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‘Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2’ Delivers On The Potential Of A Modern Skate Classic

The best and most honest review of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2 is that I’m still waiting for it to f*ck up. It’s been a few days now, and I’m starting to think it’s just not going to happen.

When it comes to remaking the first two games of the genre-defining skateboarding sim, it’s hard not to consider the version Activision released on Friday without the context of the originals. The games already exist. They were great. To remake or remaster them in any way, at the very least, needs to match the greatness you’ve likely already experienced. It’s the first way the game can fail, a fairly high bar for the title to clear before you can even judge anything else happening in Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2.

Nostalgia is a powerful thing, sure, but it only gets you so far if what you’re currently playing isn’t as good as the thing you remembered. The game’s Warehouse Demo was a direct confrontation of that nostalgia. Here’s the stuff you remember, the demo seemed to say, it’s all here again so sharpen your skills because you’re going to need them. And any worry about it relying purely on what came before it gets quickly erased once you experience the full package. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2 is a fully-formed, modern video game with a spectacular soundtrack and a deeply customizable experience.

Activision

In many ways, the above sentence is typed with relief as much as anything. THPS 1+2 is a game that could have come off as a cash grab, a shameless way to tepidly reheat nostalgia, give skateboarding brands some new shine, and maybe get Goldfinger another royalty check. But it’s more than the sum of its parts thanks to Activision delivering what it promised this spring: an updated version of what fans love with features you’d expect from a game made this decade. Just seeing that it’s possible to make a good, modern Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater is satisfying after the disappointments of the series’ most recent entries. But 1+2 plays smoothly, and it seamlessly incorporates newer moves like the manual and revert into the lexicon of cool sh*t you can do in the game’s various levels.

It’s really great to see Downhill Jam and the various School levels done with modern-day graphics, and the various tasks you have to complete in two-minute runs remain intuitive and fun. It’s amazing how much muscle memory for tricks and combos comes back to you after just a few sessions, and how fluidly the search for S-K-A-T-E or hard hats or spotting ways to access secret tapes becomes during your runs. This isn’t reading the same book again looking for new details, but revisiting a book you loved 20 years ago and remembering why as you flip through the pages — maybe on an e-reader this time, I suppose.

If anything, 1+2 offers gamers a useful outlet for the skills they picked up long ago, when a game shaped their childhood and (probably) their musical tastes in a way that’s reverberated through the rest of their lives. Creating a skater and custom-mapping your favorite tricks, or simply grabbing your favorite skater (Bob Burnquist over here) and finding all the secrets in the Hangar will keep you up late into the night, just like the old days. The rust comes off quick, and it’s extremely satisfying to execute high-scoring runs or clearing multiple challenges in a session. The formula has always worked, and once you get a few runs in you’ll start to wonder why these games weren’t remade any sooner.

Overall the game’s new soundtrack additions fit in with the old and kept the fun, catchy vibe of the originals. I never needed to switch to a particular song for a big run, but the option was there if I ever got tired of letting the new mix of hip-hop and old school classics ride.

Activision

Both the custom skaters and the game’s overall roster offer a lot of new challenges and individual options with which to tinker. The game’s collectable skill points can be swapped to different categories as you find them and swapped on the fly, making finishing some challenges less of a grind and offering a more customized play experience for those that struggle with certain skills or need one run with monster air to land an important gap. The only frustrations I found were with myself, not the game’s camera or wonky physics or anything that often sinks sports sims. The pitfalls that usually besiege projects like these, especially in a year like this, never really came up.

The in-game currency builds up quickly as you complete challenges and allows you to purchase plenty of new boards, wheels, and other merch for customizing if you need it. The most fruitful customizing option in the coming months, though, will be the game’s Create A Park mode. It’s sprawling, seems fairly intuitive and has loads of options to make themed parks and wild mashups. I will be happy to let other people find their calling in that mode and reap the benefits they share online, but it looks to be a satisfying ride for everyone involved.

Perhaps the strongest endorsement I can give Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2 is that it’s not just for people amped up on nostalgia. I handed the controller over to someone who had never played and they were gently guided through a tutorial of the basics by Tony Hawk himself. It was a reminder that the skills the game takes are learned, and they’ve been dormant inside millions of gamers who are eager to once again give them a use. But watching someone learn how to escape an empty pool and pull off a lip trick with some friendly guidance from the legend himself, it became clear that this game isn’t just for those who want to hear “Guerilla Radio” while they live in the past for a little bit.

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2 is poised to be a modern classic, even if you don’t remember the skateboarding world back when it was a lot more pixelated.

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Everything You Need To Know About AEW All Out 2020

It’s Labor Day weekend, and that means it’s time for All Elite Wrestling’s All Out PPV. Although things are still not completely normal in light of the pandemic, there are going to be limited fans at this outdoor event, and the card is looking pretty legit.

