Pheaturing Dakota Johnson

 

Hey, kids, welcome to the Phile for a Tuesday. Let me tell you about the morning I had so far. The last few days I haven't been feeling good, and the symptoms I had could be COVID related. So, today I went for a COVID test and luckily it came out negative. But I will say I still feel shitty... but at least it's not COVID. If you have any symptoms go get checked, it's not as painful as I thought. Anyway, enough about me... let's move on. Police in Rochester released body camera videos of officers restraining a very distraught 9-year-old girl who was handcuffed and then sprayed with what police are calling a “chemical irritant.” Several news outlets including the Democrat and Chronicle reported that prior to the release of the body cam videos, Rochester mayor Lovely Warren had expressed her concerns for the child that was harmed during the incident. She went on to say, “I have a 10-year-old child, so she’s a child, she’s a baby. This video, as a mother, is not anything you want to see.” During the news conference, Warren stated that she had spoken to the girl’s mother from “one mother to another.” She told reporters that she was very concerned about how young the girl was handled by the police department. A total of 9 officers and supervisors responded to the report of a family in trouble on Friday. The girl can clearly be heard in the body camera videos from one Rochester police officer at the scene screaming frantically for her dad as the officers try to restrain her. During a press conference, Deputy Police Chief Andre Anderson described the 9-year-old as suicidal. He stated, “She indicated she wanted to kill herself and she wanted to kill her mom.” Law enforcement officers quickly tried to force the girl into their patrol car, but she pulled away and repeatedly kicked them. Through a statement, the police department said that their actions required an officer to take the girl down to the ground. Then, they noted that “for the minor’s safety and at the request of the custodial parent on the scene,” the child was handcuffed and put in the back of a police car as they waited for an ambulance to arrive. New York Police noted that the girl disobeyed commands put her feet in the police vehicle. That’s when the officer was then “required to spray an irritant” in the girl’s face, who was handcuffed at the time. An officer can be heard on the video saying, “just spray her at this point.” That’s when the girls continued to scream and another officer said, “ I got her. I got her.” Through a news conference, police chief Cynthia Herriott-Sullivan described the irritant as pepper spray and declined to defend the officer’s actions. She noted, “I’m not going to stand here and tell you that for a 9-year-old to have to be pepper-sprayed is okay. It’s not. I don’t see that as who we are as a department, and we’re going to do the work we have to do to ensure that these kinds of things don’t happen.” The girl was eventually taken to Rochester General Hospital where she was able to receive the services and care that she needed. She was later released to her family. An unknown number please officers were suspended after the release of the video. The suspension will remain in place until an internal probe is completed. The Rochester Police Department has been no stranger to facing scrutiny since the death of Daniel Prude last year after police officers from the Department put a hood over his head and then pressed his face into the pavement.

