Technically Ron DeSantis has only been running for president for a few weeks now, but even before he threw his hat in the ring his campaign was off to a rocky start. He was prone to weird laughs and weirder faces. He also eats pudding with his fingers. His biggest rival, Donald Trump, tried out one mean nickname after another (but refused to use the cruelest). Recently he scored his first endorsement from a governor. Alas, he accepted it while caked in sweat.
As per Newsweek, the Florida governor moseyed on over to Tulsa, Oklahoma, where state governor Kevin Stitt had decided to go with him rather than the guy who’s spent months clobbering him in the polls. Nevertheless, Stitt told the crowd he was “the right guy to beat Biden.” Unfortunately, while on stage DeSantis made it look as though the venue wasn’t air-conditioned.
When an image of DeSantis, sweating right through his dress shirt, hit social media, it drew plenty of derision.
Booking an unairconditioned venue in Tulsa in June is just top notch work there, Carly. https://t.co/l3lzgZkTXP
— Attitude with a side of freckles (@HazeyDaisey17) June 11, 2023
Call your doctor if you mix Ozempic with fascism. Among the side effects: Gallbladder problems, such as gallstones and gallbladder inflammation.* Symptoms can include: ◦pain on the right side of the body ◦nausea and vomiting ◦sweating excessively ◦loss of appetite https://t.co/IrteMOSh8F
It wasn’t the only unflattering viral breakout from the event. Despite it being hosted by the Never Back Down PAC, which is dedicated to getting DeSantis in office, when Stitt introduced him, the crowd wasn’t exactly enthused until they were told to applaud.
Tough night for @RonDeSantis in Oklahoma.@GovStitt says, “Oklahoma loves Ron DeSantis!”
Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets will look to win the franchise’s first championship at home on Monday night, as they hold a 3-1 Finals lead on the Miami Heat entering Game 5.
Jokic has been nothing short of sensational this postseason, putting to rest questions about his playoff bonafides after his back-to-back MVP seasons, and a championship will secure his place in Denver franchise lore. One day the No. 15 will sit in the Ball Arena rafters, at least with his name and potentially a second, as Carmelo Anthony wore 15 prior to Jokic’s arrival. Orlando Magic rookie Paolo Banchero, who is moonlighting as a reporter for the NBA during the Finals, asked Jokic for the story behind why he wears the No. 15, and got an incredible response — “I was chubby. I was big, and 15 was the biggest jersey.”
Paolo Banchero: “What’s the story behind [wearing] #15?”
Nikola Jokic: “I was chubby, I was big, and #15 was the biggest jersey.”
It’s a perfectly Jokic response, as he was famously the chubby kid with crazy skills in Serbia before blossoming into the unstoppable force he’s become in Denver. Through it all he’s worn No. 15, noting he just stuck with it once he got it as a young player, and it’s safe to say it’s worked out for him. There’s always a story behind the number, and even if it doesn’t hold some deep, personal meaning to Jokic, his No. 15 comes with a very funny background.
Ever wonder what an ideal date for a lemur would be? Or a lizard’s favorite Disney princess?
Thanks to one YouTube poster with a passion for animals and an endearing sense of humor, all questions shall be answered. Well, maybe not all questions. But at the very least, you’ll have eight minutes of insanely cute footage.
In a series titled “Tiny Mic Interviews,” Maya Higa approaches little beasties with a microphone so small she has to hold it with just her thumb and forefinger. And yes, 99% of the animals try to eat it.
There’s Ginger, the pig with a lot of stored up resentment toward the big bad wolf. She ain’t afraid to talk about it, either. Or so her passionate snorts would indicate.
Then there’s Brazilian porcupine Boris (at least, I think that’s what Boris is after Googling, I’m no zoologist), who is asked to name his favorite food. For the record, it’s corn. And no, you may not touch his snoot.
Godzilla, the itsy bitsy turtle that fits into one hand, gets asked, ironically, “what’s it like being land’s fastest animal?” Though Godzilla remains stoically silent, an image of super cool speedster sunglasses gets superimposed onto his face, along with the words “I am speed.”
The best part to me is a bird, aptly named Giggles, gloriously laughing at a cheesy joke. In fact, here’s a nod to all the birds with impeccable names in this video.
Mordecai, Costello, Bartholomew (these include stars from Higa’s first interview) … I’m looking at you.
Though these critters provide some top notch entertainment, there’s plenty of valuable information being thrown into the mix as well.
All the exotic “interviewees” are part of Zoo To You Conservation Ambassadors, a permitted facility in California, Higa informs her viewers. Rescued or surrendered from the illegal pet trade, or permanently injured, these animals receive permanent care and become a part of Zoo To You’s education program. Pretty sweet gig, right?
Higa herself is a wildlife rehabilitator, falconer and streamer who focuses a lot of her content on conservation. Though her online persona veers toward the upbeat and positive, she isn’t afraid to shed light on some darker facts around certain threats many species face.
“The natural world that these animals come from is being absolutely decimated,” Higa states in another video. “The UN estimates that over one million plant and animal species face extinction today. Pollution, habitat loss, climate change, the wildlife trade, exploitation, general human intervention…is causing us to lose species at rates unprecedented in human history. We’re experiencing a mass extinction.”
Wanting to be part of the solution, Higa has founded her own nonprofit organization called Alveus, which, like Zoo To You, acts as an exotic animal sanctuary and virtual education center.
If you’d like to support Higa’s sanctuary, you can do so by donating to [email protected] via PayPal.
And if you’re already jonesing for more adorable “Tiny Mic Interviews,” you’re in luck! You can find even more on Maya’s YouTube channel here.
Belisle, a 28-year-old engineer with cerebral palsy, used a text-to-speech app to deliver insanely clever, perfectly timed one-liners that left audiences howling.
As the aspiring comic explained to the judges early on, typing on his phone “builds tension during a set, and I think people enjoy watching me laugh at my own joke that I’m writing.” He wasn’t wrong. The crowd could barely contain themselves as they giggled with anticipation.
And it’s not just Belisle’s timing that was impressive. He excelled at a kind of charming, yet sharp, borderline self-deprecating humor that many comedians take years to master. Crazy to think that this guy has only been performing for a year.
Take for instance his first big laugh moment of the set, when Belisle addressed “the elephant in the room.”
“I know what you’re thinking: ‘Who ordered Stephen Hawking off of Wish.com?’” he joked. “He might be smarter than me, but I would beat him in a race. Unless the race is downhill, then I’m screwed.”
