Month: June 2024

Summer is here. The season of backyard barbecues, long evenings by the bonfire, and a nagging worry that every parent can relate to — the dangers that come with a swimming pool.

The chances a child will die from drowning are relatively low, according to the CDC. But still — it’s great to be prepared to step in and help with CPR, should it ever be necessary.

Actor Ryan Reynolds definitely thinks so.

Reynolds recently went to a CPR training class focused on toddlers and infants.

Reynolds and his wife, fellow A-lister Blake Lively (who also attended the class), are parents to two young daughters: 2-year-old James and 9-month old Ines.

u201cWe’re #ThankfulFor Ryan Reynolds’ Twitter. We’re also thankful his daughters don’t have Twitter. (ud83dudcf7: Getty Images)u201d

— E! News (@E! News)
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The actor posted a photo from his CPR class to Instagram on June 27, noting how being certified once helped him save a family member’s life.

“Years ago, I took a CPR course thru the Red Cross,” Reynolds wrote. “And holy shit, I ended up saving my nephew’s life because I knew what to do! True story!”

See on Instagram

“Yesterday I took a refresher course — focusing on infant and toddler CPR,” the actor continued. “It takes only a few hours and it’s also kinda, sorta fun.”

Lively also encouraged her followers to get trained if they haven’t already.

“Google ‘infant CPR class near me’ and you’ll see lots of listings,” she wrote.

See on Instagram

The Livelys are right: Learning CPR is quick, easy, and certainly worth the trouble.

Nothing can give you the same in-depth instruction as a course taught by a professional (you can easily find an American Red Cross CPR training in your area). But there are still plenty of helpful guides online with free resources you can access to help you get started.

As Lively noted, just knowing you have the know-how to help in a critical moment will let you enjoy those backyard poolside barbecues this summer, feeling a little more carefree.

“For those of you who haven’t done it, you will love it,” she wrote on Instagram. “It’s so helpful by giving you knowledge, tools, and some peace of mind.”

Here’s an overview on CPR instructions so you can better understand what a training course entails:

This article originally appeared on 06.27.17

For Fred Again.. dreams really do come true. The “Leavemealone” musician has tirelessly been performing at gigs across the world. From a bicoastal residency run to festival appearances at Coachella and III Points. He even squeezed in a NPR Tiny Desk Concert. But it was all with one major goal in mind — eventually playing in a stadium.

Today (June 9), Fred Again.. revealed that his jet-setting has all paid off. With a suspense video shared to X (formerly Twitter), Fred Again.. announced his first ever stadium show will take place on June 14 at the LA Memorial Coliseum.

“LA Memorial Coliseum,” he wrote. “Our first stadium! We been working on this for monthsssss, and it’s definitely the maddest live show we’ve ever tried to do so far.”

Fred Again.. has played plenty of gigs in Los Angeles and the surrounding areas. But none at this scale, centered solely around him.

Details surrounding the show such as confirmed special guests, cost, and more haven’t been revealed. However, the producer was sure to share the on sale information for the concert set to take over LA Memorial Coliseum.

In order to secure tickets, fans are encouraged to sign up for the pre-sale with either a phone number or email address. Fred Again..’s official pre-sale is scheduled for tomorrow, Monday, June 10 at 10 a.m. Pacific. Based on availability, a general sale will follow at 1 p.m. Pacific. Find more information here.

Eminem’s latest single “Houdini” might’ve pissed off a few people, including Megan Thee Stallion, Paul Rosenberg, and even his own children. But the comedic, action-packed video just earned praise from a very interesting party.

Today (June 9), Adam West’s family came out to show their support for the rapper’s official visual. In a statement provided to TMZ, Nina Tooley (the late actor’s daughter) gushed about how her dad would’ve loved the silly tribute to his famed Batman role.

“My dad would have loved the video,” she said. “I could hear my dad’s distinct chuckle when the rapper was trying to scale a building with the ‘Bat Rope’ just like he and [Burt Ward] did in the series.”

In the video, Eminem drew inspiration from one of the duo’s many ‘Bat Rope’ scenes. But instead of suiting as the mysterious vigilante, the rapper reprised his role as faithful sidekick Robin. This isn’t the first Eminem interjected his interest in comic into his work. In fact, Eminem first sported spandex back in 2002, for the official video for the chart-topping single “Without Me” with his longtime mentor and friend Dr. Dre by his side of Batman.

