Following up on her electrifying singles “Mans World” and “Purge The Poison,” Marina returns to share the title track off her impending album Ancient Dreams In A Modern Land. Like her previously released songs, the energetic tune contends with climate change the world humans will leave behind.
“Ancient Dreams In A Modern Land” features buoyant synths under Marina’s hypnotic lyrical delivery. “Our ancestors had to fight to survive / Just so we could have a chance of a life / We’re not here so we can blow it all / We could bear witness to the rise and the fall,” she sings, reflecting on her place in history and how our actions impact the earth’s future.
Just ahead of the song’s release, Marina sat down for a 30-minute live Q&A session with fans on YouTube where she answered questions about her upcoming album. The singer said that while the first few singles released off of Ancient Dreams In A Modern Land have been overtly political, the album as a whole also centers around themes of love. “I think half of the record is socio-political, but that’s something I’ve been doing for much of my career anyway, since The Family Jewels,” she said, mentioning her 2010 debut album. “Half of the record is more relationship or love-inspired songs. I think we’re in an interesting time because everything feels political. We’ve all been inspired or pushed to be political because of the crazy times we’ve been experiencing.”
Listen to “Ancient Dreams In A Modern Land” above.
Ancient Dreams In A Modern Land is out 6/11 via Atlantic. Pre-order it here.
Marina is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Yippee ki yay, gamers — Call of Duty’s midseason event is just about here and it’s jam-packed with tons of iconic 80s action that’s headed to Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, Warzone, and Call of Duty: Mobile. The ’80s Action Heroes event begins May 20 and, according to the official Call of Duty blog, features “limited-time bundles and game modes, in addition to the weapons, maps, and other features already expected during this season.” At the center of this event are Die Hard‘s John McClane and Rambo, who are being added as playable operators. While this still leaves the Call of Duty series a few dozen licensed characters away from reaching Fortnite levels of crossover events, the trailer for this one looks like a blast and certainly is filled with ’em.
Among the event’s limited-time offers are “Rambo” and a “Die Hard” bundles, with both bundles available to purchase starting May 19 at 9 PM PT until they are pulled from the store on June 18. According to the Call of Duty blog, The “Rambo” bundle includes the “Legendary Operator; two Finishing Moves, including one using his signature bow and arrow; three Legendary Weapon Blueprints—an assault rifle, an LMG, and a Knife Blueprint; a Legendary Calling Card and Emblem; and an Epic Watch and Charm.” The “Die Hard” bundle includes “the Legendary Operator, a Finishing Move, three Legendary Weapon Blueprints—one tactical rifle, one SMG, and one assault rifle—a Legendary Calling Card and Emblem, an Epic Watch, and an Epic Weapon Charm.”
In addition, major changes are being made to the Verdansk map in Call of Duty: Warzone. For starters, Die Hard’s Nakatomi Plaza has “moved from sunny Los Angeles to Verdansk’s Downtown for a limited time.” The plaza will be the tallest structure to enter the game thus far and includes five floors of fun for players. Around Verdansk, several camps are being converted into Rambo-style “Survival Camps.” Lastly, one of the aircraft hangars in Verdansk’s northwest sector has been converted into a CIA Outpost, “as these agents need a home base to start tracking down the elusive Rambo.”
All these Warzone changes are accompanied by new game modes in both Black Ops Cold War and the mobile game. For more information, be sure to give the lengthy official blog post a read.
The Chicago Fire Department captured a cat’s miraculous plunge from the fifth floor of a burning building on video, and the fact that the cat came away from the jump uninjured is an incredible testament to feline physiology.
Someone from the fire department was filming the exterior of the building while firefighters fought the fire. Suddenly, a black paw reaches out a window of the fifth floor. Then it disappears for a bit—time for whatever spacial calculus cats do in their heads—and then a whole cat leaps out and sails downward, legs outstretched as onlookers gasp and scream.
Somehow, he manages to clear the concrete wall and land on a narrow patch of grass, bouncing once as he hit the ground on all fours. Then he ran off to hide under one of the firefighter’s cars.
Watch:
Nine lives for a cat that jumped from fire at 65th and Lowe. Cat hit grass bounced and walked away! https://t.co/LRBsjMta2Z
“It went under my car and hid until she felt better after a couple of minutes and came out and tried to scale the wall to get back in,” fire department spokesman Larry Langford told The Guardian. He said the cat was uninjured. (No other injuries were reported in the fire, either, thankfully.)
