The second chapter of the renewed rivalry between the Chicago Sky and Indiana Fever took place on Saturday afternoon in Indianapolis, with CBS picking up the showdown between rookie sensations Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese. The last time the two teams met, the Fever got the win in a chippy contest that became the talk of the sports world, particularly a Flagrant foul by Chennedy Charter on a hip check of Caitlin Clark as she waited for an inbounds pass.
As has often been the case with things involving Clark, the conversation about the foul moved far beyond normal basketball talk and became a much bigger deal than it needed to be. So, when the two teams met again on Sunday, there were plenty of people tuned in to see the star rookie matchup between Clark and Reese (and Kamilla Cardoso), but also folks looking to see if there’d be any more extracurriculars. The Sky moved Carter into the starting lineup to get her point of attack defense on Clark, but the two had clearly moved past the initial incident.
The game moved through the first half without incident in a highly entertaining game that saw the Fever again holding a narrow advantage, but late in the third quarter the two rookie stars came together as Reese went for a block on a Clark drive, but missed the ball and caught the top pick across the side of the head.
Reese was unsurprisingly assessed a Flagrant 1 after a quick review, as that’s just the standard penalty for catching a player in the head. It was clearly not an intentional shot, as she simply missed the ball as Clark rose up for the layup, which is why there wasn’t a consideration of a Flagrant 2. Hopefully everyone can handle what is clearly just a basketball play in a much more normal manner than the last time we had a Flagrant involving Clark.
“Generation X” got its name in the early ’90s from an article turned book by Canadian writer Douglas Coupland. And ever since, they’ve been fighting or embracing labels like “slacker” and “cynic.” That is, until Millennials came of age and all that “you kids today” energy from older generations started to get heaped on them. Slowly, Gen X found they were no longer being called slackers… they weren’t even being mentioned at all. And that suits them just fine.
Here are 17 memes that will resonate with just about anyone born between 1965 and 1980.
Gen X basically invented “Whatever.”
SOURCE: TWITTER
Until recently, Generation X has been sitting back and watching as Millennials and Boomers eat each other with an amused, non-confrontational attitude. But recently, Millennials and Gen Z became aware of their presence, and dubbed them “The Karen generation.”
They seem to be embracing the Karen thing.
While I”m pretty sure the “Karen” thing is not complimentary — as BuzzFeed puts it, it’s meant to communicate someone who is “the middle-aged white mom who is always asking for the manager and wondering why kids are so obsessed with their identities,” lots of people landed on a different Karen to represent the generation: the martini-guzzling, wise-cracking Karen Walker.
Get it right!
Well [expletive] me gently with a chainsaw, she’s right. The 1980s cult classic starring Winona Ryder and Shannen Doherty really is the Mean Girls of the ’80s and a much better term than Karen
The disdain is mutual…
Most of my Gen X friends have Gen Z kids and they are intergenerationally very chill with each other. However, Gen X is the generation most likely to have Boomer parents and younger millennial kids, and this meme seems to be resonating a bunch with Xers of a certain age.
A lot of Xers are enjoying the “OK boomer” squabble.
The media tends to ignore Generation X as a whole — as a few tweets coming up demonstrate — and this pleases Gen X just fine. After all, they’re used to it. They were latchkey kids whose parents both worked long hours, so they’re used to being somewhat neglected.
A whole mood.
Gen X: “Look, don’t pull us into this. You’ll make me spill my beer.”
Gen X: Get used to it.
Perhaps Gen X’s blasé attitude to the generation wars has something to do with being called “Slackers” for a full decade.
Pass the popcorn.
Aside from this whole “Karen generation” blip, Gen X continues to be largely overlooked, and that fact — as well as their silent delight in it — is possibly one of the most Generation X things to happen to the class of 1965 to 1980.
Pay no attention to the man behind the venetian blinds.
Back in the ’90s, Gen X bore the same kind of criticism Boomers tend to heap on Millennials and Gen Z now. It’s not necessarily that they want to watch a cage match. It’s just they’re so relieved it’s someone else being called slackers and downers for a change.
See?
Although this chart doesn’t list the generation names, the approximate age ranges are all there… except for a big gap between the ages of 34 and 54 where apparently no humans were born? Poor Gen X (and some elder Millennials) apparently don’t have political beliefs worth examining.
