Month: November 2021

A recent promotional appearance for George Clooney‘s new movie, The Tender Bar, turned into a full-on dressing down as the writer/director blasted the producers of Rust for creating a situation that led to the accidental shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. While recording the latest episode of the WTF with Marc Maron podcast, Clooney did not hold back his thoughts on the situation that led to Alec Baldwin pulling the trigger of a gun with live round in it.

“Look, he may be a dick, I don’t know the guy at all, but I’ve been on sets for 40 years and the person that hands you the gun, the person that is responsible for the gun, is either the prop person or the armorer, period,” Clooney said before hammering producers for hiring Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, an inexperienced armorer who had issues on previous productions. Via Mediaite:

“Why for the life of me, this low budget film with producers that haven’t produced anything wouldn’t have hired, for the armorer, someone with experience,” he continued, adding, “That is insane. It’s insane. It’s infuriating.”

Clooney also made sure to note that Baldwin’s claim that he was handed a “cold gun” doesn’t make sense, because he’s never heard the phrase in all his years of working on films. “It’s a series of tragedies,” Clooney said. “But also, a lot of stupid mistakes.”

(Via WTF with Marc Maron, Mediaite)

Tequila is going through a moment right now. The spirit is enjoying a renewed popularity, new expressions are entering the scene, RTD brands are reaching for agave more than ever before, and just about every celebrity who has ever been photographed with a glass in their hand is launching their own brand in the hopes of jumping into the booming market.

This brings us to Los Sundays, a new brand that attempts to reimagine the spirit in the image of modern millennials and the few zoomers old enough to drink. You won’t find old-fashioned labels or bottle shapes that would go unnoticed in a period-era film about Mexico. Instead, Los Sundays give us something that defies our expectations of what a tequila brand should look like.

Visiting the website will reveal just how different Los Sundays looks from your average tequila brand. They showcase young hip models drinking margaritas (a stark change up from old salt and pepper celebrities riding motorcycles through dusty agave fields), and even have a merch section that features streetwear-inspired basics like crew neck sweaters with slogans like “tequila kills.”

Positioning yourself as something different is cool, but streetwear and models aside, they also do it in the most annoying way possible. The brand describes itself as “sustainably farmed and naturally gluten-free, made from a blend of highland and lowland 100% Blue Weber Agave that is traditionally cooked and distilled in the heart of Jalisco Mexico at one of the most award-winning distilleries.” Which is full of so many Millenial-baiting buzzwords that it’ll make your head spin.

That all sounds great, sure, but it gets to me that Los Sundays makes a point of mentioning that it’s naturally gluten-free. No shit. It’s tequila. Of course, it’s gluten-free. The website doesn’t stop there though, “Not your standard-looking tequila company right? That’s because we aren’t. We are unlike anything you have seen or tasted before.”

Ok, calm down Los Sundays. The NOM (distillery number) on the bottle reveals that this tequila is made at Destiladora del Valle de Tequila which currently has 146 brands being produced under their roof. Interestingly, they also used to make Costco’s tequila.

Anyway, that’s a big game to talk so we put those claims to the test by tasting two of the brand’s three expressions, their blanco and reposado. Los Sundays also make a coconut-flavored tequila that we were unable to get our hands on. Since its existence, the brand has swept up a considerable amount of attention at the San Francisco Worlds Spirit Competition as well as the Consumer SIP awards, so we have high expectations. But consider our expectations tapered since this is from a distillery that makes tequila for 146 brands.

Let’s drink!

Los Sundays Blanco

ABV: 40%

Average Price $36

The Tequila:

Los Sundays’ Blanco is double distilled and features a blend of highland and lowland agave. The idea behind choosing a blend is that you’ll get some of the smooth floral notes of highland tequila grounded a bit by the earthy bite of lowland agave.

We’ll see.

Tasting Notes:

Sweet fruity notes reveal themselves on the nose which leads to a remarkably smooth flavor with a mellow profile. Vegetal notes are barely there on the backend but are mostly masked by soothing vanilla coolness that makes this one of the most refreshing blancos I’ve ever tasted at this price point.

I’m actually blown away by just how smooth it is. There is no bite here, so if you like your tequila with some edge, you’re not going to dig this.

The Bottle:

So far so good, but then we get to Los Sundays most divisive quality (aside from the name) the bottle, or more accurately the label. The construction of the bottle itself is great, a nice thick glass with a simple shape that’s easy to grab with a little embossed palm tree.

I dig it, but I’m less in love with the label. The varying typefaces, the minimalism of it all, it wouldn’t strike me as new, sexy, or modern if I was scanning the tequila aisle at a BevMo. Instead, it strikes me as cheap.

The Bottom Line:

Smooth, refreshing, and highly drinkable. It leans a little too sweet for my personal taste, but it’ll be hard to find someone that this expression doesn’t appeal to. At this price point, this tequila is far smoother than its similarly-priced counterparts. If you’re looking to impress on a tight budget, this is the play.

Ranking:

80/100 — It doesn’t blow me away, but this is simply a solid bottle of blanco tequila.

Los Sundays Reposado

ABV: 40%

Average Price $39

The Tequila:

For Los Sundays’ Reposado, the brand takes its blanco tequila and rests it in American Oak whiskey barrels straight out of Tennessee for just under twelve months. The results give off a mellow golden hue and provide noticeably sweeter notes on the nose.