Dr. Dre made his superhero return in “Houdini.” The video also featured notable appearances by Snoop Dogg, 50 Cent, The Alchemist, Pete Davidson, and Shane Gillis. With his forthcoming album, The Death Of Slim Shady, set to be his final LP, Eminem clearly wanted to go out with a cartoonish boom, snap, and pow.

FX and Hulu debuted their new series, Clipped, on the Los Angeles Clippers during the Donald Sterling scandal recently, and basketball fans have had a very difficult time taking it seriously due to the casting of the Clippers (and the rest of the NBA).

Casting a show about famous people is always difficult, because everyone knows what they look like, but it’s even harder to cast a show about professional basketball because there just aren’t a lot of people that have the height, size, and look of an NBA player. That’s what made HBO’s Winning Time so incredible, as they did about as well as you can in casting an NBA team with guys of the proper height and build — with the hair and makeup department doing their best to get the details dialed on their facial look.

Clipped did not fare nearly as well and no matter how good the writing or performances are, people are having a really hard time getting past the looks of the players (and Laurence Fishburne as Doc Rivers).

If there is anyone built to critique the casting, it’s Austin Rivers, who played for the Clippers not too long after this series is set and is, of course, Doc’s son. Rivers went through the casting on his podcast and had a number of laugh out loud moments when he was shown the cast — particularly those playing the stars of the Golden State Warriors.

Rivers starts by pointing out that Fishburne’s build isn’t doing his dad a lot of favors, but it’s when he hits the players that the fun really starts. “Stephen Santiago” is incredible, noting he looks more like a third baseman than the best shooter in NBA history, and by the time he hits Blake Griffin he’s just in complete disgust. Again, it’s very hard to cast a show about the NBA, but some of the choices in Clipped are hysterical and I’m glad its not just fans that can’t get over it and players like Austin also find it hysterical.

Are Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck looking for new (and separate) blocks to call home? After pulling the plug on her This Is Me… Live summer tour to “focus on family,” fans assumed Bennifer would use the time off to enjoy marital bliss. However, it appears the couple’s days might be filled with house hunting.

According to TMZ, for weeks, the couple has quietly been working to sell their Beverly Hills mansion. Upon first glance, this report wouldn’t raise any suspensions. But the outlet revealed that Lopez and Affleck only purchased the $60+ million property just over a year ago. Now, users online have begun to speculate that the pair is headed for divorce.

“It’s so sad,” wrote one user. “For the last year or so it was all about love this, love that and finally finding & reconnecting with Ben. Creating a whole album, putting herself out there, and being vulnerable… to this.”

Neither Lopez nor Affleck have made any public mention of a split. Also, both have been spotted out wearing their wedding rings. But supporters believe Lopez’s short response with a reporter when asked about her marriage last month should have set off a few alarms.

The public seems to be rooting for the couple. This comes after their confessions about still battling PTSD from their 2003 breakup.

On Saturday, word broke that USA Basketball had made its decision on the 12 players that would make up the women’s basketball team that will be going for its eighth consecutive Olympic gold medal in Paris later this summer.

The roster is, per usual, stacked with the top stars from the WNBA, but Indiana Fever star rookie Caitlin Clark was not among the names on the list. That came as a surprise to some, as Clark has drawn massive audiences for the past year, dating back to her senior season at Iowa, but USA Basketball isn’t in the TV ratings business (maybe to the chagrin of NBC) and rolled with a lineup featuring veterans and established stars at the pro level.

As is the case with everything involving Clark, this became a topic of controversy, as people are seemingly incapable of being normal when it comes to Clark as she’s made the leap to the pros. One of the only people with a tempered response to Clark not being on the roster was Clark herself, who addressed the media on Sunday after Fever practice. Clark said was excited to cheer on the group that did make the team, that it gives her something to strive for in the future, and that she hopes to make the squad in 2028 — while also noting a month off will be a welcome break after going straight from the Final Four to the WNBA.

It is the kind of perspective we often see from Clark, who has shrugged off controversy at just about every turn, imploring people to keep the focus on basketball and let things fall where they may. It’s folks on the outside, namely the loudest voices in the national media and on social media, that seem determined to make everything that happens with Clark something more than it is. In this case, it’s a rookie who’s had an up-and-down start on her hopeful road to superstardom being left off of, as she noted, the most competitive team in the world for a bunch of established stars, Olympic veterans, and MVP candidates.

Clark is taking that all in stride, understanding her time will come if she continues growing as a pro, and I think we all could do well to follow her lead in not acting like everything that happens with her is a life or death proposition.

