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Joanna Sternberg Bluntly Tackles ‘Self-Hatred And Self-Awareness’ In Their Endearing Single ‘I’ve Got Me’

Uproxx couldn’t get enough of Joanna Sternberg’s 2019 album, Then I Try Some More. “This Is Not Who I Want To Be” was described by Uproxx as “a poignant look at addiction with just the right balance of regret and reflection, so forthcoming that it feels powerful enough to make the ground shake.”

Three-plus years later, Sternberg has not lost their ability to acutely reflect and widely resonate. Today, March 8, Sternberg announced I’ve Got Me, their album due out on Fat Possum on June 30, and released its title track.

“And all my faults and flaws and lies / Are no one’s fault but mine,” Sternberg melodically sings in the song. “Between self-hatred and self-awareness / Is a very small, thin line.”

“I do not remember if I wrote this song before or after reading the poem ‘Oh Yes’ by Charles Bukowski, but the song is definitely meant to reflect the same sentiment. I also have the poem tattooed on my right arm!” Sternberg said in a statement.

Per the press release, I’ve Got Me was entirely written by Sternberg, who also “played every instrument on the record’s 12 songs.” The album was recorded alongside producer Matt Sweeney and engineer Daniel Schlett across six days last summer at Strange Weather Studios in Brooklyn, New York.

Sternberg also named The Beatles, Little Richard, Chuck Berry, James Brown, Bob Dylan, James Jameson, Elliott Smith, and Randy Newman as formative musical influences, but Sweeney asserted that I’ve Got Me is 100 percent Sternberg: “For me, this album is a dead-on example of how the more brave and clear an artist is in expressing their own world, the stronger it resonates with strangers.”

Below, find the I’ve Got Me album artwork (illustrated by Sternberg) and tracklist, as well as their forthcoming live dates.

I've Got Me artwork
Joanna Sternberg

1. “I’ve Got Me”
2. “I Will Be With You”
3. “People Are Toys To You”
4. “Drifting On A Cloud”
5. “Mountains High”
6. “I’ll Make You Mine”
7. “Stockholm Syndrome”
8. “Right Here”
9. “The Love I Give”
10. “She Dreams”
11. “The Human Magnet Song”
12. “The Song”

03/08 — New York, NY @ Union Pool
03/14-17 — Austin, TX @ SXSW
03/22 — New York, NY @ Union Pool
03/29 — New York, NY @ Union Pool
04/21 — Boston, MA @ Cafe 939
04/22 — Northampton, MA @ Bishop’s Lounge
04/27 — Wayne, PA @ 118 North
04/28 — Washington, DC @ Comet Ping Pong

I’ve Got Me is out 06/30 via Fat Possum. Find more information here.

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Who Is Opening Ella Mai’s ‘The Heart On My Sleeve Tour?’

Last year, Ella Mai unveiled her sophomore album, Heart On My Sleeve. The deluxe edition is out now, and she’s preparing to bring those songs to the road with the aptly titled Heart On My Sleeve Tour, beginning on March

The opener is Thuy, an LA-based singer known for her hit “Universe.”

On Instagram, she wrote in the announcement: “IM SPEECHLESS!!! i’m so honored to be opening up for the angel @ellamai!!!!!! i’ve always been such a fan of u and it’s such an insane full circle moment to be your special guest on your HOMS TOUR!!!!”

In our 2020 interview with Thuy, she discussed her aspirations with music.

“I love creating a storyline. I feel like ‘X’s And O’s’ and ‘Distance Between Us,’ for example, tie into the story of I Hope You See This of closing out that chapter of like that bad relationship or leaving people in the past and that’s kind of like what ‘X’s And O’s’ is about, just like leaving people, whether it’s the non-believers or whether it’s a toxic ex, in the past and I feel like the whole deluxe is really just like closing out that chapter of my life.”

Find all of Mai’s upcoming tour dates here.

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Kevin Durant Won’t Play Against The Thunder After Rolling His Ankle In Warmups

The Phoenix Suns have looked an awful lot like contenders with Kevin Durant in the lineup, which isn’t a surprise considering he is one of the five best basketball players on the planet when healthy.

