10/2/2023: Get To Steppin’ 👟
PLUS: Hood Trip; Aerosmith’s Final Farewell Postponed; and Senator Markle?
Today is Monday, October 2, 2023.
It is the 275th day of the year.
90 days remain.
WHAT’S ON TAP
APPLE plans to roll out a fix to an unexpected problem with its brand new iPhone model and an iconic tuft of hair hits the auction block. More in HIT LIST.
BRITNEY SPEARS is still trying to ease fans’ concerns and KEVIN SPACEY faces more sexual assault allegations. More in SHOWBIZ.
A horror-flick caused concerned neighbors to call the police and BEYONCE’s “Renaissance Tour” is heading to the big screen. More in CASTING CALL.
KHLOE KARDASHIAN revealed one of her biggest fears. Find out what it is in KARDASH.
Could the Duchess of Sussex reign supreme in the United States Senate? Maybe. More in ROYALS.
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HIT LIST
Following the rollout last month of APPLE’s new iPhone 15, users of the device quickly noticed the smartphone overheats in a hurry.
Apple doesn’t blame its own hardware or operating system and instead cites the INSTAGRAM app as a primary culprit of the issue, as well as the UBER app. For their part, Instagram rolled out an update last week trying to fix it.
Apple’s next major software update should fix the problem across the board. [via The Verge]
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A lock of GEORGE WASHINGTON’s hair is up for sale from Moments In Time.
Tied in an oval shape and bound by a glass case, wrapped in pearls, the hair was given to the Derby family who were reportedly very close with the President and his wife, Martha.
The sale also includes a letter between the Derbys and a collector, dated August 15, 1873.
It’s listed at $45,000. [via MIT]
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A new study from Tulane University, published in the journal Atherosclerosis, suggests that when given the option, always take the stairs.
Researchers surveyed more than 458,000 participants about their family history of cardiovascular disease, risk factors for heart disease, lifestyle habits, and frequency of using the stairs. What they found was that those who regularly climbed 50 steps a day had an almost 20% lower risk of heart disease.
Taking it one step further, researchers suggested that stair climbing has certain advantages over simply tracking daily steps, in that it requires the use of more muscles and a lot of activity from your cardiovascular system. [via Independent]
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A sea lion at the Central Park Zoo in NYC took advantage of rising flood waters and escaped her enclosure last week.
After swimming over a fence, the animal was spotted hanging out in a part of the zoo that is usually only accessible by humans. Her adventure was “monitored” by zoo employees, who made sure that she made her way back home.
As of Saturday morning, the water had receded, and all animals were back in their designated habitats. [via NYT]
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When Stephanie Boyd wanted to end an argument with her husband, she got into her car to leave. He jumped on the hood of her car to try and stop her. She drove off anyway while he hung on for dear life.
The unnamed husband managed to stay on the vehicle as Boyd drove over four miles on the interstate, until a patrol cop saw what was happening and tried to pull her over.
Boyd continued another half mile before stopping for the officer.
She now faces domestic assault and resisting arrest by fleeing charges.
She’s also banned from having any contact with her (for-now) husband. [via KMOV]
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DEATHS
Baseball player TIM WAKEFIELD has died.
He passed away Sunday after a battle with brain cancer.
Wakefield played all but two of his 19 MLB seasons with the Boston Red Sox, winning two World Series with the team in 2004 and 2007.
He was 57.
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Senator DIANNE FEINSTEIN has died.
She passed away Thursday night at her home in Washington D.C. While a cause of death is not known, she had battled several health issues.
Feinstein was the oldest member of the Senate, where she had served since 1992.
She was 90.
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WEEKEND BOX OFFICE
10. Barbie: $1.4 million (down from 5)
9. Expend4bles: $2.5 million (down from 2)
8. The Equalizer 3: $2.7 million (down from 4)
7. Dumb Money: $3.5 million (up from 8)
6. A Haunting in Venice: $3.8 million (down from 3)
5. The Blind: $4.1 million (new)
4. The Nun II: $4.7 million (down from 1)
3. The Creator: $14 million (new)
2. Saw X: $18 million (new)
1. Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie: $23 million (new)
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BY THE NUMBERS
📈 The DOW lost 158 points (0.47%) to close at 33,507 on Friday. The S&P lost 11 points (0.27%) to close at 4,288 and the NASDAQ added 18 points (0.14%) to close at 13,219.
