The election of Donald Trump and Mike Pence spurred many to take immediate action to protect a woman's right to choose. According to Vice, donations to Planned Parenthood surged last week. Now, some are sending a clear message to the vice president-elect with their donations.
"You can make a donation in Mike Pence's name and he'll receive the certificate of the donation," reads an Instagram going viral right now. Best Coast's Bethany Cosentino shared it on Saturday, remarking, "You should donate no matter what but omg this is genius."
There was already a Facebook page called "Donate $5 to Planned Parenthood in Honor of Mike Pence," founded back in 2011. That's when the then-congressman of Indiana started the movement to defund Planned Parenthood. As governor of that state, he signed a bill this year that would have prevented abortions for reasons of physical or mental disability, had it not been struck down by the Supreme Court.
Just in case you were worried that you'd be somehow be benefitting Pence with this move, the donations won't be tax deductible for him.
For their part, Planned Parenthood is taking the high road. "Planned Parenthood has been here for 100 years, and one thing is clear: We will never back down and we will never stop fighting to ensure that Planned Parenthood patients have access to the care they need, people who come from communities that need our continued support in this new reality — immigrants, people of color, the LGBTQ community, people of faith, and more," Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood, said in a statement after the election. "Health care should not be political."
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Welcome toMoney Diaries,where we're tackling what might be the last taboo facing modern working women: money. We're asking millennials how they spend their hard-earned money during a seven-day period — and we're tracking every last dollar. (Thanks,New York mag, for the inspiration.)
Today, a woman in fashion development getting a tattoo and paying more in rent than her boyfriend.
Industry: Fashion. I work on Trend and Concept development. It's a very narrow field, so I feel super thankful for the position that I have, especially as someone working in fashion, but coming from a fine arts background.
Age: 33
Location: Flatbush, Brooklyn
Salary: $81,500. My boyfriend and I keep our finances mostly separate, though we share a credit card account (gotta get those airline miles!). His salary is around half of mine so we tend to split most things by percentages.
Paycheck Amount (2x a month): $3,115, minus taxes, health care, 401(k), and commuter benefits.
# of roommates: 1
Monthly Expenses
Rent: $1,875 total. I pay $1,375. We got super lucky and found a beautiful two-bedroom apartment in a turn-of-the-century brownstone. It's the nicest place either of us has ever lived.
Loan Payments: ~$375/month. Though I try to throw a couple of extra bucks in at the end of the month if I can. I currently still owe $28,000 from my time in grad school. Thankfully my undergrad degree was paid for my by grandmother, who paid for all 7 of her grandkids' college educations.
Utilities: $0. I pay a larger part of the rent, so my boyfriend pays all of our utilities, including my cellphone bill.
Transportation: $ 116.50 per month unlimited subway card. Comes out of my paycheck pre-tax.
Health Insurance: Medical $140, Vision $6, (Thankfully my teeth and eyes are in good health so I tend to switch out Dental and Vision coverage each year. This is a Vision year.)
Savings: $19,000 in my 401k, from having it about 5 years. Right now I contribute ~$100 a month into it. Unfortunately, my current company does not do matching. I also have some stocks that I bought when I was 10 (Thanks again, Grandma!) and that's currently worth about $12,000, though stock stuff confuses me and I don't know what to "do" with it hence why it's just been sitting there for two-plus decades. I also use a budgeting app daily and try to save at least $500 a month.
Netflix: $10 per month
Gym: $96 per month
Graze Snackbox: $11.99
Day 1
9:05 a.m. — Arrive at work and fill up my desk water bottle. I'm a freak who doesn't like coffee so it's filtered water and a Luna bar (Peppermint Stick for life!) for breakfast.
11:05 a.m. — I'm the queen of office snacks so I eat a few handfuls of whole-grain Goldfish crackers and start thinking about lunch and remember that since we've been out of town the past few weekends we don't have any food at home and decide to stop by Whole Foods for groceries and lunch from the hot bar.
12:30 p.m. — Pop out to Whole Foods and get: frozen broccoli and stir-fry veggies, two frozen vegan pizzas, four boxes of flavored rice mixes, two containers of hummus, tofu, two apples, applesauce, coconut milk, two boxes of cookies, and Indian food from the hot bar. Thankfully it's early in the week and the office freezer is pretty empty so I store all the cold stuff in there until the end of the day. $67.68
3:30 p.m. — A large group of friends and I are planning an end-of-October trip and I book a cottage for the weekend. Everyone will pay me back once we figure out exactly how many people can go. The total is $817.50, but I'll pick up the portion for me and my boyfriend which will be $109.
6 p.m. — Head home on the train and I'm starting to get a migraine feeling, but I'm hoping I'm just hungry. Was planning on making tofu stir-fry tonight, but by the time I get home I feel so bad I just eat a PB&J and am in bed by 7:30 p.m.
Total: $176.68
Day 2
9:30 a.m. — Wake up with a headache hangover and can't decide if I should go into work, all my waffling gets me there a bit late. Have the usual Luna bar, crackers, and water for breakfast, plus my migraine meds.
11:30 a.m. — BF texts me to see if I want to have a date night tonight. Um, yes please. He tells me which subway stop to meet at once I get off work. Ooh, fun surprise. Hope I feel better by then.
1:30 p.m. — Still feeling a bit queasy and the only thing that seems appetizing is soup. I get the Tuscan white bean from Hale & Hearty. Too lazy to get out my wallet to pay so I use LevelUp and have a surprise $2 credit. $4.84
4 p.m. — Need an afternoon pick-me-up, and since I saved two dollars on lunch I decide on the "fancy" chai latte from Toby's Estate. While in line I make note of the concentrate they use and add it to my Amazon cart for later purchase. $4.75 + $1 tip.
6 p.m. — Meet my boyfriend for dinner and a movie. We eat at a decent vegan spot with too-high prices and go see the new Werner Herzog film about the internet. Date night so he pays.
Total: $10.59
Day 3
8 a.m. — Go to a Pilates Reformer class at my gym before work. It's not part of the membership, so it costs extra. A pre-paid package of 16 classes is only $260, which is pretty much a steal compared to other group reformer classes around the city. This is the last week of my package and although I love the classes I haven't decided if I want to continue with the expense for another 8-week session.
9:30 a.m. — Breakfast of Luna bar, crackers, water. I think I've had a similar breakfast every weekday for the past 10 years.
11:05 a.m. — I order a custom salad from Sweetgreen for pick up since I refuse to ever wait in their crazy long lines. $9.36
12:15 p.m. — On the way to salad pick-up I stop by the grocery store and grab two liter bottles of seltzer (lime and grapefruit). I've been craving chocolate pudding lately, so I get that too. $6.55
1:15 p.m. — Damn, this pudding is delicious.
4 p.m. — A pair of shoes I ordered last week from ASOS for a wedding I'm attending arrived today and they are just what I was looking for...which means I can go return the other three (!) pairs I got as back-ups in a run to Zara. Also gives me a chance to do some comp-shopping for work and see what's new in stores this week.
6 p.m. — Head home and finally make tofu stir-fry. Once or twice a week I try to make a meal large enough to bring leftovers to work the next day.
Total: $15.91
Day 4
7:30 a.m. — Wake up. Feed the cats. Set the Roomba on it's way. Train to work. Luna bar/crackers/water. I'm not a morning person, so I keep it simple.
11:30 a.m. — Today I have a meeting during lunch, so I eat half of my stir-fry. One of the hardest things about bringing in food from home is that I want to eat it all before lunchtime.
