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Snoop Dogg is one of the highest-profile Los Angeles Lakers fans, so naturally, he is elated that the team won this year’s NBA championship. He was so happy, in fact, that he got a big tattoo to celebrate.

The ink covers his entire right forearm, and Snoop shared a video on Instagram showing off and explaining the tattoo, in which he says, “As you see, the tat is done. ‘KB’ on the bottom, Kobe Bryant. Larry O’Brien championship trophy with the Lakers [logo] going through the ball. Gates of Heaven up top, and it don’t stop. Laker Nation. Thank y’all Lakers, and thank you Mr. Cartoon in a real motherf*ckin’ way. We the west and we the best, f*ck out of here.”

Snoop had more thank-you’s in the caption as well, where he shouted out LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Dwight Howard, Danny Green, Kyle Kuzma, Alex Caruso, Markieff Morris, Rajon Rondo, and “the bench mob.”

This is far from the first time the rapper has honored the late NBA great. He paid tribute to him at the ESPYs, joined Dame D.O.L.L.A. on a Kobe tribute track, and recently explained how his and Kobe’s careers were perfect mirrors of each other.

Musicians often aren’t too keen about Donald Trump playing their music at his rallies or other events. Artists like Axl Rose and Pharrell have insisted that Trump stop using their songs or even taken legal action against the president. Trump again got musical at a rally in Florida yesterday, this time dancing to the Village People classic “YMCA,” which many people found ironic.

After “Village People” and “YMCA” started trending on Twitter, one user summarized the situation well, writing, “The song’s lyrics appear to extol the virtues of the #YMCA. However, in gay culture from which the Village People stemmed, the song is understood as celebrating YMCA’s reputation as a popular cruising & hookup spot, particularly for younger gay men. And once more for the particularly delusional or hard of thinking: Trump’s support base is the Christian Right – who hate gay people. You’re welcome.”

Another user shared a clip of news coverage of the rally and noted, “Watch as Anderson Cooper stares off into the middle distance upon realizing that Trump is using gay anthem ‘YMCA’ to amp up his radically homophobic base at a mask free rally after testing positive for COVID-19 less than 2 weeks ago. Enjoy Macho Man!”

After Trump played “Macho Man” at an India rally earlier this year, Village People spoke out about the POTUS using their music, saying in a Facebook post that while they weren’t trying to block their songs from being played at his events, they be no means support him or his use of their music:

“TO OUR FANS:

We have received numerous requests demanding that we prevent or ban President Donald Trump’s use of our songs, particularly ‘Y.M.C.A.’ and ‘Macho Man.’

With the latest use of ‘Macho Man’ in India, we are being inundated and can no longer remain silent.

Since our music is not being used for a specific endorsement, the President’s use is ‘perfect[ly]’ legal.

He has remained respectful in his use of our songs and has not crossed the line; if he or any other candidate were to use any of our songs in a manner that would suggest our endorsement, or in a promotional advertisement, that would cross the line.

Like millions of Village People fans worldwide, the President and his supporters have shown a genuine like for our music.

Our music is all-inclusive and certainly everyone is entitled to do the YMCA dance, regardless of their political affiliation. Having said that, we certainly don’t endorse his use as we’d prefer our music be kept out of politics.”

One user re-shared that story and noted, “Doesn’t it seem that The Village People are sort of punking Trump with his desire to play their music at his Covid Spreaders. Sure, play our music they said. [laughing emoji]”

Check out some more reactions below, including some criticism’s of Trump’s dancing abilities.

The Simpsons has shed viewers over the years (an inevitably when you’ve been on for 30-plus seasons), but there’s one episode that even lapsed fans regularly tune in for: “Treehouse of Horror.” This year’s installment, “Treehouse of Horror XXXI” (written by 100 Things the Simpsons Fans Should Know and Do Before They Die co-author Julia Prescott!), includes parodies of Pixar movies, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, and Russian Doll, as well as a topical opening. In it, Homer is deciding who to vote for in the presidential election. “I know who I want for all the judges and propositions, but president? That’s a stumper. Can I write in Judge Judy?” Homer asks before Lisa reminds him of “all that’s happened in the last four years.” Trump’s name is never mentioned, but what follows is a scroll of 50 of the worst things he’s done since 2016.

Much better to bury him with facts than to actually bury him. An incomplete list:

Made it okay to shoot hibernating bears
Put children in cages
Called Mexicans rapists
Imitated disabled reporter
Looks lousy in a tennis outfit
Can’t get wife to hold hand
Called third world countries sh*tholes
Called Tim Cook ‘Tim Apple’
Said Jewish people who vote Democrat are disloyal
Showed top secret documents at Mar-A-Lago restaurant
Called white supremacists ‘fine people’
Leaked classified information to Russian ambassador
Asked the president of Ukraine to investigate the Bidens
Called for China to investigate the Bidens
Walked into the dressing room at Miss Teen USA pageant

You can see the full list here, or better yet, watch the episode this Sunday.

(Via Variety)

There are three things you should know about Walton Goggins.

The first is that he’s had a pretty incredible career, from his dramatic roles on The Shield and Justified, to his comedic work on Vice Principals and The Righteous Gemstones, to his film work with directors like Quentin Tarantino. His latest project, John Bronco, a goofball 40-minute mockumentary — billed as “the unbelievable story of the rise, fall and ultimate redemption of the legendary pitchman for the Ford Bronco” — that premieres on Hulu this week, from director Jake Syzmanski (who also directed the delightful HBO mockumentary 7 Days in Hell), in which Goggins plays a legendary fictional pitchman and cowboy named John Bronco across multiple decades, is unlike any of those. In a good way.

The second is that he is very appreciative of all of this. And grateful. He’s someone who loves his work, and loves that he gets to do it, and loves to talk to people about it, both as far as what it means to him and how it affects the people who enjoy it. He does not take any of it for granted, which makes it even more fun to see him bounce from role to role and genre to genre, because you know he’s having just as much fun doing it as you and I are having while we watch him do it.

The third thing is that Walton Goggins is a very lovely and patient man who will humor you while you ask him a series of silly questions about running through the house with a pickle in your mouth and how successful Boyd Crowder from Justified would have been as a Dairy Queen franchise owner, and will give you thoughtful answers about everything that make you look at each project a little differently.

