Category: Viral

According to a new report from TMZ, the fight between the crews of King Von and Quando Rondo in Atlanta that led to Von’s shooting was prompted by Von’s crew and Rondo’s was acting in self-defense. A source told TMZ that Rondo was taking a nap in a car outside the lounge where the shooting took place, while video of the incident appears to show Von instigating the initial fistfight.

In the video, Von can be seen throwing punches at members of Rondo’s crew, while TMZ’s source says that Rondo was woken by the commotion and believed his life was in danger. Furthermore, police say that Von was shot during the initial shooting and was already injured by the time two off-duty officers nearby opened fire at the group in response to the first shots. A member of Rondo’s crew was arrested for felony murder, while the rapper himself is not currently under investigation. According to XXL, Timothy Leeks was arrested at the hospital being treated for injuries sustained during the shooting.

Rondo says he feels terrible about the situation, although neither crew has had contact with the other in the week since the incident. Von had just put out his second project of the year, Welcome To O-Block, a week before his death.

When the Life section was handing out assignments, yours truly somehow got stuck with ranking the (ever-changing) Taco Bell menu. Maybe it’s because I have taco-judging experience, I don’t know. I’m not sure that my expertise was any real asset here. In any case, I mention this to say that I’m pretty well-versed in Mexican food, on both sides of the border. That being said, I’m not going to get into a whole thing bashing Taco Bell for not being “real Mexican food.” It’s not 1974, I think we’re all well aware of that by now.

Sometimes you want Mexican food, other times you want Taco Bell. Chipotle is the same.

Neither am I advocating that you go out and eat fast food every day. Even putting aside the potential health effects, I’d much rather everyone support their locals rather than the big chains — if only to maintain diversity in the foodservice ecosystem. We don’t want the world turning into Demolition Man, where the only restaurant left is Taco Bell. (You sort of have to give the company credit for allowing themselves to get clowned in a Sylvester Stallone movie though, don’t you? That was a pretty cool move, for a corporation).

Bottom line, there’s probably going to come a time in your life — be it on a road trip or drunk at 3 am — when Taco Bell is the best of the options available. For those times, allow me to be your zesty beef Sherpa, guiding you on a magical journey through the Taco Bell menu in the hopes of helping you make your best ordering decision.

A Note On Methodology

Every Taco Bell locaish has a slightly different menu, so I just ordered from the closest one to my house. People talk about “McDonald’s” or “In-N-Out” as if they’re monoliths, but they all vary from location to location, even shift to shift. I frequently choose certain In-N-Out locations over others because I’m convinced one has crispier fries, better-seasoned beef, or whatever. Automated as it is, it does still come down to humans preparing, or at least assembling, your food. I don’t know how you account for that in a ranking, so I didn’t attempt to. I also skipped the sides and the meat variations — no chicken or steak.

Taco Bell seems to have drastically cut down on those anyway.

I tried to order roughly one of everything, save sides. I did tacos on the first day, burritos and special items (nachos, crunch wraps) on the second day, and breakfast on the third (I had to go to a different location for that one, and, to be honest, I think it was a lot worse than the first). It cost approximately $63 in total. Most items I only took a few bites of, because I’m not trying to eat 18 menu items in three sittings. I mean sure, I’ll willingly give myself diarrhea for you people but I still have my limits.

After three days of this, I did start to experience a little of what Morgan Spurlock described in Supersize Me. I’d overeat, then feel bad afterward, and oddly empty after that. By the third day, I’d developed a mild but palpable dependency, where I could sense my body asking me expectantly, “Hey, so are we having Taco Bell today?” like my dog sitting by the door when he wants a walk.

PART I — The Sauces

4. Mild

Worthless. Why?

3. Hot

It’s fine. Doesn’t really add enough heat or flavor, in my opinion. It’s just kind of there.

2. Diablo

I like the heat, but they overdo it on the smokey chipotle flavor a bit, for me. It’s a bit much, but great if you need to drown out the flavor of something else.

1. Fire

Hot, tangy, slightly sweet, but not overpowering in terms of either flavor or heat. The only sauce you need, really.

PART II — The Menu

18. AM Crunch Wrap

First thing I notice here is the size and shape. This crunch wrap fits in the palm of my hand. I have above average palm size but still… something seems off here.

