Love Life ended up being the HBO Max original show to launch the service, and apparently, the numbers were pretty darn good. Although we don’t know the actual viewership numbers, they were high enough for executive producer Paul Feig to celebrate the show’s solo-act success while speaking with us, and Season 2 is upon us with Anna Kendrick’s Darby passing the baton to a new unlucky-in-love protagonist, Marcus, who will be portrayed by William Jackson Harper.
Harper, of course, has quite a range and recently appeared in Amazon Prime’s The Underground Railroad, although he’s still best known for playing Jacked Chidi in The Good Place. Previously, we saw in a teaser that Darby (who’s still in the show a little bit) got married, and who knows if she’ll actually be happy (or found herself with another a-hole), but this season will mostly focus upon the divorced Marcus. He did the whole sunk-cost investment thing, apparently, and now, he’s finding himself in the hell hole known as the dating world.
At around the 1:00 mark, above, there’s no denying that Harper hasn’t given up Chidi’s jacked ways, which is a necessary revelation in a show that largely focuses upon interpersonal relationships of the romantic variety. The synopsis tells us, “After his marriage unexpectedly implodes, Marcus is forced to rebuild his life brick by brick, hoping to find a love that will last, once and for all.”
Godspeed, Marcus. Godspeed to us all.
Love Life‘s second season premieres on October 28.
GOP Representative Matt Gaetz has an uncanny ability to disassociate from his own allegedly criminal behavior, a talent that was on full display during a recent Congressional hearing involving the country’s top military commanders.
Gaetz — whose allies have been busy hiring the same guys who used to represent convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, crime lord El Chapo, and cult leader Keith Raniere in preparation for his own sex trafficking trial — was more than happy to skewer General Mark Milley during a hearing held by the Senate Armed Services Committee. Milley, who’s become a favored political punching bag for right-wing conservatives like Gaetz recently, is under scrutiny for how he tried to curb Trump’s military power during his time as president, as well as how he’s handled the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, including a recent drone strike that killed multiple civilians. And while critics are no doubt hoping to get some answers from Milley on the thought-process behind his military decision-making, Gaetz was clearly interested in just getting more headlines with his public rant during the hearing — one that ended with Gaetz calling for Milley and other generals to be removed from duty.
“You seem to be very happy failing up over there,” Gaetz began in his tirade, via Mediaite. “But if we didn’t have a president that was so addled, you all would be fired. Because that is what you deserve. You have let down the people who wear the uniform in my district and all around this country.”
Rep. Matt Gaetz to Gen. Mark Milley: “You seem to be very happy failing up over there. But if we didn’t have a president that was so addled, you all would be fired. Because that is what you deserve.” pic.twitter.com/rnRTsjNJqU
Strong words from a guy who might have sex trafficked underage girls and is such a political pariah that even Trump won’t invite him down to Mar-A-Lago for brunch.
When the phrase “Florida Man” starts trending, you know some kind of wild, inane, head-scratching story is circulating from the Sunshine State. Today’s Florida Man story is definitely wild, definitely head-scratching, but much more incredible than inane.
A man casually decked out in Adidas slides and socks was filmed catching an alligator in his front yard using nothing but a recycling bin and his indomitable Florida Man will. It’s something you truly have to see to believe (and then watch a dozen or so times just because).
Seriously.
This Florida Man has won the internet for the Month of September https://t.co/PB9dIMDkOS
So many questions from us non-Floridians as we watch this clip:
– Is this a regular occurrence in Florida? Gators just hanging out in your yard? More than 7,000 “nuisance” alligators were spotted in Florida in 2018 alone.
– What led up to this chain of events? How did this man decide to try to capture the alligator with a recycling bin? (Or, is it a trash can? If this man’s trash can is that clean, I’m impressed.)
– Why was he the lone ranger behind the bin? Why is everyone else just standing back and filming? (I don’t know what they’re supposed to do, but seems like someone should be standing by Florida Man with a baseball bat or something.)
– Why did the guy who said, “I got you,” not step in and help when Florida Man was struggling to get the bin with the gator half hanging out to stand upright? What does he think “I got you” means?
– How did he know to flip the lid down when he did? I thought for sure that was the wrong move, but nope.
– Most importantly, why didn’t Florida Man put on some sturdier shoes before trying to stuff a big honking reptile into a trash receptacle?