The health part has been an issue at times, though, and while Durant is fully back after his latest knee sprain, he suffered a new injury on Wednesday night while warming up on the floor before the Suns hosted the Thunder, as he rolled his left ankle while driving to the basket and fell to the ground.

You can see Durant’s ankle turn over on its side, and while he would get up and be able to walk off on his own, he was ruled out officially not long after due to “left ankle soreness.”

The hope, of course, is that the injury isn’t anything more than soreness and he avoided a sprain that could cost him extended time. The Suns have gone 3-0 with Durant in the lineup, and while they’re still certainly competitive without him, their depth on the wing will be particularly thin in his absence. Torrey Craig will get the start against OKC, but after dealing away Mikal Bridges and Cam Johnson to land Durant, the Suns are very much beholden to the health of their stars to be contenders in the West.

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Irish Whiskey Showdown: Tullamore D.E.W. Vs. Jameson

Deciding which Irish whiskey to buy over the next few weeks is going to be tough. There’s a fair amount of cheap but good Irish whiskey on the shelf. Still, two names absolutely dominate that conversation — Jameson Irish Whiskey and Tullamore D.E.W. Irish Whiskey. Which begs the question, which is better and worth spending hard-earned cash on?

To be fair — these whiskeys are very similar.

They’re both “triple distilled” Irish whiskey blends (though not exactly the same, which I’ll address below). They have the same proof/ABV. They both cost less than $30 and can be found on pretty much every single liquor store shelf from coast to coast. Tully is made in central Ireland. Jameson is made at Midleton in County Cork, deep in Ireland’s south. Both are marketed as mixing whiskeys. Tullamore has a huge ad campaign for Tully & Tonic. Jameson is hawked as a base for ginger ale whiskey highballs with a twist of lime.

To decide this battle of Irish whiskeys, I did a blind tasting of neat pours in a Glencairn glass. That means I had my wife pour and pass me a glass without me knowing which one it was. I even closed my eyes so I couldn’t see the color. Why? These look almost identical but Tullamore is a tad more amber-hued.

So which one is better? Jameson or Tullamore D.E.W.? Let’s find out.

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

Part 1: The Irish Whiskey Tasting

Jameson vs. Tullamore DEW
Zach Johnston

Taste 1

Jameson vs. Tullamore DEW
Zach Johnston

Tasting Notes:

Nose: Light green chili pepper is accented by lemon candy, soft maltiness, a hint of sweetgrass, and honey-dipped almonds on the nose.

Palate: The palate opens with a hint of chocolate malt with a dash of vanilla next to creamy honey, nutty cakes, and a whisper of woody spice barks with a touch more of that dry sweet grass.

Finish: The proofing water comes through on the end but doesn’t overly mute the honeyed nuts and soft grassy maltiness.

Initial Thoughts:

The lemon on the nose means this has to be Jameson. That aside, this was nice overall. There were layers that felt simpatico and built toward something.

Taste 2

Jameson vs. Tullamore DEW
Zach Johnston

Tasting Notes:

Nose: Sweet malted cookies and bright orchard fruit dominate the nose with a sense of fresh pear, green grassy, and fall leaves with a hint of black pepper.

Palate: Butterscotch and sweet honey malt drive the taste toward more fresh pear cut with orange oils and a hint of nuttiness.

Finish: There’s a hint of spiced oak and soft malt on the finish with a whisper of vanilla but it all kind of fades into watery nothingness pretty quickly.

Initial Thoughts:

This starts off so strong but then just kind of… disappears.

Part 2: Ranking Jameson and Tullamore D.E.W.

Jameson vs. Tullamore DEW
Zach Johnston

2. Tullamore D.E.W. Irish Whiskey Triple Distilled — Taste 2

Tullamore DEW
William Grant & Sons

ABV: 40%

Average Price: $24

The Whisky:

Tullamore’s entry-point whiskey is a blend of triple distilled single grain, single malt, and single pot (malt and unmalted barley mash) whiskeys. Those spirits are then aged in a combination of refill whiskey barrels, ex-bourbon, and ex-sherry casks before blending, proofing, and bottling.

