Month: May 2021

Brooklyn Nets star James Harden hasn’t played since April 5 due to a hamstring injury and, with not much time left before the playoffs start, he and Nets are running out of time to completely gel on the court. According to Harden, though, he is “very confident” he’ll be back before the playoffs.

“The plan is to hopefully get an opportunity to play a couple games before the postseason,” Harden said Thursday, per ESPN. “We’re just taking one day at a time.”

Harden said was on track to play in late April, but suffered a setback on April 21 that put him back on the bench. After Brooklyn’s game against Dallas on Thursday, it has five games left before the end of the regular season.

“We wanted to be patient,” Harden said. “As much as I love to hoop, I want to be out there, but you’ve got to be smart. And for me, it was just, ‘Let’s knock this thing out, let’s get this thing healthy so we can make a push.’

“At this point in my career, going to postseasons basically since I’ve been in Houston, I’ve been playing heavy minutes, just carrying the load,” he continued. “And this was an opportunity for me to keep my body right going into the postseason with a clear mind and a clear body. You’ve got 16 games to win. That’s the ultimate goal. That’s the reason why I came to Brooklyn.”

For the year, Harden is averaging 25.4 points, 11 assists, and 8.7 rebounds and was firmly in the MVP mix before his injury. Due to his injury and Kevin Durant’s injury earlier in the season, Brooklyn is taking a lack of chemistry developed in the regular season to its extreme. Per Basketball-Reference, the most common five-man lineup with Harden, Durant, and Kyrie Irving on the floor has played a total of 75 minutes together. Even if it’ll probably work well when it matters, those three have had very little on-court time together to work out the kinks.

As of now, it seems like the Nets are going to end up as the No. 2 seed in the East and, assuming they get out of the play-in tournament, a match-up with the Heat in round one, although they’re only a half-game up on the third seed.

The other day someone on Twitter pointed out that this season of Top Chef feels noticeably more enjoyable than the last few have. That seemed right to me. Maybe it’s because with the contestants not living in a house together, there isn’t even the possibility of “house drama” segments? Maybe shooting when restaurants weren’t doing indoor dining meant they had to get rid of any business-y industry stuff? Maybe the characters are just better? Discuss.

Anyway, this week began with an attempt to celebrate Oregon’s status as both a top producer of wild mushrooms and Portland’s unofficial designation as “Stumptown” — so named thanks to its status as the world’s top exporter of amputee porn. I’m kidding, they didn’t actually say why Portland is called Stumptown. I guess because of all of the stumps?

In any case, the quickfire challenge involved cooking a mushroom dish, because mushrooms; prepared on a stump, because Stumptown. And the winner would receive $10,000 because “Better Than Buillon” sponsored it. Was it just me or did this product placement seem much less shoehorned and awkward than all the rest? I may start using Better Than Buillon just because they seem like a chill sponsor.

Also, Padma wore her finest snake shirt for the occasion:

“My latest collection is inspired by Lorenzo Lamas’ acclaimed performance in the beloved afternoon motorcycle drama, Renegade.” -Jacobin Mugatu, Top Chef season 18 costume coordinator.

After the mushroom tree stump bouillon surprise challenge, it was time to take a trip out to the coast to get schooled on indigenous cuisine by the native Pacific Northwesterners. Snakeskin Padma was gone by then, replaced by Slouch Hat Tommy.

Damn, someone yoink that thing off before he starts writing sad French poetry. Amour… c’est le merde…

This was all for a SURF AND TURF challenge, in which the chefs drew knives, choosing either a fish or a… non-fish …and then having to pair up with someone who had the opposite protein. They were then to create one surf and turf dish. And as if that weren’t stressful enough, this was a DOUBLE ELIMINATION CHALLENGE!

Well… sort of. The losing team would both go home, but only until the end of an instant Last Chance Kitchen, at the end of which the winner would immediately return to the competition. Ah, the old Last Chance Kitchen tease! Classic!

Fun fact: I had to write these rankings before Last Chance Kitchen aired, so I’ll be SPECULATING WILDLY!

RESULTS

Quickfire Top: Gabriel*, Dawn, Gabe. (*Winner)
Quickfire Bottom: Chris, Nelson, Byron.

