Month: June 2023

The New Orleans Pelicans and Zion Williamson have made an awful lot of noise over the last week, and not entirely for the reasons they’d like to.

Williamson has become tabloid fodder over his off-court relationships, and the proximity of that entire situation to rumblings the Pelicans are willing to part with the former top-overall pick as they look to move up to draft Scoot Henderson seems not to be a total coincidence. Williamson’s inability to stay on the court due to various injuries, most recently a hamstring injury that saw him suffer multiple setbacks that ultimately cost him the entire second half of the season, is the main reason New Orleans could be ready to cut bait early into Williamson’s max extension, with off-court questions coming secondary.

With so much smoke around Williamson’s future, there has yet to be any pushback from the New Orleans side to the reports he could be available at the right price, which has been notable. Adding to the smoke about Williamson’s future with the Pelicans was the news on Thursday that the team was parting with assistant coach Teresa Weatherspoon, who was particularly close with Zion, as he often talked about her impact on him throughout his rehab from a foot injury two seasons ago.

The timing of Weatherspoon’s departure amid all the rumors about Zion’s future with the team is interesting, to say the least. Whether this is indeed a signal that Williamson’s time is ending or simply a staffing change for other reasons remains to be seen, but if the league wasn’t already sniffing around New Orleans about the former No. 1 pick, one would think this news will only further the calls headed David Griffin’s way.

Back in September 2022, the FBI famously seized Mike Lindell’s phone while the MyPillow CEO and die-hard Donald Trump supporter was in the middle of a Hardee’s drive-thru. Lindell immediately sued the FBI for the return of his phone, and to the surprise of no one, the feds still have it. However, Lindell’s case has finally made it to a federal appeals court where the Department of Justice has been forced to defend why isn’t had to return the phone.

As Lindell’s attorney argued that government is trying to “intimidate” the MyPillow CEO because of his “beliefs,” the feds responded that it’s still in the middle of an investigation. Lindell has been a key figure in Trump’s inner circle, who have been the subject of several subpoenas stemming from the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. It also doesn’t help that Lindell has been on the forefront of pushing the former president’s election fraud lies.

Via Law & Crime:

The conservative three-judge panel didn’t wade into his political rhetoric, but at least two of its members appeared skeptical about the government’s retention of Lindell’s cellphone since last September. The Department of Justice’s lawyer said that such an order would be an “extraordinary” remedy, which would remove an important piece of evidence from an ongoing investigation.

“The phone can be important in a criminal case to authenticate that a particular person was holding the phone at a particular time,” the government attorney said.

When asked why the government didn’t just “mirror” the phone, the DOJ argued that “certain evidence can only be gleaned by physical possession of the phone.” The feds’ response should presumably concern Lindell, especially the part about determining when and where he was holding his phone, but accepting reality has never been Lindell’s strong suit.

The MyPillow CEO had to be sued to fork over the $5 million he promised the winner of his “Prove Mike Wrong” contest. Lindell boasted that no one could debunk his supposed trove of “election fraud data,” but a cybersecurity expert did it easily, and he’d like his money, please.

(Via Law & Crime)

It’s almost time for The Boys to once again celebrate the Fourth of July with social media fireworks. Hopefully, we’ll also soon hear about a Season 4 release date, although Homelander might not receive the respect that he (feels that he) deserves in the Gen V spinoff about college-age Supes. Antony Starr, however, continues to rack up accolades to play the baddest Supe on the Amazon Prime Video show.

Before we see Starr reprise that role, he will co-star alongside Lizzy Caplan (who is everywhere these days) in Cobweb. The Lionsgate film is produced by Seth Rogen and follows the plight of a young boy, Peter (Woody Norman), who hears bumps in the night while settling into his family’s new house. His parents don’t appear to be too terribly empathetic, and by the end of this trailer, Starr has turned on a dime from charming dad to sinister father figure and back again a few times.

Starr recently went from superhero-satire mode to appear in Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant, and I suspect that he might also be a natural in the horror realm (we will soon find out whether that’s true). Hopefully, he’s having a blast, and Caplan’s gleefully been stretching her psychological thriller wings lately, too.

From the film’s synopsis.

