Stinson Carter
With all the rugged charm and off-road chops of a Jeep and 21 miles of electric-only range on a charge, the new 4XE is a symbol of evolution for a model prized for its loyalty to the past.
Even Jeep purists will enjoy the 470 pound-feet of torque, the 375-horsepower, and the possibility of whisper-quiet off-roading. But you better be willing stay close to the cord to fully reap the benefits of the 4XE.
Stinson Carter
I was cruising down a city street in the new 4XE when I went under a freeway viaduct that I pass all the time without giving it a second thought. But behind the wheel of the Jeep, the world doesn’t look the same. And what I saw yesterday as an overgrown urban no-man’s-land suddenly looked more like an off-road wonderland. I made a hard right turn, and within seconds the e-infused Rubicon was devouring the ruts, rocks and mud in the shadow of the freeway overhead.
Over the next few days, I would come to realize that the things I would normally avoid at all costs become opportunities for fun in the 4XE. And no press fleet Jeep would ever be returned by me without mud on it.
Stinson Carter
The 4XE comes at a premium of about $7,000 over the gas-only counterpart. There are three driving modes: Hybrid Mode blends electric and gas, Electric Mode allows you 21 miles on a charge, and E-Save Mode uses only gas so you can save the battery for later. In theory, if you can stay plugged at home and at work, you could operate it with almost no gas if you limit yourself to the 21-mile all-electric range. In practice, I found that to be a challenge.
The 4XE charges in 2 hours on a Level 2 (240v) outlet, and 12 hours on a Level 1 (110v) outlet. Maybe there was something wrong with my outlet, but it took me over 20 hours to get to 98% charged, and I was surprised by how fast it drained. I drove two blocks and it was down to 88%. After ten minutes on the freeway, it was down to zero, and I got 18.5 miles per gallon from then on.
Stinson Carter
I know the massive Rubicon tires didn’t help with efficiency, but I was a tad disappointed to only get 300-ish miles on a full tank and a full battery. The stated mpg of the gas engine is a combined 20mpg, while the gas-powered 4-cylinder and 8-cylinder versions get 22mpg and 21mpg, respectively.
If you can charge the 4XE daily, I see the value. But if you’re mainly driving longer distances, I could see the plug-in aspect become a frustration if you’re focused on efficiency. Ironically, I think the best argument for the 4XE isn’t efficiency, but performance.
Stinson Carter
It’s a very fast Jeep, and I took an owner of an all-gas Jeep for a ride and he was stunned by the way the 4XE’s torque and horsepower made it feel sporty in traffic. And you don’t have to wait on higher RPM’s for that torque––it’s right there from the start.
It’s also very cool to slow down and realize that it’s as quiet as a golf cart at low speeds. And the fact that you can traverse a boulder field or ford a river in it without a gas motor is a major selling point. You wouldn’t want a gas-generator outside your tent, and with the 4XE you can also enjoy nature without noise pollution.
Aside from the noise, there’s also more precision of power delivery at low speeds with electric, so the application of power in a technical situation seems far less brute than internal combustion, and far more dialed-in. When you need to go slowly over a rock, you’re not going to lurch over it by accident. Which makes it all the more clear that this is a vision of Jeep’s future.
Stinson Carter
The best thing about the design of the 4XE is that you don’t really notice much difference aesthetically between it and its gas-powered brethren. Nothing to detract from its iconic Jeep looks, other than some cool electric-blue accents like tow hooks and hood paint to distinguish it. And the charging port is well-concealed in front of the driver’s side door.
There are a few elements of design that aren’t specific to the 4XE that I want to mention. First, the controls like the dual shifters for on and off-road are all rugged and tactile. The mechanical feel of the switches and buttons beg to be touched. There’s no place to put your phone for easy access or looking at your GPS, but I suppose that could make you a better human over time.