2 p.m. — Rest of leftovers, plus an apple from earlier in the week. Stop at the Duane Reade and get hair dye and cotton balls. I almost get a soda too, but I really want a fountain soda so I stop by 7-Eleven on the way back to the office and get a regular-sized Gulp and give a dollar to a woman sitting outside. $12.93 + 1.95 + $1. Total: $15.88
4:30 p.m. — Now that I have my wedding-guest shoes I decide to see if a vintage 1920's evening bag I've been looking at on Etsy is still available. It is, but I check Ebay on a hunch and the same one is there, but cheaper so I get that one! $39.99
7 p.m. — I usually do about 90% of the cooking/grocery shopping/paying for groceries, but my boyfriend gets home earlier than I do, so to today he picked up a few things for burritos (tempeh, onion, avocado; we had all other needed ingredients) and made dinner for us. Since I know dinner is set, and the weather is beautiful, I get off the train a stop early and walk home through the park.
Total: $55.87
Day 5
8 a.m. — Last Reformer class this morning. I find out that for the next session they're getting new, fancy machines and that pretty much seals my decision to sign up again. Classes start up in two weeks, so I'm going to wait until the new month starts so the expense doesn't mess up this month's budget.
11 a.m. — We have a half-day at work today so I'm trying to save lunchtime for when I get home. I'm basically just snacking all day until then — Luna bar, Goldfish crackers, wasabi rice crackers, blueberry-white-chocolate toasts from my Graze box.
2 p.m. — We're going over to our friends' house tonight to watch a movie and there's been a request for cookies and I can't remember what baking stuff I have at home. I pick up pastry flour, dark chocolate chips, brown sugar, Earth Balance butter sticks, coconut-milk yogurt, and veggie bacon. Once I get home I realize I already had everything I needed. Oh well, looking forward to more baking in fall. $24.34
3 p.m. — Make cookies, eat burrito leftovers from last night. Also eat cookie dough.
7 p.m. — Walk over to our friends' house for movie night and we decide to order Indian food. My boyfriend pays, but is a big tipper and doesn't have quite enough cash on him so I toss in some money. $8
Total: $32.34
Day 6
10 a.m. — Want some strawberries with my coconut-milk yogurt and granola breakfast. Luckily we have a great produce store around the corner from us where we get most of our fresh fruits and veggies. I also pick up tomatoes, two seltzers, and a fresh loaf of bread. $8.31
2 p.m. — Eat leftover veggie vindaloo for lunch and then head out to go row at the gym.
5:30 p.m. — Meet up with a friend at Sephora and almost buy the Naked2 palette, but hold off. We then walk to Chelsea Market and get sushi and dumplings ($16.08 including tip) and I find fresh vegan pasta so I get a half-pound for dinner tomorrow ($3.43). Remember that I owe my friend money for a trip we took a few weekends ago ($10). $29.51
7 p.m. — We walk along the High Line and I need water. $1
10 p.m. — My monthly donation to the podcast network Radiotopia goes through. $4
Total: $42.82
Day Seven
10 a.m. — Strawberries, coconut milk, yogurt, and granola for breakfast.
1:30 p.m. — We lounged around too long so we're running late for my tattoo appointment today! I make and eat a veggie BLT really quickly and instead of stopping by my bank to take out cash my boyfriend lends me $200 and we decide to just take it out of his portion of the upcoming rent. I rarely have cash and he always does.
2 p.m. — The tattoo shop is only a few miles away and it's such a nice day out that we decide to ride bikes there. The artist did another one of my tattoos a few years ago and she remembers me, which is nice.
4:30 p.m. — My artist doesn't have any other clients today so she's taking her time and we're at the shop much longer than expected. I brought a granola bar along for just such an occasion.
5:30 p.m. — I end up getting my ditch [inner elbow] tattooed and it takes a lot out of me. I'm regretting riding bikes there. It's all worth it though because I love what we decided on! We finish up and pay and take the train back home. $270
7:30 p.m. — I relax on the couch with my dead/useless arm and my boyfriend makes a vegan ragù to eat with the fresh pasta I bought yesterday. It's delicious! I work up enough energy to make us a small salad. The rest of the night involves lots of HBO Go and moving as little as possible.
Total: $270
Money Diaries are meant to reflect individual diarists' experiences and do not necessarily reflect Refinery29’s point of view. Refinery29 in no way encourages illegal activity or harmful behavior.
Shia LaBeouf is many things. He's a former Disney kid turned very serious actor, as he proved yet again with his new role in the acclaimed American Honey. He's a performance artist. A walking, talking meme. One thing you may not have expected, however, is for LaBeouf to be a competent freestyle rapper.
The former Even Stevens star appeared on SiriusXM's Sway In The Morning to compete in the Five Fingers Of Death challenge — and, shockingly, he wasn't terrible! For someone without a real rap background, LaBeouf certainly held his own — and for over three minutes, no less.
To quote LaBeouf:
"It's a dream sir, I'm the belle of the ball / Never thought my rhyme style was eligible."
Other gems in LaBeouf's freestyle? There are so many, but I'm particularly impressed by the actor's apparent self-awareness as he raps:
"My life is like a highlight reel / Don't like me? Check Twitter see how the zeitgeist feel."
In true freestyle fashion, LaBeouf also criticized rapper Lil Yachty with this diss:
"Where did spitters go? Garbage litter shit they wrote / Miss me with that little boat / Cause bigger individuals committed to these principles / Was livin' on they tippy toes / Sink 'em with a hippy's hope / Consider them the misanthropes."
A photo posted by Bella Heathcote (@bellalheathcote) on
Bella Heathcote is here to show us one of the simplest, loveliest joys in life: Being an aunt. If you have yet to experience this pleasure, her face in an Instagram posted yesterday says it all.
"OMG I'M AN AUNTYYY #firstcuddles #dying," she wrote. We're awaiting more ecstatic posts about new-baby smell and hazy first smiles.
The Australian actress has co-starred in movies such as Dark Shadows and Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. She is about to get a lot more attention next year, when she plays stalker Leila Williams in Fifty Shades Darker. In the meantime, she can enjoy all the cuddles she needs from this little guy.
Just for fun, here's what she looked like as a baby. Double awwws!
But this proposal is so simple and so lovely that it only requires a GIF.
A bride, about to toss her bouquet, turns to directly face a woman and softballs the bouquet into her arms. Two other women turn her around and a man steps forward and bends down on one knee. So. Much. Aww.
The GIF was originally posted on Reddit. The redditor shared that they had attended the wedding and the woman who was proposed to is the bride's sister, which makes it even sweeter. A sister who will share the spotlight on her wedding day is #siblinggoals.
A word to the wise: If you are considering a similar proposal, be sure to get the soon-to-be married couple enthusiastically on board. If they're not, don't push it or take it personally. A wedding is a celebration of a couple's love. If they want to extend that to include your proposal, great, but if they want to have they day be about them, let them. Because, as one redditor wrote, "I'm getting married tomorrow. My bride would murder everyone in the room with our engraved cake knife."
And while the gif is perfect, the video with sound needs to be seen as well. Try not to have all the feelings, we dare you.
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There is a lot of uncertainty for Donald Trump's America. However, while many Americans may be sad to see the current first family move out of the White House, a part of its legacy will likely remain on-site: Michelle Obama's vegetable garden.
The garden, in addition to providing fresh fruits and vegetables for state dinners and family meals, provides excess produce to local nonprofits. The FLOTUS lined her ducks up in order to ensure that it would be extra difficult for the future president — whom we now know to be a fast-food lover — won't let it languish.
In October, Obama unveiled an expansion of the garden, which has incorporated cement, stone, and steel to make it a more permanent fixture. Obama also revealed that she had secured $2.5 million dollars in private funding to keep up the garden, which will continue to be maintained by the National Park Service.
