Ty Watches "Jackass: Best and Last"

I finally just saw "Jackass: Best and Last". I loved it. I feel like this movie was made for my generation. We grew up on "Jackass".

I remember seeing that show for the first time and being blown away by what they were doing, and showing, on tv. This was the first "prank" show that I watched weekly. In fact, I don't think there would be the amount of prank shows if it wasn't for "Jackass" doing it first. I know that there have been hidden camera shows before this, but "Jackass" did something different. These people were doing some wild stunts, filming it and putting it out there for the world to see. I can remember seeing the warning before the show and thinking that this was the first time I had seen something like that. It kind of blew me away the stuff they were doing on tv. So when they started to make movies out of it, that meant I was going to see this all unedited and full of swear words. That was more than enough for me to go check these movies out. And I have officially seen them all now.

What made this one so great was the flashbacks and them showing some unaired footage from the past. Yes, I was still all in on watching the new pranks and stunts. It was disgusting too. Being the age that they are now, they did a ton of butt stuff in this final movie. There is a scene where they are playing twister and they have all taken laxatives. It was foul and hilarious. Steve O popped a ping pong ball out of his butt. He also got a rectal exam from a robot. See, a lot of butt stuff. They also did some new things. The escape room bit was quite funny. Johnny Knoxville did the bull in a ring thing that he has done in pretty much every movie. And that bull messed him up. They really put Danger Ehren through the ringer. And you'd think it would get old after a while, the way they harass him, but it wasn't at all. I found myself still cracking up at each prank they got him involved in. The play bit was pretty damn good if I do say so.

What made me really enjoy my watch was the old footage. It was so cool to see some of the older pranks. They definitely hit the big ones. They showed the toy car in Ryan Dunn's butt. They showed Knoxville getting hit by a softball from a pro softball pitcher. They had a bunch of the stuff with Bam beating up his dad, which always had me in stitches. They had the paper cut stuff in there, which made me sick to my stomach all over again. I had forgotten how much that grossed me out. As mentioned before, they showed a bunch of old footage with Ryan Dunn, who passed away some years ago. I always liked Dunn. I know he had issues, but he always made me laugh when he was on the show. He had this oddly calm way about him when he was going through all the stuff they were putting him through. He made me laugh. It was cool to see him on screen again. Seeing his stuff reminded me of when I was first watching the show as a teenager. It felt like a nice tribute. It was a proper goodbye for Dunn.

That also kind of sent me back too. Seeing all of these dudes, who are now in their late 40's or early 50's, still out there doing their thing. Sure, they may not have the gusto they had when they were younger, but they're still game for pretty much anything. They still go for it. But it seems like they know their limitations at this point, and that is all well and good. But they also still go harder than most will on screen. It was nice to see Steve O and Knoxville reminisce about the good old days. It was cool to see Danger Ehren and Dave England going hard. Wee Man still looks exactly the same as he did when he was first on the show. The new people they brought on, like Jasper and Poopies, among others, were just as ready to try out some wild things. I feel like this was a fitting ending to this franchise. These guys know what they can and can't do at this point, and I have to imagine they have done all they want at this point. The opening credits were great, but the end credits were just a perfect way to close it all out. And to show older clips sover the end credits was a nice touch as well.

"Jackass: Best and Last" is a fitting and emotional and perfect way to end it. I highly recommend anyone my age that grew up with the show check this out. It is a great nostalgia watch and you will be taken back to when you were younger watching this show for the first time. This was a great movie. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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R.I.P. Dennis Haskins

It was reported last night that Dennis Haskins had passed away at 76.

For those that may not know who that is, Haskins played Principal Belding in every iteration of "Saved By The Bell". Dennis Haskins portrayal of Principal Belding held an important place in my life growing up. I adored "Saved By The Bell". It was, and still is for that matter, one of my favorite comfort shows. I used to get home from school as a kid and watch every episode when it was in syndication. I grew up with Zack, Kelly, Jesse, Lisa, AC, Screech and Mr Beliding. Hell, I remember watching it when Mrs Bliss taught at the school and the show took place in Indiana. I was all in. And an ever present character in the show was Mr Belding.

Mr Belding was your typical principal in any 90's tv show that took place inside a school. He was kind of a doofus who was way too involved with the main characters of the show. For so many different reasons, each more inexplicable as the last, Mr Belding would find himself caught up in the nonsense that the students had started. He was involved in so many wacky scenarios throughout the running of the series. Some that remember best are the white water rafting incident with his brother. Mr Belding wanted to do a hike, but his brother showed up to substitute, and he was cool and convinced the kids to go white water rafting. After the brother was found to be a lothario, and decided to bail on the kids, Mr Belding was there to still take the kids on the hike. I also recall when his wife had a baby in the elevator, with AC Slater present. There's the episode when the kids drive drunk and Mr Belding has a talk with them before and after they speak with their parents. One could never forget when he tried to wear a toupee, then Slater and Zack got in a massive fight, and the toupee fell off into the punch. He was almost too involved in these kids' lives. Hell, I cannot even remember any of my principals from school, but maybe that has to do with the fact that they didn't do anything nearly as memorable as Mr Belding. There was also his iconic laugh from the show. Anyone who watched knows exactly what I'm talking about. It was fast and loud and left an impression. I would do my version of it all the time growing up. I bet my parents grew to really dislike that laugh because I would do it all the time. I know that Dennis Haskins did some other work, most notably for me was his lone episode of "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia". But he is always going to be Mr Belding to me.

With Haskins and Dustin Diamond both passing away during the 2020's, my two favorite characters from the show are now gone. I know Dustin Diamond had his issues, and the way the writers wrote Mr Belding was more than problematic, but those two never failed to make me laugh when I was a kid watching the show. I knew whenever I would tune in that one, or usually both, would make some solid jokes that I would retell later that day, or the next at school.

Mr Belding was most likely the first adult character on a show that made me see that older people needed to be listened to. I have always listened to my folks, but teachers and principals felt like it was optional when I was a kid. But then I started to watch "Saved By the Bell", and seeing how the kids reacted to Mr Belding kind of shifted my thinking. Sure, they would make fun of him, but in the end the kids almost always did what was asked of them by Mr Belding. He was an authority figure, but he also listened to the kids and took their ideas to heart. Mr Belding was also one of the first characters I saw on a kids show that they portrayed as cool when he was younger. The episode with the radio station, where they flashed back to when Mr Belding was the DJ, he was playing dope music, had long hair and some sweet ass facial hair. I saw that and thought, oh man, older people used to be young and cool too. It may sound weird, but Mr Belding was the first tv adult that really showed me some things that I still hold true to this day.

Dennis Haskins is going to be missed. We are lucky that we have many episodes of "Saved By The Bell" to watch and remember his legacy. Rest In Peace Dennis Haskins, aka Mr Belding. I hope you are spinning records and teaching lessons wherever you may be right now. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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Ty Predicts the 2026 MLB Postseason

The MLB playoffs are set, and I'm here with some predictions. Now, before I get started, take these predictions with a big old grain of salt. I believe that I picked the Mariners to be in the World Series before this season started. I thought the NL Central was going to be a rough and rugged division. I figured the Red Sox were cooked. I didn't even know that the White Sox were going to be this good. I was wrong on a lot of my picks. But with the teams set, and doing a little research, I think I have a solid guess on who is going to win it all this year.

I'll start with the AL.

The Tampa Bay Rays are the 1 seed, who saw that coming, and the Guardians, like clockwork, are the 2 seed. The Astors, with a record of 81-81, are the 3 seed, and they face the 6 seed White Sox in round one. I'm going to pick the White Sox here. They have some kind of mojo working with their team right now, and the Astros might be the worst team in the playoffs. I don't believe in them nearly as much as I do the White Sox. The 4-5 is an inter divisional matchup between the Red Sox and Yankees. I'd love to pick the Red Sox here. They have been on a really good run for a long while now. But the Yankees have the better lineup, and I think they have better pitching at the top of their rotation. The Red Sox may also see their luck run out when they have to face the Yankees playoff lineup. I also want the Yankees to win in honor of my late uncle. So that means I have the White Sox facing the Rays and the Yankees facing the Guardians. I'd love to pick the White Sox to win again, but the Rays are consistent. They have found ways to win tons of games this season, and I feel like that success will follow them to the playoffs. I wish they'd have more fans watching, but that is not the case with this team. But they are damn good up and down the lineup, and their pitching staff is solid. As for the Yankees and Guardians, we have seen this matchup too many times before, and the Yankees always find a way to beat them. The Guardians match up nicely with them, but the Yankees are a better and deeper team. They have a lineup that can hit the Guardians' staff and the Yankees top[ line pitching talent will win out. So that leaves me another inter division matchup featuring the Rays and Yankees in the ALCS. I do think this will go the full 7 games, and it will be hard fought. These teams both know each other very well and know what it takes to win. But in the end I'm rolling with the Yankees. Again, I don't ever root for them, but my uncle was a humongous fan, he passed away, and I want to see them win in his honor. They also have the playoff experience and they have a better lineup. I have the Yankees representing the AL in the World Series.

Onto the NL.

