Month: June 2021

One of Ron Swanson’s earliest iconic moments on Parks and Recreation was the Pyramid of Greatness. “It’s a perfectly calibrated recipe for maximum personal achievement,” he says about his creation. Categories include Discipline (“the ability to repeat a boring thing over and over again”), Friends (“one to three is sufficient”), and Greatness Itself (“the best revenge”). If Ron were to add two more boxes, they could be Transportation (“never hire someone named Lou”) and Crying in Baseball (“no”).

Nick Offerman has been cast in the Tom Hanks role in Amazon’s A League of Their Own series from creators Abbi Jacobson and Will Graham. He won’t be playing Jimmy Dugan, but rather, Casey “Dove” Porter, the team’s coach. He’s described as a “former Cubs pitcher who is brought in to coach the Rockford Peaches. The character is most famous because his forkball killed a dove in mid-air in the middle of a game. Inspiring and charismatic, Dove was thought to be the next big MLB star, but blew his arm out after three years. Now he’s looking to make his comeback by making the Peaches into champions.” He’s like Henry Rowengartner meets Randy Johnson meets this poor bird.

It’s impossible to get tired of that clip.

Anyway, the A League of Their Own show (which has director Penny Marshall’s blessing) also stars Jacobson, Chanté Adams, D’Arcy Carden, Gbemisola Ikumelo, Kelly McCormack, Roberta Colindrez, and Priscilla Delgado. There’s no premiere date yet.

(Via the Hollywood Reporter)

It’s no secret that Jim Acosta isn’t a fan of Trump or his lackeys. The CNN reporter is very outspoken about the former president. And about Fox News, which he’s called a “bulls*it factory.” And about their employee Tucker Carlson, who he’s called “Fox’s chief white power correspondent.” So surely he knew how it would go over when he asked Trump, during a rare public appearance, if he would “apologize” for the events of Jan 6.

The 45th president took some time from ranting at strangers at the resorts he lives in to visit the Southern border, which has become a target for Republicans over the ongoing migrant crisis. During an event, in which he predictably slammed the Biden administration (while, of course, misleading people about the election he lost in November), Acosta tried to get him to comment on his disgraceful last couple weeks on the job. But he didn’t get chewed out by Trump. He got chewed out by the crowd.

“At border event with Trump and Abbott I asked Trump if he’s going to apologize for January 6,” Acosta later wrote on Twitter. “He did not respond. Crowd of mostly GOP members and staff booed.”

Indeed, the crowd was, as per The Hill, mostly Republican members of Congress and staffers. As for Trump, he (perhaps smartly) said nothing, letting the boos die down and then smirking and giving a thumbs up, as he often does when he’s trying to extricate himself from awkward situations.

You can even see video of the booing here:

On one hand, what did Acosta expect? This is not unlike the Arrested Development bit in which Michael Bluth curiously peers into a paper bag labeled “dead bird.” On the other, it reiterates the belief that the entire GOP remains in his thrall, unwilling to own up to one of the darkest days in American history.

(Via The Hill)

In May, when Cavs general manager Koby Altman spoke to the media at the end of the regular season, he name-checked two teams: the Suns and the Hawks.

In outlining his view of Cleveland’s future, he cited those teams as proof of younger teams being able to take an immediate step forward. At the same time, he noted that whatever Cleveland is building won’t come together all at once. He tempered expectations, saying that “there’s no quick fix.” But he noted that wins have to come.

“Our guys are hungry. I think they understand that there’s talent here and that has to now translate into wins at some point,” Altman said. “It’s on me to help supplement that young talent and it’s on J.B. [Bickerstaff] to keep growing the culture here.”

It feels like the Cavs are going to try and do something to improve now, even if it’s unclear what that will be. This is a franchise that has been talking about the playoffs since LeBron James left in 2018. They were open about making a push for the play-in tournament. It’s been more than 20 years since they’ve made the playoffs without LeBron leading the way, and looking in on the team and listening to what they have to say, it seems like three seasons with no playoffs is enough.

