Category: News

On the same day the Dallas Mavericks moved toward hiring Jason Kidd as their new coach, they also are in the processing of hiring a new executive to helm the front office.

Per multiple reports, Dallas is in negotiations with Nike executive Nico Harrison for him to take on a ‘front office leadership position.’ It’s unclear exactly what his title will be, or even who he’ll report to, but, per ESPN’s Tim MacMahon, he’ll work in tandem with current VP of Basketball Operations Michael Finley and has relationships with both Finley and Kidd — which, considering how the Rick Carlisle-Bob Voulgaris-Donnie Nelson era ended, feels intentional. Per Woj and Marc Stein, negotiations with Harrison, as well as Kidd, are in “advanced stages.”

Woj noted that Harrison has been pursued for several front office jobs in recent years, but has yet to make the leap from Nike where he is currently the Vice President of Basketball in North America and has direct relationships with a number of players. One of those is Doncic, as he reportedly played a major role in Doncic moving from Nike to Jordan in 2019. He was also Kobe Bryant’s sports marketing manager while Bryant was active NBA player.

The move here clearly seems to be about installing a front office figure that Doncic knows and trusts, and, perhaps, knows other elite players via Nike and can play a part in recruiting them to the Mavericks. Doncic had reported friction with Voulgaris (as well as Carlisle) so bringing in a brain trust that he is already comfortable with feels like a major reason why this move is happening.

Will it work? It’s unclear as of now — Dallas has a lot of challenges ahead of it in the next few years in order to build the best team possible around Doncic. But starting by hiring an executive who Doncic knows well seems like a reasonable place to start when the top priority this summer is inking the young superstar to a supermax extension.

Conan O’Brien’s TBS Show came to a close on Thursday night, as the late night legend signed off for presumably the final time after a 28-year career. O’Brien isn’t done with entertaining, with an HBO Max project also in the works, but the departure from the late night talk show scene feels like the end of an era in many ways.

O’Brien’s shift to streaming comes as the late night scene continues changing in several ways. Audiences often watch, for example, the best of late night shows the next day on social media and YouTube. And so it should be no surprise that many celebrated Conan‘s conclusion by sharing some of O’Brien’s best work on social media ahead of his final episode on TBS.

For some fans there were simply too many good moments to share, but a number of them went viral in the hours ahead of his final show airing on TV.

Conan’s old time baseball sketch is a definite favorite.

Hanks Secrets got some love, too.

A clip featuring a VERY young Amy Poehler and Andy Daily also made the rounds as well.

The Walker Texas Ranger Lever got perhaps the best reaction from O’Brien himself, especially at the end.

And then there’s the many, many bits they did with the Masturbating Bear. Though this one in particular had a pretty incredible payoff after all that buildup.

Conan saying “we’re the good crap” from his early days got attention as well.

And, of course, the full mashup of the decades-long Mac and Me gag Paul Rudd loved to pull on Conan also made the cut.

O’Brien himself shared a clip on Thursday night, one he said ‘meant the world to him:’ an animated version of himself being interviewed by Homer Simpson as part of his TBS “exit interview.”

As sad as it is to see Conan’s show come to an end, but it was a great night for his fans to be on social media and relive some of his best moments.

This week, we officially entered the bittersweet portion of the Top Chef season. This was the second-to-last episode and the show is more compelling than ever, but it’s impossible to experience without acknowledging that we only have one more week of this.

What will I do?? Talk to my family or some crap? Ugh!

This episode began with host Padma Lakshmi coming to the cheftestants’ doors before dawn for a surprise wake-up call. As Dawn opened the door, Padma cooed “that’s a very nice caftan,” in that perfect mean girl way, where it’s impossible to tell whether she means it or she’s actually snickering to herself about how lame you are and making a mental note to ridicule you with her friends later. As if the cooking part wasn’t hard enough, now they have supermodels coming to your door at 5 am and critiquing your sleep outfit!? I would’ve stormed off the set.

The wake up turned out to be the introduction for a clam dig challenge because of course, anyone who knows anything about clams knows you have to wake up very early, to catch them while they’re still sluggish and groggy from the night before (something like that, I wasn’t really paying attention).

One thing this otherwise great season of Top Chef has been notably short on is double entendres. Padma loves ’em. She loves to talk about mouthfeel and having your greasy meat in her mouth and whatnot while making direct eye contact and just daring you to acknowledge it. Anyway, there haven’t been many this season, but it seemed like they finally tried to compensate this episode by packing all of them into a single challenge. The first thing Brooke Williamson, who was acting as clam sherpa for the day, said on camera was “Gapers are the largest, you’ll see a large hole and then you’re gonna have to dig down like three feet,” which was so sexual-sounding that the “your mom” was basically implied.

