Pop Culture Mondays/6.22.20
The COUNTDOWN TO HAMILTON Edition
Happy Monday my pop culture junkies!! OK, so last week was SORT of slow.
I mean NBD (this means NO BIG DEAL for those adults who MIGHT not know) but the Supreme Court in the US made not one, but TWO monumental decisions: protecting LGBTQ community from discrimination (I mean the fact this is EVEN UP FOR DEBATE and needed a court to decide whether or not being fired due your sexual orientation is BANANAS, but at least we have some progress here); and DREAMERS can continue dreaming and are protected and can stay in the country they have grown up in. For those who don’t live in the US or who didn’t know about this….the Obama Administration had protected over 700,000 people who came to the US as children, illegally, by giving them work papers to allow them to work and renew these papers. A misconception here is this was NOT set up as a path to citizenship..it was not perfect, but it was something and as hard as it is to get legislation passed it was a huge moment. Only to be put in jeopardy in the new administration (I mean OBVIOUSLY) and those 700,000 people have lived holding their breath for 3+ years. I cannot even imagine the anxiety. BUT alas, it was a big week.
But we did manage to have SOME PCM stories come to the surface so I will do my best to uncover them but I am not going to lie…we are VERY THIN this week because there were more important things like Supreme Court Rulings and Juneteenth and a Constitutional crisis (google that). Now that I am in LA, I am just trying to keep up as this 3 hours behind NY and 8 hours behind UK is HARD.
BUT….Palm Trees!
For those new subscribers…welcome! There is NO rhyme or reason to this newsletter of mine other than I try to cover things that come up each week that captivate us or confused us from the social media or we sort of heard about but didn’t understand or point out trends (usually from the socials) and let you be part of that conversation you might not have been able to before so ENJOY. Also, we are TRUMP-FREE (I mean SOMETIMES it’s hard to avoid but I do my absolute best…) and best to read/watch this with some gummi bears or Twizzlers or a 21 Seeds Tequila cocktail in a tall tall glass.
IT’S HERE (SORT OF…):
For avid readers or for anyone who knows me, I am a Hamilton Junkie. I really am, like I could give up rosé and I could actually give up cheese and pretty much anything, even some friends tbh (sorry Swisher) if I HAD TO CHOOSE between them and “Hamilton”. If I had a genie pop out of a bottle and say I had one wish they could grant that only covers something I could do different in my life…I could tell you this would be to do something really useful and noble but alas it would be to go back in time armed with SINGING AND DANCING talent — something I do NOT have and what made me leave my theatre major behind — and spend my whole life dancing and singing on stage even if as an extra dancing with a chair in “Hamilton”. I WOULD NOT CARE. I have seen “Hamilton” a lot, and I have listened to the soundtrack a million times and I just imagine what it would be like to be there, on stage, to be a part of it. It makes me cry a little tbh.
SO, when it was announced that there was a “Hamilton” movie coming out, my world stopped. I have written a lot of words here about this and I am not stopping but I was worried initially how this movie was going to play out…was this the next CATS? “Hamilton” reimagined as a movie…with him walking uptown in a CGI OLD NYC was just going to take some time for me to process. BUT ALAS..it is a movie OF THE BROADWAY SHOW. Like the actual show…not reimagined as a bio-pic musical…but the actual show from the stage as if you were…wait for it….IN THE ROOM WHEN IT HAPPENED.
And then Disney announced they were moving up the release because we NEEDED THIS and I have had a countdown until July 3rd on all my devices and on calendar JULY 3rd is marked as a HOLIDAY.
AND last night…the trailer dropped. Have I watched it 50 times already? YES. It is the OG cast which is if you haven’t seen it but listened to the soundtrack…you will now have all the faces and expressions to go with the voices. So, without FURTHER ado….
I have to stop writing about this now because it will become awkward and I could write a whole fan fiction series on this maybe wth wolves or vampires or whatever but I digress…
For a LITTLE bit of fun and my two favorite things colliding…I present you BABY YODA & HAMILTON for your pleasure and it is in fact…everything.
DO WE DESERVE BEYONCÉ?
June 19th is known as JUNETEENTH in the US and for those of you who may not know the history of Juneteenth, I encourage you to read about it as it is complex and seeped in joy and tragedy, a true paradox and an important one. While the current president of the US claims HE made it famous (he did NOT IN ANY WAY) it has become more important now than ever with everything that is happening with Black Lives Matter. We have seen some HUGE companies now recognize it as a holiday and media paying a lot more attention to it than they have previously. I found “The Daily’s” (The NYT excellent daily podcast) episode on it really well done so take the time to listen as you will be better for it:
There is so much complexity to it and NOT just because of the moment we are in but because we are not where we should be by ANY Stretch of the imagination so there is celebration and struggle. And who better to hit deep inside our SOUL with it but QUEEN B who dropped her single on June 19th called “Black Parade” on Instagram (NO video, just audio and it’s flawless) and it took people by surprise (the BEST KIND) and I must have received 30 texts about it. Beyoncé is an incredible artist, but she is an activist at the heart of it and she uses her massive platform (she has 150 million followers on Insta) to raise awareness for Juneteenth and small Black-owned businesses which she lists out broken out by category like art & design, beauty, fashion…well just check them ALL out:
And here is the song which if like me, will be on repeat:
YOU HEAR THEM TOO?
