Month: August 2022

Netflix’s The Sandman finally becoming a reality was a decade-long endeavor full of stops and starts. And apparently one of those almosts involved Michael Jackson starring in the Neil Gaiman adaptation in the late 1990s.

As Variety noted, Gaiman told a story on a podcast appearance in the aftermath of the show’s success on Netflix. Airing decades after the book’s release, the show has received high praise to say the least. But it could have been a completely different work if one early plan for the project ever came to fruition.

Gaiman appeared in the Happy Sad Confused podcast earlier this month and revealed that the biggest pop star in the world wanted to be in an early version of the now Netflix hit.

“By 1996, I was being taken to Warners, where the then-president of Warner Bros. sat me down and told me that Michael Jackson had phoned him the day before and asked him if he could star as Morpheus in ‘The Sandman,’” Gaiman said on Josh Horowitz’s “Happy Sad Confused” podcast. “So, there was a lot of interest in this, and they knew that it was one of the Crown Jewels, and what did I think? And I was like, ‘Ooh.’”

Jackson did once turn to sand on television, so that all does kind of check out I suppose. But it obviously never came to be. For one, Jackson was touring around the world and at the apex of his music career. But the main reason is that an on-screen adaptation of The Sandman took decades to make after a series of stops and starts. Gaiman, for one, even tanked a bad script in development by leaking the details to an industry blog.

It’s unclear why exactly Jackson’s whims were not met here, but given everything that came after that phone call it’s probably for the best Gaiman bided his time and the show was made as it was.

The Bourbon Bonanza has been raising money for charity for years now by auctioning off some pretty serious whiskeys. The event is usually held at the Kentucky Bourbon Festival every fall. Last weekend, it expanded and held its first West Coast version at The Ballard Cut in Seattle, Washington (one of our favorite whiskey bars in the country). I was lucky enough to get an invite to mingle and taste some serious vintage and new whiskeys at the event and let me tell you — there were some hardcore drams being poured for charity.

Before I dive into the best of the best that I was lucky enough to taste, let’s get a little context. Bourbon Bonanza is a charity auction where barrel picks, super rare bottles, and even whiskey experiences are auctioned off to support the CLR Academy (Community. Leadership. Revolution.). The Academy is a youth outreach and wellness program for kids in Michigan; it includes weekly programs with several sports alongside educational lessons (reading, math, etc.) with no costs to kids or their families.

To fund CLR programs, Bourbon Bonanza auctioned off a lot of high-end booze. A Willett barrel pick experience bid was above $130k when I left the party at The Ballard Cut. A five-bottle pack of Willett sold for north of $15k at auction the same night. There’s serious money in whiskey right now, folks.

Overall, there was a ton of Willett at the event. And while those bottles are worthy of review, they’re so hard to find that I’m only highlighting three of them below. I’m also highlighting some serious barrel picks from some of the best whiskey bars in the country. Alongside The Ballard Cut, Jack Rose Dining Saloon (DC) and Delilah’s (Chicago) were also in attendance and pouring their very own barrel picks — which you can actually buy from their bottle shops if you’re near those bars. So while these bottles are very elite, they’re not impossible to source.

Let’s just get to it!

Also Read: The Top 5 UPROXX Bourbon Posts Of The Last Six Months

• We Blind Tasted A Whole Bunch Of $30-60 Bourbons To See If Any Could Beat Weller
• We Blind Tasted Classic Bourbons And Were Shocked By The Winner
• The Best Ten-Year-Old Bourbon Whiskeys, Tasted Blind And Ranked
• We Tasted Bourbon Whiskeys ‘Double-Blind’ And Tried To Guess Each Bottle
• All The Double Gold-Winning Straight Bourbons From This Year’s San Francisco World Spirits Competition

Knob Creek Single Barrel Select Rye

ABV: 57.5%

Average Price: $50

The Whiskey:

This is Knob Creek’s famed rye whiskey in a single-barrel format. Those barrels are usually barreled at cask strength or cut down to a consistent 115 proof. In this case, we’re looking at a barrel pick by The Ballard Cut for their bar.

Tasting Notes:

The nose is full of green herbs like dill and mint next to a dollop of floral honey and plenty of barrel char. A hint of rye bread crust sneaks in early on the palate before black pepper gives way to dried chili pods, a hint of vanilla pudding with cinnamon, and dark cherries. The barrel builds with the spices on the finish before dark chocolate powder, candied pecans, and creamy vanilla smooth everything out for a soft finish.

