Month: January 2023

After an eventful 2022, which saw Ice Spice go viral with several hits, the New York rapper is gearing up for the release of her debut EP. Today (January 19), she took to Instagram and Twitter to reveal the title of the EP, Like…?.

The EP’s artwork left little to the imagination. In the cover art, she is seen bent over, and on the back of the cover art, the tracklist is written on her backside.

Earlier this week, Spice was spotted in New York City shooting music videos for some of the EP’s songs. She was reportedly set to film the video for a song called “Gangsta Boo,” however, her collaborator, Lil Tjay, was reportedly arrested ahead of the shoot. Fans then shared images of her and her crew dancing to “In Ha Mood,” presumably using the time to shoot the video for that single instead.

It appears Spice is dropping the EP at midnight tonight, as she has been retweeting tweets with the hashtag #LIKEATMIDNIGHT.

Lil Tjay also took to Twitter, saying, “Me nd @icespicee_ dropping some pain tonight!”

In the meantime, you can check out the cover art and tracklist for Like…? below.

1. “In Ha Mood”
2. “Princess Diana”
3. “Gangsta Boo” with Lil Tjay
4. “Actin’ A Smooch”
5. “Bikini Bottom”
6. “Munch (Feelin’ U)”

After dating rumors swirled after Selena Gomez was reportedly spotted on a bowling date with The Chainsmokers’ Drew Taggart, the pop star took to social media to set the record straight.

Her latest Instagram story is a black and white shot of the sky, some mountains, and a mystery man at the bottom. While it’s unclear if Gomez captured this photo or just found one online, it does bear the caption, “I prefer being alone in caps.”

Gomez also added the hashtag “#IAmSingle.”

Needless to say, fans were cheering Gomez on. However, some still have some questions…

“Whats that head,” one asked. Another replied that they thought it was a picture of Taggart.

Page Six was the first to run the photos. “There was also a group of young girls that went up for pictures from her shortly after and a man getting an autograph,” a source told the outlet.

However, The Chainsmokers recently appeared on a podcast where they confirmed that they have threesomes with fans. “I feel like that’s how threesomes happen, though.” It was never ‘die-hard fans’: “No one wearing merch or anything,” Taggart said.

Which, in Selena Gomez’s case, would make you prefer being single too.

Continue scrolling for some additional fan reactions.

Thursday night brought about the final regular season rematch from last year’s NBA Finals, as the Golden State Warriors traveled to Boston to face the Celtics, and the first half of action did not disappoint.

The two teams traded runs in the first two quarters, with Boston often being the one to make the first punch and the Warriors countering to pull back to even or a small lead. The end of the half featured the most entertaining of those back-and-forths, as Stephen Curry put an exclamation point on the half by poking the ball away from Jayson Tatum, gathering it in, and hoisting a 46-footer from beyond halfcourt that, naturally, found nothing but net.

It’s a preposterous play, but the shot itself is one that everyone in the arena and watching at home expected to go in as soon as it left his fingers because, well, that’s what Steph does. It’s also a shot he genuinely practices, ending his pregame warmup by pushing his shot back steadily from the three-point line to midcourt, so when he gathered it and was directly in the center of the floor, it was as comfortable a 46-foot shot as any player will have.

The shot gave Golden State the lead, but also made a little history, as Curry matched Jamal Crawford and Zach Randolph (??!) for the most 45-plus foot shots since the league started tracking that data in the mid-90s with the fifth such make of his career.

Sam Smith‘s new album, Gloria is almost here. This weekend, they will perform on an episode of Saturday Night Live hosted by The White Lotus actress Aubrey Plaza. Then, in the following days, we will receive the album in full.

While we have yet to hear their project, Sam Smith has already made history during the Gloria era. Their Kim Petras collaboration, “Unholy” marked the first Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 by a nonbinary and trans artist. Gloria also contains several exciting guest features, one of whom will embark on a tour with them later this year.

Release date

Gloria is out 1/27 via Capitol and EMI. You can pre-save it here.

