#apparently there was some controversy with the last UK tour too since there were no child actors for Fiona and they had puppets?

[fire-breathing-pain-in-the-neck]

I’m definitely late to the news, but for my UK people, you guys are getting a new Shrek the Musical tour next year!

#is it just me or does the logo look off #I’m not used to shrek in the back so it feels strange #apparently there was some controversy with the last UK tour too since there were no child actors for Fiona and they had puppets? #they also took out build a wall which is weird to me #hoping to see some good promo footage as it comes out! #shrek #shrekcore #shrek franchise #shrek is everything #source: shrek #shrek is love #shrek is life #shrek is god #princess fiona #donkey shrek #shrek the musical

[argumentl]

The Freedom of Expression, radio version - Ep 65, Dec 2016 - Christmas, Controversial Fabreeze CM, Rocker Uchida Yūya.

Kaoru starts that by saying that its Christmas Eve today, but then corrects himself because as the show is always broadcast at 1am, its actually now Christmas day. Joe asks Kaoru how old he was before he stopped believing in Santa. This is actually a question that came via email last week, Joe had just forgotten to check it. Kaoru then repeats the question, 'Did you believe in Santa? If so, how long for?'. Kaoru thinks he probably believed in Santa until about 1st or 2nd grade of elementary school. The trigger for him no longer believing is when his parents took him to buy a Christmas present together 🤣. Joe asks what type of stuff he bought, and Kaoru replies that Doraemon was big when he was a kid, so he used to get Doraemon stuff, but also sometimes Ultraman stuff, or Robocon stuff. Joe then asks whether Dir en grey ever do Christmas events. Kaoru says they don't, neither have they every made a Christmas song. (*Imagine a Dir en grey xmas song!* 🤣)

Kaoru then reads out another email, this time from a woman who says she has recently fallen in love with a man who is super into heavy metal, and she has no idea what to talk about with him. She really wants to make him fall in love with her, so she asks Kaoru to play some heavy metal on the show that she can use, to impress the man she loves with her knowledge. Kaoru says that he himself doesn't know a lot about metal. He is not sure whether this is metal, but he decides to play one of his own songs - Tsumi to batsu.

After playing the record, Kaoru comes back on-air, saying he felt so nostalgic hearing the song, he started sweating. He then wishes the woman who sent the email well in her quest to snare her man.

Kaoru's first topic this week is about a controversial CM produced for the de-oderising product Fabreeze. The cm shows people smelling a dried, fermented fish product called Kusaya, while pulling faces, and saying it stinks. They then smell it again after using fabreeze to demonstrate how well the product eliminates bad smells. This cm has angered the residents on Hachjōjima, an island know for the production of Kusaya. The question has since arisen of whether its ok to use Kusaya as a symbol of stinky things. Kaoru and Joe are both quick to say that this food does smell bad, thats why its called 'Kusaya'(*in Japanese, stinky = kusai*). Joe says it can't really be helped if it has this kind of association, that is the identity it has. Kaoru says that it could alternatively be seen as good promotion. Joe agrees, and says there are probably a lot of young people who have never even heard of kusaya, so this might be a good chance for the makers of it to spread awareness of it. On top of this, says Kaoru, comedy shows have been know to quite often use kusaya as the typical stinky item, so he's not sure what difference this cm makes. Being stinky is its selling point. Joe says that in the current age, its so difficult to get people to take notice of things when so little info is provided. So even though this may be portrayed in a slighly negative light, the fact that it is actually getting public attention could be the starting point to revealing the true charm of kusaya to the public. This is a good chance for the people of Hachijōjima. Kaoru agrees. Kaoru thinks that commercials used to be a lot more offensive than they are now. Joe confirms that they were, and says that society used to also be much more tolerant of offensive material than it is now. Kaoru thinks the old way was more interesting. Joe continues to say that the world in general is becoming too intolerant. If anything is even a tiny bit wrong, people are so quick to go on the attack these days. He wants the world to be a bit more tolerant. One person's bad could be another person's good. Kaoru states that nowadays there is less and less for young people to aim for in terms of careers, as the world becomes more strict in its opinions. For example, in the Shōwa era becoming a teacher used to be thought of as a good job, but now becoming a teacher means having to face monster parents, so is much less appealing. Joe feels more tolerance is what the world needs.

Tasai joins them next, and Joe says he is glad its Tasai joining them on Christmas Eve, and not Hiranabe. Hiranabe would probably be full of filth. Tasai's news is about legendary rock star Uchida Yūya, then 77 years old. Tasai says that despite suffering a fall when he was recently in the UK, which resulted in him being unable to walk, Uchida (now back in Japan) has since attended a Roman Porno event. 35 years ago Uchida had starred in the Roman Porno movie 'Aaa onnatachi waika (嗚呼！おんなたち　猥歌). During the event he told a story about an actress on the movie whom he labelled 'useless' after she lost her temper. He apparently said, 'I shouldn't say who it was...but it was Takahata Atsuko'. Uchida's appearance at this event was supposed to be for a 30min talk session with director Yukisada Isao, but Yukisada only managed about 30 seconds worth, Uchida talked about his own things for the whole rest of the time. He ended the talk saying he wanted to go home, and the food there was disgusting.

They all think Uchida is pretty great. Tasai comments that Uchida's way of life is often described as 'rock', but what is the definition of 'rock', what does that even mean? Joe says he knows Uchida quite well, and there are plenty of things he can't repeat about him, but he tells a story from after the 3.11 disaster struck Tōhoku. The photographer Kurigami Kazumi had seen Uchida riding through Tōhoku on his bicycle then at over 70 years old. Kurigami had described this as 'rock'.

Joe says that Uchida is also responsible for discovering a lot of new musicians, and he was also know to many big overseas musicians, including Frank Zappa. Uchida said about himself, 'There is no one else who has contributed as much as I have the world of Japanese Rock, and has also made as little money as I have'. Kaoru says Dir en grey were once invited to Uchida's annual New Year event, but were unable to attend due to timing. They all say again that they think he is pretty cool. Joe says that Uchida did have a serialised column in Rolling Stone magazine, and for his first entry he wrote about getting arrested at Harajuku police station. Tasai thinks he would get on well with Kami.

Kaoru finishes by saying he's glad he got his new bgm finished before the show ends. He had promised to do it during the summer, but never did. He then plugs the aknot dvds, the Uroboros and Moab tours (including one date in Okinawa), tells listerners to look forward to the last episode of this radio show next week, and ends by saying 'Merry Christmas'.

Songs - Dir en grey/Tsumi to Batsu, Limp Bizkit/Nookie, Dir en grey/Ain't Afraid To Die.

To radio top

#dir en grey #the freedom of expression #radio

[heavyarethecrowns]

WILLIAM AND KATE’S FIVE YEAR ANNIVERSARY

WILLIAM AND KATE’S FIVE YEAR ANNIVERSARY

LOVE, LOLA ♥ MUSINGS ABOUT LIFE, LOVE, BEAUTY & ROYALTY

APRIL 29, 2016

Five years ago, Kate Middleton entered Westminster Abbey and emerged Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cambridge, Countess of Strathearn and Lady Carrickfergus. After a near decade-long wait to become Mrs. Prince William, the woman who had been referred to in the press as Waity Katie, The Mattress, Her Royal Thighness and the Royal Doormat was repackaged as a perfect fairytale princess.

The royal love story was respun to sound a bit less stalkery. In “Kate, The Future Queen”, Katie Nicholls revealed that in order to increase her chances of becoming Mrs. Prince William, the Edinburgh-bound Kate decided to take a gap year and applied to be in Prince William’s class at St. Andrews. William and Kate’s first meeting wasn’t even at St. Andrews, in the summer 1999 they were introduced by Emilia d’Erlanger at “Club H” at Highgrove, but Kate failed to make an impression on William. Three years later, a sheer dress Kate wore at a charity fashion show finally did the trick.

In their eight years of dating before the engagement announcement, Kate reportedly found herself cast aside for Jecca Craig at William’s 21st birthday party, in 2004 before exams, Kate was dumped for “more space” which then took the form of Jecca Craig, in 2005 Kate was briefly replaced by Isabella Calthorpe who decided the princess life wasn’t for her, and in April 2007 William broke up with Kate for a couple of months, infamously jumping up on a table after dumping her via cell phone, shouting, “I’m free!” And yet, Kate still wanted to marry Prince William.

Kate’s wedding prep focused on the physical. In addition to having her teeth fixed and extensive beauty treatments, Kate lost so much weight that at an engagement in Ireland before the wedding, a woman expressed concern Kate was becoming too thin. Kate replied, “It’s all part of the plan!” The Palace Press Office tried to keep Kate’s comment contained, noting, “It’s a hugely private matter.” It’s too bad Kate’s plan didn’t also include preparing for her new duties.

By all accounts, Kate was calm and composed before the wedding. According to Marina Sandoval who did Kate’s manicure for the wedding, “She didn’t display an ounce of nerves. She was just happy that the day was here at last.” Her hair stylist Richard Ward noted, “She has been remarkably relaxed from the start… Everyone else was nervous, but not Kate. She just took it all in her stride and was calming everyone else down.”

There were no pre-wedding jitters or obvious nerves getting married in front of 1,900 guests and millions watching around the world. Waity Katie who had been dubbed “Princess-in-Waiting” at Marlborough appeared triumphant about waitying no more.

Kate wore a classically pretty but somewhat underwhelming wedding dress by Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen, her wedding veil was so flat, it looked like she was wearing a stocking over her face to knock over a liquor store and the makeup which Kate did herself reminded me of the similarly heavy-handed application of a transvestite hooker who once told me that my outfit was fierce.

The 20 foot maple trees that decorated Westminster Abbey in hindsight feel like a prelude to the massive amount of privacy trees planted at Anmer Hall but at the time they just seemed ridiculous. Kate filled the abbey with British flora, her Language of Flowers vision reportedly cost £50,000.

When Kate said “I do”, she became an official representative of the UK and the monarchy, a job she appears to have had no intention of doing.

In the engagement interview, Kate stated, “I’m willing to learn quickly and work hard,” and yet in her five years since becoming a duchess, Kate has only delivered 8 short shaky speeches, gone on four royal tours and has undertaken a combined 390 engagements to date, a grand total for five years on par with what the 90-year-old Queen averages in one year (in 2014, the Queen undertook 393 engagements).

Ahead of the five year royal wedding anniversary, Ingrid Seward, editor-in-chief of Majesty magazine suggested that Kate’s dismal efforts are born from a fear she’s going to screw up royally. Seward who must be suffering from amnesia noted, “She hasn’t made any mistakes, which is extraordinary when you think of how difficult it is for her. I suppose the only mistake she’s made is that she’s probably seen not always as particularly interesting but I think she’s absolutely terrified of not doing it right.”

Really, Kate’s only short-coming is that she’s dull? Just off the top of my head, Kate’s event totals are so dismally low, last year she only accounted for 1.66% of the royal family’s workload. She’s been criticized for frequent luxury holidays, selecting more glamorous events like film premieres, Wimbledon, galas, wine tastings and ignoring ones that don’t seem to interest her, like those involving her charities that aren’t connected to Ben Ainslie. Kate’s Received Pronunciation affectation has inhibited her ability to deliver the few brief speeches she’s attempted, causing her to mispronounce the name of the charity in one and struggle with words like “palliative” in others. The occasional comments she makes at events lack substance but still are dutifully reported by the press because she offers nothing else of substance. Actual Kate official event quotes include: “And can it… can you… um… test the… the smell by smelling it?”; “It’s very shiny.”; “Oh it’s actually not bad if you were desperately hungry.”; “I like your hair.”; “I like your nails.”; “No! Oh no, is that me? Is that meant to be me? Does my hair really look like that!” (in response to a doll a girl was holding); “Oh, I know now who you are. Although it’s very strange… now you have got facial hair. Some of the people who had facial hair in the film don’t have facial hair now.” (in speaking to actor Tom Hiddleston); and most recently, when told of street children being mutilated to make money begging, she responded, “Gosh, so interesting.”

