Month: December 2021

Wonder Woman is one of the most well known superheroes in the DC Universe. The famous superhero Amazonian is known for her super strength, speed, and is nearly invincible. She’s also one of the members of the Justice League. All of this is to say, that people really adore Wonder Woman and she is someone that could be perfect to play in a video game.

Someone over at Monolith Productions and DC must have agreed, because it was revealed during The Game Awards on Thursday that Wonder Woman would be receiving her own game. We, unfortunately, didn’t get too much info as the reveal was not much more than a teaser, but it was enough to get us excited about the upcoming game.

Wonder Woman is the latest superhero to be announced for an upcoming game. We’ve already seen other superheroes like Spider-Man and Batman see success with their own video games, and we know a Wolverine game is on the way, so it’s exciting to see this trend continue with Wonder Woman.

What’s also exciting is the development team working on it is Monolith Productions. Most recently, Monolith made a name for itself with Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor, an exciting game that took place in the Lord of the Rings universe. We’ve already seen them do a great adaptation with one universe so we can be confident in the development team’s ability to make magic happen again with another.

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is already off to a better start than Sonic the Hedgehog: the trailer above is a Creepy Human Teeth-Free Zone (it’s next to Green Hill Zone). The Sonic sequel brings back Ben Schwartz as Sonic and Jim Carrey as Dr. Robotnik, and adds Colleen O’Shaughnessey as Tails (she’s the voice of the flying fox in the video games, too) and Idris Elba as Knuckles. When asked to tease his performance as the Poochie of the Sonic universe, The Wire star said, “Honestly, I cannot say. Contractually, I cannot say anything. But I wouldn’t say he was sexy. I don’t think I’m going for that.”

Note: do not look up “sexy Knuckles” on Google Images.

The original Sonic was released in February 2020, meaning it was a lot of people’s last movie before theaters were shut down due to the pandemic. Is there someone out there — possibly the same someone who went against my advice and looked up “sexy Knuckles” on Google Images — who has been waiting to go Back to the Movies until Sonic 2 comes out? Considering Sonic’s famously intense fans, almost assuredly.

Sonic the Hedgehog 2, which also stars James Marsden, Tika Sumpter, Natasha Rothwell, Adam Pally, and Shemar Moore, opens on April 8, 2022.

For the first time since the tragedy at his 2021 Astroworld Festival last month, Travis Scott sat down for an interview to speak about the incident. He spoke with radio show personality Charlamagne Tha God for a 50-minute conversation where he said he’s been on an “emotional rollercoaster” since learning about what took place at last month’s festival. “It gets so hard because, you know, I always feel connected with my fans,” he said. “I went through something and I feel like fans went through something and people’s parents went through something, and it really hurts. It hurts the community, it hurts the city. There’s been a lot of thoughts, a lot of feelings, a lot of grieving, and just trying to wrap my head around it.”

According to TMZ, hours after this interview was shared, an attorney that represents the family of one of the Astroworld victims spoke out and criticized Travis Scott’s sit-down with Charlamagne Tha God. “Axel Acosta and the many others killed or injured are the victims,” Tony Buzbee, the lawyer for the family of 21-year-old Alexa Acosta, said. “Travis Scott, his entourage, handlers, promoters, managers, hangers on and everyone else who enable him are the problem. Everything that Travis Scott has done or said since ten people died and hundreds of others were injured at his concert has been lawyer-driven and calculated to shift blame from him to someone else.”

Buzbee also said that he doesn’t believe that Travis could not see the chaos that was occurring in the Astroworld crowd. “He now says he had an earpiece in, and was not told what was going on in the crowd,” Buzbee said. “Did he have an earpiece in his eye? Why did he purposely ignore the death and mayhem occurring literally feet from him?”

Travis’ interview and Buzbee’s come after 1,500 additional lawsuits from Astroworld victims were filed, bringing the total number of court cases for the tragedy to nearly 3,000.

(Via TMZ)

(Obviously, spoilers from the Sex And The City revival, And Just Like That… will be found below.)

Samantha Jones might not be dead (and simply enjoying her dudes with a side of tea and crumpets), but another O.G. Sex And The City character bit the dust. The new chapter (which doesn’t involve the show’s original creator, primetime king Darren Star) got a little morbid right away. A lot morbid? Well, maybe so, but it’s also a somewhat expected development given the character’s history of culinary debauchery.