It was a pleasure to speak with him. I hope you enjoy reading the slightly edited and condensed version of our chat half as much I enjoyed the phone call it came from.

The thing I like about John Bronco is, just in theory, “Walton Goggins playing a legendary pitchman and cowboy over a multi-decade period in a screwball satire from the minds behind 7 Days In Hell” is basically a perfect idea for a project. And yet, I did not consider it as an option before, and I don’t understand how it happened. So let’s start there. How did you end up getting involved with John Bronco?

Imagine [the production company] reached out, along with the director, Jake Szymanski, about getting involved and playing John. And we had a conversation, and I read it, and I loved it. It was so well-written, and I’m such a fan of Jake’s. And Mark, who works over at Imagine, is such a talented guy, that I just wanted to get involved. And like anything that I say yes to these days, it all centers on the story and the people executing that story. And I thought the story was really important and really funny, but also touching. And I’d never really seen anything like this, really. I called a couple of my friends actually, and I asked their advice, and they said, “Run, don’t walk, man. Just do it.” And I’m glad that I did. I had such a great time, really.

So, it wasn’t just like, “I would like to do a role where I get to try a lot of different mustache looks?”

[laughs] Well, I mean, yeah. I called in two really good friends to help pull that off. But I think honestly it was, look… I’m not a conventionally sexy guy really, at all. I mean, I think there are different things that make people attractive, for sure. There are different things that make people attractive to me, and looks more often than not have nothing to really do with that. But I don’t think that I would ever be offered to play a sex symbol, and this was an opportunity to do that. And so, it was different for me in that way, and I loved it.

That brings up a good point. Over the course of your career, and this is one of the reasons I really like your work, you’ve played this huge range of roles. You’ve done charismatic villain types in Justified and The Shield, and you did various deranged lunatics in the Danny McBride universe, you’re doing a CBS sitcom lead, and now you’re doing just something completely silly in the John Bronco project. When you go into the process of choosing a role, do you have a big picture plan like, “I want to do a drama here, I want to try something fun here,” or is it really just a project by project basis?

Well, first of all, that’s a very nice thing to say, and I really appreciate you saying that, or at least being vulnerable in saying that. That’s very kind. Yeah, I don’t know. I read, and I have a lot of friends that are actors and are friends that are writers, people kind of in this world, or I read interviews and hear other actors that try to have a plan. I don’t really have a plan. I don’t know what the plan is. I think that more often than not, the only thing that I look for is, like, could I be a benefit to the storyteller on whatever level? Do I have a take on this that I think would help the storyteller tell their story?

I mean, even with The Unicorn, it was just a perfect experience for where I was in my life. And I didn’t want to do another drama, a six-year experience or seven-year experience on a drama, if you’re lucky to get that many seasons, if you’re lucky to have your story go that long. I wanted to experience something that was honest and lighthearted, but also serious when it needs to get serious in a way, and in a network format because I’d never done that before. And it scared the shit out of me, and it still scares the shit out of me.

It’s got to keep it very new and refreshing.

That’s exactly right. Why are you scared of this? Really? If you really believe you could do something with it, even if it fails, then do you need to do it, man? Even just being out in the world. I like to get lost in the world, and that scares the shit out of me, really, to just decide to spend a month in Namibia. But you just do it.

That’s a great perspective and a great philosophy to have in life in general, just to do cool stuff and run with it.

Right. A really good friend of mine told me something a long time ago. He said, “Have more yeses in life than you have nos.” And for him, literally, most of the time before people get the invitation out of their mouth, he says, “Yes, absolutely. Yes. Yep. I’m going to do that. Yep. Okay. You want to go to dinner? Okay, yes. You want to go here? Yes. You want to do this show? Yes.” And, I don’t know, how much fucking time do we have left on this planet? I don’t know. I mean, it is short and so just live it to the fullest, man.

So, with that in mind, is there any kind of project or role that you haven’t had a chance to try yet that you’d like to? You’ve done so many things in so many different formats. Is there something that just either hasn’t been offered to you yet or something that you haven’t got a chance to try or like, I don’t know, like a full-on musical, or something like that?

A musical? No. A musician’s biography? Yes, I would like to try that, and I’m talking to a few people about one in particular right now that I’m not at liberty to discuss. But you know the other thing that I’ve never done? I’ve never done a horror movie.

Here we go.

I’ve never done a straight-up horror movie, kind of in that genre. I would love to do a straight down the middle, creative interpretation of a fucking classic, man. I would love that. I really would.

You do a lot of… not necessarily villains, because there’s more to them than that, but let’s say, antagonists. So if you did a horror movie, would you want to play a bad guy, like a chainsaw-wielding menace, or would you want to pl-

No! I want to play the guy getting chased!

I love it.

I don’t feel like I’m… I’m not Brad Pitt. I’m never going to be Brad Pitt. I’m not a number of the people around me, but I do know what I am. And I feel like the things that I would like to do that I may or may not have been given an opportunity to do on that level, I still get to experience. And that has value for me personally, and I’m very grateful for those opportunities.

Well, yes, you’re not going to be offered the roles that Brad Pitt gets, but I’ll also tell you this: Brad Pitt could not play Baby Billy Freeman.

You know what? You said it. All right.

It’s true.

Man, I love my life. I love my life, and I love the opportunities that I’ve been given. And I love the experiences that I’ve had so far in my life. I swear to God, I’m one of the luckiest fucking people on this planet, and I know it. That’s the thing, to have it and to not be grateful while you’re in it is an experience that I wouldn’t wish on anyone. And [Michael] Chiklis taught me that when we were doing The Shield. He said, “Never, ever, ever be cavalier with success, ever, because it can end just as easily as it came.” And that’s the truth, and I learned that on season one of The Shield, and I’ve never stopped thinking about that every day I go to work.

We’re having such a good conversation. I hate to steer it back to my stupid list of questions.

No, please, go ahead.

In John Bronco, that’s you singing the John Bronco song, right?

Yeah. It just made sense for our story in a way that Jake wanted to do it for me to sing it. And I tried to talk him out of it, just like, “Man, I can’t. That’s not my thing.” I am not a triple threat. But he said, “No, man. Just give it a try, just go for it.”

