Nobody said personal interaction was a strong suit of Millennials. They’re having less sex, fewer babies, and getting hitched later in life.
Nobody said personal interaction was a strong suit of Millennials. They’re having less sex, fewer babies, and getting hitched later in life. And now, it turns out, they’re avoiding face-to-face contact with restaurant employees whenever possible.
According to a recent survey (by way of Salon), this trend signals a potential shift from human employees to automated kiosks.
In the survey, nearly 31 percent of millennials said that the reason they use the drive-thru isn’t speed or convenience, but because doing so requires the least amount of actual human interaction.
That’s good news if you’re in the robot business, bad news if you’re a fast-food employee.
Says Andy Puzder, CEO of Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr.:
I’ve been inside restaurants where we’ve installed ordering kiosks … and I’ve actually seen young people waiting in line to use the kiosk where there’s a person standing behind the counter, waiting on nobody.
If that sobering comment leaves you feeling a little disappointed with the human race, there are still some people who like a personal touch. The same survey found that 59 percent of those polled appreciated the attendant asking about their day. You know, if that attendant isn’t a Millennial.
What doesn’t Pharrell Williams have his hand in these days? From being a judge on NBC’s The Voice, his Beats One OTHERtone Radio Show, producing films like Dope, and his main gig, creating music, Pharrell is the premiere example of today’s multi-hyphenate stars. And that’s not even mentioning his shoe and fashion lines!
Now, Pharrell is adding chef to that already epic list, with a grocery product line called “Williams Family Kitchen” in a partnership with upscale grocer Dean & DeLuca. The line will feature authentic recipes from the Williams family, notably Pharrell’s father. However, the recipes were tweaked by Pharrell, who substituted healthier ingredients from the original.
“Our father son agreement was that he would make food with healthier ingredients that were a better choice for his lifestyle and would essentially help add years to his life,” Pharrell said in a press release. “The kitchen is where everyone hangs out to talk and eat, hence the name.”
The collaboration was unveiled Monday at Dean & DeLuca’s Bangkok location. Pharrell and his father Pharaoh were also in attendance.
The woman who horrified New Yorkers — and freaked out just about everyone else — last Wednesday when she dumped 600 crickets and worms into a crowded subway car and then peed all over the floor has been arrested.
Just hours after the incident went viral Friday, the woman, Zaida Pugh, 21, admitted it’d all been an act to raise awareness about homelessness and mental health. NYPD officials later said she might be arrested for the stunt, which delayed the D train for about 30 minutes.
On Monday afternoon, police arrested Pugh and reportedly charged her with reckless endangerment, obstructing governmental administration, false reporting an incident, and disorderly conduct
“Zaida Pugh will be arrested for reckless endangerment for what she did on the train,” NYPD Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce said at a press conference, according to DNA Info. “She put people at risk. [They] could have had heart attacks, people could have had all kinds of issues. [They could be] emotionally scarred from that.”
Earlier Monday, Pugh released an impassioned Facebook Live video in which she apologized and said she’s received death threats.
“There are people that really hate me…probably want me dead. I don’t want that. That’s not the type of attention I wanted,” she said. “I just really had a dream and I wanted it to go far. I wanted to spread messages out there, and I didn’t want it to happen like this.”
“I don’t know what’s going to happen to me,” she added.
Sunday night’s Video Music Awards were fairly tame fashion-wise, compared to VMAs of the past. No meat dresses. No horsehair gowns. No Canadian Tuxedos. Everyone kept it classy — and among the classiest ensembles of all featured some of the most skin showing.
Star of MTV’s Catfish Nev Schulman and fiancee Laura Perlongo showed up in matching olive tops and dark slacks. Laura slung a body chain around herself, threw on the bomber jacket, stuck it down with some tape and called it a night.
Predictably, the people of the internet lost their minds at the sight of a pregnant woman showing off her belly. But Laura told ATTN: that the night was nothing but positive. Plus Kim K loved it, so everyone else can step off.
She says she felt hot, and wanted to wear something she’d be comfortable in, instead of trying to cover up in a clingy gown. Being confident also made a statement for normalizing pregnancy and women’s bodies:
I think a lot of women are afraid of pregnancy because society makes it seem like the end of youthful exuberance and sexual independence. Women are so judged about how they look, so pregnancy can be a scary thing. How will my body change? Will I lose the weight? Will my partner still find me attractive? I believe staying confident and accepting pregnant bodies for what they are is good for mental health, the health of our relationships and the overall health of our babies.
