Happy Thanksgiving

As I do every Thanksgiving, today I am going to give my own personal thanks. This year has been something. It is nowhere near as crazy as 2020 was, but 2021 has definitely had its moments. I will save science and doctors for the end because that is what I am the most grateful for this year.

As I say every year, I am thankful for my wife and kids. While my kids drive me nuts, I love them very much and they have had quite the year. My daughter started kindergarten. My son is in fourth grade. They are both excellent students and have made a plethora of new and old friends since returning to in person learning. My wife continues to be the best person in the whole world. She is kicking ass at work, she is still putting up with my nonsense and she just gets better and better every day. She is the best thing that has ever happened to me. I'm thankful that my mom and dad are still here and still healthy. We had a scare with my mom at the start of the year, but she is fully healthy again, and she continues to crush life. My dad and I have gotten even closer since he retired and our coffee days are my favorite day of the week. My in-laws still continue to be very supportive and completely wonderful.

It has been oddly nice to see full stadiums this fall in college football and the NFL. I am not going to go to any games, but it has been oddly comforting to have the return of fans. It does add to the watching experience from my home. I am thankful that I get to coach a semi-normal basketball season this year. My son is super into hoops, and he is on two teams and we started practice two weeks ago, and so far so good. I am also extremely thankful for running and the community involved. Running has changed my life. I did my first marathon this year. Running is the absolute best.

What I am most thankful for, what I alluded to at the beginning, I am thankful most for doctors and science. We have a COVID vaccine now. I have gotten my two shots and my booster. So has my wife. So has pretty much everyone I spend any extended time around. And my kids got their first dose over two weeks ago. In fact, they get their second dose next Tuesday. I cannot wait. The things I mentioned above, the full stadiums, gathering with more than ten people, playing and coaching basketball, none of that, and so much more, would not be available without the countless hours that scientists and doctors put into creating the vaccine. Of course we have people that are making the vaccine political, but I have chosen to not listen to those individuals, and to get them out of my life. It has made me a much happier person.

When you gather with your family this year, when you sit around the table and think back to last year and not being able to get together, please think of all the people much smarter than me, and a lot of you, that made this possible. Without all the doctors, scientists, Moderna, Johnson and Johnsons, Pfizer, and so many more people and companies, we would all still be socially distancing and not being able to gather as families. We can now because they all did something historic and life changing. So thank you doctors and scientists. You have all made me the most thankful I have been in quite some time.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. Don't eat too much food.

Ty

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

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Why in the Hell Would Anyone Want to Play Doggie Doo

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I have a tale to tell.

My kids started their break from school today for turkey day. We went over to my folks house for brunch because they wanted to see the kids. They see them all the time, at least once a week, but now that both are in full time school, they do not see each of them at the same time as much as they used to. So we took the first day of break to hang out with them all morning and into the afternoon. We went out for brunch, one of my few times going to an actual restaurant during the pandemic, we went to an Italian grocer, my dad and I got coffee and got my mom and the kids some fancy drinks and we headed back to their house to hang for a bit before coming home.

Pretty good day so far.

When we got back to my folks house we watched the TV for a bit. My parents put it on Nickelodeon and "Paw Patrol" was on. I'm not a fan of that show, and to be honest, my kids do not really watch it anymore, but we were going to be leaving soon. But I am not here to talk about "Paw Patrol" today. I am here to talk about a commercial I saw for what I think might be the grossest kids game I have ever seen created.

The game is called Doggie Doo. If you cannot tell by the name, the game is all about collecting dog poo. That is how you win the game. I am not joking you. The more dog poop you collect the better off you are in the end. While watching the commercial they showed the game being played. It is a simple dice game, and when you roll, the number you get is how many times you squeeze the dog bone in the dog's mouth. So a 3 gives you 3three squeezes, 2, 2 two squeezes, and so on and so forth. The more squeezes, the more of a chance you have that the dog will go poop. And when it showed the dog going to the bathroom it made this gross slimy sound and a fake piece of dog poop popped out of the dog's butt.

My dad and I both looked at each other with disgust and dismay. We could not believe our eyes. I am not opposed to gross things, and I fully understand that everyone poops, it is human nature, but to make a game for kids that you win by collecting dog turds, that is foul. I simply don't know who this game is marketed for. I am truly at a loss. Kids like gross stuff, but my kids refuse to pick up after our dog. I am sure my nieces and nephew are the same with their dogs. I have to imagine most other kids in the world are not begging their parents to pick up after their dogs. I do not like picking up after my dog. I do it because I have to and because it is rude and gross to not pick up after your dog. But I can assure you that I am not angling to play a game where the objective is to collect the most poop. I have to imagine that the person that pitched this idea is either a psychopath, or they pitched it as a total joke not expecting it to get made. But here we are, in November of 2021, and this game called Doggie Doo is being sold in stores. It is clearly on at this time because Hasbro wants to see as many of these as they can for the upcoming gift giving holidays. They would not put a commercial for this game on national TV if they did not have intentions of selling as many of the game as they possibly can. But I say again, I do not get it. At all. I do not know anyone that is really pushing to get this game. I can't think of many parents rushing to the store to buy this game. Sure, there have been games with boogers in them, I'm sure someone has made a game with fake vomit, but this Doggie Doo game takes the cake for me as the grossest kids game to ever be made.

I promise you my kids will not have this game, and I would not be surprised if Doggie Doo ends up in the deep clearance bin by the time the new year rolls around. What a horrible and disgusting idea.

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 "Kevin Garnett: Anything is Possible"

Yesterday I was able to watch the Showtime documentary "Kevin Garnett: Anything is Possible". I am a very, very big fan of Garnett's. I have been since I was a kid. I watched him in the McDonald's All American game when I was 15, I so badly wanted him to go to Michigan, I was stoked when decided to go to the draft and I followed his career all the way to the end when he finished back where it started. I guess you could say that I’m a fan.

This movie did a good job of going over most of that, but it was all from the perspective of the man himself. This was a hard and fast documentary. This was as much a documentary as "Blackfish" or "Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room". The only difference, and I do love both of those movies, the subject of this one was something that I am extremely interested in. I love basketball, I love inside scoop and I adore KG. This had it all. I loved how this movie flowed too. They started right off the bat with him playing in his hometown of South Carolina. They mentioned how he had to keep it secret from his mom, how she found out and supported it and the unintentional mess that he got involved in. I also dug how they did not go super deep into that whole incident because KG did not really do anything wrong. They mentioned the incident and moved on. They then shifted to Farragut Academy in Chicago where his star really started to shine. It was cool to learn about that school, about their historic past and about the team that KG was on. I also really enjoyed the coach and really like that guy a lot. He is who shaped KG the basketball player. He let him shine. He let him yell and scream and play with emotion. He brought out exactly what Garnett needed at that time in his life. I also liked the story of Ronnie Fields, his teammate at Farragut. That dude could have been a star, but he got into a bad car wreck at 18. He is still alive, and to hear him talk about his life now, that was uplifting. He is a good dude.

From Farragut is where we shift to his decision to go pro from high school. I did not realize he was the first high school player in twenty years to go straight to the NBA. That was a cool new thing I learned about one of my favorite players. I also really liked how they talked about how he was the first to really start the prep to pros thing. Like I said, there were players before KG, but KG really set it off. I also liked the story of KG and his buddies going to a gym that the Bulls were practicing in, and Jordan invited KG in to play. And he held his own. And meeting Isaiah Thomas that day was the main reason he decided to go pro. Thomas told him he was ready, so KG made the leap. I really liked the stuff with KG being a rookie in Minnesota. I enjoyed hearing how much Flip Saunders liked him. I liked that he had to prove himself to teammates, and when he earned their trust, they knew who was going to be the face of the team. The stuff with him and Stephon Marbury was very eye opening. As was the stuff with his big contract, and how that changed the face of the NBA and the league instituting the max salary. The owners are shady, shady people. The trade to Boston was pretty compelling too. I am not a Celtics fan, but hearing KG talk about why he went there, it all made sense. It was his best shot at a title. And he got that ring. I loved seeing the interaction between KG and Bill Russell. That was amazing stuff. I also loved seeing KG interact with Snoop Dogg. That was awesome as well.

