James Harden was finally granted his trade request after months of trade talks with the Clippers came and went without a deal manifesting itself.
After a hot start by Tyrese Maxey, the Sixers finally felt it was time to remove the Harden question and just move forward with Maxey and Joel Embiid leading the way. The Clippers were the beneficiary, getting Harden for picks and a quartet of wings to help declutter their rotation without having to give up Terance Mann or any core pieces. While the upside to Harden is clear, as they could use another facilitator and initiator in the backcourt, there is the question of how he will fit with their other stars.
While they will all say the right things now and Harden figures to buy in initially, a quote from Thursday nights intro presser for Harden raised some eyebrows. While talking about his role in Philly, Harden said he felt like he was on a leash, before offering a Jay-Z-esque line about how he isn’t a system player, he’s just a system, player.
This tracks with Doc Rivers’ recent comments where he said things turned for the Sixers last year when Harden stopped buying in to being the point guard and leading with his passing rather than his scoring. Rivers believes Harden wanted to start scoring more after being snubbed from the All-Star team, and that things deteriorated from there with the coach-player relationship after that.
Harden notes it’s not a matter of scoring as much as playing his way, and he clearly didn’t feel Rivers respected what he could do for the Sixers, while Doc seems to believe Harden’s perception of what he can provide a contender at this point might not be in line with the reality at his age. That figures to make for a fascinating dynamic in L.A., where Kawhi Leonard is the leading man with a strong No. 2 in Paul George, and what they need more than anything is Harden’s passing.
The good news is, there should be plenty of run to be had with a second unit that can be Harden’s all his own if he’d like, as he requested in Philly. If that satiates his desire to score and play his preferred style and then he falls in line with the starters, then the Clippers might just put it all together. However, we’ve said that before with Harden and he is firmly in the position of needing to prove he will do that before getting the benefit of the doubt from many.
April 24, 1976, was the last time former Beatles, John Lennon and Paul McCartney, saw each other. McCartney would later recall that the last words Lennon ever spoke to him were, “Think of me now and then, old friend.”
Lennon would be gunned down in front of his apartment on December 8, 1980.
It feels somewhat prophetic that the final Beatles song featuring all four members, released on Thursday, November 2, is called “Now and Then.” The song was built from a demo that Lennon recorded at his Manhattan apartment in 1978. Although no one knows if it was written about McCartney, it’s a redemptive ballad about how Lennon found the strength to overcome hardships through a loved one.
I know it’s true
It’s all because of you
And, if I make it through
It’s all because of you
The song was written at a time when the pair had gotten past years of hard feelings and legal battles after the Beatles’ breakup and had considered recording together again. Of course, the song could also have been about his wife and creative partner, Yoko Ono, who was the subject of some of Lennon’s most heartfelt ballads.
“Now and Then” has one of the most prolonged gestation periods of any piece of modern music. The Lennon demo was already about 16 years old when it was handed to the surviving Beatles by Ono as part of the Beatles ‘ Anthology project in 1994. Although the surviving Beatles would complete Lennon’s “Real Love” and “Free as a Bird,” the band did work on “Now and Then” but never finished the song.
But thanks to an AI program developed by filmmaker Peter Jackson that was used to make The Beatles’ “Get Back” documentary, the band was able to complete the song. “Since Peter took John off [the cassette] and gave him his own track, it’s like John’s there. It’s far out,” Ringo Starr said in a BBC documentary.
While some feared that McCartney and Starr were using AI to resurrect Lennon from the grave, their use of AI is tasteful because it doesn’t create anything new. It just bring’s Lennons voice to the forefront.
“My dad would have loved that because he was never shy to experiment with recording technology. I think it’s really beautiful,” Lennon’s son, Sean Ono Lennon, told the BBC.
The performances by all four Beatles over 6 decades were augmented by sweeping orchestrations composed by McCartney and producer Giles Martin, son of legendary Beatles producer George Martin.
