Month: October 2020

(SPOILERS for The Boys Season 2 finale will be found below.)

With the Season 2 finale of The Boys now streaming on Amazon Prime Video, fans have been curious about the fate of one particular character who seemingly bit the big one following a deadly and heart-breaking confrontation. Well, they’re in luck, because showrunner Eric Kripke isn’t shying away from confirming what happened after the final showdown.

After an attempt to rescue Rebecca’s son Ryan from Homelander goes sideways, Butcher and Rebecca find themselves facing off against the literal Nazi, Stormfront, who easily overpowers them. As Stormfront chokes the life out of Rebecca, Ryan finally taps into the rage needed to active his heat vision, which is clearly much stronger than Homelander, since it reduces Stormfront to smoldering lump on the ground, but not without tragic results for Rebecca. However, when Homelander arrives on the scene, Stormfront is still muttering in German despite being burnt to a crisp and missing several limbs. While the episode doesn’t make it clear that she’s dead, it’s easy to understand why fans would think she’s gone for good. But Kripke has confirmed that isn’t the case, and Stormfront is very much alive. Via TVLine:

No, she’s not dead! She’s Stumpfront! She’s a stumpy little Nazi. She’s actually not dead. What we thought was interesting is, if you remember, she ages very, very slowly. So the best poetic ending for that character is someone who so believed in some kind of pure race finds herself mutilated and having to live with it for potentially centuries felt like a fate worse than death for her. So no, Stumpfront is not dead. Hashtag Stumpfront lives!

While this leaves the door open for Aya Cash to make an appearance in season three of The Boys, the actress might me busy with another project. She recently revealed that she loved to play one of the X-Men in the MCU, especially if she gets to gender-swap a classic character. Although, judging by how Cash relished her role on The Boys, we’re guessing she’d be game to return as Stumpfront.

(Via TVLine)

In San Francisco, Fernet Branca was our Vegemite. By that I mean it was a drink that we didn’t necessarily love ourselves, but we loved using to haze newcomers and outsiders. “Here, try this,” we’d say, and then have a good laugh at the noob’s face as they gulped down a bitter black blast of 28 herbs (this is exactly how Australians use Vegemite, in case you missed the analogy — I’ve always suspected they like using it to f*ck with you more than they actually enjoy eating it).

I don’t know why Fernet Branca, a 175-year-old drink from Milan, was big in San Francisco. Elsewhere it’s sort of an “industry” shot, that bartenders use like a secret handshake. The first time I had it, I thought it tasted like Scope mixed with grass clippings. “Medicinal” is the most obvious description (obvious because herbaceous spirits were literally intended as medicine, to aid digestion, cure indigestion, and God knows what else).

But I’ve been getting into cocktails during the quarantine, and I was shocked at how much slightly upgrading the things you mix the booze with (a technical term) — the vermouth, syrups, etc. — elevates your drinks. So when I got invited to do a Zoom tasting with Fernet’s brand ambassador, I was curious how the old SF Vegemite might fit into the classy cocktail world. Fernet as a drink has an anchovy quality to it — it’s so intense and funky that I figured there must be some great way to use it in cocktails. The same way a little anchovy or anchovy paste adds a whole new dimension to so many foods and sauces, like caesar dressing or Worcestershire.

During that Zoom, the Fernet Old Fashioned was a fun standout. All those herbs in the Fernet (saffron, cinnamon, linden, myrrh…) add a layer to the complexity of a boozy-sweet Old Fashioned. It kind of reminds me of the Old Fashioned equivalent of a Fall or Winter ale — the normal thing but with a layer of mulled wine-type spices that warm you up when the weather starts getting cold. The recipe below came from Felipe Muñoz, bartender at Sweetleaf Cocktail Bar in New York City. He calls his a “Luthier,” after Les Luthiers, an Argentinian comedy band.