Tasting Notes:

Los Sundays reposado is an improvement over the brand’s already delicious blanco. Those sweet enveloping notes of vanilla that I mentioned really jump out at you from the glass and on the palate the flavors of caramel and caramelized fruit (I’m getting roasted peach) collide and settle into a strong honey finish that goes down way too easily. Seriously, this stuff is too easy to drink, you could kill a glass without mixers or chasers.

The Bottle:

Same bottle as before but with a black label instead of the red. Tequila brands generally save black labels for añejo and even extra añejo expressions, so Los Sundays choosing black to represent their reposado feels like the brand trying to be subversive for the sake of being subversive.

It actually, surprisingly, doesn’t bother me. Maybe because in the back of my mind I’m hoping that when Los Sundays finally launch an añejo they take it as an opportunity to give us a vintage-inspired label. Knowing the brand though, they’re going to do something unexpected like give it a green label.

The Bottom Line:

For under $40 with a flavor profile this characterful and smooth, Los Blancos Reposado punches way above its weight class. If you’re starting anywhere with the brand, start here.

Ranking

90/100 — This is one of the best reposado tequilas I’ve had in a while. It doesn’t quite operate on the same level as the similarly priced reposado, but it’ll definitely appeal to a wider crowd thanks to its sweetness and ultra-smooth qualities.

Since the last time I spoke with Shea Serrano, he has reached another historic career milestone. His newest book, Hip-Hop (And Other Things), the third in his (And Other Things) trilogy along with Basketball and Movies, has reached the New York Times bestsellers list, making him and his collaborator, illustrator Arturo Torres, the first Mexican-Americans to reach the list four times (Serrano’s second book, The Rap Yearbook, was his first bestseller). The New York Times Book Review has been published weekly since October 12, 1931. Nearly 100 years. Just a huge accomplishment.

That’s the sort of odd factual tidbit that finds its way into Serrano’s writing, along with footnotes, off-kilter observations, funny asides, affecting personal anecdotes, and more than occasionally, startlingly astute insight into the various subjects about which he writes. The books are framed around questions that he poses that sometimes read as goofy or less than serious and the answers that he provides, which can seem goofy until he makes a comparison or uses a metaphor that whacks you over the head with a sound like a thunderclap, and you realize that you’ve just — shudder — learned something.

The questions in Serrano’s latest book range from the sort of thing that often crops up in conversation, like “Which was the most perfect duo in rap history?” to double take-inducing daydreams like “Is Action Bronson a good travel partner?” There’s a hypothetical interview with a chicken. There’s a debate between Kendrick Lamar’s magnum opus (undoubtedly Good Kid, MAAD City) and Kanye’s (My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy — questionable), and an extended analysis of Black Thought’s 10-minute Funkmaster Flex freestyle, which Shea can be seen evangelizing on Twitter every few months.

Over the course of our Zoom call, the author and I addressed some of these questions and more, but then things started to get really philosophical and personal — as they tend to do in the book, as well. It seemed fitting and it was funny and a grand time was had by all. Buy the book — you’ll thank me later.

What was the logic behind making hip-hop, the last one in your (And Other Things) trilogy?

Arturo and I, when we pitched the idea for the end of the thing series, we did it as a three-book thing and we knew we were going to do movies, basketball, and hip-hop. And so we just put them in order of what’s the one we want to do the most. And we both voted that it was hip-hop. And so we said, okay, well, let’s save that one for last, that way we could end on it. By that point, we will have been working on it for six years; we’re going to both be pretty tired. We’re going to both be ready for it to be over and so you end on the thing you’re most excited about. That way, it feels less like work and more like you’re celebrating the end of whatever journey it is that you’ve been on.

Even though it’s about hip-hop, I find it really amusing that you almost can’t talk about rap music without talking about basketball or movies and kind of vice versa.

I think those three subjects naturally fold over onto themselves. We’ve seen literal examples of it, of a person who was a basketball player, and then they would star in a movie.

Shaq!

Shaq, who was a basketball player, starred in Blue Chips and then put out a platinum-selling rap album. Tupac was a rapper and then he was in a movie about basketball. They’re all always together. For me, growing up, watching these movies, listening to this music, playing basketball, just felt like these were the three coolest things. So, of course, it makes sense that the three coolest things populated by the coolest people on the planet are all sort of co-mingling.

Bun B’s intro is such a cool full-circle moment. How did you feel when you finally got a chance to get Bun B to do this because he’s sort of the reason we’re even here talking about this? [Serrano’s first book was the Rap Coloring Book, a collaboration with the Port Arthur rapper.]

I was incredibly proud and humbled and Bun is, in my history of being a journalist, one of the three or four smartest people I’ve ever talked to. Whenever you have a conversation with him, he talks in paragraphs, which to me is crazy. You’re listening to me on this podcast now. And every six words, there’s a pause in there because I have to collect the things I’m going to say next that are coming out. He doesn’t do that. He has fully coherent thoughts about every single thing you could ask him. And I think it’s the most interesting thing, he also is just incredibly insightful. You ask him a question about one thing and he answers it but really he answers the question that you were meaning to ask that you didn’t quite ask. He’s just the best. To have Bun do the foreword for it was just a super cool moment. It really meant a lot to me.

The questions are always really funny in the context of these books but this one really goes super-duper left field, like the chapter where you do the Hunger Games hype music [“What’s The Order Of The Lottery Pick Songs?”]. Do you know which ones are the ones or is it a process of whittling them down? Do you pitch them?

