Month: January 2023

Gather round for we are here to share in a tale as old as time: things being misunderstood online. Fold into that a colloquial gap, some pent up confusion, the yearning human desire to be known, and we have ourselves a real saga of surprise and delight starring Stan Van Gundy and Kevin Durant.

So yesterday, a little after 5pm ET, former coach and noted ankle breaker, Stan Van Gundy took to Twitter to get something off his chest.

Now, Van Gundy is no stranger to the platform and its character and nuance limitations. Despite only having joined Twitter in July of 2020, Van Gundy has taken to the platform like a furious fish to water. He went on record with this very website at that time to talk about what it was that initially pushed him to sign up (his wife, and a desire to get more involved in Florida’s grassroots politics) and has been tweeting frequently and with great intention about politics, the climate, disdain for Fox News, occasional insight on watercraft, and of course, basketball, ever since. Basically, this is not the man’s first tweet rodeo, and it’s an important distinction to make for what happened next.

If you’d like to think of Van Gundy as Twitter’s own gruff yet caring crossing guard (as I often do), then Kevin Durant is the platform’s brooding prince. Durant has (and will again) find the most remote, obscure, far-flung references to him, with or without direct tags of his account, and gleefully reply. It’s an incredible skill to watch for the multi-fold joy of where he’ll pop up, what he’ll say, and picturing him, like the rest of us, with nothing better to do than getting a tweet off. He’s on Twitter like that scene in Interstellar where Matthew McConaughey figures out the universe’s extra dimension is love and uses it to somehow show up in a bookcase in the past, except Durant’s extra dimension is gleeful pettiness and he’s popping up in @KDplusbongrips4evr221 replies to call him soft.

Given all this, the two getting into an exchange on Twitter feels as natural as the tides.

What it was Van Gundy wanted to get off his chest is something that’s come up often in the last few years in terms of how the NBA is changing. What seemed to start down the road of another “In my day” opinion comparing this era of basketball to the past, goes on to lay out some fair points. Teams do have entire staffs dedicated to recovery and treatment that they did not employ in the past, but the injuries aren’t tapering off — if anything, it feels like things are getting worse. It was a compelling enough line of exploration that Durant (maybe people over 50 don’t frequent into his algorithm as often?) chimed in to concur:

Van Gundy, perhaps out for a leisurely boat ride, didn’t reply until a few hours later, but when he did it was to further clarify his original point:

Here is where the communicative waters were muddied. Van Gundy clearly took Durant’s use of the word ‘spitting’ to signify disrespect, e.g. if you literally spit on a person, or a person’s opinion. Maybe the ellipses had something to do with it too, because that’s something that has never in its punctuative history brought clarity to any situation. Anyway, Van Gundy began to clarify. This was about the health of players (we knew), and not to criticize them or place any blame of the situation at their feet (we knew). He even went so far as to contextualize the injuries he meant, not like Durant’s, because it’s true Jimmy Butler did just fall on his leg, but groin, hamstring, etc. A who’s-who of the big ones in the game Operation.

Durant’s reply came two minutes later:

How do you like to picture him typing this one? With a shake of his head and a smile on his face, or with a bit of exasperation? I like the former, but it takes all kinds.

A very kind Twitter user jumped in moments later to lend further clarity to a situation that did, still, require some:

And the rest is history (and should probably go on a shirt):

Other than this being a great example of the ways Twitter can divide, but ultimately unite us, building bridges we didn’t realize were necessary, I think it’s urgently necessary for someone to give Van Gundy a column called ‘Stan Spits’, or better yet a podcast of the same name where every episode Van Gundy gets into it briefly about what’s really grinding his gears and calls up guests like Durant to help him work it out. The intro music can be the very appropriate track ‘Holdin’ It Down’ by Big L, ft. Stan Spit.

And for the sake of squeezing all the the life out of this gorgeous sequence of tweets, I’ve compiled a helpful list to further illustrate where one word got itself into such a conundrum.

Things we would love to see Stan Van Gundy spit on (respectfully):

• Fashion trends for 2023
• The current state of league parity
• The best kind of sandwich
• The current goings on in the world of motorized recreational watercraft
• A cold one (beer)
• A cold one (a take he didn’t agree with, but wants to get to the heart of)
• That Pistons photoshoot
• Book recommendations
• His favorite song on The Big Chill soundtrack

Things we would love to see Stan Van Gundy spit on (disrespectfully):

• Fashion trends for 2023 (Cargo pants? Really?)
• Late stage capitalism
• Mismanagement of our natural waterways
• Ticketmaster and the secondary ticket market

Things we have no idea which side Stan Van Gundy’s spit would land on but are deeply curious about:

• The popularization of QR codes as menus at restaurants

American single malt whiskey is quickly becoming a big deal in the whiskey world. And last year was a notably stellar year for the style. On July 29th, American single malt (ASM) was officially and legally recognized as a designation of whiskey and huge brands started releasing their own versions of the whiskey nationwide. Moreover, as the style grows more widespread, it also grows more refined — which certainly benefits whisky lovers who don’t love paying taxes and tariffs on their Scotch.

With that said, the ASM whiskey scene is relatively young (with young whiskeys). Which begs the question, can ASM whiskeys really stand up to the tried and true classic single malts of Scotland? Friends, it’s time for another blind taste test to find out!

Look, the average age of an ASM whiskey is closer to four to five years compared to 12 years being the entry point for most single malt scotch. So the short answer to the above question is a resounding “no” — the style is simply operating at a different pace right now. Still, age isn’t everything when crafting a quality bottle of whiskey. That means there are a lot of opportunities in the ASM scene for stellar juice that can stand up to the old-school stuff from Scotland.

Our lineup today includes the following bottles:

• Baller Single Malt Whiskey by St. George Spirits
• Bruichladdich The Classic Laddie Scottish Barley
• Dead Guy Whiskey Stout Cask Finished American Single Malt Whiskey
• Glenmorangie The Quinta Ruban Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky
• Westward American Single Malt Cask Strength
• The Glenrothes Whisky Maker’s Cut Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky
• Broken Barrel Luciferous American Single Malt Whiskey
• The Dalmore Cigar Malt Reserve Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky
• Jack Daniel’s Twice Barreled Special Release American Single Malt
• Glengoyne Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky Legacy Series Chapter 3

When it comes to ranking these bottles, it’s pretty simple, folks. What tastes best? That’s it. I’m simply looking for the best-tasting whiskey so let’s dive right in.

