Month: December 2020

Unless you’re an actual masochist, nobody likes being poked with needles. But some of us hate it a whole lot more than others. If you’re of the “Eh, no big deal—just get the quick shot and be done with it” mindset, you’re in good company. But if you’re in the “I can’t handle the idea of a needle coming anywhere near my flesh” camp, you’re also in good company.

The fear of needles is called trypanophobia, and it’s very common. In fact, according Advent Health in Tampa, Florida, a 2012 study of 800 parents and 1,000 children found that 24 percent of the parents and 63 percent of the kids had a fear of needles. And between 7 and 8 percent of those people described needle phobia as the top reason for avoiding getting vaccinations.

Some pediatricians have developed methods for giving little kids vaccines in a way that results in the least amount of trauma. Our kids’ doctor has a flower-shaped plastic device with little bristles on it that they push onto the kid’s skin, distributing the sensation as the needle goes in, for example. But some docs takes it to a whole other level.

Like this one:

Tapping the baby with the covered needle like a game makes the needle itself seem not scary. Then, distracting them with the quick poke and then something super fun right after—the bubbles—appears to be a winning strategy.

Here’s a different baby with the same doc, same routine, and same result. You can definitely tell the babe has a “Whoa, wait a minute, what just happened?!” moment, but it’s short-lived.

Doctor Distracts Baby During Vaccine Jab With Sweet Routine

youtu.be

Another doc takes a similar approach with a toddler. This time, as the kiddo is a little older and more aware, the “Whoa, wait a minute” reaction comes with some verbal complaint. But the doctor knows just how to handle it, and it’s incredible to see the immediate turnaround from a simple, silly tissue toss.

Baby laughing while getting shots

www.youtube.com

Adults certainly don’t want doctors to start throwing tissues in their faces after getting a vaccination shot, but there’s something to be said for trying to make the process less frightening. By the time people are adults, the pain itself isn’t so much the issue as the idea of the needle. The silly play with the needle before the injection is one example of how doctors help kids not see the needle itself as scary, and though adults might need a different approach than children, purposeful exposure is actually one of the key strategies to overcoming phobias.

Considering the fact that we’re going to need a good percentage of Americans to get the coronavirus vaccine in order to return to non-distanced, non-masked normalcy, doing everything we can to help people overcome their fears of either the vaccine itself or the needles used to give them is important.

Also, considering this dumpster fire of a year, we could all use a little extra TLC. Maybe we can all take our burned out doctors a gift card or something when we ask them to sing a song while they give us our shots. Whatever it takes to get us through this home stretch of the pandemic with as little ongoing trauma as possible.

In all of the hubbub over Cardi B’s tweet about an $88,000 bag and the resulting criticism, one thing was overlooked; nobody but Cardi had any idea what the thing looked like or whether it was actually worth the price of a luxury automobile. Cardi solved that problem herself this afternoon, posting a photo of the bag from her text conversation about it and writing, “This is the purse people crying about.” Unfortunately, she may not have made a great case for spending the money, as it’s receiving less than stellar reviews.

As one stan account succinctly put it, “This sh*t was not worth getting dragged.” So far, the accessory has drawn comparisons to a pair of Ugg boots, a Western movie prop, and a Sherpa jacket, with many just outright calling it ugly.

Many just questioned why Cardi wouldn’t buy the significantly cheaper, though much higher coveted Telfair bag, which became a hot item going into the holiday season despite its relative affordability.

Cardi’s initial tweet about the bag — sans photo — sparked an intense debate about the number of people struggling due to the pandemic and Cardi’s own acts of charity. Cardi eventually gave a half-apology while pointing out how the government — whose job it is to actually provide for the welfare of the American people — did very little to help the working class.

Shortly after posting the photo and quickly sensing which way the wind was blowing, she also explained her reasoning for throwing down on an accessory she’s unlikely to get much love for… she considers it an investment. “It’s not about being cute it’s about the http://value,” she wrote. “In 3 years I can auction it for double.”

