NEWS OF THE WEEK: Julien Baker cancels tour with Torres to 'focus on her health'
In a statement, a spokesperson for the indie rock singer-songwriter announced that any remaining dates of the U.S. trek had been scrapped. Baker had a string of shows lined up with Torres, real name Mackenzie Scott, in support of their new album, Send a Prayer My Way. 'Due to recent events, Julien Baker is prioritizing her wellbeing and taking time to focus on her health. Therefore, the Julien Baker & TORRES Send A Prayer My Way Tour has been canceled. This decision was not made lightly, and we understand the disappointment this may cause for fans. We deeply appreciate your understanding.'
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Yahoo
18 hours ago
- Yahoo
High school grad goes viral for working at his Burger King job … still wearing his graduation outfit
Proudly wearing his high school graduation medals, Mykale Baker stopped by the Burger King in Dacula, Georgia, to mark the milestone with his coworkers. He had no way of knowing that a simple visit would lead to a life-changing viral moment. Baker wasn't scheduled to work the night he received his diploma, but when he saw the crew struggling to keep up with a surge of customers, he stepped in without hesitation. It was a natural instinct for the 18-year-old who had been named manager of a Wendy's at just 17. At that moment, Maria Mendoza happened to be waiting at the Burger King drive-through window for her order. She, like Baker, was coming from commencement, which had ended at 10 p.m. Although her daughter, Daizie Chavez, had graduated from Mill Creek High School the same year as him, the two had never met, which wasn't surprising in a class of more than 700 students. From the passenger seat, Mendoza, 45, craned her neck, curious about what was happening behind the counter. Who was preparing her Whopper? 'I'm kind of nosey sometimes!' Mendoza admits in an interview with 'And that's when I saw Mykale.' Around his neck hung medals honoring his achievements in marching band — as a percussionist, he was voted 'Most Selfless Person' — and in track and field, where he competed in hurdles. 'My whole world froze,' Mendoza recalls. 'My first thought was, he's working. He's not out celebrating like the rest of the kids. My child gets to be with me after the ceremony, and he's here.' And yet Baker was smiling, his face glowing with a wide beaming expression full of warmth and pure joy. "I was so happy I graduated," Baker tells "I couldn't take my eyes off of him," Mendoza says. She says something came over her, a sudden urge she couldn't ignore. She felt compelled to start recording, quietly capturing the scene without her husband or Baker noticing. Later that night, she posted the footage on TikTok, explaining that Baker had gone straight to Burger King after his graduation ceremony and that he looked 'so proud to carry his medals.' 'This young man deserves a scholarship!!!!' Mendoza wrote. The 43-second clip touched hearts across social media, and in just four days, a GoFundMe campaign for Baker — which Mendoza created and originally aimed to raise $5,000 — brought in more than $198,000 for his education. In the fall, Baker, a car fanatic, will attend Gwinnett Technical College to study automotive mechanics. With nine siblings, he says, there's never much to spare. 'Some of the money is going to go into fixing my car and the rest is going into a trust fund for school purposes only,' Baker, who was raised by a single mom, says. Soft-spoken and humble during the interview, Baker shies away from questions that focus on him but lights up when asked about Mendoza. 'It's brought our families together,' he says. 'She's a part of my family, and I'm a part of hers now.' He adds that he and Mendoza's daughter, Daizie, are now friends. Mendoza, for her part, is more than happy to brag about Baker if he won't do it himself. She shares that Mendoza's goal was to attend college and that he had been saving for it, holding jobs in the fast food industry since he was 16. If he didn't have enough, his plan was to join the Army, which would cover the cost of his education, a testament to his determination and resolve. 'He's incredible,' Mendoza says. "A lot of kids don't think that way." After hearing about the story, Burger King and the Burger King Foundation surprised Baker at work with a $10,000 scholarship. In recognition of Mendez's act of kindness, the foundation also awarded Daizie a $10,000 scholarship to support her studies in neuroscience at Georgia State University. Baker is training to become a manager at Burger King and will be working this summer, but he's most looking forward to an upcoming trip to Disney World with a friend. Demisha Scott, Baker's mother, describes him as 'the quietest' of her children, as well as 'very loving' and dependable. 'He doesn't think, he just automatically jumps in to help,' Scott tells TODAY. 'He's a very hard worker.' Scott says one of the band directors wrote a letter praising her son for always being the first to arrive and the last to leave practice. 'He'd load the van, break down the instruments and fix things if they broke,' she says. "That is who he is." Donations continue to pour in on Baker's GoFundMe, accompanied by messages filled with praise and admiration for his work ethic "Congratulations and God Bless You, Mykale! You are an inspiration and deserve to have the brightest future, and then some. You are already a leader and a role model at your precious, young age, and this world is made so much better by your presence," one person wrote. Added another, "Your story truly inspired me & touched my heart. It takes determination & humility to work after graduation. I pray that God continue to BLESS you beyond measure. As a PHD educated Black woman, I am truly moved by your GRIT. The future is yours! Go get it." This article was originally published on
Engadget
a day ago
- Engadget
Troy Baker is the big cheese in Mouse: P.I. for Hire
Troy Baker will don the cartoon fedora and play the lead role in Mouse: P.I. For Hire . The game has garnered buzz for its unique blending of genres. Imagine a film noir-infused cross between Cuphead and Doom . Baker will play Private Investigator Jack Pepper, the game's protagonist. He's a war hero turned detective who begins his journey responding to a cliché damsel in distress. Pepper's investigation then peels back the layers of the city's dark underbelly. It sounds like developer Fumi Games ticked all the items off the noir checklist. Oh, and don't forget the minor detail that he's a rodent. Expect plenty of cheesy (meaning puns about cheese) one-liners. Being a first-person shooter, Mouse: P.I. For Hire has plenty of Rambo-style room-clearing. Pepper's weapons range from conventional (shotgun) to comically ludicrous (turpentine cleanser). There's even an ode to Popeye: Down a can of spinach to beat your foes to smithereens. To view this content, you'll need to update your privacy settings. Please click here and view the "Content and social-media partners" setting to do so. The game's animation draws inspiration from the same 1930s cartoons as Cuphead . Like that game, Mouse: P.I. For Hire 's monochromatic visuals are all hand-drawn. (But whether it's as punishingly difficult as the 2017 classic remains to be seen.) Watching the delightfully wacky trailers, it's easy to see why gamers are keeping an eye on this one. It sounds like a wild ride. But that doesn't necessarily point to a game in need of an industry titan like Baker. So, perhaps there's more to the game's narrative than you might expect. Or, maybe The Last of Us actor is merely checking "played rodent" off his bucket list. (Couldn't blame him!) Baker said he's been following the game's development from its first teaser. "Its art style, gameplay and 1930s film-noir aesthetic continue to win me over. I cannot wait to keep working with the team to bring Jack Pepper to life and hope to have some exciting things to share as we get closer to launch!" You can check out the game's new trailer here. Mouse: P.I. for Hire arrives later this year. It will be available on all major platforms, including Switch 2.
