Ty Watches "The Boys" Season Three Premiere

For date night last week I had the choice. I had a good amount of movies I had in mind, but I kept finding myself going back to watching "The Boys". I have been trying to watch the third season for a few weeks now. But my wife has been working late with return to office stuff, my daughter and son have been playing a ton of baseball and softball games, with practices included, I have been playing late night softball and we are all exhausted when we get home. We just want to relax and watch mindless tv while we wind down before bed. But it was my turn to pick, and when I finally decided on watching "The Boys", my wife was stoked. She exclaimed "FINALLY!!!" and told me, "Great call!". She was excited, which made me excited.

We picked up this show during the start of the pandemic. RD told me that I should watch it. I was hesitant at first. I did not know how I felt about yet another superhero thing to watch. It just felt like too much. But at the start of the pandemic, what else could we really do but watch tv and go for walks and runs. So we decided to start after RD goaded me for what seemed like the millionth time. I'm glad he was persistent. I instantly fell in love with this show. It is gory and violent. It is sexual and crazy. It is full of swear words and every other bad thing you could think of. It is an anti hero show, and I'm all on board for that. I like when a genre is skewed in a much darker territory. I'm a big fan of bending genres. It also helps that the show is very well written, incredibly shot, had on point direction and every actor is down for whatever crazy stuff the show runners and writers throw at them. I understand that it is based on a graphic novel, but to actually see it on a tv screen, it is like "Sin City", except better and more violent. "The Boys" is willing to go there and push even further than you thought it could. I mean, the first scene with Hughie and his girlfriend is still with me. Homelander, more on him later, is a weirdo freak, especially for milk. I love the darkness within all the heroes. The Boys, the people who go after the superheroes, have all their own stuff to deal with. It is a truly terrific and original show. I love it. So watching the season 3 premiere was a long time coming and I knew I was going to love it.

We watched the first two episodes, and they did not disappoint. I don't want to spoil too much, but some spoilers may come out. Sorry. First off, I love the way they are dealing with Storm Front's death. It is too perfect. Homelander is going to do some real damage this season. He is off the hinges. The way the second episode ended has me terrified for what he is capable of doing. Hughie is realizing his life may not be as perfect as he thought it was at the end of season two. Starlight is climbing the ranks and she is scared of what may come. Hughie's boss has a terrible secret. Giancarlo Esposito, who may be the best one of the show, is a perfect human villain in this world. Mother' Milk is getting dragged back into this world he is trying to leave. The Deep has had some of the funniest moments so far. His movie looks hilarious. Frenchie and Kumiko meet a terrifying supe named Termite in the first episode, and that whole scene is nuts. And Butcher has a whole lot of shit to deal with, and he has taken some compound v that gives him superpowers for 24 hours. Add on the fact that we have Jensen Ackles character, Soldier Boy, coming, and this season is going to be a doozy. I cannot wait to watch more.

This is the first show I have seen this year, where they filmed it during this pandemic, that doesn't feel like it was filmed with all these useful restrictions. "The Boys" is in a class all its own. The show is incredible and original and one of the best things on any streaming device anywhere. Go watch this show. It is a gory work of art. And so far season three has ruled. Now I need to watch more.

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.

Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.  

An Ode to Tuna and Soy Sauce

I am a big fan of tuna fish. I enjoy having it as a sandwich, eating it on a salad and, my favorite, eating it out of the can. It has to be in water though. I'm not fully opposed to tuna in oil, but water tastes so much better to me. I prefer it that way.

I'm not the biggest fan of mayo, but I will eat it in tuna salad. I usually only put a tablespoon worth of mayo too. That is more than enough. And I usually plus it up a bit. I like to add chipotle juice if it is available. I will sometimes replace the mayo with some fancy mustard I have in the house. I am a big mustard fan so I usually have a few bottles in the fridge. I am a big fan of the dill mustard my mom recently gave me added to tuna.

I like to add crunch to my tuna. Sometimes it is celery or relish, other times I have used almonds. It is all good. Recently I had it with hard boiled eggs, and that was dynamite. I have seen some people putting avocado in there, and since I have just discovered avocado toast, I'm sure I would love it, I just haven't tried it yet.

What I have tried recently, what I really like, which I also found on a cooking website, was adding soy sauce to tuna salad. The recipe I first read called for mayo, salt, pepper and soy sauce. It is truly that simple. So I tried it. But before I did, I read a little more about why this was a "new" thing. What I found most commonly referenced in every article I read was adding soy to sushi, which I love. I do it all the time and my favorite sushi is a spicy tuna roll. A spicy tuna roll with some soy and wasabi is the best. I will, and have, eaten multiple spicy tuna rolls by myself. That is far too much sushi, but it is damn delicious. After seeing that as the most commonly referred to thing with soy in tuna salad, I was ready to give it a go. I did the simple recipe I mentioned above and my goodness did it open up a whole new world of flavors. The soy kept the tuna salad, and I am not a fan of this word, moist. Not that mayo doesn't do that, but it is more gloopy. The addition of soy sauce makes it taste fresher. It makes me feel a bit more sushi like. The recipe also mentions just a pinch of salt because soy sauce obviously has salt in it. It is like the perfect balance of salt when you add the soy sauce to tuna salad. If you like salt you can add more. But I did the pinch of salt with a few tablespoons of soy sauce and it was wonderful. It was all the salt I could want. The soy, for me, also brings out a better flavor in tuna salad. I said before, it feels akin to sushi. It makes the tuna taste better to me. It heightens the other stuff that you put in tuna salad. Soy sauce just makes it better, for me. Lately I have even tried some extra stuff with the soy sauce in tuna salad. I haven't crossed the mustard and soy river, and don't know that I ever will. But I have added the crunch and it rules. I have used chipotle tabasco, and the spice makes it so much better if I am looking for a little heat. Using relish and soy is surprisingly tasty. I have been, quite frankly, astonished at how much I have enjoyed tuna salad mixed with mayo and soy. It is so, so, so good.

I do not know if 'I will go back to just straight up mayo as the dressing for my tuna salad. I will use just mustard and no soy, but if mayo is in the picture, soy will for sure be added. I know it may sound weird, but try it. I think you will fall in love with it just like I did. Soy sauce in tuna salad is a game changer. Trust me.

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.

Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.  

Ty Watches "Hustle"

I finished "Hustle" last night. I have been wanting to watch this movie since I first heard about it. I am a sucker for movies like these. It is a genre I am quite fond of.

“Hustle” is about a down on his luck basketball scout that finds a diamond in the rough. It tugs at my heartstrings. Growing up I used to watch movies like "Blue Chips", "The Air Up There" and "Cool Runnings" constantly. I couldn't get enough of the whole underdog scenario. As I get older I still watch a very high number of sports movies. I used to devour "The Program". That is a terrible movie, but it is about college football and Michigan wins their game in it. "He Got Game" is still one of my all time favorites. I adore the original "Space Jam". I love a movie like "Major League". I will even get down with some of the sports movies people consider not so great. So "Hustle" is my type of movie. Add on the fact that Adam Sandler is the star and LeBron James is producing. That is icing on the cake. I was in before I even watched one second.