I don’t pitch the ideas to anybody else. I might ask the editor, “What do you think of this? What do you think of that?” Or I might hit up somebody like you and be like, “Hey, tell me how you feel about this idea.” I’m fortunate to be friends with people who are smarter than I am, so I could throw something at them, and then they might say a thing that activates something else and then we end up with a new idea, but mostly it’s just sort of me sitting there trying to figure out how to write about a thing in a way that hasn’t been done yet.

I think a very common conversation people might have is, “What song would you have play as your walk-up song if you were a baseball player?” Or “If you were a boxer, what song would you have play when you come walking out to the ring?” In the movie, Creed, Donny has Tupac playing when he walks out to the ring. That collection of chapters is essentially a version of that conversation but you have to figure out a way that hasn’t been done yet. I searched all around and I didn’t find nobody had written about it in this particular way. It doesn’t always work a lot of times it starts out as one thing. And then you get 2000 words into it and you, it’s not as much fun as I thought it would be. It’s not as clever as I thought it would be. It doesn’t let me do all of the little tricks I want to do. So, you’re just trying out there and hoping it works.

I can’t talk about all of the successes and everything that has happened for you without talking about the FOH Army. I’m not sure how many Uproxx readers are going to know about the FOH. I know you’re tired of explaining it, but man, it is an incredible thing.

I’d never get tired of explaining it because it’s very important, it’s wildly important. The FOH Army is like a generic or general name somebody came up with for basically the group of us who interact or play around on Twitter or whatever, that’s what it is. And sometimes we’re doing philanthropic work, other times, we’re just sharing music, other times we’re buying books or whatever it might be. But it started out as this small thing in 2015 or so and then it has just grown and grown and grown and gotten bigger and bigger and bigger and more powerful.

This is the whole reason that any of my books have made the bestseller list. We’ve got four of them so far, and it’s not a coincidence that the first one happened right around when the sort of FOH was starting up because it was just like, “All of a sudden you have 30,000 people or whatever it is who will show up and buy a thing.” We sold 8,000 copies of The Rap Yearbook the first week, which at the time was like, holy crap. This is tremendous. We were supposed to sell 800. But we didn’t sell 8,000 copies to 8,000 people. We sold 8,000 copies to like 3000 people. So now, because of that, I have this remarkable freedom in my career where I can sit down with a publisher and I’ll be like, hey, I would like to write a book for y’all and they will just go, great. Here’s a check. They won’t ask me what it’s going to be about. They won’t ask me when I’m going to turn it in. They’re just like, that sounds good to us because they know what I know.

Then you’re going to give all the money away because you have this tendency of doing that. You are the first person to promote your work by doing things for other people. The last question is the question that I end all my interviews with. You do so many interviews. You get asked the same questions all the time. What question do you wish interviewers would ask where the answer is something you really want to talk about but they never have?

See the thing of it is, I’m not super interested in talking about myself or talking about how I feel about things. That’s the point of writing. This is why I like writing so much. Cause I can just put it on the screen and send it off and then everybody can see it. And then there you go.

That would be great if that was the only part of the writing job. It’s not. You have to do all the other stuff. You have to do all of the… when a book comes out especially, I start getting nightmares and shit like that. It’s a real thing because I know for the next three weeks or whatever, all day, every day, I’m going to have to be in these interviews and people are going to ask me questions and I’m going to be like, you just start to feel like, “Why are they talking to me?”

In the Time Is Illmatic documentary, there’s this really great part when they’re looking at a picture of Nas right when all the stuff was about to take off. It’s him and a bunch of other people sitting on the bench outside of where he grew up. The guy is going through person by person in the picture. He’s talking about a kid in the picture, grew up and this kid went to jail for this many years, this guy was in and out for this many years and he’s just going through it. And then while they’re hearing it, we’re watching Nas who’s listening to this as well.

And he is just overcome by grief almost. And he’s like, “Man, how lucky was I that this part didn’t happen to me. You look at everybody in that picture. This is one person, I happened to be the one person that, that didn’t happen to.” It might be one of my three or four favorite Nas moments. ‘Cause he’s so smart and so insightful. Very rarely is there a time where he doesn’t immediately have the right answer. And right there, you see him sit with it for a second and it’s going to be like, “Oh! Does he not know what to say here? Or is he going to say a stupid thing?” Nope. He starts talking and you’re like, “That’s exactly perfect.” That’s Nas. That’s what Nas does. But yeah, it’s some version of that feeling.

DaBaby and DaniLeigh have had an up-and-down relationship and this weekend added a new chapter to that story: On Sunday night, the two argued on Instagram Live and DaBaby appeared to have called the police on DaniLeigh, who is the mother of one of his children.

The videos (preserved above) show the pair arguing while DaniLeigh feeds their daughter. As Rolling Stone notes, the two swap insults back and forth and DaniLeigh claimed DaBaby hasn’t been around much since the birth of his daughter and that he was trying to make her leave his apartment. He later appeared to have called the police in order to get DaniLeigh to leave.

Following the incident, both DaBaby and DaniLeigh took to social media to share their versions of events. In an Instagram Story, DaBaby wrote in part, “End of the day no big deal I don’t want no charges pressed or nothing I just want her peacefully removed which they need to hurry up do as we speak I ain’t even want that behavior on display but it’s okay. Man this too shall pass it’s all good.”

