COVID-19 Hits Home

Now that face masks have become a part of our daily attire and video chats have become our regular form of interaction, the world has transitioned to life inside. For Kassi Sanchez’s family, COVID-19 made their transition a bit more difficult.

After what was expected to be a quick visit to her grandparent’s home during her spring break, 22-year-old Kassi Sanchez had unknowingly made the decision that their home would be her place of residency for the next two months.

According to The Center for Disease Control and Prevention, over 950,000 cases of the COVID-19 virus have been confirmed in the United States. In a matter of weeks, Kassi’s grandparents, 68-year-old, Ken Kuhnhofer and 67-year-old Linda Kuhnhofer were added to that growing number while living in their home in Palmdale, California. “They had complained of changes in their temperatures and weak muscles but had no signs of a fever or cough” Kassi explained.  Only two weeks after their initial symptoms, the Kuhnhofer’s visited their local hospital and soon their lives would change drastically.

The virus managed to affect the two quite differently. Ken Kuhnhofer was transferred to the hospital shortly after his diagnosis and after five days, his body was forced to rely on a ventilator. Kassi’s family was quite literally ripped apart in a matter of days.

Days turned into weeks without a definite answer of Kassi’s grandfather’s condition and during this time was a pivotal moment for the family but more specifically, Kassi.

Following the diagnosis of her grandfather, Kassi and 18 of her family members were asked to have their blood tested. After a small prick to the finger, Kassi’s results came back positive, confirming the COVID-19 virus was within her blood but reacting less aggressively than her grandfather’s. With Kassi’s living situation being confined under the same roof as her grandparent’s, this did not come as a surprise.

The next step the doctors were working towards was finding a positive match for a plasma transfusion to give Kassi’s grandfather. Kassi was told that “The plasma is important to get into your body because it has positive antibodies to fight the virus”. Without the donation, Ken was not expected to recover quickly.

With her grandfather’s condition still undetermined, Kassi and her family asked their loved ones to join a prayer circle at their home, from the comfort of the cars, of course.

Hundreds of cars lined Kassi’s mother’s house. Growing up, Kassi’s family was involved in Quartz Hill Little League so actively, they decided to build a baseball field in their backyard, welcoming the field to the local teams in the valley. The field was just as welcoming on this day, bringing together a team of people, praying and hoping for Ken’s recovery.

Hours after the prayer circle, Kassi’s family was contacted by the doctor confirming his condition to seemingly be getting better. “His lung on his left side was still inflamed and the one on his right side seemed to be clearing up” Kassi explained after a phone call with his doctor. Although this news was positive in his recovery process, her family was still hoping for a plasma match for him.

Following that fateful weekend, her family received the news they were waiting for. The baseball field had worked its magic and their prayers were answered. The doctors had found a match for her grandfather’s plasma transfusion. Kassi explained her feeling of relief, “For us to get the plasma gave us so much hope that it was just so encouraging that we could get something that could possibly help him.” It was an emotional turnaround for the family to hear such a drastic change in his condition.

After the phone call, Mr. Kuhnhofer was given the plasma that same night resulting in a positive change in his vitals and ultimately allowing him to be taken off of the ventilator. Kassi was overwhelmed with emotion affirming, “At this point, we are crying. How many times do we hear that people are realistically surviving this virus?”

Kassi’s family was in preparation for the worst. Without any prior knowledge of the virus and the fear of the unknown, it was difficult for them to find strength in his journey. The moment she was able to speak to him, Kassi was filled with hope stating, “The next day we were able to FaceTime him and he wasn’t able to talk but he could make noises and he could say, ‘Ya’.”

That one phrase was the hope they were looking for in his journey. Each day, Mr. Kuhnhofer is getting stronger and stronger with the help of his doctors and family by his side. Kassi’s family had angels in their home, the hospital and the outfield. 

Couchella with a side of Stagecouch

As the infamous weekend comes to fruition, festival-goers reminisce on last year’s desert party.

Courtesy of TMZ

Coachella and Stagecoach are officially postponed, but that’s old news. We are currently in the middle of what would have been the first weekend of Stagecoach, the annual country music festival held in Coachella Valley.

After Goldenvoice organization released a statement stating that both festivals will be postponed until October, fans of the festival shared their frustrations via social media.

