Air travel got pretty weird during the pandemic. When flying by plane was deemed safe again, there came an explosion of angry outbursts, often from mask skeptics. Even SNL vet Chris Kattan got in trouble. Some airlines went so far as to ban alcohol on flights. Such incidents have died down, especially as mandates have been loosened. But there’s still plenty of outside-the-box behavior afoot.
As per The Daily Beast, Southwest Airlines — the same company that employed a pilot who launched into a bizarre anti-Biden chant — had to call the cops on a particularly troublesome flier. On a flight from Seattle to Phoenix, one man pulled down his pants and masturbated not once, not twice, not thrice, but four times, while sitting next to a female passenger. At one point he reportedly fell asleep after jerking it for a full hour.
The woman informed a crew member of his actions and was allowed to change seats.
The man, one Antonio Sherrodd McGarity, was arrested after the flight landed and charged with exposing his genitals. He claimed that he asked the woman sitting next to him if she minded if he masturbated during the flight. According to the criminal complaint, the woman “put her hands in the air and said, ‘it really doesn’t matter.’” McGarity told police he found her response “kind of kinky” and claimed that he done nothing wrong.
McGarity was immediately placed on a No-Fly list and received a lifetime ban from Southwest Airlines.
The so-called “Don’t Say Gay” bill in Florida has become the latest culture war battle. Disney employees have all but strongarmed their company into battling it. Ron Perlman hurled obscenities at Ron DeSantis, the governor who signed it into law. Republicans have fought back by spreading bizarre and troubling accusations of “grooming,” a longtime homophobic conspiracy theory. Trouble is, there’s not much evidence that the issues the bill seeks to combat are a real problem, as witness Peter Doocy’s latest tussle with Jen Psaki.
As is his wont, the Fox News reporter tried to get a gotcha question past Joe Biden’s maybe departing White House press secretary. And as usual, she was ready for him.
Fox’s Peter Doocy asks about “Don’t Say Gay” bill in Florida and questions what age gender/sexual identity discussion is appropriate.
Psaki calls out “politicians in Florida propagating misinformed hateful policies that do absolutely nothing to address the real issues.” pic.twitter.com/RjaHj8F56p
Doocy referenced the bill, which seeks to prevent instruction about sexual and gender identity among the young, but which critics have accused of using vague language to marginalize already marginalized people. He asked a loaded Psaki question, saying, “Does the White House support that kind of classroom instruction before kindergarten?”
“Do you have examples of schools in Florida that are teaching kindergarteners about sex education?” Psaki quickly responded.
Doocy couldn’t, though he tried to pass it off as just “asking about the president’s opinion.”
“I think that’s a relevant question because I think this is a politically-charged harsh law,” Psaki told Doocy, “that is putting parents and LGBTQ+ kids in a very difficult, heartbreaking circumstance. And so, I actually think that’s a pretty relevant question.”
Doocy then asked, “At what age does the White House think that students should be taught about sexual orientation and gender identity?”
Psaki didn’t answer that question, but she did saw the administration thinks the bill is a “reflection of politicians in Florida propagating misinformed, hateful policies that do absolutely nothing to address the real issues.” She also said the Department of Education is evaluating “what to do next,” to see if the bill “violates civil rights law,” and seeking to ensure that students are treated “equally.”
Breakups are a low point for anyone, yet studies have shown that they tend to hit just women just a little harder. Which is probably why they leave a lot of us looking this:
But what if we didn’t have to stuff our feelings down with a pint of Ben & Jerry’s (no offense Bridget Jones) and instead were able to come out of heartbreak feeling lighter, freer and more empowered?
That was the inspiration behind The Heartbreak Hotel.
The Heartbreak Hotel, which opened in north Norfolk, U.K. near the end of 2021, is a three-day retreat created by two mental health professionals with one goal in mind: to help women heal after the end of a relationship in the most compassionate, holistic way possible.