DaniLeigh later offered a response, writing on her own Instagram Story, “Hey guys, since baby wanna put up a ‘statement’ with his cap ass I’ll put mine up… So we been living with each other for the past three months since our baby been born… doin us… and tonight he wanna come in the room talking bout ‘I need to go’ don’t matter where I go. […] I really shoulda jus listened to the cap ass internet about this man!!!! Ima learn and ima grow … but this right here, ain’t it.. And im sorry to my baby that her father is kicking her out her home at 3 months.”

Watch the video above and find DaBaby and DaniLeigh’s posts below.

“I would like to swiftly remove myself from any of the ‘hostile’ behavior put on display moments ago, this here thing has gone far enough for shawty to crash out on her own and it saddens me because I still got a queen to raise.

The last hour has been documented for my safety and business done based on my reputation. With multiple threats of setting up a internet scheme & a person refusing to not let me go.

Me and somebody else here knew to record her. I done been beat on and yelled at and chased around like one if them fatal love attraction type girls.

But I knew to keep it together.

My team will be in contact with any and everybody we’re in business with who mad need clarification.

End of the day no big deal I don’t want no charges pressed or nothing I just want her peacefully removed which they need to hurry up do as we speak I ain’t even want that behavior on display but it’s okay. Man this too shall pass it’s all good.

My focus right now is solely on this new project out and this
Liveshowkillatour starting nov. 26th.

Hate shawty went out that way but that ain’t my business I’m a father first always, and always will be.

This really me typing too no PR.”

“Hey guys, since baby wanna put up a ‘statement’ with his cap ass I’ll put mine up… So we been living with each other for the past three months since our baby been born… doin us… and tonight he wanna come in the room talking bout ‘I need to go’ don’t matter where I go.. mind u… I have a new born child, so he said I can go to a hotel… this man is mad bc I had a plan b sent to his condo, bc all he wanna do is c*m in me, with no responsibility .. obviously.. He prob want me out so he can f*ck on his baby mother and other hoes, who been known we been together this whole time, while I jus had my first child… This all goes to say that this man is a f*cking coward !!!!! I’m sleeping after cooking him dinner and he wanna say I needa go! F*ck u baby!!! And damn I really shoulda jus listened to the cap ass internet about this man!!!! Ima learn and ima grow … but this right here, ain’t it.. And im sorry to my baby that her father is kicking her out her home at 3 months.”

The Succession Report Card is a weekly recap feature where we attempt to assign grades to the important people, things, and themes from each episode of Succession. The grades are entirely subjective and the criteria for scoring will change from week to week and occasionally mid-week. Someone might get detention. It’ll probably be Roman.

President Raisin

PRO: Appears to be the only powerful patriarch on the show who is willing to admit his declining health and make a decision that puts the well-being of his family ahead of his own interests/ego.

CON: Every news station in the world appears to be implying that his brain is goo; he let a partisan news network basically run the country; being President seems like an awful job to have, just from a work/life balance perspective.

GRADE: F

MUST IMPROVE: Hobbies, use of newfound free time

UTIs, generally

I did not expect to hear multiple people utter the phrase “piss mad” when I started watching this week’s episode (or, like, ever, under any circumstances), but here we all are, I guess.

GRADE: F

MUST IMPROVE: Just, like, chilling out a bit

Megathump the Rabbit

This poor rabbit, just getting a camera shoved in her face and bagels fed to her by the biggest group of incompetent bozos you’ve ever seen, then getting treated by a people doctor because Kendall is the kind of rich doof who thinks any doctor can treat anything. I need next week’s episode to open with some animal rights group breaking into the apartment — wires, lasers, full black bodysuits, the full Entrapment — and setting her free at a nice farm upstate where he has lots of room to run and play. Either that or I need Jess Jordan to adopt her. We’ll get back to that.

GRADE: F

MUST IMPROVE: Freedom, digesting breakfasts foods

Logan

Tough week for the old grizzly bear:

• Mumbling like a lunatic as his poisoned urine ravages his brain
• His mostly incompetent children went flailing/flopping about without him like deflated balloons still tied to a fence a week after the fair left down
• Thought he had a dead cat under his chair, which has to be unsettling

That said, by the end he was stable enough to pull the old “stick around and wait for me, bail out the side door, block this number permanently” move on Kendall, which was cold enough to give the people around him the same shivers/chills he had earlier. So… he’s back?

GRADE: D-

MUST IMPROVE: Hydration

Kendall

Is there anything funnier than Kendall thinking he has a situation under control — “Puppetmaster out” — only to watch it all fall to pieces in his hands as his entire face tries to droop and slide right off of his skull and onto the floor in front of him? The answer, surprisingly, is yes, as of this week, thanks to that image of him kind of slinking onto the stage in the dark with no real plan in place other than “commandeer the microphone.”

He’s such a goofball. Just incapable of doing anything correctly all the way through, like if Charlie Brown had a lot more money and a lot less self-esteem. I would pay upwards of $250 to see him try to, like, try to climb into and out of a hammock. He’d probably do a full-on cartoon spin and land on his head. I’ll go up to $300 if he’s holding an umbrella drink while he tries it.

GRADE: D

MUST IMPROVE: Puppet mastering, rabbit care

Tom

Things are generally not working out great for you when you have to defend a plan by saying phrases like “It’s not creepy!” and “It’s not horrible, it’s nice!” Like, regardless of the situation, but especially if the situation involves trying to impregnate your wife before you get sent to one of the prisons you’ve been researching at work.

