9/5/2023: Smells Like Mummy ⚱️
Discover more from Morning Martini
9/5/2023: Smells Like Mummy ⚱️
PLUS: Kim Jong Junior: Fashion Icon; Tale of Two Divorces; and More Trauma for Harry
Today is Tuesday, September 5, 2023.
It is the 248th day of the year.
117 days remain.
WHAT’S ON TAP
Burning Man turned into a muddy mess and a fully intact ship has been discovered at the bottom of Lake Michigan. More in HIT LIST.
BRITNEY SPEARS is only stripping for the ‘gram and CELINE DION is staying strong amid her rare diagnosis. More in SHOWBIZ.
A horror flick gets a new release date to avoid competing with TAYLOR SWIFT at the box office. More in CASTING CALL.
TRAVIS BARKER flies home for a family emergency and YE gets banned. More in KARDASH.
PRINCE HARRY’s birth disappointed then-PRINCE CHARLES. Find out why in ROYALS.
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HIT LIST
Financial trading platform ROBINHOOD has purchased back hundreds of millions of dollars worth of shares that were briefly owned by SAM BANKMAN-FRIED.
SBF’s stake in Robinhood was worth over $400 million when he first purchased them. That value has since jumped to over $600 MILLION.
The Justice Department took control of these shares in January, shortly after SBF was arrested. In theory, the proceeds from the purchase should eventually go toward making whole the victims of the FTX scheme. [via CNN]
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Talks between Russia and North Korea over a weapons supply deal are reaching the highest levels: KIM JONG JUNIOR will travel to Russia to personally sit down with VLADIMIR PUTIN about supplying ammunition and other weaponry later this month.
Junior is expected to travel by train to Vladivostok, Russia, just a few miles north of North Korea’s border with Russia.
Analysts believe Junior is hoping to get satellite technology and its own nuclear submarines out of the deal.
MEANWHILE: Who says you can’t be a murderous despot and a fashion icon at the same time?
Last month, Vogue celebrated fisherman shoes – a strappy kind of sandal for men – as the it-thing of the season. Just days later, KIM JONG JUNIOR was spotted at a military review, sporting a tan suit and exactly these style of sandals.
One of the UK’s former ambassadors to North Korea tells The Guardian, “We do know that [Junior] likes the good things of life though - food, cars, things like that, so it’s quite possible he has discovered fashionable shoes too.” [via The Guardian]
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A ship that sank in Lake Michigan in 1881 has been re-discovered and remains remarkably intact.
The Trinidad was found about ten miles from the shores of Algoma, Wisconsin (about 30 miles east of Green Bay) at a depth of 270 feet. It was first built in 1867 and used to carry cargo between Milwaukee, Chicago, and New York through the Great Lakes. On May 13, 1881, it developed a leak and sank. Fortunately, all nine on the crew – except the Newfoundland dog the men kept – survived and made it to a lifeboat.
An underwater exploration unit has since explored the wreckage and discovered the crew’s personal items and even much of the ship’s rigging still complete. [via CBS News]
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At least one festival-goer is dead at Burning Man following a spate of unexpected rain that turned the typically sunny, sandy event grounds into a muddy, gray mess.
Local law enforcement estimated 70,000 people were stranded on site over the weekend, where they were told to shelter in place and conserve water and food as officials assessed the situation. The cause of death for the unnamed victim has not been made public and could be unrelated to the weather.
Operations to evacuate festival goers began Monday as the wet mud dried.
BY THE WAY: On the event’s website, organizers also note that it’s just a few-miles walk to a major freeway where help could pick up stranded attendees. A few miles isn’t really “in the middle of nowhere” – for the hipster dorks who think Burning Man is really roughin’ it away from society.
MEANWHILE: Find out in SHOWBIZ which celebs teamed up to get out of the “playa.”
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Have you ever wondered what an Egyption mummy smells like?
A new study, published in the journal Scientific Reports details how scientists were able to identify and recreate the scent of tincture used in the mummification of a noblewoman of ancient Egypt circa 1450 BCE.
The balm, made of “beeswax, plant oil, fats, bitumen, Pinaceae resins, a balsamic substance and dammar or PIstacia tree resin,” was used in preserving the high-ranking Senetnay, a wet nurse to Pharaoh Amenhotep II.
The scent will be on display in the Moesgaard Museum in Denmark this fall. It is called “the scent of eternity.”
