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Cass McCombs has been at it for a minute now, and as his first three projects — the EP Not The Way and the albums A and PREfection — are all around 20 years old, the trio is getting a fresh reissue. This is the first time the projects are in print since their original release in the early 2000s.

McCombs has celebrated the announcement by sharing a previously unheard demo of PREfection track “Sacred Heart,” complete with a new video. On top of that, he’s also going on a quick tour, the As Paint On Fur Tour, starting in September.

Listen to “Sacred Heart (Demo)” above. Find McCombs upcoming tour dates below, along with the tracklists for the vinyl reissues.

Cass McCombs 2024 Tour Dates: As Paint On Fur Tour

09/19 — Santa Cruz, CA @ Moe’s Alley *
09/20 — San Francisco, CA @ The Chapel *
09/21 — Los Angeles, CA @ Lodge Room *
09/25 — Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg ^
09/26 — Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda’s ^
09/27 — Baltimore, MD @ Ottobar ^

* with Papercuts
^ with Advance Base

Not The Way Tracklist

A1. “Not the Way”
A2. “So Damn Pure”
A3. “Opium Flower”
B1. “Your Mother and Father”
B2. “Nobody’s Nixon”
B3. “It’s Getting Colder”

A Tracklist

A1. “I Went to the Hospital”
A2. “Bobby, King of Boys Town”
A3. “What Isn’t Nature”
A4. “AIDS in Africa”
A5. “A Comedian is Someone Who Tells Jokes”
B1. “Gee, It’s Good to be Home”
B2. “Meet Me Here at Dawn”
B3. “When The Bible Was Wrote”
B4. “My Pilgrim Dear”
B5. “Bedding Down Post-Xmastime”
B6. “My Master”

PREfection Tracklist

A1. “Equinox”
A2. “Subtraction”
A3. “Multiple Suns”
A4. “Tourist Woman”
A5. “Sacred Heart”
B1. “She’s Still Suffering”
B2. “Cuckoo”
B3. “Bury Mary”
B4. “City of Brotherly Love”
B5. “All Your Dreams May Come True”

The Boston Celtics are less than a month removed from winning the 18th title in franchise history, and they have spent this summer locking in their core long-term. Derrick White is the latest extension recipient, with a $125.9 million deal that keeps him in Boston, and Jayson Tatum is soon-to-be due the richest contract in NBA history.

However, the owner that will be signing their paychecks likely won’t be the same by the time those extensions kick in, as Adrian Wojnarowski dropped a bombshell report on Monday that the team was being put up for sale by majority owner Wyc Grousbeck.

It’s safe to assume the Celtics, coming off of a championship and being one of the two most storied franchises in NBA history, will fetch a record amount in a sale. What is yet to be determined is who will emerge as a frontrunner for Grousbeck’s majority stake. As Adam Himmelsbach of the Boston Globe notes, this isn’t expected to be a full sale of the team by the entire investment group, but just the majority stake held by Grousbeck (and possibly more).

The Celtics made the news official shortly after the reports came out, noting Grousbeck is expected to stay on through 2028.

The new CBA rules make for some interesting decisions for a new majority owner (or group) coming in, as they’re going to be facing a hefty tax bill but clearly have a championship core. For a new owner, coming in and stripping that down would be a pretty terrible look, so whoever buys the team will need to be ready to invest heavily in hopes they’ll be lifting the Larry O’Brien again soon.

(Spoilers for House of the Dragon, both TV show and book, will be found below.)

In this week’s House of the Dragon episode, Daemon conquered Harrenhal without effort and then immediately descended into a haunted hell that included a young Rhaenyra cameo, which forced Daemon to actually feel some guilt over his actions. That’s rather unheard of when it comes to the rogue prince, but this might or might not have something to do with this mysterious woman who appeared to tell him, “You will die in this place.”

Who Is Alys Rivers?