Don’t you forget about me…
If Millennials are the “burnout generation,” I guess Gen X is truly the invisible generation. I’m starting to feel inspired to write a science fiction novel where everyone born from 1966 to 1980 inhabits a totally different dimension.
There are perks to being invisible…
Being overlooked can be an advantage when you just want to sit in the corner and be immature. Gen X spent all of the 90s being told they were immature slackers, and in their 40s, a lot of them are really leaning into that description, because what does it matter?
This GIF of Janeane Garofolo mocking her classmates at the high school reunion is basically a whole Gen X mood and definitely captures how a lot of this generation caught in the middle feels about the “OK boomer” wars.
Party on.
Before Brené Brown was telling us all how to dare greatly, Gen X got their inspirational advice from a different kind of TED and his pal Bill, who taught us all how important it is to learn from history and be excellent to each other.
Too late and yet too early.
Romance — or getting lucky — was never easy for Generation X. They were the generation most impacted by the AIDS epidemic when it comes to anxiety about casual sex. Whereas Boomers had the free love of the late ’60s, Gen X was about safe sex, which usually meant less sex. And even when having safe casual sex, singles in the ’90s had to meet people the old-fashioned way or, if they did meet online, they felt shame over it. Now online dating is the norm.
When Gen X replaces the Boomers.
This is probably an optimistic view — because the truth is there are “Boomers” in every generation, and many of them tend to find their way into powerful positions. Let’s call this a best case scenario, though.
The Nihilism Generation
There is no generation more over it than Gen X. They are ready for the apocalypse, but don’t expect them to, like, help or anything!
Netflix’s Cobra Kai is a rare example in how to reboot a franchise in the most crowd-pleasing way possible. Showrunners Jon Hurwitz, Josh Heald, Hayden Schlossberg succeeded in part because they are avid fans of The Karate Kid films and wanted to honor the ultimate legacy of Miyagi-do, and that devotion shows.
Back in 2018, the series launched on YouTube Red before moving to Netflix with a third season that was infuriatingly good and grew the show’s audience exponentially. Fast forward a few more years, and the final season is waiting in the wings to be engulfed, albeit in three parts with the first five episodes arriving in a few weeks as part of fifteen episodes to give the beloved series a proper conclusion. The finale will pave the way for the next movie with Ralph Macchio’s Daniel LaRusso and a certain sensei from the past.
Before we talk about where the story might go, it’s worth noting that Jon Hurwitz has addressed the three-part plan for the final season. In response to a viewer’s remark that he’d like to watch the full season at once but doesn’t want to run into spoilers while waiting to do so, Hurwitz responded with advice “to stop thinking of Season 6 as one final season and instead view it as 3 distinct mini seasons. Each batch was written knowing the release plan, so the experience was designed to be enjoyed in 5 episode chunks. Waiting for all 15 episodes to come out will not enhance your viewing experience.”
Now, let’s move on to what we can expect to happen next:
Plot
Netflix
Before we get to the official Netflix synopsis, some input from the stars of the show provides some insight, and back before the sixth season received an official renewal, Ralph Macchio talked to UPROXX and dropped a few hints of where he thought the series might go:
“They’ve set up the international element of it, they’ve set up the Master Kim in Korea. They set up Kreese, and they also set up that everything’s going back to normal and they’ve finally succeeded. But in a soap opera, as Cobra Kai is a karate soap opera, when one door closes, there’s always more that will open. There’s certainly room for that, and bringing it in for a proper landing whenever that is.”
Whereas Jacob Bertrand, who portrays Eli “Hawk” Moskowitz, told us about his “dream” scenario:
“This is my dream, that I somehow am linked up with Kreese, fresh out of prison. We start some illegal ring of some sort, and I go back to the bad side. I’m kidding, but I think it would be so cool if we got a Season 6, and we actually got to go to some crazy world tournament. And actually go to Brazil or something and not like it have it be, ‘Oh we’re in Brazil! But it’s really just a basement studio in Atlanta.’”
