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The highly anticipated WNBA Finals between the Las Vegas Aces and New York Liberty tipped off on Sunday afternoon in the desert, and in the first half they looked like two evenly matched superteams that were going to go blow-for-blow. The Liberty took a three-point advantage into halftime thanks in large part to the three-point shooting of Marine Johannes, who knocked down four first half threes off the bench, including this heat check in the late second off one foot that had the New York bench going crazy.

However, after a 49-point first half, the Liberty’s offense slowed as the Aces ratcheted up their defensive pressure, with A’ja Wilson (19 points, 8 rebounds) leading the way on that end with her activity at the rim to erase New York attempts at the basket.

On the offensive end, it was the backcourt that was getting it done, as Jackie Young and Kelsey Plum both exploded for 26 points and five rebounds, while Chelsea Gray chipped in 20 points, nine assists, and six boards. That trio proved unstoppable, as they attacked New York’s guards off the dribble and feasted on cuts to the basket, opening up a big second half advantage on their way to a 99-82 win in Game 1.

The Liberty will have to go back to the drawing board on both ends, as they got shredded defensively and just did not have any good answers for the Aces trio of guards. On offense, they worked the ball beautifully in the first half, but as the three-point shot dried up in the second half they struggled to create consistent offense and empty possessions became opportunities for Las Vegas to push the pace and get into their actions early.

This summer, Explosions In The Sky dropped two cinematic singles, “Ten Billion People” and “Moving On,” that marked their first new album (End) in seven years. Now that the band has shared a fresh body of work with their fans, Explosions In The Sky wants to revisit their past works.

To commemorate the 20th anniversary of their Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Die, Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Live Forever, and The Earth Is Not a Cold Dead Place albums, Explosions In The Sky will release a special edition vinyl of each record next month.

The group shared the news with a gallery post on Instagram.” Hello out there. We couldn’t help but notice some of the big number anniversaries rolling our way on some of our records, and it comes with great excitement to announce the reissues of ‘Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Die, Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Live Forever,’ and ‘The Earth Is Not a Cold Dead Place.’ They come colored,” read the post.

https://www.instagram.com/explosionsinthesky/?img_index=1

In a linear note shared by the group, they note that Bob Weston has remastered both projects.

Both reissues of Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Die, Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Live Forever, and The Earth Is Not a Cold Dead Place are due out on November 3 via Temporary Residence Ltd. Find more information here.

This year, Bad Bunny has hopped around every sector of the entertainer industry. He’d had a record-setting headline performance at Coachella 2023, done high-stakes wrestling matches with the WWE, appeared on The Simpsons, and starred alongside his rumored girlfriend Kendall Jenner in Gucci’s latest campaign. He’d be well within his right to take the rest of the year off.

Instead Bad Bunny’s busy ironing out his plans for 2024. Last month, he dropped his latest single, “Un Preview.” In his private WhatsApp community, he said they shouldn’t expect anything else until next year. However, on Sunday, October 8, he seemed to confirm long-standing rumors that his album Nadie Sabe would soon be headed down the pipeline.

A fan page dedicated to Bad Bunny pointed out the minor update to his X (formerly Twitter) profile, where the title now appears in the biography section.

To fuel the fire, Bad Bunny wiped his official Instagram page, a social media marketing move artists typically take to make room for a significant announcement. He even shared a post on X: a hilariously cocky tracklist. Each of the 22 songs are listed as “Fuego,” which, translated from Spanish to English, means fire.

Given that his last album, Un Verano Sin Ti, which was released in 2022, broke tremendous streaming records, Bad Bunny’s confidence seems warranted.

Sure, Barbie gobbled up all the cash when it was released, but getting such a popular and unique film made wasn’t always easy. Director/cowriter Greta Gerwig often had to stand her ground, sometimes with the help of star Margot Robbie. Indeed one of the most popular sequences required her putting up a fight. That bit was, of course, the now-beloved “I’m Just Ken” musical number.

“It just said in the script, ‘And then it becomes a dream ballet and they work it out through dance,’” Gerwig told the crowd at the BFI London Film Festival this weekend, during a conversation with Succession creator Jesse Armstrong, per Variety. “There was a big meeting that was like, ‘Do you need this?’ And I was like, ‘Everything in me needs this.’ They were like, ‘What do you even mean? What is a dream ballet?’ And I was like, ‘A dream ballet? Where do I begin!’”