Bottom Line:

This started off far stronger than the Jameson did but just couldn’t stick the landing. It washes out on the finish pretty dramatically and quickly, leaving you with little on the palate. That’s a shame as this is the more complex whiskey with single malt and an extra barrel in play in the blend.

1. Jameson Triple Distilled Irish Whiskey — Taste 1

Jameson

ABV: 40%

Average Price: $29

The Whiskey:

The whiskey is a blend of single pot still (made from malted and unmalted barley) and single grain whiskeys. Those whiskeys age in ex-bourbon barrels and ex-sherry casks until they hit that classic sweet spot that makes Jameson Jameson. Those barrels are then blended, proofed, and bottled.

Bottom Line:

This was more well-rounded and had a little bit more depth. It was still light, don’t get me wrong. It’s clearly a whiskey you’re going to want to mix into a highball, but there was just more here to play with.

Part 3: Final Thoughts

Jameson vs. Tullamore DEW
Zach Johnston

Look, these are both mixing whiskeys. They’re built that way in Ireland and marketed that way. No one is pretending that these are some mind-blowingly complex whiskeys that are going to change your whiskey-drinking life.

These are perfectly fine standard mixing whiskeys for highballs. That means they’re made for mixing with fizzy water and drinks like ginger ale or tonic. I wouldn’t bother using them for cocktails. There’s not enough going on in either of these whiskeys for that application.

That all said, Jameson is the clear winner. It just has more depth and a much better finish.

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The Best Mixing Gins Between $20-45, According To Bartenders

Gin is all about versatility in flavors. That’s what makes it such a great base for cocktails. Sure, there’s the obvious juniper berry flavor that gin drinkers know to recognize on the nose and palate. But there are also myriad other herbs and botanicals present, depending on the gin. We’re talking aromatic ingredients like licorice, orris root, orange peel, Angelica root, coriander… you get the idea.

These myriad flavor notes make for nuanced, complex, multi-dimensional cocktails. That is if you choose the right gin to work with.

“Gin confounds a great many young bartenders, as it can be so different from product to product,” says Colin Berger, bar manager at Rare Society in San Diego. “Any spirit that leans on a complex blend of botanicals, will, more often than not, be wildly varied from producer to producer.”

“Gin is one of those products that I feel can aggressively change the flavor profile of a cocktail,” adds Quinn Moore, USBG bartender in Miami.

When it comes to mixing gins, under $45 (and usually hovering closer to $25) is something of a sweet spot. Bartenders agree. That’s why we asked a handful of our favorites to tell us their go-to value mixing gins. Keep scrolling to see all of their picks (and the cocktails they love making with them!).

No. 3 Gin

No. 3 Gin
No. 3 Gin

Gabriel Urrutia, bartender at Gramps in Miami

ABV: 46%

Average Price: $45

The Gin:

I love No. 3 Gin, after winning a couple of the world’s best awards, No. 3 is the perfect citrus-forward gin made especially for a tasty Martini. Right now, I am enjoying it in Miami in a southside.

Tasting Notes:

Juniper is center stage, but it’s supported by lemon peel and baking spices. Floral, spicy, and well-suited for mixing.

Roku Gin

Roku Gin
Roku Gin

Erica Dimmig, lead mixologist at Pendry in Chicago

ABV: 43%

Average Price: $28

The Gin:

Japanese spirits get everything right, and Roku is a perfect example of that. It comes in at less than $30 a bottle. This gin is great for martinis or a G&T, but I particularly like to use Roku for a traditional Tom Collins.

Tasting Notes:

The botanicals and citrus notes are perfect for this classic cocktail with spring right around the corner. Flavors like cherry blossom, herbal tea, and various spices make this a special gin.

Empress 1908 Gin

Empress 1908 Gin
Empress 1908 Gin

Inga Tantisalidchai, bartender at OLEA Cellar Craft Cook in Irvine, California

ABV: 42.5%

Average Price: $36

The Gin:

I really enjoy mixing with Empress gin. It’s a well-made, flavorful gin that’s surprisingly well-priced. In addition, its beautiful blue hue makes it extra fun to create a colorful cocktail.

