Categories
Rock Daypop

MOTÖRHEAD unveils previously unreleased 1998 concert to celebrate the anniversary of LEMMY’s birthday

The official MOTÖRHEAD YouTube channel released the next in the “The Löst Tapes” series, celebrating what would have been MOTÖRHEAD leader Ian Fraser “Lemmy” Kilmister‘s 76th birthday this past December 24th.   The latest release in the series is a previously unreleased concert from Norwich UEA which was recorded on the “Snake Bite Love” tour in 1998.  You can take a look – here.

Lemmy died in December 2015 at the age of 70 shortly after learning he had been diagnosed with cancer. A custom-made urn containing Lemmy‘s ashes is on permanent display in a columbarium at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Hollywood, California.

Editorial credit: A.RICARDO / Shutterstock.com

Categories
Rock Daypop

Check out the teaser for the new Rush pinball machine, coming soon

A recent teaser video from game maker Stern Pinball revealed that a Rush pinball machine is on the way.  In the teaser, Rush titles including “Bastille Day,” “Fly by Night,” “Limelight” and “Working Man” appear onscreen, indicating the songs that will likely be used in the game.  Stern Pinball is related to the 1970s and ’80s electronic game outfit Stern Electronics and has previously issued pinball machines based on bands such as AC/DC, Iron Maiden, KISS, Led Zeppelin and Metallica, as well as games for movies, TV and more.

Rush, who formed in 1968 and released 19 studio albums during their time together, stopped performing in 2018. Drummer Neil Peart died from brain cancer two years later.

Watch the video teaser for the Rush pinball machine – here.

Editorial credit: Harmony Gerber / Shutterstock.com

Categories
News Daypop

Thousands of flight cancellations continue to affect air travel as airlines blame weather, understaffing due to surge of Omicron variant

Thousands of flights across the globe were cancelled as travel chaos that unfolded over the holidays continued, with airlines blaming the spread of the omicron variant and adverse weather conditions for the disruptions.  As of Wednesday morning, more than 2,280 flights had been canceled globally for the day, with more than 740 flights to/from the United States cancelled.  U.S carriers Delta Air Lines and Alaska Airlines were among those to cancel flights this week, with the two collectively canceling hundreds of flights Tuesday and Wednesday.

Delta had said it was forced to cancel more than 250 of 4,133 scheduled flights on Tuesday alone, while Alaska canceled 170 flights and warned of more cancellations and delays throughout the end of the week.  Both airlines have gone on record to blame weather and the spread of the Covid-19/Omicron variant for the travel disruptions. Delta said it was working to reroute and substitute some planes. Alaska said as it heads into Thursday, it is proactively decreasing Seattle departures by around 20 percent to allow for additional time to de-ice aircraft in the midst of winter storms in the western U.S. Snowy weather in the Pacific Northwest contributed to the cancellation of more than 110 flights scheduled to land at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on Monday alone.

The cancellations on Wednesday come after a week of travel chaos over the holidays that saw airlines ax thousands of flights, with some blaming the spread of omicron among crew and other staff.  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that it was not considering recommending a Covid vaccine mandate for domestic flights, despite the suggestion by Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert.  CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said of air travel: “Right now, what we’re talking about is ways to get people vaccinated. Certainly domestic flights has been a topic of conversation, but that is not something we’re revisiting right now.”

Editorial credit: SynthEx / Shutterstock.com

Categories
News Daypop

Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell is convicted of federal sex trafficking charges

Ghislaine Maxwell — British socialite and associate of wealthy financier Jeffrey Epstein — was convicted of federal sex trafficking charges for her role in recruiting and grooming teenage girls to be sexually abused by her close confidant, Epstein. A jury of six men and six women reached a verdict in the New York City sex trafficking trial on Wednesday after six days of deliberations.

The jury weighed evidence and testimony from about 30 witnesses over three weeks that alleged Maxwell played a pivotal part in recruiting and grooming teenage girls to be sexually abused Epstein. Maxwell faced six federal counts that together carry a maximum sentence of 70 years: sex trafficking of a minor, enticing a minor to travel to engage in illegal sex acts, transporting a minor with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity and three related counts of conspiracy. Maxwell, who turned 60 on Christmas Day, has been jailed since her arrest in July 2020.

Maxwell’s defense team argued that it was the financier who pulled the strings and that federal prosecutors only sought to take her down because Epstein, a convicted sex abuser, committed suicide by hanging n a Manhattan jail cell two years ago as he awaited trial on sex trafficking charges. Prosecutors argued that Maxwell was not an unwilling participant, and was known at Epstein’s Florida estate as the “lady of the house.” Numerous women before Epstein’s death came forward with allegations that he sexually abused them, with some claiming Maxwell helped to traffic them to other powerful men, however prosecutors focused their case on the testimony of four accusers. Those women provided graphic accounts of how they say Maxwell “groomed” them as young girls to have sex with Epstein. Maxwell denied helping recruit and engage in the trafficking of young girls, mostly in the 1990s.

Maxwell was charged with six counts for alleged acts committed between 1994 and 1997, and then allegedly lying to investigators in 2016. She was also charged with perjury, although those counts will be tried separately.

Editorial credit: lev radin / Shutterstock.com

Categories
Sports Daypop

Seattle Mariners third baseman Kyle Seager announces retirement after 11 seasons in MLB

Veteran Seattle Mariners third baseman Kyle Seager announced Wednesday on social media that he is retiring from baseball. Seager wrote in a statement posted to his wife Julie’s Instagram and Twitter accounts: “Today I’m announcing my retirement from Major League Baseball. Thank you to all of my family, friends and fans for following me throughout my career. It’s been a wonderful ride, but I am unbelievably excited for the next chapter of my life.”

