Month: July 2022

The Senate race between former TV star Mehmet Oz and current Pennsylvania lieutenant governor John Fetterman has not only been one of the most important in the nation. It’s also been by far the most entertaining. Fetterman is excellent at social media. Oz is not. As such, hilarity has ensued, early and often. Recently he tried to get the longtime New Jersey resident into the state’s hall of fame. Now he has another solid jab.

As per Insider, Fetterman is daring Oz, a millionaire who has tried (and not always successfully) to rebrand himself as a champion of the common man, to live well below what he’s used to. That is, he’s daring him to live on the very low minimum wage he has no interest in seeing raised.

“Another year, still no change to our s*itty $7.25 an hour minimum wage,” Fetterman wrote in a statement. “And because of inflation, the minimum wage today is worth 27% less than it was worth 13 years ago, and 40% less than 1968.”

Fetterman continued: “My opponent Dr. Oz doesn’t care about the people across Pennsylvania who are hurting, and he doesn’t even believe that our embarrassingly low minimum wage needs to be increased.”

Fetterman had a modest proposal. “So since Dr. Oz, who owns 11 homes around the world including several multimillion-dollar mansions, thinks that our minimum wage is a livable wage,” he wrote, “then he should be forced to live on $7.25 an hour so that he can demonstrate to all of us how it’s possible.”

Indeed, the federal minimum wage hasn’t been raised since 2009 — 13 years to the day, as of Sunday. Pennsylvania, where Oz is running, is one of the states hasn’t raised it above the federal minimum. It’s a working class-heavy state, filled with people struggling with not only the pandemic but soaring inflation that may not come down for another year, if not more.

Oz has not done a great job of either defending himself nor of returning fire. What’s more, he occasionally lets slip that the “MAGA movement” is “dying.”

(Via Insider)

Paul Sorvino was perhaps best known for playing Paulie Cicero, the imposing capo from Goodfellas, the mafioso higher-up who, as Ray Liotta’s Henry Hill puts it, “may have moved slow, but it was only because Paulie didn’t have to move for anybody.” Paulie never murders anyone, at least onscreen, and he’s known to help people who know they can’t turn to the police. But he’s still a terrifying figure, the guy whose bad side you never want to be on, the guy who will break your heart when he knows he has to turn his back on you.

The real Paul Sorvino, though, was a softie. A veteran of screen and stage, a guy who loved singing opera, a guy who loved his family, including his Oscar-winning daughter Mira. When he passed on Monday, aged 83, of natural causes, the tributes poured in. Mira penned a moving ode.

“My father the great Paul Sorvino has passed. My heart is rent asunder- a life of love and joy and wisdom with him is over,” she wrote. “He was the most wonderful father. I love him so much. I’m sending you love in the stars Dad as you ascend.”

His wife Dee Dee, whom he married in 2014, called him the “love of my life,” writing that “the most wonderful man who has ever lived is gone.”

Others shared moments from his life and career. One clip shared by many was when Mira won her Academy Award for Mighty Aphrodite in 1996, turning him into a puddle of tears.

Still, you wouldn’t want to get on Sorvino’s bad side either. In 2017, after Mira revealed that she was one of the women Harvey Weinstein had sexually harassed, her father did not hold back, threatening to beat him if the law didn’t throw him in jail.

People also celebrated his work. Goodfellas came up a lot, including the memorable (and educational!) way he patiently slices garlic with a razor blade.

As did his other work, spanning seven decades, including incredible work in Nixon (in which he played Henry Kissinger), Romeo + Juliet, The Gambler, Reds, Cruising, The Rocketeer, as well as Shakespeare in the Park.

Sorvino was also honored by those who worked with him.

Sorvino’s passing comes a mere two months after that of another Goodfellas actor, Ray Liotta. Pour one out for a real one.

Have you ever wondered what it would be like if your grandparents made content on TikTok? As far-fetched as it seems, there are older people who are finding success on the app. Two of the most popular “grandfluencer” accounts are The Old Gays and @ourfillipinograndma. Each account has millions of followers, which proves that old people are just as interesting as younger influencers. And it was because of their popularity that Retirement House was born.

Retirement House is a semiscripted account that stars six actors between the ages of 70 and 85. And while some of it is staged, the actors who play the parts are clearly having a blast. Why shouldn’t they? We have so many preconceived notions about what it means to be over the age of 70, and these six are here to show us that what we believe to be true doesn’t actually have to be. That’s probably why they have more than 3 million followers.