Let me respectfully disagree with you on not being a triple threat. This is now at least the third project that I can think of where you’ve performed some incredibly catchy song. There’s this one, there was “Busted by Lee Russell” in Vice Principals, and definitely “Misbehavin’” in The Righteous Gemstones. In fact, let me ask you this. “Misbehavin’”… I still have that song in my head. You’re the one who sang it. Have you managed to get it out of your head yet?

Never. No, no. And my son still requests it, like in the car sometimes. He’ll have it on, because it was on iTunes, and we downloaded it like everybody did that wanted to listen to it. And so, no, I can’t get it out of my head.

Have you, at any point, caught your son running through the house with a pickle in his mouth?

God, how do I answer that? No. No, because he likes pickles so much that he eats them while he’s sitting at the table. So by the time he gets up and runs away, he’s eaten all the pickles.

It’s such a perfect line because I had not ever considered running through the house with a pickle in your mouth to be some sort of misbehaving activity. But I mean, you could testify as a dad, if you saw your kid doing that, you’d be like, “Knock that off. Get that pickle out of your mouth.”

“Stop running through the house with a pickle in your mouth, Augustus. Stop it.”

Exactly.

“No running by the pool with a pickle in your mouth. No running through the house with a pickle in your mouth. Stop it.”

Just curious, talking about this very catchy song, of all the roles you’ve played, is there one you get recognized for more than the others when you’re out?

I’m answering you honestly: No. That’s what’s so lovely about my experience for me is that it’s usually kind of multiple things, or one person will say one thing and a block later someone will say something else. And then you get people that are African-American or white or Asian, young, old, middle-aged like me, in cars at stop signs. And people say, “Oh, shit! Hey, man!” And it’s just lovely. I love it. I love having conversations with people that have seen anything that I’ve been part of that were affected by it.

I know I only have you for a little bit here, so is it okay if I finish by asking you a very specific question about Justified that’s been banging around my head for like five years now?

[laughs] Yes. Yeah.

Okay, good, because I’m going to go crazy if I don’t. In season four of Justified, before things all start going sideways, Boyd develops this plan to get out of crime and go legit. And his plan involves opening a Dairy Queen franchise. Do you think Boyd Crowder would have been a successful Dairy Queen franchise owner?

I think he would have been a very successful Dairy Queen franchise owner, very successful. And that episode in particular, it’s very … All of this shit is very personal to me. I’m a poor kid from Georgia. We’re divided on a lot of things in this country. The one thing that a lot of us aren’t divided on is poverty. And for me, Boyd Crowder was what I wanted to say about rural America and my version of it. And that for him, there was a glass ceiling, and he couldn’t break it. And all he ever wanted was that, was the ability to escape a life that he came from, and to be somebody, and to be respected in a different way, and not through fear and intimidation.

With my story, I participated in kind of all of it. And I said, “We got to say this, man.” Because there was a dude in my hometown whose dad had four Dairy Queen franchises, and he made it. He was a success. And so, to answer your question, as fastidious as Boyd Crowder was, and as great of a compartmentalizer as he was… yeah, I think you would have seen Dairy Queens popping up in places that you never anticipated.

I’m very glad you said that because I’ve always had a theory that Boyd Crowder would have become the South’s greatest ice cream tycoon.

Absolutely. He would sell more Blizzards than anyone in any state in America.

John Bronco premieres on Hulu on Wednesday, October 15.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1q6kfa3D4xE

Netflix’s summer revival of Unsolved Mysteries turned out to be as compelling as the original while also feeling new. Given that the original creators (Cosgrove/Meurer Productions) teamed up with the Stranger Things production company (21 Laps Entertainment), this result may not have been too surprising, but the project took risks to get there. First, they made the decision to go hostless — a wise move, considering that no one could replace Robert Stack. Second, they decided to structure each episode as a deep dive, rather than buzzing through multiple cases per installment. In the end, the approach worked because (1) Stack’s practically haunting each episode in silhouette, so his spirit still lives; (2) Forty-or-so minutes per episode makes each story even more engrossing, which has encouraged Reddit detectives to pounce upon these cases.

Yep, the public’s obsession with true-crime stories continues, and it’s perhaps even more amplified now, when people feel overwhelmed by the utter loss of control during our current global situation. If any justice can possibly be served (or closure can be found) for victims’ families (anyone with relevant information can reach out to Unsolved.com), then this show serves its purpose. Of course, the show also tends to break up the true-crime formula with the occasional paranormally-geared episode (as with “Queen Mary Ghost Ship” from the original run) that guarantees chills.

With Volume 2 hitting Netflix soon, the show’s updated format stays the same, and some of these cases are super cold, as in decades old. That’s actually quite fascinating, since DNA techniques are much more advanced now, which is precisely why the dogged efforts of Michelle McNamara against the Golden State Killer finally paid off, as HBO showed with the recent I’ll Be Gone In The Dark. Netflix’s audience will no doubt gobble up these “new” cases, and it must be noted that I’d never dare to “rank” these cases by their devastation factor. These cases are all tragic, but some are spookier than the rest. Since October is the spookiest month, let’s rank them on that note.

6. Episode #2 — “Death In Oslo”

Official synopsis: After checking in at a luxury hotel with no ID or credit card, a woman dies from a gunshot. Years later, her identity — and her death — remain a mystery.

Facts: The 1995 case involves a Jane Doe who secured a room at an opulent hotel, somehow without using a credit card, which was against the hotel rules. Her stay lasted for days, and law enforcement ruled this case a suicide even though her hand placement on the gun proved to be extraordinarily suspicious. Further, no one could figure out how anyone could have entered the room with it double-locked from the inside.

Analysis: There’s a lot of unsettling facts in this case that I won’t spoil, but I will say that the events that do shake out suggest that there are some human shenanigans afoot. No ID or passport was found in the room, and it sure looked like she was carrying many unusual items with her — really a nonsensical assortment for someone who supposedly committed suicide. She appeared to follow an extraordinary life, but the most engrossing part of this episode won’t send chills through anyone’s spine. Instead, the unraveling of this woman’s identity is the true draw.

5. Episode #1 — “Washington Insider Murder”

Official synopsis: Police find the body of former White House aide Jack Wheeler in a landfill. Security footage captures strange events in the days leading up to his death.

