Pop Culture Mondays/4.20.20
The “Every Day Now is 4/20” Edition
Well, it’s another Monday my darling pop culture junkies. And while today also happens to be 4/20, I am here to just announce that EVERY DAY RIGHT NOW IS 4/20. Am I right? Whether you are popping edibles like Tic Tacs or just drinking the rosé at all times of day until you feel like you have been popping edibles like Tic Tacs, including during those work out videos (IT ME!), or binging on baked goods…just go with it for now. Though don’t smoke cigarettes regardless of what DAVID HOCKNEY SAYS. I mean unless you’re Hockney. Or unless you GIVE me a Hockney, then I don’t care what you do, you can do whatever you want and I will not judge you. DM me.
OK so moving on from cigarettes and drugs — I mean we could stay there all day frankly — we have had a hell of a week. Again. So yes everyone is getting stir crazy and restless and we want to KNOW what’s next and that’s normal. But we have a new group of people, I like to say they are the new Tea Party peeps, the people who think Sarah Palin is a style icon…they have been coined #covidiots and I think that’s too nice a term for them. Whether ignoring social distancing rules by hitting the beaches en masse or jogging too close to everyone, no one is worse than the people protesting and screaming at frontline medical workers or those in front of Baskin Robbins claiming they would rather die than be locked down (I mean, ok then?) and claiming this is all some mass conspiracy. I mean imagine these people with their poster boards and all their art supplies set up in their family room, all gleeful about their protest signs? If they could only put all that creative energy to something else…anything else other than hate and ignorance. ‘MERICA.
Ok, so let’s get to it. We have a lot of ground to cover. To my new amazing subscribers, welcome. A reminder, we are a Trump-free zone and meant to be a fun, carbs-don’t count, eat as many gummy bears as you want (unless they are edibles, then DEFINITELY be careful), and enjoy…
THE LAST DANCE. THANK YOU ESPN:
I will know for SURE if anyone cancels meetings this week, or they don’t answer my calls, or if they get on Zooms but audio only, it is because they are binging on this incredible docu-series that dropped Sunday night on ESPN and took over the socials. If you haven’t heard about it before now — and I am sure that’s not very many of you — I promise you will be bombarded with it soon and now you will know what people are talking about. You’re welcome.
Now let me start by saying, I am not a sports person. SURE, I have been that girl who wear’s her boyfriend’s favorite team’s jersey and gone to games and seemed into it and I am into it. I am into hot dogs and french fries and ice cold beer. But with regards to actually following sports, I always partake in a March Madness bracket, but I choose my teams NOT based on stats or hardcore knowledge, but simply by the color of their jerseys. Turns out, not always to be a bad strategy by the way!
BUT, along with many of you, my ’90s were filled with a lot of Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen and the Chicago Bulls. It will surprise NO one, that I found myself going to a lot of Dead shows at that time too, so I was not the type of person you necessarily associate with being an NBA fan but OMG Phil Jackson was a deadhead and every day someone would quote Phil quoting Jerry and we felt seen. I am pretty sure I didn’t even know who the NY NBA teams were at that point, but I knew everything about the Chicago Bulls. So we now have this gift..something truly extraordinary because this docu-series exists due to UNPRECEDENTED behind the scenes footage granted to ESPN from 1997–1998. The stars today, looking back at that period of time, their childhoods, their rise, the team’s rise and challenges. You can know absolutely nothing about basketball or not care at all about the NBA, and you will be captivated by it. It is beautifully done and it is exactly what we need right now. As much as we were brought together by the death of Kobe and tragedy of all involved, the power of sports strikes again and shows us no matter where we live or what we do, we are all brought together by it. This series has drama and intrigue and scandal and it has great insight from people like this former Chicago resident:
It also has a great ad campaign within it. It’s sponsored by Reese’s (the candy company, not the actress who we get to a bit later), Facebook (or as we learn, The Facebook COMPANY…WTF IS THE FACEBOOK COMPANY???), AND State Farm. This is important because sometimes the show would cut to old footage of Kenny Mayne, maybe the ONLY sports journalist I know by name and remember vividly from my childhood. The footage at first seems to be part of the program, like we are seeing Kenny Mayne from that period of time. But it seems Kenny is saying things so crazy that he would have known back then — like how ESPN will probably do a doc called “The Last Dance” in 22 years. It’s super clever and I loved it.