• Johnnie Walker Vs. Chivas: Which Scotch Whisky Brand Will Win Our Blind Test?
• The 50 Best Scotch Whiskies Of 2022, Ranked
• The Best Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whiskies Under $100, Ranked
• World Class ‘Sipping’ Single Malt Whiskies Under $100, Ranked
• The Best Peated Single Malt Scotch Whisky, Blind Tasted And Ranked

Part 1: The Tasting

Taste 1

Tasting Notes:

Nose: This whiskey opens with a nose that feels like breaking up a stem of lemongrass in your fingers before leaning into hints of maple, plum skins, and malty spice.

Palate: The palate is a silky sip that starts off with spiced prunes and stewed peaches next to woody maple syrup, a touch of marzipan, and a hint of burnt peach pits.

Finish: The end sweetens with a line of fresh mango flesh next to old charcoal drenched in plum wine with a whisper that lemongrass peaking back in late.

Initial Thoughts:

The nose on this is really promising with a good overall vibe to the palate. It was a little light in the end but it still held on through the finish with a nice profile. Translation, this was fine.

Taste 2

Tasting Notes:

Nose: Wildflowers and granola bars draw you in on the nose as a hint of brine and salted caramel linger on the back end with orange oils and softwood.

Palate: That brine becomes a full rush of seaspray as tart apples lead towards a Caro syrup mid-palate sweetness.

Finish: That sweetness fades into a spicy malt as sea salt and sweet oak dominated the finish.

Initial Thoughts:

This has a nice beginning, middle, and end. Overall, this was a satisfying pour of whiskey, albeit not a mind-blowingly amazing one.

Taste 3

Tasting Notes:

Nose: There’s a sense of something plasticky on the nose that leads to mild graininess with a hint of cherry and vanilla.

Palate: Red fruit roll-ups! That’s the plasticky vibe that translates on the taste next to mild winter spice, hints of “wood,” and a sense of Malt-O-Meal.

Finish: The finish is short and kind of just fades away with a whisper of sour cherry and milk chocolate.

Initial Thoughts:

Nah.

Taste 4

Tasting Notes:

Nose: The nose draws you in with a sense of burnt orange layered into dark chocolate and then melted over a singed marshmallow with a hint of malted vanilla cookie tying it all together.

Palate: That dark chocolate drives the palate with a hint of waxiness and woody winter spice next to whole black peppercorns, fresh tangerine, and a whisper of mint chocolate chip ice cream.

Finish: The dark chocolate, woody spice, bright orange, and sharp spearmint all collide on the finish with a sense of soft malted sweetness and faint old oak staves.

Initial Thoughts:

This is delicious. Seriously, this blows that last three pours out of the water. It’s complex, fun, and takes you on a journey with surprises and comforting notes. I want to actually drink this stuff instead of spit it out (I spit out whiskey after the finish, in order to not be drunk 24/7).

Taste 5

Tasting Notes:

Nose: Almond Roca and honey-dipped Graham Crackers greet you on the nose with a sense of almost sour espresso shots just kissed with red pepper and dark yet creamy chocolate.

Palate: That chocolate drives the palate toward Sesame Snaps before a dark chocolate and red berry tobacco leaf takes over with a hint of dry woody spice and old cedar braids.

Finish: The end has a deep sense of the honey hardened with sesame seeds next to a spiced malted oatmeal cookie with sharp cinnamon and clove.

Initial Thoughts:

This feels almost classic but very American (there’s a deep leathery sense and a much darker color). All of that aside, this is freaking tasty whiskey.

Taste 6

Tasting Notes:

Nose: The nose bursts forth with butterscotch. Once that fades, hints of worn leather, orange peels, and nutmeg mix underneath that butterscotch nose.

Palate: The palate is nutmeg-forward with a spicy orange zest kissed with dark chocolate and vanilla.

Finish: The end feels a bit like eggnog laced with orange zest and vanilla with a spicy warmth.

Initial Thoughts:

This was another “fine” whiskey. Nothing wrong at all with the flavor profile — it simply is fine.

Taste 7

Tasting Notes:

Nose: The nose opens with a sense of fresh squash with a good dose of winter spices, light caramel, and wet malts rounding things out.

Palate: The taste has a moment more of that fresh squash before hitting a note that’s — I swear — cornmeal-encrusted fried catfish served on a banana leaf plate with cranberry sauce and a light sense of pumpkin ale and toasted coconut.

Finish: The end lingers through the fall-inspired spices and ales vibes with a sweet squash cut with brown sugar and honey fold into a light tobacco leaf vibe.

Initial Thoughts:

This is a pretty bold whiskey with spicy vibes. It’s good but didn’t jump out at me.

Taste 8

Tasting Notes:

Nose: The nose is openly complex from the first inhalation with a matrix of sticky toffee pudding spices — cinnamon, allspice, and nutmeg — next to dried red berries with a slight earthiness, a touch of salted toffee candies, and a whisper of vanilla wafers.

Palate: The palate opens with a chocolate maltiness next to a bowl of fresh and tropical fruits — pineapple, tart apples, sweet pears, plums, bruised bananas — with a mild nuttiness, sharp orange zest, and subtle winter spices.

Finish: There’s a light mustiness on the back end that leads to soft and moist pipe tobacco with a thin layer of orchard fruits and stewed figs.

Initial Thoughts:

This is another great whiskey. It’s clearly a winner with a deep complexity that’s refreshing and fun to taste. It’s really good.

Taste 9

Tasting Notes:

Nose: Light milk chocolate powder malts greet you on the nose with soft leather, a hint of cedar, fresh gingerbread, a hint of fresh wicker canes, oatmeal cookie dough, a whisper of spearmint, and some sweet ice tea powder.

Palate: The palate opens up with a sense of sour red fruit with a rich vanilla foundation that leads to woody spices with a mild essence of pine sap and saddle soap before a vanilla white cake sweetness and soft mouthfeel kick in.

Finish: The mid-palate expands toward higher ABV buzziness with a note of almond shell and coconut shell next to Mounds bars and fresh leather on the finish with a fleeting sense of cream soda just kissed with orange-chocolate syrup.

Initial Thoughts:

This is bold and really delivers a broad and deep flavor profile. I liked this a lot but it wasn’t as refined as some of the other sips on the panel today.

Taste 10

Tasting Notes:

Nose: Butterscotch and sour cherry lead to a woody sense of cinnamon bark and vanilla pods with a hint of blackberry jam over apple-cinnamon toast.

