Typically, when a new pair of Nike shoes is announced, there’s a big name athlete like Serena Williams or LeBron James attached. But the company’s latest design is not necessarily fitness focused, but instead targeted at “everyday heroes” like doctors, nurses, and home health aides.
According to a company press release, nurses walk an average of four to five miles and sit for only one hour during a 12-hour shift. That’s a serious amount of work for shoes to live up to. Enter the Nike Air Zoom Plus, which was created for men and women who spend a lot of time on their feet at work. “The fit, cushioning, and traction systems work together to secure the foot in all hospital conditions,” the company says.
The Nike shoes, which were tested at the OHSU Doernbecher Children’s Hospital in Portland, Oregon, are designed to be easy to take on and off, but also “comfortable for long stretches of standing and versatile enough to support the hurried movements required in emergency situations.” The sneaker is inspired by a clog (a popular footwear choice for people in the medical field, as you may have noticed at your last checkup). The Air Zoom plus is a less clunky alternative that’s also boosted with Nike’s Zoom Air heel technology typically reserved for the brand’s most high-performing athletic shoes.
The shoe pros that they are, Nike also thought about the special conditions one encounters in a hospital environment that you wouldn’t on, say, a basketball or tennis court. Since workers may encounter spills, they added a coated toe box to the shoe. Because hospital floors are smooth and can be slick, there’s a special traction pattern on the sole. And of course, they look great. Even if you don’t work in a hospital, they sound pretty fantastic—especially if your job also requires you to spend a lot of time on your feet.
The release sends a powerful message: Nurses and doctors deserve to be just as well taken care of as the world’s top athletes.
Just when we thought we had our slate of TV shows and movies all lined up for the week, Beyoncé and ABC went and announced a surprise documentary that’s going to drop Monday night. (That’s tomorrow, September 16, just to be clear.) And honestly? You’re probably going to want to clear your schedule for it.
Bey and the network teamed up to gift us with the doc, titled Making the Gift. Although pretty much everything Beyoncé does is a gift, if we’re being honest, this particular documentary specifically follows the making of her companion album—titled The Gift—for this year’s Disney reboot of The Lion King, in which she played Nala.
The network announced the documentary in a tweet Sunday evening—and even went so far as to change its name on Twitter to ABeyC, which is extremely appropriate. Along with a short, 30-second trailer for the documentary, ABeyC revealed at exactly what time the documentary will drop: 10 P.M. ET. (Set an iCal alarm now!)
Per Rolling Stone, the documentary will give viewers an “intimate” look at the genesis of each and every song from the album, which features an incredible array of talent from Childish Gambino (who plays Simba in the reboot) to Pharrell and Kendrick Lamar—plus a ton of incredible African musicians from Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana, and Cameroon. Beyond that, viewers will also be treated to glimpses of the work that went into The Gift‘s music videos and recording sessions.
Check out the trailer for the ABC ABeyC documentary below:
Beyoncé’s gifted us with surprise drops before—hello, Homecoming—and consider us here for another. Now, who’s going to bring the popcorn?
Taylor Swift fans love a good theory—especially when it comes to her music. Before she released her sixth studio album, Reputation, in November 2017, Swifties were running rampant with theories about what her next era would be. At one point they thought the new album was going to be about space—like, the actual stars and planets. And the evidence was there! The FBI honestly needs to recruit new agents from the Taylor Swift fan base, because their sleuthing skills are unparalleled.
And now they’re at it again. Roughly 14 months after Reputation, the Swifties are convinced Taylor’s next era—which we’ll call TS7—is upon us. As always, they have the receipts to back it up. Let’s go through (1) all the reasons why Swifties think new music is coming soon, and (2) what that new music could be.
Swift has allegedly talked about releasing new music this year.__ Perez Hilton claims Swift told him she plans to release new music before her 30th birthday, which is in December 2019. Also, keep in mind that at last year’s American Music Awards, Swift said this: “I always look at albums as chapters in my life. And I’m so—to the fans, I’m so happy that you like this one. I’m so happy that this means that you like this one. But I have to be really honest with you about something: I’m even more excited about the next chapter.” This at least hints Swift is working on new material.
The Scrabble saga of October 2018. A few months back, Swift posted a photo of herself playing Scrabble with her mom. The letters she had on display were B, I, O, I, E, letters whose point values, ironically, add up to seven. Swift fans were quick to point this out and suggest it was a nod to TS7.
Seven palm trees means…TS7? On Sunday (February 24), Swift posted a photo of palm trees and captioned it with seven corresponding emojis. This is yet another reference to that number and further fuels the idea new music is coming.
But this could also mean a countdown…starting at seven. The proof for this lies in Swift’s next two Instagrams. On Monday she posted a photo of herself sitting on the sixth (6) stair of a spiral staircase.