Facts: Jack Wheeler, a Vietnam veteran and member of multiple presidential administrations, lived through some strange circumstances in the days surrounding his 2010 disappearance. His cell phone popped up in a construction site across the street from his second home, where it sort-of looked like a robbery took place. Wheeler was spotted on numerous security cameras while he was technically missing, and then he disappeared, later to be killed by “blunt force trauma,” according to a coroner’s report.

Analysis: Wheeler’s own erratic behavior (and complications involving his mental health) muddies the waters of this case to a great degree. Let’s just say that, yes, it’s mighty suspicious that his body was discovered in a landfill. The tracing of his known whereabouts turns out to be quite compelling, but this mystery might be about a chain event of unfortunate circumstances more than any one cause. I could be wrong, though! Perhaps some at-home detectives will offer tips related to foul play.

4. Episode #5 — “Lady In The Lake”

Official synopsis: On an icy night, police find JoAnn Romain’s abandoned car and assume she drowned in a nearby lake by suicide. But her family suspects foul play.

Facts: In 2010, Romain went missing during her usual Sunday morning visit to church. Her body didn’t surface until 70 days after her death.

Analysis: This 2010 case looks truly nefarious, not to mention that it makes little sense at all, according to family members who don’t believe Romain could have possibly killed herself. There’s a lot about this case that doesn’t add up, including how Romain’s body was found in an icy river, yet private pathologists cast doubt upon autopsy findings that she’d drowned. Even more inconsistencies surface (involving the wearing of high heels) to make this a really truly chilling (and fearsome) story to behold.

3. Episode #6 — “Stolen Kids”

Official synopsis: In May and August 1989, two toddlers vanished from the same NYC park. A search turned up nothing — but their families haven’t given up hope.

Facts: These late 1980s cold cases, which involved two children disappearing from a New York City playground, are equally heartbreaking and mysterious. Decades later, the relatives who were present at the park on those days describe the confusion surrounding the children going missing in broad daylight. A huge this-could-happen-to-you element lingers with the viewer during the credits.

Analysis: This episode will really get under people’s skin, given that many lives changed in the blink of an eye, and these children haven’t surfaced for decades. On-hand experts point out that most missing children are eventually discovered, often with someone they know, whether they’re living or dead. Instead, these kids vanished into thin air, and the conclusion that they’re possibly still alive arrives with a disturbing resonance. Projections on how these children might look in 2020 get a big focus here, and hopefully, those technological leaps will help solve these long-standing tragedies.

2. Episode #3 — “Death Row Inmate”

Official synopsis: Given a furlough to go Christmas shopping in 1973, a convicted killer escapes. Police have come close to apprehending him but believe he’s still at large.

Facts: Lester Eubanks was convicted of killing a teenager girl (Mary Ellen Deener) in 1965 and ended up on death row. For some unknown reason, he was allowed to leave (unguarded) to go holiday shopping, and of course, he went on the lam, never to be arrested again to this day. Honestly, these facts read like a bad horror movie.

Analysis: What’s most disturbing about this case is the miscarriage of justice that has prevailed for decades. First, it’s bizarre that anyone on death row would be allowed to go shopping due to “good behavior. Second, a detective started digging in 20 years later, and there were no warrants to be found for Eubanks. Details on visits to the prison make this case even more bizarre, along with the idea that (despite an attempted boost by America’s Most Wanted) this guy is still out there, after having evaporated without a trace. The justice system and law enforcement repeatedly refusing to pick up the ball is enough to make viewers afraid of the shadows.

1. Episode #4 — “Tsunami Spirits”

Official synopsis: A massive earthquake and tsunami devastated Japan in March 2011. Residents share stories of the spirits they encountered in the wake of the disaster.

Facts: The 2011 tsunami (that reached 131 feet in maximum height) in Ishinomaki, Japan left over 15,000 people confirmed dead and at least 2,500 people still missing. Anyone who believes in ghosts would not be surprised to learn that reports about paranormal activity in the area have gone through the roof.

Analysis: Hands down, this is the scariest episode of the new batch. This episode largely runs through subtitles, and I’m here to tell you that they don’t lessen the impact of paranormally-inclined academics and religious figures who speak to the lingering trauma in the area impacted by the tsunami. Even survivors remain shell-shocked by the ordeal, so it should be no surprise to hear one expert discuss how disembodied souls probably feel the same way, and it hits hard. The accounts relayed by residents (like mysteriously soaking-wet people ringing doorbells and asking for dry clothes) are haunting, and one wonders if anything (including exorcisms) will ever halt the unsettling tide — one that originally surfaced from the wrath of mother nature.

Netflix’s ‘Unsolved Mysteries’ Volume 2 streams on October 19.

They say that all journeys begin with a single step. So why would your journey into the world of whisk(e)y be any different? If you’ve been meaning to purchase your first bottle of whiskey, fall — with its cool days and chilly nights — is a great time to take that first step (or sip).

Do you really want to spend the rest of your days drinking vodka or hard seltzer? Expand that palate, friendo!

We understand that the idea of trying something new (especially whiskey) is difficult. For the uninitiated, the thought of perusing the aisles at your local liquor store (or scrolling through a website) in search of a beginner bottle seems daunting. Lucky for you, we can always count on the experts for help. So we asked some of our favorite bartenders to tell us the one whiskey they always give novices.

Glenlivet 12 Single Malt Scotch

Marta De La Cruz Marrero, food and beverage supervisor of Burlock Coast in Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Glenlivet 12 Year. It imparts vanilla notes and gives the whisky its distinct smoothness, which — for a novice — is easier to drink.

Buffalo Trace Bourbon

Drew Reid, bartender at W Aspen in Aspen, Colorado

Hands down, Buffalo Trace. This is as traditional as traditional gets and is the baseline I would start anyone off with. It is smooth and very easy to drink and explain to anyone. Buffalo Trace is also one of the best starter classic cocktail bourbons.

Tullamore D.E.W. Irish Whiskey

Meredith Barry, executive beverage chef of Angad Arts Hotel in St. Louis

Tullamore D.E.W. Irish whiskey. Because who doesn’t like sweet Irish honey and butter? And it was my first whiskey, so it’s a bit sentimental.

