Pheaturing Little Brother

 

Hey, kids, welcome to the Phile for a Saturday. How are you? There is little doubt that things are getting messy after Scarlett Johansson filed a lawsuit against Disney, who in turn issued a statement that suggested the Black Widow actress was being callous. Not surprisingly, Johansson's agent has since lashed out at the greatest company to work for ever for the false accusations. Johansson's lawsuit alleged that Disney had breached her contract by making Black Widow available for digital release. In response, Disney stated that the Avengers: Endgame star's demands were "sad and distressing" as well as "callous" as it disregards the safety of the world at the time of the COVID-19 pandemic. Not surprisingly, people have been defending Johansson. This includes her agent Bryan Lourd of Creative Arts Agency, who issued a statement about the matter. "[Disney has] shamelessly and falsely accused Ms. Johansson of being insensitive to the global COVID pandemic, in an attempt to make her appear to be someone they and I know she isn't," Lourd said. In his statement, Lourd also pointed out that Johansson has been working for the House of Mouse for several years and doesn't deserve this kind of treatment. "Scarlett has been Disney's partner on nine movies, which have earned Disney and its shareholders billions. The company included her salary in their press statement in an attempt to weaponize her success as an artist and businesswoman, as if that were something she should be ashamed of," Lourd said. The agent added that Johansson will always get the support of the people she works with within the Marvel Cinematic Universe. "Scarlett is extremely proud of the work that she and all of the actors, writers, directors, producers and the Marvel creative team have been a part of for well over a decade." The decision to give Black Widow both a theatrical and digital release was undoubtedly one that was made by Disney. After all, the Marvel team was strongly opposed to making the film available on Disney+ and had been pushing for a full theatrical release. For now, we are still waiting for more updates on Johansson's lawsuit against Disney. However, there is little doubt that both parties will be releasing more statements in the upcoming week. In the meantime, Black Widow is still screening in theaters and on Disney+. 

The Star Wars franchise's uber polarizing sequel trilogy left a bad taste in a lot of fans' mouths and if they had their way with things, they'd wish for all three films... The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi, and The Rise of Skywalker to be deleted from continuity. Now, a new rumor suggests that it could all come true as Disney is reportedly erasing the entire sequel trilogy from existence to make way for a reboot. According to a report from Express, Disney is currently toying with the idea of remaking the divisive trilogy and turn them into a series of shows exclusive to Disney+. YouTuber Doomcock claims that if plans push through, the "new" sequel trilogy will feature a reunion between Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, and Leia Organa. He reveals, "If Disney were to remake the Sequel Trilogy, the Sequel Trilogy would be remade exclusively for Disney Plus, according to my source, with a story being spread out between eight to ten mini-series, and three seasons of full series. My source claims that, while they will only change a little of The Force Awakens to use the Leia footage, he says they will most likely add one major thing. A reunion of Han, Luke, and Leia." Doomcock added, "My sources claim that footage exists of Han, Luke, and Leia together. This footage was shot on green screen, and it is a ten-minute scene. But the idea that Abrams would have written and recorded this scene is intriguing. Was it something that was ultimately cut from The Force Awakens? Or was it some kind of flashback that was filmed for The Last Jedi or The Rise of Skywalker? If this is true, it is a massive bombshell." Personally, I don't know how to feel about this one. It's like Disney is accepting defeat and acknowledging the fact that they actually mishandled the entire sequel trilogy. I guess mad props to them for trying to correct things. Now, if this rumored project does happen, I think I'll be cool with it as long as they bring back the original actors from the last three films of the Skywalker saga. 