Cardi B is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

History may not remember Wayne’s World as a music movie, but it really is. Getting Cassandra a record deal is one of the film’s major plot points, Milwaukee enthusiast Alice Cooper makes a memorable cameo, and the film is credited with bringing renewed popularity to the Queen classic “Bohemian Rhapsody.”

So, when Josh Gad hosted the latest episode of his Reunited Apart series for the film, it was a music-heavy affair. Aside from the film’s primary cast, also participating in the event were Cooper, Queen’s Brian May and Roger Taylor, and Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler and Joe Perry (who appeared in a Wayne’s World sketch on Saturday Night Live once upon a time).

It has long been known that Freddie Mercury approved of the famous “Bohemian Rhapsody” scene before his death, and May spoke about how Mercury enjoyed it, saying, “I took [a VHS tape of the scene] ’round to Freddie not long before he went and showed it to him, because you said you wanted to have the approval. He loved it, he just laughed and laughed. He was very weak, but he just smiled and laughed.” He had been known to say, ‘Look, I suppose I have to die before we get America back,’ but you guys did it. You got us back to a new American public, and Freddie was very aware of that. He got totally into it, and he went to the next place knowing what had happened and enjoying it.”

Meanwhile, Cooper also came in clutch during the reunion by reciting his famous Milwaukee facts in front of a Delaware-themed background.

Watch the full video above.

The Olympic games may have been postponed all the way to 2021, but they’ll be back in 2024 — with a few all-new events, including breakdancing. Hip-hop has already been global, but it’s been further legitimized by the International Olympic Committee’s announcement today, per ESPN, that the most physical element of the culture has officially been added to the list of events coming to Paris in 2024. The IOC has also added skateboarding, sport climbing, and surfing, although they’ll debut at 2021’s postponed Tokyo games instead.

Breaking was proposed by Paris organizers in 2018 after the 2018 Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires had a successful trial run of the new event. It still required more approval stages from the IOC board and a membership vote. The inaugural event will take place at Place de la Concorde in downtown Paris alongside 3-on-3 basketball. In receiving approval, breaking bypassed the fates of sports like ocean rowing and parkour.

Up until this announcement, the biggest stage for hip-hop dance was the annual Red Bull BC One, which features a one-on-one battle format decided by a panel of five judges. The youth games used a similar format; while details on the upcoming games are vague, it stands to reason they’ll use the same format, foregoing crew-based competitions.

Training camp has begun around the NBA and while some players are not yet with their teams due to positive COVID-19 tests or being in isolation as a close contact to someone who has tested positive, for the most part, teams are fully aware of the whereabouts of their players — who were told to be in-market for testing by the end of November.

However, in Houston, quite the scene is unfolding as the Rockets begin camp with a new star face in John Wall but the absence of their cornerstone in James Harden. The superstar guard has been missing from camp, only popping up on workout videos and Instagram stories from various clubs in recent days, despite the expectation from the team that, while he may miss some time from team workouts he would begin individual work late last week. Instead, the former MVP has remained absent as he has made his stance clear that he wants to be traded to Brooklyn, with the Rockets understandably saying they are willing to go into this season as is.

The hope was that trading Russell Westbrook for John Wall would encourage Harden to show up and play out this season, at least until a deal can be worked out, but he seems insistent on continuing to apply pressure to trade him by making it abundantly clear he doesn’t want to be there by, well, not being there. The result is poor new coach Stephen Silas having to answer questions about Harden on a daily basis, and on Monday, admitted the team still is unsure when he’ll arrive at the facility and noted this was, at this point, a setback.

It’s not just Silas being asked about Harden, as P.J. Tucker arrived at Rockets camp on Monday and, well, he wasn’t too keen on answering any questions about his star teammate.

As you can see, things are going well in Houston and Harden is clearly testing the team’s willingness to be uncomfortable, as they stated they were happy to let happen in order to drag this trade request into the season. One would expect Harden to, at some point, arrive to camp if this continues, but when that is remains a mystery to us all, including the Houston Rockets staff and players.