In her five years since joining the royal family, Kate has offended many by smiling, laughing, and playing with her hair during balcony appearances on Remembrance Sunday, sparking outrage in 2013 as she dreamily gazed off in the distance while twirling her hair during the solemn event. Kate being a professed hands-on mother has been offered as the reason Kate puts in the fewest event totals each year in the British Royal Family and yet Prince George is most frequently papped with his nanny. When George was seven months old, Kate had no trouble leaving him behind while she took a Maldives escape (her second luxury holiday in two months) with Prince William while her mother oversaw the shift in his care from Nanny Jessie Webb to Nanny Maria. During the Cambridge’s controversial family ski get-away earlier this year, both Prince George and Princess Charlotte were left to the care of nannies while Kate and William took to the slopes because their children are obviously too young to ski yet. Five years into being a duchess and Kate has had wardrobe malfunctions in the double digits and the Royal Flasher still has yet to undertake one single official tour without exposing herself while acting as an official representative of the United Kingdom and the British Monarchy. That doesn’t sound like the actions of a “terrified” Kate.

As it turns out, there was another wardrobe malfunction in India on the final day of the royal tour. My brain was frozen over with boredom by then and I missed it, so this is brought to you by royal watcher, Julie RocketQueen. Apparently when Kate and William were recreating the iconic Princess Diana photo at the Taj Mahal, Kate flashed her undies.

Kate’s panties were white with a four-petal flower design. My apologies for the pixelation, but I don’t feel like hunting down a high resolution image since the pattern of the panties is visible in this pic, the flower’s outline appears to be dark blue with marigold centers.

So maybe this second wardrobe malfunction is actually encouraging. After five years of duchessing, the future Queen Consort is now finally wearing underwear.

Love , Lola

SUBMITTED

#duke of cambridge #prince william #duchess of cambridge #kate middleton #article #submission

[thisdaynews]

The 2010s - the decade that shook sport

New Post has been published on https://thebiafrastar.com/the-2010s-the-decade-that-shook-sport/

The 2010s - the decade that shook sport

Since joining the BBC in 2010, sports editor Dan Roan has covered many of the biggest sports news stories of the past decade.

Here he revisits some of the off-field issues that have defined a remarkable era and shifted sport’s landscape in a way never seen before.

Doping

Such was his dominance on the bike, his superstardom off it, and the sophistication of the doping regime he led, Lance Armstrong remains one of sport’s most infamous drugs cheats.

On the one hand, the demise of the disgraced American cyclist and cancer survivor in late 2012 was indicative of a sport in the grip of a doping culture.

But the groundbreaking pursuit of Armstrong by the US Anti-Doping Agency (Usada) seemed to prove that no-one was too big to bring down. His TV confession to cheating his way to all seven of his Tour de France titles the following year shattered sport’s greatest fairytale, and provided one of the sporting decade’s most defining moments.

From Tiger Woods’ televised apology for serial philandering in early 2010 to Oscar Pistorius’ murder conviction six years later, the 2010s bore witness to some staggering falls from grace. But the sense was that Armstrong’s would shift the landscape like no other because his offending directly impacted his sport.

But any hope that the suspicion surrounding cycling would lift as a legacy of Armstrong’s downfall soon faded.

Lance Armstrong was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles in 2012

Having competed for the first time in 2010, Team Sky went on to dominate cycling in the years that followed. At the turn of the decade, no British rider had ever won the Tour de France. Since then, three have done so, with Chris Froome managing the feat four times.

For several years, ‘marginal gains’ was credited with transforming British cycling’s fortunes on both the road and the track, where it became the driving-force behind successive Olympic triumphs.

But during the second half of the decade, Team Sky came under mounting scrutiny over how they managed to win so much amid a series of controversies.

Among them was the failure to keep basic medical records, Froome being cleared of wrongdoing after an adverse analytical finding for salbutamol, and revelations over separate unresolved scandals over two medical deliveries; the first a mystery jiffybag for Sir Bradley Wiggins, the second a batch of testosterone to the national velodrome.

By the time of the nadir when a parliamentary committee accused the team of “crossing the ethical line” over Sir Bradley Wiggins’ use of therapeutic use exemptions (TUEs) in a damning 2018 report, some of the biggest names in British sport had been tainted, and its founding claim to be ‘whiter than white’ consigned to history. Sky withdrew its backing a few months later, the team only saved by the investment of Ineos, a major new power in British sport.

Team Sky and their riders always denied any wrongdoing and rejected accusations they had ever cheated their way to success. But a landmark medical tribunal to determine if former chief medic Dr Richard Freeman ordered testosterone to help an unnamed rider to cheat nine years ago will resume in 2020.

The rise and fall in reputation of the country’s most successful but controversial team has been one of the decade’s most significant sports stories. And decisive moments could still lie ahead.

Many other sports have suffered their own doping-related crises over the last 10 years of course, especially in athletics, where its most powerful figure, Lamine Diack, was banned for life for extorting money from cheats whose positive tests he helped to cover up.

The demise of the disgraced former IAAF president led to his British successor Lord Coe fighting to salvage his own reputation amid questions over both his judgement and association with Diack.

Despite a bruising period of intense scrutiny, the man credited with delivering London 2012 survived and has always denied any wrongdoing.

Another result of Diack’s downfall has been ongoing criminal investigations in France and Brazil into wider allegations of bribery connected to the Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 Olympic bids.

Diack will stand trial in Paris in 2020 on charges of corruption and money laundering.

Alberto Salazar (centre) coached Great Britain’s Mo Farah (right) to Olympic gold at London 2012

Given his long association with Britain’s most decorated track and field star Sir Mo Farah, and the hugely powerful sportswear giant Nike, legendary American coach Alberto Salazar’s four-year ban in the middle of the 2019 World Championships for various doping violations after a long Usada investigation was another highly damaging episode for the sport.

Amid intense scrutiny of its close relationship with the disgraced running guru, the scandal has plunged UK Athletics into the gravest crisis in its history, and amid fresh allegations and an appeal by Salazar, the story will rumble on well into 2020.

But when it comes to the sheer scale of cheating, the political power of the guilty party, and the ramifications of the fall-out, one scandal this decade is in a category all of its own.

In 2015 a World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) report laid bare the details of a conspiracy like no other. Masterminded by the former head of Moscow’s anti-doping lab turned whistle-blower Dr Grigory Rodchenkov, Russia’s state-sponsored doping racket implicated 1,000 athletes across multiple sports and sabotaged successive Olympic Games – including London 2012 – now known as the dirtiest statistically in history – with more than 130 competitors since disqualified.

In the years that followed, more gory details have emerged, the scandal doing untold damage to the credibility of major institutions like the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and Wada, undermining the anti-doping system, eroding public trust, and dominating the build-up to both Rio 2016 and Pyeongchang 2018 – from which the Russian team were banned.

It now threatens to do the same to Tokyo 2020 with Russia recently hit with an unprecedented (but qualified) four-year ban from major international events after another audacious cover-up.

But with an appeal yet to be heard, and some athletes furious that an outright ban was avoided, it is clear that this crisis will extend well into the 2020s. Surely the greatest scandal sport has ever known.

Media playback is not supported on this device

Grigory Rodchenkov speaks to BBC sports editor Dan Roan in February 2018

Corruption

Another sporting mega-story the past decade will always be remembered for was Fifa’s corruption scandal.

Allegations of skulduggery had hung around world football’s governing body for years. But it was only in the 2010s that the people at the heart of the organisation faced accusations amid a crisis that shook Fifa to its core.

Nine years after it stunned the world by awarding the right to host its flagship event to the tiny desert-state of Qatar, Fifa is still trying to recover from allegations surrounding how exactly the country won the vote, the human cost of building the infrastructure for the event, and the disruption a first winter World Cup will cause.

Five years after that vote came those dramatic dawn police raids with numerous Fifa officials arrested in Zurich on corruption charges amid a sprawling FBI investigation into tens of millions of dollars’ worth of bribes connected to marketing and TV contracts in the Americas.

This – along with the subsequent downfalls of Fifa’s long-reigning president Sepp Blatter and one-time heir apparent Michel Platini shortly afterwards over a “disloyal payment” – brought the organisation to its knees. Both men, along with the Qatar bid, have always denied wrongdoing.

But more than any other, the scandal came to symbolise a number of issues; sub-standard governance across sport, the greed and unchecked excess at the top of world football, and the vast wealth generated by deals with sponsors and TV companies.

The exploitation of sport as a form of ‘soft-power’ by countries like Qatar with questionable human-rights records to furnish their image was nothing new. But the 2010 vote – which also included handing the 2018 World Cup to President Vladimir Putin’s Russia of course – came to symbolise sport’s increasing willingness to do deals with repressive regimes. It is noticeable that the term ‘sportswashing’ only entered the sporting lexicon in the last few years.

Fifa will argue that a legacy of its corruption scandal has been an overhaul of its leadership, and key governance reforms.

But with criminal investigations into the bidding processes for both the 2018 and 2022 World Cups continuing in Switzerland and France, fresh jail sentences and life bans handed to former officials, and almost three years still until Qatar hosts what is set to be the most controversial sports event in history, it will be a long time – if ever – before Fifa’s credibility is truly restored.

Rule breaking

The 2010s have provided many other sporting scandals involving allegations of cheating, deceit or rule breaking.

In 2011 three Pakistani cricketers were jailed for their roles in an astonishing spot-fixing scandal, which had exploded the previous year, forcing the game to confront the threat of gambling-related corruption.

More recently, rugby union was shaken to its core by the 35-point deduction handed to Saracens – the English club game’s dominant force – for breaching salary cap regulations.

Meanwhile, Manchester City – the Premier League’s dominant force in the 2010s – are waiting to discover if Uefa finds them guilty of misleading European football’s governing body over financial fair play rules. City deny wrongdoing but if they lose the case, a sensational ban from the competition they covet more than any – the Champions League – could be their punishment.

Bury were the first team to drop out of the EFL since Maidstone’s liquidation in 1992

Bury became the first club to be expelled from the Football League since 1992 when they failed to provide proof of funds, their demise a stark symbol of mounting concerns over the sustainability of football finances.

But in terms of resonance, perhaps one sports scandal this decade stands out.

Australian cricket’s ball-tampering ‘sandpaper plot’ in 2018 led to a series of teary resignations in front of the cameras, long bans and an unprecedented bout of soul-searching – by both the country, which suddenly faced an identity crisis, and a sport that feared its fabled values had been abandoned in favour of a win-at-all-costs culture.

Technology

The decade has seen rapid changes in technology that have affected sports in ways few predicted 10 years ago.

Controversy over whether advancements in sports equipment unfairly enhance athletes’ performances is nothing new. But the debate has been reignited by mounting concern over the latest version of Nike’s carbon-fibre plated Vaporfly running shoes – reinforced by Eliud Kipchoge’s historic sub-two hour marathon while wearing them – and then Brigid Kosgei’s obliteration of the women’s marathon record in a similar pair the following day.

A few months out from the Tokyo Olympics, athletics is facing tough questions over the tension between the inevitable quest for innovation and the core principle of fair competition. Both the IAAF’s rules and the record books are being challenged in a way not seen for years. And those in power are under intensifying pressure to do something about it.

In a bid to avoid on-field injustices and overcome human error in officiating, sports have tried to harness broadcasting advancements over the last decade.