Belisle would go on to take a playful jab at a “random white lady” who scolded him online for using the word “handicapped” in his social media bio, since of course it’s “offensive to disabled people.”
“Hmm…I don’t think It’s offensive. Last time I checked, I was pretty disabled, “ he quipped, then said the woman was “probably commenting on her phone from a handicapped bathroom stall.” Needless to say, the crowd was beside themselves with laughter.
In a rare feat for most comedians on the show, Belisle ended up with “yes” votes from every single judge for his unique and compelling routine, advancing him to the next round. Across the board, his set was praised as “clever” and “fearless,” with Sofia Vergara declaring, “I hope that you are the one comedian that finally wins ‘AGT.’”
Howie Mandel, the show’s resident comedian, really nailed it on the head as to what made Belisle’s act so special when he raved, “You open up the conversation and normalize humanity and originality.”
Will Belisle be crowned the Season 18 winner? No one can predict the future, but he has certainly won over all our hearts.
Like a lot of actors on Marvel’s payroll, Elizabeth Olsen is a serious thespian. When they scooped her up to play Scarlet Witch, she was an indie darling best known for her brilliant work in the drama Martha Marcy May Marlene. For the last year she’s been open about how doing comic book movies cost her some challenging roles, which she’s starting to do more now again. (See: Max’s Love and Death.) In fact, if she never plays Wanda Maximoff again? Well, she’s fine with that.
Olsen sat down with White Lotus Season 2 breakout Meghann Fahy for one of Variety’s “Actors on Actors” chats (as caught by Entertainment Weekly). It’s been a while since Olsen played Wanda — in last year’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, to be precise. Fahy asked Olsen if she missed her? Olsen was blunt.
“No, I don’t,” she replied. “I think it’s been almost 10 years of playing her. And I’ve loved it. And I think the reason why I am not calling Kevin Feige every day with ideas is because I’m really proud of what we were able to do. I think WandaVision was a really surprising opportunity.”
That said… “If someone were to tell me that I’m fired from Marvel movies, I will feel proud of what we made,” Olsen continued. “And I really am just trying to figure out how to load up other films and characters so it becomes less about the Marvel of it all.”
Olsen has received some of the best notices for any actor in the MCU, particularly when she showed both the breadth and the depth of her talents on the shape-shifting WandaVision, in which she had to embody acting types stretching decades while her character wrestled messily with grief. Now she gets to do that kind of thing without playing a character who flies and creatively massacres other superheroes.
The spring John Barleycorn Awards have arrived. This year’s first batch of “double gold” bourbons is a solid list of great whiskeys that you should consider chasing down right now. And I’m not just saying that because I was a judge. The beauty of these different award sets is that it shines a light on whiskeys that you might have never heard of or even considered. All of that is to say that following these awards is a great way to find something new in a very saturated bourbon market.
Before I dive into the list, let’s look at the awards. The John Barleycorn Corn Awards are a part of the John Barleycorn Society which is a group of spirits writers, designers, and marketers who care deeply about the spirits industry. From this group, the judges are chosen because “Their opinions, ideas and creative talents inform and influence consumer perceptions and buying decisions.”
Self-aggrandizing aside, the actual judging takes place at home — an outlier for big awards like these. Judges receive a box full of tons of unlabeled 50ml samples. Those judges are given a long list of instructions on everything from setting up the tasting to palate control along with a link to a spreadsheet for scoring. This is where the John Barleycorn Awards go a bit deeper. While other awards judging asks for an overall medal or score, Barleycorn asks for an individual score for the nose, palate, and finish. Those scores are combined to ascertain a medal. If a pour gets 90 points or more (out of 100), it receives a coveted “double gold” medal. Going further down the line, 80-89 points is a gold, 70-79 points is a silver, 65-69 points is an “honorable mention,” and 0-64 points is no medal.
And yes, there are plenty of “no medal” pours/entrants. They’re not all gems, folks.
Circling back to my original point, this list is a great way to find new and fresh bourbons to try right now. I’ve added my tasting notes to every double-gold bottle that I know I’ve tried (I tasted a lot of pours for this award set but of course don’t know which, because it was all double-blind and my knowing would defeat the purpose). Okay, let’s dive into some delicious bourbons!
Also Read: The Top 5 UPROXX Bourbon Posts Of The Last Six Months
This new whiskey from the father and son team is a blend of two carefully sourced barrels. The mix blends a 13-year and 15-year barrel together to make a sharp and delicious bourbon.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Soft orchard fruits and maple syrup lead the way on the nose as roasted almonds and vanilla/caramel tobacco pipe tobacco round things out.
Palate: The palate balances creamy vanilla sauce with a dark and bitter chocolate powder that’s nearly espresso bean oil.
Finish: The finish is subtle but deep with a hazelnut vibe that blends with the chocolate for a lush Nutella feel next to woody maple, rum-soaked raisins, and a hint of old porch wicker draped in old leather.
Bottom Line:
I was lucky enough to try this recently and it truly is delicious. It’s incredibly rare (just 1,400 bottles and only in Kentucky), so you’ll need a little luck to get into this one.
Cedar Ridge Iowa Bourbon Whiskey Double Barrel Release 002
This whiskey from craft distillery favorite Cedar Ridge combines their beloved whiskey with new oak one more time. The juice has a classic base of 74% corn, 14% rye, and 12% malted barely. After about four or five years, that whiskey is reloaded into brand-new charred American oak barrels for a final finish.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: This opens with a faint hint of toasted oak with a burnt sugar vibe next to Christmas spices, dusty dark chocolate powder, vanilla cake, and pecan shells.
Palate: The palate leans into the woody spices with star anise, allspice berries, cardamon pods, and full sticks of cinnamon over butterscotch candies, more of that dark chocolate, and a hint of rum-raisin.
Finish: The end has a light black tea vibe with dates and prunes dusted by all that woody spice and packed into a fresh pine box.
Bottom Line:
This is a lovely craft whiskey release that really leans into the classic notes with plenty of wood spice, deep butterscotch, and soft dark fruits. If you’re anywhere near Iowa, then this is a must-try.