Tracklist

1. “Love Me More”
2. “No God”
3. “Hurting Interlude”
4. “Lose You”
5. “Perfect” feat. Jessie Reyez
6. “Unholy” feat. Kim Petras
7. “How To Cry”
8. “Six Shots”
9. “Gimme” feat. Koffee and Jessie Reyez
10. “Dorothy’s Interlude”
11. “I’m Not Here To Make Friends.”
12. “Gloria”
13. “Who We Love” feat. Ed Sheeran

Features

Kim Petras appears on their viral collaboration, “Unholy,” and Ed Sheeran is set to feature on the album’s closing track, “Who We Love.” Koffee and Jessie Reyez feature on the , “Gimme,” and the latter will also appear on another track called “Perfect.”

Artwork

Check out the artwork below.

Singles

So far, Smith has released the self-affirming “Love Me More,” the scandalous “Unholy” with Kim Petras, and the steamy “Gimme” with Koffee and Jessie Reyez.

Tour

Tickets for Smith’s upcoming Gloria tour are available for purchase here. Jessie Reyez will be joining them on the upcoming tour, which kicks off this summer.

07/25/2023 — Miami, FL @ FTX Arena
07/26/2023 — Orlando, FL @ Amway Center
07/28/2023 — Duluth, GA @ Gas South Arena
07/29/2023 — Nashville, TN @ Bridgestone Arena
08/01/2023 — Raleigh, NC @ PNC Arena
08/02/2023 — Philadelphia, PA @ Wells Fargo Center
08/04/2023 — Washington, DC @ Capital One Arena
08/05/2023 — Boston, MA @ TD Garden
08/08/2023 — New York, NY @ Madison Square Garden
08/11/2023 — Toronto, ON @ Scotiabank Arena
08/12/2023 — Montréal, QC @ Bell Centre
08/15/2023 — Chicago, IL @ United Center
08/16/2023 — Saint Paul, MN @ Xcel Energy Center
08/18/2023 — Denver, CO @ Ball Arena
08/19/2023 — Salt Lake City, UT @ Vivint Smart Home Arena
08/22/2023 — Vancouver, BC @ Rogers Arena
08/23/2023 — Seattle, WA @ Climate Pledge Arena
08/25/2023 — Portland, OR @ Veterans Memorial Coliseum
08/27/2023 — Oakland, CA @ Oakland Arena
08/28/2023 — San Francisco, CA @ Chase Center
08/31/2023 — Inglewood, CA @ Kia Forum
09/03/2023 — Phoenix, AZ @ Footprint Center
09/05/2023 — Austin, TX @ Moody Center
09/07/2023 — Fort Worth, TX @ Dickies Arena
09/08/2023 — Houston, TX @ Toyota Center
09/12/2023 — Monterrey, MX @ Arena Monterrey
09/14/2023 — Cuidad de Mexico, MX @ Palacio de los Deportes

During Young Thug’s court trial, a new thread by reporter Michael Seiden details how his coworker, Mark Winne, obtained footage from when the prosecutors accuse Thug and co-defendant Kahlieff Adams of doing a “hand-to-hand” drug deal.

According to prosecutors, the surveillance shows Adams drop an alleged Percocet in Young Thug’s hands. The rapper was eventually confronted by the deputy and turned the pill over.

While the video cuts off as Young Thug sits back down in the courtoom, the co-defendant Kahlieff Adams allegedly ingested “other items of contraband,” according to Seiden. Because of this, he was taken to Grady Hospital. The prosecutors have since filed to “make a finding of fact that Court was delayed on January 18, 2023 because of the actions of Defendant Williams and Defendant Adams.”

Young Thug’s (born Jeffery Lamar Williams) attorney, Keith Adams, shared more insight into what went down. “Mr. Williams had nothing to do with what went on in the courtroom yesterday,” Keith Adams shared. “One of the co-defendants, on his way to the restroom, attempted to pass something to Mr. Williams, who immediately turned it over to the deputy.”

The reporter in the video then asks if he knew it was allegedly Percocet.

“He did not know,” Adams adds. “We don’t know what it is. He did not know what it was, turned it over to the deputy right away. The deputies took action. The individual who had the contraband, not Mr. Williams, was taken into the back, where I’m told he ingested whatever he had.”

While the court is still in the jury selection process, Young Thug has been charged “with conspiracy to violate Georgia’s RICO Act and participating in a criminal street gang,” according to NPR.

