It’s been almost a year since the release Cats, the instant bad cinema classic take on Andrew Lloyd Webber’s deathless musical. But the movie was already notorious long before its hit theaters. When the first trailer arrived, social media exploded with jeers, many of them about the creepily realistic derrieres on the human-felines. The already overworked effects crew then had to painstakingly fix that, which may have caused them to ignore other issues, like the fact that some cats still had human hands. But was there ever a version of the film where they didn’t change that problem? Is there in fact a “butthole” cut of Cats?
That’s what Stephen Colbert wanted to know. On Friday’s The Late Show, Colbert asked one of his guests, James Corden — who played hungry trash pussy Bustopher Jones — about the existence of this legendary version. Alas, even he couldn’t give a clear answer.
“I don’t know, I haven’t seen it. I’ve not watched the film,” Corden said, implying that he may have never actually watched any version of the film. His host then asked if a Cats where every performer had anatomically correct rear ends would perhaps make it better, or at least more entertainingly awful. “I think, either way, it probably can’t save that movie,” he responded.
Alas, it’s almost certain the “butthole” cut does not exist. The trailer was released some six months before the film’s release, and it’s highly unlikely the editors had at that point even completed an assembly cut, which is to say the whole movie laid out, before trimming it down to a releasable form. Of course, if there was ever high demand for a “butthole” cut, the effects team could go back and undo their fixes. But they’ve already been worked to death and would surely like to move on with their lives. Still, one can dream.
You can watch Corden’s chat with Colbert in the video above. The Cats discussion begins around the 1:50 mark.
With all that drinking you’d think it’d be easy to pick the “best” whiskey we tasted in 2020. Spoiler alert: It’s wasn’t.
We went back and forth on a lot of expressions this year. And by year’s end, we had to revisit many of them to make sure they were as good or mediocre or even bad as we remembered. Sometimes our opinions shifted, creating a domino effect across the rankings. It’s also interesting how a list like this changes when you put various styles up against each other, instead of simply judging a bourbon versus other bourbons, etc. Suddenly, bottles you cited for being “smooth” or “balanced” fail to shine when facing a completely different category of juice.
In the end, the overall quantifier for this list was the taste, but price definitely played a role. We didn’t want a list of whiskeys that all cost $100 or more. That feels snobby. So we made sure to consider standouts in the $20-60 range, even if they don’t reach the nuanced heights of some of the pricier entries. The final rankings represent whiskeys costing anywhere from $20 to $900.
The 20 whiskeys highlighted below are the sips we can’t wait to try again. The list isn’t comprehensive by any stretch, but it’s a start. And even with 20 entries, there are serious gems that didn’t make the cut.
Old Tub is the original name of Jim Beam, back before Prohibition change almost everything about booze. This particular bottle used to only be available at the Louisville Distillery in half-bottles. As of this year, it’s available nationwide for the first time and in full-sized bottles.
Yes, the price is eye-catching, but this isn’t a charity pick. The juice in the bottle really does shine as an unfiltered and higher ABV version of classic Jim Beam, giving you a sterling example of the quality of Beam’s whiskey.
Tasting Notes:
The sip draws you in with hints of milled cornmeal, freshly sawed wood, honeycomb, and plenty of vanilla. The taste has caramel popcorn mingling with more vanilla, notes of oak, and a hint of spicy stewed apples with a touch of brown sugar sweetness. The end is long and has a very distant hint of orange oil and minerality.
Bottom Line:
This has no business only costing $20. This is a real workhorse whiskey that you can use as an on the rocks sipper to a highball to a cocktail. Again, this is only $20 … there are $40 bourbons that don’t taste this good. Lots of them.
Every year around this time, Jim Beam drops their Basil Hayden’s 10-year Bourbon just in time for the holidays. This bourbon is the same juice as Old-Grandad. It’s simply aged longer. That makes this a very high-rye bourbon with a mash bill of only 63 percent corn next to 27 percent rye and ten percent malted barley.
Tasting Notes:
Musty oak, oily vanilla pods, and surprisingly subtle spice greet you. The taste leans into the old oak with a toasted nature, while hints of leather, sharp pepper, and creamy vanilla mingle on the tongue. The long finish touches on a caramel and syrup sweetness next to all that musty wood, counterpointed by bitter dark chocolate when water is added.
Bottom Line:
If you like Old Grand-Dad, then this is the bottle for you. Moreover, this yearly release seems to be getting better with each passing year.