Palate: There’s a hint of stewed pear with raisins, cloves, and more of that woody cinnamon that leads to creamy apple pie filling with a hint of prune and winter spice.

Finish: The end is thin-ish with a sense of honey-coated malt cookies next to apple chips and rum-soaked raisins.

Initial Thoughts:

This was perfectly fine but a tad thin.

Part 2: The Ranking

10. Dead Guy Whiskey Stout Cask Finished American Single Malt Whiskey — Taste 3

ABV: 48.5%

Average Price: $88

The Whiskey:

This is the new version of Rogue’s famed Rolling Thunder Stouted Whiskey. The single malt is made by the Oregon brewer and then finished in Rogue’s beloved stout casks before proofing and bottling.

Bottom Line:

This wasn’t off, but it wasn’t going to beat any Scotch whiskies either. It’s just too young and rough tasting to reach those big Scotch-y heights.

9. The Glenrothes Whisky Maker’s Cut Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky — Taste 6

ABV: 48.8%

Average Price: $86

The Whisky:

The bulbous bottle from The Glenrothes is all about the sherry. The expression spends an undisclosed amount of years in first-fill sherry casks. When those barrels are just right, the whisky is then batched and vatted before being proofed down only slightly.

Bottom Line:

This was a tad too light overall. That said, I can see this working wonders in a cocktail — which will bandage over that thinness nicely — since we’re still talking about a whisky with a solid flavor profile.

8. Baller Single Malt Whiskey by St. George Spirits — Taste 1

ABV: 47%

Average Price: $56

The Whiskey:

This single malt from St. George Spirits out in California is beloved. The juice is made from 100% malted and lightly roasted barley with an eye toward Japanese traditions. The whiskey spends three to four years in ex-bourbon and ex-French wine casks before vatting and re-barreling into umeshu casks (Japanese plum wine that the team at St. George makes themselves) for a final rest. Finally, the whiskey is blended and just touched with local proofing water before bottling.

Bottom Line:

This was nice, but a little too heavy on the citrus in the end. It wasn’t one-note per se but it was flirting with the notion. Still, this would be great in a highball with an orange or grapefruit twist.

7. Broken Barrel Luciferous American Single Malt Whiskey — Taste 7

ABV: 61.3%

Average Price: $56

The Whiskey:

This whiskey is made from 100% Indiana single malt whiskey. Those barrels are then re-barreled into Amaro and French oak casks for final maturation. The final blend is a mix of 80% Amaro barrels and 20% French oak before and bottling at cask strength.

Bottom Line:

This was fine but a little hot on the palate today. That heat didn’t blow out the flavor profile, but I kind of wanted a rock to calm it down a bit. That then leads me to believe this would be very well suited to highballs and cocktails more than sipping.

6. Glengoyne Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky Legacy Series Chapter 3 — Taste 10

ABV: 48%

Average Price: $130

The Whisky:

This special edition version of Glengoyne is made from a batch of American oak barrels that held sherry. Those barrels are married and then proofed to create an iconic Glengoyne flavor profile for this expression.

Bottom Line:

This was a perfectly fine single malt. It’s easy on the palate but delivers a classic unpeated sweet malt vibe. It’s easy to see this being an easy sipper or a nice cocktail base.

5. Bruichladdich The Classic Laddie Scottish Barley — Taste 2

ABV: 50%

Average Price: $56

The Whisky:

Bruichladdich’s philosophy on whisky making is pretty unique. Each batch highlights local, unpeated Scottish barley that’s fermented and distilled. That juice then goes into some combination of ex-bourbon, ex-sherry, and ex-wine casks for a varied amount of time. That means each batch is unique. Bruichladdich then provides a code on their bottles so that you can go to their website and find out what makes the bottle in your hand special.

Bottom Line:

This is a really nice, classic single malt. It feels like an easy on-the-rocks sipper that also would help make any Scotch cocktail pop.

4. Jack Daniel’s Twice Barreled Special Release American Single Malt — Taste 9

ABV: 52.85%

Average Price: $69

The Whiskey:

This brand-new whiskey from Jack Daniel’s is made with a 100% malted barley mash bill. Those grains are milled and mashed with Jack’s famed cave spring water right in Lynchburg, Tennessee. That mash is then fermented with Jack’s own yeast and then distilled before the long process of charcoal mellowing/filtration. The hot juice is run through ten feet of sugar maple charcoal and is then filled into new American white oak barrels for a several-year rest. Finally, those barrels were vatted and re-barreled in Olorosso sherry casks for a final maturation before bottling as-is at cask strength.

Bottom Line:

This was really tasty. It wasn’t as refined as the next three but had a great overall flavor profile. It’s definitely in the easy-sipper category.

3. Westward American Single Malt Cask Strength — Taste 5

ABV: 62.5%

Average Price: $92

The Whiskey:

Westward Whiskey — out in Portland, Oregon — is really starting to come into its own, especially as its whiskey gets older. This expression is a prime example of Westward’s prowess that’s made in-house from top to bottom and mellowed in new American oak until it’s just right for cask-strength bottling as-is.

Bottom Line:

This is excellent whiskey. It wasn’t quite as soft and supple as the next two entries, but it still ruled. I can see sipping this on a single rock and being very happy. At the same time, I can see this making one hell of a cocktail too.

2. The Dalmore Cigar Malt Reserve Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky — Taste 8

ABV: 44%

Average Price: $199

The Whisky:

This Highland whisky is a no-age-statement version of The Dalmore. The juice is made from Golden barley that grows on the island in the rich and very coastal soils. The ground malted barley is mixed with pure water from the Cromarty Firth nearby during the mashing process. After a couple of times through pot stills, the hot whisky is loaded into ex-bourbon casks, 30-year-old Matusalem Oloroso Sherry butts, and former Cabernet Sauvignon from the Saint-Estèphe appellation of Bordeaux. After 10 to 15 years, those barrels are vatted, the whiskey is proofed, and it’s bottled.

Bottom Line:

This was a banger from top to bottom. It’s a damn near perfect sipper. The only reason it’s not number one is that the next pour had that little more to it. But only barely.

1. Glenmorangie The Quinta Ruban Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky — Taste 4

ABV: 46%

Average Price: $46

The Whisky:

Glenmorangie’s 14-Year expression spends 10 years resting in used American oak casks. Those barrels are vatted and the whisky is re-barreled into Quinta Ruban port wine casks from Portugal for another four years of mellowing before batching, proofing, and bottling as-is.