Some, like goal-line technology in football which was approved in 2012, has proved a success. But others, most notably the video assistant referee system (VAR), has been hugely controversial, especially in the Premier League, where its first season of use has descended into farce over marginal offside decisions, sparking fury from fans and managers.

More than any other, the VAR crisis sums up sport’s struggle to navigate the inexorable march of technology without relinquishing the soul and spontaneity that cultivates a lifelong attachment with so many fans across the world. A question that is both technical and existential, and one that must be answered satisfactorily in the near future if sport is to maintain its importance for a new generation of fans in the 2020s.

Gender

Dina Asher-Smith won three medals – including 200m gold – at the 2019 World Championships in Doha

The 2010s has been a game-changing decade in terms of the profile, popularity and perception of women’s sport.

Certain key moments stand out: the trailblazing London 2012 victories of Jessica Ennis and Nicola Adams, Fallon Sherrock making history by beating male opponents in darts’ World Championship, Bryony Frost becoming the first woman to ride a Grade One winner at Cheltenham, Dina Asher-Smith winning Britain’s first global women’s sprint title and Simone Biles redefining gymnastics.

The record TV audiences that watched the groundbreaking 2019 Fifa Women’s World Cup felt like a watershed moment. As had the inspiration provided by Team GB’s gold-medal winning hockey players at Rio 2016, England’s World Cup-winning cricketers in 2017, and their triumphant netball team at the Commonwealth Games in 2018.

Then there was the emergence of US football star Megan Rapinoe as sport’s leading voice on equality and women’s rights, the face of a new era of athlete activism. The Commonwealth Games vowing to make Birmingham 2022 the first major multi-sport event to have more women’s than men’s medal events is another milestone.

But while there has been clear progress in the 2010s, equality of opportunity, pay, media coverage, grassroots participation and boardroom representation still feels decades away from being realised.

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Megan Rapinoe on goal celebrations, finding her voice and Donald Trump

The 2010s will also be remembered for the decade-long saga of Caster Semenya, a story that continues to divide opinion in sport like little else.

In 2019, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) ruled in favour of a hugely controversial IAAF rule that forced the South African runner – and other athletes with differences in sexual development (DSD) – to take hormone-limiting drugs if she wanted to compete in the middle-distance events she had dominated for years. After a long legal battle, Semenya pulled out of the World Championships.

For Semenya’s supporters, the eligibility regulation was an appalling breach of human rights and a discriminatory act of sexism and racism designed to target her. For others, it was a necessary and proportionate step to protect women’s sport and fair competition.

But whatever one’s perspective, there is no doubt that the debate has confronted sport with uncomfortable questions around gender identity and human biology, the suitability of sport’s traditional male and female categories, the reliability of the medical science on which the IAAF’s rule relies, perceptions of womanhood and sport’s complex relationship with the law.

With the IAAF – and other sports – now intending to apply the eligibility rules to transgender as well as DSD athletes, the controversy will extend well into the 2020s.

And with Semenya’s appeal yet to be heard in the Swiss courts, one of the most important and contentious sports stories of the decade still has some way to run.

Racism

Buoyed by the success of a diverse, multiracial Team GB, the hope was that the London 2012 Games – the biggest sporting event ever hosted in Britain – would act as a catalyst for a more tolerant and progressive sporting decade.

Yet just a few years on, football finds itself in the grip of a new racism crisis, with increasing incidents of abuse at both matches and on social media. As we enter the 2020s, the reasons for this alarming trend, and how to best tackle it, have become arguably the biggest question the sport faces.

In truth, the issue has reared its head at regular intervals throughout the 2010s with a series of high-profile scandals; Luis Suarez in 2011 and then John Terry in 2012 both banned by the FA for racially abusing opponents. And former England women’s manager Mark Sampson being found to have made racist comments towards striker Eni Aluko in 2017 – having initially been cleared – threatened to engulf the entire FA.

An investigation into racially discriminatory remarks Mark Sampson made to two England players, for which the FA apologised, was then subject to a parliamentary inquiry

But the sense is that with football reflecting a society that has become more divided and polarised since the Brexit vote in 2016, the scourge of abuse by those attending matches has returned in the last two years, and is getting worse, shattering the widely-held assumption at the end of the last decade that such racism was no longer a major issue.

This trend has been mirrored abroad where the abuse of England’s players in Bulgaria felt like a watershed moment in sport’s long battle with discrimination.

Some blame the rise of far-right political parties and nationalism across Europe, and the sanctions handed out by football authorities, while others want social media companies to do more to curb racist behaviour on their platforms. But if there is a positive to come out of all this, it is a new era of athlete activism.

By making a stand against racism, Raheem Sterling reminded us that this was the decade when some of the world’s most famous athletes stopped being afraid of expressing an opinion on politics and society for fear of upsetting sponsors or fans, and harnessed social media and their vast influence to try to make a difference.

In doing so, Sterling has followed in the footsteps of trailblazing NFL star Colin Kaepernick, whose kneeled protests during pre-match United States anthems to highlight police brutality and racial injustice sparked a national debate.

Others have joined him on range of issues: NBA players LeBron James and Steph Curry on race, footballer Mesut Ozil and rugby’s Sonny Bill Williams on the persecution of the Uighur community in China, tennis great Serena Williams and Rapinoe on women’s rights, athlete Allyson Felix on maternity policies. The list is getting longer.

For decades, athletes had been told to ‘stick to sports’. In the 2010s they finally found their voice.

Athlete welfare

At the turn of the last decade, the only aspect of Britain’s elite sporting culture that seemed to matter was performance.

Record success at successive Olympics and Paralympics after decades of disappointment secured the country’s status as a sporting powerhouse, and appeared to vindicate the ‘no-compromise’ strategy of all-powerful funding agency UK Sport, the body tasked with turning lottery money into medals.

Great Britain won 214 medals at the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games

But in the three-and-a-half years that have passed since Rio 2016, a series of bullying and discrimination scandals embroiling some of the country’s best-funded high-performance programmes has shown the risks of such an approach.

There has been the fear that in many cases, winning came at the expense of welfare and duty of care. The case of former sprint cyclist Jess Varnish – who claimed she had been the victim of discrimination when dropped from Team GB’s Olympic squad – was a defining moment.

The NFL’s landmark $765m compensation settlement with thousands of former players over brain disease linked to concussion in 2013 was another milestone. The case raising awareness of the dangers of head injuries in other contact sports, most obviously rugby and football, both of which were forced to conduct fresh research and reconsider their return to play protocols – or risk hugely damaging lawsuits of their own.

Until 2017 little thought was given to safeguarding in the mainstream media. But then – thanks to the courage of whistle-blowers like former Crewe player Andy Woodward – football’s appalling non-recent child sex abuse scandal was finally revealed.

The initial sense was that this was a tragic but isolated story. But soon it became clear Woodward was far from alone, the dark secret that football had harboured for so long finally laid bare. Amid hundreds of cases, a series of high-profile convictions over the last two years, and the long-running Sheldon inquiry into the scandal still to conclude, the FA’s gravest ever crisis will continue into the 2020s.

Ten years ago, few had heard of ex-Manchester City and Crewe coach Barry Bennell – since sentenced to 31 years for abusing young footballers. Or of Larry Nassar – the USA Gymnastics doctor convicted for abusing hundreds of athletes.

Sadly, these names now serve as stark reminders of the darkest side of sport.

Alongside many moments of great sporting triumph and inspiration, the 2010s have been a decade when sport has been brought into disrepute. Thanks to the courage of whistle-blowers and the work of investigative journalists, many injustices and failings have at least been exposed.

With many of these stories straddling the turn of the decade, the 2020s will reveal how prepared sport is to learn lessons, regain trust and recover its standing.

Read More

#shook #Sport

[willswalkabout]

Peru part 3. Return to Cusco

Way too long coming I know, but oh well, I’ve been busy and lazy and the whole thing should be done within a week or so. Peru part 3 (Cuzco part 2), here goes.

I’d done my Machu Picchu expedition over the space of 3 days, which meant that upon returning to Cuzco I had no intention of trekking the very next day. This intention was far from fulfilled, as that evening I met Jaina and Kelsey, both travelling together from the US. They had very limited time in Cuzco with a flight to Lima on the Friday. Given they wanted to do Rainbow Mountain I decided it was better to do a bit tired with friends, than refreshed alone. We booked it that evening and took an early night, given the 430am meet time.

We reconvened in the dark, bleary eyed and hoping to get some sleep on the four hour trip to the mountain. We were told the first two hours of the ride, which took us to breakfast, were on ‘good tarmac roads’. Of course everything is relative, and it was still far too bumpy for me to get any kind of sleep. All the tours offer the exact same package, the only variables seem to be price and the quality of breakfast. We went with our hostel’s deal, which is definitely not always the best option. Breakfast however was excellent, certainly in comparison to some horror stories I’ve heard, of some stale/mouldy bread with a juice carton. We had Spanish omelette, frankfurters, toast, jam and coffee. I scoffed down as much as wouldn’t seem rude. There was then another two hours on a more treacherous road which Kelsey and Jaina enjoyed to a lesser extent. The drop to the right side was sheer, and plunged approximately 100ft by my reckoning. Eventually we arrived at the mountain which to little surprise, had been found by a few other tour groups before us.

I’ve learnt on the trip not to let this put me off. It usually means there are stunning views, and enough space to still get an Instagram where it looks like you’re the only person there.

It’s about 5km as I remember to the summit, and takes about two hours. It was the first time the altitude had really hit me, we were now at 17,000ft, with Cuzco being at 11,000ft. This made the hike pretty challenging, I drunk two and a half litres of water easily on the way up. The walk is made more frustrating by the fact you can pay about £15 to ride a horse up. The horses are for the most part dragged up the mountain by 5 foot tall Peruvian women. Neither the horses or their owners look like they ever get days off, and I really felt for some of the animals in particular who looked so worn down, every step was a struggle. The situation wasn’t helped by the fact most of the horses were ridden by overweight westerners. The other riders were a good few Asian tourists filming the entire ride on go pros. I’m sure a riveting watch for all the family when they return home. They don’t have a separate path, so you are constantly being made to give way to a plodding horse on its as it climbs up, or ducking out the way of a horse that is being made to canter down the hill riderless, to pick up its next rider. Saying all this the view from the top of the mountain is absolutely stunning. You can see for miles, and you have the entirely unique scene of the painted mountains. The last climb is the hardest, meaning it isn’t quite as busy at the very top, this bit is too steep for even the most alive of horses. We managed to walk down to a quieter spot to take a plethora of photos. Luckily we were one of the first of our group of around 20 to reach the summit, and so had a great amount of time to take it all in. Casually residing on the other side of the canyon to the rainbow mountains is Peru’s 4th or 5th highest mountain. Higher than any in the UK of course, it stood as an intimidating presence, and apparently has never been climbed.

I found the route down more challenging than that up. Although the path did undulate, I think this was more due to the pure accumulation of time spent so high up. By the time we finally reached the minibus all three of us were struggling with pounding headaches and lack of breath. More sleep was managed on the way back to the hostel where we pulled in at about 7.

We were all starving and so headed to a place called ‘Green Point’. It is Cusco’s only totally vegan restaurant. We mainly went because Kelsey’s vegan, they had been the day before. I was a little apprehensive, and they spent much time apologising in advance in case I didn’t like it. I couldn’t have been more wrong, it was some of the best food of my entire trip. I had the quinoa burger with sweet potato fries. It came with three different dips and was incredibly filling. We somewhat waddled back to our hostel after. We’d at one point spoke of going out that evening, but by this point none of us could move. I said my goodbye’s to Kelsey and Jaina, who had a flight at 7am the next day.

The next day was relaxed and very enjoyable, and really helped to validate the fact I had chosen to spend 11 days in the city. Myself and Alison found a bijou but delicious coffee place for breakfast with one of the prettiest menus I have ever seen.