The retreat (keen on detoxification in all forms) is both alcohol- and technology-free. So if you’re looking to cope through drowning your sorrows with a mai tai or frantically hate-scrolling through your ex’s social media … then this might not be the spot for you.
However, if you are looking to stop blaming yourself for “what went wrong,” process complex and painful feelings, and come out rested and restored, read on.
During their three night stay, guests enjoy gourmet food, lush surroundings and daily beach walks along the gorgeous Norfolk coast.
But don’t be misguided—it’s not just a luxury vacation. The Heartbreak Hotel is very much about doing the inner work.
Psychologist Alice Haddon and life coach/bestselling author Ruth Field—bona fide heartbreak specialists—teamed up to provide dynamic workshops where women can learn about love attachment styles, core needs, rewiring neural pathways and how to use all that information to redefine relationship goals.
In addition, an EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) specialist is there to assist in releasing emotional trauma. It’s a key element of the hotel’s offerings, as Haddon told Daily Mail. “At The Heartbreak Hotel we understand that where there is heartbreak there is trauma. This therapy helps our guests to gently but powerfully leave the shock behind and generate the space for forward looking energy,“ she said.
The Heartbreak Hotel’s first retreat in November 2021 was completely sold out, and the website boasts that an average of 85% felt freer, 66% felt clearer and 67% felt more empowered.
Their success does beg the question: Should traditional therapy get a rebrand?
Even those who do go into therapy post breakup normally only see a therapist once a week for an hour. To really see significant shifts could take … well, a lot longer than three days. The current price for a stay at the Heartbreak Hotel is £2,500 (or $3278), which may sound like a lot, but when broken down is about the average cost of six months worth of therapy.
Where there can never be an official timeline for overcoming heartbreak, perhaps there is an argument to be made for “turbo charged” recovery. The idea that it doesn’t have to take months upon months to move on is certainly an uplifting one.
Not to mention that a session usually takes place in a less-than-luxurious therapist’s office … if not through the other side of a computer screen. Even though there’s plenty of research to show how much of a positive impact nature can have on our well-being, it rarely has a place in traditional therapy. Unless your therapist is generous enough to have a ficus in the room.
Haddon and Field define therapy as “to take care of.” This includes providing the things that truly nourish the soul: beauty, comfort and serenity.
It’s not that someone can’t heal without these things, but it makes the healing process so much more enjoyable, doesn’t it? This could be a reason why many have trouble seeking professional help. They find the environment potentially sterile, which is not exactly the most attractive feature when we’re heartbroken.
As someone who has benefited greatly from wellness retreats (and have even run a few myself), I could be overly biased. But healing does take place on a mental, physical and emotional level. Dedicating an allotted time to focus on each of those aspects can be incredibly transformative, especially when we’re really going through it. It certainly has seemed to do wonders for the women of The Heartbreak Hotel.
Thank you to Haddon and Field for combining your expertise with creativity to make a painful transition an opportunity for incredible self-care.
Rick Astley has to be the luckiest ’80s musician on the planet. The whole “Rickrolling” phenomenon has given his hit song “Never Gonna Give You Up” a reach far beyond its natural life span, and kept the guy a household name far longer than he probably would have been.
(For those who are unfamiliar, Rickrolling is when you make someone think they’re being sent to a website, but the link goes to Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up” video instead as a joke. It’s a silly viral bait-and-switch gag that’s been going since 2006.)
But what people may not realize, because his most famous song has become an internet joke, is that Rick Astley is actually a really freaking great musician. The man can saaaang and it seems he’s only gotten better with age.
If you were to choose the most unlikely combo of musical mashups, it might just be Rick Astley and Foo Fighters. Right? Like who would put them together?
Oddly enough, they put themselves together in 2017, when Foo Fighters brought Astley on stage during a concert to sing “Never Gonna Give You Up.” Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl even created his own Rickroll-inspired meme, the Dave G’Roll, with the band’s song “Best of You.” So there’s a history there.
