Why did Goofy put a clock under his desk? Because he wanted to work over-time!

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Why did Goofy put a clock under his desk? Because he wanted to work over-time!Join fans of KZ Country on Facebook:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.facebook.com/99KZCountry" target="_blank">http://www.facebook.com/99KZCountry</a>

KZ Country Cheesy Joke of the Day 03/30/23

A pastor was saying farewell to his congregation at the church doors for the last time. He shook the hand of an elderly lady as she walked out. She said, “Your successor won’t be as good as you.” “Nonsense,” said the pastor in a flattered tone. “No, really,” said the elderly lady. “I’ve been here under five different ministers, and each new one has been worse than the last.”

A pastor was saying farewell to his congregation at the church doors for the last time. He shook the hand of an elderly lady as she walked out. She said, “Your successor won’t be as good as you.” “Nonsense,” said the pastor in a flattered tone. “No, really,” said the elderly lady. “I’ve been here under five different ministers, and each new one has been worse than the last.”Join fans of KZ Country on Facebook:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.facebook.com/99KZCountry" target="_blank">http://www.facebook.com/99KZCountry</a>

KZ Country Cheesy Joke of the Day 03/29/23

<a href="https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search/?query=byline:%22JOHN%20LEICESTER%22&amp;mediaType=text&amp;st=keyword&amp;sortOrder=newest">By JOHN LEICESTER Associated Press</a>

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — “Attention. Air raid alert,” the voice says with a Jedi knight’s gravitas. “Proceed to the nearest shelter.”

It's a surreal moment in&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine-war">an already surreal war</a>: the grave but calming baritone of actor Mark Hamill, Luke Skywalker of “Star Wars,” urging people to take cover whenever Russia unleashes another aerial bombardment on Ukraine.

The intrusion of Hollywood science-fiction fantasy into the grim daily realities of war in Ukraine is a consequence of Hamill's decision to lend his famous voice to “Air Alert” — a downloadable app linked to Ukraine's air defense system. When air raid sirens start howling, the app also warns Ukrainians that Russian missiles, bombs and deadly exploding drones may be incoming.

“Don’t be careless," Hamill’s voice advises. “Your overconfidence is your weakness.”

The actor says he's admired — from afar, in California — how Ukraine has "shown such resilience ... under such terrible circumstances." Its fight against the Russian invasion,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-war-one-year-ba61809330c132929a6da34fe99ddab2">now in its second year</a>, reminds him of the “Star Wars” saga, he says — of plucky rebels battling and ultimately defeating a vast, murderous empire. Voicing over the English-language version of the air-raid app and giving it his “Star Wars” touch was his way of helping out.

“A fairy tale about good versus evil is resonant with what’s going on in Ukraine,” Hamill said in an interview with The Associated Press. “The Ukrainian people rallying to the cause and responding so heroically ... It’s impossible not to be inspired by how they’ve weathered this storm."

When the dangers from the skies pass, Hamill announces via the app that “the air alert is over." He then signs off with an uplifting: "May the Force be with you.”

Hamill is also&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/mark-hamill-ukraine-drones-46cfb2c53d43e7e1b4e270d0292a5f32">raising funds</a>&nbsp;to buy reconnaissance drones for Ukrainian forces on the front lines. He autographed “Star Wars”-themed posters that are being raffled off.

“Here I sit in the comfort of my own home when in Ukraine there are power outages and food shortages and people are really suffering," he said. “It motivates me to do as much as I can.”

Although the app also has a Ukrainian-language setting, voiced by a woman, some Ukrainians prefer to have Hamill breaking the bad news that yet another Russian bombardment might be imminent.

On the worst days, sirens and the app sound every few hours, day and night. Some turn out to be false alarms. But many others are real — and often deadly.

Bohdan Zvonyk, a 24-year-old app user who lives in the repeatedly struck western city of Lviv, says he chose Hamill's voiceover rather than the Ukrainian setting because he is trying to improve his English. He's a “Star Wars” fan, too.

“Besides," he said, “we could use a little bit of the power that Hamill wishes us.”

After one alert, Zvonyk was riding a trolley bus when Hamill's voice rang out from his phone. He said the man in front “turned to me and said, smiling: ‘Oh, those damn Sith,'" to describe Russian forces. The Sith are the malevolent enemies of the do-gooding Jedi.

Olena Yeremina, a 38-year-old business manager in the capital, Kyiv, said Hamill's “May the Force be with you" signoff at first made her laugh. Now its enduring humor gives her strength.

“It’s a very cool phrase for this situation,” she said. “I wouldn’t say that I feel like a Ukrainian Jedi, but sometimes this phrase reminds me to straighten my shoulders and keep working.”

Sometimes it can be wise to shut Hamill off. Yeremina forgot to do that on a trip outside Ukraine — to Berlin — and paid for the error when the alarm started shrieking at 6 a.m. and, again, when she rode the subway in the German capital. She wasn't alone. Another person in the subway car also had the app and it erupted, too. The two of them first cursed, but then “it made both me and that person smile,” Yeremina recalled.

Ajax Systems, a Ukrainian security systems manufacturer that co-developed the app, hopes Hamill's star power will encourage people outside Ukraine to download it — so they get a taste of the angst heaped on Ukrainians by nerve-shredding alarms and airborne death and destruction.

“With Mark's approach, it won’t be so terrifying," said Valentine Hrytsenko, the chief marketing officer at Ajax. “But they will understand somehow the context.”

In the invasion's first year, air-raid alarms sounded more than 19,000 times across the country, so “of course people are getting tired,” he said. The app has been downloaded more than 14 million times. Hrytsenko is among those who use its English-language setting to hear Hamill’s voice.

“For Star Wars fans, it sounds really fantastic," he said. “It’s kind of a Ukrainian mentality to find some humor even in the bad situation or to try to be positive.”

Hamill is pleased that the sci-fi saga is again transporting people, even if just temporarily, to its galaxy far, far away.

“It does inspire people,” he said. “Everyone flashes back to being 6 years old again. And if the movie can help people get through hard times, so much the better.”

<a href="https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search/?query=byline:%22JOHN%20LEICESTER%22&amp;mediaType=text&amp;st=keyword&amp;sortOrder=newest">By JOHN LEICESTER Associated Press</a>KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — “Attention. Air raid alert,” the voice says with a Jedi knight’s gravitas. “Proceed to the nearest shelter.”It's a surreal moment in&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine-war">an already surreal war</a>: the grave but calming baritone of actor Mark Hamill, Luke Skywalker of “Star Wars,” urging people to take cover whenever Russia unleashes another aerial bombardment on Ukraine.The intrusion of Hollywood science-fiction fantasy into the grim daily realities of war in Ukraine is a consequence of Hamill's decision to lend his famous voice to “Air Alert” — a downloadable app linked to Ukraine's air defense system. When air raid sirens start howling, the app also warns Ukrainians that Russian missiles, bombs and deadly exploding drones may be incoming.“Don’t be careless," Hamill’s voice advises. “Your overconfidence is your weakness.”The actor says he's admired — from afar, in California — how Ukraine has "shown such resilience ... under such terrible circumstances." Its fight against the Russian invasion,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-war-one-year-ba61809330c132929a6da34fe99ddab2">now in its second year</a>, reminds him of the “Star Wars” saga, he says — of plucky rebels battling and ultimately defeating a vast, murderous empire. Voicing over the English-language version of the air-raid app and giving it his “Star Wars” touch was his way of helping out.“A fairy tale about good versus evil is resonant with what’s going on in Ukraine,” Hamill said in an interview with The Associated Press. “The Ukrainian people rallying to the cause and responding so heroically ... It’s impossible not to be inspired by how they’ve weathered this storm."When the dangers from the skies pass, Hamill announces via the app that “the air alert is over." He then signs off with an uplifting: "May the Force be with you.”Hamill is also&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/mark-hamill-ukraine-drones-46cfb2c53d43e7e1b4e270d0292a5f32">raising funds</a>&nbsp;to buy reconnaissance drones for Ukrainian forces on the front lines. He autographed “Star Wars”-themed posters that are being raffled off.“Here I sit in the comfort of my own home when in Ukraine there are power outages and food shortages and people are really suffering," he said. “It motivates me to do as much as I can.”Although the app also has a Ukrainian-language setting, voiced by a woman, some Ukrainians prefer to have Hamill breaking the bad news that yet another Russian bombardment might be imminent.On the worst days, sirens and the app sound every few hours, day and night. Some turn out to be false alarms. But many others are real — and often deadly.Bohdan Zvonyk, a 24-year-old app user who lives in the repeatedly struck western city of Lviv, says he chose Hamill's voiceover rather than the Ukrainian setting because he is trying to improve his English. He's a “Star Wars” fan, too.“Besides," he said, “we could use a little bit of the power that Hamill wishes us.”After one alert, Zvonyk was riding a trolley bus when Hamill's voice rang out from his phone. He said the man in front “turned to me and said, smiling: ‘Oh, those damn Sith,'" to describe Russian forces. The Sith are the malevolent enemies of the do-gooding Jedi.Olena Yeremina, a 38-year-old business manager in the capital, Kyiv, said Hamill's “May the Force be with you" signoff at first made her laugh. Now its enduring humor gives her strength.“It’s a very cool phrase for this situation,” she said. “I wouldn’t say that I feel like a Ukrainian Jedi, but sometimes this phrase reminds me to straighten my shoulders and keep working.”Sometimes it can be wise to shut Hamill off. Yeremina forgot to do that on a trip outside Ukraine — to Berlin — and paid for the error when the alarm started shrieking at 6 a.m. and, again, when she rode the subway in the German capital. She wasn't alone. Another person in the subway car also had the app and it erupted, too. The two of them first cursed, but then “it made both me and that person smile,” Yeremina recalled.Ajax Systems, a Ukrainian security systems manufacturer that co-developed the app, hopes Hamill's star power will encourage people outside Ukraine to download it — so they get a taste of the angst heaped on Ukrainians by nerve-shredding alarms and airborne death and destruction.“With Mark's approach, it won’t be so terrifying," said Valentine Hrytsenko, the chief marketing officer at Ajax. “But they will understand somehow the context.”In the invasion's first year, air-raid alarms sounded more than 19,000 times across the country, so “of course people are getting tired,” he said. The app has been downloaded more than 14 million times. Hrytsenko is among those who use its English-language setting to hear Hamill’s voice.“For Star Wars fans, it sounds really fantastic," he said. “It’s kind of a Ukrainian mentality to find some humor even in the bad situation or to try to be positive.”Hamill is pleased that the sci-fi saga is again transporting people, even if just temporarily, to its galaxy far, far away.“It does inspire people,” he said. “Everyone flashes back to being 6 years old again. And if the movie can help people get through hard times, so much the better.”

Feel the Force: Hamill carries 'Star Wars' voice to Ukraine

<a href="https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search/?query=byline:%22JOCELYN%20NOVECK%22&amp;mediaType=text&amp;st=keyword&amp;sortOrder=newest">By JOCELYN NOVECK AP National Writer</a>

“You’re not a lot of fun, are you,” notes barbarian Holga (Michelle Rodriguez) to brave fighter Xenk (Regé-Jean Page) in the new “Dungeons &amp; Dragons” film, making two jokes at once.

