Her name is Jesse-Jane McParland, she’s from a “wee small Irish town,” and she’s one of the best martial arts performers in the world.
McParland, who is nicknamed JJ Golden Dragon, holds more than 300 martial arts titles, including 12 European Champion titles and 21 World Champion titles—and she’s only 16. She’s been called a martial arts prodigy, and a video of her competing in the World Kickboxing Championships in 2014 that has resurfaced shows why. People simply can’t get enough of her sword skills and her gumption at such a young age.
“Absolute ledge,” wrote @Itsweary, captioning the video, which has been viewed more than 9 million times on Twitter and 11 million times on TikTok. “The ending…”
The ending they’re refering to is McParland letting out a primal scream after wowing the audience with her sword routine. It’s clear that she gives her all to her sport and people loved seeing such fierceness and discipline in such a small package.
“Here’s what I see,” wrote one commenter. “A young girl who will grow up with confidence and inner strength. And no man will dominate or control her. She won’t settle for anything less than equality and respect.”
“Absolutely unbelievable,” wrote another. “You know what I liked the most? With all that skill, talent agility dexterity and unbridled fury, she STILL remembered to bow at the end. She will do great in life.”
McParland is from the small town of Armagh in Northern Ireland and she began studying martial arts at age 3. In a 2015 interview, she told Ellen DeGeneres that she had done ballet and Irish dance, and her parents had tried to get her into basketball, but when she saw people doing karate she was hooked. At first, her father said no as he thought karate was too dangerous, but she was able to convince her parents to let her try karate.
She said when her mom asked her why she didn’t like ballet and Irish dance, she replied, “Mommy, not every girl dreams of being a little princess.”
McParland became a contestant on Britain’s Got Talent in 2015 at 9 years old and made it into the finals as the audience’s wild card choice. She has since acted in movies and television shows including “Into the Badlands” (2015), “The Martial Arts Kid” (2015) and “Robyn Hoodie” (2017).
According to her Facebook page, McParland is currently recovering from major surgery but will be back to her martial arts moves soon. “Nothing gonna keep me away from what I love!” she wrote. She recently started a TikTok page, and you can follow her @jessejane_mcparland.
Check out her most recent video share, with not one sword, but two:
In response to recent antisemitic remarks made by Kanye West, now known as Ye, film studio MRC Entertainment has announced that it is scrapping an upcoming documentary about the music producer and fashion mogul.
West has made claims of being mistreated by the Jewish community, as well as not having as many opportunities for not being Jewish, which he has doubled down on both in interviews and on social media. His outbursts have been excused by companies he’s partnered with for years, namely due to his mental illness (according to CNBC), which has undoubtedly given him a sense of impunity. On Oct. 20, West declared in an interview that “I can literally say antisemitic s— [to Adidas] and they can’t drop me.”
Whether or not this seemingly impulsive behavior is related to a mental health issue (West has been open about his bipolar diagnosis) is almost irrelevant due to the incendiary influence his words have. His allegations not only amplify Jewish stereotypes, but have fueled certain extremist groups—on Oct. 23, the Los Angeles Times reported that demonstrators showed up on the 405 freeway overpass giving Nazi salutes and waving a banner which read “Kanye is right about the Jews.” The toxic power of West’s celebrity is clearly palpable, and therefore dangerous.
When affluent, powerful people freely use hate speech, it often takes an equally powerful entity to put a stop to it, which is why it’s so important that MRC has not only cut creative ties, but has released a statement that perfectly shows how to address antisemitism.
“This morning, after discussion with our filmmakers and distribution partners, we made the decision not to proceed with any distribution for our recently completed documentary about Kanye West. We cannot support any content that amplifies his platform.
“Kanye is a producer and sampler of music. Last week he sampled and remixed a classic tune that has charted for over 3000 years – the lie that Jews are evil and conspire to control the world for their own gain. This song was performed acapella in the time of the Pharaohs, Babylon and Rome, went acoustic with The Spanish Inquisition and Russia’s Pale of Settlement, and Hitler took the song electric. Kanye has now helped mainstream it in the modern era.
“Lies are an important part of all discrimination, and this one is no different. When well crafted, they create the illusion that the action is just, that the bigot is ‘punching up’ at the victim. It’s critical to antisemites, who must explain why they are attacking a people that comprise less than half of one percent of the world’s population. Not a fair fight, numbers wise. But if the Jews are ultra-powerful because of secret evil plots, well, the argument is, it must be fair and ok.The silence from leaders and corporations when it comes to Kanye or antisemitism in general is dismaying but not surprising. What is new and sad, is the fear Jews have about speaking out in their own defense.”