@retirementhouse

We’re baaaack! Welcome to season 2️⃣💜🤪🅿️

♬ original sound – Retirement House

It feels like the account popped up out of nowhere, but that’s not entirely true. Retirement House is the brainchild of 27-year-old Adi Azran and 25-year-old Brandon Chase. “Seniors have been left out of the spotlight in the entertainment industry,” Azran told BuzzFeed News.

They originally conceived the show as something more scripted, as you can see in some of their earlier videos. According to the BuzzFeed article, Azran and Chase haven’t entirely given up on that idea, but they’re currently focusing on building a more solid platform. The videos are very typical TikTok content—the retirees do their own takes on popular TikTok trends.

So, who are these adorable senior citizens? There’s Larry, Curtis, Mabel, Eugene, Rose and Bubbe. They “live” (rent by the hour) a mansion in West Hollywood where they seem to cavort around, getting into shenanigans. They pretend they have a clue what’s happening in the world of pop culture, which is really cute.

“I don’t know about ‘sick’ and ‘dope.’ My character and I are not hip,” Chuck Lacey, who plays Eugene, told BuzzFeed. “I mentioned the Fonz and no one knew who I was talking about, but I didn’t know who Jack Harlow was.”

In one recent video, they do their own take on the “gentleminions” trend, where they declare “good thing we’re not teens” as they strut down the street in their finest. Rose is even eating a banana, the favorite treat of the Minions. They may not have a clue what exactly their videos mean, but it’s fun to watch them.

@retirementhouse

we got y’all 😈

♬ Rich Minion – Yeat

Honestly, why would a bunch of septuagenarians know anything about current pop culture? I’m in my 30s and I don’t even understand most of these TikTok trends. That doesn’t mean I don’t find it adorable to watch a bunch of seniors pretend to know what the new Drake album sounds like. You will find it endearing to see Bubbe do the splits or watch Eugene dance. (I won’t share it here, but there’s a whole video of Mabel and Rose flipping each other off, and it’s hilarious.)

“You see so many stories of older people that are not happy, because as you get older, you lose friends, you lose relatives, you don’t have people to share your life with,” Reatha Grey, who plays Rose, told The New York Times. “We’re actually building shared memories together — and it’s on videotape.”

@retirementhouse

making tiktoks for 3.8 million of you and being featured in new york times, abc news, good day LA. love you all! my grandkids know im cool now 😉

♬ Cool Kids (Sped-Up Version) – Echosmith

That’s one of the best things about Retirement House. You get to see a bunch of older people having a good time together. Who cares if they don’t know who Jack Harlow is? They’ve lived long enough and been through enough that they get a pass. What we find entertaining is that they’re willing to put themselves out there. Society keeps telling us that there’s something shameful about aging—we’re supposed to be afraid of getting older and life changes. But these six people are living their best lives right now, and it feels like they’re thumbing their noses at the establishment in a way that’s reserved for people much younger.

“you’re the bomb. I’m 52 and you give me hope,” one user commented on TikTok.

“I dont know what I did good in life to deserve this side of TT but I’m grateful to be here and I’m never leaving 🥰🥺😅” said another.

Scripted or not, they’re having a good time, and that’s all that matters.

It’s fairly common for people to share videos of a large whale swimming by a boat or coming close to a kayak, but it’s extremely rare for a whale to make direct contact with the vessel.

A new video that is both terrifying and exhilarating shows a humpback whale breaching atop a 19-foot fishing boat. The good news, according to NBC10 Boston, is that no one was hurt and the boat wasn’t seriously damaged. A full-grown humpback whale can grow up to 52 feet long and weigh up to 80,000 pounds so it could do some serious damage.

The incident happened on Sunday, July 24, off the coast of Plymouth, Massachusetts.

u201cA humpback whale breached and landed on the bow of a small whale-watching boat off the coast of the historic Massachusetts town of Plymouth.u201d

— PIX11 News (@PIX11 News)
1658778609

“The boat was in the right place at the wrong time. This could have been much worse for all involved,” Plymouth Harbormaster Chad Hunter told NBC10 Boston. “Children like to lean over the side of the boat to watch the fish so it is very lucky that nobody got hurt here. An incident like this is pretty rare but very dangerous to boaters.”

u201cu201cIT WAS INSANE!u201dnn#NEW pictures show a whale breaching this AM outside #Plymouth, landing on a 19 foot boat.nnHarbormaster: No one injured. nnWitnesses say this was the most INTENSE thing theyu2019ve seen on the water in decades. @NBC10Bostonu201d

— Eli Rosenberg NBC10 Boston (@Eli Rosenberg NBC10 Boston)
1658705355

The whale and the boat were in the same place at the same time, most likely for identical reasons. The harbormaster said there were a lot of boats in the area over the weekend because there was an abundance of bait fish in the water. The fish probably attracted the whale as well.