18. Virginia Distillery Courage & Conviction American Single Malt
This was a big swing for American Single Malts. The juice from Virginia is made from 100 percent local malted barley. The whiskey is then rested in three casks. 50 percent go into ex-bourbon casks with 25 percent going into both French cuvée and Spanish sherry casks for four years.
Tasting Notes:
This is subtle yet enticing. The nose is full of caramel, vanilla, oak, and fruit (think tropical). That fruit has a floral edge that almost reminds you of a hazy New England IPA. The sip has a nice dose of caramel malts with plenty of oakiness, nuttiness, and sweetness to hold your attention. The end is just the right length, with hints of spice and bitter cacao attaching to the wood, fruit, florals, and sweetness.
Bottom Line:
This is just the beginning of Virginia Distillery’s work in American single malts and it’s very promising (and tasty). We’re looking forward to the next set of releases next year.
This whiskey takes Jameson to the next level. The juice is standard Jameson that’s aged in both ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks. Those whiskeys are blended and then transferred to a finishing barrel — a deeply re-charred bourbon cask. The whiskey spends a long spell mellowing in that before it’s proofed and bottled.
Tasting Notes:
Dark cacao nibs next to toasted oak, bourbon vanilla, and rich toffee draw you in. The taste delivers on those promises while adding a Christmas cake matrix of fatty nuts, candied fruits, cakey malts, and plenty of spice next to that charred wood. The finish is medium-length and highlights the spice, sweets, and wood.
Bottom Line:
This is another bottle that has no business being this cheap. It’s also a fantastic mixing whiskey for any cocktail. No, it’s not a new release but it’s a bottle we kept going back to again and again this year so we had to give it love.
16. Baker’s Single Barrel 7 Year Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
This new release from Beam’s premium Baker’s line is moving the brand out of small-batch and into the single barrel market. The bourbon is hand-selected juice from barrels that hit just the right mark in the Beam warehouses. The whiskey has aged a minimum of seven years before going in the bottle at high proof.
Tasting Notes:
This year’s release had big notes of spice, vanilla, caramel, and musty oak that really embraced “classic” bourbon nostalgia. The taste relishes in all that vanilla, spice, and oak while adding hints of savory herbs, light and sweet fruitiness, and a distant wisp of pipe tobacco smoke. The end is just long enough with plenty of spicy warmth, bourbon vanilla, old oak, and light syrup sweetness.
Bottom Line:
This has a hefty new bottle and look to match the powerful taste. The price is also great for a single barrel expression, making this a great gift for 2020.
This is an outlier in the whiskey world. The mash bill is 51 percent malted barley with 47 percent corn and only two percent rye. It’s kind of like a bridge between the world of malt whiskeys and bourbon whiskeys and it’s goddamn fascinating.
Tasting Notes:
Creamy vanilla with Christmas spices mingles with oak and a hint of caramel malts. There’s a corn muffin with butter body that marries to the sharper spice and oak as flavors of dark chocolate cut with fresh mint arrive. The end lasts as all that creamy vanilla, spice, oak, and maltiness combine for a fine finish.
Bottom Line:
This was released in 2018, but it was this year’s batch that finally clicked for us. It’s an interesting sip of whiskey that stood out, tasted good, and didn’t break the bank. Use it cocktails, sip it on the rocks, throw it in a highball … it’s all good.
14. Westward American Single Malt Stout Cask Finish
This small distillery in Portland, OR, is making some damn fine single malts. This expression takes their fully matured single malt and transfers it into stout-seasoned barrels that held beer from local craft breweries Bent Shovel Brewing, Breakside Brewing, Culmination Brewing, Ex-Novo Brewing, Fort George Brewery, Migration Brewing, Sky High Brewing, and more.
The whiskey spends a whole year soaking in all those stout-y flavors before proofing and bottling.
Tasting Notes:
The sip opens with a mix of dark cherries next to orange oils, Christmas spices, and a hint of banana in brown sugar and butter. The taste carries on that path while adding salted caramel and dark chocolate bitterness, especially with the addition of a little water. The stout really starts to shine after that water, as the chocolate gets darker and a hint of espresso bean bitterness marries to the vanilla, oak, spice, and dark fruits on the long-simmering end.
Bottom Line:
This year this whiskey got an upgraded bottle and the juice in that bottle seems to be more refined. It’s a fine whiskey that seems to have truly benefitted from the beer-barrel finish, all of which helped it stand out in 2020.
This single pot still Irish whiskey uses the classic mash bill of unmalted and malted barley that’s triple distilled in old pot stills. The hot juice is then transferred to a majority of ex-bourbon and a minority of ex-sherry casks where it rests for 12 long years.