Bottom Line:

This is a great place to start. It’s familiar yet very refined. There’s a great herbal sense that leads to a classic Kentucky rye vibe (spice and cherry with plenty of vanilla backbone). I like this over a single rock or mixed into a mean Manhattan.

Old Forester Single Barrel Barrel Strength Jack Rose Pick

ABV: 65%

Average Price: $99 (available in September)

The Whisky:

This is classic Old Forester from a single barrel of bourbon that’s not cut with any water. When you find these, they’ll generally be a pick from a retailer or bar program. This bottle was picked by the Jack Rose crew and will be available next month at the bar’s bottle shop.

Tasting Note:

There’s a clear sense of dark fruit, especially cherry, that becomes stewed with dark winter spices on the nose with a good dose of dry tobacco in an old cedar box that’s wrapped up in old leather. A hint of old dry roses sneaks in on the palate as those spices and syrupy cherry and berries intensify and attach to the chewy tobacco. The mid-palate sweetens with an almost rose-water marzipan vibe as the cherry tobacco dries out pretty significantly — leaving you with a sense of pitchy pine sap and your grandparent’s old tobacco pipe that’s still hot to touch.

Bottom Line:

This is an excellent example of both a barrel pick and an Old Forester. It’s deep and nuanced while still feeling comforting and kind of fresh. Amazingly, that high ABV was well hidden and there was almost no burn, which is kind of a magic trick at 65%.

JR Hughes Bros. Belle Of Bedford Straight Rye Whiskey Jack Rose 2022 “Kind of a Big Dill”

ABV: 55.435%

Average Price: $99

The Whiskey:

This rye whiskey is sourced from MGP of Indiana and bottled by JR Hughes Bros. in Pennsylvania. The juice is a 95 percent rye and five percent malted barley mash that then ages for over eight years. The crew at Jack Rose picked a single barrel from the JR Hughes Bros. stash for as-is barreling at cask strength.

Tasting Notes:

Fennel and a hint of caraway-crusted rye bread lead on the nose with a hint of salted black licorice next to sour dried cranberry, burnt orange peels, and a whisper of grilled pineapple with a drizzle of mint-infused honey. The palate leans into the herbal vibe with a mix of rosemary and thyme next to more fennel and a hint of flat leaf parsley before dried blueberries and tart salted cherries arrive with a vanilla oil underbelly and a smidge of singed cedar bark. The end hits that black licorice again with a whisper of sasparilla wood chips, papaya skins, and some dry oolong tea bags.

Bottom Line:

This was a delightful rye whiskey. A touch of water brought out a creamier sense of vanilla with a hint of dry espresso bean and maybe some cherry tobacco chewiness.

Point is, this is a stellar pour worth grabbing when/if you’re in the DC area.

Willett Estate Bottled Single Barrel Bourbon 9-Year Barrel no. 4380

ABV: 70.3%

Average Price: $2,450+

The Whiskey:

This is a barrel pick from The Ballard Cut of classic nine-year-old Willett bourbon with a crazy high proof. Willett’s barrels in the low 4000 (barrel number) range are their original recipe of 72 percent corn, 13 percent rye, and 15 percent malted barley. That juice goes into the barrel at 125 proof (or 62.5 percent ABV). In this case, it came out of the barrel concentrated down to 140.6 proof thanks to those angels pulling a hefty share over those nine years of aging.

Tasting Notes:

This is hot on the nose with a rush of bitter dark chocolate-covered espresso beans with an oily texture next to dark dried cherries with a sharp sour edge next to Red Hot cinnamon and a burning sense of dried red chili next to hints of spicy honey and maybe a little bit of root beer. The palate leans into the heat big time with a dose of sour dried red chili peppers next to sharp cinnamon and ginger spices before a crescendo of heat crashed toward a creamed honey and vanilla pudding with layers of old wicker, pine floorboards, cedar bark braids, dry straw, and a hint of tannic oak staves.

Bottom Line:

This really needed a rock or some water to calm it down. Once it was cut down to a lower proof, it was a delight. The creaminess of the vanilla and honey migrated toward a molasses rum-raisin vibe with a hint of cinnamon toast with plenty of butter and sourdough vibes.