🛢 WEST TEXAS INTERMEDIATE closed at $90; BRENT CRUDE at $92.
⛽ The national average price of a GALLON OF GAS was $3.81 on Sunday.
₿ BITCOIN was mostly flat over the weekend, trading around $27,100.
🛩 There were more than 3,230 FLIGHTS delayed within, into, or out of the United States on Sunday and more than 60 such cancellations.
💰Tuesday night’s MEGA MILLIONS will be for a $300 million jackpot or a $137 million cash payout. Tonight’s POWERBALL drawing will be for a $1.04 BILLION jackpot or a $478.2 million cash payout.
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SHOWBIZ NEWS
TRAVIS KELCE was spotted leaving TAYLOR SWIFT’s New York City apartment Sunday morning, while the Kansas City Chiefs were in town to take on the New York Jets last night.
Insiders say Kelce left from the building’s garage in Swift’s black Range Rover and headed to the team hotel. [via New York Post]
MEANWHILE: An Oklahoma couple may have unknowingly predicted that TAYLOR SWIFT and TRAVIS KELCE would one day be a couple.
In 2020, Makayla and Nick Stephens dressed up as the football player and singer for Halloween. Makayla posted a photo of their costumes on Instagram, along with the caption, “I don’t know any world in which Taylor Swift + Travis Kelce would be in the same room together. But apparently in this one they’re married?”
A Swiftie shared the post on X. It now has nearly 4 million views and over 130,000 likes. [via Insider]
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BRITNEY SPEARS has once again addressed her knife-dancing video, explaining that her team rented them from a prop store.
“These are not real knives. No one needs to worry or call the police,” she told followers.
As previously reported, officers were called to Brit’s home last week for a welfare check. While they were not allowed to see the singer, her security team assured them she was fine. [via TMZ]
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MILEY CYRUS’ stalker is now court-ordered to stay away from her.
According to insiders, the singer was recently granted an order of protection against 52-year-old Alexander Kardalian, who has been stalking her for years.
Cyrus told a judge that his behavior has escalated, noting how just hours after Kardalian was released from prison last year, he showed up at her home -- again.
Kardalian must now stay at least 100 yards away from Cyrus, her mom, and boyfriend, musician MAXX MORANDO. [via Metro]
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AEROSMITH is postponing its farewell “Peace Out Tour” until “sometime in 2024” because lead singer STEVEN TYLER has fractured his larynx.
The announcement comes after a handful of shows were canceled due to Tyler’s damaged vocal cords.
New tour dates will be announced soon. [via ET]
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ED SHEERAN says there will be no singles or music videos from his newest album, “Autumn Variations.”
In an interview on “CBS Mornings,” Sheeran detailed how working on an independent album -- without a major label -- relieved some of the pressure and stress of creating new music.
“Autumn Variations” dropped on Friday. [via THR]
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A judge has ruled to end MICHAEL OHER’s conservatorship.
The ruling breaks up a legal agreement that the former NFL star put in place with SEAN and LEIGH ANNE TUOHY he was 18-years-old and living with them.
As previously reported, Oher requested it be ended in August, after claiming the Tuohys tricked him into signing it so they could control negotiations on his behalf.
The Tuohys were on board with ending it. [via NPR]
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KEVIN SPACEY is being sued by a massage therapist who claims the actor asked for sexual favors during multiple sessions.
The masseuse claims that the actor booked three 90-minute massages in 2016. During the first appointment, he said Spacey made “unwanted and inappropriate sexual advances” and “repeatedly pressed him for sexual favors, all while allegedly insisting on “wearing a ski mask.”
As for how he was able to be a repeat customer, the masseuse claims that Spacey used a fake name, so he never knew it was him until he got into the room.
The massage therapist is suing Spacey for damages, claiming the appointments caused him “anxiety, depression, PTSD, and fears for his livelihood as a massage therapist, husband and father.”
