Month: November 2021

There are fake beefs, like the one between Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman. Then there are real beefs. The one between Fast and Furious actors Vin Diesel and Dwayne Johnson is very real. To put it mildly, they hate each other’s guts. It got so bad that, after the series’ eight-quel, The Fate of the Furious, Johnson was suddenly no longer there, nipping off with Jason Staham for the spin-off Hobbs & Shaw. But their rivalry may finally be coming to an end.

On Sunday, while many were adjusting to a darkened post-Daylight Savings Time world, Diesel took to Instagram to offer his former co-star an old fashioned olive branch.

“My little brother Dwayne… the time has come.,” Diesel wrote. “The world awaits the finale of Fast 10.”

He went on:

“As you know, my children refer to you as Uncle Dwayne in my house. There is not a holiday that goes by that they and you don’t send well wishes… but the time has come. Legacy awaits. I told you years ago that I was going to fulfill my promise to Pablo. I swore that we would reach and manifest the best Fast in the finale that is 10! I say this out of love… but you must show up, do not leave the franchise idle you have a very important role to play. Hobbs can’t be played by no other. I hope that you rise to the occasion and fulfill your destiny.”

Diesel’s Dom is all about family, not just those connected by blood but by the deep friendship that comes from uniting for a common cause. Perhaps it was only a matter of time before one of them put an end to the beef, putting aside their differences to close out the franchise with a big group hug.

Still, a patching-up may take some doing. It was only last week that Johnson was bragging about how the Hobbs & Shaw sequel will be nothing like those Fast and Furious movies. He even crowed about how he slips Diesel jokes into his movies, because people love that they hate each other. But Johnson, like Diesel, is a softie, so maybe family will win out in the end.

For William Padilla Brown (@mycosymbiote), happiness is the alleviation of preoccupation. And nothing preoccupies him more than anxiety over the environment. So he’s dedicated his life to creating a world that is ecologically sound. A world where humans and the planet coexist harmoniously.

Not a bad ambition to have, right? And Brown is tireless in the pursuit of his lofty goal.

In his community, Brown is known as Cosmic, the Permaculture Papi, Mycosymbiote, or simply Will. The self-taught multidisciplinary scientist and mushroom educator voraciously studies how different organisms — most notably fungi — can help us create a more sustainable planet. But he sees implications that are even larger. Freedom from environmental peril is just one piece of building a fully liberated world. He also wants to see a planet free of centralized power sources and a monetized education system.

To that end, Brown often gives content away via his website, Youtube channel, and various social media platforms. He provides inexpensive resources and supplies for growing spirulina (nutrient-dense, edible blue-green algae), mushroom cultivation, and sustainable models for small-scale gardening. He’s also well known for authoring two books on the cultivation of cordyceps mushrooms, the first books on the subject written in English.

The latter work is, above all things, is the largest driver of Brown’s rapidly growing notoriety. Cordyceps mushrooms have taken the spotlight in the medicinal mushroom world recently, for their energy-enhancing properties and use as a “brain boosting” supplement. They’re also incredibly expensive (~$120 ounce) and information on growing them is hard to come by.

Or was, until Brown’s The Cordyceps Cultivation Handbook literally blew the doors off.

“Right now the sensationalism is around mushrooms,” Brown says, reflecting on his open-source philosophy and highly accessible methods. “But every approach I have taken to all aspects of my work has been a low-tech approach due to the fact that I am not heavily funded. I am an everyday person because of my socioeconomic status.”

Like a true multi-disciplinarian, Brown’s work takes on numerous forms. But there is a throughline: mega-labs are not the target market. His guides are for the people.

“All my approaches are created through the lens of permaculture design,” he says. “So the algae system I created, the gardening system, the 3d printing recycling facility system — all designed ready for individuals to take control and action of their own lives within their communities.”

For some scientists, work is a solitary pursuit. It’s them in a lab and culminates with the publication of a paper which is read and responded to by other scientists. But Brown — who once called himself a “graduate of Google Scholar” and dropped out of high school — sees teaching and sharing know-how as a cornerstone of his work.