The Brewers, who may be the best regular season baseball team ever, are the 1 seed and the best team money can buy, the Dodgers, are the 2 seed. The 3-6 matchup may be the best first round series, featuring the Braves and Phillies. The Braves have been a nice surprise this year. It looked like they might have had to wait another year to be back in this position due to injuries, but here they are now. They are very good. They can mash and they have a good pitching staff. The Phillies have one of the best lineups in all of baseball. They can kind of do it all when needed. They also have an almost equal pitching staff to the Braves. But it is not quite up to how good the Braves staff is overall. For that one reason I'm going with the Braves here, but it will be a fun and hard fought series. The 4-5 gives us the Padres and Cubs. The Padres have become a perennial playoff team. They can really hit the ball really well. But the Cubs have a legit starting pitching staff, they have the NL MVP and they have a lineup that is just as good on paper as it is at the plate. I think the Cubs can do some really nice things during these playoffs. They might sweep the Padres in this round. So that gives me the Braves facing the Dodgers and the Brewers facing the Cubs in round 2. I would love to see the Brewers win this series. It would be so nice to see their regular season success turn into postseason success. But they seem to always blow it in the playoffs and get beat in magnificent fashion. I believe the Cubs will dispose of them, and they may do it in another sweep. As for the Braves and Dodgers, I mean come on, it is the Dodgers all the way here. Again, they're the best team money can buy. They have everything any MLB team could want. And now they don't even have to pitch Shoehei Ohtani. He can just hit, and the dude has proven time and again that he can mash the ball. I will be rooting for the Braves, hard. But the Dodgers are going to oust them in this round and give us the best matchup in the playoffs. The Cubs and Dodgers may be the de facto World Series. I think they are the two best teams in baseball. But the Dodgers are the better team. Again, they have it all. They are too good to be beaten. The Cubs will take them to the brink, but the Dodgers will pull out another game 7 win. The Dodgers will be, once again, the NL champs.

So that means I have the most boring World Series one could think of, the year before a strike most likely, with the Yankees facing the Dodgers. It makes sense because they're the two best teams in their leagues, so it only makes sense that they're going to face each other in the World Series. But this time I'm not picking the Dodgers. I think we saw that they could be beaten last year, and I think the Yankees actually do it this year. Again, this is most likely due to my uncle, but I'm rolling with the Yankees to win it all this season, and go into the strike with the most recent World Series ring. And Aaron Judge will be the MVP.

There you have it, my MLB postseason preview and predictions. Enjoy the playoffs. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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Ty Watches "Primetime"

I have just returned to my home from the movie "Primetime" and I have some thoughts. This is going to be a spoiler free review. It is also going to be shorter than most of my reviews. I wanted to do a quicker, kind of gut reaction type review for you all today.

"Primetime" came to me later than most. I had heard that there was going to be a movie centered around Chris Hansen and his tv show, "To Catch a Predator". But I kind of dismissed it. Then RD kept talking about it. Then I saw the teaser trailer. Then I saw a full trailer last week when I went to see "Resident Evil", and I was all in. I have become a big time Robert Pattison fan over the years, so him starring in yet another A24 movie was more than enough for me. Add in the fact that Lance Oppenheim was directing, and that made it even more enticing. Now, when "To Catch A Predator" was first on tv, I did not watch. I believe my folks had the show on in the house, yes I was still living with my parents back then, back I just saw it in passing. So, this was kind of like a history lesson for me, just a fictionalized version.

"Primetime" is a very well made and extremely well acted movie. I really liked what I saw today. The story was way different from what I was expecting going in, and that is a very good thing. It was nice to go in with fresh eyes in my case. Robert Pattison is as good as everyone is saying he is in this role. He became Chris Hansen, but played him with this quiet and unnerving obsessiveness. He was clearly a person who had a vision and was going to see it through, come hell or high water. Pattison embodied this. Watching him terrified me at times. Other times I'd roll my eyes at how nonsensical his ideas were in this movie. Some compared this performance to what Jake Gyllenhall did in "Nightcrawler", and that feels right to me.  Pattison is great.

Sklyer Gisondo is up to the task as well. He plays naive and easy to manipulate wonderfully in this movie. He let himself fall into Hansen's trance and Gisonso nailed it. I actually felt bad for him, and I think that was the goal.

Merritt Wever is amazing. I felt like her performance should be talked about as much as Pattinson's. She is amazing in this role. She is cold and calculated. When she starts to get forgotten or passed by, I found myself rooting for her to win in the end. I loved the stuff she did when she was talking to Gisondo's character when they first meet. It is a transformative performance from one of the most underrated actors right now. Wever is so, so good in this role.

What made me love this movie was the visuals and the story. The movie looks so cool and feels like classic A24. It may sound weird to say "classic A24", but this had that feel for me. The colors were super cool that they used as well. As for the story, like I said above, it was different from what I expected going in. I liked that the movie kind of faked me out. It made me look at this whole world in a totally different direction than I went in with. I thought they showed the good and the bad very well. This movie does not hold back from anything, and that made it even more watchable. It doesn't take a side either, letting the viewer dictate what they want out of it, which is always good for me.

I recommend this movie. It has some tough to watch scenes, but that comes with the territory. But I say, for Pattison and Wever's performances alone, this movie is definitely worth your time and money. There's some really good stuff to see. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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Is it Time for Marvin Harrison Jr and JJ McCarthy to Find New Teams?

There have been some rumors about two former top 10 picks in recent NFL drafts that they're both on the trade block. I want to talk just a little bit about this today. I'll give each a few paragraphs and where I think they may end up.

The first player is Marvin Harrison Jr. I was as high on him as I have ever been about any prospect in his draft class. He looked like he had everything a team could ever want in a number 1 wideout. He dominated in college. He is big, fast and strong. He ran great routes and has excellent hands. He was my top overall prospect in his class and I just assumed he would be a top 15 wide receiver in only his second season. That has not happened to this point. Harrison Jr has struggled with drops and getting open. Lately people have been calling him out on a supposed lack of effort. He got hurt here and there as a rookie and all the success he had in college has simply not translated to the pros just yet. Now, I think it is way too early to give up on him. Again, he has loads and loads of talent and potential. I do think he has had the unfortunate job of being on the Arizona Cardinals. No disrespect to the Cardinals. I have always been a slight fan of this team. I like the uniforms, I used to adore Larry Centers and I think they're just a fun team to root for. But they have not had the best of luck at the quarterback position. During Harrison's rookie year he seemed set with Kyler Murray. Murray then, almost immediately, got hurt and missed most of the season. Harrison and Murray simply didn't get the time to mesh and develop a comfort with one another. Jacoby Brissett came in to play QB, and while I like his vibe and how he carries himself, he just isn't the best QB in the world. He can do some things that will make you wonder if he has it all figured out, and then he will do some things that will frustrate the hell out of you. Brissett, for all of his foibles and good things he does, he has been a career backup, for the most part, and it seems like a fitting spot for him. He is a decent gunslinger when he needs to be, but he is not a Super Bowl winning QB. I hope he proves me wrong in the long run, but that is how I see it now. And Harrison has zero comfortability with Brissett. Those two cannot get it right at all. Harrison is either dropping passes or the ball is sailing over his head. His effort does look to be waning. He seems to be all out on the Cardinals. He looks like he wants to be anywhere else but in Arizona.

The other player on this list is JJ McCarthy. You all know that McCarthy has a special place for me. He was the QB of the last Michigan team to win the title. He is an important Wolverine to me, That being said, he was not the main reason that team won the title in 2023. That Michigan team was built on running the ball and defense. Jim Harbaugh never asked, nor needed McCarthy to win games for him. McCarthy would make plays occasionally when called upon, but it was never that often that he was needed to do such things. So, when the Vikings took him ninth overall two seasons ago, I was kind of stunned. But I thought that maybe Kevin O'Connell would work his magic and make him a NFL caliber QB. That has not happened, and it seems like it may never happen. McCarthy just doesn't seem to have it. I could kind of tell from his first game he started last year. He looked timid and not confident. He needed to have a miracle second half, mostly running the ball, just to win that game. And then he just kind of came and went. He would make a few plays here and there, but it seemed like his confidence and his ability seemed to turn off. He would get hurt during last season, and then the Vikings brought in Kyler Murray. Murray would eventually win the starting job during the offseason, and things looked like they may be coming to a close for McCarthy with the Vikings. This was made even more clear to me when the Vikings put him third on the depth chart to start the season. McCarthy was not only passed by Murray, but the Vikings seemed to feel that Carson Wentz was a better backup. JJ McCarthy will always have a place for me as a Wolverine, but the Vikings have clearly moved on.

So, where does this leave Marvin Harrison Jr and JJ McCarthy now? NFL trades don't happen all the time, and in season trades feel more rare than ever nowadays. But these two dudes seem on their way to new teams sooner rather than later. For me it is easier to see where McCarthy will end up. With Jaxson Dart going down with a season ending injury, and Jameis Winston needing a new backup QB, I think the Giants could get McCarthy and get him for cheap. He may only cost them a late round draft pick. They won't need to give up players or picks any higher than the fifth round. I think the Giants would fit him well too. They don't seem to be going anywhere this year, he can play under a great coach in John Harbaugh and he can let it sling if Winston gets hurt. Maybe a change of scenery to New York city would do McCarthy some good.

