The 2019 movie Godzilla: King of the Monsters showed us a new version of Godzilla on steroids, all jacked up and twice the size as he ever was before. The expensive movie was a box office disappointment, but it had enough weirdness to inspire Screen Junkies to give it an Honest Trailer to wrap up their summer blockbuster series.
It came as a surprise to the Newman family when their home security camera captured the moment a bear stole a box of mail-order dog food from their porch. The shared video from the family showed the bear grabbing the box from their front porch in Pennsylvania and dragging it off into the woods.
The bear can have that box of dog food, as Chewy (where the stolen box was from) offered to send a replacement to the Newmans upon seeing the video.
image credit: screenshot via Youtube
We tend nowadays to think of cemeteries as spooky, abandoned places. We visit them only when obligated -or dared- to, and we dread thinking about our own final resting place. That wasn't the case in the past, when death was a bigger part of everyone's life. We had more children, more relatives, more disease, and having a place to put our deceased was a real concern. The cemeteries we set aside for them were nice places, like parks. In an era when there weren't enough green spaces set aside for the living, cemeteries were used as parks, for relaxing, picnicking, family reunions, and socializing.
When it comes to green spaces, we’re a bit spoilt in New York City. There are over 1,700 parks (even if it doesn’t always feel that way) for our picnics, parties, and general frolicking to unfold. But 150 years ago, parks were still a privilege for the upper-class in America, if they even existed at all. So folks flocked to the next best thing: the cemetery. There, in the shady knolls of Boston’s Forest Hills Cemetery, or amongst the gothic gates of Brooklyn’s Green-Wood Cemetery, 19th century Americans got to engage in their two favourite pastimes: bonding with the dead, and feeling their pastoral oats. Elaborate walkways, gardens, and follies abounded in the cemeteries – one even had a liquor license – in a way that’s made us wonder why cracking open a cold one with the deceased ever went out of style…
But it did, and socializing in a cemetery just died out. But that's changing, as those who operate cemeteries are running promotions to encourage visitors, even those who don't know anyone buried there. Read about the rise, fall, and resurgence of the cemetery as a gathering spot at Messy Nessy Chic.
In an article for BBC, Kelly Grovier explored the origins of words that were coined in art history. Some words include “silhouette”, “picturesque”, and surprisingly, “dude”. What initially was associated with Jeff Bridge’s portrayal of The Dude in the 1998 film The Big Lebowski had actually entered popular discourse in the early 1880s as a shorthand for the male followers of the Aesthetic Movement. Grovier detailed the surprising history of “dude”:
For the past 20 years, Jeff Bridge’s portrayal of The Dude in the Coen Brothers’ film The Big Lebowski (1998) has epitomised the seductive spirit of dudeness. Dishevelled, stoned and disorientated, The Dude’s laid-back attitude is difficult to square with the artsy origin of the word itself, which seems to have entered popular discourse in the early 1880s as shorthand for foppishly turned-out male followers of the Aesthetic Movement – a short-lived artistic vogue that championed superficial fashion and decadent beauty (‘art for art’s sake’) and was associated with ostentatiously-attired artists such as James McNeill Whistler and Dante Gabriel Rossetti.
It’s thought that ‘dude’ is an abbreviation of ‘Doodle’ in ‘Yankee Doodle’, and probably refers to the new-fangled ‘dandy’ that the song describes. Originally sung in the late 18th Century by British soldiers keen to lampoon the American colonists with whom they were at war, the ditty, by the end of the 19th Century, had been embraced in the US as a patriotic anthem.
Add that to new things you can share as a conversation starter. That’s something you don’t learn everyday!
image credit: via wikimedia commons
Who doesn’t want to incorporate their favorite things into one of the most special days of their lives? Chritine and Brian made sure to incorporate a favorite into their wedding - Star Wars. From the stormtroopers-dressed entourage to their wedding being held in May 4 (Star Wars day), their wedding was surely a great day for them and their guests.
The Star Wars franchise had a big impact on the couple, being the first thing that they bonded over. In addition, Christine grew up watching movies with her late father. To also honour her father on her wedding day, the couple made everyone dance to her father’s favourite song ‘Just Breathe’.
(via Popsugar)
image credit: White Rabbit Photo Boutique via Popsugar
In 1804, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark were dispatched by President Thomas Jefferson to explore the newly-purchased Louisiana Territory, which expanded the US to the Pacific Northwest. Lewis and Clark and the rest of their crew traveled 8,000 miles in two years. Along the way, they survived on what food they could find or shoot. That meant lots of deer, elk, and bison meat. What they didn't eat immediately was dried, smoked, and salted for later, and then washed down with lots of whiskey.
