In a statement posted to their Twitter page, Power Trip has announced that the band’s lead singer, Riley Gale, has passed away. In the announcement, the band honored Gale as “a friend, a brother, a son” and a “larger than life rock star and humble and giving friend.” The group went on to remind fans how much they meant to him and how special they were in his eyes, before requesting that they share any memory they have of Gale as he is remembered. A cause of death for the singer has not yet been revealed.
Formed in Dallas in 2008, Power Trip received its big break in 2013 when they signed to Southern Lord Records in 2013, and they released their debut album Manifest Decimation that same year. Nearly four years later, the band returned with their sophomore effort, Nightmare Logic, an album that was met with critical acclaim from both fans and critics, landing on a number of year-end lists. Last summer the group revealed on Twitter that they were hard at work on their upcoming third album.
In their statement, Power Trip has asked fans to “respect our wishes for privacy during this time” and to send donations to Dallas Hope Charities, which can be done through this website.
So far, Kanye West‘s political aspirations haven’t panned out as well as he would have liked. Now has another problem, this time with Yeezy Apparel, which is now facng a lawsuit from a tech company for breach of contract. According to TMZ and Pitchfork, MyChannel is seeking more than $20 million dollars in damages after the company claims West copied their video commerce technology after walking away from a promised $10 million investment. The lawsuit also says that, due to West’s financial promise, MyChannel moved its headquarters from Pennsylvania to California, then again to Illinois.
West is also accused of failing to pay MyChannel $7 million for their contributions to Yeezy Apparel. On top of that, the lawsuit says West rebranded the company as YZY Tech and presented “ideas such as those of [MyChannel] as his own” in business meetings with brands like Adidas and more. MyChannel claims that once talks fell through with West, the company saw him using a copy of their technology to sell merch in his Sunday Service videos. Additional accusation include “breaching an oral partnership agreement, preventing MyChannel from earning millions, encouraging the company to invest millions, withholding a promised $10 million investment, and violating MyChannel’s non-disclosure agreement by copying their video e-commerce technology.”
Thijme Termaat decided once that he shouldn’t drive a car because his mind wandered too much. He wanted to be an artist, but dropped out of design school after two months when he realized it wasn’t going to lead him to the freedom he longed for. Living at home in a small, rural town in the Netherlands, Termaat taught himself to paint—not with books or tutorials, but by “trying and experimenting.”
Then he made this incredible video. At first it appears to just be a stop-motion video of him making one painting (which would be impressive to anyone who has ever tried making a stop motion video—it’s a tedious, time-consuming process). But just past the minute-and-a-half mark it shifts to a whole other level and we see why Termaat might be distracted by his own mind while driving.
In an interview with Jonathan Zap on Reality Sandwich, Termaat described why and how he made the video.
“The inspiration to make the video directly relates back to my fascination for truth and its connection with the psyche. The whole movie is filled with illusion, imagination and manifestation. Time speeds up and slows down, paintings seem to be 3D all of a sudden and at the moment when you think you see through the illusion another layer of illusion unfolds. It is like a rollercoaster-ride through my mind. The video mimics this, blurring between psyche and 5-sense impressions.
It took me roughly three years to complete I Paint. I made it entirely alone, without any help and without a script. It is a combination of time-lapse and stop-motion, just still pictures with no digital effects. In fact, one could have made such a movie a hundred years ago. With the intention to make an inspiring video animating this blurred reality-experience, I just started working slowly towards the end of the film, frame-by-frame. Some frames took me whole days to create. If you look closely you can see my hair growing about six inches before I put it in a knot in the middle of the film.”
Impressive. You can check out more of Termaat’s surreal paintings on his website and on Instagram.
If you haven’t heard of QAnon by now, consider yourself fortunate. If you’ve heard of it, but are confused about what it is and how it came about, it’s probably time to learn. Any hopes that the rational among us had for it to die out on the fringes of the internet appears to be gone as the cult-like conspiracy theory has seeped into the mainstream, which means we can’t ignore it like we wish we could.
We also can’t just laugh it off like we wish we could, no matter how absurd and insane it is. It truly would be laughable if it hadn’t resulted in real people being harmed and the FBI calling it a domestic terrorism threat. And I don’t know anyone who can approach a laughable-yet-deadly-serious subject like Trevor Noah. In a new video, Noah gives QAnon the comedic treatment that it deserves while also managing to convey the rather terrifying reality of its existence and influence.
