Month: July 2022

On Thursday, August 4 at 10 am PST, swim on over to join Upworthy’s Instagram Live with OctoNation, a nonprofit organization and Facebook group that proudly calls itself “The Largest Octopus Fan Club.”

If you’re a sucker for suckers, then you have found your tribe. Not only does OctoNation have a sticker club and create epic Octo-swag (we’re talking coffee mugs, stickers, sweatshirts…all designed to delight your inner cephalopod-ophile), they also provide amazing videos and resources like Octopedia that educate the world about the many, many different species of octopuses.

For instance, have you ever heard of a Mimic Octopus?

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Look out, Meryl Streep! This species should win an Oscar for all the roles it can play. There are 15 known animals the Mimic can transform into, including the flatfish, lionfish, sea snake, brittle stars, sea anemones, jellyfish, stingray, crabs, and the mantis shrimp…just to name a few.

What about a Seven-arm Octopus?

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Don’t worry—this species does have eight arms. But that doesn’t make it any less weird. Males of this super rare species grow a mating arm under their right eye, which they use to deliver sperm to a female up to 20 times larger than he is. In a perplexing display of chivalry, he’ll then break off his mating arm so that she can fertilize her eggs. How progressive.

Seriously, just when you think you’ve learned everything there is to know about these fascinating creatures, another new surprising fact emerges from the depths. Luckily, organizations like OctoNation are here to bring the pure wonder of these squishy sea puppies to dry land. And on Aug 4th, viewers won’t only get to geek out, they’ll get to show off their creative side…and perhaps win a special prize.

Chris Adams, OctoNation’s Creative Director, will be hosting a fun drawing class so that everyone can learn how to sketch out an octobuddy of their very own. Adams designs all of Octonation’s artwork, so you know you’ll be in good hands…even if he only has two of them instead of eight. Plus, folks will be able to post their drawings onto Instagram Stories for a chance to win 1 of 5 octopus plushies. I repeat, a squishy octopus plushie could be in your possession. This is not a drill.

Mark your calendars. We hope to see everyone there. Octopuses have captured our imaginations for centuries, and yet there’s still so much to learn and love about them.

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Over the years, Britney Spears has gone through a lot both legally and emotionally. Even with the excitement of her 13-year conservatorship coming to an end, she has had to endure her father, Jamie Spears, seeking retribution for her gaining her freedom. His latest demand came in the form of the pop star appearing at a deposition, but on July 27 the presiding Los Angeles judge, Brenda Penny, ruled in favor of Britney.

At a Los Angeles Superior Court hearing, Penny finalized her initially temporary decision to deny Jamie Spears’ request for Britney to be deposed as ongoing litigation for his misconduct during her conservatorship continues. The “Toxic” artist’s attorney, Matthew Rosengart, argued there was no need for her to be deposed and it was nothing more than a vengeful act by her father and lawyers.

“Whether he believes it or accepts it, what she went through under him [was traumatic]. What would a decent dad do? He would say, ‘That’s my daughter, I love my daughter,’” Rosengart stated during the hearing. “There is still hope that he sits with his counsel and talks about doing the right thing. A deposition of Britney Spears would re-traumatize her.”

Jamie Spears’ counsel intends to appeal as they believe they are owed additional information in order to properly defend their client. However, for now, Britney is in the clear.

Last month, the Supreme Court decided to try and ruin everyone’s summer. The right-leaning bench went on a tear, releasing one radical ruling after another. Their most infamous move? Terminating Roe v. Wade. The ruling has already had disastrous effects upon the nation. And it’s even perhaps played a role in one of the judges who helped topple it ditching a side hustle.

As per Mediaite, Justice Clarence Thomas is suddenly “unavailable” to co-teach a class on constitutional law this fall at George Washington University. His reasoning was not made public, but it does come after 11,000 students at GWU, where Thomas has taught since 2011, signed a petition demanding he be fired in the wake of the Court’s draconian and unpopular rulings. Another 50 students wrote an open letter saying much the same. What’s more, his name is no longer listed as a faculty member on the school’s site.

Thomas wasn’t simply one of the justice who voted to overturn the law that for the last half century kept abortion safe and legal across the United States. He also wrote a concurring opinion, in which he suggested the bench should “reconsider” laws that protect contraception, same-sex marriage, even same-sex relationships. Incidentally, Thomas’ logic is so reckless it could endanger his own interracial marriage, too. But then, what do you expect from a party whose members will vote not to protect same-sex marriage and then go to their son’s gay marriage three days later?

