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If you’ve ever wanted to take a quick jaunt out into space — or perhaps work at an Amazon warehouse in a galaxy far, far away — you’ll be pleased to know we’re inching closer and closer to those realities. On July 20, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and three crewmates are scheduled to test the Blue Origin’s New Shepard Spacecraft in a short ten-minute flight 62 miles above the Earth, with three of those minutes leaving passengers completely weightless as they take in views through the largest windows ever built on a spacecraft. This marks the first manned test for the spacecraft following 15 successful unpiloted test flights, as well as a giant leap for commercial space travel.

In addition to Bezos, his brother Mark Bezos, aviator Wally Funk (who at age 82 will be the oldest person to fly in space), and an 18-year-old Dutch student named Oliver Daemen (the first paying passenger and youngest to launch into space) are joining the expedition. According to Bezos in a CBS interview with Gayle King, he and the team are prepared, excited, and, somehow, not even the slightest bit nervous.

“People keep asking if I’m nervous. I’m not really nervous. I’m excited. I’m curious. I want to know what we’re going to learn. We’ve been training. This vehicle is ready. This crew is ready. This team is amazing. We just feel really good about it.”

The New Shepard will be launching out of Blue Origin’s West Texas launch site at 9 AM EDT. Coverage begins at 8:53 AM EDT on local CBS television stations, though you can also watch the historic event on the station’s official live stream as well.

Don’t believe everything you read online. Except this. You can totally believe this, it’s fact-checked and everything.

Joe Biden said last week that Facebook is “killing people” with vaccine misinformation and lies, a statement he was later forced to walk back due to outrage from, well, Facebook executives. With media literacy seemingly at an all-time low and misinformation running across social media platforms unchecked, there are plenty of falsehoods your favorite NFL wide receiver or right-leaning uncle is seeing on Facebook and Instagram and Twitter these days.

Which is why it’s important to know that, well, some of it is just plain bullcrap. Including a recent rumor that Big Bang Theory star Mayim Bialik is refusing to get vaccinated. A post about Bialik, who earlier this year hosted Jeopardy!, refusing the jab cropped up on social media in recent days. An actress from one of the most popular sitcoms of the last decade refusing the vaccine would be big news to fans of CBS evening programming, but as USA Today reported on Monday that’s simply not true. She’s vaxxed up. Sorry, Uncle Bob.

As the report details, Bialik once admitted in a book that she hadn’t followed regular vaccination schedules for her children. That spiraled into her being labled ‘anti-vax’ over the years and she’s had to consistently clarify her support of vaccines, including the COVID-19 vaccine introduced last year.

The Facebook post from July 14 lists Bialik’s degree alongside the claim that she “refuses to vaccinate.” That isn’t true. In fact, Bialik and her sons have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, Heather Besignano, a spokeswoman for Bialik, said in an email.

“I have never, not once, said that vaccines are not valuable, not useful or not necessary, because they are,” she said in the YouTube video.

Bialik clarified that while her two children did not follow a traditional vaccine schedule, they have been vaccinated.

“As of today, my children may not have had every one of the vaccinations that your children have had, but my children are vaccinated,” she said. “I repeat my children are vaccinated.”

That video, which you can watch below, was released in October and as of Monday had just over a half million views. Which pales in comparison to the viral misinformation that can easily find millions of eyeballs on Facebook and further cause vaccine skepticism and keep vulnerable populations at risk as the Delta variant of coronavirus ravages under-vaccinated population centers.

The lesson here is to take an extra second before you share absolute nonsense on social media, or at least ignore whatever dreck your uncle is digging up from the worst spaces online and sharing to all your friends and family thanks to an algorithm no one can comprehend but wields more power than you or anyone you know will ever have on the fate of humanity itself. Anyway, have a good one.

[via USA Today]

For a long time, the idea of a Skate 4 was just a meme. It was something that everyone would blast into the comments section of any Instagram post or YouTube video that EA would make. However, while it was mainly a meme, there was still some truth behind all those comments. While we’re seeing a potential renaissance in arcade sports games, for a long time they were missing from the yearly release schedule. No Tony Hawk, no snowboarding games, and no Skate.

However, after a 10-year wait, EA announced in June 2020 that a new Skate game was entering development. The key phrase here is that it was entering development because the progress since that video has been unsurprisingly minimal. A studio named Full Circle formed to work on the game back in January and on Monday they had a small teaser to show fans to let us know that they’re still working on the game. They did tease that they have some gameplay, but they chose to not show that in the teaser video.