Mr. Big, portrayed by Chris Noth, showed up in the premiere while still married to Carrie Bradshaw. That part’s surprising, since their road was never smooth, and then Big lovers (there’s gotta be some of them out there) were subjected to a Big shock: the eternal cad hopped onto a Peloton bike and apparently didn’t make it through the whole ride. Even making it onto the leaderboard would be no consolation because he bit the dust. Carrie discovered him, and in fitting with her trademarked narration full of puns, she declared, “And just like that, Big died.”

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Peloton wasn’t aware of what would go down involving one of its bikes, and it “didn’t pay for the bike to appear on the show.” Further, US Weekly relayed a statement from Peloton’s Health & Wellness Advisory Council cardiologist Dr. Suzanne Steinbaum, who pointed out that Big had an appetite for the finer things in life, which likely contributed to this situation. He did, in fact, suffer from a heart condition in the original show (Carrie famously grew emotional over it while helping him recover). Here’s what Steinbaum said on behalf of Peloton:

“I’m sure SATC fans, like me, are saddened by the news that Mr. Big dies of a heart attack. Mr. Big lived what many would call an extravagant lifestyle — including cocktails, cigars, and big steaks — and was at serious risk as he had a previous cardiac event in Season. These lifestyle choices and perhaps even his family history, which often is a significant factor, were the likely cause of his death. Riding his Peloton bike may have even helped delay his cardiac event.”

Steinbaum added that “[t]he good news is Peloton helps you track heart rate while you ride, so you can do it safely.” Well, Big also listened to too much Sinatra, but that’s beside the point. Ultimately, the franchise killed off Big with a pun, so I guess he lived as died. Or he died how he lived. R.I.P Big.

(Via US Weekly & Wall Street Journal)

Comedy can be uplifting. And it can also be downright destructive. The rise of cancel culture has made us take a hard look at what we normalize for the sake of a good joke. And with Dave Chappelle’s controversial comedy special, that includes jokes which can be perceived as cruel or homophobic jabs by the LGBTQ community and allies.

At the same time, comedy is supposed to be disruptive, is it not? It’s meant to be audacious, bawdy, outrageous. And let’s not forget it’s often said sarcastically, meaning we don’t really believe what what’s being said … right?

Wil Wheaton has previously given a brilliant take on how to separate the art from the artist. This time though, he’s confronting the art itself and what makes it problematic.

“For anyone who genuinely doesn’t understand why I feel as strongly as I do about people like Chappelle making transphobic comments that are passed off as jokes, I want to share a story that I hope will help you understand, and contextualize my reaction to his behavior.”

Wheaton started off his story by sharing how he used to play ice hockey when he was 16, and one night enjoyed a warm welcome as a guest goalie. After a fun practice, Wheaton joined his teammates in the locker room.

“Before I tell you what happened next, I want to talk specifically about comedy and how much I loved it when I was growing up… One of the definitive comedy specials for me and my friends was Eddie Murphy’s Delirious, from 1983. It had bits that still kill me… Really funny stuff.

There is also extensive homophobic material that is just…appalling and inexcusable. Long stretches are devoted to mocking gay people, using the slur that starts with F over and over and over. Young Wil, who watched this with his suburban white upper middle class friends, in his privileged bubble, thought it was the funniest, edgiest, dirtiest thing he’d ever heard… And all of it was dehumanizing to gay men… I didn’t know any better. I accepted the framing, I developed a view of gay men as predatory, somehow less than straight men, absolutely worthy of mockery and contempt. Always good for a joke…

…A comedian who I thought was one of the funniest people on the planet totally normalized making a mockery of gay people, and because I was a privileged white kid, raised by privileged white parents, there was nobody around me to challenge that perception. For much of my teen years, I was embarrassingly homophobic, and it all started with that comedy special.”

Here Wheaton pivots back to the locker room:

“So I’m talking with these guys…We’re doing that sports thing where you talk about the great plays, and feel like you’re part of something special.

And then, without even realizing what I was doing, that awful word came out of my mouth. ‘Blah blah blah F****t,’ I said.

The room fell silent and that’s when I realized every single guy in this room was gay. They were from a team called The Blades (amazing) and I had just … really fucked up.

“‘Do you have any gay friends?” One of them asked me, gently.

