Month: July 2023

After TMZ exclusively reported the other day that Tori Kelly was hospitalized and in “really serious” condition due to blood clots in her legs and lungs, any update is welcome. Luckily, there’s some good news: André Murillo, the “Missin U” singer’s husband since 2018, revealed that she’s slowly on the mend.

“Tori is smiling again and feeling stronger,” Murillo wrote to his Instagram Story on Wednesday, July 26. “Not fully out of the woods but we see the sun. Just waiting on a few more answers. Your love and kindness has been overwhelming. Thank you so so much! [Red heart emoji]”

TMZ‘s original July 24 report relayed that Kelly had been at dinner with friends in downtown Los Angeles on Sunday, July 23, “when her heart started beating really fast.”

“We’re told Tori passed out, and was ‘out for a while,’” the outlet wrote, noting her friends drove her to Cedars-Sinai to ensure she’d get the best care. The report continued, “We’re told Tori’s getting care in the ICU, doctors have discovered clots in Tori’s legs and her lungs … and are still working to determine if any clots are around her heart. The singer’s been in and out of consciousness during her hospitalization.”

Kelly’s EP, Tori, is slated for release on Friday, July 28, and the two-time Grammy winner was scheduled to celebrate its arrival with a performance at The Roxy in LA that night.

Warning: This post contains a fairly mild spoiler for the movie Barbie — nothing big, but you never know who you’re going to make mad, so just be careful reading this, ya know?

Barbie is a big, silly, aggressively pink blockbuster in which Ryan Gosling gets to be funny onscreen for the first time since his 2017 stint on SNL. It’s also pretty blatantly feminist. Ben Shapiro’s brain probably melted during his now-infamous hatewatch when he heard the big speech America Ferrera’s character delivers before the triumphant third act kicks in. Others have cheered, even weapt. That’s what happened with cast and crew while they were filming it.

Director/co-writer Greta Gerwig spoke with The New York Times (in a bit caught by Insider) after her film’s ridiculously huge opening weekend (and its continued dominance into the weekdays), and she was asked about that speech, which concerns the tightrope women have to walk to make it in society. She said they tailored the speech to Ferrera, talking to her about her life so that they “really embroidered it with her own specificity.”

When they finally filmed it, Gerwig recalled that “three takes in, I was crying. Then I looked around, and everyone was crying — even the men were tearing up.”

Then something hit her: “I suddenly thought that this tightrope she’s explaining is something that is present for women in the way that she’s describing it, but it’s also present for everybody.”

Gerwig continued:

“Everybody is afraid they’re going to put a foot wrong and it’s all going to come crashing down, and in that moment of doing that monologue, she was giving people permission to step off that tightrope. I don’t think I realized until then that’s what that moment was for. [Ferrera] had a piece of the puzzle in her as an actor and collaborator and artist that explained it back to me.”

NYT also asked Gerwig about the GOP elephant in the room, namely all the rightwing hate from not only Ben Shapiro, but also Ted Cruz, Elon Musk, even Matt Gaetz’s wife. Gerwig was diplomatic, saying she hadn’t expected the furor, even inviting them to give it a chance.

“My hope for the movie is that it’s an invitation for everybody to be part of the party and let go of the things that aren’t necessarily serving us as either women or men,” She said. “I hope that in all of that passion, if they see it or engage with it, it can give them some of the relief that it gave other people.”

Barbie is now in theaters, where it will probably be playing for quite a long time. Ditto Oppenheimer.

(Via NYT and Insider)

It didn’t take long after releasing their debut album for Best Coast to become an indie music staple in the 2010s. Crunchy guitars and dreamy chords that floated over lyrics about love and lazing in the sun underscored everything from PBR-filled house parties to long walks accompanied by an iPod shuffle. As a band, Best Coast achieved some pretty incredible feats, including sets at top festivals, an appearance on the The Daily Show, and even smoking weed with Wiz Khalifa. But in the years since their 2010 debut album, a lot has changed in the indie world. And so has vocalist Bethany Cosentino.

The Best Coast bandleader recently announced her decision to release music as a solo artist, putting her beloved project with friend and collaborator Bobb Bruno indefinitely on ice. “My identity as a human being, and as an artist, has been so wrapped up in Best Coast for over a decade,” she said in a statement about her decision to pivot to solo music. “I am excited about being just Bethany Cosentino for a while and figuring out who I am outside of the ‘Bethany from Best Coast’ box I’ve lived in for such a long time,” she added.

Now, Cosentino is stepping out of that box and onto center stage with her solo debut Natural Disaster, which drops Friday. The 12-track project moves away from sun-kissed surf rock to a more folsky, Americana-inspired sound that fits in seamlessly with Cosentino’s textured vocals. The album shows off her mature and confident side while managing to keep the glistening, power-pop edge that made so many fall in love with Best Coast. Overall, Natural Disaster is a catchy and confident adventure into Cosentino’s solo career

Ahead of the release of Natural Disaster, Cosentino sits down with Uproxx to talk Rilo Kiley, thoughtful gestures, and scatting in our latest Q&A.

What are four words you would use to describe your music?

Honest. Intentional. Reflective. And my personal fav — LilithCore.

It’s 2050 and the world hasn’t ended and people are still listening to your music. How would you like it to be remembered?

Assuming the year 2050 is a dystopian nightmare of some sort — I would hope people could find joy in my music. Nostalgia for a simpler time in the world. Reminders that love and magic are everywhere if you are paying attention.

What’s your favorite city in the world to perform?

Chicago or LA are my favorite places to play in the states. Tokyo is my favorite place outside of the US.

Who is the person who has most inspired your work, and why?

