Ty's 2023 NBA Finals Preview

The Miami Heat closed out the Boston Celtics last night to advance to the NBA Finals. They are the second 8 seed and the first play in team to make it this far. They looked a little wobbly in the last three games, but they ran past the Celtics in the first quarter and never looked back. I heard all the excuses, Tatum rolled his ankle, one of their players was sick, they were tired from coming back to tie the series. All of that is nonsense.

The better team won last night. The Heat wanted it more, the Celtics looked scared by the moment and Erik Spoelstra is one of the best coaches the league has ever seen. The Celtics got beat. There is no viable excuse or excuses. They were beat and they were beat soundly. My hat is off to Miami. They were ready to go, the moment never got too big, they weren't frightened when the Celtics started to win and they kept plugging away. Jimmy Butler was the star of the series. He rightfully won the ECF MVP. He was amazing the whole time. He has carried this team thus far. But when he had a few clunkers, and boy he had a few, other guys stepped up. Caleb Martin was awesome. He made so many shots, played good defense and rose to the occasion. Kyle Lowry looked like the old Kyle Lowry. He played with pace and hit shots. Duncan Robinson hit some big threes. Bam Adebayo played some stout defense and laid some bone crushing picks. Gabe Vincent did a bunch of little things. Max Strus set the tone at the start of the game last night for all the role players. The Heat played as a team, and a team that wanted to win this game and keep on playing.

I am stoked for these finals. The two best teams in the playoffs are where they rightfully belong. Each team has had a gauntlet and they met and exceeded expectations. I know these aren't glamour city teams, but who cares. I don't need to see an LA team or a Boston team or a Philly team. I just want good basketball. And that is exactly what we are going to get. The Nuggets have been very good all year. They are consistent and they know who they are. Jokic is a beast and the offense runs through him. Jamal Murray is healthy and looks as good, if not better, than he did in the bubble. Michael Porter Jr is actually playing defense and he is impossible to guard from the outside because he is so big. KCP is a proven winner and does all the little things. Bruce Brown is an excellent cutter and finisher at the rim. The Nuggets do have it all. Their coach is great as well, he isn't at Spoelstra's level, but he is one of the better coaches in the league.

I already went through all the Heat have, and who knows what he will look like if he comes back, but Tyler Herro is going to try and play. At the very least he adds some outside shooting.

This should be a basketball nerds dream series. This series is big time analytics and shooting. I'm just happy we have new teams. Well, the Heat have been here a ton recently, but they don't have the "stars", although Jimmy Butler is highly underrated. The Nuggets, this is their first go round here. I love how they play like a team. I like all the movement and such. This is a big moment for the players and the franchise. I cannot wait to watch.

As for a prediction, I will go Nuggets in six. I will be rooting extra hard for the Heat but I just think they are too tired and too spent. The Nuggets have rested, they are on a mission and I do believe they will win it all. I want Jimmy Butler to get that ring, but this is not his time. Maybe next year, but who knows. Anyway, Thursday cannot come fast enough. 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.

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Ty Watches "Sisu"

Last week, or maybe a few weeks ago, I wrote about the trailer to the movie "Sisu" and how excited I was to watch it. Well, I watched it on Saturday and I'm here today with a review.

The trailer more than lived up to the hype. This movie is awesome. I could watch it over and over and over again. I was fully in from the moment the voiceover started right after the opening credits. The voiceover guy got on mic, told us what we were about to watch and had this cool, gravely voice that instantly hooked me. From there on out it was about as good as an action movie can get. I could definitely see the "John Wick" influence on this movie. The producers produced this as well, and their fingerprints were all over the movie.

For those that may not know, "Sisu" is about a former Finnish soldier who abandoned the war, World War II, and went to live in the countryside as a gold miner. One day he finds a ton of gold and decides he needs to cash in. His family is gone, he is on his own, besides his dog, and he wants to start a new life. On his way to cash in the gold he is confronted by Nazi's. They are losing the war so they are doing childish things to try and recoup. When he first sees them he tries to go without any conflict. Nazis, who stink, won't let that happen and that is when the action begins. This Finnish soldier is a total badass. He is known as one of the best soldiers ever. People who have come across him think he is immortal. At one point it is mentioned that he himself has killed over 300 Russian soldiers alone. He is the man. But, again, he wants to leave that life behind. The Nazis will not let him though, and he has to take matters into his own hands. There are knives through heads, Nazis stepping on landmines, gun shots galore. It is all there and it is all gory. I mean, some of the kill shots in this movie gave me visceral reactions. I was yelping so much my dad asked if I was okay, he watched with me. The landmine scene is especially awesome. After he loses his horse, he starts to throw landmines at the incoming bad guys. He uses his shield to protect from the many gunshots aimed at him. He continues to mow them down left and right. I loved it. I really enjoy these violent action movies. Add on the fact that he was killing Nazis, who are portrayed as bad as they were in real life, it makes it that much more okay to watch what he does to them. From the landmine scene we go to an underwater scene that is equally as gory and cool. There is another scene where it looks like our hero might get defeated, twice, but he makes it. We then have the final scene wherein our hero saves some women the Nazis have captured and gets them to help. They are more than willing. Our hero then gets on a plane, oh, pardon me, he uses his pickaxe to hang on to the plane as it takes off and then digs a hole to enter said plane after it is in the air. In this scene there is a fistfight that turns into strapping the final Nazi he has encountered onto a nuke and sets that free, to which a humongous explosion happens, The plane then proceeds to have a direct crash, face first, into the ground. Not to worry, he survives and walks away relatively unscathed, except for the bruises and cuts from the fight. We then see the women walking directly into some Russian guards with a gun, tank and a Nazi strapped to the shooter of the tank. You can guess what happens. The movie ends with our hero walking to the bank and saying his first lines of the entire movie, which are Finnish.

This movie rips. I want to watch it over and over again. I loved the backdrop, the story, the gore, the violence, it all worked for me. This is the type of action movie I crave. Everything about it worked for me. I have no notes. Seek this movie out, it is well worth your time. I may go watch it again today. 

Ty

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

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The A's Will Always Be in Oakland for Me

I read recently that the Oakland A’s are on their way to Las Vegas. This bums me out.

I’m not the baseball guy on this site, but the MLB was a big part of my childhood and the A’s happened to be very good back then. They were a World Series threat every year. I remember watching players like Dennis Eckersley, Dave Stewart, Mark McGwire, Jose Canseco and Rickey Henderson, among many others. I used to watch Dave Stewart a ton when I became a pitcher. He was my guy for a minute. I LOVED Rickey Henderson. He was so fast and so powerful. I remember watching them play in the World Series when an earthquake hit. That was nuts. I was at a friends house. I remember it so vividly. I remember when Henderson broke the stolen base record. Seeing him pickup the base in triumph was dope. The Canseco and McGwire bash bro era, while riddled with steroids, was fun. I remember Kirk Gibson hitting the homer on one leg against Eckersley and thinking that Tony La Russa may be an idiot for putting his dominant team in that bad situation. I went out at this time and bought myself an A’s fitted cap with my allowance. This team was one that was never my favorite, but I rooted for them from time to time. Even during the whole “money ball” era I found them fun. They were a great regular season team, but then they’d face the Yankees in the playoffs and get smoked. But they were still decent and watchable.