Biting into it, and… nah.

This is strange for me to say, because this would’ve been my choice as number 1 menu item if I hadn’t actually ordered and tasted everything else. In fact, I named it my favorite new fast food item of the year back in 2016.

I think this particular one just might be a dud. It’s all full of bacon and sauce, and the bacon part is weird because I didn’t order it like that, it just came that way, which may be a quirk of the online ordering system I used. I definitely don’t need this much bacon in a fast-food breakfast item. Fast food is already a sodium bomb, bacon just fouls the proportions.

Anyway, the hashbrowns — at least 85% of the reason I liked this item — are smooshed flat inside, which ruins both the interior texture and the exterior crunch. I took two bites of this just to be thorough and then put it back in the bag. Then after it sat for a minute or two I snuck another bite. This is a weird effect fast food has, where you feel strangely compelled to take a new bite in order to cleanse yourself of the previous bite. It’s a vicious circle.

17. Hash Brown Toasted Breakfast Burrito

This is… very dry. Are the hashbrowns in this even hashbrowns? I’m pretty sure these are some kind of seasoned steak fries. I don’t see steak fries anywhere on the menu but I’m fairly certain of it. The potato is simultaneously overseasoned, not crunchy, and mealy-dry in the middle. It also apparently comes with sausage, even though, again, the online menu didn’t say it had sausage. The sausage is… okay, I guess. Kind of the most flavorful part in fact, but the eggs look like those crappy powdered eggs. I’m speculating here, but they have that light yellow, overly homogenous look to them.

This is still edible, but basically useless without fire sauce. With fire sauce, it is minimally passable. It offers the basic semblance of a breakfast burrito.

16. Doritos Locos Taco

I like that this one comes in a little taco holder to keep my fingers from getting too cheesy. I’ve always said, Cheetos should have one of those plastic gloves Subway sandwich artists use built into the bag.

First bite, no sauce: too much flavor. It’s not terrible, it’s just… too many things happening. It’s like eating overseasoned french fries. The fire sauce can’t really save this one either because it has too many flavors to begin with so adding another doesn’t really solve anything.

Update: I actually inhaled a crispy nacho cheese fragment that lodged in my windpipe while I was typing this. I don’t recommend that. It’s even worse than a regular tortilla fragment (and I admit that I accidentally inhale food shards probably more than is normal). Oh God, I am in agony.

15. Bean Burrito

True story, my wife (MAH WAHFE) loves these. I like, in theory, that there’s a lot of sauce and onions, but… honestly, this doesn’t do much for me. The sauce tastes too processed in some ineffable way, like a TV dinner. I think enjoying these might be a force-of-habit kind of thing. She also likes that Aunt Jemima stuff better than real maple syrup, but we still love each other.

One bed, separate syrups.

14. Soft Taco Supreme

No sauce: Meh. Fine. Kinda cheesy-nothing flavor. Not unpleasant but I wouldn’t go out of my way for it.

With Fire sauce: Definitely a huge improvement.

With Diablo sauce: Same, but much smokier. Diablo sauce is still a bit overpowering for me. It’s good but it also kind of tastes like heartburn.

Anyway, overall it takes too long to get to the sour cream in one of these, and not enough tomatoes.

13. Beefy 5-Layer Burrito

(I think? A few of the burritos were so similar that I might have confused them for each other)

I don’t hate this, but I feel like it has too many elements for a Taco Bell item. Overall, Taco Bell items seem better when they stick to the basics — tortilla, lettuce, beef, cheese, and to a lesser extent, beans. More than that and there’s too much variation. Diminishing returns.

I don’t even know what all this has in it but I know that there’s too much of it.

12. Quesarito

It’s… fine. It’s like a mix between a quesadilla and bean burrito (duh). Dull but inoffensive. I know I’m probably alone on this but I think there is a point at which you can have too much cheese.

11. Nachos Bellgrande

This was my go-to back in high school when I actually used to eat at Taco Bell on the reg. In my hometown, there was so little to do that we once got drunk in all the fast-food joint bathrooms. At Taco Bell we stole a metal chair and tied it to the back of my car and used it to take out mailboxes like a weed whacker. Somehow we managed to not get arrested. I digress.

