Category: Trending

Season two of The Mandalorian is still on track for this fall despite the massive interruption of the entertainment industry due to coronavirus, but there’s even more Mando on the way thanks to a very predictable Star Wars content delivery system: books.

Star Wars’ official website dropped details on a big publishing schedule of Mandalorian-related books on Wednesday. Here’s the official list of books that are on the way:

The Art of The Mandalorian (Season One) by Phil Szostak; cover by Doug Chiang
The Mandalorian: Original Novel (adult novel, Del Rey) by Adam Christopher
The Mandalorian: The Ultimate Visual Guide (DK) by Pablo Hidalgo
The Mandalorian: Allies & Enemies – Level Two Reader (DLP) by Brooke Vitale
The Mandalorian: 8×8 Storybook (title to be revealed later) by Brooke Vitale
The Mandalorian: Junior Novelization by Joe Schreiber

Disney also said a Little Golden Book version of the story is coming, likely focusing on Baby Yoda considering the age set. But there’s also a “retelling” of season one coming in Screen Comix form as well. If that’s not enough, there will be coloring and activity books and a variety of other comics based on the show’s first season and, presumably, beyond.

If you’re not deeply invested in the novelized Star Wars universe, perhaps the most exciting news of the announcement is that The Art of The Mandalorian (Season One) is coming and has cover art illustrated by Lucasfilm’s Doug Chiang.

Concept art from the show has been a great bonus that showrunner Jon Favreau and others have shared sporadically on Twitter, and the book is sure to be packed with additional details and easter eggs for die-hards as they wait for more Mando this fall.

TikTok might be a haven Gen Z and anyone looking to learn new dances, but it’s also a wellspring of life for acting legend Dame Judi Dench.

In a new interview with Channel 4 News, Dench credits the video platform with saving her life while quarantining in London. Over the past few months, the actress has been appearing in TikTok videos scripted by her grandson Sam Williams, and she loves making them so much that she hopes to star in more even with the lockdown lifted. According to Dench, her grandson’s TikTok projects gave purpose to her days while waiting for theaters in the UK to reopen. Not to mention, they weren’t as easy as they look.

“I had to rehearse all those moves; don’t just think that comes naturally,” Dame Dench told Channel 4. But of course, she enjoyed the prospect of working with her grandson, which helped ease the anxiety of living in isolation. “You wake up and you wonder what day it is, and then you wonder what date it is and sometimes what month. And then you think, ‘Well, what do I do today?’ And if the prospect is, ‘Well, what is there to do today?’”

But if you think the esteemed British actress is just being polite about her grandson’s TikTok channel, clearly, you’re not aware of her penchant for bluntness. While recently discussing her role in Cats, Dench didn’t hold back her thoughts on her costume for the musical calamity.

“The cloak I was made to wear! Like five foxes f**king on my back,” she told British Vogue. “A battered, mangy old cat. A great big orange bruiser. What’s that about?”

Dame Judi Dench… please start reviewing movies on TikTok.

(Via Channel 4 News)

The world of sports has seen a number of initiatives pop up in recent days and weeks with the goal of getting as many people as possible to vote in this November’s election. LeBron James has gotten a collection of athletes to come on board with his More Than A Vote initiative, while Atlanta Hawks coach Lloyd Pierce played a major role in State Farm Arena becoming the largest voting precinct in Georgia — with the Pistons following suit by getting their practice facility in downtown Detroit turned into a voting precinct.

Now, eSports is deciding to get in on the fun. A collection of individuals and organizations from the world of gaming to launch Gamers.Vote, which looks to spur on voter registration among gamers.

“There are now over 133 million gamers of voting age in the US,” said Christie St. Martin, the CEO of the group. “Our mission is to get as many of those people as we can registered to vote in the month of July. We’ve teamed up with some of the biggest names in the industry to create a movement. And, with so many important conversations currently happening in our gaming communities, Gamers.Vote is excited to work with such amazing partners to empower and amplify those voices where it really counts, at the ballot box.”

The group features a number of big names in gaming, as FaZe Clan, HyperX, and WNBA standout Aerial Powers have all hopped on board.

“Anyone who is part of FaZe Clan understands the power we have to educate the gaming community to have their voices heard,” said Lee Trink, the CEO of FaZe Clan. “The gaming and streaming community is an untapped resource to encourage young people to get involved and create change. We are very excited to be working with Gamers.Vote and we can’t wait to begin in July.”