Thankfully, MRC is not the only company to drop West. High-profile brands like Balenciaga, Vogue and, yes, even Adidas have severed ties, as well as major Hollywood Talent agency CAA. The fallout with Adidas has been a particularly big financial blow—since 2013 the shoe company has sold West’s Yeezy line of high-end sneakers, and the collaboration accounted for $1.5 million of his net worth. After Adidas’ announcement, West was immediately knocked out of his former billionaire status.
BREAKING: Adidas is cutting ties with Kanye West over his antisemitic remarks.
The company says it will “end production of Yeezy branded products and stop all payments to Ye and his companies.”
Of course, this isn’t really about wanting someone to get their comeuppance. It’s about accountability—both in terms of West having to be accountable for his actions and for companies having to be accountable for which values they endorse. As the co-leaders of MRC noted (a “Jew, a Muslim, and a Christian,” by the way) this isn’t a fair fight. We have already seen firsthand what results from silence and complacency when it comes to hate speech. Kudos to MRC for setting the example of how to properly take a stand.
If you thought you didn’t know Leslie Jordan, chances are you’ve stumbled across at least one of his videos during the pandemic where he said something funny and a little sassy with his unique southern drawl. Jordan was more recently on “American Horror Story” and “Call Me Kat,” but many people remember him as Karen’s BFF on “Will & Grace.” His character Beverley Leslie was to Karen as Ethel was to Lucy, always a hoot when they got together. Jordan passed away unexpectedly October 24, he was 67.
It’s suspected that Jordan had a medical emergency while driving when he crashed into the side of a building in Hollywood. Heartfelt tributes have been pouring in from celebrities and fans alike, with the overwhelming theme being how genuinely kind he was. It has truly been a celebration of life unfolding across social media for the star after TMZ broke the news.
Several celebrities took to social media to share their disbelief. Loni Love simply retweeted TMZ’s article and added “Noooooooooo” at the top. Jordan seemed to somehow be everyone’s friend and it shows in the tributes to the late star. Some fans are recounting how he helped them through the pandemic.
At the start of the pandemic everyone seemed to be full of hope, and “flattening the curve” seemed like the most patriotic thing you could do. But after being told for what felt like the 300th time that restrictions would be continued, people started having some feelings about it. Then Jordan entered with his video shenanigans that kept us laughing while we all felt trapped inside.
Jordan liked to check in on everyone using videos on Instagram to keep people entertained and feeling less lonely with stories from his life. He typically started his videos with “well shit, how y’all doing?” before launching into a smile-inducing tirade or story about something ridiculous that happened. The comedian could even make the mundane sound hilarious with his attitude and his sometimes over-the-top gestures.
After the release of Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion’s “WAP,” he had the entire internet laughing when he recorded himself listening to the song for the first time. Jordan also used his short Instagram videos to tell funny stories about his mother. All of these things solidified his place in people’s hearts when everyone was just looking for a little sunshine in what seemed like a hopeless never-ending situation.
The actor truly left a joyous legacy behind. Viola Davis, Jordan’s “The Help” co-star captured the sentiment many others have shared who have worked with the star.
Davis wrote on Facebook, “Oh no!!! Leslie!! I have nothing but the fondest memories of you while filming The Help. I’d never been in the presence of anyone who loved life and people as much as you. Your heart was as big as your humor. You lived. You took up space. You were present. Rest well!! I’m proud to have known you.”
Jordan certainly lived life well and his final curtain call has revealed that he made people feel seen and well loved. That’s certainly a legacy to cherish.
America is a country based on the idea that people can believe and say whatever they want. Those core values have helped create a country with a rich tapestry of viewpoints but oftentimes they come into conflict.
The key to the nation’s survival is how we can make peace with that conflict. It hasn’t always been easy, but we’ve always pulled through these struggles by embracing a common belief in democracy. Unfortunately, given the recent spread of election conspiracies, America’s way of healing itself and finding peace in a pluralistic society is in danger. This problem is confounded by the fact that in the upcoming 2022 midterm elections, nearly 300 Republican candidates don’t believe that Donald Trump lost to Joe Biden in 2020.