But eating that much dried meat will back you up like nobody’s business, and for that, they had a supply of 1,300 pills about four times the size of an aspirin that contained none other than the wonder drug of the day: mercury. They got the stash from a doctor named Benjamin Rush, a good friend of Thomas Jefferson’s from back when they signed the Declaration of Independence together in Philly.
Rush, a preeminent physician of the day, prescribed an early 1800s-era cure-all called calomel, a frighteningly effective purgative with a high dose of mercury chloride. He’d made his own version, which Lewis and Clark referenced in their journals as Dr. Rush’s Bilious Pills. They were believed to empty excessive bile, which was thought to cause any number of ailments.
Mercury could ease constipation, and also syphilis, which was rampant in the expedition (although it wasn't a cure). But it was also really dangerous to the user. The Lewis and Clark expedition ingested so much mercury that scientists are using it to confirm whether a campsite was actually used during that historic trip. Read about the toilet woes of Lewis and Clark at Mel magazine. -via Digg
A group of Chinese international students state that they pay little attention to politics or historical events. One even admitted of not having any knowledge of the Tiananmen Square Massacre. A study from Melbourne University, based on the interviews with the Chinese students, found out that these people have come to Australia to "increase their employability at home". According to their testimonies which were published anonymously in the Journal of Australian Studies this month, they were distrustful to both Chinese and Western media — they see both as biased in different ways.
Manjun Jiang, who is studying science at the University of Melbourne, told The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age she believed media bias contributed to suspicion towards Chinese students.
"Most Chinese students here have nothing to do with the Chinese government," she said.
"If they [Australians] were educated and have actually been to China they wouldn't have that impression. They have been brainwashed by the media to think China is very suspicious."
The 20-year-old thought studying in Australia would give her an edge in finding a job. "The study quality is better here and I get to practise English which is an advantage," Ms Jiang, who did not take part in the study, said.
Many of the 20 students interviewed were unaware of some of the most severe ruptures in 20th century Chinese history, including the Cultural Revolution, the Great Leap Forward and the Tiananmen Square Massacre.
What do you think about this?
(Image Credit: Chris Hopkins)
James “Jimmy” Hatch was a member of the Special Operations unit sent into Kunar, a province in Afghanistan, in July 2005. Their mission: to retrieve the bodies of 16 fallen comrades who were killed by a rocket-propelled grenade.
After the gruesome mission, Hatch says, he read a copy of Harold Bloom’s book “Genius,” soaking in the Yale professor’s thoughts and analysis around Shakespeare, Dante, Hemingway, and Faulkner. It helped to keep him sane, he says.
“I sent Bloom an email,” Hatch says. “I told him ‘I am going through a tough time and your book is like a balm. It gives me a safe place to relax and learn.’” Bloom, he recalls, emailed back a one-word reply: “Survive.”
And survive he did. This fall, over fourteen years after the perilous mission, at age 52, Hatch will be studying at Yale as an undergraduate student under the university’s Eli Whitney Students Program, a program “designed for non-traditional students with high potential who have had their education interrupted”.
Hatch’s journey has been a difficult one, he acknowledges — involving combat, injury, depression, substance abuse, and a suicide attempt. But through it all, he says, there was a lust for learning. During his frequent trips by helicopter into combat zones in Iraq and Afghanistan, Hatch read philosophers like Neruda and Epictetus by ChemLight.
More of this inspiring story over at YaleNews.
(Image Credit: Brita Belli/ YaleNews)
It seems like just about everything has an award show these days, but while some of these are utterly superfluous, the idea of Etsy starting its own awards only makes sense. After all, Etsy is well known as the most popular marketplace for handmade goods and with that many artists coming up with their own unique creations, it's only logical to start recognizing some of the most impressive standouts.
Like most awards shows, the Etsy Design Awards is broken down into categories. In this case, Inventive Decor, which includes the wooden record player up top and this velcro dinosaur wall paper, Signature Style, like this whimsical swimming pool necklace, Festive Celebrations for celebrating special occasions, such as this custom pop-the-question book and this wedding arch made with delightfully oversized flowers, Earth-Friendly, including things like this cute bee hotel, and finally, the Creative Collaborations, which is made up exclusively of custom-order Etsy listings.
The Creative Collaborations one is filled with particularly creative and fun finds, such as AnimalAristocat's custom renaissance portraits of people's pets.
You can also immortalize your pet as a ceramic sculpture like these thanks to RyabaVoshCeramics.
If you prefer portraits of people over pets, don't worry, there are still some award entrants that can help you out there. For example, there are these beautiful paper portraits by the PurplePaperPeople.
The Etsy Design Awards will announce their winners in September, so be sure to come back in a few weeks to see who was officially named the best of the best.
イジワルな謎を作りました。
— あすわら🍃🥜 (@asuwara0624) August 13, 2019
何がイジワルか気付いても怒らないでください。マジで。#解けたらRT #解けなくてもRT pic.twitter.com/jyZQ9IOMPA
“I created a cruel puzzle. Please don’t get mad when you realise what’s so cruel about it. Seriously,” said a Twitter user with the handle @asuwara0624.