The whiskeys are then married, proofed, and bottled with no filtration.
Tasting Notes:
Bright and sweet orchard fruits meet worn leather, oak, caramel malts, and a note of soft stone. The fruits become dried and candied as creamy vanilla pudding, dark spices, and a choco-coffee bitterness lead back toward that oak and leather. The vanilla kicks back in late but the dram remains oaky, spicy, and fruity on the fade.
Bottom Line:
This is a shockingly easy-sipping whiskey. The new bottle design — reminiscent of a pot still — and the box also make this whiskey a great gift for anyone looking to get into higher-end Irish whiskey without breaking the bank.
Legendary Master Blender Dr. Rachel Barrie has taken an old scotch and brought it into the 21st century. This Speyside single malt marries four unpeated whiskies aged in ex-bourbon, ex-sherry, ex-red wine, and new American oak casks for 21 long years. The end result was one of the biggest surprises of 2020 for us.
Tasting Notes:
Mild oak greets you alongside a very refined sense of freshly plucked orchard fruits, red berries off the vine, and honey fresh from the hive. The fruits lean into pears and candied cherries as subtle spice kicks in with hints of smoked almonds dipped in honey and a distant note of malty dark chocolate. The end isn’t too long and really lets the sweet fruit, oak, and spice shine as a final whisper of sweet, almost plummy smoke closes the sip out.
Bottom Line:
This is the sort of sip that puts a smile on your face from the moment it hits your olfactory system. We’d argue you don’t even need water to drink this, but a little water will certainly let to bloom nicely.
This was the final release of Irish Distiller’s Master Distiller Brian Nation. The 37th installment of the much-beloved Very Rare series out of Midleton. Basically, Nation spent a year tasting single pot still and single grain whiskeys aged 13 to 35 years in ex-bourbon and ex-sherry. The final bottling is his swan song to his decades at Midleton and last seven years as their Master Distiller.
Tasting Notes:
There’s a real sense of the bourbon vanilla next to black pepper, freshly ground nutmeg, dark chocolate, and dark yet sweet fruits, all surrounded by a mild sense of old oak. That oak carries on and is joined by hints of pear, orange oils, chili peppers, and a clear hint of soft cedar. The end fades at just the right pace, leaving you with the oak, spice, fruit, and that sense of being in a room walled with only cedar.
Bottom Line:
This is going to be hard to find and expensive when you do find it. Still, this is a collector’s item heralding the end of an era and also happens to be a very fine sip of whiskey. If you see it, try to get a sip.
This quiet Speyside distillery is one of those distilleries that many don’t know even about. Those who do know, know that Aberlour makes some seriously good whisky, year after year. This year’s 18-year Double Cask release is another testament to that. The juice is left alone in ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks for 18 long years before it’s brought down to proof with soft Scottish spring water and bottled.
Tasting Notes:
Bruised peaches mingle with buttery toffee, butterscotch candy wrappers, rich vanilla, and orange oils. That peach is drowned in heavy cream and honey, with plenty of leathery oak and sharp Christmas spices as an orange marmalade note counterpoints the whole sip. The round finish rolls through your senses while highlighting the spice, creaminess, fruit, oak, and vanilla on the slow fade.
Bottom Line:
This is one of those sips that keeps popping back into our mind. It’s just really, really good on its own, though it blooms nicely with a little water. This really was a revelation this year that’ll be a mainstay on our shelves for years to come.
This year’s release from the Buffalo Trace Antique Collection is an 18-year-old rye made with Minnesota rye. The juice spent 18 years aging in heavily charred barrels in a specific spot in one warehouse, where it lost 76.9 percent to the angels. The remaining juice was proofed and bottled as-is, leaving an amazingly accessible sip of whiskey.
Tasting Notes:
Imagine freshly picked apples packed in bales of straw next to a mild spice warmth and lots of oakiness. The palate embraces the dryness of the straw while adding in more distinct rye spiciness with charred oak bitterness, dark cacao, and a spicy stewed sweet apple body. The end is like an old barn full of hay, orchard fruit, and rusting tools. It’s not too long, but fully satisfying.
Bottom Line:
The beauty of this dram was a big surprise this year. This is one of those ryes that we may never get again. It’s so unique yet still amazingly easy to drink.
This single pot still triple-distilled whiskey from Irish Distillers in Midleton is hard to beat. The juice is a marrying of whiskey aged for 15 long years in ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks before masterful blending, proofing, and bottling. The end result is something truly special from the Emerald Isle.
