Month: March 2022

Daniel Radcliffe honestly did HBO a huge favor when he returned for the Harry Potter 20th anniversary special earlier this year. Despite being in the blockbuster franchise, Radcliffe has remained relatively distant from the role he took when he was a child, probably because he is a much better actor now, or maybe because he gets embarrassed watching his teenage self on film.

Whatever the reason, Radcliffe still gets asked about Potter years later, and he very politely answers the question, which almost always includes him saying he doesn’t want to be included in any more Potter movies.

While promoting his new movie The Lost City alongside co-stars Channing Tatum and Sandra Bullock, Radcliffe was inevitably asked if he would ever want to revisit the world, as there were rumors about a potential film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. He gave a pretty solid answer:

This isn’t the answer that anybody’s going to want, but I think I was so able to go back and enjoy it because it’s not a part of my day-to-day life anymore. I’m getting to a point where I feel like I made it out of Potter OK and I’m really happy with where I am now, and to go back would be such a massive change to my life. I’m never going to say never, but the Star Wars guys had like 30, 40 years before they went back. For me, it’s only been 10. It’s not something I’m really interested in doing right now.

This is a good point, as Radcliffe is still starring in some pretty well-known films (and cult classics) so he doesn’t need Potter as much as the fans want him to. Still, it’s clear that the franchise is still a huge part of his life, so perhaps we will get a Cursed Child live-action film in a decade or two.

Also of note is that Radcliffe believes Tatum’s upcoming movie Pussy Island has the “best title.” This man will be a brilliant Weird Al.

Jameson and Bushmills are two quintessential Irish whiskeys. They’re also the top two tipples in the U.S. when it comes to whiskey from the Emerald Isle. Though Jameson is by far the bigger seller, it’s hard to mention one without the other. Bushmills and Jameson feel like eternal competitors, the ultimate this-or-that order, like Ireland’s equivalent of Jim or Jack.

Related: We Blind Tasted Jack Daniel’s Versus Jim Beam To Pick A Final Winner

It’s a heated rivalry between supporters of the rival camps, with deeply entrenched biases and decades of contentious history. Thus, we figured the only fair way to truly settle this was with a blind tasting.

For this blind taste test, I poured two Glencairns and dove in like I would for any high-end pour of whiskey. This was about finding the minutiae that would separate these two powerhouses. That part turned out to be easy. It turns out, there’s much more separating them than just the fact that they come from opposite sides of the same isle. So much so that it became a real trial trying to put one over the other (even if I secretly was sure I knew which was which from very the first nose).

Anyway, enough talk, let’s dive in.

Part 1: The Tasting

Taste 1

Tasting Notes:

There’s a sense of lemon-infused shortcake that draws you in with a touch of buttermilk cut with honey that leads to an almost floral leather pouch. Sweet grains and dried dark fruits round out the nose. The palate is slightly malty with vanilla peeking in behind Christmas cake spices, roasted almonds, and sweet oak. The finish almost doesn’t happen but then kicks in with a (very light) creaminess that almost leans back into that buttermilk and honey as a light touch of that sweet oak lingers on a relatively short finish.

Taste 2

Tasting Notes:

This is vastly different on the nose with applewood and apple candies counterpointed by steak pie crust (no filling) with orchard blossoms, a touch of apple bark, and wet, almost creamy oats rounding out the nose. The taste starts off with a soft vanilla extract that leads to black licorice, spice malts, and Honeynut Clusters. There’s a rush of red berry candy on the mid-palate that leads back toward that licorice for a small moment before the creamy oats fade towards a soft caramel and dry reed finish.

Part 2: The Ranking

2. Jameson — Taste 1

ABV: 40%

Average Price: $30

The Whiskey:

Jameson is the classic tripled distilled Irish blend. The juice is a blend of single pot (unmalted and malted barley) and grain (mostly corn) whiskeys. Those age in oak — primarily ex-bourbon barrels with ex-sherry thrown in too — until they hit that classic sweet spot.

Bottom Line:

That creamy end couldn’t save Jameson this time. This had a great nose and first half of the palate. Then it faltered. The finish was mostly just “creamy” without any real sense of any particular flavor note. Had it been creamy almonds, creamy oats, or even creamy bourbon vanilla, at least it would have been distinct.

That all being said, this is a whiskey that’s built to be mixed, so drinking it neat might be asking too much.

1. Bushmills The Original — Taste 2

ABV: 40%

Average Price: $27

The Whisky:

This is Bushmill’s classic and “original” recipe. The grain and malted whiskeys from Northern Ireland are rested in ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks before they’re married, proofed, and bottled.

