The Suns Actually Did It

Last night the Phoenix Suns beat the Clippers in game six of the West Finals to advance to their first Finals since 1993. This is quite the feat.

I have seen all the stuff online about how this is fake. They got the Lakers when LeBron and AD were hurt. The Nuggets did not have Jamal Murray. And the Clippers were without Kawhi. While that is all true, the only series I thought they might not win was the Lakers series. The Lakers had a 2-1 lead, then the injuries happened and then they imploded. But LeBron was still there. They were still the defending champs. As for the Nuggets, while not with Murray, they still had the league's MVP. Jokic was still in the lineup. So was Michael Porter Jr, Will Barton, Austin Rivers and all their subs. And Jokic was great. He did his thing. But that is what the Suns wanted. They let Jokic eat and dared the other players to beat them. They did not. The Suns swept them.

Then we have the Clippers. First off, all the Clipper fans complaining about the lack of "love" they get, or that everyone that doesn't root for them are "haters" or that Paul George and the rest of the team gets too much hate, get over it. I am a Michigan football fan. I do not want to hear about it. I have heard it my whole life. Michigan has a ton of fans, but there are more people that hate them, and I guarantee they hate Michigan football much, much more than anyone hates the Clippers. And for the fans that claim this season a "success", that is the deepest form of sports regret. This team should have at least gone to the Finals once. I picked them to go twice. This team was built around star power that has playoff success, and the best they have done is a six game series in the West Finals. This experiment hasn't worked yet, there is time, but so far it has not been great. They flamed out in the bubble, and they got beat easily, granted without Kawhi, by the Suns.

This was all to simply give the Suns their flowers. Now, I do want to say that I do not like their bandwagon fans. That idiot with the "Suns in 4" shirt that started a fight, he is the worst of the worst. Most of their other fans are not so great people. I disagree with a lot of their ideals and beliefs. They are bad, mean people. But for players like Devin Booker, Deandre Ayton, Mikail Bridges, Dario Saric, Cam Payne and, especially Chris Paul, this is awesome. They have been mostly healthy all season. They have played exceptional team defense. Their offense is very good. Monty Williams has done a hell of a job in his first year as their head coach. This team deserves to be here. They have been one of the best teams in the league all season, they were the two seed, they had one of the harder paths to get here and they did it. They did it with relative ease in fact. They are as solid a team as the NBA has right now. They remind me of the Spurs teams that were led by Tim Duncan, except they are more fun. Devin Booker is a knock down shooter. He is every bit as advertised. He is going to lead the league in scoring very soon. Deandre Ayton is a great, great modern big. He can stretch the floor a bit, he is a great rebounder, he is great around the rim, he is proving he was worth the number one pick. Mikail Bridges was an absolute steal when they traded for him on draft night. He can shoot and he plays great defense with his long arms.

This season is all about Chris Paul for me. He was the missing piece. I have been hard on CP3 his whole career too. He never made it to the big stage, until now. He is still a flopper, but it has worked so far. He has always been dirty, but that has played to his benefit. Just look at what Patrick Beverly did to him last night. He shoved him in the back when Paul wasn't even looking. That is not a good look, but we all know CP3 did something, and Beverly reacted wrong. Beverly will be, and should be, suspended for what he did. But to me it just proved that CP3 was in his head. His talking got to him and neutralized him. He did exactly what he wanted. And it worked. Chris Paul has been everything that the Suns needed and hoped and now he, and the franchise, are reaping the benefits. They are back in the Finals. I actually think they will win. I believe the gambling places have them as the odds on favorites. That is due to the young guys accepting their roles, and the addition of CP3. The Suns did it. They are in the Finals. Now they have to wait for their opponent. But again, I think they will win it all.

Congrats to the Suns.

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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The Living Room Café has a Coffee Cake That Cannot Be Beat

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Since I became a runner and lost a good amount of weight, sweets went by the wayside. This was the toughest part for me when I started this lifestyle change about seven years ago. I love sweets. They are my favorite part of any meal. There is always room for dessert.

Recently I have found ways around it now. There are plenty of ways to make low carb or keto treats. Atkins has their own line of dessert or snack foods. There is a group of sweet treats that are called Keto Bombs that I buy plenty of when I go to the store. I put fake sugar in my coffee, which I am trying to rid myself of at the moment. None of this stuff is good for me either. I know this. All the fake sugar is bad, and the real sugar is one of the many reasons why I got so heavy in my 20's.

When I do splurge nowadays I make it count. If I am going to eat a dessert or have a full sugar treat I want to make it count. I love doughnuts. So if I am going to have a doughnut, I want it to be as bad for me as possible. It gives me that satiated feeling that I miss. If I am going to have ice cream, I go for a Blizzard from DQ or a waffle cone from a local spot called Serendipity. If my wife makes a cake or a pie, you better believe I will have a few pieces because she is a damn fine chef. When I indulge, my favorite time to have sweets is the morning. I love a nice sweet breakfast. I should eat something savory, and with Atkins I have eggs and sausage. But if I want to go for it, if I am not counting carbs, I will go for something sweet nine times out of ten.

This morning I decided to treat myself for breakfast. Once a week my father and I go and get coffee from a local shop. This started prior to the pandemic, has continued with us picking up and drinking it at one of our houses, and it will continue for as long as my dad wants to do it. Today was our day to go out. I also brought my daughter along with us and my mom even decided she wanted in. It was great. We went to one of my favorite spots called The Living Room Café. Their regular drip coffee is outstanding, and they do some wild stuff that works. Today I had a Sproda. That is cold brew coffee with root beer in it. It's outstanding. They also have cold brew with orange juice and with tonic water. Both are great. Their lattes and cappuccinos and tea, it is all exceptional. They also have steamed milk and horchata and tons of other great, non coffee or tea drinks. Coffee is not the concern for me. But I have only ever had their food twice before. I had a breakfast sandwich once, which was really good, and their house made granola with their yogurt was fine. Today I decided that I was going to try their coffee cake. It looked really good on the online menu. It said it goes great with coffee.

I love coffee cake in general. I was on board. I went and picked up all our stuff and my coffee cake was in its own bag, wrapped to keep it warm. When I got to my folks house I unwrapped it and grabbed a plate and fork. First off, the piece was humongous. My dad said it looked like they gave me a quarter of the sheet pan. I also did not think I was going to finish it because it was so big. Then I had a bite. Then another and another. I gave my daughter a bite. I had my folks try a piece. But I made sure that I ate 90 percent of this all by myself. It was so dense, but felt light. The crumb topping was out of this world. The swirl of cinnamon sugar was such an added bonus. This was like a mix of a coffee cake and cinnamon roll in the best possible way. I kept eating it, without realizing how much of it was disappearing. It was so good. It was so easy for me to keep going back for another bite. This might have been the best piece of coffee cake I have ever eaten. It was the perfect amount of sweet. It was overly sweet, but it wasn't too savory. The piece was enormous, but I could have eaten two or more if I tried. I kept commenting on how tasty it was. I told my folks that if I am going to eat real sweets, this is what I want. This helped with every craving that I still have to this day when I stopped eating sweets daily. It was, quite simply, the perfect piece of coffee cake.

If you are ever in Saint Louis and want to go to a different, yet very good and very cool coffee shop, go to Living Room Café. Not only is the coffee amazing, but the coffee cake is one of the best in the country. Well done.

Ty

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

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Let's Talk About How Great the Lighting is on "Inside"

I just finished watching Bo Burnham's special "Inside" for the third time.

I keep watching it for a few reasons.

One, it is awesome. It's truly one of the best pieces of art I have ever seen.

Two, I constantly find new things every time I view. There is always something new that interests me.

Three, the music is rad. Burnham is already a very funny singer and songwriter, but on "Inside", while the songs are still funny, it is like real, legit music. There are some really solid songs throughout the special. In watching today I noticed something else, and that is what I want to talk about. I swear this will be one of the last times I write about this special, but damn this thing is amazing, so I am not sorry actually.

