Month: August 2023

There aren’t many quarterbacks in the history of football who are better than Patrick Mahomes at completing passes from a bunch of different arm angles. The Kansas City Chiefs signal caller and reigning Super Bowl MVP is as good as it gets when he drops back and throws it normally, but the thing that makes Mahomes so special is his ability to throw the ball with power and accuracy when he’s not doing that, as his ability to put it right between the numbers while essentially throwing side-arm is rare.

Fast forward to the Chiefs’ training camp and it turns out Mahomes has a new club in his bag. Mahomes dropped back and looked in the direction of second-year receiver Skyy Moore, who caught a pass and turned upfield. The catch: Mahomes threw this thing behind-the-back, and managed to put it in a place where Moore could catch it in stride.

If this was anyone else, my guess would be they were just joking around during camp and they would never, ever try this in a game. This, however, is Patrick Mahomes, and as a result, my hunch is Andy Reid is going to put together an entire package of plays where he’s asked to throw the ball like this.

The DCEU is in a bit of a mess right now, what with that overhaul being done by new honchos James Gunn and Peter Safran that might not be as complete as previously reported. (For one thing, Gal Gadot may return as Wonder Woman after all. Unless she doesn’t.) One person who was already done with them before the makeover was Ben Affleck, who played Batman across seven films, yet never got a solo outing. He almost did, which was to be helmed by Affleck himself, and if one DCEU staffer is to be believed, that’s our loss.

“I can’t really say too much other than it was f*cking awesome,” DC Comics director and storyboard artist Jay Olivia recently told Inverse (as caught by Entertainment Weekly). “It was the best. It was amazing.”

After his Bruce Wayne debut in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Affleck was tasked to handle his own solo venture himself. It eventually fell apart, with the actor/filmmaker saying he “couldn’t crack it.” He did get as far as pounding out a script, which someone told him was “good,” but who added, “I also think you’ll drink yourself to death if you go through what you just went through again.”

So what was a Batman movie from the director of Argo supposed to be like? We may find out later, but for now you’ll have to subsist on the vague praise of Olivia:

“Ben’s story was gonna cover something that had never really been covered in comics but was building off of storylines in the Batman mythos over the last 80 years and approaching it from a new kind of perspective … I’ve worked on a lot of Batman things and what was really cool about it was, it was tying together a lot of really cool Batman storylines that had never been really explored.”

“It was very clever and there were a lot of things about it that I really loved that I wish that had come to fruition… It was a really great project in the beginning. Ben had to step away for personal reasons, and I totally understood, but the time that I spent with Ben working on the project was fantastic.”

Of course, a solo Batman movie did come out. It was called The Batman and it was completely unrelated to the main DCEU, much like Joker. As for Affleck, he’s doing pretty good for himself. Instead of doing a movie about a rich guy who dresses up like a bat and fights crime, he made a movie about some guys who made a shoe.

(Via Inverse and EW)

Today (August 5) marked a very special episode of CBS Saturday Morning, as the iconic weekend morning show celebrated 500 editions of their music segment, Saturday Sessions. In celebration of the milestone, women-led rock trio Boygenius performed three songs from their full-length debut album, The Record, which dropped earlier this year.

Boygenius — which is comprised of Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus, Julien Baker — performed on a large stage to a packed crowd, deviating from the show’s small, intimate stage format.

They opened the set with a performance of “$20,” and played “Not Strong Enough,” and “Cool About It.”

Also in today’s CBS Saturday Morning, the trio sat down for an interview, where they shared the story of how they formed. The three indie darlings were booked for a co-headling tour in 2018, and planned to record a song to promote the tour. However, their friendship and musical chemistry felt so natural that they ended up recording six songs, and releasing the debut Boygenius EP.

While they were buzzy as solo acts, Boygenius is even bigger as a collective of women.

“This whole process and friendship has just felt like a thing that was never contrived,” said Bridgers.

You can see the performances and interview above.

Last week Donald Trump again made history: He became the first American president to score three indictments. No other former commander-in-chief has any, so he has three on everyone. Is he proud of that? Sort of. On one hand, he’s reportedly freaking out in private, as the big guy probably doesn’t want to get thrown in the slammer. On the other, every time he gets indicted his polls go up. So win-win?

As per HuffPost, Trump attended a Republican dinner on Friday night, where he treated the crowd to his latest gripes and grievances. But not all was gloomy. Though infamous for his ketchup-throwing tantrums, Trump took a glass-half-full approach to his latest legal setback.

“Any time they file an indictment, we go way up in the polls,” Trump bragged. “We need one more indictment to close out this election. One more indictment, and this election is closed out. Nobody has even a chance.”

It’s true that Trump’s base loves him even more when he faces comeuppance for his actions, not less. He might be the most popular potential criminal in history — kind of like Robin Hood, except that instead of giving to the poor Trump grifts from them.

