Jennifer Lopez is gearing up to put her own stamp on some classic musicals.
Deadline reports the entertainer and her Nuyorican Productions are teaming up with Skydance and Concord to develop new projects based on Concord’s catalog of musicals, including the legendary works of Rodgers & Hammerstein.
“Musicals were a part of the tapestry of my childhood,” JLo says in a statement. “We’re so excited to begin our association with Skydance and Concord in reinterpreting some of the most classic musicals and bringing them to life in new ways for a new generation.”
In addition to producing, Jennifer will have the option to star in at least one of the projects.
That’s not all JLo has cooking up — she recently released her new single with Rauw Alejandro, “Cambia el Paso,” and tells Apple Music she’s got more music and some live shows in the works.
“I already have in the can a whole album, Marry Me, that I did for the movie that I did, Marry Me, before the pandemic,” she says, adding that both the album and the film will be out in February.
Lopez also says she plans to tour first and then maybe head back to Las Vegas for some residency shows.
“I just can’t wait to get back to doing that,” she says of performing. “That’s a part of my life that I miss so much, because I think maybe my favorite thing of all the things I do is performing live and interacting in that way and giving people that euphoric moment that you only get from a show, that’s a great show.”
There’s a new way to kick off each day with boundless energy! And it’s as easy as remembering the words RISE UP.
That’s “R” – for Resist the urge to hit the snooze button.
“I” – for Increase your physical activity.
“S” – for Shower, preferably with a blast of cold water.
“E” – for Expose yourself to sunlight.
And the “UP” can refer to listening to UPbeat music, or dialing UP a friend!
The RISE UP method was developed by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine… and it’s proven to cancel out “sleep inertia” – which is that half-asleep, half-awake feeling we associate with morning grogginess.
In fact, even if you just follow that first step – and “Resist the snooze button,” research shows you’ll have LESS sleep inertia… Because every time you hit “snooze,” you actually trick your body into wanting more sleep, which prolongs your grogginess!
Then: exercise… blasting yourself with cold water… and exposing yourself to sunlight – are all proven ways to improve circulation and alertness.
And if you throw in some upbeat music, researchers say that’ll trigger feelings of wakefulness far more effectively than listening to the news, or eating breakfast in silence!
Also: If you have a chance to call a friend, that activates the communication centers of your brain, preparing you to be productive.
When our parents get older it can be hard to step up and take on the role of the “adult.” Whether you need your mom to stop driving – or talk to your dad about going into assisted living. It’s not an easy conversation to have. So here’s how to go about it. This advice comes from David Solie, a psychologist who specializes in aging issues.
He wrote the book, “How To Say It To Seniors.” And he says to start by saying, “I’m worried.” That puts the onus on you – so your parent won’t feel attacked. Then explain why you’re worried, like, “I’m scared something will happen to you if you’re living alone and I’m not close enough to help.” And use facts, like “You had an episode recently that sent you to the hospital.”
If your parent resists and says, “I’m fine,” ask this… “How will you know when you’re not fine? How will you know when it’s time to go live in a facility that can look out for you?” That’ll force your parent to really consider the consequences. But you’re also empowering them to make a decision for themselves. If you still don’t see eye to eye, enlist the help of their doctor. A lot of times, people would rather take advice from someone without an emotional connection – and they’ll take the recommendation of an expert more seriously.
Are you ready to bring more success into your life and have a positive impact on others? Just take a few minutes each morning for reflection.
It’s as simple as taking a few moments while you’re drinking your coffee to reflect on who you want to be.
Because according to new research from the University of Florida, people who devote time each morning for reflection tend to be stronger leaders – compared to those who don’t. Reflective people are also more likely to BELIEVE in themselves.
The study found that employees who practiced morning reflection were more likely to help co-workers and provide strategic vision. The workers also reported feeling more like a leader, and believing they had more power in the workplace. And, on days they skipped morning reflection, their performance slipped.
And the researchers say reflection can work for anyone, anywhere, because it helps people feel they have more control over their lives!
And the best part is you can get the benefits of reflection in just five minutes. Researchers say to get the process going, ask yourself questions like: “What are my best qualities?” “What are my proudest moments?” And “How do I want to inspire others?”
Do you need another reason to thoroughly clean the house, or tackle chores you’ve been putting off? It could boost your brain health! That’s according to Dr. Noah Koblinsky from the Rotman Research Institute in Toronto.