Courtesy of Los Angeles Magazine

Speculators have voiced their concern for the festival’s postponed date, saying that by October the virus might still be looming. A new name has been assigned to the original date, calling it Couchella and Stagecouch, A virtual experience of music and friends, all from the comfort of your couch.

Dudewhatpodcast decided to take it one step further. Although the original intention of Couchella and Stagecouch was considered to be a spoof, 4 roommates from Fullerton, California decided to make the best of their weekend in quarantine, in honor of the festivals of course.

The dudes of Dudewhatpodcast are Jon Comouche, Carson Montano, Bradley Toms and Sean Stockbauer. Comouche recently found himself working from home after the COVID-19 forced his offices at On Air With Ryan Seacrest to close. In an attempt to battle a little boredom at home, he enlisted his roommates in a podcast show, about dudes.

In lieu of the festival season, Comouche and his roommates have participated in the virtual concerts and Zoom calls held by their favorite artists, but Jon wanted to take it one step further.

The Dudewhatpodcast team created their own Stagecouch festival, through Zoom, of course. They lined their front lawn with couches, hay bails, an American flag, a speaker and joined in with their festival country attire.

Courtesy of Jon Comouche’s Instagram

Their neighbors and a couple joggers were some of the few that were able to experience and listen to their festival in person but they also had their guests tune in, live on Zoom. “In the midst of all the negativity, it was a great way for us to focus on something more positive, while getting a few friends in on it too,” says Comouche.

Too hot for quarantine?

Netflix’s new binge-worthy show, Too Hot to Handle may be surpassing The Tiger King.

Courtesy of PennLive.com

The show’s premise is centered around ten singles, eight episodes and one cash prize starting at $100,000. The only catch is that these ten singles must create genuine connections, without any hanky-panky. If the contestants break the rules of the island and voice over host, Lana, then the cash prize will decrease rapidly.

In a matter of four weeks, the Netflix series follows around the cast as their sexual temptations are heightened. The show takes place on a remote island with cameras watching their every move and I mean, every move. Since the contestants are not allowed to partake in any sexual activity, this can easily be compared to our quarantine relationships as well.

The show’s point system is laid out carefully, deducting up to $3,000 for kissing and up to a $6,000 deduction for oral sex. Don’t even get me started on how much they lose if the contestants engage in sex. Throughout the game, several newcomers join the party and introduce even more distractions whether the others like it or not.

The games that the contestants participate in are centered around self improvement and they require the contestants to dive deep into their emotions. If a contestant was not willing or able, he or she were forced off the island and eliminated from the cash prize earnings.

Through eight episodes, and a whole lot of drama, Netflix hits the mark with this drama-filled season. Take it from me, it is binge-worthy and quarantine approved.

Clare Crawley’s road to the rose

The Bachelorette franchise battles with their decision to continue Crawley’s search for love during concerns over COVID-19 outbreak.

THE BACHELORETTE’S 16th Season- Clare Crawley

As production came to an end in Season 15 of The Bachelor, Clare Crawley was introduced as Season 16’s Bachelorette during the highly anticipated finale Peter Weber’s season. As a former contestant from Juan Pablo’s infamous season, Crawley was runner-up and forced to go home without the man, ring, or rose. This year’s season is looking to be just as disappointing for the 39 year-old single as the warnings of the COVID-19 virus put the world on lock down and potentially, her chance to find love.

Sources have confirmed to Variety Magazine that the Bachelor franchise is looking at multiple options to continue Crawley’s season in an effort to please the Bachelor nation. The franchise is actively looking for a remote location to house the contestants for the weeks of the show and continue filming as usual. The only change would be no spontaneous trips to elaborate locations and minimal contact, which may prove to be difficult for Crawley in her journey to find love.

The show’s fate may also take the direction of its two spin-off’s, Bachelor in Paradise or Bachelor: Winter Games. The concept of these two shows had the same purpose: to find love. Although, they specifically brought a slight twist of competition to see who would fight the hardest.

Bachelor in Paradise Season 6 Contestants
Courtesy of TVInsider

Season 16 of the Bachelorette is still in their pre-production stage even though this speculation has come forward. Sources say their season may be set to air in the fall, rather than their expected summer schedule. Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the franchise wants to be cautious in their efforts without disappointing their loyal fan base. Since social distancing has been strongly advised since the middle of March, the show has been battling with postponing the show entirely.

