Month: March 2024

If you’re like many middle class Millennials then you’ve likely resigned yourself to never being able to retire. It’s a running joke amongst people entering middle-age that their retirement age is death. Meaning they’ve accepted that they’ll likely work until they die of old age because there’s no way they’ll be able to put away enough money in the next 20 plus years to be able to retire.

This isn’t even just a Millennial issue, it’s simply more wide spread for this particular generation as wages stagnate while the cost of existing continues to skyrocket. But we’ve seen adolescents open up GoFundMe pages for elderly workers at their local Walmart or McDonald’s who were well past the age of retirement trying to make ends meet.

Millennials have been told since they were in middle school that social security would likely not be around when they were old enough to retire. But how did it come to this and exactly how much do you need in order to retire?

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Vox conducted an interview with a couple of financial experts and people who would be considered middle class. The video opens up with Teresa Ghilarducci, a labor economist, that gives some staggering figures if you’re one of those Americans already feeling behind on retirement.

“If you want to maintain your living standards that you have now or you’ll have throughout your life, in the American system by the time you’re 30 you should have about one times your current salary. By the time you’re 40 you should have about two and a half or three times your salary. In your 60s you should have eight to ten times your annual salary,” Ghilarducci reveals to Vox.

Those numbers seem unrealistic, even to the expert interviewed when looking at today’s economy. She later explains why retirement is becoming an unachievable dream for many working Americans.

“The reason why a coal miner and a lawyer could expect to retire is because of the design of our pension system, which we don’t have anymore. Your employer would put money aside for your retirement and that money couldn’t be accessed by you. So the dollar that the employer put in on your behalf was put into a big pool of money and it was professionally invested and at the end of your working life, that money would be translated into a lifetime benefit.”

According to both of the financial experts interviewed, the laws changed about 40 years ago switching things over to more of the system we recognize today. The entire video is extremely eye opening. Check it out below.

In a parody of NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert series on Saturday Night Live, Ramy Youssef played Jonah Hughes, the lead vocalist of The Jonah Hughes Band. In this sketch, the band is playing their biggest gig to date, however, they can’t seem to catch a break.

Youssef’s character kicks things off with a ballad about an ex called “Crazy Girl (Amanda)”

“Met you and you seemed nice / But we were like fire and ice / Your body is good, but your mind is bad,” sings the character, before being interrupted by a grouchy NPR employee.

The employee, a 35-year-old intern named Elliott (Bowen Yang), asks the band to keep it down, as he is working on a podcast “About AI and rural queers” called Beep Boop I’m Gay

Once Elliott leaves the room, Jonah continues, this time, performing a song called “Crazy Amanda (And Stupid Too).”

“I met this girl and it was good for a week,” he sings, before being interrupted once again by Elliott. This time, Elliott can’t help but rain on the band’s parade, and tells them “that desk is not tiny. It never was. It just feels small because there’s so much crap on it. By the way, this could’ve been an email.”

You can watch the full sketch above.

In his second performance of the night, Travis Scott took to the Saturday Night Live stage, maintaining his rebellious energy for “Fein” from Utopia.

During “Fein,” Scott turned up the energy after a fairly laid-back performance of “My Eyes,” delivering stunning, trippy visual effects. Obscured by smoke, Scott created an ominous feel. Playboi Carti, who features on the song, made a surprise appearance, matching Scott’s theatrical energy as the two shook the room up.

As Scott is known for his expansive sets, he is seeking to improve his artistry and the visual components of his shows and videos.

In an interview with GQ, Scott revealed he wants to get into Harvard to study architecture.

“I’ve always been into structural design and structural engineering and, you know, trying to just build all different type of things, right?” he said. “When you start seeing how odd things can be shaped and then see how they can structurally work, it’s interesting. And I’m always trying to be like an ultimate problem solver. A lot of things intrigue me. Like, I’m doing rehearsals now and I’m always asking questions about even just structural and staging and how it can be built.”