Fettuccine Alfredo — or fettuccine alla Alfredo — is a Roman classic. It’s so Roman, and so specific to two restaurants in the Eternal City, that you rarely find it throughout the rest of Italy. You definitely see it on menus here in the US, of course. Everywhere from diners to cafes and classic red sauce joints to upscale Italian osterias (it gets the fine-dining treatment less often now that so many hipster joints discovered cacio e pepe).

When you order Alfredo in America, there’s literally no standard for what it will look like. You might see peas. You might be served rotini. Cream, garlic, and onions are all often in play. To put it simply, this is one of the most bastardized Italian dishes in the entire immigrant American food zeitgeist. Which is fine and good, foodways are meant to evolve, but also means you might not know the true Alfredo at all.

We’re here to change that. Today, we’re making classic fettucine alla Alfredo. The Roman way. Not because we’re snobby purists, but because it’s just so much better.

Before I get into making the original recipe, let’s get into what this dish is. Fettuccine alla Alfredo is a take on old Roman and Northern Italian cooking — specifically pasta alla burro (in butter) or pasta alla burro e Parmigiano (in butter and cheese). These dishes have been around for centuries. A young Alfredo di Lelio created his own version of the dish at his mother’s restaurant in the early 1900s. Di Lelio’s take was to triple the butter of a classic fettuccine alla burra and toss it at the table for the guest. This eventually led to adding young Parmigiano and butter in equal measure, to create a creamy, silky sauce over very thin fettuccine noodles.

Once di Lelio opened his own restaurant in 1914, his version of Alfredo was already famous. It gained more renown as the years ticked past. In fact, the dish was so beloved that Di Lelio’s Roman restaurant became a food pilgrimage site for stars of the Hollywood Golden Age and royal elites. The proprietor grew so widely-known that he actually toured the world demonstrating how to make the dish — a sort of culinary ambassador for Italian cooking.

That love and interest for Alfredo helped it spread. Especially to the United States. That’s when things get squirrely.

Alfredo’s fettuccine is a take of fettuccine alla burra. What you’re getting in the U.S. at a place like Olive Garden is really pasta alla panna (literally, pasta in cream sauce). The main difference is in taste and texture. Cream thins out the butter and cheese to the point where you’re losing a lot of the deeper flavors and textures. Plus, most Americanized recipes call for onions, garlic, or proteins that take the recipe beyond even a classic “alla panna.”

Fettuccine alla Alfredo is simple: it’s fresh fettuccine cooked in salted water that’s then tossed with warm butter and young and pulverized Parmigiano Reggiano. There’s not a lot to it, but it’s a flavor bomb that really does hit a comfort food sweet spot when done right.

The whole “done right” thing is really the key to this dish. The butter needs to be very high-quality and just starting to melt. The cheese needs to be granular, not grated. The pasta itself should be thin (the fettuccine used in Rome is specially made — so paper-thin that no standard home pasta machine can rival it). Beyond that, it’s all about how you combine the noodles with the butter, cheese, and pasta water to create the ultra-creamy and velvety sauce. This makes the dish both devilishly simple yet hard to master.

Don’t worry, we’ll make it seem easy.

What you’ll need in the kitchen:

• Large pot
• Large platter or pasta bowl
• Fork
• Spoon
• Tongs
• Cheese grater
• Sieve
• Large bowl

STEP 1: Prep

Ingredients:

• 1-lb fresh Fettuccine pasta
• 8-oz. unsalted, high-quality butter
• 8-oz. Parmigiano Reggiano
• Salt
• Pasta water

This is the first aspect that’ll make or break your Fettuccine Alfredo: Don’t skimp on ingredients. Shitty butter, cheese, or pasta will mean a shitty end result. I understand that I’m lucky enough to live next to Italy and have access to supermarkets devoted to Italian groceries. That being said, all you really need for this dish is good, fresh fettuccine, a good unsalted butter, and a brick of Parmigiano Reggiano that’s no more than 20-months-old.

A note of the cheese’s age: The older parm gets, the more crystalline and less creamy it becomes. A 12-month-old is ideal. But if you want a little more umami oompf in the dish, go with a 20-month parm.

