Pheaturing Maya Hawke

 

Hey, kids, welcome to the Phile for a Wednesday. How are you doing? Well, this Alabama Sheriff’s Office is sure in quite a pickle. A photo of a Christmas tree shared by the sheriff’s office has now sparked heavy outrage from social media users for its, let’s call it offensive decorations. The tree was apparently adorned with what officials call “ Thugshots.” In case you don’t know what “Thugshots” are, they are exactly what they sound like, images of people who have been arrested around the area. I’ll have to admit, this is a brilliant idea, but I can see why people are angry. If I saw my mugshot, which no I have not been arrested this is just theoretically, I would get offended too. But the Mobile County Sheriff’s Office went one step further and decided to share their Christmas tree on their Facebook page anyway, because well they probably weren’t thinking. By the way, this is the tree...

Hilarious in itself that they thought that this was a good idea, especially them not thinking that they weren’t going to get angry people calling the station. According to WKRG, the Facebook post included a special offer to “all Mobile County thugs.” It appeared to be heavily taunting criminals and repeat offenders around the area, offering to provide them with a “concierge corrections officer” to take them to the jail and then give them a custom fitting for a “holiday jumpsuit.” According to the Associated Press, more than 7,900 people commented on the “Thug Thursday” post, which has since been removed. Several commenters apparently called the decoration cruel and demeaning. The local branch of the NAACP called the tree very unacceptable and has since reached out to the Sheriff’s Office on two occasions, with no response. President Robert Clopton stated that several irritated residents have contacted him about the post. He continued, “We live in a very volatile time,” said Clopton in a statement, demanding accountability. “I mean, the relationships between law enforcement and the general public has been compromised. Not only that, but we are living during a pandemic right now where everyone needs to be focused on the same goal and that is having as many people helping each other or to help navigate through this atrocity that is going on right now. This is inappropriate, shameful, disrespectful, despicable, disgusting and embarrassing to the citizens of Mobile County.” Lori Myles, A spokesperson for the Mobile County Sheriff’s Department stated the photos are actually photoshopped onto the tree and are not displayed at the department’s office. She also noted that the tree is a” good thing,” since it shows a community that career criminals were taken off the streets by police officers. Myles told CBS news that the office did remove the post after receiving several death threats. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just admit your mistakes, say sorry for making a Thugshot Christmas tree, and don’t do it again. Who in God’s name thought this? This is so dumb.

Who knew that buying beans would become such a political statement? Goya Food CEO Robert Unanue has deemed New York Democrat Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, also known by her initials AOC, as his company’s employee of the month after her call to boycott them resulted in their sales increasing by 1000%. Robert, also known as Bob Unanue, appeared on “The Michael Berry Show,” and explained why the Democratic politician deserved the rewarded title the company gave her. Unanue had been criticized by AOC and others for praising Republican President Donald Trump during a visit to the White House by saying, “We’re all truly blessed at the same time to have a leader like President Trump, who is a builder.” AOC had poked fun at Goya Foods on social media, saying in a tweet, “Oh look, it’s the sound of me Googling ‘how to make your own Adobo,'” along with sharing an alternate recipe to the Adobo seasoning to encourage boycotting buying from the brand that is a well-known, common Latino household item. But it backfired horribly, as Unanue explained on the radio show, saying, “When she boycotted us, our sales actually increased 1,000%, so we gave her an honorary... we never were able to hand it to her... she got employee of the month for bringing attention to Goya and our adobo.” Goya Foods considers itself as the country’s largest Hispanic-owned food company, but some Latinos have been disappointed with the brand for its support for President Trump. However, President Trump and his daughter, Ivanka Trump, who is also a White House adviser, both posted pictures on social media with an assortment of Goya products, snapping back at AOC for starting this food fight. Nevertheless, criticisms of this food war include statements that the Trumps’ replies were violations of a rule prohibiting executive branch employees from using their positions “endorsement of any product, service or enterprise.” And AOC fought back once again with another tweet with Ivanka’s picture with the Goya beans saying, “If it’s Trump, it has to be corrupt,” in Spanish. Si es Trump, tiene que ser corrupto.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration released a 53-page report that summarized data from Pfizer and German partner BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine trial. The trial data support earlier findings that the COVID-19 vaccine is safe and efficient, preventing 95 percent of people from becoming sick with the coronavirus. The companies are now asking the FDA for authorization to use the vaccine on people ages 16 and up. The FDA noted, “Safety data from approximately 38,000 participants [greater than or equal to] 16 years of age randomized 1:1 to vaccine or placebo with a median of 2 months of follow up after the second dose suggest a favorable safety profile, with no specific safety concerns identified that would preclude the issuance of an EUA.” The report did note that the most common side effects were a skin reaction at the injection site, which was followed by headaches, muscle pain, and fatigue. The proposed dosing regimen for the COVID-19 vaccine is to administer two 30 microgram doses 21 days apart. However, the briefing document also shows that the vaccine, which is being called BNT162b2, appears to provide “some protection” against the coronavirus with just one dose. Scientists have also begun testing COVID-19 vaccines in ages 12 to 15 but have not yet accumulated enough safety data in order to request any authorization of the first dose in that age group. The report also provides more detail on how certain groups of people reacted with the Pfizer vaccine, including people over 65 years old, Those who have pre-existing medical conditions such as diabetes, and those who are Hispanic or black, all of them appear to be protected as a general population. Around one-third of the participants’ definition of obesity, lower than the general population of the United States, but it’s still high. The average age of the participant what’s 51 years old. They appear to be well or better protected than everyone else, which counted the concern that the coronavirus vaccine might not work as well as people with these conditions. According to infectious disease expert at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in Nashville Tennessee, Dr. William Shaffner, he received a briefing on the material there; he would not say who percent of the briefing or who else had received it. He noted, “The group I was with who heard the data arrived interested and left the presentation enthusiastic. The extraordinary thing is that there were no major areas of concern.” Independent experts are set to discuss and vote on whether they do recommend the vaccine to be authorized for emergency use authorization. 

