In this hilarious video Julie Nolke asks herself, “What would happen if I tried to explain what’s happening now to the January 2020 version of myself?”

Explaining the Pandemic to my Past Self

www.youtube.com

Julie Nolke is an actress-comedian who writes and directs her own comedy videos on YouTube. She also has a channel where she posts cooking videos.

Danish toy company LEGO has announced that it is taking on the challenge of providing protective equipment for medical workers as PPE remains in short supply around the world.

Viruses primarily enter the body through the eyes, nose, and mouth. While masks cover the nose and mouth, some kind of barrier is needed to keep droplets from coughs or sneezes from reaching the eyes. That’s why face shields are in high demand and why LEGO is using its plastic manufacturing expertise to create clear plastic visors for medical workers in Denmark.

The company announced its new production line on Instagram, writing:

“This week we began to make visors at our factory in Billund for healthcare workers on the frontline in Denmark. We are so incredibly proud of the team who made this happen. They worked around the clock to create designs and make moulds that can produce more than 13,000 visors a day. We are grateful to have such talented, dedicated and caring colleagues.”

Representatives from Denmark’s healthcare system consulted with LEGO designers to create an effective visor, which has a wide, transparent shield and handles to go over ears.

LEGO is also giving away 500,000 building sets to children in need with their rainbow campaign. LEGO builders can:

1. Create a rainbow 🌈
2. Share it with #LetsBuildTogether
3. Tag 3 friends and nominate them to build and share rainbows!

The company says the rainbows are “symbols of hope,” which is certainly something we can all use right now.

LEGO also partnered with the U.K. government to create a cute video encouraging kids to be superheroes by staying home during the pandemic.

Thank you, LEGO, for being a good example of how businesses can work with governments and heathcare systems to serve the public during a public health crisis.

View Entire Post ›

While appearing on the latest episode of Late Night with Seth Meyers, John Oliver found himself roped into discussing the topic on everyone’s mind while trapped at home: Netflix’s Tiger King.

As Last Week Tonight viewers might remember, Oliver ran a segment on off-the-wall third party candidates during the 2016 presidential election. One of those candidates was Joe Exotic, the now-incarcerated star of the hit Netflix series. After Seth Meyers noted that Oliver essentially “discovered” Exotic, the British host was initially reluctant to have his name connected with the tiger phenomena. “Don’t throw me in with that sh*t,” he joked before eventually diving into the unusual circumstances of reporting on Exotic.

“We were looking for the craziest third-party candidate, found his ad, and it was just the lowest hanging, juiciest fruit. Almost you think, ‘Could this be real? Mmm, so sweet, so juicy.’” Oliver recalled. But while his researchers looked into the big cat enthusiast, they warned that the show “might not want to hold hands too closely” with Exotic because there seemed to be all kinds of shady business going on with his animal park.

Shortly after Tiger King became a viral sensation, Oliver went back through his team’s research material, and he shared with Meyers one note that definitely stood out from the rest. “He talks a lot about this person named Carole.” (Exotic is currently in-prison for paying an undercover FBI agent $5,000 to take out Carole Baskin.)

As much as Oliver would probably prefer not to be associated with Exotic, his Last Week Tonight segment was featured in the Netflix series. Despite clearly being the butt of a joke, Exotic’s friends say the attention from Oliver turned him into an even bigger egomaniac. “Joe got a big head,” businessman James Garretson said on the show. “Even though they were making fun of him, Joe was the star.”

You can watch the full Last Week Tonight segment below, with Joe Exotic’s presidential run starting at the 1:40 mark:

If anyone deserves free food right now, it’s our brave healthcare workers, battling this pandemic on the front lines. While the rest of us should do our best to patronize our local restaurants and eateries to help keep them afloat during these tough times, doctors and nurses getting free burgers is a win all around. At least one charity has even been set up to help restaurants and healthcare workers in tandem.

Below are all the places healthcare workers can currently score free food during the pandemic. Watch this space for periodic updates on the best deals.

Cumberland Farms — Grab a free coffee every day of the week if you’re a healthcare worker, first responders, police officers, firefighters, active military members, or a medical researcher any day of the week for the duration of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Krispy Kreme — On Mondays healthcare workers can receive a free dozen donuts when they show their employee IDs. According to Krispy Kreme’s website, there isn’t a hard limit on how many free donuts you can score, “Just go to a Krispy Kreme drive-thru, tell us what you need, and show us your employer badge.”

This deal lasts until May 12th.