But nothing has been more surprising than hearing Rick Astley do an acoustic cover of Foo Fighters’ “Everlong.” It’s so good. Like, so good.
Not to knock Rick Astley of the 1980s, but that strangely deep voice on a young man was sort of his signature thing. Ergo, you’d think it would be easy to recognize Astley’s voice no matter what he was singing. But you’d be wrong. If you close your eyes and listen to this, you’d likely never guess it was Rick Astley.
Maybe it’s because the song itself isn’t something you expect from the “Never Gonna Give You Up” guy. Maybe it’s because you had no idea that Rick Astley was still making music. Who knows. All I know is that my jaw dropped watching him knock out an awesome version of a grungey rock song with just his voice and acoustic guitar.
Seriously, that was amazing, right? Even hardcore Foo Fighters fans gave Astley props in the comments:
“As a huge Foo Fighters fan, all I can say is this cover didn’t let me down.”
“Tbh I could listen to a whole album of Rick Astley doing grunge covers.”
“Are you kidding me?????? That voice from the 80’s… And one of the greatest numbers of all times…. Didn’t think you could pull that of…. But you did….. Respect to you Rick.”
And, of course, some had to make jokes:
“I love this cover. It feels like the singer is never going to give you up or never gonna let you down. He doesn’t run around and desert you. He will never make you cry and never say goodbye. He doesn’t tell a lie and hurt you. I think that is special.”
“This guy should stop making memes and stick to music! He’s got talent!”
“I’m glad he’s never given up. This did not let me down.”
But this comment perhaps best summed up what most of us walked away thinking:
“God now I feel bad that we’ve ridden on Rick Rolling for so long that we missed the part where Rick Astley is actually a badass musician…”
Nicolas Cage is a bit of an enigma. He’s known for his idiosyncratic, larger-than-life screen presence that sets him apart from anyone else in Hollywood. He’s also made a name for himself as an eccentric whose lavish spending habits forced him to take a series of questionable roles to get out of debt.
According to Fox Business, Cage blew a $150 million fortune and owed over $6.3 million in property taxes.
Recently, Cage admitted that he’s paid off his creditors and is happy to get back to making serious films again. His latest film, “The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent,” in which he plays himself, is getting rave reviews.
Given the fact that he marches to the beat of his own drum, it’s no shock that he isn’t on social media. So GQ sat him down in front of a laptop and asked him to address questions from his fans on Reddit, Quora, YouTube, Wikipedia, Twitter and TikTok.
The interview is fun to watch because you can tell that Cage has a sense of humor about himself, even though he is often the subject of mockery.
In the video, he responded to rumors that he spent $150 million on a 70-million-year-old dinosaur skull. He also discussed his potential role in “Dumb and Dumber” and what happened to the “Superman” movie he was supposed to make with Tim Burton in the ’90s.
He also addresses why he didn’t play “Joe Exotic” in the recent “Joe vs. Carole” miniseries.
It’s nice to see that Cage is back and ready to dedicate himself to acting for art’s sake. Also, in a world where everyone shares everything online, it’s fun to have a celebrity that maintains a bit of their mystique by staying offline.
Manifest, the NBC show cancelled while it ruled Netflix’s most popular list, will bring us a Season 4 at some point. That point is likely to happen, according to creator Jeff Rake, during the target month of November, although when the finale arrives is a whole other ballgame. The season will be a supersized one and contain the series finale, although we don’t know if that means that multiple parts will take more (or less) than a year to arrive.
What we do know is that we’re likely to see at least one chunk of episodes in 2022, and before that happens, there’s plenty of time to catch up. Netflix picked up the fourth season, so we’ll get to see what happened to Flight 828 and whether all of the still-fractured relationships (that inevitably showed strain after the passengers evaporated for five years) will ever heal.
Where can you watch the goods? There are a few places, beginning with the obvious: all three existing Manifest seasons are available on Netflix. In the alternative, you might choose to watch the third installment on Hulu.
