Pheaturing Kris Wu

Hey, kids, welcome to the Phile for a Monday. How are you? A Canadian millionaire and former mayoral candidate for the Great White North’s capital of Ottowa is in serious trouble for being extremely un-Canadian to his ex-wife during their divorce. More specifically, 55-year-old businessman Bruce McConville got tossed in whatever Canada’s version of jail is... a decent but not great Holiday Inn?... after he claimed to Superior Court Justice Kevin Phillips that, instead of giving his ex-wife the million bucks he was told he owed in child and spousal support, he burned it. Yup, get this, $743,000 in September and another $296,000 in December. Both in bonfires that would make even the most glamorous of glampers blush with shame. He should have said, “You honor, I’m not keeping the money from my wife. I just sent it to hell to wait for her there.” But in Canada that level of rudeness would’ve gotten him a life sentence so it’s probably for the best that he didn’t. The judge didn’t believe McConville, however, telling him that he does not think he is an honest man. So along with the jail sentence, he ordered the bitter divorcee to give the real whereabouts of the money. Until he does, McConville will be fined $2,000 a day. McConville is also in trouble for purportedly selling other assets and properties to a former business partner in order to keep them out of his wife’s hands despite a court order telling him not to offload any assets until they could be properly accounted for. If this all is true, imagine being this guy’s kid. That kid is going to win every crazy divorce story contest he ever finds himself in when he’s hanging out, shooting the shit with friends. “Oh one time your mom and dad yelled at each other at your little league game and it was super embarrassing? My dad hates my mom so bad that one time he crushed a sixer of Molson tallboys and then burned a million dollars in our BBQ pit instead of giving it to her.”
A Kansas woman is on trial for murder in the decapitation of her ex-boyfriend’s mother whose body was discovered in the suspect’s garage and her head was dumped in the kitchen sink. Rachael Hilyard, of Wichita, is charged with first-degree murder in the April 2017 killing of 63-year-old Micki Davis. Prosecutors say Hilyard demanded that Davis collect her son’s belongings from her home. Davis and her 9-year-old grandson went to Hilyard’s home, and that’s when Hilyard attacked. Authorities say the boy ran away and called the police using his grandmother’s cellphone. He wasn’t present when his grandmother was killed. As the trial got underway a few weeks ago, defense attorney Quentin Pittman didn’t dispute that his client killed Davis and said he anticipated the jury would find her guilty of the “appropriate charge.” He didn’t say what that charge might be, The Wichita Eagle reported. Prosecutors said they would introduce evidence at trial such as testimony from the police officers who discovered Davis’ body lying in Hilyard’s garage, a taped law enforcement interview with the grandson, and photos of the crime scene. In a jailhouse interview not long after she was arrested, Hilyard told The Eagle that God was responsible for Davis’ death. She said a church had performed an exorcism to eradicate “evil spirits” at her house in the days before the killing. She has received treatment at the state psychiatric hospital since her arrest. She was declared competent for trial in August.
Typically when you start at a new job, you always want to make sure to leave a good impression that very first day. Well, one man left quite an impression, all right. What did he do? He decided to steal on his first day of work, yup, the usual. According to authorities, the employee made off with more than $17,000 in cigarettes, cash, and lottery tickets while he was working. The incident occurred at the Go On Gas station in Hamden, Connecticut, when management hired a new overnight employee to run the gas station on his own. Hamden Police Department stated the store owner used an app on his cell phone to see the store camera and check in on how the new employee was doing. He was shocked to see the brand new employee was nowhere to be seen. Through a statement the Hamden Police noted, “[The owner] quickly ascertained that the new employee had left. The store owner immediately responded to the store and ascertained that the new employee had stolen numerous items including lottery tickets, 89 boxes of cigarettes and money.” The total loss is valued at $17,183.00. Authorities stated the suspect also stole his employment folder with all his personal information, meaning yes, the store owner not only has no way to identify this sly man but doesn’t even know the name of his former employee! I have to admit, this is no average man, he is definitely smart and knew exactly what he was doing. I really have to give this man props, especially for doing it at a gas station where there are a million cameras. Someone will definitely recognize him on the street and turn him in. But, as of today Hamden Police Department has yet to find him and are asking the public for help in finding this sneaky man. So, if you see someone on the street similar to this guy...