As for Harrison Jr, this one is a little tougher for me. He is too good a player to languish on a bad team in Arizona. But, maybe this is the best he is ever going to be in the NFL. Maybe he is not a number one wideout. Maybe he can become more of a gadget receiver or a second or third wideout on a contender. Maybe he needs to take a step down to get himself back to the dominant force he was in college. So maybe he could end up with a team that has a solid number 1, but they need another threat. I would love to see him in Green Bay with Christian Watson. Watson has made it clear he is ready to be the Packers top wideout. So, if they were able to bring in Harrison Jr, that could loosen things up for Watson on the other side of the field and Harrison Jr would get more open looks and have a better QB throwing him the ball in Jordan Love. I'm sure the Bears would take a look. If they could find a way to land Harrison Jr, and keep Rome Odunze and Luther Burden III, the Bears could have one of the best, and youngest, wide receiver corps in the NFL. I wonder if the Broncos would try and snatch him up. Jaylen Waddle is proven. He is also shifty and fast. Harrison Jr would be a nice compliment next to Waddle. I would also like to see the Ravens go after him. If they could get him he would instantly love having Lamar Jackson throw him the ball, he could play next to Rashod Bateman and Zay Flowers and the Ravens would have a legit wide receiver room for, quite possibly, the first time in Jackson's career. I feel like the options for Harrison Jr are more abundant than McCarthy, but I'd love to see him end up on the Ravens.

Time will tell of either of them gets traded, but if they do, these are the places I'd like to see them end up. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

Come and support Ty and the podcast on Patreon.

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The Lonzo Ball Hype is Over. Is His Career Also Over?

It was reported earlier today, and then refuted by the player himself, that Lonzo Ball was possibly retiring. Now, this was a report I saw on Bleacher Report. He then refuted it, also saw this on Bleacher Report, and said he was "just waiting for a call". Either way, I think retirement may be his best option at this point.

Lonzo Ball came into the league seven years ago with loads of potential. He was a top five pick. He was going to stay home with the Lakers. He was going to be part of them climbing out of the hole that Kobe Bryant left after his retirement. He and Josh Hart, Brandon Ingram, Ivica Zubac, Alex Caruso, they were all in this core that was going to make the Lakers legit again. Ball thrived in Summer League. He was the MVP during his rookie season in fact, at Summer League. But that didn't really translate to much winning for the Lakers during Ball's rookie season. The Lakers just weren't a very good team during his two year tenure. Ball did make second team all rookie, but Kyle Kuzma had surpassed him and was a first team all rookie. His second season wasn't much better, which ended after 50 games due to surgery.

Then LeBron James joined the Lakers and the front office decided they needed to make some changes. Ball, along with some other players and picks, namely Josh Hart and Brandon Ingram, were traded to the Pelicans for Anthony Davis. That worked out really well for the Lakers. They have the 2020 championship banner hanging in their stadium. As for Ball, all the potential he had was starting to feel wasted in New Orleans. He had his moments, again, the dude can ball. But he never really found much of a groove in New Orleans, again getting passed by a teammate, Brandon Ingram. He did have a solid season during the 20-21 year. He was molded into a three and d player, and that seemed to best suit his skills at that point. He was never the best point guard, so taking him off the ball seemed like an easy option. He parlayed that into a deal with the Chicago Bulls.

During his first season he almost immediately got hurt. He would eventually need surgery and be ruled out for that whole season. He then missed the next season getting his previous surgery and some clean up work. He never felt too comfortable when he tried to return that season, which pushed him to get his previous work checked out, and that led to the extra procedures. He would eventually return to the Bulls lineup in 2022, but he never really found any of the success he had with the Lakers or the Pelicans. While with the Bulls he played only 35 total games. He never really looked like himself again. He had to put up videos to prove to some media members that he was trying to get back to playing basketball. That's never a good sign in a player's career. He ended up with the Cavs last year, saw time in about 35 games and was eventually traded to the Jazz, who waived him immediately.

Now we have this announcement and rebuttal and no one really knows what's next for Ball. Ball was a highly sought after recruit who was a one and done player at UCLA., He was good enough to be the second overall pick in his draft class, but that never translated to much success in the pros. Most people will most likely remember his father's rants more than anything Ball did in the NBA. He has been surpassed as a pro by his brother, LaMelo, by a mile. LaMelo is a big time guard who has a shot to finally play some meaningful playoff games in Minnesota. Lonzo never really had that opportunity. He also never gave himself that opportunity. It can most likely be linked to all the injuries, but I also think he never lived up to the hype and potential. Ball had his most success as a three and d player, but that didn't fit the image that he and his father created. Ball wanted to be the focal point of a contending team. But he didn't have that skill set. If he had accepted the role of a fifth starter, who could make open shots and shut down opposing guards, he may still be on an NBA team right now.

I liked watching Ball play as a rookie, but those days are long, long gone now. If he does retire, his career will be one I remember of unfulfilled potential. He had all the gifts in the world to succeed, but he was derailed by hype and injuries. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet.

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Coffee Brewed With Coke, I'll Try That

As I age I like to be adventurous from time to time. Most of the time those adventures happpen. with food and drink.

About a week ago one of my brothers sent me a coffee video on Instagram. We send reels back and forth all the time. But this video stuck with me. When I drink coffee I like to doctor it up. I have told many people that coffee is my choice for caffeine, and I don't drink it because I necessarily like the taste of black coffee. I like to add sugars, real and fake, and flavors to it. I want it to be palatable for me, and adding stuff helps it in my opinion. So the reels I get from my brother are people doing just that. He has sent me a bunch of stuff with coffee and citrus fruits, one of my favorite combinations. He also sends me other random drinks with additives. But he recently sent me one where a person brewed some coffee with a Vanilla Coke. This person didn't use water, he used a 16 ounce Vanilla Coke. I had no idea that this was something that could be done. I was very intrigued. I spoke with my brother about wanting to try this at some point, and after having coffee with him and my dad last week, they both convinced me to try it out.

Last Wednesday I went for a run and had to stop at the store on my way home. I decided that I was going to try it then. Now, my store didn't have Vanilla Coke, but they did have regular ass Coke Zero. When I drink soda I usually go for Coke Zero, and I figured, from what I saw in the reel, that any type of soda would work, it was just based on preference. So I grabbed the soda and my other stuff and I headed home to try it out.

First I had to grind some beans, which I did, and then I grabbed my soda and proceeded to brew the coffee. I used espresso, placed it in my Chemex and opened the soda. First off, I ground way too many beans, but I was rolling with it. As soon as I poured the soda in the mesh fitting, nothing happened. The grounds kind of bubbled a bit, but nothing was brewing. I waited for a few minutes, and then some coffee started to finally come down the drain. I poured more and more soda, the grounds kept bubbling, getting fiercer with each pour I might say, and I kept it going for a long while. It took some time to get this to all brew. One 16 ounce Coke Zero added to 4 tablespoons of ground espresso took about 20 minutes. I watched it the whole time because it was pretty neat to see how the espresso would bubble and then brew. The grounds kept getting bigger and bigger and wetter and wetter. After pouring the final bit of soda in the mesh drain, I ended up with about 16 ounces of Coke Zero cold brew. When I took the mesh drain off to clean, the beans smelled like Coke Zero with a hint of espresso. It smelled great. I then added some ice to a glass and poured the Coke Zero cold brew into my cup. I tried it without any additions first. I wanted to see what it tasted like raw.

It was really damn good. It had a nice Coke Zero flavor, but it also had a nice espresso flavor. The espresso was definitely coming through in smell and taste. It was damn good. One thing the person on the reel made mention of was how the brewing process made the soda flat. They were right. But that didn't hinder the taste at all.

After a few drinks of the coffee raw, I decided I was going to add a few flavors to finish off the Coke Zero cold brew. I added about a tablespoon of heavy cream and a tablespoon of vanilla extract. I gave it a good stir and finished off the drink. This made it even more delicious to me. It was like a dirty soda mixed with some of the best cold brew I've had in quite some time. The cream and vanilla gave it an extra depth of flavor. The cream made it smoother, and the vanilla gave it the sweetness I was looking for. I drank the rest almost too quickly because of how much I was enjoying it. It was better than I hoped. I really loved the taste.

I have decided that I'm going to try it with some other sodas in the near future. I wanted to do Vanilla Coke now. I want to try Cherry Coke. I think cream soda would be dope. And tomorrow I'm going to try the same thing, but this time I'm going to use zero sugar root beer. I've had cold brew with root beer mixed in, but I have never had it brewed with root beer. I'm hoping it's going to be as good as Coke Zero. Time will tell. If you like to try different things with your coffee, I recommend giving this a go. It's really damn good. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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Ty Watches "Resident Evil"

Yesterday I went out and saw "Resident Evil". I am a Zach Cregger fan, so whenever he puts out a new movie, I'm most likely going to see it. I really liked "Barbarian" and I loved "Weapons". So, when it was announced that he was going to do his take on "Resident Evil", I was intrigued.