Fortunately, for me, the movie is very well made. Sandler is excellent. This is further proof that Sandler can do more than comedy. He has a few funny lines here and there, but this is way more of a drama, and he nails it. It is akin to "Uncut Gems", except he isn't so slimy, or "Punch Drunk Love", except he isn't a pushover in this. Sandler is in his pocket and doing great, great things here. I was so happy to see him acting so well. I could say the same for a number of the other actors. Robert Duvall brings an air of gravitas to his very small role. Queen Latifah is simply wonderful as Sandler's wife. Kenny Smith, in what I believe is his first fiction role, is magnetic and believable as a super agent. There are tons of NBA players playing themselves, and that is perfect for a movie like this. Ben Foster is a total scumbag and he pulls it off. Heidi Gardner is stretching her "SNL" legs and she does a formidable job. Jaleel White is in this and I did not see Urkel once in him. But, outside of Sandler there were two other standout roles. First off Anthony Edwards plays a young brash soon to be first round pick named Kermit in this movie. He is awesome. He was, quite possibly, my favorite part of the whole thing. He is cocky and can back it up. He talks shit. He has a line where he asks a player where he is from and the player says Spain. Edwards says to him, and I quote, "that shit sounds wack". It was the funniest and best line in the whole movie. Edwards was phenomenal. But this was Juancho Hernangomez's movie. He is the player that Sandler's character is trying to get to the NBA. I think it was a brilliant move by the people involved to get a non superstar in this role. He isn't a big name so not everyone knows who he is, but he is in the league so the training and game play stuff looked and felt real. It was wonderful. Seeing him go through drills and get better felt very, very real. When he plays with NBA stars in this movie you believe he has the skill. He can play with these guys because he actually does. When he goes up against Edwards' character part of me felt like the director just let the camera roll and this was real gameplay. It totally worked. I applaud the decision to cast a guy like Juancho Hernangomez. This movie is a true crowd pleaser. You will find yourself rooting for this young man. This is a movie that people who don't like basketball will enjoy. It helps to know who everyone is while watching, but even if you don't, this is a story about redemption and overcoming obstacles. I don't know too many people who dislike stuff like that. There is cliche stuff and the movie is paint by numbers, but dammit it works. They got it right.

I highly, highly recommend this movie. I have already watched it again with my son, who is obsessed with the NBA, and he loves it too. Check out "Hustle". 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.

Come and support Ty and the podcast on Patreon.

Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.  

The Celtics are Going to Win the Finals and that Sucks

My son and I returned home from his baseball game around 9:45pm last night. During his game I would occasionally check the score of the Finals game that was going on. Boston controlled most of it. But in the third quarter Golden State woke up and made it a game. They’ve owned the third quarter all three games of this series. I checked my phone when we left the field and the Celtics were only up six to start the fourth. I was pumped because I assumed we’d get to watch a good, close fourth quarter. We walked in the door, my son got cleaned up and we turned the game on.

The Celtics were up ten when we resumed watching. I didn’t know what had happened. There was still about six minutes left in the game so I thought the Warriors could come back. That didn’t happen. There were two plays that really hammered it home for me. Both involved Jaylen Brown. First he completely locked Steph up on a one on one. Try as he might, and Steph is a wizard handling the ball, he couldn’t get by Brown. He was all over him. He eventually knocked the ball out of his hands with about four seconds left on the shot clock. The Warriors would miss a three after that and Boston would go down and score. It was the first knockout blow. Then Brown swatted a Klay layup. Klay and Jordan Poole ran a beautiful give and go and when Klay got the ball back it looked like he had an easy finish at the rim. Brown had other ideas. He recovered, chased Klay down and beat the ball into the first row. He then let Klay and the crowd know about it. After that block that was when I told my son it was time for us to go to bed. The game was over. He told me there were still three minutes left, but you could tell the Warriors were waving the flag. Draymond fouled out. After the block they took Steph and Klay out and Boston had pushed their lead to fourteen.

Watching that last six minutes last night has me facing a reality I don’t care for as a basketball fan. The Celtics are going to win the title. They are younger. Their defense is better. Steph is making shots and it doesn’t matter. Draymond is playing terribly. Klay didn’t start to make shots until last night. Marcus Smart put up twenty four. The Celtics are hitting threes. Robert Williams looked as good as he has all playoffs last night. Tatum hasn’t lit the world on fire, and the Celtics are still up. And he’s about to break out. The Warriors look frazzled. They’re passing up open looks. The Celtics appear tougher. They are also deeper. It just feels like they have all the control. The series can always change. The Warriors can explode and make 20-25 threes in a game and win. But the Celtics have made a habit of bouncing back every time. And stealing game one in Oakland was a way bigger deal than I thought at the time. That kind of turned the tide. That’s when the Warriors showed their cracks. They need Andrew Wiggins, but he hasn’t shown up yet. They are barely playing Kevon Looney. He needs more minutes. Jordan Poole is scoring, but he’s also being hunted defensively. And the Celtics just keep coming. I have to think beating the Nets, Bucks and Heat really helped them to be ready for this series. They had to go through KD, Giannis and the modern version of the Bad Boy Pistons. The Warriors cruised by a depleted Nuggets team, held off the Grizz without Ja and dismantled the Mavericks, who shouldn’t have made it that far in the first place. The Celtics had a tougher path and they navigated it fairly well. I am not a fan of either of these teams. But I really dislike the Celtics. In fact I do not like any team from Boston. I never have, even when I was a kid. I like Tatum because he’s a STL kid, but I just loathe the Celtics and their holier than thou fans. But it’s looking like they’re going to be super loud and super annoying.

I’d much rather deal with annoying Warriors fans than Celtics fans. Bill Simmons is going to be insufferable. And he’s almost like their ring leader. This really bums me out. I’d love for the Warriors to prove me wrong, but the Celtics seem destined to win it all this year. What a bummer and a tough time to have to deal with their awful, awful fan base.

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.

Come and support Ty and the podcast on Patreon.

Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

Better Late than Never on Avocado Toast

I am very sure that I am very late to a trend that may already be done, but today I had my first ever piece of avocado toast. And it was glorious. I am not totally sure why it took so long. I have seen it on menus, it has been at places we order online from, we have bread and avocados in my house for the most part, but I have just never had the urge. Then, going to coffee with my dad today, it was on the menu and it struck my fancy. I looked around to see if I wanted anything else, but I had made up my mind the moment I first saw it there. We were sitting outside, so maybe that had something to do with it. My son also just got braces, so we have been eating smooth food and the avocado in the picture was smooth. Or maybe I was simply just ready. For whatever reason, I ordered it and loved it.

My dad and I regularly go to a local shop and get our coffee and breakfast there. Obviously I got the toast, but it also had some bacon, salad greens, hot sauce and black sesame seeds on the side, along with the avocado. I tried to eat it with a fork, and that was just fine. I was getting the bites I wanted. But when I decided to eat it like toast, that was when it became a homerun. It was great. Holding it like toast also revealed the feta cheese they added. Every bite was better than the one that preceded it. The bread was a nice soft wheat bread. Maybe it was honey wheat because it had a slight sweetness to it. The avocado was smooth and plentiful. It was scraped on the bread from end to end. My hat is off to the chef that did that. I never seem to get it all the way when I add a spread to toast or bagels. This person crushed it. The feta had a nice bite to it and added a whole other level of deliciousness. The hot sauce was dolloped on the side and it was the perfect dipping partner. It gave me that heat I like with breakfast. I am always quick to add sriracha or hot sauce to my eggs that I make at home. So having this hot sauce on the side was right up my alley. The black sesame seeds added a nice crunch that I did not know I needed. I could say the same for the spring mix. It was crunchy but also refreshing. It was a nice little salad on top of the toast. And that bacon, my goodness did it hit the spot. It was nice and crisp. It brought on the saltiness that I crave. It was all over the toast. There was enough bacon that it was spilling over the side. And they candied it with just a little brown sugar. It was not overpowering either. It was the smallest amount of brown sugar, but it added just the right amount of sweetness. I am trying to eat my food slower, to savor the flavor, but it was tough this morning. I really wanted to dive into this breakfast. I kept looking down at the bread that was left after each bite. I was able to take more time than normal, but I still kind of ripped right through the toast.

I will definitely be adding more avocado to my breakfast. I do not eat a ton of bread, but when I indulge I will definitely be making avocado toast. I also think the boost of protein that avocados bring is great to get myself motivated to go on and get the stuff I need to do in a day. I am a convert. I wish I hadn't pushed it off for so long. This is a very good breakfast, and it feels like something that will help me with my running in the long run. Avocado toast is great. For real.

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.

Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.  

Ty Watches "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness"

I think we have reached the point of too many superhero movies. I still go to see them, but there’s a lot. When my wife and I went to the movies yesterday we got a preview for yet another “Thor” movie. It looks great, Taika Waititi is directing and I will see it. But damn, it feels like, at the very least, half the movies coming out are superhero based.

