Month: November 2020

As tensions continue to heat up between Donald Trump and Fox News, the president opened himself up to yet another round of embarrassing jokes while attempting to criticize the news network. The source of the tension stems from Fox News acknowledging that Joe Biden won the 2020 election, which is a reality that the president has, so far, refused to accept. As is often the case, Trump lashed out with a barrage of insults about Fox News’ supposedly declining ratings, but in the process, he walked right into a barrage of jokes by referring to himself as a Golden Goose.

“@FoxNews daytime ratings have completely collapsed,” Trump tweeted. “Weekend daytime even WORSE. Very sad to watch this happen, but they forgot what made them successful, what got them there. They forgot the Golden Goose.”

Like clockwork, Trump’s goose was cooked within minutes of clicking “send” on his tweet as the jokes began to pour in.

Trump’s golden goose tweet arrives on the heels of a report that he’s getting ready to dust off his old “Trump TV” plan and launch a digital media company that he believes will “wreck” Fox News. The president’s anger with the network started almost immediately after it was the first news outlet to call Arizona for Biden and refused to retract that decision despite pressure from Republicans and even some of the network’s biggest personalities. That was the start of the messy break-up that will undoubtedly continue to play out in public, thanks to the president’s itchy tweeting thumb.

(Via Donald J. Trump on Twitter)

The mysterious masked crooner RMR first broke out with a trap-tastic cover of Rascal Flatts’ “Bless the Broken Road” which went viral as fans struggled to parse its subject matter with the divergent presentation. With his latest video, he gives them more fodder to ponder as he breaks down a ’90s Matchbox Twenty classic, dropping the whole shebang into what looks like a coffee shop open mic night, complete with a backup band and a cup of tea.

“The Wishing Hour” is RMR’s tongue-in-cheek take on Matchbox Twenty’s “3 AM,” which twists the pining anthem into more of a late-night booty call theme song. While M20’s Rob Thomas initially wrote the song to try and make sense of his mom’s cancer diagnosis, RMR is more interested in hashing out a less complex set of emotions. “It’s three a.m. and I’m f*ckin’ horny,” he warbles in his zany take. It probably won’t make Thomas too happy but RMR’s fans will likely delight in his artistic vandalism. The track is the first part of a new project called 4th Quarter Medley, re-imagining a bunch of songs across a series of interconnected videos.

Of course, RMR already proved this year that he’s no one-trick pony, putting out the mischievous Drug Dealing Is A Lost Art EP featuring a broad range of styles on tracks like “Dealer” featuring Future and Lil Baby, “I’m Not Over You,” and “Welfare” with Westside Gunn.

Watch RMR’s “The Wishing Hour” video above.

The Boston Celtics came up two games short of the NBA Finals in the Orlando Bubble, losing in six games to the Miami Heat. With a young, budding superstar in Jayson Tatum and a complementary young star in Jaylen Brown, Boston has a duo that they hope can be the core of a championship contender.

The question is how they feel about the rest of their roster and their ability to compete for championships in the near future. Gordon Hayward has long seemed like he would be on his way out either this year via trade or next year in free agency given the Celtics wing situation. As such, it’s not surprising to see his name popping up in trade rumors. But in an interesting twist, Kemba Walker has likewise been mentioned in rumors despite an All-Star season in his first year in Boston, which indicates the playoff performance may be steering Boston to a larger shakeup.

What should be noted is that the Celtics are always a team mentioned in trade rumors, as they aren’t afraid to let their desire for star hunting to be made public. Oftentimes, those rumors stay just as that and never form into anything concrete. As such, rumblings of their pursuits of the likes of Jrue Holiday (per Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer) and possibly even Myles Turner should be taken with a bit of a grain of salt, understanding how they like to operate in the offseason. Should they make moves to really shake up their roster, however, it will be very telling about where they see themselves as currently constructed in the hierarchy of an Eastern Conference that figures to be even more competitive at the top next season.

