Paul McCartney played the iconic UK music festival Glastonbury over the summer, with a truly wild set. Between singing with the late John Lennon, through technology that had isolated The Beatles’ star’s vocals for the Disney+ Get Back documentary, and bringing both Bruce Springsteen and Dave Grohl out as special guests, McCartney made it a magical experience for all attendees.
Now, he’s opened up about how he felt about it all, during a recent interview with the BBC.
“Festivals are special, but Glastonbury is particularly so and it’s a big event in lots of people’s year. Because it had been cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to Covid, it became more important to pull it off,” McCartney shared. “I’d asked Bruce Springsteen in 2020 if he’d be happy to come onboard and he said yes, and he kept his promise two years later. So that was very exciting, having him and Dave Grohl up on the stage.
“It’s a pretty impressive scene for people in the audience, but we get the whole view up on the stage with the flags and the hills going back forever, so it was quite a big deal that they said yes to joining me in that experience,” he added. “It’s a magical thing, knowing music can do that to people. We’re the only animal on the planet that does that.”
McCartney also touched on seeing James Taylor play live, which was an experience that still brings him to tears.
“Of course, up on stage I can’t really see people’s reactions but I love to hear them because I’ve found myself doing that at concerts. I went to see James Taylor once and started blubbing because it was just so lovely! I was thinking, ‘Oh, I love this guy’ — I’m getting emotional even now!” he said.
Sometimes it might feel like the winter months (especially the holidays) were made for dark spirits and even darker beers. Stouts, porters, Scotch ales, and other dark beers get all the attention during the colder months. And bourbon, single malt Scotch whisky, rye whiskey, dark rum, and other aged spirits take center stage. But don’t undervalue the appeal of a well-made gin this time of year.
Gin offers a nice palate cleanser after the heavy food and dark beers and spirits the holiday season has to offer. It’s literally “merry and bright.” But which gin should you enjoy this season (and the rest of the frigid winter)?
Keeping it classic, I decided to pick eight of the most popular London Dry Gins and blindly nosed and tasted them. The results offer up some great mixing gins and a few true blue sippers!
Here’s the lineup:
Sipsmith
Gordon’s
Broker’s
Burnett’s
Hayman’s
Bombay Sapphire
Tanqueray
Beefeater
Part 1: The Taste
Taste 1
Christopher Osburn
Tasting Notes:
This gin doesn’t start with a ton of aromas. But what it does have, it does well. Juniper is bold and up front, but it’s followed by pine, licorice, orange peel, and other wintry spices. The palate continues this trend with flavors like juniper berries, pine needles, coriander, and lemon zest. The finish is warming, spicy, and memorable.
Taste 2
Christopher Osburn
Tasting Notes:
Complex aromas of juniper, pine, coriander, cinnamon, and other spices highlight the nose. Sipping it brings forth flavors of juniper berries, orange peels, lemon, lime, licorice, cinnamon, nutmeg, and other spices. This is a very flavorful gin with so many bold, spicy flavors.
Taste 3
Christopher Osburn
Tasting Notes:
Pine, juniper, citrus peels. It starts with classic gin aromas but doesn’t move much past that into any exciting scents. Sipping it reveals more bold, floral, piney juniper as well as some licorice, and lemon zest. Overall, it’s just a little light on flavor besides the air freshener-like juniper.
Taste 4
Christopher Osburn
Tasting Notes:
The nose is a trifecta of floral notes, bright, piney juniper berries, and fruity, aromatic citrus peels. Drinking it only adds to this start. Juniper berries and pine needles give way to orange peels, lemon zest, and gentle spices.
Taste 5
Christopher Osburn
Tasting Notes:
Juniper, citrus peels, pine needles, coriander, and various earthy, herbal spices make for very inviting notes. On the palate, I found flavors of bold juniper, orris root, licorice, coriander, and bright citrus. The fish is spicy, sweet, and warm.