“Yes,” I said, defensively. Then, I lied, “they say that all the time.” I was so embarrassed and horrified. I realized I had basically said the N word, in context, and I didn’t know what to do. I wanted to disappear. I wanted to apologize, I wanted to beg forgiveness. But I was a stupid sixteen year-old with pride and ignorance and fear all over myself, so I lied to try and get out of it.

“They must not love themselves very much,” he said, with quiet disappointment.

Nobody said another word to me. I felt terrible. I shoved my gear into my bag and left as quickly as I could.”

Genuinely lovely stuff from @wilw here.

(Also worth noting that Eddie Murphy has since apologized for a lot of the stuff in Raw and Delirious that he’s referencing.) https://t.co/TFwyp4yzut

— Franklin Leonard (@franklinleonard) December 9, 2021

“That happened over 30 years ago, and I think about it all the time. I’m mortified and embarrassed and so regretful that I said such a hurtful thing. I said it out of ignorance, but I still said it, and I said it because I believed these men, who were so cool and kind and just like all the other men I played with (I was always the youngest player on the ice) were somehow less than … I guess everyone. Because that had been normalized for me by culture and comedy.

A *huge* part of that normalization was through entertainment that dehumanized gay men in the service of “jokes”. And as someone who thought jokes were great, I accepted it. I mean, nobody was making fun of *ME* that way…so…

This stuff that Chappelle did? …For a transgender person, those “jokes” normalize hateful, ignorant, bigoted behavior towards them. Those “jokes” contribute to a world where transgender people are constantly under threat of violence, because transgender people have been safely, acceptably, dehumanized. And it’s all okay, because they were dehumanized by a Black man……Literally every queer person I know (and I know a LOT) is hurt by Chappelle’s actions. When literally every queer person I know says “this is hurtful to me”, I’m going to listen to them and support them, and not tell them why they are wrong…”

Wil Wheaton brings up some powerful points. While this is a complex issue, the insidious nature of dehumanizing jokes is pretty blatant. At some point we have to ask ourselves: Is it really worth harming someone else for the sake of a joke? When put that bluntly, the answer, I hope, is a resounding no.

Nearly three years after Jussie Smollett first (falsely) reported that he was the victim of a hate crime in Chicago, the former Empire actor’s case has finally seen a resolution. This is the case after Chicago law enforcement and prosecutors began to see holes in Smollett’s story, along with discrepancies involving evidence like surveillance footage (and lack thereof). Fast forward to late 2021, and the trial became a real fiasco with Smollett testifying that he’d had a lot of fun with one of the brothers that he apparently paid to attack him and also popping off at a prosecutor in open court.

In the end, Smollett’s defense couldn’t stand up against the jury’s interpretation of all that went down. Via CNN, here’s a rundown of the counts involved in this guilty verdict, all involving disorderly conduct in the form of false police reports about being the victim of a hate crime that he apparently staged:

Count 1 – Guilty: Making a false police report he was the victim of a hate crime to Officer Muhammad Baig.
Count 2 – Guilty: Making a false police report he was the victim of a battery to Baig.
Count 3 – Guilty: Making a false police report he was the victim of a hate crime to Det. Kimberly Murray.
Count 4 – Guilty: Making a false police report he was the victim of a battery to Det. Kimberly Murray.
Count 5 – Guilty: Making a false police report he was the victim of a battery to Det. Kimberly Murray.

Yep, that’s redundant but what the jury wrote. Throughout this trial, Smollett has maintained that he didn’t stage the attack, but his days of that argument are over, at least in a court of law. The New York Times reports that each of these guilty accounts (as a Class 4 felony) could amount to up to three years behind bars, along with a $25,000 fine. Once sentencing time rolls around, the Cook County judge can decide whether these sentences shall run concurrently or consecutively, potentially adding up to fifteen years behind bars (before any time’s reduced for good behavior and so on).

There are no winners in this situation. However, the far-right’s feeling vindicated by the verdict, and they’re making their feelings known.

(Via CNN & New York Times)

By now, you’ve probably heard way too much about the Fox News Christmas tree fiasco. A suspect appeared to randomly burned down “All-American Christmas Tree” at the New York City headquarters in the wee hours of Wednesday. The aftermath included hosts completely melting down all day while claiming a “War on Christmas” all the way. The Fox and Friends gang grumbled over this evident “crime surge,” and then the trio declared that this was “a hate crime on Fox News. Tucker Carlson used the same term, and things are growing even more absurd with a ceremony for the new tree.

