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Miranda Lambert celebrates Lindale music scene growth in campaign honoring hometowns Tyler Morning Telegraph
It took 13 years and two “Phases,” but friends, those crazy fiends at Marvel have finally done it: In Eternals, the latest dispatch from our most prolific purveyor of spandex cinema, two people finally got to have sex.
I just really wish they hadn’t.
The scene itself ends almost as soon as it begins, so a “detailed” description would be difficult to conjure. Let’s try it this way: Have you ever seen a 6-year-old lay a Ken doll on top of a Barbie doll and then just kind of stare at them because they don’t really know what happens next? That’s basically what we’re working with here.
It’s not just that the scene is awkward—although it definitely is. Or that it’s comically brief and bereft of any actual passion. It’s not even that Richard Madden and Gemma Chan, whose characters we’re supposed to believe have been in love for 5,000 years, share about as much chemistry as a gynecologist and their patient during a Pap smear throughout the film. (But seriously, how do two people that hot produce such a chilly, clinical vibe the second they touch?!)
At the risk of sounding like one of the Marvel obsessives who will likely whine about the sex scene on Reddit for completely different reasons, it was the purposelessness of this moment that made it so mind-numbing to watch. It seemed to exist solely to make people stop making fun of Marvel for never doing these scenes in the first place—which might be why everything about the moment, from the bored expressions on the actors’ faces to the dull, lifeless cinematography, land like a deep sigh muttering, “Well, here you go.”
The discourse surrounding Marvel’s apparent allergy to intimacy has existed for about as long as the MCU, as have conversations surrounding the films’ general lack of diversity and squeamishness around portraying openly gay characters on screen. Eternals seems determined to right these wrongs and continue Phase Two’s promise to improve on the limitations of Phase One. (You know, now that the series has already made its creators billions.) If only the film had anything to say.
Eternals revolves around a group of quasi-immortal beings who cosplay as humans on Earth while essentially serving as the crappiest babysitters in the galaxy. They’re here to make sure things run smoothly but not to protect humanity from itself—a goal that makes little sense even to this puny human brain but that these millennia-old beings never bother to so much as question. When the group finally realizes their real purpose on Earth, however, they’re left with some Big Questions about what to do next.
At the center of it all, ostensibly, is an exploration of humanity—its nobility and its monstrosity. This is where the aforementioned plasticine sex scene comes in.
The lack of intimacy between Chan’s matter-shifting Sersi and Richard Madden’s Superman-adjacent Ikaris highlights a deeper problem within both Eternals and the Marvel canon more broadly.
There are actually three romances in Eternals. Brian Tyree Henry’s Phastos is one half of the MCU’s first same-sex couple, and Lauren Ridloff and Barry Keoghan’s Makkari and Druig share an ongoing flirtation throughout the film. Just like Sersi and Ikaris’ supposed love affair, however, none of these relationships feel believable—in part because the film itself seems so uninterested in them beyond whatever implications they might carry for the plot.
Calling the MCU a plot-oriented machine feels hacky at this point—like pointing out that a lot of Star Wars takes place in space. That these films tend to lack emotional depth with only some exceptions is not necessarily a problem on its own; plenty of genre films root themselves in other corners of storytelling. But it does seem a little strange for a film that supposedly wants to say something about humanity to seem so uninterested in a crucial human experience.
“But it does seem a little strange for a film that supposedly wants to say something about humanity to seem so uninterested in a crucial human experience.”
Maybe it’s nitpicking to wonder why, at the possible end of the world, Brian Tyree Henry’s character is kissing his lover without tongue—or why despite the actual chemistry Ridloff and Keoghan’s characters share, their relationship seems to receive the least attention from both the script and director Chloé Zhao. Just like the film’s awkward attempts to time-jump its way through human history, these relationships unfold through broad-strokes storytelling that erases any possibility for texture and nuance—qualities that set Zhao’s previous work in the indie world apart.
Marvel’s brand is tackling “big themes” via superhero metaphor, a strategy its fans frequently invoke whenever another bad-faith discussion about Martin Scorsese ensues. WandaVision is all about grief, Black Widow is about trauma, and so on. But metaphor can only express so much, and at times Marvel’s abstraction can feel like a cop-out: Are the Eternals, a group of superhuman beings whose conversations revolve around whether or not humanity is worth saving, really the best vehicle for a nuanced commentary on humanity itself? These “people” apparently can’t even have sex right!
If Eternals feels especially empty, perhaps it’s because it reveals the extent to which this cinematic universe’s “big themes” are mere window dressing. The ideas these films claim to explore feel increasingly like packaging for the actual product—a never-ending plot machine designed, above all, to sell movie tickets and Disney+ subscriptions for as long as people will keep paying.