There are practical reasons for this. Altman is heading into the last year of his deal and probably needs to win games to save his job. Dan Gilbert also isn’t historically a patient owner, so perhaps J.B. Bickerstaff will be coaching for his job too. Life in the NBA moves fast and, barring a lot of winning, teams go through changes.

But the Cavs don’t really need to force something right now. To cite Altman’s examples — the Suns and the Hawks — Cleveland doesn’t have a Devin Booker or a Trae Young to build around quickly. That level of talent demands an effort to win in a way Collin Sexton or Darius Garland — who are good, but not yet at that level — do not.

None of their young players are immediately due a big payday either. Sexton is extension eligible now, and his camp can and should agitate for payment this summer. But Cleveland can wait if it chooses to and probably should, considering the Cavs won 19, 19, and 22 games in the last three seasons. Jarrett Allen is their only real free agent this summer and a deal for him feels more straightforward. Whatever the future holds in Cleveland, Allen is capable of fitting in and it’s not a hard choice for the Cavs to bring back their best acquisition of the season as an RFA.

Sexton is perhaps the best lens to view the Cavs situation through. He’s an interesting scorer, averaging 24.3 points per game last year with a career-best shooting percentage and a career-high in assists. He got the line more last season, taking almost two more per 100 possessions than his previous best — showing that he’s improved as a downhill attacker and that’s capable of adding to his game. Sexton has a place in the league, full-stop. But he’s also hard to center on a team as he exists right now. He doesn’t take a ton of three-pointers – per Cleaning The Glass, he is in the bottom six percent of guards in three-point rate – and largely lives in the mid-range. He’s more 2006 than 2021.

That can be fine in small doses, but it’s hard to build a whole offense around someone seeking out those kinds of shots. He, despite making more of the easy reads and finding some chemistry with Allen, has yet to show the vision to unlock a whole offense or the craft in the pick-and-roll to really lead a good offense in the same way a Donovan Mitchell or Devin Booker does.

There’s a place for him, but it’s probably not as he exists now. The only young players that get his workload for good teams are Young and Luka Doncic, which is a level Sexton just isn’t on right now. The best version of Sexton likely involves more off-ball action and secondary creation on offense — cutting, taking more spot-up threes, and attacking closeouts — which could help him play more consistent defense.

Sexton being three years in but still not quite seeming to have a defined role isn’t really his fault, as he has not had a particularly stable start to his career from an organizational standpoint. He’s had four head coaches, had a season halted due to the pandemic and a compressed season this past year. And when the Cavs have brought in veterans — namely re-signing Kevin Love and trading for Andre Drummond — they haven’t really helped. Love has been hurt more often than not while not seeming happy. Drummond was only around for a bit, but wasn’t additive.

Allen, meanwhile, came in and offered more support on both ends than either. It wasn’t the Garland-Allen lob connection, but you could see how that led to Sexton gaining his first real rhythm with a pick-and-roll partner. Instead of barreling into the lane with no plan, he had someone he could trust rolling behind him.

It’s possible, if not likely, that Sexton also makes some other kind of leap. Maybe next year he takes more three-pointers or becomes a better defender who uses his motor to pester other guards. He also is perhaps the team’s most available piece, so maybe they deal him. It’s a tricky line to walk here too, though. A deal for a Ben Simmons-level player is fun to theorize about for cavs fans, but Cleveland doesn’t have the other pieces as the Sixers are in a “win-now” scenario and picks aren’t likely to entice them off of an All-Star. Would something like a Tyler Herro-Sexton swap really move the needle that much? Probably not, unless Herro is more like 2019 Playoffs Herro and not what he was last year. And if the Cavs attach multiple picks with Sexton as part of a big play, how much is too much and risks the team putting a cap on their potential ceiling?

Regardless of what the outcome, the Cavs are nearing the decision point on Sexton despite him never having a chance at showing consistency in the role he’s likely to take on in the future. Sexton, as has happened to plenty of other young players in the past, was the first piece of a rebuild, and as such, he was given a starring role immediately out of necessity and is being asked to cede more and more of that with every passing year and new top pick added to the roster. That makes it hard to know exactly what he can be on a quality team, and it’s possible a change of scenery provides that stability and defined role that could yield more consistent and better results.

