Category: Worldwide

It’s safe to say few TV mavens know Baltimore as well as David Simon. He made his name there, first as a reporter for The Baltimore Sun, then as the city’s small screen chronicler, starting with Homicide: Life on the Streets, continuing with the miniseries The Corner, and then in The Wire, a frontrunner for Greatest Show Of All Time. Since the latter ended in 2006, he’s been all over: Iraq (Generation Kill), New Orleans (Treme), Yonkers (Show Me a Hero), NYC (The Deuce), and Newark (The Plot Against America). Now Simon’s returning to Charm City for his latest show, which offered the public a first look.

It’s called We Own This City, and it’s based on reporter Justin Fenton’s book about the riots that erupted across the metropolis after the death of Freddie Gray while in police custody in 2015. Like The Wire, it looks at America’s “war on drugs” and how it’s led to the militarization of police, a rise in mass incarceration, systemic corruption and racism, and other issues that plague the nation as a whole. Specifically it will look at the BPD’s Gun Trace Task Force, which was initially seen favorably until it revealed that they were corrupt: taking money and drugs from suspects, planting false evidence, and more.

The all-star cast includes Simon regulars, like Jamie Hector, Dominick Lambardozzi, and Rob Brown, as well as the likes of Jon Bernthal, Treat Williams, Dagmara Domińczyk, and Josh Charles. The limited series, which will run six episodes, debuts on HBO on April 25.

(Via /Film)

James Harden is officially a member of the Philadelphia 76ers. After things appeared to go firmly off the rails with the Brooklyn Nets, Harden was moved to the City of Brotherly Love in a gigantic trade that saw Brooklyn acquire a package headlined by Ben Simmons. Now, Harden gets to play his basketball in the place where he’s apparently wanted to play from the moment he decided he wanted to leave the Houston Rockets.

The trade came with some controversy, as Harden left the Nets amid accusations that he quit on the team. Harden did not play in his final four games as a member of Brooklyn’s roster, citing a hamstring injury. On Tuesday, Tracy McGrady sat in on TNT’s NBA coverage, and made clear that he thinks something funky was going on with Harden on his way out the door.

“When you say you wanna play with guys that wanna win, what are you insinuating?” McGrady asked. “That the guys in Brooklyn didn’t wanna win? Is that what we talkin’ about?

“That’s what it sounds like to me,” McGrady continued. “And we all know that Philly was his first choice before he went to Brooklyn. So when things hit the fan, he wanted out of there. He shut it down. He wasn’t hurt, he wasn’t hurt. He shut it down.”

After Dwyane Wade mentioned by mentioning that Harden was shooting stepbacks in a shootaround with the Sixers, McGrady saw a piece of proof.

“My point exactly, you don’t rehab a hammy by doing stepbacks,” McGrady said.

Harden is not expected to play for the Sixers until after the All-Star break so he can rehab his hamstring.

Jared Veldheer played 11 seasons as an offensive lineman in the NFL from 2010 to 2020, spending most of his playing career with the Oakland Raiders and Arizona Cardinals. The 6′ 8″ Veldheer was known for his incredible size, weighing as much as 330 pounds during the height of his career.

Veldheer was so large that he even stood out while standing next to other NFL linemen.

Weekly reminder of how huge Jared Veldheer is.pic.twitter.com/FGFMCH8IWq

— RK (@RK)
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Looks like Jared Veldheer ate half the Denver Broncos offensive line.pic.twitter.com/DveminQuks

— u1d04u1d00u1d0du1d07u0280u1d0fu0274 u1d18u1d00u0280u1d0bu1d07u0280 (@u1d04u1d00u1d0du1d07u0280u1d0fu0274 u1d18u1d00u0280u1d0bu1d07u0280)
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After Veldheer retired, he began looking for a new career path that allowed him to follow his passions. In August 2021, he learned that St. Paul the Apostle School in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where both his children attend, was in need of someone to manage the school’s kitchen.