Bottom Line:

Maybe I’m just hankering for a good steak pie, but the nose on this was a little more enticing though very apple-heavy. Overall, the palate really ebbed and flowed with distinct flavors that built on one another, called back nicely, and felt well-rounded. This just spoke more to me today is what I’m getting at.

Again, this is really built to be a mixer, so treat it as one. That said, if you’re ordering a shot of something later to chase with a big ol’ pint of Guinness, I’d go with Bushmills. Then maybe order a Jameson and ginger once you’re full of Black Stuff.

The first game of the 2022 NCAA men’s basketball tournament featured an 11-seed beating a 6-seed, but given that was Michigan taking down Colorado State as a betting favorite, it was hard to call it an upset. Overall, favorites steamrolled through the early window of the first day of the tournament and through our first set of games, people were wondering when the madness would truly begin.

The Richmond Spiders heard the call, as the 12-seed in the Midwest region strolled into Buffalo and stunned the 5-seed Iowa Hawkeyes, 67-63, to advance to Saturday’s second round against Providence.

Richmond was battling from the beginning, taking a 29-28 advantage into the half, and had the normally high octane Iowa offense out of sorts, while taking advantage of some questionable defense from the Hawkeyes on the other end. In the second half, Richmond took control midway through, taking their largest lead at eight points with 6:13 to play on a Jacob Gilyard three, as the upset started to feel very real.

Gilyard led the Spiders with 24 points, six assists, and six rebounds, doing a bit of everything and looking like the best player on the floor for much of the night.

On the other side, Iowa simply could not buy a bucket from deep, shooting a dreadful 6-of-29 from three-point range and 24-of-66 from the field overall, as Richmond’s defense swarmed and took away the airspace from Iowa’s shooters.

Iowa star Keegan Murray was rather quiet for much of the second half but tried to pull the Hawkeyes back into it late, as his and-1 bucket pulled Iowa to within one with two minutes to go.

Richmond had the answer, pulling back ahead by six thanks to a tough and-1 finish from Nathan Cayo, who was 7-for-11 from the field for 15 points in the win.

The game wasn’t without a bit of controversy, as an apparent missed call on what should’ve been a foul on a three-point shooter with Iowa down three with a minute to play allowed Richmond to keep the Hawkeyes at arm’s length.

It was an impressive performance from a Richmond team that came in riding high thanks to an A-10 conference tournament win over Davidson to make the Big Dance, and now they’ll get a date with Providence for the right to reach the second weekend and the Sweet Sixteen — a place Iowa still has yet to see under coach Fran McCaffery since he took over in 2010.

Star Trek: Discovery pulled off a major casting coup for its Season 4 finale as political powerhouse and hardcore Trekkie Stacey Abrams appeared in the ending moments as the United Earth President. It was a huge moment that still surprises showrunner Michelle Paradise every time she sees it.

“Honestly, the number of times I’ve seen the episode, every time I see her face, I’m like, ‘Wow, that really happened. That’s awesome,’” Paradise said in an interview on how the show pulled off Abrams’ cameo. According to Paradise, the finale needed someone to play the United Earth President who channels “the right to pursue happiness, freedom, equality, diversity, participation.” Abrams perfectly fit the bill. Via IndieWire:

“We need a person to represent Earth. And then the question became: who should that person be? I don’t remember where the idea came from, honestly. But I texted Alex to say, ‘What do you think of Stacey Abrams?’ Immediately, [he sent] exclamation points. And he said, ‘Let’s set up a meeting. Let’s talk to her. Let’s see.’ So we did. And she was so kind. And we got on Zoom with her, and we pitched her where we were for the season and who this character was and what this character would represent. And asked if she would be a part of this with us. Honestly, I can’t think of anyone better to represent the president of Earth in all of that.”

As a proud Trekkie, Abrams even helped provide input on her costume and the script, which was a collaboration that Paradise said the production team welcomed. “It really was just such a treat to have her there and get to have her in Toronto on set.”

You can see a clip of Abrams’ Star Trek: Discovery cameo below:

(Via IndieWire)

Forget Benedict Cumberbatch, Oscar Isaac is Marvel’s “anchor.” The actor was Apocalypse in X-Men: Apocalypse; voiced Spider-Man 2099 in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (he’ll return for the sequels); and he’ll make his Marvel Cinematic Universe debut as the titular mercenary in Moon Knight. The Disney+ series is also Ethan Hawke’s first taste of the MCU, and the two became fast friends working together.