Money plays a big role in that, because if the Cavs are building for so-called sustainable success, they have to be thinking about deals to come. Allen, as noted, is due now and may get $20 million a year. Garland becomes extension eligible next offseason and, despite what they say publicly, it’s hard to see the Cavs ponying up for both. Love’s contract coming off the books will open some future money up, but extensions for Sexton, Garland and Allen probably tie up the cap too much for a group that hasn’t done anything.

Opportunity also matters. Getting the No. 3 pick means bringing in another young player. If that player is another shot creator/taker type, such as Jalen Green or Jalen Suggs, then Sexton has to cede perhaps more than everyone. Young cores don’t really last in part for this reason: there is only so much opportunity and not everyone is going to be happy with what is left for them. It can be particularly true in an organization like Cleveland that isn’t winning and stemming the tide. So, if it comes down to it, you can see why the Cavs would look to make a move this summer, and Sexton seems like the most likely odd man out. Even if he’s proved more in three NBA years, it’s just not hard to see the Cavs taking the 6’6” Green and embracing the potential he oozes in a bigger frame.

“When we started this a few years back we talked about building through the draft and creating sustainable success,” Altman said the night Cleveland landed the third pick in next month’s draft. “There’s some real game-changers at the top of this draft, but also it puts us in a position to capitalize on different opportunities. When you look at our young core, we’re in good shape from a talent perspective and we’re going to have another large injection of talent coming soon. At the top of this draft there’s size, there’s athleticism, there’s talent, so we’re really happy.”

Patience is needed, because jumping at the first offer for Sexton this offseason likely won’t bring back a significant haul. That said, a decision can’t be put off for too much longer — the 2022 trade deadline seems like the point of no return with regards to Sexton’s future in Cleveland. In the NBA, teams go through cycles of ups and downs. Someone is going to pay Sexton, and maybe it is the Cavs. Contracts coming due and time passing ultimate demand action. There are exceptions of teams that never fall off totally, but they are rare. The Cavs, as they exist now, have never been that type of franchise.

The right time to act will be determined by myriad factors, none more important than the available packages out there. It could be this summer, next trade deadline, or possibly over the summer. But when they move, Cleveland better be sure in what they are doing and how it impacts the short and long-term vision for success. If the wins don’t come, the cycle continues before ever going anywhere and cost them something worth keeping.

An anonymous “obtainer of rare antiquities” took home quite the crown jewel for their collection when they won a fedora worn by Harrison Ford in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom during a Prop Store auction in Los Angeles. albeit at quite a hefty price. According to The Hollywood Reporter, The iconic fedora worn by Ford sold for $300,000, substantially more than the $150,000 to $250,000 the hat was valued at. Unsurprisingly, the buyer has chosen to remain anonymous, perhaps to avoid any cries of “that belongs in a museum!”

According to the item description shared by the auction house, the fedora was tailor-made for Ford in the second installment of the Indiana Jones series by the same company behind the hats in Raiders of the Lost Ark. The description then delves a bit deeper into the details behind the hat, stating:

“The fedora was a slight update on the original film’s version. Costume designer Anthony Powell and assistant costume designer Joanna Johnston worked closely with Herbert Johnson on the update that incorporated a more tapered crown than the prior film. The fedora is in excellent condition, showing light wear with some signs of age, and comes stored in a plastic hat box. Dimensions: 13″ x 12″ x 6″ (33 cm x 30 cm x 15 cm).”

Now if $300,000 for a worn hat has your jaw on the floor, be sure brace yourself for this next bit: this isn’t even the most a hat from the Indiana Jones series has gone for at auction. Back in 2015, a fedora worn by Ford in Raiders of the Lost Ark sold for more than $500,000. Only time will tell how much the one worn in the upcoming Indiana Jones film goes for in 2060.

Compass Box might be one of the most important blending houses working in Scotch whisky today. The whisky makers pull some of the best barrels of single malts and single grains from Scotland to create unique blends of Scotch whisky that are raking in the awards and standing the test of time.

