Month: January 2022

Trans Jeopardy! champ Amy Schneider’s 23rd win aired on Monday night, and she didn’t post a game breakdown in the aftermath, as is customary for her to do. The show’s Winningest Woman, who has amassed over $800,000 thus far, revealed on Twitter how someone robbed her on Sunday. The unsettling experience has caused Amy to feel understandably drained, so she’s taking a bit of a breather.

“Hi all!” Amy tweeted. “So, first off: I’m fine. But I got robbed yesterday, lost my ID, credit cards, and phone. I then couldn’t really sleep last night, and have been dragging myself around all day trying to replace everything.”

She also explained why she was stepping back from daily rehashes (“I doubt I’ll even start writing tonight’s game thread today”) without spoiling (“if I keep winning, it may take a bit for me to get caught up”) how she’s faring on the show.

Anyone who’s been robbed or burgled or otherwise stolen from can attest that it’s a harrowing experience that leaves one feeling violated. As such, Amy’s fans were there for her on Twitter. They spoke out about how they appreciate her candor and commiserate with what she’s going through. And above all, people expressed relief that (at least physically) Amy’s doing alright.

Yep, if Amy’s streak continues, she’ll soon pass the $1,000,000 mark on Jeopardy!, where viewers can see her defend champ status on Tuesday night. Stay safe out there, everyone.

Last month, Nirvana issued a statement about the lawsuit it faces over its Nevermind album art, and in it, the band says, “[Spencer] Elden’s claim that the photograph on the Nevermind album cover is ‘child pornography’ is, on its face, not serious.” Now, the band picked up a win in the legal proceedings, as Spin reports the lawsuit has been dismissed. That doesn’t mean the case is over yet, though.

In US District Court in Central California on Monday, Judge Fernando M. Olguin dismissed the case “with leave to amend.” Elden’s legal team missed a December 30, 2021 deadline to file an opposition to the Nirvana estate’s request to have the case dismissed. Now, though, they have until January 13 to re-file a second complaint, which the court says will “grant defendants’ Motion and give plaintiff one last opportunity to amend his complaint.”

If this deadline is not met, there will be no further opportunity to re-file. The ruling reads, “Failure to timely file a Second Amended Complaint shall result in this action being dismissed without prejudice for failure to prosecute and/or failure to comply with a court order.” If the suit is re-filed, Nirvana’s estate will have until January 27 to reply to the new suit.

The show most synonymous with Disney+, The Mandalorian, didn’t air a single new episode in 2021. But the streaming service still had a big year, thanks to the premieres of WandaVision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Loki, Hawkeye, The Book of Boba Fett, and the John Stamos basketball show that I refuse to learn the name of because “John Stamos basketball show” is a better title than Nothing But Net, or whatever it’s actually called. There was also a new season of High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, which continues to star Olivia Rodrigo even though she’s the biggest pop star in the world. But none of those series — or even the ever-popular Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (banger of a theme song) — was the most popular title on Disney+ in 2021.

What’s On Disney Plus crunched the numbers (“This information is based on data, which is tracked daily on the trending list and takes into consideration how popular a show is and how long it has been popular on Disney+”) and found that The Simpsons finished as the streamer’s most-watched show across the globe last year:

There are 33 seasons of this long-running show, with over 700 episodes, making it the perfect binge show to watch on Disney+, plus new episodes from the latest season are dropping weekly in some countries like Canada and Australia, which help keep this series high in the trending chart.

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse finished in second place, and while there’s no shame in finishing second, Homer is now officially the Paul Simon to Mickey’s Art Garfunkel. The rest of the top six goes Bluey (ask your five-year-old cousin), Jessie (ask your 13-year-old cousin), Loki (ask your 47-year-old uncle), and The Mandalorian, which is expected to return this year.

(Via What’s On Disney Plus)

For most of the fourth quarter on Monday evening, it seemed fairly obvious that the Pittsburgh Steelers would hold off the Cleveland Browns to secure the team’s eighth win of the season. The Week 17 tilt — which was viewed as Ben Roethlisberger’s likely final home game — never ventured into full-on blowout territory down the stretch, but Cleveland’s offense wasn’t exactly firing on all cylinders and, other than Steelers fans or gamblers, there wasn’t much interest in the closing seconds of the game… outside of fantasy football.

With most championships decided in Week 17 this year, plenty of folks were keeping an eye on the action until the bitter end, and a wild play transpired with less than a minute to go that was decisive for some. On third down, Steelers running back Najee Harris broke through the line to secure a game-clinching first down.