The past few seasons have been terrible though. They’re not a competitive team. Every time they get a good player it seems they are eager to trade them. This is making attendance go down. I heard someone say they had a crowd last season of under 2500 people. That’s bad, especially considering how big the Coliseum is and how many fans it can hold. And the stadium is old and needs work. All of the recent issues is what is making this move to Vegas more likely with every passing day.

This is what frustrates me. They can update the stadium. Every team has. The Cardinals have a fully new ish Busch Stadium. I’m sure Wrigley has had some upgrades. Fenway Park is historic. The Yankees have a state of the art stadium. Even the Twins got a new stadium. The A’s are more historic than the Twins and they’ve had similar trajectories as franchises.

I don’t want to see this team move to Vegas. This is like the movie “Major League” come to life. The city can’t just give up on this team. What else will Oakland have? The Warriors moved out. So did the Raiders. What’s left if the A’s leave? They can get back to the good old days if they keep some young talent. They could even get back to the perennial post season threat if they play their cards right. Fans will come back and they could print money. I hope something changes and the A’s stay. But it seems like they’re as good as gone. That’s not cool.

Ty

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

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R.I.P. Tina Turner

Another day, another legend gone. Tina Turner passed away at 83 years old yesterday.

This one hit almost as hard as Jim Brown. I never really listened to Tina Turner's music, but my mom did. She played it loud and proud in the house growing up. My mom is, and was, a fan of her music and her story. I also remember the movie "What's Love Got to Do With It" playing a lot in my house and my mom watching it a ton.

My mom worked in a battered women and children's center when I was growing up and Tina Turner's story was one that her clients could relate to. Tina Turner was abused to the brink while married to Ike Turner. Ike Turner was a fantastic musician, but he was a total asshole and a miserable human being. He used to abuse Tina Turner mentally and physically. She overcame it all to become an even better artist and person. But Ike, he was a prick. So my mom would show this movie to the attendants of her shelter to give them hope. Or least that was how I saw it as a kid. She wanted these women to know there was more out there than an abusive partner. Tina Turner lived that life and she came out on the other side. Tina Turner also worked with Mel Gibson on a "Mad Max" movie. I mean, she spent an inordinate amount of time with two of the biggest abusers in the business world, and she came out of both very scathed, but stronger and more powerful than she was before.

Tina Turner was an absolute legend in every sense of the word. But she was best known for her music and her dancing. Tina Turner was a powerhouse vocalist. She commanded the stage and took the crowd on a ride with how awesome her voice was. I mean, she had some serious pipes. I have gone back and listened to some of her early stuff, the work she did with Ike, and she was the reason to go watch them live. She was also the reason to listen to their music. She was such a commanding and dominating presence while perming music. When she split and became a solo artist I feel she got even better. She became this ballad singer and she absolutely crushed on her songs. I have seen so many people reposting her singing "Simply the Best" and each time, with each version, it gets better and better. I have been totally blown away at how incredible, and widely loved, she was as a solo artist. I always knew she was amazing, but never really listening to her until now, I missed out on a bunch of stuff I will have to familiarize myself with now.

Tina Turner was also an incredible dancer. That was another thing people talked about when I was younger that I never understood. But now, after going back and watching clips of live performances, it all makes sense. She was an absolute crowd pleaser. She knew what moves to do and when to do them. She would get these well deserved applause breaks after doing some amazing dance numbers.

Tina Turner was one of a kind. There is no one else from her early era to when she ended that was as powerful a stage presence. She rocked the house and was one of the best to ever do it. She will be missed by so many people. The response to her passing has been overwhelming. Rest in Peace Mrs Turner. Go amaze crowds wherever you may be now. 

Ty

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

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We Did Not Need A New "White Man Can't Jump"

Last week I was scrolling through Hulu and saw that the new "White Men Can't Jump" movie was streaming. I decided to watch.

First off, I love the original movie. I have been a fan since I was a kid. I saw it when I was 13 or 14 and have revisited it multiple times a year since then. Woody Harrellson and Wesley Snipes have tremendous chemistry, the story is good enough and the basketball in the movie was real looking and kept my attention. The whole idea that Harrellson couldn't dunk paid off in the end when he finally did. I also liked the double crossing coming from both Snipes and Harrellson. Rosie Perez was amazing in the movie as well. And the other actors who showed up during the pickup games, some former college and professional basketball players, did a wonderful job. The original worked its charm on me and it has never left.

The new one or remake or re imagining or whatever it is, is not very good. At all. I didn't think it was going to be good, but I thought it would be fun. Hell, I hoped it would even give me some kind of nostalgia vibes. None of that happened. This new version was very scattered and not well acted. The only actor I appreciated was Lance Reddick, but he was almost a total ripoff of Denzel Washing in "He Got Game", but was more timid. He also didn’t have a bunch of screen time as well. It bums me out that this was one of his last movies. The leads were not 1/10 on the level of Harrellson or Snipes. Jack Harlow was not very good at all. He was trying, I will give him that, but he doesn't seem to have it as an actor. He happened to be on an episode of "Dave" that I watched the day before, playing himself, and he could barely even pull that off. To make him a former Gonzaga player who was into holistic medicine and a vegan was puzzling. Harrellson was a gambling addict who was a former pro overseas. They never mentioned his food intake or what he was selling. He was all about basketball and Rosie Perez. Harlow did not come close to pulling off what Harrellson did. Oh, and they never mention the fact that he cannot dunk. He just all of the sudden dunks during a tournament they are playing in, and I guess that is supposed to be an homage or something. It fell totally flat for me. Sinqua Walls, in the Snipes role, was kind of dull. He didn’t really do much. His basketball ability was nowhere near Snipes. And I know they did stuff to help Snipes, but at least he tried and succeeded. Walls just kind of sleep walked throughout the movie. He never really got to show range, and when they gave him a chance, it was not great. He was supposed to be some superstar high school player, but none of that helped the story. Also, Snipes was no high school star or anything. He was a streetball legend. That was his deal. He also happened to be a salesman, but basketball was the intrigue. Everyone else in this movie was the opposite of the outside characters in the original.

This new "White Men Can't Jump" lacked all of the charm of the original. The new movie was not very fun, funny or cool to watch. I found myself bored and kind of gazing off in the distance. I didn't really care to see what happened. I didn't like the new direction. I didn't buy the two leads. It was a miss for me, and due to my love for the original, that bummed me out. You can skip this movie. You will not miss a thing. 

Ty

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

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I'm Coming Around on Nikola Jokic

I'm here to eat crow today. I am not a Nikola Jokic fan. I find his brand of basketball slow, plodding and boring. He pokes and prods and moves like he is a lumberjack. I fully believe he only deserved one of his MVP awards. I still fully believe Joel Embiid should be a two time MVP. I like a bunch of other players much more than Nikola Jokic. I find the love from the media, mainly ESPN, to be very racially biased towards Jokic. But dammit, that dude has been an absolute killer during this Nuggets playoff run. Let’s discuss.

