Few things would disappoint a child more than missing out on a trip to Disney World. Good News Network reports that it would have happened to Jill Tobin-Montanez’s two children if not for their amazing father, Nathan Montanez. When the mom and her kids arrived at the airport in New Jersey to fly to Florida, they learned their flight had been canceled 15 minutes before departure.
Unfortunately, there wasn’t another flight available for days.
“I explained to my kids that sometimes life gives you lemons—and we’d try again to get to Disney another time,” she told Good News Network. Nathan had dropped his wife and kids off at the airport and was on his way home because he wasn’t going on the trip due to work.
When he returned to the airport to pick them up, he had no intention of driving back home. They were going to Disney World.
“When we got in the car, all defeated, he asked if we were ready to go. We said ‘yup,’ thinking we were going home. Then he told us to get ready for a long drive,” Jill told Good News Network.
Now, that’s a dad committed to making his children happy. He drove 1,000 miles over 17 hours, down most of the East Coast, until they reached sunny Florida. The family arrived in Orlando at midnight, and Jill and the kids were able to visit the park the next day. Nathan got to hop back in the car and drive back to New Jersey. The good news is that he only missed a day of work.
“This dad is our rock!” Jill said. “Not many people in this world would do that. And the kids absolutely appreciate what he did for them.”
As any parent will tell you, childhood goes by way too fast, and in the blink of an eye, your toddler is graduating from high school, so you have to enjoy being a parent while you can. Kudos to parents like Nathan Montanez, who know there is only so much time to help your children have a wonderful childhood, and only so many opportunities to take your child to Disney World.
Unfortunately, canceled flights have become a severe problem in America, making vacations stressful for many Americans. Recently, the airline industry has been hit by a perfect storm that has made air travel less reliable than at any time in recent history.
One of the big reasons is that the Federal Aviation Administration has dealt with staffing issues. According to ABC News, the FAA expects to lose 1,300 controllers during the fiscal year 2023 due to retirements, promotions and other losses. Due to a pause in training over two years due to COVID-19, it has taken much longer to certify their replacements, leaving many airports short-staffed.
Airlines have also needed help with staffing after the downsizing that happened during COVID-19. During that time, they also decommissioned many planes, reducing capacity.
Climate change is also causing many problems with air travel, and that problem doesn’t show any sign of abating. “More heat in the atmosphere, thermodynamics 101—we’re going to have more thunderstorms,” United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby told Politico.
The dating world might be constantly evolving, but true romance is timeless. That’s why viewers young and old alike are swooning over a 78-year-old man’s heartfelt airport proposal, one that was 60 years in the making.
As reported by a local Fox affiliate, Dr. Thomas McMeekin had been “admiring” Nancy Gambell from afar since they met in high school in California. Ultimately, despite going on a few dates, the pair went their separate ways by going to different colleges and marrying other people. Aside from running into one another at their 50th high school reunion, McMeekin and Gambell never pursued one another.
That is, until 10 years later, as their 60th high school reunion approached.
In Tampa, where McMeekin works as a dermatologist, his staff had seen him “acting like a giddy fool” all week long. McMeekin revealed that Gambell personally reached out to say that she was “looking forward” to seeing him again, which inspired him to arrange a “surprise” for when Gambell landed at that airport.
Surrounded by conspiring office workers there to capture the sweet moment, McMeekin approaches Gambell with flowers, a necklace with both of their birthstones and a smile from ear to ear. They share a warm embrace, then McMeekin walks Gambell over to take a seat, where he gets down on one knee (propped up by an adorable pillow) to propose.
“Nancy, It’s been 60 years since we first met. Fifty-six years since we first dated. Ten years since I saw you last. And 20 days since we reconnected. You have always been the one I’ve had a crush on since your cheerleader days, which brings a smile to my face, that makes my heart skip a beat. For the last three weeks, I have thought of you every day, every hour, and I’ve longed to see you again…You’re everything I’ve ever wanted in a partner, a lover and a friend,” McMeekin tells Gambell as he pops the question.
Honestly, the teary look on Gambell’s face, the squeals of delight from McMeekin’s staff, McMeekin’s voice breaking as he pours his entire heart out—it all belongs in a rom-com. The video received praise from millions of online viewers who were reminded that love could come in any chapter of life.
“I bet they see each other as they were in high school. Remembering all the fun they had. Beautiful,” one person wrote.
Another added, “They were meant to be…When two souls are meant to be they will find each other.”