The first is that Xenk, a paladin (or holy knight) in “D&amp;D” lingo, is everything BUT fun — gorgeous, noble, heroic, smart, and did we mention gorgeous? He’s just REALLY not fun, or funny. He’s so not funny, it’s hilarious.

The second, broader joke is that&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGvv-Hhft3U">“Dungeons &amp; Dragons: Honor Among Thieves,”</a>&nbsp;hotly awaited by devotees of the decades-old role-playing game, makes darned sure to be fun, and funny — enough to laugh at itself. And that's the thing that makes it work.

At least, for a newbie like me. I’ve never played the game, I confess. But this is a movie, not a game, and I’m here to tell you how it works for over two hours at the multiplex. Which is to say, surprisingly, sometimes delightfully well — even if you have no clue what a paladin or Red Wizard or Harper is, or if the term “Dungeon Master” sends your mind straight to “Fifty Shades of Grey.”

The most obvious reason for this success, besides fleet-footed direction by Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley, is star Chris Pine, whose sunny charisma and smooth knack for comedy, plus an ability to seem like he’s both inside the movie and outside looking in, keeps everything bubbling.

He’s ably assisted by Rodriguez, plus young accomplices Justice Smith as a confidence-challenged (but sweet) wizard and Sophia Lillis as a shape-shifting druid. And then we have a graying Hugh Grant, playing the heck out of yet another comic villain role — a character almost as curmudgeonly as he was&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAHZqLAuo_M">on the Oscar red carpet.</a>

Plus there’s a cameo from another big star, but more on that in a minute. Because first we have to mention the pudgy dragon. Yes, pudgy. Whatever dragons eat, and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.eater.com/2019/4/24/18512398/what-do-the-game-of-thrones-dragons-eat">we can only try to imagine,</a>&nbsp;he’s had too many.

But back to Pine, aka the bard Edgin, whom we first meet in a dank, freezing prison cell. He’s — well, he's knitting. Nearby sits Holga (Rodriguez), and her own hobby is eating. She's not a cordial sort, especially when food supply is at risk.

An appearance in front of a judicial council, begging for a pardon, gives Edgin the chance to tell his backstory. Turns out he wasn't always a criminal; he was a Harper, part of a spy guild acting for the greater good, but he attracted the ire of the Red Wizards of Thay, which led to the tragic murder of his wife.

Teaming with Holga, he sets out to find the magical Tablet of Reawakening that would return his wife to him and especially their baby daughter Kira (played by Chloe Coleman as a youngster). But they get captured, and their accomplice Forge (Grant), who somehow escapes, swears to take care of Kira.

Edgin, a master planner, devises a jailbreak right during the pardon hearing. They discover Kira is now living in a walled city with Forge, a con-man who turns out (gasp!) to have planned the whole thing, and has convinced her that Dad betrayed her for riches. And now he’s allied with Sofina, a terrifying sorceress (Daisy Head). Forge not only refuses to give Kira back but sends Edgin and Holga to their deaths. Holga, however, quickly dispatches all the soldiers meant to kill them — all while Edgin tries, and fails, to untie a rope.

Now they need that tablet, but first they need a magical helmet (bear with us.) The quest, upon which they're joined by Simon (Smith) and Doric (Lillis), leads to the film’s most entertaining scenes. One of these is an impressive, fast-paced sequence where shape-shifter Doric infiltrates enemy lines and then, chased by Sofina, morphs seamlessly into various animal forms and back to herself again.

Another is a comic bit where Pine’s Edgin tries to elicit key information from a series of corpses. Summoned to life by an increasingly effective Simon, each corpse can answer five questions before returning to the grave forever. Edgin keeps wasting his chances with questions like “Did that count as a question?”

And a prime comic moment comes from none other than Bradley Cooper (see, worth the wait!). We'll reveal nothing but the observation that this cameo is small, but packs a punch.

Finally we have Xenk (Page), perfectly cast as a paladin so, well, perfect that he delivers babies in between vanquishing enemies, and provides the crucial help Edgin needs. But for all sorts of reasons, Edgin can’t bring himself to like the guy. Most of all, he can't deal with his lack of understanding of irony, sarcasm, and especially humor.

He’s probably right. Heroism is all well and good, but humor is crucial. That’s a lesson this film has, luckily, already figured out.

“Dungeons &amp; Dragons: Honor Among Thieves,” a Paramount Pictures release, has been rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association of America “for fantasy action/violence and some language.” Running time: 134 minutes. Two and a half stars out of four.

<a href="https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search/?query=byline:%22JOCELYN%20NOVECK%22&amp;mediaType=text&amp;st=keyword&amp;sortOrder=newest">By JOCELYN NOVECK AP National Writer</a>“You’re not a lot of fun, are you,” notes barbarian Holga (Michelle Rodriguez) to brave fighter Xenk (Regé-Jean Page) in the new “Dungeons &amp; Dragons” film, making two jokes at once.The first is that Xenk, a paladin (or holy knight) in “D&amp;D” lingo, is everything BUT fun — gorgeous, noble, heroic, smart, and did we mention gorgeous? He’s just REALLY not fun, or funny. He’s so not funny, it’s hilarious.The second, broader joke is that&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGvv-Hhft3U">“Dungeons &amp; Dragons: Honor Among Thieves,”</a>&nbsp;hotly awaited by devotees of the decades-old role-playing game, makes darned sure to be fun, and funny — enough to laugh at itself. And that's the thing that makes it work.At least, for a newbie like me. I’ve never played the game, I confess. But this is a movie, not a game, and I’m here to tell you how it works for over two hours at the multiplex. Which is to say, surprisingly, sometimes delightfully well — even if you have no clue what a paladin or Red Wizard or Harper is, or if the term “Dungeon Master” sends your mind straight to “Fifty Shades of Grey.”The most obvious reason for this success, besides fleet-footed direction by Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley, is star Chris Pine, whose sunny charisma and smooth knack for comedy, plus an ability to seem like he’s both inside the movie and outside looking in, keeps everything bubbling.He’s ably assisted by Rodriguez, plus young accomplices Justice Smith as a confidence-challenged (but sweet) wizard and Sophia Lillis as a shape-shifting druid. And then we have a graying Hugh Grant, playing the heck out of yet another comic villain role — a character almost as curmudgeonly as he was&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAHZqLAuo_M">on the Oscar red carpet.</a>Plus there’s a cameo from another big star, but more on that in a minute. Because first we have to mention the pudgy dragon. Yes, pudgy. Whatever dragons eat, and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.eater.com/2019/4/24/18512398/what-do-the-game-of-thrones-dragons-eat">we can only try to imagine,</a>&nbsp;he’s had too many.But back to Pine, aka the bard Edgin, whom we first meet in a dank, freezing prison cell. He’s — well, he's knitting. Nearby sits Holga (Rodriguez), and her own hobby is eating. She's not a cordial sort, especially when food supply is at risk.An appearance in front of a judicial council, begging for a pardon, gives Edgin the chance to tell his backstory. Turns out he wasn't always a criminal; he was a Harper, part of a spy guild acting for the greater good, but he attracted the ire of the Red Wizards of Thay, which led to the tragic murder of his wife.Teaming with Holga, he sets out to find the magical Tablet of Reawakening that would return his wife to him and especially their baby daughter Kira (played by Chloe Coleman as a youngster). But they get captured, and their accomplice Forge (Grant), who somehow escapes, swears to take care of Kira.Edgin, a master planner, devises a jailbreak right during the pardon hearing. They discover Kira is now living in a walled city with Forge, a con-man who turns out (gasp!) to have planned the whole thing, and has convinced her that Dad betrayed her for riches. And now he’s allied with Sofina, a terrifying sorceress (Daisy Head). Forge not only refuses to give Kira back but sends Edgin and Holga to their deaths. Holga, however, quickly dispatches all the soldiers meant to kill them — all while Edgin tries, and fails, to untie a rope.Now they need that tablet, but first they need a magical helmet (bear with us.) The quest, upon which they're joined by Simon (Smith) and Doric (Lillis), leads to the film’s most entertaining scenes. One of these is an impressive, fast-paced sequence where shape-shifter Doric infiltrates enemy lines and then, chased by Sofina, morphs seamlessly into various animal forms and back to herself again.Another is a comic bit where Pine’s Edgin tries to elicit key information from a series of corpses. Summoned to life by an increasingly effective Simon, each corpse can answer five questions before returning to the grave forever. Edgin keeps wasting his chances with questions like “Did that count as a question?”And a prime comic moment comes from none other than Bradley Cooper (see, worth the wait!). We'll reveal nothing but the observation that this cameo is small, but packs a punch.Finally we have Xenk (Page), perfectly cast as a paladin so, well, perfect that he delivers babies in between vanquishing enemies, and provides the crucial help Edgin needs. But for all sorts of reasons, Edgin can’t bring himself to like the guy. Most of all, he can't deal with his lack of understanding of irony, sarcasm, and especially humor.He’s probably right. Heroism is all well and good, but humor is crucial. That’s a lesson this film has, luckily, already figured out.“Dungeons &amp; Dragons: Honor Among Thieves,” a Paramount Pictures release, has been rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association of America “for fantasy action/violence and some language.” Running time: 134 minutes. Two and a half stars out of four.

Review: 'Dungeons & Dragons' puts the funny in fantasy

What did the paper clip say to the magnet? I find you very attractive.

What did the paper clip say to the magnet? I find you very attractive.Join fans of KZ Country on Facebook:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.facebook.com/99KZCountry" target="_blank">http://www.facebook.com/99KZCountry</a>

KZ Country Cheesy Joke of the Day 03/28/23

<a href="https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search/?query=byline:%22MATT%20O%27BRIEN%22&amp;mediaType=text&amp;st=keyword&amp;sortOrder=newest">By MATT O'BRIEN AP Technology Writer</a>

William Shatner, Monica Lewinsky and other prolific Twitter commentators — some household names, others little-known journalists — could soon be losing the blue check marks that helped verify their identity on the social media platform.

They could get the marks back by paying up to $11 a month. But some longtime users, including 92-year-old Star Trek legend Shatner, have balked at buying the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/twitter-api-eca5709035a08d2ebed8fac673809ea8">premium service</a>&nbsp;championed by Twitter's billionaire owner and chief executive Elon Musk.

After months of delay, Musk is gleefully promising that Saturday is the deadline for celebrities, journalists and others who'd been&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/elon-musk-twitter-inc-technology-software-mobile-phones-b9110ad02f8d5e17d130b259fa19d852">verified for free</a>&nbsp;to pony up or lose their legacy status.

"It will be glorious," he tweeted Monday, in response to a Twitter user who noted that Saturday is also April Fools' Day.

After buying Twitter for $44 billion in October, Musk has been trying to boost the struggling platform's revenue by pushing more people to pay for a premium subscription. But his move also reflects his assertion that the blue verification marks have become an undeserved or "corrupt" status symbol for elite personalities and news reporters.

Along with verifying celebrities, one of Twitter's main reasons to mark profiles with a free blue check mark starting about 14 years ago was to verify politicians,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/elon-musk-twitter-inc-technology-science-social-media-a7e2e3214abb4470dcb6e2837aa39c2e">activists</a>&nbsp;and people who suddenly find themselves in the news, as well as little-known journalists at small publications around the globe, as an extra tool to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/elon-musk-twitter-inc-technology-politics-european-union-0f912b92a70742ba8ad280cde2f935d9">curb misinformation coming from accounts</a>&nbsp;that are impersonating people.

