The magic of Fort Worth… or something like that. A lot unfolds in the Fort Worth Stockyards each night. Live music fills the red brick streets, beers are being thrown back, folks are being swung around the dance floor, and lovers are reconnecting or having a spat with each other. I’m sure we’ve all seen a lover’s spat while wandering through the Stockyards, or any bar-filled area, to be frank. Playing into a lover’s quarrel, Kylie Frey and Randall King just released a cheeky Texas twanger about making your lover (or former lover) jealous while being out on the town in “Fort Worth.” View this post on Instagram A post shared by K Y L I E F R E Y (@kyliefrenchfrey) If any two artists were meant to sing a tune like this, it’s Frey and King. Although Frey might not hail from Texas, the Louisiana native knows how to create some honky tonk anthems, and of course, we know King for his jonky tonk sound, making them a match made in heaven. The song opens up with Frey recalling the events of the previous night, making one believe this is going to be a ballad about two lovers reconnecting during a date night in the Texas city. “A couple belt buckles on a hotel floor A do not disturb sign on the door And waking up back in love is how it ends…” Think again. King chimes in after Frey delivers the first lines, noting that a lot of events unfolded before these two lovers reconnected. King tells the tale that Frey walked into a bar on the arm of another Romeo, which did not fly with King, soon leading to a fist-flying fight. “But you walk in with some Romeo Just to piss me off, next thing I know The tears are crying, the fists are flying, and that’s how it all begins…” After some tears were shed, things get back on track, but it sounds like for the two lovers that King and Frey depict in this story, the combination of each other, cold beer, and Fort Worth often leads to an action-packed night of lovers fighting before reconnecting with each other. At the end of each night out in Fort Worth, these troubled lovers always end up stumbling back to each other’s hotel rooms to reconnect and put their troubles in the past. “Mixin me and you and ice cold beer in Fort Worth Well, I guaran damn tee you’re gonna see some fireworks It’s the greatest break up, kiss and make up, show on earth Mixing me and you and ice cold beer in Fort Worth” It might be a whirlwind affair, but it works for this slightly toxic couple. The Texas swing style meldoy filled with stell guitar is the perfect upbeat tempo to take the listener on this wild right and the back and forth from the man and woman’s point of view keeps you engaged after the first few lines, when the seeminly fairytale love song takes a twisted turn to a couple who loves to push each other’s buttons, to later kiss and make up. This is a whirlwind of a Texas twanger that you’ll quickly find on repeat. Turn this one all the way up. The post Kylie Frey Teams Up With Randall King For A New Texas Twanger, “Fort Worth” first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

Biggest Fear - Mohanad Elshieky stand-up comedy

When the world gets heavy and humanity seems like it's struggling more than usual, so many of us wish Fred Rogers was here to offer his signature comfort and calm. For millions of Americans, Mister Rogers' Neighborhood was more than just an educational show; it was—and still is—a wholesome example of genuine human goodness and a hopeful reminder of what each of us can be. Mr. Rogers was beloved for many reasons, one being how he honored and celebrated the uniqueness and creativity of every person. And he lived that value right down to the smallest details that most people might overlook—like the piano part of his opening theme song. - YouTube www.youtube.com At the beginning every episode, after a brief piano intro, Rogers would enter through the front door singing, "It's such a good feeling to know you're alive…" He followed the same basic routine through the theme song—set down what he was carrying, go to the closet, change from his suit jacket to his cardigan sweater, sit down to change his dress shoes to sneakers (always tossing a shoe from one hand to the other), ending with "Please, won't you be my neighbor?" But what most of us missed in that routine was that the piano was never played the same way, episode to episode. For over three decades, Rogers did the same routine with the same song (895 episodes in total) and every single time the piano playing was unique. Rogers had enlisted world renowned jazz pianist Johnny Costa to serve as musical director of the show, and Costa performed the song live in studio while Rogers sang to it. Costa was an improvisational genius, and while Rogers wrote the music and lyrics for the songs on the show, including the theme song, he told Costa to arrange and add his own touches to each song. And that's just what he did. - YouTube www.youtube.com