Friday News Bites: Obituaries, Comic Book Movies + More

Happy Friday! We have some more marriage equality updates, a timeline for future comic book movies, and the untimely passing of some notable people. Also, there’s a rather weird music/intelligence “study” with which I have some problems. Let’s get started:

I have to throw all sorts of rainbow unicorn confetti because my home state of Montana has finally set a hearing about repealing the same-sex marriage ban. The case will be heard by Judge Brian Morris in Great Falls on November 20th. That’s less than a month away!

Wyoming was among the states to allow same-sex marriage licenses this week, which kind of made some of us in Montana think, “Wyoming and Utah and Alaska have got it together before us? Come on!”

In other government news: Imani Gandi has a GIF-tastic explanation of some the crazy voting laws out there. Go see if your state has some sort of ID-related restriction.

On Wednesday, an attack on Ottawa’s Parliament Hill’s Centre Block and the National War Memorial has left one Canadian soldier and one male suspect dead. Prime Minster Stephen Harper called it a “terrorist act,” and it is still unclear at this time whether the suspect acted alone.

In a different strain of terrorism, #Gamergate is still happening, and here’s former NFL player and longtime gamer Chris Kluwe talking about why it’s bullshit. There’s some Malcolm Tucker-esque swearing involved, which is amusing.

In better news: Did you know that St. Ephrem’s elementary school in Brooklyn has a 100-year-old math teacher?  Madeline Scotto was part of the school’s very first graduating class, and she’s been teaching since 1954.

Rest in Peace:

Iconic designer Oscar de la Renta died from cancer this week at age 82. I used to have an Oscar de la Renta jacket (probably from one of his less expensive lines), and it was one of my favorites. Still sad that I lost it some time in high school.

Swiss photographer René Burri passed away at age 81 after a long illness. His famous photographs include portraits of Che Guevara and Pablo Picasso.

Tyson Stevens, singer best known for fronting Scary Kids Scaring Kids, died at age 29. The cause of death has not yet been released.

Actress and TV presenter Lynda Bellingham also died this week, after a long battle with cancer. She was 66.

Also, actor Gerard Parkes, perhaps best known for his role on Fraggle Rock, died at age 90 on Sunday.

In Other News:

A semi truck filled with Miller High Life was stolen — where else? — in Florida this week, yet the truck was recovered with most of its cargo intact. Lucky break for the driver!

Here’s “A Timeline for your next 6 years of Comic Book Movies (so far).” I’m excited for Sandman, personally.

In “This correlation is fucked up” news, this headline asserts: “Smart people listen to Radiohead and dumb people listen to Beyoncé, according to study.” Hold up. Beyoncé is for everyone, and also this is only measuring SAT scores. As most anyone who takes the SAT can tell you, the SAT score pretty much just measures how good you were at taking the SAT test itself.

Not to mention that this correlation has some underlying privilege assumptions that are annoying. But hey, what do I know, I only scored 1090. (*shakes fist* Maaaath!)

According to that chart, rap and hip hop fans are “dumber” by comparison, which is of course a pretty broad generalization, and leads me to point out the next story: DR. DRE AND JIMMY IOVINE STARTED THEIR OWN COLLEGE. Offically called the USC Jimmy Iovine and Andre Young Academy for Arts, Technology, and the Business of Innovation, the school accepts 25-30 students a year. Its inaugural class is halfway through their first semester. So how about that, previous graph-makers?

Play us out, Sasha Fierce: