Category: Viral

Marjorie Taylor Greene tried very hard to distance herself from her racist, anti-Semitic and violent rhetoric and conspiracy theories in recent days, but that did little to stop a vote against her in the US House of Representatives on Thursday.

After debating whether to exile her from congressional committees, the House voted, 230-199, to strike the representative from Georgia after what felt like an endless stream of wild conspiracy theories surfaced in the wake of her unwavering support for Donald Trump, even after an unsuccessful coup attempt carried out in part by people who believe the same baseless QAnon conspiracy she’s supported.

As the New York Times reported, Greene is still very much a member of congress, but one effectively stripped of most duties beyond voting when the rest of the House does.

The vote effectively stripped Ms. Greene of her influence in Congress by banishing her from committees critical to advancing legislation and conducting oversight. Party leaders traditionally control the membership of the panels. While Democrats and Republicans have occasionally moved to punish their own members by stripping them of assignments, the majority has never in modern times moved to do so to a lawmaker in the other party.

As the story explains, this kind of punishment is usually carried out by a member’s own party. And Republicans did exactly that in 2018 when another representative said something offensive. But the party refused to condemn Greene, and many stood by her on Thursday.

In a speech she made before the vote, Greene attempted to undo her conspiracy theory advocacy by saying, in part, that the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 “absolutely happened” and that school shootings were “absolutely real” after she had suggested that parts of both were staged. Videos of her stalking school shooting victims were given new attention in recent days, as did a number of her other posts on social media that have made her a star on the fringe of the right wing. Which is why there were plenty of people celebrating the decision on Twitter on Thursday, including other representatives.

There were also some stunning moments during the debate, including the reminder that Greene’s campaign once included her holding a rifle in imagery that targeted Democratic members of The Squad.

Which is why Cori Bush’s speech against Greene drew particular praise on Thursday.

And despite the news that Greene saw consequences for her past comments, many reminded others that Greene is still in power. And also pointed out that her apology of sorts willfully forgets she was touting wild conspiracies as recently as days ago.

The Portland Trail Blazers have really struggled with injuries this season, as they’re currently without CJ McCollum, Jusuf Nurkic, and Zach Collins all currently out long term and also saw Damian Lillard suffer an abdomen injury and Derrick Jones Jr. suffer a foot injury that kept both out on Thursday night.

As such, there weren’t exactly high expectations for the shorthanded Blazers against the 15-6 Sixers in Philadelphia on Thursday, but, as they say, that’s why they play the games. Despite a 30-point first half from Joel Embiid, Portland’s rag-tag group hung tough and kept things tied at 57-57 at halftime. In the third quarter, they bludgeoned the Sixers, outscoring them 40-19 to take a 21-point lead, one they’d hold onto for a comfortable 121-105 win in a bit of a shocker.

After that third quarter, McCollum, who has been a delight on Twitter while watching games from home, joked that it was he, Dame and the rest who are hurt who were “holding the team back.”

Obviously that’s not the case, but it’s a great reaction from McCollum to see the heavy underdog Blazers come out and dust the Sixers in the second half. He offered a more serious assessment of what he was seeing afterwards, too.

Gary Trent Jr. and Carmelo Anthony led the way for the Blazers, combining for 46 points on the night on 7-of-13 from three-point range.

Four others — Enes Kanter, Rodney Hood, CJ Elleby, and Anfernee Simons — had 14 points or more in the win, as, like McCollum noted, a lot of Portland’s young players got some extended burn in bigger roles on Thursday, which for a team that’s had depth questions could prove quite helpful later on this season.

Rod Wave joined the growing list of artists who expressed frustrations with their record label over the past few years. The Florida rapper, who is signed to Alamo Records, recently shared a post to his Instagram story that called out the label for refusing to pay him.

“P*ssy ass label playing wit a n**** sh*t I ain’t dropping sh*t f*ck ya pay me. Y’all wanna album ask @alamorecords,” he said in the post that depicted to artwork for his upcoming Hard Times album. Well, just days after sharing this post, Rod Wave returned to Instagram to apologize to Alamo and share an update with fans.

“My album dropping in a couple weeks I apologize we just figured it out everything cool,” Rod Wave wrote with a video of himself that he shared on his Instagram story. Thankfully, things between him and Alamo are seemingly back on the good side and fans will soon be able to get their hands on Hard Times. Despite the assumed reconciliation, it’s unknown what the root of Wave’s issues were with the label.

