Pop Culture Mondays/10.3.22
The “LIAR LIAR PANTS ON FIRE” Edition
Happy Monday my darling pop culture junkies. I hope everyone is safe and sound especially everyone in the wake of Hurricane Ian who really was not joking around. From impending nuclear doom being threatened by Putin to the treatment of women in Iran and violence that is being shown to the protesters to the death and destruction of Hurricane Ian…we need a little fun escape from it all. So let’s GET to it since we all have a busy week.
In case you missed my solo pod last week, you can check it out below. I cover off on the whole TRY GUYS drama and scandal. I really don't want to write about it this week as it has passed BUT if you want to know about WHO they are and WHAT happened, then check out last week’s #PCMoT!
SOOOO…grab some headphones and some almonds or gummi bears or whatever your snack is and enjoy.
Xx,
B
I mean we are inundated with cheating stories at the moment…whether it’s popstar husbands behaving badly or scandals to hit competitive sports, it’s been a THEME lately. But this week, we are diving into the niche worlds of poker, chess and yes….FISHING. All three have been hit with rather SCANDALOUS charges but with the fishing world being rocked by COLD, HARD EVIDENCE. So let’s dig in.
Let’s start with chess since that was really the first one to kick this trend off.
ON the left, we have chess ROCKSTAR Magnus Carlsen, the 31-year-old Norwegian chess GRANDMASTER who is a 5-time WORLD CHESS CHAMPION. Among many many other awards. The guy on the right is 19-year-old American, Hans Moke Niemann, who is also apparently a grandmaster known for being a streamer on Twitch. I have referenced this story before here which got mentioned BTW on Kara Swisher’s new podcast, “ON” last week. I will forever be grateful that on a pod where Kara interviews Hilary Clinton, in the preamble leading up to the interview, I get referenced in connection with VIBRATING ANAL BEADS. Thanks so much, Kara & Nayeema. If you want to check THAT pod out:
OK, I digress. So the basic story is Magnus and Hans played a match last month and Magnus “lost”. This was their first-ever meeting and that I guess is like me going to play Serena at the US Open. Ok, yes Hans is apparently a good chess player and I can only play tennis in VR and not in reality but you get the POINT.
A meme that NATURALLY started out on Reddit took over and that was that Hans had vibrating anal beads up his bum that would indicate what moves to make. I have to say, the person that broke it all down for me was my hero, HOWARD STERN. I mean I wish he had PERSONALLY broken it down but no, it was on his show where I learned he loves chess and in fact, had frequented the MARSHALL CHESS CLUB which is a famous old chess club a few houses down from my home in NYC and truly one of the most historic and cool NYC establishments. But he and a caller explained WHY people think there had to be cheating involved. Mainly, it is because these moves were so complex that any avid chess player knows how difficult they are and how thoughtful and careful and pained a player is with EACH move…but that HANS was like barely giving it a thought and just moving right along without a care in the world. (Honestly, if you don't listen to Howard these days you are MOST DEF missing out so go get that SIRIUS subscription sorted I am telling you it is THE BEST.)
OK, so Magnus resigns from the game and withdraws from the competition and tweets a VERY mysterious tweet including a clip from a famous soccer coach from ages ago but ELUDES to something being rotten in Denmark:
And this article really explains HOW WE GOT TO ANALS BEADS in this whole drama:
But Magnus sheds more light onto the whole scandolo with a statement he tweeted last week:
I mean the memes were good though:
I mean there are a million amazing ones.
But MAYBE…just maybe the vibrating anal bead meme is a real solution for some? Because just as we were winding down from THIS drama, in comes the poker people who are like, “I WILL DOUBLE DOWN ON THE ANAL BEADS STORYLINE…”
So let’s get into THIS latest drama.
As MANY of you know I like rolling with a poker player set. I LOVE rolling with them I will say. I also know I have ZERO game, zero skills, zero courage when it comes to losing money so I AM NOT A POKER PLAYER. Osmosis has NOT been my friend here so while I do a lot of poker-related events, I know NOTHING about poker. Not even the terminology sticks in my brain. SO to understand the drama, this is a good article to read:
But basically, this lady, Robbi, played a hand that was shocking and made no sense and saw her win and no one believed it and she couldn't explain it and seemed to backtrack but then she gave the money BACK? I THINK that’s correct. I mean it’s hard to defend yourself if you give the money back so it is all confusing. But we have the TWITTER and that’s where this all unfolded thankfully:
But here is a statement from the player accusing her of cheating…god bless the NOTES APP/TWITTER COMBO:
And maybe it’s because I don't speak poker but her statement makes ZERO sense to me…OK, I need a poker player guest on my pod this week to break it down for me FFS:
But truly, give yourself 20 minutes and watch this video because this creator is amazing and he breaks it down in a very fun and understandable way…and yes we have vibrating anal beads theories AS WELL!
OK….are we done with cheating yet? NOPE because if you recall earlier, I mentioned the sport of FISHING.
YES….fishing. And that, my little pop culture maniacs, is what brings us up to TODAY, REAL TIME, cheating scandal.
The socials exploded with the latest scandal. APPARENTLY, while not anal beads, it involves shoving things into the body of the FISH. Poor little fishies got raped by these sports fishermen in the sense they had WEIGHTS shoved into them. That’s correct. WEIGHTS.