Indeed, even those of us who don’t believe in soul mates or destiny have witnessed, or possibly experienced firsthand, those moments when the heart seems to know the exact right next move. Following those impulses is often both exhilarating and a little frightening, but boy does it remind us of how wondrous life is.
And as McMeekin and Gambell have shown us, it can happen at any time, to equally beautiful effect.
“About last night..got a call in the middle of dinner to meet Matt from @astorclubnyc at an Uno game. Random. Turns out it’s @questlove party with food from cannabis chef/educator @thechefnikki which was amazing. Quest calls @jazzbeezy who I hadn’t sent in years. On my way out he says ‘I have to have a picture with you and Taylor,’” Bun B captioned an Instagram photo of him shaking hands with Taylor Swift.
The UGK legend continued, “Who turns out to be THE Taylor. As in @taylorswift who couldn’t have been more kind and personable. I’ve only ever met 2 other people who make you feel this seen and heard in an interaction before and that’s @barackobama and @beyonce My question is does this make me a Swiftie?”
— The Swift Society (@TheSwiftSociety) July 12, 2023
Bun B met Swift at an opportune time, considering she’s probably still riding the high from releasing Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)last Friday, and celebrating its arrival across two The Eras Tourshows in Kansas City, Missouri on Friday and Saturday, July 8. (Suddenly, all we can think about is whether Bun B can somehow finesse this into making Trill Burgers a sponsor of The Eras Tour.)
Swift will next take The Eras Tour to Empower Field at Mile High in Denver, Colorado on Friday, July 14, and Saturday, July 15. See her remaining North American dates here.
The 12-time Grammy winner also recently added more international dates for 2024. See them here.
Emily Blunt has a big movie out next weekend. No, it’s not Barbie. It’s the other one, the one that’s unexpectedly super risqué. In the already rapturously received Oppenheimer, he plays Kitty, the not always happy scientist wife of the “father of the atomic bomb.” Hope you enjoy her work because after that — and a couple other movies, like the Pain Hustlers, with Chris Evans, and David Leitch’s The Fall Guy, with Ryan Gosling, you might not see her on screen for a while.
“I worked quite a bit last year, and my oldest baby is nine, we’re in the last year of single digits,” referring to the kids she has with her husband John Krasinski. “I just feel there are cornerstones to their day that are so important when they’re little,” she added. “And it’s, ‘Will you wake me up? Will you take me to school? Will you pick me up? Will you put me to bed?’ And I just need to be there for all of them for a good stretch. And I just felt that in my bones.”
Blunt admitted that accepting roles that keep her from her kids has an “emotional cost,” leaving her “very prone to guilt.” She went on, “I think maybe all mothers are. You’re just prone to feeling bad for, God forbid, wanting something outside of being a mother. I am huge advocate for it—I’m a huge advocate for women being ambitious. I love the word ambition. It’s just dreams with purpose, that’s all it is, it’s not an ugly word.”
Detroit duo Tee Grizzley and Skilla Baby join forces in the video for “Gorgeous,” a rambunctious single highlighted by a thumping instrumental and typically clever lyrics from the Motor City MCs. The title becomes a refrain that continues throughout the track as they detail how gorgeous their jewelry and their women are.
“Gorgeous” appears on Controversy, the Motown tag team’s April project. The project was Grizzley’s second joint mixtape after he teamed up with “White Lows Off Designer” collaborator Lil Durk in 2017 for Bloodas. It also marks the “First Day Out” rapper’s third project in just two years, following the two 2022 mixtapes Half Tee Half Beast and Chapters Of The Trenches. The latter was a high-concept storytelling album presenting a 360-degree view of a string of various characters and was accompanied by a visual component visualizing each of the various narratives.
Skilla Baby, meanwhile, is a newer artist from Detroit who’s making a name for himself with an unrelenting stream of high-impact projects, including three in 2022 — an album, Detroit Raised Me, a mixtape, Crack Music 2, and an EP, We Eat The Most. The work ethic paid off with some high-profile collaborations, including with Chicago compatriot G Herbo on “B’Cuz.”
Watch Tee Grizzley and Skilla Baby’s “Gorgeous” video above.
Tee Grizzley is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
While discussing his iconic roles with GQ, Mads Mikkelsen revealed that all of us should be challenging his Casino Royale co-star Daniel Craig to No-Limit Hold ‘Em.
“Everybody knew how to play poker around that table, except for one, Daniel,” Mikkelsen said. “He had no clue. He sucked. And it was the worst thing ever that he, of all people, had to beat [my character] and win all my money. It was like, ‘This is wrong.’ Well I got him back with the rope, so that’s good.”
