Category: News

National Geographic’s Explorer series returned on May 30th with the latest installment, Explorer: The Deepest Cave premiering exclusively on National Geographic. The Deepest Cave follows renowned caver Bill Stone, which we’d like to point out is probably the best name a professional caver could ever possibly have, on a three-month adventure into the depths of Cheve Cave in Mexico in search of a passage beyond the depth of 7,208 feet in an effort to prove his theory that Cheve is the world’s deepest cave.

Judging from the title, we’re going to go ahead and guess he found that deeper passage. Throughout The Deepest Cave, Stone along with a team of explorers, shimmy and shake their way through 12 miles of tight and twisting passages in a journey that is essentially a reverse Everest into the dark and untouched depths of the Earth.

In this exclusive clip, caver Sean Lewis and director Pablo Durana squeeze through narrow passages in an anxiety-inducing search for a path that will take them even deeper into the cave, and from the looks of it, offer some space to stretch their limbs. Seriously, I don’t know how these cavers cope with the claustrophobia they’re faced with, I don’t even like to be in a crowded elevator! It all seems worth it when Lewis finally slips into a large chamber with beautiful stalagmites and the best reverb you’ve ever heard in your life. As tense and satisfying as watching this journey is, we’re left wondering things like what do cavers do when they get hungry? Are they packing sandwiches? Can you cook in a cave? I guess we’re going to have to watch the series to find out.

Check out the clip above and be sure to catch Explorer: The Deepest Cave on May 20th exclusively on National Geographic before hitting Disney+ on June 3rd.

The Boston Celtics are in the 2022 NBA Finals thanks in large part to the performances of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, who have become All-Stars in Boston after being drafted in back-to-back years in 2016 and 2017 with the third overall pick.

Those draft picks came to Boston courtesy of the Nets in what is now an infamous deal that saw Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce go to Brooklyn for a trove of unprotected first round picks and swaps that became one of the all-time most lopsided deals in recent NBA history. The Nets never made it beyond the second round after that trade, as their gamble to load up on aging veterans like Garnett, Pierce, Deron Williams, and Joe Johnson failed to produce anything close to a championship roster.

Once Garnett and Pierce left town, the Nets went back to the basement of the East and saw their 2016, 2017, and 2018 first round picks all end up in Boston, while the Celtics racked up trips to the playoffs and now the NBA Finals. Overseeing the front office for that 2013 trade was GM Billy King, with Bobby Marks, now at ESPN, serving as his assistant GM. With Boston in the Finals, Malika Andrews and the NBA Today crew decided to call in Marks and make him relive and explain what went down on that fateful draft night in 2013 when they shipped out all those picks.

Marks is fairly used to the jokes about that trade at this point, and maybe the most remarkable thing about the segment is that he notes those picks were going somewhere that summer, because the Nets were that itchy to build on a 49-win season and try to crack into the contender realm of the East that they were going to hunt down veterans no matter what.

That deal has become the ultimate warning against mortgaging the future for aging stars, particularly when you aren’t very clearly one piece away from a title — or at least have a team that’s all but guaranteed to be a playoff squad for years to come. It hasn’t stopped teams from chasing stars but we probably won’t ever see a 36 and 37-year-old be the centerpiece of that kind of deal ever again, and Marks will never really live that one down.

For over 30 years, the street artist, activist, and filmmaker known as Banksy has done the unthinkable: They’ve managed to remain anonymous. That hasn’t been easy. Banksy is famous — famous enough that their work has been destroyed by famous celebrities, other artists, and even themself. People have been trying to suss out their identity by hook or by crook. Some even claimed famous people, including members of Gorillaz and Massive Attack, of secretly being Banksy. To that list add a Welsh politician who’s so frustrated at the accusation that he quit in a huff.

The Telegraph spoke with William Gannon, a late-50s man from South Wales recently elected to town council. He’s also spent the last four decades as a community artist, making sculptures as well as graffiti in the town of Pembroke Dock. As such, he’s been accused of being Banksy himself, and the rumor has so upended his life that resigned from his newly elected position, calling it “untenable.” He claims that the claim was spread by a rival for the position he won and then left.

“There’s no truth in it whatsoever, I am not Banksy,” Gannon told The Telegraph. He admitted he’s been in “the same places as Banksy at much the same times doing much the same stuff as a community artist.” (Though a Banksy piece has never cropped up in Pembroke Dock. But Gannon claims it’s just a coincidence and Banksy is not some guy elected to a council position in a small town. “It’s so ridiculous that it’s laugh-out-loud funny, but there’s also a sinister element to it. The joke is on me.”