The “she” is actually a “he,” and he’s a housecat named Hennessy. The owner says he has not returned since the fire and neighbors are on the lookout for him in the Englewood neighborhood.
Cat update. Hennessy the flying cat has not returned home yet. Neighbors near 65th and Lowe are out looking for th… https://t.co/M0CYLgpf1U
How do some cats perform such feats and walk away unscathed? It’s actually a fairly simple—though still super impressive—mix of physics and physiology.
For one, a cat’s terminal velocity is comparatively low, so they don’t hit the ground as fast as we would. They also have a relatively large surface area in comparison to their weight, which reduces the force with which they hit the ground.
Of course, cats can and do injure themselves falling or jumping from high heights. But their survival rate is pretty mind-blowing.
In 1987, researchers studied 132 cats brought to a New York City emergency veterinary clinic after falling from high-rise buildings. A whopping 90% of treated cats survived and only 37% needed emergency treatment. One cat even fell 32 stories onto concrete and only ended up with a chipped tooth and a collapsed lung. It was released after 48 hours.
“Being able to survive falls is a critical thing for animals that live in trees, and cats are one of them,” Dr. Jake Socha, a biomechanist at Virginia Tech, told the BBC. “The domestic cat still contains whatever suite of adaptations they have that have enable cats to be good up in trees.”
If cats fall, they are quickly able to rotate their bodies to land feet-down. If they jump like the black cat did from the burning building, they have even more control. Cats will splay out their legs to create more drag, like a parachute, and their powerful leg muscles act as shock absorbers (which explains the bounce when Hennessy hit the grass).
The way cats’ legs are built also help keep their bones from breaking.
“If the cat were to land with its legs directly under him in a column and hold him stiff, those bones would all break,” Dr. Socha told the BBC. “But they go off to the side and the joints then bend, and you’re now taking that energy and putting it into the joints and you’re getting less of a force at the bone itself.”
That doesn’t mean, of course, that it’s perfectly safe to let your cat hang out on your balcony. Cats being injured from falls from high heights is known as feline highrise syndrome. People assume that because cats can survive leaping from great heights that it’s not a problem if they do, and since cats do like high places, being careless about windows or balconies can put pet cats in danger. Falls put them at risk of serious injury, such as shattered jaws, broken teeth and limbs, or punctured lungs.
Our feline friend in Chicago gave us an impressive example of what cats are capable of, but he was lucky to walk away uninjured. Thanks to the firefighter who made sure Hennessy was okay, and hope he finds his way back home soon.
If you love true crime and Loki — and let’s be real, who doesn’t? — we’ve got great news for you. In the upcoming Disney+ series, it looks like the God of Mischief might just be stirring the pot even more so than usual by placing himself at the center of (or at least, heavily referencing) one of the FBI’s biggest unsolved mysteries: the case of D.B. Cooper. Now, while it might seem strange for this straight-out-of Doctor Who plot to pop up in a Marvel series about a villainous god, bear with us as we explain.
In all the trailers that have been released leading up to the show’s premiere this June, clips of Loki aboard an airplane and dressed in an unusually dapper manner have made an appearance. Based on both the model of the plane, retro flight-attendant outfit that a woman on board is seen sporting, Loki’s appearance, and the show’s premise heavily involving time travel, all signs point to Marvel deciding to have a little revisionist history fun with one of the wildest extortion cases around. And hey, if you’re still not sold, just take a look at this pretty damning piece of evidence:
So now that you are undoubtedly sold on this idea, there is a chance you might be wondering what the deal with the actual D.B. Cooper is. While we may not be able to provide you with as many details as your favorite unsolved mysteries podcast, here’s the gist.
D.B. Cooper is the name the FBI gave to a gentleman named Dan Cooper, who still remains the only person to ever hijack a commercial airline and get away without a trace — literally. The incident took place back on November 24, 1971, on a Boeing 727 aircraft making a trip from Portland to Seattle. While aboard the flight, Cooper managed to hijack the plane and successfully extort $200,000 and four parachutes from the airline before jumping off the jet somewhere above the Pacific Northwest. The case was investigated for, get this, 45 years before it was eventually suspended (not solved) in 2016.
Despite us approaching 50 years since the incident took place, interest in the case still remains, and even as recently as last year we’ve gotten full-length documentaries on the subject. One of the most notable ones, and our recommendation if you’re looking to brush up on your Cooper lore before Loki, is HBO’s The Mystery of D.B. Cooper (that features the FBI/AP drawings shown in the above image), which “brings to life the stories of four individuals fervently believed by their family and friends to be D.B. Cooper.”
