Month: March 2021

Eight-year-old Nyima Mitchell was playing with his friends near the water behind his home in Nova Scotia last fall when he made an incredible discovery.

“It was lying under a pine tree,” Nyima said according to Yahoo. “I thought it was just some bottle that washed up here, but then I saw it had the paper in it,” Nyima told CTV. The boy grabbed a pair of pliers to pry the top off the bottle and found a wrinkled and torn letter inside.

He unrolled the letter and saw it was dated August 12, 1995.

The letter was sent by a then-14-year-old girl from Quebec named Nellie Nadeau who wrote the letter while vacationing in the Magdalen Islands that summer. The bottle took 25 years to travel roughly 60 miles through the Gulf of St. Lawrence before it was found by Nyima.

“Dear friend, me and my friends have decided to write someone,” the letter reads.

“I thought, ‘wow, it looks like a teenager wrote this,” Britta Mitchell, Nyima’s mother said. So the two went online to find Nellie and they ran across a description of a 39-year-old doctor in Alaska who loved the outdoors that seemed to fit.

“The description on it, I think it was the hospital website, it said she grew up in Quebec and she was very outdoorsy, and I thought, ‘well, the age is right,” Britta recalled.

Naima mailed her a hand-written letter that reads:

Hello Nellie,

I found a message in a bottle in Chéticamp that was maybe sent by you 25 years ago from the Magdalen Islands. Please let me know.

Nyima Mitchell

After the letter was sent, they never received a response because Nellie’s letter didn’t make it through the post. But eventually, they were able to make contact with each other online.

“She said it gave her the chills for a few days, like it was really something,” Britta said of Nellie’s response. “So now we’re waiting for her next letter. We still didn’t get it, but I think she’s working on it.”

Nellie is still shocked that anyone returned her message at all, let alone someone 25 years in the future.

“You sort of hope when you launch it [that someone will get it], but afterward realize that the probability of it ever making it intact to someone is really low,” she said. “If it did, that person might not even be interested in writing you back.”

The Mitchells say that even though they can contact Nellie through modern technology, they prefer to correspond to their new pen pal through the mail. That way it honors Nellie’s original; intentions back in the summer of ’95.

The newfound friends hope to see each other sometime soon.

“I think we both want to keep it that way,” Britta said. “And she said she actually wants to come the next time she is in Eastern Canada and meet us, so that’s super exciting.”

For the first time in seven years, a new album from The Antlers is set for release this month. Over the last few years, songwriter/vocalist Peter Silberman moved from Brooklyn to upstate New York, worked through a debilitating hearing issue that contributed to a deepening meditation practice, released a solo album, and much more.

Green To Gold takes on a more personal stance than previous efforts from The Antlers — where Silberman is usually writing about human experience through a mythological lens, his new songs are more or less a reflection of the last few years of his life. The album is full of sparse, roomy arrangements that mark a triumphant return from the duo.

To celebrate the new album, Silberman sat down to talk The Beatles, listening to oldies radio, and Home Alone 2, in the latest Indie Mixtape 20 Q&A.

What are four words you would use to describe your music?

The answer really depends on who’s asking. For example, if it’s a TSA agent at the airport, I’d probably say something like “Uh you know, like, mellow, kinda psychedelic, folk stuff” and then they’d suggest someone totally different sounding and I’d be like “Yep, sure.”

It’s 2050 and the world hasn’t ended and people are still listening to your music. How would you like it to be remembered?

I don’t think it’s unreasonable to assume that by 2050, AI will be producing an enormous amount of music, and dominating whatever algorithms determine popularity (this is already beginning to happen). But I hope music made by people occupies a big enough niche that it can continue to thrive, even if it’s thought of as a novelty or a nostalgic throwback. Best case scenario, it’ll be valued for its rare humanity, and I hope our music lives on in that way.

What’s your favorite city in the world to perform?

It’s hard to point to a city where the shows are consistently great. But what comes to mind is any show where the venue is close enough to the ocean as to be able to walk on the beach after soundcheck.

Who’s the person who has most inspired your work, and why?

From the earliest days and most consistently throughout my life, that would be my parents. My mom’s a writer and editor, and my dad taught me to play guitar. So I’m continually talking to them about things I’m working on or projects I’ve just finished.

Where did you eat the best meal of your life?

In recent memory, it was at a Spanish restaurant in Copenhagen in 2019. Of course I don’t remember the name of the spot, but it was a rare luxurious tour meal.

What album do you know every word to?

Probably many, but Abbey Road comes to mind as one example. I listened to so much Beatles as a kid that most of those albums’ lyrics are probably imprinted in me.

