Archive for the ‘ Uncategorized ’ Category
Intricacy, elegance, yet most importantly simplicity @BCantLose has nailed them all. In her reoccurring segment about a “word of the day” @BCantLose puts her own spin on whatever word she chooses. Mine personally is “Authenticity”. But to find out, watch them all. There will be more, follow her.
“The Batman” looks set to be a DC Comics movie like no other, and if the early buzz is to be believed, it stands a chance of being the Caped Crusader’s best big screen adventure to date. Shifting the spotlight to what makes Bruce Wayne the World’s Greatest Detective is an exciting approach to the character and with Catwoman, The Riddler, and The Penguin set to appear, director Matt Reeves is clearly embracing the source material. Now, DC Comics has returned the favour with an awesome series of variant covers inspired by the movie illustrated by some of their best artists.
Dreamed up by Carlos D’Anda, Lee Bermejo, Jonboy Meyers, Rafael Albuquerque, Jenny Frison, Puppeteer Lee, Ben Oliver, Ricardo Federici, and Simone Bianchi, each of these covers offer a unique take on the movie’s heroes and villains. Some are clearly based very directly on the imagery we’ve seen from The Batman, while others are a little more stylised and unique.
Stylish sneakers have been universal in modern culture for generations, and no one can doubt the strength of Nike. Their Jordan series has caused longer lines than fuel pumps during a fuel shortage, and more envy that someone eating an In-n-Out burger in a 3rd world country. ‘Supreme’ on the same hand, has dominated streetwear culture to the point where they sell ‘Supreme’ crow bars (thats not a joke). Below is a BRILLIANT assessment of ‘Supreme’ by Hasan Minaj on his show “Patriot Act” (which we highly recommend watching if you have Netflix). After that though, we’ll get into some of the greatest collaborations between Nike and Supreme that feet have ever been in.
So now that we know the power of ‘Supreme’ (if you watched the entire episode), its important to know what a collaborative effort with Nike would do to consumers. Non-experts in streetwear and sneaker-heads alike would have no choice but to fawn over some of the 20 sneakers in the list below. Let us know which ones YOU think are the dopest, and, if your picks aren’t on the list (curated by Complex), let us know which ones are to your highest of likings.
For its 2009 collaboration with Nike SB, Supreme offered up four colorways of the Bruin. Metallic Swooshes and “World Famous” branding on the heel made the pairs stand out from the average release of the low-top skate shoe. Some color schemes were better than others, but the project doesn’t necessarily do anything wrong either. For a Supreme collab that’s a little more under the radar, this might be the one to go with.
Back in 2006, Supreme released three colorways of the Nike SB Blazer with a luxurious twist. Black, red, and white options were all available that each featured premium details like quilted leather uppers, python skin Swooshes, and gold metal detailing. But the highlight has to be the Gucci-inspired, red and green-striped heel tab. Over a decade later and these still hold up perfectly. Good luck finding a pair in good condition for a fair price though.
What a disappointment. Supreme’s past work on the SB Dunk Low has been the stuff of legend, but this trio is FAR from that. I mean a Jewel Swoosh on a Dunk, it’s just not natural. Throw that Dallas Cowboys looking star onto the side of each pair and some wonky color blocking and what you’re left with is a mess.
There was a chance this sneaker would come in second on this list, but got narrowly edged out. Three colorways—orange, red, blue—all good. The stars on the side panel and the lacelocks both added to the sneaker. Loud? Sure, but it was perfect for Supreme and the era that the shoe gained life in.
Whether you want to admit it or not, part of the allure of any Supreme collab has always been its limited nature. If you miss out on Thursday morning then it’s time to hit the aftermarket. That has always been the case, at least it was until 2020’s Air Force 1 drop. Initially met with some apprehension for its “lazy” design, it’s just some white and black Forces with a mini red Box Logo stamped on the lateral heel, customers warmed up to the idea once they’d been presented with all of the details. It was announced that both colorways would be sporadically replenished from season to season. Suddenly, Hanes T-shirts and boxers weren’t the only Supreme items you could re-up on. Make sure you add a fresh pair of Uptowns to the cart too.
The Supreme x Nike Air Foamposite One makes this list mainly because of the hype around it. Personally? Could care less for the shoe. But many were surprised 1) That this shoe was real and 2) That it caused a literal riot with police cars in New York City. Most memorably, this was the sneaker that forever had in-store Supreme x Nike releases canceled.
