It’s the day after Thanksgiving or Black Friday, if you must. That means you’ve likely overindulged in fowl, carbohydrates and possibly heated political arguments with family members. You also might have had a drink or two, but if you’re reading this, you’re definitely on your way to contemplating another one. It’s possible you’d rather have something that wasn’t too caloric, a bit dry and potent but also kind of interesting.
Well, maybe it’s a good day to consider one of the simplest of drinks I’ve ever presented here. It’s definitely more of a classic martini than, say, a Chocolate Martini or, lord help us, an Appletini. Basically, we’re talking about two great hard liquors that go surprisingly great together. This one’s only for grown-up boozers.
Combine the ingredients in a mixing glass or cocktail shaker with plenty of ice and stir — or shake if you must go full Ian Fleming, but I can’t say I suggest it. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass and contemplate how a cocktail can be both simple and challenging at exactly the same time.
Drones are one of the hottest gadget gifts this holiday season, and new models are also driving sales for consumers and hobbyists who love exploring all the fun and interesting uses for these devices. New features, particularly built-in camera technology, make these gadgets interesting for so many more potential consumers, particularly adventure travelers, hikers, etc. who want to capture video of their adventures. It’s safe to assume drones will be one of the most popular self-gifting options this holiday season.
The DJI Mavic Pro is one of the best drones on the market and is available at many retailers, including online at Amazon.com. This drone is packed with an amazing bundle of features that make it easy to take amazing video; it’s also portable, so you can easily take it with you on your travels.
With December comes the push for award season, but there’s a lot of other entertainment being released this month as well. Of course, the big movie for many will be the new “Star Wars,” which looks to extend the brand outside of the episodic entries. And while there’s not a lot of Christmas fare being put out this year, there is the potential new holiday favorite “Office Christmas Party.” There’s also the possible sci-fi heights of “Assassin’s Creed” and “Passengers,” which both appear to be something special and come with many bonafides behind and in front of the camera. The rest of the month’s offerings are awards bait material, but there’s something unique and exciting about most of them, whether it’s the powerful acting of “Jackie,” the stylish thrills of “Live By Night,” or even just the return of Martin Scorsese with “Silence.”
“Jackie”
Who: Natalie Portman, John Hurt, Peter Sarsgaard, Billy Crudup and Greta Gerwig What: Following the assassination of JFK, First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy fights through grief and trauma to regain her faith and define her husband’s historic legacy. When: December 2nd Why: The film circuit has been abuzz about Natalie Portman’s performance in this film, directed by Pablo Larraín, with many festivalgoers already predicting an Oscar for her turn as the former First Lady. The film appears to be an actor’s dream, with a meaty script for the actress that allows her to showcase a lot of different emotions at a volatile time in Kennedy’s (and the country’s) life. Add to that a real sense of style that exudes from every frame of the trailer, and it appears like “Jackie” may be a real Oscar contender on multiple fronts while also telling a compelling story that is oft-overlooked in history lessons.
If you’re an athlete or the coach of a youth team, it can be difficult to simulate game conditions or defenders. Who wants to stand in one spot and play the role of living obstruction? None of your friends and none of the kids on your team.
POWERHANDZ has come up with a solution and recently launched the Pop Up Defender. The Pop Up Defender is a compressed, collapsible barrier designed to simulate live defenders during play on the basketball court, football field or soccer pitch. It also contains storage space inside of it to store training gear and is only $34.99.
Here are a few specs:
– 3-foot-5 standing barrier created to mimic a real defender
– Can easily be collapsed to take on the road
– Durable solution to previously used training methods like garbage cans or chairs
– Designed for basketball, football and soccer
On top of all the functionality, the Pop Up Defender is a lot of fun. As the coach of my daughter’s youth league soccer team, we’ve named ours Hope Solo, famed goalie of the U.S. women’s national soccer team. One day, I told my daughter we were going to have a special visitor join us in the backyard for a training session. When she came outside, the Pop Up Defender had donned a Landon Donovan jersey.
By all rights, Disney has been kicking sister company Pixar’s butt on the animated film front for the last five or six years. This is due to two unrelated events: Former Pixar chief and current Disney chief John Lasseter brought The Process with him from Pixar, where instead of putting one or two people in charge of the story, a group of writers will work on the story until they have ironed out any potential kinks. At the same time, Pixar hit a point in their release schedule where they were working almost exclusively on sequels (with only one of the non-sequels, 2015’s “Inside Out,” good enough to stand alongside Pixar’s best work). This left Pixar vulnerable, and while Pixar was by no means out, they were down, and Disney seized the opportunity. In the last four years, Disney and Pixar have each won two Academy Awards for Best Animated Feature, though if you ask us, “Wreck-It Ralph” was robbed at arrow point by “Brave” in 2012, and the real tally should be 3-1 in Disney’s favor.
This brings us to “Moana,” coming out in a year where Disney and its many subdivisions have completely conquered the box office. (They own the top four spots on the worldwide box office rankings, with the recently released “Doctor Strange” at #9 and climbing, and “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” still waiting in the wings.) One wonders if releasing three animated films in one year proved to be a strain on the brain trust, because The Process let “Moana” down. It’s fun, and it’s beautifully rendered, but it is a far cry from “Zootopia” in terms of story, a farther cry from “Frozen” in terms of musical numbers, and it pales in comparison to both in terms of emotional weight.
It’s the day after Thanksgiving or Black Friday, if you must. That means you’ve likely overindulged in fowl, carbohydrates and possibly heated political arguments with family members. You also might have had a drink or two, but if you’re reading this, you’re definitely on your way to contemplating another one. It’s possible you’d rather have something that wasn’t too caloric, a bit dry and potent but also kind of interesting.