Elijah Craig Small Batch Bourbon

Benjamin Burch, bartender at The Nolen Bar in San Diego, California

Elijah Craig Small Batch. It’s 94 proof so it still has a bit more punch to it, but it is affordable and just downright delicious. It is also much more oak-forward on the flavor than other distillers’ entry-level options like Buffalo Trace, Basil Hayden’s/Knob Creek, or Wild Turkey. So the way they react to that helps me give them suggestions on where they can go from there.

Rittenhouse Rye

Robert Björn Taylor, bartender and assistant general manager at ARRIVE Hotels and Restaurants in Austin, Texas

To answer this question, I like my well to be whiskies you can drink on your own and mix well into a cocktail. So, I always serve my well first. They tend to be high proof. Wild Turkey 101 has been a go-to as well as Old Grand-Dad, Old Overholt, Rittenhouse, and Evan Williams white label. With a cube of ice, these can be enjoyable sippers. For an extreme novice, I’ve poured Longbranch to great reception as well as Bulleit. There are those that don’t like their spirits hot and that’s understandable.

Woodford Reserve Bourbon

Tommy Ergle, bar manager at Dr. BBQ in St. Petersburg, Florida

There is no other bourbon that I will suggest to someone that’s new to the “ bourbon scene” besides Woodford Reserve. Woodford Reserve is a full-bodied bourbon that is incredibly smooth-tasting with its flavors of cinnamon, walnut, and allspice — incredible to drink on the rocks and absolutely perfect to mix in a cocktail.

Basil Hayden’s Bourbon

Mig Feliciano, head bartender and mixologist at the iconic Hollywood Roosevelt in Los Angeles

Basil Hayden’s Bourbon is a great choice for a novice. The honey and heather flavor gently suggests the idea that it will put “hair on your chest,” while slipping into a warm hug from a good friend you’ve been socially distancing from.

Incredibly smooth and great with just one ice cube.

Savage & Cooke Second Glance Whiskey

Jerry Shaffer, food and beverage manager at Embassy Suites Napa in Napa, California

Second Glance (Savage & Cooke) because it’s exciting and racy — with five years in American oak finished in cabernet wine barrels. There’s a great storyline behind the product.

Uncle Nearest 1884 Whiskey

Jeremy Allen, bartender at MiniBar in Los Angeles

Uncle Nearest 1884– it’s mellow and mild, it’s a big step up from Jack Daniel’s and the brand is named for the original precursor to Jack, a slave and master distiller Nearest Green. The story isn’t really related to the actual present-day whiskey, but the whiskey is good, and it’s a black-owned whiskey that isn’t made by Drake (though Virginia Black is pretty good for a celebrity spirit, for what it’s worth).

Maker’s Mark Bourbon

Hayden Miller, head bartender at Bodega Taqueria y Tequila in Miami

Maker’s Mark has a nice balance between the heat and roundness from the wheat. Mixes easily in a highball but can translate well with just some ice or splash of water.

Wild Turkey 101 Bourbon

Damian Langarica, head bartender at a.bar in Philadelphia

Wild turkey 101. I believe this whiskey is sometimes overlooked. It’s a great bourbon that — even at its high proof — you still get a lot of different flavors and aromas.

Plus, it’s a great bourbon for the price.

Glenmorangie Nectar d’Or Single Malt Scotch

Stephen Potter, lead bartender at The Kitchen by Wolfgang Puck in Grand Rapids, Michigan

Most people I encounter are familiar with American whiskey, but few are acquainted with scotch. The first bottle I turn to anytime someone is interested in expanding their palate has to be Glenmorangie Nectar d’Or. This Highland scotch actually spends some time in American bourbon oak casks, helping open the door for beginners. The smooth fruity notes of this single malt make it easy to appreciate.

“Remix” is a funny term when it comes to music. It seems almost everyone has a slightly different definition for the term. Because the term is so malleable, finding a good “remix” playlist on Spotify can be as time-consuming as the process of actually listening to one from beginning to end.

Fortunately, we did the work for you, trawling through any and every playlist with “remix” in its title to find only the best playlists featuring a majority of reworked songs — whether through the addition of verses, the changing of beats, or the outright covering of a song by an artist in a different genre — worthy of being called the Best Spotify Remix Playlists.

Best 90’s Hip-Hop Remixes by bleekwonder

For fans of a more throwback, traditional hip-hop sound, this list digs through the crates of some of the ’90s’ most defining moments, pulling out underground gems like Mace Ace’s SlaughtaHouse standout “Style Wars” and A Tribe Called Quest’s slickly reworked “Oh My God” from Midnight Marauders. This mix is very bass-heavy, peppered with sampled drum breaks and a thorough East Coast bias, but it always seems to find a way to swing the pendulum back from all the Big L and Nas by incorporating Pharcyde and Compton’s Most Wanted.

Pop Remix by Spotify

Songs like Dua Lipa’s “Don’t Start Now” have dominated radio stations for months but this playlist gives all today’s hits a rejuvenating facelift. Rounding up an energizing collection of today’s top songs, the playlist includes music from big-name artists like Major Lazer’s remix of Megan Thee Stallion’s “Savage” as well as a club-ready rendition of Katy Perry’s recent single “Daisies.” The collection of remixes manages to incorporate all the best new pop music but still cranking up the energy a few notches.

Dance | Remixes 2020 by Soave

Clubs and dance-floors are closed for the foreseeable future, but this playlist is the perfect mix to throw your own living room dance party. Frequently updated and clocking in at over five hours, the playlist features an eclectic mix of expertly revved-up popular songs new and old like Billie Eilish’s “Everything I Wanted” and even reimagining of Kid Cudi’s unforgettable hit “Day ‘N’ Night.” Whether you love or loathe Top 40’s hits, this playlist has something for everyone and is sure to get even the shyest in the room out on the dance floor.

Hip Hop Remixes Best Rap Remixes by Electrify Playlists

This list impossibly balances divergent aspects of rap alongside a number of unlikely but surprisingly enjoyable dance music luminaries. While many of the remixes here run closer to the standard hip-hop formula of adding a guest verse or two to an existing hit, such as Jack Harlow’s “What’s Poppin” and DaBaby’s “Rockstar” collaboration with Roddy Ricch, it also finds time to squeeze in EDM-themed reworks as well. Pop Smoke’s “Dior” receives a major remix while Marshmello touches up Future’s “Mask Off” — and that’s just in the first hour.