Holy moly, stay safe and warm New York City. Apparently, a major winter storm, that buried several across the Northeast, brought heavy blizzard-like conditions and is now forcing states across the region to cancel any vaccine appointments, close roads, schools, and suspend flights. The National Weather Service warned that widespread heavy snow of 1 to 2 feet of snow is forecast from Pennsylvania into New England, including New York City, Philadelphia, and Boston, through Tuesday with snowfall rates that can reach up to 3 units an hour and high wind gusts that are peaking as high as 60 miles per hour! As of yesterday afternoon, Chicago saw 10 inches of snow and New York City saw 13.3 inches. Washington is projected to get from 2 to 4 inches of snow, Philadelphia is predicted to have 6 to 12 inches, and Boston is predicted to have 5 to 10 inches of snow. Several flights have now been suspended at major airports, including all flights from LaGuardia Airport, and 75 percent of flights at Newark Liberty International Airport and John F. Kennedy International Airport. Several COVID-19 vaccination appointments were canceled and rescheduled in Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, and Rhode Island. Bill Karins, who is NBC’s news meteorologist, stated that the tri-state area could see its biggest snowstorm inches a total of 5 years, and New York City can get anywhere between 12 and 18 inches of snow, with up to 20 inches possible if the heavy snow sits over the city on Monday afternoon. The National Weather Service’s New York office forecast called for 21 inches Central Park, which could also tie for the fourth largest snowstorm in New York City’s history. But, to add the cherry on top, light snow will continue on and off throughout early Tuesday morning. The National Weather Service gave a winter storm warning, telling people that travel conditions will be “difficult to Impossible” across the Northeast. According to the Maryland State Patrol, they answered almost 900 calls and responded to 330 crashes and around 150 unattended or disabled vehicles on Sunday due to the blizzard-like conditions. New Jersey Gov Phil Murphy stated that state troopers have responded to 340 accidents and 295 motorist aid calls. NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio stated that the city has a “big challenge on our hands,” urging New Yorkers not to travel. He noted, “Blizzard conditions, stay off the roads, stay off the streets. We do not want any non-essential traveling going on.” DeBlasio also stated that schools will be closed on Monday and Tuesday, but are expected to reopen back on Wednesday. The heavy storm has already blackened several parts of the Midwest on Sunday night, some saying it was the most snow it has experienced in several years. In Wisconsin, snow depths in some counties reached more than 15 inches, and Chicago got almost 11 inches of snow. Snow also fell down in the Washington metropolitan area with over 2 inches, and there’s another round of snow expected to fall. The crazy weather prompted President Joe Biden to postpone a visit to the state department that had been planned for Monday morning, according to a White House official. A major snowstorm indeed. I want to look at what Port Jefferson, on Long Island looks like now...

Still a lot of snow but the streets have been cleared. 

The Black Lives Matter movement has officially been nominated for the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize. Norwegian MP Petter Eide nominated the global movement for their heavy struggle “against racism and racially motivated violence.” In the official nomination papers, he wrote, “BLM’s call for systemic change has spread around the world, forcing other countries to grapple with racism within their own societies.” The Black Lives Matter movement came to light days after an unarmed George Floyd was killed by a police officer in Minneapolis last year in May 2020. The movement continues to shine a light on what is called systemic racism and calls for the end of police brutality from small American towns to Urban cities. The group started with the hashtag back in 2012 after the shooting death of Trayvon Martin by George Zimmerman in Florida and has now grown into a physical and social media movement. The organization branched out all over the world and held several boycotts, rallies, and other actions across the U.S. The movement has been used heavily online in order to spread the message against police brutality, and globally it is now being used by many to show solidarity with African Americans. Eide, who has represented the Socialists left party in the parliament since 2017, stated he believes Black Lives Matter is a “legacy from both the civil rights movement in America and the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa.” He continued, “The Norwegian Nobel Committee has always recognized a strong connection between racial justice and peace.” Back in 1964, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was awarded the prize for his non-violent struggles for civil rights for the Afro-American population. The Nobel committee twice awarded the Peace Prize to several anti-racist South Africans, including Albert Luthuli in 1960 and Nelson Mandela in 1993. Eide noted, “Awarding the Peace Prize to Black Lives Matter, as the global strongest force against racial injustice, will send a powerful message that peace is founded on equality, solidarity, and human rights and that all countries must respect those basic principles." According to a 2020 report from the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project, around 93 percent of racial Justice protests in the United States since the tragic death of George Floyd have been non-destructive and peaceful. Through Twitter, Black Lives Matter released a statement about the nomination, saying, “We hold the largest social movement in global history. Today, we have been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. People are waking up to our global call: for racial justice and an end to economic injustice, environmental racism, and white supremacy. We’re only getting started.” Any politician who is serving at a national level can submit any nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize. The winners of the Nobel Prize will be revealed in October with an award ceremony scheduled for December 10th.