Tasting Notes:
Orange oils, dry straw, vanilla pudding covered in candied cherries, dark spices, and a hint of bananas fried in butter and brown sugar greet you. The spices really take on a Christmas edge as the creaminess of the vanilla hints at eggnog-spiked bitter coffee. The end is just the right length as hints of old oak, those creamy spices, the orange, and dry straw all merge into a warm embrace.
Bottom Line:
This isn’t a new whiskey. It’s just a really f*cking good whiskey we got back into this year. Every single year, this expression continues to shine brightly and we can’t look away.
7. Aberfeldy 18 Exceptional Cask Single Malt Whisky
Dewar’s Master Blender and Master of Malt, Stephanie MacLeod, really hit on something special with this release. The whisky is hand-selected by MacLeod from juice that’s spent 18 years resting in ex-bourbon casks in Aberfeldy’s warehouses. The juice is then transferred to first-fill Pauillac wine casks from Bordeaux (also hand-selected by MacLeod) for a final rest before proofing and bottling.
Tasting Notes:
That Aberfeldy honey mingles with sweet red berries, mildly spicy tobacco, vanilla pods, old and leathery oak, and a real sense of soft cedar. Those berries and honey offer the perfect counter to the leather, tobacco, and cedar as the honey creates a bridge between the two poles — with a whisper of citrus oils. The end is long, full of cedar, honey, and spicy tobacco, and very fulfilling.
Bottom Line:
This is one of those drams we can’t stop thinking about and wish we had a barrel of to call our own.
This Seattle craft bourbon is a great example of the power of the small craft distillery. This juice is the award-winning Woodinville 5-Year Bourbon that’s finished for six to 12 months in port casks, adding a serious depth to the already solid whiskey.
Tasting Notes:
Bourbon vanilla dances with plummy fruits, fatty nuts, and mild spice next to oak. The sip feels like a Christmas cake brimming with candied fruits, dark spices, dried fruit, nuts, and creamy vanilla. The slow end holds onto all of those notes while also embracing a bit of oak and bitter char as it fades.
Bottom Line:
This is one of those sips that are perfect on a little ice but also work wonders as a cocktail base, especially for a Manhattan.
This Tennessee whiskey from newly minted shingle Uncle Nearest celebrates the history of Tennessee whiskey while embracing diversity in the industry, all while also creating a damn fine line of booze. Their 1820 is made from hand-selected barrels that have aged for a minimum of eleven years. Master Blender Victoria Eady-Butler sources the barrels for their exactness and ability to convey the beauty of Tennesse whiskey before marrying them and bottling at high proof.
Tasting Notes:
There’s a lot going on that just works. The nose is full of orange oils, vanilla pods, dark chocolate, Christmas cakes with nuts and fruit and spice, and plenty of oak. The body is creamy yet refined, with sweet notes of maple syrup next to dark chocolate covered cherries next to worn leather and more oak. The end is long and full of all those Christmas cake notes while adding a hint of salty buttered popcorn before ending on a wisp of smoke.
Bottom Line:
You can tell immediately why Uncle Nearest continues to sweep up awards in 2020. This is a damn tasty dram of whiskey that we’re very excited to drink more of every single chance we get.
4. Mortlach 21 (Rare by Nature Collection) Single Malt Whisky
This Dufftown distillery is a real classic (it’s the oldest one in town). It’s also one of those shingles that only hardcore scotch fans seem to know exists. This special one-off release is small-batched after aging for 21 long years and then finished in Pedro Ximenez and Oloroso sherry casks, adding a subtly refined finishing touch to the dram.
Tasting Notes:
There’s a really welcoming nose that leans towards subtle hints of dark spices, candied fruits, and oakiness with the feel of a flaky, buttered biscuit. The body of the dram has a dark chocolate orange base that then takes a turn into fresh chili territory with a savory fruit depth. It kind of feels like what all those chili-spiked chocolate craft stouts wish they were. The dark and sweet fruits stick around the long end as old oak and rich malts slowly fade through your senses, leaving you smiling.
Bottom Line:
This is one of those whiskies that’s grown on us immensely as we’ve re-tasted it. It’s gone from, “this is fine” to “wow, this really is something special, isn’t it?” to “where has this been all of my life???” Though that means, “goodbye savings account!” if we choose to scratch that itch.
This limited edition release from Michter’s this year created a big stir over the summer for being delicious. The 10-year old hand-selected single barrel expression is a much sought after whiskey that we’d argue lives up to the hype.