Noah describes QAnon as a “political cult built around a conspiracy theory and then crossed with a big book of word search puzzles.” That pretty much nails it. And now we have a bunch of these folks running for government office, and some of them even winning. If that’s not enough to scare people into reality, I don’t know what will be.
I know we’re all having to jump through some mental hoops to try to makes sense of the world we’re currently living in, but this is ridiculous. I could rationally explain why QAnon is not legit, but it would be like explaining to someone that the moon isn’t made of cheese. The claim itself is so beyond absurd, it’s not even worth entertaining. And it wouldn’t do any good anyway. As Noah said, “Don’t be looking for logic here. That’s not how cults work. Cults don’t follow logic.” Maddening, but true. I’ve tried, only to be accused of covering for pedophiles or being part of the cabal myself. Good times.
What else have you got up your sleeve, 2020? You know what, nevermind. I truly don’t want to know.
On Tuesday, the internet celebrity known as Pangzai released a tearful video on Twitter (since-deleted) saying goodbye to his followers and making cryptic references to his own depression and possibly going to jail.
If you’re aware of “Pangzai” or “Hebei Pangzai” at all, it’s probably as the guy with the incredible speed beer-chugging skills utilizing a “tornado” style. The video below, of him chugging a giant jar containing beer, some type of flaming liquor, and an egg, all while smoking a cigarette, went viral some time last year, for obvious reasons.
Pangzai — which apparently translates as “Chubby Dude,” or is “a kind of cute pun on “Pangzi,” or “fatty” — is a farmer in his early 30s named Liu Shichao who hails from Xingtai in the Hebei province. The videos were originally posted on the Chinese video app Kuaishou and Pangzai had no idea he’d gone viral on Twitter.
Kuaishou videos tend toward the rural and the outrageous: a typical viral Kuaishou video might feature a guy playing two trumpets through his nostrils, or a man jumping into a frozen pond in his underwear. In this sense, Liu’s videos might be considered the apotheosis of Kuaishou content. They are full of eye-popping stunts, depict acts harmful to the user’s personal safety, and are without exception set to loud Chinese pop music.
A New Zealand comedian claims it was actually he who invented the “tornado chugging style” and not Pangzai, but that’s really neither here nor there and Pangzai is one of the internet’s foremost kings regardless.
I’ve been following Pangzai since he learned to use a VPN to run the Twitter account @HebeiPangzai, a mix of Herculean chugging stunts, chopping bricks in half with his bare hands, and pleasant slices of Liu’s pastoral life. A straight shooter whose updates are consistently uplifting and good-natured, Pangzai has been a consistent source of delight in a sea of shit. His web presence is a brief fulfillment of the internet’s early promise to connect distant cultures and promote empathy. Plus he’s really good at chugging booze.
Today, I just happened to be scrolling through my timeline when I saw that HebeiPangzai had begun a live video. I jumped on as quickly as I could and it wasn’t the usual Pangzai, even if he did chug a beer in it.
Twitter
In the video, a clearly sad and apparently crying Pangzai offered a farewell to his followers (through a translating app) and some have speculated that this was part of a Chinese government crackdown (all of which is speculation, it could be a publicity stunt, a platform switch, or just a guy dealing with a hangover).
The snippets of Pangzai’s monologue I managed to write down (I was trying to watch it live) included:
“I’m talking to you now maybe the next day I will be in jail.”
“There’s no one in my family who likes me.”
“You can’t help me, you can’t help me, I’m talking to you and I’m already committing a crime.”
“I hope I can take care of my fish picture.”
I assume “fish picture” was a mistranslation of “fish tank” or “aquarium,” as Pangzai occasionally films himself tending to some fish on his farm.
In any case, Pangzai seemed very depressed and for a while I was worried we might be watching his live suicide note. Luckily it didn’t end in self-harm or cops breaking down the door. For what it’s worth, he simply signed off and directed followers to his YouTube account.
It’s hard to know whether Pangzai’s notoriety in the US endangers him in China, increasing the likelihood that he’ll be used as a political pawn in a feud with a country that Donald Trump was demonizing even before he started trying to blame them for COVID. (Is it bad to write about him, or does his fame protect him?)
