The Los Angeles Lakers enjoyed a busy and fruitful stretch on the transaction front this week. First, the news broke at a surprising time that LeBron James agreed to a two-year extension to remain in Los Angeles. From there, Anthony Davis was next, with the talented big man inking a brand new deal that will keep him with the Lakers through his prime years and guarantee him nearly $200 million. As you may expect, the atmosphere was celebratory by all involved, from James to Davis to Rich Paul of Klutch Sports, who negotiated deals as the agent for both players. However, there were others who were in quite a good mood on Thursday, and that includes Davis’ daughter, Nala.
After news of the contract broke, Davis jumped on a Zoom interview with Chris Geeter McGee of Spectrum SportsNet and, after a question about why he chose to sign the five-year deal, he began to answer in typical fashion. In an instance of perfect timing, Nala then interjected, making for a tremendous moment when she noticed that her father happened to be on video.
Watch out, Rich Paul: Anthony Davis has a new agent (his daughter) and her interrupting his Zoom interview with @geeter3 is the most adorable moment of the offseason. pic.twitter.com/YBAbjm0h36
The new contract will pay Davis $190 million over five years, with an early termination option after the 2023-24 season, assuring Davis and his family are in L.A. for the foreseeable future, which seems to have his daughter pretty pleased.
While David Fincher’s Mank finally hits Netflix this weekend, it’s worth noting that it’s not the first film about the production of Citizen Kane. Mank focuses specifically on co-writer Herman J. Mankiewicz, played by Gary Oldman, during the pre-production of Kane and Mank’s feud with Kane subject William Randolph Hearst. Yet before Mank there was 1999’s RKO 281, a made-for-HBO movie directed by Benjamin Ross, which starred Liev Schreiber as Orson Welles and focused on the battle to get Citizen Kane made and released. The two make an ideal double feature.
Or at least they would, if RKO, that year’s Golden Globe winner for best miniseries or TV film, was available anywhere online. I had to order mine as a physical copy from Amazon, which seems to have once been owned by a library. Logistical hurdles aside, the two films are contradictory and complementary, two iconic depictions of the complex personalities who clashed and collaborated to create one of the original Great American Films.
Unfortunately, some backstory is probably in order first. Both films depict, to some extent, Kane‘s credited co-writers Herman J. Mankiewicz and Orson Welles. But the battle for that credit is an epic story in and of itself, one that can and has filled multiple books. Mank‘s initial script, written by David Fincher’s father Jack, who died in 2003, was said to have been heavily influenced by Raising Kane, a book-length essay written by Pauline Kael originally published in 1972. That essay, intended as a belated attempt to reclaim Mankewicz’s rightful glory, was later discredited, for factual errors, plagiarism, and “ethical breaches.” Raising Kane in turn spawned “The Kane Mutiny,” a point-by-point rebuttal written by Peter Bogdonovich (a close friend of Welles) published in Esquire in 1972. Six years later there was a book by Robert Carringer, The Scripts Of Citizen Kane, which also leaned towards Welles as the “true” author, not to mention the countless Welles biographers and Kane scholars with books of their own.
Suffice it to say, Welles vs. Mankiewicz is an 80-year pissing contest that has long since outlived its initial participants (not to mention Jack Fincher and Pauline Kael). To their credit, both Mank and RKO 281, regardless of their origins, seem to understand that Mank vs. Welles isn’t a zero-sum game.
Whereas the black and white, often austere Mank depicts Orson Welles mostly as a voice on the telephone, hectoring the bedridden Mankiewicz while the latter struggles with “his” script, RKO 281 gives us Orson the auteur, starring a lushly saturated Liev Schreiber in what might honestly be his ideal role.
In 1939, Welles was the 24-year-old “boy wonder” coming to Hollywood to fulfill a generous contract, eschewing constant exhortations to make an adaptation of War Of The Worlds his first film. Like Welles, Schreiber’s booming baritone — which has since gone on to narrate everything from Hard Knocks to Wes Anderson’s Isle Of Dogs — is the foundation for Welles’s entire persona. Schreiber, as Welles, is a master of a certain kind of earnest, vaguely overwrought gravitas. Or as Hearst’s mistress Marion Davies (played by Melanie Griffiths) describes Welles in the film, “attractive, in a hammy sort of way.”