This spring, Compass Box dropped their latest version of their beloved Glasgow Blend and Artist Blend. Today, we’re talking about the latter. Artist Blend was created from 100-year-old blending recipes and aims to highlight the beauty of sweet Scotch whiskies.

Let’s get into what’s in the bottle!

Compass Box Artist Blend Scotch Whisky

ABV: 43%

Average Price: $40

The Whiskey:

The lion’s share of this blend — 45 percent — comes from a single grain whisky aged in ex-bourbon from Cameronbridge Distillery. 22 percent is a single malt aged in ex-bourbon that comes from Linkwood Distillery. The rest is a mix of French oak and ex-bourbon single malts and blended malts from the Highlands, Clyneilish, Linkwood, and Balmenach. Those whiskies are vatted and then proofed down before bottling.

Tasting Notes:

This opens with a very clear and concise note of apple candy with a hint of salted caramel ice cream cut with a touch of eggnog spices. There’s a nice maltiness that leans into a creamy vanilla, soft holiday spice mix, butter toffee, and a hint of milk chocolate near the end. The finish is warming with a whisper of tobacco next to woody apple, spice candies (maybe ginger), and a final hint of cocoa and caramel.

The Bottle:

This is a robust bottle with a newly designed label. The shape is reminiscent of an old port bottle, albeit a clear one. That new label highlights the logo without too much information littering up the actual label, making this a lot more concise than the previous version.

Bottom Line:

This is a very soft and refined blended scotch. It’s also a nice bridge between the world of bourbon and blended scotch with all those apple, caramel, vanilla, and spicy notes.

Rating:

92/100 — This is a really subtle and drinkable blended scotch. It’s miles ahead of a large swath of blends at the same price point, making this a new go-to for sipping on the rocks, in highballs, and for cocktails.

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Grand Canyon (which you can stream now on HBO Max) opened in theaters in December of 1991, and when its writer/director, Lawrence Kasdan, was asked by The Baltimore Sun what kind of story he wanted to tell with his film, his answer was: “[It’s about] trying to create some order in a chaotic universe, and how people struggle to do that…There’s some confusion about why are we here, why is [life] so short, why do people act badly toward each other? Is there any hope? The world is chaotic and people are frightened by it…It’s about the fact that we’re all in this together, and your circumstances may be a little more comfortable than someone else’s, but if people are suffering or in despair in this society, it will ultimately affect you, too. You can’t insulate yourself.”

All of which is very true, very intense, and very timeless. But Grand Canyon is also a film that shows a father trying to show his son that “making a left turn in LA is one of the harder things” you can learn in life. For those who live there, the very thought of this will make you laugh while also shaking your head because such dread also feels intensely familiar. And it’s that exact response that audiences come to know all too well when sitting down to watch a dramedy like Grand Canyon, which has mostly been forgotten since its theatrical release, but which is still deserving of appreciation.

Kasdan also co-wrote and directed the classic ‘80s dramedy The Big Chill, which had a soundtrack of classic R&B/soul songs to help put the audience at ease as they watched the characters deal with heavy subject matter. But Kasdan wasn’t interested in telling another story where the characters get together to sing and dance along to The Temptations.

Grand Canyon is a film that constantly reminds its viewers of one thing when it comes to Los Angeles: it can be ruthless and unpredictable, and your survival can depend on the decisions you make within a split second. Witness Davis (Steve Martin), a famous movie producer with a planet-sized ego about himself and his career that makes him think that he’s bulletproof. That belief is severely tested when he is robbed at gunpoint and shot in the leg, and the resulting scene that shows us his reaction to getting shot, and the physical damage being repaired by a surgical team. Even now, it’s shocking and disturbing to watch.

If we saw this happen to any other character played by any other actor in Grand Canyon, it would be unsettling. But for viewers to see this happen to a character played by Martin, the legendary comic actor who was also appearing on screens as the stressed-out dad in Father Of The Bride at the same time (the two films opened a week apart) is particularly jarring. It’s also a sign that this film was going to grab us by the shoulders to make us pay attention to what it had to say.