I say all this because my wife and I went to see “Doctor Strange 2”. We both wanted to see it, we like multiverse stuff and she took the day off for our anniversary. So we went to the movie before heading to a nice dinner, just the two of us. The movie was fine. It was very down the middle Marvel stuff. It was an interesting story with cool characters and solid actors. But it’s just too much to follow right now, for me at least. As I said, I found the movie enjoyable, but I also have some criticisms of it as well. I was stoked when I saw Sam Raimi was directing. He has made some of my favorite horror/comedy movies. He also did “Spider-Man 2”. But this movie felt old. It kind of looked old too. Raimi is a genius, but this movie felt like he was working in a different decade. There was a bit too much CGI. It felt like they were going to do as much as possible. It was overwhelming at times. The makeup also felt old. That could have been purposefully, but it looked rough to me. The direction also felt rushed at times. Almost like they were pushing to get this movie done. I also enjoy Benedict Cumberbatch. He’s a solid actor. He’s doing really cool stuff. I even like his interpretation of Stephen Strange. But he doesn’t seem like he can, or maybe doesn’t want, to be the star of a MCU movie. My wife made the point at dinner that Dr Strange is much better as an add on character. I couldn’t agree more. It’s great when he shows up in movies, but when he’s the star it is kind of dull and boring. I don’t think Dr Strange is a leading MCU guy. He was much more fun in the latest “Spider-Man” movie. Elizabeth Olsen was dynamite. I have no problem with any choice she made. I just didn’t buy her as the villain. I agreed with every choice she made as Wanda/Scarlet Witch. I was on her side and I don’t think that’s what they were going for. The actor who played America Chavez was good too, but I have zero idea how she’s involved in the MCU. I know nothing about her character, and they didn’t do the best job of explaining who she is and why she matters. The cameos were cool, no spoilers, but this is another case of too much too soon. It is almost as if Marvel is just throwing darts at a board and choosing what fits based on where the dart lands. It’s a bit slap dash. I also found the writing to be very cliche. There were lots of closeups and the actors saying cliche superhero lines. I half expected someone to say something about power and responsibility. Or bring up how it’s a curse to be a hero. It was truly that predictable. I did like the look of the movie. It reminded me of “Inception”. There was a neat fight scene between two Dr Strange’s where they used music notes. I already mentioned my love for Elizabeth Olsen. And Chiwetel Ejiofor chewed scenery in the best possible way. But this was a lower tier Marvel movie for me. I think my wife would agree. It is better than “Thor 2” and “Ironman 2”. I haven’t seen “Morbius”, but I’m sure this movie looks like “The Godfather” next to it. But “Thor 3”, “Guardians of the Galaxy”, “Winter Soldier” and “Black Panther” are far, far superior movies.

Again, “Doctor Strange 2” was okay, but nowhere near what I was hoping or expecting. There’s just too much in that MCU right now. They need to slow the hell down and focus on making a few good movies as opposed to making a million movies all at once.

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.

Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.  

I'm Here to Praise my Wife of Thirteen Years

Thirteen years ago I got married. It was the best day of my life. Today we are, obviously, celebrating our anniversary. Today is my ode to my wonderful wife.

My wife rules. She is the best. She is the greatest wife. It has been scientifically proven by myself that no one is even close to her level. She is smart, funny and beautiful. She makes me laugh every single day. She does stuff that still surprises me. We have been together for 15 years as a couple, married for 13 now, and I am still learning new things about her. It is great. She kicks butt at her job. She is the sole breadwinner in our family and we are better off now than we were when we were both working. She continues to crush the working world and seems to get promoted more often than not. She has allowed our family to live a very comfortable life. She rules. She has introduced me to so many things I never even thought of doing. She has made me braver and stronger. She puts up with all my anxiety and OCD tendencies and has made me a better person for it. She has made me face fears that I would have never thought I would overcome. I get on planes now because she is the best support system I could ever have. She makes me strive to be a better husband and dad. I work harder now with my kids. We work on manners, sports and just general everyday things with our kids, and they are pretty well behaved young kids. That is due to us being kickass parents that work in tandem. She has helped me become more open to talking to people that I may not have before. She has helped me become a tiny bit more extroverted than before, and for those that know me, I am very introverted. I am a more open person because of her. She helps keep me in check. If I am running too much, getting too full of myself, acting like everything is about me, she will check me. I need that in my life. That is important to me. And she crushes that aspect of life. Basically my wife is the best thing that has ever happened to me. Life got so much better and more fulfilling 13 years ago when she said yes to marrying me. All the stuff before that is not important. My life didn't truly start until I met my wife and we started to date. Then getting married was the icing on the cake.

I love you more than words can say. I could literally go on and on and on today, but it still would not be enough. I don't have the space to put it all in this blog. She is too perfect and amazing and wonderful and every other good thing one person can say about another person. Happy anniversary. Here's' to year 13 with infinity more. Love you.

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.

Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.  

I'm Here For Some Lime Cucumber Gatorade Zero

I gave up Gatorade about ten years ago. It lost all nutritional value I used to think it had, it tasted like straight sugar and water is always a better option for hydration. As I got more involved in the world of running I picked up better hydrating drinks. I use Nuun, Tailwind, Mio and various powders I get from local running stores or in my swag bags from races. But I do like adding this stuff for the flavor. Nothing beats ice cold water when I have been on a long run. Coming inside, grabbing one of my cold water bottles and slamming straight water that is as cold as ice, I get wonderful chills thinking about it. But, when I go on long races, or long runs, I need that flavor. I need that sugar. I crave carbs. I need something that will help me push past the pain. That is why those powders and tablets work so well. But sometimes, mostly lately, I have been craving something that tastes extra sweet, but is made with fake sugar. I understand how bad it is for me, but sometimes it is okay to indulge. I tried regular Gatorade, but that was still much, much too sweet for me. It was like drinking Jolly Ranchers. It killed all the good work I had done.

Gatorade now makes a low carb, fake sugar varietal, Gatorade Zero. I am coming around on this lately. They have some good flavors. The berry is dynamite. The classics, orange and lemon lime are better versions of the original. But a few weeks back I found my new favorite flavor. It is my go to when I want Gatorade Zero for a few reasons. That flavor is lime cucumber.

Sounds gross, no? Well it is far from it. First off, I love a good cucumber water. It is refreshing, the cucumber adds more liquid and it gives it a little flavor. It is like the best flat seltzer you can have. Water with a squeeze of fresh lime is just as good. It has all the same qualities, but it is a bit more sour, which is nice. Marrying the two within the Gatorade lab, amongst all the tastemakers that work there, was genius. It is a beautiful blend of why I like water with lime or cucumber in it. It is the best of both worlds. Then you take the fake sugar and carbs that are in the Zero varietal, it is a match made in heaven. I have found it to be one of my favorite post run drinks. If I am at a gas station, and they have lime cucumber Gatorade Zero, I do not hesitate to purchase one. It is so good. But I think what makes this the best Gatorade product is my kids' aversion to it. My son loves the OG Gatorade. He is a fan. He always asks for one after a game or practice. He usually gets a no, but when I buy him one he is stoked. My daughter is a newcomer to Gatorade, but that girl loves an original fruit punch. She has told me it is like drinking candy. But when they get in my car and see that I have the lime cucumber one, they tell me how gross it sounds. They ask how I can drink it. They want to know why I drink it. They ask me to get other flavors. And I get to tell them that I get it because I like it so much, but also because they dislike it. I know I will not catch them trying to sneak a drink. My son won't ask for one, nor will my daughter. I know this is a drink that I will be able to enjoy all by myself. No 10 or 6 year old will be begging me for a drink or to buy them a whole one. It is totally worth buying it simply for that reason. But add on that it tastes so good, this is a real homerun.

Go try lime cucumber Gatorade Zero. It is delicious, and most kids will not ask to have any. It is great.

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.

Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.  

Better Never Than Late on "Old"

I was scrolling the streaming channels we have yesterday and I came across HBO Max. I wanted to watch a movie, and had a little more than 90 minutes before I had to get my kids for the day and I saw that "Old" was now streaming.