What was the best concert you’ve ever attended?

One of the best was certainly seeing Animal Collective play a tiny show at Bennington College to maybe 30 people, when they were touring Sung Tongs in 2005. It was wild… I seem to remember them throwing an amp through a window.

What is the best outfit for performing and why?

I like to keep it really simple – in most cases, a plain dark grey t-shirt. I’ve come to appreciate the ability to pack ten of the same shirt for a tour and not think about it.

Who’s your favorite person to follow on Twitter and/or Instagram?

That’d have to be David Shrigley. If you know his work, then it’s obvious why following him on Instagram is so great.

What’s your most frequently played song in the van on tour?

I always used to put on Yo La Tengo’s “Night Falls On Hoboken” as we would make our return drive back into NYC. It’s calming and very long, and eases you through the transition from the highway back into the city.

What’s the last thing you Googled?

“Convert polyphonic audio to midi.” Based on my search, it doesn’t sound like the technology’s quite there yet. But if anyone out there reading this has a good solution for that, hit me up!

What album makes for the perfect gift?

Emahoy Tsegue-Maryam Guebrou’s Ethiopiques collection. Everyone who knows this album loves it, and I think it’s something nearly anyone can get into.

Where’s the weirdest place you’ve ever crashed while on tour?

Long ago, we had to take an overnight ferry across some channel or sea in Europe. Little did we know it doubled as a party casino boat for bachelorette parties and other
people heading to whatever city to go wild for the weekend. All of that wrapped up earlier than you’d think, and it became somewhat of a ghost ship after midnight, and we wandered around the empty decks til late. It was a weird vibe.

What’s the story behind your first or favorite tattoo?

Not my first, but one of my favorites is an illustration of my childhood home, done by the incredible Annie Lloyd several years ago.

What artists keep you from flipping the channel on the radio?

There’s an oldies station up here that mostly plays doo-wop. Sometimes I know the artist but much of the time I don’t. But in any case, it’s easy to leave on.

What’s the nicest thing anyone has ever done for you?

I mean, my parents bringing me into this world and raising me was pretty generous of them! I don’t think anything could top that.

What’s one piece of advice you’d go back in time to give to your 18-year-old self?

“Try to figure out for yourself who you are before the world has a chance to provide an inaccurate description.”

What’s the last show you went to?

I saw Bonny Light Horseman at Levon Helm Studios outside of Woodstock, about a month before lockdown began. I hadn’t heard their record at the time, so it was all new
to me and I just fell in love with it. They just seemed like such a solid group of players who loved making music together.

What movie can you not resist watching when it’s on TV?

Like a lot of people, I don’t have cable or broadcast TV anymore, so it’s only if I’m visiting my folks that a movie would just appear like that while flipping through channels. I associate that with the holidays, so I’d have to go with Home Alone 2: Lost in New York.

What would you cook if Obama were coming to your house for dinner?

Cooking for Obama would be way too much pressure, I think I’d be too stressed to cook and I’d surely ruin whatever I made. So I’d opt for takeout.

Green To Gold is out March 26 on ANTI-. Pre-order it here.

Operation Varsity Blues: The College Admissions Scandal (Netflix film) — Matthew Modine stars as Rick Singer, the man standing at the center of the enormous storm cloud that rocked the Ivy League world. Once all was said and done, Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman received prison sentences for their participation in an elaborate scheme to get children of wealthy parents into elite colleges, and yes, there’s still plenty of scandal left in this saga to entertain.

Snowfall: Season 4 Premiere (FX, 10:00pm) — The John Singleton-co-created series sees Franklin’s struggling to dance between business and authority while tragedy strikes. Meanwhile Teddy’s bailing out Gustavo as the show continues tearing through the mid 1980s, Reagan-era streets of America, although now, his missteps put Leon in danger. Meanwhile, Teddy’s attempting to avoid fallout from Tijuana, and Irene’s in investigative mode.

Riverdale (CW, 9:00pm) — Cheryl puts a plan in motion that might have unintended consequences, all while Jughead’s distracted, and a big announcement is making everyone evaluate their priorities.

Nancy Drew (CW, 9:00pm) — Nancy just team up with an ally to dispense with a ghost who’s inhabiting George’s bod. Elsewhere, Bess is more surprised than anyone by a blast from the past.