So. Many. Questions.
Florida news station WESH 2 obtained the full video, which shows the man pushing the gator in the bin across the street and down an embankment to a lake, where he tipped the bin to release the alligator near the water. Again, all by himself. So at least the “What happens next?” question has been answered.
FULL VIDEO: Florida man traps alligator in garbage bin, releases it near lake
It’s been years since Dave Grohl needed to use his legendary Foo Fighters throne, which he sat on during concerts while recovering from a broken leg in 2015. The throne actually popped up at a concert last night, but it wasn’t a Foo Fighters show. Rather, Grohl lent his throne to Darin Wall, the bassist for Seattle doom metal band Greyhawk.
Earlier this month, Wall confronted a man who was approaching a Boise, Idaho venue with a gun. In the ensuing scuffle, Wall ended up getting shot in the thigh. Thankfully, the man was arrested. In Wall’s first concert since the incident, he sat on Grohl’s throne as he performed.
He posted about it on Instagram, sharing a photo of himself in the seat and wrote, “It was beyond a thrill to sit in Dave Grohl from @foofighters throne last night. This whole ordeal has been intense, surreal and humbling. Of course I wish it never happened, and that this bullet was not in my leg, but the love and support the rock and metal community has shown is staggering. Words can’t describe how moving this night was. Thank you all!”
He also spoke with Seattle’s KING-TV about how he came to have the throne, explaining that he appeared on a radio show and said he hoped he’d get to use the throne. Foo Fighters’ management caught wind of the story and Grohl was on board.
“He called me from the MTV VMA awards and [Grohl] said, ‘I’ll ship that throne up to you at my expense,’” Wall said.
Milwaukee-bred Quality Control Music member Lakeyah brings a ruthless rendition of her cutthroat song “Check” to UPROXX Sessions just days after dropping her latest full-length project, My Turn, with DJ Drama. It’s not every day a rising artist like Lakeyah can secure Drama’s assistance on a Gangsta Grillz-branded album/mixtape, which should be all the proof you need that this XXL Freshman is the real deal.
In an interview with Uproxx earlier this year, Lakeyah explained the “time” motif of her three releases: “I feel like success — slow success — builds character,” she said. “Everything is going to happen at the perfect time for me… I just feel like everything is going to fall into place. I’m just working my ass off right now being super consistent. It’s all about timing. You don’t want to burn yourself out, out here.”
Watch Lakeyah’s UPROXX Sessions performance of “Check” above.
UPROXX Sessions is Uproxx’s performance show featuring the hottest up-and-coming acts you should keep an eye on. Featuring creative direction from LA promotion collective, Ham On Everything, and taking place on our “bathroom” set designed and painted by Julian Gross, UPROXX Sessions is a showcase of some of our favorite performers, who just might soon be yours, too.
Michter’s Distillery out in Kentucky is producing some of the most sought after and beloved juice in the whole whiskey game, worldwide. Their entry-level bottles often take center stage on bar shelves and provide some of the best cocktail bases you can find. Their limited releases — ten-year expressions, toasted barrel finishes, and barrel strength bottles — hit high marks with both casual drinkers, experts, and industry folks as the perfect crossover bottles that work as mixers and sippers in equal measure. Then there are the unicorn bottles of Michter’s bourbon and rye. Expressions that have become some of the highest status symbol bottles in the entire whiskey world — in part, thanks to Billions making Celebration the drink of the show.
When it comes to ranking all the bottles from a brand like this, it’s hard to know where to start and what parameters to set. There are some really pricey bottles here and also some pretty affordable expressions. I did my best not to take that into account. This is simply about tasting these bottles and ranking them according to my palate. It’s really that simple, folks.
Below, I’ve ranked all 17 Michter’s expressions that are released either widely or by allocation to select bars and retailers. Full disclosure, I love this brand and its juice. Master Blender Andrea Wilson and Master Distiller Dan McKee are doing some of the best work in whiskey right now and even the top-notch releases listed here only feel like the beginning of what they’re building together, which is pretty exciting. So let’s get straight into it — click on those prices if you want to dive into Michter’s right next to Bobby Axelrod, Wags, and the crew.
