Southwest
90-year-old travels to see Taylor Swift's 'Eras Tour' with granddaughter, says her heart 'still young'
A grandmother recently celebrated a milestone birthday by shaking it off at Taylor Swift’s “Eras Tour.”
Nancy Strong is a travel agency CEO from Dallas, Texas, who has been a major “Swiftie” for the past 10 years.
Strong told Fox News Digital this week that her love for the pop star began in 2009 when Kanye West famously interrupted Swift’s acceptance speech at the VMAs.
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“She handled that situation with such grace, and I have looked up to her ever since,” she said.
The 90-year-old business owner said she relates to Swift in many ways, despite their roughly 55-year age difference.
Nancy Strong, left, with her granddaughter, Jennifer Strong, attended the “Eras Tour” for Nancy Strong’s 90th birthday in Paris, France. (Jennifer Strong)
“She was brought up in Redding, Pennsylvania, where I raised five boys in the ’60s — [it] will always have a special place in my heart,” she said in an email to Fox News Digital.
For her milestone 90th birthday, Strong said she wanted to celebrate in a big way by seeing Taylor Swift perform on the “Eras Tour.”
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She said, “I wanted to celebrate my 90th dancing to Taylor Swift!”
Swift made a stop in Paris, France, earlier this summer — so Strong took her granddaughter, Jennifer Strong, with her to Europe.
Nancy Strong told Fox News Digital that her heart is young and she relates to pop star Taylor Swift in many ways. (Jennifer Strong)
Jennifer Strong, 32, told Fox News Digital that experiencing the concert with her grandmother was “pure magic.”
“As with everyone who attends, Grammy was in complete awe of Taylor and couldn’t help but immediately start dancing and singing along,” she said.
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She added, “They are truly memories I will cherish forever.”
The pair then made it to one of Swift’s London, England, shows in late June — making Nancy Strong a Swiftie who has seen the singer more than once on the highly sought after tour.
Nancy Strong and Jennifer Strong traveled to Paris and London during Swift’s European leg of the “Eras Tour” to see the pop star. (Jennifer Strong)
Nancy Strong said her favorite Taylor Swift song is “The Man” from her 2019 “Lover” album due to the relatability she feels with the lyrics.
“I am a woman who started a business in the 1970s in a male-oriented world, ‘wondering if I could get there quicker if I was a man.’ These lyrics really hit home for me,” she told Fox News Digital.
Strong said all she wanted for her 90th birthday was to dance to Taylor Swift and her music. (Jennifer Strong)
The successful businessperson has also been married to her husband, Ace Strong, for 70 years — and said she likes the “Lover” album as it reminds her of their true love.
“Trust me, I know it’s a lot of years, but at the end of the day, [my] heart is still 20 years old.”
Jennifer Strong said that watching her grandmother listen to “The Man” at the “Eras Tour” was a “full-circle moment.”
“Grammy has always represented to me what it means to be a hardworking, positive, and total boss lady in her industry! (Just like Taylor!),” she said via email.
A 90-year-old woman from Texas attended stops on the “Eras Tour” in Europe on her milestone birthday. (Jennifer Strong/Getty Images)
Nancy Strong said she hopes to attend one of Swift’s U.S. tour dates later this year with her granddaughter.
“I know when Jen [Strong] looks back at our time at ‘The Eras Tour’ concert, she will be grinning from ear to ear — and that fulfills my heart,” she added.
For more Lifestyle articles, visit www.foxnews/lifestyle
The grandmother added that she hopes to continue dancing and supporting Swift throughout her career.
She said, “Trust me, I know it’s a lot of years, but at the end of the day, [my] heart is still 20 years old.”
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Los Angeles, Ca
‘Moana’ is a triumph for Pacific Islander representation on the big screen
“Moana” has been called a box office flop, an unnecessary money grab by Walt Disney Studios, but what it hasn’t been called yet is a triumphant win for cultural representation on the big screen.