Again, it’s all speculation at this point, we don’t know if Liu is really in danger of going to jail or just having a depressive episode. I hope it’s the latter, and that fans like me can bid him a hearty “chug on, chubby king” for many years to come.
Many in the music industry have joined the food industry, and now Wiz Khalifa is joining them. The rapper announced HotBox By Wiz, his own delivery-only restaurant, in partnership with Nextbite, with a promise to launch this fall. The joint will begin serving customers in Los Angeles, San Diego, and other cities, serving his and his fans’ favorite comfort and stoner-friendly foods. Many of the dishes that appear on the menu reference the rapper’s music catalog and his love for marijuana, including the Taylor Gang Turkey Burger, the Crispy burnt brisket Blazed Ends with barbecue sauce, and the “Mac And Yellow” mac and cheese, a play off Wiz’s breakout hit, “Black And Yellow.”
HotBox By Wiz will begin making deliveries starting October 1 through Uber Eats, DoorDash, Postmates, and Grubhub. In addition to the aforementioned cities, people in Chicago, Denver, Washington D.C., Indianapolis, Houston, Pittsburgh, and New York City will also be able to place orders. If fans want to bring HotBox By Wiz to a city near them, they can vote for their city through the restaurant’s website.
The venture arrives after Wiz Khalifa shared a video for “Bammer” from The Saga Of Wiz Khalifa, an album he released on 4/20.
Another WWE Summerslam is in the books, but like this year’s WrestleMania 36, it will always have a COVID-19 asterisk next to it. Things have come a long way since April, however. We’re in the Thunderdome now, which means a sea of fans watching on individual computer screens. It definitely makes WWE look more like pre-pandemic WWE at a glance, and when you really look at what’s going on it just feels like the future (for good or ill).
And by the way, the name “Thunderdome” is a strange choice because it really only makes me think of one thing. And now that we’re in Thunderdome, the assumption is that eventually we’ll get beyond Thunderdome, which is even more on the nose. Sadly Tina Turner’s health is apparently too poor these days for her to do appearances, so we’ll never get that ultimate tie-in. But I’m digressing, and there’s a lot of SummerSlam to talk about.
The show opened with Bayley taking on Asuka for the Smackdown Women’s Championship. As commentary noted, it was impossible to watch this match without thinking back to 2016, when Asuka took the NXT Title from Bayley by putting her to sleep. Bayley’s become a whole different person since then, while Asuka’s more or less the same Asuka, just with a cozier relationship with WWE.
Actually, I say Bayley’s a different person, but what I love about her character is that I think at heart she kind of is still the same awkward, emotionally immature wrestling fangirl she was in NXT. It’s just that now she’s built a hard shell around the heart she used to wear on her sleeve, and she’s thrown herself into being a mean, cackling villain, because she’s come to see that as the thing that gets you ahead in WWE (and she’s not wrong there). But when you see the fear in her eyes as she faces someone she knows could beat her, like Asuka, that same nervous little girl is visible.
I also thought Asuka could beat Bayley here, and she would have (or at least that’s the story) if Sasha Banks hadn’t taken a hip attack on the apron that was meant for Bayley, giving Bayley the chance to roll Asuka up and just barely return her Title. This was only part one of the night’s Women’s Title drama, and it was already dramatic.
Part two came later in the evening, when Asuka had her second title match of the night, this time against Sasha Banks for the Smackdown Women’s Championship. This was probably the match of the night. I’m not one of those people who goes around the internet loudly proclaiming Sasha Banks the greatest female wrestler in the world, but let’s be honest she’s up there, and so is Asuka. They were both giving it their all here, and the combination of athleticism and high drama was everything pro wrestling is about.
And whereas Sasha took Asuka’s hip attack for Bayley, Bayley was presented with the exact same opportunity in this match and declined, letting Sasha take it and then lose to an Asuka Lock. You could see the tension after the match, but what I liked about that tension is that Bayley wasn’t playing a sneaky heel, who’s secretly happy her best friend now has less belts than her. She was genuinely shocked and upset that Sasha lost. Of course, that’s not going to stop the breakup from happening (whenever it finally happens).
