Month: July 2021

Yesterday, Britney Spears’ new lawyer officially filed the motion to remove her father, Jamie Spears, from being part of her conservatorship. As part of that filing, her mother, Lynne Spears, spoke out against Jamie, and Billboard has quotes from the document where she made her statement.

“It is clear to me that James P. Spears is incapable of putting my daughter’s interests ahead of his own on both a professional and a personal level and that his being and remaining a conservator of my daughter’s estate is not in the best interests of my daughter, the conservatee,” Lynne reportedly stated. Lynne Spears made other assertions in her statements to the court, saying he prescribed inappropriate medicine, continually threatened Britney, and has “exercised absolutely microscopic control” over their daughter. She also stated that “since this conservatorship has been in place, the relationship between the conservatee and Mr. Spears has dwindled to nothing but fear and hatred of Mr. Spears by the conservatee due to Mr. Spears’ behavior.”

Britney’s co-conservator, Jodi Montgomery, echoed the assertion that Jamie should be legally removed from the situation. “In my opinion, Mr. Spears’ removal as Ms. Spears’ Conservator is critical to her emotional health and well-being and in the best interests of the conservatee.”

A new hearing has been scheduled for September 29…. which is two months away. Unclear why the court isn’t acting faster given everything they heard from Britney’s emotional declaration, but totally in line with the cavalier attitude we’ve seen so far from the court in this situation.

The current state of streetwear puts value on exclusivity above all else. Copping the latest Virgil-designed Nikes, grabbing that limited Yeezy colorway, that new Supreme collaboration — it’s all designed to separate the haves from the have nots. Maybe there was an era when that was actually cool and represented having your ear to the ground, but in 2021 the “haves” are often nothing more the people who have the means to pay for bots to game the systems and new products are bought not be worn, but to be instantly flipped for a profit at grossly inflated price.s Streetwear has gone from being fashion for the people to pricing out its intended audience.

Los Angeles-based streetwear brand, Kids of Immigrants is fighting to change that. To do so, they’re shining a spotlight on what’s truly important — community.

“I wish brands would lead with love,” says KOI co-founder Weleh Dennis. “If most companies can start off at that point, we’d be good. People get caught up in the wrong things. Say your company comes up with a product breakthrough. How do you not make that as exclusive as possible but make it as inclusive or accessible as possible?”

That emphasis on inclusivity is something that has been a part of the Kids of Immigrants ethos since before its official launch in 2016, back when co-founders Daniel Buezo and Weleh Dennis first conceived the brand. Since that time, the company has steadily grown its fan base, even catching the eyes of music’s biggest style icons — including Dua Lipa, Lil Uzi Vert, Jhene Aiko, and Bad Bunny. But even with buzz, KOI makes sure their drops continue to speak to the communities that set them up for success.

As summer streetwear season heads toward the first fall drops, we linked up with Weleh and Daniel to talk about the brand’s community-driven approach to streetwear, how other brands can do better, and where they see the brand headed in the future.

Ya’ll are an LA-based brand and collective and most recently you teamed up with Vans, a brand that is distinctively SoCal as well. This is your second collaboration, why build up this history with Vans?

Daniel: I think what’s cool about the Vans partnership is that I remember six years ago, talking to Weleh, and him saying Vans is sort of an ideal brand, not even just to collaborate with but just as a brand that we would like to look at for standards, and them being a skate brand and sticking to the skate culture and being a California brand. Also, Weleh worked at a Vans retail store back in his college days. So it was a full-circle moment when we were able to collaborate with Vans just because that was a brand that he would talk about as being sort of admirable in terms of who they are and what they do.

When we had the chance to collaborate with them it was pretty easy for us to say “yes,” because it was something that internally we looked up to.

Weleh: Working there was a big part of it, going from selling it to being a part of the process of putting something out was super awesome. The culture itself is very reminiscent of Kids of Immigrants, in terms of the positivity, the connection to creativity. Skate culture as a whole was just something that was really cool to align with.

Glad to see you guys are going strong. The pandemic gave brands a chance to pivot their ethos, how did the last year shape Kids of Immigrants?