America’s favorite serial killer

By: Danielle Zois

Netflix unveils their new film, titled, “Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile,” which uncovers the relationship between Ted Bundy and his then girlfriend, Liz Kendall.

Image result for zac efron as ted bundy movie
Courtesy of CNN.com

Bundy is responsible for the murder of at least 30 women and he finally confessed to those malicious acts moments before he was put to death by the electric chair. Officials believe he had murdered many more which have still never been found. It was in 1970 when women began missing and found brutally murdered and Bundy was found as the primary suspect. He continued to claim his innocence throughout every trial, every escape and every phone call he had made to his girlfriend, Kendall.

Image result for zac efron ted bundy movie
Courtesy of apnews.com

The story is portrayed through Kendall’s experience and battle with Bundy’s true character. Kendall is played by Lily Collins and Bundy’s chilling performance is played by Zac Efron. In a recent interview, Efron said at the Sundance Film Festival in January when the film premiered that he felt a responsibility to make sure it wasn’t a “celebration of Ted Bundy . . . But, definitely, a psychological study of who this person was.”

Efron’s worry was justified because of the fact that Bundy was infamously glorified by women all across the country during his trial. What was ironic is that they all shared something in common with his victims. He had accumulated a fan base and was able to use it to his advantage in the court room since it was the first publicly broadcasted court case in history.

According to APNews.com, “It was a deliberate choice on the part of filmmaker, Joe Berlinger, now something of a Bundy scholar with this fictionalized film and his popular Netflix documentary series, “Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes.” Berlinger wanted to convey a message to the audience about how Bundy effected the lives of those closest to him when they still believed him until the end.

Collins’s stated, “It’s based on what Liz would have seen, which is nothing. In order to make the audience feel like they’re in the mindset of Liz at the very end of the movie, you have to earn that. And it almost heightens the anxiety because you’re teetering on the edge of ‘is he or isn’t he guilty?” The film is able to capture an audience and make them feel torn about their feelings towards a killer. Twitter user @SamanthaLynne1020 said, “It’s incredible how much Zac Efron transformed into Ted Bundy. INCREDIBLE. I know his whole entire story but caught myself a few times feeling bad for him…?!?! Wtf. A great portrayal of a master manipulator. They’re out there…”.

For those who still question his motives, the story proves that the ones he loved felt the same way. There was not explanation for his vicious crimes but it begs the question as to why he never harmed Kendall? The Netfilx movie ends with a chilling scene between Bundy and Kendall displaying his affection towards her and how much he cared for her until the end. She begs for his truth but even couldn’t even find an explanation as to why he did the things he did.

Stagecoach and Diplo?

By: Danielle Zois

The annual country music festival that headlines in the popular county of Indio seems to have brought out a taste of Coachella.

Image result for stagecoach diplo
Courtesy of the Press Enterprise

Stagecoach is a country music festival followed by the two famous weekends of Coachella. It brings thousands of fans to the desert sun to enjoy music, beer and over priced corndogs. This year, Stagecoach introduced headliners such as, Luke Bryan, Jason Aldean and Sam Hunt. One of the not so expected performers was Diplo, a DJ and a veteran to the Coachella festival.

Image result for lil nas and billy ray cyrus
Courtesy of BBCNews.com

Diplo’s performance was highly anticipated due to the new release of “Old Town Road“. This song was originally performed by the unexpected duo, Lil Nas and Billy Ray Cyrus, and gained its popularity earlier this month. Diplo released his remix and performed it for the entire Stagecoach Palamino stage late Sunday night to close the festival weekend.

Twitter exploded with memes and viral tweets when news broke that the trio would be performing for the country fans. “Hearing Diplo crushing it at #Stagecoach and hearing all my country loving friends wanting to get into EDM makes my heart happy,” one twitter user wrote. Another newfound fan said, “Well that was a gamechanger! What a way to end Stagecoach 2019!”.

Courtesy of Twitter.com

His performance included another collab with country artist, Sam Hunt and a performance with Cam Country, debuting their song, “So Long”. After his performance, Diplo announced the beginning of his new country influenced project titled, “Thomas Wesley”, named after his birth name. His project is still expected to have his DJ flare with an influence of country twang.

The Act and the story behind it

By: Danielle Zois

Hulu’s new series unfolds the dark history of Gypsy Rose’s childhood and what led to the murder of her mother.