To make her point, Gerwig wound up namechecking one of the most popular classic movie musicals: Singin’ in the Rain, which not only contains scores of musical numbers, but also the lengthy “Broadway Melody” sequence that delves into our hero’s imagination.

“I was like, if people can follow that in Singin’ in the Rain, I think we’ll be fine. I think people will know what this is. So that was the big reference point,” Gerwig explained. “Even though everything felt right to me and was giving me so much joy in the way we were doing it, it was also like, ‘Oh no, this could be just terrible, but now I’m committed.’”

Sticking by her guns paid off, as Barbie is still gobbling up cash in its 12th weekend at the North American box office. Hell, the song in question has proven a breakout hit from the star-studded soundtrack. The lesson? Hollywood should simply trust its most eccentric talent when they say they’re going to force Ryan Gosling to do a dream ballet.

(Via Variety)

When San Francisco photographer Lisa Robinson was about to have her second child, she was both excited and nervous.

Sure, those are the feelings most moms-to-be experience before giving birth, but Lisa’s nerves were tied to something different.

She and her husband already had a 9-year-old son but desperately wanted another baby. They spent years trying to get pregnant again, but after countless failed attempts and two miscarriages, they decided to stop trying.

Of course, that’s when Lisa ended up becoming pregnant with her daughter, Anora. Since it was such a miraculous pregnancy, Lisa wanted to do something special to commemorate her daughter’s birth.

So she turned to her craft — photography — as a way to both commemorate the special day, and keep herself calm and focused throughout the birthing process.

Normally, Lisa takes portraits and does wedding photography, so she knew the logistics of being her own birth photographer would be a somewhat precarious new adventure — to say the least.

“After some thought,” she says, “I figured I would try it out and that it could capture some amazing memories for us and our daughter.”

In the end, she says, Alec was supportive and thought it would be great if she could pull it off. Her doctors and nurses were all for Lisa taking pictures, too, especially because it really seemed to help her manage the pain and stress.

In the hospital, she realized it was a lot harder to hold her camera steady than she initially thought it would be.

“Eventually when it was time to push and I was able to take the photos as I was pushing, I focused on my daughter and my husband and not so much the camera,” she says.

“I didn’t know if I was in focus or capturing everything but it was amazing to do.”

The shots she ended up getting speak for themselves:

“Everybody was supportive and kind of surprised that I was able to capture things throughout. I even remember laughing along with them at one point as I was pushing,” Lisa recalled.

In the end, Lisa was so glad she went through with her experiment. She got incredible pictures — and it actually did make her labor easier.

Would she recommend every mom-to-be document their birth in this way? Absolutely not. What works for one person may not work at all for another.

However, if you do have a hobby that relaxes you, figuring out how to incorporate it into one of the most stressful moments in your life is a pretty good way to keep yourself calm and focused.

Expecting and love the idea of documenting your own birthing process?

Take some advice from Lisa: “Don’t put pressure on yourself to get ‘the shot'” she says, “and enjoy the moment as much as you can.”

Lisa’s mom took this last one.

This article originally appeared on 06.30.16

Everyone’s childhood is different. But there are common objects, sights, sounds, smells, and memories from elementary school that most Gen Xers and Millenials share.

Personally, when i think back to being in elementary school in the ’80s, I remember the taste of the chocolate ship cookie we got on Fridays (with the pizza). The humiliation of getting nailed in the back during nation ball. And the grumbling, grinding sound that happened when you slipped a disk into the drive on an Apple IIe computer.

Nowadays, in a world where most kids would have no idea how to even turn on an Apple IIe or have never felt the sting of a rubber nation ball hitting them square between the shoulders, I get a bittersweet feeling when I think back to my elementary school days.

Mel Madara stirred the nostalgia pot on Twitter this week when she posted a series of photos of things she remembers from elementary school that anyone from 50 to 25 probably recollect, too.

via Daniel Bagel / Flickr

She started up with a series of objects and experiences you may have forgotten that were a daily part of elementary school life.

She inspired countless followers to share the things they remember from elementary school in the ’80s and ’90s.

Heads-up 7-up!

Can you remember the anxiety as someone walked slowly though the room and you hoped and prayed they touched your thumb?

