Month: July 2023

So far, Rolling Loud Miami 2023 has been full of shocking on-stage moments. On Saturday, July 22, headliner Travis Scott did something relatively low-key: He simply revealed his album Utopia‘s forthcoming release date.

Nearing the end of Scott’s set, the date July 28, 2023, flashed on the screen being him. One person on Twitter commented on the revelation, writing, “I need Utopia bad @trvisXX .” Scott replied, “Meet me here on Monday. We shall eat sooooonnn,” implying that more information would be shared on June 24.

But that wasn’t the only thing revealed during Scott’s set. He also played the trailer for his upcoming A24 film, Circus Maximus, which will also debut on the same day. So far, details about the movie have been largely kept from the public.

Utopia has been years in the making. On Friday, June 21, Scott dropped the first track from the album, “KPop,” which features Bad Bunny and The Weeknd.

Hidden within the official video for the record were hint that when Scott does hit the road to support that album, it will be on a grand scale, which is to say stadiums only. In addition to the tour, Scott’s team is working to host a special concert outside of the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt.

For the first 15 years of its life, Twitter was never exactly a calm place, but it was, for the most part, reliable. Any major changes Jack Dorsey and his team came infrequently. Then Elon Musk got his mitts on it. Nowadays not much time goes by without chaos reigning. It’s been a few weeks since the weird Twitter meltdown that led to a surge in Bluesky sign-ups, to say nothing of Mark Zuckerberg’s not-quite-“Twitter killer.” So he decided to throw another monkey wrench into the cogs.

As per The Verge, late Saturday night Musk had a cryptic announcement, as one does that time of the week. “And soon we shall bid adieu to the twitter brand and, gradually, all the birds,” he wrote. A couple minutes later he became a little clearer, sort of, writing, “If a good enough X logo is posted tonight, we’ll make go live worldwide tomorrow.”

Sure enough, Musk later confirmed during an awkward, silence-filled Twitter Spaces hang that he was ditching the Twitter name and rebranding as, simply, “X.” The change was coming soon, too, with him vowing that “we’re cutting the Twitter logo from the building with blowtorches.”

Musk also teased what may or may not wind up being the new logo.

When (if?) the name/brand change comes, it will bring an end to a 17-year era that reshaped how social media works, and even saw the company adding a noun and a verb to the English dictionary. Whether or not what people do on X will still be called “tweeting” remains to be seen.

Musk’s posts about the rebranding featured replies from the usual blue-checked sycophants. For many others, it was yet another chance to drag the second-richest person on the planet on the service he owns.

Some wondered why the owner of Space X loves the letter so much.

Others saw it not as an exciting change but as yet another death knell for a once-thriving company.

Some weren’t exactly optimistic that Musk could make it work.

Others saw it as just another dumb rebrand from another questionable company leader.

There were plenty of miscellaneous jokes.

As of this writing, Twitter is still called Twitter. That may change by the time some of you read these words. When (again, if) it does leave, pour one out for a real one.

(Via The Verge)

Drake’s rapper’s rumored girlfriend, Lilah Pi, might want to plan her exit. After the rapper’s awkward appearance on TikTok influencer Bobbi Althoff’s The Really Good podcast, he opened up about his outlook on romantic relationships. Drake has a long list of high-profile ex-partners, including Rihanna, SZA, and Serena Williams. However, he has yet to find his bride.

During the interview, Drake revealed that his marital status isn’t due to disinterest in companionship. When Althoff introduced the topic after reading a few lines from his poetry book, Drake asked the host why she was married. She flipped the question on him, and he replied, “I don’t know; it seems like a thing of ancient times or something.”

He continued, “I think I will eventually. The truth is I don’t think I could offer someone what it is that they’re looking for right now. My work is my priority. I wouldn’t want to contribute as a partner. I don’t wanna get married ’cause, like, I just don’t wanna disappoint someone.”

Althoff claimed that he couldn’t get married because of his promiscuity. In an attempt to rebuttal, Drake said, “I’m not, like, Amish,” referring to a group famous for their traditional approach to marriage.

Later during the chat, Drake also confessed that he’s not interested in jumping into any more entanglements with other celebrities. That suggests the rumors that he and rising rapper Sexyy Red were an item are inaccurate, regardless of their recent steamy photo. “Famous people really aren’t that… aren’t that anything. They’re not that intriguing,” Drake told Althoff.

