Month: January 2022

Dr. Anthony Fauci has put up with a lot the last two years. He’s the nation’s top immunologist, and yet he’s had to navigate working with a president who did his best to downplay a once-in-a-century public health crisis. Then there’s all the Republican lawmakers who give him a hard time. Rand Paul is his biggest nemesis, and though his patience frequently wears thin with the Kentucky senator, at least he’s never got caught calling him names. But that did happen with another Republican lawmaker.

As per The Hill, during a Senate hearing about COVID-19, Dr. Fauci took some hostile questioning from Roger Marshall, a relatively obscure GOP senator from Kansas who, of course, was one of the lawmakers who disputed the 2020 election results. Marshall accused the doctor of withholding his finances from the public.

“I don’t understand why you’re asking me that question,” a mystified Dr. Fauci responded. “My financial disclosure is public knowledge and has been so for the last 37 years or so.”

Marshall then claimed that “big tech giants are doing an incredible job of keeping [his finances] from being public.”

“All you have to do is ask for it,” Dr. Fauci replied, adding, “You’re so misinformed, it’s extraordinary.”

Dr. Fauci then leaned away from the microphone, but it wasn’t hard to hear what he said next: “What a moron,” he said, adding, “Jesus Christ.”

Marshall later released a statement about being called an idiot by one of the nation’s top doctors. He still accused him of hiding his finances, adding, “Calling me a moron during a Senate hearing may have alleviated the stress of the least trusted bureaucrat in America, but it didn’t take away from the facts.”

It was a stressful day for the normally relatively calm Dr. Fauci. At the same hearing, he had to deal yet again with Rand Paul, but this time he came with receipts, accusing him of fundraising off the pandemic with merchandise such as T-shirts that say “Fire Dr. Fauci” and put partial blame on him for all the right-wingers who want to murder him for trying to bring the pandemic to a close.

(Via The Hill)

I’m not sure there has ever been a more out-of-nowhere-yet-somehow-still-obvious link-up than Kerwin Frost and 7-Eleven. The multi-hyphenate creator has carved a squiggly path from SoHo “clout corridor” cool kid to a Kanye collaborator, Kardashian-Jenner documentarian, DJ, Adidas designer, and a renowned interviewed who has chopped it up with everyone from Tyler the Creator to A$AP Rocky to John Mayer. Since he’s been in the spotlight he’s taken to the world of streetwear and influencing like a kid in a candy store and 7-Eleven is… well, practically a candy store.

So I wasn’t shocked to learn Frost had teamed up with the convenience chain late last year to launch Kerwin’s Snack Party Mix Popcorn — a snack mix that consists of white chocolate popcorn, candied chocolate pieces, cinnamon toasted cereal, and chocolate cake mix. But I was surprised to learn that the pair teamed up more extensively for a tactical jumpsuit made specifically for snacking.

The jumpsuit, which is available in both pink and green, features 18 different pockets all pre-loaded with Frost’s favorite snacks. Frost, who has made waves in the world of streetwear and sneakers by infusing some much-needed fun into Adidas roster of designs, is always intensely thoughtful about what he attaches his name to and we’re happy to see that the snack suit is no different. Roll up to the movies in this snack-packed baby and you’ll literally be everyone’s favorite person. Except the movie theater’s — they want you buying those $12 Junior Mints.

We hit up Kerwin Frost to talk about the inspiration behind his latest collaboration and his plans for the future and he shared with us some of his favorite snacks, his style ethos, and the deeper meaning behind his Adidas Superstuffed. Let’s jump in.

What was behind the idea for the snack attack uniform?

Originally we were just going to do the Kerwin’s Snack Party Mix Popcorn, but anytime I work with anyone, any type of collaboration, it’s always important to try to thread deeper than the first initial idea. I’ve always wanted to make this heavy set kind of perfect tactical look but with 7-Eleven, they have always been an inspiration to me and I had gotten inspired by their uniforms from Asia. They have these pink uniforms with a big “7,” I had seen that and it had immediately clicked in my head. What if there was this Matrix-like 7-Eleven uniform that had all these pockets that were tactical and you could pack them up with snacks.

You also never get to see colorful cargo pants or lab coats you know what I mean? They’re normally white, khaki, navy, green, so bringing that fun to those silhouettes, I just overall love creating so I’ll take it as far as I can go.

They loved the idea off top, there was no lag in them wanting to do it or second thoughts, they were just like “all right if you want to take it there yeah there let’s do it” and we got it done really fast and it came out amazing which was awesome.

I just pitched the idea of making clothing and telling that story.