All in all, it looks like Loki has a lot of mysteries to solve for us, such as what’s going to happen when this Loki variant discovers his family’s fate, how will Loki fix the timelines and potentially return in the MCU, how did D.B. Cooper get away with it, and, most importantly, will he also get his own catchy jingle? Here’s hoping we get some answers starting on June 9, 2021, when Loki premieres over on Disney+.
In Allblack‘s new video for “War Stories,” he and Mozzy keep DMX’s legacy of hyperviolent but secretly super sad lyricism alive, detailing both the bloody shootouts that peppered their lives with tragedy and the deep mental scars such trauma can bring in its aftermath. “Sometimes I wish I wasn’t loved so much, I’d die today,” Allblack mulls. “Next birthday, I’ma put a bomb inside my cake.” The sentiment is similar to X’s verse on Mase’s “24 Hours To Live,” in which X seemingly decides that 24 hours is just too long and he’s going out with a bang.
Meanwhile, Mozzy’s verse is less depressed but no less grim. “The homies popped the homie, I tried to tell him he wrong,” he remembers. “He don’t care though, all black Forces you know we wear those.” Detroit rapper Peezy brings up the anchor verse, coming a bit more boastfully but with an anxious undercurrent amid the triumphant tone. “Used to sell raw, cook crack up in the kitchen sink,” he muses. “Now I gotta wake up early for a business meetin’.” At least the story has a happy ending.
“War Stories” is the latest single from Allblack’s recently released album TY4FWM, which finds the Bay Area fixture rapping with fellow NorCal rhymers E-40, G-Eazy, Guapdad 4000, and Rexx Life Raj, as well as more Detroiters such as Sada Baby and even Long Beach’s Vince Staples. You can listen to that here.
Watch Allblack’s “War Stories” video with Mozzy above.
Who Killed Sara?: Season 2 (Netflix series) — Alex Guzmán’s working hard to uncover the Lazcano family’s darkest secrets, which might have something to do with his sister’s death. In the process, he unmasks Sara’s true nature that she kept hidden from almost everyone. Meanwhile, a mystery corpse is discovered buried in his patio, which doesn’t help the whole return-to-prison factor. To save himself, he must take on investigative hats to solve the title’s mystery.
Hindenburg: The New Evidence (PBS, 9:00pm) — The 1937 Hindenburg disaster gets the spotlight here, so settle in to observe scenarios that could have sparked the Hindenburg’s ignition. It’s all down to a novel invention of experiments, so get ready.
Nancy Drew (CW, 9:00pm) — The Drew Crew teams up with Ryan to take down Everett while Nancy receives a word of warning from Carson.
Late Night With Seth Meyers — Sen. Bernie Sanders, Action Bronson, Brian Frasier-Moore
In case you missed these recent streaming picks:
Pride (Friday, FX 8:30 p.m.) — You’ve probably heard of the Red Scare led by Senator Joseph McCarthy, who led a fear-mongering set of 1950s probes into alleged Communism within the federal government and the U.S. Armed Forces. This series will shine the light on McCarthy-instigated Lavender Scare to reveal even more government-sanctioned persecution, specifically of gay men and lesbians who worked for the feds, at a time when McCarthy hysterically branded them a threat to national security. This limited series will sprint through the decades, including the “Culture Wars” of the 1990s and the continued battles for trans rights that persist today.
Oxygen (Netflix film) — Alexandre Aja (The Hills Have Eyes, Piranha 3D, Horns) brings this survival thriller to Netflix. Mélanie Laurent (6 Underground, Inglourious Basterds) stars as a woman who has no idea why she’s waking up in a cryogenic pod. She’s running out of oxygen, fast, all while attempting to find her way out of this awful situation.
Life is a forever-winding path filled with crossroads and intersections. At times, navigating this journey is as easy as breathing and walking; decisions are made with help from destiny and subconscious thought, going unrecognized unless one requests it from the file cabinet of the mind. Other times, destiny takes a step back and leaves us in charge of commanding the journey. Even with the highest dose of wisdom present, questions of where to turn, when to stop, slow down, or speed up become far too dreadful to answer.
