Considering the two largest ice sheets on earth — the one on Antarctica and the one on Greenland — extend more than 6 million square miles combined … yeah, we’re talkin’ a lot of ice.
But what if it was all just … gone? Not like gone gone, but melted?
If all of earth’s land ice melted, it would be nothing short of disastrous.
And that’s putting it lightly.
This video by Business Insider Science (seen below) depicts exactly what our coastlines would look like if all the land ice melted. And spoiler alert: It isn’t great.
Lots of European cities like, Brussels and Venice, would be basically underwater.
In Africa and the Middle East? Dakar, Accra, Jeddah — gone.
Millions of people in Asia, in cities like Mumbai, Beijing, and Tokyo, would be uprooted and have to move inland.
South America would say goodbye to cities like Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires.
And in the U.S., we’d watch places like Houston, San Francisco, and New York City — not to mention the entire state of Florida — slowly disappear into the sea.
Business Insider based these visuals off National Geographic’s estimation that sea levels will rise 216 feet (!) if all of earth’s land ice melted into our oceans.
There’s even a tool where you can take a detailed look at how your community could be affected by rising seas, for better or worse.
Although … looking at these maps, it’s hard to imagine “for better” is a likely outcome for many of us.
Much of America’s most populated regions would be severely affected by rising sea levels, as you’ll notice exploring the map, created by Alex Tingle using data provided by NASA.
Take, for instance, the West Coast. (Goodbye, San Fran!)
Or the East Coast. (See ya, Philly!)
And the Gulf Coast. (RIP, Bourbon Street!)
I bring up the topic not just for funsies, of course, but because the maps above are real possibilities.
How? Climate change.
As we continue to burn fossil fuels for energy and emit carbon into our atmosphere, the planet gets warmer and warmer. And that, ladies and gentlemen, means melted ice.
A study published this past September by researchers in the U.S., U.K., and Germany found that if we don’t change our ways, there’s definitely enough fossil fuel resources available for us to completely melt the Antarctic ice sheet.
Basically, the self-inflicted disaster you see above is certainly within the realm of possibility.
“This would not happen overnight, but the mind-boggling point is that our actions today are changing the face of planet Earth as we know it and will continue to do so for tens of thousands of years to come,” said lead author of the study Ricarda Winkelmann, of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research.
If we want to stop this from happening,” she says, “we need to keep coal, gas, and oil in the ground.”
The good news? Most of our coastlines are still intact! And they can stay that way, too — if we act now.
Having lived in small towns and large cities in the Pacific Northwest, Southwest, and Midwest, and after spending a year traveling around the U.S. with my family, I’ve seen first-hand that Americans have much more in common than not. I’ve also gotten to experience some of the cultural differences, subtle and not-so-subtle, real and not-so-real, that exist in various parts of the country.
Some of those differences are being discussed in a viral thread on Twitter. Self-described “West coaster” Jordan Green kicked it off with an observation about East coasters being kind and West coasters being nice, which then prompted people to share their own social experiences in various regions around the country.
“When I describe East Coast vs West Coast culture to my friends I often say ‘The East Coast is kind but not nice, the West Coast is nice but not kind,’ and East Coasters immediately get it. West Coasters get mad.
Niceness is saying ‘I’m so sorry you’re cold,’ while kindness may be ‘Ugh, you’ve said that five times, here’s a sweater!’ Kindness is addressing the need, regardless of tone.
I’m a West Coaster through and through—born and raised in San Francisco, moved to Portland for college, and now live in Seattle. We’re nice, but we’re not kind. We’ll listen to your rant politely, smile, and then never speak to you again. We hit mute in real life. ALOT.
