On Friday morning, L.A Times columnist Gustavo Arellano argued that beloved actor Danny Trejo should be on the short list of candidates for Kamala Harris‘ soon-to-be-vacated senate seat. “He’s the epitome of someone who pulled themselves up from their proverbial bootstraps and showed anything is possible if you just grind,” Arrelano wrote. While Trejo was flattered by the idea, he opened up to IndieWire about how he prefers being on the frontlines and that he’s an even bigger believer in not mixing celebrities and politics after Trump:
Listen, I leave all that stuff to the politicians. I’ve been asked a couple of times to run for councilman and stuff like that. I honestly believe that politicians have to be ‘A’ students in government. We’ve had so much problem in the United States by voting in celebrities. Look where we’re at right now! I’d rather be on the frontlines serving the police, serving the special needs, feeding the homeless, feeding the protestors, and kicking the looters in the ass. [laughs]
While Trejo has his issues with how the government runs and believes he can get more work done on the ground (the Machete star is very active in his community) he isn’t entirely apolitical. During the interview, he openly states that he’s a Democrat. “We’re working people,” Trejo says. “Most Democrats are working people.” The actor also believes in climate change initiatives and hopes that Joe Biden will do a better job managing the coronavirus. But when it comes to the fact that some of his fans might have voted for Trump, Trejo has his own special way of keeping things civil. “I tell my Republican friends, ‘Hey, we don’t discuss politics or I’ll beat you.’” Granted, he laughed after saying that, but we have a feeling he wasn’t joking.
While most of Post Malone’s material runs in hip-hop and pop circles, he has long been public about his love for indie and folk music. So, it’s only kind of surprising to learn that he and Fleet Foxes leader Robin Pecknold are friends and that Posty almost appeared on the band’s latest album, Shore.
Speaking to Bryce Segall on Radio.com’s New Arrivals show, Pecknold revealed that bit of trivia, saying that the timing didn’t work out for Malone to guest on the album: “He came by the studio for one day while we were working in LA and listened to stuff and was super supportive. We didn’t get together in time because I wanted to get the album out quickly, but I did ask him to be on it. He was down but we just didn’t end up having time.”
Pecknold also spoke about about his relationship with Malone, calling it a “casual friendship” by which he is blown away:
“He’ll text me every once in a while and it’s always a really fun thing to receive. To have that pop up in my iMessages, it always feels like a glitch in the Matrix or something. […] He’s a super sweet guy, he’s a real gentleman, and he’s probably the best melody writer in the business right now, I think. And by some glitch in the Matrix, we have a casual friendship.”
Malone’s Twitter followers know that he has been a big Fleet Foxes fan for years. He has tweeted about them on multiple occasions, like when he wrote in April 2015, “if you don’t like flee foxes then f*ck you.” That October, he added, “fleet foxes is the only group that i love every single song of,” and he also tweeted in December 2016, “please….. if you haven’t listened to any fleet or FJM i don’t know if i can talk to you.” There’s also this clip of him singing along to “The Shrine/An Argument” last year:
Jack Daniel’s is the best selling whiskey in the world. Not the best selling bourbon or the best selling scotch. No, it’s the undisputed champion of them all when it comes to the sales numbers around this blue-green marble. Chalk a win up for Tennesse whiskey.
So we have to ask, what’s the best bottle of Jack Daniel’s to drink? Where does the line shine its brightest?
To find that answer, we’re breaking down the eight bottles in the core line of the Jack Daniel’s portfolio. We’re not ranking limited editions, one-offs, or flavored spirits. Though, Jack Daniel’s Honey and Jack Daniel’s Apple definitely have their place in our hearts. These are yearly releases that have withstood the test of time.
Before we dive in, there’s really no science here. We’re simply going on taste. We did think about the price, but it ended up not being a factor. Jack Daniel’s is very affordable, even at their highest-end. There’s only one bottle on this list that we’d deem “expensive” and it’s still a killer expression.