Generally speaking, when you see a whiskey labeled as “American Whiskey” it’s a blend of whiskey with neutral grain spirits to help keep costs down and profits high. This expression is labeled as “Unblended,” specifically because it’s juice from Michter’s barrels only. The whiskey in these bottles was aged in barrels that are “whiskey-soaked.” Once the whiskey is just right, it’s then blended and small-batch bottled.
Tasting Notes:
Fruit greets you upfront. That fruit becomes more of dried fruit with bourbon vanilla and mild caramel sweetness. The fruit is what draws a line through the taste as the warm end slowly fades out.
Bottom Line:
Look, something has to be in this spot. While I really dig this expression, this is the bottle I keep in the freezer for shots and mixing highballs.
Michter’s really means the phrase “small batch” here. The tank they use to marry their hand-selected eight-year-old bourbons can only hold 20 barrels, so that’s how many go into each small-batch bottling. The blended juice is then proofed with Kentucky’s famously soft limestone water and bottled.
Tasting Notes:
Buttery caramel and peaches mix with creamy vanilla and oak on the nose. The vanilla really shines as the peach almost takes on a grilled edge as it gets sweeter and adds a whisper of smoke next to peppery spice. The spice kicks up and warms the senses as the slow fade embraces stone fruit, toffee, and more vanilla with a final kick of charred oak.
Bottom Line:
This is a fine bourbon that really shines best as a cocktail base. That being said, it works well on the rocks too. That’s what’s so hard about ranking this brand. All their releases — even the entry-level stuff — are really refined and drinkable.
This single barrel rye is the rye that you can measure most others against (at this price point). The well-crafted juice is warehoused until the deeply charred new white oak barrels hit just the right moment in both texture and taste.
Tasting Notes:
Peppery rye and a hint of citrus open this one up. There’s a distant line of toffee but it’s really that peppery rye that shines the most, with a subtle velvet textural depth. The wood carries the sip towards a warm, spicy end that lasts just long enough to remind you to take another sip.
Bottom Line:
If you’re mixing Sazeracs or Manhattans this fall and winter, use this whiskey. It’s a dream in a cocktail.
This was the first American whiskey to be named “Whiskey of the Year” by The Whiskey Exchange in 2019. The reason this is a “sour mash” and not a bourbon or rye is that the mash bill doesn’t focus on corn or rye, hence it’s just a sour mash whiskey. The juice is then aged in new white oak with a heavy char.
Tasting Notes:
Smoked plums and rye spice mingle up top. The sip really embraces the smoky dark fruit with hints of vanilla and cherry popping up on the palate. The dram carries that smoky plumminess through to the end with a nice nod to the oak and bourbon-y vanilla underbelly.
Bottom Line:
This is the first bottle that I really didn’t know where to rank. It’s so damn unique and delicious that it feels like a huge disservice to rank it 14th(!). I really like this on the rocks or in a highball. And it ranking this low just goes to show how high we’re about to go.
Michter’s fills their barrels with 103 proof juice. After a handful of years spent aging, that proof inches upwards as the angels take their share. Usually, the whiskey is cut with that soft Kentucky limestone water before bottling but not in this case. This is pulled from single honey barrels that were just too good to cut.
Tasting Notes:
The nose draws you deep into the classic bourbon ecosystem of rich and buttery toffees next to salted dark chocolate-covered cherries, a touch of smoked stone fruits, and a minor note of spicy tobacco leaf. The palate delivers on those notes as the tobacco spice amps up before being smoothed out by rich and creamy vanilla, salted caramel, and apricot stone dryness. That dryness drives the mid-palate towards the finish with a pecan shell vibe next to slightly bitter singed cedar bark.
Bottom Line:
This is a very rare release from 2017 and continues to wow to this day. Back then, I’d primarily use this for mixing whiskey-forward old fashioneds thanks to those high ABVs. These days, however, it’s more of an investment bottle.
Like the bourbon above, this too is pulled from single barrels that were just too good to vat or cut. The juice is bottled as is at a slightly higher proof than when it went in the barrel.
Tasting Notes:
That dark cherry note is still there on the nose but this it’s supported by a butterscotch candy and a mulled wine spice mix that’s heavy on the cinnamon. The palate evens out with this creamy vanilla foundation that’s touched with eggnog spices next to a slight note of smoke — as if someone lit the vanilla husks on fire and let them smolder — while the cherry leans into a spicy tobacco warmth. That spicy tobacco drives towards a Tellicherry black peppercorn, adding to the woody depth of the dry and warm finish, bringing about a true Kentucky hug.