I wanted to see this movie when it came out. I feel like this was the first pandemic movie that I had wanted to see in a theater until everything went down with COVID-19. And then I kind of forgot about it. Then "How Did This Get Made" did an episode about it and it reminded me. But then I forgot about it yet again. But then, while channel surfing a week ago, I came across the last 20 minutes of it, so I watched. I was confused, but also interested. Watching the ending did not diminish my want to see the whole movie. So I turned it on after doing my daily stuff and sat back and focused on the movie.

I kind of wish I hadn't focused so hard. I am trying to be less cynical these days, and so far it has been working. I tried to find some kind of good in this movie. I looked past a ton of problems and kept searching for something, anything, that worked. Unfortunately I could not find much of anything. The best thing I can say about this movie is the premise is very interesting. And put in the right hands, could have worked. And I have come around on M Night Shyamalan as of late. "Split" was very good. I've heard very good things about the show "The Servant". I kind of enjoyed "Glass" honestly. So I thought he could have made this work. But he just could not do it. It was far too clunky of a movie. It moved almost too fast but felt slow. It was prodding. The story was convoluted and dull. The actors did the best they could with the material, but it just wasn't up to snuff for me. The kids are kind of annoying at the beginning. I found them to be very cloying and cliche. The parents are in one of those typical "this is our last chance to reconnect, on this family trip". I am not a fan of that trope. The other people that join them on the beach are cliches themselves. The young rapper, who might have the worst rap name ever, Mid Sized Sedan, was boring. The makeup lady with the calcium deficiency was so ridiculous and not scary. Even her death scene, spoiler alert, was so not scary and kind of dumb. Her husband was the psychotic guy who was going through Alzheimers. And he was not convincing. The family of a nurse and his wife who has epilepsy felt so tacked on at the last second. The nurse's demeanor never changed no matter how messed up the situation got on the island. And his wife's death scene, spoiler alert, was totally tossed aside. But I think it was the parents' deaths that bummed me out the most. The dad lost his eyesight, said some cliched lines and died on the beach. The mom had the tumor removed, then lost her hearing and just kind of walked towards the water. And the wrap up scene, where we find everything out was so blase. It was so tacked on. That seems to be the basis of this movie. They just added stuff to fill out 100 minutes. There was no moment when I was legitimately scared. Nothing in this movie made me sit back and think about life. The ending was so simple to figure out. The way they did it was very dull.

I really, really wanted to like this movie. I had very high hopes. But it did not meet my personal expectations. I would recommend it for people that want to see it, and maybe your expectations won't be too high. But this was a miss for me. It was not a good movie.

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.

Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.  

Ty Watches "Chip 'n' Dale: Rescue Rangers"

I used to watch "Chip and Dale: Rescue Rangers" as a kid. It is one of the few shows, outside "The Simpsons", that I actually remember watching when I was young. I did not watch many cartoons as a kid. There were other shows, like "American Gladiators", "Sportscenter" and "Good Times" that appealed to me. I just liked real people as opposed to cartoons I guess. But "Rescue Rangers" was different. It was goofy and silly and fun. It was like a lighter "Pinky and the Brain", a show I got to later in life. And I loved "Pinky and the Brain".

When I heard that they were doing a reboot, and making it a movie, I was skeptical. I am usually not the biggest fan of remakes or reboots. Why rehash an old idea that they got right the first time? I just do not like it. Some stuff has worked, but it is few and far between. And fans will argue with other fans if the show or movie or miniseries or whatever is any good. Those people need to calm the hell down. Stop fighting about useless nonsense on the internet. That is for kids. Anyway, I was hesitant. But then I found out that Akiva Schaffer was directing it. I adore Schaffer. I have liked pretty much everything he has done. His group, The Lonely Island, does things that speak to me. I also found out, through Schaffer's internet presence, that Andy Samberg was going to be voicing a main character. This was when I was fully on board. Samberg is one of my all time favorite actors. The dude is funny. He gets it. He knows how to construct, write and deliver jokes. When he teams up with Schaffer and Jorma Taccone, the other Lonely Island member, they make magic. As I said, the three of them know how to get it done. Then I saw that John Mulaney was attached. I like his comedy, so I was happy about it. Then Tress MacNeille signed on. Then Eric Bana. Will Arnett was next. Then I started to see names like Dennis Haysbert, Flula Borg, Keegan Michael Key, Tim Robinson, Seth Rogen, JK Simmons and Rachel Bloom attached to voice characters. This was an even bigger selling point for me. I also saw that Kiki Layne, from "Coming 2 America", was cast as the human lead in this movie. She was great in that, so I figured she would be just fine here.

This movie really worked for me. I loved that they went the "Roger Rabbit" route with it. This movie mixes a bunch of different animation styles with real life situations. And it is from the jump. We meet Chip and Dale in elementary school where they go with all kinds of animated characters and humans. The movie continues this trend when they show them getting their show. This was a great walk down memory lane. And then when we find them away from the show in modern times, they keep up the "Roger Rabbit" aesthetic. The movie is even in the crime/noir/comedy genre. It mixes all three, but it is not as adult as "Roger Rabbit". This is a kids movie. This is made for the family to watch. My son watched it the day after my wife and I, and he thought it was fun. But being that it is a kids movie at heart, I told my wife while watching that I feel like this movie was made for us. This was made for people who are going to be 40, or already turned 40. This is like going back in time. It brings back all your favorite characters from the original, while taking some old classics and making them look not so great. I loved that about this movie. It was nostalgia for me, and I was all in.

I highly recommend “Chip ‘n’ Dale: Rescue Rangers” for everyone, but mainly for people my age that used to watch the cartoon. It is a great walk down memory lane. It was a ton of fun.

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.

Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.  

Ty's 2022 NBA Finals Preview

The NBA Finals are set. We have our two teams, the Celtics and Warriors. I wrote about a week back how I did not want to see the Celtics in the Finals. I like Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, but that is about it. I also wrote a thing last week about, even though I am not a fan, how great this iteration of the Warriors is. They are a blast to watch. I will say I am stoked that the Mavs, and the white journalists golden boy Luka Doncic, got their lunch handed to them. I don't want to hear about how "far ahead of their process they are", or "how Luka needs help". They got destroyed by a much, much better team. And Luka was not out there talking his shit like he was in the Phoenix series. He got abused over and over again on the defensive end of the floor. The Warriors attacked the weakest defensive link, and it worked. It was glorious.

Anyway, I want to write my final Finals preview. No more after this. I have been so off on all of my predictions. Take this with a very big grain of salt. I had both of these teams out in the conference semifinals. I was very low on these squads and both teams proved me very wrong. So, breaking this down, and taking in the knowledge of watching these playoffs as closely as I have, this is tough. This is, maybe, the best matchup we could have hoped for. Both teams have weaknesses that the other can exploit. But both teams are defensive dynamos. They can stop pretty much anyone in the league. That is how they both ended up here. If I take off my fan goggles, and just look at it from a pure basketball standpoint, I think I would favor the Celtics. They are slightly deeper. They are younger and more athletic. Their defense is slightly better. They have been the best team in the league since mid January. They beat the Nets, in a sweep, and the Bucks. They also took down the Heat, the one seed in the East, in Miami in game seven. They have the "championship metal" that everyone always talks about. But the Warriors are the god damn Warriors. They have been here before. This is their sixth finals trip in eight years. Steph is, maybe, the greatest point guard of all time. Klay looks like his shot is coming back. Draymond is the best defender in the league, and he has suddenly started scoring again. Jordan Poole has been a tremendous revelation. Kevon Looney is a rebounding machine. Johnathan Kuminga played real minutes in the West Finals. Steve Kerr has proven to be a brilliant coach. This is one of the better, more seasoned teams in the NBA.

