Singer Christina Grimmie, 22, was shot and killed on June 10 in Orlando while signing autographs for fans after a show. On June 11, Brian Teefey, who was Grimmie's manager, started a GoFundMe page for the artist's family. As of Monday morning the page has raised over $120,000. The donations, from more than 4,000 people, will go towards helping Grimmie's family to pay for memorial and funeral costs.
Teefey is also Selena Gomez's stepfather, and the two women—Grimmie and Gomez—had been friends for eight years. During her concert in Miami, FL on June 11, an obviously overwrought Gomez struggled to speak through her tears, saying, "When she was 14, we met her and my parents and I signed her. One thing about Christina and her family is that she holds her faith so closely to her. And I think it’s not about a religion and it’s not about anything, or good deeds. It’s just that she had faith, and I don’t really understand how this really happened, but I would like to dedicate this next song to her."
Gomez then sat at her piano and sang Hillsong Worship's "Transfiguration."
Grimmie, a star on YouTube, had placed third on the sixth season of The Voice. The shooter, 27-year-old Kevin James Loibl, killed himself after shooting Grimmie. Police are still searching for a motive other than just needlessly snuffing out the life of a famous young woman who was taking the time to meet her fans.
Can't afford therapy? No problem— Khloé Kardashian's got you covered. On Monday, Khloé "The best Kardashian" Kardashian tweeted some sage words to her followers.
It's not the future that you're afraid of. It's repeating the past that makes you anxious. pic.twitter.com/EgZEeeQ7OM
Her tweet reads: "It's not the future that you're afraid of. It's repeating the past that makes you anxious." The fortune cookie wisdom is paired with a picture of Kardashian wearing a sports bra and hair extensions. She's gazing off to the side, pensive. But not boring pensive—sports bra pensive. So you know she's introspective, but also hot. Say what you will, but girl looks good.
The reality star is currently embroiled in the slowest divorce ever, from estranged husband Lamar Odom. Kardashian can use all the enlightened advice she can get, even if she's also the one giving it. Is there a Chicken Soup For The Fame-Seeking Soul?
Seth MacFarlane's a living, breathing American, and even though Family Guy is a testament to his insensitivity, his Twitter account has mirrored that of many other, less provocative celebrities in the terrible wake of the Orlando tragedy.
But the most interesting thing he's shared comes "On a more positive note," and it says more about Senator Al Franken than it does Seth MacFarlane. Apparently, Franken draws maps of the United States by hand and by memory, and they turn out this good:
On a more positive note, watched my friend Sen. Al Franken draw the US map freehand from memory today. Impressive. pic.twitter.com/tRAv3U8aaD
No details on where this happened, or the context—this is Twitter, after all—but it's certainly a delightful detail and insight into Al Franken. SNL, US Senate, and apparently maestro of the doodle. He is a America's most accomplished renaissance man.
The mass shooting at gay nightclub Pulse in Orlando early Sunday morning, the worst in U.S. history (and there are many), has affected so many people and resulted in so many heartbroken friends and family. The massacre, which left 49 people dead and at least 53 more wounded, took place on Latin night at the gay club, during Orlando's Pride Week. One of the victims, a man named Luis Vielma, worked at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios, running the “Forbidden Journey” ride. On Monday, JK Rowling tweeted a picture of Vielma.
As of now, police have identified all but one of the deceased. According to Orlando Health, six people have been sent home and 29 remain in the hospital. While they may not get tributes from famous authors, every one of them will be missed by someone.
As if Adele weren't already awesome enough, the 28-year-old singer told producer Tony Visconti to suck her dick. Not that she has one, necessarily, but if she did, Visconti, 72, would be welcome to suck it hard and long. Why the invitation? In an interview with Daily Star, the producer, who's worked with the likes of David Bowie, Morrissey, and T-Rex, said "We know Adele has a great voice but it’s even questionable if that is actually her voice or how much has been manipulated. We don’t know." He also said, "There’s a sound to pop now that is so perfect it’s boring, because everything is fixed." Did buddy here just call Adele…"boring"?
In response to the interview Adele said, "...some dickhead tried to say that my voice was not me on record. Dude, suck my dick."
And her well-crafted rebuttal worked, because Visconti apologized…sort of. He said, "I’m sorry that what I said in regards to what’s being played on radio was misconstrued yet I cannot apologise for something taken the wrong way. If Adele has taken my comments as offensive that was certainly not my intent. Adele has a great voice and it brings pleasure to millions." So ladies, take note: If you want a man to apologize, just tell him to suck your dick. Can't hurt, anyway.