• Take two “coins” of fresh ginger
• Add a few drops of bitters (Muñoz had some kind of fancy chocolate bitters; I only had regular old Angostura but they seemed to work fine)
• Lightly muddle (I don’t own an honest-to-God muddler but the end of a wooden spoon works fine)
• Add ice

Then pour in:

• 1/2 ounce maple syrup (Muñoz had grade D, the real dark stuff, but again I used the plain old grade A I keep in the fridge for pancakes)
• 3/4th ounce Fernet Branca
• 1 and 1/2 ounce bourbon
• Pour over a bourbon glass with ice, garnish with an orange peel

It’s just a slight twist on your usual Old Fashioned, with an added hint of Fall flavors like cinnamon, and a soupcon of mulled wine warming spice. Yeah, that’s right, I said “soupcon.” I’m a fancy cocktail drinker now!

If the Miami Heat are to keep their season alive and force a Game 6 in the 2020 NBA Finals, they’ll have to do it without the services of Goran Dragic. According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, Dragic will once again be unable to play on Friday night, when the team plays the Los Angeles Lakers in a must-win Game 5.

Dragic suffered a torn plantar fasciitis during Game 1 of the series, his first career NBA Finals game. While he’s attempted to play in each of the games since then, Dragic has been unable to take the floor, and the Heat have struggled as a result. The team is currently in a 3-1 hole to the Lakers, and while they won one game in his absence, winning this series without him on the floor would be a Herculean effort.

Prior to his getting hurt, Dragic was playing some of the best basketball of his career in the NBA’s Orlando Bubble, averaging 20.9 points, 4.7 assists, and 4.2 rebounds in 34.6 minutes per game with the Heat. In his absence, Miami has inserted rookie guard Tyler Herro into the starting lineup for the past three games, while handing over more minutes to Kendrick Nunn off the bench. And of course, Jimmy Butler has taken on a more ball-dominant role.

Game 5 of the 2020 NBA Finals tips off at 9 p.m. EST on ABC.

Twin Peaks is a show about murder, though some would say it’s mostly about aesthetics and coffee. This is why the place where that coffee (and cherry pie) came from is so important fans are doing their best to save the real-life diner where the show filmed.

The Double R Diner from Twin Peaks is a real place in Washington, one that was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic just like any other place of business. Grub Street talked to the owners of the diner, actually called the Twede’s Cafe in North Bend, Washington. As it turns out, Rachel Bennet and her husband, Max Spears, finished their purchase of the diner in late February, weeks before Washington shut down to a rapidly-expanding COVID-19 pandemic.

The interview has lots of details about how the two eventually watched the show and wanted to own an important part of its history. It also details the slight changes they’ve made to the diner to pay homage to it filming there. And despite the rough start to their ownership, they said fans are doing their best to keep the takeout orders coming to keep it afloat while the pandemic continues.

When it was takeout only, we were not making money at all. We would’ve lost a lot of money because we were keeping our staff on, but we did get one of the PPP loans. The one we applied for was for over $100,000. That was huge for us, in that we didn’t have to think about our sales for two months, which was most of when we were takeout only. It allowed us to pay everybody as if we were open for regular hours. The sales we were doing were just paying for the food we were buying and nothing else.

We keep saying to ourselves how lucky we are that this is the restaurant that we bought because there are so many people who care about it, want to see it continue, and have embraced us as owners.

The full piece has some really fun photos — including one of a wall of Twin Peaks memorabilia and the changes they’ve made since buying the place. As it turns out, Bennet grew up in the town where the show was filmed but it took her a while to get through Twin Peaks and fall in love, which as it turns out is a fairly common thing for the cult classic. Here’s hoping Twede’s Cafe keeps serving up the coffee and pie long after all this is over and fans of the show can safely pay it a visit.

[via Grub Street]

If you’re a parent with kids who (would, on a non-pandemic timeline) go trick-or-treating or just a single adult who bought too much Halloween candy, on November 1st you’ll probably find yourself with a surplus of Snickers bars, Starburst, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, and Candy Corn. To get rid of them, you can spend the next week gradually munching leftover treats with breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Or you can be a maximalist and pair those sugar-laden confections with your favorite whiskey.

We vote the latter. And since we’re all about the proper pairing, we decided to reach out to our favorite bartenders for help picking which whiskeys go with beloved Halloween candies. Their combinations sound… pretty good, actually. So good, in fact, that we might just have to dip into our supplies early.