Daniel: I think it just encouraged us even more to continue doing what we’re doing. Between the pandemic and everything that happened in terms of the social climate of things, we felt that we were on the right path. I feel like the shifts that were taking place with a lot of different people, companies, and society in general was very much in line with the things we’ve been representing, and striving to expand on, whether it’s the community work, or what we believe is activism in our own way, through representation, creativity, through working with our community and serving small businesses.

The pandemic brought a business concern to everything, but for us it made us hone in on why we’re doing this beyond the business side of things. Wherever we’re at now with this pandemic, we’re grateful to be here knowing this wasn’t our intention, to begin with. We’re really just getting started, and I think there was a strong shift that’s irreversible on how people want to shop and how people want to support — whether it’s people of color, black businesses, whatever. It’s in line with what we’ve been doing for the past five years.

Recently, you guys teamed up with Youth To The People for a skincare and apparel launch. It was a collaboration that celebrated self-care and self-love. Why did you feel that was an important message to get across?

Weleh: We always talk about healing, just in general, past experiences, it doesn’t have to necessarily be traumas, just reflecting on moments in our lives, and a lot of reflection deals with diving deeper into self, which is something me and Danny always talk about so it was a great opportunity to have something manifest from discussions and conversations that we have on a daily basis into an actual collaboration with the company that has the same outlooks in terms of what they’re trying to give to the people.

Danny: I think even going back one question with the pandemic, self-care was really important. It was the first time we were forced to be home and take inventory of our lives and one of the things that we came out of the pandemic being the most aware of was our health, our mental health, and our emotional and spiritual health. We’ve been about working with our community since the beginning and I think that it was important for us to realize that in order to pour onto others, in order to show up for our community, we have to take care of ourselves first.

I think in this day and age where the youth and so many people are involved in trying to make this world a better place in their own unique way, I think its important that in these times as we become active in wherever we feel our heart to be active, its important to take care of ourselves while we’re on the duty of doing the work. It was an important moment where we stepped back as individuals.

Each Kids of Immigrants drop features some kind of charity or community component, whether you’re partnering with a nonprofit or raising funds, why have you made that such an important aspect of each launch?

Daniel: It’s not every single drop, but when we started the company we decided community and the product are equally important. It’s product with purpose, it may not be every single drop, but as far as the charity aspect of it, it’s not always about donating money, but, how are we showing up? How do we show up in these different communities, how are we showing up for our people even if it’s just shooting a Lookbook? So working with that intention is definitely always in our minds.

I remember our first year we donated $5000 to inner-city arts for a 3D printer and we didn’t even have $5000 in our bank accounts, but we did it because there is no Kids of Immigrants without the community, there is no purpose or drive to what we do without the people we do it for. For us it’s our own social responsibility of how we want to move in the business world. More than just a supply-demand, profit loss.

All that stuff is important but for us, there is no significance to that if we don’t do it for what we set out to do.

Weleh: To second that, we started Kids of Immigrants to lead by example. I know “Community” when it comes to these things is… interesting, especially when talking about clothes, but that’s the main intent. At some point, I felt like it wasn’t something that was being talked about so it’s dope for you to bring up how community is part of our company, and how that was from the jump part of our ethos. Everything we’re doing is not to just give fish to people, but to teach people how to fish. When we do collaborate with people, whether it’s a charity or something with Vans, it’s all to just show people what they can do and how they can do it too, how they can lead with love and positivity because before it wasn’t really a thing that we felt was out there.

To go back to the whole diving into self thing, all of those are just examples, as opposed to just telling people that we can do it, we want to really just show them, and show them that collaborating with a nonprofit is a cool thing, not just a “we’re giving back,” we’re partnering with these people, really understanding them, and hopefully inspiring them to go out and do it themselves.

Where did that interest stem from? Did you guys grow up with a community organizing background, or did you see a hole in what other brands were doing?

Daniel: My educational background is in social work and furthermore, we were those kids. We grew up feeling underrepresented, feeling like we don’t have a voice, all those things that we talk about and empower now are things we once felt. I use the 16-year-old version of me as my rule of thumb, what did he need at that age, I wasn’t a bad kid or anything like that, but I was in trouble all the time. I didn’t have the role models that could’ve helped in my youth. I always say “we don’t do better cause we don’t know better,” and we wanted to represent that and be the leaders that we were waiting for.

Some fans of the brand include Dua Lipa and Bad Bunny. Which star’s decision to rock the brand left you feeling the most starstruck?