Many are rightfully fearful that the widespread acceptance of election denial will come to a head during the midterm elections, further weakening American democracy.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg made a strong statement in support of democratic values Monday, October 24 on “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.” He made a simple, but powerful statement to reaffirm the core values that each American must support to maintain a civil society.
u201c”When you lose, you accept the outcome.” u2014 @SecretaryPete on what it means to live in a democracy.nnSee more of Pete and @StephenAtHome’s discussion tonight at 11:35/10:35c on @CBS or @paramountplus.u201d
“One of the most important principles in democracy is that when you lose, you accept the outcome,” the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, and onetime presidential candidate told Colbert. “And I’ve had to do that. Winning is much more fun than losing. I’ve done both.”
We can all have different views, but the one thing we must have in common is a belief in the process of how we make decisions.
“And the reason that’s so important is because we expect the same thing from citizens in terms of policy decisions,” Buttgieg added. “Part of what it means to live in a democracy is that we have this process for getting decisions that all of us have to live by―those of us who agreed with the decision and those of us who were against it.”
“And so if we all have to live with the outcome of each of these policy choices, it’s only fair that the people who make them have to live with the outcome of when we choose which one of them is going to be in charge,” Buttigieg continued. “That’s how the bargain works.”
The idea that we have to reaffirm these core values that the vast majority of us hold dear to our hearts is a bit frightening. But as history has shown us, democracy should never be taken for granted. Since the dawn of civilization, democracy has been the exception not the rule and it has to be continuously fought for in the face of humanity’s innate bend toward tribalism and authoritarianism.
At a time when there are so many issues that America faces as a country, Buttigieg is right to promote the need for us to reassert our belief in democracy. Because once that’s gone, all the rights that we have now may soon be lost, too.
Andor has been widely described as a different kind of Star Wars show — a grittier, more complicated affair that isn’t as beholden to nostalgia and Easter Eggs as the others. What else would you expect from Tony Gilroy, the guy who made Michael Clayton? But it’s done more than get strong reviews. It’s also convinced another major talent to think way outside the box.
In a new interview with Inverse (as caught by /Film), Armando Iannucci — the co-creator of Steve Coogan’s Alan Partridge and the creator of The Thick of It and Veep (plus the films In the Loop and The Death of Stalin, and much else besides) — says he’s been watching the new prequel show following Diego Luna’s Rogue One character Cassian Andor, and it left him feeling inspired.
“It’s really interesting. It’s very different,” Iannucci explained. “Even the music is different than usual Star Wars music. I like that idea of just starting fresh and not being obsessed with the Death Star.”
When asked, point blank, if there could ever be “an Armando Iannucci comedy about politics in the Empire,” he responded, also point blank, “Absolutely.” He recently completed doing his very own Spider-Man comic, so it’s not like venturing over to George Lucas territory is that much of a leap.
Still, this is all very larval stage at the moment. Iannucci said that “whatever it is, as long as it’s an interesting new development rather than more of the same is how I see it. Andor is interesting in that it’s decided to just park everything else.”
As it happens, Iannucci has also stretched out into the world of sci-fi as well. His HBO show Avenue 5, which just started its second season, finds an all-star cast trapped on an interplanetary cruise ship knocked off-course, leading to much amusing chaos. Besides, the Star Wars-verse needs more jokes. Disney+, make this happen.
Group F in the Champions League is shaping up to have one heck of a final day. Real Madrid, the reigning winners of the sport’s top club tournament, are on to the Round of 16, but on Tuesday, the team fell to RB Leipzig, which puts the German side on nine points and in an excellent spot heading into the final matchday in the group.
As for the other Group F game on Tuesday, Shakhtar Donetsk traveled to Scotland to take on Celtic, and early on, the Scottish side took the lead, only for Shakhtar to draw level in the second half thanks to a goal by prized 21-year-old winger Mykhaylo Mudryk. Less than 15 minutes after he drew things level, Mudryk ran into an acre of space and beat a defender en route to Celtic’s goal, and did everything he needed to do to create a chance for someone.
Instead of trying to score, Mudryk laid it off for one of his teammates, Danylo Sikan, who had a wide open goal in front of him. All he had to do is get his feet right and he’d score, but unfortunately for him, he did not get his feet right.
