Pop Culture Mondays/9.8.20

The “Tuesday” Edition

Welcome to my brain…

Happy TUESDAY my pop culture junkies! Since I began writing this newsletter meets blog thingy in November 2019, I have not missed ONE Monday which is maybe the longest commitment I have made in a long while. PCM MIGHT be my longest relationship but that’s another topic entirely. But this week, I decided to give in and enjoy a Monday holiday. If you are on the West Coast, you had a HELLUVA weekend where temps soared in some places over 120 degrees. I mean it hit over 100 in San Francisco where most people don’t have air con so that is pretty horrible. In my new neighborhood which I love, we lost power about 6PM on Saturday night when it was still about 100 degrees in West Hollywood. It turns out when you lose power that also means AC which took me a minute to connect the dots on. I know I know but look, I cannot be the only one who took a minute to fully comprehend what a blackout in a heatwave meant. ANYWAY, my friend pod in the neighborhood and I took 🥔 the dog and high tailed it to a hotel where they had AC, Bravo and french fries so it was a gift really. So Monday morning, when I should have been writing this thing, I was happily in bed in a dark hotel room with AC blasting and a dog snoring and a “Below Deck Mediterranean” marathon lulling me into a sweet blissful relaxed state. And I realized that NOT a LOT pop culturey happened other than Nancy Pelosi HAIR SCANDOLO which I am not covering because…this will turn into a lecture by me to the DEMOCRATS about how NOT TO FUCK UP (PLEASE DO NOT FUCK THIS UP DEMOCRATS!!!!)

Another pop culture moment was when Poseidon HIMSELF rose from the water to sink some boats at a Trump boat rally…I mean this really amused me:

Not to mention the crazy heat (and endless amounts of rosé) have maybe killed one too many of my brain cells this weekend, so for that forgive me if this week’s edition is a bit THIN!

And hello to my new subscribers. We really try to be AS Trump-free as possible since we all need a break from the madness. PCM is a fun escape like walking into a very cold store on a very hot summer day. Just a brief little escape minus the crowds and the high price tags.

BYE Djokovic…

AND….YOU’RE OUT:

I will never complain again about going to the US Open. Look, it’s not easy getting to the stadium from NYC and it is usually super hot even with the new roof and even though I LOVE watching tennis live, sometimes the US Open can exhaust me so much I need a week to recover. From just sitting there in the heat, drinking little refreshing vodka drinks and trying NOT to look at Anna Wintour and trying not to get in trouble for being loud (HARD for me)…I love it all so much but it’s a lot. But watching the US Open be played to an empty stadium was just too weird and disconcerting. I CANNOT WAIT TO SWEAT SO HARD I LOOK LIKE I MELTED whenever we can watch tennis in person again.

And before we get into the drama, let’s highlight tennis sensation Naomi Osaka, who has a Haitian father and Japanese mother. She CAME TO SLAY at the Open this year…Breonna Taylor…that was what her mask said and with that nothing more needed to be said as her stand was clear.

AND ONE more lovely moment before we get into Djokovic and his anger management issues let’s rejoice in the adorableness of Olympia, Serena Williams’ and Alexis Ohanian’s daughter:

This is the innocence we need to combat the crazy that follows. Now, I do not think — nor does anyone — that Djokovic intended to hit a line judge in the throat with a ball but he did and it happened as he was having an outburst. And he was CANCELLED…well at least at the US Open as those are the rules.

THOSE ARE THE GRAND SLAM RULES YOU GUYS.

Let’s not forget this is the same dude who was like “Covid-19 WHA???”…and proceeded to organize a tennis tournament in Serbia and Croatia giving ZERO fucks on the social distancing guidelines which led to many testing positive for Covid, INCLUDING HIM. So, this next stage of his career is firmly cementing him as the BAD BOY of tennis which just isn’t really cute anymore. Look, the thing is he clearly didn’t do it intentionally:

But rules are rules. He also MAY NOT have handled it the best with his comments apparently saying because the line judge didn’t have to go to the hospital — it was not a big deal. BUT he later took to Insta to issue an apology which I say I will give an 8 out of 10. He takes responsibility. He doesn’t sound like a robot and it didn’t sound like it was written by his publicist or agent BUT starting with HOW THE SITUATION has left HIM… is cause for points OFF my friend. NO NO NO don’t ever start an apology with how hurt or empty or sad YOU are. I would say he’s probably a narcissist — something I can say because I ACTUALLY basically have a PhD in Narcissism according to my therapist as I have dated MANY a narcissist but I digress…you decide for yourself though:

This whole situation has left me really sad and empty. I checked on the lines person and the tournament told me that thank God she is feeling ok. I’m extremely sorry to have caused her such stress. So unintended. So wrong. I’m not disclosing her name to respect her privacy. As for the disqualification, I need to go back within and work on my disappointment and turn this all into a lesson for my growth and evolution as a player and human being. I apologize to the @usopen tournament and everyone associated for my behavior. I’m very grateful to my team and family for being my rock support, and my fans for always being there with me. Thank you and I’m so sorry. — Novak Djokovic

And it doesn’t end there. Because we have a Commander in Chief who’s main job it seems is to be an online troll…it has given permission to trolls all around the country to just thrive and be more troll-like. I mean we truly have a moment in time where people feel like it is acceptable to showcase their worst selves…hate → whether it is directed at someone of a different race or gender or sexuality or someone with a physical disability or…really anyone…has become not only accepted but celebrated by this current administration. I just KNOW we will get thru it and the trolls will go back to living underground where they came from. But here we have an example of them coming out hard and I wish Djokovic would annihilate these people but sigh:

Line judge struck by ball hit by Djokovic bombarded with death threats

AND…of course the male sports writers (a VAST generalization and I am not sorry..)have their own take when it comes to boys being punished vs the girls. I mean THIS guy 😑:

And quotes like the ones in this article are MAYBE why people love to hate him:

Novak Djokovic says he's been subject of 'witch hunt' after COVID-19 outbreak led to Adria Tour…

And obvi, you need to hear McEnroe’s thoughts on this topic:

'He's going to be the bad guy the rest of his career,' says McEnroe of Djokovic

DAMN.

