Pop Culture Mondays/8.17.20
The “US POSTAL SERVICE” Edition
Happy Monday my adorable pop culture junkies. We made it another week! As I am now an LA-girl — (don’t yell at me about leaving NYC and I am ONE person who does not believe NYC is over despite all the breathless reports and accounts that it is and I am not gone from NYC forever and my home is still there but I am giving her a minute to collect herself and get her shit together) — anyway, as I was saying being ALSO an LA-person now that was sort of not paying attention to the “heat-wave” that descended upon us because as hot as it gets, it cannot be worse than hot AND humid NYC during a heat wave. And while I still stand by that, HOLY HELL it is hot. And for people in some areas more inland it is seeing record temps over over 130 degrees (that’s 54.4 degrees celsius my EURO friends…). IT IS HOT. I know I will really make fun of my fellow Angelenos when I see them wearing their puffer jackets and winter boots when temps dip to 60 degrees but for now, I do not make fun because it is hot as hell. THAT said, if anyone reading has a beach house they want to invite 🥔 the dog and me to….I am here for it. 😊
TBH I was not paying as close attention this week to PCM stuff as I was supposed to get hand surgery today BUT things changed so no hand surgery which sucks for me but it means I can write for the time being. ALSO, I have brought Baby Yoda back from his brief HOLIDAY where I hope he was swimming in the south of France and downing a methuselah of Whispering Angel whilst devouring a perfectly grilled branzino at Anjuna…
BUT I digress. I mean there is only so much of Lenny and Jason I can take before I pass out so there’s that but ultimately BABY YODA is our PCM mascot and no one better to tell the USPS crazy story visually. So he’s back and I love him and that’s that. So let’s have at it…for those new to PCM, please know there is no rhyme or reason to what’s covered here. Some stories that are dominating conversation which can be from viral videos to trends on TikTok to new content that is streaming to everything in between. But as for the current President of the US, we really really try to avoid him because I just NEED A BREAK and assume you do too. OBVS, this whole US Postal Service madness is directly related to him, but we are skipping direct talks of him. Enjoy….
LET’S CLEAR THIS UP:
OK, so there is NO question we are heading into a battle (or right in the middle of a battle) to save democracy. Voter suppression is real…it has been real…it gets MORE real and SOME politicians are not even trying to hide it. THAT said, there is a picture that went viral of locked mailboxes which were meant to be proof that the US government was keeping us from being able to mail anything let alone our ballots and so forth. While this is probably true in other ways, THIS PHOTO IS…I cannot believe I am going to say this…but this photo is “FAKE NEWS”. Ugh, I hate myself now. BUT, the fact is this is a picture of mailboxes in Burbank, CA which have been locked on Sundays for some time now to avoid vandalism that was taking place on days the post office is closed. SO I know we all want to show how we are being stripped of our rights as Americans, this unfortunately is not one of those times. I mean I saw this shared so many times on the socials from people I know and love and it is terrifying how easily these things rise up from both sides of things that we just assume to be true.
What IS true is the USPS is in agony. I have no answers though I THINK Amazon should be trying to help here but what do I know. I don’t mean Bezos personally, though a multi-billionaire COULD step in and help, but just that Amazon could be using the USPS vs UPS (So many people think UPS is part of USPS and it is not, UPS is a corporation like FedEx or DHL). Anyway, what do I know. I do know though that the merch on the USPS site is adorable and I ABSOLUTELY am buying 🥔 the dog the mail carrier costume. (FIND IT ALL HERE!!!)
And really, who am I to speak on any of this. I leave it to my President, President Barack Obama, to talk about it as he did this past week on a podcast with David Plouffe and it is a MUST MUST MUST listen (also, a dog barks around the 34 minute mark in the background which I like to imagine is the Obama’s doggo and it made 🥔 the dog immediately react and now I like to think Potato and Obama doggo are besties):
Want to get involved?
1984 vs 2020:
OK, I am NOT a journalist so I am not going to get into the nitty gritty here and take what I write with a grain of salt because this is my opinion…NOT always the facts but let me try to at least SUMMARIZE what is happening.
Even if you don’t have kids, you more than likely have heard of Fortnite, the online game aka phenomenon. Now, I was a gamer when I was younger. I started early in my career doing PR for a variety of gaming companies and LIVED and BREATHED every new game release, new console release…was there when mobile gaming took off and LIVED for it and online gaming was my jam from the minute I started using this thing called the INTERNET. (I am old). And if you ever doubt the speed for which progress happens, JUST take a look at games from 1999 to today and your head will explode. I try to play games now and I am a quick learner JUST SO WE ARE CLEAR, and I am mystified. The kids these days are going to grow up to be geniuses as Fortnite is HARD. It’s amazing what kids are doing…but again I digress. The point is hundreds of millions of people play this game….it is HUGE. And it makes a ton of money and as ANY app that runs on iOS (and Google) they have to pay a certain amount to these companies. They sign an agreement and if they break the agreement these companies have the right to block them. I think the theme for everything these days is: “NOT all is really as it seems”. Like, you think Apple is a hardware company that makes phones? And Amazon is a site we buy things on? I mean sure. But both these companies make SO SO SO MUCH money from their services businesses. Apple (and Google) charges app developers a 30 PERCENT fee…which is ridiculous and huge and IN MY OPINION, unfair. Also, (again I am not a reporter) there are SOME companies that void this 30 percent fee…including um….AMAZON. I mean can you even?? But I digress. IN what was a clear marketing move, Epic (the makers of Fortnite) released a video in-game and externally, riffing on the famous Apple 1984 ad but this time, Apple is the big old bad guy and Epic wants to be set free. Note the TALKING APPLE with worm coming out of it is wearing Tim Cook sunglasses….
