In the word’s of Haim’s new song, 2020 has been a “hellish” year. But even with the most unexpected events (Grimes and Elon Musk naming their baby X Æ A-12, anyone?), it’s still important to remember that there were some things to celebrate, especially for Haim. The sister trio released their album Women In Music Pt. III, were nominated for a Grammy, and also collaborated with Taylor Swift for a surprise song.
Now reflecting on the past year, Haim have shared their holiday parody song “Christmas Unwrapping 2020.” Set to the tune of The Waitresses’ 1981 classic “Christmas Wrapping,” Haim wrote that they hope their first-ever Christmas song “helps you get through the holiday season.”
HAPPY HANUKKAH!! presenting our FIRST EVER holiday song: Christmas Wrapping 2020 (All I Want for Christmas is a Vaccine) We hope this song helps you get through the holiday season.https://t.co/PPHTNauI1jpic.twitter.com/GvGrU3wnfO
Haim’s holiday jingle documents just a handful of the wild events, good and bad, that have occurred this year. “It’s Hanukkah during covid-19 / What the hell does anything mean? / I stay awake, way too late / Because Neo-Nazis made ‘pizzagate,’” they sing in a verse. In one of the last lines of the song, Haim pay tribute to some positive things that happened this year. “2020 has been full of lies / But even its most hellish months have offered sweet surprises: / Bye, bye Trump, we save Forest Gump, Zendaya got her trophy,” they harmonize.
Watch the video alongside Haim’s “Christmas Wrapping 2020” single above.
Having created five UPROXX Travel Gift Guides now, we’ve got some gift recommending experience under our belts. A few of those years, the guide ballooned — turning into sprawling, maximalist wishlists. This time around, it’s quite the opposite.
As we looked at the gifts that best suit travelers at the end of a year filled with very little travel, we decided against recommending every cool, travel-adjacent thing we could think of. Money is tight for many people and, frankly, perhaps the best present you can offer heading into 2021 is a trip. A Hipcamp certificate, a boutique hotel stay, a visit to a cabin where wifi doesn’t exist — it’s tough to argue with the gift of actual travel as the quarantine winds down.
That said, we did come up with 10 products, from stocking stuffers to… the exact opposite of that, which earned our highest recommendation. These are items we’ve tried, tested, and fallen in love with. Gifts that feel in line with the year that was — when resilience and sturdiness were perhaps the two most important qualities and being able to navigate the world on your own felt like an absolute necessity.
As you’ll see, price wasn’t the key factor here. From top to bottom, quality was the central focus.
Vibes Silicone Earplugs
Amazon
Price: $17.95
I probably don’t need to wax philosophic about earplugs for too long. But I do think that these are a vital stocking stuffer.
Why? Because any traveler knows that your headphone batteries will eventually die, as will your phone, and you’ll want to zone out a little. Or you’ll be at a hostel and find a world-class snorer sleeping on the other side of a paper-thin wall. Or you’ll want to surf in cold water without having to fight to get water out of your inner-ears all trip.
Earplugs are useful, is what I’m saying, and if you have a passionate traveler in your life, they’ll be glad you got them these.
We picked this year’s travel books for three very specific reasons:
Island Zombie is a thoughtful reflection on isolation, resilience, natural wonder, and living in the moment. Written by the contemporary artist Roni Horn, it’s the sort of book you find yourself returning to often — to ponder, to explore, and to be inspired. In fact, this book is more like an art project that you want to page through at random than a straightforward “travelogue.” Not only does it venture deep into the author’s obsession with Iceland, but it has something unique to say about why humans love to travel in the first place.
Buy Island Zombie: Iceland Writings, By Roni Horn for $35 here.
America The Beautiful is a reminder that our big brawling nation is more than its political landscape, more than its capitalist obsessions, and more than its constant media-world ouroboros. America is raging seas and towering pines. It’s white sand beaches and frozen lakes. It’s undulating hills and swaying kelp beds.
In a year in which it felt so easy to categorize our citizens into “either/ or” binaries, this book adds nuance, texture, and beauty back into the conversation of what “America” actually means.