I should point out that I have never played the video game before. It was never on my radar. I'm not much of a gamer, you know that if you listen to the podcast. I have also never been much of a fan of first player shooter games. They have never appealed to me. So I kind of went into this movie blind, which was great for me. I didn't have any preconceived notions or things I was looking for in this movie. For me it was all about Zach Cregger, and what he was going to do with his new movie. I saw the trailer, and even though I knew that it was based on a video game, to me this was a horror/body horror movie. It also stars Austin Abrams, who was exceptional in "Weapons". Abrams seems to be having a moment right now, and he is capitalizing on it. So, going into the movie, I was as blind as one could be.

I really enjoyed the hell out of this movie. "Resident Evil" was a blast. It was also gory and bloody. There were jokes. I found myself laughing more than I thought. It was also intense, and in a good way, gross. All in all, I found this movie to be fun as hell. I'm also going to go about the rest of this review without any spoilers. I think what I liked most about this movie was the fact that Cregger made Abrams' character a regular dude put in an impossible situation. This all felt like some stuff I would do if I was in the same predicament.

Abrams plays Bryan who is a courier that brings things to hospitals. It is usually body parts for transplants, but he is offered a super secret, very hard job that he cannot pass up on. And when he is driving to the place he's supposed to go, he accidentally hits a person crossing the road. This is when everything starts to go to hell. From the moment he hits this person, it happens about 10 minutes into the movie, everything after takes us on a wild, wild ride. And all the while Bryan is dealing with all of this craziness in real time. There are moments when something totally wild happens and during the aftermath Abrams can be heard cursing under his breath, and complaining about this wackiness he has encountered. He seems to be so frustrated that all he can do is curse under his breath. He also continually tells himself that he is almost to his destination after every horrendous situation he is dumped into. I tell myself that I'm almost done with stuff all the time. I will be on a run and constantly be telling myself that I'm almost there. Abrams played this role as just a regular dude and I loved that. It was nice to see someone who doesn't have any superpowers or is a wiz with guns or anything. He is put into an impossible scenario and he is just reacting like most of us would. I also thought that the graphics and  "bad guys" looked really cool. I thought that Cregger and crew did a very good job making the monsters that Bryan has to fight endlessly. There is one scene with a kid that is very creepy and very well done. There's another with a dog that totally reminded me of "The Thing". It was a nice homage. I think what I liked best though was the sheer fact that I got to see a kickass horror movie with some comedy. I had no want to see anything from a video game that I have never played. I got to see a cool story told in a cool new way.

I liked "Resident Evil" a ton. I highly recommend it to anyone that is a fan of Cregger's previous work. He continues to make really funny and very scary movies. I like where his career is headed and Austin Abrams proves in this role that he is a star that is going to continue to shine. Check out "Resident Evil". It is dope. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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Ty Watches "Is God Is"

Back when RD and I did our summer movie wager I went hard for the movie "Is God Is". I had seen a trailer by the time of recording and was all in on this movie. RD hadn't heard of it at that time. He told me on mic that he thought it was a christian movie. It most certainly did not look that way. Now it is streaming on Prime, which we subscribe to, so I watched it.

This movie was great. And it is not religious in the least. Sure there are mentions of god. The twins call their mom god. There is a great scene that takes place in a church. But this is a revenge movie. This is a gory movie. This is a funny movie at times. This is a story of family and the lengths some will go to to get their own revenge. Mallori Johnson and Kara Young play the main characters in this movie. They're twin sisters. Johnson plays Anaia and Young plays Racine. These two are so awesome in this movie. They crush their roles. I do not want to spoil the movie, but I will give minor details about what happens. I'll tell you a little about the story.

Vivica A Fox plays the twins' mom. The twins have some very visible scars on their bodies. It appears that they have been violently burned by someone in the past. When the movie starts we see the twins as young kids. Someone on the playground calls them ugly, so Racine goes and beats that person up. We then flash to them as adults, and we see the burns and everything. We also see a person in a working space that gives Anaia a look of disgust. Racine comes to her aid. We then get a little look into their lives. They have this ability to talk without saying words. They're so close that they don't need words, just looks, to have a conversation. One night at dinner they get a letter from their mom who they haven't seen since they were young. After a debate they decide to go see her to find out what she would like them to do. This is when the movie really kicks into gear.

As mentioned before, Vivica A Fox plays their mom. She is on her deathbed. She has been very clearly burned very badly. She tells her girls that her dying wish is for them to get revenge on their father. This is where we learn how they all got these bad burns. This is pretty much all in the trailer by the way. But after the story is told, after their mom gives them the mission, the movie breezes by, and it is a whole hell of a lot of fun. Fox is dynamic. She has one scene, but she crushes it. She is really good here. Johnson and Young are remarkable. They play two totally separate roles, but you know they're twins. They have this closeness that is easily identifiable as family. I had seen Young before on "I'm A Virgo", where she's great as well. I have never heard of Johnson before, and she is wonderful in this movie. Her quietness and shyness masks her true feelings. She is phenomenal. And in a wild twist, Sterling K Brown plays the villainous dad in this movie. I like Sterling K Brown a lot, but this is a role I never would have expected him to play, and he is awesome. He's sinister and wicked. He holds no prisoners. He is ruthless. I was fascinated with his performance in this movie.

I think the best way to go into this is knowing only the little bit I just wrote about. I didn't know much else and I was excited by what I saw. I also didn't expect this movie to make me laugh like I did. There are legit jokes in this movie. Some of the stuff is played for comedy. But in the end this movie is a revenge thriller and they nailed it. I couldn't take my eyes off screen while watching. I was enamored with what was going to happen next. Some stuff really took me by surprise and that is the sign of a good movie in my eyes.

I definitely recommend checking out "Is God Is". It is a cool and new and interesting way to tell this type of story. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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Ben Simmons is Back

Ben Simmons is back in the NBA. Let’s discuss.

This felt like it was going to happen soon anyway. He was out of the league for a year, but he started posting workout videos, and his usual look at how good my jumbo shot is now type of stuff on social media. I didn't know where he was going to sign, but it felt like it was coming. He ended up with the Kings. And this feels like the right spot for him.

I heard that he may sign back up with the Clippers. That wouldn't have made much sense considering all of the heat they have going on right now. He wouldn't have been able to really show off for the other 29 teams in the NBA if he signed there. They also have Darius Garland and others who need the ball in their hands to be effective. Some people said the Lakers. That makes zero sense. He plays way too slow for what they're doing, he wouldn't help out the offense much, and it looks like this Lakers roster is very disinterested in playing any defense, which may be Simmons best attribute at this point. There was no way he was going back to Philly. It ended so poorly there, and they are clearly going in a different direction, signing LeBron James and all.

There were a few teams where I thought it could work other than Sacramento. The Wizards popped into my brain because, why not? They have such a weird roster, full of random dudes, so why not add Simmons into that mix? He could help Alex Sarr on the defensive end, and maybe take a little ball handling off of Trae Young's plate. He could use a break. Charlotte seemed like maybe due to them trading away LaMelo Ball. I feel like he could set up Kon Knueppel for threes and throw lobs to Brandon Miller. But they have Coby White for that, and Coby White is a far superior shooter to Simmons. I also looked at Cleveland, just for a flyer. He could run the second unit, replace some of the defense Dean Wade left when he signed with Philly and they could even put Simmons, Mobley and Jarrett Allen out there for a monstrous defensive front court. But they would have to give him very little money, and I don't know if Simmons would've accepted that.

I'm sure there's others that did their due diligence on Simmons, but the Kings make the most sense to me because of the state of the franchise. The Kings are going nowhere fast right now. They have let a bunch of good players go for next to nothing, they have missed more than they hit in the draft and they are in the space to take a chance on a guy, just to see what he has left, and if he shows anything, they can flip him for younger players or more cracks at the draft. Darius Acuff is going to get to run the show in Sacramento. They took him in the lottery for the sole purpose to let him score and score as much as he can. Acuff is not going to be asked to pass the ball much or play much defense. They want him to score and put up shots. I would be shocked if Domantas Sabonis is still on this team by the All Star break. He wants out, they want to trade him and I bet he will get his wish. Zach Lavine is untradeable and his best days are behind him. The Kings are giving what seems to be De'Andre Hunter's last shot in the NBA. I thought he was going to be a decent NBA player, but it just hasn't translated to the league. Alex Karaban looks slow and unplayable on the defensive end of the floor. Malik Monk can score, and has seemed to find a home in Sacramento. But he is only getting older, and I have to imagine that at some point in his career he wants to play in meaningful games late into the playoffs. They may still have something in Keegan Murray and Maxine Raynaud. But that is it. So why not take a shot on Simmons? If he can find some version of himself when he was making all NBA teams and winning rookie of the year in Philly, that would be a humongous win for Simmons and the Kings. If he can handle the ball a bit, find Acuff and Murray open for threes or throw a few lobs to Precious Achiuwa and Raynuad, that would be great. If he can step up on the defensive side of the ball and show any kind of true defensive pressure, maybe a contending team will give him a spot.

I know this is a lot of maybes and a lot of stuff he will have to show scouts, but it could happen. I don't think it will though. I think Simmons may have a few decent games here and there, but nothing will really stand out. I think that when he gets back on the floor, his shot will be nonexistent. I think he will be scared to shoot free throws. But I will be watching Simmons and kind of rooting for him. This is a former number 1 overall draft pick who fell off the face of the universe. I'm glad he's back, but he has a ton to prove. Maybe Sacramento is the exact place he should be right now. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet.