The game would end 1-1, meaning Shakhtar is on six points and Leipzig is on nine. The good news for the Ukrainian is that the two sides face off in the group’s final matchday, thanks to their superior goal differential, they will make it through with a win, and the game will take place at their temporary home pitch in Poland.
I’m a sucker for medieval history, so when I heard that Ben Foster and Michael Caine were starring in a film about the Czech national hero Jan Žižka, set in the immediate aftermath of the Bubonic Plague and covering some of the Hussite revolts, I thought I’d been defenestrated and gone to heaven.
This is a complex period in history, mostly without the tidy little nation-states we’re used to being the players in geopolitical conflicts — complete with rival popes, a burgeoning proto-reformation, peasant revolts, and multiple small-time kings all vying for the title of “Holy Roman Emperor” (whatever that would even mean). It’s an interesting period that’s nice to see on film, even if Medieval proves early on that it’s not especially capable of doing it well.
Writer/director Peter Jákl (who among other things once played Gunter in Eurotrip) tries to cover it all, and even worse, does so with a directorial style that prizes “production values” in the most generic sense over conveying the basics of story like characters, motivation, who is doing what to whom, and so forth. When the players in the drama are numerous and their motives murky, the last thing we need is to have to wonder who’s in the scene, what are they doing, and where it’s taking place. As Bill Murray’s character in The French Dispatch tells his writers, “whatever you do, just try to make it seem like you did it on purpose.”
Jákl, by contrast, depicts chaotic times in a chaotic style, leaving you constantly to wonder, “Wait, am I supposed to know what’s going on here?”
Medieval opens with some scene setting, set to a voiceover by Michael Caine (who oddly sounds like he’s doing a Ray Winstone impression here) — explaining something about how we’re in a period of upheaval. There are two feuding Popes and a continent in general turmoil, all desperate for some leader to unite them; a leader in the form of King Wenceslas of Bohemia (pictured here with a bra on his head, which was the style at the time). Wenceslas needs to travel to Rome to get the Rome Pope’s blessing in order to become the Holy Roman Emperor. Meanwhile, supporters of the rival France Pope are trying to stop him. Obviously.
While Caine’s voiceover sets the scene, Peter Jákl seems to get distracted filming a hawk. As the hawk screeches, with obvious yet vague symbolic value, we’re left trying to work out the allusion before we’ve even begun to comprehend the grounding action. So there are rival popes, an aspirant king, and some kind of dormant empire… and who is this guy talking again?
Caine’s character turns out to be a guy called Lord Boresh, and immediately after his voiceover we meet our star and protagonist, Ben Foster as Jan Žižka, who in the first act leads a band of mercenaries protecting Lord Boresh’s procession from a gang of assassins. Žižka watches the action from up on a ridge, counting down the knights protecting Lord Boresh, and not intervening until they’re almost all dead. Finally, Žižka and his boys spring into action, killing all the assassins except for the last, who they give the choice to join their mercenary gang or die (which, according to the movie, was sort of Žižka’s “thing”). Lord Boresh gasps, “Why did you wait until the last knight to intervene?”
Žižka just sort of smiles and the scene ends. Answer the question, Žižka!
We go the entire movie without really ever learning who Lord Boresh is or why, exactly, he’s important. He’s meant to facilitate King Wenceslas getting to Rome, somehow. The assassins, we do learn, were apparently sent by Lord Rosenberg (Til Schweiger), whose function, again, is fairly opaque. Rosenberg seems to be a sometime rival, sometime ally of King Wenceslas’s half-brother and rival, King Sigisimund Of Hungary (Matthew Goode). Medieval clearly positions Sigismund, through tone and affect, as the villain, though what exactly he wants and why often isn’t clear (something sinister, I’m sure!). Mostly what we learn in the fight scenes is that Peter Jákl wants this to be a manly action movie and that he really likes the image of people bleeding underwater (a motif he will repeat over and over, often without conveying who is doing the bleeding or what side of the battle they were on).
At some point, Žižka’s band of mercenaries kidnaps Rosenberg’s wife, Katherine (Sophie Lowe). She also happens to be the niece of the king of France. This is important, somehow. Team Žižka plans to ransom her, but they fight over to whom. Jákl constantly elides key story details in order to get to the broad movie stuff, like “this guy is heroic!” “These characters are in love!” And “this is the redemptive arc!” The movie shouts things that should be subtext so loudly that what’s actually happening tends to get drowned out.
