Sniff ‘n’ the Tears is a British rock band best known for their 1978 song Driver’s Seat, a moderate hit in many countries (including #15 on the American Billboard Hot 100 in September 1979). The band is led by singer/songwriter Paul Roberts, the band’s sole constant member.
Tim Bergling (September 8, 1989 – April 20, 2018), known professionally as Avicii was a Swedish DJ, remixer and music producer. At age 16, Bergling began posting his remixes on electronic music forums, which led to his first record deal. He rose to prominence in 2011 with his single Levels. His debut studio album, True (2013), blended electronic music with elements of multiple genres and received generally positive reviews. It peaked in the top 10 in more than 15 countries and topped international charts; the lead single, Wake Me Up, topped most music markets in Europe and reached #4 in the United States.
In 2015, Bergling released his second studio album, Stories, and in 2017 he released an EP, Avīci (01). His catalog also included the singles I Could Be the One with Nicky Romero, You Make Me, X You, Hey Brother, Addicted to You, The Days, The Nights, Waiting for Love, Without You and Lonely Together. Bergling was nominated for a Grammy Award for his work on Sunshine with David Guetta in 2012 and Levels in 2013. Several music publications credit Bergling as among the DJs who ushered electronic music into Top 40 radio in the early 2010s.
Bergling retired from touring in 2016, after several years of stress and poor mental health. On April 20, 2018, he died by suicide while on holiday in Muscat, Oman. In 2019, his third and final album, Tim, was released posthumously. Following Bergling’s death that April, news outlets reported that at the time of his death, he had over 200 unreleased songs, some finished and others still in development; it was suggested that his unreleased material comprised some of his best work.
In January 2012, Bergling was hospitalised for 11 days in New York City with acute pancreatitis caused by excessive alcohol use. In 2014, Bergling underwent surgery and had both his appendix and gallbladder removed. In 2016, Bergling’s health deteriorated, and he retired from performing live. Between 2012 and 2014, Bergling was prescribed opioids for the pain caused by his pancreatitis, including OxyContin and Vicodin, to which he developed an addiction. In the 2017 documentary Avicii: True Stories, directed by his close and longtime collaborator Levan Tsikurishvili, Bergling spoke about his physical and mental health struggles. The documentary depicts the pressure from his management to continue performing live in spite of his objections.
Following his retirement, Bergling took up transcendental meditation, which he credited with reducing his anxiety, and started seeing a therapist.
High pressure from management and fans to continue touring and maintaining his public persona were cited as key reasons for his suicide, according to GQ. In a statement from the article, “Bergling feared upsetting fans. He was sensitive to the ‘flood of hate mail’ after cancelled gigs.”
His manager, Arash Pournouri, admitted that he knew of Bergling’s anxieties but refused to label them a problem of mental health. Furthermore, his management team only became aware of his painkiller addiction in November 2014. They staged two interventions for him, neither of which were successful. Pournouri rescheduled many shows in order for Bergling to recover in Stockholm. Having discovered his client’s alcohol issues earlier, Pournouri set out to forbid his promoters from offering him alcohol, clearing out his minibar and focusing on his recovery. Problems worsened, however, when there were no crew to “keep tabs” on Bergling during his recuperation. Pournouri met with Bergling’s father Klas in 2014 to share concerns about Bergling’s health.
Against his client’s wishes, Pournouri claimed to have cancelled two more world tours, which would have added up to approximately US$2.9 million in profits.
Sarah’s Scribbles is a webcomic by Sarah Andersen started in 2011. Andersen initially published the webcomic on Tumblr, but has since released it on various services, such as Facebook, Instagram, Tapas and her own website. Sarah’s Scribbles follows Andersen’s experiences as a millennial and focuses on themes such as adulthood and maturity. The comic receives millions of views on the Tapas platform and has won multiple Goodreads Choice Awards and a Ringo Award. Andersen has published four print collections of the webcomic: Adulthood is a Myth; Big Mushy Happy Lump; Herding Cats; and Oddball.
Sarah’s Scribbles focuses on adulthood and the maturity of the millennial generation. Andersen described millennials as “liking to laugh at themselves,” making common use of self-deprecating humour. The Independent described Sarah’s Scribbles as “relatable comics capturing the dilemmas of a bug-eyed millennial who feels ill-equipped for grown-up life.” The webcomic is semi-autobiographical, following Andersen’s experiences as well as those of her friends and pets. Andersen has said that the main character is “technically” called Sarah, as the character is her, but she avoids using her name, saying: “I feel like people project themselves onto her… I feel like calling her Sarah within the panels has this strange effect of making her more of an individual and less relatable.” Andersen has deliberately chosen not to publish photographs of her face, instead opting to present herself through her black-haired character.