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There Was a Time Tom Green Was My Thing

Earlier this week I went back and watched the movie "Freddy Got Fingered". I had never seen it before and when I was younger I used to think Tom Green was hilarious. I used to watch his MTV show all the time.

Well, "Freddy Got Fingered" is terrible. It is not even fun bad. It is just flat out bad bad. It is not very funny, there's far too much gross out humor and I felt like Tom Green decided he was going to let the curse words fly left and right since he was making a major motion picture. I have no qualms with any of these ideas, but it came off bad on screen for me. I found it gratuitous. But I'm not here to write a review of "Freddy Got Fingered". People have already done that to death at this point. What I want to talk about today is Tom Green as a performer and actor.

Green came around at the exact right time for his style of humor. Before he was on MTV, the only real "shock" comedian I knew of was Howard Stern. Stern had a radio show and he did his thing, and became quite successful at what he did and now does. But Green was different. He was childish. I think that is what got me onboard when I was younger. I liked his childish humor. I think a lot of that had to do with the fact that I was 16 when his show on MTV premiered. He was speaking to my comic sensibilities at the time. He would do pranks and stuff that seemed so out of left field, and it worked for me. I was all in on "The Tom Green Show". Hell, I even went out and tried to purchase his single for his song about putting his butt on stuff. The song was stupid, but it was the right kind of stupid for me.

He went on to have a, for me at the time, star turning role in "Road Trip". This is another in a long line of college road trip movies that came out in the early 2000's, and it was as cliche as they came. But Tom Green stood out as the older college student. I thought he was hilarious. He wasn't doing the gross out thing either. Sure, he put a mouse in his mouth during a scene, but immediately took it out and fed it to a snake. That part was really good for him. He got to make jokes, but didn't have to go to the extreme to make me laugh. I have not seen "Charlie's Angels", but I know he has a role in I believe the first one. This has to be due to his marriage to Drew Barrymore at the time. And the only reason I can think that he convinced Barrymore to marry him at the time was due to his fame in the early 2000's. Nothing else makes any sense to me regarding this relationship.

Green was also one of the first famous people I know who was diagnosed with cancer and openly talked about it on screen. He was very open about everything, including treatment and all. This was kind of eye opening for me. It is one of the first times I can remember hearing about a famous person getting sick and talking about it. This made me like him even more. I know some may have thought it was one of his bits, but he made sure to clarify any misheard or misunderstood information. My respect grew for him from there.

He did take a hiatus during his treatment, and to be honest, after he got healthy again I kind of forgot about him. He wasn't doing much and I kind of stopped watching his stuff. I know he wrote a book in 2004, but I never got around to reading it. He also appeared on "Jiminy Glick" during this time, but I have only recently watched clips from that show, and I have never seen Tom Green's interview. He has also dabbled in music since leaving tv, but I have zero interest in listening to any of that. And more recently he made his own documentary, which I have yet to see.

I think what Tom Green did best was capitalizing on his fame when he did. He got his chance and he ran with it. I think he also came around at the right time for his style. If he tried that nowadays it would not work. His schtick wouldn't have worked in the mid 2010's either. He used the shock comedy to the best of his ability during a time when not many could do what he did best. I have often thought about going back and rewatching some "Tom Green Show", but I don't think it will hold up.

Tom Green had his moment at the best time for him. My hat is off to what he achieved, but I have zero interest to go back and rewatch. Maybe that is for the best. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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I Found the Worst Person on "90 Day Fiance"

As I have mentioned before on this site, I watch a good amount of trashy reality tv shows with my wife. I used to watch stuff like "The Real World" and "The Hills" when I still lived at my folks house, but after meeting my wife, that was when I got super involved with trashy reality tv. It is a nice way to turn my brain off and just sit back and, quite frankly, judge other people. I know that is not a good quality to have, but sometimes it is hard for me to control it when watching.

The one show that makes this happen most for me is "90 Day Fiance". That show aggravates me to no end and I will let the comments fly from time to time. I know there are many iterations of this show, but the most recent season, the original "90 Day", the American's have been downright unpleasant. The American's on this season feel like some of the worst of the worst. TLC must have decided they wanted to show how stupid we have become as a society, and they totally nailed it this time around. There's one dude that claims to have an allergy to perfume. I've never heard of such a thing in my life. There's another gentleman, who I believe is in his late 50's, who still goes out and parties with ladies in their 20's. One lady who lives in Alabama, has had to make concessions for her friends who claim immigrants need to be deported. Clearly they have decided to cast horrific people. And in some ways I think it is good for people to see how dumb our country has become. I am so distraught and disgusted by America right now, and "90 Day" makes me despise some people from America more than ever. But there's one person this season that takes the cake for the worst casting I've ever seen. I have been trying to be happier lately. I am trying to live my life being in a good mood as much as possible. I try not to come on this site and bash stuff like so many other modern bloggers do nowadays. But this person made me so angry and frustrated last night that I have to take some time and go off on them.

This person is named Catie, or maybe she spells it Cadie, I'm not sure, and she is, by a million miles, the most despicable person I have watched on this series. Catie is from Oregon and she marries a gentleman named Josh, who is from the UK. Right from the start things felt off about Catie. During one of her first interviews on the show, it may have been the very first one in fact, she claimed that she liked to drink and drinking tends to end with her making out with random people. That is all well and good. I have no problem with her doing this when she was single and living her life. But what she said next was what really frustrated me and started my anger towards her. She claimed that the excess drinking and making out is due to the fact that she has OCD.

Now, I'm a person who has living with OCD for as long as I can remember. The way my OCD manifests itself is by counting or doing the same thing multiple times until it "feels right" to me. This will come about by turning off a stove or lights in the house or making my kids lunches. It can be the simplest thing in the world, but it is also very frustrating. But, the one thing my OCD has never made me do is drink to excess or make out with random strangers. Now, I do notice that when she is interviewed that she can be twitchy from time to time. That happens to me too, but it is never due to OCD or the like. It is just a twitch or a tick. And after going to therapy for almost 25 years now, I have been able to really calm it all down. But, for this person to blame her alcoholism and infidelity on OCD, that's a bridge too far for me. The sheer fact of the matter is she is a child that doesn't take accountability. She is using OCD as a crutch and that is highly frustrating to me. OCD is a very real thing that very many people suffer from. But for Catie to use it to excuse her horrendous behavior, that is why people don't always believe others when they say they have OCD. People don't look at OCD as a serious thing because of people like this person on "90 Day".

Watching her this season it is clear that she has a drinking problem. She doesn't know when to stop. She over drinks and that's when the cheating starts. And yes, making out with strangers, right in front of her then fiance and now husband, is cheating to me. She has tried to explain away that she just wants to have fun and be young. The fact of the matter is that she is a cheater and she dragged this poor dude all the way from the UK just to marry him and then embarrass him on television.

Last night my wife and I watched part 1 of "Tell All", and Catie came off very, very bad. Even her close friends came on and tried to tell her that what she was doing was wrong. What was Catie's response you ask? She blamed her husband, laughed during uncomfortable moments and cried and cried until she stormed off stage. That, to me, is the sign of someone who knows what they did was wrong, but won't admit guilt. Her actions last night are not something that can be connected to OCD. OCD has nothing to do with her constantly cheating on her now husband. But, like a lot of people on shows like these, crying is the best way to walk off stage and hope that others will feel compassion for them.

After, and during the show, I kept telling my wife that Catie needs to get real, professional help. I even questioned if TLC should continue to film her. It felt gross and awkward that they kept her onscreen for as long as they did last night. And she is going to be back for parts two and three of "Tell All". I get that it makes for good tv, hell, I'm writing about it today. But this feels like a bridge too far. Catie continues to yell and scream at her husband. She continues to blame him for her misgivings. She refuses to listen to her friends. And all the while, she continues to use OCD as a crutch. For these, and many, many more reasons, are why I feel like Catie is the worst person that this series has ever put on screen, and I kind of wish they would stop filming her and convince her to get real help. She has way more than just OCD. But, as long as they will keep her on the payroll, I'm sure she'll continue to use excuses and make awful choices. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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"Rocky" is Still a Stone Cold Classic

My son has been on a kick lately watching older sports movies. He told me awhile ago that he wanted to see the stuff that I used to watch when I was his age. I have shown him some of my favorites, and he has found some newer stuff, based on older sports movies, that he has gotten quite into.

One such series of movies is "Creed". He loves those movies. I've only seen the first one, which is great, and I plan on seeing the other two very soon. But since he has this newfound love of "Creed", his uncle and I decided he should see the original "Rocky".

We showed him the movie this past Saturday, which he loved, but I had a whole different experience watching this time around. I have seen all of the original "Rocky" movies a bunch. My mom loves the first one. My dad is into 2 and 3. "Rocky 4" is hilariously ridiculous, and 5 is just flat out awful. But my kid had to start at the top, and I'm glad he did. I have not seen "Rocky" in a long time, so I made sure this go round had my full attention.

