Month: July 2022

Stephen Curry has had quite the summer celebrating his fourth NBA championship after the Warriors beat the Celtics in six games in June, and he continued that celebration on Wednesday night as host of the ESPYs.

Curry arrived on stage in a light green suit, holding a cup of liquor and proceeded to get immediately to flexing and joking on the room of sports luminaries. Among his first targets was his longtime rival, LeBron James, noting that when LeBron hosted the ESPYs back in 2007 he did so coming off a Finals loss, whereas Steph was getting to do so with a new ring on the way.

The lone Celtic in the building for the awards show was Grant Williams, who naturally was a target for a Steph joke, noting that he’ll let him borrow his green suit and maybe wear a ring after the show.

He even had some jokes about his kids, saying that dealing with three birthday parties in a two-week stretch made him realize why Tom Brady keeps un-retiring — with his kids not looking particularly impressed with dad’s jokes.

https://twitter.com/espn/status/1549911912262971392

All in all, Steph’s monologue was solid as he kept it tight and didn’t wade into any deep waters, taking on some easy targets and enjoying himself as a champ should.

Michigan’s Potter Park Zoo was thrilled to announce the arrival of some new residents this year: bintlets.

Um, just what is a bintlet, you may ask? Binturongs (the adult version of a bintlet) are fascinating creatures hailing from the rainforests of Southeast Asia, where they love to hang out in the lush treetops. It’s one of the few animals with a prehensile tail, meaning it can hold and manipulate objects.

Binturong: The bearcat that is neither bear nor cat.

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Though they are often called bearcats due to their hodgepodge appearance, binturongs are neither bear nor cat. They belong to the Viverridae family, a very unique species group containing all seemingly cat-like critters, though none are actually felines. According to Brittanica, they have even been reported to be affectionate pets, much like the domestic house cat. But still—not cats. Very misleading.

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Also: The binturong’s teeth technically classify it as a carnivore. However, it might as well be classified as a fig-atarian, the way it likes to swallow the small fruit whole. Yeah … they’re basically a walking contradiction on four legs.

Perhaps the coolest thing about binturongs: Getting up close and personal with one might have you thinking you waltzed into a movie theater. They mark their territory by secreting a substance that famously smells just like buttery popcorn. Nature’s creativity is endless.

Threatened mostly by deforestation and illegal wildlife trade, binturongs have been listed as “vulnerable” on IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Red List. That makes the birth of Potter Park’s bintlets—the first bintlet birth at the zoo in more than two decades, WILX News reported—all the more special. Baby animal news is great. At-risk baby animal news is even better.

Potter Park posted to its Facebook page congratulating Thistle, the zoo’s female binturong, on her newborns. WILX added that where Thistle would remain with the bintlets for a few months time, the binturong father (named Barry … Barry the binturong, it’s just too perfect) will still be viewable at the zoo’s habitat.

Officials added that sadly, only two of three bintlets made it, due to sickness. Despite 24 hours of care from veterinary and animal care staff, the third bintlet passed away. Still, in the video we see two healthy, squeaking babes right next to their happy mama.

“Love how the mom looks right at the camera like she is saying aren’t my babies the cutest babies ever,” one person commented.

And now for the moment we’ve all been waiting for—close up photos revealing all the bintlet cuteness.

OMG. A baby bintlet in a baby bathtub. To what do we owe this pleasure?

This one has its little eyes open.

According to Smithsonian’s National Zoo & Conservation Biology Institute, bintlets are born with their eyes closed and will cling to their mothers until independent. Sometimes for even longer. Relatable.

Special thanks to Potter Park Zoo and Thistle for delivering some happy news to get us through the week. We got a sweet story and fun animal education—it doesn’t get much better than that.

If you’d like to check in on all the animal shenanigans happening at Potter Park, you can follow the zoo on Instagram here. With more than 350 residents of all sizes and species, there’s sure to be no shortage of wholesome critter content.

Courtney Barnett is getting ready to head out on her bonkers Here And There touring festival next month. If you haven’t been hipped to the ins and outs of Here And There, it sees Barnett essentially putting on a slew of mega-concerts across the country (and in Canada) with an amazing cast of “supporting acts,” who could be playing considerably-sized headlining tours themselves right now. Example: The tour kicks off with Barnett, Lucy Dacus, and Quinn Christopherson at Arvest Bank Theatre in Kansas City on August 6th, and then ends with a lineup of Barnett, Japanese Breakfast, Arooj Aftab, and Bedouine at Denver’s Mission Ballroom on September 3rd. You get the idea, right?

Other acts on the tour include Alvvays, Bartees Strange, Caroline Rose, Faye Webster, Sleater-Kinney, Waxahatchee, Fred Armisen, and more. All of this is to say, that indie rock’s favorite left-handed guitarist, Barnett, is drumming up the excitement for the touring, err…Barnet-A-palooza and went on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert yesterday night to perform a super tight rendition of “Before You Gotta Go.” Off of her fantastic 2021 album, Things Take Time, Take Time, the song and the performance are reminders of what a remarkable songwriter and performer Barnett is.

