Month: August 2022

Two superstars are believed to have been available in trades over the last month or so. One, Kevin Durant, has since decided to return to the Brooklyn Nets after previously wanting to suit up elsewhere — Brooklyn’s ultra-high asking price meant that no one was able to send them a suitable deal for the former NBA Finals MVP, and as a result, the team is going to run it back.

And then there’s Donovan Mitchell. In the aftermath of the Utah Jazz’s decision to trade Rudy Gobert to the Minnesota Timberwolves, the team decided to embrace a full rebuild and make Mitchell available. They likewise are asking for a whole heck of a lot, but unlike the Nets, which never wanted to move Durant, Utah understands that moving Mitchell is a crucial step as it prioritizes its long-term future.

As for when Mitchell will possibly be on the move, the latest edition of ESPN’s The Hoop Collective hinted that something could be coming down the pipeline sooner rather than later.

“The Jazz are beginning their business,” said Brian Windhorst on the podcast. “They made their first post-Gobert move earlier this week when they traded Patrick Beverley to the Lakers.”

Windhorst mentioned that his co-host, Tim MacMahon, said that the plan in Utah was to move Mitchell before the team’s regular season opener, but then brought up that he heard the team doesn’t want to wait until October to get something back for Mitchell.

“It sounds to me, in talking to people around the league, that the Jazz want to try to go even sooner than that,” Windhorst said. “They want to go before training camp.”

The Jazz play their first preseason game on Oct. 2, 2022.

MGMT haven’t released an album since 2018’s Little Dark Age. Things got a little weird during lockdown, when lead singer Andrew VanWyngarden dropped the coronavirus, err… anthem, entitled “On No Corona.” The band got exploratory on the hazy, ambient “As You Move Through This World,” but as a famous internet philosopher once asked, “But what does it all mean??” Well, according to VanWyngarden, this experimental phase was just an incubator for an upcoming new album and MGMT will begin releasing new music in 2022.

On Reddit’s MGMT subreddit, a user was taking a stab at guessing a title for an as-yet-to-be announced “LP5,” when VanWyngarden, seemingly out of the blue, popped in to reply: “We have a working title!,” he said, adding, “There are irons in the fire and we have been busy. I had forgotten my login info, the mgmt drought ends this year.”

Fans were stoked that VanWyngarden popped in to give an answer straight from the horse’s mouth. One superfan said, “thx 4 the blessing, popes vandrewgarden & golbenwasser.” And then in a strange MGMT universe full circle moment, the fan who originally started the thread said, “Oh thats cool I didnt even realize this was commented on my post but I saw it was trending. Anyways im sick with covid so this makes me feel astronomically better. Have a wonderful day.”

They’ll have to listen to “Oh No Corona” on repeat in the meantime, but apparently, not for much longer.

Top Dawg Entertainment’s talented roster is back with a bark as Ray Vaughn and Isaiah Rashad team up for the slow burner “Dawg House.” Vaughn adds a slight pinch of melody into his verse, rapping with a strained voice. Isaiah Rashad joins later, picking up the pace with his animated vocal tone. It is a short offering, but in a world where TDE takes extensive breaks, it is more than welcome; not to mention the fun callback to Baha Men’s 2000s classic “Who Let The Dogs Out.”

For Ray Vaughn, “Dawg House” follows his 2022 singles “Mannequin” and “Picking Cherries.” The 25-year-old has gained a lot of steam since it was announced that he signed to TDE last year. With such a strong system in place, it is safe to assume his debut album is imminent and will impress.

As for Isaiah Rashad, he linked up with labelmate Zacari for “Bliss” back in June. The Chattanooga rapper has been riding the high of his comeback album The House Is Burning that came out in July 2021. The album featured SZA, Lil Uzi Vert, 6lack, Smino, and Jay Rock. He later shared a deluxe version in November with four new tracks, namely a remix to “RIP Young” featuring Project Pat and Juicy J.

Listen to “Dawg House” above.

