by John Walters
Medium Happy’s 10-year anniversary came and went last month (8/16), but perhaps it’s all for the best. Our editorial staff was otherwise engaged with a story for SI that should be coming out within a few weeks. So we’ll wade back into this exercise, though, slowly at first.
Fake Newsweek
The above is not an actual Time magazine cover. Someone from within the Trump (Crime) Organization had these made up in 2009 (one can only fathom who!) and copies of such were framed and placed prominently at Donald Trump’s five golf resorts. It’s just the sort of stunt that Banana Republicans pull: prop up our political strongman, whether it’s true or not.
All of which is to say that when the FBI released that photo of the Top Secret files strewn about in Mar-A-Lago, it was interesting that there was a cover of a Time magazine with Trump on front also in the photo. That, we would imagine, was hardly an accident. Maybe they just wanted MAGA to connect the stolen files with the TFG and a picture can be especially powerful, particularly for people of lesser intelligence. Yes, I said it.
Tweet of the day, yesterday.
Dean Of The Bellas
Was channel surfing last week and the end of Pitch Perfect 2 was showing, so we stopped. As you may already know, the MH editorial staff considers Pitch Perfect to be one of the all-time rewatchable films and, looking back, it should have without question been nominated for a Best Picture Oscar. If it loses to Argo, we can live with that. But we all know which movie we’d be able to watch 10 times. Anyway, the song that closes out PP2 is “Crazy Youngsters,” which is instantly addictive. We’d never thought that much about it, but so catchy is the song, and such a remarkable voice doth the singer possess, that we thought we’d delve deeper.
And what did we find (which you may already have known)? The song was both written and recorded by Ester Dean, who played one of the Bellas in the original film. She plays Cynthia-Rose, or if it’s easier, the black one (who’s also the lesbian one… killing two songbirds with one stone). Dig deeper, and it turns out Dean was raised by a single mom in Tulsa, the youngest of five, but she found music and songwriting as her way out. She moved to Atlanta with $500 and well, the success story began to write itself. Dean also wrote Katy Perry’s “Firework” and three singles for Rihanna. Dean has earned the nickname “The Song Factory,” and it’s funny: she was easily, looking back on it now, the most accomplished member of the PP cast when they assembled. You’d never know it.
Two more items: 1) Every time I watch PP I hear a new joke, or at least remember it, for the first time. Last night, when it aired: “The Minstrel Cycles.” Countless good lines in this film. 2) Also, the next time you watch PP, and you will, pay attention to the three Asians who barge in on Beca and Jesse as they’re watching The Breakfast Club. Two are females, and at least one is her roomie. But there’s a dude, who never speaks. I can swear it’s the same guy who plays “The Quant” in The Big Short. That actor’s name is Stanley Wong. Now, I could be wrong (there’s no acting credit on PP’s IMDB page). And I was not about to suggest this on Twitter and be canceled as being the middle-aged white guy who thinks all Asians look the same. But, the next time you see PP, tell me what you think.
Around The Horns
If you don’t like baseball and you don’t like this, what will it take to make you happy? Love Mr. and Mrs. Met jamming along. The song, “Narco,” was written in part by our man in black here, Timmy Trumpet, an Aussie musician. Diaz had been using it as his entrance tune, but this is the first time TT had been there to serenade him in person. We’d love to see this become a thing. Have The Cult or Metallica playing some reliever on in the postseason. Baseball is supposed to be competitive, but it’s always also supposed to be fun.
If you’re Mets closer Edwin Diaz, how do you not come in and strike out the side? It looks and sounds like a pretty special summer to be a Mets fan. By the way, this is all taking place just a few hundred yards away from the U.S. Open. Queens, baby!
A decade of MH? There are too many nuggets and memories to recount, but “time is the only currency” fits this milestone.
Thanks to JW, the judges and the editorial team for a decade of thought-provoking content!
(And gravity always wins).