Heavy Metal band Slayer will appear as themselves in a brand new Christmas movie on the Hallmark channel. The movie is titled “A Very Slayer Christmas” and will air this holiday season. The plot…

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Ted Nugent On The View. ABC announced today that Rocker Ted Nugent will be joining the cast of The View. Nugent will replace Whoopi Goldberg who was placed on suspension again. It is rumored that Whoopi…

Classic Garth. Country music singer Garth Brooks has always had a little quirkiness to him. He's an undoubtable superstar, but he's a little weird. At least from the perspective of a fan. Garth talks about himself in third person, he gets choked up more than anyone on the planet, and he's released some unintentionally scary videos over the years. That's why people are always asking him where he's hiding the bodies, in case you didn't know. Occasionally, Brooks pulls back the curtain on his own to let fans learn more about him. He's often done it the most in his Anthology Series, of which the fourth part was just released. The Anthology Part IV: Going Home came out in early December, and this part of the "Garthology" focuses in on the 14 year period that the country music singer spent away from music after his surprise retirement in 2000. One of the stories he included was the proposal he pulled off for his wife Trisha Yearwood. Like a gentlemen, Brooks first got the permission of Yearwood's parents before he decided to go forward with his proposal plans: "I have Jack and Gwen all to myself on a plane, and I ask them for their daughter's hand in marriage. This was in the spring of 2005, and I get their permission. And now I have to ask the three daughters." Trisha also contributed portions of the anthology, and she apparently admitted that she had no clue that all of this was going on. Garth's next step was to talk to his three daughters, whom he had with first and then ex-wife, Sandy Mahl. Brooks described the conversation with them as follows: "I tell the girls to get dressed up for dinner. ‘What are we going to dinner for, Dad?’ I said, ‘We’ll go out tonight and I'll tell you.' So, they're ten, eight and six years old at this point. We're eating dinner, and we started talking about the future. And August or somebody said, ‘Dad, are you getting around to ask us about you marrying Trisha?’ And I said, ‘Yes, I am.’ And they were all fine. I said, ‘But this conversation goes deeper than that. She doesn’t have children, so if something happens to me, you have to take care of her. So, you three and Trisha are going to have to get married, as well. You'll exchange rings, vows, everything.'" Okay... that's definitely a different way of viewing things, but one could just chalk it up as just a very caring father trying to do best by his daughters. Nothing to really see there. Though there was a lot to see in the next part. Garth had already asked Trisha's parents for permission, and they said yes. Then he went the extra mile and talked to his daughters, making sure they were all good with it. They gave him the green light. So then, in Garth's mind, there was just one more person to check in with. His ex-wife Sandy. Brooks revealed in writing that he asked for Sandy Mahl's blessing to move forward with Trisha Yearwood: "If Sandy would've said no, then that would've affected a lot of things. The brakes would've came on because we'd have to love together as a family." And according to Garth, his ex-wife said that it was the "right move for our family." That's a real team-player mindset from Sandy Mahl right there. After Brooks seemingly asked every person he knew for the blessing to ask Trisha Yearwood to marry him, the country singer finally got to actually asking Trisha in the spring of 2005. Garth had thought up a very unique and special way of asking Yearwood, and it involved a statue revealing of himself at Buck Owens' Crystal Palace in Bakersfield, California. At the "Legends in Bronze" event that acted as the nightclub's grand opening, statues of Merle Haggard, George Jones, George Strait and Garth Brooks were to be revealed, among others. During the big reveal, Garth instructed that a wedding ring be on his statue's hand: "When they unveiled the statue, I took Miss Yearwood's hand. They've already unveiled Haggard, Jones, Strait… I mean this is pretty fricking cool. And I look at Trisha and point to that ring, and it was like everyone was there, but nobody was there but us. And the first thing she did was grab her face and start shaking her head from side to side, and I thought, ‘Oh s--t, did I misread this one?" Fortunately, Trisha's shaking of her head was more of a disbelief nod. She later explained that she had simply had her breath taken away by the gesture: "I know it must have scared him to death, but my first reaction was, ‘No! This can’t be happening in front of all these people! But yes! Yes! Yes!'" And the rest, as they say, is history. Nothing like Garth Brooks using a bronze statue of himself to ask for his wife's hand in marriage.