All of that said, this is a collector’s item that you break out for very special occasions. Otherwise, this is an investment bottle that you squirrel away and then sell off for a down payment on a car in a few years.

Starward Single Malt Single Barrel Delilah’s Barrel Pick

ABV: 55.1%

Average Price: Bar only

The Whiskey:

This Australian barrel pick highlights the cask strength version of the beloved brand from Down Under. The whiskey is a single malt that’s aged for up to eight years in the hot yet mild Australian climate around Melbourne. The malt is aged in locally sourced American oak red wine barrels before the Chicago crew from Delilah’s picked one of them for their bar program. It was then bottled as-is (with no filtering) at cask strength and shipped to the U.S.

Tasting Notes:

The nose is rich and creamy with a sense of waxy dark cacao next to a latte made with oat milk and really good coffee beans next to a hint of vanilla tobacco leaf and sour cherries flaked with sea salt. The tartness fades on the palate as the cherry marries to the vanilla with a light sense of cherry pie with a scoop of vanilla ice cream before a rush of ABV heat peaks and then falls toward a mocha frappuccino vibe with a creamy foundation. The end has a hint of tannic oak stave next to dry sweetgrass and sour cherry tobacco packed into an old pine box.

Bottom Line:

This is another delightful pour. A little water lets the creaminess amp up with a vanilla sauce and fatty sour butter on a Southern biscuit feel. This is definitely worth seeking out the next time you’re in Chicago.

Willett Estate Bottled Single Barrel Bourbon 9-Year Barrel no. xxxx

ABV: 64.9%

Average Price: $2,450+

The Whiskey:

I forgot to write down the barrel number on this one but it was in the low 3100s. That means this is a high rye bourbon mash bill (52 percent corn, 38 percent rye, and ten percent malted barley) that’s aged for just north of nine years. The barrel pick (from The Ballard Cut) has a slightly lower proof than the bottle above.

Tasting Notes:

Singed vanilla pods and candied cherry stems lead to a hint of burnt sugars on the nose next to chewed cigar stubs and a dash of sticky toffee pudding spices (a lot of sharp cinnamon and soft nutmeg next to black tea bitterness). The palate leans into the tart cherries with a good dusting of smoked sea salt with a hint of stewed plums with a whisper of dill underneath and plenty of wintry spices adding to the heat of the mid-palate. The heat falls off dramatically as a sense of old porch wicker with a hint of black mold melds with worn saddle leather with a hint of wax next to dry bunches of cedar and pine kindling with an echo of maple syrup and pecan waffle underneath it all.

Bottom Line:

This was a pour I actually went back to and enjoyed as a simple drink of whiskey (instead of tasting and spitting for work). The depth of this whiskey is astounding, and you kind of start to get why these bottles are so revered in the higher whiskey tasting/collecting echelons while sipping this one.

Willett Estate Bottled Single Barrel Rye 9-Year Barrel no. 2047

ABV: 59%

Average Price: $450

The Whiskey:

Barrels in the 2400s are Willett’s high rye rye mash bill. That’s a juice made with 74 percent rye, 15 percent malted barley, and a mere eleven percent corn. That spirit is then left for nine years to mature until The Ballard Cut team came along and picked it.

Tasting Notes:

Bruised white peaches and nectarine skins mingle with apple seeds and stems that lead to a crunchy piece of sourdough rye bread with a light sense of sour butter flaked with salt and a whisper of dry fennel that then leads to dry espresso beans and waxy cacao nibs with a hint of burnt orange. The palate has a deep and dark cherry vibe that’s dried and almost smoked before a tart dried cranberry kicks in and mixes with creamy vanilla and burnt sugar vibe. The mid-palate warmth is very mild and leads to a mix of pine resin and dried green herbs with a slightly oily nature before a spiced sour cherry tobacco chewiness leads to old leather and bundles of dry reeds.

Bottom Line:

This is an outstanding rye whiskey. If you’re anywhere near Seattle and love whiskey, this is a must-buy bottle.

1986 Blanton’s The Original Single Barrel Bourbon

ABV: 46.5%

Average Price: $650+

The Whiskey:

This vintage bottle of Blanton’s is from the early days of the brand (it all started back in 1984). This Blanton’s was actually made and bottled by the legend, Elmer T. Lee, himself. That alone adds an aura of rarity to this pour. That aside, this is classic Blanton’s made at what is now the Buffalo Trace distillery in Kentucky back when it was still called the George T. Stagg Distillery. The single barrel juice was proofed down and bottled by hand … just back in the mid-1980s.