Just when you thought all hope is gone, Marvel Studios and Sony pull out the surprise we've all been waiting for. Multiple sources are now reporting that both Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield are set to join Tom Holland in the MCU's third Spider-Man film. This exciting development comes after the confirmation that Alfred Molina will also be reprising his role as Otto Octavius aka Doc Ock. Also rumored to be part of the film are Kirsten Dunst and Emma Stone who played Peter Parker's love interests in the previous Spidey flicks. Last October, Sony Pictures pretty much dismissed the rumors of Spider-Man 3 being the MCU's take on the Spider-Verse but as we learn more about the project's cast, it's looking more and more evident that they're set to do arguably the biggest crossover event in comic book film history. As it stands, we're still waiting for the official announcement regarding Tobey and Andrew's involvement but the entire geek community has already been rejoicing with all the possibilities. Artist BossLogic is jumping in on the bandwagon as well to rev up the hype engine. Sharing one of his epic artwork's on Instagram, the Australian artist imagines the showdown between the Spider-Men and the Sinister Six. He also added Doctor Strange and Miles Morales to the mix for good measure. Check it out...

This new development pretty much debunks previous rumors suggesting that Tom Holland isn't too thrilled with the idea of having to share some screen time with Maguire and Garfield. If anything, I'm sure Holland is excited to become part of what could possibly be a game-changer in the world of live-action comic book movies. Considering how stacked the film is shaping up to be, I just wish they won't cram everything altogether in one film. Not saying that I know better but in my view, Spider-Man 3 should at least be a two-parter. Am I asking for too much? Not really. 

Who made this? 

Guys, can you all just buy thicker underwear or pants? Say hello to the Willy Warmer. If you’re using the cold weather as an excuse for your “shrinkage,” then it’s time to invest in the Willy Warmer. The crochet penis warmer is going to be every guys’ favorite gag gift of the holiday season. This knitted peter heater is totally a gag gift, but if you actually want to put the knitted Willy Warmer to use, go for it. You can find the joke gift on Amazon for only $11.95. The one-size-fits-all novelty gift even has a drawstring attached to keep everything together and nice ‘n toasty. (Just the way you like ’em.) An Amazon customer must have actually put the Willy Warmer to the test because they said, “It holds on well and looks really well.” Umm… good to know! I’ll be sure to add this to my Amazon wishlist to get for my friends. A funny gift like this would make for a great prank on Christmas Day. When your significant other finds this stocking stuffer, they’re going to laugh until they cry. They’ll probably mistake it for a beanie at first until the shape of the knitted gift finally makes sense to them. 

If you're looking for a Christmas card to get for your wife or girlfriend how about this one?

Make this a holiday season to remember. Throw this card in your wife’s holiday gift bag and she’ll love you forever. If you're also looking for an ornament for the Christmas tree how about this one?