This movie is so different from what I used to recall. The movie opens with a fight, and then we do not see Rocky box again until he fights Apollo Creed, at the very end of the movie. The in between is so different from my memories. I thought this movie was all boxing all the time. It most definitely is not. After the opening fight we get to see the everyday life of Rocky Balboa. We see him doing his job, which is working for a loan shark. We see his apartment. We see how he lives his life. We see him constantly hitting on Adrienne. I always thought they were already a couple when the movie kicked off. That is not the case. There's a whole courtship and everything. Rocky has to really work to get Adrienne to go on a date with him. He is very persistent, almost to the point of harassment. But this movie was made in a very different time. I'm not excusing it, but "Rocky" came out 50 years ago.

I also found that I liked the pacing of the movie. They really make you sit in this world. You really get to know everyone and everything they seem to do day to day. I also never remembered that Pauly was a flat out drunk. He drinks constantly and his mood swings come at you a mile a minute. I was always a fan of Mick growing up. I used to have to do impressions of him for my family when I was a kid. But now I really got an understanding of his character and why he talks to Rocky the way he does throughout the movie. Mick used to be a fighter. He used to have real feelings that Rocky could make it. But he also sees that he doesn't have the discipline or the knowhow.

What surprised me the most was Slyvester Stallone. I know Stallone as the guy that was in horrible 90's action movies. I did not like those movies at all. You can go check out our other podcast First Watch Rewatch and you can hear me talk about the movie "Cobra". His "Judge Dredd" movie is terrible. Any attempts he had at comedy all fell flat. But he is genuinely exceptional in "Rocky". He brings it. He acts the hell out of that role. I was all in on his performance. And throw in the fact that he wrote the movie, man the dude used to be incredibly talented. I wonder what happened along the way. When we get to that final fight, all the stuff leading up to it, it makes that final act all the better. You feel for Rocky. You see Apollo struggling because he didn't take the fight seriously enough, figuring he would steam roll Rocky. By the way, Carl Weathers is great in this movie as well. He was such a good actor and the fact that he's gone now really bums me out.

"Rocky" is a wonderful movie. They do not make movies like this anymore, and while I understand why, they should maybe go back to this slow, simmering style of a movie. That would be neat to see. And the fight choreography was second to none here. The fights looked real and I loved that about the movie. If you haven't seen "Rocky", or haven't watched it in awhile, go check it out. It is a classic for a reason. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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September 11th Through My Eyes

There are certain moments in life when you remember exactly where you were. September 11, 2001, is one of those moments for me.

I was living in St. Louis at the time, 26 years old, and working for an event company. That morning, I was on my way to a professional golf tournament practice round in the region. Our company had activities planned at the tournament, and it was supposed to be a normal workday. Then I heard something on the radio.

A small craft, the announcer said, had hit the World Trade Center. At that point, it sounded like a terrible accident. Strange, certainly, but an accident.

I continued to a hotel, where I was meeting my boss so we could carpool to the golf course. The televisions were on near the hotel lobby. Breakfast was being served to guests, but people had begun gathering around the screens. There was a growing sense that something important was happening.

Then we watched the second plane hit the World Trade Center. Live. The room gasped. I can still remember the reaction. People who had been eating breakfast or talking quietly were suddenly frozen, staring at the television.

A stranger standing next to me said something I will never forget. “This is not an accident. This is something worse.”

He was right.

My boss and I eventually got into the car and headed toward the golf course. As we drove, we heard on the radio that the first tower had collapsed. It was difficult to comprehend. The World Trade Center was one of the most recognizable places in America. The idea that one of those massive towers could simply be gone seemed impossible. By the time we reached the golf course, we watched the second tower collapse live on television. Later we heard the news of the plane crash at the Pentagon, then the downing of United 93 in Shanksville Pennsylvania.

Not long after the United States realized that is was under attack, St. Louis police officers escorted everyone out of the clubhouse. We were told to leave and go somewhere safe. Nobody really knew what was happening. There were rumors. There was confusion. There was fear that more attacks could be coming. For the first time in my life, it felt possible that nowhere was completely safe.

I lived in downtown St. Louis then, in a small apartment on the 15th floor of a building with a view of the Gateway Arch. There was speculation that Arch could be a target. I would not go back to my apartment that evening.

That fear may be one of the things I remember most about that day. Not just the images of the burning towers or their collapse. Not just the terrible realization that thousands of people were in danger, and many had been killed. It was the uncertainty. We did not know what would happen next. The entire day became a blur of television coverage, phone calls, rumors and unanswered questions. Airports shut down. People tried to reach family members. Television networks repeated the images of the planes striking the towers and the buildings collapsing. It felt as though the entire country had stopped. In many ways, it had.

September 11 was a day of confusion, fear and sadness. It was also a day when Americans watched events unfold together in real time, trying to understand something that seemed impossible only hours earlier. For people who were alive that day, the memories are often deeply personal. Someone remembers being in an elementary school classroom. Someone else remembers being at work. Some were on airplanes. Some were in New York, Washington, D.C., or Pennsylvania. Others, like me, were hundreds or thousands of miles away but watched the attacks unfold on television and listened to the news on the radio. The details are different, but the feeling is often the same. You remember where you were when you realized the world had changed.

Twenty-five years later, the images and memories of that morning remain difficult to separate from what came afterward. America changed. The way we traveled changed. The way we thought about safety changed. The country went to war. Politics changed. Our relationship with the rest of the world changed. Maybe some things changed for the better. Maybe some did not. But there is no question that September 11, 2001, changed the world. For me, the memory begins with a radio report about a “small craft” hitting the World Trade Center. It continues with a crowded hotel lobby, a collective gasp as the second plane struck, and a stranger recognizing before many of us did that this was not an accident. Then came the drive to the golf course, the news that the first tower had fallen, and watching the second tower collapse. Finally came the fear. The police telling us to leave. Not knowing where to go. Not knowing if another attack was coming.

That is what I remember about September 11. A normal morning that became something else entirely. A day when the world suddenly felt much bigger, much more dangerous and much less certain. And a day that, for better or worse, changed everything that came after it.

 RD

RD is the founder and Head Editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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Ty Watches "Untold Raygun: Breaking Badly"

Yesterday I sat down and watched the new Raygun mini documentary on Netflix. This is part of the "Untold" series, and boy oh boy, this may be the best one they have done yet. I have written about other "Untold" movies before, but none of them have had this kind of an effect on me.

For people out there that don't know who Raygun is, she is the Australian breakdancer that represented her country in the 2024 Paris Olympics. This was the first year that they made breakdancing an Olympic sport, and Raygun left quite the impression on the world. This doc tells us how she started, how she ended up in the Olympics and how, after the games, her life kind of unraveled a bit. Most people know who Raygun is due to her performance. It was pretty bad. She became a meme. Her performance went viral. She got roasted by a bunch of people. But this movie tells us how it got to this moment. We got the behind the scenes stuff. We see how she worked her way up to the top in Australia, and how she got herself into the Olympics. We also get to meet the people in her life who have helped her get there.

The first person we meet, and who leaves an everlasting impression on the viewer, is her husband Sammy, aka Sammy Sex. Sammy is her coach, but he was a breakdancer before he ever met Raygun. He has been into that whole world since he was a kid. Does that mean he is a great dancer? No. But he does have some small skills, and boy does he love Raygun. This guy is obsessed with her, but they are married, so no big deal. But the way he describes her dancing, especially in the Olympics, the words he uses, the beaming in his eyes, he thinks way too highly of her. Raygun has skills as well, but she is not some otherworldly dancer either. They both move so oddly. They look so much slower and less coordinated than the other breakdancers. They look stiff and just not that great. But man do they love one another.

We also meet some of the other breakdancers in Australia, and man do they have an opinion on Raygun. They always say something nice about her, but then button it with how much they despised her performance at the Olympics. I do also want to say, hearing white people with Australian accents call themselves "b-boys" and "b-girls" is one of the funniest things I have ever seen on tv. And the fact that they do that, with a straight face mind you, makes it all the more funny. And seeing some of the old routines, watching Raygun and Sammy dance back in the day, was one of the more cringe things you can see on tv. I had to look away a few times because I was embarrassed for them. I know they have no issues with it, they truly love to dance, but it just made me squirm on my couch.

The doc does go into some great detail about the toll and the aftermath of the Olympics as well. That's all well and good, but that was not why I turned this on. I do feel bad for what she and her husband and mom and dad had to endure, but I would have been better off not knowing all of that. I get that they have to do this, especially in a documentary, but it made this movie a bit more depressing than I wanted it to be. I was also not that big of a fan when they showed her working out after punching her ticket to the Olympics. It felt hollow and, while she got stronger, it did not help her all that much during the Olympics. And when they got to the Olympics, that was when the movie really started to groove. Seeing all of this again, but knowing about the backstory stuff, that made it even wilder seeing all this stuff. Raygun did not give a solid performance. She was pretty bad actually. Seeing her do the sprinkler, do a kangaroo walk, yawn at a competitor who is beating her ass, it was nuts. She didn't score a single point during her run. She was beaten by her three opponents by a score of 54-0. That's crazy. Raygun didn't score a single point. Not one of the judges deemed anything she did good enough to give her one solitary point. Yikes. And seeing where she is now, seeing how she kind of climbed out from the abyss was a good thing, I still wished they did more of the dance stuff.