Well, you know what to do.
A 5-year-old girl from Colorado tragically died from acute meth poisoning after accidentally drinking her mother’s bong water, and was left for three hours without medical help. According to court records, the girl told her mother she was “seeing monsters and demons.” Authorities stated Sophia Larson drank the tainted water from her mother, 26-year-old Stephanie Alvarado who had been using it during a drug bender with her two cousins. Larson was upset after reportedly losing her job because of a failed drug test. The arrest affidavit stated the girl spat out the water saying it was “yucky” but quickly began to have terrifying hallucinations from the high levels of meth, that eventually killed her. Instead of seeking medical help, the adults gave her milk, wrapped her in a blanket, and “prayed and read from the Bible” since the mom was scared of losing custody of the girl if she called 911. The 5-year-girl reportedly passed out a short time after and blacked out, which is when the trio took her to a nearby apartment and gave her oxygen through a tube. Not responding, they eventually took her to Grand River Hospital, where little Sophia was pronounced dead by a heart attack. Police were able to find baggies filled with a white powder substance, drug residue on a dollar bill, and pipes and bongs all throughout the apartment. The death was ruled to be from methamphetamine intoxication, after “very very high” levels of drug found in the girl’s system. Sophia’s mother, along with her two cousins, Bertha Karina Ceballos-Romo, 28, and Daniel Alvarado, 27, were all arrested. They were all charged with possession of a controlled substance, reckless endangerment, and child abuse resulting in death. According to the Rifle police arrest warrant affidavit, Alec Larson, Sophia’s 23-year-old father, split from his ex because of her drug addiction, he stated the death changed him in a way that “scares him.” He noted, “If they would have taken her when they saw my daughter drank that, she may have been a little slow and not right in the head... but my daughter would still be here with me today. I miss her every second, every day.” The three arrested have been released on bond but have not yet entered a plea.
Here’s a fun new thing to look out for if you’re a parent: kidnappers and child traffickers posing as Child Protective Services in order to steal your children and do unspeakable things to or with them. According to a Facebook post made by Ashley Bradley, a mother in central New York, that’s exactly what happened to her recently. A woman approached Bradley’s home and claimed she was from the Delaware County Child Protective Services but couldn’t produce any evidence when Bradley asked her to. SMH. Every time you try to steal a kid dressed up as a government agent someone always ask for a badge, don’t they? Bradley, who had no cases open with the CPS and, to her knowledge, no cause for one to be opened, soon realized that something was not right. She went inside, checked to make sure her child was okay, and then called the police. When she came back to her porch the woman who claimed to be from CPS was hurriedly walking around the corner, realizing her genius plan had somehow been foiled. Police later told Bradley that this is often the M.O. of child traffickers hoping to take advantage of scared mothers too confused to say no. This is abjectly terrifying. Bradley seemed suspicious enough that even had the potential kidnapper produced a badge, she still probably would have refused, but chances are there are mothers out there who wouldn’t, instead hoping compliance would lessen whatever trouble they thought they were in. And scrounging up a passable badge doesn’t sound all that difficult. Bradley says she has no idea how her home, in particular, was chosen, which makes the whole thing even more terrifying. In other words, you might want to spread the word that child traffickers and kidnappers are posing as Child Protective Services in order to Rumplestiltskin your kids. Be on the lookout and warn others.
Instead of doing this blog thing I should be listening to this record...

Ummm... maybe not. Journalists sometimes make mistakes but that just means you might end up reading a funny editorial...

We used to live right across the street from Natalie Wood when I was little in London and she babysat me a few times. My mum and Natalie were friends and used to go shopping together. How's that for some fun trivia about me? Okay, did you see Mike Bloomberg's new ad? I have it right here...

Very clever, right? Bob Iger stepped down as CEO of the Walt Disney Company. I'm happy to say he has a brand new job...

If I ever leave Disney maybe I'll get a job at Publix as well. If I had a TARDIS I would go to Central Park in 1974 and find Robin Williams who was a mime then...

Ace Frehley from Kiss is an amazing guitar player... did you know though he even plays a mean slug? Check it out!

Haha. Do you guys know what an Influencer is? I'm not sure I know but they are out there in the wild.

