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Magical things seem to happen whenever Eric Trump deigns to step foot on a commercial flight. Over the weekend, as Insider reports, Donald Trump’s third born spawn told Fox News a likely story about how he was on a plane when he — and the rest of the world — learned that his father had been indicted. What he says happened next is, well, dubious:
I was on a commercial flight when this whole indictment broke. People were coming up to me, giving me hugs. The support is unbelievable out there.
People understand that we’ve literally become a banana republic, that they’ve made a mockery out of our legal system in this country.
Oddly, this is not the first — or even second time — that Eric has claimed to have found solace in a plane full of total strangers. Last July, while appearing on Newsmax, he claimed that his fellow passengers on another commercial flight broke out into spontaneous applause and began excitedly shouting “USA!” when he boarded.
The following month, he told a strikingly similar story — again, to Newsmax — about how “everybody” who was traveling on a plane with him came over to express their support for him, his family, and especially his dad:
The energy on that flight! Everybody came up to me: ‘Sorry what these people are doing to your family. Your father has to go out there. You have our vote. You have our entire family’s vote. You’ve got our entire street’s vote.’
Given that Trump failed to secure even half the country’s vote in the 2020 election — an election he lost — makes these claims seem mathematically impossible. But we’ll let Eric have his moment.
The Tigers’ 102 points are the most-ever in an NCAA women’s title game, and the result was the first-ever national championship for LSU in men’s or women’s basketball. So, yeah, Reese (the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player, by the way) was rightfully feeling herself.
People are mad — and telling on themselves in their racist and sexist outrage.
The backstory: Clark hit the “you can’t see me” during Iowa’s 97-83 Elite Eight trouncing of Louisville. She put up a triple-double with 41 points, 10 rebounds, and 12 assists. Mostly everybody loved her confidence. But when Reese served Clark the “you can’t see me” as time was expiring in the national championship, Reese was ridiculed for being too cocky or whatever.
“Caitlin Clark is a hell of a player, for sure, but I don’t take disrespect lightly,” Reese said on ESPN afterward.
As for Clark and Reese, Clark wasn’t bothered by Reese’s excellent taunt, and Reese used the moment to speak on the purpose behind her unabashed authenticity.
All year, I was critiqued about who I was. I don’t fit in a box that y’all want me to be in. I’m too hood. I’m too ghetto. But when other people do it, y’all say nothing. So this was for the girls that look like me, that’s going to speak up on what they believe in. – Angel Reese pic.twitter.com/e8tinGBe6n
“All year, I was critiqued about who I was,” Reese said during her postgame presser. “I don’t fit the narrative. I don’t fit in the box that y’all want me to be in. I’m too hood. I’m too ghetto. Y’all told me that all year. But when other people do it, y’all don’t say nothing. So this was for the girls who look like me, that’s gonna speak up on what they believe in. It’s unapologetically you, and that’s who I did it for tonight.”
She continued, “It was bigger than me tonight. It was bigger than me. Twitter is gonna go on a rage every time, and I mean, I’m happy. I feel like I helped grow women’s basketball this year. I’m super happy and excited, so I’m looking forward to celebrating and then next season.”
The Golden State Warriors have spent more than a quarter of their season missing their starting small forward, as Andrew Wiggins has been away from the team due to an undisclosed personal matter.
While the team and Wiggins have kept whatever he and his family are dealing with private, it has unquestionably impacted the Warriors’ struggles in the second half of the season, as they’ve hovered near .500, narrowly holding a half-game lead for the sixth and final guaranteed playoff position in the West with three games left in the season. As we get set for the final week of the regular season, some good news emerged for the Warriors as Adrian Wojnarowski reports Wiggins is expected to return later this week.
ESPN Sources: Golden State Warriors All-Star forward Andrew Wiggins is nearing a return to the team and is expected to be back early this week. Wiggins has missed 21 games attending to a family matter. Huge boost for the defending champions and sixth seed in the West. pic.twitter.com/bQAw8ixINI
The Warriors host the Thunder on Tuesday night before closing their season in Sacramento (Friday) and Portland (Sunday). One would think Wiggins would need some kind of ramp up time after his months-long absence, meaning Friday’s tilt with the Kings feels like the likely return date for him given the information Woj provided.
