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How Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson Can Save Hollywood

Brendan Bures
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How Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson Can Save Hollywood

Reanimating existing intellectual property seems to be Hollywood’s main play in recent years. And no person is better suited for these times than Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. He can save all the franchises. He will save the classics and the untouchables and the sequels. All of them. That’s just what great men do. And it explains The Rock’s addition to the Fast and Furious franchise, G.I. Joe, Baywatch, and now Jumanji. No brainers, all of them. The world isn’t full of Rocks (don’t laugh), and if anyone approaches you to add The Rock, you just do it.

http://www.hulu.com/watch/770969

Currently The Rock is set to star in 20 upcoming films. But why stop there? Life is short and Hollywood clearly needs as much Franchise Viagra as possible. We’re here to help. Below, we present eight franchises The Rock should consider save. But the truth is, it could’ve been any eight movies. We encourage you to write your own thinkpiece with your own eight movies. These are just the ones we chose.

Point Break

But they just remade that film, you say? True. Another question: If a movie flops domestically but is saved by international markets, do you really care? That’s right, you don’t. Last year’s Point Break underscored China’s new influence on Hollywood—the movie had its world premiere in China three weeks before its domestic release, practically unheard of for a studio film—which wouldn’t matter if the movie wasn’t the film equivalent of biting into a still-frozen Hot Pocket. You’re sad to find yourself there in the first place, choosing to eat a Hot Pocket, but then it chips your tooth and you carry that shame with you for the rest of your life. Exactly the way American moviegoers felt walking out of the Point Break remake (I know, I administered like 12 Gallup polls).

Why the rant? Because it didn’t have to be this way! The majesty of Point Break lies in the bromance between Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze. Johnny Utah jumps out of planes, gets in fights, travels across the world because he can’t resist the allure of Bodhi. Who could inspire such devotion due to overwhelming aura? The Rock. The stunts would make sense and so would the charm. He can switch between campy and tough guy, essential to playing the character. No matter what, it’d be fun, something sorely lacking in the *dark* remake.

Mrs. Doubtfire

Some would like to forget The Rock once starred in a movie called Tooth Fairy as an actual Tooth Fairy. These are the kind of people who “have lives.” Losers. I’ll admit trying to pick your favorite Rock quality is like choosing your favorite child: it’s easy, but it doesn’t mean you love the rest any less. The Rock possesses zero shame or insecurity in his body (possibly related: he also doesn’t have any fat on his body; something to look into).

Neither did Robin Williams in his roles. To use industry parlance, “went for it.” There isn’t a role The Rock doesn’t commit less than 100 percent to and that’s the beauty of every Rock movie: he so believes every movie he makes will be good, if not great. They aren’t, but that’s irrelevant. He tries. A man disguised as a housekeeper to spend more time with his kids needs to really, really care and really, really try. The Rock does both all the time. The muscles might be tough to explain, but the love exhibited would not.

Wild, Wild West

You know what The Rock has somehow never starred in? A western. You know what The Rock would—okay, I really want to see Dwayne Johnson in a western. A remake itself, Wild, Wild West stops working precisely the moment you realize Will Smith is too big a star for the movie. Crazy thing: this happens immediately.

Don’t confuse it: The Rock is a star, he’s a leading man. But his persona never overwhelms a narrative; he never needs to “do a cool thing” like Will Smith. He can be in on a joke without needing to be the one making it. What I’m saying is simple: If you don’t wish to see The Rock in a cowboy hat destroying steampunk machine-monsters while saying cheesy one-liners, I don’t know what world you wish to inhabit.

The Beastmaster

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7h7frRoAPk

This is so obvious I’m high-key ashamed it wasn’t made five years ago. “Hello, Hollywood? Brendan here. Do you like making money? Because I’m literally printing it for you with these ideas.”