Taste 6
Christopher Osburn
Tasting Notes:
While juniper berries are present, this gin’s nose is really propped up by lemon zest, orange, and other citrus aromas. There’s also a floral, herbal dynamic that draws you in. On the palate, I found floral notes, lemongrass, tangerine, lime, juniper, and some coriander. The finish is warming, and gently spicy.
Taste 7
Christopher Osburn
Tasting Notes:
Juniper, orange peels, lemongrass, and just a hint of wintry spices can be found on the nose. It’s not overly exciting, but still inviting. The palate is first and foremost juniper and pine and then moves into orange peel, lemon, lime, and maybe coriander and some other light spices. The finish is a little more abrasively warm than I’d prefer.
Taste 8
Christopher Osburn
Tasting Notes:
For a gin, this is a bit of a one-trick pony. It smells cheap as the only notable aromas are spicy juniper berries and maybe a little lemon. The palate continues this less-than-stellar trend with a heavy dose of juniper followed by lemon and orange peels. That’s really it.
Named for its founder Alexander Gordon, this value gin has been distilled for over 250 years. This triple-distilled London Dry gin gets its flavor from juniper berries, angelica root, coriander, orange peel, and other notable flavors.
Bottom Line:
I wouldn’t suggest buying this gin unless you plan to use it to spike a holiday punch or a drink with a ton of flavors to drown out the aggressive juniper flavor. This one is definitely not for sipping.
Beefeater is an easily identifiable gin due to its bottle that’s adorned with the iconic Tower of London guards that are technically called the Yeoman Warders, but affectionately called beefeaters. This award-winning gin is made with the brand’s original nine botanicals, including juniper, Sevilla orange, almond, or orris root.
Bottom Line:
I was fairly surprised when I saw that this was Beefeater. I expected more from such a well-known brand. All I can say is that you better plan to mix this one with bold citrus flavors instead of drinking it neat.
This gin can trace its history back to the 1700s when Sir Robert Burnett created its original recipe. It’s well-known for its juniper-forward flavor profile and bold, bright citrus flavor. It’s also known for its bargain price.
Bottom Line:
Burnett’s London Dry gin has a nice flavor profile of juniper and a ton of citrus, it just has a bit of an ethanol burn at the end that makes it tough as a sipper. The addition of some water can temper this. It still works better as a mixer though.
Tanqueray is one of the most well-known gin brands in the world and its London Dry gin is one of the best-selling gins. This juniper, licorice, angelica, and coriander-centric gin is currently distilled at Cameronbridge Distillery in Scotland.
Bottom Line:
I’m not a big fan when a gin is a bit one-dimensional. I enjoy juniper but prefer it to be paired with other complementary flavors. Tanqueray does this well. It’s only held back because there aren’t enough distinguishable flavors — it feels a tad muddled to me.
This highly-rated London Dry gin is most known for its label adorned with a dapper gentleman and the tiny black bowler hat that sits on top of the bottle. This quadruple-distilled spirit is infused with juniper, coriander, cinnamon, orange peel, and various other herbs and botanicals.
Bottom Line:
This is a well-balanced gin. While juniper is up front, it’s a great mix of pine, citrus, and spices. It’s also sweet and spicy. A great sipping gin with a single ice cube or chilled.
Sipsmith might not have the history of some of the gins on this list. But even though it was launched in 2009, this well-balanced, flavorful gin has gained a major following, and for good reason. It’s surprisingly well-priced for such a well-made London dry gin.
Bottom Line:
With its citrus flavor, it’s a great gin for a classic gin & tonic, but it’s also complex and balanced enough to make it a great slow holiday sipper.
Bombay Sapphire is just as well-known for its iconic blue bottle as it is for its ten hand-selected herbs and botanicals. These include juniper, almond, lemon peel, coriander, cassia, and even grains of paradise.
Bottom Line:
While many London Dry gins start and end with juniper. Bombay Sapphire’s bold citrus aroma and flavor make unique when compared to its counterparts. This is the sipper for the citrus-forward crowd.