That is huge news for Golden State which has simply not been able to be as effective on either end of the floor without Wiggins, particularly defensively where their lack of wing depth has been noticeable, especially on the road. A year ago, Wiggins was arguably their second-best player during the title run, and his presence is vital to their ability to be a legitimate contender in the West. Whether he can reach that level again remains to be seen given the rust he might have from a lengthy absence, but his return will be a welcome sight for the Warriors faithful as he will hopefully stabilize their defense and raise the team’s overall floor.
Keeping track of all the new albums coming out in a given month is a big job, but we’re up for it: Below is a comprehensive list of the major releases you can look forward to in April. If you’re not trying to potentially miss out on anything, it might be a good idea to keep reading.
Friday, April 7
Ben Gregory — episode (Transgressive)
Billie Marten — Drop Cherries (Fiction Records)
Blondshell — Blondshell (Partisan Records)
Brandee Younger — Brand New Life (Impulse)
Calvin Johnson — Gallows Wine (K Records)
Chris Cubeta — APOE (Grand Jury Music)
Crocodiles — Upside Down in Heaven (Lolipop Records)
Cub Sport — Jesus At the Gay Bar (Cub Sport Records)
Daniel Caesar — Never Enough (Republic Records)
Darlene Love — Live 1982 (Liberation Hall)
David Haerle — El Camino Sierra (Spirit House Records)
Daydream Nation — Leisure (DGC)
Daughter — Stereo Mind (Glassnote Records)
Devon Church — Strange Strangers (Felte Records)
Devon Gilfillian — Love You Anyway (Fantasy Records)
Ellie Goulding — Higher Than Heaven (Polydor Records)
Emma Tricca — Aspirin Sun (Bella Union)
FACS — Still Life in Decay (Trouble In Mind Records)
Fire-Toolz — I am upset because I see something that is not there. (Hausu Mountain)
The Golden Grass — Life Is Much Stranger (Heavy Psych Sounds)
“I don’t know if I’m going to pay for it,” he told Variety over the weekend. “I’m a little embarrassed by the blue check to be honest with you. Maybe it’s cooler not to have checks. It’s definitely not cool to pay for it. I’m gonna see what happens if I don’t pay for it. I’m gonna call his bluff, see if he really takes my check away.” Black added, “Then I’m going to hold a big press conference to bring attention to this weird injustice.”
Black still retains his blue checkmark as of Monday morning. Although it’s YouTube where he really shines:
Black’s Mario movie co-star, Chris Pratt, gave a less entertaining answer about whether he’d pay for Musk’s Twitter Blue subscription. “I don’t know,” he said. “I care deeply about all of [my followers]. I’ll do whatever I have to do to stay a part of their lives because I respect their attention and I love to use it as an opportunity to talk to them when I’m doing movies and stuff.”
Funny stuff. Now let’s go back to Black’s Bowser cosplay.
Logan Roy is back to his old tricks! And by “tricks”I mean he is back at it manipulating his children and by “back” I mean he…never really left.
In the latest episode of Succession, Roman is once again being emotionally tormented by his siblings and his father, who is seemingly trying to divide and conquer his children by exploiting their weaknesses, as so many loving parents do. We all know Roman’s weakness (third child syndrome) and after taking the bait and exchanging Happy Birthday texts with his father, Roman just wants his dad to love him, which is why Logan offers him a position at ATN.
Kendall and Shiv were rightfully suspicious of Roman and his soft spot for his father, though everyone watching had the same thought: get poor Roman away from this family and give him a single nice long hug! Even though Roman keeps falling into traps and gets pulled in every which way, he is still, deep down, a good guy (probably?) and he really doesn’t deserve all of the mind games he’s going through. On the other hand…maybe he does.