Suspected arsonist Craig Tomanaha (who has been released from custody) reportedly caused a half-million dollars in damage, but conservative news network already has a replacement for the 50-foot fake tree. During Thursday’s edition of The Five, a chorus of cheers went up during live coverage of All-American Christmas Tree 2.0.

And at the mic, Fox News contributor Rev. Jacques DeGraff was so excited, to the point where he made an off-the-rocker historical reference. “I’m here because these colors do not run,” DeGraff proclaimed. “80 years ago this week, they tried to extinguish the darkness in a place called Pearl Harbor. We didn’t fold then, and we won’t fold now!”

Pearl Harbor, huh. Well, this doesn’t feel like a historically significant event, but alright!

This whole situation’s been a theatrical mess with CNN’s Brianna Keilar calling out Fox News for being far more outraged about this fake tree than the Jan. 6 MAGA riot. In addition, an on-air guest criticized the wall-to-wall coverage and probably won’t ever be invited back. The Pearl Harbor bit, though? That’s next level stuff…

You probably know what it means to hit the hay, tie the knot or buy a lemon. Maybe you’ve already killed two birds with one stone today, so effortlessly that it was a piece of cake. But to a non-English speaker, using these phrases would probably make you sound crazy … or should I say gone crackers?

That’s the fun thing about idioms. They change depending on the time, place and culture creating them. In other words, they usually sound ridiculous to anyone except those who normally use them.

Looking at turns of phrase in different languages helps us see the world through different eyes. And man does it seem impressive at a party.

Just think, instead of saying “it’s raining cats and dogs,” next time you could incorporate a more Lithuanian take, and say “it’s raining axes.” How metal is that?

It can also be raining old women, barrels, buckets, pipe stems, frogs, female trolls, fire and brimstone … depending on where you’re from.

Some of these idioms from around the world make a lot of sense. Others get so lost in translation, you can’t help but get tickled pink.

Swedish

”nu ska du få dina fiskar värmda”

Literal translation: Now your fishes will be warmed.

It’s another way of saying someone’s in trouble, or their “goose is cooked.”

The Swedish language is definitely not lacking in the threats department. They also have a saying, ”nu har du satt din sista potatis” which translates to “now you have planted your last potato.”

Imagine hearing Batman say “You’ve planted your last potato, Joker.” Doesn’t have quite the intended effect.

Italian

“Avere gli occhi foderati di prosciutto”

Literal translation: “To have one’s eyes lined with ham.”

Leave it to the Italians to have food-related phrases. You can use this when someone can’t see what’s right in front of them. It can also be used when someone is blinded by love. Sadly, there is no “ham-colored glasses” idiom.

Icelandic

“Að leggja höfuðið í bleyti”

Literal translation: To lay your head in water.

You say this when you “need to sleep on something,” or “put your thinking cap on.” This one is hilarious because I cannot fathom getting any mental clarity from holding my head in the water.

Arabic

“At-Tikraar yu’allem al- Himaar”

Literal translation: Repetition teaches the donkey.

Practice makes perfect, but it especially does for donkeys. Animal-themed wisdom at its finest.

German

“ich verstehe nur Bahnhof

Literal translation: I only understand train station.

It’s another way of saying “it’s all Greek to me.”

The history of this one is a bit mysterious. One theory is that it originated from WW1 soldiers who had only one thing on their mind after getting discharged: returning home. Meaning, they could only comprehend the training station which would lead them there. Others say it refers to tourists new to Germany who have really only learned the german word for “train station.” Which would indicate that everything else is foreign to them.

And let’s not forget “nicht mein bier, nicht meine sorgen”, translating to “not my beer, not my worries.”

(fun fact: the term “not my circus, not my monkeys” actually stems from a Polish proverb, not an English saying at all)

Norwegian

“Å snakke rett fra leveren”

Literal translation: to speak directly from the liver.

When you say something without sugar coating it, you are speaking directly from the liver. This dates back to a time when the liver was thought to be the magical organ that produced courage. So speaking from the liver is just like speaking from the heart, only down and to the right a little.

Chinese

“mama huhu”

Literal translation: horse horse, tiger tiger.

You can use it to say something is just okay. Not good, not bad, just…meh.

As the story goes, a Chinese painter who, not very good at his craft, created a drawing of an animal that looked sort of like a tiger, and sort of like, you guessed it, a horse. That story actually has a tragic ending that serves as a cautionary tale against carelessness. But nowadays it takes on a lighter connection.