Although there are sure to be more projects involving the surviving Beatles and the band’s legacy as recording artists, this is the last time we will ever get to hear a new song from the group. “Now and Then” is a fine curtain call that sits nicely along with their incredible catalog of music. It’s a song about perseverance through the power of love and friendship, a theme that’s prevalent in the band’s most important songs, from “Help!” to “All You Need is Love” to “Hey Jude.”
A mom who admitted she packs her 2-year-old a meal when they go out to dinner has started an interesting debate on TikTok about restaurant etiquette and how it applies to young children.
The video posted by Ohio mom, Karlie Smith (unbreakablemomma on TikTok), has received nearly 600,000 views and has over 1,850 comments.
“Call me cheap, call me whatever, but if we’re going out to a restaurant, I’m packing my kid a meal,” Smith, 21, said in her post. “I do this for many reasons. On Friday nights, my family and I get together, and tonight, we’re getting food out. My son is not getting food out.”
“For one, you want me to pay $6.99 for chicken tenders and fries that my son is going to throw half of it on the floor? You’re crazy,” she continued. “Also, whatever I pack is probably going to be healthier than what the restaurant has anyways.”
Smith’s example of a $6.99 kids’ meal is generous. In some parts of the country, a kids’ meal will set you back a lot more than that.
In the video, Smith demonstrated what she prepared for her son’s meal that day: a sandwich filled with peanut butter and jelly, banana slices, cubed cheddar cheese and a chocolate-flavored Lara bar, all neatly organized in a plastic container.
Smith added that when they get to the restaurant, her child can begin to eat immediately without having to wait for a server to take their order and the kitchen to prepare the food.
“I can just hand him this and let him go to town,” she said. “Also, my child is not opinionated. He does not care what he eats; he just wants to eat.”
The mother of two created quite a stir on TikTok after posting the video, with some people shaming her for bringing outside food into a restaurant. Many felt she wasn’t being fair by taking a seat without buying a meal, while others thought the restaurant was a good place for a child to learn patience. Others felt she wasn’t being fair by eating a restaurant-cooked meal while her child ate food from home.
“$6.99 is not a outrageous price. Eating out is definitely a experience a child deserves while everyone eats out,” Suki commented.
“It is sooo important that they learn patience at that age. The same two-year-old who doesn’t learn that becomes a screaming five-year-old,” Heth added.
“Someone once told me if u can’t afford to let your kid get whatever meal they want at a restaurant, u shouldn’t be eating out,” Kiana stated.
“You are paying for the seat at the table, not just the food. The price of the food to the restaurant is a tiny part of it,” LiverpoolLilac wrote.
However, many people felt for Smith and thought she was doing the right thing for her child and finances.
“This is a great idea and I will be using it! Why would I buy a 2-year-old a meal they won’t eat? People need to stop harassing you,” Katy Brown wrote.
“This is great cause restaurant food is rarely healthy for kids. Always chicken tenders and grilled cheese or corn dogs etc, and fries fries fries,” Luna added.
“This is so smart, my kids always waste out food & always eat what I make so thanks for this tip!” Ceryna said.
After the video was bombarded with comments, Smith told Today.com that, as a former server, she always leaves a tip that compensates for the food brought from home and cleans up the table.
Smith put out a follow-up video where she had some fun with the negative comments she received on the video.
It has been over two years since J. Cole’s last album The Off-Season, and fans can’t wait for his next album, The Fall Off. He’s been teasing it for some time, but what exactly does he mean by titling it “The Fall Off?”
He’s gone into some detail before, but today, he gave much more insight while appearing on Lil Yachty’s ASafe Space Podcast. He tells his “Secret Recipe” collaborator that the title originated from a moment in which he felt “comfortable” with his success and began contemplating retirement.
“Oh, you lost a step in this regard,” he told himself, talking about his usually witty lyrics. “I had a real talk with myself… ‘You made it to where you wanted to make it to. Do you wanna keep going or do you just want to chill and go start a family? Do you want to retire right now?’”