I found this movie to be compelling and informative and fun and eye opening and good. It was a great portrayal of one of the best NBA players to ever play. And I loved how they ended it with his Hall of Fame enshrinement. "Kevin Garnett: Anything is Possible" is a must watch for NBA fans and fans of KG in general. This was a great movie. I highly recommend checking 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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It is Time for the College Football Playoff to give Cincinnati Some Love

Tonight is the eve of, I believe, the penultimate College Football Playoff rankings.

Right off the bat I want to say that I fully understand that this is a TV show. Up until they do their final vote, none of this matters. The committee is going to do things to get people talking about why they have certain teams where they have them. I also think rankings are extremely pointless until the end of the season. I loathe preseason rankings. I think ranking teams after three weeks is baseless. Some teams start off hot and cool way down, see UCLA. Other teams have a slip up, the university of Ohio State, and now look like one of the best teams in the country. Rankings are useless, to me, until the end of the season. For example, in the preseason poll, Clemson was second. They are currently unranked. Iowa State was fifth. They are also unranked. Iowa was tenth and they are in the 20's now. LSU was eleven, they are below .500. Miami was twelve, they are right at .500. UNC was fourteen, they need a win this week to become bowl eligible. Indiana was sixteen. They have had a ruthless season full of injuries and have won two games. Florida was seventeen. They just lost to Mizzou and fired their head coach. Texas was eighteen. They are not going to a bowl game this year. And Washington and USC were twenty-two and twenty-four, and they have both fired their head coaches.

On the other hand we have Michigan, who was unranked, sitting at six. Michigan State was a "projected bottom finisher in the Big Ten, they are twelfth. Oklahoma State is currently at 7 seven ahead of Oklahoma. BYU is thirteen. Utah is sixteen. UTSA, Texas San Antonio for those that may not know, is fifteen. Houston is sitting at nineteen. Wake Forest is twenty-one. San Diego State is twenty-two. And the Ragin Cajuns of Louisiana are twenty-three.

What I'm saying is, more than half of the preseason top 25 is gone, and there are teams that were outside of preseason top 50's and 60's that are ranked inside the top 25. Rankings are pointless in college sports.

With all of that being said, if the committee is too scared, if all they want is eyeballs and complaints, if they are so egotistical to not have Cincinnati in the top four tomorrow night, they are clearly trying with all of their power to not have a non power five team in the playoff. Cincinnati did their job last Saturday, and then some. SMU was supposed to really push them. They were going to be their biggest test in the conference. They were going to prove how good the Bearcats really are this season. Cincinnati won by 34 points. That is five touchdowns. They torched them. They held SMU, who has a good offense, to 14 points. It was a blowout. It was not on the level that the university of Ohio State laid on MSU, but a blowout nonetheless. Cincinnati more then proved their worth. And we have to bring up the win over Notre Dame, in South Bend, by two scores. I do not care what Lee Corso has to say about why Notre Dame belongs in the playoff over Cincinnati. Cincinnati beat them at their home by double figures. They are a better team. They have proven as much. I heard some folks on ESPN say that they think Michigan has a chance to be ranked ahead of Cincinnati. That is asinine. And as you all know, my fandom for Michigan football knows no bounds. I love that football team, but they are not a playoff team. They do not have any signature wins. Sure they beat Wisconsin in Madison, but that was week four. Wisconsin is a much better team now. And they did just win in Happy Valley for only the second time in fifteen years, but Penn State is 7-4. And they blew a 16 point 3rd quarter lead against MSU. Michigan is a better team than I thought they would be, but I do honestly think Cincinnati is a better team right now. And with Oregon getting the doors blown off of them by Utah, that totally opens the door for Cincinnati to slide into the 3 or 4 spot. I still think they should be 2. They are one of three teams in the top 25 that are undefeated. The other two are Georgia and UTSA. UTSA is too far down to make a play for the playoff, and Georgia is all but assured a spot. So why is it not written in pen that Cincinnati should be in the top 4?

When I look at the rankings, and if I were a member of the committee, I would have, from 1 to 4, Georgia, Cincinnati, the university of Ohio State and Alabama. When the rankings come out tomorrow night, I think the committee, if they do what is right, will have Georgia, the university of Ohio State, Alabama and Cincinnati. I do not like it, but that seems like the direction they should go in. What I think they will do is have Georgia, Alabama, the university of Ohio State and Michigan, with Notre Dame jumping Cinci. That would be absurd. But remember when I said it was a tv show until the last week of the season? When you look at the big games this weekend, the committee can see, as we all know, that the university of Ohio State is traveling to Ann Arbor to play Michigan this Saturday. The winner of that game is going to the Big Ten championship game. The winner of that game has a very real shot of getting the two seed in the final CFP poll. So they will one hundred percent make it a matchup of top four teams, thus screwing Cinci yet again. As for Notre Dame jumping them, the committee has shown they do not care about head to head when they slotted Michigan ahead of MSU a few weeks back.

The committee is hoping that they do not have to be put in a situation where they have to put Cinci in the top four. They want them to get beat. They want the winner of the university of Ohio State and Michigan game to get a big enough victory where they do not have to justify ranking one of them ahead of an undefeated Cinicinnati. They want Notre Dame to finish out the year with impressive wins. They want a team like Oklahoma State to win out and beat up on Oklahoma in the Big 12 title game so they can consider them. They would love it if Alabama were to beat Georgia in the SEC title game so they could easily have two SEC teams in the playoff. They want all the chaos so they do not have to put Cincinnati in the playoff. I think they are going to be forced to put them in the top four though. I think Cinci will easily win out. I think Georgia will as well. I am not confident at all in Michigan this weekend, so the university of Ohio State will almost be assured a spot. I think Cinci can push their way to third, especially if Alabama gets beat by Georgia in the SEC title game. That would give them two losses, and I already said that I think Cincinnati is going to win out.

Again, none of the rankings tomorrow night have any basis in what will happen two weeks from now, but I would not be surprised if the committee goes yet another week screwing Cincinnati over before their hand is forced. Rankings are stupid, and so is the CFP committee. Cinci should have already been a playoff team. Hopefully they get the proper respect they deserve by the end of the season. We will see.

Ty

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

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Even Kids Love the Spork

Every Friday I let my kids buy their lunch at school. It is a special treat for them. They bring their lunch every other day, but I like to let them have a little fun closing out the week.

They love it.

They always get in my car and excitedly tell me what they had that day when I pick them up. It is usually pizza, pretty standard, but they like to tell me about the sides they get as well. And when they do not have pizza, they are almost more excited to tell me what they had on those days. It varies between chicken nuggets and some kind of pasta. But they love it no matter what it is, probably because it isn't some lame sandwich that their dad made for them. My son is a little less stoked about it lately because he is a fourth grader now, and acts like a teenager. He is too cool for school. He likes to act like he is above being excited. It is adorable. But my daughter, who is in kindergarten now, LOVES to fill me in on all the details, no matter how big or small. She will go to great lengths to tell me each and every thing about lunch on the days she buys.

Recently she has really gotten into a certain utensil that the lunch people have given her. She has been extra interested in the spork. She is quite obsessed with them in fact. The first day they gave her one you would have thought it was the greatest invention in the history of inventing. She got in the car with extra giddy up in her step. She started to talk before I even buckled her into her seat. She was so amped that I had to tell her to take a breath and slowly explain to me what she was talking about. When she calmed down that was when she went into the greatest of details about the spork. She told me that it is this great thing to eat food because it is a spoon, but on top of the spoon they had prongs like a fork. She also told me about the handle and why that makes it even better. She let me know that she could easily go from spooning fruit to eating corn one niblet at a time. She also liked how it made it easier for her to eat pudding. I don't know how it made it easier, but she sure as hell thought it did. She also liked the fact that she could mix foods together using the spork. She was completely and utterly blown away by this utensil. When I told her that, not only did I know what a spork was, but that I have used them many times, her head exploded. She was talking super fast and asking millions of questions again. She was almost angry at me for not telling her about the spork sooner. She was flabbergasted and amazed. I loved it.

I wish there was something in my life that could surprise me the way the spork surprised my daughter. Now that I am older and more cynical, that happens less and less. But my daughter is only six. I love it when she discovers something new. I love it even more when she really likes the new thing she has found out about. I was so happy to hear her excitement when she first used the spork. I love it, in fact. It is pretty cool that kids can still find something as simple as the spork to be one of the greatest things ever invented. It is also nice that it isn't an internet thing or a video or some kind of thing that is on a screen. I love my kids, and I love how excited they are by the littlest things in life. It is truly a sight to behold.

