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8 Curious Recipes From the Depression Era
Grab the gelatin and head to the kitchen.
What’s in a Nickname? The Origins of All 32 NFL Team Names
What’s in a Nickname? The Origins of All 32 NFL Team Names
How All 32 NFL Teams Got Their Names
What do newspaper headline type and the New Deal have to do with the Oakland Raiders and Philadelphia Eagles? Here are the stories behind the nicknames of the NFL’s 32 teams—and what they were almost called.Arizona
The Hearst Mansion in Beverly Hills, California boasts two pools, a lighted tennis court, and a memorable appearance in one of the greatest films ever made. As The Wall Street Journal reports, the home, which has been used as the location for scenes in The Godfather (1972), is up for sale with a listing price of $195 million.
The 5-acre property is most recognizable from Francis Ford Coppola’s iconic flick as the home where Jack Woltz awakens to find the head of his prize thoroughbred in bed with him. The Hearst Mansion is also featured in the 1992 drama The Bodyguard.
Named for former owner and publishing heavyweight William Randolph Hearst, the estate was later owned by actress Marion Davies and visited by Jacqueline and John F. Kennedy during their honeymoon.
Forty years ago, the mansion was purchased for $2 million by its current owner, attorney and real estate investor Leonard Ross. He last listed the property for $165 million in 2007. This time around the price has been raised by 18 percent, and he’s enlisted agent Mauricio Umansky of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills fame to sell it. A 4-acre subsection of the property that includes the mansion is also being sold for $175 million.
The six structures located on the Hearst estate feature 28 bedrooms and 38 bathrooms. Twenty-thousand square feet were added to the property during renovations in the 1990s. Bulletproof windows were also added, a feature that may be of some interest to future owners with enemies in the mob.
The former Hearst Mansion is for sale at $195 million https://t.co/TG5T2umDH6 pic.twitter.com/Ps8g95HI6z
— Forbes Investing (@ForbesInvestor) September 11, 2016
[h/t The Wall Street Journal]
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September 12, 2016 – 11:30am
iTunes Movies via Twitter
To celebrate 10 years since iTunes began renting and selling movies, Apple is offering bargains on film bundles. The tech giant is offering 10-movie bundles for just $9.99 each, The Verge reports.
You can get selections of the top 10 movies from the biggest studios—like Warner Bros., Universal, and Lionsgate—which are a mix of comedies and dramas from various years. The Sony Pictures bundle, for instance, features a combination of cinema including The Monuments Men (2014), Captain Phillips (2013), Easy A (2010), Julie & Julia (2009), and The Social Network (2010).
Screenshot via iTunes
The other options bundle the top 10 movies of each year, giving you a cross-section of popular cinema from recent history. The packs take customers back to the days when movies like Wild Hogs (2007), 27 Dresses (2008), or Ted (2012) were some of the most downloaded movies of the year.
Check out the the film bundles for yourself on iTunes, only available today (September 12).
[h/t The Verge]
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September 12, 2016 – 11:00am
It’s never advisable to play word games while inebriated, but if you do, you might as well stick to a theme. Bananagrams, the portable word game that’s celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, recently released a Bananagrams Beer as a licensed tie-in product.
Weird? A little. But And it has a lot to do with their geography.
According to Bananagrams CEO Rena Nathanson, the company was presented with an adult beverage opportunity as a result of being near the Rhode Island-based Narragansett Beer, which has been issuing a series of tie-in brews under their “Hi Neighbor!” label. It’s not kid-friendly, but Nanthanson told Licensing.biz that the board and analog game category is increasingly driving business from adult players at board game cafes and pubs.
“Indeed, the very notion of ‘family’ is such an evolving thing, taking on so many guises in the modern world,” Nathanson said. “While children remain at the heart of what we do, we recognize that ‘family’ for many is their extended friendship networks which may include no children at all, and that what we once saw as traditional ‘family time’ now often takes the form of get-togethers with friends at home or in restaurants and pubs.”
The 16-ounce oversized can of brew is a German variation with wheat malt and, according to Narragansett, “notes” of banana. You can find it in six-packs in and around New England, Florida, and as far as Tennessee.
[h/t Licensing.biz]
September 12, 2016 – 10:30am
Grab the popcorn and put on your dancing shoes, because Dancing With the Stars is back for a 23rd season. Before you see whether Ryan Lochte can out-dance Marcia Brady, here are 15 facts about the beloved reality series.
Though Dancing With the Stars is an American obsession, its roots are based in England. It’s based on the British series Strictly Come Dancing (known simply as Strictly to its fans), which has been airing on BBC One since 2004—a year before the U.S. version made its dancing debut.
Since its debut, DWTS has been a ratings juggernaut—much to the surprise of those involved. “The thing I will always take away from this experience is how unpredictable it was,” host Tom Bergeron told Boston Magazine earlier this year. “Even those of us in the midst of getting it ready to go on the air in 2005, while we all believed we had an entertaining show, that in and of itself is no guarantee. A lot of people have entertaining shows and they get canceled. The fact that we have a celebrity ballroom competition that is now in its 11th year is something none of us could have predicted.”
In the spring of 2009, 17-year-old Olympic gymnast Shawn Johnson became DWTS‘s youngest ever winner when she and partner Mark Ballas took home the competition’s Mirror Ball trophy. Olympian Apolo Anton Ohno was just 25 years old when he and Julianne Hough won in the spring of 2007 (he won the trophy on his birthday).