Ah, the rope. Great. Good to relive that cinematic moment.
Naturally, it’s a little odd to learn that James Bond is bad at poker, but 1) acting! and 2) it’s possible that Craig has since learned how to play poker really well, and this is a long con wherein Mikkelsen convinces people he’s an easy mark but he’s actually sandbagging to get you to up the ante. Beware. Actors are crafty.
Mikkelsen also praised his co-star, noting that he was game to improvise and test boundaries when it came to their scenes together (especially that torture scene). He also said out loud what we’ve known since the movie came out in 2006:
“The [poker] hands we are playing are insane, so if you’re a poker player, you’ll go, ‘What?’ We just wanted to make the nature of the betting believable, but the hands obviously had to be easily recognizable for an audience that doesn’t play poker, so they were quite crazy hands.”
An ace in the flop and the river, giving Le Chiffre a full boat, another player a lesser full boat, another player a flush, and Bond a royale flush? Sure, Jan. Talk about bad beats.
On Wednesday, a man named Ray Epps filed a lawsuit accusing Carlson and Fox News of defamation after the host repeatedly regurgitated a bizarre conspiracy theory about the Marine Corp. veteran. On his show, Carlson accused Epps — a two-time Trump voter — of being a government agent who orchestrated acts of violence during the Jan. 6th insurrection in order to essentially frame Trump and his supporters. Epps took part in the mob that entered the Capitol building that day, encouraging others to march with him and push past police barricades. But, according to his lawyer, he did so only after listening to Fox News pundits — namely Carlson — tell viewers that the election was stolen and MAGA patriots should protest its results in Washington D.C.
The conspiracy surrounding Epps’ role in the attack came after the Arizona native escaped federal charges lobbed at fellow insurrectionists despite video footage proving he was on the front lines of the assault. He’s since been questioned by authorities and the Jan. 6th committee on his role in the siege and, in May, the Justice Department informed Epps he would be facing criminal charges at some point in the future.
Until then, Epps is spending his time going after Fox News and Carlson for damaging his character, spreading baseless conspiracies that led to death threats against his family and the loss of his business. He’s currently seeking an unspecified amount in damages but he’s filed his suit in the Superior Court in Delaware — the same court that ordered the network to pay a $787.5 million settlement in a defamation case brought by Dominion Voting Systems.
“Just as Fox had focused on voting machine companies when falsely claiming a rigged election, Fox knew it needed a scapegoat for January 6th,” Epps’ complaint reads. “It settled on Ray Epps and began promoting the lie that Epps was a federal agent who incited the attack on the Capitol.”
“Ray is taking the next steps to vindicate his rights by seeking accountability for Fox’s lies that have caused him and Robyn [his wife] so much harm,” his lawyer said.
It’s almost as if fact-checking bonkers Parler threads before spewing them all over national television as undeniable truth is actually good journalistic practice that can save your network millions of dollars. Who knew?
You can watch the recent 60 Minutes segment on Ray Epps below. Seems like he has a pretty strong case!
This year’s festival season is already well on its way to becoming one for the books — as festival organizers set up for bigger and better programming on all fronts to make up for lost time during the pandemic. From Lightning in a Bottle’s “transformational” mega-dance party, Sunset Music Festival’s vibrantly fashioned house and bass heads, to the wet and wild luxuries of Splash House, some of this summer’s best parties are already behind us. But fear not, there’s a whole lot more in store.
Defected Records’ flagship festival, Defected Croatia, returns August 3-8. Known for uniting world-class talent from across the globe, Defected Croatia will treat this year’s attendees with six days of house music hedonism in Tisno, Croatia. Set across four stages overlooking the Adriatic coast, Defected Croatia will ring in its seventh edition event with over 100 artist performances, including A-Trak, Honey Dijon, Hannah Wants, Honeyluv, LP Giobbi, Nightmares On Wax, SG Lewis, Sam Divine, TSHA, and more.
DEFECTED CROATIA
Oh, and did we mention there are 24 boat parties? Seems like a lot of boat parties.
If you want to swap a day of luxury partying at Defected Hotel or the beach cabins, you can choose to dance offshore on one of the four boat parties each day. Each boat features a two-story floating dancefloor oasis topped with its own bar, so it’s basically the best hangover rally ever. Perfect after nights spent partying at the festival’s official after-party club — Barbarellas — until 6 am each night.