The live-action adaptation of the beloved 2016 animated movie “Moana” effectively bombed at the box office, making much less money than industry insiders anticipated.
While it failed to live up to the expectations of the box office and critics alike, the film did exceed the expectations of moviegoers of Pacific Island descent, and they’ve taken to social media to express just how much the movie means to them.
Moana is more than the main character’s name. It means ocean across several Pacific Islander languages.
One user explained how this kind of representation is more than entertainment.
“When I watched ‘Moana,’ I couldn’t hold back my tears. I heard the language of my parents, the language of my people. I saw our traditional Samoan clothing, our weaving, our siva, our culture, our values. I saw my people. I saw me.”
Another user said seeing Pacific Islanders on the silver screen influenced her own artistry.
“Representation matters. As a sometimes-Female-Polynesian-filmmaker (depending on the day and my imposter syndrome), seeing our stories on a screen this big makes me dream a little bigger too.”
Even the film’s star, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, spoke to the film’s representation in a recent Instagram post.
“I feel that our movie ‘Moana’ will always serve a bigger purpose than just a film – it’s representation. Our Polynesian culture showcased to the world, and embraced by the world – with love, humility, warrior spirit and MANA.”
That representation was taken as a serious responsibility by the actors and creative team behind the scenes of Disney’s latest live-action remake.
“We got chosen for a reason,” Rena Owen, who plays Gramma Tala in the film, explains.
“Every single one of us, whether that’s an actor, whether that’s a creative, whether that’s a crew person. We’re raised that way, we’re raised in villages and we’re raised… on our earth, with our sky father and our moana, that’s what we all have in common. So, we just had to be ourselves.”
Disney once again leaned on members of its Oceanic Cultural Trust, a group formed over a decade ago to ensure cultural accuracy for the first “Moana” movie.
The trust’s lead consultant, Dr. Grant Muāgututiʻa, spoke about the work that went into bringing Moana to life on screen.
“We have a big responsibility to our folks who are gonna be watching the film. We’re elated that the film crew and the filmmakers were really receptive to all of the input that we had and we’re really happy with the way it turned out.”
Dr. Muāgututiʻa is a linguist by trade, serving as Assistant Professor of Linguistics at California State University San Marcos. He told KTLA he was thrilled that people of Samoan descent can hear their language spoken in a major Disney film.
“The mountaintop scene where you can hear both Jon Tui, who plays Chief Tui, and Catherine Laga’aia, who plays Moana speaking Samoan. And then the Siva Tau scene, where Seiuli Dwayne Johnson also speaks Samoan. I think those are special moments that are new, especially for our people to see. They’re able to experience real islanders that are proud of their culture.”
“Moana” Choreographer and Cultural Trust member Tiana Nonosina Liufau agreed.
“Seeing an all-Pasifika cast, and hearing them, there’s a lot of Mana in that, hearing these words come out of their mouth, something audiences can trace back to their genealogy, that’s priceless. All worth it.”
Los Angeles, Ca
LADWP begins long-term repairs after West Hollywood water main rupture
Crews worked overnight on what is expected to be a long-term effort to clean up and repair a broken water main that caused extensive damage in West Hollywood on Thursday.
Yellow tape remained in place Friday morning, blocking streets around Sunset Boulevard and Holloway Drive as crews continued pumping water out of the century-old trunk line.
Asphalt and soil were also being removed so crews could get a better look at the damaged 36-inch trunk line, a major feeder pipe serving the area.
“First and foremost is our crews’ safety,” a Los Angeles Department of Water and Power spokesperson said Thursday. “When we excavate, we are going to have to make sure the area is safe before we send crews in to proceed and start the actual repairs on the pipe.”
The water main ruptured around 3 a.m. Thursday, sending thousands of gallons of water rushing through West Hollywood streets, flooding dozens of garages and pushing parked cars into one another.
A Metro bus yard was also flooded, leaving several buses partially submerged.
The force of the water washed away dirt and gravel supporting the roadway, creating a massive sinkhole on Sunset Boulevard and a smaller one near Palm Avenue, where two people fell in.