“A lot of it is Oscar, to me, to be honest with you. I find him to be a very exciting player in my field. I like what he’s doing with his life,” Hawke previously explained about why he joined the MCU, despite his criticisms of the stranglehold superhero movies have over Hollywood. “I like the way he carries himself, and I like the way he thinks.”

Hawke and Isaac have ran, reacted, and recruited together, and now they’ve made it Instagram official. “You tell me. Are Oscar and I playing footsie?” the Boyhood actor wrote on the photo sharing app, along with a photo of his foot touching Isaac’s. Or maybe Isaac’s foot is touching Hawke’s? It’s an important distinction. Either way, I think this comment speaks for us all: “This is too much for my heart to handle omg.”

Here’s what to expect from Moon Knight:

The series follows Steven Grant, a mild-mannered gift-shop employee, who becomes plagued with blackouts and memories of another life. Steven discovers he has dissociative identity disorder and shares a body with mercenary Marc Spector. As Steven/Marc’s enemies converge upon them, they must navigate their complex identities while thrust into a deadly mystery among the powerful gods of Egypt.

Moon Knight premieres on Disney+ on March 30.

Things got heated on The View on Thursday morning after guest host and former White House Communications Director Alyssa Farah attempted to defend Republicans who are suddenly attacking Joe Biden over the handling of Ukraine, but have nothing to say about Donald Trump, who was impeached for attempting to withhold military aid in exchange for President Volodymyr Zelensky announcing an investigation into Hunter Biden.

Whoopi Goldberg kicked off the discussion with a fiery condemnation of the GOP sitting on their hands while Trump was in office. Goldberg got so fired up that she had to stop herself from swearing on camera.

“I don’t remember them being concerned at all that there was an issue,” Goldberg said via The Wrap. “Particularly when the president of the Ukraine said, ‘Listen, we need this, we need to be able to defend ourselves,’ and he dangled! Where the hell were y’all? I don’t remember you giving a good, blessed…”

However, Farah jumped in to defend her fellow Republicans by saying that they would’ve voted differently during Trump’s first impeachment knowing what they know now. But this the line that really set Whoopi and the rest of the panel off: “I want to be abundantly clear though, Donald Trump is not president anymore and we have a humanitarian crisis.” That’s when the fireworks started.

“That doesn’t — I’m sorry. You cannot stand up and say, ‘he’s — hey this guy’s not doing his job.’ He’s doing what he’s supposed to do!” Goldberg fired back at Farah before Sunny Hostin jumped in. Via Mediaite:

“What I take offense at is the fact these people are suddenly all concerned now about what’s happening,” Goldberg replied.

Sunny Hostin then noted that just last Thursday, 31 Republicans voted against providing military aid for Ukraine.

“This is a lot of posturing by the Republican Party, and I think it’s despicable, and I think it’s disgusting, and I don’t think you should defend it,” Hostin said to Farah.

Farah defended herself by merely saying she was just giving “policy criticism” and not attacking Biden during “times of war,” which was greeted with frustrated sighs from the rest of the co-hosts.

(Via The Wrap, Mediaite)

With last year’s Pressure Machine, The Killers expanded into new Americana storytelling territory. Gone were the arena rock sounds that the beloved band built their behemoth following on. In their place, was heartfelt songwriting from Brandon Flowers about hard-luck folks in small American towns like his hometown of Nephi, Utah.

“It was the first time in a long time that I was faced with silence,” Flowers said in a statement about the album’s release. “And out of that silence, this record began to bloom, full of songs that would have otherwise been too quiet and drowned out by the noise of typical Killers records.”

Now the Pressure Machine Deluxe Edition is due out on March 25th, and it features a range of new versions of some of the album’s songs. Expect re-works of tracks like “West Hills,” “The Getting By,” and “Runaway Horses,” all in a new palette of sound.

Along with the Deluxe release, The Killers will also be premiering a live film, entitled Notes From A Quiet Town, on March 21st via their Facebook page. Set in Nephi, the film features not only three stripped-down performances from the band but also stories of American life from locals — just like the album’s deliberately placed interludes.

Check out a trailer for the film above and see the tracklist for Pressure Machine Deluxe Edition below.

1. “West Hills”
2. “Quiet Town”
3. “Terrible Thing”
4. “Cody”
5. “Sleepwalker”
6. “Runaway Horses”
7. “In The Car Outside”
8. “In Another Life”
9. “Desperate Things”
10. “Pressure Machine”
11. “The Getting By”
12. “The Getting By II”
13. “The Getting By III”
14. “The Getting By IV”
15. “The Getting By V”
16. “Runaway Horses II”
17. “West Hills II”
18. “West Hills III”

Pressure Machine Deluxe Edition is due out on 03/25 via BMG.

