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From Swarm to The Power, Statement Pieces Take Over Streaming

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:04:44 GMT

Streaming services, cable TV and Primetime television are fighting for your viewership now more than ever. UNBINGED is here to help you weed through it all, with reviews of the latest shows that highlight what we love, what we hate and what we love to hate-watch, too.It has been said that the medium through which we choose to communicate might hold as much value as the message itself. So where does that leave streaming content hoping to make a statement? The hottest new shows seem to be driven by an important message, but will folks stick around to learn something or gain insight  if they’re indifferent to the story or characters? This month, we set out to unravel the intent and content worth watching via Prime Video’s Swarm and The Power and Apple TV+’s Extrapolations. Swarm (Prime Video)What happens when a fan becomes a fanatic? When “crave” becomes “craze”? What happens when a social media hive mind hurls the wants and needs of thousands onto an already fr...

(Un)Reality: Arts Calendar April 6-12

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:04:44 GMT

Artists engage with the nature of reality, the balance of theory and history, and how to infuse tradition with new life; the bookstore lets you sleep over, a photographer goes chasing waterfalls, literary soul mates communicate across time; the state poet laureate, a guided walk along a particularly interesting stretch of the river, a campy film classic gets a new live reading.Enrique Agudo at Vellum LAThursday, April 6Enrique Agudo: Ipseity at Vellum LA. An installation of eight digital paintings by new media artist Enrique Agudo, presenting visualizations of contemporary notions of identity through the depiction of new deities and their environments, in allegorical scenes about the human self and our relationship to technology. Inspired by the Pre-Raphaelites, these works take on our digital realities in the form of traditional painting, but making use of the most cutting edge technology—integrated generative animations connected to real-time data in which the digital and the phys...

Recipes: Creme caramel, panna cotta and other delicious desserts for spring

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:04:44 GMT

Whether it’s an Easter feast or a springtime party, my menus often conclude with a dessert of coconut cake or strawberry shortcakes. Winners, indeed. But a sweet, recent eat-athon at my house changed my plans.In decades, past crème caramel was a frequent treat at my home. It’s a tradition that has mostly fallen by the wayside, for me, but a recent spring dinner party left me with the most delightful leftovers: a generous half portion stored in the fridge. My daughter and granddaughter stopped in for a quick visit, and the two of them, bit by bit, bowl by bowl, polished it off. Glee filled their faces. Sweet bliss.Ah, crème caramel, that eggy caramel custard that bakes atop a layer of caramel. It’s baked in a bain-marie — the baking dish nestled into a hot water bath in the oven — then chilled and inverted onto a serving dish. The result: a welcome puddle of caramelized sugar coats the surface of the luscious custard.It’s known as flan in Spanish-s...

Bay Area breweries win honors, medals at California Beer Summit

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:04:44 GMT

The recent California Beer Summit offered plenty of news — ranging from cautious optimism to woeful doom — on the state of the craft beer world. But there was some very good news for the Bay Area breweries who triumphed at the summit’s 2023 Brewers Cup.Let’s start with that rosy news, because out of 246 medals awarded in 83 categories at the festivities held in mid-March in Sacramento, the champion that emerged was Morgan Territory Brewing in Tracy — and soon in Pleasant Hill. Named Brewery of the Year, Morgan Territory won eight medals, including two in a single category, a gold for Lubricator and a bronze for Big Bock Energy, both bocks.Humble Sea Brewing now has taprooms in Santa Cruz, Pacifica and Felton. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group) Other Bay Area gold medal winners included Half Moon Bay Brewing for its Saison, Sunnyvale’s Faultline Brewing for its Oktoberfest and Danville Brewing for its Chocolate Raspberry Royale. Vacaville’s Solano Bre...

Baseball: 5 great spots to grab a bite near San Francisco’s Oracle Park

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:04:44 GMT

The only thing better than decking yourself out in orange and black for a day at the ballpark is some delicious food to go with it. You can certainly eat inside San Francisco’s Oracle Park — who doesn’t love Organic Coup or The Lumpia Company?But if you’re looking for something before or after the game, there are plenty of options for reasonably priced, tasty eats between SoMa and Mission Bay, and many are within a 10-minute walk. Some even have waterfront and ballpark views. Neighborhood restaurateurs, such as Scott Morton of MoMo’s, take great pride in matching the excitement of orange-clad fans with stellar hospitality.“It’s a full house on most game days, and my job is to put on the best show I can,” Morton says. “Hospitality and maintaining a fun atmosphere are a big part of that.”Here’s everything you need to know about MoMo’s, which is celebrating 25 years in the neighborhood, and four other restaurants where y...

