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Over the weekend The Atlantic published a devastating profile of Chris Licht, who last year made the perhaps unwise decision to go from late night comedy to running the currently spiraling CNN. Its 15,000-word length is positively teeming with dirt, but there was one part that seemed like a positive: Back in 2020 he managed to drop 50 pounds through a combination of exercise and dieting. But it turns out that maybe that’s BS, too.

As per The Daily Mail, multiple sources have told the British rag that it wasn’t just extremely clean living that helped Licht shed pounds. It was also Ozempic, Hollywood’s favorite weight-loss drug. Indeed, one “close friend” of his blabbed that he was an early adopter.

“I heard about Ozempic from Chris,” the pal claimed. “When he was at Colbert he explained that he was a huge fan of it and he’d been using it to get his weight under control. This was back in 2021”

The source said they were “shocked” that Licht attributed the weight loss to a personal trainer and skipping meals. “Puh-lease,” they said, “he told me point blank he uses it.”

In the profile, Licht calls himself a “f*cking machine” for going from 226 pounds to 178. He went further than that: He charged that his CNN predecessor, ousted president Jeff Zucker, “couldn’t do this sh*t.”

“When he mocked the physicality of Jeff it was beyond hypocritical as he lost all of his weight on Ozempic. This was just so offensive,” said two senior staffers in a joint quote. They alleged that Licht had straight-up told them he was on the drug. “I was impressed that he was so open about it as he looks great.”

Upon reading the profile, they quipped that he’s “the Star Jones of CNN,” dragging him for claiming he used diet and exercise. “No sweetie you used a doctor.” They even said he “championed” the drug during editorial meetings.

“Our iconic brand tagline is ‘This is CNN,’ they said. “He should’ve just said ‘’This is Ozempic.’ instead of sh**tting all over Jeff Zucker.”

Since Licht took over in February 2022, CNN has undergone a bit of a makeover. They’ve been letting go down the rhetoric of on-air personalities who are critical of today’s Republicans, including Don Lemon, or at least tried to down them down. Last month’s town hall with Donald Trump blew up in their face spectacularly, leading to them trailing in ratings to no less than Newsmax.

But at least Licht isn’t as infamous as his own boss, Warner Bros. Discovery head David Zaslav.

(Via The Daily Mail)

Vodka is maybe one of the most misunderstood spirits on the shelf these days. For years, decades even, every bartender and spirits “expert” in the West would tell you that vodka was a neutral spirit that was odorless and flavorless (this was never an issue in Central and Eastern Europe or Central Asia, by the way). The gospel was so ingrained in the U.S. that it bordered on a faith that blinded some from seeing what was right in front of them.

I always hated that “odorless/flavorless” descriptor. As someone whose baptism by vodka led me to take spirits seriously as a professional, I knew it wasn’t true. So I’ve spent my life looking for fellow travelers in the vodka world who knew that definition of vodka was pure bullshit. This led me to Ricky Miller, III.

Miller co-founded Carbonadi Vodka and has been spearheading a movement to not only make a killer vodka with a deep flavor profile but educate the average vodka drinker on how deeply flavored the spirit can be. Miller is the sort of champion that vodka needs. He cares deeply about the terroir, process, and presentation of vodka and is elevating the whole category by making one that absolutely slaps as an example.

Before we dive in, let’s get a little context. For years, the TTB (the trade bureau that defines U.S. spirits) classified vodka as a “neutral spirit without distinctive taste.” People took that to mean that a “neutral” spirit must be odorless and flavorless thanks to inaccurate and poor wording. First of all, “neutral spirits” are never flavorless, odorless, or “without distinctive taste.” All spirits are made with water, yeast, and sugar from grains, fruits, vegetables, or even dairy and always have flavors and odors.

Moreover, unaged whiskey is a “neutral spirit.” So is unaged brandy and rum and tequila. “Neutral” has never meant flavorless or odorless, it simply means it hasn’t been altered by other flavoring agents — like oak aging or a ton of other possibilities. Thinking that vodka is odorless and/or flavorless is wildly inaccurate since it’s impossible for it to be. The water, yeast, and sugar in the fermentation will always impart a wide range of flavors. And all of the multiple distillation or filtering processes that you hear some vodkas go through are meant to highlight specific flavors while muting others — but never removing all flavor.

Luckily, Miller knows all of this too, and was kind enough to jump on a call. We talked about making vodka in Italy, the official re-defining of vodka by the U.S. government, and how he likes to drink the good stuff. It’s a very educational conversation that’ll hopefully get you interested in drinking and enjoying the nuances of a great our of vodka. Let’s jump in!

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Let’s start with the grain. Tell us how Carbonadi stands out from the jump.

We’re using organic Winter wheat. Everything’s grown and harvested in Piedmont in North Northwest Italy Right by the French and Swiss borders. So people obviously don’t associate vodka with Italy. But some of the best ingredients in the world are from Italy so it tracked for me to make my vodka there. Plus, I never lead with “organic” just because I’m not pushing it as an “organic product.” I’m really trying to elevate the category and that’s where Italy comes in. And I think I kind of have to be careful with what and how people get attached to the product. I want to push it as elevated Italian vodka and the bonus is that it’s organic too.