With a week-long program of all things house, Defected Croatia wouldn’t be complete without an impressive wellness program. With daily yoga classes and mindfulness sessions to help balance out the late nights, 5,000 attendees will be flourishing under the Croatian sun this August.
To help get you ready for what to expect, we gathered up some photos from last year’s Defected Croatia. Let’s just say, the FOMO from last year is real and we’re not about to have it again for this year. Get your passes for Defected Croatia here, check out the photos below, and prepare yourself for the week-long extravagant house music spectacle.
Let’s get this out of the way up top — to say that vodka is flavorless is simply not true. While somevodkas are distilled to have a clean, neutral aroma and flavors and some bottom-shelf vodka taste like nothing but liquid heat, many feature complex flavor profiles. Depending on the ingredients and the distillation process, they might have sweet flavors, peppery notes, vegetal aromas, or a star a wide-range of other subtle (but noticable!) compounds.
To prove it, I once again turned to the tried-and-true blind taste test. But I didn’t want to pick high-end expressions that are known for their depth. Instead, I opted for lower-end-but-still-solid bottles. I picked eight vodkas that are all under $20 yet are still flavorful enough to find a home on your bar cart as a mixer or neat sipper. Keep scrolling to see the selections and how they stacked up.
Today’s Lineup:
Deep Eddy Vodka
American Plains Vodka
Opulent Vodka
UV Vodka
Tower Vodka
New Amsterdam
Pinnacle Vodka
Skyy Vodka
Part 1: Under $20 Blind Vodka Tasting
Taste #1
Christopher Osburn
Tasting Notes:
If you’re looking for vodka with little to no aroma, you’re in the right place. This vodka has a light fruity aroma, but literally nothing else. The palate continues this trend. There are light lemon peels, fruit, and an earthy, mineral flavor. Otherwise, it’s pretty flavorless.
Taste #2
Christopher Osburn
Tasting Notes:
There’s a ton of herbal, almost menthol mint on the nose as well as some peppery spice. Drinking it reveals more pepper, a hint of citrus, and more mint. The finish is lightly bitter, peppery, and very warming. All in all, an interesting vodka.
Taste #3
Christopher Osburn
Tasting Notes:
This is a surprisingly sweet vodka with a ton of sweet corn and light vanilla. The palate continues this trend with more sweet corn, vanilla beans, and a nice kick of cracked black pepper. It’s sweet, spicy, and gently warming at the finish.
Taste #4
Christopher Osburn
Tasting Notes:
This vodka’s nose is sort of bland. It really just smelled the way you imagine vodka to smell. Neutral grain spirit to the max. The palate was equally uninspired. It was slightly herbal and fruity but had way too much peppery heat. This is a harsh vodka you’d definitely not want to drink neat.
Taste #5
Christopher Osburn
Tasting Notes:
Complex aromas of ripe berries, vanilla beans, sweet corn, and gentle spices make for a great nose. There’s more sweet corn on the palate as ripe fruit, vanilla beans, and just a wisp of pepper at the finish. All in all, a pleasantly sweet, mellow vodka.
Taste #6
Christopher Osburn
Tasting Notes:
The nose is citrus-driven, but not much else. Drinking it reveals lemon peels, some fruit, and a ton of sweet corn. There’s also an herbal flavor and a good hint of pepper. Overall, while there seem to be a ton of flavors intermingling, they’re all kind of muted and unexciting.
Taste #7
Christopher Osburn
Tasting Notes:
There’s a very sweet, fruity, almost corny aroma on the nose. It’s very appealing, albeit not overly exciting. The palate is more fruit, maybe some citrus, and more ripe sweet corn. There’s also a bit of pepper that works its way throughout. Overall, a very mellow, sweet, and spicy vodka.
Taste #8
Christopher Osburn
Tasting Notes:
There are notes of orange and lemon on the nose along with wet grass. The palate has more citrus as well as a mineral and herbal flavor. The finish is fairly smooth with more citrus and a little heat. Not a bad sip of vodka.
Everyone who enjoys vodka on the cheap knows about the magic that is UV Vodka. The brand makes myriad flavored budget-friendly vodkas. But its classic vodka is distilled four times before being filtered through activated carbon. This was designed to create a clean, mixing vodka.
Bottom Line:
If you buy a bottle of unflavored UV, you’re going to want to add it to a cocktail featuring strong flavors. On its own, it’s just not great.
This vodka brand really wants you to believe you’re pouring luxury out of its bottle. But it’s simply corned-based vodka that was distilled five times. It’s known for its soft, smooth, easy-drinking nature, but isn’t remotely as fancy as the name would make you believe.