Here's hoping that Obama's garden lives on indefinitely.
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Donald Trump officially announced two of his senior staff members, confirming speculation that Trump campaign CEO Steve Bannon and RNC Chairman Reince Priebus would be part of his White House staff. Bannon will serve as Chief Strategist and Senior Counselor, Priebus will serve as Chief of Staff. They will team with transition team head and Vice President-elect Mike Pence to fill out the rest of Trump's cabinet.
“I am thrilled to have my very successful team continue with me in leading our country,” President-elect Trump said in a release. “Steve and Reince are highly qualified leaders who worked well together on our campaign and led us to a historic victory. Now I will have them both with me in the White House as we work to make America great again."
So who are these guys?
Reince Priebus is, as we said, the 44-year-old RNC Chair. He comes from Wisconsin, where he helped elevate Governor Scott Walker and current Speaker of the House Paul Ryan to political prominence. He frequently clashed with Trump during the campaign, notably over Trump's attack on the Khan family and Trump's Islamophobic comments.
Priebus has never held elected office, working his way through back channels as a Republican operator. He's notable for his modesty. His selection, according to the New York Times, is at least partially due to Ivanka Trump's wishes that the Chief of Staff not be a controversial pick.
Priebus was the subject of the column "Tuesdays with Reince," which offered a week-by-week look at the mood of the Republican National Committee. We should note, as did his staff to journalist Mark Leibovitch, that his name reads "RNC PR BS" with the vowels removed. John Kasich's advisor John Weaver famously derided Priebus as a "Kenosha political operative."
Steve Bannon, 56, is a former Goldman Sachs banker who found a hugely successful second career as the head of Breitbart News. During his tenure, the organization was famous for publishing hate-filled, reality-adjacent pieces that became the signature style of Trump's campaign. He served as Trump Campaign CEO, leading many to suspect that he would be the CEO of Trump TV when the nominee inevitably lost the election. As we know, that didn't turn out to be the case.
He alone among Trump's campaign chiefs was able to keep the candidate on-message, and deserves at least some credit for getting him elected. Bannon is also notable for his ability to speak harshly to Trump in high-stress moments.
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The mannequin challenge is in the midst of the first spasm in what will be a long and ugly meme death. The latest of the million cuts are Britney Spears and Kate Hudson's entries.
Spears did her own featuring dancers from her stage show and set to her song "Slumber Party." Now, meme essentialists will note that this is not a true mannequin challenge. A true mannequin challenge is set to Rae Sremmurd's "Black Beatles." Setting it to another song is like building an island airport out of grass and wondering why planes aren't landing. It's just wrong, is what we're trying to say. Respect Rae Sremmurd.
A video posted by Britney Spears (@britneyspears) on
Kate Hudson made an appearance alongside famed stylist Rachel Zoe. She did so in a pair of videos, one by stylist Jamie Schneider Mizrahi and another by friend Sara Foster. Again, not using the official mannequin challenge track and don't have any of the dynamism of a truly great mannequin challenge. Blac Chyna simulated giving birth and she was touching Kris Jenner. A Malibu garden party just flat out isn't gonna cut it. They did well, all things considered.
Shannen Doherty was absent from the 90210 reunion at REWindCon in Bloomingdale, Illinois, on Saturday, November 12. But she was present in the hearts of those that did attend, including Jennie Garth, Tori Spelling, Jason Priestley, Gabrielle Carteris, Christine Elise, and Vincent Young.
Luke Perry shared his support for Doherty, who is undergoing a very public battle with breast cancer. The actor said that his favorite couple on the show was Dylan and Brenda, played by him and Doherty.
“None of us are up here today without Shannen,” Perry said during the panel. “She’s been through a lot. She’s not doing well right now but sometimes her contributions are minimized. She’s been thrown under the bus. I’ve been accused of driving it. But she’s a very big part of the success of this show. She taught me a lot. I’m glad she was my scene partner. She was great at what she did in the character with me.”
Hillary Clinton may have lost, but her supporters aren't ready to concede even an inch in the battle for women's rights. Feminist marketplace The Outrage plans to fund the fight by donating 100 percent of the profits from their Pantsuit Nation line to Planned Parenthood in the wake of Tuesday's shock result.
The Outrage, founded by Rebecca Correa Funk and Claire Schlemme, announced their plan in an Instagram post a few days ago.
A photo posted by the-outrage (@theoutrageonline) on
"To have such a qualified, intelligent and inspiring woman come so close and lose like this is absolutely devastating," Funk told Marie Claire. "But it's also a signal that we have a lot of work to do. Hillary has championed women's rights for decades, and donating to Planned Parenthood is the best way we can think of to carry her work forward. So far, we've surpassed $15K in sales for our 'Pantsuit Nation' collection."
The company will donate 15% of all other profit to Planned Parenthood. That includes this awesome t-shirt inspired by Kate McKinnon's insta-classic tribute to the defeated candidate.
Let's start with the obvious: The many theories about Bernard turned out to be right on the money. He is a host, an old one, and has been working under Ford's control this whole time. You have to admire the show's skill. It pulled off this reveal really well, despite all the internet chatter. There were clues, sure, but the turning point came when Theresa, pointing to a sketch of Bernie lying around in the basement of Ford's house, asks him what it could possibly be.
"It doesn’t look like anything to me," he answers, parroting the hosts' reflexive answer when encountering something they shouldn't be looking at.
It's worth noting that the episode's title, "Trompe L'Oeil," refers to the French expression for an optical illusion. It was all there, right in front of us.
Holy shit moment aside, this revelation opens up endless possibilities for potential hosts roaming Westworld HQ. If Bernard fooled everyone like this, who knows how many others there are?
Ironically, the episode starts with a dream from Bernie's so-called life. He's with his son in the hospital, reading to him from Alice in Wonderland. (Again!) The scene is meant to lead us to believe Bernie's backstory — he's on the wrong side of the rabbit hole and we're right there with him.
Bernie's interrogation of Hector in the following scene, while at first glance seemed like just another excuse to see Hector naked (honestly, that's fine fine by me), also served as a reminder of how hosts perceive the world around them. As part of his analysis, Bernie asks the outlaw to react to a series of photographs — Westworld employees, high-speed trains, city lights.
"They don't look like anything to me," Hector replies. It's a little on the nose, given what comes later, but a useful reminder that hosts are programmed to be shielded from things they're not mean to understand.
This episode also marked the return of Will and Dolores. They're still sharing a pretty plush looking train with Lawrence/El Lazo and Will is definitely starting to get comfortable in his new role as an outlaw. Dolores is still a little on edge, which only gets worse once the trio realizes they've entered Ghost Nation territory, which, judging by all the heads on spikes surrounding the train tracks, isn't all that friendly to outsiders.
Meanwhile, Bernie is slowly coming to realize that something might have happened to Elsie. His calls keep going unanswered and her location isn't showing up on his fancy tablet.
He conceals that fact from Theresa when they meet to discuss the impact new board member Charlotte Hale's visit will have on their workflow. After assuring Theresa that his team will no longer second-guess her orders (a blatant lie, which, if you consider that Bernie is a host, proves that they can, in fact, lie to humans if they're programmed that way), Bernie leaves and Theresa heads to a meeting.
That meeting turns out to be with Hale herself, who's been keeping busy by having loud, kinky sex with Hector. Her room is NICE — turns out, board members get the fancy rooms with views and their own personal West Elm interior designers. Their conversation sheds some light onto what Delos is really after in Westworld. After berating Theresa for her failure in dealing with the woodcutter, Hale reminds her: “This place, the people who work here are nothing. Our interest in this place is entirely in the intellectual property, the code.”