Gapers, butter clams — by the time they started talking about cockles it didn’t even register. Shota won that challenge partly on the basis of his “fried outer rims.” It was glorious.

After that, it was time for a Dungeness crab challenge, inspired by James Beard, who was apparently both a Portlander and a crab lover. Alice Waters, a close friend of Beard’s, came on for a brief pep talk via Zoom. Holy hell is there any universally acknowledged food authority as mysterious as Alice Waters? The ratio of times I’ve heard her name or her referenced vs. how many times I’ve seen her cook or even eat or judge on one of these shows has to be like a thousand to one at this point. She’s the Wizard Of Oz of California Cuisine. My favorite line of her Wikipedia entry: “She claims, enigmatically, that food is a way of life and not just something to eat.”

Anyway, the challenge was to cook Dungeness crab two ways, hot and cold, for like 15 people. And boy, if you thought the cheddar cheese five ways challenge from last week was hard, I’d love to introduce you to the Dungeness crab. As someone who lived in San Francisco for 10 years, I’ve eaten lots of Dungeness crab. We used to go to Scoma’s on the wharf for garlic roasted crab every time my dad came to visit.

Dungeness crabs are delicious (when they’re very fresh, anyway, less-than-fresh ones are basically inedible) but they’re probably the most pain-in-the-ass food to clean of all time. They don’t just have a big pocket of lump meat in the middle like a blue crab. My favorite way to eat them is whole in the shell (which isn’t very cheffy) and the best-case scenario there is you finish the night just barely full and fully covered in butter grease from your fingertips to your elbows (I contend that the effort makes them taste better). The very idea of having to de-shell enough Dungeness crabs to feed 15 people and make two dishes gives me anxiety.

Anyway, on to the rankings. Now, the reality is, I think this show is very close to a pick ’em at this point. That’s part of why it’s been so exciting. In my heart of hearts I’d love to rank the remaining three in a tie for the lead, but… that would be the coward’s ranking. I’m no coward. I rate Top Chef contestants come rain, snow, sleet, or hail. I’m going to put some numbers by these contestants because that’s my calling.

But just know that I know that they’re probably going to turn out wrong.

RANKINGS:

3. (even) Dawn Burrell

AKA: Legs. Breaking Dawn. Coco Chanel. Milk Carton. The Sphynx. Zeus. Flamethrower.

Notable Critiques: “She has a bad habit of these whimsical garnishes that don’t add anything to the dish.” “James Beard would love this dish.” “This is a delicious, delicious bowl of food.” “I want something else to sop it up with.”

Yes, Dawn once again left a component off a dish, this time the “showstopper” potatoes that she intended to go in her “Pacific Northwest-style crab boil.” But then, so did everyone else this week. Like I said, Dungeness is hard.

The milk carton potatoes led to a bit of a conundrum for Dawn. Would she be able to stay silent through all the complaints about “I wish I had something to sop up this broth with” to avoid the inevitable criticisms about forgetting another component? Or would she be compelled to defend her conceptualizing skills and point out, no, I’m not an idiot, of course I wanted you to have something to sop it up with.

In the end, she chose the latter, and it worked out, just barely, in that she didn’t get sent home, missing potatoes and unnecessary garnishes notwithstanding. The judges just couldn’t bear it. They loved her cashew crab soup and Pacific Northwest-style crab boil too much for that.

By the way, I’m pretty sure “Pacific Northwest-style crab boil” is called Cioppino, and this episode illustrated exactly why I kind of hate it. You’re gonna serve me delicious crab inside a delicious, boiling-hot, tomato-based soup that I have to reach my whole hands into in order to dig out the meat? That’s not a delicacy it’s a practical joke.

2. (-1) Gabe Erales

AKA: Good Gabe. Canelo. Fozzy. The Foz. The Masa Father. Jamón. Steady Eddie. Susan Lucci.

Notable Critiques: “I think he did a great job here.” “I could not love this dish any more.” “The sauce for me would’ve been delicious if it wasn’t so Jerusalem artichoke-forward.”

Even though last week’s episode led me to believe that it would be the last quickfire challenge, it was nice to see Big Fozzy finally win a quickfire in this episode, for his “sopa de mariscos with gently-poached gapers.” Hee hee! Sorry, if you can see or hear the word “gaper” and not giggle about it you’re a better person than I. I always like to spit in a gaper before I eat it. Sorry, sorry, I’ll stop.