In his resignation latter, Gannon said he resigned “to protect the reputation of the town, Pembroke Dock did not need another controversial councillor dragging the reputation of the town through the mud.”

But Gannon’s resignation isn’t his final word on the subject. As Artnet points out, he’s started a campaign, in which people who aren’t arguably the world’s most famous street artist can order a pin from Gannon’s website that states, simply, “I am not Banksy.”

“If everyone who is NOT Banksy wears an I Am NOT Banksy badge and Banksy is the only person who is NOT wearing I Am NOT Banksy badge (because they ARE Banksy),” Gannon’s site reads, “then everyone will know that Banksy IS Banksy (because they are NOT wearing an I Am NOT Banksy badge) and, most importantly, Banksy will finally have found out who they are for him/her/them self(ves).”

Alas, Gannon is only handing out 999 of the pins total, which makes it easier for Banksy to hold onto his anonymity. But the campaign is itself more of an artistic expression, he says, meant to question the idea that an artist can claim ownership of something they’ve created. “If I’m Banksy,” he told The Telegraph, “then everybody is.”

(Via The Telegraph and Artnet)

Some people are born with a knack or natural talent for certain things, from sports to music to math to art. At some point, it becomes hard to differentiate between people who are highly trained and people who are naturally gifted, but occasionally a person’s innate abilities are abundantly clear.

Such is the case with Trent, a 24-year-old artist who has gathered a huge following with his on-request animal mash-up drawings. Trent has over a million followers on TikTok. He also has level 3 autism, which impacts his ability to communicate and necessitates help and support with day-to-day functioning. Trent’s parents are his caregivers, and they use TikTok to help Trent share his art, champion his work and answer people’s questions about autism.

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Autistic people sometimes have unique talents, which can manifest as special abilities in memory, math, music, spatial awareness and more. Trent’s parents say he started drawing at as soon as he could hold a pencil. He used to draw on everything—walls, furniture, toys, as well as paper—and his favorite thing to draw is animals. His parents nurtured and encouraged this love of drawing, and when you see how effortlessly he draws people’s animal mash-up requests, you can see why.

In a recent video, Trent drew a “disco zebra with an afro,” a “boxing gorilla” (which he interpreted a bit differently) and a “tiger butterfly.” Watch:

@drawingsbytrent

Check out Trent’s art and merch in his store! #autistic #artist #fyp #trenttok

No pencil sketches. No erasing. No re-doing. Trent is able to draw what he sees in his mind’s eye, using a permanent marker to make a line drawing of it in seconds. It’s mesmerizing to watch.

People have asked if Trent ever makes a mistake and starts over. His dad says no.

“We have never seen him, in 24 years, crumple up a piece of paper and throw it away and start over,” he says.

Very seldomly, he’ll draw a line and then shift his idea, never going back to incorporate that line. But otherwise, he just draws.

Check out the recent drawings he’s been doing of groups of animals with different facial expressions:

@drawingsbytrent

Reply to @melissabolos #autism #artist #fyp #trenttok

Trent doesn’t always use a Sharpie—he usually draws in pen. (Why use a pencil if you don’t make mistakes?)

@drawingsbytrent

Real time #trentsview #artist #artistsoftiktok #asd #autism #fyp #foryoupage

And his drawings can get really interesting and creative as well. For instance, here it looks like he made the animals wear their noses and snouts as hats:

@drawingsbytrent

#trenttok #autisticartist #fyp

Trent has been impressing people with his cartoon animal drawings for many years. This video of him drawing chalk animals on the family trampoline went viral in 2017:

Trent now has a coloring book, a children’s book (written by his parents and illustrated by Trent), and greeting cards for sale. The Drawings by Trent website also sells t-shirts and explains the purpose of the online store:

“At Drawings by Trent we want to encourage families to help their children achieve their full potential, educate communities on the important role individuals of all skill and ability levels play, and inspire everyone to discover and use their own talents. Part of accomplishing those objectives involves helping Trent become a productive member of society while doing something he loves (that’s what we all want, right?). When you purchase a piece of Trent’s art you are not only supporting him, you’re giving families hope.”

It’s great when anyone gets to do what they love and get recognized for it. Check out the Drawings by Trent TikTok channel for more.

It’s graduation season and high school seniors are enduring their last few days of classes before the last summer of their childhood. The summer after high school ends is special, with graduation parties and friends getting ready to take off around the country to pursue their next path. Though many are off to university to make their, or their parents’, dream come true, not every high school grad wants to go off to a four-year college. And schools don’t always do a good job in informing high schoolers of their choices outside of college and the military.

