Jennifer Oko Archives
Categories Select Category Games GGA Columns Movies Stuff We Like The Daily Bugle TV & Streaming
Geek Girl Authority reviews Jennifer Oko's third novel, Just Emilia, a speculative novel about a woman facing her past and future.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
26 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Singer Addison Rae's Makeup-Free Press Tour Is Causing a Stir on Social Media
Addison Rae is no stranger to the spotlight, having gained a huge fanbase through her TikTok dance videos in 2019. In recent years, though her following stands at a whopping 88.5M, the influencer slowed her activity on the platform that made me famous. Instead, she's shifted her focus to acting and music, releasing singles like 'Diet Pepsi' and 'Aquamarine,' and even popping up on the soundtrack of the summer in 2024 with Charli XCX's Brat on the track 'Von Dutch.' Addison is now back in the public eye with her self-titled debut album, Addison, which gives fans a glimpse into her journey growing up in the public eye and navigating the challenges of fame. The 24-year-old, who is currently traveling across the U.S. on a press tour, has been receiving praise from fans who can't help but notice that something is missing from the typical pop star aesthetic—and that's the absence of makeup. For a non-famous person, this would not be newsworthy. But for one of the world's most recognizable social media figures—and celebrities, in general—it is notable to be seen and photographed making major public appearances without a full face of base, blush, and beyond. ScreenshotHQ shared their commentary on the conversation surrounding Rae's minimalist look, noting 'how harshly women in these industries get judged on their appearances' and captioning a TikTok on the topic, 'Bare-faced looks are all the rage right now and it's an empowering message to other pop queens that no make-up might just be the way forward.' Others on the platform, too, have praised the singer's decision to skip the heavy base, big lashes, and intense contouring often seen as synonymous with influencer culture. View this post on Instagram A post shared by SCREENSHOT (@screenshothq) It may not break the same societal boundaries as, say, 57-year-old Pamela Anderson going completely makeup-free on red carpets and magazine covers, but Rae's decision to skip the glam squad is making waves in the news and on social media nonetheless, with some comparing the singer to an iconic pop star. 'The next Britney Spears,' one commenter wrote on Rae's most recent TikTok. In 2020, the singer took Vogue through her 16-step routine, which featured notably few makeup products. ('Maybe my staple look is just a really blushy cheek and really pink lips!') That year, Rae also launched Item Beauty, a line of vegan and cruelty-free cosmetics. The brand, aimed at accentuating one's natural features, aligned with the star's longtime embrace of soft, girl-next-door glamour, though her red-carpet style featured the occasional bold look, like the glittering lids she wore to coordinate with her 2022 Met Gala gown. Pop music has undoubtedly seen artists with more dramatic aesthetics dominate the charts in the past year. Sabrina Carpenter's glamorous, old Hollywood-inspired looks, Tate McRae's sporty-chic fashion, and Chappell Roan's drag-influenced style have all been at the forefront of online conversation. Still, unlike decades past when top stars tended to follow similar trends, there's room for everyone in 2025, and Addison's minimal-makeup approach—a testament to the same vulnerable and raw style she expresses in her lyrics—is adding something new to the mix.