I don’t think it’s possible to narrow it down to just one person honestly. I have been inspired by so many different people throughout my life and career. Each chapter is inspired by something new too — I sort of gravitate toward whatever the thing is that is meant to inspire me in that moment. I will start obsessively listening to an artist or band, or reading works by a certain writer and before I know it, I’m creating a thing influenced by them. It’s synchronistic for sure. My favorite voice in all of the world though is by far Linda Ronstadt.

Where did you eat the best meal of your life?

Rome. Best Coast played there back in 2011 and the promoter of our show’s family owned a restaurant in town. They closed it down and had a private dinner for us and basically brought one of everything on the menu to our table. There was so much incredible fresh fish, pasta, vegetables, wine — it was incredible.

What album do you know every word to?

Not to brag but … many. I study lyrics and melody as if I’m studying for the SATs haha. The albums from my formative years stuck with me most though — Tragic Kingdom by No Doubt. Dude Ranch by Blink-182. The Execution Of All Things by Rilo Kiley.

What was the best concert you’ve ever attended?

Fleetwood Mac at The Forum in LA in 2014. First tour with Christine McVie + the full band in many years. I sobbed the entire time.

What is the best outfit for performing and why?

Something comfortable that you can move around in and something that you’re not going to feel insecure wearing in front of a bunch of people. There is nothing worse than being on stage and obsessing over whether or not your top is gonna fall off!

Who’s your favorite person to follow on Twitter and/or Instagram?

Twitter is this meme account about my favorite mall in Glendale called @americanamemes. They only follow 7 accounts which are all related to the city of Glendale – and I am one of them – so it is truly an honor. Instagram is @Michaelstipe. His account is truly iconic. He posts the most random things and every single post brings me joy. I love him.

What’s your most frequently played song in the van on tour?

Best Coast was always obsessed with playing Metallica.

What’s the last thing you Googled?

“TikTok watermark remover” — I am a working girl, babe.

What album makes for the perfect gift?

Depends who it’s for. I love gift giving and like to curate gifts for people based on their specific taste and interests – so I would try and find the perfect album for whoever it was for.

Where’s the weirdest place you’ve ever crashed while on tour?

I’ve slept on plenty of floors, but I’ve been lucky enough to not really have any horror stories of tour in this way.

What’s the story behind your first or favorite tattoo?

My first tattoo is on my wrist — it says “all you need is love” with a little heart (lol) but the tattoo artist didn’t do a very good job and the ink fell out almost immediately, so now it’s just a weird blur on my wrist. I was 16 when I got it, so I just found the first person who would tattoo me underage and, yeah, it didn’t work out so well haha.

What artists keep you from flipping the channel on the radio?

I really only listen to a station on Sirius radio called The Bridge — it’s all smooth classic rock from the 60s and 70s. Eagles, Linda Ronstadt, Jackson Browne, Joni Mitchell — all my favorites.

What’s the nicest thing anyone has ever done for you?

For me it’s just simple things like someone remembering that I said I wanted some really specific gift and they go out of their way to get it for me. I love when people pay attention and remember things. Or just like, when my partner does things around the house or loads stuff into my car without me even asking him to. I’m a simple girl!! Small, thoughtful gestures mean a lot to me.

What’s one piece of advice you’d go back in time to give to your 18-year-old self?

Don’t worry so much about what other people think about you, and no, you will never be able to “fix him.”

What’s the last show you went to?

Jason Isbell at The Greek Theatre in LA.

What movie can you not resist watching when it’s on TV?

You’ve Got Mail.

What’s one of your hidden talents?

I can sing the scatting breakdown part in “Freak On A Leash” by KoRn 100 perfect perfectly. There’s even a TikTok of me doing it if you need proof.

Natural Disaster is out 7/28 via Concord Records. Find more information here.

A misconception of blanco tequila is that it’s only for mixing and nothing else. Sure, a lot of it is only tolerable when it’s paired with bold cocktail add-ons, but that’s not always the case. Plenty of blanco tequila is downright sippable. Well-made blanco tequilas can have a variety of aromas and flavors. This includes the vegetal notes of cooked agave as well as cracked black pepper, citrus peels, green peppers, herbs, fruit, honey, and more.

The best part? You can find myriad blanco tequilas priced reasonably. In this case, I mean under $25. That’s not much of a price to pay for a decent mixing (and sometimes even sipping!) tequila. I selected eight bargain blanco tequilas (all under $25). I blindly tasted and ranked each to find which bottles are worth trying and which ones should remain on the shelf, collecting dust.

Today’s Lineup:

• Pueblo Viejo Blanco Tequila
• Lunazul Blanco Tequila
• Familia Camarena Silver Tequila
• Cimarron Blanco Tequila
• Bribón Blanco Tequila
• El Jimador Silver Tequila
• Sauza Silver Tequila
• Jose Cuervo Especial Silver Tequila

Part 1: Bargain Blanco Tequilas Blind Tasting

Taste 1

Tasting Notes:

Aromas of cracked black pepper, grass, and vegetal agave can be found on the nose. That is if you really try hard to find them. Overall, the nose is fairly muted. The palate is a little more exciting with notes of toffee, vanilla, cooked agave, an herbal flavor, and light spices. This is a surprisingly complex, bargain tequila.

Taste 2

Tasting Notes:

On the nose, I found a lot of herbal, grassy, agave aroma as well as some citrus peel and tropical fruit. The palate is gently spicy and sweet with roasted agave, vanilla, orange zest, and cracked black pepper. It’s surprisingly complex for a blanco tequila and one that you may even want to sip neat.

Taste 3

Tasting Notes:

The nose is lightly spicy, sweet, and floral. All in all, not overly exciting though. The palate has a little more flavor with vanilla bean, vegetal sweetness, and pepper making an appearance. It’s not harsh, but it’s kind of boring overall.

