BDC Now: We Can’t Look Away From This Awful ‘Price is Right’ Celebration
If there’s one thing we learned from this contestant’s celebration on “The Price is Right,’’ it’s that one man’s joy can be everyone else’s pain. Check out his awkward thrusting and gyrating on today’s BDC Now, and read more about the alcohol our presidents drank, our newfound love of drone racing, a musician’s bizarre arrest on the New York City subway, and Sweden’s “mystery sub’’ problem.
$26,000 Never Looked So Bad
“The Price is Right’’ might have caught on to this whole “viral video’’ thing. Sure, Drew Carey and his gang of attractive prize models could be satisfied with their share of daytime viewers, but seeing Steve Harvey and his sexually suggestive “Family Feud’’ videos get half a million hits must have been unsettling on some level. So “The Price is Right’’ has answered back, first with a contestant who had no idea how much a hammock cost, and now with this contestant who doesn’t understand what a publicly acceptable celebration looks like. Winning $26,000 must be exciting, but that’s no excuse for Eliot’s spastic, failed attempt at doing the worm or his aggressive hip thrusting toward the crowd. Think of all the children sick at home watching this show, Eliot. They shouldn’t have to see this.
What to Drink When You’re Feeling Presidential
Everyone in the United States always seems to have some bizarre nostalgia for the nation’s colonial era, and we think we’re finally starting to figure out why: Everyone back then was drunk. That’s our main takeaway from Mark Will-Weber’s new book, “Mint Juleps with Teddy Roosevelt: The Complete History of Presidential Drinking.’’ He has some fascinating tidbits, including “[Thomas] Jefferson’s huge wine purchases helped bring him to the brink of financial ruin,’’ and “[Grover Cleveland] and a fellow politician once took a vow to hold themselves to four beers a day. When they found this too arduous a task, they simply switched to larger beer steins.’’ It’s honestly pretty amazing that a nation led by such drunkards made it as far as we did, but hey, that’s the beauty of America.
Drone Racing is the Future
We know that most people think “Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace’’ is hot garbage, but we still think the pod racing scene was pretty cool. That’s why we’re so glad to see that it’s becoming real – kind of. It doesn’t look exactly the same and the vehicles are much smaller and unmanned, but watch this video and tell us you don’t think of Anakin Skywalker racing through the desert on Tatooine. This honestly seems like it could succeed as a real sport. Make the drones bigger, get the pilots some sponsors, point a camera at it, then start counting your money. The first person camera angles will make for great viewing, and the audience won’t have to feel guilty about enjoying the crashes since the pilots are safely behind a remote control.
The Law Is Open to Interpretation
Some police officers are great – they care about justice, do everything in their power to keep the public safe, and act as moral leaders in their communities. Others, unfortunately, will read you the exact law that allows you to legally play guitar on a subway platform, then arrest you for playing guitar on a subway platform. We know that sounds oddly specific, but that’s because it’s a real thing that happened in New York last week. Do your best to ignore the horrible vertical filming, and focus instead on the interaction between this busker and the cop trying to kick him out of the subway station. It’s a long video, but at the 1:05 mark you hear the cop read the MTA Rules of Conduct, Section 1050.6, Letter C – a law that allows for “artistic performances’’ in subway stations. Then, at the six minute mark, that same cop puts the busker against the wall and slaps some handcuffs on him. If you’re confused, don’t worry. This doesn’t make any sense to us, either.
Things Are Getting Weird Off the Coast of Sweden
Most of the time, when someone has a problem with a “mystery sub,’’ he’s debating whether he should eat a questionable lunch. Sweden wishes it were that lucky. The “mystery sub’’ issue it’s dealing with actually involves a potential military threat from Russia hiding beneath the waters 16 miles off of Stockholm. The Swedes aren’t saying much, but they have asked all civilian ships to leave that area immediately and have reportedly closed off the air space above it as they conduct an “intelligence operation.’’ One official told the BBC that a ship in these waters is “always about testing the Swedish response to see if we are awake and able to detect it,’’ and a local newspaper says Sweden “intercepted a distress signal in Russian.’’ Tensions are reportedly high, but Sweden should keep its cool until it has a definitive answer for who is behind this. After all, it could just be a new project from Google.
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