Month: August 2023

Chris Christie’s 2023 presidential campaign has mostly revolved around attacking his old pal Donald Trump. Alas, Trump was MIA at the first GOP primary debate, perhaps partly because he was afraid of being yelled at by…Chris Christie. That didn’t mean he wouldn’t bring hell. At one point the former Jersey governor lost it on another candidate, who he clearly found instantly annoying.

That candidate was Vivek Ramaswamy, the Eminem-rapping businessman and apparent sometime 9/11 truther. It didn’t take long into the evening for Christie to lose his stuff about the guy.

“Hold on, I’ve had enough already tonight of a guy who sounds like ChatGPT,” Christie raged while Ramaswamy laughed.

Lest some on the left suddenly cheer him, Christie then compared him, unfavorably, to a young Barack Obama — which Ramawamy had done during his intro. “The last person in one of these debates who stood in the middle of the stage and said, ‘What’s a skinny guy with an odd last name doing up here?’ was Barack Obama, and I’m afraid we’re dealing with the same type of amateur.”

As the crowd cheered, Ramaswamy taunted Christie for giving him a big hug after he helped Jersey out after Hurricane Sandy in 2012.

Indeed, at the start of the show Ramaswamy described himself as a “skinny guy with a funny last name” — either a bald ripoff of Obama or an ill-advised homage.

Sometimes we see things happen that seem a little weird. Sometimes they go beyond weird and look suspicious, and then we are presented with the decision to do something about it or ignore it.

Mandi, a woman on TIkTok, found herself in a situation where she had to decide if she wanted to mind her own business or spill the beans when two and two started equaling four with her neighbors. In a video, she says she noticed her neighbor pulling a “side-by-side” into their backyard late at night. The situation seemed suspicious, so she checked her local Facebook page to see if anyone posted about something being stolen.

Her foray into detective work was short-lived because she quickly found a post from someone saying their ATV was stolen and they provided pictures. There was a small problem, though. The neighbors had covered the ATV they just pulled into their yard.

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Mandi was trying to keep a low profile until the side-by-side was recovered so as to not tip the neighbors off that she knew they had stolen property.

“I’ve been watching Facebook for like stolen things and look what I found,” Mandi says in the video, pointing to the picture of the missing ATV. “Someone stole a side-by-side very close to my house.”

Instead of keeping the information to herself, she messaged the owner on Facebook and let her know the side-by-side was in her neighbor’s backyard. In her next video update, she says that the police were in her backyard and things were intense.

@divinemandi

#greenscreen

Eventually, there was a standoff of sorts and they had to call in more officers to surround the house to arrest the man. Turned out he was wanted for other things as well, but at some point, it seemed unclear if Mandi should have tattled on her neighbor. While she’s not the one who called the police, it was her recognizing the suspicious activity that led to the arrest of her neighbor.

It can be difficult to know when you are doing the right thing in these situations. People in the comments expressed worry for her safety and were overwhelmingly positive about her helping to get her neighbor’s property back. Would you have stayed out of it, or done the same thing as this amateur detective?

Catch the intense resolution below:

@divinemandi

Update #3 please dont get me unalived but fkkkmk i needed to share 😂

Representation is something you don’t even think about if you’ve always had it, which can make the need for representation feel unnecessary to some. But kids look for themselves in their television shows, dolls and neighborhood, and seeing people who look like them or have other similarities is vital to their confidence and imagination.

Seeing themselves represented helps kids feel connected to the world around them, so many parents attempt to do whatever they can in order to provide their children with the representation they need. Mom Wendy Wuu took it upon herself to make sure her 5-year-old son saw a part of himself in his favorite doll, Woody, from “Toy Story.”

In a video uploaded to social media, you can see the mom molding something clear and malleable into Woody’s ear. Turns out this creative mom was using fingernail acrylic to mold the shape of the doll’s inner ear…well as much of an inner ear as a doll can have.

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Shortly after molding the inner ear, she double-checked her son’s hearing aids, then proceeded to mold the part that goes around the ear. The process is quite fascinating. She painted the hearing aids to match Woody’s outfit, complete with cow print and blue paint.

“I wanted my child to feel included,” says Wuu told USA Today. “We never see other children or people with hearing aids or cochlear implants in our community.”

The viral video has racked on over 10 million views on The Columbus Dispatch’s Facebook page, with commenters praising the mom’s determination and skill.