Where do the black diamonds come into play?

For some history, before they were called “black diamonds,” they were called “carbonado.” So at first, the vodka was called “Black Diamond Vodka.” But, it kind of came off as a little corny to me. I wanted people to focus more on the function of the carbonado rather than the vanity of the black diamonds. You know, if you Google “diamond-filtered vodka,” you get a bunch of cheesy options online. And usually, they only touch the diamonds and that’s it (for marketing speak) and I didn’t want to go that route. I wanted people to focus more on the science of it. And so we went with Carbonadi because I want people to, you know, really focus on the filtration part of it.

Tell me why the filtration is so important.

So we filter it through these stones — the black diamonds or carbonado — and what they’re doing is extracting impurities from the alcohol that common filtering cannot extract.

What does that mean to the average person though?

So all that really means in terms of the consumers is that it makes the vodka way cleaner than your average vodka. You don’t get that smack in the face of ethanol. And so it’s really mild in that sense and people love it.

But there’s more than just filtering that makes for a smooth vodka. Talk us through what happens to the spirit next.

After filtering, we “micro ox” it, which is infusing specific amounts of oxygen into the spirit. Without getting too technical, this process elongates the molecule so that it’s gliding across the tongue as opposed to poking and burning your senses. We’ve eliminated that as much as possible. I like to imagine it like, ‘Do you want a square wheel going across your tongue or do you want a round wheel going across it?’

So how does that present to the person actually drinking the vodka?

First, visually a glass of Carbonadi will coat the glass like a fine wine. It’s also pleasantly creamy and has a lot of body, the cleanliness and the texture are really what sets it apart. Then it comes through on the palette in the glass.

So let’s talk about the taste of Carbonadi. You have a combination of Italian ingredients, black diamond filtration, micro-oxygenation, and then proofing with Alpine water. What flavor notes are you going for?

For me, I’m not the guy on the machine working the stills. It’s all a taste thing for me. It’s an experience thing. So my distiller will give me like four different options and we’ll taste them, play with them, and then that’s how I’ll decide which distillate will become Carbonadi.

What I’m looking for is that you get more of those florals, herbal, and fruity things that come out of the yeast specifically. The Winter wheat is actually slightly sweeter than the typical wheat that’s often used.

For sure. I’d say you have a good balance of sharp yet sweet mint with a touch of creamy vanilla as the core-tasting touchstone.

I think you’re right, Zach. And look, when I was new to this game, I thought a lot of tasting notes were bullshit. It really just felt like they were all just marketing words like “buttery” and “creamy” because it sounded good but it has nothing to do with the spirit. But now I know better because something like “creamy” is what I’m actually producing in the flavor profile of this vodka, man.

Then when you’re talking about the mint part of it, I love that too. That’s a note that’s consistently being called out by people who are pretty sophisticated tasters and I can always find that too.

With brown spirits truly having a moment right now, what has been your biggest hurdle in getting people interested in vodka again?

I feel like with vodka right now, it’s a huge uphill battle, especially with knowledge. You know, the whole “neutral” thing, which we already touched on.

Also, I feel like part of the propaganda of both brandy and whiskey is that ‘if it’s not aged, it should be cheap.’ That is a huge misconception because the grain, the fermentation with yeast, the water, the whole process isn’t cheap, man. The distillation process, the filtering, the proofing like all of that costs the exact same amount of money in whiskey and brandy as it does in vodka. It’s the exact same process at the end of the day. I know we’re not aging our distillation, but the biggest expensive processes are done by then. So that makes it the biggest hurdle for the consumer in understanding our product — just helping people understand the price and the quality they’re getting for that amount of money.

One thing that I love that you’re doing is breaking down the idea that “neutral” means “odorless” and “tasteless” when talking about vodka. The idea that vodka doesn’t have any flavor notes is so wildly inaccurate.

You know, we talk to bartenders and they always talk about how vodka is an “odorless, tasteless, neutral spirit.” And I’m like, “No, we really have distinct characteristics in our spirit, and all spirits do.”

And then during the pandemic, the TTB (Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau) finally and very quietly changed the definition of vodka by removing the phrase “a spirit without a distinctive taste” which was such a dumb definition. I was like, “Man, fucking awesome!” That definition was the bane of my existence for so long.

Dude as a long-time vodka snob, it was mine too. It was a Sisyphean task convincing people of the beauty of nuanced vodka.

Same. I just thought it was a very archaic way of like to look at it. And it was just a poor word choice because neutral doesn’t mean flavorless. You know, when your cars are neutral, it’s still running.

Exactly. A white dog or moonshine is a neutral grain spirit that’s whiskey. So unaged whiskey is neutral and, obviously, people have a million tasting notes for that and would never call it odorless or tasteless even though it’s “neutral” — it was wildly stupid that vodka got pigeon-holed that way, man.

Yup. With my vodka, we’re still dealing with a yeast-driven grain product. There are going to be flavors in there, right? And I find that interesting in that you can sort of go multiple ways then because you have flavors that you can build up, build off of, that you can remove, or you can have flavors that you just enjoy.