I am a Lakers hater. I have never, ever liked them. I do not root for any big market team. But, I found it hard to root for the Nuggets going into this series due to my distaste for Jokic. That feeling went away quickly. Watching Jokic and Jamal Murray and Kentavious Caldwell Pope rip the heart out of the Lakers, it was soon very easy for me to root for Denver in the West Finals. I also found it quite easy to root for Jokic. In fact, when the Suns owner decided to do that unnecessary flop was when I kind of started to flip to Jokic's side.

This dude should not be as good as he is at basketball. He is big, but that is about it. He looks out of shape when you compare him to other guys who play his same position. His jumper is wonky. He is a solid passer, but not at Draymond Green's level for a front court guy. He doesn't look the part, but he has found a way to make it work. He makes the right passes. He shoots when he needs to. He doesn't give up stupid fouls anymore. He doesn't gripe as much as other guys, Luka Doncic I'm talking about you here. He just plays the game and everyone around him seems to love playing basketball with him. Jamal Murray is as good a shooter as there is in the league, and he is usually pretty wide open due to defenses sucking in on Jokic. He is also the perfect pick and roll guy with Jokic. Aaron Gordon fits like a glove with this squad and he brings that defensive intensity they were missing. KCP is a proven vet and winner. He is a knock down shooter and he plays very good defense. Bruce Brown has proven to be an exceptional low salary signing. Michael Porter Jr is actually playing defense and hustling even with his shot not falling. But all of this doesn't work if these guys do not like playing with the face of the team, Nikola Jokic. They all want to win, they have all bought in, Michael Malone has done a phenomenal job getting everyone, including his star player. to totally buy into their respective roles.

I am endlessly fascinated at how quickly I have turned out to not hate this team, and Jokic, as much as I did only one short year ago. He made some amazing shots last night to close out that series. He was the best player on the floor for all four games. This is a floor that included guys like Anthony Davis, Jamal Murray and LeBron James. James had an incredible game last night, but Jokic was better overall. Murray had a great game two, but Jokic did it all series and all playoffs for that matter. AD had 40 in game one, Jokic nearly matched him, and the Nuggets got the win. Aaron Gordon is allowed to rove on offense and throw down oops. Jokic threw a pass last night that looked like it was to no one, and here comes Gordon to throw it down. Even the Lakers looked shocked. But Jokic and Gordon knew what they were doing. It was pretty astounding.

I will most likely be rooting for the Heat in the Finals, if they eventually close out the Celtics. But if the Celtics make some wild comeback and win the East Finals, it won't be so hard for me to root for Jokic and the Nuggets yet again. It shouldn't work. Jokic should not be this dominant. But here we are. And the Nuggets are a fun team to watch. I will not wear their gear or even root for them next season. But I found it easy in the West Finals, and if the Celtics somehow do the impossible, it would be even easier for me to root for this Nuggets team. I'm sorry for bashing this team and this player so much. I was wrong. 

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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R.I.P. Jim Brown

Jim Brown passed away last week. I would have written about it then, but I had already written other stuff. Today I need to talk about this tragic passing.

Brown was an all time great football player. He was one of the greatest college players to ever do it. He was amazing at Syracuse. He was an All American twice. His number is retired by the school. He is on the CFB150 list. He's in the college football hall of fame. He also played basketball and did track and field. He was an amazing collegiate athlete. His pro career was even better. He had 12,000 plus rushing yards. He averaged 5.2 yards a carry. Read that again. That is incredible. He had 106 rushing touchdowns. He is a pro football hall of famer. He averaged 100 yards a game for his entire career. He's been named to every NFL Anniversary team that has ever existed. His number is retired by the Cleveland Browns. He may be the greatest running back of all time.

Jim Brown was much more than just a football player. After football Brown became an actor, and a damn good one at that. He has been in many shows and movies. Stuff like "The Dirty Dozen", the lead role in "100 Rifles", "Three the Hard Way", "CHiPS", "Knight Rider", "TJ Hooker", "The A-Team", "I'm Gonna Git You Sucka", "Mars Attacks", my personal favorite, "He Got Game", "Any Given Sunday", "She Hate Me"and "Draft Day", among many others. He was considered by many as "black Superman" or "black John Wayne". That was how much gravitas he held as an actor. Again, he did all of this after his record setting football career. He was also a massive Civil Rights Activist. In the 50's he was upfront and personal with his thoughts on racial issues. He was part of the Cleveland Summit that also included Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Bill Russell and Carl Stokes. They all stood with Muhammed Ali and supported his decision to not enter the Vietnam War draft. Brown founded the Black Economic Union which helped to promote economic opportunities for minority owned businesses. Brown also helped fuel the Amer-I-Can Foundation. This foundation sought to divert gang members and prisoners from violence by teaching them life skills.  He was able to establish the Watts truce through this foundation. Brown let the world know how he felt about the dislike towards minorities. He put his money to good work and put in hard work. He didn't just talk the talk, he walked it too. He spoke up and acted on what he was saying. He backed it all up.

Outside the acting and civil rights activism, Brown found the time to be a color analyst for CBS in the late 70's. He was the first black televised boxing announcer in 1965. He co-wrote a book. He was a color commentator for UFC. He was an executive advisor to the Browns from 2008 until his passing. This was a person  who loved a full life. He did have issues in his life, assault charges, divorce, meeting with certain former "presidents", but all in all Brown was an amazing football player who lived his true life. He was his true self. He talked and acted. He didn't hide. He was a person of action. When I saw he passed I was kind of in shock. I mean, 87 is a good long life, but I expected Brown to be around for a very long time. I will always go back to the Finals game he attended in Cleveland and see LeBron James bow to him. That was the biggest sign of respect one incredible athlete can give to another.

Rest in Peace Jim Brown. You will be missed. 

Ty

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

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I'm Psyched to Go Discover the New Film "Sisu"

Every year RD and I do a podcast about looking forward to pop culture in the upcoming year. We cover it all. One of my favorite parts of that pod is when we get to the movies, especially now with theaters reopened. I love going to the movies and searching out new and interesting stories I have never even thought of before.

On social media I have seen a good amount of people I like talking about this movie called "Sisu". This is one of those rare instances when the internet does good and helps me find something I am truly interested in seeing. I always state during those podcast recordings that there will be a movie or movies coming out that I do not know about, but will want to see. "Sisu" falls into this category. All of the social media stuff piqued my interest, but it was a post from Paul F Tompkins that pushed me to watch the trailer. That is the basis for my post today, this trailer. PFT simply stated that people needed to see this movie because it is crazy and awesome. That was all I needed to watch the trailer.