Watch the full interview above.

Lil Nas X takes pride in his troll-like sense of humor. But according to him, there’s no bigger troll than Twitter’s former CEO Elon Musk. Now thanks to the social media platform’s forthcoming new name change, Lil Nas X joked that their beef could come to an end.

Musk took to his profile to unveil a video announcing that the site’s new name would be changed to X. Musk followed up the video with several tweets with images of the company’s new logo. After learning of the new name, Lil Nas X couldn’t hold back his excitement.

“I appreciate Elon renaming the app after me, but this is honestly overwhelming,” wrote Lil Nas X.

He added, “Since I haven’t released music in 5 years, and Twitter pays you now. I am ready to accept my destiny as Twitter supreme again.”

Fans joined the conversation, reigniting their desire for Lil Nas X to become Twitter’s CEO. “I mean, Elmo is rebranding as the site as ‘X.’ It’s almost like you were made for this moment,” wrote one person.

Lil Nas X and Elon Musk’s imaginary relationship has come a long way since Nas joking vowed to seek vengeance against Musk after losing his verified blue check.

Stock photos of any job are usually delightful cringey. Sure, sometimes they sort of get the essence of a job, but a lot of the time the interpretation is downright cartoonish. One glance and it becomes abundantly clear that for some careers, we have no freakin’ clue what it is that people do.

Dr. Kit Chapman, an award-winning science journalist and academic at Falmouth University in the U.K., recently held an impromptu contest on Twitter where viewers could vote on which photos were the best of the worst when it came to jobs in scientific fields.

According to Chapman’s entries, a day in the life of a scientist includes poking syringes into chickens, wearing a lab coat (unless you’re a “sexy” scientist, then you wear lingerie) and holding vials of colored liquid. Lots and lots of vials.

Of course, where each image is 100% inaccurate, they are 100% giggle inducing. Take a look below at some of the contenders.

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Chapman’s unofficial photo competition received nearly 500,000 votes cast throughout four rounds. The grand prize winner was a photo of a female scientist holding a soldering iron (very much not in the right way) as she is “working” on some kind of electrical board.

It’s titled, “Hold My Soldering Iron.”

Time to vote for the worst science stock photos ever!

1. Hold My Soldering Iron. pic.twitter.com/fc76jz8Bs4

— Dr Kit Chapman (@ChemistryKit) October 12, 2022

“I mean there’s the obvious thing that she’ll burn her hand, but nobody ever talks about how she’s ‘soldering’ the wrong side of the board,” one person quipped.

Of course, “Talk to Us, Dr. Chicken” was also popular.

2. Talk To Us, Dr Chicken. pic.twitter.com/IMh0LsmGcg

— Dr Kit Chapman (@ChemistryKit) October 12, 2022

Clearly using the scientific method to figure out why exactly Dr. Chicken crossed the road.

But not as popular as “Syringe Chicken,” where, for some reason, a scientist covered in a mask and safety goggles inspects a raw, syringe-filled chicken with his teeny tiny magnifying glass. For science!

2. I, too, store half-used syringes inside an uncooked chicken. pic.twitter.com/noEBQKqbO3

— Dr Kit Chapman (@ChemistryKit) October 12, 2022

This one was the winner of the second-to-last batch.

Ever wonder where space is? Don’t worry, leave it to the professionals to point the way.

3. TO SPACE!!!! pic.twitter.com/ae1XzzQSKE

— Dr Kit Chapman (@ChemistryKit) October 12, 2022

“To space!” Chapman captioned.

Speaking of professionals, everyone dresses for research this way, right?

3. Science: It’s a Girl Thing. pic.twitter.com/ogIOrKHWe1

— Dr Kit Chapman (@ChemistryKit) October 12, 2022

Chapman titled this “Science: It’s a Girl Thing.”

People were quick to chime in with their own contributions, including:

“Woman Brain Surgeon”

My personal favorite https://t.co/MPbQCO5qSF

— MAJ Moe MD 🏝 (@donaldmoe) October 13, 2022

Otherwise known as a jello mechanic.

And some kind of … corn scientist? From the future?

I think you’re missing the best of them all pic.twitter.com/MBgEO4fByk

— autoproclamada generala da URSAL (@generaladaursal) October 12, 2022

Why does this seem like it belongs in an Annie Lennox music video?