This is the very definition of a teaser trailer, because it teases the existence of something more but opts to not show it to us. The trailer even calls itself a tease in some kind of weird meta self-awareness. It also features a lot of fans of the game reacting to it and supposedly being extremely impressed by what they’re seeing. However, while we didn’t get to see anything, we were able to hear a few tidbits of what they should be working on and seeing some of the motion capture operation in progress.

Listening to what the fans are asking or responding to, we hear one mention they don’t want any particular skater to look the same as the other. So everyone will be happy to know that a character creator is likely on the way, and another one mentioned “spinning around a rail” which indicates the return of the park creation mode from the original Skate games. The final detail that we could hear was someone mentioning a “huge open-world” which could be fun. Having an entire world to explore and skate around in has always been a dream for skateboarding game fans, and just riding around to find spots in Skate 3 was one of the best parts of the game — people just want an even bigger world to explore.

Of course, this is just the teaser. We can speculate all we want, but until we get to see the actual gameplay ourselves the best we can do is guess.

After the cover art for her new album Solar Power became a meme, Lorde quickly followed up with a song of the ame name. It features Phoebe Bridgers and Clairo on backing vocals, and was apparently leaked early. Though that single — which accidentally referenced a classic rock hit — elicited mixed reviews from fans, excitement about her next chapter is still building.

Her intermitten updates to fans revealed the full album tracklist along with a release date of August 20, and interest certainly piqued in a song on the tracklist called “Stoned At The Nail Salon.” Well, inquiring minds won’t have to wait much longer to hear where she’s going with that one, as it’s now been confirmed as her second Solar Power single, and will be dropping this Wednesday, July 21. The New Zealand pop star confirmed the release via her website with another bright graphic.

Along with the release date Lorde confirmed a full-fledged tour for 2022, and even gave fans a taste of that with a live performance of “Solar Power” on a rooftop. Since the new single is such a left turn, having a second song for context will reveal a lot. Stay tuned for the next installment coming Wednesday. Oh, and how do Primal Scream, the band Lorde copied, feel about the “Solar Power” connect? Don’t worry, they’re flattered.

Devin Booker is having a sensational first postseason, as the sixth-year guard has helped lead the Suns to the NBA Finals, where they currently trail 3-2 to the Milwaukee Bucks. Their last two losses haven’t been for a lack of effort from Booker, who has scored 40 or more in back-to-back games, and will look to find the balance between him scoring and keeping his teammates a touch more involved in Game 6 in Milwaukee with the series on the line.

For some, this postseason has been their first extended look at Booker, who prior to this season didn’t see a lot of national TV action due to Phoenix being a bottom-dweller out West. Booker’s shotmaking abilities have been on full display this playoffs, particularly in the midrange and posting up other guards, where he has one of the best turnarounds in basketball today. It’s hard to watch Booker play and not see the impact of Kobe Bryant on him, a player Booker grew up loving and who became a mentor to Devin early in his time in the league.

Booker has spoken about his relationship with Bryant in the past, and the “Be Legendary” comment Kobe gave to Booker that he writes on his shoes before each game is a well-known story. However, that is as far as Booker wants the discussion of he and Kobe to go, as he pushed back on the Kobe comparisons on Monday when asked about them by Richard Jefferson on The Jump.

The Suns star makes clear that he has never been the one to start those comparisons and seems eager to put a stop to them, as he has such immense respect and love for Kobe that he doesn’t want there to be any confusion about him being “the next” Bryant. The influence of Bryant on Booker’s game is clear, but that’s just how the evolution of basketball works. Booker isn’t trying to be Kobe so much as he’s trying to be the best version of himself, and that involves taking influences from others (which sometimes come in the form of copying a move) and making that into his own.

While this surely won’t stop the Kobe comparisons on social media, it does make his stance clear on them and shows the reverence he has for the late Hall of Famer.

The SNL cast is most certainly in flux in the summer between seasons, with a number of notable members noncommittal about what their future holds in Studio 8H. While mainstays like Cecily Strong may still be on the fence about returning for Season 37, at least one castmember doesn’t sound like he’s going anywhere.

Kenan Thompson, currently the longest-tenured member of the sketch comedy show’s cast, has made it clear that while others on the show are weighing their future he knows where he wants to be. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Thompson didn’t hesitate in talking about his desire to make show history, which means he’ll be back when the show returns this fall.

“I keep saying I’m trying to get to 20 [seasons],” Thompson tells EW. “So if they don’t throw me out of there before, I’m trying to get to 20. And then, I don’t know if it makes sense for me to leave even after that point. As long as the show keeps going and they want me to be there and I don’t feel like I’m in the way of somebody else’s opportunity, should I just oblige? I don’t really know what to do at this point, as far as leaving is concerned. Like, why should I ever have to leave?”