That Hawk/Kreese team-up probably won’t happen, as fun as it sounds to witness. However, Netflix revealed in stills that not only does Hawk ^^^ have his mohawk back, but Kreese did in fact return to the dojo after leaving prison:
Netflix
Will Terry Silver return? This doesn’t seem likely, and Thomas Ian Griffith merely smiled when we tried to coax an answer out of him, but he did make mention of the “ultimate full circle” of Terry’s fifth-season finale fight with Daniel, which suggests that he’ll be sitting this season out behind bars.
Netflix has promised to deliver “the biggest season, the baddest season, the final season,” and Hurwitz has further teased that “Season 6 expands the Karate Kid/Cobra Kai universe more than the first 5 seasons combined. The world building has been truly exhilarating.”
What else shall happen? Tori and Samantha need to become best friends and kick ass together while opening their own dojo, but perhaps that’s my own dream for the future. In actuality, Johnny will get another shot at fatherhood, and it looks like Kenny is still in his bully era.
NetflixNetflix
Netflix has been generous in revealing these photos, but they are keeping most plot details close to their sleeve with only this description:
Picking up with Cobra Kai eliminated from the Valley, our senseis and students must decide if and how they will compete in the Sekai Taikai – the world championships of karate.
Cast
Ralph Macchio and William Zabka make this magic possible as Daniel LaRusso and Johnny Lawrence, respectively. Yuji Okumoto will be back with his more lovable version of Chozen than the movie antagonist of yesteryear. There’s been zero confirmation that Thomas Ian Griffith will be back Terry Silver, but Martin Kove’s presence shall be enjoyed as John Kreese.
The younger cast members volley this show into the stratosphere, so thank goodness that we will see Xolo Maridueña as Miguel, Mary Mouser as Samantha, Jacob Bertrand as Eli/Hawk, Peyton List as Tori, Tanner Buchanan as Robby, Gianni DeCenzo as Demetri, Dallas Dupree Young as Kenny, and Griffin Santopietro as Anthony.
Will Paul Walter Houser make a final appearance as Stingray? We hope, but Netflix hasn’t given us a peek at him in the dojo again. And who will be watching everything happen and judging the karate-obsessed adults silently? Courtney Henggeler as Amanda with Vanessa Rubio as Carmen, of course.
Release Date
The final season will arrive in three separate part with the first coming on July 18. The second will follow on November 28 (Thanksgiving Day), and the third has been earmarked for a nebulous date in 2025. Additionally, the next The Karate Kid movie was pushed back to May 30, 2025, presumably so that the series could lead into the next phase.
Trailer
A full trailer should be arriving any day, but for now, here’s the official date announcement video.
For every three “normal” Nic Cage movies (such as Renfield or The Croods) there is a curveball flick like (such as Mandy or Pig) that not only shows the actor’s impressive genre range, but allows him to have a classic Nic Cage blow up that has become so integral to modern American cinema.
Cage has a couple upcoming thrillers on the docket, but there is one that is shaping up to be a new horror classic. Importantly, Longlegs is different from the spider horror movie Sting that hit theaters earlier this year. Instead, it focuses on a brutal serial killer with ties to the occult. That spider is looking really friendly right about now.
Longlegs is the upcoming movie from actor/director Oz Perkins, who gained notoriety for writing and directing the 2016 Netflix supernatural thriller I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House. He’s also the guy who got slapped by Elle Woods, but it was for good reason.
The movie takes inspiration from other classic serial killer stories, and early reactions are urging viewers to “say your prayers” so that’s what you’re in for this summer, should you choose to see Longlegs. Here’s everything you need to know.
Plot
Not much is known about the movie other than the obvious: you don’t want to encounter Longlegs, who is only shown briefly in the cryptic trailer. Neon has been promoting the movie by firing off a series of disturbing killings:
The Horn family. Former family of 4. Mother got it worst. Father said she needed it most. No signs of forced entry. November 14, 1992. pic.twitter.com/YRbovLlmEG
The film follows FBI Agent Lee Harker, who is tasked with tracking down the elusive serial killer. Through the course of the investigation, she learns that she might have her own personal connection with the killer, who is using the occult and some Zodiac Killer-style messages to lure his victims.