Be forewarned, however, that once you start watching, you’re likely to start binging hard. This will be the case despite the silliest of plot holes and bizarre points where people are about to die and don’t. And people start spewing water and joining cults and growing divisive, all while the shadowy forces work against the passengers. I can’t promise that will all make sense (because it doesn’t), but this is an addictive show, in which people are emotionally invested.
In the end, Manifest is a Lost knockoff, and for some reason, people can’t get enough of those. And there’s something to be said about Netflix stepping up to make good on giving viewers answers and a (hopefully) satisfying conclusion before the show sees its fateful Death Day. In the meantime, there’s Netflix and Hulu, if you choose to climb aboard the flight of madness.
Being at the forefront of R&B and comparable to legendary figures within the genre like Usher and Frank Ocean is not an easy title, but David Brown goes above and beyond, while being known for his charm. Professionally known as Lucky Daye, the artist has become a pinnacle of new age R&B that placed him in the hot seat for two 2022 Grammys, winning one.
Raised in New Orleans, Daye’s sound is inspired by his Southern roots, effortlessly mixing old school with contemporary soul to create experimental R&B. The definition of what modern R&B is supposed to sound like has been tipping the scales thanks to artists like Daye who have defied labels within the genre. Between soulful interludes and mesmerizing ballads of adoration, listeners are incapable of not falling for Daye’s charm and getting lost in his voice.
With the recent release of his second album Candydrip, the passionate offering derives from a place of emotion, which isn’t a new method for him. In 2019, his first album Painted was his debut into artistry as an up-and-coming musician and proved himself as a force to be reckoned with. In addition, the singer’s background as a songwriter for legends like Mary J. Blige and Ne-Yo gained his notoriety and led to him signing with BMI. But this is something that Daye’s number one fans — labeled his “Daye Ones” — would already be familiar with. Out of the 132 accounts that he follows on Instagram, one of the fortunate fan pages that happened to make the cut is @daye.ones. He’s deemed as a kind artist, often thanking his Daye Ones and leaving free concert tickets for them via a city-wide scavenger hunt.
Some would consider producer Dernst “D’Mile” Emile II a Daye One, since the artist has worked with him since Painted for his debut single “Roll Some Mo,” which was released in 2018. Nominated for Best R&B Song and Best R&B Performance in 2020, the cannabis-inspired single describes Daye’s intimate smoking session with his girl as they’re mentally transported elsewhere while getting high. As the album continues, listeners are taken throughout Daye’s love story, including all of the highs and lows. The remaining 12 tracks keep the same energy as “Roll Some Mo” while exploring love, emotional attachments, and vulnerability. The success of this album led to Daye embarking on the Painted Tour across Canada and the US from September to October in 2019, including an appearance at AFROPUNK Atlanta.
Another highlight of Painted is Daye’s commentary on his religious upbringing, which is seen in songs like “Misunderstood.” Beyond musical inspiration, his stage name derived from fellow soul singer-songwriter Marvin Gaye when the New Orleans native chose to add an “e” to the end of Daye. Similar to Gaye, Daye’s upbringing in a Southern Christian church condemned secular music, therefore leading him to craft this religious trauma into creating his own melodies. Daye found a way to create music with essentially nothing but his voice and eventually ended up in season four of American Idol in 2005. Titled on YouTube as “David Brown audition,” the archaic footage of a twenty-something Daye singing “A Change Is Gonna Come” by Sam Cooke begs the question — why did it take nearly a decade for his music career to take off?
Clips like Daye’s 2019 NPR Music Tiny Desk appearance show he’s a performer at heart and has a knack for captivating an audience. Throughout the comment section of the YouTube video, fans complimented his vulnerability and flow while restating that Daye’s career in R&B has been long-awaited. His 2019 live rendition of “Buying Time” on the COLORS show is another example of the artist’s tasteful vocal ability to glide over instrumentals. Although his four previous Grammy nominations (“Roll Some Mo” for Best R&B Song and Best R&B Performance, “Real Games” for Best Traditional R&B Performance, and Painted for Best R&B Album) were to no avail, Daye’s Painted era was only the beginning of his career trajectory.