So Gabe served up a Dungeness crab and lobster mushroom soup dish for his “cold” component, which the judges loved. Despite the fact that it wasn’t, you know, actually cold. Then he served up some crab fat tortillas with mole coloradito, which the judges also loved, though they were split on whether it had too much Jerusalem artichoke flavor or just the right amount. (Honestly, in this day and age, who can say?)

All the while, Gabe’s prep was full of drama — about whether he could get his tortillas finished in time, about whether he could do it without a rolling pin, etc. In the end, he used the wine bottle method and it turned out fine, except that he left his tortillas too close to the stove and the linen melted into one of them, leaving him exactly one tortilla short. Which made the judges’ table a battle between Gabe’s missing tortilla and too much artichoke vs. Dawn’s missing potatoes and too much garnish. How do you choose??

The judges punted, and I can’t say I blame them. Gabe certainly could win, as evidenced by his quickfire win in this very episode, but I get the sense that things like his crab fat tortilla might be more “clever” and neat-sounding than straight-up delicious. Hence why he seems to finish second so often. Gabe certainly has a shot to win, but based on past performance the odds have to be on him coming in second again.

1. (+1) Shota Nakajima

AKA: Beavis. Big Gulps.

Notable Critiques: “I thought it was perfect, I just wanted more.” “To put sushi two ways on a menu and only serve one, I don’t think that that’s acceptable.” “Did you taste how much crab flavor Shota got into this braised daikon?”

Shota seemed to realize that embracing rather than soft-pedaling his Japanese techniques would be the more likely path to victory and it seems to have served him well. True, he didn’t win the quickfire, for his sake yuzu poached butter clams with fried outer rims, but he also was cooking while injured from a shucking injury. Don’t shuck angry, bro.

A non-injured Shota then ran away with the elimination challenge, despite advertising a sushi two ways that transformed into a sushi one way before service, thanks to the magic of over-vinegared rice that Shota refused to serve. This seemed like a canny, veteran move on Shota’s part. He correctly surmised that just leaving out a promised component rather than serve it would force the judges to critique him on the grounds of “delicious but not enough,” rather than “here’s a cooking skill you screwed up.” And that would make them sound too bitchy and nitpicking for even Top Chef judges to tolerate of themselves.

It worked beautifully, though it seemed to help that Shota’s braised daikon dish was a home run. How can you nitpick a missing sushi with your mouth full of some bomb-ass braised daikon? Can’t do it, bro, not gonna happen.

And so, Shota took home the win in the last episode before the finale. Does that mean Shota will have the momentum? I don’t know if momentum is even a thing with this show, but I did notice that the tease for the next episode promised a four-course tasting menu challenge. That’s nothing unexpected or particularly new, but you have to think that with his kaiseki background the format would benefit Shota.

Either way, I can’t wait. If you’ve read these rankings before you know that I’m not a pure shill, but I have to say: this season has been wonderful. I had to get up to do stuff in the middle of this week’s watch and it was hard to pull myself away. I was too damn riveted!

Anyway, until next week — keep diggin’ those clams and be sure to keep the sand out of your gapers.

Vince Mancini is on Twitter. You can access his archive of reviews here.

My husband was working out in our front yard, wearing an N95 mask, when a man driving by gestured to his face and yelled, “Take it off!”

I’ve seen anti-maskers. I’ve heard their arguments for not wearing a mask in the middle of a viral pandemic. I know they think they don’t work, or that they actually make you sick, or that they’re a way for the government to control our behavior, or [fill-in-the-blank conspiracy theory]. But I wish I could bring that guy back and show him what he was actually yelling at.

My husband wasn’t wearing a mask for COVID, you see. He was mixing concrete to fix our front steps. He’s always worn an N95 mask when he does home improvement projects that involve fine particulate dust, as he values his lung health. In fact, that’s why we had a stash of N95s that we were able to donate to medical workers early in the pandemic.

Telling my husband to take off his mask in that case was just flat-out dumb. But honestly, shaming people for wearing a mask for any reason is dumb.

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We’re in a weird time of the pandemic where mask-wearing for COVID reasons is a question mark for a lot of us. On the one hand, the CDC says those who are vaccinated can ditch the masks. On the other hand, those who aren’t vaccinated are also largely ditching their masks—if they ever wore one to begin with—which means the virus will still spread. We also have new variants emerging that pose a greater threat to unvaccinated people, including children who can’t get the vaccine and immunocompromised people for whom the vaccine may not produce as strong of an immune response as desired.