Bottom Line:

This is delicious whisky. It’s delightfully complex while delivering a fantastic profile to the palate. It’s also a wonderful sipper all on its own. It’s just a winner all around and an incredible value.

Part 3: Final Thoughts

I’d argue that the top three are all basically tied. That’s especially true if you’re looking for a great sipper to add to your bar cart. Each one is just stellar.

The only bottles I’d avoid as the bottom two. The rest are perfectly fine but lean more toward mixers than satisfying sippers, which is perfectly fine and with merit. Still, that top three is a killer’s row of great single malt.

As for American single malts versus Scotch single malts. Well, as I mentioned in the intro, it all just depends on how well the whiskey is built. There are some great American single malts that do live up to great Scotch single malts. You just have to know where to look.

If you said this time last year that Marjorie Taylor Greene would have split ways with old besties Lauren Boebert and Matt Gaetz, no one would have believed you. It’s like The Rolling Stones breaking up. But break up Greene and Boebert/Gaetz did. Greene and Boebert started fighting last spring. Gaetz has mostly stood on the sidelines, even trying to work his way back into Greene’s good graces by congratulating her on what is (for her, at least) good news. But Greene ain’t having it.

Greene, who was particularly pissed that Gaetz turned Kevin McCarthy’s House Speaker election into a chaotic crapshow, was recently awarded seats on House committees, which she lost two years back due to her history of harassing Democratic lawmakers and floating tinfoil hat conspiracy theories. The news prompted Gaetz to offer a public olive branch, tweeting that the reinstated Greene was “going to do amazing work for the people on these key committees she has EARNED. “

But Greene was unmoved. “Too bad we’re weeks behind after you spent a week only getting MTV from 5 to 1,” Greene quote-tweeted at him, referring to a stipulation he fought for involving a “motion to vacate,” or the number of votes needed to remove a speaker of the house. She then declared herself “the leading MAGA voice in Congress,” adding, “I look forward to committees.”

Gaetz tried again, tweeting, “We the People will be in better hands with MTG holding the corrupt Biden Admin accountable via committee service. I’m so here for it.”

Alas, Greene remained icy, writing, “The rules package did not change at all from Jan 1st to Jan 6th, except MTV went from 5 to 1. Literally anyone can read them online and see that. All substantial negotiations happened in conference & 5 families meetings before the 15 ballots starting on Jan 3rd.”

Greene’s decision to side with McCarthy, who helped her get back on committees, has not been popular with Boebert or Gaetz, although the latter, at least, has tried to be diplomatic. But that’s clearly not working with Greene — a sad reminder that all things, even MAGA friendships, must pass.

(Via Mediaite)

As you probably know from reading past articles, there’s no time of year when we stop drinking IPAs. West Coast, New England-style, milkshake, and imperial IPAs, we love them all. But, during the cold winter months, we especially enjoy cold IPAs.

Back in 2018, Portland, Oregon’s Wayfinder created the style when it launched its bold, hoppy, resinous Relapse IPA. Since then, brewers from coast to coast have tried their hand at this style that, in the simplest terms, is made by fermenting at a much lower temperature than other IPAs on the market. This is similar to the way ales are brewed. The result is a crisp, bitter, floral, dank, citrus, and tropical fruit-filled IPA delicious any time of year — especially great as a respite from the cold winter wind.

Since we’ve mentioned its wintry appeal, it’s time to actually find some cold IPAs to imbibe. That’s why we decided to pick eight popular riffs on the style and rank them based on flavor and seasonal appeal. Keep reading to see them all.

8) 10 Barrel Rock Hop

ABV: 7.1%

Average Price: $10.99 for a six-pack

The Beer:

This 7.1% cold IPA is known for its citrus and dank pine with surprisingly low bitterness due to the addition of Azacca, El Dorado, Idaho 7, and Cashmere hops. As a bonus, a portion of sales goes to Trailkeepers of Oregon, a not-for-profit that works to maintain hiking trails in the state.

Tasting Notes:

There’s a ton of orange peel and pine on the nose but really not much else. The palate continues this trend with some light tropical fruit flavors paired with the citrus and dank, slightly bitter pine needles at the finish. Overall, it’s sort of bland and lacks the crisp flavor profile we expect in a cold IPA.

Bottom Line:

This isn’t a bad beer. It’s also not a great beer. It’s just kind of an okay beer. This is mostly because, while it calls itself a cold IPA, it doesn’t really taste that much like one.

7) Smuttynose Ice Dam(n)

ABV: 6%

Average Price: $11.50 for a four-pack of 16-ounce cans

The Beer:

This beer is known for being a crisp, flavorful IPA that bridges the gap between West Coast and East Coast IPAs. It’s brewed with 2-row and Carahell acidulated malts as well as Chico yeast and flaked rice. It gets its hop flavor and aroma from the addition of Hüll Melon and Centennial hops.

Tasting Notes:

It smells like a classic IPA. Tropical fruits, citrus peels, and pine needles are prevalent on the nose. Sadly, the palate isn’t as exceptional. While it has some tropical fruit, citrus flavors, and some light malt flavor, the bitter, piney hops are a little too much at the forefront and overpower the other flavors.

Bottom Line:

This beer would benefit from a little more balance between the hop bitterness and the malts and fruit and citrus flavors.

6) Sweetwater Glacial

ABV: 6.3%

Average Price: $10.99 for a six-pack

The Beer:

Sweetwater is well-known for its IPA brewing prowess. And while you can’t go wrong with any of its popular year-round brews, during the winter months we prefer this cold dry-hopped, Cryo hop IPA that is known for its crisp, dry, refreshing flavor profile.

Tasting Notes:

On the nose, you’ll find grapefruit, tangerine, light malts, and floral, dank, piney hops. Drinking it reveals notes of brown bread, grapefruit, pineapple, orange peel, and resinous, earthy, herbal, pine needles. The finish is dry, crisp, and slightly bitter.

Bottom Line:

This is a decent take on the cold IPA style. It’s crisp and has a nice malt backbone. Its only downfall was that it’s just not all that exciting in terms of overall flavor.

5) August Schell Fresh Prints

ABV: 6.5%

Average Price: $10 for a six-pack

The Beer:

This 6.5% cold IPA is like a ramped-up version of a classic West Coast IPA. Like other cold IPAs, it’s cold fermented like an ale and carries tropical fruit, citrus, and crisp, pilsner-like flavors. What’s not to love on a cold winter night?