When watching today I was super impressed with the way he uses lighting for this movie. It is really cool, really unique and totally different from most things I have watched in this same genre. When the special starts, the impressive light show begins. When he is doing the song "Content", he is just sitting in a dark room for about 45 seconds, and when he gets near the end of the song he looks up and there is a spinning disco ball reflecting lights on the wall. The reflection is coming from a headlamp he is wearing and it is super cool. It is dope the way he uses some very simple things to make a very cool visual. This continues throughout the special. The two "Bezos" songs he does have very rad and very different lights. The first one is a bit dark with a shadow. The second one is like watching a techno concert with some wild red objects reflecting off the wall. It is cool to see the way he switches it up on the two different tunes. When he does "All Eyes On Me", the dark room with light blue lights reflects not only the mood, but also his eyes and his white shirt. It makes for a somber look on a dark song, but that has to be what he was going for. It is perfect. The way he shoots the final song, going back and forth, with different images displayed on the screen, it is so awesome. I was completely blown away at how cool and ahead of its time the way he lights and edits the song. We see him in three different phases, and when the camera pans away at the end, the spotlight on him is too perfect. It reflects the mood so well. I also really enjoy the woodsy background he has when he plays "That Funny Feeling". The song sounds like it would be played on a camping trip, so making the background symbolize that, well done. The song that takes the cake in the lighting process is "30". This is my favorite song on the record and during the special. The way he lights it, uses lights and performs with the lights is second to none. When there is a clap, he moves his white light out and the whole room is lit. When he is singing the verse there are red and purple and blue clouds in the background. When he sings the chorus he moves that white light around his whole body which reflects shadows on the wall and it looks like I'm watching a live show. I am immediately transported back to a time when I went to live shows. But the best part is when he is singing the "my stupid friends are having stupid children" and there are three of his shadow, one in the middle and one on each side, that is some damn good art. It is neat and interesting. It makes me wonder how he does stuff like that. I'm sure it is easy for him, but for a rube like me, this is pretty amazing stuff to see.

I get more impressed every time I watch the special. I simply cannot recommend "Inside" enough. It is so god damn awesome, and there are always new things popping up with each new watch. Go check this thing out.

Ty

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

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Greatest American Music: The Scissor Sisters and "Take Your Momma"

At the beginning of the month my family was driving back from our road trip for the summer. It was long, but fun. The length gave us time to catch up on some old podcasts, my kids got to play games, we all played car games and my wife and I, when the kids were resting, listened to older pop music.

Now what I mean by older music I mean from our generation. We grew up on late 90's, but even more so, early to mid 2000's pop. Admittedly, my wife listened to way more than I did. I know all the music but I was, and probably still am if I think about it, a music snob. I always thought that that era of pop music was trash. I listened to jam bands and hip hop. I was a cool dude. Writing that makes me feel pretentious by the way. But when we were making our way through Memphis the song "Take Your Mama" by the Scissor Sisters came on our Spotify station.

My wife and I got very excited. Our eyes blew up. We blasted the song in the car. We both sang along. I sang the chorus because that is the only part I know, but my wife, she was doing the chorus and every verse. Usually I am the one in our relationship that knows all the words to songs, but not this one. My wife was on point. For the next four minutes it was like being blasted back to the early 2010's. That song is so much fun. It is easy and breezy. It is a blast to sing along to and dance along with. Everything about that song just works. We were both so happy to have this song back in our lives. It didn't go anywhere, but we had both forgotten about it until it popped up on the radio. Then we got to talking about the song. We said everything I just wrote. It is a really, really fun song.

We then started to wonder aloud whatever happened to the band. I remember buying their CD when it came out, but I do not know any other song they have ever done besides "Take Your Mama". My wife had the single, she is a big fan of top 40 stuff so it is fitting, but she had no idea when the band became big, why this song was so big or where they were now. I thought about doing research while we were driving but I am sure I was distracted by something on the road or my kids needed me to help with their devices. My research got postponed and then I totally forgot about it. Scissor Sisters and "Take Your Mama" were gone from my memory for the second time.

Last night while doing dishes I put on that same pop station and the song played again. Just like on the road my wife and I were singing and dancing. My kids got to hear it this time and they were grooving with us. My kids are super cool by the way. We all had a blast. Again, those four plus minutes were joyous. Then it was gone again. No more talk of Scissor Sisters. I kept thinking today while out running errands why this band never stuck. I think I finally came across a proper answer. This is my first time with a true one hit wonder type song. Growing up the pop music that was played was crummy, but those bands stuck around. And when I looked at some other one hit wonders, most of them were from the 80's or very early 90's. I was too young to get why 4 Non Blondes were a one hit wonder. Natalie Imbruglia had "Torn", but that was never on my radar. I could've used Gotye here, but his hit was only five years ago, and he had some underground success prior to "Somebody that You Used to Know". Scissor Sisters and "Take Your Mama" is like my generation's Flock of Seagulls or that song "Cars" or "Three Princes". And that is fine. But this band could have been so much more. Just listening to "Take Your Mama" I get B-52's vibes. They do have a very vague Talking Heads sound to me. They are a much better version of Polyphonic Spree. I think they are a better band than The Strokes or Vampire Weekend. They, for some reason, just did not have the staying power. That bums me out.

I will say that listening to this song again yesterday has me wanting to go back and check out their other music, but I am worried it won't be as good. But I am going to listen to some more Scissor Sisters. I will find out if they are as good as I hope they could have been. Time will tell, but we will always have "Take Your Mama". That will never be stricken from their catalog.

Ty

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

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Ty Listens to "Call Me if You Get Lost"

Tyler, the Creator came out with a new record today, "Call Me if You Get Lost". Let’s discuss.

I am a fan of Tyler. I first heard of him with his supergroup Odd Future, and have followed him ever since. I like all of his stuff. When he branched out on his own he did some grimy and gritty and great rap music. It could be tough to listen to at times, but it was dynamite. Then about three or four years ago he put out "IGOR". This is one of the best concept albums I have ever heard. He really went out on a limb, tried something different and it was a home run. I love that record. The last live show I saw was him doing his "IGOR" tour, and if that is the last live show I ever see, I feel very fine about that.

So when he announced new music, I did not really know what to expect. I thought he was going to continue with the "IGOR" sound one day, but the next day I would think he was going to go back to more straight forward rap. Then he released the song "LUMBERJACK" early, and that was like hearing old school Tyler, but also grown up. It is a straight up rap song, but Tyler has gotten even better at rapping. The way he flows, the intricate style he uses, the way he rhymes words, it shows growth as an artist. I really like "LUMBERJACK". I listened to it on repeat for about a week.

Then today he released the new record. There are sixteen songs on it, and most are less than three minutes long. But what he gets done in those three minutes is pretty amazing. The record is all pretty much straight up rap, but he accomplishes so much in that time. Take a song like "LEMONHEAD". It has a great beat, the verses are dope as hell and Tyler is in a groove throughout. It is bliss. There are some songs that deviate from the less than three minutes, but after a minute long buildup, it is two straight minutes of him rapping, and rapping perfectly. The album flows very nicely too. There seems to be a running theme, almost like he is telling a story with this album. It has the feel of "IGOR" in the way it moves from song to song. I really appreciate that. Some albums nowadays are front loaded with hits and the rest of the record is kind of blah. This album is one good song after the next, just like "IGOR". There isn't a skippable song on the record. Even when he has a little deviation, there is a song where he just lets his mom talk over a beat, it works. It feels like it belongs. There is one song that is almost ten minutes, but it is like three songs in one. The whole song doesn't feel long. It isn't like listening to a jam band go on an endless jam. This song has a structure and key changes and is amazing.

Tyler is at the top of his game right now. He is really good at what he does, and he knows it. I do recommend watching the little videos he has been posting on his Instagram for this album. They add a great layer to the album. Go listen to this record. It is good. It is better than most popular rap and pop music right now. Go give artists like Tyler, the Creator their flowers because they damn well deserve it. This record rules.