Tasting Notes:
Butter rich toffee meets marzipan cut with rose water next to peppery spice and clear oakiness. Bespoke Red Hots mingle with orange oils, more oakiness, vanilla pods, and a rush of fresh spicy/sweet chili peppers. The almond edge loses some of its marzipan sweetness as the oak, spice, vanilla, and orange slowly fade away, leaving you warmed with plenty of rye spice.
Bottom Line:
This is another expression we almost forgot about until we tasted it again and… wow, this is really f*cking tasty. This is a hell of a rye in every way. It’s also great if you want to make $50 Manhattans with a really solid sweet vermouth and more orange oils.
2. William Larue Weller (Antique Collection) Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
This wheated whiskey was made in 2008 from a mash bill that replaced Minnesota rye with North Dakota wheat. The hot juice was barreled and stored in two warehouses on specific floors where 73 percent of the whiskey was lost to evaporation over the past 12 years.
Tasting Notes:
This is the sort of nose that says, “Hello! Welcome. Make yourself at home.” with mild notes of creamy bourbon vanilla, rich caramel, slight oak, and a clear nutty edge. The taste adds to that with choco-coffee bitterness next to bright red cherries swimming in creamy vanilla and spicy tobacco leaves. That chocolate/cherry/oak matrix marries to the velvet body as it slowly fades away, leaving you warm and happy.
Bottom Line:
This is a bottle that also grew on us. We just kept thinking about, going back to it, dreaming about it. We get that it’s very hard to find and crazy expensive. But… this really is a masterpiece and moved between one, two, and three on this list about 50 times.
1. Talisker 8 Year (Rare by Nature Collection) Single Malt Whisky
This release from Diageo’s Rare By Nature Collection is a special one-off whisky that you can actually find and hopefully afford. The whisky is a rare Talisker expression that’s aged for eight years and then finished Caribbean rum casks. The idea is to blend the salty, seaside nature of a Talisker with the sweet, seaside nature of a pot still Caribbean rum. The results are something new and very enticing.
Tasting Notes:
The sip starts off like a classic Talisker with hints of briny sea spray, sweet pears, and beach campfire smoke. Then a hint of molasses peeks in. The palate continues on that path and starts building in notes of fatty, smoky whole hog or brisket smokers with burnt sugars, red spices, and smoked salts and fats. It sounds heavy, but it’s somehow still light and easy-sipping. The end really embraces the taste as the fat, smoke, sea, orchard fruits, and sugars fade out at an even pace.
Bottom Line:
This has been a hell of a year for BBQ. We want to take this bottle to South Carolina or Texas’ Hill Country, sit down next to a smoker, and order everything on the menu. Then we want to eat it all while drinking a bottle of this stuff.
This is the whisky that surprised us the most, drew us back the most, and really feels like 2020 in a bottle. Cheers to the Talisker team on the Isle of Skye!
The NBA’s preseason began on Friday night with a number of teams working off the rust following either an incredibly short offseason or one that dated back to March, depending on whether or not they got the chance to participate in the Orlando Bubble. One preseason game that featured two Orlando squads pitted the Portland Trail Blazers, which got to the postseason, against the Sacramento Kings, which saw its time in the Bubble end in the seeding games.
It was a generally unremarkable preseason game — Portland came out on top, 127-102, behind big nights from Carmelo Anthony and Harry Giles off the bench — but it also featured a funny moment involving Blazers guard CJ McCollum and Kings coach Luke Walton. For one reason or another, Walton had to bark an instruction to someone on the floor, which he thought meant he needed to pull down his mask.
McCollum, posted up on the bench, noticed this, and from his seat, reminded Walton that the game is happening in the midst of a pandemic, and he needs to keep his mask up.
Kamaiyah has been busy. Though she hadn’t released a full-length project since 2017, she began 2020 by releasing the mixtape Got It Made, followed later by the albumOakland Nights, with fellow hometown native Capolow. Recently she released her third project of the year, No Explanation, and one of its standout tracks, “Art Of War,” now has a video.
It begins with Kamaiyah in a straitjacket as she stands inside a glass box filled with money. Throughout the song, the Oakland rapper takes aim at her competition, condemning them for their passive-aggressive attacks on her.
No Explanation has 10 other tracks, which feature guest appearances from Jackboy and Mozzy. In a press release, Kamaiyah the new direction she’s taking.
My previous two projects this year I would say had a heavy west coast influence. The up-tempo feel good, club music, the baselines, the production etc. But I’m such a versatile artist so I really wanted to showcase my ability to do my thing on any type of beat. I like to say this project gives a southern feel to it. Its definitely not a typical Kamaiyah project, but it’s still good music.
You can watch the “Art Of War” video above.
No Explanation is out now via Grnd.Wrk/Empire. Get it here.