Image result for the act
courtesy of IMBD

With over 91% on Rotten Tomatoes, this twisted hit series is making an impact on its new fans. The true story is told through the eyes of actress Joey King who plays Gypsy Rose, a young girl living with a debilitating disease and a debilitating mother known as
Dee Dee Blanchard and played by Patricia Arquette. Rose’s “diagnosis” makes her unable to walk, eat, and sleep without a wheelchair, a feeding tube and a breathing machine at night. The series delves into Rose’s childhood and uncovers the abuse she endured through her time while living with her mother. Blanchard took advantage of Rose’s life and she funneled money and gifts through her daughter’s misfortune.

The Hulu series unfolds the most important fact of Rose’s life in episode 2: that she was never really sick. In fact, Rose could walk, eat, sleep and engage in all things that a regular teenager wanted to do. Rose was shocked to find out that her mother had been lying to gain sympathy and so, Rose becomes curious of the life she could have had. Blanchard forced her daughter to believe and act a in a way that was cruel and inhumane. The series provides the first look of Rose’s feeling towards her mother and even showed that she continued to pretend because she still loved her.

“Experts would later deem it to be a case of Munchausen by proxy syndrome, a mental disorder in which a caregiver makes up or induces illnesses for sympathy or attention,” according to Los Angeles Times.

Image result for gypsy rose blanchard
Courtesy of ATI.com

After years of torture, Rose begin to plan her mothers death with the help of her internet boyfriend, Nicholas Godejohn. The series tells the story in a way that makes the audience feel for Rose and understand her decision to kill her mother. Rose was subjected to such physical, mental and verbal abuse that it almost makes it seem okay.

In 2015, Rose convinced her boyfriend to murder Dee Dee Blanchard in their home. Rose and her boyfriend were convicted of the crime and Rose was sentenced to 10 years in prison while Godejohn was sentenced for life.

Hulu’s choice to create a visual story for an audience was important because it showed a true crime story but in the way you would not expect. It showed the bond that Rose and her mother shared as well as the hatred Rose grew to experience. In an interview with Los Angeles Times, Joey King says, “The bottom line is, she and her mom both had the same desire: to love and be loved,” King said. “But Dee Dee’s love for Gypsy was so toxic and so unhealthy that even though Gypsy loved her, she just wasn’t getting what a young girl needs from a mother or from anyone.” Their relationship was not easy to understand but it was important for the world to see.

Coachella… but mostly the outfits

By: Danielle Zois

This past weekend, festival lovers flocked to the famous desert land in Indio County to enjoy performances from today’s top artists while grubbing on expensive food.

Every year, festival goers bring their unique style and dance moves to the event known for its celebrities and their performances. These music lovers begin their preparations for the festival months in advance in the hopes of creating a memorable look for their Instagram fans to double tap on. This year, it was easy to see that the trends that were seen the most were neon, luxury brands and of course, minimal clothing.

Courtesy of CRFashionbook.com

With yet another three day experience on the horizon, weekend two gives even more attendees the opportunity to outdo those before them. The festival opened the floodgates for Youtubers and fashion bloggers to critique celebrity style while providing their fans with harsh critiques, both positive and negative. Youtuber and stylist, Jazmin Whitley used her platform to comment on six different looks in her video, titled, “BEST and WORST of Coachella FASHION!!! *VERY HONEST REVIEW*“. Throughout her video, she expresses her brutal opinion on celebrity fashion and the dos and don’ts. She mentioned celebrities like Shay Mitchell, Kylie Jenner and James Charles and their fashion choices, both good and bad.

Courtesy of YouTube.com

James Charles, make up artist and social media influencer, stole the show this year when he opted for not only one, but two outfits leaving little to the imagination. Charles is known for he outlandish costumes and he even wore a similar outfit to last years event.

As a Coachella veteran, Charles made an effort to stand out and prove that his confidence is one of his biggest assets. “I CANNOT WAIT FOR COACHELLA AND TO HAVE MY ASS OUT ALL WEEKEND!!!!!!” said Charles in a twitter post only days before the big event. With that being said, bloggers are prepped for round two and the fans are expecting even more to talk about.

Hannah B.’s Bachelorette journey begins

By: Danielle Zois

The most dramatic season of ABC’s, The Bachelor has ended and the drama continues with Hannah Brown.