The former NFL star had been advising the school’s principal about nutrition and when the job opened up he asked to be considered. Veldheer has a lifelong love of food that started when he was a child. If he didn’t like the lunch his mother made, he would make his own.

“I’ve always liked cooking,” Veldheer told ESPN. “I wasn’t sure if I wanted to, you know, be the school lunch lady, but anyway, gave it some thought and I was like, I’m kind of looking for something to do with my time. It’s not a bad gig time-commitment wise. I’m around my kids. So I just kind of went for it.”

Now, the former NFL star who earned millions in his career makes $15 an hour and works from 7:45 a.m. to around 1 p.m.

Veldheer is passionate about changing the perceptions surrounding school lunches. “We are able to kind of break the traditional route of school food that looks like just a hunk of frozen corn and a big old rectangular piece of pizza,” he told WZZM13.

Since the former athlete took over, the school has broken from the usual lunch menu standards of chicken nuggets and pizza. Instead, it’s added more exotic fare, including beef bulgogi, chicken tikka masala, smoked carnitas and chimichurri flank steak.

Overall, his mission is “to nourish developing humans.”

“A lot of kids just eat crap,” he said. “I think we live in a time where a lot of kids just kind of get by with snacking all the time with just processed crap in the cupboard. So, it’s like, if I can just make it my goal to give them one nourishing meal, then that’s good.”

The man who once guarded the blind side of quarterbacks such as Carson Palmer and Aaron Rodgers now protects his students’ health by eliminating as many seed oils and simple sugars from their diets as possible.

Former NFL star Jared Veldheer got a job in a Michigan school cafeteria after he retired because he figured heu2019d u201cgive it a gou201d https://www.wzzm13.com/article/sports/time-to-eat-former-nfl-star-veldheer-now-serves-up-lunch-at-grand-rapids-catholic-school/69-0e94c0a5-c509-461b-ac32-93e7e5b9db0c?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitteru00a0u2026pic.twitter.com/mDh0z0NGXA

— Uplifting News by Qwyck (@Uplifting News by Qwyck)
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Even though Veldheer is completely dedicated to his new job, the parents and faculty at the school can’t help but chuckle a little when they see the 6′ 8″ former lineman serving up lunch.

“A picture’s worth a thousand words on this,” St. Paul the Apostle principal Michelle Morrow said. “I’m grinning ear-to-ear just picturing and seeing what I get to see every day, the kids looking straight up to him yet can feel so comfortable and confident in asking him questions and trying different foods, and really figuring out what he’s doing.”

You better believe that when Veldheer asks the kids to take another bite of their meal they listen.

“He’ll go in the cafeteria and be like, ‘Alright, everybody, I want you to take a bite of those beans. I made them special for you,'” Molly Cotter, who has three kids at the school said. “And boy, did they do it.”

Last fall, Phoebe Bridgers detailed the emotional experience she had after working with Taylor Swift on “Nothing New,” off of the re-recorded album Red (Taylor’s Version). “I got teary recording it,” she said. “I just couldn’t be more excited.” Well, it turns out Phoebe’s own music is also bringing out emotions in fellow celebrities. In a video shared on TikTok, Guy Fieri said he was moved by Phoebe’s “Motion Sickness,” a track from her 2017 album Stranger In The Alps, as he took a detour on his way to Flavortown.

The TikTok shows Fieri driving around, solemnly looking at the scenery around him, all while “Motion Sickness” blares in the background. “I hate you for what you did,” Phoebe sings on the track in the video. “And I miss you like a little kid.” In the TikTok, Fieri takes a trip down memory lane as he reflects on his accomplishments. “15-year-old me wouldn’t believe how many drive-ins I’ve seen,” he wrote. “21-year-old me wouldn’t be shocked at the number of dives I’ve hit. 54-year-old me is rolling out looking for all three.” Phoebe caught wind of the post and re-shared it on her Instagram Story.

Fieri’s post comes after Phoebe was announced as one of the performers for this year’s This Ain’t No Picnic Festival. LCD Soundsystem, The Strokes, and Le Tigre will also perform.