And like “comme ci, comme ca” in French, “horse horse, tiger tiger” isn’t quite as commonly spoken as non native speakers would assume.

Language continues to be an ever evolving, and always entertaining way to not only appreciate other cultures, but also note the similarities. Words might change slightly, but ultimately we’re all expressing the same things.

A bombshell new report published in The Guardian on Wednesday alleges that former President Donald Trump may have knowingly had COVID-19 in his first debate against then-Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden on September 29, 2020.

The allegation was made by Trump’s fourth, and final, chief of staff Mark Meadows in his upcoming book, “The Chief’s Chief.” If what Meadows says is true, it means that Trump put countless lives in danger just to participate in the debate, including Biden who was 77 at the time.

In September 2020, there were no COVID-19 vaccines and treatments for the virus were less effective than they are today.

After Biden responded to a question on supply chain issues on Wednesday, a reporter asked the president about the allegation. His response was curt, to say the least.

“Mark Meadows has written a book revealing that President Trump tested positive for COVID three days before your first debate. Do you think the former president put you at risk?” the reporter asked.

“I don’t think about the former president. Thank you.” Biden said before walking away from the podium.

Reporter: “Do you think the former president put you at risk?” nnBiden: “I don’t think about the former president.”pic.twitter.com/QXCRrpnrmb

— Oliver Willis (@Oliver Willis)
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In his new book, Meadows says that Trump tested positive three days before his scheduled debate with Biden. The positive test came shortly after the administration’s Rose Garden ceremony for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett. In the days that followed, the ceremony was discovered to be a super-spreader event, with nearly a dozen people who attended the event later testing positive for the virus.

Trump and his allies learned of the result during a helicopter flight aboard Marine One for a campaign event in Middletown, Pennsylvania.

Shortly after the result came through, Meadows had the former president take another test, this time with the newer, BinaxNOW system.

After a “brief but tense wait,” the test came back negative.

On the day of the debate, the Trump team arrived late so there wasn’t enough time to test the president. The debate operated on the honor system even though each candidate was supposed to test negative for the virus within 72 hours of the start time. “Nothing was going to stop [Trump] from going out there,” Meadows said.

The White House never mentioned the positive test three days before the debate, a completely irresponsible move that mirrors Trump’s cavalier attitude in how he handled the pandemic as a leader.

Will You Shut Up Man?’: Biden Blasts Trump For Interrupting.. Learn from history..pic.twitter.com/0itb6hHoUj

— ALI (@ALI)
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The first Biden-Trump debate was chaotic, marked by Trump’s incessant interruptions of the former vice-president. Biden also stumbled frequently during the exchange and became so frustrated with his opponent’s interjections that he demanded, “Will you shut up, man?”

Three days after the debate, Trump announced by tweet that he and his wife, Melania Trump, were positive for the virus. After a three-day stay at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Trump was discharged and returned to the White House.

Joe Biden would go on to win the 2020 presidential election that November.

Billie Eilish and her brother Finneas have got to be the most tireless and accomplished siblings since Bart and Lisa Simpson. While they haven’t saved a daytime TV clown from jail yet, or prevented their hometown from being flooded by an exploding dam, Billie and Finneas have won seven Grammy Awards together. In fact, they’ve also just been nominated for seven more at the 2022 awards, including Album Of The Year, for Eilish’s Happier Than Ever. Come next February, the pair will be heading out on the Happier Than Ever World Tour and the grind is just non-stop with these two.

Despite all this, Finneas revealed on the Rolling Stone Music Now podcast that the pair have already started working on the third Billie Eilish album. “We’re on the clay wheel and we’ve got clay on the wheel,” Finneas joked about being early in the process. He talked about how they’ve started writing songs, but they’re trying to make sense of what they have on their hands.

“We’ve got the net in the ocean, and we’re picking up detritus. And then you sift through all that, and you pick out the treasure, and then you have an album. I’m really excited. I think we’ve got a lot to say.”

Host Brian Hiatt tries to bait Finneas into saying whether they’ll be experimenting with this early material on the upcoming tour, but Finneas demurs, saying that the focus of the tour is definitely Happier Than Ever. “It’s 16 songs, we don’t want to step on the toes of an album like that,” he said, although there definitely seemed to be some hinting in the tone of his voice. The episode is a very cool spin with Finneas also providing some insight into producing pop music for both himself and his sister. Listen to it in full here.