As Trink mentioned, Gamers.Vote will get things off the ground this month with a gigantic gaming marathon. Launching on the Fourth of July, the Level Up and Vote Gamers-Vote-A-Thon will occur on Twitch, Facebook Gaming, and Instagram, with the goal being to convince those watching to go register to participate in elections a little later this year.

If you’ve ever wanted to hear Frosty the Snowman growl the words “My man!” boy, are you in luck.

In news that we can safely say nobody saw coming, Jason Momoa will voice the classic holiday character in a live-action Frosty the Snowman movie. The film is being put together by Momoa’s Aquaman producers and will feature a CGI Frosty played by the former Game of Thrones star. Via Deadline:

“From his role as a fearsome count in a land of ice and fire to the oceanic success we all had with Aquaman, it felt only right to realize Jason this time out of snow,” [Jon] Berg said.

Said [Greg] Silverman: “We know Jason’s as a true human being filled with love, compassion and a deep connection to ohana… all of which is the living spirit of Xmas and Frosty.”

At this time, there’s no information on when Frosty the Snowman will start filming or is expected to hit theaters, but judging by the current conditions on the ground, Christmas 2021 is probably the earliest audiences can catch this new Momoa twist on a holiday classic.

On top of updating Frosty for modern audiences, Momoa also recently signed on to Good Bad & Undead, a film that’s being described as “Midnight Run in a Bram Stoker world.” The actor will reunite with his Game of Thrones co-star Peter Dinklage in the project that has an absolutely awesome synopsis:

Dinklage will play Van Helsing, last in a long line of vampire hunters. He develops an uneasy partnership with a vampire (Momoa) who has taken a vow never to kill again. Together they run a scam from town to town, where Van Helsing pretends to vanquish the vampire for money. But when a massive bounty is put on the vampire’s head, everything in this dangerous world full of monsters and magic is now after them.

Don’t get us wrong. Frosty is cool, too. (See what we did there?)

(Via Deadline)

Actor Tom Hanks is speaking out about Americans who can’t manage to practice basic precautions to help stop the spread of the COVID-19.

Hanks and his wife, Rita Wilson, are in a unique position to talk about the virus, they were among the first major celebrities to announce they contracted the virus in March.

The couple recovered form the disease after self-isolating in Australia.

The “Forest Gump” and “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood” star didn’t mince words when speaking at a press conference for his upcoming film “Greyhound,” which debuts July 10 on Apple TV+.

“There’s really only three things we can do in order to get to tomorrow: Wear a mask, social distance, wash our hands,” he said according to People. “Those things are so simple, so easy, if anybody cannot find it in themselves to practice those three very basic things — I just think shame on you.”

He has had some harsh words for those who refuse to follow basic health precautions that have led to the spread of the virus.

“Don’t be a prick, get on with it, do your part,” he said. “It’s very basic. If you’re driving a car, you don’t go too fast, you use your turn signal and you avoid hitting pedestrians. My Lord, it’s common sense.”

Hanks a great spokesperson for COVD-19 safety given his experience with the virus and his status as one of America’s most beloved actors. Hanks has always excelled at representing the common man on screen, hopefully his message will resonate with Americans who have been unwilling to comply with basic social distancing protocols.

A “shame on you” from America’s dad is what we definitely need right now.

During the press conference he also shared how he and his wife recovered from the disease.

“Oh, as the canaries in the coal mine for the COVID-19 experience, we are fine,” he said. “We had about 10 days of very uncomfortable symptoms. Not life-threatening, we’re happy to say. We were isolated in order to keep an eye on ourselves because if our temperatures had spiked, if our lungs had filled, if any number of things had gone wrong with this, we would have needed expert medical care.”

via Deutsche Bank / Flickr

Having experienced the disease first-hand, he and Wilson are adhering to strict social distancing protocols.

“I guess we were model recoverers from COVID-19, but we were also isolated so that we would not give it to anybody else that we came in contact with, and since then have been doing the same isolating, social distancing that is being asked of the world so, we are fine,” he added.

The actor’s words come as the U.S. cannot seem to get a handle on the spread of the virus. On Tuesday, new U.S. COVID-19 cases rose by more than 47,000, the biggest spike since the onset of the pandemic. In June, cases of the virus doubled in at least ten states.

“Clearly we are not in total control right now,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told a U.S. Senate committee. “I am very concerned because it could get very bad.”

COVID-19 has claimed the lives of more than 126,000 Americans.

