It doesn't make sense to you or me, but to 4-year old Iris Gill, her local CVS convenience store and pharmacy is a "happy place" comparable with Disney World. For the past two years, she watched as the facility was built and then opened. She loves to visit.
So her mother, Sarah Fortune, threw her a CVS-themed birthday party. Iris's cake was with decorated with the CVS colors and typographic style. Party favors included white mints dispensed in prescription medicine bottles. Grown-ups got to drink Cranberry Vodka Splash (CVS, get it?) punch and everyone got to shop at the little toy register that Sarah set up for Iris and her friends. You can see more photos at Sarah Fortune's blog.
You may call it "sky rat," but we aficionados prefer the term "sky poultry." Hoodline, a news blog in San Francisco, reports that a new business is offering 2 different kinds of canned parrot. At least, that's what the signs in the yet unopened Terrific Street store claim.
The cans indicate that you can buy local and organic parrots that were caught in the wild. This may be the wild parrots of Telegraph Hill. Whether you prefer your parrots boiled or served with cherry syrup, Terrific Street has you covered.
Dan Rawlings is an artist in the UK. He's fascinated by old things that are left behind, especially tools. For Rawlings, an old saw conjures images of rural life, old romances, and childhood play. He cuts silhouettes out of the blades to reveal these happy times.
Gong Xunhui of Chengdu, China has amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). But she's still led a full life since her diagnosis in 2003. She's written down those experiences in an autobiography fully 150,000 words long.
How did Xunhui do it when she can't hold a pen or type? By blinking. She used her eyes to manipulate an interface that let her select Chinese characters. Fox News reports:
“I want to use my personal experience to tell other ALS patients that, although we suffer from this incurable disease, there is still much we can do to enrich our lives,” Xunhui said, according to CEN.
Xunhui’s book focuses on her childhood and the struggles she has faced since receiving her ALS diagnosis.
Yes! And this is only the beginning. We need a leggy Gimli, a smokin' hot Balrog, and a coyly seductive Ent.
Tijtske Van Vark, 18, of Melbourne, Australia got to dress up for "Muck Up Day"--a traditional day for student pranks. She went as a different sort of Gandalf. Now I'd like to see Ian McKellen try it.
He paddled back to shore with the shark staying close behind him. After beaching his kayak, he saw the the shark was still hovering in the surf, distressed at the one who got away.
(Photo: Steve Hockstein/Harvard Studio/Clay Cockrell)
This is Clay Cockrell. He used to work on Wall Street. Now he's a therapist in New York City. He's found a unique specialty: the needs of the very wealthy. The Guardian quotes him:
“We are trained to have empathy, no judgment and so many of the uber wealthy – the 1% of the 1% – they feel that their problems are really not problems. But they are. A lot of therapists do not give enough weight to their issues.”
This is because, in part, American popular culture teaches that it's okay to hate people--so as long as they're rich:
Traeger-Muney, who moved to Israel six years ago, runs a global firm and specializes in working with inheritors, who often get a bad reputation in the press. […]
“Sometimes I am shocked by things that people say. If you substitute in the word Jewish or black, you would never say something like that. You’d never say – spoiled rotten or you would never refer to another group of people in the way that it seems perfectly normal to refer to wealth holders.”
Wealthy people are often very isolated. They have trouble forming close relationships. This sometimes happens because wealthy people go through the same problems as non-wealthy people, such as grief over the loss of a loved one or a failed relationship. But non-wealthy people are often dismissive of those struggles if the person going through them is loaded:
“I don’t think it’s healthy to discount your problems. If you are part of the 1%, you still have problems and they are legitimate to you. Even when you say: ‘I don’t have to struggle for money’, there are other parts of your life. Money is not the only thing that defines you,” he said. “Your problems are legitimate.”
This is Nautilus, a sculpture by Katie Hudnall. It’s made of reclaimed wood and filled with books that you can check out from the Indianapolis Public Library. It’s one of 9 unique public book repositories designed by artists for that public library system in a program called The Public Collection.
This is 1 of 29 giant versions of your favorite foods rounded up by BuzzFeed. They include a truly enormous Ding Dong, a Ferraro Rocher candy the size of a baby’s head, and a hamburger that could feed an entire family for a day.
In a mere 6 seconds, from unboxing to completion, Mario Culibrk shows us how to use a selfie stick. They’re really very simple devices once the instructions are broken down into steps as this Vine does.
I've long been sympathetic to Jabba the Hutt. Despite objections to Leia's slave outfit in Return of the Jedi, it's Jabba who is the most sexually exploited character in Star Wars. Take note: he's completely naked throughout the entire series.
In this video, Gabriel Pacheco goes even further. He argues that although Jabba isn't a hero, he's clearly a good guy trying to do right for his community. Jabba employs a vast number of artists who would otherwise be processing womp rat carcasses for minimum wage. His palace is the most culturally and racially diverse community that we see in any of the movies. He also cares for the natural environment of Tatooine by preserving endangered species, such as the sarlacc.
I'd like to add to Pacheco's arguments. The movies, which are written from the perspective of the Old Republic and the Rebel Alliance, tell us that Jabba is a gangster. But all governments, even one as pathetically weak and corrupt as the Old Republic, describe competitors as criminals. They need to support their claim that Jabba is some sort of crime boss.
Watch the whole thing. Content warning: foul language.
Rodrigo Pereira calls his street art "urban interference." He's particularly fond of the forms of Playmobil toys and realized that the concrete road barriers in Rio de Janeiro look just like Playmobil heads--once he adds a bit of paint. He composed these in 2010.
The Tramp looks a bit rough, but Lady looks as prim and proper as ever. No matter what their species, they were destined to fall in love. This is one of several Disney anthropomorphizations by Alaina Bastain. She's taken animal characters from Disney animated movies and redrawn them as humans. She includes characters from Tarzan, Oliver and Company, Jungle Book, The Lion King, and more. You can view the rest at Bored Panda.
Jessica Bruce, 32, has long been a marathoner. Her best time is 2 hours and 58 minutes. When she gave birth to baby Daniel 7 months ago, she didn't want to stop. So she began training while pushing a stroller.
Bruce recently put her new training to the test by running a marathon in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, UK. While pushing her baby in a stroller, she completed the marathon in 3 hours, 17 minutes, and 52 seconds. This beats the previous world record by 14 minutes.
Her husband ran alongside her. He fed the baby a bottle while they kept running. Although they brought along supplies for a diaper change, it was unnecessary. Baby Daniel slept for the first 20 miles, then relaxed for the remaining distance. You can read more about their run at the Daily Telegraph.