The newly-designed soft top is extremely easy to remove. That said, I may have missed a feature of the soft top’s rear window, but trying to access the back of the Jeep with the soft top on was like trying to walk through the bottom half of a Dutch Door. And finally, for a vehicle that kicks as much ass on rain-flooded streets as a Wrangler Rubicon Unlimited, I was annoyed that the rain gutters drain inside and onto the floor mats when you open the doors.
Stinson Carter
I don’t think I can sum this up without mentioning the price. The Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon 4XE that I tested came to a total of $62,660 MSRP, which seems a bit steep.
I went into this test drive focused on efficiency, only to be disappointed. But when I focused on performance, I had a blast. If you want the most capable Jeep available today and money is no object, then you need the 4XE. If you love the look of a Jeep and are looking at the 4XE as the guilt-free version, then you need to have serious charging discipline to fulfill that promise.
Stinson Carter
It is a bold step forward for a classic, but its biggest selling point is not that it’s such a great hybrid, but that it’s such a great Jeep.
Shelby American
While Ford is gearing up to launch the first-ever all-electric F-150, Shelby is keeping the madly muscular Super Snake edition alive to the joy of gas-fed powerplant fans.
The country's top-selling vehicle is available in numerous configurations from the Carroll Shelby-founded hi-po customizer. But the most batshit variant—and the one to have—is the coupe-style two-door Super Snake Sport model that debuted in 2019.
Shelby American
A supercharged 5.0-liter V8 takes gulps from a high-flow air filter and fuel injectors, creating 775-horsepower and what's presumably a deeply evil roar from the Borla exhaust. As Autoblog notes, Shelby quotes a supercar-rivaling 60-mph sprint time of 3.45 seconds.
With adjustable shocks and six-piston brake calipers, the two-door F-150 Super Snake Sport can also accelerate to 100 mph and decelerate down to naught in 8.3 seconds.
Shelby American
Shelby's speed-centric upgrades continue with a dropped suspension, blacked-out 22-inch rims in performance tires, a front splitter, and a host of exclusive badging, the most prominent being the "SHEBLY" block lettering in place the blue oval on the grille.
“Though the roots of the Shelby F-150 Super Snake trucks trace back to the famous Shelby muscle cars of the 1960’s, they’re capable of far more than just straight-line performance,” said Vince LaViolette, Shelby American Vice President of Operations.
Shelby American
“These fast trucks also handle and stop exceptionally well. The rumble and whine of the supercharged engine is a symphony of aural mechanical beauty. The styling is strong and handsome without being obnoxious. This is the purest incarnation of a 1960s muscle car in pickup form.”
Shelby is only making 300 F-150 Super Snake Sports this year, with prices starting at $98,690. Another 300 family-friendly four-doors with the same engine start at $105,708 each. Click here to learn more.
Courtesy of DN News Desk
Marcus Blandin and Francis Volpe have a service people want. But these successful entrepreneurs stand out conspicuously thanks to highly effective marketing strategies. Here, the duo shares three powerful ways to reinvent your marketing strategy.
You are not only advertising your business; you are also advertising why people should choose your business. Marcus Blandin and Francis Volpe offer more than their core products and services.
Both of these gentlemen are on a mission to make financially oppressed people self-sufficient to improve the socio-economic well-being of entire communities. Blandin and Francis suggest putting your brand’s mission clearly in the marketing strategy to create the best brand persona.
Hope is a powerful and underused tool. Your marketing strategy needs to be more than “I can help you.” It needs to say, “There is still hope for you.” People often need more than help; they need to reclaim their lives and learn how to avoid making the same mistakes. Essentially, they need a teacher who believes in them.
Blandin and Francis market themselves as not just teachers but coaches and a wealth of information. Both of their marketing strategies focus on empowerment, something else the downtrodden require.
Social consciousness is more important now than it ever was. Consumers are looking for companies that give back and then make further buying decisions based on the causes a company supports. Blandin and Francis market themselves as philanthropists with a strong desire to give back to the communities they assist.
Blandin has helped over 50 girls receive more than $3 million in scholarship funds, plus he is a board member for several non-profits. His unique role is teaching financial literacy to entire communities.