I don’t care much about baseball. In fact, I don’t think I can name a single player in the MLB right now. But I love going to baseball games. While basketball probably has a better claim to being “America’s Pastime” in 2022, baseball games are still more fun (and better at competing with the ever-improving at-home TV watching experience). And even as a person who doesn’t follow the sport, there are certain places you yearn to see someone hit a dinger or chase down a fly ball at least once — AT&T Park (Giants Stadium in SF), Fenway in Boston, Yankee Stadium, and, foremost among these, Chicago’s Wrigley Field.

Like a day at the county fair, seeing a game at Wrigley satisfies a very specific Americana itch. You’re sitting smack dab in the heart of the country, at the kickoff point of Route 66, taunting batters like Cam in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off — it transcends sport and crosses into that much cooler space of a “community-based hang session” where knowing not to have ketchup on your hot dog is as culturally significant as knowing who’s pitching. And with the opening of the Hotel Zachary right across from the stadium in 2019, that singular experience now feels very worthy of a full Chi weekend.

I stayed at the Zachary in the fall of ’21 (full disclosure, the Cubs were playing at Louisville during my trip) and fell in love with the property. Not just for its proximity to Wrigley, but for the amenities, the scene in surrounding Wrigleyville, and the dining and bar options. Here’s my rundown of this new(ish), exceedingly stylish “hotel we love.”

WHY IT’S AWESOME:

Well, first let’s talk about that proximity. I stayed in a 4th-floor suite and the famous Wrigley sign was literally a stone’s throw away. I yelled “it’s right there!” probably 40 times (and I was staying alone!). But a hotel that leaned into baseball in a corny way would annoy the hell out of me, because sports fandom never really feels very stylish and it often feels anti-sexy (I’m very down to wear a jersey with a smear of nacho cheese across the front, but that’s not the energy I want from a hotel).

Instead of overdoing the baseball, Hotel Zachary emphasizes the stadium’s architect, Zachary Taylor Davis, and presents schematics and renderings from 1914 as part of the design. The rest of the interior keeps that “big city in the industrial revolution” vibe — with lots of iron, a wall covered with drawers for holding blueprints, and street lamp-style fixtures. The rooms feel similarly sturdy, solid, and built to last. My suite featured a massive velvet couch that I spent hours sprawled on, a nice library full of big, heavy volumes about Chicago’s early days, and a living space and balcony big enough to host a little pre or postgame cocktail hour.

So what makes it cool? That aforementioned proximity to Wrigley combined with the 1920s style of Chicago’s downtown hotels. Plus so many good eating and drinking options that it’s truly ridiculous (that’s what happens when you have 40K people descend on the neighborhood a few times per week).

IN-HOUSE FOOD + DRINK:

Mordecai — based on the bottom floor of the hotel, with a street entrance and a distinct (though similar) personality — comes from Michelin-starred chef Jared Wentworth. The food and cocktails are the thoughtful, inspired, and refined sorts of comfort foods that often get labeled “New American.” The point there is that we’re talking about flavors you’re sure to recognize with style and refinement that will push the boundaries of the ballgame crowd a little. The orichette and braised short rib I ordered definitely felt like they could be found on other menus around town, but they were also unctuous, more buttoned-up than the menu gives credit for, and deeply satisfying.

The cocktail menu was just as elevated and a few clicks more inspired. The Mordecai Toddy made with brandy and rum milk punch is an absolute standout.

If going down to Mordecai is a little too far (it’s literally downstairs), The Bar at Hotel Zachary is based right in the expansive, second-floor lobby. The food is very solid, the charcuterie is strong, and the drinks are mixed at a wide-open bar by a very cheery (and solidly-knowledgeable) staff. Often hotel bar drinks get overly sugary to please the sweet-craving American drinking public. That’s not an issue here — the options are well-balanced and the menu takes some clever twists while referencing plenty of classics.

Everyone on the team can make a solid old fashioned, which should be a bar pre-requisite across the country.