Daniel: For me, it’s always the people — I mean I’m not going to lie, probably Bad Bunny is my favorite musician, but it’s always exciting when we see the everyday person wearing it. That’s who we made it for. Seeing artists and celebrities wear it is cool, but we made it to equal the playing field. We don’t want it to be about hype, we didn’t make it to be about “Hey I got this, you ain’t got these or this shit, you can’t rock this.” We’ve both been in fashion for 10 years and we understand the exclusivity, and the special limited shit that to me felt like it can really drive up your ego at times, and we’re part of that culture as well, but we never wanted that.

We didn’t want to make clothes to be exclusive. I saw somebody wearing it the other day, they didn’t know who I was, I said “Hey nice shirt,” and they looked at me weirdly like “who is this person?” I thought that was amazing. This person is wearing KOI, they don’t know who I am, and they’re just owning it on their own because it represents something within them.

Weleh: I guess from my end the biggest thing is — it’s not really a person, but having more of a fashion background and wanting to create things for my mom, or my cousin or my friends, when your doing clothing something they ask you is “what’s your demographic” and of course there is a demographic, but overall we’re all human in my mind so I think seeing the hottest new artist, whether its Playboi Carti or Big Sean wearing it, but then we also have a teacher and a mother in San Diego wearing it at the same time, same drop, both feel fly and both feel energized.

For me personally, that levels out anything any artist can wear. Our biggest thing is trying to connect people together, it’s not only about selling something. Everyone at some point in their lineage is a kid of an immigrant, so its more of an acknowledgment, but I think its cooler to feel like the bridge between generations and cultures, or ethnicities, that more than anything inspires me to want to do what I’m doing.

Continuing to inspire communities and find the connections throughout independent personal perspectives. I encourage people to be individuals, but that’s only because when you can take confidence in that individuality you realize it’s an experience that is similar, and so you give people the ability to become teachers through their experiences, and that to me is super empowering.

In the brand’s current iteration, how would you describe it to someone who has never heard of KOI, or is it still “product with a purpose?”

Daniel: I think as the brand just continues to evolve, and the principal and morality of the brand is still there, it’s evolving into something more than just a product. Whether it’s the experience or being able to do skincare or a Vans shoe, we want to put the paint where it ain’t. We want to show this community that we can move in all these different spaces. If you think about what inspires these kids — if you see somebody that walks like you and talks like you and you have any type of connection with them because of who they are or how they look, or their color of skin, whatever that might be, if we show that we can do a skincare brand, that we can do these events and collaborations with these corporations, that can be super empowering and it can transcend in more ways than we can ever imagine.

Right now it’s the same company morals, but we’re asking “how do we continue to evolve in these brand new spaces where maybe this sort of representation didn’t exist?”

Speaking of moving into those different spaces, what’s the craziest thing you want the brand to do?

Daniel: I would say move beyond products. One of the things we’ve been working on is creating our own holiday. We feel like we have this business model of putting community first and that can evolve into so many different types of businesses. The way we see it is we’ve been doing this for five years, how do we give somebody, the next person, the future, these positions we’re in as we continue to evolve?

I don’t want to continue to just focus on collections and things like that, I’d love to see the next generation do it, we laid the foundation so I just see us evolving into… I don’t know, I see us evolving to what be the next LVMH, or what Kanye did with DONDA, so many people came out of Kanye’s group, from Virgil to Don C to Heron Preston to Matthew Williams, now they all have their own shit going on. I see that type of evolution that is beyond what these collections are. I see us moving in spaces, there is right now an opportunity that is happening from sports to festivals, to being part of school programming and education. It’s really endless!

I really see infinite possibilities, we’re stepping up to do what we’ve set out to do.

As someone who covers style for a living, I appreciate that your Instagram feels real. I see ya’ll working, it doesn’t seem like a normal fashion brand. Was that important to put across as a brand when dealing with social media, or is that just a product of who you guys are?

Daniel: We wanted to just be real and be transparent with it. If it’s perfect it ain’t real, if it’s real it ain’t perfect. We wanted to show that we are just like you, we understand where we’re at because of our position, but it’s only exciting for us if you can understand that you can do it too in your own way. We are a family and we want to show that. At times I write about how our shit is delayed, we want to tell our audience and community “yo we’re here with ya’ll,” we’re not better, we want to be leaders among other leaders, by showing that transparency we can truly empower people.

