March 4, 2025

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A Kurt Cobain-Inspired YA Novel? Yes Please. Check Out ‘Dirty Wings’

by 06/09/14

If you’re a YA fan who is currently looking to read the polar opposite of “The Fault In Our Stars,” well, do we have a book for you: “Dirty Wings,” by Sarah McCarry.

The prequel to McCarry’s debut YA novel — punk-rock “Orpheus and Eurydice” retelling, “All Our Pretty Songs” — “Dirty Wings” tells the tale of a pair of teenage runaways: ragged, streetwise Cass and her piano prodigy friend Maia. A tangled, unconventional love story, the book follows the two as they find themselves going deeper and deeper into a world of music and evil — along with Maia’s Kurt Cobain-proxy lover — from which they may not be able to extricate themselves.

In case you’re not up on your Nirvana lyrics, both “All Our Pretty Songs” and “Dirty Wings” reference the grunge band in their titles — and with the aforementioned Kurt Cobain proxy who sells his soul to make music and ends up taking his own life.

Intrigued yet?

The book officially drops on July 15, but you can get an exclusive sneak-peek below. Three guesses why we chose this section…

Dirty Wings

Later, they make popcorn and watch MTV, a thing Maia has never done. “What do you mean, you’ve never seen MTV?” Cass says, horrified.

“I’m not really allowed,” Maia says.

“Princess, you are seventeen.”

“You met my mom.”

“I did, yes.” Cass shakes her head. Maia is astonished by the music videos, the men in tight pants moving against animated backdrops. A man eats cereal at a round table ...

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J. Cole Rocked Governors Ball And A Part Of NYC He Never Knew Existed

by 06/08/14

From his memorable performance at SOB’s back in early 2010 to getting a Roc chain from Jay Z during his birthday show at Madison Square Garden at the top of this year, it’s always special when J. Cole hits the stage in New York City. And his performance at Governors Ball on Sunday (June 8) added to that history.

The 29-year-old rapper was born and raised in Fayetteville, North Carolina — and he reps the military town to the fullest — but as a graduate of St. John’s University, he made NYC his second home over a decade ago. Despite that, it was his first time at Randall’s Island. “I never even knew this sh– existed,” he told the crowd.

Backed by a four-piece band, plus two female vocalists and a DJ, a smiling Cole emerged from backstage to open with “Return of Simba,” a 2011 lyrical exercise that rounded out his “Simba” trilogy and became a fan-favorite, despite never landing on an official project.

J. Cole Governors Ball 2014Adam Fleischer/MTV

From there, he rolled into “Blow Up,” from Friday Night Lights, and then put his storytelling cap on for “Land of the Snakes,” off of his 2013 sophomore album Born Sinner. The crowd continued to show some adopted-hometown love as singles “Nobody’s Perfect,” “Work Out,” and “She Knows” rang off.

Cole then brought out Bas, the first artist signed to his Dreameville Records, for a performance of “Lit,” off of Quarter Water Raised Me Vol. ...

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‘Game Of Thrones’: Every Huge Moment On ‘The Watchers On The Wall’

by 06/08/14

So, that was the biggest battle “Game of Thrones” has ever done, huh? “The Watchers On The Wall” ably follows up to the legacy director Neil Marshall started with the previous record holder, “Blackwater” back in season two, and trumped it.

Here’s every big moment on the biggest episode ever:

John Bradley, Kit HaringtonHelen Sloan/HBO

Boys Will Be Boys
The episode opens up with a number of dude chats, as both sides — the Wildling armies on either side of the Wall, and the Night’s Watch at Castle Black — prepare for the conflict they all know is coming.

But first: bro time.

Samwell talks to Jon Snow about what it’s like to have sex, asking pertinent questions like, “How big were her feet?” But really he’s asking about himself and Gilly, going as far as to explain that having sex is, “open to interpretation from the vows” of the Night’s Watch. It’s not losing your virginity if you do it up the butt, right Sam?

Speaking of which, over on the Wildling side Tormund is telling a story about the time he had sex with a bear, and Ygritte is having none of it. The Thenns, including their leader Styr think she’s upset because they have to go fight Jon Snow, her former lover, but she defers. And later, dies, but we’ll get to that in a bit.

And the last dude chat is between Maester Aemon and Samwell, where the old blind man essentially high fives Sam and tell him ...

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Tyler, The Creator Asks Fans To Boo Him, Says ‘F–k’ At Least 37 Times Between Songs At Gov Ball

by 06/08/14

RANDALL’S ISLAND, New York — At least that’s our official count.

