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It is the end of an era for sister R&B duo, VanJess. Today (March 16), Jessica “Jess” Nwokike revealed that her sister and bandmate Ivana “Van” Nwokike had stepped away from VanJess “about 8 months ago.”

In a note shared to social media, Jess expressed support for her sister and her future endeavors and revealed she has some new solo music on the way.

“…tomorrow is the start of something new,” said Jess.

You can see the farewell note, and a throwback video below.

“Hi guys, it’s Jess. I see you and know how much you’ve been wanting to hear new music and see more from the both of us. The truth is, about 8 months ago my sister decided to step away from VanJess. I fully support and respect my sister in pursuing what makes her the happiest. I know this news is disappointing to you all, but want to thank you for your love and support over the years from watching up record covers in our bathroom to making our wildest dreams come true.

All that being said, this has given me the opportunity to start creating music of my own. I’ve spent the last few months finishing a project I’m beyond excited for you to hear. With my sister’s blessing, I will continue to post here and hope you all stay for the ‘ride’; tomorrow is the start of something new.”

In early 2010, Michael Jordan purchased a majority ownership stake in what was then the Charlotte Bobcats, becoming the first ex-player to become a majority owner of a franchise in the league. In addition to his status as arguably the greatest basketball player of all-time, Jordan was already a key decision-maker with the now-Hornets franchise on the basketball operations side, and his presence on the league’s Board of Governors brought cache in myriad ways.

On Thursday evening, however, a report from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski indicated that Jordan’s run as the majority owner of the Hornets could be coming in to an end in the near future.

Wojnarowski reports that Jordan is in “serious talks” with a group led by Hornets minority owner Gabe Plotkin and Atlanta Hawks minority owner Rick Schnall, even if no sale is currently imminent. Crucially, the reporting indicates that Jordan would not be divesting entirely in this scenario, maintaining a minority stake, but ESPN notes “significant momentum on a sale” and there is a grand difference between being No. 1 and anything below No. 1 on a franchise call sheet.

It will be interesting to see how this progresses and, if a sale does happen, just how much Charlotte’s evaluation would be at a time when franchise values seem to be sky-high. Still, it isn’t done just yet, and this is considered a developing situation with wide-ranging impact.

With just over eight minutes remaining in their opening round matchup with the Princeton Tigers, the 2-seed Arizona Wildcats extended their lead to 10. While they did not look to be at their best, the Pac-12 Tournament champions seemed to have found enough of a groove to help them move on to the second round.

Fast forward to the end of the game and the Tigers managed to pull the upset. The 15 seed in the South region finished the evening on a 9-0 run, took their first lead of the entire game with only 2:01 left on the night, and completely shut down the high-powered Wildcat offense. By the time the final horn sounded, Princeton celebrated its historic, 59-55 victory.

Despite coming into the game with the fifth-best offense in the nation according to KenPom, Arizona had its worst scoring output of the year and only converted 42.1 percent of its attempts from the field. It left the door open for the Tigers all evening, and after an Azuolas Tubelis bucket with 4:45 left, the Wildcats did not score again. Princeton kept chipping away, and eventually, a Ryan Langborg layup through contact put them ahead.

Princeton’s defense came up gigantic, as the Wildcats struggled to get a good look for the remainder of the game. And with just over 20 seconds left, a stunning pass by Zach Martini to Caden Pierce led to the foul and pair of free throws that made it a three-point game, while multiple Arizona misses on the ensuing possession let Tosan Evbuomwan ice things from the charity stripe.

The win means we’re getting an all-Tigers contest in the round of 32, as Princeton will take on Missouri.

Disclaimer: While all of the products recommended here were chosen independently by our editorial staff, Uproxx may receive payment to direct readers to certain retail vendors who are offering these products for purchase.

Welcome to SNX DLX, your weekly roundup of the best sneakers to hit the internet. We’ve had several heavy drop weeks throughout the month of February (one of which included a reimagining of the legendary Jordan 3 White Cement) so it was only a matter of time before we were going to hit a lull, and hit that lull we have! This week there are only about six notable sneaker drops, and two of those, the New Balance Action Bronson BAKLAVA and the Pine Green Nike SB Jordan 4, are extremely limited and will hit a wider release next week. So if you’re a sneaker fan, this straight-up isn’t a great week.