I then spent the rest of the day chilling in the hostel, and I think writing the Chile blog. When it came to the evening, Liz, Alison and I went on somewhat of a bar/hostel crawl. We started at the Irish owned Wild Rover, which is way up on a hill, and would be horrific to walk back to late. I had considered staying at Cusco’s self proclaimed ‘best party hostel’, and this visit made me so glad I had stayed at the wonderful Ecopackers for my entire time instead. Wild rover involved lots of dancing on the bar, but I think the fact they chose to project scenes of people having a much better time at a festival, on a big screen, told you that it was incredibly forced. After little more than an hour there we moved downhill to Loki. Loki is also a ‘party hostel’ but is older and felt more genuine than Wild Rover. I also approved of the water gun that was capable of firing shots into the gaping mouths of revellers. It was fun and I think we met a few Americans there but they may have been Canadian, that then accompanied us to Cusco’s only true club, Changos. Changos was surprisingly good. It had a big space, a well organised but reasonably priced bar, and hadn’t completely sold itself out to the backpacker market, with a good percentage of locals in attendance. It was therefore somewhat frustrating that I had to leave Changos at 230am, to watch the final British and Irish Lions test. I say frustrating, but I’d been overwhelmed with excitement ever since the end of the second test, a week previous. Finding that my hostel had ESPN 2 South America earlier in the day, was one of the single greatest moments of elation I’ve ever experienced. I grabbed a kebab and jogged back to the hostel common room. It was pitch black with everyone either in bed, or out. I switched on the television, and to my relief it burst into life with the haka, albeit with Spanish commentary. I then plugged my phone in and made a WhatsApp call to dad, watching it at 8:30am at home. I made him pause and play his stream so that our game clocks were synced up, and he gave me the commentary down the phone. It was an incredibly cagey game, and when the Spanish adverts rolled on at half time I did fall asleep while still on the call. (Alcohol consumption + comfy sofa + 3:15am). At this point dad must have panicked, wondering if he’d be able to awake me from my slumber before the start of the second half. I think I woke up about the 47 minute mark, and only missed one penalty. The series ended in the most bizarre of fashions. A controversial tv ref decision saving the Lions, and committing the match to a tie. Both teams looked around not knowing whether to celebrate or fall to the ground in despair. The sides both had big opportunities to win the game within the last 20 minutes that weren’t taken. I dragged myself to bed, still overjoyed that I’d managed to watch the game live, 3 weeks after seeing the team in Rotorua, a town that couldn’t possibly seem further away. Three weeks felt like three months, in the best of ways.

The next day was fairly uneventful. Liz, Marieka and myself did some shopping, and got food at the market. I did find out that Marieka who is dutch, plays hockey to a pretty high level, and her dad is an ICC umpire. This provided a huge amount of conversation, to the point that to our fault, we almost forgot about Liz walking with us, and had to apologise profusely. A few others had got back from a hike that day, so I was glad to introduce more people to Green Point. There were so many items on the menu I was desperate to try, I really did not need an excuse. I had the stir fry this time which was fantastic, while others sampled vegan sushi, lasagne and a few Peruvian delicacies.

On Sunday I did a jam packed tour of the sacred valley with Liz, Alison and Marieka. Jam packed because we managed to find a version that basically fitted a day and a half’s tour into one. It meant a lot of jumping on and off the bus with little time to stop, but was what we wanted really. I don’t feel guilty in saying some of the ruins were far more impressive than others. I expect the ones I was least captured by, are the most fascinating for archaeologists. I loved the salt mines, and ruins at Ollantaytambo. The agricultural farming circles less so. The guinea pig farm at the start of the tour was also pretty cool. We left at around 530am I think, and the day was pretty tiring. When I got back to the hostel I ate there, and then met Luke (who featured in Santiago and Buenos Aires), and has one more appearance to come… He was staying with his dad in Cusco. There was a pretty impressive district wide power cut, which resulted in us all huddling round the fire. I also met Eliza, a law student from Brussels who had some pretty passionate views on the UK’s incompetence re Brexit, which was amusing and terrifying at the same time.

My final day in Cusco involved my best empanadas of the trip, and a visit to what wasn’t the monkey temple… An Irish guy who’s name I’ve forgotten was set on visiting this temple, however I’m pretty sure it’s a nickname and he definitely didn’t know it’s Spanish name. After a couple of taxi drivers looked back at us with blank expressions, one claimed he knew where to go and we piled in. He didn’t. He also only managed to take us halfway up the hill he was intending to, so we got out and enjoyed the view from what was still a decent set of ruins. That evening about 10 of us got dinner at, well, obviously, green point. I hadn’t had the Lentil burger yet! I won’t name everyone but there was a group of about 8 of us, all of which have multiple mentions in the Peru blogs who had dipped in and out of the hostel on tours, but who had generally stuck together. I loved having 11 days in a place with a great group of people. The dinner was a great way to finish my time in Peru, which I did love, and would love to return to. The next day I boarded a flight to Lima, and then onto Mexico City, but that’s for the next one.

[thecomedybureau]

The 100 Best Things in Comedy We Were Witness to in No Particular Order of 2016

2016 is officially, finally, thankfully over (as long as you don’t think about time largely being a human construct, a new number of year doesn’t make things automatically better, and Trump becoming POTUS).

So, it’s time for our year end list, The 100 Best Things in Comedy We Were Witness to in No Particular Order of 2016.

For reference of how we do our year-end, best of lists, which is a far cry from most other comedy best of lists anywhere else, check out our lists from past years: 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015.

Got it? Great.

Here’s 2016′s edition:

1. Jake Weisman's Send Up of Peter Travers Reviews-Rolling Stone has gone through so much recently, you might have forgot this amazing NSFW parody that Weisman made of Travers movie reviews.

2. Rory Scovel’s set on Conan Where He Went Into the Crowd-Rory Scovel pushes the envelope in stand-up in the best ways imaginable and this latest Conan set is evidence of his juggling of being fearless and silly at the same time.

3. Conan Without Borders-Conan O'Brien's trips overseas to Berlin and South Korea highlight every single comedy gear that Conan can shift into and proves that he can almost make any situation hilarious.

4. "Killer" by Matt Kazman-Kazman achieves one of the best comedic payoffs on screen in 2016, including film and TV, with this incredibly crafted short film.

5. The Jackie and Laurie Show-Jackie Kashian and Laurie Kilmartin found a way to make a podcast where comedians talk comedy and have it be original, damn funny, and crucial.

6  Hebecky Drysbell-Reigning all time UCB Cagematch champions Heather Anne Campbell and Rebecca Drysdale showcase such virtuosity as an improv duo that is as hilarious as it is, when we think about it, beautiful.

7. Chris Estrada-If you’re looking for diamonds in the rough right now, we’d say catch Estrada’s next set and you’ll see how great his jokes are drawing from his life growing up in LA. 

8. Cool Sh*t/Weird Sh*t's Neighborhood Walking Tour-the LA outfit of the experimental comedy show brilliantly took its audience, one night, around the block and staged such moments as a couple fake fighting in a real Food 4 Less, a woman crying trying to explain the plot of a movie in a Walgreens, and running into an adult orphan waiting to be adopted off the street.

9. Womanhood with Aparna Nancherla and Jo Firestone-Nancherla and Firestone compliment each other so well in being goofy on this show that goes through absurd explanations of  “womanhood” that it should be the next web series that gets made into a full fledged TV show. 

10. Fleabag-Phoebe Waller Bridge has the UK's fantastic, epic answer to You're The Worst.

11. Giulia Rozzi's True Love-Rozzi’s hour achieves what a good rom com achieves by skewering love and all of its faults as much as it celebrates it.

12. Mike Leffingwell's 12 Angry Men: The One Man Show-The concept of a single man doing a solo show adaptation of the classic courtroom drama 12 Angry Men is funny enough, but Mike Leffingwell then pulled off performing it perfectly.

13. Josh Sharp doing an hour while dipping in and out of singing D'Angelo's Untitled (How Does It Feel?) with a live band-Sharp's stories are wonderfully crafted and told, and then, accentuated by his lovely voice singing D'Angelo’s most well known song like there's no tomorrow.

14. Not Safe with Nikki Glaser's Remote Segments-Glaser fed porn stars lines for scenes, visited a foot fetish convention, and highlighted sex in such a fun way that wasn’t attempted by any other TV show.

15. Last Week Tonight with John Oliver's Make Donald Drumpf Again-Oliver and company's take down of Trump was one of the best researched, strategized, written, executed pieces on Trump during this whole election cycle.

16. Disengaged-Jen Tullock and Hannah Utt's web series following a lesbian couple rushing into marriage was one of the best pieces of romantic comedy we saw in 2016

17. [F*ck This] Late Night Show with David Brown-In a way, David Brown sees Eric Andre’s rebellion against the traditional late night format and raises it some more chaos. He has a separate creative team ruining his talk show as it happens via flashmobs, waterboarding, etc.

18. Baron Vaughn’s Blaxisential Crisis-Baron Vaughn’s latest album oscillates perfectly between deep and crucial issues of race, class, purpose and flights of imaginative fancy putting Vaughn almost in a class by himself.

19. Crabapples with Bobcat Goldthwait and Caitlin Gill-the odd couple pairing of Goldthwait and Gill is unlike anything comedy has seen before. Because it lives in truth (they really are roommates), it’s one of the best hosting duos in comedy today.

20. Megan Gailey-Gailey, with her stand-up, is simultaneously an undeniable delight and a force to be reckoned with, which only doubles up how delightful she is to watch.

21. Liartown USA-When it comes to parodying covers for books, magazines, Netflix menus, etc., Sean Tejaratchi might just do it better than anyone as you can see above.

22. This Bill Burr joke: “How many Toyota Camrys do you have to see before you realize most people’s dreams don’t come true?”-We usually refrain from transcribing jokes out of context and in print, but we haven’t stopped laughing at this searingly honest joke from Burr since we first saw him work on it several months ago and felt it imperative that it be on this list.

23. Sing Street-The 80s, Ireland, young love, and diegetic musicals get married perfectly in this film by John Carney that spent far too little time in theaters.

24. Derek Sheen's Tiny Idiot-This album made it clear that Sheen could be an heir apparent to Patton Oswalt, bu very clearly has his own, unique comedic take on the world today.

25. Stephen Colbert's Close to His Election 2016 Live Special-For once, the world got to see the real Stephen Colbert who is so intelligent, well spoken, caring, and one of the only people that could pull of dealing with immediate aftermath of an impending Trump win on TV.

26. Will Hines' A Soundly Defeated Man-Hines, in a series of sketch vignettes, takes the comedic self-deprecation to a new level of artistry by showing how defeated one man really can be.

27. The Lobster-Yorgos Lanthimos might have made the best dystopian rom com in recent memory and, possibly, for several years to come.

28. Jena Friedman's American C*nt-Friedman is unrelenting in her dismantling of the patriarchy amongst other several other controversial issues. She handily deals with them in this special, placing her in a very important position in comedy going forward in 2017. 

29. Jamie Loftus-Loftus is that amazing rare breed of comedian that blends dark, absurdist humor with genuine vulnerability and she can do so in her stand-up or through own self-styled animation (ex. doing her own animations for old tapes of how to tell children about someone dying). 

30. Chris Duffy's You Get a Spoon-Duffy’s NYC based, curated variety show is filled with so much positivity from celebrating the favorite things of his favorite performers that you almost can’t leave the show without a smile on your face (or winning a prize).

31. Bear Supply-The quick, music fueled scenes of Mike Castle, Shaun Boylan, Joey Greer, Jordan Bull, Morgan Christensen and James Heaney is impeccable improvisational comedy. 