As we all had to do in some corner of our lives, Jorja Smith has been left to make these decisions and, as she unveils on her new EP Be Right Back, the choices before her are some that most would hate to choose from. On the lovelorn project, Jorja engages in a mental tug of war in the often unpredictable world of love and is left to decide what’s best for her: holding on in hopes of receiving better or letting go in fear of prolonging the bad before experiencing the worst.
Be Right Back is the English singer’s first project since her 2019 debut album, Lost & Found, an effort where she quite literally discovered herself. Songs that she wrote as a naive youth grew beside her with age and became tales of what once was, what is now, and what could be. The EP not only signals her return to music, as it’s her first project in over two years, foreshadows more to come for those who crave more from Jorja, just like that morning cup of Joe.
The scene is set as Be Right Back begins. The singer is knee-deep and tangled within the webs of unrequited love on “Addicted.” Jorja craves her lover like a caffeine addict does with their cup of coffee, but unlike that morning boost of energy that seeks nothing in return from its consumer, Jorja needs reciprocation from her companion. “The hardest thing / You are not addicted to me,” she croons with a voice filled with agony on the track. “I’m the only thing you should need / You should be addicted to me.” It’s at this moment that the unsettling crossroad presents itself.
The worst thing about these journeys is you’ll never know what’s next. No amount of astrology, prayer, or fortune-telling can give a play-by-play of the future that we’d all love to have. The gains and losses that come with each turn are vastly unpredictable. Taking one path can cause the extinction of another and sacrificing something else can spark the appearance of something new and better. So when Jorja deals with the pain of departure on “Gone” and “Weekend,” and inflicts some of the same on “Time,” it’s all with the hope that maybe one day she’ll make the right decisions to bring her towards the happy moment she desires.
For what it’s worth, Jorja can end a chapter in love if it proves to be necessary. After a whirlwind of doubts blur her perception and confidence towards a successful relationship on “Home,” Jorja opts to step away from it as her worries only seem to weigh her down. “Why can’t we leave it? Should’ve left it as just another chapter,” she ponders over the soft strums of an electric guitar. “It stays the same, will always remain with my heart in doubt.”
As a result, her bags are packed and she continues on her journey towards what’s next and what is hopefully better for her. Be Right Back sees her take a momentary break from the path she travels to document the scenery and events she experienced. It’s never the destination, but rather the journey, so timely pauses to take in what’s occurred are often necessary to avoid repeating mistakes and being lost — again — within it all.
Spending a car payment on a bottle of bourbon is a great big swing. But with serious money comes some pretty serious whiskey. Booze in the $300-$500 range represents an investment in your own bourbon journey. It means you’re looking for something truly unique, because that’s definitely what you get at this price point.
It should go without saying, these prices are not for beginners or anyone just dipping a toe into the broader bourbon world. These whiskeys are the ones you hunt down, cherish, and break out when something truly spectacular happens in your life. Or maybe you store one of these expressions in a vault and sell it down the road for a tidy return. (Option three is that you have unlimited means and none of this caveating matters — in that case, PLEASE SHARE.)
All that being said, we’re not in quadruple digits… yet (we’ll get there). So consider these 10 bourbon whiskey picks to be fairly accessible, compared to what’s to come. Still, we’re clearly getting deep into collector’s item territory with special one-offs and hard-to-find limited releases that we may never see again. That makes this step in our “bourbon at every price point” project a whole lot of fun.
This whiskey from Angel’s Envy is much beloved and lauded. It’s been called the “best spirit in the world” before, which brings a lot of preconceived notions to this bourbon. The story behind the bottle is a classic tale of sourced whiskey barrels treated exactly right once picked.
The blend of hand-chosen barrels are finished in port casks like the majority of the much-loved Angel’s Envy bourbon line, then bottled with no cutting or fussing.
Tasting Notes:
Based on the 2020 limited release, you’re going to get a nose full of fruits — spicy stewed plums, ripe apricots, and tart cherry — next to a well-aged balance of worn library leather-bound books, ashy wood, and a sugar-maple cookie with a good punch of vanilla. The taste really holds onto the cherry while adding in a salted caramel vibe next to bitter dark chocolate all housed in a cedar box that was once the home to rich tobacco leaves. The end brightens up with a burst of orange zest next to that tobacco and cedar as the finish takes its sweet time fading away.
Bottom Line:
You get a clear sense of “classic” old bourbon notes with a pretty big alcohol kick. For this price, what you’re really paying for is the expertise of Angel’s Envy team finding truly special barrels and presenting that experience in the glass.