And Sasha didn’t just lose—she tapped out. That adds another dimension to their eventual rift, where Bayley can counter Sasha’s “You let me lose” with a “You gave up.” When they do turn on each other, I’m not sure how the alignments are going to shake out, but I’m really hoping Bayley stays heel and Sasha turns face, mostly because that’s a dynamic we’ve never seen before.
The third women’s match (a phrase that should make AEW feel deeply embarrassed) pitted Mandy Rose against Sonya Deville in a Loser Leaves WWE Match. It was originally supposed to be Hair vs Hair, but then some creep broke into Sonya’s house, and according to Dave Meltzer her lawyer didn’t want her to shave her head when she’s going to have to go to court to get that guy put away. That certainly makes sense, but I’m disappointed that we don’t get Buzzcut Sonya out of this. Instead, we don’t get Sonya at all for a while, so I’m holding out hope she gets the push she deserves (and maybe a badass new look too) when she comes back.
As for this match, it was obviously overshadowed by the two matches involving three of the most talented women in WWE, but it was a solid showing. Mandy and Sonya get points for fighting like two people who used to be friends and now hate each other, as opposed to a lot of these big grudge matches that start with wristlocks and other equally non-rage filled wrestling moves. This match began, and immediately Sonya was shoving Mandy and Mandy was driving Sonya’s face into the steps. That’s the drama and emotion we want.
The Raw Tag Team Championship match couldn’t compete with that level of pathos, despite the fact that Andrade and Angel Garza’s manager Zelina Vega recently poisoned Montez Ford of the Street Profits. The real drama came at the end, when Ford accidentally knocked Vega off the apron and Andrade went to check on her, causing him to miss a tag from Garza, which in turn led to him taking the pin. Is there tension between Andrade and Garza? Does it have to do with Andrade caring too much about Zelina? Will this team ever get a name, or do I have to start calling them the VegaBoys (they like to party)?
On the subject of high drama and pathos, Dominik Mysterio made his real legit WWE wrestling debut against Seth Rollins, and seems like he has what it takes. I mean don’t get me wrong, Dom’s as green as George Steele’s tongue, but he’s got the tools and the look, not to mention the pedigree. He also had his parents, Rey and Angie Mysterio, with him at SummerSlam, which gave Seth lots of people to direct his heelishness at. Rollins even wore gear based on a classic Rey Mysterio cosplay from WCW, which is probably the most love the movie version of The Phantom has gotten since Rey wore that outfit.
Obviously Seth beat the hell out of Dominik, because that was always going to happen, but the important thing is that Dominik is a wrestler now. I’m not sure where he goes from here. Is he going to get some time at NXT? Seems like he could probably use it, but with legacy stars you never know. Is he going to turn on his dad and maybe steal his mask? Probably sooner or later.
Obviously Drew McIntyre and Randy Orton had a solid wrestling match for the WWE Championship, because they’re solid veteran wrestlers. I must admit I’m one of those who finds it hard to get excited about Randy Orton, so the best thing I can really say is that Drew retained. Then of course Randy turned up on Monday Night Raw and kicked Drew in the head a bunch of times, so I guess this is still happening for a while. Look, if you want to watch two guys who can wrestle having a wrestling match, this is definitely one you can watch.
The WWE Universal Championship match was less of a wrestling exhibition and more of a fight between two big, weird monsters in Braun Strowman and the Fiend Bray Wyatt. The Fiend continues to be hard to put down in that way that strains the limits of a viewer’s suspension of disbelief sometimes, but he also continues to be extremely creepy, which hopefully makes up for it. For a couple of years there, Braun was one of those “will he ever get the top title?” guys in WWE, and now that he’s finally had a run with it… I can’t say it really amounted to much. So he lost it to the Fiend, and then the most exciting thing on the show happened.
Roman Reigns, wearing a T-shirt that says “WRECK EVERYONE & LEAVE,” made his surprise return, wrecked everyone, and left. Well, not so much left as stood tall in the ring with the Fiend’s Title over his head. Every fan I’ve talked to was very excited to see him, which hopefully means it’s no longer cool to hate on him. He took a leave of absence early in the pandemic for the sake of his family’s health, and hopefully that decision isn’t compromised by this return.