In a resounding victory for the state’s medical marijuana patients, the New York Department of Health agreed on Tuesday to relax its rigid medical marijuana regulations, including a legal home delivery system.
New York’s medical marijuana program — in existence since January and serving only 7,000 patients, has come under fire for being one of the most restrictive in the nation — will now better serve the needs of its patients and improve accessibility. Among the highlights of the state’s announcement:
Authorize home delivery to patients to ill to travel to a legal dispensary. Today, there are only about 20 dispensaries to serve the entire state. In California, for example, there are 750,000 registered patients and literally hundreds of access points to purchase cannabis.
Allow nurse practitioners — not just doctors — to prescribe medical marijuana. Currently, there are about 17 counties in upstate New York without a doctor who is registered to prescribe cannabis.
Expand the qualifying conditions for patients seeking cannabis treatment to post-traumatic stress disorder, Alzheimer’s disease and other ailments. In what would be considered a major victory for patient advocates, intractable pain will be considered a qualifying condition. As of now, only severe illnesses such as cancer, AIDS and epilepsy qualify — a limitation considered too narrow by most experts.
Create a “hardship waiver” for patients who are unable to pay $50 to register for a medical marijuana card.
Expand the number of companies allowed to manufacture and distribute cannabis. As of today, only five companies are allowed to participate in the program.
“A lot of the recommendations that the Department of Health made are things that the patients have been asking for for a year and a half,” Kassandra Frederique, the state director of the New York office at the Drug Policy Alliance, told the New York Times.
Apparently, the state was listening to the criticism of the program. “We’ve always been interested in expanding the program,” Alphonso David, Governor Cuomo’s counsel, told the Times. “We just wanted to make sure we had the data to support it.”
The recommendations from the health department will undergo a 45-day review. But many of the new regulations, including home delivery, could be enacted immediately.
Spike Jonze isn’t a stranger to a short video. He made his name directing iconic music videos for acts like The Beastie Boys, Björk, Weezer, among others. While feature films likes Being John Malkovich, Adaptation., and Her elevated him into one of today’s foremost directors, Jonze returns to the music video format every so often.
While his latest video officially bills itself as a commercial for Kenzo’s latest perfume, Kenzo World, it doubles as a music video for Sam Spiegel & Brain Child’s “Mutant Brain” record, which features Assassin. The clip features 21-year-old actress and former dancer/model Margaret Qualley, who stars in HBO’s The Leftovers and had roles in Palo Alto and The Nice Guys.
Photo screenshot via KENZO on Youtube
Beginning at an awards show of some kind, the camera zooms tighter and tighter on Qualley’s visibly flustered and upset face. She does her best to feign interest and excitement, but excuses herself for a breather.
Then the fun starts. A clocking wood block beat sounds and possesses Qualley. She loses control, her face contorting all sorts of unnatural, wacky positions, then her body joins the fun. The camera follows Qualley as she dances and flails around the fancy hotel, eventually culminating in her shooting lasers from her fingertips and leaping through a giant eye-shaped hedge. It’s absolute bonkers fun.
Ryan Hueffington choreographed “My Mutant Brain.” His previous work includes Sia’s “Chandelier” video, and the similarities are apparent. Also of note: Same Spiegel, who produced the track, is Jonze’s brother.
John and Yoko were living in New York’s Greenwich Village for nearly a year, surrounded by the politics, protests and art coming out of the Vietnam War. The FBI was investigating Lennon, trying to figure out ways to deport him before he humiliated Nixon’s presidency any further. Mark David Chapman, who assassinated Lennon in NYC in 1980, was denied parole for the ninth time yesterday.
But before all of this, they recorded the protest album Sometime In New York City and performed a raw, underrehearsed, emotional set from this album for the “One to One” concert at Madison Square Garden. It was so rough that Lennon joked onstage, “Welcome to the rehearsal.” The concert benefitted the Willowbrook Home, a facility for learning disabled children, and also featured Stevie Wonder, Sha Na Na, and Roberta Flack, according to Concert Vault.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSke-7iUCXU
Lennon bought $59,000 of tickets to this festival and gave them away to fundraising volunteers. ABC bought the broadcast rights for $350,000, and the festival sold out, generating more than $1.5 million for Willowbrook. Tickets cost $5, $7.50 and $10. If One to One happened today, not even the ticketing service fees would be that cheap.