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 "The Social Dilemma"

Based on a recommendation from my buddy Kirk a few weeks ago, I finally got around to watching "The Social Dilemma". I waited awhile because I knew this movie was going to haunt me. I actually put it off that long because I think I did not want to see what the people had to say. But yesterday I had to watch. It was kind of eating at me. I wanted to see the stuff that Kirk was telling me about.

I had started the movie a few days back, but I started it over yesterday and watched it all in one sitting. And it was as haunting as I expected. It was dour. It was bleak. It made me scared for the future. But most of all, the movie was fantastic. It was also very, very true. It was so bleak because this is the direction we are headed as a country that is as tech obsessed as we have become. We all live on our screens nowadays. It is our source for most things. I do this constantly. I check the news each morning. I look at scores every night on my sports apps. I record my kids doing activities. I log runs and calories. I write a blog. We all live on screens. It was an inevitable chapter in Earth's life.

What "The Social Dilemma" brought to my eyes, what I had not realized, what frightened me the most, was how said screens are manipulating us. How screens give us endorphin rushes. How apps like Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, all of them, are advertising directly to us based on what we look at and what we talk about. Our phones and tablets are clearly listening to us. I will talk about running shoes, and not even an hour later I will receive an ad of said shoes on one of the many social media apps I use. It is scary. I do not like the idea of an AI listening to me, learning about me and advertising to me all within a span of an hour. But that is what "The Social Dilemma" taught me. It also taught me that there are people that are actually fighting to rid us of this wickedness social media platforms are doing. There are some good people in Silicon Valley that want things to change. And these people have the clout to actually do something about it.

While watching this movie, the things the experts were telling me had me shaken to my core. Outside of AI advertising to us, the use of social media in teens and pre teens is horrifying. It is also making being a teen, which is already tough enough, even harder. Kids are mean and vicious to begin with. Now, they can do it online behind a screen name. That stinks. I was also taken aback that most of the experts in the movie worked for these social media companies. It would show their name, then list the former jobs they had at places like Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest. All of these people were literally in the belly of the beast. They saw a lot of what the internet has become from the start. They saw what was happening and left though. They wanted to make changes. They saw that it was getting bad, so they moved on and are now fighting for the greater good.

What scared me the most while watching was me thinking about how much time I personally spend on my phone. I have not stopped thinking about it since I finished the movie last night. I mentioned above the amount of time I use apps. I also play mindless games on my phone. I will sit down and lose a half an hour playing Candy Crush. I don't need to do that nonsense. It is a waste of time. What resonated most with me, besides kids being on social media, was how the movie ended. The experts talked about a world where we can be better. Where we can log off. Where we can stop being so cruel to people on the internet, and that made me feel okay. I loved hearing them say stuff like, "turn off notifications", or "get rid of apps that are of no interest", "remove negativity from your life", "get off news websites that show no real change", "if you are going to look at the news, gather as much info as you can from many different sources". Hearing all of that has really motivated me to make some changes. I am going to make the effort to not be on my phone as much. I am going to turn off most of my notifications. I am going to delete apps like Wikipedia. I'm going to not check football scores as much. I'm going to get off my damn phone all the time.

"The Social Dilemma" is one of the most horrifying, and best movies I have watched all year. I highly, highly recommend everyone check it out. It will definitely give you things to think about. It is a great, important movie. Watch it.

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 "Big Mouth" Season Five

"Big Mouth" has done it yet again.

This show is one of the best things that has been on TV in quite some time. Each season deals with, or adds some new layer that just makes it better and better. I am a big time fan of this show. I have loved it from day one. I have said on this site, to anyone that will let me tell them, hell, to myself that "Big Mouth" is the best representation of going through puberty on any platform right now. I really, truly believe that kids in middle school should be watching the show. I think they should teach a class on it in school. It would have been so much better than the ridiculous sex education that I got when I was in middle school. It was too technical. It was too clinical. They used words that my 13 year old brain had not even heard. At least "Big Mouth" is compelling for kids. It is a cartoon. And it shows the horribleness, and sometimes wonderfulness, that is puberty. It is the truest version that I have ever seen.

Like I said above, they add something new each season that I will watch and think about all the times I had those exact same feelings. This season, their fifth, added hate worms. We have the hormone monsters, the shame wizard, the depression kitty, the anxiety mosquito and so many, many more already. Adding the hate worm was a cherry on top. Even though none of us want to admit it, we all went through this phase of hating a person for some reason only we knew at the time. They used it great in "Big Mouth" by showing Missy getting angry at Jessie for stealing her idea for an organized protest group, and for Nick being upset when Jessie did not like him back. We all had these feelings. It happened to us all. What "Big Mouth" did so well in this fifth season was have the characters say and act how I, and many, many others felt when we were that age, but did not say and act out of rage. It was funny and eye opening to see these cartoon characters act on their rage. They went over the top, but that works because when you are that young and angry, you probably want to go over the top, but you don't. "Big Mouth" gives us this outlet. I also like how they wrapped it up. How they showed Missy and Nick getting through their anger. I liked them showing how they apologized for being assholes. It was great. I also thought it was a great idea to have Nick Kroll, one of the creators of the show, show up as himself and talk to his teenage cartoon character. That was great.

Outside the hate in season five, the other characters involved had some solid storylines. Jay finally finds his true love. Nick's sister gets a real boyfriend. Nick's parents have their first real fight, and then makeup. Jay's dog has a great, small story this season. The Christmas episode was cool as hell. The main hormone monsters have a solid backstory. Lola, Devon and Devin, Ali, they each grow a bit this season.

"Big Mouth" is such a great show. I hope they keep making it. I am pretty sure they have a pretty solid contract with Netflix to keep making it. I love it, I think it is super relatable and totally based in reality, even though it is a cartoon. I think everyone should watch it. I think each person will find something they can relate to while watching. "Big Mouth" is awesome.

Ty

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

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An Ode to the Greatness of Peanut Butter

I was listening to "Doughboys" today and they were talking about marshmallow fluff. I used to love that stuff, but now it sounds and looks vile. The hosts and the guests seem to agree with me too. They talked about how horribly sweet it still is. They mentioned a fluffernutter sandwich, which I used to love, but other than that, they said it was gross.

I am not here to talk about marshmallow fluff. One of the guests mentioned that they had their own personal food pantheon. He talked about the three foods he had on his list. They were the chicken egg, rice and peanut butter. This got me thinking about what my food pantheon would be. I went through a ton of stuff that I really like, but nothing was making my own personal pantheon. I love steak, but that can be gross if not cooked properly. I love licorice, especially the Australian kind, but eating too much hurts my jaw. Coffee has become a big part of my life, but I have had some terrible cups of coffee. Hot dogs are great, but you have to add so much stuff to them to take them to the next level. And they are grossly made. I also love lunch meat, especially salami, but lunch meat has the same problem as the hot dog. It needs accompaniment to really go above and beyond. I was struggling with my pantheon. But then it became pretty clear to me. And I do not need to have more than one food in my pantheon. Everyone has their own personal pantheon, and they can make it as vast as they want. But I only have one food in my pantheon. I only need one food. And I actually agree with one of the items the guest provided. To me, the only food that even belongs in my pantheon is peanut butter.

This may seem harsh to my daughter, she is violently allergic to peanuts, but I am not. I adore peanuts and peanut butter. Peanut butter has literally everything you could want in one food, as long as you are not allergic to it. Peanuts are filled with nutritional value. So peanut butter, in small portions, is actually a good thing. It has carbohydrates, salt, sugar, potassium, and a bunch of other stuff that just makes you feel better, and full, after you have eaten some of it. I love, especially when I am going really low carb, to have a scoop or two of peanut butter straight from the jar for dessert. It gives me the sugar I miss, it has minimal carbs and it is tasty as hell. It also helps me to feel full, even if I may not be full yet. It tricks me. I like that. I love peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, especially after a good work out. The mix of peanut butter and jelly on white or wheat bread, I prefer wheat, is a perfect bite. It has all the good flavors. And it is filling. Adding peanut butter to candy makes it instantly better. Reese's Peanut butter cups are dope. Snickers is one of the best candy bars ever. Reese's Fast Break is the best candy bar. I like to take a little scoop of peanut butter and add it to a Hershey's chocolate bar. It just makes candy so much better. I also love it smeared on a graham cracker or a bagel. It adds a ton of flavor. Adding peanut butter to toast is amazing. You can even add peanut butter to a sauce, it is done a lot in Chinese food, and it works. It also works so well in Thai food. There is no instance that I can think of where peanut butter is not perfect. I bet it would taste good on stuff like mashed potatoes or brussel sprouts. Peanut butter is it. It is the GOAT food. It is my one and only member of my personal food pantheon.

