Month: June 2022

The ratings hit that is the Jan. 6 committee hearings continued on Monday morning, and with it more bombshells. This time the focus was on what went down election night and its aftermath, when associate after associate told Donald Trump there’s no way the election was stolen from him. But he didn’t listen to them. He listened to a “definitely intoxicated” Rudy Giuliani, who implored him — against pretty much everyone else’s wishes — to go on TV and declare victory. Yes, we’re witnessing this mess because the former “America’s Mayor” was tanked.

Giuliani is already fighting back. As per Raw Story, the former president’s bumbling personal lawyer went on Steve Bannon’s podcast War Room. He didn’t counter any specific claims made by the committee. Instead, he borrowed a move from the client who left him out to dry: He flung insults and yet more conspiracy theories.

“They have no case,” Giuliani railed. “The millions of hours they’ve spent trying to find a crime on Donald Trump and they can’t do it. They started this frame about five years ago.” He slammed some of the “cast of characters,” including committee chair Bennie Thompson and Eric Swalwell. Adam Schiff he awarded the Trumpian name “Shifty Schiff.”

Then there’s Liz Cheney, the daughter of one of the most notorious Republicans in modern history, who’s earned the wrath of her longtime party for standing up to Trump’s nonsense. Giuliani called her “completely hysterical,” claiming that she “has gone off her deep end.” (It’s worth noting that Cheney has been unfailingly calm and measured.)

Perhaps Giuliani wasn’t happy that Cheney told the nation that on Election Night 2020, he was “apparently inebriated,” even though that was already common knowledge.

Speaking of going off deep ends, Giuliani made a leftfield pivot into talking about something else: He wondered why the committee wasn’t looking into a baseless theory that Antifa were involved in the death of Ashlii Babbit. Of course, Babbitt wouldn’t have been there had she not been fed the voter fraud lies that are now being further exposed by the House select committee.

(Via Raw Story)

Ever since the series finale of Insecure, Issa Rae fans have waited with bated breath for her next big television project. They didn’t have to wait long; Issa and HBO announced that the multitalented creator would be crafting a show semi-based on the come-up story of Miami duo City Girls, Rap Sh!t. Today, she shared the first trailer from the show, which included a Guapdad 4000 (aka Guap) cameo. The show follows a pair of Miami strippers turned aspiring rappers named Mia and Shawna as they find fame and navigate the trouble that comes with it. Sound familiar?

Issa’s certainly accumulated her fair share of experience with the music industry — and not all of it has been good. She started her own label, Raedio, under Atlantic Records and signed her first rapper, NCognita, but also encountered the unbalanced contracts that have unfortunately become industry standard over the past few years. The experience prompted Issa to call the music industry “the worst industry I’ve ever come across,” characterizing it as “an addiction industry.” How much that will inform her depiction of the industry in Rap Sh!t remains to be seen but if the response is similar to any of her other projects, the show is sure to be a hit, even among those who don’t know the behind-the-scenes workings of the average record label. Check out the trailer above.

Wow, what a game-changing season finale for Barry. We’ve seen some people say they can’t fathom how Bill Hader and company manage to dig themselves out of this one. But while the creative team constantly writes themselves into a corner, they haven’t yet failed to figure out how to keep creating jaw-dropping TV. We wouldn’t bet against the HBO series doing the same in season 4.

We would, however, like to offer up a few guesses as to what comes next, defying the very accurate read on the show from co-star Anthony Carrigan, who told us that it is “fan theory proof.” Before we get into it all, though, we do need to warn that the following is going to be filled with spoilers for everything Barry up to this point. We’d also like to briefly talk about what happened and what could have happened in the season finale before we look to the future.

Season 3 Finale Thoughts

The scene in the season 2 finale with Fuches (Stephen Root) whispering into Gene’s (Henry Winkler) ear about Barry (Hader) killing Janice (Paula Newsome) set the stage for a transformative season, upending everything Barry was trying to build and protect. The result was a long-form panic attack spread across this whole season with peaks, valleys, and revelations about Barry’s darker aspects – kidnapping and threatening Gene, losing control of his rage issues with Sally (Sarah Goldberg) – to the people he most wanted to shield from them. This all pushed us to the point where the season 3 finale needed to, once again, break the mold of the show, allowing it to turn into something else. Now Barry is in police custody (ditto Fuches), Gene is burden-free, and both Hank and Sally are dealing with the aftereffects of having killed people.