Whether you haven’t been watching AEW Dynamite lately or you’re just looking for a refresher, let’s take a quick look at all of Saturday night’s matches and what’s going on in them.

Tooth & Nail Match: Britt Baker vs Big Swole

All Elite Wrestling

The Deal: Doctor Britt Baker is a dentist, but she’s also a bully. She’s been causing problems for Big Swole for months now. Swole’s got a good heart but a quick temper, and she’s not that hard to bait. But she won a handicap match a couple of weeks ago, earning the right to choose what kind of match she wants to have with Britt.

Big Swole chose a Tooth and Nail Match without explain what that means. She did say she was going to show up where Britt works, and the rumor is that this will be a cinematic match in a dentist office.

The Likely Outcome: This is a story with a clear hero and villain, so ultimately Big Swole needs to win. But I’m betting this match just leads to a rematch in an actual wrestling ring, probably when Doctor Baker is a little more healed from her recent injury.

The Young Bucks vs Jurassic Express

All Elite Wrestling

The Deal: The Young Bucks aren’t just going to, like, not be on a PPV from the company they started! So they had an eight-man tag match on Dynamite, with the stipulation that the winners would fight each other at All Out. The Bucks and Jurassic Express won, so here they are. The Bucks have been acting like jerks lately, so they’ll probably work heel against the heroic Jurassic Express.

The Likely Outcome: The Bucks went to the effort of putting themselves on the PPV, I have a feeling they’ll win the match. Unless this leads into some really specific plan for one or both teams, the Young Bucks definitely go over.

The Dark Order vs The Natural Nightmares, Matt Cardona, & Scorpio Sky

All Elite Wrestling

The Deal: Colt Cabana has been saying for weeks that he hasn’t joined the Dark Order, he’s just friends with them. But this graphic doesn’t say “Dark Order and Colt Cabana,” so I think we have to officially consider him one of them now.

The Dark Order beat the hell out of Cody and Brandi Rhodes after their leader Mister Brodie Lee defeated Cody for the TNT Championship. So the team going up against the Dark Order is basically the Cody Rhodes revenge squad: Cody’s best friends QT Marshall and Matt Cardona, his brother Dustin Rhodes, and Local Superhero Scorpio Sky.

The Likely Outcome: The Dark Order is clearly on the rise to become the big threat of AEW, especially with Brodie Lee as the TNT Champion. They’re absolutely going to win this match, and as long as Scorpio Sky looks good in it and doesn’t take the pin, I think that’s fine.

The Casino Battle Royal

All Elite Wrestling

The Deal: A Casino Battle Royale is like AEW’s take on the Royal Rumble, with more people joining as the match goes along. To the victor goes a World Title Shot, so it’s a match worth winning. Eddie Kingston and his whole faction will be in it this year, as well as Darby Allin, Brian Cage, Lance Archer, and basically everybody else with nothing else to do. Plus there will probably be a surprise entrant or two — I admit, I’m still holding out hope for a certain handsome Miroslav.

The Likely Outcome: This is hard to predict. Darby Allin is a possibility. Either of the Lucha Brothers. Eddie Kingston would make a lot of sense. Let’s consider Kingston my official pick, but with an asterisk (*) and underneath it says “* How am I supposed to know?”

Broken Rules Match: Sammy Guevara vs Matt Hardy

All Elite Wrestling

The Deal: Matt Hardy is a veteran wrestler with a lot to teach, but he’s clearly mentally unstable. Sammy Guevara is a promising young wrestler with boundless potential, but he’s also an idiot with a lot to learn. Chris Jericho has taken Guevara under his wing this past year, but Hardy thinks he’d be a better mentor. Sammy isn’t interested in the guidance, and they’ve been having increasingly violent fights about it. Now they’re having a hardcore match, and the loser is supposedly leaving AEW.

The Likely Outcome: Neither of these guys is really leaving, but one of them might take some time off and possibly get repackaged. Of course, repackaging is obsolete when it comes to Matt Hardy, since he can just morph from character to character and everyone accepts it. For Sammy Guevara, though, it would make a lot of sense. It seems like the Inner Circle may be breaking up before long, and if that is happening, Sammy could take a little time away and come back doing something totally different. So I’m picking Matt Hardy to win here.

Mimosa Mayhem Match: Chris Jericho vs Orange Cassidy

All Elite Wrestling

The Deal: Chris Jericho is veteran who thinks he understands everything about wrestling. Orange Cassidy is a slacker who displays surprising skills in the ring on those rare occasions when he can be bothered to care about a match. Jericho hates Cassidy, just like every other wrestler over the age of 45 does. This is the rubber match after Jericho won the first time they fought, and Cassidy won the second time.

In addition to pinfall and submission, it’s going to be possible to win this match by dumping your opponent in a giant vat of champagne and orange juice. With the possibility of a finish that good, it makes you wonder why they need to leave in pinfall and submission.

