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The Atlanta Hawks drafted Luka Doncic third overall in the 2018 NBA Draft. Of course, the team decided to trade him that night for Trae Young, which has worked out pretty well for everyone involved. But on Friday night in Atlanta, Doncic put on a show in the building that he could have called home, as the Dallas Mavericks star exploded for 73 points in a 148-143 win over the Hawks.

Doncic made it clear from the jump that he planned on throwing down a special performance. He had 18 points after the first quarter, and went into the locker room at halftime with 41 points on an ultra-efficient 16-for-21 shooting.

The bad news for the Mavs was that Atlanta was able to keep up with him, as the two teams went into the locker room tied up at 66. That continued to be the case through three, with Dallas only holding onto a 108-102 lead. However, Doncic just would not stop scoring against the team that drafted him, as he had 57 after three.

The scoring continued in the fourth, with Doncic registering the first eight points of the frame for the Mavs in about 90 seconds of work. And then, he stopped scoring for a while, as he hit a nearly 4-minute drought as Atlanta tried their hardest to keep him from putting up points.

While the Hawks did their best to keep him from scoring — and it generally worked, as Doncic would give the ball up, get denied by Dejounte Murray, and just have his teammates play 4-on-4 as he stood near midcourt — Doncic was able to get to the free throw line a few times and pick up some easy points. And with just under three minutes left in the fourth, he was finally able to eclipse 70 by getting out in transition, making a layup, getting fouled, and hitting a free throw.

As Atlanta tried to make one final push in the waning moments of the game, Doncic got to 73 points by once again scoring, getting fouled, and connecting on a free throw.

With his performance, Doncic set the Mavericks franchise single-game scoring record (it was 60 points scored by, shockingly, Luka Doncic) and eclipsed the 70 points Joel Embiid scored earlier this week to set a new league-high this season. He also became the first European player to hit the 70-point mark, and joined Wilt Chamberlain, Kobe Bryant, and David Thompson as the only players to score at least 73 points in a single game.

Doncic’s 73 points came on a ridiculous 25-for-33 shooting from the field with an 8-for-13 clip from three, and hit he 15 of his 16 attempts from the free throw line. Additionally, he had 10 points and seven assists.

There are nearly 90 known covers of Toto’s “Africa.” Goodness knows there are countless more not recorded. It’s just one of those enduring hits that remains special no matter what clever spin is put on it.

In fact, many renditions continue to be just as timeless as the original. Take for instance this gem from Angel City Chorale (below).

What makes this performance so unique is what happens before any music starts playing—as the singers use their hands to mimic the sounds of rainfall.

First, there’s the small pitter patter, as the group rubs their hands together. At the conductor’s signal, that drizzle becomes heavier with snaps, then turns into a downpour with thigh claps and synchronized jumping…then finally dying down as the intro notes begin to play.

It’s such a simple artistic choice that somehow adds so much.

And of course, the actual singing is glorious.

Watch:

This cover actually earned Angel City Chorale a standing ovation on “America’s Got Talent” Season 13.

During their audition, founder Sue Fink shared that her mission was to “bring together people of diverse backgrounds and build community and build community when we make something beautiful together.”

Safe to say—that mission is accomplished. Just take as look at how much of an impact this song alone has made:

“Tears of joy. We need more of this positively in the world. Music is universal!”

“Why am I crying. Amazing performance!”

“Jan 2024 and they still rock!”

“Watched this at least 50 times. Wonderful cover.”

“Most outstanding performance. Living in South Africa this hits home and gives me chills.”

Sounds like they really did bless those rains.

If you’d like to hear even more of Angel City Chorale’s amazing covers, head on over to Youtube or Instagram

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Justin Timberlake announced his new Forget Tomorrow Tour, along with treating fans to his new single, “Selfish.” Given it’s been years since the pop star dropped an album, he is building anticipation for his return, with Timberlake’s record, Everything I Thought It Was, arriving in March.