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

If the FBI needs to return to Mar-a-Lago to retrieve more classified material, they might want to head underground. In what is largely a matter of pure coincidence, a new book reveals info that has been staring the world in the face for nearly a century: Donald Trump’s Palm Beach home and golf club has underground tunnels connecting its buildings, with one leading directly to the sea.

As The Week reports, this little nugget of news is mentioned in Andrew Kirtzman’s upcoming book, Giuliani: The Rise and Tragic Fall of America’s Mayor. Earlier this week, The Guardian revealed that the book tells the story of how Rudy Giuliani’s failed presidential run in 2008 hit the former New York City mayor pretty hard. So much so that Rudy fell into a deep depression and began drinking to excess, according to his then-wife Judith. It was Trump, of all people, who helped Giuliani heal. “We moved into Mar-a-Lago and Donald kept our secret,” Judith told Kirtzman. But it was a tiny detail noted in the story that has sparked a lot of people’s imagination. As Martin Pengelly wrote in The Guardian:

The former mayor and his wife, Kirtzman writes, moved into a bungalow across the street from Mar-a-Lago but connected by a tunnel underneath South Ocean Boulevard, one of many little known passages and rooms beneath the expansive resort. The secret route allowed the couple to come and go from Trump’s home without the media knowing.

Underground tunnel? While the floor plans for the sprawling estate have been available through the Library of Congress for years, this is the first many had heard about the passageways. And Twitter, as always, had some thoughts…

(Via The Week)

Wherever the phrase “you can’t argue with crazy” appears, Laura Loomer’s photo should be next to it. The MAGA-fied conspiracy theorist does not know when to quit — literally. Though she was hot to steal incumbent Florida congressman Daniel Webster’s seat from right out under him, and came frighteningly close to doing just that, she ultimately lost Tuesday’s primary by six points. But don’t try telling her that.

In the wake of her defeat, Loomer took a page out of Donald Trump’s playbook and stated that she would not concede as there was obviously voter fraud (funny how that always happens when MAGA diehards lose, but never when they win). Now, as Raw Story reports, Loomer is taking her fight one step further — and one giant leap toward anarchy — by just simply declaring herself the winner, the same way that Michael Scott would declare bankruptcy.

On Thursday, Right Wing Watch shared a Telegram post from Loomer in which she stated: “The Congressional seat in Florida’s 11th District is mine for the taking. And I will be the Congresswoman from Florida’s 11th District.”

But somewhere in between that sentence and the next she somehow decided that she already had taken the seat, despite losing the primary:

I actually am the Congresswoman in Florida’s 11th District, and everyone knows it.

“Everyone?” Loomer might want to try telling the Republican voters who chose Webster as their candidate that.

(Via Raw Story)

Coldplay recently capped off a run of concerts at London’s Wembley Stadium and the shows were eventful. During the Wembley stint, Coldplay covered the viral “Jiggle Jiggle” song,” Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill,” and Grease standout “Summer Nights” in honor of Olivia Newton-John. The shows were surely memorable for all who had the pleasure of attending, but there’s one fan who perhaps had the strongest takeaway of all.

At the August 20 show, a fan named Mattie Jolley brought a sign that read, “Chris design my tattoo please.” Jolley told LadBible that Martin had noticed him “throughout the show.” He continued, “After four more songs the band started ‘Fix You.’ Chris was kneeling on the stage, he looked for me and made a gesture to say get your pen ready. At the point I was in shock, I was shaking so much trying to get my pen and pad out. Then he came down the stairs of the stage, looked at me while he continued to sing ‘Fix You,’ as if it was being sung to me.”

A video of the moment shows Martin drawing the tattoo as he kept singing the song.

“As soon as it happened, I burst into tears realizing what had just happened and I was more in shock,” Jolley said.

He also noted of the design, “He drew a really cool love heart, which has a cool-looking infinity sign around it. I haven’t finalized exactly what I’m going to get, but I would like to get the drawing with the words ‘Never Give Up’ and the Love Button [nonprofit organization supported by Martin] logo.”