Buy America The Beautiful: A Story In Photographs, By National Geographic for $28.72 here.
The Open Road is the travel guide any vanlife vagabond would be thrilled to receive. It’s full of road trips. Better yet, they’re all here, in this country, where people will need your tourism dollars the second travel is given the “all clear.”
This entry from the cult-beloved Moon Guides is useful, engaging, and nicely put together. A coffee table volume that will actually get read. If the traveler in your life doesn’t want to get overly cerebral about it all and just wants to get on the damn road already, this is your pick.
Buy The Open Road: 50 Best Road Trips in the USA, by Jessica Dunham for $27.99 here.
Tribit Storm Box Micro
tribit
Price: $49.99
You could say a lot about this speaker, but… you probably don’t have to. It’s enormously loud for its size, the battery lasts a long time (6-7 hours during our tests), and it has an automatic shutoff — vital for travelers who forget minor details like powering down their electronics. Also, it’s water-resistant, which is a huge perk.
In short, this is the speaker the traveler in your life needs in their pack when they finally hit the road again — landing in that sweet spot where size and durability meet performance. Also, as we start to veer toward some pretty spendy items, this one is exceptionally affordable.
As utilitarian as this list is, it had to have at least one item that would make you cooler just off appearance alone. One entry that throws a vibe. These ’70s style aviators — which feel like they could be worn by Paul Newman, James Dean, or Eartha Kitt — are exactly that, making them the perfect pick for the style-conscious road warrior.
It’s not just the vintage design that we like here, either. The Vallon shades feature polarized lenses and come with a forest green elastic strap that plugs seamlessly into the sunglass arms and looks far less dorky than a sunglass strap has any right to look. Meaning perhaps the traveler you gift these to won’t lose them right away and then have to resort to buying bedazzled knock-offs on a street corner in Bologna then having their retinas burned because of the terrible lenses.
There are a few defining factors for a good travel duffel:
Durable. Like metal-zippers-thick-canvas-stiff-frame-quadruple-stiched-straps type of durable.
And…
Really that’s it.
Ultimately, the traveler in your life wants something they can bang around and have no fear about. A bag they can jam into overhead compartments and throw into truckbeds. Something with zipper teeth so sturdy you feel like they’ll outlast your own chompers.
This is that bag. It’s tough. It’s functional. It has a few pockets and a strap that’s heavier-duty than a squad car seatbelt. The fact that it actually looks cool is just an added perk.
There’s been a Polaroid camera on this list for a few years running now. Design-wise, this ’70s throwback honoring the Grand Canyon is probably the coolest Polaroid we’ve highlighted yet, plus part of the proceeds go to supporting America’s National Parks. But the point of a Polaroid is always the same: Immediate photo gratification.
Being able to take photos and see them right away was neat in the middle of the last century, back when it represented the furthest reaches of camera tech. It’s even cooler now — when so many photos are lost to the cloud, never to be displayed or looked upon. It’s a tangible object in an almost-completely digital industry.
In all of the travel world, there is probably no gesture so widely appreciated as taking a few polaroids and handing them out to the people you meet. If you buy this for a traveler, you’re essentially purchasing them an easy way to connect with others on the road. And that’s a gift that’s sure to be appreciated.
Buy the Parks Project Grand Canyon Polaroid Camera here.
Beats By Dre Studio 3 Wireless Headphones
Amazon
Price: $349.95
We have to be discerning about headphones in this gift guide. Because good headphones — and the Beats Studio 3 are very good — create a private world for the listener. And private worlds, on the road, keep you from connecting and experiencing the places you’re at. You can get so focused on the auditory experience that you miss out on the other senses.
And yet… how many of our favorite memories are deeply entwined with music? How often has just the right song — played while staring out of a plane or bus window — helped us to process our adventures? So while headphones on the road can be misused, they are vital.
Having tested a lot of headphones over the years, we’ve landed on these for nailing the balance between price, utility, and pure performance. The sound here is clean, crisp, and captures the highs and lows well enough to truly transport you. Better still, the noise-canceling feature is what we would describe as “baby crying two rows up and you’re still blissed out”-quality. You need that when traveling.