Costa worked alongside Rogers for 25 years, with his piano and jazz trio providing live musical accompaniment throughout each show. If you recall occasional musical interjections while Mr. Rogers was talking, that was Costa's doing (until he passed away in 1996 and Michael Moricz took over his role), and most of it was improvised. The connection between Rogers and Costa was almost magical. “Music is rock bottom for Johnny and me, and we communicate on an intuitive substratum that would not be possible if we didn’t have a feel for music," Rogers said. "It’s true that there are no cues. We have a rundown, of course, for the program, and he knows my teleprompter copy. But when I’m working with a craft or something, invariably he’ll come in and underline an important issue.” "I watch Fred, and there must be some kind of telepathy that we’re not aware of, because somehow I get the message to play or not to play," said Costa. "I’m sure that some of it has to do with working together all these years, but a lot of it is unexplainable." Fred Rogers and Johnny Costa were musical partners on "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood."Public Domain A YouTube creator who goes by Treehouse Detective shared the story of how the theme song was different each episode, causing a wave of love for Mr. Rogers in the comments section:"We seriously didn’t deserve Mister Rogers. He gave him a melody and allowed him the space to share his talent and make masterpieces.""Yeah! This is beautiful! And it goes so much deeper than that! Mr Rogers treated every member of his audience as if they are on their way to becoming a sophisticated adult. That's why he chose this God level jazz musician to allow children to be exposed to high and sophisticated musical expression.""Costa also worked for practically free. Mr Rogers repeatedly tried to pay it properly, Costa refused because he didn’t want the shows limited budget to just go to him." - YouTube www.youtube.com "Being an abused child. I loved watching Mr. Rogers. He was my safe-haven. I was so blessed to be Mr. Rogers neighbor in real life as an adult. He was such a truly beautiful man. He would sit and read the books he wrote to my daughter. Such a blessing.""Another amazing fact - he started describing everything on the show - what stuff looked like, what he was doing - very gently and casually because a little girl who was blind wrote to him and said she wished she could see what he was doing.""I wrote Mr. Rogers three letters. He answered all his own mail and each letter was carefully typed so you could tell that he had taken the time to actually read the letter and respond. A few years ago, in my classroom, we were reading a book about Mr. Rogers. The kids didn't know who he was so I found an episode on YouTube. They were glued to it. Even with their modern limited attention spans, the man hooked them into being a part of his neighborhood because he was speaking directly to them."No matter how many new things we learn about Mr. Rogers, he truly remains the best of us.

Gen Xers (1965 to 1980) are often called the forgotten generation because they are wedged between the much larger and culturally significant Baby Boomer and Millennial generations. Gen Xers are frequently overlooked because they were known as a nihilistic, sarcastic generation that was very skeptical of fame and power, and their youths were overshadowed by Boomer nostalgia. There's no greater proof of the generations' apathetic younger years than the fact that Gen Xers have yet to have a person from their generation elected president.Even though Gen X may not be as discussed as Baby Boomers or Millennials (and they may not mind), we mustn’t forget that a lot of the culture and technology that we enjoy today was a gift given to the world by Gen X. Yes, they may be known as slackers. Still, they did change the world in their own DIY (do-it-yourself) way.Here are 11 gifts that Gen X gave to the world1. Reality TVThis one is a mixed bag because over the past 30-plus years, a lot of reality TV hasn’t exactly been at the pinnacle of American culture. But, initially, in 1992, MTV debuted The Real World, featuring a group of Gen Xers living in an apartment together in New York City. It was a powerful statement on whether or not a group of young Americans from different ethnic groups, regions, and sexualities could live together under the same roof. Eventually, the show became all about people hooking up, losing its cultural relevance.2. Golden Age of hip-hopThe first rappers who picked up microphones in the South Bronx in the late '70s were most likely Baby Boomers, but the Golden Age of hip-hop, from the mid-’80s to mid-'90s, was created by Gen Xers. In this time, we had gangster rappers such as N.W.A. and Snoop Dogg, as well as political activists like Public Enemy and KRS-One. Artists who brought rap to the