Giant panda habitat closes as signs increase of possible birth of cub
Anticipation appears to be growing at the National Zoo, where officials closed the giant panda habitat on Sunday to keep a quiet area around possibly pregnant giant panda Mei Xiang.
Mei Xiang was inseminated artificially March 1, inaugurating a suspenseful waiting period.
On Sunday, the zoo made this announcement, suggesting that matters were progressing toward a conclusion sooner rather than later:
“The David M. Rubenstein Family Giant Panda Habitat will be closed to keep a quiet area around female giant panda Mei Xiang’s den who is exhibiting signs of pregnancy or pseudopregnancy.” Pseudopregnancy is a false pregnancy.
The zoo said its other giant pandas, Tian Tian and Bei Bei, could be viewed in their outdoor yards each day until 2 p.m.
Only ultrasound testing can confirm that a giant panda is pregnant. As of last week, the zoo said, no confirmation had been provided.
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Wooooow, Cardi Really Got Married Out Here
CARDI B AND OFFSET SECRETLY MARRIED LAST YEAR!!!
Many of the Becardi Gang suspected that Offset was an opportunist and that he was not that interested in Cardi outside of the hip-hop couple image they could project together.
Of course many speculated that this union would not last. But then Cardi turned up pregnant despite his numerous affairs:
And now TMZ is reporting that Cardi and Offset got married last year.
“There are so many moments that I share with the world and then there are moments that I want to keep for myself! Getting married was one of those moments! Our relationship was so new breaking up and making up and we had a lot of growing up to do but we was so in love we didn’t want to lose each other.”
She continues, “I said I do, with no dress no make up and no ring! I appreciate and love my husband so much for still wanting for me to have that special moment that every girl dreams of when he got down on his knee and put a ring on my finger and he did that for me!!
TMZ did some digging and found out they got a marriage certificate in Fulton County, GA on Sept. 20, 2017. For you single folks … the marriage certificate is filed with the court AFTER a couple does the deed as proof the marriage really happened.
When Migos won Best Group Sunday at the BET Awards, Offset said excitedly, “I thank my wife. You should thank yours.”
The secret marriage puts a new perspective on their big public engagement. You’ll recall, Offset got down on one knee back in October during their performance in Philly.
Turns out … Offset and Cardi are a true showbiz couple ’cause that was all for show. Now, we know they were already husband and wife for a month at that point.
Now, all we’re waiting on is for Cardi to drop that baby!
Article via: Cardi B Is Married
Childish Gambino Collaborator Denies “This Is America” Plagiarism Allegations
Fans have suggested that Donald Glover “stole” his No. 1 single from NYC rapper Jase Harley
One of Donald Glover’s creative partners has denied claims that Glover “stole” the music for his No. 1 single“This Is America” from a March 2016 song called “American Pharaoh” by New York rapper Jase Harley. Fam Rothstein is a co-principal of the creative agency Wolf + Rothstein (which is comprised of himself, Donald Glover, and Wolf Taylor), and he also co-produced the music video for “This Is America.”
This morning, in response to a user who claimed that Glover “stole the song,” Rothstein tweeted: “The internet is a place of no consequences. I hate that Toronto Akademiks/every white blogger can say something as gospel and y’all take it. This song is 3 yrs old, and we have Pro Tools files to prove it.” Find his tweet below.
https://twitter.com/famlikefamily/status/1011244111754506240
Allegations of plagiarism against Glover surfaced on Reddit this past weekend, with Redditors citing comments on Jase Harley’s Instagram. Someone wrote to Harley, “People are saying Donald Glover bit your song ‘American Pharoah’ with ‘This Is America.’ What do you think?” Harley responded, “I always felt my song inspired it lol from the first time I heard it.”
Harley added, “It’s cool tho…. Glad they liked my song. It’s all love.” He also wrote that “a shout out would be cool,” that it’s “dope [he] could’ve had some influence on the record,” and that “all artist get inspired by others.” Find Harley’s Instagram post below.
(Article via: Childish Gambino Collaborator Denies “This Is America” Plagiarism Allegations)
https://www.instagram.com/p/BkNi0sNAtBp/?utm_source=ig_embed
Michael Jackson Musical Eyes 2020 Broadway Bow
Lynn Nottage has been tapped to pen the book for the musical, inspired the life of the music icon
A musical exploration of the life and catalog of Michael Jackson is heading to Broadway. The Michael Jackson Estate and Columbia Live Stage have partnered to develop a musical inspired by the pop icon; the show is expected to bow in New York in 2020.
Two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Lynn Nottage (Sweat, Ruined) will pen the book for the musical, which will incorporate Jackson’s myriad hits. An American in Paris Tony winner Christopher Wheeldon has been tapped to direct and choreograph.
