Robert Downey Jr. has a new movie out: He’s in Oppenheimer, in which the plays the titular physicist’s chief antagonist. That means he’s doing the press rounds, revealing his two most important movies of the last quarter century — the answers may/will surprise you — and telling fun stories. One is that a prominent British actress gave him hell for one of his lesser attempts at her accent.
As per Entertainment Weekly, Downey joined Jimmy Fallon on a recent episode of SirusXM’s The Howard Stern Show. What do they two have in common, apart from being performers? Well, they both read for roles, sort of, in Nancy Meyers’ 2006 rom-com The Holiday. Neither of them, as you may recall, is in Nancy Meyer’s The Holiday. Downey’s story was particularly embarrassing.
“We both got called in just as seat fillers,” Downey recalled, saying Meyers just “needed someone to read with the gals.” Downey read for the part that would wound up going to Jude Law, the future Watson to his future Sherlock Holmes. He apparently wound up trying to sound like Law, i.e., British. It didn’t go well.
“And I was like, ‘I’ve got to have a better English accent than Jude Law at this point,’” he told Winslet. “And Winslet said, ‘That is the worst British accent I’ve ever heard.’”
That should be a bit of a shock: Downey had done a British accent before, in his Oscar-nominated turn as the titular comedy legend in Chaplin, and he’d do it again in the aforementioned Sherlock Holmes movies. His accent isn’t bad in any of them. Maybe it was an off day.
How did Fallon do? Better, it sounds like. “I thought, honestly, I said, ‘If Jack Black says no to this movie, I’m so in,’” Fallon told Stern. “‘I’ll do it for half his price.’”
Or maybe it didn’t go so well, partly because he was awestruck…by Downey. “I’m sitting across from Robert Downey Jr., and I go, ‘This is the best actor I’ve ever sat across and did a scene with in my entire life,’” Fallon recalled. “It was mind-blowing for me and it kind of, I quit the business. I never went back. That was the last time I auditioned for a role.”
But that’s all in the distant past. These days Downey’s getting good marks for Oppenheimer, in which he plays Lewis Strauss, the Republican businessman who, as the chair of the Atomic Energy Commission, launched a sleazy campaign to strip our hero of his government security clearance and tarnish his reputation, in turn scaring off untold left-leaning scientists from ever putting their brains to use for the greater good of the country. And to think tons of people are going to be seeing it the same day as Barbie!
The list of musicians holding out for a collaboration with Nicki Minaj just grew by one. The “Barbie World” rapper is currently working on her forthcoming album, Pink Friday 2. While the release isn’t due until November, if Metro Boomin has his way, fans won’t have to wait until then to hear new music.
Boomin took to Twitter to publicly profess his desire to collaborate with the musician on a new track, writing, “Let’s make more @NICKIMINAJ.”
Minaj enlisted the producer’s help on her 2014 song “Want Some More,” off her album, The Pinkprint. Since then, the pair have worked together on other tracks, including Young Thug’s song “Money,” which appears on his latest album, Business Is Business.
Although Minaj hasn’t replied to Metro Boomin’s initial tweet, her fans have given their stamp of approval.
“The only producer we need, mother,” wrote one fan.
Meanwhile, others speculated that the track is already done, writing, “I kinda feel like they just got done recording something, and this is more so an announcement, but maybe that’s just me.”
I kinda feel like they just got done recording something and this is more so an announcement but maybe that’s just me https://t.co/H1FSMRGmBq
While there is a great deal of attention on Damian Lillard and his ongoing focus on landing a trade out of Portland, another situation involving an established superstar continues to unfold at a glacial pace. James Harden has an established (and re-established) trade request with the Philadelphia 76ers and, in an odd situation, it comes after Harden chose to exercise his player option and effectively remove himself from clear agency in the situation.
Beyond that, Harden and Daryl Morey, Philadelphia’s president of basketball operations, have an extensive shared history dating back to Houston, but The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported Monday that the the relationship between the two parties is “essentially severed” and “essentially fractured” at this stage.