Sebastian has more Halloween activities in 2021 than I have seen in my more than 40 years living here. So whether you are looking for a family-friendly event or some adult fun, you will not be disappointed in your local options.
Sebastian Daily editor-in-chief Andy Hodges will be one of the costume judges Saturday night at the Capt. Hirams Resort. There will also be an Alice Cooper tribute band on stage.
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The wine market in the United States is one of the most attractive in the world. As of 2020, the country comes in fourth in volume of wine production and sixth in acreage under vine — and yet first in consumption, according to data from the International Organization of Vine and Wine (OIV). It is also one of the strongest import markets in the world, with wine from Italy, Australia, and France lining the shelves of U.S. wine merchants ahead of all other countries.
A presentation from Full Circle Wine Solutions, Inc., a global wine and spirits education and public relations firm out of San Francisco, revealed an interesting look back in time to provide context on what Americans like to drink. The top table wines imported into the U.S. in 1981 were highly populated with Italian wines. Riunite Lambrusco was at the top of the list, with more than five times the cases imported than the next up, which were Cella Lambrusco and Giacobazzi Lambrusco. After that were two more wines from Italy: Folonari Soave and Bolla Soave. Americans certainly valued Italian wines in the early 80s, just as we do today. And notice a theme? We tend to get hooked on particular wines.
Sara d'Amato, a Toronto-based wine consultant, writer, and sommelier points out that 13 grapes make up a third of the plantings around the world. “We are really stuck on certain noble varieties,” she says. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Tempranillo, and Chardonnay top the list along with Airén which is typically associated with Spain’s brandy industry, so its not as crafted into table wines as much as the other top players.
But there’s also another interesting twist, says d’Amato. In Italy, that tried-and-true for American wine lovers, 80 varieties represent 75% of the planted area. Different numbers are quoted by various sources, but there are over 1,000 grapes cultivated here, with several hundred of them propagated for commercial winemaking. Portugal, Romania, U.S., and Chile are the runners up in this category, but with significantly less diversity. In the U.S. for example, around 20 grape varieties represent 75% of the vineyard coverage.
Evan Goldstein, master sommelier and co-founder of Full Circle Wine Solutions along with Limeng Stroh, says that when this data is absorbed “prismatically” it seems as if U.S. consumers may be searching for some unexpected bottles to spice up their drinking patterns. He describes unexpected as from an overlooked place, something unusual, or something that’s just coming onto the radar.
Here are some of my suggestions for unexpected wines to explore this fall and winter season. The list even includes a classic favorite, but with an unlikely twist: Lambrusco.
Cleto Chiarli Brut de Noir Rosé Spumante NV ($16)
As the name suggests, this one is pink, thanks to a small amount of skin contact. Crafted with Lambrusco Grasparossa and a portion of Pinot Nero, the wine has fresh strawberry flavors and mouthwatering crispness. This one would make an excellent aperitif or salty snack companion, an unexpected way to enjoy Lambrusco of a different color.
Acquiesce Winery Clairette Blanche 2018 ($28)
Found hardly at all in California, Sue Tipton’s one acre of Clairette Blanche in the Mokelumne River appellation in Lodi, is home to clones from cuttings from Château de Beaucastel in the Châteauneuf-du-Pape region where Clairette is one of the permitted grapes in the iconic blend. Aromatic, dry, and mineral-driven this wine will pair with poultry, spicy food, or pasta dishes.
Wieninger Wiener Gemischter Satz 2020 ($15 - $20)
From biodynamic vineyards in Vienna, this is wine style is historically relevant for the region. Gemischter Satz is a field blend of several varieties which are grown together in the vineyard, then harvested at the same time and co-fermented. Are you ready for this? It includes Grüner Veltliner, Weißburgunder, Welschriesling, Chardonnay — plus tidbits of Riesling, Rotgipfler, Zierfandler, Sylvaner, Traminer, and Neuburger. It tastes fresh and clean with aromatic stone fruit notes. Pair with pasta or vegetarian dishes, could even put it with a pot pie.
La Valentina Pecorino Colline Pescarese IGT 2019 ($18)
Beautiful Abruzzo, between mountains and sea, is commonly associated with Montepulciano and Trebbiano, but another white grape — Pecorino — is making its way back on the scene. Some would say it’s been rediscovered, as it was so unfavored over the years that it was nearly pushed to extinction. Interesting examples are beginning to make their way into the U.S. market, such as this complex version from La Valentina, a producer that doesn’t use any international varieties, relying instead on Italian cultivars. Pair with grilled seafood and shellfish dishes.