The pros are that Nachos Bell Grande has everything you want from Taco Bell, plus extra crunch and nacho cheese in every bite (well, almost, depending on the cheese distribution). The downside is that as an adult I don’t have many opportunities to have a sit-down dinner at Taco Bell. Nachos are not a great thing to try to eat while you’re driving. Additionally, I’m not sure that having all the ingredients of a Taco Bell taco or burrito just laid out in front of you is the best way to appreciate Taco Bell, visually. I tend to think their taco fillings are best when they’re partially hidden inside a taco or burrito.

10. Crunchy Taco Supreme

I learned my lesson on the soft taco supreme and made sure to get sour cream in my first bite this time. I picked it up and looked to see which end had the most visible sour cream and bit that end first. That’s a veteran move right there. Tasting this now though, I actually think the sour cream and tomatoes dilute the nice flavor combination that the plain crunchy taco has.

A “be careful what you wish for”-situation. It’s fine though. …I guess it’s great if you really like sour cream.

9. Burrito Supreme

This feels like a slightly better version of the Taco Supreme. The sour cream works better here, for whatever reason. I do miss the crunch of the crunchy taco though.

8. Cheesy Gordita Crunch

This is a fun one. The stock version comes with some kind of zesty white sauce pre-applied. It’s an interesting change-up, and the gordita wrapping has its merits. But again, I think the extra sponge of the gordita detracts from the nice crunch of the plain taco. The added bread deadens the crunch and added cheese mutes the flavors a bit.

The white sauce is a lateral move at best.

7. Grande Toasted Breakfast Burrito

I don’t know why, but the hashbrowns in this one seem completely different than in the hashbrown toasted breakfast burrito. These are much more hashbrowny, which is to say that I’m fairly certain that these are actual hashbrowns and the other ones weren’t. Which is great. It also has bacon (which again, I didn’t see on the online menu when I ordered but… okay). There isn’t much bacon in there, which is great, actually. Just a hint of bacon flavor is kind of what I wanted here. I don’t know that I’d ever seek out Taco Bell over other breakfast burrito options, but this is a perfectly cromulent breakfast burrito. It has eggs, cheese, hashbrowns, and they grilled the tortilla.

Throw some Fire sauce on that bad boy and you got yourself a snacc.

6. Chalupa Supreme

The chalupa doesn’t quite have the crunch of the plain crunchy taco, but I really like the flavor of the chalupa shell. It’s definitely bringing something that the gordita isn’t. The sponge of the gordita is nice but it’s really the parts where it hits the grill/oil that make it work — that contrast between the sponge and crisp. We love fried dough, don’t we folks? Tremendous.

Tough to choose between this and the plain crunchy taco — the chalupa is a lot more bread. It feels heavier.

5. Black Bean Crunch Wrap

Honestly… pretty solid. A weirdly nice combination of things. I can’t tell what all is inside there, but I like the crunchy corn shell/grilled flour wrapping combination a lot. And then there’s a nice creamy mix of sauce/beans/stuff on the inside, with some shredded lettuce to add a little freshness. And thanks to the lack of meat product, it isn’t too salty like a lot of these menu items.

I dunno, I was pretty skeptical, but I like it.

4. Black Bean Toasted Cheddar Chalupa

This shell — a chalupa with crispy cheese grilled/baked into the shell, is shockingly successful. It’s kind of hitting on all cylinders for me. The cheddar chalupa shell feels basically like the Doritos Locos Taco version 2.0. The Doritos Locos shell was like a stunt, this feels like they worked out the bugs — they kept the crunchy-cheese part that was good and did away with all the extra seasonings that clashed with the taco filling. I’m a sucker for grilled crispy cheese.

Beans as a taco filling feels slightly dull, but as far as vegetarian options at fast food joints go, you could do a lot worse than this.

3. Toasted Cheddar Chalupa

I’m… honestly slightly ashamed at how much I enjoyed this one. They really amped up the crunch of the regular chalupa and added that umami crunchy cheese factor. Nicely done. I could’ve done with less sour cream, but it doesn’t bother me as much as it did in other items. The sour cream tends to soften the other flavors, but the cheddar chalupa shell compensates for it better.

I’d order light or no sour cream if I had it to do over again.