HOLY HEATWAVE:

Either you experienced this madness, or you most certainly heard about people experiencing this madness this past weekend where in Los Angeles the temperature hit 110 degrees (that’s FAHRENHEIT for you European peeps reading this. That would would be 43.3 celsius!) And in Palm Springs it hit 118. These are record highs…because the world is burning. For many this is very very dangerous for obvious reasons but in homes in places like Northern California and even many homes in Southern California, there is NO AC. And on Saturday night, as I mentioned in my intro…the power went out in my house as it did my entire neighborhood. And it took my brain a few minutes to adjust to what NO POWER meant. This was my thought process:

• Oh I wish I had fans. (Yeah so no. FANS REQUIRE power, which I could not process.)
• My garage door opener is broken dammit. (And wrong, again. POWER. It needed power.)
• Alexa, what’s the temperature?? (I must have yelled at Alexa a few times before I realized..oh yeah power…)

So now that you have had a glimpse into my brain, I am sorry btw, you might be able to relate…or not… but it really is a mind fuck when you realize the very fabric of your life falls entirely apart with no power. In minutes. And as it was getting hotter by the minute I had to move to a hotel with the doggo 🥔 as that dude needs AC more than anyone.

But the point is, the world is on fire. Figuratively and quite literally. The wildfires have raged on and on and destroying homes and wildlife and are trapping people in campsites and it is just harrowing. THOUGH please I beg of you…when you know there are fires everywhere and even if it doesn’t seem all that close to you, please don’t go hiking/camping/fishing/tubing/frolicking in risky places. PLEASE.

And for one of the BIG fires…this was started by apparently a PYROTECHNIC extravaganza for a gender reveal party. Yes that’s correct. For those of you who do not know what a gender reveal party is well A. Consider yourself blessed and B. I am sorry about this: BUT a gender reveal party is when people having a baby have a party to reveal the GENDER of the baby. Generally they give a sealed envelope from the doctor to a baker or balloon person or seemingly in this case a pyro guy who then make the cake or fireworks to be either pink or blue…

If you’re curious, here you go:

So yeah, one of these big ones was caused by a gender reveal party gone wrong and I hope maybe people will stop throwing these parties…like you’re having a baby and that’s amaze why do we care the gender and if just an excuse to have a party with special effects then move your energy to Halloween and scare your friends and neighbors with spooky non flammable things.

This video went everywhere and it really shakes you to the core:

Again, maybe don’t camp when their are wildfires but I digress…all of these people were rescued so there is the good news. And the weather is crazy everywhere…in Denver it was 101 degrees yesterday and today it is snowing. THANK YOU 2020.

Denver is under a winter storm watch two days after the city hit 101 degrees

A pyrotechnic device at a gender reveal party sparked one of the California wildfires, burning over…

Woman who popularized the gender reveal party says enough already after latest wildfire

California wildfires set record as more than 2 million acres are scorched

AND THESE ARE A FEW OF MY FAVORITE THINGS….

AND that is a short and sweet PCM…just like this short and sweet post Labor Day week. I have a day job to get back to and I drank a pot of coffee this am and I just don’t have more in me. There are a ton of back to school photos all over your socials today…some are going to real school…some to Zoom school and I love my friends and their kids but this is the day I will flood everyone with pics of my dog in his back to school OUTFIT purely as my rebuttal.

Haters gonna hate? Potato's gonna Potate. #backpack #letsgo #potate

BUT I digress…below are some of my fave things. BUT….

NOT my favorite thing I will say was…ready….

MULAN.

I watched it you guys. I did NOT like it. I loved the cast and it was visually very pretty BUT it left me empty and unfulfilled. I mean they could have put the songs in to give it SOME life…some personality. Mulan was a mashup of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon; James Bond movies but the ones with Daniel Craig jumping on walls and shit; maybe the best movie from the 1980s Just One of the Guys (OH YEAH) but minus all the heart and soul and fun of these movies. SO I am giving 👎 to MULAN and I spent $30 on that so SIGH.

• But did you see this horror show on the streets of NYC? Yeah so this will haunt you:

'Brooklyn for real': Rat takes on pigeon in ruthless NYC showdown

• This video was all over my socials yesterday and it was the anecdote to all things bad but also this kid is my hero:

• Actress and comedian Niecy Nash comes out and announced her marriage via Instagram and it was flawless:

• And in the world of marketing genius…Brandy and Monica are BACK:

Brandy and Monica earn over 20 million streams after 'VERZUZ' battle

Brandy & Monica Combine for Over 20 Million U.S. Song Streams After Verzuz Battle

Until next week, my Pop Culture Junkies. I will see you next week hopefully with a more robust and less FIRE-y PCM. OH and I am thinking of doing a podcast (because everyone has a podcast and I feel left out) but if you think. this is a good idea…or a terrible idea…LMK!!! YOU ARE MY PEOPLE and I need to hear from you! ❤️

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