You mentioned 7-Eleven in Asia being an influence, have you ever been to 7-Eleven in Japan?

I have yeah it’s amazing!

For people who don’t know and would assume 7-Eleven is the same everywhere, can you paint a picture for us about what makes 7-Eleven in Japan so special?

The stores have different feelings depending on where they are in the world. In New York, it’s mostly the snacks and the drinks, but in LA some of them have liquor licenses and can sell bottles of liquor. I was talking to someone from Memphis and they were just saying how much that blew them away when they came to LA because in Memphis you couldn’t get liquor on a Sunday in some places.

In Japan though, even more amazing, you can get a bowl of curry and rice.

What are your all-time favorite snacks, what are you loading up the snack suit with?

The snack suit comes with 18 different snacks, we have the 7-Select Gummi Blue Sharks… one second let me grab the list it’s a long one. Apple Snack pie, 7-Select Strawberry Cheesecake, the crispy rice treat, the Replenish Guava Splash drink, the gummi bears, pork rinds, gummi peach rings, ghost pepper peanuts, the sour watermelon wedges, the ginger shot, the 7-Select Caramel Flavored Popcorn, their buffalo chicken dip flavor wavy potato chips, the 7-Select fiery hot flavored potato chips, the 7-Select peanut butter filled pretzels are the last one.

That’s the whole list but I genuinely had them send me every single snack they made and I literally had to eat them all. I didn’t finish them all but I was genuinely testing them to see which ones would be perfect for the suit and I didn’t want to leave anything out, that’s why there is ginger shot and a guava drink and the ghost peanuts. They go deep, there are a lot of 7-Select snacks, it’s a huge variety, but what I love about them is how unique the flavors are.

It sounds like your two styles mesh naturally

It meshes so perfectly it’s like a no-brainer.

I wanted to talk about your distinct style, it’s very iconic and specific to you — playful, full of fun — what’s your general style ethos?

For designing it’s really important to have these threads to the history that I’m into and pop culture. Anytime I design something, my two-year-old daughter has to understand it just as much as an 80-year-old man. I always want it to be something that can float for those two tiers, they can immediately understand it. I always try to have that play of fun and functionality, like the snack suit having all the pockets, you just understand immediately. There is always that thread. If you want to you can have your version or explanation of it really fast but if you dive deep into it there are so many other references with it.

With dressing, I always try to be as honest as possible with how I put something together. A lot of people will think I’m just wearing crazy clothes but there is always a story behind the clothes I’m wearing or how I put them together. I always just try to be honest with my approach and clear with my intent.

You’re a natural collaborator, in a dream scenario who or with what entity would you love to collaborate and what do you imagine doing?

I honestly just want to do more with 7-Eleven. I want to make my own custom Slurpee, I want to own a franchise store, I just want to be fully deep in there… I want my own Slurpee!

What is your all-time favorite sneaker silhouette and why?

The Kerwin Frost Superstuffed! I love that shoe because the genetics of that shoe is unlike any other. A shoe doesn’t exist where it makes your foot appear five sizes bigger, so I think it’s a unique shoe that over time will only be appreciated more.

What was the story behind that, you mentioned that you generally come to something with a deeper, well-thought-out idea.

Yeah yeah, I always go “is It fun?” Yes. But also, “Is there history there?” And it kind of has to do both for me to be married to the idea. With the Superstuffed, to the average person you can look at it and say “oh it’s a bigger shoe for your foot” and that’s just funny and sweet and wholesome. But for me that shoe is symbolic. I used to get sneakers from my older relatives, we didn’t have a lot of money growing up we would have to share clothes and sneakers. So sometimes I would have to end up wearing three sizes up, wear them to school with four pairs of socks, and just have to own it.

So when I finally got my own shoe there was that tie in where it was like “wouldn’t it be sick to make people wear a bigger shoe?” And also there is that tie-in with Run DMC and their impact on sneaker legacy and even streetwear. They kind of invented streetwear, I wouldn’t say invented, but they brought it to the masses and brought it to the place where we were looked at by corporations and our ideas were taken seriously. Touching on all of those aspects and then getting to make that, but again, a toddler or an 80-year-old man can look at that idea and just say “Oh my god, haha big shoe!” And that’s good enough for me too.

Getting Kero Kero Bonito to play at Kerwin’s Kingdom at ComplexCon makes so much sense. They’re also very easy to understand, once you see it and hear it you get it immediately.

Yes, oh my god that’s so true, but if you wanted to dive in there are so many references. That is a really really good tie-in that’s so true.