Tasting Notes:

There’s a clear sense of Christmas spices right away, leaning towards honey spiked with vanilla and an old cedar cigar humidor on the nose with a dash of worn leather boots and an echo of cherry wood kindling. The taste leans into freshly grated nutmeg with salted caramel kettle corn, more fresh honey and tart red berries. Vanilla husks mid-dominate the palate alongside a hint of freshly fried old-fashioned sourdough doughnuts dusted with raw sugar. The end hints at lush eggnog spice, dry vanilla pods, and salted butter toffee syrup with a dash of bitter black tea-soaked dates and meaty prunes wrapped in thin sheets of dry wicker.

Bottom Line:

This was vintage but somehow felt fresh. It was bright and fun and damn near airy while having a serious depth. Was it that different from a 2022 Blanton’s? That’s a much harder question to answer. But the short answer is “not by much.”

Overall, this is a collectible for a bourbon fanatic.

Caol Ila Single Malt Single Cask 13-Year Cask Strength Exclusive to Jack Rose

ABV: 59.4%

Average Price: $119

The Whiskey:

This Islay whisky is an iconic peated single malt. The juice is aged basically a stone’s throw from the briny and dark sea on the small island. Generally, Caol Ila releases a 12-year-old single malt that’s a blend of their best casks as an entry point to the brand. This is a year older and from a single cask that’s bottled completely as-is for Jack Rose in DC.

Tasting Notes:

There’s a subtle sense of the sea and runway tar on the nose that leads to a fruit orchard on a cool fall day when the fruit is fermenting in dead leaves on the ground and the bark is hardening on the tree with a hint of white moss and soft black soil. The palate has a sense of smoked floral honey with a dash of smoke prunes and pears next to a light sense of cold ash from the bottom of a Weber grill. The warmth on the palate is never overpowering and leads to a finish full of oily green herbs, dried pear chips, oyster pearls, and a sense of a pebble beach campfire on a rainy day.

Bottom Line:

This Islay single malt is a classic and beloved whisky (I rushed over to the table when I heard they were pouring this one). This is a masterpiece whisky. There’s really nothing more to say.

Vintage Boulevardier

The Cocktail:

Okay, this isn’t a pour of whiskey but it’s a whiskey cocktail and it was the highlight of the event. This is a vintage cocktail made with I.W. Harper bourbon from the 1980s. That’s when I.W. Harper was being made according to the “old formula” before it was changed in 2015.

The vermouth that was selected is a 1950s Dubonnet Rouge. As a fortified wine, that means that the vermouth was made with a red wine base and then accented with botanicals and sweetened with pure cane sugar.

The Campari from the 1970s is the real star of the show. Pre-2006 Campari was colored red by using crushed cochineal insects. To make the drink vegan friendly, they switched the recipe to a standard food-safe red dye. Campari diehards (like me) scoffed at this as the flavor did shift slightly from the original, and has since made vintage Campari a massive collector’s item for home bars.

Tasting Notes:

The botanical base of the Dubonnet really shines through on the nose with a hint of black currant, cinchona bark, and bright orange oils with a sense of Campari bitterness and old cellar walls and a dirt floor. The taste leans into the red bitterness of old and musty Campari with a hint of buttery and toffee-forward bourbon underneath it all. The finish is sharp and spicy with a sense of ginger snaps and cinnamon bark next to sweetened black tea and a hint of pine berries and allspice.

Bottom Line:

This felt like a once-in-a-lifetime cocktail. I had two. So… twice in a lifetime.

Tom Hanks aficionados will recall a time in 2014 when the Oscar-winning actor created an app called Hanx Writer, a typewriter app that was basically just like the notes app, but with cute little antique clicking sounds. Now, Hanks is launching another app, this time for trivia buffs everywhere who love to dunk on their friends for not knowing basic answers!

Hanx 101 Trivia will feature nearly 60,000 trivia questions touching on everything from history, art, geography, food, technology, business, and science. “Play, learn, compete and become a trivia master with ‘Hanx 101 Trivia,’ created and developed in partnership with actor and filmmaker Tom Hanks,” Apple said in a statement. Hanks narrates the gameplay, hopefully using his normal voice, and not one of his accents. The game was developed by BlueLine Studios.

