When heavy metal and country music collide. This collaboration between country music's Cody Jinks and Lamb Of God's Mark Morton makes a lot of sense. Morton, who plays lead guitar for the band Lamb of God, wanted to dive into more of a southern rock sound on his upcoming solo album Without The Pain. Cody Jinks, who has a background in the heavy metal genre prior to his successful country music career, is always happy to revisit his roots. A match made in heaven if you ask me. This new project, set to release in April, is chock full of country collaborations, including the likes of Travis Denning, Jaren Johnston (of The Cadillac Three) and Jason Isbell, along with Cody Jinks. Morton is a talented musician in his own right, and the help he's getting from that list of artists with Without The Pain could make him more of a household name in the southern rock world. Mark Morton feels really good about the song "Brother," in which he collaborated with Cody Jinks. As he tells the story, the heavy metal musician came up with the base of the song first, and then took it to Cody Jinks and Travis Denning for a Nashville writing session second: "On a long bus ride, somewhere in the middle of a LAMB OF GOD tour, I scribbled some lyrics down in my notebook. Sometime after, having paired them with a simple chord progression, I presented my idea to Cody Jinks and Travis Denning during a writing session in Nashville. Three hours later, we walked out with 'Brother.' 'Brother' is a deeply personal song that speaks directly to the theme of family separation and estrangement. I have learned through observation and my own lived experience that it is a universal and all too common phenomenon. We all poured a lot of ourselves into this song and I'm grateful to Cody for singing on it with me. I hope you'll enjoy listening to it as much as we enjoyed making it." Let me tell you... listening and enjoying "Brother" is not an issue. I can't think of a better voice to be put behind the lyrics and the story this song tells than Cody Jinks. Morton's stellar, sharp-edged guitar playing (and killer riffs) sets the pace while Jinks' powerful voice keeps the heart-wrenching family retrospection moving right along. As Morton noted, the song tackles the pain that can come from being estranged by and from family, and the verse and chorus below tells that story loud and clear: "Brother brother, why you hide? Can you look your mother in the eye? Do you feel ashamed when you speak her name Or are you high on your petty pride? Brother brother, why you hide? You be Cain and I'll be Abel You're the only one keeping score It turns out if you turn the table You're worse off than you were before." It's a back-breaking track with heavy metal, southern rock, and sad country tones. In other words, there's a little bit of everything in it for everyone to enjoy, and Cody Jinks and Mark Morton prove to be a dangerous musical duo. Morton revealed that the pair hit it off immediately: "Cody Jinks is a world famous, incredibly successful Outlaw country artist. But if you ask me, he’s just as punk rock as he is country. The first time Cody and I spoke, I instantly recognized a kindred spirit. His own trajectory to success; spending years in clubs making little to no money, climbing up through the ranks with little to no radio airplay and releasing music that was deemed commercially unviable, looked very much like my own story. Cody lives and breathes his music, a trait which I respect and admire. As so often happens, in the process of creating music together, Cody and I have built a real friendship. I’m thrilled to be releasing a song that we wrote and recorded together." Oh, and the accompanying music video is the definition of cinematic. Two guys with first-team-all-American beards walking through the snowy, mountainous landscape of Durango, Colorado? What more could you want? You can check out the new song "Brother," which will be featured in Morton's upcoming album Without The Pain, by pressing play on the link below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdLEjaM-cGE

A surprisingly wholesome video clip of the late iconic professional wrestler "Macho Man" Randy Savage went viral in 2022 for the surprisingly vulnerable answer he gave when asked if he ever cries.The 1992 interview with Arsenio Hall began with Hall joking that Savage's middle name is 'Macho,' and asking if he ever cried. If you're not familiar with professional wrestling in the 1980s and early '90s, it was common for the biggest names of the day—Hulk Hogan, Andre the Giant, Ultimate Warrior, Mr. Perfect and, of course, Macho Man—to take on personas that often embodied what we might now call "toxic masculinity." Many of them were after all what they call "heels," in wrestling circles, aka the bad guys.So, it was pretty surprising to see the downright deep and wholesome response Savage gave to Hall without hesitation."It's OK for macho men to show every emotion available," Savage says in the clip. "I've cried a thousand times and I'm gonna cry some more."This explanation of macho men being able to show all emotions was probably just as relevant then as it is now. The notion that it's not just OK, but completely normal and acceptable for men to cry goes against everything that some masculine norms have told boys from a young age. Not being able to express authentic emotions outside of anger can lead to mental health issues in men. Watch the full clip below:"I've soared with the eagles, I've slithered with the snakes and I've been everywhere in between," Savage continued. "Understand this: Nobody likes a quitter. Nobody said life was easy. So, if you get knocked down, take the standing eight count, get back up and fight again!"As a public figure that boys, teens, and young men looked up to, it was pretty incredible to see Savage appear on national television and dispel the myth that tough guys don't cry and then take it one step further by proudly stating that he himself had cried "a thousand times" was powerful. While this interview was filmed in the '90s, boys and men today are still fighting against the cultural norm of the hyper-masculine male image that includes bottling up emotions and not asking for help. All men experience a range of emotions, including sadness, because men are people and Macho Man is here to remind everyone it's OK to cry. Even when you're "macho."This article originally appeared three years ago.