Eight-year-old Peter is plagued by a mysterious, constant tap, tap from inside his bedroom wall — a tapping that his parents insist is all in his imagination. As Peter’s fear intensifies, he believes that his parents (Lizzy Caplan and Antony Starr) could be hiding a terrible, dangerous secret and questions their trust. And for a child, what could be more frightening than that?

Cobweb will arrive in theaters on July 21.

BET has announced the performers for the 2023 BET Awards and the lineup is a doozy. It’s the 50th birthday of hip-hop, and BET is pulling out all the stops to celebrate at the BET Awards, enlisting Golden Era pioneers like Big Daddy Kane, Kid ‘N Play, MC Lyte, The Sugarhill Gang, Uncle Luke, and Warren G along with platinum-era all-stars such as E-40, Fat Joe, Ja Rule, Master P, Remy Ma, Trick Daddy, Trina, and the Ying Yang Twins. Blog faves like Chief Keef, Soulja Boy, and Tyga are in there, too.

Of this year’s nominees, Coco Jones, Doechii, GloRilla, and Lil Uzi Vert have been included among the performers with more to be announced. GloRilla and Drake lead all nominees, with six for Glo and seven for Drake, including Album Of The Year nods for both, Best Collaboration for both, and Best Female Hip-Hop Artist and Best New Artist nods for GloRilla. The show is scheduled to air live on Sunday, June 25 at 8pm ET, and with BET sending out announcements about the show as normal, it doesn’t look like the WGA writers’ strike will have too great an effect on that.

BET joins a long list of award shows, record companies, publications, and TV networks celebrating 50 Years Of Hip-Hop. The Grammys, for instance, staged a 10-minute tribute performance featuring Run-DMC, Missy Elliott, Nelly, The Roots, and more. We’ll see how the BET Awards’ version measures up next Sunday.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Summer is here. Yes, it officially starts next week if you’re following our trip around the sun exactly, but we all know it’s here now and it’s time to drink some summer cocktails. That means that it’s time to name our official UPROXX Summer Cocktail of 2023! In the past, we’ve highlighted some absolute gems: the Paloma, the Beer Spritz, the Long Island Iced Tea, the Singapore Sling…

And now — for 2023 — we’re going with the Porn Star Martini. An ode to sexiness and style and the interplay between minimalism and maximalism.

The Porn Star Martini has a very lively history that dates all the way back to the early 2000s. Back in 2002, cocktail legend Douglas Ankrah created the drink in London. Ankrah was looking for an iconic drink that he could trademark and actually call his own. He reached into his Ghanan upbringing and created a tropical fruit-forward and vanilla-heavy sour that he called a “martini” likely because that was all the rage at the time. Remember the Appletini?

Anyway, the cocktail became iconic and has stood the test of time by remaining a cornerstone of bar menus for over two decades now. The “porn star” part is a little murkier as Ankrah claimed that it just sounded “sexy” more than anything else. Which, sure, he’s not wrong.

Today, the fruity vanilla vodka drink still slaps and is amazingly refreshing, especially as a summer sipper. The best part? It is served with a prosecco sidecar that serves as a palate cleanser before you sip the cocktail. The mix of refreshing passion fruit and vanilla with a side of bubbly just works and leaves you wanting more. What else do you need from a summery drink?

Let’s dive in and shake one up while popping a bottle of Italian bubbly!

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Porn Star “Martini”

Ingredients:

• 1.5 oz. vanilla vodka
• 1 oz. passionfruit puree
• 0.5 oz. passion fruit liqueur
• 0.5 oz. fresh lime juice
• 0.5 oz. simple syrup
• Ice
• Dried orange wheel
• 2 oz. chilled prosecco

This one can be a pain in the ass to source. Not every liquor store is going to have both passion fruit liqueur and passion fruit puree. Your best bet is to order those ahead online. Alternatively, if you can find fresh whole passion fruit, you can use half of the soft fruit in the shaker and double strain for the puree component — which is ideal, really. But that’s not the easiest fruit to find everywhere either.

I ended up using Kinky Pink which is a passion fruit liqueur cut with a hint of mango and triple sec (orange). It gets the job done and adds to the citrus vibe of the overall drink. Then I used fresh passion fruit juice from the grocery store, which is also perfectly fine and prestrained of seeds.

Then there’s the vanilla vodka. I really don’t like that stuff but the boldness of the rest of the cocktail makes it very tolerable. It becomes a subtle layer instead of an overpowering saccharine star of the show. Meaning that in this drink, I dig it.