This is the first sneaker to release after the Foamposite caused Nike releases to be cancelled at the brand’s Manhattan shop. The formula was simple: An Air Force 1 Hi in white, red, and black with Supreme’s branding on the strap. Easy enough. And they were pretty good. Resale is quite high at the moment, too.
Following a lukewarm offering in 2019, Supreme decided to nod to one of its most celebrated projects for its latest Nike SB collab. The result is four colorways of the SB Dunk Low that share details with its 2003 SB Dunk High release like colorful croc leather overlays and gold stars covering the quarter panel. The source material helped define an era of sneakers. The 2021 project, while nostalgic, doesn’t hit quite the same despite being one of Supreme’s better offerings in recent years. The brown option feels very appropriate given current trends, but other options like a loud slime green don’t quite hit the mark like the originals did 18 years ago.
It’s hard to imagine a time when Supreme didn’t have its own Air Force 1, but it really wasn’t that long ago. The brand got its hands on the model for the first time in 2012, opting to work on the low-top variation of the sneaker. It came in gum-soled black, olive, and woodland camouflage colorways which were elevated through the use of authentic NYCO military fabric. The brand would later work on the Air Force 1 High and team with Comme des Garçons for various Air Force 1 Lows, but the OG still remains one of the best.
In Supreme’s illustrious collaborative footwear history, the iconic skate brand has only teamed up with the Jordan Brand twice. One of those times the product came out really good, the other time it simply came out really bad. Having featured the really bad one earlier on, it’s time to focus on the positives. Available in three colorways you have the option to make a statement with the bold Desert Camo or keep it nice and simple with White or Black.
Supreme followed its usual rule of thumb with this one by collaborating with Nike on a silhouette that nobody would expect them to. Sometimes that formula yields surprisngly good results. This two-pack of Cross Trainer Lows is not one of those times, though. This is simply just one of those shoes that looks like it would be more at home on the shoe wall of a Finish Line in the mall than it would coming from the biggest streetwear brand in the world. Neither colorway is particularly offensive, but they don’t feel all that special either. Couple that with the much better collabs sprinkled throughout Supreme’s extensive archive of Nike projects and it lands this one in the bottom tier.
Elephant print on the Nike SB Dunk Low just looks good. These don’t hold a candle to the original pairs, but it was still awesome to see Supreme bring back one of the biggest projects from its archive in a new way so many years later. If you still like bright red sneakers and want to shell out a little less money for a well-executed Supreme Dunk Low collab, this is the shoe for you.
Nike SB has a long history of using football shoes to make skate shoes. Look at the Zoom FC. The Gato is also a shoe that saw some play over the years. Supreme did the shoe, too. It’s not bad. But I’m from the school of thought where you don’t wear football shoes unless you’re playing football. So it misses the mark.
The first Supreme x Comme des Garcons Air Force 1 wasn’t good. This shoe, with its split design, is infinitely better.
Sneakers are an obvious staple of sports teams, so why not make the sports teams the focal point of the kicks?
People are going to like it because it’s a Comme des Garcons collab with Supreme on Air Force 1. What it really is: A white/white Air Force 1 with something screen printed on the side. Rushed and poor product. But the names sell it to hype fuck lords. And NBA players.
Any time you’re starting with an Air Force 2 instead of an Air Force 1 [Ed. note: I don’t agree with him at all], you’re already behind the 8 ball. Four colorways of this AF2 hit the market in 2017 including three jarring candy-pack looking creations that left a lot to be desired. The fourth and final “Baroque Brown” pair was a bit less offensive but is still considered a brick in the Supreme x Nike department if you ask me.
This is the only time Supreme has gotten to design its own Nike silhouette. The outcome? Not so hot.
This is one of the more slept-on Supreme x Nike releases. In fact, some could have the case that this should be ranked higher. The colorways aren’t hype, but solid. Same with the silhouette, the Delta Force SB ¾.
Although these may not be the most spectacular to round out the 20, they are some of the most unique concept kicks that Nike and Supreme have sprung.