“The relationship between James Harden and Daryl Morey is essentially severed, it’s essentially fractured throughout this process.”
“It’s essentially severed,” Charania said on Bally Sports‘ The Rally. “It’s essentially fractured throughout this process. There’s no longer that valve of open-minded, open-ended trust that we’ve seen over the course of 692 games that Daryl Morey and James Harden have been together in Houston and in Philly.”
Later, Charania noted that the relationship is “nowhere close to being on solid ground,” furthering illustrating the clear divide. Charania indicated that Harden’s decision to opt in “stemmed from James Harden believing that there was no real intention from the Sixers in giving him a long-term offer as a free agent.” If that was Harden’s belief, it would have left the star guard without an internal bidder and, with salary cap space dwindling around the league, he clearly believed that opting in and attempting to force a trade was the superior option to testing the unrestricted free agent market on his own.
During Charania’s comments, he described Harden as being “incredibly unnerved” by how Philadelphia has handled the situation, noting again that Harden took a pay cut last season to make things easier on the Sixers. On the other hand, Morey is well known for his unwillingness to consider anything beyond on-court dynamics when evaluating basketball decisions, though some of the optimism around Harden potentially sticking around in Philadelphia was seemingly rooted in the potential for reconciliation. If Charania’s reporting here is accurate, that seems more and more unlikely, leaving all sides in a precarious position as Harden wants out and the 76ers seek the best basketball result for a team that is aiming to win in the short term.
Marjorie Taylor Greene has a lot of kooky opinions, but over the weekend she said something that made sense. Of course, it was by accident. During a far right gathering, she slammed all the “big government programs” enacted by Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Lyndon B. Johnson, and, now, Joe Biden, which greatly improved the lives of everyday Americans. She didn’t mean it as a compliment, but many took it as inadvertent praise — including the Biden White House.
Karine Jean-Pierre just called @RepMTG “Major-ree Taylor Greene” several times.
How can someone work in a communications office and be unable to pronounce “Marjorie?” pic.twitter.com/DW3aXVtaVv
— Andrew @ Don’t Walk, RUN! (@DontWalkRUN) July 17, 2023
As per Mediaite, on Monday White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre got to utter some very surreal words. “We don’t get many opportunities to say what I’m about to share,” she told reporters. “I want to make sure these words come out very clearly, I’m sure she’ll be very shocked that I’m saying this, which is that we agree with Marjorie Taylor Greene.”
What did Greene say, exactly, that so pleased the Biden White House? During her appearance at the Turning Point Action conference over the weekend, she told the crowd:
The Great Society were big government programs to address education, medical care, urban problems, rural poverty, transportation, Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps and welfare, the office of Economic Opportunity, and big labor and labor unions. Now, LBJ had the Great Society, but Joe Biden had Build Back Better. And he still is working on it. The largest public investment in social infrastructure and environmental programs that is actually finishing what FDR started that LBJ expanded on.
Greene meant the words “the largest public investment in social infrastructure and environmental programs” as a bad thing, saying they’re “killing the American dream.” But to many that sounds like heaven. Jean-Pierre certainly thought so:
Over the weekend, the Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene criticized Bidenomics as being in line with [President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s] creation of Social Security, [President] Lyndon Johnson’s creation of Medicare. She also bizarrely attacked Bidenomics because it’s reducing poverty in rural areas. We agree with her all around, all around on this. We are opposed to rural poverty, and the president is committed to protect Medicare and committed to protect Social Security as you heard from him over and over again over the past several months.
Anyway, listen to Marjorie Taylor Greene, voters: She’s saying Republicans don’t want to help struggling Americans, though they do have a history of outright fleecing them, even when they’re allegedly smart businessmen who are definitely as wealthy as they claim.
