Month: July 2024

The Splash Bros era with the Golden State Warriors is officially over. After days of speculation that Klay Thompson was preparing to leave the team in free agency, Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the future Hall of Fame inductee is on his way to the Dallas Mavericks on a 3-year deal worth $50 million. Woj also noted that Thompson is joining the Mavs via a sign-and-trade that also includes the Charlotte Hornets.

Multiple sources confirmed Wojnarowski’s reporting.

The catch is that, according to Chris Haynes, the Warriors and Mavs are still trying to work out the details of this deal, and that there is still some work that needs to be done on that front.

Thompson has spent his entire professional career as a member of the Warriors — the franchise took him with the 11th overall pick in the 2011 NBA Draft — and has been a gigantic part of the four teams that have gone on to win an NBA championship. Much was made of the fact that Thompson and Golden State’s front office could not agree to an extension for months leading up to the start of free agency, and in the weeks leading up to the start of the new league year, reports began to indicate that Thompson was more seriously considering a change in scenery, as the relationship between himself and the Warriors was no longer salvageable.

It was reported in the lead-up to free agency that the Warriors were preparing to lose Thompson, with the Mavericks joining both Los Angeles teams as potential suitors — the Lakers, in particular, were linked strongly to Thompson, as LeBron James was reportedly willing to take a pay cut if it helped bring him on board.

While injuries and Father Time have both began to catch up with Thompson, he is still a very good shooter who competes on the defensive end of the floor. Thompson averaged 17.9 points in 29.7 minutes per game while connecting on 38.7 percent of his threes and a league-best 92.7 percent of his attempts from the free throw line.

(Warning: Spoilers ahead for A Quiet Place: Day One.)

There are many different subsections of horror movies, and things that are scary to some might not be scary to others. Zombies might scare some, but might bore others. Evil robots? Definitely not for everyone, though they should be. Even Nic Cage is scary to certain people. But there is one universal truth when it comes to horror movies: the animal literally cannot die. They just can’t. So whatever dog sidekick or cat companion tagging along, they better survive, or else the internet will hear about it.

The scary part of A Quiet Place: Day One is, allegedly, the invasion of the sonically sensitive creatures, but the real fear is that the Lupita Nyong’o’s cute little cat will not make it to the end. It would take one ill-timed “meow” and the whole thing is ruined.

Luckily, Frodo the cat was in good hands, and he makes it through the invasion safely. Director Michael Sarnoski, who previously worked with a pig on Pig, so you know he knows his stuff, said that the cat was always intended to survive.

When asked if there was a chance Frodo would perish, Sarnoski told The Hollywood Reporter, “No. It always made sense that the cat is passed along and would carry on. If you’re gonna kill an animal, it’s got to be for a really meaningful reason. Otherwise, you’re just being cruel to the audience. He meant something to these characters, and I think it would have just been mean to kill him.”

Mean, yes, realistic? Also yes. It would not have been far-fetched for the kitty to abandon his human pals and fend for himself, but he stuck around. Things were made a little bit harder, though, when Sarnoski learned that Nyong’o is very scary of cats. “Lupita was terrified of cats. She wasn’t just ‘not a fan.’ She was really frightened,” the director explained. “And in one of our first meetings, she was sitting on the floor of my office and slowly crawled towards the cat getting a little closer, a little closer, until she finally touched it, and then eventually she was petting it and could pick it up. And now she has a pet cat of her own. It showed how brave she was and how willing she was to commit to this role.”

On the other hand, Frodo was also committed to his role and learned how to eat pizza on command. Where’s his Oscar nom?

(Via The Hollywood Reporter)

Last month, the racketeering trial against YSL and Young Thug was sent into disarray as Judge Ural Glanville had Thug’s attorney, Brian Steel, held in criminal contempt, sentencing him to a month of weekends in jail alongside his client. While that sentence was suspended while Steel appeals the decision, now the whole proceeding has reportedly been put on hold, as another judge must now review a recusal motion filed against Glanville by the defense.