She then uploaded this photo, with five (5) holes in a fence and her face in the middle:
Obviously, the idea is once Swift reaches one (1), there will be a special announcement—possibly about new music.
That fence pic and the Scrabble photo have a strong connection. She’s wearing the same flowered shirt in each—and the flower featured is the woodland forget-me-not, Myosotis sylvatica, which blooms in April.
The stamps in Swift’s fan calendar. As BuzzFeed points out, specific dates are “stamped” on Swift’s 2019 fan calendar: April 13, May 13, July 13, August 13, and December 13. There’s also a flower marked on March 2, which is when the aforementioned “countdown” would end. The consensus? Swift is making a big announcement on March 2, and April 13 could be the first major date connected to it. BuzzFeed also says Swift is rumored to be Elle magazine’s April cover star. That issue, presumably dropping in early March, might tee up whatever Swift has planned for the spring.
YouTube is also doing something fishy. Swift has 245 videos uploaded to the site, but only 243 are visible, according to BuzzFeed. This could mean she has two clips prepared to drop after this countdown. Orrr it could just be two old clips she doesn’t want to release. The first theory is more exciting.
Well, that depends on which fan you ask. Palm trees, though, seem to hold significance. A Reputationpromo photo of Swift features her wearing a jacket with seven palm trees. The trees also show up in the “End Game” and “Delicate” videos.
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Also, consider the placement of the palm trees in Swift’s Instagram pic. There are four on the left, two on the right, and one in the middle. One fan posits the first four represent Swift’s country albums, while the last two are her pop ones. TS7 lands right in the middle, which leads some to think it will be a country-pop fusion or something totally new.
The word eternal also keeps popping up. It was stitched on the dress she wore to the 2018 Billboard Music Awards. Palm trees, if you’re curious, symbolize “triumph, peace, and eternal life,” according to one fan’s Tumblr post. It all comes full circle.
February might be the shortest month of the year, but Netflix is still dropping a long list of movies and TV shows throughout it. If you’re not in the mood to watch a romantic comedy come Valentine’s Day, you’ll have your pick of every movie in the Jaws franchise—which, let’s be real, is a pretty perfect scenario. The streaming giant is also releasing several original series and movies, like The Umbrella Academy, which stars Ellen Page and centers on siblings with superpowers who reunite after their father’s death.
Keep these titles in mind too: The Edge of Seventeen, Pretty in Pink, and Hairspray. All three of those movies are ideal for V-Day: cute and sentimental without being too corny. Of course, all three American Pie movies are hitting Netflix, as well, in case you want to do something completely left field.
Below, check out all the movies and TV shows coming to Netflix in February.
About a Boy American Pie American Pie 2 American Wedding As Good as It Gets Billy Elliot Dear Ex (NETFLIX FILM) Final Destination Free Rein: Valentine’s Day (NETFLIX ORIGINAL) Hairspray Hostel Jaws Jaws 2 Jaws 3 Jaws: The Revenge Personal Shopper Pretty in Pink Russian Doll (NETFLIX ORIGINAL) Siempre bruja (NETFLIX ORIGINAL) The Edge of Seventeen True: Happy Hearts Day (NETFLIX ORIGINAL) Velvet Buzzsaw (NETFLIX FILM)
Bordertown, Season 2 (NETFLIX ORIGINAL) Romance is a Bonus Book (Streaming Every Saturday) (NETFLIX ORIGINAL)
Disney’s Beverly Hills Chihuahua
Ray Romano: Right Here, Around the Corner (NETFLIX ORIGINAL)
The Soloist
¡Nailed It! México (NETFLIX ORIGINAL) El árbol de la sangre (NETFLIX FILM) High Flying Bird (NETFLIX FILM) Kevin Hart’s Guide to Black History (NETFLIX ORIGINAL) One Day at a Time, Season 3 (NETFLIX ORIGINAL) ReMastered: The Two Killings of Sam Cooke (NETFLIX ORIGINAL) The Epic Tales of Captain Underpants, Season 2 (NETFLIX ORIGINAL) Unauthorized Living (NETFLIX ORIGINAL)
The Break, Season 2 (NETFLIX ORIGINAL)
Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj, Volume 2 (Streaming Every Sunday) (NETFLIX ORIGINAL)
Flavorful Origins: Chaoshan Cuisine (NETFLIX ORIGINAL) Little Women
Dating Around (NETFLIX ORIGINAL) Ken Jeong: You Complete Me, Ho (NETFLIX ORIGINAL)
Larry Charles’ Dangerous World of Comedy (NETFLIX ORIGINAL) The Breaker Upperers (NETFLIX FILM) The Dragon Prince, Season 2 (NETFLIX ORIGINAL) The Umbrella Academy (NETFLIX ORIGINAL) Yucatan (NETFLIX FILM)
Black Sea Studio 54 The 40-Year-Old Virgin
The Drug King (NETFLIX FILM)
Chef’s Table, Volume 6 (NETFLIX ORIGINAL) Firebrand (NETFLIX FILM) GO! Vive a tu manera (NETFLIX ORIGINAL) Paddleton (NETFLIX FILM) Paris Is Us (Paris est à nous) (NETFLIX FILM) Rebellion, Season 2 (NETFLIX ORIGINAL) Suburra, Season 2 (NETFLIX ORIGINAL) The Big Family Cooking Showdown, Season 2 (NETFLIX ORIGINAL) The Photographer of Mauthausen (NETFLIX FILM) Workin’ Moms (NETFLIX ORIGINAL)
News broke last week that rapper Nelly had been accused of sexual assault by a woman with whom he’d allegedly returned to his tour bus after a concert in Seattle-area Washington. Now, the woman is dropping all charges and halting the resulting criminal investigation.