Lastly, there’s the bubbly sidecar. This tradition dates back centuries — most notably in Berlin’s cocktail scene. A champagne sidecar or shot of champagne was often taken before a shot of vodka or fruity brandy schnapps as a palate cleanser that allowed your senses to get the subtle nuances of the vodka or schnapps much more clearly. It’s still a tradition in Berlin’s best cocktail bars to this day. Ask for a “Hilde” if you want to try it the next time you’re there.

The bubbly definitely amps up the experience here. I grabbed this one for $15. It adds an almost magical layer to the porn star martini that allows the lime, vanilla, and passion fruit to explode (sorry) on the first sip when it hits your palate.

What You’ll Need:

• A coupe or cocktail glass (prechilled)
• 2 oz. shot glass
• Cocktail shaker
• Cocktail strainer
• Fine strainer
• Jigger
• Hand juicer
• Pairing knife

Method:

• Prechill your glasses.
• Add the vodka, passion fruit puree, simple, lime, and passion fruit liqueur to the cocktail shaker. Add a large handful of ice, affix the lid, and shaker vigorously for about 20 seconds.
• Double-strain the cocktail into the prechilled coupe.
• Garnish with a dried orange wheel or passion fruit wheel (if you’re using fresh fruit) and serve with a two-ounce sidecar of prosecco.

Bottom Line:

If you’re a vanilla head, you’re going to love this drink. It’s so fresh and light with this thick layer of vanilla fondant underneath that just makes sense somehow. It’s like this syrupy passion fruit upside-down cake in light and almost effervescent cocktail form. It’s delicious.

The prosecco sidecar proved essential. It ended up being about three sips throughout the cocktail. With each sip, the “martini” got more and more bold and beautifully creamy with a deep citrus lightness. It works so well that I might start experimenting with more bubbly sidecars with other cocktails now.

Sexyy Red is a fast-rising name in hip-hop thanks to her raunchy hit “Pound Town” and today, she brings an unapologetic performance of her breakthrough single to UPROXX Sessions. Earlier this week, she explained the rules of “Pound Town” with Uproxx’s Cherise Johnson, and now, she shows why the sexually explicit hit is currently racking up the streams despite (or perhaps because of) its provocative content.

So, what are the rules of “Pound Town?” According to Sexyy Red, condoms are a must, the tongue has to get involved, “leave your morals at the door,” and there’s no nuttin’ allowed. And make sure you wash first because no one wants to deal with the smells before things get wild.

Thanks to the viral interest in “Pound Town” and another racy hit, “Born By The River,” the St. Louis native was able to secure some high-profile co-signers ahead of the release of her new mixtape Hood Hottest Princess. She’s joined on the tape by both Juicy J and Nicki Minaj, who appears on the remix of “Pound Town.” The mixtape is out now.
Watch Sexyy Red’s UPROXX Sessions performance above.

UPROXX Sessions is Uproxx’s performance show featuring the hottest up-and-coming acts you should keep an eye on. Featuring creative direction from LA promotion collective, Ham On Everything, and taking place on our “bathroom” set designed and painted by Julian Gross, UPROXX Sessions is a showcase of some of our favorite performers, who just might soon be yours, too.

In 1994, the surviving members of The Beatles, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, reunited to record new music for the “Anthology” multimedia project. The “Threatles” came out of the sessions with two new tracks based on late-70s John Lennon demos, “Free as a Bird” and “Real Love.”

The songs were seen as a bit of curiosity at the time because the group used digital technology to allow all four Beatles to play together 14 years after Lennon’s death.

During the sessions, the group also tinkered with another Lennon demo given to them by his widow, Yoko Ono, called “Now and Then.” Unfortunately for Beatles fans, their work on the song has never been heard. But after a recent McCartney interview with the BBC, people are speculating that “Now and Then” may finally see the light of day.

“So when we came to make what will be the last Beatles record—it was a demo that John [Lennon] had that we worked on, and we just finished it up and will be released this year—we were able to take John’s voice and get it pure through this AI so that then we could mix the record as you would normally do,” McCartney told the BBC.

u201cPaul McCartney announcing that there will be a new Beatles song released in 2023:u201d

— The Beatles Earth (@The Beatles Earth)
1686668524

McCartney’s mention of the term “AI” had many afraid that he and Starr were digitally recreating Lennon’s voice, a controversial practice in today’s music industry. However, McCartney probably refers to the same learning technology used for The Beatles’ “Get Back” documentary that can separate different sounds recorded on the same track.