When we talk to our community and they talk to us about us that’s always those moments when you really appreciate it. Wow this person is telling me about my life and they don’t even know me, they’ve seen it through Instagram and followed the journey and are empowered by being part of that journey. Even if it’s just watching the quality change over time. They appreciate the cheaper shirt from years ago because they’re excited to be part of it in whichever way.

Weleh: From day one, our whole thing was to be able to communicate with the language of our culture. I think that’s what keeps us a little more authentic in terms of the way that we translate to whoever it is we’re talking to or collaborating with. Things get dressed up a lot but that’s not because that’s real, but that’s more a tradition of what you consider “good presentation.” I learned that cutting through is not being worried about the way you say a word or the way you conduct and style yourself on a daily basis, so long as you’re leading with love in that direction.

I remember in the early days when Danny would post something and there would be a typo that would drive people crazy, but now I don’t think people would dare to point out a typo if the message is affecting them in the way we are meaning to. We just want to continue to connect with the way that our language has been and the way our culture speaks by talking about the subjects that our culture is interested in. I don’t mean we’re doing a census of a certain demographic, but we continually, before every new collection, have a conversation about life, and since we’re human there are always going to be some connecting factors that go on through that design process so as long as we can be as real as possible. The ones that are really supporting us are the ones that are in it with us, and going through these things. That’s why a collection like “Support Your Friends,” or “Anything Is Possible,” Or “Love,” all those things mean a lot more because in those times of pain, it’s something you can wear as a badge of honor.

When we first started, one quote me and Danny would always write down was “this pain will be useful someday.” Your experiences are what you are and who you are, you shouldn’t be ashamed of them. Once you connect with them and communicate them to the next person, that’s a way in which you can build a network or this community that everyone is beginning to notice.

It’s always been there but there hasn’t been any type of conversation or something simple like a shirt that says “Support Your Friends” that someone can say “I really like what that says.” That starts a conversation and through that, hopefully, someone can make a new friend or they can connect back with the brand and connect with us.

What can the fashion industry, as a whole, do better?

Daniel: I don’t know what anyone can do better, only they know. I feel like we’re just going to continue doing what we’re doing. I can just hope that we continue to inspire, because whether we’re inspiring people directly or indirectly, I know we’re part of a better change of the fashion industry.

Obviously, sustainability is really important, so that’s something we’re looking into and the rest of the industry is looking into more, but I think a brand needs to be more than just a pleasing aesthetic and design. It needs to represent something more than that. The brands that evolve will continue, and those that don’t, I don’t see where they’re going to be in the future. I also feel like the sense of competition and the sense of being better than the next brand doesn’t represent community.

When bigger brands talk to us and they want to tie you into being exclusive to them, I think that’s an old way of thinking. The youth is showing that, they’re showing up for new ways of thinking. We just want to continue doing what we’re doing and get better at it. For us even with the growing and expanding of the brand, it’s not just business, but asking the question, “how do we become more impactful?”

The business will come from that, we aren’t in meetings talking about profit margins all day and I think when I talk to a company sometimes the answers are right in front of us but we are so overly concerned about what the social climate is, and what the next person is, and how can we be better, instead of just doing what you do best. There needs to be a balance between what your purpose is and what your business is.

Fans of Adrianne Lenker’s bridling hoarseness will likely find something to love in Ada Lea’s voice. The two share a vocal tone, along with the same initials, but diverge when it comes to melodies, as Lea’s cyclical first single “Damn” exhibited. Now, she’s back with more new music, the reeling “Damn” and an album announcement. One Hand On The Steering Wheel The Other Sewing A Garden will be out at the end of September via Saddle Creek.

Both “Hurt” and “Damn” are fitting artifacts during a year where most of us are still reeling from the pandemic, isolation, and the impact of those on our relationships. Ada Lea (real name Alexandra Levy) said “Hurt” was an attempt to communicate in the “simplest terms,” and it gets to the root of that pain immediately. “Damn” is different — it’s a song of epic proportions, building on itself with the layers of irritation until it hits a jolt of real catharsis. If these songs are examples of what the rest of her lengthy-titled record will be like, then I’m really looking forward to hearing more. Check out the full tracklist below.