This mysterious woman should figure prominently into the rest of the season as an alleged Strong bastard who later becomes the “witch queen” of Harrenhal. Her apparent magic includes being able to see into the future, and she might also be the source of Daemon’s hallucinations, some of which are happening against the backdrop of a weirwood tree. It’s no wonder that Alys has been considered a precursor to Melisandre of Game of Thrones.

*** BOOK SPOILERS COMING ***

Alys Rivers has quite a history in George R.R. Martin’s Fire and Blood. Not only does she screw with Daemon’s head, but when Aemond later claims Harrenhal with Vhagar, he also claims Alys and goes all-in on her prophecies, and the two do appear to become a genuine couple. The oddest aspect about their relationship, however, is that Aemond previously delighted in dragging Rhaenyra’s eldest children for obviously being Strong bastards — which (as noted above) might be a description that also fits Alys. Also, Aemond impregnates Alys with an apparent bastard, so the dude’s priorities clearly changed in times of war.

After the death of Aemond (and Daemon), Alys actually rules over Harrenhal’s wreckage as a witchy queen, and she attempted to claim that her son is an heir to the Iron Throne. In other words, we might be seeing much more Alys, spending on how the prequel spin off adapts her story. At least we can guess that Aemond should finally be happy, if only for a short while.

House of the Dragons airs on Sunday nights.

Even though America has come a long way in gender relations over the past few decades men are still far behind women when accepting domestic responsibilities.

A recent study from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ American Time Use Survey found that women aged 15 and over spend 5.7 hours daily on domestic tasks, whereas men spend 3.6 hours, a 37 percent difference. Women with a 35-hour week devote 4.9 hours daily to home chores and child care, compared to men’s 3.8 hours.

In a world where men still trail behind women when it comes to work on the homefront, a Texas UPS driver is going viral for a TikTok video where he urges men to reconsider how they think about domestic responsibilities.

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In a video with over 6 million views, J.R. Minton proudly says he doesn’t “help” his wife with jobs around the house. “I don’t help my wife cook. I don’t help her clean, do laundry, take care of the kids — none of that,” Minton, 32, began his clip.

Warning: Strong language.

@minton__jr

So, why does Minton refuse to help his wife?

“Because I do what I am supposed to do as a father and a husband. I cook. I clean. I do the laundry. I take care of the kids. I can’t help my wife do those things because they are my job, too,” he reveals.

He then urged men to change their perspectives on how they view their relationship to domestic responsibilities and their wives. “Change the way you speak, change the way you think, and grow the f*** up and be a man,” he added.

The video received raves from women in the comments. Sadly, many used the video to share that their husbands have fallen short of Minton’s level of understanding. “My husband sometimes doesn’t even flush the toilet,” Human Robot wrote. “I am sending this straight to my man he needs to see this,” JJsMom added.

“Yep! My husband and I recognize it’s BOTH our kids and BOTH our house, therefore BOTH our responsibility,” Sweetheart wrote.

Minton is an equal partner to his wife because he was raised much differently and wants to right the wrongs of his past. “Pretty much everything about my parenting style is in spite of what I saw when I was growing up,” he told Today.com

Minton knew that his philosophy on marriage was necessary when a woman at Target praised him for doing the “bare minimum.” “I was wearing the baby, and I had two kids in the cart, and this lady comes up to Brittany, and she’s like, ‘Oh my God. Is this your husband!? Look at him. You should take a picture of him,’” Minton said. “I get so much credit for doing nothing. How low is the bar?”

Minton responded to his viral video with a heartfelt follow-up to everyone who loved how he cared for his wife and family. “I’m truly humbled at how far my message has gone,” he said. “However, I’d like to take a second to say: I am not special. I am no ‘unicorn.’ I am normal.”

“Nothing about my parenting style or my commitment to my wife is unique. Although it may seem out of the ordinary, it is far from extraordinary,” he continued. “Every father and husband we know (that seems to come up short) is fully-capable — yet unwilling.” He added that there was one thing that separates dads who do their part and dads who don’t: “Effort.”

