Month: October 2022

Victor Wembanyama arrived in the United States this week to play his first basketball games under NBA rules as his Metropolitans 92 squad faced off in a pair of preseason games with the G League Ignite in Las Vegas. The presumptive No. 1 pick in this year’s draft carried lofty expectations coming in but still left everyone who watched him awestruck with his ludicrous abilities, as evidenced by back-to-back 30-plus point games where he put his full skillset on display.

On Thursday, Wembanyama’s squad topped the Ignite after fellow top prospect Scoot Henderson left in the first quarter with a bone bruise after banging knees with Victor. Wembanyama put up 36 points, 11 rebounds, and four blocks as he did a bit of everything, dominating inside and out and leaving everyone with the same question: How is anyone supposed to stop this guy?

It’s not just fans and scouts that are baffled with what you’re supposed to do with Wemby, but current all-world NBA players can’t help but heap praise on his unique abilities. Stephen Curry called him a “2K create-a-player…with cheat codes” while LeBron James said he was a “generational” talent who does things he’s never seen on a court.

After Thursday’s win, Wembanyama was asked about James’ comments and said it was an honor, but also showed why his mentality is also appealing to scouts, as he noted he’s gotta keep a level head because he “didn’t do anything yet” in the NBA and has to keep earning it to achieve his goals.

That speaks volumes about Wembanyama’s maturity, as it’d be very easy for him to get gassed up by all the praise he’s receiving. Instead, he knows it only matters if he backs it up and knows that’s something that can only come with time and continuing to put in the work to get better.

That combination of skill, size, and mentality is a pretty terrifying proposition, and is why we’re set for an all-time tank-off this season in the NBA as teams look to Win Nada For Wembanyama.

In a beer marketplace where everyone seems to be obsessed with trying the newest, hottest beers and tagging them on Untappd, BeerAdvocate, and other apps and sites, sometimes it’s nice to take a break and give some respect to the classics. You know, kick back and just enjoy a great beer even if you’ve already tried it before. Brewers don’t make beer to be only enjoyed once and then tagged for your followers. A good beer can be returned to time and again as your palate and tastes evolve.

When it comes to the US craft beer world, it’s hard to beat the importance of the American pale ale. Like many beer styles, the pale ale’s history began in England. But it wasn’t until the folks at Sierra Nevada decided to use Cascade hops in the 80s that the American pale ale was truly born. This citrus-driven, floral, piney, Americanized version of the traditional beer has become the basis for all the American pale ales to follow.

While breweries all over the US continue to brew pale ales in this style, today we want to pay tribute to the OGs. We’re talking about the pale ales, including Sierra Nevada, that have been around for longer than many of us have been alive (and are still being brewed today). Keep scrolling to see eight of our favorites, ranked in terms of balance, complexity, and overall flavor.

8) Magic Hat #9

ABV: 5.1%

Average Price: $16.99 for a twelve-pack

The Beer:

There was a time when the Vermont-based brewery Magic Hat was cranking out all kinds of boundary-pushing beers. Today, they limit themselves to some random releases and their flagship Magic Hat #9. This “not quite pale ale” is fruity, slightly bitter, and gets a sweet kick from the addition of apricot.

Tasting Notes:

The nose is fairly light with some wet grass, light caramel malts, ripe fruity apricot, and floral hops. The palate isn’t much more exciting with a mixture of sweetness and bitterness. It’s crisp, light, highly drinkable, and has a subtle apricot flavor. It’s not unpalatable, it just resembles a hard seltzer more than a beer.

Bottom Line:

There’s a reason Magic Hat still makes this beer above all others. It’s a classic, refreshing, lightly flavored beer. There’s nothing negative to say about it except the fact that it’s a little more on par with your favorite hard seltzer than the best of this genre.

7) Oskar Blues Dale’s Pale Ale

ABV: 6.5%

Average Price: $10.99 for a six-pack

The Beer:

Oskar Blues Dale’s Pale Ale might not be as old as some of the beer’s on this list, but you might be surprised to learn that it’s been brewed for more than twenty years. This award-winning, 6.5% ABV pale ale is known for its pale malts and citrus-centric hops.

Tasting Notes:

Grapefruit, tangerine, and herbal, earthy, piney hops make up this beer’s nose. The palate follows suit with lightly sweet, bready malts, lemon peel, grapefruit, and a wallop of resinous, earthy, floral, piney hops. This beer has everything pale ale fans crave, it’s just a little too bitter on the backend.

Bottom Line:

There’s a reason Oskar Blues Dale’s Pale Ale is a popular beer. It’s well-balanced and full of bold flavors. The hops are a bit aggressive for some palates though.

