The rock band Aerosmith's iconic song "Sweet Emotion" has captivated audiences since its release in 1975. The soaring opening is immediately recognizable to two generations of rock fans.

The media network EYNTK suggests using it as takeoff music, which is evidently a thing for frequent air travelers. The narrator, while recording his takeoff from the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, demonstrates how effective "Sweet Emotion" is for this purpose. Just start the song as the engines rev for takeoff and you should feel yourself rising into the air just as the volume kicks in thirty-six seconds later. Try it the next time you fly!

-via Born in Space

Korean women's pistol shooter Kim Ye-ji while casually breaking a world record and winning the gold medal pic.twitter.com/8TgMPQJEH7

— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) July 30, 2024

Kim Yeji, an athlete who represents South Korea at the Olympics, took a silver medal, a world record, and the hearts of fans with her perfectly calm demeanor during the women's 10-meter pistol shooting competition in Paris.

What are Yeji and other shooting competitors wearing on their faces? Core77 describes these unique optics that world-class shooters wear. They are mechanical irises that allow competitors to adjust their vision to match specific conditions, including light and fatigue. This particular example sells for $285.

It's far too easy to pick up an infestation of bedbugs while staying in a hotel and then bringing the critters back home with you. That's why travel writer Lydia Mansel advocates for placing your luggage in the hotel room's bathtub as soon as you arrive.

Travel + Leisure magazine explains that bedbugs prefer to live in fabric surfaces, so the most straightforward solution is to reduce contact between your luggage and fabrics, such as the carpet.

You can also leave a note on your luggage to ask the housekeeping staff to leave your luggage in its otherwise puzzling location.

-via Nag on th Lake | Photo: Holidayextras

In 1968, the Catholic Church established the Diocese of Orlando, which encompasses a large amount of central Florida. This area includes Cape Canaveral, from which the Apollo moon missions were launched in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

A 2019 article in L'Osservatore Romano, which is the Vatican's newspaper, republished at ETWN, reports that after the Apollo 11 landing in 1969, Bishop William Borders asserted episcopal authority over the moon.

The 1917 Code of Canon Law granted such authority over newly-discovered territories to the location of the launching expedition. Since Apollo 11 was launched within the boundaries of the Diocese of Orlando, the moon was the turf of Bishop Borders.

Bishop (later Archbishop) Borders once verbally asserted his lunar claim to Pope Paul VI, although the pontiff's response remains unknown.

-via Depths of Wikipedia | Photo: Archbishop William Borders and Pope Paul VI

Jose Romero has been a dishwasher at the Red Lobster restaurant in Pueblo, Colorado for twelve years. He's also responsible for unpacking newly arrived lobsters. The Pueblo Chieftain reports that, on July 12, Romero spotted an orange lobster. Romero and his coworkers had never seen or heard of that coloration before.

They named the lobster "Crush" after the formidable defensive line of the Denver Broncos during the late 70s. The team decided that Crush had to be saved. They donated him to the Downtown Aquarium in Denver on July 17, where he can spend the rest of his days. His rare mutation, which can be found in only 1 in 30 million lobsters, will make him a draw.

-via Dave Barry | Photo: Red Lobster

The Outside TV network covers a lot of outdoor sports, from competitive running to leisurely camping. They sometimes play around with fanciful inventions. Lately, the crew has experimented with practical uses for large helium balloons. For example, could a sufficiently large balloon negate the weight of a full pack? Yes, it can. Just make sure that you don't put too much helium in the balloon or you may lose your backpack.

@monzo is making @greggsofficial HOT TO GO! 😍

Head to Grainger Street, just around the corner from the Theatre Royal, to grab your very own Greggs sausage roll from the Monzo ATM! 😍 pic.twitter.com/nl3ncLQFZG

— Newcastle Theatre Royal (@TheatreRoyalNew) July 18, 2024

Greggs, a bakery chain in the UK, and the bank Monzo recently had an online conversation about the possibility jointly creating an ATM that, instead of distributing money, distributes sausage rolls. ITV News reports that this project launched yesterday in Newcastle and had people lining up to make withdrawals.