Prior to the beginning of the pandemic, Daye’s career knew zero boundaries as he was featured on the Robert Glasper-scored soundtrack for The Photograph alongside HER and Erykah Badu. Aimlessly watching the Black love story between Lakeith Stanfield and Issa Rae’s characters was already intoxicating enough, with the introduction to Daye’s “Fade Away” an added bonus. Then, 2020 was a busy year for the New Orleans native. Among collaborators like Kehlani, Jim-E Stack, Babyface, Buddy, KAYTRANADA, SG Lewis, KIRBY, Kiana Ledé and Leon Bridges, there wasn’t a moment to sleep on Daye’s features in between Painted and his next project.
Following his first tour, Daye’s successful track was cut short by quarantine, which led to intimate recording sessions for his EP, Table For Two. The critically acclaimed seven-track project is composed of duets with women of R&B like Mahalia, Yebba, Joyce Wrice, Ari Lennox, Queen Naija, and Tiana Major9. Keeping the contributors solely women wasn’t a thoughtless tactic, since Daye understood that the women in R&B deserved their flowers for their effortless talent. “I’ve been feeling like it’s time for women to take their rightful place in leadership roles,” Daye said in an interview with W Magazine. “It’s their time to shine. Women need to be seen and heard, and I want to be a part of that.” While singing about the uglier side of a relationship, Daye and his female contributors explored breakups, jealousy, miscommunication, and frustration on the duets project, which was a prequel to Candydrip.
The hype and mystery surrounding Daye’s second album ceased when the artist unveiled the first single “Over,” an electrifying standout track that sampled Musiq Soulchild’s “Halfcrazy” and accompanied a music video that featured Jordyn Woods as his leading lady. Among collaborations like “NWA” featuring Lil Durk, the Smino-assisted track “God Body,” and “Compassion” featuring Canadian soul duo Chiiild, Candydrip reflects Daye’s roots in the Crescent City and is an amalgamation of hip-hop, blues, soul and R&B. As he celebrates the success of Candydrip with his headlining sold-out tour with Joyce Wrice, award show season completed with his two nominations for Table For Two, and a win for Best Progressive R&B Album. To the artist that assumed no one would listen to Painted, turned his personal struggle into success, and sang his heart out onstage during American Idol, milestones such as collaborating with Earth, Wind & Fire are only the tip of the iceberg to what’s in store for his artistry.
Daye said it best during an interview with Harper’s Bazaar in 2021, “I think chemistry isn’t something that you create.” Although the artist is no chemist, he’s certainly correct. Among the love ballads, breakup songs, and quaint interludes dispersed throughout his catalog, the chemistry layered through his discography knows no bounds and leaves listeners with an organic love and understanding for Daye.
Music industry phenomenon Jack Harlow got his dancing shoes on last night with Lil Nas X when the pair performed their hit “Industry Baby” at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards show. Harlow’s moves pleased the folks who were bummed that the rapper didn’t get down in the song’s original music video. But to Harlow’s credit, he had something to be especially excited about on deck. Earlier today, he announced that “First Class,” the next single from his upcoming album due out in May, Come Home The Kids Miss You, will be dropping this Friday.
“First Class” will follow February’s release of the lead single “Nail Tech,” a sleek track with high-brow production from a super-team that includes Boi-1da and Rogét Chahayed. In the short clip of “First Class” that Harlow shared, he raps, “I got plaques in the mail, peak season. Shout out to my UPS workers makin’ sure I receive ’em,” before an inviting beat drops. We’ll surely be hearing plenty of the song from Friday onwards.
