Move over Pommel Horse Guy: USA’s Curling Rambo becomes cult hero of Winter Olympics

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At Paris 2024, the US had Pommel Horse Guy.At these Winter Olympics, the Americans have a new cult hero: Curling Rambo.Aidan Oldenburg, a member of the US men’s curling team, has attracted attention for his glasses, thick thatch of hair and red bandana.His appeal as an unlikely hero has drawn comparisons with Stephen Nedoroscik, USA’s bespectacled, Rubik’s Cube-solving gymnastics hero who won two bronze medals at the Paris Olympics.Like Nedoroscik, the 24-year-old Oldenburg has hobbies away from his sport.

He is an avid juggler, and has introduced machetes and flaming torches into his routine.His dream growing up was to become an environmental scientist rather than an Olympian, and he has achieved both.His day job involves working with solar and wind projects after graduating with a bachelor’s degree in ecology.He says he started wearing a bandana, similar to the one worn by Sylvester Stallone in the Rambo movies, as “a bit of a joke” at a tournament last year.“We had two games left that we had to play,” he said.

“I was like, let’s have some fun.So an hour and a half before our game, I was like, I’m going to go buy some headbands, I’ll have everyone wear them.”When Oldenburg’s team, skipped by Danny Casper, later qualified for the Olympics he decided the bandana was here to stay.“No one else has the hair for it on our team,” Oldenburg said.“My hair used to be longer than this.

It’s all like a kind of utility and, honestly, it’s so hot out there in the arena, it helps to keep the sweat out of my eyes,”Fans have also started wearing bandanas in tribute to their new hero,“They don’t have easy access to team uniforms and stuff like that,” Oldenburg said,“In other sports like football or baseball, you go buy your favorite player’s uniform and wear it in the stands,The headband, it’s nice and it’s cheap.

It’s pretty fun, too.”Nedoroscik has also given his seal of approval.“I just want to say I came across your story,” Nedoroscik said in a video message he sent to Oldenburg, “and I found you to be such a cool, interesting dude.”The US men’s team won their tournament opener on Wednesday against the Czech Republic but lost to Switzerland on Thursday.
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Jon Stewart calls Maga backlash to Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl show ‘actually pathetic’

Late-night hosts addressed the performative Maga outrage over Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl half-time show.Jon Stewart returned to his Monday night Daily Show post fired up about the Super Bowl, and particularly the outrage from conservative pundits such as Megyn Kelly and Benny Johnson over Bad Bunny’s half-time show, which he performed, as usual entirely in Spanish.Stewart played numerous clips of Fox News hosts et al complaining that they couldn’t understand the Spanish, then cut to a clip of Turning Point USA “All-American Halftime Show” headliner, Kid Rock, singing his hit Bawitdaba, with its gibberish chorus.The host then tore into the rightwing talking point that Bad Bunny’s half-time show, whose overarching theme was pan-American unity, was not “unifying” because it was in Spanish. “Why the fuck is it the Super Bowl Halftime entertainer’s job to unify the country? Is that their job?” he fumed

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Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind was never a love story. It was a warning

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is a film about the gap between what we think we can control and what happens when reality hits. Over the years, many critics and fans have celebrated Michel Gondry’s film as a tender-hearted love story. But a rewatch might reveal that Gondry’s second collaboration with postmodern American screenwriter Charlie Kaufman is much closer to another, twistier genre: hard sci-fi.By now, the story of Eternal Sunshine is familiar. Depressed introvert Joel (Jim Carrey) meets Clementine (Kate Winslet), whose box-dyed hair colour and moods change as often as the weather

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Actor Catherine O’Hara died of a blood clot in her lungs, death certificate says

Catherine O’Hara, the Emmy-winning actor and beloved star of the series Schitt’s Creek and the 1990 hit movie Home Alone, died from a blood clot in her lungs, her death certificate revealed Monday.The death certificate released by the Los Angeles county medical examiner’s office also listed rectal cancer as an underlying cause.The Canadian-born performer was rushed to the hospital on 30 January after having difficulty breathing at her home in the ritzy Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles.The 71-year-old, who starred in Beetlejuice and more recently in Apple TV’s Hollywood satire show The Studio, was declared dead a short time later.The actor’s death sent shock waves through Hollywood with tributes pouring in from past co-stars – including Schitt’s Creek creators Eugene and Dan Levy, Beetlejuice’s Michael Keaton and Home Alone’s Macaulay Culkin

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‘We recorded it in a kitchen!’ How China Crisis made Black Man Ray

Ed and I had just come off a long tour of Europe and North America supporting Simple Minds and needed a break. I immersed myself in music-making with a synth, drum machine and a four-track Tascam Portastudio. I was very inspired by Brian Eno. I’d seen the words “found sounds” on his album credits. The notion that any sound could be included in a recording struck me as magical

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Super Bowl: Bad Bunny, the ads and everything but the football – as it happened

Well, I could not tell you a thing about that game – I’ve heard that it was a boring outcome for a boring match-up – but it does not matter: the real winner tonight was Bad Bunny, who delivered a raucous, intricate and wildly ambitious half-time show that exceeded already sky-high expectations. With the world watching and many in the US government actively rooting against him (you can guess who took to Truth Social already), the Puerto Rican artist born Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio thoroughly stomped on the haters with an exuberant 13-minute show that both honored his roots and championed an expansive view of American unity.It’s hard to overstate how much pressure Bad Bunny was under, as the first all Spanish-language half-time performer at a time when the US government is profiling Spanish speakers for its brutal immigration enforcement campaign. But Benito made the whole affair feel light as a feather, from the sugar cane fields to the bodegas to the rollicking casita party to a full-on real wedding (and surprise duet with Latino pop trailblazer Ricky Martin). Truly, this set was exquisite

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Perth festival 2026: Swan River bursts to life with a stunning trail of stories and light

From dazzling light installations to unexpected conversations on pop-up phones, Perth festival has opened with a timely celebration of culture and communityGet our weekend culture and lifestyle emailAs families gather for sunset at Perth’s Kings Park, a giant golden orb glows on the horizon, shooting ribbons of light into the night sky.“It looks like an upside down jellyfish!” a child shouts gleefully, gazing up at this mysterious beacon. Others watch from park benches or drift slowly around its base, as a gentle wash of sound spills from its centre. The work is called Karla Bidi, translating to “fire trail” in Noongar: a light and sound installation that draws on the ancient practice of lighting campfires along the Derbarl Yerrigan (Swan River), which marks the opening of this year’s Perth festival.Featuring 11 installations stretching from Mandoon (Guildford) to Walyalup (Fremantle), Karla Bidi lights a path between communities along the river – a trail of gathering places that recalls how these banks have always been a place for story and connection