How would you describe The Rock to a friend who’s never heard of him? (Also, maybe choose better friends.) How about this: “Born with the strength of a black tiger, the courage of an eagle, the power that made him more than any hero, more than any lover. He was lord and master over all beasts.” Who am I describing: The Rock or the Beastmaster? Trick question. Answer’s both and why hasn’t this movie been made?

Die Hard

I love you, Bruce Willis, but this list only has room for one bald-headed muscle dude and that’s my man, Franchise Viagra. The Die Hard franchise ceased working when Bruce Willis began believing too heartily in the “Bruce Willis” brand (the obvious tentpole hovering around Cop Out and hating Kevin Smith). As high-stakes and mythic the Die Hard franchise can be, it delighted and captivated audiences because Bruce Willis (I swear to God) was funny. He had jokes, self-deprecating ones, too.

No one currently acting mixes the tongue-in-cheek with I’ll-kick-your-ass-whenever-I-want look like The Rock. My goodness, in Furious 7 he uttered “Daddy’s gotta go to work” and flexed his bicep so hard he broke the cast he was wearing. That was a real thing that happened. It’s akin to John McClane screaming “Yippee Ki Yay!” It’s fun and funny and somehow believable to that character, something the world needs more of.

Rush Hour

Yes, they rebooted the Rush Hour franchise on TV. (At least that’s what I’m told. Raise your hand if you know 10 people who’ve seen one episode.) And yes, its tension and humor derives from a fish-out-of-water Jackie Chan paired with Chris Tucker. Now, who’s the Chris Tucker of 2016? (Letting you think…letting you think…letting you think.) It’s Kevin Hart! The Rock and Kevin Hart just work together. But kinda like crunchy peanut butter and jelly. Anyway, is it lunch time yet?

Escape from New York

This one also lines up behind the scenes. If you hadn’t heard, The Rock was just cast to star in the remake of John Carpenter’s Big Trouble in Little China. Word is they’d like to reboot the Escape series, also directed by Carpenter, but no cast has been set as of now.

Then again, who knows what “behind the scenes” means in today’s wacko media world? (The answer: James Franco, probs.) Insert The Rock into any role and let him cook; he might actually serve the film better if The Rock didn’t star in the Snake Plissken role (although that character’s name sounds like it was crafted in a Dwayne Johnson character name generator). I’d settle for Slag, the Hulk character Snake must defeat to escape and continue on to save the President. (Considering.) Nope, that’s the perfect role for The Rock. Buy him a couple tubs of baby oil and a perspiration spray bottle ala Fast Five, and everyone will love this movie, I promise.

Gremlins

Whoa whoa whoa. Put down the keyboard please. I know how upset you think you are. Gremlins is radioactive untouchable in some eyes (apparently) but hear me out. The true tension of gremlins as creatures centers on how something so tiny and adorable could turn so scary and violent. They’re still (mostly) small when they become evil, but their multiplying numbers provides the real fear. An army of Ferbies disturbs me more than, say, a DC Comics villain like Darkseid or Doomsday. I’ll fight the one world-destroying big dude any day than those creepy buggers.

This is all to say no mental image delights my brain nodes more than The Rock punching and swinging jackhammers at gremlins. Another situation where he’s better utilized in a minor character role than the main guy; his golden aura might be too much for a campy movie like this. Just one football kick, that’s all I’m asking. Like Jack Black punting Baxter over the bridge in Anchorman, The Rock swinging those steel pistons he calls legs at gremlins is my fantasy. Tell me you don’t dream of that at night. Tell me The Rock couldn’t save every franchise on this list and so many more. You can’t. He is a Norse God sent to entertain us and we should preserve him for all of eternity. Oh, wait, that just gave me the greatest idea yet—carbonite frozen Rock!

2016: Historic Victories, Devastating Setbacks In Fight Against Drug War

Drug Policy Alliance
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2016: Historic Victories, Devastating Setbacks In Fight Against Drug War

For the last seven years I have written an end-of-year piece about the top stories of the year in the fight to end our disastrous war on drugs.