So often, we West Coasters think that showing *sympathy* or feeling *empathy* is an act of kindness. Sadly, it’s really just a nice act. Kindness is making sure the baby has a hat. (s/o to breenewsome and BlackAmazon)
When you translate this to institutions or policy, you’ll see alot of nice words being used, & West Coast liberals/radicals are really good at *sounding* nice. But I’ve seen organizers & activists from other places get frustrated because nothing happens after ALOT of talk.
u201cWhen you translate this to institutions or policy, you’ll see alot of nice words being used, & West Coast liberals/radicals are really good at *sounding* nice. But I’ve seen organizers & activists from other places get frustrated because nothing happens after ALOT of talk.u201d
Nothing happens after the pronoun check-ins and the icebreakers. It’s rare we make sure that people’s immediate needs are addressed. There’s no kindness. You have people show up to meetings hungry, or needing rides home, and watching those with means freeze when asked to help.
As we begin to ‘get back a sense of normalcy’ or ‘re-calibrate’ to what people in Blue States™ think is Right™ and Just™, I want us to keep in mind the difference between Niceness and Kindness. If something sounds nice, doesn’t mean that it’s kind.”
Of course, there are genuinely kind and surface nice people everywhere you go, so no one should take these observations as a personal affront to them individually. Generalizations that lead to stereotypes are inherently problematic, and broad strokes like “East coast” and “West coast” are also somewhat meaningless, so they should taken with a grain of salt as well.
In reality, a small town in South Carolina is probably more culturally similar to a small town in Eastern Oregon than it is to New York City, and there are some strong differences between various subregions as well. A more specific cultural comparison, such as “big cities on the West coast vs. big cities in the Northeast” might be more accurate as far as generalizations go, but regardless, many people related to Green’s observations based on their own experiences.
To kick things off, a slew of responses poured in from people describing how New Yorkers can be cold on the surface while simultaneously reaching out their hand to help you.
u201c@SikePiazza @jordonaut Stand at a flight of stairs in the NYC subway with a stroller. Someone will grab the other end, help you carry the stroller, and then walk away without saying a word.u201d
Several people explained that the hustle required to afford the expense of living in New York explains why people skip the niceties. It’s about valuing people’s time; wasting it with nice words is ruder than just quickly helping out and then moving on.
u201c@mcgowankat @MikeDeAngelo @SikePiazza @jordonaut Yeah, this is the kind of thing people who have’t spent time in NYC don’t really grasp. Someone will be like, “Hey, you fucking yo-yo! You’re money’s falling out. Why the fuck is it in your back pocket? Get your shit together,” and saved you all the cash in your pocket.u201d
u201c@jordonaut In the South, politeness takes the form of “I will talk to you and inquire as to your day; I will give my time to you”; but in New York that CAN NOT WORK. In New York, politeness is “I will not waste your time”u201d
Many people chimed in with agreement with the original post (even some Canadians confirming that their East/West differences aligned with ours).
u201c@candaceforpdx @jordonaut I used to travel to the West Coast a lot for work. Everyone was u201cnice,u201d but they had no sense of urgency and didnu2019t give one fuck about inconveniencing everyone around them. Iu2019m from the DMV. We get shit done. Smiling!u201d
“No sense of urgency” is definitely a West coast vibe, but is generally viewed a positive out here. And “inconveniencing everyone around them” might be a subjective observation. Maybe.
Plenty of people with bicoastal experience weighed in with their stories of how their experiences lined up with the basic premise of the thread, though.
u201c@jordonaut I am blunt, I cuss, I call shit like I see it, and if you need it I’ll give you the shirt off my back, and that’s East Coast culture.u201d
u201c@KLDoorC @jordonaut This. Iu2019m from Pgh and talking to my friend in Seattle.. She lives by herself and needed some help moving something. I said why donu2019t you ask your neighbors? She quickly replied we donu2019t do that around here. Itu2019s frowned upon. I just couldnu2019t live like thatu201d
Though certainly not universally true, the tendency for West coasters to be more hands-off might extend back to the frontier days. The pioneer and gold rush mindset was necessarily individualistic and self-sufficient. In my experience, West coasters assume you don’t need help unless you directly ask for it. But people don’t ask because of the individualistic and self-sufficient thing, so automatic helpfulness just hasn’t become part of the dominant culture.