Timberlake is also set to appear as the musical guest on Saturday Night Live for tomorrow’s episode (January 27), making it his first time stopping by the show in a long while.

Here’s what to know if you’re looking to purchase tickets to catch him in concert.

How Much Are Tickets For Justin Timberlake’s ‘The Forget Tomorrow World Tour’ 2024?

For those looking to go to one of the stops on Justin Timberlake’s Forget Tomorrow Tour, it’s still unclear how much exactly the tickets will cost. According to Seatgeek, for an NYC show, his tickets averaged around $171 in the past — but it’s unclear if this new tour will follow a similar pattern.

Those who are premium members of the singer’s fan club will receive access to exclusive seats during their presale, which starts on Monday, January 29. They are also offering VIP package options to members.

Tickets will then open to the general public on Friday, February 2 at 10 a.m. local time. A complete list of dates for Timberlake’s tour, along with additional information, can be found here.

On the heels of a bombshell story published in the Wall Street Journal earlier this week, Vince McMahon has tendered his resignation from TKO Group Holdings, the parent company of WWE. The news was announced by Nick Khan, WWE’s president and a member of TKO’s Board of Directors.

“I wanted to inform you that Vince McMahon has tendered his resignation from his positions as TKO Executive Chairman and on the TKO Board of Directors,” Khan said in an email obtained by Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful. “He will no longer have a role with TKO Group Holdings or WWE.”

The news of McMahon’s resignation was confirmed by Variety.

This is not the first time that McMahon has left WWE amid controversy, as he previously retired in July of 2022 while he was being investigated for misconduct. That did not stick, however, as reports later that year indicated that McMahon was planning a comeback, and at the beginning of 2023, he rejoined the company‘s board of directors. This beget a highly-publicized sale to Endeavor in April of last year and the creation of TKO, where McMahon served as the executive chairman.

But on Thursday, the Wall Street Journal published a damning article titled “Vince McMahon Accused of Sex Trafficking by WWE Staffer He Paid to Keep Quiet.” You can read the full piece here, but it led to a firestorm that brought McMahon’s future in the company into question, and in a statement via a spokesperson, McMahon responded to the story by denying the allegations and saying that he plans on defending himself. He repeated these sentiments while explaining his decision to resign.

The news of McMahon’s resignation comes hours after Slim Jim decided to “pause our promotional activities with WWE.”

Fostering an environment where consent is expected and respected can be difficult if you don’t quite know how to make it work. Consent has been a big conversation in society since the “Me Too” movement where people shared their stories of sexual assault or sexual violence. A theme began developing around consent and it became clear that not everyone understood what consent and non-consent looks like in a hormone-fueled moment.

This has led to parents trying to figure out the best ways to teach their children about verbal consent and enthusiastic consent. But there’s one area that sometimes gets overlooked and one mom is taking to social media to show how she teachers her sons to recognize non-verbal body language that can mean consent and non-consent.

Kelsey Pomeroy, a mom of two boys, recently shared a video showing how she is teaching her children to not only listen for verbal consent but to look for signs of physical consent as well.

In the video she’s standing in the kitchen and the text overlay reads, “I am a mom of 2 boys and we play the body language game to teach consent.” It starts off by her telling her young son that she’s not going to be speaking during the game but he has to figure out from her body language if she is saying yes or no. Her son immediately understood when it was okay to hug and not okay.

“We talk about how even if someone isn’t saying ‘no’ with their words, they might be saying ‘no’, ‘I don’t like this’, or ‘I’m uncomfortable’ with their body language. That means we stop,” Pomeroy writes in the caption.

The mom of two says that they also reverse the roles so her sons get practice saying “no” with their words and their body. There are also conversations about standing up for others and reading body language in other situations, and parents are applauding her lessons.

See on Instagram

“As the mom of 2 girls, I cried watching this, thinking of the future respectful men my girls will get to interact with because of awesome moms like you. Thank you,” one woman writes.