2016 has been a strange, difficult year.  We’ve accomplished more historic victories than ever — but they’re now overshadowed by the election of Donald Trump and the despair he is primed to wreak on our most vulnerable communities.

Here’s my take on this year’s most important victories and its most enormous setbacks.

The Good

Marijuana Legalization Wins Big on Election Night

This Election Day was a watershed moment for the movement to end marijuana prohibition. Overall, legalization initiatives prevailed in four out of five states, and medical marijuana initiatives prevailed in all four states this year.

California, Nevada, Massachusetts and Maine all rejected prohibition and opted to tax and regulate marijuana instead. Florida, Arkansas, North Dakota and Montana also voted to legalize marijuana for medical use, bringing the total to 28 states and Washington D.C.  Only Arizona, which was considering recreational marijuana legalization, voted down their measure.

The most significant win came out of California. California is the new gold standard of marijuana legalization laws thanks to its important criminal justice reforms and reparative justice provisions. It ends the wasteful expenditure of tens of millions of taxpayer dollars every year in California on the arrest, prosecution and incarceration of nonviolent, marijuana-only offenses. It also reduces barriers to entry to the legal market, and drives hundreds of millions of dollars in investments to low-income communities that have been most negatively impacted by the drug war.

President Obama Goes Big with Clemencies and Pardons for Nonviolent Drug Offenders

President Obama granted 78 pardons and 153 commutations on Monday — a single-day record for the use of presidential clemency power. After a slow start in his first term, the President has now commuted the sentences of 1,176 individuals, mostly people with nonviolent drug offenses, more than every President since Harry Truman combined. While the clemencies are incredibly important and helping individuals come home, there are tens of thousands of others who should have their sentences reduced as well. In 2016 we saw bi-partisan support for reforming our drug laws and reducing mass incarceration. There was a hopeful op-ed in the New York Times this week that argued that criminal justice reform may still happen in 2017.

Harm Reduction and Overdose Prevention Hit the Mainstream

Many of the harm reduction practices that advocates have pushed for years are starting to be embraced by the Drug Czar and elected officials in both red and blue states. Many states have passed laws to expand access to naloxone, the overdose reversal drug. And many states have passed “911 Good Samaritan” laws that allow people who are witnessing an overdose to call 911 for help without fear of arrest. Politicians are calling for increased treatment funding, while obstacles to opioid replacement therapies like methadone are being removed.

There is even important momentum for supervised injection facilities (SIFs) in the United States. Sixty-six cities in nine countries have supervised injection facilities where people can inject their drugs in a clean, safe place with medical professionals on hand – yet to date there are none in the United States. There is overwhelming evidence that SIFs are effective in reducing new HIV infections, overdose deaths and public nuisance – and that they do not increase drug use or criminal activity.

In February, both Maryland Delegate Dan Morhaim and Ithaca Mayor Svante Myrick made national news when they came out strong for SIFs. Momentum is also building in Seattle, San Francisco and New York City, where elected officials are considering SIFs. Even USA Today put out a strong editorial in support of supervised injection facilities.

The Bad and Ugly

The Looming Nightmare of Donald Trump and His Administration

Despite historic wins for marijuana legalization on election night, there was no joy to be felt as it became clear that Donald Trump was going to shock the world and become president.

There’s little doubt that Trump is primed to launch a new war on drugs that could be worse than anything we’ve seen before. Trump ran hard as a “tough on crime” candidate, who believes in “stop and frisk” policing, supports private prisons, and called for a wall along the border to keep out “drug smuggling” Mexicans. He also made news recently when he expressed support for Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s campaign of mass murder of poor people suspected of using or selling drugs.

The people he has chosen to run his administration are a nightmare, starting with Senator Jeff Sessions as his attorney general. Jeff Sessions is a drug war extremist with a career-long history of racist comments and actions. In recent years, Sessions played a critical role in blocking efforts to reform sentencing policy, asset forfeiture, and marijuana laws.