As we say in the viral stories world, there’s viral and then there’s viral. A post with 100K shares in a month would be considered super viral. A post with a millions shares—even over a long period of time—is nearly unheard of.

So the fact that a post about Irish slaves has been shared nearly a million times in just nine days is incredibly disheartening. Why? Because it’s fake, fake, fake. And not in an “I don’t like what this says so I’m going to call it fake” kind of way, but in a non-factual, already-debunked-by-real-historians kind of way.

As someone with a crapton of Irish ancestry, I find the perpetuation of the Irish slaves myth utterly embarrassing—especially since it’s most often shared in an attempt to downplay the history of Black slavery in the U.S. If it were true, that kind of deflection would still be annoying. But pushing false history narratives to deny the reality of the impact of institutionalized, race-based chattel slavery is just gross.

And to be sure, this is false history. To begin with, the photo isn’t even of Irish people at all. It’s a photo of Belgian miners crammed into a mining elevator around the year 1900.

And the text for this post comes from a discredited article from 2008, written by a man whose identity has never been verified. Since Reuters already did a beautiful job of going through the post detail by detail and sharing historians’ corrections of what it claims—with citations—I won’t rehash too much here. (Find the Reuters debunking here. Find an Irish Journal debunking here. And a Pacific Standard fact-check of the Irish slaves myth in general here.)

Please, please read those links. Save them on your computer or phone so that you can share them with people who keep sharing these posts.

And please, for the love of all that is good and holy, let’s all learn how to check things for ourselves. Here’s a quick tutorial for how to do that, using this viral post as an example.

First, let’s check the photo. There are two easy ways search for a photo online.

1) In a Chrome browser, hover over the image and right-click (or “control”-click on a Mac). Select “Search Google for Image” and you’ll see all the places the photo shows up with descriptions.

2) In any browser, right-click the photo and select “Copy Image Address.” Go to images.google.com, click on the camera icon in the search bar, then paste in the image address.

Here’s what comes up in the image search for this photo. Clearly, this is a photo of Belgian coal miners, not Irish slaves from the 17th century (when cameras hadn’t even been invented yet).

Now let’s look at the text.

The first red flag on this post is that there are no citations. The person who created the post gave no credit at all for where the “information” came from. If a post contains historical claims and offers no sources, it needs to be verified. Always and forever.

The second red flag is that comments have been turned off on the post, which means no one can share refuting information on the post itself. Sometimes people turn off comments for problematic responses, but on a post that’s sharing “history,” it’s super suspect.

The third red flag is the content of the post itself. Claims like “The majority of the early slaves to the New World were actually white,” and “It is well recorded that African slaves, not tainted with the stain of the hated Catholic theology and more expensive to purchase, were often treated far better than their Irish counterparts,” are both extraordinary, considering what we know about the horrors of the transatlantic slave trade. If your first reaction is, “Wow, I’d never heard that before,” that’s a good sign that you should check with actual historians before sharing.

In the misinformation age, we all need to get used to googling the words “myth” and “debunked.” A search for “Irish slaves myth” and “Irish slaves debunked” both bring up well-cited, credible historians’ responses to narratives like the one in this post. (Again, read the debunking links above. Check the links they share from interviews with and written works of Irish historians.)

Of course, part of the reason this post has almost a million shares is that a whole lot of people want it to be true. This narrative makes slavery in the U.S. seem like an equal opportunity reality, thereby diluting the racism and white supremacy inherent in the “peculiar institution” of American slavery, and thus absolving white folks of any responsibility for the powers and privileges we’ve inherited as a result of it. It also allows white folks to say ignorant things like, “See? Our ancestors were enslaved just as badly and you don’t see us whining,” or better yet, “Where are MY damn reparations?” (Actual share text from someone who shared the post.)

We have got to stop this kind of misinformation and disinformation from spreading. It’s not harmless. It’s not a matter of opinion or an “alternative viewpoint.” It’s blatant lies, and no one from any background should stand for it.

To say that rum has a dark history would be an understatement. Much like Kentucky bourbon, Caribbean rum has its very foundations in African slavery. Rum was created by enslaved Africans from the by-products of sugar production and then hijacked by white colonists as a commodity to export. Most brand names reflect some aspect of rum’s history, from pirates and seafaring to the island-based locations of distilleries themselves. Plantation Rum was a bit of an outlier in this regard, as it was named after an agricultural system that directly profited off of slavery.