6) Sweetwater 420 Extra Pale Ale

ABV: 5.7%

Average Price: $10.99 for a six-pack

The Beer:

Atlanta’s SweetWater is a popular brewery for fans of hoppy beers. Its flagship 420 Extra Pale Ale scratches that itch with 2-row and Munich malts, wheat, and Midnight wheat, as well as Centennial and Cascade hops. As a bonus, it’s dry-hopped with even more Cascade hops.

Tasting Notes:

With the name “Extra Pale Ale,” you should know what you’re getting into with this beer. Right off the bat, the nose is “extra” with aromas of citrus peels, tropical fruits, and dank, piney hops. Drinking it reveals bready, sweet malts that set the stage for herbal, earthy, resinous hops, and fruity, citrus flavors. The finish is dry but surprisingly low on bitterness.

Bottom Line:

Sure, we don’t want aggressively bitter hops at the finish, but we also don’t want a pale ale to taste slightly watered down. That’s ~kinda~ what we get with this beer.

5) Drake’s 1500

ABV: 5.5%

Average Price: $11.99 for a six-pack

The Beer:

Drake’s Brewing doesn’t follow the usual path of American pale ale brewers with its 1500 Pale Ale. Instead of simply opting for Cascade and maybe one other hop variety, this hop monster is brewed with the aforementioned Cascade as well as Hallertau Mandarina, Lemondrop, Simcoe, and Amarillo hops.

Tasting Notes:

Aromas of bready malts, honey, tangerine, grapefruit, and earthy, floral, pine are notable on the nose. The palate consists of lightly sweet malts, hop oils, citrus peels, light acidity, and bold, yet not over-the-top bitterness at the finish. It’s lightly spicy, but a little watery overall.

Bottom Line:

Drake’s 1500 isn’t your average pale ale. It’s loaded with various hops and is very complex. Its only downfall in my book is that the flavors aren’t bold enough. It’s a bit muted.

4) Deschutes Mirror Pond

ABV: 5%

Average Price: $10.99 for a six-pack

The Beer:

This 5% ABV, year-round pale ale doesn’t mess around with a long list of ingredients. It’s brewed simply with 2-row, Crystal, Munich, and Carapils malts as well as Cascade hops. Malty, hoppy, and classic.

Tasting Notes:

This sessionable pale ale starts with aromas of orange rind, lemon zest, wet grass, caramel malts, and dank pine. The palate is more of the same with tangerines, grapefruit, lemon candy, caramel, and resinous pine. The finish is a nice mix of caramel malts and citrus, piney, slightly bitter hops.

Bottom Line:

While some brewers get heavy-handed with aggressive hops, Deschutes does it right by tempering citrus, piney Cascade hops with sweet, caramel malts.

3) Half Acre Daisy Cutter

ABV: 5.2%

Average Price: $12 for a four-pack of 16-ounce cans

The Beer:

Daisy Cutter isn’t a super old pale ale, but it’s been around long enough to gain a cult following. It started as a special release in 2009 and is known for its mix of tropical fruits, biscuit-like malts, pine needles, and a dry finish.

Tasting Notes:

Complex aromas of candied orange peels, lemon zest, grapefruit, biscuit-like malts, and dank pine are prevalent on the nose. On the palate, you’ll find notes of bready, biscuity malts, caramel candy, tangerine, grapefruit juice, and resinous, bold pine. There is an added kick of bitter, floral hops at the finish, but not overly aggressive.

Bottom Line:

Half Acre Daisy Cutter is one of the most popular, well-rated pale ales for a reason. It’s complex and well-balanced with bready, biscuity, caramel malts, and fruity, piney hops.

2) Sierra Nevada Pale Ale

ABV: 5.5%

Average Price: $10.99 for a six-pack

The Beer:

Sierra Nevada Pale Ale is the beer that started a revolution. In 1980, Ken Grossman used newly created Cascade hops to give his pale ale citrus, floral, piney flavors unmatched in that era’s beer scene. Still made today, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale is the measuring stick for all other American pale ales.

Tasting Notes:

A nose of grapefruit, orange peels, lemongrass, biscuit-like malts, and bright, aromatic pine greets you before the first sip. The palate doesn’t disappoint with notes of grapefruit, caramel, biscuit malts, tangerine, and bold, piney, dank hops. The finish is a mix of dry, sweet, pleasing bitterness.

Bottom Line:

It’s difficult to beat the original. That’s the case with Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. Imitated by many, but few are as good as the real thing.

