Maxine Waters isn’t the only one who dressed down Jim Jordan on Thursday after the congressman peppered Dr. Fauci with relentless questions about when Americans will stop having their freedom and liberties “assaulted.” Jimmy Kimmel devoted the opening of his monologue (beginning after the 1:00 mark) to slamming the “shaved ape from Ohio” for forcing Fauci to “endure his relentless stupidity,” and the late night host didn’t hold back.
“You know who else was assaulted? Those wrestlers when you were their coach at Ohio State,” Kimmel said, earning an audible reaction from behind the cameras. “I guess you didn’t notice that, but go on.”
After playing another clip of Jordan continuing to berate Fauci and demand what the “objective” or acceptable number is for Americans to get their freedom back, Kimmel went to work schooling the Republican senator and anyone else who’s rejecting the advice of medical experts:
“Listen, meathead. First of all, Dr. Fauci hasn’t assaulted anyone. All of a sudden he cares about people being assaulted. And, secondly, doing squats at 24-Hour Fitness doesn’t make you a healthy expert. Look, I’ve said this before, and I think it’s worth repeating. All the doctors tell you to wear masks and be careful and that the vaccine is safe. So if you decide it isn’t, well, that’s fine. Don’t get it. But you’re not allowed to go to the doctors anymore. Why would you? They don’t know anything. Go treat your gonorrhea with witch hazel and a cotton swab.”
Not content with just one jab at Jordan’s scandalous tenure as the Ohio State wrestling coach, Kimmel took one more shot to wrap his thoughts on Jordan’s meltdown. “Dr. Fauci, this guy has been doing this forever. He’s giving his very educated opinions. The closest Jim Jordan ever got to being an infectious disease is contracting scabies on a wrestling mat,” Kimmel declared.
The mint julep is an iconic American cocktail. It’s also very much tied to the Kentucky Derby and Southern American culture, in general. The drink dates all the way back to the early 1800s, when “juleps” were still considered medicinal applications with herbs, floral waters, and booze (mostly brandy and rum back then), plus a little sugar to make it palatable.
The modern mint julep — an elixir of sugar, mint, and bourbon — was dialed in over the years and falls in the “smash” category of cocktails, along with drinks like the whiskey smash and the mojito.
The brilliance of this drink is that it’s very simple at its core but takes some real technique to do just right. You’ll need crushed ice, muddling skills, and way more mint than you’d first guess. Other than that, this is a pretty quick cocktail to make as long as you have everything ready. It’s super refreshing. And it’s an excellent vehicle to really highlight some nice bourbon.
Fresh mint (six leaves for cocktail and more for garnish)
Crushed ice
Woodford Reserve (grab a bottle here) is the official bourbon of the Kentucky Derby. So, it makes sense to go with that. Plus, Woodford Reserve’s standard bourbon is pretty damn tasty on its own. So you know you’re in good hands.
Let’s talk about the sugar for a moment. You can 100 percent use simple bar syrup in this drink to really speed up the preparation. In that case, use about 0.5-oz. of simple instead of the sugar cubes. For me, that takes away from the granulated sugar vibe at the bottom of the drink. This drink is meant to be sipped slowly. So by the time you get to the bottom of the drink, the sugar should have fully dissolved. I like to use raw sugar cane cubes. They have a little more of a molasses sweetness and tend to crush and dissolve a little more easily than a standard white sugar cube.
You should use fresh spearmint if you can find it. That being said, I used standard mint and it was fine. I ended up using six mint leaves, plucked from the stem. But they were really big. If you have those smaller mint leaves (think the size of your thumbnail), you’ll need about ten or more.
Finally, there’s the ice. Shaved ice and hand-crushed ice is the fancy way to make this drink. Standard crushed ice works perfectly fine. What’s happening — and what makes this such a great hot-weather cocktail — is that the crushed ice creates a ton of surface area that then refreezes. That extra surface area gets the cocktail so cold, it dips below the freezing point and stops the ice melt for quite a while. That makes this drink a great, long-sipping cocktail.
It also helps with the frosting over the glass, which is nice and chilly to touch.