“So it’s Silence Of The Lambs but it’s also kind of Zodiac, it’s sort of Seven.” Perkins told GamesRadar earlier this month, revealing inspiration for the film. “There’s kind of a pattern, a cipher, the sort of things you recognize. I’ll say the word Manson early on in the movie, do you know what I mean? You make it fair. But then you do your truth on the other side.”
Cast
Cage leads the cast as Longlegs, a gruesome serial killer who is being hunted by the FBI. It Follows‘ Maika Monroe stars as FBI agent Lee Harker, who has been assigned to the Longlegs case. Kiernan Shipka, who worked with Perkins on The Blackcoat’s Daughter, stars as the Longlegs’ only known survivor, Carrie Anne. Blair Underwood, Dakota Daulby, Lisa Chandler and Erin Boyes also star.
While Cage is no stranger to over-prepping for movies, the director said that he completely transformed himself for the role. “By the time he gets to the set he’s unrecognizable,” Perkins revealed earlier this year. “He doesn’t sound like himself, he doesn’t walk like himself. So you have this element, like wind or fire, but it’s Nicolas Cage as your character.”
Release Date
The movie hits theaters on July 12th, 2024.
Trailer
Check out the trailer below. Be warned: it’s not for lighthearted Cage fans. That’s what The Croods is for.
According to TMZ, with the support of the Key to the City of New York committee, Mayor Adams reportedly ordered Diddy to return his honor.
The outlet claims to have obtained a copy of the two letters sent to Diddy’s bi-coastal (New York and Los Angeles) offices with Mayor Adams’ demands, which were supposedly sent out on June 4. By June 10, the Key was allegedly returned.
Read the full letter below.
Like many people, I was deeply disturbed by recent video footage of Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs assaulting his then partner.
I strongly condemn these actions and stand in solidarity with all survivors of domestic and gender-based violence. Our city has worked tirelessly to make sure survivors are heard and seen by our administration. The Key to the City of New York is presented to individuals whose service to the public and the common good rises to the highest level of achievements, and who act as a model for fellow and future New Yorkers.
After internal deliberations, the Key to the City of New York committee recommended nullifying and rescinding Mr. Combs’ key. I have accepted their recommendation, and am requesting that Mr. Combs immediately return his Key to the City to New York City Hall, Office of the Mayor.
Diddy has not addressed the matter. However, he has shared a statement regarding the clip (view here).
Prime Video‘s Fallout is one of the biggest streaming success stories of 2024. Based on the video game franchise of the same name, the Ella Purnell- and Walton Goggins-starring series brought in 65 million viewers during its first 16 days of availability. That made it the second most-watched series ever on the streaming service.
Like a Dragon: Yakuza is a six-episode action-crime series inspired by the Yakuza series of Sega games, including 2020’s Yakuza: Like a Dragon (the slightly different title isn’t at all confusing!) and this year’s acclaimed Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth. Here’s everything else you need to know about the show, including the plot, cast, and when it’s coming out.
Plot
Set in 1995 and 2005, Like a Dragon: Yakuza is about Kazuma Kiryu, “a fearsome and peerless Yakuza warrior with a strong sense of justice, duty, and humanity,” according to Variety. It appears the show will be at least partially based on the first game, 2005’s Yakuza, which follows Kazuma and his lifelong friends after he’s released from serving 10 years in prison.
Prime Video teased that Like a Dragon: Yakuza “showcases modern Japan and the dramatic stories of these intense characters, such as the legendary Kazuma Kiryu, that games in the past have not been able to explore.” The show is directed by Take Masaharu and Takimoto Kengo, with a screenplay and story from Sean Crouch and Yugo Nakamura, and a Japanese screenplay by Yoshida Yasuhiro and Yamada Kana.
“I have poured out my heart, soul, and the experience that I have garnered over 35 years into Like a Dragon: Yakuza,” said Masaharu in a statement. Executive producer and Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio (which develops the games) head Yokoyama Masayoshi added, “Since the day I first put pen to paper on the original Yakuza script, I’ve never once thought about revisiting any of my work on the series… However, if I were ever sent to the past through some kind of cosmic joke, this is the experience I’d want to create. If I had to go through the wringer anyhow, I’d want to make the most engaging versions of Kamurochō and Kazuma Kiryu I could.”