And while we’re making good headway in mitigating the pandemic in the U.S., it’s certainly not over. It’s not like masking is a bad idea at this point; it’s just not necessary if you’re vaccinated and healthy. If people still want to wear a mask for themselves or for others, more power to them. Unlike NOT wearing a mask during an uncontrolled pandemic, wearing one poses no harm to anyone. It’s nobody’s business if someone else chooses to wear a mask.

Plus, there are many, many reasons people might choose to continue wearing a mask, even if they are fully vaccinated. Maybe they have other health issues. Maybe they have a condition that makes the vaccine less effective.

He wrote a “death letter” early in the pandemic when his doctors warned him if he got COVID he wouldn’t make it, se… https://t.co/MNWAJ4s8Or

— Soo Youn (@lalasoo)
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Check out the experience of someone who has been wearing a mask in public since 2014 due to health issues.

“Pre-covid ppl were nice about my mask,” they wrote. “In the past year I’ve been yelled at, coughed on and spit at for wearing a mask”

Absolutely ridiculous.

@Hazel_Hopes @lalasoo Before the pandemic, people saw these things as sympathetic. “That will never be me”. Now it’… https://t.co/WQEz8J5kwg

— rafael (he/they) (@rae_hollister)
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And approaching a stranger’s child, who not only isn’t old enough to have gotten a vaccine but who also has immune issues, and telling them they don’t need to wear a mask anymore? Uh uh. Nope. Not okay.

@NBL2006 @lalasoo I will never understand how people can be so bold. My kid is unvaccinated, like all children, and… https://t.co/MGx9J4pu0V

— Mark… Not that one. (@DadHound)
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Someone else wearing a mask does not impact you in any way. If someone wants to or needs to wear a mask, they are free to do so—and they don’t even have to explain their reasoning.

@lalasoo I’m so tired of people believing only they have freedoms. The same “freedom” that grants them the right no… https://t.co/JQfkBUbFCT

— Patricia, NOT “Disgraced Ex-President Donald T.” (@theshrk22)
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You would think that after a year and a half of global pandemic and 600,000 deaths in the U.S. alone, there wouldn’t be any controversy over people masking. I even know people who say they’re going to continue wearing masks during cold and flu season because it was so nice to not get sick this year.

I lived in Japan more than 20 years ago, and it was commonplace to see people wearing masks in public places because they had a cold and didn’t want to pass it on to others. That kind of thoughtfulness and concern for others’ health completely blew my American mind. The contrast with people here now shaming others for wearing a mask is really something.

Maybe the key is to wear a mask that the even most hardened anti-masker can’t complain about, like this American flag mask.

@lalasoo @_TheSydneyA I am immunocompromised (kidney transplant – 12 years). The best solution I’ve found is this f… https://t.co/GuD20kLPO7

— El Nieve (@mrfrsty)
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“Why are you wearing a mask?”

“Because I love my country. Why do you hate America?”

Maybe it could work.

The bottom line is there are dozens of reasons people might be wearing a mask at this point, pandemic or no pandemic, and it is none of your business if they are. The guy who yelled at my husband made himself look like a fool, but honestly, so does every person who shames someone for wearing a mask. No one needs your opinion on choices that don’t affect you, so just stop.

The Dallas Mavericks are in need of completely new leadership in both the basketball operations department and at the head coaching position after the firing/resigning of GM Donnie Nelson and Rick Carlisle last week — moves that came after a bombshell report of dysfunction in the organization, including frustrations involving Luke Doncic.

Carlisle has already found new employment in a familiar spot as he’s returned to Indiana where he coached the Pacers from 2003-2007, and the longtime coach had some thoughts on who the Mavs should hire, saying he thinks Jason Kidd would be a great fit with Doncic. The Mavs seem to agree with their ex-head coach, as ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Tim MacMahon reported on Thursday that the team was closing in on a GM hire, with Jason Kidd emerging as a frontrunner to be the next head coach in Dallas.

Who knows who this mystery GM is, but they are apparently on board with the Kidd hire, which is important. It’s a bit odd that the GM name isn’t being reported here but Kidd’s name is, but so it goes sometimes in the newsbreaking world — the expectation for many has been that Michael Finley will be elevated to GM, which would be a solid explanation of how Cuban has already had this conversation with him, but that’s just speculation for the moment.