2. Crunch Wrap Supreme

I have to hand it to the Taco Bell food lab, they really did get the best of the crunchy taco and burrito into a single item with this one. The proportions are spot on. I generally enjoy gorditas, but the grilled flour tortilla-crunchy corn tortilla combination works better than the gordita-corn shell combo, I think. This was slightly less filled than the Black Bean version, and it’s hard to say which one I like better. They’re both very good. Also, it should be noted, this crunch wrap does not fit in the palm of my hand like the breakfast one (it also came from a different Taco Bell location).

1. Crunchy Taco

Yes, believe it or not, the bone stock crunchy taco was my favorite. I’m honestly not trying to be a purist or a contrarian here, there’s just something to be said for the simplicity of this one. There’s something magical that happens when you combine the crunchy shell, the fresh lettuce, the meat, and the cheese that ends up being more than the sum of its parts. It’s more about the proportions than any one element. There are two different kinds of crunch — the shell and the lettuce — a sprinkling of cheese in an amount that adds to rather than detracts from the other elements, and a restrained amount of seasoned beef. I’m definitely going to drown it in fire sauce, but pretty solid all around.

I also have a vivid memory of eating crunchy tacos the first time I ever got really stoned in San Louis Obispo, when I could separate and enjoy all the different flavors in my mouth. That sense memory may contribute to my enjoyment of this one.

COVID-19 continues to devastate here in the U.S., with rising case numbers, short-staffed hospitals, and hundreds of thousands of Americans losing their lives to the pandemic within the past few months. Now that we seem to be entering a second wave of the pandemic, it’s more important than ever to take the necessary precautions — think social distancing, masks, and, if you’re the president of the United States, avoiding holding mass rallies to indulge the ego.

Dozens of members in Trump’s circle are currently quarantined with the virus, including White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and campaign adviser Corey Lewandowski but while his administration flouts CDC protocols, it seems those in charge of keeping the president and his cronies safe are the ones who are suffering for it. The Washington Post reports that over 130 Secret Service agents within Trump’s own detail have now fallen ill with COVID. The agents, many of whom accompanied Trump on pre-election rallies, represent 10% of the agency’s total staff — a huge blow especially following Trump’s earlier rallies this summer that sidelined dozens of agents.

According to The Post, the agency is still working to ascertain whether agents contracted the virus only at these rallies, where they were in charge of screening attendees and securing perimeters, or whether The White House has become a new COVID-19 hotspot, seeing as many staffers refuse to wear masks while on duty.

Because the secret service is now operating understaffed — the agency normally employs 1,300 agents to guard the president, vice president, and White House staff in residence and on trips — there are concerns that security breaches may be more likely. And it’s not just Trump’s team that might be in danger because of this outbreak. There are reports that because of the president’s refusal to facilitate a smooth transition of power, President-Elect Joe Biden and his team haven’t been offered the standard number of secret service agents.

Obviously, Twitter is pissed about this news — and rightly so.

As hospitals near capacity across the country and we tip the scales at 152,000 cases reported in a single day, this probably goes without saying but we’re going to say it anyway: Wear a mask.

Despite what trade machine screenshots from across NBA Twitter might have you believe, Bradley Beal is still not on the trade block, at least according to a recent interview from Washington general manager Tommy Sheppard.

Sheppard appeared on The Lowe Post with ESPN’s Zach Lowe this week and when was asked at the beginning of the interview about Beal’s status with the franchise, Sheppard said, “We’re building this team around Bradley Beal. He’s a tremendous human being. He’s a tremendous player. He’s exactly what we want to have here with the Washington Wizards.”

For those wondering why the Wizards are hanging onto Beal, it mostly seems to center around the fact that they believe they are a better team than they showed in 2020. Sheppard noted that Washington was without John Wall last season and struggled pretty heavily with injuries overall, which partially explains why they fell to the ninth seed and couldn’t even make it into the Eastern Conference play-in game in the Bubble.

“(Beal) carried the franchise through some difficult times,” Sheppard said.

If the Wizards change their minds, Beal is at least technically allowed to be dealt now. Last fall, he signed a one-year extension with the team that effectively took him off the trade market for all of the 2019-20 season. This summer, he has said publicly that he may need to start wielding his leverage to force the Wizards to be more competitive.

