Month: May 2024

The gap between House of the Dragon seasons 1 and 2 has felt endless (even if it’s only been less two years). But in the world of the show, hardly any time has passed. Steve Toussaint, Lord Corlys Velaryon, also known as the Sea Snake, revealed at CCXP Mexico when season two of the Game of Thrones prequel series will pick up after the events of the fiery season 1 finale.

“Okay, season 2 begins about 10 days after season 1 ends,” he said, according to Collider. “So for Corlys, he’s still coming to terms with the grief of losing his son, his brother, his daughter, and his heir, his grandson. So he is trying to deal with that, plus hold on [to] his relationship with his wife, so that’s kind of where he is. He’s in a very weakened and emotional state.”

So it’s been 10 days since (spoiler alert) Lucerys was chomped up by dragon Vhagar? Rhaenyra is probably chill about the whole thing by now. Speaking of that, actor Ewan Mitchell (Aemond Targaryen) said, “Aemond kick-started the Dance of the Dragons and drew first blood by killing Lucerys. He’s facing a choice, he can either own what he did, return to King’s Landing and say that he meant to kill Luc and become the most hated man in the realm. Or, he can admit what he did was a mistake and be at the mercy of Rhaenyra.”

House of the Dragon season 2, which pits Team Green against Team Black, premieres on HBO and Max on June 16.

(Via Collider)

In her new era, Megan Thee Stallion has been leaning into snake-inspired themes and imagery, like on the January single “Hiss.” Since then, fans have been waiting for new music… besides the GloRilla collab “Wanna Be” and the just-released “I Think I Love Her Freestyle.” As for official standalone singles, a new one is on the way, Meg announced today (May 7).

On social media, Megan announced that a new song called “Boa” is set for release soon, on May 10, this Friday. She also has some pretty sweet merch offerings for the single: Available for pre-order now via Meg’s webstore are six different editions of the CD single, each of which has its own PlayStation 2-inspired cover art and disc art.

Meg is so far delivering on the promise she made at the start of this month: On the 1st, she teased, “Hotties it’s officially MEGAN MAY [snake emoji] Get ready [flame emoji].”

Beyond that, other “Megan May” festivities include the Hot Girl Summer Tour. She announced the run back in March and it’s set to kick off on May 14 in Minneapolis. GloRilla is set to join on a number of dates, which will run through to the end of July.

Walton Goggins is currently having the time of his life and posting shirtless photos while over in Thailand and losing himself in Mike White’s The White Lotus. He’s also currently the subject of his own revelations that he and Timothy Olyphant were not always tight on the Justified set. However, Goggins has taken some time in recent weeks to appear at for-your-consideration-style events, including a Deadline-hosted panel, where he discussed the physical transformation involved with being The Ghoul in Amazon’s Fallout series.

Goggins has more of that coming, given that the show was renewed for a second season, but he admitted that the process was “extremely anxiety provoking” until he got used to “sweat-inducing facial prosthesis designed to make him look almost skeletal.” The process (which included retainers that made it difficult to speak), as it turned out, was originally a five-hour event, but prosthetics designer Vincent Van Dyke was able to trim that time town to only two hours. Amazon has provided a behind-the-scenes look at Walton’s time in the makeup chair, and it sure does not look like a fun time.

Additionally, Goggins previously discussed (during an Indiewire interview) how grueling the shoot was, to a point where he thought, “Man, you’re getting too old for this shit.” He further elaborated:

“It’s exhausting to talk. It’s hot. … It was physically exhausting and I didn’t realize until we got everything on. The first day just so happened to coincide with a day in New York where the heat index was like 106. I didn’t have a cooling suit because we didn’t even think about it. It was not even a part of the process. And I don’t complain. I don’t really ask for much, except time in front of the camera. So there was a point pretty early in the day where I sat down and I could feel my body just– not shutting down, but getting very heavy.”

Well, Walton Goggins is certainly receiving more of what he wants — “time in front of the camera” — with his career hitting new heights with each passing TV gig. The Age Of Goggins is a wonderful place to be.

Fallout‘s first season is streaming on Amazon.