When Walker arrived in Boston, it appeared to be a more snug fit than what they had with Kyrie Irving, particularly his relationship with the two budding stars, but in the postseason, some of the same issues began popping up. Walker struggled with consistency after returning from his knee injury and Brown seemed to waver in and out of rhythm and effectiveness as a tertiary option at times. On defense, Walker was targeted relentlessly by Miami and Toronto, and if they feel that is an Achilles heel for this team that can’t be solved simply by adding an upgrade at center — which, one would think, would be their top priority this offseason, hence the Turner rumors — then having his name attached to a Holiday rumor makes some sense.

Swapping Walker for Holiday would be a massive upgrade defensively, but would certainly take away from the other end of the floor for Boston. If they were to do so, it would show they were going all in on Tatum and Brown, as Holiday simply isn’t the type of player to create great shots — particularly perimeter shots — for himself in the same way Walker can. With the Draft arriving soon and Boston surely moving some, if not all, of their three first round picks to make a move for more immediate help, we should get answers soon as to how aggressively they want to upgrade their roster.

At this point, you could talk me into the Celtics doing just about anything and it’s representative of how wild this trade season might be. With financials locked in now, teams know they aren’t having to worry about a cap drop or massive tax penalties on top of declining revenues, and the result is, I think, going to be a much more active trade market than we may have expected even a couple months ago as the playoffs were on going. The free agent market isn’t strong and most teams are pretty well capped out, so most moves have to come through trades and Boston has the ammunition to make some big moves should they so choose. Whether they do or don’t, we’ll know exactly where Ainge and company believe they stand in the East and how they want to build around their young stars.

Phil Rosenthal has made it a habit to bring an extra suitcase when he travels the world for his Netflix series Somebody Feed Phil. This additional storage is not for random knick-knacks, but rather for local food items that he wants to share with his family and friends back home.

“I built a bar in my house,” he says, “so that I can have people over and make them drinks.”

The producer/travel host even had a short stint working as a bartender at Richoux of London, in the downstairs food hall of theNew York City’s Citicorp Center.

“I was in my 20s and needed the money,” he says. “So I applied for the job. I’d never worked as a bartender before, but I lied — thinking that I’d have enough time to learn after putting in my resume. They called me for a shift that evening.”

For eight months, a young Rosenthal learned in the line of duty, with a Mr. Boston Bartender Guide hidden away and at the ready.

“I remember my very first customer, a pretty lady who asked me for a Pink Squirrel,” he remembers. “I couldn’t find it in the book, so I asked her forgiveness and if she could tell me how to make it. She just smiled and said, ‘I’ll just take a gin and tonic.’ It was probably the nicest thing that anyone has ever done for me.”

Over the years, Rosenthal has improved his skills and feels able to handle “uncomplicated” cocktails while serving his guests. The specialty drink at his house is usually one learned on the last trip he took. So it’s not a huge surprise that on a return flight from Brazil, after filming season four’s premiere episode, the host’s spare suitcase was filled with cachaça. The rum-like alcohol distilled from fermented sugarcane is the main attraction for the country’s national cocktail and Phil’s new sipper of choice: the caipirinha.

“Do you remember Hawaiian Punch?” asks Rosenthal over the phone. “That is what caipirinha is. It goes down like a delicious fruit drink, and then you get ‘punched’ by the alcohol. I absolutely loved them, and had my fair share during my time in Brazil.”

For Rosenthal, making caipirinhas for his friends is a way to share his memories of Rio with those closest to him.

“They aren’t difficult to make at all,” he says. “Or if you don’t feel like working just find the nearest authentic Brazilian restaurant — they’ll know what they’re doing.”

Should you decide that you want to take your own stab at the caipirinha, we have Phil’s classic recipe for you right here — with some help from chief bartender Danielle Espindola from New York’s hit Brazilian eatery Berimbau.

RECIPE:

• Cachaça (2 ounces)
• Sugar (2 spoons)
• Lime

INSTRUCTIONS:

• Take the lime, cut in half, and then in quarters. Remove the white part in the center of the fruit to reduced bitterness. The amount of the lime depends on the size of the fruit, but the average is half a lime, meaning two quarters.
• Take a rocks glass, and place the two lime quarters inside, adding two small spoons of white sugar, and gently muddle the mix. Be careful not to muddle too hard, because you don’t want to bruise the fruit.
• Finally, add two ounces of cachaça and ice to the top. Shake it for about 30 seconds and pour back into the glass. If needed, top it off with more ice at the end.