32. The Cooties-Musical comedy is alive and well with the satirical power pop songs of The Cooties.

33. Aparna Nancherla’s Just Putting It Out There-Aparna’s album is proof positive that her wondrous version of self-deprecation can be ultimately uplifting. 

34. Hunt for the Wilderpeople-Taika Waititi continues his film streak with a charming-as-can-be film about a troubled youth surviving in the wilds of New Zealand.

35. Don't Think Twice-Mike Birbiglia gets really close to hitting too close to home for some people in comedy, but that draws out one of the best depictions of life in comedy (or attempting to do so) that has ever been put into a movie.

36. The Opening of The Pack Theater-The DIY, punk rock, spirit that runs in the veins of much of LA comedy got a new, wonderful outlet at The Pack Theater.

37. Jetzo-Chad Damiani and Juzo Yoshida mash-up improv, clowning, kimonos, dramatic live musical accompaniment, and breaking the fourth wall to make the marvelous whirlwind known as Jetzo.

38. DJ Real (Nick Stargu)-SF comedian Nick Stargu’s alias DJ Real mixes an uncanny command of musicianship with an über-clever style of comedy that dazzled and had us doubling over laughing at the same time.

39. Daniel Webb-Hailing from Austin, TX, stand-up comedian Daniel Webb is a splendid rush of charisma that probably has a better Obama story than almost anyone you know. 

40. Laurie Kilmartin's 45 Jokes About My Dead Dad-Kilmartin’s special, born out of jokes she tweeted while her dad was passing away, is so darkly funny and has an unmistakable humanity, which has us rethinking that maxim of comedy equals tragedy plus time. 

41. Kristin Rand-LA got a brief glimpse of the unstoppable charm of Rand when she moved here from Denver and was all the better for it.

42. James Fritz's Still Together-The way Fritz exquisitely channels rage and bleakness into this debut album is magnificent.

43. Roast Battle-What started as two open mic’ers fighting in a parking lot has now earned its way to a March Madness style tournament shown on Comedy Central and we’re betting that Roast Battle still has much more potential ahead of them.

44. Josh Fadem-Fadem made a return to performing more regularly in 2016 and his magnetic positivity and pure, unabashed goofiness (complete with impromptu costumes) definitely got us through the whole of last year.

45. Sam Jay-Jay moved to LA from Boston and took her insightful, brash, unfiltered comedy (that happens to come through the lens of being a newly married lesbian) and has become a the LA scene favorite almost instantly.

46. Dave Waite's Dead Waite-Dave Waite's latest hour takes being a goofball to new heights of brilliance.

47. Of Oz The Wizard by Matt Bucy-Absurdity doesn't get more pure than Bucy's re-editing the classic film version of The Wizard of Oz and alphabetizing the entire thing, start to finish.

48. This Friday Forty-Most other quiz shows can’t compare to Scott Gimple and Dave Holmes' This Friday Forty that not only has topical trivia, but fantastic sketch characters to introduce said trivia.

49. Jay Larson's Human Math-Few comedians so deftly explore the minutia of human nature like Larson does on this album.

50. Josh Gondelman's Physical Whisper-Gondelman's craftsmanship in observational humor is exceptional on this album and accentuated nicely by his sunny stage persona.

51. Kyle Mizono right after the election-There was a lot of raw nerves exposed in comedians right after Trump's win and few did it so purely and well as Mizono. For a whole set, she screamed her jokes with legitimate fury, but without being off-putting (well, if you’re not a Trump supporter that is). 

52. Lady Dynamite-Maria Bamford’s truth and Mitch Hurwitz’s wildly imaginative way of making episodic television combine for a comedy series that is blazing its own trail at a time where that gets harder and harder to do in a show about the life of a comedian.

53. Hail, Caesar!-The Coen Brothers’ latest comedy set in Hollywood’s Golden Age is one of their sharpest and most beautiful works that has plenty of scenes that could be amazing short films on their own.

54. Moses Storm's Sweater-Moses Storm never ceases to amaze us as he, this time, wore a sweater that had several strings attached to it for audience members to grab so they could literally be connected to him while he's telling a story.

55. Full Frontal with Samantha Bee-Samantha Bee has cemented a legacy in her short time on the air with her take-no-prisoners-and-then-some style of satirical news coverage.

56. Gene Wilder and Fidel Castro's New Year's Rockin' Eve (in Limbo)-UCB’s Beth Appel and Rose Marziale put a hell of a show to end 2016 with as they used the whole of the UCB Sunset complex to have an immersive comedy show (a la Sleep No More) that included karaoke with dead celebrities, a fake newsroom, and the woods where Hillary Clinton is living. 

57. Morris From America-Chad Hartigan’s refreshing coming-of-age story following an American black kid trying to grow up in Germany with his single father hit a very sweet, feel-good note that everyone needs to see (especially since it had a short theatrical run). 

58. Britanick’s “The Foul Line”-Though BriTANick had gone a few years without a new video, this absurdist folly makes up for all that time lost.

59. 20th Century Women-Mike Mills' latest is a great follow up to Beginners and is an award worthy comedy that might actually be able to compete with heavily favored dramas this year.

60. Three Busy Debras-The comedy trio of Three Busy Debras got to play Carnegie Hall through this devilishly fun crowdfunding campaign. 

61. Paul F. Tompkins' on Political Correctness-One of comedy's best gave one of the best explanations of political correctness' necessary role in comedy.

62. The Dollop-Shining a light on the dark corners in American history is as important as it has ever been and Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds do so with a devilish laugh and their effortless riffing up comedy gold.

63. Floor Knobs-This AOK sketch from Heather Anne Campbell is one of our absolute favorites and, rather than spoiling anything, we'll just leave it at that.

64. David Gborie’s Late Night Stand Up Debut-Gborie takes an unexpected move in his opening to this performances that sets up a truly wonderful late night stand-up debut.

65. Cholofit-Frankie Quinones' cholo exercise guru is done so well that it leaves you wanting it to be a real exercise program.

66. Oh, Hello-John Mulaney and Nick Kroll took two characters from just being a small bit to the heights of Broadway. George St. Geegland and Gil Faizon are just so fully realized and funny that it doesn’t matter if you miss one of their references or not. 

67. Chris Garcia's Laughing and Crying at the Same Time-Garcia meshes deeply personal stories and utter silliness that do the album title justice.

68. Cole Escola-Escola’s solo show follows him playing several outrageous characters (switching wigs and costumes while on stage) allowing for another fun layer in between the cavalcade of delightful, short monologues.

69. Catastrophe season 2-Sharon Horgan and Rob Delaney have kept their devastatingly funny look into an unplanned family up to the very high standard they set in season 1.

70. Triumph the Insult Comic Dog's Election Watch 2016-Robert Smigel might have not known that having a dog puppet on his hand roasting people to their face for years would be the perfect preparation for covering the 2016 election (on both sides of the aisle), but, as the handful of Hulu specials prove, it really was.

71. Joel Kim Booster’s set on Conan-Just telling the story of being adopted by a Midwestern white family from Korea and being gay is fascinating enough, but Joel Kim Booster made that story blisteringly funny on late night.

72. Angie Tribeca-Physical comedy and sight gags would almost seem out-of-turn in comedy these days, but the proudly silly Angie Tribeca on TBS is thankfully changing all of that.

73. Trump vs. Bernie-While ‘Trump vs. Bernie’ will probably be a presidential candidate match-up that more people will long for than ever, Anthony Atamanuik and James Adomian's Trump vs. Bernie will go down as one of the best bits (that includes the live tour, the Fusion series, and album) of comedy to come out of one of the worst elections in U.S. history.

74. Joe Pera’s Set on Seth Meyers-Pera’s weirdness is one-of-a-kind in comedy as it’s very warm and inviting. He got to share that with the world with his set on Late Night with Seth Meyers.

75. Vice Prinicpals-When Danny McBride and Walton Goggins’ diabolical teachers one-up, in the best way, any other teachers in any other comedies that go off-the-deep-end in this HBO series.

76. Brad Neely's Harg Nallin' Sclopio Peepio-Neely's latest creations seems to offer up bits from the weirdest corners of Neely's mind and this animated sketch show is all the better for it.

77. Hari Kondabolu's Mainstream American Comic-Much is deservingly said about Kondabolu’s expertise in talking politics, class, race, etc. in his comedy, but this album also shows that his comedy is stellar no matter where you fall on the political spectrum.

78. Jon Glaser Loves Gear-Glaser does meta comedy better than almost anybody else working right now and his new show on TruTV is proof of that.

79. How to Win at Feminism by Reductress-This whip-smart manifesto about feminism solidifies Reductress’ place in modern satire next to The Onion and Clickhole.

80. Great Minds with Dan Harmon-Harmon getting to spend time with some of history's most notable figures ended up being one of the best shows that the History Channel has done in years.

81. Derrick Brown-Very few poets can reach the point of being laugh out loud funny and still deeply emotive quite like Brown, both on stage and in his book, Uh-Oh.

82. Natalie Palamides' solo show Laid-Palamides makes a solo show that's so absurd and funny, it might almost be in a unique category of its own.

83. W. Kamau Bell’s Semi-Prominent Negro-Bell explores all of today’s hot button issues (racial inequality, transgender identity, gentrification, etc.) comedically, as he is very skilled at doing, but does it in such a jovial way that they don’t seem so controversial anymore. 

84. Other People-Chris Kelly’s hilarious and heartbreaking movie based on his own life in dealing with the passing of his mother from cancer is one of Kelly’s finest work, which is even more impressive as his first feature done while being an SNL writer. 

85. Emo Philips improvising with Jason Van Glass-Emo's comedic prowess is so great that he can improvise with Van Glass like they're a veteran improv duo.

86. Return of MST3K-Of the things from our childhoods that are being brought back, Mystery Science Theater 3000 returning with a sweeping mandate in the form of a record breaking Kickstarter campaign is one that deserves to be revived.

87. Wyatt Cenac’s An Angry Night in November-Cenac’s EP captures lightning in a bottle (it’s his set from his weekly Night Train show) of immediate post-election comedy that is pure, raw, and biting.

88. Justin Sayre’s Gay Agenda-Sayre makes a compilation of his “meetings” as ‘Chairman of the International Order of Sodomites’ that give a hysterical look into the many great, complex layers of LGBTQ life.

89. Ahamed Weinberg-Both as a stand-up and a filmmaker (watch Rasberries), Weinberg is on a path to being another great modern comedy multi-hyphenate. 

90. Jon Dore Gets a Bad Backstory-Dore once again shows how to toe the line when entering the darkest territories of comedic material and do so successfully while being utterly absurd. 

91. Ron Babcock videos-A dying reel and an ad for his old CRV really showcase the cleverness and ingenuity of comedy’s Ron Babcock.

92. Reggie Watts’ Spatial-Watts’ latest special is his best and most ambitious one yet as it includes his beatboxing, a faux sitcom, tap dancing, and way more.

93. Alex & Jude-Alex Hanpeter and Jude Tedmori have figured out how to give slapstick, physical comedy the proper twist for 2016 audiences, which includes a literal bit of audience participation of making Jude a target.

94. Conner O’Malley-O’Malley takes satirical field pieces to a whole new level as he plays and wholeheartedly commits to dark, fully realized characters inspired by vaping, Alex Jones, and Cubs fans. He interacts with real people at Trump rallies, vape conventions and outside of Wrigley Field and goes along with whatever happens.

95. Doug Stanhope’s No Place Like Home-Stanhope has an amazing take on mental illness in this special and opted to shoot it in his own hometown of Bisbee, AZ. Overall, No Place Like Home ranks high up in Stanhope’s extensive catalog of stand-up.

96. “Tond” by Kelly Hudson-Hudson’s short film is one of our favorite bits of existential absurdity of 2016, a year seemingly saturated in nothing but questioning ‘what it all means’. 

