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Earlier this month, New Yorkers for the least odd candidate between two weirdos: Democrat Eric Adams handily trounced Republican (and founder of the not-quite-vigilante group the Guardian Angels) Curtis Sliwa. Sliwa was definitely the more unhinged candidate, and not because he has a dozen-and-a-half cats. But Adams is at the very least eccentric. Shortly before the election, he was even busted illegally parking and driving on the sidewalk outside the Bed-Stuy apartment he may not actually live in.

But now that he’s mayor-elect, swearing in first of the new year, he seems to be trying to bring the city back to normal. The Big Apple is certainly not dead, as Jerry Seinfeld can attest. It fact it’s been slowly reviving over the last handful of months, with vaccine rates skyrocketing and restaurants, bars, and other public venues inching closer to before-time patronage. And on Tuesday’s The Late Show with the decidedly pro-vaxx Stephen Colbert, Adams talked about how on the night he won the election, he painted the town, whose streets were all but empty at the height of the pandemic, red.

Adams listed the clubs he hit on Election Night, namechecking Zero Bond in the East Village, one of Cipriani’s three Manhattan locations, and Sugar Hill in Bed-Stuy, where he allegedly lives.

“I am the mayor, this is the city of nightlife. I must test the product. I have to be out,” Adams told Colbert. He then pitched his idea for a new New York City: “I want New Yorkers to come back. We used to be the coolest place on the globe. We’re so damned boring now, man. We have to be among the people, enjoying life. I want the cross-pollination of our energy and the diversity of this city. We have some beautiful places in the city. So I’m going to be out.”

That said, Adams does rise earlier than most, though by no means all, New Yorkers. “If you’re going to be hanging out with the boys at night, you gotta get up with the men in the morning,” he said. “I’m up at 5am every morning.”

And so Adams, who promises to be workaholic, may still find some time to hit the city’s reawakening nightlife. But when he’s done, he may do what he’s threatened to do, which is crash not at Gracie Mansion all the way up in Yorkville, but all the down there in Lower Manhattan, sleeping in his office in City Hall.

Jennifer Coolidge is arguably more popular than she’s ever been, which is saying something. The actress has attracted serious Emmy talk after The White Lotus, the HBO series in which she played a grieving vacationer — a role she almost turned down. She was such a hit with viewers that she’ll be one of the only members of the cast to be back for Season 2, set at a different resort with a different group of characters. (She won’t be back for the Party Down revival, however, though she did only appear on two episodes of the original.) But she’s also teaming with one of TV’s most prolific chroniclers for something that sounds even more sinister than a show bookmarked by one character’s untimely demise.

As per Deadline, Coolidge will join the cast of The Watcher, in which Naomi Watts and Bobby Cannavale play a couple whose dream home comes with an unwanted guest. After moving in, they find themselves receiving unnerving letters from a mysterious stalker who goes by the titular sobriquet.

It’s not clear who Coolidge will play but the series will be based on a chilling true story, about a couple who, in 2014, purchased a 1905 Dutch colonial revival in Jersey for nearly $1.4 million — only to have to jet after they kept receiving unnerving letters from someone called, you guessed it, “The Watcher” (which is also, oddly, the name of the house). The stalker in question claimed they looked over the house for decades.

In the meantime, Coolidge will be back on screens soon enough, appearing in Single All the Way, billed as Netflix’s first gay holiday movie and due on the streamer Dec. 2.

(Via Deadline)

Two of the top five teams in the NBA this season faced off in a nationally televised spot on Tuesday evening, with the Brooklyn Nets welcoming the Golden State Warriors to Barclays Center. By tip-off, the Nets were actually narrow betting favorites but, by the fourth quarter, Golden State held a commanding lead and sent quite a message in what became a 117-99 victory. While there were many headlines to take away from a notable road win, Steph Curry, as usual, was the center of everything for the Warriors.

The Nets held a three-point lead at the end of the first quarter, based on a 34-point showing and well over 50 percent shooting. Curry kept the Warriors close with 12 points and that was just the start. With help from Andrew Wiggins and an improving defense, Golden State took a halftime lead, with Curry posting 19 points before halftime and putting constant pressure on Brooklyn’s defense.

In addition to the genuine brilliance of Curry’s performance, the first half was also noteworthy in that he received MVP chants. That happens often in San Francisco but, this time, it occurred on the road in a game that featured another top-flight candidate in Kevin Durant.

Golden State then broke things open with a dominant third quarter, out-pacing the Nets by a 35-18 margin. The Warriors were dominant on both sides of the floor, holding the Nets to just 23 percent shooting in the third period, and Curry kept it going on the offensive side.