And hey, if it helps Amazon sell some extra copies of the Yakuza Remastered Collection, Prime Video would probably be cool with that.
Cast
The only casting information that’s been announced so far is Takeuchi Ryoma (Kamen Rider Drive) as Kiryu Kazuma.
Release Date
The first three episodes of Like a Dragon: Yakuza drop on Prime Video on Friday, October 25, followed by three more episodes on the following Friday, November 1.
Trailer
There’s no trailer for Like a Dragon: Yakuza, but there is a trailer for Yakuza: Like a Dragon. You’ll have to make do with that for now.
Two years ago, Roderick Coffman II launched the YouTube channel Bridging The Gap with his dad, Roderick Coffman Sr., with a simple goal: Turn my dad into a hip-hop fan. More than 200 videos later, that goal has certainly been achieved. Furthermore, from the seed that is Bridging The Gap, which grew a father-son relationship that most die-hard hip-hop fans would dream of having their child or parents. Video after video, viewers watch Rod II play an album from start to finish in hopes of making his dad love one more hip-hop album than he did the day before. Together, the duo has reacted to classics like Eminem’s The Eminem Show (their most popular video to date), Kendrick Lamar’s Good Kid M.A.A.D. City, and 50 Cent’s Get Rich Or Die Tryin’, and more recent releases like Future & Metro Boomin’s We Don’t Trust You, JID’s The Forever Story, and Mac Miller’s Swimming.
Bridging The Gap began as a way for Rod Sr. and Rod II to spend more time together. However, after two reactions video for Jay-Z’s The Black Album and 50 Cent’s Get Rich Or Die Tryin’, they quickly knew they had something special together. “When we dropped the 50 Cent [Get Rich Or Die Tryin’] video, that one took off quick,” Rod II tells Uproxx over a Zoom call. “The comments were just really, really passionate. That’s really what stuck out to me. It wasn’t even the views, people were like, ‘Yo, I wish I could do something like this with my dad.’”
So, for Father’s Day, Uproxx caught up with Rod Sr. and Rod II to talk about Bridging The Gap, their favorite moments from it, and how the channel changed their opinions on hip-hop while also improving their relationship.
In your first video, a review for Jay-Z’s The Black Album, Rod II, you said that you wanted to hang out with your dad more. What was your relationship like before you began the podcast?
Rod II: Growing up my dad’s always been in my life — both my parents — and just like any relationship, we’ve had our ups and downs. Going into adulthood, I feel like we didn’t see each other as much as we could. So yeah, I just saw this as an opportunity to spend more time and build a closer relationship as we grow older. I saw this opportunity, I thought it’d be cool to do. I didn’t know it was gonna turn into this.
What were both of your experiences and opinions of hip-hop before Bridging The Gap?
Rod Sr.: When he was younger, I wouldn’t allow him to play it in the house. Coming up in my era, I grew up on music where they had actual bands and the concerts were a lot more entertaining, a lot of dancing and light shows, and different things. For an example, take a group like Earth, Wind & Fire. All the band members were interacting in the concerts and instruments and all the things that were going on. When rap came along, from my perspective, I just saw a lot of guys running around grabbing their crouch going, “Yo! Yo! Yo!” So I was just like, “Man, this is not music,” and that was early rap. So from that point on, I just turned it off. I just didn’t even want to be a part of it. So he was kind of like, “Ah pop, you should listen to this, you should listen to that,” and I was like, ehh… okay, because I love music.
Rod II: I’ve always known my dad to be super, super into music. We listen to music the same way, like in a deeper, deeper way. We love the little sound in the background that nobody even notices, just the small things that make the music so special to us. So growing up, that was my experience, my dad alway played his oldies and I’ve always had an appreciation for that. Then, just growing up with rap, Jay Z, Lil Wayne, Kanye West, I just always had a deep connection with hip hop. Going into the channel, I knew that if I could get my dad to have an open mind about it, he would start to see the things that our music pulls from his generation of music. I knew that as soon as he got that connection and really peeped the artistry of the sampling, poetry, and rhymes, the spark would be there.
What brought you both to moment where you decide to start Bridging The Gap. Was it supposed to be a full-fledged podcast or just a few episodes on some albums at first?