But the greatest perk of these headphones for travelers is the battery life. The charge on these lasts. We’re talking like 20ish hours of listening. That means you can get through two monster plane rides and a few bus trips without a recharge. Good travel gear is all about making things easier for the traveler while increasing their enjoyment, the Beats Studio 3 nails that balance.
Mission Workshop The Rhake Weatherproof Laptop Backpack
Mission Workshop
Price: $370
Let’s be very clear. If you’re buying a $370 backpack, that thing needs to last. Not a few years, either. We’re talking a decade.
We didn’t test this bag for a full 10 years, but we did try to beat the sh*t out of it in the time we had. Really give it a pounding. Yanking the zippers, submerging it in the bath, showering with it on, and trying to literally pull it apart. It definitely held up. Especially the waterproof aspect.
It should go without saying, you don’t need to buy this for the resort-focused traveler in your life. Not even for the average backpacker. This is a straight-up tactical go-bag for people venturing into the wild and bringing expensive equipment along with them.
If you know someone who fits that description, they’re going to like this. Every aspect is highly thought out for someone taking truly expensive tech into situations where shelter isn’t guaranteed. Yes, $370 is a lot for a backpack. But as anyone who’s ever slid down a ravine while simultaneously worrying about whether their gear was going to be irreparably damaged knows, peace of mind is worth paying for.
Just like there are a lot of people with photos stuck on the Cloud that they’ll never view, there are a lot of photos shot on DSLRs that will never be edited. And when you get three or four years down the road from a trip and you still haven’t imported the files into Photoshop, you start to wonder if lugging a massive camera around for weeks at a time was really worth it.
Having been a lot of places and taken our share of pictures, our team votes: It’s not.
Not unless you’re really passionate about photos or trying to make it your livelihood. Otherwise, we’re in an era when an all-around camera can get glossy-magazine quality pictures without requiring its own bag, various lenses, light meters, tripods, etc. Better to use that and actually experience your trip, than allow a whole adventure to be dictated by camera paranoia. (Seriously, will you actually take a dip in that hot springs knowing that you’ve got $5K in gear sitting a few feet away? Or will you be left tinkering with your toys on the sidelines?)
The Nikon Z 5 Mirrorless is the best “all-arounder” that we’ve tested. It shoots video and full-frame photos. It’s durable, it’s compatible with the whole line of NIKKOR lenses, and — best of all — you don’t have to be a pro to use it effectively. (But also, you can be a pro, it holds up to that level.)
Another perk: Right now Nikon is conducting free online photography classes, so whoever you give this gift to can actually learn how to make the most of it.
Buy the Nikon Z 5 here and check out Nikon’s Online School here.
Super73-S2 Electric Motorbike
Super73
Price: $2,445
So it comes down to this. The big-ticket item — a $2500 electric bike. That’s a serious investment. Though, to be fair, it’s less expensive than literally dozens of designer bags featured on Neiman Marcus. And it’s about half of a Williams Sonoma espresso machine. Can purses or coffeemakers zip your beloved around from place to place, existing in a sort of legal gray area in which it’s somehow all good to go 28 MPH in a bike lane on what amounts to a one-person Tesla with pedals?
We dare say not.
If 2020 taught us anything, it’s that having some options when the world goes to shit is vital. So we’re not afraid to throw our support behind a gift that 1) offers the kinetic thrill of travel without burning fossil fuel, 2) gets people outdoors and away from crowds, and 3) helps folks clear their heads when life in quarantine has them feeling stir crazy.
So why this bike, in particular? We’ve tested a few electric bikes now and the Super73-S2 has the perfect balance of range, speed, comfort, and price for the traveler. It can be taken on the road as part of a #vanlife rig or used as the sole-transport for a camping trip near home. It’s a monster on trails and doesn’t have any superfluous pieces that feel like they might rattle loose.
Sure, this is a splurge, but it’s one that the traveler in your life will remember and love you for while they’re buzzing through the badlands or cruising down a grassy path to an abandoned surf break. It’s not just a gift for travelers, it literally the gift of travel. It also looks badass — like a vintage dirtbike — which is something your giftee probably cares about (even if they don’t admit it).
