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For a couple years in the early stretch of the Obama administration, Kal Penn quit acting for politics. It wasn’t exactly a smooth transition. During an appearance on the podcast The New Abnormal, the actor — who’s promoting his new book You Can’t Be Serious (and still awaiting Cardi B to officiate his wedding) — opened up about how he managed to embarrass himself in front of both the former president and the former First Lady.

First there was Barack. Penn had been invited by his House co-star Olivia Wilde to an event for the him in 2007. He wanted to impress the then-presidential candidate, so he asked him about his thoughts on biofuels, paraphrasing an article he’d recently read on how using corn could drive up food prices in developing nations.

“He gave me that smirk and he goes, ‘oh yeah, I read that article in Foreign Affairs too,’” Penn recalled. “If you had read my website carefully you would’ve seen that I’m proposing investing in corn-based ethanol as a bridge to cellulosic ethanol so that we can make fuel from things like our grass clippings and the leaves that we rake in our front yards. And he gives me another smirk and walks off and Olivia is loving every f*cking minute of this. She’s like, ‘you just got schooled by Barack Obama.’”

Penn left the event so impressed with Obama that he joined his campaign and, late, his administration, ditching acting for about a year to become the associate director of the White House Office of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs. But before he landed that gig, he tried to get another D.C. job…by applying through change.gov like everyone else. He never heard back, of course.

At another Obama event, he wound up speaking with Michelle Obama, and he decided to tell her about his blunder.

“I told her I put my résumé on change.gov like the email said and she looked at me like I was the biggest idiot in the whole world and I realized probably how ridiculous it sounded,” Penn remembered. “She was so weirded out by this she called the president-elect over… and then looks at me and says, ‘Tell him what you just told me.’

“I said, ‘Well, sir, you know, I did apply for a job at the White House in case there was anything that I would be qualified doing.’ And he looks at me and says, ‘Who did you apply with?’ And then I was like oh God, this again. I said ‘I applied on change.gov.’ And unlike his wife he smirked at me and it was the same idea though, the smirk was like, ‘God, you idiot’ and he said something like, ‘Why didn’t you reach out to anybody?’”

The next day he got a call offering him the gig that would briefly take him away from Hollywood. But the experience of humiliating himself in front of both Barack and Michelle taught him a lesson: “My biggest takeaway from that experience was I’m a gigantic idiot.”

(Via The Daily Beast)

Royce O’Neale changed conferences this offseason, as the 3-and-D wing was sent from the Utah Jazz to the Brooklyn Nets in a trade that was announced on the same day as Kevin Durant‘s highly-publicized trade request. O’Neale is, in theory, an excellent fit next to Durant, as he’s the kind of wing who can take on an opposing team’s best perimeter player on offense and hit the kind of open shots a player with Durant’s gravity generates, but for now, he — like the rest of Brooklyn’s roster — is in a state of limbo.

O’Neale does have other things to keep himself busy, like his third-annual basketball camp in Harker Heights, Texas, the city where he went to high school. O’Neale managed to get himself into some hot water down there with the worst possible person to draw his ire: his mom.

At one point during the weekend, O’Neale’s mother, Deborah Kingwood, was trying to guard him in the paint. O’Neale backed her down and got a little tricky, hitting her with a spin move that led to her hitting the deck.

Because this is the internet and stuff travels quickly, the video eventually made its way back to O’Neale, who laughed about the entire thing while simultaneously pointing out that he’s pretty fortunate he’s not in trouble.

It does seem like everyone laughed off the whole thing and O’Neale made it a point to thank everyone for attending (including his mom), but still, O’Neale shouldn’t be surprised if he gets back to his place and his mom took his PlayStation away for a week.

During a much-anticipated Young Money reunion last night (August 6) at Drake’s October World Festival in Toronto, Drake, Lil Wayne, Nicki Minaj reunited to perform together for the first time in years. Toward the end of the show, Wayne revealed he has a new project in the works.

“I’m working on Carter VI, coming soon!” he said to the crowd.