Lewinsky tweeted a screenshot Sunday of all the people impersonating her, including at least one who appears to have paid for a blue check mark. She asked, “what universe is this fair to people who can suffer consequences for being impersonated? a lie travels half way around the world before truth even gets out the door.”

Shatner, known for his irreverent humor, also tagged Musk with a complaint about the promised changes.

“I’ve been here for 15 years giving my (clock emoji) &amp; witty thoughts all for bupkis,” he wrote. “Now you’re telling me that I have to pay for something you gave me for free?”

Musk responded that there shouldn't be a different standard for celebrities. “It’s more about treating everyone equally,” Musk tweeted.

For now, those who still have the blue check but apparently haven’t paid the premium fee — a group that includes Beyoncé, Stephen King, Barack and Michelle Obama, Taylor Swift, Tucker Carlson, Drake and Musk himself — have messages appended to their profile saying it is a “legacy verified account. It may or may not be notable.”

But while “the attention is reasonably on celebrities because of our culture,” the bigger concern for open government advocate Alex Howard, director of the Digital Democracy Project, is that impersonators could more easily spread rumors and conspiracies that could move markets or harm democracies around the world.

“The reason verification exists on this platform was not simply to designate people as notable or authorities, but to prevent impersonation,” Howard said.

One of Musk's first product moves after&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/elon-musk-twitter-inc-technology-san-francisco-business-204237cbfdc7a2bb11d3457f6de6c19e">taking over Twitter</a>&nbsp;was to launch a service granting blue checks to anyone willing to pay $8 a month. But it was quickly inundated by imposter accounts, including those impersonating Nintendo, pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly and Musk’s businesses Tesla and SpaceX, so Twitter had to temporarily suspend the service days after its launch.

The relaunched service costs $8 a month for web users and $11 a month for iPhone and iPad users. Subscribers are supposed to see fewer ads, be able to post longer videos and have their tweets featured more prominently.

<a href="https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search/?query=byline:%22MATT%20O%27BRIEN%22&amp;mediaType=text&amp;st=keyword&amp;sortOrder=newest">By MATT O'BRIEN AP Technology Writer</a>William Shatner, Monica Lewinsky and other prolific Twitter commentators — some household names, others little-known journalists — could soon be losing the blue check marks that helped verify their identity on the social media platform.They could get the marks back by paying up to $11 a month. But some longtime users, including 92-year-old Star Trek legend Shatner, have balked at buying the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/twitter-api-eca5709035a08d2ebed8fac673809ea8">premium service</a>&nbsp;championed by Twitter's billionaire owner and chief executive Elon Musk.After months of delay, Musk is gleefully promising that Saturday is the deadline for celebrities, journalists and others who'd been&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/elon-musk-twitter-inc-technology-software-mobile-phones-b9110ad02f8d5e17d130b259fa19d852">verified for free</a>&nbsp;to pony up or lose their legacy status."It will be glorious," he tweeted Monday, in response to a Twitter user who noted that Saturday is also April Fools' Day.After buying Twitter for $44 billion in October, Musk has been trying to boost the struggling platform's revenue by pushing more people to pay for a premium subscription. But his move also reflects his assertion that the blue verification marks have become an undeserved or "corrupt" status symbol for elite personalities and news reporters.Along with verifying celebrities, one of Twitter's main reasons to mark profiles with a free blue check mark starting about 14 years ago was to verify politicians,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/elon-musk-twitter-inc-technology-science-social-media-a7e2e3214abb4470dcb6e2837aa39c2e">activists</a>&nbsp;and people who suddenly find themselves in the news, as well as little-known journalists at small publications around the globe, as an extra tool to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/elon-musk-twitter-inc-technology-politics-european-union-0f912b92a70742ba8ad280cde2f935d9">curb misinformation coming from accounts</a>&nbsp;that are impersonating people.Lewinsky tweeted a screenshot Sunday of all the people impersonating her, including at least one who appears to have paid for a blue check mark. She asked, “what universe is this fair to people who can suffer consequences for being impersonated? a lie travels half way around the world before truth even gets out the door.”Shatner, known for his irreverent humor, also tagged Musk with a complaint about the promised changes.“I’ve been here for 15 years giving my (clock emoji) &amp; witty thoughts all for bupkis,” he wrote. “Now you’re telling me that I have to pay for something you gave me for free?”Musk responded that there shouldn't be a different standard for celebrities. “It’s more about treating everyone equally,” Musk tweeted.For now, those who still have the blue check but apparently haven’t paid the premium fee — a group that includes Beyoncé, Stephen King, Barack and Michelle Obama, Taylor Swift, Tucker Carlson, Drake and Musk himself — have messages appended to their profile saying it is a “legacy verified account. It may or may not be notable.”But while “the attention is reasonably on celebrities because of our culture,” the bigger concern for open government advocate Alex Howard, director of the Digital Democracy Project, is that impersonators could more easily spread rumors and conspiracies that could move markets or harm democracies around the world.“The reason verification exists on this platform was not simply to designate people as notable or authorities, but to prevent impersonation,” Howard said.One of Musk's first product moves after&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/elon-musk-twitter-inc-technology-san-francisco-business-204237cbfdc7a2bb11d3457f6de6c19e">taking over Twitter</a>&nbsp;was to launch a service granting blue checks to anyone willing to pay $8 a month. But it was quickly inundated by imposter accounts, including those impersonating Nintendo, pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly and Musk’s businesses Tesla and SpaceX, so Twitter had to temporarily suspend the service days after its launch.The relaunched service costs $8 a month for web users and $11 a month for iPhone and iPad users. Subscribers are supposed to see fewer ads, be able to post longer videos and have their tweets featured more prominently.

Twitter celebs balk at paying Elon Musk for blue check mark

<a href="https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search/?query=byline:%22SIAN%20WATSON%22&amp;mediaType=text&amp;st=keyword&amp;sortOrder=newest">By SIAN WATSON Associated Press</a>

The origin story of the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/7d1c234eccc740e09b9a165b7bd25681">iconic computer game “Tetris”</a>&nbsp;is more thrilling than you may think.

It involves border crossing, authority dodging, underhand deals, putting your house on the line and — finally — trying to secure the rights for the game from behind the Iron Curtain. And now it's a film,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/streaming-tv-music-movies-video-games-6aa7d7d618e7444866f0edf2c86dfbaa">releasing March 31, on Apple TV+.</a>

After playing an early version of Tetris,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/c554c22f6d824ad799819c5211644c54">game designer Henk Rogers</a>&nbsp;(played by Taron Egerton) travels&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/02ebcc0e70fc35835d2542ab8275dade">to the Soviet Union</a>&nbsp;in 1988 to meet Tetris designer Alexey Pajitnov (played by Nikita Efremov), hoping to secure worldwide distribution rights to the game. Rogers was driven by his love of Tetris and his eagerness for the world to experience it, but the transaction was not smooth.

Egerton says he doesn’t have the tenacity of Rogers, who potentially put his life on the line for the sake of the game.

“I have a more developed sense of my own frailty and vulnerability than he does, I think, whereas he’s got this kind of single-minded lack of, sense of self-preservation,” he said in a recent interview.

He added: “I really like his sort of single-minded, determined devil-may-care thing. It makes him an appealing hero, you know, his kind of cowboyishness. But yeah, I probably wouldn’t have done anything like what he did to get the rights to Tetris.”

The movie is directed by Jon S. Baird, who switched projects from action sequel “Kingsman 3" because of the pandemic, bringing his leading man — Egerton — and producer Matthew Vaughn along for the ride.

“We were looking for something to do and the ‘Tetris’ script landed and we thought, ‘Right, that’s great let’s just move everything on to that.’ And that’s really what happened,” he said.

While the pandemic stopped Pajitnov and Rogers from being involved in the actual shoot, the duo was involved heavily in the scriptwriting and in detailing the imagery of Soviet Russia, much of which was recreated in Aberdeen and Glasgow, Scotland.

Baird said he was apprehensive about showing Pajitnov and Rogers the finished movie but was overjoyed at their response.

“I got a text from Maya, who’s Henk’s daughter, who’s obviously personified in the film, too and she was like, ‘They all love it. They all absolutely love the movie.’”

Egerton, known to many for&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/68cae4cb0daa40289ca0ed9c867b2258">portraying Elton John in “Rocketman,”</a>&nbsp;says he finds playing a real-life person “odd.” However, he believes that the men he has brought to the screen have all enjoyed his portrayals, smiling that “it hasn’t blown up in my face yet!”

<a href="https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search/?query=byline:%22SIAN%20WATSON%22&amp;mediaType=text&amp;st=keyword&amp;sortOrder=newest">By SIAN WATSON Associated Press</a>The origin story of the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/7d1c234eccc740e09b9a165b7bd25681">iconic computer game “Tetris”</a>&nbsp;is more thrilling than you may think.It involves border crossing, authority dodging, underhand deals, putting your house on the line and — finally — trying to secure the rights for the game from behind the Iron Curtain. And now it's a film,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/streaming-tv-music-movies-video-games-6aa7d7d618e7444866f0edf2c86dfbaa">releasing March 31, on Apple TV+.</a>After playing an early version of Tetris,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/c554c22f6d824ad799819c5211644c54">game designer Henk Rogers</a>&nbsp;(played by Taron Egerton) travels&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/02ebcc0e70fc35835d2542ab8275dade">to the Soviet Union</a>&nbsp;in 1988 to meet Tetris designer Alexey Pajitnov (played by Nikita Efremov), hoping to secure worldwide distribution rights to the game. Rogers was driven by his love of Tetris and his eagerness for the world to experience it, but the transaction was not smooth.Egerton says he doesn’t have the tenacity of Rogers, who potentially put his life on the line for the sake of the game.“I have a more developed sense of my own frailty and vulnerability than he does, I think, whereas he’s got this kind of single-minded lack of, sense of self-preservation,” he said in a recent interview.He added: “I really like his sort of single-minded, determined devil-may-care thing. It makes him an appealing hero, you know, his kind of cowboyishness. But yeah, I probably wouldn’t have done anything like what he did to get the rights to Tetris.”The movie is directed by Jon S. Baird, who switched projects from action sequel “Kingsman 3" because of the pandemic, bringing his leading man — Egerton — and producer Matthew Vaughn along for the ride.“We were looking for something to do and the ‘Tetris’ script landed and we thought, ‘Right, that’s great let’s just move everything on to that.’ And that’s really what happened,” he said.While the pandemic stopped Pajitnov and Rogers from being involved in the actual shoot, the duo was involved heavily in the scriptwriting and in detailing the imagery of Soviet Russia, much of which was recreated in Aberdeen and Glasgow, Scotland.Baird said he was apprehensive about showing Pajitnov and Rogers the finished movie but was overjoyed at their response.“I got a text from Maya, who’s Henk’s daughter, who’s obviously personified in the film, too and she was like, ‘They all love it. They all absolutely love the movie.’”Egerton, known to many for&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/68cae4cb0daa40289ca0ed9c867b2258">portraying Elton John in “Rocketman,”</a>&nbsp;says he finds playing a real-life person “odd.” However, he believes that the men he has brought to the screen have all enjoyed his portrayals, smiling that “it hasn’t blown up in my face yet!”

