Category: Worldwide
Category Added in a WPeMatico Campaign
“It felt a little bit like something out of a movie, but it is our reality and it would be funny if it weren’t so serious.”
Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson were two of the first celebrities to test positive for COVID-19, and though they got through it, it wasn’t easy, the former has now revealed. As per Entertainment Weekly, the two-time Oscar-winner appeared on The National Defense Radio Show, on which he opened up about the ordeal, which happened in early March while they were in Australia, prepping to shoot a Baz Luhrmann-directed movie about Elvis Presley.
Hanks was to play his (in)famous manager, Colonel Tom Parker, but then he and his wife succumbed to the virus, forcing them to go into lockdown inside a hospital. The two periodically posted pictures of their two-week stay, which seemed to look relatively chipper and stiff upper lip-ish, but the truth was a bit more grim, with Hanks saying he had “bad body aches and was very fatigued.”
Still, he didn’t have it as bad as Wilson did. “Rita went through a tougher time than I did,” Hanks revealed. “She had a much higher fever. She had lost her sense of taste and sense of smell. She got absolutely no joy from food for a better part of three weeks.” He added that she “was so nauseous, she had to crawl on the floor from the bed to the facilities.”
Hanks also spoke about trying to exercise while in quarantine, but that he felt “wiped” 12 minutes into what was supposed to be a 30-minute set. He eventually told a nurse:
“Whoever it was, a doctor or nurse, would come into our air pressurized, isolation rooms. She said, ‘How are you feeling?’ and I said, ‘I just had the weirdest thing. I just tried to do basic stretches and exercises on the floor and I couldn’t even get halfway through … And she looked at me through her glasses like she was talking to the dumbest human being. And she said, ‘You have COVID-19.’”
Hanks and Wilson were able to return to their home in Los Angeles in late March. Last week, Hanks appeared, from his home, on the “at home” episode of SNL.
(Via EW)
The inaugural season of the Vancouver Titans in Overwatch League almost went perfectly. They were a dominant force from start to finish and reached the Grand Finals. It wasn’t a storybook ending for them however after they were swept by the San Francisco Shock in those Grand Finals, but it was a tremendous first campaign.
As such, there were high hopes coming into this season that they could once again make a run at the championship. That was until the games started being played. Vancouver wasn’t able to play many of its’ early season matchups due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Once the league switched over to an online only format however it was finally an opportunity for the Titans to return to glory. Unfortunately for them they have struggled out of the gates with a 2-2 overall record and a 7-8 record in maps played.
This could be early season jitters as well as changes to the meta, but the Vancouver Titans players are also apparently dealing with some internal frustrations. Rumors are beginning to circulate that they are frustrated with how management has represented them. On Sunday, the majority of the team removed the Vancouver Titans name from their Twitter accounts.
A “credible source” within the Overwatch scene reported that the Vancouver Titans players are unhappy with the handling and communication of their management.
The Vancouver Titans are managed by Luminosity Gaming. https://t.co/HPJ8vQSJOI
— Parker Mackay (@INTERRO) April 19, 2020
What is the cause of these feuds isn’t well known at the moment, but there is plenty of speculation online that Vancouver’s fate could be similar to that of former Overwatch League Champion London Spitfire. The Spitfire famously had the entire original championship winning roster, except for Yung-hoon “Krillin” Jung, leave or be released from the team following the end of the 2019 Overwatch League season.
If the Titans are so frustrated with management that they don’t even want to identify with them on their Twitter then a Spitfire kind of ending could be on the way. Of course, it’s a long season and there’s plenty of time for this relationship to be solved. The Titans are still an excellent team and if they start racking up wins then that could be enough to salvage everything. “Could” being a big if here.
The COVID-19 pandemic continues to ravage the world, with no end in sight, and while the news is relentlessly grim, they’ve also been countered by stories of hope and decency. Case in point: As per Entertainment Weekly, Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis have launched what they call “Quarantine Wine” — a service in which people buy vino and 100% of the profits are spread to various charities.
— ashton kutcher (@aplusk) April 19, 2020
The power couple announced they had teamed up with Nocking Point Wines and Battle Creek Vineyards to sell bottles to thirsty/bored/anxious quarantiners, and that the profits will go to charities they personally vetted. Those charities range from Give Directly and America’s Food Fund, which aid families hit hard by the outbreak, to Direct Relief and The Frontline Responders Fund, which supply equipment to frontline medical workers. The bottles even have a customizable front label, allowing patrons to choose a message of their liking.
It’s a heartwarming gesture by Kutcher and Kunis, even as it reminds us of the severity of the pandemic, which has resulted in not only 35,000 deaths in the U.S. alone, with no end in sight, but also a dramatic spike in joblessness, with 22 million Americans having filed for unemployment since the crisis hit. The federal response has been slow and flawed, with millions having trouble receiving their promised stimulus check. In other word, we have to help each other, perhaps with some help from celebrities.
You can patronize Quarantine Wine on its official site.
(Via EW)
With the NBA currently locked down due to the current COVID-19 pandemic, players across the league are being forced to find ways to workout from home. While these are professional athletes and they have trainers crafting them at home workouts that can keep them in decent physical shape, there are still some lacking the ability to keep their game sharp. Due to most of the country under national stay at home orders players have been locked out of facilities. Not only does this mean they can’t access their workout equipment, but many of them have also lost the ability to just shoot around.
There are a few players with home gyms or outdoor court set-ups, but the majority of players don’t even own a basketball hoop. Whether it’s from a desire to keep work and basketball separate or just not enough space, players across the league have struggled to find ways to get shots up at home due to simply not having the appropriate setup. One team that will be more ready than most? The Miami Heat.
Jimmy Butler recognized this problem early and has apparently sent rims to all his teammates so they could install them in their homes and get some shots up, via Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel.
Even before the Miami Heat revealed last week that he stood as the lone player on his team with access to a fixed basketball stanchion, backboard and rim, Jimmy Butler was dishing assists.
It turns out that the All-Star forward was ahead of the curve when it came to one-on-none basketball, ordering rims for his entire team at the same time had ordered the one for himself.
A party close to Butler confirmed Sunday to the South Florida Sun Sentinel that Butler already had the gear shipped from a Utah-based supplier at the time the Heat, during a media conference call Friday with strength coach Eric Foran, revealed that only Butler had such equipment in place, with teammate Goran Dragic working with a portable hoop.
This is a very nice gesture from Butler to his teammates. By sending them rims they should be able to find ways to at least get some semblance of shooting in. Now, whether those that live in apartments and condos will be able to get a goal set up remains to be seen, but this is the type of gesture that can set the team up to be in better rhythm if and when the NBA returns this summer.
Butler also ordered these rims for more than just his teammates. He’ll also be sending a shipment to local schools and youth facilities once stay at home orders have been lifted.
“In addition, Butler and his staff ordered an equivalent amount to eventually be distributed to schools or other youth facilities, once clearance for such use is allowing amid this current sheltering in place for the new coronavirus pandemic.”
Jimmy Butler’s borderline insane commitment to working out and working on his game has become a punchline at times — particularly when it gets to being theatrical, like the 3 a.m. workouts this offseason. However, in this case, his concern about his teammates being able to put work in seems genuine and he’s also going above and beyond for the community as well. Ball never stops for Butler and the Heat, even when everyone is stuck at home.