The answer was that if he was going to walk away from the rap game, he wanted to do so at the height of his powers, not after a long … fall off.
Cole previously addressed the subject in his cover story for Slam, saying, “It was the first time that I became conscious of, like, Oh, this is where n****s fall off. This is where it happens. This is the point where it takes place, where the n****s that you love, when it just didn’t hit the same. It was literally like looking at a fork in the road. OK, you can go this way and continue to grow and get better, and push yourself and still feel feelings of exhilaration when you tap into new sh-t and move on. Or, you can go this way and live a more comfortable life that’s less inspired, less push, less stretching yourself, and getting out of your comfort zone.”
You can watch the full episode of A Safe Space With J. Cole above.
After spending some time as a columnist for the Daily Mail, professional John McCain daughter and political commentator Meghan McCain has entered the world of podcasting. However, podcasting involves a constant need for content, so McCain went back to an always reliable well: Her time on The View.
After giving birth to her daughter, McCain returned from paternity leave in 2021 only to announce she’d be exiting the talk show after just a few months. This led to McCain spending the last two years going back and forth between not wanting to talk about The View to, well, talking about The View.
Despite saying just this summer that she’s “at peace” with her time on the show (while calling her former co-workers “crazy”), McCain brought up her old stomping grounds during the latest episode Meghan McCain Has Entered the Chat. With CNN’s Brian Stelter as her guest, McCain proceeded to rant about why she had to quit The View immediately.
“For me, being on The View and being around so many people who’ve been on TV daily, for decades, I was like, I cannot live my life on camera like this anymore, because it’s bad for me. It’s bad for me emotionally,” McCain said via Entertainment Weekly. “I just felt like I could not be the kind of mother, wife, and commentator I wanted to be in that kind of a chaotic environment. I didn’t want to be the type of person that couldn’t live without being on TV every day — and I, too, questioned, when I left, if I could live without it, and then I was just so happy that I didn’t have to wear makeup every day.”
“Working on The View is a big job, people watch it, but for me, it was like in The Devil Wears Prada where it’s like, ‘a million girls want this job,’” McCain said. “What I thought I wanted was the most miserable I was in my entire life.”
She also equated her exit with a “bomb going off” and “very dramatic,” which her co-stars would probably agree with. After she left, Whoopi Goldberg couldn’t help but notice how much “calmer” the show became with McCain no longer at the table.
“Nobody wants to be that tired every day. We’ve always had disagreements and stuff, but this one was a little bit different,” Goldberg said about McCain’s time on The View while appearing at the 2022 New York Film Festival. “I think [the show], it’s better. I feel it’s better, but I’m still tired!”
If you only looked at his work as a member of the Korean boy band BTS, Jung Kook (also known as Jungkook) would be a pop star a hundred times over. But this Friday, not only will we have his BTS catalog to judge by but we’ll also have his debut solo album, Golden. The K-pop star has been rolling out the album since the summer, with his and Latto’s collaboration “Seven” becoming absolutely inescapable and his Jack Harlow-featuring single “3D” showing off even more dimension. In addition to these two features, Golden looks to have a who’s-who of musical guests to help Jung Kook kick off this solo part of his career.
Besides the two rappers, the album is also set to feature two of EDM’s biggest names in DJ Snake and Major Lazer. While the latter will appear on “Closer To You,” DJ Snake contributes to “Please Don’t Change.” Meanwhile, Latto is set to feature twice, with both the explicit and clean versions of “Seven” appearing on the tracklist, which you can check out below.
Golden is out 11/3 via Big Hit. Find more information here.
View the confirmed tracklist below.