Donald Trump is a man of very few accomplishments, but one of them is somehow managing to fail at the casino business and leaving behind a dilapidated building in Atlantic City. In an effort to both thumb its nose at Trump for trashing the beach town on his way out and raise money for charity, the mayor is auctioning off a chance to literally blow up the crumbling Trump Plaza next month. The proceeds will go to the Boys & Girl Club, which hired a professional auction company to handle the bids, and the mayor is hoping to see a final amount that’s somewhere north of $1 million dollars. On January 29, the lucky winner will get to press the detonation button, exploding the Plaza with dynamite. Via The Guardian:
“Some of Atlantic City’s iconic moments happened there, but on his way out, Donald Trump openly mocked Atlantic City, saying he made a lot of money and then got out,” said Marty Small, the mayor. “I wanted to use the demolition of this place to raise money for charity.”
Thanks to ravaging storms, the Trump Plaza has been crumbling onto the Atlantic City boardwalk ever since Trump abandoned the deteriorating building in 2014. The property is now owned by billionaire Carl Icahn, who is reportedly working with the city to turn the failed casino plot into a more family-friendly attraction that no longer bears the president’s name. “Not often does inner-city oceanfront land open up,” the mayor told The Guardian. “We have one chance to get this right.”
Dave Grohl has been busy this holiday season: He’s in the midst of a series of Hanukkah covers and Foo Fighters just dropped a rendition of “Run Rudolph Run.” He’s never written a Christmas song of his own, though, and now he has told Apple Music’s Zane Lowe why that’s the case.
Grohl said in a new interview (alongside the rest of Foo Fighters), “Trying to write a new Christmas song, it’s kind of tricky. Because it’s like, you’re so used to the classics. You’re so used to being crotchety. I think we’ve been asked to do it, but I wouldn’t even know what to say. Like, ‘I took mushrooms with the teachers from my school. I took a bunch of mushrooms in my house with my mom.’ I don’t really think it’d work. No, we’ve never even tried. I don’t know if people would want us to do that. I’m not sure. Maybe the day that we decide we don’t want to do this anymore, we make a Christmas song and then we ride off into the sunset.”
That bit about the mushrooms wasn’t just a random funny thing to say; Elsewhere during the conversation, Grohl told a story about the time when he was a teenager and he took some shrooms before a holiday party his mother was hosting:
“I grew up in a house that was really small, and every Christmas night, people just knew to come over to the Grohls’ little house. We would all just sit around and listen to music and drink and stuff like that. By the time I was like 14 or 15, now I’m in a punk rock band, my punk rock friends are coming over. Then my mom’s teacher friends are coming over and then my sister… I mean, we lived in a small little neighborhood and everyone just knew to come over. So this one year… God, I shouldn’t be telling this story. This one year, I think I was like 15 or something like that. My friend gave me mushrooms for Christmas, right? I’d never taken them before. So I thought, ‘OK, I probably shouldn’t take them at this party because all of my mother’s friends are coming over.’ Right? They’re teachers at the school that I go to, I know these people, I’d known [them] for a long time. So my friend gives me all these mushrooms. I think, ‘I’ll take a little bit before the party.’ I was out of my f*cking mind. So much so, one of the teachers from the school pulled me into the bathroom at one point and was like, ‘Are you doing cocaine?’ I was like, ‘No, no!’ So then after everyone left, I stayed up and tried to learn that Zeppelin song, ‘Bron-Y-Aur,’ that acoustic thing, until like six o’clock in the morning. I never figured it out. I thought I figured it out, but I didn’t really figure it out.”
Tom Cruise did a lot to re-start Mission: Impossible 7 production late this summer after a global industry shutdown. He personally called Norway’s culture minister to get things going again, and he dealt with a bridge kerfuffle and stunts gone wrong and all sorts of other madness. Tom will not let this production be jeopardized again, and that’s why he’s been taking COVID guidelines very seriously. He even double-masks on-set, and as we heard a few nights ago, Tom had enough of crew members flouting restrictions and unleashed a profanity-laced tirade against those who weren’t social distancing.