Los Angeles Times
a day ago
- Los Angeles Times
Safe and sound: Orange County's oldest music store reopens in Laguna
Wave Baker, a longtime employee of Sound Spectrum, will tell anyone who listens that the place has 'an energy of its own.' So when the Laguna Beach-based record shop, which opened on South Coast Highway in 1967, closed in October, Baker had a feeling it wasn't over. Whether it was more than a feeling, what happened next was more than he hoped for. A music-oriented family came forward with a bid, planning to revive the business and restore the building. James, Audrey and Sadie Jean Wilcox, siblings who grew up in the nearby city of Tustin, worked together to reopen Orange County's oldest music store. After spending more than two decades working under the original owners, Jimmy and Edith Otto, Baker was asked to remain on staff. 'In a sense, I'm a bridge from the old to the new,' Baker said. 'I met with them, and we got along, and they wanted my help. I said, 'Well, I come with one condition — my left and my right arm. Travis [Garman] and Niloo [Aghaseyedali] were part of the old, and now we're all three part of the new.' James, 28, recalled visiting Sound Spectrum during surfing trips to Laguna Beach. In December, when he learned the iconic record store had closed, he called Wave. Within a week, the family had submitted an offer that was accepted. 'At the end of the day, a record store sells music,' James said. 'The special thing about this store is that it has sold music for so many decades. It sold music through the vinyl era, through the cassette era, through the CD era, and then all the way back again. 'In my opinion, the special part about this store is that it's past trends. It doesn't need to sell off of these trends. It can just keep selling music that touches people's hearts.' As for the responsibility that goes with inheriting a legacy of 57 years of service to the community, James said that Jimmy Otto created a business that could stand on its own. 'Jimmy was very much someone who could stand on his own, and he made his store stand on its own,' he added. 'We hope to keep that same energy, really forever. We believe that this store is so sacred and special. The special thing about music is that it does last forever.' James also called it a 'special moment' to have the keys to Sound Spectrum passed on to his family by Edith Otto, who also gave them a tour of the store. Audrey, 30, who is due to be married this year, compared the commitment to preserve a community staple to a wedding. 'There's like this union,' Audrey said. 'I have this connection with the former owner. … I feel like the Sound Spectrum itself is like a being of its own. I feel less that I'm the one that's deciding what happens to it and more that I'm listening to what it needs, being more like a steward to what the store wants, listening to that and making it happen. That's been my biggest source of inspiration is just what … everyone needs.' The Wilcox family's music industry experience has been driven by a burgeoning career for Sadie Jean, 23, as a singer-songwriter. James and Audrey, both of whom have business backgrounds, have helped manage her career. She has nearly two dozen shows lined up in Europe this fall, and she's preparing to release her first album later this year. Sadie Jean revealed she has been writing songs from a young age, but she was unsure if her family would embrace that side of her. 'It was so funny because once I told people I could sing and write songs, my family was like my biggest champions,' Sadie Jean said. 'Now they manage me, and my siblings manage me. My career became like a really big family thing, and my parents go on tour with me. All of a sudden, we're like a music family after being so like not at all. 'I think it just made so much sense when we found out that the record store in our community that we love was about to be gone forever. It felt so serendipitous. It was like a calling that we had to take it on and save it because music is built into our family culture now.' The return of the record store was celebrated with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Thursday evening, music pumping as people perused the aisles stocked with selections of vinyl, CDs and posters spanning the decades. Local artists also collaborate, leading restorative efforts at the store. Amanda Burke touched up a mural by Bill Ogden, and a display by Brighid Burnes in the front window depicts musicians jamming away on various instruments. 'I saw many fathers or mothers say to their kid, 'I bought my first record here in the '80s,' Baker said. 'I want that little kid to be able to say that to their kids 30 years from now, long after I'm gone. I know the importance of that feeling. … That's what I want to keep. That's part of what I want to help survive.'