Rather than fall down, however, Harris kept the legs churning and reached the end zone, giving the Steelers a double-digit win and swinging fantasy matchups in the process.

On one side, many fantasy players lamented the touchdown (and yardage) that cost them a title, bragging rights and funding.

Then, there were those celebrating a very fortunate swing in their favor.

https://twitter.com/bianca_marie_g/status/1478224255246602242

Of course, this won’t be the last time that fantasy titles swing on something like this. Still, it can be brutal or joyous depending on which side you were on and, if you had the Browns teased up to +9, the feeling of angst may have crossed over from fantasy to handicapping.

The Miami Heat, when at full strength, have been one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference this season. That hasn’t been the case of late, with Bam Adebayo sidelined after surgery to repair a torn thumb ligament and various other injuries and COVID absences, but they’ve still managed to stay firmly in the 4-seed at 23-14.

On Monday night they made the trek across the country to face the Warriors in a marquee matchup, and an entertaining game became cause for concern late in the third quarter when Jimmy Butler slipped on the court and collapsed to the ground while making a post move. It wasn’t initially clear exactly what Butler injured, as it looked like an ankle or foot injury on replay, but whatever it is, it was serious enough that he couldn’t put any weight on that leg as he was helped to the back by his teammates.

The Heat initially called it an “apparent right foot injury” immediately after Butler went to the locker room, but later updated it as an ankle injury that would keep Butler out for the rest of the game.

Any time a player goes down like this without contact there’s obviously lots of concern, and the hope is that it’s not a serious injury that could cost Butler significant time.

Moments after the Washington Football Team fell at the hands of the Philadelphia Eagles by a 20-16 margin on Sunday, a railing collapsed near the tunnel at FedEx Field. A handful of fans tumbled to the ground, just in front of Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts, and the entire incident was caught on video.

Following the incident, Washington issued an official statement, indicating that fans were “offered onsite medical evaluation and left the stadium of their own accord.” In addition, the team indicated that “the safety of our fans and guests is of the utmost importance and we are looking into what occurred.”

With that as the backdrop, Tim McManus of ESPN caught up with four people that dispute the Football Team’s claims. One told ESPN that the team’s statement was “completely incorrect” and he shared sentiment about team personnel telling everyone to “get the F off the field.” Another said that on-site personnel “didn’t ask if anyone was hurt, and they sure as hell didn’t ask if anybody needed medical attention.”

Finally, another fan said that it was Hurts, not local personnel, that offered any sympathy or attention.

“They didn’t even ask, ‘Are you OK? Do you need help?’ Nothing. They just went about their day. Hurts was actually the one asking, ‘Are you guys OK?’ It was crazy.”

The next steps will be interesting in this particular case and, at the moment, the team and the fans are on opposing sides. However, it is quite difficult to give the Washington Football Team the benefit of the doubt given the organization’s lengthy history of missteps, and this remains a bizarre overall scene.

The Cleveland Browns have had a pretty dreadful season given lofty expectations after reaching the AFC Divisional round of the playoffs last season. On Sunday, they saw themselves get eliminated from the playoffs before even taking the field in Week 17, which meant their Monday Night Football game in Pittsburgh was only meaningful for the Steelers, beyond the chance for the Browns to play spoiler in Ben Roethlisberger’s likely final game at home.

After a scoreless first quarter that saw neither offense get much going, it was clear that points would be at a premium and both teams would probably need some assistance in getting in the end zone. Luckily for Pittsburgh, Cleveland was happy to oblige with one of the dumbest penalties of the season to extend the Steelers’ first touchdown drive of the game.

On third down, Jadeveon Clowney made a great play on a wide receiver screen to force what should’ve been a long field goal attempt, but after bringing Claypool down, he ripped off the star receiver’s shoe and chucked it towards midfield, earning an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.

That naturally led to a touchdown, as Roethlisberger found Diontae Johnson on a slant after being moved into the red zone by the penalty, and the Steelers took the first lead of the game.

It’s, stunningly, not the first time we’ve seen a shoe throwing penalty, as Florida famously lost to LSU after setting up a game-winning field goal with a similar 15-yard penalty after a third down stop. At some point players will finally learn not to do this, but until then, the internet will simply laugh at the stupidity and post Austin Powers GIFs.