“I knew If I spent my time teaching other people how to perform more ecologically regenerative tasks, that could provide them with jobs but also create a world where people are more freed to follow their passions,” he says.

At its root (or mycelia, to stay on theme with mushrooms), Brown focuses most of his work on teaching others to learn to grow their own food and medicine because he believes that the biggest ecological threats we face are centralized macro-industries. By putting the means of production for something with the pharmacological and health benefits of various fungi in the hands of his community, he’s also doing his part to de-stabilize giant agro-businesses.

It’s an act of rebellion and altruism in one.

“By providing people with models, systems, and standards of practice for ecologically regenerative work and making the work open source so that anybody can access it, then anybody can begin doing jobs that inherently benefit the ecosystem,” Brown says.

This desire to hand-off knowledge serves a dual purpose. It helps communities and helps create knowledge-holders, allowing Brown to remain eclectic in his own pursuits. A true polymath, he’s always looking toward the next step in the ecological revolution. Right now, his primary goal is a mushroom farm, which he hopes will develop a capacity to sustainably employ other would-be mycologists. Certainly, the appetite for these jobs exists right now, more than ever.

“As we move forward, as more media is published around this kind of work, thankfully there are more people interested in supporting this work,” Brown says. “More and more people are interested in growing mushrooms and cooking with them, which is great for the industry.”

Whether speaking about cordyceps, psychedelics, or other mushrooms, he feels certain the next wave in the movement will be the creation of boutique micro industries.

“I know there is going to be an incredibly valuable market for the individuals producing on a local scale,” he says. “I encourage people to explore their own passions and find what is valuable and niche in their own regions.”

It’s an idea that sounds both down to earth and absolutely revolutionary. And perhaps this is Brown’s greatest skillset — the ability to create practical, affordable, viable, small-scale solutions that also carry some level of cosmic importance. It’s a talent as magical as mushrooms themselves and goes a long way to explaining why his sky-high goals don’t seem ridiculously out of reach.

“Being true to yourself is the biggest gift you can bring to the world,” Brown says, reflecting on his unique path. “As an individual studying molecular biology I fully understand that each one of us, down to our DNA, has something unique to bring to the world that nobody else can duplicate.”

William Padilla Brown Shares Three Easy Ways To Help The Environment TODAY.

1. Shift your diet to local seasonal foods.
2. Figure out where your drinking water is coming from–and stop using plastic bottles.
3. Go into nature with as many people that you love as you can, as often as you can.

Ed Sheeran closed out October with the release of his fifth album =, which continued his streak of math-themed titles, which dates back to his debut album +. The arrival of = concluded was much awaited, despite it only being two years since he last released 2019’s No. 6 Collaborations Project. It seems like the wait for = paid off for him as it just became his fifth No. 1 album.

= debuted at the top of the Billboard 200 chart dated November 13 thanks to 118,000 album units sold in its first week. This number is comprised of 68,000 pure album sales, which also makes it the top-selling album of the week. Streaming equivalent album units account for 46,500 units. = gives Sheeran his fifth consecutive No. 1 album as No. 6 Collaborations Project (2019), ÷ (2017), x (2014), and + (2011) each topped the chart.

This latest feat comes after Sheeran stopped by Saturday Night Live to perform “Shivers” and “Overpass Graffiti.” His performance on the show was momentarily in jeopardy as he tested positive for coronavirus a week before he was set to hit the stage. But thankfully, things worked out in everyone’s favor.

Elsewhere on the charts, Megan Thee Stallion earns her fourth top-10 release after Something For Thee Hotties checked in at No. 5.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

The Atlanta Hawks have not gotten off to the start they hoped coming off of a surprising visit to the Eastern Conference Finals a year ago. With much of the same roster back in place, better health, and some added bench depth, there were lofty expectations for the Hawks to once again be in the hunt for a top-4 seed this season.