Things got even more interesting once the South and Midwest entered the chat.
u201c@jamieleefinch @jordonaut @yumcoconutmilk Moving from the Midwest to the south my experience tells me this is true. If you drive your car into a ditch a Southerner will offer to call someone for you. The Midwesterner will jump into the ditch to help push you out.u201d
But the takes on warm/nice/kind thing varied quite a bit.
u201c@jamieleefinch @jordonaut @yumcoconutmilk Midwest is warm/kind of you are or LOOK like youu2019re u201cfrom around here.u201dnnThe other difference is that East/West coasts will never think of you again, while the South & Midwest will gossip about you til the end of time.u201d
u201c@alexschiff @zsr5 @jordonaut I moved to Michigan after spending my whole life on the East Coast. It took me MONTHS to make friends. People were nice but already had friends from their old neighborhood, high school, college, church, kids’ playgroups…they didn’t need any more friends and didn’t reach out.u201d
One thing that seems quite clear if you read through the various responses to the thread is that specific states and cities seem to have their own cultures that don’t break down as simply as East/West/Midwest/South. There’s an entire book about how the U.S. can actually be subdivided into 11 different regions that are almost like nations unto themselves. Even this map from 1940 included 34 different cultural regions in the U.S.
u201cCultural Regions in the United States, 1940. https://t.co/RGGBgP5OzOu201d
And don’t even get a Californian started on the differences between Northern CA, Southern CA, and the Central Valley. “Culture” can even be narrowed down even to specific neighborhoods, and people’s experiences and perceptions vary for all kinds of reasons, so once again, generalizations only go so far before they fall flat.
If you’re curious about what the data says about all of this, a cursory search of surveys about which states are the kindest brings up a fairly mixed bag, but people seem to find Minnesota quite friendly. A Wallethub ranking of charitability by state based on 19 factors including volunteerism also placed Minnesota at number one, followed by Utah, Maryland, Oregon, and Ohio. Pretty hard to make a regional generalization with those states.
Then again, there’s the whole “Minnesota nice” thing, which brings us full circle back to the original thread.
u201c@SejalShahWrites I’m from Minnesota, where we have a whole theme of how “Minnesota Nice” means only on the surface.u201d
So many elements go into the culture of a place, from population density to the history of settlement to the individual personalities of the people who make someplace their home. And nothing is set in stone—the atmosphere of a place can change over time, as anyone who’s visited a city a decade or two apart can attest.
One thing that’s true, no matter where we live, is that we play a role in molding the culture of our immediate surroundings. If we want where we live to be friendlier, we can be friendlier ourselves. If we want to see people help one another, we can serve as that example. We might stand out, but we also might inspire others who yearn for the same thing.
“Be the change” might seem a bit cliche, but it truly is the key to shifting or world in the way we want it to go, no matter what part of the country—or the world—we live in.
The Jupiter Ascending actress (when I get a chance to reference Jupiter Ascending, I’m going to take it) confirmed that she and her beleaguered husband, who played Jackie and Kelso on That ’70s Show and reprised the characters on That ’90s Show, will not return for season two of the Netflix series.
During an event to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Family Guy over the weekend, Kunis was asked by Entertainment Tonight whether fans of That ’90s Show can expect her and Kutcher to pop up again. “No,” she said. “I mean, we did our thing and they introduced our son in the show.”
With the exception of Danny Masterson, who is serving time in prison on multiple rape counts, nearly every main cast member of That ’70s Show has appeared on That ’90s Show. Even some minor characters are returning, according to Entertainment Weekly:
[Seth Green] said he would be reprising his role of Mitch Miller, a classmate and nemesis of Topher Grace’s Eric Forman who appeared throughout seasons 5 and 6. “I’ve already done an episode of it, and I’m going back to do another one,” Green said.
That ’90s Show season 2 is expected to premiere in summer 2024.
Indie-pop band Alvvays is on on their 2024 North American tour and thanks to the users of Reddit, we now know what kind of merch they’re offering for fans who wish to show their support by attending and taking home a souvenir or two. According to a photo of the merch table posted to the Alvvays subreddit, there are four T-shirt options, one long-sleeve, a hoodie, socks, a tote bag, and of course, vinyl of the group’s albums. The user who posted the photo reports they also have CDs and cassettes, but it “varies from venue to venue.” You can see the options and prices below. Check out the setlist here.