The most compelling thing about Medieval, other than the setting of a post-pandemic power vacuum (the timeliness wasn’t intentional, most of it was shot in 2018) is wondering whether it’s actually going to make any sense by the time it’s over. Not only does the ending not explain all the plots and intrigue it covers, we come to realize that none of these interludes were really why Žižka is considered a Czech national hero in the first place. Nope, this was all largely prologue, just like in Guy Ritchie’s King Arthur movie that ends on a shot of the Round Table just being built.
Medieval is a bit like if an American filmmaker made a movie about Tom Brady for foreign audiences, and it was about all the things that led up to his decision to play quarterback. Then at the end some text told us how he won six Super Bowls. I don’t know, man, I think maybe you should’ve led with the six Super Bowls?
‘Medieval’ is available on digital platforms on October 25th and Blu-Ray on December 6th. Vince Mancini is on Twitter. You can read more of his reviews here.
While on his Give You The World Tour promoting his new album Gemini Rights and its hit single “Bad Habit,” the Los Angeles-born singer has run into some bumps in the road. Most recently, during a tour stop in New Orleans, he ended the show early after asking fans to stop throwing things on stage and immediately being hit with a disposable camera. Piqued, he destroyed the camera by throwing it on the ground and walked off the stage, leaving fans disappointed. He addressed the incident today in a post on Instagram.
“my shows been fun as hell!” he insisted. “shoutout to the people not throwing disposable cameras at me and just coming to catch a vibe and connect. had a really good time in nola last night. i hate that the beauty of the connection i have with so many people in the crowd gets lost when something negative happens. i don’t believe i owe anyone an apology. maybe i couldve reacted better? sure. always. i’m a student of life. but i’m a real person with real feelings and real reactions. i’m not a product or a robot. i am human. i will continue to give my all at these shows. please come with respect for urself and others.”
Lacy’s concert crowds have also caught some flak online as attendees’ unfamilliarity with even his biggest hit drew criticism for “TikTok fans” on Twitter. In a few viral videos circulating online, Lacy looks flustered after encouraging the audience to sing along to “Bad Habit” — which recently spent its third week at No.1 on the Hot 100 — and being met with silence from the young concertgoers.
We’ve spent a lot of time deep diving into Chipotle’s small but flexible menu and on our journey we’ve learned a lot. We’ve broken down each of Chipotle’s protein options, singling out the best permanent and limited-menu options. We’ve built the perfect Chipotle burrito, a monument to flavor that’ll make your knees weaken after each bite. And we’ve built not one, but threeamazing burrito bowls, that offer everything from big flavors to healthy eats for those keeping it keto.
This leaves us with only one area of the menu we haven’t covered — the taco.
Chipotle offers both soft and crunchy tacos and since those are two very different beasts, we couldn’t settle on just one build. So we made two! As with our burrito and bowl, we came to this recipe after extensive testing and, in doing so, found that the best way to build a Chipotle taco is to keep it simple. That’s going to be a bit controversial because Chipotle is a place you can famously hack to get a whole lot of food, but this isn’t about that. We’re simply trying to create the best taco your money can buy, and that means skipping out on a lot of ingredients that your instincts might tell you to add.
Don’t trust those instincts. Trust ours — we haven’t led you astray yet! Let’s begin with the better of the two taco options, the Chipotle Crunchy Taco.
The Best Chipotle Crunchy Taco
Dane Rivera
The Build:
The Beans:
No beans. I know, I know, it seems insane because they’re there, looking delicious but beans don’t really belong in a taco, especially a crunchy taco. If you want to skip meat entirely, sure get the pinto beans, but at that point, you’re better off eating a bowl or a burrito than a taco. Also, the juice from the beans is going to seep into the crunchy tortilla, and it’ll crack.
We’re trying to avoid that.
The Rice:
No rice either. There just isn’t room for the rice here, and what is it going to add? Texture? This is a crunchy taco, it’s got texture down. Limey rice? Look, I’m not sure we ever need that.
I know it’s hard, but skip the rice, it’ll leave more room for the meat.
The Meat:
We’re going with barbacoa. It’s the juiciest meat, making it a dangerous choice considering we’re dealing with a crunchy shell, but it’s also the most malleable. Since the meat here is shredded, it’ll take on the narrow form of the taco shell easier than any other meat option. In addition to the form factor, barbacoa is Chipotle’s best protein option. We know this, we’ve done the tests. The combination of oregano, bay leaf, and clove gives this meat a great herbal and earthy taste which pairs well with the savory meaty flavor.