Mank, meanwhile, is a stylistic homage to Kane — complete with black and white cinematography, brutalist compositions that evoke German expressionism, wipe transitions, and comedic 30s pitter-patter dialogue. Where Mank eschews auteur theory and the traditional biopic, RKO 281 is unabashedly traditional. It is open in its artifice, to the point of employing, at one point, the ultimate in inauthentic expository dialogue: “you just don’t get it, do you?”
With a script by John Logan, which was actually adapted from the 1996 PBS documentary, The Battle Over Citizen Kane, RKO 281 also happens to be one of those wonderfully-written films that uses artifice and shorthand so well that it reminds you why those things exist in the first place. The dialogue is pithy, but so good at cutting each interaction to the quick of its conflict that it feels somehow both purely Hollywood and entirely true to the spirit of events. Logan’s words are spare and pointed, creating the illusion that what we’re watching is simply a more succinct version of the real events, where all that’s been cut is the fat. In that way, it retains the spirit of Citizen Kane itself just as strongly as Mank does without being such an obvious stylistic parody.
As Mankiewicz, played here by John Malkovich, tells Welles in RKO 281, “You’re about to be the youngest never-was in the history of Hollywood.”
“Better than the oldest has-been,” Welles shoots back.
“Is it?”
For all the books written about Citizen Kane’s authorship, could you ever boil it down better than those three lines? RKO 281 is full of moments like that. Mank admirably attempts to give Mankiewicz the credit he was mostly denied while he was still alive (everyone knows that Hollywood always screws the writer, then and now), but RKO 281 is so thoroughly fair to both Welles and Mankiewicz that it feels like the version you want to believe, regardless of the truth.
RKO 281 focuses more on the studio side of Citizen Kane, with Roy Scheider playing RKO studio head George Schaefer, whereas Mank, naturally, deals more directly with Mankiewicz and his direct circle — his writing assistant, played by Lily Collins, wife played by Tuppence Middleton, etc. The two films overlap most notably in their depictions of William Randolph Hearst and his Brooklyn moll-ish mistress, Marion Davies.
Davies is the kind of role all actors seem to love, the bubbly, tacky Brooklyn party girl who calls Hearst “Pops” and loves to shock the old stiffs she’s always surrounded by, both deliberately and by accident. She’s Guys and Dolls meets Harley Quinn with an awardsy sheen. Some said “Rosebud” was Hearst’s pet name for her clitoris. In Mank (with Davies played by Amanda Seyfried), Davies is a slightly bigger part, covering her close relationship with Mankiewicz and his guilt over having to betray her to write Citizen Kane. RKO 281‘s Davies is played by Melanie Griffith in an equally wonderful performance, who cries the first time she sees Citizen Kane (“How could they do it to us, Pops?”). Though once she calms down, she privately admits, ruefully, that the filmmakers probably got her right. It’s hard to choose a favorite between the two versions of Davies, though it would’ve been nice to see Seyfried in saturated color.
Meanwhile, Hearst, who was the subject of Citizen Kane in the first place, is obviously a complicated figure. Born wealthy (in Kane, he’s adopted off to live with the family’s banker) he went on to become a powerful newspaper publisher in the era of Yellow Journalism. Initially part of the progressive movement, Hearst supported, then turned on FDR, and eventually became a staunch conservative, like Rupert Murdoch today, only much more powerful. Mank‘s Hearst is played by the great Charles Dance (previously Tywin Lannister, among other roles, now becoming a name actor after a career as a prolific one). Partly by virtue of its flashback structure, Mank‘s Hearst comes off as arguably a little more nuanced. This Hearst, at various points, does still seem to delight in ruffling the feathers of his fellow rich men, keeping Mankiewicz around as a kind of exotic pet, to sic Mank’s caustic wit on unsuspecting partygoers for laughs. The film pivots on Mankiewicz’s disillusionment, sparked by the 1934 governor’s race and Hearst’s part in torpedoing Mank’s favored candidate, Upton Sinclair.
RKO 281 offers a much more straightforwardly spiteful and evil Hearst, played by the also-great James Cromwell (Babe, Six Feet Under).
(Incidentally, it’s interesting that RKO, from a British director, features a mostly American cast, while Mank, from an American one, has a mostly British cast. That may have something to do with the aura of ersatz exoticism — and thus, prestige — we assign to our fellow English speakers across the ocean. Which is also illustrated by Citizen Kane‘s entire cast speaking in that peculiar mid-Atlantic accent that was so ubiquitous in the thirties and forties, whose main quality is simply making you believe that the speaker was born “somewhere else.” Presumably some place more sophisticated and cool than whatever pig pen you happened to wriggle out of.)