Jimmy Kimmel Live! — Anthony Mackie, Edgar Ramírez

The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon — Desus & Mero, Taylor Kinney, Camilo

The Late Late Show With James Corden — Magic Johnson

Late Night With Seth Meyers — Dr. Anthony Fauci, Diane Von Furstenberg

In case you missed this pick last Wednesday:

South ParQ Vaccination Special (Comedy Central 8:00pm) — Following the success of last year’s The Pandemic Special, creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone are back with the gang, and of course, everyone in South ParQ wants to get this dang vaccine. And that’s great! Well, other than (according to the synopsis) “[a] hilarious new militant group tries to stop the boys from getting their teacher vaccinated.” That group must be QAnon or something like it, and from the looks of the special’s preview, Butters is fully on board with the conspiracy theories.

Last Chance U: Basketball (Netflix series) — The Emmy-winning franchise returns with a gritty look into community college basketball. The players all want to rise to the next level and achieve dreams, but first, those damn personal demons and warring emotions happen on and off thecourt, all while the East Los Angeles College Huskies set their sights upon an unprecedented California state basketball championship.

The Dubliner cocktail is a modern classic. The Manhattan variation was born in the late 90’s New York bar scene, thanks to icon Gary “Gaz” Regan. Regan was a true bon vivant, raconteur, and mixologist. His tome, Joy of Mixology, is a must for any burgeoning mixer (home or professional).

Regan’s assembly of a Dubliner is both simple at heart and inspired in flavor. As with all cocktails that become classics, there are a lot of versions out there. I tend to keep mine fairly close to the original mix of Irish whiskey, sweet vermouth, Grand Marnier, and Orange Bitters, with a green bauble as a garnish. When I learned the drink, though, we always released orange oils over the finished cocktail. To this day, that’s my one ripple when making the drink, as I think it adds that extra x-factor.

As for the difficulty level, this is a pretty easy stirrer. If you can make a Manhattan, you can make this. It’s also a quick cocktail to make. All told, it shouldn’t take more than two minutes from start to finish. Lastly, you can batch these easily (it is St. Patrick’s Day, after all) by simply multiplying the ingredients up and storing the cocktail in a corked bottle or sealed pitcher, ready to be poured, spritzed with orange oils, and garnished.

Let’s get mixing!

Dubliner

Ingredients:

• 2-oz. Irish whiskey
• 0.5-oz. Grand Marnier
• 0.5-oz. sweet vermouth
• 2 dashes Orange Bitters
• Orange Peel
• 1 cherry apple
• Ice

I’m using Jameson Black Barrel because it’s a great cocktail base. The boldness of the oak char can stand up to mixing, and you’re left with hints of vanilla, orchard fruits, and, well, whiskey when using it in this drink. I also like using Redbreast 12, Bushmills Single Malt 10, and Tullamore D.E.W. Single Malt. I’d stay away from the peaty Irish single malts if I were you.

I’m using Carpano Antica vermouth because that’s the bottle I have open in the fridge (always store your vermouth in the fridge once you open it). But by all means, use Martini Rosso if that’s what you have on hand. It’ll be a bit thinner, but it gets the job done.

Let’s talk about orange liqueur for a moment. Yes, you can use triple sec in this recipe. But triple sec, Cointreau, or orange liqueur is not the same Grand Marnier. Triple Sec is an orange liqueur that’s clear. Cointreau is the same, but made in France. Grand Marnier is a blend of Cognac and orange liqueur that’s the color of brandy. So you’re getting both a Cognac-infused orange liqueur in the taste and the color of brandy in the body of the cocktail. You want both effects in this cocktail.

Lastly, I couldn’t find green Maraschino cherries (they were literally out on the store shelf — that’s what I get for going ON St. Patrick’s Day). So, I’m using cherry apples that have been treated like cherries canned in light syrup. They actually add a nice heft to the garnish, a bolder green, and less overly syrupy sweetness of a classic Maraschino. If you can find green Maraschino’s this time of year, use those.

What You’ll Need:

• Cocktail jug
• Strainer
• Pre-chilled coupe or Nick and Nora glass
• Barspoon
• Jigger
• Fruit peeler/pairing knife
• Spear

Method:

• Add the Irish whiskey, Grand Marnier, vermouth, and bitters to the mixing jug.
• Fill with ice and stir until the outside of the jug is frosted over and ice-cold to touch.
• Strain the drink into a waiting, pre-chilled coupe.
• Spritz orange oils from the orange peel over the cocktail. Discard peel.
• Spear a cherry apple and balance on the rim of the glass.
• Serve.

Bottom Line:

This is such a light and refreshing cocktail. It feels very much like spring in a glass with the citrus oils brightening everything up. The whiskey shines through wonderfully with a tinge of botanicals from the vermouth and bitters.