The Likely Outcome: Jericho seems determined to make Orange Cassidy a star with this feud, and if that’s the goal it makes sense to put Orange over in this match. The mimosa aspect leaves lots of space for semi-shmozzy finish if they feel like they need to protect Jericho, but honestly I don’t see why a star of his age and caliber needs to be protected. Jericho can take the loss, and the win will be a huge deal for Orange.

AEW Tag Team Championship Match: Hangman Page & Kenny Omega (c) vs FTR

All Elite Wrestling

The Deal: There’s a lot of tension between champs Hangman Adam Page and Kenny Omega, who have nothing in common except being moody and very good at wrestling. For one thing, Kenny’s still close friends with the Young Bucks, who Hangman doesn’t get along with anymore.

Meanwhile, FTR arrived in their old-timey pickup truck looking to do some fisting. They’re young men but old-timey wrestlers, proud southern people who be ready to fight (say yeah). They’re also the most anticipated “I can’t wait till they go to AEW” team to arrive since the company was founded. They won this title shot in a gauntlet match.

The Likely Outcome: The conflict between Page and Omega seems ready to come to a head, and losing their titles (no matter whose fault it is) is the perfect set-up for that. Meanwhile, FTR will be amazing champs, and if not now, when?

AEW Women’s Championship Match: Hikaru Shida (c) vs Thunder Rosa

All Elite Wrestling

The Deal: AEW’s Women’s division has never been packed with contenders, and they’ve really thinned out since the pandemic hit. With almost nobody left to fight, Shida made it clear that she would accept a challenge from any woman in the world. Not long afterward, along came National Wrestling Alliance Women’s Champion Thunder Rosa. Having already won that belt from Allysin Kay, she’s looking to take Shida’s belt and become one of those double champs everybody talks about these days.

The Likely Outcome: Exactly what the future holds for NWA (who haven’t held a show since quarantine started) seems very up in the air right now. Most likely, since she’s carrying their belt, Rosa’s just visiting AEW. So it wouldn’t make much sense for her to win this match. Plus, as little competition as she’s had, Hikaru Shida kind of needs a really impressive match in which she retains, which is how I expect this to go.

AEW World Championship Match: Jon Moxley (c) vs Maxwell Jacob Friedman

All Elite Wrestling

The Deal: MJF is a spoiled trust fund kid, but he’s also a pretty good wrestler. He’s been campaigning for AEW World Champion like it’s a political office, but he points out that he’s never been pinned or submitted in singles competition, so that does make some sense.

Jon Moxley has been AEW champion since the Revolution PPV in February. He’s just a regular down-to-earth guy from Ohio who really, really loves hardcore violence and is very good at both inflicting and receiving it. MJF will do anything to win this match, but Mox will do anything to win any match.

The Likely Outcome: I was starting to buy into the idea that MJF might win the belt here. After all, it does make sense at this point to make a homegrown AEW star the champion. But then MJF beat the snot out of Moxley at the end of the AEW Dynamite go-home show. I don’t think they would have let Mox get beaten that badly if he was also going to lose this match. Therefore, I predict he wins it.

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Sisters thought they were rescuing an injured dog, but ended up with 10 lovely pups instead

It is hard to walk into a dog shelter without wanting to take them all home. In the case of Meghan Wedge and Sarah Bauer, one turned into ten—and quickly.

It all started outside Meghan’s work in Dalton, GA. Some colleagues of hers came into the office and said that there was a dog badly injured in the parking lot just outside. As Wedge told PBS39, “As soon as she got up, she’d fall back down. When she did finally get up, you could see that she couldn’t put her weight on her one back leg. I wanted to help her, so I started posting on social media, just asking if anyone was able to help this dog. I didn’t want to call the pound on her. I was hoping to find her a home.” That was when she made a phone call to her sister, Sarah Bauer, who lived in Quakertown, PA. At that moment, for the dog who would soon be named Izzy, things were about to change.

As Megan recalls, “Sarah was like: What if I take the dog? I said: Are you sure you want to do this? You don’t know what you may be getting yourself into.” But there was no talking Sarah out of it. They met in Virginia where Sarah met Izzy and took him home.

The first order of business for Sarah was to take Izzy to the vet. That was when she learned how bad the trauma that Izzy had suffered really was. “Because of Covid-19 and everything going on, I couldn’t go into the vet with her, which was hard in itself,” said Bauer. “The vet comes out to my car and tells me that her hip is dislocated, she has abrasions on her legs and that she was probably hit by a car. She also told me that she was hit by buckshot. At that point, I started tearing up. To think that this sweet girl had been treated that way…I don’t even want to think about someone hurting her on purpose.”