However, at 4-6, Atlanta has stumbled out of the gates as Trae Young has been among the many stars around the league to see their offensive impact take a hit to open the season. Offense is down around the league and there are plenty of factors at play, from a new ball to the typical slow start for offenses, but among the biggest talking points is the new emphasis on limiting shooting fouls. Young the league leader in made free throw a year ago and third in free throw attempts at 7.7 makes and 8.7 attempts per game, respectively. This season, that has dropped to 5.3 makes and 5.8 attempts per game, a considerable dip that, coupled with a drop in efficiency from the field shooting 41 percent from the field and 28.6 percent from three, has led to lots of chatter about its impact on his game.

It’s very possible that it’s just an early season slump, but Young’s frustration with the officiating and the contact allowed so far has been apparent. On Saturday night in a loss to the Suns that saw the Hawks offense stall down the stretch and, per coach Nate McMillan, lose their “poise” late in a game that saw them blow a double digit lead. Within that was Young getting a technical foul after he got on the officials for not calling a foul on Chris Paul as he badgered De’Andre Hunter. After the game, a Hawks fan noticed the TV broadcast seemed to catch the ref turn to the bench and rub his eyes to mimic crying as Young walked away, and the star guard wasn’t too pleased when he saw it.

Two things can be true in an instance like this, as Young probably needs to find a way to turn his focus away from the officiating in key moments, but it’s also a dreadful look for the official and something the league probably will need to look into and could possibly earn him a suspension. However frustrating it might be to get barked at all game by players, that’s not something an official can do and unsurprisingly, Hawks fans and Trae Young aren’t appreciative of the gesture.

Ed Sheeran stopped by Saturday Night Live for a pair of performances on the late-night show, to celebrate the release of his fourth album =. After he tested positive for coronavirus, many worried that would be unable to perform. Luckily, that was not the case, as he delivered performances of “Shivers” and “Overpass Graffiti.” He also appeared in a sketch for SNL’s edition of The Dionne Warwick Talk Show, with Ego Nwodim as the legendary singer.

The sketch began with Chloe Fineman, who played Miley Cyrus, sitting across from Nwodim. Kieran Culkin, who appeared as Jason Mraz and hosted the episode, and Pete Davidson, who appeared as Post Malone, also sat down on the talk show. But Nwodim’s Warwick seemed to be bored by the guests and said, “I’m sick and tired of interviewing people who aren’t icons.” She then welcomed the real Dionne Warwick onto the show.

“Let me ask you something,” Nwodim says after Warwick takes a seat. “Dionne, why are you perfect?” The 80-year-old singer replied, “My darling, I’m not perfect. I’m just very, very good.” The duo then sang a duet of Warwick’s 1966 track “What The World Needs Now Is Love.”

Warwick thanked SNL for inviting her to the show afterward.

“I had fun at @nbcsnl,” she tweeted. “Thank you to @eggy_boom (ME [laughing emoji]), @Punkiejohnson (as @BrittaniWarrick), and to the writers, cast, and crew. I had a wonderful time with you all.”

You can watch the sketch in the video above.

Time, as Matthew McConaughey said on True Detective Season 1, is a flat circle. And he was right: Today, Nov. 7, 2021, is the one-year-anniversary of the day most publications called the 2020 election for now-president Joe Biden. It’s hard to believe it happened so long ago, just as it’s hard to believe it’s also been a year since another major national milestone: the day Rudy Giuliani embarrassed the hell out of himself by delivering a bananas press conference at what was surely the wrong Four Seasons establishment.

That fateful went like this: That morning, Trump declared that Giuliani, his personal lawyer who he’s since left to drown in financial and legal headaches, would be holding a press conference at the Four Seasons in Philadelphia. Did he mean the city’s swanky downtown hotel? No, he meant Four Seasons Total Landscaping, located just outside the city proper right next to a porn shop. Was it a mix-up? Almost certainly. But journalists trounced out there all the same, to hear a bunch of nonsensical babble about non-existent voter fraud.

And right before it started, most news publications declared Joe Biden the winner and Donald Trump the loser.