Michael Che woke up and "chose violence," according to Michael Che. The co-head writer of "Saturday Night Live" and co-anchor of Weekend Update took to his Instagram story on Thursday to say, "Man, I wanna make fun of Simone Biles." "I got like 3 mins of Simone Biles jokes in my head," he wrote. "As the dorky kids say, I’m choosing violence." His enthusiasm for making fun of Simone Biles, the most decorated gymnast of all time who withdrew from Olympic events to focus on mental health, was treated as an invitation for trolls to share their jokes about the champion... and the abuse she suffered from convicted sex offender Larry Nassar. People proceeded to drag Che, an actual worthy target. Che, true to form, claimed to have been "hacked," but seemed rather flippant about it. The posts are very in-character for him, as Broadway actor and writer Pia Glenn explained in a thread. He then "returned" to the account to post about poop. Maybe @CheThinks should think harder. 

The "twisties" is a deceptively adorable-sounding name for a condition that can mean life or death for an athlete. When Simone Biles withdrew from the Artistic Gymnastics Women's Team Competition at the Tokyo Olympics, it started an Olympic-level competition of Hot Takes that features some of the world's worst people criticizing the 24-year-old champion. "Twisties" are a mental block that a gymnast can experience that makes them lose their sense of direction while they're literally flying through the air. The stakes couldn't be higher, as a bad landing can mean injury and even paralization. Regarding the vault that caused Biles to withdraw, Deanna Hong, a producer of the docu-series "Golden: The Journey of USA's Elite Gymnasts," quoted a former elite gymnast who said that if someone other than Biles made that landing error, they would have "blown a knee, at minimum." "Another said if it had happened to her instead of Simone, 'I probably would have ended up paralyzed.'" Biles herself took to Instagram to explain the stakes, and show how she has yet to recover. She tweeted a video of her at a practice gym in Tokyo, falling flat on her back dismounting off of the uneven bars. "For anyone saying I quit, I didn't quit. My mind and body are simply not in sync, as you can see here." she wrote, explaining that she was supposed to do one and a half more twists on her way down. "I don't think you realize how dangerous this is on hard/competition surface, nor do I have to explain why I put health first. Physical health is mental health." Biles answered fan questions, going into more detail about what it feels like and articulating the stakes. She is beginning to practice and testing whether she will be prepared to compete in individual events by "going back to basics" and performing skills on soft surfaces. She again called out the assholes who called her a "quitter" or "selfish." "I didn't have a bad performance and quit... I simply got so lost my safety was at risk as well as a team medal," she explained. Biles celebrated the "QUEENS!!!!" that stepped up and WON silver. "I also have no idea how I landed on my feet on that vault because if you look at the pictures and my eyes you can see how confused I am as to where I am in the air," she added. "Thankfully I landed safe enough but I also don't think some of you realize I was supposed to do a 2 1/2 and I only completed 1 1/2 twists before it looks like I got shot out of the air." In light of this event, a fan brought back an old clip in which Biles said, "Sometimes going into [a skill], I'm like, 'Don't bail... you'll literally die. Like, you will break something.'" Her struggles haven't stopped her from supporting her teammates and celebrating Suni Lee's all-around gold medal win. The GOAT. 

First it was Meghan Markle. Then Naomi Osaka. And now Simone Biles has been subjected to the criticism of professional troll Piers Morgan after she spoke out about her struggles with mental health. Piers Morgan decided to drag the Olympic gold medalist, who earlier this week withdrew from the women's team finals in the Tokyo Olympics because of mental health issues. There was a massive outpouring of support for 24-year-old Biles online, as most people praised her for being brave enough to speak out and to prioritize her mental health and safety. But Piers Morgan, who always seems like he needs about 20 years of therapy and a big hug from his mom and dad, is not most people. He took to social media to slam Biles and undermine her reason for withdrawing from the events.

Morgan's tasteless tweet quickly backfired as people reminded him of when he had a meltdown and walked off the set of "Good Morning Britain" after his co-host called him out for his criticism of Meghan Markle. Morgan was also dragged on-air by CNN host Brianna Keilar. I love to see the Internet come together as a force for good: serving Piers Morgan a heaping dose of his own medicine. 