Kidd hasn’t been a head coach since he was fired by the Bucks in 2018, but he played for the Mavs from 2007-2011 and is quite familiar with the organization. He has most recently spent time in L.A. as an assistant with Frank Vogel and figured to get a job this cycle, even after turning down the Blazers job publicly.

UPDATE: Per Marc Stein of the New York Times, Kidd and the Mavs have entered contract negotiations — while the GM to be remains a mystery.

Derek Godwin, 51, is a lifelong Philadelphia Eagles fan who has never been able to make it to a game. He’s lived his entire life in Ocean City, Maryland where he works as a foreman at the city’s Convention Center and is looking forward to retiring soon.

One of the main reasons he hasn’t been able to attend a game in person is that his daughter, Dayona, who recently graduated college, played basketball throughout high school and college and during football season, he was always at her games.

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But all that will change soon after Derek received the most wonderful gift from his daughter and wife for Father’s Day, two tickets to the Eagles game versus Washington at FedEx field in Landover, Maryland in week 17.

They chose to get tickets to an away game because it’s a closer drive than going to Philadelphia. the after and daughter are going to see the game together.

Derek had the best reaction when he opened up the gift and saw the tickets.

My dad has been an Eagles fan his whole entire life and he’s never been to an NFL game let alone an Eagles game…. W… https://t.co/0yWT56dNbv

— Day💕 (@d_godwin32)
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https://t.co/hVzjVDpbns

— Day💕 (@d_godwin32)
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“Stop playing,” an emotional Derek said as he opened the tickets. The tickets were accompanied by a letter written by Dayona.

“I wanted to start off by saying how much of an amazing father you are and I am just so blessed and grateful to have someone like you to show me what a man is supposed to be and how I deserve to be treated,” she wrote.

“You’ve been an Eagles fan for a long time …longer than I’ve been born and you’ve never been to an Eagles game,” she added, “and every year I’ve been saying ‘we’re going to eagles game we’re going to eagles game’ but unfortunately basketball has always been in the way.”

At the end of the letter, she directed her father to turn the page over to see where the seats are and they’re incredible, 45-yard line, field-level about ten rows from the front. It’d be hard to find a better seat in the entire stadium.

A tweet of Derek’s reaction to getting the tickets went viral and inspired some great responses. A lot of people shared memories of going to games with their fathers.

Dayona told the Philadelphia Inquirer that the tickets were a way of saying thank you for his sacrifices over all those years. “He just prioritized me, along with my mom. They were committed to just being there supporting me doing everything I had to do,” Dayona said. “He put his wants to the side for me.”

Her dad is over the moon to go to the game.

“He’s just super excited. You’d think he was a little kid on Christmas just opening his presents,” Dayona said. “Making my dad happy is everything.”

A lot of talking heads have remarked that we live in a post-truth era. In 2016, the Oxford Dictionary defined it as “Relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief.”

Media bias, political microtargeting, social media, fake news websites, Donald Trump, and man’s innate desire to prefer being right over correct, have all unwillingly conspired to create a society where people cling to tribal beliefs, regardless of their validity.

This has resulted in a social milieu where conspiracy theories have become mainstream. Sure, they’ve always been around, but they seem to have recently graduated from the basement to the mainstream.

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Open up Facebook and you’re sure to find a post from someone about QAnon, flat-Earth theory, pizzagate, faked moon landings, false-flag shootings, 9/11 truth, Bill Gates’ microchips, and Birds Aren’t Real.

Yep, Birds Aren’t Real is a thing. A pretty big one, too. Birds Aren’t Real has over 300,000 followers on Instagram and 66,000 on Twitter. Plus, there are local Birds Aren’t Real chapters sprouting up all over the U.S.

The theory postulates that in the ’50s, the CIA began killing off America’s bird population and replacing them with flying surveillance robots. Birds Aren’t Real estimates there are currently 12 billion birds watching us from above.

The group recently held a rally in the non-specific town of Springfield.

It released a video that proves the conspiracy theory has been around since the ’80s.

Birds Aren’t Real 1987

www.youtube.com

Members have spoken out publicly about their beliefs.

It’s also ruining Thanksgiving.

However, it’s pretty clear that Birds Aren’t Real isn’t an actual conspiracy theory. Rather, a piece of comedic performance art revealing how ridiculous ideas take hold in the post-truth era.

Its de facto leader Peter McIndoe won’t tell you that it’s a fake conspiracy, at least not overtly.