Grand Canyon is about people reaching out to help others in ways that are both great and small when they see that the world is being ruthless and unpredictable. Whether it’s Simon (Danny Glover) helping Mack (Kevin Kline) when his car breaks down and he’s in mortal danger from a group of gangbangers, Claire (Mack’s wife, played by Mary McDonell) wanting to adopt a baby she finds while jogging (to help her deal with her empty nest syndrome), or Roberto (Mack and Claire’s teenage son, played by Jeremy Sisto) helping a bullied little boy at camp who is lonely and homesick.

Much of the dialogue could easily come across as mawkish. If Kasdan were a less talented writer with a less talented cast, this would feel like a poorly-made Very Special Episode. Fortunately, for Kasdan and for the audience, that isn’t the case, and Grand Canyon refuses to shy away from the sincerity of its story. None of these people are naïve when it comes to how Los Angeles and the rest of the world works (Davis being the exception to that rule). But they all end up facing the choice of doing something to try and make things better or doing nothing at all. And for many of them, standing idly by just isn’t a possibility (though, true to life, some of those actions don’t stick, as with Davis, whose decision to leave violent action films behind proves short-lived).

Four months after the release of Grand Canyon, Los Angeles was torn apart by riots, which occurred as a result of the Not Guilty verdict for the four LAPD officers who were seen on videotape viciously beating Rodney King. The riots lasted for nearly a week, leaving sixty-three people dead, and thousands of people injured, including White truck driver Reginald Denny, whose own beating was caught on video as he was pulled out of his vehicle and nearly beaten to death by several rioters. It brought greater attention to the tension that existed between Black people and the LAPD. The film makes the difference very clear in how much calmer and reassuring the police presence is for Dee (Mary Louise Parker, who plays Mack’s assistant) when dealing with a man who breaks her car window with a hammer before running off, as opposed to how Simon’s nephew Otis (Patrick Malone) is stopped by the police at gunpoint for simply running in his new neighborhood.

In the years since its release, many articles have pointed out how Grand Canyon was not just a portrait of what Los Angeles was like in the early Nineties, but also a warning sign of what was to come if its residents didn’t say or do anything to make changes for the better.

Grand Canyon isn’t the first multi-character dramedy to deal with social issues within a large metropolis, though it did help make it possible for other films like Short Cuts and Magnolia to follow in its footsteps during that same decade. But it’s become a dying breed.

In 1975, Jaws ushered in the still-thriving era of blockbuster films that is now reflected in the overwhelming success of comic-book movies today. But there still remains the need to see regular characters on the big screen who aren’t superheroes figuring out how to make their way through life. People who are trying to deal with the world around them without gunfights or explosions or becoming unlikeable antiheroes as a result. Stories like that will always be of importance, but they need to be made and displayed.

It’s nice to laugh at situations that you recognize and can relate to. It helps you feel as though you’re not alone when it comes to being concerned about the future and about the world that you live in and that your children will inherit. It’s nice to be reminded that it’s possible to care about and show concern for real people around us, especially after so much time spent in lockdown during a pandemic when empathy became a harder and harder thing to locate sometimes. Imagine all of that on a big screen and all that entails. Cutting through the noise of streaming and allowing us a shared experience as we laugh, gasp, cry, and reflect together on the simple lessons art can offer and how impactful it can be when broadly made available. Which takes us back to Grand Canyon and its own conclusion.

As Mack and Simon are chatting over breakfast during one scene, Simon tells Mack that even though good things can happen to people, terrible things are guaranteed to happen to them as well. By the end of the film, when Simon, Mack, and all of their loved ones are standing with one another as they look out into the actual Grand Canyon (even Otis seems reluctant about being there, but he can’t help but join everyone else at looking in awe at what’s before him), Simon asks Mack what he thinks of it, as this is his first time there.

Mack’s answer: “I think it’s not all bad.”

And it’s something that could be said by almost all of the main characters in Grand Canyon, despite how much life keeps testing them when it comes to the city of Los Angeles, the city that they call home.

“I think it’s not all bad.”