He and his team studied mentally healthy senior citizens. Each participant was given a cognitive test and a health evaluation. They were also asked to track their exercise, and list the chores they did each day, including cleaning, cooking, and gardening.
The result: No matter how much or how little a person exercised – like walking, running or cycling – those who spent more time doing chores had greater brain volume, which is a key measure of good cognitive health.
Dr. Koblinsky believes chores are so beneficial to the brain because they get people up and moving. Doing chores also requires planning and organization, which helps promote the formation of new neural connections. And that one-two combo helps boost blood flow to the brain, and slows cognitive decline. Meaning, tackling your to-do list could significantly boost your brainpower.
It’s time to make your relationship better with advice from psychology professor Dr. Gary Lewandowski
He says, for a stronger and more satisfying relationship, couples should engage in “self-expanding activities” together. Dr. Lewandowski describes self-expanding activities as those that help broaden your knowledge and experience.
Basically, doing new things helps us grow as individuals. And studies show that we’re more satisfied with relationships that contribute to our growth. But after a while, couples get stuck in ruts. And that may lead people to seek expansion outside the relationship – as in, having an affair.
But if couples continue to learn new things TOGETHER, that self-expansion drive is satisfied… and the result is a more satisfying relationship. And all it takes is going on a new hike together, trying new recipes together, learning a new hobby together, or even reading the same new book.
Those are self-expanding activities – and when you do them with your partner, it brings you closer together.
(DENVER) — Los Angeles Angels super star Shohei Ohtani will be the starting pitcher and bat lead-off as the designated hitter for the American League All-Star team Tuesday night, AL manager Kevin Cash announced Monday.
“This is what the fans want to see,” said the Tampa Bay Rays manager. “It’s personally what I want to see. And to have the opportunity to do something that’s a generational talent is pretty special. I begged Major League Baseball to tweak the rule for [the] game, because if they didn’t, I know I’d screw it up the rest of the way, pulling pinch-hitters and DHs.”
Ohtani was voted in as the designated hitter by the fans and was voted as one of five pitchers by the players.
As a pitcher, he has 3.49 ERA with 87 strikeouts and 35 walks in 67 innings. At the plate, Ohtani is hitting .279 with 33 home runs, a record for a Japanese-born player and 70 Rbis.
I was actually not expecting to be chosen as a pitcher at all,” Ohtani said through interpreter Ippei Mizuhara. “But to be named the starter, I was really not expecting that at all. But it’s a huge honor and I’m going to try my best.”
Ohtani is participating in Monday nights home-run derby.
Washington starting pitcher Maz Scherzer gets the start for the National League.
Pop Smoke’s manager Steven Victor has shared the cover art and title for the late rapper’s second posthumous album, Faith.
On Monday, Victor shared the album’s trailer on Instagram, featuring video clips of Pop Smoke in the studio and performing in front of a massive audience.
“Today, I had a conversation with myself. I’m bout to drop the hottest tape in New York,” says Pop in the trailer’s voiceover. “It don’t get more New York than Pop Smoke.”
The artwork for Faith features a grainy photo of the 20-year-old rapper, who was shot and killed during a home invasion at a property he rented in Los Angeles, California, on February 19, 2020.
Pop Smoke, born Bashar Barakah Jackson, was a leading figure in Brooklyn’s drill music scene, with singles including “Dior” and “Welcome to the Party.” Pop’s posthumous debut LP, Shoot for the Stars, Aim for the Moon, was released in July 2020 by his music mentor and executive producer, Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson. It debuted at #1 on the all-genre Billboard 200 albums chart and was followed by a deluxe version, which dropped on what would have been Pop’s 21st birthday, July 20th.
In the darkest days of the lockdowns, millions of people looked to remote “watch parties” to binge their favorite shows with friends — even if they couldn’t get together.
And according to the media researchers at Hub, this “co-viewing” trend is here to stay, thanks in part to the pandemic, and because 70% of homes in the U.S. now have smart TVs that allow for a more streamlined co-viewing experience.
The company crunched the numbers, and as part of its third annual “Evolution of the TV Set” report, compiled just who these co-viewers were, and how they’re getting their shared entertainment.
According to Hub’s non-scientific survey of more than 2,500 people aged 16 to 74, 23% percent of viewers said they have enjoyed content via a co-viewing app or service this year, up three percentage points from 2020.