AMENITIES:

• Free WiFi
• Pets allowed
• 24-hour gym & fitness center
• Public work spaces
• Room service
• Free Coffee/Tea
• Dry Cleaning Service
• Wake up Calls
• Service by request

ROOM TYPES:

• Queen
• King (w & w/o field view)
• Double Queen (w & w/o field view)
• Ballpark Junior Suite
• Ballpark Loft Suite
• Marquee Suite

It drives me f*cking crazy when the artisanal decor of a room is repeated incessantly across the hotel. Even if you don’t see other rooms, you feel that generic-ness. The Zachary avoids all this, impressive for a hotel owned by a massive parent company (Marriott). The decor is original and unique to each room (I toured five, total). The shape of the larger rooms also gives off this vibe, as the rooms are fit to accommodate the space vs. having a static floorplan.

There are, of course, the giant flat screens in every room. Some rooms have a bathtub, though my Junior Suite didn’t — a disappointment, tbh. Perhaps the top perk of the rooms is the furniture. As mentioned, my couch was absolutely stellar (and huge!) and made this property feel like a place that had thoroughly invested in in-room comfort.

THE BEST THING TO DO WITHIN A 15 MINUTE WALK:

This isn’t a discussion. If the Cubs are in town, go see a game. It’s fun and easy and affordable and leads to a whole lot of people spilling out into surrounding Wrigleyville. And it’s not a 15-minute walk, it’s literally 0.5 minutes. Cross a street and you’re there!

When the game is over (or, more realistically considering the crowds, any other segment of downtime), head back across the street to Swift & Sons (again, we’re talking a few steps from the hotel entrance). This oyster bar is an absolute standout — one of the best places to down a tray of oysters in all of Chicago, with a deeply knowledgeable staff and some excellent cocktails on offer. The “Know Thyself” is a very moody rum cocktail made with black tea that nails the “Chi-Town spin on a dark rum drink.”

THE BEST THING TO DO/EAT/DRINK WITHIN A $20 CAB RIDE:

This is tricky and really comes down to how often you visit Chicago. If you go often enough where spending a full weekend in Wrigleyville is feasible, do it — there’s certainly enough to entertain you. The dining options abound.

If you only go to Chicago on occasion, you’ll want to get downtown. The Bean. The lake. The food. All that jazz. (Also, the jazz. And blues.)

The parameters here are pretty forgiving because a 20-minute cab can get you a lot in Chicago. Have you been to Small Cheval? We named it the best burger in the country (Lena Waithe cosigned) — so… you should probably taste that.

Also, The Underground, Kit Kat Lounge, I|O Godfrey, and TAO — the club game in Chicago matches NYC and LA. If you like to go out, be sure to go out while you’re in the Windy City.

BED GAME:

This is a spot where The Zachary really thrives. The threadcount is super high — there’s none of that starchy-often bleached-kinda-scratchy thing that you get with mid-level sheets. Better still, the pillows are soft without feeling thin and cushy without feeling inflatable (you know those pillows that always sort of feel like they’re trying to resist the weight of your head?).

These pillows have the “melting” effect of a good pillow and though I’m sure they’re not down (just not tenable for a high-traffic hotel), they are an excellent synthetic.

Rating: 9/10

SEXINESS RATING:

Tricky one! Those couches are fire and the beds are prime. There are cool bars and restaurants all over the place. The lobby is spacious and fun.

That said, this isn’t such a scene that you’re gonna fully meet someone in the hotel bar (you might, but it’s less probable than, say, The Williamsburg). Also, any place that allows kids gets a slight downgrade on the sexiness scale, and I write that as a person who has kids. More bathtubs would also be a boost here, as would room serivce.

Still, those big velvet couches…

Rating: 7/10

THE VIEWS & PICS SPOTS:

I’m not trying to overd-emphasize it, but come on. This is great for IRL and great IG fodder, if you’re into that sort of thing. And while the field view is amazing, what’s even better is leaning out on the balcony while the crowds disperse after a big win.

It’s both a floss and a chance for world-class people watching.