Rod II: I had previously done a couple of different podcasts and projects, so I already had a bunch of equipment at the house. I saw another channel similar to what we do and the idea just sparked from there. The fact that my dad had not listened to any of this music was integral [and] super important, and I figured that maybe he would be open to it. That was just the conversation, I sent him the example of the other channel and I said, “Hey dad, would you would you be down to try this out?” He saw it, he was like, “Yeah, sure, why not?”
Rod Sr.: I just wanted to hang out! [laughs]
Rod II: We sat down, we listened to that Jay-Z album, and honestly, from that first upload immediately got traction in the first week or two. I remember like texting my dad, “Hey dad, there’s like 1,000 plays on this thing and they really liked the video. People leaving all these comments and stuff. We got to keep doing this.” So we just locked in, and the rest is history.
We’re two years in now. Did you think that Bridging The Gap was going to last this long when you first started?
Rod Sr.: I didn’t. Like I said, I’m just hanging out. He was like, look at this, this, and this, and this has hit this, and all these plateaus we were reaching. I was like okay! It kept getting bigger and bigger and so I’m like well, maybe we have something here.
Rod II: I hadn’t really been a person that watches a lot of reaction videos. I didn’t even know that it was such a big thing until we started getting into it, and I started seeing other channels. So yeah, to be where we’re at now, I’d like to say that I figured we could be successful with it, but I don’t know man, I didn’t know we’d get to this point and I still think that we got a long way and a high ceiling we can still reach so it’s a blessing.
In what ways has your opinions of hip-hop and even music overall changed as a result of Bridging The Gap?
Rod Sr.: There’s a lot of talented young people out there and there’s some really, really good music out there, but also [with] hip-hop, there’s a lot of pain, there’s a lot of suffering. There’s a lot of things that are expressed through their music. It’s happy in the sense that these young people are gaining great success doing what they do, but it seems like they have some deep-seeded pains that they’re trying to get out and they’re putting it down in their music. That’s the sad part of it. It’s like “Joy And Pain” [by] Frankie Beverly and Maze. That’s the way I look at hip-hop as a whole.
Rod II: I’ve always been super passionate about it. I just have a different perspective when I’m trying to choose the albums. Now, when I listen to music, I’m always like, “I wonder what my dad would think about this…” So that kind of changes the way I listen to stuff, but it’s still something super important to me and it’s such a pleasure to sit down, get his opinion, and hear what he has to say. Oh my gosh, when I pick an album and first press play, I’m just waiting like, he gonna vibe with this or what?
In what ways has this podcast improved the relationship between you two?
Rod Sr.: It’s improved tremendously, but now I’m noticing, it’s funny [laughs], just a couple of days ago, we were doing some work, putting some work in and he goes off and I’m still hanging out, right? He goes, “Pops I gotta go, I gotta go. I’ve got to take a sh*t.” I’m like oh, I’m hanging out too much now [laughs]. He getting comfortable, I said ah, he putting me out real polite.
Rod II: Yeah, it’s great man. We hang out and we’ve had the opportunity to do some really, really cool stuff together. Our Teskey Brothers video recently went insanely vital. We got to go out to the concert and meet them, experiences like that. A couple months ago, we visited my grandmother in Indiana and made a reaction video with her. We went to a Drake concert, Travis Scott, we just be doing stuff man. We get these opportunities, people reach out and yeah, we just hang out. It’s just cool to experience these things with my dad and even in those moments, I’m just looking like, “Is he feeling this?” [laughs]. It’s a blessing man.
What is your favorite memory of each other’s from a video from the channel. Whether it be a comment, a certain reaction, etc.
Rod II: My favorite memory of my dad is, in general, when he tells his little side stories. One in particular is so funny to me. He tells a story of his buddy Joe Head from back in the day and it tickles me to the core. The fans love it, they bring it occasionally, and yeah, that’s my personal favorite.
Rod Sr.: I think it’s two for me. There was a rapper talking about somebody stole his bike… The Game! The Game was talking about somebody stole his bike and I’m telling my son about this situation with a good friend of mine, Terry. I started getting kind of upset because I’m still mad about my bike. And then, of course, the reaction when I first saw the Teskey Brothers. I said, “Oh sh*t!.” and then I read the comments [and] they said that’s the “Oh sh*t!.” that went around the world. I thought that was kind of funny.