For a certain generation of hip-hop heads, BET’s Rap City (and later, Rap City: Tha Basement) were staples in their diet of new rap videos. New Jersey rapper Russ, who is promoting a star-studded new EP titled Chomp, resurrects the nostalgic Basement Booth set — complete with a cameo from Big Tigger(!) — for his first video from the EP, “Who Wants What” featuring Ab-Soul.

Russ provides a nostalgic, crate-digging beat reminiscent of the early ’90s New York hip-hop heyday as he and Ab-Soul roam the booth with a classic set-up from Big Tigger. During his verse, Russ throws a subtle salute to Cam’ron, whose money-counting antics during his 2001 freestyle became a fan-favorite and a lasting image in the minds of hip-hop fans who continue to share grainy videos of it on social media to this day.

Ab-Soul does what he came to do as well, spitting a ferocious flurry of punchlines that will leave permanent fingerprints on rewind buttons everywhere (I know how dated that reference is but, in this case, it works). The video is also cleverly mixed so that the track continues to play even as we get to listen in to Tigger’s reactions to some of the juicier lines.

Russ teased Chomp via Instagram yesterday, sharing a tracklist that includes Benny The Butcher, Black Thought, Busta Rhymes, DJ Premier, and Kxng Crooked. No release date was shared but such a tape could go a long way toward revamping — or at least justifying — Russ’ holier-than-thou image.

Watch the “Who Wants What” video above.

As cases of COVID-19 continue to surge across the country, many communities are facing renewed efforts at social distancing and/or shelter-in-place orders to try and stem the tide of the deadly virus that has killed nearly a quarter-million Americans.

This had been one of the biggest sticking points around the decision of when to start the new NBA season, as the league faced the dilemma of holding games without fans or losing upwards of a $1 billion in revenue if it postponed play for a couple months while waiting for a potential vaccine.

With the 2020-21 season set to tip off on Dec. 22, there still isn’t much clarity about what the fan situation will be, although the Lakers announced last week that won’t be permitting fans at Staples Center when the season opens. The Warriors on the other hand, have reportedly submitted a bold plan that would allow 50 percent capacity at their home games.

Via Ramona Shelburne of ESPN:

Lacob said the Warriors are prepared to spend upward of $30 million to test every fan, Warriors employee and player with the most accurate form of COVID-19 testing for each home game or day they come to Chase Center.

“I not only want to get this done and show the world how we can do it now, I’m willing to spend the money to do it,” said Lacob, who holds a master’s degree in public health from UCLA and built his fortune as a venture capitalist in biotechnology. “This is a serious, serious problem. It cannot go on for multiple years … because if this were to go on for several years, the NBA is no more.

***

It hinges on the use of rapid PCR (polymerase chain reaction) tests or equivalent amplification technologies that can detect traces of the virus’ genetic material in nasal or throat swabs within 15 minutes and are far more accurate than rapid antigen tests, which look for a protein that is present on the surface of the virus that is shed.

In the Orlando Bubble, the NBA used a different version of the tests that reportedly had greater accuracy but took longer to return results, about 24 hours. Lacob is one of the league’s wealthier owners, and it’s unclear whether other teams around the NBA would be willing or able to spend the money for similar plans.

The Warriors’ plan would also be aligned with the requirements the league out to teams earlier this week for potentially allowing fans, which include some version of rapid-response testing for fans who would be seated near the court. Other teams around the country would also be governed by local social distancing rules for large gatherings, but if approved, the Warriors’ plan could help pave the way for getting at least a semblance of normalcy back into the coming season.

(Via ESPN)

Longtime baseball executive Kim Ng was hired Friday by the Miami Marlins, making her the first female general manager among any of America’s four major sports leagues and the first Asian-American GM in baseball history.

The news was announced in a press release by the Marlins on Friday.

“This challenge is one I don’t take lightly,” Ng said in a statement. “When I got into this business, it seemed unlikely a woman would lead a Major League team, but I am dogged in the pursuit of my goals. My goal is now to bring Championship baseball to Miami. I am both humbled and eager to continue building the winning culture our fans expect and deserve.”