Ty

"You, Me, and My Ex" is Adding to the Dumbening of Us All

20th Century Fox

I have talked about a good amount of shows I have watched on TLC.

It is painful.

TLC used to be a real channel. It used to legitimately teach people things. I would watch stuff on TLC and feel like I was actually learning. It was like school. Now TLC is just a cesspool of ridiculous reality TV. And yes, I still watch. I am getting a bit bored by some of the shows my wife and I watch. "90 Day Fiance" is becoming way too repetitive. So are the offshoot shows from the "90 Day" world. Another wild show we watch is "Seeking Sister Wife", where a married couple is looking to add another wife, which is surprisingly boring. I also find myself getting openly mad at the people on these shows. They are the worst of the worst in reality TV. They are starved for attention, and TLC is giving them an avenue to act like the wild and gross people they are.

The most recent show my wife had me sit down to watch takes the absolute crap cake. I wrote a while back about a show TLC had called "Hot and Heavy" that was nuts, this new show is worse. There have been things like "Sex Sent me to the ER" and "My 600 lb Life" that are flat out dumb. But this new show, "You, Me and my Ex", is the absolute worst reality show I have ever seen. This is the most scripted, contrite and stupid thing. When we watched the pilot, which will be the only episode I watch, I said to my wife that I wish I was a fly on the wall when this show was pitched. I wanted to see how wild that room was. I wanted to see if they just figured that fans of TLC will literally watch ANYTHING. I wanted to see if they all laughed. I wanted to see the people at TLC that actually think this show was a good idea. I wanted to be there for it all. I wish the higher ups at TLC would think about new shows, for at least five minutes, before greenlighting everything.

The "premise" of this show is about a few couples that live with their exes. Pretty straight forward. But then there is all this added drama. The fights are all very fake. The people on the show clearly just want to be on TV, to be seen. Their stories are insane. The fact that anyone would allow this to happen, and then film it, is crazy. I cannot believe it. I would never, ever want to live with one of my wife's exes. So I sure as hell would not want it filmed either. And the way this show tries to make us feel bad for the people on this show, I mean it is the most cliché thing I have seen. One guy had a bad illness, another couple broke up because they cheated on each other and the final couple is a bisexual guy with his former boss. It is so cliché, so hackey and so stupid. Watching this show I kept thinking about the principal's speech in "Happy Gilmore". You all know the one. Where he says, "all of us listening to you are all now dumber", that's the speech I'm talking about. That is how I felt during "You, Me and my Ex". I felt pretty god damn stupid after watching. I was not engaged or enlightened. I did not learn anything. I was just annoyed and angry.

This show is terrible and I do not recommend anyone watch it. I would also like TLC to go back and try to do something, anything that teaches their viewers. I'm sure they won't, but one can hope.

Ty

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

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Let's Talk About the Bucks Series Win Over the Nets

Today I want to give the Milwaukee Bucks their proper flowers. I know it has been a minute since they won their series over the Nets, but the East Finals do not start until tonight, so it is still pretty fresh in my mind.

I watched every second of that game on Saturday night. I was entranced by the performances of Giannis and KD. The game was ugly at times too, especially in overtime. But overall this is what I want to see when I watch game 7 in the NBA playoffs. Tons of lead changes, tons of ties, coming down to the wire, it was all perfect game 7 stuff. KD was the absolute man for the Nets too. He literally did it all, and did not have much help be it due to injuries or players not showing up when they were on the floor. Harden was a ghost in the fourth quarter. Yes he was hurt, but he also did what he does in the playoffs and just crumbled. He didn't attack or draw fouls or shoot like he did in the first three quarters. Kyrie Irving was hurt. That ankle sprain was bad and he was not even available. If he were playing I do think the Nets would have won. Blake Griffin was fine on offense, but he got abused defensively. That was a slap in Giannis' face to put Griffin on him. Bruce Brown did all the little things he does so well, but he made some mental mistakes in game 7 that really hurt. Taking Giannis down for a technical foul in that game was rough. Deandre Jordan didn't even play. Joe Harris was missing shot after shot after shot. He was a humongous minus. Nic Claxton barely saw the floor. Everyone besides KD was a minus for the Nets. But man did KD show out. It was so great to see him look like himself. He was making incredible jumpers, attacking when the defense collapsed on him outside, played solid defense and ran that offense. This looked like the KD from OKC and Golden State. He looked healthy and loose and free and was an absolute force. He almost single handedly won that series for the Nets.

Yet KD did not, and the Nets could not buy and trade their way to a title this season. I have to admit I was very happy to see Milwaukee win. My dad is a fan, I love Giannis, I like that a small market team is in the conference finals, I think this takes some pressure off Mike Budenholzer and Giannis, it is all good to me. The Bucks did miss some golden opportunities, but when they needed other guys besides Giannis to step up, they did. Jrue Holiday had an awful offensive game, until late in the fourth. When the Bucks needed him he made big shots, got stops and made free throws. Khris Middleton had a rough shooting night, but he kept at it, he kept shooting and he finally got some big shots to fall, again when the Bucks needed it most. Brook Lopez stopped shooting threes and got closer to the rim. This helped to open things up for Giannis and the rest of the Bucks offense. He also, finally, grabbed some rebounds when the Bucks needed him to. Pat Connaughton and Brynn Forbes did exactly what was asked of them. They took and made some threes and stayed out of the way. And Giannis matched KD. Giannis had a great game. He put up 40 points, had double figures in rebounds, contested and made the Nets take harder shots at the rim, and biggest of all, he made 9 of his 13 free throws. That is big time for him. He was tremendous. He looked gassed at times, but hey, he had to carry that team for almost four full quarters. But he did, and the Bucks came away with the win.

In my eyes the Bucks are the best team, on paper, left in the playoffs. I hope this propels them to the finals, but you never know with the way the Hawks are playing right now. The Bucks passed a big time test though. Now lets see if it helps them the rest of these playoffs.

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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Let's Talk About the Hawks Series Win Over the 76ers

The next few days are going to be dedicated to the NBA playoff series that just wrapped up. First I want to talk about the 76ers-Hawks series.

The Hawks played this series perfectly. They went out there like they had nothing to lose and it showed. They were loose, they were having fun and they won the damn thing. That is highly impressive for a team that is back in the playoffs for the first time in a while. Trae Young is proving to be a big time player, John Collins is doing some good things, Clint Capela looks like he did in Houston and Kevin Huerter is having a moment. They look like they are enjoying all this, they have earned all this and I think they have a very bright future.

The Hawks are also a blast to watch. They move the ball a ton, they find open shooters, they dive and pick and roll and get alley oops, they are a joy. They do not play much defense, but they do enough to win on that end, and they score in bunches. Kudos to Atlanta.

As for Philadelphia this is, as far as sports goes, a disaster. They were the best team in the East all year. They steam rolled their way to the number 1 seed. They had, on paper, the easiest draw to the East Finals. They destroyed Washington, and it should have been the same with Atlanta. But this is where the difference in play showed. While Atlanta was free and loose, the 76ers were tight. They played to not lose. Atlanta played to win. Philadelphia was a mess on offense with the exceptions of Joel Embiid and Seth Curry. They were the only two dudes that could get the offense going. Joel Embiid played on one leg and he was as dominant as he has been all season. He did what he was supposed to do, what was expected from him. He looked every bit the MVP candidate he was all year. People will point out his turnovers, but when you have to shoulder such an enormous role, turnovers are going to happen. That is the nature of being the lone offensive star. Seth Curry did help. He hit some big shots in this series. He did what was asked of him when the 76ers traded for him. He was a disaster on defense, but he wasn't brought in to play defense. He was the floor spacer, the shooter he needed to be in this series.