On the other hand, Francis is fueled by things such as more free time, fiscal comfort, and future investments such as education. Francis has a strong desire to help families build legacies, something they cannot do living paycheck to paycheck.
Blandin and Francis come across as experts who have a vested interest in the well-being of their clients, not flashy salesmen. In showing potential clients they want to build a mutually beneficial relationship, they are more likely to be perceived as problem solvers. And perception is the final element in a successful marketing strategy.
Since 1972, Mercedes-Benz's top-of-the-line, flagship cars have been given the moniker S-Class, and in the years since they've become the benchmark and byword for extremely elegant, powerful, and technically proficient sedans, the preferred transport of everyone from heads of state and CEOs to celebrities of all stripes.
With a starting sticker price of about $110,000—for the "base" S500 4MATIC, which like the more expensive S580 is equipped with all-wheel drive—the S-Class is as understated as a six-figure sedan can get; its 50 years of finesse (though its bloodlines go back much further) are expressed in every stitch, angle and effortless mile.
As the legendary marque puts it, the majestically-proportioned S-Class "exemplifies the allure of Mercedes-Benz," and though it also embodies tradition, in recent years Mercedes has made it a showcase for ever-more-impressive technology designed to elevate a mere ride or drive to an unforgettable experience. And the new 2021 S-Class is no slouch in any regard.
For 2021, more is more: the new S-Class is "more thoughtful of its passengers, more in tune with its driver, and more protective of those within—or even near—its elegant presence," a "seamless combination of luxurious form and intelligent function thoughtfully executed down to the smallest detail." And it's equipped with a form of AI to boot.
Its most avant-garde feature is its enhanced MBUX (Mercedes-Benz User Experience) system, which is not only more powerful, intuitive and intelligent then its predecessors, but which can actually learn and grow over time. And the car's nerve center is its advanced multiscreen, multitouch digital cockpit, that, among other things, can recognize your fingerprint and respond to your natural voice.
The exterior, created with Mercedes' Sensual Purity aesthetic in mind, gives clues to the treasures within: a newly-designed stretched hood, C-Pillar "flowing into the sculpted shoulder", and increased length, width, wheelbase and track width; and the timeless star emblem mounted above the classic grille. Mercedes notes that the S-Class stakes its claim to high status with its sybaritic "prestige measurement," i.e. the distance from the front axle to the windshield.
Those well-versed in Mercedes lore can distinguish the S-Class from the appearance of its taillights alone. The hierarchy of Mercedes sedans is revealed in these displays of innovative lighting technology, along with the car's distinctive three-point daytime driving light signature. All-new seamless door handles meanwhile are electrically extended when the driver approaches, or the outer surface of the door handle is touched.
This is all relatively subtle however; once ensconced in the driver's seat, or equally appealing, the rear cabin, the aura is comparable to that of a private jet. That's thanks to a flowing, three-dimensional design theme, and the range of expression available due to myriad customization options. Personally we prefer the progressive perforated diamond pattern of the full-grain Nappa leather options—the tool used to microperforate the seats operates with 16,000 needles—in a shade of saddle brown.
The new S-Class offers ten different massage programs, with up to 19 motors controlling all the available functions. A hot-stone massage simulator is created using seat heating combined with inflatable air chambers in the active multi-contour seats. There's also a heatable additional cushion for the head restraint available for the two electrically-adjustable rear seats, making for a truly hedonistic experience, set off by trim elements in open-pore walnut wood.
That's all enhanced by advanced LED technology, with an LED in an optical fiber every 0.6 inches, that enables interactive interior ambient lighting, which can support and augment everything from the entertainment system and climate control to the driver assistance and safety features, which are of course second to none. If you want it to, the S-Class can practically drive itself, and it can certainly compensate for even a moment's distraction and avert catastrophes with the greatest of ease.