Watch Courtney Barnett perform “Before You Gotta Go” on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert above.

Last month, Shygirl announced her debut full-length Nymph, which features collaborations with Karma Kid, Mura Masa, Sega Bodega, and Cosha, along with producers like Noah Goldstein, Danny L Harle, Bloodpop, Vegyn, and Kingdom. Today, she just released the track “Coochie (A Bedtime Story).”

The synth-y song is nothing short of playful and full of Shygirl’s uncensored personality: “Sweet sounds / I can hear the melody / Floating in the clouds / Yeah, the coochie is so heavenly,” she sings. The Samuel Ibram-directed video shows Shygirl as a princess all dolled up in an electric carriage; she looks like true indie pop royalty.

Upon announcing the album in June, Shygirl said in a statement, “Every piece of work or project is like a sculpture to me. Something made of marble that slowly reveals itself as I chip away… Something that was always there to begin with.” “Coochie (A Bedtime Story)” follows the release of previous singles “Come For Me” produced by Arca and “Firefly,” as well as her collaboration with Mura Masa for “Hollaback B*tch” from his forthcoming album Demon Time out in September.

Watch Shygirl’s video for “Coochie (A Bedtime Story)” above.

Nymph is out on 9/30 via Because Music. Pre-save it here.

Back in 2019, Keke Palmer went viral because she didn’t know who Dick Cheney is. Lucky her. But there’s another gap in the Nope star’s knowledge: She has no clue who Scully and Mulder are.

The truth came out during one of those playful Vanity Fair videos, in which the actress and singer joined her Nope co-stars Daniel Kaluuya, Steven Yeun, and Brandon Perea to react to fan theories about their mysterious, Tremors-inflected new blockbuster (which, we now know for sure, is about an alien invasion). Palmer read from a card that read, “I bet we see Scully and Mulder.” Alas, Palmer could not adequately respond to the theory, saying, “And who the hell are they?”

Her fellow performers helpfully pointed out that they’re the heroes of The X-Files, the beloved conspiracy theory-heavy show about a pair of feds who keep happening upon paranormal activity, including, yes, aliens. Palmer didn’t seem to know that either, saying, with genuine confusion, “And why would we see them?” She then admitted she’d never watched the show, and looked like she wasn’t about to start.

Good show, though! Gillian Armstrong and David Duchovny running about, finding weird paranormal happenings and massive cover-ups, all while oozing sexual tension? Pretty good show. We don’t want to say she has to watch it, but she’d probably enjoy it more than she did the grub at the Met Gala.

You can watch the full video above. Palmer’s X-Files comments begin around the 10:30 mark.

(Via BuzzFeed)

The Portland Trail Blazers have received some good news about rookie guard Shaedon Sharpe.

Per a release from the team, Sharpe will not have to have surgery on his injured left shoulder and will available for the start of training camp in the fall. Sharpe, the seventh overall pick in June’s draft out of Kentucky, suffered a small labral tear in his left shoulder on July 7 in the first quarter of his Summer League debut against the Detroit Pistons, sitting out the rest of the Summer Blazers’ run to the championship in Vegas.

Sharpe, at 19-year-old, is a long-term play for Portland — especially since they still have 32-year-old Damian Lillard and recently signed him to a contract extension. He’s was the Draft’s greatest mystery after he spent a year not playing at Kentucky, and Summer League was supposed to be Portland and the rest of the league’s first chance to really see where he was as a player. That never came to fruition due to the shoulder injury, but him being able to begin his first training camp recovered from his injury and get his professional career going on the right foot is the best case scenario all things considered.

The Trail Blazers are one of the few teams without their own G League affiliate, so his development will have to come via camp, practices, and any playing time he’ll get in the regular season, which only adds to the importance of his availability from the start of camp.

When it comes to directing horror movies, a lot of people think Jordan Peele is three-for-three. Both Get Out and Us were critical and commercial juggernauts, and the same appears to be happening with Nope, his enigmatically-advertised third film, which we now know is his twist on the alien invasion genre. Good for him! But one admirer may have taken his adoration for Peele too far.

On Wednesday, one Peele fan went beyond fulsome praise. “I know this is a hot take but at what point do we declare Jordan Peele the best horror director of all time?” he wrote. “Can you think of another horror director that had 3 great films, let alone 3 in a row? I can’t.”

Of course, a lot of people could think of another horror director with three great films, even in a row. One name that came up a lot: John Carpenter, who’s made many stone cold classics, not only of horror but also thriller and sci-fi. The fan disagreed, writing, “Halloween is a stone cold classic, but the rest of his horror movies aren’t great in my opinion. He has some good ones for sure, but they’re like cult classics in my mind.”

One person who disagreed with him was Jordan Peele himself.