No word yet on casting or any pre-Broadway engagements.
Jackson’s catalog has previously served as the backbone for a theatrical production with Thriller – Live, which has played the Lyric Theatre in London’s West End since January 2009. The show was initially scheduled to play a limited run, but it continued to gain popularity and interest—particularly after Jackson’s death in June that year.
Nina Simone’s Childhood Home Named National Treasure
The National Trust for Historic Preservation will “seek new protections and evaluate preservation needs” for the North Carolina house
Nina Simone’s childhood home in Tryon, North Carolina has been deemed a National Treasure by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. (The house had been purchased last year by four artists.) According to a press release, the National Trust—along with the home owners, the local community, the North Carolina African American Heritage Commission, and World Monuments Fund—will “seek new protections, evaluate preservation needs, and conduct market and feasibility studies to develop a sustainable new use for the home.”
Below, find photographs of the home’s interior and exterior (taken by Nancy Pierce and courtesy of the National Trust for Historic Preservation).
In other Nina Simone news, an excerpt from a new audiobook about Simone has been released. It finds Alicia Keys reading about Simone’s life for the Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls series. Listen below (via Entertainment Weekly).
Nina Simone was recently inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame—she was celebrated with performances by Lauryn Hill, the Roots, and Andra Day. Mary J. Blige officially inducted her.
Article via: Nina Simone’s Childhood Home Named National Treasure
Jay-Z Is Now President of Puma’s Basketball Operations
Jay-Z continues to make power moves after droping his joint album with goddess Beyonce
Adam Petrick, Puma’s global director of brand and marketing, told Complex: “We’ve been working with Roc Nation for quite some time. They’ve been great partners to us for several years. We’ve done many different deals with many different ambassadors.” He added that when the company went to Jigga about the deal, the rapper and business mogul felt that it “was something he wanted to be a part of.”
In addition to Jay-Z, Complex reports, the company has signed top NBA draft prospects DeAndre Ayton from the University of Arizona, Marvin Bagley III from Duke and Zhaire Smith from Texas Tech.
Jay-Z, whose real name is Shawn Carter, will play an active role in selecting players to join Puma’s basketball division as well as assisting in the art design and overall concept and direction of the brand.
Puma and Jay-Z have already been in business together for over a year, according to ESPN. He was outfitted in Puma sneakers and apparel during his 2017 promotional tour for his 4:44 album.
“What’s important to him on a day like today is that it’s clear we’re making a serious push with players like Bagley and Ayton and Smith. We’re making a serious statement about the entry of the category, that we want to be a performance brand, but then also very culturally focused. It’s clear that we’re looking at basketball through the lens of culture, and thinking about the fashion of basketball, the music of basketball, all the aspects of culture around basketball, as much as the on-court presence that we will have,” Petrick said, according to Complex.
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Jay-Z Is Now President of Puma’s Basketball Operations
Dr Dre to make Marvin Gaye biopic with rights to singer’s catalogue
The rapper, whose film credits include Straight Outta Compton, has the singer’s family estate’s blessing to produce the biopic
The rapper and business mogul Dr Dre is working on a movie about the Motown legend Marvin Gaye, who died in 1984 after being shot by his father.
Dr Dre, founder of Beats Electronics and one of the four original members of the rap group NWA, served as a producer for the Oscar-nominated film Straight Outta Compton, which told NWA’s origin story in southern California. According to Variety, he’s secured the rights to Gaye’s musical catalogue, which includes hits such as What’s Going On and Sexual Healing, and the approval of the Gaye family estate.
The biopic will not mark the first time someone has attempted to dramatize Gaye’s life on-screen. In 2016, the singer’s estate approved of a limited series starring Jamie Foxx, the first such project to receive the family’s blessing after attempts were made by industry heavyweights such as Cameron Crowe, James Gandolfini and Scott Rudin to produce his life story. Additionally, a documentary about Gaye’s life featuring never-before-seen footage, What’s Going On, was slated to go be released in 2017 but remains in development.
“This project will be a powerful and definitive telling of Marvin Gaye’s life story,” said Gaye’s son, Marvin Gaye III, about the Foxx-produced series at the time.
While the status of the limited series is unclear, Dr Dre is moving ahead with his first feature film since Compton, which grossed over $200m worldwide and was nominated for best original screenplay at the 2016 Academy Awards. The rapper and producer, whose real name is Andre Young, was a subject of the 2017 HBO docu-series The Defiant Ones, in which he can be seen mixing a version of the Gaye classic I Want You.
Article via: Dr Dre to make Marvin Gaye biopic with rights to singer’s catalogue
Watch some Lovelyti videos:
Gov. Cuomo says he’ll sue after 70 immigrant children separated from parents at border are sent to New York
Gov. Cuomo will sue the federal government over its policy of separating immigrant children from their parents at the southern border, as more than 70 of those children have wound up in facilities in New York state, including three in the Bronx.