What You’ll Need:
Collins glass, large lowball glass, or a pewter cup
Muddler
Jigger
Barspoon
Metal straw
Zach Johnston
Method:
Add sugar cubes, water, and six whole mint leaves (no stems) to the bottom of the highball glass. Muddle to crush the sugar cubes, which will slightly grind the mint leaves which, in turn, releases their oils. Don’t over crush or grind — just muddle enough that the sugar cubes are broken up and form a nice base.
Add the bourbon and stir a few times just to marry all the flavors together.
Add enough crushed ice to fill the glass about two-thirds full.
Stir until well mixed and a frost starts to form on the outside of the vessel.
Top off with more crushed ice, creating a small dome. Use your palm to press down slightly, packing in the ice.
Make a small hole for the straw and mint with your barspoon.
Take a bouquet of mint (more than you think you’ll need), slap it on the back of your hand a couple of times to awaken the oils, and then place the mint and straw into the hole you made in the ice.
Serve.
Bottom Line:
Zach Johnston
This is amazingly refreshing. It also really lets the bourbon shine. You get all those Woodford bourbon notes of orange chocolates, spicy tobacco, and rich toffee while the mint counterpoints the whole experience. There’s a reason you put that bouquet of mint with the straw. You really want to amp up the olfactory experience of the fresh mint oils to prime your senses before you sip, adding a deeper, minty dimension to the drink.
The sugar is definitely there and reminds you that if you drink too many of these the hangover tomorrow morning will be real. But again, it isn’t overwhelming. It’s more of a nice touch that takes the edge off the bourbon and sweetens the mint, rather than the star (as it is in some tiki-style drinks).
Look at that frost forming. That’s refreshment right there. Try one this weekend or early next week. Caring about the derby is optional.
Zach Johnston
Sometimes, you’ll see this made with a few dashes of Angostura bitters either in the cocktail or over the ice. It’s completely unnecessary. If you want to add some bitters, go for it! But, it’ll take away from the magic simplicity of this cocktail.
I can definitely see sitting back, watching the horses, and downing a few of these as the day races by.
If you were ever wondering how to make an album, Atlanta rising star JID recently shared his version of an instruction manual, posting a photo dump of behind-the-scenes glimpses of the recording sessions for his upcoming album, The Forever Story. “This is how u make an album,” he wrote in the slideshow’s caption. The slideshow itself captures plenty of in-studio shots and shenanigans with collaborators like fellow Spillage Village member 6lack, Compton rapper Buddy, Florida rebel Denzel Curry, DMV area genre-bender Rico Nasty, and St. Louis space poet Smino.
Meanwhile, in his efforts to tide fans over until the new album is completed, JID has been releasing freestyles like “Cludder Freestyle” and “JIDtranada Freestyle“; remixes like the Denzel Curry collaboration “Bruuuh,” the updated Spillage Village track “Baptized” with Deante’ Hitchcock, IDK, and Flatbush Zombies, and the explosive Conway The Machine track “Scatter Brain” with Ludacris; and his own standalone single, “Skegee,” which sheds light on a dark corner of American history.
The Forever Story, whose title references JID’s debut album The Never Story, will be the dynamic rapper’s first full-length solo release since 2018’s DiCaprio 2. In the meantime, however, he could be found giving standout performances on group efforts like 2019’s Dreamville compilation Revenge Of The Dreamers III and 2020’s Spillage Village excursion, Spilligion.
Check out JID’s behind-the-scenes slideshow above.
MEGA-SPOILERS for ‘The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’ will be found below.
This season’s penultimate The Falcon and the Winter Soldier episode gave us many notable moments. We saw a tear-producing follow-up conversation between Isaiah Bradley (the Black Captain America) and Sam Wilson. We learned that Bucky is persona non grata (at least for awhile) in Wakanda. We also learned that Zemo’s dancing days are over (although we’ll always have the Zemo Cut) after the Dora Milaje came to fetch him and settle the score for his crimes against King T’Chaka.
Disney+
The show kept things light during moments, like when Sam wasn’t too happy when Bucky flirted with his sister, Sarah, although it’s easy to see where both guys are coming from here. No one would want their sister to date a formerly brainwashed, homicidal tool of HYDRA, yet Bucky is working hard on redemption and deserves some happiness. Few people would argue that point (or Sam’s weigh in), nor does anyone really dispute that the John Walker situation escalated at warp speed, and that last week’s development meant that an inevitable follow-up and consequences were coming.