It takes two days to distill and infuse this popular artisanal London dry gin. It gets its balanced, complex flavor from the addition of juniper, angelica, orris, nutmeg, cinnamon, and other herbs and spices.
Bottom Line:
This is a complex, balanced, spicy gin. There are a ton of flavors, but they all meld together nicely to create a multi-dimensional, very sippable spirit.
Part 3: Final Thoughts
Sometimes, it seems like I look for balance above all else. But what I’ve noticed after this blind taste test is that when it comes to gin, I’m looking for complexity, balance, and a ton of flavor. Not just juniper bombs will do for me when it comes to holiday sipping and mixing. You shouldn’t settle for those either.
–99% are excited to see more new movies debuting in theaters.
–97% will attend the theater more often in 2023 than in 2022.
–82% claim the moviegoing experience can’t be recreated at home.
–72% would like to see more movies in IMAX and other premium large screen formats.
Here’s the complete list, along with release dates:
1. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (May 5)
2. Spider-Man Across the Spider-Verse (June 2)
3. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (February 17)
4. John Wick: Chapter 4 (March 24)
5. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (June 30)
6. Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (December 25)
7. Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (July 14)
8. The Hunger Games: The Ballad of the Songbirds and Snakes (November 17)
9. Creed III (March 3)
10. The Super Mario Bros. Movie (April 7)
Highly-anticipated movies that didn’t make the cut include Cocaine Bear, M3GAN, and Magic Mike’s Last Dance. Cocaine bears, murder dolls, and male strippers just can’t catch a break, y’know?
It has only been a few months since Adidas cut ties with Kanye West and the company is reportedly already preparing to start releasing its former Yeezy Supply models without the rapper’s branding. Alleged photos of the rebranded Adidas 350 V2 model hit Twitter, setting the trending topics abuzz with users weighing in on the move. The overwhelming sentiment appears to be that without the Kanye co-sign, the 350s could end up being DOA when they supposedly hit shelves early next year.
Adidas will be moving forward with releasing Yeezy designs without the Yeezy branding in 2023. The first pair will be the Adidas 350 V2 “Granite” releasing January 2023, retailing for $230 dollars pic.twitter.com/eQTcgv9n0h
Kanye’s partnership with Adidas hit the skids sometime over the past year, with the rapper using his social media to criticize Adidas employees, including former CEO Kasper Rørsted and Vice President Daniel Cherry. He called the Adilette Slide a “fake Yeezy” despite some pretty obvious cosmetic differences, and even called out the brand for its Yeezy Day promotion going ahead without his approval — approval industry sources say he refused to give unless his demand to be installed as CEO was granted. When he started making antisemitic comments on social media and in interviews, claiming a cabal of Jews controlled the world economy, Adidas put the partnership under review. In the end, Kanye was sent packing with 100 percent of his brand but none of the designs, which Adidas created with its own resources and some input from Kanye. As it turns out, that brand may not be worth much at this point.
$230 without Ye himself not even associated & the Yeezy branding removed.
gonna be interesting to see if ppl buy the “off-brand” yeezys lol. esp given the fact that a lot of ppl say that yeezy was the only reason the shoes sell (def true for the 350s lol) https://t.co/DoEeok6X07
$230???? Bro people weren’t buying Yeezy because it was Adidas it was because it was attached to Kanye LMAO he’s not there anymore people are not about to be buying this shit surely right??
I definitely won’t at this price point. Comfiest shoes I’ve ever owned but not $230 comfy https://t.co/AI74GKetku
It was later revealed that throughout the partnership, Kanye had behaved extremely unprofessionally, bullying employees, harassing them with porn, and otherwise terrorizing anyone who had to work with him. Although Yeezy Supply brought in at least a billion dollars annually, in the end, Adidas seems better off without him — and if the 350s don’t sell, something tells me they’ll be just fine without them.