Yahoo
26 minutes ago
- Yahoo
We asked 6 chefs for their secrets to reduce food waste — and we're stealing their tips ASAP
Whether it's stems and skins or past-their-prime protein and produce, you're probably throwing a lot of perfectly good food in the trash. Such waste doesn't come cheap. The average American throws away $728 worth of food per year, which adds up to nearly $3,000 for a family of four, according to a US Environmental Protection Agency report. Food prices jumped more than 23% between 2020 and 2024, per the US Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service, which is 2% higher than the overall inflation rate during that time. So, it's no wonder we're hoping to maximize every dollar we spend at the supermarket. As it turns out, chefs are masters at the craft. 'Food waste can make or break a kitchen's financial month or year; our margins are always extremely thin and fragile. Many restaurants strive to waste 4% or less of their food cost. Here, we aim for 1% to 2%,' said Tim Mangun, executive chef of Majordomo in Los Angeles. Compare that amount with those of typical home cooks, who waste about 21% of the food they buy. Reducing waste isn't just about saving money — although that's why many individuals and restaurants initially focus on it, said George Formaro, chef partner of Orchestrate Hospitality restaurants in Des Moines, Iowa. Every single thing that ends up in the trash takes time and labor to produce. Plus, the waste will directly affect Mother Nature. Food waste accounts for more than 20% of municipal solid waste, USDA data suggests. 'Uneaten food has enormous environmental, social, and financial impacts,' said Lindsay-Jean Hard, author of 'Cooking With Scraps' and writer for Zingerman's deli, bakery and mail-order food company in Ann Arbor, Michigan. 'All of the resources used to grow, raise, transport, and refrigerate that food are wasted right along with it,' Hard added. 'Then, when all of that wasted food ends up in landfills, it lacks the conditions to break down properly and, as a result, releases methane, one of the worst greenhouse gases.' With the economy in flux and grocery prices continuing to climb, CNN asked chefs from coast to coast to share their most creative ways to decrease food waste and save money and the environment all at once. Many of us shop with aspirations — I will eat five fruits and veggies daily! — rather than realistic intentions, said George Duran, a celebrity chef in New York City. When it comes time to put all those carrots and kale to good use, 'life often gets too busy before you discover that everything has wilted,' Duran said. Chefs almost always write their menus before shopping for ingredients, and it's wise to follow suit. Jot down a rough meal plan, then make a list for ingredients, Hard recommended. Not only does a list reduce the risk for impulse purchases, but it also gives you more direction when shopping. Doing so will likely save you time. 'You can still roam around the farmers market and buy whatever catches your eye,' Hard said. 'Just take the extra step of figuring out how you're going to use what you got, and then fill in any gaps.' Ideally, this meal plan will include recipes that flex fresh ingredients in more than one way, so you don't have stragglers hanging around at the end of the week. Many home cooks and professional chefs neglect to plan to cross-utilize ingredients, said Ken Bell, head chef and co-owner of Over Yonder restaurant in Boone, North Carolina. 'Buying versatile ingredients that can be used in multiple different ways for several meals is a must to minimize food waste at home,' Bell noted. 'Had mashed potatoes for dinner, but made too much? Add extra milk, cream, or stock (and any other veggies you like) and blend it into a tasty potato soup, for example.' Or plan to use fresh kale in a soup one night, and in a blender pasta sauce later in the week. Most professional kitchens have a process for inventory to keep tabs on what's in stock and what needs to be refreshed. Mangun has implemented a similar strategy at home: 'My wife and I write what we are low on, or run out of, on a white board, and generate our grocery list using this as a guide.' Before you step foot into a grocery store or head to the farmers market, 'inventory what you have in your pantry, fridge, and freezer,' Mangun said. When you add new items to your refrigerator roster, remember the restaurant trick FIFO, which means 'first in, first out.' In other words, use the rest of last week's strawberries before diving into this week's pint. Duran, a father of two, freezes much more than the average cook. 'My freezer is my food waste superhero,' he said. 'I freeze leftover herbs in olive oil. I even freeze onions and peppers and carrots, all chopped up in a resealable plastic bag for an instant mirepoix,' to start soups, sauces and more. You can also freeze most leftovers for three to four months if you happen to make too much. 