1. “Damn”
2. “Can’t Stop Me From Dying”
3. “Oranges”
4. “Partner”
5. “Saltspring”
6. “And My Newness Spoke To Your Newness And It Was A Thing Of Endless”
7. “My Love 4 U Is Real”
8. “Backyard”
9. “Writer In NY”
10. “Violence”
11. “Hurt”

One Hand On The Steering Wheel The Other Sewing A Garden is out 9/24 via Saddle Creek. Pre-order it here.

The owner of a donut store has been praised for defending a homeless man who hangs out outside of the store from an angry customer. The owner of Nomad Donuts, based in San Diego, defended the “intelligent and respectful” man after the customer implied that seeing him made them feel guilty about buying donuts.

The exchange was spotted by Reddit user beerbellybegone on Reddit, who shared screenshots on the social media site. The one-star review by the angry customer states: “A homeless guy has *lived* (morning noon and night) against the front entrance for about a year. Really makes me feel great about spending $5 on a jelly donut.”

SOURCE: YELP

In a reply, owner Brad Keiller explained that the homeless man, Ray, was actually an asset to the store. He went on to explain Ray’s background in a thought-provoking defense.

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“Thanks for coming into the shop,” Brad wrote. “We’ve appreciated your support over the years, even at the original one on 30th St! I’m sorry that Ray ruined your experience on your last visit. Know that he would like you to continue buying $4 donuts from Nomad everyday and doesn’t want you to feel guilty about it.”

Brad continues: “Our ‘new’ location on University has a lot more homeless people than the original on 30th St and it had really been an issue until Ray started hanging out outside the shop. He keeps the problematic ones away. Yes we’ve had many of those on meth, heroin, and such that I’ve had to almost forcibly remove from the shop but Ray keeps them away.”

Brad then goes on to explain Ray’s background, stating: “Ray is a former computer programmer with some physical and psychological challenges but he is very intelligent and respectful. I speak with him almost everyday. I like him. He is part of our community. The outside of the building provides him shelter from the sun, rain, and the building slabs gives warmth at night.”

Brad concludes: “I understand how you feel, it’s not easy to look at. I know I probably lose some business, probably yours too, because of my choice not to chase him away but I won’t. He’s not looking for handouts and he tried not to other anyone. If you stop and talk with him maybe you’ll come to like him too.”

Unsurprisingly, Brad’s staunch defense of Ray led to some pretty positive comments online.

“The business owner is clearly socially conscious,” one user wrote. “That’s great and I’d support that. But it seems to me that the hero of the piece is actually Ray. He needs more love than the business.”

While another added: “Every inch of respect for this post is deserved. Rays a human, with a story, same as everyone.”

One person claiming to be homeless even commented: “Good on the business owner. As a homeless person myself, I felt both of these comments; you can be doing nothing wrong, be completely sober, keep to yourself, and people will still look at you like an absolute piece of shit for simply existing.”

This weekend at Rolling Loud, DaBaby made some questionable comments from the festival stage that reeked of homophobia. After fans on the internet began to react to his stigma of HIV/AIDS, the rapper went on an Instagram stories tirade, doubling down on his strangely ignorant stance. Fans were irritated with his messiness, and immediately dubbed in a Megan Thee Stallion verse on his hit remix of Dua Lipa’s “Levitating,” replacing DaBaby as quickly as they could.

Now, Dua Lipa herself has weighed in on the situation, letting her fans know that she’s personally “surprised and horrified” by the rappers comments. “I’m surprised and horrified,” she wrote on her Instagram Stories today. “I know my fans know where my heart lies and that I stand 100 percent with the LGBTQ community. We need to come together to fight the stigma and ignorance around HIV/AIDS.”

Listen, since there’s already been not one but two remixes of “Levitating” — the now defunct one with DaBaby, and the Club Future Nostalgia version with Madonna and Missy Elliott — it’s time to make a third. Give the fans what they want, replace DaBaby with a verse from Megan on a brand new version. And then all the proceeds to go the ACLU to help combat ignorance on the subject. It’s a perfect plan.