Cedar Ridge Port Cask Finished Bourbon Release 022
This yearly (holiday) release from Cedar Ridge is beloved in Iowa. The whiskey is classic Cedar Ridge Iowa Bourbon that’s then finished in Port casks from the winery next to the distillery. Those barrels are then vatted and proofed with local water before bottling.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: There’s a nice mix of stewed plums and apples next to tart berries, vanilla pods, and orange zest on the nose with hints of old wood and sweet raisins.
Palate: The palate mixes cherry jam with dates and prunes next to brown sugars, winter spice, and more old oak.
Finish: The end layers together Christmas spice cake with vanilla sauce and dried fruits with a light finish.
Bottom Line:
This is a great bottle to snag around the holidays. It’s creamy, dreamy, and edgy. It also tastes like Christmas in a glass.
This whiskey was named after the majestic Cumberland Falls. The whiskey in the bottle was made at the Owensboro Distillery where it aged 4 years before a small batch run for this sourced release.
“Well-structured and well-balanced, with vanilla crème, caramel, and oak, this has the maturity of an older bourbon.”
Bottom Line:
This is from a bottler and not much is known. This is on the shelf in Kentucky but I’ve never tried it because it kind of gets lost in the mix these days. Given this award, it must really stand out as a tasty whiskey though. I’m going to snag a bottle on my next trip to Total Wine. I’ll see what all the fuss is about and get to y’all.
The latest Elijah Craig Barrel Proof is here (number two of three for 2023). This edition is a batch of bourbons that are a minimum of 11.5 years old (down from the usual 12-year age statements). The batch is bottled completely as is without cutting with water or chill filtration.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: There’s a nice sense of funk and fruit on the nose — think standing by a barn in an apple orchard — that leads to salted caramel, cherry tobacco, and rich dark chocolate cut with red chili pepper flakes with a lush vanilla foundation of almond cakes and powdered sugar icing.
Palate: Rich winter spice cakes with a hint of rum raisin drive the taste toward dark cherry spiced tobacco with a rush of ABVs that cause a deep buzz before old cellar dirt floors and oak arrive with a dark sense of chocolate and espresso all kissed with salt.
Finish: Cherry Coke and gingerbread drive the finish with a lush and vibrant sense of red chili pepper spice, black pepper woodiness, and cinnamon bark softness before stewed apple and buttery pie crust lead back toward a vanilla almond cake vibe with a lingering warming sensation.
Bottom Line:
This is probably the least shocking double gold medal on this list. This is a classic bourbon that runs so deep. I prefer it over a rock or two to calm it down (it’s brash) or in a cocktail with a good kick.
Elijah Craig Small Batch Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
This is Elijah Craig’s entry-point bottle. The mash is corn-focused, with more malted barley than rye. The whiskey is then rendered from “small batches” of barrels to create this proofed-down version of the iconic brand.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: There’s a light sense of rickhouse wood beams next to that mild taco seasoning on the nose with caramel apples, vanilla ice cream scoops, and a hint of fresh mint with a sweet/spicy edge.
Palate: The palate opens with a seriously smooth vanilla base with some winter spice (especially cinnamon and allspice) next to a hint of grain and apple pie filling.
Finish: The end leans towards the woodiness with a hint of broom bristle and minty tobacco lead undercut by that smooth vanilla.
Bottom Line:
I’ve always considered this a great cocktail base but never really a sipper. Given that these awards are all neat pours, maybe I need to revisit this one without those preconceived notions.
Evan Williams Bottled-In-Bond Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
Look, Heaven Hill makes great whiskey, especially inexpensive bottled in bonds. This “b-i-b” is tailored for the Evan Williams flavor profile. Still, this is Heaven Hill, so we’re talking about the same mash bill, same warehouses, and same blending team as beloved bourbons like Elijah Craig and Heaven Hill releases. This is simply built to match a higher-end Evan Williams vibe.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: There’s a lovely nose at play with soft taco mix spice next to creamy vanilla, caramel-dipped cherries, a hint of pear skins, and plenty of nutmeg.
Palate: The palate has a minor note of cornbread muffins next to cherry-vanilla tobacco with a dash of leather and toffee.
Finish: The end leans into some fresh gingerbread with a vanilla frosting next to hints of pear candy cut with cinnamon and nutmeg.
Bottom Line:
This is the best deal on the list and 100% easy to find. I use it for basic cocktails and highballs. It makes a good shooter with a beer back too. I’ve been known to drink this on the rocks too. It’s a workhorse.
Heaven Hill Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Bottled-In-Bond
This expression has been a touchstone “bottled-in-bond” since 1939 and remains a go-to for many bourbon lovers. The whiskey is the classic Heaven Hill bourbon mash bill that’s left to age for an extra three years compared to Evan Williams Bottled-in-Bond (also from Heaven Hill and the same base spirit).
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose draws you in with this rich and creamy vanilla ice cream (you know the kind that’s likely labeled “Tahitian”) that’s drizzled with a buttery and salty caramel sauce next to soft leather and dried apple blossoms with a hint of old cedar bark braids.
Palate: A floral honey vibe melds with Graham Crackers on the palate as creamy toffee covered in crushed almonds mingles with vanilla-laced pipe tobacco and old leather-bound books.
Finish: There’s a bit of freshly ground nutmeg near the end that leads to a light cherry tobacco note with whispers of old cellar beams and winter spices on the finish.
Bottom Line:
This is another really solid bourbon that just works — cocktails, on the rocks, or however you like.
Jack Daniel’s 12-Year-Old Tennessee Whiskey, Batch 1
Jack Daniel’s doesn’t hide any of its processes. The mash at the base of this whiskey is a mix of 80% corn, 12% barley, and 8% rye. Those grains are milled in-house and mixed with cave water pulled from an on-site spring and Jack Daniel’s own yeast and lactobacillus that they also make/cultivate on-site. Once fermented, the mash is distilled twice in huge column stills. The hot spirit is then filtered through 10 feet of sugar maple charcoal that’s also made at the distillery. Finally, the filtered whiskey is loaded into charred new American oak barrels and left alone in the warehouse. After 12 years, a handful of barrels were ready; so they were batched, barely proofed, and bottled.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose is creamy with deep notes of old boot leather, dark and woody winter spices, black-tea-soaked dates, plum jam with clove, and an underbelly of chewy toffee-laced tobacco.
Palate: That creaminess presents on the palate with a soft sticky toffee pudding drizzled in salted caramel and vanilla sauce next to flakes of salt and a pinch of orange zest over dry Earl Grey tea leaves with a whisper of singed wild sage.