“That’s one of the saddest things, that people consider that this could be some sort of mass-improvisational performance, or some sort of showcasing, highlighting a new era we’ve entered into as a society where anything can be true,” he told Newsweek. “Even if [the movement being satirical] was the case, you really wouldn’t even be able to tell.”

He thinks that if it were a parody movement, it could help people cope with living in absurd times.

“I think if it were a parody movement, that might be a point it was trying to make, or maybe, allowing people to cope with those types of presences in our society in a way where you can come together and laugh about the absurdity of a post-truth era, because it’s a horrifying thing,” he said. “The thing is, we’re not that, though.”

While for many, the conspiracy theory is a way to shine a light on the ridiculous conspiracy theories corrupting society, McIndoe claims he isn’t stopping until all of the birds are culled from the sky.

“The end to this project would only exist in the case of societal acceptance and shutting down the 12 billion robot birds that currently swarm the skies of our nation,” McIndoe said, tongue planted firmly in cheek.

Okay, Netflix. You may have actually done the impossible and intrigued me enough to want to watch a stupid dating show.

I generally loathe vapid reality shows and roll my eyes at dating series like The Bachelor and The Bachelorette. Call me old-fashioned, but the idea of gathering a group of conventionally attractive prospects, dating them all at once on camera, and then publicly weeding them out feels super gross to me.

So what makes Netflix’s “Sexy Beasts” different? Well, just watch:

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No, you’re not hallucinating. SEXY BEASTS is a new dating show that uses cutting edge prosthetics to put true blind… https://t.co/3UAyLA1gbb

— Netflix UK & Ireland (@NetflixUK)
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Come on. That’s so dumb. But at the same time, it looks just ridiculous enough to be entertaining and just mysterious enough to be intriguing.

I mean, it looks horrible. Like, “Is this really what humanity has decided to do with all of its evolution and tech advances?” kind of horrible. And yet here I am, contemplating whether or not I’ll watch.

I feel like I’m being trolled, but I’m enjoying it. Even Netflix UK & Ireland seemed to troll their own share of the preview, which would be perfectly appropriate considering the absurdity of it all.

The quote tweet function was truly built for this moment.

— Netflix UK & Ireland (@NetflixUK)
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“This is cursed and I love it,” is surely the most accurate reflection of most people’s reaction honest reaction to the idea.

@BreeWilkinson_ Correct response.

— Netflix UK & Ireland (@NetflixUK)
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It’s not like we don’t know we’re being baited. We totally do and we totally are and for some reason we don’t even care. It’s like the pandemic took away all of the filters we’d normally use to weed out such shenanigans from our lives and left us with nothing but “OH WHY NOT.”

I admit it. I’m intrigued. Not really knowing what someone looks like adds a twist to the traditional dating show, but making them look like outrageous creatures and characters takes it to a whole other level.

The amount of makeup time seems absolutely ludicrous, of course. They could have just put bags over people’s heads. But where’s the fun in that?

Some people have pointed out that the contestants still appear to be conventionally attractive, at least as far as body size and shape goes. So it’s not *just* personality that people will be assessing on these dates. Fair point.

@ladyriven @netflix Thank you! That’s always been my issue with these shows.

“I was so nervous. I wasn’t sure if s… https://t.co/lc8iEWHK30

— Chris Hodges (aka StealthMantis) (@TheChiScroller)
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Again, it’s so dumb. Absolutely ridiculous. And yet, I may actually watch one episode. Maybe just half of one. I can’t help it.

And as I say that, I’m feeling this reaction real hard.

Here I was thinking I was above such basic manipulation, but apparently, I was wrong. I didn’t even cave to The Tiger King craze—not even one episode—but one weird furry-wanna-be-meets-The-Bachelor preview and I’m a goner.

Damn it, Netflix. Thanks for yanking me straight down the tube.

If you visit craft breweries during the summer months, you’ll likely see at least one Saison option (though sometimes they’ll be referred to as “farmhouse ales”). The Belgian staple is a pale ale that’s traditionally brewed in the winter and spring for drinking in the summer season. That means this beer style is literally designed for this time of year.

The craft behind this beer is the use of unique yeast strains, often Brettanomyces, to add a little funk, while keeping things light. The beer is a classic ale that’s then refermented in the bottle to create a serious layer of effervescence, dryness, and lightness — hence, its summer crushability. The traditional beers from Belgium will have an airy nature that’s usually counterpointed by a farmhouse vibe (dry or green straw on the lighter end and conjuring wet goat on the hefty end), with orchard fruits, tart creams, and floral or dank hops driving the rest of the flavor profile.

