Pop Culture Mondays/8.1.22
The LIONESS Edition
Happy Monday AND happy August my pop culture junkies. HOW IS IT AUGUST?? I hope you are ALL enjoying the last days of summer wherever you may be…unless you are on a boat off Amalfi or Antiparos, then I just have to ask, WHY WAS I NOT INVITED? I am suffering from some major FOMO and need to take a break from Instagram I think. THOUGH, the good news at least for me is that the awful Instagram experiment that had my feed trying to be TikTok has seemingly come to an end and my Insta is back to being as it should be.
NEVER thought I would say this, but thank you Jenner/Kardashian clan. We could have complained EN MASSE and this would have done nothing…but thanks to our BRAVE Kim and Kylie they got shit DONE.
Moving on…if you're new here then, first of all, hi. And second of all, thank you and welcome. This is a weekly look at what’s happening in the world of viral moments and memes and TikTok trends and it is not a place where I break down what’s happening on “Love Island” as there are a million other places for that. We are also Trump-free even when he does things like burying his ex-wife and mother of his children in a sad plot at his GOLF CLUB because it is apparently giving him tax breaks…nope, not even then. 🙄
But I do have a weekly podcast that comes out on Thursdays and last week, I had on Chrysta Bilton who has just published her FIRST book and it is a PAGE TURNER. It's called “Normal Family” (CLICK HERE TO BUY) and it’s her own story coming from the most interesting family in the world, including a father who went on to be a prolific sperm donor who has over 40 children (but some estimate it will be well over 100).
SO yeah…it’s a story.
Listen to it here:
Enjoy…
THE LIONESSES ROAR- EURO 2022:
I cannot lie to you. I had no idea any of this was happening as I am not a sports fan. GENERALLY, I have some idea when some big sporting event is happening but in this case, I am guessing because I am not a sports fan or in England I missed the boat on it. Maybe..JUST maybe it was also because it’s a women’s sports and it seems to get a lot less attention from media (IN THE US). But the news exploded when England’s women won Englands’s FIRST INTERNATIONAL football tournament since 1966 (I think that’s for men and women and this is the first time women have won this? I MIGHT be wrong so correct me please!) And socials exploded right before the game and then right after as they won…at least in the US that’s how it went down. Here's how I first learned about the game:
Yes, the Royal Family has an official TikTok account. Again, I am not up to speed on all global sports but I was like, WHAT IS HAPPENING? And then, as if a portal to this world opened up, my socials became flooded with excitement.
And Neil Diamond’s classic “Swont Caroline” was the anthem for this team and this is now playing everywhere in England.
THIS one has me crying:
Some brands got in on the trend though this one was really tough for me:
SO it’s tough for Americans because the first veggie is what we call a “Rutabaga” but in England it’s called a Swede.
“Swede Carrot Lime” → Sweet Caro Line…ROUGH.
And some other brands,:
And the team took over the press conference singing, “It’s coming home…”
A player, Jill Scott, got a lot of attention for cursing out a German player:
People called out the fact that the men couldn't do what the women could…ain’t it always that way?
SO….congratulations England and celebrate the women today…and every day!
For more:
THIS IS MOST DEFINITELY NOT SUITABLE FOR WORK OR FOR CHILDREN OR FOR ROYALISTS:
UM…..Soooooooo…ok, now that we are on the theme of ENGLAND, there was some OTHER news that took over socials/gossip sites the last few days pertaining to the royal family. And it was a salacious one and GENERALLY not what I would cover here BUT it has crossed into many vortexes so HERE WE ARE.
Let’s first explain that this has to do with a fun little thing called PEGGING.
Yep. I told you.
Now, if you don’t know what “pegging” is…well you could just Google image it and mess up your algorithm from here to eternity. Or else, well…here you go:
Again, you’re welcome.
SO, why is this trending? The VERY popular gossip insta account, DeuxMoi, where a huge amount of celebrity gossip is shared and then much of it ultimately verified, had a blind item of blind items.
I mean look…sometimes PCM gets lowbrow. I cannot regulate what is going viral and it’s best you heard from me when your kid asks you over the dinner table, “Mom what’s pegging?” and now you are prepared.
So there have been long-standing rumors over the fidelity of Prince William and many say this is what caused the rift between him and his brother, not Meghan Markle.
A few years ago, there were rumors of an affair Prince William was allegedly having with a posh neighbor and former friend of Kate’s. The rumors have moved on to this — the latest one.
In fact, the rumors got so crazy, brands like RyanAir got in on the “fun” in a SINCE DELETED TWEET:
CAN YOU EVEN??? WHAT IS HAPPENING?
