Open Thread

Boing Boing reports: Greta Thunberg’s Joan of Arc-grade tongue-lashing to the world’s leaders at the UN makes for some incredible mashup possibilities: it’s not merely that her excellent delivery lent itself to death metal, but also her use of the phrase “right here, right now,” was tailor-made for insertion into Fatboy Slim’s track of the same name — hence Fatboy …

Newsweek reports: A man was shot dead by police after he went on a rampage and rammed his car into a Chick-fil-A in Lincoln, Nebraska, before chasing after customers. An employee at the restaurant told the Lincoln Journal Star that a guy “just went off.” The man started flipping tables and throwing trays before he was confronted and left the …

USA Today reports: A Florida man is accused of enticing an alligator to bite his arm and pouring beer into its mouth after his friend caught the reptile. Timothy Kepke, 27, of Hobe Sound and Noah Osborne, 22, of Stuart were arrested Oct. 3. Each was charged with unlawfully taking an alligator, a felony. According to a Florida Fish and …

Billboard Magazine reports: Barbra Streisand took to Twitter today to pay tribute to her iconic “Happy Days Are Here Again” and “Get Happy” duet with Judy Garland back in 1963. “Such a special moment in my career,” Streisand wrote. “She was incredible. Totally unique. Just been reminded this aired 56 years ago today on CBS.” The collaboration between the two …

UPI reports: Security cameras at a New York state hair salon captured the moment a deer crashed through the window of the business and ran loose inside. Video shared on Facebook by the Be.you.tiful Hair Salon in Suffolk County, Long Island, shows the antlered buck crash through a large window, striking a woman sitting on a couch just inside the …

NPR reports: Who doesn’t love big, fat bears? At least from a distance. And who doesn’t love filling out a bracket where winners move on and losers go home? Combine the two and you’ve got Fat Bear Week — a kind of Ursine March Madness, in October. There are an estimated 2,000 bears in Katmai National Park & Preserve, a …

UPI reports: A public art installation in Philadelphia gives new meaning to the phrase “Ghost Ship” by featuring a hologram of an 18th century ship floating in the water. The Ghost Ship installation, by the Europe-based Biangle Studio, premiered Friday just off the Race Street Pier in the Delaware River. The installation uses light and water to create the three-dimensional …

Billboard Magazine reports: On Friday (Oct. 4), alongside the release of his long-awaited fifth studio album, Mika released a new video for his song “Sanremo,” a shimmering pop jam about finding a place just for you and your lover. The video follows that thread, but down a much darker and more unexpected path. Taking place in what appears to be …

NBC News reports: A Florida man has been sneaking around his neighborhood tampering with electric scooters parked on the streets, police say. Fort Lauderdale police posted a surveillance video Tuesday showing a man walking up to an electrical scooter on the street, slapping a white sticker on its QR code, and cutting its brake lines. Police say that more than …

Billboard Magazine reports: What happens when you take a Broadway and B-movie classic, restage it for a modern audience and get Pose star Mj Rodriguez and Be More Chill‘s George Salazar to star? According to their latest performance, you get gold. On Tuesday (Oct. 1), Rodriguez and Salazar appeared on The Late Late Show with James Corden to perform “Suddenly …

Billboard Magazine reports: With King Princess readying her debut album on Mark Ronson’s Columbia imprint Zelig Records, the fast-rising genderqueer artist and the super-producer combined forces for a cover of an old ’60s standby. It’s The Turtles’ “Happy Together,” the 1967 psych-rock No. 1 hit that’s been covered by many, many artists since. On this brand new cover, King Princess …

Billboard Magazine reports: Lil Nas X opened up about his journey to coming out as gay in an interview with Gayle King set to air on Tuesday’s CBS This Morning. In a preview of the sit-down released Monday, the rapper told Gayle King that he “knew” growing up that he was gay. “Especially during my teenage years, I would just …

Billboard Magazine reports: A Manhattan federal judge has approved the National Music Publishers’ Association’s (NMPA) request to double damages to $300 million in a lawsuit against Peloton, for the exercise startup’s alleged use of more than 2,000 songs in its workout videos without the proper licenses. U.S. District Judge Denise L. Cote approved the NMPA’s amendment on Friday, roughly two …

Billboard Magazine reports: The Honey Drippers’ oft-sampled 1973 funk single “Impeach the President” surged 1,053% in on-demand U.S. streams in the wake of the House of Representatives announcing that it was moving forward with an official impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump. On Sept. 24 (the day the impeachment inquiry was announced) and Sept. 25, “Impeach the President” garnered 52,000 …

Variety reports: Jim Parsons is hoping to make another big bang in Hollywood with his next role. The actor-producer and Dylan McDermott are among nine who have joined Ryan Murphy’s “Hollywood” series at Netflix. The others jumping aboard are Samara Weaving, Maude Apatow, Joe Mantello, Laura Harrier and Jake Picking. They join previous announced cast members Darren Criss, Jeremy Pope …

San Francisco’s CBS News affiliate reports: A Tesla electric patrol car by the Fremont Police ran low on electricity in the middle of a pursuit, after the department said someone forgot to plug the vehicle into a charger. According to officials, the officer was pursuing a vehicle headed down to the South Bay when the car began to run low …

The Huffington Post reports: Singer-songwriter Tom Goss wants to remind listeners that they have “the power to change their own lives” in his latest single, “La Bufadora.”  Goss appears alongside actor Daniel Franzese ― who audiences will recognize from “Mean Girls” and HBO’s “Looking” ― as one half of a tempestuous couple on an ill-fated vacation along the Mexican coast. …

Playbill reports: Judy Garland fans and eager moviegoers can get a taste of Judy a few days before the film’s September 27 release; listen to the track “Get Happy,” featuring star Renée Zellweger and Grammy and Oscar-winning artist Sam Smith. Judy follows Garland’s later years, specifically her final string of performances at London’s Talk of the Town. The previously announced …

UPI reports: A surfer off the Massachusetts coast had an uncomfortably close encounter with a great white shark and moment was captured by a photographer on shore. Devon Zimmerman, 30, said he had only been surfing on Cape Cod off Nauset Beach in Orleans for a short time when he spotted the dorsal fin in the water only a few …

Billboard Magazine reports: Music streaming continues to become an incredibly popular means of consuming music in the U.S., as year-to-date on-demand audio streams of songs have now surpassed the half-trillion mark. In the week ending Sept. 12, there were 14.8 billion on-demand audio streams registered according to Nielsen Music, bringing 2019’s total to 505.5 billion. That’s up 23% compared to …