Month: October 2021

This article originally appeared on 07.11.19

Young entrepreneur Darius Brown is on a mission to find homes for shelter animals, and he’s doing it with style—literally. The 14-year-old makes bow ties for dogs and cats in the hopes that it will help more of them find homes.

Many people find it hard to resist a puppy. But a puppy with a bowtie? That’s just not even fair.

Brown, who goes by Sir Darius Brown on social media, wears a bow tie himself most of the time. “Literally everywhere I go, I wear a bow tie” he says.

It all started when he was eight and his older sister started making hair bows in cosmetology school. Brown had been diagnosed at age two with comprehension, speech, and fine motor skills delays, and helping out with his sister’s sewing projects seemed to help him.

“With his fine motor skills, he wasn’t able to really use his hands well—tying a shoe was challenging,” his sister told the Today Show. “My mother and I came up with the idea that if he helped us with things like prepping the ribbon or cutting it, and sewing fabric together, it would help him. And it did—it worked!”

Brown started making his own bow ties to wear, and eventually his love of animals led him to make them for his furry friends also. He has now donated hundreds of ties to animal shelters all over the country.

“It helps the dog look noticeable, very attractive,” Brown told Today. “It helps them find a forever, loving home…I love everything about dogs and cats.”

Seriously, though. So. Not. Fair.

Brown has created his own organization called Beaux and Paws, and he’s begun fundraising to be able to provide more ties. He’s also received donations of fabric and supplies from people who support his mission. “The donations help a lot because we were just digging in our pockets, buying the fabric ourselves,” his mother told Today.

And the good work doesn’t stop there. During the pandemic, he created over 100 face coverings for essential workers and the homeless as well as created koala mittens for koalas bears that burned their hands due to the Australian bushfires. Sir Darius hopes to continue bringing more awareness to pet adoption, finding new ways to support shelters and pet adoption, and encouraging youth to get involved with volunteering at shelters.

The preteen’s work hasn’t gone unnoticed. Former President Barack Obama even sent him a letter of praise in 2018.

“Dear Darius,” Obama’s letter reads. “After hearing your story, I wanted to reach out to commend you for your commitment to community service. From founding Beaux and Paws to lifting up the lives of those around you, it’s clear you are doing your part to look out for your fellow citizens. And I trust you take tremendous pride in all you have accomplished.

As long as you stay engaged in the world around you, continue looking for ways to help others, and never give up on yourself, I’m confident our future will be bright. Know that I’m rooting for you in all you do, and I wish you the very best.”

Well done, Sir Darius! Keep up the inspiring work.

Sean Baker, the acclaimed director of Tangerine and The Florida Project (one of the best movies of the 2010s), returns with Red Rocket. The film follows Mikey Saber, a middle-aged adult film star who returns to small-town Texas where his estranged wife and mother-in-law live. He disrupts the lives of everyone around him, including a teenage girl working at the donut shop who he becomes infatuated with. Mikey is played by Simon Rex, the former solo porn performer who became an MTV VJ and Scary Movie and What I Like About You star, and is now getting Oscar consideration for Red Rocket.

“A24 is taking it domestically in the United States, and you know they’re a fearless company, and I think they’re going to take anything that comes our way head on. But I don’t want to be negative about it. I know we’re tackling tough subjects here, and I know there are themes and images that are triggering in this film, I get it,” Baker told Deadline about Red Rocket. “We’re just going to see how audiences take it. I understand it’s going to be divisive, and I understand I’m going to get some hate mail, it’s OK.”

Here’s the official plot synopsis:

The audacious new film from writer-director Sean Baker (The Florida Project, Tangerine), starring Simon Rex in a magnetic, live-wire performance, Red Rocket is a darkly funny and humane portrait of a uniquely American hustler and a hometown that barely tolerates him.

Red Rocket, which also stars Suzanna Son, Bree Elrod, Brenda Deiss, Ethan Darbone, Brittney Rodriguez, and Judy Hill, opens on December 3. That ain’t no lie.