As well as a group of scientists that belong in a Marvel movie for their ability to manipulate atoms.

Do not forget manipulating atoms by handhttps://t.co/FTRzyUJp7m

— Katie 🎃Boo👻-mah (@nuclearkatie) October 12, 2022

While these are certainly not an accurate depiction of the vast and wondrous world of scientific research, it did cause many a scientist to share a giggle. So no harm, no foul. Not even to chickens.

This article originally appeared on 10.27.22

Few work uniforms are as easily identifiable as the all-blue scrubs, gloves, cap and mask of a surgeon. But why do surgeons across the globe sport this particular color? Turns out this is more than a fashion choice. It actually helps ensure a safe and successful operation.

As NHS surgeon Doctor Karan explains in a short video, surgeons spend a lot of time looking at the various shades of reds and pinks going on in the human body. After a while, all those hues start blending together, making it more difficult to see subtle distinctions. You can see how that might be an issue during an operation.

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“Because the colors blue and green are opposite to red on the light spectrum they can actually improve a doctor’s eyesight in the operating room and help them pick out different shades of red and reduce the chances of error,” he says.

Another reason is the distracting “optical illusion” created after focusing on red for an extended period of time, where the color transfers over to white surfaces, similar to the way you’d see floating spots after a camera flash.

Psychology has a term behind this phenomenon named the Opponent Process Theory, which suggests that when the cones assigned to perceiving certain colors in our eyes get fatigued, they start firing opposing receptor cells to conserve energy.

“As someone who works in a paint department this actually makes sense. I do find myself going what I call ‘color blind’ sometimes when I’m doing a lot of color matches for an extended period of time. It makes my job more difficult,” one person wrote. Another person added that since organic matter tends to not be blue, it makes it easier to see if something has accidentally fallen where it shouldn’t during surgery.

Surgeons only began donning the color blue in the early 20th century. Before that, during medicine’s germ-theory era, they wore white to associate themselves with purity and cleanliness. However, physicians noticed that this color caused vision issues and headaches. Eventually one influential doctor would swap out the white for the blues and greens we see today.

Just a cool bit of science, history and example of the effort doctors put into helping others, all rolled into one story.

This article originally appeared on 5.19.23

Look, you’re busy. You’ve got stuff that needs to be done today. Do you really have time to watch tiny baby goats jump in slow motion? Will that really add anything of value to your life?

Actually, the answer is yes. Because watching tiny baby goats jump in slow motion is not only exceedingly entertaining, it’s actually a simple life lesson in disguise.

These little guys hail from Sunflower Farm Creamery in Maine, where 60 (yes, 60) goats are born each year. Sunflower Farm promises that even if you didn’t love goats before, you will after watching videos from its Youtube channel showing the wee babes run, play, hop and snuggle. I mean, there’s another video showing the goats in pajamas…what’s not to love?

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But back to this one. In the video’s description, Sunflower Farm writes, “The amount of effort a baby goat puts into each hop is astounding, and only fully observed by slowing down their motion so you can see every twist and turn clearly. They leap so bravely forward. Even the youngest six, who are one week old, are full of twists and turns and side kicks.”

Yep, in the clip you can definitely see boundless energy and fearlessness in their leaps. Which, let’s be honest, might not always result in the most graceful move. And yet when you slow that action down and put on a little Tchaikovsky, it suddenly becomes a riveting ballet nonetheless.

Check it out:

The farm added that the goats aren’t merely hopping around to learn how to avoid predators. They are also simply doing it for the “joy of it.” Play in the animal kingdom is as nuanced as it is for humans, with many experts noting that some species actually don’t engage in play to develop any sort of motor or cognitive skills. They do it, seemingly, just cause.

In other words, these goats “leap because they can.” And that’s that.

Folks who watched the video seemed to agree that their spontaneous, unbridled joy was contagious.

“OMG, the sheer joy! I had no real understanding of how random their movement was! That is probably the best thing I’ve seen in months!” one person comments.

Another added, “These kids are simply experiencing the sheer joy of life bursting out of them. Absolutely wondrous to watch.”

Sure, it’s a silly little goat ballet, but Sunflower Farms argues that humans could learn a thing or two from it.

“Humans could benefit so much by practicing being more nimble, fluid, and joyful. It is so easy to get stuck in our ways, to feel heavy, and weighed down by the world. The goat kids show us that there is another way,” the video description read.