(Via Mediaite)

Collaborations between artists can come about due to a myriad of ways: emails, Instagram messages, mutual friends, happening to be in the same studio at the same time, and any other coincidental happenstance. This year’s Met Gala now deserves some thanks for a musical linkup of epic proportions, as Camila Cabello has joined Stromae for a reimagined version of his song “Mon Amour.”

While the song itself is exciting, the video takes things to another level as the two place themselves in the popular television show Love Island. As the tropical bop plays in the background, Cabello, Stromae and eight other contestants navigate fights, hookups, and poolside fun before the video shifts to something beyond this universe.

Stromae told Rolling Stone that the song is about infidelity, specifically a man who ruins all of his relationships. The video follows suit, displaying a character named Quentin who gets caught cheating and has a horrific run-in with karma before he ends up by himself in the villa.

The team-up is especially significant for Cabello, who has been a longtime admirer of Stromae, as she expressed back in 2017 during a radio interview. It’s likely she did not expect their potential collaboration to be of such magnitude, but that is the beauty of bringing together musical geniuses.

Check out Camila Cabello and Stromae’s video for “Mon Amour” above.

When you go to a concert, security guards are supposed to look tough and watch the crowd, not the concert. But a touching video taken at a Kendrick Lamar concert in Houston, Texas, over the weekend shows that even security guards aren’t immune to being visibly affected by a great artist’s music.

A video of security guard Devyn Sanford sobbing while listening to Kendrick Lamar perform “Love” off his 2017 album “Damn” has been seen more than 11 million times, with people loving seeing the pure joy of someone being overcome by the power of music.

@dejaihvu

Mans shoulda just bought a ticket 😩🤣 #kendricklamar #thebigstepperstour #houstontx

Sanford didn’t know he was being filmed at the time but he soon learned he was after the video went viral. “That’s me in the post y’all,” he commented on the TikTok video. “This song means EVERYTHING to me and I was feeling everybody around me emotions… definitely love getting paid to do this.”

He later told Fox 26 Houston why the song has such a strong effect on him.

“It brought me back to 2017 when the song first came out. I was going through a tumultuous time in my life at that point,” he told Fox. “The song asks questions about unconditional love. ‘If I didn’t do this would you still love me? If I didn’t have that would you still love me?’

“The words, the crowd around me, everyone was screaming and reaching for Kendrick and crying and I kind of like absorbed everybody’s emotions. I was trying my best to hold it together and I just cracked.”

Lamar is looking forward to speaking with Sanford and his people have reached out to the security guard to give him some free merch, according to the Fox 26 Houston report.

We all love to celebrate when actors lose or gain a bunch of weight for a role. At least the Oscars do. Maybe it’s just them. At any rate, it’s worth standing slack-jawed at the impossible transformation of Sebastian Stan from Marvel superhero and Tommy Lee lookalike to a man suffering from neurofibromatosis in A Different Man. The first image from the film debuted on Stan’s Instagram.

Directed by Aaron Schimberg, the A24 thriller stars Stan under a pile of prosthetics as a man who endures a hefty amount of reconstructive surgery only to become obsessed with a man portraying him in a stage play of his life.

The person in charge of the transformation is Michael Marino, a special effects make-up artist who most recently astonished fans by turning Colin Farrell into a version of The Penguin that looks nothing like Colin Farrell in The Batman. Marino also made prosthetics for Black Swan, The Dead Don’t Die, I Am Legend, and more.

The film also stars The Worst Person In The World‘s Renate Reinsve and Adam Pearson, who has neurofibromatosis in real life. Thus, in Synecdoche New York fashion, Stan in heavy make-up is playing a man who is meant to have neurofibromatosis, becoming obsessed with an actor playing him who actually does have neurofibromatosis. Schimberg previously directed Pearson in Chained For Life, an excellent indie film that challenged perceptions about on-screen beauty. A Different Man is still filming and hasn’t announced a release date yet.

Not to be outdone by Jeopardy!, Game of Thrones: House of the Dragon is launching its own official podcast, hosted by geek podcasting royalty Jason Concepcion and Greta Johnsen. The show promises to be a place where casual fans and diehards alike can enjoy breakdowns, theories, and interviews with the show’s cast. George R.R. Martin, Paddy Considine, Matt Smith, and Steve Toussaint are already lined up for the podcast, which launches August 3rd ahead of House of the Dragon‘s August 21st premiere on HBO.