I think they have released only the first two episodes of a 10-part series BUT I wish we could have 10,000 hours of it. So bravo bravo bravo ESPN and everyone involved. If you want to watch it, I THINK I have figured it out. It will drop on Hulu on April 22nd. But I got the ESPN+ app that I signed in with my Disney+ app sign in and that worked. Or maybe it’s on ESPN.com I am not really sure but you are all capable of figuring it out so go watch it immediately.
For your reading pleasure:
The Road to Hell is Paved with Good Intentions:
I told you we would get to THIS Reese. First of all, did you guys know Reese Witherspoon had a fashion line? I SORT of knew about it but I don’t think I have ever seen it in real life. Her brand, Draper James, sounds like a cool kid boutique in a small, upscale suburb of NY (ahem, Rye) or Dallas, or LA. It’s a brand, but apparently they want to make it seem like a start-up because well obviously…$$$.
This wording is DIRECTLY from its home page:
Founded by Reese Witherspoon, Draper James is classic American style, steeped in Southern charm, feminine and pretty.
I know I was not the best student in high school and while I sort of found my footing in college and became an English Major with a focus on creative writing, I still cannot for the love of god diagram a sentence. ADVERBS SCARE ME. But I am PRETTY sure this is a grammatically incorrect sentence? Correct me if I am wrong please “Grammar Karens” please, but this is the perfect segue so I am sticking to this line of thinking…
DRAPER JAMES NEEDS TEACHERS. Or their copy writers do, that’s for sure. But they also are grateful to them (as they should be) and decided to thank teachers for all the incredible work they do. While the quarantine was just kicking off and parents around the world were learning HOW HARD TEACHING is after DAY ONE of home schooling, Draper James decided to give back to the teachers and announced they wanted to give teachers a free dress. Of course there was the FINE print which let you know there (NOTE: I HAVE CORRECTED TO “THERE” FROM MISSUSING “THEIR” ANd RHABK YOU GRAMMAR KARENs) was an application and a deadline and those chosen would be “winners” and they would fulfill the winners “while supplies lasted.” But of course it got a TON of media attention because the headline REESE WITHERSPOON IS GIVING FREE DRESSES TO TEACHERS is a headline. They got coverage from the morning shows to the socials - it went everywhere. I remember seeing it and thinking, “wow that’s something, and incredible for a small brand to do and what will the larger brands do that’s comparable.” Now, I did not think they would be giving away millions of dresses, but I thought it would be a significant amount and perhaps they partnered with a big sponsor which would have been smart — in order to get that kind of press attention. SURELY, someone in the media asked them, HOW MANY DRESSES WILL YOU GIVE AWAY? SURELY, someone on their marketing and PR teams said, “Hey guys, we should be careful here. If only a small amount of dresses then we should NOT promote this. Or we should be very transparent about it.” But nope.
So it turns out, they were only giving away 250 dresses. And they received something like a MILLION APPLICATIONS. It was all a marketing scheme that was taking advantage of the FEEL GOOD gratitude toward teachers at this crazy time…and man did people go nuts, the socials went nuts and rightfully so. Sometimes, not all press is good press. Sometimes bad press is just…Bad. In the grand scheme of things, there are course millions of worse things, but this was JUST TOO EASY.
