[This post contains spoilers for Stranger Things 4]
For the second season in a row, the Stranger Things season finale debuted over the long July 4th weekend. Good thing, too, because otherwise there may not have been enough time to get through the nearly The Godfather-length episode. But now that another season is in the books (and with season five not premiering until “mid-2024” at the earliest), it’s time to ask: what’s your unpopular opinion about Stranger Things 4?
For me, it’s that Will should have died. Or Hopper, or Jonathan, or anyone but Steve, Robin, and Dustin. The only popular characters to die in season four were Dr. Brenner and Eddie Munson (I’d include Jason but he was never popular). Co-creators the Duffer Brothers joked about George Lucas-ing a mistake from earlier in the season, but by killing and quickly resurrecting Max, they also pulled a Jon Snow. There are simply too many main characters on Stranger Things. I know Millie Bobby Brown agrees.
The ending was wayy too light-hearted for Eddie having died and Max being in an indefinite coma.
Where the heck did Jonathan’s photography interest go? I wish they’d given him a job at a photo shop or something, smoking in dark rooms & getting an acceptance letter to a photography program in California
There should have been some element of danger towards Mike, Will, Argyle and Jonathan while El was piggybacking. They had such a dull storyline this season.
The whole Steve Nancy Jonathan love triangle thing is absolutely unnecessary and boring.
The stuff in Russia went on way too long for me.
I thought Vickie was too alike to Robin to be a ship I’d actually ship. They’re like the same person.
The two day jump was really annoying. Why did the upside down not continue to pull into the real world until eleven and hopper made it there? It was bizarre to me. It was like the writers didn’t know how to bring everyone together so they just hit pause.
Mike’s monologue to save El was cheesy AF and I thought the whole final act could’ve been scripted better. Vecna literally calls El mediocre
Mike, Will, and Jonathon’s entire season arc was basically just “be Eleven’s Uber ride in the desert.” They accomplished a whole lot of nothing. And they didn’t even bother letting Will tell everyone he’s gay.
Argyle was the one redeeming quality of that story arc.
Did Dustin and Eddie really need to be present for the rock n roll diversion? Like couldn’t they have just set up a boom box and peaced out? And if they did, they went to a huge ammo/weapon store called war zone, did the group really not get anything for them? They had to make their own shield and spears? Common man
Over the years, Meghan McCain has repeatedly referred to herself as a “hardcore conservative,” but despite her well-documented love of guns and penchant for dipping into right-wing conspiracy theories, the former television personality has been a frequent critic of Donald Trump. While a lot of McCain’s animosity towards Trump can be directly traced to the former president repeatedly insulting McCain’s father, the late Senator John McCain, Meghan has always tried to present herself as one of the “sane” Republicans who didn’t give into the rabid populism of Trump that’s still gripping the party.
During a recent interview with Britian’s GB News, McCain took her anti-Trump stance even further by revealing that she’s genuinely mulling a run for office to help pull the GOP away from all things MAGA.
“Maybe in a few years,” McCain said. “It’s the first time in my entire life I’ve ever considered it. But this fever of MAGA has to break—one way or the other.”
According to McCain, Trump is stifling the party, but she also wouldn’t be surprised if he cinches the presidential nomination in 2024. And if he does, McCain feels he better win after everything he’s done to the party. Via Newsweek:
“President Trump has to get re-elected—God forbid—again, or he has to just leave the national stage. Because as we have seen in the last election and in the primaries right now, he can’t make candidates but he can break them,” she said. “And right now there’s still just a lot of people who are winning that are following in his footsteps and I would really love more ideological diversity in the party.”
As for what’s holding McCain back, the former View host conceded that America isn’t really feeling political dynasties right now, which is a surprisingly self-aware statement for her to make.
“There’s a real palette for it where people really don’t like it,” McCain said.