Years after Netflix’s MCU shows went down for the count, The Defenders line up (including Jessica Jones, Daredevil, The Punisher, and Iron Fist) finally ended their strange, rights-associated limbo and arrived on Disney+. This, of course, has led to some appalled rumblings from a parents’ association, but for the most part, things seem to be going without more controversy.

That is to say, no one can get upset about Disney+ censoring these more graphic (than general Disney+ Marvel shows) shows, either, because that ain’t happening. IGN even has a gleefully compiled list of all the eyebrow-raising moments left intact. Boy, the House of Mouse is hopping into various modes these days, but more to the point, Jessica Jones‘ jeans are definitely on Disney+ now, and the knit-furious star of the show is ready to toast the newest “Disney princess.”

I can dig it. And it’s honestly nice to really see — especially since Marvel explicitly condemned Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill — a reminder that Marvel can do more than make Captain America “language” jokes these days. Disney princesses don’t always have to be sweet and perfect, either. Sometimes, they can be badass, hard-boozing investigators, who finished their run alongside Hellcat and are sick and tired of Killgrave’s bullsh*t. And speaking of which, it’s always a great time to rewatch Jessica Jones.

Our family has gone through a passel of pets while raising our kids.

We started with a goldfish named Princess (who lived a surprisingly long life for a feeder fish we got at a festival). We’ve had several pairs of fancy rats, which really do make sweet, personable pets. We got our first cat when we moved to a place that allowed them, which as a lifelong cat person I was excited about. Then added a feline friend for him a couple of years later.

Finally, several years ago, two of our kids got rabbits. And honestly? If we had known how awesome bunnies can be as indoor pets, we would have skipped the fish and the rats—maybe even the cats—and never looked back.

---

The fish was interesting to look at. The rats were sweet and cute. (If you’ve never seen a pet rat wash its face or eat a Cheerio, you’re missing out.) Rats themselves are clean, but their cages get smelly pretty fast. The cats are great—again, always been a cat person—but ours are indoor only and the catbox situation is … less than desirable. They’ve also destroyed several pieces of furniture with their claws. Good thing they’re so entertaining and lovable.

But the rabbits have surprised me by having a leg up on all the other pets we’ve had. Here’s why:

1. They can be litterbox trained—and it’s way less stinky than a cat’s litterbox.

I had no idea that rabbits could be litter trained.

Rats can allegedly be litter trained as well, but we never had any luck with that with any of our pet rats. And cats are easy to litter train, of course, but cat pee and poo are smelly. It takes super expensive litter to cover cat pee ammonia smell, and if a kid waits too long to change the litter it’s … noticeable.

Rabbit pee doesn’t stink. I don’t know how, but it doesn’t. It barely has much of a smell at all, and the smell is just sort of “earthy.” Same with rabbit poop. It’s basically just digested hay, and it’s little dry-ish pellets that pick up easily. We often joke that it’s like picking up a Cocoa Puff, not that we have to pick up a lot of it because they generally keep it all inside their litterboxes.

It took less than a week for each of our rabbits to start using their litterboxes consistently. And their “litter” is just paper. Super easy to clean out their boxes, and again, super not smelly.

2. They’re adorable and unbelievably soft.

Bunny fur is so soft it’s unreal. The only thing I’ve ever felt that was softer was chinchilla fur. They do shed sometimes, so there’s a vacuuming element to having rabbits, much like there is with cats and dogs. Totally worth it, though.

There are a bazillion different rabbit breeds out there, with different-sized bodies, different fur types, different ear types and so on. But most of them are so darn cute. The way they twitch their little noses all the time? Precious. Their little bunny butts with their little bunny tails? Forget about it. I thought watching a rat wash its face was cute, but bunny face and ear washing is even better.

And eating lettuce? The little crunchy-munchy sounds they make? Gracious.

The number of “Awwww, he’s so cuuuute!” around here rivals when we had a newborn baby.

3. They do cute things with cute names like zoomies, binkies and flops.

Not only do rabbits do the cutest things, but the cute things they do also have the cutest names, such a:

Zoomies: When a rabbit gets a sudden burst of energy and starts racing around the room, it’s called a “zoomy.”

Binkies: When rabbits are happy, they’ll do a sudden, twitchy jump for joy, where they leap up in the air and sort of shimmy their body really fast. It’s my favorite thing. They do it out of nowhere, like their joy just overtakes them all of a sudden and they can’t help themselves. (Watch some bunny binkying above and witness the cuteness.)

Flops: When rabbits feel safe and content, they just flop over onto their side. Again, out of nowhere. You might almost think they fainted or died, but no, they just “flopped.”

