She finished a marathon in her wedding gown to honor her late husband
With about three miles remaining in the London Marathon, Laura Coleman-Day jogged off the road and onto a median — but not because she was tired.
Her friends were waiting, holding the ivory wedding dress Coleman-Day had worn on the same day six years earlier, the day her husband Xander told her she looked beautiful in it.
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Yahoo
9 hours ago
- Yahoo
‘SNL's' Mikey Day Has Knack for Getting Crazy Characters to Go Viral, But Says ‘I'm Not Really Sure Where This Stuff Comes From'
'SNL' fans know Mikey Day as the guy who turns up in a bunch of sketches every week, maybe as the father who gets into traffic arguments that require lots of hand gestures and signs or in a longstanding impression of Donald Trump Jr. Behind the camera, however, Day is increasingly known as someone who can help everyone from Kate McKinnon to Tom Hanks go viral — even if the average viewer of the long-running comedy showcase has no idea of his unique abilities. More from Variety Jimmy Fallon Says 'People Want You to Fail' When You're on 'SNL', Adds Dealing With Hate Is the 'Absolute Worst': 'You Can't Make Everyone Like You' 'SNL 50' Becomes Most-Watched Season in Three Years, Hitting 8.1 Million Average Viewers After One Week Andrea Mitchell on Rebuilding Faith in the News Media: 'Trust Is the Coin of the Realm, and We Have to Be the Gold Standard' Without Day and his writing partner, Streeter Seidell, there would be no David S. Pumpkins, the kooky Halloween figure who even made his way into an animated special at NBC, or Miss Rafferty, the strange woman who is often kidnapped by aliens. Last season, Day helped conceive of a sketch in which he played a man who looked a lot like the famous MTV cartoon figure — and even got 'SNL' mainstay Heidi Gardner to crack up on screen. 'It's crazy where the ideas originate,' says Day, 45 years old, during a recent interview. He has been with 'SNL' since 2013, the first three years as a writer. 'Sometimes, you can see something on TV that will just spark your idea, or you see a commercial, but oftentimes, I'm not really sure where this stuff comes from.' Day is trying to broaden his comedy experience. One of his most recent sketches had him getting undressed behind the 'Weekend Update' fake-news desk as his character scrambled to rid himself of perceived spider webs. 'I haven't really done this kind of thing, just an all-out physical piece where the laughs are coming from the physicality,' he says. 'It was just kind of a forum to just literally go crazy.' He says 'SNL' aficionados are likely to see him return to the show when its next season starts in the fall — putting to rest, hopefully, some of the usual glut of social -media guesswork about which cast members might depart the program during its summer hiatus. 'I want to work there for as long as I can,' he says. 'I want to work there until it's sad.' Day's on-screen run at the show, however, may have initially come as a surprise . He joined 'SNL' in 2013 strictly as a writer, recommended to producers by former cast members — and his former college classmates — Nasim Pedrad and Taran Killiam. After a few years filled with many sketch ideas and a few brief in-show appearances as a bit player, Day received some interesting news from 'SNL' executive Lorne Michaels. He was being made co-head writer and a cast member for 'Maya & Marty,' a summer-season sketch comedy showcase Michaels was producing around Marty Short and Maya Rudolph. Day didn't see the opportunity coming. 'It's very Lorne to casually drop this information,' he says. He started to stand out quickly. After the 'Maya & Marty' run, Day won a slot as a featured cast member of 'SNL.' By his fourth episode, he landed a big moment with Seidell when they came up with the now-legendary 'David S. Pumpkins' sketch, which features Hanks as a strange character, flanked by dancing skeletons played by Day and Bobby Moynihan, who keeps showing up in a haunted amusement ride. The skit was inspired by a Disney ride, says Day, the 'Tower of Terror' that puts people in a vestibule that keeps opening on scary scenes amid different drops. He remembers it from frequent visits to Disneyland when he was growing up. He also has an obsession 'with weird, flashy, stupid suits' which became another of the character's hallmarks. Hanks, Day recalls, had some questions. 'He was a little bit like, 'Who is this guy exactly?'' but 'brought that special magic that only Tom Hanks can bring.' The best part of that sketch, now a legendary one, is 'you don't know if it's going to work,' says Day. 'There are not really any jokes, you know what I'm saying? It's just some weird DNA. That fact that it worked with the SNL audience and the studio audience felt like a little victory.' Day keeps looking for new funny ideas, says Seidell, his primary collaborator. Day is 'always trying to invent new moves for himself that the audience hasn't seen,' he says, and is typically wiling to apply his humor to someone else's on-screen moment. 