Bottom Line:
This will be much easier to find than the bourbon version. Still, I really like mixing with this. It’s bold and dry and works wonders in a cocktail while still being a great candidate for an on the rocks sipper. It’s a little hot neat but that’s just me.
This is where things get interesting. Michter’s originally dropped this back in 2014. The juice is standard bourbon that’s then finished in a toasted barrel from the famed Kelvin Cooperage in Louisville. They build these barrels by hand from 18-month air-dried white oak and then lightly toast the inside before the aged whiskey goes in.
Tasting Notes:
This opens with a pecan pie vibe that’s nutty, dry, and full of dark Caro syrup sweetness with a hint of candied orange peels with a touch of cinnamon and cedar bark. The palate holds onto the sweetness as it leans towards a campfire roasted marshmallow, a touch of saffron and clove-stewed pears, a pile of sappy firewood, and creamy nuances of vanilla pudding all meander through your senses. The end has a light savory nature that leads back to the pear, vanilla, and marshmallow on a very slow fade.
Bottom Line:
This is the first big leap upward in Michter’s releases. This bottle is truly spectacular when it comes to bourbon and it’s not even in the top freaking ten.
This juice is Michter’s standard rye that’s finished in a second, toasted barrel. In this case, those barrels are air-dried for 24 long months before being lightly toasted and loaded with the rye. The juice then goes into the bottle at barrel strength.
Tasting Notes:
This has a spicy and sweet nose that’s just like a buttery, candied and dried fruit and nut-filled holiday cake that’s been drenched in good whiskey and left to sit for a month to really amp up those flavors. The taste has a clear sense of dates, creamed vanilla honey, walnuts, wet brown sugar, and a touch of salted dark chocolate with a whisper of bitterness. The mid-palate dries out towards that pitchy yet dry woodpile with an echo of dirt from the bottom of that woodpile on the finish.
Bottom Line:
Michter’s started out in the 1990s as the whiskey company that wanted to bring rye back. A couple of decades later, it’d be hard to argue with their success. Part of that is due to this bottle of booze. It’s everything you want in a rye that’s also an education for your palate — unique and endlessly drinkable.
This release takes Michter’s signature Sour Mash and, again, finishes it in toasted barrels. In this case, it’s an 18-month air-dried and lightly toasted barrel that carries the whiskey to the finish line before proofing and bottling.
Tasting Notes:
There’s a clear note of orange oils speckled over dark chocolate with a hint of salt, fresh honey, vanilla oils, and buttery toffee brittle (kind of like the inside of a Butterfinger). The palate leans into smoked cherries with mild notes of dry clove and allspice berries with a light dusting of nutmeg. The vanilla and toffee drive the palate towards a sweet cherry tobacco finish with a light kiss of warmth.
Bottom Line:
One of the biggest surprises of the whole Michter’s line is their Sour Mash expressions. These are killer whiskeys that will make you say, “Woah…” just like Keanu Reeves when you sip them for the first time.
This whiskey heralds back to Micther’s historical roots in the 19th century before the brand was even called “Michter’s.” The juice on the bottle is rendered from a very small batch of bourbons that were aged in Chinquapin oak which was air-dried for three years before charring and filling.
Tasting Notes:
The nose opens with this rich and meaty plum presence next to a hint of buttery toffee and creamy vanilla with a touch of wood lurking in the background. The palate goes full crème brûlée with sticky burnt sugar over the top and a slight touch of allspice and nutmeg next to a dark cacao powder dryness with a touch of smoke salt and light, dry cedar. The mid-palate leans back into the dark stone fruit and sweetness as it only slightly dries out.
Bottom Line:
This is one of those bourbons that you can stick on a bar cart that really draws the eye (it’s a very similar bottle shape to Pappy). The juice in the bottle really shines and stands next to any bourbon with way more hype and much higher secondary price points.
Chinquapin oak is at the core of this release as well. The variable here is that this isn’t bourbon. This straight whisky leans heavily into rye but isn’t rye, not by law anyway. The juice is devised to highlight the best of both worlds with a unique barreling that really brings something unique to the table and palate.