1. “3D” Feat. Jack Harlow
2. “Closer To You” Feat. Major Lazer
3. “Seven” Feat. Latto (explicit version)
4. “Standing Next To You”
5. “Yes Or No”
6. “Please Don’t Change” Feat. DJ Snake
7. “Hate You”
8. “Somebody”
9. “Too Sad To Dance”
10. “Shot Glass Of Tears”
11. “Seven” Feat. Latto (clean version)
Marjorie Taylor Greene is still kicking back at her colleagues over the slightest perceived slight. Recently, she was clowned by Jimmy Kimmel since the late night TV hosts came back on air and caught up on political chaos. In this latest installment of Greene popping off, she grew incensed after introducing a censure resolution against Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib, who has come under conservative fire for criticizing Israel’s military strikes upon Gaza after the early October attack by terrorist group Hamas.
For this stance, Greene insists that Tlaib is a “terrorist,” but 23 House Republicans feel differently. At least, they voted against censure, which has enraged Greene. She began to volley an unhinged rant while accusing those GOP colleagues of “hid[ing] behind excuses with their white wigs on and quote the constitution.”
Our country is in the worst crisis in it’s history in every category and the Democrats are full blown communists and Republicans can’t even censure Rashida Tlaib.
Conservatives on this list hide behind excuses with their white wigs on and quote the constitution.
What really seems to chap Greene’s hide, however, is that she was booted from the Freedom Caucus, and the same hasn’t happened to “CNN wannabe Ken Buck” or “vaping groping Lauren Boebert.” Yes, that’s right: Greene finally swung at her frenemy over being caught on camera getting handsy with an Aspen Bar Guy while watching the Beetlejuice musical.
You voted to kick me out of the freedom caucus, but keep CNN wannabe Ken Buck and vaping groping Lauren Boebert and you voted with the Democrats to protect Terrorist Tlaib.
You hate Trump, certified Biden’s election, and could care less about J6 defendants being persecuted. https://t.co/OIgUvndXek
She also attacked Tlaib’s “freedom of speech” by claiming that her “free speech” has been slighted, or something like that. And she labeled Chip Roy (who pushed back at Greene “and her so-called Jewish space lasers”) as “Colonel Sanders.”
Censure is Congress’s free speech to condemn another member’s actions and words (speech). Refusing to censure is not defending Terrorist Tlaib’s freedom of speech, it’s allowing her to continue. Until we force Dems to live by their own rules, nothing will change and you know it. https://t.co/PrEX9FE9Pj
The Los Angeles Clippers took a gigantic swing in the trade market earlier this week when they completed their long-standing pursuit of James Harden. The Clippers were able to bring Harden and P.J. Tucker on board from the Philadelphia 76ers for a package of picks and players, giving them a third All-Star to put alongside Kawhi Leonard and Paul George.
With how things have gone since Leonard and George joined the team in 2019, taking a swing on a player like Harden makes a ton of sense. And of course, any time someone makes a trade like this, they immediately become one of the most fascinating and exciting teams in the league. All eyes are going to be on the Clippers going forward, and in the aftermath of Wednesday night’s game against the Los Angeles Lakers, Leonard reacted to his new running mate in an extremely Kawhi Leonard way.
“I guess excited,” Leonard said, according to Melissa Rohlin of Fox Sports. “I know he’s one of the best players that has stepped on an NBA floor.”
It’s unclear when Harden will be able to make his full debut for the Clippers. While Tucker was able to suit up and play against the Lakers, Harden is in the process of ramping up after a limited preseason and training camp in Philadelphia.
Spiced rum is the kind of spirit that always seems to be readily available and frequently finds a spot on your home bar cart but … you rarely know exactly what to do with it. When it comes to the rum world, spiced rum often seems to be left out of the overall discussion. Bartenders and home mixologists enjoy mixing with white rum and sipping dark rum. The spiced variety is just sort of left around for rum and Cokes.