I am really finding it hard to find one or two things that separates one team from the other. Tatum is going to be a matchup problem. The Warriors will most likely put Klay on him, but Klay is not the defender he used to be. But the Warriors talk and switch so well. And Tatum has shown a tendency to turn the ball over a good amount. Jaylen Brown will be a problem, but Looney showed he could stay in front of Doncic and Ja, when healthy, so I'm sure he is not scared. Draymond will match up great with any big the Celtics throw out there. But Tatum will be able to guard Klay. Marcus Smart is going to harass the hell out of Steph and Jordan Poole. Al Horford will be the best big Looney has faced. Jaylen Brown should clamp down Wiggins. It is going to be a close series, and that is how the Finals should be. If the Mavs had found a way to beat the Warriors, and they were facing the Celtics, I'd pick the Celtics to sweep. I'd say the same for the Heat if they were facing the Warriors. The Heat may have gotten one win because of Jimmy Butler, but it would have been an easy win for the Warriors. Both these teams earned their spot. Both teams are playing very well. The Warriors are playing better, but they played worse competition. The Celtics ran through a gauntlet, but it is the East, and they are probably tired. Also, Smart and Williams are seemingly game to game time decisions.

This series is going to go the full seven. I have true belief in that. And I think it has the promise of being epic. But I do think, in the long run, that the Warriors will pull it out. The Celtics have won big in other arenas in game seven, but not this time. Oakland is a totally different animal. And with Klay finding his shot, and Jordan Poole blowing up, the Warriors have so many scorers and you cannot guard all of them at once. I also think it would be rad to see this Warriors team, as constructed, with the three original dudes and Steve Kerr, win the title. That would rule. That would make them the modern day Spurs.

So that is my pick, Warriors in seven. Now I just have to wait for Thursday night to watch this series start. I can't wait.

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.

Come and support Ty and the podcast on Patreon.

Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

The Warriors are a Pretty Damn Good Basketball Team

Last night I watched the Mavs-Warriors game just to see if they could close out every white journalist's favorite player, Luka Doncic. They did. They won the game with ease. They had a 20 plus point lead at one point. Sure the Mavs cut it to 8, but the game was never really in doubt. This was as easy a closeout win as the Warriors have had since KD was on their team. And before you all think my blog is going to be me dumping on Luka, it is not that at all. I am turning a new leaf. I'm done criticizing people I don't root for all the time. Sure I will still get on some people's heads, but not today.

Today I want to talk about how great this iteration of the Warriors has been for over a decade. This is their sixth finals appearance in eight years. They have had stars come and go, but this team is really all about Steph, Draymond, Klay and Steve Kerr. They have been the core of this squad that just keeps winning. I told RD earlier today that this Warriors team is as close to the late 90's, early 2000's Spurs. They play an extremely pretty version of basketball. The way the ball moves around, the way they pass, the shots they get up, it is a thing of beauty. I am willing to look past all the turnovers because they back it all up with a string of possessions that will have four wonderful passes that leads to an easy layup or wide open three pointer.

I started to really watch the Warriors in the West Semis because they were playing the Grizzlies. I wanted to see how my team played against one of the best teams of all time. They gave it their best shot, but amongst the injuries and lack of shooting, they couldn't pull it out. They did win two games, one of which by almost 50, but it was a series that was never really in doubt. But it was during that series where I started to really respect the Warriors. I am not a Warriors fan. Not by a long shot. But my brother Seth is. My son likes Steph. I have other basketball friends that have been Warriors fans since Chris Webber was traded on draft night to them. So I have watched them for years. But the respect just came last month. It was the ball movement. It was the actions and pick and roll game. It was the open drives to the basket because of how open the floor was. It was a lot of stuff. But the most eye opening thing I noticed this year was their defense. They were suffocating. They were shutting down legit players. Before he got hurt, Ja could not do much against them. They shut down Nikola Jokic with ease. Kevon Looney kind of shut him down by himself. And even though his numbers might look good on paper, Luka Doncic was not nearly as dominant as some would make him out to be. Andrew Wiggins and Draymond Green made his life hell on the offensive end. The Warriors defense really stepped up their game. They are not just a team that will shoot you out of the gym. They can still do that, but they can also shut you down.

Which leads me to another point. How good was Andrew Wiggins in this series? I mean, I had given up on him. I was wrong. He was the "Luka stopper". He hounded him for five games. He made it tough. He also found his scoring stroke. He was hitting mid range shots. He was making threes. And he snacthed Luka's soul on that dunk in game three. He almost took Frank Nkilitina's too, but he smartly got out of the way. Wiggins was great. So was Kevon Looney. Man that dude crushed it. He probably out rebounded the Mavs by himself. He was great. Jordan Poole has been a revelation. He is another microwave scorer on this team loaded with them. But what this all really boils down to is the three main guys. Steph was great as ever. He was hitting threes, making pin point passes and doing what he has grown accustomed to doing. He was the rightful WCF MVP. Draymond was as dominant as ever on the defensive end. I always thought he was kind of overrated. Not anymore. He is a genius defender. He was doing some wonderful things. And Klay looked like old Klay. He had eight threes last night. He scored a ton of points in a close out game. He could not be stopped. He was also great on defense. He, again, looked like his former self. Like he had not lost two years due to two ACL injuries. It was astounding to watch him play like he always has. I was openly rooting for him. Finally we have Steve Kerr. I thought he kind of lucked into a cherry job. He took over a team that was already established and didn't have to do too much. Then he got KD. But it was these last couple seasons that have really stood out to me. He had to do a lot with some minimal pieces. He had to find a way to work Andrew Wiggins into this team. He played Looney. He took a chance on Jordan Poole. And he helped keep the core together. He is the mind behind the madness that is this dynastic team.

Again, I am not a Warriors fan, but this team is fun to watch, and no matter who they play in the finals, I will be rooting for them. This is my ode to a wonderful basketball. A team I am happy to say I got to watch in their prime. What a fun, fun modern NBA team.

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.

Come and support Ty and the podcast on Patreon.

Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

Nick Saban is a Stupid Head

I have been following all the Nick Saban nonsense. I am a college football fan, and during this time of year there are not too many sports that intrigue me. I love the NBA, but these conference finals have been nearly unwatchable. I do not like MLB. Baseball is boring and dull and takes forever. These run of the mill little league NFL leagues are bad, bad football. And the college sports landscape is really rough right now. So college football news is my go to. And there is no recruiting news I follow because I honestly do not care what an 18 year old has to say. They can make all the verbal commitments they want, that does not mean a thing until they are at the school, and even then things can change. But this story, this particular recruiting story has been impossible and so, so intriguing.

For the non sports fans out there, Nick Saban did a speech a week or so ago and made claims that Jimbo Fisher only had the top recruiting class because he paid every kid to go there. He claimed they all had a promise of instant NIL success if they attended A&M. Saban didn't stop there. He also accused Deion Sanders and Jackson State of giving the top recruit in the country a one million dollar deal to go there. Deion and the recruit instantly went after Saban and let him know how wrong he was. The recruit made a point to say, via Twitter, that, "if I got a million dollars, why is my mom living in a one room apartment with five kids?". It was such a perfect response. Deion went after his neck. Deion called him out over and over again. It was great, and what I expected Deion to do. He stood up for himself and his players. I loved his response. Seriously, go look up his response, it is poetry.

Not to be outdone, Jimbo Fisher went after Saban's neck, throat, heart and his soul. It was brilliant. I loved every single second of his presser following Saban's remarks. It was simply perfect. I also appreciated how Fisher did not talk around how there is rampant cheating in college football recruiting. He called out Saban. He said he thinks he is "god", and "the czar of college football". He also let it be known that Saban isn't the saint that he makes himself, and ESPN for that matter, out to be. He told the reporters to go out there and check on Saban's past, that they wouldn't necessarily be surprised by what they found. But he also never said he didn't cheat. He never said he did, but he also never said he didn't. I know he came out and said that only one of the ten 5 stars they signed has a NIL deal already, but who knows what he is hiding from everyone else. And I like that he didn't say either way how he got such a great class.