Holiday parties aren’t happening this year, or at least they’re not supposed to. There’s bound to be plenty who throw one anyway, pandemic be damned. One soiree that did happen was, of course, the one at the White House. On Friday, the place where dozens of high ranking officials have caught COVID-19 threw their big annual Christmas shindig. That’s no surprise; even those who have tested positive think throwing parties right now is no big deal. But there was one person who didn’t show up: outgoing president Donald J. Trump.
At the White House Christmas Party, guests were informed about 10 minutes ago that the president won’t be joining them to make remarks.
According to The New York Times’ Maggie Haberman, 45 was a no-show at his own party. No, he wasn’t concerned about spreading a virus that is now claiming over 3,000 American lives a day. He was just sad. He reportedly stayed in his bedroom, like a spoiled kid who refuses to attend his own birthday party.
Mind you, he had a pretty good reason to be bummed out. On Friday night, the Supreme Court again shot down a lawsuit seeking to throw out votes in four battleground states, in his approximately 3,000th attempt to overturn the election that went to Joe Biden. Just three days prior, a similar lawsuit — one from Pennsylvania Republicans, seeking to invalidate votes by their own constituents — met much the same fate, being tossed out with record speed.
Adding insult to injury, three of those justices were Trump appointees. The president has been brazenly vocal about hoping a newly Republican-leaning court, pushed to the conservative side by new member Amy Coney Barrett, would do his bidding. So far they have not. In fact, they won’t even give these dodgy lawsuits the time of day, much to the anger of Trumpist circles.
And so the man who has fanned the flames of the age-old “War on Christmas” skipped his own Christmas party to listen to Morrissey, or whatever he does when he’s tested positive for a case of the sads. Feel better, buddy!
What do Mark Ruffalo and Bruce Banner have in common? Yes, they both have the ability to turn into a hulking green rage monster on screen, but the answer we’re really looking for is science, specifically their love of science. And while for Dr. Banner that science involves gamma radiation and super-soldier serums, for Ruffalo, the aim is to usher in a clean energy vision that might just save the world.
The actor and activist has spent the last two decades quietly fighting climate change with his nonprofit The Solutions Project.
You’ve probably seen him on the frontlines of movements like the protest of the North Dakota Pipeline, standing shoulder to shoulder with members of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe as they tried to prevent local government from drilling on their land. You may have heard him testify on Capitol Hill against manufacturers like 3M and DuPont, whose cancer-linked chemical substances leached into the water supply of hundreds of military sites and cause military families to get sick. But even if you were aware of Ruffalo’s environmental justice vigilantism, you probably don’t know how it started. Or why.
The answer: fracking.
Hydraulic fracking is a controversial, widely unregulated means of extracting oil and gas. It’s revolutionizing the industry, making it easier for drilling firms to tap hard-to-reach resources for gas and oil, driving down prices at the pump, and creating new jobs in the process. But it’s also negatively affecting our environment in ways Ruffalo first feared when oil companies set their sights on fracking near his home in upstate New York years ago.
Because fracking requires wells to be drilled thousands of feet below the Earth’s surface, it has the potential to significantly damage the geological landscape. In Upstate New York, severe flooding had already ravaged farmlands, and the addition of another environmental disturbance just made things worse.
“That was alarming,” Ruffalo recalled on an episode of the Inquiring Minds podcast. “Not only alarming to me but also alarming to all the farmers who used to make fun of me for talking about climate change and global warming.”
He started the nonprofit Water Defense to take on fracking and other methods of extreme energy extraction – think deep-sea drilling and mountain-top removal mining – but he quickly realized it wasn’t enough to just oppose the harmful act, he needed to give these companies and the people who worked for them an answer to the larger question of, “If not this, then what?”
“What I started to feel was, you can’t credibly say ‘no’ to something unless you can come up with an alternative that is equal to or better than what is being offered,” he explained.
That’s how Ruffalo connected with Mark Jacobson, director of the Atmosphere/Energy Program at Stanford University. Jacobson had been researching ways to move the U.S. to 100% renewable energy within the next few decades. Ruffalo asked him to scale down that plan for his neighborhood in the Catskills, to give him something to go to local leaders and concerned citizens with as a Plan B to this fracking business.
“The next day in my email inbox I had 40 pages of what is now a feasibility study on moving New York state from fossil fuels to renewable energy by 2030,” Ruffalo said.