To me, there were a couple of possible paths for the show heading into the finale. And at times, each felt like a real possibility.

First, Barry could have made a run for it. We saw him commit to this path, but any kind of romanticized Bonnie and Clyde run was undone first by Sally’s decision to leave LA without Barry and then by the cops who picked Barry up with a gun to Janice’s father’s head. It’s all for the best, though. While a total change of setting with a new cast of characters would have made for a bold new direction, it would have eventually felt like a step back into the familiar, something this show seems loathe to do.

Of course, another option would have been to have Barry continue getting away with all of his misdeeds, but that also feels like an ill fit for the soul of this show. There has, at times, seemed as though someone or something was putting a thumb on the scale of fate, allowing Barry to evade capture and consequence. Ronnie getting shot last season and everything that went wrong for the “Rage Panthers” this season are examples of this. But how long can you play that card before the show starts to feel predictable or like Barry is bulletproof? With no stakes, there’s no tension.

The scene with Albert letting him go in the finale made it seem like that might be happening again, but the show was just choreographing the end game and letting Barry bleed out emotionally. Barry getting found out by Albert, one of the last people in his life who doesn’t know that he is some kind of monster has the effect of a spiral slamming into a brick wall. This created a kind of numbness that allowed Gene’s dagger to penetrate more deeply than if Barry hadn’t collapsed, vulnerable, anguished, and physically and emotionally spent in front of Albert before getting the false hope of another second chance to evade consequences. That scene, which may well be a signature moment for this show and Hader’s career, is everything. Gene’s coldly satisfied stare after helping to ensnare Barry is a close second in terms of things that are going to stay in our head until the show comes back. But what does Barry look like in season 4? Here are a few thoughts tied to each main character.

Gene

We start with Gene because he might be the most interesting character to consider. He has a real career now and he helped to put Barry in cuffs. What more is there to do? Maybe Gene finds a way to monetize his role in this whole mess, playing himself in a true-crime re-telling of the story. This would be a great way to keep skewering Hollywood (something the show excels at) with Barry’s acting career over and Sally a pariah. It could also be a transition back to the more deliciously tacky side of Cousineau.

Fuches

Stephen Root played the hell out of Fuches’ whirlwind revenge tour this season, laying the tracks for Barry’s eventual detainment. Still, he’ll be limited in the chaos he can cause in a jail cell, won’t he? The prison system is a small world, though. Maybe Fuches and Barry get reunited in prison, allowing them to further antagonize each other.

Hank

While Hank stepped out of character and into Rambo mode to free his lover, Cristobal, it might be hardest to forecast a path for him. That relationship, while storybook compared to the Barry and Sally toxic pairing, is still fat with issues. Is Hank going to be running the Bolivian mob now? Is he going to go into business with Mitch the Beignet Guy? Can both things be true? Either way, I don’t know that it’s Hank’s way to fully process having to shoot his way out of a near-certain death by mauling. The confidence boost from that might lead to some epic moments if Hank embraces his new badass form. At last, he is his own Barry.

Sally

Sarah Goldberg does have a new show that she’s developing, but I don’t think Sally’s trip back to Missouri has anything to do with that, nor do I think it has to do with her ex. And I don’t think it’s permanent. The show needed to make a clear statement that Sally was rejecting Barry’s love, and the visual of her getting on that plane was perfect. My guess is Sally be back in LA (or in NY) resurrecting her career in no time. Everyone loves a comeback story and being the girlfriend of a cop killer is definitely something that’ll get Sally some sympathy.

Barry

It’s hard to imagine Barry Berkman ever breathes a free breath again, though it’s possible the justice system could be ripe for dissection with Barry becoming some kind of weird cult figure in the midst of a public trial. Doesn’t our fixation with true crime entertainment and the timeliness of trial watching pair nicely with the trajectory of the story? But it really is anyone’s guess how this team moves forward.

In Conclusion

I would not be surprised if season 4 is the end of the road for the show. It just seems like we’re quickly approaching a natural stopping point, though I happily acknowledge that Hader could find any number of pathways to explore. This is one of the most inventive, consistently surprising shows in recent memory. Maybe Barry’s time on the beach with all his victims is a breadcrumb leading to an exploration of Barry’s feelings over all he’s done in an afterlife-like setting. Or maybe he gets shivved in his jail cell, covered in his own blood and ignominy. Regardless, I’m comfortable predicting an unhappy ending for Barry based on all the work done to show that he is almost certainly broken beyond repair. The question is, are these other characters damned to the same fate?

