Sesame Street Workshop wants to reach out to children with autism and their parents. It now offers an array of resources for this condition, including a new character. Julia is a friend of Elmo and Abby Cadabby. She's in a new online storybook that is designed to teach children how to interact with other kids who have autism. People magazine talked to Sesame Street executive Jeanette Betancourt:
"This is what makes our project so unique," says Dr. Betancourt. "When we explain from a child's point of view that there are certain behaviors, such as slapping their hands or making noises, to express excitement or unhappiness, it helps younger children to understand how to interact with their autistic peers. It makes children more comfortable and therefor more inclusive."
If you or a loved one has been arrested, then you need the "talons of justice." Bryan Wilson, a lawyer in Fort Worth, Texas, is the bearer of those talons. He calls himself the "Texas Law Hawk." As this ad demonstrates, if you've been arrested for DUI, he will show up while doing wheelies on a motorbike and lay down some law on the cops.
The Main Street Quartet doesn't just sing modern songs in barbershop harmony. It weaves them into a complex and perfectly performed stand-up comedy routine.
Their whole composition is called "Good Old Days." In it, the members explain that today's songs will become oldies soon enough and, eventually classical music.
It says "tasty pieces" but note the fine print: "irregular pieces." You know the parts of the pig that go into hotdogs right? Same thing here. This ain't mermaid brisket.
Writer and internet personality Rusty Blazenhoff made this can and others like it several years ago. She explains that her town of Alameda, California was once known as the "Coney Island of the West." Neptune Beach in Alameda was a popular resort in a bygone era. She's branded this can of mermaid meat to reflect this history.
Yes, please, please, please visit to talk to Cathy so that we don't have to! We know more about her ferrets than we ever wanted to.
Jeff Wysaski of Obvious Plant visited book drops of the Los Angeles Public Library system and left branded signs giving precise instructions to drive-by patrons.
Random thought: a smart corporate marketing executive would hire Wysaski to leave signs around company facilities. It could be good and cheap publicity.
Dan Solomon of Texas Monthy researched this phenomenon. He found that this Norwegian term is several decades old and has its origins in old Western movies that have come to be symbolic of Texas. Solomon quotes Norwegian Tumblr user Qnneli:
The expression itself has to do with associations. It’s something that brings to mind chaotic, crazy conditions, like the “wild west,” and at least back when the expression was coined, the “wild west” held very strong Texas associations. Hell, even when I was a kid in the 80s, I thought that all American cowboys came from Texas, and that’s just how it was. Texas = land of the cowboys. And rodeos. And the wild west. A Western movie? Probably from Texas.
"Texas" is usually as an adjective. Solomon writes:
Usually, when the word “texas”—as an adjective, most often without capitalization—appears in Norwegian, the context involves the phrase, “det var helt texas,” which translates to, roughly, “it was totally/absolutely/completely bonkers.” You wouldn’t call a person “totally texas”—it usually describes a chaotic atmosphere.
In truth, Texas is not totally texas. But we're working on it.
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.