Cromwell’s Hearst is far more straightforwardly dour and bitter than Dance’s Hearst. The contrast between Dance’s pale eyes, always sparkling gleefully, and his gaunt face, give him an air of wickedness that is his most salient feature. Cromwell, six foot seven and beaky, plays terse and morose much more often. Yet in a way, RKO 281′s Hearst might be more true to just what a son of a bitch the real Hearst was. To illustrate this, RKO 281 relates, through Mankiewicz, the story of Thomas Ince, a silent movie director who officially died on Hearst’s yacht, but who, according to a rumor, Hearst actually shot and killed. Accidentally, according to Malkovich’s Mankiewicz, though Hearst then supposedly used his publishing might to bury the story while paying off all the witnesses to keep silent. While this Hearst, who later tries to blackmail Hollywood’s studio heads into killing Citizen Kane using pictures of gay sex parties and threats to whip up anti-semitism, is clearly more of a pure antagonist, RKO 281 does eventually round him out with a bit of pathos.
In another one of John Logan’s beautiful, self-consciously iconic lines, Hearst tells his mistress Marion, “There is nothing to understand but this: I am a man who could have been great, but was not.”
The two movies, three if you count Citizen Kane, are in many ways inseparable. Mank the definitive portrayal of Mankiewicz, RKO 281 the definitive portrayal of Welles making his masterpiece — Kane the infamously damning portrait of William Randolph Hearst. RKO 281 manages to capture the iconic spirit and unabashed “movie magic” of Citizen Kane without being a direct stylistic parody, while Fincher, in getting so carried away with his stylistic homage, manages to evoke Welles’ single-minded pursuit of his vision even while barely showing Welles himself.
They’re both triumphant films that end on a somber note. In Mank, with Mankiewicz struggling to claim credit for his masterpiece. In RKO 281, with Welles cursed to forever wonder if he’s peaked at 26. In the latter’s final scene, it’s Mankiewicz who consoles Welles over a drink. “All stars burn out, Orson. It’s the flame that counts.”
‘Mank’ is available via Netflix December 4th. ‘RKO 281’ is available wherever old DVDs are sold. Vince Mancini is on Twitter. You can access his archive of reviews here.
When it comes to cold-weather cocktails, it’s really hard to beat the classic and simple hot toddy. This combination of whisk(e)y (usually Scotch), hot water, lemon juice, and honey is not only delicious and warming, but it may also ease the effects of the common cold.
We’re not kidding about that. Lemon, honey, and hot water have been known to ease cold symptoms. While the alcohol doesn’t help, it’s not a cocktail without your favorite rye, bourbon, or Scotch whisky. Besides, while booze as a pain “killer” is a lie, booze as a pain distracter is 100% real.
We want to help you pick the right whiskeys for your soon-to-be favorite fall, winter, and early spring cocktail, so we made a list of eight of the best whiskeys to mix into a warming, simple hot toddy. If you need a recipe, we’ve got you covered there, too.
Ardbeg An Oa
ABV: 46.6%
The Story:
Named for the Mull of Oa on the island of Islay (where Ardbeg is produced), this just might be the most well-rounded offering from the famed distillery. It’s matured in Pedro Ximénez sherry butts, charred virgin oak barrels, and ex-bourbon casks.
Tasting Notes:
After the first nosing, you’ll quickly realize this is a different kind of Islay malt. Instead of just peaty-smoky, you’ll be treated to scents of brown sugar, dried cherries, and almonds. The first sip is filled with caramel cake, orange peel, and sugary vanilla.
It all ends in pleasing warmth with a nice gulp of peat smoke.
Bottom Line:
If you’re a bourbon fan looking to try Scotch in your hot toddy, this is the bottle for you. The smoke and sweetness work in unison with the other ingredients.
Wild Turkey 101 Rye
ABV: 50.5%
The Story:
When most people think of Wild Turkey, they don’t think of rye whiskey. But if you’re looking for straight rye to mix into your hot toddy instead of the usual Scotch whisky, you could do much worse than Wild Turkey 101. It’s high proof, subtly smoky, well-balanced, and guaranteed to warm you inside and out.
Tasting Notes:
Before you pour this whiskey into your hot toddy, give it a nice nosing to get acquainted. The first sniff brings you aromas of spicy cinnamon, charred oak, and just a hint of peppery spice. From the first sip, you’ll be treated to notes of maple syrup, baked apples, caramel, and cooking spices. The finish is long, warming, and ends with a pleasing hit of white pepper.