In a crunchy taco, the meat is the star of the show.
The Fajitas:
This one hurts to say but skip them. I love fajitas, but the savory, vegetal, and sweet flavors of roasted onions and bell peppers just don’t really fit in this build. Don’t worry though, we’ll be getting those flavors elsewhere. It’s a tough sacrifice, but one we need to make.
Salsa:
Tomatillo-red chili salsa on the side. It’s tempting to just get it directly in the taco, but we want to keep moisture to a minimum. A crunchy taco is perfectly dippable, so this shouldn’t matter too much. Of course, feel free to order whatever salsa you like best, but in our opinion, the tomatillo red packs the most flavor and the most spice. The mild salsa is also a good option.
Pico De Gallo:
This is a must. The Pico de Gallo acts as a counterbalance of flavors to the barbacoa. Where the meat is savory and earthy, this is fresh, vegetal, and spicy. Every crunchy taco needs tomatoes, and this is the closest you’re going to get to that at Chipotle. The cilantro and onion don’t hurt either! Together with the meaty barbacoa, the Pico de Gallo is going to result in a very delicious medley of flavors. Even if you aren’t the biggest fan of Pico, trust us, give it a try, it really makes all the difference.
Sour Cream:
Skip it. We don’t need this moisture or the tangy flavor. If you can’t live without the tang, go ahead and get it on the side. It does add a satisfying fatty quality to the taco, but that’ll serve you better in a vegetarian build.
Cheese and Lettuce:
Absolutely. Not every taco needs cheese, but if it’s in a crunchy shell, you absolutely cannot skip this ingredient. The cheese is going to bring salty, creamy, and sweet flavors into the equation. The lettuce is mostly there as a palate cleanser, these flavors are going to combine into something intense, the lettuce waters it down just a little bit and creates some separation between the flavors allowing you to appreciate them more. It sounds counterintuitive to add the lettuce, but I find that the taco is a bit too rich without it.
Guacamole:
Dane Rivera
Optional. Throwing a spoonful of guac into your taco is going to crack the shell, guaranteed, so you might want to consider getting your guacamole on the side. Luckily, a crunchy taco is perfectly dippable, so if you get it on the side, you can still dunk your taco between bites.
Tasting Notes:
Each bite should be ecstasy on your tastebuds. It should be a journey of flavors from meaty, savory, and earthy with a hint of spice to refreshing and textural with a creamy and salty finish and an after-taste that lingers fresh and spicy on the palate — all wrapped up in a perfectly crunchy shell.
And how about that shell? It tastes like a delicious fried tortilla, unlike Chipotle’s chips which are so packed with lime they’re almost inedible without salsa and guacamole. Once you dip this taco it elevates the already delicious flavors to something truly mouthwatering.
The salsa is the real star of the show, the taco will already provide subtle spicy sensations thanks to the seasoning of the meat and the pico de gallo, but if you really want to feel the heat the tomatillo red salsa will introduce an intense wave of spicy flavors to the palate.
The lettuce and pico de gallo will do a nice job of calming some of that heat down, just enough for you to be willing to indulge in another dip. I think this is a more essential ingredient to the taco than the guacamole, but the guacamole will calm things down if the heat becomes too intense.
The Best Chipotle Soft Taco
Dane Rivera
The Build
The Beans:
Again, no beans. Beans make a lot more sense in a soft taco than a crunchy taco, but only if you’re subbing the beans for the animal protein. If you get beans in your soft taco the bean juice will make the tortilla soggy, and most of them will fall out of the taco as you eat it. Who wants that? Never forget — just because Chipotle has an ingredient, doesn’t mean it belongs in your meal.
The Rice:
Ditch it. Again, if you’re getting no meat, definitely add rice. Rice, beans, and corn in a taco are incredibly satisfying, but if meat is involved, it’s only distracting and it’s taking up valuable real estate that is better spent on other ingredients.
The Meat:
Barbacoa baby! Always barbacoa, for all of the same reasons we picked it in the crunchy taco. If you’re not down with barbacoa’s earthy flavors and spice, go ahead and get the chicken.
The Fajitas:
Absolutely. This taco is going to be so much better with fajitas. The grilled onions and bell pepper will add a lot of depth to the earthy flavors of the meat, infusing some sweetness and a vegetal finish that will mingle nicely with the lingering spice of the barbacoa.
