Elon Musk may be the richest man in the world and the soon-to-be new owner of Twitter, but that doesn’t stop him from still getting yelled at by his mom. On Sunday, Musk got in a back and forth with Russia’s space chief over the billionaire helping Ukrainian forces gain access to Musk’s Starlink internet terminals. Following the heated exchange, Musk made a joke about being being poisoned by Russia, which his mom, Maye Musk, did not appreciate seeing on Mother’s Day.
“If I die under mysterious circumstances, it’s been nice knowin ya,” Musk tweeted much to Maye’s chagrin. “That’s not funny,” she responded with angry face emoji.
According to a translation, Russian space chief Dmitry Rogozin accused Musk of aiding a “Nazi” battalion in the Ukraine by providing the use of Starlink. Musk didn’t take the accusation lightly and fired back on Twitter. Via Business Insider:
The translation continued: “Elon Musk, thus, is involved in supplying the fascist forces in Ukraine with military communication equipment. And for this, Elon, you will be held accountable like an adult – no matter how much you’ll play the fool.”
Musk tagged the translation with the comment: “The word ‘Nazi’ doesn’t mean what he seems to think it does.”
Rogozin reportedly fired off more responses to Musk’s tweet, including the one where he joked about dying under mysterious circumstances. “Nobody needs you,” Rogozin wrote in a private tweet. “Stop fooling around.” The Russian official also warned Musk, “you better keep quiet,” after Musk pushed back on the Nazi narrative, so you can see why his mom might be concerned.
Billie Eilish and Olivia Rodrigo are emblematic of the current pop era, where pop stars don’t necessarily have to make strict pop music in order to earn broad acclaim: Eilish works a lot of alternative influences into her songs while a number of Rodrigo tunes are straight-up pop-punk. The artists’ innovative spirits has earned them the acclaim of a pop-punk icon: Blink-182’s Travis Barker.
Barker is the subject of a recent Billboard profile and in an accompanying video interview, he says:
“I like Olivia’s album, I love everything Billie’s done. I won’t say, like, ‘This is pop-punk.’ I’ll say, like, ‘This music that came out — let’s say like Love Sux, Avril [Lavigne], let’s say Jxdn Tell Me About Tomorrow, and [Machine Gun Kelly’s Tickets To My Downfall] — were all inspired by pop-punk.’ It doesn’t mean that it’s just pop-punk or they have to be categorized like that. Olivia Rodrigo is probably going to make an album that has a little bit of pop-punk influence and some other influences, too. Billie’s going to make whatever magical music she’s going to make and she’s going to be inspired by so much. […] You don’t need to follow the rules or keep it as sterile as the record label or whatever the rollout plan might be.”
Netflix’s Ozark recently came to a savage and shattering end with some unexpected developments: (1) Marty Byrde and his entire family made it out alive and presumably headed back to Chicago for good; (2) Ruth Langmore did not survive, which was to be expected, given her actions earlier in the final season. Still, we received a poetic scene with Killer Mike to make that finale hit home in retrospect, and now, fans of the show are left to wonder if maybe there could be a followup.
It would certainly be in Netflix’s best interests to hop on that opportunity, given that the show’s consistently done gangbusters numbers for streaming charts. A followup would also help to wash down those high-dollar slip-ups and keep subscribers hooked when they’ve got a million options to go elsewhere. Ozark showrunner Chris Mundy is acutely aware of how people are probably very upset about Ruth’s demise, but as he told TV Line, talks have happened when it comes to potential spinoff material:
“It’s definitely something that people have talked about a bunch. There’s nothing definitive. We’re lucky that people seem to really like the show so there’s obviously going to be some interest there. There are still ways to stay inside the show and revisit things … I’m sure people probably would’ve been happier if Ruth was out there.”
Nothing would prevent a Ruth prequel, obviously, but beyond that dream, the door has sure been left open for Jonah to continue breaking bad after no one’s quite sure who he ended up shooting at the end of the series. Was it Mel the Private Investigator (while he clutched that cursed cookie jar full of ashes) or did Jonah actually turn the gun on Wendy? I don’t believe anyone has seriously floated the latter as the possibility, but hey, that gunshot went down offscreen. So never say never.