Tasting Notes:
Bright notes of orange peels dipped in brown sugar mingle with a hint of vanilla beans and Christmas cake spices. Those spices amp up on the palate and lean towards nearly Red Hot cinnamon notes, plenty of allspice, and a nice touch of nutmeg as a dry yet meaty raisin nature takes things in a new direction. The finish lets those orange oils shine as a cedar note arrives late, drying out the finish and letting the woodier side of the spices pop.
Bottom Line:
Along with Bomberger’s above, this really stands tall amongst the Pappy’s of the world. Trivia: “Shenk’s” is the original name for the brand. This holdover from a lost era is quality juice that will impress any passive whiskey drinker and satisfy any aficionado, even the great Wags.
Master Distiller Dan McKee personally selects these 20-year-old (at least) barrels from their rickhouses based on, well, excellence. The juice is bottled as-is with no cutting with water.
Tasting Notes:
Imagine dark and sweet cherries smothered in rummy molasses with a touch of dried roses, nuts, and cedar all leading towards the soft — almost wet — tobacco leaf. That’s just the nose. The palate doesn’t veer too far from those notes but adds in a touch of burnt ends from vanilla pods with a light spice that leans more towards that tobacco than woody brown spices. The finish really embraces the cherry but more towards the stem and seed as the nuttiness leans marzipan and the tobacco takes on an ever-so-slight chewiness.
Bottom Line:
I originally had this pegged as number six and it was just wrong. The top five of this list are all benchmark whiskeys that pretty much define their styles. Yes, this is only tied for fifth (which is wild). Still, this is a 100/100 whiskey and don’t let anyone tell you differently.
(tie) 5. Michter’s Single Barrel 10-Year Kentucky Straight Bourbon
The juice in this bottle is a little under wraps. Michter’s is currently distilling and aging their own whiskey, but this is still sourced. The actual barrels sourced for these single barrel expressions tend to be at least ten years old with some rumored to be closer to 15 years old (depending on the barrel’s quality, naturally). Either way, the juice goes through Michter’s bespoke filtration process before a touch of Kentucky’s iconic soft limestone water is added, bringing the bourbon down to a very crushable 94.4 proof.
Tasting Notes:
The nose opens with subtle notes of soft wood and worn leather next to light touches of dark berries, orange oils, egg nog spice, and slight toffee sweetness. The palate starts off equally soft with something more akin to maple syrup sweetness which then leads into a rush of berry brambles. The mid-palate hits on a bit of dark spice, vanilla tobacco, and dark cacao… maybe espresso?… bitterness. The finish leans into a dry-yet-almost-sweet oak with a touch of an almond shell and dry grass coming in at the very end.
The real beauty is in the softness of the taste. There are no rough edges whatsoever and the whole sipping experience is like a silken dream. The soft limestone water does help the drinkability without making it feel thin. And while this isn’t an ABV bomb that’ll leave you burning, it’s not meant to be. This is the epitome of a slow-sipping bourbon with real depth.
Bottom Line:
I honestly don’t know which Michter’s I prefer from the 10 and 20-year. I’m not being hyperbolic. They both have their charms and that’s why they’re tied. That being said, I do drink the 10-year bourbon as a go-to on the rocks pour and the 20 comes out for Christmas, birthdays, and so forth.
Still, if I’m being completely honest with myself, that’s more to do with price than taste. So here we are.
4. Michter’s Singel Barrel 10-Year Kentucky Straight Rye
This release is in the same selection process as the 10-year bourbon above. The hype on this whiskey is so stratospheric that a single barrel of this stuff sold for $200,000 last year. Even if you get 200 bottles from that, you’re still paying $1,000 a bottle.
Tasting Notes:
Butter-rich toffee meets marzipan cut with rose water next to black peppery spice, apple-cider-soaked cinnamon sticks, and an earthy cedar bark. Bespoke Red Hots mingle with orange oils, more cedar, vanilla pods, and a rush of fresh spicy/sweet chili peppers. The almond edge loses some of its marzipan sweetness and dries out as the cedar marries spicy tobacco, soft vanilla cream, and orange oils linger on your senses.
Bottom Line:
This is phenomenal rye. That being said, I use this to make Manhattans. We call them “$50 Manhattans” in my circle of friends because that’s just how we roll. Side note, don’t let anyone ever judge you for how you chose to enjoy your whiskey.