When it comes to “buddy cop” team ups, there have been many iconic combinations throughout time. ‘Beverly Hills Cop’, ‘Rush Hour’ and ‘Bad Boys’ are three that we had to put on a list or else people would riot, but there are endless more. ‘Red Notice’ how ever has a unique task of putting 3 pop culture icons into the same film, and creating new characters from them. Dwayne Johnson, leads the film as a disgraced super cop, that has to clear his name… just like in ‘Hobbs and Shaw’. Ryan Reynolds is a quirky, smart mouthed who is highly skilled, and is just trying to do his job… just like in ‘The Body Guards Wife’. Finally Gal Gadot is an intelligent, masterful thief who uses her looks as well as her talent to get the job done without getting caught… just like her role in the ‘Furious 7’. SO, hopefully all these alumni of the ‘Fast & Furious’ franchise (YES Ryan Reynolds was in Hobbs & Shaw, making him part of the “Fast Saga” as well.) can take rolls that they have fit into int the past, and hopefully create something memorable and new. The film is being released on Netflix only, but here to a big release, and even bigger numbers. Take a look at the final trailer below.
Vending machines are quite amazing contraptions that (you know if you’ve ever spent an extended period of time traveling) can contain just about anything. There are event vending machine food courts in Japan that are simply just benches. You pick your seat, and there you can select from a variety of hot meals, all from vending machines. From iPhones to alcoholic beverages to Triscuits vending machines seem to be the ubiquitous staple for getting things in a hurry. If you think the oddest vending machines are the ones that have a claw and some unreachable teddy bears in them, you’re dead wrong. These top 10 RANDOM-ASS machines just let you know to expect the unexpected when it comes to what may find out there on the road.
Now that Halloween is “back”, #DJStormsBlog is presenting its first annual Halloween costume competition. Just email all pics to “Submissions@DJStormsBlog.com”. Go out, have fun, be safe, scare your kids a little bit, and send your pics. The top 10 will be posted on Nov. 2nd. 😈💯 Tell a friend to tell a friend. We post the results on Nov. 2nd.
Between Dave Chappelle’s ground breaking specials, ‘Squid Games’, and Australia’s ‘Why Are You Like This’, Netflix’s stock just keeps going up. This treasure trove of new content is only getting more interesting, especially with the addition of a live action rendition of ‘Cowboy Bebop’. There have been endless attempts at bringing Japans’ most popular anime shows or movies to live action with some blockbusters like ‘DragonBall’, ‘Alita: Battle Angel’, ‘Ghost In The Shell’, ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’, and ‘Speed Racer’. (Remember all of those well loved, wonderfully reviewed classics?). But in what seems to be the beginnings of a turn-around for Anime to live-action misadventures, ‘Cowboy Bebop’ seems to be an honest attempt at making this transition right. When taking a look at the first trailer for this experiment below, you can’t help but think to yourself… “This one actually looks pretty good.”
The North Carolina born, Bay Area raised, New York resident Reginald Sylvester II… (NOT Jr. II. He’s dope like that) has a brand new team up with a familiar force in the fashion landscape. Yoox. “The desire to break down the boundaries between art, design and fashion. The need to create something unique and unprecedented.” Their collection ‘OUR HOUSE’ speaks from a community born from the artistic vision of Tschabalala Self, Brandon Blackwood and Reginald Sylvester II. “Three creative minds that have come together in perfect harmony.” Sylvester’s “Candle Vessel” is the result of his experience and sensitivity and packaging created by Tschabalala Self. This abstract piece is more than an eye catcher, it speaks to the unique and distinguished talents of its creator, check the Yoox website to see if you can get a hold of one for yourself.
Above… is just a horribly made cake. This is just shotty work at its finest, but its not a scam. Nothing hurts as much as a food scam. Picture a single lonely raisin in a puffy cinnamon and raisin bagel, or a dash of mayo gently glued to the surface of a taco when you ask for extra sour cream on the side, or think of how many lies you had to suck in with all that deceptive packaging sold on the shelves like it was no big deal… If that’s not cruel, I don’t know what is. Food scams are so widespread, people don’t really talk about them. Have we all become immune to them? Luckily, these fraudulent incidents of people getting not what they ordered, not what they paid for, and strictly not what they wanted. Let’s see a selection of the nastiest food scams below.