Wave’s third album will drop following an impressive year that saw the rapper share his second full-length effort, Pray 4 Love, and land a spot on the 2020 XXL Freshman Class list.

You can read Rod Wave’s post above.

The biggest potential Blizzard games of 2021 will apparently have to wait. According to The Verge, both Overwatch 2 and Diablo IV were mentioned during a Q1 earnings call on Thursday, and the news wasn’t good for folks hoping the titles see the light of day this year.

During its most recent earnings call, Activision Blizzard revealed that it doesn’t expect Overwatch 2 or Diablo IV to be part of its 2021 financials, suggesting both will launch in 2022 or later.

Technically, this doesn’t represent a delay since neither game had a specific release date in place. Both Overwatch 2 and Diablo IV were first announced at BlizzCon 2019, and the developer has been relatively quiet since then, particularly about the Overwatch sequel.

While the news is certainly disappointing for fans who are eager to see new versions of their favorite titles, giving games more time to percolate is likely good news for the overall quality of the end result. Building good games, especially sequels to wildly popular titles, takes a long time. And as we’ve seen with a title like Cyberpunk 2077, putting pressure on developers to deliver on an unrealistic timeline can doom titles and cause the exact kind of business chaos companies try to avoid when they pressure the creative side of the business to hit deadlines.

Overwatch remains massively popular, and players are certainly eager to get a new game. We don’t know when Activision Blizzard expects to show off either title, or whether they’ll have a release date soon. But we do know now that we’ll be waiting a bit longer for any news at all, let alone a chance to play.

[via The Verge]

All things considered, the 2020-21 Cleveland Cavaliers have been a positive story, posting a 10-12 record and operating at a competitive level on the defensive end. However, a well-regarded veteran has not been involved in the proceedings and, on Tuesday, word broke that Matthew Dellavedova could be pondering retirement in the near future.

Joe Vardon and Kelsey Russo of The Athletic report that retirement is “on the table, if not likely” for the 30-year-old Dellavedova at this juncture, even while noting that no definitive decision has been made. Dellavedova suffered a concussion in mid-December and, though nearly two months have passed, the report indicates that he is “experiencing problematic symptoms that are preventing him from ramping up workouts in any real capacity.”

It should be noted that Dellavedova reportedly “doesn’t want to stop playing yet,” presumably leaving the door open for a return to the hardwood. At the same time, concussion issues are, of course, quite serious and caution is advised as a result.

Dellavedova was a member of the 2016 championship team in Cleveland before spending two-plus years with the Milwaukee Bucks. He then returned midway through the 2018-19 season, and Dellavedova appeared in 57 games for the Cavs in 2019-20. Dellavedova is perhaps best known for his willingness to jump into the fray at any situation, but he was also a steady-handed and valuable guard for the Cavaliers, and the NBA community will undoubtedly be rooting for a return to full health as soon as possible.

In just a few days, The Weeknd will stand in the middle of Tampa Bay’s Raymond James Stadium to perform for the NFL’s Super Bowl LV halftime show. The show should be an exciting one as the singer is coming off an equally exciting year that was led by the success of his After Hours album and his “Blinding Lights” and “Heartless” singles. With fans wondering what The Weeknd will do to make his performance special, the singer shared a bit of what fans can expect at the pre-Super Bowl press conference on Thursday.

At one point he was asked if he would use the moment on national TV to portray any social justice themes.

“I don’t like to spoon-feed the audience,” he said. “Hopefully, they can come up with some of their own theories and conclusions for what the show is saying and the story I’m telling with the performance.” The Weeknd was also confirmed that his halftime show will be a family-friendly performance.

“For sure, I definitely want to be respectful to the viewers at home,” The Weeknd said. “I will still incorporate some of the storyline. It’s a very cohesive story I’ve been telling throughout this era and throughout this year. So the story will continue, but definitely we’ll keep it PG for the families. I’ll try my best.”

You can watch his press conference in the video above.

