Poor ol’ Reza Baluchi: all he wanted to do was navigate the Caribbean in a giant inflatable bubble in the name of world peace. Instead, all he got was airlifted by the United States Coast Guard.

Unfortunately a self-made “zorb” (or hydro pod bubble, whatever you want to call it) several bottles of water, a couple protein bars, and a GPS system are not accomplish one’s goal of “running” from Florida to Bermuda — regardless of the noble intentions.

According to Baluchi’s website, the ambitiously-minded goal-setting ultra-marathon-runner — he’s already run across the U.S. twice and around its perimeter once — had set a goal of running across 165 nations to encourage world peace. This most recent endeavor was part of a five-year plan to run across the world—even across oceans.

His Facebook page cites Baluchi designing “a boat that will allow [him] to cross the ocean 100 percent man powered.” It went on to say that he would be “supported by a larger boat to assure his safety,” though it does not seem that such a boat was with Baluchi at the time of his rescue. He also had plans to cross “the ocean from Rio de Janeiro to South Africa which, he has scheduled to take 67 days.”

On Baluchi’s actual site is footage of his trials with the resulting zorb, crafted for the running machine to continue his running even on top of the water.

The Coast Guard was first made aware of the existence ...

Ciara once again rocks it like no one else can!

If you haven’t noticed, Cici has been making a major comeback to the public eye after a few months away due to the birth of her son, Future Zahir Wilburn. After a fruitful trip abroad for Paris Fashion Week—where she rocked the most covetable of sleek black pant suits—she has now taken to Instagram to flaunt her post-baby body.

“I feel so proud to say that 4 months after delivering a 9 lbs. 10 oz. baby, I can finally rock My Calvin’s!” she wrote on a post that instantly blew up. Sporting a simple, yet stunning pair of black panties, black bra, and black sweater, she lounged on a bed and showed off her inviable abs and long legs.

This shouldn’t be a surprise for longtime fans. Ciara is one of the best dancers in the music industry so bouncing back after a birth was probably easier than most folks. “After Delivering My Son I Feel Like There’s Nothing I Can’t Do. I Feel Like I Can Conquer The World.” she titled another post, this time wearing gray Calvin Klein underwear. A couple of slick 1-2 steps was probably all the effort she needed to drop the reported 60 pounds she gained during the pregnancy.

And it seems that her support of Calvin Klein runs through and ...

The Beatles are such an iconic force in pop culture that when current artists break records the Fab Four set, it always feels like an important landmark. So that’s why it feels extra important that thanks to his remix of ILoveMakonnen’s “Tuesday,” Drake just passed the Beatles for number of singles to be featured on Billboard Hot 100.

The “Tuesday” remix hit number 90 on that chart, so it comes in at number 72 for Drake, passing the Beatles’ 71 and putting him in eight place overall for all-time number of singles in that chart. His competition? “Glee” cast songs, Elvis, Lil Wayne, James Brown, Jay Z, Ray Charles, and Aretha Franklin. Not bad company to be in eh?

That list is in order, which means, yup “Glee” has the most entries in the Hot 100 of all time somehow with a whopping 207. Jay Z has 82, which doesn’t seem that out of reach for Drizzy at the rate he’s been going.

As for the song that helped him edge out the British quartet, we might have found out earlier this week why this song goes down soooo smooth. Plus, it’s Makonnen’s first-ever appearance on the chart, which seems like a fitting counterpoint to Drake’s record. Champagne, anyone?

Caitlin White

MTV Weekend Editor. Acts like Madonna but listens to Merle.

@harmonicait

The Beatles are such an iconic force in pop culture that when current artists break records the Fab Four set, it always feels like an important landmark. So that’s why it feels extra important that thanks to his remix of ILoveMakonnen’s “Tuesday,” Drake just passed the Beatles for number of singles to be featured on Billboard Hot 100.