WORTH NOTING: The study also notes that different scents were used to embalm Egyptians according to their role in society. [via Guardian]
MEANWHILE, 3500 YEARS LATER: A study out of the University of California, Irvine, shows that older adults who inhaled a specially-engineered fragrance diffused into their bedrooms while they slept saw a 226% boost in “cognitive capacity” versus a control group.
All participants were between 60 and 85 years old without a diagnosed memory impairment. Researchers evaluated the group based on their ability to memorize and recall a list of words. Brain imaging also shows improved function in the decision-making areas of the brain. [via SciTechDaily]
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DEATHS
Legendary musician JIMMY BUFFETT has died.
He passed away Friday surrounded by his “friends, family, music and dogs” after a battle with skin cancer that developed into lymphoma, according to a statement posted on his website. Buffett had started hospice care last week.
He was 76.
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SMASH MOUTH frontman STEVE HARWELL has died.
He passed away Monday at his home in Boise, Idaho of liver failure after years of alcohol abuse.
Harwell was 56.
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Actress GAYLE HUNNICUTT has died.
She passed away on August 31, according to recent reports. No cause of death has been reported.
Hunnicutt is best known for playing Vanessa Beaumont on “Dallas” and Irene Adler in “The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.”
She was 80.
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Former New Mexico governor BILL RICHARDSON has died.
He passed away in his sleep on Friday at his home in Massachusetts.
In addition to serving as Governor, Richardson was also a former ambassador to the United Nations.
He was 75.
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BABY NEWS
Baby #4 is on the way for model MIRANDA KERR; her third with husband, Snapchat co-founder EVAN SPIEGEL.
The baby boy will join Miranda and Evan’s other two boys, and a son she shares with her ex, actor ORLANDO BLOOM.
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BREAKUPS
After four years of marriage it appears that JOE JONAS and SOPHIE TURNER are calling it quits.
The musician, who is currently touring with the JONAS BROTHERS, has reportedly hired a divorce attorney. Also, insiders say the couple’s two kids have been staying with him on the road. No word on why or where Sophie has been.
Both were spotted without their wedding rings in recent weeks, though Joe had his back on over the weekend.
So far, neither has commented publicly on the news.
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WEDDINGS
Actress KRISTIN CHENOWETH tied the knot with musician JOSH BRYANT in Dallas, Texas on Saturday.
The pair got engaged in October 2021 after three years of dating.
She’s 55 and he is 41.
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Actor JAY MOHR and Lakers owner JEANIE BUSS have tied the knot.
The pair said “I do” in an intimate ceremony on a beach in Malibu on Sunday. While Mohr has sacked away a few million dollars over the course of his career as a comedian, Buss is worth around half-a-BILLION dollars.
He is 53 and she is 61.
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WEEKEND BOX OFFICE
10. Talk to Me: $1.7 million (stayed at 10)
9. Strays: $2.5 million (down from 6)
8. Meg 2: The Trench: $2.9 million (down from 7)
7. Bottoms: $3 million (up from 19)
6. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem: $4.7 million (down from 5)
5. Oppenheimer: $5.5 million (down from 4)
4. Gran Turismo: $6.5 million (down from 1)
3. Blue Beetle: $7.2 million (stayed at 3)
2. Barbie: $10.6 million (stayed at 2)
1. The Equalizer 3: $34.5 million (new)
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BY THE NUMBERS
📈 The DOW added 115 points (0.33%) to close at 34,837 on Friday. The S&P was up 8 points (0.18%) to close at 4,515 and the NASDAQ closed down just 3 points (0.02%) at 14,031.
🛢 WEST TEXAS INTERMEDIATE closed at $85 on Friday; BRENT CRUDE at $89 on Monday.
⛽ The national average price of a GALLON OF GAS was $3.81 on Monday.
₿ BITCOIN was down over the weekend, trading around $25,000.
🛩 There were more than 3,070 FLIGHTS delayed within, into, or out of the United States on Monday and more than 55 such cancellations.
💰Tonight’s MEGA MILLIONS drawing will be for a $101 million jackpot or a $49.1 million cash payout.
SHOWBIZ NEWS
Actor CHRIS ROCK and musician DIPLO walked six miles through the mud to hitch a ride out of the flooded Burning Man festival in the Nevada desert.