(Via Deadline & Indiewire)

Nintendo has always been a company that walks to the beat of their own drum. While their competitors Sony and Microsoft are trying to offer gamers the most powerful consoles using the latest technology, Nintendo is usually off doing their own thing. Sometimes this leads to massive successes like the Wii and Switch. It can also cause a dramatic failure like the Wii U. They take risks and it’s part of what makes them so fascinating.

Early Tuesday morning, or late Tuesday afternoon if you’re in Japan, Nintendo once again acted like the oddball they are. In a rather dull and unexciting tweet, Nintendo confirmed that sometime within this fiscal year they will be announcing the long rumored successor to the Switch. No fanfare. No excitement. Just a simple press release.

This is exciting news! Fans have long been clamoring for a new Nintendo console because, while Nintendo can get by with a console that is not as powerful as its competitors, it does eventually make playing newer games frustrating. The Switch was already considered lesser hardware to the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, and both those two consoles have been discontinued.

While a Sony or Microsoft would probably save this kind of announcement for a Summer Games Fest or maybe the final big reveal during a showcase event. Nintendo opted to just do a very dull press release. It’s once again a reminder that they are going to walk to the beat of their own drum and do things at their own pace. Let’s just hope this console is another Switch and not another Wii U.

Jenna Ortega is gearing up to return as our little goth friend Wednesday, but there are also some big changes afoot. Ortega is now a producer on the series, so we can expect her to contribute even more to Wednesday’s character development and storylines. After season one, Ortega had mentioned that she would want a darker season two, specifically without a love interest.

For season two of Wednesday, our titular weirdo will have some new faces joining her, but that also means that some people will not be returning, at least not to their full capacity. Deadline confirmed that Percy Hynes White, Jamie McShane and Naomi J Ogawa will not return as series regulars.

White portrayed Xavier Thorpe in season one of the supernatural series, while Ogawa portrayed Yoko Tanaka. While he won’t be returning as a regular, McShane is slated to reprise his Sheriff Donovan Galpin role as a guest star.

As for the newbies, Netflix has called up the legendary Steve Buscemi to join the main cast as Nevermore’s newest principal, along with Billie Piper, Evie Templeton, Owen Painter and Noah Taylor. Christopher Lloyd, who played Uncle Fester in 1991’s The Addams Family has also signed on for the season. Guest stars for this season also include Joanna Lumley, Thandiwe Newton, Frances O’Connor, Haley Joel Osment, and Heather Matarazzo.

While we don’t have a release date quite yet, we can expect the series to hit the streamer sometime in 2025. Check out the cast announcement below:

(Via Deadline)

Speech-language pathologist Christina Hunger and her dog Stella were the first to experiment with talking buttons in 2019. Since then there has been a surge of online content showing other pet parents using similar kits to communicate with their own pups.

The most fascinating aspect of this phenomenon is the question of whether or not canines are able to understand full-blown complicated sentences beyond “treat” and “outside.”

While the overall jury is still out on that, scientifically speaking, dogs like Ripley seem to make an incredibly compelling case for believing the hype.

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The Australian Shepherd has an entire TikTok account documenting his impressive talk button journey, but a video posted on March 28, 2024, feels next-level.

In the clip, Ripley presses the “smell” button as his parents eat lunch. When that doesn’t get their attention, he begins to bark.

“What do you smell?” a voice finally asks. To which Ripley replies “outside,” followed by “gardens.”

Confused, someone asks, “It smells like the gardens outside?”

Ripley’s parents had apparently just started a load of laundry before making lunch, and the detergent had been spilling all over the floor from the washing machine. Ripley had been smelling the detergent, which was reminiscent of the gardens outside.

Unfortunately, they didn’t put two and two together until after they went back to the laundry room. Hence the moral of the story: “You should always listen to your dog.”

@letsgoripley He’s so freakin’ smart! #Talkingdog #letsgoripley #ripleytalks #fluentpet #australianshepherd #dogs ♬ original sound – Ripley the Australian Shepherd

Ripley’s amazing feat prompted lots of praise from viewers.

“All of the treats,” one person wrote.