Bottom Line:
This is a decent vodka for mixing or sipping (if you’re not really looking for a ton of flavor). Otherwise, move along and try something different.
Skyy Vodka has been around since 1992. This San Francisco-based vodka is distilled four times and filtered three times before it even enters the bottle. The result is a smooth, clean base for your favorite vodka-based cocktails.
Bottom Line:
There’s no denying that this is a smooth vodka. It’s just that’s pretty much all there is to it. It’s borderline flavorless.
While it’s called New Amsterdam, the grains used for this vodka come from the Midwest. While there are some other grains included, it’s mostly a corn-based vodka (95 percent). It’s triple-distilled to smooth it out.
Bottom Line:
While you wouldn’t necessarily buy this vodka for its sipping ability, you could do much worse. Plus, it’s a decent vodka to use as a cocktail base.
Named for a swimming hole in Austin, Texas, Deep Eddy is a 100 percent corn-based vodka that’s distilled a full ten times and filtered another eight times. Naturally gluten free, it’s known for its exceptionally crisp, clean flavor.
Bottom Line:
This herbal, minty, lightly spicy vodka would make the perfect base for your favorite hot sauce-filled bloody Mary.
Another vodka proving that Texas is hitting its stride when it comes to the clear spirit is Tower. This award-winning, corn-based vodka from the Lonestar State is distilled six times. This creates a sweet, easy-drinking vodka you won’t soon forget.
Bottom Line:
This is definitely the vodka for drinkers who prefer a little sweet with their heat. It has the perfect combination of sweetness and spice.
When it comes to American vodka, there are few brands as well-known as Tito’s Vodka. Even with its notoriety, it manages to still be a fairly inexpensive brand. That’s because it’s simply made with water, sugar, and corn. Another vodka from Texas, it’s also naturally gluten free.
Bottom Line:
There’s a reason Tito’s is a wildly popular vodka. It’s sweet, spicy, flavorful, and surprisingly cheap (don’t tell Tito).
American Plains Vodka gets its name because it’s literally produced in Princeton, Minnesota. Made from 100% corn and water from an on-site aquifer, it gets distilled a full five times before being filtered through charcoal. This creates a surprisingly pure vodka-drinking experience.
Bottom Line:
While it’s still a better bet as a cocktail base, if you were going to drink one of the vodkas on this list neat, American Plains Vodka is the one.
Part 3: Final Thoughts
I find that with many of these spirits’ blind taste tests, balance is the name of the game. But, surprisingly, when it came to vodka, my higher-ranking vodkas leaned on the sweeter side as well as the clean, smooth side. Sure, there was some with a spicy, peppery element, but it was a smooth mouthfeel and sweetness that won the day.
Fox News isn’t doing so hot these days. Back in April they had to fork over a fortune because they spread some 2020 election nonsense. They’re getting sued again, this time because Tucker Carlson repeatedly tarred a probably innocent man. But in a sense they haven’t been doing well for a long time. After all, they’ve spent years, decades spreading questionable — and sometimes flat-out incorrect — information. And some of the people who helped create what became the network regret what it’s become.
In a blog post, three former Fox executives — Ken Solomon, Bill Reyner, and Preston Padden — offered a lengthy mea culpa for helping turn Fox (which is to say the network that birthed The Simpsons, et al.) into a powerhouse in the ‘90s. After Fox blossomed into a worthy competitor of the “Big Three” of ABC, CBS, and NBC, that paved the way for Murdoch — who they once “greatly admired” — to launch what the three called a “disinformation machine.”
“In our opinion, the Fox News Channel has had many negative impacts on our society,” the three write. Perhaps the worst has been their perpetuating the “Big Lie” about 2020 election malfeasance, then “contributing to the January 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol that undermined our democracy.” They point out that many of the rioters have pled not guilty by saying they had “Foxitis,” which the ex-execs call “a disease caused by watching false news on Fox!”
They also torch Murdoch and company for how they handled the Dominion lawsuit:
In a 120 page Court Order, backed by extensive record evidence including voluminous emails from inside Fox, the Judge in the Dominion case found that Fox repeatedly presented false news. Fox did not appeal the decision but instead acknowledged it and paid nearly $800 million in damages to Dominion.
Solomon, Reyner, and Padden add that there are other Fox veterans who “share our resentment” about helping turn Fox into a brand they say has now been “ruined by false news.”
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| New photo of 
| Taylor Swift with Bun B. 