The conversation around college seems to start earlier than it used to. My own children started being asked about college plans around sixth grade, and the pressure has only mounted with every passing year. When my eighth grader announced in a school meeting that he already had a college and degree path chosen, the teachers were outwardly excited and praised him for knowing what he wanted to do. It’s an awful lot of pressure to put on 12-14-year-olds.

College is expensive and financially unattainable for many families. The looming expense of a college education can lead to parents putting pressure on their children to perform exceptionally to procure highly competitive scholarships.

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Pressure to perform at elite levels academically and in sports in an effort to reduce the cost of attending college can result in students feeling overwhelmed. My own child struggled under the weight of expectations he felt from teachers, until one day he came to me and quietly said, “I don’t think I want to go to college.” I simply replied “OK” before explaining that college doesn’t have to be everyone’s path and we could explore options outside of a four-year institution. The audible exhale from his lungs told me everything I needed to know at that moment.

Kids absorb many things that go unsaid. I never told him that it was expected that he go to college, but I also didn’t talk about other options, so in essence the message I was sending was that college is the only next step. My son became more and more consumed by the expectation to get near-perfect grades and excel at band and other things to secure a scholarship to schools he didn’t even want to attend. His story isn’t unique. Teens across America are suffocating under the pressure to perform for the grand prize of scholarships and a fancy piece of paper, all while trades are struggling to fill positions.

People that do essential work in our homes and on our vehicles cannot fill positions because not enough students are exiting trade schools. Mechanics, welders, plumbers, electricians, every skilled trade you can think of is in a shortage because schools and parents don’t give trades the same attention as they do four-year college degree options. The median age of a skilled tradesperson is 43 and at the current rate many will retire in a little more than a decade’s time leaving more vacancies. Sure we want our children to succeed in life but a bachelor’s degree doesn’t automatically equal success. Skilled trades oftentimes pay more money than entry-level positions that require a four-year degree, so why aren’t we encouraging our children to explore these interests?

It seems as if America has gotten caught up in an endless loop of pushing and expecting college from students, only for students to graduate with exorbitant amounts of debt. Then the cycle repeats for the next generation. But it doesn’t have to be that way.

Ultimately my son decided to change his track in high school from four-year college track to trade school track. This only affects the classes he will take for graduation. Instead of taking three years of a foreign language and four years of advanced math, he will get to skip the unnecessary classes and go straight into automotives. After graduating, he will have one year of credits toward the two-year automotive certification.

Attending the local community college will be a fraction of the price of a four-year college, and only require one additional year before he can go into the workforce. No debt would be acquired and he would be doing what he enjoys. This isn’t to say he can’t change his mind and decide later to attend a four-year university; we would support any path he chose. It’s just a reminder to listen to our words. Pay attention to the things we aren’t saying. Make our children aware of every option, not just the traditional track.

Attending a trade school is a valid option, not merely an alternative to college. Trade schools are higher education and shouldn’t be reserved for students adults think “aren’t cut out for college,” because the truth of the matter is, many trade school certificate holders are just as intelligent or more so than degree holders. We need to let go of preconceived notions about the trades and start focusing on what our children are good at and encourage the pursuit of that at whatever level they choose.

There is no more determined person in the world than a toddler, and no one will ever change my mind. When a toddler sets their mind to something, you better stay out of their way. It’s cute, even when it scares you. That kind of sheer determination can be inspiring, especially when it comes from a cute-as-a-button little one. Two-year-old Evie Brush definitely fits the bill.

In a short video posted by her mom Madison “Maddie” Brush on Instagram, we can see little Evie prepping to put on her prosthetic leg all by herself for the first time. “Miss independent,” her mom captioned the post. As Evie slides the first piece over her leg with ease, she is beaming with pride. You can tell this is something she has been really excited to do and she pulls it off without a hitch!

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The post has more than 5,000 comments on Instagram and it’s clear that her mom’s followers are just as excited as she is about her accomplishment.

“Precious Evie 💝 You are a great mom, Madison!” one person wrote.

“She’s so proud of herself!! Love it,” wrote another.

“She is just absolutely adorable! Her sweet smile is so infectious! What a brave, strong little girl!”

“A warrior! Sunshine! May you be blessed and happy always!”

The post was recently shared by Good News Movement, which brought in some new and equally wonderful comments.

“my husband lost his limb 2 yrs ago in a accident. I sent him this and he said “wow, now that’s some motivation for me!” Thank u for sharing ur story. She’s so brave!”