The defense moved to have Judge Glanville recuse himself a couple of times in this case, but he’s refused on every occasion. On June 18, he denied the most recent motion, which stemmed from a secret meeting between the judge and a witness for the prosecution — the same meeting that prompted Steel’s supposed contempt of court when the defense attorney demanded the minutes from the meeting and refused to tell Glanville how he found out about it.

According to WSB-TV Atlanta, the case will now be on hold until another judge has made a decision on whether Glanville can continue to preside over the case, which has been underway for 100 days today.

Young Thug is accused of being the ringleader of a criminal organization, YSL (Young Slime Life), which has been credited with a wave of crimes across Atlanta, including armed robbery, drug trafficking, and attempted murder.

Beabadoobee opened on Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour in early 2023, which prompted her to write “Ever Seen,” her latest single from her forthcoming third studio album, This Is How Tomorrow Moves.

According to a press release, “Ever Seen” was “written on the road during her time on tour with Taylor Swift” and “originally intended to be a country song but grew into something more soaring and euphoric, with zig-zagging strings and pummeling percussion.”

Beababoodee can’t stop “dwelling” on the tiniest compliment that exploded into full-blown infatuation. “Spent some time waiting for your face,” she softly sings during the first run-through of the chorus. “Don’t want to risk just making all the same mistakes / The highest I think I’ve ever been / Said I had the prettiest eyes he’d ever seen.” In a clever, romantic twist, the bridge and outro flip the script: “And when I get too high, and I can’t breathe / I can’t lie, he has the prettiest eyes I’ve ever seen.”

In the accompanying video, directed by Jake Erland, was shot in Japan and finds Beababoodee wide-eyed at the natural beauty around her. The press release described the video’s intent as “blend[ing] the calm and the chaotic in a recurring dream sequence.”

“Ever Seen” follows “Take A Bite,” a mesmerizing, introspective tune about “finding comfort in chaos,” and “Coming Home,” a lilting acoustic ballad romanticizing the mundane.

This Is How Tomorrow Moves was produced by Rick Rubin, and Beabadoobee will embark on her subsequent This Is How Tomorrow Moves Tour on September 8.

Watch the “Ever Seen” video above.

This Is How Tomorrow Moves is out 8/16 via Dirty Hit. Find more information here.

Cass McCombs has been at it for a minute now, and as his first three projects — the EP Not The Way and the albums A and PREfection — are all around 20 years old, the trio is getting a fresh reissue. This is the first time the projects are in print since their original release in the early 2000s.

McCombs has celebrated the announcement by sharing a previously unheard demo of PREfection track “Sacred Heart,” complete with a new video. On top of that, he’s also going on a quick tour, the As Paint On Fur Tour, starting in September.

Listen to “Sacred Heart (Demo)” above. Find McCombs upcoming tour dates below, along with the tracklists for the vinyl reissues.

Cass McCombs 2024 Tour Dates: As Paint On Fur Tour

09/19 — Santa Cruz, CA @ Moe’s Alley *
09/20 — San Francisco, CA @ The Chapel *
09/21 — Los Angeles, CA @ Lodge Room *
09/25 — Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg ^
09/26 — Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda’s ^
09/27 — Baltimore, MD @ Ottobar ^

* with Papercuts
^ with Advance Base

Not The Way Tracklist

A1. “Not the Way”
A2. “So Damn Pure”
A3. “Opium Flower”
B1. “Your Mother and Father”
B2. “Nobody’s Nixon”
B3. “It’s Getting Colder”

A Tracklist

A1. “I Went to the Hospital”
A2. “Bobby, King of Boys Town”
A3. “What Isn’t Nature”
A4. “AIDS in Africa”
A5. “A Comedian is Someone Who Tells Jokes”
B1. “Gee, It’s Good to be Home”
B2. “Meet Me Here at Dawn”
B3. “When The Bible Was Wrote”
B4. “My Pilgrim Dear”
B5. “Bedding Down Post-Xmastime”
B6. “My Master”