Hoodie – $50
“Apple pocket” tee – $35
“Blue Rev” tee – $35
“Blue Reve” pocket tee – $40
“Band drawing” tee – $35
“Little guy” long sleeve – $40
Socks – $20
Canvas tote – $25
04/22/2024 — Milwaukee, WI @ Pabst Theater
04/24/2024 — Madison, WI @ The Sylvee
04/25/2024 — Kansas City, MO @ The Truman
05/01/2024 — Tampa, FL @ The Ritz Ybor
05/02/2024 — Orlando, FL @ The Plaza Live
05/03/2024 — Athens, GA @ Georgia Theatre
05/04/2024 — Charlotte, NC @ The Underground
05/06/2024 — Louisville, KY @ Mercury Ballroom
05/07/2024 — St. Louis, MO @ The Pageant
05/09/2024 — Fort Collins, CO @ Aggie Theatre
05/10-05/12/2024 — Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Block Party
05/11/2024 — Las Vegas, NV @ Brooklyn Bowl
05/13/2024 — Sacramento, CA @ Ace of Spades
05/16/2024 — Phoenix, AZ @ The Van Buren
05/17/2024 — Tucson, AZ @ Rialto Theatre
Devotees of both The Sandman and Neil Gaiman will soon receive a nice placeholder while the series proper continues filming a second season of The Endless siblings’ adventures. Think of this new show — Dead Boy Detectives — in terms of being an appetizer while bringing part of The Sandman‘s fourth graphic novel volume to life onscreen. This new show’s characters, who hail from a British boarding school in a ghost-oriented journey, have something to do with the ongoing feud between Dream/Morpheus (Tom Sturridge) and Lucifer (Gwendoline Christie).
In print form, this story proved to be such a popular originating arc that Gaiman actually spun them off in a further comic book adventure for the Vertigo imprint.
How Many Episodes Are In ‘Dead Boy Detectives’ Season 1?
The spin off series releases with eight episodes at once on April 25.
What else? The lead characters, Edwin Payne and Charles Rowland, are ghosts who take on the paranormal mysteries that human investigators can’t seem to solve. Co-creator Steve Steve Yockey has likened the show to the Hardy Boys on acid, so there’s that aspect to look forward to as well. We do not know if the show will get any The Sandman crossover action, but fingers are crossed on that note. From the show’s description:
Meet Edwin Payne and Charles Rowland, ‘the brains’ and ‘the brawn’ behind the Dead Boy Detectives agency. Teenagers born decades apart who find each other only in death, Edwin and Charles are best friends and ghosts… who solve mysteries. They will do anything to stick together – including escaping evil witches, Hell and Death herself. With the help of a clairvoyant named Crystal (Nelson) and her friend Niko (Kitamura), they are able to crack some of the mortal realm’s most mystifying paranormal cases.
Netflix’s Dead Boy Detectives streams on April 25.
Over the weekend, Alvvays kicked off their 2024 North American tour with shows in Cleveland, Cincinnati, and Columbus, Ohio on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, respectively. The indie-pop band — which recently appeared on NPR’s Tiny Desk Concerts series — moves on to Milwaukee tonight and conclude their tour right before they play Goldenvoice’s Just Like Heaven festival next month. You can find the setlist below to see just what songs they’ll play in advance.
