Month: May 2023

One of the big stories ahead of Game 4 between the Golden State Warriors and the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday revolved around Golden State’s starting lineup. The Warriors rolled with JaMychal Green in back-to-back games after he made just one start during the entire regular season but, with Golden State losing Game 3, word began to leak that Steve Kerr would be tweaking the lineup. Ultimately, he decided to insert Gary Payton II into the lineup and go with a smaller group, but Payton II actually left the game in the middle of a play during the first quarter.

With the exception of uncertainty around why Payton II left the game, it would’ve been noteworthy, but perhaps unremarkable, that he exited, especially since Payton II returned to the bench soon after. However, his absence was magnified when Draymond Green uncorked a pass that ended up being caught by Lakers assistant coach Phil Handy for a turnover — who told Green “great pass!” as he caught the ball.

Green’s reaction was one of sheer confusion, seemingly because he assumed Payton II was going to be there for the swing pass. As you can see from the broader angle on the video, the Warriors have only four players on that side of the floor, and Green is the rare player who really may have simply thrown a pass to where Payton II should have been, rather than simply looking for him.

Adding to the confusion was that there wasn’t anything apparent that happened to Payton (leading to plenty of speculation on Twitter as to why he left the court suddenly), but he was back on the bench shortly after and seemed ready to re-enter the game.

It was a bizarre moment in a rocky first quarter for the Warriors, as they trailed 22-21 in a sluggish offensive start for both teams.

UPDATE: A Twitter sleuth seems to have figured out what happened to Payton, as the Warriors wing appears to have thrown up in his mouth, held it for an entire defensive possession, and then jogged off the floor.

That is a valid reason to not run back down the floor!

After a four-year hiatus from touring, Death Grips surprised their fans by announcing the North American Tour in December. Although many of the group’s supporters found themselves frustrated with Ticketmaster in their quest to secure tickets, the “Streaky” musicians’ tour officially kicked off without interruption.

Launching this past Thursday, May 4 in Portland, Oregon, at Revolution Hall, the tour found ticketholders anxiously awaiting the band to arrive in their respective cities. The group knocked out the Western wing of their tour this month, but fans now have an idea of what the setlist could have in store before Death Grips embarks on their East Coast run starting in September and October.

According to Setlist.FM, Death Grips’ setlist for their North American Tour, is filled to the brim with fan favorites and plenty of B-side gems. View the full setlist and remaining tour dates below.

1. “System Blower”
2. “I’ve Seen Footage”
3. “Spread Eagle Cross the Block”
4. “I Break Mirrors With My Face in the United States”
5. “Takyon (Death Yon)”
6. “Get Got”
7. “You Might Think He Loves You For Your Money But I Know What He Really Loves You For It’s Your Brand New Leopard Skin Pillbox Hat”
8. “No Love”
9. “Hustle Bones”
10. “Blackjack”
11. “BB Poison”
12. “Inanimate Sensation”
13. “Guillotine
14. “Death Grips Is Online”
15. “Giving Bad People Good Ideas”
16. “Anne Bonny”
17. “The Fever (Aye Aye)”
18. “Have a Sad Cum BB”
19. “Up My Sleeves”
20. “Come Up and Get Me”
21. “Bubbles Buried in This Jungle”
22. “Lost Boys”
23. “Black Paint”
24. “Big House”
25. “Lock Your Doors”
26. “Runway H”
27. “Hacker”

05/09 — Denver, CO @ Ogden Theatre
05/11 — Phoenix, AZ @ The Van Buren
05/12 — San Diego, CA @ The Observatory North Park
05/13 — Las Vegas, NV @ New Metal Festival
05/16 — San Francisco, CA @ The Warfield
05/17 — Los Angeles, CA @ Hollywood Palladium
05/18 — Santa Ana, CA @ The Observatory Santa Ana
09/13 — Minneapolis, MN @ The Fillmore
09/16 — Chicago, IL @ Riot Fest
09/17 — Detroit, MI @ The Fillmore Detroit
09/18 — Toronto, ON @ Danforth Music Hall
09/20 — Boston @ House of Blues
09/21 — New York, NY @ Brooklyn Steel
09/23 — Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer
09/25 — Nashville, TN @ Brooklyn Bowl Nashville
09/26 — Atlanta, GA @ Buckhead Theatre
09/28 — Orlando, FL @ The Vanguard
09/29 — Fort Lauderdale, FL @ Revolution Live at the Backyard
09/30 — St. Petersburg, FL @ Jannus Live
10/02 — New Orleans, LA @ The Fillmore New Orleans
10/03 — Houston, TX @ Bayou Music Center
10/05 — Austin, TX @ Emo’s
10/06 — Dallas, TX @ Southside Ballroom

The Writers Guild of America strike turns one week old on Tuesday, and already a lot has happened. Late night chat and sketch shows have gone dark. (Unless they’re on Fox News.) Movies and shows have been put on hold. Pete Davidson gave striking writers some (excellent) pizza. What hasn’t happened is any progress in getting Hollywood honchos to negotiate with their demands. One big time filmmaker predicts they’re not in any rush to anyway.