front pages, including Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac Shakur. Wordsmiths who drew inspiration from jazz, such as De La Soul and A Tribe Called Quest, and the boom-bap artists who made rap mainstream, including L.L. Cool J, RUN DMC, and Beastie Boys.3. Extreme sportsIn the 1990s, one of the most overused buzzwords was “Extreme.” The soft drinks were extreme. The games on your Game Boy were extreme. Even on Wayne’s World, the close-ups were extreme as all get-out. But the most extreme that one could get was in the world of sports, where in the ‘90s people were always tempting the reaper while bungee jumping, mountain biking, skateboarding, base jumping, paragliding, or anything that Dan Cortese could cram into MTV Sports.4. BlogsBefore social media and online articles existed, bloggers were the first to share their thoughts and feelings on the Internet, a space then known as the World Wide Web or Cyberspace. Early bloggers used platforms such as LiveJournal and Open Diary, while some wrote their own code. These personal musings serve as a touchpoint for early Internet culture and formed the framework for many of the online platforms we use today.5. Music festivalsYes, Boomers, we know that Woodstock first happened in 1969. Gen Xers heard about it every day of their lives growing up. However, the modern music festival really took off after 1991’s Lollapalooza, curated by Perry Farrell of Jane’s Addiction. Lollapalooza was the culmination of ‘90s alternative culture, priding itself on bringing together top bands in alternative rock and hip-hop with legacy acts, cult bands, and extreme sideshows. 6. Grunge musicEven if you don’t like grunge rock, you have to thank the genre for wiping the airwaves of the scourge of hair metal that dominated in the late ‘80s. Grunge rock was born in the late ‘80s in Seattle and was a confluence of the slow, heavy sounds of early metal, such as Black Sabbath, and the do-it-yourself, anti-establishment punk scene that started in the late ‘70s. Grunge was gritty, thumbed its nose at rock star excess, and brought thrift-store fashion to the forefront of youth culture.7. The Indie film movementWhile Boomers can lay claim to the early indie film movement sparked by 1969’s Easy Rider, that was squashed by the blockbuster era of the ‘80s. The rise of independent film festivals and award shows, video stores and the era’s DIY attitude created a new crop of filmmakers armed with, as filmmaker Kevin Smith would call it, “A credit card and a dream,” and led to a new generation of filmmakers including Smith (Clerks, Chasing Amy), Quentin Tarrantino (Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs), Richard Linklater (Slacker, Dazed and Confused), and Stephen Soderberg (Sex, Lies, and Videotape, Oceans 11). 8. Coffee house cultureKids of today often lament that there aren’t any third spaces, after home and work, to meet up with friends and just hang out. In the time before the great Starbucks takeover, coffee shops were a place in the ‘90s where young people, especially teenagers and adults too young for the bar scene, hung out and spent long hours on shabby, thrift-store decor, arguing over who killed Laura Palmer on Twin Peaks. - YouTube www.youtube.com 9. A healthy dose of skepticismOf course, skepticism has been around since the dawn of man, but Gen Xers brought it to an art form. It’s hard to imagine in 2025 that from the late ‘80s until 2001, young people in America didn’t really care that much about politics. They had very low voter turnout and were skeptical about people in power. Gen X was more concerned with selling out than buying into the system. Some may find that level of apathy appalling, but there’s something to be said for putting politics on the back burner and focusing on things that bring more satisfaction in life than following an ugly “zero-sum” game.10. Gaming cultureOlder generations may have enjoyed Pong (1972), but authentic video game culture came alive in the early ‘80s with games like Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, and Frogger. Gen X was the first generation to play on mass-produced home game systems such as the Atari 2600 and ColecoVision. This sowed the seeds for a gaming subculture to become part of the mainstream, where video games are worth nearly $200 billion a year. 11. Social mediaGen Xers were the creators of key platforms in the development of social media, starting with Blogger (1999), which allowed people to share posts. The significant change came in 2003, when MySpace, created by Gen Xers Chris DeWolfe and Tom Anderson, became the first mainstream social network. Gen Xers would also be behind the creation of YouTube (2005) and Twitter (2006). You can say Gen X is the forgotten generation, but in a world dominated by social media, it’s impossible to say they didn’t have a massive impact on the world of today.