That clock you can wind up from behind.

Do you remember dying on Oregon trail repeatedly?

Four square!

Was that a state-mandated fitness exam or a test for scoliosis?

M.A.S.H.! Did you wind up in a mansion, apartment, shack or a house? What kind of job did you get? Who did you marry? What kind of car do you drive?

Before Michelle Obama it was acceptable to feed a kid a taquito filled with pizza.

Tether ball was fun until one of those rock hard balls hit you in the face.

The stool that helped you grab that Judy Blume book just out of reach. It aw also a rgeat place to sit and read if the tables were filled up or you just wanted some privacy.

Is the VCR bolted down? Check! TV strapped in? Check. It’s time for a rainy day movie.

… or if you’re older, you got “Rikki-Tikki-Tavi” or some other Disney nature film on 16mm film in the school cafeteria.

My skin is peeling off!

This brutal contraption isn’t a Medieval torture device but a way to sarpen your pencil.

Finally, if more of us listened to this guy, the country would be in a much better place.

Cats have a reputation for being aloof and standoffish, like they’re better than everyone and simply can’t be bothered. Those of us who have cats know they’re not always like that … but yes, they’re sometimes like that. They can be sweet and affectionate, but they want affection on their terms, they want to eat and play and sleep on their own clock, and we puny, inferior humans have little say in the matter.

There’s a reason why we have obedience schools for dogs and not for cats. Maine coon or Bengal, Savannah or Siamese, ragdoll or sphynx, domestic cats of all breeds are largely untrainable little punks who lure us into loving them by blessing us with the honor of stroking their fur and hearing them purr.

But perhaps we assume too much when we think cats are full of themselves for no good reason. Maybe they are actually somewhat justified in their snootiness. Maybe they really, truly are superior to pretty much every other creature on Earth and that’s why they act like it.

(Cats, if they could talk, would be nodding and prodding us along at this point: “Yes, yes, you’re so close. Just a little further now, keep going.”)

Think about it. They’re beautiful and graceful, but also quick and powerful. They groom constantly so they’re almost always clean and their fur even smells good. They can fall from ridiculous heights, land on their feet and walk away unscathed. They’re wicked good ambush hunters. They can walk completely silently, like ninjas, then pull out the razor blades on their feet at will and do serious damage in an instant.

All of that makes them impressive specimens, but ironically it’s their total hubris that makes them truly superior. When they feel like it (because cats only do things they feel like doing) they will take on anyone and anything. Big, small, dangerous, fierce—doesn’t matter. That unbridled confidence—earned or not—combined with their physique and skill makes them the badasses of the animal world.

Want proof? Here ya go:

u201cI love cats, they are very brave and there is a challenge in their nature! u2764ufe0fud83dude02ud83dude02nnu201d

— Figen (@Figen)
1660655908

The lightning-fast smackdown is really the cat’s weapon of choice, isn’t it? They’re so fast with the swipe-slap, it takes their victims by surprise. “Aww, you’re so cute and cuddly, look at y—OUCH!” And then the way they just stand there and stare with their big eyes and their ears back. It’s unnerving. Throw in a little hiss or yowl, and no thank you.

If that video wasn’t enough to convince you, here’s another.

The snakes, man. I can’t get over the snakes.

Cats really are better than us and every other living thing, basically. And even if they aren’t, they believe they are, which counts just as much. They’re either the ultimate creatures or the ultimate conmen. Either way, you just don’t mess with them.

This article originally appeared on 08.17.22

Thanks to his massively successful Las Vegas residency and other shows, “Versace On The Floor” singer Bruno Mars has been considered one of this generation’s greatest performers. Unfortunately, his Israeli fans won’t be able to witness his charismatic moves live as they’d hoped to do.

On Saturday, October 7, Mars was slated to headline his second show in Tel Aviv’s Park HaYarkon. However, the concert was canceled due to the ongoing conflict between the country’s forces and Hamas militants. The news was shared in an announcement on Live Nation Israel’s official Instagram page.

“Bruno Mars concert scheduled to take place tonight is canceled,” the note read. “All ticket purchases to the show will receive an automatic refund to the credit card through which the purchase was made. We stand with the residents of Israel, IDF fighters, and the security forces in these difficult moments.”

However, many fans weren’t pleased to read the message, and they shared their frustrations in the comments section.