A majority of players watching this will not have even known about the origin of this ad but that’s beside the point. What followed was all orchestrated, a lawsuit which Epic filed against Apple and Google. It could only be a company of this size with this much power and public support to take on these giants. And then it just went crazy from there and giant Spotify, also a victim to these crazy costs Apple and Google charge, came out in support of Epic. And the crazy thing here is I have heard from so many people with young kids who say their KIDS are talking about this….because the video was in the game they are all seeing it and are like APPLE SUCKS which is so crazy to me. So that’s that…read more on it as I cannot do the story justice but these amazing reporters can:
CONTENT CONTENT CONTENT:
**** THIS IS UPDATED DUE TO AN UNEXPECTED TWIST:
We are all starved for content I know I know. I mean I actually had the Avengers on TV this weekend that was playing on USA on my Hulu Live with like 25 minute commercial breaks but it just felt soothing to have it on. What else is soothing is GARBAGE TV. And that my friends is the perfect lead in for Selling Sunset. I mean when I think of trash TV, and I think of this often, this show TOPS the list. It is a perfect glimpse into a pre-Covid world with a cast you can’t stop watching. I watched every second of it. The premise is that these identical twin brothers have a real estate agency (incidentally just down the street from me in West Hollywood) where they seemingly ONLY hire amazonian beautiful women with insane clothes. At the end of the day, it is sold as a real estate show which appeals to real estate porn fans like me…the first season centers around a ridiculous $40 million home they are trying to sell which is literally down the street from where I live now (DEF NOT MY house) and it was apparently ultimately bought by a self help guy who wears tshirts that say “The Matrix was a Documentary” and has a yappy dog that barks at 🥔 the dog every time we walk by (because despite the price tag of $40 million it is off the street and I can hear them talking when they are poolside). BUT really this show is about the “personal” lives of the realtors each trying to outdo one another in fashion and drama and mean girls BS and it’s a lot. It will probably kill a lot of brain cells BUT that said, it is FUN and juicy and distracting.
AND OMG UPDATE: My neighbor found a doggo this afternoon and gave it to me because I am obviously a dog person AND ALSO I fancy myself a Nancy Drew of sorts…so after some sleuthing and going to the vet and getting the dog scanned for a chip and some other detective work found the owner who is Christine, a star on the SHOW and she was beautiful and sweet and so happy to have her dog back and apparently the dog is on Season 3 as a dog who likes to run away so this dog was ALSO a famous doggo like 🥔 the dog and THAT MY FRIENDS IS A TRUE HOLLYWOOD STORY.
….and then WE HAVE THIS MAGNIFICENT NEW SHOW:
And all I can say is THANK YOU HBO or HBO Max or whatever you are called this week but really, thank you. It’s been a long time since I was at the edge of my seat with a show and I didn’t even look at my phone ONCE during it and OMG I needed a drink or two or three or some Valiums and by some I mean a boatload but it was a GOOD stress. OK SO… “Lovecraft Country” is based on novel by Matt Ruff (buy it here) of the same name. It takes place in Jim Crow America in the 1950s which is produced by Jordan Peele and J.J Abrams and show runner Misha Green and IT IS SO GOOD. It is also perfectly timed with the moment we are in in 2020. IS it horror? I mean yes. Is it also a brilliant look at monsters — both actual monsters and the monsters our racist society produces. Also among the incredible actors, there is Michael K. Williams who played Omar on “The Wire” maybe one of the best characters of all time.
Here’s a glimpse:
My only complaint — is that I cannot binge this show and have to wait ‘til next week for the episode 2. DAMN YOU HBO whatever…but actually I am ok with it because if I binged it all at once A. I would never sleep again and B. I wouldn’t be SO looking forward to NEXT Sunday.
AND THESE ARE A FEW OF MY FAVORITE THINGS….
OK, so I need to go back to my day job and also ice my wrist/hand since the surgery to fix it HAS BEEN DELAYED. IN the meantime here are a few other things that popped up this week:
- This little boy Jordan will probably have his wish. After a local news station ran a story on him where he talked about just wanting to be adopted and having a family, thousands of people have reached out.
- Mi pan susu su or whatever. This song will haunt you but it’s the viral moment on TikTok this week. It all started with this mind trippy video:
And here is a compilation of some of the genius TikToks made with the song.
- If you have a tween daughter, it’s likely you have heard of the STRAWBERRY DRESS. This dress has gone viral and is the dream of little girls (not all tweens by the way) everywhere:
I first started seeing videos about it on TikTok:
So I had to go down the rabbit hole of what this dress is all about and voila:
Until next week, my Pop Culture Junkies and I can say that as NO HAND surgery for me quite yet.
If you have ANY FEEDBACK or suggestions please lmk and as always please share this NEWSLETTER with your peeps!
Anyway, please stay SAFE. Wear 😷 when you are out in public and be kind to one another and BE EASY ON YOURSELF and stay safe and WATCH LOVECRAFT COUNTRY!!!
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