The Dalmore 12 (Dove Dark Chocolate)

Christopher Chamberlain, national beverage development manager for E. & J. Gallo Winery in Modesto, California

The core collection of The Dalmore pairs beautifully with a vast array of chocolate. Its introductory, The Dalmore 12 expression is a perfect companion to dark chocolate containing notes of raw honey and candied orange. The Dalmore 15 pairs well with dark chocolates that carry the spicy notes of candied ginger. For those willing to splurge, the Dalmore 18 pairs well with both dark and white chocolates rich with notes of coffee, vanilla, or caramel.

Old Bardstown Bourbon (Candy Corn)

Andy Printy, Beverage Director at Chao Baan in St. Louis

It’s unfortunate, but Halloween brings a surplus of Candy Corn. The perfect whiskey to turn this nightmare candy into a treat has to be Old Bardstown. Lightly allocated, but affordable when found, it’s got lots of corn, but a nice aftertaste of cocoa nibs and light oak char. Its body is light, but the creamy texture of the sugary Candy Corn is a perfect mediator.

Elijah Craig Small Batch Bourbon (Milky Way Bar)

Gavin Humes, bartender at Scratch|Bar & Kitchen in Los Angeles

Most Halloween candy is made with fairly sweet, light milk chocolate. Even my favorite Halloween candy – the Milky Way Dark is relatively sweet — so it needs something that highlights the vanilla notes in the candy. For that, I’d reach for something like the Elijah Craig Small Batch Bourbon. The vanilla and caramel notes in the bourbon work nicely with the sweet dark Milky Way candy bar.

Weller Special Reserve Bourbon (Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup)

Hayden Miller, head bartender at Bodega Taqueria y Tequila in Miami

Weller Special Reserve and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. A nice wheated flavor to pair with the salty, sweet, and chocolate in the candy. Plus, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups are by far the best Halloween candy of all time.

Maker’s Mark 46 Bourbon (Snickers Bar)

Nick Coles, bartender at Kimpton Sawyer Hotel in Sacramento

The perfect duo for Halloween would be Snickers and Maker’s 46. We want that caramel from the candy, but we also want the peanuts to complement the spice that Maker’s 46 gives off. Maker’s 46 is creamy and soft at the first drop of the tongue, then the spices explode on the palate.

77 Whiskey Local Rye & Corn (Banana Laffy Taffy)

Roberto Berdecia, bartender at La Factoria in San Juan, Puerto Rico

During Halloween, I once tried a Banana Laffy Taffy candy paired with 77 Whiskey (Local Rye & Corn) and I always have that memory in my mind. It was very good. The flavor and complexity of the rye mixed with corn made that candy taste like heaven and vice versa.

WhistlePig 10 Year Rye (Peppermint Patties)

Nestor Marchand, director of food and beverage at Plunge Beach Resort in Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Whistle Pig 10 Year Rye Whiskey with Peppermint Patties. The flavor strength of the rye just melts with the chocolate and mint. Peppery sweetness and dark chocolate and mint are a great combination.

Slane Irish Whiskey (Brach’s Caramel Apple Halloween Candy)

David Velasquez, bartender at Spellbound MIA in Miami

I recommend Slane Irish Whiskey as a perfect pair with Brach’s Caramel Apple Halloween candy because of the notes of caramel and green apple — which can also be tasted subtly when drinking Slane Irish Whiskey.

Halloween and fall, in general, are a festive time of year and Slane always brings joy.

Writer’s Picks:

Booker’s Bourbon (Twix Bar)

The unfiltered, robust flavors of vanilla, charred oak, and caramel work perfectly with the cookie, caramel, and milk chocolate of a Twix bar.

Ardbeg Ten (Whatchamacallit Bar)

The peaty, smoky, briny flavor of Ardbeg Ten works well with the peanut butter crisp, caramel, and milk chocolate of the Whatchamacallit Bar. The duo work so well together you’ll wish you had a half dozen of these sweet treats to pair with this beloved Islay single malt.

The president’s words matter. In what appears to be the waning days of the Trump presidency, they seem to matter less and less but there are still millions of people who mistakenly take his words as gospel.