Surely the Founding Fathers never envisioned crooks amassing power because of their crimes, not despite them. Maybe it’s a winning strategy in today’s GOP. Indeed, a Ron DeSantis ally is joking (or not!) that what he needs to save his flailing candidacy is at least one federal indictment for breaking the law.

(Via HuffPost)

Ricky Rubio, the veteran guard for the Cleveland Cavaliers who was expected to suit up for the Spanish national team at the FIBA World Cup this summer, announced on Saturday that he’ll put his career on an indefinite pause. In a statement, Rubio asked for privacy as he steps away from the game, but announced that his hiatus will be in an effort to focus on his mental health.

“I have decided to stop my professional activity to take care of my mental health,” Rubio said. “I want to thank all the support I have received from the (Spanish national team) to understand my decision. Today #family makes more sense than ever. Thank you. I would ask that my privacy be respected so that I can face these moments and be able to give more information when the time is right.”

As Brian Windhorst of ESPN noted, Rubio left Spain’s training camp and was not part of the team’s game against Venezuela on Friday that served as a tune-up for the World Cup. Spain will begin its World Cup group play slate on August 26.

Rubio, who will turn 33 in October, is about to enter his 13th season as an NBA player, and has two seasons remaining on his contract with the Cavaliers. His 2022-23 campaign did not begin until January as he was recovering from an ACL injury he suffered the prior season. In all, Rubio appeared in 33 games with a pair of starts for Cleveland last season, and averaged 5.2 points, 3.5 assists, and 2.1 rebounds in 17.2 minutes a night.

Remember “Let’s go Brandon”? It was the right’s classy way of hurling an f-word at Joe Biden without actually saying it. One of them even did it over the phone to him, during a children’s Christmas broadcast. Eventually the Biden team was able to co-opt it, turning it into “Dark Brandon,” which was used any time the president did something badass, like helping the nations core low unemployment numbers. He’s even been selling “Dark Brandon” merch. His latest item is a “Dark Brandon” coffee mug, which drove Fox News crazy.

Late last week, the Biden team dropped a video of the president drinking from a mug bearing a “Dark Brandon” logo and the numbers “2024.” After taking a sip, he says, “I like my coffee dark.” Those mugs are now for sale on Biden’s campaign site.

That triggered multiple Fox News hosts.

“Dark Brandon is not funny!” declared Julie Banderas. “I mean, that’s actually a really dark joke at the expense of the American public. Like, I don’t think it’s funny. And Brandon is not a compliment. So, to— that’s all he’s got to go on? Take the worst insult that he’s adopted through his presidency and make something of it?”

On The Five, Jesse Watters sort of, not really championed the merchandise. “It’s funny because he is a dark guy,” Watters said. “He’s a nasty guy. He’s arresting his rival. And he’s been shaking down Chinese and Ukrainian executives for years and hiding it. He’s nasty to his family and to his grand-daughter. He’s a nasty guy. He calls people white supremacists.”

A lot of what Watters said was conspiracy theories or private family matters. He then went on to claim Barack Obama, who’s vowed to start helping Biden’s re-election campaign starting in the fall, hate each other. “He only chose Biden as VP because he was a white guy who had foreign policy chops and knew his way around Washington, to balance that ticket,” Watters claimed. He also said that Obama would “laugh at him behind his back.”

“Let’s go Brandon” emerged in late 2021, when Trump folk dreamed up a way to say “F*ck Joe Biden” without really saying it. The phrase eventually went out of favor. But it lives on as “Dark Brandon,” which must make all its original users hopping mad.

(Via Mediaite)

Last week, Donald Trump enjoyed his third indictment in only a handful of months. During his arraignment in D.C., he was told not to post threatening messages. He agreed not to. That promise didn’t last long. On Friday, he took to his rinky dink Twitter clone to make a not-so-vague threat — which his campaign team is now trying to spin as no big deal.

Trump’s post read, “IF YOU GO AFTER ME, I’M COMING AFTER YOU!” Now, the former president has many, many, many enemies. He has multiple lawsuits, some of which have advanced in the courts. But the Department of Justice was quick to propose a protective order, arguing that future posts of that nature “could have a harmful chilling effect on witnesses.”

Not long after the post, his campaign tried to defend the big guy’s reckless antics, as per Mediaite.

“The Truth post cited is the definition of political speech, and was in response to the RINO, China-loving, dishonest special interest groups and Super PACs, like the ones funded by the Koch brothers and the Club for No Growth,” the campaign wrote in a statement.

Was it, though? Trump has not been subtle about claiming there’s some massive, deep state plot allegedly driven by President Joe Biden to derail his third campaign. He’s even been telling crowds that they, not him, are the real target. A Truth Social post earlier this week offered all-caps promises of all the revenge he’d wreak upon re-assuming office.

“The Dems don’t want to run against me or they would not be doing this unprecedented weaponization of ‘Justice.’ BUT SOON, IN 2024, IT WILL BE OUR TURN. MAGA!” he railed.