Streaming services can’t stop and won’t stop, and thank goodness for their continued drive to best each other or, at least, knock each other’s socks off on a repeated basis. They’re here for us, and we should be there for them if at all possible. With that said, we are back for another evaluation of which streaming service is granting us the best fresh content on any given weekend. Quantity matters, but so does quality, and this week, it’s a little tougher than usual to pick a winner.

Netflix clearly has the advantage going in this week with its longevity and years of practice under its belt. However, it can’t be assumed that the streaming giant will be the default winner. Every week is different, and there are strong showings from Peacock (with the Modern Family library), Hulu (with a Britney documentary series and Modern Family), Amazon Prime (with a Salma Hayek and Owen Wilson movie), and Disney+ (with more Marvel Cinematic Universe goodness). None of them were able to top HBO Max this week.

We’ll discuss all of these top streaming services below, beginning with HBO Max’s newest offerings, including a new Studio Ghibli movie, a docuseries and docufilm, and their solid library editions to binge to your heart’s delight.

HBO Max:

Earwig and the Witch (Studio Ghibli film on HBO Max) — Not a moment too soon, Studio Ghibli follows up the internationally acclaimed Howl’s Moving Castle with a new classic adaptation, and this one focuses upon Diana Wynne Jones’ novel about an orphan, Earwig, who never wants to be adopted because she can apparently control everyone at the orphanage. However, a witch wants to adopt Earwig, who decides maybe that’s not so bad after all because… magic?

Fake Famous (HBO Documentary on HBO Max) — Veteran journalist Nick Bilton’s a first time director here while journeying into the bizarre world of Los Angeles-based social media influencers who are jacking up their own followings in illicit ways, including armies of bots and purchases of fake followers. Look out for the costs of this immersive lifestyle to come roaring in from the sidelines.

The Investigation (HBO debut episode on HBO Max) — This Scandinavian limited drama series follows the real-life investigation into the 2017 murder of a Swedish journalist (Kim Wall) in what became one of Danish history’s most notorious criminal cases (aptly dubbed the “Submarine Case”). This is a homemade submarine (?), apparently, and the series hails from Oscar-nominated screenwriter and director Tobias Lindholm (A War, Mindhunter).

Everwood: All Seasons (Warner Bros. series on HBO Max) — One of Greg Berlanti’s most beloved series returns with two MCU stars in tow. Revisit Chris Pratt’s early aughts hair and marvel at how Emily VanCamp manages to look cool, and almost like she still appears today, beside the guy who who would go on to play Star-Lord. To be slightly more serious, this is an opportunity to catch up on all four seasons of a a dramedy that’s set in a fictional, idyllic Colorado town, where a city boy attempts to fit into the small-community vibe and relationships of all types swirl after a Manhattan physician decides to transplant to Everwood. There’s plenty of bright (and Pratt’s character is actually named Bright) and tragic and heartwarming moments to be found in this show.

Babylon 5: All Seasons (Warner Bros. series on HBO Max) — WarnerMedia’s streaming service keeps adding to its throwback library (last Wednesday, they did all of Everwood), and now, here’s something for the nerds. Revisit the futuristic space opera that takes place across five seasons and five miles of space station. There’s plenty of potential warfare concerning the Earth Alliance and plenty of personal drama.

Netflix:

Malcolm & Marie (Netflix film) — Zendaya and John David Washington are getting “achingly romantic,” not to mention dramatic, in this black-and-white film shot during lockdown. Sam Levinson directs and Marcell Rev is on cinematography, so the film looks achingly beautiful as well. Washington’s character is celebrating his movie premiere, and Zendaya portrays his girlfriend, and something goes wrong once they return home with revelations flying and their love put to the test. Levinson meant to send an ode to the Hollywood romances of yesteryear with this one, so Happy (early) Valentine’s Day.

Firefly Lane (Netflix series) — Now for a different type of love. Katherine Heigl returns to TV with Sarah Chalke as co-star, as the duo portrays two women over three-to-four decades of best friendship. Expect laughs and sentimentality, all based upon the New York Times bestselling book of the same name, and a brunette Heigl. The show’s an exploration of the most important relationship in one’s life and those friendships that can pick up without missing a beat, even after time apart.