Celebrity never dies. Or at least it’s a self-sustaining life force. One of those two statements is true, especially when considering the new cast of ABC’s hit show Dancing With The Stars.
The show debuted its new cast on a Good Morning America segment, and the dancing stars all seemed excited. The biggest names that immediately pop out include USA Swimmer/Rio Bad Boy Ryan Lochte, former Texas governor Rick Perry, and model/thirst trap Amber Rose. As Kanye might say, “I see you, Amber.”
But perhaps all the names don’t ring a bell. That’s okay. We’re here to provide a short explanation of who or where each of these celebrities came from. Here are all the pairs competing for the Mirror Ball Trophy this time around:
USA Olympic Swimmer Ryan Lochte and Cheryl Burke: Joining DWTS is a pretty blatant media redemption move for Lochte, who you almost certainly know after the international incident he started at the Rio Olympics this summer. Pro tip to ABC producers: Don’t leave him alone in the bathroom.
USA Olympic Gymnast Laurie Hernandez and Valentin Chmerkovskiy: Hernandez was part of the women’s All-Around team that won gold in Rio. She also earned an individual silver in women’s beam.
Former child star Jake T. Austin and Jenna Johnson: Disney channel fans will recognize Austin as Max Russo from the Wizards of Waverly Place, but Austin also voiced Diego from Dora the Explorer, a fact I certainly looked up and didn’t know already…
Little Women: LA reality star Terra Jole and Sasha Farber: Jole both stars in and executive produces the Lifetime reality show that documents the world of little people.
Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Emma Slater: You likely remember Perry from his two presidential bids for the White House. Then again, maybe you don’t: Perry dropped out of the race early both times.
Reality star Amber Rose and Maksim Chmerkovskiy: Here are the official titles the ABC press release bequeathed Amber Rose: proud mother, activist, entrepreneur, spokesperson, talk show host, model, actor and published author. Take that at its face value. Anyone who’s listened to Kanye’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy might know her a bit differently, though.
Former pro football player Calvin Johnson and Lindsay Arnold: Calvin Johnson retired from football startlingly early in his career, so that he may live a long and healthy life. A commendable reason. But who knew the life “Megatron” wanted to lead included Dancing with the Stars?
Former rapper Vanilla Ice and Witney Carson: If this team doesn’t dance at least three times to “Ice Ice Baby” then why even participate?
Music genius Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds and Allison Holker: Baby introduced the musical stylings of TLC, OutKast, Usher, Toni Braxton, and himself into the world. This man can do whatever he wants.
Actress Marilu Henner and Derek Hough: Henner is best known for her starring role as Elaine in the late 70s sitcom Taxi.
Former child star Maureen McCormick and Artem Chigvintsev: Can Marcia Brady dance? McCormick also had a successful film career and wrote a memoir, but playing the eldest Brady daughter is what we all know her for.
Race car driver James Hinchcliffe and Sharna Burgess: Hinchcliffe is a pretty popular Indy car driver, but that he’s dancing following a gruesome practice crush at 2015 Indianapolis 500 is pretty astounding.
Country singer Jana Kramer and Gleb Savchenko: Kramer has had a successful country music career, but is also well-known for her role as Alex Dupre in CW’s One Tree Hill.
Somewhere in the woods surrounding an apartment complex in Greenville, S.C., lurks a group of clowns who have tried to lure children to join them, according to residents of a local apartment complex.
“There have been several conversations and a lot of complaints to the office regarding a clown or a person dressed in clown clothing talking to children or trying to lure children into the woods,” states a letter written last week by the property management company that owns the Fleetwood Manor apartments in Greenville. “At no times should a child be alone at night, or walking in the roads or wooded area at night.”
Donna Arnold, who lives in Fleetwood Manor and received the letter, spoke to WGHP about the clown news.
“I thought my child was seeing things,” she said. “And then the next day I had about 30 kids come up to me and say, ‘Did you see the clown in the woods?”
BuzzFeed News obtained a police report filed by a woman living in the complex, who said her son claims he had “seen clowns in the woods whispering and making strange noises.” Later, the woman said she went to investigate and “observed several clowns in the woods flashing green laser lights [who] then ran away into the woods.”
The report also quoted a woman who said she “saw a clown with a blinking nose, standing under a post light near the garbage dumpster area. She stated the suspect waved at her and she waved back while she made her way to her residence safely. The suspect did not approach her or harm her.”
The report mentions that many children from the apartment complex “believe the clowns stay in a house located near a pond at the end of a man-made [trail] in the woods.”