Steph Curry will hold his UNDERRATED tour for the fourth summer in a row. Launched in 2019, the mini-tournament style tour was developed by the Golden State Warriors’ icon to seek out and elevate high school recruits who are, like he was at that point in his career, not as highly-regarded in the world of basketball recruiting. The ultimate goal of the tour, while functioning as a competition, is to provide a platform to young athletes in hopes that they’ll make inroads into Division I schools
Stretching from late-July into the end of August, this summer’s tour will make stops in Atlanta, Las Vegas, Seattle, and Philadelphia in search of athletes from each city. For each regional stop, 75 girls and boys are selected to participate in the first round, while 30 from each group are invited to return after the second day. Things are eventually pared down to the top eight in each group from each region. From there, they’ll go on to compete in the UNDERRATED Championship Stop in San Francisco, in early 2023.
“From the beginning, the UNDERRATED Tour was created and designed to raise visibility for often-overlooked three-star high school players, like myself, and we continue to evolve the program each year,” Curry said in a release. “Right now, our team is empowered to advance our mission by shedding light on overlooked talents through continuing these regional games, and ultimately the championships.”
One of those talented yet overlooked athletes was Jacobi Sebock, who took part in last summer’s Tour and went on to compete in the UNDERRATED Championships. Sebock, who grew up in a suburb of Oklahoma City, was a sports nut as a kid but got a late start because of several health conditions including a first-degree heart block, asthma, and hypohidrotic ectodermal dysplasia (HED), a condition that can cause a person to be born without sweat glands.
Sebock and his parents figured out how to work with and around his HED symptoms so that he’d be able to follow his dream of being drafted into the NBA, and the UNDERRATED Tour gave him the window to make up for lost time. After the Championship stop, Sebock committed to Northern Oklahoma College and was named the conference MVP at the end of his high school career.
For someone who was famously dubbed a 3-star recruit, the program and competitive spirit of the UNDERRATED Tour obviously sits close to Curry’s heart. The day he showed up at the Bay Area Championships this past March saw him just as lit up as the young athletes vying for his insight and working to follow in his footsteps. Whether they’ll one day be on pro teams, competing for titles, or seeing how far basketball can take them in college as a conduit into their adult lives, the UNDERRATED Tour hopes to give young athletes the tools and support to get there.
Westside Gunn is certainly one of today’s more active artists in hip-hop. in just the last five years, he’s released 14 solo or joint projects and also joined his Griselda labelmates for their WWCD debut album in 2019. Westside’s solo catalog boasts highlights like 2020’s Pray For Paris and Who Made the Sunshine, the latter being his debut project with his ex-label Shady Records. After last year’s Hitler Wears Hermes 8: Sincerely, Adolf, Westside is looking to give his fans another memorable project with the upcoming release of Peace “Fly” God.
After teasing the project for some time, Westside finally shared some key details about Peace “Fly” God. He revealed in a tweet that the project will arrive on July 8. In that same post, he also unveiled its tracklist which flaunts a crisp 10 songs with production from Madlib, Don Carrera, Daringer, and Conductor Williams. Additionally, Peace “Fly” God will also feature appearances from Stove God Cooks and Estee Nack, but Westside did not reveal which song(s) they will be on.
You can read Westside’s announcement for Peace “Fly” God in the post above and see its tracklist below.
The number 23 is a legendary one in the NBA, with two of the all-time greats wearing it in Michael Jordan and LeBron James — the latter of whom did so because of MJ.
Unsurprisingly, when the folks at 2K were figuring out what to do for NBA 2K23, they wanted to embrace that legendary number and do something special for it. On Tuesday, they announced a special Michael Jordan Edition of the game and a Championship Edition (which will include a League Pass subscription) that will feature Jordan on the cover — along with the news that pre-orders will be available starting this Thursday, July 7.
No other way to do it for 2⃣3⃣
Introducing our #NBA2K23 Cover Athlete Michael Jordan
Along with Jordan being on the cover, 2K23 will be bringing back the Jordan Challenges from NBA 2K11, with the 10 original challenges of replicating legendary Jordan moments getting remastered for the new game, while five others will be added, per IGN. There’s also a trailer showing off what this next-gen version of Jordan looks like, as it’s the fourth time MJ has been on a 2K cover, but the first since 2K16.