Tiffany Haddish Presents: They Ready: Season 2 (Netflix series) — Netflix’s stellar run of stand-up comedy specials took a bit of a breather in late 2020, but there’s some excellent news on the horizon. Girl’s Trip star Tiffany Haddish returns with an updated collection of half-hour specials that includes a diverse crop of comedians who are near and dear to Haddish. These players include Chaunté Wayans (Wild n’ Out), April Macie (Last Comic Standing), Tracey Ashley (The Last O.G.), Aida Rodriguez (Comedy Central’s This Week at the Comedy Cellar), Flame Monroe (Def Comedy Jam), and Marlo Williams (BET’s Comicview). We could really use those laughs.

Strip Down, Rise Up (Netflix film) — Pole dancing ain’t easy, and Academy Award-nominated director Michèle Ohayon sends up an intimate look at a group of women who come together to heal trauma and put body image issues to rest with this particular type of dancing. Yes, it’s sensual stuff but so much more, and it looks like a take-the-power-back kind of ride.

Space Sweepers (Netflix film) — Time to get a little wacky with a genius space pilot who’s clashing with a mysterious ex-space pirate, and there’s an engineer and reprogrammed military robot to make things even weirder. The film’s set in 2092 and revolves around a crashed space shuttle with the spaceship Victory hoping to salvage debris for profit, but apparently, there’s a young child inside. Dilemma.

Amazon Prime:

Bliss (Amazon Prime film) — Mike Cahill directs this sci-fi thriller about a man (Owen Wilson) who realizes that he’s residing within a computer simulation, and the film aims to make you wonder whether you’re in the “real” world or said simulation. It’s a mind-bending adventure with Salma Hayek portraying a mysterious romantic interest, and her telekinesis might be the least weird thing about this movie. Oh, and they definitely go roller skating, too. Fun!

Disney+

Wandavision: Episode 5 (Disney+ series) — The Marvel Cinematic Universe has launched into Phase Four with abandon, and oh boy, things got seriously dark last week. The good news is that we got a lot of answers last week, and there’s one heck of a villainous curveball coming your way if you haven’t watched yet. The show’s more inventive than most superhero-oriented fare that we’ve seen in the past few years, and it’s fantastic to finally see the Marvel titles coming our way once more.

Hulu:

The New York Times Presents: “Framing Britney Spears”: New Episode (FX on Hulu) — The seemingly unending saga of mega pop star Britney Spears’ controversial conservatorship is only one focus of this docuseries that aims to do a deep-dive, retrospective view on how Spears’ life and career has also been shaped by public perception and the press. It’s been a long twelve years for Britney under her father’s financial thumb, and that followed a few years of public chaos, which I’m sure you will never forget. Her fans rally in this series for her “freedom,” given that Britney has vowed not to work again until she can make her own decisions again.

Peacock:

Modern Family: All Seasons (series on Peacock and Hulu) — The enormously popular series that ran for eleven seasons left the airwaves in 2020 will now be available for streaming in its entirety. In addition, Peacock is adding curated collections, bonus content and more goodies to create a “fan experience,” This show has more Emmys than anyone could possibly count, so perhaps that exercise can be part of the bonus content? Do it.

After stepping into the mainstream light with an appearance on Drake’s “Chicago Freestyle” track, Giveon took flight in 2020 and never looked back. The Long Beach singer dropped his debut EP, Take Time a month after the Drake collaboration, and later on in the year, he gave his growing fan base a second EP with When It’s All Said And Done. Now, Giveon is hard at work on his debut album and before that arrives, he returned to When It’s All Said And Done to drop a video for the EP’s standout, “Still Your Best.”

The visual is a fairly simple one: Giveon is seated with an unnamed woman who remains silent for the duration of the video. The words of the song become the foundation of the conversation the singer holds with the woman.

“Say my love is bad / So you let me go,” he sings. “But my love is more / Just wanna let you know.” Due to the straightforward nature of the song, viewers can see and feel the tension between Giveon and the woman, something the singer said was intentional.

“The inspiration behind this video was to make the listener feel like they’re in the room during a very tense conversation,” he said in a statement.

Prior to the video’s release, Giveon teased the release of his debut album in a post to Twitter. In other news, the singer could win his first Grammy award thanks to a nomination for Best R&B Album at the upcoming show.

When It’s All Said And Done is out now via Epic. Get it here.