So let’s wrap up by talking about how you actually like to drink your vodka.

If I’m at home and I have access to whatever I need, I keep it in the freezer and I drink it neat with anything citrus. That’s all I need.

Nice. Simple. Tasty. Something I try to tackle as well as using good ingredients when making cocktails. Like, you don’t want to use shitty wine when cooking food. It’ll taste like that shitty wine. No one wants that!

Exactly!

So, I like using great spirits for great cocktails. What’s your go-to when you do make a cocktail with Carbonadi?

So the signature martini is a Black Diamond Martini which is extra dry. A tiny amount of dry vermouth and the oils from the lemon peel — just very, very simple. I dig the lemon because, for me, it ties into the lemon culture in Italy. It just all makes sense to me and to the taste of the vodka.

Name a better road trip snack than a bag of Cheez-Its. Go on, we’ll wait. Nothing right? Cheez-It’s are great, they scratch that itch for salty cheesy snacks as good as anything else, but have complexity and dimension to them that Cheetos and Takis don’t have. And now, for just one week, people in Southern California have a chance to visit the world’s “cheesiest roadside attraction,” the Cheez-It Stop.

Located on Twentynine Palms Highway in the Joshua Tree area, The Cheez-It Stop is equipped with the Cheez-It pump, a gas-pump style Cheez-It dispenser that no one asked for but now some weird rich Cheez-It obsessive will definitely want in their home, a merch store with all sorts of Cheez-It inspired t-shirts, shot glasses, and postcards, and best of all, a selection of some of the hardest to track down Cheez-It flavors, like hot and spicy, bacon, and Cheddar Douz.

Sure, it caters to Cheez-It fans and pretty much no one else, but it’s the sort of weird and fun stop that works to energize you after a long and grueling drive, whether you’re on your way to Los Angeles, San Diego, or Joshua Tree and Palm Springs, and will serve as the perfect backdrop for their strangest social media post you’ll ever make.

If you’re not in it for the photo and content-generation opportunities, do it for those salty smokey Bacon Cheez-Its.

The Cheez-It stop is open from today until Sunday, June 11th, between the hours of 10 AM – 6 PM and is located at 61943 Twentynine Palms Highway in Joshua Tree. Take some mushrooms, chill out in the desert, and go to the Cheez-It stop for snacks later, it’ll be the weirdest day of your life.

Check out what to expect below.

It’s June, which means we have six months remaining this year. Seriously though…don’t ask us where the time has gone because we don’t know either. Hopefully you’ve made use of the first half of the year with some exciting travel plans, maybe hitting up some chill spots in Cabo or hiking through some of the country’s most scenic national parks during the spring blooms. Or maybe you’ve opted to experience more of the nightlife and culinary scenes this year and made it to Coachella – or better yet, the exclusive Coachella after parties – or some of this year’s craft beer festivals to down a couple of pints or…

You get the idea. There are endless opportunities out there for intrepid travelers. But no matter what you decide to do, there’s nothing better than saving some money when you hit the road. While traveling is indeed a privilege, the idea that travel has to cost a lot of cash is slowly becoming a thing of the past. In fact, some of the most memorable adventures require the least amount of money.

As someone who’s already boarded more than two dozen flights this year for some awesome adventures and serious smoke sessions, I’m excited to share my budget travel secrets with you. If you’re thinking of booking something soon, just know that the universe is on your side this summer — even Joe Biden wants us all to succeed in our travel plans, making it easier than ever to book that flight and ensure passengers are protected from airline inconsistencies. Now, let Uproxx help you protect your wallet!

1) Pack Your Own Snacks

We all gotta eat, so why not pack some snacks? This not only is a budget travel hack but also a time-saving hack. After begrudgingly getting through the pains of security (unless of course, you’re a step ahead of the rest with TSA Pre-Check or CLEAR), you’re always blasted with an array of food and drink options. Starbucks over the right, maybe a TGI Friday’s to the left, and all around you see little airport versions of convenience stores. But let’s be honest here — you’re definitely paying for the convenience. Even a pack of gum is priced double or triple the price you’d pay at a regular store.

Not only that, but you also have to factor in this time waiting in line to checkout or wait for your food.

If you know you’re one to always buy some snacks at the airport before your flight, hit your favorite store the day before, and bring a little bag in your carry-on or personal item. This goes for water as well. I never travel without my reusable water bottle. Empty it before you go through security, and then refill it at a free water refill station within the airport.

BOTTOM LINE:

No more $5 plastic water bottles? That’s a win for the environment and your wallet.

2) Exchange Local Currency With Your Bank

Most of us know to never exchange currency at the airport. Okay, got it. But did you know that you’re still paying some amount of an exchange fee when exchanging currency abroad? If you’re able to plan two weeks before your trip, head to your local bank. You can directly exchange any amount of U.S. dollars for the local currency of your destination without any fees whatsoever.

Let’s say you want to spend $500 cash while on your trip to Costa Rica. Your bank can directly pull $500 out of your bank account and order the same amount in colones. This has always been an extremely seamless process for all my international travels when I know I want to spend a specific amount of money and stay within my budget, without any fees. Just make sure to do this at least 10 days in advance so your bank has enough time to order the currency and you can pick it up in time for your departure.