Gecaj Estate Owners Choice 2017 ($80)
Yes, this is a blend of varieties we all know and love, but Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot from the Rahovec Valley in Kosovo is not your everyday wine for most U.S. wine consumers. This region has a 2,000 year old winemaking history, and the grapes grown for this bottle come from a single vineyard “Izbishte” and are harvested by hand and meticulously cultivated. Enjoy dark fruit and berry flavors on a silky mouthfeel. Pair with rich, meaty dinners or mushroom dishes.
Cargo ships arriving at Port Hueneme in Southern California are jam-packed with fresh produce and other goods, as companies look to avoid the congestion that’s become the norm at Los Angeles County's major ports.
Yet Kristin Decas, the CEO and director of the Ventura County-based port, told Yahoo Finance Live on Thursday that they haven’t directly received any cargo from vessels waiting to enter the ports of Los Angeles or Long Beach. Those two hubs have become ground zero of the world’s worsening supply chain crisis.
“We wouldn't be able to just based on the capacity infrastructure that we have here be able to bring those ships here,” said Decas.
She explained that vessels offloading at L.A. ports move as many as 9,000 containers, whereas vessels visiting Hueneme carry around 1,500 containers.
As supply chain challenges being faced by buyers and suppliers continue, Decas made it clear that “Port Hueneme certainly can't be the solution to all the congestion that we're seeing in the supply chain, but we certainly can help move certain time-sensitive commodities.”
However, there is some discussion around implementing a short-sea shipping operation, where “feeder services out of the larger ports, take cargo off those ships and feed them into ports the size of Port Hueneme,” according to Decas.
As a record number of cargo ships clog key ports and threaten the supply chain, Decas noted that this “operation” could alleviate congestion, but it’s not cost effective. Shipping costs this year have exploded as the supply crisis deepened, adding to inflationary pressures.
According to Decas, the model hasn’t worked, “because of the double handling costs [associated] with having to move cargo off one ship, put it on another ship and then bring it to a smaller port and then do another offloading operation,” Decas said.
But in the midst of the national supply crisis, it could be a model worth exploring further, and working with the federal government and other partners for ways to subsidize some of those offloading costs, she added.
Meanwhile, Port Hueneme has helped alleviate congestion in other ways.
Located near Oxnard, California, the hub is known as a smaller “niche” port that handles refrigerated cargo like bananas and other fresh produce, along with automotive cargo on roll-on/roll-off (RoRo) ships from Asia.
RoRos are cargo ships designed to carry wheeled cargo such as cars, trucks, semi-trailer, trailers and railroad cars. Those are then driven on and off the ship on their own wheels — or using a platform vehicle, such as a self-propelled modular transporter.
“We're finding that certain commodities are actually jumping on these RoRo vessels that traditionally would not do that,” Decas said.
Along with that, port officials have also seen “small tractors roll off these ships that traditionally might go in containers to the larger ports, [they] are actually just getting loaded as breakable cargo and coming on the RoRo ships,” she added.
Additionally, some vessels have opted to “ pick up cargo coming out of Asia on larger ships and go on smaller ships destined for Hueneme” or have “shipping lines out of Asia charter vessels” to come through the port directly, Decas told Yahoo Finance.
While different avenues are being sought after as the supply chain snarls are weighing on economic growth for companies, Decas suggested that her port’s business model means there’s virtually no congestion.
Meanwhile, L.A. ports have been defined by idle ships and trucks lingering outside the gates waiting for cargo to transport.
When cargo enters the port, the containers are offloaded and transferred to private terminals outside the gate, where they are inspected.
“Cargo just moves through our gate to these various distribution centers and then they go out to market there,” Decas said, explaining that Hueneme isn’t seeing the “bottlenecking of trucks coming in to try and pick up that cargo or cargo racing out from one choke point into the marketplace.
She added: “It happens at different extensions of our port at areas outside the gate.”
Supply-chain bottlenecks clogging U.S. ports for months have forced businesses to seek alternatives. And experts warn that unclogging the flow of goods is easier said than done.
“Very few ports have the capacity of L.A. and Long Beach,” Nathan Strang, director of trade lane management at Flexport, said in an interview with Yahoo Finance.
Last week, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis floated the idea of ships mired in California unloading in the Sunshine State instead. However, Strang warned that sailing to alternative ports can also be costly.
The logistics would force shippers to “extend the trucking leg of their supply chain, change the warehouses where it's stored and generally create a more difficult route to getting cargo to its final destination,” he added.
Strang noted that transferring cargo from a larger vessel to a smaller one could be a viable option; however, it may “delay” deliveries — which doesn’t benefit the customer.