Lastly, I didn’t make pasta myself for this recipe. One, I don’t have a machine that’ll get the sheets as thin as the stuff in Rome. Two, most folks looking for an easy dinner don’t want to make pasta from scratch. I’m going with a standard fresh fettuccine you can get in pretty much any decent grocery.

Besides, this recipe is about saucing pasta not making it.

Method:

The first step is to get a big pot of water boiling for the pasta. Next, I turn on the oven to the lowest setting and place a large serving bowl in there. I also took my butter out of the fridge in the morning so that it’s already up to room temp.

The biggest step is to prepare the cheese. I use a standard cheese grater on the small tooth side. I grate 250 grams or about eight ounces. But, to get that silken sauce, you need to go one step further.

I use a sieve and bowl to basically pulverized the cheese. I achieve this by gently working the cheese through the sieve with my fingertips and moving my hand in a circular motion around the sieve while shaking it.

I know this sounds daunting. But, it really only took about two or three minutes to sieve all that cheese. This is a key step to getting the creamy texture just right.

The above is what you’re left with. And, honestly, it kind of looks like the parm you get out of the big green shaker, minus the wood shavings.

STEP 2: Make Fettuccine alla Alfredo

Things are going to move fast now.

Method:

I place the pasta in the salted, boiling water and use the tongs to make sure they separate.

Next, I grab my mixing bowl from the oven and place the butter in it.

The pasta takes about one minute to cook through. I use the tongs to pull out the pasta and deposit it directly into the bowl. This should pull just enough of the pasta water with it to help emulsify the sauce as I mix. But just to be safe, I add a tiny splash more of the pasta water. If you want to be more exact, you can drain the pasta and reserve about one-quarter of a cup of water, and re-add it when you start mixing.

Next, I add the cheese to the pasta and use a large fork and spoon to start pulling it through the butter, pasta water, and cheese in long pulling motions.

Basically, what I’m doing is rolling the pasta around in the bowl once, and then using the fork and spoon as pinchers (with a spoon in one hand and the fork in another) to pull the pasta up and out of the mass before rolling it back in. It should start to get creamy fairly quicky. I do this for a solid minute over and over again.

You’ll really start to see the sauce form and turn a creamy white after a solid 60 to 90 seconds. It should have a sheen and a silken texture. It’s ready.

STEP 3: Serve

I use the tongs to grab a big ol’ scoop and fold that into a nest on the plate. You really don’t need any salt since the Parmigiano Reggiano is an umami bomb. Though, I do like a crack or two off the black pepper mill. This will serve four to six.

It’s time to tuck in! The pasta is just cooked and plenty toothsome. The sauce is equal parts creamy and cheesy, with a nutty and lush underbelly. I demolished this plate of pasta.

The key to this recipe really is the mix at the end. It’s kind of like making hollandaise or bearnaise for the first time. You’ll probably end up with scrambled eggs. But then you try again and again — mastering pulling and rolling the pasta in the butter, water, and cheese — until you hit that perfect balance of creamy and luscious that is Fettuccine alla Alfredo.

You’ll know you’re there when the pasta still holds that creamy and silken texture ten minutes after you make it. Check out the photo above. That’s ten minutes after serving the dish, and it’s still a silky, cheesy, creamy bowl of deliciousness.

As for adding garlic, onions, or (gasp) cream, leave that to Olive Garden. They need those base ingredients because they’re not using the best Parmigiano Reggiano. Or butter. Or pasta. Let’s face it, they’re using commodity ingredients to maximize their bottom line. That means they have to pull in flavors from cheaper additions.

If you source great butter, cheese, and pasta, you won’t need anything else. And you’ll want it this way every single time. I promise.

We’re a week into December, so it’s around the time of year that Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You” makes its annual climb to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Last year, the song famously topped the chart, and this year, it’s actually ahead of schedule.

On the Hot 100 dated December 14, 2019, “All I Want For Christmas Is You” was at No. 3 before reaching the top spot the next week. On the latest Hot 100, dated December 12, 2020, the timeless single is once again near the top, this time at No. 2. It was also the most-streamed song of the week.

