Hey, kids, welcome to the Phile for a Wednesday. How are you? So, it's official, I start back at work on Sunday. I'm not happy about it with the rise of cases of coronavirus in Central Florida but we'll see what happens. Disney is all bloody gung-ho on reopening... It'll be interesting to say the least. At this point, if a clown invited me into the woods, I'd just go.
Oh, a Godzilla like dust cloud is about to hit us in the United States? Pft, okay, yeah sure. That’s fine, it’s not like we weren’t expecting it. I mean, this is just another thing we can add to 2020, right? With everything that has been going on this year, I have to say this is the last thing I am actually worried about. We have Murder Hornets coming out from hiding, Cicadas emerging after 17 years, and the coronavirus pandemic that is slowly coming back because we couldn’t stay at home long enough for health experts to find a cure. So yeah, Godzilla Dust Cloud doesn’t seem so scary. What is the Godzilla Dust Cloud? Well, according to the Guardian and meteorologists, a vast cloud of Sahara dust is reportedly blanketing the Caribbean as it heads to the United States with a concentration in size that experts believe hasn’t been seen in half a century. Air quality across the region reached record hazardous levels, and experts who nicknamed the event behind the terrifying monster warned people to stay indoors and use air filters if they had them. According to Pablo Méndez Lázaro, an environmental health specialist at the University of Puerto Rico, “This is the most significant event in the past 50 years. “Conditions are dangerous in many Caribbean Islands.” Okay, so yes, maybe we should panic a little bit… I kind of lied. Can you blame me? I’m trying to see the positive side of this situation. The main concern for many Health Specialists here is for those battling respiratory symptoms that were tied to the coronavirus pandemic. Lázaro, Who is working with NASA to develop an alert system for the arrival of the Sahara dust, saw that the concentration of the dust was so high in recent days, that it could even adverse effects on those who are healthy. Limited visibility and extremely hazy conditions were reported from Antigua down to Trinidad and Tobago. People posted pictures of themselves on social media wearing double masks to help ward off both the coronavirus and the dust, while several other jokes of the Caribbean look like they in a yellow filter straight out of a movie. Jose Alamo, a meteorologist with the U.S. National Weather Service in San Juan, Puerto Rico, said the worst day for the United States Territory will be Monday and Tuesday as it heads towards the U.S. southeast coast. The mass of extremely dusty and dry air is known as the Saharan Air Layer, forming over the Sahara desert. It moves all the way across the North Atlantic every three to five days during the northern hemisphere’s late spring to early autumn. It then peaks into late June to the middle of August, with a layer that can be 35m thick, this according to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. According to NASA’s dust aerosol optical thickness model projects, much of the dust will dissipate in the Gulf of Mexico before it reaches any land. The remaining dust will then hit Mississippi, Georgia, Alabama, and Louisiana, with Ohio seeing the last remnants this weekend. So, you better buckle up and stay inside ladies and gentlemen, because the wild, wild west about to come to get you with some dusty air. Try telling me that climate change isn’t real. If this doesn’t prove that to you, I don’t know what will. Stay safe out there.
A couple living in Blue Springs, Missouri have been arrested and charged with felony abuse or neglect of a child after the pair were found to have all but abandoned their 12-year-old child with cerebral palsy. The 30-year-old mother, Janine Allen, and the 29-year-old father, Brendon Luke, allegedly left the boy in a home the couple had moved out of for weeks, only coming back around to bring him food and otherwise monitoring him on a video system from their new home a couple of miles away. Authorities discovered that the boy was by himself after concerned neighbors reported that they believed the child had been left alone in the house for weeks. On one home surveillance video obtained by police the boy can be heard saying, “I want out. I don’t like this, mommy.” Allen allegedly told people that the reason the couple was keeping their son locked up in their old house is because she did not want him to damage the walls of their new residence. A Children’s Division worker that had been working with the family since October did report that their child had become more and more violent toward the other members of the family. Allen claimed that the boy had been left alone in the house since Mother’s Day and that leaving him alone was the best way to protect the family from violence. Allen also claimed to police that the child was never in any danger because he knew to call 911 should anything bad (other than being abandoned) happen. Investigators, however, claim to have found a phone with no dial tone, as well as feces in the home. They also said the house smelled of urine. Jackson County Family Court obtained emergency custody of the boy. The parents are both being held on $250,000 bond.