20. “Pharmacist”
21. “Ones Who Love You”
22. “Atop a Cake”
Alvvays’ 2024 North American Tour Dates
04/22/2024 — Milwaukee, WI @ Pabst Theater
04/24/2024 — Madison, WI @ The Sylvee
04/25/2024 — Kansas City, MO @ The Truman
05/01/2024 — Tampa, FL @ The Ritz Ybor
05/02/2024 — Orlando, FL @ The Plaza Live
05/03/2024 — Athens, GA @ Georgia Theatre
05/04/2024 — Charlotte, NC @ The Underground
05/06/2024 — Louisville, KY @ Mercury Ballroom
05/07/2024 — St. Louis, MO @ The Pageant
05/09/2024 — Fort Collins, CO @ Aggie Theatre
05/10-05/12/2024 — Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Block Party
05/11/2024 — Las Vegas, NV @ Brooklyn Bowl
05/13/2024 — Sacramento, CA @ Ace of Spades
05/16/2024 — Phoenix, AZ @ The Van Buren
05/17/2024 — Tucson, AZ @ Rialto Theatre
These days, a ton of music promo happens on social media, but DIIV is taking it back to good old-fashioned websites. Today, the band shared the title track from their upcoming album “Frog In Boiling Water” via their FIBW.org website.
It’s a weird and mysterious thing, filled with disorienting images and links that on the surface, don’t seem to make a ton of sense or be coherent. The group also shared a statement that reads in part, “The title track of DIIV’s new album Frog in Boiling Water is a snapshot from a world collapsing under its own weight. A cascade of atrocities wash over a population seemingly too stunned and powerless to act. Wealth is extracted and people suffer. The only obvious solution is [redacted text]. Visit FIBW.org for more info.”
The group previously said of their new album, “We understand the metaphor to be one about a slow, sick, and overwhelmingly banal collapse of society under end-stage capitalism, the brutal realities we’ve maybe come to accept as normal. That’s the boiling water and we are the frogs. The album is more or less a collection of snapshots from various angles of our modern condition which we think highlights what this collapse looks like and, more particularly, what it feels like.”
All eight first round series have completed one game after a full weekend slate of NBA Playoff basketball, and the challenge as always is to figure out what’s real and what’s a blip after Game 1.
That’s especially true on a weekend in which six of the eight games were decided by double digits. There were some dominant performances and a few games were over by the time halftime arrived. That makes parsing out what’s real and what’s not a bit tricky, but we’re going to go through each series and look at our biggest takeaway from Game 1 that we think will be the deciding factor in what happens in the next 3-6 games.
Cavs vs. Magic: Orlando’s guards have to provide an offensive boost
Both of these teams are built to play strong defense (when at their best) and they showed that on Saturday in the opener. However, we saw quickly where the biggest gap is between these two rosters, as the Cavs have a proven playoff performer in their backcourt in Donovan Mitchell and the Magic simply do not. Paolo Banchero was good and probably needs to be even better to win this series, and they’ll need more from Franz Wagner as well. However, the only way to really do that is if someone from the Magic’s guard rotation (or, ideally, a couple guys) can become offensive threats.
The Cavs are rightfully sinking back and protecting the paint first (and second) and daring Orlando to hit shots. In Game 1 the Magic could not oblige, with their backcourt really having a tough time. Jalen Suggs was 4-of-16 from the field and 1-of-7 from three, and he was the bright spot in the guard rotation. Gary Harris and Cole Anthony were a combined 0-of-13 shooting, including nine missed threes, and their most reliable three-point shooter on the night was Jonathan Isaac, hitting 2-of-4 from deep. That’s not gonna get it done, and while we knew Orlando struggled scoring in bunches coming in, Game 1 was particularly bleak.
Maybe it was just opening game jitters, but if Banchero and Wagner are going to have any chance of seeing less resistance in the paint, it’ll be dependent on the others (namely the guards) proving to be threats to hit shots to loosen up the Cavs defense.
Timberwolves vs. Suns: Devin Booker Has To Adjust To Minnesota’s Ball Pressure
The Timberwolves blasted the Suns in the biggest blowout of the weekend, and there are a lot of things for Phoenix to try and clean up. One is keeping Jusuf Nurkic on the floor and out of foul trouble, as they got smoked in non-Nurk lineups and could not keep the Wolves big men off the glass (Drew Eubanks, in particular, proved not to be the right answer off the bench). However, more intriguing to me is how Devin Booker bounces back from a rough opener.