As Sarah pointed out to PBS39 on Izzy’s X-rays, “The tiny white dots—that’s the buckshot—all over her body. This is just showing her abdomen. I also picked a couple out of her ears, arms and legs.” As expected, when Megan heard this from Sarah it was heartbreaking. “When Sarah told me all of that, I started crying,” said Wedge. “I have a rescue dog myself, and she was abused before I got her. To me, dog is God spelled backwards. Dogs are angels. I think it’s sickening that people would even think about hurting an animal.”

So Izzy had been hit by a car and had buckshot all over her body, but there was one more discovery about to be made. Izzy was also pregnant.

“The vet told me that she found a heartbeat,” said Bauer. “So, just to know that a little puppy was alive after everything that her mom went through, that was incredible!” The thing is, they were wrong. It would turn out not to be a heartbeat. It would turn out to be nine of them.

“The vet tech came out and said: So, we don’t just have a puppy, we have puppies! Do you want to guess how many? I said: Three or four? She said: Nine! I said: Nine puppies…that’s crazy,” said Bauer. “She’s really come alive since the first time that I met her. I think the puppies really brought out the puppy in her. She manages pretty well, but I know that she’s in discomfort every day, especially if she tries to go up or down steps or even just to run around with her puppies, she won’t put weight on that leg. I just want her to have the best life, that’s why I brought her home with me, I just want her to have a good life.”

To assist Sarah with the vet bills of over $4,000, and to help her feed the nine new family members, you can go to the GoFundMe page that was created.

It certainly sounds like Izzy could not have landed in a better home than the one she shares with Sarah Bauer.

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The Rally Where Smash Mouth Performed Had Its First Confirmed Coronavirus Death

Live music was one of the first industries to suffer in a big way following the COVID-19 lockdown. While artists and venues have largely followed CDC safety guidelines by moving concerts to online livestreams, Smash Mouth decided to do the opposite. The band performed to thousands last month at the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota and health officials worried the event would be a super-spreader. Just one week later, more than 100 cases of COVID-19 were confirmed to be connected to the event and now, the first COVID-related death has been linked to the largely-unmasked event in South Dakota.

The New York Times reported a man from Minnesota is the first known Sturgis Rally attendee to die from COVID-19 complications. The state’s health officials revealed the man was in his 60’s and had pre-existing health conditions. The man was admitted to the hospital where he remained under intensive care for several weeks.

Though the Sturgis Rally was in South Dakota, more than 50 cases confirmed COVID cases in Minnesota have been linked to the rally. This past week, South Dakota reported more than 2,000 new cases, setting a record for most cases reported by the state in one day.

Cases continue to rise in the state but South Dakota is still going forward with holding a state fair. The fair has warned attendees of health risks associated with attending large scale events on their website: “Exposure to COVID-19 is an inherent risk in any public location where people are present. By visiting the South Dakota State Fairgrounds, you voluntarily assume all risks related to exposure to COVID-19.”

Read the New York Times‘ full report here.

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What To Watch For As The Lakers And Rockets Clash In The Conference Semifinals

Four of the biggest stars in the NBA will collide on Friday night when the Lakers and Rockets tip off their second round series. It’s a battle between a championship favorite and the West’s perennial upset candidate. It’s a clash of the smallest team left in the NBA playoffs and one of the biggest. It’s LeBron James vs. James Harden, a battle we’ve never seen in the postseason.

Los Angeles hasn’t played in a week, biding their time in the Bubble, while Houston just gritted out a wild Game 7 win over Oklahoma City two nights ago. That also means the Lakers are the healthier team at the top, as James Harden continued to look tired at the end of the Rockets’ first round games and Russell Westbrook only recently returned from a quad injury.

Those are just the biggest bullet points. Here are some of the other factors that will decide this series.

The battle of the second stars

The last time these two teams played at full strength was just after the trade deadline in early February. That game was decided in large part by Russell Westbrook outplaying Anthony Davis. This was during Westbrook’s best stretch of the season, when he was a nightly presence on social media thanks to highlight-reel finishes against bigger defenders following Houston’s decision to go all-in on hyper smallball. Like a linebacker, Westbrook was able to put up 41 against the Lakers’ third-ranked defense by putting his shoulder into Davis time and again at the rim to provide balance to the Rockets’ half court offense.

On the other end, as the Rockets adjusted to their center-less lineup, they were aggressive sending double-teams at Davis in the post. The Lakers created an early lead because of Davis’ passing in those situations, but as has been increasingly the case in the Bubble, the Lakers’ role players stopped making their shots late as Westbrook and Harden closed the game.

Though Davis scored 32 of his own and was incredible defensively late in the game, the combination of Westbrook’s inside pressure, Harden’s perimeter play-making, and the team’s overall shooting was too much for the Lakers to deal with.

But that version of Westbrook seems far away right now. When he tried to take over late in Game 6, the results were miserable, including an air-ball and multiple turnovers. All in all, in two slugfest elimination games against the Thunder, Westbrook had nine turnovers compared to five assists and averaged just 19.5 points per game.

