12/13/2024: Idiot of the Week
PLUS: Old Flames; Critics Choice Noms; and Christmas at Sandringham
Today is Friday, December 13, 2024.
It is the 348th day of the year.
18 days remain.
PROGRAMMING NOTE
DON’T FORGET: Starting MONDAY, DECEMBER 16, the full newsletter will only be available to Top Shelf subscribers >
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WHAT’S ON TAP
A stranded Martian helicopter gets a new purpose and an update on Canada’s mail strike. Details in HIT LIST.
A shake up in the Los Angeles D.A.’s office could affect the MENENDEZ brothers and police arrest a “Vanderpump Rules” alum. More in SHOWBIZ.
BEYONCE gets extra (half)time and a new “American Psycho” movie is in the works. Details in CASTING CALL.
Fans want KIM to help this suspected murderer. Find out more in KARDASH.
The House of Windsor’s Christmas plans take shape. Details in ROYALS.
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HIT LIST
In January, the Ingenuity Mars helicopter ended its mission after crashing on its 72nd flight. By all accounts, the entire Ingenuity project was a massive success: its original mission called for just five flights and in April 2021 it became the first aircraft to perform a controlled flight on another planet.
NOW: NASA says despite the broken rotor that prevents Ingenuity from flying, it will continue on as a weather-monitoring station on the Red Planet.
“We are very proud to report that, even after the hard landing on flight 72, avionics, battery, [and] sensors have all been functional,” Ingenuity’s project manager said this week.
The Perseverance rover remains operational on Mars, but NASA has no scheduled missions to send another lander there. ELON MUSK has said SPACEX may attempt to send uncrewed Starship rockets to Mars in late 2026 and, if those are successful, crewed missions in late 2028 or early 2029. [via Space.com, Morning Martini]
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A survey by online prescription company Levity shows 12% of Americans using GLP-1 weight loss drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy plan to skip the meds over the holidays.
Of those, more than half say they want to enjoy cookies and other sweet treats in abundance during the Christmas season. Nearly half say they don’t have any concerns about taking a break from the treatment affecting their long-term weight loss plans.
A WORD OF CAUTION: 40% of men and 32% of women say they struggle to get back in the saddle after going off the drug. [via Levity]
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IDIOT OF THE WEEK: A Massachusetts man got himself stuck in a chimney while trying to hide from police.
When officers arrived at the home of Robert Langlias on Tuesday night to serve a search warrant, instead of answering the door the 33-year-old made a run for it, climbed onto the roof, but then scurried down a chimney, where he got stuck.
Meanwhile, another officer made it to the roof to head Langlias off. “You’re an idiot,” he called down the chimney.
Firefighters were able to safely remove Langlias, who was then taken to a local hospital out of precaution. He was medically cleared and booked into the county jail on charges of drug possession. [via WJAR, WANE]
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Marjorie Fiterman and Bernie Littman of Pennsylvania have been certified as the world’s oldest newlyweds.
She’s 102, he’s 100. They met after moving into the same floor of a nursing home in Philadelphia. At the time of the nuptials in May, their combined age was 202 years and 271 days.
Each had been married more than sixty years to their respective late spouses. Dates for the centenarians include sharing meals together and working on the facility’s shows and productions. [via Guinness World Records]
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FOLLOW UP: Amid Canada’s mail worker strike, Prime Minister JUSTIN TRUDEAU fears his countrymen might decide they don’t need a postal service after all.
“Because if we go through a complete Christmas season and everyone figures out alternatives to it, even if we’re bringing out donkeys to, like whatever solutions people are trying to figure out, if you break trust in an institution it’s really hard to rebuild it,” Trudeau said this week.
Government mediators and union reps have not met in several weeks, but Trudeau says he’s pressuring them to get back to negotiations. [via The Countersignal]
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RELATIONSHIPS
Actress-singer SELENA GOMEZ is engaged to record producer BENNY BLANCO.
She’s 32 and he’s 36.
The pair started dating last December.
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BY THE NUMBERS
📈 The DOW lost 234 points (0.53%) to close at 43,914 on Thursday. The S&P lost 32 points (0.54%) to close at 6,051 and the NASDAQ lost 132 points (0.66%) to close at 19,902.
🛢WEST TEXAS INTERMEDIATE closed at $70; BRENT CRUDE at $73.
⛽ The national average price of a GALLON OF GAS was $3.02 on Thursday.
₿ BITCOIN dipped back below $100k on Thursday, but barely.
💰Tonight’s MEGA MILLIONS drawing will be for a $670 million jackpot or a $317.8 million cash payout. Saturday night’s POWERBALL drawing will be for a $45 million jackpot or a $21.7 million cash payout.