Finish: The end leans into the creamy toffee chewy tobacco with a hint of pear, cherry, and bananas foster over winter spice barks and a deep embracing warmth.
Bottom Line:
I’ll be shocked if this doesn’t end up with “best in show” or something close to that. This whiskey is delicious and on a whole other level compared to a few others on this list.
K.LUKE Small Batch Barrel Strength Straight Bourbon Whiskey
This new-ish small-batch whiskey is a blend of Indiana and Kentucky bourbon with a very high rye mash bill, 36%. The batch is blind-tasted over and over again before the final mix is decided on. Finally, the barrels are batched and bottled as-is without any filtration or proofing at Bardstown Bourbon Company in Kentucky.
This is a four-year-old single-barrel version of Rabbit Hole’s beloved Heigold expression. That’s the brand’s double malt (malted rye and malted barley) that has a high-rye bourbon mash bill (70/25/5 corn/malted rye/malted barley).
“Nutty and honeyed maple syrup aromas turn to richly spiced flavors on the palate, buoyed by chocolate, roasted pecans, and leather flavors. I’d drink this anytime, anyplace. What a barrel.”
Bottom Line:
I’ve actually selected single-barrel Heigolds and they’re always been pure fire. There’s no reason to think this one isn’t too. I didn’t put my tasting notes from those picks simply because they could be fairly different depending on the barrel.
RD One Spirits Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Finished With Brazilian Amburana Wood
RD One is the new version of the Old Wm. Tarr whiskey lines out of Lexington, Kentucky. The whiskey in this bottle is four-year-old bourbon that was finished in Brazilian Amburana casks — which is a huge thing right now. That wood previously held cachaça down in Brazil before coming up to Kentucky and then filled with bourbon. Those barrels are batched and barely touched with water before bottling.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Huge notes of cinnamon-laced apple cider mixes with raw sugar syrup just kissed with stewed peaches, dry apricot, and a hint of oolong tea matcha balls on the nose.
Palate: The palate is lush and silky with a sense of spiced winter cakes stuffed with dried dates, prunes, and sultanas next to candied ginger and black tea-soaked blackberry hand pies with this whisper of white pepper and mocha lattes in the background.
Finish: The end stays super lush on the mouthfeel as that pepper mellows toward allspice and clove with a sweet cedar vibe attached to a creamy nuttiness that’s almost Nutella.
Bottom Line:
This is a pretty delicious pour of bourbon. It’s a woody one but very balanced with sweet creaminess and dark dried fruits. If you’re in the Kentucky area, it’s definitely worth snagging a bottle.
RD One Spirits Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Finished With French Oak
This whiskey is made with RD One’s four-year-old bourbon. Before those barrels are batched, French oak wood staves are inserted into the barrels for anywhere from two to four months. Once those barrels are just right, they’re batched, barely proofed, and bottled as-is.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: That old porch wicker and boot leather lead on the nose with a hint of bespoke Almond Joy, dried rose petals, and allspice cherry cola.
Palate: The palate has a lush creaminess tied to vanilla cake with a cherry compote next to eggnog spices and creaminess and a dash of woody winter spice with a pipe tobacco edge.
Finish: The end has a rich toffee vibe that leads to almonds and raisins with a sense of spiced choco-cherry tobacco just kissed with orange oils.
Bottom Line:
This was one of my favorite bourbons of 2022 (number 89/100), so there’s that. This is a very tasty bourbon and worth checking out, especially if you’re looking for a good food pairing whiskey or Manhattan base.
Rock Town Column Still Collection Single Barrel Straight Bourbon Whiskey
This Arkansas whiskey is made with a very local vibe. The mash bill is made with 79% Arkansas corn, 8% Arkansas wheat, and 13% malted barley. The actual whiskey was distilled in Kentucky though, at Bardstown Bourbon Company on a column still (that’s only for these releases, the rest is actually made in-state). After at least 34 months of mellowing, a single barrel of whiskey was hand-picked and bottled at cask strength for this release.
“Brown sugar and caramel swirl in the glass while flashes of citrus peek above the sweetness to add depth, as do hints of vanilla custard. Hits on all notes. Fantastic.”
Bottom Line:
I’ve not had this single barrel release but I fully stand by Rock Town. They’re my favorite distillery in Arkansas at the moment.
Rock Town Column Still Collection Small Batch Straight Bourbon Whiskey
This whiskey is pure Arkansas ingredients that are sent out to Kentucky for mashing and distillation. A mash bill of 79% Arkansas corn, 8% Arkansas wheat, and 13% malted barley are shipped out to Bardstown Bourbon Company in Kentucky where it’s fermented and distilled. That juice then ages for at least 34 months before it’s bottled in small batches back in Arkansas.
“Tasty with rich fruit and caramel aromas carrying over to the palate where it meets banana pudding and baking spice. A lovely depth of flavor and lingering finish warrants another pour.”
Bottom Line:
This is another one from Rock Town that I haven’t tried yet. But given the pedigree, I can’t imagine it’ll disappoint.
This is a sourced one-off of single-barrel Ohio straight bourbon from Watershed Distilling that was bottled up in Wisconsin at Two Souls. The whiskey in the bottle is made from a mash of 72% corn, 21% rye, and 7% malted barley that aged for exactly 4 years, 4 months, and 16 days before bottling 100% as-is without proofing.
“This is a delicious whiskey — round and orangey with oils, molasses, and fudgy oak notes. Perfect.”
Bottom Line:
Two Souls rarely misses as a bottler and there’s no reason to think that this won’t be a great one. Now, actually finding one to sample is a whole other story. Click that price link and see if they deliver to your state!
While Uncle Nearest is distilling their own juice these days, this is still the work of Master Blender Victoria Eady Butler with carefully sourced Tennessee whiskey barrels. In this case, Eady Bulter hand-selected the best-of-the-best from their inventory to create the perfect whiskey to exemplify the brand and Tennessee whiskey traditions.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose leans into sticky toffee pudding with a sense of black licorice that’s almost absinth adjacent as soft caramel and winter spice round things out.
Palate: Gingerbread cookies and stewed pears mingle with sharp chili spice, red peppercorns, and a hint more of that dark licorice on the palate with this mild sense of creamy vanilla oils and maybe some maple syrup fresh from the tap.
Finish: The pepperiness really drives the finish toward a creamy vanilla cake end with a nice balance of woody winter spices and a hint of soft leather.
Bottom Line:
I just re-tasted this last week and it still rocks. Get yourself a bottle if you can.