Hey, future kids, this is Kurt Cobain...

Haha. You know I live in Florida, right? Well, there's things that happen in Florida that happen nowhere else in the Universe.

A 68-year-old Florida woman Pamela Carr confirmed beyond a shadow of a doubt in her husband’s mind that he was doing the right thing when, after telling her he wanted a divorce, she repeatedly tasered the defenseless 73-year-old man. After Thomas Burke told his wife of nine years that he wanted a separation an argument between the two broke out and ultimately ended with bolts of rage shooting through Carr in a figurative sense and, simultaneously and in a totally literal sense, bolts of electricity shooting through Burke. Carr was arrested on aggravated domestic battery charges. She admitted to police that she used the taser but claimed it was in self-defense, though it’s hard to look like the victim when your old husband is drooling and lying in a pool of pretty much all the rest of his bodily fluids. No idea if that part actually happened. Carr was released later that same day from the county lockup after posting her surprisingly low $1,000 bond. She is also no longer allowed to contact Burke, but is allowed to come back to their home to pick up her possessions under the supervision of a law enforcement officer. A few observations here... 1. This is such a monkey paw wish of a way to have the universe confirm to you that you’re making the right decision. An, “I feel the same way, Thomas” probably would’ve been preferred to electrocution. 2. I believe that, in Florida, tasering your partner during an argument about divorce legally counts as a divorce. So Burke has that going for him at least. I mean, really, how many of us would choose a little bit of painful electricity being shot through our bodies over paying a lawyer? Like… 90% of us? At least that.

Haha. If you spot the Mindphuck let me know. So, a woman emailed the Phile about the flack she's getting from her fiancé's family for not wanting her sister-in-law to bring her son to the bachelorette weekend. No, she doesn't have a vendetta against her two-year-old nephew-to-be, she just doesn't want to have kids present at the bar crawl.

"Me and my fiancé have been together six years and have a little boy who is two. I am an only child and my fiancé has four sisters. For context, I’ve never had a strong relationship with any of them (not through lack of trying). They are extremely close and even bought houses next to one another. They kind of have a clique and I’m tolerated I guess, but not really accepted. They have often vocalized indirectly how they prefer fiancés ex (who cheated on him) which hurts. I’ve just kind of accepted how life is and try my best to build bridges where I can. The problem starts here: for my bachelorette party, we decided to book a weekend away to a hotel in a nearby country. I was super excited as I have never had a ‘girls trip.' It works out to around $200 each for three nights including flights. We booked it a year and a half in advance to give everyone a chance to save. So far their have been no problems with anyone, except for [sisters-in-law]." The sisters-in-law are being snobs about the weekend, while the bride and her friends are working class. "They made comments on the hotel, location, etc despite them being best in the area. Myself and my Maid of Honor are working class and have to save for the wedding. This is our only luxury. His sisters on the other hand are all well-off (married into money) and have multiple trips a year both with and without their kids. We agreed and the place was booked. Now, two months before the trip, one sister-in-law is insisting on bringing her child (the same age as our son) I refused and have been called a huge asshole for it by all of his sisters. They say she has anxiety over leaving him with her husband who has had him while she has had week long trips before with her friends no problem. She has never been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder. I have had anxiety for years and have recently stopped counseling so I understand what it can be like, but I suspect it’s an excuse. She is very self centered and always seeks the limelight (announcing her pregnancy at her friends baby shower etcetera) and I’ve reached the end of my tether. Our hotel is adults only. We have excursions booked where children aren’t permitted, have bar crawls planned etcetera and an adults only spa day. There is absolutely no place for a child, let alone for a two year old boy. She expects us to change the hotel last minute to accommodate him." While this might seem like an obvious and understandable decision, the groom's family is taking the opportunity to be mean to the bride. "He is my nephew and I love him, but this is my ONE thing that I want to be about me. I’ve never had a birthday party, engagement party, baby shower etcetera. I just want this one trip to be about me, as selfish as I sound. I'm getting rude texts and phone calls from everyone telling me it’s wrong to exclude him (even my own son isn’t coming... my fiancé has even offered nephew and [brother-in-law] to stay at our place with them for the weekend too, which she has refused.) Am I wrong for not wanting him there? I am on the verge of just cancelling the whole thing and all I have done the last few days is cry, it’s getting to the point I don’t want to go at all because I’m scared they’re going to make it hell for me either way." Allow me to be the first to say that this woman's future in-laws suck. Your man sounds like a good one and you all shouldn't let his shitty sisters ruin your bachelorette night. You deserve to have a good time and they're making it all a big drama. I'm sorry you're having to deal with this but you and definitely not wrong. It never ceases to amaze me how people will try to make somebody else’s wedding about themselves. And bringing a child on a bachelorette party? No thanks.

