GoneTrending

Justin Bieber will be trying out a new location for an upcoming concert. Thing is, it’s not part of the real world. Bieber teamed up with Wave, a leader in virtual entertainment, for an interactive virtual concert that’s set to occur later this month. The collaboration, entitled “Justin Bieber – An Interactive Virtual Experience,” will combine gaming, real-time motion-capture, and live musical performances. He will also perform songs from his 2021 album Justice.

Thanks to Wave’s technology, Bieber will turn into a digital avatar as he performs an entire live show from a virtual world for the very first time. Viewers will be able to appear on stage with him at certain times as well as influence his performance and environment in real time. “I am a big believer in Wave and love the platform as a new way for me to engage with my fans,” Bieber said about the upcoming performance. “I’m excited to be using this technology to bring people together and connect with fans from all over the world. I can’t wait for them to check out this interactive performance.”

The concert will air on November 18 at 6pm PST/9pm EST and people can sign up on wave.watch to experience the event for free. Rebroadcasts will occur on November 20 at 8pm PST/11pm EST and November 21 at 11pm PST/2pm EST. The United Kingdom, Europe, and South America will receive a rebroadcast on November 21 at 7pm GMT while Australia, Asia, and the Pacific’s own will air that same day at 3pm AEDT.

You can read more about the upcoming interactive experience on Wave’s website here.

The GOP has always had a sick obsession with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, not the least being her colleagues in Congress. Marjorie Taylor Greene has a long history of harassing the New York representative, even once stalking her outside of her office. But Paul Gosar may have gone too far. Over the weekend, the Arizona congressman shared an anime video someone had made of him killing both AOC and President Joe Biden. AOC had a devastating response to the tweet, which could land Gosar in hot water. But perhaps the angriest response came from his very own sister.

Jennifer Gosar, the youngest of the representative’s nine siblings, went on MSNBC and it is clear that she does not look up to her oldest brother.

“I am absolutely beyond aghast at how much this man has gotten away with,” she said. “I don’t know what he would need to do for any one of those people in quote ‘a leadership position’ to hold him accountable.”

She added, “No one, no one holds him accountable. Not Kevin McCarthy, not [ed. former] Senate Leader Mitch McConnell, not Senate Leader Chuck Schumer, not Speaker Nancy Pelosi, not Attorney General Merrick Garland. No one holds him accountable.” She then called him a “sociopath.”

Paul Gosar’s sister wasn’t only concerned about him posting violent videos of him murdering his colleagues. She said there was “evidence” that he was part of a “conspiracy to commit treason against the United States of America.” She added, “Where is the accountability?”

Jennifer also spoke about the latter issue on CNN back in June, telling Anderson Cooper that she believes “my brother was an organizer of, or part-organizer of [the insurrection], and I have no evidence to the contrary to suggest anything different.”

Sure enough, Paul played a major role in Rolling Stone’s explosive report on how several Trump loyalists reportedly played a major role in the lead up to the Jan. 6 Capitol siege. According to sources who are cooperating with the bipartisan committee into the fateful day, he offered organizers a blanket pardon for anything they might do in the attempt to overturn the 2020 election. Gosar, who has spent the 10 months since the incident trying to work up the far-right mob over the shooting death of insurrectionist Ashlii Babbitt, denied it.

In her blistering takedown of Paul Gosar, AOC had a lot to say about him. She called him a “creepy member I work with who fundraises for Neo-Nazi groups” and a “collection of wet toothpicks.” She sad that white supremacy is “for extremely fragile people &sad men like him, whose self concept relies on the myth that he was born superior because deep down he knows he couldn’t open a pickle jar or read a whole book by himself.” But of course, she said, he’ll “ face no consequences bc @GOPLeader cheers him on with excuses.”

But perhaps not this time.

(Via The Hill and The Daily Beast)

On Tuesday, it was reported that Dean Stockwell — one of the most diverse performers in the entertainment industry, whose credits reach back to the 1940s — had passed away. He was 85 years old. Stockwell lived quite the picturesque life. He was a child actor who hit young adulthood just in time to play a role in the counterculture. His credits span movies and TV, from two appearances on Columbo to five seasons on Quantum Leap, and even a toe in the music world. As such, his passing attracted a wide range of mourners.

Stockwell’s career began in the Golden Age of Hollywood, when he was only nine years old, when he was a regular go-to for precocious kids. He appeared opposite Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra in 1947’s Anchors Aweigh and, the same year, the growing son of William Powell and Myrna Loy’s married sleuths Nick and Nora in Song of the Thin Man.