This movie looks absolutely incredible. I watched the trailer multiple times after the initial viewing. I told my dad about it, and after he watched it, I told him we need to see this movie together. For those that may not know, "Sisu" is about a gold miner during World War 2 who finds a big hunk of gold one day during work. It is then revealed that, in order to keep this gold, he has to cross Nazi troops to bring it home to help his family. This is where the trailer starts to go wild, and I loved every single second of it. This main character, this actor, does some wild stuff to these Nazis, and I cannot get enough. It is so wonderful to see awful people get their comeuppance. The guy in the trailer, during his first encounter with a bad guy. takes out a knife and stabs this asshole through the head. I was shocked. I said, "OH MY!" when I saw it for the first time. Then this guy proceeds to destroy these jerks in a plethora of ultra violent ways. There are landmines and bombs and other hand to hand and gun play in this movie. I despise, loathe, guns. But the movies are my way of escaping these things. It is all fake, so I can dissociate easily. It may not be great, but it is better than the alternative. I got crazy "John Wick" vibes from the trailer, and not a second later did a title card come up saying, "From the studio that brought you John Wick". It was only fitting after all the carnage I saw during the two minute trailer.

I simply cannot wait to see this movie. It looks like it is a perfect compliment to "John Wick". It is also 90 minutes long, which makes me even happier. I am trying to find a way to watch it this weekend. I want to see it, but I also want to wait to watch it with my dad. I feel like we share the "John Wick" universe, so why not share "Sisu". But I will soon be watching this movie and I will have a full review.

This is one of the best, and coolest trailers I have seen in quite some time. Search this trailer out, and then go see this movie. It looks like it is going to 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 Reads "Comedy Bang! Bang! The Podcast: The Book"

I just finished reading "Comedy Bang! Bang! The Podcast The Book". I have been looking forward to this book ever since Scott Aukerman started to mention it during the podcast months ago.

"CBB" is my favorite pod to listen to on a regular basis. It makes me laugh harder than any other comedy podcast out there. I've been listening to it since I first heard what a podcast was. Scott Aukerman is my personal favorite host of all time. He has surpassed Letterman for me, which I didn't think was possible. The characters and bits and all they do, it is perfection. That is what makes this book so great, it is all there. I am amazed at how they pulled this off. I didn't know what they were going to do, but they did it and it works on every level.

The book starts out with a bunch of forwards, and that gets you in the mindset of what the podcast is all about, but they put it in book form. It was a very nice touch. I was happy they went about it that way. From there on out it is a who's who of people who have appeared on the show as characters. They do have some celebrities do the forwards, but the meat of the book is the characters. We get pretty much every star character too. Dalton Wilcox does a few pages. Jeffrey Character Wheaties does a three or four page opus to his greatest creation, Jason Mantzoukas. Rudi North and Sprague The Whisperer have separate chapters. Italiano Jones is there. Memphis Kansas Breeze has a page. The Timekeeper is on this. Randy Snutz and Carissa, as well as Randy's crew pop up. Mary Holland has a page as her writing character she appears as on the show. Todd and Ho Ho the Elf pop up. PFT's characters are all over this book. Albert Roe, owner of Kissy's Grocery Store is in here. Lily Sullivan, who is so goddamn funny, has her fingerprints all over this book. Fourvel pops up intermittently and it is great. Everyone that a fan could want shows up in this book. I mean, even Will Hines gets multiple chapters, and he is one funny improvisor.

It is so great that they had the idea to do this and then someone came along and pushed them to make this book. I keep going back and reading stuff and I laugh and laugh all over again. Andy Daly has a whole thing with a multitude of people he has made up and turned it into a board game, which I will most likely play at some point. There were moments where I found myself laughing hysterically at what I was reading. There were other times where it was like a warm blanket when I would get reacquainted with a person I had forgotten about. They also dedicate multiple pages to Harris Wittles where they do "Harris' Foam Corner". That was nice and fitting. "Foam Corner" was one of my favorite things to ever appear on "CBB", and to see some of the stuff Harris Wittles was writing before he tragically passed away, that was very nice, and hilarious. I loved the lead up to "Foam Corner" as well.

This book is perfect. If you are a "CBB" fan it has everything you could want in a book about this fantastic show. I'd go as far to recommend it to fans of podcasts in general. It shows you what makes a show long lasting and great. Of course I recommend everyone read this book. It is wonderful. 

Ty

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

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Victor Webanyama Won the Draft Lottery

The San Antonio Spurs won the draft lottery last night and will most likely take French phenom Victor Webanyama in the upcoming draft.

I love this so much. The last two times the Spurs had the first pick they took David Robinson and Tim Duncan. Those are some lofty career goals, but if anyone can do it, it is Webanyama. This kid has all the tools to be a legit superstar. He is 7'5. He can handle and shoot. He is a good rebounder. He is an excellent shot blocker. He is a nightmare mismatch on defense. He is skinny, but not Chet Holmgren skinny. He has been crushing in France's highest pro league. He led his team in points, rebounds and blocks. He is an amazing basketball player, and now he is going to go into a situation that will give him all of the best tools to succeed.

This couldn't have gone any better for him. I didn't think the Spurs had a shot, but I am so stoked that they got the pick and that this kid will get to play under Greg Poppovich. With all that is going on in Memphis right now maybe the Spurs will become my second team to root for. My dad has always liked them, as have I, but I have never actively rooted for them. That may change.

The truth is that this is good for the league and for Webanyama. If he had ended up in Houston that would have stunted his growth. That team is full of ball hogs and they have no interest in winning right now. Even if they add Harden I still have little faith in them being a true contender. The Trailblazers would have been fun. Pairing him with Dame would be dope, but that could still happen. Maybe Dame will want to go and play for the Spurs and he could team up with Webanyama and Pop. That would be awesome. I'd love to see that actually. No disrespect to the Blazers, but the Spurs are a much better situation to be in as a young rookie. The Hornets are a mess and who knows what they would do with a talent like this. LaMelo Ball is great, but he is always hurt and kind of a ball and glory hog. If they bring back Miles Bridges I will be done with any rooting interest in that team. They would also put so much on Webanyama's plate and expect him to be the face of the franchise instantly. That may be the case in San Antonio, but, again, a much better run team. The Pistons tanked their way hardcore to the best odds, but they didn't deserve this pick. They had the number one pick a few years ago, and instead of working with him, they made him sit pretty much all season and made him waste a full year. They also openly discussed trading other young players before the draft lottery even happened. That is foul to those players. The Magic don't need Webanyama, they are building something different. The Pacers already have Myles Turner. The Wizards are in NBA purgatory and will be there for quite some time. The Jazz played too well to get close to the number 1 pick. And the Mavericks don't deserve anything of consequence after the way they ended this past season. That was some blatant nonsense they did. I wish they had to give this pick to the Knicks. They don't deserve to be anywhere near the top 10 picks. And while I'm sure all of these other teams in the top 10 could use, and want Webanyama, it is fitting that the Spurs have won the rights to draft him.

This is perfect for the future of the NBA. All of the people who would chastise the Spurs for being "boring" when Duncan was the face of the team will have to deal with another decade plus of very good, very balanced basketball. Webanyama is going to learn from the best and that is only fitting. His talents belong in an organization this well run with the best coach to ever coach in the NBA. I love this and cannot wait to watch him and the Spurs play next season. What an excellent draft lottery. 