Of course, if he keeps up like this, he’ll be running for president from prison a lot sooner than expected.

(Via Mediaite)

Taylor Swift has been keeping the surprises coming all summer long. As the “Anti-Hero” hitmaker has been on her Eras Tour since March, the Swifties have been showing up in detective mode, trying to decode all of Swift’s Easter Eggs and figure out all the tricks she has up her sleeve.

Over the course of the Eras Tour, Swift has included a unique “surprise song” Last week, in Santa Clara, a fan who was in attendance at Swift’s show in the era made a very specific promise.

In a TikTok video, the fan said “If Taylor plays ‘Right Where You Left Me,’ I will jump from a plane.”

The song, “Right Where You Left Me” comes from Swift’s 2021 album, Evermore, and not only did Swift perform the song, she brought Aaron Dessner.

It appears the Swiftie made good on her word, as her manifestation then cut to a performance of the song, then a clip of her skydiving.

Earlier this week, Swift announced that she is extending the Eras Tour with 15 new North American shows. It was also reported that Swift gifted her crew with a hefty bonus as the first leg of US shows is wrapping up.

You can see a clip of the skydiving Swiftie above.

Friday will go down as perhaps the most consequential day in the recent history of college athletics. Despite some apparent optimism that the Pac-12 would be able to remain in tact, two of conference’s biggest members, Oregon and Washington, jumped to the Big Ten. It immediately led to questions about what would happen next to the Conference of Champions, and several hours after that bombshell dropped, three more schools announced their intention to leave the Pac-12.

In a statement released on Friday evening, the Big 12 announced its latest round of conference expansion, which will see Arizona, Arizona State, and Utah make their way to the conference.

The Big 12 is in a state of upheaval, as Oklahoma and Texas will join the SEC in 2024 and BYU, UCF, Cincinnati, and Houston joined the conference last year. Back in July, it was announced that Colorado will leave the Pac-12 and join the conference in 2024, and rumors began popping up once it was clear that Oregon and Washington would bolt for the Big Ten that the conference had its eye on adding more institutions from the Pac-12.

As of this writing, four schools remain in the Pac-12: Cal, Oregon State, Stanford, and Washington State. Beyond Oregon and Washington, the Big Ten has previously announced that USC and UCLA will join the conference in 2024. In a statement released following the news involving the Arizona schools and Utah, the Pac-12 expressed that “we remain focused on securing the best possible future for each of our member universities.”

A lot of adults find it hard to make friends past a certain age, and science even confirms that forming friendship bonds as grownups is more challenging than when we were kids.

“Sociologists have kind of identified the ingredients that need to be in place for us to make friends organically, and they are continuous unplanned interaction and shared vulnerability,” University of Maryland psychologist Marisa Franco told Boston NPR station, WBUR, adding that environments with those elements are harder to come by as adults.

“Continuous unplanned interaction” and “shared vulnerability” may sound daunting, but maybe we’re just making it all too complicated.

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As a sweet interaction captured between preschoolers shows, making friends doesn’t have to be as hard as we make it. In fact, their conversation is pretty much a masterclass in friendship-making.

Check out this adorable budding friendship captured by mom Katy-Robin Garton and shared on her Instagram:

See on Instagram

While most adults probably wouldn’t feel comfortable asking a brand-new friend if they want to hold hands, the rest of the interaction contains some solid elements of building a relationship with someone.

First of all, research shows that walking together, especially in nature, makes conversation easier. And doesn’t have to be in the beautiful Montana scenery of this video—just being outdoors in general helps.

Secondly, listen to how the kiddos ask and respond to questions. The little girl asked if the boy took naps (a totally a legit question for grownups to ask one another, by the way). But then she shared a bit about her family, tied it to a question about him and his age, and then built on his answer by sharing a bit more about herself. That kind of give-and-take is how people start getting to know each other.

And then, of course, the sweet compliment! “I like your glasses.” So simple, but everyone loves a compliment. And the way she so graciously received it and with such self-assured confidence: “Me too.” Now they’ve established that they share some tastes in common.

Finally, the “Ah, dog poop!” which is just funny. (But also, she’s watching out for them both—friends gotta have one another’s backs, right?)

Naturally, people are loving it.

“My god, these littles are glorious. My faith in the future of humanity has been restored 🌱🙌🏾💫💕🎆,” wrote one commenter.

“They will literally have this same conversation when they’re 90. ‘You take naps anymore?’ ‘You know you’re older than my cousin, he’s 93…,’ ‘I’m 93 and a half…’😂😂😂” shared another.

“I can’t even. The next time I try to make a new friend I’ll lead with “do you wanna hold my hand?” ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️” wrote another.

Seriously, there’s a lot we can learn from observing little ones who learn and connect without all the baggage we grownups often bring to the table. When it comes to friendship, perhaps we should take a page out of these preschoolers’ book. They seem to have the basics pretty well figured out already.