The rest of the 76ers roster was dreadful. Tobias Harris could not hit the ocean. There were times when I forgot he was on the team. He was a ghost. It was some James Harden playoff stuff coming from Tobias Harris. They needed him to be their third star, and he was nonexistent. Dwight Howard wasn't playable at times. He just could not stay on the floor. They clearly missed Danny Green's defense. He isn't as good as he used to be, but he is still solid. He is also an okay enough floor spacer. Shake Milton, who I do like, should not be playing crucial minutes in do or die playoff games. Outside Embiid and Curry, the rest of the team, including Doc Rivers, let Philadelphia down.

Doc Rivers' decisions in this series were baffling. The lineups, the offense, the play calling, it was really, really bad. I like Doc Rivers too. I think he is a great person and an okay coach. This is becoming the norm for him now though. He should have multiple rings, but he only has one. This is worse than the Clippers collapse in the bubble last season. The 76ers couldn't do much, and a lot of that was due to Rivers' coaching.

And then we have Ben Simmons. I love Ben Simmons. I love the way he plays basketball. He is one of the best defenders in the league. He is dominant. I also love watching a 6'10 guy run the offense. It is rad to see him bring the ball up the floor and get the team going. It is great to see him fly down the court in transition and throw a dunk down. But he was really awful on offense in this series. He did some wild stuff. He would not shoot the ball, especially in the fourth quarter. He was terrible at the free throw line. The play where he spun off his defender and had a wide open dunk and passed it to a cutter was so insane. It was also a microcosm of how he played offense the whole series. He has shown no growth on that end. He refuses to shoot the ball, and with him passing up dunks and layups now, this is not a great situation. I think the 76ers need to explore the possibility of trading Simmons. I do not know what they will get in a return, his value has definitely diminished, but the Simmons-Embiid duo just doesn't seem to fit. Simmons needs a spot where he can slash and dunk, and Embiid needs to be surrounded by floor spacers and let him own the inside. Philadelphia has a ton of work to do this offseason. They are in a bad spot right now, and things may have to change.

As for Atlanta, again I tip my hat to them. They deserved to win this series and the Bucks better taken them seriously in the East Finals.

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 "Inside"

I will get to the NBA game 7's that happened this weekend later this week. But today I have to talk about the movie my wife and I watched on our quarantine date night this past Friday.

I know things are opening up, and more people are going back into the world, but not my wife and I. We are still staying at home most weekend nights, we have seen a few more friends, but they are all vaccinated, our kids do play sports, but I am masked and we still enjoy our new Friday date night routine. We still order from a local restaurant and we pick a movie to watch after our kids go to bed. This week was my turn and I picked the new Bo Burnham special "Inside". RD has told me to watch this. A friend of mine told me to watch this. I watched the trailer which made me want to watch this.

I will say, I am so happy RD and my buddy told me nothing about it, and the trailer is very vague. It is best to go into this thing not knowing what to expect. I absolutely adored this special. My wife wasn't as into it as I am, but she did like the music. My wife's problem, there wasn't enough comedy in it for her. I was absolutely blown away by what I witnessed. I keep calling it a "special", and not a "comedy special". My wife is right, it is not very comedic. There are jokes, some of the songs are funny, but this is more a piece of art posed as a comedy special.

When “Inside” starts we see Burnham in a room by himself. He goes on to explain that he is doing this special by himself. He wrote, directed, edited, arranged, he did everything on this project. He had one producer, but I have to assume that was after the fact. This is all Burnham. So to see the way he did this, how he did this, to see the background stuff, to see some of the outtakes, to see him going through a massive change in his emotions, I was floored. Seriously, I was moved by this special. The whole idea was to do a one hour comedy show, but with no audience and by himself. He does it with no audience and by himself, but it is so, so much more than comedy. At the beginning Burnham is unshaven and has shaggy hair. He then goes into his routine. His first song is a short and sweet pop groove called "Content". It is classic Burnham. He is hammy and jokey and pointing out everyday foibles. He then goes into some more songs and bits that follow his usual path. The song "Comedy" is such a great F U to people who think they are holier than thou. "Facetime with my Mom" is downright hilarious. It starts to get a little darker on "How the World Works", but I love that song. It is so true and so of the time and so needed. Socko is a genius. "White Woman's Instagram" kind of goes back to classic Burnham, but there is this moment of clarity when he talks about a girl posting a picture of her deceased mom and the caption accompanying it. It shows growth. "Unpaid Intern" is a hilarious bebop parody. He then shifts into a very of the time bit about doing a response video. My son watches stuff like this all the time, and Burnham nails it. When he plays it on that loop it is wild. The first "Bezos" song comes out of nowhere, and it is totally off the rails, but I loved it. Then we get "Sexting", and this is a very funny song about how people are intimate in modern times. It does end on a dreary note. Then we get "Problematic", and this is such a great song which shows Burnham is embarrassed and ashamed of some of his past bits. He is apologizing in his own way for what he has done. It is fantastic.

Then, right in the middle of the special we get a complete tonal shift. Burnham turns 30 during the special. He stops and talks about it and we even see a clock that reads 11:58. He talks about how he thought he would be done with this special before his birthday, but he is not. Then this gets dark. The whole thing changes, and it is amazing to watch. He performs the song "30", and it is such a perfect way of explaining how most of us accomplish almost nothing when we turn 30. Burnham says nearly everything I thought when I turned 30, but I did have a kid and married my wife prior to 30. At this point in the special Burnham's hair and beard are much longer and very unkempt. He is also wearing the same clothes day after day. He is clearly going through some stuff. And it is all on film. He does a great little tune called "Don't Wanna Know". It is all of his personal thoughts laid out. Then we get real depressing stuff, "Shit" and "All Time Low". These songs are about how he is feeling bad, how he is depressed and how he doesn't know if he will get out of this or not. The loneliness and solitude are clearly getting to him. Then there is this vaudeville esque song called "Welcome to the Internet". It is bleak and sad and gloomy and scary and 100 percent true. I do not know if a more apt lyric than "can I interest you in anything and everything all of the time" has ever been sung. We also get some bleak bits in this portion where Burnham pretends to stream a game that is just him crying and barely moving, him posing with a knife and doing a YouTube-esque subscribe video. He is also clearly losing it when he talks to the camera and cannot get the words out without punching his leg. He is frustrated and losing his grip. There is a second "Bezos" song that is more bizarre than the first, but again, it slaps. Then he plays an acoustic guitar and sings a song called "That Funny Feeling". If this were sung by someone like Father John Misty or Conor Oberst from Bright Eyes, people would call it genius. Burnham nails this impression, and the song is so good. He then breaks down on camera. He starts crying and it goes black. Then he performs "All Eyes on Me". This is the quintessential portion of this special. This is Burnham letting it all out, really going for it and really just letting his mental stuff take hold. Again, it is bleak and brutal, but it hits so many chords. It hits so many feelings that all of us have had during this pandemic. He then closes it out with "Goodbye" and "Any Day Now". Both songs touch on things from earlier in the special, and they kind of wrap it all up. We also see Burnham finally step outside and a fake audience is clapping and cheering for him. This turns into laughter and he is terrified by it. He wants back inside. But then we see him watching this bit and a shy smile comes across his face and it ends.

Look, I was completely and utterly blown away by this. I have never seen anything like it. I think it is the best representation of life during this pandemic. Burnham absolutely nails every aspect of it. He hits a homerun with every song and every bit. It is perfect. I have watched it twice now and been listening to the music on Spotify. This is one of the best pieces of art that I have been able to witness. I do not know what Burnham was trying to achieve or get out of this. but man did he do something that I will never forget. "Inside" is genius. Of course I think you should watch it.

Ty

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

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Ty Watches "Dave" Season Two Premier

Season two of "Dave" premiered this past Wednesday. I watched the first two episodes yesterday. I'm here to tell you how great they are today.