This article originally appeared on 10.16.23

Cheerleading is supposed to be a team activity. Most squads have anywhere from 10 to 20 cheerleaders and some have even more than that. But one squad in Nebraska had just four girls, and less than two weeks before the Nebraska State Cheer and Dance Championships, all but one cheerleader had quit.

Most kids would’ve followed suit so close to a big competition and without teammates, but Katrina Kohel, a senior at Morrill High School, decided she was still going to compete—even if it meant she would have to do it alone. Talk about being brave in the face of disappointment. This girl decided she was going to cheer in the competition and she did, without much care for what others thought.

The competition wasn’t just the next town over. It was five hours away, so Kohel and her coach, April Ott, really had to mull it over before committing to making that drive, according to Business Insider. In the end, the teen decided that she didn’t want to just sit in the crowd or stay home; she wanted to perform the routine she spent so much time learning. But the routine required the entire squad, so before they could make the trip, they had to figure out how to make it a one-person routine.

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“I’ve put a lot of time into cheer. It’s just always been a part of who I am, so I didn’t want to end on that note. I wanted to go out on a high one. For that to come true, I didn’t want to end it just by going to watch state. I wanted to compete.” Kohel told Business Insider. So the lone cheerleader and her coach got to work redoing the routine so it made sense with just one person cheering.

The pair told the Omaha World-Herald that they had to rework the whole performance in a week and a half. It was really a battle of sheer will since Kohel was determined to do her best on the mat without her team. Kohel admitted to the outlet that she was nervous, but no one would have known it.

“She was completely confident the whole week that we practiced,” Ott told Business Insider. “It was just 100% confidence, and she just owned it.”

This cheerleader was absolutely unstoppable and she had her family’s full support. Even Ott’s daughter, who was previously a cheerleader at the same high school, tagged along to cheer her on. Kohel’s grandparents stood in for her parents because her brother had a state wrestling tournament and her parents are the coaches. But don’t worry, they were able to see her cheer through Facebook Live.

Support didn’t only come from her family and coach, as other cheerleaders piled into her section and cheered for the brave solo cheerleader. Darin Boysen, executive director of the Nebraska Coaches Association, told the Omaha World-Herald that this was the first time a cheerleader competed alone.

But she didn’t just compete—she placed 8th out of 12 squads, which is the highest Morrill High School has placed in the last three years.

“It’s almost overwhelming, the amount of support I got from all of them,” Kohel explained to Business Insider. “The whole arena was cheering me on. It wasn’t just one little section—it was the whole arena.”

This article originally appeared on 3.2.23

LinkedIn is primarily a platform for working professionals to connect and find employment that aligns with their skills and values. With company layoffs continuing (even increasing in some industries) people have also used the website to courageously share their layoff experiences.

While the main intent behind this is, of course, finding a new job, there have also been some lovely displays of humanity that not only challenge the stigma of being laid off but show the power of a supportive community.

Take this heartwarming story, for example.

Patrick McCarthy, Communications Management & Marketing Leader, recently posted about a layoff that quickly went viral on the platform. Not for himself—for his father.

“This is Pete. He’s my dad,” his post began. “My dad lost his job yesterday. I would tag him here, but he doesn’t have a LinkedIn.”

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Pete, who has had a “starkly different professional journey” than his son, spent most of his life working in the service industry and absolutely loved interacting with customers. His empathy and knack for listening made him perfect for the role. Over his career, Pete had collected thousands of interactions from working at Walgreens, Fry’s, and (most recently) Winco, often being the reason folks came back.

And then, Pete was laid off. His job as a cashier, one that he loved and was good at, was gone.

“As anyone would be, he’s shocked. Overwhelmed. Scared. Emotional,” Patrick wrote.

Knowing his dad didn’t have the same network to easily find a new job, Patrick reached out on his behalf, wholeheartedly believing in the “magic” of the LinkedIn Community. He implored that anyone looking for a candidate with “a LOT of customer-facing, customer service, and service industry experience” send him a message so that he could put them in touch with Pete.

Patrick’s faith paid off—way more than he thought it would. In less than a week, the post was shared over 500 times, with over 600 comments from people wanting to help.