It's a fantastic stocking stuffer for beer lovers. They’ll get a kick out of this ornament! So, you know that Elf on a Shelf? You never know what he's gonna get up to...

Oh, boy. If I had a TARDIS I would try and go meet President Theodore Roosevelt. But knowing my luck Secret Service rents would be walking of both sides of his carriage during in inauguration on March 4th, 1905. 

Roosevelt was the first President to be provided Secret Service Protection. The Secret Service has two primary missions, investigation of financial crimes and physical protection of designated protectees. With a reported one third of the currency in circulation being counterfeit at the time, the Secret Service was created on July 5th, 1865 in Washington, D.C., to suppress counterfeit currency. It was commissioned in Washington, D.C. as the “Secret Service Division” of the Department of the Treasury with the mission of suppressing counterfeiting. After the assassination of President William McKinley in 1901, Congress informally requested that the Secret Service provide presidential protection. A year later, the Secret Service assumed full-time responsibility for presidential protection. The Secret Service was the first U.S. domestic intelligence and counterintelligence agency. Domestic intelligence collection and counterintelligence responsibilities were vested in the Federal Bureau of Investigation upon the FBI’s creation in 1908. A lot of NFL teams this year have changed their logos, like this one...

Hahaha. Sometimes when I get bored I go on Twitter and look up certain words. One of those words I look up is "Foghat." Here's a tweet I saw last March...

People, 2020 has been a banner year for stupidity. Between the pandemic, the election, the refusal to accept the results of the election, and the TikTok trend where teens choke on Cheerios, idiocy was on display. Here's a dumb opinions that someone confidently posted online in 2020...

Yup. Told you. Now from the home office in Port Jefferson, New York here is...

Top Phive Things Said In The First Week Of December

5. I just wanted to put it out there that I once waited on Nancy Pelosi and she asked me what pastries we had for breakfast and when I got to “danish” she said, "what’s that?"

4. I like Guy Fieri, but nonetheless we still must pass term limits for mayor of Flavortown.

3. I hope we can agree that 1980 is twenty years ago.

2. Saying ohhhhhhh when you still don't understand...

And the number one thing said in the first week of December was...

1. Babe, its time for your chromatic bagel bites. 

If you spot the Mindphuck and you should as its pretty easy let me know. Okay, let's take a live look at Port Jefferson, shall we?

It looks cold there like it is here, but I bet it's colder there. Yup, it's 35°F there. Okay, now for some sad news...

Dick Allen 

March 8th, 1942 — December 7th, 2020 

He wore a batting helmet in the field to protect himself from objects thrown from the stands. Philadelphia: Queen of our Cities. 

Chuck Yeager 

February 13th, 1923 — December 7th, 2020 

Boom. 

David Lander 

June 22nd, 1947 — December 4th, 2020 

Sure, he was Squiggy. But he was also the voice of Smart Ass, the chief weasel of Judge Doom's Toon Patrol in Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

The 141st book to be pheatured in the Phile's Book Club is...

Michael will be on the Phile on Monday. Okay, wanna laugh?

A woman in a supermarket is following a grandfather and his badly-behaved grandson. He has his hands full with the child screaming for sweets, biscuits, all sorts of things. The grandad is saying in a controlled voice, "Easy, William, we won't be long... easy boy." Another outburst and she hears the grandad calmly say, "It's okay, William. Just a couple more minutes and we'll be out of here. Hang in there, boy." At the checkout the little horror is throwing items out of the trolley. Grandad says again in a controlled voice, "William, William, relax buddy, don't get upset. We'll be home in five minutes, stay cool, William." Very impressed, she goes outside to where the grandfather is loading his groceries and the boy into the car. She says, "It's none of my business, but you were amazing in there. I don't know how you did it. That whole time you kept your composure, and no matter how loud and disruptive he got, you just calmly kept saying things would be okay. William is very lucky to have you as his grandad." "Thanks," says the grandpa. "But I am William. The little bastard's name is Kevin." 

Today's guest is an American actress and model. She is best known as Robin in the third season of the Netflix series "Stranger Things," and her album "Blush" is available on iTunes, Amazon and Spotify. Please welcome to the Phile... Maya Hawke.

Me: Hello, Maya, welcome to the Phile. How are you? 

Maya: Thanks so much, I'm happy to be here. 

Me: So, I think this is so cool, Myra, for those that don't know who are your parents? 

Maya: Well, I'm the daughter of Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman. 

Me: I think that's cool. So, was there a part of you that didn't want to be an actor as both your parents are actors? 