The alleged sexual assault took place early on the morning of Saturday, October 7 after a Friday-night concert at the White River amphitheater. Seattle-Tacoma Fox affiliate Q13 reported at the time that Nelly went into Seattle after the concert and brought the woman back to his bus.
After the alleged rape, Nelly’s lawyer told The Blast that the rapper was “the victim of a completely fabricated allegation,” adding that it was “motivated by greed and vindictiveness.”
On Friday afternoon (October 13), The Blast obtained a letter they report comes from the woman’s attorney. Her lawyer, Karen Koehler, says that her client reached out to the investigating police department and district attorney to halt the criminal investigation. Her client will also not testify any longer in criminal proceedings, the letter says.
According to the letter, Koehler’s client did not “feel safe enough to pursue criminal charges against a celebrity for an alleged rape.” Koehler writes that her client was immediately contacted by journalists as the news broke, subjected to smears from “the celebrity”‘s legal team alleging she was in it for the money, and, later, the detective in charge of investigating shared information pertaining to the case after promising Koehler’s client he wouldn’t.
“She wishes she had not called 911 because the [sic] she believes the system is going to fail her…She wants this to end,” Koehler writes.
She never wanted notoriety. She never wanted a dime from that man. She wants to go back to school and to graduate.”
The letter continues with a reference to Harvey Weinstein and the women who have come out against him: “One day, maybe our world will change and thirty women will not be needed to (eventually) speak out against a celebrity who has hurt them in order to be believed. But that day has not yet come.”
Barack Obama taught the American public countless life lessons during his tenure as president, but perhaps one of the most important teachings he passed on is that it’s totally OK to cry in public.
Be it at events, press conferences, funerals, or the signing of new legislation, Obama has never shied away from his emotions. And on Monday, Obama wore his heart on his sleeve once more by telling the audience at an event for the Beau Biden Foundation that he let the waterworks flow when he dropped off Malia, his eldest daughter, at college.
“For those of us who have daughters, it just happens fast. I dropped off Malia at college, and I was saying to Joe and Jill (Biden) that it was a little bit like open-heart surgery,” Obama said during his surprise appearance in front of the 600 attendees of the event.
“I was proud that I did not cry in front of her,” Obama added. “But on the way back, the Secret Service was off, looking straight ahead, pretending they weren’t hearing me as I sniffled and blew my nose. It was rough.”
Beyond his frequent and unabashed tears, Obama has also spoken out more than once on the importance of family and just how much fatherhood has meant to him. In fact, during his farewell address to the nation, Obama looked to his daughters Sasha and Malia and said, “Of all that I’ve done in my life, I am most proud to be your dad.”
At the event honoring the life and legacy of Beau Biden, Obama noted that saying goodbye to his daughter as he dropped her off for her freshman year at Harvard is “a reminder that, at the end of our lives, whatever else we’ve accomplished, the things that we’ll remember are the joys that our children—and hopefully way later, our grandchildren—bring us.”
He added that he was there to honor Beau, the son of former Vice President Joe Biden who tragically died of brain cancer in 2015, because he wanted to lend his “support to a family that (he cares) deeply about, to honor a man that (he) thought the world of, and to say thank you to all of you for supporting this wonderful cause.”
The event’s mission was to raise funds for the Foundation, which Delaware Online explained works to “expand and continue work training adults in child abuse prevention and kids and families in bully prevention.”
“It is proper and right that somebody as thoughtful and genuine and strong as Beau made it one of his missions that every child has protection,” Obama said in his speech.
Overall, the event raised more than $400,000 for the incredible cause, according to Delaware Online. While thanking his friend for his appearance at the event and sharing such a personal story about fatherhood, Biden joked, “Mr. President, you’ve been a great friend. Everybody, I think what they miss most is our memes. Mr. President, I can’t surprise you by giving you a medal of freedom, but I can give you a group of people who think you brought a lot of freedom to this country.”