Still, Mundy seems satisfied with finishing Ozark proper, and in fact, he declared, “It was really important for me to end this show.” He declared that any spinoff would be in the same universe but “would be its own distinct thing.” Clear as mud, but I’m keeping my fingers crossed.
Though Big L’s career was unfortunately cut short when he was fatally shot in 1999, just four years after releasing his debut album, he has been heralded for decades. The recognition will continue in a big way as the late rapper is set to have a street named after him in Harlem, his hometown.
Big L’s official Instagram page announced this past weekend, with a flyer, that 140th and Lenox Avenue will be renamed “Lamont ‘Big L’ Coleman Way” and an official ceremony will occur at noon on May 28. The caption was full of gratitude, thanking the 500 people who signed the petition to make this happen.
“It took a whole lot of effort and Support to get to this great point but as an collective we made it happen, The Biggest Thank you’s go out to the Dope 500 plus people who signed and passed the petition around so we could get this street renamed,” the caption read. “There are entirely tooo many good people that gave this their Support, so with all my Heart I personally want to say THANK YOU!!!!”
Big L got his start alongside The Children Of The Corn group, which also featured fellow Harlem wordsmiths Mase, Cam’ron, Herb McGruff and Bloodshed. Big L is known for his debut LP Lifestylz Ov Da Poor & Dangerous featuring tracks such as “Put It On,” “MVP,” “Street Struck,” and “Let Em Have It L.” He was shot and killed at the age of 24.
For the first time since Magic Johnson (1989, 1990) and Michael Jordan (1991, 1992) did it 30 years ago, we will have back-to-back back-to-back NBA MVP winners.
After Giannis Antetokounmpo earned the 2019 and 2020 MVP awards, Nikola Jokic has followed suit by winning the 2021 and now 2022 awards, per a report from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, with an announcement coming officially later this week on a TNT broadcast.
Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic has been voted the NBA’s Most Valuable Player for a second consecutive season, sources tell ESPN. A formal announcement is expected this week.
Jokic averaged 27.1 points, 13.8 rebounds, and 7.9 assists per game (on 58.3/33.7/81.0 shooting splits) to lead the Nuggets to the 6-seed in the West this season, before being dispatched by the Warriors in five games in the first round. Jokic managing that level of production and efficiency despite Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. being sidelined for the entire year was one of the selling points for his MVP candidacy, as the Nuggets were a dreadful team almost any time he took a brief rest on the bench.
Jokic joins Giannis, Stephen Curry, LeBron James, Steve Nash, Tim Duncan, Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Moses Malone, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Wilt Chamberlain, and Bill Russell as players to have won back-to-back MVP awards — only Bird, Chamberlain, and Russell have gone back-to-back-to-back.
Joel Embiid and Giannis Antetokounmpo will finish second and third in MVP voting, both putting forth monster seasons in the East that were worthy of consideration, but ended up just shy of Jokic for the regular season’s top individual honor.
According to Rolling Stone, the “Sicko Mode” rapper made a comeback over the weekend with his first public performance since the tragedy. It was in a Miami club; online pre-sale tickets were $50, while tickets at the doors were $300 for men and $200 for women, as per the doorman.“Travis Scott usually costs half a million dollars to perform at your venue,” the doorman told the magazine. “And he hasn’t performed in seven months, so this one is highly anticipated. We pre-sold all our tables. Reservations were averaging $50,000 tonight.” To skip the line was an extra $200. The writer noted that despite the venue being at full capacity, no one was moshing.
Filmmaker Charlie Minn recently released Concert Crush: The Travis Scott Festival Tragedy, a documentary about the Astroworld tragedy. In an interview, Minn said: “Travis Scott to me is a punk. In my opinion, he is a criminal. Ten people died. How do we get around that?”