Tasting Notes:

A lot is going on with this beer’s nose. Guava, mango, pineapple, bready malts, grapefruit, and herbal, earthy, piney hops aromas greet you. The palate continues this flavorful trend with lemongrass, honeydew melon, grapefruit, pineapple, freshly baked bread, and dank, slightly bitter pine. The finish is crisp and lightly bitter.

Bottom Line:

This is a well-balanced, flavorful IPA. It’s kind of like a West Coast IPA with an edge. It tastes like you mixed a lager and a piney, bitter IPA.

4) Rogue Knuckle Buster

ABV: 6.1%

Average Price: $11.50 for a six-pack

The Beer:

Available from January through April, this popular cold IPA is brewed with Superior Pils and flaked rice as well as a melange of hops including Hallertauer Blanc, Belma, Nelson Sauvin, Motueka, Comet, and Cascade hops.

Tasting Notes:

The nose is all wet grass, freshly baked bread, citrus peels, and floral, herbal hops are potent on the nose. The palate is loaded with tropical fruits, citrus, bready malts, and resinous, dank hops that tie everything together nicely. It’s dry, lightly bitter, and surprisingly easy to drink.

Bottom Line:

This is the cold IPA for the classic IPA fans. Especially those who want a nice, crisp, hoppy beer to drink while they watch football.

3) Karl Strauss What’s Cooler Than Being Cool

ABV: 6.9%

Average Price: $13 for a four-pack of 16-ounce cans

The Beer:

This aptly named cold IPA is brewed with 2-row malts as well as Citra, Cascade, El Dorado, and Mosaic hops. It’s brewed at a lower temperature with lager yeast and the addition of flaked corn gives it the crisp flavor of a classic pilsner.

Tasting Notes:

The aroma is cereal grains, sweet corn, grapefruit, lemon, wet grass, bready malts, and bright piney hops. Sipping it brings forth notes of sweet grains, freshly baked bread, pineapple. Grapefruit, tangerine, and gently bitter, herbal, dank hops at the finish. It tastes like you mixed a pilsner and West Coast IPA together in the best way possible.

Bottom Line:

This cold IPA has a nice balance of bready malts, citrus peels, and dank pine. Everything seems to be working in perfect harmony.

2) Wayfinder Original Cold IPA

ABV: 7%

Average Price: $5.99 for a 16-ounce can

The Beer:

As we mentioned before, Wayfinder invented the Cold IPA back in 2018 when it released Wayfinder Relapse IPA. This beer, brewed to pay homage to Relapse Records was the brewery’s attempt to make an “extreme” version of the classic West Coast IPA. Now, this crisp, clean IPA is called Original Cold IPA.

Tasting Notes:

There’s a ton of tropical fruit and citrus in this beer’s nose. It’s highlighted by tangerine, grapefruit, mango, guava, and peach flavors. This is paired with caramel malts, and light, herbal pine. This is all carried onto the palate where grapefruit, orange peels, lemon zest, peach, pineapple, mango, sweet malts, and dry, slightly bitter hops take center stage.

Bottom Line:

It’s tough to beat the OG. This cold IPA is fruity, piney, slightly bitter, and has just the right amount of drying crispness at the finish.

1) Fremont Legend

ABV: 7%

Average Price: $12 for a six-pack

The Beer:

The year-round offering from the folks at Fremont features 2-row Pale and Pilsner malts as well as flaked corn, Citra, Centennial, Citra Cryo, and Strata hops. The result is a fruity, citrus-filled, slightly bitter IPA well-suited for any time of year.

Tasting Notes:

Ripe berries, wet grass, caramelized pineapple, peach, grapefruit, orange zest, and floral, herbal, and earthy pine is prevalent on the nose. The palate continues this trend with a ton of caramel malt flavor up front followed by tangerine, pineapple, peach, mango, wet grass, and gently bitter, piney hops.

Bottom Line:

When it comes to well-balanced, crisp, flavorful cold IPAs, you’ll have a hard time finding one better than Fremont Legend. It might not be the first, but it’s arguably the best.

It was only a few months ago that Apple announced a new line of products that included their iPhones (14, 14 Plus, 14 Pro, and 14 Pro Max models), Apple Watches (Series 8, SE, and Ultra models), and the AirPods Pro 2nd generation. The average Apple consumer may not have expected to hear about new products from the tech giant for a few months but, lo and behold, Apple arrived with a surprise to kick off their 2023 year.

With iOS 15 and the iPhone 15 line set to arrive later this year, Apple started things by unveiling a new MacBook Pro and the HomePod 2nd generation. Here’s everything you need to know about the news.

MacBook Pro

First up: new MacBooks. Apple announced 14- and 16-in models of its MacBook Pros, complete with its latest M2 Pro and M2 Max chips. We’ll get into the differences between the chips in a second, but overall, the MacBooks boast some promising features. Apple claims the 14-inch model has quite a healthy battery life; 18 hours of video playback and 12 hours of wireless web browsing.

The 16-inch model holds what Apple claims is the “longest battery life ever in a Mac” thanks to 22 hours of video playback and 15 hours of wireless web browsing. These numbers are based on tests conducted with the M2 Pro chip. Both MacBook Pro models include Wi-Fi 6E and a “more advanced HDMI” that supports 8K displays up to 60Hz and 4K displays up to 240Hz.

M2 Pro

The M2 Pro chip launches with a 12-core CPU, up to 19-core GPU, and up to 32GB of unified memory. It also has twice the transistors that the M2 chip had and 20 percent more than the M1 Pro. The M2 Pro chip also has 200GB/s of unified memory bandwidth and Apple claims that the chip can “process images in Adobe Photoshop up to 40 percent faster than with M1 Pro, and as much as 80 percent faster than MacBook Pro with an Intel Core i9 processor.”

M2 Max

The M2 Max chip boasts up to 38 cores of GPU power and support for up to 96GB of unified memory. The chip has the same 12-core CPU as the M2 Pro, but it puts out much more GPU power. Apple says the M2 Max chip is 30% faster than the M1 chip in graphics and that it can “tackle graphics-intensive projects that competing systems can’t even run.”

Now that we got all the technical details out of the way, here’s the most important info. The 14-inch MacBook Pro with M2 Pro starts at $1,999, with the 16-inch model starting at $2,499. Both are available to pre-order on Apple and they’ll both appear in Apple stores on January 24. You can also watch a 19-minute video about M2 Pro and M2 Max chips from Apple here.

You can view more info on the 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro’s M2 Pro and M2 Max chips here.