Americans are far too familiar with the mass-shooting cycle. After the feeling of horror lifts, we ask ourselves, “Why won’t someone do something?” Then after thoughts and prayers are showered upon the victims’ families, there’s some discourse in Washington but the topic soon fades from consciousness after it becomes clear that our elected leaders refuse to do anything substantial to stop the violence.

When Congress did nothing after Sandy Hook, many of us reluctantly accepted that the unique form of terror that are school shootings as a normal part of American life.

u201cAnother mass shooting in Texas after another mass shooting in buffalo and the cycle continuesu2026n#stopgunviolenceu201d

— LouAye (@LouAye)
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However, a bipartisan group of senators has announced they’ve come to a compromise that, if passed, would enact a series of reforms that could significantly reduce gun violence in America. What’s encouraging about the legislation is that 10 Republican senators, the number needed to pass the law in the senate with full Democratic support, have signed on to the compromise.

According to Politico, President Biden said it “would be the most significant gun safety legislation to pass Congress in decades.”

The compromise doesn’t include a ban on assault rifles, even though, according to a study cited in the Austin American-Statesman, the one in place from 1994 to 2004 made mass shooting deaths 70% less likely.

Democratic Senator from Connecticut Chris Murphy still sees it as a groundbreaking piece of legislation on an issue that has seen little progress over the past 30 years.

Murphy has been one of the most vocal supporters of reforms to protect Americans from gun violence after the 2012 Sandy Hook massacre happened in his home state.

u201cud83dudea8NEWS: We have a deal. Today a bipartisan group of 20 Senators (10 D and 10 R) is announcing a breakthrough agreement on gun violence – the first in 30 years – that will save lives. nnI think youu2019ll be surprised at the scope of our framework. nn1/ Hereu2019s what it includes:u201d

— Chris Murphy (@Chris Murphy)
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“The fact of the matter is that we’ve reached a compromise over the weekend that will save lives,” he told MSNBC. “This does allow us to break this log jam and it allows us to be set up for future success. But the content of this compromise, in and of itself, will save lives.”

Murphy provided an outline of the compromise in a press release on June 12. “Our plan increases needed mental health resources, improves school safety and support for students, and helps ensure dangerous criminals and those who are adjudicated as mentally ill can’t purchase weapons.”

The proposals contain legislation that would empower states to enact “red flag” laws to prevent people who are “a significant danger to themselves or others” from acquiring firearms. It also expands access to mental health services for people in underserved areas.

The bill would also keep weapons out of the hands of those who’ve been convicted of domestic violence and include enhanced background checks for gun buyers under the age of 21. These checks would consult local law enforcement and take mental health records into consideration.

The new legislation may prove controversial among die-hard conservatives but aligns with most Americans’ views. An ABC News/Ipsos poll from June 5 found that 70% of Americans “think enacting new gun control laws should take precedence over protecting ownership rights.”

Senator John Cornyn of Texas has been Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s emissary to the talks and he feels Congress is under a lot of pressure to take action after the Uvalde mass murder in his home state, according to Politico, which quoted Cornyn as saying “it will be embarrassing” if nothing happens this time.

u201cThis agreement will provide schools the resources they need to enhance security and keep our children safe.nu00a0nIt will invest in mental health programs to support communities and schools.nu00a0nAnd, it will not infringe on the rights of law-abiding gun owners.u201d

— Senator John Cornyn (@Senator John Cornyn)
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While some gun safety advocates may find the bill disappointing because it doesn’t include a ban on assault rifles, they shouldn’t allow perfect to be the enemy of good. Murphy sees the compromise as a way to lay the foundation for future gun control legislation.

He told MSNBC that it’s a means to “test the theory” that Republicans won’t lose support for backing legislation that curbs gun violence and “will allow us to build on this.”

Apparently appearing in A Series Of Unfortunate Events was not enough for Neil Patrick Harris, as he — a Not British Person — is now set to star in the upcoming series of Doctor Who in which the Doctor will hopefully blast Harris’ character into space. But that’s just speculation.