But if luck is on your side, well, whether you land with the BAKLAVA or SB Jordan 4s, you’re going to come away from this week pretty damn happy. Once you scan the kicks make sure you hit up our style roundup to complete your look. Here are the six best sneakers dropping this week and where to find them.

Nike Dunk High Faded Spruce

We’ve seen the high-top Dunk dressed up in vivid and bright colors, but what about a colorway for the people who love the design but prefer a more low-key look? Enter this week’s Faded Spruce. Featuring a black leather upper with forest green pigskin nubuck overlays, this high-top sits on top of a Light Cream midsole, a padded collar, and a classic woven tongue label.

It pushes against not only the trend of vivid and bright Dunks but the colors of the upcoming spring season, which favor much lighter tones.

The Nike Dunk High Faded Spruce is out now for a retail price of $135. Pick up a pair via the Nike SNKRS app.

Air Jordan 2 Low Melon Tint

Another week, another new Jordan 2 colorway! We’ll keep taking them as long as Nike is still giving them. The Melon Tint Jordan 2 swaps out the original all-leather build for some premium suede overlays and a mix of sandy orange tones and a dusty sail upper.

If you were unaware — and we were the first to call it — the Jordan 2 is back and it’s been looking better than ever.

The Air Jordan 2 Low Melon Tint is out now for a retail price of $150. Pick up a pair via the Nike SNKRS app or aftermarket sites like GOAT.

Air Max 1 Corduroy

Our first two picks on this list were classy minimal affairs, they took beloved silhouettes and elevated them just slightly. The Air Max 1 Corduroy spits in the face of that practice. This is a pair of sneakers that calls attention toward it.

Featuring a soft and flexible all-over corduroy upper bathed in ultra-bright Baltic Blue, this Air Max 1 features a splash of contrasting tan tones at the Swoosh and tongue tag with embroidered Air branding at the heel.

The Nike Air Max 1 Corduroy is set to drop on March 17th at 7:00 AM PST for a retail price of $160. Pick up a pair via the Nike SNKRS app.

Nike Women’s Air Max 1 ’87

We went from classy to wild really fast! The Great Indoors brings together popular area rug patterns like tiger stripe, cow-print, and paisley, and slaps them across a white upper with an icy blue matte outsole and silky black liner. This design is all over the place but if that’s your vibe you’re not going to find another pair of kicks this season that checks the box this strongly.

The Nike Women’s Air Max 1 ’87 is out now for a retail price of $150. Pick up a pair via the Nike SNKRS app.

New Balance 990v6 BAKLAVA

New Balance doesn’t have as many celebrities rocking the brand as Nike (who does?) but their roster is steadily growing and this week the brand is linking up with Action Bronson for the “BAKLAVA.” Built on a v6 990 silhouette, the BAKLAVA takes colors from the ‘ocean, the earth, and the sky,” and features a seven-color design that looks different from every angle.

On the shoe, Bronson says it “combines the best of both worlds with sportiness and comfort in a midsize sedan. It’s highly inspired by pistachios, baklava, my life, the layers, there’s lots of meanings.” We love this sort of team up and we’re hoping this leads to more collaborations with both Bronson and other rappers and artists.

The New Balance 990v6 is set to drop on March 17th for an unannounced price exclusively at the SpecializingInLife website. A wider New Balance release is set to follow next week.

Nike SB Jordan 4 Pine Green

This week’s most exclusive sneaker is without a doubt the Nike SB Jordan 4 Pine Green. Dropping exclusively at select skate shops across the country, the Pine Green sports skate-ready enhancements like an altered toe box for an improved secure fit, flexible plastic detailing, and zonal gum rubber for extra traction, turning this court classic into an ideal skate shoe.

The upper features a pristine white leather upper with suede paneling and bright Pine Green accents and contrasting red Jordan branding at the tongue and SB branding at the sock liner. It’s a beautiful sneaker that brings together the style of two design powerhouses: Tinker Hatfield and Sandy Boedecker.

The Nike SB Jordan 4 Pine Green is set to drop on March 17th for a retail price of $225. Pick up the pair at Nike-affiliated skate shops or aftermarket sites like GOAT and Flight Club.