GRADE: D

MUST IMPROVE: Being less… everything

Shiv

The good news for Shiv is that she took charge and got the deal done with Logan incapacitated by a cranky bladder, and she may have angled a board seat for herself, and she just — like, on a basic level — emerged from the situation looking like a reasonably competent and capable person for the first time in, maybe, ever.

The bad news is that no deal she made would have pleased Logan because he refuses to relinquish even the tiniest bit of control, and now she’s on his bad side again in part because she did that and in part because watching anyone do anything without his input makes him feel mortal and weak and that kicks the crankiness into an even higher gear.

Cool and normal family.

GRADE: C-

MUST IMPROVE: Hovering

Gerri

Held up pretty well, all things considered. Had Logan’s ear at the end when he yelled at Shiv to stop hovering, which was a nice little table-turn. Makes great little reaction faces. We like Gerri.

GRADE: C

Must improve: I feel like Gerri should go get a massage or something, just to relax for an hour

Daughter Sandi

Still unclear if she’s another incompetent lackey under the thumb of a powerful but declining patriarch or if she is a Svengali who is pulling the strings on the whole thing like the puppetmaster Kendall claims to be. My gut says it’s the former, mostly because, if this show has taught us anything, it’s that everyone is about 50-80 percent less competent than you think they are. Good lesson to learn.

GRADE: C

MUST IMPROVE: I don’t have much to add here so let me just state for the record that I find it deeply hilarious that father and daughter are both named Sandy/Sandi

Various Karls, Franks, and Karolinas

The relationship between Frank and Karl is quickly becoming my favorite on the show. I feel there’s a bone-deep hatred in there that’s tempered a bit by a foxhole-related bond. They’re brothers, in a way, as two high-ranking executives with no blood ties to the boss, given orders like “GO VAMP” while the world spins into chaos, screwing each other and saving each other and trying to claw each other’s faces off while they’re floating in a life raft toward shore.

I want them to take a vacation together. Put them in the next season of The White Lotus. This is a good idea.

GRADE: C

MUST IMPROVE: Vamping, etc.

Stewy

Stewy didn’t have much to do this week with the various Sandy/Sandis apparently leading the negotiations. I still know I should hate him and everything he stands for. I just… I can’t do it. I need an entire episode that just follows him around on a day-to-day basis. He appears to spend something like a third of his day inside a helicopter. He fascinates me.

GRADE: C+

MUST IMPROVE: I need him to be less likable so I can hate him

Bagels

GOOD:

• Delicious
• Filling
• Can be used to make the kind of greasy breakfast sandwich that does more to cure a hangover than all the Tylenol and orange juice in the world

BAD:

• Kills rabbits
• Go stale too fast

Solid performance overall

GRADE: B

MUST IMPROVE: Nitpicking here but it’s always frustrating when you try to cut one and it comes out a little uneven and then when you toast it you end up with one half all chewy and the other half crispier than a potato chip

Roman

Actually, against staggering odds, a decent performance by Little Slime Puppy. He was the only one of the children who seemed legitimately concerned about Logan’s health, he had a few decent ideas for once, members of the family turned to him when an important decision required a deciding vote, and he got put on the line with President Raisin to handle that whole thing. The last part didn’t work, and he started the conversation by saying “How you doing?” like he was talking to an aunt who lives alone and he only sees at holidays, but still.

That’s a lot for him. He’s got a low bar to clear to impress me. Sometimes I’m surprised he can dress himself. So, good for him.

GRADE: B

MUST IMPROVE: Access to PJs going forward

Colin the Body Man

So far this season he has:

• Leaned in extremely close to Kendall’s face and whispered “I know you,” which was so hilarious and stupid and theatrical that I made a GIF of it and I open it sometimes just to give myself a little chuckle
• Carried an imaginary dead cat out of a conference room

If he keeps this up, he could be approaching Jess/Greg territory. I have no higher praise to give.

GRADE: B

MUST IMPROVE: Consistency

Connor

Connor remains stupid and useless and self-important in ways that stand out even on a show filled with stupid, useless, self-important people, but I respect his commitment to chaos and I very much want to see him run for office just to see him on a debate stage trying to formulate an answer with the six brain cells he has clanging around in his otherwise empty head.

He’s going to bankrupt the European news division. I can’t wait. I would watch an entire spinoff about it.

GRADE: B+

MUST IMPROVE: Self-awareness

Ewan Roy

Ewan is:

• A cranky old rascal
• Cutting off Greg
• Giving all his money to Greenpeace
• “Not an uncomplicated man”

He’s a delight. I don’t think he’s ever been happy for a single day in his life. I like to picture him, like, out in the woods on a beautiful day, standing next to a picturesque waterfall, the beauty and power of nature all around him, just miserable and grumbling about greenhouse gases or something. I bet he cracks strange children on the knuckles with his cane when they throw something in a public recycling can that doesn’t go there.

GRADE: B+

MUST IMPROVE: Chilling out even a little

Cousin Greg

See, you would think Greg would rank lower on account of getting cut off and threatening to sue Greenpeace to get his inheritance and Kendall kind of telling him in a nice way that he might get served up as an appetizer to the DOJ. None of that is good. A reasonable argument can be made that I should have given him an F-, below even urinary tract infections.

The complicating factor, as always, is that he’s a sweet boy and I love him very much. Did you see the thing where they went to give him a note to pass along and he was so surprised to be given a real task that he said “Did you say Greg?” with the kind of incredulity usually reserved for sentences like “Did you say a purple alien named Igor who only eats Chex Mix?” Adorable.