With a 22-point lead, the Warriors had things in hand, but if there was any doubt, Curry erased it with an on-brand shooting barrage early in the fourth quarter. Before exiting early as a result of the lopsided margin, Curry buried three more three-pointers, sticking the dagger in this blowout win.

He even hit one that didn’t count right before he checked out, much to the delight of the fans.

All told, Curry finished with 37 points, seven rebounds, five assists, two steals and a block. He connected on nine of his 14 attempts from three-point range, as well as 3-for-5 from two-point range and 4-for-4 at the free throw line, and Curry certainly cemented a very early lead in the MVP race along the way. There should be credit given to Draymond Green and Golden State’s defense but, in a marquee matchup, all eyes were on Curry and he delivered.

While the aftermath of the Astroworld tragedy is still unfolding, Travis Scott and festival organizers just received their biggest punch. According to TMZ, Travis and others were hit with a $750 million lawsuit from more than 125 attendees. The suit was filed by Houston attorney Tony Buzbee and it places blame on Travis and festival organizers for “negligence in failing to properly plan the concert, train security personnel, and host a safe event.”

The family of 21-year-old Alex Acosta, who is one of 10 people who died as a result of the festival, are among the plaintiffs in the lawsuit. Acosta was allegedly crushed by an “incited, unruly and out-of-control crowd with such force that he could no longer breathe.” Buzbee also shared a statement about the high-priced lawsuit, which also names Drake, Apple, Live Nation, and others. “No amount of money will ever make these Plaintiffs whole; no amount of money can restore human life,” he said. “But, the damages sought in this case attempts to fix, help, or make up for the harms and losses suffered by these Plaintiffs — nothing more and nothing less.”

The lawsuit also addresses Travis and Live Nation’s recent decision to offer refunds to those who attended the festival earlier this month, a move legal experts say could waive concertgoers’ right to sue. The lawsuit called it “… a transparent and grotesque effort of the Defendants to limit their liability, after the fact, to the families of those killed or injured.”

After Donald Trump lost re-election by over seven million votes, some people floated theories as to why. Was it his divisive, some would say poisonous rhetoric? Was it because Joe Biden was simply a more attractive candidate? Or was it that he underplayed and mishandled the pandemic so badly that it nearly killed him, too? Of course, there’s no simple reason. And yet there was one devoted staffer who thought COVID was…good for him, actually?

This is yet another bombshell from Betrayal: The Final Act of The Trump Show, the latest tell-all from ABC News White House correspondent Jonathan Karl. The book, which was released mid-October, has already given us a ton of somehow-never-made-public goodies. We now know one of his closest associates was 29-year-old former body man (and “f*cking idiot”), that his own cabinet thought about removing him from office, and that he was cool with former veep Mike Pence potentially being killed.

But now we know that his fourth and final White House press secretary was one of the few who thought the pandemic was a win for the now-former president. In the spring of 2020, during a meeting in which much of his staff was fretting over his re-election numbers, Trump remained upbeat. After all, McEnany had told him he was doing great. He summoned her into the room, and she explained her logic — or lack thereof.

“And Kayleigh comes in, and he (Trump) says, ‘Kayleigh, tell them what you were just telling me,’” Karl said Tuesday on MSNBC. “And Kayleigh McEnany tells the president of the United States, ‘I think you’re going to win, sir, and I think you’re going to win because of COVID.’”

Her reasoning? Republicans’ biggest weakness in the 2018 midterms, which had been a bloodbath for them, was healthcare. But since everyone was distracted by a globe-shaking, once-in-a-century public health crisis, “Democrats wouldn’t be able to talk as much about healthcare.”

If that doesn’t make much sense, then you’re not alone. “You have to get your head around this,” Karl explained, “but she was saying that because of the greatest public health crisis of our time, of the last century, they wouldn’t have to talk as much about healthcare, and therefore he was going to win.”

Trump always surrounded himself with sycophants, but never moreso than in his final stretch, and McEnany was no exception. One argument is that Trump could have won re-election had he taken the pandemic seriously. He could have even been seen as a hero. But that, of course, never happened, and despite what the pillow salesman says, he lost bigly.

In response, MSNBC host Nicole Wallace reminded people that the network decided, early on during the Trump administration, not to air “whatever it is you all called it that happened at the [White House press room] podium.” She then told Karl, “You just gave the best defense for a decision that was at times difficult to defend. Thank you for that.”