Okay, so there's this "famous" singer who likes to come on to the Phile when he's in town. So please welcome back...

Me: Hey, Harry, welcome back to the Phile. How are you?

Harry: I'm groovy, Jason.

Me: So, been recognized lately?

Harry: Yeah, man, I was sitting at a gate at the airport and this guy recognizes me, walks over and says hello.

Me: Hey, that's cool.

Harry: Yeah, he says, "You’re Harry Webb?” I said, "Yes." He said, “I have seen any recent pictures of you. You’ve gotten older.”

Me: Hahaha. And what did you say?

Harry: It happens.

Me: That's fantastic, Harry. So, do you have a gig tonight?

Harry: Sure do, Jason.

Me: Where at?

Harry: At Lou's Smokey Lounge.

Me: Great. Have fun.

Harry: Cheers.

Me: Harry Webb, kids.

Memory
Visions of the past

Clive Cussler 
July 15th, 1931 — February 26th, 2020 
Check out his latest book Decomposing Old White Guy.

Hosni Mubarak 
May 4th, 1928 — February 25th, 2020
Croak like an Egyptian.

The 115h book to be pheatured in the Phile's Book Club is...

My good friend Jeff will be back on the Phile tomorrow.

Phact 1. Crows will crush an ant and rub it all over themselves like perfume! The Formic Acid in the ants helps ward off parasites.

Phact 2. When a flea is infected by Yersinia pestis Black Death, the bacteria build up and form a film that blocks the flea’s esophagus. After it bites a host, the flea cannot eat until it has vomited up this blockage, spreading a concentrated dose of the bacteria to its target.

Phact 3. In 2014, an Australian physics professor submitted a paper titled “Get Me Off Your Fucking Mailing List” to a scientific journal that sent him unsolicited emails. The paper was accepted for publication, but the journal kept emailing him.

Phact 4. There’s a 300-page book called A Void that was written without ever using the letter “e." The original book is in French but there are over a dozen versions in different languages written by translators who also managed to compose them without using the most common letter of the alphabet.

Phact 5. Octopuses have copper-based blood instead of iron-based blood, which is why their blood is blue rather than red.

Today's guest is Chinese-born actor, rapper, singer, and model. His debut studio album "Antares" is available on iTunes, Amazon and Spotify. Please welcome to the Phile... Kris Wu.

Me: Hey, Kris, welcome to the Phile. How are you, man?

Kris: Hey, how's it going? Thanks for having me.

Me: You have your own solo record out called "Antares," you must be excited, am I right?

Kris: I'm super excited.

Me: It must be a big relief for you, Kris, right?

Kris: Absolutely. I worked pretty hard and spent a long time since I put out this finally first album in the U.S. Everyone around me is excited, I'm pumped, so let's see what happens after.

Me: Travis Scott is a big deal in the rap and hip hop world, and worked on your album. How did you end up working with him?

Kris: I reached out to him and he flew in to see me the next day. That was about four years ago and I was in the studio working on lots of music getting ready for this album. Someone from my camp knows someone in Travis' management so they reached out to Travis. I don't know what they said about me but apparently Travis was super interested too. Obviously I've been a fan of his music too, all the stuff he worked on with Kanye, I know his mix-tape. So I said immediately it'll be a dope collaboration if Travis likes the song and everything. I don't know what they said but he flew in the next day from New York to L.A. and we linked up in the studio right away.

Me: Is it hard collaborating with someone you never met before?

Kris: I actually find it kinda cool. I think it's the best way to do it it's two artists getting in the studio and just vibing out to the music. Music kinda speaks for itself. I think when Travis heard the kinda music I was doing we kinda felt related right away. Once I played him a couple records and this song came out, "Deserve," immediately he liked the beat a lot and he said this is the one. Right away the next day he came back in and cut his record.