Tasting Notes:

The juniper notes are not too overpowering balanced with hints of floral notes from the butterfly pea blossoms infused into the gin.

Citadelle Gin

Citadelle Gin
Citadelle Gin

Roberto Cibrian Stockbridge, bartender at DRINK in Boston

ABV: 44%

Average Price: $20

The Gin:

Citadelle Gin is my go-to. A great well-balanced cocktail gin. It goes well in spirit-forward cocktails with the softer juniper notes and mixes well with citrus.

Tasting Notes:

Juniper starts everything off right before moving into notes of candied orange peel, coriander, and a gently spicy, floral flavor.

Drumshanbo Gunpowder Irish Gin

Drumshanbo Gunpowder Irish Gin
Drumshanbo

Lauren Porto, Cicerone at The Graceful Ordinary in St. Charles, Illinois

ABV: 43%

Average Price: $35

The Gin:

Drumshanbo Gunpowder Irish Gin. Their site says, ‘the ordinary is made extraordinary,’ which is perfectly on-brand for us at The Graceful Ordinary. My favorite thing to make for one particularly picky guest is a rosemary sour (Gunpowder Gin, rosemary syrup, and lemon juice).

Tasting Notes:

The Rosemary highlights the herbal notes in the Gunpowder, and the lemon juice sets off the intrinsically citrus notes in the vapor infuse botanicals. The cardamom, juniper, star anise, and coriander notes in this spirit make it a delightfully herbaceous palate to play with in many directions.

Woody Creek Roaring Fork Gin

Woody Creek Roaring Fork Gin
Woody Creek

Sean Patrick McClure, beverage director at The Ivory Peacock in New York City

ABV: 47%

Average Price: $35

The Gin:

Woody Creek Roaring Fork Gin from the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. A perfect blend of both old-world and new-world styles with a neutral potato spirit as its base. It’s a well-balanced and complex gin that is incredibly versatile and not rough on the wallet retailing around $35.

Tasting Notes:

Utilizing botanicals such as local juniper, coriander, angelica, lemongrass, grains of paradise, hibiscus, cinnamon, cranberries, and lavender.

Kirkland Signature Gin

Kirkland Signature Gin
Kirkland

Martin “Woody” Woodcock, bartender at Agua Caliente Casino in Palm Springs, California

ABV: 44%

Average Price: $25 for a 1.75-liter bottle

The Gin:

Kirkland Signature Gin. Hard to beat the quality of the gin, mixed with a quality tonic and fresh lime, it’s an amazing product.

Tasting Notes:

A very floral gin, Kirkland Signature Gin is filled with flavors like juniper, cardamom, lemon peel, and rose.

Beefeater London Dry Gin

Beefeater London Dry Gin
Beefeater

Kylie McCalla, bartender at Offshore Rooftop in Chicago

ABV: 44%

Average Price: $24

The Gin:

Answering this question made me realize I might be a bit of a gin snob. I think Beefeater is as low as this limbo goes. I need my London Dry pine-forward with a little lemon pith and spice. And I don’t like any added artificial flavorings. I want my gin to taste like gin, and I’d like it up, dry, and dirty. Beefeater does a fantastic job at maintaining integrity without losing its affordability.

Tasting Notes:

Classic gin flavors of juniper, pine, lemon, and spices make this a bargain, easily-mixable gin for any occasion.

Bombay Sapphire London Dry Gin

Bombay Sapphire London Dry Gin
Bombay Sapphire

Kyle Davidson, bartender at Rose Mary in Chicago

ABV: 47%

Average Price: $20

The Gin:

At home, I’ll use Bombay or Beefeater, and I wouldn’t go any less expensive than that. If I had to pick one, it would be Bombay Sapphire London Dry Gin. It’s a fine product, made with classic London dry juniper forward recipes, and they have great structure in drinks. New World gin makers have a few hundred years until they can match it.

Tasting Notes:

This is a very citrus and spice-forward gin with juniper, lemon peel, and coriander adding complexity to any cocktail.