There is something to be said about complacency and stagnation, but Thompson is consistently one of the sharpest, most polished castmembers on screen. His versatility is tough to match in the show’s history, and his understanding of his place in the show’s legacy seems pretty clear. More than that, he seems to get the reasons why he’d need to leave: taking up a spot someone else deserves more than he does, or if showrunner Lorne Michaels decides it’s time for him to get the boot.

Thompson’s career was essentially built around being good at something like Saturday Night Live, starting with his rise to fame on Nickelodeon’s All That. And while he’s done film and TV elsewhere, unlike other SNL stars he hasn’t felt the need to leave the show for greener pastures. It seems that for Thompson, SNL is the pasture he prefers at this point in his life and few people, including himself, are finding reasons for him to look elsewhere. So while others who took the stage for the show’s final cold open of Season 46 may not return for 47, Thompson will almost certainly be there.

[via EW]

For Ball And Country (Peacock documentary film) — The Tokyo Olympic games are upon us with the USA Basketball Men’s National Team staring down a fourth consecutive gold medal. Will they be able to achieve this goal, given everything that’s going down in the world right now? This documentary gets audiences in the mood by taking a look back at the program’s greatest teams, with a special eye on both the “Dream Team” and the “Redeem Team.” Expect some never-before-seen footage and a special trip behind the curtain of the team’s Las Vegas training camp.

Catch and Kill: The Podcast Tapes (HBO, 9:00pm) — Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Ronan Farrow’s podcast undergoes this miniseries treatment here while expanding upon existing interviews with whistleblowers, private investigators, and more. The miniseries digs into the powers that be, beginning with the Harvey Weinstein case, for which Ronan’s groundbreaking New Yorker investigative report really got the #MeToo ball rolling.

The Beast Must Die: (AMC, 9:00pm) — Jared Harris and Cush Jumbo star in this revenge-thriller series (which originally aired on BritBox UK and achieved a viewing record) that has already been renewed for a second season. This week, Frances attempts to track down the man who killed her son, and she’s all about revenge.

All American (CW, 8:00pm) — Spencer’s life appears to be going well, but nothing is as it seems when he realizes Billy’s secret. Meanwhile, Jordan and Asher receive unexpected news, too.

The Republic Of Sarah (CW, 9:00pm) — This show follows the ending of tranquility of Greylock, N.H., after a stash of valuable coltan leads to new overlords, and a rebellious teacher (Sarah Cooper) steps in to halt the madness. Soon enough, there’s the prospect of Greylock becoming a sovereign nation. This week, Sarah realizes that a more representative government is preferable to her running the whole joint.

The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon — Dwayne Johnson, Joshua Jackson

Late Night With Seth Meyers — Shailene Woodley, Henry Winkler, Taky Hirano

In case you missed these weekend picks:

Schmigadoon!: Season 1 (Apple TV+ series) — If a musical comedy series starring Cecily Strong, Keegan-Michael Key, Alan Cumming, Kristin Chenoweth, and Jane Krakowski sounds a little bit too frenetic to you, consider this: Apple TV+ has been crushing the comedy game these days with the likes of Mythic Quest and Ted Lasso under its still-young belt. So, one can bet that if a series called Schmigadoon! can succeed, the show found the correct streaming home. The premise might sound a bit like a horror movie, but it’s intended to be (bizarrely) romantic with a bang-up cast that demands a streaming shot.

American Horror Stories: Season 1 (FX on Hulu series) — This spinoff of Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk’s long-lived, anthology-based franchise will present a new iteration of horror. Viewers will receive a fresh set of terrors within every episode, after the flagship series already dove through an unsettling asylum, a freak shows, a haunted hotels, a coven, and the apocalypse. It’s not as scary as the real America, but close.

Long ago, in the ancient times known as 1999, Rosie O’Donnell had one of the most popular talk shows in America, which gave her access to all kinds of things like an advanced screening of Fight Club. As the legend goes, and O’Donnell will fully admit to this, she was so disgusted by the violence and the themes in Fight Club that she went on her talk show and proceeded to spoil the twist ending in hopes that her national audience wouldn’t go see the film. She blurted the whole thing out.