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

The NFL Playoffs got underway with an up-and-down “Super Wild Card” weekend, and fun was had by all. The Chargers gave away a massive lead, the Bucs flopped in prime time on Monday, and the Bills flirted with utter disaster against the Dolphins. Oh, and there was plenty more. In this space, the results were ugly, in part due to Buffalo’s inexplicable meltdown near the end of the first half, and there are fewer games to handicap this time of year. Alas, we press on, and the Divisional Round is here beginning on Saturday.

Before we roll into this week’s card, let’s gauge the full season performance.

• Wild Card: 1-4
• 2022 Season: 49-42-2

Come get these winners.

TEASER: Kansas City Chiefs (-2.5) over Jacksonville Jaguars and Philadelphia Eagles (-1.5) over New York Giants

This is pretty square, which terrifies me, but I do think there is value here. Kansas City should be able to get home against an overmatched Jacksonville team, and Andy Reid is 30-6 with more than 10 days to prepare. New York is a public side at this point, but Philadelphia has the rest edge, the (much) more talented roster, and the ability to game plan to keep Daniel Jones in the pocket. Give me the favorites.

Buffalo Bills (-5.5) over Cincinnati Bengals

There is all kinds of sharp action on Buffalo here, pushing the line up despite public sentiment on Cincinnati as an underdog. The Bills played with their food last week and will need to be better here. I do think Buffalo will be able to get heat on Joe Burrow given Cincinnati’s decimated offensive line, and Josh Allen gets right here.

Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals UNDER 49 points

This has the feel of a potential shootout but, as noted above, the Bengals may not be able to protect Burrow like they need to. I also think Cincinnati’s defense is a bit undervalued, and being able to grab 49 here is helpful. Let’s get home at 27-17 or something.

Dallas Cowboys (+4) over San Francisco 49ers

Dallas probably isn’t as good on offense as it looked on Monday evening, and the Cowboys are seemingly always a public side. That isn’t really the case here, though, as the Niners are getting all kinds of accolades with Brock Purdy at the helm. Purdy struggled mightily in the early going against Seattle and, while he figured it out, Dallas is a different animal.

Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers UNDER 46.5 points

I trust both of these defenses to a decent degree, and I’m certainly lower on the Purdy experience than most. I have some fear that Dallas can beat San Francisco’s secondary but, if that happens, at least we’ll probably get the underdog to the window.

Names matter.

That’s the message from the Department of the Interior as it works to replace the names of public lands that are outdated at best and outright offensive at worst.

In November 2021, Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland—the first Native American person to serve as a cabinet secretary in U.S. history—established a task force to review the names of the nation’s geographic features and replace the ones that include racist and derogatory terminology.

“Racist terms have no place in our vernacular or on our federal lands,” Secretary Haaland said at the time. “Our nation’s lands and waters should be places to celebrate the outdoors and our shared cultural heritage—not to perpetuate the legacies of oppression.”

One of the terms singled out for removal was “squaw,” which the department described as “an offensive ethnic, racial and sexist slur, particularly for Indigenous women.”

It has been a year-long process to change the names of more than 650 sites with derogatory names, and the final five sites containing the offensive term for Native American women have officially been renamed as of January 13, 2023, according to NPR.

The final five sites are located in California, North Dakota, Tennessee and Texas, and the names were changed in consultation with Native tribes and local communities. The five new names are as follows:

– One California site was renamed Loybas Hill, a name proposed by the Paskenta Band of Nomlaki Indians which means “young lady”

– Another California site was renamed Yokuts Valley, translating to “people.”

– At a North Dakota site, the name Homesteaders Gap was chosen to reflect local history.

– In Tennessee, a site was renamed Partridgeberry after a plant for which the community had been named previously.

– A Texas location was named Lynn Creek for a local resident named Isaac Lynn who lived on the nearby creek.

“Words matter, particularly in our work to ensure our nation’s public lands and waters are accessible and welcoming to people of all backgrounds,” Secretary Haaland said in a statement. “I am grateful to the members of the Derogatory Geographic Names Task Force and the Board on Geographic Names for their efforts to finalize the removal of this harmful word. Together, we are showing why representation matters and charting a path for an inclusive America.”

u201cI’m grateful to the members of the Derogatory Geographic Names Task Force and the Board on Geographic Names for their efforts to finalize the removal of this harmful word. https://t.co/zQzOTraF6iu201d

— Secretary Deb Haaland (@Secretary Deb Haaland)
1673542871

The renaming of sites is never without controversy, but it also isn’t new. As the Department of Interior pointed out, former the N-word was identified by the Secretary of the Interior as derogatory in 1962 and a policy was developed to eliminate its use. Additionally, in 1974, the Board on Geographic Names identified a derogatory term for “Japanese” and eliminated its use as well.

