What’s hot?
Are your weekend plans cancelled because of the stormy weather/pandemic/you got too drunk on a Thursday and now want to stay inside for the foreseeable future?
Fear not, we’ve got some wonderful inside plans for you. Whether it’s making your dog into a Disney princess, flicking through the Fringe that could have been, or getting your fill of drag queen TV, we’ve got you covered.
The Twitter account you don’t need to follow: Blockbuster
A ghost emerged from the shadows this week, but it was by no means scary. It’s more of a friendly Caspar situation; the sort of ghost you would introduce to your grandparents and invite to a sleepover. We’re of course talking about Blockbuster, which tweeted for the first time in over six years on Monday.
But, this wasn’t the Blockbuster we know and love. It was actually Airbnb’s US marketing team, who are promoting their latest funky rental experience: A night in the last ever blockbuster. You can book the experience at 1pm PT on 17th August – and there’s only three nights available.
Unfortunately, Blockbuster’s Twitter account disappeared back into the ashes within mere hours. Apparently, 2020 was too much to handle. Fair enough.
The photos that will feel the void in your heart: Fringe
A lot of us had planned to swap Piccadilly Circus for Prince Street this August, heading to an Airbnb* to “save money” and ultimately spending 3x what we would during a week in London. Why would we do this, you ask? Answer: For the lols.
This time each year some of us would usually be heading to Fringe, which was sadly cancelled this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. While it’s sad for us attendees, it’s even more difficult for the performers, who use Fringe as an opportunity to get in front of large audiences (and, of course, secure funds).
Photographers Richard Davenport and Richard Lakos have decided to celebrate Fringe 2020 and what could have been with a photo series named ‘The Lost Fringe’, a mixture of performers without a stage and venues without a crowd. Check it out, and try not to cry about the fact you won’t see a play where a main character is dressed as a vagina this year.
*This week’s blog was not, in fact, sponsored by Airbnb.
The update we don’t know if we needed: Twitter gives us control
Sorry trolls, but Twitter’s coming for you. A feature tested earlier this year with a select few account holders has now been rolled out to everyone: the ability to limit who can reply to you. There are now three options for who can reply to your tweets: everyone, only people you mentioned, or only people you follow.
This update is likely to get a mixed reaction. After all, it’s wonderful that victims of trolling and/or public figures can stop people replying to their posts with unnecessarily hurtful messages. But also, the restriction of speech means that some posts (e.g. those from anti-vaxxers) will be shared without the ability for others to comment below with links to government advice and WHO research.
In addition, this update can’t necessarily stop trolls from attacking an account, as they can just tag their victims in a regular post. The only way around this is then blocking the account, which would be very time consuming for public figures.
We’re unsure about whether we needed this update, but we’re also sure that time will tell us.
The filter we didn’t know we needed: Disney dogs
These past few weeks, Snapchat has truly become the comeback kid. It’s strange that it operates in such a similar space as Instagram stories, yet it always feels one step ahead with innovations (remember when you could make yourself into a baby? It was the first time my mum didn’t complain about my make up in a photo in years!)
This week, we got Disney dogs. As if we didn’t think our furry friends were perfect enough, we can now give them massive eyes and cute little eyebrows. What an absolute treat.
The one to watch: We’re Here
If the weeks since All Stars Five have felt long, empty and devoid of charisma, uniqueness, nerve and talent, then we have got the show for you. Three of the most recognisable drag queens have a new show: We’re Here. The show is essentially RuPaul meets Queer Eye – what more could you want? Catch Shangela, Bob The Drag Queen and Eureka O’Hara on our client, NOW TV from today, so cancel your weekend brunch plans and get watching. And YES we get to work on awesome shows like this. We love our jobs.