The game lets you play on your own or against other teams in order to see who is the real trivia master, besides that one guy from The Rehearsal. Apple Arcade does require a subscription which you can get for $4.99/month. If you’d rather just hear Hanks ask a bunch of questions for free, you can sign up for a free trial, or just watch him guest star on Stephen Colbert’s segment “Big Questions With Even Bigger Stars.”

Hanx 101 Trivia will launch on Friday, September 2nd on Apple Arcade, and it will mark the first trivia game on the platform.

(Via Variety)

As a traveling hip-hop festival, Rolling Loud has had to change locations plenty of times, but usually, that’s just the city in question. Over the years, it’s gone from raging in Miami to taking over New York City and has even gone international with events in Toronto and Portugal. But ever since its first event in Los Angeles, it’s had to move venues with each successive year as it scales up and works around COVID-19 regulations, going from Banc Of California Stadium to San Bernardino’s National Orange Show Event Center.

The next event just might prove to be its biggest yet as it changes venues yet again. Today, the fest’s organizers announced the dates for the next Los Angeles-based event as well as its new venue: the Hollywood Park grounds in Inglewood, adjacent to the recently built SoFi Stadium in Inglewood. The show is scheduled for March 3-5, 2023 — which means no LA festival in 2022, but it’ll be the first time the fest takes place in LA since 2019 after 2020’s iteration was canceled due to COVID.

In addition to announcing the dates and new location, Rolling Loud also shared the pre-sale registration link. Stay tuned to find out whether Future ends up headlining yet another Rolling Loud when the show returns to within the Los Angeles city limits.

The Potomac River is one of the largest rivers in the United States, but it also has the reputation of being one of our nation’s grossest (more on that later). So, when Lorde played in Washington DC (located on the river’s east bank) last night (August 29), she attempted to connect with her audience by revealing she took a swim in the river. However, fans made is hilariously clear how grossed out they were by that story.

Between songs, Lorde told her audience, “I was thinking today, I was lying in the Potomac River.” That got a cheer because people at concerts love when things about their area are referenced by the performer. Lorde went on to note that one of her band members, a local to the area, took her there. She continued, “I love getting to swim in water where I’m playing. It makes me feel like I know you a bit better, somehow.”

Not long after the word “swim” left Lorde’s lips, the fact that Lorde actually lowered her body into the river seemed to dawn on everybody in the audience at once, as disgusted groans and some laughter loudly took over the room, as a fan-shot video shows.

For context, the river has a long history of not being home to the country’s cleanest water. In the 1860s, Abraham Lincoln used to complain about the smell. It’s a common myth that former president Lyndon B. Johnson called the river a “national disgrace” and while that’s not exactly true, he did say something pretty close to that at the Water Emergency Conference in 1965: “It is disgraceful. I was out on it last night and you can hardly go down the river without reflecting and wondering why we have been so shortsighted these years.”

For a good while, things didn’t get much better with the Potomac. In 2007, environmental group Potomac Conservancy gave the river a grade of “D-plus” and made note of intersex fish, not typically a natural occurrence in clean water, being found in it. Things have improved since then, though: In 2020 the same group gave the river a B grade and noted, “Industrial and agricultural pollution are down, native fish and other animals are returning, and more families than ever are turning to the outdoors for fun and relaxation.”

So, while the Potomac certainly has a reputation, maybe Lorde taking a dip didn’t actually warrant the horrified reaction it received.

Basically anyone who has an internet subscription can learn what Donald Trump is thinking about these days. Though he’s still banned from Twitter, he’s blasting content out to anyone who will follow at his own social media platform and generally spamming inboxes with press releases about all the ways in which the world has wronged him. As anyone who has stolen classified documents from the US federal government can tell you, life is very hard when you can’t trust.

Trump’s wife, Melania, however, has not said much about the raid of Mar-a-Lago in its aftermath. Which is curious because, according to Trump, his wife was also targeted in the raid by FBI agents. As Trump detailed on Truth Social on Tuesday, FBI agents “rummaged through” her clothing and personal items during the raid.

“Just learned that agents went through the First Lady’s closets and rummaged through her clothing and personal items. Surprisingly, left area in a relative mess. Wow!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

As CNN reported, the former president and first lady have separate bedrooms at the sprawling residence:

He was much angrier — exclamation-point angry — than Melania Trump, according to five people who spoke to CNN about Melania Trump’s recent activities under the condition of anonymity to protect personal and professional relationships.