“All I Want For Christmas Is You” is actually one of three vintage holiday classics in the top ten this week, as Brenda Lee’s “Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree” and Bobby Helms’ “Jingle Bell Rock” place at No. 4 and No. 9, respectively. On a related note, the Burl Ives compilation Best Of Burl Ives: 20th Century Masters/The Christmas Collection debuted on the Billboard 200 this week at No. 76.

Carey recently spoke with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe about writing the song, saying:

“I’ve reinterpreted this song a lot of times and started writing it on a junky, little keyboard, whatever. And I’m not a good player, but I know what I hear. And then I usually have somebody great translate that for me into the chords. But I’m hearing the chords as I hear the melody. So I started that one, and I’ll just always have the recollection of writing it. And it’s my first Christmas song that I ever wrote. And then I was just like, ‘What do I really, really want to hear at Christmas? What do I want to talk about? But how do I make it all-encompassing in terms of the love aspect of it?” And I think that, you know what, I’m not saying it’s the world’s greatest thing, but it makes me happy. And it’s made a lot of other people happy. And when I see people dancing in the streets to the song and having these big, huge festivals, and they’re playing it, it’s what holidays mean to me. It’s the memories. It’s being around the people. It’s the song that takes you through the memories that you can create your own new memories from.”

She added, “For me… Christmas music is timeless and should be timeless. And if it strikes a chord with people, that’s the goal. And so I have so many memories attached to the song, but people come to me and tell me about their memories. And that’s what means the most.”

Social media is, generally, a mess these days. Clashes between people of varying ideologies are rampant, misinformation is everywhere, and many sites seem either unwilling to regulate things or are simply overwhelmed by problems. But even conservatives seeking the freedom of expression on the budding right-wing network Parler aren’t having the best time chatting with their Trump-loving pals.

Parler has courted conservatives for years touting the ability to say anything — yes even the racist and sexist stuff — and some minor conservative celebrities have made a big deal about their exit from more mainstream social media sites to cut it up on Parler. It’s caused the site to get trolled by non-conservatives in a number of ways, but apparently that’s not the only problem people are having with the site.

According to OneZero’s Sarah Emerson on Medium, thousands of people joined groups named things like “Parler Invite Group” and “Who is moving to Parler” in order to share new usernames with the hopes of escaping platforms where they felt they were being censored. The movement picked up some momentum after the November election, where conspiracy theorists gathered together to invent ways they felt the election was stolen from Donald Trump.

But not everything is going well in the wonderland of “all takes matter.” As the story lays out, a lot of people are complaining that their posts aren’t getting the kind of exposure they can on other, more popular social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. And some less tech-savvy users aren’t even sure how to log in and exercise their First Amendment rights to push their grandchildren away with hot takes:

“I’ve talked to so many that can’t even figure out how to get on it,” another member posted. “They’re still on FB thinking they’re on Parler.”

“Can anybody help with this exasperating problem I’m having?! I can’t join the website at all because of the captcha loop at the beginning,” someone else wrote in the “Who is moving to Parler” group. The group is public and has nearly 5,000 members.”

Parler is also having some issues with security procedures it has in place, such as an apparent rule that you must verify your account by sending the company an official form of identification before you can send direct messages to contacts. That idea hasn’t sat well with some of those free speech mavericks who don’t want the company to have records of who they are.

And then there’s the main problem with an echo chamber social media site seeking to corner the market on a certain kind of fringe conservative: there aren’t a whole lot of people to talk to and, unlike Facebook, other less-radicalized members of society aren’t there to comment angrily on your posts:

According to one Facebook group member: “What’s the point of just seeing posts from conservative newsgroups, but not my friends or family? I’m just not sure about staying with it.”

The easy solution in all of this is obvious: just log off. But no, that simply won’t do here. The posting must continue unabated.

(Via One Zero on Medium)

You’re almost done with this year’s holiday shopping list, but you’ve come to one name that’s got you stuck. A cipher. An enigma. A style-forward friend who’s constantly complaining about “taking an L’’ on the Nike SNKRS app and often seen browsing StockX and eBay for kicks that are marked up to double the retail price.