Lindsay Lohan has had a rollercoaster life, to put it mildly. A child star, she hit a sizable rough patch as she got older. But she worked through it, slowly and, hopefuly, surely. And now look at her: Last year she nabbed a two-picture deal with Netflix, and she’s reteaming with Jamie Lee Curtis for a belated sequel to Freaky Friday. To make her comeback even comeback-ier, she’s now a cool mom.
Reps for Lohan told The Hollywood Reporter that the actress has given birth to a “beautiful, healthy” son. His name is Son Luai, an Arabic name which means “shield or protector.” Lohan welcomed the baby boy with her husband, financier Bader Shammas, whom she wed in April of last year.
Lohan didn’t make her pregnancy public until March, when she took to Instagram to post a picture of a baby onesie bearing the words “Coming Soon…”
She opened up about the big news in June, telling Allure that when she learned of her pregnancy, it wasn’t the kind of moment you see in a movie, unless it’s a deadpan comedy.
“It was so unexciting,” Lohan recalled. “I walked into the room, I threw the test down. I was like, ‘Guess what?’ He goes, ‘We are?’”
So congrats to Lohan, someone who’s been through the ringer and who is doing really well for herself and who deserves, as well do, happiness.
There has been a significant change in how Americans name their children over the past few decades. Years ago, parents gave their children names that helped them fit in, and now they want them to have names that stand out.
Laura Wattenberg, founder of the naming trends site Namerology, told The Atlantic that in 1950 the percentage of babies born that received a common name was around 28%. However, in 2023, that number has dropped to just 7%.
“We are deep in an era of naming individuality, where parents assume that having a [name] sound distinctive and unique is a virtue,” Wattenberg told The Atlantic. The competition between parents to come up with unique names means that they risk giving their child one that’s so outlandish it could cause them trouble down the line.
Multiple studies show that having an unusual name can hamper a child’s economic and social prospects.
A father-to-be recently fought with his pregnant wife over what to name their daughter, and it sparked a good debate on Reddit. A user named NeverlyLane asked the AITA forum if he was wrong for rejecting his wife’s unusual name suggestions.
“I suggested my all-time favorite name, Anna. My wife suggested Caeleigh (pronounced Kailey, and yes, she spelled it out). I vetoed it,” the husband said.
“She suggested another name, Ryleigh (Riley, and again she did spell it out). I vetoed it and suggested Riley spelled the normal way. She refused. She then suggested Novalynn. I vetoed, suggesting Nora as an alternative. She again refused,” he continued.
The mother may be trying to be unique by coming up with names where the “ly” is replaced with “leigh,” but it’s a popular choice nowadays. Replacing “ly” with “leigh” is one of the biggest trends in baby names over the past few years.
The mom-to-be couldn’t handle the rejection, so she lashed out at her husband. “What’s the point in talking about it if you veto all my choices, you controlling a**hole!” she said. “Maybe if you picked something normal, we might get somewhere, but you won’t even try to compromise!” the husband responded.
Looking to see if he was right, he posted about the exchange on Reddit, and just about everyone agreed with him.
“You’re doing your daughter a favor by vetoing these names,” Cautious-Spited wrote. “Thank you for standing up for your unborn child. People should really stop naming their children traghedeighs and consider the fact that they will be adults one day,” Reb-Lev added.
“You should suggest brockleigh,” throwaway6827206t joked.
“Yeah, mom may never see it this way, but maybe if she can imagine being her kid and having to either explain how to pronounce or spell their name correctly over and over for their entire life—substitute teachers, doctor’s appointments, as an adult meeting with new clients/staff/customers EVERY SINGLE TIME…that’s not a burden you should put on your child for a first name just because you think it makes the name cooler,” RavenWood_9 wrote.
The husband showed his wife the thread, and she agreed that her spellings were a little “out there.” The couple then compromised by choosing uncommon names with a history. “Anyway, we eventually decided on Reya Annaliese as our working first choice, with Mercy, Freya, and Eloise as our backups,” the husband wrote.
