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We're bidding farewell to a Broadway legend. Chita Rivera has died. The Tony Award winning dancer and singer rose to fame in the role of Anita in the original production of West Side Story in the 1950s as well as the subsequent movie version. Chita Rivera was also known for her unforgettable parts in the original casts of Chicago and Bye Bye Birdie, as well as the lead role of Kiss of the Spiderwoman. She was given the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Obama in 2009. Her daughter says she died in New York following a brief illness. Chita Rivera was 91.
An online question by a Sesame Street muppet is shedding some light on the amount of stress Americans are currently experiencing. On Monday, the X account for Elmo wrote, "Just checking in -- how is everybody doing?" Unexpectedly, the post got thousands of responses from followers who told Elmo they were depressed and anxious, including from people who had just lost their jobs or who were worried about the upcoming presidential election. A spokesperson for Sesame Workshop told the New York Times, "I don't think anyone anticipated how deeply this particular question would resonate." Elmo has over 450-thousand followers on X.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/elmo-social-media-viral-post-reaction_n_65b81bc8e4b0102bd2d5cfc0
A New York City man is going viral for comparing memorable sports photographs to works of art. According to The New York Times, LJ Rader has 365-thousand followers on X and Instagram. The NFL approached him about Jason Kelce's shirtless, beer-drinking antics in the freezing cold during the Kansas City Chiefs-Buffalo Bills game earlier this month. Rader compared it to the 17th Century work, The Feast of Bacchus, a piece by the Dutch painter Phillips Kornick that depicts the Greek God of wine, shirtless and in a wine-induced haze. The NFL's response was "Nailed it."
https://www.seattletimes.com/sports/you-saw-jason-kelce-this-guy-saw-the-feast-of-bacchus/
Social media users can once again search Taylor Swift's name on X. The singer's name was blocked from being searched on the platform after explicit deepfake images of the singer went viral. The photos, which have landed on other social networks, had over 27-million views before the account that posted them was suspended. NBC News reports the images have a watermark that suggests they came from a website known for publishing fake nude images of celebrities.
The first trailer is being released for "Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire." The film is a sequel 2021's "Ghostbusters: Afterlife" and follows characters of new and old that join forces to save the world from a second Ice Age. Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson and Annie Potts all reprise their roles from previous films. The rest of the cast includes Paul Rudd and Patton Oswalt. "Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire" is set to hit theaters on March 22nd.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpOBXh02rVc
Looking for the perfect Valentine's Day gift for your ex? An animal shelter in New Jersey is offering to name a feral cat after your "ex" and then neuter it. It's a novel idea that the Homeward Bound Adoption Center in Blackwood, New Jersey, says is the perfect Valentine's Day gift for someone who broke your heart. For just 50-bucks you can pay to name a feral cat after your ex-boyfriend or girlfriend. Then, the cat will be neutered or spayed because as the animal shelter's ad tagline says: "Some things shouldn't breed."
https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/28/us/new-jersey-valentines-shelter-trnd/index.html