Judd Apatow talked to Variety over the weekend, and he speculated that the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, comprised of the bigger studios and streamers, are letting this drag out on purpose.

“I think they probably already know what they’re going to bend on,” Apatow told the publication. “I would assume they already know what date this is going to end. They’ve probably been planning this for years.”

He continued:

“I always think that whatever happens, they could have figured it out already. When these things conclude, you never go, ‘I understand why it took that long.’ It’s never something so inventive, and groundbreaking, that you think, ‘Oh, people needed to go to war for months over it.’ It’s always a very obvious position.”

He added that “what’s scary about it is that there is a solution but I’m not sure that all of the business interests are interested in getting to it quickly.”

The WGA strike began last Tuesday after negotiations between them and the AMPTP broke down. Among the former’s concerns are fair pay for writers, who often struggle to make ends meet while working on shows everyone watches. They also want better regulation of AI tech, which threatens their industry, and many others besides.

(Via Variety)

Florida is one of the states that has trended in a more red direction in recent elections, with the former swing state becoming more and more reliable for the Republican Party. This doesn’t just include presidential or gubernatorial elections, as Florida has had a pair of GOP senators ever since 2019, when the state’s former Republican governor Rick Scott defeated incumbent Democratic senator Bill Nelson to join Marco Rubio in the upper chamber of Congress.

Apparently, there are donors in Florida who believe their path to salvation here is to nominate a big name, and a pair of former NBA stars “have rocketed to the top of the recruitment lists for some Florida Democrats looking for a strong candidate,” according to Matt Dixon and Jonathan Allen of NBC News. While both of them are viewed as longshots to actually run, Dwyane Wade and Grant Hill have piqued the interests of donors.

“Grant Hill has great name ID. He would raise a boatload of money and is one of the smartest guys you will ever meet,” said John Morgan, an Orlando-based trial attorney and national Democratic donor, who has spoken directly with Hill about his desire for him to run. “Grant Hill would beat the s— out of Rick Scott.”

…

“Dwyane Wade is a Florida legend, whose leadership past and present has a lot of folks in our state sending feelers out,” said Ray Paultre, the executive director of the Florida Alliance, a progressive donor group that plays a significant role in Florida Democratic politics. “We have seen former athletes, in both parties, bring something special to the political landscape. He hasn’t been officially approached, but he is on the list of four or five dream candidates to challenge Rick Scott.”

It’s worth pointing out that Wade — whose daughter, Zaya, is transgender — recently left Florida, citing a wave of anti-trans bills that have passed through the state. As of Monday, the most recent version of Sabato’s Crystal Ball from the UVA Center for Politics has Florida listed as a “Likely R” state, while five individuals have filed to run in the Democratic primary.

Nick Cannon is one of the hardest-working men in Hollywood, serving as a host to several television shows, including Wild’ n Out. (He’s also taking over Beat Shazam for a hospitalized Jamie Foxx.) But it’s his unofficial mission to expand his already massive family that’s most caught the public’s attention.

With a dozen children to his name, the entertainer often jokes about “having “super sperm” and feeling like he can “impregnate the whole world.” However, Cannon’s ex-wife, music superstar Mariah Carey, finds no humor in his paternal pursuits. During his recent appearance on The Jason Lee Show, Cannon — who has two kids with the legendary singer — shared what she thinks about his growing family, in an exclusive shared with Uproxx.

“She’s high frequency, man. She always like — she asks me all the time, like, ‘You aight? How you doin’? You handling it all,” says Cannon adding, “She’s like,” as long as you don’t bring none of that bullsh*t over to the Manor of Carey.’”

Cannon added, “She lives in her own world. Nothing can infiltrate that. So, when we talk daily, she’s just checking on my spirit.”

The full interview will air on REVOLT’s linear channels tonight, May 8, at 10 pm ET. Starting Tuesday, May 9, the video will be uploaded to REVOLT’s digital platforms. Find more information here.