So here we are: Post SummerSlam, Thunderdome in effect. Roman Reigns is back, the Fiend is Universal Champion, Bayley is still “Bayley Dos Straps” but Sasha’s no longer “Two Belts Banks.” Oh, and “Retribution” is still out there causing chaos, but you couldn’t tell that from watching this show. It’s been a weird year for WWE (and let’s be honest, everybody), between awkward Performance Center shows, layoffs, cinematic matches, and missing talent. But now is looking like time for a reboot, and we’ll see how that goes.
The NBA’s awards are getting doled out a bit differently this year. Instead of a huge award show following the conclusion of the year, the league is announcing them throughout the postseason. We already know that Toronto Raptors coach Nick Nurse is the 2019-20 Coach of the Year, and now, we know that the Defensive Player of the Year award will also go to someone in the Eastern Conference.
According to Chris Haynes and Vince Goodwill of Yahoo Sports, the award will go to Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks. The news was soon confirmed on TNT, as Antetokounmpo was joined by his entire team as head coach Mike Budenholzer announced the news and Brook Lopez handed him the trophy.
Antetokounmpo, the reigning league MVP and the favorite to be that award’s repeat winner, received 75 first-place votes. Anthony Davis, who got 12 first-place votes, came in second, while Rudy Gobert came in third.
Ben Simmons finished fourth in DPOY voting, with one first place vote. Full results, with Giannis taking home the award: pic.twitter.com/nRvfZ457XH
His ability to guard all five positions, protect the rim, and generally impose his will on that end of the floor makes Antetokounmpo an obvious pick for the award. He joins Kevin Garnett, Michael Jordan, Hakeem Olajuwon, and David Robinson as the only players to win both the MVP and DPOY awards in their careers — and can join Olajuwon and Jordan in doing so in the same season should he earn a second-straight MVP award this year.
The first round series between the Rockets and Thunder was the subject of much anticipation heading into the postseason. After all, it was loaded with story lines. It would feature Russell Westbrook against his former team, and it would pit Chris Paul against James Harden, whose contentious relationship was the subject of much debate.
For the first couple of games, however, it left a lot to be desired. Houston was able to cruise to a 2-0 series lead, as OKC appeared out-manned and outmatched despite their status the scrappy underdogs, and all signs pointed to a quick ticket to the second round for James Harden and company.
But CP3 wasn’t about roll and over die, and all of the sudden, the series is tied at two apiece heading into Game 5 on Wednesday. And now the Rockets have even more bad news. There was some hope that Westbrook might be able to return as the series went on, but according to the latest reports, he’ll remain out for Game 5 as he continues to recover from a quad injury that’s kept sidelined since before the postseason.
The Rockets have listed Russell Westbrook (quad strain) as OUT for Wednesday’s Game 5 against Oklahoma City
Several stars will miss upcoming games because of injury. The Blazers announced that Damian Lillard will sit out Game 5 against the Lakers with a knee sprain, while Kristaps Porzingis will miss his second straight game for the Mavs with knee soreness in their own pivotal Game 5.
It’s been almost 30 years since Keanu Reeves last played Theodore “Ted” Logan, who along with Alex Winter’s William S. “Bill” Preston, Esq., is one-half of cinema’s finest time-traveling dingbats, who return to screens this weekend with Bill & Ted Face the Music. But he knows his character inside and out. So, you’ll have to trust him when he corrects an assumption some people may have, namely: Bill and Ted don’t get high. At least not every day.
“Let me get one thing straight: Bill and Ted are not stoners,” Reeves told USA Today while promoting the threequel. Instead, they’re just sweet — and, you know, kind of dumb. But they’re dumb in a good way. “Bill and Ted they have a nice outlook on life. They like people.”
Face the Music finds the pair once again surfing through time and timelines, in a race to write yet another song that will save humanity from doom. Over their journeys they run into old friends — among them William Sadler’s Grim Reaper, from Bogus Journey — and also different versions of themselves. Perhaps some of those will turn out to be stoners.
In another timeline, Face the Music would already be out, opening in movie theaters nationwide and playing to packed houses filled with viewers cackling in unison. Instead, it’s opening this Friday, and most people will watch it at home over PVOD. But you know, at least at home you can spark one up, even if that’s something Bill and Ted would never do.
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