The hosts themselves don't matter at all — what's inside them does. And because of Ford's evil genius, all that information is only available in the Westworld park. There is no external backup. That means that Delos needs all that information before making a move to remove Ford. That's where Theresa and her satellite-upload link come in; she's been obtaining the information for them.
In order to prove how little control Ford has over his creations, Hale intimates that they need "a blood sacrifice." A host must glitch publicly — "someone thoroughly unexpected."
In a throughly unexpected twist, that "someone" turns out to be Clementine, who is grabbed by Westworld staff in broad daylight while mid-conversation with her boss. Here, we get our first glimpse of post-apperception-boost Maeve, who wakes up in her bed, as she always has, and heads to work. A couple of things are important here:
1) Maeve slams the player piano shut— changing the narrative? It's never been exactly clear what the tunes mean, but it does seem as though whatever's playing on the piano is giving narrative cues to the hosts.
2) Maeve's senses have very clearly been heightened. She catches herself when using programmed expressions while speaking to Clementine and is unaffected by the voice commands that freeze the other hosts when the latter is taken away.
3) Clementine doesn't seem to be glitchy. Unlike Maeve, who dreams about her past life, Clementine's nightmares are just that.
Photo: John P. Johnson/HBO.
Back on the train, Dolores and Will share a little heart to heart about what Will is still doing there. Why didn't he just go back to Sweetwater after the Pariah fiasco? Or home? His answer is a little Rory Gilmore, but we'll take it: “The only things I had when I was a kid were books. I used to live in them. I used to go to sleep dreaming I’d wake up inside one of them. This place is like living inside one of those stories. I guess I just want to find out what it means.”
But Dolores has had enough of stories — she wants to live in the moment. This is what's called flirting, Will. Must she spell it out for you?
Apparently, yes. Will, using truly impeccable timing, decides to confess that he has someone waiting for him back home. A fiancée, in fact. “The place you’re after, I will help you find it. But I can’t stay. I have a life waiting for me. I’m sorry.”
Dolores reacts as any sensible woman would. She walks away. Will, in typical soft-boy manner, follows her and follows up his awkward confession with a slightly less awkward declaration about the meaning of life: “I been pretending my whole life. Pretending I’m alive, pretending I belong. My whole life’s built on it. And it’s a good life, it’s the life i’ve always wanted. But then, I came here and I get a glimpse for a second of a life in which I don’t have to pretend, of a life in which I can be truly alive. How can I go back to pretending when I know what this feels like?”
Let the steamy train sex begin!
Inside HQ, Hale and Cullen have summoned Ford, Bernie, Stubbs, and some other key team members to a meeting. The reveries, Hale argues, have altered the hosts in a disturbing way. To demonstrate, she sends Clementine — who has been sent back to "a previous update" — into a glass pod with a man, who promptly proceeds to beat the shit out of her.
Suddenly, they both freeze. The man is actually a host, one who has been coded to read as a human for the purposes of the experiment. Clementine's memory is wiped and the man is sent in once more.
This time however, she fights back and kills him, despite her perception of him as human.
It's ironic that this is the tipping point for the Westworld administration — there are hosts out there actually rebelling against their prime directives. Clementine just isn't one of them. She's been coopted for a demonstration to serve a point, and it works. Theresa lets slip that Bernie's team (read: Elsie) has been voicing concerns about the hosts' ability to access past experiences through reveries and that he's ignored them (at her request, if you remember). Ford fails to react, basically throwing Bernie under the bus. He accepts the blame and Hale fires him.
On the train, Will wakes from a post-coital coma to find Dolores drawing. Sex has come as a revelation to our dear William. He's figured out some things. “I used to think this place was all about pandering to your baser instincts," he tells his new bae. "Now, I understand. It doesn’t pander to your lowest self, it shows you your deepest self. It shows you who you truly are.”
While sappy as hell, Will's words are significant in that they echo what Ford said to Sizemore before shutting down his Red River narrative.
(Also worth a shoutout: Dolores' reaction to Will's eye-roll inducing, "You’ve unlocked something in me." "I'm not a key, William. I'm just me," she responds, a sentiment echoed by women everywhere.)
Dolores is just about to launch into an art history lesson about how she's drawing what she knows, not what she sees, when the train screeches to a halt. The Confederados have come to call.
Luckily, Lawrence has some survival skills — he sends Slim's dead body, filled with nitroglycerin, to greet the ambushers. It explodes, giving our trio time to escape.
This all leads to a very long, very questionable horseback chase. (How does no one ever get shot during these things? You are on a horse. You are exposed. They have a machine gun. Do the math.) A deus ex machina appearance by the aforementioned Ghost Nation puts an end to the remaining Confederados and our friends ride away into the sunset.
Actually, Dolores quickly realizes that they've ridden right into the middle of the scenery she just painted — it's also a place Teddy told her about a couple of episodes ago, "where the mountains meet the sea."
This is where Will and Dolores part ways with Lawrence. He sets off for the front, while they prepare to explore the "unclaimed territories" on the western edges of the park. Maeve, on the other hand, is back in a very familiar place — the repair floor. Felix warns her that she can't keep doing this — she'll get noticed if she dies this often. “
But Maeve didn't come back just to chat this time. She wants to find Clementine, who's about to be lobotomized by Sylvester to erase the supposed glitch that caused her to kill a fake human.
Sylvester spots Maeve and Felix, but Theresa is present and supervising the procedure, so he just continues as planned. In one of the show's more heartrending scenes to date (and there have been many), Maeve watches are her friend has her brains scrambled. (Does this imply that hosts have a physical brain — Clementine does bleed after the procedure, which seems to indicate that there's more than just a computer chip up there.)
This is the final straw for Maeve, who later informs her two lackeys that she owns them now and they're going to help her escape this hell. "At first, I thought you and the others were gods," she hisses. "And then, I realized you’re just men. And I know men. You think I’m scared of death? I’d done it a million times. And I’m fucking great at it. How many times have you died? Because if you don’t help me, I’ll kill you.”
As Theresa exits the lobotomy, she's cornered by Bernie, who finally tells her he knows all about her little satellite transmissions and confronts her about the stunt she just pulled. That demonstration was faker than Elaine Benes' orgasms and she knows full well that Bernie isn't responsible.
He also confesses his suspicions about Ford and Arnold and convinces her to follow him into the park. The two head to Ford's secret house, where the host copies of his family live.
Photo: John P. Johnson/HBO.
Rewatching this scene after the big Bernie reveal, it's actually jarring to realize how many hints are dropped:
1. Bernie telling Theresa: “The longer I work here, the more I think I understand the hosts. It’s the human beings who confuse me.”
2. The house doesn't appear on any land surveys, because most of those are conducted by hosts. "They’re programmed to look past this place. They literally wouldn’t see it if they were looking right at it.”
And yet, I didn't really get an inkling of what was coming until, once in the house, Theresa points out a door that Bernie literally can't see. "What door?" he asks. Weird, I thought, is Bernie blind? There's definitely a door there.
The two head down into a basement, apparently doubling as Ford's secret workshop. Ford has been making his own hosts, using fairly recent equipment. Theresa is obviously troubled, but the feeling of dread skyrockets when she finds the diagrams of Dolores and Bernie. Two sketches. Two hosts.
“They cannot see the things that will hurt them," Ford says, interrupting them. "I’ve spared them that. Their lives are blissful, in a way their existence is purer than ours, free of the burden of self-doubt.”