As conversations around racism and police violence continue globally, the French-owned company behind Plantation announced this week that they’d be taking steps to change the name of their rum expressions. “As the dialogue on racial equality continues globally, we understand the hurtful connotation the word plantation can evoke to some people,” Alexandre Gabriel, Plantation’s master blender, said in a press statement. “Especially in [Plantation’s] association with much graver images and dark realities of the past.”

Plantation Rum is a sourced rum — mostly from West Indies Rum Distillery in Barbados, but also from distilleries in Jamaica, Trinidad, Peru, and Fiji. The rum is then aged and blended by Maison Ferrand, a premiere Cognac maker in France. It’s a truly international brand with an 80 country reach, making this shift a far-reaching move sure to make waves across the industry.

Stephanie Simbo, Plantation’s Global Brand Manager, adds, “We pride ourselves on making delicious rum for people to enjoy and never want any part of their experience to create feelings of discomfort. To that end, we want to be on the side of actions and solutions.”

The new name for the rum has not been decided on yet. But, it’s expected to arrive globally within two years.

(Via The Spirits Business)

The NHL smartly waited to name its host cities for its restart plan, likely waiting to see how the coronavirus spread through the continent prior to ironing out any firm plans, and now will pivot to a pair of Canadian cities for its East and West bubbles, according to multiple reports.

Edmonton and Toronto will host the NHL this summer, with Bob McKenzie of TSN initially reporting that the two Canadian cities will be the two hubs for the league’s return “barring any last-minute complications.” There were other possibilities, including Las Vegas once being the frontrunner in the West, but with cases on the rise across the United States, the NHL has chosen to play in a country where it has historically had a major presence — and the one that has handled the pandemic better by comparison.

McKenzie also noted final details could be voted upon as soon as this weekend.

The NHL took a more deliberate approach throughout its return plan process, and now will benefit from less outside danger than the NBA or MLS, both currently headed to Orlando which has seen a major outbreak recently, when it gets back on the ice. Part of what the NHL must soon agree upon is when Phases 3 and 4 of its plan will take place, and what pay and transaction rules will look like during the irregular season.

While MLB plans to launch its players around the country this summer and fall and the NFL tinkers with its typical schedule, the NHL appears to have been wise with a more patient approach.

Gus Dapperton quickly launched into a tour following his 2018 debut record. The lengthy tour ended up being degrading to his mental health and used the time to begin writing music which would eventually comprise his sophomore album. On Wednesday, the singer finally shared a preview of his songwriting with “Post Humorous,” a lyrically moving track that officially announces his next album.

“Post Humorous” features Dapperton’s signature buoyant instrumentals juxtaposed against poignant lyrics which reflect on dealing with death in early childhood. “Yeah, I can’t help thinkin’ ’bout the way we joked / In those funeral homes, yeah, I could only hope / It was appropriate,” Dapperton sings.

The single arrives ahead of Dapperton’s sophomore album, Orca, which is slated for a September release. In a statement, Dapperton reflects on difficult experiences that would eventually serve as inspiration for his songwriting. “I was unbalanced,” Dapperton said. “My lifestyle and habits had gotten extreme. I wasn’t getting eight hours of sleep a night, I was drinking and doing drugs often. Wasn’t eating healthy. And on top of it, I was performing. A show can be the most inspirational, emotional high; but if something goes wrong it can be devastating.”

Dapperton continued that he aims to be unguarded with his emotions through his songwriting. “I’m a huge advocate for putting myself in vulnerable positions in my music,” he said but admits that confronting these feelings “was a chance to be open that I was afraid of. It was cathartic to put these emotions into music.”

Listen to “Post Humorous” above and find Dapperton’s Orca cover art and tracklist below.

1. “Bottle Opener”
2. “First Aid”
3. “Post Humorous”
4. “Bluebird”
5. “Palms”
6. “My Say So” Feat. Chela
7. “Grim”
8. “Antidote”
9. “Medicine”
10. “Swan Song”

Orca is out 9/18 via AWAL. Pre-order it here.

When WNBA players head to Bradenton, Fla. next week for their shortened season at IMG Academy’s bubble site, Washington Mystics forward Aerial Powers will be there with her entire video game set-up in tow. Powers, known by the gamertag powerzsurge on streaming platform Twitch, is arguably the league’s most avid gamer and has become a woman on the rise in eSports.

Since getting started on Twitch last September during the late stages of the 2019 WNBA season, Powers has earned 2.6K followers and now streams almost daily, playing mostly NBA 2K20 and Apex Legends. During the season, gaming is a way for the WNBA star to wind down after practice or games. She even travels to road games with her PC monitor so she can play in her hotel room.