“We want a show. We don’t want money!!” wrote one. “Until we managed to buy tickets for this show, and we waited months for it!!! There was already one show, and everyone who had to come today will not be able to enjoy it. Please make another show. This is not fair!! The dream is completely shattered.”

“We deserve a show on another date. Some people have been expecting this. My heart goes out to all the residents and wishes for their safety ,” wrote another.

“Why just not move the date?? Why cancel? Why have I been waiting for this show for two months? Why just smash the dream? Everything is ruined,” replied another.

Bruno Mars’ first show, scheduled for October 4, did take place.

Bruno Mars is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Being a parent is often a thankless job, and being a stepparent is usually even more thankless. But most parents show up and do their best to make sure their kids have what they need and feel loved. So when our kids do or say something to show appreciation, it melts our hearts—but nothing melts it faster than a stepchild calling their bonus parent “Mom” or “Dad” for the first time.

A creator named Shane posted a clip from a longer video showing his reaction to hearing his stepdaughter call him “Dad” for the first time. The full video is about three years old, but when it was reposted as a clip recently, it pulled on everyone’s heartstrings.

Shane and his wife, Liana, run the social media pages Shane and Liana where they post silly videos pranking each other. But this video wasn’t a prank. His stepdaughter, London, wanted to surprise him after wanting to call him “Dad” for a long time.

She can barely contain her excitement in the clip, squealing loudly when climbing into the back seat. When Shane gets in the car, London knows this is her chance.

“Hi Dad, how was your day?” she asks.

Shane turns completely around in shock as the heartwarming realization of what she just called him sets in.

“Did you just call me Dad? Just made my heart melt to know she called me Dad,” Shane says full of emotion.

London and Liana explain earlier in the video that Shane has raised the little girl since she was 2 years old. She didn’t meet her biological father until she was 5, and he was only in her life briefly before leaving, so this was a big moment. Viewers under the newly re-uploaded clip revealed that watching the interaction made them just as emotional as Shane.

“Idk how the mom ain’t crying!?! I’m crying,” Mari Morales writes.

“This video hits me right in the heart and soul,” Sarah Douglas writes. “My ‘step’ dad raised me from 7 years old. I’ve never met the sperm donor once, but my REAL dad is the one that chose to love me regardless of biology. Forever grateful for the real men that ‘step’ up to be there for us.”

“So true the first time my oldest daughter called me dad I cried she’s not blood but she is mine no matter what,” Timothy Evans says.

This article originally appeared on 7.19.23

Long before she was the EST of WWE, Bianca Belair was destined to be the best. She hadn’t yet dominated track competitions, turned heads at CrossFit, or main evented WrestleMania, but her drive — even at five years old — was there.

As she sat at a football banquet for her brother, Belair recalls telling her mom “I want a trophy, too.” That moment was a turning point that would lead her to global superstardom. And it’s something she reflects on fondly in her recent partnership with NBC Sports in an effort to give fans an outlet for the Sunday Scaries as they immerse themselves in Sunday Night Football.

“Sunday Night Football is one of the ways that I’m able to jumpstart my week, and I’ve just had so many amazing memories with football,” Belair tells Uproxx Sports. “It’s a form of self care and self care has this misconception when people think of it, being spas and candles and cucumbers and that’s not always what self care is. It’s things that you enjoy and that’s what NBC Sports is doing. They have these nationwide watch parties and it brings people together that just love football and it gives them an unforgettable night.

“The Sunday Scaries, it’s the feeling of anxiety that you get every Sunday before the start of your new work week,” she continues. “Everybody knows that I’ve struggled with depression, I still struggle with anxiety. So, I was really excited about teaming up with them because they’re making football more than just a game. And they’re using it to jumpstart people’s work weeks to take the scaries out of their Sundays.”

Even with the amount of time she spends on the road, Sunday Night Football is an important part of Belair’s week. She loves watching games with her husband, Montez Ford, and his tag team partner, Angelo Dawkins.

“We’re usually leaving a show where we’re the ones back in the competitive environment, so it allows us to step outside of that and we get to be the fans and we get to be the ones that boo and cheer and have our teams that we’re going for,” Belair says. “So it just brings us back down to normalcy and it’s able to jumpstart our week and it helps soothe my anxiety. That’s my best form of self care and I feel like I can get all that with Sunday Night Football.”