PREfection Tracklist

A1. “Equinox”
A2. “Subtraction”
A3. “Multiple Suns”
A4. “Tourist Woman”
A5. “Sacred Heart”
B1. “She’s Still Suffering”
B2. “Cuckoo”
B3. “Bury Mary”
B4. “City of Brotherly Love”
B5. “All Your Dreams May Come True”

The Boston Celtics are less than a month removed from winning the 18th title in franchise history, and they have spent this summer locking in their core long-term. Derrick White is the latest extension recipient, with a $125.9 million deal that keeps him in Boston, and Jayson Tatum is soon-to-be due the richest contract in NBA history.

However, the owner that will be signing their paychecks likely won’t be the same by the time those extensions kick in, as Adrian Wojnarowski dropped a bombshell report on Monday that the team was being put up for sale by majority owner Wyc Grousbeck.

It’s safe to assume the Celtics, coming off of a championship and being one of the two most storied franchises in NBA history, will fetch a record amount in a sale. What is yet to be determined is who will emerge as a frontrunner for Grousbeck’s majority stake. As Adam Himmelsbach of the Boston Globe notes, this isn’t expected to be a full sale of the team by the entire investment group, but just the majority stake held by Grousbeck (and possibly more).

The Celtics made the news official shortly after the reports came out, noting Grousbeck is expected to stay on through 2028.

The new CBA rules make for some interesting decisions for a new majority owner (or group) coming in, as they’re going to be facing a hefty tax bill but clearly have a championship core. For a new owner, coming in and stripping that down would be a pretty terrible look, so whoever buys the team will need to be ready to invest heavily in hopes they’ll be lifting the Larry O’Brien again soon.

(Spoilers for House of the Dragon, both TV show and book, will be found below.)

In this week’s House of the Dragon episode, Daemon conquered Harrenhal without effort and then immediately descended into a haunted hell that included a young Rhaenyra cameo, which forced Daemon to actually feel some guilt over his actions. That’s rather unheard of when it comes to the rogue prince, but this might or might not have something to do with this mysterious woman who appeared to tell him, “You will die in this place.”

Who Is Alys Rivers?

This mysterious woman should figure prominently into the rest of the season as an alleged Strong bastard who later becomes the “witch queen” of Harrenhal. Her apparent magic includes being able to see into the future, and she might also be the source of Daemon’s hallucinations, some of which are happening against the backdrop of a weirwood tree. It’s no wonder that Alys has been considered a precursor to Melisandre of Game of Thrones.

*** BOOK SPOILERS COMING ***

Alys Rivers has quite a history in George R.R. Martin’s Fire and Blood. Not only does she screw with Daemon’s head, but when Aemond later claims Harrenhal with Vhagar, he also claims Alys and goes all-in on her prophecies, and the two do appear to become a genuine couple. The oddest aspect about their relationship, however, is that Aemond previously delighted in dragging Rhaenyra’s eldest children for obviously being Strong bastards — which (as noted above) might be a description that also fits Alys. Also, Aemond impregnates Alys with an apparent bastard, so the dude’s priorities clearly changed in times of war.

After the death of Aemond (and Daemon), Alys actually rules over Harrenhal’s wreckage as a witchy queen, and she attempted to claim that her son is an heir to the Iron Throne. In other words, we might be seeing much more Alys, spending on how the prequel spin off adapts her story. At least we can guess that Aemond should finally be happy, if only for a short while.

House of the Dragons airs on Sunday nights.

Even though America has come a long way in gender relations over the past few decades men are still far behind women when accepting domestic responsibilities.

