Photo: Getty Images
Elsewhere
Metallica is sending a quarter-million-dollars of aid to victims of last week's earthquake in Turkey and Syria. The donation comes from Metallica's non-profit, All Within My Hands Foundation. In a statement, the band said the money is being split between two of its foundation's partner organizations. The statement said "Direct Relief and World Central Kitchen have boots on the ground providing medical aid and food to the victims of this disaster."
Netflix is pulling the plug on its "Surprise Me" button. A company spokeswoman said this week that the streaming giant discontinued the feature last month because not many users were using it. Netflix introduced the feature in 2021 so people wouldn't have to choose something to watch from thousands of titles. The company found out the users come to Netflix with a specific show, movie, or genre in mind, making the "Surprise Me" button mostly useless.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/netflix-sunsets-surprise-me-shuffle-play-button-6d29cf2a
A movie actress who rose to fame as a sex symbol of the 1960s has died. Her family says Raquel Welch died yesterday after a brief illness. Welch was known for her roles in "Fantastic Voyage" and "One Million Years B.C." Welch won a Golden Globe Award for for her role in "The Three Musketeers" in 1974. More recently, she appeared as herself on "Seinfeld" with a quirky trait of not moving her arms when she danced. Raquel Welch was 82.
https://people.com/movies/raquel-welch-dies-at-82/
Presidential hopeful Nikki Haley is the latest politician to draw the ire of a songwriter. Frankie Sullivan, guitarist for the band Survivor, co-wrote the mega-hit "Eye of the Tiger." Haley used "Eye of the Tiger" without permission yesterday at a rally in Charleston, South Carolina. Sullivan said former President Trump used the song at his campaign rallies, but stopped after contacted by Sullivan's attorney. Mike Huckabee's campaign paid a 25-thousand-dollar settlement after using the song at a rally. Sullivan has a simple message to politicians: "Stop using my F-ing song!"
The 007 guessing game continues. Who will be the next James Bond? One possible choice is ruling himself out. Actor Idris Elba says he won't be the next James Bond. Elba said a lot of people ask him about playing the role and he says he's not going to be that guy. He said he wants to focus on his current deal with Netflix where he's starring in "Luther: The Fallen Sun." He said he worked "Luther" the TV show for ten years and now taking it to the big screen is where his attention is at. Elba said "I'm going to be John Luther, that's who I am."
A man from Hawaii recently ran the equivalent of nearly six marathons in less than two days. Kona Johnson started running Friday morning. By the time he was done late Saturday night, he had run more than 150 miles in 42 hours. He ran around the entire island of Oahu. It was all for a good cause. Johnson raised money for the North Shore Lifeguard Association's Summer Junior Lifeguard Program.