I genuinely had no idea rabbits had such personalities. I’d only ever seen them in hutches or cages just sort of laying around, but when they are able to roam around, they’re delightfully entertaining.

4. They can be surprisingly smart—and fearless.

Wild rabbits are skitterish, so I expected our pet rabbits to be similar. Nope. Our bunnies can get spooked by loud noises, but they’re not at all afraid of people. They’re not even afraid of our cats. They’ll run right up to people and constantly try to get the cats to play with them. It’s hilarious.

And maybe it’s just our rabbits, but they’re surprisingly smart. My son’s rabbit kept getting out of his enclosure, and it took us a while to figure out how he did it because he’d only do it when no one was in the room.

You can also train them to do little tricks, like running around in a circle or jumping through a hoop. My kids have trained the rabbits to jump over their legs when they’re sitting, and all my daughter has to do is flick her finger and her rabbit will spin around for a treat.

5. They’re pretty low-maintenance as furry pets go.

I don’t want to oversimplify what it takes to have a bunny as a pet, and there are some downsides I’ll share in a moment. But as far as loveable, furry creatures go, rabbits are pretty low-maintenance. They eat hay and food pellets and fresh vegetables, they drink water either from a bowl or a water dispenser, and they need things they can chew on. There aren’t vaccines for pet rabbits in the U.S., so no need to keep up with those. They need their claws trimmed once in a while. And that’s about it.

So what are the downsides?

Chewing. The main downside with our two bunnies is that one of them is a major chewer. All rabbits like to chew, but if you give them enough things that are safe for them to chew on, they’re less likely to chew things you don’t want them to. But rabbit teeth are like razors and our chewer is particularly partial to cords—phone chargers, lamp cords, any type of cord really. He somehow manages to chew through pet-proof cord protectors as well, so he doesn’t get to roam around freely without a close watch on him like our other rabbit does.

Space is another issue if you can’t let them roam freely. Creating an enclosure large enough for them to run around in requires space that not everyone has. Our “free-roaming” bunny doesn’t even have a cage—he just roams around my daughter’s room and has a little linoleumed area where his litter box and food go. (Unlike cats, rabbits actually like to have their food near their litterboxes.) Like all animals, rabbits need exercise to stay healthy so it’s not great for them to stay in small hutches or cages all the time.

Finally, as the Humane Society of the United States points out, they’re not great for families with very young children. I’d wait until kids are old enough to understand how to handle them gently (they are more delicate than cats or dogs) and not make a lot of startling noises around them.

That’s really about it. As I said, if I had known the cost-benefit ratio of having rabbits as indoor pets, we would have started the kids off with them as pets from the get-go. In some ways, they’re even preferable to the cats—and coming from a lifelong cat person, that’s really saying something.

The firehose of propaganda and information lockdown in Russia has made it possible for Vladimir Putin to attack Ukraine without having to face a significant backlash in his home country.

Russians have falsely been told that their country is in danger because Ukraine’s government is full of neo-Nazis with nuclear ambitions. These lies have been spread unabated because the government will retaliate against any media outlet or social media platform that challenges its narrative.

In an attempt to share the truth about the war in Ukraine, actor and former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger recorded a nine-minute video explaining what’s really happening, directed at the Russian people.

---

Arnold Schwarzenegger’s message to the Russian people

See on Instagram

“The strength and the heart of the Russian people have always inspired me,” he said. “That is why I hope that you will let me tell you the truth about the war in Ukraine and what is happening there. No one likes to hear something critical of their government, I understand that. But as a longtime friend of the Russian people, I hope that you will hear what I have to say.”

Schwarzenegger hopes that his popularity and status as a private citizen can change some hearts and minds in Russia. The video is moving because he doesn’t just chastise Putin’s policies. He compares the struggles faced by Russian soldiers with the pain that his father endured after fighting in World War II on the side of the Nazis.

“I don’t want you to be programmed like my father,” Arnold said.

Arnold shared the truth about Russia

In the video, the “Terminator” star also shares the cold truth about the war, backed up by images of death and destruction to let the Russian people know about the horrors that are being committed in their name.

“The world has turned against Russia because of its actions in Ukraine,” he said. “The destruction that Russian bombs are raining down on innocent civilians has so outraged the world that the strongest global economic sanctions ever taken have been imposed on your country … This is not the war to defend Russia like your grandfather or your great grandfather fought. This is an illegal war!”

While it’ll be tough for Schwarzenegger’s message to make it past the iron information curtain surrounding Russia, his heartfelt effort to spread a message of peace should be applauded.