You can see a clip of the performance of “Fein” above.

If you want to see the most hilarious race in the world, line up a group of crawling babies across from a parent and say “Ready, set, go!”

That’s exactly the scenario that played out at a Savannah Bananas baseball game, and the result was one for the record books.

If you’re unfamiliar with the Savannah Bananas, you’re in for a treat. Think Harlem Globetrotters, but with baseball instead of basketball and with even more silliness and shenanigans. The athletic skill is there, make no mistake, but the primary goal is to entertain. And goodness, do they win on that front every time.

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The players dress up. They dance. They sing. They play baseball. And in between all of that, they have whacky contests like this baby race.

Who knew a minute of babies crawling could be so riveting…and with such an unexpected outcome?

@thesavbananas

Is this the greatest comeback of all time?! 📸: @Austin Usher #savannahbananas #bananaball #funny #foryou #cute

“The race was the most unexpected highlight amongst all of the other wacky Banana highlights,” the man behind the camera, Austin Usher, told Upworthy, “We laughed from the moments the babies sat without moving until the very end. No one expected the come from behind win like that, it was the loudest crowd pop of the night for sure.”

People loved the surprise win that no one saw coming, especially from the babe who seemed to spend most of the race trying to help out a buddy.

“Me explaining to my wife that we lost the house because I bet on a baby race,” wrote one commenter.

“This baby race is a life lesson. Success will come to those who remain focused even if you are a late starter,” wrote another.

“The baby that won spent half the race encouraging his lil friend to run:)) gave up on him and still won,” offered another.

“That baby was so sure he wanted to help his friend out. He tried twice. TWICE!!! Very intentional child,” shared another.

The Savannah Bananas have as unlikely an origin story as that baby’s odds of winning the baby race. The team was founded in the fall of 2015 as an attempt at bringing baseball fans back to Historic Grayson Stadium after minor league baseball had left Savannah. At that time, they struggled to sell any tickets and the owners even had to sell their house to keep from going under.

After they named the team the Savannah Bananas in February of 2016, they made national news. But local folks weren’t sold on the silly name and told them they’d never sell a ticket.

Not only did they end up selling out their first game, but they’ve sold out every game since—over 200 of them. They have also grown in popularity immensely, boasting over 8 million followers on TIkTok alone. And with “kenergetic” at-bats like this one, it’s not hard to see why:

@thesavbananas

Baton Rouge, your Kenergy is 10/10 💛🙌 #savannahbananas #kenergy #imjustken #oscars #kenough #ryangosling #geauxtigers

Is it really baseball, though? Yes and no. It’s definitely baseball, but with a few twists. Here are the 11 rules of “Banana Ball” that set it apart from a traditional baseball game (besides the costumes and dancing and acrobatics).

See on Instagram

You can follow the Savannah Bananas on TikTok and Instagram.

Still riding the highs of his fourth studio album, Utopia, Travis Scott paid a visit to Saturday Night Live. While on stage, Scott delivered a chilling performance of “My Eyes.”

During “My Eyes,” Scott set the scene, laying supine on a stage platform, as a space-set background created the feeling of rising into space. As the beat switched, Scott rose up, bouncing to the beat.

Following a rockstar-level performance of “Fein,” this particular performance of “My Eyes” looked more minimalistic, however, maintained its theatrical feel. And given Scott’s affinity for cinematics, the performance felt like the smaller part of the grand saga that is Utopia.

In an interview with GQ, Scott revealed he originally conceptualized Utopia as a musical. He even consulted playwright Jeremy O. Harris for ideas on how to take it to the stage.

“I was trying to take Broadway—because the thing about Broadway theaters, they’re kind of small—I was trying to bring the idea of Broadway to bigger venues. Like, either, like, plays in stadiums or plays in arenas, but still make it feel like a Broadway bill.”
You can see a clip of the performance above.

https://twitter.com/GrindModeJoe20/status/1774291692457189620?s=20

You can see the performance of “My Eyes” above.

