Month: December 2023

Aaron Rodgers‘ highly-anticipated debut with the New York Jets ended pretty quickly, as the soon-to-be Hall of Fame quarterback ruptured his achilles four snaps into his tenure with the team. Not long after that happened, Rodgers made clear he was going to do everything in his power to return to the team before the season came to an end, as he’s undergone surgery and rehabbed it to a point that he was cleared for limited practice this week.

Now, Rodgers is pretty clearly not an especially big fan of the scientific consensus on things, so the chance to get back onto the field way ahead of schedule is presumably the sort of thing he’d love to do.

“Yeah, a lot of people said that,” Rodgers said about the perception that this is a bad idea, according to Andy Vasquez of NJ.com. “My thing is, what’s the worst that could happen? Something unfortunate again. And then you just slow the rehab down.”

The answer to that question is “you rupture your achilles again and your ability to play football next season is thrown into question.” Anyway, Rodgers also gave himself a potential way out of this, as he mentioned that it might not be the best idea to come back if the team has no hope of making the postseason.

New York is 4-7 and sit in 15th out of the 16 teams in the AFC.

Aaron Rodgers‘ highly-anticipated debut with the New York Jets ended pretty quickly, as the soon-to-be Hall of Fame quarterback ruptured his achilles four snaps into his tenure with the team. Not long after that happened, Rodgers made clear he was going to do everything in his power to return to the team before the season came to an end, as he’s undergone surgery and rehabbed it to a point that he was cleared for limited practice this week.

Now, Rodgers is pretty clearly not an especially big fan of the scientific consensus on things, so the chance to get back onto the field way ahead of schedule is presumably the sort of thing he’d love to do.

“Yeah, a lot of people said that,” Rodgers said about the perception that this is a bad idea, according to Andy Vasquez of NJ.com. “My thing is, what’s the worst that could happen? Something unfortunate again. And then you just slow the rehab down.”

The answer to that question is “you rupture your achilles again and your ability to play football next season is thrown into question.” Anyway, Rodgers also gave himself a potential way out of this, as he mentioned that it might not be the best idea to come back if the team has no hope of making the postseason.

New York is 4-7 and sit in 15th out of the 16 teams in the AFC.

Oh, what a day, what a lovely day: the Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga trailer is here.

The fifth film in George Miller’s Mad Max series is a prequel to 2015’s Mad Max: Fury Road, one of the best movies of the 2010s. This time, Imperator Furiosa is portrayed by Anya Taylor-Joy, not Charlize Theron. The trailer begins with Furiosa wandering a dry wasteland; she’s been taken from her family by “a great Biker Horde led by the Warlord Dementus,” according to the official plot synopsis. Dementus is played by Chris Hemsworth, who described his character as “a very violent, insane, brutal person” who was “birthed into a space where it’s kill or be killed. He’s learned to rule with an iron fist. There’s a charisma to him and it’s a very manipulative charisma.”

You can watch the trailer above. Spoiler: it looks great. Here’s more:

As the world fell, young Furiosa is snatched from the Green Place of Many Mothers and falls into the hands of a great Biker Horde led by the Warlord Dementus. Sweeping through the Wasteland, they come across the Citadel presided over by The Immortan Joe. While the two Tyrants war for dominance, Furiosa must survive many trials as she puts together the means to find her way home.

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, which also stars Tom Burke, Nathan Jones, Angus Sampson, and Quaden Bayles, comes out on May 24, 2024.

Oh, what a day, what a lovely day: the Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga trailer is here.

The fifth film in George Miller’s Mad Max series is a prequel to 2015’s Mad Max: Fury Road, one of the best movies of the 2010s. This time, Imperator Furiosa is portrayed by Anya Taylor-Joy, not Charlize Theron. The trailer begins with Furiosa wandering a dry wasteland; she’s been taken from her family by “a great Biker Horde led by the Warlord Dementus,” according to the official plot synopsis. Dementus is played by Chris Hemsworth, who described his character as “a very violent, insane, brutal person” who was “birthed into a space where it’s kill or be killed. He’s learned to rule with an iron fist. There’s a charisma to him and it’s a very manipulative charisma.”

