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There was a three-year gap between seasons three and four of Stranger Things for… reasons. The wait for the fifth and final season of the Netflix series shouldn’t be as long, but don’t expect it to be, like, surprise-released in time for Halloween. The writers are still in the whiteboard portion of breaking down the season, as the @strangerwriters account revealed in a cruel tease on Twitter this week.

“Grid complete,” the tweet reads, along with a blurry photo of the season five story grid. Don’t bother yelling “ENHANCE” like you’re in a Jason Bourne movie, though. It won’t help. Believe me. But that hasn’t stopped Stranger Things fans from trying to decipher what the heck the whiteboard says — and/or thinking their internet connection stinks.

“Yall confession i woke up at like 4am and saw this on my tl and i spent like 20 minutes trying to fix my wifi cuz i thought that was why it was blurry literally got up from bed and restarted the router and everything,” @thvsinks tweeted, while @willeldefender wrote, “i tried unblurring a section but it just looks like a murder scene.”

Only one person has cracked the code:

As long as one of the squares reads “Steve has six little nuggets,” I’ll be happy.

(Via @strangerwriters)

Because the internet is dumb and full of terrors, the Food and Drug Administration was forced to issue a warning this week after a TikTok video went viral for its “NyQuil Chicken” recipe. You’d think this would go without saying, but cooking with cold medicine is obviously dangerous. Not to mention, NyQuil is easily the grossest tasting cough syrup on the market. Now, Dimetapp, that’s where the flavor is, but we’re getting away from the point here: Do not pour cough syrup onto raw chicken (or any food) and then cook it in an open skillet unless you want a lung full of liver damage.

Via FDA.gov:

The challenge sounds silly and unappetizing — and it is. But it could also be very unsafe. Boiling a medication can make it much more concentrated and change its properties in other ways. Even if you don’t eat the chicken, inhaling the medication’s vapors while cooking could cause high levels of the drugs to enter your body. It could also hurt your lungs. Put simply: Someone could take a dangerously high amount of the cough and cold medicine without even realizing it.

After the FDA was forced to warn people not to cook chicken soaked in NyQuil, naturally, the jokes started pouring in on social media. A lot of them (rightly) wondered about how far humanity has fallen. There were also plenty of gas about the seasoning power of Robitussin. Twitter is going to Twitter.

You can see some of the reactions below:

(Via Food and Drug Administration)

On the heels of her sophomore album, Age/Sex/Location, Ari Lennox stopped by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon to perform a medley of cuts from the record.

Joined a group of background singers, a cellist, a drummer, and a keyboardist, Lennox opened with the album’s opening track “POF.”

“What’s that they say / back in the day / ‘It’s plenty of fish in the sea’ / Will somebody explain / What’s with these lame / fish that be swimmin’ to me,” Lennox sings, sounding just as impeccable live as she does on the song’s studio version.

Lennox smoothly transitions into another Age/Sex/Location favorite, “Waste My Time,” a more sensual cut on which Lennox sings, “Waste my time, get on my line / ‘Cause I got the time to waste / Use that mouth / blow this back out / Back up every word you say.”

In an interview with The Breakfast Club, Lennox opened up about going to therapy, a decision she made earlier this year.

‘I was just tired of being a big ball of traumas,” Lennox said. “Just being unaware of what was going on inside. A lot of times, I can be so triggered, and it’s just like ‘Well, why?’…I’m starting to realize that it’s like a cycle, if you don’t realize you’re carrying all this weight, it comes out in different ways.”

Check out the performance above.

Age/Sex/Location is out now via Dreamville and Interscope. Stream it here.

We all know that small acts of kindness can turn into something big, but does that apply to something as small as a pair of socks?

Yes, it turns out. More than you might think.