You can watch Karl’s appearance in the video below:

(Via Raw Story)

After more than three years, it seems like Drake and Ye have ended their beef thanks to some help from J Prince. Ye posted a picture of himself, Drake, and J Prince after the trio met at Drake’s house. Drake also posted a video of himself and Ye turning up together at a party that featured an appearance from Dave Chappelle, who was also seen in the video. The rappers have J Prince to thank, as the Rap-A-Lot record label founder was set on bringing them back together so as to use their star power for a better cause.

It all started when Ye and J Prince met at the Rothko Chapel in Houston. Their discussion eventually led to the idea of Ye and Drake ending their beef so that both rappers could hold a benefit show advocating for the release of Chicago gang founder Larry Hoover. Ye initiated the reconciliation with a lengthy message he shared on Instagram. “I’m making this video to address the ongoing back-and-forth between myself and Drake,” he said. “Both me and Drake have taken shots at each other and it’s time to put it to rest. I’m asking Drake on December 7 to join me as a special guest to share the two biggest albums of the year live in Los Angeles with the ultimate purpose being to free Larry Hoover.”

Ye added, “I believe this event will not only bring awareness to our cause but prove to people everywhere how much more we can accomplish when we lay our pride to the side and come together.”

After the rappers spent years trading shots in their music and over social media, it’s good to see them on good terms. Now, all we can do is wait for more information on the December 7 benefit concert in Los Angeles.

There’s a joke on Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt about Titus auditioning for a role in the Broadway musical, Spiderman Too: 2 Many Spidermen. The lyrics go, “Spider-Man, we’re at it again / This time with 50 percent more Spider-Men.” That’s basically the plot of Spider-Man: No Way Home except instead of Spider-Men, it’s Spider-Man villains.

The 27th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe has Peter Parker (Tom Holland) asking for Doctor Strange’s (Benedict Cumberbatch) help in making the world forget that he’s Spider-Man after his identity was revealed in Spider-Man: Far From Home. But following a timey-wimey, Jeremy Bearimy mishap, we’re officially in the multiverse, which allows former-Spider-Man movie villains to return in No Way Home.

There’s Alfred Molina as Doctor Octopus from Spider-Man 2, Jamie Foxx as Electro from The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Willem Dafoe as Green Goblin from Spider-Man, and Thomas Haden Church as Sandman from Spider-Man 3. I think I see Lizard, played by Rhys Ifans in The Amazing Spider-Man, in there, too. You know who the real bad guy is, though? Marvel, if there’s no Dashboard Confessional on the soundtrack.

You can watch the final trailer above. Here’s the official “not fun” plot summary:

For the first time in the cinematic history of Spider-Man, our friendly neighborhood hero is unmasked and no longer able to separate his normal life from the high-stakes of being a Super Hero. When he asks for help from Doctor Strange the stakes become even more dangerous, forcing him to discover what it truly means to be Spider-Man.

Spider-Man: No Way Home, which also stars Zendaya, Jacob Batalon, Jon Favreau, Marisa Tomei, J.B. Smoove, and Benedict Wong, opens on December 17.

In 2016, Wanda Dench texted her 24-year-old grandson to tell him that Thanksgiving dinner would be at her house at 3:00 p.m. She received a text back that said, “Who is this?”

Dench responded, “Your grandma,” but the recipient of the text was not, in fact, Dench’s grandson. It was a 17-year-old high schooler named Jamal Hinton. After the two exchanged selfies and established that Dench had the wrong number, Hinton joked, “Can I still get a plate tho?”

“Of course you can,” Dench wrote back. “That’s what grandmas do…feed everyone.”

Amazingly, Hinton took her up on the offer, and so began the wholesome Thanksgiving story the internet can’t get enough of.

See on Instagram

Every year since, Dench and Hinton have gathered to enjoy Thanksgiving together. Hinton has documented their holiday gatherings on social media, and this year’s Twitter announcement that the tradition is continuing for a sixth year garnered a million likes in one day. The post includes a screenshot of Dench’s text to Hinton—from “Grandma Wanda”—that reads: “It would bring me great joy if you, Mikaela and your family would come to my house on Thanksgiving day to share good food and great conversation. Your friend always, Wanda.” It also included a photo of Wanda and her husband Lonnie with Jamal and his girlfriend Mikaela from two Thanksgivings ago.

We are all set for year 6! pic.twitter.com/wEQioizWGd

— Jamal Hinton (@Jamalhinton12)
1636921901

Sadly, this year’s dinner, like last year’s, will be missing one. Lonnie passed away from COVID-19 in April 2020, so last year’s Thanksgiving photo included his picture in a frame.