Jerrod Carmichael‘s new reality show, Jerrod Carmichael Reality Show has everyone tuning in. In the premiere episode, Carmichael detailed a fairly awkward encounter he had with a famous rapper.

Back in 2021, Carmichael sent Tyler The Creator a text confession his feelings for him. Tyler, however, seemed to receive the confession in a rather unserious manner. Evidently, Tyler responded to the text message calling Carmichael a “stupid b*tch” and laughing.

But Carmichael continued to shoot his shot. He revealed that he later asked Tyler to accompany him to the Emmy Awards, however, Tyler shut him down.

At the end of the episode, Carmichael and Tyler sat down to talk about the encounters. Tyler told Carmichael that hearing him express his feelings was “a lot to download.” At the time, he wasn’t sure how to respond, and even know, he admits he still doesn’t.

“Getting news like that and then avoiding it is a way to avoid change,” Tyler said. “I didn’t think brushing that off and continuing regularly would be such a dent. I don’t know.”

Tyler did, however, say he holds Carmichael in high regard, despite not having romantic feelings for him.

“That’s like a brother,” he said. “That man’s like family.”

You can see a clip from the show above.

NASCAR has a long and storied history of driver’s getting extremely mad at each other because of wrecks, but those typically manifest themselves in heated arguments on pit road and the occasional fist fight.

However, every once in awhile, a driver will break new ground in terms of expressing his anger at the track and provide us with something truly incredible. On Saturday afternoon in Richmond, Joey Gase did just that when he got wrecked by Dawson Cram and decided to make his displeasure with the 4 car known in truly incredible fashion. Gase’s back bumper cover was torn up, so he decided to rip it off completely and then waited for Cram to circle back around to where he was under caution, launching the bumper into Cram’s windshield with an incredibly accurate throw.

The best part of this is Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano breaking it all down on the broadcast and complimenting his throwing technique, but questioning the decision-making of taking his driving glove’s off when he was ripping off the bumper, joking that’s an OSHAA violation. They also note that NASCAR will take bigger issue with him walking down the track towards traffic to fire the bumper at a moving car, but couldn’t help but appreciate how he found a new way to express his anger with a wreck.

The Iron Claw fans the time has come. Professional wrestling’s biggest night, Wrestlemania 2024 is just days away. As if Dwayne Johnson’s (better known to WWE supporters as The Rock) return wasn’t enough to drawn in viewers the event’s latest teaser aims to hone in on rap music lovers.

With the colossal showdown set to take place at Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field, the network had to tap Meek Mill as its official hometown ambassador. On X (formerly Twitter), famed wrestler turned company man (WWE’s Chief Content Officer) Triple H shared the latest promotional video starring the “Shaq & Kobe” rapper.

“A story of neon dreams… or faded nightmares,” he wrote. “You ready for this, Meek Mill? #WrestleMania.”

The clip soundtracked by Meek’s cult classic track “Dreams & Nightmares” (and debately the unofficial rap anthem of the city) further builds out the anticipation for the night’s biggest matchup. As the video closes Roman Reigns, The Rock, Cody Rhodes, and Seth Rollins come head-to-head. This is exactly what subscribers have been waiting for.

WrestleMania XL (40) will take place on April 6 and 7. The multi-day event will be broadcasted live via pay-per-via-view. WrestleMania can also be streamed on Peacock. Find more information here.

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

Several months remain for Hip-Hop 50, the culture’s half-century anniversary. Although the event programming might’ve slowed, the musical tributes continue to roll in. For the icon DJ Premier, that means a reunion strictly for the veteran hip-hop heads.

On his latest song, “Can U Dig That,” on his independent label (To The Top), the heavyweight tapped none other than Snoop Dogg. For the callback of their previously vaulted demo, the pair used the updated mellowed production to show off their California love.