“I’m astounded by the massive sinkhole that has just opened up before our eyes,” KTLA’s Annie Rose Ramos reported Thursday from Palm Avenue.
The two men appeared to be uninjured.
As for the larger trunk line that burst beneath Sunset Boulevard, KTLA’s Carlos Herrera reported it was scheduled for replacement in 2031.
LADWP officials now hope to establish a repair timeline after getting a closer look at the damage Friday. For now, the intersection is expected to remain closed for anywhere from several days to several weeks.
The cause of the rupture remains under investigation.
Los Angeles, Ca
Arrest made in deadly shooting at 4th of July gathering in Compton; search for 2nd suspect continues
Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna gave an update Thursday on several shootings over the Fourth of July weekend that left three people dead and several others injured.
Police arrested Antoine Jones, a 50-year-old man from the Los Angeles area, who they believe is responsible for the murder of a 19-year-old woman and the attempted murder of two additional surviving female victims who were attending a large community block party in Compton.
On July 4 at approximately 11:40 p.m., deputies from the Compton station responded to an apartment complex on the 700 block of West Laurel Street following reports of multiple people being shot.
Meah Bordenave-Jenkins, a 19-year-old nursing student at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, was killed when gunfire broke out at the party.
Deputies located Bordenave-Jenkins and the two other women suffering from gunshot wounds outside of the apartment complex.
“While today’s announcement represents an important step towards justice for Meah and her family, our work is very far from being over,” said LASD Sheriff Robert Luna.
The LASD is also seeking the public’s help in identifying those responsible for the murder of Eric Washington, 37, a beloved community activist and former government staffer, and the attempted murder of another surviving man injured that same night at the same party.
Washington was reportedly killed while trying to deescalate a conflict at the party, his family said. Deputies found victim Washington suffering from a gunshot wound inside the complex.
Investigators later learned that another man had also been shot at some point during the incident.
Bordenave-Jenkins and Washington both died from their injuries. The remaining victims, two women and a man, sustained non-life-threatening injuries and have been released from the hospital. They have not been identified by police.
Detectives determined the two shootings happened moments apart at the party but appear to be separate and unrelated.
Detectives identified Jones as the suspect responsible for Bordenave-Jenkins’ death and the attempted murder of the two surviving women. Authorities located Jones on July 14 in Los Angeles and took him into custody.
The LASD is still searching for the suspect or suspects responsible for the murder of Washington and the attempted murder of the surviving male victim.
“Although today’s arrest is significant, this investigation remains extremely active,” Luna said.
“There were hundreds of people at this gathering,” Luna said. “Somebody knows, somebody saw or somebody heard what happened.”
The LASD also announced they’re searching for a suspect in a separate shooting at a different Fourth of July gathering that occurred in the early morning of July 5.
At approximately 12:10 a.m., Compton deputies responded to the 2100 block of North Grandee Avenue, where they located a 30-year-old victim, Thaddeus Clark, and a second victim suffering from gunshot wounds at the gathering.
Clark, a father of three, did not survive his injuries, Luna said.
The LASD is urging anyone with information about Clark’s murder and the attempted murder of the surviving victim to contact the LASD Homicide Bureau.
Although these shooting incidents occurred at gatherings less than an hour apart, investigators found no evidence that the two were connected, Luna said.
Luna also announced three suspects have been arrested in connection with a shooting in East L.A. on July 5. It happened as crowds crossed the intersection near Whittier Boulevard and Leonard Avenue during a World Cup match.
Four people were hit by gunfire, including two men, one woman and a boy. None of the injuries were life-threatening.
The sheriff said the alleged shooter, a 15-year-old known gang member, was arrested. Two female suspects, ages 21 and 38, have been arrested in the Lancaster and Palmdale areas for their alleged roles in luring the primary victim to the location and assisting the shooting suspect in evading arrest.
They’re all facing four counts of attempted murder.
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