Taste 4

Tasting Notes:

The smell is fairly harsh right off the bat. It smells of rubbing alcohol. Then there’s a bit of fruity and herbal aroma, but really nothing else discernable. The palate has some vanilla, grass, and pepper, but overall tastes kind of generic and almost like someone was intending to make a bland tequila. It’s weirdly sweet as well.

Taste 5

Tasting Notes:

Orchard fruits, vanilla, agave, and herbal aromas make for an inviting nose. Drinking it reveals notes of ripe fruits, roasted agave, light pepper, butterscotch, and grassy, floral flavors. It’s dry, warming, and surprisingly smooth. It’s okay for a sipper but shines in cocktails.

Taste 6

Tasting Notes:

A nose of roasted agave, orchard fruits, and light spice greets you before your first sip. The palate is sweet, lightly spicy, and has hints of roasted agave, vanilla, toffee, green apple, and peppery spice. The finish is a nice mix of agave sweetness and spice.

Taste 7

Tasting Notes:

This is a very fruit tequila, especially on the nose. There are notable aromas of roasted agave, ripe pineapple, grass, and wildflowers. The palate is highlighted by more roasted agave, light vanilla, and a ton of herbal, earthy, lightly spiced flavors. It’s fruity, spicy, and highly mixable.

Taste 8

Tasting Notes:

The nose on this tequila is really floral. There’s also a bit of roasted agave and citrus on the nose. The palate is orange peels, vanilla, wildflowers, and roasted agave. Not a bad plate for a blanco tequila, still not one I’d prefer to drink neat often.

Part 2: The Rankings

8) Jose Cuervo Especial Silver Tequila (Taste 4)

ABV: 40%

Average Price: $20

The Tequila:

This is a mixto tequila. For those unaware, this means it’s not made from 100% Blue Weber agave. This blend of blanco tequilas comes from Jose Cuervo’s Destilería La Rojeña. It’s not known as a sipping tequila by any degree, but a decent inexpensive choice for mixing.

Bottom Line:

This is a really cheap tequila and it’s not intended to be enjoyed neat. That would be a big mistake to make. Mix it with a ton of flavors or leave it on the shelf.

7) Lunazul Blanco Tequila (Taste 3)

ABV: 40%

Average Price: $22

The Tequila:

This award-winning, 100% Blue Weber Agave-based tequila is surprisingly well-priced at under $25. Even though it’s a blanco tequila, it still carries a ton of aromas and flavors including roasted agave, citrus peels, and peppery spices.

Bottom Line:

For the price, Lunazul is a decent blanco tequila. It works well as a mixer, but I wouldn’t suggest sipping it. It’s a bit underwhelming.

6) Familia Camarena Silver Tequila (Taste 8)

ABV: 40%

Average Price: $25

The Tequila:

Another award-winning blanco tequila, Familia Camarena Tequila Silver is a 100% Blue Weber agave tequila. The agave comes from the Los Altos Highlands region in Jalisco, Mexico and the juice is distilled at Casa Camarena. It’s known for its mellow, mixable flavor profile.

Bottom Line:

As blanco tequilas go, this isn’t a bad one. It has a decent nose and palate. It’s all just a little muted for my liking.

5) Sauza Silver Tequila (Taste 7)

ABV: 40%

Average Price: $17

The Tequila:

Sauza is a big name in the bargain tequila world. Its silver tequila is surprisingly inexpensive for a well-made, sippable, mixable tequila. Double distilled in copper pot stills, this tequila is bursting with agave, fruits, and citrus.

Bottom Line:

If you’re looking for a more herbal, earthy blanco tequila, Sauza is the choice for you. It’s a great base for a margarita or other tequila-based drinks.

4) Bribón Blanco Tequila (Taste 1)

ABV: 40%

Average Price: $21

The Tequila:

Bribón means “rogue” in Spanish. This rogue mentality has helped this brand meld contemporary and traditional techniques in the crafting of its tequila. Agave is cooked for eighteen hours before being shredded and the juice is fermented before being double distilled in pot and column stills.

Bottom Line:

When it comes to emergency sipping blanco tequilas and decent mixers, you can do much worse than Bribón Blanco Tequila.

3) El Jimador Silver Tequila (Taste 5)

ABV: 40%

Average Price: $23

The Tequila:

This award-winning silver tequila is made with 100% Blue Weber agave. It’s hand-harvested before being distilled twice before resting for only forty days. It’s then bottled and ready for you to sip or mix with. The result is an agave and citrus-forward tequila you’ll want to keep in your liquor cabinet or home bar cart.

Bottom Line:

If you’re looking for a value blanco tequila that works well for both sipping neat and mixing into a paloma or margarita, this is a great choice for the price.

2) Pueblo Viejo Blanco Tequila (Taste 6)

ABV: 40%

Average Price: $20

The Tequila:

Produced at San Matias, one of the oldest distilleries in Mexico, Pablo Viejo Blanco is made from 100% Blue Weber agave. It’s known for its herbal, fruity, agave-forward flavor profile. It’s sweet, lightly spicy, and well-suited for mixing.

Bottom Line:

It’s difficult to find complex, balanced blanco tequilas. Especially under $25. This one definitely fits that bill well.

1) Cimarron Blanco Tequila (Taste 2)

ABV: 40%

Average Price: $25

The Tequila:

This unique blanco tequila is produced in Atotonilco, Jalisco, Mexico. Its agave grows on sprawling hillsides at more than 4,500 feet of elevation. It’s slowly roasted using low pressure to ensure a complex flavor profile. This agave and citrus-centric tequila is surprisingly well-suited for sipping as well as mixing.