Everyone is obsessed withHamilton, the hip-hop musical that makes American history cool again, and The Tony Awards are no exception. At some point, everyone collectively agreed that a musical that uses rap to talk about American history is like, the best thing ever, and the show has been a pop-culture phenomenon ever since.Hamiltonwas nominated for a record 16 awards and took home 11, including all the really important ones (best leading actor in a musical, best original score, best director, best book of a musical, and the biggie, best musical of the year.) Plus, the waiting list for tickets is over a year long, so watching these clips is the closest thing you will get to seeing some rapping founding fathers unless you plan on buying a powdered wig and spitting out some verses yourself.
After a somber message dedicating the evening to the victims of the deadly Orlando shooting, the Tonys opened with the cast of Hamilton parodying their own show to pay a tribute to the night's host, James Cordon.
Later in the night, the cast did their official performance. To pay their respects to the victims of the Orlando shooting, the cast ditched the prop muskets they usually hold in the number. Classy. Oh, the number was also introduced by the freaking President and First Lady. Double classy.
Lastly, the biggest show of like, pretty much ever, decided to end the night with an encore performance. They definitely knew they were going to win, because with a big, staged, meticulously planned event like the Tonys, there is no such thing as an "impromptu" performance. Still, it was awesome.
The show also took home the awards for best featured actor, best featured actress, best lighting design of a musical, best choreography, best orchestrations, and best costume design of a musical.
Sunday night was The Tony Awards, known better this year as the Hamiltonys (a great portmanteau-ny), the annual celebration of Broadway's best and brightest. As theater stars filled Midwestern living rooms for the only time all year, more famous celebrities joined the party as well. Many of their outfits could have benefited from a Broadway costume designer, as a lot of them spell trouble, with a capital T that rhymes with P which stands for poorly dressed.
Do you ever feel like a plastic bag? Williams looked like one in a plastic-y Louis Vuitton gown with black straps that looked like a garbage bag with an impressive leak guard.
While this royal blue drapery would make a fine blanket at a glamorous picnic, it doesn't earn a fashion award for the brilliant actress, who is three-quarters of her way to an EGOT (get that Grammy, girl! Read an audiobook or something!).
Presenting Best Musical to Hamilton, Streisand joked, "I guess I wore the right outfit." But if she wanted to dress thematically, she also could have worn anything that's The Color Purple.
The nominee for Best Score didn't score with this one (nor did she score the Best Score award), with a whimsical braid and peach sparkly dress more suited for a bat mitzvah girl than an adult woman.
While she does look beautiful and radiant after recently giving birth, the dress has a strange Sexy Matador theme and highlights the armpit as if it were an alluring body part.
She looks like a whimsical wood nymph who just began going to a prep school and tried to make her uniform her own, which would make for an excellent Disney Channel original movie.
While the fully nude-colored dress is a clever way to sneak nudity onto CBS, it's a drab sheath that blends into her skin and leaves a sense of vast nothingness.
Bunmi Laditan wrote about how toddlers aren't the only assholes.
As the country argues on Facebook about who to blame for the latest in a long string of mass shootings (guns? Islam? Mental illness?), Laditan decided to throw in her two cents. According to her, the one common denominator in each case comes down to one irrefutable fact—all mass shooters are men. And those dudes are NOT to be trusted. Before you lose it, please read and note the satire.
I'm going to say something controversial, but it's time to stop being politically correct. Yesterday, once again, innocent people were killed by a violent mass shooter and while we all condemn his actions, very few are willing to face an uncomfortable fact.
There is a group of people dedicated to killing us and calling them out doesn't make anyone a bigot, it makes them pragmatic. If we can't face that this group has only one goal: end civilization as we know it, we can't fight them.
This group has proven to be blood-thirsty over and over again and it's time that we face this growing problem head on.
The problem of Men.
What do virtually all mass shooters have in common? They're Males. No one can deny this fact. The only logical conclusion we can draw from this is that there's something specific to Male DNA or the male experience that makes them more predisposed to violence and a disregard for human life.
The radical Male agenda is the largest threat to modern life and it's time that citizens stand up and face it head on.
"I know a Man. He's a good person and wouldn't hurt a fly." I'm not denying that there are some good Men out there, what I'm saying is that as a group, there's something going on. Something sinister.