Elimination Top: Gabe/Dawn, Sara/Shota*.
Eliminated: Gabriel/Nelson.

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10. (even) ((Eliminated?)) Nelson German

AKA: Papa Bear. Cardio. The Gipper.

Papa Bear apparently never recovered from having to run around an orchard two episodes ago, so he spent this episode alternately icing his war wounds and doped to the gills. In the elimination challenge, he did what no one else wanted to do and paired up with Gabriel. Gabriel, despite being the show’s villain, seems to be in the top side of most challenges, including winning the quickfire this week, so that seemed like solid reasoning on Papa Bear’s part. I was half expecting Gabriel to win one for the Gipper, as wounded Nelson smiled fondly from his hospital bed, or for Nelson to get shot up with cortisone and limp out of the chef’s dug out to hit a walk-off food home run like Kirk Gibson. Chef Kirk Gibson.

Instead, Nelson and Gabriel couldn’t get the salmon cook quite right and had to choose between serving slightly over salmon with crispy skin or perfectly cooked salmon with flabby skin. On an episode when the judges had to pick nits, they were probably f*cked either way.

Both Gabriel and Nelson went home, but based on pure speculation I’m going to assume that Gabriel won their head-to-head battle. Time will tell!

Notable Critique: “That steelhead was cooked too hard.”

Christ, if you can’t cook something called a “steelhead” hard, what can you?

9. (-2) Byron Gomez

AKA: Manolo. Burger King. Goldblum.

I worried Byron’s victory last week was a fluke and this week’s performance seemed to confirm it. First he served too-salty mushroom confit in the quickfire and landed in the bottom three. Then he teamed up with Maria in the elimination challenge. They made an elk with green mole with smoked fish on the top, that the judges seemed to like, except that they wanted more mole. Sadly, Byron had just finished telling Maria not to put more mole on the plate.

The big question is, was this a plating error or a naming error? Was there not enough mole on the plate, or should they just not have put mole in the title? That created false mole expectations. You can’t give a Top Chef mole blue balls, that’s a mole mortal sin.

Notable Critique: “I wish it had more green mole.”

8. (even) Chris Viaud

AKA: Stretch. Butter. Kelso.

Stretch also fell to Earth this week, having to stoop his big ass down to stump size in the quickfire, in which he landed in the bottom three for his worst-in-class hen of the woods chicken finger. Then in the elimination challenge, he teamed up with Avishar for sturgeon and a croquette. Have you noticed that sturgeons are weird-looking sea monsters? Scary as hell. I wouldn’t eat that thing if I didn’t know better.

They managed to please the judges just enough not to go home, but it sounded like Chris’s grilled sturgeon was the weaker component.

Notable Critique: “I’m not sure if I would’ve gone for grilling the sturgeon.”

7. (+2) Maria Mazon

AKA: Gas Can. Backdraft. James Brown. Holy Mole. Mole Maria.

Maria always seems like she’s just on the cusp of having a break-out week but never quite gets there. This week, it was an unforced mole error that did her in. A classic mole boner. If only Mole Maria had stuck to her Mole Guns, we wouldn’t be wondering what could’ve been.

Dammit, Maria! Next time someone tries to mansplain plating tell them to slurp your mole!

Notable Critique: “Yummy, I want to eat all of this.”

6. (-1) Avishar Barua

AKA: Milhouse. Chillhouse. Thrillhouse. American Pie. The Carbonator. Portmanteau. OH.

Avishar was barely in this episode. He’s also become the wild card of this season. Everyone else in the competition has fully solidified as either a favorite or an underdog except for Avishar. He’s the chameleon, slipping back and forth between the two depending on how much he talks about Ohio. If Avishar brings up Ohio it’s going to be a bad day for him. It just goes to show, no one wants to hear about Ohio.

This week, in true nerd fashion, Avishar chose his quickfire mushrooms based on size, reasoning that the smaller ones would cook the fastest (NERD!). He also said, “When I agreed to this show, I had no intention of making friends,” which is probably the nerdiest way that I’ve ever heard a reality show contestant say “I’m not here to make friends.”

Anyway, Avishar paired up with Chris and the judges liked his croquette, so.

Notable Critique: “That was awesome.”