“Sir, please put the phone down I beg you,” Peele wrote in a reply, later adding, “Sorry. I love your enthusiasm but, I will just not tolerate any John Carpenter slander!!!” Attached was a modified version of the oft-used gif of Robert Redford in Jeremiah Johnson, with Peele’s face superimposed over top.

It was a real Marshall McLuhan-in-Annie Hall-type moment, which was a fantasy in that film but is a reality in our world, all thanks to social media. So next time you want to praise an artist you love while dissing another, better hope that artist doesn’t catch wind.

In the meantime, why doesn’t mosey on over to Netflix and watch Carpenter’s underrated, masterful Christine — provided you’re still a subscriber. Peele’s Nope, meanwhile, hits theaters Thursday night.

For three weeks, James Harden has technically been a free agent, but despite the star being untethered to a team officially, there were almost no teams outside of Philadelphia that bothered pursuing him, as his return to the Sixers was a mere formality.

The question was exactly how much Harden would return to Philly for (and for how long), and we finally got the official word — after numerous reports of what he would be getting — on Wednesday night. Harden will return to Philly on a two-year, $68.6 million deal that includes a player option next year, per Adrian Wojnarowski and Chris Haynes.

The player option will be worth $35.6 million after he makes $33 million this year, per Woj, ensuring at least some guarantee for Harden in case injuries continue to bother him, but also allowing him to hit the market should he bounce back and return to All-Star form next season. Harden’s return to the Sixers completes an active offseason that saw them add PJ Tucker, Danuel House, and Trevelin Queen in free agency and trade for De’Anthony Melton, as they looked to bolster their roster with toughness and depth. Harden, for his part, made clear that he wanted the Sixers to upgrade the roster and would make that financially feasible by declining his $47 million player option, telling Daryl Morey to give him “whatever is left over” after making other moves.

What was left over for this year is officially $33 million, and now all eyes are on how Philly’s beefed up roster performs in a strong Eastern Conference.

In Breaking, Lance Corporal Brian Brown-Easley (John Boyega) returns from Kuwait and Iraq to financial hardship and missing disability checks from the Department of Veterans Affairs. Desperate to keep his daughter from destitution (and to raise the alarm about massive problems for warfighters coming home to broken lives), Brown-Easley takes a group of people hostage in a Wells Fargo bank.

It’s a true story, and the trailer for writer/director Abi Damaris Corbin’s take is thrilling. Gorgeous and intense, Boyega is giving off unmistakable Denzel vibes while thoroughly making it his own thing. If Boyega weren’t a movie star before, this seals the deal. The film also features Michael K. Williams in what will be one of his final released roles following his death in 2021 (a Western called Surrounded is complete but hasn’t found distribution yet), playing a sympathetic cop negotiating with Brown-Easley on the scene. Connie Britton, Jeffrey Donovan, and Orange is the New Black‘s Selenis Leyva round out the cast with Nicole Beharie (Miss Juneteenth) looking at a breakout part as a bank manager trapped with a profoundly polite bank robber.

The film hit Sundance hard, with the cast walking away with the Special Jury Award for Ensemble Cast in the U.S. Dramatic Competition. Now it will hit theaters near us August 26th.

Move over, James Webb Space Telescope. Despite providing us with the most stunning images of the universe to date, they don’t burn half as bright as the cast for Wes Anderson‘s upcoming period coming-of-age dramedy. Surprise! Bet you didn’t think Anderson would be making a period coming-of-age dramedy with a star-studded ensemble cast did you? Well, Anderson is gonna Anderson.

According to Variety, Asteroid City is described as a “poetic meditation on the meaning of life,” telling the story of a Junior Stargazer convention in an imagined 1955 town in the American west. As with other Anderson projects, it will have a little bit of every emotion we’re capable of feeling, plus some wry wit and beautiful tableaus photographed symmetrically. It also boasts Tom Hanks and Margot Robbie in their first forays into Anderson’s world, acting alongside a roll call of regulars and a few fresh faces. Among the parents, students, and organizers of the Junior Stargazer convention, we’ll see Jason Schwartzman, Scarlett Johansson, Jeffrey Wright, Tilda Swinton, Bryan Cranston, Ed Norton, Adrien Brody, Liev Schreiber, Hope Davis, Stephen Park, Rupert Friend, Maya Hawke, Steve Carell, Matt Dillon, Hong Chau, Willem Dafoe, Tony Revolori, Jake Ryan, Grace Edwards, Aristou Meehan, Sophia Lillis, Ethan Lee, Jeff Goldblum and Rita Wilson.

Oh, and Bill Murray. Naturally.

Anderson co-wrote the script with frequent collaborator Roman Coppola, who scripted Moonrise Kingdom and The Darjeeling Limited, and did story work for Isle of Dogs and The French Dispatch. The clearest analog is Moonrise Kingdom, which also features retro vibes, a bunch of kids growing up, and a slew of famous adults romping around in a camp-like setting.

The film is already in post-production and will be distributed by Focus Features in 2023.

(via Variety)