Booker had 18 points and five assists on just 5-of-16 shooting and seemed to struggle with the physicality and ball pressure applied by the Timberwolves. Nickeil Alexander-Walker, in particular, came off the bench and hounded Booker for many of the 28 minutes he was on the floor. We know Booker is capable of big playoff performances, but him doing it consistently is going to be a must if Phoenix is going to take this series. Kevin Durant put on a masterclass, but got very little help from his co-stars.
The Suns swept the Wolves in the regular season thanks to great scoring nights that made the Wolves adjust their personnel. If Booker, Durant, and Bradley Beal cannot break the top-ranked Wolves defense from their preferred rotations and force adjustments, it’s not likely this series is going to go their way, especially if Grayson Allen is limited after rolling his ankle and not returning to Game 1. After a lot of chatter about how much Minnesota could keep Rudy Gobert on the floor against a Phoenix team that, in theory, is a nightmare to play drop against, Gobert played 37 minutes (the most of anyone on the Wolves) and was a +19. That can’t continue if the Suns are going to have a chance in this series and the only way to change that is for Booker to figure out how to join Durant in the shot-making parade.
76ers vs. Knicks: Philly Has To Figure Out The Non-Embiid Minutes
In a collection of words that seem to pop up whenever they make the playoffs, the Sixers got smoked (-21) in the 12 minutes Joel Embiid was not on the floor in Game 1. With the big fella clearly laboring, it’s hard to see him touching 40 minutes per game in this series and if they have to navigate 12 minutes per night without him, they’ve got to figure out how to come closer to drawing even. Some of that is on Paul Reed to figure out how to match the Knicks physicality on the glass, as New York once again dominated on the boards in a first round game — this is not an easy task, as both of the Knicks’ centers (Isaiah Hartenstein and Mitchell Robinson) are elite rebounders.
However, it’s also that the Sixers need someone other than their stars to contribute offensively, because we know the defense is going to take a hit with those bench units. Tobias Harris was a no-show in Game 1 — which has become an all too frequent sight for Sixers fans — and the only guy that really stepped up beyond Embiid and Tyrese Maxey was Kyle Lowry (18 points). Philly’s top two is certainly good enough to give them a chance in this series, but they simply need more from the “others.”
That was my biggest concern about Philly going into this series, as the Knicks have more guys I trust to give them contributions, even if they don’t have a true second star alongside Jalen Brunson right now. That’s why they could survive an off night from Brunson (22 points on 26 shots), and the Sixers couldn’t even take advantage of that poor showing while getting 62 points from their stars.
Nuggets vs. Lakers: Can The Lakers Put Together A Full 48 Minutes Every Single Night?
There is no more difficult task in the NBA right now than beating the Denver Nuggets in a playoff series. The reason is, you have to play 48 minutes of very good basketball just to beat them, and very few teams are capable of doing that four times in seven games. In Game 1, the Lakers came out aggressive, with LeBron James and Anthony Davis dominating on offense. By halftime, the Lakers advantage was just three despite all that effort. In the second half, it was just a few lulls that cost L.A. a chance at winning the game, but that was also the exact same script as last year’s Western Conference Finals sweep.
Solving that riddle will require the Lakers to get more from their role guys. D’Angelo Russell was, again, quite bad shooting the ball (6-of-20, 1-of-9 from three). The problem is, while Darvin Ham certainly could look to keep him on a shorter leash going forward, there’s not exactly a great replacement. Gabe Vincent and Spencer Dinwiddie didn’t even attempt shots in 20 combined minutes and had a grand total of two assists between them. They were basically NPCs on the offensive end, and that’s not going to work if the Lakers are to keep up.
Denver’s stars attract attention and rightfully so. Nikola Jokic was spectacular per usual, and even a so-so night for Jamal Murray produced 22 points and 10 assists. However, the thing that makes the Nuggets stand out is how they can constantly rely on the other three starters for contributions. All five hit double figures scoring in Game 1. Aaron Gordon did a bit of everything (12 points, 11 rebounds, 7 assists), and does so most every night. Michael Porter Jr. looks like he still remembers how to shoot, which is an improvement over last year’s playoff run, and alongside Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, they provide ample floor spacing for their stars to operate between.