5. (+1) ((Eliminated?)) Gabriel Pascuzzi

AKA: Patriarchy. Evil Gabe. Chad. Bluto. Mr. Mackie. The Noodge. Pascooch. The Cooch. Toni Coochkoc. The Forager.

Be honest, did this week evoke some sympathy for Gabe? Even after winning the quickfire, thanks to his childhood foraging experience and chanterelle fois gras dedicated to his dad, Gabriel basically got Forrest Gump’d in the elimination challenge. No one wanted to be his partner!

Poor Evil Gabe. What did he do wrong, anyway? Was it the name dropping? The mansplaining? The micromanaging? It’s sad to be living in a day and age when no one wants to be a guy’s partner solely because he has a bunch of annoying personality traits.

Evil Gabe finally found his Jenny in Nelson, who was unfortunately too doped up and injured to cook salmon properly. Technically they were both eliminated. I’m nonetheless putting Evil Gabe at number five, based on my assumption that he won the head-to-head Last Chance Kitchen challenge and will re-enter the competition next week.

Notable Critique: “I really like antelope the way he cooked it.”

4. (even) Sara Hauman

AKA: Tails. Yogurt. Portlandia. Trapper Keeper. Manic Pixie Cream Sauce. Fiddlesticks. The Queen Of Comedy.

Understand, I say this as a fellow nervous laugher, so it’s partly hypocritical: I don’t know how much longer I can watch Sara laugh her ass off at her own observations. She was absolutely CRUSHING with herself this week. Sara revealed that her dream job would be to open a “boutique cannery” and then laughed so damned hard at this thought that you’d have thought she’d turned into a one-woman Def Comedy Jam audience from the 90s. A boutique cannery?!?

Really cracking yourself up over there, huh? Her self-deprecating shtick got so stale this week that guest judge Dale Talde actually shouted “YOU’RE LYING!” at her when she tried to act fake flustered. Thank you! No one’s buying it, Sara.

Anyway, Sara paired up with Shota on “Team Tiny,” doing a smelt-crusted rabbit loin with a variety of smelt-flavored sides. You know what that smelt like? It smelt like victory. Based on the victory, should Sara rank higher on this list? Maybe. I may be too infuriated by Sara’s inability to deliver a single sentence confidently to see her for the talent that she is.

3. (-1) Shota Nakajima

AKA: Beavis.

Interestingly, neither Shota nor Sara landed in the top three in the quickfire, but once they joined forces they went straight to the top. It seemed like it was Shota’s bright idea to do smelt five different ways. That’s normally a recipe for disaster on Top Chef, where more components usually just means more things for Tom to bitch about. Yet surprisingly, the judges liked what Shota was smelting and Team Tiny went home with the win.

That’s a hell of an achievement, impressive stuff. Last time I coated a rabbit loin in smelt, a judge made me introduce myself to all the neighbors.

Notable Critiques: “I’m loving this dish.” “Yeah, I’m gonna go coat a rabbit in smelt.”

2. (+1) Dawn Burrell

AKA: Hothead. ‘Sheed. Legs. Breaking Dawn. Milk Carton.

Dawn starred in her very own episode of FRYER HOGS during the quickfire challenge, when the other chefs tried to muscle her out of all the deep fryers and the wood-fired oven. Here’s a wild idea for the producers: maybe throw a few more deep fryers in there, huh?

Even with that handicap, Dawn landed in the top three. She has been on an absolute tear lately. So much so that when Dawn teamed up with Gabe for a bison tenderloin and grilled catfish with a pumpkin seed mole dish, I thought for sure they were headed for the victory. It turned out that they simply couldn’t compete with Sara and Shota’s sheer volume of smelt. Still, I have to think Dawn is still a top one, two, or three competitor. Not many chefs could out-mole the mole queen.

Notable Critique: “That mole brought the two proteins together.”

1. (even) Gabe Erales

AKA: Good Gabe. Canelo. Fozzy. The Foz. Masa Father. Jamón.

Like Dawn, Good Gabe had a top finish in both challenges this episode. He proved himself the Masa Father yet again by going back to the tortilla well and busting out a bomb-ass taco in 20 minutes. I was slightly surprised that he and Dawn lost to Team Tiny Smelt, but Gabe is looking so strong in damn near every challenge that I can’t bring myself to peel him off the top spot. Ol’ Fozzy looks like he’s got what it takes.