Taron Egerton slots Tetris story into place in new biopic

Why wouldn’t they let the butterfly into the dance? Because it was a mothball.

Join fans of 99 KZ Country on Facebook:<a href="http://www.facebook.com/99KZCountry">http://www.facebook.com/99KZCountry</a>

Why wouldn’t they let the butterfly into the dance? Because it was a mothball.Join fans of 99 KZ Country on Facebook:<a href="http://www.facebook.com/99KZCountry">http://www.facebook.com/99KZCountry</a>

KZ Country Cheesy Joke of the Day 03/27/23

On this episode of Forward Ever: Leading in Challenging Times, host Gary Shorman speaks with Fort Hays State University President Tisa Mason.&nbsp;&nbsp;

<div><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/doPcPDLJu2o" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>On this episode of Forward Ever: Leading in Challenging Times, host Gary Shorman speaks with Fort Hays State University President Tisa Mason.&nbsp;&nbsp;

🎤 Forward Ever: Fort Hays State University President Tisa Mason

Photo courtesy Arts Council of Dickinson County

ABILENE - Learn about eastern European Easter eggs and how to make them during a class Sunday in Abilene.

The Arts Council of Dickinson County is offering a Pysanky class at 1 p.m. Sunday at 401 N. Cedar Street. During the three-to-four-hour class, participants will learn the history of the Pysanky, which is rooted in eastern Europe, as well as design and create their own pieces of artwork.

For more information or to reserve your space in the class, call (785)263-1884, text (785) 280-0543 or email&nbsp;<a href="mailto:artscouncilofdc@gmail.com">artscouncilofdc@gmail.com</a>.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/3/1679539146457.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>Photo courtesy Arts Council of Dickinson CountyBy SALINA POSTABILENE - Learn about eastern European Easter eggs and how to make them during a class Sunday in Abilene.The Arts Council of Dickinson County is offering a Pysanky class at 1 p.m. Sunday at 401 N. Cedar Street. During the three-to-four-hour class, participants will learn the history of the Pysanky, which is rooted in eastern Europe, as well as design and create their own pieces of artwork.The cost of the class is $40 per person.For more information or to reserve your space in the class, call (785)263-1884, text (785) 280-0543 or email&nbsp;<a href="mailto:artscouncilofdc@gmail.com">artscouncilofdc@gmail.com</a>.

Arts Council of Dickinson County offers Pysanky class

<a href="https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search/?query=byline:%22The%20Associated%20Press%22&amp;mediaType=text&amp;st=keyword&amp;sortOrder=newest">By The Associated Press</a>

Here’s a collection curated by The Associated Press’ entertainment journalists of what’s arriving on TV, streaming services and music and video game platforms this week.

— The Oscar-nominated “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed” was one of the high points in documentary in the past year. In it, Laura Poitras chronicles the pioneering photographer Nan Goldin, juxtaposing an intimate survey of her groundbreaking work in 1970s and 1980s New York and her contemporary crusade against the Sackler family, owners of the Oxycontin-maker Purdue Pharma. Goldin, who has herself wrestled with addiction, led the campaign to eradicate the Sackler name from many of the world’s top museums. Though the film didn’t win at the Oscars —&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/nan-goldin-oscars-laura-poitras-all-beauty-bloodshed-sackler-ddce3f39d8da01388bdd4fee3009cedf">something Goldin told me she was surprised to find she wanted</a>&nbsp;— it took the top prize of the Venice Film Festival.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/all-the-beauty-and-bloodshed-film-reviews-venice-festival-entertainment-travel-8b2ba7317de163a98391b272a4d62c19">In her review,</a>&nbsp;AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr called the film” a “holistic portrait of an artist’s battle cry.” After debuting Sunday, March 19, “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed” is available to stream on HBO Max.

— “Top Gun: Maverick” did come away with an Academy Award, for best sound. But one of the biggest box office hits of the year&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/oscars-academy-awards-2023-0366eeec948d96f3126d0725cdec5074">otherwise struck out at the Oscars.</a>&nbsp;After an uncommonly long run in theaters, a lucrative stop on video on demand and a streaming launch on Paramount+, “Top Gun Maverick” arrives on a larger streaming platform Friday, March 24th, when it touches down on Amazon’s Prime Video.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/top-gun-maverick-film-review-dfe987ecf3250c3f0103da09b3dc76dc">In his review,</a>&nbsp;AP Entertainment Writer Mark Kennedy called “Maverick” “a textbook example of how to make a sequel.”

— This month, the Criterion Channel has been paying tribute to the greatest comic artist of the 20th century: Buster Keaton.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.criterionchannel.com/starring-buster-keaton/season:1">With five features and more than a dozen shorts,</a>&nbsp;the series is an unbeatable feast. You can’t go wrong but a few highlights: Keaton’s glorious Olympic finale in “College”; his deft ladder balancing act in “Cops”; and his escape, through a high window, from an angry police chief-slash-furious-father in “The Goat.” With apologies to Charlie Chaplin and Harold Lloyd, nobody did it better.

—&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/jakecoyleAP">AP Film Writer Jake Coyle</a>

— Fans of Lana Del Rey got two albums in 2021 — “Chemtrails Over the Country Club” and Blue Banisters” but nothing full-length in 2022. Now she’s got “Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd” set to drop Friday. One of the singles,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYqky795R1s">”A&amp;W,”</a>&nbsp;offers a glimpse at the sing-songwriter’s bleak poetry: “Puts the shower on while he calls me/Slips out the back door to talk to me/I’m invisible, look how you hold me/I’m a ghost now.” The album features Jack Antonoff, Father John Misty, Jon Batiste and more.

— Back in 1984, Phil Collins and Philip Bailey had a hit with the song&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkRKT6T0QLg">“Easy Lover.”</a>&nbsp;These days, UK pop star Ellie Goulding and Big Sean&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDht4fSRLgk">have a song with the same title</a>&nbsp;that’s just as infectiously fun, part of Goulding’s 11-track album “Higher Than Heaven.” The songs marry her ethereal voice to strong dance hooks, from the ’80s-inspired “By the End of the Night” and “Just 4 You” to the modern pop of “Cure for Love.”

— Do you have what it takes to be a country music’s next big star? Then tune into Apple TV+’s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-rsqQJ2pXs">“My Kind of Country,”</a>&nbsp;in which Jimmie Allen, Mickey Guyton and Orville Peck search for talented amateur artists and invite them to Nashville, Tennessee, for a showcase. Reese Witherspoon and Kacey Musgraves also are featured in the series, set to premiere globally on Friday.

— 6lack is 6ack! The Atlanta singer-songwriter and rapper known as 6lack — pronounced “black” — returns with “Since I Have a Lover,” his first album in nearly five years.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVgmYNA8J1k">The title track</a>&nbsp;is a airy, sweet ode to love with the lyrics: “Feel like a million bucks or somethin’/ Feel like we need to be up to somethin’/ Not tryna press my luck or nothin’/Don’t wanna love you just for fun.” The artist, raised in Zone 6 of Atlanta, has been doing a lot of collaborations since his last album, including Lil Tjay’s “Calling My Phone” and more recently&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_75_2fWFhY">Jessie Reyez’s “Forever.”</a>

—&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/kennedytwits?lang=en">AP Entertainment Writer Mark Kennedy</a>

— Fans of shows including “Jack Ryan” and “The Recruit,” about low-level government agency workers who get pulled into danger and secret missions, should check out&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDbnY9Obsfs">“The Night Agent”</a>&nbsp;on Netflix. It follows an FBI agent tasked with manning an overnight emergency phone that surprisingly rings during one of his shifts. A desperate civilian is on the other end of the call and together, they find themselves embroiled in a major government conspiracy. The series stars Gabriel Russo and Luciane Buchanan and is based on the novel by Matthew Quirk. “The Night Agent” debuts Thursday.

— Mae Whitman, best-known for her roles in “Parenthood” and “Good Girls,” demonstrates she can also sing in her new rom-com series&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crhL1eOjf4U">“Up Here”</a>&nbsp;for Hulu. Set in 1999 in New York, Whitman plays Lindsay who falls for Miguel — played by Carlos Valdes (“The Flash” and “Gaslit”) — and the will-they, won’t-they find a happily ever after ensues. The series boasts some major behind-the-scenes musical talent. EGOT winners Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez, behind that little animated film that could “Frozen,” are co-executive producers and wrote the show’s original music. The show has a whimsical, “Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist”-vibe, plus there are fun late-'90s references including Y2K. All eight-episodes drop Friday, the same day the soundtrack lands.

— Kiefer Sutherland is back with another high-stakes TV drama in&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfbdNfdmQAY">“Rabbit Hole”</a>&nbsp;for Paramount+. He plays John Weir, a corporate spy skilled in the art of deception – until he finds the rug pulled out from underneath him and he is framed for murder. Weir goes from having total control to none, and unsure of who can be trusted. “Rabbit Hole” premieres with two episodes on Sunday.

— Annapurna Interactive has developed a nearly impeccable reputation among connoisseurs of indie video games, from 2017’s groundbreaking mystery What Remains of Edith Finch to 2022’s futuristic cat sim Stray. The publisher’s latest release is&nbsp;<a href="https://annapurnainteractive.com/en/games/storyteller">Storyteller</a>, a long-brewing project from Argentine designer Daniel Benmergui. The premise is simple: You have a library of characters, objects, events and other plot devices, and your job is arrange them to tell a particular type of tale. It’s a puzzle game that pays homage to classic literature, and the graphics ooze charm. Start spinning your own yarns Thursday on Nintendo Switch and PC.

— Death, the CEO of Death Inc., is burned out. His top minions — the executives in charge of Natural Disasters, Modern Warfare, Toxic Food-Processing and other misery-producing departments — are going about their business way too enthusiastically, and Death needs them to settle down before he drowns in paperwork. In&nbsp;<a href="https://www.haveanicedeath.com/en">Have a Nice Death</a>, from France’s Magic Design Studios, you wield Death’s scythe as he hacks and slashes his way through the red tape. The vibrant, angular 2D graphics are reminiscent of the classic Rayman, which some members of Magic Design’s team worked on. The not-so-grim reaping comes to Nintendo Switch and PC on Wednesday.