“As a mom of a 2 yr old boy who LOVES to give hugs to other little girls, this is so freaking smart!!! I’ve defaulted so many times with trying to tell the little girl to tell him no, and I’m totally perpetuating patriarchal Norms by doing that. What a great exercise to do with your little one (especially little boys). Thank you so much for sharing this,” another mom praises.

“I don’t have kids, but I work with them! I love that you’re able to teach this with your son and I really wish more parents would teach their kids this!! Especially teaching him body language cues, since not everyone is ABLE to speak with their words,” someone else says.

Clearly this message is much appreciated by other parents who are now taking notes on how to play the body language game with their own children. Teaching consent doesn’t have to be hard and it’s always worth it.

When Mr. T burst onto the pop culture landscape in the early ‘80s, he was a curious character, to say the least. People had a lot of questions about his name, copious amounts of gold jewelry and West African warrior hairstyle.

His personality was also intriguing. He was a tough guy but also a very thoughtful man of faith.

In 1983, when TV news reporter Bobbie Wygant asked him a rather rude question, Mr. T gave a very thoughtful response that showed that behind his larger-than-life persona, he understood the importance of humility.

“I’m looking at you with $10 million worth of diamonds and gold and everything and then I’m looking at your shoes that are just a disaster,” Wygant said with a smirk. “Now, will you explain to me what’s with these shoes? All taped up, looking tacky.”

“Some people might see this as tacky, but there’s a message in these shoes. You see, these shoes keep me humble, and if you recall, the last time that we met, I had these shoes and they were in better shape,” Mr. T said.

Mr. T eloquently responds to a reporter who makes fun of his shoes.

— (@)

“But these shoes were handed down through my family,” Mr. T continued. “My father wore them, my brothers wore them and things like that. So they keep me humble. Let me remember that I have brothers and sisters back in Chicago. I got a mother and father that I must take care of. So I see, out in Hollywood, and especially all the money I’m making now, it’s so easy for me to be caught up in all this material stuff and forget where I come from.”

Today, Justin Timberlake officially dropped the lead single, “Selfish,” from his forthcoming album, Everything I Thought It Was — which he has been heavily promoting, given it is his first record in years. However, not everyone was having it, especially Britney Spears fans.

For those who don’t remember, Spears dropped her memoir, where she didn’t hold back about how she felt about her relationship with Justin Timberlake — and that she reportedly had an abortion when they dated in the 2000s.

Because of this, Britney’s fans decided to stream and buy her 2011 song, which was also titled “Selfish.” They hilariously managed to get enough on board that it jumped to No. 1 on the iTunes Song Chart.

Timberlake’s “Selfish” release sat below it, according to Variety. “The more I think about it, the funnier it is,” one user reacted to the news.

“Turn this up! And Femme Fatale was my album too,” another added.

As for what else Timberlake has planned, he recently announced his The Forget Tomorrow World Tour, which goes on sale next week. More information on that, along with his new album, can be found here. He is also set to perform as the musical guest on Saturday Night Live tomorrow night.

Today, Justin Timberlake officially dropped the lead single, “Selfish,” from his forthcoming album, Everything I Thought It Was — which he has been heavily promoting, given it is his first record in years. However, not everyone was having it, especially Britney Spears fans.

For those who don’t remember, Spears dropped her memoir, where she didn’t hold back about how she felt about her relationship with Justin Timberlake — and that she reportedly had an abortion when they dated in the 2000s.

Because of this, Britney’s fans decided to stream and buy her 2011 song, which was also titled “Selfish.” They hilariously managed to get enough on board that it jumped to No. 1 on the iTunes Song Chart.

Timberlake’s “Selfish” release sat below it, according to Variety. “The more I think about it, the funnier it is,” one user reacted to the news.

“Turn this up! And Femme Fatale was my album too,” another added.