Greatness is calling Answer the call in #NBA2K23 with our Cover Athlete Michael Jordan
We’ll find out later who is the cover athlete for the main edition of the game, but fans wanting the Jordan Edition will likely need to be ready to fork over $99.99, while the Championship Edition will cost even more considering the League Pass subscription that comes with it.
In the beginning of an extensive festival run this year Travis Scott performed at the Coney Art Walls in Coney Island this past weekend. Opening for Meek Mill, he took the stage, and in a near repeat of events from a 2017 show at New York’s Terminal 5, chaos ensued.
A video shared by TMZ shows fans climbing up a lighting truss as Scott was performing. One fan can even be seen wearing a Spider-Man costume. Avoiding a repeat of the infamous Astroworld disaster from last November, Scott stopped the show and ordered fans to get down from the truss, and also asked security not to push fans.
Scott was set to perform at Coachella this year but was removed from the line-up, presumably due to the Astroworld events. He was also set to perform at Day N Vegas Festival in Las Vegas this fall, but the festival has since been canceled due to technical issues. He is still set to perform at Primavera Sound Festivals in Brazil, Argentina, and Chile this November, about a year after Astroworld.
The Astroworld events resulted in nearly 5,000 claims of injuries. Scott is currently facing several lawsuits following Astroworld, including a wrongful death suit filed by a woman who suffered a miscarriage.
Irish whiskey has been one of the biggest success stories of the current whiskey and wider spirits boom. That means that there are more expressions than ever coming out of the Emerald Isle, which, in turn, means more great Irish whiskey on the shelves at your local liquor store.
To that end, I thought it was high time for a blind tasting of a mix of new and classic Irish whiskeys.
For this blind tasting, I’m pulling some very new bottles that just came out last month or at least this year and putting them up against bottles that came out last year or are just gold standards by now. I’ve also left out the big-hitting bottles. Putting seven bottles up against, say, a Teeling 30-year-old at $2,000 a bottle is unfair to the rest of the lineup, in my opinion. That said, I did leave the rage pretty wide — the prices below range from $30 to $300. That’s the core price range of bottles that you can actually get fairly easily at good liquor stores or whiskey bars without getting into the super cheap stuff on the bottom end or the $2,000+ bottles on the top end.
The nose is super lush with hints of kiwi skins next to the woody core of a pineapple, soft vanilla oils, stewed apples, and a little bit of holiday spice mix. The palate is creamy yet light with a sharp sense of cloves and allspice next to a tropical fruit salad with a touch of black pepper, more of that super soft vanilla, a smear of Nutella, and a twinge of sour sherry-soaked oak. The end simmers all that tropical fruit down with the spices to create a sweet, tart, spicy, vanilla-laden jammy feel with a line of spiced malts lurking underneath it all.
This was fantastic. Right out of the gate, this is the pour to beat.
Taste 2
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
Christmas treats come to mind on the nose with shelled nuts, dark brandy-soaked fruits, old leather, rum-raisin mince meat pies, and a twist of orange zest. The palate has a waxy dark cacao nib vibe that leads to marzipan with vanilla cookies and a hint of salt. The maltiness stays subdued as most and spicy Christmas cake full of nuts, candied fruits, and plenty of dark spice gets rummy and topped with a scoop of rich vanilla ice cream.
Again, this is delicious. I had to go back to taste one and try these first two side by side again. They’re both stellar.
Taste 3
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
Soft grain notes lead to a hint of apple candy dissolving into freshly fried apple fritters with a thin line of lemon pepper and wet lawn grass. The palate adds floral honey to the mix that pairs well with the apple and spice that leads to a savory hint of pear stewed in saffron with a bit of that wet grass mingling with grape skins. The end leans into a subtler fruit with a kiwi skin vibe next to more grape must, a hint of wet cinnamon stick, and a whisper of honey-soaked oak.
F*ck off! This is another killer. There’s no way that these first three aren’t the top three. They’re all delicious.
Taste 4
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
This opens with a mix of light apple candy with a honeyed sweetness next to a line of dry wood with some floral vibes and maybe a little straw. The palate largely delivers on those notes while adding a nice layer of spice — allspice, cinnamon, clove, some ginger — alongside a hint of vanilla cream and more of that dry straw. The end is short-ish while delivering more apple and honey alongside a warm/spiced maltiness.