Some states have outlawed certain derogatory names, and we’ve also seen schools and sports teams changing their names and mascots to avoid culturally and racially offensive terms and imagery in recent years. Considering the long, storied and painful relationship between the U.S. government and Native American communities, these changes at the federal level are a move in the right direction.

Names matter—but the journey toward true equality doesn’t end there. As Crystal Echo Hawk, founder and Executive Director of IllumiNative, told Axios, “Changing racist names is a start, but we also need to transform how Americans see and treat Native people.”

When a team of Australian researchers started checking the high-tech boxes they’d installed to help save endangered greater gliders, they weren’t sure what they were going to find. The hope was that the tree-dwelling marsupials would use them for nesting—a replacement for the tree hollows they normally nest in—but no one knew whether or not the creatures would take to them.

So when Dr. Kita Ashman, Threatened Species and Climate Adaptation Ecologist at WWF-Australia, found a glider in the second box she checked, she was thrilled.

“I just burst into tears, I was so surprised and so happy,” she told ABC News Australia.

Greater gliders are nocturnal marsupials that live in old-growth forests of eastern Australia. They have large ears, fluffy fur, long tails, and they can glide up to 100 meters at a time. The species is only found in Australia.

“I grew up looking at greater gliders all throughout the Dandenong Ranges. So they have a really special place in my heart,” said Dr. Ashman told ANU.

The special nesting boxes were designed and created through a partnership between Australian National University (ANU), Greening Australia and the World Wide Fund for Nature-Australia after bushfires destroyed a third of the greater gliders’ remaining habitat. The tree hollows that greater gliders rely on to nest can take over 100 years to form, according to ANU, so it’s not like they can just find some new trees to live in when their homes are destroyed.

Nesting boxes that are commonly used for wildlife aren’t a good fit for greater gliders, as the thin walls and lack of thermal protection can result in gliders overheating. (Heat-stressed gliders will slow their eating, which can be life-threatening, according to ANU.) The high-tech boxes in this project are insulated and include a non-toxic, heat-reflective, fire-resistant coating to keep gliders safe.

“I’ve affectionately been calling this design the Goldilocks box because we hope it will keep greater gliders not too hot and not too cold and will help to increase the species’ resilience in a changing climate,” Ashman said in July 2022.

“Producing and installing high-quality nest boxes is costly,” added ANU research fellow Dr. Kara Youngentob, “so this project is very important because it will help us understand if expensive interventions like nest boxes are the best use of funding in our urgent mission to save greater gliders.”

It appears that their efforts are paying off.

“What we didn’t know was whether these boxes worked and whether they have an impact on the glider population,” Dr. Youngentob told ABC News Australia. “Much to our delight, within a few months of them going up they are already being used by gliders, so we know the individuals themselves like them and use them.”

According to Youngentob, greater gliders are the largest gliding marsupial at risk of extinction. More than 200 nesting boxes have been installed in Victoria’s East Gippsland and in Tallaganda National Park in New South Wales. Youngentob told ABC News Australia that this project will help researchers learn more about how many of the species are left in the wild.

The quiet, nocturnal marsupial faces threats from climate change and deforestation in addition to the wildfires that ravaged Australia in 2020. Their population has fallen by 80% in the past 20 years and the species reached endangered status in July of 2022.

“They’re a treasure for this country.” Dr. Youngentob told ANU. “And I think the more people know about them, the more that they will fall in love with them and want to protect them too.”

For those not well versed in moose facts, the shedding of antlers is normally a fairly lengthy process. It happens only once a year after mating season and usually consists of a moose losing one antler at a time.

It’s incredibly rare for a bull moose to lose both at the same time—and even more rare that someone would actually catch it on film.

That’s why shed hunter (yes, that’s a real term) and woodsman Derek Burgoyne calls his footage of the phenomenon a “one-in-a-million” shot.

According to The Guardian, Burgoyne was flying his drone through a remote patch of forest in Canada when he spotted three moose in a clearing. His drone followed one of the bulls, who began doing the wobbly little shake thing that signals these antlers are going bye-bye.

