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Happy Thursday, folks!
This week’s edition is several days late. Here are five positive/interesting/fun things that’ll hopefully make you smile, make you laugh, and make you think. And in case you missed it, check out the previous iteration.
1. Beyoncé Finally Releases Her Long-Awaited Country Album
It had been rumored for years, and on Friday, we finally got it: Beyoncé dropped Cowboy Carter, her eighth studio album, a widely-anticipated country music record that’s already garnering universal acclaim. I reviewed it this weekend, and I can confidently say it’s a masterpiece. Y’all should check it out.
But I want to pay special emphasis to a particular moment. Beyoncé covered the classic Lennon-McCartney song “Blackbird” and featured four Black women country music artists in the vocals, including Tiera Kennedy, who posted her reaction to hearing her voice on the record. And it’s absolutely lovely.
2. This Random Dolly Parton Video Makes Me Smile
Okay, admittedly, not-so-random. Dolly Parton was featured heavily on Beyoncé’s new album, including in an intro to a cover of “Jolene" and that sent me down a Dolly Parton rabbit hole and I came across a video (below) in which Parton’s casual genius is captured during an appearance on The Tonight Show w/ Johnny Carson.
Notice how she’s perfectly strumming with those long, acrylic nails? She’s making it look easy, and that is not one bit easy. At all. The woman has always been ridiculously talented and somehow under-appreciated.
3. Iowa-LSU Rematch Scores Huge Ratings
Women’s college basketball has been the biggest show in American sports over the past few weeks, and Tuesday’s game between Iowa and LSU in an Elite Eight rematch of last year’s championship game proved no different. More than 12.3 million viewers tuned-in to watch LSU’s Angel Reese and Flau’jae Johnson take on Iowa’s Caitlyn Clark.
For all you non-sportsball fans, that’s a huge number, not just for women’s college basketball but any sports event. More people watched this game than last year’s World Series, last year’s NBA Finals, and every regular season college football game, save Ohio State vs. Michigan.
Men’s college basketball is somehow an afterthought, which is remarkable given that N.C. State’s men’s team is in the middle of an incredible cinderella run.
I say that to emphasize this: both these tournaments have been great fun to watch, but it is abundantly clear that the country is simply more interested in the women’s tournament.
Could I let this moment pass without some tongue-in-cheek commentary? Y’all know me too well. I could not. Enjoy this bit of satire.
4. Dev Patel Talks About Surprising Trans Representation in “Monkey Man”
One of the most hotly anticipated films of the year is about to drop this weekend, but first, some quick background for y’all:
For years, beloved actor Dev Patel has been slowly building a remarkable filmography: Slumdog Millionaire (2009), Lion (2016), and The Green Knight (2021) are just a handful of examples.
But he’s always wanted to do an action film. The problem is that no studio would cast him in an action vehicle. So, he thought: you know what? I’ll make the damn thing myself. He co-wrote the screenplay and directed it, and buzz really started to build after Jordan Peele saw a rough cut and quickly moved to acquire the film under his company Monkeypaw Productions (to be clear, the name is a coincidence).
Then the trailer dropped two months ago, and the world immediately understood what Mr. Peele saw. It looks absolutely breathtaking and is poised to be one of the most original and exciting flicks in recent memory.
So, the anticipation is already off-the-charts for “Monkey Man” — but things got kicked up a notch this week when Dev Patel addressed the surprising inclusion of the Hijra community in the film. These are third gender (or nonbinary) individuals in South Asia, throughout which is a large network of transgender communities, the largest of whom are the Hijra.
Mr. Patel was asked about this on the red carpet, and his answer is beautiful.
5. Kids with Xylophones Deliver Smash Cover of Ozzy’s “Crazy Train”
Okay, this video is from 11 years ago, but when I saw it, I was so absolutely charmed that I had to include it in this week’s edition. In 2012, the Louisville Leopard Percussionists—most of whom have definitely graduated college by now—performed a stellar cover of Ozzy Osbourne’s “Crazy Train” and it’ll make you smile.
Have a lovely weekend, y’all! And if you have something you think belongs in Five Things You Should Know, email it to me (cmclymer@gmail.com). If I include it in a future edition, you’ll get a shout-out and a lifetime paid subscription to the blog.
Five Things You Should Know