Drug Users in The Philippines Are Being “Slaughtered Like Animals”

For the past six months, the Philippines has waged a brutal, bloody war against people who are suspected of using or selling drugs. This war is being led by Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte – since assuming office in July, he has urged police and citizens alike to execute people who they deem to be using or selling drugs.

To date, over 6,000 people have been executed in this campaign. A further 840,000 people who use drugs have turned themselves in to authorities. A recent New York Times photo essay on the Philippines highlights the vicious killings.

More Americans Are Now Dying from Overdose Than From Car Crashes or Guns

The New York Times ran a front page story earlier this year documenting the explosion of overdose deaths throughout the country. 47,000 Americans died from an overdose in 2014 – more than from either car crashes or guns. Despite all of our progress, we are seeing more unacceptable death and suffering from addiction, touching virtually every family and community in the United States.

We are at a paradoxical moment in our fight against the war on drugs. On one hand, marijuana legalization is moving forward rapidly, there is bi-partisan support for reducing the amount of people behind bars and promoting health-based approaches to reducing the harms of drugs. And on the other hand, we have a new President and administration that is likely to ramp up our disastrous war, we have unprecedented killings in the Philippines, and an alarming overdose crisis that is devastating families and communities around the country.

The pain and misery from the drug war is as great as ever. We need to step up our efforts, continue to partner with allies, and win hearts and minds. The casualties from the catastrophic war on drugs continue to mount daily.

It is time to find an exit strategy from this unwinnable war. If the people lead, the leaders will follow.

Tony Newman is the director of media relations at the Drug Policy Alliance (www.drugpolicy.org)

8 Things To Do On Christmas Besides Reading Listicles Online

Taylor Berman
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8 Things To Do On Christmas Besides Reading Listicles Online

Ugh, it’s Christmas, which means you’ll be cooped up inside alone all day reading bad listicles on the internet again. But is this something that you absolutely have to do on the anniversary of Christ’s birth? No. What else is there to do, you ask? Let us help you, reader.

1. Exchange Gifts With Loved Ones

I know, this is weird but…instead of checking the internet on your phone you could be giving and receiving presents with people about whom you care a great deal. Imagine how happy you can make people by giving them a thoughtful gift!

2. Spend Time With Your Family


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Are your grandparents still alive and maybe visiting for the holiday? Or your parents or aunts and uncles or cousins? Go talk to them! We know family can be exhausting, but it’s really only a few hours of quality time you’re forced to spend with them. One day you’ll look back and be thankful.

3. Eat Delicious Food

Ham, mashed potatoes, tasty rolls, green beans, whatever other kind of unique foods your family eats on Christmas—go eat some! Mmm.

4. Take A Walk With a Friend/Family Member


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Is there a blizzard or some other kind of terrible storm outside? No? Then take go for a walk with your parents or favorite cousin or best friend. It’ll be great.

5. Prepare For Hanukkah

Are you Jewish? Or dating someone who is Jewish? Then you’re in luck, because this year Hanukkah, or one of its days at least, falls on Christmas. Double party!

6. Take A Nap


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No better holiday tradition than taking nice mid-afternoon snooze so you’re ready for our next recommendation.

7. Get Drunk And Play A Game

Challenge your grandmother to a game of gin rummy or your entire family to game of Apples to Apples. It’ll be fun, as long as your one dickhead cousin doesn’t ruin it all. But even if he does, that’s okay! What a goofball.

8. Read A Book


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If you absolutely must get away from your family and spend some time alone, take a good novel with you and leave your phone somewhere that you won’t be able to check it every five minutes.

How To Work The Week Between Christmas And New Year’s

Taylor Berman
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How To Work The Week Between Christmas And New Year’s

Unless you have an important job, like scientist or doctor, the week between Christmas and New Year’s is pretty much worthless, work-wise. What are you going to do, fill out a spreadsheet or whatever when no one else is working and you know another sweet day or two off is right around the corner? No, you are not. You are going to slack off. But how can you do that effectively? If you read on, we’ll tell you.