Shortly after, a sign reading “Tha Carter VI” displayed on a large screen.

Wayne first hinted at Tha Carter VI in a 2020 interview with Variety, when he said “My favorite Carter album is the next one.

During an appearance on ESPN which took place the following month, he said “Carter VI is coming soon, but I got No Ceilings coming first. No Ceilings 3.”

Last month, Weezy took to Instagram to honor a police officer who saved his life when he was 12 years old, after he attempted suicide.

“Everything happens for a reason,” Weezy said in a caption. “I was dying when I met u at this very spot. U refused to let me die. Everything that doesn’t happen, doesn’t happen for a reason. That reason being you and faith. RIP uncle Bob. Aunt Kathie been waiting for u. I’ll love & miss u both and live for us all.”

Cleveland Browns running back Kareem Hunt is heading into the final year of his contract. While he wanted an extension earlier this year, the team decided against offering him one — Hunt is coming off of a campaign in which he appeared in eight games due to a calf injury that lingered.

Hunt has said in the past that he wants to spend the rest of his career in Cleveland, but between his current contract situation and the fact that he has sat out the last two days of team drills, Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com brings word that the Ohio native has gone to the team and asked for a trade. Despite that, Cabot reports that the team told him no.

“Right now I’m just taking it day by day, man,” Hunt told the press at minicamp earlier this summer, per Cleveland.com. “I’m going to see what they want to do with me and I’m just taking it day by day. Hopefully I can be here longterm. We’ll see what God has in plan for me, that’s all I can say.

“I was born and raised here,” Hunt continued. “I’d love to finish my career here and just keep playing the game with (Nick) Chubb longer and with the great guys on this great team.”

The Browns boast one of the league’s deepest backfields, as Nick Chubb ran the ball 228 times for 1,259 yards and eight touchdowns in 14 games last year, while D’Ernest Johnson deputized him for much of the year, registering 534 yards and three scores on 100 carries. Hunt had five scores and 386 yards on 78 carries during his injury-plagued 2021 campaign.

In the latest remix of Beyoncé‘s “Break My Soul,” the Renaissance hitmaker mashes up the hit single with another classic, Madonna’s “Vogue.” On the bridge of “Break My Soul (Queens Remix), Beyoncé updates Madonna’s iconic tribute to the icons of the past, shouting out the people who have inspired her in the past and continue to inspire her today.

“Queen mother Madonna, Aaliyah / Rosetta Tharpe / Santigold / Bessie Smith / Nina Simone / Betty Davis / Solange Knowles / Badu, Lizzo, Kelly Rowl’/ Lauryn Hill / Roberta Flack / Toni, Janet, Tierra Whack / Missy, Diana, Grace Jones / Aretha, Anita, Grace Jones / Helen Folasade Adu / Jilly from Philly, I love you, boo / Don’t just stand there, get into it / Strike a pose, there’s nothing to it,” she says on the Bridge

She later shouts out Rihanna, Nicki Minaj, Michelle Williams, Chlöe and Halle Bailey, Alicia Keys, and Whitney Houston, saying, “Michelle, Chlöe, Halle, Aaliyah / Alicia, Whitney, Riri, Nicki.”

Since the remix’s release on Friday, several of the women have reacted to their name checks with glee.

“I ALWAYS BELIEVED IN ME NOW BEYONCÉ BELIEVE IN ME TOO,” said Lizzo in a tweet, with a video embedded of her sharing a story, saying, “I remember when I was telling my friend’s mom what my major in college was going to be, and I told her I was going to major in music performance, and she laughed in my face, she said, ‘Music performance? Like Beyoncé?’ and she laughed in my face. I only have one thing to say.” Lizzo then proceeded to play a portion of the bridge.

Santigold also took to Twitter, saying, “Thanks to @beyonce Queen Bey for shouting me out amongst these greats, and even more for takin’ it back! Letting the people KNOW about all these Black women, powerful powerful spirits, many of whom never received the acknowledgment they deserved!”