A Nigerian man is facing trial for allegedly having sex with a pig. That’s pretty much it. There aren’t a lot of details to the story. A guy got it in on with a pig on a pig farm in Elewi – Odo area, Ibadan, Nigeria, then got caught, and has since pleaded not guilty. Representation for the defendant, a 22-year-old named Ayokunbi Olaniyi, argued that the owner of the pig has already forgiven him for having sex with his livestock so shouldn’t the court just, you know, be kind of chill about all this? The prosecution, of course, sided with the pig and, according to them, the laws of nature. They argued that Olaniyi was in violation of the provisions of Section 214 (2) of the Criminal Code Cap 38, Vol. II , Laws of Oyo State 2000. The judge in the case, Chief Magistrate Olaide Amzat, sided with the prosecution, arguing that although the owner of the pig might’ve forgiven the defendant, God and the pig have not, so the law must take up both of their causes. Even though this happened in Nigeria it could very well have been Arkansas or California or most definitely Florida. I point that out because it’s a really great, hilarious example of the other side of local politics and governance. It’s not all county fairs and school budgets and the lovable gang from the Parks Department doing something adorable and helpful. Sometimes there’s just a guy boning a pig that the cops and local courts have to deal with. It’s also funny that there are some extremely uninspiring, gross laws societies have to have on the books. We all want to sit around pretending to be the framers of the Constitution but you have to write laws about it not being okay to go introduce a pig to your hog too.
Tom Petty’s family has officially filed a cease and desist notice against the Trump campaign, after the singer’s 1989 hit “I Won’t Back Down” was played at President Donald Trump’s campaign rally at the Bok Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma, last Saturday. A letter was written in a tweet and posted on the late Tom Petty’s Twitter by four members of the Petty family including his wife Dana Petty, his daughters Adria and Annakim, and his ex-wife Jane. The letter objected to Trump’s use of the song, stating that Trump did not have permission to do so, and that Tom Petty and his entire family would never allow one of his songs to be used in a “campaign of hate.” The cease and desist letter continued on saying that Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers had “wrote this song for the underdog, for the common man, and for everyone,” boldly illustrating that the Trump administration does not have the support of the family of the legendary rock star. They also mentioned how Tom Petty stood behind bringing people together in unity. “We believe in America and we believe in democracy. But Donald Trump is not representing the noble ideals of either. We would hate for fans that are marginalized by this administration to think we were complicit in this usage.” Luckily for them, although Trump’s campaign rally at the Bok Center was expected to have a crowded overflow of anywhere between 100,000 to 1,000,000 people, only 6,000 people showed up, causing Trump’s campaign to change their plans of speaking outside of the arena to inside. However, many people still had their reservations with coronavirus cases spiking up once again. Although temperatures were taken and masks were given out, the masks were still not required to wear at the event.
Ever since Robert Pattinson has been announced as the new Batman, fans have been arguing about his place in the DCEU timeline. While firmly believe that the movie takes place in its own separate universe like Joker, an insider has come out to confirm our speculations. As confirmed by insider Daniel Richtman, Matt Reeves’ The Batman will be taking place in its own timeline apart from the DCEU. Here’s the tweet...
While this is sure to be good news for anyone keeping continuity, I have a feeling that there are still plans to have Pattinson interact with the main DCEU as a whole. After all, rumblings are going around that the Flash solo film will introduce a multiverse... even going so far as to bring in Michael Keaton’s Batman... and that could very well set the stage for crossovers with multiple Dark Knights be it Ben Affleck’s or maybe even Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s (if we’re lucky). If anything, Reeves was said to have requested that his Batman be given his own universe so as to give complete creative freedom to tell this Batman’s story. While fans would certainly love to see the return of Affleck’s Caped Crusader, this at least keeps the door open for that return... should it ever happen in the next few years. For now this is all just based on insider information, and we’re still waiting for WB to make some kind of official announcement. Hopefully we get it all cleared up at the DC FanDome event happening this August.
As the Black Lives Matter movement inspires actions around the world, many churches are using their platform to voice their support. Like this churches sign at
Brockton Assembly of God, Massachusetts.
An incontrovertible truth. People, this is false advertising...
Ladies, finally the 2020 Victoria's Secret catalogue came out and look what's in it...