“Try not to become a man of success but rather try to become a man of value.”

In October 2016, that was a quote from Albert Einstein that sat atop the Facebook page of Tim McMillan, a police officer in Georgia.

McMillan become a sensation after a post he wrote on his Facebook wall went viral in 2016. In his post, he explains how he pulled over a Black teen for texting while driving:

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“I pulled a car over last night for texting and driving. When I went to talk to the driver, I found a young black male, who was looking at me like he was absolutely terrified with his hands up. He said, ‘What do you want me to do officer?’ His voice was quivering. He was genuinely scared,” McMillan wrote.

But McMillan said he wasn’t interested in harassing or arresting the young man, let alone inflicting violence upon him. Nonetheless, the teen’s emotional response hit McMillan like a punch to the gut.

“I just looked at him for a moment, because what I was seeing made me sad. I said, ‘I just don’t want you to get hurt.’ In which he replied, with his voice still shaking, ‘Do you want me to get out of the car.’ I said, ‘No, I don’t want you to text and drive. I don’t want you to get in a wreck. I want your mom to always have her baby boy. I want you to grow up and be somebody. I don’t even want to write you a ticket. Just please pay attention, and put the phone down. I just don’t want you to get hurt,'” he wrote.

McMillan said the interaction made him reflect on a deeply personal level about the national attention being paid to acts of police violence against Black Americans, particularly young Black men.

“I truly don’t even care who’s fault it is that young man was so scared to have a police officer at his window. Blame the media, blame bad cops, blame protestors, or Colin Kaepernick if you want. It doesn’t matter to me who’s to blame. I just wish somebody would fix it.”

This story originally appeared on GOOD.

This article originally appeared on 08.31.18

People who decide not to have children are often unfairly judged by those who chose a different life path. People with children can be especially judgmental to women who’ve decided to opt out of motherhood.

“You will regret it!” is one of the most common phrases lobbed at those who choose to remain childless. Why do people think they’ll have such awful regrets? Because they often say they’ll wind up “lonely and sad” when they’re older.

They also say that life without children is without purpose and that when the childless get older they’ll have no one to take care of them. One of the most patronizing critiques thrown at childless women is that they will never “feel complete” unless they have a child.

However, a lot of these critiques say more about the person doling them out than the person who decides to remain childless. Maybe, just maybe, their life is fulfilling enough without having to reproduce. Maybe, just maybe, they can have a life full of purpose without caring for any offspring.

Maybe the question should be: What’s lacking in your life that you need a child to feel complete?

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Studies show that some people regret being childless when they get older, but they’re in the minority. An Australian researcher found that a quarter of child-free women came to regret the decision once they were past child-bearing age and began contemplating old age alone.

People revealed the reasons they’ve decided to be childless in an article by The Upshot. The top answers were the desire for more leisure time, the need to find a partner and the inability to afford child care. A big reason that many women decide not to have children is that motherhood feels like more of a choice these days, instead of a foregone conclusion as it was in previous decades.

Reddit user u/ADreamyNightOwl asked a “serious” question about being childless to the AskReddit subforum and received a lot of honest answers. They asked “People over 50 that chose to be childfree, do you regret your decision? Why or why not?”

The people who responded are overwhelmingly happy with their decision not to have children. A surprising number said they felt positive about their decision because they thought they’d be a lousy parent. Others said they were happy to have been able to enjoy more free time than their friends and family members who had kids.

Here are some of the best responses to the Askreddit question.

1. Never had any desire.

“I explain it to people like this – you know that feeling you get where you just can’t wait to teach your kid how to play baseball? or whatever it is you want to share with them? I don’t have that. Its basically a lack of parental instinct. Having children was never something I aspired to. My SO is the same way.

“Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against children. And I get really angry at people who harm them or mistreat them. I just never wanted my own.” — IBeTrippin

2. No desire. No regrets.

“Nope. It was never something I wanted. No regrets.” — BornaCrone

3. Mixed feelings.

“I have mixed feelings. I don’t care much for children and I think it would have been disastrous for us to have them. I was also able to retire at 52. Pretty sure that wouldn’t have happened with kids. So yeah, absolutely the right decision.
But I love my family and I do wonder what it would be like to have my own, to teach my child the things I know and not to be without someone who cares about me at the time of my death.