Jill Scott, to whom Bey refers as “Jilly From Philly,” reacted saying, “In a fast ass world, I register greatness gently, deliberately slower than admittedly most. I FEEL a thing & I can wholeheartedly say THIS IS MY FAVORITE LIFE. I LOVE YOU @Beyonce.”

On Instagram, Tierra Whack, who previously collaborated with Bey on The Gift companion album for the 2019 remake of Disney’s The Lion King, shared a clip of the song, captioning the video, “MY GOOD SIS @beyonce GON ALWAYS SHOW LOVE!”

Check out “Break My Soul (Queens Remix)” above.

Some of the artists mentioned are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Lionel Messi’s done a whole bunch of incredible stuff over the course of his footballing career. One thing that has evaded the Paris Saint-Germain star, however, is scoring a goal by way of a bicycle kick — despite scoring hundreds and hundreds of goals in his prolific career for both club and country, Messi has never been able to bike one in.

But Saturday offered up a chance for him to change that, as PSG played Clermont Foot 63 in a Ligue 1 game. PSG ran them off the pitch, picking up a 5-0 win thanks in part to a pair of goals by Messi later in the game. Messi scored his first in the 80th minute, and then, he was afforded the opportunity six minutes later to do one of the few things he’s never done.

Thanks to a lovely ball over the top of Clermont’s entire team by Leandro Paredes, Messi found himself in a familiar position with no one between himself and the goal other than the goalkeeper. The catch: Messi had to turn his back and chest the ball down, but instead of taking a touch, turning, and slotting it into a corner, Messi took the ball off his chest, opted to bike it, and perfectly lofted the ball over the head of Clermont keeper Mory Diaw.

It was a thing of beauty, and you can tell from the look on Messi’s face that he was overjoyed that he added a bicycle kick goal to his laundry list of accomplishments. If he’s lucky, this will be the start of a season in which he does the one other thing that has evaded him throughout his otherwise peerless career: win the World Cup with Argentina.

How is Elon Musk’s attempt to worm his way out of a pricey Twitter deal going? Not so great! After promising to fork over a fortune for the social media service, which he may or may not overhaul, he’s in the midst of being sued for reneging on the deal, thus jeopardizing the company’s earnings. The trial won’t happen till the fall, but Musk been trying to meme his way out of the deal. On Saturday, he took a break from shirtless pics to reveal with his latest move: pull a “debate me, bro” with Twitter’s CEO.

As per Insider, the Tesla honcho responded to a tweet thread by cybersecurity researcher (and self-described “SpaceX fan”) Andrea Stroppa, who proposed a solution to dealing with one of Musk’s claims: that an overwhelming number of Twitter users are bots.

“If Twitter simply provides their method of sampling 100 accounts and how they’re confirmed to be real, the deal should proceed on original terms,” Stroppa offered. “However, if it turns out that their SEC filings are materially false, then it should not.”

Musk weighed in. “Good summary of the problem,” he wrote in a reply. “If Twitter simply provides their method of sampling 100 accounts and how they’re confirmed to be real, the deal should proceed on original terms. However, if it turns out that their SEC filings are materially false, then it should not.”

He then went one big step further. I hereby challenge [Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal] to a public debate about the Twitter bot percentage. Let him prove to the public that Twitter has <5% fake or spam daily users!”

It’s a move beloved by many on the far right. When their ideas receive backlash or debunking, figures like Ben Shapiro and Dinesh D’Souza love to challenge to a debate, perhaps knowing that their debate team skills may be able to give the illusion that they’re correct.

Musk has claimed that at least 20% of Twitter accounts are spam or fake, and he’s used that as an excuse to back out of a deal that could jeopardize a portion of his wealth. But if his debate skills are as good as his live comedy chops, Twitter execs may need not worry.

(Via Insider)

The Chicago Bulls made a win-now move ahead of the 2021 NBA trade deadline when the team a pair of draft picks, Wendell Carter Jr., and Otto Porter into Nikola Vucevic. While it did not lead to the team making the playoffs last year, Vucevic was part of the team that made it to the postseason during the 2021-22 campaign.

Of course, Vucevic was not perfect by any stretch — his offense took a bit of a step back compared to what he did in Orlando en route to two All-Star nods, while Chicago’s issues on defense magnified the fact that he’s not exactly a standout on that end of the floor. He came under criticism from Bulls fans, who want to see more out of him as he enters the final year of his contract.

Time will tell what happens there, but apparently, Chicago doesn’t want 2022-23 to be the final year of his tenure. According to Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times, the two sides are aligned about Vucevic sticking around beyond this year.

And not only is he still with the Bulls, but a source said both sides want him to stay with the team beyond the last year of his contract this coming season and will have initial discussions on what that might look like when training camp begins in the fall.

Vucevic averaged 17.6 points, 11 rebounds, and 3.2 assists in 33.1 minutes per game last year while connecting on 47.3 percent of his attempts from the field and shooting 31.4 percent from three. His scoring output and three-point accuracy were his lowest marks in each stat since the 2017-18 campaign.

Cannabis and music festivals should exist in a blissful state of symbiosis. But in reality, festivals are late to the weed party. Even at fests in legal states, cannabis is not available for purchase, nor do they designate official cannabis consumption gardens in the way they present and sell alcohol. Security can confiscate weed if they find it on you, or worse, make you throw it away in front of them — a crime committed against thousands of hallucinating young scholars each summer. (RIP our fallen nugs.)

The industry behind festivals, as well as the cities these fests take place in, have been wildly averse to the concept of merging the legal cannabis market and the festival experience by allowing weed to be sold or consumed openly at these events. While this is probably due to the fact that most fests are backed by billionaires and occur in conservative places like Indio, it’s still a missed revenue opportunity. And beyond that, it’s downright silly. Festivals and weed have gone hand and hand since the days of Dionysus.

At this point, you almost have to be stoned to attend one. Especially in California.

Thankfully, Northern Nights, a raging electronic fest along the Eel River, deep in the Redwoods of Humboldt, is leading the charge (with this year’s Outside Lands following suit). This year, they became the first music festival to feature onsite dispensaries, a weedy lounge area, and the open consumption of cannabis.

“Northern Nights has been leading the way in cannabis activations and music festival integration since the festival started in 2012,” said Chelsea Lucich, the Cannabis Vendor Coordinator for Northern Nights. “Even back in 2015, we had a 215 area where medicinal patients could consume.” [215 refers to Prop 215 which was the Compassionate Use Act of 1996, which allowed medicinal patients access to cannabis.]

“This year was special for many reasons,” Luchich continues. “It was the first year back since the pandemic started, so everyone was ready to experience the way cannabis and music give way to connection. But the real spark was the heart-focused curation of the Craft Cannabis Farmers Market.”

“Inspired by the small farmer initiative our friends at the Emerald Cup started, we gifted 20 booths for free to the craft farmers from our region. We wanted not only to pay respect to the area where our festival resides but to help preserve and bring awareness to the culture of craft cannabis that is currently on the brink of extinction.”

Speaking personally, I found the super vibey consumption and dispensary area, dubbed The Tree Lounge, to be a welcome respite from the rage of the main fest. Within this otherworldly collection of pillowed teepees and farmer booths slinging some of the best weed in the world, there was a full range of weedy activities like medicated dining, cannabis cocktail hours, weed yoga, stoned sound baths, and more canna-wellness programming.

We were lucky enough to attend Northern Nights this year, and sample a ton of the incredible offerings from small Humboldt-area farms. Here are some of our favs.

Sour Diesel by Sol Spirit Farm

Near the crystal winding waters of Willow Creek, along the border of Humboldt and Trinity County, is where you’ll find Sol Spirit Farm, home to some of the happiest and most eco-conscious flower on the market. Everything about this regenerative sungrown farm, as well as the farmers themselves, is high vibe. When you consume their flower, the magical energy they put into these plants transfers to you, making you shine like never before. Nowhere is this effect more apparent than in their classic cut of Sour Diesel, which has become one of my favorite iterations of the iconic strain.