GRADE: A

MUST IMPROVE: Financial security, not getting burned

Opening credits

The theme music remains perfect and unskippable but I would encourage you — while you’re not skipping it — to watch the screen and read the ATN chyrons on the bottom of the screen. It’s such a beautiful little touch. Like, they don’t need to do that, but they do it anyway, for us. I appreciate it.

GRADE: A

MUST IMPROVE: No notes, excellent work

Jess Jordan

This is the face she made when they found out the rabbit got sick from the bagels they told Kendall not to feed it, but it could have been the face she made reacting to anything he has ever said or done. And it’s a good reminder to always watch Jess when she’s on-screen because she’s always doing stuff like this, sometimes deep in the background.

It’s an extremely useful GIF. Feel free to right-click and save it. My gift to you. And Jess’s gift. Our gift.

GRADE: A+

MUST IMPROVE: Nothing, Jess rules

Back before Madden became the sole owner of the NFL license for video games, there were tons of football games to choose from. One of the original options fans could play was Tecmo Super Bowl. Back in the days of the NES and arcade machines, Tecmo Bowl was a favorite because it featured the likenesses of a couple of players and actual NFL teams. One of the most famous players featured in Tecmo Bowl was the then Los Angeles Raiders Bo Jackson. The multisport athlete was one of the biggest stars in all of sports at the time with his play not only on the football field but his time spent playing baseball for the Kansas City Royals.

While Bo was obviously famous for his accomplishments on the field, he may have become even more notorious for what he could do in the virtual world, because in Tecmo Super Bowl he was pretty much unstoppable. The Raiders became the original auto-ban team when friends would play each other because if someone had Jackson they could easily dance around the entire defense and score touchdowns at will. He’s arguably the most overpowered character in the history of video games and now he’s coming back.

The Twitter account for Madden 22 put out a teaser on Monday teasing that the legendary Bo Jackson would be making his return to the virtual world in their game. He’ll likely be showing up in Madden’s Superstar KO mode, which is where they like to showcase some of the more arcade-y aspects of the game, such as college football teams.

Honestly, this sounds really fun if they do it right. Put in Jackson and give him ridiculous stats that no player is allowed to have. Let players truck lineman with ease and run around safeties like they’re standing still. Make Jackson feel just like he did in the old Tecmo Super Bowl games. Video games are meant to be fun and we deserve that fun of using an overpowered Jackson in a modern game like Madden 22.

A new neighbor is moving on to the street where the “air is sweet.” After 52 years on air, Sesame Street is adding its first AAPI (Asian American and Pacific Islander) muppet, a 7-year-old Korean-American named Ji-Young. The young girl will be performed by Sesame Workshop puppeteer Kathleen Kim, and is slated to make her big debut in Sesame Street‘s upcoming Thanksgiving special: “See Us Coming Together: A Sesame Street Special.”

While Sesame Street is saving Ji-Young’s big introduction for the special, the show has already shared a bit about their newest (and pretty cool sounding) resident. According to AP, Ji-Young is an avid electric guitar player with a passion for skateboarding, with much of her personality based on that of her puppeteer, Kim. Ji-Young herself also shared the story behind her name, and how it coincidentally meant she was destined to live on Sesame Street:

“So, in Korean traditionally the two syllables they each mean something different and Ji means, like, smart or wise. And Young means, like, brave or courageous and strong,” Ji-Young explained during a recent interview. “But we were looking it up and guess what? Ji also means sesame.”

However, while Ji-Young is the first Asian-American muppet to join the show, she is not the first Asian-American character. Cast member Alan Muraoka, who plays Alan, the owner of Hooper’s Store, is Japanese-American and has been a staple of Sesame Street since 1998. In fact, the long-time Sesame Street star will actually be co-directing Ji-Young’s debut special, “See Us Coming Together,” on November 25. In addition to Muraoka, several AAPI stars — such as actors Simu Liu and Anna Cathcart, comic book artist Jim Lee, chef Melissa King, television personality Padma Lakshmi, and tennis great Naomi Osaka — will all make an appearance on the special to welcome the children show’s newest resident.

For those who might be wondering why the show chose now to introduce Ji-Young, executive vice-president of Creative and Production for Sesame Workshop Kay Wilson Stallings said it is a direct response to this year’s rise in anti-Asian hate crimes and the growing need for children’s shows to address racism. According to Stallings, the company reflected on how they could “meet the moment,” and decided if they were going to address the treatment of AAPI people, they needed to have proper representation and a clear voice to help deliver the message, and Ji-Young (through her puppeteer, Kim) seemed just the person to do it.

Surely, this is something even Ted Cruz can’t take issue with.

When the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers tip off at Staples Center Monday evening, it’ll mark Alex Caruso’s first game against the team that saw him carve out a substantial role in the NBA. This past summer, Caruso left the Lakers to sign with the Bulls on a four-year, $37 million deal.

Yet Caruso was never determined to bounce from Los Angeles and was entirely willing to return for the right price. According to a report from The Athletic’s Bill Oram, the Lakers simply refused to ever move off of their initial offer of three years, $21 million, even when Caruso presented Chicago’s offer to the organization and countered with two years, $20 million — roughly the same annual amount as the Bulls’ number for half the years.

“No dollars and cents higher than that (first offer) ever came back,” Caruso told Oram. “There’s no counters. It was just, I think, that was kind of all they had. And at that point, it was like, okay, I have to make an executive decision based on real life here.”