Burgoyne knew he had to keep his camera on the moment—but he had no idea that he’d hit the jackpot.

Watch below:

It’s hard to tell which is more fun to watch— the super rare moment in nature or Burgoyne’s pure passion for his hobby.

“I shook a little bit. It was an adrenaline rush for sure,“ he told CBC News, sharing that he has previously found hundreds of shed antlers in his life.

Antler hunting has become a hot and profitable pastime over the past few years, although Burgoyne affirms that his shed hunting ambitions are born from a desire for well-being, not monetary gain.

“I enjoy being in the woods. It’s great exercise and it’s fun tracking the moose through the winter and looking for their sheds in the spring. Each one you find feels like the first one. It never gets old,” he told The Guardian.

Well Derek Burgoyne, thank you for doing what you love. Thanks to your passion, we too can share this once-in-a-lifetime moment. Here’s to good moose news!

Rosy retrospection is a cognitive bias that all humans share. It alters our perception of the past by making us feel that it was better than it actually was. While there’s nothing wrong with looking back at the past fondly, it also leads people to think that the future will be worse, leading to a bias known as declinism.

We see these biases play out in the real world when politicians call for America to return to a perfect past that never happened. Or when older people criticize the younger generation for being lazy, entitled and weak.

Chris Biggs, one-half of Ottawa, Canada’s Biggs & Barr show on Chez 106.1 is doing his part to remind people that the ‘80s weren’t that great in a series of viral TikTok posts. The comedian recently put out four videos about “things from an ’80s childhood that were awful.”

The videos are refreshing because most of the time younger generations have to hear Gen Xers go on and on about how the ‘80s were so great. But somebody is finally telling the truth about some aspects of their ‘80s upbringing that were downright disturbing.

In the first video, Barr reminds everyone that Miss Piggy was a super unpleasant character that dominated children’s entertainment in the ‘80s. He also takes on the game Simon which he calls a “demon disc” that causes “soul-crushing anxiety and rage.” The video ends with his take on the pogo ball that’s best known for removing all the flesh on the inside of your ankles.

@thechrisbiggs

Things from an 80’s childhood that were awful. #80s #genx #90s #millennial #classic #abcxyz #lol #funny #smile #comedy #viralvideo #xyz #relatable #omg #okthen #fyp #trend #trending #trend#greenscreen

In the second video, he highlights the game Perfection which felt like diffusing a bomb. He also attacks ‘80s fashion by blasting one of the era’s biggest fads, the neon ski jacket. “If you ever wanted to know what it was like to wear the power of a thousand suns, this was it,” Biggs jokes. He finishes with his take on Jim Henson’s “The Dark Crystal” a children’s film about decapitating beetle monsters, a witch who pulls her eyeball out of her head and giant ostrich zombies.

@thechrisbiggs

More things from an 80’s childhood that were awful. #80s #90s #genx #millennial #childhood #classic #abc #lol #funny #smile #comedy #viralvideo #xyz #relatable #omg #okthen #fyp #trend #trending #trend

Video number 3 takes a swipe at Operation, a game Biggs says feels like operating on your favorite “drunkle.” He also takes aim at Hypercolor shirts, the clothing that changes color when you apply heat. These shirts were fun until you noticed everyone had hot armpits. He ends with “The Neverending Story” a film with two scenes that had “no business being in a children’s movie.”

@thechrisbiggs

Even more things from an 80’s childhood that were awful. #80s #90s #genx #millennial #classic #retro #abc #lol #funny #smile #comedy #viralvideo #xyz #relatable #omg #okthen #fyp #trend #trending #trend

His fourth video opens with one of the most uncomfortable and downright dangerous toys that were ubiquitous in the ‘80s, Fisher Price plastic roller skates. He also notes that water beds made you sweat through “your Transformer PJs in under two seconds flat because who knew that two inches of thick plastic wasn’t very breathable.” The final thing Biggs says was “awful” in the ‘80s was the arcade, which smelled like a “cigarette-smoke-filled dungeon.”

@thechrisbiggs

Part 4 of more things from an 80’s childhood that were awful. #80s #90s #genx #millennial #classic #retro #oldschool #abc #lol #funny #smile #comedy #viralvideo #xyz #relatable #omg #okthen #fyp #trend #trending #trend