Massive Pop Remixes by Spotify

While much of today’s most popular hits are already fit for dancing, both in cars and on the club’s dancefloor, this playlist takes it one step further. Similar to the other pop-oriented roundups on this list, the playlist features cutting-edge pop regularly updated with unexpected mashups. Lauv’s slow-burning “I’m So Tired…” collaboration with Troye Sivan gets a thumping remix and Charli XCX and Christine And The Queens’ “Gone” is taken to new, soaring heights.

Best Hip-Hop Remixes by Hector Torres

Other mixes on this list tend to run really modern or very old-school but this one falls neatly into the mid-2000s pocket where rappers like Busta Rhymes, Eminem, Fat Joe, Lil Jon, and N.O.R.E controlled the airwaves. This one is packed to the brim with posse cuts like “It’s All About The Benjamins” and “Throw Them D’s Remix,” making it perfect for a Mitchell & Ness-styled throwback party full of New Era fitted caps and Timberland work boots.

Rage Beats by Spotify

This is the most dance-heavy mix on the list, with catchy reworks of hits from all over the musical landscape. A-ha, Aretha Franklin, Blackstreet, Coldplay, Marvin Gaye, Tracey Chapman, Warren G, and Whitney Houston all get high-energy blends of four-on-the-floor beats and futuristic synths that bridge the gaps between hip-hop, pop, R&B and modern house and techno. It’s a fun, excellently-curated list from Spotify that exemplifies the best of what the streaming service can offer to its more musically open-minded and adventurous users.

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

The newest trend in television is rebooting old game shows with new celebrity hosts for primetime television. There’s now Match Game, Press Your Luck, Supermarket Sweep, and Weakest Link all back on network television, which means we have far more opportunities for hilarity in the form of mishaps and embarrassing moments — along with people doing well and winning lots of money.

One fun thing about watching game shows, particularly those that rely on trivia, is recognizing haw many people are, simply, not in any way, shape, or form a sports fan. On the Weakest Link this week, we got another example of that — we are used to seeing this from Jeopardy! contestants — when a woman going for $1,000 was asked to identify what curling was by a photo. Her answer was, somehow, chess.

Look, there’s incredible stress and pressure that comes from trying to answer questions on television and you never want to not say anything, but just swinging wildly with “chess” when looking at some curling stones on ice — when prompted about an Olympic sport — is hysterical even being understanding about the situation.

That was not the only incredible moment to come from this week’s episode, as someone thought Lee Harvey Oswald was a poet which led to a literal cringe from one of the other contestants.

“Guy who shot John F. Kennedy” and “is a famous American poet.” Close!

It’s that time of year again. The season when you start scouring the internet for last-minute costume ideas for your upcoming Halloween parties. Only this year… is Halloween even a thing? Seriously, we have no idea what shape Halloween will take this year (masks on masks!), but we do know it’ll be unlike any Halloween we’ve ever had before. Whether you’re doing a low key kick back with the people in your quarantine bubble, or just hanging online with some friends over Zoom, the only thing about Halloween 2020 promises is that you’re still going to need a costume.

The pandemic may have ended almost every conceivable way to have fun — and with the stress of this year and the upcoming election, we need a little fun — but it’ll never take away our desire to play dress up as full-grown adults. For costume inspiration, we’ve decided to look to all the TV and movies that were culturally relevant this year to help ensure that whatever costume you end up putting together will be easily recognizable. Even over Zoom.

Because nothing stings quite like when a person thinks you’re a waiter and you were trying to be James Bond.

Succession

No, a new season of Succession didn’t air in 2020, but that’s not a good enough excuse to not dress up as Kendall Roy so that you can give an “L to the OG, dude be the OG, A-N. He playing!”

Big Mouth

Okay, this will be our last 2019 reference, we promise. Big Mouth is just such a great show to pull costume ideas from. You can dress up as the Hormone Monster, the Hormone Monstress, or Andrew Glouberman!

The Mandalorian

The Mandalorian came out last year but by the time Halloween hits, we’ll be knee deep in season 2, so Star Wars nerds, the galaxy far far away is fair game. We’re expecting to see a lot of annoying parents dress their babies up as Baby Yoda (don’t do this, your kid isn’t as cute as Baby Yoda) and we know super nerds are going to bust out their Mandalorian armor and shout “This is the Way” over their zoom chat all night.

Instead, we’re going to opt for Werner Herzog’s ‘The Client’ just so we can try out our dope Herzog impression.

Birds of Prey

Even if a new Harley Quinn movie didn’t come out this year, this would probably still be a popular costume along with anything else Batman related. The cartoon was just renewed on HBO Max, so there’s that!

The Witcher

The Witcher dropped on Netflix late last year which means this is the first Halloween that non-gamers could look to Geralt of Rivia and friends for costume inspiration. Our pick is a no-brainer — go as Jaskier the bard who had “Toss a Coin to your Witcher” stuck in our heads for all of January. Who knows, if COVID-19 never happened, we’d probably still be singing it!

Tiger King

This one seems a bit obvious — expect Joe Exotic to be the Joker of this year but if you really want to impress with a deep cut from the show, go with one of the tigers. After all, they’re the only true protagonists of the series.

Better Call Saul

Dress up as everyone’s favorite sleazeball lawyer, Saul Goodman, or just use this as an excuse to resurrect your favorite characters from the Breaking Bad franchise.

Chilling Adventures of Sabrina

A contemporary witch costume that people will actually understand. Updating a classic Halloween costume like the witch is tough, you run the risk of people asking “so what are you, goth?” So go as modern-day Sabrina Spellman or use her as an inspiration for your own contemporary spin.

If you’re feeling a little aged out of Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, use the ‘90s, Sabrina The Teenage Witch sitcom as inspiration, you know, if you want to be Salem the cat or whatever.

The Wretched

If you’re going for a scarier witch vibe, look no further than what you’ll find in the Pierce Brothers’ The Wretched, which was legit one of this year’s scariest movies and proof that witches in the woods will make for frightening imagery.