BOTTOM LINE:

Fees suck. Beat them with some planning.

3) Pack Light…Seriously

I’m still trying my best at this one, but after my recent travels to Spain, I can see why this is a huge budget travel hack. First and foremost, packing light allows you to completely avoid any unexpected overweight or oversized baggage fees. I can’t even count the number of times I’ve been nervously looking at the scale when hauling my big checked suitcase to the airline counter and then dreading when the scale says it’s over 50 lbs. Seriously, did I really need to pack five pairs of shoes?

It’s even better if you can pack strategically and avoid paying for a checked bag altogether and zip through your travels with a small, carry-on suitcase. Many airlines – including Alaska, Hawaiian, Delta, American, and Frontier – allow passengers one free carry-on in addition to a personal item. More money and time saved.

BOTTOM LINE:

It’s the oldest hack on earth but also… maybe try it sometime?

4) Ditch The International Phone Plan For Free WiFi

There are definitely pros and cons when it comes to getting an international phone plan or SIM card. Sure, you can stay connected while gawking with hundreds of others at the Mona Lisa or whilst partying until 7 am at a nightclub in Ibiza, but to me, that takes away from the present moment. As someone who admits they spend too much time on their phone, I use travel as an opportunity to drop more into the present moment and enjoy the scenes around me while also avoiding any international phone charges. With more international travelers jet-setting around the world and the need for equal access to the internet, many restaurants, bars, cafes, and museums usually offer free wifi to patrons. So yes, I’ll sip my mid-day cappuccino on the streets of Barcelona, connect to wifi to update friends and family, and (maybe) check my email, but once I’m out and about, I find that dropping into the present moment makes the trip that much more special.

For navigation, you can download the Google map of your destination beforehand. As for translating, you can also download languages on Google Translate to use when you’re out of service as well.

BOTTOM LINE:

Do you really need all the accessibility you like to think you need? Do you? DO YOU?

5) Travel Like A Local

Uber and Lyft might automatically be the easiest and cheapest option to take on cities in the U.S., but that’s not the case in most international cities. Unlike the U.S., many cities – particularly in Europe – have fantastic public transportation systems that cost a mere couple of dollars. Ever wonder how people backpack Europe without breaking the bank? The Eurail stretches through 33 European countries allowing you to breeze through cities and international countries on a cheap budget. If you plan on staying in one city for a couple of days, there are amazing deals for weekly metro passes all across Europe, including in the cities of Barcelona, Berlin, Copenhagen, London, Paris, and more.

BOTTOM LINE:

Get to know the local way of life by using the local mode of transport. It’s easy.

6) Ditch The Hotel For A Hostel Or House

Okay, if you’ve ever watched the movie Hostel, I could understand your concerns when it comes to staying in one. But don’t allow a fictional horror movie to prevent you from saving some big bucks on your travels. In my opinion, the whole point of travel is to meet and connect with new people. Hostels can cost a lot of money, especially if you’re someone who plans last minute. Many cities throughout the United States and the world boast incredible hostels that allow you to meet fellow travelers and source a community of like-minded people. Not up for bunking?

A lot of hostels offer private rooms that are still cheaper than many hotel rooms. Additionally, if you’re someone who likes to stay in one place for an extended period of time, sourcing housing on Airbnb can be an ultimate budget travel hack. Oftentimes, Airbnb hosts offer extended stay discounts, sometimes up to 50% if you stay a whole month.

BOTTOM LINE:

Hotels are great! But if you’re on a budget, consider treating them like a splurge.

7) Use A VPN When Booking Flights & Hotels

Most of us have heard the budget travel hack of booking flights on a Tuesday or Wednesday to get the cheapest flight prices. The same is true for travel days, with Wednesdays and Thursdays boasting usually cheaper flight prices. But did you know that using a Virtual Private Network (VPN) when booking flights can further save you money? Believe it or not, flight prices vary depending on the country that you’re located in. Airlines and travel booking websites use dynamic pricing that changes depending on factors, including your IP address and location, purchase history, demand and supply, and more.

Yes, it is weird and basically makes no sense. But by using a VPN, you can change your IP address to a different zip code and location which can show different prices. Especially in the United States where companies love to scrape as many pennies out of you as possible, setting your location to cities in Turkey, Spain, and Indonesia could save you up to hundreds of dollars when booking international flights and hotels.

Don’t want to use or have access to a VPN? You can search for flights and hotels using an incognito window for similar results.

BOTTOM LINE:

This hack is up for debate, but we’ve had success with it and many travel writers report the same!

8) Use Your Student ID… Forever

Maybe that $80K piece of paper hanging on your wall isn’t the only thing you took away from college. Do you have your student ID still laying around and you’re under the age of 35? You can save some money by using your old college student ID to get student discounts on dozens of various bookings and attractions, including museums, art galleries, train tickets, and more. If you’re worried about being too old to look like you’re still in college, don’t. Hurray for graduate school!

Don’t have your student ID? Over 60 million people across North America do have AAA and forget that it comes with many travel discounts on hotels, rental cars, and even flights.