As he got older, he co-starred in a Leopold and Loeb-like court drama with Orson Welles (Compulsion) and held his own opposite Katharine Hepburn, Ralph Richardson, and Jason Robards in the 1962 film version of Eugene O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey into Night. As the counterculture took over the culture, he was there, appearing in Psych-Out, with a young, ponytailed Jack Nicholson, and with his friend Dennis Hopper in 1971’s The Last Movie.

He was also good friends with Neil Young, and the two collaborated twice. Stockwell designed the bizarre collage cover of his 1976 album American Stars ‘n Bars, and the two co-directed the 1982 musical comedy Human Highway, which features, among other sights, Devo jamming out to Young’s classic “Hey Hey, My My.”

To some, Stockwell was most remembered as Al, the companion to Scott Bakula’s time-traveling hero on Quantum Leap. Each episode found Bakula’s Dr. Sam Beckett (no relation to the legendary playwright, though the name was nudge-nudgey) unwittingly finding himself zapped into the body of a random person over time. Stockwell’s Al, who was an admiral from his real time who communicated with him via hologram, was at once Sam’s friend and guide as well as the show’s comic relief.

Bakula was one of many to honor Stockwell after news of his passing broke. “We connected immediately,” he wrote, saying that he “stuck with us” even after he received his first and only Oscar nomination, for the 1987 comedy Married to the Mob. “I loved him dearly and was honored to know him,” Bakula wrote. “He made me a better human being…”

Stockwell also worked with David Lynch twice: in his 1984 version of Dune (Stockwell played the doomed Dr. Yueh) and, even more memorably, as the enigmatic Ben in Blue Velvet. Lynch made sure to honor Stockwell during his daily weather report YouTube video.

Another Lynch alum, Russ Tamblyn, paid tribute as well. The two had come up the ranks together, appearing as children in 1948’s The Boy with Green Hair, with starred Stockwell as a boy so worried about impending war that his hair turns a freakish color. “Dean. My oldest friend. A godfather-figure to my daughter, Amber. Brilliant artist. Loving dad,” Tamblyn wrote. “Rest easy now, brother. Give Dennis [Hopper] a hug from me when you see him on the other side.”

Stockwell affected many over his seven decade-plus career, from those he worked with to those who admired his craft, his range, and his resiliency.

We leave you with maybe Stockwell’s most famous screen sequence: Him lip-synching along to Roy Orbison’s “In Dreams” in Blue Velvet as his friend Dennis Hopper looks on in tears.

An end-of-game fracas on Monday night caught the attention of basketball fans, as Markieff Morris hip checked Nikola Jokic and the reigning NBA MVP responded by running up behind the Miami Heat forward and knocking him to the ground. Heat players were furious, Jokic was tossed, and Jokic’s brothers made a Twitter account so they could get into it with Morris’ twin brother, Marcus.

The Inside the NBA crew had some pretty strong thoughts on the whole thing, but you might be surprised to learn they were in Jokic’s corner here. Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley both agree that there should be a one-game suspension handed out because that’s what the rule is, but both Hall of Fame inductees said they liked Jokic taking matters into his own hands like this.

“He gave him a shot in the back and whiplashed him,” Ernie Johnson said when Barkley asked what Jokic did to deserve some sort of slap on the wrist.

“Hold on, Ernie,” Shaq replied. “It’s called retaliation. First of all, when you hit me, don’t turn around.”

Shaq then referenced his famous fight with Brad Miller of the Chicago Bulls before explaining what a big man does in this situation.

“As a big guy, when a little guy hits you, you gotta touch him on back,” Shaq said. “I have no problem with what The Joker did, I actually like it as a big guy. You got these guys foulin’ ’em, hanging on. He hit him, intentional, unnecessary roughness, so what do you do as a big guy? You go hit him back. When you hit me, don’t turn your head, because it’s coming. You’re either gonna get it in the front, or you’re gonna get it in the back.”

Johnson then asked if it was “a dangerous and dirty play,” with everyone on set disagreeing. Barkley then explained why he shares Shaq’s sentiment.

“Morris started it, let’s get [that] first,” Barkley said. “Joker retaliated, and then people say, ‘Well, he hit him in the back.’ Well, if you hit me, I’m with Shaq on this. Let me tell you something Ernie — if you hit me, you better not turn your damn back, because I’m coming back at you. You can’t hit somebody and turn your back.”