Whiskey Thief Distilling Single Barrel 23 Rain Fall Down Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
This is a single-barrel pick from a very unique Kentucky experience. Basically, you can drop into this barrel house and try a whole bunch of whiskey barrels and they’ll sell you a barrel or a bottle or two from a barrel. The location is also a 172-acre working farm. It’s a trip.
“Absolutely a great barrel. If I stumbled across this gem I’d start an entire brand based around it.”
Bottom Line:
I’ve only had a few of these and they’ve been pretty solid. They’ve sourced some incredible barrels and are really looking after them well. That said, you’re not finding this outside of a very narrow and hardcore whiskey nerd window … or if you happen to be on Kentucky’s Whiskey Trail.
Kevin McCarthy may have the worst job in America. Imagine getting your dream gig — he’s Speaker of the House! — just in time for MAGA extremists who hate your guts to take over your party. Luckily there’s a good chance you don’t have to imagine what it’s like to be Kevin McCarthy, though surely you’d come up with a better excuse for the party’s presumptive kingpin storing classified governments in his freakin’ bathroom.
Last week Donald Trump was gifted with his second indictment. After that, photos were made public showing boxes of documents had been piled up in a Mar-a-Lago bathroom (below a chandelier, natch), While speaking to reporters Monday, McCarthy — who has to be tired of fielding questions about an ex-president’s creatively wacky antics — was asked if it was “a good look for the former president to have boxes in a bathroom.”
Q: “Was that a good look for the former president to have boxes in a bathroom?”
Kevin McCarthy: “I don’t know. Is it a good picture to have boxes in a garage that opens up all the time? A bathroom door locks.” pic.twitter.com/aEmOfz77kX
— Republican Accountability (@AccountableGOP) June 12, 2023
“I don’t know, is it a good picture to have boxes in a garage that opens up all the time?” McCarthy shot back, referencing boxes Joe Biden had stored in another questionable location. He added, “A bathroom door locks.”
Yeahhhhhhhh, but so does a garage? That’s not the only gap in McCarthy’s logic. As it happened, Democratic representative Jamie Raskin was on CNN when they aired that clip, and he poked another hole in McCarthy’s curious reponses.
“Well, it’s the first I’ve seen that particular defense, but is he suggesting that these boxes of classified documents got up and locked the door after people left the bathroom?” Raskin pointed out. “I’m not quite sure I follow the logic of it.”
Raskin also demolished Republicans’ attempts to pull some what-about-ism between Biden retaining government documents — then immediately returning them when that was pointed out — and Trump returning some while holding onto others.
“Look, the documents were unlawfully in Donald Trump’s possession, which was bad enough, which is a violation of the law, but even when given the opportunity to return them to the [National] Archives, to turn them back over to the government, Trump refused to do so, repeatedly,” Raskin explained. “That’s what he’s being charged with — that obstruction of justice and playing that game of cat and mouse with the government.”
Quick, name a stone-cold burger pro. There are a few — I like to think I’m among their ranks — but two very solid answers are George Motz and Alvin Cailan. Through their respective shows, Burger Scholar and The Burger Show, the duo has taught us more about the art of a great burger than just about anyone alive. Together, Motz and Cailan make an interesting combo — Motz, the historian keeps us informed about the legacy of burgers, where they come from, and how they differ from region to region; Cailan represents where burgers are going and the future of burger craft.
That’s why it made perfect sense for the pals to team up last month for First We Feast’s new road show — Burger Bucket List.
While Burger Bucket List was a short-lived affair — only three episodes long, airing during this year’s “Burger Month” — the run included Motz and Cailan chopping it up with Sean Evans, enjoying burger omakase with Elizebeth Olsen, delving into burger science with Neil deGrasse Tyson, and hunting down Oklahoma’s greatest fried onion burger. Each episode delivers 20 minutes of the greatest cheeseburger content we’ve been served up all year! Can you blame us for wanting more?
To satiate our appetite for good burger content, we linked up with Motz and Cailan to talk all things burgers — including why stepping away from the coast is a pilgrimage all burger lovers must experience. The pair also breaks down their favorite fast food cheeseburgers, including each’s ultimate Five Guys build. Let’s dive in!
First We Feast
What have you guys enjoyed most about doing Burger Bucket List?
George Motz: I mean, personally me, all of it. It’s all good. I mean, the great thing about the show is that we designed it ourselves, so we could do what we want to do. I was talking to an unnamed big Hollywood director and I said, “Well, why does this scene take place in Paris?” She said, “Because we wanted to go to Paris.”
Why do we go to Oklahoma? Because why not? We wanted to go to Oklahoma. We also wanted to show people just how great the place is. Everyone sees it as a flyover state. They don’t see it as a place to go on vacation or stop. People always say, “Why’d you go there?” And so I think Alvin and I, our goal is to try to excite people to get out there and travel and eat at the same time, and where better than Oklahoma?
Alvin Cailan: I think that we could kind of live in a world where we forget where and why we love burgers so much. The goal of the show is to spread the knowledge of why we love burgers so much in this country, where it comes from, and the good people behind it. I think Oklahoma was definitely the one destination that really tugged at the heartstrings because, man, that was an experience to see and to taste.
Even with the New York “Burger by Budget “episode, I think it was really cool to show the spectrum of burgers that you can get from $5 to $30 in New York City. I think our viewers love that stuff. They made us make a list of what we wanted to do and they gave us what we wanted. That’s why it was called the “Bucket List.”
It looks like you guys are having a lot of fun. I don’t think that’s something you can really fake.
I did want to talk about Oklahoma and that episode specifically. So far, you’ve already looked at New York City, you’ve already looked at Los Angeles. Those are two obvious burger places. You touched on this a little bit in terms of people thinking of it as a flyover state, but why is it so important to share other places that are great burger cities? What are some of the other great burger cities that might not be on the top of people’s minds?
George Motz: We don’t think of it so much as by city, but by region. A perfect example would be the state of Wisconsin. We’ve got a lot of room to move, I mean, if we could keep going, you’d have season after season because the entire area of say, Chicago and Milwaukee, Wisconsin, there’s so much going on there alone. You could do four episodes right there. A lot of travel right there. That’s just one spot. That’s important for people to see that there’s not just bi-coastal… Even Miami, which is not really… It’s a destination, Miami, Just like in New York or LA, but you go there and there’s a lot to do there. There are a lot of burgers to eat there. It’s incredible.