Somebody Feed Phil is now available on Netflix.

The past few weeks have been an active stretch for Justin Bieber. He recently performed on SNL, hopped on a remix of 24kGoldn’s No. 1 hit “Mood,” dropped an acoustic version of his Chance The Rapper collaboration “Holy,” and performed with Dan + Shay at the CMAs just last night. Now he is keeping his streak going by getting into the holiday spirit: Bieber has released a new rendition of the Christmas classic “Rockin Around The Christmas Tree.”

The cover is available exclusively on Amazon Music and it incorporates Bieber’s modern R&B sound into sounds of jingle bells and other classic holiday music goodies and vibes.

Bieber is of course familiar with holiday music, as he put out a Christmas album, Under The Mistletoe, back in 2011. It was his second album overall, and it was a tremendous success, as it was the first Christmas album by a male artist to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart. The album had collaborations with Mariah Carey, Usher, Boyz II Men, Busta Rhymes, and The Band Perry. It featured a bunch of holiday classics, but not “Rocking Around The Christmas Tree,” so this is a new one in the Bieber oeuvre.

Listen to Bieber’s rendition of “Rockin Around The Christmas Tree” above.

For reasons that still don’t make sense, the Trump campaign decided to hold a post-election Philly press conference (to spread more baseless claims of voter fraud) at a landscaping company that’s sandwiched in between a sex shop and a crematorium. The Four Seasons Total Landscaping company is now doing crazy merch sales (and good for them) while the sex shop next door is fielding calls for Rudy Giuliani, and there are somehow VR furries involved, and 2020 is growing no less weird.

In the aftermath, Trump has apparently decided to ignore the pandemic while sulking and raging inside the White House and (falsely) insisting that he won the election. And of course, a great many of Trump’s recent tweets are being slapped with Twitter misinformation warnings, but that hasn’t deterred him from further election lies. Well, Captain America has had enough of these shenanigans. In response to Trump’s tweeting out of OANN’s conspiracy fuel, Chris Evans responded with a sharp jab at the sitting president and his Four Seasons mess: “It’s over. You lost. If you don’t like it, take it all the way to the Supreme Courtyard Marriott.”

Simple, effective, clever, and brutal. People pretty much lost it.

In 2020, we gotta find all the humor we can. Thank you for your service, Cap.

Sylvan Esso returned this September to expand their hip-shaking catalog with their third studio record Free Love. Now further exploring the possibilities of their sound, Sylvan Esso called on two highly-regarded hip-hop producers to re-imagine their single “Ferris Wheel.”

Acclaimed producer and jazz artist Terrace Martin tapped Grammy Award-winning musician Robert Glasper to join in on the remix. Together, the duo transformed the up-tempo track into a more chilled-out version, stripping back layers and adding wonky synths and soulful piano melodies into the mix. “We are so honored to be remixed by Terrace Martin, who we are gigantic fans of,” Sylvan Esso said about the remix. “The surprise addition of Robert Glasper was an absolute joy.”

Ahead of their Free Love release, Sylvan Esso chatted with Uproxx about their dynamic as a couple. Vocalist Amanda Meath opened up about the frustration she used to feel when people would focus more on their relationship than their music. “The minute you see women who write songs and work with their partners talk about it, all of a sudden every time they do an interview it’s only about what it’s like to be in love with the person that you work with,” Meath said. “It was a fight against my own misogyny in that I was so fearful of having to deal with it that I just wanted to skip right over it. In interviews, it would make me so upset because it made me feel like something had been stolen from me, which is strange, because Nick and I are together, and that’s the truth.”

Listen to Martin and Glasper’s “Ferris Wheel” remix above.

Free Love is out now via Loma Vista. Get it here.

The cruise ship industry has been absolutely rocked by the COVID-19 pandemic. Many of the earliest headlines surrounding the rapid spread of the virus involved outbreaks that occurred on cruise ships, and it’s been a struggle for the industry to envision how to safely take to the water again. SeaDream Yacht Club thought they had figured it out, but it seems that four days into the SeaDream1’s seven-day voyage into the Caribbean, the ship was brought to a halt after a passenger tested positive for COVID-19.