—&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/lkesten">Lou Kesten</a>

<a href="https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search/?query=byline:%22The%20Associated%20Press%22&amp;mediaType=text&amp;st=keyword&amp;sortOrder=newest">By The Associated Press</a>Here’s a collection curated by The Associated Press’ entertainment journalists of what’s arriving on TV, streaming services and music and video game platforms this week.<h2>MOVIES</h2>— The Oscar-nominated “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed” was one of the high points in documentary in the past year. In it, Laura Poitras chronicles the pioneering photographer Nan Goldin, juxtaposing an intimate survey of her groundbreaking work in 1970s and 1980s New York and her contemporary crusade against the Sackler family, owners of the Oxycontin-maker Purdue Pharma. Goldin, who has herself wrestled with addiction, led the campaign to eradicate the Sackler name from many of the world’s top museums. Though the film didn’t win at the Oscars —&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/nan-goldin-oscars-laura-poitras-all-beauty-bloodshed-sackler-ddce3f39d8da01388bdd4fee3009cedf">something Goldin told me she was surprised to find she wanted</a>&nbsp;— it took the top prize of the Venice Film Festival.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/all-the-beauty-and-bloodshed-film-reviews-venice-festival-entertainment-travel-8b2ba7317de163a98391b272a4d62c19">In her review,</a>&nbsp;AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr called the film” a “holistic portrait of an artist’s battle cry.” After debuting Sunday, March 19, “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed” is available to stream on HBO Max.— “Top Gun: Maverick” did come away with an Academy Award, for best sound. But one of the biggest box office hits of the year&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/oscars-academy-awards-2023-0366eeec948d96f3126d0725cdec5074">otherwise struck out at the Oscars.</a>&nbsp;After an uncommonly long run in theaters, a lucrative stop on video on demand and a streaming launch on Paramount+, “Top Gun Maverick” arrives on a larger streaming platform Friday, March 24th, when it touches down on Amazon’s Prime Video.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/top-gun-maverick-film-review-dfe987ecf3250c3f0103da09b3dc76dc">In his review,</a>&nbsp;AP Entertainment Writer Mark Kennedy called “Maverick” “a textbook example of how to make a sequel.”— This month, the Criterion Channel has been paying tribute to the greatest comic artist of the 20th century: Buster Keaton.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.criterionchannel.com/starring-buster-keaton/season:1">With five features and more than a dozen shorts,</a>&nbsp;the series is an unbeatable feast. You can’t go wrong but a few highlights: Keaton’s glorious Olympic finale in “College”; his deft ladder balancing act in “Cops”; and his escape, through a high window, from an angry police chief-slash-furious-father in “The Goat.” With apologies to Charlie Chaplin and Harold Lloyd, nobody did it better.—&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/jakecoyleAP">AP Film Writer Jake Coyle</a><h2>MUSIC</h2>— Fans of Lana Del Rey got two albums in 2021 — “Chemtrails Over the Country Club” and Blue Banisters” but nothing full-length in 2022. Now she’s got “Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd” set to drop Friday. One of the singles,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYqky795R1s">”A&amp;W,”</a>&nbsp;offers a glimpse at the sing-songwriter’s bleak poetry: “Puts the shower on while he calls me/Slips out the back door to talk to me/I’m invisible, look how you hold me/I’m a ghost now.” The album features Jack Antonoff, Father John Misty, Jon Batiste and more.— Back in 1984, Phil Collins and Philip Bailey had a hit with the song&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkRKT6T0QLg">“Easy Lover.”</a>&nbsp;These days, UK pop star Ellie Goulding and Big Sean&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDht4fSRLgk">have a song with the same title</a>&nbsp;that’s just as infectiously fun, part of Goulding’s 11-track album “Higher Than Heaven.” The songs marry her ethereal voice to strong dance hooks, from the ’80s-inspired “By the End of the Night” and “Just 4 You” to the modern pop of “Cure for Love.”— Do you have what it takes to be a country music’s next big star? Then tune into Apple TV+’s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-rsqQJ2pXs">“My Kind of Country,”</a>&nbsp;in which Jimmie Allen, Mickey Guyton and Orville Peck search for talented amateur artists and invite them to Nashville, Tennessee, for a showcase. Reese Witherspoon and Kacey Musgraves also are featured in the series, set to premiere globally on Friday.— 6lack is 6ack! The Atlanta singer-songwriter and rapper known as 6lack — pronounced “black” — returns with “Since I Have a Lover,” his first album in nearly five years.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVgmYNA8J1k">The title track</a>&nbsp;is a airy, sweet ode to love with the lyrics: “Feel like a million bucks or somethin’/ Feel like we need to be up to somethin’/ Not tryna press my luck or nothin’/Don’t wanna love you just for fun.” The artist, raised in Zone 6 of Atlanta, has been doing a lot of collaborations since his last album, including Lil Tjay’s “Calling My Phone” and more recently&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_75_2fWFhY">Jessie Reyez’s “Forever.”</a>—&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/kennedytwits?lang=en">AP Entertainment Writer Mark Kennedy</a><h2>TELEVISION</h2>— Fans of shows including “Jack Ryan” and “The Recruit,” about low-level government agency workers who get pulled into danger and secret missions, should check out&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDbnY9Obsfs">“The Night Agent”</a>&nbsp;on Netflix. It follows an FBI agent tasked with manning an overnight emergency phone that surprisingly rings during one of his shifts. A desperate civilian is on the other end of the call and together, they find themselves embroiled in a major government conspiracy. The series stars Gabriel Russo and Luciane Buchanan and is based on the novel by Matthew Quirk. “The Night Agent” debuts Thursday.— Mae Whitman, best-known for her roles in “Parenthood” and “Good Girls,” demonstrates she can also sing in her new rom-com series&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crhL1eOjf4U">“Up Here”</a>&nbsp;for Hulu. Set in 1999 in New York, Whitman plays Lindsay who falls for Miguel — played by Carlos Valdes (“The Flash” and “Gaslit”) — and the will-they, won’t-they find a happily ever after ensues. The series boasts some major behind-the-scenes musical talent. EGOT winners Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez, behind that little animated film that could “Frozen,” are co-executive producers and wrote the show’s original music. The show has a whimsical, “Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist”-vibe, plus there are fun late-'90s references including Y2K. All eight-episodes drop Friday, the same day the soundtrack lands.— Kiefer Sutherland is back with another high-stakes TV drama in&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfbdNfdmQAY">“Rabbit Hole”</a>&nbsp;for Paramount+. He plays John Weir, a corporate spy skilled in the art of deception – until he finds the rug pulled out from underneath him and he is framed for murder. Weir goes from having total control to none, and unsure of who can be trusted. “Rabbit Hole” premieres with two episodes on Sunday.— Alicia Rancilio<h2>VIDEO GAMES</h2>— Annapurna Interactive has developed a nearly impeccable reputation among connoisseurs of indie video games, from 2017’s groundbreaking mystery What Remains of Edith Finch to 2022’s futuristic cat sim Stray. The publisher’s latest release is&nbsp;<a href="https://annapurnainteractive.com/en/games/storyteller">Storyteller</a>, a long-brewing project from Argentine designer Daniel Benmergui. The premise is simple: You have a library of characters, objects, events and other plot devices, and your job is arrange them to tell a particular type of tale. It’s a puzzle game that pays homage to classic literature, and the graphics ooze charm. Start spinning your own yarns Thursday on Nintendo Switch and PC.— Death, the CEO of Death Inc., is burned out. His top minions — the executives in charge of Natural Disasters, Modern Warfare, Toxic Food-Processing and other misery-producing departments — are going about their business way too enthusiastically, and Death needs them to settle down before he drowns in paperwork. In&nbsp;<a href="https://www.haveanicedeath.com/en">Have a Nice Death</a>, from France’s Magic Design Studios, you wield Death’s scythe as he hacks and slashes his way through the red tape. The vibrant, angular 2D graphics are reminiscent of the classic Rayman, which some members of Magic Design’s team worked on. The not-so-grim reaping comes to Nintendo Switch and PC on Wednesday.—&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/lkesten">Lou Kesten</a>

What to stream this weekend from ‘Top Gun' to Lana Del Rey

Dining advice: Don’t eat a clock. It is very time consuming especially when you go back for seconds.

Dining advice: Don’t eat a clock. It is very time consuming especially when you go back for seconds.Join fans of 99 KZ Country on Facebook:<a href="http://www.facebook.com/99KZCountry">http://www.facebook.com/99KZCountry</a>

KZ Country Cheesy Joke of the Day 03/24/23

<a href="https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search/?query=byline:%22HILLEL%20ITALIE%22&amp;mediaType=text&amp;st=keyword&amp;sortOrder=newest">By HILLEL ITALIE AP National Writer</a>

NEW YORK (AP) — Attempted&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/lgbtq-book-bans-91b2d4c086eb082cbecfdda2800ef29a">book bans and restrictions</a>&nbsp;at school and public libraries continue to surge, setting a record in 2022, according to a new report from the American Library Association released Thursday.

More than 1,200 challenges were compiled by the association in 2022, nearly double the then-record total from 2021 and by far the most since the ALA began keeping data 20 years ago.

“I've never seen anything like this,” says Deborah Caldwell-Stone, who directs the ALA's Office for Intellectual Freedom. “The last two years have been exhausting, frightening, outrage inducing.”

Thursday's report not only documents&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/libraries-american-library-association-book-banning-af7c9f312266b572c3dc189b1d109de4">the growing number of challenges</a>, but also their changing nature. A few years ago, complaints usually arose with parents and other community members and referred to an individual book. Now, the requests are often for multiple removals, and organized by national groups such as the conservative Moms for Liberty, which has a mission of “unifying, educating and empowering parents to defend their parental rights at all levels of government.”

Last year, more than 2,500 different books were objected to, compared to 1,858 in 2021 and just 566 in 2019. In numerous cases, hundreds of books were challenged in a single complaint. The ALA bases its findings on media accounts and voluntary reporting from libraries and acknowledges that the numbers might be far higher.

<a href="https://apnews.com/article/business-censorship-american-library-association-ea9804d9a573cd987dd86b40e074be25">Librarians around the country</a>&nbsp;have told of being harassed and threatened with violence or legal action.

“Every day professional librarians sit down with parents to thoughtfully determine what reading material is best suited for their child’s needs,” ALA President Lessa Kanani’opua Pelayo-Lozada said in a statement. “Now, many library workers face threats to their employment, their personal safety, and in some cases, threats of prosecution for providing books to youth they and their parents want to read.”

Caldwell-Stone says that some books have been targeted by liberals because of racist language — notably Mark Twain's “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” — but the vast majority of complaints come from conservatives, directed at works with LGBTQIA+ or racial themes. They include Maia Kobabe's “Gender Queer,” Jonathan Evison's “Lawn Boy,” Angie Thomas' “The Hate U Give” and a book-length edition of the “1619 Project,” the Pulitzer Prize-winning report from The New York Times on the legacy of slavery in the U.S.

Bills facilitating the restriction of books have been proposed or passed in Arizona, Iowa, Texas, Missouri and Oklahoma, among other states. In Florida, where&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-florida-ron-desantis-school-boards-libraries-da50c9c4091868e121484425d290385b">Gov. Ron DeSantis has approved laws</a>&nbsp;to review reading materials and limit classroom discussion of gender identity and race books pulled indefinitely or temporarily include John Green's “Looking for Alaska,” Colleen Hoover's “Hopeless,” Margaret Atwood's dystopian novel “The Handmaid's Tale” and Grace Lin's picture story “Dim Sum for Everyone!”

More recently, Florida's Martin County school district removed dozens of books from its middle schools and high schools, including numerous works by novelist Jodi Picoult, Toni Morrison's Pulitzer Prize-winning “Beloved” and James Patterson's “Maximum Ride” thrillers, a decision which the bestselling author has criticized on Twitter as “arbitrary and borderline absurd.”

DeSantis has called reports of mass bannings a “hoax," saying in a statement released earlier this month that the allegations reveal “some are attempting to use our schools for indoctrination.”

Some books do come back. Officials at Florida's Duval County Public Schools were widely criticized after they removed “Roberto Clemente: The Pride of the Pittsburgh Pirates,” a children's biography of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/mlb-sports-los-angeles-dodgers-tampa-bay-rays-pittsburgh-pirates-4f05e3aee406b2c0c4a8b8717db7b770">the late Puerto Rican baseball star</a>. In February, they announced the book would again be on shelves, explaining that they needed to review it and make sure it didn't violate any state laws.