Puzzle over the matter no more. You, my friend, are shopping for a sneakerhead. And to a sneakerhead, shoes aren’t just shoes — they’re a way of life.

This raises the stakes on the whole issue of holiday shopping. But fear not, we’ve got you. 2020 has seen a bevy of great drops to choose from. Plus there are always accessories, socks, and books to cop — if that’s more your price range. Regardless of what you pick, the gifts profiled below will leave sneakerheads thrilled.

And they won’t be too hard on your wallet, either.

Part 1 — Sneaker Accessories

Literally Any Sneaker Cleaning Kit

Price: $10-20

Picking up a sneaker cleaning kit is a no brainer. No worry about being too precious with the brands here. Jason Markk, Clean Kicks, Dead Stock, Pink Miracle… they all essentially do the same thing — clean sneakers. So pick whichever one fits into your price range and matches the general aesthetic of who you are gifting it to.

Buy it here.

Socks

Price: $3-$10

Again, no need to be precious about brands here. Just pick up a few pairs of socks in varying colors (unless the person you’re shopping for only wears white socks) from pretty much any store. Places like Uniqlo are sure to have a variety of different cuts and colors or you could just pick up a few pairs from whichever brand your friend is most loyal to, be it Nike or Adidas.

Socks help to pull an outfit together and kick up a pair of sneakers to the next level.

Buy socks here, or here, or here.

Complex: Sneaker of the Year

Price: $30

We’ve been putting together sneakerhead-focused gift guides for three years now and we’ve always made a point of purposely not including books about sneakers. Books aren’t for everyone, and they make really lame gifts for people who aren’t into them.

But this one is different.

Complex really made a book for sneakerheads of all stripes, covering 35 years of dope sneaker drops in full-color high-quality images, from the very first pair of Air Jordans to the latest Virgil Abloh Off-White collabs. This is a great book to just thumb through, no reading necessary. If you’re into the history of a particular pair of sneakers, that’s included too — in beautifully written, succinct passages.

Buy it here.

Jason Markk Repel Spray

Price: $17

Repel spray isn’t so much a shoe cleaner, as it is a stain preventer. If the sneakerhead in your life likes to keep their shoes looking pristine, a good repel spray like this one by Jason Markk should do the trick. A nice long spritz of this stuff on a fresh pair of kicks will keep them looking crisp and stain-free, which is essential if the sneakerhead in your life is all about rocking white kicks.

Buy it here.

Nike/Adidas/Foot Locker Gift Card

Price: Up to you!

This is a bit of a cop-out gift, but sometimes a gift card is exactly what a sneakerhead wants. It’s hard to pick out a pair of fly shoes for someone who is obsessed with shoes, they’re incredibly particular! So load up a gift card with some cash, let them decide, and stop stressing yourself out about it.

Buy gift cards for Nike, Adidas, and Foot Locker here.

Part 2 — Dope Sneakers To Cop Right Now

Dope Sneakers For Under $100 — Reebok Club C Vintage

Price: $70

Certain sneakers just look right in certain colors. That’s how I feel about these Club Cs in the vintage colorway of chalk, Glen green, and paperwhite. The shoe — which gives off 80s tennis vibes — is available for only $70 at Reebok.

That’s a classic pair of kicks for under $100.

Buy them here.

Dope Sneakers For Under $100 — Nike Air Max 90

Price: $93.97

Nike’s rarely dip under $100, but for whatever reason, the Air Max 90 is marked down to a cool $93. That’s a steal. The Air Max 90 is a classic sneaker silhouette, which means it goes out of style like an Air Force 1… never.

Buy it here.

Yeezy 350s… Need we say more?

Price $220

Seriously, do we need to say more? Yeezys are still the most popular modern sneaker label and the Yeezy Boost 350 V2 is easily the brand’s most popular shoe. So pretty much any sneakerhead would be psyched to get a pair. This week the brand is dropping in a legendary BRED colorway (that might sound like nonsense to you, but your sneakerhead knows what that means) and it’s rumored Adidas is bringing a high yield this time around, so it should be fairly easy to pick up a pair.