I have to admit, getting an unsolicited DM from MSCHF — the Brooklyn-based conceptual art collective famous for pissing off Nike, the Catholic Church, Vans, and a whole bunch of other brands — asking if you’d like to sample their latest drop feels …kind of unnerving. This is a brand that released chips in the flavors of horse meat and maggot cheese, after all. By agreeing to try their newest drop, would I become part of the art itself?
But when I clicked on the link for their latest launch — out today at 8:00 am PST (move fast) — I was transported to a website looking like it was designed by Kelvin Gemstone, which advertised something called Sacred Seltzer, a hard seltzer made from actual holy water. The site featured the phrase “get crunk on Christ!” and I mean… c’mon! It’s not every day that I get the opportunity to drink an art piece that’s sure to piss off religionists everywhere.
So I passed my address over to the people at MSCHF, and in return, they sent me a case of Sacred Seltzer, a variety pack featuring six cans in three flavors. As far as hard seltzers go, the flavors aren’t anything out of the ordinary, we’ve got cherry, mango, and lime, which are probably the three most common flavors across the world of hard seltzers. Each can is also only 5% abv, so this isn’t going to get you any drunker than White Claw. Meaning the real draw here (aside from the fact that it’s a MSCHF collectible) is the other 95% of the liquid — which is Holy Water, blessed according to official Catholic procedure on March 31st, 2022 in LA county California.
As far as MSCHF products go — which have included toaster-shaped bath bombs and satanic shoes with blood in them — Sacred Seltzer is pretty wholesome. Drunkenness is a sin but drinking in moderation isn’t and Sacred Seltzer only has 5% ABV and is 95% holy water. There isn’t anything in the bible about drinking holy water being a sin; in fact, as Ephesians 5:18 states, “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit.”
MSCHF products are collectibles, so if this is the sort of thing that appeals to you, you’re probably not going to actually open it up and drink it. But how could you not be tempted? So we drank it for you. Could we taste the holy spirit? Did we see visions of God herself? Did we, in fact, get crunk on Christ?
The Presentation
Dane Rivera
Right off the bat, we’ve got to give it to MSCHF, like all of their products these Sacred Seltzer cans are beautifully designed. The artwork is reminiscent of Renaissance painters like Michaelangelo, Raphael, and Leonardo da Vinci — turtle power — and the design of Zig-Zag rolling papers. Religious iconography and graphics of juicy and succulent fruit adorn each can, the images would honestly look beautiful in stained glass.
Each can matches the color of the associated fruit and I’ve got to say, as a person who has tasted all sorts of different hard seltzers, MSCHF’s cans are easily the coolest. These look pretty damn refreshing.
They aren’t though… they taste awful.
The Seltzer
Dane Rivera
This stuff doesn’t taste good and that shouldn’t really come as a surprise to anyone. As we mentioned before, MSCHF is an art collective — they aren’t in the business of actually producing the seltzer. The seltzer itself comes from a company called Eliq’s Brewing, a Santa Monica-based beverage company that specializes in all sorts of customized beverages.
If you visit Eliq’s website you’ll find that they offer customized seltzer in three flavors (guess which flavors) and each flavor tastes pretty generic. Not bad, but in no world “good.” Let’s drill down on each flavor just for the sake of satiating any curiosity you might have.
Cherry
Dane Rivera
Tasting Notes:
Oh boy. On the nose, this shit smells straight up unholy. It’s not crispy or refreshing in any way, and unlike White Claw and Truly, which have a light fizzy body and a candy-like flavor to them, Sacred Seltzer Cherry has a stronger malt liquor flavor. It’s blunt, bitter, and stains the palate in this really off-putting way that will make you want to wash it down with a better-tasting drink.
The Bottom Line:
So bad, it’s not even fit for the Judas in your life.
Mango
Dane Rivera
Tasting Notes:
Things take a slight step up with Mango. The flavors here aren’t quite as blunt and bitter as the Cherry, instead, you get some round and pleasing tropical notes with a sweet mango body, but again, the flavor finishes off with this really off-putting dirty after taste that just makes this not very enjoyable to drink.
The Bottom Line:
Better but still far from good.