You can watch the trailer above. Spoiler: it looks great. Here’s more:

As the world fell, young Furiosa is snatched from the Green Place of Many Mothers and falls into the hands of a great Biker Horde led by the Warlord Dementus. Sweeping through the Wasteland, they come across the Citadel presided over by The Immortan Joe. While the two Tyrants war for dominance, Furiosa must survive many trials as she puts together the means to find her way home.

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, which also stars Tom Burke, Nathan Jones, Angus Sampson, and Quaden Bayles, comes out on May 24, 2024.

After a decade without a college sports video game being on the marketplace, EA Sports is bringing back the most beloved of their college offerings next year. EA Sports College Football (the spiritual successor to NCAA Football franchise) will revive the franchise and actually provide some compensation to the players depicted in it in the process.

The game was initially set for a 2023 release but got pushed to 2024, and there were some concerned that a lawsuit brought by The BrandR Group about how the game was licensing player’s rights would push it back further. On Thursday, that lawsuit got dropped and any concerns it could tie up the release further has gone away with it. EA Sports released a statement regarding the lawsuit being dropped, with the biggest news coming from the statement being that they confirmed that the game is still on track for a summer 2024 release.

“We are pleased that BrandR has decided to withdraw their claims without any payment from EA,” EA Sports said in a statement. “We’ve been clear from the beginning that this suit had no merit. Our focus continues to be on directly licensing individual college athlete name and likeness rights through an opt-in program that will give college athletes the choice if they want to be in our game. We’re pleased to move on from these claims and look forward to delivering EA SPORTS College Football in Summer 2024.”

As Matt Brown of Extra Points, who has been the best source of news on the EA Sports College Football game, has said many times, the lawsuit was never going to stop the game from coming out, but simply had the potential to make some financial things a bit sticky. Now, with the lawsuit dropped, EA Sports can move forward without a legal battle on their hands as well, and will continue moving forward with the direct licensing plan that will allow players to opt in to being in the game, where they will be paid for that licensing (the expected payment is ~$500).

We can all now hope the game delivers on what longtime fans of the game (like myself) have wanted from a modern offering, and doesn’t try to reinvent the wheel with one of the great sports games of all-time.

Tried-and-true holiday traditions certainly have their merit, but there’s something quite special, magical even, about discovering personal rituals that commemorate one’s unique life. In my household, for instance, nothing quite rings in the Christmas spirit like sipping my partner’s delicious coquito and putting up a cardboard gingerbread house for my cats.

The beauty of creating customized holiday traditions is that they can be as festive, sentimental, or as silly as you want them to be. And you never know how one small moment can become the catalyst for a tradition that sparks joy year after year.

For Jess Lydon, that tradition is baking expletive-laden pies for Thanksgiving. (This is your profanity warning—the images below contain swear words.)

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“What started as a means to get a rise out of my Grammy has snowballed into a weird family tradition. I bake one pie a year,” Lydon shared to the subreddit r/Baking.

For 2023, Lydon chose the word “D—wad,” an homage to her favorite word to hurl in a fit of road rage, topped onto a decadent rosette-filled apple pie.

“Asshat,” apparently her second favorite word, was used in 2016.

Lydon also added a litany of pies from former years— “F—wit,” “Penis,”“B—-,” “F— Off”…you get the idea.

Gotta say, watching Lydon’s baking skills progress over the years (thanks in large part to using the correct tools, she notes) to something worthy of a Paul Hollywood handshake on “British Bake-off” makes this even more enjoyable.

Folks on Reddit seemed to enjoy it too. If for nothing else, to add their own profanity-themed jokes.

“A culinary and visual delight! This is the best thing I’ve seen all day,” one person wrote.

Meanwhile, another quipped, “Your growth in pastry work is quite touching, c—,” to which Lydon replied, “Thank you, t—. I’m pretty proud of the progress. And grateful to my family for putting up with The Early Years. The first few pies were rough looking.”