97. Brett Gelman's Dinner in America-Gelman's last special on Adult Swim is one to remember, especially for how searing the satirical commentary on race relations are in it.

98. Miguel Marquez-Marquez bridges a gap, almost literally, between art and comedy as his wry art installations are way funnier (intentionally that is) than nearly anything you’d see in an art museum.

99. Chris Fleming's Silver Lining-The week following the election seemed as hopeless can be if you voted for Hillary and Fleming offered up a powerful, albeit one with a bit of tomfoolery, message of hope.

100. Norm MacDonald on Conan-Not only is there the expected long, winding roads of Norm’s jokes and stories in this particular appearance, but Conan does an impression of Norm out of frustration that’s spot on.

#best of 2016 #top 100 #best in comedy #stand up #podcast #sketch comedy #web series #short film #movies #film #comedy art #comedy special #comedy album #improv #conan #nerdist #tbs #2016 election #adult swim #absurdist comedy #dark comedy #late night #tv series #channel 4 #amazon #ast records #a special thing #poetry #variety show #los angeles

[atomicdrop]

WWF UK Rampage '93 (April 11, 1993)

We’re in Sheffield, England tonight for this exciting card of seven bouts of grappling. Our hosts for the evening are genuine British person, Lord Alfred Hayes, Bobby “The Brain” Heenan and recent WWF hire, Jim Ross. Let’s get down to the ring for action!

Match 1: Brian Knobbs vs. Fatu (w/ Afa) Fatu is a pre-giant ass Rikishi. Brian Knobbs is a Nasty Boy. Both are, at this point in their careers, generally tag team guys so I don’t know why this is a singles match.

Afa and Fatu keep attempting to perform some sort of ceremony but Knobbs is an asshole and keeps imploring the crowd to scream real loud which they are more than happy to do. I guess that makes Knobbs a face and Fatu a heel.

Knobbs gets in some early offense and more or less dominates the first part of the match but he gets distracted by Afa and Fatu takes control of the match. Fatu hits a slam on the outside and then it’s chinlock city baby!

Knobbs powers out of it and starts making a comeback but runs into a foot and Fatu (with Afa assisting from the outside) puts the Nasty Boy away.

Winner: Fatu Total Uncomfortable Ethnic Stereotypes: 2

This was pretty not good. Lots of headbutts and ugly brawling while Afa pulled weird faces on the outside. Someone in the audience had an airhorn they kept using which got old really quickly.

Meanwhile Backstage… Lord Alfred Hayes interviews Doink the Clown. It’s Evil Doink. Yay! As shitty as Doink became, Evil Doink was pretty solid. Doink says some stuff and the Alfred Hayes tosses it back to, “Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby…uh…and Jimmy.” Bobby Heenan being the best quickly points out the gaffe, “Gorilla’s back in the States!”

Match 2: Doink the Clown vs. Kamala Doink and Kamala get patted down before the match. Jim Ross states that this is the norm, though this is the sole time it happens all night. Doink has got a Steve Blackman Stick up his sleeve. He gets admonished by the ref and the match gets underway.

Doink works the leg until Kamala gets annoyed and avalanches him in the corner. Doink rolls to the outside and goes under the ring. He comes out the other side and sneaks up on Kamala. Being one week removed from WrestleMania IX with the “I’m seein’ double! Four Doinks!” spot in Doink’s match with Crush this causes Jim Ross to ponder, “Is that the same guy that was wrestling?” To which Bobby “The Brain” replies, “Yeah, the big black guy from Uganda.”

Back in the ring Kamala splashed Doink laying him out face down in the ring and then goes for a Cameron pin. The ref doesn’t count so Kamala stands up to argue with him. Doink catches him unaware and rolls him up for three.

Winner: Doink the Clown Total Uncomfortable Ethnic Stereotypes: 3

This was a crap match from a workrate stand point but Evil Doink is great and it was a short match so it didn’t wear out its welcome.

Meanwhile Backstage… “Mr. Perfect what are your feelings about the match?”

“Same as every match! I’m concentration and focused…something something Lex Luger!”

Match 3: Mr. Perfect vs. Samu m (w/Afa) 
The beginning of this is basically the same match as Knobbs vs. Fatu with Mr. Perfect playing the part of Knobbs. He falls for all the same tricks that Knobbs did until he gets wise and goes after Samu’s leg. Like the earlier match Afa keeps interfering.

Samu does a lot of biting, chopping and throws Perfect to the floor a bunch but that’s about it. The match ends when Samu misses a diving headbutt, and Perfect just pops up and hits the Perfectplex for the win.

Winner: Mr. Perfect Total Uncomfortable Ethnic Stereotypes: 4

This was one of the better matches on the card because of Mr. Perfect. The dude is awesome even in a throwaway match like this and he was over as fuck with the fans here.

Match 4: Bob Backlund vs. Damien Demento 

All these years later I still don’t honestly know what Damien Demento’s gimmick was supposed to be. He dressed like the Warlord but had the “I Hear Voices In My Head They Talk To Me…” thing going on.

Bob Backlund’s in the midst of his mid-90s career Renaissance but isn’t “crazy” yet, he’s still just a guy who is legitimately good at wrestling.

This is again pretty much exactly the same as every match that preceded it. Demento clubbers Backlund about for the duration of the match and then at the end Backlund pushes Demento into the ropes and catches him in a snazzy rollup to pick up the win.

Winner: Bob Backlund

Why did these two fight? Were they feuding or was this a random one off match? Why did Demento’s cloak look like an animal attempting to swallow his head? So many questions…

Meanwhile Backstage… Mr. Perfect is with Lord Alfred Hayes looking worse for wear. With Samu behind him he’s now got his sights set on Lex Luger and vows to stalk the narcissist across the European continent.

Match 5: Typhoon vs. The Brooklyn Brawler


Clearly this is going to be the match of the night. Typhoon tries to hit a drop kick. That’s about. Lots of rest holds and slow clubbering. Brooklyn Brawler stupidly tries to bodyslam Typhoon but that’s not working. Typhoon hits an avalanche and a powerslam and mercifully brings this match to an close.

Winner: Typhoon

Why was this more than two minutes? This should have been a one minute squash rather than a competitive back and forth bout of grappling.

Meanwhile Backstage… Lex Luger looks good and says that he will end Mr. Perfect. If Mr. Perfect wants to watch his match tonight, that’s okay. Luger will have some insurance at ringside too.

Match 6: Shawn Michaels vs. Crush


It’s mullet vs. mullet in this battle for the Intercontinental Championship. Crush uses his power to get the advantage early on. Shawn bails and goes for a clothesline but it has no effect on the big man from Kona, Hawaii.

Crush charges Michaels, but Shawn tosses Crush out to the floor. The fight outside the ring for a bit and Shawn slams Crush into the ringpost. They go back into the ring where Shawn hits a succession of double axe handles. He follows up with a DDT that gets a two count but Crush kicks out.

Shawn takes Crush on a trip to Chinlock City, but Crush Hulks Up and gets out of the hold. Michaels goes for Sweet Chin Music but Crush blocks it and kicks Michaels in the face. He hits a leg drop but Michaels bails to the floor and the bell rings. He’s apparently been counted out.

Crush goes after him and drags him back to the ring and gives him the Kona Crush center ring. Crush then holds aloft the IC belt and gets a huge pop before it’s announced that since Michaels lost by count out he’s still champion.

Winner: Crush I have no idea what’s going on with this card. A Brian Adams match was literally the best thing on the card.

Meanwhile In The Ring… Bobby Heenan interviews Mr. Fuji and Yokozuna about the bullshit that went down at WrestleMania IX with Hulk Hogan. Fuji says he still thinks Yokozuna is champ because they never signed a contract or talk money or anything. Bobby Heenan agrees and that’s that. Total Uncomfortable Ethnic Stereotypes: 6

Meanwhile Backstage… Lord Alfred Hayes is with “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan talking about his upcoming match with Lex Luger. Duggan’s all like, “You might look like a bajillion bucks, but this isn’t a body building contest, it’s a wrestling match and I’ll fight you!” He then talks some shit about Yokozuna who apparently almost ended Duggan’s career.

Match 7: Lex Luger vs. “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan


Duggan’s out with an American flag and his 2x4. Yokozuna is still at ringside, apparently to watch Duggan. Duggan gets the U.K. fans to start a “USA” chant. Heenan calls them idiots and says that they must not know where they live.

Duggan knocks Luger out of the ring a few times, but Luger takes over with a clothesline from his “controversial elbow” (aka the “loaded forearm”). Luger then locks in a chinlock that lasts four and a half years and kills the momentum of the match.

Duggan fights out of the hold and the two men collide. Duggan falls out to the floor and while Luger distracts the ref Yokozuna sits on Hacksaw’s sternum and then rolls the half-dead Duggan back into the ring. Luger hits another controversial forearm and goes for the pin, but Mr. Perfect hits the ring to break up the pinfall causing Luger to win by DQ. Yokozuna comes and and helps Luger work over Mr. Perfect. They set him up for the Banzai Drop but Mr. Perfect rolls out of the way at the last second. Duggan hits the ring with his 2x4 and wrecks house on Yokozuna to close out this mess of a card.

Winner: Lex Luger

I’ve seen Luger have if not technically good at least fun matches, but this was just boring as fuck. The ending was pretty good and probably set up some sort of Duggan & Perfect vs. Luger & Yokozuna house show matches for the British tour they kept hyping during this.

Final Thoughts Goddamn was this awful and the worst thing is that it didn’t have to be. The WWF had star power during this time, but here it so little of it was used. Instead we got a bunch of tag team dudes in singles matches and squash matches that lasted nine minutes.

The only redeeming things in this dumpster fire of a card were the Crush vs. Shawn Michaels match and Mr. Perfect being consistently awesome. Everything else was goddamn awful.

#WWE #Review #1993 #UK Ramage '93

[theconservativebrief]

Brandon Truaxe is arguably the most controversial beauty industry figure in the world. The founder of Deciem, which produces the popular and affordable skin care line the Ordinary, was ousted from the company in October after months of increasingly troubling and erratic behavior that culminated in an announcement he was ceasing business and closing all Deciem stores worldwide, through a post on the brand’s Instagram.

During it all, he has suggested multiple times that there were “financial crimes” occurring within the company. He’s back in the news again thanks to a wide-ranging report published in Canada’s Financial Post.

The report confirms suggestions that Truaxe has been hospitalized for mental health issues several times in the past and has had problems with drug use. It also provides details about how minority investor Estée Lauder acted to remove him. Finally, it sheds more light on the tangled web left behind for current interim CEO Nicola Kilner to handle. Along with copies of emails Truaxe himself sent to Vox over the past several months, it paints a picture of a company in even more turmoil than originally suspected.

Truaxe, who the Financial Post reports was born as Ali Roshan, gave the paper his first interview since the ouster. The article also includes information from court documents.

Apparently Truaxe was hospitalized in the UK at the time of the interview, where he was “diagnosed with presumptive bipolar disorder, and held for a fortnight under the UK Mental Health Act,” according to reporter Joseph Brean. Ultimately, a tribunal determined that he could be released. In the story, Truaxe denied that he is mentally ill.

Social media commenters have long speculated about Truaxe’s mental health or possible drug use during episodes he made public on Deciem’s Instagram (which has now been scrubbed of those posts). The Financial Post story suggests he has had problems with drug use.

“The hospital was unable to rebut Truaxe’s lawyer’s suggestion that his psychosis was induced by his use of psychedelic mushrooms and crystal meth,” according to the Financial Post.

Truaxe admitted to the Post that he has used several substances regularly:

His youth also saw his introduction to magic mushrooms, which he said he has used often since childhood, sometimes daily, but also sometimes going months without. He said he does not seek hallucinations, but rather the period of open-minded calmness that follows a few hours after consumption.