Mike Lindell has gotten plenty of attention, for better or worse, for his MyPillow company in recent months as the Donald Trump surrogate has peddled in some wild conspiracies about voter fraud and insurrection. He’s lost some clients in the process, but now it seems he’ll be getting some direct competition from someone diametrically opposed to those wild Trump-fueled conspiracies.

Activist David Hogg, a survivor of the Parkland school shooting and March For Our Lives organizer who is often a lightning rod of attention from the right wing on social media, started Thursday by proclaiming it a good day. That was, at first, because QAnon-touting conspiracy theorist Marjorie Taylor Greene would be stripped of her committee positions in the US House of Representatives.

But there was something else brewing as well: Hogg and William LeGate claimed that they were starting a pillow company to compete against another well-known conspiracy theorist: Mike Lindell of MyPillow fame. That guy has long peddled Trump-based crazy theories himself, and apparently Hogg wants to beat him at his own game.

Axios reported on the matter on Thursday, and even snagged a quote from Lindell about how suddenly the pillow market got a bit more crowded.

Details… Hogg wrote that he and LeGate hope to “sell $1 million of product within our first year” and to launch in about six months.

“[W]e would like to do it sooner but we have strict guidelines on sustainability and [U.S.] based Union producers,” Hogg added.

“Mike isn’t going to know what hit him—this pillow fight is just getting started.”

What they’re saying: MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell told Axios in a text Thursday morning, “Good for them…. nothing wrong with competition that does not infringe on someone’s patent.”

And despite the report and plenty of tweets about it, many still thought it was a bit too on the nose to believe. In fact, they spent much of Thursday night reassuring people that they were serious about the endeavor.

Hogg did say on Twitter that it will take a few months to get things up and running here, and he’s only doing this in an advisory role right now. He is, after all, still in college. But the company did get plenty of attention on Thursday, and he’s looking for names to rival MyPillow as well.

Good luck to everyone in the pillow game, an industry that continues to be more complicated and politically tense than most could have ever imagined.

Woodford Reserve is a special brand of whiskey. Why? For starters, the stuff is just plain old tastier than the average bottle of American booze. That’s no surprise for those acquainted with their production process. Much like Irish whiskey, Woodford Reserve is triple distilled in pot stills and blended with column distilled whiskey. For the most part, standard bourbon is twice distilled in one type of still — pot, column, or otherwise (with a million exceptions, of course).

Beyond that, even the entry point bourbon from Woodford Reserve spends six to seven years maturing in heavily charred American oak inside a temperature-controlled warehouse before blending, proofing, and bottling. For comparison’s sake, the average affordable bourbon spends two to four years in the barrel. Jim Beam bottles their much-lauded single barrel Baker’s at seven years. With Woodford, you’re getting extra refined (distilled) and well-aged bourbon even with the entry-level expressions.

All this to say: We’re fans. So we decided to sample the full line and offer our thoughts. Woodford Reserve is fairly unique in that they don’t just make bourbon and rye, they’ve branched out to American malt and wheat whiskey (not wheated bourbon) alongside their Double Oaked expression. They also have a deep bench of limited editions, but we’ll get to that another time.

Let’s rank some whiskey!

5. Woodford Reserve Rye Whiskey

ABV: 45.2%

Average Price: $40

The Whiskey:

This whiskey was a long time coming. Master Distiller Chris Morris tinkered with this recipe for nine years before it was just right. The juice has a fairly low-rye mash bill — for a rye, that is. The bill only calls for 53 percent of the spicy grain. The rest is made up of local corn and malted barley. The whiskey then spends up to seven years maturing at their Versailles, Kentucky facility before its blended, proofed with soft limestone water, and bottled.

Tasting Notes:

Grassy rye comes through with a nice note of sharp black pepper next to mellow pear and marzipan with a hint of cedar bark. The palate really delivers on the pear with a honeyed sweetness while the rye pepperiness ebbs and flows without overpowering the subtler notes of malt, clove, and even fresh mint.

The end is shortish and leans into the sweetness of the fruit with a sharp rye spice counterpoint.

Bottom Line:

Look, something has to be in this spot. This really is designed as a solid cocktail base for your rye cocktails. Sazerac anyone?

Overall, this is a mild rye and may not wow rye-heads out there who are used to 99 or 100 percent rye whiskeys these days. That being said, this is delicious — proving just how good this line gets.