It's no secret that Generation X is getting older. In 2025, Gen X (born between 1965 and 1980) are now between 45-60 years old. And, according to a 2024 study published in The Journals of Gerontology, Gen Xers are living longer than Boomers.To find humor in their journeys, one aging Gen Xer posed a funny question to his fellow Gen Xers: "What downright elderly shizz you been getting into????"She went on to explain, "I’ll start. I’ve had to limit alcohol to weekends this last year because there’s no telling how my body will punish me for it…. I might not sleep all night, I might experience heartburn on a level that I might barf, it might be nothing.. in any case I can’t risk it on a weekday. So I decide to get some Valarian root tea and have that as my nightcap. I’ve never liked tea, ever. Like ew no thank you to your tepid lawn water ?? But valerian is very nice in flavor." Golden Girls Tea GIFGiphyShe noted she now has a whole collection of teas in various flavors, before quipping, "I’m GenX Meemaw. It has happened. I’m rocking it of course, but damn."Her vulnerable and relatable post inspired fellow Gen Xers to share the amusing things that make them feel "elderly." These are the funniest things Gen Xers said that will make you chuckle. Aging Matt Damon GIFGiphy"I have a damn daily pill holder. You know, with the days of the week? ?" - Lesterkitty13"My dad reads all day and hardly leaves the house he’s been like this for many years and he is happy. A year ago I started reading all day I already barely left the house but now I’m finishing books in one to two days. I’m physically disabled and it’s gotten harder to be active. I’ve turned into my father." - mjh8212"From City Slickers, 1991: 'The music starts to get too loud and one of your old girlfriends from high school becomes a grandmother. Your fifties you have a minor surgery. You'll call it a procedure, but it's a surgery. Your sixties you have a major surgery, the music is still loud but it doesn't matter because you can't hear it anyway. Seventies, you and the wife retire to Fort Lauderdale, you start eating dinner at two, lunch around ten, breakfast the night before. And you spend most of your time wandering around malls looking for the ultimate in soft yogurt and muttering 'how come the kids don't call?' By your eighties, you've had a major stroke, and you end up babbling to some Jamaican nurse who your wife can't stand but who you call mama.' Any questions?" - these-things-happen Billy Crystal Cowboy GIF Giphy "I wake up between 5-5:30 AM & quietly drink my coffee as I contemplate, the topic varies. I love this time of morning because it’s mostly quiet, depending on the time of year, the birds might start stirring & chirping, it almost feels like it’s just me in the world. Also depending on the time of year, I’ll meander around my outdoor plants & check on them. If I’m not able to do my morning ritual, it fucks with my mood for the rest of the day." - SierraStar7"I just started drinking tea also and I’m kind of digging it. I stare out my backdoor and look at the grass/ plants a lot more than I should. I have identified individual squirrels. I’ve contemplated the music at my funeral. Written a book in my head. I get annoyed by people my age looking so old." - Consistent-Change386"I love being in my 50s. No more monthly curse. Kids are grown and flown and I get to focus on me for the first time in a quarter century. But also, yes, I’m doing some elderly stuff. Birds! They’re fascinating. CRS. Seriously. I forget anything that isn’t written down AND in my phone. Can’t tolerate alcohol much at all anymore, but THC beverages are great and they’re low/no calorie. Bonus for the menopausal metabolism. I wear a floppy straw hat on the beach and when walking the neighborhood, because skin cancer is real. I rarely, if ever, exceed the speed limit. I always prioritize comfort over style." - No-Ship-6214 Driving On My Way GIF Giphy "Just this week, my husband (52) was given an extra carry out container at a restaurant. He said, 'Here, take it home. This is a really good box.' We started laughing so hard." - Happy_Armadillo_553"I don’t care how warm it is outside. When I sit down to watch TV, I’m gonna throw a blanket over my lap." - creepyoldlurker"52M. I’m suddenly way into WWII documentaries!!! Such an old man thing!" - Vivid_Surprise_1353"My dad, 75, has been complaining about feeling like he’s stuck at home, doing nothing. I was in town last weekend, so