The 2023 NHL Draft Lottery took place on Monday night, which meant that hockey fans were going to learn where Connor Bedard will start his NHL career. Bedard, an 17-year-old center from Canada, is considered a franchise-changing prospect, the sort of player who made it easy for multiple teams to justify tanking down the home stretch of the most recent season.

ESPN broadcast the Draft Lottery this year, making an especially big deal out of the fact that Bedard is in this draft. The decision was made to cut to commercial after the fourth pick was announced, and after we learned that is going to the San Jose Sharks, the camera cut away to Bedard highlights. Kevin Weekes told viewers that we got “our first change in the order,” but there was just one problem: everything was chalk through the Sharks’ pick.

What ended up happening was that Weekes spoiled what was going to happen with the third pick when they got back from commercial, when the Columbus Blue Jackets fell to No. 3.

Sure enough, when ESPN returned from commercial, it was announced that Columbus — which had the second-best odds at the No. 1 pick — was going to fall to third.

The main beneficiaries of the ping pong balls bouncing this was were the Chicago Blackhawks, which entered the night with the third-best odds at picking first but jumped the Blue Jackets and the Anaheim Ducks to get the top spot in the draft.

Karl-Anthony Towns is one of many athletes whose most used nickname is just his initials. Towns wishes that wasn’t the case, as he lamented on his recent appearance on Paul George’s Podcast P, where the group went off on a tangent about nicknames after Towns got asked about trying to defend Nikola Jokic, aka the Joker.

Towns thinks Joker is a far superior nickname to KAT, which led to him revealing to George that some in Minnesota have taken to calling him “Big Purr,” which he hates even more. George, however, was a big fan of Big Purr and kept needling Towns, who was fuming on the other side of the room, by calling him that.

Towns: “Then I came to Minnesota and they decided to call me ‘Big Purr.’ What the fuck is that?”
George: “Big Purr! Oh, I like Big Purr better.”
Towns: “Don’t fucking do that! Don’t you fucking go like that.”
George: “We can change it. We got Big Purr vs. Jokic. Big Purr vs. The Joker. That sounds like a helluva matchup right there. Big Purr vs. Joker.”

It really is great how mad Towns is getting and how George just keeps prodding and prodding. This is just what a good friend does when they find an opportunity to piss you off. I really hope George refers to Towns exclusively as Big Purr, but I also must note that Jokic has an even better nickname (that I don’t believe he’s a big fan of) than Joker in the form of Big Honey, meaning we got a Big Purr vs. Big Honey first round matchup that, unfortunately, was not billed as such in the moment.

For parents of school-aged kids, May is absolute mayhem and there are very few ways around it. May is the culmination of everything—concerts, recitals, award ceremonies, finals, end-of-school-year picnics, spring sports and a dozen other things that seem to sneak up on you until one day you look at your calendar for the month and weep.

Oh, and by the way, have you signed your kids up for summer camps yet?

May is just…a lot. It’s akin to the busyness of the December holiday season, but without all the pretty lights and holiday spirit to carry you through it.

In their signature style, The Holderness Family has captured the reality of “Maycember” in a video parody of Earth, Wind & Fire’s “September.” The Holdernesses have brought us many funny and relatable videos about a range of realities, from people’s mid-pandemic Wordle obsession to GenX welcoming millennials to the over-40 club, and now they’ve got their fingers on the pulse of parents pulling their hair out with end-of-school-year scheduling.

Check out “Maycember”:

No wonder they put Mother’s Day in May. (Although it’s a little hard to enjoy it when you’re up to your eyeballs in all the things.)

Judging by the comments, they hit the nail on the head.

“Oh hi there, I see you made a documentary about my life right now! “

“Great video. Plus, all of the spring yard chores. When is there time for pickleball?”

“Yep facts! ! Everything is true and accurate scary accurate. Thanks for the camp reminder “

“The BEST one yet! I didn’t know if I should laugh or cry….maybe a little of both. Good to know our family isn’t going thru this alone! POWER TO THE PARENTS!!! (and teachers….thanks for all you do!)”

“My kids are grown and have moved out but oh my goodness do I remember the month of May all through their school years. Everything is packed into that one month. I always remember how busy we were. There are days I don’t miss it but there are days that I do! Well done!”

Hang in there, parents. May may be mayhem, but it’ll be over soon. (And seriously, get on those summer camps now if you haven’t yet. Those things fill up in a blink.)

When learning a new language, one of the most challenging things is picking up figures of speech, or idioms. The big reason is that a lot of them don’t make sense.