See on Instagram

Evie was born with a limb difference, and Madison has the hashtag #limbdifferenceawareness in her bio on Instagram. According to PEOPLE, Evie was diagnosed with a congenital abnormality called oligodactyly before birth. While in utero, it was discovered that Evie would be missing a finger and some of her other limbs were affected as well. When she was born, she was missing a thumb and a toe, one of her legs was missing a calf bone (fibula) and she had a bowed shin bone (tibia), hence the need for the prosthetic. The reason seems to be fibular aplasia, tibial campomelia and oligosyndactyly (FATCO) syndrome.

Looking through the rest of Madison’s Instagram, you can see that Evie doesn’t let her limb differences slow her down. The little girl is seen playing in the snow with her brother, on a family vacation to Disney World, baking cookies and just being a really typical 2-year-old.

Last year, mom Madison shared another insight into life with a young child with a limb difference. One night Evie wanted her toenails painted, and that’s exactly what she got!

“I put this on my stories, but I also felt it needed to be shared on my main feed!” Madison began the caption. “This is our life! It’s normal, but not normal. I found myself asking if it was even ok to paint the toes of her prosthetic. So weird that I felt I needed to ask…. But I guess it’s somewhat normal. How do you navigate, how do you make her feel normal, but also not invalidated. Anyway… I digress. WE PAINTED THE TOES! That is all.”

See on Instagram

It’s clear that Madison isn’t letting anything stand in the way of her little girl living life to the fullest, and that’s amazing.

[This post contains spoilers for Stranger Things season 4]

In Garden State, Natalie Portman tells Zach Braff that “New Slang” by the Shins will “change your life.” In season four of Stranger Things, that song is “Running Up That Hill” by Kate Bush, except instead of only changing your life, it will also save your life.

The most meme-d moment in the new season of Stranger Things occurs in episode four, “Dear Billy,” when Max (played by Sadie Sink) is rescued from Vecna’s clutches in the Upside Down by her friends. She’s saved because music has the power to reach parts of the brain that words can’t, we learn, so they play her favorite (and now everyone’s favorite) song, “Running Up That Hill,” to free her. But what song would it be for Sink?

Unsurprisingly, it’s by Taylor Swift. Surprisingly, it’s not “All Too Well.”

While Kate Bush’s inspirational track will always anchor Max, Sink recently expanded her own musical horizons by appearing as a young Taylor Swift avatar (aka “Her”) in the pop star’s “All Too Well” short film. The music video collaboration is clearly a win for Sink, as she reveals Swift’s “august” is the song that would save her from Vecna’s thrall. “That song honestly can revive me from anything,” Sink admits (even though Swift’s “The 1” was actually at the top of her Spotify Wrapped last year).

Sink would have picked something from 1989, but Stranger Things is still three years away. But “Style” will change Max’s life, I swear.

(Via Billboard)

The summer may very well belong to Saucy Santana if his new single lives up to the high expectations fans have set for it. Santana, who only started rapping professionally in 2019 after working as a makeup artist for City Girls, has already seen his star rise tremendously as a result of TikTok-favorite singles like “Walk,” “Material Girl,” and “Shisha,” but his next single, “Booty,” has the potential to be his biggest yet for three reasons.

Reason number one: Santana teased the single on TikTok and Twitter just hours ago, and he’s already trending, with fans calling “Booty” the song of the summer despite only having 15 seconds to go on. That’s influence, people.

Reason number two: Booty samples one of the biggest hits in one of the most storied discographies in the recording industry. It’s not subtle either; the sample of Beyonce’s breakthrough solo single “Crazy In Love” blares out of an unseen speaker in Santana’s teaser as he twerks and pops to the particularly sticky hook.

Reason number three: There’s a mystery guest, and Santana is at that stage in his career where it could be someone huge. His hiding the name makes it all the more likely since it implies it’s someone he hasn’t worked with already, who you might not expect him to work with, but who will totally make sense when you find out who it is. There’s also that collaboration that Lil Nas X teased a few months ago…

For now, we’ll have to stick with guessing but if Santana’s dropping teasers, the answer can’t be too far around the corner. Check out the snippet above and the reactions below, and get ready for a Santana summer.

The Zombie is one of the most iconic tropical cocktails to come out of the first Tiki era. This drink is all about the ABVs, spices, and tropical vibes. It’s also on fire, which isn’t that important if you’re making these at home and during the day, but adds a nice touch once the sun goes down.

The rum drink is also an ass-kicker that will get you very twisted very fast. Invented in Hollywood at the famed Don The Beachcomber by Donn Beach himself in the 1930s, Old Donn would only allow you two per night. Otherwise, you’ll turn into “the walking dead,” according to old Mr. Beach. Consider yourself warned.