Indeed, life might feel heavy at times. But take it from a group of baby goats…jumping around for no reason at all can be the best pick-me-up. No kidding.

This article originally appeared on 5.7.23

Barbie’s been killing it at the box office this weekend, even breaking records, but don’t write off the second-place winner. Oppenheimer also made bank. It made about half of what the Mattel movie made, but an $80.5 million opening for any movie, let alone a three-hour, R-rated downer about the inventor of the world’s most dangerous weapon, is nothing to sneeze at. It proves again that Nolan can get audiences excited about anything. Not that he wouldn’t mind going back to the franchise farm.

As per The Hollywood Reporter, the filmmaker went on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, where he said he’d love to make a Bond movie. After all, he has along history with them.

“The influence of those movies on my filmography is embarrassingly apparent. And so there’s no attempt to shy away from that. I love the films,” Nolan confessed. “You know, it would be an amazing privilege to do one.”

Nolan’s career famously went next level after he radically reinvented the Batman franchise, doubling down on the dourness of the Tim Burton entries while upping the seriousness into the stratosphere. If he ever did a 007 entry, however, he might tone that down a bit. He said that with that series, “you’re working within a particular set of constraints” and he’d have to approach it with the “right attitude.” (Besides, we’ve already had a dour, serious James Bond.)

Not that Nolan is going to follow up the epic panic attack that is Oppenheimer with a spy movie touting plenty of martinis. He can wait.

“It has to be the right moment in your creative life where you can express what you want to express and really burrow into something within the appropriate constraints because you would never want to take on something like that and do it wrong,” Nolan explained.

That said, he’d want artistic freedom should this dream project ever materialize.

“You wouldn’t want to take on a film not fully committed to what you bring to the table creatively. So as a writer, casting, everything, it’s a full package,” Nolan said. “You’d have to be really needed, you’d have to be really wanted in terms of bringing the totality of what you bring to a character. Otherwise, I’m very happy to be first in line to see whatever they do.”

Should Nolan ever make a Bond movie, there’s a chance it would reunite him with Tenet player Aaron Taylor-Johnson, one of the names floated to succeed Daniel Craig. But again, all this as hypothetical, so you’ll just have to imagine a non-linear 007 adventure that tackles the big issues.

(Via THR)

YNW Melly’s highly publicized double murder case has officially closed for now. On Saturday, July 22, a South Florida district judge stepped in to declare a mistrial after the jury could not decide on a verdict.

Throughout the trial, several rumors flooded social media. One was that if Melly was convicted on the two first-degree murder charges, he would face the death penalty. Although capital sentencing is still practiced in Florida, that possibility, according to XXL,, was dropped for an unknown reason. However, according to Billboard, that decision was overturned by an appellate judge.

Here’s the rundown of YNW Melly’s double murder case mistrial.

Who Is YNW Melly?

YNW Melly, real name Jamell Maurice Demons, is a rapper who became prominent in 2018. Melly is most known for his songs “Murder on My Mind”; “Mixed Personalities,” featuring Kanye West; “Suicidal”; and “223’s,” featuring 9lokknine. The Florida rapper is the most famous member of the musical collective YNW, which is an acronym. Fans debate whether its true meaning is Young N**** World, Young New Wave, or Young New World. Due to his quick rise, YNW Melly secured collaborations with other prominent entertainers, including Kanye West, Kodak Black, Queen Naija, Lil Tjay, Tee Grizzley, and the late Juice WRLD.

The first documented release from YNW Melly is dated back to 2016. However, he has stated in past interviews that he began his music career earlier than that. Melly has released several projects, including 2017’s Collect Call EP, 2018’s I Am You mixtape, 2019’s We All Shine mixtape, his debut album Melly vs. Melvin that same year, and 2020’s Just A Matter Of Slime.

What Was YNW Melly Charged With?

According to The Sun-Sentinel, on February 12, 2019, Melly surrendered himself to law enforcement after he was suspected of having been involved in the October 2018 shooting deaths of his friends Anthony Williams (aka YNW Sakchaser) and Christopher Thomas Jr. (aka YNW Juvy), who were also members of his music collective.

Melly was formally charged with two counts of first-degree murder. A month before being charged, Melly’s associate Cortlen Henry (aka YNW Bortlen) was arrested in Houston, Texas, in connection to the case. Henry was later extradited to Florida, according to The Florida Times-Union.