BOTTOM LINE:

College is going to keep you in debt for decades. At least let it get you a few deals in the meantime.

9) Limit Your Alcohol

I know, I know. You’re in a new city or country and you’re there to celebrate! However, as someone who already doesn’t drink a lot of alcohol, I’ve realized there’s more money left in my bank account than my travel companions who regularly order alcoholic beverages when eating out. Think about it: when going out to eat, even one or two alcoholic drinks can increase your bill significantly. Hydration is key when traveling, and alcohol dehydrates you. I always opt for a free glass of water for every meal and have made ordering a glass of wine or alcoholic drink before or after dinner a special occasion. You can even dazzle up your glass of water by putting it in a wine or champagne glass for a fancy aesthetic.

BOTTOM LINE:

Pick your party nights with your budget in mind and you might also miss a few hangovers!

10) Book Accommodations With Free Breakfast & Cook Meals

When traveling, you have to account for three meals a day without your usual kitchen setup. Of course, booking a hostel, hotel, or Airbnb with a kitchen to cook your own meals can help save you loads of money to prevent you from eating out all day. What’s even better is booking accommodations that serve up free breakfast. Here’s where you can fill up for the day ahead and even pocket some packaged muffins to snack on later. Now you can lightly snack for lunch hour and focus on sourcing a delicious, local, and authentic meal for dinner.

BOTTOM LINE:

Eat baseline meals that you cook (cheaply) and then go try the local fare when you’re already half-full!

Fans have been wishing, hoping, waiting, and sometimes crying over the concept of a Community movie, and now that things are finally happening…..they have suddenly stopped happening. At least for a little while. But we haven’t lost hope!

Joel McHale gave an update on the highly-anticipated movie, saying that showrunner Dan Harmon was “extremely close” to finishing up the script before the movie was supposed to go into production this month. Of course, with the ongoing WGA strike, the movie will be put on pause for now.

“We had a shooting date coming up, which was going to be in the summer,” McHale told Variety. “And I think they were extremely close to — I mean, Dan is somebody that tweaks things but, obviously, that’s all stopped. But I think it was pretty darn close. It was close, the shoot date was coming up and we were all excited to do it and then the writers strike happened, which obviously put everything on hold, and rightfully so,” he added.

Even though production is on hold, McHale supports the WGA strike, which began at the beginning of May. “The writers are asking for very reasonable things. Writers need to be paid properly,” he added.

The film might be closer than ever, and it also seems like they have locked down a director, though McHale is keeping it under wraps. “I know who wants to do it and we’re talking to and is interested and engaged,” he said. There is one particular director who has recently cleared up his schedule! Who knows!

The Community movie is expected to land on Peacock sometime in the next year…or two…but it is definitely happening, okay? We have already been through so much.

(Via Variety)

Bob Dylan sang that the times are a-changin’ back in the late 70s, and since then, they haven’t ever stopped a-changin’. And yes, change has been a constant for all of humanity’s existence, but things certainly seem to be progressing a whole heck of a lot faster, don’t they?

Before ya know it, those once fashion-forward pants you purchased are now retro, you don’t understand any of the slang the kids are spouting, and you’re doing your taxes, grocery planning and work meetings all from your phone. You know, that device that once only…gasp…called people.

It certainly feels like more than simply growing older, too. Technology is evolving at a rapid pace, to the point where human beings are finally having a hard time keeping up. Combine that with uncertain economic times, and it’s no wonder that some folks are left reminiscing about how, in some (not all or even most, but some) ways, the good old days really were good.

Take for instance this interesting question posed by u/zombiem00se over on Ask Reddit. They asked: “What was normal 20 to 30 years ago but is considered a luxury now?”

Oh yeah. Get ready for either some bittersweet nostalgia, or to shake your head at just how much you’re probably paying for something that was once bought for pennies. Have fun!

---

1. “New furniture made out of real wood.“

– u/Juls7243

2. “Owning the software you purchased.“

– u/FinnofLocke

3. “Paying no more than 30% of your income in rent.“

– u/newsaggregateftw

u/DaughterEarth added: “I lived in poverty housing and this was how they determined our rent. It was 30% of mom’s income, regardless of how much she was making. That was 20 years ago, not sure what starving kids do today.“

4. “Concert ticket prices.“

– u/Quality_Street_1

via GIPHY

u/CathedralEngine added: “17 years ago I spent $30 to see an internationally touring band play a concert, and I thought that was way too high. Now I’m spending minimum $20 to see local bands. Just on admission.“

5. “Household products that don’t break within the first few years of use. My grandma had the same fridge from 1993 before deciding to switch to a newer, bigger one two years ago. My mom’s wedding cookware is still going strong 25 years later, but whenever she needs new pans, they start flaking Teflon into the food within a few months.“

– u/parangolecomuna

6. “Not being expected to be reachable 24/7.”