What I think this all really boils down to is Saban is frustrated that he doesn't control college football recruiting anymore. My dad has said it many times, but prior to NIL, Alabama and Nick Saban were like an NFL team that had all 30 first round picks. Every kid wanted to go there because they knew they had a straight line to the NFL. They may have had to sit for a year or two, but if they started eventually they were going to get drafted. They also got any transfer they wanted, again for the same reasons. Alabama is like a minor league football team, and the NFL loves them for that. They also love Saban for that. But now with a somewhat level playing field, Saban is frustrated and lashing out. He is making wild accusations. He is yelling and whining and complaining because he is not getting his way. He is acting like a selfish child who cannot just take their ball home. Saban has to deal with a new reality, and he doesn't love it. He's always wanted to be the czar, as so many have made him out to be. He has always wanted to be the Bill Belichek or Greg Poppovich of college football. But it doesn't work that way. Those guys are pros. Those guys are at the highest level. The players they coach make millions upon millions of dollars. College players don't, but now some can. And others can go wherever they want and make money and start right away. The kid at Jackson State, Travis Hunter I believe is his name, decided he wanted to go to a HBCU and play right away. He didn't want to sit out a few years and wait. He wanted to play and show his talent. And maybe he wants HBCU's to get more attention. Or take the kids that signed with A&M. Maybe they have been told they will have a very, very good shot at playing immediately. Maybe some were guaranteed to start. A&M is not some world beater. But with a class like this, maybe they can make some noise. And there are so many other players who made their own choice to go to the school they wanted to and play sooner than they would if they went to Alabama. The NIL has made it, as previously stated, a more even playing field. This has seemed to make Nick Saban upset, and I am here for it all. I'm so sick and tired of his holier than thou attitude. He is not the bell of the ball anymore. He has real competition. And it is pissing him off.

This rules. I hope Jimbo Fisher, Deion Sanders and every other coach in college football continues to go after Saban's neck. That would be best.

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.

Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.  

No More

When is enough going to really be enough? I just do not know what to do anymore. I do not know how to keep fighting. I am at a total loss. This cannot continue to happen, yet here we are yet again.

There was another mass shooting in Texas yesterday. The count at this point is insurmountable. It is astronomical. And it just continues to happen. I could easily make a post on social media where I leave the state, date and place different with words surrounding it stating, "there was another mass shooting in America today". I'm sick to my stomach. I just don't get it. I don't understand.

I think this one has hit me harder because it happened at an elementary school. That is one of the few places kids should feel safe. School, their home and their grandparents' home. Those are supposed to be safe places. I see the signs at my kid's school everyday. They are big and they state, "this is a safe space". And I'm sure the school in Texas had a similar sign. Yet here we are. Children are dead. That makes me shudder. Teachers are dead. These people went to school without a care in the world yesterday, and now they are gone forever. It makes me want to cry. I am fighting back tears as I write this. It is so sad.

These actions could, and should, have been avoided. This should not keep happening. We are supposed to be one of the leaders of the world. But guns are such a big part of the US, and it is a real problem. Guns should not be this easy to get. There should be so many more rules than just being 18 years old and not having a criminal record. But nope, that is seemingly all it takes an America to get a weapon that can easily kill people. A psychopath can get one and take it into an elementary school and murder people. I know this sounds harsh, and it may trigger some, but that is what happened yesterday, and seems to happen daily in the US.

I have tried and tried to avoid politics and news for the last few months, and I have been relatively successful. It has really quelled my anxiety. But this story was unavoidable. I saw it everywhere. And I needed to see it. It kind of kicked my butt back into gear. We need gun reform in this country ASAP. I'm sick of waking up every single day and seeing another mass shooting. It is too easy to attain guns in the US. Guns are glorified in this country. People who shouldn't have that power can get it too easily now. We need to make changes. We need to do something. Things need to change and change now. I don't know how we go about that change, and it will be a long hard fight. But it is a fight we need to do, and I am more than willing to fight with like minded people.

I cannot imagine the pain and suffering the families in Uvalde are going through right now. The survivors are going to be traumatized forever. Those parents will never get to see their kids again. The loved ones of the teachers will never get to see them again. My kids both asked me about this yesterday and it was a conversation I have never, ever imagined having with a 10 year old and a 6 year old. I explained to them what happened and they were horrified. These people were no harm. They didn't pose a threat. They did not wake up ready to fight yesterday. They did not expect to lose their lives when they arrived at school. They were just going about their day and then tragedy struck. Again, it makes me both sick and sad. It is an atrocity.

The US is so far behind other countries on gun control. We need to take the lead from other places. We need reform immediately. We need to be better. We need to make sure our kids feel safe. We need to make sure our educators feel safe. We need to do something about guns. I know getting rid of them as a whole is impossible, but we can make it so much harder to get one. We can make it a thorough process. We can make it take months or years of background checks and tests and anything else that may make a mentally ill and deranged person unable to attain guns. I have never held a gun. I despise the notion of a gun. But I know we cannot rid ourselves of them. But we can, and should, make big changes. Please let there be swift action on gun reform. I cannot take these stories anymore. They hurt my soul. My heart breaks for every person that has lost loved ones to mindless gun violence. This is an epidemic in the US, and we have the power to stop it. We just need to take the steps.

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.

Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.  

Ty Watches "Atlanta" Season Three

I finally watched the season 3 finale of "Atlanta" yesterday. I have been waiting until the season was over to really talk about my feelings. Right off the bat, I loved this season. It was weird and stilted and didn't have the original cast in every episode, but I was still just as in as I was with the first two seasons.

For those that may not know, this review will be as spoiler free as possible, season 3 of "Atlanta" went in a totally different direction than it ever has. There were episodes that were completely devoid of any of the main cast. There were stories that did not involve Earn, Darius, Van or Paper Boi. They did separate stories from the main cast. And some of those were my favorites this season. The reparations episode was a thing of beauty. I have gone back and watched that ep a few times. The black and white episode, with college tuition, was a goddamn work of art. That ep was perfectly executed, and it had some of the funniest moments all season long. It also blended all sorts of genres. The first ep of the season was frightening. It was a horror show, and that is how they meant it to go. The story they told was horrifying. It showed me, from the start, that this season was going to be different. And the one with the babysitter and the kid was very odd and very interesting. Some seemed to dislike this episode, but I thought the story they were after was told very properly. So out of ten episodes this season, four did not feature the main cast. And it worked. It was an odd change of pace, but it was also done very well and the episodes were some of the best of the season.

When they did use the main cast, the eps were as good as ever. The second episode of the season was rad. Getting to see everyone again, this time on tour in Europe, was like seeing some old friends you haven't seen in awhile. It was great to see Earn rushing to get somewhere, to see Paper Boi getting in messed up situations, to see Darius high out of his mind and seeing Van just showing up, it was comforting. That ep was wild too, with the Tupac stuff and all the wild racism in Europe. The tour stuff they ended up doing with Paper Boi was interesting. I have to assume Glover took some real life experiences and put it into the show. He has toured all over the country, and I'm sure he has had some wild nights. A lot of the episodes dealt with being high and feeling out of control, and I think the creators of the show nailed how nuts and wild it can be in other countries. The "White Fashion" episode was amazing. I have never laughed or felt as awful after watching 40 minutes of TV. It was excellent. The ep with the party and the tree was really cool. That also gave us a new character, Socks, who left a mark. "Cancer Attack" was cool, and there was some damn good music in that 30 minutes. "New Jazz" was the best episode of the season, in my opinion. It did so many great things in a small amount of time. It also allowed Brian Tyree Henry to really shine. He is magnetic in this episode. There is also a Liam Neeson cameo, and it is nuts. For real. It was crazy. You have to see it. But the whole premise of the story, getting stoned, was done so well and executed expertly. It was a great watch. Second only, for me, to "Teddy Perkins". And the season finale, focusing on Van's journey, was another amazing work of art and let the actor fully shine. Zazie Beetz is electric in this episode. Seeing her journey throughout this season, and all the mental stuff, was done so well. Beetz really, really shined. It could garner some Emmy talk, hopefully. It was great.

All in all, I loved this season. Again, it was weird and different and tells a ton of other, non "Atlanta" stories we have become accustomed to. But it all worked. Everything comes together in the end. It has me excited for how they will close out the series. Season 4 is the last season. But this season of "Atlanta" has me even more all in on Glover and his creative process. He can truly do no wrong at the moment. This season of "Atlanta" further proves it. I liked it, and I liked it a lot. I know some people are divided, but I am not. I was all in and I'm still all in. Season 3 of "Atlanta" is must watch TV.