Yet Davis’ defense matters here, too. Much was made of Houston winning in February because of the overreaction to their trade for Robert Covington, but the game was pretty evenly matched. James missed a late three that tilted things in Houston’s favor. Davis was a monster on defense to close the game. The underestimated part of the Rockets playing small is that they usually force the opponent to do the same, and not many teams have a great option when that time comes. Oklahoma City refused to put Danilo Gallinari in at center even if it might have helped their defense, but the Lakers’ choice is much simpler. JaVale McGee and Dwight Howard combined for just 20 minutes in that February matchup, while Davis was at center almost full-time. The Lakers can size down and not sacrifice much, so long as Davis is a two-way beast on a nightly basis.

Harden and James will still be the focal points of their team’s schemes on offense, but the Lakers traded for the ultimate small-ball trump card for a reason, and this is the series where he can show his worth.

Role player matchups to watch

When these teams faced off early in 2020, Jeff Green was not on the Rockets. He has increasingly filled in as the team’s nominal center and could get a shot defending Davis post-ups early on. Because he can also match up with James on switches, playing Green more alongside P.J. Tucker or Robert Covington could allow the Rockets to help neutralize the James/Davis pick-and-roll more effectively, taking away some of those easy lobs James is so good at finding.

It might sound crazy, but Vogel could consider going to his centers a little more in the first game or two of the series. The Thunder refused to go small, but they also took Houston to a Game 7, so it didn’t hurt them all that much. So long as the Lakers can keep enough shooting and wing defense on the floor with Howard or McGee, it’s not a bad thing to see if they can turn the tide of a game with their rim protection or defense. Tucker shot 37 percent from deep in the first round but Oklahoma City decided it was fine to sacrifice those shots to him and Green so long as Steven Adams could stay on the floor. If Howard or McGee can have a better series than Adams did, that would be gigantic for the Lakers.

What happens in the half court stays in the half court

As much as the teams are defined by their stars, neither is particularly effective scoring in the half court. That’s why the secondary stars are so important, but it’s also why the team that is able to get out and run the most might walk away the winner.

The Lakers scored a whopping 62 of their 111 points in that Feb. 6 meeting on the fast break despite each team turning it over 16 times apiece. In the open court, Los Angeles was able to actually take advantage of the chemistry between James and Alex Caruso as well as the Lakers’ size on lobs and easy post-ups for Davis.

James lately hasn’t been able to bully players into layups like in years past, meaning the Lakers’ ace in the hole is not as effective. In order to create great offense, they will need to push Houston’s transition defense and get to the rim off of turnovers and misses as much as possible.

This is also where Westbrook is best. Apart from the cross matches referenced earlier, Westbrook still maintains the speed and strength to ram his way to layups and free throws at will when he’s healthy. James’ increasingly brilliant passing or Westbrook’s creative, overwhelming transition attacks winning out — and which team takes care of the ball best to prevent those plays in the first place — could decide which team has an easier time scoring in this series.

Is Kyle Kuzma the difference?

The Lakers have gotten a new gear from Kuzma defensively in the Bubble. That has been huge for a Los Angeles team that had no true wing defenders most of the season and is now without Avery Bradley as well. Don’t let James’ late-game stop against Paul George in the seeding games fool you, the King is not locking down on Harden for 40 minutes a night at age 35.

But could Kuzma? As Pete Zayas of the Lakers outlined in his latest video, it’s not just that the team had to rely on Kuzma or that his results were better against an equally shallow Portland wing rotation. Kuzma has genuinely improved his defensive skills as well.

As Luguentz Dort showed us in the last series, part of Harden getting tired and making mistakes is wearing him out by making him work for shots. Functional defensive strength has always been the underestimated part of keeping Harden in check, and even the rookie Dort is already one of the sturdiest dudes in basketball.

Dort was able to deny Harden’s drives and crowd his space on jumpers in a way we really haven’t seen at all during Harden’s career. And while Kuzma’s body looks nothing like Dort’s, the Lakers forward can hold his ground defensively and his length may allow him to stay with Harden, too.

In that February matchup, Lakers coach Frank Vogel did not put Kuzma on Harden at all. Their Aug. 6 contest in the Bubble is moot because James and Westbrook both missed it, but Kuzma hardly defended Harden then, either. The job was mostly left to Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, though one area where Westbrook was especially important in the winter game was forcing bad cross-matches onto the Lakers that often left Davis on an island.

Vogel has thinned out his rotation recently and Kuzma is playing more. If the Lakers want their best guys to play as much as possible, Kuzma will need to at least get a crack at Harden early in the series. Should his newfound defensive consistency prove legit, it would go a long way in limiting one of the best offensive weapons in the NBA.