Bottom Line:
If you’re looking for a high proof, spicy whiskey to pair with the soothing ingredients of a hot toddy, make it Wild Turkey 101.
Tullamore D.E.W.
ABV: 40%
The Story:
If Irish whiskey is more your thing, Tullamore D.E.W. makes a great base for your hot toddy. It’s triple distilled, crazy smooth, and matured in a combination of oak casks, ex-bourbon barrels, and sherry butts. The result is a complex, easy to drink whiskey well suited to the combo of lemon, honey, and hot water.
Tasting Notes:
If you nose Tullamore D.E.W., you’ll find the aromas of dried fruits, caramelized sugar, and sticky toffee pudding. The first sip brings you sweet sherry, cinnamon, buttery shortbread, and cover honey. The finish is long, subtly warming, and ends with more caramel and vanilla.
Bottom Line:
Some of the choices on this list are as high proof as they are high in spice or smoke. If you’re looking for a mellow, more subdued hot toddy, Tullamore D.E.W. is for you.
Glenmorangie The Original
ABV: 40%
The Story:
There’s a reason Glenmorangie’s flagship 10-year-old Scotch whisky always makes the list for best whiskies. It’s matured in first as well as second fill American white oak casks for a total of 10 years. The result is a velvety smooth, creamy, subtly sweet whisky as suited for slow sipping as mixing (into a hot toddy).
Tasting Notes:
Take a whiff of this expression before taking a sip or mixing with it. If you do, your nostrils will fill with subtle tropical fruit flavors, cooking spices, and dried fruits. This well-balanced whisky begins with sweet vanilla, and caramelized sugar, before moving on to the cinnamon, brown sugar, and just a hint of coffee beans.
The finish is long, very warming, and ends with a final kiss of candied orange peel.
Bottom Line:
You’ll be happy you bought this reasonably-priced Scotch. You can mix it into a hot toddy or spend the rest of the fall and winter sipping it. You’ll be completely happy either way.
The Famous Grouse
ABV: 40%
The Story:
We could easily fill the whole list of hot toddy whiskies with blended Scotches. But instead, we only picked one. The Famous Grouse is a great pick because it’s consistently mellow and finished in both sherry and bourbon casks to give it an extra hint of sweetness that pairs perfectly with the ingredients in a hot toddy.
Tasting Notes:
Normally, you might not nose a cheap blended whisky. If you do, you’ll find hints of dried orange peel, butterscotch, and creamy vanilla. The first sip is mellow and memorable with notes of cinnamon, charred oak, and rich caramel. The finish is long, smooth, and ends with a nice hit of clover honey.
Bottom Line:
The Famous Grouse is as cheap as it is reliable. You always know what you’re going to get for your $15 or so. It’s smooth, rich, and perfect for mixing.
Buffalo Trace Bourbon
ABV: 45%
The Story:
The flagship bourbon of Buffalo Trace is so named for the majestic bison that encountered by American pioneers. While there are a lot fewer buffaloes in 2020, this well-rounded, complex, always-mellow whiskey is widely available and perfect as the base for your hot toddy.
Tasting Notes:
While a bargain bourbon, Buffalo Trace deserves a nosing before sipping it or mixing it into a hot toddy. You’ll be delighted to find hints of molasses cookies, brown sugar, and cinnamon. The first sip is filled with charred oak, leather, sticky toffee pudding, and dried fruits. The finish is long, warming, and ends in a nice final flourish of cinnamon spice.
Bottom Line:
If you’re a fan of bourbon, you probably already have a bottle of Buffalo Trace in your liquor cabinet for mixing and slow sipping. Throw some in a hot toddy and enjoy the complexities of the sweet corn flavors mixing with the honey and lemon.
Four Roses Small Batch Bourbon
ABV: 45%
The Story:
This complex whiskey is a blend of a handful of small-batch bourbons, each specifically selected by its master distiller. While the overall flavor changes subtly based on each batch, it’s always filled with high-corn bourbon that’s a well-rounded combination of sweet, rich, and malty.
Tasting Notes:
Enjoy a nice nosing before you mix or sip this whiskey, where you’ll be met with a large dose of toasted caramel, subtle spicy rye, and cinnamon sugar. From the first sip, you’ll get hints of sweet cream, caramel, sweet corn, and cooking spices. The finish is long, full of pleasing heat, and ends with sweet toffee and charred oak.