But one “Stand By Me” cover from an unexpected source is currently making waves online, and it’s right up there with the best of them. The musical sibling trio Biko’s Manna from Johannesburg, South Africa, is made up of 16-year-old Biko Nhlangothi (also known as BikoStar), 13-year-old Manna Nhlangothi (also known as MannaHero) and 8-year-old Mfundo Nhlangothi (also known as TauLion).
A TikTok of the kids playing the guitar and singing the classic tune has more than 22 million views, and the same video on Facebook has more than 7.9 million views. When you hear Biko open her mouth and sing, it’s easy to see why it’s gone viral.
When Manna adds in his harmony, the casual living room performance goes to the next level. Add when you add in little Mfundo with his body percussion, and it’s clear why news outlets are saying Biko’s Manna is ready to “take the world by storm.”
🫶🏾🫶🏾 Stand by me Song by Ben E. King Covered by BikosManna #TauLion🦁 #BikoStar #MannaHero #TauLion🦁 #BikosManna #BKMN
The sister and brothers come from a family of musicians and performers, and their mom, singer and actress Ayanda Nhlangothi (40), serves as their manager.
Biko told News 24 that music is in her blood and that she is inspired by singer and songwriter India Arie. After she started learning guitar, Manna decided he wanted to as well and they’ve been performing ever since. Mfundo, who dances and plays piano, started playing along with his older siblings and would shout out his name when they were introduced as “Biko’s Manna.”
It’s clear they enjoy making music together, and people sure enjoy listening to them. Here’s the group performing another sweet ballad, Ed Sheeran’s “Thinking Out Loud.”
It’s Disneyland’s 68th birthday! On July 17th, 1955, the iconic park first opened its doors to the public, and single-handedly created the modern theme park. Whether you’re a fan of large attractions and world-building ala Universal Studios or high-octane roller coasters of the Six Flags variety, we can all agree that Disneyland started it all. And whether its the food or the spectacle that you love — there’s a reason the park, with its $100+ tickets, is still a destination that people go nuts over.
Originally built on 160 humble acres of orange groves in Anaheim California, Disneyland has since expanded to 500 acres with 9 distinctively different “lands” and a sister park — California Adventure — where yes, you can drink beer.
The OG park might not have the allure of the gargantuan Walt Disney World or Tokyo Disneyland, but there is something about being the original that will forever mark the park as special. To celebrate the park’s birthday, we collected some vintage images from the park’s construction, opening day, and early years. The photos depict that park as nearly unrecognizable, and yet at the same time, strangely familiar, and that’s coming from a native Southern Californian who has visited the park in every decade of my life.
With his new album, 222, out now, Lil Tjay is preparing for his first tour since recovering from being shot seven times during a robbery last year. Fittingly, he’s calling the tour the Beat The Odds Tour, drawing the name from the first single he released in the wake of the incident. His album also features a song called “Beat The Odds 2” featuring longtime rhyme partner Polo G and the single “July 22,” which recounts the shooting.
Tickets for the tour go on sale on Friday, July 21 at 12 PM, while presale begins Tuesday, July 18. You can find more info here. Check out the dates below.
09/21 — Pittsburgh, PA @ UPMC Event Center *
09/23 — Bridgeport, CT @ Total Mortgage Arena
09/30 — Halifax, NS @— Scotiabank Centre
10/02 — Ottawa, ON @ The Arena @ TD Place
10/03 — London, ON @ Budweiser Gardens
10/05 — Saskatoon, SK @ Sasktel Centre
10/07 — Vancouver, BC @ Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre
10/13 — Auckland, NZ @ Spark Arena
10/17 — Sydney, AU @ Hordern Pavillion
10/20 — Melbourne, AU @ Festival Hall
10/21 — Brisbane, AU @ The Fortitude Music Hall
11/22 — New York, NY @ The Theater at Madison Square Garden
11/24 — Toronto, ON @ Coca-Cola Coliseum
11/25 — Boston, MA @ MGM Music Hall at Fenway
11/30 — Washington, DC @ Echostage
12/01 — Philadelphia, PA @ The Met Philadelphia
12/02 — Chicago, IL @ Byline Bank Aragon Ballroom
12/03 — Madison, WI @ The Sylvee
12/07 — Portland, OR @ Veterans Memorial Coliseum
12/09 — Seattle, WA @ WAMU Theater
12/14 — Los Angeles, CA @ Hollywood Palladium
12/15 — San Francisco, CA @ The Midway
There’s a solid possibility that when you think about a daiquiri, your mind immediately heads to a frozen strawberry slushy or some other ice-filled riff on the classic. And, if that’s your jam, that’s more than okay with us. We’re not here to judge. It’s frozen, refreshing, and highly flavorful when made right. But it’s just not a true daiquiri. At least not the kind of daiquiri Hemingway would have enjoyed.