1) 3 Floyds Zombie Dust

ABV: 6.5%

Average Price: $14.99 for a six-pack

The Beer:

Even before the world became obsessed with zombie movies and television shows, there was 3 Floyds Zombie Dust. 2010 was not only the year the first season of The Walking Dead aired, but it was also the year Zombie Dust, a 6.5% ABV sublimely hopped pale ale was first released.

Tasting Notes:

Bold aromas of pineapple, grapefruit, orange peels, lemon, wet grass, caramel malts, and pine needles are notable on the nose. Drinking it brings forth notes of tropical fruits, grapefruit, lemon zest, sweet malts, and earthy, herbal, floral, dank hops. The finish is bittersweet with more citrus and tropical fruit flavors.

Bottom Line:

This complex, fruity, citrus-filled pale ale is so good it needs to be imbibed to be believed. Even with its artwork and silly name, it’s definitely not a gimmick beer. It’s the real deal.

Some days, the Cinema Gods smile down upon us and reward our offerings with a hearty thumbs up and a release date that brings a desperately-needed movie closer to our eyeballs. One of those magic days is today, because while Dank Brandon was making big moves toward legalizing marijuana, Rian Johnson was announcing that Glass Onion will be in theaters a full month before its initial Netflix release date. According to Variety, the return of Benoit Blanc will screen in 600 theaters November 23-29. Cue the Fryhandinghismoneyover.gif and a majestic celebratory dance because Christmas is in November this year.

This is huge news for everyone who needs something to do with their relatives over Thanksgiving besides talking. The film features Daniel Craig returning as the Foghorn Leghorn-sounding detective to solve another murder with Edward Norton, Janelle Monáe, Kathryn Hahn, Leslie Odom Jr., Jessica Henwick, Madelyn Cline, Kate Hudson and Dave Bautista in tow.

“I’m over the moon that Netflix has worked with AMC, Regal and Cinemark to get Glass Onion in theaters for this one of a kind sneak preview,” Johnson said in a statement. “These movies are made to thrill audiences, and I can’t wait to feel the energy of the crowd as they experience Glass Onion. Between this and the release on Netflix in December, I’m excited that audiences around the world will be able to enjoy the film!”

Urging people to go to theaters is dicey these days, but this is a thrilling opportunity for everyone who feels safe doing so.

(via Variety)

Google is regularly tweaking its doodle for holidays and other special occasions, but they also will sometimes create a fun easter egg for certain movies, shows, or games.

On Thursday, if you Googled Splatoon it would lead to the usual search engine results you’d expect, but off to the side is a splatch of ink. If you click on that then you can start painting the screen the same way players in the do paint turf. You can then spend the rest of your time on the page painting your screen until you want to stop. It’s extremely addictive.

This isn’t the first time Google has done a video game themed Easter Egg. For the Summer Olympics, they made the Google doodle into a playable JRPG where players could compete in multiple Olympic minigames. Hopefully, we see more fun stuff like this in the future with other games, as there are plenty of opportunities to create unique little things like this all over the gaming space.

As for Splatoon, it’s awesome to see one of Nintendo’s newer IPs only increase in popularity as time goes on. Splatoon 3, which was released just last month, is one of the best multiplayer games of the year and well worth trying if you own a Nintendo Switch.

On Thursday, the long-anticipated first trailer for the new animated Super Mario movie was revealed. So how did it fare? Well, feelings on the trailer seem to be mixed so far. Most people agree that the movie itself looks pretty great for an animated movie about a video game, which is itself already animated, and there’s some really fun elements in the first trailer.

What people were talking about the most afterward though was the chosen voices for the cast. The decision to make Chris Pratt as Mario has always been a controversial one since it was first announced and that did not change after the trailer. He didn’t say much, but people had a lot of thoughts.

While some felt mixed, and others hated everything about it, there were a few people who heard his voice as something of an homage to an early cartoon version of him back in the late 80s on The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!.

A few others were reminded of when it was announced that Ryan Reynolds would be playing Pikachu in Detective Pikachu and the outcry of support for Danny Devito instead. Maybe they should have gotten Devito to play Mario.

If there was one thing everyone could agree on though it’s that Jack Black is already killing it as Bowser and we can’t wait to see more of it.

If there’s any reason to go see this movie it’s going to be to see Jack Black put on an oscar worthy performance. Interestingly enough he’s done a lot of voice acting in video games before! These things may be related.

The list of the greatest NBA Draft prospects of all-time isn’t especially long. LeBron James is on it, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is on it, Luka Doncic is on it, etc. For months, folks who follow the draft have said French center Victor Wembanyama is on it, too, but for many fans, there haven’t been a ton of opportunities to watch him play high-profile games.