Fluffy, sativa nugs move from ruddy to light green, with burnt orange hairs. The smell is heavy on the gas, with a sour, earthy finish. This is a classic cut of Sour Diesel, the kind that’s hard to find today, as the strain has been watered down over time, backcrossed into infinity in its common form.

The taste is gassy, earthy, with a lemon tea finish on the exhale. It immediately gets you high behind the eyes, with a marked head change. Then, suddenly, without warning, you spring into action. It’s like when you’re at the beach before noon and the layer of fog clears — the sun shines hot and bright and boom! The fun begins.

Instead of beach fog, this flower evaporates mental fog and springs you into productivity. I felt excited, elevated, and 2/3x more capable than before. Waves of excitement course in the absence of anxiety. The last note I had was “like putting a glitter filter on your life,” and I stand by that.

Bottom line: Perfect for obliterating to-do lists and transforming daily life into the rainbow level of Mario Kart 64.

Buy it here: $38

Magu’s Fruit by Sunroots Farm

Magu’s Fruit by Sunroots Farm is a unique cultivar that’s fit for a goddess and named after one, too. Magu is a legendary Taoist xian associated with the elixir of life and a symbolic protector of women in Chinese mythology. Also referred to as the Hemp Lady, she’s portrayed with long fingernails in an apron of leaves, carrying a basket of mushrooms and peaches with a container of fungus wine. Just like every other baddie at Northern Nights.

Her nugs are luscious and dark, mysterious, and covered in crystals. Cascading hues of purple with hints of white sage, bright green leaves, and dark orange hairs. The smell is a fruity, berry wonderland of cherries and plums, blackberries and currants.

Berry lemon on the exhale with a spicy, pepper kick, this flower immediately elevates you to a heightened space of clarity. It takes you soaring like an eagle, high enough to observe the minutia in everything below.

Colors seem brighter, vision is enhanced. Overall, this flower leaves me feeling uplifted and in tune with the world around me. While your mind is active, your body is soothed and melty. It’s a really beautiful dichotomy, the cerebral head high, piercing with clarity in thought and expression, paired with a euphoric body high that makes it feels like you’re flying.

Bottom line: Great for doing yoga, creating art, meditating, and other goddess activities.

Buy it here: $30

Pixie Dust by Esensia Gardens

Esensia Gardens produces some of the most beautiful weed in the world, regularly sweeping award shows with their meticulous sun-grown flower from Mendocino. Their proprietary Pixie Dust strain is no expectation, having won the Emerald Cup the past three years in a row.

Pixie Dust deserved every one of those coveted awards — it truly is that special. A cross between Blueberry and Magic Wand (another proprietary strain by Esensia), the nugs look like little velveteen rabbits, bright green, coated with crystals, sparkling in the sun.

The smell conjures peach ice cream, a garden in the summer, bees buzzing in the blackberries, and citrus blossoms in the heat. There’s a sumptuous sweetness to the smell that feels nostalgic in some way, with a little kick of lemon zest at the end.

The high is euphoric and relaxing and hits like a perfectly sweetened glass of iced tea. Everything about this high is tingly, soft, and kind. You can feel the physical stress release, making it perfect for taking the edge off a long day. Mentally, you’re lucid and bright, but your body is on a beach somewhere relaxing with a cocktail.

Bottom line: This magical strain is perfect for hot days, hot springs, and watching the sun set.

Buy it here: $40

Cherry Pie by Trinitrees Farm

This cut of Cherry Pie by Trinitrees Farm (available through Redwood Roots), is as fun as it is potent. Cherry Pie is another iconic strain from the years of yore, a cross between Granddaddy Purple and Durban Poison that kicks your ass in the best way possible. Like Sour Diesel, this is a great stain that you never see shining anymore — making this one all the more exciting.

This Cherry Pie makes you say WOW. The nugs are olive green and orange. The scent is fucking crazy, like whiskey, leather and bay leaves, pine and dark chocolate, cedar, fresh wood, and sap. It’s a romantic, complex scent, that translates to a similar profile on the exhale.