Full disclosure, I am a fan of this show. I knew of Lil Dicky due to listening to rap music. So when the real Lil Dicky, Dave, announced he had a TV show coming out, I was intrigued. I figured the show was going to be goofy and silly like his rapping. I was wrong. There is silly and goofy stuff, but there is also serious and deep stuff on this show. The episode where he and his girlfriend break up is heart wrenching. Seeing him deal with what he perceives to be shortcoming in bed where eye opening. The episode with his hype man GaTa talking about his bi polar was one of the most moving things I've ever witnessed. This show has levels. It was one of my top five shows after its first season of the year. Obviously I was stoked for season two, and the first two episodes did not disappoint.

To kick off the season we find Dave in Korea shooting a K Pop music video for the first single off his upcoming album. He got a record deal during season one, and now we find him working on it. What I loved about this first ep so much was how stressed and nervous Dave and his crew were. The episode made me nervous. It was like watching "Uncut Gems". There is so much that happens, and it all happens so fast. I also like the fact that they talk about getting likes and posts on social media. The music industry, hell probably every industry, is so reliant on social media now, so for "Dave" to talk about that, it was a home run. Hell, he got his notoriety mostly due to the internet. I loved it when he had to get a selfie with a K Pop star. I loved it when his intern told Dave he didn't follow him and you could see the hurt in Dave's eye. I loved watching GaTa acting like his stuff was all top of the line on the internet, and then when they got off the phone we realized it wasn't all that it was cracked up to be. I was so impressed with how they skewered the fascination and need of the internet and social media. It was fantastic. We also come to realize that Dave has some serious writer's block right now, and his album isn't even close to being done. Hence the stress involved in the episode.

In the second episode we see Dave reconnecting with his buddy Els who left to go on a major tour in season one. He is back in LA and he is having a party. Dave is still struggling making music, but he will not let on with his record company. He is also doing some serious procrastination and he is getting high constantly. Dave gets an invite to Els' party, and he is pumped. Once he gets there though he realizes how things have changed. GaTa is having a blast because he likes the party lifestyle. Els' ex girlfriend is happy to be at a club. Els is big time now, and he shows it right in front of Dave. And all Dave can do is grovel and feel sorry for himself. He eventually leaves the party, realizing he isn't as important as he once was, and hits on a younger girl that he brings back to his fancy new house. I loved the way this episode ended because it gave us two scenarios. It let us decide what we wanted the ending to be. In both endings he plays the autotune music he did in season one with his ex-girlfriend, obviously trying to recreate that moment in time, and it doesn't work how he hoped. In the first ending we see him send the girl off and go to get high and pleasure himself, only to be attacked by the ants he has in his house. He crashes through a window and we do not know if he is okay or not. The other ending shows him giving in and hooking up with the girl. That is where the show leaves us, the two of them going to his room. It was such a cool, unique way to end an episode. I'm still trying to figure out which one was the real ending.

"Dave" is a very good, very original show. I'm very excited to see where they go with the rest of this season, but I know it will be good. This show has more than earned the benefit of the doubt. Go watch this show. It's very good.

Ty

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

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Ty Listens to Lorde's "Solar Power"

For the first time in, I think four years, Lorde released a new song. I saw her on her last tour and it was amazing. Her last album, "Melodrama", is phenomenal. She is a very unique and gifted singer and songwriter. She also takes a very long time in between albums. As I said, this is her first new song in four years, and it is just one song. I have to imagine an album is coming out, hopefully sometime soon. But this song, "Solar Power", is pretty damn great.

I saw on Spotify last week that the title section, "New Music" had her new song. I listened immediately. Then I listened again. Then again. I have been listening to the song non stop, which has led me to listening to all her older stuff more and more. But this new song is different but still great. Lorde keeps evolving as an artist the older she gets. Her music is becoming more adult because she is becoming an adult. Her first album is rad, but you can tell she is a teenager. The song "Royals", which I love, speaks volumes to how young she was when she wrote and recorded it. The whole "Melodrama" album shows someone entering adulthood. And now with "Solar Power", she is kind of melding the two, and the outcome is pure magic. The song has this neat little acoustic guitar riff for the first two minutes that is permanently stuck in my head. You add on her vocals throughout, where she is kind of softly singing, almost like a whisper, and man does it work. The song sounds moody but upbeat at the same time. She has one lyric that I think is perfection. At one point she calls herself a "prettier Jesus". That is it. She sings, "I'm like a prettier Jesus", and it is so awesome, so profound, so Lorde. The first time I heard her sing it in the song I was hooked. When we get to the two minute point in the song it gets louder and heavier. It builds to this great crescendo of drums, electric guitar and Lorde singing the chorus louder than the rest of the song. I love it so much.

I have been playing the new song in my car on repeat, but especially when my five year old is with me. I want her to hear kickass music coming from a woman. I want her to know that she can do this too if she wants, and if she puts in the time. We listen to other stuff like, Karen O, Sleater-Kinney, Lizzo and Erykah Badu, but my daughter, at least lately, has been picking Lorde, and more specifically, her new song. She loves it. She hums and sings along to it. We sing and dance together when we listen to it on our stereo at home. It is such a good song, and the fact that my daughter is so into it lets me know she has good taste and understands what good music is. She is a smart little whip.

"Solar Power" has me so excited for the new, I assume, album that Lorde has coming down the pipe. She is one of the best people making music right now, and I still feel like she gets overlooked because she isn't some pop darling. She writes profound, deep music. That is what should be celebrated about her. Lorde rules. I'm ready for the full album. In the meantime, I think I'll go play "Solar Power" again. I recommend you do too.

Ty

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

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It Has Been a Crazy Day in the NBA

There was a flurry of NBA news this morning. Chris Paul was put in health and safety protocol. Kawhi is out with a possible Achilles injury. People were still talking about KD's epic game last night. Scott Brooks and Stan Van Gundy were relieved of their job as head coach. Also, LaMelo Ball won rookie of the year.

This has been a nutso day.

I know people are freaking out about CP3 being in health and safety protocols, but I do not think it is a really big deal. Did we all already forget that LeBron was about to be put in health and safety protocols? Did he miss any playoff games? Also, the Suns wrapped up their series last week, and the Jazz and Clippers are playing game five tonight. That series is going to go, at least, one more game, and then the East will have to finish their two series, and then the conference finals will start. I'd say, at most, Paul misses one game, if any at all. He will be fine.

The Kawhi injury is a bummer for all Clippers fans. They looked like they were putting it all together. They were playing very good defense. And Kawhi was really asserting himself as a force on both ends of the floor. He was starting to look like the Toronto version of Kawhi. With him out, who knows. No one seems to know how serious the injury may be. The Jazz are not playing great right now. The Clippers are deeper. I mean, they could still win this series, but they are going to get smoked by the Suns if Kawhi misses more time than people expect right now. I picked them to play the Nets in the finals, but I was not comfortable with that pick at the time, the Dallas series only furthered that discomfort and now Kawhi is out. Maybe the basketball gods really do dislike the Clippers.

KD was great last night. He did it all for the Nets, and they are down their other 2 star players. Harden did play, but he did not look comfortable. He looked slower than normal and could not shoot the ball. KD played every single second of that game. He was everywhere on defense. He grabbed 18 rebounds. He had 49 points, 31 in the second half. He was making incredible shots and he dished out 10 assists. That was an all time performance. KD does this all the time now. This is commonplace for him. He shows up big in the biggest moments. He was amazing to watch last night. Games like that are why I love the NBA.

LaMelo most likely deserved the rookie of the year, so his win was kind of expected. I thought after he got hurt that Anthony Edwards was going to run away with the award. He also got better, so I wouldn't have been surprised if he won it. But LaMelo played on a better team, he ran the offense and he was pretty awesome. It is very clear he is the most talented Ball brother.

Finally we have the two coaches being let go. The Scott Brooks thing was kind of expected. He has done a solid job of doing just enough in Washington of getting the most out of a not so loaded roster. He's gone to the playoffs a few times. He has put together some nice winning streaks. He got Russ to play an all around type game. Bradley Beal has flourished under him. But the Wizards never met their own personal high standards. They only made the east semis once. They were a team no one was really afraid of in the playoffs. They have not been very good for the past couple years, and Brooks' time there had come to an end. He did all he could, and it was not enough. He will still get interviews from other teams, but I think Brooks is exactly as good as he will ever be as a head coach. Any team that may hire him in the future will know exactly what they are getting from him. His team's will be okay, but never great.