Hahahaha. That's so stupid. That's as stupid as...
Top Phive Things Said By Gen Z Kids Making Fun Of Things Millennials Love
5. Why are Millennials so obsessed with pasta and pizza like sure they slap but you're allowed to have other personality traits.
4. Millennials love to post pics of copious amounts of alcohol with the words "quarantine ready."
3. Millennials are the corniest generation because they always act like they're in a movie and you know what I mean.
2. Millennials love Disney way too much. These bitches with matching t-shirts and kids on a leash.
And the number one things said by a Gen Z kid making fun of things Millennials love is...
1. Millennials love to say they're old.
We're in the driver's seat. Let's take a live look at Port Jeff, shall we?
Not much going on there. Okay, you know I live in Florida, right? Well, here's another whacked story from this crazy state...
The party doesn’t stop until you actually land in jail, and this Florida couple is living proof of it. Aaron Thomas and Megan Mondanaro were arrested on DUI charges after they were spotted riding bikes with no lights and were almost hit by a car. Luckily, a deputy with the Nassau County Sheriff’s office pulled the pair over, saw they had bloodshot eyes, reeked of booze and decided to arrest them. For their safety, and the safety of others, of course. Thomas and Mondanaro were quickly placed in the backseat of the car, and things got, well, let’s say hot and heavy. These two couldn’t wait to jump each other’s bones so they basically began to have sex right then and there. Oh, the bravery and the nerve. According to the deputy, he was outside the patrol vehicle writing the arrest report, probably because he himself would get drunk from how it smelled inside, and that’s when he saw the couple began to take their clothes off and the police car started moving. When the officer opened the door, he saw that both of their pants were down. Thomas had managed to briefly runoff, escaping the hold of the deputy who had tried to remove him from the patrol car. Thomas reportedly ran naked through the parking lot with his hands cuffed in front of him, while exposing his junk for the world to see. Luckily, the deputy was able to catch him in a few seconds at the Cold Stone Creamery. Thomas was held without bond and charged with theft after he took the police handcuffs with him when he ran off, lewd or lascivious exhibition in presence of an employee, DUI, exposure of sex organs, unnatural and lascivious act, threat against a public official, attempted escape and resisting arrest. Mondanaro was booked for DUI, exposure of sex organs, unnatural and lascivious act and resisting arrest with a bond set at $12,508. The Florida couple was held at the Nassau County Jail and Detention Center. Not surprisingly enough, both have lengthy rap sheets. Thomas previously served 46 days in jail for assaulting a law enforcement officer and Mondanaro served 60 days in jail for a parole violation in connection to a prior conviction. Ah, to be young, dumb, and in love.
In West Side Story Tony yells "Maria!" loudly in a Puerto Rican area of Harlem and only one girl shows up?
The manager of a large office noticed a new man one day and told him to come into his office. "What's your name?" he asked the new guy. "John," the new guy replied. The manager scowled, "Look... I don't know what kind of a namby-pamby place you worked before, but I don't call anyone by their first name. It breeds familiarity and that leads to a breakdown in authority. I refer to my employees by their last name only... Smith, Jones, Baker... That's all. I am to be referred to only as Mr. Robertson. Now that we got that straight, what is your last name?" The new guy sighed, "Darling. My name is John Darling." "Okay John, the next thing I want to tell you is..."
Today's guest is an American actress. She is the daughter of film producer Richard Gregson and actress Natalie Wood. Her book More Than Love: An Intimate Portrait of My Mother, Natalie Wood is the 129th book to be pheatured in the Phile's Book Club and her documentary Natalie Wood: What Remains Behind is available to see on HBOMax. Please welcome to the Phile... Natasha Gregson Wagner!
Me: Hello, Natasha, welcome to the Phile. I'm so excited to have you here, how are you?
Natasha: Hi, I'm great, Jason. How are you?
Me: I'm not doing too bad. So, I have to mention this, full disclosure, I used to live across the street from your mom, Natalie Wood, in Putney, England when I was little. She even babysat me before. It was a cool area, Oliver Reed lived around the corner, Sean Connery, Brian DePalma and your mom and dad lived right across the street. That's crazy, right?
Natasha: Jason, that's so cool. Do you have memories of my mother?
