Take Care of Texas, and you might get to see Blake Shelton perform.
Courtesy photo
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What do you get the person who has everything? Hint: It's not another "thing."
This holiday season, consider gifting experiences instead of items — and you won't even have to wrap them.
According to Take Care of Texas, a statewide campaign to conserve and protect our one and only Lone Star State, about 8,000 tons of wrapping paper is used each year. Most wrapping paper contains glitter or metallic materials —which means it can’t be recycled — and ribbons, bows, and gift tags also aren’t recyclable.
To help you get into this new holiday groove of gifting time together instead of stuff, TCOT has a pretty amazing experience to give away.
Sign the Take Care of Texas pledge this winter and you'll be entered to win two tickets to Blake Shelton's Back to the Honky Tonk Tour, presented by Kubota.
Shelton's only stop in Texas is at the world-class Moody Center on March 1, 2024, where he'll be backed by opening acts Dustin Lynch and Emily Ann Roberts. This is your chance to hear Shelton sing "Austin" in Austin!
The prize package also includes a one-night stay at the luxurious Thompson Hotel Austin, so you can return from the Friday night concert and sleep in style.
To enter, simply click here and take the pledge to help keep our air and water clean, conserve water and energy, and reduce waste.
The contest is open through December 31, and you only need one entry per person. The winner will be drawn on January 2, 2024.
Sam Morelos and Chloe Fineman in Summer of 69.
Photo courtesy of Hulu
There was a trend in the late 2010s/early 2020s of bawdy comedies featuring teenage female protagonists, including Blockers, Booksmart, and Yes, God, Yes. Those types of films seemed to go by the wayside in recent years, but they’re making a comeback with the new film Summer of 69.
Abby (Sam Morelos) is a high school senior and video game streamer who has had a crush on her classmate Max (Matt Cornett) for her entire childhood. When she learns that Max has recently broken up with his longtime girlfriend, she’s determined to make her move. With advice from a confidant that Max likes a certain sexual position, Abby sets out to learn as much as she can about it, including hiring a stripper, Santa Monica (Chloe Fineman), to help her.
Coincidentally, Santa Monica is facing a situation where the club at which she works, Diamond Dolls, will be closed if the owner doesn’t come up with $20,000 in a week. Abby, who comes from a well-to-do family, seems to offer the perfect solution, and so the two agree to a week of lessons for that amount. Naturally, all sorts of complications arise, as well as the two women forming an unexpected bond.
Written and directed by Jillian Bell, with help from co-writers Jules Byrne and Liz Nico, the film is both suggestive and innocent at the same time. For all of the talk about sex and innuendo, having the nerdy and inexperienced Abby at the center of the film ensures that the story remains relatively chaste throughout. That includes scenes at the strip club, where Bell makes the choice to show almost no nudity.
Most of the humor of the film stems from Abby’s lack of experience, highlighted by her having “sexual” fantasies about Max that never actually get to the sex part. The juxtaposition between Abby and Santa Monica is also used for laughs, although Bell and her co-writers make sure to include a side story for the dancer that makes her into a three-dimensional person.
What ultimately makes the movie succeed is the way it keeps its characters relatable. Many high school films feel the need to play into a bunch of stereotypes, but those are kept to a minimum here. Instead, Bell upends expectations by delivering honest - sometimes to a fault for the characters - dialogue that acknowledges the spectrum of sexual realities for high schoolers, a version that differs from insatiable horniness of some other teen comedies.
Morelos, one of the stars of Netflix’s That ‘90s Show, makes for a charming lead, someone who can convincingly take her character from awkward to confident over the course of the story. Fineman, best known for her current stint as a cast member on Saturday Night Live, complements her well, showing her comedic prowess in a number of physical scenes. A supporting cast that includes Nicole Byer, Paula Pell, Alex Moffat, and Natalie Morales keeps the energy level high.
Despite its titillating title, Summer of 69 is much more sweet than naughty. Like most coming-of-age movies, it’s about a girl who’s trying to figure out where she fits in the world. The answers she finds aren’t always the ones she was expecting, but in the best possible way.