Andersen’s webcomic follows the messy-haired protagonist, who has to deal with social anxiety, body image issues and laziness. One comic shows Andersen ‘borrowing’ a sweater from her boyfriend; other topics include being made to feel inadequate by fitness fanatics, dreading Mondays, considering matching socks an achievement while former school friends raise children. The comic has also been described as a satire of “toxic masculinity” by some sources. Andersen said in 2016 she mainly gains inspiration from her own life and from seeing what people on the internet are thinking and feeling.
Andersen started creating and uploading Sarah’s Scribbles on Tumblr in 2013. She was studying at the Maryland Institute College of Art at the time, and after she graduated in 2014 she worked on the webcomic full-time. According to Andersen, the comic was originally called “Doodle Time,” but GoComics asked Andersen to change the name when they syndicated it. Andersen has said that publishing Sarah’s Scribbles as a webcomic allows her to observe the reactions of her readership in real time, which she said allows her to do a better job. Andersen’s webcomic has a five-panel format, which Andersen developed because it worked well with the scroll display of Tumblr and continues to work well on other websites, such as Instagram.
In March 2016, Andersen released a print collection of Sarah’s Scribbles comics titled Adulthood is a Myth. The book was published by Andrews McMeel Publishing. A follow-up was published in March 2017, titled Big Mushy Happy Lump, and a third volume, Herding Cats was released in March 2018, all from the same publisher. Oddball was later released. She has also released a calendar and planner featuring her comics. The first book, Adulthood is a Myth, has been translated into multiple languages, and there are several fan translations of the webcomic.
Andersen said that she is often asked what the character of Sarah “would be like all grown up”, and has said that “in some ways Fangs [another comic by Andersen] has the answer.”
For reasons that literally no one can figure out, Frito-Lay quietly pulled these off the shelves forever, and replaced them with a less-good cheddar variety. The internet may be full of copycat recipes to get as close as possible to the sticky-sweet ‘n’ tangy flavor of the original, but until Frito-Lay decides to bring these back for good, fans swear by the Dot’s Pretzels version of this cult favorite.
Fanboy & Chum Chum is an American computer-animated television series created by Eric Robles for Nickelodeon. It is based on Fanboy, an animated short created by Robles for Nickelodeon Animation Studio and Frederator Studios, which was broadcast on Random! Cartoons. The series was first broadcast on October 12, 2009, on Nickelodeon as a preview, then officially premiered on November 6, 2009, after SpongeBob’s Truth or Square. In the show, two slow-witted would-be superheroes attempt to rid their town of Galaxy Hills of evil, while annoying everyone around them.
The series premiere drew 5.8 million viewers. The second episode was watched by 5.4 million viewers. The series won a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Special Class Animated Program at the 38th Daytime Emmy Awards.
The series’ initial release finished on November 2, 2012. One episode, “Brain Freeze,” was released on DVD in 2011 instead of being broadcast on television. It finally aired on July 12, 2014.
The theme song was written by Brad Joseph Breeck and performed by an experimental punk band The Mae Shi.
The series centers around Fanboy and Chum Chum, a pair of hyperactive, odd, energetic, and slow-witted best friends enthusiastically obsessed with superhero comics, particularly those featuring their favorite superhero Man-Arctica, who also apparently seems to double as a holiday figurehead parodying Santa Claus within the series. Many episodes are based around comical parodies of famous films or contain countless references to popular culture, chronicling Fanboy and Chum Chum’s exaggerated, surreal daily experiences and misadventures relating to dilemmas in which they have entangled themselves or the surrounding characters’ utter infuriation with their irritating antics.
Gina Thompson (born Lugenia Thompson in Vineland, New Jersey, on November 10, 1976) is an American R&B singer. Born to Edward L. Thompson, Sr. and Eugenia Thompson, Gina Thompson began singing at an early age and was signed to her first recording contract with Mercury Records shortly after graduating high school.
Nobody Does It Better was Gina Thompson’s first album. Released in 1996, it featured production by Missy Elliott and Diddy, and featured appearances by Elliott, Diddy, and Craig Mack, among others. Her first single from the album, The Things That You Do, was a success, peaking at #41 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts, and #12 on Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart.
The Program (working title Icon) is a 2015 biographical drama film about Lance Armstrong directed by Stephen Frears, starring Ben Foster as Armstrong and Chris O’Dowd as journalist David Walsh.
The film is based on Walsh’s 2012 book Seven Deadly Sins. It premiered at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival on September 14, 2015 and was theatrically released in France on September 16 and the United Kingdom on October 14.
Director Stephen Frears had the idea to make a film about Lance Armstrong after reading a review of Tyler Hamilton’s book, The Secret Race. Unable to acquire the rights for Hamilton’s book, he instead settled on Walsh’s Seven Deadly Sins. Frears then turned to screenwriter John Hodge to write the script, partly because of Hodge’s experience as a doctor.
Hodge has said that he primarily based his screenplay on Seven Deadly Sins, in addition to other journalism and affidavits from cyclists. Hodge says he ruled out using Armstrong’s own accounts of his behavior during this period, and that scenes shown from Armstrong’s perspective are fiction.
Break Every Rule is the sixth solo studio album by Tina Turner. It was released on September 5, 1986, through Capitol Records in the U.S. It was the follow-up to Turner’s globally successful comeback album, Private Dancer, released two years earlier. Turner nearly scored her second Billboard Hot 100 number one with the lead single Typical Male, peaking at #2 for three consecutive weeks in October 1986, while Two People and What You Get Is What You See reached the top 20. Back Where You Started earned Turner her third consecutive Grammy Award for Best Rock Vocal Performance, Female in 1987.
The album’s predecessor, Private Dancer, set high commercial standards, yet Break Every Rule sold very well worldwide. It reached #4 on the Billboard 200, #2 on the UK Albums Chart and#1 in Switzerland, and also Germany (for 12 weeks). The album sold over 5 million copies worldwide within its first year of release. The RIAA certified Break Every Rule platinum, denoting 1 million shipments in the United States. It was also certified 2× platinum in countries including Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and Canada.
Typical Male is a song recorded by American singer Tina Turner. It was written by Terry Britten and Graham Lyle. The song hit #1 in Cash Box magazine and just missed becoming her second #1 hit on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, peaking at #2 for three consecutive weeks behind Cyndi Lauper’s True Colors. It reached #3 on the Billboard R&B Chart. The B-side of the single was Don’t Turn Around, covered by Bonnie Tyler, Aswad, and Ace of Base. Phil Collins plays drums on the song. Typical Male is unusual for a pop song, in that the chorus includes a single measure in 2/4 time.
Two People is a song written by Terry Britten and Graham Lyle. Two People became a top ten hit in Germany and Switzerland, and reached the top 20 in Austria, the Netherlands on Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. It was also a #30 pop hit on Billboard”s Hot 100 chart in the United States.
What You Get Is What You See was written by the Terry Britten and Graham Lyle team and was notably different from the three previous singles that they had written for Turner, What’s Love Got to Do with It, We Don’t Need Another Hero and Two People, as it was an up-tempo country-tinged rock track. The song was originally to feature a guitar solo by Eric Clapton, but Clapton’s contribution was accidentally recorded an octave too low; Terry Britten ultimately played the guitar solo himself. Tina Turner said in an interview that What You Get Is What You See is her favorite song from the album. It peaked at #13 in the U.S.
Girls is a song written by David Bowie and originally recorded by Tina Turner. It became a top 20 hit in Europe. Bowie recorded his own studio version of the track during his 1987 Never Let Me Down recording sessions, and released the track as the B-side to his 1987 single Time Will Crawl.
Break Every Rule was released as a single in April 1987 to support the album and the tour. The song found limited success on the U.S. and UK singles charts, although reached as far as #21 on the Austrian Top 40 Charts. The song was written by British composer and singer Rupert Hine and his then girlfriend Jeanette Obstoj, who had previously composed I Might Have Been Queen which was featured on Turner’s Private Dancer album.
Back Where You Started is a popular album track and the second promotional only single released in the United States. The song was written by Bryan Adams and Jim Vallance. It was the second collaboration between Turner and Adams, their first being the 1985 hit It’s Only Love. Although Back Where You Started was never released commercially as a single, it was a hit on the U.S. Rock Chart and won Turner a Grammy Award for Best Rock Vocal Performance, Female in 1987.
Afterglow is a song written and produced by Terry Britten and Graham Lyle. It featured Steve Winwood on keyboards. The song was the eighth and final song from the album to be released as a single, if only in the United States. It failed to crack the U.S. Hot 100, but it reached #5 on the U.S. dance charts and #20 on the Maxi Single Sales chart.
These fighting robot boxers were certainly on many a Christmas wishlist for little boys across the country throughout the 1960s. First manufactured in 1964, the toy featuring two robots, Red Rocker and Blue Bomber was a basic fighting game that kept children entertained for hours on end.
The aim was simple, use buttons on a pair of joysticks at the base of a platform to make the robots punch at each other. The winner was determined when the head of one robot was hit at just the right angle, overextending it away from the shoulders.
Over the years, hundreds and thousands of the toys were sold across the world with the design remaining relatively the same until the ’70s. In 1974 an updated version was launched in conjunction with the release of the Star Wars movie.
The magnificent reefs off the coast of Florida have been rapidly deteriorating for decades. At the sight of this tragedy, one Floridian decided to do something about it in 1984. To raise awareness, he began the colorful tradition of hosting a concert completely underneath the surface of the ocean.
The underwater concert happens in the middle of the reef. Underwater speakers blast a playlist, as musicians in scuba diving gear pretend to play fake instruments. Bands and solo artists showcase their skills for onlookers, diving or snorkeling, to enthusiastically enjoy the performance. Songs are appropriately water-themed.