That changed this week when Metropolitans 92 went to Nevada to play the G League Ignite team. Wembanyama’s first game was a blast, as he went for 37 points, five blocks, and four rebounds in his battle against the other presumed top-2 pick in 2023, Scoot Henderson. Unfortunately, Henderson had to leave the second game early due to a knee injury, but while he sat on the sidelines, Wembanyama put on a show.

Unlike the last game, which saw the Ignite come out on top, the French side picked up a 112-106 win. This was thanks to Wembanyama absolutely dominating on both ends of the floor, going for 36 points on 11-for-24 shooting and 11 rebounds, four blocks, four assists, and a steal in 37 minutes of work. Now, I am going to post a bunch of his highlights, cool? Cool. Here ya go:

Here are several other things, all of which made me gasp.

He is a 7’4 18-year-old doing this stuff. Wanna see him standing next to Rudy Gobert? Of course you do!

The race to tank for this young man is going to be unbelievable, and between you and me, it is very hard to blame teams for doing everything in their power to get the ping pong balls on their side.

Pavement is in the midst of their reunion tour. It’s the first time in over a decade that the band formed in Stockton, CA has been on stage and long-time fans have been understandably over the moon. Coupled with the band’s 1999 song “Spit On A Stranger” somehow finding new life by going viral on TikTok, Pavement is experiencing nothing short of a renaissance (oh, there’s also a Pavement Museum now in NYC!)

Next week, they’re set to play two shows in Austin, including one that will be taped for the famed Austin City Limits Live TV Show on PBS. Both shows are sold out and Pavement’s ACL Live episode won’t air until 2023, but the indie rock gods are smiling upon you, my friend, because you’ll be able to livestream the band’s performance on Monday, October 10th, beginning at 8 pm central time. This is a welcome advancement that will even be free of charge on the ACL YouTube channel; something not typically offered with ACL’s tapings.

The performances on Pavement’s tour have been nothing short of career-spanning and each stop has featured Stephen Malkmus, Bob Nastanovich, Scott Kannberg, and co. putting down completely different setlists from city to city. Last night in Philadelphia even saw Kurt Vile join Pavement on vocals for “Zurich Is Stained.” You can watch that performance below.

Pavement’s ACL Live set will be livestreamed on Monday, October 10th at 8 pm CST here.

LeBron James is a man of many talents. He’s one of the (if not the) greatest basketball players of all-time. He was an immensely talented football prospect in high school. However, we have found the sport that he does not excel in … yet.

I say yet because I’m here to help fix LeBron James’ golf swing, which we got a glimpse of in a video that hit the internet of him taking some cuts at TopGolf in Las Vegas.

Look, it’s not great, but we’re going to break out the Konica Minolta SwingVision camera and get to work. I believe we can get LeBron’s swing right if he’s willing to step into the lab with me. I wish we had a better video here that showed contact, but we can address some things even with this grainy cell phone footage.

First, let’s start with the backswing, where’s two things that concern me most and they’re going to be connected to the thing that stands out, which is how short his backswing is.

The first is the left arm, which we want much straighter on the way back to create the length needed to get that swing speed up. As you see, there’s a considerable bend at the top, which makes it much harder to consistently get back down to the ball and is also keeping him from creating the speed we want. Thinking about keeping that arm straighter is gonna naturally give him more width (and get that right arm from being so stuck inside) and get him higher hands which will clear him to get a more full turn.

Compounding the issue is the lack of hip turn here. Look at that right hip, it barely opens up. I know James has to have the flexibility for this part, it’s just about letting the hips turn. He wants to think about that hip opening up and feel like it’s turning behind him, which will, again, allow him to turn back through and create that speed.

Once we get that squared away, we can talk about the downswing and impact. It’s hard to critique a lot here when the backswing is causing most of the problems, but let’s hit some positives. For one, there’s not too much head movement and his eyes stay on the ball at impact, which is good, and there is an effort to rotate the hips and transfer body weight through impact — but again, we need more backswing rotation to make that really work.

There are some things to work on, though. For one, as an athlete he knows everything starts with the feet, and that back foot slippage is not what we want. We want to rotate and pivot off that foot more and slide it less — Scottie Scheffler is the exception, not the rule here for golf footwork.