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SHOWBIZ NEWS
New Music Friday
Daniel Blumberg, “The Brutalist (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)”
DMX, “Let Us Pray: Chapter X”
Mario, “Glad You Came”
Nicki Minaj, “Pink Friday 2”
Snoop Dogg, “Missionary”
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The Critics Choice Awards nominations were announced Thursday, with “Conclave” and “Wicked” leading the pack with 11 nods each.
“Dune: Part Two” and “Emilia Perez” follow with 10 nominations apiece.
On the TV side of things, “Shogun” leads with six nods, followed by “Abbott Elementary,” “Disclaimer,” “Hacks,” “The Penguin,” and “The Diplomat” with four each.
The 30th annual Critics Choice Awards will air live on E! on January 12 from the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica. [via Deadline]
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A judge sentenced MORGAN WALLEN to seven days in a DUI detention center and two years probation after the country singer pleaded “conditionally guilty” to two misdemeanor charges.
Wallen got in hot water after throwing a chair from the roof of Eric Church’s bar, Chief’s, in April. He originally faced three more serious counts.
If Wallen completes the program, he’ll have the opportunity to clear his record. He’s also on the hook for $350 in fines and court costs. [via The Tennesseean]
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The newly sworn-in Los Angeles County D.A. is making changes directly tied to LYLE and ERIK MENENDEZ’s potential re-sentencing.
NATHAN HOCHMAN, who beat incumbent GEORGE GASCON in November, has already removed two deputies who supported the idea of reduced sentences for the brothers.
Initially scheduled for this week, the brothers’ resentencing case was pushed back to the end of January in order to give Hochman enough time to review the case.
Hochman, a critic of Gascon’s handling of the case, can choose to stand by the request or withdraw it. [via Variety]
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“Vanderpump Rules” alum JAMES KENNEDY is facing possible charges of misdemeanor domestic violence.
He was arrested after allegedly getting into an argument with a woman, whom many suspect to be his live-in girlfriend ALLY LEWBER.
Kennedy was booked and released on $20,000 bail.
WORTH NOTING: The altercation occurred after the two attended a Christmas party at fellow Bravo star KATHY HILTON’s home. [via Us Weekly]
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MEGAN FOX bought herself an $8 million home prior to her recent split from MACHINE GUN KELLY.
Insiders tell TMZ that the actress, who is currently pregnant with her and MGK’s first child together, was planning to make the house a home -- without him.
As previously reported, the two split during their Thanksgiving vacation in Vail. [via TMZ]
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Carolina Panthers wide reciever XAVIER LEGETTE appeared on a recent episode of the “St. Brown Brothers Podcast” and discussed his odd Thanksgiving dish.
“I eat raccoon,” he said.
When asked to elaborate, Legette said, “I hunt it, I kill it, I skin it, cook ‘em, eat ‘em. All of that.”
When asked what other sorts of small animals he consumes, Legette said without hestitaion that he also enjoys squirrels and rabbits. [via People]
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Celebrity chef GIADA DE LAURENTIIS is stirring up some controversy over a dish she recently shared on TikTok: chocolate covered pasta.
“It’s not the sexiest of dishes, but it’s dang good,” she told followers.
Tiktok failed to load.Enable 3rd party cookies or use another browser
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CASTING CALL
The NFL is extending halftime during the Christmas Day Texans-Ravens game for BEYONCE.
Instead of the typical 12-15 minute break, the league is giving Bey around 20 minutes. While this is longer than normal, it still isn’t as long as the Super Bowl Halftime show, which is around 25 minutes.
The game, along with the Steelers-Chiefs game, will stream exclusively on Netflix. [via Fox News]
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AUSTIN BUTLER (“Masters of the Air”) will play Patrick Bateman in a new adaptation of the book “American Psycho.”
Previous reports suggested the role was going to JACOB ELORDI; an odd coincidence as the two played very different versions of Elvis in recent films, “Priscilla” (Elordi) and “Elvis” (Butler).
WORTH NOTING: The movie is not a remake of the 2000 film starring CHRISTIAN BALE. [via People]
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With the “Blue Bloods” series finale airing tonight, actors TOM SELLECK and DONNY WAHLBERG cannot figure out why it has to end.
“I can’t figure out why they didn’t start streaming it, do 10 episodes a year,” Selleck told Variety. “Everybody wanted to come back. And I think with this cast, it would have been a gift for the audience.”
The two-episode series finale airs tonight on CBS.