For this recipe, I’m sticking pretty much to the original Don The Beachcomber recipe from the 1930s. Hey, if it ain’t broke, right? That said, this might taste pretty different from the modern takes on the Zombie, which tend to add a lot more sugar and citrus juice to the mix. That’s basically done these days to calm down all that rum and allow you to drink more — read: spend more money at the bar. This version is far more spicy and botanical with a true rum punch to the face like it’s supposed to be. Let’s get shaking!

Also Read: The Top Five Cocktail Recipes of the Last Six Months

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• The Americano Is An Excellent Low-Alcohol Cocktail For January, Here’s Our Recipe
• Our French 75 Cocktail Recipe Will Make You A New Year’s Eve Pre-Party Star

Zombie

Ingredients:

• 1.5 oz. Jamaican dark rum
• 1.5 oz. Puerto Rican gold rum
• 1 oz. Overproof rum (plus more for garnish)
• 0.5 oz. fresh lime juice
• 0.25 oz. falernum syrup
• 0.25 oz Don’s Mix***
• 1 barspoon grenadine
• 1 barspoon Pernod
• 1 dash Angostura bitters
• Ice
• Used lime half from juicing

For this recipe, I grabbed the first Jamaican and Puerto Rican rum from my shelf. That ended up being Appleton Estate 12 and Bacardi Cuatro, both of which are great for mixing. For the overproof rum, you tend to want to use a demerara rum from Venezuela, but any overproof will do.

The rest is pretty easily found at any good liquor store. The exception is Don’s Mix which you might have to make on your own, recipe below.

*** Don’s Mix is 2 parts fresh grapefruit juice and 1 part cinnamon syrup. Stir the two together to create the mix and then store in the fridge in a small bottle for no more than two weeks.

What You’ll Need:

• Hurricane glass
• Cocktail shaker
• Cocktail strainer
• Paring knife
• Hand juicer
• Jigger
• Barspoon
• Straw
• Match

Method:

• Fill the hurricane glass with fresh ice.
• Add the rums, lime juice, falernum syrup, Don’s mix, grenadine, Pernod, and Angostura Bitters to the cocktail shaker. Add a handful of ice, affix the lid, and vigorously shake for about 20 seconds.
• Strain the cocktail into the waiting hurricane glass. Take one of the smashed lime halves from juicing earlier and pour a small amount of the overproof rum over the flesh side of the lime, sort of filling it up. Place the lime on the top of the cocktail, skin side down. Use a match to light the lime and serve immediately.

Bottom Line:

This is bold with a capital “B”! The rum shines through with a hint of funk next to sticky molasses with vanilla, spices, and sugar cane all coming through. The body of the drink is mellow and smooth but filled with a lot of woody botanicals and spices. It feels almost like the cocktail itself was barrel-aged. There are bitter notes like chinotto and allspice berries next to woody florals. It’s really a great mix of depth and flavor.

It’s also strong AF.

And while lighting this during the day in a bright kitchen was unnecessary, I did it anyway to demonstrate that it’s easy and safe. Just make sure to blow out the blue flame within a minute or less.

In a move you don’t see everyday, comedian Patton Oswalt took his entire profession to task for essentially paving the way for the rise of Donald Trump and the alt-right by making “ironic” racist jokes. All too often these days, comics circle the wagons and wail about cancel culture (looking at you, Joe Rogan), but not Oswalt. While stopping by The Al Franken Podcast, he lamented his generation’s over-use of irony, which he feels handed the alt-right a “blueprint” to mask their actions.

“We thought we were beyond racism. There was a lot of ironic racism amongst a lot of alt-comedy, a lot of Gen X, because we thought, ‘Well, we’re beyond it. We can make fun of that,’” Oswalt said before explaining how that attitude provided cover for Trump and his ilk. Via Mediaite:

“We didn’t realize we were actually mapping out a blueprint for a lot of the alt-right people and a lot of the edgelords and a lot of the shit posters to use for them to go ‘I’m just being ironic,’” he continued. “You’re trying to grandfather your shit in and we are partially responsible for doing that.”

Franken wasn’t entirely on-board with that argument and said that comedians should be more like George Carlin and his generation of comics who push boundaries, but Oswalt wasn’t having that characterization.

“But they were pushing for more openness,” Oswalt argued. “The people that are doing the edgelord stuff now are pushing for, ‘Can we go back to the way,’ think[ing], ‘Can I go back to being able to say these horrible things?’ It’s like, no, we gotta keep moving forward.”

(Via The Al Franken Podcast)