We need to start monitoring Men, both naturalized and foreign, until we know what that is. We need to identify them. We need to close our borders to them until we can figure this out.
In my city there are entire buildings dedicated to Men- they meet there under the guise of fellowship and camaraderie but what's really happening in these sports bars? Are they plotting their next attack? Harboring their next murderer? Can we really trust a Man to alert us to when another Man is devising yet another evil plan?
"There are billions of Men in the world. How can you lump them all together?" Simple: it's called looking at trends. Are you truly willing to ignore that almost every large scale violent crime is carried out by one group? Men.
"Men kill mostly other Men." So what? All Men have a responsibility to loudly and publicly denounce the actions of the radical Males within their group when these tragedies happen.
We cannot depend on our elected officials to protect us. President Obama has done nothing. He's sympathetic to Men because he is one.
Do you truly feel comfortable with Male families moving into your neighborhoods? Riding your buses? Would you want your child going to school with pre-radicalized Boys?
Documented or otherwise, Men have shown their true colors. They are rapists, criminals, and murderers.
We have no choice other than to take decisive action.
You're either for freedom and the safety of children or against it. Choose your side wisely.
Men, we're coming for you.
Of course, this argument sounds completely ridiculous. However, change out the word "men" for "Muslims" and it will sound eerily similar to the incoherent Facebook rants that your racist uncle posts, which is the point Laditan tried to make before people really took it the wrong way.
Racist uncles. Either you have one, or you are one.
After a few angry and confused comments on the post, Bunmi had to begrudgingly explain satire to a few stupid people, which is the fastest way to destroy satire.
Whether people got the irony or not, Bunmi did make some very valid points. Statistically, she is not wrong in her observation that mass murders are always almost committed by men (what is going on with that?) but it was really a warning against marginalizing groups of people.
And sometimes, you need to respond to satire with satire.
Lynn from Arlington, Virginia is displeased that her daughter's swim instructor is not covering up his man boobs with a shirt, ARLnow reported. Lynn first aired her grievances to the county's Parks and Recreation department, and has since shared her full e-mail exchange with local media. Here's Lynn's first fat/boob-shaming e-mail.
Hello Crystal:
I took my daughter to this class yesterday. Unfortunately the male instructor’s breasts were flopping on the water and we felt extremely uncomfortable with her getting into the water skin-to-skin and in such close proximity to his intimate space. When I mentioned this to the Parks & Rec representative she told me that other parents had also complained; that he was asked to put a shirt on but refused.
To be in such close and intimate proximity to this man’s bare chest, breasts and public [chest] hair is unfathomable and I can not believe it is tolerated.
I’d like to switch my daughter’s class to an instructor who is more appropriate and does not make us feel uncomfortable.
So many unfathomable sights right here.
While Crystal did not respond, Trina Wood, the Aquatics Coordinator in the Parks and Rec department did. Wood told Lynn that this man-boob guy was wearing an acceptable form of attire.
To address your concern, all of the instructors teaching for DPR wear swim suits that are appropriate for swimming pools, active movement, both in and out of the swimming pool and for teaching swimming lessons. Swim shirts are provided to instructors to wear, typically for warmth but are not required. I am sorry that you feel uncomfortable, however, [the instructor] handles himself in a very professional manner in water with students. Your daughter is enrolled in a Fin 3 class, where typically, most of the swimming skills are taught through verbal directions and demonstration and are practiced independently, with some correction from the instructor. But some skills do require the instructor to have contact with the students.
Wood informed Lynn that her daughter can't switch classes, but she can drop out of the one she is enrolled with.
An inside look at the Parks and Rec department after Wood sent that e-mail.
Not pleased with these options, Lynn—whom ARLnow stated has had previous run-ins with Parks and Rec—emailed local media.
Do you know how badly the Arlington County Parks & Recreation System sucks? Get back in touch with me and I’ll gladly share my experiences from over the years. It’s mostly due to responses like the one I received — it’s like everyone in the parks & rec system have undergone the exact same training: “How to be a Jerk”.
There has yet to be any word from the swim instructor with the man boobs, who can now join the numerous women who have been shamed for freeing their breasts while also nurturing young minds. Perhaps he shall inspire a new movement that's specifically targeting towards freeing moobs (man boobs).
Game of Thrones episode eight, "No One," did not disappoint, unless you're looking to poke holes in a plot about a girl whose stomach is full of holes. Those holes didn't stop her from running at full speed throughout Bravos, staring death in the (no) face, and eventually snuffing out the light of one nameless Waif. Amateur doctors on Twitter were quick to diagnose these actions as grade A bullsh*t in light of Arya's brutal gut injuries.