'He'll write a showcase sketch for a new cast member and give himself a tiny little part in it. Once he wrote a showcase sketch for a new cast member that he wasn't even in at all. I can't think of another instance of that happening.' Day and Seidell have written about nine different 'Miss Rafferty' sketches that star Kate McKinnon as a woman who has been kidnapped by aliens. The scenes usually have McKinnon discussing surprise bodily entanglements she's had with her captors and have proven popular enough that even Meryl Streep has taken part in one that was shown during the program's 50th anniversary special this year. 'That was another one where I had no ideas if it would work,' says Day. As for Streep's participation? Even the writer seems surprised. 'Wild.' One recent success took years to get on the show. Audiences reacted instantly to a sketch last season featuring Day and Ryan Gosling as two men who looked just like Beavis and Butt-head, the two animated MTV characters. And yet, internally, the concept took a long time to get ready for late night. Day and Seidell tinkered with the concept over what may be as much as five years. Maybe the conversation taking place around the duo needed to be more serious and less shocking. Maybe the set needed to be adjusted. They once tried the sketch when Jonah Hill hosted, but, says Day, 'the sketch itself wasn't there yet.' They tried it once with Oscar Isaac was the guest, but it never even got to dress rehearsal, because the set requirements were too big during a week where there were a lot of sketches. 'We were all going to give up on it,' says Day, until Ryan Gosling came for another hosting stint. 'He changes our lives every time he hosts,' he adds. Day says 'SNL' keeps challenging him. Each week, he gets to try something different. 'You can literally write whatever your brain can come up with,' he says. The show is 'just very engineered, it feels like, to my ADD kind of brain.' But he's learned not to probe too deeply at the ideas that come up in his mind. 'When it works, it just kind of works.' 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Yahoo
13 hours ago
- Yahoo
Civic leaders strategically built up Nashville's brand. Can they tackle its growing pains?
This story is part of America's Evolving Cities, a USA TODAY Network project that takes a close look at four regions across the country and their unique paths to success — and how residents have benefited or suffered along the way. Boom town. Now-ville. Red hot. It city. Nashville boasts many nicknames, including those bestowed by Forbes, GQ, Time Magazine, The New York Times and countless other national news publications. Since the Great Recession, the city has garnered a reputation for its economic resiliency and creative community. Some of that press attention, including the 2013 New York Times feature story that dubbed Nashville the next "It City," came about thanks to collaboration between the city's power players and well-sourced public relations firms, according to the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Stephanie Coleman. All told, Nashville's song of success is more like a well-rehearsed stage production than a spontaneous open mic performance. "We were in constant communication with them about, not just local but national media as well ... really marketing Nashville as the low-cost alternative to Los Angeles and New York," said Coleman, who worked at the Chamber for 17 years before her recent ascent to its chief position. Nashville had tangible strengths to show off to the press. Ten years ago, it was a burgeoning health care hub seeing expansion in the tech industry and boasting a plethora of universities. Tennessee is known as a low-cost, business-friendly state, and Nashville attracted creative workers to its powerhouse music industry. Since then, Nashville and Tennessee have bet millions on continued success. The Music City Center cost $623 million, while the TV show "Nashville" collected millions of dollars in incentives from the city and state to continue local production. AllianceBernstein, Amazon and Oracle all zeroed in on Nashville thanks to incentive deals. All of these moves were communicated to the outside world through marketing and public relations strategies, including capitalizing on the popular show "Nashville," which had billboards all over the world. The city's population has grown accordingly, leading to pressures on the region's infrastructure systems and housing market. "Everyone was singing from the same song sheet," Coleman said. "I do think that catapulted us to where we are today, but we can't forget that, and we can't lose sight of the importance of that branding for the city and the region. That remains just as important as it ever was." Nashville may have many nicknames, but it chose one for itself: Music City. The roots of the name trace back to the legendary travels of the Fisk Jubilee Singers, a respectable origin story. At the same time, Music City is a brand, strategically formed to attract tourists and convention and business travelers in droves. Deana Ivey, now the president and CEO of the Nashville