Hendrick’s Gin

Hendrick’s Gin
Hendrick’s Gin

Roderick Palamountain, bartender at Chart Room Bar in Key West, Florida

ABV: 44%

Average Price: $35

The Gin:

My favorite gin to mix is Hendrick’s. I like a quality dirty martini and the cucumber infusion refreshes the classic drink. Blue cheese olives are the perfect touch.

Tasting Notes:

Hendrick’s flavor profile of juniper, cucumber, and rose makes it a unique, versatile base for your favorite gin cocktails.

Nikka Coffey Gin

Nikka Coffey Gin
Nikka Coffey Gin

Colin Berger, bar manager at Rare Society in San Diego

ABV: 47%

Average Price: $45

The Gin:

For a classic London dry in cocktails, I enjoy Sipsmith. It is exactly what one expects from ‘gin’ as a blanket term. If we are looking toward something a little more unique I am partial to Nikka Coffey gin. While maintaining the classic gin profile, Nikka is a whiskey drinker’s gin. Distilled from Malt grain and corn it has more weight than a traditional London dry.

Tasting Notes:

Give it a whirl in your next gimlet and relish in the almost numbing finish imparted by the sansho pepper. Other flavors include lemon and orange peels, and a nice herbal, gently spicy palate that will give your cocktails a little edge.

Broker’s London Dry Gin

Broker’s London Dry Gin
Broker’s

Maya Bentley, lead bartender at El Dorado in San Diego

ABV: 47%

Average Price: $24

The Gin:

Broker’s Gin for the win here. Its higher proof, classic London Dry Gin botanicals, and value pricing make for a combination that works in the home bar or back bar. It really excels in classic gin cocktails, particularly those with a lot of volume of cocktail modifiers a la Tom Collins or Spanish gin tonic.

Tasting Notes:

This is a warming, gently spicy gin with heavy juniper followed by citrus and wintry spices. It’s a great base for any gin cocktail.

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DePaul Stunned Seton Hall With A Block At The Buzzer In The Frontrunner For This Year’s Craziest March Finish

The Big East Men’s Basketball Tournament somehow finds a way to deliver absolutely wild finishes seemingly every year, and the 2023 edition proved to be no different as DePaul and Seton Hall produced a truly insane final minute.

It started with Seton Hall, leading by two, turning it over in a scrum on the floor, before DePaul botched an alley-oop on the other end leading to a jump ball.

From there, DePaul couldn’t get a shot in the lane or any of their tip-in attempts to fall to tie the game, meaning they had to foul the Pirates.

Seton Hall would make their free throws, with DePaul getting a quick two to cut the lead back down to two with just under eight seconds remaining when chaos truly set in. The Pirates threw the ball away on the inbound and immediately fouled a three-point shooter.

After sinking all three, DePaul found itself up one with 3.9 seconds left in the game and Seton Hall needing to go the length of the court for a game-winning attempt. Somehow, the Pirates were able to get the ball in and all the way to the rim, as Femi Odukale darted all the way up the floor after making the inbound play and getting it back on a handoff, only to get blocked at the rim by Nick Ongenda — which was initially ruled a goaltend.

The review took a considerable amount of time as they tried to figure out whether it was a clean block or a goaltend, ultimately determining it was a clean block for DePaul as he got it as the ball was still going up — despite Tim Brando so emphatically and wrongly insisting it was a goaltend on the broadcast.

That put an end to Seton Hall’s Big East Tournament run and kept DePaul alive for what would be a shocking run in Madison Square Garden. The chaos of the final minute sets the bar high for wild March Madness moments the rest of the way, and we’ll see if any teams can top this sequence of insanity.

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Why Isn’t Lady Gaga Performing ‘Hold My Hand’ From ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ At The Oscars?

Lady Gaga’s lone Oscar (so far) came in 2019 when “Shallow” won Best Original Song from A Star Is Born. Gaga is nominated in the same category at the 95th Academy Awards this Sunday, March 12, for “Hold My Hand,” her contribution to Best Picture nominee Top Gun: Maverick.

In 2019, Gaga was on hand and even performed “Shallow” with Bradley Cooper. But if she wins another Oscar for Best Original Song, she won’t be in attendance to accept it.