Bottom Line:

While this blanco tequila isn’t bursting with a wide range of flavors, what aromas and flavors it does have work in perfect unison.

Part 3: Final Thoughts

It’s not easy to rank un-aged spirits. You’re sipping something neat that was typically built to be mixed with. But the higher-ranked` blanco tequilas were a little more complex and/or balanced than the others. Also, the winners leaned more mellow than harsh.

The Washington Wizards have been the most active team in the NBA this offseason, as their new front office has gone to work taking things apart in the team’s first real rebuilding effort in more than a decade.

While you can question how successful they’ve been (we’ll get to that momentarily), what has to be applauded is that they have finally picked a direction for this franchise. This is a team that has not won 50 games since the late 1970s and while they enjoyed some success early in the John Wall-Bradley Beal era, things had deteriorated recently to where they were the poster child for mediocrity in the NBA. What the future holds for Washington could very well be determined by lottery balls, but for now the Wizards at least seem to have a long-term plan in place. This offseason has been a wild ride, but they do come into the 2023 season with an interesting roster. It isn’t a full teardown to the studs in Washington, but more an aggressive remodel (that likely takes them towards the bottom of the East) with some mild swings on young players they hope just need a change of scenery to thrive.

Here, we’ll grade out the Wizards’ effort this summer in the Draft, free agency, and on the trade market.

Draft: B

The Wizards took one of the bigger swings of the lottery when they moved up a pick with the Pacers in order to take Bilal Coulibaly, who flew up draft boards as teams got a look at him while watching Victor Wembanyama. Coulibaly is a defender first, with a ton of length and athleticism on the wing. On a team with some strong offensive players, adding a strong defender makes sense even with it being a high risk-reward pick, as our Brad Rowland explained on Draft night giving Washington a B for the selection.

This is an aggressive move and choice from Washington. While this range of the draft is perceived as relatively flat, Coulibaly was seen as a fringe first-round pick only a few weeks and months ago before a meteoric rise. His athletic and physical tools are outstanding, and Coulibaly could be a tremendous defender as a result. The questions come more on offense, where he has operated in a very small overall role playing with Metropolitans 92.

Free Agency/Contract Extensions: B

The Wizards made most of their moves on the trade market, which we’ll get to momentarily, but they did make one major signing, bringing Kyle Kuzma back on a 4-year, $102 million deal. It was a great deal for Kuzma, who got a nine-figure deal in one of the flattest free agent markets we’ve seen in some time. I also think it was a perfectly solid deal for the Wizards, who can pair Kuzma with Jordan Poole and Tyus Jones for something approaching a functional young core — albeit, time will tell if they stick together. Kuzma has steadily grown into being a very solid starting wing and should they spin the tires the next few years and not take the strides forward Washington wants, that contract will be very movable in the final couple years. I don’t think this was some steal for the Wizards, but it was solid work both in the short- and long-term.

Trades: C-

It’s certainly been an active trade summer for the Wizards, and this grade is less a reflection on the work this new front office has done and more with the position the old regime put them in. Giving Bradley Beal the only true no-trade clause in the NBA was malpractice, as they weren’t bidding against anyone else when signing him to the supermax (a contract only they could offer him). By allowing him to dictate where he was traded, they cratered his trade value (which was already questionable on a deal that big as is) and the result was only being able to extract Chris Paul, Landry Shamet, six second round picks, and some first round pick swaps from the Suns — which includes the 2024 pick that I have to assume is worthless for the Wizards to have). Again, that’s the best this front office could do under the circumstances, but it’s far below the value Bradley Beal should have in a trade.

Then they traded Kristaps Porzingis to the Boston Celtics, ending up with Tyus Jones from the Grizzlies as the centerpiece of the deal. I actually liked this deal pretty well for all three teams involved, as Jones will give the Wizards a very solid point guard who has proven he can run a young team in his time with Memphis where he’s filled in admirably in Ja Morant’s various absences. They’ll get a chance to find out if Jones can be a high-quality starter in the NBA or if he’s better served as a very good sixth man, but that’s a worthwhile swing for a team trying to figure out what their core will be in the future. Not being able to get a single first round pick for Beal or Porzingis is rather jarring, but more a matter of circumstance than anything — and it’s clear they valued still putting a somewhat decent product on the floor, just one that’s considerably younger.

The final major trade was flipping Chris Paul into Jordan Poole, Ryan Rollins, a future second, and a protected first rounder in 2030 from the Warriors. While I’m not particularly high on Poole, I do think this is the exact kind of move the Wizards should be making. I’m not sure a player has needed a fresh start more than Poole, considering he literally got punched in the face by a teammate and then the team chose the guy that punched him in the face over him (which, to be clear, I also understand why the Warriors made that choice). Poole has shown considerable upside as a scorer, but did have a dreadful shooting year last season. His contract is very large, but in a starring role, placed between a solid point guard in Jones and a good wing in Kuzma, this is Poole’s best chance to prove he’s worth that. He has obviously wanted a larger role than he had with the Warriors, and now he should be motivated to prove Golden State wrong for moving him. It’s a high-upside swing on a young player, which is exactly what the Wizards should be doing with their money right now. If it doesn’t work out and he continues to struggle with efficiency, his deal isn’t so unwieldy it’ll block them from making moves down the road, but if he does pop, they’ll be accelerating their rebuild with him already in position.

Flipping Monte Morris into a future second was also definitely a trade that happened. Overall, the Wizards offseason has been very active and not every deal has looked particularly good, but given the circumstances the former regime put them in, I think this new front office has done a perfectly fine job. The hard part of the rebuild is still to come and they weren’t able to fully stock up on draft assets, but you can pretty easily explain why they made all the moves they did. Whether they work out in the way they want is an entirely different question.