This is Ford's true endgame. He hasn't so much created a world for people to get their rocks off as a place where he can erase what he believes to be the worst things about humanity: "Anxiety, self-loathing, guilt. The hosts are the ones who are free. Free here, under my control.”
This is Ford's world and they're all living in it — especially Bernie, who is horrified when he realizes what he is. His affair with Theresa, his son, his very identity — all of it is fake.
Theresa doesn't quite realize that this is it for her. But just like Arnold's time was up when he challenged Ford, so is hers. Echoing Hale's words from earlier in the episode, he demands "a blood sacrifice."
Bernie obliges. That's what hosts do.
Additional Thoughts:
— How did Ford know about Theresa's conversation with Hale? Did he spy on them using Hector? Elsie did make a point of saying that hosts still record sexual interactions while in sleep mode — maybe they record conversations, too. Maybe Hale is secretly a host controlled by Ford?
— I am more convinced than ever by the Bernie is Arnold theory put forward a couple of weeks ago. Now that Bernie is definitely a host, it seems plausible that he wouldn't have recognized the Arnold from the photograph.
— Can we all just agree we're operating on multiple timelines? It seems pretty much canon at this point.
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Donald Trump's electoral college victory has triggered a wave of partisan rancor and self-doubt among American liberals. Nowhere has the effect been felt more than New York City, which has played host to some of the largest protests against the President-elect.
Though most of the feeling has been negative toward Trump or the people that elected him, but the 14th Street subway station offers a more positive message. The messages are part of a project called Subway Therapy, Matthew Chavez's brainchild.
Chavez, who goes by Levee, sits in the Union Square station with a card table full of self-stick notes and a pen. He offers a chair to sit and talk with him and wall to leave a message behind. Here, take a look.
A photo posted by Sarah Polite (@nycfoodiefinder) on
The messages are of rage, hope, and calls for unity in the face of what many feel is a disastrous result for America.
If you live in NYC, in the 6th Avenue/14th Street subway terminal, there is a "therapist" who is giving out post-it notes so you can vent. pic.twitter.com/JnvfghvzIs
This week it's Christmas in the world of Divorce, so you already know: It's about to go down. The episode begins with a debate between Frances and Robert about how to spend Christmas.
So in honor of the holiday season with the DuFresne family, instead of the 12 Days Of Christmas, let's roundup:
The 12 Best Moments Of Christmas OnDivorce:
12. When Frances and Robert deliver another big speech to the kids during the drive about how they're planning to reveal the divorce to their grandparents, son Tom responds, "Can I get back to watching John Wick?" Proving that yet again, Robert and Frances are way more bothered by this divorce than the kids are.
11. When Frances' mom asks her and Robert what's new in the family, Frances awkwardly avoids answering the question by offering to put the kids to sleep. As she walks out, Nick throws out a sarcastic "Goodnight dear." HA. Clearly, he's annoyed she hasn't been honest with her 'rents yet.
10. When Frances' dad toasts the family, "Here's to family together during the holidays," Nick adds "and far apart the rest of the year." I might be stealing that one-liner at my own holiday this year.
9. At bedtime, Robert knocks and then barges into Frances's bedroom, asking if she's decent. "You knocked and opened the door a second later...what could I possibly do in that time if I wasn't?" she asks. Nick's response: "A coy face and a boob cover." L.O.L. Seriously, you guys. Nick is the best part of this show.
8. And one more great gift of a one-liner from Robert: When Frances protests at him sleeping with her in the bed, he reminds her of his bad back before adding: "We've slept next to each other 10,000 times without having sex. We can live with two more nights."
7.Finally, after a few episodes of war with these two, there's a sweet exchange between them: "I spent so many years laying in this bed, staring at the ceiling, wondering what my grown-up life would be. And here I am. I wouldn't trade any of it for the world," Frances says before they start reminiscing about previous holidays with their kids. "At least we did two things right," Robert adds. Temporarily, in the name of Christmas, it seems like a white flag has been waved.
6. Robert confronts Frances before Christmas Eve that she needs to man up and tell her parents already, because he loves them and hates being fake. To illustrate, when Frances' mom comes in and asks "Who wants to try my homemade hummus?" Robert plasters a smile on his face and gushes "I would loooove to. Mmmm, muy delicioso!" Pouring it on a little thick, aren't we, Robert?
5. In true Robert fashion, he forces France's hand to share the news of their divorce by giving a Christmas party toast that begins, "The Bible says that truthful lips shall endure forever. A lying tongue is but for a moment." Bringing the Bible into it, Robert? Low blow. Frances finally admits to the entire family that they're getting divorced, and is met with awkward silence. "That's not where I was heading at all," Robert whispers to her. "I was going to sing that 'Pa-Rum-Pum-Pum-Pum' song."
Photo: Courtesy of HBO.
4. In private, Frances begins to explain to her parents what happened, but is clearly struggling with admitting the truth. And then in a totally unexpected move, Robert steps in and says that he had an affair. My jaw literally dropped. It was incredibly big of Robert — who we've come to know as pretty darn immature — to help Frances save face in front of her parents. In bed later that night, when Frances tells him he didn't have to do that, he says simply: "Merry Christmas."
3. When Frances and her mom have a chat about "Robert's" indiscretion, Frances tells her mom that people have affairs because they're unhappy. "Sometimes I think people have affairs because it's fun," her mom says. "And then they get tired of it and hope nobody ever finds out. Doesn't always mean it's a bad marriage." Frances gives her mom a look: Is she trying to tell her she's had an affair before?
2. My second to last favorite moment: We cut to Christmas at Julian's house, which is super quiet and polite (a.k.a., stereotypically British — sorry, Brits). There's then a thunderous knock on the door; a man has a message for Julian from a woman named Doreen's husband: A major punch in the gut. Turns out Julian is no stranger to sleeping with married women. And I gotta admit, I kind of think he deserved that punch.
1. Back in the car again with the kids, Robert and Frances glance at the backseat to make sure they have their headphones on before talking about what happened. When Frances asks Robert why he took the fall for her, he admits, "Maybe the truth isn't something that I'm dying to be associated with. It doesn't exactly make me feel great to have everyone know that the reason we're getting divorced is because you fornicated with a French douchebag 22 times." And then poor Tom pipes up from the back seat. "Hey, Dad? My headphones are on, but they're not plugged into anything yet. Just...FYI." OMG. Tom heard everything. In all of Robert and Frances's efforts to keep their kids out of it, they are now officially in it — and that's way TMI for any kid.
This episode was a doozy. Let's see how things go for the DuFresnes in the new year next week. See y'all then!
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Donald Trump's interview on 60 Minutes was wide-ranging and covered a lot about how he will attempt to execute his term in our nation's highest office. There's a lot to cover about the interview, which showed a more sober, seemingly reasonable Trump than has been on the campaign trail. He walked back several campaign promises, most notably the wall that he has long claimed Mexico will pay for.
One thing he didn't walk back was his stance on abortion. He told interviewer Lesley Stahl that he would fight Roe v. Wade through judicial appointments.
"They’ll be pro-life, they’ll be — in terms of the whole gun situation, we know the Second Amendment and everybody’s talking about the Second Amendment and they’re trying to dice it up and change it, they’re going to be very pro-Second Amendment," Trump said. "But having to do with abortion if it ever were overturned, it would go back to the states. So it would go back to the states and —"
Trump said that women living in a state that banned abortion could simply travel to another state to have the procedure done. That's obviously discriminatory against women that don't have the means to travel to another state for that purpose.
Richonne is in bed. Michonne can't sleep. Rick seems fine. Michonne gets up a surreptitiously and pulls something hidden from inside the fireplace. It's a long-range rifle. She slips out, but Rick was watching. He doesn't stop her.