Variety has confirmed that Gaga will not perform “Hold My Hand” at the 2023 Oscars.

“We invited all five nominees. We have a great relationship with Lady Gaga and her camp. She is in the middle of shooting a movie right now,” Oscars executive producer and showrunner Glenn Weiss told the press on Wednesday, March 8. “Here, we are honoring the movie industry and what it takes to make a movie after a bunch of back and forth … It didn’t feel like she can get a performance to the caliber that we’re used to with her and that she is used to. So, she is not going to perform on the show.”

True Little Monsters already had a hunch that Gaga was too busy to attend the 2023 Oscars.

“Thank you so much to the Academy for nominating my song ‘Hold My Hand’ for an Oscar this year!” Gaga captioned an Instagram photo of her holding a bouquet of flowers on January 25. “Writing this song for the film Top Gun: Maverick was a deep and powerful experience that I will never forget. So grateful for the magic of music and cinema. Love you my co-writer @bloodpop I’m on set filming now big love to little monsters!”

Notably, Gaga punctuated her caption with the joker card emoji. She’s starring as Harley Quinn opposite Joaquin Phoenix in Todd Phillips’ forthcoming film, Joker: Folie-à-Deux. The director shared a first look on Valentine’s Day.

Each of the other four Best Original Song nominees are scheduled to perform, including Rihanna. The category is rounded out by Rihanna’s “Lift Me Up” (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever), “Applause” (Tell It Like A Woman), “Naatu Naatu” (RRR), and “This Is A Life” (Everything Everywhere All At Once).

The 2023 Oscars will air live on Sunday, March 12, beginning at 8 p.m. EST on ABC. The ceremony will be hosted by Jimmy Kimmel from the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood.

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‘The Last of Us’ fans are gushing over Pedro Pascal’s touching letter to Bella Ramsey

HBO’s “The Last of Us” has been considered a wild success by both fresh audiences and fans of the video game on which it’s based. This is thanks in no small part to the heartfelt chemistry shared between actors Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey, who play Joel, a father haunted by tragedy, and Ellie, a young girl he must protect through a post-apocalyptic, zombie-ridden world.

That father-daughter bond apparently exists offscreen as well. On Mar 6 HBO’s Twitter account posted a behind-the-scenes video where Pascal showered his co-star with praise, saying, “I call her Bellie and she’s my blessing. It was a match made in heaven, and I love her.” That video was then retweeted by Ramsey, who wrote, “HOW I MISS YOU I really really miss you. My Pedge.” Sweetness overload, am I right?

But that exchange has nothing on a truly touching letter Pascal wrote to Ramsey towards the end of filming Season 1, which is leaving fans in absolute tears.


The letter was first mentioned by Ramsey in October 2022 in an interview with USA Today. However, it has taken on new life after resurfacing on TikTok and being viewed over 2 million times.

The letter reads: “How interesting that something so huge and life-changing should happen so early in your life and so late in mine.”

@onceuponintatooine I am not emotional, you are. We need to protect Pedro at all costs. @Once Upon In Tatooine #pedropascal #bellaramsey #thelastofus ♬ The Last of Us – Gustavo Santaolalla

The letter poignantly illustrated how both actors came into their iconic roles at completely different chapters of their careers. Ramsey and Pascal each arguably made their breakthrough during “Game of Thrones,” but Pascal, at 47, had already been pursuing the dream for much of his life before becoming a household name. Ramsey, by comparison, is only 19 and already a star.

“I thought it was a really sweet observation and I just had the best time,” Ramsey told USA Today.

She’s not the only one to think so. Fans flooded the comments section sharing how the letter made a huge impact.

“I’m gonna cry until I puke oh my god,” one person wrote. “This has the same vibes of your dad teaching you something and ending it with ‘I’m not always gonna be here.’”

Another added, “I’m gonna have a breakdown over this now.”

Seriously, read these comments. People are losing it.

“I cried myself to sleep and woke up and this video was still playing 😳.”

“Oh well that made my heart bleed.”

“I’m totally not crying rn i love their relationship sm.”

“No why am i literally in tears right now this Pedro pascal effect has to be studied 😰😭😭😰😰😰😰😭😭😭😩😩😩.”