This special release from Old Forester celebrates 150 years of whiskey making by the brand with “150” at the core of the line. Master Taster Jackie Zykan created three batches of this limited release from 150 barrels that were specifically selected by Master Distiller Chris Morris. Once these bottles are gone, there won’t be a whiskey like this from Old Forester again.
Tasting Notes:
Based on Batch no. 1, you’ll be greeted with a mingling of menthol and anise with rich and buttery caramel next to a hint of holiday spices and a touch of sweet fruit. The palate embraces the holiday spice and adds in a peppery edge while the sweetness leans towards pancake syrup with a hint of dark chocolate and old wood beams lurking in the background. The finish marries the dark chocolate to the almost chili pepper spice on the medium-length finish as flourishes of orange oils, wet leather, and salted caramel kettle corn linger on your nicely warmed senses.
Bottom Line:
This is pretty much a collector’s item at this point. It was a special release from a special barrel selection that we’re just not going to see again. That being said, the price is only double its original MSRP, meaning you won’t feel too terrible if you do crack it open to celebrate something.
Kentucky Owl was Dixon Dedman’s baby. The sourced bourbon is based all around Dedman’s masterful blending skills and his uncanny ability to choose the best barrels for this brand. Sadly, Dedman has left Kentucky Owl to find new avenues to bring the masses great bourbon, but his blends live on and can still be found on the shelf (for now).
Tasting Notes:
Based on the last release, Batch no. 9, expect an opening of apple fritters with maple caramel candies next to vanilla husks and a touch of woody tobacco spice. The palate adds some peppery spice to the caramel while a steaming mug of black tea cut with floral honey warms you down to your soul. The vanilla and honey become creamy as shots of orange oils cut through on the finish, leaving you buzzing from an almost … grape tobacco vibe.
Bottom Line:
There’s certainly going to be a “Dixon Kentucky Owl” and a “Not Dixon Kentucky Owl” divide for bourbon collectors (and drinkers) starting with whatever the next release is. So grab the bottles you can now if you want to taste a true master at work when it comes to sourcing and blending.
Parker’s Heritage Heavy Char Barrels Aged 10 Years
Every year, Heaven Hill releases their special Parker’s Heritage whiskey and it’s always a barn burner. Last year’s release was a 10-year-old bourbon aged in very heavily charred oak. The whiskey was rested for ten long years in 102 barrels in a very specific part of a specific warehouse at Heaven Hill to imbue the spirit with that x-factor.
Tasting Notes:
Now, you’ll probably hear “heavily charred” and “ten long years” and think this is going to be some big, woody, charcoal-filled, and overdone whiskey. It’s the opposite of that and you learn that from the first nose of subtle orchard fruits stewing in holiday spices, vanilla, and buttery brown sugars. The citrus comes in early with a deep orange marmalade feel next to a buttery Southern biscuit cut with some dried fruits, eggnog spices, and… maybe unsalted nuts.
The end holds onto the spice while keeping the fruity sweetness front-and-center on the slow fade.
Bottom Line:
This is the 14th release in Parker’s Heritage line and one of our favorites from the list. Though, it’s still hard to forget about 2018’s Orange Curaçao Finish Bourbon. If you can’t get that classic, this is also excellently crafted bourbon from one of the true powerhouses of Kentucky bourbon.
This 2018 special release from Four Roses had a very limited run, meaning there aren’t a lot of bottles left out there. The juice in the bottle is a blend of four whiskey recipes (generally all high-rye) from Four Roses that were aged from ten to 16 years before coming together for this one-off.
Tasting Notes:
This is a succinct whiskey thanks to a nose of crème brûlée full of vanilla seeds covered in ripe raspberries, blueberries, and blackberry. That fruitiness edges more towards peaches and pears with a stem and core woodiness next to cinnamon/maple syrup leading towards a touch of menthol tobacco. The end holds onto the cinnamon more than the maple as it slowly fades away, leaving you with a sense of dried apples steeped in cream soda.
Bottom Line:
This is a great example of how unique and kind of funky (in the best way) Four Roses can get. It’s something truly special in the world of bourbon and will be a true palate expander and conversation starter.
Blanton’s is “The Original Single Barrel” bourbon, and this expression is the purest form of that whiskey. The juice in this case is from the barrels that need no cutting with water and are perfect as-is from the barrel. All the barrels will come from Warehouse H (where Elmer T. Lee stored his private stash of barrels back in the day) and arrive with varying proofs.