OK, so we always have the occasional sound of fireworks off in the distance around this time of year and anyone with a dog knows what terror this invokes in most of them (except weirdly my dog, Potato. If there is rain, he cries and shakes like a terrified nugget but fireworks he could NOT care less…my dog is broken) but for most of you, this is a heartbreaking time for your dogs. I have been in LA for just over a week and the thing I noticed was every single night I am hearing fireworks. ENDLESSLY like all night from places that sound far away and some that sound closer. I asked my friend Jessica, my WELCOME TO LA tour guide, and she started doing some digging and OMG THIS IS LIKE A THING at the moment. ALL over the country there are illegal fireworks going off at record breaking levels. Is it because we have all been locked up for so long? LA, NY, Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Miami…and I am sure every city across America. It is not just a few fireworks but an ongoing barrage (OK I AM OLD) from like 8PM well into late night. There are a ton of articles about them (side note, Google “fireworks” and enjoy that for a second) and every report is saying to not flood the police with calls because…fireworks. But does this stop after the 4th of July?? I think probably not.
EBAY EXECS GONE WILD:
Remember eBay? Sorry that’s mean and petty…but HEY I am just following the lead of former executives there including the CEO and the jackass head of Communications (and I can SAY jackass because I am in Comms for my day job and anyone who is in this industry who does this kind of thing is a jackass and should be called out on every level…but I digress). Let me explain for those who don’t know this crazy story:
- A married couple in Massachusetts have an E-Commerce Newsletter that has at times been critical of eBay apparently. I am not clear at how large or influential this newsletter is BUT the coverage got under the skin of eBay executives. Like it INFURIATED THEM. Side note: If you are a CEO of a company where coverage is not kind to you, please do not do this (I will happily tell you how to handle negative coverage in a positive and legal and NON CYBERSTALKING WAY, but I get PAID FOR THAT GUIDANCE SO….)
- So the execs PLOT it seems to take this couple down by harassing them by sending them horrible things including a bloody pig mask, insects and a book about how TO SURVIVE THE DEATH OF A SPOUSE. I MEAN CAN YOU EVEN?? WTF.
- How do we know this? BECAUSE there are FEDERAL CHARGES brought on at least 6 “former” employees for cyberstalking. Apparently this was all orchestrated from the top, though the CEO at the time claims NO KNOWLEDGE and proceeds to throw everyone under the bus.
You just have to read everything but the fact that senior execs were enraged with the coverage (which was critical of lots of other companies like Amazon, but thankfully Captain America Bezos does NOT PLAY THAT WAY because he is actually not crazy) and the comments made by subscribers that they collectively created a campaign to terrify them is outrageous and I hope they all get prosecuted….and if your head of comms suggest anything along the lines of ANY SORT OF REVENGE, fire them (and change passwords and locks!).
TIKTOK HAS TAKEN ME:
I avoided it as long as I could. I really did. I only have SO MUCH time in a day…also I am 46 so being addicted to TikTok is slightly creepy but look there are worse vices. The thing about it is there is so much wholesomeness to this it really GETS ME. I mean for so many of the trends it just is like FEEL GOOD we are going to all be ok kind of stuff. Whether it’s grown sons and their moms and grandmas or daughters dancing with their dads or couples making each other laugh or friends challenging each other to silly pranks, or people showing off their adorable dogs (IT ME)…it just is joyful in many ways. There have been a lot of trends that have taken it by storm over the last year SUCH AS:
WIPE IT DOWN:
Then this one is the Don’t BE Suspicious trend…
And then this DON’T LEAVE me funny pun trend:
Anyway, it is also doing GOOD in the world by apparently being helpful in sabotaging the TULSA rally this weekend that the current guy who is president you KNOW is fuming over. YOU GO TIKTOKKERS…we are saved by the youth…(PS I KNOW THIS IS OWNED BY THE CHINESE SO CALM DOWN)
AND THESE ARE A FEW OF MY FAVORITE THINGS….
So, if you made it this far as this one is ALL over the place, then congratulations to you and you are my favorites by far. There are a lot of things I love that pop up that might not need a whole post about them so I have taken to just posting a link to it for your enjoyment. I apparently inherited this gift from my Mom who’s recipe book I found has a bunch of recipes in it….but just the name of it and then the page in the JOY OF COOKING you can find it in. NEXT LEVEL.
- Just call me Penny Lane:
- AIDS WALK: Live From Home
- Ryley Wrigglesworth is a hero. She was beaten up for walking alone for BLM by racists…and she came back with a new sign. The POWER OF ONE:
Until next week my Pop Culture Junkies. If you have ANY FEEDBACK or suggestions please lmk and as always please share this with EVERYONE because I want to be harassed by eBAY executive!! Anyway, please stay SAFE. Wear 😷 when you are out in public and be kind to one another.
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