The Lakers just don’t have that same kind of consistency around LeBron and AD. Making matters worse, they lost a Game 1 in which Denver was good but not great. At some point in this series, the Nuggets are going to be great and the Lakers probably lose that game even if they are, too. That means they’ll need at least five complete games out of the next six to win this series, and that is a tall order I’m not sure they’re ready to fill.
Celtics vs. Heat: Miami’s Going To Need To Do That Thing Where Everyone On Their Team Can’t Miss
The Celtics bludgeoned the Heat in Game 1 and while there was some fourth quarter shenanigans that forced Boston’s starters back in to squash a Miami run, this one went pretty much according to script. There’s not much for Miami to do in this series without Jimmy Butler, other than hope the entire team can get red-hot from three. That’s happened before, but it occurred while Butler attracted attention and forced teams to help off shooters. This time, they’ll need to get hot on contested threes if they’re going to make things interesting, because they’re just outmatched otherwise.
Clippers vs. Mavericks: The Mavs Have To Figure Out Their Frontcourt Rotation
Game 1 was a bit funky because the Clippers were so dominant in the first half and then coasted to the win. I think there are things for the Mavs to takeaway from how they got it going offensively in the second half, as Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving both seemed to figure out how to get to their spots and get into a rhythm against the Clippers. That’s important going forward, for sure, but the real question for me is if Dallas’ bigs can answer the bell going forward.
Ivica Zubac dominated with 20 points and 15 rebounds (all of which came in the first three quarters), and the Mavs seemed to be throwing stuff at the wall to see what stuck in the second half. After Daniel Gafford didn’t work out early, they tried rookie big man Dereck Lively II, but he didn’t fare much better. Ultimately, Jason Kidd rode with small-ball with Maxi Kleber and PJ Washington, but after hitting a couple early threes, Washington went cold and Kleber was way off on his attempts from deep. I have confidence that Kyrie and Luka will be better for a full 48 going forward, but if Dallas is going to win this series, they’re going to have to find a frontcourt rotation they’re comfortable relying on (and one that provides balance on both ends).
Bucks vs. Pacers: Will Tyrese Haliburton Meet The Challenge?
Damian Lillard’s 35-point first half was the story of Game 1, but the most jarring stat line belonged to Tyrese Haliburton, who had a triple-single (as Charles Barkley would call it) with 9 points, 8 assists, and 7 rebounds on 4-of-7 shooting. After struggling when he rushed back from injury around the All-Star break, Haliburton had seemingly regained his shooting form in the final weeks of the season. However, he was oddly passive in Game 1 and cannot have another game with just seven field goal attempts.
The Bucks turned up their defensive intensity and ball pressure in the opener, but given their limitations at the guard spot defensively, there’s no world where they should be able to force Haliburton into a performance like that. It’d be one thing if he tried to be a facilitator amid an off shooting night, but he has to have his fingerprints on the game more to at minimum provide Pascal Siakam with support. I can understand that Siakam is the mismatch with Giannis Antetokounmpo out, but Haliburton can’t be pushed to the periphery to this degree again.
Thunder vs. Pelicans: Can Brandon Ingram Fight His Worst Instincts?
There was a sequence in the fourth quarter of the highly entertaining opener to Pels-Thunder that I felt was a great illustration of the frustrating nature of the Brandon Ingram experience. Down three with five minutes to play, Ingram slotted a beautiful pocket pass to Larry Nance Jr. on the roll for a dunk to keep a run going.
It was gorgeous, unselfish basketball. The kind of thing you need from your stars to win games in the playoffs. Less than a minute later, however, Ingram spent 12 seconds dribbling to nowhere against Lu Dort and tossed up a horrible leaning jumper that wasn’t even close.
On the night, Ingram scored 12 points and was 5-of-17 shooting from the field. This was not a heat check situation for a guy that was rolling, but a player struggling with Dort’s defense all night dribbling the air out of the ball and taking a bad shot on a key possession. He wasn’t alone in doing this for the Pelicans, as the game ended with CJ McCollum trying to iso Cason Wallace and getting the ball poked away, forcing him into a running three at the buzzer.