Scientists have found signs of a planet transiting a star outside of the Milky Way, potentially representing what could be the first-ever planet to be detected in another galaxy. Researchers found evidence of a planet in the Messier 51 galaxy, located some 28 million light-years away from the Milky Way, as they detected a dip in brightness in the luminous “whirlpool” system. They used NASA’s Chandra X-ray Telescope to observe transits, which can sometimes occur when planets pass in front of stars and block out a portion of the light. The transit technique has been used by astronomers for years to aid the discovery of exoplanets and exoplanet candidates — all of which have been found in the Milky Way up until now. It’s a method that has produced successful results, though it also presents a few challenges, particularly for scientists wanting a second viewing to confirm their finding. “Unfortunately to confirm that we’re seeing a planet we would likely have to wait decades to see another transit,” said Nia Imara, who co-authored the recently published paper, presenting data that is consistent with a model of a planet candidate. “And because of the uncertainties about how long it takes to orbit, we wouldn’t know exactly when to look.” While attempts to confirm the observation may be thwarted, the study’s lead author, Rosanne Di Stefano, recognized that the potential discovery may help to broaden future studies and “open up a whole new arena for finding other worlds by searching for planet candidates at X-ray wavelengths, a strategy that makes it possible to discover them in other galaxies.”
By now, anyone with a special interest in controversy, comedy, Netflix, Dave Chappelle, or any of his recent specials, has heard of the controversy surrounding Dave Chappelle’s Netflix recent comedy special. (Yes the sentence was structured that was on purpose). But regardless of where you stand on the issues that “The Closer” brought up, it goes without saying that Chappelle is swimming against stream in regards to cancel culture. After some of the transgender members of the Netflix staff expressed their disgust in regards to the content of his $20 million dollar stand up set “The Closer”, the internet, and even CNN, was on fire with what people thought. In true Dave Chappelle fashion, he surprised people with a response, not only saying where he stood with Netflix employees holding him the crosshairs, but discussing his new documentary, and his 10 city comedy tour (that is already sold out). Check out just a clip of what he had to say for himself while he poses “Am I cancelled?” What do you think?
There’s a certain expanse of the mind that no others can see besides yourself. (Like when you rub your eyes real hard and close them again). That may be a crude example of this phenomenon, but there are many others. What Wes Cockx seems to have done, is to take his unique sight and visions to create these ridiculously intrinsic yet digital art pieces. They were all created not by just good old fashioned 2D illustrations, but with digital alchemy consisting of programs like Cinema 4D, Redshift, and the Adobe Creative Suite among MANY more. But just sit back, relax, and immerse yourself in these incredible feats for the eyes.
Modern Villas create world-class luxury architecture, in a more time, and cost-effective way than prima donna “starchitects”. A lot of their projects are “cross border”. A Belgian building in a luxury home Spain, a Dutchman building villas in the Caribbean, an American building mansions in Africa, or a Chinese building in Sydney the list goes on and on. Their network of architects makes it safe and easy to build anywhere. The videos may be virtual reality, but what you see is what you get. Modern Villas is at the forefront of high tech architecture software. The luxury architects design in a virtual 3D environment, so they can create more beautiful, creative and luxurious home designs. Better, and faster. It would be amazing to see your house before a single shovel hit the ground. Check out some their spectacular designs already in existence.
This leading stratospheric ballooning company, recently announced an expansion of services that includes the “global launch” of the first-of-its-kind, edge-of-space experience. The World View space tourism experience is the most affordable, (at $50,000) longest duration and most accessible space experience on Earth. As a purpose-first company, World View is focused on inspiring, creating and exploring new perspectives, offering participants more accessibility to space tourism experiences than ever before. World View’s mission is to bring as many people as possible to the edge of space so that at 100,000 feet, they’ll see a world without borders or species and come back driven to make the world a better place. The company believes that by reaching a critical mass of people experiencing what has been labeled the Overview Effect that humanity will be able to markedly improve the future of our fragile Earth. Clink any of the photos for more information.
What goes around comes around, and we don’t just mean records on a turntable. Audiophiles swear by the sound quality of vinyl over CDs, MP3s, and other files, and now younger generations are starting to see the light. Vinyl sales continue to increase each year as CD sales drop, which means that more and more young people are borrowing albums from their parents or buying their own, while those who grew up with them are perhaps dusting off their cherished collections. New records are typically more expensive than other formats, but fans would argue that the listening experience and ability to hold the music in your hands is worth the premium. There is also a culture of collecting that comes with switching to vinyl that could pay off big time, if you know what you have or what to look for. First pressings by big acts like The Beatles or Bruce Springsteen, and finds like misprints and pressings with alternate covers, can greatly increase the value of vinyl if the copies are kept in pristine condition. Before you dig through those crates to listen to your favorite throwback LP or 45-RPM single, make sure that what you’re holding isn’t worth a full semester of college. Here are some records that you may have (or used to have) that are worth way more than their original sticker price.