Any stroll through a store would have you believe that "pink is for girls" and "blue is for boys" are the associated gender roles are the very backbone of our society. Products from nail clippers to hand lotion are assigned genders when last time I checked, inanimate objects don't have gender identities. Like these pajamas for example...

Fellas, is it girly to have a heart in your body? If you're looking for a graphic design job, you may want to contact whoever employed the people responsible for the following design fail. They are most likely hiring.

Tipping can often be a divisive subject as many people resent the fact that 20% of the bill for restaurant or bar service is standard in the United States. Anyone who has worked in the service industry is familiar with the heart-sinking level of confusion or blind rage when you marathon it around the restaurant smiling out of your eyebrows only to find that a party left you a zero dollar tip. Being a waiter or bartender is a serious test in the strength of your faith in humanity as you stand for twelve hours panicking about table seven's missing side of ranch dressing while table twelve throws up happy hour margaritas in the bathroom and your co-worker cries about how the manager screamed at them for wearing red shoes that don't match the uniform. Still, there are some situations when a customer feels justified in their choice to not leave a tip. So, when a conflicted man decided to consult the Phile about whether or not he was wrong to stiff a rude bartender on a tip, I decided to help deem a verdict. 

"Am I wrong for not tipping a bartender on a big tab? My friends and are play bar-league softball during the summer. We are all in our mid 20s and have had this same team for about 5 years. This year we decided to sign up for a tournament about an hour from where we live. After our games were done on Saturday, we decided to go to a bar to grab some food and drinks. To make things easier for the bar, we just put everything on one tab and would figure out payment amongst ourselves with Venmo and cash. We usually rotate who puts the tab on their card and this time it was me. One of my friends, Tommy, has a stutter and a lisp. I've known him since grade school and he's a great guy and a solid infielder. But if you don't know him it can be kind of difficult to understand him sometimes and even more so when he's had a few beers or if he gets flustered about something. So our team is at the bar getting a bunch of food and drinks and someone sends Tommy up to the bar to get another round of pitchers. The rest of us were playing pool and darts and after a few minutes we hear a commotion from the bar area and see Tommy and the bartender kind of arguing. I go over with another friend to see what's going on. The bartender tells me that he's not going to serve Tommy anymore because he's clearly drunk and can't understand a word he's saying. We had been at the bar a little over an hour and none of us were wasted. Maybe a little tipsy, but nowhere near the point of being cut-off. Tommy looks really embarrassed and is trying to explain himself but is struggling to get the words out. My other friend and I try to explain to the bartender that he has a speech impediment and it's just the way he is. But the bartender isn't having it and tells us that he's not going to kick Tommy out, but if he sees Tommy drinking anything he's going to make him leave. So I tell the bartender to close my tab and that we will all just leave. Tommy and my other friend go to gather the rest of the guys and I close the tab, which at this point was almost $400 because we had 12 guys there who all got food and drinks. I pay the correct amount, but don't tip a single cent. As we are leaving the bartender calls me out on not leaving a tip and calls me an asshole. I told him that he was the one who lost out on a big tip because he was being an asshole. I told him all he had to do was listen to us and be a little understanding and he would've gotten a huge tip from us, but he decided to be a jerk to our friend. He had a few more choice words for me as I was leaving, but I just walked out. Tommy was really embarrassed and was trying to apologize to all of us and was almost near tears. We told him that none of this was his fault and that the bartender was just a jerk. I've worked in food-service before and understand that missing out on a tip on a tab like that is a big deal, but the guy was a jerk to my friend and I am not going to reward that with a tip, no matter how big the tab is." This was a case of disability discrimination, and you did the right thing. Send an email to the company's management. I would outline the behavior of their staff and how this treatment makes you not want to return to their establishment. Thank you for being a good friend. He did not deserve to be treated like that. So, there you have it! Good luck, everyone! If you have a problem you want my opinion on then email me at thepeverettphile@gmail.com. Now from the home office in Port Jefferson, New York here is...