Following her performance at the 2021 presidential inauguration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, Amanda Gorman is set to dazzle the audience one more time by performing at one of the biggest football games of the year, the NFL’s Super Bowl LV. Gorman is set to recite an original poem in the pregame ceremony at Raymond James Stadium before the Kansas City Chiefs face off against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on February 7th, 2021. The title of the poem has yet to be released, but according to NBC’s "Pro Football Talk," it will highlight Los Angeles educator Trimaine Davis, who worked to secure laptops and Internet access for students so that they would be able to access remote learning during the pandemic. As well as “Tampa nurse Suzie Dorner, who has been managing the COVID ICU at Tampa General Hospital; and Marine veteran James Martin, who has helped veterans and their families connect virtually through his work with the Wounded Warrior Project.” Martin, Dorner, and Davis are set to participate in the official on-field Coin Toss ceremony. Gorman will be performing in front of 22,000 fans in the stands at this year’s matchup. Among those, the league has decided to invite 7,500 healthcare professionals who have worked on the front lines during the COVID-19 pandemic. Safe to say this is just another high achievement added to her amazing resume, which continues to grow following her performance of “The Hill We Climb” at the Capitol in Washington D.C. During a recent interview with TV host Ellen DeGeneres, the 22-year Old National Youth Poet Laureate stated how her life immensely shifted the moment that she stepped off the stage after reciting at President Joe Biden’s inauguration. She recalled, “I understand in some fashion that I was making history as the youngest inaugural poet. I didn’t know really what that history would look like or the impact it would have.” The poet continued saying that she remembered her cell phone malfunctioning from a high amount of activity, receiving several notifications and millions of followers across all her social media pages at a rapid speed. She continued, “I just remember finishing, going back to my holding room and just swiping up on my Instagram, [asking], ‘I wonder what people are saying.’ And just my apps, my phone not functioning. Like, all the apps I typically used had crashed. I couldn’t look at my photos, anything like that. And I hadn’t expected that.” “The Hill We Climb” called for healing and unity in the United States while championing diversity and then celebrating the change in the nation. Speaking of football, the Buccaneers made history… It was an incredible run, but the streak of no team ever making the Super Bowl while they host it in their own stadium has come to an end. Super Bowl LV that will be hosted at Raymond-James Stadium in Tampa, Florida on February 7th. Ironically enough, this will be the first Super Bowl in history with the stadium only partially full, of course due to COVID-19.    

The Star Wars universe is already no stranger to being a divisive pop culture franchise but over the last couple of years, fans have heavily lambasted Lucasfilm for the creation of the sequel trilogy. To be totally fair, it showed a lot of promise at first with The Force Awakens but along the way, it was evident that Disney didn't know what to do with it and couldn't decide which direction it should go. This is why a lot of people were thrilled to learn about the "potential" removal of the sequels from the Star Wars canon. I reported last week that Disney is rumored to be retconning the entire sequel trilogy to make way for a reboot which would see the trilogy divided into mini-series exclusive to Disney+. However, as promising as that rumor may seem for a lot of Star Wars fans, especially to those who couldn't stand the sequel trilogy, a trusted franchise "leaker" shared his thoughts about it and if you'd ask his opinion, he isn't too convinced. Jason Ward of "Making Star Wars" has been notorious over the years for dishing out reliable leaks concerning the franchise's upcoming projects and more. In a recent conversation with Inverse, Ward said that the idea of Disney rebooting the sequel trilogy is "preposterous". He explains, "There is nothing that makes me think anyone has any inkling of reworking the sequel trilogy. In fact, the idea is preposterous. Each of the sequel trilogy films is performing rather well for Disney/Lucasfilm financially. To 'erase' those would weaken a consistent revenue stream that is currently being capitalized on." Ward raises some pretty valid arguments regarding the rumor and when you think about it, he's actually right. The sequel films, despite the fact that they've been deemed polarizing by a lot of people still performed well at the box office. Still, that's not to say that the rumors about a reboot aren't true as it can't be denied that the franchise may have ended on an underwhelming and controversial note. If there's one thing we learned from the Star Wars franchise, it's to never say never and always expect the unexpected.

Valentine's Day is around the corner, so if you're looking for a card to get how about this one?

Now thing that makes me laugh is when people reenact a photo from their past, like this one for instance...

Hahaha. Here's another dumb thing that happened in 2021 so far...

Death metal. Now from the home office in Port Jefferson, New York here is...