Way more than a hobby. The post The strange case of John Cage’s mushroom foraging obsession: “Much more than a hobby” first appeared on Far Out Magazine.

from RT: The CIA has offered so-called buyouts to its agents as part of US President Donald Trump’s effort to downsize the federal government, CNN and the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday. The idea behind the proposal is reportedly to hone the agency into a “more aggressive” tool better suited to exerting influence on the country’s […]

from OPERATION FREEDOM: TRUTH LIVES on at https://sgtreport.tv/

UMass senior Noah Lee just went viral for doing something incredible…. He won the $10,000 halftime competition where you have to make a layup, a free throw, a three pointer and a half court shot. Incredible, right? It turns out the insurance company that sponsored the competition didn’t think so and they refused to pay up because his “foot was on the line”. Take a look: NEW: UMass student wins $10,000 during a halftime competition only to be notified that the school’s insurance partner wouldn’t be paying him because his “foot was on the line.” Horrible marketing for this insurance company Senior Noah Lee needed to make a lay-up, free throw,… pic.twitter.com/qjpjPTg9Kd — Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) February 7, 2025 NEW: UMass student wins $10,000 during a halftime competition only to be notified that the school’s insurance partner wouldn’t be paying him because his “foot was on the line.” Horrible marketing for this insurance company Senior Noah Lee needed to make a lay-up, free throw, three-pointer, and then a half-court shot to win $10,000. After making the shots, Lee was notified one day later that the “insurance partner” who allegedly sponsored the challenge wouldn’t be paying him the money. “The half-court shot is disqualified because you were not behind the line,” Lee was told. Instead, they gave him a gift card and a “swag bag.” Wow, what a bad call and terrible look for the insurance company! Luckily, UMass itself stepped in and paid up: Umass came in clutch pic.twitter.com/9QNS2Xuc7c — Chris Rollison (@RollisonChris) February 7, 2025 That’s the right call right there! The AP had more details on how it all went down: A UMass student who made a half-court shot during a women’s basketball game halftime promotion will get his $10,000 prize from the school itself after the insurance company refused to pay because, it said, his foot was on the line. Noah Lee was selected for the contest on Wednesday that required him to make a layup, free throw, 3-pointer and half-court shot in 25 seconds. He made them all, but the school said the insurance company handling the promotion declined the payout. “After their review of the four camera angles we provided, they determined the half-court shot was disqualified as it was not taken behind the half-court line,” the school said Friday. “We weren’t satisfied with that outcome and arrived at the decision to provide Noah with both a $10,000 award and a host of additional UMass athletics benefits.” Josh Schreiber, who identified himself as a UMass women’s basketball broadcaster and Lee’s best friend, said the school initially offered a package that included tickets, gift cards and UMass swag. On Friday morning, UMass athletic director Ryan Bamford said Lee would get his money — one way or the other. “For all those wondering, we’re working on getting $10K to Noah,” Bamford posted on X. “If we can’t get to a good result via the insurance company, we will pay him directly. We appreciate his support of @UMassAthletics & want to reward his fun accomplishment the other night at our @UMassWBB game.” OddsOn Promotions, a Reno, Nevada, company that offers prize indemnification insurance, did not immediately respond to an email from The Associated Press seeking comment. The biggest question on everyone’s mind seems to be “What insurance company made this call?” Here’s what ChatGPT told me: It’s unclear if OddsOn Promotions or Everest National Insurance Company or some other entity made the decision to not pay out, but whoever it was that was a really bad take.