Maya: Totally. First of all I have to say it is very common for there to be some level of apprenticeship in families, where I got curious and interested in what my parents are doing and they are able to teach me things about it that I wouldn't normally get to learn. Like it wouldn't be uncommon for a daughter of a plumber to take over the family business. 

Me: Why do you think it's common for people to be an actor because their parents are actors? 

Myra: First of all it's common because it's in the publics eye so examined. 

Me: Did you have any restorations about this? 

Myra: I had a lot of reservations in part because I know so much what it is about to be in the business and therefore had my own reservations because I just didn't see the glossy Hollywood pictures and images, I also had a personal experience with what the real life of that is like. 

Me: It's not always nice, right? 

Myra: No, it's not always nice. Sometimes it's really nice. A mixed bag. But eventually my love and passion for the arts became so much bigger than any trepidation I had around those not always nice parts or the preemption of the child going into their family business things became so small in comparison to my passion. So that's how I found it went. 

Me: What was your first big role, Myra? I first found out about you from "Stranger Things." 

Myra: My first big role was the BBC adaptation of Louisa May Alcott's Little Women. I dropped out of Julliard the most protégés at school in America to do that. 

Me: Why is that? 

Myra: Because Little Women is particularly special to me. 

Me: The book you mean? Why is that? 

Myra: The book, yeah, it's really special to me. It was one of the first books I ever really read and I was dyslexic and really struggled in school and Jo March is the main heroine story I got to play. The academic drive, professionalism, passion, hunger really inspired me to not be held back by things that were hard for me in school and keep working forward and keep working hard and her creativity and her spunk, it was just an important character for me. Then I got the opportunity to maybe play that part and it intersected with the school in a way that it was impossible to make both things work. 

Me: But why drop out of Julliard? Do you have any regrets? 

Myra: I had to pick one and to this day it was the hardest decision I have ever made but I won't regret it in part because of Jonah Howard King who has movie that came out called Song of Names and I met him doing that and I met Kathryn Newton and Annes Elwy and Willa Fitzgerald and they were so special to work with and I had the best time of my life and they are some of my best friends. 

Me: Hmmm. How many get to do that, what you did, embody their hero? 

Myra: I don't know. I don't think very many. So it was a once in a lifetime chance I wanted to take. 

Me: So, I have to mention "Stranger Things," Myra. How was it being on that? 

Myra: It went pretty good. It was really exciting for me. It was such an amazing thing to be on a creative project that I believe in that is also so much in the public eye. 

Me: Yeah, I'm such a BIG fan of the show, and people I know get even more obsessive about it than me. What's it like to be on the receiving end of all that fandom? 

Myra: You know like ostriches when they get scared they put their head in the sand? I think that is sort of my ethos around fandom. 

Me: Why is that? I would be embracing it, saying "yes, I'm on 'Stranger Things,' people! Where's my bloody action figure and Pop Vinyl?!'" Haha. 

Myra: LOL. I'm in it for the other parts. I'm in it for the work, I'm in it for how smart the Duffer Brothers are. How funny the show is, how much it means to kids and the perspective it could give, the way like character like Millie's and hopefully mine can empower young women. So that's why I'm in it. I'm not in it fore the intense people who make a million fans accounts and follow every picture that is ever taken of me and collect them. It's fine and it's cool but that's not the part that interests me. 

Me: Were you fan of the first couple of seasons? 

Myra: I actually didn't see it. The first seasons came out in my senior year of high school and my first year at Julliard and I was very, very busy at the time so I wasn't watching any TV. My mom and brother and dad were obsessed and I got this audition and they were like "oh my God, you have to do it! Are you kidding me?!" I was like okay, okay. Then I watched the first two seasons and I was like yes, I do have to do this. I got really, really nervous and it was my story. 

Me: You were also in Once Upon A Time In Hollywood. What was that like? Your mom Uma was in a few Quentin Tarantino movies so did you know him? 

Myra: I knew him okay. He's been around. 

Me: What was it like working with him? 

Myra: It was really interesting. Quintin is very passionate, very specific and basically cares about movies and movies with his whole heart. I feel like I'm just in it with him. Every person on set is in it and involved and every single cog in his machine, in the creative machine that's making this project has to be operating at a 100% at all times because he is. 

Me: So, what does that do to you? 

Myra: It's just a really inspiring and invigorating and exhausting environment. Its like a giant Orient Express train that I just have to hang on to for dear life and try my best not to mess it up. 

Me: How do you feel as an actor after coming out something like that? 