'Just remember to take the time to label what you put in so you aren't second-guessing yourself a month from now,' Hard said. One thing many savvy chefs keep in the freezer: odds and ends that are destined for stock. Save onion skins, carrot peels, celery ends, excess herbs as well as bones from chicken, beef, pork or fish to make homemade stock. Even shrimp shells make stellar stocks. 'Homemade stock is always so much better than what you buy at the store, and the finished product also freezes well, so you can keep it for a long time and use it as needed,' Bell said. You can coax out serious flavor and stretch your ingredients much further by simmering them in water for 30 minutes (vegetable stock) to eight hours (beef or pork stock) before straining, Formaro chimed in. Another way to save surplus produce is to get in a pickle: 'Quick pickling is super easy,' Bell said. 'All you need is your favorite vinegar, sugar, salt, and water. You can pickle just about any kind of vegetable,' and the briny produce can hang out in the fridge for at least four weeks. Choose your own flavor adventure with America's Test Kitchen's method: Boil 1 ½ cups vinegar, 1 ½ cups water, 3 tablespoons sugar, 2 ½ tablespoons kosher salt and your favorite seasonings in a saucepan, then take this off the heat and allow it to steep for 10 minutes. Pack 1 pound of evenly sliced, sturdy fruits or vegetables into jars, boil the brine once more, then ladle the vinegar mixture into the jars. Allow the jars to cool, add lids, then refrigerate for at least 24 hours. Duran and his wife like to play what they call 'leftover roulette,' which is essentially a remix of the Food Network show 'Chopped.' 'We pull random ingredients from the refrigerator and figure out ways to put them all together for a meal,' Duran said. You can also use artificial intelligence or recipe websites such as SuperCook or SideChef to plug in the ingredients you have and gather recipe recommendations to put those items to good use. Both Hard and the EPA agree that composting is better than tossing food in the trash, 'but it's not a magical fix or the best solution for excess food,' Hard said. 'Before relegating something to the compost bin, think about how you might be able to use it instead. Question some of your habits. Could you save something for stock? Do those carrots really need to be peeled, or could you just rinse and scrub them?' If you do end up composting or even throwing away food, take note, said Aidan O'Neal, chef partner at Le Crocodile and Bar Blondeau inside the Wythe Hotel in Brooklyn, New York. 'Take an audit. What are you throwing away — and throwing away regularly? Brainstorm ways to adjust your shopping accordingly,' O'Neal said. Duran doesn't aim for perfection, just progress. If you implement even one of these nine tips, you'll probably trim down on how much you toss out. 'Reducing food waste doesn't mean you have to overhaul your entire life. Start with one habit at a time. Try to get your kids involved. They will understand pretty quickly why you're doing it: for their future,' Duran said. 'Best of all, you'll save money, eat better, and feel like a kitchen superhero. Who doesn't want that?' Karla Walsh is a Des Moines, Iowa-based freelance lifestyle writer with more than 16 years of editorial experience.
Yahoo
26 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Brad Pitt's ‘F1' Delivers Apple's First Box Office Hit With $55.6 Million Debut, ‘M3GAN 2.0' Fizzles With $10 Million
It's lights out and away we go at the box office as 'F1,' a big-budget racing drama starring Brad Pitt, impressively revs to $55.6 million in its domestic opening weekend. With great reviews and a promising 'A' grade on CinemaScore exit polls, 'F1' landed in the middle of expectations of $50 million to $60 million. Those initial ticket sales are significant given 'F1' is an adult-skewing tentpole that's not part of an existing film franchise — a rarity in today's I.P.-dominated movie theater landscape. Directed by 'Top Gun: Maverick's' Joseph Kosinski, 'F1' follows Pitt as a retired Formula One driver who is convinced to return to the popular motorsport to coach a slick rookie (Damson Idris). More from Variety 'M3GAN 2.0' Costume Designer on How Farrah Fawcett and Judy Jetson Inspired M3GAN's Armor Box Office: 'F1' Leads the Pack With $25 Million Opening Day, 'M3GAN 2.0' Not So Fab in Fourth Place Debut Box Office: 'F1' Makes $10 Million in Previews, 'M3GAN 2.0' Has $1.5 Million 'F1' also marks the first commercial hit for Apple, the tech giant that financed the nearly $250 million movie. (Apple put the production budget at $200 million but others have reported the number is closer to $300 million). That's not including the many millions on promotional efforts, including a globe-spanning press tour. And since Apple doesn't have a distribution arm, the company is paying a fee to Warner Bros. to put the film in theaters; the