The through-line is the excellent taste of that single, unadulterated barrel in each sip.
Tasting Notes:
The taste will vary slightly but expect a nose full of very bespoke dark chocolate-covered salted hard caramel toffees encrusted with almonds and pecans — the kind you get from a chocolate shop that imports their goodies from somewhere like Belgium. The nutty toffee carries through into the taste as oily vanilla pods mingle with cedar boxes of dried tobacco leaves and a touch of floral honey. The end is very long and sticks in your senses, with a hot buzzing that subtly fades through all that sweetness.
Bottom Line:
This is one of those bottles that you save for a very special occasion. But it also tastes too good to not crack it open and enjoy. Sure, you could save it and flip it. But, why? Seize the day!
Sticking with Buffalo Trace, this is their 12-year-old bourbon that’s been finished for a spell in French oak. The whiskey is then married and dialed in to really highlight the subtly of that hardwood from France in every sip.
Tasting Notes:
There’s a mix of dried roses, marzipan, and pears on the nose that leads towards a sour cherry counterpoint with a nod towards vanilla-heavy cream soda. The palate holds onto that creamy vanilla while the oak softens towards a wet log floating in a high alpine lake surrounded by fields of wildflowers. A sweet maple sap arrives late as the wood edges towards wet cedar and a hint of cherry tobacco on the short-ish finish.
Bottom Line:
This feels like a very “crafty” bourbon from a huge brand. There’s a unique touch to this whiskey that feels like nothing else coming out of Buffalo Trace. That also means this probably isn’t for everyone. Still, it’s unique, delicious, and very easy to drink.
Weller is known for its classic wheated bourbon whiskey. This version is their wheated whiskey that’s presented as-is from the barrel. The Full Proof bourbon goes in the barrel at 114 proof and goes in the bottle at the same proof. There’s no filtering or cutting with water. So you’re getting every nook and cranny from the barrel in the bottle.
Tasting Notes:
This one opens with the essence of cherry that’s been boiled in butter and raw sugar until it’s infused into a caramel candy that’s then wrapped up in vanilla tobacco leaves. A soft pine note comes into play as that caramel and cherry mingle with a hint of vanilla latte dusted with cinnamon. The end is very silky and subtle with a bit of creamy chocolate soda leading back to that vanilla tobacco and cherry caramel.
Bottom Line:
This is one of those bottles that you really wish was much closer to its MSRP of … $50. If that were the case, this would be the perfect everyday sipper with a single rock to really let it bloom. As is, it remains a special bottle at a similarly special price.
Booker’s is Jim Beam’s high-end blend of honey barrels from their vast warehouses. In this case, the limited edition bottle was released to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Booker’s Bourbon. The juice in the bottle is from nine to 16-year-old barrels from very specific parts of the warehouse. The barrels were married and then bottled at cask strength to maintain the beauty of the barrel in the bottle.
Tasting Notes:
Imagine over-ripe bananas simmering in a pan with molasses and butter and a steaming pan of cornbread nearby and you’ll be close to the nose on this one. There’s a hint of wildflowers in honey with cinnamon sticks and whole nutmeg that grows warm on the tongue. Then you’re taken towards a big ol’ bite of a vanilla buttercream frosted pound cake right after a long drag off a cherry-laced cigar. Those notes hold as the fade amps up with the spices, leaving you with a big, long buzz throughout your senses.
Bottom Line:
This might be the absolute mountaintop of Jim Beam. It’s really a spectacular example of the brand with a deeply satisfying vibe from start to finish.
This is the second installment of Bob Dylan’s Bootleg Series whiskey. This expression is a 15-year-old sourced bourbon that Heaven’s Door finished in Jamaican rum casks. The juice was then bottled at cask strength to hold onto that rumminess.
Tasting Notes:
The nose on this is like unwrapping a dry tobacco leaf from around hot cornbread that’s soaked in melted butter and maple syrup. That buttery corn sweetness persists as fresh slices of juicy apricot arrive next to a touch of dried flowers, eggnog spices, and marzipan. Everything becomes super creamy as the spices, vanilla, and syrup lead towards an almost dry note of cedar and coconut. The end fades very slowly as that coconut browns and dries until you’re left with a fruit, orgeat, and tropical spiced rum vibe.
Bottom Line:
This is a great whiskey to pair in a shredding guitar solo. One where your head slowly starts to bob without you really noticing. Your eyes will shut tightly as the dram slowly heats you to your soul and the guitar shreds you to tears.