Me: I have to admit when I heard you worked with Travis Scott I got confused and thought it was Travis Barker, drummer for Blink-182. Hahahaha. I'm so out of touch. Anyway, that song "Deserve" racked up a billion streams around the world. How does that feel?

Kris: Yes. It was a moment for sure.

Me: Were you watching it climb up? Were you checking to see how well it was doing?

Kris: Absolutely. I was in New York at that time when the song dropped and I actually did a release party at one of the clubs in New York with Travis performing it for the first time in the club. Immediately after the song dropped in the next five hours or so it climbed to Number 1 on iTunes. 

Me: Hahaha. That's crazy. So, you're from China, am I right?

Kris: Yeah, and moved to Vancouver when I was ten.

Me: Do you remember anything about Vancouver? I always wanted to go there.

Kris: Of course. A lot. When I first got there first thing I remember it rains a lot in Vancouver. When it's not raining the weather is super nice. That's one thing. The second thing I remember, when I first moved there I think it was in early 2000 it was just around the time when they got rid of the Grizzly Bear, the basketball team.

Me: The Vancouver Grizzlies.

Kris: Yeah. I was really sad because I was always a fan of basketball and wanted to be a basketball player so I lost my home team. There were lots of good moments.

Me: So, I heard you went to a school for pop stars. Is that a thing?

Kris: Pretty much. That's the system in Korea. I went there and became a trainee and trained basically. It was pretty much like an academy, I would take singing lessons, dancing lessons, rapping, acting, all kind of stuff and just train and get prepared. When the company thinks we are ready they will out us in boy band and make it official.

Me: Did you like doing that?

Kris: Um, to be honest it was quite stressful. The schedule was pretty tight. No days off. Every single day was just like going to work pretty much. A lot of the trainees lived in the same dorm and all we did was go to the company to train and then go back home to sleep. I did that for about four years straight.

Me: Holy shit. Is that how you ended up in the band EXO?

Kris: Yeah. The company usually has plans for all the trainees that they sign up. They out whoever they think is good and who is ready on their training list, to be put in boy band. My boy band happened to be EXO. Obviously they came up with the name and everything.

Me: I heard a bit of EXO's music and thought what a bunch of noise. Hahaha. I saw a video of the band and the screaming from the fans was crazy. Was that overwhelming?

Kris: Oh, absolutely, yeah. It's kinda like that in Asia, there's a lot of fangirls and they're really, really intense. They know every single lyric in our songs and they sing along with us. They show support and the way they show support is by screaming heir lungs out.

Me: Is it hard to perform like that?

Kris: No, not really, it's fine. I just really get used to it. I actually feel more confident on the stage when they're really cheering for me. It was fine for me.

Me: Did you and the other EXO guys get along?

Kris: Yeah. It was fine. Everyone was pretty cool. A lot of the kids from the group we had a pretty long relationship as trainees so we've been just friends.

Me: Why did you leave the band?

Kris: It was mostly because, well, this is kinda a long story so I'm gonna make it short. Here are the key points: first of all I'm Chinese, not Korean. So staying and working in Korea does not feel like home for me. Especially knowing I've been in Korea for six years and it's quite a long time to be in a foreign country working. I missed my home, first of all. Then there's a thing that also bothers me, when I was in a K-pop group we usually don't have any creative freedom. So I really can't choose what kinda song I want to do, what parts I wanna perform, what I want to do with my musical career. Pretty much all the time I have to listen to what the company gives and tell me and what they want us to perform and sing. That really bothers me a lot, because obviously I love hip hop music, I'm a big hip hop head and the music I was doing in that group wasn't nearly in the world of hip hop music. That definitely bothered me a lot. And lastly, as somebody who stayed with the company for six years I think of them as my family too, but I don't think they treated me the way I was supposed to be treated. Someone that was with them for that long of a time, 18-years-old to 24-years-old, super committed and dedicated but I don't think they gave me the same response back. I was getting really upset as an artist and having really hard times.

Me: They took you to court or you took them to court to get out of your contract. How was that to go to court against someone who helped you launch your career?