“There’s been a lot of talk about the morality of this practice but we also believe that this practice is illegal and we are intending to bring suit against the federal government,” Cuomo said on a conference call with reporters Tuesday afternoon.
Cuomo said the children are being held in private facilities that are contracted by the federal government to provide services to unaccompanied alien children — minors who cross the border alone and who the Office of Refugee Resettlement temporarily houses while seeking family sponsors.
Cuomo said that while the state has oversight of the facilities, they have been told they cannot provide services to the children in them without approval from the Department of Health and Human Services, which he said told the state would take weeks.
As for the suit, Cuomo said he intends to bring it in the next two weeks and that it would be based on three legal theories.
“First that it’s a violation of the constitutional rights of the parent to the care, custody and control of their children,” he said, and a violation of their due process as the children were removed without any hearings.
The second theory, he said, is the policy violates the terms of the 1997 Flores settlement that set national standards on the detention, release and treatment of children in immigration detention “and underscores the principle of family unity.”
And third, he said, “it is outrageous government conduct.”
Some of those children are being held at MercyFirst in Syosset, L.I., as reported Monday.
“We have about 10 facilities in the state. We haven’t spoken with all of them,” Cuomo said. “We know there are over 70 children just by the ones that we have talked about, but they are in Dobbs Ferry, Lincolndale, Yonkers, Irvington, three in the Bronx, one in Syosett and one in Kingston.”
Article via: Gov. Cuomo says he’ll sue after 70 immigrant children separated from parents at border are sent to New York
Chadwick Boseman Gives His MTV Movie ‘Best Hero’ Award To Waffle House Shooting Hero James Shaw Jr.
Yes, this is my King 😉
Our favorite superhero Chadwick Boseman gave his MTV Movie and TV Award to a real-life hero.
During his acceptance speech, Boseman thanked his fans for the honor but decided the popcorn statue should have another home.
“Receiving an award for playing a superhero is amazing, but it’s even greater to acknowledge the heroes that we have in real life,” Boseman said. “So I just want to acknowledge somebody that’s here today. James Shaw Jr. Where are you? Stand. If you don’t know James Shaw Jr., he fought off a gunman in Antioch, Tennessee at a Waffle House. He saved lives. Come on up here.”
The surprised Shaw took the stage, and Boseman handed him the award.
“This is gonna live at your house,” he said as the crowd cheered.
Shaw is widely considered a hero for fighting the gunman who shot up a Waffle House in Antioch, Tennessee, in April. After news of his actions broke, Shaw admitted to having conflicting feelings about being called a hero. He later raised $90,000 for the shooting victims’ families.
“I’m not a hero,” Shaw said days after the shooting. “I’m just a regular person. I think anybody could have did what I did if they’re pushed. You have to either react or fall. I chose to react because I didn’t see any other way to live.”
Check out the exchange below:
Article via: Chadwick Boseman Gives His Award To WaffleHouse Shooting Hero
Demi Lovato Removes All Her Makeup In Video
For those not in the know, Demi Lovato is a singer, songwriter and actress, known being a prominent champion of positive body image, who also speaks openly and honestly about her own struggles with an eating disorder and mental health.
Adding to her journey of self-acceptance and refreshingly human and positive messages to her fans, Demi has made a video called “Demi Lovato, Unfiltered: A Pop Star Removes Her Makeup,” for Vogue as part of their American Women: Transformers series. Turning the traditional makeover on its head, Demi instead gets a makeunder, as she slowly strips away her makeup to reveal the beauty underneath.
“I think society tells us we need makeovers, but why can’t we embrace the beauty that we naturally have?” She told Vogue. However, that’s not to say that she doesn’t enjoy the glamor which comes as part of her job. “I love makeup. I love doing my hair; I have extensions, but there’s a time and a place for everything, and natural beauty needs to be celebrated.”
You could argue that for a young, beautiful millionaire, going natch and looking great with it comes quite a bit easier than it does for the average woman. Some commenters certainly didn’t buy it. For others however, she remains one of the few celebrities that people can really relate to as they follow her ups and downs on social media, where she strips bare her insecurities and urges her fans to embrace themselves as they are.
Singer, songwriter and actress Demi Lovato just filmed a short clip for Vogue
But this time instead of the full makeup that she usually comes with…
And a team of makeup artists helping her out…
To achieve results like this
…she did it all in reverse
After starting with full makeup, she sat in front of the camera and started to remove it
Here’s the clip itself
Some didn’t buy it though
But others loved it
Article via: Demi Lovato No Makeup