Rating: 9/10

BEST SEASON TO VISIT:

“Summertime Chi” is great, as Kanye said, but early fall is even better. Go in September when the weather is on your side but the leaves are beginning to change. If the Cubs are still in the pennant race, the game will carry a whole different energy.

IF I HAD TO COMPLAIN ABOUT ONE THING:

While 20 minutes will get you downtown just fine, that can be a pretty spendy Uber in peak hours and there’s not a super-direct train. Meaning it can be something of a mission — not crazy but def not something you’ll want to do twice in a day (morning activity and evening dinner and clubs) if your on tight time or a tight budget.

None of this is the hotel’s fault, of course, and I see a few ways to play this:

• Get a hotel downtown over a weekend and then get to Wrigleyville for a Monday or Tuesday game and Sunday dinner. That’s an incredible four-day trip with two different hotels.
• Stay in Wrigleyville your whole trip — it has its own bars, etc.
• Budget a few hundy for Uber and don’t stress about it.

BOOK HERE:

Weekend rates for a month out look to hover around $240 for a queen or king room to $1200 for the Marquee Suite. The Jr. Suite I stayed in is priced at a very reasonable $460/ night.

See Rates Here

INSTAGRAM IMAGES TAKEN AT THE HOTEL ZACHARY:

For more than two decades, TNT’s Inside The NBA has been the gold standard for studio shows in the sports world. Ernie Johnson is well-regarded as a host, Kenny Smith provides nuanced analysis, and Shaquille O’Neal added a fantastic element to the program following his retirement as a player. With that said, the show revolves around Charles Barkley in many ways, with the Hall of Fame inductee providing top-shelf entertainment and the ability to say things that very few people would be able to say in public.

On Tuesday, Barkley made a few comments that could signal that the end of his two-decade reign on television could be nearing, including the notion that the end of his contract, with two years left, is “probably” going to be the end.

Within the same call, Barkley gave more context, saying that he doesn’t “want to die on TV” and noting that he will be 61 years old when his current contract expires.

“It’s been a great, great thing,” he said, via Brad Townsend. “I love Ernie, Kenny, Shaq and everybody we work with. But I just don’t feel the need to work until the day I die. I don’t, man. I’ll be 61 years old if I finish out my contract. And I don’t want to die on TV. I want to die on the golf course or somewhere fishing. I don’t want to be sitting inside over [by] fat-ass Shaq [waiting] to drop dead.”

TNT has already begun utilizing Draymond Green as a frequent contributor, and it makes sense that Green could follow in Barkley’s footsteps when he is done playing, whenever that way be. Still, no one can “replace” Barkley’s influence on the medium, and it will be very intriguing to see if he will indeed step away in two years — Shaq, for instance, has expressed some skepticism that Barkley is going to step away. If that happens, his on-air legacy is secure, but the next steps will be of great interest.

Star Trek Beyond sure was a long time ago. It’s coming up on six long years since we last time saw the version of the Enterprise led by Chris Pine’s Captain Kirk. Since then that wing of the franchise has stumbled about, unsure where to go next. Would it be helmed by Fargo‘s Noah Hawley? Would Quentin Tarantino make his R-rated take on Gene Roddenberry’s baby? Well, now we finally have an answer.

On the same day Paramount released news on Yellowstone (another prequel!), SpongeBob (three more spin-off movies!), and A Quiet Place III (coming 2025!), they also announced this: The Pine-captained gang is getting back together. Though details are still being inked, the plan is to bring Pine alongside Zachary Quinto, Simon Pegg, Karl Urban, Zoe Saldana and John Cho. (Anton Yelchin, who played Pavel Chekhov, tragically died in 2016.)

It was already revealed that the fourquel will be helmed by WandaVision director Matt Shakman, with a script that finds Josh Friedman (Terminator: Dark Fate, Avatar 2) and Cameron Squires (also of WandaVision) rewriting a previous one by Lindsey Beer (Sierra Burgess is a Loser) and Geneva Robertson-Dworet (Tomb Raider, Captain Marvel). But it was unclear whether or not it would bring back the old gang, which revived the movie IP with 2009’s Star Trek.