More than a decade and a half ago, Jeezy arrived on the hip-hop scene as one of the earliest trap artists in the genre, joining the likes of T.I. and Gucci Mane. In the years that followed, Jeezy, who hails from Atlanta just like the other aforementioned artists, would go on to drop well-appreciated albums and mixtapes and grow into one of the most respected rappers from that time period. However, in Jeezy’s own words, his rise didn’t come without lessons from a pair of rappers that came before him, them being Snoop Dogg and E-40.

During an appearance on Spotify’s Best Advice podcast with Kim Bennett Taylor, Jeezy shared a time where Snoop Dogg and E-40 “g-checked” him after a run-in with the law during a video shoot.

“Snoop Dogg and E-40 they looking at me like I’m crazy. Say ‘you know what? You know what’s the difference between you and Pac?’ and I was just like ‘Whoa.’” he said on the episode. “I’m like ‘OK’ and they just went on to say ‘Yo listen, he never stopped what he was about. He never let up on his people. He never…’ and it was like ‘Yo, you, you better get out here and do what you’re supposed to be doing. Because these people believe you and they riding with you. And you ain’t moving right. And we telling you that.”

Jeezy continued to praise and thank Snoop and E-40 for their actions. “I don’t really think, you know, Snoop and E40 and those guys get enough credit for who they really are, man,” he added. “Like you know, those guys save lives you know what I’m saying. And, and, and they definitely got me back on the right course but they’ve been through what I’ve been through.”

You can listen to Jeezy’s full appearance on the show here.

Earlier this week, Texas A&M head coach Jimbo Fisher made a quip that went viral and it involved Nick Saban and the Alabama Crimson Tide. In addressing the Houston Touchdown Club on Wednesday, Fisher was prompted on what it would take to beat Alabama outside of the retirement of Saban.

Fisher’s response… made the rounds.

“We’re going to beat his ass when he’s there,” Fisher said. “Don’t worry.”

It was a mortal lock that Saban would be asked about Fisher’s comment, and that moment arrived on Thursday.

Saban’s immediate response of “in golf” is unquestionably elite, especially when combined with his facial expression. The follow-up of “I’m sure there will come a day” is also tremendous, before the easy pivot to talking points about Texas A&M’s improving program, but the point was certainly made. He even followed up by asking if Fisher’s comments were actually about football.

This is far from the first time that Saban has been blindsided by a potential rival, and he has been sitting atop the college football mountain for quite some time. However, it is always fun to see him provide a genuine reaction to a challenge, and the first few seconds of his answer in this instance perhaps provide a window into his thought process.

The first look at season four of Stranger Things dropped on Thursday with an Eleven-centered trailer. The Indiana Fever took a moment to celebrate by showcasing their recently-announced Stranger Things jerseys on Twitter.

In the photos, Fever players Kelsey Mitchell, Tiffany Mitchell, and Danielle Robinson are wearing the jerseys, part of the line of redesigned jerseys Nike released for the upcoming WNBA season. Stranger Things, for those who don’t know, is set in the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana which may or not be a suburb of Indianapolis, and the Fever got a ton of praise when these were released for leaning into the beloved show. There were a number of sensational unis in the Nike Rebel edition drop, but these were a cut above.

It’s going to be fun how far the Fever can lean into this as a bit. The show itself is filmed in Georgia, so it’s probably not easy to have actors from the show drop by and sit courtside. (They should try and get Winona Ryder at all costs, though.) But could they do an Upside Down-theme intro for games they where these jerseys? Yes. Should they serve some kind of Eggo waffle dish in honor of Eleven’s favorite food? Also yes. Should they play the clip of David Harbour dancing after every made basket? Also yes.

Over the years Twitter has made a lot of changes and added new features, some of which it felt not many people were actually clamoring for. But the latest add is certainly interesting: a “tip jar” function that lets people pay others through the social media app, presumably for having good tweets.

Twitter announced the Tip Jar function on Thursday with, as you might expect, a few tweets.