NOT THE FIRST TIME: Spacy was previously accused of forcing a different male masseuse to touch him inappropriately during an in-home massage in 2016. The case was dropped when the alleged victim died during the investigation. [via Daily News]
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CASTING CALL
Concerned neighbors once called police on one of director KEVIN GREUTERT’s editors because they thought someone was “being tortured to death” in his home.
In an interview with NME, Greutert shared how the LAPD showed up at the home of first assistant editor STEVE FORNER while he was working on the movie, “Saw X.”
The scene that Forner was working on -- causing the neighbors’ concern -- was one in which a character in the film is strapped to an eye vacuum trap.
“Saw X”, the latest installment in the “Saw” franchise, hit theaters on Friday. [via NME]
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BEYONCE’s “Renaissance Tour” is heading to the big screen.
Deadline reports that AMC Theatres has reached out to Bey’s people to have her concert filmed for their theaters.
It is expected to premiere on December 1.
The news comes on the heels of TAYLOR SWIFT’s “Eras Tour” hitting theaters worldwide. [via Deadline]
FINAL NUMBERS: Bey’s “Renaissance Tour” concluded Sunday, after 56 shows across Europe and North America. All said and done, she will have generated around $4.5 BILLION for the US economy, which is about as much as the 2008 Olympics made for Beijing. [via NYT]
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Thursday’s premiere of the “Golden Bachelor” drew in 4.36 million viewers -- the largest for any iteration of the “Bachelor” franchise since “After the Final Rose” in March 2022.
Also, despite being an older leading man, the “Golden Bachelor” drew in just about the same number of adults 18-49 as the Season 27 premiere of the “Bachelor.”
For those unfamiliar, the spinoff features 72-year-old widower Gerry Turner who is hoping to find love among a group of women who are around his age. [via THR]
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CELEBRITY CELLBLOCK
The man who allegedly ordered the death of rapper TUPAC SHAKUR has been arrested and charged with his murder.
Police arrested DUANE “Keffe D” DAVIS Friday in Las Vegas. His arrest comes just two months after investigators raided a Henderson, Nevada home that belongs to Davis’ wife.
THE MURDER: On September 7, 1996, Tupac was riding in the passenger seat of a BMW driven by rap producer MARION “Suge” KNIGHT when a white Cadillac pulled alongside the vehicle and the occupants opened fire. Tupac was hit in the chest multiple times. He would succumb to his injuries six days later.
GUNMAN: It has long been believed that ORLANDO “Baby Lane” ANDERSON was the one who pulled the trigger after being ordered to do so by Davis. Anderson was killed in a separate shooting two years after Tupac’s death.
RETALIATION: The shooting was allegedly ordered by Davis after Tupac and Anderson, who is Davis’ nephew, got into a physical altercation after a boxing match at the MGM Grand Hotel earlier in the evening.
BUT WAIT: There was also a theory that the shooting was part of some East Coast-West Coast rivalry, as Tupac had been feuding with fellow rapper BIGGIE SMALLS.
LAST MAN STANDING: Of the four occupants in the white Cadillac, Davis is the only one still alive. [via Guardian]
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THE DAILY KARDASHOPUS
KHLOE KARDASHIAN has an “irrational” fear of whales.
“This has been a phobia of mine for years. I don’t want anything bad to happen to whales and I know the phobia is totally irrational, but we don’t pick our phobias. I low-key have a fear of the ocean, but a whale I can’t even look at, it freaks me out so much,” she explained on X.
Fans flocked to the comments to share their “irrational” fear of the ocean. [via X]
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WE’LL NEVER BE ROYALS
The death of California Senator DIANNE FEINSTEIN could be a wide-open door for MEGHAN MARKLE to start her next act – in politics.
An unnamed Democrat donor tight with California Governor GAVIN NEWSOM tells the Daily Mail: “Meghan is definitely a long-shot but in the craziness that is US politics these days it’s not an impossibility.” [via DailyMail]
As Governor, Newsom will unilaterally appoint Feinstein’s replacement to fill in until next November’s elections.
WORTH REMEMBERING: Newsom, Meg, and PRINCE HARRY had an hour-long video call in 2020 after then-Senator KAMALA HARRIS became Vice President-elect and Newsom was looking for a replacement. At the time, Meg was actively networking with Democrat party officials to discuss a future in politics.