“Dreams didn’t make us kings. Dragons did.”

Did you get a chill or two during that line? You’re not alone. HBO Max has released the first teaser trailer for the first Game of Thrones spinoff, House of the Dragon, which will take us back to the days when House Targaryen filled itself with all manner of blonde wigs, rather than the few we saw during the franchise’s flagship series.

The teaser arrived during the HBO Max’s Europe launch event, and we’re finally seeing the first footage of the prequel. In less than one minute, we see “gods, kings, fire, and blood,” as flashes of Targaryen hair give way to swordplay. Do we see any actual dragons? Nope, but they get namedropped by Matt Smith’s Daemon Targaryen, and George R.R. Martin previously promised that, don’t worry, we will see plenty of dragons. Also important, however, is the visual presence of fire here, which is quite suggestive, since Martin previously clarified that the Targaryen bunch isn’t immune to fire, other than Daenerys, who emerged from the flames like it ain’t no thing.

The prequel also stars Emma D’arcy as Rhaenyra Targaryen, niece to Daemon and the daughter of King Viserys I Targaryen (he will be portrayed by Paddy Considine), who was the fifth king of the Targaryen dynasty to sit on the Iron Throne. In addition, HBO announced the following cast members during the Tuesday event:

Wil Johnson as Ser Vaemond Velaryon – Younger brother to Coryls Velaryon and commander in the Velaryon navy

John Macmillan as Ser Laenor Velaryon – Son of Corlys Velaryon and Rhaenys Targaryen

Savannah Steyn as Lady Laena Velayron – Daughter of Corlys Velaryon and Rhaenys Targaryen

Theo Nate as Ser Laenor Velaryon – Son of Corlys Velaryon and Rhaenys Targaryen

George R.R. Martin is on hand here, not only as co-creator but also co-showrunner, so we can expect to soon see plenty of interviews about when he might finish writing Winds of Winter. (Sorry, George R.R. Martin.)

House of the Dragon debuts in 2022.

Once upon a time — for over five decades — televisions were in a different shape than they are now. TV sets used to be box-shaped. The shows that aired on them, of course, were, too. Widescreen TVs became popular in the aughts, and now any show made in the before-time runs into a problem: They’re often re-shaped for modern TVs. That means cropping and removing chunks of the image. And it means incurring the wrath of those who notice, such as the Simpsons fans who successfully pressured Disney+ into making sure there was an option to watch older episodes of the show in their original form.

Now it’s happening to Seinfeld. All 180 episodes of the ‘90s landmark debuted on Netflix over the weekend. But fans of the show quickly noticed a problem: The show had been reformatted to fit modern screens. That meant jokes had been ruined, like one involving a pothole.

Another eagle-eyed viewer seemed to figure it out: The image was not only cropped but also ever-so-slightly stretched out.

People wondered why Netflix spent a princely sum to show a censored Seinfeld. (Incidentally, HBO Max did the same with Friends, which streams in a similarly cropped form.)

Thing is, it’s probably not Netflix’s fault. As per The Verge, Seinfeld has been shown in its cropped form since 2008, when a new HD master started being shown on syndication and, later, on Hulu, where the show lived before its new move.

That also means that Seinfeld heads have had a tough decision to make for years: Watch it in HD in the wrong aspect ratio, or in substandard quality in the correct shape.

There is hope that a change could come. Again, Disney+ caved to pressure and made older Simpsons episodes available in their original 1.33:1 shape. But it’s unclear if there are HD/4K scans of Seinfeld in its classic shape. And if there aren’t, will Netflix shell out the dough to make new ones, just to appease some people on social media? (And, of course, to do the right thing.) Then again, it’s not like they’re strangers to burning gobs of money.

(Via The Verge)

Warning: This post contains spoilers for The Many Saints of Newark. And for The Sopranos.