This bottle was introduced (in its current iteration) in 1990. The key to this expression is that it’s good ol’ Old No. 7 Jack Daniel’s that is passed through sugar maple charcoal — the famed Lincoln County Process that defines Tennessee whiskey — twice.
Tasting Notes:
Jack is known for banana and it’s here in spades. There’s a clear sense of banana cream pie with a buttery crust and plenty of creamy vanilla pudding in the base. There’s a twinge of spice and oak on the backend but not a lot. The finish has a caramel sweetness that plays second fiddle to the banana and vanilla.
Bottom Line:
This really feels like it was calibrated for a different generation’s palate. It’s very pleasant, but too much of the oak and spice have been stripped away in that second filtration.
This was first introduced in 1997. The juice is hand-selected from barrels on the upper floors of Jack’s vast rickhouses. The whisky is bottled at a slightly higher proof to allow the nuance of the juice to shine.
Tasting Notes:
The banana notes are drawn way back here and replaced by a clear sense of toasted oak. That oak is the underpinning for notes of caramel corn, mild spice, and plenty of oily vanilla beans. The sweet banana fruit is there and marries well to a peppery spice that amps up as the end draws near with plenty of that toasted wood lingering the longest.
Bottom Line:
This is really nice. I keep a bottle of this on my shelf for after-dinner drams with a rock. It can get a little too oaky for some though, hence it’s spot on the list.
Nathan “Nearest” Green and Jack Daniel’s created this Tennessee whiskey after the Civil War, thanks in part to Green utilizing the Lincoln County Process when making his whiskey. The low-rye (eight percent) sour mash is made with that iconic soft limestone water and then filtered, drop by drop, through ten-feet of sugar maple charcoal. The juice is then aged for at least four years in new oak.
Tasting Notes:
Vanilla wafers, sweet corn, and butter roasted banana greet you. The palate delivers on those promises while adding in a subtle charred oak bitterness with a touch of spicy warmth. The end is short, sweet, and full of that buttery banana.
Bottom Line:
This is probably one of the most iconic whiskeys on the planet over the past 100 years. It’s the perfect shooter, works in a highball, and makes a hell of a cocktail. It’s available literally everywhere booze is sold and it’s cheap. You really can’t ask for more.
Maybe we should have put it at number one, given all of that…
This fairly new release (2017) from Jack asks “what would straight rye whiskey taste like if it was given the ol’ Lincoln County treatment?” Jack’s mash bill utilizes a 70 percent rye and cave water from the nearby Tennessee mountains. They then treat the hot distillate as they would a standard Tennessee whiskey, with sugar maple charcoal filtration and new oak barreling.
Tasting Notes:
This opens up with a mellow-yet-sharp spice next to rich vanilla and a hint of orchard fruit. The sip leans into the spice while pairing a creamy mouthfeel with an oaky richness. The end lingers in the spice and vanilla while quickly fading, with hints of that oak popping back in.
Bottom Line:
This has no business being as good as it is, especially at this price point. I really dig it in highballs, but also use it for cocktails.
Sazerac, Manhattan, boulevardier, old fashioned … it’s all good.
Frank Sinatra was one of Jack’s biggest fans. The crooner was buried with a bottle. The actual juice in this expression is a throwback of sorts to how Jack was made in Sinatra’s day. They use special “Sinatra Barrels” that have concentric grooves carved into the newly charred oak, giving the whiskey more surface area to do its thing. Once that’s aged, it’s blended with traditional Old No. 7 and proofed at 45 percent, as it also would have been back in the Rat Pack days.
Tasting Notes:
Stonefruit, caramel apples, vanilla pods, and a hint of that toasted oak pull you in. The sip leans into the fruit with a rich and buttery vanilla-laden caramel, plenty of peppery spice, and more of that oak, along with a very distant echo of tobacco smoke. The fruit leans back towards a mild banana as the caramel, spice, vanilla, and oak slowly fades out and warms your senses, leaving you with one final puff of that smoke.
Bottom Line:
This feels like Jack Daniel’s dialed up to eleven. It’s super easy-drinking and works wonders as a sipper with a little water or ice.