JOHN KRASINSKI IS A HERO:
We have talked a LOT about SGN here at PCM. While I want PCM to be candy for the brain, SGN is actually doing something super noble and heartwarming and brilliant. It is the brain child of actor and husband of the incredible Emily Blunt, John Krasinski. I mean, because of SGN, we got the Hamilton video the other week which was EVERYTHING. So, we now come to expect great things from John and SGN, and boy did he deliver. AGAIN. He announced last week that he was going to host a live prom on his Insta Live feed on Friday night. He wanted kids all around the country to be able to partake in their 2020 prom, another thing taken away from kids this year. So, he got together friends including Chance the Rapper, The Jonas Brothers, DJ Nice and Billie Eilish and her brother (obviously) and together they put on a live prom. Daughters danced with their fathers. People got dressed in prom attire. The whole thing was delightful. Not to mention incredible — incredible because he got people to dress in prom dresses and DANCE to “BAD GUY”. Have you tried dancing to BAD GUY? It’s not like a classic prom dance song. IT IS HARD. And weird to dance to it with your dad BUT OK, I am letting that go. But everyone pulled it off and it was magical and you should watch this week’s episode of SGN which highlights moments from it.
And while we are here…here being our new normal turning to our screens for new forms of content that bring us all together now, Global Citizen put on a music event for everyone, called “One World: Together At Home”. It went on for 8 hours online but the last 2 hours were aired prime time I guess if PRIME TIME exists these days. Some people loved it (AKA KARA SWISHER), some people didn’t (AKA The NY POST, NATCH). And I thought it was great. We need music. We need that community. We need that connection. And I am so grateful for artists, and crews, and Live Nation and everyone that brings us live music whether in person or via these screens to a new world. So, take a look at some or all of it! The last 2 hours are worth it for sure.
#WAKEUPNICK:
I have spent the last week completely consumed with a family I have not met, holding onto every word and piece of news that Amanda Kloots puts out on her Instagram. I have watched every #WakeUpNick video and I have prayed…something I have not really done in a long time, for a man — a family — I don’t know. Of course, there are so many people suffering and my heart breaks for everyone touched by tragedy. But this story has hit many of us at our core. I had heard of Amanda for ages as we have a few friends in common, including our incredible colorist Gina. Yeah so breaking news, I have help in the blonde department. SHOCKING, I know. But I digress and am babbling because when I am sad I babble.
I have only heard how lovely Amanda is and how joyful and talented she is. She is an incredible fitness instructor (something since this quarantine I have a total and deep new appreciation for) who was a former Broadway dancer. And Broadway is where she met her adorable husband, Nick Cordero, broadway actor. They recently moved to LA for Nick to star in the LA production of “Rock of Ages”, and have a baby son Elvis. A picture perfect young couple, just starting out in this magical new family. And then disaster strikes. Nick gets sick. He’s sick for a while. And then he gets sicker. He is 41, extremely fit, with no conditions that we know of that would make him vulnerable to the Coronavirus. But he was hospitalized with it. Intubated. Unconscious. He was put on all sorts of machines since being hospitalized on March 31st. And unfortunately, due to complications from everything that’s happening, he had to have his right leg amputated this weekend. He is still unconscious. But he is fighting. And we all know this because his incredible wife has turned to Instagram to keep us all updated. She has turned outward to gain love and support from the community. She has created a movement called #wakeupnick that has people dancing and singing on behalf of her husband. She talks to us like we are her family, and keeps us up to date. I imagine it is therapeutic for her to have this outlet, but my god I cannot imagine having this woman’s bravery. Her energy. Her optimism. Her light shines so so bright. You can see here:
We are all hoping for a happy ending where Nick wakes up and he sees the outpouring of love and hope his wife has started on his behalf. There will be challenges and huge bills to pay, so there’s a GoFundMe you might consider. But in the meantime, dance for Nick.