Collector John Marshall of moneymusic.com once told Los Angeles radio station K-Earth that Springsteen’s first release with Columbia Records can fetch as much as $5000. Discogs lists “never” as the last time a copy was sold on the website, but if you found and held onto a copy, you could be the first.
The original “butcher” cover of this record was not well-received, so Capitol Records spent $250,000 recalling the 750,000 copies that had already been shipped to stores. The covers were changed, but as with most recalls, some of the original copies remained out in the world and have been sold for as much as $15,300. If you unknowingly inherited one of those strays, it’s time to cash in.
Between 300 and 1000 copies of this jazz record were released in 1957, and there is one small change that makes them more valuable than other records from the label. According to The Vinyl Factory, the rumor is that Blue Note ran out of labels halfway through the first pressing of the album. The standard address for the record label is 47 West 63rd NYC, but some of the records have labels that say 47 West 63rd New York 23 on one side. There is some debate about the value though, as one record that did not have the special label still sold for over $10,000 on eBay.
As the story goes, English punk rock band the Sex Pistols were signed in early March 1977 by A&M Records, and then famously dropped from the label only six days later because of their behavior. When it decided to cut ties with the band, the record company had already pressed 25,000 copies of their single “God Save the Queen.” The order was given for the records to be destroyed, but over the past 39 years, nine copies have surfaced and have sold for upward of $8600. No one knows how many copies are still unaccounted for, but someone surely has to have one.
The Beatles’s self-titled double album (which later became known as the White Album) originally released in 1968, but not all copies were created equal. The members of the band and executives at the studio were given copies stamped with serial numbers that began with A00000, each in consecutive order (A000001, A000002, etc.). The very first copy, which Clifford J. Yamasaki of Let It Be Records purchased from an executive at Capitol Records in the 1970s, sold in 2013 for $35,000, a year after the copy with serial number A0000023 sold at auction for $13,750. The odds that you once owned a copy of the album that had a low serial number are slim to none, but not impossible.
Drake the type of guy to threaten legal action against Degrassi because he thought his character’s wheelchair made him “look soft” and then also, many, many years later, say “Geez Louise!” after being fouled during a friendly game of pickup at his opulent mansion. The Toronto-based superstar remains everyone’s favourite rapper to playfully dunk on (literally as well as figuratively, it seems) as the ancient “Drake the Type” meme continues to re-emerge and gain steam online among a new generation of internet users. But don’t get it twisted; Drizzy isn’t the butt of any jokes about his own corniness, because he owns and often even perpetuates the “soft” image his fans have long swooned over. In other words, he’s in on the joke, as clearly evidenced by new video footage from Toronto basketball YouTuber and viral sensation K Showtime.
The director of photography in an Alec Baldwin movie was killed and the film’s director was injured on October 21st when the actor fired a prop firearm on the set of a movie in New Mexico. Halyna Hutchins, 42, was killed and Joel Souza, 48, was injured around 1:50 p.m. on the set of “Rust,” a Western being filmed in Santa Fe County, Juan Rios, a spokesman for the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office, said. The circumstances of the shooting are under investigation. Mr. Rios said the shooting at Bonanza Creek Ranch happened in the middle of a scene that was either being rehearsed or filmed. He said the Sheriff’s Office was interviewing people on the set to determine how the two had been shot. This seems scarily similar to the incident that resulted in the death of Brandon Lee (Bruce Lee’s son) during the filming of the movie ‘The Crow’.
“We’re trying to determine right now how and what type of projectile was used in the firearm,” he said. Mr. Rios said on Thursday night that the Sheriff’s Office had not filed charges against anyone in connection with the shooting. Ms. Hutchins was flown to the University of New Mexico Hospital in Albuquerque, where she later died, Mr. Rios said. Mr. Souza was taken to CHRISTUS St. Vincent Regional Medical Center in Santa Fe. Mr. Souza’s condition was not immediately available. The film’s producers and a representative for Mr. Baldwin, 63, did not immediately respond to emails or phone calls on Thursday night. On Thursday morning, Mr. Baldwin posted a photo on Instagram in his film costume, which included what appeared to be a prosthetic wound on his torso. We know that he didn’t know… but a tad bit in bad taste though.