– u/Siukslinis_acc

7. “Being able to afford going out every Friday after work.“

– u/M-the-music-guy

via GIPHY

8. “Farmer’s markets. You used to be able to go down and get fruit and vegetables cheaper than the grocery store. Now it seems like they charge 3x more than stores do.“

– u/jrhawk42

9. “Single income families buying a home.“

– u/THESSIS

u/Mashy6012 read everyone’s mind by adding: “Buying a home in general”

10. “Good quality fabric in clothing. I have clothes from the 90s (and 80s from my mother) that still hold up today. These days, I’m lucky if my shirt isn’t saggy and misshapen within a year.”

– u/TheMadLaboratorian

via GIPHY

11. “Items not requiring a subscription each month.“

—u/few29er

12. “Legroom on an airplane.“

—u/anachronistika

13. “Free driver’s education classes taught in all high schools.“

—u/Working-Finger3500

14 . “Family vacations. I remember going on road trips regularly as a kid and even flying once or twice. Now that I have kids, I cannot afford a weeklong trip to the Badlands, Grand Canyon, Disney/Universal Studios, etc. The best I can do is a day trip to the Wisconsin Dells maybe once a year.”

– u/M5606

via GIPHY

14. “Apartments. I could get a one-bedroom apartment in Wisconsin back in 1997 for under $500. Now that same apartment is at least $2,000.”

– u/Icy-Supermarket-6932

15. “Affordable healthcare.”

– u/RNGezzus

16. “People making friends with one another purely because they enjoy their companionship and not because of networking.”

– u/butthenhor

17. “Calling a company and getting a person on the other end of the phone.

– u/AnnieAcely199

via GIPHY

18. “Drinking water from the tap without filters and softeners.”

– u/Kuzkuladaemon

19. “Being able to dance and have a good time without having the risk that it will end up being recorded and put on social media.”

– u/allbright1111

via GIPHY

When people decide to get married, the primary focus in the relationship often becomes the wedding. There are so many details to think about—the venue, the guest list, the food, the wedding party, the dress and tux…it’s practically a full-time job, especially if you’re going big.

Planning a wedding can be so time-consuming that a lot of couples neglect to prepare for the more important thing—their actual marriage. Most people understand that marriage is a long-term commitment, but many people go into it without a solid understanding of what that commitment entails and without preparing their relationship for long-term success.

That’s the impetus behind Jimmy Knowles’ (aka “Jimmy on Relationships”) viral take on pre-marital counseling. Knowles’ video titled “The Premarital Counseling I Wish I Had YEARS Ago” has been viewed over a million times on Facebook, and judging by the comments, he nailed what every soon-to-be-married couple needs to hear.

In the video, a couple is visiting with a counselor for premarital counseling. All three characters are played by Knowles himself, which is quite entertaining, but his counseling advice is spot on.

After asking the couple if they’re excited about their wedding, the counselor says, “Yeah, it’s meaningless. Your wedding—it has nothing to do with the success of your relationship. I’m not going to say it’s a waste of $20,000, unless of course you get divorced a few years later, which 50% of people do. So your marriage is practically a coin flip.”

That may sound cynical and pessimistic, but Jimmy the Counselor is anything but. His point is that people spent all this time and energy planning their wedding and almost no time preparing their relationship to last long-term. Then he goes into all kinds of reasons why relationships fail, from people not having healthy relationship models to toxic and problematic behaviors that they themselves might not even be aware of.

As he lays all of this out for the couple, they appear to be taken aback. And when he asks them what they’re going to do that’s different from people who end up divorced or in unfulfilling, unhealthy marriages, they respond that what’s different about them is that they’re “in love.”

“Wrong,” Jimmy responds. “Everyone’s in love on their wedding day. Do you know why 50% of those marriages fail? Because they didn’t know what love required of them—service, selflessness, sacrifice. Not one-sided. Mutual.”

“They didn’t have a plan to get things right,” he adds. “And they didn’t have a plan for what to do when things got hard and stressful, which they always do eventually.”

Counselor Jimmy (who is not a real counselor, for the record) pulls no punches, but he delivers the reality of marriage in a way that both highlights what it requires and also what’s really beautiful about it.

In less than 10 minutes, he manages to entertain while also dropping a crapton of solid truth and advice that would help anyone who is planning on getting married—or even people who are already married—strengthen their relationship.

Watch:

People in the comments expressed their appreciation for the free marital counseling.

“As a child of divorce and someone who just celebrated our 20th anniversary, I wholeheartedly agree with every single word,” shared one commenter. “Fantastic wisdom here. I can’t say we’ve never hurt each other in conflict, but we have the commitment and care to put in the work and grow through what we’re going through.”

“This is really good advice,” shared another. “We got married at 17, pregnant, no money with broken childhoods. I thought it was love that got us through all our traumas. But listening to this guy, I realize because we love each other, the talking, the intimacy, the respect and care we gave came naturally. Even now, after over 40 years together, we try not to take it for granted, we still show affection and support.”

“This is how my marriage survived and thrived for 25 years, 1 week, and 6 days,” shared another. “The day my husband passed away at age 49. A marriage really does take work, but it’s so worth it and knowing it’s a shared experience of love…”

You can find more relationship wisdom from Jimmy on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.