The feature is pretty simple: you can pay people directly through Twitter, using a payment app like Venmo or PayPal. In many ways it’s similar to Patreon or other ways that writers have monetized their work, and as Twitter is often a big part of that work it’s the next logical step in said monetization.

There was a lot of reaction to the news, starting with people who were excited to see that it was enabled on their accounts.

And many saw it as an opportunity to finally cash in on some good tweets.

Or, perhaps, finally log off for good.

The feature was being rolled out slowly starting on Thursday, but some users started to have some concerns right away. Starting with the fact that, according to some users, your address could actually be sent to the person you tip if you’re not careful which payment app you use.

That part is apparently being worked on by Twitter, but it did make for a new round of people making jokes about it, of course.

While his own artistry is absolutely something to recognize and appreciate, 6lack’s ability to stand beside a variety of artists no matter the genre is another quality that makes him great. In just the past few months, the Atlanta-born singer — who switches hats to rap on songs at times — has worked with the likes of JID, Lil Durk, Lil Tay, and Melii.

As he’s done a few times in his career, 6lack returns to the afro-fusion lane for a remix of Spinall and Fireboy DML’s “Sere.” The summery track takes life on Spinall’s 2020 album, Grace, and with 6lack’s addition, the song gets a nice boost without moving away from its original structure.

As of late, 6lack’s been a busy man. In addition to providing great guest features on a number of tracks, he singer stood by his fellow LVRN labelmates for a hard-hitting Rap Caviar cypher. With OMB Bloodbath leading the way, new names to the roster like NoonieVsEverybody and BRS Kash followed suit with confident verses of the own.

Next, the more familiar names of the label, Westside Boogie and 6lack himself, delivered bars of their own. Boogie’s verse focused on his fame and how it impacted his life and the lives of his homies while 6lack’s own was a slick-lipped contribution filled with enough metaphors to remind you of his original rap upbringing.

You can press play on the new remix in the video above.

Trust Coldplay to take it to the next level.

For their latest single — which is produced by Max Martin and leans decidedly pop — the band teamed up with French astronaut Thomas Pesquet aboard the International Space Station to officially premiere the track in space. After a quick chat with the French spaceman that can be watched here, the band got right into a specially-recorded performance of the track, complete with alien holograms who danced along to the stadium-ready bop, and possibly irritated Lady Gaga fans in the process. Not to worry Monsters, the Chromatica crossover is truly quite minimal, aside from some minor merch similarities.

Although the UK band has dabbled with pop sounds before — “Viva La Vida” anyone? — this song definitely feels like a shift toward that shimmering, polished sound, and the involvement of one of pop’s greatest super producers definitely sends that message as well. The band will be performing the song on American Idol this coming Sunday and at the upcoming Brit Awards next Tuesday. They’ll also be performing it during Glastonbury’s Live At Worthy Farm livestream on May 22. And what do all those performances mean? There’s probably going to be a new album coming soon. Check out their new pop direction above, and look out for more Coldplay news coming soon.

One of the ways to tell if you’re in a healthy relationship is whether you and your partner are free to talk about other people you find attractive. For many couples, bringing up such a sensitive topic can cause some major jealousy.

Of course, there’s a healthy way to approach such a potentially dangerous topic.

Telling your partner you find someone else attractive shouldn’t be about making them feel jealous. It’s probably also best that if you’re attracted to a coworker, friend, or their sibling, that you keep it to yourself.

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But, being open about your sexual feelings, can be a way to spice things up in the bedroom and to let your partner know what you like.

Actress and mental health advocate Kristen Bell admits that she and her husband, actor Dax Shepard, have learned how to be open about their attraction to other people. The couple believes that being able to talk about such taboo topics without making each other jealous is a great way to preserve their relationship.

“He can tell me someone he finds attractive, female or male, ’cause he pauses the Olympics on a lot of runners, but it doesn’t make me feel like he’s going to leave me for that person because I’m not allowing my self-esteem to be affected,” she explained.

Bell believes that it’s completely normal and healthy for people in monogamous relationships to be attracted to other people.

“I know there are people on planet Earth that are more attractive than me, and well, we’re not dead. I have to acknowledge we’re monkeys,” Bell said. As an attractive, famous couple working in Hollywood, there is extra pressure for them to be able to handle their jealousy.

