The best part of writing for Odyssey is that you can workshop many ideas and visions. So I'm going to try something that has probably been done in order to improve my weekly article production. Monthly shoutouts will be broken down into 3-4 categories: Entertainment, Sports, Society, and something about Twitter/Memes. Now, I get swept away by doing absolutely nothing, so I might lose track of all the news each individual week, so fair warning if I missed something you deemed important from last month. So here we are with the second edition of Monthly Shoutouts: June
Entertainment: Drake
Amidst all the controversy and scandal, Drake managed to abandon his son and turn that choice into a platinum album within a span of three weeks!! Scorpion was released at the end of June, but it negates everything that came out before the album earlier in the month, including Kanye's collection of produced records with multiple artists. Scorpion was a 2-sided album with the first half being hip-hop, and the other half being R&B. And believe it or not, Michael Jackson made an appearance on the album to solidify the fact that Drake can get the rights to just about anything. But the worst thing to come from the album was probably this godforsaken #inMyFeelingsChallenge that has people jumping out cars to get 35 likes on Twitter. That statement alone is saying a lot about what's going on in our society right now. So shoutout Champagne Papi himself for releasing an album that will inevitably pay for his child support.
Sports: The Washington Capitals
It's a crazy thing that the capital of our country is home to some of the worst teams in sports. But with the beating of the Vegas Golden Knights, the coolest team ever, The Washington Capitals brought home the Stanley Cup and decided to celebrate with neverending amounts of alcohol. The captain himself, Aleks Ovechkin, finally added a championship to his stellar resume. A resume that consists of 3 MVPs, 7 scoring titles, and a world record for longest tenure of public intoxication. Aside from being a champion, The Capitals are mostly Russian and the convenience of the team located in D.C is alarming and comical. I have a feeling these are Russian sies trying to breach into the American system through the glory of sports and celebrity...So shoutout to the Caps for partying non-stop and for possibly being a huge contributor to Russian intelligence.
Society: Anthony Bourdain and Kate Spade
As a kid, school nights were always a dread with homework and projects. But those nights were always made better when my family and I would watch "Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations." He had the coolest job in the world, learning about the people and the places they called home. With his suicide earlier in June, mental health awareness has elevated and has been taken even more seriously with the inclusion of the death of world-renowned fashion designer Kate Spade as well. Suicide is the permanent solution to a temporary problem, and it's becoming a trend that shouldn't be an option to those who are fighting an internal war. Call 1-800-273-8255 if you're having issues and get some help. The world is too small for all of us, so we might as well learn to love each other. On that note...shoutout to Anthony Bourdain and Kate Spade for being a beacon to those who looked up to them; they will surely live on through their works.
Twitter: IHOB
If you Google search the phrase "Identity Crisis," IHOP would be the first thing to pop up. In an awful marketing campaign to shove burgers down our throat, IHOP changed their name to IHOB. Yes, ridicule and embarrassment flooded IHOP's DMs, but the hate was the last thing the pancake experts were mad about. They racked up big time, and the lucky few who gave them a chance actually offered stellar reviews for their burgers. So shoutout to IHOB or IHOP for convincing the people that disregarding over 60 years of making pancakes was the best business plan in 2018,