Big question for you both: What is your favorite hip-hop album of all time?
Rod Sr.: I’m rocking [with] Kendrick [Lamar] and J. Cole, anything. Anything. J. Cole and Kendrick, I’m rocking with them. It is hard though, I’m sure I could add more to that list, but they’d be old school. Tupac, I love Outkast, and then Eminem.
Rod II: Probably My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.
What are you both most proud of with Bridging The Gap?
Rod II: I’m most proud of just creating these moments with my dad, being able to share them with the world, and the joy and and even like healing energy that these videos provide to other people. We get all these emails, messages, and comments, it be giving me chills bro. These videos are really important to some people and to be able to just sit in my room and listen to music with my dad and create these moments we’ll be able to look back [on], and you know this stuff is going to live on after we’re gone, that’s what I’m most proud of.
Rod Sr.: For me, it’s almost similar. These times we spent together, creating these reactions, have also created joyful times between he and I. I had no idea because I didn’t know about this whole reaction thing because I’m just thinking I’m sitting here in a room. I didn’t know that we were reaching out to around the world and I was reading the comments, from people in Italy, South Africa, [and] Australia and people… it just touches their lives in such a way. It really freaked me out when some guy was like, “Oh, dude I couldn’t wait until got out from work so I can jump in my car and turn on Bridging The Gap,” and I’m just like what? It means so much to so many other people and that’s what touched my heart. It almost brings a tear to your eye when you read some of the comments of how Bridging The Gap is affecting people’s lives, that’s the positive thing. A lot of people say they really appreciate it because it’s wholesome and is genuine. I’m glad we come across like that because that’s what it is. That’s what I appreciated about Bridging The Gap.
Bridging The Gap videos are out now on Youtube. You can find their social media pages here.
The 17-year-old was the victim of a horrific bullying incident.
A group of girls threw boiling water on her, leaving her badly burned and covered in scars and discoloration.
She thought the physical scars would be with her forever — until she met Basma Hameed. Basma Hameed runs a tattoo shop, of sorts — but her tattoo artistry doesn’t look like you’d expect. Basma is a paramedical tattoo specialist. Instead of tattooing vibrant, colorful designs, she uses special pigments that match the skin in order to conceal scars.
It looks like this:
With Basma’s help, patients like Samira can see a dramatic decrease in their scar visibility and discoloration after a few treatments. She even offers free procedures for patients who are unable to afford treatment. That’s because Basma knows firsthand just how life-changing her work can be for those coping with painful scars left behind.
Check out the video below to find out more about Basma’s practice, including how she became her very first patient.
Dads are ridiculous. But perhaps, in the world today, there is no dad quite so ridiculous as Rob Lopez:
Photo via Rob Lopez/YouTube.
On a morning not too long ago, Lopez apparently had the following thought: “I’m going to dress up as Darth Vader and wake up my 2-year-old.”
Photo via Rob Lopez/YouTube.
Clearly, the correct follow-up thought is, “No. That’s silly. Why would I ever wake up a 2-year-old. Like, on purpose.”
But not for Rob Lopez. Oh, no.
After suiting up…
…and receiving the mission critical sign-off from his wife.
He grabbed his lightsaber and gave it a go. The results … pretty much speak for themselves (fast-forward to 1:05 for the main event).
There are a couple of things about Lopez’s son’s reaction that we should talk about.
(First, this child is objectively the hardest core human on the face of planet Earth right now.)
He grabs the lightsaber he keeps next to his bed (just in case) and it’s game on, Dark Lord of the Sith. Game. On.
Think about how you would feel, as an adult person, in complete control of your faculties, with a firm grasp on the difference between fiction and reality, being aggressively prodded awake by a six-foot-tall man in a full-body Darth Vader mech-suit complete with voice modulator and terrifyingly heavy breathing.
Think about how loud you would scream and the volume of pee you would pee into your pants.
Meanwhile, this toddler — who is probably no more than three feet tall, groggy and vulnerable, with no cognitive ability to discern this is not the real Darth Vader — didn’t even think twice about taking him on.