There’s something so simple and pure about the way these strangers met by accident and created a lovely tradition out of it.

Dench shared with ABC News that she grew up in a military family. “We moved around a lot so I was always going to new places. And so strangers were not strangers to me,” she said. “Family is more than blood. It’s the people you want to be with.”

See on Instagram

Hinton told the New York Post in 2019 that the two text one another regularly and get together every couple of months, and they both love seeing people’s joy when they hear about their unexpected friendship.

“We are both really passionate and love talking about our story and how many people have reached out to us and told us how it affects them,” he said. “We are both very happy and grateful that we could be the centerpiece to such an amazing story and bring joy and faith in so many different people.”

Hinton said people frequently tell him that the story restores their faith in humanity.

“It makes me feel good knowing something I was a part of affected so many people in a good way,” he said.

With so much grief and division and general ickiness in the world, it’s refreshing to see two human beings connect like this. And it’s even more heartening to see that they’ve nurtured their friendship over the years, through life changes and loss. This is what life should be like—thank you, Wanda and Jamal, for the beautiful annual reminder of what we can be.

Most Americans have heard the term “Eskimo kiss” and probably have a mental picture of what one is. What many of us may not know is that 1) Eskimo is an outdated term that is generally rejected by the indigenous people of the north to whom it refers, and 2) what we imagine about that “kiss” is not actually accurate.

An Inuit daughter and mother duo shared what a kunik—the correct term for it—really looks like in a video on TikTok. Shina Novalinga shares a lot about Inuit culture on her TikTok channel, and her mother Kayuula Novalinga often joins her to demonstrate this expression of affection.

First, they showed what people usually think of when they think of an “Eskimo kiss”—two people rubbing their noses together. Then they shared what they actually do, which is press their nose against someone’s cheek.

Watch:

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“Usually it’s done with a lot of emotion,” Shina says. “The more love you have for a person, the stronger you do it.”

The demonstration is adorable, with their giggles and obvious affection for one another. And people in the comments greatly appreciated the cultural lesson. How many of us ever even questioned what we’d been taught or even wondered where our impressions came from?

Many commenters from Southeast Asia—Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and more—shared that their family members also express close affection in this way.

Shina and Kayuula are Inuit throat singers as well, which is a unique and fascinating art form. Take a listen:

Traditional Inuit throat singing involves two people, usually women, standing face to face. Each makes sounds using their throat, belly and diaphragm, matching each other’s rhythm until one of them stops or giggles. Evie Mark, a throat singer and professor at Nunavik Sivunitsavut, told the BBC, “It’s a very intimate thing so for sure you’re going to be triggered to smile or laugh, especially when you start seeing the person’s eyes when you’re singing together.”

Shina’s mother has her own TikTok channel as well, where she shares more about being an Inuit woman. (Sometimes you’ll see the word Inuk instead of Inuit—Inuk is singular, Inuit is plural and also used as an adjective.)

We can all benefit from learning about cultures outside of our own, and social media makes it easier than ever to expose ourselves to people from all different backgrounds. Thankfully, some people use their channels for the specific purpose of sharing—free education everyone can benefit from.

Thank you, Novalingas, for sharing your gifts and culture with us all.

Quentin Tarantino has a long history of promising projects that have yet to see the light of day; no one is much surprised that he’s probably never making his R-rated Star Trek movie. But if he never gets around to doing those NFTs for Pulp Fiction that he recently announced, it won’t exactly be his fault.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the film company that was his home for quite a long time is suing him over his plan to release seven non-fungible tokens related to his big breakthrough, which they distributed in 1994. The plan was to release digital versions featuring scenes that were cut from an early version of the script, as well as artwork and commentary from the big guy himself. As with all NFTs, these will only be available to the lucky ones who manage to finagle a single copy.

Alas, less than two weeks after the NFTs were announced, Miramax has sent a cease-and-desist letter, claiming that they’re working on their own Pulp Fiction NFTs and that Tarantino’s versions devalue those efforts.

In their letter, Miramax also claims that, should Tarantino get his way, all hell will break loose. “Left unchecked, Tarantino’s conduct could mislead others into believing Miramax is involved in his venture,” the letter read. “And it could also mislead others into believing they have the rights to pursue similar deals or offerings, when in fact Miramax holds the rights needed to develop, market, and sell NFTs relating to its deep film library.”

However, Tarantino’s attorney argues that he’s not broken any laws, pointing out that his contract stipulates that among the elements to which he retains rights are “screenplay publication.” But this may still lead to a contract dispute that may shape how other filmmakers are able to step into the still brand-new world of digital tokens.

(Via THR)