Alvin Cailan: There’s kind of this weird secret handshake amongst burger lovers. Right? If you go to Northern California, there’s a group of people who all came from the same restaurant and have their own restaurants. And that’s how the regionality starts. That’s what I feel is the backbone of our show. So to answer your question, favorite city or cities that we love, George is right, it’s all regional really. New Mexico is one of my favorites and Texas as a whole. Driving down to 10, just the burger restaurants along the 10 freeway, it’s completely different and no one ever talks about them. So it’s definitely cool to show people that side of burgers on the show.
George Motz: Yeah. Also, Alvin pointed out in the first episode that we did together, it was the second episode of The Burger Show, our goal really for the entire show, whether we were doing something separately — I was doing Burger Scholar sessions or we did the burger stuff on the road — was to show that it has regionality like barbecue. And he pointed out wisely the first time we worked together that hamburgers really can have regionality in the same way. And regional difference is the same way that barbecue does in America.
So I think that’s also important to point out, that the show has a place because of that.
I want to bring up something that you said, George, in that episode. You called Oklahoma one of your favorite places to eat burgers because it’s a place unaffected by times and trends. I was wondering if you could break that down a little bit more to kind of tantalize people going into the episode.
George Motz: Sure. I mean, if you think about what’s happened to the American hamburger in the last 120 years, it’s become diluted. It’s changed. It’s become personal. I’d like to say that the hamburger came from the Midwest. We know that there are probably eight to 10, seven to nine claims that somehow stretched along what I also call the burger belt, which goes from Texas, all the way up to Wisconsin, all through the middle center of the Midwest.
There are a lot of claims to the birthplace of the hamburger. So if you imagine the burger starting there, and then going out from there, and then becoming diluted and time goes by, you imagine that also the original burgers, we know what they should be. And we know for a fact that in the Midwest, they haven’t changed at all. The burgers that exist on the East Coast and the West Coast are really just facsimiles or copies of what happened in the Midwest.
That’s really what I was trying to say that you do find these places that have been around and are unaffected by time and trends because there’s no reason for them to change. If they change, they go out of business because people are like, “What happened? What’d you do? That was the burger my grandfather ate, and my great-grandfather ate. Why’d you change that?” And the burger that we had looked at, the very last burger we had on the show, the El Reno Oklahoma onion burger, the fried onion burger, that last year, celebrated a hundred years. I mean, it’s a 100-year-old burger. And honestly, not much has changed about that burger apparently.
Right. Yeah. I mean, when something’s good, why change it?
George Motz: Exactly. Why take that risk?
In the episode, you mentioned the burger belt. That’s not something I’ve ever heard of before, is that real?
George Motz: Well, I made it up. If I look at my own Google Maps, I’m looking at one actually right now on my computer, I make maps. I know where I need to go and know where I’ve been. And I look at my burger maps and there’s a very, very pronounced high volume of hamburger spots that go from Texas, kind of going northeast towards Wisconsin if you draw a line. I’d like to say also, you saw in the show that the buckle of that belt really could be somewhere between Oklahoma, Kansas area right there. That really is the buckle. It’s basically in the center of the country.
That’s worth traveling for!
Alvin Cailan: Oh, yeah. I highly recommend it. Burgers in California and in Los Angeles especially, you eat in your car. When I went to Oklahoma, people were eating burgers and hanging out. It was like, they stop and smell the roses. That’s to me, so different. It was like everyone knew each other. It was definitely an experience that if you’re not used to, it was definitely something I was just so impressed by.
What’s special about that experience? How does that kind of enhance the burger-eating experience for you?
Alvin Cailan: Right now, I’m literally in my kitchen cooking burgers. It kind of shows the lineage that I’m continuing. And to see like-minded people who appreciate the craft of being a burger guy, and even the customers who love it is different, because in LA and New York… It’s a very fast five-minute interaction with your customer. You may or may not ever see them again because there’s a burger restaurant opening every 10 minutes. Right? And over there, it’s like the same restaurant that’s been there for the last 70 years. And you don’t see that much anymore, especially if you’re living on the coast.
George Motz: That’s true.
Who makes your favorite fast food or fast casual burger? What makes it the best? What are you looking for when you’re looking for that type of burger?
Alvin Cailan: Okay. So this is a conversation that I’ve had quite a bit and I’ve done an extensive amount of research in my life — Body by burger, clothing by burger, but if I’m going to answer the question, I’m a big fan… We’re talking about chains and global chains, right? I want to talk about Five Guys.
I think Five Guys is the most underrated, almost-hated-on burger, but it’s honestly up to you. You hold the power of whether or not that burger is great because you can choose the toppings and you can choose 17 toppings on a burger. Right? And I think, I feel like people overdo it, but I’ve had a great experience with Five Guys. Whether it be in Dubai or whether it be in any other country, and then locally, I’ve had a great experience with them. And they keep it pure. It’s one of those places where you can tell why they’re around and why they’re still growing. You know what I mean?
George Motz: I would say without a doubt, Steak ‘N Shake, another Midwestern chain that started in 1936 or 37, somewhere in there. Nothing’s changed. I mean, they opened up new locations. It looks like you’re sitting at the counter in front of the griddles right there. You talk to the guy behind the griddle, the women, or whatever, and it’s all the same. I don’t think anything’s changed in many, many years.
The only thing they took out was they used to grind beef in the middle of the restaurant with a corral. So everyone could see its fresh beef, which obviously, that became weird and probably illegal.
But without a doubt, Steak ‘N Shake, it’s one of those places that just has not really changed in almost a hundred years. And it’s important because again, when you go through the Midwest, you look at that burger belt, there’s one section of the burger belt that runs the entire length of Illinois. And you draw a line from St. Louis, all the way up almost to Chicago. It has its own burger belt. It’s actually what we called the Lacy Edge burger belt. There must be 30 or 40 different places along that route, Chicago from St. Louis, which are all just the Lacy Edge thin, smashed burgers, which were created obviously with the invention of the flatiron grill. This flat steel could then drain grease off, because you couldn’t do it any other way back then.
And of course, as you know, Steak ‘N Shake is from that same region, born I think, in Indiana and Normal… Sorry, Normal, Illinois, right in the middle of the state.
Both are amazing choices, I think.
George Motz: I’m also a fan of Five Guys.