The “Tuesday” remix hit number 90 on that chart, so it comes in as the 72 single to hit that chart for Drake, passing the Beatles’ 71 and putting him in eight place overall for all-time number of singles in that chart. His competition? “Glee” cast songs, Elvis, Lil Wayne, James Brown, Jay Z, Ray Charles, and Aretha Franklin. Not bad company to be in eh?

That list is in order, which means, yup “Glee” has the most entries in the Hot 100 of all time somehow with a whopping 207. Jay Z has 82, which doesn’t seem that out of reach for Drizzy at the rate he’s been going.

As for the song that helped him edge out the British quartet, we might have found out earlier this week why this song goes down soooo smooth. Plus, it’s Makonnen’s first-ever appearance on the chart, which seems like a fitting counterpoint to Drake’s record. Champagne, anyone?

Caitlin White

MTV Weekend Editor. Acts like Madonna but listens to Merle.

Read More →

The cult classic 2001 film “Super Troopers” is about to get an update. Steve Lemme, one of the movie’s original stars and member of the the Broken Lizard comedy troupe confirmed to US Weekly that the loveable Vermont state troopers will return to their prankster ways in a sequel to the film.

“You know, it was a combination of having to settle some of the legal disputes about making a sequel, while also negotiating terms for it,” Lemme told Us Weekly. “The fans have been asking for it for a while, but we were finally able to package everything together. Fox is going to distribute the film, but we needed to raise the money for it, with a minimum budget of $27 million, which we’ve just about raised. There may be a Kickstarter launched to raise the last little bit.”

A Kickstarter campaign would probably work wonders in a situation like this—imagine what kind of goofy prizes the troopers could give away to their backers! Audience involvement in the filming perhaps? A chance to help play jokes on pulled over civilians? We’ll keep dreaming.

Back in 2006 when Lemme spoke to MTV News about the possibility of continuing the “Super Troopers” legacy, he said the group was pondering either some sort of prequel or a follow-up. But this new film is definitely a sequel.

“I think it’s one of the more unique and interesting stories I’ve seen in awhile,” Lemme said. “But the movie picks ...

With news of the new “Twilight” web series, we thought back to when we met Robert Pattinson six years ago. Though he sparkled his way into our hearts as Edward Cullen, he wasn’t the only one vying for the sexy vampire role.

Can you imagine Superman Henry Cavill wooing Bella Swan? It almost happened, too, because author Stephanie Meyer always dreamt of Cavill playing the role.

That isn’t the only shocking almost-casting in the YA world, though. Keep reading for more shockers, and see if you can imagine these role swaps in your head.

Edward Cullen, “Twilight”

Summit Entertainment

1. Dave Franco

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“I tested for Edward Cullen,” Franco told MTV in 2012. “I don’t know how close I was. I read for [director] Catherine Hardwicke, but who knows.”

2. Jamie Campbell Bower

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Though Bower really wanted to play Edward, he told Fandango, “I don’t think it would have worked. It would have ruined it.” He went on to play Caius in the second film, “New Moon” and the lead in other YA film “The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones.”

3. Dustin Milligan

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The former “90210″ star joked to Access Hollywood that he would have gotten the part if he had a British accent.

4. Henry Cavill

Getty

Author Stephanie Meyer always envisioned Cavill playing Edward, but he was too old by the time “Twilight” ...

Beyonce‘s Instagram is a haven for all things girly, floral and trendy. Queen Bey manages to be one step ahead of every trend, whether it be flash tattoos, wearing a skirt over pants, or y’know, simultaneously making both marriage and feminism seem like super cool, desirable things.

So, yesterday (October 3) when she posted an Instagram of herself wearing a flower crown—a trend which has received mixed reviews in the past—we knew that they were about to become cool again.

The large, tasteful white roses are a far cry from the daisy chains that have populated music festivals and EDM concerts of late, but will probably have girls of all ages scrambling to re-create Bey’s floral tiara:

Is it just me or does Bey’s face also look flawlessly makeup free in the pic? Is there seriously ever a time when she does not look flawless?! Is she standing in front of a painting of even more flower crowns? Is this actually a flawless painting of Beyonce, not a photograph? Where does reality end and Beyonce’s divine presence begin? I realize that these aren’t answerable questions.