Peanut butter rules.

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 "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings"

It was my wife's movie pick for date night this past weekend, and she went with "Shang Chi". We had seen that it was going to be on Disney + for free on Friday, we both really wanted to watch it but did not want to go to the theaters and our son was at a sleepover, so we figured Friday was the perfect time.

I want to say right off the bat, I loved this movie. I had zero idea about the superhero Shang Chi. I knew nothing of the rings, no backstory, who he was now and how he came to be the holder of the ten rings. His story was a total blank for me. So I appreciated the backstory that they involved with this movie. The movie was a bit over two hours long, but I felt it was needed for someone like me who knew nothing. I really enjoyed the fact that they took the time to go back here and there during the movie to show why Shang was where he was during the movie. I also really liked the whole story about the ten rings and what they do, how they are used. It is a real cool power to have. It seems super effective and totally useful. I also like how they showed the rings when they were in use. It was cool as hell.

I also thought the acting was top notch in the movie. Young Shang, be it 10 year old or teenage, the actors did a great job portraying the sadness and anger. Then we have grown up Shang, the actor from "Kim's Convenience", he was absolutely wonderful. I loved every aspect of his performance. He was so cool and such a total badass. He was a perfect cast for the role. Awkafina, playing his friend Katy, was great as well. I am a big fan of hers. I love "Nora From Queens", she is great in "Ocean's 8", she is hilarious and fun. She brought all of that to this movie, but she also got to be the love interest, the damsel in distress. It was cool and different. I liked seeing her in that role. And the rest of the cast was superb. Shang's dad was a great villain, but I also kind of got where he was coming from. I felt his pain. Shang's sister was amazing. She may have been more of a badass than her brother. She also taught herself how to fight, and she was kicking ass all up and down the movie. Their mom was sweet and sensitive and also one hell of a fighter. I liked how she only used her powers when she truly needed to in the movie. The people who lived in the mom's village were great as well. There were some great marksmen, great fighters, people who knew how to harness the powers they have. I also loved the animals that lived in the village. It was some of the coolest mashups of animals I have seen in a movie. Also, Ben Kinglsey and his little buddy Morris were a delight. They were kind of the heart and soul of the movie for me.

Outside the acting, the imagery, the scenery, it was beautiful. San Francisco looked awesome. Macau was dope as hell. Everything was shown so well. My wife pointed out when they got to Macau how it reminded her of "Black Panther", when they went to Asia. It was nighttime, brightly lit and looked so cool. They made it feel like a very, very big city. And that fight scene on the side of the big building, that was awesome and it made my knees totally buckle. And the village that I mentioned before, it was amazing.

I adore this movie. I think it is one of the better MCU movies. I like when they make the movies a bit more fun, and even though this movie definitely has some heavy moments, it is still a very good time. And the fight scenes are some of the best they have had in some time. The fight on the bus is one of the cooler things I have seen in a movie since "Nobody". It was rad. If you have Disney + go watch the movie ASAP. It is free and totally worth it. I highly recommend "Shang Chi".

Ty'

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

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"The Last O.G." is Still Good, I Want it to Be Great.

I have been watching all of "The Last OG". From its start to where it is now, on season three,

I'm there for it. I think it is a solid show. Tracy Morgan is my all time favorite actor. Full stop. I love everything he is in, and I will watch pretty much anything he is in. He is it for me. He is the comedy actor. He makes me laugh all the time. I do not even watch "SNL" anymore, but I saw he was on a sketch last week and you better believe I watched in on YouTube the next day. He rules.

The other people on the show are great too. Tiffany Haddish is hilarious. Ryan Gaul is funny and can do a bit of drama. The actors playing his kids are really good at portraying teens. Tracy Morgan's mom is really good. Everyone knocks it out of the park. Jordan Peele is an executive producer and co creator of the show. This show has all the elements I look for when I want to watch a comedy show. And it has been really good for 2twoseasons.

We are four episodes into the third season, and while I have been enjoying it, it is kind of doing the same thing. They ended season two on a humongous cliffhanger, but they wrapped it up by the second episode of this season. I love that Tracy Morgan's character wants to give back, he is an ex-convict, but that storyline has kind of run its course. I do like what they are doing this season with a former childhood friend who lost her brother due to Morgan's character selling him drugs. I like how they are showing how his past really hurt other people. And the lady who plays Vecey is tremendous. It is a good storyline this season. I want it to be the main storyline. I feel like, especially after watching the most recent episode, they are going that way, and that is good. I just want them to stay in that lane. Again, I like how they show Tray giving back, but they have done that to death. I also really enjoy his interactions with his kids, but they have done that already. I am bummed out Haddish is not in this season, or she hasn't been yet, but that could do with scheduling or other conflicts. She is such a great actor, and she really shines on this show. I miss her a lot. I appreciate what they are doing with Gaul, her current husband, and the kids though. I just wish Haddish was there to perform. I saw that the next episode does have Tray helping someone out, but it is a guy that lived in the halfway house with him after they were released. I'd much rather see him help out those dudes than helping out a random kid on the street. And that is not because I am heartless, they have already done it. A few times. They have scratched that itch. And have done it very well. I want the show to go in new, different directions because I love it so much. I do not want it to feel stagnant. I was getting the stagnant feel, but then the fourth episode happened, and it has pushed me back to my hopeful feelings of the show doing a new story involving someone else involved in Tray's life.

I really do like this show. "The Last OG" has proven its worth and then some. I just hope it doesn't get content. I want it to go into different stories with different people. I think they are doing that. And I am hopeful that they are doing that.

Ty

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

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Ty Listens to "This is Important" Podcast

A few months back I was looking for a different podcast to listen to when I run. I have a good team of pods that help me through long runs, but I was either caught up on them, or was getting a little bored. I always try to find one of two kinds of pods when I run, conversational or comedic. When the two categories marry, that is the cherry on top.

The podcast I decided to try was "This is Important". This podcast is hosted by the guys behind one of my all time favorite shows, "Workaholics". We got Kyle Newachek, Anders Holm, Adam Devine and Blake Henderson as the hosts. The podcast is very straight forward. It is just the four of these guys bull shitting for an hour every Tuesday. They like to say that they are only talking about, "what is truly most important", but it is just four friends having a good time on the mic. It also helps that these guys are hilarious, have great chemistry, even better friendship and are pretty well known.

Outside "Workaholics", all these guys are still working. Kyle Newachek is still directing and producing, most recently on the great TV show, "What We Do in the Shadows". Adam Devine has starred in his fair share of movies of late, and he has just been announced as the star of an upcoming "Pitch Perfect" TV series. Anders Holm is still doing his thing, he is apparently in an upcoming movie with Robert De Niro. He was also great in "Top 5" by the way. And Blake Henderson, he has a recurring role on "Woke", was great on "Parks and Rec" and was excellent in the movie "Dope". They are all still grinding, and they still have the time to get together for an hour a week and make a goofy, ridiculous and fun podcast.

I often find myself cracking up when I listen. It is so mundane and wild and crazy and hilarious. They literally just take a subject here and there and they go down crazy rabbit holes. They did a good 10-15 minutes on John Lithgow movies a few episodes back. They did their first "live" episode when Devine had his bachelor party in the Ozarks. It was epic. When Holm goes on about neo soul music, I love it because I love neo soul. Anderson has a soundboard, and the way he uses it during the show is so hilariously perfect. Newachek will spend most of his time either talking about his wife and kids, his garden or expelling gas on the microphone. I know this all sounds trite and boring, but I promise you it is not. Especially if you like Mail Order Comedy and "Workaholics". It is just a continuation of where they started. They may have reached a new level of fame, but these dudes seem totally down to Earth, which is awesome. I think the simpleness of the pod is why I love listening to it while running. It marries the comedy and conversation aspects that I like about podcasts. It takes those two genres and melds them perfectly. I love it because it is two of my most favorite things about podcasting.

If you like these guys, or watched "Workaholics", or just enjoy friends getting together that happen to be extremely funny, check out "This is Important". It is well worth your time.