The couple has also done a good job at accepting the fact that Bell is the primary bread-winner in the family. Studies show men have higher levels of stress if their wives earn more than 40% of their home’s combined income.

About a third of women in the U.S. make more than their husbands.

While Shepard has had a successful career, acting in films such as “Idiocracy” and “Without a Paddle,” Bell has starred in some major hits including, “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” and the “Bad Moms” films.

She’s also made a pretty penny voicing Princess Anna in Disney’s “Frozen” franchise.

“I think I’ve always out-earned him,” Bell said about their careers. “I got a lot of opportunity, you’re sharing in it, we’re able to provide for a ton of our family members who may or may not be struggling,” she continued, as if addressing Shepard. “I don’t look at it like, ‘This is mine and this is yours.’ I’m like, ‘This is ours. Get over it.'”

Bell believes that the couple’s ability to get over petty jealousy is one way to make sure their unique relationship stands the test of time.

“Do you want to be on the porch with someone when you’re 80?” Bell asked. “We both want that.”

Every year, around 100 million carats of rough diamonds are mined to supply the world’s multi-billion dollar diamond jewelry industry, leaving both human and environmental damage behind.

The ethical issues at the heart of diamond mining, from violence to human rights abuses to forced labor, are no secret. The destruction of land and water in the mining process is also well known. Though an official chain of practices for creating “conflict-free” diamonds known as the Kimberley Process is supposed to reduce some of these issues, ongoing problems remain.

Science has a solution.

Instead of digging up gemstones that have taken a billion or more years to form in the earth, scientists can now make diamonds in a lab in just six to ten weeks—without the bloodshed and devastation involved in mining traditional diamonds.

Are they the same, though? If anyone were going to be a purist about gems, you’d think the world’s largest jewelry brand would. But Pandora, the Danish jeweler that boasts that title, is all in on lab-grown bling.

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Pandora has announced that it will not be using mined diamonds in its jewelry anymore and will be launching an entire line of lab-grown diamond pieces. The upsides of lab-created gems are plentiful; not only do they avoid the exploitation of workers, violent conflict, and environmental degradation of diamond mining, but they’re also significantly less expensive. According to Business Insider, a lab-created diamond can cost 30 to 40 percent less than a traditional diamond.

And according to Pandora, they do all that without sacrificing quality. Lab diamonds are still graded using the standard 4 Cs—cut, color, clarity and carat—as mined diamonds, and Pandora emphasizes that they have all the same “optical, chemical, thermal and physical characteristics” as well.

“They are as much a symbol of innovation and progress as they are of enduring beauty and stand as a testament to our ongoing and ambitious sustainability agenda,” said Pandora CEO Alexander Lacik said in a statement. “Diamonds are not only forever, but for everyone.”

Of course, the marketing of diamonds has always been a bit of a ruse. The DeBeers family held a near-monopoly on the diamond trade for more than 100 years, and their control of supply created an illusion of scarcity and value that doesn’t reflect reality. A highly successful “Diamonds are forever” marketing campaign to make people associate diamonds with lifelong commitment added emotional value to the stone, which led us to where we are today.

In other words, the thousands of dollars that people will drop on a diamond engagement ring is almost completely due to a purposeful plan to make people feel that they need to do just that. That plan may have been brilliant or diabolical, depending on how you look at it, but there’s no question that it worked.

Pandora’s shift to lab-grown diamonds won’t change the association between diamonds and commitment, but it may at least help people recognize that diamonds themselves are not as precious and rare as we’ve been led to believe. It’s also a bid to younger consumers, who want their purchases to be more affordable and sustainably sourced.

The new lab-grown collection, Pandora Brilliance, launched today in the U.K., with pieces starting at US$350. It has also achieved CarbonNeutral® product certification in accordance with The CarbonNeutral Protocol. And when the collection becomes available globally next year, the diamonds are expected to be made using 100% renewable energy.

It’s great to see big companies stepping up their game when it comes to ethical practices and environmental sustainability. The planet needs it, consumers are asking for it, science is making it possible, and smart companies are moving the needle in their respective industries. Well done, Pandora, for being a leader on the jewelry front.