The Smurfs star posted the first look on Instagram, confirming that his current gig is a part of the Doctor Who universe. Harris is seen wearing some crooked glasses and a bowtie, which is normally reserved for the Eleventh Doctor, but whatever. He added the caption: “My current gig. Never looked more dashing. Thank you for inviting me into your Whoniverse, @russelltdavies63 . I’ll try my hardest to do my worst. This Doctor has no idea what’s in store. And even if he does… Who cares? Ha ha ha HA ha-ha-ha! @bbcdoctorwho”

Writer Russell T. Davies, who is returning to the show for its 60th anniversary after leaving the series in 2009, posted the same photo on Instagram, welcoming Harris to the DW family. “Neil Patrick Harris, welcome to Cardiff! Playing the greatest enemy the Doctor has ever faced. Such a great actor, such a great man, it’s an honour and a hoot. ”

The move is strange, considering, again, that Harris is Not British, but we might have to overlook that because a lot of other great actors have been added to the series. At least we get more David Tennant.

Green Day’s Hella Mega Tour with Weezer, and Fall Out Boy is finally under way. After pandemic-related postponements in both 2020 and 2021, the trio of alt rock heavyweights are finally getting to tour together and Green Day are using the opportunity to deliver a message to polarizing Texas Senator Ted Cruz.

As the San Francisco Chronicle reported, numerous photos on social media have surfaced of the message on the band’s on-stage backdrop. And it’s very clear statement: “F*CK TED CRUZ.” Except the band didn’t even censor the expletive.

Expectedly, it has been an easy rallying cry for fans to get behind, as Cruz is a figurehead for the hard-headed GOP, who has maintained a strong division in national politics that has prevented policies related to gun control and voting equality from being enacted. One European user posted a photo of the backdrop and commented, “@Ted Cruz this is from the last @Green Day concert in Berlin, just so you know, the whole EU hates you too. And we think you’re a massive p*ssy.”

Cruz has caught wind of Green Day’s message and seems to find it amusing, quote retweeting an article while spewing the lyrics to Green Day’s “Brain Stew”: “I’m counting sheep but running out.”

Just take the L, Ted.

If you’ve seen The Social Network, you likely have some idea who the Winklevoss twins are. If not, here’s the short of it: Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, born in August 1981, are best known for suing Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg for allegedly stealing their ConnectU website idea to come up with The Facebook, the precursor to the election-wrecking social media juggernaut we all know and kind of disdain today (unless you’re in your 60s, in which case, Facebook is probably your favorite news outlet). They’re now said to be worth billions in cryptocurrency between the two.

However, the Winklevosses are also, apparently, amateur musicians, starting a band, Mars Junction, in 2021. Their debut show that year at the Knitting Factory in Brooklyn got — well, not rave reviews, but mildly positive ones. Back then, though, they reportedly mostly played covers and only stated their plans to release original music in the future. Well, we’re not quite there yet, but now there’s actual footage of their band playing a live gig on Thursday night last week, and they’re getting some decidedly bad reactions in the comments. It seems they chose to play a cover of Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’” — in the original key, no less (a cardinal sin, according to one commenter) — and let’s just say that Cam (or Tyler?) ain’t quite the vocal virtuoso Steve Perry was when he originally recorded the world-class arena jam.

You can check out the videos — and the disappointed comments — below.

After all of the drama that the Marilyn Monroe dress is causing, it begs the question: does Kim Kardashian regret wearing the infamous gown to the Met Gala? Probably not, but a lot of people are mad about it. Not only did she cause a stir when she mentioned that she lost 16 pounds in three weeks, but she also seemed to have damaged the dress, which didn’t fit properly to begin with.

The Marilyn Monroe Collection, the world’s largest private collection of Monroe’s personal property, posted some before and after pictures of the gown post-Met Gala, and it’s obvious to anyone who has ever worn any piece of clothing that there has been some wear and tear. The account notes that some crystals are missing, and some are hanging by a thread. Literally.

The dress was loaned out to Kardashian and is now on display at Ripley’s in Hollywood. Many were not happy with Kardashian choosing to wear the dress. She even admitted that if she were unable to zip up the dress, she would not attend the gala, though she showed up anyway with a fur coat covering the back because she wanted to have her moment. Of course, this isn’t surprising coming from a woman who is charging $500 for a full skincare line.

Between the dress and several exploitive Monroe-related projects in the works in Hollywood, many fans are begging celebs to leave Marilyn alone. As they should!