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.

Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.  

Ty Watches "A Quiet Place 2"

I finally saw "A Quiet Place 2" this past Friday. It was date night, my wife had the pick of the movie and we had both wanted to see this movie. We jumped on it. It was for rent on VOD and it was on sale. It was a true win win.

I adored the first movie. I thought it was a great idea that was perfectly executed. I think it is one of the better thrillers to come out in a long, long time. The way they dealt with the world they created was perfection. It was a movie that stunned me with how good it actually ended up being. But I was on the fence about a sequel. When it was announced I asked myself why. I just did not think they needed to do it. They ended the first one the right way, it was a tremendous hit and it seemed like it had closure. I did not want a sequel. I'm not a big fan of sequels to begin with, and when you get it right, I would not mess with a good thing. Sequels never help in my opinion. But, when this one raked it in at the box office, you could sense they were going to make, at the very least, one more. So going in my expectations were not very high for "Part 2".

Just like with the first one, I was pleased at how much I found myself enjoying the movie. I was fully in on the story. I liked the fact that they went back in time to show the first day that everything went down. It was nice to see John Krasinki in the movie. I appreciate that he wrote and directed this movie. Emily Blunt is tremendous. I feel like she is a criminally underrated actor. She seems to do mostly good work, picks good projects and is really good in whatever role she is given. The kids in this movie were badass. I liked that they made them heroic. The deaf girl rules and the anxious brother comes up big for the family. I thought bringing in Cillian Murphy and Djimon Honsu was a great choice. Those two are great actors, and they brought some gravitas to this franchise. I also love that a good portion of this movie was shot during daylight. You could really see the monsters. You got a good feeling of what they looked like, how scary they actually are. You also got to see how fast and ferocious they could be. I adored the way they used noise again in this one. That is the whole thing with the deaf child and the monsters, the use of noise, and this movie pulls it off yet again. There were tense, silent moments riddled throughout the story. It was perfect. I also appreciate that this movie leans into the horror aspect a bit more. The first movie is more of a family drama/thriller. The second movie, while still dealing with family things, leans much more into the horror aspect. There are tons of jump scares. I made audible gasps at different times while watching. My wife made a few mentions that certain things scared her. It was another in a long line of solid choices from the movie makers. And, like their other decisions, worked. I was genuinely scared. I found myself rooting for the family yet again. I cheered during the conclusion. And when it was all over, and my wife and I sat down and talked about it, I told her I really enjoyed it. It was well made, well acted, had great pacing and was just all and all well done. I had low expectations, and this movie exceeded them. I do hope they stop here. They do not need to make anymore. They did it.

So, if you saw the first movie, or are a fan of the horror genre and have a general idea of the story, I recommend "A Quiet Place 2". It is a solid movie.

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.

Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.  

Boy Was I Wrong About the 2022 NBA Playoffs

I'm here to eat some NBA playoff predictions crow. I was wrong. I was way off. I naturally assumed we would see a rematch of last year's finals. I could not have been more wrong. Everything looked good for me after round one, but since then my "bracket" has gone off the rails. Let’s review.

I had the Grizz beating the Warriors. Well, Ja Morant missed most of the series and the Warriors easily handled them in six games. I had the Heat barely getting by the 76ers. Well, Joel Embiid missed two games, James Harden did what he always does and the Heat won that series in six relatively easy games. I had the Bucks winning their series over the Celtics in seven games. The series did go seven, but the Celtics won. This was the best series of the second round. This was the most competitive. Both teams gave it their all. There were some blowouts, but most games were close to the end. Giannis played great. He further proved to me that he is the best player in the game. He had multiple games of 40 plus points and 15-20 plus rebounds. He also played very good defense, as he always does. He just did not have the help he needed. Khris Middeton was out. That was a much bigger deal than people made it out to be. They needed his scoring. Jrue Holiday played wonderful defense, but his shot was off. Grayson Allen is not a championship player. He totally disappeared. Bobby Portis Jr could not replicate last season. It was clear they miss PJ Tucker. And Brook Lopez was never fully there all year. Oh, and the Celtics are a very, very good basketball team. Jayson Tatum is a top 10 player. He matched Giannis in a few games. He hit big shots. He had one bad game and followed it up with an amazing game. Tatum is legit. Jaylen Brown is a perfect second fiddle. Marcus Smart is crucial to this team. He is the engine that runs it all. Al Horford has found a fountain of youth. Robert Williams is in and out of the lineup, but his presence is felt when he is on the floor. They are expertly coached and they play incredible defense. They are legit. They may be the favorite for the title right now. They beat the Bucks. They did what a champion is supposed to do.

And then we have the Mavs-Suns series. I picked the Suns to win it all. I assumed they were destined this season. They had it all. They were the most consistent team. They were the only team to win 60 games. They were a machine. I did not think anyone could stop them. Well, they stopped themselves and they let the Mavs let it fly. The Suns defense, top five all year, totally vanished. They could not guard the three and they let Luka Doncic do whatever he wanted. Chris Paul played terribly in games 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7. He completely disappeared. He looked like Harden. He was so bad. Devin Booker talked his shit, but he could not back it up when it mattered. Deandre Ayton couldn't stay on the floor. Mikail Bridges missed shots he makes all the time. Cam Johnson couldn't buy a three. Cam Payne played really poorly. And Monty Williams, as much as I like him, did not make proper adjustments. The Suns were outplayed and out coached. It is no secret how much I loathe the Mavs, and to see them displace the Suns with so much ease, it was tough. Doncic did what he does. He held the ball, griped at the refs, initiated all the contact and got every white NBA nerd and journalist to essentially cum in their pants. You would have thought he invented the game of basketball the way these people were talking. His teammates showed up too. Reggie Bullock harassed Chris Paul and made threes. Dorian Finney Smith seemingly could not miss from the corner. Spencer Dinwiddie was a microwave. Davis Bertans somehow made shots again. Maxi Kleber found his shot. Even Dwight Powell figured it out after the first two games. The Mavs destroyed the Suns, in Phoenix, in game seven. The Suns had 27 points at the half. It was an all time choke job. And the Mavs, as much as it pains me to write this, earned this series win. And you better believe the Zach Lowe's and Bill Simmons' of the world are letting anyone who will listen tell us how great their beloved Luka Doncic is at basketball.

I really, honestly do not know what happens from here. Knowing my luck as a sports fan we will get a Dallas-Boston finals. I'd rather watch the university of Ohio State and Notre Dame play for the college football title. But I truly think that is where we are headed. Sure the Warriors won game one, but the Mavs have gotten beat in game one of every series. I'm sure the refs have been told to keep a tighter watch on Golden State tonight. And the Celtics dismantled the Heat last night, and they didn't even have Derrick White. So a Boston-Dallas finals feels inevitable. Again, I loathe it, but that is how this postseason has played out. I'd much rather see the Heat and Warriors, but I also really hoped Michigan football was going to beat Georgia in the playoff, and Georgia won the whole thing. So, who knows. At least I get to watch the games with my son, and he doesn't have any built in preconceived hatred for any of these teams. It is neat to watch it through his eyes. That brings me comfort.

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.

Come and support Ty and the podcast on Patreon.

Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

Ty Watches "On the Count of Three"

Yesterday I rented the movie "On the Count of Three". I saw a trailer for the movie a few weeks back and was enamored by it. I am a Jerrod Camrichael fan, I liked what I saw in the trailer, there were some other actors in it that I recognized and the story seemed like something I could get down with.

The movie, for those that may not know, is about two friends who decide they are going to kill themselves. They have reached a point in their lives where they simply do not want to go on. And for those of you thinking this has to be a depressing movie, it is a comedy. It is a very dark comedy, and there is a good amount of comedy, and you need to know going into this movie that it is very, very dark, but nonetheless, it is a comedy. There are hard jokes. There were parts that made me laugh out loud on my couch. But it is about suicide. The preview I saw even put the Suicide Prevention Hotline at the beginning. The premise is sad, but it was written by a few funny guys, and Carmichael directed it and he is a comedian by trade. So it had funny stuff in it.