This was pretty good. It was certainly in a different league than the first three, but perfectly nice.
Taste 5
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
This opens with a nice mix of old leather, dried almonds, dried apricot, and floral honey on the nose. The palate moves from that toward rich marzipan touched with orange oil, vanilla sauce, a light wet graininess, and a mix of ginger and lemon zest. The end builds on those sharper notes and lets the spiciness of the ginger peak before fading through more honey and apricot on a lush end.
Damn, this is pretty freakin’ good too. It’s not as refined as the first three but it’s pretty damn close. Maybe I just really like Irish whiskey.
Taste 6
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
It takes a minute to find the nose on this one but there is a hint of rum-raising, vanilla, and spiced malts in there. The palate has a slight mustiness to it with a thin line of vanilla tobacco that leads to a potting soil echo. The end is a bit warm on those malts and spice with a little bit of earthiness.
This was fine but felt like a mixing whiskey, not a sipping one.
Taste 7
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
There’s a sense of vanilla and toffee on the nose with a hint of dark chocolate powder, old leather, and maybe some fresh mint. The palate has a hint of plum next to holiday spices, a touch of almond paste, and a hint of floral honey. The end is creamy with a vanilla backbone next to caramel-covered almonds just hit with a flake of salt.
This, again, was nice. But, again, it felt like the perfect cocktail foundation to build a great drink on the back of.
Taste 8
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
Leathery notes meet Amarena cherries with a hint of apple pie and mince meat pies all mingling on the nose. The palate is full of nutty holiday cake with dark spices next to cherry bark, apple cores, soft cedar, and a hint of black pepper. The end comes around with a sweet spiciness akin to eggnog with a creamy sense of dark chocolate mixed with cherry tobacco and crushed almonds.
This was so distinct and tasty. We have another winner.
Teeling was the first distillery to reopen in Dublin after nearly a century of tough times for Irish whiskey. The craft distillery ages its juice in bourbon barrels before transferring that whiskey to Central American rum casks. Those barrels are then batched, proofed, and bottled in Teeling’s big, dark bottle.
Bottom Line:
This was so clearly a mixing whiskey from the nose to the finish that it’s hard to rank it amongst these pours. It’s fine but not even the best cocktail base whiskey on this list.
This is Jameson’s take on double barreling. The whiskey is first matured in old bourbon barrels. That juice is then transferred to another bourbon barrel that’s been doubly charred with a deep alligator skin char. Those barrels are batched and proofed all the way down to 80 proof.
Bottom Line:
This was squarely in the “that’s nice” column. That said, I was left thinking about the Manhattan I wanted to make with this and not going back in for another neat sip.
This new release from Bushmills celebrates the sixth and final season of Peaky Blinders. The juice in the bottle is a classic Irish whiskey blend of ex-bourbon casks (aged three to five years) bottled without chill-filtration, hence its higher proof.
Bottom Line:
This was good and really leaned into the classic vibe of apple/honey Irish whiskey, Bushmills specifically. Though, this did feel like a cocktail base more than a sipper, especially on this list of whiskeys.
Egan’s Conviction is a new ten-year release from the fan-favorite bottler. The whiskey in that black bottle is a blend of ten-year-old single malt and single grain whiskeys. Those barrels and vatted and re-filled into XO Cognac casks for a final rest before bottling without chill filtration.
Bottom Line:
This was pretty damn nice. I think this is where we squarely get into the “sippers” on this list. I can see enjoying this over a rock or two without hesitation. It’s not as complex as the next entries, but it’s good. And, sometimes, that’s enough.
This is a high-water mark of Irish whiskey distilling and blending. The whiskey is aged for 15 years in a combination of ex-bourbon, ex-sherry, and ex-Marsala casks. The spirit is then married and proofed down to a very approachable 92 proof.
Bottom Line:
I was shocked this wasn’t number one. But its sibling was, so I guess it all came out in the wash. Anyway, this was among the “well, this is great. Now, I how the hell do I rank this” part of the tasting.