Top Phive Things Said About "Arthur" Getting Canceled After 25 Years

5. "Arthur" got canceled after all these years somehow its DW's fault.

4. 2025: Arthur has been canceled for years. People have forgotten how to work and play... getting along with each other is out of the question. It seemed like a simple message but without it we are lost. Society is on the brink of collapse.

3. Apparently they canceled "Arthur." The world doesn't make sense anymore. I really wanted to raise my children in a world where they got all their attitude problems from DW Reed. Peppa Pig just doesn't cut it for me. 

2. The show did get weird after Arthur went through his first divorce and then started mining bitcoin while under lockdown, so this is probably for the best. 

And the number one thing said about "Arthur" getting canceled after 25 years is...

1. So I guess we're never gonna find out who was shooting at Arthur & Co. on that outrigger in Season 5 then. Great. 

I would like to give thanks to the brave men and women who died a long time ago testing which plants were edible and which plants were not. And then there were those who said, “these plants are not very edible, let’s try setting them on fire and inhaling the smoke.”

Okay, let's take a live look at Port Jeff, shall we?

Still looks like a nice day there. 

If you spot the Mindphuck let me know. 

The 155th and last book to be pheatured in the Phile's Book Club is...

Hahahaha. I'm laughing because that book came out in 2009... but there you are. David will be on the Phile in a few weeks. 

Phact 1. Women were not allowed to wear pants on the U.S. Senate floor until 1993 after Senators Barbara Mikulski and Carol Moseley Braun defiantly staged a protest by wearing pantsuits. 

Phact 2. The dog Laika, one of the first animals in space, “was found as a stray wandering the streets of Moscow. Soviet scientists chose to use Moscow stray dogs since they assumed that such animals had already learned to endure conditions of extreme cold and hunger.” 

Phact 3. Elvis Presley once asked his limo driver, “Do you own this limo or do you work for the company?” The driver responded that he works for the company. Elvis smiled at the driver and said, “Well you own it now." Limo driver was tipped the limo itself. 

Phact 4. Thomas Edison taught his second wife Morse code so that they could communicate in secret by tapping into each other’s hands when her family was around. 

Phact 5. The 7th time that park ranger Roy Sullivan was struck by lightning coincided with the 22nd time he fought off a bear with a stick. 

Today's guests are two members of the American hip hop duo Little Brother from Durham, North Carolina. Their latest album "May the Lord Watch" is available on iTunes, Amazon and Spotify. Please welcome to the Phile... Phonte and Big Pooh. 

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

Phonte: Thank you. Thank you for having us. 

Big Pooh: Thank you. I am good. 

Me: I love your guys names. You guys have been around for a while, right? When did your first album come out? 

Phonte: "The Listening" came out in 2003. 

Me: That is a long time. Big Pooh, when you hear that album or those songs now what goes through your mind? 

Big Pooh: I was a baby. I was like 21 or 22-years-old when we did that album, so when I hear it it's weird listening to myself. But it's also one of those moments where I look back and say wow, this album is one of the reasons I've been able to travel around the world and do a lot of the things that I've been able to do. 

Phonte: Like that moment in Seattle I think. 

Big Pooh: Yeah, inside the Jerk Shack. 

Me: What's that? What happened in Seattle? 

Phonte: After we played a show in Seattle last year the owner had stayed open late for us, they knew we had a show. "Yeah, you guys come back." So we came back and they were playing songs of "The Listening" and I just remember saying to Pooh, "It's crazy that these songs are the reason we're sitting in a barbecue spot right now in Seattle." I never thought that something I do in my 20s is going to continue to pay dividends and pay rewards for the rest of my life. 

Me: For a while you guys parted ways. What was did your fan base think of that? 

Big Pooh: I don't think we really took to the fans what we were thinking. 

Me: So, why did you guys part ways? 

Phonte: We got so tired of each other and thought the hell with all of this. 

Big Pooh: It's over, we'll figure it out as we go along. 

Me: Really? Is that true? 