Nando’s PERi-PERi Chicken — Show up to Nando’s with your work uniform or employee ID and receive free takeout for the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Halal Guys — First responders will receive 50% off their meal once per day at participating locations.

The Melt — Medical staff will be treated to a free meal for a limited time at every The Melt location in California.

Naf Naf Middle Eastern Grill — First responders and active military personnel will receive a 15% discount on their total orders when showing an employee ID in-store.

Reed’s — The ginger ale beverage company will be sending a special truck to local hospitals, fire stations, and medical centers across California to give out free beverages to workers.

Steak ‘n Shake — Doctors, nurses, first responders, grocery store employees, flight attendants, pharmacists, and other essential workers will receive 20% off all Steakburgers or French fry orders until April 17th.

Starbucks — Receive a free hot or cold brewed coffee (tall size only) until May 3rd if you’re a first responder or other frontline health worker.

Tropical Smoothie Café — Tropical Smoothie Café will deliver free smoothies to healthcare workers who contact their local smoothie shop for the duration of the pandemic.

White Castle — Healthcare workers are eligible for a free meal once a day, every day, until the end of the month. Some type of worker ID is required to take advantage of the deal.

While real-life boy band One Direction is rumored to have a reunion in the works, a fictional boy band is doing the same. That Thing You Do! star Tom Everett Scott announced that the 1996 film’s boy band The One’ders will reunite for charity. The group will join together virtually for a livestream reunion to raise money for the MusiCares COVID-19 relief fund and pay homage to their theme song’s creator.

Everett will be joined by The One’ders bandmates Steve Zahn, Ethan Embry, Johnathon Schaech, and Liv Tyler, as well as special guests, who some suspect could be co-star Tom Hanks. Along with benefitting a charity relief fund, the reunion was organized to pay tribute to the late Fountains Of Wayne vocalist Adam Schlesinger, who wrote the That Thing You Do! theme song. Schlesinger recently passed away from complications due to contracting the coronavirus. Schlesinger’s composition for the film earned him Oscar and Golden Globe nominations for his work.

The One’ders reunion will take place following a live watch party with commentary from the cast. The watch party marks the latest reunion of The One’ders, who recently got together for a special LA performance in 2017.

The That Thing You Do! charity livestream begins 4/17 at 4 p.m. EST. Watch it here.

Revisit Uproxx’s feature on Adam Schlesinger’s pivotal role in That Thing You Do! here.

Music fans have lived through some impressive chart runs over the past year. Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road” was of course No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for a record 19 weeks, and Roddy Ricch’s “The Box” also recently wrapped up a great 11-week run on top of the same chart. Meanwhile, Kanye West has been in the middle of a lengthy No. 1 stay of his own: This week, Jesus Is King highlight “Follow God” is on top of the Hot Gospel Songs chart for its 24th week, which is about six months, or a bit shy of half a year.

Kanye’s run on top of the chart is impressive, but it’s actually not a record. In fact, it’s not even close, as the Hot Gospel Songs chart has a storied history of phenomenally sustained success. Kirk Franklin, for example, has had two songs spend at least 25 weeks at No. 1 on the chart: “Wanna Be Happy?” and “Love Theory.” The only other artist to do that is Marvin Sapp, whose “Never Would Have Made It” spent a phenomenal 47 weeks (almost a year) in the top spot beginning in August 2007, which is the all-time record for the chart.

On a similar note, Christian music singer Lauren Daigle’s “You Say” continues its record-setting run on top of the Hot Christian Songs chart this week, as it now spends an outstanding 82nd week at No. 1.

Revisit our review of Jesus Is King here.

Jesus Is King is out now via Def Jam/Getting Out Our Dreams II. Get it here.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Professional sports are struggling as they try to figure out the best courses of action amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Things like bubble leagues and playing games in front of empty stadiums have been kicked around as a result, but the truth is that no one knows exactly how this is all going to happen because figuring out a course of action during a pandemic is nearly impossible.

These issues are far more complicated for college athletics, namely college football, which is oftentimes the primary way that universities are able to generate revenue to fund their athletic departments. Having no college football season would be devastating for schools nationwide, but at the same time, it is tough to keep up the bogus definition of “student-athlete” if football players are the only students on campus because they have to play games and rake in gobs and gobs of cash that they’ll never see.

As such, Chris Fowler of ESPN floated an idea that is apparently becoming popular among decision-makers: moving the upcoming CFB season to the start of 2021, but still having it play out.

