Lets kick off this Friday with some music. Fridays call for some Dave Matthews playing his Central Park concert.
I’m always up for films that get limited independent releases, especially films with real stories. So I’m excited to see ‘We Live in Time’
Get ready for a wild ride through the ups and downs of love with the upcoming romantic comedy-drama “We Live in Time”! The always delightful Florence Pugh stars as Almut, a rising star in the culinary world who’s got a knack for whipping up delicious dishes and accidentally running over handsome strangers with her car. That’s right, her meet-cute with Andrew Garfield’s character, Tobias, involves a bumper and a hospital bed. Talk about a recipe for romance!
As Almut and Tobias navigate the twists and turns of their unconventional love story, Pugh brings her signature charm and wit to the role. From flirty banter over hospital Jell-O to building a life together complete with an adorable daughter, Pugh’s Almut is the heart and soul of this heartwarming tale.
But it’s not all sunshine and rainbows for our leading lady. When a shocking revelation threatens to derail their happily ever after, Almut must confront the challenges of love in the face of life’s ticking clock. With her trademark humor and vulnerability, Pugh takes us on an emotional rollercoaster that will have you laughing, crying, and rooting for her every step of the way.
Trailer below….
NBA Media Rights
Charles recently spoke about the NBA Media rights deal. I’ll give a breakdown of what’s happening below the video.
The NBA recently finalized a massive 11-year, $76 billion media rights deal with ESPN, NBCUniversal, and Amazon, set to begin in the 2025-26 season. This new agreement will see the NBA’s games distributed across ESPN and its affiliated platforms, NBC and Peacock, and Amazon Prime Video, nearly tripling the current contract’s annual value.
However, the future of TNT’s long-standing partnership with the NBA remains uncertain. TNT, owned by Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), currently holds NBA broadcasting rights through the 2024-25 season but was not included in the new deal. WBD CEO David Zaslav has expressed hope for reaching an agreement beneficial to both parties, citing WBD’s right to match other offers. If TNT loses the NBA rights, it could signal the end of the popular “Inside the NBA” show, jeopardizing the jobs of its beloved hosts and crew.
Charles Barkley, a key figure on “Inside the NBA,” has been vocal about the situation, criticizing WBD’s handling of the negotiations. Barkley expressed frustration over the potential cancellation of the show, revealing discussions with his co-hosts about continuing the program through his own production company if TNT loses the rights. He also lamented the impact on the show’s staff, noting that over 200 people could lose their jobs. Despite the uncertainty, Barkley recently signed a 10-year contract with TNT in 2023. However, he has a clause allowing him to explore other opportunities should WBD lose the NBA rights. As negotiations continue, the future of “Inside the NBA” and Charles Barkley’s role in NBA coverage remains in limbo.
I’ve also been watching team USA Men’s basketball play some of their games. So far it looks very scrappy. NBC sat down with Lebron to discuss Team USA.
Biden Knows
Biden and especially his handlers have to know it’s too late. That handing over the reins is a far better notion than being humiliated come November.
Watching President Biden’s press conference last night, I thought: Joe Biden knows. He knows at some level that he shouldn’t be running again.
That level is still subterranean. He’s still in denial. He can’t really even acknowledge to himself yet that he should step aside, let alone say it, or act on it.
But he knows. He knows that he’s very unlikely to win, and he knows, I think, that he’s not up to governing for four more years.
He does believe, as he argued last night, that he’s governed well, and that he can still govern well enough for the next six months. He’s right about that.
But Biden never really argued last night that he can govern for the next four years. Nor could an honest observer watch the press conference and conclude that he was up to the task.
And Biden never really tried to lay out much of a second term agenda. Rather, he said, he was committed to finishing the job: “Anyway, I’m going to be going around making the case of the things that I think we have to finish and how we can’t afford to lose what we’ve done.”
But of course there are others who can protect what Biden has accomplished, and finish—or better, continue—the job he’s started. That’s what successors do. Life is full of occasions when successors take up the jobs their predecessors began. So is politics. George Washington’s achievement was carried forward by his successors. So was Franklin Roosevelt’s. So was John Kennedy’s. So was Ronald Reagan’s.
Breaking stories of some big players having phone calls about this from Nancy to Barack Obama now.
Have an excellent Friday!