All of that aside, this is a great bottle to have on your home bar cart. It’s spectacular.
The 38th Very Rare release from Midleton is a marrying of single pot still and grain whiskeys that spent 15 to 36 years aging in ex-bourbon barrels. The barrels were specifically chosen for their very light char. Those whiskeys were masterfully vatted and then proofed down with that iconic Cork County springwater to a very accessible 80 proof.
Bottom Line:
This was light and playful. Honestly, these top three all could have been number one depending on the day, time of year, and my mood. This is delicious but wasn’t quite as lush as the next two. But that’s me really reaching/splitting hairs trying to rank these.
This is the latest installment of The Redbreast Iberian Series, which aims to highlight barrels from Portugal and Spain in the Irish whiskey. The juice is finished in Pedro Ximenéz casks after spending years in both ex-bourbon and ex-Olorosso sherry casks.
Bottom Line:
This was just stellar. It was a little Christmas-y and it’s about 90 degrees in my apartment right now. Had it been a little lighter, this might have been in first place. But today, in the middle of summer, this Christmas-in-a-glass whiskey was delicious but just not what I wanted right now.
The latest release from Mitchell & Son’s beloved “Spot” line of whiskeys is a nine-year-old blend of ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks. The juice is finished in Port casks and Bordeaux wine casks for the final blend/maturation.
Bottom Line:
This was the first sip and nothing really beat it. It’s a luxurious sipping experience that I immediately wanted to take part in again.
Part 3: Final Thoughts
Zach Johnston
I’m still shocked that Red Spot landed at four. That’s one of my “go-to” Irish whiskeys that I rave about. I guess that’s the point of these blind taste tests — what you think you know can be turned on its head pretty easily.
In the end, the top four whiskeys on this list were all killers. I’d even say numbers five, six, and seven are worth your while for sipping and mixing. The only whiskey I didn’t care for was the Teeling Small Batch. It just felt out of place on this list (which is on me since I chose these bottles).
Still, if you’re looking for a great bottle of Irish whiskey, hit up those top four. You will not be disappointed.
The first act of the first Star Wars film follows two droids who hate each other but are stuck together. The even goofier Star Wars prequels include characters like Jar Jar Binks, a diner owner named Dexter Jettster, and the incredibly annoying lightsaber collector General Grievous. The Last Jedi is the most harrowing, darkest, and (most importantly) horniest entry in the Star Wars franchise, but it includes Porgs and Kylo Ren in high-waisted pants. Even in its darkest moments, Star Wars has always had a campy undercurrent that makes it unique amongst other sci-fi and other film franchises.
In the ultimate lightsaber battle in the Obi-Wan Kenobi finale, Obi-Wan Kenobi faces Darth Vader/Anakin Skywalker. Obi-Wan strikes Vader’s face and his iconic helmet breaks, revealing one-half of Anakin’s face. For the first time since Obi-Wan Kenobi left Anakin Skywalker for dead on Mustafar in Revenge of the Sith, Obi-Wan sees that Anakin truly is Darth Vader. The boy Obi-Wan trained for so many years and lost to the dark side is lying right there in front of him, desperate for revenge on his former master. Darth Vader continues to shout threats at Obi-Wan, but now, his helmet’s voice distortion feature (I don’t know what it’s called) is broken. His voice weaves between sounding like James Earl Jones and Hayden Christensen, from monster to boy.
For years, Obi-Wan, ignorant of the medical marvels Emperor Palpatine had at his disposal, assumed that Anakin was dead at his own hands. He spent a decade drowning in grief and guilt, feeling responsible and punishing himself for not only Anakin’s downfall, but the downfall of the Republic. Once Obi-Wan discovers Anakin’s new identity as Darth Vader in Obi-Wan Kenobi, he is in denial that they could possibly be the same person. Looking into Anakin’s eye and hearing Anakin’s real voice emotionally affects an already emotionally affected Obi-Wan. But moments later, Obi-Wan, as he did many years ago, abandons a helpless Anakin Skywalker by riding off in a ship, leaving his former padawan with a cold but confident, “Goodbye, Darth”. Obi-Wan’s snappy exit embodies the character, but not the moment. Almost is the theme of Disney+’s Obi-Wan Kenobi. This lightsaber battle was almost iconic. “Goodbye Darth” was almost funny. Obi-Wan Kenobi was almost a good show. But ultimately, the entire thing fell flat because it did not allow itself to be fun.