Another added, “I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again, he is brilliant.”

Others were quick to compliment the breed. And rightfully so, as Australian Shepherds are known for their remarkable intelligence, as well as their strong drive and exuberance, according to the American Kennel Club. They thrive when they have a job, and the way Ripley jumped into action is a pretty great example of this characteristic.

So, while we might not have definite evidence for the efficiency of talk buttons, one thing remains abundantly clear—our dogs are trying to communicate with us in whatever way they can. All we need to do is listen.

Check out even more of Ripley’s talk button shenanigans on TikTok.

Taking a child to an amusement park can be a lot of fun—and also a lot of money, time and energy that a parent might not have. Just looking at the cost of theme park tickets these days is enough to make a parent rethink such an outing, especially with young children who may only get a couple of hours of enjoyment out of it before exhausting themselves (or their caretakers). There are also other obstacles, from distance to mobility to sensory issues, that might make a trip to the thrill rides not possible or ideal.

But that doesn’t mean that parents can’t give young kids a taste of a wild roller coaster ride in other ways. In fact, as one mom demonstrates, it’s fairly simple to create a thrilling simulation right in the comfort of your own home.

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A video of a woman using a couple of simple household props and a POV video to create a fun experience for her little girl has people praising her joyful ingenuity—as well as her muscle endurance.

The video shared by Daiana Valadares on TikTok shows her sitting on the end of a bed, setting her young daughter on an upside down chair on her lap with a cushion in the bottom of the seat. The chair legs stick up from her lap, and the little girl grabs hold of the front legs like handle bars. Once she’s situated, Valadares turns on a video showing a roller coaster ride from a first-person point-of-view.

Once the “ride” begins, Valadares uses the back two chair legs and her own body to create vibration and steer along with with the video, giving her daughter the sensation of actually riding the coaster. Valadares is exceptionally good at creating the simulation, and they both seem like they’re having an absolute blast.

Watch:

@daianavaladares

Criando memórias afetivas. Amo nós duas juntas! #crianca #diversaotiktok #diversao #memoriasafetivas #menina #meninaemaistranquila #vaiprofy

“Not only is the idea amazing, the execution of it is equally brilliant. This is one of the cleverest ways to have fun with your kids I’ve ever seen,” wrote one commenter on Reddit.

“I adore that she did the vibrations too lol. That’s so on point,” wrote another.

“I was terrified of rollercoasters when I was little (love them now). I wonder if this would have desensitized me and let me enjoy them sooner. Regardless, super idea by mom!” shared another.

“I used to do this with my kids. We would watch the Olympics and then they’d get in a laundry basket for the ‘bobsled run’. Kids are so fun!” added another.

As the video shows, it doesn’t take a lot of money to make fun memories for kids—just a few household props and some creativity (and maybe some leg strength). Some people pointed out that you can do something similar with a laundry basket instead of a chair, and while there is a game on Steam called Planet Coaster for the simulation, there are free POV roller coaster videos on YouTube you can use as well.

Here’s to parents figuring out fun, inventive ways to build memories with their children without breaking the bank. You can follow Daiana Valadares on TikTok.

Carl Sagan was one of the greatest scientific communicators of his generation because he had a knack for putting things into perspective. Whether explaining the vastness of the universe through the “pale blue dot” or how we are all made of star-stuff, Sagan was able to stoke feelings of wonder in everyday phenomena that we sometimes take for granted.

On episode 11 of his groundbreaking PBS show “Cosmos” in 1980, Sagan perused a library and explained why books and the libraries they call home are pure magic.

“What an astonishing thing a book is. It’s a flat object made from a tree with flexible parts on which are imprinted lots of funny dark squiggles. But one glance at it and you’re inside the mind of another person, maybe somebody dead for thousands of years,” Sagan explained.

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“Across the millennia, an author is speaking clearly and silently inside your head, directly to you,” Sagan continued. “Writing is perhaps the greatest of human inventions, binding together people who never knew each other, citizens of distant epochs. Books break the shackles of time. A book is proof that humans are capable of working magic.”