A poll from last month found that two-thirds of Americans don’t trust Trump when it comes to the pandemic. But that still means millions will follow his advice. The frightening thing is that during a pandemic, bad advice can mean the difference between life or death.

On Monday, after returning from Walter Reed Medical Center where he was being treated for COVID-19, President Trump sent out an irresponsible tweet urging Americans to be less concerned with the deadly virus.

A virus that is spreading like wildfire through his administration and their contacts.

“Feeling really good! Don’t be afraid of Covid. Don’t let it dominate your life,” he tweeted. “We have developed, under the Trump Administration, some really great drugs & knowledge. I feel better than I did 20 years ago!”

The tweet was not only totally irresponsible, but it was downright disrespectful to the 212,000 (and counting) Americans who’ve died from the virus and the countless families affected.

The virus has also taken an unfathomable toll on the frontline healthcare workers who have put their lives on the line and witnessed the suffering caused by the virus.

Cristina Hops, a Seattle nurse who temporarily moved to Miami, Florida to help a hospital with an influx of cases, was astonished by the president’s comments, so she took to TikTok to hit him with a dose of reality.

“I have done compressions on intubated patients. I have seen hundreds of people suffocating to death and for him to say ‘do not be afraid of COVID’ is astounding,” Hops says in the video. “I cannot compute. I have never been so angry.”

“Actually, that’s not true. I’ve been angry so many times this year about so many things that he’s said and done. I just want you to know that COVID is still out there and it is very scary,” Hops said.

“I can’t make a coherent thought because of how angry I am. Maybe more on this later, right now I need to breathe,” she captioned the video.

Hops told CNN that she’s afraid if people take the president’s words seriously, it’ll lead to more cases and overwhelm the healthcare system.

“The hospital that I was working at was completely overrun,” she told CNN. “It’s not possible to give everybody the care that they need and deserve when the hospital is that full.”

Hops’ video has reached tens of thousands of people, let’s hope that all of them listen. Because it’s important that we elevate the voices of healthcare professionals who care about the public’s health over the president, who clearly only cares about himself.

Travis Scott released his The Weekend collaboration “Wake Up” on his third studio record, Astroworld. The rapper followed-up the song with an eye-catching video in July of 2019 and, according to recent reports, it looks like Scott’s label still owes a large sum of money for the visual.

Epic Records is reportedly in debt $187,000 to the company Smuggler for their work on Scott’s “Wake Up” video. According to a report from HotNewHipHip, Smuggler recently filed a lawsuit against the label in order to make them pay up. Apparently, the entire video cost the label $749,000 but Epic tried to negotiate the price down to an even $600,000, eventually conceding after they paid Smuggler a first installment of $561,766.

However, over a year has passed and Smuggler is still waiting for the second installment to arrive from Epic — and the label has their excuses. When pressed for the rest of the cash, Epic label executives apparently said it’s missing because they “don’t like” the video. Epic reportedly claims the video was missing a few effects they were hoping for and even tried to scrap the initial contract months after the video had already debuted.

Watching the visual, it’s clear why the shoot racked up such a pricey bill. Not only was “Wake Up” directed by Jonah Hill, but its also set in an opulent mansion filled and featured a large number of extras.

Watch Scott’s “Wake Up” video in question above.

As part of (virtual) New York Comic Con, CBS All Access released the trailer for The Stand, a miniseries based on Stephen King’s prophetic 1978 novel. You may be thinking to yourself, “I’m not sure if I’m in the mood to watch a show about a deadly virus that wipes out 99.4 percent of the human population” (King even tweeted, “No, coronavirus is NOT like THE STAND. It’s not anywhere near as serious. It’s eminently survivable. Keep calm and take all reasonable precautions”). But what if I told you The Stand was about Whoopi Goldberg as a 108-year-old prophet and Alexander Skarsgård as the extremely tall “rock ‘n roll version of the devil”? Now you’re interested.

Here’s more.

The Stand is Stephen King’s apocalyptic vision of a world decimated by plague and embroiled in an elemental struggle between good and evil. The fate of mankind rests on the frail shoulders of the 108-year-old Mother Abagail (Whoopi Goldberg) and a handful of survivors. Their worst nightmares are embodied in a man with a lethal smile and unspeakable powers: Randall Flagg (Alexander Skarsgård), the Dark Man. The Stand will close with a new coda written by the famed author himself.