AND: Newsom has pledged to appoint a Black woman to the job.
ALSO: Even if she’s not appointed, she could throw her hat in the ring into a wide-open election for the seat, too.
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DAY OF THE YEAR
National Custodial Worker Recognition Day
World Farm Animals Day
Audiophile Day
World Architecture Day
National Name Your Car Day
International Day of Non-Violence
World Day of Bullying Prevention
World Habitat Day
National Fried Scallops Day
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ON THIS DATE
1789 - After Congress formally adopts twelve Constitutional amendments, President George Washington formally advances them to the states for ratification.
At the time, 10 of the 13 state legislatures would need to ratify those amendments for them to take effect.
Ultimately, ten were ratified, creating what we know today as the Bill of Rights.
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1836 - Charles Darwin returns from the HMS Beagle, ending his journey that would inspire his book, ‘The Origin of Species by means of Natural Selection."
He wouldn't publish the work for more than twenty years.
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1902 - London publishing company Frederick Warne & Co. releases Beatrix Potter’s “The Tale of Peter Rabbit.”
The children’s book follows a mischievous, disobedient young Peter Rabbit as he gets into, and is chased around, the garden of Mr. McGregor. He escapes and returns home to his mother, who puts him to bed.
The story has since been translated into 36 languages.
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1919 - Woodrow Wilson suffers a stroke in the White House, leaving him largely unable to serve.
He remained in office, however, with his wife, powerful legislators, and aides doing most of the work.
Wilson had been lobbying the American people for support to get Congress to ratify the Treaty of Versailles and admit the U.S. into the League of Nations. The tour of the country nearly killed him from exhaustion. Toward the end of the train tour, he collapsed, and upon returning to DC, suffered the stroke.
He would be awarded the Nobel Prize that year and lived another four years
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1958 - Guinea declares its independence from France, making it one of the first open allies with the Soviets in Africa.
More than half of its diamond and gold exports would go to communist holdings while Guinea received millions in aid from the Reds.
Guinean leader Sekou Toure was also friendly with Mao in China. He was known for pitting American and Soviet powers against each other, squeezing relief and aid out of both countries.
Military juntas and dictators have largely ruled Guinea since Toure's death in 1984.
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1967 - Thurgood Marshall becomes the first Black justice on the Supreme Court.
Marshall had been the leading lawyer for the NAACP and helped build the national legal cases against institutional segregation.
He was also responsible for successfully arguing Brown v. Board of Education, after which the Supreme Court ruled racial segregation was illegal under the 14th Amendment.
Marshall retired in 1991 and died in 1993.
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1974 - Hank Aaron hits his final home run as a member of the Atlanta Braves, shutting out the Reds 13-0.
It was his 733rd career homerun.
He went on to play his final two seasons with the Milwaukee Brewers and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1982.
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2001 - “Scrubs” debuts on NBC.
The series followed the lives of employees at the fictional Sacred Heart Hospital.
The show would run for seven seasons on NBC before getting picked up for its final two on ABC.
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2016 - Kim Kardashian is robbed at gunpoint.
The thieves broke into her hotel room in Paris, tied her up, and put her in the bathtub.
Over $10 million worth of jewelry -- including her ring from husband Kanye West -- was taken.
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BIRTHDAYS
Jacob Sartorius - pop singer - 21
Joseph Baena - son of Arnold Schwarzenegger - 26
Ricky Stenhouse Jr - race car driver - 36
Camilla Belle - actress, “When a Stranger Calls” & “Practical Magic” - 37
John Morris - voice actor, “Toy Story” - 39
Matt Hancock - politician - 45
Mandisa - gospel singer - 47
Tiffany Darwish - rock singer - 52
Kelly Ripa - actress & TV show host - 53
Sting - rock singer - 72
Annie Leibovitz - photographer, Rolling Stone magazine - 74
Don McLean - pop singer - 78
Born On This Date
Jack Finney - sci-fi author, “The Body Snatchers” - 1911 (d. 1995)
Groucho Marx - comedian - 1890 (d. 1977)
Mahatma Gandhi - activist & spiritual leader - 1869 (d. 1948)
Nat Turner - leader of major slave rebellion in Virginia in 1831 - 1800 (d. 1831)
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