The cruel puzzle consists of four different images. Beside the images are circles, in varying number for each image (with some circles numbered 1-4), which need to be filled in with katakana characters associated with the image. Finally, the katakana from the 1-4 need to be taken out and arranged to create a new word. Sounds easy, right? But, like what @asuwara0624 said, this is a “cruel puzzle”. So what’s so “cruel” about this, and how do you solve it? Find out on SoraNews24.
(Image Credit: @asuwara0624/ Twitter)
Place of birth: unknown. Date of birth: unknown. Everyone just knew that Big Boy just appeared near some biology labs around 2005. He was probably left by a former staff member who cannot keep him as a pet any longer. For almost 15 years, the small courtyard of UC Santa Barbara became the home of Big Boy. He was “cared for by many, but owned by no one.”
Often, people find out about Big Boy through word of mouth, and so a network of fans and stewards has built steadily over the years. Katie Title, who works as an academic advisor in the College of Engineering, was told by a former coworker about a very friendly campus cat. Title started spending a few lunch breaks per week visiting the cat, and eventually decided to step up and become his primary human liaison.
“I was just a fan originally,” Title said, “but now I have become the central contact for him.” Last year, some concerned students took Big Boy to a local shelter, ASAP (the Animal Shelter Assistance Program). The shelter checked him out, determined he was not a stray and released him (after Title volunteered to be his official campus designate).
Know more about this heartwarming story over at The UCSB Current.
(Image Credit: Matt Perko/ The UCSB Current)
Channel 4 is a public service TV network in the UK, called so because it offers an alternative to the BBC, BBC2, and ITV. Every once in a while they air some of the complaints they have received. They illustrate these real complaints in a way that makes one wish they got more complaints. -via reddit
Yum Brands Inc. on Monday stated that they will be testing plant-based chicken nuggets and boneless wings from Beyond Meat. The plant-based products will be tested at an Atlanta KFC restaurant. KFC is the latest fast-food chain trying new options in an attempt to attract vegan diners.
The quick-service restaurant will roll out its vegan menu items nationally based on the customer feedback from the Atlanta test, Yum said.
Yum is the latest big-chain restaurant jumping on the vegan bandwagon, a growing market as more fast-food chains tweak their menus to add new options for vegans and ‘flexitarians’.
[...]
KFC, known for its fried chicken, will be serving the six or 12-piece combo plant-based nugget meals for $6.49 and $8.49 and boneless wings for $6 and $12.
I think the plant-based nuggets are worth a try. What do you think?
(Image Credit: KFC/ Wikimedia Commons)
Cannabis is known to alleviate the negative side effects of cancer treatments. Currently, however, there is no evidence that it can cure cancer directly. But can it cure cancer?
The National Cancer Institute is resolved to find out whether cannabis can cure cancer or not.
On August 7, the first lot of cannabis medicinal formulas—4,500 5cc bottles of THC oil—were delivered by the Government Pharmaceutical Organization to the Ministry of Public Health who was passing them on to the Department of Medical Services (DMS) and ultimately to the NCI.
Six hundred bottles of this lot, with high concentration of the strong psychoactive anti-inflammation THC component, will at once be headed straight to the NCI’s state-of-the-art sophisticated laboratories for cancer R&D.
A hundred of the 600 bottles of the THC oil have been put aside for experiments to be conducted in test tubes to determine once and for all whether cannabis can kill cancer cells, diminish them, halt their reproduction, and stop the growth of a cancerous tumor.
More details of this experiment over at Khaosod English.
(Image Credit: rexmedlen/ Pixabay)
when u ask ur boyfriend to buy u tampons pic.twitter.com/FmcKUGGkrG
— Brogan (@broganpaget) August 25, 2019
Most men are clueless when it comes to a woman’s period. This statement was just proven when a man named Lewis was asked by his girlfriend, Brogan Paget, to buy her tampons.
But when he got to the shop, he wasn't sure which ones to buy, as there are several different types and sizes, so he sent his partner an absolutely hilarious message.
Confused, Lewis sent a photo of two boxes of Tampax Compak, one yellow and one green. Alongside this photo, he asked, “Do u want the lemon or the lime?”
Brogan shared a screenshot of the amusing message on Twitter captioning it: "When u ask ur boyfriend to buy u tampons."
Her post quickly went viral, garnering over 752,000 likes and more than 109,000 retweets.
Many women were left laughing at the tweet - but the responses showed that some men really thought tampons were flavoured and clearly we need to do more to normalise the talk around menstruation.
One lady commented: "Showed my boyfriend this and he says 'wait, are there really different flavours?'"
(Image Credit: @broganpaget/Twitter)