Halsey’s fourth studio album, If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power was not only one of our Best Albums Of 2021, it also clocked in at number 11 on the The 2011 Uproxx Music Critics Poll where more than 200 music critics submitted their picks for the year’s best releases. Working with producers Atticus Ross and Trent Reznor on the album, it was definitely a turn towards rock and roll for the pop star that she totally dominated. Uproxx’s Caitlin White wrote that “Wading through pregnancy, misogyny, historical sexism, and so much more, this record crystallizes her sound in unexpectedly moving ways.”

Today, Halsey dropped the If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power (Extended) version seemingly out of the sky. The new version features two juicy new tracks and they announced the release tweeting “The extended version of IICHLIWP is out now featuring the new and moody ethereal goodness that is “People Disappear Here” plus a @nineinchnails reimagined version of “Nightmare.””

As if the original “Nightmare” didn’t already provide a powerful enough jolt, the Nine Inch Nails version of “Nightmare — Reprise” features more live drums and cosmic effects that breathe new life into the anthemic jam. Meanwhile, “People Disappear Here” is written by the album’s super songwriting team of Halsey, Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, and Greg Kurstin. Halsey sings of trying to escape an insidious web of existence that really feels like they’re channeling a desire to break free. The chaos of the song’s outro guitar and piano drive home those deep emotions.

Listen to “Nightmare — Reprise” above and “People Disappear Here” below.

At first, it seemed like Kanye West was having trouble moving on from his ex-wife, Kim Kardashian. For her part, Kim was immediately linked to Pete Davidson, and even though she opted to appear in a wedding dress as part of Kanye’s recent Donda spectacles, she made it clear reconciling wasn’t in the cards for her. And even though he recently shouted her out during his concert for Larry Hoover with Drake, he’s no longer acting like a married man.

In Miami for part of his surprise New Year’s Eve show with Future, Kanye was spotted with not one but two mystery brunettes in a hotel room on New Year’s Day. In a report from the The Daily Mail, photos of Yeezy and a woman in a crop top on a balcony indicated he had company ringing in 2022, and later another woman in a plunging top also appeared on the balcony.

But later that night, Ye was out with someone else — he was spotted by TMZ at Carbone with actress Julia Fox on what appeared to be a date. So single Kanye is definitely back in the building, no matter how he might still feel about the mother of his children. Let’s hope all this leads to some musical inspiration in the very near future.

Most of us would consider it a wonder to reach the age of 100, much less 119. But Kane Tanaka, a woman living in Fukuoka, Japan, who boasts the “oldest person in the world” title, celebrated her 119th birthday on January 2.

Guinness World Records tweeted her a happy birthday and shared a video of her from 2019, when she was officially given the title. Guinness shared that she was born—prematurely, no less—on January 2, 1903, the same year that the first silent film was released and the year Wilbur and Orville Wright achieved sustained, powered flight for the first time.

She has seen two world wars, two pandemics, the invention of countless technologies and more life changes than children of today could possibly imagine. She married at age 19 and raised five children. Her husband ran a family rice and noodle business, which she helped run when he went off to war in 1937.

What’s most fascinating, however, is how she spends her days now.

According to Insider, Tanaka lives in a rest home, where she wakes up at 6 a.m. and spends part of her day studying mathematics. She loves solving number puzzles and playing board games. (Guinness shared in 2019 that she had become an expert in the game of Othello, often beating the nursing home staff.)

Happy birthday to Kane Tanaka!nnShe turns 119 today https://twitter.com/gwr/status/1104338626492665857u00a0u2026

— Guinness World Records (@Guinness World Records)
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According to Kyodo News, Tanaka enjoys carbonated drinks and chocolate. During her Guinness ceremony, she was gifted a box of chocolates, and when someone asked her how many chocolates she wanted to eat, she replied, “100.”

The person who holds the record for the oldest person to ever live (verified in recorded history) is Jeanne Louise Calment of France who died in 1997 when she was 122. She was also fond of chocolate, reportedly eating two pounds of chocolate a week.

She was 11 when WWI started, 36 when WWII started, 74 when Star Wars was released, and 116 when Covid-19 started. And her name is Kane Tanaka, the worldu2019s oldest living person at age 118 years. She was born on January 2, 1903.n#Tiredearthpic.twitter.com/PPcFFHyRg5

— Green Planet (@Green Planet)
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That’s two supercentenarians who have embraced chocolate, just saying.

Tanaka’s 62-year-old grandson, Eiji, told Kyodo News that he would like to congratulate her in person soon. “I hope she remains healthy and has fun everyday as she grows older,” he said.

Happy birthday, Kane Tanaka! Here’s to another wild and wonderful trip around the sun.