The high hits hard and fast. Immediately, everything is more intense, raising the saturation of the photo edit of your reality. I smoked a bong rip and completely forgot to write anything about the experience, instead rolling around on the couch, alternating between giggling and bouts of outer space. This flower also has a mildly sedative effect, allowing you to fully check out of existence if you want to, but not sending you straight to sleep if you don’t.

Bottom line: This is a great heavy hitter for daytime use if you’re that girl (I’m that girl), and nighttime/weekend use for everybody else.

Buy it here: $23

Gelonade by Moon Made Farms

Last but certainly not least, we have an incredible cut of Gelonade from one of my favorite farms in existence, Moon Made Farms. Moon Made is a woman-owned farm up in the hills of Humboldt near where the festival took place. This regenerative sun-grown farm also implements Indigenous practices of planting seeds by the moon cycles, resulting in some truly beautiful flower.

This Gelonade is a great get-up-and-go strain with a psychedelic bend. Frosty and bright green with hints of orange, these dense nugs pop with a sharp and spicy lemon explosion. You can get a sense of the high by smelling the flower, which is a sign of extremely good cannabis. High in caryophyllene, limonene and linalool, the flavor is lush lemon and pepper spice with a fruity twist at the end.

I love this strain because it’s not just upbeat and capable, it’s also flirty and fun. I smoke it before parties, meetings, and pretty much any time I have to converse with anyone, ever. It’s great for getting shit done but has a quirky flare that makes everything a little more interesting.

Bottom line: Perfect for spending time with others, silver linings, and finding joy in the mundane.

Buy it here: $30

The new Predator prequel Prey is getting the best reviews of the franchise, and no wonder: It’s the kind of resourceful, stripped-down entertainment that rarely gets made these days. There’s a lot to recommend about it: the confident, assured direction from Dan Trachtenberg; the tough-but-vulnerable lead performance from Amber Midthunder; the bloody kills; the inclusion of a Wilhelm Scream. There’s also this: It’s got a great dog performance from Coco, a canine making her screen debut as Sarii, the companion of Midthunder’s Naru. But she also wasn’t the easiest mutt to work with, even if all the headaches she wrought were worth it.

In a new piece by Dexerto (as caught by The A.V Club), both Trachtenberg and Midthunder were honest about what it was like to work with a dog that wasn’t trained for the movies.

“She was a little bit of a hot mess — but in a sweet way,” Midthunder said of Coco, a Carolina dog believed to have been bred by indigenous people centuries ago. “She was not a movie dog, she was literally adopted to be in this movie, and she just happened to be very high-energy.” Coco was, she said, a “delight to have around,” if not always when the cameras were rolling. “And then it would be time to do stuff… sometimes she’d do it, sometimes she wouldn’t. But obviously, it all ended up fine, because she was great, and everybody loves her.”

Trachtenberg confirmed Midthunder’s descriptions. “Super rambunctious. Very energetic,” he said. “Always a nail-biting moment for us on set, ‘Is Coco gonna like, make her mark and do what she needs to do?’ It was sometimes a journey to get there, but eventually she always did. It was very exciting, lots of cheers would happen when we finally got a great take with Coco.”

Sarii originally wasn’t in Prey that much, but even though she could be a pill during takes, they didn’t wind up cutting down her scenes. “We were trying to get Coco out of scenes but the opposite ended up being true,” Trachtenberg explained, “and we ended up including her more – even in some of the action set-pieces, because I just thought it’d be so fun.”

And so, in the middle of a movie that features loads of CGI animals (like bears and wolves), that’s why you’ve got a real dog giving a performance for the ages, up there with Asta from the Thin Man movies, Toto from The Wizard of Oz, the various Lassies and Benjis, Brandy from Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, and, of course, its main inspiration: Mad Max’s Australian cattle dog chum from The Road Warrior.

(Via Dexerto and The A.V. Club)