On Friday, workers at Amazon’s Staten Island warehouse voted to create a union — a first in the super-sized company. The news no doubt riled its union-hating, outer space-frequenting founder, who stepped down as CEO last July. They already seem to be trying to tighten the leash on their nearly one million U.S. employees. The Interceptobtained internal company records that revealed a planned internal messaging app will ban words like “union,” “slave labor,” “plantation,” even “restrooms.”
The app was first conceived in November of 2021, with the idea of encouraging employees to speak to each other using posts they call “Shout-Outs.” The idea is to improve morale — and, of course, productivity — by adding to an already in-place game-like rewards system, in which dutiful employees are awarded virtual stars and badges.
But some officials were reportedly worried that the app could succumb to “the dark side of social media.” As such, they created an “auto bad word monitor,” which would block messages that feature certain flagged language. It’s a long list. Along with the aforementioned terms, there’s “pay raise,” living wage,” “compensation,” “ethics,” “unfair,” “diversity,” “injustice,” “fairness,” even “stupid.” (“Restrooms” is on there surely due to the many claims that employees often have no time to relieve themselves and have to find, shall we say, creative alternatives.)
The app is still in the works, and details, a spokesperson told The Intercept, had “not been approved yet and may change significantly or even never launch at all.”
In the meantime, founder Jeff Bezos — who stepped down as CEO last July, giving him more free time to either hang with celebrities or send them jokey threats — saw his already unimaginable wealthy grow by $24 billion during the pandemic.
For Jessica Cook, the bet was simple: If she could build a Lego tower from the floor to ceiling of their living room while her husband was away at a concert, then he would give her $100.
Then the deal got even sweeter when her husband’s nephew also offered to throw in another $100 if Jessica succeeded.
We’re talking 200 bucks here, people. No turning back now.
Jessica gave us the play-by-play of the whole thing on TikTok. And people were avidly watching the nail-biting escapade.
1:37 p.m.: “My husband just left to go to a concert overnight and he and I’ve been sitting here building this,” Cook tells us, showing off a moderately tall Lego tower. But certainly not ceiling level.
Boy, is this lady determined. Not even the constant cries for mommy that could be heard in the background could keep her from the task at hand.
“The one rule that my husband had for building this is that it has to be able to sit perfectly on the floor and wedge against the ceiling,” she explained, masterfully bracing the now wobbly tower under her chin.
Winning this bet couldn’t fall to chance. No no no. Jessica would need strategy! Tactical maneuvers! And yeah, maybe a bit of luck.
“I’m debating if I should measure this [a Lego block] and measure how tall the ceiling is … and then divide it by that number so I can see exactly … to make sure it will fit before I do all this work.”
Jessica started to panic over the potential consequences.
“If I get up there and then it doesn’t fit, it’ll be freaking devastating.”
Stay strong, Jessica! Believe in yourself!
4:15 p.m.: Progress achieved! Jessica, a self-proclaimed 5’8″, 5’9″, showed that the top of the tower had now reached just past the top of her head.
Which does beg the question: How long was this concert?
7 p.m.: Dinner break. Cause Rome wasn’t built in a day.
At this point, Jessica had three separate pieces that (ideally) would go together to form an even bigger tower.
The good news? Those pieces did fit together smoothly into one ginormous contraption. The bad news, as you could maybe guess: it couldn’t stand up without Jessica holding onto it … and she still had more building to do.
Jessica revealed her colossal Lego creation, and it was more impressive than the Empire State building.
It might have been knocked over by the dog (sad), but still—there was undeniable video proof.
But the most important part: Did the husband pay up?
Well … no. And yes.
In a follow-up video, Jessica revealed that where she didn’t get paid, her husband did agree to treat her to get her hair done. And not just at any salon. To a blonde specialist who was twice the price of Jessica’s normal stylist. And let’s be honest, that bill’s probably gonna rack up a lot more than a hundred measly dollars.
As for the nephew, well … he just bought a house. So we’re going easy on him.
I know what you’re thinking (a bet’s a bet!), but Jessica is clearly happy with her upcoming beauty treatment … along with some first-class Lego bragging rights. Still a win!
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