Truaxe said he overheard workplace whispers about himself, his drug use and his mental state. He heard someone talk about crystal meth. He thought the talk was triggered by his offer of mushrooms to Kilner [Deciem’s acting CEO] in Amsterdam, where the drug is legal, while they were on a team-building tour via Venice and Paris. He called this offer a mistake.

Truaxe also posted a series of disturbing videos on Deciem’s Instagram saying he was in trouble and needed help from a hotel in London.

“The Ham Yard Hotel is a stylish place just around the corner from Piccadilly Circus in London’s Soho. This is where in May Truaxe said he took crystal meth for the first of four times, all in the U.K. It went poorly,” according to the Financial Post. Police found crystal meth and mushrooms in his hotel room. Estée Lauder allegedly arranged for a lawyer for him and no charges were filed. He was hospitalized briefly after this episode.

This is all a seemingly new admission from Truaxe. According to a series of emails to various lawyers and Estée Lauder executives forwarded to me in May and June, Truaxe confirmed he’d been hospitalized at that time but suggested that he had been given drugs against his will. He also denied trying meth.

On June 1, he emailed an Estée Lauder executive and included me and a large group of others as recipients. The email read in part: “I will now report the extreme crimes you have committed to try to frame me as a drug addict by collecting videos of drug dealers feeding me dangerous drugs, performing extremely damaging acts to my body with heat and other objects and recording them on video. … I passed all the drug tests, went to your ‘mental hospital’ where they could not justify any sign of any odd behaviour or any trace of drugs in my urine for over a week, never had a real arrest.”

Later he said, “you know that I had never touched Crystal Meth in my life. You know that I have never done any damaging acts to my body.” Truaxe did not respond to a request for comment before publication time.

It was pretty clear to followers on social media that Truaxe and Deciem were having problems, but the Financial Post story adds some bizarre details. For example, as mentioned in an October story in the New York Times, executives had noticed a change in Truaxe’s behavior after he supposedly came back from a trip to Mongolia, where he allegedly almost died due to extreme weather. According to Truaxe, there was no trip to Mongolia, which he proved by showing images of his passport.

View this post on Instagram

We make beautiful products. But the reality is that before beautiful products, we are a team of beautiful humans with deep hearts invested so heavily and lovingly in DECIEM. This love is what makes weeks like the last one so difficult. Following the court ruling on Friday we have now reopened all stores, offices, factories and warehouses. Together, we are committed to serving our customers, partners and everyone involved in this journey to the best of our humble abilities, and we are ready for the next part of our story to begin. Brandon will always be the founder of DECIEM. We will take the passion and values he has instilled within us as we continue to grow the brands we have created with transparency, integrity, authenticity, function and design. Thank you from the very bottom of our hearts to each and every person who has continued to support our journey. We look forward to sharing what’s to come with you.

A post shared by THE ABNORMAL BEAUTY COMPANY (@deciem) on Oct 15, 2018 at 12:14pm PDT

According to court documents reviewed by the Financial Post, Estée Lauder is a one-third equal partner in Deciem and paid $50 million for its share. It has previously been reported, from information given by Truaxe himself, that Estée Lauder had a 28 percent share of the company.

After October’s events and Truaxe’s effective shuttering of the company, Estée Lauder mobilized to have Truaxe legally removed. Court documents state that Truaxe apparently “went behind the board’s back to lease a new headquarters and a private plane.”

“He has essentially lit the company on fire,” Estée Lauder’s attorney Mark Gelowitz said at the court hearing, according to the story. Gelowitz also used phrases like “calculated insanity,” “spiralling decline,” and “gone too far” to describe Truaxe and his behavior.

Truaxe had fired and rehired co-CEO Nicola Kilner, but apparently fired her again prior to shuttering stores. He also tried to remove the company’s third investor, Pasquale Cusano, from the board, even going so far as to allegedly “crudely forge” Cusano’s signature on documents. (Cusano filed a lawsuit against Truaxe alleging the latter had been trying to remove him the board. Truaxe had confirmed to me in previous conversations that Cusano had filed against him, but not specifics of the lawsuit.)

Later, Truaxe did not show up to a company board meeting, saying that “he had been pushed into Lake Ontario the day before, his birthday, and had to be saved by police and paramedics.”

Truaxe has insisted, both on his Instagram account and in conversations with me since the summer, that “financial crimes” had occurred at Deciem, but he never gave specifics.

On November 11, which would have been during his most recent hospitalization, he forwarded me an email he had sent to Jay Clayton, the chair of the US Securities and Exchange Commission. It’s not clear whether the SEC has done anything in response.

In the email, he mentioned the word “bribery” and wrote: “During the last year, I have been concerned about possible, but very-likely, financial wrongdoings related to one of our shareholders. … During this time, the shareholders of DECIEM have attempted to present me as mentally unable, as a drug addict and as a person unqualified to run the business or even be a director, to the public, to the DECIEM team, to police, to medical professionals, and now to courts.”

According to the Financial Post, an “outside accountant” was ordered by the judge to investigate Truaxe’s claims of financial wrongdoing within the company. No information has yet been publicized about any findings.

A spokesperson for Estée Lauder would not comment on the details but sent the following statement to Vox: “We remain strongly committed to Deciem, Nicola Kilner and the entire team as they continue to run their business and provide consumers with the products that they know and love.”

A judge had to issue a restraining order against Truaxe after he made comments perceived to be threatening in an email to Leonard Lauder, the patriarch and chair emeritus (and son of Estée) of the Estée Lauder companies, and another executive.

Truaxe, according to his personal Instagram page, has also tried to enter Deciem stores both in New York right after the order and in London right after his hospitalization, where he was escorted out. He also published a recent email sent to Leonard Lauder, along with a cease and desist notice from an attorney, which has since been deleted from his Instagram, though a mention of it remains. Truaxe continues to post sometimes rambling and incoherent posts on his own account.

Deciem has scrubbed its Instagram account of many of Truaxe’s old posts and resumed a more traditional social media marketing campaign, posting professionally shot videos of its employees and announcing a Black Friday sale and new products. It’s also rehired ex-CFO Stephen Kaplan, who resigned in protest after Kilner was fired the first time in February 2018.

It seems that Deciem may be trying to recover, and may succeed if the company can continue to provide the same products at a price point customers have become accustomed to. But there might be more to this saga.

The unknown factor here, as always, is Brandon.

Want more stories from The Goods by Vox? Sign up for our newsletter here.

Original Source -> What the latest report on skin care company Deciem reveals about its troubled founder

via The Conservative Brief

#IFTTT #The Conservative Brief

[movietvtechgeeks]

Latest story from https://movietvtechgeeks.com/kathy-griffin-loses-anderson-cooper-love-plus-ariana-grande-benefit/