As Raw Story reports, Don Jr. took to Twitter to wail about how “Disgusting!” it was that the Times’ crossword puzzle seemed to mimic the shape of a swastika.
Disgusting! Only the New York Times would get Chanukah going with this is the crossword puzzle. Imagine what they would do to someone who did this and was not ideologically aligned with them? I’ll give them the same benefit of the doubt they would give those people… EXACTLY ZERO pic.twitter.com/eZHr0SQbT4
While Junior wasn’t the only person to take issue with the puzzle, which both the paper and designer swear was unintentional, his problem seemed to be less about antisemitism and more about allowing for accidental antisemitism, as evidenced by the question: “Imagine what they would do to someone who did this and was not ideologically aligned with them?”
For their part, The New York Times is defending its puzzle. In a statement to The Jewish Chronicle, a Times spokesperson said: “This is a common crossword design: Many open grids in crosswords have a similar spiral pattern because of the rules around rotational symmetry and black squares.”
This is not the first time the paper’s Games section has had to defend itself against what readers have perceived as anti-Jewish imagery. In 2017, they were accused of another design that looked an awful lot like a swastika, though their response to it was far less formal:
Yes, hi. It’s NOT a swastika. Honest to God. No one sits down to make a crossword puzzle and says, “Hey! You know what would look cool?”
This year, Dave Grohl and Greg Kurstin have taken a different approach to The Hanukkah Sessions, their annual series of covers of songs by Jewish artists. Instead of sharing studio recordings of the songs, Grohl, Kurstin, and a bunch of guests got together for a not-really promoted concert at Los Angeles’ Largo At The Coronet earlier this month, and it’s those performances that the duo is gradually sharing.
The series kicked off on December 18, when they shared their rendition of “Spinning Wheel” by Blood, Sweat & Tears, for which they were accompanied by Judd Apatow. The second performance dropped last night, and it was a rendition of “Get The Party Started,” for which they were joined by Pink herself.
For this rendition, Grohl was on drums while Kurstin took to the synth, delivering a relatively simple instrumental backing for Pink to sing her 2001 hit. The whole thing felt particularly off-the-cuff and fun, with Pink even forgetting her own lyrics at one point before playing it off and carrying on.
Aside from the aforementioned, artists who were also at the concert were Jack Black, Kyle Gass, Karen O, and Beck. If you want spoilers about what other recordings are on the way, here’s the concert’s setlist.
Update 12/20/22: You can now watch the official trailer for The Witcher: Blood Origin below. The Witcher: Blood Origin makes it debut on Netflix on Christmas Day. Scroll down to read everything you need to know about the upcoming series.
Original Article 11/23/22: The Witcher franchise went to an unexpected place recently. Henry Cavill, whose presence was an integral part of why this show is more enjoyable than it needed to be, decided to leave the building. He shall be replaced by Liam Hemsworth, presumably so that Cavill can go back to being Superman with fewer projects on his plate. Hemsworth did the semi-stoic thing on The Hunger Games, but can he please a rabid fandom who loved that Cavill lived and breathed the video games like they were his own nerd-children?
That remains to be seen. Cavill’s second-season co-star (and onscreen mentor as Vesemir), Kim Bosnia, told us how Cavill was the soul of the show as well as its heart and brain. We’ll see Henry for one more season, but the franchise feels different now, and Hemsworth cannot be looking forward to the inevitable scrutiny that his arrival shall bring in Season 4. However, the franchise must travel back in time now for a pre-planned jaunt into the days when elves weren’t considered vermin.
That’s quite a departure from the conflicts seen in the O.G. series, which infamously saw Geralt of Rivia and Jaskier tangle with some angry, ostracized elves. That conflict led to Jaskier amplifying (with a banger) what had actually transpired and painting Geralt as the kicker of elf asses. It’s something that was completely ridiculous, but Geralt didn’t bother to correct The Bard. Now, the elves will get their day in the spotlight with the limited prequel series called The Witcher: Blood Origin.