First off, what is spiced rum? Well, it’s typically gold or dark rum that’s been spiced with vanilla, cardamon, cloves, cinnamon, or other spices to enhance the barrel flavors. It’s sweet, spicy, and, we think, deserves way more credit than it gets. If you have a well-made, nuanced spiced rum, you can drink it neat or on the rocks like you would a long-aged dark rum or whiskey. You can also use it as a mixer in myriad cocktails from hot buttered rum to spiced mojitos to those classic rum and Cokes.
To find the best spiced rums in the game, we went to the professionals for help. We asked a few of our favorite bartenders to tell us their favorite “double duty” spiced rums to sip and mix with all year long.
Cotton & Reed Dry Spiced Rum
Cotton & Reed
Vlad Novikov, general manager at Silver Lyanin Washington, DC
Cotton & Reed Dry Spiced Rum is great. The big reason: it doesn’t have a ton of added sugar and artificial flavors like most spiced rums. You won’t find that typical vanilla, sugary lead. They’re also local to DC. As a side note, their white rum won double gold in 2022 and 2023 at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition.
Tasting Notes:
It begins with aromas of citrus peels and spices. The palate is filled with notes of caramel apples, vanilla, and island spices. All with a dry, warming finish.
Bumbu Spiced Rum
Bumbu
Adrienne Balk, bartender at Parasol in St. Petersburg, Florida
Bumbu Rum is a great spiced rum. It’s a blend of sugarcane-based rums from various countries in the West Indies and South America. We use the rum to make a twist on a Pina Colada, which is a great fall sip.
Tasting Notes:
It has notes of banana bread, caramel, vanilla, and gentle spices. It’s sweet, fruity, and perfectly spiced.
Bacardi Spiced Rum is always on top of my list. Blended with natural flavors and spices, each sip offers a bold, yet smooth taste. It’s great for mixing or as a value sipper.
Tasting Notes:
It has a caramel-like vanilla flavor with subtle notes of almond and dried, dark fruits rounded out by cinnamon, nutmeg, and a touch of honey, creating a balanced rum with a hint of smokiness.
Striped Pig Spiced Rum is my preference and admittedly a biased one as it is local to me. It’s distilled in Charleston, South Carolina. That doesn’t change the fact that it’s a flavorful, well-made spiced rum though.
Tasting Notes:
Vanilla, brown sugar, cinnamon, and butterscotch notes make this a great mixer or sipper. It’s the perfect match for a brown butter wash. Add a few dashes of black walnut bitters and a little maple syrup and you get a delightful rum old fashioned that’s now featured on our fall menu.
The Kraken Black Spiced Rum
The Kraken
Clay Crocker, beverage director at Branja in Miami
In such a massively diverse category, it would be easy to go with some niche expensive artisanal name, but to be perfectly honest, I’m reaching for a bottle of Kraken more often than not. This 94-proof spiced rum delivers a bit more of a kick than a lot of its colleagues, and it’s exactly what I want when I am shaking up something with a ton of citrus in it. It might not have all the nuances of something from a smaller distillery, but it makes up for that in the sheer boldness of the flavors it delivers.
Tasting Notes:
When you’re making a tropical drink that has a ton of other ingredients clamoring for your tastebud’s attention, the ginger and vanilla from Kraken do not get lost in the mix.
The Sailor Jerry Spiced Rum is tough to beat. It is blended with the finest rums from the Caribbean. It’s readily available and a great base for your favorite rum-based cocktail.
Tasting Notes:
It offers a burn but ends on a nice, sweet note. It will go well with sparkling apple juice and can be used as for spritz cocktails.
Chairman’s Reserve Spiced Rum is the only spiced rum I will touch. I have seen the production process firsthand where rum is soaked in large vats with individual dried and fresh ingredients and then blended together without any artificial flavors or essential oils. I generally don’t endorse any other spiced rums as most are made from unaged distillate with synthetic flavorings.
Tasting Notes:
Aromas of candied orange peels, cinnamon, and spices work their way into a palate of raisins, vanilla, toffee, oak, and spices.