As for Stan Van Gundy, that one surprised me. I read that some of the players on the team did not really like him, and he has not been great in his last two stops, but letting him go after one shortened season, that is cold. That franchise is doing everything they can to keep Zion, but this will be his third coach in his third season. That kind of inconsistency would leave me a little nervous if I were a player. The constant change is not good. There is no continuity. He will have to learn yet another game plan. So will all the other players. This is a problem. They should have given him at least one more season, just to see what happens. But teams just do not want to wait around anymore. They want instant gratification, and if it doesn't work right away, they just move on. That's a bummer.

Now we will just have to wait and see if the NBA throws anything else at us today. It has been crazy enough already, but hey, there is still 10 hours left in the day. It could get even wilder.

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 "Loki" Episode One

Last week my wife and I sat down and watched "Loki". I read some headlines that talked about how good the premiere was, that it was one of the better shows on TV, that the actors were all very committed to the material and that it is going to change the way Marvel does TV. I thought Marvel had already done that with "WandaVision", but hey, pretty much everything Marvel does, I like. I am a fan. There are very few Marvel properties that I do not like. I even think the second "Thor" movie gets too much hate. So all these headlines just made me want to watch "Loki" more. I have grown to enjoy his character in every iteration since "Infinity War". He has gotten more fun, he's funnier, he's wittier and Tom Hiddleston has made him a likeable villain.

When we watched the first episode we made sure we had it nice and quiet so we could really focus on what was happening. I really enjoyed how they premiered this show. They did so many things that I like. They gave us flashback scenes. When the episode opened with the scene from "Endgame" where they are trying to return the tesseract, that was rad. I liked seeing all of that go down through Loki's eyes. And he was every bit as mischievous as I hoped. He stole the tesseract, he used it and he traveled in time. From there the show takes quite a turn. Loki gets caught, he cannot use his powers and he is in what looks like a jail. We then meet Owen Wilson's character, who is some kind of time traveling detective. We find him in 16th century France investigating a crime. He then comes back to TVA, the jail-like facility and sits in on Loki's trial. It was pretty wild to see Loki continually trying to use his powers. He couldn't get them to work because this TVA place has stuff to stop people who have powers from using them. He is sentenced to be put to death, but Owen Wilson gets him out of it. They have a chat and this is where we learn what this season of this show is going to be about. Loki is shown images of his crimes. He clearly has some regrets. He is then told that his whole life is planned out for him by the people at TVA. They even show him how his loved ones die, either because of him or outside sources. He gets to a point where he gets away from the people controlling his powers only to see how he died in "Infinity War". At this moment he realizes there is not much he can do to change anything. He has pretty much accepted his fate. Wilson finds him and tells him why he kept him alive, what he needs from him. Spoiler alert, he needs Loki to capture other Loki's. There is what seems like an army of Loki's through time messing things up and trying to become king. It was pretty dope to see that final scene where the TVA police travel to Oklahoma in the 19th century, get caught by this timeline's Loki and to see a Loki in a cape walk away with one of their time traveling devices.

I'm pretty pumped to see where the show goes from here. Marvel has aced the whole TV thing with "WandaVision" and "Falcon and the Winter Soldier", and I am sure they will with "Loki" if the first episode is any indication of how the rest of the season will go. I have high hopes, but I am sure they will surpass them all. "Loki" is great. If you have Disney + I highly recommend checking it out.

Ty

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The Tragic End of the Bo Schembechler Legend

Last week some damning and explosive news came out about Bo Schembechler and a doctor he protected who was abusing players during Bo's time as head coach. This shocked me to my core. I was stunned. I'm still stunned. I did not want to believe it. I think I have sat on this so long because I was hoping, maybe I still am, that this is all wrong. That all these athletes, nearly 900 of them, have just misremembered things. That does not seem to be the case.

This story, as more and more news comes out, keeps getting more and more real to me. I just do not want to accept it, but I know I have to. For those that may not know, Bo Schembechler has been accused of covering up sexual abuse by a former doctor at Michigan. He did not report it, and may have told players to "toughen up" and "get over it". This is so, so, so bad. This is a real problem and it needs to be addressed. I know that Jim Harbaugh and Schembechler's son Schemmy have come out and said they did not see any of this. But, Schembechler's step son, who is estranged from the family, former players and other athletes have come forward and said they were abused by this doctor. Like I said, this is bad, and it seems very true. If it is just one or two people maybe it isn't true. But, when over 850 athletes come forward, that is no coincidence. That usually means the accusations are truthful.

I am having a real hard time grappling with this. This is, outside of family, one of my biggest idols growing up. Bo always talked about doing things the right way, being vigilant about that, not cutting corners, never hiding from adversity. He was the epitome of a "good guy". My earliest memories are watching Michigan games with my dad and being told, and adhering to the fact that he was a great coach and an even better guy. That has all come crashing down with this story. We will never know the true extent, Bo, the doctor and Bo's wife Millie have all passed away. But I say again, when this many people come forward, it is more than likely factual. I am trying to come to terms with how to deal internally with all of this. To this point I have removed all my Bo memorabilia I have in my home, which is plentiful. His books are off my shelves, my bobblehead of him is gone, any t-shirt that has his image has been removed from my wardrobe, the pictures I have kept are not in my possession. I cannot look at his face anymore and not feel hurt and deceived by him. This, in terms of sports, is a travesty to me. This is tragic. This stinks.

I was talking to my dad about this over the weekend, who loved Bo more than I did, who talked about him like a legend, and we both are having trouble dealing. We both said that if this were Urban Meyer or Jim Tressel or Mark Dantonio this would be so easy to swallow. We would be laughing about it. Those guys have their issues, Meyer is a cheater and a liar, Tressel got fired for illegal recruiting and Dantonio retired before he was going to get caught. None of them have this sexual abuse accusation though. The closest is Dantonio, who seemed to let his players get away with everything, but no stories have come out about that yet. The only comparison I can make to the Schembechler news is what happened at Penn State under Joe Paterno, and you better believe I was very vocal about that whole situation. I was on my high horse when that news came out. And while the Michigan news didn't involve another coach, it is still pretty similar. There was abuse, it was sexual and it was covered up by a legendary head coach.

I just do not see a world where Michigan does not try to distance themselves from Schembechler. They need to remove the statue, of which I had a picture next to. They need to remove his name. They need to address this travesty and try to make things better. They need to help and support the victims. They need to do the right thing. Bo was a legend. So was Paterno, but I do not hear much about him when I see Penn State football games. Michigan needs to do the same with Bo. It may be hard, it may feel bad, but it needs to happen. That is the right thing to do, as well as working with the victims, helping them out.

This is an utter disaster. I am still shook. I still do not understand why Bo felt the need to help this monstrous person who was doing terrible things. This is bad. This is a stain on this prestigious university. And it comes from a man that everyone involved with Michigan football has lionized. Something needs to happen and it needs to happen now. I cannot and will not stand up for Bo anymore. He is no longer the legend that I once vouched he was. He did bad things and the school needs to move on from him. That would be the right thing to do.

Ty

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

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Publix Does Not Live Up to Basic Decency

Time for a hot take!

Last Friday I wrote a piece about how much I enjoyed my Publix sandwich. I stand by my like for the sandwich, but what my father told me has shaken me to my core.

I did not realize that an heiress involved with the company is a proud supporter of the riotous insurrectionists that stormed the Capitol on January 6th. I feel disgusted and ashamed that I said nice things about that company. My dad told me that they have distanced themselves from the heiress, but still, it was said and the name Publix is involved.