Mind you, it’s not like Trek has been laying dormant. The franchise has too many TV shows to count, all living on Paramount+, from Star Trek Discovery to the TNG spin-off Picard to Below Decks, the cartoon from a key Rick and Morty writer. But this is the first time it’ll be back on the big screen since the Obama administration.

(Via THR)

Ghosts is a supernatural sitcom that premiered on CBS last fall that has been slowly but surely making buzz on the internet. The show is based on the BBC One series of the same name, which just finished its third season in December. After the American adaptation started to gain popularity, many have been wondering if the show will follow in its British iteration’s footsteps.

The show was officially renewed for a second season last month, which will most likely begin production sometime this year, for a fall 2022 release. The official Ghosts Twitter account tweeted the official notice, along with a video of them surprising the cast and crew with the news.

In the video, you can see a crew member asking Rose McIver to say, “Catch us next fall, because we are officially picked up for season two.” The cast is visibly surprised, and thus season two was officially born.

The account tweeted a follow-up to thank their dedicated fanbase: “We could not have done this without our amazing fans— we’re so grateful to you all for watching!”

Ghosts stars McIver and Utkarsh Ambudkar as young couple Sam and Jay, who inherit an old mansion which they decide to turn into a quaint bed and breakfast, before realizing there are a bunch of ghosts haunting the place, which Sam can see after a near-death experience. All of the ghosts have their own unique personalities based from the time period they lived in, from a sixties flower child to a late nineties stock bro. You can stream every episode so far on Paramount+.

Paramount+ is less than a year old — though its original version, CBS All Access, has actually existed since 2014 — and it still needs as much content as it can muster. Thank god, then, for franchises. On the same day the streamer announced yet another Yellowstone prequel, it also revealed that there will be not one, not two, but three SpongeBob SquarePants spin-off movies, each focusing on a different side character.

As per Deadline, next year Paramount+ subscribers will get their mitts on the first of those three SpongeBob movies, which will follow a different resident of Bikini Bottom. Which one? That has not yet been revealed. Ditto for the other two, which will arrive at an as-yet-undisclosed time.

The movies will join a growing number of other SpongeBob spin-offs, including the shows Kamp Koral and The Patrick Star Show, alongside the still-chooglin’ original version of the show. Then there’s the movies. The third and most recent one, Sponge on the Run, which featured Awkwafina and Matt Berry, wound up dropping on Paramount+ last March after its theatrical release date was bumped due to the pandemic. A fourth is in the works.

All in all, this is more great news for longtime SpongeBob voice actor (and excellent Mr. Show alum) Tom Kenny, who deserves to have one of the longest gigs in the entertainment world.

(Via Deadline)

Welcome to the Yellowstone Extended Universe. (The… YEU? We’ll work on this.) The staggeringly popular Yellowstone, the modern-day Western from Taylor Sheridan that has given Kevin Costner his biggest hit since the good ol’ days, is expanding even further. The show has already spawned the instant hit prequel 1883 (as well as the forthcoming 6666, set in the present day). So how about another?

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the next spin-off will be called 1932, which will delve even further into the backstory of the Dutton empire. Where Yellowstone shows the family dealing with Native American neighbors and developers, and 1883 deals with their ancestors venturing from Texas to Montana, the Depression-era set one will look at them, as per a press release, “during the time of western expansion, Prohibition and the Great Depression.”

There’s no word on who will take the helm of this spin-off/prequel, but the producers have their work cut out for them finding someone to follow in the footsteps of Kevin Costner and Sam Elliott. Perhaps Nick Nolte? Or Kris Kristofferson? Maybe they’ll think outside the box and hire Werner Herzog.

In the meantime, 1883 will be getting more episodes, though Paramount stopped short of calling it a “renewal” or “another season.” There will simply be more episodes, of some number at some point of time in the future. And probably more after that. It’s a whole big thing.

(Via THR)