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A Whiskey-Themed Hotel Is Coming To Los Angeles

For a long time now we’ve been searching for a way to combine our love of whiskey with our insatiable hunger for travel. And while a distillery tour or a dram at a local haunt is all fine and good, they just don’t scream “whisky” enough for our tastes. Which is why we couldn’t be more psyched about the whiskey-themed hotel that is coming to Los Angeles.

The Whiskey Hotel, a… (shocker incoming) whiskey-themed hotel, is slated to open in Hollywood sometime in 2022 and will feature 134 rooms in a seven-story structure with a rooftop greenhouse-style restaurant, which will surely boast amazing views of the Los Angeles skyline, whiskey-filled minibars, a whiskey fountain, and a complimentary dram for every guest upon check-in.

We’re going to call it early: someone is going to try to swim in that whiskey fountain within the hotel’s first year of opening. Lay your bets.

The hotel will also have Whisk(e)y Sommeliers on hand to guide guests through the hotel’s dense craft spirits collection. EaterLA reports that the hotel is owned by Adolfo Suaya — a bit of a fixture on the LA scene, opening the Gaucho Grill, The Phoenix, Bar Delux, Surly Goat, Dole, and The Lodge. Suaya has now fully secured funding for the $35 million dollar hotel, which is set to open in 2022.

If you’re the mid-century, whiskey-loving Donny Drapes type, this might be the place to make a booze-related travel stop whenever this god-awful pandemic is behind us.

The Whisky Hotel
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Ja Morant Should Have Been The Unanimous Rookie Of The Year

There are a plenty of reasons why the Memphis Grizzlies and their fans could’ve felt bitter about the way things played out in Orlando. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, all signs pointed to them hanging on to the No. 8 spot in the West and securing what we might all assume would’ve been the first of many playoff appearances to come for one of the league’s most exciting up-and-coming squads.

Of course, that’s not how things played out. To be fair, the Grizzlies had the same opportunity as everyone else in Orlando. The Bubble leveled the playing field, and a combination of bizarro occurrences conspired against them in their quest for the postseason — I mean, who could’ve possibly anticipated the Suns’ Cinderella run through the seeding games?

And the Grizzlies certainly earned their share of the blame. They lost four games in a row to start, digging themselves a hole they were never quite able to climb out of, despite finally rediscovering their swagger in the play-in game and giving the Blazers all they could handle before falling short.

Through all of this, rookie sensation Ja Morant took up the mantel as the new face of the franchise and staked his claim as one of the NBA’s brightest young stars. He was spectacular for Memphis this season, leading all rookies in both scoring (17.6) and assists (6.9) on better than 49 percent shooting and was one of the best clutch performers in the league, finishing sixth among all players in fourth quarter scoring at 7.3 points.

So it was little surprise that the fledgling point god ran away with the Rookie of the Year award, earning 99 out of a possible 100 first-place votes. That’s right: 99 out of 100. And don’t think for a minute that Morant didn’t take notice. In fact, he had a message for that lone dissenting voter on Friday, via Tim Bontemps of ESPN:

“I want to shoot a direct message to them and thank them for motivating me even more to do more on the floor and be better and do whatever I can to help my team in a basketball game,” Morant said. “So if anyone knows who that is, let me know.”

The other first-place vote getter? Zion Williamson. Zion, of course, was the Pelicans’ No. 1 overall pick in 2019 and entered the league as perhaps the most anticipated rookie since LeBron James. That anticipation, to be clear, was 100 percent justified. Zion is one of the most explosive athletes we’ve ever seen in the league. Even before he arrived in the NBA, his highlight package was already one for the ages, and even beyond all of the flash that the dunks and spectacular blocks provide, he is a really good, really smart basketball player.

Getty Image

But a truncated rookie season, due to injury, took him out of the running for ROY in most voters’ minds. And that’s taking into account his incredible run over the 19 games he played before the shutdown, during which he averaged 23.6 points on 58.9 percent shooting and showed tantalizing flashes of what we can expect from him as his career gets off the ground.

Yet as good as he was, most voters arrived at the (in my mind correct) estimation that Morant’s sustained greatness over the course of a grueling 82-game season that put his team in playoff positioning was more than enough to reward him with a first-place vote.

This is not to bash the lone media member who withheld their first-place vote. Zion’s 19-game run absolutely opened the debate about just how many games are necessary to constitute an adequate sample size for an award like this, although most voters clearly arrived at the same conclusion. It is easy to say that voters faced a similar conundrum in 2017 with the ROY race involving Malcolm Brogdon and Joel Embiid. Embiid had played 31 games before he was shut down with an injury, and during that stretch, he was the runaway favorite, averaging 20.2 points and 7.8 rebounds on 46 percent from the field and 37 percent from behind the arc.

Compare that to Brogdon’s 10.2 points and 4.2 assists on 45 percent shooting and better than 40 percent from three. In this case, Embiid’s dominance was enough to earn him 23 first-place votes. While one of Embiid’s teammates at the time, Dario Saric, finished in second, Embiid got the second-most spots atop ballots. It is not a stretch to say that if Embiid played more, he would have won the award in a walk.