The Pelicans can absolutely hang in this series defensively, and watching these two teams slug it out could be a treat. But if we’re going to get to see that for more than five games, the Pelicans stars, headlined by Ingram, have got to stop trying to break down OKC’s tremendous defenders in isolation on the dribble. When New Orleans moved the ball, good things happened. They have some spacing with Trey Murphy III and Herbert Jones (who had an off night but has to keep shooting) and they have some play finishers with Nance Jr. and Jonas Valanciunas (who crushed on the glass inside with 20 boards).
Ingram, in particular, has to trust those guys and the fact that the more they’re involved, the more space there will be for him to operate. If he does, we could be in for a very fun opening round series.
Reasons to not invite Tom Cruise to your birthday party:
-All the guests will be too busy asking “wait, is that Tom Cruise? It looks a lot like Tom Cruise. I’m 99 percent sure it’s Tom Cruise. How do they know Tom Cruise?” to focus on you, the birthday boy or girl
Reasons to absolutely invite Tom Cruise to your birthday party:
-He might start breakdancing
The Mission: Impossible star attended former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham‘s 50th birthday celebration over the weekend in London. Other guests included Gordon Ramsay, Eva Longoria, Salma Hayek, Jason Statham, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Guy Ritchie, and the rest of the Spice Girls, all of whom got to Cruise start breakdancing. According to the Daily Mail, “Cruise stunned many when he demonstrated a series of breakdancing moves.”
After a formal sit-down dinner, the Top Gun: Maverick actor was one of the most enthusiastic dancers in the crowd of 120 at the private members club Oswalds, in Mayfair. One guest said: “People were absolutely dumbfounded.” Sadly, cameras were strictly banned by the Beckhams and its not thought that anyone sneaked a picture.
Between his moves at Posh Spice’s party and Risky Business being added to the Criterion Collection, Tom Cruise dancing is having a moment. Just wait until Mission: Impossible 8 when he dances and runs at the same time. It’s maybe not as impressive as climbing the Burj Khalifa, but I bet you can’t do it.
Netflix‘s Baby Reindeer is based upon the true story of creator, comedian, and leading man Richard Gadd. He did, of course, make changes to characters so that they are not recognizable as the real people who inspired (in the worst form of the word) some of these characters, but nonetheless, what the characters did and are going through are both rooted in fact.
In the limited series, Richard’s character switches up as “Donny,” a bartender who is sexually assaulted by a male who Donny had considered a friend. While reeling from residual trauma, he finds himself faced at work by Martha, who is portrayed by Jessica Gunning. Long story short, he does not discourage her affections (and she nicknames him as “Baby Reindeer”), but then she grows obsessed with him. This, as well, turns into a traumatic experience for Donny, who calls the police on his stalker, who has begun threatening him and displaying abrupt mood swings. In the series, Martha is eventually handed a nine-month prison sentence, and Donny is granted a five-year protective order against her, but what happened to the real-life woman who was a basis for the Martha character?
As Gadd recently told The Sunday Times (in the United Kingdom), the real-life stalker represented by Martha did not go to prison, and Gadd “didn’t want to throw someone who was that level of mentally unwell” behind bars. Additionally, Gadd told Variety that Jessica Gunning nailed the emotional essence of “Martha,” although at least on the surface, Gunning does not bear too much of a resemblance to Gadd’s real-life stalker:
“Well, we have to make them different for legal reasons. But what I needed to see was the essence of the person, the kind of energy, and no one did it like Jess. She’s phenomenal. I needed to see someone who was vulnerable one moment, angry the next, volatile but so desperate and sympathetic. I needed to see someone who could capture a full gamut of emotions. When somebody has severe mental health problems, they tend to leap from one emotion to the next, sometimes even quite quickly. And that’s very hard to do from an acting point of view, but Jess seems to have it in her pores.
Baby Reindeer‘s full first season (and there hasn’t been word on a second round) is streaming on Netflix.
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Larry Nance Jr. slam!