“What's important to understand is that things like the capacity of the port and the type of volume of cargo it can take, as well as the more complicated trade lanes involved in taking something from, for example, Southeast Asia to the Midwest all need to be considered,” Strang added.
Dani Romero is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter: @daniromerotv
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ATLANTA (AP) — His day on the diamond almost done, Jose Altuve walked over to a clutch of Astros fans clustered behind the netting down the right field line at Minute Maid Park.
For five minutes, he autographed World Series programs, No. 27 jerseys and other items, many of them for kids. A young girl got a ball with Altuve’s signature and joyfully turned to her mother.
“I’m about to cry,” the mom said Wednesday night.
Altuve’s team liked the signs they saw from him earlier in the evening, too.
In a Fall Classic devoid of drama so far, the big-swinging leadoff man is among the few stars to deliver any huge hits.
Bouncing back from the first three-strikeout game of his postseason career, plus a prolonged slump in the AL Championship Series, Altuve homered and doubled as Houston beat the Atlanta Braves 7-2, tying the matchup at 1-all.
But teammates Carlos Correa, Alex Bregman and AL Championship Series MVP Yordan Alvarez have been mostly silent. Freddie Freeman, Austin Riley and NLCS MVP Eddie Rosario haven’t done much damage for the Braves, either.
“You can be 0 for 20, but what about if you get the big hit? So that’s what playoffs is about,” Altuve said. “I don’t care if I went 0 for 5 last night.”
As Astros manager Dusty Baker said: “My dad used to tell me it’s OK to get down, just don’t stay down. So he didn’t stay down.”
After a rainy day off, they’ll play Game 3 Friday night at Truist Park, provided the weather is OK. Luis Garcia is set to pitch for the Astros against Ian Anderson. Both of them threw well in the games their teams won to clinch these spots.
It will be the first World Series pairing of rookie starters since the 2006 opener.
That night, Anthony Reyes led St. Louis over Detroit and its newcomer, Justin Verlander. This season, Verlander was on Houston’s injured list while recovering from Tommy John surgery.
Astros reserve Marwin Gonzalez is the only player who has batted against the other team’s starter.
“Hank Aaron used to say, if you’ve never faced a pitcher, you initiate him right away and then kind of kill his spirits,” Baker said. “So hopefully, we can initiate him.”
At 23, Anderson is already an October veteran. He’s made seven postseason starts in two years, going 3-0 with a 1.47 ERA.
“He’s been through a lot in a short major league career, a lot of big experiences, pitched a lot of big games here,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said Thursday.
Garcia, meanwhile, will be forced to bat with no designated hitter in the National League park.
“I like to hit,” said Garcia, who’s hitless in six career at-bats.
The Braves are 5-0 at home this year in the playoffs and are expecting a loud crowd.
“The atmosphere is awesome. Like I say, Braves country is real. It’s real,” Snitker said.
The Astros haven’t visited Truist Park since 2017, the year it opened, meaning many of their players will be seeing it for the first time. The Astros hoped to work out at the stadium Thursday to get familiar with the “dimensions and the caroms and the corners,” Baker said, but rain limited their activity.
The tarp covered the field all day and a few Astros tossed the ball in the outfield before the drizzle turned to showers. The temperatures were in the 50s — a far cry from Houston — and the same kind of weather was in the forecast for Game 3.
Altuve helped the Astros earn their split at home. A postseason perennial, the All-Star second baseman pushed aside a 3-for-24 skid in the ALCS and a hitless opener against the Braves.
Altuve tied former Yankees star Bernie Williams for second on the career postseason home run list with 22, trailing only the 29 by Manny Ramirez.
To Baker, there was nothing surprising about Altuve’s performance. And he figures the other Astros infielders -- Correa, Bregman and Yuli Gurriel -- also will play key roles.
“They expect good things to happen and they expect to play well. They expect to do good. I found that out last year,” he said.
“We had some guys struggling and they said, well, wait till the playoffs, and we barely squeaked in,” he said. “They said, hey, man, we’re going to turn it on in the playoffs. I haven’t seen many people in this game who can kind of turn it on when they want to.”
Altuve has shown that. In 11 seasons, he’s averaged a home run every 35 at-bats in the regular season; in 75 postseason games, he’s homered once every 14 at-bats.
Baker recalled a slugger he managed in San Francisco, and a speedster who played across the Bay.
“Come to mind like Barry Bonds. He’s like, I’m going to take over this game today, and he takes it over. Rickey Henderson says, hey, man, I’m going to steal three or four bases, and I’m going to take this game over by myself,” Baker said.
“Like I said, you don’t find many players like that, where they have the ability or the mindset or the mind control to do it,” he said.
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AP freelance writer Joshua Koch contributed to this report.
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