4. Woodford Reserve Wheat Whiskey

ABV: 45.2%

Average Price: $39

The Whiskey:

This is a fascinating dram of whiskey. The mash bill clocks the wheat at 52 percent, just above the 51 percent required to officially be a “wheat whiskey.” The rest of the mash bill is comprised of 20 percent malted barley, 20 percent corn, and eight percent rye. It’s an interesting four-grain mix given the high ratio of malted barley. The whiskey then goes through the Woodford process of triple distillation and years of maturing.

Tasting Notes:

You’re greeted with a mix of vanilla next to pears stewed in cinnamon and butter with a note of dried roses and cedar. The palate holds onto those notes while adding in more of the stewed fruit spiciness with hints of chocolate mint and a very distant note of toasted coconut (more so when water is added). The end is chewy and the pear becomes more of a pear stem or core as the taste dries out nicely.

Bottom Line:

This is just an interesting sip of whiskey. It’s also fairly bold and will stand up to hefty cocktails like a boulevardier.

3. Woodford Reserve Malt Whiskey

ABV: 45.2%

Average Price: $39

The Whiskey:

This expression is sort of like Scotland meets Kentucky in a bottle. The mash bill utilizes 51 percent malted barley. So, it’s not a single malt whisky (those are 100 percent malted barley mash bills). The bill is then supported by a big dose of corn (47 percent), and a dash of rye (two percent). The hot juice is then treated as an American bourbon or rye and is aged in new American oak (single malts generally mature in old bourbon or sherry barrels).

Tasting Notes:

There’s a lot going on here. The nose grows from a sense of rummy molasses, dried fruits, and nutty toffee towards soft cedar and a subtly savory fruit like squash. The palate leans into the velvety dark chocolates and toffees with hints of Christmas spices while the sweet fruits fade and the cedar becomes somewhat toasted. There’s an echo of coconut in the background as the fade leads back to that savory fruit with plenty of bitter chocolate and sweet and nutty toffee lingering the longest.

Bottom Line:

This is enthralling. It’s different in all the right ways. It makes for a fine sipper with a few rocks or in a highball. It’s also really rad as a cocktail base and can stand up to big flavor profiles in sours.

2. Woodford Reserve Bourbon

ABV: 45.2%

Average Price: $39

The Whiskey:

This is where everything comes together that makes Woodford unique. The mash bill on this bourbon is mid-range rye heavy with 18 percent of the grain in the bill for support. The triple distilling in pot stills and blending with column distilled whiskey is utilized. And yes, this bourbon rests for six to seven years — taking time to mature before barrels are pulled for blending, proofing, and bottling.

Tasting Notes:

There’s that classic note of bourbon vanilla up top but it doesn’t overwhelm the notes of dark chocolate oranges, dried fruits, spicy tobacco, and a distant wisp of fresh mint. A lovely toffee richness creates a well-rounded mouthfeel as notes of spicy and chewy tobacco mingle with dark chocolate dust, more orange oils, and a touch of cinnamon sticks. The end is pure velvet, lingers for just the right amount of time, and brings the whole sip together.

Bottom Line:

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that mint comes up a lot in Woodford Reserve’s notes. They’re the sponsor of the Kentucky Derby after all and the mint julep is that event’s official cocktail. While this is an excellent julep base, it also works perfectly well as a sipper on the rocks or neat.

1. Woodford Reserve Double Oaked Bourbon

ABV: 43.2%

Average Price: $57

The Whiskey:

This expression takes the standard bourbon above and gives it a finishing touch. The bourbon is blended and moved into new barrels that have been double toasted but only lightly charred. The juice spends a final nine months resting in those barrels before proofing and bottling.

Tasting Notes:

There’s a welcoming aroma of marzipan, blackberry, toffee, and fresh honey next to a real sense of pitchy, dry firewood. The taste drills down on those notes as the sweet marzipan becomes more choco-hazelnut, the berries become more dried and apple-y, the toffee becomes almost burnt, and the wood softens to a cedar bark. A rich spicy and chewy tobacco arrives late as the vanilla gets super creamy and the fruit and honey combine on the slow fade.

Bottom Line:

This is a fine sipper, mixer, and all-around powerhouse whiskey. It makes a killer Manhattan. It works on the rocks or neat. In short… it just works.