Bottom Line:
You might pay a little more for this bottle, but you won’t mind. It’s a great bottle to add to your collection and the sweet corn and charred oak flavors work well with the other hot toddy ingredients.
George Dickel Rye
ABV: 45%
The Story:
This super high rye (95%) whiskey is spicy, sweet, and well-suited for hot toddies. Just like the rest of the whiskeys at George Dickel, it’s charcoal-mellowed to create a truly smooth, easy to drink, yet spicy rye whiskey.
Tasting Notes:
Give it nosing before taking a sip. Surprisingly, the spicy rye is subtle while hints of charred oak, sweet vanilla, and dried orange peel are prevalent. The first sip brings hints of toasted marshmallow, caramel, and cinnamon. The finish is long, dry, and ends with a kick of cracked black pepper.
Bottom Line:
If you’re looking for great rye to mix into a hot toddy, George Dickel Rye is a perfect choice. Especially if you’re under the weather. It’s a well-rounded whiskey that gives your hot toddy the extra kick of peppery heat to really clear the sinuses.
“With the gangster shit… Death Row? You had to earn it man. If you ain’t earn it, you pay for it.”
On the newest episode of People’s Party, set to release this coming Monday, Talib Kweli and Jasmin Leigh sit down with legendary West Coast rapper Kurupt to talk about his early days grinding it out in the West Coast hip-hop scene and how he first got signed by Death Row Records.
If you know anything about Kurupt, you’re no doubt familiar with his vivid wordplay and gift for storytelling — which is on full display here as he runs Talib and Jasmin through a hilarious story that involves a shit-talking older sister egging Snoop Dogg into hearing her little brother rap, which then leads Snoop to introducing Kurupt to Dr. Dre, who brings him to Suge Knight who forces him into performing a freestyle rap for a person he has never met before or risk being thrown into a pool. It’s a tale deserving of its own song.
“’Make a birthday rap for BJ, if you wack we throwing you in the pool…’” Kurupt says, quoting Suge. “I said ‘Well shit, what happens if I’m good?…’ He said ‘you got a record deal.’ Boy, it was the rap of a lifetime because otherwise, I’d be in that pool. And I have a feeling if I got out of the pool they were going to try and mop me… They were into that type of shit, it was a real gangster environment. Throwing in the pool was just the first part.”
We haven’t even mentioned that Kurupt does impressions for every character in this story, and they’re f*cking golden. Watch the full story above and check out the newest episode of People’s Party with Talib Kweli when it drops here.
The 2020 presidential election is effectively over, but getting to this point has been a long and challenging process that some, including the guy who lost the election, are still unable to accept. One person clearly moving on, however, is large touchscreen enthusiast Steve Kornacki, who became a viral sensation in his own right in the week following election day.
The MSNBC political correspondent is known for excitedly breaking down voting scenarios and election results in real time for days on end as mail-in votes were counted in various states and it was not known who would win the election between Joe Biden and Donald Trump. And now he’s taking his skills to another of the network’s properties: pro football.
NBC Sports announced on Thursday that Kornacki will join the broadcast of Sunday Night Football to help break down the expanded playoff picture in what’s been a difficult-to-keep-track-of NFL season. The network said Kornacki will join the broadcast of Chiefs-Broncos at halftime to break down the playoff picture as the NFL reaches its final five weeks.
“Steve captivated millions of viewers during election season and we’re excited that this Sunday he will turn his focus to playoff season,” NBC Sports executive producer Sam Flood said in a statement. “As we push to the playoffs, who better to spot the trends, make the call about division and conference races, and identify the toss-up games that can flip the standings than the man in the khakis.”
Kornacki said in the release that he’s a huge football fan and is ready to use the Big Board to talk about NBC’s biggest live sports product.
“I’ve been a fan of the game since I was kid and SNF has been must-see TV for me since it started back in ’06,” said Kornacki. “Truly a thrill to get this chance, especially as the season reaches its most exciting point. I spent the last year using the Big Board to map out all of the various roads to 270 and I can’t wait to put it to use breaking down all of the paths to the playoffs.”
As word spread on social media, Kornacki called it “incredibly exciting” to join the broadcast team and do his thing.
Been a fan for years and it’s incredibly exciting to get a chance to take part in Sunday Night Football https://t.co/tGsRui9b7C
With an extra wild card spot in each conference this year, there is some uncertainty about how everything will shake out and how seeding will work in the NFL this year. But there’s likely little even Kornacki can do to make whoever wins the NFC East look good, save for maybe convincing that team’s head coach to throw on a pair of his trademark khakis.