Ty

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

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I Miss Chris Farley

This past Friday, during date night, I showed my wife one of my personal favorite comedies from the mid 90's. The movie was "Tommy Boy". I watched that movie over and over and over again when I was a teenager. It was the best. And I think it still holds up. There are a few problematic things and words used in the movie, that is for sure. But other than those very short, very few not so great words and scenes, I found myself cracking up just like when I was a kid. My wife wasn't laughing as hard as me, but she did say it was funny. She was also very clued in to why I loved, and still love, this movie so much.

I'm not here to talk about the movie. I love it, as I said. I want to talk a bit about Chris Farley. Farley was a comedy legend. He was one of the greatest "SNL" actors ever. He owned the comedies he starred in in the 90's. He was lightning in a bottle. He was this physical mastermind who also happened to be extremely hilarious. Farley had it all. And as a young teen, that was exactly what I wanted when I watched comedy. Farley was pretty much my entryway to comedy. I did not start to really dig deep into comedy until I discovered Farley. He was a gateway drug for me.

Unfortunately, he also lived his life way too hard. He died way too young. He could have done so much more in his life. But drugs are bad and addictive. He relapsed a ton. He did not take care of himself at all. He lived too fast and died much too young. He truly lived like his idol, John Belushi, to the fullest extent. Which is a bummer.

Watching him in "Tommy Boy" was amazing. When he did cartwheels after passing his test I was amazed at how athletic he was, but I was also cracking up. Seeing him lead this comedy was incredible. He was a force of nature. But he also handled the very minor dramatic moments really well in the movie. He had range. The same could be said for some of his other movies. He was amazing in "Coneheads". He had a very small role, but it was memorable. "Beverly Hills Ninja" would be unwatchable with any other actor in the lead role. The movie is not good, at all, but Farley is good in it. He makes it watchable. I saw it in the theaters simply because of Farley. He has some of the most quotable and memorable lines from "Billy Madison". He is so awesome as the bus driver. After doing "Tommy Boy", he and David Spade teamed up again for "Black Sheep". I saw that movie almost as much as "Tommy Boy". It is like an unauthorized sequel, and it is a decent movie. Farley, again, totally carries the movie. The scene at the Rock the Vote festival is one of the funniest things I have seen in a movie in quite some time. And his role in "Dirty Work" is so god damn cool. He is in full Farley mode, and it rules. And of course we have "SNL". He was, as I said before, one of the best actors that show has ever seen. His work on "SNL" is, for me at least, the best and most memorable of all time. From the GAP workers, to the Chippendales skit, to his talk show, to jumping in the cage at the zoo, to Matt Foley, and so many more I cannot think of right now, he was simply the best. The physicality was second to none. His timing was impeccable. He was made for live TV. He lived in the moment, and when it was his time, he seized on it. He was amazing.

I really miss Chris Farley. He was one of my favorite actors of all time. Watching him in "Tommy Boy" last week has me wanting to revisit a bunch of his other work. I have rewatched some of his "SNL" skits since Friday. I plan on watching "Black Sheep" soon. I want to see "Beverly Hills Ninja" again just to see if he still carries it like he did so many years ago. Farley was an amazing talent who lived his life much too hard. I highly recommend everyone go and check his stuff out if you haven't, or if you just want to revisit it. Farley was a once in a lifetime talent. I really, really miss him.

Ty

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

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A Lament of Aaron Rodgers

Aaron Rodgers is an idiot. Aaron Rodgers is dangerous. Aaron Rodgers is selfish. Aaron Rodgers cares about no one besides himself. Aaron Rodgers is flat out stupid and I have zero respect for him, of which I already had very little to begin with.

I have never been a fan. I'm not just saying that now, it is true. When the Packers drafted him I threw my hands up and openly groaned. RD called me that day to congratulate my father and I, as we are Packers fans, and we both told him we were upset with the pick. Now, he proved us wrong on the field. The Packers have always been a playoff team with him at QB, but that never stopped my dislike for him. I have never liked his attitude. I do not like watching him in press conferences. He is arrogant and full of himself. He has driven me mad as a Packer fan both on and off the field. Last summer, when he wanted to be traded, I told anyone that would listen that I wanted them to trade him. I wanted Green Bay to start over. I was ready for the Jordan Love era. I was ready for them to be a bottom dweller for a few seasons. I was fed up with Rodgers and his holier than thou attitude over the summer. And even when he came back, and the front office bent to his every wish, I was over it. I did not care about their hot start. It really had little to do with him anyway. The defense is actually much better than they have been in quite some time.

Recently when he returned, and all the COVID rules the NFL put out came out, which I love, he told everyone that he was "immunized". I, along with most everyone else, assumed that meant he was vaccinated. Using the word "immunized" is the same as saying you are vaccinated. "Immunized" means that you are immune, or safe, from a disease. He lied to everyone. I have to assume the Packers front office knew he was not vaccinated, so they are equally as much to blame as Rodgers. But facts are facts. Like I said, Rodgers lied. He is a liar. He is a storyteller. He is a snake oil salesman. He is pitiful and disrespectful. To play in eight games unvaccinated, to go to parties with your teammates unvaccinated, to see friends unvaccinated, too flat out lie to every single reporter, what a total and complete asshole. He was putting so many people in unnecessary danger because he wanted to do what he wanted. If my six or nine year old were to do something similar I would ground them for weeks. Telling such a stupid lie makes me furious as a parent. Rodgers is roughly my age, yet he lies like a child.

And then he had that unhinged interview. He went on a radio show and spewed misinformation. He bad mouthed masks. He claimed to be "allergic" to some of the stuff in the vaccine. He eschewed doctors and said he was talking to Joe Rogan about the disease. He quoted Martin Luther King Jr. Everything about this interview just made him look worse and worse. Why on Earth would any sane person talk to Joe Rogan about anything. That guy is a blowhard. He is a dummy. He is so unimportant. Masks have saved millions of lives. I still wear mine everywhere. It is not a bother. It is super important. The fact that he is taking heart dewormer still baffles me. What a goddamn moron. He is not allergic to anything in the vaccines. He is a coward. And quoting Martin Luther King Jr was wrong on every single level. I saw someone online say that, "white people when they are in trouble really like to use Martin Luther King Jr quotes". Never a truer statement has been made.

Aaron Rodgers stinks. I despise him more than ever. I have had moments where I am questioning if I still want to root for this team anymore. I do know for a fact that I am done with Rodgers. Even when he comes back I will root against him very hard. Aaron Rodgers is a quack, a coward, a blowhard and a dangerous individual. I will never, ever, ever believe another word that comes out of his mouth. Rodgers is a danger to society and I hope he is out of Green Bay very soon. Screw you Aaron Rodgers. I did not like you before, but now, and this is a word I rarely use, I hate you. You are a menace and I wish you would just stop talking. Stop making yourself look stupid.

Ty

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

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Ty's 2021 - 2022 NCAA Men's College Basketball Preview

Since my son starts basketball practice tonight, since I kept seeing commercials for college basketball games all Saturday afternoon while watching football and since I am kind of tired after getting my booster shot, I am going to give you all the NCAA men's college basketball preview I have promised.

I am going blind because of the ever changing college basketball landscape. I truly only know who is on the Michigan Wolverines team since I actually follow them. I was stunned to see KU was the third ranked team in the country. I was equally stunned when I saw Michigan State was unranked. I do not know who these top players are, sans for the freshman on Michigan. I am going in blind like I have for seemingly the past decade with men's college basketball. And instead of doing a conference breakdown for everyone, I'm going to go off the preseason rankings, and add a few teams I think could make some noise. Let's do it.

The AP has Gonzaga at number one. I'm pretty sure they have almost everyone back from a team that made the title game last year. Suggs and the other guard, Joe Ayayi, are gone, but they have guys that will take their place. Gonzaga is a reload team. They do have Drew Timme back, and from what I have read, they signed the number one recruit, Chet Holmgren, who plays like KD. Gonzaga is a basketball powerhouse. They are no longer Cinderella. They, save for the championships, are Alabama in college football. If they do not win it all this year though, that would be a bummer for their fans.

UCLA is two and they have everyone back from the 11 seeded team that made the Final Four. This is a team that had zero expectations last year, but now they have all the expectations. They are one of the older teams in the NCAA, they have scoring and defense and a good coach. UCLA is back. Now it is time to see how they play with everyone watching them again. They are not going to sneak up on anyone.