Lime
Dane Rivera
Tasting Notes:
Maybe it’s because I was already two Sacred Seltzers deep, but this is far and above the best flavor. It still has that dull and dirty aftertaste, but the Lime seltzer was noticeably zesty, with strong citrus notes that dare I say, came across as refreshing. I like it! I’ll never drink it again, but I finished the whole can gladly. I might’ve added some gin and a sprig of mint, but… finished is finished!
The Bottom Line:
It’s an MSCHF product! It doesn’t taste good, but we’re not completely sure it’s actually supposed to. So why would MSCHF make a hard seltzer in the first place? We’re pretty sure the collective is the sort of place that is more likely to ask “why not?” than “why?”
That’s why we love MSCHF, it’s not just the shoes with human blood in them or the Chanel Number 5 bottles filled with Axe Body Spray or giving us the chance to get crunk off Christ that we find ourselves intrigued by. It’s that MSCHF is the only brand that feels like it’s for everyone and for no one at the same time.
Pick up Sacred Seltzer exclusively on the MSCHF app.
This fall, a new docuseries about Tupac Shakur and his mother, Afeni Shakur, is coming to FX and Hulu. Dear Mama offers “an intimate wide-angle portrait of the most inspiring and dangerous mother-son duo in American history, whose unified message of freedom, equality, persecution, and justice are more relevant today than ever.” The series is directed by Allen Hughes and will air on FX and appear on Hulu the next day. Since yesterday was Mother’s Day, FX shared a teaser from the show featuring Afeni explaining her unique parenting style.
“It was my responsibility to teach Tupac how to survive his reality,” she says in voiceover, as black-and-white photos of Afeni with a baby Tupac appear on the screen. “So, Tupac do something wrong: ‘Take your little sorry self in that corner, get the New York Times, and let’s have a debate about it. Not a discussion, a debate. Let me hear what your idea is, stand up, defend it.’” Naturally, Tupac’s seminal 1995 single “Dear Mama” plays over the title card.
Afeni Shakur was a former member of the Black Panther Party and later, after her Rock And Roll Hall Of Famer son’s death, founded the Tupac Amaru Shakur Foundation while running a media company also named after him. She was also the executor of his estate until her death in 2016.
After a decade-long wait, the sequel to the highest-grossing movie of all-time is finally coming out. The first Avatar: The Way of Water teaser premiered before screenings of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (along with numerous other Disney-adjacent trailers), and it’s now been released online. Say what you will about the “Dances with Wolves in space” plot, but Avatar was a dazzling, world-building spectacle, and Avatar: The Way of Water looks even more stunning. Will it make you “sh*t yourself with your mouth wide open”? TBD, but prepare to get wet (not like that, come on).
Here’s the official plot summary:
Set more than a decade after the events of the first film, Avatar: The Way of Water begins to tell the story of the Sully family (Jake, Neytiri, and their kids), the trouble that follows them, the lengths they go to keep each other safe, the battles they fight to stay alive, and the tragedies they endure
James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water, which has a freaking stacked cast, including Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, Cliff Curtis, Joel David Moore, CCH Pounder, Edie Falco, Jemaine Clement, and Kate Winslet (and, uh, also Sam Worthington), finally opens on December 16.
Check out the brand-new teaser poster for #Avatar: The Way of Water. Experience it only in theaters December 16, 2022. pic.twitter.com/S9zu2kirDM
Blended Scotch whisky is a broad and diverse category, encompassing some seriously amazing blended Scotch, while also being the category most rife with clunkers from the bottom shelf up. To put it bluntly, a lot of blended whisky is where big companies hide the barrels that didn’t make the cut for better blends and single malts. That means that when you do find a killer, cheap, blended scotch, it’s kind of a miracle and worth talking about. To that end, I’ve compiled a list of all the double-gold-winning blended Scotch whiskies from this year’s San Francisco World Spirits Competition (SFWSC).
Basically, the blend scotch division at the SFWSC breaks down into four categories: Blended Malt Scotch Whisky; Blended Scotch – No Age Statement; Blended Scotch – Up to 15 Years; and Blended Scotch – 16 Years and Older. There were dozens of blended scotches entered this year, but only 11 took home the coveted double gold medal, which means that every judge at the table anonymously yet unanimously gave that bottle a gold medal. Translation: the whisky was good enough not only to stand out but to grab the judge’s attention.
