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A fire has destroyed 60 guitars and up to 100 paintings at the North Carolina home of Jim Avett. He is the father of Scott and Seth Avett of the Avett Brothers band.
The Charlotte Observer reports that the fire occurred Friday (Nov. 26) in the city of Concord.
“The fire started from a golf cart,” Jim Avett posted on Facebook. “Half the house is totally beyond repair.”
Officials said that arriving firefighters saw “heavy fire from the garage” and entered the house to keep the flames from spreading. No one was hurt, although Jim Avett said a cat was missing.
The Avett Brothers, three-time Grammy Award nominees, are based in North Carolina and have a national following. Jim Avett said on Facebook that the blaze is “not a knockout punch.”
“We have the strength, attitude, faith and abilities to move forward,” he wrote. “And we will!”
Madonna is calling out Instagram for removing her photos.
On Thursday (Nov. 25), the 63-year-old Queen of Pop took to the social media platform to republish a series of snapshots showing her in various poses and wearing black lingerie, noting in the caption that Instagram had removed the same post from the prior night because it violated guidelines by exposing her nipple. In her new post, Madonna used a red heart emoji to conceal her left breast.
“I’m reposting photographs Instagram took down without warning or notification….. The reason they gave my management that does not handle my account was that a small portion of my nipple was exposed,” Madonna wrote alongside the gallery.
She added, “It is still astounding to me that we live in a culture that allows every inch of a woman’s body to be shown except a nipple. As if that is the only part of a woman’s anatomy that could be sexualized. The nipple that nourishes the baby!”
Instagram’s community guidelines page states, “We don’t allow nudity on Instagram, with some exceptions, like photos of post-mastectomy scarring and women actively breastfeeding. Nudity in photos of paintings and sculptures is OK, too.”
A spokesperson for Meta, Instagram’s parent company, told CNN that photos which breach the company’s rules are removed “whenever we find it, no matter who posts it.”
Madonna argued in her response, “Can’t a mans nipple be experienced as erotic ??!! And what about a woman’s a– which is never censored anywhere. Giving thanks that I have managed to maintain my sanity through four decades of censorship…… sexism……ageism and misogyny.”
She also tied the ordeal into the Thanksgiving holiday, writing, “Perfectly timed with the lies we have been raised to believe about the pilgrims peacefully breaking bread with the Native American Indians when they landed on Plymouth Rock! God bless America.”
See Madonna’s post on Instagram below.
Your TV speakers probably deliver decent sound, but if you really want to experience the content you’re listening to, you’ll want to upgrade to a soundbar. The best soundbars help to amplify sound across your room, in a way that regular TV speakers just can’t do. A good soundbar will also create more finely-detailed sound, whether you’re listening to music, want to feel the effects from a big action movie, or want to pick out hard-to-hear dialogue from a TV show or newscast.
One of the best soundbar deals online is this soundbar and subwoofer combo from Polk Audio. Right now, you get Polk’s Signa S2 Ultra-Slim Sound Bar and a booming subwoofer for just $149 on Amazon – a $50 discount.
This is one of the best deals for a top-rated soundbar and subwoofer combo online, as many soundbars on their own cost upwards of $199+. The fact that you can a full-sized subwoofer included is a great package. This is tied to Amazon’s Cyber Monday deals, which are live now.
Shop: Polk Audio Signa S2 Ultra-Slim TV Sound Bar $149
This Polk Audio soundbar is an ultra-slim unit that measures just 2.15 inches tall, which means it can fit under your TV or mounted to your wall. It’s a 2.1 sound bar, which gets you a couple of drivers (the part of a speaker that produces sound), plus the subwoofer for added bass. It won’t replace a traditional 5.1 — or true surround sound — home theater system, but the Polk soundbar will still deliver big, room-filling sound.
The Signa S2 comes with a remote control that lets you switch between its inputs, and you can plug in any audio source via HDMI ARC, optical input and AUX. We think this is a great deal but don’t take our word for it: The Signa S2 Soundbar and Subwoofer Set currently has a 4.5-star rating (out of five) from more than 13,000 reviewers online. See full details and get the Polk Audio Soundbar + Subwoofer combo for $149 here.