Still, we were all rooting for him! So everyone had a collective breakdown once Roman came crawling back to his father, despite the pact he had with his siblings.
logan telling roman he needs him at ATN cause he’s ruthless while knowing full well that the only reason roman’s even having that conversation with him is cause he’s the most emotionally vulnerable and conflict-averse of his children pic.twitter.com/rqINVKJG4G
— nab | succ spoilers (@romanroyfilms) April 3, 2023
Even though the ending was a bit of a letdown, we also should have seen this coming. It’s surprising he was able to bounce back at all after….the incident.
Roman was always going to be the one to regress & run back to his father. Logan once again manipulated the son he abused by dangling the love Roman’s always wanted from him.
Summer Walker hit a personal milestone at the beginning of this year. “I really reached my goal of hella kids before 30,” she wrote on her Instagram Story in January. “I’m so happy.” Walker welcomed twins, her second and third children after first welcoming a daughter, Bubbles, with her ex, London On Da Track, in 2021.
Now, it appears she’s ready to hit more professional milestones.
Walker announced her Clear 2: Soft Life EP will drop on May 19 while performing her set at Dreamville Festival on Sunday, April 2. (Her Clear EP arrived in January 2019.)
“Just wanted to let you guys know that I have an EP dropping May 19,” Walker told her audience. “Go to my website if you wanna pre-order it. It’s a lil somethin’, somethin’. Clear. Y’all ready for some new music?”
Walker finished her set by thanking J. Cole and Dreamville — “love all of you” for having her and performing “Insane” from her 2021 album, Still Over It.
Dreamville Festival was headlined by Usher on Saturday night, April 1, and co-headlined by Drake and J. Cole on Sunday. Away from the stage, Walker ruthlessly “ran it up at Dave & Buster’s, shocking Cole in the process:
With Shazam: Fury of the Gods in its rearview, the DC Universe is wasting no time in pumping up its next theatrical offering: Blue Beetle. On Monday, the studio dropped a surprisingly fun trailer for the superhero film starring Cobra Kai‘s Xolo Maridueña as the titular young hero.
Blue Beetle, which attracted Mariduena to the role thanks to its strong Latino representation, was originally set for HBO Max. However, unlike the shockingly cancelled Batgirl, the project went the opposite direction and was given room to expand for a theatrical release. Judging by the first trailer, Blue Beetle looks primed for the big screen. It has George Lopez flying a beetle-shaped spaceship and trash-talking Batman. What more do you need?
Here’s the official synopsis:
Recent college grad Jaime Reyes returns home full of aspirations for his future, only to find that home is not quite as he left it. As he searches to find his purpose in the world, fate intervenes when Jaime unexpectedly finds himself in possession of an ancient relic of alien biotechnology: the Scarab. When the Scarab suddenly chooses Jaime to be its symbiotic host, he is bestowed with an incredible suit of armor capable of extraordinary and unpredictable powers, forever changing his destiny as he becomes the Super Hero BLUE BEETLE.
Rounding out the rest of the cast is Adriana Barraza, Damían Alcázar, Elpidia Carrillo, Bruna Marquezine, Raoul Max Trujillo, Susan Sarandon, George Lopez, Belissa Escobedo, and Harvey Guillén.
Following the first year of his Ukraine war, Vladimir Putin became the subject of reports that he was hiding in a bunker out of fear for his life. The new habit grew so apparent that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called for proof of life, after which Putin has made consistent public appearances. Odd how that works, and as well, reports indicted that Putin had laid out a secret path of train tunnels that were built just prior to his Ukraine invasion, so he set himself up to move quickly between palaces without detection.
However, a pro-Nalvany group (so named for Alexei Nalvany, the opposition leader seemingly jailed until death by Putin) has now revealed footage (on their YouTube channel) of a compound that they’re referring to as the Russian president’s “secret winter residence.” As noted by the Daily Beast, this massive Sochi-based compound includes “its own missile defense system” and a luxurious set of “VIP cabins.” As well, the main house contains not only a spa and sauna but “a pantry for pickles.” This is strange, of course, not only because Putin is apparently stockpiling pickles but because cucumbers are not the veggie that he’s reportedly been so worried about.