The aforementioned Kansas Jayhawks are next. They have a loaded team, with super talented freshmen, and doing some research, they got the best transfer in Remy Martin. The Jayhawks will be at the top all year, and they could make some noise. I do think Bill Self may consider leaving if the Jayhawks have a really good year for the NBA.

At four we have Villanova. They have tons of talent returning, they have some stud freshmen, they have always been good and they have the best coach in college basketball.

Texas is five, and I think that is all due to them hiring Chris Beard. Beard is a good coach, a good recruiter, but this seems kind of high to me. I do not know anyone on their team, maybe Beard got some good players to commit, but Texas always seems to dissipate when they are looked at as a preseason darling.

Michigan is six. I know a ton about this team. I love that Eli Brooks, Hunter Dickinson and Brandon Johns Jr came back. The freshmen, mainly Caleb Houstan and Moussa Diabate, are going to play and be heavily involved. Juwan Howard is not only proving to be a great recruiter, but he is also an excellent coach. I love this team, I cannot wait to watch them play on Wednesday and my expectations are sky high with this team.

Purdue comes in at seven. They have one of the best front courts in the country. They are big and mean and nasty. They can shoot. They are good.

Reigning champs, Baylor, check in at eight. They lost a ton, but they are also a very good team. They do have some returning talent, and that staff can recruit and coach. Baylor will always be a contender.

At nine and ten we have two teams that really stunk last year. Duke is nine. This is Coach K's last year as the head man. He brought in a great class. And I feel like the refs and TV people will do everything in their power to prolong their season as long as possible. Kentucky is ten. They have a great class of freshmen, as they always do. But this group feels a little different. They will be fun to watch, they will put up a ton of points and they will return to the tourney, and most likely be a pretty high seed.

Outside of the top 10, there are a few teams that I am interested in seeing. The Big Ten has a ton of teams ranked. I already mentioned Purdue and Michigan at seven and six. The Big Ten also has Illinois at eleven, the university of Ohio State at seventeen and Maryland at twenty-one. I could have also seen Michigan State, Rutgers and Indiana being ranked at some point. The Big Ten is the best conference in college basketball. The university of Ohio State has one of the best bigs in the country in EJ Liddell. Illinois has Kofi Cockburn who is a preseason All American. Maryland has scoring for days. MSU is always good. Rutgers returns pretty much everyone from a team that made the tourney last year. Indiana has a new coach and some young stars. This conference is amazing.

Alabama is now becoming a basketball power, which is kind of annoying. They are preseason number fourteen, and they will push Kentucky in the SEC.

Memphis has a monstrous recruiting class coming in, Penny Hardaway is a better coach, and if the NCAA lets these kids play, they will make noise.

Oregon, at thirteen, is only behind UCLA in the Pac 12. They are always good and always competitive.

UNC, at nineteen, and FSU, at twenty, will make the ACC highly competitive. They will push Duke to the brink, much to the chagrin of the ESPN's of the world.

UConn will be repping the Big East all year in the rankings. And Virginia feels super low to me at 25. They are a very good program.

As for the mid major teams, Houston is lethal. That is why they are ranked 15th. And St Bonaventure, at twenty-three, is loaded with experience. There are always some other mid-major programs, but they end up becoming big time later in the season. I am curious to see SLU because they are local and they seem to have a pretty solid roster.

For me, as I have said many times, the Big Ten is the conference. They will not get all four Final Four spots, but I could see two teams making there with ease. I also think, with Gonzaga and UCLA being the only two other teams, that the Big Ten will win the most postseason awards. I also think the Big Ten will finally, after two decades, bring home a title.

With that, my Final Four picks right now, on November 8th, I have Michigan, Gonzaga, Purdue and Kansas. That is very chalk, I know. I think Michigan and KU will face off in the title game. And, what the hell, I'm going with Michigan to win it all. Their football team continues to disappoint me, so I'm going to fanboy out on their basketball team. But this isn't also simply a fanboy pick. They have experience, depth, talent, great coaching and scoring from every position. They also play defense and they go hard every night. As for player of the year, I'll take Johnny Juzang from UCLA. He is older, he hits clutch shots and I think he will have a monster season. Freshman of the Year is going to be the Holmgren kid from Gonzaga. They have already written that one in ink I bet. Coach of the Year will be Juwan Howard. And my "surprise" team is going to be Michigan State. They will have a deep tourney run and I think they will be ranked inside of the top ten at some point after being left out of the preseason rankings. And my "surprise" player is going to be Patrcik Baldwin Jr from UW-Milwaukee. He was a top recruit, but he chose to go play for his dad instead of going to a major power five school. That kid is going to put up massive number.

Okay, there is my men's NCAA basketball preview. As I saw every year, take it with a big time grain of salt.

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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Hi-Chew is the New Great Halloween Candy

I know some college basketball teams are playing exhibition games right now, and I said I was going to do a preview, but that will have to wait until Monday. I want to wait until Michigan officially starts, and while they have an exhibition tonight, they officially tip off on Wednesday. So my men's NCAA basketball preview is coming, you'll just have to wait until Monday. Today I want to talk about a particular Halloween candy.

My kids went trick or treating on Sunday. We did it safely, and everyone seemed to have a very good time. The people we allowed in our house have been in our bubble, are vaccinated and are family. And pretty much every house we went to had the candy in a bowl outside on a table and most even had sanitizer. It felt safe. And after my kids were done, my son especially, they like to sort out all of the candy they received. I like doing this too. I did it as a kid. So I helped out my son and my daughter did not really care about doing it. She was happy with candy. So my son and I retired to the kitchen table and went through his stuff. He got a ton of candy. He even got full size candy bars, a first for him, and it blew his mind. He was literally acting like a kid in a candy store. So we put full size bars in one spot, peanut butter candy in another, fun size candy bars in a pile and gummy and chewy candy in another pile. It was great. And, like almost any parent, I decided that I wanted to taste test some of the candy he received. I had a few Snickers. He gave me a piece of one of his full size Kit Kats. I love Haribo Gummy Bears, and my son gave me a pack of those. It was great. But there is one candy he gave me that I do not really recall ever getting as a kid.

The candy he gave me was a piece of his Hi-Chew, and I was blown away. This was one of the best pieces of candy that I have ever eaten. It is like a softer, less sweet Starburst. When I got off candy to lose weight, Starbursts were one of the first to go. They’re pure sugar. But I did, and still do from time to time, miss that chewy aspect of Starbursts. Hi-Chew’s bring that tenfold. They’re very chewy. They last long. The flavor sticks around. It’s wonderful. What puts the Hi-Chew over the top though is the taste. While sweet, they’re not overly sweet. Starbursts, Skittles, Gummy Lifesavers, they’re far too sweet. I eat a few of those and I feel like I’m in sugar shock. Hi-Chew doesn’t do that to me. They’re a bit sweet, but they also taste like the actual flavor listed on the wrapper. Lime tastes like lime. Mango has that mango flavor. Pineapple is real close to an actual pineapple. But the strawberry ones, those are the best. They taste like actual strawberries, but it’s candy.

I’m really impressed with Hi- Chew’s. They are a great alternative to actual Starbursts. They’re better than Mamba’s. They’re much better than Skittles. I like them even more than Haribo Gummies, which I didn’t think was possible. I’m stoked that Hi-Chew is making a comeback, and the flavor is on point. My hat goes off to them. I can’t wait to eat some more when my son and I get some candy later tonight. Hi-Chew’s rule.

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 "Bad Sport"

Yesterday I finished up a very cool and interesting show on Netflix. The show is called "Bad Sport". I was scrolling through Netflix the other day and it popped up as something I might have been interested in. They were right. I do like sports and I am interested in the seedy underworld that no one ever really talks about. This show has both.

Now, I was hyped because the first episode was all about a point shaving incident that I know of that occurred in the 90's involving Arizona State. I remember this story as a kid. They made a made for TV movie about this incident in the early 2000's. I was aware. What this first episode did though was go very, very deep in the whole scandal. I was learning a ton of new things. I was also kind of frightened at the people who got involved. I was also fascinated at how high this went. It was very informative and a very good. watch. The first episode was a great starting point for my sports fandom. Then I took a few days off because the other episodes featured sports I have never been too interested in. But I was still kind of looking for other shows, but my mind kept wandering back to "Bad Sport". So the next few days I devoured the rest of the series.