On Sunday, Lil Nas X’s BET Awards performance of his recent hit “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)” set social media abuzz with its racy final shot, which evoked comparisons to Madonna’s similar act at the 2003 MTV VMAs from many sources — including Madonna herself. However, Madonna’s lighthearted reminder to fans about Nas’ inspiration wasn’t taken in the spirit in which it was intended by many fans, prompting Nas to put in his two cents on the situation.

In the wake of the awards show kerfuffle, Madonna chimed in on Instagram to post a side-by-side photo comparison of her three-way kiss with Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera and Nas’ make-out session with one of his backup dancers, including the tongue-in-cheek caption #diditfirst. Naturally, fans on social media came to Nas’ defense, trolling Madonna for what they saw as stepping on Nas’ moment.

However, Nas, replying to PopCrave’s post about Madonna’s seemingly petty reaction, subtly reminded fans that there’s often more going on behind-the-scenes than they know. “Me and Madonna are friends,” he wrote. “It’s just a joke.”

Meanwhile, much like the song itself (as well as its accompanying music video), the kiss continues to be controversial on social media, with some seeing it as a watershed moment for queer representation in mainstream media and others contending that it represented society’s decaying morals. For his part, Nas has handled the attention with his usual panache, wittily trolling his critics and threatening to up the ante the next time around — time will tell whether that prediction will end up being a joke or not.

Welcome to SNX DLX, our weekly roundup of the best sneakers to hit the market. This week, we have what is probably the most hyped release of the summer so far — the Jordan 4 White Oreo. It’s safe to say that if you’re planning on picking up a pair of sneakers this week, this one is at the top of your list. Of course, that means it’s also on the top of everyone’s list, so expect to take the L this weekend and when it happens it won’t hurt so bad.

The consolation prize is that this week brings a lot of other noteworthy releases, from new Yeezys to new Dunks to a WMNS exclusive Jordan 6. Once you’re done diving into this week’s best sneakers, be sure to hit up last week’s apparel roundup to help complete your fit!

Nike Dunk High Game Royal

The summer of the Dunk continues! If you love high-top Dunks, it’s going to be hard not to love this week’s Game Royal. There isn’t anything flashy about this one, it’s just a classic combination of Game Royal blue panels over a crisp white leather base. It’s not the most exciting sneaker release of the week, but this will be a mainstay in your wardrobe, getting as much mileage as they can before falling apart because classics never go out of style. Even when they’re battered and broken.

The Nike Dunk High Game Royal is out now for a retail price of $110. Pick up a pair via aftermarket sites like StockX.

Nike Space Hippie 01 Obsidian/Aquamarine “This is Trash”

Ever since its release in 2019, we’ve been big fans of Nike’s Space Hippie collection, which features four brand new silhouettes constructed using 50% recycled material by weight. It’s not the perfect step toward sustainability in the footwear space (we have a long way to go), but it is something, and this week brings two brand new colorways of the collection’s best silhouette, the Space Hippie 01.

Dropping in a dark Obisidian colorway, which combines tones of blue with green and orange accents, and an Aquamarine colorway, which mixes earthy tones, pink, orange, and the tiniest bit of aquamarine at the laces, both sneakers feature uppers made from 85% recycled polyester derived from plastic bottles and t-shirts. Nike doesn’t have to do this, they can just keep recycling Jordan colorways, but the fact that they’re putting this much effort into a more sustainable shoe brings us joy.

The Nike Space Hippie 01 This is Trash collection is set to drop today for a retail price of $130. Pick up a pair via the Nike SNKRS app.

BAIT x One-Punch Man x Adidas Montreal 76

Sometimes a sneaker will drop that feels like it’s tailor-made for me, this three-way collaboration between BAIT, the anime One-Punch Man, and Adidas is just such a release. First of all, I love One-Punch Man, it’s a great anime and one I definitely recommend it if you love to laugh.

On top of that, I love obscure 70’s Adidas silhouettes, and the Montreal 76 lifts designs from that era and infuses them into a modern sneaker package. I’m also a sucker for yellow shoes, I think it’s one of the most underrated colorways in the sneaker world. So yeah, these are my dream shoe.

The BAIT x One-Punch Man x Adidas Montreal 76 is set to drop today for a retail price of $120. Pick up a pair at BAIT or aftermarket sites like StockX.