Foolishly, the Lakers prioritized luxury tax savings over retaining a key role player and elite perimeter defender to pursue another title run. Other offseason moves produced a $44 million luxury tax bill for the franchise, prior to any decision regarding Caruso.

“According to salary cap expert Danny Leroux, if Caruso had agreed to the Lakers offer, the franchise would have owed an additional $17.5 million in luxury tax, a fact the Lakers hoped would resonate with Caruso,” Oram wrote. “Even though those tax dollars wouldn’t land in his bank account, it did represent a total financial commitment greater than what the Bulls paid and, in the Lakers’ mind, aligned their actual investment with his market value.”

Obviously, that’s absurd logic. They wanted to guarantee Caruso roughly 55 percent of the total money the Bulls offered while signing him for 75 percent of the years, and pitched him on it with faulty rationale that focused on the team’s finances rather than his own. The Lakers have clearly missed his on-court services so far this season, and it’s because ownership and management bungled this situation by valuing wealth over basketball success.

Fortunately for Caruso, the Bulls have been a splendid destination. He’s playing superbly on a well-fitting team and found financial security for himself long-term.

After a solid 5-4 start to the season, the Sacramento Kings are in the midst of a four-game losing streak, an all-too familiar sight for Kings fans. After suffering through a pair of nine-game droughts last year on their way to missing the play-in, the Kings are apparently not going to be as patient with head coach Luke Walton this season.

According to The Athletic’s Sam Amick and Shams Charania, Walton will not be given as long of a leash this season as there is a mandate from within the organization to snap the team’s 15-year playoff drought. As such, long losing streaks won’t just put Walton on a hot seat but could get him actually fired, as Amick and Charania say he will “likely be in peril soon if the current slide continues.”

That the Kings are already back in this position is incredibly frustrating to the Sacramento faithful, many of whom felt a coaching change was needed this summer. That Monte McNair and the Kings brass backed Walton and chose to keep him around, only to throw him back on the hot seat after 13 games leads many to wonder why he was given a third season to begin with. The next three games will be critical for the Kings and Walton, as they face the Pistons, Timberwolves, and Raptors, all games they should have a chance to win. With a brutal stretch of the schedule following this three-game respite (Jazz, Sixers, Blazers, Lakers, Grizzlies, Lakers, Clippers, and Clippers) if Walton is to save his job, it seems necessary that they win at least two if not all three to bring some positivity back to California’s capital city.

If not, the Kings may be headed towards a midseason coaching change and more uncertainty, which has been the unfortunate default setting in Sacramento for some time.

Bourbon is a complicated spirit. This corn-based whiskey (usually but not exclusively made in Kentucky) seems to have two distinct sides. On one side are the reasonably-priced, easy-to-find bottles. The other side is filled with allocated, over-priced, unicorns that bourbon aficionados would consider selling at least one of their kidneys to add to their collection.

While we’re all for enjoying the Pappy, Weller, Parker’s Heritage, and other hard-to-find bottles, it’s pretty easy to argue that some drinkers overvalue these difficult-to-find releases. That’s why, today we’re going to talk about the less-respected, underrated, and totally undervalued bourbons on the market.

To find them, we asked a handful of our favorite, well-known bartenders to tell us the most undervalued bourbons on the market. Their picks definitely didn’t disappoint. Keep scrolling to see their picks before you head to your local store or online retailer to snag them.

Rock Hill Farms Single Barrel

John Dal Canton, assistant general manager, and beverage director at La Stella Cucina Verace in Dallas

ABV: 50%

Average Price: $60

Why This Bourbon?

Rock Hill Farms Single Barrel Bourbon has warm aromas and flavors of roasted apple, candied cherry, and vanilla that appease even the most discerning of bourbon enthusiasts. When you can find it, this bourbon has an MSRP of $60, but I would easily pay double for this bottle.

Maker’s Mark Wood Finishing Series 2021

Roberto Berdecía, co-founding partner of Puerto Rico Cocktail Week

ABV: 55%

Average Price: $149

Why This Bourbon?

I consider the most under-valued bourbon bottle to be Maker’s Mark Wood Finishing Series 2021 because of its extra-long finishing. It’s a product made with flavors from each side of the wood. We can feel a balance of the flavor of caramel with Lignia wood. Its price in the market is $60 to $70 but it could cost upwards of $100 and it’s totally worth it.

Laws Four Grain

Seth Merin, bartender at Miss Shirley’s in Washington, DC

ABV: 47.5%

Average Price: $55

Why This Bourbon?

I would have to say Laws Whiskey House Four Grain Bourbon is quite an undervalued bottle. Its aromas outperform anything I’ve had and the rich finish makes it quite smooth, performing like a bottle worth over $100. The bourbon’s cinnamon flavor also makes it special.

Town Branch Sherry Cask

Lauren Parton, general manager of Viceroy in Chicago

ABV: 50%

Average Price: $68

Why This Bourbon?

Town Branch Sherry Cask changes enough every year that helps to always make it worth it. When I first tasted it a few years ago, it had more sweet fig notes to it. You could just throw a big rock in there and it’s basically a cocktail. This year when I tried it again, it was a lot brighter with more clove and orange. I would gladly pay $25 a pour at a bar for a dram.

Old Forester 1910

Nicholas Karel, director of bars, lounges, and beverages at Windsor Court in New Orleans

ABV: 46.5%

Average Price: $55

Why This Bourbon?