Kenny Albert’s familiar voice welcomed TNT viewers into T-Mobile Arena for Game 1 of the 2023 Stanley Cup Final between the Las Vegas Golden Knights and the Florida Panthers this weekend. Albert’s been a mainstay of hockey (and basketball, baseball, and football) broadcasts for 30 years, but it’s only the second time he has been on the national TV call for the Stanley Cup Final, having taken over the booth following Doc Emrick’s retirement for NBC’s final broadcast of the series in 2021.

This year feels different for Albert, though, as it’s the first time he’s called a Cup Final with full arenas — the Lightning-Canadiens series that featured hm on the call was played with COVID-19 restrictions in place. It’s the culmination of a lifelong aspiration to get to this point, as he’s grown up dreaming of being a play-by-play broadcaster and reaching this stage. The son of legendary broadcaster Marv Albert — his uncles, Steve and Al, are also play-by-play men — Kenny never imagined a path to anywhere other than the booth. Albert jokes the dinner table at family get-togethers growing up was the nation’s first all-sports radio station, where his passion for all sports grew. There was never any external pressure on him to go into the family business, it’s just what he always wanted to do — he asked for a tape recorder at age six so he could practice calling games into it.

While Albert calls games for the four major men’s professional sports leagues in the United States, hockey holds a particularly special place to him, which makes his place in the Stanley Cup Final broadcast booth “surreal to think about.”

“I’ve been real fortunate throughout my career to have worked eight Olympics, six Winter Olympics,” Albert tells Uproxx Sports. “I called one Super Bowl on the International Feed. I’ve done playoff games in the NFL, baseball, basketball. I loved all sports, and when I sat with my tape recorder as a kid, I would announce all of them. So I’ve always loved the variety, but to me, hockey always was so special. I loved playing hockey as a kid. I played club hockey in both high school and college. I wasn’t very good, but I was on the team. And it’s what I’ve done the longest. I started in the minor leagues in Baltimore in 1990. I started doing NHL games in ’92.”

Albert is the son of New York broadcasting royalty and has spent most of his career there, but he’s particularly grateful for starting his career outside the city. It allowed him to work on his craft outside the shadow of his famous family, find his own voice, and “establish my own identity,” something that he’s learned is critical as he’s stepped into bigger assignments and filled the seats of legends, like Emrick.

“I never really think of it as stepping in to replace somebody or filling in for somebody,” Albert says. “I just try to do the job to the best of my abilities. And Doc Emrick’s a guy that I’ve had so much respect for — I refer to him as the Vin Scully of hockey, he was among the greatest of all time in the sport. I’ve known Doc for about 40 years. I actually did some statistical work for him when I was in high school and college, when he was filling in on some [New York] Rangers radio games, ironically, which has been one of my jobs over the last 28 years, doing the Rangers on the radio.”

Talk to Albert long enough and you’ll come to realize he has a story like that about everybody. Having worked NHL, NBA, NFL, and MLB broadcasts for decades across a number of networks, he’s been in every stadium and seemingly interacted with every person in the sports world. When I tell him his Wikipedia page notes he’s worked with nearly 75 broadcast partners, he laughs and says that’s well short of the actual total of 250, which he recently listed out as part of his upcoming book A Mic For All Seasons.

Some of those have been one-offs and others have been years-long partnerships, but each has a unique story and taught him how to make quick chemistry in the booth. That was easier to create with his current broadcast partners on TNT, Eddie Olczyk and Keith Jones, because while they’ve only been together for two years, he has a connection to both that extends well beyond three decades.

“In 1984, I was 16 years old and a big hockey fan. Eddie was 17 and made the US Olympic team. It was the Olympics after The Miracle in ’80. So, back then I collected some autographs of athletes, like a lot of kids did back in the day. And for some reason I wrote a letter to Eddie Olczyk,” Albert laughs. “Somehow it found its way to Eddie, and he sent me back, in 1984, a team photo of the U.S. Olympic hockey team with his autograph. I still have the actual photo at home. So, over three decades before we started working together, Eddie sent me an autographed picture, personalized.

“And then with Keith Jones, my first job in Baltimore, I did the radio play-by-play for a minor league hockey team called the Baltimore Skipjacks,” he continues. “I was hired in 1990. And I was there for two years, ’90 through ’92. We were the Washington Capitals affiliate. And Keith was drafted by Washington in the late 80s. So he played four years at Western Michigan collegiately. And towards the end of the ’91-92 season, he joined our team in Baltimore when his collegiate career was over. I actually called his first goal that he ever scored professionally on the radio. And I distinctly remember he was sitting behind me on a couple of the bus trips when he joined the team. So, we first met in ’92, and then I did the Washington Capitals games for three years after that.”

That chemistry is important, particularly given the unique setup of a national hockey broadcast, with Jones between the benches on the ice while Albert and Olczyk sit in the press box high above. Even before he called NHL games nationally for NBC, Albert could lean on another past experience to aid in directing traffic with an analyst who wasn’t in the booth, as he spent eight years doing NFL games with Daryl Johnston alongside and Tony Siragusa calling action from the field with Fox. While Albert notes the rhythm of football is far different, the lesson from that experience that translated was that it was incumbent on him to know his analysts well enough to know what they’d want to discuss and leave room for them to jump in when those topics came up.