One of our all-time favorite beers, Saison DuPont, is the ultimate example of the style. Most American brewers will use DuPont as their touchstone while adding fruity flavors to make their versions more enjoyable for the American palate. Today, we’re naming eight American craft-brewed Saisons that pay homage to the originals.

If you want to give these craft brews a shot, click on the prices to see if they’re available in your area.

Goose Island Sofie

ABV: 6.5%

Average Price: $14 (six-pack)

The Beer:

There’s a reason this is one of the most popular Belgian-style farmhouse ales on the market. Brewed with Amarillo hops as well as 2-row and Pilsen malts, alongside malted wheat, it’s wine-barrel aged with tart, zesty orange peels. The result is an effervescent, crisp, refreshing beer that more resembles a fine Champagne than a classic beer.

Tasting Notes:

There are notes of fresh berries, orange peels, and a nice subtle kick of cracked black pepper. The palate is more of the same with hints of citrus zest, dried fruits, more pepper, and just a bit of acidity to make you remember this is a wine-barrel-aged beer.

Bottom Line:

For fans of white wine or super crisp beers, this is a perfect choice for a summer evening sipper. It’s tart, thirst-quenching, and unique in the best possible way.

Great Divide Collette

ABV: 6.5%

Average Price: $11 (six-pack)

The Beer:

Great Divide brewed Collette to pay tribute to the classic Saisons of Belgium. It’s the type of beer that you’d imagine a farmer drinking 100 years ago. It’s brewed using simple ingredients that include rice, wheat, and barley before being fermented with four different yeast strains. The result is a tart, dry, and very fruity beer you won’t soon forget.

Tasting Notes:

A lot is going on with this beer’s nose. There’s a strong presence of sweet malts, funky wheat, bananas, and citrus zest. It’s all rounded out with a nice combination of spicy hops. Sipping this beer reveals flavors of lemon zest, caramel malts, tart berries, and a nice, pleasing bitter hop finish.

Bottom Line:

When it comes to farmhouse ales, this is a little sweeter than most and that’s not such a bad thing. It’s still the type of beer you’ll want to drink after a heavy meal, regardless of whether you work on a farm or not.

Two Roads Worker’s Comp

ABV: 4.8%

Average Price: $11 (six-pack)

The Beer:

This American take on the Belgian classic is brewed with oats, rye, barley, and wheat. Everything is brought together by a flavorful yeast strain. All of this combines to create a beer that’s brimming with spicy, fruity, and floral flavors.

Tasting Notes:

On the nose, you’re treated to the scents of citrus zest, cracked black pepper, and subtle cooking spices. The flavor is filled with fermented flavors like old banana and orange peels as well as caramel malts. This is all tempered by a crisp, slightly tart finish.

Bottom Line:

This is a sessionable (lower ABV), highly crushable beer well-suited for hot summer days.

Ommegang Hennepin

ABV: 7.7%

Average Price: $10 (750ml bottle)

The Beer:

Situated outside Cooperstown, New York, Ommegang has the appearance of an authentic Belgium brewery, and its beers follow suit. One of its best beers is Hennepin, the brewery’s Americanized take on the traditional Belgium farmhouse ale. It gets its unmistakable flavor from the addition of ginger, orange peel, grains of paradise, and coriander.

Tasting Notes:

This nose is extremely complicated. There are aromas of orange peels, coriander, crisp pears, and just a hint of spicy pepper. Sipping this beer will propel you into a world of citrus zest, more coriander, sweet ginger, and caramel malts, that all wraps up perfectly with a slightly acidic, subtly bitter finish.

Bottom Line:

Ommegang made its name by crafting authentic Belgian-style beers. While this beer is a great example of the style, it still falls very much in the Americanized category with all those adjuncts added in to goose the flavor profile.

Lagunitas Sonomica

ABV: 8.2%

Average Price: $13 (four-pack)

The Beer:

Lagunitas is well-known for its signature hopped-up IPAs. So, it should come as no surprise that it went all out when crafting its version of a farmhouse ale. It gets its tart funk from Brettanomyces yeast and is aged in former red wine oak barrels. The result is a slightly acidic, sour, crisp beer that you’ll want to sip on all summer long.

Tasting Notes:

The nose is completely funky with scents of tart grapes, crisp apples, wet grass, and lemon rinds. The flavor is tangy, tart, and filled with sour apple, dried fruits, and funky yeasty flavor. The finish is a great combination of fruity sweetness and tart cherries.