Well, the new Captain America is dunzo. Walker got stripped of his duties after he flipped his lid and murdered a Flag Smasher (with the shield!) while the whole world was literally watching. That this happened in full public view and hurts the American image seems to be the biggest reason why the U.S. government’s pushing Walker out of his gig. And John suggested, chillingly, that he’s done what he was programmed to do as a soldier, which actually makes him an accurate representation of America.
Disney+
That led to this week’s most stunning development, which I would argue qualifies as the most surprising cameo appearance of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (obviously, Brad Pitt’s Deadpool 2 fly-in does not count, since that wasn’t MCU, and it was a Fox joint). It’s a truly surprising development — especially considering all of the speculation about some A-lister portraying Mephisto in WandaVision (which didn’t happen) and fans hoping that Chris Evans would (somehow?) cameo as Steve Rogers on this show — that no one would have seen coming. Keeping this one under wraps, even with Marvel Studios’ historic reputation for keeping things close to its sleeve, qualifies as an impressive accomplishment.
As John Walker attempted to process the loss of his Cap gig outside his no-good tribunal, a pair of boots approached, and it turned out to be the legendary Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine. You can call her “Val.”
Disney+Disney+Disney+
So, who is this Val person portrayed by the Veep and Seinfeld star? Vanity Fair reports that Marvel Studios originally wanted to debut the character in Black Widow, but those plans changed, even outside of any pandemic considerations.
In the comics, Val’s also been known as Madame Hydra, and she has a mysterious past with parents who were Leviathan sleeper agents. She’s been a leading S.H.I.E.L.D. member and once kicked Nick Fury’s ass during a training session. So, she’s probably telling the truth when she quips that those boots weren’t made for walking. One can imagine that we’ll be seeing more of Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, whether that happens in next week’s season finale or further down the MCU line.
Val seems to slide right into the story here, as mysterious as she appears to be, because she’s very aware of how Walker managed to stuff some super-soldier serum into his veins before going on last week’s rampage. Val informs Walker that he did the right thing, and taking the serum was the second best thing he’s ever done (because it makes him very valuable to interested parties). Then she tells him that the better move would be to answer her phone calls (he can’t call her because Val’s business card is blank).
What is Val doing on The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and might she actually be the mysterious Power Broker? If so, we should find out soon because next week is season finale time. In the alternative, it sure seems like Val could want to scoop up John because she’s very interested in his super-serum-infused ways. If that’s the case, she could be interested in recruiting some of Karli Morgenthau’s pals as well, although John and Karli would never be able to work together after the events of last week. Speaking of Karli, damn, she’s gathering her own forces via cell phone signal, so we will hopefully be able to see an are-they-good-or-bad conclusion for the Flag Smashers. And please, can we see Sharon Carter beating up more bad dudes, too? Then send Bucky to Aruba, please. It would be the greatest end to a TV season ever.
Disney+ streams new ‘The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’ episodes on Fridays.
This week’s episode of Indiecast kicks off with a discussion of the new collaborative track from Mick Jagger and Dave Grohl, a very goofy moment in rock history. The conversation then segues into the mailbag segment, which raises the question of which indie artists should follow in Taylor Swift’s footsteps to take another stab at their earlier material.
The main crux of this week’s episode revolves around new albums from The Armed and Greta Van Fleet, the former of which gets their name from being the most jacked band since Manowar. The latter? Not so much.
Both bands are indicative of a strange moment in the modern mainstream rock landscape, in ways that are almost diametrically opposed. The Armed evocative of the heyday of mainstream hard rock, one of the most commercially successful genres ever. Greta Van Fleet, on the other hand, are a band so preposterous that they become almost endearing and endlessly fun to engage with.
New episodes of Indiecast drop every Friday. Listen to Episode 35 on Apple Podcasts and Spotify below, and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts here. Stay up to date and follow us on Instagram and Twitter. We also recently launched a visualizer for our favorite Indiecast moments. Check those out here.
Chrissy Teigen crawled out of the chasm that is Twitter in late March. “This no longer serves me as positively as it serves me negatively, and I think that’s the right time to call something,” she tweeted as part of her farewell. “My life goal is to make people happy. The pain I feel when I don’t is too much for me. I’ve always been portrayed as the strong clap back girl but I’m just not.” She may not clap back, but she is back — on Twitter.