-via No Time to Dan

i cut together the best egg scenes in movies pic.twitter.com/uyROLhrRyn

— patrick. (@imPatrickT) July 18, 2024

Patrick Tomasso is a filmmaker and critic. His YouTube channel consists mostly of detailed analyses of particular aspects of particular movies. On X, though, he's posted this video that compiles egg cooking and eating scenes in films. 

I instantly recognized Hot Shots, Cool Hand Luke, and Fury. Others I had to look up. Fortunately, Tomasso provides a complete list on Letterboxd. Can you think of any other egg scenes that he should have included? Aside from Star Trek: Generations, of course.

Faustin Wirkus was born in the Russian Empire and, as a child, immigrated to the United States. He lived in poverty, but was determined to better himself by enlisting in the US Marine Corps. The Marine Corps Times reports that he was among the troops participating in the US occupation of Haiti from 1915 to 1934.

In 1926, he was on Gonâve Island when he rescued a young woman who was threated with arrest for engaging in voodoo. This woman was Ti Memenne, the Queen of Gonâve.

Gunnery Sergeant Wirkus loved Haiti and eagerly sought reassignment to Gonâve Island. While there, he exposed rampant graft in the tax collection system, helped build the island's first airfield, and conducted the island's first census.

The people of the island loved Wirkus and his works. He also fit neatly into a prophecy that they had: a previous king, also named Faustin, had disappeared in 1848, promising to one day return. The islanders belived that Wirkus must be the reincarnation of this king and so, in 1926, crowned him King Faustin II in a voodoo ceremony.

King Faustin II and Queen Ti Memenne ruled together for three years and, by all accounts, ruled well. Then the Gunnery Sergeant received transfer orders back to the United States, bringing an abrupt halt to his reign.

-via US Naval Institute

Hurricane Beryl hit the Houston area this week, leaving at least 1.9 million people without electricity in 100°F. The response of the CenterPoint utility company has been . . . suboptimal. It can be hard to track which areas of the city have or do not have power, which is why, a few days ago, X user BBQ Bryan turned to the Whataburger app. Restaurants that are closed are greyed out on the above map.

KHOU News contacted the corporate offices of Texas's own haaaamburger chain, which advises also calling ahead to verify that particular restaurants are open.

-via Not the Bee

Alessandro Tappa is an artist in Vigevano, Italy who designs and builds wonderfully weird bicycles that are just normal enough to serve as functional means of transportation. The above model, which has a name that translates as "bike on the belly", requires a fully prone position to ride.

Don Pettit is an American astronaut who has previously spent over a year living on the International Space Station. He's scheduled to return in September for six months.

On X, Pettit educates the public about life and science in space. Recently, he posted this image of the emergency eyewash station used in low Earth orbit. A 2014 article on Phys.org describes how it works.

To ensure that the water goes where it is supposed to go and, equally important, not where it is not supposed to go, the water flows into goggles. The machine pumps the water in and then out of the sealed goggles.

Potato mashers are useful kitchen implents that serve to prevent you from opening drawers. If you are still able to open a kitchen drawer despite the persistent and valiant efforts of your potato masher, call in this monster.

The world's largest potato masher is a permanent exhibit at the Food + Farm Exploration Center in Plover, Wisconsin. This facility serves to educate visitors about agriculture. Just as the Statue of Liberty welcomes people to New York City and the New World, so does this potato masher signal the arrival of visitors to the educational facility.

At 38 feet and 11 inches tall and 7,500 pounds, it's the largest of its kind in the world.

-via Kyle

And I do mean famous, not infamous.

The Lazy House in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, Japan is widely known for its very rude staff. As a direct result, reservations must be booked weeks in advance. Customers seek it out for a service experience is that a refreshing break from Japan's famously excellent customer service.

The waitstaff, if they don't just ignore you, will throw menus at you, serve food late, toss said food at the table, and otherwise treat customers with disdain. Sometimes they'll just walk away while you are vocalizing your order. Maybe they'll come back. If so, it will be to tell you to leave immediately after paying.

-via Jeffrey J. Hall

Sam Woodhead, a certified CrossFit trainer and a trombonist in the US Army Band, knows the importance of staying fit and ready to march without missing a note. He lifts heavy weights and practices his trombone at the same time.