According to Gene Sloan, a cruise writer for The Points Guy, who has been stuck in quarantine on the SeaDream1, the ship is currently docked in Barbados with 53 passengers on board and 66 crew members. Currently, the ship’s passengers are isolated in their rooms, receiving meals ordered from menus slipped under their doors and delivered by mask-wearing crew members.

Speaking to NBC’s Today, Sloan explained that the cruise required a “rigorous” testing system prior to the voyage and that each passenger was tested before arriving in Barbados, where the ship was docked, and again at the pier before boarding. Every passenger tested negative on both occasions according to Sloan, and passengers did not interact with locals during any of their stops — being shuttled to empty beaches, instead. Before the third round of routine tests, a passenger visited the ship’s doctor feeling ill and was diagnosed with COVID-19 on a “preliminary basis” though what that means was not explained to Sloan or the other passengers. Cruise ship passengers were not required to wear masks.

The SeaDream1’s voyage was the first sailing by a cruise ship company since COVID-19 was first declared a pandemic back in March, so it’s not looking good for the cruise ship industry as a whole, as it struggles to figure out how to function amidst a surge in cases.

As frustrating as the situation must be, it seems that Gene Sloan is in good spirits and the crew and captain are keeping the passengers as well taken care of as a ship full of potential COVID-19 carriers could hope to be. At the very least, it’s an improvement over how cruise ships handled the virus back in March.

This week, UPROXX Sessions meets burgeoning Dallas rap star Bobby Sessions in a performance that puts his stamp on the show and justifies their naming coincidence. The political-minded Sessions’ RVLTN projects clearly classify him as a sharp writer but when he steps into the Uproxx Studios Sessions stage, he proves that his live renditions have the same dynamism and charisma. Performing “All We Got” from his recently-released RVLTN (Chapter 3): The Price of Freedom, Bobby makes his presence known and sets a high bar for next week’s guest.

In a previous interview with Uproxx, Bobby presciently highlighted a problem from this year mirrored in the lyrics of “All We Got.” “You have to look at the damage being done by members of your community,” he said. “There are people of color that get in positions of power and get in positions of influence where they can educate their viewers or audience about what is going on in their community, but they decide for their personal financial gain to dismiss all of those issues in their own community and act like they do not exist so that they can appease their white superiors.” In “All We Got,” Bobby reiterates that sentiment, pointing out, “Got love for Kanye, but no time to divide the vote.”

Watch Bobby’s performance above and check out his new album here.

UPROXX Sessions is Uproxx’s performance show featuring the hottest up-and-coming acts you should keep an eye on. Featuring creative direction from LA promotion collective, Ham On Everything, and taking place on our “bathroom” set designed and painted by Julian Gross, UPROXX Sessions is a showcase of some of our favorite performers, who just might soon be yours, too..

YouTube comedy stars The Gregory Brothers are back with a hilarious song that’s as funny as it is catchy. The comedy quartet took clips of some of Trump’s most ardent supporters having total breakdowns over his loss and autotuned them into melodies.

The video features Trump’s spiritual advisor Paula White speaking in tongues, Rudy Giuliani outside the Four Seasons Total Landscaping, Tucker Carlson, and televangelist Kenneth Copeland.

In the video, there’s one lesser-known Trumper who deserves special attention, Bradley Knight. Knight is White’s son and in the video, he says Americans will have to eat their “own dung” and drink their “own urine.”

Why is this man talking about humans eating their own dung, you ask? He’s referring to an Old Testament story in which a rabbi warns the Israelites that if Sennacherib, King of Assyria, captures Jerusalem, they’re all in for a literal dung sandwich.

Does Knight believe that Biden era will do the same?

“But Rab-shakeh said unto them, Hath my master sent me to thy master, and to thee, to speak these words? Hath he not sent me to the men which sit on the wall, that they may eat their own dung, and drink their own piss with you?” (2 Kings 18:27)

This one will be stuck in your head at least until the inauguration.

Election Meme Rewind – HEY HEY, HA HA, HO HO ft. Kenneth Copeland, Paula White-Cain, and various acc

www.youtube.com