While hitting the stage on a sunny New York afternoon on Sunday (June 8), Tyler, the Creator brought his signature energy and antics while commanding the attention of thousands of onlookers. Of course — with Earl Sweatshirt, Jasper Dolphin and Taco by his side — the Odd Future member ran through cuts like “Bitch Suck D–k,” “Bimmer” and “Yonkers.”

But the action in between songs caught our ear, too. We shouldn’t be surprised given his songs, interviews or even his Twitter handle, but Tyler was liberal when it came to letting the F-word fly in its various forms while interacting with the crowd throughout his set.

The crowd didn’t give a f–k, though. They were there to see the Tyler, the Creator in all his unfiltered glory.

We caught 37 total, with a few quoted examples below.

“Can I get a motherf–kin’ ‘Awesome’?”

“Your rich parents pay for this sh–? What about everyone else? F–k you guys!”
Tyler the Creator Governors BallAdam Fleischer

“We’re gonna get f–kin’ depressed”

“Including the motherf–kers in the back that can’t be up here, I need y’all to lose your sh–”
Tyler the Creator Governors Ball 2014Adam Fleischer

“When you feel it in your f–kin’ soul, it’s gonna make you lose your f–kin’ mind”

“For this next one, I need everyone to shut the f–k up and just stand there”
Tyler Governors BallAdam Fleischer

“Can everyone ...

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Tonight’s ‘Game Of Thrones’ Is Its Most Expensive Episode, Ever

by 06/08/14

We’re already way excited for tonight’s brand new episode of “Game of Thrones” — The Watchers on The Wall. But when you take into consideration the fact that this is the series’ most expensive hour to date? Well, now we can barely sit still.

In an interview with Access Hollywood, Jon Snow’s real-life counterpart Kit Harington, explained the episode is “as big as Thrones has gone at the moment. I mean, I think it’s no secret that it’s the most expensive episode that they’ve ever made and a lot of that is due to the CGI.” (Though to be fair, Jon Snow knows nothing, so take that with a grain of salt.)

The series’ showrunners, D.B. Weiss and David Benioff, confirmed as such going over the details of the episode with Entertainment Weekly, even noting that episode touts both “the biggest green screen in Europe” and “the biggest Styrofoam piece in existence.”

“It’s a very intense episode, more intense than ‘Blackwater,’” said Benioff.

Weiss added: “With ‘Blackwater’ when we got the episode in, so much of it was visual effects dependent we were kind of unsure — the performances were fantastic and the action was great, but we weren’t entirely sure what we had until the pieces were put together. But with this, … just something about it really grabbed us by the neck [and] that’s very rare even with the great directors we’re fortunate to work with.”

The grand scale of the episode is likely ...

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Tracy Morgan Is ‘More Responsive Today,’ New Injury Details Revealed

by 06/08/14

According to an official statement from Tracy Morgan’s rep, the actor/comedian is showing “incredibly encouraging” signs following his involvement in a major car accident in New Jersey on Saturday.

Morgan, a survivor of a crash that killed his friend and fellow comedian James McNair, sustained several injuries, including “a broken leg, a broken femur, a broken nose and several broken ribs.” And while Morgan has already had one surgery today on his leg, he is “more responsive today” than he was yesterday — a promising sign.

Still, he’s expected “to remain in the hospital for several weeks.” See the full statement, via a tweet from BuzzFeed’s Alison G. Vingiano, below:

And here’s the statement in full:

“While Tracy remains in critical condition, he has been more responsive today, which is an incredibly encouraging sign. He sustained a number of injuries including a broken leg, a broken femur, a broken nose and several broken ribs. He had surgery earlier today on his leg. We expect him to remain in the hospital for several weeks. His family is tremendously overwhelmed and appreciative of the outpouring of love and support from his fans.”

...

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Shailene Woodley Went To ‘The Fault In Our Stars’ In Disguise Last Night — See Her Sneaky Look

by 06/08/14

Shailene Woodley, spritely wood nymph/human hybrid and star of the cannot-get-any-bigger “The Fault in Our Stars,” managed to go incognito to a screening of her teen sobfest feature, thanks to a crafty lil disguise.

The jig was revealed by her “Fault” co-star Ansel Elgort on Instagram.

Shai's amazing disguise to go see #tfios last night without causing a scene!

Considering Woodley’s love of all things au natural, we’re curious to see that she ended up in what looks like a run of the mill ski cap and synthetic wig. Typically we’d assume Woodley would go the “shred bark into hair strands and fashion a jaunty cap out of a leaf or two” route.