“What an amazing momma,” one person writes.

“This is the sweetest thing. Moms will do literally anything for their babies. I want to hug her,” another commenter says.

Watch Wuu create Woody’s hearing aids below:

Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston have starred in three movies together, “Just Go with It” (2011), “Murder Mystery” (2019) and “Murder Mystery 2” (2023), and their chemistry is undeniable. They probably work so well together on screen because they’ve been friends in real life since they were in their 20s.

Aniston revealed their closeness in an anecdote she shared in WSJ Magazine. “Aniston, who does not have children and has spoken openly about her struggles with fertility treatment, says Sandler and his wife [Jackie Sandler] send her flowers every Mother’s Day,” the profile’s author, Ellen Gamerman, writes.

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It’s a touching move for the Sandlers to reach out to Aniston on a day that must be hard for her. Last year, she opened up about her struggles to conceive through in vitro fertilization (IVF) with Allure.

IVF can be a very challenging process for a woman to go through. It involves invasive procedures and hormonal fluctuations and can be a real emotional rollercoaster. On top of that, Aniston was the subject of baby bump tabloid speculation for years and was often criticized for being “selfish” and choosing her career over motherhood.

— (@)

“I was trying to get pregnant. It was a challenging road for me, the baby-making road,” Aniston said about a time in her life a few years ago. “I was going through IVF, drinking Chinese tea, you name it. I was throwing everything at it. I would’ve given anything if someone had said to me, ‘Freeze your eggs. Do yourself a favor.’ You just don’t think it. So here I am today. The ship has sailed.”

Upworthy has covered a few stories about people who decided to live permanently on cruise ships because it’s cheaper than living on land or in a nursing home. These stories have connected with millions because they say a lot about the modern cost of living but are also aspirational.

Christine Kesteloo has become popular on TikTok with over 680,000 followers because she shares what living on a cruise ship is really like. Kesteloo is the wife of the ship’s Staff Chief Engineer, so she gets to live on the boat for free. She only has to pay for alcohol and soda, which she gets for half off.

“I live on a cruise ship for half the year with my husband, and it’s often as glamorous as it sounds,” she told Insider. “After all, I don’t cook, clean, make my bed, do laundry or pay for food.“

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Kesteloo’s life seems pretty stress-free. After all, she’s basically on a permanent vacation. However, even though she lives on a cruise ship as a “wife on board,” there are a few things she either can’t or shouldn’t do.

She shared these four things in a TikTok video with nearly 10 million views.

@dutchworld_americangirl

I go through four things I can, and cannot do it while living on the cruise ship with my husband #weliveonacruiseship #4things #alaskacruise #cruiseship #cruiseshiplife #cruise #alaska #caribbeancruise #cruiselife #livingstsea #getreadywithme

1. No gambling

Kesteloo says she cannot sit at a slot machine and “play my heart out until I win.” She believes it would “look a little weird if I, as the wife of the staff chief engineer, won a big jackpot.”

2. Can’t leave the ship with the guests

When the ship arrives at a destination, she can’t get off with the guests. She must wait about an hour and exit the vessel with the crew. When returning to the ship, she also has to be on time. “No, they will not wait for us,”
she says. And the same goes for her husband, if they “miss the ship, someone else will take over the role.”

3. Sit in a crowded pool

Although Kesteloo has access to the pool, gym, and all the ship’s amenities, she’s cautious not to interfere with the guests’ good time. She’ll exit the pool if it’s busy because “it’s just the right thing to do.”

4. Must have international traveler insurance

She must have insurance in case of a misfortune on the ship. But as a citizen of the Netherlands, they already have coverage and just have to pay a few extra dollars a month.

Some of the most popular commenters on the video were from women regretting that they married men who aren’t chief engineers on cruise ships or those who want to know where to find a single one.

“OK, can you explain how to marry a cruise ship engineer?” one female commentator wrote.

“How. in. the. H E double hockey sticks do I become the wife of a cruise ship engineer???? I don’t have to work AND cruise for free!” Cute_n_catchy added.

“Does he have any single friends with same job??? Asking for me.” Hannah LaCaze asked.

Earlier this summer, L’Rain participated in the Re:Set Concert Series with Idles, LCD Soundsystem, and Jamie xx. Around the same time, L’Rain released “New Year’s UnResolution,” the first material from Taja Cheek’s musical project since 2021.