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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Ja Morant Needs Some Help

While checking sports stories on the internet the other day I came across a Ja Morant video. Now, all of you know about the incident that happened earlier this season. He had a gun, flashed it on Instagram Live and was suspended. The Grizzlies stumbled from there. They finished the year with a whimper and they lost in six games to the Lakers in round 1. After the season Ja Morant gave an interview. During this interview he said that he was a distraction, that his actions hurt the team, that he was going to get help and get better. I believed him. I think a lot of us did. I figured he had learned his lesson and he was going to try as hard as he could to make some changes. He also missed out on nearly 40 million dollars by missing out on making an All NBA team, which his Instagram Live caused.

He clearly hasn't learned his lesson. The video that I saw on Instagram this time was him listening to music with some friends and he appeared to show a gun, yet again. He was dancing and singing along and got caught up in the moment and flashed a gun. It looked like the people he was with, and himself, realized what he was doing and tried to stop it right away. But the damage had been done. The picture had been captured and shared around the world. I saw it on Bleacher Report that afternoon. By the evening it was the headlining story on most sports networks, it was all over social media and it was a total mess. The whole thing had blown up so much that the Grizzlies suspended him indefinitely.

This has got to stop. There needs to be a lesson in all of this. Something has to change and the team, and the NBA, need to come down very hard on him. I don't care if it was a fake gun, some people are positing this as a theory which I don't believe at all. Fake or not, Ja needs to feel this suspension in his pockets and on the floor. I usually do not agree with anything Chandler Parsons says, but I do agree that Morant should be suspended for all of next season. That should be the least of his worries. Not only should he be suspended, there needs to be a heavy, heavy fine. I'd go with a good portion of his salary left unpaid during the suspension. The NBA also needs to look in on his inner circle of friends and see what the hell is going on with them. I do not want to see his dad at any more games. The league and the Grizzlies need to come down extremely hard on him. This cannot keep happening. It is clear that he meant none of what he said at his end of the season interview. He was just saying cliche things and hoping people would forget. That frustrates me so much. He also needs to get the hell off of Instagram. I know getting off all social media is not viable in this day and age, but he needs to have limits on what content he posts. He also needs to have a person control all of that. He also needs to rid himself of weapons. He clearly does not know how to use and store them. I do not like guns, and do not own any. One of the main reasons, they are too powerful and can hurt others very badly. The way Morant is out here brandishing his guns, that is so unsafe. He also needs therapy. He is clearly out here being a poser. He is not this person that he is portraying on social media. He is not a criminal. He is not some gun toting bad guy. He is a good kid making some terrible choices and hanging out with people who do not have his best interest at hand. He needs to fix a whole lot of things, but none of that will happen unless he realizes he has a problem.

I want him to get better. I want him to figure out what is going on mentally. I want him to surround himself with good people. But none of that will happen until he admits he has a problem and gets a proper punishment. The hammer needs to come down and he needs to get help. I hope he does. 

Ty

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

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Ty Listens to Lil Yachty's "Let's Start Here"

I've always been on the fence when it comes to Lil Yachty. He will make stuff I really like, then he will make some stuff that is too mainstream. He has this ebb and flow deal with me. Sometimes it hits, other times it doesn't.

I have this deal with a lot of artists. I'm sure other people do too. But I have had lots of people I know, people whose opinion I respect, tell me I have to listen to his new record. I was putting it off for a while. I just didn't think I was ready for it. I also heard it wasn't a rap record, but more of a psychedelic record. I have an odd history with psychedelic music. But I had some time by myself Saturday. I took my daughter to a birthday party, my son was over at his grandparents house and my wife was going out with a friend. So I went on a run and decided to give the record a shot.

I love this album, everyone. I have already gone through the record fully two times. I started to listen to it again this morning on the way to take my kids to school. My son seemed to dig it. My daughter said it sounded weird, but it wasn't bad weird. This was another feather in its cap. The record is called "Let's Start Here". The cover is also wild and I love it. It has all these presumably business people with faces that look like they are melting. They also have these odd permanent smiles on their faces. It is fascinating to look at people. It was scary at first, but now I am all about it. And the songs, these are works of art. I truly did not know that Lil Yachty had this in him.

This record is nothing like he has ever done before. It is so out there and different. He took a big swing and boy did he connect. From start to finish this record hits on every level. The music on this album is dope too. There are big guitars playing some good stuff. It sounds like something from the 70's but modernized. The drums have this rock groove, but also it skews very hip hop. It has the tempo and groove of hip hop. There is bass all over this record and it is great. Some songs are straight psychedelic. Lil Yachty will do some old school singing on these songs and it rules. He crushes the vocals. It is very impressive. There are a few songs where he slips back into hip hop, and it works with the music in the background. He even does some stuff where he is just speaking over instruments and I love it. I'm fully in on this album. I have loved every second of it to this point. I have been telling friends about it. I'm going to tell my dad about it tomorrow, and he is my barometer for how well new music translates to older generations. He is also the one who introduced me to psychedelic music, so I am very interested in his thoughts. But I adore this album. I'm all in. I think it is one of the better records I have heard in a very long time.

My hat is off to Lil Yachty. He has done something highly impressive and innovative here. I am hoping to see him live here in Saint Louis in October because I want to see these songs performed live. I definitely recommend checking this album out. 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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SeedSing Classic: I, Bald Man

I am a bald man.

I think I have made that pretty clear on the website and on the podcast. I am not complaining about this either. At first it was frustrating. I used to have dreadlocks, and when I cut those off, I grew my hair out like all millennials used to do. But I noticed in my mid twenties that I was losing my hair. The anger subsided quick, and I just kind of dealt with it. What else could I do.

When my hair was first thinning out I tried to keep the cut short, to kind of blend it in. That worked for a while. I still have some hair in my wedding photos. Pretty soon after my wedding and honeymoon, I began to lose more and more hair. At this time I started to shave it with an electric shaver. My wife would cut it, or I would do it from time to time. I would forget a lot, and my hair would look rough. But when it got to that point, boom I turned on the shaver and took care of business. After some time, after my kids were born, my wife took over shaving my head. She would shave my head and trim my beard. It was a two for one type deal.

One night I decided that I wanted to see what it looked like when I used a razor. I'm not talking anything fancy, no straight razors or anything like that. I would use a BIC, or something similar. And it worked. My wife and I did not know what I would look like, if I would look any different, and I didn't. Shaving your head totally bald doesn't look much different from a close shave. The only real difference is you can see all the knicks and cuts in your head. You also need to use some kind of aftershave, or those cuts get even worse. This has become my new norm now. I shave my head, usually, once a week. I will go on a long run, and my cool down is a shower and shaving my head.

I come here today to tell you a tale of "horror" about waiting too long to shave your head. Keeping a schedule is key. You need to stay on it. You need to make sure that you do it the same day every week. It is just like shaving your face for work. If you miss a week, it will be a pain. That happened to me today. We are getting work done in our home, and we needed to be out by last Sunday, the 14th. I figured I would shave my head when we got to my folks house. No big deal. Well, the moving of objects out of the bedrooms in my home, and setting things out of the way so the workers wouldn't have to, took way more out of me than I thought it would. I was pretty exhausted when we got to my parents house. Add on the fact that my kids had to be cleaned, and my wife and I did too, things got out of hand quick. I got our clothes in the house, moved the stuff into our room in the basement, gave my daughter a bath and decided I was going to sit down before showering. When I finally got around to cleaning myself, I was too tired to shave my head. I just decided to do it the next day.