Less than a month after leaving the social media platform, Teigen announced her return on Friday. “Turns out it feels TERRIBLE to silence yourself and also no longer enjoy belly chuckles randomly throughout the day and also lose like 2000 friends at once lol,” she wrote. “I choose to take the bad with the good!!” When one of Teigen’s million-plus followers asked the author and television host, who was welcomed back by Chelsea Clinton and Rosanna Arquette, what she’s been up to during her Twitter sabbatical, she replied, “I’ve spent weeks just saying tweets to shampoo bottles.”
Let’s catch Chrissy Teigen up on everything she’s missed, beginning with this tweet:
Actually. That’s it. Nothing else good happened on Twitter. Leave while you still can.
turns out it feels TERRIBLE to silence yourself and also no longer enjoy belly chuckles randomly throughout the day and also lose like 2000 friends at once lol
Lil Nas X faced some criticism recently after a video of his mother begging for money surfaced. The rapper has yet to publicly address the video, but now his father has come to his defense.
In an Instagram post, Nas’ father, Robert Stafford, wrote that the rapper does provide for his parents and that when it comes to his mother’s struggles, a lack of support from Nas isn’t part of the problem. He wrote, “Despite what people say @lilnasx is the greatest kid a parent can be BLESSED with. Although his mom is in a struggle with an addiction she’s STILL a QUEEN and he goes through great lengths to make sure we’re taking care of. Those who have family members and friends dealing with addiction understands that there ain’t enough money you can throw at this situation to make it right. I dont usually address personal issues publicly but felt like this need to be. Please join us in keeping her in your PRAYERS. And to those out there trying to create a false story you wont prosper. #controlthenarrative”
In an early 2020 interview, Nas said of his mother, “I never really talk about my mom. She’s an addict so we don’t have the closest relationship. Even trying to get her better — things didn’t quite work out. But there’s still love. The biggest surprise of becoming globally famous? On the outside, everybody loves you — but on the inside, everything [feels] the same.”
Today marks the release of McCartney III Imagined, a new version of Paul McCartney’s 2020 album that features the record’s tracks reworked by an array of artists. He shared a few of these collaborations ahead of the album, but now that the album’s out, they’re all available, including Phoebe Bridgers’ version of “Seize The Day,” which is gentle but also a bit of a quiet storm.
Aside from Bridgers, the new album also features Anderson .Paak, Idris Elba, EOB (Ed O’Brien), Dominic Fike, St. Vincent, Damon Albarn, Beck, Khruangbin, Josh Homme, 3D RDN (of Massive Attack), and Blood Orange.
In a 2020 interview with Rolling Stone, presumably before she got the call to work with McCartney, she declared that she doesn’t much care for classic rock but that John Lennon is far and away her favorite member of The Beatles: “I, for the most part, f*cking hate classic rock. I love John Lennon. Easily best Beatle. He’s been such an icon for so many people who are my heroes, like Elliott Smith and Daniel Johnston.” Shortly before the publication of that feature, Bridgers joined Mandy Moore, Jackson Browne, Taylor Goldsmith of Dawes, and others for a live cover of the Beatles classic “With A Little Help From My Friends.”
Listen to Bridgers’ version of “Seize The Day” above.
McCartney III Imagined is out now via Capitol Records. Get it here.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
The combined budget of Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy — The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and Best Picture winner The Return of the King — is an estimated $280 million (money well spent). Amazon plans to pony up nearly twice as much on the first season of the upcoming Lord of the Rings series alone.
In an article about tax rebates in New Zealand (exciting stuff!) for the prequel series, which is set during the Second Age of Middle-earth’s history, Reutersreports that the online giant is “spending about NZ$650 million ($465 million) filming the first season of the show for broadcast on its Amazon Prime streaming platform, meaning it would be eligible for a rebate of about NZ$162 million ($116 million).” Stuart Nash, the country’s Minister for Economic Development and Tourism, confirmed the news, saying, “I can tell you is Amazon is going to spend about $650 million in season one alone”:
Amazon will get an extra five percent from New Zealand’s Screen Production Grant in addition to the 20 percent grant the production already qualifies for, the government said in a statement… The first season entered production in Auckland last year with more than 1,200 people employed. Approximately 700 workers are indirectly employed by providing services to the production, the government said.