The marque's signature "Hey Mercedes" voice assistant—which speaks 27 languages—is now practically on a par with Jarvis from Iron Man, with enhanced learning and dialogue capabilities and interaction with the Mercedes Me app. The system can now recognize vehicle occupants by their voices, and once learned, can be used to activate unique driver, or passenger, profiles, automatically activating preferred settings from seat position to sound system, lighting, and other functions.
A new-generation steering wheel, which features capacitive touch control buttons, centers the cockpit, with its 12.3” digital Instrument cluster, and 12.8” touchscreen OLED multimedia display—the first ever in a Mercedes-Benz—in the center console, with the potential for up to five screens in the front and rear, per your preference when ordering your S-Class. And an all-new Augmented Reality Head-Up Display system rivals anything you'd find in an F-35.
Sound is of course live-concert quality, thanks to new Burmester High-End 4D Surround Sound System options with up to 1,750 watts, 30 high-end speakers, and two resonators in each seat. The latter convert bass tones into vibrations, bringing automotive audio onto a new plane altogether. The system also works in tune with lighting and climate to create the car's Energizing Comfort programs, designed to keep you alert and refreshed on even the longest of drives.
And now a word about the new S-Class' engines. A six-cylinder in-line (S500 4MATIC) with 429 hp, and a V8 (S580 4MATIC) with 496 hp are the first engine variants for the new S-Class in the U.S., both are equipped with an integrated starter-generator (ISG) and 48-volt onboard electrical system. The ISG is responsible for the new S-Class's energy-conserving hybrid functions, such as EQ boost and energy recovery, achieving fuel economy unheard of in luxury cars of this size.
So where is the ideal place to test drive this marvel of design, engineering, luxury and exclusivity? Heads of state use their S-Classes to commute from palace to parliament. We took ours on a ritzy road trip to Rhode Island, and the five-star Ocean House in Watch Hill, New England's most beautiful historic seaside resort. Located right next door to Taylor Swift's equally impressive mansion, the Ocean House is a member of the prestigious Relais & Chateaux association of world-renowned hotels and resorts.
First off however, we stopped for lunch en route at Artisan, the ruggedly elegant restaurant, tavern and garden in Southport, Connecticut, part of the tony town of Fairfield—natural habitat, like Westerly, for the S-Class and its well-heeled owners. Getting us in the New England mindset, Artisan's locally-inspired and sourced cuisine emphasizes a farm-to-table approach, as it should.
We selected an S580 in Emerald Green Metallic for the jaunt, with our favorite color combination of saddle brown leather. While the S-Class performs admirably in traffic, shielding you from the outside world, and the failings of other drivers, with all the comforts of a private club, and dispenses with the headaches of traffic thanks to its DISTRONIC adaptive cruise control with Active Distance Assist and the ability to make autonomous turns, it was on the country roads leading to Westerly that we learned just how much fun the new S-Class can be to drive.
Incomparably smooth, powerful acceleration, the E-Active Body Control active suspension system, satellite-guided navigation that can adjust to the contours of the road, and all the artistry of Mercedes' engineers have combined to make a very sizable vehicle feel lightweight and nimble, including boasting an impressively small turning circle, reduced by up to 7 ft. over the previous model. Needless to say, we rolled up to the Ocean House in style.
"Luxury today is defined by comprehensive refinement," as Dirk Fetzer, Mercedes' Head of S-Class Product Management, puts it. "A truly luxurious driving experience depends on a host of factors and must appeal to all the senses." We'd say that's a pretty apt description of our time behind the wheel of the new S-Class.
We may never be elected Prime Minister of a G7 country. But at least we can say we've seen how the other half lives.
Getty Images
Kanye West had to compete with an apocalyptic Category 4 Hurricane Ida's landfall on the Louisiana coast to do it, but he still managed to top social media trends Sunday with the release of his studio album, Donda.
The hip hop mogul has been teasing the release for over a year. The real hype began in the summer of 2021. Donda (the title was his late mother's first name) was first set to be released on July 23rd. Then on August 6th and later the 15th. It looked like it might drop on August 27 after West held a listening party at Chicago's Soldier Field.