Convention and Visitors Corp., was a staff liaison for the 150-person citywide branding effort led by the NCVC in 2004. Stakeholders included business executives, higher education leaders and local policymakers. "We spent months around the table, kind of arguing, to be honest, about what Nashville is known for," Ivey said. Options included "Buckle of the Bible Belt," "Athens of the South" and "Music City, U.S.A." Ivey and the rest of the naming committee went to Nashville International Airport to role-play as visitors to the city. They got in a taxi and headed downtown. "We went around town … and we knew where the music was, but it wasn't easy for visitors to figure out," she said. So the team put together a plan to incorporate the brand into everything the city had to offer, from live music in the airport to music note air fresheners in the taxis. And Nashville's local businesses know how to put on a good show, so the strategy took off from there. "We're at 20 years," Ivey said. "But that's what it takes to really build a brand and keep it going." Under the limelight, Nashville hasn't yet faded. It's now a small town with a population of almost one million people. Maybe, after all that growth, there would be a sense of arrival. But the curtain call has not yet come. The city's tourism leaders recognize that the global appetite for both country music and corporate relocations is only growing. Nashville International Airport in April kicked off two new international flights, to Dublin, Ireland, and Reykjavik, Iceland, and the airport could soon build its runway to Asia. Nashville broadcasts its marquee tourism events, like CMA Fest or the New Year's Eve celebration, to the rest of the world, garnering millions in views in a tradition that traces back to the Grand Ole Opry's place at the heart of country music radio. When the Predators made a playoff run for the Stanley Cup in 2017, for example, Ivey remembers checking in with her contacts at the NFL, hoping to prove Nashville's worthiness to host an upcoming draft. "Are you watching? Are you paying attention?" she recalls asking. "Oh, we're paying attention," was the response. The NFL brought its draft to Nashville in 2019. With a new Nissan Stadium under construction, future events are likely to grow in prominence. It's as if the city is constantly sending a message around the world: Watch, listen, visit, come back soon. Nashville performed in unison to earn recognition from the outside world. Now, perhaps, the city can work together well enough to solve its growing pains. "It's tricky, but it's the next critical step," Coleman said. This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Inside the 20-year campaign to build up Nashville's brand
Eater
a day ago
- Eater
Fancy Swiss Chocolatier Läderach Is Bringing ‘FrischSchoggi' to Washington State
Seattle-area malls are going to be upgrading their chocolate offerings this summer, as the Swiss brand Läderach is set to open two stores, one in Westfield Southcenter next month, and one in Bellevue Square in August. These will be the first Läderach locations in Washington State; the chain already has locations across the country, including a flagship store in New York. So, what's Läderach? The thing the brand is most famous for, according to the press release we got, is 'FrischSchoggi,' a.k.a. fresh chocolate. You order at the counter by weight, and a Läderach chocolatier breaks pieces of chocolate off of slabs. The stores will also have the kinds of thing you'd expect at a chocolate shop, including truffles, bars, popcorn, and so on. Everything comes from Läderach's production facilities in Switzerland. Now on to more news you should know: Rainier Beer may not be brewed in Seattle anymore, but the brand is still trying to keep a foot on the ground here with R-Day, a free music festival in Georgetown that serves as a 'thank you letter' to Seattle, according to the brand. This year R-Day lands on September 6, and will be headlined by Mudhoney. There will also be food courtesy of the Dubsea Fish Sticks truck, plus (of course) Rainier Beer and cocktails using Rainier gin. Go here for more info. After a $2.5 million renovation, the cafe at the Museum of Pop Culture has reopened. The new restaurant, called The Lounge, features food from new head chef Athan Pixler. According to a press release, Pixler's menu will include items like tempura squash blossoms, dry-aged salmon with dashi, and a koji-aged burger with bone marrow butter. This follows a trend of museums around town stepping their dining game up; a couple years ago acclaimed tapas restaurant MariPili took over the cafe at the Frey. Seattle's most famous market is throwing its annual big fundraising dinner on August 16. The Sunset Supper, which brings together 100 restaurants and producers for a party at the market, regularly raises hundreds of thousands for the Pike Place Market Foundation, a nonprofit that supports the market and provides a variety of social services in the neighborhood. Tickets are $250; to purchase and for more information, go here. See More: Coming Attractions Seattle Restaurant News