Some were resentful that Arya wouldn't share her Valyrian plot armor.
Roose, Robb, and Talisa died immediately after they were stabbed in the gut. But not Arya. That was just a mere flesh wound. 😐
5. Johnny Depp, because Team Amber has backed him into a legal corner.
If you thought the Johnny Depp/Amber Heard divorce couldn't get any bitterer, you've got a lot to learn about celebrity divorces. Now, sources connected to Heard's case have told TMZ that they have an ironclad strategy for keeping Depp from taking the stand.
Besides telling him he can't do a dumb accent.
According to the source, Heard's legal team is convinced that Depp won't testify, because doing so could get him prosecuted for domestic abuse—a fate far worse than losing custody of their globe-trotting dogs in divorce court. Her lawyers are willing to bet he won't even submit a written declaration denying the accusations, because even that could get him in big trouble if not carefully worded. TMZ points out that Mel Gibson (another movie star with some less than charming personality traits) submitted a declaration in his divorce, admitted in the document that he slapped his wife, and was prosecuted. Bill Cosby's current legal troubles also stem from confessions he made in a deposition that he thought would protect him.
With the upper hand, Heard's people are pretty confident they'll get the restraining order they want against Depp. If that happened, Depp wouldn't be able to go within 100 yards of Heard—i.e. the length of one of his scarves.
4. Zayn Malik, because he's anxious.
Maybe he's self-conscious about his bionic arms.
Anxiety is a debilitating mental illness that affects countless people around the world, including the author of this article. So there's nothing funny about Zayn Malik (formerly of One Direction, currently directionless) canceling a concert due to anxiety. JK, it's a little funny. Just look at what he tweeted on Saturday:
Yes, anxiety attacks are very serious and could render any musician incapable of performing. But come on—it's Zayn. He doesn't even have to sing. Those girls in the audience would have been just as happy if he sat onstage wrapped in a blanket for three hours. Just as long as his perfect face was showing.
Get well soon, Zayn. And until then, thin out your calendar.
3. A woman who had a snake drop onto her from her dashboard while driving on the highway.
In lighter news, your greatest fear has come true. You might not want to read this story if you intend to drive a car ever again.
Snakes. Why did it have to be snakes?
A Fayetteville, AR woman named Kelly Swisher was driving her car in the middle lane of I-49 last Thursday when a four-foot long rat snake fell out of the dashboard and onto her feet. She described the incident to KFSM News:
As soon as it landed on my feet, I felt it. It was rough and scaly. As it slithered across my feet, it was the nails-on-a-chalkboard kind of thing.
That's a good metaphor, especially considering she must be suffering from PTSD at this point. Swisher called 911 for help, but the snake quickly slithered back into the dashboard. Then, summoning a superhuman reserve of courage, she got back into the driver's seat and went home. Animal control officers later caught the hitchhiking reptile.
Kelly Swisher acting out "nails on a chalkboard." She's very theatrical.
Yahoo News points out that rat snakes (despite having a name that sounds like the worst thing that could possibly fall on your feet) are not venomous or dangerous to humans. Unless they make you crash your car at 70 mph on the highway.
2. Meg Ryan, because haters were outraged at her face.
Meg Ryan made the crucial mistake of appearing in public as a 54-year-old woman this weekend, and is paying the price in a big way. The actress, famous for adorably stammering her way through a run of hugely successful romantic comedies in the 90s, appeared at the Tony Awards on Sunday night to introduce a performance. Unfortunately, time (and in all likelihood, some ill-advised surgery) have not been particularly kind to her, and hateful trolls took notice.
Meg Ryan, smiling because she doesn't know what's about to happen to her on the Internet.
Tony viewers didn't hold back in their reponses:
Who besides me let out an audible gasp in horror when they saw Meg Ryan on #TonyAwards?
Luckily, Meg Ryan is a millionaire who doesn't have to care what anyone thinks. And she has one more thing they can't take from her: the most famous orgasm scene in movie history.
I'll have what she's having: the last word.
1. A carpenter whose life-sized replica of Noah's Ark crashed.
If you interpret the Bible literally, then you have to assume that Noah was the greatest carpenter of his time. Why else would God choose him to build the ark that would save the world? Unfortunately, modern self-employed ark builders aren't quite up the same standard. That's why a Dutch carpenter's ark crashed into a Norwegian Coast Guard patrol boat on Friday.