Kris: It wasn't easy. When I decided I was going to leave the company I didn't think of pursuing a solo career or whatever. The only thing I thought a lot was I'm really not happy with the life I was living right now. I just have to start over, even if it means I have to give up my career as an artist. I was ready to just move on to the next thing in my life.

Me: You are really big in China's rap scene. Was in the scene like there?

Kris: To be honest it's got a lot better. There's a TV show called "The Rap of China" which is a huge success and everything. But really before the show and without the show the hip hop scene is still super underground in China to be honest. When people hear about "The Rap in China" people must think hip hop is big in China now because the show is a huge success but actually it's not. It really isn't. What's popular in China is still ballad music, slow jams. That's what people love and what people's ears are used to. They've been listening to ballad music for the past 20 or 30 years. Ever since I was born my mom and the people are still listening to right now the same type of music and the same sound in China. It will take a long time before hip hop becomes one of the mainstream genres in China. Now it's still underground.

Me: Is it getting bigger?

Kris: It's getting bigger but slowly. For me for a culture to take over it really takes time. For instance in North America in the United States it took about 40 years. There's a lot of history behind it, the music and the culture. But in China hip hop probably started a maximum probably 20 years ago. In the early 2000s, in the 90s probably. That's when some people in China probably started listening to hip hop music, trying to rap. But if you look at the time line, China is probably missing 20 years of history for this culture. But for me I always had love for this music and I have so much passion. I wanted to get on the show and I wanted to do something for this culture. I want to tell people abut hip hop music out there. I want to try my best to really sell the culture and really tell the people to check this out. I think I did my part on that, but it will still take time.

Me: You said you're trying to bridge the two worlds. What do you mean?

Kris: I always liked to be the pioneer and I always liked to be the first. For me this is super meaningful for me because no onehas really done this before. When someone thinks about movie actors they think about kung-fu, they think about martial arts, they think about Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee. When they talk about musicians and hip hop artists from China they can't really name anyone and I want to be the first one for people to say there's an artist named Kris Wu from China, he's representing the music scene in China. I just want to be that guy.

Me: So, I don't want to seem cynical but you're already big in China, selling a gazillion albums in China and Hong Kong, you're already super famous and I can't imagine you being able to walk down the street in Shanghai. Why does it even matter being popular in the states?

Kris: A lot of people ask me the question, I have such a successful career in China, why do I do this? But I feel like if I was actually able to break through and become successful in this market it'll be just a good inspiration for all artists, the kids back home in China, all the musicians that want to have a bigger platform, that wants to go global. I feel like someone who wants to step up and do it. I have the time and ability I should give it a shot and live and leave no regrets.

Me: But it's happening, you became the first Chinese artist to reach number one on the U.S. iTunes chart. What's your bar for success?

Kris: I honestly feel like I'm a long way from success in this market. I feel like I just started. It's a very difficult market because it's the biggest music market in the world pretty much. I'm doing hip hop music and this is where the culture started. Being as Asian artist to breakthrough I think there's a lot of difficulties and a lot of years that I have to breakthrough. I don't know if its possible but I'm trying my best.

Me: Do you consider that you are coming from an outside market and hip hop artists are typically black?

Kris: Absolutely. Nowadays there's new music coming out every single day. There's obviously dope talents coming out every single day. Even sometimes I would doubt myself and ask myself why would people listen to me in tis market? I don't know but I think the only answers comes down to music, whether my music is good enough and that's the strategy and road that I've been taking. If you notice my music I haven't been doing any K-pop kinda songs, I've just been doing pure organic hip hop music. That's the approach I'm taking, I'm trying to bring the most authentic sound to this market but from an Asian hip hop artist. I feel like that's the only way, if the music works out the music will speak for itself. If it doesn't I gave it my best shot and I have no regrets in life.

Me: Cool. Kris, thanks for being on the Phile. I hope it was fun. Continued success.

Kris: Thank you. Vice versa.

That about does it for this entry of the Phile. Thanks to Kris Wu for an interesting interview. The Phile will be back tomorrow with my good friend Jeff Trelewicz. Then get this, there's gonna be another entry on Thursday with Keith Urban! Spread the word, not the turd. Don't let snakes and alligators bite you. Bye, love you, bye.

I don't want you, cook my bread, I don't want you, make my bed, I don't want your money too, I just want to make love to you. - Willie Dixon