Jacobson’s idea to combine wind power, solar power, and geothermal power to help reduce New York’s carbon footprint while creating jobs and cleaner quality air and water for thousands so impressed Ruffalo that he decided to make it the blueprint of a new nonprofit, The Solutions Project. Together with Jacobson, the actor launched the organization in 2012, hoping to push out their renewable energy model to other states where it could be adapted and implemented.
That’s still the goal, but as climate change has grown into an even more frightening reality, The Solutions Project has expanded its efforts to combat it.
One of the main tenants of the nonprofit is this idea of meeting people where they are and uplifting those already doing the difficult work. The Solutions Project isn’t concerned with being the face of the climate change movement. Instead, the group wants to amplify the voices of marginalized people suffering because of our deteriorating atmosphere who have been fighting this uphill battle long before Ruffalo’s outfit could offer their support.
The organization helps build movements from the ground up, donating everything from practical tools – think video equipment for at-home video production – to coaching in how to wield social media to spread a group’s message to hiring publicists for specialized campaigns and facilitating community events to drum up local interest. They also fork over plenty of green to help propel their green initiatives.
To date, The Solutions Project has distributed more than $5 million in grants to over 100 community projects around the country. Recently they established The Fighter Fund, a term coined by Ruffalo to identify smaller, fast-acting grants of up to $5,000 that the group could give to organizations who needed them quickly. And as 2020 asked us all to reconsider what activism looks like, Ruffalo’s team went the extra mile, attempting to diversify the climate change space in ways we hadn’t seen before.
“I hate to say it, but the environmental movement is mostly white, and the power is mostly with white people in leadership. And we’re seeing a shift in that,” he said. “The more we center on those who’ve been living with this and already developing the solutions, I think the quicker we’ll move along.”
The organization awarded $622,000 in grants to dozens of grassroots organizations led by women and people of color this year. They also made a 100% Commitment to Justice pledge, promising 95% of their resources this year to groups led by people of color, with 80% of those also being led by women.
“It has nothing to do with self-aggrandizement or ego. It’s all about taking care of the community,” Ruffalo said about his nonprofit’s goal of amplifying the voices of women and minorities in the environmental justice space. “When you look at Congress, it’s mostly old white dudes. We need balance. Balance shows us what we normally don’t see.”
Ruffalo has recruited a handful of his famous friends to lend their clout – names like Don Cheadle and Leonardo DiCaprio – and he’s got the backing of billionaires like Jeff Bezos and tech tycoons like Elon Musk to contribute to his renewable energy plan. But the biggest impact he’s making isn’t necessarily the funding or the publicity his star-power brings. Instead, Ruffalo is working to make beating climate change seem tangibly possible, breaking down the big concepts and confusing science so that everyone – whether they’re a politician, a college student, a factory worker, or yes, even an actor, can understand why protecting our planet is so important and how they can join in that fight.
As you might recall, things didn’t end well for the Los Angeles Clippers last season. The team that many considered the favorites to take home the 2020 title instead imploded on itself, allowing the Nuggets to come back from a 3-1 series lead in the West semifinals and sending the organization reeling into the offseason.
What followed were rumors about discord within their locker room, which only ramped up as certain key members opted to take their talents elsewhere in free agency. Chief among them was Montrezl Harrell, who had made no secret about his frustration with the team’s dynamics and decided to join forces with their L.A. rivals instead.
It all makes for compelling drama, and in their first preseason matchup on Friday night, it didn’t disappoint. First up was Kawhi Leonard, he could be heard screaming loudly after Harrell missed a jump shot in the first half.
Beverley was particularly taken aback by news of Harrell’s signing with their locker-room rivals, and given his penchant for all manner of trolling, we wouldn’t have expected anything less. Harrell and the Lakers, however, would get the last laugh, as they walked away with the 87-81 win.
This being merely a preseason game, we can’t wait to see what levels of animosity they’ll have in store for us when the regular season starts.
The holidays are the season for giving. And what could be a better gift this year than a nice, tall, pint of seasonally appropriate beer? Sure, a few things come to mind — the recipe for a FDA-approved COVID vaccine, a PS5, etc. — but not many under ten bucks.
As we race towards one of the strangest Christmases on record, you’re probably keen to pair your seasonal chores with a nice beer or two. We’re talking classic Christmas beers so tasty that even Krampus would approve. To find the best options, we reached out to the experts behind the bar for their favorite seasonal brews.
Check their answers below!
Guinness Imperial Gingerbread Stout
Guinness
Samantha Casuga, head bartender of Dead Rabbit in New York City
Guinness is my go-to. I drink Guinness year-round, but it especially hits during the holidays. To me, whatever drink brings me great memories of being around my friends and family is what I want to be having. Even with its rounded nutty notes, and dark chocolate flavors, I find Guinness endlessly refreshing, and it gives me that creamy mouthfeel I crave when indulging in a holiday treat. Total yum.