“A lot of it is getting to know the analyst, sort of studying their tendencies throughout the games that you work with them,” Albert says. “A lot of it’s by feel, if I feel like he wants to say something, and if not, then you know to jump back in about two seconds later. If I take a breather, and Eddie doesn’t say anything and Keith doesn’t say anything, okay, I’ll pick it back up. It’s not an exact science, but amazingly, whether it was Moose [Daryl Johnston] and Goose [Tony Siragusa] on the football side, Eddie and Pierre McGuire at NBC, Eddie and Keith Jones here, Brian Boucher at NBC with Eddie and I at times, they just all had a great feel for one another and very rarely stepped on each other.”

TNT producer Kevin Brown highlighted that ability as well, noting that he thinks a lot of it comes from the camaraderie built off camera — dinners after games with the crew and post-morning skate walks with Jones — as those conversations can inform what goes into the broadcast. It’s all part of Albert’s preparation for games, which Brown notes is invaluable to the broadcast because, inevitably, he has something in his notes on teams that even the packets from the league and teams won’t have.

“I would say as far as like, stats go, I tend to do pretty thorough research, and the league and teams put out great packets, we have a research group that puts out packets,” Brown says. “And then Kenny will, on game day, usually around like two o’clock in the afternoon, he’ll email me a note sheet. It’s usually two or three sheets of notes that he has on each team. And I look it over, I give it to our graphics folks, and there’s always one or two things like, how the heck did you find that?

“We had a game earlier this year where he has on his sheet every time we did a game with Tristan Jarry of the Penguins, he has written on a sheet ‘scored a goal in the AHL,’” Brown continues. “I saw that one game and I said, oh, that’s kind of a neat nugget, maybe next time we have the Penguins, I put in a footage request for that goal from the AHL, whatever it was, six years ago. And then we had a game this year where it was the Penguins and the net was empty at the other end and Tristan Jarry shot the puck down the ice twice trying to score and we had we had that flashback ready. And it was pretty much because Kenny had the note ready in an earlier game.”

The notes are the product of Albert’s first job in the business, which gave him a glimpse into all the preparation necessary to putting on a seamless broadcast for the viewer or listener.

“I would do the stats for my father at Knicks games, Rangers games, NFL games, so I just felt like I had such a head start just by absorbing everything and watching how he worked and the preparation,” Albert recalls. “That’s the number one thing I learned is the preparation that goes into each and every broadcast, and that’s something that I share with young broadcasters when I speak to them, is that the preparation is the most important thing.”

Now, Albert is at the pinnacle of hockey broadcasting, but he’s still as eager as he was as a kid with his tape recorder, running stats, or calling games for the Baltimore Skipjacks. The lessons from his family, mentors, and the many jobs he’s held along the way built the foundation that got him to his dream gig, and he will not taking for granted the opportunity to deliver the call when either the Knights or Panthers lift the Stanley Cup.

Apple officially unveiled its new virtual reality headset at the Worldwide Developers Conference on Monday, and the overwhelming reaction right out of the gate is, “Wait, that thing costs how much?!” Dubbed the Apple Vision Pro, the VR headset arrives with a whopping $3,500 price tag and looks a whole lot like scuba diving goggles.

“It’s the first Apple product you look through, and not at,” Tim Cook said while introducing the, again, $3500 headset that’s controlled by your hands, voice, and eyes.

You can see the launch video below:

And here are some spiffy technical specs via The Verge:

The device is controller-free, and you browse rows of app icons in an operating system called visionOS by looking at them. You can tap to select and flick to scroll, and you can also give voice commands. On top of that, the headset supports Bluetooth accessories, including Magic Keyboard and Magic Trackpad, and lets you connect your Mac to use inside the headset. Downward-facing cameras can capture your hands even if they’re resting low on your body.

The Vision Pro will reportedly have Disney+ support, which will allow you to feel like you’re right next to Mando and/or Baby Yoda during episodes of The Mandalorian. While that sounds pretty neat, the price sticker is still an eye-watering amount, and Twitter users quickly to work dunking on Apple for its wildly expensive new toy.

You can see some of the reactions below:

(Via The Verge)

Unlike Oppenheimer, there’s no “gold standard” way to see Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. Every way is the ideal way to see Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, one of the best movies of 2023 so far.

It’s also one of the year’s biggest hits: the animated film, from directors Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin K. Thompson and writers Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, and David Callaham, made $120.5 million at the box office this weekend and another $88.1 million worldwide. It’s going to be awhile before Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse hits streaming, to the point where there’s not a VOD premiere date yet. Maybe sometime in the fall?

Digital Trends reports:

Netflix and Sony Pictures do have a deal in place, which means Across the Spider-Verse will premiere on Netflix before the end of the year. But an exact date is hard to pin down. At the very earliest, it probably won’t happen before September or October.

The only advantage to watching Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse at home instead of in a theater: you can pause every three seconds to catch the 42,847 easter eggs packed into the frame. I know Spider-Pig (not to be confused with Spider-Ham) is in there somewhere.

For more on Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, read our interview with star Shameik Moore.

(Via Digital Trends)