Well, the next day turned into an entire week. I just kept forgetting. What with my new living situation, getting my kids to and from school, stopping by the house to check on it daily, training for a marathon and trying to get some sleep, shaving my head became an afterthought, until today. I finally had time. My kids are on spring break, my parents were willing to watch them and I had a scheduled rest day. I just finished shaving my head, and it took over 30 minutes.

It hurt. I have cuts all over my head. I had to slop on the aftershave, and it hurts. The water was freezing cold by the end in the shower. When I first started to shave, the razor felt like it was cutting grass for the first time in two years. I would move the razor two to three inches on my head, and the razor would fill up with hair. I had to keep cleaning the hair out. It took forever to get one side of the top of my head barely shaved. I kept going over the same spot three and four times with little to no movement. I finally got through the top part of my head, and the back was untouched. Mind you, I kept going over the back with the razor, it was too full of hair to work. I kept at it, changing midway through for a less dull blade, and that helped, but man did it scratch my head up bad. I could see blood on the white razor. I knew it was bad, and when I finally, thankfully, got my head shaved properly, my teeth were chattering, and my head was on fire with all the razor cuts and burns. It was brutal, but I got it done, and I feel okay now.

I am writing this today to say, if you are a bald man like me and you have decided to shave your head, stay on schedule. I do not want anyone to have to deal with what I did today. It was all on me, I did not stay on course. But I will from now on. This was not fun, and it took way too much time. Stay on schedule. That is the lesson I am trying to pass on today.

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 "MTV Unplugged"

Recently I have gotten into watching old clips of bands I like playing their songs acoustically. I have always liked acoustic music, and to hear a song that is normally done electrically acoustically has always been something I enjoy.

This new passion has sent me down a Spotify rabbit hole that I am totally here for. I am being reintroduced to music that I used to listen to and adore. I heard some stuff from Alice in Chains, a band I don't even like, Nirvana, Tracy Chapman and Lauryn Hill. I have gone back and rewatched Blind Melon and Jay Z do their acoustic stuff. Hell, another band I don't like, Linkin Park, has some dope acoustic stuff. This all led me back to "MTV's Unplugged".

"MTV's Unplugged" one of the better shows that has ever existed. I used to live for this show. I would scout the TV Guide or the channel to see when the next "Unplugged" was coming. This was the best it got, especially after Nirvana showed how great this could be.  This begs the question, why did they stop doing this show? I know that MTV does not show videos anymore. Hell, they don't even show music anymore. Neither does MTV 2 or VH1 or any other "music channel". All these channels are all about reality shows. That is where they get their viewers. There is not a moment when I turn on MTV now and Rob Drydek's goofy internet show is on. VH1 seems to only feature shows about artists or athletes' wives. I don't even know what MTV2 shows anymore. So why not bring back "Unplugged" now? I would have to imagine it would be a humongous hit. When they did Jay Z unplugged it was a massive hit. And they sold a ton of records. They could pounce on the streaming numbers and make vinyls out of these shows featuring some big time artists. Taylor Swift could make a killing doing her new record acoustically. She already has the chops and millions of people would tune in. There are plenty of popular country artists that my wife listens to, and she loves acoustic music, so why not get some of them to do it? I would watch the hell out of someone like The Black Keys or Kendrick Lamar doing an unplugged set. That would be rad. You could even bring some older other artists to do it. I would love to see Talking Heads, or David Byrne, do one of these shows. Get David Gilmour an acoustic and let him rock some Pink Floyd. Foo Fighters would be a massive get, and Dave Grohl already knows how to deal with the whole unplugged thing. Get someone like Tobe Nwigwe to go out there and perform. He would crush. The opportunities are endless. I bet they could also get a bunch of artists to do it for charities they support. That would be cool and helpful. There is no shortage of options to book people to do it. Add on the fact that retro stuff is back in now, people, especially people from my generation, would eat this up. I mentioned making vinyls of these performances, I know all three of my brothers would buy the vinyl of the bands they like doing unplugged shows. I would be interested in the art work involved. The production of the show would be even better now due to advancements in technology. I cannot find a reason not to pursue this.

Bring "Unplugged" back. It would crush and be one of the coolest things MTV has ever done. It would also force them to revert back to music. The timing is perfect. Make it happen. It would be rad. 

Ty

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

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The Factory is a Worthy New Music Venue in St. Louis

thefactorystl.com

I spoke about the Tenacious D show yesterday. Today I want to talk about the venue.

The show was in Chesterfield, a small suburb of Saint Louis. For those that live here, the venue is in the Valley, where all the flooding took place in the 90's. They have since built a ton of stuff out there to prevent flooding and to help commerce. When the pandemic started, they started to build even more out in that area because they still had some space. There is a walking mall out there, but since 2020 they have built this venue, a play place and a humongous golf spot. This was my first time at The Factory. Hell, I just started going back to shows within the past year. The venue also had nothing to do with my decision to go either, it was to see The D. I have to say, after a few days removed, I like this spot. I will be going back to see more shows here for sure.

The Factory has that new venue feel to it. Everything is clean. It all looks modern. The seating in the balcony is nice and comforting. I was in the general admission area, and that was cool. There was space to spread out and watch the show. The only downside to the floor was the fact that it is not slanted. My buddy who I went with pointed that out and he is right. The floor is completely flat. That is a good thing for standing for a few hours, but it can also get painful. My groin is sore from run training and it was no better after Monday night. My buddy has a knee issue and he said he was in pain afterward. Otherwise, the layout is solid. I like how spread out everything is. The next time I go I will be sitting in the balcony. I prefer sitting at shows now anyway, and when we walked around to check everything out, I was jealous of the people sitting up there. I wanted to be there. Next time hopefully.

As for the bar, I don't drink. My buddy had a drink, and it was expensive, but he said it was good. That helps for people who like to imbibe during a show. I did notice that they sell Liquid Death there, and you all know how I feel about that product. I will be purchasing some Liquid Death next time for sure. They have multiple flavors of sparkling water and mountain water. That is a good deal in my book.

The waiting area and where you walk in is pretty cool as well. There is ample seating. There are a nice amount of seats and tables. The stairs are easy to walk up and down and they have seperate aisles for going up and down. The concrete floor is easy to maneuver and walk through. The bar station was right next to the merch table. That is a smart move on their behalf if they came up with it. They have nice monitors that show everything that is upcoming. I dig that. All in all this is a solid music venue. I like how close to my home it is as well. I am also down with the space and the acts they have been able to secure.

The Factory is a good companion to The Pageant. I like The Pageant more, but The Factory has its points. It is pretty cool. Go see a show there if you live nearby and haven't gone yet. It is worth the time. 

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 Tenacious D Live

Last night I saw Tenacious D at The Factory here in Saint Louis. I'll do a proper review of the venue tomorrow. Today I want to talk about the show last night.