That second sentence, however, doesn’t necessarily apply here. Brogdon is a good player, but Morant’s Rookie of the Year case is much less murky, as his first year in the league was legitimately sensational. Due to the mix of Williamson’s absence for much of the year and just how good he was for a team that was in eighth place at the time award voting concluded, it is a bit surprising that he did not unanimously win this award, and he would have had one heck of a case for it even if Williamson played all season.

This opens another debate about whether awards voting should remain anonymous, or whether voters should have to own up to their decisions. I’m personally a believer in that. If you voted your conscience and feel strongly about it, great. I respect that, and I’d love to hear the rationale, even if I don’t agree with it.

But in the grand scheme of things, it won’t matter much. Morant will always have his award, even if it has the tiniest bit of tarnish on it. In fact, we already know that it’s given him bulletin-board material for next season, which is a scary prospect for his opponents.

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Report: Montrezl Harrell Is The 2019-20 NBA Sixth Man Of The Year

The NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year award is staying within the Los Angeles Clippers organization for the third season in a row, but this year, it’s changing hands among teammates. After Lou Williams won the award for each of the last two years, Montrezl Harrell is reportedly taking it home for his performance during the 2019-20 campaign.

News of Harrell’s coronation, which doesn’t come as much of a surprise, comes via Shams Charania of The Athletic.

While official word on how the voting went down has not yet been announced, Harrell was a finalist alongside Williams and Dennis Schröder of the Oklahoma City Thunder. Any of the three would have been deserving winners, but Harrell was magnificent this year off of the Clippers’ bench. He oftentimes provided a shot of energy and interior offense that served as a good counter-balance to the steady play of Ivica Zubac, and as a result, he averaged career-highs in scoring (18.6 per game), rebounding (7.1 per game), and minutes (27.8 a night).

Harrell is the third Clippers player to take home the award in the last seven years. In addition to Williams’ pair of wins in 2017-18 and 2018-19, Jamal Crawford earned this honor during the 2013-14 and 2015-16 seasons. It comes at a great time for Harrell, too, as he is slated to become an unrestricted free agent this offseason.

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Weekend Preview: Between ‘Mulan,’ ‘The Boys,’ And Charlie Kaufman, It’s A Well-Rounded TV Weekend

If nothing below suits your sensibilities, check out our guide to What You Should Watch On Streaming Right Now.

Mulan (Disney+ film) — After multiple setbacks, Disney+ is rolling the dice with a $30 premier-access price point for this live-action reboot. There are no musical numbers to be found, nor is there an animated, beloved dragon onboard, but the story is updated for the young-adult-and-above crowd. As our own Mike Ryan writes, the action scenes are impressive enough to climb onboard, since $30 is a bargain compared to what you’d spend for a family at the multiplex.

The Boys: Season 2 (Amazon Prime series) — The first three episodes have launched with weekly installments to follow for showrunner Eric Kripke’s adaptation of the Garth Ennis comic book series. Fortunately for all involved, this sophomore effort is more depraved and also dives deeper into the inner world of the Supes as Billy Butcher marches around, plotting vengeance. Additionally, Homelander actor Antony Starr gave us some insight into why it’s so good to be a bad guy.

Away (Netflix series) — Hilary Swank stars in an epic-scaled, emotional space drama about the personal sacrifices made by humans while attempting to make incredible advancements. Swank plays Emma Green, who’s leading the first mission to Mars while leaving her family behind and enduring complex personal dynamics with her crew.

I’m Thinking of Ending Things (Netflix film) — Technically, this movie doesn’t arrive until 2:00 AM CDT, but there’s gonna be an actual Charlie Kaufman (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Being John Malkovich screenwriter) movie on Netflix. As our own Mike Ryan told Kaufman, “It seems fitting in these times that you’ve come to entertain us.” Starring Toni Collette, Jesse Plemons, Jessie Buckley, and David Thewlis, this film explores regret and longing.

Raised By Wolves (HBO Max series) — Ridley Scott’s latest sci-fi project comes to streaming land, and it’s a savage, serialized tale that adopts a nonlinear structure. The show takes place on a mysterious virgin planet (where a colony of humans is divided by religious differences) and revolves around androids raising human children. It’s a little bit disturbing, as one would expect from Scott, but builds up an engrossing mythology.

Bill And Ted Face The Music (VOD) — Decades in the making, the long-anticipated threequel of the greatest damn franchise ever is here. Yes, “greatest” is a subjective term (fight me, Vin Diesel), but is anyone going to argue that the reteaming of Alex Winter (as Bill S. Preston, Esq.) and Keanu Reeves (as Ted “Theodore” Logan) is an unwelcome sight in 2020? Nope. The good news (for them) is that they’re getting the hell out of 2020 to steal music from themselves in the future and save the world. And unlike The New Mutants, they’re on VOD in addition to theaters this weekend.