FRONTLINE FOODS:
Even if I was not involved with the incredible organization of Frontline Foods, I would write about them here because what they are doing is amazing and they have gone from not existing a month ago to being in 46 cities and delivering over 70,000 meals today. I am involved with them and part of the communications team — along with I think now over 500 volunteers around the country, and it is MY newsletter so I get to write all day long about them! BUT they are totally in the PCM vortex now as last week, they joined forces with Hollywood, where stars who were working in their own communities to help, joined forces with Frontline Foods to work together. Oscar winner Octavia Spencer, Oscar nominee Melissa McCarthy and her husband actor/comedian Ben Falcone, Joel McHale and others all announced they were joining the Frontline team. And this brought a new kind of spotlight to an organization that was born out of a Medium post, posted on Twitter. The idea is simple: Show frontline medical workers appreciation and kindness by getting great food into their hands and so so by getting money into the hands of restaurants in local communities to get up and running again to make and deliver meals. Watch more here:
I mean even Ariana Grande posted about Frontline Foods on her Insta story to her 181 MILLION FOLLOWERS. SHE HAS 181 MILLION PEOPLE FOLLOW HER ON INSTAGRAM OMG. But I digress. This org is great, and relies entirely on technologies like Slack and Airtable to operate and if you want to get involved go to:
More here:
DR. OZ EATS CHILDREN:
OK so no. Dr. Oz, to the BEST OF MY KNOWLEDGE, does not eat children. Nor does he actually think it’s ok for 2–3% of all children in America die. But due to some weird ass comments made on the bastion of fake news, Hannity on Fox, Dr. Oz found himself in some real trouble. LIVE TV IS HARD GUYS. Now, unlike Dr. Phil, it is my understanding that Dr. Oz is actually a licensed medical doctor. I mean we don’t call him Dr. Mehmet do we? Because if we did, then I would think he was a fake doctor like Dr. Phil. Being a TV pundit is hard, being a doctor that everyone is asking to get answers from 24/7 and who is probably recognized by a majority of this country is HARDER. So here is what happened. Dr. OZ got himself in a real pickle (not the delicious whole sour dill pickle kind but the sad weird ones they put on sad one patty hamburgers at McDonalds):
“Schools are a very appetizing opportunity. I just saw a nice piece in The Lancet arguing the opening of schools may only cost us 2 to 3%, in terms of total mortality. Any, you know, any life is a life lost, but … that might be a tradeoff some folks would consider.” — Dr. Oz
A really poor use of words all thrown together to make it bad no matter how you slice it. It reminds me of the book on punctuation “Eats, Shoots and Leaves” (BUY IT!) but this is not about bad grammar. Just bad use of words…or missing words. WORDS ARE HARD YOU GUYS. I do not believe for one second that Dr. Oz was talking about losing 2 to 3% of kids who go back to school, nor was he delighting in the deliciousness of the idea of kids back in school -but it was all creepy. Watch it here and cringe:
Obviously he had to walk it all back. I would say run it back, but regardless, his whole line of thinking is disturbing. But if you listen to the whole thing it is clear what he intended. But it shows how something taken out of context can just backfire no matter the intentions.
So that’s it for now. I have to go and actually shower, do my day job, walk my dog, eat carbs and think about dinner. In the meantime, check out some other things I loved this week.
- Best Content of the Week: Comedian and Impressionist, Frank Caliendo KILLED this week in his narrating of the Spanish nuns playing basketball video. I have watched this 740 times:
- Florida:
- Best NY Accent contest:
- “TOO HOT TO HANDLE”. LITERALLY the trashiest, dumbest thing I have ever seen which will leave you questioning humanity, your own life choices and will instantly kill millions of your braincells. BUT OMG:
But ‘Too Hot To Handle” gets me to bring back legit one of my favorite SNL skits of all time. And if you watch this and then watch just 5 minutes of this new Netflix series, you will question where one ends and the other begins. YOU ARE WELCOME.
Until next week my Pop Culture Junkies….PLEASE stay safe everyone — meditate, Facetime friends, do workout videos with friends or solo like me because no one wants to see me work out, watch all the content and remember we will get thru this.
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