Festival season is a chance for music fans from around the world to catch their favorite acts live. For Governors Ball 2024 that includes performances from headliners Post Malone, Rauw Alejandro, The Killers, 21 Savage, SZA, and Peso Pluma. The global diversity of this year’s lineup helped tickets fly off of the shelf.

But yesterday (June 8) during their highly-anticipated set, The Killers decided to pay tribute to New York’s rich musical legacy. While the band were sure to play fan favorites (hi, Smashing Pumpkins), they snuck in a few regional goodies. One of those musical treats was a striking cover of Yeah Yeah Yeahs‘ 2003 cult classic track “Maps.”

The already deeply emotional record was elevated to a new height as The Killers’ frontman Brandon Flowers, with the help of the band, dramatically rearranged it.

But The Killers’ local tribute didn’t stop there. According to festivalgoers, the group’s entrance was sound tracked by another Big Apple staple, Ace Frehley’s rendition of “New York Groove.”

The Killers shredded their set, especially their cover of “Maps.” To many, including the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ frontwoman Karen O, it is hard to believe just how popular the over twenty-year-old song still is. Back in 2019, during an appearance on BBC Radio 6’s The First Time, expressed her shock by its continued success. “I’m fascinated by it, I really am,” she said. “I’m endlessly curious about that song because it’s just strange to me. It was one of the earliest songs that we wrote for the [first] record. I remember it was like a daydream making that song; it just happened so kinda effortlessly and so incidentally.”

What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas. Well, that’s not always true. One bong-hitting Phish fan learned that a ban at Las Vegas’ newest venue, The Sphere, actually extended to all other Madison Square Garden venues (including Madison Square Garden, Radio City Music Hall, The Beacon Theatre, The Chicago Theatre, and more).

But it looks like the company had a change of heart. Yesterday (June 8), according to Variety, The Sphere rescinded its ban, but not for the reason you think. In a statement, the representative claimed the note was mistakenly sent out.

“There was a breakdown in our process due to a change in personnel, which resulted in the letter being sent inadvertently,” wrote the rep. “This customer is not banned from our properties, however, it is still against our policies, which are in accordance with local laws, to smoke, bring glassware into our venues, and disrupt other fans’ enjoyment of the event.”

Footage of the incident wasn’t retrieved from the venue’s surveillance, but rather the concertgoer himself. On April 20 (nonetheless), the patron, only known by his Instagram hand @acid_farts, uploaded a video smoking from a bong inside the facility with the caption: “First bong hit to ever be ripped in the @spherevegas @phish Somebody call @guinessworldrecords 4/20/24.”

Shorty after, he received a notice from that Madison Square Garden Entertainment’s legal counsel notifying him that he was banned from returning to all of its properties.

During an interview with Rolling Stone, he expressed no regret over his actions. “I’m really wearing it as a badge of honor,” he said.

He later went on to sell “Free Acid Farts” t-shirts to laugh about the incident, with proceeds going to the Divided Sky Foundation, an addiction recovery center founded by Phish’s frontman Trey Anastasio.

Now that the ban has been lifted, MSG security is sure to keep a keen eye on the cameras as they patiently await Acid Farts return.

The Starz premium cable network already provides plenty of bang for the buck with 50 Cent’s Power Universe, but another long-lived source of bread and butter exists in their historical dramas. Outlander has been cranking out seasons since 2014 when it began adapting Diana Gabaldon’s same-named book series. The show turned out to be more enjoyable than it had any right to be, and as a result, the show’s audience has remained sticky.

The genre-straddling romance series recently entered production for an eighth and final season, but before that arrives, the show is still catching up on airing the last half of the seventh installment. Those Hollywood strikes are largely to blame for the scheduling traffic jam of sorts, and a prequel series, Blood of My Blood, is also in the works (filming began in February) — perhaps the shows will overlap a bit? It’s hard to imagine that Outlander‘s final season will finish production and air before the prequel surfaces, but of course, we are here to talk about the series proper.

The good news is that, finally, there’s light at the end of the time-travel tunnel, even though you don’t have to look too far across the Internet to see frustration after fans found out exactly how long the wait will be for more episodes. Let’s talk about that release date and what to expect:

Plot

Claire Randall (Caitríona Balfe) and Jamie Fraser (Sam Heughan, who recently joked about his own “Love Story” with Taylor Swift) will not be having the most fantastic time when the period drama returns. You would think that these characters could catch a break after Claire endured being taken a prisoner of the Revolutionary War, among other tribulations, but unfortunately, that isn’t in the cards. The official Starz synopsis suggests that a return to Scotland is afoot, and in the colonies, Revolutionary War has continued to test the bonds of family, love, and the meaning of “home,” via Variety:

Coming off of the first half of ‘Outlander’ season seven, viewers find Claire, Jamie and Young Ian leaving the colonies and arriving in their beloved homeland: Scotland. The perils of the Revolutionary War force them to choose between standing by those they love and fighting for the land they have made their new home. Meanwhile, Roger (Richard Rankin) and Brianna (Sophie Skelton) face new enemies across time, and must battle the forces that threaten to pull their family apart.