Get Your Work Done Before Christmas

We can’t guess what kind of work you do because we’re not mind-readers, but we hope you have a job where you can get a lot of work done ahead of time. Like, if you can stock-pile blog posts or, uh, file out the finance reports early or sign all those law briefs (?). This will give plent of time to do nothing in those days between holidays.

Pretend Like You’re Busy


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We pray that you’ve already mastered the Art of Looking busy, but if not we can help. An important step is always keep something official looking open on your computer and on your desk; when your boss comes by to interrupt whatever bullshit you were doing (reading The Fresh Toast, stalking your ex on Facebook, trying to win back your ex on Facebook by sending her Fresh Toast links, etc), you’re only a click or quick paper shuffle away from looking busy.

Work From Home

If you can, work remotely this week. It’ll save you from commuting in the cold (unless you live some place warm, in which case please stop bragging), and help solve the aforementioned looking busy problem. But the real perk is afternoon power naps, which will help you save energy for the weekend to come.

Take a Sick Day


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Why not! Plus, your vacation/sick days might not roll over into the new year.

Bribe Your Boss With Booze

This might not work, but it’s worth a shot. If you are successful, what halfway decent boss wouldn’t let you take off early after you give them a bottle of something nice/trick them into downing a few shots at work?

Sneak Out Early

Florida Woman Allowed To Keep Gator Named Rambo

Taylor Berman
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Florida Woman Allowed To Keep Gator Named Rambo

“Vroom, vroom,” Rambo the Christmas-loving, motorcycle riding gator probably said to himself upon hearing the news that his owner, Mary Thorn, had been issued a personal pet license, allowing her legally to keep the nearly six-foot-long reptile at her Lakeland, Florida home.

The Orlando Sentinel reports that Thorn has owned Rambo since 2004, when she rescued him and eventually trained him to become a mostly domesticated pet. But the gator has since outgrown Thorn’s home according to Florida law, which requires alligators longer than four feet to have at least 2.5 acres of land available to them.

Thorn hired an attorney and pleaded her case with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, who this week agreed to grant her an exemption if she abides by certain rules.

“He can’t go out and do public things anymore,” she told the Sentinel. “He can’t be one-on-one with people and his mouth has to be taped shut. He used to do pictures with kids and stuff like that, but no more.”

Rambo is well-known in his neighborhood for his colorful outfits, which include cool guy biker leather jackets and Santa costumes, both of which Thorn claims prevent sunburn. She would also drive places with the gator strapped securely to her motorcycle, another activity the state has banned—now she’ll have to transport him in the back of her car if she needs to take him anywhere.

Despite the new limitations, Thorn isn’t complaining.

“In order to keep him I’m not going to argue with them too much,” she said. “All in all it’s going to be a merry Christmas because Rambo is here.”

5 Reasons Why It Sucks Christmas Is On A Sunday

Taylor Berman
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5 Reasons Why It Sucks Christmas Is On A Sunday

The major holidays—Christmas, the Jewish High Holy days, Easter, New Year’s, Thanksgiving are the most important days of the year not just because of the religious and cultural significance they represent but also because they get you out of work. Here are the five reasons why it sucks that Christmas this year.

1. No Extra Time Off

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As we just noted, the extra time off around the holidays is part of what makes them so special. You can add an extra day or two to your trip, or just enjoy the additional time by yourself.

RELATED: Great Fall Whiskeys

2. You Can’t Use Sunday as a Recovery Day

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Sure, some employers will give you Monday off, but had Christmas fallen on Thursday or Friday you’d have a whole two days to recover. Plus, Sundays are designed as days of recovery/preparation for the hell to come–why else would it be a day filled with professional football games and prestige dramas and comedies on premium cable?