A fresh pair of socks is a simple comfort easily taken for granted for most, but for individuals experiencing homelessness—they are a rare commodity. Currently, more than 500,000 people in the U.S. are experiencing homelessness on any given night. Being unstably housed—whether that’s couch surfing, living on the streets, or somewhere in between—often means rarely taking your shoes off, walking for most if not all of the day, and having little access to laundry facilities. And since shelters are not able to provide pre-worn socks due to hygienic reasons, that very basic need is still not met, even if some help is provided. That’s why socks are the #1 most requested clothing item in shelters.

Socks are a simple comfort not everyone has access to

When the founders of Bombas, Dave Heath and Randy Goldberg, discovered this problem, they decided to be part of the solution. Using a One Purchased = One Donated business model, Bombas helps provide not only durable, high-quality socks, but also t-shirts and underwear (the top three most requested clothing items in shelters) to those in need nationwide. These meticulously designed donation products include added features intended to offer comfort, quality, and dignity to those experiencing homelessness.

Over the years, Bombas’ mission has grown into an enormous movement, with more than 75 million items donated to date and a focus on providing support and visibility to the organizations and people that empower these donations. These are the incredible individuals who are doing the hard work to support those experiencing —or at risk of—homelessness in their communities every day.

Folks like Shirley Raines, creator of Beauty 2 The Streetz. Every Saturday, Raines and her team help those experiencing homelessness on Skid Row in Los Angeles “feel human” with free makeovers, haircuts, food, gift bags and (thanks to Bombas) fresh socks. 500 pairs, every week.

Raines is out there helping people feel their beautiful best

Or Director of Step Forward David Pinson in Cincinnati, Ohio, who offers Bombas donations to those trying to recover from addiction. Launched in 2009, the Step Forward program encourages participation in community walking/running events in order to build confidence and discipline—two major keys to successful rehabilitation. For each marathon, runners are outfitted with special shirts, shoes—and yes, socks—to help make their goals more achievable.

Running helps instill a sense of confidence and discipline—two key components of successful recovery

Help even reaches the Front Street Clinic of Juneau, Alaska, where Casey Ploof, APRN, and David Norris, RN give out free healthcare to those experiencing homelessness. Because it rains nearly 200 days a year there, it can be very common for people to get trench foot—a very serious condition that, when left untreated, can require amputation. Casey and Dave can help treat trench foot, but without fresh, clean socks, the condition returns. Luckily, their supply is abundant thanks to Bombas. As Casey shared, “people will walk across town and then walk from the valley just to come here to get more socks.”

Welcome to wild, beautiful and wet Alaska!

The Bombas Impact Report provides details on Bombas’s mission and is full of similar inspiring stories that show how the biggest acts of kindness can come from even the smallest packages. Since its inception in 2013, the company has built a network of over 3,500 Giving Partners in all 50 states, including shelters, nonprofits and community organizations dedicated to supporting our neighbors who are experiencing- or at risk- of homelessness.

Their success has proven that, yes, a simple pair of socks can be a helping hand, an important conversation starter and a link to humanity.

You can also be a part of the solution. Learn more and find the complete Bombas Impact Report by clicking here.

Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine is not going well, over seven months since he first drop-shipped troops who weren’t even aware of the mission. Ukraine’s been making significant gains in retaking territory, and the Kremlin has punished lawmakers who threatened to overthrow Putin over this war. Meanwhile, Russian troops never wanted to put boots on Ukrainian ground and have threatened to blow away their general and have even been shooting themselves in an effort escape the hellish conflict.

Putin’s been replacing troops through recruitment at Russian prisons that are also “hell holes,” and the situation has grown so dire that Putin’s not only threatening to use nukes but also announced mass mobilization events in Russia. According to CNBC, he’s increasing weapons production and gearing up to send another 300,000 Russians into battle, although he currently stresses that the mobilization is limited to reservists, at least for now:

A partial mobilization is a hazy concept, but it could mean that Russian businesses and citizens have to contribute more to the war effort. Russia has not yet declared war on Ukraine, despite having invaded in February, and it calls its invasion a “special military operation.”

Putin confirmed that military reservists would be called up into active service, but insisted a wider conscription of Russian men of fighting age was not taking place.