I have not seen The D live since 2002. Back then I saw them open for Weezer and it was pretty awesome. Last night they were the headliner and I am also older and more mature. This was a different experience. The opener was Steel Beans. This was an interesting and decent opener. Steel Beans is one dude who plays guitar, drums and sings. It was fascinating to see him do all this. But I felt like he had to be exhausted after his set. He played for 45 minutes, and it was solid. But some of his songs were a bit long. And he used a ton of distortion, which is smart on his part because it masks mistakes. But the use of distortion made it hard to hear him sing at times. All in all though he was a solid opener. I was never bored during his set. He did a good enough job.

Tenacious D came on stage after about a 30 minute intermission. Again, my expectations were high and different from 21 years before. They absolutely delivered. The set was fast and furious. They must have played something close to 20 songs. Jack Black is a true showman and he controlled the crowd and the stage for their entire 90 minute set. I am endlessly floored by Black. I was saying to my buddy after the show that he is a legit movie star who does music for fun, and he is extremely talented at it. His voice and playing is very good. He can hit some very high octaves. At one point he sang the beginning of "War Pigs" and it was amazing. He showed off his range on "Master Exploder". From song to song, all night long, he was on point. It was so enjoyable. Kyle Gass is the perfect sidekick to Black, and his guitar playing is exceptional. He is so proficient and technical, but he can also have fun with it. When he plays some of his wild solos on his acoustic guitar I am blown away. He is so good at his craft. He is also the perfect foil for all the bits The D do during their live shows. He plays off of Black so well. He performs like a true professional. I loved every second of their time together on stage. The backing band is truly wonderful. The lead guitar player shreds and has some pipes. He played the Devil during "Beelzeboss" and he hit a grand slam, both with his playing and singing. He is no Dave Grohl, but he is a damn good compliment. The bassist kept the rhythm going all night and when he got his chance to solo for the crowd, he was amazing. He was sliding up and down that bass and having the time of his life. It was dope. The drummer was pretty rad as well. He kept the tempo up and the band going strong. He also exploded during his solo. It reminded me of the playing in "Whiplash", except he was having fun playing. His solo was the best of the night in my opinion. He was pounding away on his kit. I was pleasantly surprised at all the love given to the crew throughout the night too.

This was a fun show through and through. It was also fantastic to hear all these songs again. It brought me back to my 20's when I really got into them. But I felt I appreciated it more last night. I got it all right away. I knew the words and was humming along. I was laughing at the jokes within the songs. To hear a song like "Double Team" as a 40 year old, it is so much more funny because I get every single joke within the song. It was great. The fact that The D is famous enough to headline a tour makes me very happy as an adult. I think it is rad that Jack Black and Kyle Gass still like doing this and are willing and able to tour. Neither of them have to do this, they want to do this. That much was apparent watching them perform last night.

I loved this show, the venue was cool, the band was great and I got to see an actual movie star in person. I had a blast. It was more than worth the price of admission and the exhaustion I have today. Good times. 

Ty

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

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Ty Drinks Cafe Du Monde Coffee

My folks went on a trip recently to celebrate their anniversary. They went to New Orleans because my mom has always wanted to visit there. They seemed to have a good time and, as they have done my whole life, they brought gifts back for everyone. My kids got some cool stuff and my wife and I got a gift bag of sorts. It had a few different items that we both enjoyed. One gift was a canister of coffee from Cafe Du Monde.

I know that place is known for their beignets, but my dad was big on the coffee. He would tell me about it when we talked to them while they were on the trip. This was a good sign. I decided to have a cup of this coffee the other day. We have a reusable Keurig cup, so I opened the can and put some coffee in the pod. It brewed, I made my foam and proceeded to drink it.

It was pretty damn delicious. I have had coffee like this before, but the chicory was not this pronounced. My dad and I go to all kinds of coffee shops as you all know. We have had all kinds of different coffee. We have had it iced, super hot, warm, sweet, charcoal infused, a latte with beet juice, we have tried a whole bunch of stuff. But this can of coffee from Cafe Du Monde is some of the best that I have had in my life. I usually switch up which coffee I use whenever I have coffee at home, which is almost daily. Lately though I have been solely using this chicory coffee. There is a woodiness that I have only gotten from this Cafe Du Monde canister. It has a wonderful taste. It may be an acquired taste, but I have acquired it and then some. The wood flavor gives the coffee this Earthiness. The taste, for me, is like the smell of being outside. It is like being in the woods on a trail run. I love the smell of the trees and the trail and the leaves. That is the feeling I get from drinking this coffee. It works so well for me. Yes, I do put flavored foam in it too. I still like my coffee to have some kind of sweetness to it. The foam I made this morning had cream, Splenda and vanilla extract. It was fantastic. But I could still taste the wood in the Cafe Du Monde coffee and it was glorious. I assumed the foam was going to take it away, but it did not at all. The flavor of the Cafe Du Monde coffee still lingered in all the best ways. The smell was there too. I thought the vanilla was going to take it away, but it did not at all. I was chopping some veggies for a salad and went for a drink. The first thing I noticed was the Earthiness smell. This translated immediately to the taste. And it was awesome.

I don't know if I will find another chicory coffee that is this good. I hope I do. I want to find the best coffee in the world. For right now though, this chicory coffee ranks right up there with the Sucker Punch Cold Brew I get at the Living Room, or the vanilla latte from Shaw's, or the hint of citrus coffee at Sump. Those are my three favorite local spots in Saint Louis. And those coffees are out of this world. The Cafe Du Monde original blend ranks right there now. It is a coffee I look forward to when I am at home. I will most likely order more when I run out. I am very thankful that my folks added this in mine and my wife's gift bag from their trip. This coffee is pretty fantastic. I think I may go have a cup right now. 

Ty

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

Come and support Ty and the podcast on Patreon.

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Ty Watches The Met Gala

I am not a fashionable person. I like to wear comfortable clothing whenever possible. I am a hooded sweatshirt and shorts type of guy. I almost always have a hat on, unless I have just shaved my head. My attire is simple and comfy.

During the week we had the Met Gala and I was blown away at some of these outfits I saw. I mean, it was wild people. I don't know how many of you check in on the Met Gala, or at least look at the clothing, but this was next level insane. I was talking to my folks about it and they had some takes as well. My mom loved looking at the clothing. She said she was checking out all of the outfits on the internet. She was telling me about her favorites and some of the wilder things she saw. My dad didn't really seem to care, but he knew about the whole deal. He knows what the Gala is and why they do it. As does my mom. But my dad's takes were not as interesting as my mom's. I get it. I am usually the same. But I paid more attention this year. I saw stuff online. I talked to my wife about it a bunch. I think I piqued her interest in fact.