Big Pooh: Yeah, that's all we, I say, we cared about. We didn't care about each other at the time. 

Phonte: Damn sure. 

Big Pooh: We just got tired of each other and was like listen, this ain't working out, the way we want it to work out. So it's over. 

Phonte: With us, when we decided to hang it up in 2010 we were in good shape. Like nationally, we were doing good business on the road, we were still a viable brand. We were able to make money, our show prices I think were even going up at that time. But the money didn't matter. We were just tired of it, of each other. Our relationship was not in the best place, not a good place at all. Just the constant hustle of the album, tour, album, mix-tape tour, mix-tape tour. We just burnt out and turned on each other. 

Me: Did you guys talk doing that time? 

Big Pooh: Years went by with the two of us talking after we decide to call it quits as a band. 

Me: So, what got you guys talking to each other again? 

Big Pooh: It was the death of Phife Dawg from a Tribe Called Quest in 2016 hat sort of got us talking to each other again. 

Me: Why did that death get you talking again? 

Big Pooh: That is somebody that we grew up with. Like from our generation. 

Phonte: He was one of us. 

Big Pooh: Yes. That's us. He was ours. It was so crazy because I had just spoken to Phife probably like a month before he passed. We were talking about doing music together. So I think that just really hit home and as far as me it just made me realize that how there wasn't anything that was a major of a reason to why we weren't speaking. And so I just thought that it was time, it had been passed time but it was time. And I just wanted to let Phonte know how I felt as a friend and as a brother. I didn't care about making music, I just wanted my friend and my brother back. That's how his death really, really spoke to me. 

Me: Phonte, what did it feel like for you to get that phone call? P

Phonte: Man, it was refreshing. It was reassuring because I had been feeling the same way. And so when I got that text it just hit me, regardless of whatever I love you, you're still my brother and I hope you're good. I hit him right back like immediately without a thought. I love you too, man, let's get on the horn. We got on the phone and we was on the phone for about four hours. 

Me: What did you talk about? 

Phonte: Just talking about everything. Every grievance, every slight, every perceived dis, whatever it was.  

Big Pooh: We aired it all out on the table. 

Phonte: Yeah, and we were straight, and that was in 2016. Even after that we didn't start making music until we started working on the new album so a while two years went by of us just talking to each other, of us being in each others lives. Just kinda seeing and accessing where the other one was. What has his life been since I've been out of it. What is he working on now and how can I help. 

Me: That's so cool, I bet it felt good, right? 

Phonte: It definitely felt like a missing piece, that something missing in my life was back where it was supposed to be. 

Me: When did you start doing music again together? 

Big Pooh: After a couple of years talking to each other we ended up doing a surprise reunion performance together in the fall of 2018, in Durham, North Carolina. This is the first time we were on stage together as Little Brother in like a decade. 

Me: Big Pooh, how did that feel like to you? 

Big Pooh: All of the nerves were in the pre-show. The butterflies, the anxious, so many thoughts running through my head because all of that show came together in a couple of hours. It wasn't a thing that was planned and we knew weeks ahead of time. I literally got a call like at 4:30 in the afternoon and agreed and was in my car by five o'clock, driving two and a half hours to Durham from Charlotte. 

Phonte: Pooh was the MVP that day. He made it from Charlotte to Durham in record time. 

Big Pooh: Yeah. I was gone. God was on my side that day. 

Me: Did you remember the songs easily? 

Big Pooh: I listened to "The Listening" the whole drive. 

Phonte: Got to refresh. 

Big Pooh: Yeah. We had bank of songs that we performed whenever we performed so I had to go through those songs. I didn't know what we were going to do because we didn't have a set list at the time. So I just had to go through all the songs to kinda refresh and call it doing my homework so I could be prepared for whatever we did. It comes back to me, if I listened to it, but I hadn't listened to it so long because when I did solo shows I rarely did any Little Brother records. It was just one of those things, all the nerves went out the window once the music started. Once we walked out on stage and the music started it felt like 2009 al over again. 