The Last Dance

The Last Dance is the perfect excuse to resurrect your favorite ‘90s era celebrity this Halloween and is an absolute treasure trove of costume ideas. Dennis Rodman, Phil Jackson, Steve Kerr, ‘90s Jerry Seinfeld meeting Michael Jordan, ‘90s Leonardo DiCaprio meeting Michael Jordan, ’90s Carmen Electra, Crying Michael Jordan — The Last Dance has something for everybody.

Unsolved Mysteries

Unsolved Mysteries is back! That’s weird, but at least now you have a reason to dress up like Dennis Farina, which is a weird but strangely cool costume.

Betty

One of this year’s most stylish tv shows, Betty made us all want to be as cool and effortlessly authentic as the AriZona Iced Tea swigging, Teddy Fresh wearing, cast of New York street skaters. Admittedly, you run the risk of someone not realizing you’re wearing a costume at all, but you’ll still be the best dressed one in the room…er um, Zoom, so it doesn’t matter.

Palm Springs

This year had a few instances where a television show or movie felt catered made for this weird new pandemic era existence we’re living, and Palm Springs was definitely one of the. This costume will be a little hard to pull off, but if you can manage to find a way to look like you’re simultaneously on vacation and stuck in a time loop, you’re golden!

The Walking Dead

I have a vivid memory of suffering a panic attack while watching the Walking Dead this year — what was on my mind? News of a deadly pandemic. The Walking Dead has never been particularly scary, but watching it while a new virus is spreading across the world that we at the time knew very little about? Most terrifying show ever.

Hamilton

Thanks to Disney+ this was the first year a significant amount of people were exposed to the phenomenon that is Hamilton. Admittedly, it feels a little weird to celebrate America right now, but it might give you some hope in the coming election dressing up as one of the founding fathers.

What We Do in the Shadows

What We Do in the Shadows is perfect Halloween fodder. The show is about vampires, so not only do you get to dress up in a classic Halloween costume, you get to put a contemporary spin on it. That’s the best of both worlds!

Enola Holmes

The Sherlock universe is back in the cultural zeitgeist thanks to Netflix’s Enola Holmes. And if we’ve learned anything from Enola Holmes it’s that anything goes in the Sherlock universe now — just look at how hot they made Sherlock.

Dress like Enola and outsmart everyone.

Bill & Ted Face The Music

We couldn’t be more psyched that Bill & Ted are back, not because we needed another Bill & Ted movie, just because we needed a valid excuse to team up with a roommate for a quarantine buddy costume!

GLOW

This year brought the unfortunate news that Netflix would be canceling GLOW which is a total bummer for people who are fans of great television shows. So give yourself a wild ‘80s hair-do and get ready to nail that Zoya the Destroya impression.

The Boys

Right now, everyone’s current comic book obsession is Amazon’s The Boys — which just wrapped up its second season this week. Since the series is fresh in everyone’s mind, it’s the perfect television show to pull inspiration from for an of-the-moment costume.

On this past weekend’s Saturday Night Live, hosted by Bill Burr, there were a grand total of three actually live sketches that weren’t the cold open, the monologue, or “Weekend Update.” And this has become more and more the norm. I went back to the early part of the 2010s, which had its own fair share of pre-recorded sketches, and the number of live sketches that weren’t the cold open, monologue or “Weekend Update” was around five. Now this may not seem like that big of a difference, but over the course of 21 shows a year, that’s a difference of roughly 40 live sketches that are now just gone.

If you are on social media at all while Saturday Night Live airs, a constant recent complaint is the actual cast of the show seems to have been diminished in favor of famous guest stars. This is a valid observation, because it’s absolutely true. And there’s no bigger sign of this than SNL hiring Jim Carrey, for some reason, to play Joe Biden. I’d maybe understand this a little more if Carrey’s Biden was just so out of this world that society would collapse if we were denied to see it, but in the end his whole impression seems to be that Biden wears aviator sunglasses and uses finger guns. Look, I’ve never run a hugely successful television show for 45 years, but I tend to think that other people could have pulled that off. If Biden wins — and right now the polls tell us, at the very least, there’s a better chance of that happening than not — does Carrey stay on like Alec Baldwin did? (To be fair, if Biden becomes president, I suspect the number of sketches featuring the president will decrease dramatically.)

But here’s the thing: This is the show now. Over the last couple years, Lorne Michaels made a decision to slowly, but somewhat drastically, change the concept of how Saturday Night Live works. The lore of SNL says it’s always been the same, but that’s not really the case. It’s changed before. It’s just been a while so this shift seems a little more dramatic. Look, this past weekend’s show was highly entertaining. It’s just a different kind of show. It’s now more of a true variety show (which is kind of ironic because Michaels, in the past, has shown disdain for that kind of format), with the cast there to kind of support the famous guest stars. I’m not here to say this is better or worse, just that this is the way it is and it’s time to get used to it.

It’s interesting to look back at how SNL handled presidential elections in the past versus now, because it’s a big signal of where the mindset of the show now rests.

Back in its inaugural season, Chevy Chase became a star playing a bumbling, accident-prone Gerald Ford. (It’s pretty hilarious that Chase’s whole Ford costume consisted of just Chase saying, “I’m Gerald Ford.”) But from that point on, the role of the president, if done well, was a star-making vehicle. And that role was always played by a cast member. And sometimes too well, like the problems SNL had with George W. Bush after Will Ferrell left the show in 2002. People forget that Ferrell left the show just over a year into Bush’s presidency. That left seven years of awkward tryouts. (Perhaps this sticks in Michaels’ head? That maybe it’s better to just bring in a ringer than go through that again.)

But by 2016, after another awkward tryout phase of Trump – you may remember when a huge announcement was made that Taran Killam won the role? Then Killam had to do his impression with the real Donald Trump, which immediately defanged the whole thing and he was replaced shortly after – Alec Baldwin was eventually put in the role for good and now we’ve had four years of that. (Remember when it used to be a treat when Baldwin showed up on SNL?) But at least in 2016 Kate McKinnon, an actual cast member, played Hillary Clinton. But then Larry David was hired to portray Bernie Sanders, which was such a hit and got so much attention that Michaels made the decision to make this a permanent feature.