This is on me too. I should have done more research. I should have double checked things that I skirted by. I need to do more digging before I put pen to paper. So while I enjoyed my sandwich, I want to retract all the nice things I said about Publix. I just cannot openly support a company that stands with liars, rioters, cheaters, murderers, racists, terrorists and people that aim only to hurt people that do not agree with them. I am outraged and grossed out. I will never, ever, ever go to a Publix again. I have not shopped at Home Depot or purchased any Under Armor gear since 2016, and now I will never patronize a Publix ever again.

I am upset that I said nice things about a company involved with such a heinous person. Please accept my apologies, and know that I will keep my promise to never go to that store again. Thank you.

Ty

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

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Publix Sandwiches More Than Live Up to the Hype

Finishing up my three days this week talking about my trip, I want to talk about the sandwiches we all got at Publix.

I’ve heard of Publix. Many people who live in the south have talked about Publix. When we saw the store my wife exclaimed, “they have the best sandwiches!”, and we wanted to put that to the test. After my son and I went on a hike, we met up and went to get sandwiches at Publix. I went in and ordered for all of us and we brought them back to the condo to enjoy.

My kids sandwiches weren’t too wild. One had ham and cheese and the other had turkey, lettuce and cheese. My wife went pretty bland too. She had turkey, lettuce, Mayo and provolone cheese. I went off the menu and got the Cuban sandwich. That had a few different meats, spicy Gouda cheese and I added lettuce and tomato. I had my sandwich on wheat bread and the rest of my family had theirs on five grain Italian bread. When we got back I grabbed my sandwich, some water and proceeded to chow down.

My sandwich was great. It was spicy, the meat, which is Boar’s Head, was so good and the veggies were so fresh and tasty. I asked the workers if I should get any condiments on it and they said they wouldn’t, that the sandwich is good on its own. Whether they were lying or just didn’t want to do extra work, they were right. The sandwich was so good. I scarfed that bad boy down. I inhaled it. I was amazed at how fast I finished it. But it was that good.

I’ve had my fare share of sandwiches, I used to work in a few, but this sandwich was better. I would go as far to say that the only place I’ve had a better sandwich is Zingermann’s in Ann Arbor. That’s a much better sandwich shop than Publix, but Publix is a strong second. It’s better than Bread Co or Subway or Quizno’s. I like it more than the sandwiches they make at my local grocery store. Publix is good.

As for my family, my wife, obviously loved her sandwich. She was telling us how it reminded her of going there when she was a kid. So she not only got the delightful taste, she got to relive memories. That’s a statement. I could see how happy she was while eating it. It’s the same when I have a pasty or calico beans. Those memories add so much to the eating experience. My kids were stoked. They’ve never had Boar’s Head. It’s too expensive. But when on vacation, we kind of indulge. My son was in hog heaven. She just kept saying, “man is this good” over and over. He was very impressed. My daughter is a bit more picky, but she ate every single bite. She deconstructed it, going bread, cheese and meat, but she ate it all. That’s rare. That means it was very well made and very good. She doesn’t finish many meals, but she finished this one.

Food is a big deal while on vacation, so it’s nice to have a place that can give you somewhat of a healthy option but also taste very good. Publix has 3 new fans and just reaffirmed my wife’s love of the place. Those were some tasty sandwiches. Good work.

Ty

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

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Adventures in Running and Hiking in Gulf Shores

We are going to be home from our trip in a few hours, and I wanted to talk about the running, hiking and “trails” in Gulf Shores.

A newer thing for me, the past five years, is checking out the running when I go somewhere. It’s a neat way to get to know the area you’re staying in and you get a feel for the terrain. I was excited about Gulf Shores because I remember it being flat. That’s a good thing because I was just given the full go from my doctor. My injury has healed and I can go to my threshold. I figured the flat ground would be nice. And it was for the first two miles of my first solo run. Then it got pretty boring pretty quick. I’ve had a similar sensation running half marathons. When you get a long stretch of flats it can be a nice break, but it sure gets tedious after awhile. And it’s not like I’m one for hills. I dread going uphill. But I love going downhill. I gain speed, I’ve been told to go down hill more freely and it breaks up the monotony. There was little to none of that this week. I would take weird turns, hoping I’d find hills. There were none. I ran a 10k yesterday and I “gained” less than 20 feet of elevation. It may as well have been an ant hill. I saw the “hill” during this run and it wasn’t exciting at all. I was up and down it within seconds. It was a drag. But that’s how it was everyday I ran, which was 3 of the four days we were there.

On the second day of the trip, after a day of swimming in the Gulf, I decided I wanted to do some trail running. There was a state park about four miles from the condo we stayed in, so I drove out to a trail head that had about six connecting trails. I figured this would get me into the three digit elevation category. It wasn’t even close. I ran four miles on three separate trails and my elevation gain that day was 60 feet. Again, I’m not a big elevation fan, I tend to walk uphill, but still, it’s a nice break to have that walk. At home I average a bit over 200 per run. When I run with my buddy, a small elevation run is about 500 feet. My body is used to going up and down. That’s not the case in Gulf Shores.

Also, they need to be very loose with the term “trail”. I talked to a park ranger about how most, if not all, the trails are paved. She told me that’s the way they like it in Gulf Shores. She said most people walk or bike the trails, so it’s better for them to pave them. I’m not a fan of this idea at all. Trails need sticks and roofs and rocks and should require some technical work. I trails I ran on had none of those. The bridges on the trail were a nice touch, but those were all pristine. They were too nice, not worn down enough, didn’t seem used very much. It was kind of a bummer. When I hear trail I think woods. I’m sure most people do. But these trails were simply flat, paved walkways.

The same problem with the “trails” is what irked me about hiking. My son had I hike together a lot. He’s a good hiker too. I let him talk and talk and he likes to climb and pick up sticks and get in a good sweat. The only thing he got on our hike this week was the sweat. He openly complained about the lack of sticks. He asked why this trail was so easy compared to home. He didn’t have to drink much water because he said it was “too easy” for him. I couldn’t agree more. Our two and a half mile hike only took 40 minutes. It was a breeze. And the lack of tree coverage was a big letdown. Tree coverage is a big time help, especially as it gets warmer out. There was no coverage at all. It was hot, bright and brutal at times. For a place that has so much vegetation the trees are practically nonexistent. The lack of shade crushed any good time I had all week.

Don’t get me wrong, I was happy to run, I’m glad I saw some new parts of town I missed, but it wasn’t the highlight I was hoping it might be. It was kind of a letdown. Props to people that run marathons in that swamp though. Those people are bosses. But no elevation and no shade is not for me I suppose.

Ty

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

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Is Nikola Jokic the Right MVP?

Nikola Jokic won the NBA MVP last night in a runaway.

At first I was kind of stunned at how big his margin of victory turned out to be. I think Jokic is great, and deserving, but to win by as much as he did, that was wild. I have gone to bat for Joel Embiid all season. He was my pick. I think he is most valuable to the 76ers, and when he plays, he’s nearly unstoppable. He is a modern Hakeem. We also had Steph Curry. He had a wonderful year. He is the greatest shooter I’ve ever seen. He had no help at all this year and he still won the scoring title. He’s more than proven he’s one of the top five players in the league. Before LeBron got hurt he had a real chance to win. The Lakers were coasting, it coasting with a healthy LeBron meant they were near the top of the West. He also looked to be locked in defensively, and when he does that, it’s over. There’s also Chris Paul. He has shown his worth the last two seasons. He went to OKC last year and had them as a five seed in the West with a totally unproven roster. Then he goes to Phoenix this year, to a team that hadn’t been in the playoffs in forever, and turned them into a two seed that cruised over the Lakers in round one. He even got hurt but went out and played as well as he always does. There were other players that popped up here and there, guys like KD, Harden, Jayson Tatum, but the guys I mentioned were the main dudes in the running all season for MVP.