That video for “Sneaker Dance” was dope too

Thank you, we did that together, it took us, we spent a month talking about it over the phone and talking about the different concepts and passing it around together.

What can we expect for you going into 2022?

Just more! I don’t think I’m stopping anytime soon. I’m finally being able to create these magical things and I’ve very grateful for it, so trying to hone in on that as much as possible.

Both Kerwin Frost’s Snack Party Mix and Snack Suit can be found exclusively at Kerwin’s Kingdom.

It’s been a while since there was a major toy fad, the kind that turned parents, desperate to please their kids, into psychotic maniacs. We’re talking the kind America saw in the mid-‘90s, when the nation was gripped with Beanie Baby mania. People couldn’t get enough of the line of otherwise unremarkable plush animals, which were like Care Bears only…not as fun. They didn’t even have their own TV show! What they did have was the newly popular internet, which helped turn them into a collect-them-all sensation. Indeed, they’re often cited as the information superhighway’s first craze, and their impact can still occasionally be felt.

The Beanie saga was recently recounted in the HBO Max doc Beanie Mania. But now we’re getting the narrative version, with actors and everything. As per The Hollywood Reporter, Zach Galifianakis and Elizabeth Banks have signed on for The Beanie Bubble, a movie for Apple based on Zac Bissonette’s book The Great Beanie Baby Bubble: Mass Delusion and the Dark Side of Cute. The script will be penned by Kristin Gore, daughter of former vice president Al Gore and alum of shows like SNL and Futurama. Gore will co-direct the film with Damian Kulash, who’s both the lead singer of the band OK Go and director of many of their inventive, popular videos.

So if you weren’t alive when parents and non-parents alike lost their stuff over stuffed animals, you’ll finally get to see what it was like to live through times arguably stranger than now.

(Via THR)

Videos of creepy guys staring at or harassing women at the gym are plentiful, and their virality underscores how common such experiences are. However, we don’t often see the opposite go viral—the guys at the gym who aren’t creepy, who are aware of how their behavior is perceived and who do what they can to make women feel comfortable while they’re working out.

Now a video of one of those guys has gone viral.

TikTok user @libbychristensen shared a video she took of herself doing squats on a machine at the gym, which happened to catch a man who was working out directly behind her. (If you’re wondering why she was filming herself, some people record their workouts to check their form. Christensen said in the comments that she films each set from a different angle—it wasn’t about catching someone else on film.)

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The video shows the guy directly facing her from behind (nice choice of set-up, gym) but looking down at the floor before lying back onto the bench press.

Watch:

The video includes “The Golden Girls” theme song, “Thank You for Being a Friend.” Christensen wrote that she’d been feeling uncomfortable while doing her hack squats, thinking someone was staring her down. She was thankful to see that the man behind her was looking at the floor and said watching the video back made her “at ease.”

“[Thank you] for your service kind sir,” she wrote in the caption.

The video has been viewed 4.5 million times and has garnered thousands of comments.

“That’s called the ‘ah yes the floor is made of floor,'” wrote one commenter.

“I think there’s more guys doing everything they can to make sure it’s very clear they’re not staring at women in the gym,” wrote another.

“Most dudes are like this,” added another. “This is our special moment to appreciate the nice flooring.”

“This is gym code 101 for any decent guy. Head stays looking at the ground or your phone till you’re done with the set 😂,” wrote another.

Some commenters criticized Christensen’s clothing, suggesting she shouldn’t wear tight clothing if she’s uncomfortable with people looking at her. “Wear baggy clothing if you’re uncomfy,” wrote one person. However, others were quick to point out that clothing choice isn’t an invitation to be a creep.

“Why are we focusing on her clothing,” wrote one person. “People still get harrassed or assaulted in things other than ‘skin tight’ attire.”

“I feel like some of y’all won’t be satisfied till females are wearing sweats & a turtle neck to the gym,” wrote another commenter.

“WERE ALLOWED TO WEAR WHAT WE WANT. I wear a huge T-shirt and baggy shorts and still get stared at goodbye,” wrote one person.

“These comments… wearing cute gym outfits literally improves my workouts,” wrote another gym-goer. “Yes it’s okay for people to look! But to stare and be a creep is not okay!”

Most women know there’s a difference between someone taking a quick look at a person and staring creepily at them. It’s the latter that needs to stop. And women pointed out that they notice and appreciate the guys who are clearly trying to be gentlemen and not even come close to gawking.

“I always appreciate when they do this. I always notice too like thx for not making me uncomfortable lol,” wrote one commenter.