Coldplay is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Following Friday’s release of the heavily-redacted affidavit that sparked the FBI search of Mar-a-Lago, Donald Trump immediately launched into spin mode and actually tried to say that the unsealed document actually looks great for him because there’s no mention of him having nuclear secrets. Which is true because, again, the whole thing is heavily redacted. A fact that is clearly visible with our own eyes, and also, Trump emphasizing it with three exclamation points in his reaction to the affidavit’s release on Truth Social.

Trump also made it a point to mention Barack Obama in an attack on Judge Bruce Reinhart even though he was appointed to the federal judiciary by, you’ll never believe this, Donald Trump. Via Mediaite:

Affidavit heavily redacted!!! Nothing mentioned on “Nuclear,” a total public relations subterfuge by the FBI & DOJ, or our close working relationship regarding document turnover – WE GAVE THEM MUCH. Judge Bruce Reinhart should NEVER have allowed the Break-In of my home. He recused himself two months ago from one of my cases based on his animosity and hatred of your favorite President, me. What changed? Why hasn’t he recused himself on this case? Obama must be very proud of him right now!

Meanwhile, on Twitter, a social platform that’s not owned by Trump, the unsealed affidavit immediately started trending following its release. Despite large portions of it being redacted, what was available to see did not bode well for the former president. There appear to be several mentions of foreign agents and an entire page of witnesses who have already cooperated with the investigation.

You can see some of the reactions below, and the consensus is pretty clear. All of this looks very bad for Trump:

(Via Mediaite)

This article originally appeared on 06.03.16

I first saw a psychiatrist for my anxiety and depression as a junior in high school.

During her evaluation, she asked about my coursework. I told her that I had a 4.0 GPA and had filled my schedule with pre-AP and AP classes. A puzzled look crossed her face. She asked about my involvement in extracurricular activities. As I rattled off the long list of groups and organizations I was a part of, her frown creased further.

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Finally, she set down her pen and looked at me, saying something along the lines of “You seem to be pretty high-functioning, but your anxiety and depression seem pretty severe. Actually, it’s teens like you who scare me a lot.”

Now I was confused. What was scary about my condition? From the outside, I was functioning like a perfectly “normal” teenager. In fact, I was somewhat of an overachiever.

I was working through my mental illnesses and I was succeeding, so what was the problem?

I left that appointment with a prescription for Lexapro and a question that I would continue to think about for years. The answer didn’t hit me all at once.

Instead, it came to me every time I heard a suicide story on the news saying, “By all accounts, they were living the perfect life.”

It came to me as I crumbled under pressure over and over again, doing the bare minimum I could to still meet my definition of success.

It came to me as I began to share my story and my illness with others, and I was met with reactions of “I had no idea” and “I never would have known.” It’s easy to put depression into a box of symptoms.

Even though we’re often told that mental illness comes in all shapes and sizes, I think we’re still stuck with certain “stock images” of mental health in our heads.

When we see depression and anxiety in adolescents, we see teens struggling to get by in their day-to-day lives. We see grades dropping, and we see involvement replaced by isolation. But it doesn’t always look like this.

And when we limit our idea of mental illness, at-risk people slip through the cracks.

We don’t see the student with the 4.0 GPA or the student who’s active in choir and theater or a member of the National Honor Society or the ambitious teen who takes on leadership roles in a religious youth group.

No matter how many times we are reminded that mental illness doesn’t discriminate, we revert back to a narrow idea of how it should manifest, and that is dangerous.

Recognizing this danger is what helped me find the answer to my question.

Watching person after person — myself included — slip under the radar of the “depression detector” made me realize where that fear comes from. My psychiatrist knew the list of symptoms, and she knew I didn’t necessarily fit them. She understood it was the reason that, though my struggles with mental illness began at age 12, I didn’t come to see her until I was 16.

If we keep allowing our perception of what mental illness looks like to dictate how we go about recognizing and treating it, we will continue to overlook people who don’t fit the mold.