His sentiment was roundly praised by social media and George Clooney, but it seems that not all of the M:I 7 crew feels too great about the situation. The Sun is reporting that at least five crew members left after the recorded rant went public, and Tom also apparently unloaded a subsequent, unrecorded tirade because he’s had enough:
Another eruption followed on Tuesday night as news of his rant emerged. A source said: “The first outburst was big but things haven’t calmed since. Tension has been building for months and this was the final straw. Since it became public there has been more anger and several staff have walked.
“But Tom just can’t take any more after all the lengths they have gone to just to keep filming at all. He’s upset others aren’t taking it as seriously as him. In the end, he’s the one who carries the can.”
One can hardly blame Cruise for feeling an untold amount of weight upon his shoulders. It’s also his butt and a lot of his money on the line, along with, as he pointed out in the first tirade, his sense of responsibility for keeping people employed and producers happy. Among other things, he previously shouted, “I’m on the phone with every f*cking studio at night, insurance companies, producers and they’re looking at us and using us to make their movies. We are creating thousands of jobs, you motherf*ckers. I don’t ever want to see it again. Ever!” He added, “You can tell it to the people who are losing their f*cking homes because our industry is shut down. It’s not going to put food on their table or pay for their college education. That’s what I sleep with every night – the future of this f*cking industry!”
Given that Tom’s such a daredevil (who even perches atop a speeding train like it’s no big thing), it sure as heck says a lot that he’s taking the risk of this virus seriously. He knows that the smartest move of all during a pandemic is to take things seriously and mask up, and it sounds like he’s not going to let anyone else break that rule (or the social-distancing one) before vaccines bring true relief.
Mission: Impossible 7 is currently scheduled for a November 19, 2021 release, and Tom Cruise is going to do everything he can to make it happen.
Now that Quibi is essentially defunct, seemingly all the rapper-based shows have landed on Facebook’s new feature, Messenger Watch Together. While its title is… well… a mouthful, the function itself is actually pretty fun once you get the hang of it. Basically, you can watch shows and movies while video chatting with friends on Facebook Messenger or Instagram DMs (which are now basically the same thing). Post Malone is already several weeks deep into his beer pong league show, Celebrity World Pong League, and now, Cardi B is going to be joining the fun with a show of her own.
Cardi’s show is called Cardi Tries __ and it’s exactly what it sounds like. On each of the eight episodes ordered for the first season, the “WAP” rapper will try things outside of her comfort zone. It’s a little bit like what Uproxx did with Vince Staples and F*#! That on Snapchat, only Cardi will actually be the one trying the new activities rather than razzing her friends when they chicken out. In the first season, Cardi will try activities like stunt car racing and working on a ranch, with celebrity guests such as NBA Star Damian Lillard and Fast & Furious badass Michelle Rodriguez.
New episodes will air Thursdays through February 4.
Cardi B is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
As Donald Trump’s personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani knows many of the president’s darkest secrets, with a level of security clearance that only a select few (Trump’s son-in-law) are granted. But he’s also a goo-dripping huckster who gets duped by Borat, gives press conferences next to a sex shop, and now sells cigars and gold coins on his personal YouTube page. I guess that $20,000 a day isn’t cutting it.
As discovered by the Recount, Giuliani interrupted his most recent video, “Joe Biden: Top Of The BIDEN CRIME FAMILY Totem Pole,” to read ad copy for American Hartford Gold and Famous Smoke Shop. It’s the far-right’s Casper Mattress and Bonobos! “If you want a good cigar, go to a good cigar shop. You want the best? Go to Famous Smoke Shop” he said. “Let Famous Smoke deliver your favorite cigars right to your doorstep at America’s lowest prices.” If you visit Famous-Smoke.com/Rudy, you can even get $20 off your first purchase (if you spend at least $99). But it gets better! “Tell them Rudy sent you!” Giuliani reads during the promo for American Hartford Gold. What happens if you tell them Rudy sent you? Basically nothing! But don’t worry, Bill O’Reilly is also on board.