Others had suggestions for next year’s pies, including “prick,” “nimrod,” “bollocks,” and “bastard.” All solid choices.

As Lydon explained to TODAY.com, the tradition came about from trying to get a “giggle” out of her “sweet little Japanese” grandma. After seeing that first pie, which read “F— Off,” Lydon recalled that her grandmother gave a lighthearted “double edged compliment” by saying, “Oh my, well, I can see that you’ve tried really hard. And you put a lot of effort into it.”

Sadly, Lydon’s grandmother passed away a few years after the first pie, but the cheeky tradition lived on. And in its own quirky way, it brings Lydon’s family together.

As for her Reddit popularity, Lydon told TODAY.com that she’s thrilled others shared her love of vulgar pastry making, and is happy to see that some folks might start their own version of the tradition.

“If we can make a few more people laugh because of rude words looking pretty, then I’m all for it.”

Whether it’s curse-word pies, funny sweaters, DIY decorations, or something else altogether, maybe this is a sign to create your own unique holiday tradition, however big or small.

Peter Bence’s performance of “Africa” by Toto has over 17 million views on YouTube because of his creative reimagining of the song and, well, just about everyone loves “Africa.”

Bence is a Hungarian composer and producer who has become a viral sensation for his Michael Jackson, Queen, Sia, and Beatles covers. He has over 1.1 million followers on YouTube and has toured the globe, playing in more than 40 countries across four continents.

His performance of “Africa” is unique because it opens with him creating a rhythm track and looping it by strategically tapping the piano and rubbing its strings to create the sound of shakers and congo drums.

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The video eventually becomes rapturous, with Benace making the piano sound like an entire orchestra.

AFRICA – Toto x Peter Bence 

Released in 1982, “Africa” was Toto’s biggest hit, reaching number one 1 in the U.S., number 3 in the UK, and the top 10 globally. It’s a stirring piece of music that’s beautifully arranged with an anthemic chorus. However, the lyrics aren’t that accurate.

The song’s author, Toto keyboardist Jeff Pocaro, describes it as: “A white boy is trying to write a song on Africa, but since he’s never been there, he can only tell what he’s seen on TV or remembers in the past.”

Nevertheless, the song is an iconic tune that captures a specific spirit of the early ‘80s when the world turned its focus to Africa. Over 40 years later, the song’s wholesome sincerity has made it a piece of music that every few years captures the hearts of a new generation.

Tried-and-true holiday traditions certainly have their merit, but there’s something quite special, magical even, about discovering personal rituals that commemorate one’s unique life. In my household, for instance, nothing quite rings in the Christmas spirit like sipping my partner’s delicious coquito and putting up a cardboard gingerbread house for my cats.

The beauty of creating customized holiday traditions is that they can be as festive, sentimental, or as silly as you want them to be. And you never know how one small moment can become the catalyst for a tradition that sparks joy year after year.

For Jess Lydon, that tradition is baking expletive-laden pies for Thanksgiving. (This is your profanity warning—the images below contain swear words.)

---

“What started as a means to get a rise out of my Grammy has snowballed into a weird family tradition. I bake one pie a year,” Lydon shared to the subreddit r/Baking.

For 2023, Lydon chose the word “D—wad,” an homage to her favorite word to hurl in a fit of road rage, topped onto a decadent rosette-filled apple pie.

“Asshat,” apparently her second favorite word, was used in 2016.

Lydon also added a litany of pies from former years— “F—wit,” “Penis,”“B—-,” “F— Off”…you get the idea.

Gotta say, watching Lydon’s baking skills progress over the years (thanks in large part to using the correct tools, she notes) to something worthy of a Paul Hollywood handshake on “British Bake-off” makes this even more enjoyable.

Folks on Reddit seemed to enjoy it too. If for nothing else, to add their own profanity-themed jokes.

“A culinary and visual delight! This is the best thing I’ve seen all day,” one person wrote.

Meanwhile, another quipped, “Your growth in pastry work is quite touching, c—,” to which Lydon replied, “Thank you, t—. I’m pretty proud of the progress. And grateful to my family for putting up with The Early Years. The first few pies were rough looking.”