3. Hangovers

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For many of us, returning home for the holidays means going out for old high school and neighborhood friends for drinks. More often than not such outings result in terrible hangovers. With Christmas falling the day after the best drinking day (Saturday), this is a recipe for a hangover that you’ll then have to suffer through as you deal with dozens of repetitive questions from different family members. No thanks.

RELATED: Science Says Medical Marijuana Improves Quality Of Life

4. Church

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If over the years you’ve become adept at making excuses to miss Christmas Eve or Day church ceremonies, you’re likely shit out luck when the big day falls on an actual Sunday. If you do think of a good excuse to get out of it, please let me know at taylor@thefreshtoast.com

5. The Realization That a Sunday Christmas Also Means a New Year’s Day on Sunday

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Damn. At least Thanksgiving is always on a Thursday, I guess.

Watch James Franco And Bryan Cranston Eat Insanely Spicy Chicken Wings

Taylor Berman
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Watch James Franco And Bryan Cranston Eat Insanely Spicy Chicken Wings

To promote their new movie Why Him?, James Franco and Bryan Cranston stopped by First We Feast’s Hot Ones to answer questions about the film and, more importantly, to eat a ton of wings doused in various hot sauces on camera.

First they tried Sriracha coated wings. Not a big deal, right? Right, except for Franco, who had to take a sip of milk. “I’m already dying,” he said.

The second hot sauce, Hot Ones own signature sauce, clearly affected the duo, especially Franco, who had to chug more milk. However, it was the third sauce, called Pain 100%, that really seemed to distract the 127 Hours star, causing him to repeatedly pause during an anecdote he was sharing.

Cranston finally cracked after trying something called Mad Dog 357—“That is hot,” he said—but Franco once again took it worse, and immediately downed an entire glass of milk.

Somewhat surprisingly, the final and hottest hot sauce, Blair’s Mega Death Sauce With Liquid Rage, didn’t seem to have much of an impact on the two. Watch the full clip below.

 

Fresh Playlist: Kid Cudi Finally Slays His Demons, Big Sean Lives Single

Brendan Bures
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Fresh Playlist: Kid Cudi Finally Slays His Demons, Big Sean Lives Single

With new music flying like warp-speed through the various channels of the Internet, it can be hard to keep up. But worry not! Each week The Fresh Toast will deliver the most-discussed and exciting songs that have recently dropped. Landed. Crashed. And also: soared. Enjoy. 

Kid Cudi ft. Willow Smith—“Rose Golden”

Following Kid Cudi for the past several years has been an art of self-denial. After releasing two Man on the Moon records—genre-stirring albums that melodically twisted the DNA structures of rap forever—Cudi seemed to act more as self-saboteur. It was almost like he wanted to actively undermine whatever outsiders thought of him. Oh y’all think I’m a rapper—well I’m forming a rock group. His maligned WZRD side project doesn’t need further beating, but Cudi spent albums trying to prove he could make the indie rock sound work—Indicud, Speedin’ Bullet 2 Heaven—and it was everyone else who wasn’t getting it yet.

This is Cudi’s operating mode: a gifted, sensitive guy wishing the world might understand him, but never believing it does. When used in genuine and vulnerable context, it reveals a highly relatable artist. When it doesn’t click, he comes across as a petulant, annoying teenager.

But Passion, Pain, and Demon Slayin’ returns Cudi to that cohesive, engaging plane. Recruiting his old production partner Plain Pat and Kanye associate Mike Dean, Cudi creates an ambient, expansive world listeners can explore. While it’s slightly bloated—what Cudi project isn’t?—Passion shows Cudi embracing his gifts fans love rather than throwing middle fingers their direction. Assists from Travis Scott, Andre 3000, and Pharrell Williams round out the project when it could slip into redundancy. Cudi has found his voice—and hums—once again.