You can the video discussion of Putin’s reported compound here, and additionally, Newsweek has passed on (unrelated) word from ex-Russian commander Igor Girkin, who identifies as a Russian nationalist but sees the writing on the wall: “I am not afraid to say that we are moving toward military defeat.”
You can see Girkin making these comments in a Twitter video from Ukraine Minister of Internal Affairs Anton Gerashchenko.
— Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) April 2, 2023
Putin had better keep hoarding those pickles because, if Girkin’s words come true anytime soon, the Russian president might not be the president for much longer.
Smith & Cross/Foursquare/Santa Teresa/El Dorado/istock/Uproxx
If you’re a fan of spirits, you’re likely well aware that rum is made by fermenting and distilling sugarcane juice or sugarcane molasses. And, while you can bottle it right away and it makes for a flavorful mixer, we prefer it aged, preferably in charred oak barrels. This is when rum picks up more nuanced flavors like brown sugar, vanilla, oak, and caramel. And while there’s no doubt the appeal of dark spirits like bourbon, rye, single malt Scotch whisky, and even tequila is massive during the late winter and early spring months. We implore you to give dark rum a try as well.
“Most think of bourbon as a go-to early spring spirit, but rum is such an underrated choice,” says Erica Dimmig, lead mixologist at Pendry Hotel in Chicago.
There are myriad well-made, long-aged, memorable dark rums on the market just waiting to be sipped near or on the rocks or mixed into a dark ‘n’ stormy or one of the countless other delicious rum-based cocktails. To find these warming, complex dark rums, we went to the professionals who bide their time behind the bar for help. We asked a handful of well-known bartenders to tell us the best, most crave-able dark rums to drink this spring. Keep scrolling to see all of their picks!
Dakabend Anejo Oaxacan Rum is an amazing pot still rum made in tiny batches and distilled in the Sierra Norte mountains of Mexico. This rum is funky and it will appeal to folks who love Smith & Cross and those sort of high fruit ester rums.
Tasting Notes:
Earthy with notes of dark brown sugar, campfire smoke, and overripe tropical fruit.
Bambú XO is a great Rum for wintertime, spicy and hot It will take you to the Caribbean on your first sip. Plus, it comes in a pretty cool bottle that you’ll want to hang on to after you’ve finished it.
Tasting Notes:
The baking spices, burnt sugar, sherry, and full body make Bambú XO a great sipper to keep you warm.
The dark rum that I have in my personal collection, and really enjoy sipping on, is Brugal Anejo. This product is not as known as the popular rum distilleries but competes at a high level.
Tasting Notes:
The nose test alone leaves you with strong notes of brown sugar and coffee bean. The flavor further accentuates the brown sugar but also includes buttery and warm spice notes. These flavors together create a very versatile dark rum that is delicious either by itself or as the base in some great cocktails.
Denizen Merchant’s Reserve 8 Year
Denizen
Hakon Bream, restaurant and bar manager for Hotel San Luis Obispo in San Luis Obispo, California
Denizen Merchant’s Reserve 8 Year. Denizen Merchant’s Reserve is a unique blend of aged pot still rums from Jamaica and Rhum Grand Arome from Martinique, creating a well-rounded rum perfect for cocktails or sipping.
Tasting Notes:
Big aromatics and funky undertones create a fun and playful rum with a long finish and big flavors.
Foursquare Shibboleth is a current favorite, and honestly, the best spirit you’ll ever sip neat. A fine Barbados single-blended rum, number 16 of the Exceptional Cask Series, aged 16 years in ex-bourbon casks, bottled at 112 proof.
Tasting Notes:
Full of harmonious complexities, it’s a fruit bomb, but with underlying notes of oak. The finish is long and pleasant, much spicier than the nose. Each sip reveals more layers and flavors, as you warm up to the high-proof of the rum. Since I’m a Miami native, I can only imagine that this is the drink to savor on a cold spring night by the fireplace.
Plantation Xaymaca is my go-to. This special dry rum is distilled in traditional pot stills before being aged in oak before being matured a second time in casks that formerly held cognac. The result is a highly flavorful, complex dark rum.