Whales are relatively common in the waters off Massachusetts in the months of April through October and then they migrate to warmer waters as winter approaches.

Last summer, Jeopardy! — the brianiac’s game show — finally ran into major controversy. No, we don’t mean people taking umbrage with Matt Amodio’s controversial answering habit. We mean Mike “Not Michael” Richards, the producer who made a disastrous attempt to take over permanent hosting duties. Since then, the show has alternated between two of the most popular fill-in hosts: Mayim Bialik and all-time champion Ken Jennings. This was supposed to be a temporary solution. But now it’s going to be temporary for a bit longer.

Sources tell Deadline that Jeopardy! top brass has decided that they’re going to stick with the two-host format they’ve had since autumn of last year, signing them up for the show’s 39th season. That means Jennings and Bialik are effectively tag team hosts: She holds down the fort for a stretch, then pass it off to him, rinse, wash, repeat. The decision has yet to be confirmed by Jeopardy! highers-up.

After the passing of Alex Trebek, who hosted the show since 1984 until his death in late 2020, Jennings was the first person to fill in as a temporary replacement. Bialik was one of a number of guest hosts to take over in early 2021. Aside from the Mike Richards drama of last summer, Jeopardy! has mostly (but not always) been a fount of good news, including multiple big-time winners having record runs. So maybe it’s best not to mess with something that’s working, as least not yet.

(Via Deadline)

The video shows the approaching wave, edging ever closer to the Interceptor. As the water impacts the Trashfence’s sturdy steel beams, all the plastic can be seen staying behind. It will take countless hours to clean up the literal mountains of trash left behind, but the good news is, the oceans would be clean and clear.

As the video progresses, we see that the Interceptor is not quite foolproof yet. Some bits of plastic are able to flow through certain weak spots in the fence. Still, the amount of garbage that stays behind is remarkable.

It’s hard to tell what is more uplifting— seeing the filtered water go about its merry way, or the look of delight the workers have at seeing their experiment get that much closer to success.

Many well-wishing commenters left their advice on how to prevent a potential breach in the future, such as molding the fence into a V shape pointing upstream, or doing a multifence approach. Others just came in to praise the nonprofit’s efforts.

“Man this is heartbreaking to see yet so inspirational. You guys are doing amazing work,” one person wrote.

Another added, “We need more people like you and the effort you put into this project to save our world for future generations and keep us from killing off our planet.”

Even if the Interceptor wasn’t completely victorious, the overwhelming amount of trash accumulated could be enough of a shocking visual to at least bring a sense of urgency to the situation. As The Ocean Cleanup explained in the description section of its video, 1000 rivers are responsible for roughly 80% of ocean pollution. A twofold combination of removing plastic that’s already there, as well as stopping new plastic from entering (i.e., “closing the tap”), is essential.

The Interceptor is an innovative piece of technology, but a positive impact still primarily lies in the everyday choices we make as individuals. Relying less on single-use plastic items—making sure to bring cloth bags to grocery stores, not using plastic straws, opting for glass containers over Tupperware, and so on—is one small thing that can make a big difference. If there’s any doubt, just take another look at the video for a sobering reminder.

OK, now this is cool. A coach and author of the book “The Speed Bag Bible: The Ultimate Speed Bag Training Program,” Alan Kahn put his skill on display in this unbelievable video. In the short clip, Kahn is talking to onlookers, presumably students at the gym, as he demonstrates how to make rhythmic noises on the speed bag. Now, that might not sound impressive, but it truly is. He shows how to hit the bag just right so it essentially sounds like a drum, and after a while of listening to the beat, you forget it’s not a drum at all.

Kahn starts off punching the bag slowly to display how to get the bag to hit against the board that keeps it suspended in order to make the drum sound. It doesn’t take long for him to speed up his precise hits before he adds in his other hand, alternating between the two. Before long, you can barely see Kahn’s hands as he beats the bag in a way that makes a variety of beats that sound just like a drummer on a drum line for band. Quickly the bag and his hands become a blur almost bleeding into each other so that it’s hard to tell which is which. How he doesn’t punch himself in the face by moving that fast is anyone’s guess.

The students and onlookers at the gym are mesmerized by the sound before they explode into cheers when he stops the bag from moving. I’m not sure if this guy is magic or not but that sure would explain how someone can accomplish this feat. It’s clear that he knows exactly what he’s doing, so purchasing his book would probably be a smart move if you’re into speed bag training.