Related: Beyonce’s New Bikini Photos Scream ‘Photoshop? What’s Photoshop?’

Sure, New York Times, keep saying Beyonce isn’t a style icon. Just wait for the flower crown popularity spike to climb to even higher peaks, then get back to me about what triggered it. I’ll be waiting.

Read More →

Deep breaths. We’ve seen a lot of naked and near-naked bodies this week haven’t we? Between the sweltering Nick Jonas photos, rumors that Nick will one day go full-frontal, and the confirmation that Ben Affleck will be baring more than his heart in “Gone Girl,” we’ve had nakedness on the brain. And apparently, so have James Franco and Seth Rogen.

These two are well-known for their comedic antics, but this one is really the full monty, y’know?

Franco captioned the picture: “Boom boom, NAKED and Afraid. Me and Seth, in the bush, naked, together. For reals.”

And posted one other pic of the two sans clothing:

“See if me and seth can make it, NAKED and AFRAID!!!! Wtf?! You’ll see……..” he wrote on the second picture.

Friends that get naked in the jungle together… stay together? Clearly, there’s nothing these two won’t do for each other. They were recently pretty dang close to nude when they celebrated Jimmy Fallon’s birthday, but there was no jungle and no canvas sacks in that case.

Could this be related to their new movie “The Interview”? Guess we’ll have to wait and see—although we’ve definitely seen enough for tonight.

Caitlin White

MTV Weekend Editor. Acts like Madonna but listens to Merle.

@harmonicait

Guerrilla graffiti artist Banksy is well-known for his unrelenting and sharp cultural critiques—it’s what led to his immense popularity. Unfortunately, his most recent piece was totally misinterpreted and was subsequently destroyed.

A mural that went up in Clacton-on-Sea, Essex, was actually an anti-racist commentary, portraying several pigeons touting anti-immigration signs and encroaching on a solitary, exotic-looking bird. The signs have sayings like “Migrants Not Welcome,” “Go Back To Africa,” and “Keep Off Our Worms.” But the context is key—Banksy’s work was satirically mokcing these implicitly biased attitudes that many in England currently hold, not supporting them.

However, after the building owners received a sole complaint that the graffiti was racist, they had it scrubbed off the wall.

Banksy

Tendring District Council, who ordered the mural removed, admitted on the BBC Radio 4′s Today that they only got one complaint about the work—by someone who clearly didn’t understand the satirical intentions of the piece.

“The site was inspected by staff who agreed that it could be seen as offensive and it was removed this morning in line with our policy to remove this type of material within 48 hours,” a spokesman told the BBC. “We would obviously welcome an appropriate Banksy original on any of our seafronts and would be delighted if he returned in the future.”

Did the council realize that the artwork was valued at over $600,000? Nope, they had no clue, but insisted even if they knew, they still would’ve had the piece removed.

Esteemed art critic ...

Back in 2012, Chief Keef burst onto the scene thanks to his mixtape Back from the Dead, and cuts like “I Don’t Like” and “3hunna (Remix)” that were included on the project. Now, the second installment of the mixtape is on the way.

Sosa took to Instagram on Friday (October 3) to announce the release date for the project: October 31. He also revealed the cover art for the release, which will be his first tape of 2014 — and, not surprisingly, it’s Halloween-themed. He also dropped “Cashin,” a self-produced, auto-tune-tinged track that will appear on Back from the Dead 2.

Last week, Keef dropped “Beetlejuice,” featuring Fredo Santana, where it sounded like he took a shot at Bobby Shmurda. “I still’ll come and rob you for your kilo/ And you know you ain’t catch no body ’bout a week ago,” he raps.

No word if the track will be included on BFTD2, but we’ll find out soon enough. Check out the artwork below:

Adam Fleischer