Sagan goes on to ponder how human development would be stunted if humans only shared information by word of mouth. Great stories told by people in the past would slowly change over time until they eventually lost all meaning.

“A library connects us with the insights and knowledge of the greatest minds and the best teachers drawn from the whole planet and from all our history,” Sagan continues. “To instruct us without tiring and to inspire us to make our own contributions to the collective knowledge of the human species.”

“Libraries in ancient Egypt bore these words on their walls: ‘Nourishment for the soul’ and that’s still a pretty fair assessment of what libraries provide,” Sagan concluded the segment.

The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival gets a lot of flack for booking artists not exclusively categorized as “jazz,” and this year, there were plenty of online trolls and critics pointing out the alleged disparity with particular regard to the headliners. Among those being called out who played the second weekend, May 2-5: The Rolling Stones on Thursday; Foo Fighters, Hozier, and Steel Pulse on Friday; and Neil Young, Greta Van Fleet, and Queen Latifah on Saturday. Sunday was an exception, as headliners Trombone Shorty, Bonnie Raitt, and Earth, Wind & Fire all cross over into typical jazz territory on occasion (other perhaps atypical examples who performed the first weekend, April 25-28, included Vampire Weekend, Juvenile, Heart, The Killers, and The Beach Boys).

I’d surmise that most if not all of these naysayers have never actually attended the 53-years-running festival. If they had, or done sufficient analysis, it’s more likely they’d realize the folly of their overgeneralized assumptions.

It’s not wrong, however, to point out that most closing acts weren’t bread-and-butter jazz, but there are a few points in defense of the overall fest’s status worth recognizing. First, festival culture in general would ostensibly be on the brink of extinction if it hadn’t evolved to incorporate more contemporary artists seeing as the bulk of fans fueling ticket sales are largely younger demographics. The trend is evident across the board with one chief example being Bonnaroo, which for years closed out with legacy acts like Elton John, Tom Petty, and Billy Joel, but scores of young fans were taking off early, so, with some exceptions, there were largely bigger pop acts brought on to wrap up the 4-day fest like The Weeknd, The Killers, Paramore, and Foo Fighters.

Yet, cynics are forgetting one other important element highlighted in the New Orleans fest’s moniker: “heritage.” And that aspect — the idea that the music of any active artist, regardless of genre category, owes oodles to roots musicians, many of whom hail sectors (blues, R&B, classic rock, you name it) that were heavily influenced by jazz sentimentalities. The Rolling Stones — whose performance marked a historic moment in the event’s history, in large part because they’ve been Jazz Fest’s white whale headliner for several years running — gave a pointed nod by bringing out Crescent City jazz queen Irma Thomas to perform “Time Is On My Side.” It was an especially resplendent moment for the fact those both Thomas and The Stones recorded versions of the song in 1964. The Foo Fighters and Neil Young likewise could never deny their legacy owing itself to jazz forbears, evident during their sets simply by virtue of delving into extended, sometimes freeform jams. Foos frontman Dave Grohl offered a specific note: “The best week of my life was spent here with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band,” a reference to 2014 sessions that led to the song “In The Clear,” featuring the legendary group on eighth studio album Sonic Highways.

That said, it isn’t a stretch to note that jazz, a key aspect of general music history and a New Orleans tradition through and through, is an integral part of the glue that ties all the fest’s artists together. A more obvious crossover example from Saturday’s lineup was Rhiannon Giddens, who declared that she and her band were on a mission to guide the audience on a journey through American music, “because all the things come together in the American sound … [starting with] Louisiana.” She proceeded to crush it with a rendition of traditional creole song “Dimanche après-midi,” featuring French vocals and furious fiddle.

As a first-time Jazz Fest attendee, it was a revelation to me that — within the bulk of the lineup leading up to headliners, which played out across 14 stages (plus additional popups) — the reigning sound was majority artist from all eras who are jazz-based. How could anyone deny that notion, especially considering sublime performances from contemporary performers Allison Russell and Samara Joy (who won the Best New Artist and Best Jazz Vocal Album accolades at this year’s Grammy Awards for latest album Linger Awhile)? And while Queen Latifah’s Saturday performance leaned heavily on her classic hip-hop catalogue, she made her point by opening the set with sultry crooner “When You’re Good To Mama,” pulled from the 2002 Chicago soundtrack. Then there was a full solo set from the Queen of New Orleans Jazz, Irma Thomas, on Sunday, and you absolutely can’t make an argument against that one.