There is no word on whether Jokic and/or Morris will face any sort of punishment from the league.

Towards the end of last year, Phoebe Bridgers launched her label Saddest Factory Records, saying that it had been a “dream” of hers to start one of her own. Months after the announcement, she signed the trio Muna to the imprint, making her and singer Claud as the only two artists on the label. Muna then received help from Bridgers on “Silk Chiffon,” their debut release. The track arrived with a delightful music video that featured the Muna band members in head-to-toe cheer gear and Bridgers in pink hair in a song the band described as one “for kids to have their first gay kiss to.”

Now, more than two months after that song arrived, Muna and Bridgers delivered their first performance of the track on late-night TV. On The Late Late Show With James Corden, Muna and Bridgers shared a bubbly rendition of the track backed by a pool of pink balloons, shimmery decorations, and more.

After signing to Saddest Factory earlier this year, Muna shared a tongue-in-cheek statement that explained how they got signed. “Phoebe asked us to be in a four person couple with her,” Muna wrote. “We said, ‘Sadly, we are all taken but we will happily sign to your record label for the small fee of 10 million dollars.’ After much negotiation, she obliged. We look forward to this lifelong partnership and Phoebe raising our first born children, as was included in the contract.”

You can watch their performance of “Silk Chiffon” on Corden above.

Robert Sarver’s tenure as the owner of the Phoenix Suns has come under heavy scrutiny in recent days following a report from Baxter Holmes of ESPN alleging that he fostered a hostile work environment. This included a number of incidents of racism, sexism, and sexual harassment, and in the aftermath, the NBA has launched an investigation into Sarver and the franchise.

A new report from Holmes indicates that Sarver’s wife, Penny, responded to these allegations and the subsequent investigation by reaching out from a trio of ex-Suns employees — two via her Instagram account, one via text. One of the former employees said they viewed the correspondence they received from Sarver as “a threat.”

The first message Sarver sent included the line, “Think about your own child for a second and imagine the tables turned,” while the second featured, “Your interpretation of what happened is so far from the truth. You are crushing my families lives.” In the third, Sarver told its recipient, “You are such a liar. In your trying to destroy my husband with [your] lies — you have destroyed my family and children.”

While Sarver did not dispute that she sent the messages, she did push back against their characterization in a statement to ESPN.

“Over the weekend, I decided on my own to reach out to a few people to try to set the record straight and to share how disappointed and hurt I am by the lies that are circulating about my husband and the Suns organization,” Penny Sarver said. “I shared the betrayal that I felt and I touched on some of the pain that we are going through as a family.

“Any suggestion that I tried to ‘intimidate’ anyone is as silly as it is wrong and outrageous.”

It is unclear how Sarver knew that these individuals spoke to ESPN for its original piece highlighting her husband’s alleged behavior, or why she thought reaching out to these people was a good idea.

Imagine how different the world would be if cis-gendered men had the ability to give birth? Would the state of Texas attempt to ban abortions after six weeks or would they be available on-demand?

Would we live in a country without mandatory paid maternity leave? How much more affordable would childcare be? Would there be a tax on period products? How would we treat people experiencing period pain?

A few brave men decided to see what life was like for people who have periods in a funny but enlightening video that’s gone viral on TikTok. In a video posted by Benz Trap House that has over 1.4 million views, a group of guys tried a period simulator to experience what menstrual cramps really feel like.

Period simulators are essentially the same as labor simulators. They’re called transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) machines that are designed to relieve pain. But when turned up a notch can create intense, debilitating discomfort.

---

The group took a semi-scientific approach to the experiment with a woman acting as a control subject. At the beginning of the video, she attaches the simulator to an area near her ovaries and turns it up to ten, the highest setting. In the clip, the group looks impressed as she endures the extreme setting without showing any discomfort.

The men would not do as well.

The boys tried a period simulator #fyp #foryou #foryoupage #funny #periodcramps #periodsimulator #viral

When the first guy attempted to wear the period simulator he was shocked by the discomfort. “Is it supposed to hurt like that?” the second guy says before erupting in nervous laughter.

The third guy said that he felt the pain all the way down to his knee caps.

At one point in the video, the period simulator is attached to a woman and a man at the same time. When the device is turned on, the guy is in extreme pain while the woman stands still, claiming the feelings created by the machine are “not even as bad as a cramp.”