West coast rapper and weed legend Berner went from spitting on tracks with other California weed rap icons like Snoop Dogg, Wiz Khalifa, and B-Real to founding one of the world’s biggest cannabis brands and retail spaces, Cookies. Now, the rapper-turned-entrepreneur has his sights set on developing the best cannabis rolling papers that a stoner could ever long for. Developed over a three-year process, Berner “put a lot of shit in my lungs to find the right paper.” That dedication shows with his newly released VIBES.

Available in four varieties — including Organic Hemp, Hemp, Ultra-Thin, and Rice — VIBES presents different rolling papers geared towards specific needs. That level of care and attention to detail ensures your joint comes out a bit better than it would with your standard zags.

“It just compliments the herb,” Berner says, “and that’s what our whole mission is. We want to make the ultimate experience when it comes to blazing. We took our time to find the right resources, to find the right materials, to find the right paper… it’s stuff not in the market.”

You might not think all that’s totally necessary, and if you’re a casual smoker you’re unlikely to notice a major difference in the experience. But if your preferred smoking method is the classic joint, you’re going to want that fine attention to detail. I’ve tried out both the Rice and Organic Hemp VIBE papers and the Rice has quickly become my go-to, anytime I’m rolling a joint. I don’t use a roller, I grind up my weed and roll it myself and the texture of the Rice VIBE keeps the stickiest weed from becoming a hassle to roll. It’s a hack I didn’t know I needed!

This week, I linked up with Berner to talk about VIBES’ new products, how bud-tending has changed for the worse, and his secrets to rolling a perfect joint.

Why do we need a better rolling paper at all?

I’ve been smoking cannabis for over 22 years, maybe as long as 25 years. In that time, people like Raw came to the table and brought quality rolling papers and educated the market on the difference between materials in the paper, what makes paper special, and what compliments the flavor of herb. All that time, being a connoisseur, understanding what was in the market gave me a chance to understand what wasn’t in the market.

When we came out with the Ultra-Thin VIBES and now with the Organic Hemp VIBES, that quality of paper is just next level. How thin it is, how clean it is, how pure it is. We took our time to find the right resources, to find the right materials, to find the right paper, and also come up with some innovative SKUs like the Cubano; the Cali, which we are dropping soon — it’s stuff not in the market and that’s what we’re working focusing on right now.

What makes a rolling paper perfect?

My thinking is it all starts with what you’re smoking. What makes a perfect paper to me is pairing it with the perfect herb. Certain bud I’ll get that’s extremely flavorful, it’s perfectly cured, I’ll put it in a Hemp VIBE knowing it’s not tough to roll. That’s the biggest thing, how is your rolling experience going to be? That’s why we have our different SKUs.

For instance, our rice paper is for that stickier, thicker, crazier herb that’s just gonna be a problematic roll. The paper is just a little thicker, it burns a little better with a stickier bud. And Ultra-Thin and the Organic Hemp is perfect for that connoisseur head sesh that you tuck away and hide for yourself. For me, it’s all about pairing.

I know you have your history as a Bay Area bud tender. Has bud tending changed for the better or worse? These days there is a lot less interaction because of prepackaged products.

For the most part, it’s changed for the worse — because everything is on a screen. You wait in line, you look on a menu, and pick what you want. But at the Cookies store we tried to implement some of that old school 215 vibe, that’s why when you come into our stores you have a dedicated budtender that sits with you through the whole experience, helps you look at things, that’s why we have the jars on top of the table, we’ve designed those custom for you to pick up and smell the bud and look at it. Fully transparent, not like some of those square jars out there.

When you’re done with the experience they send you to the cashier, and the cashier’s sole purpose is to ring you up, but that personal experience with the budtender, we try and keep that there. And its cool to be able to implement that in all our stores around the world because we don’t want that shit to go away.

As a budtender, you use to be able to open up a jar, let people smell it, even give them a bong hit if they weren’t sure they wanted to buy it and that’s missing big time. It’s changed for the worse but we’re trying to keep that vibe alive.

Walk us through the steps for how to roll the perfect joint

First step is you need the best bud possible. You need something you like and enjoy, if you’re gonna smoke you might as well do it right, start off with the best bud you can find that fits you and your body.

Second, you’ll need a tool like our Santa Cruz Shredder — the teeth are designed by a NASA engineer, it’s next level, it’s produced here in the US. I’ve been using our hemp shredders and that gives you the perfect fluff. You need to grind it right, you don’t want to be left with chunks or dust, there is a fine balance. You get the perfect bud, shred it to give it the perfect fluff.