Me: Not really, I did go to school with Jason Connery, Sean's son Jason and I remember him vaguely. So, your memoir is 129th book to be pheatured in the Phile's Book Club. Why tell this book and the HBO documentary now, Natasha, after all these years?
Natasha: About three and a half years ago I started feeling like it was incumbent for me to kind of set the record straight, clarify a lot of misconceptions and hopefully pass on my mother's legacy to my daughter in a very clean and clear way.
Me: So, what was she like as a person?
Natasha: My mom was incredibly joyful. She was very fun and funny and loved to have her close people around her, her nearest friends, my sisters and I, my dad, my step-sisters, and my half-sisters and my step-brothers, everybody was always welcome in our house. I definitely would say our house was the hub where everybody congregated.
Me: Is there a memory that stands out in your head when you think of the good times with your mom?
Natasha: I have so many but she would always say, she was always planning things, planning surprises for my dad or planning a birthday for one of my sisters or organizing a Christmas party or a Thanksgiving dinner or a New Years's Eve party. She was always on the phone, she was a producer really, what she was. She was surely our wizard, making sure everyone was happy, we had lots of animals, we were going on trips. She was so happy in her life and she shared that really generously with everybody that loved her.
Me: I love this pic of you two...
Me: When I "knew" her I didn't know your mom was famous. I was little... Did you know when you were a kid that your mom was famous?
Natasha: I think I understood that there was something rapturous about her. There was something that people couldn't look away when we went out in public, she was a bit of a magnet, people were drawn to her, but I don't think I really understood was a movie star was. And also so many of their friends that sent so much time at our house, they didn't act like movie stars.
Me: So, when did you know she was famous?
Natasha: It wasn't really until I got into my senior year of high school that I started to do some historical work on my mom's career and what her place is in the movie business had been.
Me: Who are some of the people you met the you were a kid at the parties?
Natasha: Bette Davis, Gene Kelly, Gregory Peck, Fred Astaire, Laurence Olivier, Ruth Gordon.
Me: This is kinda cool, right?
Natasha: Yes, yes. But our house was often full of guests. Mostly a lot of people from the east coast or across the pond in the United Kingdom. I just felt like a lot of my parents' friends had these funny accents and they arrived baring lots of gifts and they always made my parents laugh and my parents were always making them laugh, so I thought that's what it's really like to be a grown-up.
Me: Ha! Give me an example.
Natasha: We'd arrive at somebody's house with gifts, we make the hosts laugh, they make us laugh, maybe we'd take a handful of nuts from a silver bowl, perhaps we'd smoke a cigarette. That's sort of like what I witnessed.
Me: When you were making this documentary and writing this book, what jumped out at you about your mom's acting?
Natasha: I think her incredible vulnerability and her radiance. She was so beautiful. The screen magnified that beauty even more, it was like the camera couldn't look away from her. She had this vulnerability, she wore her heart right up there under her skin like it was percolating and bubbling. Also she had a warmth to her and I think people thought that they knew her. She was very much like that in life as well.
Me: I used to love watching my dad play on stage, Natasha, so I understand what you're saying. Do you think it's so cool when people watch their parents do something they're so good at?
Natasha: Oh, I love that, you're so right. I certainly was so proud of my parents and every time I would see them on television it was exciting. It was confusing too, they'd just be at our house in one moment and then an hour later they would be on TV. Perhaps they were on a live award show or a talk show. As a child I think I had to get my head around the fact that my parents get into this box after they leave me and then they're on my screen.
Me: Then they don't just belong to you, then, right?
Natasha: Oh, for sure. That was harder for me as I got older, when I was about 9, 10, 11 I realized I had to really share my mom. She was also starting to get busier with work and I didn't like it, and I told her so.
Me: You were protective of her, right?
Natasha: It's true. The truth is I'm going to be 50 in September and my mom passed away when she was 43, she was so young. Forty-three is so young. She had accomplished so much more than a lot of 43-years-old. But yes, I feel like her parent, I feel like her protector, and when I see her as a young woman like Splendor in the Grass or West Side Story I feel maternal to her.
Me: Hmmm... Natasha, we might've met when we were kids. I was born in 1968, so not much older than you.
Natasha: It's possible, Jason. I wish I knew. I did spend time in Putney when I was little.
Me: My mum and your mum were friends before we moved to the states. They used to go shopping together, and take me.