Kathy Griffin loses Anderson Cooper love plus Ariana Grande benefit

Surely comedian Kathy Griffin did not expect all of this madness when she released the controversial photo of her posing with a fake, gory Donald Trump head. Earlier this week, the comedian shared a photo, which was taken by photographer Tyler Shields, in hopes that it would create buzz around her (in a more positive way). However, the red-head soon faced ample backlash, as even Trump critics slammed her distasteful photo shoot which you can see here. Ever since the photo was released, Kathy has experienced major fall out. In fact, the comedian is apparently the focus of a new Secret Service probe, as the photo was inevitably taken as potentially threatening towards the current US President. In addition, several of Kathy’s contracts and shows have been cancelled, including her July 22nd appearance at the Route 66 Casino, a number of shows scheduled on her current Celebrity Run-In tour, and an upcoming gig she had booked with CNN. After controversy ensued, Kathy released a public statement, apologizing for her insensitivity. However, this hasn’t stopped companies and people all over social media from continuing to drag her through the mud. Consequently, Kathy has now hired attorney Lisa Bloom, who held an official press conference to address the scandal. In a statement released by Kathy via Lisa Bloom’s firm, the comedian claims that she is now being unjustly “[bullied]” by the Trump family. The statement read, “Earlier this week, Ms. Griffin released a controversial photograph of herself posing with a faux-blood mask of Donald Trump’s face. Ms. Griffin and Ms. Bloom will explain the true motivation behind the image, and respond to the bullying from the Trump family she has endured [at the upcoming conference].” On Friday (June 2nd), Kathy joined her attorney at her press conference and spoke candidly about the whole photo incident. In tears, Kathy told the press, “I don’t think I will have a career after this. I’m going to be honest. He broke me. He broke me. And then I was like, ‘No, this is not right.’ And I apologized because that was the right thing to do and I meant it. And then I saw the tide turning and I saw what they were doing. I would never want to hurt anyone, much less a child.” Here, Kathy referred to the Trump family’s claims that Donald’s kids were shaken up by the images of Kathy and the faux blood mask (including Donald’s young son, Baron). While Kathy Griffin continues her sympathy crusade after weathering a storm of criticism for her terrible Trump severed-head photo, sources say she’s seething about how Anderson Cooper dropped her from his CNN New Year’s Eve broadcast like a hot potato. Sources said Griffin had expected CNN “golden boy” Cooper to stand by her, but the news network swiftly announced she was fired from the NYE broadcast with Cooper, which they’ve done together for 10 years. TV insiders say respected newsman Cooper had no choice but to condemn Griffin’s disturbing photo shoot, in which she held up a faux severed and bloody head of President Trump. After the controversial image of Griffin went viral, sparking widespread backlash, Cooper tweeted, “For the record, I am appalled by the photo shoot Kathy Griffin took part in. It is clearly disgusting and completely inappropriate.” But a source said, “Kathy totally misjudged this. She truly believed that Anderson would stick up for her. She considered him a friend. While she has nobody to blame but herself, she feels somehow betrayed.” Griffin appeared in a tearful press conference on Friday where she sobbed of Trump: “He broke me.” No word about Cooper. The buzz at CNN is that Cooper could use the opportunity of Griffin’s firing to bring his longtime buddy, Bravo’s “Watch What Happens Live” star Andy Cohen, into his NYE broadcast. Cohen also hosts “Love Connection” on Fox. The source said, “Anderson wants Andy to co-host with him. They are already doing a multi-city tour together, they are besties and have a great rapport.” Cohen revealed that they were set up on a blind date in the early ’90s, but Cooper says Cohen blew it during their initial phone call by being “too enthusiastic.” They were later introduced by mutual friends in LA and their platonic bromance blossomed. But sources add that Cohen “may have some contractual problems to overcome” with Bravo before he can appear on CNN with Cooper. Good news for pop music fans. Thanks to ABC, people all around the world will have a chance to watch Ariana’s benefit concert One Love Manchester, as it will be airing on the television network this Sunday. As you may have heard, Ariana, as well as several big name artists, will be performing in Manchester this Sunday in honor of the victims and those affected by the terrifying May 22nd attack. According to reports, Ariana will be joined on stage by artists such as: Miley Cyrus, Justin Bieber and Katy Perry. Early morning TV show Good Morning America reports that the concert will air on many “ABC stations after the NBA finals.” In addition, viewers will be able to catch it on FreeForm too. While it is only Friday, Ariana Grande has already been spotted returning to the UK. The young pop star flew in via private plane, marking the first time that the she has been back to the UK since the scary incident (note: the bombing took place at her concert). Fortunately, along with the countless stars who have agreed to perform with Ariana, the “Side to Side” songstress also has her family and boyfriend (rapper Mac Miller) by her side. You can catch Ariana, and all of the other singers, perform in Manchester this upcoming Sunday on ABC (as well as several of their other stations). HBO responded Saturday to backlash after “Real Time” host Bill Maher used the N-word during his show, with the network calling his comment “inexcusable.” Maher was having a back-and-forth with Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., when the senator invited the liberal talk-show host to visit his state. “We’d love to have you work in the fields with us,” Sasse joked. Maher responded, “Work in the fields? Senator, I’m a house [expletive].” Some in the audience groaned and a few clapped. Maher appeared to quickly reassure the audience and said, “No, it’s a joke.” “Bill Maher’s comment last night was completely inexcusable and tasteless,” HBO officials told the Hollywood Reporter. “We are removing his deeply offensive comment from any subsequent airings of the show.” The New York Times reported that the word was not cut out during HBO’s rebroadcast at midnight. Sasse did not address the comment and the two moved on to another subject. Sasse faced some criticism on social media for not quickly condemning the host’s comments. https://twitter.com/deray/status/870868834890153985 Deray Mckesson, an activist for Black Lives Matter, took to Twitter, saying, “But really, @BillMaher has got to go. There are no explanations that make this acceptable.” Maher was criticized last month for comments he made about President Trump and his daughter Ivanka. The host made his most recent controversial comments the same week Kathy Griffin faced fallout from a video showing her posing with a likeness of Trump’s severed head. Griffin said the video was meant to be a pointed comeback to Trump’s remark last summer that journalist Megyn Kelly had “blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of wherever.” Bill Maher has issued an apology for using the N-word on Friday’s edition of HBO’s “Real Time with Bill Maher.” Maher said in a statement: “Friday nights are always my worst night of sleep because I’m up reflecting on the things I should or shouldn’t have said on my live show.   Last night was a particularly long night as I regret the word I used in the banter of a live moment. The word was offensive, and I regret saying it and am very sorry.” A rep for Maher said the comedian was traveling on Saturday and unavailable for further comment. He is scheduled to do a comedy performance at Indianapolis’ Murat Theater on Sunday. The storm around Maher’s use of the phrase “house n—–” during an interview segment has been building via social media ever since the show’s 10 p.m. East Coast airing. The incident prompted some to revisit past statements from Maher about Muslims and LGBTQ people that have been widely deemed offensive. HBO is facing calls to fire Maher. The cabler issued a statement Saturday calling Maher’s choice of words “completely inexcusable and tasteless” but stopped short of any formal sanction against the host. Maher’s apology came about two hours after HBO’s statement. According to a source, Maher was surprised by the volume of the backlash but was also motivated to take the highly unusual (for him) step of issuing a statement out of sincere regret. As of Saturday afternoon, “Real Time” is expected to air next week in its usual 10 p.m. Friday slot. Legendary Southern rocker Gregg Allman was laid to rest Saturday near his older brother Duane in the same cemetery where they used to write songs among the tombstones, not far from US Highway 41. Thousands of fans lined the streets to honor the “Ramblin Man,” who was carried into Rose Hill Cemetery as a bagpiper played a somber tune. Family and friends, including musicians who played in The Allman Brothers Band over the years, gathered on a hillside overlooking his grave, which is shaded by huge oak trees. Many shared memories of concerts, and some blared the band’s songs from their cars and trucks. One carried a sign saying “You made our soul shine. We’ll miss you brother Gregg.” “I wouldn’t have missed this if I lived in China,” said Kelli Jo Hickman, who drove in from Murphy, N.C. She said her mom, Dixie, introduced her to the band in the 1970s, and she’s listened to their music ever since. The funeral service was private, with room for only about 100 people inside the small chapel. Mourners, including Allman’s ex-wife Cher, filed past white columns into the peach-colored building as five black stretch limousines waited outside for the short trip to the cemetery. Some slipped in through a back entrance. Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter had said he would attend, honoring the keyboardist who drew large crowds to campaign events during his 1976 presidential race. Allman, who blazed a trail for many southern rock groups, died May 27 at the age of 69 at his home near Savannah, Georgia, said Michael Lehman, the rock star’s manager. He blamed liver cancer. With Gregg at the organ and Duane playing guitar, the band began its rise to fame in the central Georgia city 90 miles south of Atlanta about five decades ago, and used to write songs while hanging out in the cemetery, Alan Paul wrote in “One Way Out: The Inside History of the Allman Brothers Band.” “He’s somebody who has been in my life first as an artist and later as a real person since I was about 8 years old, and so it’s shocking to think of the world without him,” said Paul, 50, who interviewed Allman many times for his book. Born in Nashville, Tennessee, Allman was raised in Florida by a single mother. Allman idolized his older brother, Duane, eventually joining a series of bands with him. Together they formed the heart of The Allman Brothers Band before Duane died in a motorcycle crash in 1971, just as they were reaching stardom. In his 2012 memoir, “My Cross to Bear,” Allman said he finally felt “brand new” in the 1990s after years of overindulging in women, drugs and alcohol. But hepatitis C had ruined his liver, and after getting a transplant, it was music that helped him recover. Allman felt that being on the road playing music for his fans was “essential medicine for his soul,” according to a statement from the Big House, the Macon museum dedicated to the band. Lehman said he spoke with Allman the night before he died. “He said the last few days he was just, you know, tired,” Lehman said. The night before he passed away, Allman was able to listen to some of the tracks being produced for his final record, “Southern Blood,” Lehman said. The album is scheduled to be released in the fall. “He was looking forward to sharing it with the world, and that dream is going to be realized,” Lehman said. “I told him that his legacy is going to be protected, and the gift that he gave to the music world will continue to live on forever.” Kevin Hart said his father’s drug addiction and his strong mother kept him on the straight and narrow. Hart, who has penned the memoir “I Can’t Make This Up: Life Lessons,” told Parade, “I couldn’t do drugs if I wanted. They were sold in the neighborhood, but I couldn’t personally go out and get them . . . My mom kept me away from that.” Hart, who has two children with an ex and one on the way with wife Eniko Parrish, added of his dad, who’s now clean, “I am who I am because of the mistakes that he made.”

Movie TV Tech Geeks News

#Anderson Cooper #Ariana Grande #Bill Maher #Featured #Gregg Allman #Kathy Griffin #Kevin Hart

[threadsofperu-blog]

Trabajo del Campo: Week 2

May 8:

Made my way from Cusco to Umasbamba with a taxi colectivo once again.  These are just normal cars that they stuff a ton of people into - including the trunk.  It’s 3 soles to get to Chinchero, which is an hour away, and the equivalent of 90 US cents.

Paulino (my host-dad) picked me up in Chinchero and I met Janet’s (my host-mom’s) sister.  We stopped at the hospital to pick up some pills for her sister’s husband.  Apparently, he had a drinking problem and would likely die within the next week.  Paulino said he drank a lot of chicha, which is the Andean alcohol with a corn-base.

I dropped off my backpack at the house then met Janet in the plaza.  She was ‘receiving tourists’, who when I arrived, were all wearing the traditional dress of Chinchero.  

The weavers prepared lunch for the tourists including chicha de quinoa (like fried rice, but quinoa), soup, and corn pudding  

Janet demonstrated the entire textile process to the tourists... with the tour-guide translating her Spanish to English 

The weavers set up a little market (and tapped their textiles with an herb for good luck), then the tourists walked around to buy textiles.

I talked to a bunch of the tourists who were so interested/confused why I was in ‘the middle of nowhere.’  They were impressed by my Spanish and to them I was a familiar face in an unknown place. This became the theme each time we received tourists.

May 9: 

We received tourists once again, because Janet’s sister whose also a weaver was unable to make her day.  We greeted Chinese-Australian tourists.  Since, this was not the normal group for Janet, she did not explain her weaving.  Instead, another woman who could only speak Quechua demonstrated the process.  The tour-guide had little understanding of Quechua, so his explanation to the tourists was definitely watered down. 

During the mini-market, I noticed the immense advantage Janet had over the other weavers.  Due to her ability to speak Spanish, she can represent her products.  The tour guide asked in Spanish if anyone had a little squared textile (one of the tourists was looking for one) and Janet was the only one who understood the question, therefore was able to sell her textile. 

After we received the tourists, I went to a meeting of the weaver’s association with Janet.  There were 38 weavers from the community, with 1 president and treasurer leading the meeting.  It was entirely in Quechua, so I couldn’t follow it, but I did notice how often Janet addressed the association (and later found out she was a past-president herself). 

May 10: 

My last day in Umasbamba... I prepared lunch and flower necklaces for the tourists who would arrive later that morning.  I spoke with the husband of a weaver (who spoke Spanish) on his thoughts about his wife’s weaving.

A group of tourist arrived from Germany, Australia, the UK, and Canada. This time, Janet introduced me to the tourists and tour-guide as someone who could help out throughout their experience in Umasbamba.  This came after we had talked the night before, on how she didn’t understand English and didn’t trust the tour-guides to represent her textiles to the tourists.  So instead, I represented the textiles.  Once the market opened up, I explained the significance of the iconography and translated costs between the weavers and tourists.  This way, we didn’t have to rely on the tour-guide (who I heard tell tourists that they could go elsewhere to buy textiles too).  Once, all the tourists left, the weavers and I gathered and they thanked me for the help and asked me not to leave.  After all they had done for me, it was the least I could do in return for them. 

I spent most of that day hanging out with the driver of the tourist group. We would speak Spanish to each other and he would ask me to teach him English phrases.  I watched the tourists look on at us in peculiarity.  It was interesting to get to know their driver, who they had likely never talked to before.

May 11:

My first day in Chinchero... I went to the Centro de Textiles which is the most respected weaving association in the town.  I had read about the director, Nelda, who was a weaver from Chinchero who was educated in the United States.  She used her education to revitalize weaving traditions in Chinchero and is named as responsible for the current weaving-economy we see today.  However, there’s also a ton of sources that criticize her for only lifting herself up and leaving her fellow weavers behind.  Anthropologists have studied the hierarchy between her and association-members.  Surprisingly and luckily, I met her when I visited the center.  With this controversy in mind, I was careful to talk to her. But, when one tourist held up a chullo or typical hat, I told her how it represented the calendar with its 12 stripes, as Janet had told each tourist group that visited.  Nelda walked by then and told me that I was wrong.  It got me thinking about whose really preserving the cultural heritage of Chinchero.

The tourist group at the Centro de Textiles were knitters from Australia, the UK, and Germany.  They were on a fiber-arts tour of Peru and Chinchero was their last stop to learn how to naturally dye wool.  I talked to one woman who said that when you’re passionate about something, you just want to see the world through that lens, which is why she chose to go on a fiber-arts tour.  

I heard another woman tell a weaver that she loved the knitted hat because knitting was her hobby.  I thought it was interesting how these weavers so often say, “Este es mi trabajo” or “this is my work” to tourists that pass them by, and this Western-woman feels passionate about the same thing, but because its her hobby. What’s the difference between hobby and work?  I myself was embroidering and the weavers in Umasbamba referred to it as my work, but I didn’t know exactly how to respond. 

I conducted my last interview with the weaver who owned the hostel I was staying at.  The weaver owns her own business where she teaches foreigners how to weave.  

I asked her during the interview about the differences of being a business owner vs. a member of an association. She expressed her ability to be independent from other women, as the owner of her own business.  

When I asked why other women in Chinchero don’t weave, she explained that these women are “accustomed” to waiting to receive money from their husbands.  She on the other hand, along with so many weavers, generate their own income giving them sovereignty. 

This weaver was also skeptical of the weavers in other textile centers within Chinchero, who claim to be weavers, but can’t create designs when asked. 

Overall, my experience in Chinchero/Umasbamba was something outside of anything I’ve ever done.  It was challenging, yes, but I wouldn’t have been happy otherwise.  My friend mentioned that she thinks I had one of the most interesting fieldwork experiences of the group.  I can’t say my final paper will be anything groundbreaking, or even an A, but I put in as much of myself as I could into this research as I could, in order to share these women’s truths.