“They tell the machine: ‘That’s a voice, this is a guitar, lose the guitar.’ And he did that. So it has great uses,” McCartney told the BBC. The same technology was also used on the latest Beatles re-release of the “Revolver” album, where engineers used AI to create a greater separation of individual instruments.

The belief that the song is “Now and Then” was given additional credence when what appears to be a renewed song copyright was posted on Reddit’s Beatles forum.

Here’s a demo Lennon performed of “Now and Then” in 1978.

If the song is “Now and Then,” it’s unclear whether Harrison, who died in 2001, made significant contributions to the recording. However, a 2005 story in The Washington Post claims that he is on the track. According to The Beatles Bible, the three only worked on the song for two days, producing a “rough backing track.”

The mystery surrounding McCartney’s cryptic claim that there’s another Beatles song on the way, aided by AI, has got Beatles fans speculating over what they’re going to hear. But that’s always been one of the fun parts about loving The Beatles. Their legacy is filled with enough mystery, trivia, speculation and debate that it’s kept fans interested for over 60 years. Regardless of what the track will be, how it happened or how great it will sound, half the fun is just trying to suss out what Paul and Ringo are doing and how Harrison and Lennon are involved.

• Some kids can wow us with their abilities, from being precocious philosophers to musical prodigies. Whether a child’s extraordinary talents are due to “nature” or “nurture” is always a big question mark, but there’s no question that some kids stand out among their peers for the things they can do.

Sometimes they even stand out from grownups. Take young Aldie, for example, whose ability to articulate his feelings exceeds many adults. When you find out he’s barely 4 years old, hearing him calmly talk about his emotions and good choices is all the more remarkable.

Aldie’s mom, Jonisa Padernos, tells Upworthy that she’s felt he was “really special” since he started talking in full sentences at 20 months. “Believe it or not, he had no major tantrums in his toddler years because he was always able to express [himself] with his words,” she says.

Padernos started young, asking Aldie questions and giving him time to answer without interrupting. “I’d always ask his opinion or feelings towards something and I don’t rush him to answer,” she says. “I give him time and just listen. I make sure I also tell him how I feel and explain to him because I think kids copy us, and if we do that, they would think that it’s normal to feel all those emotions as long as you can express it with words and [are] able to process it.”

Check out the conversation between Aldie and Padernos at bedtime as he goes through a recap of his emotions that day, which has racked up more than 17 million views on TikTok.

@mom_aldie

Bedtime conversation. The last part made me ❤️🥹 #fyp #momlife

The way Aldie shared what he was feeling about his mom not letting him go outside, how he helped his papa make a better choice with his emotions, and how he described the different emotions he feels is more than most adults can muster when they’ve had “a hard time doing emotions” during the day. And the way Padernos listens and reflects and reassures him is so, so beautiful.

People in the comments agreed.

“Emotionally intelligent, articulate and able to string super sophisticated sentences together,” wrote one commenter on Instagram. “I taught 7-year-olds that weren’t this advanced – heck, most adults aren’t this emotionally intelligent. I have confidence in his future and the consequences are working beautifully Mama. We have to raise kids other people will like too. 😍👏”

“Wowwwww….. I’m so amazed by this baby’s EVERYTHING … the emotional intelligence, the vocabulary, empathy, the processing skills…all of it! ❤️❤️❤️❤️” wrote another.

“The most mature conversation I’ve heard about emotions – tbh I don’t think I’ve ever been as honest about my feelings as this little one was 🙌🏽 feeling so inspired by both of them. ♥️🫶🏽✨” shared another.

There’s a lot that parents can do to help their children develop this kind of emotional intelligence, and this interaction between Aldie and his mom is a prime example.

“My advice is just be present, encourage kids to tell you how their day was or anything, listen and give them time to express without rushing,” says Padernos. “Be patient, consistent and honest when communicating with them. Always remember that kids mirror us and so we have to show and express our emotions so they will be encouraged to also express their feelings to us. And when we get mad or frustrated, also let them know and explain why and apologize if you feel that you’ve let your emotions get in the way.”