“It seems unlikely, given the fact that the virus is cresting and the peak is at different places at different times, we’re suddenly going to be back to normal to get the crowd back in stadiums everywhere by late August and early September,” Fowler said to Sports Business Daily recently, per ProFootballTalk.

Fowler said that this means the idea of kicking off the season in February and running it through May is becoming popular and that “reasonable people feel like it might be the most prudent course of action.” He also said that there has to be “clarity” on how the currently-scheduled 2020 season can happen “by the end of May.”

The thought of Big Ten country holding football games in February and March seems particularly rough, but there is a case to be made that this would be a good way to save this season if it can be done safely. Holding meaningful football games in the spring would admittedly be pretty interesting, especially if they would occur while the NBA and NHL are going through their postseasons, MLB and MLS are beginning their campaigns, and college hoops is in the midst of the NCAA Tournament.

There are, of course, questions to be asked about how feasible. Can a team have any sort of lengthy winter camp in the lead-up to the year? Would the 2021 season kick off in September, giving players four or five months to rest and heal their bodies? And what of things like the NFL Draft, which would almost certainly have to change up how it operates because it would happen during the season, and questions about players’ eligibility? Oh, and on that note, how on earth could the NCAA continue to argue that these are student-athletes who do not deserve any sort of compensation for the revenue they generate when literally the entire college football season got shifted so athletic departments could be funded?

For how badly everyone wants to see one last year of Trevor Lawrence at Clemson, or Justin Fields at Ohio State, or Ja’Marr Chase at LSU, or Penei Sewell at Oregon, or Micah Parsons at Penn State, or any of the numerous other star players who are likely heading to the NFL as soon as possible, the best course of action for the well-being of athletes might be to scrap the 2020 season and bring college football back in 2021. As for whether or not that is the best course of action in general, though, is something that will not be determined by players, which is fitting considering everything we know about the business of college football.

View Entire Post ›

Burning Man has notably been one of the biggest annual festivals in the country to hold out from canceling due to COVID-19, a move that you could argue was irresponsible, but — given the good-natured vibe of Burners — was probably more hopeful than anything else. Black Rock City has risen from the dust from the last Monday of August until the first Monday of September without fail since 1990. That streak ends now. In an abundance of caution, The Burning Man Journal has officially announced that Black Rock City will not be built in 2020.

“Yes, we are heartbroken…” the statement reads, “In 2020 we need human connection and Immediacy more than ever. But Public health and the wellbeing of our participants, staff, and neighbors in Nevada are our highest priority.”

Like Girl Scout cookies, Burning Man is going digital:

We look forward to welcoming you to Virtual Black Rock City 2020. We’re not sure how it’s going to come out; it will likely be messy and awkward with mistakes. It will also likely be engaging, connective, and fun.

We have to hand it to the organizers of Burning Man, the idea of digitizing the Burning Man experience seems so contrary to the very spirit of the festival, we’re surprised they’re even trying. It would sound dystopian if the Burners at the Burning Man Journal didn’t make it all seem so serendipitous — a response to the pre-selected “Multiverse” theme.

“We’re going to lean into it.” the statement reads. “Who’d have believed it would come true?”

The “virtual playa” will not be free, but how much the experience will cost and other details are still being hammered out.

We will have costs and will need to create some kind of ‘ticket.’ We’re working out those details and will share them as soon as we can. It won’t be like the BRC we’ve built over the years; we know that’s no substitute for an in-person experience. It will be a new kind of Burn.

A digital experience is all well and good but that begs the question of what this means for those of us who already had our Burning Man plans set in stone and don’t want to watch a live stream of a burning effigy. If you snagged tickets to Burning Man 2020 back in February, you’ll be happy to know that you’re entitled to a full refund through your dedicated Burner Profile. But just because Black Rock City 2020 is going digital, doesn’t mean the Burning Man Project plans on stopping its various charity programs and since 90% of Burning Man’s revenue comes from ticket sales alone, they’re asking generous Burners to consider donating that money to the project.

Whether you have already purchased a ticket, have been waiting for the Main Sale, or are simply supportive of our vision and mission — if you have the means, it is our sincerest hope that you will consider donating all or a portion of your ticket value, and/ or making a tax-deductible donation to Burning Man Project.

The project plans to continue investing in programs like Burners Without Borders and Fly Ranch, and continue to provide grants to artists, something that will put a considerable strain on their entire operation. “We have started implementing salary cuts for everyone on our leadership team and are having to lay off some of our dedicated staff members. We hope to bring many of them back in 2021, but it’s too soon to know exactly how all of this will unfold.”