Sounds like we've got some new music on the way from country music's real life cowboy, Colter Wall. If you've never given Colter Wall a shot, I'd encourage you to do so as soon as you can (as in right now). The 29-year-old is wise beyond his years, and ironically enough, the music he makes harkens back to a time before his years. It's as if Wall was picked up in the 1960's or 1970's and dropped right here in the present day to save country music. The Canadian singer-songwriter takes pride in keeping the tradition of country music alive. There aren't a lot of people doing narrative songwriting in modern country, but then again, there aren't many people like Colter Wall in the modern country. And part of that is intentional on Wall's part. Colter doesn't fit into the mold of country in 2024, nor does he want to. He even recently talked about how he thinks awards shows are a huge waste of time. It was actually in that same conversation on the Rodeo Time Podcast with Dale Brisby that the baritone country artist revealed that he's got a new album on the way. When asked if he had any new music in the works, Colter Wall somewhat excitedly answered with a yes - though they apparently hit some non-music-related roadblocks along the way: "We just got finished actually. Just got done. Started a new one like a month ago, then the pedal steel player in the band got everyone really sick. We call him 'Muskrat.' He gave everybody the flu really bad so I couldn't sing. We had like two more days in the studio to finish." Yikes. Wall went on to explain his usual process for crafting an album, and how that plan got thrown off course because of the sickness that worked through his band: "I usually try to have a week... make a record in a week. (That's) usually the way it works out for me. The last couple of days, no one could do anything. We were all zombies at that point. So everyone went home and then we booked two more days, that was just the other week. We went back down to the studio and cinched up the record and got her done." As for when the new music can be expected, Colter Wall said that they'll try to get to mixing it as soon as they can. However, he expects that the album will probably see the light of day later in 2025: "I don't know when it will be out. Probably... I would guess, usually they want to shoot for or put that stuff out around July or August. Hopefully this (next) year we'll get it mixed and out into the world. New record, all original songs (with) one cover on there." Since fans will have to wait a while, podcast host Dale Brisby asked if Wall could at least reveal a name or concept for the project. The "Johnny Boy's Bones" singer laughingly said that they have yet to name it, but he happily explained the inspiration behind the collection of music they put together: "I don't know what it's called. I kind of just wanted to make a straight... it's just a love letter to country music. Really it's just a bunch of sad drinking songs mostly. I just wanted to make a record that sounded like Merle Haggard and the Strangers. Late 60's into the early 70's. Honestly, to me, that's where country music peaked. That's my favorite stuff to listen to and I think that was the best band in country music. I wanted to make a record that reminded me of that. So that's what we did... or tried to (do) anyways." COME ON WITH IT. You can hear more from Colter Wall in the interview below: https://youtu.be/3-02YGQT0U8?si=INq-glMTlw_DBxgP&t=2590

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Politics Congress Has a Chance Actually to Help Americans Before Recess The Senate should pass the DeOndra Dixon INCLUDE Act without delay. Credit: rarrarorro In the month or so since Kamala Harris was roundly defeated at the polls, much ink has been spilt, and rightly so, on the worthlessness—even the counter-productivity—of celebrity endorsements. The self-righteousness of Hollywood activists often grates; but sometimes celebs can surprise us—in a good way. Jon Stewart’s advocacy for veterans and 9/11 first responders is a good example. And last week, the Academy Award winner and ubiquitous (if you watch ESPN anyway) BetMGM pitchman Jamie Foxx stormed Capitol Hill with cameras in tow in support of more funding for Down syndrome research. Some background is in order.  The legislation in question, the DeOndra Dixon INCLUDE Project Act, is named after Foxx’s sister, who had Down syndrome and passed away at the age of 36 in October 2020. The bipartisan bill sailed through the House in mid-September, spearheaded by the Global Down Syndrome Foundation (GLOBAL) and ushered through committee by the House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA). The bill would appropriate $90 million a year to the National Institutes of Health over the next five years for research into Down syndrome. In a statement released after the legislation was sent to the Senate, Rogers noted that the legislation will support research into Down syndrome, which has been dramatically underfunded despite affecting one in every 700 babies. Better understanding individuals with this disability–and truly valuing the unique gifts they possess–will help unleash their potential and benefit every American who knows someone battling other diseases, like cancer and Alzheimer’s. As the proud mom of a child with Down syndrome, I am committed to working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to see this bill signed into law. As GLOBAL points out, for decades Down syndrome was one of the least funded of NIH’s research priorities, averaging between $16 and $20 million in funding annually. That began to change in 2018 when the group, working alongside Representatives Rogers, Tom Cole, and Rose DeLauro, established the INCLUDE Project. As Rogers put it last week, “Although this is the most common chromosome abnormality, it is also the least funded at NIH.” As advocates note, people with Down syndrome are at significantly higher risk for congenital heart defects, sleep apnea, and Alzheimer’s disease. Life expectancy for a person with Down syndrome is about 60, for the average American it is about 77. With the 118th Congress about to adjourn, the Senate, prioritizing Ukraine and other far-off places, has yet to act. So, time is of the essence, which explains Foxx’s well publicized trip to the Hill. During a press conference, Foxx explained, “My sister was a big part of my life. She lived an incredible life. People like DeOndra need help. It feels really good to talk about a bill that would be in my sister’s name to continue her legacy.” It hardly needs pointing out that Congress too often prioritizes and indeed subsidizes and protects the most malign forces operating within American society.   From bad actors within the defense industry and civil aviation (hello, Boeing) to the modern day robber barons who run the financial services, pharmaceutical and for-profit health care industries, far from acting as “the people’s house” Congress too often functions as the funding and insurance arm of corporate America. The DeOndra Dixon INCLUDE Act is a chance for Congress to put our most vulnerable and in many ways most admirable citizens first—for a change. The post Congress Has a Chance Actually to Help Americans Before Recess appeared first on The American Conservative.