“Yeah, my cramps hurt worse than this,” she added.

A lot of people who menstruate felt validated after seeing the guys experience their first period.

“‘You feel that in your back, boi?’ every month, friend,” a commenter named Crystal said.

One of the most popular comments was from Candyce, who said: “I’m convinced if men could get pregnant they’d have abortion clinics on every corner and paid maternity leave the whole pregnancy.”

Another commenter, S DeMarco, pointed out that women have to go through an entire day in pain without a break.

“When he said ‘it’s stabbing me what do I do?’ You go to work, clean the house and continue on bb,” she wrote.

Shellz took reality up a notch. “Let’s add headaches. And period poops. And bloating. And the feeling of blood leaving you. And the nausea,” she wrote.

It’s cool that the lighthearted video has gone viral because it’ll give some people newfound respect for the pain that people who have periods go through. Some who watched the video thought that period simulators should be mandatory in sex ed classes.

Imagine how different the world would be if everyone experienced menstrual pain just once in their life?

---

@lamebaby47 if you see me on a walk know that i’m doing performance art #fyp ♬ original sound – yeehaw

TikTok is a world full of wellness trends. It would be rare to peruse the popular hashtags without seeing at least one athletic challenge, “what I eat in a day” post or some other video showcasing someone’s commitment to health, often in an unattainable way. Just take a look at this article about TikTok’s “That Girl” trend from earlier this year, and you’ll get a quick idea of why some of these posts are just plain cringey.

Piras took this idea and used it to her advantage, finding a way to flip the script.

This faux regimen would include waking up at 7 a.m. every day (ironically) and going on a walk each morning (ironically). In the video, Piras explained her logic that approaching things with this kind of humor would actually make it fun for her. “Then eventually,” she told TikTok, “that’s just gonna be my routine.” And you know what? She might be onto something.

@lamebaby47 it’s giving pussy pop explosion gun sounds #fyp ♬ Vroom Vroom – Charli XCX

In his book “Atomic Habits,” human behavior expert James Clear states that for a habit to become permanent, you have to make it satisfying. What gets immediately rewarded gets repeated. And in due time, you can incentivize yourself to continue your habits with small positive reinforcement until your change of state itself becomes rewarding enough.

This can be especially true in health routines. Clear goes on to say that far more important than following the latest fitness trends, is finding something that feels enjoyable. Doing this, in combination with what he calls the other three laws of behavior change (which include making it easy, making it attractive and making it obvious), we are far more likely to slowly integrate new behaviors until they become our new identity.

In Piras’ case, making a routine satisfying meant making it “camp.” Pairing her videos with silly things like The Home Depot theme song, or captions like “cosplay as a divorced single mom walking in the park.” Not taking anything seriously.

And guess what? As James Clear would have probably predicted, it worked.

Fast forward to two weeks later, and Piras is still maintaining her routine. “It’s been two weeks and I’ve been on a walk every single day. I get up at 7:30 a.m. every single day and I am someone who sucks at having a routine,” she said in an updated post, reporting that “this is working for me. I think I fixed myself.”

Would you look at that … take away the pressure of perfection, inject some silliness and joy and as if by magic, an otherwise impossible task is suddenly doable. More than doable, it’s automatic. Piras explained in an interview with Mashable that doing things in irony is “fake it till you make it, but repackaged for Gen Z.”

Piras’ ingenious life hack started to catch on, as others realized they could find the gumption to go to classes, match their socks and sport high ponytails with fanny packs on their morning strolls, all in the name of satire. Ironically, Piras has become some of a wellness influencer.

@lamebaby47 got interviewed about my silly little tiktok lmao thank you so much @ecaviar ♬ WHY IS EVERYONE USING THIS – .

The next time you’re faced with the challenge of creating a new routine—be that sticking to an exercise regimen or some other necessary evil—try making it camp. It could be the only mindset tweak you need to actually make it happen.

As for Piras, her next goal is to incorporate weight training to get ripped. But you know, ironically of course.

Dolls are one of the most common toys kids play with around the world, but there are some kids who have never seen a doll that looks like them. Kids who have physical disabilities, birth defects or other unique features can’t go to the store and see what makes them special in a doll on the shelf.

Thanks to a mom in the United Kingdom, they can now have one made, though.

Clare Tawell first made a doll for her youngest daughter Matilda (Tilly) in 2017. Tilly was born deaf and has been wearing hearing aids since she was 6 weeks old. Tawell wanted to find her a doll that had hearing aids like her, but had no luck.