Natasha: Maybe your mom will remember...
Me: Unfortunately both my parents passed away from cancer in 2000. I know my mum would remember everything. Okay, so, do you think your mom's death and the speculation around it overshadows your mom's acting career?
Natasha: I hope not. I think for some people that love a conspiracy theory or they love toxic media, perhaps they never seen any of her films, and they jumped on this bandwagon because this is the world that we live in now. But so much of the reason we wanted to make the documentary and I wanted to write the book was so that the tragedy of the night that she died does not overshadow her career.
Me: But in order to address that you had to relive it yourself, right?
Natasha: Yes, a lot. It was incredibly healing and cathartic for the most part writing the book and working on the documentary. But a lot of dreams, I have dreamt more vividly about my mom. In fact just the other night I had a dream I had another child and when I looked at the baby it looked just like me with short brown hair and straight across brown bangs and I thought in the dream, "gosh, she looks just like me." And I realized oh, that is me, I just birthed myself. LOL. And I think in a way that's been a rebirth for me, making the documentary and writing the book.
Me: My parents are still in my dreams a lot, Natasha. That's not dramatic, it's quite welcoming. Do you agree?
Natasha: Absolutely. Every time I have a dream my mother comes to me I wake up and feel like I revisited with her, I feel like I have a spiritual connection to her.
Me: In the documentary you sit down with your step-dad Robert Wagner and ask him what he remembers about that night your mom died. How hard was that?
Natasha: We shot that interview over the course of two days and it was the first interview we shot. And the entire documentary hinged on that interview. If that interview didn't work, we were not going to make the film. I am incredibly protective of my step-father and I wanted him to feel safe, and yet I was asking him to step outside of his comfort zone and speak about the most painful night of his life. Is it was a very tightrope that I was walking. I didn't want to be overly emotional because I wanted him to have the floor so to speak, to fill all of his feelings. And how could I not because he was speaking about the worse night in all of our lives.
Me: What was the feeling in the room after the cameras turned off?
Natasha: The feeling in the room was honestly like being in a church, having a type of spiritual experience. It was a feeling of unburdening, it was a feeling of empowerment, it was a feeling of liberation, we could've heard a pin drop for those two days. It was an experience that I will cherish for the rest of my life.
Me: Have you ever talked about it before?
Natasha: He and I had spoken about it of course. But the goal of that interview and with the director, Laurent Bouzereau who worked with us so closely and diligently, we wanted it to feel as intermit as a conversation my father and I would have when the cameras weren't rolling. I really owe the beauty of that scene with my dad, because as you could see from watching it he's so full of humanity, he's so elegant, he's so transparent, his so humble, he's a beautiful, beautiful human being.
Me: Has he seen the film?
Natasha: Yeah, he's seen it a couple of times. I sent him an early cut which he watched on his computer, and then we screened it for him in Los Angeles in early January and of course he watched it again on HBO. He keeps watching it, he loves it, I think he thinks it's some reunion with my mom.
Me: So, do you feel satisfied that your mother's death was an accident?
Natasha: Absolutely. I have always felt satisfied that my mother's death was an accident. Not just satisfied, but quite certain, and as certain I could be by not being there. But as certain I could be knowing the man who raised me and everybody else that knows him. There's a reason we dealt with the night she died in the documentary, and in my book is not for me. It is for the public, or anybody else who maybe not be satisfied. It's really my desire to help them come to terms and find closure with that night. The truth is nobody is going to know what happened that night because she was alone. But we know as much as we know and that has to be enough.
Me: If your mom could see what you have done with this what do you hope she'll say to you?
Natasha: Oh, gosh, I'd hope she'd say I'm so proud of you. I didn't think that would make me cry, but it did. I think she'd be proud of me.
Me: I think she would. Thanks so much for being on the Phile, and telling the story, Natasha. Please come back on the Phile again soon.
Natasha: Of course. Thank you.
That was such a great interview. I think we must've "knew" each other when we were little... like around 3 or 4-years-old maybe. Fuck, I wish my mum was alive so I could ask her. Okay, that about does to for this entry of the Phile. Thanks to Natasha for a great interview. The Phile will be back tomorrow with musician LP. Spread the word, not the turd or the virus. Don't let alligators and snakes bite you. Bye, love you, bye. Mask it or casket.
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
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