The Stand, which also stars James Marsden, Greg Kinnear, Odessa Young, Jovan Adepo, Amber Heard, Owen Teague, and Marilyn Manson, premieres on December 17.

Editor’s Note: Over the past year Upworthy’s parent company was a proud partner with the WFP using our platform to share stories of their fight against hunger around the world.

Out of 318 candidates, including youth climate activist Greta Thunberg and President Donald Trump, the Nobel Peace Prize for 2020 has been awarded to the World Food Programme (WFP) “for its efforts to combat hunger, for its contribution to bettering conditions for peace in conflict-affected areas and for acting as a driving force in efforts to prevent the use of hunger as a weapon of war and conflict.”

Having written about the work of WFP for Upworthy, this news warmed my heart. From researching WFP’s efforts to battle gender inequality with food security to reading their educational materials on how climate change impacts hunger and causes forced migration, I was blown away by the broad scope of what they do. As I dug in further and saw the various informational videos put together by my colleagues, the clearer it became that tackling hunger totally requires that kind of scope. Hunger is a multifaceted issue that impacts everything—including war and conflict—and our world will never be at peace if this most fundamental need is not being met for millions.

The World Food Programme is the largest organization addressing hunger and food insecurity in the world. According to the Nobel committee press release, “the WFP provided assistance to close to 100 million people in 88 countries who are victims of acute food insecurity and hunger” in 2019. The committee pointed out that there has been an increase in acute hunger in recent years, with most of that increase being caused by war and armed conflict.

And of course, the pandemic is only making things worse.

The Nobel committee says that they want this award “to turn the eyes of the world towards the millions of people who suffer from or face the threat of hunger.” They also point to the need for supporting organizations like WFP financially, making the direct connection between hunger and conflict:

“The world is in danger of experiencing a hunger crisis of inconceivable proportions if the World Food Programme and other food assistance organisations do not receive the financial support they have requested.

The link between hunger and armed conflict is a vicious circle: war and conflict can cause food insecurity and hunger, just as hunger and food insecurity can cause latent conflicts to flare up and trigger the use of violence. We will never achieve the goal of zero hunger unless we also put an end to war and armed conflict.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee wishes to emphasise that providing assistance to increase food security not only prevents hunger, but can also help to improve prospects for stability and peace.”

While every sincere effort to create peace deserves praise, peacemaking is a far more complex endeavor than signing pieces of paper. Addressing the root causes of war and conflict, understanding the connections between the various challenges facing humanity, and making sure people have what they need so they don’t have to fight for survival are all necessary components of creating a peaceful world for all.

Congratulations to World Food Programme for this well-deserved honor. Hopefully this prestigious recognition will lead more people to explore the issues of hunger and food security and support programs and solutions that are proving to be successful.

Learn more about the work of the World Food Programme at wfp.org and wfpusa.org.

If nothing below suits your sensibilities, check out our guide to What You Should Watch On Streaming Right Now.

The Haunting Of Bly Manor (Netflix series, Sunday) — Following Hill House, this anthology series brings back familiar faces for another disturbing story. This season puts a spin on Henry James’ The Turn Of The Screw, courtesy of showrunner Mike Flanagan, with more hauntings and murder and some unsettling orphans along for the ride.

The Boys: Season 2 finale (Amazon Prime series) — This season’s gone weekly while diving deeper into the skewering of superheroes and what makes them tick. Speaking of inner workings, Antony Starr helped us climb into Homelander’s head for his climactic raunchy scene that actually follows up on the season’s story-based climax, which largely deals with the Stormfront issue and the ladies getting it done.

Charm City Kings (HBO Max film) — During an acclaimed Sundance Film Festival debut, our own Vince Mancini singled out Meek Mill for his star turn in the coming-of-age story. Vince also praised the stunt work in this movie produced by Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith. Jahi Di’Allo Winston (Queen & Slim) co-stars as the teenage Mouse, who wants to fit in with the Midnight Clique group of bike riders while wavering between influences. One of those influences happens to be Mill’s stunt-happy ex-con, Blax, whose interests appear to be at odds with a detective (William Catlett of Black Lightning) and the teen’s mother (Teyonah Parris of If Beale Street Could Talk), who both want Mouse to reach his full potential, rather than dig into gang life.