Here’s the rest of this weekend’s notable programming:

Room 104 (Friday, HBO 10:00 p.m.) — The fourth season of the Duplass Brothers’ bizarre playground continues with a perpetually insecure man attempting to impress housemates with a foam party, which ends up having an unintended side effect.

Lovecraft Country (Sunday, HBO 9:00 p.m.) — This 1950s-set dark fantasy series blew away expectations, and this week, Christina’s motives grow ever more puzzling while Leti, Atticus, and Montrose head out on a search for missing pages from the Book of Adam.

Love Fraud (Sunday, Showtime 9:00 p.m.) — This critically acclaimed Sundance Film Festival limited series feels like the lovechild of Dirty John and Tiger King, as one prolific con-man leaves a decades-long trail of destruction, which tracks him down to Witchita, Kansas.

The Vow (Sunday, HBO 10:00 p.m.) — The NXIVM organization (known as the “sex cult” partially led by Allison Mack) starts to turn dark with “masters” and slaves” while Sarah struggles with her involvement in the organization.

We Hunt Together (Sunday, Showtime 10:00 p.m.) — A deadly duo (a former child soldier named Baba and Freddie) finds themselves drawn together (to commit murder), and this week, Freddie’s dark history comes to light while Lola and Jackson work to prevent the next murder.

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What my emotionally abusive childhood taught me about parenting

From the outside looking in, I had the picture perfect childhood. I lived in a four-bedroom house with a dog and a fenced-in backyard. I wore department store clothes and Stride Rite kicks, and I had the latest and greatest clothes and toys. From Barbie and Cabbage Patch Dolls to a Nintendo, Super Nintendo, Gameboy, and SEGA Genesis, I had it all.

I also had two loving* parents. My mother and father attended all of my productions and plays in school. They never missed a single honors luncheon and saw me get all of my attendance awards.

But behind closed doors, things were different. They were different, and my mother was a nightmare. She mentally, emotionally, and verbally abused me for years.


Of course, I didn’t know it. Not initially. Not until the damage was already done, but that is because—like most abusers—her mistreatment began as manipulation. She loved me, coddled me, and held me close. She would say things like “Mommy loves you. Mommy needs you. You don’t want Mommy to be sad, do you? Do this and I’ll be happy.”

She made me believe I couldn’t trust anyone. My childhood was full of silence, shame, and secrets. She separated me from my friends. She told me I couldn’t go out or have playdates. I was never allowed to have company over, and then she began putting me down.

I was bad. I was stupid. I was a “disappointment” and a “failure.”

Things only got worse. Sometime between my twelfth birthday and my thirteenth, the yelling began. Both I and my house shook from the noise and fear. By my fourteenth birthday, my mother’s insults were laced with expletives. Sometimes she tried to hit me or hold me down, and because I was groomed from a young age, I felt helpless.

I was scared, isolated, depressed, and alone. I lived in fear. I walked on eggshells in my prison, aka my home.

The good news is that (eventually) I got out. When I graduated high school, I moved myself and my meager belongs 100 miles and two states away. But the damage was done. At 36, I still struggle with self-confidence. Trust is an issue, as is my reaction to criticism—actual and implied—and I have very few friends.

But my abusive childhood also taught me a lot about parenting. I know what my kids need, what they want, and what they deserve, and for that I am thankful. I consider myself #blessed.

Make no mistake: I know that sounds odd and twisted, and in a way it is, and yet it also makes perfect sense because my broken and neglectful childhood made me a mother who loves deeply and fully. I wear my heart on my sleeve. I give my children what they need most: my time, ear, patience, and support.

My broken childhood taught me to lead by experience. I, for example, have trust issues because my trust was betrayed (and because I was told to keep others beyond my reach), so I make it a point to push my own boundaries when my children are around. I want them to see what I didn’t. I want them to rely on others in a way I never could.

And my broken childhood taught me what I shouldn’t say. I rarely use the words “can’t” or “don’t.” I praise my daughter on a regular basis. I focus on her achievements and not her failures or shortcomings, and when she “acts up” or makes a mistake I choose my words wisely. I seperate her feelings from her behaviors, i.e. “It is okay to be upset. I would be frustrated too. But acting out is not a healthy way of dealing with your feelings.”

I also tell her how I am feeling. Why? Because growing up I was told things like “stop crying” and “calm down” and these directives didn’t just cause me pain and anxiety, they kept me from processing my emotions.

I still struggle to say much more than “I’m fine” or “I’m okay.”

So while I am not happy I grew up in a distant home, a neglectful home, and an emotionally and verbally abusive home, I am happy that my daughter will not because my experience taught me what my children need and don’t need. My experience taught me how I can—and why I need to—break the cycle.