I turned this on to laugh, as bad as that may sound. And while it got a good amount of laughs from me, I didn't need all the other stuff. I recommend checking this out if you have any memory of Raygun, but maybe skip all the stuff that feels like it is going to get emotional. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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Nathan Fielder, Elizabeth Holmes, Creepy Doc, I'm In

If you have not seen the trailer for the new A24 documentary, "You Can See Everything", do yourself a favor and go watch it, then come back and read my blog.

For people who may not know, "You Can See Everything" is the new doc about Elizabeth Holmes and her partner, who allowed full access to filmmakers Lance Oppenheim and Nathan Fielder. They let these two into their home 34 days before she went to prison, and it turned into a three year project.

Now, I'm a big Fielder fan. He is one of the best tv and movie personalities out there right now. I loved "Nathan For You". That was one of the funniest and most unique shows when it was on. And while the show was on, Fielder seemed like another funny dude making funny stuff on Comedy Central. But, as the show progressed, it got a little different. That all came to a head with "Finding Frances". This was when Fielder decided he was going to start making something different, something interesting. "Finding Frances" is funny and creepy and distressing and endlessly watchable. This felt like the turn in Fielder's career.

After "Finding Frances", Fielder went on to do "the Curse" and "The Rehearsal". I liked "The Curse". It was not so comedic, but it still had the uncomfortableness that we have grown accustomed to with Fielder. He and Emma Stone went to some dark and eerie places and I found that the deeper they went, the more interested I became in the show. "The Rehearsal" is damn near a masterpiece. I loved both seasons of the show. I hope they make more. The stuff he accomplished in season 1 was wonderful. The way the show morphed from helping people rehearse for real life situations, into him moving in and living with a mom and her son, that was a sight to behold. Then, with season 2, he helped make major change in the piloting world. He started his focus on trying to figure out why the pilot and co pilot barely spoke to one another, and by the end of the season he was speaking in front of congress and got his pilot's license. Watching him fly that jumbo jet was very unexpected and very, very cool.

Now we have "You Can See Everything". This feels like a magnum opus to an extent. The fact that they have kept this quiet for this long is a feat all its own. How they have been able to not talk about this, how they got it into a film festival and had people put their phones in a bag so they couldn't talk about it, this was genius. The reactions coming out of Telluride have been pretty epic. I don't even care that the run time of the movie is damn near three hours. The fact that Fielder himself has talked about how much the experience of making the movie has changed him, and that he is still confused and kind of messed up makes me want to watch it even more. This is the movie I am most looking forward to in 2026, and yes that includes "Dune: Part 3". The trailer isn't very long, but it packs a punch. The one scene they show us is Holmes and Fielder sitting next to one another and she says to him something along the lines of, "why would I lie to you", in not so many words. And then the camera pans over to Fielder who has this look on his face that says so very, very much. I can't tell if he is worried, laughing, nervous, scared, or all of the above. People have said that it looks like Fielder has finally met his match. I have read that people are saying that Holmes is committing to the bit harder than Fielder, who is known to over commit to his bits. It looks like Fielder may have finally met his match. And I'm also stoked to see Oppenheim's work as the co-director. Oppenheim just directed "Primetime", which I cannot wait to see. And it seems he is following it up with this epic that is going to rule. I am interested to see how he directs Fielder when Fielder steps in front of the camera.

This movie is the exact type of movie that I love. It is going to make me uncomfortable in the best possible way. And only a person like Fielder is worthy enough an auteur to do something like that. This movie is going to rule so hard because the trailer is so short but so impactful. I cannot wait to see it. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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This Michigan Win Does Not Feel Good

I am here today to discuss what happened in the Western Michigan-Michigan football game on Saturday night. I've been sitting with this game in my head ever since it ended.

Right away, I don't know what the rules say, I did not read the particular rule for the 1 second being left on the clock, I have no idea how there was any time left, but a win is a win. Do I think there was a second left? Do I think Michigan deserved a chance to win at the end? No. I thought the time had expired and I even went about my evening thinking about how this loss was going to affect the football program for the rest of the season. And then the refs put a second back on the clock, Underwood made his only decent pass of the night and JJ Buchannan came down with the ball amongst a crowd of players. The final score ended up being 13-12, instead of the 12-7 I figured it was going to be.

A lot of stuff can be said about this. Maybe Western Michigan should have batted the ball down. Maybe they needed everyone in the secondary. Maybe Michigan should have just blown the doors off of them. Maybe Michigan's defense was tired and that is why they couldn't get off the field in the third quarter. Maybe this appeal from the MAC will give Western Michigan a much deserved win. In the end, where we sit today, September 8th, Western Michigan is 0-1 and Michigan is 1-0. And I have so many, many issues and more worries about this team, the Wolverines, moving forward this season.

First off, the defense is solid. I don't have many issues. I was frustrated that they couldn't get off the field in the third quarter. And then my dad said to me that he was certain they were tired because they had been playing more than 70 percent of the game. I thought the d line did an okay job rushing the passer and stopping the run. Western Michigan didn't have too many explosive plays, even though that is not the type of offense they run. I thought the defense did bite on too many play action plays and that the secondary was playing way too far off of Western Michigan's wideouts. But, when you only give up 12 points, with zero touchdowns scored, I think the defense did their job.

This Wolverine offense though, boy oh boy does it look pretty bad. I don't really know what I expected, especially with an entirely new offensive staff for the most part, but this was not what I wanted to see. This was an offense that was anemic, timid, couldn't establish the line of scrimmage, made poor choices and got far too many penalties. They looked frightened and very under prepared. The majority of the blame goes to the coaches, but the players bear some of the brunt as well. I had, and maybe still have a little, hope for Bryce Underwood, but he looked like he took a massive stepback. He made poor decision after poor decision. There was a moment late in the game where he could have easily ran for a first down on third down, but instead he decided to throw the ball to a wideout being covered by four players. He threw a horrendous interception late in the first half that set up a field goal for Western Michigan. He fumbled the ball running late in the fourth quarter when Michigan was down one point. He made poor throws most of the night, and I take zero stock in the fact that he made one nice throw all night long. The running game, which is supposed to be the bread and butter, looked rough. Jordan Marshall looked timid and tried to jump cut far too often. Last season he would run a dude over if they were in his way. Saturday night he looked like he was more interested in juking someone. Savion Hiter didn't get a decent block all night, and when he would get going, he looked like a freshman, taking bad cuts or being taken down with ease by one tackler. Bryson Kuzdal got two carries all night, and while he had the best run of any of the backs, it was called back due to an unnecessary holding penalty. The receivers couldn't get much separation, they looked slow out of the gates and Andrew Marsh, who I adore, made some uncommon mistakes by simply just taking his eyes off the ball. And the o line was not good at all. They couldn't establish themselves all night long. They struggled to open running lanes and protect the QB.  The o line looked as bad as I have seen them play in a long, long time.

And the coaching staff really struggled. I had much higher hopes for this staff. I praised them as the saviors. They are supposed to turn this program back into a national power. They shouldn't need the refs to bail them out.

I don't know what is going to come from this game and from this team all year, but my expectations have drastically fallen off. Oklahoma is going to crush them this weekend. I said during my college football preview that I felt like Michigan's ceiling was 10 wins and the floor was 7. I'm struggling to find 6 wins with this squad now. They have one of the harder schedules in all of college football, and if the offense is going to be this bad all year, they may not win 4 games.

I'm going to root for Michigan like I always do. My fandom will never die for this football team. I love them. But I feel like we are going to be in for a long, long season, and maybe there will be some massive changes next year if this isn't figured out. Props to Western Michigan for how well prepared they were on Saturday night, and for how well they played. And I'm more nervous than usual for Michigan moving forward. This has the feeling of a tough and long season for the Wolverines. But, as always, Go Blue. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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Better Late Than Never on "Don't Tell Larry"

The other day while I was searching for a movie to watch I came across a recent-ish indie comedy called "Don't Tell Larry". I had never heard of it before, so I watched the trailer attached to the movie. It piqued my interest. I also saw that Ed Begley Jr had a role in it and Patty Guggenheim was the main character. Guggenheim falls into the same territory with me as Johnny Pemberton. I enjoy both of their work, and feel like they should be starring in more content, be it tv shows or movies. So I hit play and sat back for the next 90 minutes and watched.

Right off the bat, I found myself enjoying the movie. It is by no means the best movie in the world. It isn't some kind of breakthrough comedy, but I still found plenty of laughs and had a good time with the movie. The movie stars Guggenheim who is the potential next CEO at a travel agency and she is just biding her time before getting the job. Ed Begley Jr is her superior, and he is about to retire, leaving the door open for Guggenheim to take over. We meet Kenneth Mosely at the beginning of the movie, and he plays Guggenheimn's buddy at the office. We also meet Larry, played by Kiel Kennedy. Larry is a weird dude. He eats raisins with his pencil. He doesn't know much about the business. He is too overzealous and needy. We quickly come to find out that he is Ed Begley Jr's long lost son. And Begley wants to make him the new CEO. Prior to this, Guggenheim throws him a retirement party, but doesn't invite Larry. She gets bad vibes from him. The party goes off without a hitch, but Begley notices and brings up that Larry wasn't there the day after the party. This is where we find out he is his son and that he wants to make him CEO. Guggenheim is obviously upset at this news, and goes off on Begley. It is so bad that she throws a rock at his window and Begley relieves her of her duties. But as she is about to pack up and leave, we hear a scream from Begley's office and we find out he has fallen out of his window to his death.