<a href="https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search/?query=byline:%22HILLEL%20ITALIE%22&amp;mediaType=text&amp;st=keyword&amp;sortOrder=newest">By HILLEL ITALIE AP National Writer</a>NEW YORK (AP) — Attempted&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/lgbtq-book-bans-91b2d4c086eb082cbecfdda2800ef29a">book bans and restrictions</a>&nbsp;at school and public libraries continue to surge, setting a record in 2022, according to a new report from the American Library Association released Thursday.More than 1,200 challenges were compiled by the association in 2022, nearly double the then-record total from 2021 and by far the most since the ALA began keeping data 20 years ago.“I've never seen anything like this,” says Deborah Caldwell-Stone, who directs the ALA's Office for Intellectual Freedom. “The last two years have been exhausting, frightening, outrage inducing.”Thursday's report not only documents&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/libraries-american-library-association-book-banning-af7c9f312266b572c3dc189b1d109de4">the growing number of challenges</a>, but also their changing nature. A few years ago, complaints usually arose with parents and other community members and referred to an individual book. Now, the requests are often for multiple removals, and organized by national groups such as the conservative Moms for Liberty, which has a mission of “unifying, educating and empowering parents to defend their parental rights at all levels of government.”Last year, more than 2,500 different books were objected to, compared to 1,858 in 2021 and just 566 in 2019. In numerous cases, hundreds of books were challenged in a single complaint. The ALA bases its findings on media accounts and voluntary reporting from libraries and acknowledges that the numbers might be far higher.<a href="https://apnews.com/article/business-censorship-american-library-association-ea9804d9a573cd987dd86b40e074be25">Librarians around the country</a>&nbsp;have told of being harassed and threatened with violence or legal action.“Every day professional librarians sit down with parents to thoughtfully determine what reading material is best suited for their child’s needs,” ALA President Lessa Kanani’opua Pelayo-Lozada said in a statement. “Now, many library workers face threats to their employment, their personal safety, and in some cases, threats of prosecution for providing books to youth they and their parents want to read.”Caldwell-Stone says that some books have been targeted by liberals because of racist language — notably Mark Twain's “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” — but the vast majority of complaints come from conservatives, directed at works with LGBTQIA+ or racial themes. They include Maia Kobabe's “Gender Queer,” Jonathan Evison's “Lawn Boy,” Angie Thomas' “The Hate U Give” and a book-length edition of the “1619 Project,” the Pulitzer Prize-winning report from The New York Times on the legacy of slavery in the U.S.Bills facilitating the restriction of books have been proposed or passed in Arizona, Iowa, Texas, Missouri and Oklahoma, among other states. In Florida, where&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-florida-ron-desantis-school-boards-libraries-da50c9c4091868e121484425d290385b">Gov. Ron DeSantis has approved laws</a>&nbsp;to review reading materials and limit classroom discussion of gender identity and race books pulled indefinitely or temporarily include John Green's “Looking for Alaska,” Colleen Hoover's “Hopeless,” Margaret Atwood's dystopian novel “The Handmaid's Tale” and Grace Lin's picture story “Dim Sum for Everyone!”More recently, Florida's Martin County school district removed dozens of books from its middle schools and high schools, including numerous works by novelist Jodi Picoult, Toni Morrison's Pulitzer Prize-winning “Beloved” and James Patterson's “Maximum Ride” thrillers, a decision which the bestselling author has criticized on Twitter as “arbitrary and borderline absurd.”DeSantis has called reports of mass bannings a “hoax," saying in a statement released earlier this month that the allegations reveal “some are attempting to use our schools for indoctrination.”Some books do come back. Officials at Florida's Duval County Public Schools were widely criticized after they removed “Roberto Clemente: The Pride of the Pittsburgh Pirates,” a children's biography of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/mlb-sports-los-angeles-dodgers-tampa-bay-rays-pittsburgh-pirates-4f05e3aee406b2c0c4a8b8717db7b770">the late Puerto Rican baseball star</a>. In February, they announced the book would again be on shelves, explaining that they needed to review it and make sure it didn't violate any state laws.

Book ban attempts hit record high in 2022, library org says

The Hays
Arts Council is preparing for a busy spring season with events planned for area
school children and the community.

Among
those events is the annual Creative Writing Contest, currently underway. 

“That's
actually off in the hands of our judges now,” said Hays Arts Council Executive
Director Brenda Meder. “And bless their hearts that a variety of staff members
from the Fort Hays English department, faculty and staff there take those
entries and judge them.”

As students
await the results of that contest, others are prepping for Famous Figures, a
chance for Ellis County Fifth graders to learn about and perform as a positive
role model from history for the 27th year.

The contest
is limited to two fifth-grade students per classroom and will conclude with a
county-wide competition from 8:20 to 11:45 a.m. May 5 in the Beach/Schmidt Performing
Art Center on the Fort Hays State University campus. Competitor names and their
chosen characters are due to the Arts Council by April 28.

And later this week, area fourth and
fifth graders will have the opportunity to see live productions from the Wichita
Children’s Theater on March 24.

“In the
morning, we will be having … I think we'll have about 175 students in Beach/Schmidt
from fourth and fifth grades with their production of Yankee Doodle,
which is a really wonderful homage to Americana history and significant
movers and shakers.”

Students
from Hays, Ellis, Victoria, Plainville and Russell will be in
attendance.

“And in
the afternoon, we've got The Three Little Kittens for kindergarten and
first graders,” Meder said.

Another
performance will be hosted that at 7 p.m., again in Beach/Schmidt.

“It's
highly entertaining, very audience participatory engagement,” Meder said. “So the kids absolutely love it. And there's a lot of little kids that aren't in
those grades we touch, and we want them to come back with their families or an
older grade where this is still wonderfully suitable, but they're not part of
the mix. 

“There
will be no fee for that. We do pay for these companies, so there's a fee with
that, but we will be offering this as a gift to the community because of the
sponsorship and the support that we've gotten.”

Following
the performance, she said a cast meet-and-greet is scheduled in the lobby.

While the
children’s events approach, work in the gallery for their latest exhibition
is also underway, a Master of Fine Arts Thesis exhibition from Cassie Rebman. 

“It's
going to be a very unique a different kind of big sculptural thesis exhibition,”
Meder said. "Putting together some of what you would think of its disjointed
materials and the way they flow from one item to the next. So I think
that's going to be very cool.”

The
exhibition is scheduled to open with a reception from 6:30 to 9 p.m. March 31.

“And
what's cool about that evening is we're also hosting a professional development
exhibition, again for Fort Hays students in our annex,” Meder said. “While we're talking about great things across the
community, down in the Moss Thorns Gallery is the annual student honors
exhibition. And so all three of those shows celebrating the talent and
creativity and instruction and everything out of Fort Hays State University
will be on full display.”

Moving
through the season, the Art Center will also work to prepare for the Spring Art
Walk, set for 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. April 29. Throughout the day, participating
locations will display various art forms in lobbies and storefronts as hundreds
of area residents explore exhibitions throughout downtown and beyond.

While it
might be more than a month away, Meder said participating artists and businesses
are connecting now.

“We take
all comers, if it is your original creations, we take all comers,” Meder said. “That's
what we want, is to celebrate individual creativity. And so, all you have to do
is hook up with any place across our wonderful community.”

In order
to be included in the printed event announcement, she said, participants have until
April 14.

“Plenty
of time to make this happen,” Meder said. 

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/6/1623877479116.jpeg" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>By JAMES BELL Hays PostThe Hays
Arts Council is preparing for a busy spring season with events planned for area
school children and the community.Among
those events is the annual Creative Writing Contest, currently underway. “That's
actually off in the hands of our judges now,” said Hays Arts Council Executive
Director Brenda Meder. “And bless their hearts that a variety of staff members
from the Fort Hays English department, faculty and staff there take those
entries and judge them.”The
award ceremony is set for April 30. <div><iframe title="Preparations underway for children’s programing at Hays Arts Council" allowtransparency="true" height="300" width="100%" style="border: none; min-width: min(100%, 430px);" scrolling="no" data-name="pb-iframe-player" src="https://www.podbean.com/player-v2/?i=wvdys-13bd074-pb&from=pb6admin&square=1&share=1&download=1&rtl=0&fonts=Arial&skin=3267a3&font-color=auto&logo_link=podcast_page&btn-skin=3267a3&size=300" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div>As students
await the results of that contest, others are prepping for Famous Figures, a
chance for Ellis County Fifth graders to learn about and perform as a positive
role model from history for the 27th year.The contest
is limited to two fifth-grade students per classroom and will conclude with a
county-wide competition from 8:20 to 11:45 a.m. May 5 in the Beach/Schmidt Performing
Art Center on the Fort Hays State University campus. Competitor names and their
chosen characters are due to the Arts Council by April 28.And later this week, area fourth and
fifth graders will have the opportunity to see live productions from the Wichita
Children’s Theater on March 24.“In the
morning, we will be having … I think we'll have about 175 students in Beach/Schmidt
from fourth and fifth grades with their production of Yankee Doodle,
which is a really wonderful homage to Americana history and significant
movers and shakers.”Students
from Hays, Ellis, Victoria, Plainville and Russell will be in
attendance.“And in
the afternoon, we've got The Three Little Kittens for kindergarten and
first graders,” Meder said.Another
performance will be hosted that at 7 p.m., again in Beach/Schmidt.“It's
highly entertaining, very audience participatory engagement,” Meder said. “So the kids absolutely love it. And there's a lot of little kids that aren't in
those grades we touch, and we want them to come back with their families or an
older grade where this is still wonderfully suitable, but they're not part of
the mix. “There
will be no fee for that. We do pay for these companies, so there's a fee with
that, but we will be offering this as a gift to the community because of the
sponsorship and the support that we've gotten.”Following
the performance, she said a cast meet-and-greet is scheduled in the lobby.While the
children’s events approach, work in the gallery for their latest exhibition
is also underway, a Master of Fine Arts Thesis exhibition from Cassie Rebman. “It's
going to be a very unique a different kind of big sculptural thesis exhibition,”
Meder said. "Putting together some of what you would think of its disjointed
materials and the way they flow from one item to the next. So I think
that's going to be very cool.”The
exhibition is scheduled to open with a reception from 6:30 to 9 p.m. March 31.“And
what's cool about that evening is we're also hosting a professional development
exhibition, again for Fort Hays students in our annex,” Meder said. “While we're talking about great things across the
community, down in the Moss Thorns Gallery is the annual student honors
exhibition. And so all three of those shows celebrating the talent and
creativity and instruction and everything out of Fort Hays State University
will be on full display.”Moving
through the season, the Art Center will also work to prepare for the Spring Art
Walk, set for 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. April 29. Throughout the day, participating
locations will display various art forms in lobbies and storefronts as hundreds
of area residents explore exhibitions throughout downtown and beyond.While it
might be more than a month away, Meder said participating artists and businesses
are connecting now.“We take
all comers, if it is your original creations, we take all comers,” Meder said. “That's
what we want, is to celebrate individual creativity. And so, all you have to do
is hook up with any place across our wonderful community.”In order
to be included in the printed event announcement, she said, participants have until
April 14.“Plenty
of time to make this happen,” Meder said.