While not every child will be able to understand and articulate as clearly as Aldie did at such a young age, most kids are far more capable of understanding and processing emotion than we give them credit for. Proactively teaching them how to communicate what they’re feeling and explaining how emotions work can go a long way toward helping them develop the self-regulation tools they’ll use throughout their life.

This article originally appeared on 4.4.23

The classic American diner is a quintessential image of American culture. Even if each individual spot has its own nuance, there’s a distinctive look that is instantly recognizable. What’s more, there’s a certain feeling that all diners seem to evoke—one of exuberance and electricity. (The neon lights certainly help with that.)

Since the look of retro American diners is so unmistakable, one might assume that it solely originates from the 50s, when in actuality, it’s a history as complex as America itself.

In a video produced by Architectural Digest, Michael Wyetzner of Michielli + Wyetzner Architects breaks down the fascinating four-decade evolution of the American diner—going from the 1920s through to the 1960s—and reveals how that iconic diner look is an amalgamation of designs, all symbolizing America’s relationship to transportation.

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Diners were inspired by the dining cart of a train, hence how they first got their name. It also explains why the original diners emulated a train’s design—stainless steel exterior, long and narrow interiors using booth seats, having an open kitchen, even the use of art deco typography, checkered floors, globe lights and jukeboxes. As Wyetzner explained, many diners were simply repurposed diner carts.

By the 1950s, the train was quickly being replaced by automobiles. To catch the eyes of potential customers passing by at 40 miles per hour, diners adapted to incorporate vibrant, happy colors and cartoony, geometric-shaped exteriors. John Lautner, an architect who designed the famous Googies in Los Angeles, really brought this trend to popularity, even leading to this particular style of architecture being named “Googie style.”

Other diners would attempt to intrigue customers with the convenience of never having to leave their cars, bringing us the first glimpses of drive-thrus, though the first diners of this style looked nothing like today’s McDonald’s. Cars would park facing the diner and food would be served on automated conveyor belts. Even these buildings, Wyetzner noted, had a design similar to the wheel of a car, thus still keeping to a transportation theme.

Cut to 1955, and not only did we have a rise in airplane travel, but the space race had also kicked into high gear. So why not have people eating in a spaceship? This time period brought us flying saucer-shaped buildings boasting 360° views, with some, like Seattle’s Space Needle or the Theme Building outside the LAX airport, even being suspended in midair.

“It sort of represents springing into the air this whole idea of space travel, where the impossible becomes possible. This is what the future could be, let’s build it now,” Wyetzner says in the video.

Eventually, this optimism and patriotism would come crashing down with the Vietnam War and the fight for civil rights, making the American diner no longer a symbol of America’s bright future, but a relic of its past.

Just like much of America’s culture, the American diner is a complex collage of ideas, blended together through equal parts hope and innovation. And though our views towards the U.S. might have changed since the 1950s, history has shown us time and time again that this is a good thing. After all, there are plenty of diners all over the country—all over the world, for that matter—that still bring people that kind of joy.

Watch the full video here:

Sexxy Red is a fast-rising name in hip-hop thanks to her raunchy hit “Pound Town” and today, she brings an unapologetic performance of her breakthrough single to UPROXX Sessions. Earlier this week, she explained the rules of “Pound Town” with Uproxx’s Cherise Johnson, and now, she shows why the sexually explicit hit is currently racking up the streams despite (or perhaps because of) it’s provocative content.

So, what are the rules of “Pound Town?” According to Sexxy Red, condoms are a must, the tongue has to get involved, “leave your morals at the door,” and there’s no nuttin’ allowed. And make sure you wash first, because no one wants to deal with the smells before things get wild.

Thanks to the viral interest in “Pound Town” and another racy hit, “Born By The River,” the St. Louis native was able to secure some high-profile co-signers ahead of the release of her new mixtape Hood Hottest Princess. She’s joined on the tape by both Juicy J and Nicki Minaj, who appears on the remix of “Pound Town.” The mixtape is out now.
Watch Sexxy Red’s UPROXX Sessions performance above.

UPROXX Sessions is Uproxx’s performance show featuring the hottest up-and-coming acts you should keep an eye on. Featuring creative direction from LA promotion collective, Ham On Everything, and taking place on our “bathroom” set designed and painted by Julian Gross, UPROXX Sessions is a showcase of some of our favorite performers, who just might soon be yours, too.