A manager at a nearby Sprouts grocery store said Pete sounded like a perfect match for a clerk position that could even pay his daily wage ahead of time. Another suggested he could be an excellent outdoor tour guide for REI. Someone else referred them to a weekly meetup group led by a career coach.

Even LinkedIn responded, writing, “Pete sounds like a top-tier employee! 💙 Keep us posted as he progresses on his journey, as well as any tips or insights either of you learn along the way—it may help those in a similar situation.”

Truly, Pete’s story already provides some helpful insight. While he might still be in the job-seeking phase, things certainly look more optimistic. And all it took (besides Pete being a lovely human being) was one simple, honest post. As Patrick told Upworthy, “Clearly something about his story connected with others. Humanity. Vulnerability. Empathy.”

The words “social media” and “job market” can elicit some pretty negative visceral responses. Of course, this viewpoint has some merit, but it’s refreshing to see the power of human connection break through the disheartening headlines. Here’s to Patrick and his father Pete, for reminding us that even when things seem bleak or uncertain, the world is full of people trying to help out one another.

This article originally appeared on 2.28.23

For those who love the oh-so fresh feeling of immediately running to brush their teeth after a meal, we got some bad news.

London-based dental surgeon and facial aesthetics practitioner Dr. Shaadi Manouchehri recently shocked around 12 million viewers on TikTok after sharing the three occasions when you should “never” be scrubbing those pearly whites—if you want to actually protect your teeth, that is.

The hardest part about this video, which some viewers are undoubtedly still processing, is that each of these no-no times is exactly when brushing your teeth is the only thing you’ll want to do. So much for instincts.

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Number one on Manouchehri’s list, which caused the most controversy in the comments, is right after vomiting. Yep, you read that right.

“This is because the contents of the stomach are extremely acidic and the mouth is already in a very acidic state so if you brush straight after [vomiting] you’re basically wearing away your enamel,” Manouchehri explained.

Of course, commenters weren’t willing to let this one go without a fight. One viewer wrote, “I would rather lose all of my teeth than not brush after vomiting.”

Manouchehri also says to avoid brushing your teeth directly after eating breakfast. This is because “when you’ve just eaten, the mouth is, again in a “very acidic state,” so if you’re brushing your teeth you’re rubbing that acid on the tooth, which wears down the enamel.” Other sources have also confirmed that brushing your teeth tight after any meal isn’t really recommended.

This goes double for right after sweets. Manouchehri says to wait a full 60 minutes before putting a toothbrush anywhere near your mouth after having something sugary. Because…you guessed it…acid.

Does this advice seem counterintuitive? Don’t worry, you’re not alone.

@drshaadimanouchehri #dentist #dentistry #dentaladvice #learnontiktok #funfacts #londondentist #dentalcleaning #teethbrushing #teethbrushingmadeeasy #teethbrushingtips #londondentistry #marylebonedentist #fypシ ♬ original sound – Dr Shaadi Manouchehri

“Ah, yes, the three times I want to brush my teeth more than any other time,” one person joked.

Luckily, there are few alternatives to try if you want that good, clean mouth feeling but don’t want to compromise your enamel—the simplest being to either rinse with or drink water. You can also use sugar-free chewing gum or conclude your meal with dairy or non-acidic foods, according to Advanced Dental Associates. If you still crave a little more of a hygiene bang, you can opt for a mouthwash with fluoride and using a tongue cleaner, which removes excess acid, per Curetoday.com.

Guess there’s a time and a place for everything, even when it comes to dental hygiene.

This article originally appeared on 4.16.24

Matthew Ables’ family had a Magic Kingdom coupon book from 1978 sitting in a desk drawer and he thought it was an old souvenir.

“It’s been collecting dust since before I was born and I always assumed it was an old family keepsake until I realized that it’s never been used and there’s no expiration date,” he said while inspecting the ticket book with a magnifying glass, in a TikTok video with over 9 million views.