No record would be complete without Premier’s signature scratching technique. Still, it is the sample usage of Average White Band’s 1976 song “Overture” that truly fosters the calm, cool, and collected groove. It has been over two decades since the duo’s last collaboration, but you couldn’t tell by their creative chemistry.

“Taught y’all the recipe / That West Coast mentality / Tupac and Ice Cube / Short Dog and 40 water (Yeah)
Ice-T and Eazy-E / Quik put you on a B, I put you on a C / DPG, away with gunplay and let the beef cease / Peace to the gods /And all the G’s on the yard / Born raised to squab / Hustle hard and ball, it pays to be hard,” raps Snoop.

Listen to DJ Premier’s new song “Can U Dig That” with Snoop Dogg above.

Today, half of the Internet learned that Jeep vehicles have hidden ‘Easter eggs’ on them. Apparently, the other half already knew but didn’t bother to tell us.

As Joel Feder of Motor Authority explains, Jeep vehicles have had these little surprises since the 90s. Michael Santoro, hired as a designer in 1989, decided to slip an Easter egg into the Wrangler TJ. Since then, pretty much every vehicle has included at least one Easter Egg. According to Mopar Insiders, the Easter eggs can be found on each of the brand’s cars.

Not everyone was aware of this fact, though, as a TikTok by jackiefoster40 recently revealed. The user discovered a spider hidden in his fuel tank and decided to share the Easter egg in a video.

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“So I bought my first car, and a fun fact about Jeeps is that they have a hidden animal which is called an Easter egg,” the user said. “I couldn’t find my Easter egg for the longest time, and one day I was pumping my gas, and I saw this spider coming at me, and I thought ‘oh my god’, and then I realized it was my Easter egg.”

@nkyrealestate 🕷JEEP WAS REALING TRYING TO GET ME.🕷🤦🏼😂 #fyp #jeepsoftiktok #spider ♬ original sound – Jackie

Now, TikTok users have been looking a little closer at their jeeps to discover the Easter eggs hidden in their cars. Most of them posted jackiefoster40’s original narration over their videos to explain what was going on.

This user found a cute little lizard.

@katepetersonn Bruh wut #fyp ♬ original sound – Jackie

This user found multiple Easter eggs, including Bigfoot and a miniature grill in the headlights.

@jazzy._.boo i never realized these were easter eggs😳 #fyp #jeeprenegade ♬ original sound – Jackie

Others found jeeps on their jeeps among other Easter eggs.

@katie.deren Shook #jeep #renagade #finalsathome #fyp ♬ original sound – Jackie

This user found a dinosaur skull on their floor.

@ellkayhey Wait for it… sorry it’s dirty😬 #YoplaitCupRelay #celebratenurses #cartooncharacter #finalsathome ♬ original sound – Jackie

Some people have even found a tiny pair of flip flops on their cars.

@micaelaaaraeee welcome home to the love of my life 💕🥺👉👈 #2020 #jeepwrangler #jeepwranglerjl #wrangler #jeep #jl #jeepeasteregg #orange #car #fyp ♬ original sound – Jackie

Everyone is having a lot of fun trying to find their Easter egg.

@kennedankk

We searched the trackhawk for 30 minutes before I found it in the headlight

♬ original sound – Jackie

So. Many. Animals.

TikTok – Make Your Day

TikTok – trends start here. On a device or on the web, viewers can watch and discover millions of personalized short videos. Download the app to get started.

@sydneytirrel brooo what!!! I thought this was fake lol…I have a fricken lizard on my car!!! I need names for it😤😉 #fyp #foryoupage #makemefamous ♬ original sound – Jackie

If you can’t find the Easter eggs in your vehicles, then NowCar.com put together a handy guide that seems to cover most of them.

Hopefully everyone can have some fun searching their cars for hidden animals and objects.

This article first appeared on 5.14.20