I was astounded at what I saw and wanted everyone else to be interested. Doja Cat had makeup that made her look like an actual cat. She also had diamonds all over her dress. Not to be outdone, pretentious asshole Jared Leto was wearing an actual cat outfit. Head and all. He was dressed as a literal cat. It looked very uncomfortable and cumbersome. I didn't get his look at all. Lil Nas X looked like a futuristic spaceman. He had all kinds of diamonds covering his full body. He had a facemask that looked like it was encrusted in diamonds. I can't imagine that was fun to sit down in, but he was able to pull it off. You could barely see Rhianna. Her face was covered in some kind of white headdress. Cardi B had the biggest skirt I have ever seen. Pedro Pascal had some shorts on, which apparently drove the internet wild. The hairdos were nuts. Quinta Brunson, who I adore, had some big buns put in her hair. Paris Hilton's date had some wild comb over do. Janalle Monae had some wild braids, but she did look great. Some people looked "regular" for this event. Dua Lipa looked great. So did Margot Robbie. Lizzo crushed. Russell Westbrook was very mild mannered. Kendrick Lamar wore something that I would wear on an everyday basis.

Basically, this whole thing looks like it is an event covering opulence. I'm not one for opulence, but some people are I guess. I never cared about any of this stuff before, and I still don't very much, but this is the first time I actually looked into the whole deal. This is the first time I did some research and talked to some other people about it. It is fascinating but also not my cup of tea. But I had some things I wanted to tell you all about. I had never really delved into this stuff at all, but there are some wild things about this whole deal, but most of all it is the outfits.

This was a fun little wormhole I went down. Check it out if you are interested at all. It is interesting.

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 "Dune Part 2"

Yesterday I watched the trailer for "Dune Part 2".

I'm pumped. I loved the first movie. Let me clarify, I loved the first new one that Denis Villenuve directed. I was fully on board from the jump. I like the book. I have seen the David Lynch directed "Dune" a few times. I find that watchable. And I am a Villenuve fan. I know RD doesn't like "Arrival", and I haven't seen that one yet, but I like the other Villenuve directed movies I've seen. So seeing "Part 2" was not a bridge I had to cross or conclusion I had to come to. I'm in. I want to see it on the opening weekend, preferably on opening day.

I know I talk a lot about not watching trailers, but that was out of the question here. I was going to watch the trailer as soon as the official first one came out. So I did. And it rips. I'm so on board with the direction they are going in with this second movie. I know some people complained that the first one was too slow, well "Part 2" looks to be mostly action. Zendaya and Chamelet are back and they are ready to fight. Paul, Chamelet, is with the fighters, led by Javier Bardem, and they look like they are on a singular mission. Paul also rides a sandworm in the trailer. He also is trying to find and save his mom. I'm so in for all of this. Zendaya looks like she is going to kick some ass. And her fans should be happy to know that she will be in this sequel a whole lot more. A bunch of her fans were upset she was barely in the first one. Well no need to worry anymore. She looks to be a co-star in this one. Josh Brolin is back and looks badass. There is a scene where some people are burning Oscar Issac's character's painting, he was the king of his province, and that seems to set people off. Stellan Skarsgaard is back and looking as gross as ever. He is also up and moving, so that should be interesting. Austin Butler looks totally odd and painted all white. Dave Bautista looks scary and badass. Florence Pugh is here and ready to go to war. I mean, how can you not want to see this movie?

I am so stoked. I read that the writers, I stand with the WGA by the way, and Vilenuve have said that this is going to be more of a war epic, which is awesome. I love a good war movie. My favorite "Star Wars" is "Rogue One". I like movies like "Saving Private Ryan", "Platoon", "Apocalypse Now" and "The Hurt Locker". I'm here for war movies. Add on the fact that this particular war movie is taking place in a science fiction world that the creators of "Dune" made up. That is just icing on the cake for me.

I watched the trailer a few times yesterday after the first watch. My kids watched it with me. I kept telling my wife about it. My family are all good sports because they indulge me. Now you all have to do the same. But I know there are some readers who are just as excited as me about this trailer and movie. I cannot wait and I hope to see a lot of you out there on opening day. I am pumped. 

Ty

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

Come and support Ty and the podcast on Patreon.

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

The Grizzlies Do Not Need Dillon Brooks

The Grizzlies supposedly told Dillon Brooks that he will not be back next season "under any circumstance". Who knows how true that statement is, but it is coming from Shams Charnia, who is a very reliable source, so I tend to believe it.

I am all on board with this move. He may have thought his talking during the first round of the playoffs was motivating the team, but it had the opposite effect. His talk crept into an already crumbling locker room and made all the other problems this team, my favorite team in the NBA, had going on all season. Adding Brooks' talking with Ja Morant's whole situation, injuries to Brandon Clarke and Steven Adams and a team that was fading at the end of the year spelled trouble for the team. But Brooks was doing this all season. He was constantly talking. He never stopped. He claimed to "poke bears" all year long and look where it got the Grizzlies. They were dispatched, fairly easily I might add, by the 7 seeded Lakers. The Lakers are a good team, but the Grizz were the 2 seed and they couldn't even get to a game seven at home. That is the most frustrating part.

I appreciate Ja coming out at the end of the season and talking about his personal problems affecting the team. That takes maturity and shows that he, hopefully, is getting some help. Clarke and Adams have to take time to recover. Adams should be back soon, but Clarke's injury is going to take some time. He tore an ACL. He is going to need a lot of rehab for that injury. That could bleed into next season. But Brooks never showed growth or maturity. The Grizzlies would win a game and he talked and talked and talked. But then they'd get beat and he wouldn't even speak to the media. I heard a podcast where someone explained how Brooks was trying out a new character for his future in the NBA and it never worked. This person said he was trying to be like Draymond Green, but without any of the accolades. I think that is a very apt comparison, except Green is a much, much better player than Brooks could ever dream to be.

When the news was released that the Grizz were moving on yesterday I felt a sense of relief. It made me feel even better after another story came out saying that the Grizz tried to re-sign him during the season, but he wouldn't sign. That means he thought he could hold out for more, to get a better deal. But now everyone has gotten to see that he is all bark and no bite. He added some solid defense to the team, but what else did he really do? He is a poor shooter. He was being left wide open constantly and he couldn't hit the ocean. He never seemed to find the open guy while running the floor or in their half court offense. Sure he would pass, but it wouldn't lead to much until other players touched the ball. There was no rebounding or anything else of substance. And while the defense was okay, he could not guard the star players. LeBron abused him whenever he wanted. He cannot stay in front of guys like Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown or Steph Curry. He was no match. It was almost like star players would hunt for him on offense just to beat him.

Now that the Grizz are moving on there is a sense of relief for me as a fan, and I bet the team feels it as well. They can move on. Sure they won't get anything for him, but this could be addition by subtraction. They can replace him with a younger guy in the lineup. A player like David Roddy could fill that role. I'd love to see Kenny Lofton Jr because I am a big fan of his. They could go small and play three guards with Jaren Jackson Jr and Steven Adams when he comes back. They could possibly go out and find some solid veteran help. They have a good enough team to continue to win without Brooks. They may be able to find a player that fits their timeline a little better.

I don't know where Brooks will end up, but I know that he will not be on my favorite team anymore and that makes me feel better. I am happy they are cutting the cord and moving on. The time has come. This is a good move by the Grizzlies. Now let's just hope the Grizz continue to win. Time will tell.

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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