There’s no doubt that pink is the official color of the summer of 2023. Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie,” starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, has people dressing up in the iconic doll’s favorite color to attend screenings across the country and sharing their fabulous snaps on social media.

Andrew Liptak, author of the new book “Cosplay: A History,” says it’s all about having fun and expressing yourself. “By dressing up,” Liptak told Yahoo Entertainment, “you’re able to bring that story to life a little bit.”

“It’s a form of play, and it’s a form of entertainment, and I think that… we sort of overlook the importance of play and to have fun and to relax and just enjoy ourselves,” Liptak continues. “And this is an outlet to do that.”

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Eleazar Rodríguez Hernández, a dad in Mexico, is making fans across the world after going viral for a hilarious picture of him dressed up to see “Barbie” in a pink leotard and tutu combo, complete with a cowboy hat and boots. The photos were taken at the Cinépolis cinema in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, México, on Friday, July 2023.

He says it was all because of his daughter.

“My daughter said, ‘Daddy take me to the premiere of ‘Barbie,’ but wear something pink or are you too embarrassed?” he wrote on Facebook. “I think the one who’s going to be embarrassed is her!” he joked.

In another photo of Hernández and his daughter, the two stand at the ticket counter, and he accompanied the post with a mock conversation.

“’What movie do you want to see?”

“The Super Mario Bros Movie, idiot!’

“Barbie” is a big hit at the Mexican box office. It pulled in $23 million in the first four days of its release, more than five times more than second-place “Oppenheimer.” Needless to say, “Barbenheimer” isn’t quite the phenomenon in Mexico as it is in the U.S.

Hernández wasn’t a bit ashamed to proudly wear his tutu into the movie that Alicia Gilstorf from Eulalie Magazine calls “a healing cinema experience that explores the psyche of not being enough while delivering an infectious performance that makes us feel like we could do anything.”

“Believe me, wearing pink clothes and a tutu does not make you any less of a man,” he wrote on Facebook.

Hernández’s posts have received a lot of love, if not for his fashion sense but for his bravery and commitment to his daughter.

“Respect to my buddy Eleazar Rodriguez Hernandez. You are exemplary, and the best of all is that you love your princess. You have all my respect and admiration,” Jorge E. Sanchez wrote in response to the post.

“What a beautiful memory. Your daughter will value it very much in the future. He is a dad worth millions,” Enit Fabiola Solis added.

But in the end, it was all about a father’s love for his daughter. “I made these posts without wanting to highlight myself. I just did what my daughter wanted,” Hernández said. “I would do anything for her. She was so happy.”

On Saturday night, while most people were out and about, Elon Musk was announcing yet another major change to Twitter: It would soon rebrand as something called “X.” Was it a decision he made impulsively? Maybe not, but the move has been anything but smooth. Musk failed to make certain basic preparations before the shift. That includes checking on whether or not it violated a major rule in a certain country.

As per The Daily Beast, on Tuesday Twitter (or whatever it’s called now) was suddenly banned in Indonesia. Why? Because it’s new domain, X.com, used to belong to a site devoted to adult content. The nation has very strict anti-porn laws, which meant that the 24 million citizens who use Twitter were suddenly locked out.

That probably won’t be permanent. The Indonesian government reportedly reached out to Elon Musk to clarify that X.com will be used for tweeting, not disseminating hardcore material. One reason for the law is that Indonesia has the largest Muslim population on the planet.

Twitter/X isn’t the only major online service to have run afoul of Indonesia’s strict laws. Last year authorities threatened Netflix, Facebook, Google, and Instagram if they didn’t detail what content appeared on their sites. Twitter was also part of the same round-up. Each site managed to comply by their rules.

In the meantime, it could be worse for those currently Twitter-less in the southeast Asian country. They could work at the social media service’s headquarters, where conference rooms have been cringingly renamed to reflect the name change, with such examples as “eXposure” and “s3xy.”

(Via The Daily Beast)

As training camps open around the NFL, we’ve seen a number of players working with teams to restructure their deals to open up more cap space to make signings and moves to upgrade the roster. While this usually involves converting salary into bonuses and other cap magic (because, as the Saints and others have made clear for years, the salary cap in the NFL is mostly a myth), on occasion a player will straight up take a pay cut for the betterment of the team.

On Wednesday, we learned Aaron Rodgers was doing just that, as he worked out a new deal with the New York Jets worth $75 million over the next two years, a serious drop off from the $110 million he was guaranteed on his old deal from the Packers, in order to maximize the Jets chances to add some more talent around him.

The deal shifts his base salary to just under $2 million this year with $35 million in bonus coming his way shortly, per Tom Pelissero.

One would think the Jets and Rodgers have someone specific in mind to sign if he’s taking a pay cut, and we’ll have to wait to see who they add to the roster during camp that makes this worth it for Rodgers. It’s quite the commitment to the Jets from their new quarterback, who seems to be putting his full faith in the New York front office to add the players around him to make this a contender.

Sunseekers, hello! After a little bit of a gap to attend, and subsequently recover from, the great summer vacation destination of the NBA world in NBA Summer League – and then, more refined, WNBA All-Star – we’re (I’m) back!

It’s been a busy few weeks since we last caught up here and got each other’s backs with sunscreen. Most notably, some of the league’s biggest stars finally went on vacation! A few to the chagrin of their waiting fan bases, and salivating hopeful future fanbases, because their names are tied up in trade rumors. However, as you know, we don’t give a good beach pergola to that kind of stuff here. So please, sit back, imagine you’re on a lazy river, and let’s dive in.