HomePod 2nd Generation

Here we have the 2nd generation HomePod from Apple. The latest generation comes almost five years after Apple debuted the first model and a little over two years since Apple released the HomePod Mini. The new model is wrapped in mesh fabric with a backlit touchscreen top, just like the HomePod Mini. In addition to the traditional white model, the HomePod 2 also comes in midnight and both colors come with cables in the matching color.

As expected, the biggest improvements are on the inside of the speaker. The new model is powered by an S7 processor for computational audio, a high-excursion woofer, an internal bass-EQ mic, and an array of five tweeters. With all this together, Apple claims that you’ll get a “groundbreaking listening experience” with the HomePod 2. Furthermore, the HomePod carries a new room-sensing technology. It now has the ability to recognize sound reflections from nearby surfaces and determine if it’s against a wall or standing in an open space and adjust the sound accordingly. The HomePod 2 can be paired with another HomePod 2 model or with the HomePod Mini, but it can not be paired with the HomePod 1.

Users can also hand off media from their iPhones to the HomePod, as they’ve been able to do with the HomePod Mini.

As if things weren’t great already with the HomePod 2, you’ll eventually be able to use the device to listen for smoke and carbon monoxide alarms thanks to the Sound Recognition feature. It’s not available at the moment, but it will come in an update for the device in June. Ultimately, the way it works is if the HomePod 2 detects these sounds, it will send a notification to your iPhone immediately. Lastly, a new temperature and humidity sensor allow you to measure indoor environments to have the air conditioning turned on or off at a certain temperature and Siri will still answer your neverending requests.

Now that you’re aware of all the technical features, here’s the price: the HomePod 2 checks in at $299. It’s available for pre-order now and it will hit store shelves on February 3.

You can view more info on the HomePod 2 here.

Every day for the past month-plus, there’s been one, two, sometimes three bizarre allegations about George Santos. The newly sworn-in GOP representative has been busted embellishing or lying about his résumé, his history, even his mom’s death. He’s also been accused of some truly alarming, leftfield deeds. On Tuesday, a story alleged that he stole money from a GoFundMe to save a dying dog’s life. (The dog later died.) Now it’s alleged one of the latest members of the anti-drag queen party used to be…a drag queen.

MSNBC contributor Marisa Kabas took to Twitter Wednesday, saying she spoke with a Brazilian drag queen named Eula Rochard. She claims to have been friends with Santos when he used to in near Rio. But “George Santos” is not what she — or, she said, anyone — called him.

“She said everyone knew him as Anthony (*never* George), or by his drag name, Kitara, and confirms this photo is from a 2008 drag show at Icaraí Beach,” Kabas posted, alongside a fuzzy picture of two drag queens, one believed to be Santos, if that is his real name.

Rochard told Kabas that she first befriended Santos when he was a teenager “because they were both gay and enjoyed drag.” When Santos became a prolific news fixture due to the many, many, many allegations against him, she realized it was the same person. No one believed her, so she dug into her old photos and found the one since posted by Kabas on social media.

When the story was made public, the news left some thinking they wouldn’t be surprised by any Santos story, no matter how creatively leftfield, at this point.

Some were impressed by how prolific the guy is.

Others noted that the revelations come at a time when the party to which he belongs has been on not only an anti-LGTBQIA+ tirade, but had singled out drag queens as some kind of menace — even after far right domestic terrorists had shot up places holding drag queen performances.

Santos will probably do what he’s done after every single other of the many allegations against him: Nothing. Ditto GOP highers-up, who have placed him on committees despite his alleged deceptions.

Still, some noted, the guy sure has a lot of aliases at this point.

At least there’s finally a picture of Santos not wearing a sweater.

Some were even impressed that he now has a drag queen story to his rap sheet.

There’s a good argument to be made that Eric Ripert is among the preeminent seafood chefs in world. Certainly in the world of Western cuisine, though I’m virtually certain he would disclaim any such accolade. His flagship restaurant, Le Bernardin, in midtown Manhattan, has been at the top of the seafood game for decades—its three Michelin stars make it, by at least that one measure, among the very best restaurants in New York City.

Owing both to his own substantial success as a chef and his connection with the late Anthony Bourdain—their friendship was featured in caricatured form over more than a decade on the late chef and TV host’s shows—he has achieved a level of fame to which most of the world’s top chefs will only ever aspire. Which is why when this landlubber (pirate sic) had the opportunity to sit down with Ripert at the Ritz Carlton in Grand Cayman—home to his other seafood-forward joint, Blue—to talk food, fish, and more, I leaped at the opportunity.

Seafood holds an interesting place in my life — I grew up in eastern Oklahoma and although my father is an excellent cook and a seafood lover, and I’ve since lived all over the world, mostly near an ocean, the gene seems to have skipped a generation. I’ll almost always reach for anything but an animal that once lived in the water. But when Eric Ripert is excited about something it’s very easy to share that buzz — so I came at him ready for a very seafood-focused chat.

One more note — at the time of my interview with Ripert, I’d spent the morning kayaking around the mangroves accessible right outside the back of the Ritz. I was late coming back, so I ran to my room for a lightning-fast shower and shave, then ran down to the bar to wait for the chef who found me sitting at a table with my notepad, dabbing vodka on my neck.

I know this looks really weird. I don’t have any aftershave, so I just bought a shot of vodka and … well, that’s why I’m dabbing a shot of vodka on my neck.

Quite fine….

Old traveler’s trick….

Yeah….perfect…..

How was your afternoon?

My afternoon is good. I was just in the kitchen and came up to see you.

Do you have a favorite knife?

[Long pause.] No. I do not. I have many different knives that I enjoy very much. But knives are very different depending on what you are doing, depending on the use. So I have some Takamura knives, which are made in Japan by the Takamura brothers, where I went to take my knives from the factory. It takes them three to four years to make a knife. The blade is all sculpted. So those knives could be my favorite, but they are not, because I don’t use them that much — though they are very special to me.

I use a lot of a brand called MAC. It’s Japanese, made in Japan as well but it’s designed for Westerners. The way Western chefs use the knife is very different from the Japanese. The cuts are different. I like MAC a lot but at home, I have some Wüstoffs for the family and myself, which I think are my favorite to share with the family. And again I have many, many different obscure Japanese names, so… I have a lot of knives.

What is your process for creating a new dish, evaluating progress, and coming up with ideas?