“Blue Bloods” premiered in September 2010. [via Variety]
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THE DAILY KARDASHOPUS
Kardashian fans are asking KIM KARDASHIAN to provide legal aid to LUIGI MANGIONE.
One user on X begged Kim to represent the suspected murderer, while another suggested she try to get him a pardon.
Mangione already has a lawyer, however, and Kim is busy playing one on TV in an upcoming Hulu show. [via TMZ]
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WE’LL NEVER BE ROYALS
The guest list for Christmas with the senior royal family at Sandringham could be the biggest in recent history, with about 45 people attending.
PRINCE WILLIAM chatted about his holiday plans with a kid at an event this week, and said he wasn’t nearly ready for the big event, inadvertently revealing the head count. Separately, TOM PARKER-BOWLES, the son of QUEEN CAMILLA, said he’ll be attending the festivities at Sandringham for the first time ever, at the invitation his mother.
The royals reportedly enjoy exchanging gifts, but go for cheap gags instead of luxurious presents: William reportedly once gave QUEEN ELIZABETH a pair of slippers with her face embroidered on them. [via DailyMail]
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DAY OF THE YEAR
National Violin Day
National Cocoa Day
Day of the Horse
Lost & Found Day
U.S. National Guard Birthday
St. Lucia Day
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ON THIS DATE
1621 - The first American furs are exported from America to England.
Robert Cushman was the entrepreneur and settler responsible for the trade market. He had arrived a month earlier in the Plymouth Colony with 35 other settlers. They were the first new batch of settlers since Plymouth was founded the year prior.
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1642 - Abel Tasman of the Netherlands discovers New Zealand. He's the first recorded European to lay eyes on the South Pacific islands.
When he tried to land, native warriors killed Tasman's crew. It has been suggested that the natives thought the Europeans’ trumpet blasts were a battle cry, when really they were just celebratory.
Tasman also discovered what is now known as Tasmania a few weeks before his death. He didn't name it for himself -- it was named in his honor posthumously.
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1916 - A freak avalanche in Austria kills hundreds of Austrian soldiers fighting during World War I.
The natural disaster struck a barracks near the Italian border.
Throughout the month that year, avalanches were common, and more than 10,000 civilians also lost their lives. Some conspiracy theorists suggest the Italians detonated explosives to trigger the snow-slides.
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2000 - After nearly six weeks of recounts and hanging chads, Al Gore concedes the presidential election.
George W. Bush would be sworn in as the next President of the United States the following January.
Gore spoke to America in a televised address from his V.P. office in the White House. He called for an end to "partisan rancor."
Though Gore beat Bush by 500,000 votes nationwide, he still lost the electoral college 271 to 266.
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2003 - American Marines find Saddam Hussein stuck in a spider hole in Iraq.
The hole went down about eight feet. It was located nine miles from the former dictator's hometown Tikrit.
Hussein did not resist. Soldiers described him as a "man resigned to his fate."
Hussein was hanged December 30, 2006, after a trial that found him guilty of crimes against humanity.
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2017 - Prehistoric bones of a penguin are found on Otago Beach, New Zealand.
The bird, which was alive after the demise of the dinosaurs, stood nearly 6-feet-tall and weighed nearly 225 pounds.
The find, published in Nature Communications, marks the second-oldest known penguin. The older one, also from New Zealand, lived over a million years prior.
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2018 - Dirk Nowitzki takes the court for his 21st NBA season with the Dallas Mavericks, establishing the record for the most seasons played for the same team. He surpassedKobe Bryant, who played for the LA Lakers for 20 seasons.
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2021 - The CDC reports that 1 in 100 Americans age 65 and older have died of COVID-19.
That accounts for about 75% of total deaths from the virus in the US.
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BIRTHDAYS
Brock Bowers - football player - 22
Emma Corrin - actress, “The Crown” - 29
Dermot Kennedy - pop singer - 33
Taylor Swift - pop singer - 35
Katherine Schwarzenegger - daughter of Arnold - 35
Amy Lee - rock singer, Evanescence - 43
Tom DeLonge - rock singer, Blink-182 - 49
NeNe Leakes - reality star, “Real Housewives of Atlanta” - 57
Jamie Foxx - actor, “Ray” - 57
Steve Buscemi - actor, “Armageddon” & “Miracle Workers” - 67
Randy Owen - country singer - 75
Ted Nugent - guitarist - 76
Ferguson Jenkins - HOF baseball player - 82
Dick Van Dyne - actor, “Mary Poppins” - 99
Born On This Date
Christopher Plummer - actor, “The Sound of Music” - 1929 (d. 2021)
Mary Todd Lincoln - wife of Abraham Lincoln & First Lady - 1818 (d. 1882)
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