I feel like what Alvin said was kind of right though. Five Guys does get an unusual amount of hate, I’ve noticed. Why do you think that is? Do you think that’s the price point? Do you think that’s just because the customizable aspect makes it that so many things can go wrong? Because I see people do this with Chipotle as well. They’ll make a burrito that has —
Alvin Cailan: Yes, I was going to say that!
They’ll make a burrito that has everything in it, and then wonder why it’s not working. And it’s like, “You’re why it’s not working.”
George Motz: Yeah. That’s why people ask us. I’m sure people ask Alvin all the time, “What’s your order from Five Guys?” People ask me all the time, and they want to know because there’s nothing worse than walking there and going like, “Give me everything or give me this and that. I’m sorry, give me that.” Because really, honestly, as a chef who knows over there as Alvin knows for sure, is that come on guys, really, it’s the chef that knows what you want to eat, not yourself. That’s why they’re chefs.
Alvin Cailan: Right. And also, decision-making, it’s very important. And I feel like a lot of people, they see all of these things and they see no cost extra on the menu, and they’re just like, “Man, I could put all this stuff in my burger and it won’t cost anything.”
George Motz: They’re also hungry.
Alvin Cailan: They’re like, “Where’s the burger? I hate this burger. Where’s the burger?” It’s like, “Dude, you put 17 things in there and you shouldn’t have. That bun can’t even hold it.” I read the Yelp reviews all the time and I’m like, “Dude, I don’t know if that option shoots them in the foot or it keeps people coming because it’s just crazy.”
George Motz: What is your order? Alvin, do you have one single order you do?
Alvin Cailan: Yeah. So they have two different patties. They have two patties. They have a smaller patty and a bigger patty. I like to get a double of the smaller patty, double cheese, raw onions, pickles, mustard, and mayo. That’s it.
George Motz: Oh yeah, that’s perfect. There you go.
Alvin Cailan: Yeah. Simple burger. Because at the end of the day, in its purest form there, it’s the best, I think. And I’ve traveled. They have a really great trading system because it’s not far off. The only time I hate Five Guys is when you have it delivered to your house because something happens when it gets delivered, but I don’t know if it’s the delivery time or the bag they stuff the burger in, but it’s way better at the restaurant.
Interviewer: Definitely. Definitely.
George Motz: My Five Guy order: Double cheeseburger, pickles, raw onion, mayonnaise, and barbecue sauce.
What do you think… And I don’t know if this might be a mean question, but we’ll word it in a way that’s not mean — whose fast food burger do you think needs the most work? What could they do to make it better? Because there’s a lot of them out there and I’ll just go ahead and say it. I think Burger King’s really dropping the ball lately.
Alvin Cailan: Oh hell, yes.
George Motz: Personally, it’s a short answer for me. Let me answer quickly first is that I haven’t really been to any of the top three to judge. That’s the problem. I mean, spent so much time consumed with old-school burgers that are between 20 and a hundred years old. And I mean, small mom and pops and I have avoided fast food, most of the fast food guys, the big three, at least for a year. So I couldn’t judge.
Alvin Cailan: They have this whole thing right now where there’s talk about McDonald’s changing their bun and their method of process. None of that makes me want to run to a McDonald’s and buy a McDonald’s burger. But I think generally speaking, my biggest pet peeve when it comes to fast food chains is when people go, “Oh you have to go to the one in East LA. It’s better there.” It’s like when I go to New York and I want to get Shake Shack, I go to the one at Madison Square Park because I always love that one, but I hate going to… the one in Battery Park, I hate it. You know what I mean? So that’s the taste that I have left in my mouth.
And when you said Burger King, I agree with that as well because the last time I had a Burger King experience was at the Honolulu Air —
An airport! Everyone has Burger King at an airport for some reason.
Alvin Cailan: Yeah. It was the worst thing I put in my mouth. And the same thing with Shake Shack, I love Shake Shack. Mark Rosati, is a friend of mine, but the fact that there are so many of them now and some of them are hit or miss when it comes to a burger. The problem that I have with that, is that it’s not cheap. So if I’m all in at 40, 50 bucks with two burgers, two fries, a milkshake, and a drink, and it’s awful — it hurts more than if I spent $20 at McDonald’s. You know what I mean? So that’s kind of where I stand.
George Motz: Well, I’ll be totally honest. I did actually go to McDonald’s recently, but it wasn’t for a burger. I was in LA and it was the end of the McRib. Remember the McRib?
I loved the McRib when I was a kid so much. I ate too many of them, but I sent my girlfriend in, so I could get one. I was hiding in the driver’s seat and she went in to get the McRib. If someone saw me in the parking lot, they’d be like, “What the…” And so I sent her in. She came out with the McRib. I felt the same way. I went, “Oh wow, I can’t believe I’m having this.” I sit back and went, “What happened?” I grew up. It just tasted like pure soap. It was like hot soap in my mouth. I don’t know. It was so bad. It was such a letdown. It was such a total letdown. And really, shame on McDonald’s for taking something that was so iconic and basically destroying it.
Alvin Cailan: I know, it’s so tragic.
I wanted to ask you guys a little bit about meat sourcing when it comes to burger blends. What, in your opinion, is the ideal burger blend? What should people who are maybe looking into making their own at home, what should they ask the butcher to be mixing?
George Motz: Ask the butcher. I mean, I can answer that too, but that’s the butcher first.
Alvin Cailan: Nowadays, if you live in a mega grocery store area, you can’t even ask them to do that for you anymore. Right? But I’m a big short rib or rib meat, chuck, and brisket guy. That’s the trinity for me. Some people like the sirloin aspect, as opposed to chuck with the same other two, brisket and short rib. But I’m more of a chuck guy because I feel like it has enough chew to it.
At the end of the day, straight-up chuck from the chuck roll, the ground is actually pretty phenomenal because of the muscle structure of the chuck.
You have the short rib piece in the Denver cut that’s connected to the short rib, and then you have the chuck eye, which is connected to the rib eye. So it has a lot of amazing cuts in itself within the chuck roll. So if you have a butcher that butchers straight up from the chuck, getting a chuck roll blend is the way to go. And it’s very affordable.
George Motz: Historically speaking, chuck and the chuck roll is what people would get from a butcher to grind or ask the butcher to grind because it was the easiest and it was the most consistent. They all knew that they got the chuck roll, or parts of the chuck, they would basically make the same burger every single time. It was also years ago, it was one of the most inexpensive cuts. Not anymore. It used to be very inexpensive.