“Anytime I’m in this situation I always try to start my set the same time he does so I don’t make him uncomfortable” wrote another. Several commenters pointed out that he was likely uncomfortable in the situation as well, and Christensen wrote “I think he and I were trying to do the exact same thing which is how we got this result 🤝😅”

“Some are so nice and ask if it’s okay to workout on the machine behind me,” wrote another. “A lot of the regular creeps at the gym I’ve learned to ignore.”

Bottom line: It’s really not that hard to not be creepy. 

As this guy shows, it’s not that hard to avoid being or appearing to be a creepy ogler. Most people aren’t going to be bothered if you just look at them briefly, but staring really is uncomfortable. Women are going to wear gym clothes at the gym, and gym clothes are often fitted and minimal for freedom of movement, reduced chafing and ability to see muscle engagement. Gym attire isn’t an excuse to stare at someone while they’re working out.

Thanks for being a good example, random gym guy.

R&B singer Trey Songz has been accused of raping former UNLV basketball player Dylan Gonzalez, who previously tweeted, “Trey Songz is a rapist” and has now confirmed that she was describing her own experience with him. In a new post, captioned #BeStrongNotSilent, Gonzalez, who became a musical artist and Instagram influencer before signing to play for Master P’s new mixed-gender basketball league, expressed solidarity with other women who have accused Songz and asked followers for privacy. The incident in question may have previously been reported in November, with TMZ revealing that he was under investigation.

“With what seems like endlessly recurring news of the alleged sexual assaults committed by Trey Songz, I am forced to repeatedly relive in my mind, and suffer anew, the long-suppressed horror and unbearable PTSD of my rape by his very hands at a well known Las Vegas hotel,” she wrote. “I want to send my love, strength, and hope to all who are victims of sexual assault and its fatal nature. You are not alone. I stand with you and encourage all those who have suffered abuse to speak out and come forward. Suppression of our voices only emboldens our oppressors, and you cannot heal what you do not reveal.”

She requested inquiries to be directed to her attorney and asked for “privacy, consideration, and compassion” as she considered her legal options. Trey was previously accused of sexual assault in 2018 and 2020 by two separate women, the latter revealing her story on the No Jumper podcast. The singer refuted the accusations at the time. He was also accused of hitting another woman with his car last spring.

Remember when the Oscars had a host? You might not. After all, it’s been a while. The last time was 2018, four whole years ago, when Jimmy Kimmel hosted for the second time in a row. The first time Kimmel emceed, in 2017, Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway gave the Best Picture trophy to the wrong movie. Kimmel made jokes about the awkward mix-up. It was great. It showed that the Oscars need a host. But they’ve been without it the last three ceremonies, for a myriad of awkward reasons. But now, it looks like that era is thankfully, after much imploring, coming to an end.

As per The Hollywood Reporter, the 94th iteration of the Academy Awards, scheduled for March 27, will finally go back to having one fun person lord over the program. Who will it be? Maybe Tom Holland. Not only did the current Spider-Man — who can even do a little soft-shoe — express interest in hosting the show, but the Academy reportedly reached out to him as well. So that might happen.

It might also get people — such as the record number of people watching him in Spider-Man: No Way from Home despite a re-spiking pandemic — to watch an annual show that has fallen in the ratings. The first time the Oscars went hostless, in 2019, the show’s ratings actually rose a bit, from 26.62 million in 2018 with Kimmel to 29.56 million. Then things took a nasty turn. In 2020, sans host, it dipped to 23.64 million. Last year, again with no hosts (and a lot of social distancing and long speeches), it plummeted to 10.40 million.

So now we’re getting a host again. When the news broke, people had lots of suggestions. Or at least jokes.

Some suggestions were semi-serious.

In fact, some of these are good ideas.

If Tom Holland doesn’t pan out, maybe the Academy can think outside the box.

(Via THR)

Despite reports indicating that his job was safe a little earlier this week, Joe Judge’s time as the head coach of the New York Giants has come to an end. According to multiple media reports, Judge is out in the Big Apple after spending two years at the helm of the franchise.

The news of Judge’s ouster comes on the heels of general manager Dave Gettleman announcing his retirement on Monday. According to Ian Rapoport, the decision to can judge comes after the team’s ownership met earlier in the day on Tuesday and decided the best thing would be to have a fresh start.

Judge had never been a head coach before getting an opportunity with the Giants. Prior to taking the job, Judge spent eight years in New England as an assistant on Bill Belichick’s staff — he started as a special teams assistant before taking over as the team’s special teams coordinator in 2015, and in his final year, he added wide receivers coach to his list of duties.