Top Phive Things Said This Past Weekend

5. This is not a finance account. I do not have any trading advice. Hedges-Stock is my surname.

4. It's so cold in New York this weekend, I think I might stay inside since last March.

3. Man, how hot do you think Freud's mom was?

2. Funniest thing that's happened to me in 2021 so far... I asked a friend how she's doing and she texted back, "I no longer discuss such things." 

And the number one thing said this past weekend was...

1. Not to be "that guy" but aren't both Testaments old now? 

If you spot the Mindphuck let me know. Okay, here's another story from...

A case in Kissimmee, Florida, has sparked intense controversy after a school resource officer was caught on video slamming a high school student into the ground. The video that went trending on social media, shows the Osceola County deputy slamming the female student so hard into the ground, the student’s head hit the pavement with a clearly loud thump before her body went completely limp. Osceola County Sheriff’s Office is still in the initial stages of investigating, as the details of what happened are still in question. What’s known is only what’s seen in the video, and the deputy slams the Liberty High School student into the ground, knocking her unconscious. As she remains motionless on the ground, the officer continues to pull her arms behind her back, placing handcuffs on her. Another student is heard saying, “What the fuck is wrong with you?!” Dana Schaffer, Osceola County School District’s spokesperson, confirmed to FOX News that the altercation did happen at Liberty High School, but has not spoken out further on what happened, referring all questions to the Osceola Sheriff’s Department. The Osceola Sheriff’s Office released an updated press release last Tuesday evening confirming the initial stages of the investigation and explaining that the school official was employed by an agency. The statement read, “We are collecting video, witness statements, and relevant information related to the incident. We know that the School Resource Officer was in the process of trying to stop the student from fighting another student in the hallway when the deputy took her into custody.” A spokesperson for the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office has not immediately returned FOX News’ request for comments. However, the video has warranted comments on social media, with many angered by the use of force by law enforcement. According to the Orlando Sentinel, the Sheriff’s Office use of force policy actually states that police officers should use “the minimal amount of force necessary to perform official duties,” and some have pointed out that they see no reason as to why a body slam like this one would be the minimal amount of force used by an official.

Dustin Diamond 

January 7th, 1977 — February 1st, 2021 

That should put an end to all that goddamned screeching.

Oh man, this is golden. Golden, I tell ya! Turns out police in France had quite a field day with this one. Apparently, police shut down a warehouse orgy with at least 81 people attending. Yes, AT LEAST. Good lord, France is crazy. Authorities stated the participants were arrested on the outskirts of Paris because it breached coronavirus regulations. Because well, let’s face it, we are still in the middle of a pandemic. So yeah, they had all right too, they're in lockdown. Still, this to me seems pretty bold, so I have to give it to these French women and men. Locals around the area were the ones who alerted police to a party that was taking place in Collegien around 20 miles from the center of Paris. Probably because it was too loud… but who knows, really. When officers arrived at the scene around 9 p.m. they found 11 people in the parking lot who were fined for breaking France's coronavirus curfew which restricts any movement from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. At 11 p.m., officers were then granted legal permission to enter the warehouse where there was a large number of people engaging in the heavy orgy. Local magistrates were sitting in an emergency session who then gave police the authority to confiscate sound systems and any light installation, along with any alcohol in the raid. Apparently, a total of 81 people were handed fines for breaking the curfew, and three people thought to be the organizers of the “libertine party” were quickly taken in for questioning. I bet they thought they were the exemption. According to the investigator, “The event was in breach of the curfew, and there were also problems with masks and social distancing. Those involved in the libertine party cooperated with the police, and there was no resistance to the police.” Because we’ll let’s face it, we all know that these people weren’t wearing face masks because no one wants to have sex with a face mask on. Unless you’re into that sort of stuff then by all means, wear a face mask. Not surprisingly enough, this isn’t the only orgy that has occurred involving European people. Last year in December, Belgium police broke up a 52 person orgy in a house close to a COVID-19 clinic. Honestly at this point, who knows what’s going on in the other side of the world. All I’m going to say about this is that I hope they had fun at that moment, and I hope that they all got tested beforehand because then that would be terrible for all of these people. Can we just be responsible for once?