“There was nothing out there that represented my little girl,” Tawell writes on her website. “It was like she didn’t matter, she didn’t conform to what society considers ‘normal’ so why bother acknowledging her.”

She channeled her frustration into creativity and made a doll with hearing aids that looked just like Tilly’s. She was thrilled. Soon other families wanted similar dolls, and BrightEars was born.

---

“Over time parents of children with other medical devices/conditions contacted me and asked if I could make a doll that represented their child,” Tawell writes. “Yet again the Mama Bear in me was awoken with rage that there were not any dolls for these children and so I created them with the same amount of love, care and attention that I gave to making my daughter’s own one.”

BrightEars dolls include cleft lips, strawberry marks, feeding tubes and ports, and more.

Imagine what it must be like for a child with a cleft lip to have a doll that looks like them.

Or for a child with a strawberry mark.

Tawell makes dolls with all kinds of medically necessary attachments, such as feeding tubes, insulin pumps, urinary catheters and more.

She makes lots of dolls with various kinds of hearing aids and cochlear implants.

And other higher tech medical devices as well.

You can see the full collection of dolls Tawell creates on the BrightEars website.

She even creates Elf on the Shelf dolls with various unique features for the holidays.

Demand has gotten so high that Tawell has had to halt orders for a while, which she shares happens sometimes when media outlets pick up her story or photos of her creations go viral on social media. She doesn’t have a factory or employees—it’s just her at her dining room table, so a big influx of orders can quickly become overwhelming. Tawell can take custom requests for dolls to match a child’s exact birthmark, condition or device as closely as possible, with custom orders taking four to five weeks.

For a child who already experiences feeling different everywhere they go, having a doll that they can see themselves in is a lovely, meaningful gift.

Love to see people’s thoughtful, creative, life-changing projects doing what they were designed to do.

Just one hand gesture, a simple tucking of the thumb into the palm and covering it with fingers, was all it took to save a life. And now, the new SOS signal is making headlines with the aim of having it universally known and to save others.

This hand gesture was created by the Canadian Women’s Foundation to make reaching out for help easier for people at risk of abuse at home during the COVID-19 lockdown. The “Signal For Help” was a silent, yet effective communication tool on video calls. In the video demonstration below, you can see that while the two women talk about banana bread, the real conversation is hidden.

---

One driver saw a teen using the hand gesture and recognized it from TikTok, where the videos had been going viral. The girl had in fact been abducted and reported missing from North Carolina and had been driven by her captor all the way to Kentucky. Though the girl and her kidnapper were reported to have been acquaintances, and she had gone with him willingly at first, it had quickly become apparent to her that something was off and she needed to get help fast.

Recognizing the covert plea, the driver immediately called the police to report suspicious behavior, then followed the car until deputies were able to stop and make an arrest. According to an article in The New York Times, authorities found that the man’s cellphone contained images that “portrayed a juvenile female in a sexual manner.” That man is now charged with first-degree unlawful imprisonment as well as possession of matter portraying sexual performance of a minor. And most importantly, that 16-year-old girl is back home and safe.

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE SIGNAL

Isolation can increase the risk of violence at home. Use this discrete gesture during a video call to show you need help:

1. Hold hand up with palm facing other person.
2. Tuck thumb into palm.
3. Fold fingers down over thumb. pic.twitter.com/gsIgSbXOmc

— Halton Police (@HaltonPolice) August 24, 2021

It’s unclear how long the girl had been calling for help before one person recognized the distress signal, but the need to make it more universally known is apparent. In an interview with CBS News, Darlene Thomas, who runs a support group for domestic violence survivors, likened the signal to flipping the light on for the neighbors, or using a certain code word in a text, saying TikTok is “just another platform” to share this important information.

After the Laurel County Sheriff’s Office posted a statement about the arrest on Facebook, one person commented “I mean maybe social media isn’t that bad after all! Thank god this girl was saved!!!” Others commented that this should be taught in schools.

Social media is normally a whirling barrage of animal videos, weird memes and overall things to distract us from everyday life. But let’s face it, it’s our main source of communication and connection. One idea or piece of information can spread worldwide in a millisecond. When we use that to our advantage, social media can add a little more value than a viral tweet. And in cases like this, social media can be a force for good that can actually save lives.

Let this new “Signal For Help” remind us all to stay aware and stay connected. Sometimes the smallest gesture can make the biggest difference.