Belair has long been a competitive person. It led her to track as her early interest in sports evolved alongside her admiration for Florence Griffith-Joyner. She speaks glowingly about how FloJo branded herself by blending sports and fashion, and how Belair mixed her own style by running races in leotards. By the time she was in high school, she was making the team’s track uniforms. And when she got into CrossFit, she was able to explore her creativity by making her own outfits that helped her stand out.

From an early age, Belair had a mindset that when you look good, you feel and perform good.

“The pageantry that goes into wrestling has really stuck with me,” Belair says. “I love designing and sewing my own gear and showing my talent. When I watch a video game or see my action figure, it’s the gear that I had on. So it’s just the extra element where I’m able to use my creativity with wrestling.”

Belair didn’t join WWE with a plan of designing her own gear, if only because there are so many other things that need to happen before you can even consider getting into the ring in front of a crowd. But once it became clear that she was a superstar in the making, her creative disposition took over.

“Once I started getting word that I was going to start getting in the ring, I started reaching out to gear makers. I’m a very hands-on person and I’m a very creative person, and what I had in my mind, I couldn’t verbalize to the person. What they made was great, but it wasn’t what I wanted, and I just realized I’ve done this before. I did it with track, I did it with CrossFit. It was very intimidating when it came to making stuff for wrestling because I never had done it before,” Belair says. “My husband bought me my first sewing machine when I was in NXT in 2016 and I just started watching a lot of YouTube videos. It was trial and error. I still have the first pair of pants that I’ve ever sewn — I actually didn’t wear them in the ring because they probably would have split open.”

It’s hard for Belair to nail down one outfit that’s her favorite — she creates each piece of gear with the intention to only wear it once. But if she absolutely has to pick one above the rest, it’s what she wore against Becky Lynch at WrestleMania 38.

“That was the first time that I really pushed myself to make something out of my normal pattern that I usually wear,” Belair says. “That one really intimidated me. I used a fan design for that, and I loved that collaboration because that fan, I think, was a teenager at the time that they made that design. I just really wanted to push them to continue with their skill because they’re so talented. It’s really hard to pick because I’m connected to all of them in a different way.”

Belair’s gear is only a single component of what’s made her one of WWE’s biggest stars. The EST isn’t a moniker, it’s how the former Women’s Champion approaches her work in WWE.

“It’s really about just having passion and love for the sport. When you’re a champion and you’re constantly in the title picture, and you’re one of the faces of the company, it’s always go, go, go, it’s grind, grind, grind. And it can be very easy to just get in autopilot mode and you have to really remember why you’re in this,” Belair says. “I’m able to have an influence and have an impact on a large amount of people inside the ring. But for me, it’s what I do outside the ring and the impact that I have outside the ring. I’m not just doing Raw and Smackdown. I’m also traveling throughout the weeks to do appearances and do community events and stuff behind the scenes. That’s what drives me.”

Belair is one of the faces of the company, above any era and not confined to a division. She’s paving a path of her own alongside the varied styles that come with WWE’s packed women’s division — a division that got even stronger in recent weeks with the addition of Jade Cargill.

“It’s always been a huge goal and mission of mine to bring myself and my culture and representation to WWE. And it’s only going to get bigger with Jade coming in the picture,” Belair says. “There’s so many amazing possibilities that can come out of it, singles matches, tag matches. Going from being one of the first Black females to main event WrestleMania and now having Jade come in, it’s just showing how much WWE is evolving and continues to evolve.”

The more competition, the better. While she acknowledges what each star can add to the roster, make no doubt about it: that competitive edge never left and she’s ready to continue proving why she’s one of the faces of WWE.

“It’s great to be one of the faces. It’s great to be one of the girls that gets to be in the top positions and be representation,” Belair says. “For awhile, I would just be so proud of myself with trying to do it the right way. And now I’m just to the point where there’s not a right way to do it. You just do it your way and everybody brings a dish to the table, then you can have a whole meal. And that’s what we all do.

“We all collectively add to this division. And I’m just grateful that I’m one of the women that can bring my dish to the table. I want to be the main dish. We’re all fighting to be the entree, but that’s what makes the meal even better. You’re the girl that’s the top. You’re the girl that gets to show this women’s division. It means everything.”