Big Sean ft. Chance the Rapper, Jeremih—“Living Single”

This was a track that leaked earlier in the year, but now receives a proper release. Sean is in full album rollout mode, officially announcing his fourth studio album I Decided for February 3, 2017. He’s released a slew of singles, and “Living Single” is the best yet. Instead of the hyped-up underdog Sean plays on “Bounce Back” and “No More Interviews,” he’s laid-back, self-deprecating here. It’s more pleasant, and relatable than Sean complaining about drama surrounding him dating A-list celebrities. Jeremih provides the buttery, buttery hook, and Chance grounds the record in his typical nostalgia, though it isn’t his best bars.

Matt Champion—“Mansions”

A standout within Kevin Abstract-led Brockhampton, Matt Champion has slowly crafted an exciting potential around himself through these SoundCloud singles. “Mansions” welcomes listeners in, anticipating just what Champion has in store for 2017. Hopefully it’s a debut album.

Chance the Rapper & Jeremih—“I Shoulda Left You”

We wrote about Chance and Jeremih’s surprise Christmas mixtape yesterday, so we won’t belabor the point. But since dropping, this hasn’t stopped spinning.

The most essential daily news, entertainment, pop culture, and culture coverage. Want more? Check out “A Study Of 2016: The Year America’s Pop Stars Went Weird,” “Southwest Pilot Congratulates Passengers For Drinking Every Last Drop Of Booze On Board,” and “13 Christmas Hip-Hop Songs You Need For The Holidays”

Portlandia Christmas Miracle: Weed Delivery Services Now Legal

Al Olson
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Portlandia Christmas Miracle: Weed Delivery Services Now Legal

Santa won’t be able to deliver marijuana to homes in Portland this year, but next year will be different.

On Wednesday, the Portland City Council voted unanimously to allow cannabis delivery services.

The new ordinance allows “marijuana retail couriers” to deliver cannabis products to homes . These businesses could from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

“Courier” operators are allowed to grow cannabis and make cannabis products, but will be required to remain a delivery-only service. Brick and mortar retailers will not be allowed to offer the service.

“Since the state regulations keep changing and the industry keep flourishing, we’ll be coming back with multiple changes I’m sure,” Commissioner Amanda Fritz said. “I look forward to that time.”

The ordinance is designed to expand the cannabis industry to “microbusiness entrepreneurs.” These new businesses will be subject to most of the same regulations as storefront retailers.

The new law is expected to go into effect early next year.

Earlier this month, the Oregon Department of Revenue reported that tax payments totaled $54.5 million from Jan. 1 through Nov 30, $13.8 million more than the Legislative Revenue Office had projected.

No Reindeer Needed: Watch Drone Pull Santa Claus Across The Mountain

Brendan Bures
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No Reindeer Needed: Watch Drone Pull Santa Claus Across The Mountain

Humans manufacture drones for many purposes. Some reasons are nefariously about money, like Amazon’s drone delivery, while other times dudes just want to surf.

That’s the gambit Casey Neistat and company played but with a twist: what if they surfed powder instead of water? Assembling a drone powerful enough to pull a human across snow, the YouTuber and filmmaker rides through the winter village as a snowboarding Santa Claus

The most impressive moment of the video comes when Neistat holds on as the drone lifts higher and higher, until Neistat is flying through the air. He literally becomes a flying Santa Claus, delivering holiday cheer. The footage was shot around a small Finland ski village that looks straight out of a Normal Rockwell painting.

Neistat pushes the envelope, with the help of Jesse Wellens, utilizing 360-degree cameras and selfie sticks to really push viewers into the moment. It’s an impressive feat, especially when Neistat rides up the mountain while other non-drone-assisted zoom past him on his sides. If you’re looking for some holiday cheer, but with an extreme action bent, this is your video.

 

The most essential daily news, entertainment, pop culture, and culture coverage. Want more? Check out “A Study Of 2016: The Year America’s Pop Stars Went Weird,” “Southwest Pilot Congratulates Passengers For Drinking Every Last Drop Of Booze On Board,” and “13 Christmas Hip-Hop Songs You Need For The Holidays”

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