The $465 million is on top of the $250 million that Amazon paid for the rights. (Amazon *really* wants its own Game of Thrones.) The still-untitled LOTR series does not have a premiere date, but the first season will supposedly be 20 episodes long.
Netflix already sprang into spring with plenty of seasonal joy, and the content coffers simply cannot run dry. The streamer continues to add to its library with an impressive number of original selections, and this time, there’s truly something for everyone. There’s a fond farewell to an artist who passed before his time, a spooky series, a very hot-dad series, and the continuation of a very popular, shade-filled show. Not only that, but there’s a Thelma and Louise-esque movie and a documentary series that charts love through the decades, which might give everyone hope that, yes, some couples do make it in the long run and actually like each other. As usual, you’ll never be able to watch everything here this weekend, and that’s a great problem to have.
Here’s everything else coming to (and leaving) the streaming platform this week.
Chadwick Boseman: Portrait Of An Artist (Netflix documentary film streaming 4/17)
Following the Black Panther and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom star’s too-soon death last August, the streamer fathered an all-star team for this documentary that aims to explore “Boseman’s extraordinary commitment to his craft [and] an intimate look at the Oscar-nominated actor’s artistry and the acting process which informed his transformative performances.” Settle in for a long list of participants, including Viola Davis, Danai Gurira, Spike Lee, Phylicia Rashad, and Glynn Turman. This one will be available for a limited 30-day window, so don’t let it languish in your queue for too long.
Two women take a road trip together. Sound familiar? Well, it’s a pretty Thelma and Louise vibe with one killing for love while the other made her do it, and of course, a chaotic journey follows. No spoilers here, but this story’s a lot deeper than it seems from this brief discussion, and as it turns out, these women have known each other for quite some time, and by the end of the movie, they’ll be even closer.
My Love: Six Stories of True Love (Netflix series streaming 4/14)
This docuseries spins off from an acclaimed Korean documentary (of nearly the same name) into a global focus, which sees local filmmakers (in different countries) follow a couple for a year of their marriages. From Tokyo to India, Spain, and the United States, these couples might just show us the secret to forever love.
Why Did You Kill Me? (Netflix film streaming 4/14)
This chilling true-crime documentary film follows a mother’s search for both justice and revenge after her daughter (24-year-old Crystal Theobald) is killed. The mother uses MySpace to investigate the crime, and there’s immense fallout for multiple families as a result.
Dad Stop Embarrassing Me! (Netflix series streaming 4/14)
Jamie Foxx is now playing a dad, y’all. He’s doing full-time duties for a teenage daughter while juggling business ownership and some semblance of a personal life. Good luck, Jamie Foxx, because life is total chaos, so you might as well embrace that face. The series also stars Kyla-Drew (as the lucky daughter who gets to laugh at dad), David Alan Grier, and Porscha Coleman.
The Circle: Season 2 (Netflix series streaming 4/14)
The social-media-focused reality show continues with plenty of shade, twists, shade, turn, and more twists. This season, eight fresh contestants will attempt to figure out who is catfishing and who is real. My goodness, this looks dizzying and maybe a little bit depressing, but people can’t stop watching, so maybe you’ll get sucked in, too? Good luck.
Avail. 4/13 The Baker and the Beauty: Season 1 Mighty Express: Season 3 My Love: Six Stories of True Love
Avail. 4/14 Dad Stop Embarrassing Me!
The Circle: Season 2 Law School
The Soul
Why Did You Kill Me?
Avail. 4/15 Dark City Beneath the Beat
The Master
Ride or Die
Avail. 4/16 Arlo the Alligator Boy
Ajeeb Daastaans
Barbie & Chelsea The Lost Birthday
Crimson Peak
Fast & Furious Spy Racers: Season 4: Mexico Into the Beat
Rush
Synchronic
Why Are You Like This
The Zookeeper’s Wife
And here’s what’s leaving next week, so it’s your last chance:
Leaving 4/15 Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant
Leaving 4/19 Carol
The Vatican Tapes
Leaving 4/20 The Last Resort
Leaving 4/21 The Great British Baking Show: Masterclass: Seasons 1-3
Leaving 4/22 Liv and Maddie: Seasons 1-4
Leaving 4/23 Mirror Mirror
Leaving 4/24 Django Unchained
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