I mean, bang for buck, it still is the greatest way to ensure that you’re going to make great burgers by just taking chuck and throwing it in your grinder, whether you’re commercially or at home, and making a great burger as a result.
Fat is king, obviously. So I always tell people that if you’re going to do anything, don’t go below 75%. Or don’t go above 75% lean, 25% fat. It’s probably a pretty good start. And people say, “Oh, I can’t find that at my store.” Well, there’s science behind it and there are actually some retailers now who will, I’ll shout out my friends at Schweid. I know Alvin loves Schweid, but they do sell pre-formed patties. And they’re basically hand-pattied balls of beef that are at 75, 25. And you can buy them at any store in America right now. It’s great.
When it comes to cheeseburgers, American or cheddar?
It feels safe to say that many, if not most people hail Drew Barrymore as the “Queen of Candid.” She can seemingly talk to absolutely anyone about anything in a way that’s consistently warm and authentic.
That even goes for when she experiences her first hot flash in front of a live television audience, apparently.
While speaking with guests Jennifer Aniston and Adam Sandler on her talk show, Barrymore abruptly appears flustered, fanning herself and removing her jacket.
Without missing a beat, she says, “I am so hot, I think I’m having my first perimenopause hot flashes.”
“Oh, I feel so honored!” Jennifer Aniston quips as she fixes Barrymore’s mic, which is a sweet moment in and of itself.
“I’m so sorry!” Barrymore continues, laughing through it all. “Do you feel this?!” she says, placing Aniston’s hand just below her neck. “Or maybe I’m just excited!”
Sandler, then reaching for Barrymore’s palm, assures her, “Yeah you got a hot hand.”
“Well, I’m so glad I have this moment documented!” Barrymore exclaims.
One viewer on TikTok gushed, “I don’t know that I have ever heard a celebrity talk about a hot flash in the moment. Thank you for being so real.”
Another echoed, “Drew, we have a whole generation (X) entering the change. Let’s normalize it. Just wait until you’re soaked with sweat, then cold lol.”
One person commented on the exchange between Aniston and Barrymore, noting how refreshing it was to see two “beautiful, authentic, powerful women my own age to look up to.”
Only a week prior, Barrymore had again been an unofficial spokeswoman for perimenopause when she sat down with Gayle King of “CBS Mornings” to share more of her personal experiences, including having a period “every two weeks.”
“One doctor also just told me this could last, in the worst-case scenario, 10 years. And I was like, ‘I will never make it 10 years like this!’” she told King.
Considering that every woman who lives past their 40s will probably go through at least some version of this—even earlier, for some—one would think that there should be more conversations about this pivotal life chapter. Maybe then it wouldn’t be so daunting.
Or at the very least, there might be less stigma around it. As Barrymore eloquently put it in her interview, “The way menopause has been branded is, ‘You’re old, you’re done.’ That’s not it.” Instead, she feels that in reality, “more women in their 40s, 50s, and 60s are looking so attractive, feeling so vibrant, living their best lives.”
The films follow a young teen, Miles Morales, as he discovers his superpowers and learns to wield them. But it has now been revealed that, behind the scenes of the new film, another young superhero was being discovered—a real kid with genuinely impressive 3D animation powers that even wowed some of the world’s best animators.
At just 14 years old, Preston Mutanga recreated the trailer for “Across the Spiderverse” using Legos and shared his creation on social media in January of 2023. He tagged the producers of the film and wrote, “I recreated the entire Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse trailer in LEGO!”
Sounds downright adorable, right? Kid with his Lego hobby making little home movies?
Yeah, watch this:
His trailer caught the attention of Phil Lord and Chris Miller, producers of both “The Lego Movie” and “Spider-man: Across the Spider-verse.” Both men were floored when they discovered it was created by a kid.
“We found out that it was a 14-year-old kid who made it and we were like, ‘This looks incredibly sophisticated for a nonadult, nonprofessional to have made,'” Miller told The New York Times. “It blew us all away, including some of the best animators in the world.”
Lord responded to the trailer with a compliment and a quip: “Well done!!! Where were you in 2014 oh wait you were 6.”
u201c@FG_Artist @chrizmillr @terry12539 @LEGO_Group @SpiderVerse Well done!!! Where were you in 2014 oh wait you were 6u201d
Preston replied that he was “closely observing the movie” at that time, and clearly, he was. And he was learning a lot.
In fact, his animating skills were so impressive the filmmakers invited him to help create a scene for the new “Spider-verse” movie—an homage to “The Lego Movie” that Lord and Miller wanted to include in the film.
Preston’s parents were naturally skeptical at first. This certainly wasn’t what Preston’s dad anticipated when he got him the 3D animation software, Blender, or when Preston used YouTube tutorials to teach himself animation techniques. And what parents would believe that two of the biggest names in the animated film world would enlist the help of their 14-year-old for a major film?
But the offer was real. According to The Times, Preston got a new computer and high-end graphics software and worked on the scene from his home in Toronto. The filmmakers explained to Rotten Tomatoes that Preston animated the shots during his spring break and made revisions after he finished his homework.
Undoubtedly, this experience taught him more than any school homework ever could about his passion.
“One new thing I learned was definitely the feedback aspect of it, like how much stuff actually gets changed from the beginning to the final product,” Preston told The Times. “Getting to work with the people who actually made this masterpiece was honestly like a dream,” he added.
Apparently, it was pretty dreamlike for the animation crew to work with him as well. Animation lead for “Spider-man: Across the Spider-verse” Chelsea Gordon-Ratzlaff shared on Twitter that they and the whole team were consistently “blown away” by Preston’s shots.
u201c@FG_Artist you nailed it!! all of us on the anim crew were blown away by your shots whenever we saw them, great work ud83dudc4fu201d
How wonderful that this young person has not only worked hard on polishing his craft but had his talents recognized by some of the best in the business. Kudos to his parents for their encouragement and kudos to the filmmakers for giving a kid this huge opportunity and mentoring him through it. We can’t wait to see where in the multiverse Preston Mutanga goes next.
Here’s a side-by-side of the original trailer and Preston’s Lego remake so you can see how spot-on it was:
u201cDid you know 14-year-old animator, Preston Mutanga (@FG_Artist), known for this viral LEGO Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse trailer also animated the LEGO scenes in the film? ud83dudc4fu201d
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(@lesleyabravanel) June 11, 2023
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