“But again, absolutely the right decision and at 55 I’m very happy NOT to have them. This is reinforced every time I’m exposed to other people’s kids.” — ProfessorOzone

4. They never visit.

“My wife worked at a nursing home for years. Imagine seeing for years that over 95% of old people never have family visit. Till they die and people want a piece of the pie. This when I learned that the whole ‘well who is gonna visit you or take care of you when you’re older’ line is complete bullshit. We decided to not have kids ever after that. Made great friends and saw the world. No regrets.” — joevilla1369

5. It wasn’t an option.

“I don’t necessarily regret not having them, but I regret the fact that I wasn’t in a healthy enough relationship where I felt I COULD have children. I regret not being stronger to leave the abuse earlier, if I had been stronger, I think maybe I could have had the choice at least. So yeah… I have regrets.” — MaerakiStudioMe

6. Grandkids are cooler.

“No. I knew what I was getting into when I agreed to marry my husband. He had two sons from his first marriage and a vasectomy. He was worried because I was so young (comparatively, he’s 10 years older). I did think it over seriously and concluded that a life with him compared to a life without him but (perhaps!) with a baby I didn’t even have yet was what I wanted. It worked out for us, we’ve been together for 26 years. As a bonus I have 9 grandchildren. All the fun without the work of the raising!” — Zublor

7. I’d be a bad parent.

“Not one bit. I have never believed that I would be a good parent. I have a short temper, and while I don’t think I would have been physically abusive, my words and tone of voice would be harsh in a very similar way to my own father. I wasn’t happy growing up with that kind parent and I wouldn’t want to subject any child to that kind of parenting.” — Videoman7189

8. I’d rather be the cool aunt and uncle.

“No and I found a partner who feels the same. We are the cool aunt and uncle.” — laudinum

9. Loneliness is underrated.

“54 yrs.old. I’ve lived the past 30 years alone. Presently my dog and I are chillin’ in a nice hotel on a spur of the moment vacation. I’d maybe be a grandfather by now?! I can’t imagine what it would be like to have family. I picture a life lived more “normally” sometimes. All sunshine and roses, white picket fence, etc. but I realize real life isn’t like that. No I don’t regret being childfree or wifefree for that matter. My life can be boring at times but then I look back at all the drama that comes with relationships and think I’ve dodged a bullet. I spent 20 years trying to find a wife to start a family. Then I realized the clock had run out, so fuck it, all the money I’d saved for my future family would be spent on myself. Hmmmmm…what do I want to buy myself for Christmas?” — Hermits_Truth

10. No diaper changes and no regrets.

“Nope. I never had the urge to change diapers or lose sleep, free time and most of my earnings. Other people’s kids are great. Mostly because they are other people’s. When people ask ‘Who will take care of you when you’re old’ I tell them that when I’m 75 I will adopt a 40-year-old.” — fwubglubbel

11. Zero desire.

“I’m 55 (F) and never wanted children. I just don’t much like them, and 20+ years of motherhood sounded (and still sounds) like a prison sentence. Maternal af when it comes to cats and dogs, but small humans? No chance.

“And I’m very happy to be childless. Cannot imagine my life any other way.” — GrowlKitty

12. D.I.N.K.

“Dual income no kids = great lifestyle!” — EggOntheRun

13. Some regrets

“Over 50 and child free. My only regret is that my wife would have been a great mother, and sometimes I feel like I deprived her of that, even though we both agreed we didn’t want kids. Sometimes I wonder if I pushed her into that decision. She works with the elderly every day and sees a lot of lonely folks so it gets to her sometimes. I was always afraid I’d screw up the parenting thing, so I was never really interested in the idea. I’m a loner by nature though.” — Johnny-Virgil

This article originally appeared on 02.08.22

Very often, the right choice isn’t easy. Co-parenting is a prime example of this—no matter how amicable a break-up is, single parents inevitably lose time with their children after a divorce and must deal with the resulting loneliness that happens once the child leaves to spend time with the other parent. Knowing that you’ve made the right decision doesn’t necessarily take away the pain.

That’s why one dad’s video sharing his own experience of his child’s empty room is resonating with other single parents over on TikTok.