The classic daiquiri is simple, citrus-driven, and (if we’re all being honest) even more perfect for summer weather than its slushie counterpart. To make a classic daiquiri, you don’t need a high-powered blender. Also, you don’t need strawberries. All you need is rum, lime juice, simple syrup, and ice to shake with. Really, that’s it. Don’t believe us?
Here’s a recipe from our own Zach Johnston proving this from a few years ago:
Ingredients:
2-oz. white rum
1-oz. fresh lime juice
0.5-oz. sugar cane syrup
Lime peel
Ice
Method:
Add the rum, lime juice, and syrup to the cocktail shaker. Top up with ice and shake vigorously until the outside of the shaker is ice cold to touch (15 to 20 seconds). Strain the cocktail into the waiting, pre-chilled glass. Spritz the lime oils from the peel over the glass, rub the peel’s oils around the stem, bowl, and rim of the glass, and drop the peel into the cocktail. Serve.
While the traditional daiquiri recipe is simple, fresh, and really easy to whip up when your friends text you that they’re on the way and they’re thirsty, the best thing about the daiquiri is its versatility. You can stay true to the original recipe while adding complimentary flavors (without turning it into a cloying frozen beverage).
To prove it, we’ve compiled a list of some of the best, summery daiquiri riffs from some of our favorite bars, restaurants, and bartenders. Keep scrolling to see them all. Maybe you’re only a few clicks from your new favorite daiquiri.
The Gertrude Stein
Shawn Miller
By Shawn Miller, beverage director at Forsythia in Philadelphia
Ingredients:
1 oz. Smith and Cross Navy Strength Rum
.5 oz. bitter melon-infused white rum
.75 oz. key lime juice
.25 oz. Cherry Herring
.25 oz. simple syrup
Preparation:
Shake all ingredients and double strain into a coupe or martini glass. Note: bitter melon can be infused by chopping and deseeding bitter melon and sitting in rum for 2 days then straining.
A play on the Hemingway Daiquiri with a more vegetal and deeply bitter flavor profile. The Cherry Herring adds a fruitier, sweeter note compared with the usual Hemingway Daiquiri addition of maraschino liqueur. — Shawn Miller, beverage director at Forsythia in Philadelphia
Salted Daiquiri
Caroline Patton
By Alex Barbatsis, head bartender at The Whistler in Chicago
Ingredients:
2 oz. of Banks 5 Island Rum
0.5 oz. Lime Oleo
Small pinch of salt
Lime Oleo Ingredients:
Husks of six limes after juicing
500 ml of white sugar
Preparation:
Muddle lime husks and white sugar until a gooey, baby food-like mixture is produced. Let sit covered for one hour. Add 500 ml of boiled water and fully saturate all of the sugar. Let sit for 15 minutes and then strain with a coffee filter. Stir in a mixing glass with ice, strain into a chilled Nic & Nora glass
This is a cross between a daiquiri, a Ti Punch, and a classic style gimlet you might find in a steakhouse. It’s aromatic and strong with a refreshing bright note at the end. The idea behind this drink was to make something that would fit in on a classic cocktail menu or as an aromatic option at a tropical bar. — Alex Barbatsis, head bartender at The Whistler in Chicago
Equal parts sofrito, champagne vinegar, and sugar, plus a pinch of salt.