If you want to get extra seasonal with it, grab one of the brand’s new Gingerbread Spiced Stouts with complex gingerbread, cinnamon, and coffee flavors.
Prairie Seasick Crocodile
Seth Falvo, bartender at The Hotel Zamora in St. Pete Beach, Florida
If you’re tired of the same generic Christmas ales and stouts, then Prairie Artisan Ales has exactly what you need in Seasick Crocodile. A sour ale with plenty of cranberries, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg throughout, Seasick Crocodile has all the familiar vibes and flavors of a Christmas beer while still managing to be unique. It’s surprisingly refreshing, given how tart it is, and the sour notes will cut the more aggressive flavors of your favorite holiday dishes quite nicely.
Bell’s Christmas Ale is a favorite, mainly from it being a staple for me in the Midwest. Honey and spice without too much heaviness make this great for pairing with holiday snacks.
Sam Adams Winter Lager. Infused flavors of orange and spices bring out the best in this Amber Lager. This bock is crisp, refreshing, and perfect for the holidays.
It’s almost a tradition at this point, and maybe this is calling out for a cool, super small production craft beer, but the Anchor Christmas Ale has always delivered. It’s got nice cocoa notes and some baking spices that serve it well. It’s great for a warming sip during the holidays.
Great Lakes Brewing Co’s Christmas Ale. It is a balanced honeyed ale accented with all the tinsel and decorations that the Christmas baking spices can add.
Writer’s Picks:
Troegs Mad Elf
It’s not the holidays without that ale brewed with honey and cherries. It’s 11 percent ABV and filled with hints of chocolate, sweet cherries, and holiday spices designed to warm you up whether you’re naughty or nice.
Avery Brewing Old Jubilation
This English strong ale is filled with nutty sweetness, rich malts, and subtle spices. This winter warmer has been produced since 1997 and remains a holiday must-have to this day.
St. Bernardus Christmas Ale
The holidays aren’t complete without this classic Christmas ale. It’s a creamy, smooth, Belgian quadruple, with flavors of caramel, sugar cookies, and baking spices. The perfect addition to any (socially distant) holiday gathering.
Bad Bunny has had a wildly prolific year. He released El Último Tour Del Mundo last week, his third album of 2020, which boasted features from Rosalía and Jhay Cortez. But for the video alongside his track “Hoy Cobré,” Bad Bunny decided to tap a different musician to make a cameo: Snoop Dogg.
Bad Bunny’s “Hoy Cobré” visual opens with the singer hitchhiking on the back of a semi-truck through a dusty desert. He hops off the ride once he spots a remote clothing store in the middle of a sandbank. Once he opens the door, he takes a long drag from his vape before a security guard stops him to say that the store has a no-smoking policy. Bad Bunny puts up a fight and the security guard calls over the manger, who happens to be Snoop Dogg. Of course, Snoop Dogg has absolutely no problem with the singer lighting up indoors.
The video arrives after Bad Bunny’s El Último Tour Del Mundo earned him an impressive accolade. The album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, becoming the first-ever Spanish language album to reach the top spot.
Watch Bad Bunny’s “Hoy Cobré” video above.
El Último Tour Del Mundo is out now via Rimas. Get it here.
City Girls welcomed Lakeyah to the Quality Control family by hopping on a track off the rapper’s LP Time’s Up. On order to celebrate Friday’s release of Time’s Up, JT and Young Miami got together with Lakeyah to film a vibrant visual alongside their “Female Goat” remix.
The visual opens with Lakeyah delivering her verse with an actual goat in tow. The camera then moves to JT to allow the rapper to flex her flow in front of a vibrant backdrop before closing out with Young Miami’s confident bars.
In other City Girls news, JT recently found herself in hot water when a series of past problematic tweets resurfaced from her account. Some of the tweets dated all the way back to 2011 and saw the rapper making fun of everything from R. Kelly’s alleged sex abuse to Osama Bin Laden.
Of course, people tried to cancel JT but instead of posting a screenshot from her notes app or going on Instagram Live to make an apology, the rapper took a different approach. JT deleted her account in order to scrub her Twitter history and then the next day, she returned. After simply tweeting “hi,” one fan noticed that JT had made her profile photo a screenshot of 2016 viral video of a man singing an apology in court.
Watch Lakeyah and City Girls’ “Female Goat” video above.
Time’s Up is out now via Quality Control. Get it here.
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