Bottom Line:

If you’re an avid Lagunitas fan, you might be shocked by the flavor when you crack open a bottle of Sonomica. But you’ll quickly realize that there’s more to the brand than hop-bombs.

Stillwater Cellar Door

ABV: 6.6%

Average Price: $10 (four-pack)

The Beer:

Founded in 2010, Stillwater is a nomadic beer project that’s based in Baltimore. Over the years, it’s garnered numerous awards for its high-quality beers. One of its best is Cellar Door, a farmhouse ale that is anything by boring. Unlike many of the farmhouse ales on this list, Stillwater’s version breaks from the norm by dry-hopping and then steeping the beer with Jordanian sage tea.

Tasting Notes:

The nose is particularly bold on this beer. There are strong aromas of pine needles, lemon zest, subtle herbs, and a backbone of sage. The flavor is full of caramel malts, citrus peels, more sage, and a nice sweet, fruity, subtly bitter finish. The flavors are complex and diverse. It’s the kind of beer you’ll need to drink more than once in order to find everything.

Bottom Line:

If you’re not a fan of sage, this definitely isn’t the beer for you. Otherwise, crack one open and revel in the myriad other flavors that complement the herbal notes.

Off Color Apex Predator

ABV: 6.5%

Average Price: $10 (four-pack)

The Beer:

This 6.5 percent ABV farmhouse ale lives up to its moniker with the addition of Pils malts and flaked wheat supported by Crystal and Sterling hops. It’s made using free rise fermentation utilizing traditional Belgian Saison yeast. It’s then dry-hopped to add floral, crisp flavors.

Tasting Notes:

This beer doesn’t smell like any of the other farmhouse ales on this list. There’s a lot of floral, hoppy aromas as well as spruce, citrus zest, and sour, wine-like grapes. The palate is a nice mixture of sweet and tart with citrus, tropical fruits, bright hops, and tangy grapes taking center stage.

Bottom Line:

This is a great beer for fans of hoppy beers who’d like to try farmhouse ales. It has a nice, tangy, tart acidity that pairs well with its notable hoppy presence.

Prairie Standard

ABV: 5.6%

Average Price: $11 (four-pack)

The Beer:

This beer is touted as a “Hoppy Farmhouse Ale” and, when you crack one open, this is exactly what you’ll find. This beer bridges multiple continents and time zones. It starts as a classic Belgian-style farmhouse ale before being dry-hopped in Oklahoma using Motueka hops from New Zealand. The result is a tart, subtly spicy citrus, and hop-filled beer.

Tasting Notes:

You’ll find scents of banana, caramelized pineapple, slight bread, and dried hay in the nose. Lemon zest, caramel malts, floral hops, and a good deal of funky yeast flavor are present from the first sip. It all ends with a nice mixture of sweetness, spice, and funk that will leave you craving more.

Bottom Line:

The addition of Motueka hops takes this farmhouse ale and kicks it up to another level. The floral, subtly bitter flavor pairs well with the tart, funky yeast flavor.

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It may feel like it was years ago that Rudy Giuliani gave a hastily-planned speech next to a sex shop outside of Philadelphia claiming without proof that various election conspiracy theories stole the presidency from Donald Trump. Time is funny that way, but it was barely more than six months ago that Giuliani went on a long string of embarrassing public displays on Trump’s behalf as his personal lawyer.

All of that is over now, as on Thursday he officially had his law license suspended because of all the “Big Lie” shenanigans. Plenty of people had fun with the news that Giuliani was no longer allowed to practice law. But the company that saw first and foremost what may prove to be his biggest disasterpiece certainly had a blast making a photoshop to go along with the news on Thursday.

The Twitter account for Four Seasons Total Landscaping, the company where Giuliani held court and sparked a viral explosion of jokes, posted an image of Giuliani’s face plastered onto someone riding a lawnmower and dropped a landscaping joke to boot.

The “Make America Rake Again” is a nice touch, too. But more than anything, it’s a reminder of just how absurd Giuliani’s laundry list of claims and wild public appearances has been in such a short time. America’s Mayor went from a respected political official to Trump’s coronavirus-addled mouthpiece in a matter of weeks, and the Four Seasons Landscaping saga — where he almost certainly held an impromptu press conference in front of a lawn care company’s garage because he promised a presser at a ‘Four Seasons’ in Philly — was certainly among the most notable of incidents. But unlike all of the apparent proof of a master crime done on behalf of Joe Biden, at least Giuliani actually did what he said he was going to do back in November.

You know, kind of.