Damian Lillard

Dame Time said it’s Break Time and whisked his beautiful family away for some fun in the sun that included infinity pools, jet skis, golf carts, palatial green lawns in full view of the ocean, and zip lines. I can’t and don’t ever want to stop watching this video of Lillard slowly rolling (how is he going so slow, isn’t the point of those things to go fast? The sheer physical mastery of this man!) down a zipline in sunglasses like he’s casually dropping into the most impossible mission of all – having the time of his life.

Rating: Come for the slow zips, stay for the shadow boxing to get himself amped for the slow zips.

Jimmy Butler

https://www.instagram.com/jimmybutler/?hl=en

We love our coffee king turned communist king, don’t we folks! Jimmy Butler has been in China for what feels like weeks now, as part of his Li Ning partnership. There have been plenty of red flags whipping in the wind, meeting fans, good food, Jimmy dancing as a traditional dragon, and shoes getting thrown at Jimmy’s head. Jk, that only happened once and it just seemed like someone got too excited.

Rating: Zhù nǐ yǒu gè yúkuài de xiàtiān! I think.

Devin Booker

Booker continues his flair for rustic ass trips unbated. This time, he hopped in a dune buggy and trundled around some dirt trails, recording it all the while in a filter that made it look like he was in a Nirvana music video.

Rating: Smells like gasoline fumes and probably pine needles.

Paul George

Podcast P was vacationing in and around Perast, in Montenegro. There, he took a helicopter ride.

Then met a little cat at dinner.

Then, and most importantly, met up with Boban! If there was ever a photo that made you want to believe in a simplified concept of heaven, that is, where people are just waiting for you somewhere nice and smiling when you get there, this one is it.

Rating: Why is the bread box so big and the glasses so small? Who cares, it’s heaven!

Donovan Mitchell

Mitchell was taking part in the NBPA’s The Sanctuary program, but once school was out, he took to the Spanish countryside with real emocion.

He made stops in Barcelona, Madrid, got on stage with Arcángel, and has since bopped over to Milan.

Rating: This is really making the most out of a work trip, and we applaud him for it.

Ben Simmons

Nothing like a batch of “Ben Simmons is fishing” photos to let us know that while the natural world may be crumbling around us, the NBA universe is balanced.

Rating: “Catch n cook kind of day” feels like an ominous Bumble caption, but he’s put it over the ubiquitous Bumble photo to save everyone some time.

D’Angelo Russell

DLo and his cute fam went to Croatia, and a lot of Lakers fans got upset because he didn’t sign his deal yet. Like, DoN’T tHey HaVe DoCuSigN? Like, I’m sure they do but I hope they don’t. I hope they’ve never heard of it. I hope the concept of digitizing a contract and signing it with a generic signature that isn’t even your own doesn’t exist here and never does. But if they, and by extension D’Angelo Russell, finally do hear about it, this is the photo of him before he launches himself into space because you ruined his vacation.

Rating: Hope you’re happy.

Bam Adebayo

Birthdays themselves don’t typically make it into SVW, but when you live in Miami and your birthday happens on a boat, where you happily sway toward your birthday cupcake tower and spend a very picturesque hangover the next day, they do.

Rating: The puke emoji really is the icing on this cupcake tower.

Trae Young

Trae Young got married! Quavo performed! His public photos aren’t that wild so let’s move onto his teammates who were in attendance!

Rating: Trying to decide if a Knicks fan could still do the F Trae Young chant here, but sincerely, like, choking up?

Clint Capela

Clint Capela did go to the wedding but before that he also took a cruise around on a boat with Bogdan Bogdanovic. Then posed and caught up with friends and work colleagues at the wedding, like De’Aaron Fox.

And then he cut a fuuuuuucking rug (captured by Dejounte Murray).

Rating: Look at those goth boots! One unsung hero of summer vacation colliding with a summer wedding is just pulling out the wildest outfits that time, space and occasion would otherwise never allow.

Furkan Korkmaz

I don’t really know what to do with this sunglasses dump by Korkmaz other than to say POV: you reading NBA SVW.

Rating: So thanks, Furk, and merry Korkmaz!

Jeremy Sochan

Sochan took a trip to the Cayman Islands and unselfconsciously filmed himself walking into the ocean, which as far as filming yourself walking into the ocean goes, is probably 2nd or 3rd on the list.

Rating: For the full draft, and redraft, you’ll have to read this column every summer for the rest of your life.

Pascal Siakam

Frankly I think it’s pretty smart to just straight up extend your summer vacation when the franchise you belong to starts tossing your name around in trades, and your best friend and longest running teammate decides to leave the country and go play, basically, at the bottom of the same continent you’re on.

Rating: Ladies, we know a introspective full moon pic when we see one, don’t we!

Boban Marjanović

Other than making a cameo in Paul Geroge’s vacation and making me briefly consider the concept of heaven, Boban Marjanovic is having a pretty sweet summer unto himself. He went ziplining too, and while it’s unfortunately not a video I have to think he went a bit faster than Dame.

He piled on a jet ski for a Banana Boat Euro remix (yes, the guy driving is bleeding from the head).

And he, a fellow sun seeker, took in the sun.

Rating: And it’s not even August!

Reggie Bullock

Thank you Reggie.

Rating: I’m glad he didn’t extend this to “vacation”, because the lames need them to be shared.

Serge Ibaka

Serge is in Seoul! Not sure why but you know he was looking good and mysterious and probably figuring out how to up his skincare regime.

Rating: If that’s even possible????

Myles Turner

Big news: Myles Turner went to his first ComicCon! Turner, who is a self professed huge nerd, loves lego, Star Wars, and I think some to most of Marvel, so I’m not sure why he dressed up like a goth mime, but it looked like he had a wonderful time.