Women have begun to get opportunities among the highest positions in front offices across sports, while professional women’s leagues like the WNBA and NWSL have long had women in top jobs. But Ng’s combination of experience and the fact that she has worked across baseball, including in the league office for nine seasons, make her both a groundbreaking and sound hire at the same time.

The Marlins are coming off a surprisingly strong season in which they fortunately avoided any major damage after a team-wide coronavirus outbreak to make the playoffs. Recently-hired manager Don Mattingly was named National League Manager of the Year. Budding superstars Miguel Rojas and Brian Anderson present a nice starting point for Ng as she makes history in the general manager’s seat.

Earlier this year, Soccer Mommy released Color Theory, her second album and her most polished-sounding effort yet. On a production level, Sophie Allison has come a long way since her early Bandcamp days, but now she has offered something for fans who still appreciate her more DIY aesthetic: Out of nowhere, Allison has shared a collection of demos of some Color Theory songs, titled Color Theory (Selected Demos).

The six-track release includes demo versions of “Circle The Drain,” “Royal Screw Up,” “Yellow Is The Color Of Her Eyes,” “Gray Light,” “Stain,” and “Crawling In My Skin,” and the more humble nature of the recordings is a real throwback. She also shared a video for the “Royal Screw Up” demo, which comes across as a lo-fi home video that features footage of Allison’s house and surrounding area. Allison said of the clip, “I made this video by driving around and exploring a little bit of Nashville. Most of the footage is from my house or my favorite nearby nature spots.”

After releasing Color Theory in February, Allison recruited some musical peers for a series of collaborations, including Beabadoobee and MGMT’s Andrew VanWyngarden.

Watch the “Royal Screw Up” video above, stream Color Theory (Selected Demos) below, and revisit our review of Color Theory here. There’s also a deluxe binder edition of Color Theory (Selected Demos) available for pre-order, so check that out here.

It’s a good thing Big Mouth is one of the funniest shows on TV, otherwise it might be too painful to watch as an adult. The Netflix animated series brings back repressed memories of middle school, including hormones hitting you like the bus hits Regina George in Mean Girls and feeling shame for the first time. Season 4 adds a new emotion to the equation: anxiety in the form of Tito the Mosquito, voiced by Maria Bamford. The new season “focuses on anxiety; the anxiety of growing up, of figuring out who you are, discovering yourself, accepting yourself,” according to Netflix. “In the great Big Mouth tradition, the show continues to explore human sexuality and everything around it, including racial and sexual identity, love in all its forms, and having the Hugest Period Ever.”

Just what 2020 needed, more anxiety! I could be incensed at Big Mouth making 2020 even more anxious than it already is, but I could never be mad at you, Coach Steve.

Other newcomers to the show include Zach Galifianakis as Gratitoad, “who is there to help our crew cope with their anxiety and not let it completely own them,” and Seth Rogen, Josie Totah, Lena Waithe, Quinta Brunson, John Oliver, Sterling K. Brown, Paul Giamatti, Maya Erskine and Anna Konkle. Ayo Edebiri, the new voice of Missy, will take over for Jenny Slate in the penultimate episode and for the rest of the series.

Big Mouth season four premieres on December 4.

After initially teasing the remix of his celebratory single “Nah Nah Nah” at the end of October, Kanye West shared the full song today with verses from guest rappers 2 Chainz and DaBaby. It’s mixed a little better than the version Kanye previously posted on his Twitter and in line with Kanye’s new policy, the swear words have been removed from DaBaby and Chainz’s verses.

Kanye put out the original version of “Nah Nah Nah” as a response to his elation over election polling results that turned out to be falsified. Of course, Kanye’s 2020 bid for President was unsuccessful, both in its stated goal of putting the mercurial producer in the White House and in its ulterior motive of peeling votes away from the Joe Biden campaign. It was Kanye’s first new music in a while and might be his last for the foreseeable future, as he insisted he wouldn’t release any new music until he got out of his original record deal.

This is despite the insistence of Abou “Bu” Thiam, Kanye’s current manager, that he’s making the best music of his life (which is, let’s be real here, debatable at best). However, Kanye has found time to contribute to many of his friends’ projects, like Ty Dolla Sign’s Featuring Ty Dolla Sign and a rumored full-length project with 2 Chainz, who dropped his long-awaited So Help Me God today.

Listen to the “Nah Nah Nah” remix above.