Now that it's out, it might be easy to see why it took so long because Donda is a big album. It's nearly two hours long and features 26 tracks in addition to a host of guest artists. A short sampling of the celebs joining West is an A-list who's who:
Social media response has been pretty positive:
If you're ready to check out what all the hype is about, you can listen to Donda on Spotify below.
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The Chip Kelly era at UCLA has gone over about as well as a late-night run to Taco Bell, and we’re not talking about the good kind of runs.
Coming off a four-year stint as a head coach in the NFL, Kelly was seen as the best available coach when the Bruins hired him in November 2017.
Three years later, the coaching oddity has yet to find any success at UCLA. Kelly is a dismal 10-21 during his tenure with the Bruins, and he has yet to win a non-conference game.
Kelly will be out to change that ignominious fact against Hawaii this Saturday. The oddsmakers at MaximBet like UCLA’s chances as the Bruins are 18-point favorites in that 4:30 p.m. West Coast start on ESPN.
In the late 2000s and early 2010s, Chip Kelly was one of the game’s premier offensive masterminds, and in turn, one of the hottest names among the collegiate coaching ranks.
Kelly’s Oregon Ducks put up video game numbers against Pac-12 defenses, earning him Coach of the Year honors in each of his first two seasons as his flock went 46-7 during his four years in Eugene. The offenses were seemingly unstoppable, which prompted NFL brass to sound the siren for their next head man.
The Philadelphia Eagles hired Kelly and he led them to back-to-back winning years, but was canned after going a paltry 6-9 in his third season. The quizzical coach was not well liked in the locker room, and dismissals of star players such as DeSean Jackson and LeSean McCoy led to accusations of racism, and ultimately, a fractured locker room.
San Francisco thought a change of scenery might help Kelly, but the 49ers quickly learned the error of their ways. Kelly won two games in his lone season with the Niners and was quickly disposed of, which essentially blacklisted Kelly from the NFL.
College football programs across the country were champing at the bit to hire Kelly after he was spit up and chewed out by the NFL. He had no shortage of suitors, and he thought the best move on the table was to sign a five-year, $23 million deal at UCLA.
UCLA relished the chance to get with Oregon’s ex-boyfriend.
It was thought that Kelly would modernize UCLA football and take the spotlight away from crosstown rival USC. But through his first three seasons, the gap for the College King of L.A. has only widened.
Kelly was on the hot seat after the 2019 season, but the Bruins finally showed signs of life last year. While they only went 3-4, all four of their losses were by six points or fewer, and they nearly knocked off both Oregon and USC.
The offensive production we saw in 2020 has fans believing that Kelly might be ready to take the Bruins back to a bowl game. He has recruited relatively well during his tenure, and he started playing his young, talented recruits immediately.
There is more than just a tablespoon of hopium with this sentiment though. Kelly is no longer doing anything unique or special, like he was at Oregon. When he was with the Ducks, the hurry-up offense was still new and mystical, but now it’s a standard part of schemes and other teams have adapted to prepare for it regularly.
The Bruins are nearly three-touchdown favorites against Hawaii on Saturday. Kelly should pick up his first non-conference win with UCLA as Hawaii is a bit of a disaster. Todd Graham is a solid coach, but Hawaii’s athletic department is a mess and Aloha Stadium has been condemned.
Playing the ‘OVER’ is probably the best bet for this game. The total is a lofty one to eclipse, currently sitting at 68 points at MaximBet, but both of these offenses will get up and down the field. UCLA quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson should have his way with Hawaii’s defense, and Graham is an offensive guru in his own right.
UCLA is currently 100-1 to win the national championship. You’d be better off putting together a six-team parlay than betting on the Bruins to win the College Football Playoff National Championship, but this should be Kelly’s best year with the program. He has a talented quarterback in Thompson-Robinson, and the Pac-12 isn’t that strong.