What do I mean? OK, well as they used to say…ROLL TAPE:
I mean you have to watch them slice open the fish to see them find lead weights and even OTHER filets of fish shoved in them to give the fish more weight so this team will win the tournament. The guy who was busted is just standing there being berated but can say nothing.
I mean this has gone mainstream that even the New York Times wrote about it this weekend:
I went DEEP into this because it is not a world I have any experience in and I am guessing most of you don’t as well. So there are competitions where people catch fish and whoever has the most weight, wins. And these are all seasoned fisherPEOPLE so they can guess from sight around what a fish will weigh so when this team’s weight came in more than 10lbs more than what people were guessing…there were a lot of suspicions. This video shows the whole thing unfold…
SO…..there you have it. Chess, poker, fishing OH MY. WHAT IS NEXT? I want to see some DOG SHOW CHEATING because I KNOW those little fluffer dogs and corgis are up to NO GOOD.
❤️
AND NOW FOR SOME OF MY FAVORITE THINGS (OR SOME OF THE DESPICABLE ONES…)
That was a LONG post so let’s just cut to some other fun/despicable things that happened this past week:
- Bella Hadid is considered by some to be the most beautiful woman in the world. I think she IS beautiful but there was a lot of surgical help there which BY THE WAY, IS TOTALLY fine by me but I just think it puts an unfair advantage as well as unrealistic ideals for young women…but I digress. But we had Paris fashion week and while there were some silly things from that week, we had a breathtaking one thanks to Bella and COPERNI. The designers spray painted a dress onto Bella but it was a real dress with movement and everything and it was sensational tbh.
I mean it is breathtaking to watch and also leaves us wondering about the future of fashion. HOW DID THEY….?
Here is a good look at the HOW:
BUT of course, there is a TED Talk about this from almost 10 years ago….
- I did say there was some not-so-great stuff from Fashion Week and again this is MY opinion but everyone knows my opinion on Kanye…he may be a genius but it does not outweigh his toxicity and abusiveness and general ICK factor. And I feel that way about Balenciaga, in general, these days tbh. So look at their fashion show in Paris (eyeroll.) Kanye opened the post-apocalyptic show…
Yes when we have a nuclear holocaust, I can't wait to showcase my $10K dress.
Back to Kanye…he is wearing a Balenciaga grill so yeah…YEP.
Considering this is the brand with a $220 SCRUNCHIE…I just can’t tbh…I quit.
- Are any of you as annoyed AS FUCK at the tactics politicians are taking to get you to give money? From horrible emails to texts I have HAD it. This creator did a great job with this same thinking:
- OK, this needs a little time but it is SO worth it, and why the Internet can be so good sometimes. I remember seeing part 1 (now 5) on TikTok and was captivated. This creator is able to literally word for word copy the YouTube crazy Karen…from expressions to eye rolls and hand gestures. It is TOO funny…also the fact this is a real story is just genius. WHO KNEW THE BELLINI CANDLE FROM BATH & BODY WORKS was so dramatic!!
- BLONDE has hit Netflix and everyone up in arms about it. Many couldn't get through more than 20–40 minutes of it…claims it was fetishizing victims and made Marilyn a whore and frankly it was the VERY Graphic BLOWJOB scene with Marilyn going down on JFK that was the thing that made ME call it. But you should test your limits…Can we let this poor woman rest in peace??? Here is the trailer (FYI it is NC17 whatever that means these days??)
Look, Ana de Armas is BEAUTIFUL and captivating. This is a movie BASED on a novel but they want you to think it is a bio-pic and that’s sad. But the socials went nuts. No more than our EMRATA, aka Emily Ratajkowski:
MANY people are basically calling for the director’s head:
- FUN content though I will have to say is out there. And UNLESS you have been hiding under a rock, you are aware that HOCUS POCUS 2 is out and it is adorable and even better IN MY OPINION that the OG and I do love these ladies and this cast!!!
- And while apparently, it has NOT doe well at the box office, I am very excited to see Bros. and all the straights need to go and see it!!! I LOVE THIS TRAILER:
- BAD BUNNY. My socials tell me I apparently missed a hell of a concert and his tour was amazing and Now I want NOTHING more than to see Bad Bunny when I can. I also imagined there are probably some PCMers who are like WTF is a Bad Bunny so here is a quick tutorial. Bad Bunny is a Puerto Rican rapper and singer.
Just a recent video with over 467 MILLION views.
He is also VERY good on TikTok:
The tour was FIRE as they say:
And apologies on bad audio but this gives you an idea of the show:
- Ok, LASTLY we have BeReal. FFS I have had to wave my white flag and say despite me not wanting to believe it, people are really getting into it. And SNL had the MOST amazing skit on it which explains it perfectly:
THAT IS IT MY DARLINGS…
I skipped over Hailey Bieber stuff because I WANTED TO. But if you have any questions about why she is being talked about, just send me a note.
Also, I celebrated my TWO year anniversary of open heart surgery and I am trying to raise $50K (OMG I AM NITS) for the American Heart Association SOOOOOOO…I wanted to share that link with you all (and thank you to ALL those who have donated thus far!!! ❤️❤️❤️)
Have a most magical week. If you aren’t already a subscriber (PLEASE PLEASE SUBSCRIBE!!!) and please do SHARE this with all your friends…and IF you want this in your inbox, please send an email to:
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