The hashtag #PRINCEOFPEGGING was trending on all the socials.
SO…they just devolve from there. But frankly, read this piece in The Cut for all your NEED TO KNOW news on this:
AND NOW FOR SOME OF MY FAVORITE THINGS (OR SOME OF THE DESPICABLE ONES…)
- SO much Joni Mitchell love last week. AS I said on my pod last week, I could not include last Monday as I was still processing. I used to listen to Joni Mitchell with my mom as I grew up. I find it hard to this day to hear her music when sung BY Joni as it reminds me of my mom so much…but man, did the world get a treat last week at the Newport Music Festival. I dare you not to cry but in truth — this is a palette cleanser from the above story so I suggest watching it on repeat. And please note…I AM A BRANDI CARLISLE STAN EVEN MORE NOW.
- Will Smith apologized. Sort of? This whole thing feels very weird to me. A weird, fake, horrible set like not a warm, comforting room but a set that looks like some interns from the ’90s put together in 20 minutes. And it still felt very disconnected and cold and staged to me. He read questions like he was a robot and it just didn’t work. And on YouTube, the only thing written with the post from him was, “Thanks y’all”. What do YOU think?
- And if you missed it with all the other bad news out there, the SENATE killed a bill that would help veterans. Help sick veterans with medical help. It is shocking. And shocking how many MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN people who are all about the MILITARY, stand behind the party that turned this down. Well, thankfully we have Jon Stewart…and I know it would turn his life upside down and his family’s life…but MY LORD, if we are electing TV personalities as leaders of the world, I VOTE FOR JON STEWART. THIS is the most breathtaking press conference we have ever seen:
- And back to bringing a little humor. We have good ole HUGH GRANT who is one of the stars in the upcoming “Dungeons and Dragons” movie. He was at ComicCon (along with an unrecognizable to me Chris Pine) talking about how he was not a Dungeons and Dragons fan before but he jokes (is it though?) he has been a Dungeon Master in his personal life so to speak so it made the rounds of the socials.
- A lot of people use bad judgment on social media. There are some who need to be reminded that not every idea they have should be turned into content. Like this plastic surgeon who decided to use an actress from Stranger Things as an example of the kind of work she would do to make her “prettier”. Yeah…well she rightfully got eviscerated for this:
The OG video on TikTok was removed, but as the saying goes…things live forever on the Internet.
- But what doesn't live forever (or does it)? CHOCO TACO. I have never had one and now it is too late sadly. Though it had some amazing PR this past week. But here’s what happened…Klondike announced (somewhere) that after 40 years, the were discontinuing the CHOCO TACO:
Never had one. And YET…I have ever wanted something more as soon as I heard the news. The Interwebs EXPLODED. Everyone’s favorite dad, Alexis Ohanian, offered to buy it:
Well, the outrage grew and grew that CHOCO themselves…tweeted a statement:
So, we are all on pins and needles.
- PINK SAUCE. I am sorry…I am late on this. I really just tried to block it out and thought it would go away. It has not. So if your kids are asking you about PINK SAUCE, let me explain. It is a viral trend originated on TikTok. There is a creator called Chef Pii who makes and sells pink sauce that has gone viral. I mean the marketing is genius and born out of social media:
This one REALLY SELLS IT. “It’s not bad, it’s NOT nasty.”
And to understand the virality of it, this Eater article is great. We have the Barbie movie coming out…we have Valentino doing a line in pink…The color PINK IS HAVING A MOMENT:
- And lastly…CONTENT. I watched two things this weekend that I am obsessed with and made me miss NYC more than anything.
First, was this darling movie on Hulu, “Not Okay,” which is a true look at our times and social media and PERFECT PCM CONTENT. It’s beautifully done and the actors were…well, you just saw people become stars in this. The two standouts to me, were the stars Zoey Deutch (who’s real mom we ALL grew up with, Leah Thompson. Oh, you remember, I promise. “Back to the Future”? “Some Kind of Wonderful”? )
Her daughter Zoe…I cannot keep my eyes off of her. She’s just got that thing.
…And then there is the actress, Mia Isaac. And all I know is she is REMARKABLE and I want to see her in everything. It was like watching a star being born.
I mean this entire movie is WHY PCM exists.
OK, and LASTLY…I binged this entire season last night.
A. We have Neil Patrick Harris.
B. We have Tisha Campbell
C. We have Marcia Gay Harden
D. It was made by Darren Star.
E. We have NYC as the main character.
F. We have apartment porn.
Welcome to your newest addiction:
THAT IS IT, my darlings…
Have a wonderful week, my darlings.
Don’t get Monekypox…they look really painful and apparently the CDC is not really awesome at moving FAST.
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