This week, the LA Leakers on Los Angeles’ hit station Power 106 had on the iconic Big Sean for a sit down session. The Detroit rapper came with nothing but his best to discuss topics like his ability to provide for his family, his hunger and drive, and his closeness to Kobe Bryant. Spitting bars over ‘Hurricane’ from Kanye West (who’s about to change his legal name to Ye… But that’s a topic for a different post) and Drake’s ‘All Love’. The lyrics have to be heard to be absorbed, so take a look at the nearly 9 MINUTE freestyle session in the video below.
The all-female artist collective ‘Beyond Earth’ introduces ‘Living Light’, a vibrant, jellyfish-like balloon artwork designed to be launched into earth’s stratosphere. The craft combines biology, artificial intelligence, and aerospace technology to explore the connections between our blue planet and the boundlessness of outer space. On June 18, 2021, the installation flew nearly 19 miles above the Earth’s surface aboard the inaugural trial flight of a shuttle called ‘Neptune One’, becoming the first large-scale artwork to fly into space. The design by ‘Beyond Earth’ draws inspiration from the vast biodiversity of aquatic life on Earth. “The depths of the ocean reveal an endless frontier of Earth’s biology, where many of the inhabitants create and use light in beautiful, often mesmerizing ways”. ‘Living Light’ mimics the iridescent qualities of these marine species, illuminating its surroundings as it enters the dark abyss of space. To realize this one-of-a-kind piece, the artists researched thousands of aquatic life forms, creating an extensive dataset of biological structures that float, move, and glow in the ocean, as if traveling in space.
The dataset was then used for machine learning to generate the inner organ designs for ‘Living Light’, a method that combines biomimicry and artificial intelligence. In this way, hundreds of artistic images of new imaginary space organisms were formed, with ‘Living Light’ taking shape as the summation of these creatures. On June 18, 2021, luxury spaceflight experience company Space Perspective completed the first test flight for ‘Neptune One’, a full-size capsule simulator powered by a space balloon. The shuttle carried the ‘Living Light’ artwork to above 99% of the Earth’s atmosphere. During the journey, the movement triggered color and light shifts within the iridescent and fluorescent materials of the piece. The changes that occurred – both internally and externally – not only made the vessel appear lifelike, but also alluded to the transformational experiences of spaceflight. ‘Living Light’ ventured to a new world to return transformed, offering a new perspective of Earth. For both teams at beyond Earth and Space Perspective, this whole experience serves as a metaphor for bringing humankind to space, as well as a celebration of the dawn of commercial space travel.
Sony Pictures has released an international trailer for “Ghostbusters: Afterlife”, and while a few shots are recycled from previous promos, this teaser comprised almost entirely of new footage. When the review embargo lifted last week, many critics took issue with how much Afterlife relied on fan-service and revisiting well-known scenarios from the original movies, and the marketing team appears to have taken this on board… by dialling the nostalgia all the way up to 11 for this new trailer. We hear an updated version of the classic theme as our young heroes chase spooks in the Ecto-1, there are several mentions of Egon (the late Harold Ramis), and the return of one of the first film’s Terror Dogs. In fact, right at the end we get a recreation of the scene in which Louis Tully (Rick Moranis) discovers one of the preternatural pooches in his closet. While this will likely prove to be divisive, we have a feeling a lot of Ghostbusters fans are going to lap it up.
Without spoiling the movie, “The Last Duel” has been hailed as one of this year’s best films, utilizing a unique storytelling method that allows viewers to see the varying perspectives of Jean de Carrouges (Matt Damon), Jacques Le Gris (Adam Driver), and Marguerite de Carrouges (Jodie Comer) as they recount the moments preceding and immediately following a most horrific crime. While we’ve seen the film and won’t give away anything about what transpires, everyone should know by now that it ends with an epic duel – the eponymous last duel – that sees Jean de Carrouges and Jacques Le Gris battle it out, the former seemingly fighting for his wife’s honor while the latter fights to prove his innocence.
The Last Duel has been hailed as one of this year’s best films, utilizing a unique storytelling method that allows viewers to see the varying perspectives of Jean de Carrouges (Matt Damon), Jacques Le Gris (Adam Driver), and Marguerite de Carrouges (Jodie Comer) as they recount the moments preceding and immediately following a most horrific crime. While we’ve seen the film and won’t give away anything about what transpires, everyone should know by now that it ends with an epic duel – the eponymous last duel – that sees Jean de Carrouges and Jacques Le Gris battle it out, the former seemingly fighting for his wife’s honor while the latter fights to prove his innocence.