Michonne sets out to a field and sits on top of a burnt out truck, presumably looking for things to kills.
Rosaria and Spencer are on a mish. They ask Eugene to open the gate. He's working on building Negan's crew an audio device of some kind as a tribute.
Just then, whistling in the shadows, Negan shows up, banging on the gates to Alexandria. "Little pig, little pig, let me in." he says.
Rick shows up to open the gate. "You said a week. You're early." Negan demonstrates his batting skills on a walker, then Negan's all service with a smile as he brings dozens of his people into Alexandria.
"Hot diggety dog" Negan says at he looks around. "This place is an embarrassment of riches as they say. I do believe you are going to have plenty to offer up."
Rick tries to talk to a shellshocked Daryl, who's now part of Negan's army. "Nope. He's the help. You don't look at him, you don't talk to him, and I don't make you chop anything off of him."
Turning to Rosita, Negan says "Same goes for everyone." He gets in her face and teases her about Abe's death..
"Let's see what kind of goodies you got in the cupboard," Negan says.
"We put aside half the supplies," Rick responds.
"No rick. You don't decide what we take. I do."
Negans tiny army marches thru to search the houses of the Alexandria. "You gonna show me around or not?" He says to Rick.
Dwight asks Rosita where she was planning on going with Spencer. He steals their rifles from their car and asks her to go get him Daryl's bike. "It ain't here." she says. "We both know you know where it is." He says, swiping her hat. "Now you're good to go." He drains their canteens.
Meanwhile, Michonnedoes target practice on walkers in a field, and she sucks at it. She fires off maybe ten rounds on an approaching walker, missing all of them before finally slicing the dude's head in half with her katana. She walks off and finds that one of her rounds has killed a deer.
Back in Alexandria, Negan's crew basically assemble a yard sale. One of Negan's people finds Deanna's videocamera with the recording of Rick telling her who he's killed people. "Whatever happened to that sick girl?"Negan says, referring to Maggie. "Widows, especially ones who look like that. They are special. Right after their husbands go, they are empty inside. But usually not for long."
Father Gabriel shows up, like Batman out of nowhere, surprising Negan. He asks if he'd like to pay his respects take and take him to the graveyard. "She didn't make it?"
(She did. The quick-thinking Father Gabriel made a fake gravestone, as we find out later.)
Negan talks about how Daryl forced his hand. "I was gonna ask he to come back with me. Oh, I know what you're thinking, how would I have a shot, guy who just bashed her husband's head in? You'd be surprised..."
They're interrupted by a gunshot. It's Carl, warning off Negan's men from taking too much. "Put some back, or the next one goes in you," Carl says. There'a confrontation, and Rick naturally has to tell Carl to stand down. "You should go," Carl says to Negan, "Before you find out how dangerous we all are.
Negan seems impressed with Carl. "I say half your shit. And half is what I say it is.." Negan decides because of this he needs to take their weapons. "As this little emotional outburst has made crystal clear."
They go to the armory. "I just want to point out to you that I'm taking a scrap of your food. Slim pickings in here. and I can't be the only one to notice that you got a fat lady in change of keeping track of rations, can I? Either way, you starve to death, I don't get shit. So for now, you get to keep all the food. How about that?"
"What do you want me to say," Rick says. "I dunno Rick, how about a thank you? Do you think that might be in order, or is that too much to ask?"
There are guns missing from the inventory. Negan is upset by this. He wants them all. "They're all in there to the best of my knowledge," Rick says. Negan's not buying it.
Rosita and Spencer find Daryl's bike. "This is our life now," Spencer says as he pulls it into their van. "This is where Rick got us. Maybe if Rick thought it thru, it would have been different. People might still be with us."
But Rosita's not listening. She walks off into the woods.
Back at Alexandria. Negan chews scenery (Jeffrey Dean Morgan will get an Emmy for this role), threatens Daryl with a gun, shooting instead thru a window, and finds the rocket launcher. And also discovers that there are two guns missing from the armory. "This shows that someone's not on board. And I can't have that. I don't enjoy killing women. Men, I can waste them all the live-long, but at end of the day Olivia, my dear, this was your responsibility."
Rick pleads for her life then addresses everyone in the church. "I thought about hiding some of the guns. I did I before. I thought I could bury some out there. Figured maybe they couldn't touch them for years."
"We need to give them over. A Glock 9 and a .22, that's what they're looking for. If we don't find them, they're gonna kill Olivia."
The congregation seems pissed at Rick. "Why do they care. Two guns aren't a threat to them," one guy says. "Most of your weren't there," Rick says, referring to the events of the season opener. "You didn't have to watch. We give them what we want and we live in peace. There is now way out of this. Let me put this to you as clearly as I can. I'm not in charge anymore. Negan is. Now who has the guns?"
"Not everyone's here," Eugene says
Cut to Rosita following some walkers thru the woods. Spencer calls to her, alerting the Walkers attention. She kills them all and finds a gun on one of them.
Back to rick, searching for guns in Spencer's house. Father Gabriel comes in: "I have faith in us. I have faith in you. Things change. You are my friend. It wasn't always this way."
Rick finds the missing guns hidden in a vent. He gives them to Negan, who wants to know who hid them. Rick tells him it doesn't matter. Negan is unconvinced.
As Negan and his crew are leaving, Rosita and Spencer and drive up and Michonne returns, hiding in the shed outside the gate. Rick implores her to give up her sniper rifle. She does, and rick explains she was out hunting and the gun wasn't in the armory . Rick asks if Daryl can stay. Negan asks Dayrl, broken, who says nothing.
"Try harder out there," Negan says. "Earn for me. Because we're coming back soon and when we do you better have something interesting for us, or Lucile, she's gonna have way."
Negan takes the deer and Dwight takes Daryl's bike. "Got a little thank you," he says to Rosita, throwing her her hat. "Find anything else out there," he says. "Just your dead friends," she replies
He drives up to Daryl. You could have it back, he says, indicating the bike. "Just say the word." Daryl ignores him.
"So nobody died," says Negan, reflecting on the day. Negan takes out a walker with a candlestick, while Rick contemplates hitting him with Lucile.
Negan finishes and turns to Rick. "You didn't think think I was gonna leave lucile, did you?"
Negan then says the grossest thing in the history of this show to Rick: "In case you haven't caught on. I just slipped my dick down your throat and you thanked me for it."
Rick add Daryl share a look as Negan's army drives off.
Rick closes the gate and confronts Spencer about taking the guns. "I guess Glenn and Abraham were lucky too," Spencer says, complaining about Rick's leadership style.
"You say anything like that again to me, I'll break your jaw. Knock your teeth out. Say yes."
"Yes," Spencer says.
Rosita is pissed that Spener was holding out on her about the guns. She sneaks her new one she found from the walkers into Alexandria.
Michonne joins Rick back in their bedroom. Their mattress is gone is gone. Michonne says the gun they took from her was from the outpost. "I could have hid more."
"Did you?" Rick says,
"No." She answers.
"We plan by their rules and we get some kind of a life," he says.
"What kind of a life," she says.
"I had a friend..." Rick tells her about Shane. "Him and Lori, they were togehter. They thought I was dead. I know Judith isn't mine. I know it. I love her, she's my daughter. But she isn't mine. I had to accept that. I did. So i could keep her alive. I'll die before she does and I hope that's a long time from now so I can raise her and protect and teach her how to survive. This is how we live now. I had to accept that too so I could keep everyone else alive."
"It's not your fault that people die," Michonne replies.
"Not always, sometimes it is. You have to accept this. All of us do, or it won't work.