We’re more than nine months into the COVID-19 pandemic and things are only getting worse. On Wednesday, December 2, America had its deadliest day yet with nearly 3,000 people succumbing to the virus.
America is experiencing its greatest public health crisis in generations and the only way we’re getting out of it is by widespread administration of a vaccine.
However, if people don’t take the vaccine, there will be no end to this horror story.
A poll taken in October found that if a vaccine were widely available at a low cost, 51% of Americans would take it, 45% said they wouldn’t and 4% had no opinion.
via Unsplash
There are myriad reasons why some are afraid of being vaccinated. Some are afraid of the government’s involvement while others are suspicious of a vaccine developed so quickly.
Others have fallen victim to conspiracy theories suggesting vaccines cause autism or that they will be injected with microchips.
So, it’s crucial for the public to be educated on the safety of vaccines so that we can put this deadly virus in the past. So far, scientists are unsure of what percentage of the population needs to be immune to COVID-19 via vaccination or from contracting the disease to achieve “herd immunity.”
A big problem is the amount of false information on social media, namely Facebook. Studies show that when it comes to false information, Facebook is by far the largest spreader online.
However, the social media giant announced on December 3 that it’s finally taking responsibility for its toxic effect on public health by removing false claims about COVID-19 vaccinations from the site.
via Facebook
“Given the recent news that COVID-19 vaccines will soon be rolling out around the world, over the coming weeks we will start removing false claims about these vaccines that have been debunked by public health experts on Facebook and Instagram,” Facebook said in a statement.
The site will be removing “false claims about the safety, efficacy, ingredients or side effects of the vaccines.”
It also said it would remove posts that claim the vaccine contains microchips or “anything else that isn’t on the official vaccine ingredient list.”
“Since it’s early and facts about COVID-19 vaccines will continue to evolve, we will regularly update the claims we remove based on guidance from public health authorities as they learn more,” the site said.
However, if you’re dying to have one last argument with your science-denying brother-in-law on Facebook, there’s still a chance. The site says that it will take a while for the new policy to take effect.
“We will not be able to start enforcing these policies overnight,” the statement said.
Some will criticize Facebook for censoring its users but it’s a private platform that can regulate the information shared on its site as it sees fit. False information is deadly during a pandemic, kudos to Facebook for deciding not to be a super-spreader.
Ivanka Trump has confirmed that she’s been disposed in a lawsuit filed by District of Columbia Attorney General Karl Racine that alleges the Trump International Hotel and the president’s inaugural committee coordinated together to abuse over $1 million by over-charging for event space. In a nutshell, it’s illegal to misuse inaugural funds for personal gain, and the Trump Hotel seems to have done just that during the 2017 event, according to the lawsuit. As a top executive for the family company, Ivanka has been roped into testifying in a deposition, and she is not happy about it. The president’s daughter fired off a tweet accusing the lawsuit of being “vindicative” while offering “proof” that the inaugural committee wasn’t overcharged.
“This week I spent 5+ hours in a deposition with the Democrat D.C. AG’s office where they questioned the rates charged by the Trump Hotel at the inauguration,” Ivanka wrote. “I shared with them an email from 4 years ago where I sent instructions to the hotel to charge ‘a fair market rate’ which the hotel then did. This ‘inquiry’ is another politically motivated demonstration of vindictiveness & waste of taxpayer dollars.”
In the screencapped email, it shows a response from Ivanka that simply reads, “Just seeing this. why don’t you call and negotiate. It should be a fair market rate.”
As CNN notes, emails cited in the lawsuit show that there were concerns from the inaugural committee deputy chairman Rick Gates about the optics of the Trump Hotel charging $175,000 per day, which was at least “twice the market rate” if not more. However, the committee ultimately accepted the contract, resulting in the current litigation.
The L.A. Clippers, at one point, found themselves in a precarious position in free agency. With Montrezl Harrell departing for their in-arena rival and signing a deal with the Lakers, the Clippers were suddenly very thin in the frontcourt and were in desperate need of finding a high-level replacement for the reigning Sixth Man of the Year.
Enter Serge Ibaka, who is coming off of one of his best seasons of his career and an excellent playoff run with the Toronto Raptors, who agreed to a mid-level deal to become the Clippers super-sub in the frontcourt — and likely will finish many games on the floor. In joining the Clippers, Ibaka reunites with his buddy Kawhi Leonard, as they won a championship in Toronto together in 2019. It was with Serge that Leonard always seemed to offer the greatest glimpse into his personality, whether on Ibaka’s “How Hungry Are You?” YouTube show or in the infamous celebratory, “What it do babyyyyy” video.