Tasting Notes:
It carries aromas of honey, cedar, mandarin orange, cooked pineapple, and brown sugar. The plush, slightly viscous palate echoes those flavors, layering on bright flickers of cedar and lemon peel, plus a hint of funk reminiscent of agricole rhum. It finishes with a warming clove tingle on the tip of the tongue.
I’ve always had my own special recipe for pina coladas, but unfortunately, they are more of a summer drink. However, if you’re a fan of pina coladas, I always found my homemade coquito to be the perfect early spring substitute. Aside from using Coco Lopez coconut cream, and some spices, my secret ingredient was always a little Ron Zacapa 23. It’s the best aged dark rum in my opinion.
Tasting Notes:
I love the nose of caramel, nuts, and butterscotch mixed with the flavors of dried fruit, oak, tobacco, coffee, vanilla, and a hint of cinnamon and ginger when you take a sip. Coquito is hands down the best cocktail to have at home for family gatherings during the early spring and oh my does it pack a punch.
Diplomatico Reserva Exclusiva Rum is hands down of the most delicious rums out there with a beautiful harmony between sweet and dry.
Tasting Notes:
Savoring toasted coconut and vanilla with dark fruit and caramel. Goes well with tropical flavors and makes a mean early spring hot buttered rum cocktail.
Foursquare Rum by Richard Seales. This rum is aged in various wine, port, and whiskey barrels, and is smooth all by itself. It is very hard to find but worth the hunt. I recently enjoyed a 2008 that was aged in bourbon barrels. It was exquisite.
Tasting Notes:
As far as flavors, it has the best of whiskey, rum, and cognac all rolled into one great experience.
Ed Hamilton’s 151 is everything. Great on its own, or in a stirred or shaken rum drink. Surprisingly palatable for being 75.5% ABV.
Tasting Notes:
Cooked banana, demerara sugar, molasses, and brown butter on the palate. Holds up nicely in a hot buttered rum cocktail or any other cocktail as you head towards spring.
Smith & Cross
Smith & Cross
Erica Dimmig, lead mixologist at Pendry Hotel in Chicago
Smith & Cross is an ode to old-school rum and is expressive of its terroir with tropical and vegetal notes. It’s beautiful in a classic daiquiri or delicious paired with Fever Tree Distillers Cola.
Tasting Notes:
A palate of bananas, caramel, butterscotch, molasses, and light spices makes this a truly memorable rum you’ll want to have on hand all spring long.
Flor De Caña 7 Year slow aged. This sustainably-produced dark rum is sweet, mellow, and very complex. It’s a great rum because it’s just as good as a mixer as it is as a neat sipper.
Tasting Notes:
It is full-bodied with aromas of toasted coconuts, vanilla, and gigs, with a palate of honey, dark chocolate with a long smooth finish. It is gluten-free and kosher.
Chairman’s Reserve Spiced Rum
Chairman’s Reserve
Linda Garcia, bartender at Tiki Chick in New York City
Chairman’s Reserve Spiced Rum from St. Lucia is great because it invokes so many warm spring flavors. The Chairman’s Original is steeped with “Bois Bandé,” a local Caribbean bark culturally known for its aphrodisiac qualities.
Tasting Notes:
It has notes of cinnamon, orange, clove, and nutmeg that just puts you in the spring spirit. Chairman’s Spiced can be used in so many types of hot drinks like cider, hot toddy, or just sipped neat. It’s also great for an early spring daiquiri.
Santa Teresa 1796
Santa Teresa
Richard Beltzer, head bartender at Monteverde in Chicago
El Dorado, a bartender’s secret, is an excellent option for easy and affordable rums. Specifically, El Dorado 15 might be my all-time favorite, under the $50 price point. Guyanese rum is king for me, and this one has a smooth and silky mouthfeel that matches up with its lightly roasted flavor profile.
Tasting Notes:
Touches of nuttiness, dry caramel, and dark chocolate play exceptionally well with the minerality of the limestone in the rivers they source their water from in Guyana. It’s my favorite sipper in front of the fireplace on a cold early spring night.
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