For this list, I’m listing each bottle and adding tasting notes where I can. While I was a judge this year, I wasn’t on a blended scotch panel, so in places where I wasn’t able to taste, I’ve pulled in notes from the bottler, blender, or distiller where necessary. Let’s get into it!
Also Read: The Top 5 UPROXX Scotch Whisky Posts of The Last Six Months
This blended malt is made for the Australian market. There’s not a whole lot of information about it other than it’s a blend of the “finest” Highland malts.
The heart of Dewar’s is Aberfeldy whisky. This blend is a testament to Master Blender Stephanie MacLeod’s prowess in bringing good whiskies together to make great whisky. The juices are aged for 18 long years in American oak before they’re vatted into a large oak tun and allowed to rest before proofing and bottling.
Tasting Notes:
There’s that signature Aberfeldy honey on the nose with hints of almonds, stone fruits, and red berries. The palate dials all of that in, with a marzipan vibe next to more honey, bruised apricot skins, and dark chocolate-covered red berries. The end is soft, silky, and brings a final bite of sweet oak with a slight tobacco chew.
Bottom Line:
I keep this around for a nice end-of-the-day, on-the-rocks pour. It’s easy drinking, sweet and nutty, and really has a nice softness on the palate. This is easy to see as a winner.
Master Blender Stephanie MacLeod really hits it out of the park with these blends. This one starts with 32-year-old barrels of both single malt and single grain whiskies. Then all the single malts are blended and re-barreled in an “exhausted” barrel (meaning the barrel has aged its last whisky and would otherwise be repurposed). MacLeod does the same with the grain whiskies. Those grain and malt whiskies are then blended and put into another exhausted barrel for a spell. Finally, those barrels are blended and filled into an ex-Pedro Ximenez sherry barrel for a final maturation.
Tasting Notes:
The nose opens with a rich sticky toffee pudding full of black-tea-soaked dates, sharp cinnamon, nutmeg, buttery toffee sauce, and vanilla ice cream with hints of orange zest, wicker, and an old leather tobacco pouch. The palate largely delivers on the nose’s profile with meaty dates, figs, and prunes countered by woody spice, dark fruit leather, and a touch of honey barrel staves. The finish is shorter than expected with all that dark and dried fruit leaving you with a sweetened and wintry vibe.
Bottom Line:
Yeah, this is delicious. A single rock or a few drops of water really open this one up to deeper wintery vibes with creamy eggnog, pumpkin pie, and a hint of savory herbs lurking behind that honey.
Dewar’s Double Double 36 Blended Malt
Bacardi
ABV: 46%
Average Price: $1,800 (Asia-Pacific Duty Free Only)
The Whisky:
This whisky goes through a similar process as the 32 above. In this case, all the 36-year-old whiskies are single malts from Speyside, Highlands, and Islay which are then blended and re-barreled twice before the final maturation in ex-Madeira barrels, creating a Speyside and HIghland/Islay hybrid of sorts.
This whisky was actually taken off the market in 2012 and people lost their shit. Diageo came to its senses and brought it back by 2016. The juice is a blend of single malts only, making it a “pure malt” and not a “blended scotch whisky” (that’s blended malts and grain whiskies). The juice primarily comes from Speyside, Highland, Lowland, and Island malts with a focus on a minimum of 15-year-old Talisker, Caol Ila, Cragganmore, and Linkwood.
Tasting Notes:
Cedar boxes full of sweet fruits lead the nose toward black peppercorns and vanilla pods with an underlayer of sweet green grass. That soft cedar leads the taste with support from grilled tropical fruits, dried roses, spiced malts, and chewy apple tobacco. The mid-palate sweetens with a honeycomb vibe as earthy smoke, singed cedar bark, dark cacao nibs, dry reeds, and an echo of sea spray round out the finish.