Enter the MaximBet Big Game Contest for a chance to send you and three friends to Super Bowl LVI in Los Angeles. Tickets, lodging, airfare and expenses are paid for, and you'll get to hang with us at the Maxim Super Bowl Party. It's free to enter so go ahead and roll the dice here.
The coronavirus pandemic ensured many Hollywood projects ended up taking a much longer road to the movie theaters than they normally would have. The King's Man, a prequel to the Kingsman series, was just one example—its original release date was November 15, 2019.
It appears that 20th Century Studios is very ready to get the Ralph Fiennes-starring flick out to the public, however, and this new Red Band trailer is a good way to stoke excitement for its premiere.
20th Century Studios
Since it's a version of the trailer intended for a mature audience, there are no bleeped F-bombs and Djimon Hounsou's character "Shola" performs a badass surgical procedure separating one villain's head from his body in a pretty epic way. This is definitely the kind of intensity and wit a fan of the Kingsman franchise might appreciate.
Here's the synopsis for The King's Man:
As a collection of history's worst tyrants and criminal masterminds gather to plot a war to wipe out millions, one man must race against time to stop them. Discover the origins of the very first independent intelligence agency in The King's Man.
The trailer helps fill in some missing details. World War I figures into the plot and the "Mad Monk" Rasputin, who in real life did indeed hold sway over the Russian royal family, is clearly one of the major bad guys. He's played with gross-out gusto by Rhys Ifans.
The King's Man was directed by Matthew Vaughn and in addition to Hounsou, Fiennes, and Ifans, the movie stars Gemma Arterton, Matthew Goode, Tom Hollander, Harris Dickinson, Daniel Brühl and Charles Dance.
The King's Man blasts into theaters on December 22, 2021.
Getty Images
A lot can change in five years. In 2015, Spencer Elden, the man who as a baby graced the cover of Nirvana's now-classic album Nevermind, posed underwater—this time in shorts—for a cover recreation.
As the 30th anniversary of the album's release approaches Elden has let it be known through his attorney that he's not actually cool with the cover after all. In court filings obtained by Variety, Elden is asking for $150,000 from individual defendants (surviving members of the band and Courtney Love, executor of Kurt Cobain's estate) and calling the image "child pornography."
...Robert Y. Lewis, Elden’s lawyer, offers an unusual interpretation of the image to argue that it crosses the line into child porn, writing that the inclusion of currency in the shot makes the baby appear “like a sex worker."
"Defendants intentionally commercially marketed Spencer’s child pornography and leveraged the shocking nature of his image to promote themselves and their music at his expense," reads the lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court’s central district of California and obtained by Variety. "Defendants used child pornography depicting Spencer as an essential element of a record promotion scheme commonly utilized in the music industry to get attention, wherein album covers posed children in a sexually provocative manner to gain notoriety, drive sales, and garner media attention, and critical reviews."
Variety also writes that in addition to asking for at least $150,000 from Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic, and the Cobain estate, the suit seeks compensation from "photographer Kirk Weddle; art director Robert Fisher; and a number of existing or defunct record companies that released or distributed the album in the last three decades."
Even Chad Channing, the drummer Dave Grohl replaced the year before Nevermind's release, has been named in the suit.
Elden and his attorneys may not have banked on the social media reaction to news of the suit, which was not uniformly positive, to say the least.
It's fair to note, as Variety does, that Elden's parents only received $200 for the shoot, and despite his apparent embrace of all the attention surrounding the cover, Elden has made statements in the past that made it clear he was pretty conflicted about his legacy.
The new wrinkle in this lawsuit is Elden's attorneys go all-in on the "child pornography" accusation, writing in part:
The concept and creation of this image replicated previous controversial campaigns used to promote music with sexually explicit material depicting a child or outright child pornography, including the album covers for Scorpion’s ‘Virgin Killer,’ Blind Faith’s ‘Blind Faith’ and Van Halen’s ‘Balance.'