Others had suggestions for next year’s pies, including “prick,” “nimrod,” “bollocks,” and “bastard.” All solid choices.

As Lydon explained to TODAY.com, the tradition came about from trying to get a “giggle” out of her “sweet little Japanese” grandma. After seeing that first pie, which read “F— Off,” Lydon recalled that her grandmother gave a lighthearted “double edged compliment” by saying, “Oh my, well, I can see that you’ve tried really hard. And you put a lot of effort into it.”

Sadly, Lydon’s grandmother passed away a few years after the first pie, but the cheeky tradition lived on. And in its own quirky way, it brings Lydon’s family together.

As for her Reddit popularity, Lydon told TODAY.com that she’s thrilled others shared her love of vulgar pastry making, and is happy to see that some folks might start their own version of the tradition.

“If we can make a few more people laugh because of rude words looking pretty, then I’m all for it.”

Whether it’s curse-word pies, funny sweaters, DIY decorations, or something else altogether, maybe this is a sign to create your own unique holiday tradition, however big or small.

Peter Bence’s performance of “Africa” by Toto has over 17 million views on YouTube because of his creative reimagining of the song and, well, just about everyone loves “Africa.”

Bence is a Hungarian composer and producer who has become a viral sensation for his Michael Jackson, Queen, Sia, and Beatles covers. He has over 1.1 million followers on YouTube and has toured the globe, playing in more than 40 countries across four continents.

His performance of “Africa” is unique because it opens with him creating a rhythm track and looping it by strategically tapping the piano and rubbing its strings to create the sound of shakers and congo drums.

---

The video eventually becomes rapturous, with Benace making the piano sound like an entire orchestra.

AFRICA – Toto x Peter Bence 

Released in 1982, “Africa” was Toto’s biggest hit, reaching number one 1 in the U.S., number 3 in the UK, and the top 10 globally. It’s a stirring piece of music that’s beautifully arranged with an anthemic chorus. However, the lyrics aren’t that accurate.

The song’s author, Toto keyboardist Jeff Pocaro, describes it as: “A white boy is trying to write a song on Africa, but since he’s never been there, he can only tell what he’s seen on TV or remembers in the past.”

Nevertheless, the song is an iconic tune that captures a specific spirit of the early ‘80s when the world turned its focus to Africa. Over 40 years later, the song’s wholesome sincerity has made it a piece of music that every few years captures the hearts of a new generation.

If you were taking a stroll through a quiet neighborhood and happened to catch a glance of this majestic sight, you might bat an eye. You might do a double take. If you were (somewhat understandably) concerned about this surprising roof-dog’s welfare, you might even approach the homeowners to tell them, “Uh, I’m not sure if you know…but there’s a…dog…on your ROOF.”

Well, the family inside is aware that there’s often a dog on their roof. It’s their pet Golden, Huckleberry, and he just sorta likes it up there.

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To put passersby at ease and ebb the parade of concerned parties knocking on their door, Huckleberry’s human put up a note explaining the whole weird scenario to those interested:

It reads:

“Huckleberry is living up to his name and learned how to jump onto our roof from the backyard. We never leave him in the backyard without someone being at home. He will not jump off unless you entice him with food or a ball!””

We appreciate your concern but please do not knock on our door… we know he’s up there! But please feel free to take pictures of him and share with the world! #hucktheroofdog.”

Of course, they ended it with a hashtag for photos shared on social media. Also, it seems a little strange that the owners mention that Huck is willing to jump 10 feet off a roof to chase food or a ball, but do nothing to suggest that people refrain from urging their dog to make that (seemingly dangerous) leap. Maybe Huck’s got the whole process down to the point it’s just not a concern.

This may seem like a pretty odd phenomenon, but not so odd that there isn’t a whole corner of Reddit devoted to dogs who just seem to really, really enjoy roofs. It’s called r/dogsonroofs, and boy does it ever deliver on that name.

This article originally appeared on 12.05.18