The movie kind of takes off from here. It turns into a crime caper type movie, but with a ton of jokes peppered throughout everything. It was kind of cool to see a throwback comedy like this. The movie never takes itself seriously. The people involved understood the assignment and they ran with it.  The scene with the drug tester is hilarious. We eventually meet Larry's Nana, played by Paula Rafferty. She doesn't have too many lines in the movie, but when she does speak it serves a purpose and this actor nailed it. We get a whole lot more from Mosley during the second half of the movie and I found him to be the funniest person in the whole thing. Dot-Marie Jones plays the detective that is sent to work on the case in the office, and she is wonderful. The scene between her and Guggenheim near the end is great, until some even crazier stuff happens. But it was Kennedy, playing Larry, who really stole the show. He is so off putting and creepy, but also funny. There were times when I really disliked him, but then would switch to feeling bad for him. The stuff between him and his nana was hilarious. And when Kennedy had to turn the creepy on, in the final act of the movie, he absolutely nailed it. The last image of him I found haunting and hilarious. He really pulled off something very intriguing here. And it was nice to see Guggenheim get to do her thing. She is so funny and easy to watch on screen. I hope this will get her more starring work soon.

In the end, "Don't Tell Larry" is a fun and easy movie to put on and enjoy. I recommend it to comedy fans who want to see something a little off beat, a little different and akin to a throwback comedy from the 80's. I say check it out. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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The Hammer Comes for The Clippers

The NBA has levied their punishment against the Clippers, and boy is it big. The Clippers got crushed in fact. I didn't think they would get in much trouble, but I was very wrong.

For people who may not know, the NBA has been investigating the Clippers for about a year now due to some under the table payments given to former player Kawhi Leonard. Apparently this was a way to circumnavigate the salary cap so the Clippers could keep Kawhi on the team as long as possible, and try to build a title contending team around him.

This is very against the rules. It states in the NBA bylaws that stuff like this, namely circumnavigating the salary cap, is very against policy. The Clippers have denied it, and they are still denying it, but they just got their asses handed to them. The owner of the team, Steve Ballmer, has been suspended for a year. Lawrence Frank, the GM, is suspended for the year. Kawhi's uncle, Uncle Dennis, is banned from NBA activities for life, Kawhi has been given a 700,000 dollar fine and the Clippers have to forfeit five future first round picks.

This is brutal. This is a lot. I don't know that any other professional sports team in America has been levied a fine like this. This is right up there with some of the stuff the NCAA used to do back before NIL and when they actually had some kind of power. The Clippers were already in rebuild mode, and this will definitely speed up the process. They let Paul George walk in free agency a year ago. They traded Ivica Zubac during the season last year. They traded Kawhi before all of this stuff went down. They let Ben Mathurin walk in free agency. They are taking on younger players with boom or bust potential and they look to be in the process of trying stuff out. Now they kind of have to continue this for the next, at the very least, five years.

The fines and suspensions levied against the front office is bad enough, but the picks that are going to hurt the most. You can build through the draft. Teams have won doing that. The Bucks got a title out of drafting Giannis. But they also made trades for guys like Jrue Holiday and Brook Lopez. Those trades involved draft picks. The Lakers have always found a way to get a title, usually through trades. Those trades involve coveted future draft picks. They have also made trades on draft night, when picks are also available to move. The Warriors went on a generational run with a team build through the draft. The draft is important. The draft is where the most research happens. And picks are a known commodity and other teams want that. The Clippers now have zero leverage in any deal they may try to get involved in with another team. Let's say that, maybe next season, the Clippers want to offload guys like Brnadon Ingram, Gradey Dick or Rui Hachumira. They will have no power in any deal. They cannot attach those guys to picks. Other teams won't want to give them any picks either. They will just want to offload bad contracts or unhappy players. And those players will most likely be deep bench guys. How are they going to build around Keaton Wagler and Darius Garland now? They traded James Harden last year and took a big shot on Garland. When Garland plays he has some exceptional talent. But now he is going to have little to no help around him. And if they engage in trade talk, they are not going to be able to bring back any big time players.

I have big feelings that Garland is going to ask out, or when his contract is up, there is no way he is going to stay and re-sign with them. Wagler is an unknown commodity. He has skills, but he has a lot of growth that needs to be shown, and now he won't have as much time as he would have if the Clippers had stayed out of trouble. Brandon Ingram has shown flashes, but he is nowhere near the player people hoped he would be when he was drafted. Gradey Dick has proven nothing to this point. Brook Lopez is old. Bradley Beal is past his prime. Max Strus is always hurt. The Clippers are going to be bad this season, and it is only going to get worse from here. They need Wagler to hit and hit big. But they are not going to have any way of putting a solid, young team around him until he is in his mid 20's. Star players are not going to want to go there until this punishment is up. Any vet that hits is going to ask out. They won't have the benefit of building through the draft until 2032.

This is a mess and one that the Clippers seem not so fit to dig their way out of. This is also going to make other teams become very aware of shady outside dealings and shady family members. Time will tell what this actually makes the Clippers look like. But in the short term, the Clippers are going to be a moribund franchise with no way of getting out of their current state. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet.

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Ty Watches "Mermaid"

I am a fan of Johnny Pemberton. I became a fan when I first saw him on "Superstore". He played Bo, Cheyenne's boyfriend then husband, and his character cracked me up. He was silly and made tons of jokes. I then saw he was cast in "Fallout". I like that show as well, and he is just as funny as he is in his other work. He brings comedic elements to a show that can be pretty intense from time to time. He has popped up in other stuff here and there, but it is usually just a small comedic thing. Then I listened to him on a bunch of recent podcast appearances and he kept talking about his new movie, "Mermaid".

I heard “Mermaid” described as a horror/comedy. When Pemberton was talking about the movie during these appearances, I could not glean how much he was going to be in it. Well, the other day I noticed that it was streaming for free on Prime, so I decided to watch.

Pemberton is the main character in this movie. He is the star and he drives the whole thing. First off, that made me happy. I feel like he has been around long enough, paid his dues and was bound to get a leading role sooner or later. But he is playing a totally different character here. Pemberton plays Doug, a divorced dad of one who gets fired from his job as a fish tank cleaner and is addicted to pills. And while there are some comedic elements in this movie and this role, Pemberton plays this character very quietly and makes him very odd. That is the consensus of all of the people who spend time with him in this movie. They are constantly asking him if he is okay or if something is wrong.

The first 45 minutes of this movie give us Doug's backstory after he gets fired. We see him spending time with his daughter, getting into a fight with his ex, drinking beers and taking pills. Then one of his dealers and his crony show up at his house trying to get paid. This is where Robert Patrick comes into play. He is the dealer and he is a bad, bad dude. After they rough up Doug, Patrick pours bleach into his fish tank. This really upsets Doug, as fish are the only thing he communicates with on a regular basis. From here on out the movie takes us on a wild ride.

Doug is in the process of trying to kill himself, and then he chances upon a mermaid in the ocean. We see this mermaid during the first scene of the movie, a chance encounter with Tom Arnold. Doug takes the mermaid into his home, it is injured, and he starts to care for it. The movie then kind of starts to go nuts when the mermaid shows up and has a starring role next to Pemberton. This mermaid is very scary looking. It's not like most mermaids we get to see on screen. The usual mermaids we see are beautiful, with great voices and a heart of gold. This mermaid is terrifying. The mermaid has super sharp teeth, its body looks like it has been mutated, the fin and tail look normal-ish, but the rest of the mermaid looks scary. I like that they go to these lengths to make this mermaid look different. And the relationship between Doug and the mermaid is well done here. Doug takes proper care of her and truly cares for her. But it is the stuff they add on here that makes this wild. The puking, the birthday party scene, the montage of them hanging out, it is crazy. We then have an auction in the final plot point of the movie. This is where the movie officially goes off the rails. It is truly nuts.

This movie was hit and miss for me. There was some stuff that I truly liked. As mentioned before, I thought Pemberton did a really good job with this role. He gets to do something different and he really goes for it here. I liked the design of the mermaid. I thought Tom Arnold had a great scene. I liked Kevin Nealon as well as his relationship with Doug's ex and his daughter. Robert Patrick plays a superb villain as well. But there was some other stuff that I just couldn't get into. I thought Kirk Fox was underutilized. Sometimes the movie got gross just to be gross. There was about 15 to 20 minutes that they could have easily cut out of the movie to make it a clean 90 minutes. And I wanted to see more with the other sea creature that came to help, or maybe hurt the mermaid and Pemberton. It kind of felt uneven. But my favorite thing in this whole movie was the opening credits had some writing on the screen that read, "this is my love letter to Florida". And Kevin Nunn goes out on a banger of a line, that you have to see because it rules.

"Mermaid" was fine, but I don't think I'll ever watch it again. And I'm glad that Pemberton is getting more work. I just read that he is going to be in another horror movie coming out sometime in the near future. Give it a watch if you're curious. That is my glowing recommendation for "Mermaid". 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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