This is Jack’s bottled-in-bond expression. It started out as a yearly release for the travel market, meaning it’ll be a little harder to find outside of duty-free shops — though not impossible anymore. The juice is classic Jack from a single distilling season that’s then aged in a bonded rickhouse for at least four years under the government’s watchful eye.
Tasting Notes:
The oak really comes through with hints of vanilla, fruit, and buttery and sweet toffee. The palate leans into the vanilla and adds in plenty more oak with a full billow of pipe tobacco smoke cut by mild fruit. The end is enriched by spice, orange zest, and more of that toffee as the oak and vanilla fade through the tobacco smoke on the long end.
Bottom Line:
There’s a reason folks colloquially call bottled-in-bond whiskeys “the good stuff.” This is just really f*cking solid in every way. It’s a great sipper and really blooms with a little water or a rock. It’s also inexpensive enough to work into a Manhattan cocktail.
This expression is the same process as the Tennessee rye above — 70 percent rye mash bill, cave water, sugar maple filtration, new charred oak barrels. The difference is that these bottles are pulled from barrels that were deemed perfect just the way they are.
Tasting Notes:
There’s a rich marrying of bright fruit (mildly banana and tropical) with rye spice that greets you. The vanilla is there to support the peppery rye as toasted oak edges in. The spice leans into a Christmas cake spicy matrix with more of that subtle tropical fruit and vanilla. The end is warming, peppery, and has just enough fruit to sweeten your senses.
Bottom Line:
This is almost too-easy of a sipper. A little water really helps open up the Christmas spices and orange zest. While you can sip this, it’s also a killer cocktail base given the relatively low price for a single barrel expression.
Where the Single Barrel Select is cut with soft limestone water to bring it down to proof, this is the straight juice from the barrel. These barrels are all hand-selected from the rickhouses. What’s left from the angel’s share then goes straight into the bottle.
That means the ABVs and tasting notes for this bottle will vary depending on which bottle you snag.
Tasting Notes:
Expect an experience that’s full of rich vanilla, caramel, and toasted oak, next to a rush of spice. The sip should have a mix of that vanilla, oak, and spice with a nice dose of bright fruits and a texture that’s more velvet than liquid. The end really holds onto that vibe as the mild spice, toasted oak, rich vanilla, and almost maple syrup sweetness slowly fade across your senses.
Bottom Line:
This will be shockingly smooth. You really don’t need water or ice, but a little water does let it bloom — with more spice, orange peel bitterness, and richer vanilla. Frankly, there are bottles of single barrel bourbons out there that cost twice what this does and are far less satisfying (or easy to drink).
Lauded Atlanta video director Bryan Barber returns to guide the tongue-in-cheek video for 2 Chainz’s new So Help Me God single, “Can’t Go For That.” The Hall & Oates-sampling song takes its title from the yacht-rock duo’s 1981 Private Eyes single “I Can’t Go for That (No Can Do),” while the video finds Chainz using the Barber go-to of having him play every member of a glitzy funk band, a la Andre 3000’s 2003 video for “Hey Ya!”
However, Chainz embraces even more of the camp inherent in the video’s concept, utilizing some grainy green screen effects and setting the whole shebang on a low-budget set that really references the 1970s/late-80s aesthetic implied by the song’s sample. Each character’s name is some variation on the name Toni, with the only non-2 Chainz character in the video played by Atlanta comedian Lil Duval. The song’s guest vocalist Ty Dolla Sign missed the video shoot but Chainz’s “Toné” character is a reliable stand-in.
When the NBA decided to briefly stop play in Orlando, it was an effort to put the onus on the league and the owners to come up with a concrete plan to combat social injustice in America. It was partly a response to the police shootings of unarmed Black people, but it also spoke to the larger issue of widespread systemic disenfranchisement among minorities.
Part of the league’s multi-tiered plan involved using team-owned sports arenas around the country as voting sights for the 2020 elections. As officials continue to count ballots, it’s become apparent that those locations may have had a significant impact on the outcome of several key races.