studio also receives a percentage of theatrical revenues that increases with certain box office benchmarks.) Unlike a traditional studio, Apple, with its $3 trillion market cap, is less dependent on box office revenue and home entertainment sales to justify its investment in mega-budgeted films. The company views its movies and television shows as a marketing vehicle for its technology and Apple TV+. With that vast reach, Apple has unique ways of promoting its movies, such as placing the 'F1' trailer on the home screen of its streaming service and enabling iPhone push notifications for 'F1' that offer a $10 discount when moviegoers buy two or more tickets on Fandango. In a recent Variety cover story about Apple's film and TV ambitions, CEO Tim Cook says he doesn't view the content side as a way to move the hardware sales that fuel its core business. 'I don't have it in my mind that I'm going to sell more iPhones because of it,' he said of 'F1.' We're into [entertainment] to tell great stories, and we want it to be a great business as well.' Since Apple's foray into theatrical, however, the company has backed underperforming epics (Martin Scorsese's 'Killers of the Flower Moon' and Ridley Scott's 'Napoleon') as well as critically reviled flops ('Fly Me to the Moon' and 'Argylle') without a single profitable film to show for its ambitions. 'F1' has a long and winding road to profitability, to be sure, but this is Apple's closest attempt to all-audience blockbuster territory. 'F1' has generated $144 million globally after three days in theaters, nearly outgrossing the entire theatrical run of 'Killers of the Flower Moon' ($158 million worldwide) and soon-to-outpace 'Napoleon' ($221 million) as Apple's highest-grossing movie. 'A lot about this movie looks easy, like a sure-fire hit, but it's not,' says David A. Gross, who runs the FranchiseRe movie consulting firm and referred to 'F1's' start as 'outstanding.' 'Race car films and sports dramas have a long and mixed track record. This time, everything is working.' With 'F1' in pole position, box office competitors were left in the dust. This weekend's other major release, Universal and Blumhouse's campy horror sequel 'M3GAN 2.0,' fizzled in fourth place with $10.2 million. The film, which sees M3GAN (short for Model 3 Generative Android ) rebuilt with advanced upgrades to stop a humanoid military robot that's attempting an AI takeover, collected another $7 million from 80 international markets for a $17 million global tally. It's not a terrible start for the modestly budgeted thriller, which earned a 'B+' on CinemaScore exit polls (above the 'B' grade that was bestowed to 2023 film 'M3GAN'). But those ticket sales are a steep drop from the original sleeper hit, which ignited to $30.4 million domestically and $45 million globally during the notorious box office dead zone of January. With a $25 million price tag, 'M3GAN 2.0' won't require a ton of coinage to turn a theatrical profit. But a weak turnout for the sequel suggests the murderous A.I. doll with killer dance movies was more of a one-off viral phenomenon rather than the face of an enduring film franchise. That could be a problem since a spinoff, titled 'Soulm8te,' is set for 2026. 'The idea of a child-sized humanoid robot doll powered by AI generated a lot of interest the first time, but that interest has fallen apart,' says Gross. 'Nothing appears to be wrong with the movie [but] the story is struggling to show something new, and fans are moving on.' Elsewhere, holdover titles rounded out the top of box office charts. Universal's 'How to Train Your Dragon' slid to second place after two weekends in the No. 1 spot. The live-action remake added $19.4 million in its third weekend of release, bringing its North American tally to $200.5 million. Globally, the action adventure has collected $454.5 million to date. In third place, Disney's intergalactic Pixar adventure 'Elio' continues to face fierce headwinds from fellow PG offerings 'How to Train Your Dragon' and another Disney tentpole, 'Lilo & Stitch.' In its sophomore outing, 'Elio' brought in $10.7 million from 3,750 venues. That's a 49% decline from its $20 million debut, which ranked as the worst start in modern history for Pixar. Despite solid reviews and positive audience scores, 'Elio' has grossed only $73 million worldwide. The $150 million-budgeted property is shaping up to be a big money loser for Disney. At Disney, though, the enduring success of 'Lilo & Stitch' will help to offset any theatrical losses from 'Elio.' After six weekends on the big screen, the live-action 'Lilo & Stitch' has grossed $946 million and will eventually be the year's first billion-dollar blockbuster. A live-action sequel is already in the works. More to come…. Best of Variety New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week 'Harry Potter' TV Show Cast Guide: Who's Who in Hogwarts? 25 Hollywood Legends Who Deserve an Honorary Oscar