🎙 Spring event preparation underway at Hays Arts Council

By MARK KENNEDY AP Entertainment Writer

NEW YORK — It all started on a late morning on a highway. A 
camera panned to the cab of a large semi-trailer truck. The driver wore a
 plaid shirt and a day's growth of beard. Next to him was a mysterious 
hitchhiker in expensive clothes that were ripped and a fresh head wound.

That’s how <a href="https://www.cbs.com/shows/the_young_and_the_restless/">“The Young and the Restless</a>
 ” began on March 26, 1973, and a lot of people also stuck around Genoa 
City. The soap opera celebrates its 50th anniversary this month as the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/b80768204da7d34509bd9b53ee56c762">No. 1 daytime drama</a> for 35 consecutive years, with fans growing up alongside the actors.

“I
 think a huge reason why the audience has stuck with us for so long is 
because we are the same people. We are family members. We show up every 
day — sometimes more than a regular family member,” says Lauralee Bell, a
 star and daughter of the show's founders.

Created by the late 
William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell, “The Young and the Restless” 
concerns the goings-on of several Midwestern families, some of whom have
 a lot and some who don't. William Bell was head writer for decades, 
giving the show a singular vision, unusual for soaps.

<a href="https://www.cbs.com/shows/the_young_and_the_restless/cast/215206/">Lauralee Bell</a>,
 an Emmy-winner who plays good-girl Christine Blair Williams and first 
joined the show in 1983, says her dad would likely not be surprised by 
the show’s new milestone. “He said if you have two families that come 
from different backgrounds and good, solid characters, it’s endless 
material.”

One of the ways the show will celebrate its milestone 
is with a masquerade ball storyline starting Thursday and continuing 
through the following week. Creators promise “surprise visits from fan 
favorites and secrets are revealed, forever changing the lives for the 
residents of Genoa City.” "Entertainment Tonight" also plans a March 27 
special.

The CBS soap has helped launch the careers of such 
primetime and film actors as Vivica A. Fox, David Hasselhoff, Adam 
Brody, Tom Selleck, Penn Badgley, Shemar Moore, Eva Longoria, Justin 
Hartley and the late Paul Walker. Eric Braeden plays the male lead 
Victor Newman, a villain of the highest quality who once kept his wife’s
 lover locked in his basement.

Professor Elana Levine, who teaches media studies at the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee and wrote <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Her-Stories-Television-Console-ing-Passions/dp/1478008016">“Her Stories: Daytime Soap Opera and US Television History,”</a> says the staying power of soaps is that they get passed down from one generation to the next.

“What
 streaming TV has shown us is that serialized narratives and stories 
that continue from episode to episode are really appealing and 
engaging," she says. "Soaps did that before anybody and are the maximum 
version of that because the story is going for decades.”

Among the
 cake-flinging food fights and evil twins on “The Young and the 
Restless,” there have also been important firsts — it aired the first 
live facelift on TV, back in 1984, and when veteran <a href="https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-tv-kristoff-st-john-north-america-ea36cf373f474e15a869a7b469b329d3">actor Kristoff St. John</a> died in 2019, the cast and crew held a funeral for his character, bringing tears to a returning Moore.

It
 became the first daytime drama with a character who had a mastectomy, 
it was the first soap opera to broadcast in HD and, perhaps most 
importantly, it welcomed leading Black actors in the 1980s before many 
other soaps.

“'The Young and the Restless' attracted a big African
 American audience starting at that time because they were putting Black
 characters, front center, more so than some of the other soaps were,” 
says Levine.

That's a legacy Bell is proud of and she puts it 
squarely as a result of her parents, whom she calls hard-working 
creators who demanded a lot from their writers and actors, even their 
kids.

“My dad was not afraid of of being first. All the social 
issues he dealt with — date rape, AIDS, alcoholism, all of that. He 
really felt that if our audience bonded with these characters that they 
would learn,” says Bell. “If we could even help one person, it was worth
 it.”

Show veteran <a href="https://www.cbs.com/shows/the_young_and_the_restless/cast/61679/">Melody Thomas Scott</a>
 recalls a story that featured infant CPR, which is nothing like the 
adult version. “I think Bill and Lee wanted the world to know the 
difference,” she says. On the soap, a baby swallows a coin and Victor 
Newman — of course — becomes the hero by showing viewers the correct CPR
 technique.

“We got so many calls in our ‘Y&amp;R’ office the day 
after that episode aired, some mothers in tears, so grateful,” she says.
 “That is the ultimate goal of sneaking in some social issues because it
 can save lives. It can change people’s lives.”

One of Bill Bell’s
 hallmarks was telling stories in real time, for instance waiting for a 
couple’s first hand holding, then waiting a while before their first 
kiss. “If the audience doesn’t believe it and grow with them. It’s hard 
to buy sometimes,” his daughter says. The soap always stayed in the 
realm of reality: No getting possessed by the devil in Genoa City.

Scott
 is celebrating her 44th year on the show as Nikki Newman, a poor girl 
from the wrong side of the tracks. Her character has gone from a 
tempestuous, alcoholic stripper to the serial’s luminous and resourceful
 leading lady.

She says the show has stayed true to Bill Bell's 
vision of a show with compelling characters played by beautiful people. 
Visually, the soap has stayed lush and elegant, with plenty of fresh 
flowers or candles onset. “We look different from any other show,” she 
says.

Bell not only had a knack for storylines — he also knew his 
actors. Scott recalls being surprised when Bell paired her bratty 
character with tycoon Victor Newman, two people she thought had nothing 
in common.

“We discovered that we had this chemistry that we 
certainly didn’t expect. But I think Bill, in all of his wisdom, somehow
 saw it in us,” she says. “You can’t force yourself to have chemistry 
with another actor. It just either is or isn’t. So we are eternally 
grateful that Bill was so psychic in knowing that we would click.”

The
 Bell family has continued to be part of the DNA of modern soaps, with 
Lauralee acting, her brother Brad serving as executive producer and head
 writer for sister soap “The Bold and the Beautiful” and brother Bill 
Jr. as president of the family production companies who made a deal for 
“The Young and the Restless” to be seen overseas, with versions in 
Israel, Canada, Turkey and France, among others.

“It was one of 
the first daytime soaps that got sold internationally,” says Levine. “I 
think that has been a key to its continued success and profitability. 
The money that any daytime soap brings in domestically has lessened over
 time and the audience has gotten smaller.”

If any viewers need 
convincing the “The Young and the Restless” has penetrated popular 
culture, look for further than Mary J. Blige, who sampled the show’s 
theme song in her 2001 hit “No More Drama.”

That mysterious man in
 the very first scene was Brad Elliot and ahead of him was plenty of 
drama — a love triangle with a pair of sisters, a marriage, the 
heartache of a miscarriage, a diagnosis of blindness and a divorce 
petition. Surgery restored his sight but his marriage never recovered. 
He left Genoa City after five years. The show continued.

When 
Lauralee Bell looks at the TV landscape today, she sees variations on 
what her parents created in primetime shows like “The Crown” and 
“Succession.”

“Every show is a soap, every nighttime show is a 
soap, all of these streaming shows are versions of soap operas,” she 
says. “So we’re all sort of a little tired of the 
soaps-are-on-their-way-out — well, every show is a soap, really.”

<figure>
 <iframe width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/gWFP-P9YBv0"></iframe>
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>By MARK KENNEDY AP Entertainment WriterNEW YORK — It all started on a late morning on a highway. A 
camera panned to the cab of a large semi-trailer truck. The driver wore a
 plaid shirt and a day's growth of beard. Next to him was a mysterious 
hitchhiker in expensive clothes that were ripped and a fresh head wound.He got out at Genoa City. And he stayed.That’s how <a href="https://www.cbs.com/shows/the_young_and_the_restless/">“The Young and the Restless</a>
 ” began on March 26, 1973, and a lot of people also stuck around Genoa 
City. The soap opera celebrates its 50th anniversary this month as the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/b80768204da7d34509bd9b53ee56c762">No. 1 daytime drama</a> for 35 consecutive years, with fans growing up alongside the actors.“I
 think a huge reason why the audience has stuck with us for so long is 
because we are the same people. We are family members. We show up every 
day — sometimes more than a regular family member,” says Lauralee Bell, a
 star and daughter of the show's founders.Created by the late 
William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell, “The Young and the Restless” 
concerns the goings-on of several Midwestern families, some of whom have
 a lot and some who don't. William Bell was head writer for decades, 
giving the show a singular vision, unusual for soaps.<a href="https://www.cbs.com/shows/the_young_and_the_restless/cast/215206/">Lauralee Bell</a>,
 an Emmy-winner who plays good-girl Christine Blair Williams and first 
joined the show in 1983, says her dad would likely not be surprised by 
the show’s new milestone. “He said if you have two families that come 
from different backgrounds and good, solid characters, it’s endless 
material.”One of the ways the show will celebrate its milestone 
is with a masquerade ball storyline starting Thursday and continuing 
through the following week. Creators promise “surprise visits from fan 
favorites and secrets are revealed, forever changing the lives for the 
residents of Genoa City.” "Entertainment Tonight" also plans a March 27 
special.The CBS soap has helped launch the careers of such 
primetime and film actors as Vivica A. Fox, David Hasselhoff, Adam 
Brody, Tom Selleck, Penn Badgley, Shemar Moore, Eva Longoria, Justin 
Hartley and the late Paul Walker. Eric Braeden plays the male lead 
Victor Newman, a villain of the highest quality who once kept his wife’s
 lover locked in his basement.Professor Elana Levine, who teaches media studies at the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee and wrote <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Her-Stories-Television-Console-ing-Passions/dp/1478008016">“Her Stories: Daytime Soap Opera and US Television History,”</a> says the staying power of soaps is that they get passed down from one generation to the next.“What
 streaming TV has shown us is that serialized narratives and stories 
that continue from episode to episode are really appealing and 
engaging," she says. "Soaps did that before anybody and are the maximum 
version of that because the story is going for decades.”Among the
 cake-flinging food fights and evil twins on “The Young and the 
Restless,” there have also been important firsts — it aired the first 
live facelift on TV, back in 1984, and when veteran <a href="https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-tv-kristoff-st-john-north-america-ea36cf373f474e15a869a7b469b329d3">actor Kristoff St. John</a> died in 2019, the cast and crew held a funeral for his character, bringing tears to a returning Moore.It
 became the first daytime drama with a character who had a mastectomy, 
it was the first soap opera to broadcast in HD and, perhaps most 
importantly, it welcomed leading Black actors in the 1980s before many 
other soaps.“'The Young and the Restless' attracted a big African
 American audience starting at that time because they were putting Black
 characters, front center, more so than some of the other soaps were,” 
says Levine.That's a legacy Bell is proud of and she puts it 
squarely as a result of her parents, whom she calls hard-working 
creators who demanded a lot from their writers and actors, even their 
kids.“My dad was not afraid of of being first. All the social 
issues he dealt with — date rape, AIDS, alcoholism, all of that. He 
really felt that if our audience bonded with these characters that they 
would learn,” says Bell. “If we could even help one person, it was worth
 it.”Show veteran <a href="https://www.cbs.com/shows/the_young_and_the_restless/cast/61679/">Melody Thomas Scott</a>
 recalls a story that featured infant CPR, which is nothing like the 
adult version. “I think Bill and Lee wanted the world to know the 
difference,” she says. On the soap, a baby swallows a coin and Victor 
Newman — of course — becomes the hero by showing viewers the correct CPR
 technique.“We got so many calls in our ‘Y&amp;R’ office the day 
after that episode aired, some mothers in tears, so grateful,” she says.
 “That is the ultimate goal of sneaking in some social issues because it
 can save lives. It can change people’s lives.”One of Bill Bell’s
 hallmarks was telling stories in real time, for instance waiting for a 
couple’s first hand holding, then waiting a while before their first 
kiss. “If the audience doesn’t believe it and grow with them. It’s hard 
to buy sometimes,” his daughter says. The soap always stayed in the 
realm of reality: No getting possessed by the devil in Genoa City.Scott
 is celebrating her 44th year on the show as Nikki Newman, a poor girl 
from the wrong side of the tracks. Her character has gone from a 
tempestuous, alcoholic stripper to the serial’s luminous and resourceful
 leading lady.She says the show has stayed true to Bill Bell's 
vision of a show with compelling characters played by beautiful people. 
Visually, the soap has stayed lush and elegant, with plenty of fresh 
flowers or candles onset. “We look different from any other show,” she 
says.Bell not only had a knack for storylines — he also knew his 
actors. Scott recalls being surprised when Bell paired her bratty 
character with tycoon Victor Newman, two people she thought had nothing 
in common.“We discovered that we had this chemistry that we 
certainly didn’t expect. But I think Bill, in all of his wisdom, somehow
 saw it in us,” she says. “You can’t force yourself to have chemistry 
with another actor. It just either is or isn’t. So we are eternally 
grateful that Bill was so psychic in knowing that we would click.”The
 Bell family has continued to be part of the DNA of modern soaps, with 
Lauralee acting, her brother Brad serving as executive producer and head
 writer for sister soap “The Bold and the Beautiful” and brother Bill 
Jr. as president of the family production companies who made a deal for 
“The Young and the Restless” to be seen overseas, with versions in 
Israel, Canada, Turkey and France, among others.“It was one of 
the first daytime soaps that got sold internationally,” says Levine. “I 
think that has been a key to its continued success and profitability. 
The money that any daytime soap brings in domestically has lessened over
 time and the audience has gotten smaller.”If any viewers need 
convincing the “The Young and the Restless” has penetrated popular 
culture, look for further than Mary J. Blige, who sampled the show’s 
theme song in her 2001 hit “No More Drama.”That mysterious man in
 the very first scene was Brad Elliot and ahead of him was plenty of 
drama — a love triangle with a pair of sisters, a marriage, the 
heartache of a miscarriage, a diagnosis of blindness and a divorce 
petition. Surgery restored his sight but his marriage never recovered. 
He left Genoa City after five years. The show continued.When 
Lauralee Bell looks at the TV landscape today, she sees variations on 
what her parents created in primetime shows like “The Crown” and 
“Succession.”“Every show is a soap, every nighttime show is a 
soap, all of these streaming shows are versions of soap operas,” she 
says. “So we’re all sort of a little tired of the 
soaps-are-on-their-way-out — well, every show is a soap, really.”