You can also find the Signa S2 on Polk’s own site, PolkAudio.com. The price is also $149 and Polk offers free delivery and a 60-day return period.
Billboard is picking a weekly deal to share with our readers. Check billboard.com each week for our Billboard Buys product.
The Fitbit Luxe was first released this past April, as a newly-styled fitness tracker that combines the look of a modern bracelet with the functionality of a smart watch. Now, Amazon has the Fitbit Luxe on sale as part of a Cyber Monday deal. Regularly $149.95, the Fitbit sale brings the price down to just $99.95.
This is the cheapest price we’ve spotted online for this Fitbit and the first time the all-new Fitbit Luxe has been priced under $100.
Shop: Fitbit Luxe Fitness and Wellness Tracker $99.95
The deal gets you the Fitbit Luxe in your choice of three colors. The slim, jewelry-like band keeps track of your steps, heart rate, breathing rate and other exercise metrics, and can even help you estimate your calorie burn, depending on the workout you’re doing. Going on a run? Pair the Luxe to your phone’s GPS to track your pacing and route.
We also like all the health and wellness features of the Fitbit Luxe, including the ability to track your sleep and give you a “Sleep Score” in the accompanying Fitbit app. You can also track your daily “Stress Management” levels, and use your watch for guided breathing and mindfulness exercises through the Fitbit app.
Program the fitness tracker’s settings and alerts to set goals for yourself, whether you’re going on a run or hitting the gym. You can also send the Fitbit to push a gentle buzz when you reach your target heart rate zones.
A single charge gets you up to five days of battery life. The slim and sleek design, meantime, is a welcome change from all the bulky and chunky smartwatch models on the market.
This is one of the best Fitbit deals online, and the $99 price includes the chic activity tracker, a lithium-ion battery and a six-month free trial to Fitbit Premium, which gets you everything from detailed monitoring metrics to health tips and guided, on-demand workouts.
Regularly $149+, this Amazon deal gets you the Fitbit Luxe for just $99.95. See full details here.
Shop: Fitbit Charge 4 Fitness and Activity Tracker $69
Want something cheaper? The cheapest Fitbit Cyber Monday deal is at Walmart, where you can get the Fitbit Charge 4 Fitness Tracker for just $69. That’s $60 discount from its regular price of $129+. This is a more basic fitness tracker compared to the Fitbit Luxe but if you just need regular exercise and sleep tracking (along with built-in GPS), this is a great deal to pick up. See full details here.
Mark Hoppus has a lot to be thankful for this holiday season.
The Blink-182 singer and bassist, who announced in late September that he was “cancer free” after publicly disclosing his diagnosis in June, took to Instagram on Thursday (Nov. 25) to share an uplifting Thanksgiving message about the current state of his health.
“I have so much to be thankful for today. This photo is from June, halfway through chemo, no idea if it was working or not, relegated to the bathroom floor, retching,” the 49-year-old musician wrote alongside a photo of himself crouching by a toilet.
He continued, “If I ever complain about something trivial or unimportant, please show me this photo to remind me of how bad things can be, and how truly blessed I am. I hope you all have an amazing day with friends and family. Happy Thanksgiving.”
Earlier this summer, Hoppus revealed that he had been diagnosed with stage 4 diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. The musician has regularly updated fans on the status of his health during his cancer battle. In June, he said that he was remaining “hopeful and positive” for a cancer-free future while still going through the next several months of treatment. Positive news arrived in late September when Hoppus announced that his oncologist had declared him “cancer free.”
“Thank you God and universe and friends and family and everyone who sent support and kindness and love,” the artist wrote. “Still have to get scanned every six months and it’ll take me until the end of the year to get back to normal but today is an amazing day and I feel so blessed.”
See Hoppus’ heartfelt Thanksgiving post below.
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