The Many Saints of Newark, the long-awaited Sopranos prequel, arrived last weekend, and it was probably not what most people expected. “Who made Tony Soprano?” read the ads, but we didn’t really learn that much about the mob boss when he was younger (except that he had a surprisingly high IQ). We actually learned more the Moltisanti family, specifically Alessandro Nivola’s Dickie, father to Michael Imperioli’s Christopher.

Imperioli, meanwhile, realized something dark about the character he played across six seasons. As per The Hollywood Reporter, the acclaimed actor and filmmaker recently went on Talking Sopranos, the podcast hosted by fellow alum Steve Schirripa. Imperioli serves as Many Saints’ narrator, with Christopher reflecting upon the past from the grave. But upon seeing the finished product, and upon seeing how Dickie wasn’t some monster dooming his son to an unpleasant life, he had a big realization.

“Dickie is a mobster and criminal, you can’t deny that — but he seems like a good guy,” Imperioli told Schirripa. “There are some noble qualities to him. I imagined him before the movie as more like Christopher, more hot-headed, but he wasn’t. He was a more composed character, which made me think that a lot of Christopher’s defects and addictive-compulsive nature actually came from not having a father.”

In other words, Christopher wasn’t a whole lot like his father. They both had demons, but Dickie was mostly functioning, and could mostly — but not always — keep it together. Christopher is damaged for other reasons.

Perhaps it’s the world he grew up in. Imperioli talked about the ending of Many Saints, in which his father is whacked on the orders of a key member of the crime family, and for petty reasons.

“It shows how f*cked up the Sopranos are,” Imperioli said. “It made me think that Christopher was doomed from the start, from birth. It is almost like it is imprinted in his genetics.”

The Many Saints of Newark is now playing in theaters and on HBO Max.

(Via THR)

LeBron James is about to enter his 19th NBA season, and based on what we saw out of the Los Angeles Lakers star last season, he doesn’t seem like he has any plans to give up his spot among the game’s elite any time soon. Before the season tips off, though, James is lending his name to the newest gigantic facility at the heart of Nike’s campus in Oregon.

Nike unveiled the LeBron James Innovation Center on Monday, which will include the new Nike Sport Research Lab. The 750,000 square foot facility, according to a release from Nike, “s where listening to the voice of the athlete is made tangible,” as researchers will use data accrued while folks are participating in their various sports to help create things that assist them on and off of their respective playing surfaces.

The new scope of the NSRL is fivefold the footprint of its predecessor. Facilities include a full-size basketball court, a 200-meter endurance track, a 100-meter straightaway, and an artificial-turf training pitch — all in service of capturing athletes in motion at full speed. Along with the force plates and motion-capture equipment mentioned above, a series of four advanced climate chambers mimic a variety of conditions. These advancements support an expansion of research and development that encompasses both mental and physical well-being.

“Over the course of my career and my time here at Nike, for all of this to come together is surreal,” James said in a statement. “Sometimes it doesn’t make sense to me, but I’m definitely honored. Having my name on the Innovation building feels very fitting because I’m always trying to figure out ways I can continue to innovate and continue to break the timeline of what they say is your prime.”

Now that the facility is opened, James can now focus 100 percent on the Lakers, whose regular season begins on Oct. 19 at Staples Center against the Golden State Warriors.

Two intriguing AFC West rivals take the field in Los Angeles for the Week 4 edition of Monday Night Football. The Los Angeles Chargers welcome the undefeated Las Vegas Raiders to SoFi Stadium with real anticipation but, despite a scheduled start time of 8:15 pm ET, kickoff didn’t take place in its typical time slot. In fact, it was delayed for weather and, more specifically, for lightning in Los Angeles.

The issue, though, is that SoFi Stadium is a domed venue, meaning that exterior weather wouldn’t normally cause a delay. That left observers quite confused, even as the official kickoff time of 8:55 pm ET was distributed.

Raiders head coach Jon Gruden joined in the confusion, reacting as he was told what was happening just before the game was set to begin.

The jokes were flying, including a play on the presence of Chargers and their trademark lightning bolt logo in this particular setting.

There was seemingly a real reason for the delay, though, as the weather was pretty ugly outside the venue. Given that SoFi Stadium does have open sides, there would be some potential issues for fans in certain areas, even if the field was not affected.

All told, it appears as if the only real fallout will be a delay of under an hour, and football is on schedule — ESPN reports the scheduled kick is 8:55 p.m. ET. Still, this is a bizarre situation and, with all of the renewed attention on sports betting in 2021, one could ask what the odds were of an indoor weather delay on Monday night.

Britney Spears has been on a rollercoaster. Not just for the last few months as she battles it out in court with her father and the corrupt legal team who allegedly orchestrated her abusive conservatorship, but for the last thirteen years where her situation seemed dire and permanent. It was her fans rallying together to create the #FreeBritney movement — which kicked off amateur, and then professional — investigations into her predicament, and after years of not quite knowing what was happening, or if their work mattered, those loyal few are finally getting gratitude straight from the source.

On Twitter today, Britney let her #FreeBritney fans know that she credits her newfound freedom directly to them.
“#FreeBritney movement… I have no words… because of you guys and your constant resilience in freeing me from my conservatorship…. my life is now in that direction !!!!! I cried last night for two hours cause my fans are the best and I know it…”

She’s not completely out of the conservatorship yet, but a landmark decision last week to suspend her father from the proceedings means that dissolution of the system is likely the next step. Meanwhile, she got engaged, and then went on vacation and posted nudes to celebrate. Frankly I can’t think of a better way to acknowledge the shift in control and begin to come to terms with having her life back. As long as she’s also focusing on the fact that she’s got a lot of healing to do.

It was a crazy day on social media Monday, just not on Facebook and its sister services Instagram and WhatsApp. The week kicked off with a massive outage at the social media company. Jokes flew wild…on Twitter. But by the end of the day, all three services started slowly roaring back to life.

It all began around 11:30 EST, the morning after 60 Minutes aired a shocking — though not that shocking — report from a whistleblower about how higher-ups allegedly allowed various strains of misinformation to spread because it was good for traffic. As the company was being accused of favoring profits over public safety, they suddenly went AWOL. Around 6:30 EST, some seven hours later, the company announced — on Twitter — that things would soon be back to normal.

“To the huge community of people and businesses around the world who depend on us: we’re sorry,” Facebook said. “We’ve been working hard to restore access to our apps and services and are happy to report they are coming back online now. Thank you for bearing with us.”

It remains a mystery what happened, beyond some vague chatter about “networking issues.” All three services spent the day reassuring people — again, on Twitter — that they were on it.

Though the outage caused a lot of jokes, some pointed out the parts of it that are no laughing matter. Some suggested that Facebook Inc. should run afoul of antitrust laws.

But there were also jokes.

And there were also people who wished Facebook Inc. hadn’t come back.

But Facebook et al. are back, so at least your uncle who falls for misinformation about horse drugs is happy again.

Harry Styles on tour is guaranteed to produced plenty of newsworthy stories. Not just because his fans do things like open up a pit at a pop show to celebrate when he performs “Kiwi,” or because he gives expert advice on subjects like “should I text him?” but because the music really is that good, too.

And because “Watermelon Sugar” has become one of the singer’s most beloved songs, apparently Harry felt it was time to let everyone know exactly what the song is about. I mean, we all had our theories based on some choice imagery and parallels, but to have the songwriter himself weigh in, well, that’s true pleasure. “This song is about… it doesn’t really matter what it’s about,” Styles said before launching into the song at a recent show in Nashville. “It’s about the, uh, the sweetness of life.” After singing a few lines, though, he decided to give us more: “It’s also about the female orgasm, but that’s totally different. It’s not relevant.”

The ensuing screams from the audience seem to imply otherwise, my dear Mr. Styles.

Check out a fan-captured video of the moment above, and make sure to smugly tell your friends and family that you knew what the sexual innuendo before it was revealed! That’s true fandom.