Built by Johan Huibers, the full-size ark/mobile museum was being towed to a new destination when the crew lost control and smashed it into the side of the military vessel in the Port of Oslo. The 427-foot wooden ark, built to prehistoric standards, was ripped to shreds by the state-of-the-art Coast Guard ship, suffering a huge gash on the side. Images of the destruction were shared to the museum's Facebook page:
It's a good thing the real ark was sturdier.Even baby Moses wasn't safe.
Luckily, no live animals were on the ark at the time, because it's not that accurate of a museum. The damage has since been repaired, and the attraction is now open for all religious parents and their bored children.
Donald Trump—who first got into politics by implying President Obama was a secret Muslim immigrant—seemed to hint this morning that President Obama has terrorist ties that are keeping him from saying the words "radical Islamic terrorism" in relation to the shootings in Orlando. Okay. So. Hmm.
"Look, we're led by a man that either is not tough, not smart, or he's got something else in mind," the always tough, smart, and focused Trump said in a Fox News interview on Monday morning. "And the something else in mind -- you know, people can't believe it. People cannot, they cannot believe that President Obama is acting the way he acts and can't even mention the words 'radical Islamic terrorism.' There's something going on. It's inconceivable. There's something going on."
"There's something going on." Hmm. Hmmm.
Trump was also asked by Fox why he called for Obama to resign. "He doesn't get it or he gets it better than anybody understands—it's one or the other and either one is unacceptable," Trump replied. [Emphasis ours]
"He gets it better than anybody understands." Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.
Trump also asked that American Muslims "turn in" all the people in their life they knew to be terrorists. Because every Muslim knows who the terrorists are.
"That man yesterday was sick with hate," Trump said. "You have many, many people, thousands of people, already in our country that are sick with hate. And people that are around him, Muslims, know who they are, largely. They know who they are. They have to turn them in. They know who they are. They see them."
[Here the writer hmmmms so forcefully her brain explodes.]
The shooting at the Orlando gay nightclub Pulse is the worst mass shooting on US soil in history, and people across the Internet are expressing their grief. On the flip side, homophobes are expressing opinions similar to those of the attackers, often using the Bible as an excuse and trying to get Leviticus 18:22 trending. Twitterer @CertifiedFool_, however, schooled them on what the Bible also says.
Not only did @CertifiedFool_ gift us with a Bible study, but he also had a comeback that should be its own button on Twitter: "If you think calling people out on their bullshit is shaming then girl, be blessed because I don't have the time."
Props to Masc Potatoes for pulling off a takedown even fiercer and better-researched than President Barlet's West Wing sermon on the matter.
In America, we aren't used to reading obituaries in the first person—we have Long Island Mediums if we want to communicate like that. But one dying man's son made it possible for him to leave an incredibly heartfelt apology after death.
Ong Peck Lye was a wealthy businessman from Singapore who died of pneumonia at the age of 82. The quick decline in health gave Lye enough time to have important conversations with his second son, Ong Tiong Yeow, who then translated those sentiments into a first-person poem for his father.
"Son-In-Law"
More interesting than the poem, which admits to many faults in life, is the list of survivors at the top. His sons are named in order of birth, even though all were kicked out of the house at some point due to disagreements. The youngest, Ong Tiong Hou, was asked to leave after coming out as gay.
Despite not being able to accept his son as a homosexual in life, Ong Peck Lye acknowledges both his son and his son's life partner, Lye's "son-in-law."
For anyone with a cold father, this is an emotional tribute.
Unfortunately for Lye, these were the realizations that came in the face of death. As his second son told the Straights, "my father died before he had the chance to ask my brothers to forgive him."
The timing of this obit's publication, with its postmortem acceptance of a gay son, was even more poignant on Sunday as many parents grieved over their losses in the attacks at gay nightclub Pulse. Robin Rheaume reposted the obit on her Facebook page and the obituary went viral. Rheaume's post was shared over 1,300 times.
In the poem, Ong Peck Lye honestly admits his deficiencies in life, explaining that the root of his failures as a father and a husband was due to not having a father of his own.
"I never got to see my father be/ A husband to my mother so/I made mistakes being both, trying to be as human as I know."
The obituary sends both a message of acceptance and also one of forgiveness, and is hopefully inspiring others to make things right with their families before it is too late. The emotional impact of his words can be seen in the comments section of Rheaume's post.