On Friday evening, people in southeast Berlin felt the ground below them move. The 1.4 magnitude tremor was felt at precisely 8:58 pm in the evening, at the same time as Florence And The Machine were on stage at the Tempelhof Sounds festival in Berlin’s now-shuttered Tempelhof Airport, prompting people to wonder whether the outdoor event with 60,000 attendees was truly an earth-shattering show.

Florence And The Machine’s set-time was at 8:30 pm, and looking at the setlist, about a half-hour into the show, it’s a good bet that the band was playing either the classic, “Dog Days Are Over” or the emphatic “Free” off of the new album, Dance Fever. German outlet rbb|24 reports that someone at the show indicated, “…There was a moment around 9 pm when quite a few jumped at the same time. You could also feel the vibrations on site.” Could this really have caused such an impact? Data scientist Jens Skapski seems to think so.

“The signals probably go back to a concert. We don’t usually have earthquakes in Berlin, that’s why I wanted to know more about it,” Skapski told rbb|24. According to the rbb|24 report, “Three private seismological stations in the immediate vicinity of Tempelhofer Feld registered an above-average deflection, 1.4 on the local magnitude scale.” It lasted close to a minute, which makes it more of a tremor and not necessarily an earthquake. Skapski adds that “It’s equivalent to a small earthquake,” but that, “A natural earthquake would be shorter and with a higher frequency.”

So while we already knew that Dance Fever was a banger of an album from Florence Welch and company, this takes it to a whole new level.

There’s something to be said for having a positive outlook on life. Optimism may not only make you happier, it can also help you live longer. Yes, you’re reading that correctly: Being optimistic can actually add years to your life. A study done by researchers from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society found a correlation between lifespan and optimism in women. The authors discovered that optimistic women had a longer lifespan, many living past the age of 90.

In a previous version of this study, data showed the correlation between living past the age of 85 and higher levels of optimism. But that study looked at a mostly white people. This later study expanded the pool of participants to include more people from diverse backgrounds.

In this version of the study, the research team looked at data from 159, 255 participants from the Women’s Health Initiative. The group included women between the ages of 50 and 79 (specifically postmenopausal women). The women had to fall into that age bracket between 1993 and 1998, then they were followed for 26 years.

“Although optimism itself may be affected by social structural factors, such as race and ethnicity, our research suggests that the benefits of optimism may hold across diverse groups,” Hayami Koga, a Ph.D. student in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Population Health Sciences program in partnership with Harvard Chan School, and lead author of the study said in a press release.

According to the press release, the study “found no interaction between optimism and any categories of race and ethnicity, and these trends held true after taking into account demographics, chronic conditions, and depression.”

“A lot of previous work has focused on deficits or risk factors that increase the risks for diseases and premature death. Our findings suggest that there’s value to focusing on positive psychological factors, like optimism, as possible new ways of promoting longevity and healthy aging across diverse groups,” Koga said.

Think about it. There’s a lot to be said about positive thinking—it’s not always easy to do, and yes, toxic positivity is a very real thing. But reframing your way of thinking to allow for more positivity clearly isn’t a bad thing. Will it allow you to transcend things like structural racism, discrimination and other legitimate life barriers? Absolutely not. It will, however, give you a stronger foundation to pull from when those things start to make you weary.

I don’t know if there’s a way to teach people to be optimistic without it feeling hokey. However, if you tell someone, “Hey, this could put years on your life clock,” they might be more interested. Koga believes that the findings of this study can allow people to look at how they approach their health.

As the study reveals, a lot of the factors that contribute to longevity that we traditionally think of, such as diet, exercise and other lifestyle changes, don’t seem to hold as much weight compared to an optimistic outlook. According to the study’s findings, lifestyle choices “accounted for less than a quarter of the optimism-lifespan association,” and more than half of the women in the group (53%) achieved “exceptional longevity.” It defines exceptional longevity as living 90 years or longer. When compared to the least optimistic participants, the optimistic women had a 5.4% longer lifespan. According to the CDC, as of 2020, the average life expectancy for women is 80.5 years. So those who have a more optimistic outlook might live 10 years longer than the current average lifespan. That definitely gives you something to think about!

“We tend to focus on the negative risk factors that affect our health,” Koga said. “It is also important to think about the positive resources such as optimism that may be beneficial to our health, especially if we see that these benefits are seen across racial and ethnic groups.”