The Official Game of Thrones Podcast: House of the Dragon will start off with a refresher course on Westeros history and its houses, which feels like the best kind of homework. After all, House of the Dragon is showing us an ancient side of the world we already explored for 8 seasons, pulling us way back to the era of fire-breathing flyers and white-haired rulers.

Companion podcasts are a must-have for basically any TV show trying to make a mark — extending its reach by catering to fandom’s desire to endlessly dissect and discuss. House of the Dragon, like its predecessor, should prove the exact type of series that warrants this level of examination and camaraderie, and The Official Game of Thrones Podcast: House of the Dragon looks to offer a digital version of conversations we’d otherwise have had around the water cooler. It will also be one of the longest podcast names around until the inevitable The Official The Hunger Games Podcast: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes gets rolling.

What do a portable minidisc recorder, VHS copies of My Little Pony, and computer programing textbooks have in common? Tons of things! Including the fact that they were all someone’s very first purchase online. Jake Riley has asked the nostalgia-doused question of the day, and Twitter has been more than happy (if only a little embarrassed) to respond. Books, especially college textbooks, were a popular item, but people also bought Strawberry Shortcake-themed roller skates, bike parts, and, naturally, a $50 plaster mold of David Duchovny‘s face.

Fascinatingly, user @newdaynewlife11 said they bought a Gateway 486 (that’s a desktop computer, young folks) which didn’t work, so the company mailed them individual parts until they found out which part was defective. Bonus points if they kept the cow print box.

Other notable buys included a pillow case with Heath Ledger‘s face printed on it, Battle Beast toys, and the Ultimate Iron Giant figurine from the official Warner Bros. website.

Despite being born before the 1990s, I was weirdly late to the online purchasing game. Having looked it up, it turns out my first online purchase was in 2005 when I bought The Complete Monty Python’s Flying Circus 16 Ton Megaset. Not only was it my first, it was undoubtedly the best purchase I’ve ever made online. What was yours?

Love comes with many highs and lows. The lows can only lead to one questioning his or her self, the decisions they make, and how they will press onward. Those down moments don’t last forever, and the gratification that comes with rising out of the ashes of a failed relationship can feel euphoric. Most importantly, they allow someone to reconnect with who they once were, as well as the person they have become after a tough break-up. Canadian singer-songwriter Elissa Mielke outlines those experiences in beautiful fashion in her two new singles: “Get Well” and “Body Knows.”

In the songs, Mielke delivers heartfelt odes to what people remember from a failed romance, as well ashow they heal by exploring the manifestation of self-deliverance through heartache. The 31-year-old packs angelic vocals, sweet harmonies, and vulnerable lyricism into these two powerful songs, allowing listeners to relate to the way she pours out her soul.

“Get Well” and “Body Knows” follow Mielke’s recent single “Paper Moth Flame.” The fashion model is gearing up for the release of her next EP, Mouse, which will arrive on August 26, just over a year after her debut EP Finally anchored by the acoustic ballad “Trying” and “Kind Of Thing.”

Check out “Get Well” above and “Body Knows” here.

Mouse is available 8/26 via slashie and Mom + Pop. Pre-order it here.

Usually, when the current rap hierarchy is discussed, the same three names come up as the best: Drake, Kendrick Lamar, and J. Cole. Things get a bit murky when it comes to the next spot, with names like Kanye West and Nicki Minaj often coming up. However, there is a strong hive that advocates for Future deserving a spot in the conversation, and his latest achievement certainly adds to their argument. On July 27, the DS2 artist was recognized by the RIAA for over 95 million units certified Gold, Platinum, or more over the course of his career.

The Grammy award-winning rapper was honored in a private event at Soho House Miami Beach where RIAA COO Michele Ballantyne and Epic Records Chairwoman and CEO Sylvia Rhone were both in the building. They gifted him with special plaques commemorating this unprecedented milestone.

Future’s career spans of nine albums and 68 songs, placing him in rarified air with one of the highest totals in history throughout RIAA’s 65-year-old existence. It comes on the heels of his latest album, I Never Liked You, reaching Gold status in under three months, with the standout record “Wait For U” featuring Drake and Tems already double Platinum and “Puffin On Zootiez” certified Gold.

Ballantyne had this to say about the major moment: “We’re thrilled to celebrate that Future now has 95 million RIAA certified units spanning 9 albums and 68 separate singles! He’s in an elite group – very few artists have achieved this level of success in the history of our nearly 65 year old program. Congratulations to Future and his incredible Epic Records and Freebandz teams!”

That number four spot in the rap hierarchy might have just been officially claimed.

Check out Future’s reaction to the moment via Twitter above.