While kidnappings by complete strangers in broad daylight are extremely rare, they can and do happen. If a child ever finds themselves in that situation, it’s important for them to know what to do.
A security camera captured a scary kidnapping attempt in Florida that has people praising the 11-year-old girl who fought off her attacker and even left a clue that helped police identify him.
Video footage shared by the Escambia County Sherriff’s office shows the girl sitting alone at her bus stop at around 7:00 am when a white car turned at the median, then returned a minute later. A man exits the vehicle, runs up to the girl, and grabs her, attempting to carry her back to the car. Sherriff Chip Simmons told reporters that the man was carrying a knife. The girl put up a fight and the man stumbled, then ran back to his car and drove away as the girl ran in the opposite direction.
The girl was playing with blue slime when the man approached her, and she wiped some of it on his arm in the struggle. When police arrested the suspect, who has been identified as 30-year-old Jared Paul Stanga, they saw the slime still smeared on his arm.
Simmons told reporters at a news conference that Stanga has an “extensive” criminal history that includes sexual offenses against children. Stanga has now been charged with the attempted kidnapping of a child under 13 and aggravated assault and battery.
“I cannot help to think that this could have ended very differently,” Simmons said. “Had this 11-year-old victim not thought to fight and to fight and to just never give up, then this could have ended terribly. Why else do you think that this man stopped, stopped his van and tried to pick her up and take her into that van? It doesn’t take a genius to figure out what his intentions were, but they were not good.”
Simmons also told reporters that Stanga had approached the girl about two weeks ago at the bus stop and “made her feel uncomfortable.” She told school officials and her parents about the incident, and her mother started accompanying her to the bus stop. Tuesday was the first day her mother had not been with her at the bus stop since that incident.
Simmons called the girl his hero for fighting to get away. She ended up with some scratches—and obviously experienced some trauma—but otherwise walked away uninjured.
“My message is that she did not give up,” he said. “She did the right thing, and she fought and she fought.”
Parents don’t want to imagine anything like this happening to their child and may not want to scare them by telling them it could happen, but it’s also important to prepare kids for all possibilities. Some children might freeze in fear or confusion in a potential abduction situation, but experts recommend kids fight back if someone actually physically grabs a child and tries to take them someplace.
“Kicking and screaming, opening the door, shouting, ‘Who are you? I don’t know who you are. You’re hurting me. Stop it.’ To try to call attention to the situation they’re in,” Marylene Cloitre of the New York University Child Study Center told ABC News. There are even formal programs in some places that teach kids what to do in various situations and have them practice using their voice and putting up a struggle, such as this one in the Chicago suburbs.
Training teaches kids to yell, run and fight back to escape kidnappers
There is no audio on the security footage in Tuesday’s attempt, but it’s clear the 11-year-old was not going to go quietly. Her instinct to fight back paid off, and thankfully she is home safe now. Hopefully, the justice system will now do what is necessary to protect her and other kids from the would-be kidnapper.
In a historic first, Arnold Schwarzenegger will star in a new untitled TV series for Netflix. The series will be a “one-hour global spy adventure” (don’t call it a drama) starring the Governator and Top Gun: Maverick‘s Monica Barbaro as a father-daugther team who had no idea they were both working for the CIA.
“Fans from all over the world have been asking me for a wild ride like this for years, and now they’re finally going to get it because of our great partners at Skydance and Netflix,” Schwarzenegger told Deadline in a statement. “I am beyond pumped to start work on the show with Nick and Monica and the whole team.”
Here’s the official synopsis:
In the series, created by Nick Santora (Jack Reacher; The Fugitive series), when a father (Schwarzenegger) and daughter (Barbaro) learn that they’ve each secretly been working as CIA Operatives for years, they realize their entire relationship has been a lie and they truly don’t know one another at all. Forced to team up as partners, our series tackles universal family dynamics set against a global backdrop of spies, fantastic action and humor.
Hmm. That kind of sounds like True Lies. At the very least, it’s doesn’t not sound like True Lies. But True Lies was fun. Let’s do it again.
Anyway, despite the pandemic shutting down most of Hollywood, Schwarzenegger has kept himself busy and has been an active presence on social media where his entertaining videos have done everything from chastise the GOP for the January 6 insurrection while waving his Conan sword and encouraging Americans to get vaccinated so we can put the COVID-19 crisis behind us.
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