I bribed him with breakfast and we went to check out the local senior activity center. We got a tour and it was super nice. They have a billiards room, lunch, tons of seating, classes, movie nights … And I asked what the requirements were and she said you had to be 50 years old. I’m 52. I could hang out there now." - jenorama_CA Differently Abled Vintage GIF by US National Archives Giphy "We sold our couch and bought matching La-Z-Boy recliners! ??" - pagesinthesun"Recently started taking water aerobics. Makes me feel like I’m in Cocoon." - Leelabot"I like jigsaw puzzles. I found a name brand one at Walgreens and on clearance and I got very excited. I showed my wife and told her it was on super sale; as excited as my son would have for a video game. I asked the cashier to make sure it was on sale before I bought it. I made sure to use my discount card." - len43

There's something special about receiving a physical, handwritten greeting card. Whether sent by snail mail or attached to a sweet gift, greeting cards are still alive and well in the digital age of communication.According to the Greeting Card Association (GCA), 6.5 billion greeting cards are purchased annually in the United States. And one generation is to thank for saving the industry: Millennials. "The millennial generation is now the largest buyers of greeting cards from a dollar standpoint," said George White, Founder of Up with Paper, a pop-up greeting card company, and Past President of GCA, per the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. "[Millenials] saved our industry." Valentines Day Love GIF by Julie Smith Schneider Giphy Carlos Llanso, Director of Strategic Initiatives in The Greeting Card Association, added that Millennials and Gen Z are both strong greeting card consumers. "They have friends they will text or post happy birthday to, but then they have those who are 'card-worthy,'" he added.The deeper significance of greeting cardsSending messages and communicating online is constant, immediate, and often fleeting," Dr. Pamela Walters, MD, consultant psychiatrist at Eulas Clinics, tells Upworthy. "Messages can be sent and deleted within seconds. Cards can feel slower and more deliberate which is why many people keep cards for years."And they can help us connect on a deeper level. "As human beings we attach meaning not just to words but also to the medium through which those words are delivered. A physical card represents time, effort, and thoughtfulness to a lot of people," adds Dr. Walter. "It signals that the sender has slowed down to acknowledge you personally. For millennials (who, let's not forget, came of age during the shift to digital communication), the tangible nature of a card can feel more special. Psychologically, these little things that show care can definitely strengthen bonds." Mail Send Me GIF by alimacdoodle Giphy Of course, greeting cards also bring an air of nostalgia. "There is also a bit of a nostalgic element. They experienced writing thank you notes as children but also grew up texting and on social media," says Dr. Walter. "That duality means they appreciate the novelty/intimacy of something older fashioned."Millennials are pumped that they "finally saved something." One explained, "It’s exciting to get something personal in the mail. Plus it’s always nice when you can tell someone knows you and picked out a card that is your vibe. Makes you feel seen and valued. I’ll slap them on the fridge for a bit." Send Me Spongebob Squarepants GIF by Nickelodeon Giphy Another commented, "I keep almost every card I get/have ever gotten. Someone took the time to think about the perfect card to give me, and then also wrote a personalized note inside." Another shared, "I love getting cards, especially when someone writes a message. I keep mine. If they're holiday cards, I display them annually."Other Millennials shared where they like to buy their greeting cards. "I buy them from the dollar store because they’re not worth $7-$10," one wrote. This one added, "Trader Joe’s sells greeting cards for $1." Another wrote, "Aldi sometimes sells bulk blank cards for $5. I have a ton. Also, check for bulk cards if a child family/friend is having a school fundraiser. Sometimes the ones with wrapping paper have bulk blank cards." Another spilled, "Marshall’s has some really cute fancy ones for under five dollars too." And another added, "I grab them from Homegoods when they put them on clearance at the end of a season."