Diplo shared a video of the two sitting in the back of a stranger’s pickup truck with five others, captioning it “A fan offered Chris Rock and I a ride out of Burning Man…I legit walked the side of the road for hours with my thumb out cuz I have a show in DC tonight and didn’t want to let y’all down.”
The dry lake where the festival is held received nearly an inch of rain Friday night into Saturday, turning the area into a muddy mess. [via NY Post]
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BRITNEY SPEARS is not heading to OnlyFans.
Despite showing off her body on Instagram, and her new stripper pole, insiders say the singer is not planning to join the raunchy service.
Sources say OF reached out to Brit about six months ago to ask her about joining their site, but in the end she ultimately passed. [via TMZ]
WORTH NOTING: Six months ago she was still married, perhaps now that the marriage has fizzled she will reconsider.
STRIKING SAM: While Britney continues to strut her stuff on the ‘gram, SAM ASGHARI joined his fellow striking actors outside of Disney Studios in Burbank. When asked about his divorce, Sam said he didn’t want to talk about that and was only there to raise awareness for the strike. [via TMZ]
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CELINE DION is doing all that she can to cope with her rare neurological disease, Stiff-Person Syndrome.
According to her sister, Claudette Dion, there is no cure for the illness that causes muscle spasms and stiffness in her torso, arms and legs.
Celine revealed her diagnosis last December after being forced to cancel her 2023 concert dates. [via HELLO!]
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MICHAEL JORDAN’s personalized copy of HARPER LEE’s “To Kill A Mockingbird” is for sale.
The book was sent to Jordan by Lee in 1995, when he was playing for the Chicago Bulls. Inside the cover she wrote, “To Micheal Jordan - best wishes, Harper Lee.”
The book went to MJ’s ex-wife Juanita Vanoy in their divorce in 2006, who sold it to a collector. Now, it is up for sale at Moments In Time, and is expected to go for six-figures. [via Basketball Insiders]
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A judge ruled Friday that KEVIN COSTNER will pay his estranged wife, CHRISTINE BAUMGARTNER, $63,209 per month in child support.
That is significantly less than the $161,000 Baumgartner had asked for, arguing that she and the estranged couple’s three teenagers are accustomed to a certain lifestyle.
As previously reported, Baumgartner vacated the family home in July. She is now renting a house nearby for $40,000 a month. [via People]
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PARIS JACKSON is taking legal action against a creep who has repeatedly showed up to her home.
The guy, who has reportedly stalked Paris for years, has escalated to showing up on her property and peeping in her windows, prompting her to take out a restraining order.
The case has been sent to LAPD Threat Management. [via TMZ]
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Amid their ongoing divorce -- yes, it’s still on -- KROY BIERMANN has asked a judge for permission to sell their $3 million home.
According to court documents Kroy wants to sell the home ASAP to help cover the estranged couple’s “significant debt.” His estranged wife KIM ZOLCIAK claims it was her idea to sell the home, not his and she wants the credit.
Insiders told In Touch that Kroy wants to get the house sold fast before it is foreclosed on again. [via In Touch]
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CASTING CALL
The theatrical release of “The Exorcist: Believer” has been bumped up a week in order to avoid competing with TAYLOR SWIFT’s “Eras Tour” film.
Producers of the horror flick made the announcement on X (formerly Twitter) writing, “Look what you made me do,” referencing one of Swift’s hits.
Both were set to hit theaters on October 13. [via NY Post]
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“The Great British Bake Off” is nixing its nationality-themed challenge after critics called it “culturally insensitive.”
Most of the criticism came after hosts NOEL FIELDING and MATT LUCAS dressed in sombreros and mispronounced Spanish words while making tacos for “Mexican Week.”
The season will now be centered on Party Cakes, with weeks dedicated to Cakes, Biscuits, Bread, Patisseries and Chocolate. [via The Guardian]
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“How I Met Your Father” has been canceled after two seasons on Hulu.
The show, a standalone sequel to “How I Met Your Mother,” stars KIM CATTRALL and HILARY DUFF, who both play the current and past versions of Sophie, respectively. “HIMYM” stars COBIE SMULDERS and NEIL PATRICK HARRIS made several cameo appearances in the show.
Just like “HIMYM,” it centered on a story, including flashbacks, of how Sophie met her son’s father. [via Deadline]
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THE DAILY KARDASHOPUS
Days after TRAVIS BARKER abruptly left his BLINK-182 bandmates in Europe to fly home for a family emergency, he was spotted leaving a Los Angeles hospital with his very pregnant wife, KOURTNEY KARDASHIAN.