What’s interesting is that the “orange” isn’t overt. It’s more like a subtle nod, similar to the orange you’d find in an orange cake where the orange essence is a single part of a bigger whole of eggs, sugar, flour, vanilla, etc. In this case, that orange is a part of a bigger whole of spice, vanilla, grains, oak, botanicals, and fruit.

Overall, this is a very crushable cocktail to drink straight up (with no ice and in a stemmed glass). It’s full of Irish whiskey vibes, plenty of subtle spice and botanicals, and just the right amount of orange to add a ray of sunshine to everything.

Alternate:

So, sometimes I like my drinks on the rocks and this is a great candidate for that.

I adjust the measures a little by adding 3-oz. Irish whiskey, 1-oz. sweet vermouth, 1-oz. Grand Marnier, and four dashes of Orange Bitters to a mixing jug.

I stir that until very cold. I then strain the cocktail over a waiting rocks glass with four ice cubes. I release the orange oils and drop in a speared cherry apple. Done.

This is a little bolder, overall. The whiskey shines through more clearly with a real sense of the vanilla, oak, and grains at the base. The sweet vermouth creates a velvet body while the orange seems to pop a little less. But that’s okay. The orange is sharp but tastes like an accompaniment to the whiskey, not the star of the show.

If I had to choose, I’d make a batch and probably pour these over the rocks. But that’s just me. Find the way you like it best, and go with that.

Former Good Morning Britain host Piers Morgan just made British television history, but this isn’t exactly a record for the Hall of Fame. According to the UK media regulator Ofcom, to date, Morgan has racked up over 57,000 complaints for the loudly impotent rant where he essentially called “Pinocchio Princess” Meghan Markle a liar after she confessed to Oprah Winfrey that she felt suicidal during her time with the royal family. “I wouldn’t believe her if she read me a weather report,” Morgan said. When confronted by co-host Alex Beresford, who accused Morgan of trashing Markle after she “cut him off” following a date in 2015, Morgan stormed off set and by that afternoon he officially left the show following intense public backlash, which we now know has reached historic levels.

Via Variety:

Morgan’s remarks on ITV breakfast show “Good Morning Britain” attracted 57,121 complaints, according to statistics published by Ofcom on Wednesday. This breaks a longstanding record, from 2007, when participants Jade Goody (now deceased) and Danielle Lloyd’s remarks about Indian actor Shilpa Shetty on Channel 4’s “Celebrity Big Brother” drew 44,500 complaints.

Predictably, Morgan caught wind of his record number of complaints and attempted to shrug the whole thing off. “Only 57,000? I’ve had more people than that come up & congratulate me in the street for what I said,” Morgan tweeted. “The vast majority of Britons are right behind me.”

Of those 57,000 complaints, one was specifically from Markle herself who reportedly filed a formal complaint directly with the CEO of ITV. According to Chris Ship, the network’s royal correspondent, Markle raised concerns about how Morgan’s words would “affect the issue of mental health and what it might do to others contemplating suicide.”

The controversy surrounding Morgan has also reached across the pond where Sharon Osbourne is currently facing both a public backlash and an internal investigation into racist remarks after she defended Morgan during an episode of The Talk. It’s all a fine and stupid mess.

(Via Variety)

Sigourney Weaver paid tribute on Wednesday to her Alien co-star Yaphet Kotto, who died earlier this week. He was 81 years old.

“Every day Yaphet Kotto blew me away on the set of Alien,” she wrote. “He just went for it in every scene, making the stakes higher and higher and giving each scene a terrifying reality. It was a nonstop master class for me and I will always be grateful to him.”

“Rest In Peace Parker… Over and out, Ripley.”

Kotto, who played Nostromo chief engineer Dennis Parker in the sci-fi classic, also starred on NBC’s Homicide: Life on the Street and appeared in The Running Man, Midnight Run, and the James Bond film, Live and Let Die (he was the franchise’s first Black villain). He was remembered as a “brilliant magnetic presence” by Edgar Wright, while Ava DuVernay said he was “one of those actors who deserved more than the parts he got. But he took those parts and made them wonderful all the same. A star.”

In one of his final interviews before his death, Kotto told IGN that he was surprised that “we’re still talking about [Alien] all these years later. I knew it was good, but I am surprised… I was such a believer in Alien and the script and the role of Parker that I turned down other roles that offered far more money.”

(Via Variety)

Elissa Mielke may have gotten her start as a model and actress, working various high-profile gigs like scoring a lead role in The Weeknd’s 2012 “The Zone” video with Drake. But now, Mielke is pivoting to focus on her songwriting. The singer gave a taste of what she has in store with two debut songs, “Trying” and “Palace.”