Seager’s retirement comes as a bit of a surprise as he is relatively young.  Seager hit .251 with 242 home runs over his 11-year career. He joined the Mariners as a third-round pick in the 2009 MLB Draft and spent his entire career with the organization. He made his debut with the club in 2011, and is a one-time All-Star and Gold Glove Award winner, both earned in 2014. However in 2021, Seager hit a career-low .212 with a career-hight 35 home runs. He signed a seven-year, $100 million contract extension with the Mariners in 2014.

Editorial credit: alens / Shutterstock.com

Categories
Sports Daypop

NHL shortens isolation period to 5 days with negative COVID-19 test result

In a memo sent to teams on Wednesday, the NHL outlined the new shortened isolation period for asymptomatic players that test positive for COVID-19 from 10 days to five days, provided they can produce a negative test result and are still following the guidelines set forth by local authorities.

The NHL’s new shortened isolation period is in line with updated CDC guidelines. The memo outlines changes to the league’s COVID-19 protocol agreed upon by the NHL and NHLPA and states that after a negative PCR test, approved medical clearance from a player’s club physician, and approval from local health authorities, a player may leave isolation after five days.

Also according to the memo, the NHL and NHLPA medical experts will reevaluate the new measures in 14 days.

Editorial credit: 360b / Shutterstock.com

Categories
Pop Daypop

Morgan Wallen’s ‘Dangerous’ is the best selling album of 2021

Morgan Wallen’s “Dangerous” is the best-selling album of 2021, despite the controversy surrounding the country star over his use of a racial slur. The 28-year-old’s “Dangerous: The Double Album” sold more than 3 million copies. Wallen ended up beating out the likes of Drake’s “Certified Lover Boy” that sold 1.85 million copies, Olivia Rodrigo’s “Sour” with 2.69 and Pop Smoke’s “Shoot For The Stars, Aim For The Moon” with more than 1.4 million copies.

Shortly after the album was released in January 2021, a video surfaced in February that showed Wallen telling his friends to “take care of this p–y-ass n—a” when he had returned home from a night of partying. Wallen admitted later that he was “clearly drunk” during the exchange. A backlash ensued against the singer, with country radio banning his music and many of Wallen’s appearances cancelled. Wallen later posted a video for fans apologizing for using the N-word and explained how he didn’t want fans to defend his “wrong” behavior.

“Dangerous” remained at the top of the charts for its first 10 weeks, with Billboard noting that it became the first album since Whitney Houston’s “Whitney” in 1987 to do so. It is also the most weeks an album has spent in the top spot since Drake’s “Views” scored 13 weeks in the number one spot in 2016.

Editorial credit: Debby Wong / Shutterstock.com

Categories
Country Daypop

Kenny Chesney pays tribute to his ‘good friend’ John Madden who passed away at age 85

Country star Kenny Chesney posted a tribute to NFL Hall of Fame member and football coach John Madden, who passed away yesterday at 85. Chesney wrote about the football legend on Instagram“So long to my good friend John Madden. He was such a big part of the ‘Boys of Fall’ film. We became friends after his interview, and he’ll be missed by everyone that loves the game of football. Thank you, John, for your time and for listening to my song and bringing so many people together on a Sunday afternoon. Rest In Peace, my friend.”

Chesney spent over a year working on the football documentary, “The Boys of Fall,” interviewing history-making players and coaches including John Madden, who Chesney said at the time he was both excited and nervous to speak with.  Said Chesney: “When I first met John Madden, I was so starstruck I could hardly interview him.” The idea to create a documentary was sparked when Chesney was filming the music video for his song “The Boys of Fall.”  You can watch the trailer for the documentary – here.

Editorial credit: Featureflash Photo Agency / Shutterstock.com

Categories
Entertainment Daypop

HBO Max shares a first look teaser of Season 4 of ‘Westworld’

HBO Max released ‘first looks’ at several of their returning series in a 2022 promotional video, notably including the long-awaited return of Westworld.  The Westworld Season 4 footage includes glimpses of Ed Harris’ Man in Black, Thandiwe Newton’s Maeve and Aaron Paul’s Caleb Nichols. The previous season of the acclaimed sci-fi series got underway at the start of the pandemic in March 2020.

The promotional video (which can be viewed here) also includes new footage from the new seasons of His Dark Materials, The Nevers, The Flight Attendant and Raised by Wolves, as well as from the debut seasons of Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin, the Julia Child biopic Julia,  The Time Traveler’s Wife and the animated series Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai.  Absent from the lineup was the eagerly anticipated zombie drama The Last of Us, which has been expected to debut sometime in 2022.

As of press time, no premiere dates were announced for any of the shows.

Editorial credit: Featureflash Photo Agency / Shutterstock.com

Categories
Entertainment Daypop

Take a look at Robert Pattinson and Zoë Kravitz in new trailer for ‘The Batman’

The new trailer for ‘The Batman’ debuted Monday, and film stars Robert Pattinson, 35, and Zoë Kravitz, 33, appear to face off – and join forces — in their roles as Bruce Wayne/Batman and Selina Kyle/Catwoman, respectively.

Kravitz’s Catwoman tells Pattinson’s Batman in the trailer: “If we don’t stand up, no one will. ‘ The Bat and the Cat.’ That’s got a nice ring.”  The film also stars Paul Dano, Peter Sarsgaard, Jeffrey Wright and Colin Farrell.

The Batman is in theaters March 4.  Check out the trailer – here.

Editorial credit: Denis Makarenko / Shutterstock.com