And as executive producer Maril Davis recently told Entertainment Weekly, “You know that saying, ‘You can never go home again?’ That’s definitely true.” She continued:

“Home is never the home you knew. It’s never going to be the same. That’s true when we come back — there’s troubling things on the horizon and some painful stuff. It’s bittersweet. It’s a homecoming, but things happen that are more of a sad note.”

As already mentioned, these episodes will lead into the show’s final season, but viewers can take comfort in knowing that the prequel, Blood of My Blood, will exist and will revolve around two love stories, those of Claire and Jamie’s parents, respectively.

Cast

As mentioned above, Outlander currently stars Sam Heughan, Caitríona Balfe, Sophie Skelton, Richard Rankin, and John Bell. They are joined by David Berry, Charles Vandervaart, Izzy Meikle-Small, and Joey Phillips.

Release Date

The Starz series will return on November 22 with another eight weekly episodes (for sixteen total episodes in the season). That return date will be over a year since the show last aired a new episode in August 2023. It’s no wonder that fans are getting antsy and wouldn’t mind a time-travel machine of their own.

Trailer

Surely, Starz will soon provide a full trailer, but for now, this teaser will barely keep fans afloat.

In the U.S. and Canada, it’s common for cats to be purely indoor pets, rarely if ever going outside. Some cat owners build “catios” to give their feline friends a taste of the outdoors, others make use of harnesses and leashes (if the kitty will abide) and others provide contained, supervised outside time on occasion.

Of course, containing a cat is no easy feat, so you have to have a pretty specific outdoor space to be able to do that successfully, which is exactly what the owners behind the “Adventures of Chai” TikTok channel have.

With high hedges, a tall brick wall, and a large swath of grass, the backyard that Chai the cat gets to play in is perfectly suited to allow her inner-outdoor-cat frolic safely. And Chai’s joy at getting in a little “garden time” is absolutely a must-see.

The video is captioned, “POV: you let your indoor cat out and have never seen her happier.” I mean, she does a complete backflip, for the love. And there are so many things to stalk, chase after and catch, you can tell she’s having a blast.

Watch:

@theadventuresofchai

It is so cute to watch🥺❤️ #kitten #cat #cattok #petsoftiktok #catlove #catlover #britishshorthair #cats #scottishfold #cutecat #funnycat

Her sheer joy is 100% contagious. The video has more than 10 million likes and over 52 million views and people in the comments simply could not get over the flip.

“No one talking about the fact that the cat did a literal backflip💀”

“She was so happy that she did a backflip 😭”

“Did your cat just do a backflip 😭”

“DID BABE JUST DO A BACKFLIP”

“THAT JUMP WAS SPECTACULAR”

“THE CAT FLIP SAYS IT ALL HAPPY TO BE ALIVE.❤❤❤❤”

Of course, getting her back inside is not quite as enjoyable. “She loves to make us run for her,” Chai’s owner wrote on a video of Chai doing everything she could to avoid being brought back inside while her humans chased her around.

@theadventuresofchai

She loves to make us run for her😭 #kitten #cat #cattok #petsoftiktok #catlove #catlover #britishshorthair #cats #scottishfold #funnycat

People the comments also debated the merits of keeping cats indoors vs. letting them roam outside. Some people feel strongly that cats are meant to live outdoors and that depriving them of that life is limiting their happiness. Others pointed out that being outdoors can be unsafe for domesticated cats and that cats themselves pose a threat to wildlife like birds.

Most experts recommend keeping cats indoors with some safe outdoor access, but of course individual cat circumstances can vary. Outdoor cats tend to have shorter life spans and are at higher risk of disease and parasites as well as injury and fatality. Risks from humans and traffic are especially high in urban areas. However, out in the country, “barn cats” are often used to keep rodent populations down, protecting livestock from disease mice and rats can carry.

In Chai’s case, she appears to have the best of both worlds, being an indoor cat with a large outdoor area to play in with her humans’ supervision. And boy, is she obviously happy about the arrangement.

Find more Chai fun on @theadventuresofchai on TikTok.