Perhaps the most impressive part? At a mere 2 years of age, he’s already learned, perhaps, the single greatest lesson of “Star Wars.”
You don’t defeat the dark side with mad lightsaber skills (although they are fun to show off).
You defeat it with compassion.
…which, in this kid’s case, involves casually grabbing a book and asking Darth Vader to read him a story.
Empathy for Siths — with an assist from curiosity and literacy: That’s a lesson we could all use.
Freddie Teer is a normal boy. He loves Legos, skateboarding, and horsing around with his older brother Ollie. But in March 2017, his mother faced every parent’s worst nightmare.
Photo via iStock.
Freddie was doing tricks down the stairs of his front porch when he fell off his bike — and his bike fell on him.
“[He was] just crying, wouldn’t let us touch his leg, couldn’t put any weight on his leg. We knew,” mom Ashley says.
Ashley rushed Freddie to the emergency room, where an X-ray confirmed the bones in his left shin were broken in half. He needed to be sedated, his bones set and put in a cast. It was an agonizing day for the Teers. But it’s what happened next that was truly inspiring.
We’ve all seen heartwarming stories of communities coming together to raise money online to help people cover medical care for themselves and loved ones.
While Freddie’s injury required major treatment, none of Ashley’s friends raised any money for him.
No one from their town took up a collection or held a bake sale.
No GoFundMe page was started to help cover his bills.
Instead, Ashley and Freddie walked out of the hospital owing nothing. Because they live in Canada.
“You just leave,” Ashley says. “You don’t pay anything.”
Incredible.
Under Canada’s health care system, people like the Teers can see their doctors and go to the hospital when they’re hurt or sick, and they don’t get charged.
So heartwarming.
It almost wasn’t this way.
Ashley was born and raised in St. Louis in the U.S. where health care is expensive and complicated. Twelve years ago, she fell in love with a Canadian man and moved with him to Abbotsford, British Columbia, where they and their five children will enjoy heavily subsidized, affordable health care coverage at a low premium for the remainder of their natural lives.
“We’re able to go when we need help and we get help,” Ashley says.
Just amazing.
As Freddie recovered, no one showed up at the Teer home with a large check or collection plate full of cash.
Instead, Ashley and her family were “supported through meals and just that kind of care” — meals they were able to enjoy without having to decide between enduring the shame of hitting up their friends for money or facing the prospect of sliding into bankruptcy.
The most uplifting part? Middle-income Canadians like the Teers pay taxes at roughly the same rates as Americans and still get their bones fixed for free at hospitals.
Not everything about Freddie’s recovery process was smooth.
The first night, Freddie tossed and turned in severe pain, unable to sleep. Ashley, however, was able to call her family doctor — who she never has to pay since he is compensated by a public system that continues to have overwhelming public support to this day — to get her son a codeine prescription. Miraculous!
Canada’s public health care plan doesn’t cover drugs. But, inspiringly, because of price controls, medicine is way cheaper there.
The Teers did lean on their friends and family for help while Freddie got better.
“We were kind of just asking people to pray,” she explains — primarily to lift her son’s spirits, and not, thankfully, to ask God to provide sufficient funds to cover basic medical care that every human living in a fair and prosperous society should have access to.
Even though he wasn’t able to move around, friends and relatives eagerly invited Freddie to hang out during his recovery instead avoiding him out of guilt for not pledging enough to his GoFundMe campaign.
Just. Wow.
With support from his community — support that didn’t include a single dollar — Freddie’s cast came off six weeks later, right on schedule.
Healthy once more, Freddie went right back to enjoying extreme sports like BMX biking, skateboarding, and snowboarding, and Ashley is free to let him enjoy them without worrying about one fall wiping out their entire life savings and leaving her family destitute.
“Where we live, we’re not stressful when things happen to our kids,” Ashley says. “It’s not a stressful time financially, so the whole family is not anxious.”
“I feel safe, and I feel like my voice is heard,” she says. “I can’t imagine living in a place that I didn’t feel that way.”
Inspiring.
This article originally appeared on 03.27.17
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SOURCE: TWITTER
Photo via iStock.