Creativity is very difficult. It’s not difficult in itself, but it’s very difficult to know when you can be creative and when you’re not gonna be creative. I mean, you cannot push a button and say, “I’m creative” and push a button to say “I’m stopping to be creative.” So you basically have to create a certain soil for creativity where your ideas are going to come out, like seeds.

I have the luck to live in New York, which is, as you know, a melting pot of cultures. It’s basically the UN in the street. And I interact with a lot of chefs from other countries. I see different products from other countries. I learn different techniques; new flavors. And I have the luck to travel. I go to Asia or the Caribbean or Europe. I was in Italy this summer. I basically absorb a lot when I go in the streets. I don’t necessarily force myself to come up with ideas. It’s the period when I’m absorbing.

And when I come back, I carry a paper with me very often, or next to my bed, and ideas for me come whenever they want. It’s a visual flash for me. It’s hard to say that I see the flavors and I see the dish—it comes as a visual flash. And a lot of friends of mine have a different way of getting creative. Some of them are very particular and very organized and take notes on plants. And me, I wait for the flash.

Can you describe that visual flash in detail?

I’m gonna describe for you something interesting. I was in Sweden a long time ago and I was eating with a friend of mine, who is creative too, he is a chef, and we were eating in a restaurant and they gave us, I remember, deer, rare, cooked very rare. And it was flat on the plate and it was an appetizer, and I had a flash of tuna carpaccio with foie gras. But it hits me in the head so strongly that my friend could feel it. And he told me, he said, “I know what you’re thinking of?”

I said, “What am I thinking of?”

He said, “You’re thinking of tuna carpaccio.

I said, “How do you know!?”

He said it was so strong. He said, “I’m gonna do it before you.”

At the time he was a chef in San Francisco, at Aqua, a two-star Michelin.

And I said, “Well I’m gonna do it before, I know how to make it. I had the flash.”

So I took some notes and went back to New York, and in one shot the dish came out. Sometimes I have a flash and the dish never comes out because it’s a mediocre idea—intellectually it makes sense but when you put it on the table or start to work with the ingredients, it doesn’t work. Sometimes it takes me years and years from the idea to create the dish. Sometimes it takes a week. Sometimes in one shot. But that one was one shot and that is exactly the perfect description. And that dish became a signature dish of Blue and Le Bernardin.

What do you like to cook for your friends and family?

Depends on the season…

Or I should start by asking, do you like to cook for your friends and family?

Yes, haha, I do. I do on the weekend because during the week I am at the restaurant. And I try to always go out one day and the second day I cook. So like I said it depends on the season. I have a country house in Long Island. Two hours from New York, next to Montauk. We have a lot of farms there in the summer, so I have a tendency to go to the farm stands in the morning and buy way too many things. My cooking is a lot about vegetables. And I do a lot of different preparations and recipes.

We put it in the middle of a long table and we invite friends. It’s very convivial, we share. It’s casual but very, very vegetable oriented. In the winter, a lot of braised meats, and coq au vin, chicken braised in red wine. And sometimes I just want to cook fish like at the restaurant. But my cooking is very different from at the restaurant — it’s never like fine dining type cooking, it’s more like home food. Home cooking.

Speaking of vegetables, I wonder if you feel like a vegetable stock can ever achieve the depth of a—

Yes

of a meat stock?

Yes. absolutely. Absolutely it can. You have to use ingredients that have a lot of umami, or that brings a lot of flavors that are, like, coming from the soil. For instance, if you do a broth and you want to have meat flavors, a little bit of soy sauce, some mushroom, dried, fresh. And then if you really want to make it even richer and really seal those flavors and make it meaty, you put a little bit of lentils. The starch of the lentils and the iron that is in the vegetables—the lentils have the characteristic of bringing some artificial, natural obviously, meaty flavor, like coming from a beef flavor. So you can do that, absolutely.

Maybe a somewhat related question. Has Buddhism influenced your cooking at all? Or influenced you as a chef?

Yes, in many ways. Also it’s a conflict for me because I have a seafood restaurant so we kill animals to feed happy people, but I decided that I have two possibilities. I go completely vegan with the restaurant, and I believe it would be very challenging for us to do that after being so famous for seafood, and we could take the risk of closing and not making a difference in the world because nobody would care. So what I did, I created a vegetarian menu that changes with the seasons or when we have good ideas.

I also did a book, a cookbook called Vegetable Simple to basically compensate a little bit for what I’m doing with the rest of the ingredients, which are many seafoods. So I’m a little conflicted, but yes. Buddhism has changed the way I cook. Because I understand more the meditative process when I’m cooking, which is to be in the present, not think about the past, and not think about the future. It’s very much in this moment now. And the respect of cooks for all animals the respect for the planet and even plants and so on. I have much more appreciation today than when I started my career when I was not a Buddhist. And also cooking at the restaurant is different than cooking by myself, and Buddhism helps me to interact with my team, and—in a very secular way, I’m not trying to convert the team to Buddhism, that would be wrong—but whenever I think it’s something that makes us a better person or makes a better ambiance for a person to blossom, I basically used the teaching, find ways to deliver the message in a different secular way and that has changed my way of also cooking with my team.

The stereotype of a kitchen is that there’s a militaristic, regimented hierarchy; a lot of negativity from chefs, anger, throwing pans around, and that sort of thing.

Yes. Until you realize that anger is not a quality, it’s a weakness, you’re in trouble. And your team will not like you and will not enjoy their experience. If you come by tonight at Blue, come by at any moment at your leisure, you’re gonna see a kitchen that is very peaceful. [NOTE: I did. It was.]

Doesn’t mean that we don’t have stress, because of course we have stress, but we manage it. We make sure that the ambiance in the kitchen is good because even if you are just selfish and you want your team to be very efficient, a cook who is shaking like that and is afraid is not gonna cook better than a guy who is very precise and inspired and enjoys what he’s doing. Yeah, kitchens are by definition a hostile environment because sometimes it’s wet it’s very humid, it’s very hot, there are a lot of sharp objects, but we are in this field because we love what we do and with all the adrenaline and the rush that we have during the service and so on. You can be in this environment and direct a kitchen in a kind way. When I say in a kind way, it doesn’t mean that you don’t have to be firm. And it doesn’t mean that if someone burns the fish three times you gonna say, “Listen it would be very nice if you don’t burn it.”

You have to be firm, you are in the leading position as a chef but it’s understood that it’s a lot of kindness between us, a lot of respect, and obviously compassion. But compassion doesn’t mean that you have to close your eyes and accept everything. A compassionate attitude is a respectful attitude and thinking about the well-being of the cooks or waiters.