All we really know about these barrels are that they prove the prowess of the Michter’s team to bring in the best of the best in the whiskey world. It’s rare that a 25-year-old whiskey aged in a new oak will taste this nuanced but that’s sort of the magic of Michter’s.
Tasting Notes:
There’s an earthiness here that feels like dried white moss on a wet forest floor next to little popping notes of bitter yet oily espresso beans, vanilla that costs way too much to buy, oranges wrapped in gold cellophane, and an almost wet black pepper vibe. Okay, let’s move on to the palate. Golden sultanas draw you in with a very clear sense of clove that almost leads to anise (maybe black licorice) with that vanilla staying dry as the orange oils become burnt and this distant note of salted, almost black cacao powder harkens the finish. That finish does lean into a classic Tellicherry cracked black pepper but remains dry and features just the right amount of dried fruit sweetness.
Bottom Line:
This is one of those sips that might change you as a whiskey drinker — yes, it’s that good. It’s also an investment bottle. Our advice is to pay a grand for the pour at some high-end whiskey bar and stow away the bottle for your kid’s college fund.
This is a sourced barrel of 25-year-old juice. That’s all we really know besides that it’s a whiskey that needed zero cutting to taste amazing.
Tasting Notes:
This draws you in with this matrix of rich and brandy-soaked holiday cake brimming with candied and dried fruits that edges into a smoked almond nuttiness and an almost funky rummy molasses next to browned butter on its own. That browned butter is what informs the palate, as the silkiness of this taste cannot be overstated. The palate really leans into the smoked almonds with a nice savory edge while the butter marries the holiday cake and almonds to create rich marzipan with a very mild cedar note that’s like a very old cigar humidor. The end just sits on your palate like a soft hug from an old friend as the nuttiness and sweetness slowly fade out, leaving you … happy.
Bottom Line:
This 25-year-old bourbon is a masterpiece. We’ll never know where these barrels came from. But you know what? Who cares? This juice is the nectar of the gods. Look at it this way, there’s a reason this costs about twice as much as Pappy 23 on the secondary market.
This is a collaboration between Master Distiller Dan McKee and Master of Maturation Andrea Wilson who selected six barrels between ten, 20, and 30 years old. Those barrels were vatted and bottled without any cutting with water.
Tasting Notes:
Buttery dark chocolate fudge sits next to an earthy, almost mossy note as eggnog spices mingle with a savory fruit hint on the nose. It’s all subtle but so clear. Then the taste takes those spices and builds out a flavor profile of grilled peaches next to smoked pineapple topped with maple-syrup-soaked pecans and a splash of vanilla cream and a dusting a freshly ground cinnamon. That dry spice leads from a mid-palate to a finish that holds onto those sweet pecans while the dry moss makes a late comeback and settles into your senses with a note of nutmeg, smoked peach, and orange oil.
Bottom Line:
For my palate, this is perfect. This is one of those bottles that makes me mad that I cannot drink it every day. It also makes sense that the Billions writer’s room chose this to be the ultimate of the ultimate whiskeys for their show. There’s really very little out there that tops this whiskey (no matter where you are in the world).
As a Drizly affiliate, Uproxx may receive a commission pursuant to certain items on this list.
Most collectors of Funko Pop! action figures know the brand has collectibles for just about every form of entertainment from music to TV. The brand even has some exclusive Golden Girls Funkos. Funko has been recently beefing up their collection of music-related actions figures, and after unveiling dolls of Aaliyah and Devo earlier this year, they are now immortalizing some of hip-hop’s biggest stars.
Funko just dropped their new Vinyl Gold collection this week. Fans can now show some love to their favorite emcees by purchasing a Notorious B.I.G, Lil Wayne, Ice Cube, or Tupac Shakur Funko. Rather than having a large head and cartoonish features like most Funko figures, the rappers in their Vinyl Gold collection are more realistic looking.
Each premium vinyl figure stands at five inches tall and features one of their recognizable outfits, with Biggie sporting a crisp white suit, Lil Wayne showing off his tattoo’d arms and red accessories, Ice Cube in some all-black attire, and Tupac standing shirtless with his signature bandana and Timberland boots. Biggie’s Funko is the only one with a different size option as there’s a 12-inch figure available for fans who want to make a statement.
Lorde has become one of the most prominent female musicians in the world, but if you ask her, she doesn’t necessarily always feel like a female artist.