His tenure with the Giants was not especially successful. Judge, who the team reportedly hired after Matt Rhule opted to take the head coaching job with the Carolina Panthers, went 10-23 in his two years in charge, including a 4-13 mark this year. In his final game, New York attempted a pair of quarterback sneaks on second and third down from inside their own 5-yard line, and after the game, Judge said they did this in an attempt to give their punter more room to get off a kick. The Giants lost that game, 22-7.

Pokémon Legends: Arceus is a highgly anticipated upcoming Pokémon game for the Nintendo Switch. What makes this game different from our typical Pokémon affair is the concept. This is an open-world game set in the Pokémon universe. That means all of us who have dreamed about climbing mountains and exploring the farthest lands in search of Pokémon may soon have that dream come true.

In this new teaser trailer for the game, we learn all about the Hisui region. This new region is set in a time before the Pokédex, with extremely primitive Pokéballs, and it’s up to us as the player to create the first ever Pokédex, and it feels like this is a prequel for the entire series. There’s a chance that, if this game is successful enough, it could spin off into a series that releases alongside the mainline traditional games. At minimum, the more popular aspects of it may have some impact on the mainline games.

Platform: Nintendo Switch
Price: $60
Release Date: January 28 (1/28)
Genre: RPG
Developer: Game Freak
Publisher: Nintendo
Rating: E
Where can I buy this: Nintendo eShop, Brick and Mortar stores
Single Player: Yes
Multiplayer: Unlikely
Early Access: No
Microtransactions: Unsure

As with most dramatic pop culture moments, it all started with an Instagram story.

“Are you guys into crypto????” Kim Kardashian posted to her 250 million Instagram followers last June. “This is not financial advice but sharing what my friends just told me about the Ethereum Max token! A few minutes ago Ethereum Max burned 400 trillion tokens—literally 50% of their admin wallet giving back to the entire E-Max community.” Now, Kardashian is among a slew of celebrities being sued by investors of Ethereum Max, in what is being considered a pump and dump scheme.

Also being sued are boxer Floyd Mayweather and NBA star Paul Pierce, who similarly used their social media accounts to post about Ethereum Max last spring between May and June. Ethereum Max peaked on May 31st 2021, before falling drastically over the next several weeks. The token has lost nearly 97% of its price.

The class action complaint claims that the celebrities were already paid in tokens for their sponsorships, so their posts effectively convinced thousands of Kardashian’s loyal fans to invest in something that suddenly became worthless. “In truth, Defendants marketed the EMAX Tokens to investors so that they could sell their portion of the Float for a profit.” It also alleges violations of state consumer protection laws.

Kardashian has yet to comment on her involvement in the scheme, but she isn’t the first celeb to encourage their fans to do something like this.

Naomi (CW, 9:00pm) — Ava DuVernay brings us this story about a Naomi McDuffie, a comic-book addict and Superman superfan. She also happens to be an ace student and a skateboarder who’s attempting to make sense of a stunt in her hometown that causes unexpected consequences.

Superman & Lois (CW, 9:00pm) — Smallville’s still rocked by the previously climactic confrontation with dust swirling and Lois and Clark having couple issues and Chrissy struggling with an issue of her own.

Judge Steve Harvey (ABC, 8:00pm) — Nope, the perpetual Miss Universe host is not a real judge, but he is doing the unscripted reality thing and making apparently binding decisions. This week, a couple’s at war over their 20 year history, which involves one of them wanting marriage and the other very much resisting.

Black-ish (ABC, 9:30pm) — Dre’s attempting to land a fantastic marketing pitch to no avail, all while Bow and Ruby are fretting over Diane’s new love interest.

Queens (ABC, 10:00pm) — Can the ladies shake their old rivalries? They’re sure gonna try, all while Jill’s attempting to reckon with her past and her pain-in-the-butt father.

Undercover: Season 3 (Netflix series) –This season picks up with Bob fired from his cop job while also staring down some prison time. Elsewhere, Ferry gets sprung from prison, but his old life didn’t wait around for him to return. And meanwhile, a Turkish couple’s leading a much smarter gang than the one that previously ruled the roost.

In case you missed this streaming pick:

The Tender Bar (Amazon Prime movie) — This team up between director George Clooney and Ben Affleck, who portrays an uncle who owns that bar in the title, is a coming-of-age tale but also a rich character study. Tye Sheridan portrays the nephew who’s also an inspiring writer who’s hoping to conquer both his personal and professional lives. Affleck’s portraying not only a bartender but a terribly charismatic dude who helps young J.R. learn about life and also fulfill those all-important dreams.