The Right Stuff (NatGeo series on Disney+) — This eight-episode limited series (with two episodes dropping on Friday) is based upon Tom Wolfe’s landmark 1979 book about the American space program’s birth and the day-to-day lives of the original Mercury Seven astronauts. It’s an anti-nostalgic glimpse into what essentially functioned as the first U.S. reality show, and it’s executive produced by Leonardo DiCaprio.

Hubie Halloween (Netflix film) — This movie might be wonderfully funny escapism for you, or it might be Adam Sandler’s revenge for not receiving an Oscar nomination for Uncut Gems. Perhaps it can be both things? Regardless of intent from the Sandman, settle in for the latest Happy Madison production, which follows Sandler’s Hubie Dubois, a Halloween safety crusader who gets sucked into a murder mystery. Kevin James and Kenan Thompson play cops, and more co-stars include Julie Bowen, Ray Liotta, Noah Schnapp, Steve Buscemi, and Maya Rudolph.

The Forty-Year-Old Version (Netflix documentary) — New York playwright Radha Blank reinvents herself as rapper RadhaMUSPrime in order to engineer a breakthrough before age 40. She ends up finding her true voice in a deeply personal but refreshingly candid story while leaping in between worlds, and the final product won the Directing Prize at the Sundance Film Festival. This black-and-white 35mm feature takes a slice-of-life approach that ends up being an ode to those who seize fulfillment.

Deaf U (Netflix documentary series) — A collective of deaf students at Gallaudet University gathers in this coming-of-age film that offers a seldom-seen look inside the tight-knit Deaf community.

Fast & Furious Spy Racers: Season 2: Rio (Netflix series) — The animated series returns with teenage Tony Toretto hoping to be like Dom. The group gets recruited by the government to help take down a nefarious crime organization by joining elite racers.

Here’s the rest of this weekend’s notable programming:

Room 104 (Friday, HBO 10:00 p.m.) — The series finale arrives for Duplass Brothers’ bizarre playground with a man preparing for a Generations Ceremony while reflecting on painful memories and life in general.

Saturday Night Live (Saturday, NBC 11:29 p.m.) — Host Bill Burr and a mystery musical guest after Morgan Wallen got dropped for partying during a pandemic. Jack White is pinch-hitting, which is promising news.

The Vow (Sunday, HBO 9:00 p.m.) — Legal action finally comes down against NXIVM and its founders, as well as some members. Evidence has been gathered for the sex-cult aspects of the organization, along with some tax evasion. It’s serious trouble for Keith Raniere and company.

Fear The Walking Dead (Sunday, AMC 9:00 p.m.) — Season 6 begins with a bounty hunter stalking Morgan, who’s considering whether to assist a stranger.

Good Lord Bird (Sunday, Showtime 9:00 p.m.) — Ethan Hawke stars as a violent abolitionist in this series that takes place in the Kansas territory in 1856. Hawke’s character, John Brown, accidentally mistakes a male slave for a girl and “frees” him. Things get complicated when Onion gets separated from Brown’s ragtag army and stumbles into a pro-slavery group.

Lovecraft Country (Sunday, HBO 9:00 p.m.) — Hippolyta’s back? Apparently so, and she leads a journey for Tic, Leti, and Montrose to join. I hope the new pet monster comes along, too.

The Walking Dead: World Beyond (Sunday, AMC 10:00 p.m.) — The next spinoff in this universe continues to feel itself out with an episode that’s actually called “The Blaze of Gory.” What happens? Hope and Iris aren’t getting along, and Felix is attempting to deal with his past.

Fargo (Sunday, FX 10:00 p.m.) — Chris Rock’s 1950s Kansas City crime syndicate leader is still navigating a precarious situation while working toward business deals. This week, Ethelrida makes a discovery, Loy seeks retaliation, and Josto’s trying to dig into his leadership role.

Last Week Tonight With John Oliver (Sunday, HBO 11:00 p.m.) — He’s back, baby.