In a new Variety profile, Lorde was asked “if women’s creative decisions are more closely scrutinized than men’s,” and after carefully considering the question, she responded, “There are specific archetypes that people want you to oscillate between. I’m sure there’s a double standard. I almost don’t think of myself as a female artist sometimes, just because I’m less an object of desire.”
She continued to note that it feels good to be involved in more aspects of her career than just strictly music:
“I don’t feel bound to the systems of our industry the way a lot of women do, which is a really privileged spot to be in. ‘This is not something I would ever do.’ It’s a game and if you know the rules, you also know how to break them. If you think that the industry is real life, you’re going to run into problems. It’s fantasy and archetype.
I feel so empowered being involved in all the different areas of my job that traditionally would be left to someone else, whether it’s something like lighting my show, directing videos, graphic design. Being bold is vital because people are only going to listen to you if you speak up. It’s hard for me — I’m shy, I’m a shy girl. But, you always regret not being bold, and you very rarely regret toughening up and doing it.”
There comes a moment in every Ted Lasso fan’s life when they realize, “Holy crap, Rebecca was also the ‘shame’ lady from Game of Thrones!” If that moment for you is right now, I’m sorry and/or you’re welcome. You won’t watch Ted Lasso the same way again (unless it’s a Coach Beard-focused episode without Rebecca).
Hannah Waddingham won her first Emmy for her performance on Ted Lasso, but she deserved one for playing Septa Unella on Game of Thrones after what she went through. “Definitely other than childbirth, [it] was the worst day of my life,” she said about being waterboarded for 10 hours. “It definitely gave me claustrophobia around water.” But it wasn’t an altogether awful experience. Otherwise, Waddingham wouldn’t have kept a prop from the show, as she revealed during an episode of The Kelly Clarkson Show.
Unella’s most memorable moment came when she walked Cersei (Lena Headey) through town, ringing a bell and chanting “Shame!” as a form of humiliation. And Clarkson got Waddingham to confirm that she kept that bell after production ended. “That’s kind of messed up!” Clarkson joked. But Waddingham noted that it was a gift; not something she took from the set.
“That’s when you know that your character is really dead,” Waddingham joked. “When they give you like, the ‘hero’ thing of your character. They’re like, ‘Thank you very much and goodbye.’” She got waterboarded and was gifted a bell for her time on Thrones, and now she eats biscuits with Jason Sudeikis and Juno Temple. That’s what I call progress.
You can watch the clip from The Kelly Clarkson Show above.
Within hours of Amazon introducing its new personal robot, Astro, leaked internal documents revealed that the $999 Alexa on wheels is allegedly plagued with problems including an obvious inability to navigate stairs. More specifically, Astro has a tendency to hurl itself down them, which is not exactly great considering the little guy isn’t the sturdiest thing.
The internal documents also revealed a slew of alleged privacy issues, but sources say those aren’t exactly a major concern at the moment because, to be any sort of surveillance threat, Astro would need to stop killing himself first. Via Vice:
“Astro is terrible and will almost certainly throw itself down a flight of stairs if presented the opportunity. The person detection is unreliable at best, making the in-home security proposition laughable,” a source who worked on the project said. “The device feels fragile for something with an absurd cost. The mast has broken on several devices, locking itself in the extended or retracted position, and there’s no way to ship it to Amazon when that happens.”
“They’re also pushing it as an accessibility device but with the masts breaking and the possibility that at any given moment it’ll commit suicide on a flight of stairs, it’s, at best, absurdist nonsense and marketing and, at worst, potentially dangerous for anyone who’d actually rely on it for accessibility purposes,” the source said.
Following Vice‘s report on Astro’s alleged suicidal tendencies, Amazon released a statement to The Verge disputing the claims and asserting that the robot is a good, solid boy who doesn’t fall down the stairs.
“These characterizations of Astro’s performance, mast, and safety systems are simply inaccurate,” Amazon said. “Astro went through rigorous testing on both quality and safety, including tens of thousands of hours of testing with beta participants. This includes comprehensive testing on Astro’s advanced safety system, which is designed to avoid objects, detect stairs, and stop the device where and when necessary.”
However, as The Verge notes, the leaked documents “recontextualizes” the invite-only process that will allow users to get their hands on Astro. The process reportedly includes a survey, and one of the questions asks what type of stairs do you have in your house. We’re guessing the correct answer is “none.”
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