Forty-one percent of viewers aged 16 to 34 have co-watched; 23% of those 35 to 54 have; while — perhaps not surprisingly — only 3% of those 55 and older have watched shows and movies with others remotely.
According to Hub’s findings, Amazon Watch Party is the most commonly used co-viewing app at 44%. The next most popular apps are two adapted from other uses: Discord, familiar to gamers, was at 28%, followed close behind at 27% by Zoom, with which we’ve all become familiar during the pandemic.
Use of Amazon Watch Party proved to be more common with the 35-54 age group, versus those in the 16-34 age range, and the app proved more appealing to men than women: 52% to 31%.
On the flip side, 33%, or a third of those surveyed in the 16-to-24-year-old group, chose Discord; just 26% of their 35-to-54-year-old counterparts did.
(WASHINGTON) — As part of his effort to get out in front of a politically sensitive issue, President Joe Biden on Monday convened a meeting with Attorney General Merrick Garland, law enforcement leaders and elected officials to discuss rising crime rates across the country.
Glancing at Garland at the top of the meeting, Biden opened his remarks by acknowledging that he’s been trying to solve this problem for many years.
“We’ve been at this a long time, a long time. Seems like most of my career I’ve been dealing with this issue. While there’s no one-size-fits-all approach, we know there are some things that work. And the first of those that work is stemming the flow of firearms used to commit violent crimes,” Biden said.
“It includes cracking down on holding rogue gun dealers accountable for violating the federal law. It includes the Justice Department creating five new strike forces to crack down on illegal gun trafficking,” Biden said, without directly acknowledging more meaningful gun control is impossible without getting Senate Republicans to go along.
While Biden said he’d be asking the experts he assembled what else they believe should be done on the federal level to address rising crime rates, he did not directly address Congress or put any pressure on lawmakers to act on a national level.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki previewed the meeting at an earlier press briefing and said the group will discuss Biden’s “comprehensive plan to reduce gun violence and violent crime.”
Biden’s plan, unveiled last month, targets law-breaking gun dealers, provides federal resources to police departments for gun-crime enforcement and allows communities to repurpose millions of dollars of federal coronavirus relief funding for programs proven to prevent gun violence.
“During the meeting, the president will discuss his crime reduction strategy — strategy which gives cities and states historic funding through the American Rescue Plan, and a range of tools they can use to improve public safety in their communities including support for community violence intervention programs, summer employment opportunities and other proven methods to reduce crime,” Psaki said.
“I’ll underscore his commitment to ensuring their state and law and local law enforcement have the resources and support they need to hire more police officers and invest in effective and accountable community policing,” Psaki said.
Notably, Biden has not taken the same stance as some progressives who’ve called to “defund the police,” a position that gained traction last year during what many deemed to be a racial reckoning in the country.
Still, Republicans have attacked Biden for being “soft on crime.”
Psaki said Biden is stressing partnerships with local leaders on the effort. Attendees at the White House included Washington Democratic Mayor Muriel Bowser and Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, who just won New York’s City Democratic mayoral primary. Unlike other progressive candidates, Adams did not run on a “defund the police” agenda but instead cited “public safety” as his top priority for the city and Democrats in general.
“This president is making it clear,” Adams said following the meeting, “he’s going to redefine the ecosystem of public safety, and that includes identifying the role of police, schools, families, resources, employment.”
“Why did it take so long before we heard the gunshots that families were listening and hearing every night? Other communities are waking up the alarm clock, communities of Black, brown and poor people are waking up to gunshots and this president says this is not the America we’re going to live in,” he continued.
Police chiefs, including David Brown, superintendent of the Chicago Police Department, along with a community-based violence intervention expert, also attended the White House meeting.
Psaki said the group would talk about what the federal government is doing to stem the flow of guns used in crimes, “including the administration’s zero-tolerance policy for dealers who willfully sell guns illegally, the Department of Justice’s gun trafficking strike forces, as well as previous steps the White House has announced like cracking down on ghost guns, which are increasingly used in violent crimes.”
Biden’s session comes as the country faces a rise in violent crime, particularly in those involving firearms.
According to a study released earlier this year by the National Commission on COVID-19 and Criminal Justice, homicides spiked by 30% in 2020 compared to the year before.
And in the first three months of 2021, the number of homicides increased by 24% compared to the same period in 2020 and by 49% compared to the start of 2019, the researchers said.
ABC News’ Ben Gittleson and Sarah Kolinovsky contributed to this report.