Because she’s been quarantining at home in D.C. the past few months, Powers has been streaming a lot more to satiate her competitive appetite and increase her visibility in the gaming space. In March, Powers competed in the first-ever NBA 2KL Three For All Showdown alongside her fellow WNBA players Allisha Gray and Alexis Jones. She’s also teamed up with the Washington Wizards 2K League squad and became the first WNBA player to commentate an NBA 2K game live on ESPN in June when the network began airing NBA 2K League matches.

“I think people really like when I play [NBA 2K20] just because of my basketball background,” Powers told Uproxx with a chuckle. “They really get into it and they can see what I’m like on the court. It’s fun to get into that mode especially because I can’t [play] right now with our season being on pause.”

The 26-year-old Michigan native grew up playing on different consoles including the Nintendo 64 and PlayStation Portable. The Powers family loved playing video games, and it was through her brother that the eventual WNBA champion first learned about playing online against people around the world. Powers’ brother would frequently play Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, and once he handed his headset to his sister, she was hooked for life.

“And then my dad came in and got a whiff of all of it, and then the next day, he brought home two more XBoxes, two more TVs, and we were like all in one household, playing the game, driving my mom crazy,” Powers says while laughing. “So that was pretty dope.”

Now, Powers loves connecting with people all over the world through her Twitch streams, reading their comments as they hear her hilarious commentary while she dunks on people in NBA 2K20.

“I have people from Italy, Turkey, people from all over the world come to my streams because they know me or saw me somewhere,” Powers says. “But it brings us all together. Now, with the pandemic going on, we’re not able to go out and hang out as usual so for me — especially with our season not happening right now — it’s connecting me to my fans. So that’s the reason why I love it.”

Released in September, NBA 2K20 is the first version of the game to include a WNBA mode. For the first time, Powers, who had been playing the NBA 2K games since she was a kid, was able to play as herself on the Mystics. But for all the progress made in the video game, she agrees that there is still a long way to go in terms of the actual gameplay and different modes. In NBA 2K20, the WNBA mode only lasts one full 34-game season whereas the NBA’s GM mode can go on for decades. Additionally, users cannot online against other people with WNBA teams, contracts and player ratings are often less than realistic, and users can’t even create their own female player, meaning Powers has to play as a man when she heads into The Neighborhood.

While Powers enjoys gaming and streaming on Twitch, she is also looking at different ways to use her platform for good. She hopes to challenge the stereotype of what a gamer looks like and to educate people on ways to stay healthy even while sitting and staring at a computer screen for hours. When she is streaming, Powers makes sure to be mindful of what snacks she’s eating and sometimes she games while exercising on her stationary bike.

“When you think of a gamer, you think of someone eating chips on the couch, not being healthy at all,” Powers says. “But there’s tons of ways that gamers can be healthy and stay healthy when it comes to gaming. I think that perception needs to change a little bit.”

Another perception that needs to change: the notion that young girls don’t have a clear interest and passion for eSports. As a prominent Black female athlete in the gaming space, Powers is one of few who look like her in a world that is often run by and filled with men. And while the WNBA star was raised in a family that supported her love for video games, she knows that is not always the case for many young girls around the world.

“When I got more online, it was like, ‘Hey, are you a girl?’ on the other side of the mic and you know, people making girl jokes,” Powers says. “But all in all, it didn’t affect me because I wanted to play and I wanted to be good at it so I didn’t let what the other people said take me out of the realm of playing video games. That’s another thing I want to teach other girls. If it’s something you like and it’s something you enjoy, then keep doing it.”

Even when there are girls who confidently love gaming, they don’t have as many role models in the growing professional esports space, which is something Powers has been working on with the NBA 2K League and their Women in Gaming initiatives. According to Statista, women account for 46 percent of all gamers in the U.S. yet no female gamer made Forbes’ list of top-earning gamers in the world in 2019.

“I think it’s important for younger generations of female gamers to see that so they know that girls do game. We do take it seriously,” Powers says.

With her presence on Twitch, not only is Powers able to grow her profile in the gaming space, but she’s also introducing new fans to the WNBA every time she streams. As the biggest gamer in the WNBA, players from around the league have even come to Powers asking how they can get started playing video games or to get advice about streaming.

“It means a lot to me,” Powers says. “To be known as someone that knows what to do and how to do it is cool because this is just something I love. It’s something that I picked up from an early age and I’ve done well with it. It’s definitely a cool accomplishment.”