Me: What did it feel for you, Phonte? 

Phonte: It was an awesome memory. For me it was the same way, it was nerves and then I step on stage and everything just falls into place. Being able to do Little Brother songs officially with my man again that was the most fulfilling part for me. I can do the full songs, not just my verse, we can really do Little Brother and that felt good. 

Me: You have a new album out called "May the Lord Watch." What was the hardest part of making this album? 

Big Pooh: Learning about each other again. 

Me: What do you mean? 

Big Pooh: Just everything. Learning who Phonte was as a person now. And then learning what has process was in creating. By the time we ended the first iteration of Little Brother we weren't really recording together. 

Phonte: I would do my verses at night, Pooh would do his verses during the day. That was it. 

Big Pooh: We'd see each other on stage. So with this one we actually recorded the whole album at Phonte's house in his hime studio and we loved the album. I would travel up and stay at his house for four or five days at a time and I would just move in and become part of the family. It'll be days we didn't even record, wed just sit around and talk and learn and build on each other and watch TV or listen to other music or just do different things. I also think and I told him through the process, the crazy thing is I started off excited about making this album and that was my thing but it turned into the process of making this album which comes so special to me that I'm not worried about the goal which was the album at that point. I was just involved with the album and the process of making the album and that journey. It just meant so much to me. 

Phonte: We knew because we put so much to it. Once the record was done me and Pooh both looked at each and was like yo, we got something. It was on fucking fire. We just felt confident about it because we know what we put to it. It was just one of those things, I always tell artists and stuff, once they're good with it, once they know they've given it the all, then just let it go. Once anyone says about it, if critics like it, or fans like to or don't like to or whatever, as long as they put their work in then whatever people feel about it is what they feel about it. They can't get caught up in it, the only thing they could control is the work that they do. And I could say with no hesitation or nothing that the minute that we finished that album, we put every drop of everything we had into it. I was happy. 

Me: So, Phonte, you made headlines when you criticized a New York Times article that seemed to credit Drake popularizing the whole rapping singing thing. Drake himself has credited you for being a huge influence. What pissed you off about that article? 

Phonte: The main thing I want to stress I did not, or do not have any problem with Drake at all. Me and him had done records together, we had some conversations about that years ago. So I have no issue with him at all. I can't say that enough. My problem is with journalists and people who try to rewrite history while the people who made it is still sitting here. It's not about me, for them to say that Drake normalized rap and singing, we are going to just say hell with Bone Thugs, hell with Nelly, hell with Andre, Cee Lo, Devin the Dude. It's very indicative of art and the way media is consumed now, where we live in this era where whoever does with the most toys wins. They say history is written by the winners and just because something maybe the biggest thing doesn't mean it was the first one to do it. And they are not about to play in my face on my phone. I'm sorry, get out of here, bro. 

Big Pooh: I don't like people playing on my phone. 

Phonte: Just get out of here, come on, bro. Next they're going to tell me that Eminem was the greatest rapper to ever lived. That's the next thing, it's very kinda click-bait. I was like no, dude. 

Me: Ha. So, is this reunion a one off thing? 

Big Pooh: We don't know. 

Phonte: I don't know. But I'm for sure there's going to be more music, I've got some ideas that I want to get him on and vice versa. In terms of an album I think again that it' a beautiful thing we can choose if we wanted to do it. If we choose to end it right here I don't think anyone would be mad or if another year from now or two years or whatever if we decide we have something worthy to say and we want to offer that to our fans I think they'd appreciate that as well. 

Me: Cool. Thanks so much for being on the Phile, guys. Take care. 

Big Pooh: Thanks very much for having us.

That about does it for this entry of the Phile. Thanks to Little Brother for a cool interview. The Phile will be back on Monday with Tim Minchin. Spread the word, not the turd. Don't let snakes and alligators bite you. Bye, love you, bye. Get vaccinated!

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...