Preparation:
Combine ingredients in a shaker over ice, shake, and strain into a coupe glass. Garnish with fresh bay leaf.
The “Don Johnny” has the basic bones of a daiquiri, but with a twist that pays homage to the cuisine of the restaurant (Bolo). The herbaceous sofrito combined with the vinegar to create the shrub leads to a very savory taste that isn’t often associated with a tropical cocktail. The nose of fresh bay leaf garnish helps complete the transportation from the bar to the kitchen. — Evan Maffiore, Bar Manager at Bolo in Philadelphia
Shake ingredients over ice then strain into a coup. Garnish with a lime wedge.
The Danforth Daiquiri was built to drink very much like a traditional Daiquiri — light, crisp, and refreshing — with a subtle hint of fruit from the addition of peach liqueur. Singani 63 is a critical component of this cocktail in that it contributes a texture reminiscent of biting through fresh peach skin, while also helping to taper the candy-like notes that peach liqueur can sometimes contribute to a drink. – By Devon Tarby at The Danforth in Portland, Maine
Don’t Mind If I Dew
The Red Owl Tavern
By Christopher Devern, lead bartender at Red Owl Tavern in Philadelphia
Ingredients:
1.5 oz. Plantation 3 Star Rum
.25 oz. Falernum
.25 oz. Pisco
.75 oz. honeydew syrup
.75 oz. lemon juice
4 dashes of rose water
Preparation:
Combine all ingredients in a shaker tin and shake. Strain over ice or up if that’s your preference. Garnish with edible flowers.
This take on a daiquiri is light, refreshing, and floral as it is comprised of Plantation 3 Star Rum, a white blend from Jamaica, Barbados, and Trinidad, as well as honeydew syrup, Falernum, Pisco, rose water, and fresh lime juice. We’ve garnished it with an edible flower that lends enticing floral aromas of lavender and eucalyptus. The perfect summer daiquiri that will have you wanting to “dew” it again. — Christopher Devern, lead bartender at Red Owl Tavern inPhiladelphia
Shake all ingredients and double strain into a coupe glass. Garnish with either a blackberry or lime wheel.
This cocktail is a fun riff on the traditional daiquiri while also adding some unique and fun flavors. The blackberry gives the cocktail the perfect summertime sweetness while the Wray and Nephew really assert the fact that it is still a rum cocktail. This cocktail is perfect for those who ask for a strong drink, the traditional rum lover, or the casual summertime sipper. — Patrick Banko, Lead Bartender at Stratus Rooftop Lounge in Philadelphia
Blend Banana and run through centrifuge and freeze. Combine the remainder of the ingredients in a tin and shake. Shave frozen clarified banana into a glass. Pour mixture over.
The Banana Daq was a signature cocktail served with a hand-carved banana dolphin garnish. It was arguably one of the first viral drinks served at Three Dots and a Dash, back in the days of Facebook –Kevin Beary, beverage director at Three Dots and a Dash and The Bamboo Room
Pour all ingredients into a shaker with ice cubes. Shake well. Strain in a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a lime wheel.
The Hemingway daiquiri is a great riff on a classic for those who prefer cocktails with minimal sweetness and a bit of a tart bite. Ernest Hemingway spent the better part of 20 years living just outside of Havana, Cuba. He became quite a staple in the country, affectionately referred to by the locals as “Papa” and remains one of the best-known figures in Cuban culture. History tells us that in the early 1930s, Hemingway stopped at El Floridita, a local bar in Havana, and ordered their standard daiquiri. After tasting it, he is quoted as saying ‘That’s good but I prefer it without sugar and double the rum’. That day, the drink was made exactly as ordered and was referred to as ‘Daiquiri Like Papa’ and later ‘Papa Doble’. Years later, the head bartender at El Floridita added maraschino liqueur and grapefruit juice to create the Hemingway daiquiri as we know it today. – Megan Anderson, general manager at Lazia in Kansas City
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