The dad, whose name appears to be Angel but goes by @ainjole on the platform, confessed in his video’s caption, “I think the hardest part of coparenting (for me) is dropping my daughter off with her mom and coming home to silence.”

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He continued, “Of course when she’s rowdy and loud, I wish for peace and quiet, as does every parent when they’re overwhelmed. But then I hate it when I have it.”

The video itself shows Angel closing the door after his daughter, Penny, leaves to be with her mom. He is left behind with a mess of toys scattered on the floor—remnants of the fun they shared together.

As heartfelt piano music from Pixar’s “Up” plays, Angel picks up the toys, sweeps and dusts, makes the bed…removing any traces of the past few days.

The video ends with Angel lying alone on the bed, surrounded by carefully arranged stuffed animals, just before he turns off the light.

@ainjole I think the hardest part of coparenting (for me) is dropping off my daughter with her mom and coming home to silence. Of course when she’s rowdy and loud, I wish for peace and quiet, as does every parent when they’re overwhelmed. But then I hate when i have it. #fyp #coparenting #coparentingstruggles #dadsoftiktok #dadtok #singledad #girldad ♬ beauty of pixar – nilsodinson

The father later wrote in the comments, “Now I cherish every scream, every dirty hand print, and every spill.”

The touching video struck a chord in single parents. Angel is clearly not the only one to experience deep sadness during that first silence after a child leaves.

“Damn that’s so accurate. Tired. Sad. Relieved. It’s a weird feeling,” one person wrote.

“Dam bro I do that every Monday don’t have the heart to clean Sunday night after I drop them off,” another added. “The mess reminds me of them.”

One wrote “I miss my daughter everyday till I have her again.I always snuggle with her favorite teddybear till she comes back.”

Several shared how it’s a feeling that never completely goes away.

“I still cry to this day when my kids leave with their dad and it’s been 2 years. It’s something you never get used to,” confessed one parent.

Another added, “Been doing it for 16 years. It’s always rough. I’ve done the lay in their bed in the dark countless times.”

Several others tried to encourage Angel by reminding him that he’s still making the right decision.

“I’ve been doing it for 10 years now and it doesn’t get any easier, but just know 2 happy homes is better than 1 toxic home,” one person shared. “Proud of you.”

Despite feeling sad, Angel seems to be taking things in stride, writing in the comments that “it’s painful to see them go but even more special when they come back.”

Kudos to Angel for sharing this vulnerable moment. This is something that many single parents go through, and while nothing replaces time spent with loved ones, maybe through open conversation there can be a little less loneliness surrounding the subject.

A parrot in Brazil got a lucky break when it was rescued after someone found it with a severely damaged beak. In fact, most of its little beak was completely gone. Birds use their hard beaks to eat, fend off other animals and build nests, and their mouths are essentially their hands while their feet are busy walking, scratching or holding twigs.

Plus, I don’t know if you’ve paid much close attention to birds, but they don’t seem to have a lot of dexterity with their tiny little bird legs. They sort of walk around like peg-legged pirates even though I’m pretty sure birds have knees. (I’m not a bird scientist or a zoologist if that wasn’t clear.)

Luckily for this parrot, Renascer ACN, an animal rescue and rehabilitation facility in Planura, Brazil, had a doctor on staff who not only knows if birds have knees but also knew how to make a prosthetic beak.

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“Bird beaks are made mostly of bone—they’re just a specialized modification of the upper and lower jaw bones shared by almost all vertebrates. The outside of a bird’s beak, however, is covered not in skin, but in a thin, shiny sheath of keratin, the same protein that makes up your hair and fingernails,” Rebecca Heisman shares on the American Bird Conservatory website.

Heisman also points out that since the beaks on birds are made of bone, they cannot grow back if they’re broken off.

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According to PetMD, birds who are missing portions of their upper and lower beak are typically unable to adapt and survive, which is what makes this parrot so lucky. While many other veterinarians likely would’ve recommended humane euthanasia, this bird was spared that fate thanks to a creative doctor.

The bird’s upper bill was almost completely gone and its lower bill was broken when Paulo Roberto Martins Nunziata, the founder of Renascer ACN, first saw the bird. Nunziata began working with veterinarian Maria Ângela Panelli Marchió, who specializes in animal orthopedics and creates animal prosthetics out of resin.