Trump doesn’t thank ‘glaringly’ missing Melania in his post-arraignment speech

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:04:44 GMT

Melania Trump was “glaringly” absent from Mar-a-Lago’s ballroom Tuesday night, and former President Donald Trump noticeably failed to praise her as he thanked other family members while making his first public comments hours after being arraigned on criminal charges.“I have a great family and they’ve done a fantastic job, and we appreciate it very much. They’ve gone through a lot,” Trump said to his crowd of supporters at his Palm Beach, Florida residence and private club, the New York Post and the Daily Mail reported.Former U.S. President Donald Trump walks off stage during an event at the Mar-a-Lago Club April 4, 2023 in West Palm Beach, Florida.  (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images) The 76-year-old Trump, who became the first president in U.S. history to be arraigned on criminal charges, then singled out some of those family members, including two of his children who also were not present — his beloved oldest daughter Ivanka Trump and his 17-year-...

Kurtenbach: The little things lifted the Warriors over the Thunder and hinted at bigger things in the postseason

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:04:44 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO — Basketball might be played by athletes of the highest order, but its games are still won with intelligence. And for most of the last decade, no NBA team has been more intelligent than the Golden State Warriors.This season, the Dubs’ basketball intelligence has ebbed and flowed — as evidenced by the team’s middling record. But with the team’s season on the line Tuesday night against the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Warriors showed that they still have the kind of next-level thinking that makes them a formidable — if not nearly unbeatable — playoff foe.Two of these sparks of brilliance came from familiar sources: Draymond Green and Steph Curry.The third came from second-year wing Moses Moody.All three were critical in the Dubs’ 136-125 win over OKC, which kept the Warriors in the top six seeds of the Western Conference standings for another few nights ahead of the team’s final two games of the regular season.The little things that helped the...

Musk, tech leaders question safety in SF following Cash App founder's death

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:04:44 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) -- Silicon Valley tech leaders are calling safety in San Francisco into question following the fatal stabbing of mobile payment service Cash App founder Bob Lee. "Very sorry to hear that. Many people I know have been severely assaulted. Violent crime in SF is horrific and even if attackers are caught, they are often released immediately. Is the city taking stronger action to incarcerate repeat violent offenders," Elon Musk tweeted in reaction to Lee's death.This was a reply to UFC and MMA fighter Jake Shields' tweet about Lee's death."I just found out my good friend was killed last night while walking [home] in San Francisco. He was in the “good” part of the city and appeared to have been targeted in a random mugging/attack. F*** San Francisco," Sheilds said.Cryptocurrency MobileCoin--one of the companies Lee was involved in--founder Joshua Golbard remembered Lee in an emotional statement on Twitter where he also criticized the city for Lee's death."As a lifelon...

Trump (Allegedly) Broke the Law for No Reason

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:04:44 GMT

Donald Trump’s former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen arrives for a second day of testimony before a grand jury on March 15, 2023, in New York.Photo: Mary Altaffer/APThere are many funny aspects to former President Donald Trump being arrested on Tuesday in Manhattan. But a little-noticed one is that if Trump had had better lawyers, he likely could have gotten away with his alleged schemes to cover up unflattering stories without any legal entanglements at all — including paying hush money to Stormy Daniels, the ultimate basis for all the charges he now faces.Moreover, with just a little bit of extra care, it might have gone completely unnoticed.The same things generally apply to the National Enquirer, which was forced to pay a fine for its own hush money payments to former Playboy playmate Karen McDougal over her relationship with Trump.One thing to understand is that there’s a lot about McDougal in the prosecutors’ statement of facts, but none of the charges involve her. The N...

Idaho governor signs ban on gender-affirming care for youth

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:04:44 GMT

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Idaho’s governor has signed a bill criminalizing gender-affirming medical care for transgender youth.Idaho is at least the 12th state to enact a law restricting or banning gender-affirming care for minors, and nearly two dozen more are considering bills that would ban or restrict the care. Idaho Gov. Brad Little, a Republican, signed the legislation Tuesday evening.The law is set to go into effect next January, making it a felony to provide hormones, puberty blockers or other gender-affirming care to people under age 18. Opponents of the legislation have warned it will likely increase suicide rates among teens, but proponents of the bill said it was necessary to “protect children” from medical or surgical treatments for gender dysphoria. Still, supporters have acknowledged there has been no indication that gender-affirming surgeries are being performed on transgender youth in Idaho.“In signing this bill, I recognize our society plays a role in protecting mi...