Darts & Laurels? With school in high gear, more like Charts & Quarrels, are we right? But seriously, thank goodness Halloween is right around the corner, because we could all use a break. Even though we still have a week to go, in the meantime you can hold yourself over with this week’s edition of… Darts & Laurels.
This past Wednesday, American pop culture became singularly focused on “Back to the Future,” as the date, Oct. 21, 2015, marked the day Doc Brown and Marty McFly arrived in the “future” in “Back to the Future Part II.” Here in Gainesville, telecommunication senior Trace Hance, accompanied by The Pride of the Sunshine marching band, dressed up in Marty McFly’s signature denim jacket and puffer vest while pulling up to the Plaza of the Americas in a DeLorean, blowing up Yik Yak and other social media platforms in the process.
Although we mourn for those who weren’t able to spot this gentleman (some on our own staff were only able to spot him cruising down Southwest 10th Street), we applaud both his commitment to the bit and his willingness to make Oct. 21, a normally innocuous day, an utterly memorable one.
Great Scott! Trace Hance gets a Laurel.
As reported by NPR on Thursday, a Gallup poll shows 58 percent of Americans view the National Rifle Association in a favorable light. Guys, no. If it were within AP style, we’d have a sad face and/or thumbs down emoji around this spot. A Dart for the people who should know better.
This week, trailers were released for two of the most popular franchises geek culture has ever known: little-known but beloved cult classic “Star Wars,” and the cultural juggernaut “The Venture Bros.” on Adult Swim. Wait, no, other way around. In any case, “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” is slated to be released in December, with the long-awaited sixth season of “Venture Bros.” to follow in early 2016.
For shaking up the winter by giving cultural consumers a long, warm, geeky embrace, “Star Wars” and “The Venture Bros.” get bespectacled, nerdy and pop-culture-literate Laurels.
Rep. Julio Gonzalez (R-FL) recently introduced a bill in the Florida house similar to that of Indiana’s controversial “religious freedom” bill. How similar, you ask? They’re similar to the point that Rep. Gonzalez’s bill may actually be even worse! According to the Miami New Times, the bill would “ give religious organizations, individuals, some privately owned businesses and health-care facilities the right to deny certain services to people if they feel that their religious or moral beliefs would be broken.”
Yikes. At least Indiana’s bill had the benefit of being relatively well-defined as to who it was discriminating against: The vagueness of this bill — which will most likely wither on the vine — leaves the door open for businesses to discriminate against whomever they want for whatever reason they please.
In the rich tradition of so many Florida Republicans before him, Rep. Gonzalez gets a Dart.