Netflix’s four-part event series will stream on Christmas Day. A teaser trailer reveals enough sword-and-ax swinging to make John Wick take notice. Now, I’m dreaming of a crossover, but first, here’s that teaser trailer, which travels 1,200 years back in time:
This series, which will star Michelle Yeoh portrays Scian as an elven swordmaster, also stars Jodie Turner-Smith, Jacob Collins-Levy, and Sophia Brown. We’ll probably see the inception of the first Witcher prototype, but before that happens, we’ll see a world where elves weren’t nearly as shunned as they are in the series proper. We’ll see no Geralt, Ciri, or Jennifer, but I can always dream that Jaskier will time travel. Maybe not? Oh well. Let’s do an official synopsis:
Set in an elven world 1200 years before the time of Geralt, Yennefer, and Ciri, The Witcher: Blood Origin will tell a tale lost to history: the creation of the first prototype Witcher, and the events that led to the pivotal Conjunction of the Spheres, when the worlds of monsters, men, and elves merged to become one.
The Witcher: Blood Origin premieres on December 25.
Amid a very public lawsuit with Ticketmaster, Taylor Swift is expected to take in a good chunk of her upcoming tour’s sales. Forbes is reporting that the “Anti-Hero” singer will pull in 48 times more than Ticketmaster will from her upcoming Eras tour. Meanwhile, Ticketmaster will earn substantially less.
One expert told the magazine that Swift could earn $620 million for the Eras tour. If this is the case, Billboard predicts that Ticketmaster would pull in $12.9 million of this.
While the Eras tour is expected to prove lucrative, several Swift fans weren’t able to get tickets, due to an allegedly botched and rigged presale. And hell hath no fury like Swifties scorned. Several fans have filed a lawsuit against Ticketmaster, alleging fraudulent practices and various antitrust violations, including price discrimination and price fixing.
According to a complaint filed in in LA County Superior Court last month, and has since been obtained by NPR, the “Defendant’s anticompetitive behavior has substantially harmed and will continue to substantially harm Taylor Swift fans, as well as competition in the ticket sales marker and the Secondary Ticket Services Market.”
At the time of writing, 26 plaintiffs, who live in 13 states across the US, are among those suing Ticketmaster.
If you didn’t watch the 2022 World Cup final, you missed a historic event. I’m not even a soccer fan and I was sweating long before it was over. It was truly a riveting game.
First, a brief synopsis. At the end of regular time, France and Argentina were tied 2-2. After two harrowing 15-minute overtimes, they were still tied, at 3-3.
Only two other World Cup finals in history have still been tied after two overtimes, in 1994 and 2006. The game then came down to a penalty kick shootout, in which five players from each team faced off one-on-one with the goalkeepers. France missed two of their first four kicks, so when Argentina’s Gonzalo Montiel successfully kicked the fourth goal, the Argentine team walked away the victors.
But there was more that made this game historic. France won the last World Cup in 2018, so if they triumphed this year, they’d be only the third team in history to win back-to-back titles. However, Argentina has Lionel Messi, who has played professional soccer for 18 years and has long been seen as one of the best players of all time but had never won a World Cup. In a career full of championship wins and records, the World Cup title was the only major soccer achievement he had yet to accomplish.
And, to make the match-up even more interesting, France’s star player, Kylian Mbappé, is viewed as the next Lionel Messi, so there was the old guard versus new guard element to this game as well.
It was a World Cup fraught with significant players, but there was one more person to watch—Argentine-American sports announcer Andrés Cantor.
Cantor moved to the U.S. from Buenos Aires, Argentina, when he was a teen and has citizenship in both countries. He watched Argentina win the World Cup in 1978 and in 1986 before he started announcing the global event in 1990. Since then, 59-year-old Cantor has become famous for his sports commentary on Telemundo and his epically long “Gooooooooooooal!” when a player scores. He has also had to call two losing World Cup finals for his home country of Argentina, in 1990 and 2014.