Along with sharing the two songs, Mielke released a reflective video alongside her track “Palace.” Directed by Laura-Lynn Petrick, the visual offers a brief snapshot of the singer’s life, showing her fluidly moving between locations like the ocean and a brightly lit carnival.

In a statement alongside her “Palace” video’s release, Mielke described how important songwriting is to her:

“Writing songs has helped me navigate, survive and gloop through so many strange, dark, or confusing times. Even when I’ve been deeply discouraged about finding ways to share my music, grieving, struggling through isolation (or one of 3 concussions-oops!), sitting at a piano always makes some invisible thing click, heal, clarify. I can often address my inner critic with clarity through music in a way I can’t otherwise, and through writing I can dialogue with fear instead of running away. […] These songs already did what they needed to for me, so now I just hope that listening to any songs I put out in the future offers you any feeling of what making them offers me. Thanks for joining me at the start of this new musical journey, this is just the first song!”

Watch Mielke’s “Palace” video above.

Perhaps the most famous green-haired person on the planet is Billie Eilish, but she must now relinquish that title because no longer is her hair green. She took to Instagram today (on St. Patrick’s Day, of all days) to reveal her new blonde look and the photo quickly dominated the internet.

Fan Twitter account Billie Eilish Charts reports (in a tweet that Eilish shared on her Instagram story and that Finneas retweeted) that Eilish’s post reached a million likes in just six minutes, which is apparently the fastest an Instagram post has ever achieved that milestone. It apparently also took just 49 minutes for the post to top 5 million likes, which Eilish Charts also says is the fastest that has ever been done. As of this post, Eilish’s photo has just over 10 million likes, a threshold Eilish Charts says it reached in a record time of 3 hours. For reference, the most liked Instagram post of 2020, from soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo, had 19.73 million likes that year. Following the post, Eilish also became a trending topic on Twitter.

This social media flurry comes just days after Eilish won the Grammy for Record Of The Year for the second year in a row, although she declared while accepting the award that Megan Thee Stallion deserved it.

Megan Thee Stallion is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

The Weeknd released his debut mixtape House Of Balloons in 2011, before he was signed to XO Records. The project was an early indication of the singer’s massive success as it instantly put The Weeknd on the map. This Sunday officially marks the 10-year anniversary of the mixtape’s release, so to celebrate, the singer has decided to upload the project to streaming services in its original form for the first time.

The Weeknd shared the exciting news to social media, saying all of the original samples have been cleared for streaming, including Beach House’s “Master Of None” and Aaliyah’s “Rock the Boat.” “On Sunday for its 10 year anniversary I’m releasing House of Balloons on all streaming platforms for the first time in it’s original incarnation,” the singer wrote. “With the original mixes and samples.”

Ahead of announcing that the album is going to be made available for streaming, The Weeknd took aim at the Grammys just before their ceremony Sunday. The singer had previously called the Recording Academy “corrupt” after his acclaimed album After Hours did not receive a single nomination. This time, The Weeknd declares that he’s boycotting the event for good. In a statement given to the New York Times, The Weeknd said: “Because of the secret committees, I will no longer allow my label to submit my music to the Grammys.”

House Of Balloons will be made available on streaming services 3/21.

For the past few years, the Garbage Pail Kids brand has released an annual set of cards in the “Shammy Awards” series, which parodies musicians who appeared at that year’s Grammys ceremony. Topps, the manufacturer of the cards, recently unveiled their 2021 set and quickly came under fire for their BTS card.

The sticker card, titled “BTS Bruisers,” depicts the band members with their heads poking out of whack-a-mole-style holes with a Grammy trophy hovering over their bruised faces. The timing of this reveal is poor considering increased reports of violence against Asian people during the pandemic and yesterday’s shootings in Atlanta, which led to the deaths of six Asian women.

Topps offered an apology, saying they had not yet printed the card and no longer plan to. They wrote in a brief statement shared on social media, “We hear and understand our consumers who are upset about the portrayal of BTS in our GPK Shammy Awards product and we apologize for including it. We have removed the BTS sticker card from the set, we have not printed any of the sticker card and it will not be available.”

BTS fans were understandably upset and one summed up the situation, “The caricature version for the other artists seems cute and child-like, while the one for BTS depicts them as beaten, bruised with the look of fear on their face. @Topps you’re supporting the hate against Asians, this is not even qualified as a garbage humor, this is hateful.”

BTS, meanwhile, didn’t come away with any Grammy wins this past weekend, but just their nomination was a victory.