The 145th book to be pheatured in the Phile's Book Club is...

Tom will be the guest on the Phile in a few weeks. Now for some...

Phact 1. Sir Isaac Newton says that our universe continued to decrease in density and fall in temperature, hence the typical energy of each particle was decreasing. 

Phact 2. An Indiana State Prison lets murderers adopt cats in their cells.

Phact 3. A man named Michel Lotito is in the Guinness Book of World Records for eating an entire airplane 

Phact 4. Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space, began life in a mud hut. 

Phact 5. Pet turtles in the U.S. must be at least 4 inches long so children can’t fit them in their mouths and contract salmonellosis.

Today's guest is an American actress and model. In 2015, she had her first starring role as Anastasia Steele in the Fifty Shades film series and her latest movie Our Friend is available for steaming now. Please welcome to the Phile... Dakota Johnson.

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

Dakota: I'm well. How are you? 

Me: I'm doing okay. I have to tell you I have interviewed your grandmother, Tippi Hedron and also your former stepfather Antonio Banderas, so it's great to have you on the Phile. So, I did not know you were neighbors with Hunter S. Thompson. Is that true? 

Dakota: Yeah, growing up, yeah. Hunter lived down the road. 

Me: That is so cool. Was it cool? 

Dakota: For sure. My brother had a mighty good time with him. 

Me: Haha. I can imagine going to sleep and they'll be guns shot off in the middle of the night. Haha. 

Dakota: Yeah. Exactly that. 

Me: Okay, so, I heard good things about your new movie Our Friend. What was it about that story that jumped out at you? 

Dakota: I read the script first and then I read the article in Esquire and I just thought it was like a beautiful portrayal of a pretty pure humanity and relationships. I thought it was brave for Matt to write the article let alone green light a movie to be based on his article. 

Me: Matt Teague. Yeah, why did you think it was brave? 

Dakota: Because it's not necessarily the kind of story that we think someone would want to relive. But he seems the beauty and the lessons and the humanity and the compassion inside his life events that I think he knows how profoundly it can affect other people, how widely it could reach other people. And I think he is just brave enough to let this happen. 

Me: I take it you never met your character Nicole who passed away in 2014, Nicole's husband and the kids, am I right? 

Dakota: No, I was let in. 

Me: Really? So what was the most helpful thing toy learned from doing that? 

Dakota: The level of bravery. Matt and the girls were there sometimes on set. I think I was just like gosh, they really believe in this, they really believe in this love and they believe in in friendship and they believe in compassion in a way that is so bold. It's so brave to let us in. We filmed in the town where they're from and everybody in the town knows them and they knew Nicole and it's a small town. So it's not like everybody knew what we were doing and who we were all playing. 

Me: How was that like for you? 

Dakota: It was intense. It was kind of I could look at it like oh God, this is so intense but or you could look at it like it's magical and special and like how lucky to be able to tell such a beautiful and important story in the real town, with the real people and have everybody support it. If I went into a coffee shop or restaurant one of the waiters or the owner would say, "Oh, Nicole used to come and she'd sit here every day." It wasn't so long ago. There was just something really special about making this movie. 

Me: So, Matthew Teague said that you were "mothering" his kids and the kid actors on the set. Dakota. What do you think of that? 

Dakota: It's just sweet. Matt is an incredibly observant man. The way I wanted to make sure that the girls playing my daughters and also his girls felt comfortable was to really make are that they felt scene and heard and I guess that's what he picked up on. 

Me: Dakota, when did you know you wanted to act for a living? 

Dakota: Always. Ever since I could remember being a person. LOL. Whenever I was on set with my parents I just wanted to stay there. I loved set visits, I loved watching, I never got bored. Set visits are pretty boring if you don't care so much about being there and I really did. So kind of forever. I can't remember a time when I thought about doing something else. 

Me: What was it that sparked you about it? 