As for what else Timberlake has planned, he recently announced his The Forget Tomorrow World Tour, which goes on sale next week. More information on that, along with his new album, can be found here. He is also set to perform as the musical guest on Saturday Night Live tomorrow night.

Shortly after Taylor Swift would reportedly be taking legal action against pornographic AI images of herself that have made the rounds online, SAG-AFTRA has spoken out in the pop star’s defense. The acting union called the generated pictures “upsetting, harmful, and deeply concerning,” according to Variety.

“The development and dissemination of fake images — especially those of a lewd nature — without someone’s consent must be made illegal,” they shared. “As a society, we have it in our power to control these technologies, but we must act now before it is too late.”

“We support Taylor, and women everywhere who are the victims of this kind of theft of their privacy and right to autonomy,” the union added in the statement.

The outlet notes that during the SAG-AFTRA strike that took place a few months ago, the performers fought to receive “contract provisions that require both consent and payment for use of AI to digitally replicate an actor’s performance.” They have also fought for laws that would ban being able to replicate someone’s image without consent for deepfake pornographic images — or even other harmful aspects.

Even during a recent White House press briefing, one of the questions was if President Biden supported the AI ban. “It is alarming,” Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House press secretary, shared. “We are alarmed by the reports of the circulation of images that you just laid out… There should be legislation, obviously, to deal with this issue.”

Swift has not said anything about the situation yet.

It’s common knowledge that as we age, our bodies change, and at some point, we aren’t able to do the things we used to do.

But somebody forgot to tell Betty Brussel that.

In January of 2024, the 99-year-old Dutch-Canadian swimmer shattered the world record for the 400-meter freestyle swim at a swim meet in Saanich, British Columbia, completing the event in 12 minutes and 50.3 seconds—nearly four minutes faster than the previous record in the 100 to 104-year-old age group. (Though Brussel is currently 99, swimming competitions go by year of birth to determine age categories.)

Swimming may be low-impact, but it’s not easy. The fact that there is a 100 to 104-year-old age group for swimming is a testament to some of our elders’ fitness and stamina. Even just climbing onto the platform at an entire century old is a feat worthy of acknowledgment. Breaking not only the 400-meter freestyle record but also the 50-meter breaststroke and 50-meter backstroke records as well is a whole other level.

And get this: Brussel didn’t start competing until she was in her late 60s, which makes her record-breaking swims all the more impressive.

“When I’m racing, I don’t think about anything,” she told Guardian Sport. “Nothing. I just count the laps, so that I know how many I have left. I always try to find a pace that I can sustain – you’re asking a lot from your body in these races. And on the last lap, well, I give it everything I have.”

Brussel learned to swim in the canals of the Netherlands, where she grew up. But according to the Washington Post, as the second eldest of 12 children, Brussel was tasked with looking after her younger siblings, so she wasn’t able to pursue the sports she was interested in such as swimming, skating and gymnastics. In fact, she didn’t even take up swimming as a serious hobby until after she retired in 1982. She entered her first competition nine years later, at 68 years old.

For the past 30 years, Brussel has competed in swim meets all around the world. She still drives herself to swim practices twice a week and walks for 45 minutes on the days she doesn’t swim. The only physical help she needs at this point is a hearing aid and a hand to give her some stability while climbing up onto the swim platform.

According to her swim coach, Brussel doesn’t really care much about the world records she’s broken, which are plentiful,. She just really enjoys swimming.

“I love being in a pool and gliding through the water,” she told the Globe and Mail. “I feel better when I get out than when I go in. Swimming is my love. It makes me forget all of my worries and I feel great.”

Brussel is a widow of 11 years and lives with her rescue cat, Mika. She has three children, ages 69, 72 and 74. She competed in five events at the Saanich swim meet and was recovered and feeling energized within an hour. She will turn 100 in July.

A documentary about Brussel and her extraordinary swimming accomplishments is in the works, tentatively due to come out in the fall of 2024.