Donna Arnold’s husband, James, told BuzzFeed that the rash of clowns haunting their neighborhood is by far the most frightening thing residents have experienced. “This is one of the neighborhoods where guys are walking around carrying guns,” he said. “But we’ve had no clowns before.”
As of Friday evening, four Greenville County Sheriff’s Deputies were patrolling the area for clowns.
Not everyone has a voice they can call their own. Most voices come from somewhere; they’re derivative. Possibly you picked up the way your mother’s voice reaches into that higher register when she’s excited, or you liked the way an uncle called his friends “lads,” so you instituted that word into your speech. But, Gene Wilder gave voice to a world of pure imagination, and the world is better for it.
My father calls himself “The Waco Kid.” For the longest time, I assumed his reasoning followed simple logic: He was born there. As a military brat, my dad’s family moved around a bunch, living a time in such extremes as Arizona and Germany, so I thought his “Waco Kid” nickname helped situate what must have been a constantly shifting sense of place. Perhaps this is part of the truth, but I was a kid then and kids dream their own backstories to unexplained narratives.
I’m sure you see where this is going. One evening Dad was out on the back porch and Blazing Saddles played on Turner Classic Movies. Though it was late, we ended up watching the whole movie together. When Gene Wilder appeared onscreen, I’d only ever known him as Willy Wonka, but that’s when I learned where part of my dad’s voice came from: “The Waco Kid.”
Gene Wilder could never be considered derivative, at least not in his film roles. His was a voice all his own. You’ve likely heard the tragic news that Gene Wilder has passed away at the age of 83 Monday, losing a three-year long battle with Alzheimer’s disease. This afternoon, his nephew released a statement that explained why Wilder chose to hide his sickness that made its way online. In short, he didn’t want kids who knew him only as “Willy Wonka” to approach him and have that moment be ruined by parents having to later explain his illness. “He simply couldn’t bear the idea of one less smile in the world,” Jordan Walker-Pearlman wrote.
That kind of sentiment breaks your heart. Those pieces pulped just further reading that Wilder’s son had signed the note as “Gene’s Kid.”
Gene Wilder took his last breath, holding his family's hands, listening to Ella Fitzgerald sing "Over the Rainbow" pic.twitter.com/9WuCxYl62p
When we eulogize any person, we’re verbalizing regrets over lost time, a life no more. With those special artists, our mourning concerns lost creations. So-and-so will never write another novel, no more paintings from that genius. Most will lament the disappearance of Gene Wilder from the screen. Though he retreated long ago—his last film was 1991’s Another You, co-starring with longtime collaborator and friend Richard Pryor; his final onscreen TV performance was in 2003 playing Mr. Stein in Will & Grace—a hope remained some role would entice him out of retirement.
“I don’t like show business, I realized,” he said in a 2008 TCM appearance. “I like show, but I don’t like the business.”
What I’ll miss most is his voice. I simply can’t bear the idea Gene Wilder’s voice won’t be heard anymore. A warmth hugged his words, how that first syllable quickly crescendoed into existence and the last receded the same way. It played various instruments: He could thunder “YOU GET NOTHING” like an incensed trombone choir, and convince you of that bassoon quack “Fronkensteen.” The guy could literally sing.
His characters always seemed in possession of some winking secret they couldn’t wait to spill. But you had to earn it, you had to ask, you had to go along for his ride. There’s a great story about his portrayal of Willy Wonka. When Wonka, his legend enormous by then, makes his grand entrance, he walks with a cane and a limp. The crowd quiets, all wanting to gain a better look of the man. Had he become a cripple in his old age? Then his cane sticks in the cobblestone and Wonka starts to fall over, but gracefully turns the move into a somersault, popping up smiling, to a round of applause.
It was Wilder’s idea and his one requirement in accepting the film. When pressed to explain why he said, “Because from that time on, no one will know if I’m lying or telling the truth.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sz9jc5blzRM
He was such a physical savant in that way. So few comedies deal in that physical realm nowadays, but that discussion is for another time.
Instead, let’s now remember that winking face and his orchestral voice, and how Gene Wilder invented worlds unto himself. Reflecting on his career, you want to know where he came from. Whatever wonderful universe that is, that’s where he’ll hopefully return. But those questions of origin will fade once you see him onscreen again, because Wilder convinced you to join him on whatever adventure his characters were embarking. You always followed. Because more than anything, you wanted to be wherever he was going. It was a world of pure imagination.