300,000 reservists is a lot of bods, even in comparison to Russia’s 144 million population (as of 2020). According to Fox News, Putin delivered a Wednesday speech to stress that his ability and threat to resort to nuclear weapons is “not a bluff,” and he stressed that if NATO’s “nuclear blackmail” continued, then “we will certainly use all the means at our disposal.” The world must miss the days when Putin’s Botox supply was foremost on his mind, rather than waging a dumb, dismal, and incredibly bloody war for his imperialistic ends.

(Via CNBC & Fox News)

Over the past few days, the internet has been in a frenzy following a TikTok video that Sumner Stroh made, accusing Maroon 5 lead singer Adam Levine of cheating on his wife with her. As Stroh’s video gained traction, so have her past TikTok uploads, which many users have uncovered and deemed as some serious shade towards both Levine and his wife, Victoria’s Secret model Behati Prinsloo.

One TikTok user made a compilation of Stroh’s possible digs at Levine, which include her lip-syncing to Olivia Rodrigo’s “Drivers License” followed by a reaction sound of “I think the f*ck not, b*tch” after the lyric, “You’re probably with that blonde girl.” (Prinsloo is blonde, Stroh is brunette.) There is also another video where Stroh dances around in an angel costume, that was uploaded in November 2020, according to the Daily Dot. Throughout last year, she posted several TikToks of herself set to Maroon 5 songs, including “Beautiful Mistakes” and “Animals.”

Stroh said in an addendum to her original video, “The most important part that I did definitely gloss over is the fact that I was under the impression that their marriage was over. I believe that they were keeping it quiet to avoid the negative press because, as I had said, I was new to LA. So I had just assumed that with celebrities of that caliber, that was just how it was. And that’s why I feel exploited because he knew I believed everything that he said because of my vulnerable position of being new to LA.”

Levine eventually partially admitted to but also denied the cheating allegations in a statement shared on Tuesday, saying, “A lot is being said about me right now and I want to clear the air. I used poor judgment in speaking with anyone other than my wife in ANY kind of flirtatious manner. I did not have an affair, nevertheless, I crossed the line during a regrettable period in my life. In certain instances it became inappropriate; I have addressed that and taken proactive steps to remedy this with my family.”

“My wife and my family is all I care about in this world. To be this naive and stupid enough to risk the only thing that truly matters to me was the greatest mistake I could ever make. I will never make it again. I take full responsibility. We will get through it. And we will get through it together,” Levine continued.

However, it seems the scandalous saga isn’t over, as Stroh eventually took to her Instagram story to offer some choice words about Levine’s statement. “Someone get this man a dictionary,” she wrote.

What was Melania Trump‘s defining moment as the first lady? Was it her “I REALLY DON’T CARE, DO U?” jacket? Or her “evisceration” of the White House rose garden? Or maybe it was time she was caught on a secret recording being haughty about media questions about migrant children (“They said, ‘Oh, what about the children that were separated?’ Give me a f*cking break”) and complaining about Christmas (“Who gives a f*ck about Christmas stuff and decoration?”). Trump would like to set the record straight about that last thing. Not about the migrant children remarks (again, we know her thoughts there), but her hatred of Christmas.

“While I was serving as First Lady of our country, Stephanie Wolkoff secretly recorded several of our conversations. Wolkoff then spitefully edited and released our conversation to create the perception that Christmas is not significant to me,” she said in a statement to right-wing outlet Breitbart. “I will personally set the record straight because the mainstream media has failed to provide context for these misleading exchanges. Christmas is an important time for me, my family, and the American people, and my devotion to the holiday is personal and profoundly serious.”

It doesn’t have to be “profoundly serious.” Just watch The Muppet Christmas Carol, jeez.