I take a tip and put it in a cylinder, I take an Ultra-Thin VIBE or my Organic Hemp VIBE and I roll that bitch nice and loose. I like it nice and loose for air flow, I hate a pregnant joint. A tight joint that you have to hit hella hard is a bad joint. I want to pull on it softly and get nice rips, so a perfect joint is all about airflow!

Whenever there’s a Most Amazing Detective/Genius Heist going down on Brooklyn Nine-Nine, things are bound to get out of control, and now a new version of “Clue” is letting players get in on the action. From the game-makers at USAopoly, “Clue: Brooklyn Nine-Nine” gives fans of the series a chance to take on the role of their favorite characters as they try to solve a Jake Peralta-esque mystery for the ultimate bragging rights. From the official product page:

It’s Halloween, and the officers of Brooklyn’s 99th Precinct have planned the heist of all heists to determine who really deserves the title of The Ultimate Human/Genius! Taking on the roles of Jake Peralta, Rosa Diaz, Terry Jeffords, Amy Santiago, Charles Boyle, and Raymond Holt, work to solve the mystery of WHO last had the trophy, WHICH trophy is secretly the ultimate trophy, and WHERE they’ve stashed it!

According to USAopoly, “Clue: Brooklyn Nine-Nine” will include a Custom Game Board, 6 Suspect Movers, 6 Personality Cards, 21 Rumor Cards, 25 Intrigue Cards, Score Pad, Envelope, 6 Item Tokens, and of course, dice. Even better, the game is already available to order, so you don’t have to wait long to pretend to be Terry Crews.

“Clue: Brooklyn Nine-Nine” also arrives on the heels of another board game based on a hit series: The Sopranos Monopoly Edition. And it’s hard to beat the details in that game, which reimagines the classic silver tokens as memorable Sopranos items: Baby Duck, The Stugots, Bobby Bacala’s Toy Train Engine, Satriale’s Pig, Dr. Mefli’s Chair, and the Barone Sanitation Truck. The game also renamed “Chance” and “Community Chest” cards as “AYY!” and “OHH!” respectively. It’s practically art.

(Via USAopoly)

The day before Tiger Woods suffered a severe car crash that he is still working his way back from, the golfing legend was filming a series of videos for GolfTV and Golf Digest called “A Round With Tiger,” featuring some of the biggest stars from the world of sports and entertainment getting a chance to play with one of the all-time greats. The series, with permission from Tiger and the stars who filmed with him, is getting its release this month.

Among those who got to step on the course with Woods was Dwyane Wade, as the future Basketball Hall of Famer tried desperately to get some tips on his golf game from the legend, while also discussing the things that make their sports similar, despite the obvious differences. The episode released on Tuesday and is a fascinating conversation, that includes some pretty funny moments like D-Wade hitting a house while Tiger insists it was a good swing.

The part that was most interesting to me was when they talked about playing angles, playing spots, and the visualization and artistry required of their sports (around the 10 minute mark of the video above). Wade explained how he learned that from Kobe on the basketball court and then how everything has changed now with guys like Stephen Curry.

Wade: It’s crazy that you play everything on angles, right, like when you think about golf, you think, oh, I need to hit it straight at it.

Tiger: No, it’s never straight at it.

Wade: Right. You play everything on angles.

Tiger: Everything is an angle.

Wade: That’s crazy because like on the basketball court, I learned this from Kobe. Kobe played spots. So he would know, OK, like the elbow.

Tiger: If you can get there. How can you get there?

Wade: You need to get there, right? He knew if I get to that spot right there that’s a money spot for me. So I need to get there. And he wasn’ looking at the rim. He was looking at the spot. He just gets to the spot. And he knew if he gets to the spot, that it was cash. It’s crazy. So I learned that from him. I was like, OK, so he played angles, he played spots. Now I started playing angles and spots.

…

Wade: Right. I don’t know about you — you’ve been watching basketballfor a long time. I’ve been playing and watching for a long time. But the stuff I see Steph Curry do, I’d be like, there’s no way, there’s no way them shots are going in and they be cash. I mean, how?

Tiger: He’s running the other way.

Wade: I’d be like, how? But, in my mind, I’m like, it doesn’t really makesense. The fact that he can shoot like that and them is what we would call, “bad shots.” In our generation, that are bad shots. But for him, they are his shots.