Soccer is popular in a lot of countries, but it’s particularly huge in Argentina. If you want to feel the emotion of an entire country wrapped up in one man, look no further than Andrés Cantor making the call as Argentina scored the knockout goal:
u201cIncredible: Witness Andres Cantor, Buenos Aries born Argentinan-American Broadcast legend calling the penalty which won World Cup for Argentina. All that is good about sports and life ud83cudde6ud83cuddf7ud83cudf99ufe0fud83dude4cu201d
“GOOOOOOAL, Argentina is the champion. Argentina is the world champion. ARGENTINA IS THE WORLD CHAMPION! ARGENTINA IS THE WORLD CHAMPION! ARGENTINA IS THE WORLD CHAMPION! Argentina! Is the world champion! From the sky they did it. You guys did it, players. They won the sky. Argentina is the world champion. Messi is the world champion. It couldn’t be any other way. Argentina. Lionel Scaloni’s Argentine selection is the world champion. Argentina. Argentina is the world champion. … 36 years, waiting … Argentina, Argentina is the world champion.”
However, you don’t have to understand a word he says to understand what he was feeling.
“It was a roller coaster of emotion,” Cantor told the hosts of NBC’s TODAY. “I was just trying to be calm, cool and collected, but I was overwhelmed.”
What an incredible moment for Cantor, who has waited his entire career for an Argentina World Cup win. And to win it in such a dramatic fashion with the legendary Messi gaining the final jewel in his crown—it’s just the stuff sports fans live for.
Congratulations to Cantor, Messi and all of Argentina for their team’s hard-fought victory. Argentina campeón del mundo!
A city in Washington state has pulled off a successful gun buyback event just in time for residents to get some extra holiday cash. The event took place at the Everett Police Department and offered people who turned in their firearms up to $300 per gun, according to The Seattle Times.
The only catch was that the people who participated had to prove that they were in fact residents of the city of Everett. But outside of showing an ID or utility bill with a local address, there were no questions asked about the guns collected. That didn’t stop people from telling their stories on how they acquired their firearm.
Gun ownership in America is like a rite of passage in some families and several of the stories collected by The Seattle Times described inherited firearms. But with the holiday fast approaching and some people wanting to clear out space as well as afford to buy gifts for their loved ones, the “guns for gift cards” exchange couldn’t have come at a better time.
It’s not surprising to most people that Americans have a strong feelings about guns and take full advantage of their constitutional right to own them. The average gun owner in America owns five guns according to researchers. Most people report having guns for protection, while others say they have them for hunting or sport.
Everett Police Department’s “guns for gift cards” buyback, a program that was modeled on similar ones in other U.S. cities, was a great way to reduce the number of guns people have in their houses. Everett resident Guy Axelson told The Seattle Times, “They’re just locked up all of the time. I don’t want any more around than what I need.”
The line to exchange guns for gift cards at the Everett PD was so long that it took people nearly two hours to get to the front to hand over their firearm and collect their gift card. The success of the program contradicted the notion that people don’t want to part with their weapons, as well as showing that if an effective and organized way is presented to reduce the number of guns that people will literally line up to take advantage of it.
One of the best things about this event is that there was no need for political posturing. No one was arguing about guns or Second Amendment rights. There weren’t any protests about what the police department was doing. Everyone there was simply there for a transaction that would put money in people’s pockets right before Christmas.
The entire event took place without any issue. Some residents turned in guns that no longer worked properly and some decided it was better to have fewer guns in their home while they had small children living there. The Seattle Times reported that several folks turned in the firearms due to concerns of rising crime.
Each gun turned in had a monetary value attached to it depending on its type and functionality. For example, AR-15s and AK-47s were worth the most at $300, while rifles and shotguns equaled $200, handguns were $100, and owners of guns that didn’t work were offered $25.
Overall, the police department collected 241 guns, people walked out with a few extra dollars and an entire city felt a little safer.
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