Trump’s statement comes after she announced a line of “American” Christmas ornaments (and an NFT collection), which I’m sure is just a coincidence. “PATHETIC! Melania Trump needs to attack ME to sell Christmas ornament NFT’s. What is Melania worried about? She can’t sell ornaments on her own?” Melania’s former senior advisor Wolkoff tweeted. “What’s the next attack against me? When she tries to sell lightweight jackets that say I DON’T REALLY CARE! DO YOU?”

One of the ornaments reads “BE BEST.” There was another one that said “DO BETTER” but Melania gave it to her husband.

(Via the Huffington Post)

Celebrity wax figures are hit or miss. A Billie Eilish one from earlier this year raised some eyebrows, but Madame Tussauds has a strong track record, like with their well-received Drake figure from 2019. Tussauds’ latest figure is of Lil Nas X and it looks fantastic. It’s so convincing, in fact, that the rapper was able to use it to prank some of his famous friends.

In a video he shared yesterday (September 20), Nas is in a room with his figure and he decides to FaceTime some people, calling them but only putting the figure in frame. One of the first calls was to Olivia Rodrigo, who cheerfully answered and seemed to think the call was frozen. The real Nas then jumped in and said, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, it’s a wax figure,” which got a laugh from Rodrigo.

The final call of the video is to Lizzo, who answers by saying, “Hi,” before waiting a beat and exclaiming, “What the f*ck?” Nas then makes the reveal, much to Lizzo’s amusement, who adds, “I f*ckin’ thought it was you. I was like, ‘Why are you in your Met Gala outfit?’”

In the clip, Nas also pranks Troye Sivan, Steve Lacy, Rico Nasty, and others, so check it out above.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

People have paying a lot of attention to Maroon 5 singer Adam Levine in recent days. On September 19, model Sumner Stroh shared a TikTok video in which she alleged she and Levine, who is married to Victoria’s Secret model Behati Prinsloo, had a year-long affair and that Levine even expressed a desire to name his and Prinsloo’s forthcoming child after her. In a second video, Stroh added she is “embarrassed and disgusted” with herself over her role in the situation and that during the affair, she was under the impression Levine and Prinsloo’s marriage was “over.”

Levine later offered a response to the allegations, but Stroh seems to take exception to them, as indicated by a cryptic post she shared after Levine’s statement was released.

In an Instagram Story shared yesterday, Stroh wrote, “Someone get this man a dictionary,” presumably implying that Levine misunderstands the meaning of the word “affair” or that he’s twisting its definition.

Levine’s statement read, “I used poor judgment in speaking with anyone other than my wife in ANY kind of flirtatious manner. I did not have an affair, nevertheless, I crossed the line during a regrettable period of my life. […] In certain instances it became inappropriate. I have addressed that and taken proactive steps to remedy this with my family. […] My wife and my family is all I care about in this world. To be this naive and stupid enough to risk the only thing that truly matters to me was the greatest mistake I could ever make. I will never make it again. I take full responsibility. We will get through it and we will get through it together.”

Last month at the VMAs, Taylor Swift stole the night by surprise-announcing her forthcoming album Midnights, arriving in October. While accepting the final award of the night for Video Of The Year, she said, “I had sort of made up my mind that it might be a fun moment to tell you… my brand new album comes out October 21st. And I will tell you more at midnight.”

She’s telling us even more tonight through a funny TikTok. In a new series called Midnight Mayhems With Me, the pop star is slowly revealing the tracklist through a game of chance with a lottery ball machine. In the first episode, shared at midnight on September 21, she announced the title of the final track, which is… “Mastermind.”

After announcing Midnights, she shared a poetic statement detailing the concept of the record. “We lie awake in love and in fear, in turmoil and in tears,” she wrote. “We stare at walls and drink until they speak back. We twist in our self-made cages and pray that we aren’t — right this minute — about to make some fateful life-altering mistake.

She continued, “This is a collection of music written in the middle of the night, a journey through terrors and sweet dreams. The floors we pace and the demons we face. For all of us who have tossed and turned and decided to keep the lanterns lit and go searching — hoping that just maybe, when the clock strikes twelve … We’ll meet ourselves.”