We cannot keep forgetting that there are people out there who, though they may not be able to check off every symptom on the list, are heavily and negatively affected by their mental illness. If we forget, we allow their struggle to continue unnoticed, and that is pretty scary.

This article originally appeared on 05.27.16

Pregnant.

There it was, clear as day, two blue lines staring back at me from the small pregnancy test I had just purchased.

I double-checked…

One line = not pregnant.

Two lines = pregnant.

Photo via iStock.

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Yup, I was definitely pregnant.

My heart was pounding.

My head was spinning.

My stomach was churning.

I was nervous, excited, scared, and ecstatic all at the same time.

This was actually happening! After years of dreaming, preparing for, and anticipating this day, it was finally here. I was going to be a mother.

Little did I know that in nine short months, I would begin the most exhausting, life-changing, heart-wrenching, but indescribably rewarding journey of my life.

In nine months, I would learn the price of motherhood firsthand. I would know exactly what it takes to be a mother. I would gain a whole new understanding of and gratitude for the beautiful woman I call Mom.

I would learn about things mothers experience that their children often know very little about.

Here are 10 things your mom never told you.

1. You made her cry … a lot.

She cried when she found out she was pregnant. She cried as she gave birth to you. She cried when she first held you. She cried with happiness. She cried with fear. She cried with worry. She cried because she feels so deeply for you. She felt your pain and your happiness and she shared it with you, whether you realized it or not.

2. She wanted that last piece of pie.

But when she saw you look at it with those big eyes and lick your mouth with that tiny tongue, she couldn’t eat it. She knew it would make her much happier to see your little tummy be filled than hers.

3. It hurt.

When you pulled her hair, it hurt; when you grabbed her with those sharp fingernails that were impossible to cut, it hurt; when you bit her while drinking milk, that hurt, too. You bruised her ribs when you kicked her from her belly; you stretched her stomach out for nine months; you made her body contract in agonizing pain as you entered this world.

4. She was always afraid.

From the moment you were conceived, she did all in her power to protect you. She became your mama bear. She was that lady who wanted to say no when the little girl next door asked to hold you and who cringed when she did because in her mind no one could keep you as safe as she herself could. Her heart skipped two beats with your first steps. She stayed up late to make sure you got home safe and woke up early to see you off to school. With every stubbed toe and little stumble, she was close by; she was ready to snatch you up with every bad dream or late-night fever. She was there to make sure you were OK.

She stayed up late to make sure you got home safe and woke up early to see you off to school.

5. She knows she’s not perfect.

She is her own worst critic. She knows all her flaws and sometimes hates herself for them. She is hardest on herself when it comes to you, though. She wanted to be the perfect mom, to do nothing wrong — but because she is human, she made mistakes. She is probably still trying to forgive herself for them. She wishes with her whole heart that she could go back in time and do things differently, but she can’t, so be kind to her and know she did the best she knew how to do.

6. She watched you as you slept.

There were nights when she was up ’til 3 a.m. praying that you would finally fall asleep. She could hardly keep her eyes open as she sang to you, and she would beg you to “please, please fall asleep.” Then, when you finally fell asleep, she would lay you down, and all her tiredness would disappear for a short second as she sat by your bedside looking down at your perfect cherub face, experiencing more love than she knew was possible, despite her worn-out arms and aching eyes.

7. She carried you a lot longer than nine months.

You needed her to. So she did. She would learn to hold you while she cleaned; she would learn to hold you while she ate; she would even hold you while she slept because it was the only way she could sometimes. Her arms would get tired, her back would hurt, but she held you still because you wanted to be close to her. She snuggled you, loved you, kissed you, and played with you. You felt safe in her arms; you were happy in her arms; you knew you were loved in her arms, so she held you, as often and as long as you needed.

Her arms would get tired, her back would hurt, but she held you still because you wanted to be close to her.

8. It broke her heart every time you cried.

There was no sound as sad as your cries or sight as horrible as the tears streaming down your perfect face. She did all in her power to stop you from crying, and when she couldn’t stop your tears, her heart would shatter into a million little pieces.