The famously stoic Leonard was part of the recruiting pitch for Ibaka, but rather than courting him to join the Clippers with a long-winded pitch, he went with a more direct approach that Ibaka found pretty funny.
It’s pretty great that Kawhi just so happened to hit Serge with a “What’s up?” text and then the follow up later was simply, “Bro, are you coming or no?” It’s not an approach that can work for many, but it’s extremely on brand for Leonard and clearly succeeded in getting the big fella to L.A. to salvage the Clippers offseason and keep them among the favorites behind the Lakers for next season.
Today turned out to be early Christmas for rapper-hunting federal authorities. After Casanova surrendered on racketeering charges in New York, TMZ reports that Chicago rapper G Herbo turned himself over in Los Angeles. The two rappers were both pivotal figures in their cities’ respective drill movements, but they allegedly also shared a penchant for organized crime. Along with his associates, Herbo is accused of large-scale fraud, using stolen IDs to charter private planes, rent vacation homes, and even buy designer puppies, to the tune of around $1 million of illegally-obtained merchandise and services. Charges were filed in Massachusetts, with 14 counts handed out to Herbo and his allies.
Although Herbo maintained his innocence through a rep who said he “looks forward to establishing his innocence in court,” the charges of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft carry some pretty heavy penalties. The wire fraud can get him up to 20 years in prison with fines up to a quarter of a million dollars. The identity theft charges can cost him up to two years in prison.
Holiday shopping for the weed smoker in your life can be tough. Sure, you can put absolutely zero through into your gift and grab your favorite stoner a gram, an eighth, or a few joints and they will most definitely be grateful. Everyone loves free cannabis, especially people who smoke all the time. But giving people gifts that they may potentially burn through in a single sitting offers similarly fleeting satisfaction for the giver.
Which begs the question: What kind of gift do you get a stoner that’s weed-related, has some staying power, and isn’t corny?
Put down those weed leaf socks and get away from that pot leaf-shaped ashtray. We’re going to guide you through a list of useful products that stoners of all stripes and tolerance levels will absolutely love. These are carefully curated items that we’ve personally sampled, ensuring that each pick is 100% weed-lover approved. Let’s dive into this year’s ultimate cannabis gift guide.
PART I — Herb & Stocking Stuffers
High 90’s 1,200mg Flavored Pre-Roll
$25
A High 90’s flavored pre-roll isn’t just your average pre-roll. Each one packs a powerful punch, delivering 30%-40% THC per joint. That’s enough to get even your hardcore daily smokers stoned out of their minds.
This is no single-use joint — it’s a decadent treat. Each pre-roll is dipped in wax and subtly flavored with tropical notes that will make anyone feel like they’re getting high on a beach in California. Our favorites are the Gelato, Double Cup, and Tropical Punch, but honestly, each is tasty and strong enough to put you on your *ss.
If you can, try to get your hands on the full sample pack for an extra sweet gift.
A single Cavi Cone by Caviar Gold offers an almost psychedelic experience, no matter how experienced the smoker. Each Cavi Cone joint features Caviar Gold’s premium infused kush dipped in 92% pure liquid THC and then dusted in kief, offering an intense experience that’s not for your novice smoker.
Lowell Farms produces some of the highest quality herb in California and their products are always beautifully packaged, like the Lowell Smokes Eighths, which have everything you need to get your smoke on. Six high quality filtered joints, thick high-quality match sticks, and a strip to light them on all packed in a convenient carrying case that fits in your pocket, purse, bag — hell, you can roll them up in your sleeve like you’re James Dean.
The THC in these joints is top shelf, hovering just above and below 20% THC and offered in a variety of strains geared toward sleep, creativity, chilling out, and any other type of marijuana enhanced hang you can think of. This is the perfect gift for the smoker who loves joints and is way classier than gifting an eighth in a plastic vile.
Okay, so this isn’t the kind of gift you just buy anyone. This one is particularly geared towards stoner couples. Throw this baby in the bath and prepare to enjoy a relaxing foamy time as the fresh rose petal scent combines with 100mg of broad-spectrum CBD to chill you out into the ultimate state of relaxation. Pass a joint between you and your partner and see where the night goes from there. It’s sensual, relaxing, and soothing, so you know, don’t buy it for a casual acquaintance. (Or do, we don’t judge.)