Mega-popular podcaster Joe Rogan is often referred to as a right-wing media personality because of his controversial opinions about the COVID-19 pandemic and for inviting people from the conservative fringe on his show.

However, when it comes to the issues, he’s pretty clear about being a liberal.

“I’m so far away from being a Republican. Just because I believe in the Second Amendment and just because I support the military and just ’cause I support police [doesn’t mean I’m a Republican],” he said on the July 23 episode of his show.

“Like I was on welfare as a kid. I think it’s important. I think having a social safety net is crucial. We should help each other,” Rogan concluded. “We’re supposed to be one big community. I’m a bleeding heart liberal when it comes to a lot of shit.”

In the same episode, he told comedian Andrew Schulz why he endorsed Senator Bernie Sanders in the 2020 election—it was because of his character and policies.

u201c@joerogan and @andrewschulz discussing Trump vs. @BernieSanders nSCHULZ: That’s what was so endearing about Bernie. Did you feel like he cared about winning and controlling? I never got that sense.nROGAN: No. I got a sense that he genuinely wants to help people, the working classu201d

— Armand Aviram (@Armand Aviram)
1658681142

“I got a sense that he genuinely looks out for the working class and genuinely wants to help people,” Rogan explained. “That’s why I said that I supported him. And when he was explaining how his situation works with taxes that they would just tax a small percentage of speculation of stock trading. Just a tiny percentage of all these trades that are happening constantly and that that money could go to education, that money could go to welfare, that money could go to all these different things that will be used to benefit society. I was like, ‘I’m in.'”

“Is that real? What else are you trying to do? You trying to avoid war? I’m in. What else are you trying to do? You trying to eliminate student debt? I’m in. What about healthcare? Free healthcare. I’m in,” he continued.

Rogan may not consistently back progressives or anyone for that matter and that’s probably a big reason for his success. Most of today’s mainstream news media outlets and pundits tend to be beholden to a political ideology, while 43% of Americans are independents.

Last week, the House passed what the Respect for Marriage Act, which is meant to protect same-sex marriage from conservative aggression, including the far right-leaning Supreme Court. Should it pass the Senate, it will be a historic bill, ensuring that same-sex marriages, passed into federal law in 2015, can not be terminated. But there’s been considerable pushback from Republican lawmakers, one of whom wouldn’t let the fact that he has a gay stop him from voting against his interests.

As per NBC News, Pennsylvania representative Glenn Thompson spent Friday at his son’s wedding. Thompson’s press secretary said he and his wife were “thrilled to attend and celebrate their son’s marriage,” and that they were “very happy” for the new spouses.

But there’s one problem: A mere three days earlier, Thompson was one of the 157 Republicans who voted against the bill that would make sure his own son’s marriage isn’t suddenly rendered null and void.

Thompson’s spokesperson called the bill “nothing more than an election-year messaging stunt for Democrats in Congress who have failed to address historic inflation and out of control prices at gas pumps and grocery stores.” It’s a similar statement to the one made by Florida senator (and sometime coward) Marco Rubio, who called the bill a “waste of time,” prompting a measured and moving response from transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg.

So if you’re looking for a perfect encapsulation of today’s Republican party, it’s the lawmaker who wouldn’t even vote to protect his own son’s marriage from potential doom.

(Via NBC News)

This March, President Joe Biden signed into law a bill that should have been in the books long ago: a federal ban on lynching. It’s called the Emmett Till Antilynching Act, named after the African American14-year-old who in 1955 was brutally murdered by armed racists in Mississippi. There have been plenty of books and poems and songs and documentaries about Till’s killing — and about his mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, who became a civil rights activist — but there has never been a big narrative movie. That omission has finally been corrected.

Monday saw the debut trailer for Till, produced by Whoopi Goldberg and starring The Harder They Fall and Station Eleven’s Danielle Deadwyler as Till-Mobley. It’s a devastating promo, showing Till-Mobley shipping her young son (Jalyn Hall) from Chicago down to the Mississippi Delta to visit relatives. It’s there that he’s accused of flirting with a white woman, leading to his abduction and murder — and to his mother making sure the world knows where racism leads.

Till, which hits theaters in October, arrives as white nationalism is again on the rise in America, and as Donald Trump allies let loose telling Freudian slips. And it comes as headways are being made in creating more diversity in Hollywood, which is one reason why there’s finally a big movie about Emmett Till.

Till arrives in theaters on October 7. You can watch the trailer in the video above.