First off, Carmichael was magnetic as the lead. He directed and starred and he nailed both jobs. He plays Val. Val has a ton going on, but he is done. His girlfriend is pregnant, he wants out of the relationship, Tiffany Haddish plays that role, he hates his job and he is over it all. Carmichael does a great job showing a guy that is at the end of his rope. He handles all the elements really well. He isn't spoiled, he is just bored. Christopher Abbot plays his best friend Kevin. Kevin has got some issues. When we first meet him he is in a mental institution because he had tried to kill himself three days earlier. Kevin is depressed, he was sexually harassed by his therapist as a child, the therapist was played by Henry Winkler, he is not in a good mental state, he is filled with problems. He has a great monologue about how maybe he isn't as important as the doctor's at the institution are trying to make him feel. Abbot handles the mental health issues with a deft hand. He does a great job.

This movie works because Carmichael and Abbot have such great chemistry. They also handle their characters with grace. They play them both so very well. The scene where we meet Val's dad, played by JB Smoove, was powerful. He deserved to get hit with that tire iron. The stuff with Kevin and his childhood bully was excellent. It was also oddly relatable. The importance of dirt bikes in this movie struck me. Lavell Crawford was awesome as the dirt bike shop owner. I saw other people say this, and I will repeat it today, this movie uses Papa Roach better than Papa Roach uses themselves. The music in this movie is the perfect tone.

Again, do not get it twisted, this is a depressing movie. Depressing stuff happens throughout. There were times where it felt relentless. But there were tons of jokes. There were some great deadpan line deliveries from Carmichael. The movie, at its heart, is a comedy, just an extremely dark comedy.

I hope more people search this movie out. Carmichael is finally getting a much deserved chance to make the type of movies he wants to make. This might be one of the better buddy movies to come out in quite some time. And even though it is about suicide, it is oddly uplifting at the end. Check out "On the Count of Three". It is a really good movie and it is one of the first true indie darlings, as much as I dislike that wording, of the year. A good movie indeed.

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.

Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.  

Ty Listens to Kendrick Lamar's "Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers"

The other new record that I was looking forward to last week was the new Kendrick Lamar. It is called "Mr Morale and the Big Steppers".

I, like all his other fans, have been waiting for this record for five years. "DAMN" came out then, it was great, I believe that he won a Pulitzer for it and I listened to it on repeat for months. This record is a wonderful, ambitious, eye opening album. I literally cannot stop listening to the record. Every time I have some free time or down time, I put the album on and vibe out. The album has 18 songs on it and I wish there were more. The selfish side of me wants this album to go on forever and ever. It is so, so good. It is also deep. Kendrick Lamar has clearly been going through some things for the past five years and he lets it all out on this album. He is an open book. He reveals all. It is like the greatest hip hop therapy session ever recorded.

From start to finish this album is a hit. There is not a bad song on the record. The production value is second to none. The way the album flows from song to song is perfect. There is not a single wasted moment on it. Everything works. And it works so very well. I read a headline the other day that made me kind of scoff, but the more I listen the more the headline comes true. It simply read "Kendrick Lamar is Here to Save Hip Hop", and they are 100 percent correct. Modern hip hop, in my opinion, is not very good. There are a few good artists, but for the most part it is not great. I do not like Drake. I think he is very overrated. Kanye West needs therapy. He needs real help. Dababy is homophobic and transphobic. And not very good. Post Malone is trash. There are few exceptions, like Pusha T, but that is few and far between. What Kendrick Lamar does on "Mr Morale and the Big Steppers" gives me faith in modern hip hop.

Everyone who listens to this record has liked it. Artists galore are out here singing its praises. Not one of them has a bad thing to say about it. The same can be said for journalists and bloggers. We all love the record. It is so good. It is perfect. Kendrick crushes everything he does on here, and with him still out there doing his thing, maybe it will help energize some new up and coming young rappers. Maybe the artists that have hit will listen to this and realize that they too can make quality hip hop music. Take an artist like Baby Keem. I never listened to him before seeing he was on this record, and by checking him out now, you can hear the influence. There is hope, and Kendrick is here to push the younger artists in the right direction.

Getting back to the songs now, there is so much good on here and Kendrick is an open book. The opener, "United in Grief", hits. "Father Time" has him coming face to face with fatherhood. "We Cry Together" is what being in a toxic relationship has to be like in real life. "Purple Hearts" has a Ghostfast Killah feature, and the song rips. "Count Me Out" is Kendrick begging people to come for his crown. "Crown" is a great song about being the GOAT. "Savior" is another great song about Kendrick not being your savior, how he is just a dude. "Auntie Diaries" is a revelation. It is the best song on the record in my opinion. "Mr Morale" is perfect. And "Mother", followed by "Mirror" is the best way he could have ended this masterpiece.

This album is wonderful. It is one of the best records I have heard in quite some time. It will most likely be my number one album of 2022. But it is so much more than that. This is going to go down as a classic. Kendrick Lamar has cemented his place. He is one of the best of all time. "Mr Morale and the Big Steppers" further hammers that home. The wait was more than worth it. I love this record.

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.

Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.  

Ty Listens to The Black Keys "Dropout Boogie"

A few new albums I have been anticipating came out last Friday. I will be taking the next two days to write about each one. The first one I want to talk about is "Dropout Boogie" from The Black Keys. I waited an entire weekend before writing about the albums because I wanted multiple listens before writing down my thoughts. So, let's get to

"Dropout Boogie". This is a return to form. I adore this album. I have listened to it fully four times now. It is short and sweet and to the point. There are 10 songs, it is a stripped down band, the focus is solely on Carney and Auerbach's talent, it is 34 minutes long and it packs a punch. It reminds me a lot of their last record, "Delta Kream". That was a covers album, but it was just the guys with a few other, older blues musicians on the album. "Dropout Boogie" is like a rock version of that. I like The Black Keys' other stuff, their previous stuff. But I was the typical, "I like their older stuff better" fan. I enjoy "El Camino", "Brothers", "Let's Rock" and "Turn Blue". But I was way more in the bag for "Attack and Release", "Magic Potion", "The Big Come Up", and most of all, "Rubber Factory" and my all time favorite, "Thickfreakness". Those albums are raw and have the feel of a band finding a totally unique sound unto them. That is not to say those other albums don't have that feel. They do, but The Black Keys were clearly trying some other, newer stuff. And it worked. Those are good records. But they never lived up to a record like "Thickfreakness", at least not for me. Then "Delta Kream" came out a year ago. I devoured that album. I loved the direction. I loved the idea. I am drawn to old blues music with a new sound, and the boys nailed it. I wish I could have seen them perform that album live. I bet those shows ruled. And now we get another very good, older sounding record from them in "Dropout Boogie".

Everything seems right on this album. The guitar is crunchy and grimy and filled with reverb. It is like going back in time. The guitar on this album reminds me of a more refined "Rubber Factory". There is no denying Auerbach's greatness on a record like this. He is a one of a kind guitar player. He will go down as one of the greatest. Carney's drumming is just as ferocious and wild and awesome as it has ever been. I feel like he has never really strayed from the original sound they were going for back in the early 2000's. He has stayed true all the way to today. I adore that about him. I also like his manic drum playing, and that is on full display here. He gets to hammer away at his unusual kit and he does a bang up job. His fills and solos and everything work so well. I think when he and Auerbach decided to make a record like this he just smiled and was instantly on board. He feels like the type of guy that never wanted to stray from the main reason they got into this business. And add on the fact that this album comes at you fast, only slows down once and sounds like they are having a hell of a time making it, and it all works. They are cohesive. They have the same idea. They clearly wanted to make an album like this. I think they missed doing music mostly just the two of them. I am now contemplating seeing them this summer in STL. The show is outdoors and the lawn seats are cheap. And I want to see them perform these particular songs.

I like this record a lot. I highly recommend people give “Dropout Boogie” a listen.

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.

Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.