Palace x Vans

This week London-based streetwear label Palace is linking up with Vans to bring the label’s playful aesthetic and cartoon iconography to the So-Cal classic skate shoe. The collaboration features three Vans Classic silhouettes with dual-branding on the midsole and an all-over print on the upper featuring Palace’s iconic duck logo.

The design comes in your choice of black, off-white, and salmon and if we had to pick a favorite, we’re going salmon all the way!

The Palace x Vans is set to drop on July 2nd in-store and online at the Palace webstore.

WMNS Air Jordan 6 Gold Hoops

This year Nike has been making good on the brand’s promise to put a greater focus on woman sneakerheads, dropping a steady stream of WMNS-size exclusives, and dope collaborations (A Ma Maniere, Aleali May, etc). This week they’re continuing the campaign with the WMNS-sized Gold Hoops Air Jordan 6.

Taking inspiration from hoop earrings, the Gold Hoops features an upper composed of medium grain tumbled leather, with a semi-gloss lining, a milky translucent rubber outsole, embroidered branding, soft pink accents, and gold hoops attached to the shoe’s lace toggle. Overall, it’s a pretty solid design of the Air Jordan 6.

The WMNS Air Jordan 6 Gold Hoops is set to drop on July 1st for a retail price of $190. Pick up a pair via the Nike SNKRS app.

Air Jordan 4 White Oreo

Yeah, we know why you clicked on this article. It’s for this shoe, which is probably the most hyped sneaker of the summer season so far. Everybody wants to get their hands on a pair of these! The White Oreos are a remixed design based on the classic Jordan 4 Oreo colorway which first dropped in 1999. The White Oreo (or Tech White as Nike is calling it) features a white tumbled leather upper with speckled eyelets and mudguard atop a polyurethane midsole.

The tongue features an embroidered Jumpman logo in University red with a tonal gray Jumpman at the heel. If you take an L on these, don’t take it too hard, but either way good luck! We’ll be in that virtual line with you!

The Air Jordan 4 White Oreo is set to drop on July 3rd at 7:00 AM local time via the Nike SNKRS app for a retail price of $190. If you take the L on SNKRS hit up GOAT or Flight Club to snag a pair.

Yeezy BOOST 700 MNVN Blue Tint

We’re about to hit a three-day weekend for Fourth of July, which means you’ll have plenty of time Monday morning to hit the Adidas confirmed app and pick up this surprise Yeezy drop! And in the likely event, you take the L on this drop, hey at least you’re enjoying a three-day weekend! The 700 MNVN Blue Tint is easily the best 700 MNVN to drop all year and features a nylon upper in Blue Tint with black accents and a black midsole. We’re loving Ye’s playful use of color this year.

The Yeezy BOOST 700 MNVN Blue Tint is set to drop on July 5th for a retail price of $220. Pick up a pair at GOAT.

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Disclaimer: While all of the products recommended here were chosen independently by our editorial staff, Uproxx may receive payment to direct readers to certain retail vendors who are offering these products for purchase.

If you’ve ever wondered what sorts of treasures are lurking beneath the San Antonio River Walk you’re not alone. You’ve got an ally in YouTuber Brandon Jordan, who is the first diver ever given official permission to dive the water along the pedestrian walkway. Jordan is the face behind the YouTube channel Jiggin’ with Jordan, which has 2.8 million subscribers and follows Jordan and his friends’ adventures diving in rivers around the world in search of lost valuables and treasures while picking up trash along the way.

This isn’t Jordan’s first attempt at diving the San Antonio River, as he explains in the two-part video,

“Seven months ago I came out here and dove without permission and got pulled out by police. I didn’t know! But since then we partnered with the city of San Antonio as well as the Film San Antonio committee… we got all the permits and permissions to finally be able to dive this river… after today we will probably never have permission to dive this place again just because it was such an interesting circumstance in the first place.”

The city provided Jordan with a barge to put all his findings, which included a Bird scooter, a gross mound of Mardi Gras beads, some random signage, and… a whole bunch of Sprite bottles. So he didn’t exactly find any treasure, but Jordan seemed psyched with all his findings anyway. “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure,” as they say.