Courtesy of Cheat Sheet Entertainment

As a little recap for those of you that do not know Hannah Brown (known as Hannah B. on the show), she was recently on this season of ABC’s, The Bachelor, fighting for Colton Underwood ‘s heart, along with 30 other women. Underwood was the first virgin in the show’s history to begin his journey of finding true love and the fans loved it. He caused an uproar from the folks at home when he expressed his love for Cassie Randolph even though he was still currently involved with two other women.

Courtesy of The Know

Randolph unfortunately did not feel the same way and shockingly, left the show. In Bachelor fashion, the finale usually ends with a proposal. Randolph felt as though it was too rushed even though she was in love with him. The season unfortunately ended with two more dramatic breakups with the other women but, the finale ended with a bright note as well. Underwood was able to reconcile his relationship with Randolph without any pressure of a ring at the end, just as boyfriend and girlfriend. Fans were supportive in their decision, even though we were all expecting an engagement. Twitter user, Audrey is raining stated, “Cassie & Colton are a MILLION times better than any chick flick. Here’s to showing real relationships, problems and all!” Viewers were able to relate with the couple and find their relationship to be down to earth and something real.

Here’s where Brown comes in. She was a fan favorite for many reasons, but mainly because of the drama she stirred up in the house. According to her Bachelor Biography, she was born and raised in Tuscaloosa, Alabama and is a former Miss Alabama USA 2018 winner. Her season with Underwood started off a little rocky but as the episodes carried on, she began to open up and showed her true character. She proved that she is a kind and compassionate person who fell in love with Underwood, although, Underwood did not feel the same way. Brown’s heart was broken during this season and she was sent home. Fortunately, this opened up the opportunity for her to find true love and so, Hannah B. was announced as this years Bachelorette.

Hannah B. was announced as the new Bachelorette during the final episode of The Bachelor by Chris Harrison, the host of the long running Bachelor franchise. The announcement was made in front of a live studio audience and that is where she also met her first five men that will be fighting for her love.

Courtesy of ABC

Brown was asked to give out one rose to begin her night, and after meeting five of the men with only a brief conversation, she gave her rose to Cam. He wowed Brown by performing a freestyle rap which seemed to impress her enough to give him her first rose. “Cam … how you pumped up the jams, that was awesome,” Brown said as she struggled to pin the rose to his suit jacket. For this season, fans should expect to see those five men and about 25 more all fighting for Hannah B.’s love. As each season goes by, contestants are proving that the show is about love and not just your average reality show. Brown’s season is expected to be filled with Roll Tide pride and always a little drama.

Olivia Jade and her YouTube career

YouTuber, Olivia Jade, revealed her true feelings about enrolling in college months before the infamous college scam emerged.

Olivia Jade is known to the YouTube community as a beauty guru and fashion channel and she has surpassed 1.9 million followers at the young age of 19. In the recent scandal regarding celebrity parents and the bribes they paid to allow their children to be admitted in to some of the top schools in the United States, Jade and her mother, Lori Loughlin, found themselves on the forefront. Fox News stated, “Loughlin and her husband, Mossimo Giannulli are accused of agreeing to pay $500,000 in bribes to have their two daughters designated as recruits for the University of Southern California crew team despite that fact that neither child participated in the sport.”

Image result for olivia jade
Courtesy of Teen Vogue

Since Jade and her mother are so well known in the industry, this scandal took a toll on both of their careers. Jade has recently been dropped from her collaboration with Sephora which recently released a new palette with her name on it. Along with many hate videos and comments online, Fox News reported that a classmate says she’s not shocked at the family’s alleged involvement with a nationwide college admissions scandal. Jade was also attacked for posting several YouTube videos stating “I don’t really care about school.” This added fuel to the fire for more YouTubers to comment on the matter. Videos have been released such as Sophielovexo’s, “I got rejected from my dream school and it’s Lori Loughlin’s fault” and Emma Monden’s, “Dear Olivia Jade, From a USC Reject“.

Image result for olivia jade crew
Courtesy of Cheat Sheet

Jade is also accompanied by her sister, Isabella Giannulli in the wake of the criticism. Both have reportedly withdrawn from their classes due to bullying at their school according to Page Six. Although they were both involved in the scandal, it is yet unknown whether they had knowledge of it all. After all, they are still both young girls and this type of negative attention can be overwhelming and disheartening for anyone. Unfortunately, since their mother and father are both in the public eye, we find that they seem to be the easiest to blame. No comment have currently been made by Jade or her sister’s behalf.