When you think of the two words “genetic abnormality” there aren’t many positive things that come to peoples minds. Maybe The X-Men, vitiligo, or bring born with an extra finger or something is the stereotype… but while these things may happen, there are some quite eye catching, scene stealing, jaw dropping, and attention grabbing rarities that make you wish you were a little less than normal. Check out the top bunch below… also we threw in folks with 6 fingers, and vitiligo as bonuses for good measure. (That’d be cool to be able to count to twelve on two hands). This post might inspire you to pursue a career in genetics or to become a scientist. The world of genetics is fascinating, to say the least. It can make you feel like you’re living in a sci-fi book, instead of on Planet Earth, and there are plenty of examples that make us go, “Wow, I can’t believe this is real.”
In 2002, after applying for government assistance in the state of Washington, Lydia Fairchild was told that her two children were not a genetic match with her and that therefore, biologically, she could not be their mother. Researchers later determined that the genetic mismatch was due to chimerism, a condition in which two genetically distinct cell lines are present in one body. The state accused Fairchild of fraud and filed a lawsuit against her. Following evidence from another case of chimerism documented in The New England Journal of Medicine in a woman named Karen Keegan, Fairchild was able to secure legal counsel and establish evidence of her biological maternity. A cervical swab eventually revealed Fairchild’s second distinct cell line, showing that she had not genetically matched her children because she was a chimera. Fairchild’s case was one of the first public accounts of chimerism and has been used as an example in subsequent discussions about the validity and reliability of DNA evidence in legal proceedings within the United States. Chimeras are organisms that have two different sets of DNA, or the genetic material that contains instructions for the development and functioning of an organism, present in their bodies. Most organisms only have one set of DNA, which is present and identical in every cell throughout that organism’s body.
An organism gets approximately half of its DNA from each of its parents’ gametes, or their sperm and egg cells, which carry DNA from parent to offspring. In human reproduction, one sperm typically fuses with one egg to create a fertilized egg that can develop into a fetus. However, sometimes the ovaries, which are organs in the female body that produce and store eggs, release more than one egg at a time, a phenomenon known as hyperovulation. In such cases, two different sperm can fertilize two separate eggs released during hyperovulation, creating two genetically distinct fertilized eggs that can develop into non-identical twins. However, in some cases, those two fertilized eggs may fuse together during an early stage of development, resulting in a chimera made of two genetically distinct cell lines. As a consequence, instead of having cells with identical DNA throughout their body, a chimera has different DNA present in different parts of their body so that the DNA in their blood, for example, may not be the same as the DNA in their saliva. “I have two sets of DNA, two sets of blood and immune cells. The two colors of skin pigmentation on my torso is from my and my twin’s two different genetic makeups. My particular case of Chimerism is linked to autoimmune disease. I went undiagnosed for more than half my life due to the rarity of my condition. I’m now an advocate for Chimerism, it’s link to autoimmune disease and body positivity. My hope is to prevent others from going undiagnosed how I did.”
As many people may already know, there still is no trailer for Dwayne Johnson’s passion project “Black Adam”, HOWEVER, thanks to DC’s Fandome exhibition, The Rock was able to display a featurette. This movie has been in a years long fight through the workings of Hollywood, and now is finally wrapping up its production. In a cross section of some of the scenes shown off you can hear them say Shazam’s name, and while we’re not entirely sure what exactly they have to do with one another, Its widely known that Black Adam is a Shazam villain. One of the Hodge brothers is in the film which is never a bad thing for any film, but now that we’ve gotten a peak at just a hair of a hind of the finished product, we’re sure this is just driving fans that can’t wait to see an actual first trailer… much less the finished film.
Caity Costa has returned with her 2nd single off “The Butterly EP”. Heavy hitting bass is an unexpected yet welcome backdrop to Costa’s soft singing with gentle Melodie’s and soothing harmonies. The songs content is geared towards finding a new beginning after dirtier times. Which can lend itself to an innumerable number of situations we all face either day to day or over time. The overall positive and uplifting tone of the song is reason enough to give it a listen, but as her collection of releases grows, “Cleanse” is a track that will resonate with anyone, but most of all with those who need to hear something uplifting. Watch below for just a quick preview, and click the cover above to stream.
DJ Storm's Blog 