While the moment has been referenced by Brad Pitt in the Fight Club DVD commentary (and actors like Holt McCallany, who brought up the Rosie incident during an interview for the film’s 20th anniversary), O’Donnell had never fully addressed the topic until now. During an interview with The Jess Cagle Show on Monday, O’Donnell revealed that for years she never realized what a huge deal it was at the time. She just figured it was another one of her rants. Via The Hollywood Reporter:

“No one said jack shit to me for a good three, maybe even four years,” O’Donnell said on the SiriusXM show. “And Courtney Love on my show says, ‘Oh, my God, Ed Norton and Brad Pitt are so mad at you for what you did.’ I was like ‘What did I do?’ It was three years later! People sometimes ask me on the internet whether or not I did it. And I did. I didn’t have, like. ‘Oh, my God. I want to hurt these people.’ I just had my normal blathering on about feelings about the movie.”

While O’Donnell has always owned up to spoiling the film’s ending on her talk show, she now realizes that it wasn’t the best move on her part.

“I guess I ruined it for the people who worked so hard on it, and I should be more careful with what I say in a negative way about a movie,” O’Donnell admitted. “If you don’t like it, just don’t mention it. That would have worked better.”

(Via The Jess Cagle Show)

USA Basketball as a whole has not had the smoothest run-up to the Tokyo Olympics. The men’s and women’s national teams both lost their first two exhibition games, while the men have needed to add two replacement players and most recently had to leave Zach LaVine in Las Vegas as he entered health and safety protocols (but hope he’ll join them later).

On the 3×3 side, the men’s team failed to qualify for Tokyo in a stunner, and on Monday, the women’s team got some awful news as Katie Lou Samuelson announced she had tested positive for COVID-19 and would not be able to play in the Olympics.

It is devastating for Samuelson, who notes going to the Olympics has long been a dream of hers, and she tested positive despite having been vaccinated, which doesn’t fully prevent a person from contracting the virus but limits the severity of cases and further spread. As for the team, it’s a big blow to lose the forward currently playing for the Storm, and they will replace Samuelson with Jackie Young from the Aces.

Replacing Samuelson with Young takes away some size from the USA 3×3 team, but gives them another on-ball scoring threat. Young joins her Aces teammate, Kelsey Plum, as well as Allisha Gray and Stefanie Dolson on the four-woman roster, meaning they will have to quickly work Young in without the luxury of a deep roster like on the 5-on-5 squads.

Prior to the release of the upcoming Disney movie Jungle Cruise, the folks at Disneyland have made some much-needed cultural updates to the ride that inspired the film. These changes were finally revealed this week when the ride re-opened for guests and showed off new tweaks to some of the iconic — and now condemned — scenes.

One of the changes involved the “trapped safari” scene, in which a white traveler was depicted at the top of a totem pole trying to avoid a rhinoceros while native guides were stranded towards the bottom. In addition, several “negative depictions of native people,” Disney says, were swapped out of more slapstick scenes that depicted various monkeys and chimps getting the best of some ill-prepared travelers on a jungle expedition.

According to a report by the LA Times, “these changes are part of a broader attempt by Disney and Imagineering to ensure Disneyland remains a vital part of the cultural conversation rather than a cultural artifact.” Carmen Smith, the executive of inclusion strategies for Imagineering, says Disney is “very mindful of the events that are happening around the world that impact people,” and wants to “make sure that everyone who comes to our parks is seen, and that they’re heard.”

The changes made to Jungle Cruise aren’t the first to come to Disney parks and are merely just one part of the company’s overarching goal to make their theme parks “the happiest place on Earth” for everyone. In 2017, Disneyland removed a bridal auction scene from the Pirates of the Caribbean ride and altered one of the ride’s “wenches” to be a fellow pirate instead. Following the murder of George Floyd, Disney announced it would remove “Song of the South” from Splash Mountain, and instead feature music from “The Princess and the Frog,” the Disney film featuring the first Black princess, Tiana. Earlier this year, Disney announced that all Disney staff members would have more freedom in their workplace attire, including the ability to choose gender-inclusive costumes and hairstyles, as well as show off their body art. With all these changes in mind, it seems Disney is doing a pretty phenomenal job at growing with the culture rather while preserving what matters: creating a safe and fun place for all.

These changes come just a few weeks out from Jungle Cruise, Disney’s latest film based on a theme park ride. The film boasts an all-star cast featuring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Emily Blunt, Paul Giamatti, Jesse Plemons, and more as they undertake an “epic quest.” According to the film’s synopsis, Jungle Cruise follows Lily (Emily Blunt) as she seeks out an ancient tree with healing abilities, which will allow her to “change the future of medicine.”

“Thrust on this epic quest together, the unlikely duo encounters innumerable dangers and supernatural forces, all lurking in the deceptive beauty of the lush rainforest. But as the secrets of the lost tree unfold, the stakes reach even higher for Lily and Frank and their fate—and mankind’s — hangs in the balance.”

Jungle Cruise hits theaters and theaters and Disney+ on July 30, 2021.