"I'm gonna try." She says as they build a makeshift bed.
Michonne goes back to the field. She notices something. Negan's group dropped all the Alexandrian's mattresses on the road and set them on fire.
Back in Alexandria, Rosita finds the shell casing from the round Negan fired into the window when threatening Daryl. She knocks on a door. Eugene answers.
"Make me a bullet," she says.
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This week’s Keeping Up With The Kardashians deals with bigger issues than most of the rest of the season. Kim is considering having another baby and exploring the idea of using a surrogate. Kendall is looking to make a difference and have a voice in the gun violence conversation, and Kris wants her mother to shoot a legacy video.
At Khloé’s house, Kim, Khloé, and Jonathan engage in some baby talk. Khloé jokes about wanting one of Kim and Kanye’s frozen embryos to have and to raise as her own. “We could raise them all like a little pack,” she says. Kim isn’t into Khloé’s wolf pack idea, but she is thinking of growing her family. She tells them that she has been considering having a third child, but she is concerned about going through another pregnancy.
The #BlackLivesMatter movement inspired Will.I.Am to remix “Where Is The Love?” and he asks Kendall to be in the video. She is excited to get involved, and it gets her thinking about what else she could add to the gun control conversation. She wants to do more, but she is unsure of what to do.
Kris has a project for her mother and her kids. She wants M.J. to be interviewed on camera talking about her life and her memories. “Give us a little bit of history that we can hang on to,” Kris explains. Khloé gets M.J. on the phone, and M.J. agrees to film a legacy video. Khloé wants her mom to do the interview. “I’d rather not,” Kris says.
Speaking of legacy, albeit a different kind, Kim and Kris visit Kim’s Ob/Gyn to talk pregnancy and baby number three. Kris asks the doctor if Kim’s body could handle another pregnancy. The doctor doesn’t sugar coat the problems Kim had with North and Saint. They were serious, and they could redevelop with another pregnancy. “We’re always worried about the next serious complication,” he says. You’re always taking a little bit of a chance, he tells Kim and Kris.
Kendall picks Khloé’s brain about the gun violence issue and getting involved. “It makes me feel like the world is ending,” Kendall says about the spate of gun violence and police shootings. Khloé agrees and suggests that as you get older, you get more aware of things. The conversation is well-meaning, but cringe worthy. “I think gun laws forever have needed to be changed,” Khloé says. Kendall, wise like Spiderman’s Uncle Ben, knows that with a big platform comes big responsibility. Khloé suggests they focus on one issue as a family.
Kim and Kourtney meet with another doctor, looking for a second opinion and more information about surrogacy as an option. “You getting pregnant again would be a high-risk pregnancy,” Dr. Huang tells Kim. He emphasizes the safety for her that a surrogacy would represent. “Doing what’s safe is the best thing,” he says.
On the ride home, Kourtney asks Kim what’s she’s thinking. Kim is honest in that she doesn’t think her body could handle another pregnancy. Kourtney suggests talking to someone who has used a surrogate. Kourtney also highlights another potential advantage of using a surrogate: privacy. “You could have a baby for like a year, and no one would know,” she says.
Kendall approaches Rob next about her plan to speak up about gun control. No surprise here, but Rob, the shut-in who disappears for days on end, is wary. He reminds Kendall that there will be lots of people that don’t share her views. “You’re gonna get a lot of hate,” he says. It is endearing when he refers to his sister as a “young, powerful woman” even though, well, she is clearly those things. Kendall is concerned about distracting from the issue and doing more harm than good.
Her next stop is to talk with Kim. Kim is involved with Everytown, an advocacy group that works with victims of gun violence for gun law reform. Kim tells Kendall that she is going to set up a lunch for them to meet with representatives from the organization. Kendall admits to Kim that she is nervous. Kim shakes it off. “I feel like, in life, I’ve gotten a lot of backlash and a lot of hate, so I’m just going to do what I believe in,” she says.
Meanwhile, the M.J. legacy project rolls on. Kris’s latest idea is to have Anderson Cooper interview M.J. Kris’s kids think she has lost her mind. Kim straight-up asks her mom what the problem is with doing the interview herself. “I know that I’m going to be an emotional wreck,” Kris admits. Khloé warns her mom that she would regret it later if she didn’t ask M.J. questions herself.
Dr. Huang arranges for Kim to meet with one of his patients who utilized a surrogate. She comes to have a chat with Kim and Kourtney. Kim is worried about surrogacy. She went through so much with her kids and her pregnancies; she is concerned that it would be too different using a surrogate. “My bond with my kids is so strong,” she says. “My biggest fear is that if I had a surrogate, would I love them the same?” She is scared. Natalie, Dr. Huang’s other patient, reassures Kim that she would love the baby just as much as her other two children. Kim is also worried that she would be taking the easy way out, which Natalie dismisses completely.
Kim tells her mom about the meeting. Kim wants her children to have the support system that she had with her siblings, but she’s come to the conclusion that she can’t carry another one. Kris says that surrogacy scares her for Kim.
The day of the lunch with Everytown has arrived. Kim has brought along Kris, Kourtney, and Khloé. Kendall is conspicuously absent. Kim worries that her younger sister’s concerns about backlash have kept her away from the meeting. Kim is adamant that if you’re passionate about something, you need to get involved, no matter the backlash. It turns out that Kendall is just late, not a no-show.
The Everytown lunch deserves special note. Think what you will about Kim and company, being involved with Everytown and, as Kendall was saying, mobilizing the Kardashian platform, means something. It is impossible to hear the stories of Jordan Davis’s mother, or the daughter of the principal from Sandy Hook Elementary, or the daughter of one of the San Bernadino victims and not be moved. Keeping Up With The Kardashians is a reality show. These stories are, sadly for all of us, reality.
The lunch energizes Kendall. Before leaving she and her sisters post their support for the organization’s “Not One More” initiative. “It would be irresponsible for me to take this platform for granted,” Kendall says.
The episode ends with the shoot for the legacy video. Kris decides to ask the questions. It starts out on a light note, with Kris asking her mother about her mother’s first marriage. “We were only married two months,” M.J. says. “Less than Kimmy!” (Go M.J.) The laughter quickly turns to tears when M.J. asks Kris what she fears the most. Kris breaks down thinking of losing her mother.
Kim, Kourtney, Kylie, and Kendall all take turns asking their grandmother questions about her life. Khloé steps in with Kris, pointing out that most people don’t have an opportunity to do something like this. “Like with my dad,” Khloé says, with a matter-of-fact poignancy. Kris gives it another shot.
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At morning's first light (seriously, this news is breaking at 12:01 a.m.), Oreo's Wondervault reopened its shining golden gates. Inside, a choir of small children sang and several hundred harpists plucked shimmering strings. This harmonious swan song accompanied the reveal of what can only be described as a blessing from the candy kings and queens (or so I imagine). World, meet Oreo's first official candy bars — we'll wait for you to stop screaming.
Photo: Courtesy of Oreo.
The cookie company is dropping not one, but two candy bars. Made with European Milka chocolate and a vanilla creme filling, these bars are straight out of a cookie-lovers' dream. The first has been dubbed the "Milka Oreo Big Crunch Candy Bar" and the second option the "Milka Oreo Chocolate Candy Bar" — similar in origin, but entirely different in character. The first will be available in stores this week, but we'll have to wait until January for the latter.
Photo: Courtesy of Oreo.
The Oreo Chocolate Candy Bar is more of a classic — it's filled with crunchy pieces of cookie. The Big Crunch Bar offers up something new. (Dare I say modern?) It's sort of an Oreo cookie sandwich bar.