According to data compiled by USA TODAY, just under 300,000 people voted at 40 sports arenas around the country. Among those, the Hawks’ State Farm Arena in Atlanta had the largest turnout, with approximately 40,000 local residents casting their ballots in person there.
No professional sports arena, however, welcomed more voters than the Atlanta Hawks’ State Farm Arena, according to USA TODAY Sports’ data.
Nearly 40,000 Fulton County residents voted at the arena during early voting in Georgia, a key state in which Joe Biden holds a narrow lead over Donald Trump. The team wanted to provide a non-partisan site without long waiting times. With 302 voting machines at physically-distanced locations, poll workers kept lines moving even when there were 3,000 people per day during the first week of early voting.
The Hawks’ arena was one of the first stadium to activate its early voting in the elections and could signal a trend for future elections. However, this particular election cycle was unique and at the use of stadiums was partly a response to the social distancing requirements during the ongoing pandemic, while in a normal year, many of those arenas would’ve been hosting regular events during that time of year.
Regardless, the massive efforts to educate voters and give them fair and ample opportunities to take part in the democratic process is a crucial endeavor in its own right, and the numbers suggest that it’s much more than just a small gesture.
Spider-Man: Miles Morales is one of the most anticipated games of the fall release calendar, and not just because you get to pet cats in it. There are plenty of games in which you can pet cats, including another new release in Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla. But in the new Spider-Man, which on Thursday helped Sony kickstart its PlayStation 5 console era, you get to pet cats and also reference a very funny internet meme along the way.
Miles Morales has gotten considerable buzz amid the new console launch, and as fans have dug into the game they noticed something particular about a scene where Miles gets to pet a cat. Namely, that he says the cat he encounters in a bodega “takes a pet like no problem.” Fans noticed that and shared it online on launch day.
The reason? It’s eerily similar to a video of a man petting a cat in a bodega that went viral because he said the same phrase in praise of that cat’s willingness to be petted.
There was a lot of speculation about whether the scene was a direct reference to the video or, you know, just something that people say when they encounter good cats in bodegas. But Ben Arfmann, the lead writer on Miles Morales, noticed some folks talking about that particular scene and confirmed that, yes, that was a reference to a very good video about an equally good cat.
It makes me really happy that you guys made this connection.
It’s very fun to see something that’s popular on the internet get replicated in real life. And if this kind of attention to detail exists throughout all of Miles Morales, gamers are in for a lot of fun these next few weeks.
AJ Soprano has never seen a gutter but he has seen The Matrix.
This week on Pod Yourself A Gun, Samer Kalaf, Managing Editor of Defector Media, joins Matt and Vince to talk about one of their favorite subjects: beautiful little idiot AJ Soprano. Samer sets the bar high for future guests by not only taking notes for episode 3 season 9, “The Telltale Moozadell,” but he’s actually seen all of The Sopranos.
The episode itself is near perfect (solid B+), and features a young Lady Gaga as one of the girls AJ is trying to impress when he goes all Fred Durst and breaks stuff in the school late at night (on his mother’s birthday?!?). The fellas learn from Vince’s wife that unlike young men, not all young women go through a needless destruction phase. Good for them, I guess, but everyone should get to break one window in their life just to feel that power.
Speaking of power, Gloria can’t resist the power of Tony’s raw, animal sexuality, even at the zoo, when he’s surrounded by gorillas with the exact same posture and body type. Can Tony resist the urge to recognize his mother’s traits in Gloria?
Resist the urge to break stuff long enough to listen and leave a five star review on Apple Podcasts. (-written by Brent Flyberg)
Subscribe to Pod Yourself A Gun on Apple Podcasts. Email us at [email protected]; leave us a voicemail at 415-275-0030. Support the Pod: become a patron at patreon.com/Frotcast and get more bonus content than you could ever want.