Despite its best moments including that lightsaber battle and Ewan McGregor’s facial hair, Obi-Wan Kenobi feels very fleeting. We got almost six hours of storytelling but learned nothing new about characters we already knew, and also learned absolutely nothing about new characters. Obi-Wan Kenobi was sad. Darth Vader was violent. Obi-wan was sad. Leia Organa was feisty. And Reva, the former padawan who was on a mission to avenge her peers Anakin Skywalker murdered has a narrative arc that’s shaped more like a twig and adds nothing to Obi-Wan’s journey.
The Obi-Wan Kenobi finale is peppered with attempts at quick references to Obi-Wan’s sly, slightly rude but ultimately very charming (and hot, sorry) attitude. None of the lighter, sillier moments work because Obi-Wan Kenobi, like the rest of the Disney+ shows, thinks Star Wars is not camp. Even “Hello there,” an Obi-Wan moment that one could argue is the reason why this series exists in the first place (that’s a blog for another day when I am way less tired), was crammed into the final episode out of desperation, a studio note in visual form.
Star Wars should be fun. Obi-Wan Kenobi should have been the most fun, with so much potential for a good, weird time in space. But the franchise has quickly become a soul-sucking bore. The last time Star Wars was fun, really, was when we as a society were first introduced to baby Grogu during the first season of The Mandalorian. Since the appalling Rise of Skywalker and the middling, Skywalker Saga-focused second season of The Mandalorian and The Mandalorian-focused first season of The Book of Boba Fett, the initially promising Disney+ Star Wars shows have all but eliminated the goofy soul from Star Wars by taking it too seriously.
While Joe Rogan‘s political views in recent years have been closely aligned with America’s right-wing, namely on topics like the COVID vaccine and transgender issues, the controversial podcaster wants it known that he’s not a fan of Donald Trump. Rogan stopped by Lex Fridman’s show where he revealed that he’s had numerous opportunities to have Trump as a guest, but he turned them all down.
“I’m not a Trump supporter in any way, shape or form,” Rogan said via Mediaite. “I’ve said no, every time. I don’t want to help him.”
It’s a surprising admission considering Rogan has a low opinion of President Joe Biden, who he constantly refers to as a “dead man” that’s not getting enough criticism from the media. “Biden, shakes hands with people that aren’t even there when he gets off stage,” Rogan quipped. “I think he’s seeing ghosts.”
But even though he thinks Trump will get a chance to run again in 2024, Rogan wants nothing to do with him, which Fridman had a hard time understanding given Rogan’s penchant for sitting down and talking to anyone. Fridman argued that, ultimately, Rogan will have Trump on his show at some point, but Rogan held strong.
“You’ve had a lot of people that I think you might, you may otherwise be skeptical,” Fridman said. “‘Would I have a good conversation?’ Which I think is your metric, you don’t care about politics … And I think you had like Kanye (West) on, for example and you had a great conversation with them.”
“Kanye doing well, or not doing well, doesn’t change the course of our country,” Rogan fired back.
A Drake impersonator who apparently had the real Drake’s approval was banned from Instagram, despite having the star’s co-sign for his activities. “Izzy Drake” recently gained attention for his resemblance to the Canadian rapper/singer and capitalized by making public appearances. He’s even gone as far as cutting Drake’s signature heart-shaped design into his hairline while Drake bore the look to promote his 2021 album Certified Lover Boy. Most recently, Izzy Drake gained more notoriety after challenging the real one to a boxing match with a $1 million prize.
It looks like the impersonator’s antics violated Instagram’s terms of service, which forbid impersonating public figures — apparently even if said impersonators have the originals’ blessings.
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Michael Jordan Edition
Championship Edition
Answer the call in 