A recent study from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ American Time Use Survey found that women aged 15 and over spend 5.7 hours daily on domestic tasks, whereas men spend 3.6 hours, a 37 percent difference. Women with a 35-hour week devote 4.9 hours daily to home chores and child care, compared to men’s 3.8 hours.

In a world where men still trail behind women when it comes to work on the homefront, a Texas UPS driver is going viral for a TikTok video where he urges men to reconsider how they think about domestic responsibilities.

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In a video with over 6 million views, J.R. Minton proudly says he doesn’t “help” his wife with jobs around the house. “I don’t help my wife cook. I don’t help her clean, do laundry, take care of the kids — none of that,” Minton, 32, began his clip.

Warning: Strong language.

@minton__jr

So, why does Minton refuse to help his wife?

“Because I do what I am supposed to do as a father and a husband. I cook. I clean. I do the laundry. I take care of the kids. I can’t help my wife do those things because they are my job, too,” he reveals.

He then urged men to change their perspectives on how they view their relationship to domestic responsibilities and their wives. “Change the way you speak, change the way you think, and grow the f*** up and be a man,” he added.

The video received raves from women in the comments. Sadly, many used the video to share that their husbands have fallen short of Minton’s level of understanding. “My husband sometimes doesn’t even flush the toilet,” Human Robot wrote. “I am sending this straight to my man he needs to see this,” JJsMom added.

“Yep! My husband and I recognize it’s BOTH our kids and BOTH our house, therefore BOTH our responsibility,” Sweetheart wrote.

Minton is an equal partner to his wife because he was raised much differently and wants to right the wrongs of his past. “Pretty much everything about my parenting style is in spite of what I saw when I was growing up,” he told Today.com

Minton knew that his philosophy on marriage was necessary when a woman at Target praised him for doing the “bare minimum.” “I was wearing the baby, and I had two kids in the cart, and this lady comes up to Brittany, and she’s like, ‘Oh my God. Is this your husband!? Look at him. You should take a picture of him,’” Minton said. “I get so much credit for doing nothing. How low is the bar?”

Minton responded to his viral video with a heartfelt follow-up to everyone who loved how he cared for his wife and family. “I’m truly humbled at how far my message has gone,” he said. “However, I’d like to take a second to say: I am not special. I am no ‘unicorn.’ I am normal.”

“Nothing about my parenting style or my commitment to my wife is unique. Although it may seem out of the ordinary, it is far from extraordinary,” he continued. “Every father and husband we know (that seems to come up short) is fully-capable — yet unwilling.” He added that there was one thing that separates dads who do their part and dads who don’t: “Effort.”

This article originally appeared on 10.16.23

Cheerleading is supposed to be a team activity. Most squads have anywhere from 10 to 20 cheerleaders and some have even more than that. But one squad in Nebraska had just four girls, and less than two weeks before the Nebraska State Cheer and Dance Championships, all but one cheerleader had quit.

Most kids would’ve followed suit so close to a big competition and without teammates, but Katrina Kohel, a senior at Morrill High School, decided she was still going to compete—even if it meant she would have to do it alone. Talk about being brave in the face of disappointment. This girl decided she was going to cheer in the competition and she did, without much care for what others thought.

The competition wasn’t just the next town over. It was five hours away, so Kohel and her coach, April Ott, really had to mull it over before committing to making that drive, according to Business Insider. In the end, the teen decided that she didn’t want to just sit in the crowd or stay home; she wanted to perform the routine she spent so much time learning. But the routine required the entire squad, so before they could make the trip, they had to figure out how to make it a one-person routine.

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“I’ve put a lot of time into cheer. It’s just always been a part of who I am, so I didn’t want to end on that note. I wanted to go out on a high one. For that to come true, I didn’t want to end it just by going to watch state. I wanted to compete.” Kohel told Business Insider. So the lone cheerleader and her coach got to work redoing the routine so it made sense with just one person cheering.