Americans nationwide celebrated Biden’s win. A lot of people online even compared the revelry to the end of Return of the Jedi, in which the known universe celebrates the fall of the evil Empire.

But the Four Seasons Total Landscaping debacle may have stolen its thunder. For days, then weeks, it dominated the news, with people dunking on Giuliani. Turns out he had some great follow-ups, from the black mystery goo incident to the introduction of the wine lady witness who almost certainly didn’t witness voter fraud.

Since then, a lot has happened. Trump and his allies continued (and continue) to air misinformation about the voter fraud that only happened by Republican hands. There was a failed insurrection at the nation’s Capitol. Trump got booted from most of social media. Then he became a failed blogger. And today, some of Trump’s die-hards continue to lie about how the 2020 election was stolen.

But nevermind that. People marked the one-year anniversary of the Four Seasons Total Landscaping mishegoss in style.

Even the establishment itself got in on the fun, albeit a few days early.

So happy Four Seasons Total Landscaping Day, to all who celebrate. What a long, strange trip it’s been.

Travis Scott will certainly have a lot to deal with following the tragedy that occurred at his Astroworld Festival. Eight people died and hundreds were injured in the crowd after many suffocated due to the cramped and air-tight conditions in the audience. Many criticized Travis for continuing the show after appearing to witness multiple fans pass out, an accusation that has yet to be proven true or false. Despite this, the rapper’s partner Kylie Jenner came to his defense in a statement regarding the incident.

“Travis and I are broken and devastated,” she wrote. “My thoughts and prayers are with all who lost their lives, were injured or affected in any way by yesterday’s events.” She added, “And also for Travis who I know cares deeply for his fans and the Houston community, I want to make it clear we weren’t aware of any fatalities until the news came out after the show, and in no world would have continued filming or performing.”

She concluded, “I am sending my deepest condolences to all the families during this difficult time and will be praying for the healing of everyone who has been impacted.”

Kylie’s statement comes after Travis a second message on Saturday night. He said he is “honestly just devastated” at the incident and added, “We’re actually working right now to identify the families so we can help assist them through this tough time.”

There was a lot of news to cover on this weekend’s Kieran Culkin-hosted SNL, and they tried their damndest. They managed to bang out Aaron Rodgers being anti-vaxx, Glenn Youngkin nabbing Virginia, and a bold new Trump impersonator in the cold open alone. Later they dunked on Ice Cube for also not getting vaccinated. And oh right, there’s also that draconian abortion law that was recently enacted in Texas. It’s not the funniest subject, but Cecily Strong made a valiant attempt to find the humor in the grim topic.

Strong swung by Weekend Update dressed as “Goober the Clown,” whose bona fides are that she had an abortion when she was 23. She refuses to let that nor the unpleasant subject matter get her down. Indeed, she stays in clown mode for the duration of her monologue.

“I really don’t [want to talk about this],” Strong’s Goober said. “But people keep bringing it up, so I gotta talk about freaking abortion… I wish I didn’t have to do this, because the abortion I had at 23 is my personal clown business.”

Throughout, Goober struggles to make the subject of states infringing on women’s rights fun and funny. “It’s a rough subject,” she said, “so we’re gonna do fun clown stuff to make it more palatable. Who wants a balloon animal?”

She also kept referring to it exclusively as “clown abortion,” to co-anchor Colin Jost’s bafflement. “Did you know that one in three clowns will have an abortion in her lifetime?” Strong asked. “You don’t, because they don’t tell you. They don’t even know how to talk to other clowns about it, because when they do talk about it, if you were a clown who wasn’t the victim of something sad like clown-cest, they think your clown abortion wasn’t a ‘righteous clown abortion.’ I mean, what the d*ck is that?!”

Eventually she told the story of the abortion she had when she was young, but only after inhaling some funny voice-making helium. If Goober didn’t succeed in mining laughs from the a-word, then at least Strong did.

You can watch the sketch in the video above.

Asexuality is often misunderstood.