Tiger: He’s totally changed the game.

It’s a cool conversation between two legends of their sport about how they approach the game and see things differently. So many people play golf trying to find the straightest path to the hole, but Tiger sees everything in angles, always playing to spots rather than the target of the pin. Wade talking about learning that artistry from Kobe is cool, as is how he’s still blown away by the changes basketball has gone through and how good the current stars are at shooting and how it’s changed those angles and spots completely.

Each of the last two NBA season have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, with the 2019-20 campaign featuring a gigantic gap in the middle before the Orlando Bubble and the 2020-21 season needing to start in December. Now, after plenty of rumblings of what the future will hold, the league will try to use the upcoming year to get back on track.

The NBA announced all of the key dates for the next season of basketball, beginning with teams and players being allowed to negotiate deals at 6 p.m. EST on Aug. 2, 2021. The biggest announcement, though, is that the league will indeed start “on time,” with the 2021-22 season tipping off on the evening of Oct. 19, 2021.

Everything in here is what you’d normally expect out of an NBA season, although it does include a fun twist in the play-in tournament coming back next year. After being introduced ahead of the 2021 playoffs, NBA commissioner Adam Silver made clear that he wanted it to return, and while things were trending in that direction, this officially means that it will return next year. The NBA did truncate the number of games it played last season from the normal 82 to 72, and it has not yet been announced whether it will get back to an 82-game campaign next year.

The water bill at the Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis residence appears to be pretty low after recent revelations the couple made about their family’s bathing habits.

In a recent appearance on Dax Shepard’s “Armchair Expert” podcast, they admitted they’re not that into bathing themselves or their two children, Dimitri Portwood, 4, and Wyatt Isabelle, 6.

The conversation started when Shepard explained his ongoing disagreement with co-host Monica Padman. The two have dissenting views over whether people should use soap. “You should not be getting rid of all the natural oil on your skin with a bar of soap every day,” he said. “It’s insane.”

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Kunis agreed with Shepard and was very candid about her bathing ritual. “I don’t wash my body with soap every day,” she shared. “But I wash pits and tits and holes and soles.”

“I can’t believe I’m in the minority here of washing my whole body in the shower,” Padman replied. “Who taught you to not wash?”

“I didn’t have hot water growing up as a child,” Kunis recalled, “so I didn’t shower very much anyway.” Kunis was born in the then-Soviet controlled Ukrainian city of Chernivtsi in 1983. Her family migrated to America when she was seven.

Kutcher added that he regularly uses soap and water on just his “armpits and crotch” and “nothing else.”

Kunis has passed her lax attitude towards bathing on to her children.

“When I had children,” she said, “I also didn’t wash them every day. I wasn’t the parent that bathed my newborns—ever.” Shepard agreed, saying that he and wife Kristen Bell only bathe their children as part of a nighttime routine and don’t pay much attention to their cleanliness.

“That’s how we feel about our children. We’re like, ‘Oof, something smells,'” Kunis added. Kutcher has a simple rule when it comes to his children and their cleanliness. “Here’s the thing — if you can see the dirt on ’em, clean ’em,” he says. “Otherwise, there’s no point.”

Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher Say They Only Bathe Their Kids When ‘You Can See the Dirt on Them’ https://t.co/CpCykYATuI

— People (@people)
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While the Kutcher-Kunis clan’s approach towards hygiene may not be typical of the average American family, they may not be wrong according to science. Research suggests that children benefit from being exposed to germs early in life.

“This line of thinking, called the ‘hygiene hypothesis,’ holds that when exposure to parasites, bacteria, and viruses is limited early in life, children face a greater chance of having allergies, asthma, and other autoimmune diseases during adulthood,” WebMD says.

Basically, the more your body is exposed to the more it can fight off.

“Just as a baby’s brain needs stimulation, input, and interaction to develop normally, the young immune system is strengthened by exposure to everyday germs so that it can learn, adapt, and regulate itself,” notes Thom McDade, PhD, associate professor and director of the Laboratory for Human Biology Research at Northwestern University.

As for Kutcher and Kunis, they both share the same attitude when it comes to hygiene so nobody in the relationship has the right to complain if the other is a little funky. If it works for them, who are we to judge?