Again, this is the president’s lawyer selling stogies and coins in a YouTube video where he’s otherwise ranting about the Bidens like they’re the Corleone family. I can’t stress that enough. No wonder even Trump thinks he’s “a joke.” Watch the highlights here:
Though Lil Baby failed to culminated his breakout year with any major award show trophies, the rapper is being lauded as by Apple Music as their Artist Of The Year. The award will be presented to the rapper on Thursday night and shortly thereafter, the streaming service will premiere a documentary which tells the rapper’s story.
Lil Baby just unveiled the upcoming film’s trailer, which is also slated to debut Thursday night. In the brief teaser, Lil Baby charts his rise to fame. In it, he admits that he never wanted to be a rapper but his “perspective changed” after being incarcerated for a second time:
“I was in jail my first time at thirteen. I dropped out of school somewhere between ninth and tenth grade. I never wanted to be a rapper. I was already young and turnt in the streets. But after I got locked up again, my perspective changed. I became an artist with something to say, people to stand for, and now, it’s finally time to tell my story.”
In recent months, Lil Baby has offered concrete proof that he’s dedicated to standing for a cause. After standing alongside protestors in demonstrations against police brutality in June, the rapper has supported George Floyd’s family members. Just this week, the rapper helped NBA player Stephen Jackson throw a massive, doll-themed birthday party for Floyd’s daughter Gianna. He attended the seven-year-old’s party, posed for photos, and sponsored the entire event.
Watch Lil Baby’s Apple Music documentary trailer above.
Earlier this week, Bud Light announced its first-ever New Year’s Eve livestream concert with performances from Jack Harlow, Post Malone, and Steve Aoki, with more performers to be announced in the weeks leading up to December 31. The first new star to be added to the lineup is Bay Area rapper Saweetie, who previously collaborated with Harlow and Malone on the remix to her hyphy-classic-sampling hit “Tap In.”
“Be sure to ‘tap in’ to this year’s Bud Light Seltzer NYE Celebration with me as we bring in the New Year together with songs from my upcoming album, Pretty B*tch Music,” she said in a press release. “We’re going to dance and celebrate the ICY way right into 2021. I know that’s right!”
The announcement is sure to excite Saweetie fans, who will want to tune in and find out whether she’ll preview any new songs from the album alongside hits “Tap In,” and “Back To The Streets,” or whether she’ll join her remix co-stars for a group performance. The performance will cap an impressive year for the standout star, who has kept busy through the pandemic with her Ice Life and Icy University web shows. She’s also got a highly-anticipated song with Doja Cat, “Best Friends,” coming soon, provided an accidental early release didn’t ruin her rollout plans enough to cancel the collab.
Check out the Bud Light Seltzer NYE Celebration on the brand’s social channels and budlight.com/NYE at 10:30 PM ET on 12/31.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
In 2020, even legendary sports broadcasters are working from home. Now that the NBA is out of the safe confines of the Bubble, national TV broadcasts are having to figure out on the fly how to bring viewers a normal experience without sending out their game analysts all over the country.
That led to a hilarious clip on Tuesday night night of the delightful Kevin Harlan, booming his signature play calls for an NBA on TNT broadcast… from his basement. The dispatch from the basement came courtesy of Harlan’s daughter, Olivia Dekker, who is also a sports reporter.
This guy is impressive! 3rd game in 3 days on 3 networks, and the first broadcast from… the basement! Haha my family always revolves around sports and TV, but having him upstairs for dinner then go downstairs for tip off was a new one! @Kevinharlanpic.twitter.com/dYdUqMGJcL
It’s quite the setup Harlan has. There’s multiple monitors, the entire range of audio equipment, a panel behind him with the “NBA on TNT” logo, and some nice home decor to go with all of it. While viewers were treated to what felt like a natural broadcast of Kings-Warriors on Tuesday night, neither Harlan nor color commentator Grant Hill were in the building.
One would expect that by the time the NBA regular season rolls around next week, we will see a more normal travel schedule for those calling games for both TNT and ESPN, but it’s just not worth it for preseason. While it makes complete sense from a health and safety standpoint, it will nevertheless be pretty memorable to see these historic broadcasters squeezed into their homes calling games.
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