So after it was announced that Jokic won, I kind of thought back on the season and tried to figure out why he won. Chris Paul is great, but that team has Devin Booker and Deandre Ayton. They were also looked at as a team that was going to make a leap this year. Paul wasn’t so much the MVP for them as he was the veteran they needed to make the jump. LeBron simply missed too much time and limped to a poor finish for him. He is an amazing player, second greatest ever, but he hurt his ankle and that was it for his chances at a fifth MVP. Curry was incredible, did amazing things, scored like hell, but the Warriors didn’t even make the playoffs. I remember when Russ won his lone MVP, his first year averaging a triple double, and people questioned him winning because OKC was a five seed I believe. Again, the Warriors didn’t even make the playoffs. What Steph did this season was so much fun to watch, but I think the MVP should be on a team that gets into the playoffs at the very least. As for Embiid, and I still would’ve given him way more votes, he missed too much time due to injuries. And when he was out the 76ers kept on winning. They definitely missed him, but this Philadelphia team is constructed to deal with injuries to their stars. It might have been different if they needed Embiid to secure the one seed, but they did that when Embiid was nursing his knee. He had a tremendous season, and this seems to be just the start of a dominate career. But the MVP was not for him this year.

I then I looked at Jokic, and it kind of made sense. He didn’t miss any significant time. He was tremendous running the Nuggets offense. He played better defensively. He is the lynchpin of their offense. Everything runs through him. When they acquired Aaron Gordon, Gordon adjusted his game to fit with Jokic. Murray tore his ACL, and when I thought that would push them off a cliff, Jokic was the calming force that led the Nuggets to the three seed. Also, they’re currently in the second round of the playoffs. Jokic is a much deserving MVP. I love that he’s the latest pick, 41st in his draft, to win. He’s also the first center since Shaq to win the MVP. Shaq won it in 2000 by the way.

I don’t know how the Nuggets will fare in the rest of the playoffs, but after sitting on the news yesterday, Jokic deserved this award. He earned it. So congrats. Enjoy this MVP and let’s see if you guys don’t get smoked by Phoenix.(I think they will though)

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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The Ways the Pandemic Changed My Vacation

My wife, my kids and I are on our first vacation since 2019 right now. We have two days left, and it’s been fun. We’ve gone to the beach, ordered takeout, we even ate inside a restaurant. We are still masking up whenever we venture away from our Air BnB, but for the most part, it’s been relatively “normal”.

When I woke up this morning, and was given the plan for the day, I stopped for a moment and realized what my favorite part of this vacation has been so far. As I said, we’ve done done tourist stuff, I’ve been trail running, I’m taking my son hiking today, but my favorite part is the fact that we are back at our place no later than 7:15 every night. It’s glorious. Our kids are still young, my son is nine and daughter is five. The younger one goes to bed at 8:00 every night, and she doesn’t want to change that, even while on vacation. The older one goes to bed around 9:00 or 9:30, but he really enjoys his hour of video game or TV time he gets when his sister goes to bed, so he wants to be back for that. My wife and I really enjoy the hour or so before we go to bed that’s just the two of us. That’s our time to reflect on the day, to relax, to just be adults basically. It’s fantastic.

Take last evening as an example. I wanted seafood for dinner and we hadn’t purchased any at the grocery store. We decided we would pick some up and bring it back to the condo. I also had to make a stop at the grocery store to grab more bottled water for us. The tap water in Gulf Shores is not great. So we went to the beach for the day, then I went for a run and then we made sure we left the condo at 4:45 so we could accomplish all the nighttime stuff that needed to be done. By the time I left the grocery store, it was 7:15, and that was considered late. We got back to the condo at 7:30, made ice cream cones for the kids and watched some TV. I read my daughter a story at 8:00 and left her room by 8:15. By 8:30 she was out. A day of swimming and running around really made her crash. Then we let out son watch Hulu in our room until 9:00. Then he put himself to bed. Then my wife and I watched TV and just relaxed until 10:00. We had our ice cream, we talked, watched “The Office” and we’re both ready to conk out by 10:30. It’s been wonderful. I remember being a kid on vacation and wanting to stay up late and go out and do stuff all the time. That was crazy. I get why my parents had us get back to hotels or family members houses now. As a parent of younger kids, the day starts so much earlier, so by the early evening, you’re totally exhausted. That’s why everyone wants to go to bed early.

We have two full days left, counting today, and I’d be willing to guarantee that we will all be going to bed even earlier. I’m taking my son hiking while the ladies go to the beach. Then we are spending a full day at the beach tomorrow, and I’ll be doing more trail running in the late afternoon. We will all be tired, it knowing that we will be back in the condo by 7:30 is a wonderful, and comforting feeling.

Ty

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Trying to Make Sense of the Julio Jones Trade

Julio Jones has been traded. He is a Tennessee Titan, and they acquired him for, in my opinion, a very small price. I think all the Falcons got was three total draft picks, none of which are a first rounder. I’m surprised that the Falcons pulled the trigger on such a small offer, but here we are. I guess he really wanted out, some other teams were offering even less and Atlanta was okay letting him go. He’s one of the best receivers in the league, he’s mostly durable and he can stretch a defense.

Yet this trade, on every level, flat out confuses me. As I said, Jones is a top three wideout in the league. Any team that got him would be an instant contender for me. But I do not like the fit in Tennessee. Yes the Titans are an established playoff team, they were in the AFC title game two seasons ago and they have some solid weapons. But this team wins with defense and running. They’re a very good defensive team. They play so solid on that side of the ball. They don’t make too many mental mistakes and they pounce on opportunities. On offense the team goes as Derrick Henry goes, and rightfully so. He is probably the best running back in the league right now. He may go for 2,000 yards this upcoming season. He is very, very good. He’s the heart and soul of the Titans offense. Jones also said he wanted to go to a team with a “big armed quarterback”. Ryan Tannehill is a fine game manager, but I would say he has a “big arm”. I know the Dolphins tried this route with him and it didn’t work. Then he came to Tennessee to backup Marcus Mariota, and fell into the starting QB due to poor play and injury. But Tennessee has never relied on Tannehill to win games. They go with defense and running. They like to control the tempo of the game. They want to slow everything to a grinding halt. That’s not what Julio Jones wants to do. He is a big play guy. He wants to get the ball and move. He wants to out jump corners for touchdowns. He is super fast and super skilled in the open field. Jones is a prototypical modern receiver. And while the Titans have another solid receiver in AJ Brown, they still don’t really stretch the field or go very fast.

I personally think Jones would’ve been better off going to a team like the Rams. They got Matthew Stafford, and even though he’s oft injured, he can chuck it. Sean McVay would also put Jones in position to fully utilize his skill. I think pairing him with Lamar Jackson in Baltimore would’ve put the Ravens over the top. I fully believe that would’ve put them very close to the Chiefs. If my team, the Packers, had made a play for him, maybe Aaron Rodgers would’ve reported to camp right now. And Jones and Davante Adams would’ve been a highly impressive duo. I’m sure there’s other teams I’m missing, but Tennessee just seems like not a great fit for Jones and the Titans.

As for Atlanta, I’m still scratching my head at how little they got for one of the best at his position in the game right now. The Rams and Lions traded picks and QB’s. If the Packers do trade Rodgers, I’m sure they’ll get a kings ransom that includes picks and players. Big time O lineman go for better picks than what the Falcons got for Jones. It just feels, to me, that Atlanta jumped the gun. They took an offer they liked before vetting other teams. They got nothing of real substance for an established player. Who knows what these picks will turn into, but Torrey Smith said it best. He tweeted that he’d rather have an established star than picks that may or may not pan out. He’s right. I fully agree with him. The fact that Atlanta chose Matt Ryan over Julio Jones tells me they don’t care about winning right now. They simply didn’t want to pay to get a better QB to pair with Jones, Kyle Pitts and a running back by committee. Matt Ryan’s best days are well behind him. Julio Jones still has a few years left in his prime.

This trade just seems hastily slapped together. I think all parties involved could’ve gotten a better deal. I hope I’m proven wrong because I really enjoy watching Julio Jones play football. But going to the Titans feels more like a lateral move. We will see.

Ty

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