“New Year’s UnResolution” was just an appetizer, as Cheek announced on Wednesday, August 23, that her third L’Rain album, I Killed Your Dog, will arrive on October 13. The news was accompanied by the single “Pet Rock” and its Studio Jojo-directed video.

“The song is based around an old story I’d been told about a woman who was riding the train but looked strange, and the reader eventually figures out that she’s dead, with glasses on, being propped up by the people that seem to have harmed her,” Cheek said in a statement. “As a lifelong collector of tchotchkes, the music video is based on a concept I came up with featuring miniatures.”

A press release describes I Killed Your Dog as “a crystallization of L’Rain’s tactile approach to songwriting” as well as “an implicit interrogation of the electric dreams and failures of early synthesizers, toying openly with rock music tropes, the lineage of folk as Black music in America, and Cheek’s own background playing in experimental guitar bands.”

Watch the “Pet Rock” video above, or check out the I Killed Your Dog artwork and tracklist as well as L’Rain’s upcoming North American tour dates below.

1. “Sincerity Commercial”
2. “Our Funeral”
3. “Pet Rock”
4. “I Hate My Best Friends”
5. “I Killed Your Dog”
6. “All The Days You Remember”
7. “5 to 8 Hours a Day (WWwaG)”
8. “Sometimes”
9. “r(EMOTE)”
10. “Uncertainty Principle”
11. “Oh Wow, A Bird!”
12. “Knead Bee”
13. “Monsoon Of Regret”
14. “Clumsy”
15. “What’s That Song?”
16. “New Year’s UnResolution”

10/20 — New York, NY @ Pioneer Works
10/25 — Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda’s
10/26 — Washington, DC @ Songbyrd
11/29 — Los Angeles, CA @ El Rey *
12/01 — Los Angeles, CA @ Zebulon
12/02 — San Francisco, CA @ Bottom of the Hill
12/05 — Portland, OR @ Polaris Hall
12/06 — Seattle, WA @ Madame Lou’s
12/07 — Vancouver, BC @ Fox Cabaret

*w/ Cate Le Bon and Mega Bog

I Killed Your Dog is out 10/13 via Mexican Summer. Find more information here.

Last December, SZA dropped her long-awaited SOS album, and she experienced unprecedented success from it well into 2023, enough that Uproxx included it on the list of “Best R&B Albums Of 2023 So Far.” In January, she dropped the “Kill Bill” video, and she embarked on her headlining North American tour throughout February and March. The chart-topper’s second North American leg is scheduled to kick off on September 20 in Miami, Florida, and just as she did earlier this year, her tour run will be preceded by a big-time drop.

On Wednesday, August 23, SZA confirmed that the video for “Snooze” is coming this Friday, August 25. This comes roughly two weeks after she posted two steamy Instagram videos billed as behind-the-scenes “Snooze” footage.

As of this writing, “Snooze” has charted for 36 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 — peaking at No. 10 — and 15 weeks on Billboard‘s Radio Songs chart with a No. 4 peak. The song also spent 36 weeks on the publication’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, peaking at No. 3.

Along with “Kill Bill,” SZA has also released a video for SOS tracks “Nobody Gets Me,” which made her “really f*cking sad,” and “Shirt,” a song that fans had wanted SZA to release for two-plus years. Lakeith Stanfield starred opposite SZA in the latter video.

In May, Anjimile announced The King, his forthcoming sophomore album, by releasing its title track. Then in June came “Father,” which Uproxx selected among “The Best Indie Music” from that week because of how powerfully the ballad acknowledges his parents supporting him while getting sober.

Anjimile’s The King rollout continued on Wednesday, August 23, with “Animal,” a potent protest against police brutality. The acoustic track was accompanied by an evocative video, directed by Robby Opperman, and an announcement that Anjimile will head out on tour later this year.

“‘Animal’ is one of the first protest songs I ever made,” Anjimile captioned an Instagram post. “I was pissed off when I wrote it and I’m pissed off now. F*ck police brutality. Link to video in bio + stream the tune wherever you listen to music. And we’re going on F*cking tour! See you in the UK/EU in November + east coast US in December :).”

The video begins with a candle burning in an otherwise pitch-black room. It cuts to an up-close shot of Anjimile’s face. He references George Floyd’s May 2020 murder, singing, “I lost my mind I couldn’t handle it / Burned my fingers on the candle lit / Madness manifest / Kneeling on my chest / I’ve seen the footage and the camera roll / If you treat me like an animal / I’ll be an animal.”