Buy them here, here, or here.

Ultra Hyped For A Steal — Jordan 1 Retro High Dark Mocha

Price: Around $200

Right now, these are totally sold out, which sounds like a bad thing, but it’s actually good. It means your sneakerhead friend probably doesn’t have a pair. But if they’re all about Air Jordans there is no doubt they’d love to cop a pair of the high top Dark Mochas.

“Sold out” in the sneaker world means you’ll just have to turn to the robust aftermarket where these around running in the $200-$300 range. It’s pricey, but the Dark Mocha is probably the best Jordan colorway released all year, something the sneakerhead in your life will be well aware and appreciative of.

Buy them here.

Ultra Hyped For A Steal — Aimé Leon Dore 550 White/Red

Price: Around $250

Ultra hip Queens-based streetwear label Aimé Leon Dore officially brought back New Balance’s 1980’s silhouette the 550 with an elegant four colorway drop back in October that (unsurprisingly) sold out instantly.

The collection’s most popular pair of sneakers, the white and green iteration, sells for almost $500 on the aftermarket, but the white and red iteration can be copped for a much more comfortable $250, a steal considering the popularity of this line.

Buy them here.

Ultra Hyped For A Steal — NOAH Adidas Gazelle Cheetah/Duck Camo

Price: Around $250

Adidas linked up with New York-based streetwear label NOAH for an ultra dope double drop of the Adidas Gazelle silhouette just this week. Both pairs are sold out at NOAH, but they’ve hit the aftermarket for near retail price hovering just under $250 for either pair.

Both looks are dope, but considering one is cheetah print (with long pony hair) and the other is a canvas Duck Camo, it goes without saying that these two pairs aren’t for everyone. Meaning that you have to really know the person you’re shopping for here.

For the right person? A gift like this couldn’t be more fire.

Buy them here.

EDITOR’S PICK — Puma Clyde Super Mario Sunshine

Price: $80 ($150 on aftermarket sites)

The problem with IP collabs like this is that they can veer toward cheesy so. freaking. quickly. One minute, you think: “Hey, let’s do tie-in shoe,” and the next minute both companies are getting roasted for sneakers with goddamn Wookie hair on them.

The Puma x Super Mario collab veered away from all that, which was wise. Instead, they touch the Nintendo IP in light ways — a Mario sun on the heel, cloud logos on the insoles, and the shimmery blue Puma swoosh. It’s all very subtle and, as such, much more low-key than the competition.

You know why the mellow approach works so well? Because the Puma Clyde is the coolest silhouette in existence. And because people love Mario but they don’t want his face on their toes, something Adidas never quite savvied out this year.

Cop these in a hurry.

Buy them here (limited sizes) or here (aftermarket) or wait for Puma to refresh the drop.

It’s Mariah Carey season. So far this December, the Christmas queen has debuted a new holiday special as well as a single with Ariana Grande and Jennifer Hudson. She spoke about both with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe in a new interview, during which she also revealed which holiday song “is Christmas” to her: Nat King Cole’s classic rendition of “The Christmas Song.”

Carey acknowledged that it’s not the most upbeat holiday song before describing why she loves it, saying, “I understand why you would feel maybe a bit melancholy with that song. It’s so beautiful, the arrangement is so lush, the production, his voice. It really is Christmas to me. There have been so many other renditions of that song, but for me, I love that one. And I always, always will. Sometimes when there’s a classic, you just don’t need to mess with it. And I don’t get sad when I hear it. It’s like I’m getting goosebumps thinking of it now. That’s how real the whole Christmas thing is to me.”

She also discussed the meaning of Christmas to her, saying, “For me, it’s the birth of Christ. It’s the actual meaning of the holiday, but it’s the meaning of love. And it’s the meaning of I like to feel at peace. I don’t often feel at peace. At Christmas, sometimes I’ll just be by myself, steal a moment, and just be in the room, look at the tree, listen to the music. And there I am.”

Watch the full interview above.