Myra: I feel excited basically. I mean it's an honor to work with one of the greats, if I know them or don't know them. And when I do that I see why they are. And I feel it in the space, it's not random, it means something. And he's one of the greats for a reason and that energy, that passion, that talent is inspiring and gives me a blast full of energy that lasts awhile. 

Me: I remember when Quentin first movies came out and how popular they were. I had a feeling he was going to get bigger and bigger and better and better, didn't you? 

Myra: Well, the thing about it mostly to get that successful you have to be pretty great at it, especially if they're a grown-up, like if it lasted a long time. They have to be pretty great at it, pretty confident and pretty durable. So generally for me the idea of don't meet my heroes has never been that true. Because the heroes that I've met were grown-ups, have always been just as aspiring. 

Me: I have to mention your music, which I really love. I think you love the ocean as well, because I saw this picture... 

Me: And I think I hear the ocean in the song "To Love A Boy." Am I right? 

Myra: The song was inspired by Luca Guadagnino's film Call Me By Your Name. 

Me: So, you love the ocean? 

Myra: I spent a lot of my life near the ocean near Nova Scotia. It's always been a really powerful force in my life. Its something I've loved a lot. I've always drew inspiration and magic from the sea. I made a video for that song and you could see a little bit of thinking in the video but I've always wanted to be a mermaid. I laws wanted to like enter the ocean and live in the ocean I just loved swimming and it's always been a really important thing in my life. 

Me: I know you must be busy so how do you find time to write, Myra: 

Myra: Writing songs and mostly writing lyrics has always been a really big part of my life since I was about 8-years-old. It was a way for me to express my emotions I used to communicate with people always, I hate to say this because it would reveal my lyrics are personal and true but I always used to communicate with people like if I got into a fight with my parents or if I wanted to tell a boy I had a crush on them or if I was angry at a teacher I would use lyric writing to sort of condense my feelings and try to put them into a way that they made sense and I wasn't too rambly or mumbly or bumbly. So it has been a really big part of my life since I was a really little kid and it's still something I do to contextualize my emotion and express myself and figure out how I feel and communicate to people that I care about. 

Me: Rambly, mumbly and bumbly sound like a Disney cartoon or something. Haha. Were your parents ever nervous about you getting into this industry? 

Myra: I do think genuinely it'll be a question for them but let's say yyyyeeeeeaaaaahhhh. But my parents ethos have always been very about their kids finding their own inter-compass and follow their heart and they wanted to protect me from falling into this business accidentally. They wanted to protect me from it being a convenient thing or me getting plucked up because I'm in the public eye. They wanted to protect me from being a child star and me not having my youth protected, my unanimity protected as much as it possible could be. But once I started clearly, I mean just leaning that way intentionally not because they were doing it but because it was the only thing I wanted to do, the only place I wanted to be, the only thing that made me feel alive they were totally supportive of making me that intentional choice of passion. Hopefully any parent would be there for their kids for anything they wanted to do. 

Me: Your music sounds like it was written a long time ago, but I know it wasn't. Then you were in Once Upon A Time In Hollywood which I believe takes place in the 70s then Little Women which takes place a long time ago and even "Stranger Things" which takes place in the 80s. Is there something that attracts you to the older times? 

Myra: Well, that's funny, that's actually something that my dad said to me once. I was auditioning for a role that was younger than I was and I was nervous and truth to figure out how to play this younger person? Should I look younger? Hair up or hair down what should I do? And he was like, "Look, you know so much more about what happened before. You know more about yourself at 14 now at 18." Which was the age I was then. "You know more about yourself at 14 then when you were 14." I think that's true also about time. We know more about the eras that come before than we know about our own era. So I do have a fascination with the past and I love research and history and I can learn so much about it and really embody it in a really that's really fun. That does connect through to my music, I do love the music of the 60s and 70s. That is like my era and my time and folk music and Leonard Cohen and Bob Dylan and Joan Jett. There are a lot of inspirations for me that come from that time. It's weird. So I think that's right on. 

Me: Myra, thanks for being on the Phile. I'm a big fan and I hope this was fun and you'll come back again.  

Myra: Thanks for talking to me and asking me these fun questions. 

Me: You're welcome.

That about does it for this entry of the Phile. Thanks to Maya for a fun interview. The Phile will back on Friday with singer Carly Ray Jepsen. Spread the word, not the turd. Don't let snakes and alligators bite you. Bye, love you, bye. Kiss your brain.

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