Per a press release, The King finds Anjimile as he “continues exploring what it means to be a Black trans person in America.” It adds, “Featuring the singles ‘The King,’ ‘Father,’ and ‘Animal,’ the brutally honest reflection of 2020’s deadly summer is less reminiscent of the pink cloud of early sobriety and more rooted in the reality of seeing brutality with clear eyes. Drawing from influences ranging from religion, Phillip Glass, and lived experiences, the album is a grand step forward for Anjimile.”

Watch the “Animal” video above, and check out Anjimile’s upcoming tour dates below.

09/09 — Raleigh, NC @ Hopscotch
09/28 — Montreal, CA @ POP Montreal
11/03-04 — Reykjavik, IS @ Iceland Airwaves
11/07 — Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso Zonzij
11/10 – Paris, FR @ Pitchfork Paris
11/11 — London, UK @ Pitchfork London
12/o1 — Winston-Salem, NC @ SECCA
12/02 — Washington, DC @ DC9
12/03 — Philadelphia, PA @ PhilaMOCA
12/05 — Brooklyn, NY @ Public Records
12/07 — Kingtson, NY @ Tubby’s
12/08 — Boston, MA @ ICA
12/10 — Toronto, ON @ The Drake
12/12 — Chicago, IL @ Schubas
12/13 — Lexington, KY @ The Burl

The King is out 9/8 via 4AD. Find more information here.

In June, Oneohtrix Point Never was announced as a headliner for Levitation, a festival scheduled for late October in Austin, Texas. The set will likely be filled with brand-new material.

On Wednesday, August 23, Daniel Lopatin announced the arrival of Again, his first album as Oneohtrix Point Never since 2020’s Magic Oneohtrix Point Never, which piqued the interest of Uproxx‘s Steven Hyden. The album will drop on September 29 via Warp Records. Lopatin shared the cover art and teased the LP with an endearingly self-deprecating trailer.

The 70-second trailer is shot man-on-the-street-style in New York City and captures a slew of strangers trying, and mostly failing, to pronounce Oneohtrix Point Never.

Again is billed as “a speculative autobiography,” as per Pitchfork. The official announcement also said that album “imagines what might have been, as the musician made his music through space and time. Which decisions foreclosed some realities? What might those other worlds have sounded like?”

Since releasing Magic Oneohtrix Point Never, Lopatin has served as an executive producer on The Weeknd’s January 2022 album, Dawn FM, and contributed music to the Disney+ series Star Wars: Visions Vol. 2. Lopatin and The Weeknd have frequently collaborated. The Weeknd recently proclaimed he doesn’t plan on doing another feature ever again, but perhaps he made an exception for Again.

Watch the trailer for Again above.

Again is out 9/29 via Warp Records. Find out more information here.

Dominic Fike was thinking on his feet when he stripped down to his underwear for an on-stage wardrobe change during his ongoing Don’t Stare At The Sun Tour. Such antics are to be expected from the artist who wrote “Think Fast,” a track from his Sunburn album that features Weezer’s Rivers Cuomo on guitar and backing vocals.

On Wednesday, Fike released the video for “Think Fast” video. In it, Fike is back home in his beloved Florida. He’s riding a lopsided boat, laying on a roof at sunset, peeling oranges, and hanging upside down from a moving vehicle as he sings, “Think fast, you only get one try / Sleep tight, I wanna get sunshine / Wake up, you know we got things to see.”

Throughout the slow-burning song, Fike tries to make sense of an elusive person in his life (“What’s worse, what stings, I saw her in / The garden with the snakes”) and reflects upon his conflicting upbringing (“I wrote rules the wrong ways, had blues and long days”).

At one point the video shifts to black-and-white, capturing Fike withstanding a wind storm before elevating above the clouds while sporting a tee that reads, “I KICKED THE HABIT.” The final scene finds Fike alone, strumming his guitar.

“Think Fast” follows “Mona Lisa,” which became Fike’s first-career solo entry on Billboard‘s Hot 100 chart this week (No. 98).

Fike has five remaining Don’t Stare At The Sun Tour dates before wrapping on August 30 at Iroquois Amphitheater in Louisville, Kentucky. He’ll next perform at Huntington Bank Pavilion At Northerly Island in Chicago on Thursday, August 24. See all of his upcoming dates here.

Watch the “Think Fast” video above.