
11/12 — Salt Lake City, UT @ The Complex *
11/13 — Englewood, CO @ The Gothic Theatre *
11/15 — Lawrence, KS @ The Granada *
11/16 — St. Louis, MO @ Delmar Hall *

# with Bnny
* supporting Julien Baker

Flower Of Devotion Remixed is out 9/17 via Fire Talk. Pre-order it here.