Police alleged that Melly shot and killed Williams and Thomas. Melly, they claimed, brought in Henry to serve as the gateway driver and to assist with staging a crime scene to divert authorities’ investigation. Police also accused the pair of further damaging the crime scene to make it appear like a drive-by shooting had occurred.

Before turning himself in, Melly took to Instagram to declare his innocence, writing, “I want you guys to know I love you and appreciate every single one of y’all. A couple of months ago, I lost my two brothers to violence, and now the system wants to find justice. Unfortunately, a lot of rumors and lies are being said, but no worries, God is with me and my brother @ynw.bortlen, and we want y’all to remember it’s a YNW family. I love you, @ynwsakchaser1 and @ynwjuvy #freeus.”

When Did The Trial Begin?

Initially, the trial was set to begin on March 7, 2022, but it was delayed. A new date of May 23, 2022, was given for the trial to start. However, continued delays pushed it back to June 6, 2022. After multiple delays, according to AllHipHop, Melly’s legal team decided to file a speedy trial request on May 26, 2022, forcing the trial to begin within 175 days.

The trial was further delayed when YNW Melly’s legal sought to remove the death penalty. Finally, jury selection commenced on April 11, 2023, with the trial beginning on June 12, 2023, and concluding on June 22, 2023.

What Was The Verdict?

After the jury was gridlocked on Friday, July 21, 2023, they were dismissed by Broward Circuit Judge John Murphy III. On Saturday, July 22, 2023, the judge returned to the courtroom, declaring a mistrial.

According to a Snapchat post by YNW Melly’s mother, Jamie King, the jury leaned more towards a not-guilty verdict. Based on the note, King alleged that more than half of the 12-person panel cast a non-guilty ballet. In the note, she wrote, “9 Not Guilty 3 Guilty it was a mistrial my son will be home God is still working.”

As per the law in Florida, the YMW Melly trial can be retried, as double jeopardy has not been floated due to the trial ending in a mistrial. Mistrial simply means the jury could not make a unanimous decision. Therefore, YNW Melly hasn’t been found guilty or innocent. Law And Crime on-the-ground correspondent Bryson “Boom” Paul noted that the prosecutor of this case, Kristine Bradley, did hint at bringing the case back to the trial. When Judge Murphy III made the ruling, she was asked what could wind up being the next steps. She replied, “Let’s set a scheduling date and start with the 90 days” — the standard for refillings.

The SAG-AFTRA strike is in its second week, and it’s likely not ending any time soon. That gives plenty of time for Hollywood actors to share horror stories. Among their demands is better pay, especially when it comes to residuals, which have plummeted in the streaming era. Last week Mandy Moore revealed that she gets pathetically tiny residual checks for This is Us. She’s not the only one with similar stories.

As per Deadline, William Stanford Davis, who plays scene-stealing custodian Mr. Johnson on Abbott Elementary, took to Instagram to share a video in which he showed off a very small residuals check. How small? Three whole cents.

“I’ve been a member of the Screen Actor’s Guild for 32 years, and for those 32 years, my wages haven’t increased at all,” Davis said in the video. “I want to give you an example of what a residual cheque looks like. I showed this to my brother and he fell over laughing… it ain’t f*cking funny.”

David then held up the puny check.

“That’s a residual cheque,” he said, adding, “I’m not going to say who produced it, because I can’t tell you who these cheap motherf*ckers are. But anyway, I’m standing in solidarity with the writers, and we’re going to be on strike until we get what we need to make a living.”

As he noted, it’s not clear if it’s a check for Abbott Elementary, but he has decades of experience on the small and big screen.

Later in the video, Davis held up a slightly bigger check, this one for five cents.

“You see that? Can you believe that? That’s [five] cents. The postage, the paper, everything costs more than that,” he said. “That’s what they think of us as actors. This is why we’re on strike for better wages, for better residuals [and] for a piece of the subscription and to not give in to AI.”

Residuals refer to an ongoing stream of royalties from the reusing of a film or show, be it a rerun or re-airing on television or sales from home video. When the industry leaned more aggressively towards streaming, studios didn’t renegotiate contracts with guilds like the WGA and SAG-AFTRA, leading members to see a severe drop in their finances.

(Via Deadline)