“This parrot was found in a terrible condition and had totally lost its beak. Together with veterinarian Maria Ângela Panelli Marchió, we rescued it as soon as we found out,” Nunziata told Bored Panda.

Panelli Marchió reconstructed the lower beak using polymethylmethacrylate and shaped it by hand to the broken bone. But for the upper beak, she had to create the entire prosthetic out of the same material and attach it using metal brackets into what was left of the top beak. The metal holds the new beak in place, and since it’s made of resin, it’s extremely hard—just like a real beak—and should last for years.

But while the beak reconstruction was a smashing success and is nearly indistinguishable from a natural beak, releasing the parrot wouldn’t be safe.

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“Today it has a normal life. However, it just can’t be returned to its natural habitat because even though the prosthesis is resistant, there’s a risk of it falling over time, as these animals use their beaks for everything,” Nunziata explained to Bored Panda.

Surprisingly, the reconstruction only took one surgery due to the quick-setting nature of resin, and now this sweet parrot can have a normal life as some lucky person’s pet.

Like his character on HBO’s Emmy award-winning drama Succession, Brian Cox is a man of extremes — at least when it comes to his takes on pop culture.

Sometimes the actor has entirely appropriate reads on Hollywood that deserve to be heard — he knows the proper age to write a memoir, he’s not afraid to call Steven Seagal “ludicrous” and Johnny Depp “overrated” in print, he, like the rest of us, adores Keanu Reeves. These perfectly logical soundbites speak to the man’s intelligence and good taste.

And then there are other pull quotes, ones that live in completely obscure profiles from magazines like Haute Living New York that leave us questioning the good judgment of an experienced thespian who could’ve just, we don’t know, said less?

In talking about a documentary project he’s working on that dives into the wealth gap across the pond, Cox brought up the current state of the royal family and, naturally, Meghan Markle’s name got dropped.

“When you look at what’s happening with Meghan and Harry, you go, ‘Well, Harry, there’s an innocence about,’” Cox said. “And with her, too. But you can’t go into a system where somebody’s already been trained to behave in a certain kind of way and then just expect them to cut themselves off. I mean, she knew what she was getting into, and there’s an ambition there clearly as well — the childhood dreams of marrying Prince Charming and all that shit we see as fantasy that could be our lives in our dreams.”

What Cox may have been alluding to is how the royal family’s existence has only exacerbated our obsession with wealth, status, and fame — using Markle’s terrible experience joining it as a cautionary tale, i.e. she thought she was getting one thing and got the complete opposite. But it doesn’t read well and it’s likely to be the topic of plenty of headlines when, in reality, Cox’s closing sentiments on the royal family are much better.

“In my opinion, we shouldn’t have a monarchy,” the actor said. “It’s not viable; it doesn’t make any sense. It’s tradition and all that, they say. I say, ‘Fuck it! Move on!’”

Gwyneth Paltrow has done some strange things in the name of “wellness” but her latest health experiment might just be the most mind-boggling of them all.

Goop — Paltrow’s wellness empire for WASP moms and millennial granola girls fresh from Burning Man — has a long track record of sampling wild and weird health practices in an effort to help its affluent fanbase cure very real health conditions. From jade eggs inserted in a woman’s vagina to “balance hormones” and “regulate menstrual cycles,” to candles that could fix a person’s depression, if a product or a practice reads like clickbait for middle-aged women with an inheritance hoping to look as tight and glowy as a college student fresh from Spring Break in Cancun, it’s going to be featured there. And plenty of the touted healing methods on Goop’s site have been tested by its founder.

Like rectal ozone therapy … which is exactly what it sounds like.

In an appearance on the podcast The Art of Being Well, Paltrow admitted the weirdest wellness activity she’s tried has involved inserting medical-grade ozone (a thing, apparently) into her rectum. And you know what, she kind of loved it.

“It’s pretty weird,” Paltrow said while laughing. “But it’s been very helpful.”

Rectal ozone therapy is reported to “boost oxygen efficiency, balance the immune system, and detoxify the body on a cellular level,” which sounds uncomfortable and exhausting as hell. But look, if you want to go bottoms up in the name of wellness, be our guest. We’ll stick to eating clean, showering, and touching grass every once in a while.