Rating: I know this character must have something to do with puzzles etc., and while I’ll spend way too long geolocating a specific stretch of turquoise waters to figure out where a guy is roving around on a borrowed yacht, I won’t look this one up.

Norman Powell

The boy’s trip we brought you last dispatch was still going strong, which is great because it gave Powell a chance to bust out all the matching vacation sets he packed.

Rating: Truly nothing worse than not having enough occasions on vacation to wear all your little vacation outfits on!

Jusuf Nurkic

Nurk alert! The big fella was chilling, most likely, on the Adriatic Sea, or else on the shores of a gorgeous Bosnian lake. Look at this sherbert set! Look at this tan! Look at that tiny car and picture him getting into it!

Rating: Tell me it’s Leo season without telling me it’s Leo season!

Terry Rozier

Scary Terry, whomst???

Rating: New NBA heaven is missing one angel.

Frank Ntilikina

May I please draw your attention to slides 2, 5, and 8. If the Tour de France could turn into whatever blissed out bucolic straight out of an Agnès Varda film scene this is, I would start to build bicycles.

Rating: Fun in the grind Positive energy only

Marco Belinelli

Yeah yeah, he’s not in the league anymore but is there anyone, anywhere, who doesn’t want to know what Marco Belinelli is getting up to in his summers? And can you imagine that person, how bummed out they would be if they found out it was THIS and nobody told them??

Rating: Just happy for them they have this column, and happy for this column that we have Marco Beinelli, shark boy.

Dwyane Wade

Admittedly I watched this one with a bit of a strained smile, like when you watch your parents doing an adventurous (for them) activity and you don’t want to betray your concern, because you don’t want them to accidentally catch you and go, “What, what?!” and them to take a tumble.

Rating: I know Dwyane Wade can’t see me.

Just as a rising tide lifts all boats, so too does a viral meme, delighting in the dichotomy of two antithetical blockbusters, boost the summer box office. She may be Barbie, he may be “just Ken Oppenheimer” but together, Greta Gerwig’s Barbie and Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer (both cinematic triumphs) have done something even Tom Cruise couldn’t: It’s made moviegoing an experience again.

Over the weekend, crowds flocked to theaters, dressed in all things pink, glittering and giddy to see Margot Robbie transform into a plastic doll on a feminist journey to sentience. But before (or after) that visit to Barbie Land, plenty of moviegoers dined on the profound, philosophical musings of Nolan’s historical biopic. Whether watching Cillian Murphy torture himself as the father of the atomic bomb was the amuse bouche to Barbie’s flat-footed walkabout in the real world, or a sobering shot of espresso to help better digest the sugary sweetness of witnessing Ryan Gosling play a horse-loving himbo, the outcome was the same. Barbie made Oppenheimer more fun, Oppenheimer made Barbie more interesting.

And because these two bombshells are inextricably intertwined, it’s only right that they be enjoyed together in a one-day viewing filled with stale popcorn, themed mimosas, and hastily bought merch to commemorate the occasion. This is D-Day for introverts, an event as significant as the moon landing for people with no hobbies and a love for cinema.

This is Barbenheimer. And these are the musings from one critic on the front lines of the action who took the double-feature phenomenon almost too seriously – prepping for it the way an endurance athlete might train for a triathlon. (Or, at the very least, the same way that guy who eats 60+ hot dogs at Coney Island every year does.) One day, our grandchildren will thank us for preserving this account of history.

Friday, July 21, 2023

7:42 p.m. – People who claim to “enjoy” their workouts are not to be trusted. But, I’ve suffered through and my reward is pizza followed by a gas station trip to purchase cigarettes with my best friend, J. I don’t smoke, something that becomes readily apparent when I misname American Spirit as “a pack of Arizona cigarettes.” To be fair, their packaging colors are desert-hued.

7:43 p.m. – J laughs at my blunder but applauds my choice. “At least they’re organic.”

9 p.m. – We watch a documentary about J. Robert Oppenheimer on Peacock. This guy had the cheekbones of a god. I see why Nolan was fascinated by him. Also, Joseph McCarthy – what a hater.

10:53 p.m. – Time to anxiously spiral over the world’s growing nuclear arsenal before tomorrow’s morning showing of Oppenheimer. I eventually doze off and sleep surprisingly well. The threat of a world-ending war just doesn’t hit like it used to.

Saturday, July 22, 2023

10:29 a.m. – J and I pick up our friend Y who has agreed to partake in this cinematic experiment. We’re wearing the Barbenheimer T-shirts I bought for us weeks ago. Each is slightly different but we’ve all got pink mushroom clouds and plastic children’s toys littering our fronts so we’ll be easily recognizable to the Mission Impossible crowd. If there is one.

10:43 a.m. – We’ve chugged our coffees in the car. I wanted to go full method and drink it hot, black, and with little sugar the way a rail-thin Jewish genius like Oppenheimer might, but I’m too soft. I cave and add oat milk.

10:46 a.m. — Inside you are two wolves, I think as I smoke a cigarette in the parking lot, holding a Barbie in one hand and a pocket lighter in the other. Y surprised us by bringing over the dolls last night. They’re technically Chelseas, but we don’t tell him that.

11 a.m. – We’re seated in a crowded theater … on a Saturday … at 11 a.m. Zack Snyder could never. We’ve met a few fellow Barbenheimer participants and make plans to see them at the 3:30 p.m. showing of Barbie. They spotted us in the lobby and sought us out. Our shirts are working.

11:04 a.m. – Nolan launches into things with the recitation of Prometheus stealing fire from the gods and giving it to mankind. So, you know, we’re rawdogging this thing.