I grew up in Oklahoma, in the middle of the United States, not eating very much seafood and for the longest time, I just thought I didn’t like seafood at all. There’s that fishy taste in particular that some fish has that to me is extremely off-putting. But the other day here at the Ritz in Grand Cayman I had this red snapper that is, I think, local to here, and I’ve had it at every meal since, and it’s like a revelation.

So, fish, first of all, should never smell fishy, and should never taste fishy. When fish is very fresh it’s basically like smelling—it’s almost like smelling, but also in the form of eating, it’s like high tide in the ocean when you are walking, and it’s like pure waters, and it’s windy, and you walk and the salt and the wind brings the smell of the ocean to you. It’s very pleasant. That’s what you should recognize in a fish.

As soon as a fish starts to get older fishiness increases and very fishy fish is a very old fish. So very often people don’t have access to very fresh fish, so, therefore, they think fish is fishy but fish is not fishy.

What is fresh to you?

It all depends. Usually fresh is within 24 hours — when you catch the fish and keep it in very good conditions. Keeping it in good condition means understanding that it has to stay cold temperatures and many other techniques that we use to make sure that in a quick manner we process the fish and it’s served to you. But some fish, like if you eat skate, for instance, you eat the muscle of the wing. If you eat it too fresh, they are too tough, you cannot eat them, so you have to let them relax for a few days.

But most of the time within 24 hours.

Is there a particular fish that you like to cook?

It’s like asking a father what’s your favorite child. So I do not really. Every fish has different characteristics. I love lobster. I love scallops. Those are not fish but they are in the seafood category. I love tuna, but the snapper you had is delicious. I don’t really.

Is there something at Blue, in particular, you’d be excited about me experiencing?

Tonight I want you to try the carpaccio of tuna with foil gras. Make an effort. If you don’t like it we’ll give you something else. But that way you can relate to my story. I think you should take that shot.

As everyone knows from the Terminator franchise, you can’t keep homicidal AI down. The same applies to M3GAN, who didn’t fare well (in her physical form, at least) by the end of the James Wan and Jason Blumhouse-produced January 2022 release, but she’ll “be back.” Wan does have a way with murderous dolls, as he proved with The Conjuring franchise, where Annabelle gave Chucky a run for his overall-stuffed, well, you know.

In other words, running over the murder doll isn’t as easy as it sounds. Variety reports that M3GAN will live, or reboot, or further upgrade, in a 2025 sequel. The film appears to be called M3GAN 2.0, at least until she makes some changes to the programming:

Screenwriter Akela Cooper is returning to pen the sequel. Plot details haven’t been revealed, though Allison Williams, whose character helped bring to life the chaotic AI-like doll, will be back for “2.0” as will M3GAN’s pint-sized bestie, played by Violet McGraw. Gerard Johnstone directed the first film, but a director has not been announced for the sequel.

As The Hollywood Reporter notes, the film’s still cranking away in theaters with $91.9 total gross worldwide, which is a fantastic turnaround from a film with a $12 million budget. Horror still knows how to keep things cheap and effective. Really, just ask Skinamarink, if you dare.

(Via Variety, Hollywood Reporter & Deadline)

Over the last handful of years, Aubrey Plaza has turned into one of our most versatile actresses. On The White Lotus, she’s great as a self-hating member of the nouveau riche, just as she’s fantastic as a desperate woman embracing her dark side in Emily the Criminal. But the world first got to know the former April Ludgate thanks to her fearless, unhinged comedic chops. That side of her will surely be on display when she finally hosts SNL for the first time this weekend. And it’s already there even in the new promo for her big episode.

It finds this week’s host talking shop with cast member Chloe Fineman, who turned heads late last year for her spot-on take on Plaza’s White Lotus colleague Jennifer Coolidge. In the ad, Plaza compliments Fineman some of her other impersonations, including her top shelf Drew Barrymore. So Plaza shows Fineman some of her own.

Fineman isn’t as blown away by Plaza as Plaza is with her, but mostly because she’s chosen some, shall we say, unlikely people to impersonate. Like Marcia Gay Harden’s Oscar-winning work in Pollock, Ed Harris’ 23-year-old biopic about painter Jackson Pollock. Who was expecting a Pollock reference in the year 2023? Ditto Annette Bening in American Beauty. They’re predictably unpredictable choices on Plaza’s part, as is the moment when she leans in for a leftfield smooch with the SNL regular.

You can watch the promo in the video above. Plaza’s SNL episode, featuring musical guest Smith, airs Saturday night on NBC starting at 11:30pm.

Anna Kendrick stars in Alice, Darling, which arrives in theaters on January 19. The Up In The Air star previously disclosed how she had serendipitously received the script amid the wreckage of an abusive partnership, and the film’s unnerving trailer checks out. The story follows a woman who’s struggling to survive within an emotionally abusive relationship, and her friends (played by Wunmi Mosaku and Kaniehtiio Horn) start to realize that things are tragically amiss during one of their birthday weekends.

The movie promises to be an intense (and likely triggering) viewing experience, and Kendrick surely relived some agony while filming. She previously revealed how her own friends (including Aubrey Plaza) helped her see the light, despite the nature of how these types of relationship make one not want to see the light. And as Anna spoke with IndieWire, she made an admission: this press tour has been as much if not more of a grueling experience as the work itself. In particular, she discussed a rapid-fire day of interviews that left her feeling completely “sh*tty.” Here’s what happened:

“I’, actually finding that the press is the thing that has been a little trickier to navigate, making sure that I’m OK and feeling safe in my body…. There was a thing early on where I was doing like a junket-style day for ‘Alice, Darling’ where it’s like six minutes per person and you kind of run through like 30 interviews really quickly, and I went home and was in the shower and was like, ‘Why do I feel so shitty right now?,’” Kendrick said. “And I sort of told everyone, ‘I don’t think I can do another thing like that.’”

Those types of junkets are exhausting when promoting a lighthearted project, so one can only imagine how draining it was to relive emotional abuse over and over again within one day. Yikes. Some films are best promoted in a 1-on-1, carefully scheduled setting. With naps. Lots of naps. I’m perhaps sounding too “dark” while discussing this subject, too, but sometimes, looking for sleep is all that one can do to cope. Hopefully, Anna’s on the mend for real, and she can recover while moving onto her directorial debut, which is also about grim subject matter. Again, naps!

(Via IndieWire)