Dakota: I really don't know how to explain it. I just don't want to do anything else. I want to make movies forever and I've always wanted to make movies forever. And TV, I just want to create visual content. I think there was something in watching how much people were focused on making a movie and all the components, all of the different people and avenues of thought that it takes to make a good project. Like I want to first and foremost want to be kind and working with good people, and respectful and then think about all of the places that you can go with a story or one that's real or one that's completely made up. It's like just visiting different worlds. I think that's probably what it was for me as a kid was like having one life and being able to watch a whole other world being created. I was just I want to do that. 

Me: So, coming from parents that were actors and a grandmother was it easy for you to get into acting? 

Dakota: No. My Julliard audition didn't go incredibly well because of a Radiohead song. LOL. 

Me: What the hell? What's the deal with that? I went to school with the drummer from Radiohead by the way. 

Dakota: LOL. I applied to Julliard because it was the only college that I thought I wanted to do to. I didn't want to go to college because I wasn't interested in general education. I grew up going to so many different schools and traveling so much and being home schooled and I really struggled with testing and I really struggled with time management because I was home schooled in the years that we learn that stuff. So I didn't go to a real school until I was 10-years-old. And then it was hard for me to be like okay so this is how you take a test, I have to learn it and regurgitate it and I was way more like a visual tactile learner. I love reading and I love visiting places. I love traveling and museums and really going deep about learning about one thing. But I wanted to make movies so I thought well I'll apply to Julliard where I'll learn how to act really well as they say they teach people to do. That was the only place I applied to and when I went there it was like I went and had to prepare two monologues and one was a classic and one was a contemporary. And then they said when I got there they were like speaking to everyone who was auditioning the said, "we'll randomly choose people to sing." I was like great, that sucks for those guys. And then they randomly chose me to sing. I was not prepared for that at all. Radiohead's "In Rainbows" had just come out and it was all I was listening to so it was the only song that was in my head and so I sang a Radiohead song and they were just like "what are you doing? What are you thinking?" LOL. It was horrible. 

Me: What? They wanted you to sing something from Annie or something? 

Dakota: LOL. I think I dodged a bullet, I did not want to go there. And then six months later I did The Social Network. 

Me: I forgot you were in that. That's one of my favorite movies. Then the Fifty Shades thing happened. What was it like stepping into that huge role where those movies were so popular? 

Dakota: That was pretty wild. But also I had a good grasp of that character. Sam Taylor Johnson who directed the first movie was really amazing with me. Getting that role was important to me and him for me. 

Me: Why was that? 

Dakota: Because I start out in this industry and it's like rejection and auditions and just a lot of no's and a lot of criticism and a lot of like dismantling of my person. Then on top of that there's this preconceived notion that because who my parents are I'm going to be a certain way or I'm not. It's all of these just hindrances. But then also people who believed in me and took chances like Sam. And it's just impossible to really truly understand someone's path in this industry but I'm very grateful. 

Me: I didn't get to ask you about the role of Nicole in Our Friend, Dakota. You play a woman with terminal cancer, I lost both of my parents from cancer in 2000. Have you heard from people who have gone through this about your performance? 

Dakota: From Nicole's perspective? 

Me: From the family's perspective. 

Dakota: Yeah, some people who have experienced losing loved ones to cancer. But I think it's a hard movie to watch. It's hard to watch even if you haven't experienced that. But I think the most important thing that I've heard is right now in this time where millions and millions of people are losing loved ones and losing jobs and losing really big parts of them of themselves and their lives that they find some kind of like oneness in this movie. And I think anyone that can find a sense of support right now through any form of art I think that's the reason why we make it. 

Me: That's cool. Dakota, thanks for being on the Phile. I hope it was fun. 

Dakota: Likewise.

That about does it for this entry of the Phile. Thanks to Dakota for a good interview. The Phile will be back on Monday with singer Chloe. Spread the word, not the turd. Don't let snakes and alligators bite you. Bye, love you, bye. Kiss your brain. Mask it or casket.

Give me some rope, tie me to dream, give me the hope to run out of steam, somebody said it could be here. We could be roped up, tied up, dead in a year. I can't count the reasons I should stay. One by one they all just fade away...