As we approach the season finale airing on March 12, perhaps it is a good thing to soak up all the Joel and Ellie goodness we can get. It’s lovely to see that Pascal and Ramsey are enjoying themselves just as much as everybody else is enjoying their performance.

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Cemetery posts a singles ad for a ‘lonely, widowed’ goose and finds her a loving partner

Employees at the Riverside Cemetery in Marshalltown, Iowa, noticed that Blossom, a goose who lived on the grounds and in the pond, wasn’t doing well after her mate, Bud, passed away last August. CBS News reported that Blossom would often sit in front of shiny model tombstones and look at her reflection as if searching for a companion.

“We started to notice that she was really seeming lonely and isolating herself,” general manager Dorie Tammen told the CBC. “It was clear that she was lonely and she needed a partner.”

So Tammen created a personal ad for Blossom to find her a friend or a new mate. It’s possibly the only singles ad in history where someone was looking for a partner to live with them in a cemetery. The ad read:


“Lonely, widowed domestic goose seeks life partner for companionship and occasional shenanigans. Come share life with me at Riverside Cemetery, where you’ll enjoy swimming in the lovely lake, good food, numerous friends, and peeking in the door of the office building at the strange but kind humans there, who feed us lots of goodies. I’m youthful, adventurous and lively, and I’ve been told I’m beautiful.”

The ad caught the attention of Deb and Randy Hoyt, who owned a gander named Frankie, who was also a widower. Frankie was initially known as Handsome and his mate, Gretel.

“He was sad. He was lonely,” Deb Hoyt told the CBC. “He just hung out with us, you know, whenever we were outside. In the winters, it was especially hard because we’re not outside very much.”

Deb and Randy decided to take Frankie to the cemetery to meet Blossom on a Valentine’s Day date and Blossom greeted him with open wings. The two immediately hit it off, and now they’re inseparable.

“They started walking off together and they haven’t really left each other’s side since,” Tammen told CBS News. “I don’t think they’ve been more than a few feet away from each other,” she told the CBC.

Deb Hoyt also told the CBC that when she visits Frankie at the cemetery, Blossom is wary of her new in-laws. “She hisses at us and so he gets in between, like, ‘Uh, these are my people. Don’t you be hissin’ at them,'” Hoyt said with a laugh. “It’s hilarious.”

It may seem strange that geese mate for life like humans, but monogamy isn’t rare in the avian world. According to How Stuff Works, geese are socially monogamous but are known to stray occasionally for sexual liaisons outside of the relationship. But the monogamous social relationship between the two birds is instrumental in assuring that their offspring, who are susceptible to harm, survive into adulthood.

Deb Hoyt is happy that Frankie and Blossom have found happiness after their losses. Their story shows that even in the avian world there are second chances at happiness. “I think he’s happy there,” she told the CBC. “That second chance at love was pretty awesome.” Ultimately, the story proves the old cliche: “What is good for the goose is good for the gander.”

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Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Now Has A Song On The ‘Billboard’ Charts… Yes, You Read That Right

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy ending up on the Billboard charts was probably not on your 2023 bingo card. Last month, on the one-year mark since Russia invaded Ukraine, country singer Brad Paisley released “Same Here.” The song contains a recording of a phone call between Paisley and Zelenskyy discussing the ways in which their countries are similar.

Now, “Same Here” has debuted on the all-genre Digital Song Sales chart (dated March 11), according to Billboard. It’s at No. 7 with 5,000 downloads sold between February 24 and March 2. It’s also on the Country Digital Song Sales chart at No. 3.

In a recent conversation with Billboard, Paisley discussed the process of working on the song, which benefited a charity called United24 to help rebuild Ukraine in the wake of the ongoing Russian invasion.

“The label [was] so great about it, realizing this isn’t going to be the feel-good hit of the year and this isn’t going to be something that’s going to work long-term at radio, [that it’s] not going to research,” Paisley said. “I thought, ‘Would President Zelenskyy like to have the last couple of minutes and have a discussion with me on the ways we’re the same?’ This needs to exist in whatever form we can present it.”

Revisit “Same Here” above.