Aaron Alon had a lot of fun with funny idioms from around the globe, including 70 from 28 different languages, in a video called “Communication Problems.” Alon is an award-winning composer, writer, director, filmmaker and teacher who shares his talents on his YouTube channel.

The video features a couple sharing their relationship problems with a therapist while speaking in idioms from other countries in American English. While the couple talks in incomprehensible expressions, their approximate English meanings and the country from which they originate are shown in the subtitles.

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What in the world is the “age of the turkey”? What does it mean to still be “riding the goat”? Why would somebody “pay the duck”?

The video is great because even though the actors speak in total gibberish, they play it with a straight face and really sell the idea that these are terms people use in other countries. But to be fair, people in other countries probably think Americans are speaking total gibberish when they utter phrases such as, “I heard it straight from the horse’s mouth” or “I’m about to go postal.”

One of the biggest takeaways from the video is that Mongolia has the best way of responding when someone sneezes. Instead of simply saying, “Bless you,” they say, “God bless you, and may your mustache grow like brushwood.”

Visit Aaron Alon’s website for a complete list of idioms in the video.

The Australian kids’ cartoon “Bluey” is pretty universally loved by young and old audiences alike. People appreciate the show’s unique way of blending wholesome humor with mundane or even difficult situations in a way that feels both mature and whimsical.

On a recent “Bluey” episode titled “Exercise,” Bluey’s father, Bandit, becomes disappointed after stepping on the bathroom scale, grabbing his tummy and declaring he needs to start exercising.

“Oh man…I just need to do some exercise,” Bandit laments.

“Tell me about it,” Bluey’s mother, Chilli, chimes in before stepping on the scale herself and shares a similar reaction to her own numbers.

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Responses to the episode were mixed. Many viewers in Australia who watched the episode expressed concern that it subliminally sent some toxic messages around body weight—in particular, the message of equating exercise with losing weight rather than overall health.

@laceyjadechristie I have so many thoughts about this scene and I am so interested To see what you think. #bluey #fatshaming #bodypositivity #fatliberation #parenting ♬ original sound – Lacey-Jade Christie

One viewer wrote on Twitter: “I adore @OfficialBlueyTV & the messages it sends [but] watching Bandit stand on a scale & squeeze his belly, frowning, sends a msg to kids that fat = bad & exercise = weight loss. V upsetting.”

Some felt that the show merely reflected an honest part of parenting and that the backlash was unwarranted.

“I am a parent and I felt really seen by this—your body changing after kids because you don’t have the time or energy to exercise like before.”

Still, a few actual health professionals chimed to affirm how the scene could be problematic. Over on Instagram, pediatric dietitian Dr. Kyla Ringrose explained that while she loved the show for being so relatable to parents, the show “missed a big opportunity” to teach kids the other more intrinsic benefits of exercise, rather than once again having ”trusted adults (albeit dogs!) expressing dissatisfaction with how their body looks. All bodies are good bodies.”

See on Instagram

Ringrose added: “If this episode were remade so the first 30 seconds were about Bandit not having energy or Chilli feeling a bit flat, and they decide to get some movement in to feel well, I’d be all for it. @OfficialBlueyTv how about it?”

“Bluey” creators took notice of the complaints, and immediately revised the episode for both ABC (Australian Broadcast Corporation) and the BBC.

The new scene can be seen online thanks to generous souls on TikTok. The clip below, shared by “Bluey” enthusiast @AussieGirlMagic, shows a side-by-side comparison of the two versions. This time around, Bandit is seen simply whipping out the fitness mat and putting on the exercise playlist.

@aussiegirlmargie Ludo studios listened to HEALTH PROFESSIONALS and changed the Bluey episode Exercise from season 3 #bluey #blueytok #blueyseason3 #blueyexercise #disney #ludostudios #blueyheeler #banditheeler ♬ Bluey Theme Tune – Bluey

So far, many have applauded the decision, particularly those who had to grow up with their own issues around exercise that began with early messaging.

Here are a few comments from TikTok:

“I’m glad they did this, seeing my parents focusing so much on their body image as a kid really affected how I see my own.”

“Love to see it! I’m glad they were so receptive to the genuine concerns around health and wellness.”

“As someone with an ED, I’m really glad they made this decision.”

“This is great! Exercise should be motivated out of health and fun, not out of shame or fear of weight.”

Though this “Bluey” episode has yet to air in the U.S., it’s safe to assume that American audiences will be watching the edited version when that happens.