In 2016, Elden outlined what was so troubling to him at the time about his legacy in an interview with Time, saying "It's a trip. Everyone involved in the album has tons and tons of money. I feel like I’m the last little bit of grunge rock. I’m living in my mom’s house and driving a Honda Civic."
Elden even admitted in the Time article that he'd looked into some kind of legal action against Geffen Records, but it didn't work out.
If nothing else, this time Spencer Elden has certainly found attorneys who know how to get some attention to his cause.
In what Hublot is calling an exercise in "rainbow maximalism," the ultra-luxe Swiss watchmaker is bringing all seven colors of the dazzling natural phenomena to one watch for the first time since the Big Bang Rainbow debuted in 2017.
Hublot
Available with a King Gold or white gold 43mm case, the Big Bang Integral Tourbillon Rainbow's jewelry weighs alone in at nearly 36 carats, or just over 2.5 ounces.
Hublot
Each example boasts 484 baguette-cut stones of five varieties: red rubies, ultraviolet amethysts, Klein blue topaz, leaf green tsavorites, and sapphires in lemon yellow, fuchsia pink, and orange.
Hublot
Over the course of 1,200 hours, the plethora of precious stones are hand-selected, shaped and invisibly set on the case and bracelet, which sees the colors are graded around the bezel and across the band.
Hublot
Without a traditional dial, the bejeweled bauble's mechanical workings also draw the eye, from the house-made HUB6035 movement and gold micro-rotor to the trio of transparent sapphire crystal bridges.
Hublot
Hublot hasn't listed the Big Bang Integral Tourbillon Rainbow on its website yet, but Hypebeast reports that it'll carry a cool $790,000 price tag when it drops.
Warner Bros.
Matthew McConaughey coined a slick public safety slogan in a kindhearted tweet celebrating Texas Gov. Gregg Abbott's recovery from COVID-19.
Uproxx picked up a MySanAntonio.com story on the online exchange between the movie star and his home state's top elected official. After contracting COVID-19 last week, Abbott revealed that he's now testing negative for the virus.
McConaughey quote-tweeted Abbott's message, writing, "Thank you for mentioning that 'the vaccination you received made your infection brief and mild.' Health to you, Cecilia, Texas, and beyond."
The Oscar-winning actor signed off with the very McConaughey-esque line, "Mask, vax and just keep livin."
His choice in wording is more than just catchy. According to Politico, Abott has been a vehement opponent of mask mandates, having banned such measures by any government entity in an emergency order issued in July.
Given that context, McConaughey's apparent well-wish could be interpreted as a light barb directed at Abbot. In fact, McConaughey has publicly said that he's considering challenging the incumbent for his third term in Texas' 2022 gubernatorial race.
"What an awesome privilege, an awesome responsibility, awesome position of sacrifice and service," McConaughey said about the potential run during on an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show in May per ABC News.
"It's something I'm trying to look in the eye and give honest consideration."
Ruma Design
If hydrogen fuel cells take off as an alternative to lithium battery-only EVs in rides like the Hyperion XP-1, they may well find their way onto the water in yachts like this Ruma Design Migma.
Ruma Design
The 180-foot Catamaran takes its name from the Greek word for "mixture" as a nod to the blending of a contemporary twin-hull design with futuristic propulsion, according to Robb Report.
Ruma Design
A combo of a liquid hydrogen tank that feeds PEM fuel cells and lithium-ion batteries will power a pair of electric motors, theoretically offering exceptionally long ranges without emissions, fumes or loud noises.
Ruma Design
The Migma is still in early concept stages, so specifics performance aren't available. But a handful of renderings show an interior underpinned by an open modular space suited to anything from mobile conferences to overwater dining, with 360-degree views of the sea courtesy of floor-to-ceiling windows.
Ruma Design
Surrounding this main space are decks leading to an infinity pool and swim platform at the aft. Tucked below deck are two staterooms lined with electrochromic smart glass that can be blacked out for privacy.
Ruma Design
If interested in making the Migma a reality, contact Ruma Design online here.