“Which means I’ve either found the golden ticket here, or I’m delusional thinking that the Mouse is going to let me use it to get inside nearly half a century later,” he continued.

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So, he flew to Orlando, Florida, to see if it would work.

I tried getting into Disney World using a 46 year old ticket #disneyworld #disney #themepark #funny #fyp

@matthewables

I tried getting into Disney World using a 46 year old ticket #disneyworld #disney #themepark #funny #fyp

Upon arriving at a ticket booth at the Magic Kingdom, Matthew got nervous because the woman who worked there began “aggressively” stamping “VOID” on his coupon book and then left. Luckily, she returned with a yellow ticket he could use to get into the park.

It’s fantastic that Disney honored the ticket even though it was 46 years old. Especially because today, that would have cost $164, which shows that Disney World prices have risen much, much higher than inflation.

If ticket prices rose with inflation, it would only cost $37.64 to get into the Magic Kingdom in 2024.

Some of the commenters on the video noted that people showing up with extremely old tickets isn’t uncommon at Disney parks. “I used to work Magic Kingdom Guest Relations. This exact scenario would happen a few times a week!” Allison wrote.

This article originally appeared on 2.3.24

The Boston Celtics are the only team that came into this offseason feeling like they didn’t need to do anything other than bring back their current squad. Boston’s run to a title was incredibly impressive this season, as they were the best team in the regular season and dropped a grand total of three games over four rounds.

With most of their main rotation under contract for at least another year, the Celtics wrapped up a deal to bring back their biggest free agent, Luke Kornet, as free agency began and could then turn their attention to contract extensions. After already locking up Jrue Holiday on a long-term deal during the season (and Jaylen Brown last summer), they had a record extension to offer Jayson Tatum and a decision to make on Derrick White. White has become an incredibly important piece for Boston as their starting point guard who unlocks a lot of their defensive versatility and has become a tremendous three-point shooting threat on the other end.

White certainly could have looked to maximize his earnings on the free agent market next summer with a small cap bump coming with the new TV deal, but instead opted to sign an extension for 4 years, $125.9 million (with a player option) to stay with the team that has fully unlocked his best.

White averaged 15.2 points, 5.2 assists, and 4.2 rebounds per game this season on 46.1/39.6/90.1 shooting splits, and upped his scoring output to 16.7 points on 45.5/40.4/92.1 splits in the playoffs. His ability to be a third option offensively while being one of the NBA’s best and most versatile perimeter defenders, creating a nightmarish pairing for opponents with Holiday, makes the Celtics a title team. They’re now locked into this core long-term and might have some second apron things to deal with in the future, but for now they are doing what few others are willing to and paying to keep a title team together.

You never know what kind of announcement you’ll get from George R.R. Martin, but one thing’s for certain: it will not be an update about The Winds of Winter, so don’t even ask.

This time, Martin took to his blog to celebrate an award he received for the writing and world building of Elden Ring, the 2022 hit RPG game. He said, “Back in May of 2023, SFWA presented its Nebula Award for Game Writing to Elden Ring, from Bandai Entertainment and From Software. I did the worldbuilding for that project; Hidetaka Miyazaka and his team did all the rest. We were both honored with trophies,” while Martin was not at the event, he was finally awarded his trophy in June.

In Elden Ring, players venture the Lands Between where they encounter demigods and mythical creatures living in the shadow world and work on perfecting various skills. Rumors have been swirling amongst fans that an Elden Ring adaptation is in the works, and Martin did not confirm nor deny the project.

Of the rumor, Martin has no idea what you’re talking about, so don’t even ask, okay? He wrote, “Oh, and about those rumors you may have heard about a feature film or television series based on ELDEN RING… I have nothing to say. Not a word, nope, not a thing, I know nothing, you never heard a peep from me, mum mum mum. What rumor?” This man knows how to have fun with his fans.

It’s unclear what the upcoming Elden Ring adaptation will be, though with a gigantic world like Elden Ring, a series would make a lot of sense. On the other hand… we’ve already got one show about rings out there.