I am not a race car fan, but the second episode was all about a race car driver that brought in and sold millions of pounds of marijuana. It was incredible to hear this guy's story. I loved hearing what the people around him thought. I actually ended up kind of siding with the main guy in the end. He got put away for a long time just for some weed. And the race car stuff was kind of interesting. It was minimal, but I still found myself following it all.

The third episode was about a humongous bombshell involving Juventus soccer. I guess their owner back in the day had some serious pull over officials and was able to get things to go for his team when he needed it to. There were never any fixed games, or so they say, but the refs did some shady stuff. And the refs who didn’t do the shady stuff, they got stiff penalties. One of them was kidnapped for a few days. It was also wild to see the actual guy they were talking about come on and be interviewed near the end. And he still claims he did nothing wrong. It was wild.

The fourth episode featured a figure skating controversy. I never really watch figure skating, but I have friends and family that like to watch. I was also vaguely familiar with the people involved in this story because it became so big. There was a Canadian team and a Russian team, they were pairs, and there was a whole problem involving a French judge and how she may or may not have fixed an Olympic event in favor of the Russian team. The story was so wild too. I was totally invested in this one.

The fifth episode featured the biggest monster on the show. This one was about show horses and the owners. The guy they focused on was a guy that ended up falling into this world, and he became known as the Sandman, a guy that would get rid of horses if the owners wanted him to for a 5,000 dollar fee. And by get rid I mean he would execute these poor horses. This episode was frightening. It made me sick to my stomach at times. There were people that made me so angry while I watched. It also made me furious with the legal system. This episode has really stuck with me.

The final episode focuses on a South African cricket star that took money to try and fix games. He was a mega star in the cricket world. He had a big come up and achieved greatness pretty young. He was beloved by everyone. But all along he was accused of finding teammates and telling them to fix games here and there to get big chunks of money. It wasn't until a few of his younger teammates didn't do what he asked him to that he got caught. It was a big time scandal and the guy was banned from cricket. And that wasn't even the worst thing to happen to him. You'll have to watch to see what happens next.

I really liked this show. I hope it comes back for more seasons. I was endlessly fascinated by what I saw. It was very well done and very informative. I definitely recommend people check out this show. It is great.

Ty

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

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The College Football Playoff Committee are Fanboy Idiots

The first college football playoff rankings were released last night. For college football fans, like myself, this is a big deal. Things can, and definitely will change in the next four weeks, but the release of the first CFP ranking kind of marks the 3/4 mark of the season. We are getting near the end of the regular season.

I do not have much of a problem with the initial rankings, except two teams, who I will get to shortly. Georgia is clearly the number one team. They have beaten the pants off of every opponent, they have the best defense in the country and they can win with both of their QB's. They are really, really good. As much as it pained me to watch last weekend, I think Michigan State is in the right spot at three. They have won every game, they have the front runner, that isn't a QB, for the Heisman and they have found ways to win. Oregon rightfully deserves to be ahead of the university of Ohio State because they beat them, and they beat them in Columbus. It only seems fair. I love that Wake Forest is in the top ten. I don't think Michigan deserves the nine spot, but that is because I am never optimistic about that team. I'm not that upset by Oklahoma being eight because they have had one of the easiest schedules in the country, but they have made all eight of their wins, save for last week, much closer than they should have been. As for the teams outside the top ten, I love UTSA being ranked. They have earned it. I would have put Oklahoma State a little higher. I like that Minnesota is finally getting some recognition. Wisconsin has rebounded nicely after a rough start. Texas A&M has been riding high since beating Alabama, and they have a chance to make a real jump this weekend. And I like that teams like San Diego State and Fresno State got some love.

But, like I said at the top, there are two teams, one that got royally screwed, and one that seems to get their way no matter how they perform on the field. The fact that Alabama is two and Cincinnati is six is a total joke. Again, lots of things are going to change, but to put Cincinnati that low is such a bad look for the CFP committee. And putting Alabama that high, after they have a loss at Texas A&M, makes them look worse. It is clear now that no matter what Alabama does, no matter how many wins and losses they have, this committee will continue to find a way to get them into the top four. They will find a way. They will make excuses. I heard the chair of the committee explain why they put Alabama that high, and it was all nonsense. He was stating ridiculous facts. They have some wins in the top 25, he said. Their loss was a last second field goal on the road to the 14th ranked team. Alabama will play tougher teams. It is all pure nonsense from a college football perspective. And he had the nerve to go on tv and claim, "who has Cincinnati beat besides Notre Dame?". Again, this was like pushing in the knife after already stabbing someone. It was salt on a wound. He sounded like a fan, and that committee is supposed to be non biased. Cincinnati went to South Bend and pretty easily handled Notre Dame. They beat Indiana by two touchdowns in Bloomington. Say all you want about Indiana, but they are a solid football team. They crushed UCF when people thought they could be better than we all thought. They struggled with Navy, but like Michigan State, found a way to win the game. And they easily dismissed Tulane, who put a scare into Oklahoma in week one. They also have one of the best defenses in the country, and while I loathe their coach, he is doing a great job, and I would be stunned if he isn't at a big time power five school next year. Alabama crushed Miami, well they are 4-4. Look at that game like you look at Indiana on Cincinnati's schedule. They beat Florida in The Swamp they may say. Okay, they are 4-4. Their best win is Ole Miss, who they did smoke, but Cincinnati's best win is against a much better, higher ranked team, and it was on the road. I'm fed up with this committee finding excuses to get their beloved Alabama in the CFP. They are a good team, and they may still very well make it to the CFP, but to have them at two in the initial ranking is a spit in the face to the Big 10, the Pac 12 and, most importantly, the Cincinnati Bearcats football team. They got totally screwed by this committee. It is clear they do not have a level playing field. Cincinnati should be two, and hell, I'd put the university of Ohio State, Wake Forest and Oklahoma ahead of Alabama. Michigan State should be ranked higher. Oregon should be ranked higher due to a much better high profile win.

If someone asked me what I think the top four should be right now I'd go with, from 1-4, Georgia, Cincinnati, Michigan State and Oregon. Then I'd have Oklahoma, Wake Forest, the university of Ohio State and then Alabama. I'd have them at eight in the rankings right now. But I'm just a Michigan fan that lives in the Midwest. But I also watch a ton of college football, and I can tell you, on November 3rd, Alabama is not the second best team, Cincinnati is, and they should be ranked as the second best team in the country, like every other major poll has them. This is a bummer, I hope it gets fixed, but also, it just goes to show how stupid and pointless ranking college football teams truly is. It is a genuine waste of time. They should just wait until every game has been played and then make a final decision.

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 the Trailer for "Atlanta"

Yesterday I was checking stuff out on the internet, as I like to say, as I am want to do, and I came across a story on many, many social media platforms claiming that Donald Glover surprised everyone with a new trailer for his hit series "Atlanta".

I am a big, big time fan of this show as you all know very well by now. I think it is the best show on TV, it is a delight to watch, it makes me think days after every episode and Donald Glover can do no wrong in the entertainment world. He is a genius. So I was obviously stoked about the trailer. I do not know if he put it out late Sunday or early Monday. I saw it on Monday. I am older, I am a dad, I am usually late to popular stuff on the internet, all of these are my excuses on why it took me an extra day to know, and then watch the trailer. As soon as I saw the story, and a link to the trailer, I watched it immediately. And I loved every single weird second of it.

The trailer is about a minute long. I think it might actually be exactly one minute. I'm sure there is some reasoning to it, but I am not smart enough, nor do I want to put the research time into finding out exactly why it is one minute long. But I watched it with pure glee. I was quite giddy in fact. I started the trailer and was completely blown away by what I saw. It was eerie. It was different. It was sleek. It was cool. I felt hip watching it. I also felt like a dork too because I was a bit confused. Anyway, the trailer goes through a bunch of different rooms and there is a song lyric repeated over and over. "It's after the end of the world/don't you know that yet". That is the lyric that is repeated over and over again. And there is some dark and creepy music accompanying the words. All the while we see these rooms. We see empty, what I assume, are concert venues. There are very few people roaming the streets. I only saw a few people on bikes in one shot. There are four TV's set up with different images flashing on them. There is a room filled with chairs stacked on top of one another. And at the end we see Brian Tyree Henry, who plays Paper Boi. The camera starts out far away from him, but the shot gets tighter and tighter while the creepy song comes to a big crescendo. We then get a close up shot of Paper Boi looking sad and despondent. He has a white shirt with some red, yellow and green stripes on it, and across his chest in yellow letters the word "FAKE". He also has two people working for him who are totally turned away from the camera not even looking in his direction. The screen then goes black and it says "Atlanta/2022".