“She cared, but not like he cared,” said a person familiar with the former first lady’s response.

“It annoyed her,” said another person of the search, who noted it was the invasion of her privacy that prompted her to get upset — not the nature of the investigation that sparked the search, or what it meant, or might possibly come to mean, legally, for her husband.

According to the report, the FBI warrant allowed agents to search “any space the former president frequents,” but the two bedrooms are just down the hall from each other. And the full story at CNN is certainly worth a look if you’re interested in Trump’s NFTs, which are pretty clearly a grift in its own right.

One NFT in the latter collection — each of which cost $50 — is of the former first couple with a digitally waving American flag and Mt. Rushmore in the background; another, the “45 First Lady NFT,” features Melania Trump and Donald Trump wearing tuxedoes, an official photograph from their time at the White House, used as their 2020 holiday card.

Though profits of USA Memorabilia NFTs are not publicly available — and attempts by CNN to obtain that information from the company were unsuccessful — the former first lady continues to promote the sales via social media.

Good luck to both with the NFTs and, you know, the FBI investigation into potentially serious wrongdoings.

[via CNN]

Recently, Megan Thee Stallion reiterated her belief that beef between female rappers is often instigated by fans in online stan wars after calling out another group responsible for plenty of the friction between women in hip-hop: the press. “Countless times, people have tried to pit me against Nicki Minaj and Cardi B, two incredible entertainers and strong women,” she wrote in a 2020 op-ed for The New York Times. “I’m not ‘the new’ anyone; we are all unique in our own ways.”

Over the weekend, another example of this phenomenon popped up, courtesy of another Big Apple-based publication, The New York Post. Seizing on a search optimization opportunity provided by Nicki’s Video Vanguard Award at the then-upcoming MTV VMAs, the Post published a history of Nicki’s feuds. However, the story included one iffy addition, Iggy Azalea, who was quick to call out the publication on Twitter in response to its link tweet. Seeing that the featured art for the story included Iggy, Cardi B, Mariah Carey, and Miley Cyrus, Iggy wondered, “Why am I on this? We’ve never said anything bad about one another. Y’all weird.”

Of course, a Barb account tried to offer video evidence of her dissing Nicki in the form of an old video interview in which Iggy was asked to choose between Cardi and Nicki’s music. In the video, which appears to be from 2018, when media were actively stoking a competition between the two rappers, who both dropped albums that year, Iggy admits that the reporter has put her in a tough position but honestly answers that she likes Cardi’s records more. Surprisingly, though, it was another Barb account that shut the instigator down, writing, “She didn’t pick based off ‘beef’ she picked off music she vibed the most that year…please be fr.”

Iggy replied graciously to her defender, writing, “That part. I can like whatever music i want lmaoooooooooo. A song is a song, I’m not part of y’all weirdo wars lol.”

So, yeah, the fans and the media both contribute to conflicts between female rappers — who, to be fair, sometimes just genuinely don’t like each other — and a lot of times, they’re just stretching the truth to fit a convenient narrative for attention. It’s okay to let more than one woman be successful in hip-hop, as we’re seeing right now. But that probably won’t stop fans fighting for their faves. Let’s just all do it responsibly, without resorting to putting down others.

Not much went right for Russell Westbrook during his first year in Los Angeles. After joining his hometown squad to much fanfare by way of a gigantic trade with the Washington Wizards, Westbrook struggled to fit in with the rest of the Lakers roster as the team missed out on the play-in tournament.

Part of the reason that was the case beyond Westbrook was the fact that both LeBron James and Anthony Davis missed extended periods of time due to injuries. James appeared in 56 games and Davis appeared in 40, while Westbrook played in a team-high 78. This, according to Jeanie Buss, made Westbrook worthy of praise in a recent interview she gave to Sam Amick of The Athletic, where she originally referred to him as the team’s best player.

“All I can say is that, from my point of view, (Westbrook) was our best player last year,” Buss said. “He played pretty much every single game, showed up, worked hard. You know, I would have loved to have seen what this team would have looked like if they stayed healthy. It’s really tough to win when Anthony Davis isn’t on the court. LeBron was hurt a lot of the season. But Russ showed up every game and played hard every night. And, you know, I just really appreciate him for who he is and what he brings to the team.”