The pair told the Omaha World-Herald that they had to rework the whole performance in a week and a half. It was really a battle of sheer will since Kohel was determined to do her best on the mat without her team. Kohel admitted to the outlet that she was nervous, but no one would have known it.

“She was completely confident the whole week that we practiced,” Ott told Business Insider. “It was just 100% confidence, and she just owned it.”

This cheerleader was absolutely unstoppable and she had her family’s full support. Even Ott’s daughter, who was previously a cheerleader at the same high school, tagged along to cheer her on. Kohel’s grandparents stood in for her parents because her brother had a state wrestling tournament and her parents are the coaches. But don’t worry, they were able to see her cheer through Facebook Live.

Support didn’t only come from her family and coach, as other cheerleaders piled into her section and cheered for the brave solo cheerleader. Darin Boysen, executive director of the Nebraska Coaches Association, told the Omaha World-Herald that this was the first time a cheerleader competed alone.

But she didn’t just compete—she placed 8th out of 12 squads, which is the highest Morrill High School has placed in the last three years.

“It’s almost overwhelming, the amount of support I got from all of them,” Kohel explained to Business Insider. “The whole arena was cheering me on. It wasn’t just one little section—it was the whole arena.”

This article originally appeared on 3.2.23

LinkedIn is primarily a platform for working professionals to connect and find employment that aligns with their skills and values. With company layoffs continuing (even increasing in some industries) people have also used the website to courageously share their layoff experiences.

While the main intent behind this is, of course, finding a new job, there have also been some lovely displays of humanity that not only challenge the stigma of being laid off but show the power of a supportive community.

Take this heartwarming story, for example.

Patrick McCarthy, Communications Management & Marketing Leader, recently posted about a layoff that quickly went viral on the platform. Not for himself—for his father.

“This is Pete. He’s my dad,” his post began. “My dad lost his job yesterday. I would tag him here, but he doesn’t have a LinkedIn.”

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Pete, who has had a “starkly different professional journey” than his son, spent most of his life working in the service industry and absolutely loved interacting with customers. His empathy and knack for listening made him perfect for the role. Over his career, Pete had collected thousands of interactions from working at Walgreens, Fry’s, and (most recently) Winco, often being the reason folks came back.

And then, Pete was laid off. His job as a cashier, one that he loved and was good at, was gone.

“As anyone would be, he’s shocked. Overwhelmed. Scared. Emotional,” Patrick wrote.

Knowing his dad didn’t have the same network to easily find a new job, Patrick reached out on his behalf, wholeheartedly believing in the “magic” of the LinkedIn Community. He implored that anyone looking for a candidate with “a LOT of customer-facing, customer service, and service industry experience” send him a message so that he could put them in touch with Pete.

Patrick’s faith paid off—way more than he thought it would. In less than a week, the post was shared over 500 times, with over 600 comments from people wanting to help.

A manager at a nearby Sprouts grocery store said Pete sounded like a perfect match for a clerk position that could even pay his daily wage ahead of time. Another suggested he could be an excellent outdoor tour guide for REI. Someone else referred them to a weekly meetup group led by a career coach.

Even LinkedIn responded, writing, “Pete sounds like a top-tier employee! 💙 Keep us posted as he progresses on his journey, as well as any tips or insights either of you learn along the way—it may help those in a similar situation.”

Truly, Pete’s story already provides some helpful insight. While he might still be in the job-seeking phase, things certainly look more optimistic. And all it took (besides Pete being a lovely human being) was one simple, honest post. As Patrick told Upworthy, “Clearly something about his story connected with others. Humanity. Vulnerability. Empathy.”

The words “social media” and “job market” can elicit some pretty negative visceral responses. Of course, this viewpoint has some merit, but it’s refreshing to see the power of human connection break through the disheartening headlines. Here’s to Patrick and his father Pete, for reminding us that even when things seem bleak or uncertain, the world is full of people trying to help out one another.

This article originally appeared on 2.28.23