Who else thinks new candy-bar launches should be a mandatory Monday morning occurrence?
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Jenner's account now leads to a page that reads "Sorry, this page isn't available." It's the same message you receive when you look up Justin Bieber's Instagram page, suggesting Jenner may have followed her Canadian crony's lead and deactivated her profile. The question is, why?
Were trolls putting her off social media? Has she been hacked in a pretty boring manner? Is she merely bored of selfies?
Jenner's Twitter and Facebook accounts are still intact, so it's not like she's dropped off the face of the earth. Indeed, the reality star even shared a belfie on Facebook yesterday. At least, we think it's a belfie. Maybe it's a clue that she's turning her back on social media.
Between this and Kim's new semi-low profile, we're beginning to wonder: Is 2016 the year the Kardashians go underground?
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If I had to pick a Kardashian favorite, Kourtney would likely be it. The 37-year-old mother of three isn't just the funniest of the bunch (shout-out to this collection of one-liners), but she's also one of the most outspoken when it comes to paying close attention to what we're putting in — and on — our bodies.
Read: She's an advocate for an organic, gluten-free, dairy-free diet (and credits the glow of her skin to just that), and she pays the same care and attention to her beauty routine as she does to her health. In fact, she swears by Manuka Doctor honey, for which she's now a brand ambassador. Naturally, when presented with an opportunity to sit down with her to get all of her skin tips and tricks, we jumped at the chance.
Ahead, she opens up about her skin secrets (including the homemade "pudding" she eats every morning for better skin), her must-have products, and the one tip her youngest sis, Kylie Jenner, taught her about putting on makeup. Like I said, if it's coming from Kourtney, it's got to be good.
Tell me about your morning beauty routine.
"My morning routine is washing my face. I use the Manuka Doctor face wash. Then, I sometimes do the Manuka Doctor toner. Sometimes not. And I always do sunscreen — I use Elta MD; there’s one for acne-prone skin, and I love it. It’s the only sunscreen that doesn’t make me break out, and that I feel like actually, like, helps my skin.
"I used to not do sunscreen at all — I would just wash and let it be until after my workout. But now, I always do, and it’s definitely helped with pigmentation."
Why do you prefer natural products over conventional ones?
"I feel like once I had Mason, I just became more aware. And then once you learn information, you can’t really make it go away. I have the EWG Skin Deep app on my phone that rates different products by the levels of what’s bad. Like, I just changed all of my pillows and Q-tips to organic. There's so much stuff that you don’t think about or realize.
"The last thing that I really have not changed is makeup. And I really want to start. I just feel like I want to send a tweet, like, 'Can someone help me get started with natural makeup that actually works?'"
Photo: Allen Berezovsky/Getty Images.
What makeup do you use right now that you swear by? Is there anything from the drugstore you like?
"I love certain Charlotte Tilbury products. I love Armani. I love the Kylie Lip Kit. And now, the extensions of everything. I feel like the KyShadows are probably my favorite."
Do you eat anything in particular for better skin?
"I do. Every morning, pretty much, I have an avocado shake. I call it avocado pudding, because it’s more like pudding, and I eat it with a spoon. The recipe is on my app, but it’s avocado, Manuka honey, and almond milk or coconut milk. I used to do whole milk, but I don’t do dairy anymore. And I just feel like the avocado and the honey are so great for my skin and hair, and it keeps me full until lunchtime."
Does it taste good?
"I think it tastes really good. But some people who come over, I can tell they’re not into it. They were like, ' Oh, I think we should add ice,' because it’s kind of room-temperature. But it’s Brazilian, and I had a Brazilian baby nurse who made it for us and we all fell in love with it. Even my kids will eat it."
Photo: John Sciulli/Getty Images.
What is the most expensive beauty product you own?
What’s something you did for your skin in your 20s that you’re thankful for today?
"I have always used oil under my eyes and on my eyelids; I love the Manuka oils and I use that still. But Kim and I started doing that in, like, eighth grade. We used to put oil on instead of eye cream. I feel like the consistency is much lighter, and it doesn’t clog under your eyes, where I feel like a cream does, at least on me. That and...we’re just very conscious of taking care of our skin."
Photo: Taylor Hill/FilmMagic/Getty Images.
Have you noticed any changes in your skin since you stopped having dairy?
"Yeah, I really have. I feel like I have way less breakouts. And...I just feel like even energy-wise — I just feel better. I will cheat once in a while with a bite of mac 'n' cheese, or something like that."
What is the weirdest beauty treatment you've ever had?
"I haven’t really done any weird beauty treatments. I want to do the vampire facial."
It kind of looks scary...
"It does. I’ve heard that they can do it with a serum instead of blood. But I think, why not just go for it and do the whole thing? And I mean, why it would work sounds logical. I used to hang upside-down from my bed for like 20 minutes when I was in high school, because I heard it made your hair grow. I spent every night talking on the phone laying upside-down, but that’s not really a treatment..."
Photo: Gilbert Carrasquillo/Getty Images.
Besides products, do you have any skin-care secrets?
"Since around eighth grade, I've used a satin pillowcase. Khloé’s godmother, who was an actress, would always tell us that her beauty secret was to sleep on a satin pillowcase. And now, there are tons of them being sold. I think it’s good for your hair, too. I travel with mine. I have one that tries to keep your head in place, and keep you laying on your back, but it’s not practical for me. I like to smush my face into the pillow. So I feel like at least if I’m gonna do it, it’s better."
Have Kendall or Kylie taught you any beauty tips or tricks?
"Kylie is the makeup queen. She once told me: 'Don’t ever put black liner on the bottom of your eyes, even under your waterline, because it makes you look so much older, and it brings your eyes down.' And I was like, 'Never doing it ever again!'"
Photo: Jason Merritt/Getty Images.
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We're living in tough times, and what you're about to hear won't make things any easier. It's no secret the country seems to have lost its footing on democracy and, well, just about everything else you can think of. But — oh, speaking of feet, a woman found a dead rodent sewn into her Zara dress and lived to tell the tale. So, hey, if she can get through the scratch of rat toenails against her thigh, you, too, can get through a Trump presidency.
Back in July, Cailey Fiesel bought a Zara dress that allegedly came with rodent-borne disease sewn into its hem. According to the NewYork Post, Fiesel wore the dress to work, and, for a reason unbeknownst to her at that time, she just couldn't seem to escape a terrible odor. You know, like, the only smell that's worse than walking into a vomit-scented dive bar.
Any who — as she walked around her office searching for potential culprits, the stench seemed to follow her. That's when, after feeling something rubbing against her leg, she reached down and grabbed ahold of a little rodent's foot. Yep. That little tickle was not a loose tag, nor was that smell the product of something that seemed to crawl inside a coworker's body and die — it was the paw of an actual rat.
Now, shopping at Zara comes with its own stresses. And most of its customers can agree that long lines and malfunctioning zippers are enough to warrant throwing a may-I-speak-to-the-manager-level type of fit Soccer Moms indulge in on the daily. But this is horrifying on so many levels. It was so horrifying for Fiesel, in fact, that the Midtown resident decided to match her nightmarish experience with an even nastier lawsuit against the giant retailer, suing Zara for "emotional distress" and (presumably) doctor fees to take care of a rat disease (she allegedly broke out in a rash) that no one asks for. And we don't blame her.
Though it's hard to wrap this story without gagging, we're going to do just that. We reached out to both Fiesel and Zara for comment, and a spokesperson for Zara USA responded, saying, "Zara USA is aware of the suit, and we are investigating the matter further. Zara USA has stringent health and safety standards, and we are committed to ensuring that all of our products meet these rigorous requirements." Well, there you have it.
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