Although difficult to find at times, the bottle retails for around $50. This expression mimics the bourbon produced when a fire broke out at the Forester distillery in 1910 which halted production and required that mature whisky be re-barreled until production could continue. The second-barreling affords 1910 a luxurious sweetness with notes of oatmeal, raisin, chocolate, and spice. I’d happily pay upwards of $80 for this unique bottle.

Wild Turkey 101

Adam Jacobs, lead Bartender at The London West Hollywood in Beverly Hills, California

ABV: 50.5%

Average Price: $25

Why This Bourbon?

I think Wild Turkey 101 is a very under-valued bottle of bourbon. It’s honestly one of my favorite bourbons overall, and you can pick it up at most places for around $20 a bottle. It’s a great sipper neat or on the rocks. The nose of tobacco and oak gives way to smooth flavors of vanilla and caramel, and their signature high-rye content gives it a spicy finish. Also, the above-average 101 proof helps it hold up in any cocktail that calls for bourbon. I love a Wild Turkey boulevardier. I’d gladly pay $50 plus for a bottle, but I’m glad it’s only $20.

Stellum

Christopher Rodriguez, lead bartender at Lucy Restaurant & Bar in Yountville, California

ABV: 57%

Average Price: $55

Why This Bourbon?

The most under-valued bourbon is Stellum. I enjoy anything that is higher than 100 proof because water can always be added to bring it to the proof you wish. Although Stellum is 114 proof, it is great on its own and is not overpowering.

Blade and Bow

Slava Borisov, mixologist at Adorn Bar & Restaurant in the Four Seasons in Chicago

ABV: 45.5%

Average Price: $50

Why This Bourbon?

The best under-valued bottle of Bourbon? Blade and Bow. It’s perfect for drinking on the rocks or tossing it into your favorite cocktail, either will do this bourbon justice. Created using a solera style system, some of each bottle contains bourbon from the original Stitzel-Weller Distillery that closed its doors in 1992. Diageo reopened the distillery in 2014 to bring you great bourbons like this and Blade and Bow 22 Year.

J.T.S. Brown Bottled in Bond

Anthony Aviles, director of operations at The Ritz-Carlton Members Beach Club in Sarasota, Florida

ABV: 50%

Average Price: $16

Why This Bourbon?

J.T.S. Brown Bottled in Bond is such an excellent value for a four-year, 100 proof bourbon from Heaven Hill. Being that it’s bottled in bond, you can expect to get some classic bourbon flavors (caramel, oak, vanilla) but it also has some interesting corn notes and hints of baking spice and cinnamon with surprising complexity. For the bourbon-beginner or value shopper, J.T.S. Brown Bottled in Bond is a must-have.

Eagle Rare 10

Steven Minor, corporate beverage director at 1 Hotels in Los Angeles

ABV: 45%

Average Price: $50

Why This Bourbon?

Hailing from Buffalo Trace, America’s most legendary and award-winning distillery, Eagle Rare is a Kentucky straight bourbon aged for no less than ten years. It drinks smooth with notes of toffee, American oak, and cacao and is my favorite in an old fashioned. Due to the wild popularity of Buffalo Trace juice, prices can vary but this bottle should retail between $55-75. Its older brother, Eagle Rare 17, which is part of the highly coveted and sought-after Buffalo Trace Antique Collection, is the stuff legends are made of and practically impossible to find.

Rebel Kentucky Straight Bourbon

Joshua Lopez, beverage manager at Osaka in Miami

ABV: 40%

Average Price: $18

Why This Bourbon?

When looking for bourbon, I’ll typically walk through my local liquor store and pick up a random bottle for around $20, sometimes you can find a gem. Rebel Kentucky Straight Bourbon was one of those finds. The notes include honey, almond, and walnut with a great spiced char that lingers just long enough. I’ve been playing with it as my “home whiskey” ever since and it holds up well in cocktails whether you’re sticking to a classic or riffing away and creating something new. I’d honestly pay up to $60 for this quality of bourbon, so I stocked up hoping to keep the secret safe a bit longer.

Elijah Craig Small Batch

Pascal Pinalt, director of restaurants and bars at The Confidante in Miami

ABV: 47%

Average Price: $30

Why This Bourbon?

Elijah Craig Small Batch is a straight bourbon made with corn, rye, and malted barley. You have a lot of different flavors of spices, fruits, and toastiness. Its rich texture makes it a little sweet and can easily appeal to anyone just starting to enjoy bourbon. I would not have any problems paying $50 for this bourbon.

Four Roses Kentucky Straight Bourbon

Nick Baitzel, beverage director of restaurant group Sojourn Philly in Philadelphia

ABV: 40%

Average Price: $20

Why This Bourbon?

Four Roses Bourbon is a phenomenal choice for the price. Located right in the heart of bourbon country and surrounded by some big names that fetch a hefty price for their bourbons, Four Roses continues to create a great product for a fraction of their competitors’ costs. It’s a smooth and mellow bourbon, I’d suggest drinking it on the rocks.

Old Grand-Dad Bonded

Christopher Devern, lead bartender of Red Owl Tavern in Philadelphia

ABV: 50%

Average Price: $20

Why This Bourbon?

For about $25, you are purchasing a classic bourbon that deserves its spot on any bar’s shelf. My preference is on a big rock or mixed into an old fashioned. With notes of caramel, vanilla, oak, cinnamon, and other baking spices this bourbon has a depth of flavor and is definitely has plenty of bang for its buck. I would be willing to pay more if needed.