But perhaps that was part of the ruse — give ‘em something so wholly un Woodley-esque and watch as the rest of the crowd is none the wiser, eh?

Of course we could also be very wrong: maybe her wig is actually made out of silkened sea kelp and wool she sheared and knit herself. That’s so Woodley.

According to Elgort, Woodley’s identity wasn’t the only thing under wraps at the screening — she also sneaked in her own snacks.

...

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Tracy Morgan Remains in Critical Condition As Driver Posts Bail

by 06/08/14

“30 Rock” actor and comedian Tracy Morgan remains in critical condition following a massive accident in New Jersey on Saturday (June 7), but the man charged with causing the accident has already posted bail.

The man, 35-year-old Kevin Roper, is said to have posted $50,000 bail, according Sgt. Gregory Williams of New Jersey State Police (by way of CNN). Roper’s alleged dozing off caused the accident that resulted in a chain reaction including the limo bus Morgan and others were riding in, injuring several and causing the death of comedian James “Jimmy Mack” McNair.

McNair, 63, was riding in the limo bus with Morgan when the accident occurred. Fellow comedians Ardie Fuqua and Harris Stanton were also injured, as was Jeffrey Millea. So far one person has since been released from Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, but neither the police nor the hospital would disclose the person’s name at the time of publication.

Roper was charged with one count of death by auto and four counts of assault by auto. The truck he was driving was owned by Wal-Mart, and the company has already said it would take “full responsibility” if it shows the truck was the cause of the accident.

As for the scene? An report on People.com called the incident “really bad” and a “horrific sight.”

“My husband saw the Wal-Mart truck swerving, and he slammed on the brakes,” an eyewitness only identified as Vicktoria told People.com. “The truck hit the Mercedes, and then it hit ...

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So This Happened: ‘Baby Got Back’ Got Backed-Up By An Orchestra

by 06/08/14

Congratulations, Seattle Symphony, because you just pulled off one of the coolest, most unexpected things we’ve seen of late. The classically trained musicians teamed up with hometown boy Sir Mix-A-Lot to bring us the fanciest version of “Baby Got Back” that we’ve ever heard.

“What I want to do now is something you really should not do,” the rapper proclaimed before recruiting a bunch of ladies to come onstage. As soon as composer Gabriel Prokofiev’s arrangement of the ’90s anthem kicked in, though, folks were 100 percent on board.

“Tonight is Orchestral Movements From The Hood Night,” Mix stated, explaining the core of the evening’s festivities: Seattle Symphony’s Sonic Evolution. It’s a project that bridges the gap “between the Symphony and Seattle’s storied reputation as launching pad for some of the most creative musicians on the popular music scene.” None more creative than this, no doubt.

Even classical musicians don’t want none unless you’ve got buns, hun. Huh. Who knew?

...

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7 Alien Armies With Easily Exploitable Weaknesses

by 06/08/14

There’s a lot to love about the new Tom Cruise movie “Edge of Tomorrow,” but one thing that plays out sillier than you might expect? How easily the movie’s central alien invasion is thwarted.

No spoilers here, but suffice to say that like a lot of “unstoppable” extraterrestrial armies in movies, the Mimics in “Edge of Tomorrow” have one, simple, easily exploitable weakness. Here’s the absolute best ones from movie history:

(And massive spoilers for the rest of these movies past this point.)

“Marvel’s The Avengers”
Chitauri-AvengersDisney/Marvel
Weakness: Mothership Controls Everyone
Don’t get us wrong, we love “Avengers,” and are even totally fine with the ending. But After Iron Man blows up the Chitauri mothership, the entire alien army shuts down. Like, completely shuts down. Which is weird, because up until this point we didn’t think they were robots, or controlled by a central processor; but it works, and none of the aliens are left alive.

“Independence Day”
independence-day-jeff-goldblum-will-smith
Weakness: Runs On Mac OS
A variation on the “destroy the mothership” trope, in “Independence Day” the fatal weakness is that they could not have expected that Earth also ran on Apple computers. Jeff Goldblum somehow interfaces his laptop with the alien mothership, shutting down the up-to-this-point impenetrable force fields of every single ship in the fleet.

“War Of The Worlds”
war-of-the-worlds
Weakness: The Common Cold!!!
To be fair to “War of The Worlds,” H.G. Wells original 1898 book felled the alien invasion with the sniffles because, irony. But it lay the groundwork for nearly every ...

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