In general, it’s believed to be the absence of any romantic interest, but asexual identity actually means that a person is not sexually attracted to anyone. Romantic feelings and the strength of those feelings can vary from person to person.

Currently, about 1% of adults have no interest in sex, though some experts believe that number could be higher. For a long time, information on asexuality was limited, but researchers recently have found information that gives us more knowledge about asexuality.

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Being asexual can be tough, though — just ask the artists from Empathize This.

To demonstrate, they put together a comic on asexuality, defining it as a sexual orientation, not a dysfunction.

This article originally appeared on May 27, 2016

Categories are great for some things: biology, herbs, and spices, for example.

Image via Brianna Lehman/Flickr.

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But bodies? Well, putting bodies into categories just gets weird. There are around 300 million people in America, but only 12 or so standard sizes for clothing: extra-extra-small through 5x.

That’s why designer Mallorie Dunn is onto something with her belief — people have different bodies and sizing isn’t catching up.

Dunn has found that the majority of clothing sizes stop at an extra-large, yet the majority of women in America are over that. “And that just doesn’t make sense,” she says.

Human spice rack, only, a LOT more variations of flava. 😉 All images via Smart Glamor, used with permission.

That’s why she started a project around her clothing label, Smart Glamour, to document the bodies of models according to their sizes — and to show how one size can look very different on different bodies.

In pursuit of creating a fashion environment that’s kinder to all bodies, Dunn has dedicated herself to educating consumers about sizing.

First, she found 60 people of 12 different sizes and took their pictures.

Then, she put five women at a time in the same size of skirt and shirt to show how diversely beautiful human bodies are and to prove that everyone looks different in clothes no matter what size they have on.

She hoped to show people that 12 sizes don’t even come close to capturing the beauty of the human form.

All these models are wearing the same size … but do they look the same?

“No matter what size you are that’s not what dictates your worth or your beauty.”

“I had a convo with a friend of mine who was like ‘Yeah, if I went from a medium to a large, I’d be fine with it, but if I went from a large to an extra-large, that wouldn’t be OK’ and I was like, ‘Why???’ And she had no rational reason behind that,” Dunn said, describing a conversation we’ve all either had, started, or heard. “We’ve been taught forever that the bigger something sounds, the worse that it is.”

Dunn’s project also shows just how arbitrary and narrow-minded clothing sizes are.

Sizes really are just numbers.

Unlike the images we are presented both in clothing ads and in entertainment and media, human beings aren’t, as Dunn remarked, “robots who come out on a conveyor belt … we’re all shaped differently.”

The pressure to look one way is obnoxious. And kinda dangerous.

“We’ve been taught forever that the bigger something sounds, the worse that it is.”

There’s so much weight — no pun intended — on being the “right” size.

“You put an ‘extra’ on top of a ‘large,’ and suddenly it’s the end of the world,” Dunn said of her experience in fashion sizing. “… And it really doesn’t mean anything, it really only means that there’s an extra inch of fabric.”

One extra inch of fabric.

3 in 4 girls report feeling depressed, guilty, or shameful after just three minutes of leafing through a fashion mag.

But I’d like to imagine a world where everyone can try on clothes and leave the emotional burden of worrying about fit to the clothes.

Instead, let’s focus on what looks good on our bodies. Let the clothes handle the emotional roller coaster of not fitting, and you just live your life in the body you’ve been given.

Dunn, who has worked for fashion houses for her whole career, puts it bluntly: “Clothes are not made for all bodies. … We shouldn’t then think when something doesn’t fit us that it’s somehow our fault.”

Dunn’s models also have a group on Facebook where they support each other, compliment each other, and generally lift each other up. Model Stephanie describes it this way: “We see the beauty in one another and help each other to recognize our own beauty at the same time.” Fashion leading to body optimism and confidence? Yes, please.

And Dunn herself drives a hard line when it comes to feeling good in the skin you’ve been given. Her philosophy is this: No matter what size you are, that’s not what dictates your worth or your beauty.

Self-worth not based on appearances. That’s a category we can all aspire to “fit” into!

This article originally appeared on 07.27.16