Also, if you notice that lead elbow is really bent and pulling through at impact, which I’m guessing leads LeBron’s miss to mostly be to the right. We’ll get to the followthrough in a moment, but that front side is bailing out at impact and pulling the club through from outside to in, which is going to put cut spin on the ball. We want that to be more of a driving action down and through the ball, holding that shoulder in there a bit longer and attacking down, rather than pulling it through and around the body.

You can really see how that looks on the followthrough as we want these hands much higher, making an arcing swing down to the ball and then up and out with extension. Instead, you can see how LeBron comes much more flat and around himself, which is why that left elbow is so tight to the body instead of being out and up.

In short, LeBron’s swing, like many golf beginners, has some flaws but I find it hard to believe he couldn’t figure it out with some more time spent on the range with the right teacher. (LeBron, if you are reading this: That means me, call me, I got you.)

Kids have relentless curiosity and imagination galore. That magical quality often catches adults off guard in the most hilarious of ways.

Tennis pro Serena Williams recently posted a video to her TikTok showing her 5-year-old daughter Olympia (who is the spitting image of her mother, by the way) playing with a “toy” for their cat Karma.

By “toy,” I mean a tampon.

---

The preschooler—who seemingly snagged the product from mommy’s bathroom—took it out of its plastic wrapper, pushed the cotton through the applicator and immediately began rolling it and spreading it around in her tiny hands.

“It’s a cat toy for our cat?” Serena asks Olympia, while looking through the screen with equal parts bemusement and befuddlement on her face.

“For Karrrrrrrrma,” Olympia replies, exasperated that mom can’t keep up. It’s a toy for Karma, mom, why is this so hard to get?

@serena Who am I to steal her joy, it’s a Cat Toy! 🗣Don’t @ me #OlympiasWorld ♬ original sound – Serenawilliams

In Olympia’s defense, cats do like all kinds of tiny, fluffy things with little tail-like strings attached, and tampons fit that bill perfectly. So she ain’t wrong.

As her daughter goes to get more “toys,” Serena can be heard saying, “OK, let’s not play with too many of those.”

People were quick to applaud Olympia’s adorable confidence.

“She rips them open like she’s been doing this all her little life 😂,” commented one person.

Others chose to commiserate with their own parenting stories. “When my daughter was little she was in my room being too quiet. I walked upstairs and she had taken all my pads and stuck them to the wall,” wrote a fellow mom.

“😂😂 At least it’s a cat toy. My son used them on a school project as clouds😂😂😂,” wrote another.

Serena might be a world champion, but Olympia has definitely won this round. In the video’s caption, Serena wrote, “who am I to steal her joy, it’s a Cat Toy!” These two are some of the sweetest mom-and-daughter besties on the internet. Their TikTok antics are purely wholesome (and ultra relatable) fun.

Jared Leto starred in 2021’s House of Gucci and now he’s a fashion guy. Everybody’s absolute favorite long-haired method acting Oscar-winner/star of cinematic catastrophe Morbius will play notoriously asshole-ish fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld, per an exclusive report from Woman’s Wear Daily.

Karl Lagerfeld was the creative director for the fashion house Chanel from 1983 until his death in 2019 at the age of 85. The project will be produced by Leto with Emma Ludbrook through their production company, Paradox. The film is still in its early stages, with no director attached at this time. According to WWD, the film follows “key relationships in Karl Lagerfeld’s life, told through an unpredictable lens, much like the man himself.”

“I feel like this is a full-circle moment, and Karl would be proud of what we are doing,” Leto told WWD. “Karl was an artist. Period. He was a fashion designer, he was a photographer, he was an artist. There was no defining him. He was a creative powerhouse.”

Leto has already gotten some of the people who were closest to Lagerfeld involved in the film as executive producers: fashion house chief executive Pier Paolo Righi, senior VP of image and communications Caroline Lebar, and personal assistant and bodyguard Sébastien Jondeau.

“My role is to portray him on screen as honestly as possible,” Leto said. “With celebrity, most people don’t get to see under the surface. They see one or two facets of a person as presented through a public lens. Karl was a human being. We all have beauty within us and we all have faults. We have masks and then we have moments when we reveal the mask. I’m always interested in seeing what’s behind the mask.”

Earlier this week it was announced that the 2023 Met Gala will feature a Lagerfeld theme, prompting Good Place actress Jameela Jamil to blast the announcement, writing: This man … was indeed, supremely talented, but used his platform [in] such a distinctly hateful way, mostly towards women, so repeatedly and up until the last years of his life … Why is THIS who we celebrate when there are so many AMAZING designers out there who aren’t bigoted white men?”

So surely this film won’t generate any controversy! And let the stories about Leto’s insufferable method acting commence!

(Via Women’s Wear Daily)