This has me even more pumped up for what is to come in 2022. Clearly Paper Boi has made his ascent to some kind of fame. But we will also, or so it seems, get a look at how Donald Glover has dealt with the pandemic. We will also hopefully get to see that Paper Boi may not be happy with his newfound fame. Maybe he doesn't like the limelight like he thought he would. I am very curious to see where LaKeith Stanfield, Zazie Beetz and Donald Glover's characters are in this world created by Glover.

While I think a show like "Curb" is more reliable, or "The Simpsons" is my favorite show of all time, "Atlanta" is probably the best show on TV when it is on. And after this trailer I can only hope that this whole new season is going to be like the "Teddy Perkins" episode from the second season, because that is an all time classic. Needless to say, I am very, very excited for the new season of "Atlanta". Now I just have to wait a few more months.

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 "I Know What You Did Last Summer" and He has Some Thoughts on Movie Violence

Over the weekend my wife and I pushed our date night to Saturday due to school stuff and because it was closer to Halloween. We had sushi, since we are so fancy, and my wife got to choose the movie. She wanted a scare so she picked "I Know What You Did Last Summer".

I have never seen the movie and it has been years since she watched it. She remembered really liking it and saying that it had some good jump scares. She also loves the show "Buffy" and is a big Sarah Michelle Gellar fan. It checks a lot of boxes for her. So we watched.

The movie was fine. My wife jumped a few times. It made me laugh a little because I kept thinking about "Not Another Teen Movie" and "Scary Movie". There were some okay chase stuff. It was a typical late 90's scary movie. It felt a lot like a JV version of "Scream", which is not a bad thing. But I came away from the viewing with a thought that has never really occurred within me. When the movie was over I thought that it was kind of hokey, not super scary and not too violent.

I was very wrong on the last thought. This movie was very bloody. A person gets hit with a car. There is a suicide. There is plenty of knife and hook wounds. Needless to say, there is a good amount of blood. But nowadays a movie like this seems so tame. That is brutal. It is actually kind of depressing. I think we are so numb to what we see now that a movie as gory as "I Know What You Did Last Summer" just kind of lands flat. I've seen more violence in a noir like "Drive". All three chapters of "John Wick" have a much higher body count and way, way more gore. The way "Uncut Gems" ends is way more horrifying than anything in this movie. Hell, I have seen worse in comedic movies. Or even psychological thrillers like "The Babadook" or "Black Swan" had me shook up. And even tv shows now are way more violent than this movie. "The Wire" had more hard core deaths. Gus Fring's ending in "Breaking Bad" was much more scary. "Lost" had more brutal scenes. And I think we all can agree that the first episode of "Squid Game" is way more hard core and gory than any scene in the entirety of "IKWYDLS".

That is crazy to me though. We have become so numb to violence in our society now. Some almost have to be pushed to the absolute brink to get even a little scared. When watching scary movies now there is so much more blood and gore and just flat out spooky things that happen. "IKWYDLS" feels almost ahead of its time, but at the same time it feels dated. It is cliched, but aren't all horror movies a little cliched when you really think about it? The acting is solid too, but newer, good horror movies have better acting. And the gore, the thing a lot of horror fans go for now, seems minimal. There were no real jump scares from me. I could feel them coming. But this movie did work on my wife. So what does that say about me? Am I so numb to it now that I need something like "John Wick" to get my blood pumping? I hope not. But I was just so surprised at how little I was scared while watching the movie on Saturday. And I scare easily at more modern horror movies. We are pretty numb to things we shouldn't be so numb to anymore, but it seems like the gross factor continues to notch up and we just consume it and are happy with it.

"IKNWDLS" is a solid horror movie, but it just does not hold up to the standards of today's horror movies. That could be the year or the consumer. I tend to think it has more to do with the consumer unfortunately, and that is what bummed me out the most.

Ty

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

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An Early Look at the NBA Season So Far

The NBA season is a week old now and I have some quick thoughts that I want to get out there. I will do this from time to time because I love the NBA so much, and when it is not Saturday, that is college football watching day, all I pretty much watch is NBA games.

The season has gotten off to a very fun start. The Bulls look good, the Nets look bored, the Celtics look injured and the Bucks look dominant. That is where I want to start, with the Bucks. They look every bit the part of reigning champs. They have brutalized the teams they've faced when they play their full lineup. Giannis looks as good as he did in the finals, Jrue Holiday, save for one minor injury, looks great and Khris Middleton is hitting big jumper after big jumper. The bench looks solid and the Bucks look like a lock to make a deep playoff run only five games into the season.

On the other hand, the Lakers look not so good right now. I am sure they will right the ship, fix some of their problems and be in the thick of the playoff race when it matters. But right now they look really, really bad. The lack of floor spacing is rearing its head. LeBron is already hurt. AD is arguing with Dwight Howard on the bench. Carmelo is missing open threes. Everything people worried about with this roster is happening right before our eyes. I expect them to figure it out, but even I did not think they would look this bad this early in the season.

The Bulls are fun, but their schedule is about to get real tough. But still, they are 4-1.

The Hornets are even more fun to watch. LaMelo Ball is really good at basketball. He is a blast to watch play as well. He is the best Ball brother.

Ja Morant has been amazing to start the season for my team, the Memphis Grizzlies. I have known since he was in college that he was going to be great. If you all remember, I rated him ahead of Zion in their draft class three years ago. I feel pretty good about that right now. But now that the Grizzlies are getting more primetime games, the rest of the country is getting to see how awesome of a basketball player Ja is. I love that.

The Warriors look pretty solid too. Steph is hitting tons of shots, the additions are working and Klay may be back sooner than expected. Maybe I underestimated them a bit.

The Timberwolves, and mainly Anthony Edwards, have been an absolute blast to watch. They fly up and down the court, they score in bunches and Edwards post game interviews are the best. Go look up what he said about Giannis the other night, it was amazing.

Houston, for as bad as they are, they are so much fun to watch play. They are young and not afraid of anything. I'm not a fan, but damn they are fun.

Also, the Thunder are really, really, really bad, but Shai Gilgeous Alexander is amazing.

Over in the East, I already mentioned the Bucks and Hornets, but it looks way grimer than the West. The Nets look bored already. KD looks good, but I expected that. James Harden is not scoring like he used to, he is not getting cheap foul shots anymore and his passing game is not nearly as lethal with his lack of points. Joe Harris is off, and the rest of the lineup, save for Patty Mills who has been great, just looks out of shape. They will right the ship, but they have to at least look like they care.

Atlanta is still fun, but the same thing with Harden is happening with Trae Young right now. He is not getting cheap foul shots anymore and he hasn't adjusted yet. He will, but right now he is struggling to adapt.

The Knicks look fine, and I like the Kemba addition, but I expect them to be a solid team.

The Celtics look jumbled and are not winning if Tatum and Brown do not have humongous nights on offense. Maybe I overrated them a bit.

The 76ers do look better than I thought without Ben Simmons, so at least there is that. I read that Embiid is suffering through some pain right now, but when he is on the floor he has been dominant.

The Heat look as good on defense as I thought, but the offense needs work. I could say the same about the Raptors.

The fact that the Cavs are sitting in the 6 spot should tell you all you need to know about the first week of the season in the NBA.

Outside of the teams, it has been neat to see fans in the stands. I am not going to any games yet, but it is nice to see people at these games. I love the new no foul call when the offensive player forces all the contact. It has made the game much more fun to watch, and it makes it flow much better. I'm a big time fan of the new rule. I would love to see them get rid of the foul where the defense intentionally fouls a team on a fast break as well. Hopefully they will. And seeing teams other than the Lakers, Celtics and Nets on primetime has ruled. I've gotten to see the Grizzlies twice. I've seen Portland play a few times. I watched the Thunder the other night. The Timberwolves got in there. The Nuggets have been on a few times. The Hawks had a primetime game. It has been cool to see some "smaller market" teams getting some shine.

The NBA rules. I'm so happy it is back. I do not feel as gross watching as I have in the past. Basketball is back, and I couldn't be more excited. Go watch some games, they are fun. I promise you.

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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