Buss went on to correct herself and told Amick that “the word I should have used was ‘consistent.’” Regardless, the timing of Buss’ praise for Westbrook is interesting, as it has come in the midst of an offseason where newly-hired Lakers coach Darvin Ham has made clear that he has a plan for how he wants to use the former league MVP this season. But despite that, there have been a bevy a rumors indicating that Westbrook is likely to be traded before the season begins.

House Of The Dragon‘s breakout star Milly Alcock has been acting since she was a teenager, but she had never experienced anything like entering the Game of Thrones fandom. “It felt like that I had been literally picked up from Australia and someone had just dropped me in the middle of like the ocean with nothing around,” the actress recently explained to The Hollywood Reporter.

“I’d done Aussie television where our whole show’s budget is less than one episode [of Dragon]. I’d never been on a hundred-million-dollar set like that before,” she said, explaining that she shares traits with her character Rhaenrya, who is also going through a monumental life change. “Me and Rhaenyra had similar trajectories in our story — the way that we kind of navigated an unforeseen world we really expected to be in, and learned how to face those challenges.”

Despite the newfound responsibility, Alcock quickly became a fan favorite as the head-strong princess who is determined to do things her way. But, at some point in the season, Rhaenyra will be portrayed by Emma D’Arcy, as her older self. The two actresses wanted to meet, but they were discouraged from doing so thanks to director Miguel Sapochnik.

“Me and Emma were like, ‘Let’s meet up.’ We wanted to have a meeting with [Sapochnik] and have a discussion about Rhaenyra’s progression as a character,” Alcock explained. “And Miguel didn’t want us to meet — which was really interesting! So we never had that discussion. Miguel was like, ‘Just trust that you that you both have it.’ I think he was aware we would be trying to mimic each other.” Sapochnik was instead determined to keep them separate in order to make sure they didn’t feed off each other too much when it comes to the character.

It’s unclear if Alcock will continue to be shown in flashbacks once D’Arcy takes over, but hopefully, the two actresses were able to interact outside of their royal duties. Despite not meeting her other counterpart, Alcock was able to meet Emily Carey and Fabian Frankel before beginning filming. Plus, there are so many dragons to meet, it must be hard to keep track of everyone!

House of the Dragon airs on Sundays on HBO.

(Via The Hollywood Reporter)

One of the biggest talks of this year’s VMAs night came in the form of Taylor Swift’s 10th studio album announcement. Upon accepting her award for Video Of The Year, for All Too Well (10 Minute Version), she revealed that her new album would arrive on October 21 and that she would share more details “at midnight.”

At midnight Eastern time, following the MTV Video Music Awards, Swift took to Instagram to reveal the cover art and title for the album, Midnights.

“This is a collection of music written in the middle of the night,” said Swift in her Instagram post, “A journey through terrors and sweet dreams. The floors we pace and the demons we face. For all of us who have tossed and turned and decided to keep the lanterns lit and go searching – hoping that, just maybe, when the clock strikes twelve … we’ll meet ourselves.”

She continued, saying “Midnights, the stories of 13 sleepless nights scattered throughout my life, will be out October 21.”

Since Swift’s announcement, fans have been scrambling to figure out what this all means, as Swift is famous for dropping Easter Eggs in her posts, visuals, and album and single art. Some Swifties have theorized that Midnights may not be entirely composed of brand new recordings, but rather previously unreleased recordings from various eras of her 17-year-long career.

One Swiftie, who goes by lunarsneeze on Reddit, asked, “Do we think these are songs she’s written throughout her career and not just in the past few months??”

At the time of writing, Swift hasn’t announced any news regarding a single, or whether or not she collaborated with her go-to producer, Jack Antonoff, with whom she’s worked on her previous five albums, as well as the 10-minute version of “All Too Well.”

However, this Swiftie may, in fact, be onto something. With last year’s re-releases of her albums, Fearless and Red, she included re-recorded versions of the album’s original tracks, as well as tracks “from the vault,” which were recorded during those respective eras, but previously unreleased

If this Swiftie’s theory is correct, the album’s material may not be newly written, but more than likely, they are newly recorded, given the fact that Swift only owns her master recordings from her seventh album, Lover, on.

Either way, it looks like we’re gearing up for a sad girl autumn, with none other than Swift at the helm.