Good Morning, RVA: Hot, dang hot

Possible showers this afternoon could possibly lower temperatures, but don’t bet the farm on it.

June 19, 2014; 7:06 AM • by Ross Catrow

Good morning, RVA! It’s 78 °F, and the sun’s barely awake! Today we’re looking at highs in the mid-90s and a more serious threat of thunderstorms, maybe even some severe weather, in the afternoon–not that it’ll bring relief from the heat or anything.

Water cooler

Today’s Juneteenth, a celebration of the end of slavery. The Elegba Folklore Society has a ton of stuff planned for the weekend, starting with a concert at The Hippodrome tonight.

Yesterday, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office voted to cancel the Washington Redskins’ trademark–the WaPo has a good breakdown of the ruling. Basically, the Skins can continue to use their trademark exclusively while they appeal (which could take a long time). But! Does the new ruling put enough pressure on the organization and the NFL to force a name change in the meantime?

Amazon announced their Fire Phone which has a 3D interface based on four front-facing cameras that track the position of your face. You can tilt your head to “peek around” different parts of the interface–something that’s gonna make you look real awesome as you surreptitiously check your phone under the table at the weekly staff meeting.

American Apparel’s board has ousted president and CEO Dov Charney “for cause.” Whether the cause is related to anything listed under the controversy section of his Wikipedia page is unknown.

Sports!

• Squirrels dropped another to Binghamton, look to avoid the sweep tonight.
• Kickers fall to New England Revolution, 3-2, and are booted from the US Open Cup.
• Nats beat the Astros 5-6 for the second night in a row, take on the Braves at 7:05 PM.

World Cup

Spain’s loss to Chile yesterday sends the defending champions packing. I’m kind of worried for the people of Spain, they take soccer pretty seriously over there. Spain, if you ever need to talk or grab a beer or whatever, you can always give me a call.

Today’s schedule:

• Colombia vs. Ivory Coast, 12:00 PM, ESPN
• Uruguay vs. England, 3:00 PM, ESPN
• Japan vs. Greece, 6:00 PM, ESPN

This morning’s longread

The Blue Shell and its Discontents

Many words on how the evolution of Mario Kart’s blue shell is a perfect analog for the changing world we live in (seriously).

In contrast to the Spiny Shell – a hazard that strips certainty and authority from the player – the Blue Shell has always been associated with speed, power, and security. Despite its rarity, the Blue Shell is a conservative bonus, a feature that entrenches the comforts of Mario, Luigi, and their human pilots rather than wresting it away. Would it be too much to say that Spiny Shell was a Gen X’ers lament, an NES-bred slacker’s plaid, tortugal sigh, while Blue Shell was a Gen Y transitional object, a comfort blanket – blue with calm like Linus van Pelt’s – that proffers assurance to the SNES milksop every time, no matter how infrequently it might appear? Probably so.

Photo by: Novafly

This morning’s Instagram

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June 19, 2014 7:06 AM 0