9. She put you first.

She went without food, without showers, and without sleep. She always put your needs before her own. She would spend all day meeting your needs, and by the end of the day, she would have no energy left for herself. But the next day, she would wake up and do it all over again because you meant that much to her.

10. She would do it all again.

Being a mom is one of the hardest jobs anyone can do, and it will take you to your very limits sometimes. You cry, you hurt, you try, you fail, you work, and you learn. But, you also experience more joy than you thought was possible and feel more love than your heart can contain. Despite all the pain, grief, late nights, and early mornings you put your mom through, she would do it all again for you because you are worth it to her.

So, next time you see her, tell your mom thank you; let her know that you love her. She can never hear it too many times.

The fact that we live on a planet where birds can talk is so unbelievably weird that sometimes we forget it happens.

Yes, they mimic human voices (as well as other sounds) but it’s not just random repetition. Parrots are wicked smart. Research has shown that they have sophisticated problem-solving capabilities, can communicate what they want and can do basic addition and subtraction. They can even understand the concept of zero.

So when a pet parrot talks, they really are talking. The more their vocabulary grows, the more they can genuinely communicate. And the more they communicate, the more we are amazed by the fact that they can.

One pet parrot named Kiwi has taken TikTok by storm with his funny phrases and adorable affections, and it’s not hard to see why so many of his videos have gone viral.

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Kiwi’s owner, Tamara, calls him her “blue chicken.” He’s actually an Indian ringneck parrot (also called a parakeet) but he’s very, very blue. Tamara shared her first video of him shortly after she got him in June 2020 and she shared her first video of him saying some phrases in December of the same year.

Since then, his vocabulary has grown as has his personality. Check him out having a chat with her while she was getting ready to go out:

@tamarasbluechicken

Come on baby 🥰🥺 #irn #parrot #mybaby #canada #novascotia #doritosflatlife

That head nod is something else. We see him do the “Muuahh!” kiss in that video, but he’s grown more and more expressive with it, in addition to asking her for kisses.

@tamarasbluechicken

Momma’s baby boy 🐓 ❤️ #irn #parrot #canada #funnyanimals

He has also added zerberts and boops to his repetoire, and oh my goodness.

@tamarasbluechicken

Blue Chicken’s 2nd Birthday is next week! Stay tuned for the surprise 🎂 🎉 #funnypets #parrot #irn #funnyanimals #talkingparrot #thebluechicken

He really wanted that third zerbert. Too cute.

Tamara occasionally shares little details about bird behavior in her videos. For instance, here she shares that heart-shaped wings indicated the bird is feeling happy and loving.

@tamarasbluechicken

Heart shapped wings means a happy loving bird, even when mom tries to eat him 😅💙 #talkingparrot #talkingbird #cutepet #parrot #bird #funnyanimals #funnypets #indianringneck #fyp #bluechicken #canada #novascotia #funnyparrot

Some of Tamara’s videos have gotten millions of views, but that one has more than 100 million views. People just adore Kiwi and his sweet affections.

One person wrote, “Instead of a man, I’m getting a bird.” Understandable. Kiwi’s emotional expressiveness is pretty epic.

He’s even chatty with his own self in the camera, which is pretty hilarious.

@tamarasbluechicken

If Only He Had The Red Carpet For His little Waddle 😫💅🏼 #parrot #talkingparrot #redcarpet #cutepets #funnyanimals #bird #indianringneck #bluebird #fyp

“What’s up, Kiwi? Wanna treat treat?” So much fun.

However, before running out and buying a parrot, make sure you know what you’re getting into. These birds are highly intelligent and social and therefore need a lot of interaction. Parrots, especially the larger varieties, live long lives, so it’s a longer-term commitment than most pets. Not all parrots talk, and sometimes they can form a strong bond with one person but be hostile to everyone else. It takes a specific kind of person with a certain lifestyle to enjoy and be successful at parenting a parrot.

Watching Tamara and Kiwi interact might be the best way for the majority of us to enjoy these fascinating creatures. You can follow them on TikTok at @tamarasbluechicken.