Then came Robert De Niro as Robert Mueller. Then Ben Stiller as Michael Cohen. I can’t even say that I blame Michaels. It does get attention. And I’m sure Michaels, at this point in his life, is more concerned with the here and now of SNL than the long run. And, yes, having established famous people play the most prominent roles on SNL undercuts the long run, but it’s great for right now. It would be like if SNL had hired Nick Nolte to play Bush in 2000. I bet at the time that would have gotten a lot of attention. But now, maybe Ferrell doesn’t become quite the star he became without his signature role? And we look back asking, “Why did they hire Nick Nolte?”

In the 2009-2010 season of Saturday Night Live, there were eight repertory cast members and four featured players. This was still a format when the show could make a person a star because there was an actual chance with a cast that size to have an impact. (Though, yes, without a doubt, the diversity of those casts should have been better.) At that time, the longest-serving cast member was Seth Myers, who at that point had been on the show for nine seasons. Today, there are 15 (!!) repertory cast members and 5 featured players, for a grand total of 20 (!!!) cast members all fighting to be in those three live sketches I mentioned previously. The longest-serving cast member is Kenan Thompson, who has been on the show for 18 seasons. Thompson, Cecily Strong, Kate McKinnon, Aidy Bryant, Beck Bennett, and Kyle Mooney have all been on the show for eight seasons or longer. People don’t leave SNL like they used to. (Though, if not for the pandemic, I am under the impression McKinnon would have had her last show this past May.) A whole piece could be written just about that, but in this era movie studios don’t really make comedies anymore. People used to leave to take their chances on the big screen, to be the next big comedy star like Chevy, Eddie, Ferrell or Wiig. Those opportunities just aren’t there anymore. Even Kristin Wiig, probably the last SNL cast member to have huge success in films, has now transitioned to playing a superhero villain. And on top of all that, those 20 cast members have to fight for screentime against Alec Baldwin, Jim Carrey, Maya Rudolph, and Harry Styles and whoever is hosting that week. Imagine being Andrew Dismukes. (If you don’t know, after being a writer on the show, he’s now a cast member.) Imagine just joining the show, knowing you have a limited time to make any kind of impact, and competing against all that.

As I mentioned, SNL has changed before, but the changes used to come quickly. Have you actually ever watched the first episode? Hosted by George Carlin? It’s pretty weird. It opens up somewhat normally with the now-famous “Wolverines” sketch, but the rest of the show looks almost nothing like what we know as Saturday Night Live. Carlin appears in zero sketches. Andy Kaufman shows up to do some comedy. There are two musical guests, Billy Preston and Janis Ian. The Muppets show up for a segment. There’s a short film from Albert Brooks. Comedian Valerie Bloomfield shows up for some comedy. And somehow there was still time for “Weekend Update” and four other live sketches. It would take a few shows for Saturday Night Live to even remotely look like what it would eventually look like. Oh yeah, and most of the cast then was just used to run around with bee costumes on.

Obviously, the five seasons Lorne Michaels were gone were a completely different animal. (It’s weird, when you talk to people who have worked on the show since its inception, no one likes talking about these five years.) The 1980-1981 season was similar to the original five seasons, except that it was really bad. Though soon after Eddie Murphy would take over and it basically became his show, which is a sharp contrast from the ensemble of the first five years. The 1984-1985 season, Dick Ebersol’s last in charge, might be the closest to what we have now as Saturday Night Live. In an effort to replace Eddie Murphy, they went out and hired a bunch of established performers like Billy Crystal, Martin Short, Christopher Guest and Harry Shearer to create an all-star cast of sorts. The only difference between now and then, really, is SNL went ahead and put all of those already famous people in the opening credits.

With Michaels back, the 1985-1986 season shifted gears, replacing literally everyone from the year before. But what’s weird is, here too, Michaels hired established stars like Anthony Michael Hall, Robert Downey Jr., Joan Cusack, and Randy Quaid. (Quaid was already an Oscar nominee.) The big difference from the year before is that it wasn’t very funny. And by the next season – keeping Jon Lovitz, Nora Dunn, and Dennis Miller; adding Dana Carvey, Jan Hooks, Phil Hartman – the show started it’s pretty miraculous run of “new people” that pretty much — except for one more purge after the pretty terrible 94-95 season, which, again, added some established stars like Chris Elliott and Michael McKeon — takes us up to now. Again, all of those shifts happened quickly. The one now happened slowly, to where we all kind of notice it now and are asking, “What gives?”

In 2018, Taran Killam went on the podcast I Was There Too and said this about the 40th anniversary show and what happened after:

I also think the 40th really sort of affected Lorne in that I think it was exciting and I think it was flattering and I think he was really able to sort of relish in this incredible institution that he’s responsible for and all these amazing iconic careers and all of his famous friends. And it had to have been the most potent overwhelming boost of a “this is your life” experience ever. And then it all went away. And then it was back to this cast who’s all 40 years younger than you and aren’t as famous as Tina Fey, or whatever. And my experience was he became very impatient.

Now, it’s true Killam didn’t really have the ending to his time on SNL he probably envisioned, especially after how many years he was on the show. (It worked out okay for Adam Sandler so hopefully, someday, there’s a reconciliation.) So even adding in a little bit of, let’s say, edge to his description here, there’s also probably some truth here. Lorne Michaels is only ten years older than Dana Carvey. He was only four years older than Phil Hartman. Yeah, he probably does look at these kids and think, “Well, maybe it would be better if we brought in Jim Carrey.”

But it’s not just SNL that’s changed. The whole landscape has changed. Maybe even if SNL kept the same format from ten years ago it would be impossible to create comedy stars since there are so few of those anyway these days? In Michaels’ mind, the only way to break through now is with established comedy stars from 20 years ago. The thing is, he might even be right. But, again, I’m not even judging that here. But more just pointing out that SNL has made a fundamental shift and it’s not going back to the way it was anytime soon. The cast, which is still talented, will still have its moments, but not as many. With 20 cast members (honestly, that is just a crazy high number) and the numerous celebrity cameos, the odds of breaking through are stacked against the cast.

In the meantime, SNL will still flourish. Jim Carrey is a savvy enough performer to know that basically becoming a cast member at the age of 58 will help his career. But whatever this show looks like 10 years from now will be drastically different. It won’t be thought of historically as the star-making machine it used to be. Maybe it will be then known as a show comedy performers go for a rejuvenation. Right now, the star itself is Saturday Night Live. At least the cast doesn’t have to wear bee costumes.

You can contact Mike Ryan directly on Twitter.