Bottom Line:
This is one of my all-time favorite Scotch whiskies. It’s damn near perfect (for its category), especially on a rock or two.
This whisky from the very popular Famous Grouse is a dialed-in expression. The juice in the bottle is a blend of sherry-cask-finished whiskies from The Macallan and Highland Park. The whisky is then cut down to a very accessible 80 proof and then bottled in a nicely understated bottle.
Tasting Notes:
There’s a sweet malt buried under a buttery scone dripping with raspberry jam with a touch of light spice lurking in the background. The sherry really kicks in on the palate with big notes of dates soaked in black tea next to creamy caramel, vanilla cake, and a touch of dry raisins. The end doesn’t overstay its welcome and leaves you with a lovely note of chocolate-covered cherries with a sweet/dry vibe.
Bottom Line:
I really dig mixing with this. It’s a great cocktail base. You can make a pretty dope old fashioned with this or go full Rob Roy with a little sweet vermouth and bitters.
This blended scotch from Loch Lomond is as bottom shelf as you can get in the U.S. That said, this blend takes barrels of grain and malt whiskies from the famed Loch Lomond distillery and leans them towards a fruity and sweet nature before proofing and blending.
Tasting Notes:
A slight note of bourbon vanilla shines through on the nose with hints of citrus, almonds, and watered down honey — kind of like stirring honey into a tepid glass of tap water. The palate has a mix of dried fruits — raisins, prunes, and maybe dates — with more watered down honey syrup, a touch of Almond Joy, and a hint of mulled wine. The end leans into the dried fruit and mulled wine spices with a final note of what feels like smoked honey.
Bottom Line:
This isn’t great, but it’s amazing for a $13 bottle of whisky. Everything is relative, right? The key to this blend is that there’s very little astringency. It’s easy drinking, albeit a little watered down for my palate.
This blend is a throwback of sorts to 1920s blended whiskies. The juice is a blend of sweeter malts and grain whiskies with a touch of peated malt to add that small layer of smoke under the fruit orchards.
“NOSE: Sweet smoke, with traces of burnt orange and green apple, spicy notes of vanilla and caramel. TASTE: Full-bodied with hints of honey and butterscotch, with a long complex finish.”
Bottom Line:
This sounds pretty interesting. I might have to pick up a bottle and put it up against Johnnie Green to see how it stands up.
This is another Scotch whisky that’s blended and bottled for the Australian whisky market. The malt and grain whiskies are blended and then finished in barrels that held spice and peat-forward whiskies. That whisky is then blended, proofed down, and bottled as-is.
“NOSE: Creamy toffee, floral with citrus apples. PALATE: Rich campfire smoke with toffee apples, honey, and custard. FINISH: Medium with spicy, sweet mouthfeel and tingle from the campfire smoke.”
Bottom Line:
This is another label I’ll keep an eye out for the next time I’m Down Under. At the very least it’s a cool bottle.
This blend is a marriage of 14 grain and malt whiskies aged in American and European oak. Those barrels are blended and proofed way down with local water before bottling.
Tasting Notes:
There’s a pretty distinct nose full of bourbon vanilla, roasted almonds, almost burnt toffee, and wintry spices. The palate is basic but leans into the nose’s profile with hints of butterscotch, vanilla cookies, malted oat milk, and a hint of dry wicker. The end is pretty short with dark spices mingling with toffee, nuts, and a hint of dark chocolate.
Bottom Line:
For an 80-proof blended whisky, this isn’t bad. I’d only really use it for mixing highballs, but that’s fine for what it is.
This old-school blend is built around Cragganmore and Glendullan single malts. The whiskies mellow for 12 years before they’re vatted and proofed for this bottling.
Tasting Notes:
There’s cinnamon apple cookies on the nose with a touch of honey, nuts, and dry malt. The taste is very malty with a touch of cedar, tobacco spice, and more honey/apple/cinnamon. The end is warm, malty, and slightly sweet thanks to the honey.
Bottom Line:
This is another great highball candidate. Other than that, I don’t really see this as a sipper unless you have a lot of rocks in the glass — or maybe taking as a shot with a beer.
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