Doctor Bird Jamaican Spiced Rum
Doctor Bird
Vincent Bolognini, head bartender at Due West in New York City
Dr. Bird is a classic Jamaican Spiced Rum. The first pot distilled in Jamaica, it blended and aged in former muscatel wine barrels at the distillery in Detroit.
Tasting Notes:
Its palate is loaded with ripe tropical fruits and a slightly funky and oaky finish from the muscatel barrels. I usually drink it over ice with tonic and a squeeze of lime.
Plantation Stiggins’ Fancy
Plantation
Corey Hayes, general manager and beverage director at Gala & Muse Bar in Miami
It’s not technically a spiced rum, but Plantation 5 Year is the absolute best, price point you can’t beat for this Barbadian rum. The dried fruit notes mixed with banana fosters flavor making it an absolute killer for a classic daquiri or tiki-forward cocktails such as a Mai Tai. But, on the other hand, Plantation Stiggins’ Fancy Pineapple is as close to a spiced rum as the brand makes. Pineapple, spices, what’s not to love?
Tasting Notes:
Infused with pineapple, this dark rum carries notes of vanilla, honey, ripe tropical fruit, and cloves. It’s just as great as a sipper as it is a mixer.
Cruzan Island Spiced Rum
Cruzan
Alex Barbatsis, bar director at The Whistler in Chicago
When it comes to spiced rum, I’ll usually reach for Sailor Jerry. It has warm vanilla notes and cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger flavors. But there are other great value spiced rums on the market and one of the best is Cruzan Island Spiced Rum.
Tasting Notes:
Flavored with cinnamon, vanilla, and star anise, this spiced rum is well-suited as a mixer for your favorite rum-based cocktails.
British pop star PinkPantheress has come a long way in a relatively short time. Her 2021 mixtape To Hell With It not only somewhat predicted but also boosted the resurgence of Black dance music styles like garage and 2-step, then her hit “Boy’s A Liar” skyrocketed her to the top ten of the Hot 100 (bringing Ice Spice along for the ride). Now, she’s a little over a week away from the release of her debut album, Heaven Knows, and well, heaven only knows how much higher she can fly.
Here’s everything to know about PinkPantheress’ new album, Heaven Knows.
Release Date
Heaven Knows is out 11/10 via Warner Records UK. Find more information here.
Tracklist
1. “Another Life” Feat. Rema
2. “True Romance”
3. “Mosquito”
4. “The Aisle”
5. “Nice To Meet You” Feat. Central Cee
6. “Bury Me” Feat. Kelela
7. “Internet Baby”
8. “Ophelia”
9. “Feel Complete”
10. “Blue”
11. “Feelings” (Demo)
12. “Capable Of Love”
13. “Boy’s A Liar Pt. 2” Feat. Ice Spice (Bonus Track)
PinkPantheress will open on Olivia Rodrigo’s Guts tour beginning in July 2024. You can see the dates below.
07/19/2024 — Philadelphia, PA @ Wells Fargo Center ^
07/20/2024 — Washington, D.C. @ Capital One Arena ^
07/23/2024 — Atlanta, GA @ State Farm Arena ^
07/24/2024 — Lexington, KY @ Rupp Arena ^
07/26/2024 — Kansas City, MO @ T-Mobile Center ^
07/27/2024 — Oklahoma City, OK @ Paycom Center ^
07/30/2024 — Denver, CO @ Ball Arena ^
07/31/2024 — Salt Lake City, UT @ Delta Center ^
08/02/2024 — San Francisco, CA @ Chase Center ^
08/03/2024 — San Francisco, CA @ Chase Center ^
08/06/2024 — Seattle, WA @ Climate Pledge Arena ^
08/07/2024 — Seattle, WA @ Climate Pledge Arena ^
08/09/2024 — Vancouver, British Columbia @ Rogers Arena ^
08/10/2024 — Portland, OR @ Moda Center ^
^ with PinkPantheress
PinkPantheress is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
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1/11 
(@RepMTG) 