Salsa:
I almost always think salsa is better on the side this way you can distribute it as you see fit, but go ahead and do you here. But if you let Chipotle add the salsa into the taco, you’ve been warned, it’s going to be messy, especially if they are busy. As is always the case, I think the Tomatillo red salsa is the best choice, but the mild also adds a sweetness to the taco that can be very satisfying.
Sour Cream:
Sour cream in a soft taco? Get out of here.
Corn Salsa
Get it. Adding it will make the taco overall sweeter with a more pronounced red onion flavor while adding some texture.
Cheese and Lettuce:
Lettuce? Absolutely not, it’ll ruin your taco. Cheese? This is a hard one for me but… you don’t really need it. There is a reason cheese isn’t on a lot of traditional Mexican soft tacos, it’s not really a necessary ingredient and it distracts from the medley of savory meat and fresh vegetables. If we’re talking about some fried panela, sure, go wild, but we’re not because we’re at a Chipotle.
So, for the first time in any of our Chipotle builds, we’re going to say the cheese is optional.
Guacamole:
Optional. In a perfect world Chipotle would have both guacamole and fresh sliced avocado but look around you. We don’t live in that world. A few slices of avocado would really take this taco to a new level, but a glob of guacamole? It just creates a mess. If you can’t live without the guacamole, get it, but I find it tends to mush up the taco and gets all over your hands and face while you eat it. It’s better to enjoy the guacamole with some chips on the side between bites.
Tasting Notes:
The soft taco really allows the barbacoa to shine. The way the meaty juices carry that cool herbal blend of seasonings, the hit of spice that lingers on the palate, the tender mouthfeel, the pronounced pepper, and adobo, it really puts into perspective just how good the barbacoa is when you don’t have a bunch of other ingredients distracting from the flavor. The fajitas up the sweet factor and add a vegetal finish to the whole thing that just wraps the flavors together in the perfect way. Cilantro would be the perfect finish to this thing, but Chipotle for some odd reason doesn’t have fresh cilantro among their wealth of options.
The Bottom Line:
Pretty bare bones right?
I really struggled with these builds, trying all sorts of different combinations of flavors because ignoring half of Chipotle’s offered ingredients just felt wrong. But that’s the thing with build-it-yourself menus, they offer a lot of possibilities but the best experiences are often curated. A taco should be a showcase for what’s in it, and when you want everything, you end up with something less than the sum of its parts.
When it comes to tacos, whether we’re talking crunchy or soft, less is more.
The interviews — 20 in total, amounting to eight hours of raw audio — come as Woodward promotes his latest audiobook, The Trump Tapes, which chronicles the then-president’s reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic, among other things. You’d think Trump would salivate over the idea of his voice droning on for the MAGA masses to enjoy but the reaction the tapes are getting from political analysts has made him a bit defensive over “his voice.”
“The interview is a hot diaper mess that mainly illustrates Trump’s narcissism and willful ignorance,” Shafer writes. “He doesn’t really know anything, which is forgivable. But he also doesn’t want to know anything, which isn’t.”
Despite Woodward tossing intelligent, hard-ball questions Trump’s way on everything from his friendship with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un to his lackluster response to the pandemic to his efforts to pressure Ukrainian officials to dig up dirt on President Joe Biden, the real-estate tycoon had a humiliating amount of trouble stringing along coherent sentences and focusing on anything other than himself. Even Woodward gets frustrated with Trump’s inability to offer straightforward answers on the simplest of topics, saying, “He is staggeringly incautious and repetitive as if saying something often and loud enough will make it true,” Woodward writes.
And, despite Trump praising Woodward as “a great historian” on the tapes, he’s singing a different tune now that they’ve been released with so much scrutiny. Trump told Fox News’ Brian Kilmeade that Woodward was “a very sleazy guy” for releasing the audio without his permission.
“In many ways, I like the tapes, I insist on tapes, but I also say the tapes belong to me,” Trump said. “That means Woodward has to get whatever deal he made, you know, we’ll probably end up in litigation over it. Because we gave tapes for the written word, not tapes to sell.”
That’s obviously not how any of this works, but that hasn’t stopped him from promising to do his favorite thing and sue the guy. He also took to his Truth Social account to complain about Woodward’s unauthorized use of his voice.
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