'The Young and the Restless' celebrates 50 years of drama

By JONATHAN LANDRUM JR. AP Entertainment Writer

LOS
 ANGELES — Hip-hop became a cultural phenomenon against the 
backdrop of American history, and now Public Enemy’s Chuck D has 
committed himself to explore the artform's origins.

Chuck D 
rounded up several rap greats — including Ice-T, Run DMC and MC Lyte — 
who offered their firsthand accounts ahead of this year's 50th 
anniversary of hip-hop. Their reflections are explored in the four-part 
docuseries <a href="https://www.pbs.org/show/fight-power-how-hip-hop-changed-world/">“Fight the Power: How Hip Hop Changed the World,”</a> that aired on PBS and is available to stream on its platforms and YouTube with a premium subscription.

The
 series delves into the history of hip-hop including the genre’s radical
 rise from the New York City streets, creating a platform for political 
expression and being a leading voice for social justice

“Fight the
 Power” touches on how the hip-hop has played an impactful role in 
speaking up against injustice in the aftermath of America’s racial and 
political reckoning in 2020 after <a href="https://apnews.com/article/death-of-george-floyd-minneapolis-police-reform-d109eb0d3094119ddbcb560676467f19">George Floyd's killing by Minneapolis police</a>.
 The series, executive produced by Chuck D, features archival footage 
and insightful interviews from of rap’s most integral figures including 
Fat Joe, Lupe Fiasco, Grandmaster Caz, B-Real of Cypress Hill, Melle 
Mel, will.i.am, John Forte, Roxanne Shanté and Abiodun Oyewole of The 
Last Poets.

In a recent interview with The Associated Press, Chuck
 D talked about hip-hop’s cultural growth in 50 years, the genre being 
the backbone for Black men’s voices and how rap could last for another 
half century.

Remarks have been edited for clarity and bravery. 
___ AP: You mentioned in your docuseries that hip-hop was a catalyst for
 the Black Lives Matter movement. How so?

CHUCK D: It’s a 
collective where people felt the same way. It spoke politically to the 
injustice regarding George Floyd and was a spark that connected around 
the world. Hip-hop has done the same thing. Hip-hop ties human beings 
for their similarities and knocks the differences to the side. It’s a 
movement, when you talk about collective people feeling similar, enact 
upon something and still even stay within the constraints of the law. 
Younger people say, “OK, listen, we’re going to speak truth to power 
right now. We’re going to protest march. We're going to show you numbers
 that you ain’t seen in a long time about something you probably didn’t 
care about." That’s hip-hop, right?

By JONATHAN LANDRUM JR. AP Entertainment WriterLOS
 ANGELES — Hip-hop became a cultural phenomenon against the 
backdrop of American history, and now Public Enemy’s Chuck D has 
committed himself to explore the artform's origins.Chuck D 
rounded up several rap greats — including Ice-T, Run DMC and MC Lyte — 
who offered their firsthand accounts ahead of this year's 50th 
anniversary of hip-hop. Their reflections are explored in the four-part 
docuseries <a href="https://www.pbs.org/show/fight-power-how-hip-hop-changed-world/">“Fight the Power: How Hip Hop Changed the World,”</a> that aired on PBS and is available to stream on its platforms and YouTube with a premium subscription.The
 series delves into the history of hip-hop including the genre’s radical
 rise from the New York City streets, creating a platform for political 
expression and being a leading voice for social justice“Fight the
 Power” touches on how the hip-hop has played an impactful role in 
speaking up against injustice in the aftermath of America’s racial and 
political reckoning in 2020 after <a href="https://apnews.com/article/death-of-george-floyd-minneapolis-police-reform-d109eb0d3094119ddbcb560676467f19">George Floyd's killing by Minneapolis police</a>.
 The series, executive produced by Chuck D, features archival footage 
and insightful interviews from of rap’s most integral figures including 
Fat Joe, Lupe Fiasco, Grandmaster Caz, B-Real of Cypress Hill, Melle 
Mel, will.i.am, John Forte, Roxanne Shanté and Abiodun Oyewole of The 
Last Poets.In a recent interview with The Associated Press, Chuck
 D talked about hip-hop’s cultural growth in 50 years, the genre being 
the backbone for Black men’s voices and how rap could last for another 
half century.Remarks have been edited for clarity and bravery. 
___ AP: You mentioned in your docuseries that hip-hop was a catalyst for
 the Black Lives Matter movement. How so?CHUCK D: It’s a 
collective where people felt the same way. It spoke politically to the 
injustice regarding George Floyd and was a spark that connected around 
the world. Hip-hop has done the same thing. Hip-hop ties human beings 
for their similarities and knocks the differences to the side. It’s a 
movement, when you talk about collective people feeling similar, enact 
upon something and still even stay within the constraints of the law. 
Younger people say, “OK, listen, we’re going to speak truth to power 
right now. We’re going to protest march. We're going to show you numbers
 that you ain’t seen in a long time about something you probably didn’t 
care about." That’s hip-hop, right?AP: During the birth of hip-hop, how do it help encourage Black voices?CHUCK
 D: Black men didn’t have a voice. You might’ve sung records for people 
who were fortunate to become recording artists. Our music has always 
been code. Hip-hop is the term for our creativity, maybe for the last 50
 years. But before that, we always was creative and musicianship, 
vocalization, arts and craft, and also the movement of dance. Just that 
the elements had gotten refined in another period in the '70s out of 
another Big Bang Theory of socio political environments. That’s where 
that voice came out and it came out culturally. It still speaks loudly, 
culturally.AP: How does your documentary amplify that notion?CHUCK
 D: Some people like to deal with hip-hop where they first started. I 
think what this documentary series says is “Nah, this is where it 
started.” You might have picked up on it after you were born in the 
1990s and picked up maybe 2000, but it started before you.AP: What do you want people to take away from your documentary?CHUCK
 D: I don’t want people to do what they don’t want to do. If you say you
 love hip-hop, then you should be able to know about what you love. You 
don’t have to love hip-hop. I used to ask people straight out, “Do you 
love hip-hop?” They would respond “Oh yeah. I love it.” Then I was ask, 
“Do you love Black people?” They would say “What’s that got to do with 
it?” I’m here to tell you that the culture and the music comes out of 
the people. Sometimes your love of it got to infuse and give something 
back to the people. That’s the cycle.AP: How do you feel about hip-hop being misinterpreted at times?CHUCK
 D: I’m 12 years older than hip-hop, so I’m not in awe of it. I’ve seen 
the trajectory and my involvement in it was to see if I can make it go 
head-to-head, stand shoulders and shoulders next to everything else that
 gets bragged and talked about. I’m a big sports fan. You know, a lot of
 people in New York broke up because the Giants lost. That’s how they 
tied into their loyalty for something that they say that they love. 
Well, people love music, too. They seem to know less about it than they 
know about sports, because sports make sure you’re not stupid. Stephen 
A. Smith now is a superstar journalist who makes sure that if you come 
in the room, you’re not stupid about sports. You can’t go off the top of
 your head and freestyle what you think when it’s fact. This four-part 
series at least deals with facts, especially in this misinformation age.
 Facts are important. Facts is not opinion, bro.AP: How have you seen hip-hop transcend?CHUCK
 D: Africa is the future of hip-hop. It’s 54 African nations. Not only 
are they spitting like crazy, but they’re also braiding languages. 
Hip-hop is going to like 3.0 when you talk about Africa. Hip-hop is 
there. So that’s the sustaining power if you want to pay attention to 
it.AP: Do you feel like rappers can still be commercially successful while being socially conscious?CHUCK
 D: Depends on where they are and who they’re talking to. If you’re in 
France, it might work for you. Each level that you get into it, you got 
to go deeper because you build a fan base that’s three times harder than
 you. If you’re an activist, you’re going to bring on activists that's 
really doing this. You as an artist could engage on it and group them 
together.Now, as far as what’s going to make that artists keep a 
light on or go out and get the Lamborghini, that’s a personal thing. 
Money is relative. There’s pressure put on the arts. That’s an illusion.
 It’s a little unfair to any art — which is not supposed to bring you an
 industry. It’s supposed to be able to bring a canvas to the world.AP: What’s it going to take for hip-hop to live for another 50 years?CHUCK
 D: Commitment collective, people recognizing that this is a part of us 
and recognizing more parts of us that have been part of our cultural 
history around the world. We got to recognize the world too.