(H/T: Matador)

With every new episode of Loki comes new questions we seriously need some answers to, and this past week is no exception. While we finally saw the Time Variance Authority’s biggest secret get exposed, and figured out where “pruned” variants go when they’re disintegrated, we somehow came out with even more questions. But hey, while we still have two more episodes to sit tight through until we finally see the whole picture (hopefully), you gotta admit it is pretty fun it’s pretty fun to speculate in the meantime, right? Now, after this past episode, you might be wondering what is up with the TVA and the Time Keepers because there is obviously a lot going on there. You might even be wondering who created the TVA in the first place. Well, here are who we think are the most likely culprits.

1. The Time Keepers

Okay so this one might feel obvious, like a cop-out, or unlikely due to everything that’s transpired thus far and Marvel’s appetite for twists and turns… but hear me out. It’s entirely possible that the twist is the Time Keepers did create the TVA, but have lost control over it. As of right now, it seems like Marvel wants us to be questioning their existence, which might mean they’re gonna pull a fast one on us and confirm it! So, if we’re to assume the best of the Time Keepers — and that they actually exist — it could be that rather than protect the “sacred” timeline at all costs, they exist to monitor and protect all the world’s many timelines. Perhaps the variants that help run the TVA were at one point voluntary, or there was a bit more benevolence in the whole process. However, even if we do operate under this assumption, it means that someone else is pulling the strings (or just flat out created it themselves) and still leaves us hungry for answers.

2. Kang the Conqueror and/or Ravonna Renslayer

While Marvel villain Kang the Conqueror isn’t scheduled to make his big MCU debut until 2023’s Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania hits theaters, there are a few things that point to his involvement in Loki — chiefly Ravonna Renslayer. Notice how Ravonna seems just a bit off? How she has this mysterious friend Mobius mentioned a few times that she seemingly avoids talking about? It seems increasingly more likely that pal of hers is Kang, her in-comic love interest.

Ravonna is the daughter of King Carelius, the future ruler of Earth. After conquering everywhere but her father’s kingdom, Kang comes to their land with the intention of taking it over and finally seizing complete control of earth. However, his plans quickly change after meeting Ravonna and falling in madly love with her. However, unfortunately for Kang, he can’t conquer everything, and his lack of a noble bloodline causes his affection to go unreciprocated. In an attempt to prove his strength and win her heart, he makes a promise to her: to bring Avengers to their future so he can fight them and show her his true power.

All this said, it could very well be the Time Keepers do not exist and there is no scared timeline, but rather the whole TVA is made up of variants Kang is using to carry out his will and win the love of Ravonna. It could also be that in the MCU, Ravonna is already in love with him, and is ensuring this happens or that the timeline in which she and Kang fall in love with is the one kept “sacred.” Either way, their relationship could be the key to understanding what’s going on in Loki.

3. Loki

Of course, it’s entirely possible Loki himself — er, well, a variant of himself — has complete control over the TVA and is ensuring they are the “Prime Loki” by pruning all the other ones and sending them to the apocalyptic wasteland we saw at the end of this past episode. We could see an army of Loki’s recruited by the Loki we know and love in the show take on this Prime Loki which would make for a pretty damn interesting series finale because hey, who knows Loki better than he knows himself?

4. Mephisto

I mentioned in a previous MCU-related piece that I don’t think it’s all that likely that Mephisto is pulling any strings in the MCU right now… and then proceeded to talk myself into this theory’s plausibility! Since WandaVision, folks have been speculating that Mephisto (noted ally of WandaVision antagonist Agatha Harkness) might be rearing up to make an appearance in the cinematic universe — so much so that Marvel came forward and “confirmed” the character had nothing to do with Loki despite a stained glass window in the show’s first episode seemingly depicting him. Now, while I did write confirmed in quotations because of course the showrunners aren’t going to reveal such a major plot point, I do stand by my belief that he isn’t involved with Loki or the TVA. However, I’m definitely more open to the idea that he might show his face in the upcoming Doctor Strange film.