There aren’t many teams that are the right mix of desperate to make the playoffs and flexible roster-wise in order to conceivably pull off a trade for Russell Westbrook, but one is the New York Knicks, and multiple reports on Friday suggested the Knicks’ interest in Westbrook is legit.
It was first indicated by Jonathan Macri, an independent Knicks reporter, in his Knicks Film School newsletter, who wrote Friday morning that New York was exploring a package centered around Julius Randle and multiple draft picks (the Knicks also have a couple Dallas first-round picks remaining from the Kristaps Porzingis trade).
The deal, according to Macri, hinged on Houston accepting a deal that did not include any of the Knicks’ premier young players or the eighth overall pick next week.
That reporting was backed up later in the day by Marc Stein of the New York Times, who said the Knicks have “weighed” a deal for Westbrook, and that the Rockets would be amenable too it so long as they were not taking back equally exorbitant salaries in return, which the Knicks don’t really have.
The Knicks are on the short list of viable trade destinations for Houston’s Russell Westbrook, league sources say
If the Knicks prove willing to absorb the $130+ million left on Westbrook’s contract to make him their centerpiece, there is a trade to be made
This pathway works for New York because the team can create tens of millions of dollars in cap room if they decline team options for Bobby Portis, Wayne Ellington, and Taj Gibson, in addition to potentially cutting Elfrid Payton. If the Knicks can avoid giving up players like R.J. Barrett or Mitchell Robinson, the decision would likely come down to basically if New York is willing to give up some late first-round picks and consolidate its spending on Westbrook rather than the few players it signed last summer who now have team options.
The height of 3OH!3’s popularity was around 2008, when the single “Don’t Trust Me” became a duo’s first top-10 hit, with their second, the Kesha-featuring “My First Kiss,” following in 2010. The group has periodically put out albums since then, with their most recent, Night Sports, dropping in 2016. Now it’s 2020 and they’re back, joining forces with 100 Gecs for their first new single in four years, Lonely Machines.
The electronic tune opens with lyrics that brings back feelings of 3OH!3’s heyday: “You’re lookin’ cute with that gap in your teeth / Jean jacket with the t-shirt underneath / You tell your boyfriend if he still got beef / That over time, it’s gonna give him heart disease.” 100 Gecs’ Laura Les also offers a distorted verse.
In an interview from August 2019, Les showed love for 3OH!3, saying, “I used to be such a big 3OH!3 fan and then I think for two years maybe, I was like, ‘Man, 3OH!3’s not cool, that’s just whatever.’ And now [I] just went to go see them a few months ago when they came back around. I was like, ‘This is this sh*t, why the f*ck would I ever say that 3OH!3 was not the sickest?’ I think if [1000 Gecs] helps people rediscover some sh*t that they liked at one time and then thought that they didn’t, and they listen to our album and they’re like, ‘Man, I love Skrillex,’ I’m not disappointed with that reaction. If it gives them a reminder that dubstep is cool, then I’m happy with that.”
A truly bizarre report popped up on Thursday afternoon. According to J. Michael of the Indianapolis Star, Victor Oladipo would say something to the extent of “can I come play with y’all?” to players on other teams, in front of his teammates, with individuals on the Heat, Knicks, and Reports being the team that got this request.
Oladipo had been quiet on this front in the immediate aftermath of the report, but on Friday afternoon, that changed. Oladipo spoke to Shams Charania of The Athletic and stated that this report is not true, and he’d like to stay in Indiana.
“I know there have been people saying that I have asked players to trade for me,” Oladipo said. “That’s just not true, period. I love my teammates, I cherish the state of Indiana and I’m focused on leading this franchise to a title.”
Last season was a weird one for Oladipo, who worked his way back from a quadriceps tear and never fully looked like himself. That was particularly the case in the NBA’s Orlando Bubble, which he had originally planned to sit out but reversed course. On the year, Oladipo averaged 14.5 points, 3.9 rebounds, 2.9 assists, and 0.9 steals in 27.8 minutes per game. As an added wrinkle, he is an unrestricted free agent at the conclusion of the 2020-21 season.
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