Like the pre-rolled joints, Lowell Farms’ Rechargeable Vape Pens are beautifully packaged, in magnetic carrying cases that house sleek matte finish vape pens loaded up with half a gram of Lowell’s high quality liquid Live Rosin, with THC levels hovering around the high 50% level.
Once the gram is smoked, you get a pretty high-quality rechargeable vape so this is really two gifts in one.
Great pipes are truly a luxury. At the end of the day, stoners just want to get high — it’s why people make bongs out of apples and water bottles. Nobody wants to do that, but when you have nothing to get the job done you improvise! This is why buying someone a quality pipe, like this black walnut… let me repeat myself. Black. Fucking. Walnut bubbler makes such a dope gift.
Who wouldn’t want to smoke out of this thing?
It’s got a big base, allowing for a larger volume of water to be filtered through the percolator smoothing out each hit to deliver maximum flavor and a clean smoking experience, and most importantly, it’s easy to clean.
It’s not as big and imposing as a bong, but it’s a leap up from your average glass pipe both in experience and design.
The Dipper, by Dip Devices, isn’t just an alliteration-phile’s dream. It’s also great for stoners that like to get really, really high. The Dipper is a concentrate vaporizer (meaning it doesn’t use dry herb) that also functions as a portable dabbing device, allowing you to get a legit dab hit on the go without a complicated rig or torch.
My preferred smoking device for almost any occasion is the Pax 3 Vaporizer. It’s versatile, allowing you to vape both concentrates and loose-leaf marijuana, it’s portable, with a USB charger that you can bring anywhere from the car to… literally any destination, and it’s simple. No buttons (besides the one to turn it on, hidden in the mouthpiece) no digital temperature readouts, no nerdy stuff that ceases to matter once you’re high.
Just a sleek design in a metallic matte finish. It’s very much the Apple of vapes.
I know what you’re thinking, why would anyone need an auto-dispensing grinder? I was in that same boat too, and then COVID-19 happened and suddenly I didn’t want my housemates’ fingers anywhere near my weed grinders and the idea of passing around a piece officially became a thing of the past.
The Saucey Tectonic9 is big enough to house over a full gram of weed, making it perfect for social situations, and its auto-dispensing technology makes it so that you can disperse bowls without ever having to actually touch the weed.
It might’ve been a luxury in a pre-pandemic world but in a post-pandemic world? This is a necessity.
In the event you’re reading the above words and feeling completely lost, let us break this down in the simplest way possible: The Ardent FX Decarboxylator is an Easy-Bake oven for making weed-infused edibles. Don’t know how to cook or don’t have a kitchen? Not a problem, the Ardent FX is incredibly easy to use and allows you to decarboxylate, infuse, and bake your flower, kief, or concentrate, all in a single device.
This is perfect for the stoner who loves edibles and puts the power of flexibility and customization in their hands, as they will be able to receive full infusions of the cannabinoid family from their favorite herb into whatever they want. You can use the Ardent to infuse butter, oils, make tinctures, and you can bake a cake inside of it! Or you can take your infused butter or oil, and cook something in your own kitchen, like cookies, or a pasta dinner, or whatever the hell else you want to infuse with weed.
Seriously. Stoners f*cking love jars, especially nice ones. The best way to store your weed is in a glass container, but your average stoner just can’t be bothered to remember to pick up a glass jar so they will definitely appreciate this gift and know exactly what to do with it.
You don’t even need to tell them it’s for weed. When a stoner sees a jar, they automatically think, “I’d like to put weed in that.” If you want to spice up the present, throw some pre-rolls in there, or some herb, but really, we think just the jar is a solid gift. Make it a nice one!
EDITOR’S PICK: Dad Grass
Dad Grass
Price: $70
I have to admit, Dad Grass isn’t quite what I thought it was. My initial impression was that it’s a low-THC joint that you can smoke straight to the filter and not be off your ass. I’ve now realized that it’s all CBD. My bad.
This brings me to my new thesis about Dad Grass: Finally, a company proves — once and for all — that CBD isn’t bullshit. Because I smoked through a whole pack of these (one per session, over the course of a month) and felt gooooood. In fact, I felt THC-body-high-level good, hence my original misconception about the very nature of the product.
I’ve tested a lot of CBD suff over the years. This is the first time I’ve ever mistakenly thought something had THC in it. Enough said. Get it for the person who wants to smoke but not be left thinking through cotton for hours on end.
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