Insiders told People Magazine that Barker flew home to be with Kourtney who had a “brief” hospital stay, but is now “back home with her kids.”
Over the weekend, Barker’s ex-wife, SHANNA MOAKLER, told paparazzi that the “emergency” did not involve the two children she shares with the drummer, and that she is praying for whomever needs it.
On the Kardashian family side, Kourt’s mom KRIS JENNER didn’t appear upset about anything as she danced alongside boyfriend COREY GAMBLE at BEYONCE’s “Renaissance World Tour” concert. [via People, The Sun]
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A lifetime ban has been handed down to YE and BIANCA CENSORI by a Venetian boat company after the rapper flashed his derrière while taking a ride on the Venice canals in a river taxi last week.
Venezia Turismo Motoscafi, who rented out the vessel, told the Daily Mail explaining that his company does not support “such acts and behavior.” [via Daily Mail]
WORTH NOTING: Many on social media have noted that Censori, who was seated below Ye on the boat ride, appeared to be adjusting her trench coat as she stepped off the boat. Perhaps there was more going on in that boat!
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WE’LL NEVER BE ROYALS
Well, this can’t be good for PRINCE HARRY’s victim complex.
Newly-published audio tapes of PRINCESS DIANA recorded by her biographer in the 1990s reveal then-PRINCE CHARLES was “disappointed” that Harry wasn’t a girl – but Diana did add that her mother admonished the future King for saying such a thing.
The tapes are set to air as part of a broader documentary on Disney+ in early 2024. [via DailyMail]
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DAY OF THE YEAR
National Cheese Pizza Da
National Another Look Unlimited Day
International Day of Charity
National Be Late for Something Day
World Samosa Day
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ON THIS DATE
1666 - The Great Fire of London ends.
The blaze started three days earlier after Thomas Farriner, a baker who served King Charles II, went to bed with the fire that heated his oven still burning.
Over 80% of London’s buildings were destroyed by the flames, including 13,200 houses, 87 parish churches, 52 Livery Company halls, the Guildhall, the Royal Exchange and St. Paul’s Cathedral.
There were eight deaths reported, though many believe the number was likely much higher.
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1717 - King George I issues the Proclamation for Suppressing of Pirates aka the Act of Grace.
It promised a royal pardon for acts of piracy to those who surrendered themselves before the following January.
The proclamation also included bounties for the capture of pirates who failed to surrender.
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1882 - The first Labor Day is celebrated in New York with over 10,000 workers marching in a parade.
In 1894, President Grover Cleveland would sign a law making the first Monday in September of each year a national holiday.
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1960 - Muhammad Ali wins gold in light-heavyweight boxing at the Rome Games.
He beat three-time European champion Zbigniew Pietrzykowski of Poland by unanimous decision.
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1975 - Manson Family cult member Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme attempts to assassinate President Gerald Ford in Sacramento.
The attempt failed after Fromme, who stood within arms reach of Ford, forgot to load her M1911 pistol.
Afterward, Ford continued on with his tour of the California state house and his meeting with Governor Jerry Brown.
Fromme would spend 34 years in prison for the attempt.
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1977 - NASA launches Voyager 1.
Its mission was to fly by Jupiter and Saturn and then later Uranus and Neptune.
In 2012, it would become the first human-made object to leave the solar system.
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2017 - Hurricane Irma becomes the most powerful hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic Basin region, with 185 mph winds.
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BIRTHDAYS
Mac Jones - football player - 25
Skandar Keynes - actor, “The Chronicles of Narnia” - 33
Kat Graham - actress, “The Vampire Diaries” & “17 Again” - 34
Annabelle Wallis - actress, “The Tudors” & “X-Men: First Class” - 39
Erin Krakow - actress, “When the Heart Calls” - 39
Sway - rapper - 41
Sin Cara - wrestler - 46
Rose McGowan - actress, “Charmed” & “Scream” - 50
Michael Keaton - actor, “Beetlejuice” & “Batman” films - 72
Claudette Colvin - civil rights leader - 84
Bob Newhard - actor, “The Bob Newhart Show” - 94
Born On This Date
Freddie Mercury - rock singer, Queen - 1946 (d. 1991)
Raquel Welch - actress, “One Million Years B.C.” - 1940 (d. 2023)
Jesse James - outlaw, robbed banks & trains - 1847 (d. 1882)
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