11:30 a.m. – From here, the timeline gets a bit murky. I’m engrossed in the minutiae of academic life – the lectures, the failed lab experiments, the poisoned apples. I know the takeaway should be that Oppenheimer was a tortured genius who struggled to find his place amongst his peers early in his career. Instead, I come away with this observation:

Watching Cillian Murphy stare despondently into a camera for three hours is really the best advertisement for buccal fat removal. I don’t believe that man could’ve killed hundreds of thousands of people – or pulled off a pork pie fedora – with jowls.

11:43 a.m. – Y, J, and I have all commented on the number of thirst traps in this movie. Nolan told these boys they were going to wear tweed vests, flowy pants, and frameless spectacles like little scientific sluts and we must thank him for that.

11:51 a.m. – Y leans over to ask whether Albert Einstein really knew Oppenheimer. “I thought he was alive during Shakespeare’s time.”

12:15 p.m. – Internally, I’m begging Christopher Nolan to never attempt a sex scene again. Externally, I’m praising Florence Pugh, who looks terrific and saves those intimate scenes from being total embarrassments.

12:57 p.m. – Some time ago, the scientists in the film discovered they could split atoms. It reminds me of another life-changing epiphany I scrolled across on Twitter yesterday. Watermelon really is just summer pumpkin.

1:12 p.m. – Josh Hartnett renaissance, when?

1:14 p.m. – Emily Blunt has been a drunk baby-hater this entire film and I love that for her. Her interrogation scene is so good, it reminds me to start a petition later to send to Hollywood once the WGA and SAG win this strike: Let Emily Blunt Act In Movies Again.

1:39 p.m. – There’s so much to love about this film but above all, its use of sound is what sets it apart. The quiet before the bomb’s detonation reaches the bunker rattles your bones. The atoms fissuring feel like a rat’s claws scratching your brain. It’s terrible and lovely. I look up the film’s composer to thank him. Of course, his name is Ludwig.

1:45 p.m. – No tongue that rises against Alden Ehrenreich shall prosper, I whisper quietly to myself as Young Han Solo smirks while watching Robert Downey Jr. choke on his own haterade.

2:08 p.m. – The movie ends. We wait another five minutes for the senior citizens seated below us to file out while affirming each other’s opinion that yes, movies these days just don’t have enough real bombs in them. Take note studios.

2:16 p.m. – We walk over to a spot called Brunches for, well, brunch. It’s Barbie-themed so we ordered sparkling mimosas and milky pink shots with whipped cream before chowing down on eggs benedict and blueberry waffles. As the historical expert of the group – I watched that Peacock documentary, remember – I explain McCarthyism, the Red Scare, why Communism and Fascism aren’t the same thing, and, less confidently, the difference between atomic bombs and hydrogen bombs. So many teachers said I wouldn’t amount to much. Their silence now is deafening.

2:45 p.m. – As our waitress brings the check, J says, “I think I want to get into Hitler. What was this dude’s deal?” We make sure to tip well.

3:15 p.m. – We’ve put bomb talk away and are now toting our Barbies to the 3:30 showing of Greta Gerwig’s soon-to-be Oscar-winning masterpiece. The place is even more crowded. Moms are with daughters. Groups of Gays loiter in the lobby. Even some cis hetero white men are here! Barbie really is of the people, for the people.

3:42 p.m. – I’m delighted the Stanley Kubrick homage made it into the film. Smash those baby dolls girls!

3:50 p.m. — “All problems of feminism and equal rights have been solved” – Men, you do not have permission to laugh with the rest of us here.

4:10 p.m. – It’s kind of Cronenbergian how good Margot Robbie is at playing a perfect, lifeless doll. How dare she not have an Oscar.

4:30 p.m. – We’re an hour into the film and as of yet, no Barbies have scissored each other. I feel like Tyra Banks screaming at an America’s Next Top Model contestant. Greta, we were rooting for you!

4:32 p.m. — Ken doesn’t want to be with Barbie, he wants to BE Barbie – and isn’t that the most succinct summation of societal inequality we could glean from this movie? He’s now discovered patriarchy – and horses. This won’t end well.

4:41 p.m. — Depression Barbie, Anxiety Barbie, OCD Barbie – where’s the Barbie that has all three? That’s real representation.

4:45 p.m. – Sure, America Ferrara’s empowering monologue is Feminist Lite, but tell that to the movie theater that just erupted in cheers after she gave voice to the paradoxical existence that is womanhood.

4:53 p.m. – When brainwashed Physicist Barbie Emma Mackey enthusiastically accepts an offer to wear pants after being freed from a skimpy maid uniform, it felt like Betty Friedan’s “problem with no name” might have been solved.

4:58 p.m. – Mojo Dojo Casa Houses. Mini fridge meltdowns. Singin’ in the Rain-style dance-offs. It’s almost chauvinistic how good Ryan Gosling is in this movie. He did not have to Ken that hard.

5:05 p.m. – The entire theater is a blubbering mess as a montage of little girls and women plays on-screen so that Barbie can understand her choice to be human. I might have uttered Bob Odenkirk’s iconic line, “My little women …” out loud. “Achy but good,” is how I will now describe every Greta Gerwig film.

Final thoughts:

I learned more watching Oppenheimer but I thought more watching Barbie. I was the idea in one, I did the imagining in the other. But this experience was never meant to pit the two films against each other. In a weird way, watching both in one day added context and meaning to each movie. It was a slog, five hours of sitting in a thinly cushioned seat staring at bright lights, surrounded by darkness, the sniffling proof of housewives and mothers finally feeling seen, and one poor soul who gave up halfway through Nolan’s epic by stretching out across three chairs and taking an expensive nap. But, it was worth it.