Jazz Fest’s staggering commitment to music heritage on a global scale was also evident in their Cultural Exchange program, which this year highlighted artists from Colombia. Standouts among the performances included the highly influential Grupo Niche, a significant feature on the main stage from Cimarrón and a wildly colorful and exuberant show from percussion-based Matachindé in the exchange tent itself. Also impossible to ignore within the context of legacy — at this festival in particular — was the joyful tribute to the late Jimmy Buffet, led by his Coral Reefer Band and featuring guests such as Irma Thomas, Sonny Landreth, Trombone Shorty, and Buffet’s oldest daughter, Savannah (who joined for crowd favorite “Fins”). Buffet and his band played Jazz Fest about a dozen times over the years, and in that same vein, other nods to the fest’s longstanding traditions included Bonnie Raitt (who made a similar number of appearances over the decades in some form or another) and Leo Nocentelli of The Meters (who perhaps has more features at the fest than most artists save for the Neville Brothers).

As a whole, the festival celebrates cultural heritage in ways that stretch far beyond music: visual arts, craftsmanship (woodworking, blacksmithing, etc), even circus performances. And the food … WOW. Y’all, at least half the experience of Jazz Fest is indulging in the incredible variety of cuisine, a mouth-watering array of local flavors infused with ingredients from virtually every culture imaginable. Go for the music, stay for the food.

So, if you’re one of those hopping on Reddit boards and taking issue with the 8-day event eschewing the supposed theme of its name, take careful consideration. The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival was and still is — even in the modernized landscape of 2024 festivals — an homage to all the intertwined threads of musical culture, which inevitably connect to jazz. It’s a home for fans of all stripes: young, old, funky and outlandish, rockers, swing, funk and hip-hop aficionados, diehard hippies, historians and world travelers, to name a few. Prior to my firsthand experience, I didn’t fully understand the extent of Jazz Fest’s inclusivity, both musically and socially, but by the end, there was no doubt that the community welcomes anyone with an open mind and a love for live music. I implore everyone: before you hand down your final judgment, make the pilgrimage, experience the magic, and find out for yourself.

Check out an exclusive photo gallery from the 2024 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival below.

Foo Fighters

Hozier

Queen Latifah

Bonerama

Matachinde

Atmosphere

Galactic

Allison Russell

Hotboy Ronald

Big Chief Bird And The Young Hunters

Cimarron

Leo Nocentelli

Cowboy Mouth

Samara Joy

Rhiannon Giddens

Neil Young And Crazy Horse

Irma Thomas

Grupo Niche

Jimmy Buffet Tribute

Earth Wind And Fire

The Wallflowers

They say you shouldn’t throw stones if you live in a glass house, and according to some rap fans on Twitter (mainly fans of Drake, probably), Metro Boomin should have done some remodeling before sparking the whole tiff with Drake that eventually drew in ASAP Rocky, Kendrick Lamar, Rick Ross, and The Weeknd.

Over on Twitter (which I am never calling “X,” thank you very much), #MetroGroomin is trending after fans resurfaced some (very) old tweets from Metro in which he “jokes” about with underage fans. In one, he writes, “I’m tryna tell #oomfs [one of my followers] that ‘age ain’t nothin but a number’ lol.” (In 2011, Metro was 18 years old.)

Metro was the catalyst for the so-called “rap civil war” that exploded over the past month. After rumors circulated online of discord between Drake and the hit making producer late last year, the simmering rivalry boiled over with the release of Metro and Future’s joint album We Don’t Trust You. On the album track “Like That,” Kendrick Lamar unloaded an open invitation on Drake and J. Cole, but things quickly spiraled as other rappers got involved, J. Cole dipped out, and Drake and Kendrick engaged in an increasingly nasty back-and-forth that included accusations of abuse.