In terms of non-winning competitors: At 14 years old, Hunger Games star Willow Shields was the youngest competitor, while fan favorite Cloris Leachman was the oldest; she was 82 years old when she competed in 2008.
Legendary entertainer Donny Osmond was two weeks shy of his 52nd birthday when he and Kym Johnson won the competition in the fall of 2009, making him the show’s oldest champion. Dirty Dancing star Jennifer Grey was 50 years old when she and Derek Hough took home the top prize in the fall of 2010.
Former reality star Kate Gosselin created some drama behind the scenes when she competed on DWTS in 2010. Though the audience was only allowed to vote a maximum five times per performance, she allegedly sent out emails asking friends and family to forward her email to another 10 people, and asked that everyone vote for her 10 times (which is a no-no).
While appearing on Anderson in 2012, Anderson Cooper told Gosselin’s dancing partner, Tony Dovolani, that he had always felt bad for him “because you got stuck with Kate Gosselin. I remember watching her dance. I’m still traumatized by that experience.” To which Dovolani responded, “Wait, wait—Anderson, did you just call it ‘dance?’ We didn’t dance!” Dovolani also joked that there was “a lot of therapy was involved” in the wake of their pairing. Gosselin was not amused.
“We’ve had great success with NFL players on the show over the years, several of whom have won,” Bergeron told Boston Magazine. In 2013, the NFL ranked their favorite athletes-turned-dancers.
Win or lose, celebrities have much to gain by appearing on the show, at least in terms of their bank account balances. More than one contestant has cited $125,000 as the base salary for appearing on the show—even if you don’t make it past episode one. The longer a contestant sticks around, the more cash he or she stands to earn.
Because she was just 17 years old when she competed—and won—in 2015, Bindi Irwin was considered a minor, and therefore needed her parents to sign off on her contract, which stipulates they will not touch her money. While Bindi’s mom, Terri Irwin, was quick to sign on the dotted line, a court ended up rejecting Bindi’s contract because it did not have her father’s signature—even though her father, “Crocodile Hunter” Steve Irwin, had passed away in 2006. In order to get both her contract settled and her estimated $360,000 paycheck from the show, Bindi had to go to court to prove that her father was dead.
For the show’s 200th episode, the hosts presented the Dancing With the Stars Awards. ESPN anchor Kenny Mayne was honored with the title of Worst Dancer; his competition included Master P, Billy Ray Cyrus, Kate Gosselin, and Steve Wozniak.
In 2006, rapper Master P earned the show’s lowest score ever when he and partner Ashly DelGrosso earned an eight (out of 30) for their Paso Doble. In Master P’s defense, he wasn’t even supposed to be there; he was a last-minute replacement for his son, Lil Romeo, who was scheduled to compete but had to drop out because of an injury. In 2011, Lil Romeo finally joined the cast.
Over the years, the show has sparked a number of romances—some rumored, some confirmed. Karina Smirnoff dated Mario Lopez, her partner in season three, for two years and later became engaged to fellow dancer Makism Chmerkovsky (though they eventually called it off). Chmerkovsky is now engaged to fellow DWTS dancer Peta Murgatroyd. In July, Shark Tank star Robert Herjavec married his DWTS partner Kym Johnson.
From torn tendons to rib injuries, the contestants on DWTS have proven—time and again—that dancing can be dangerous. Among the most memorable injuries to occur (not all of them dance-related) are Misty May-Treanor’s torn Achilles tendon, Jackass star Steve-O’s back injury, stress fractures in both of former House Majority Leader’s Tom DeLay’s feet, and Bill Nye’s quad injury.
Alfonso Ribeiro won DWTS’s 19th season, with a little help from his The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air character when he and his partner, Witney Carson, broke into “The Carlton.”
For viewers who want to get in on the dancing action, the show has released a handful of branded instructional and exercise videos with titles like Cardio Dance, Cardio Dance for Weight Loss, and Dance Off the Pounds.
September 12, 2016 – 10:00am
The stranger couldn’t help herself. Attending the funeral of an Iraq war veteran at Arlington National Cemetery in 2006, she leaned over and gently kissed the forehead of the fallen soldier’s widow and mother.
For the woman who sensed palpable grief, it was a natural thing to do. But as an Arlington Lady, an official representative of four United States military arms dispatched to military funerals, it was a breach of policy. After the service, she was reprimanded by her supervisor. The Arlington Ladies have a very specific role. They are not there to grieve or console, but to make certain no soldier is ever buried alone.
Hoyt Vandenberg, Chief of Staff for the United States Air Force, was driving to his office in the Pentagon in 1948 when he noticed a funeral being conducted at Virginia’s Arlington National Cemetery. There was no sea of crisp uniforms or sobbing family members. Aside from the chaplain and the Honor Guard, there was no one there at all.
Vandenberg didn’t like it. Soldiers, he felt, deserved the presence of at least one civilian to bear witness to their burial. His wife, Gladys, agreed. She set about recruiting friends and wives of the enlisted to begin attending Air Force funerals, even though many of the deceased were complete strangers. They called themselves the Officers Wives Club and acted as both military representatives and as proxies for family members who might not be able to afford to travel to Arlington for services.
By 1973, the Army had formed its own version. In 1985, the Navy followed suit. And in 2006, the Coast Guard organized a group of their own. (The Marines send a Commandant representative to funerals.) Collectively, the roughly 150 women are known as the Arlington Ladies.
Participation is usually by invitation only, with the group largely made up of ex-military members or their spouses 40 years and older. If a woman is invited to join, she is first instructed to sit at funerals as an apprentice, observing the customs of the role depending on which branch of service she’s been assigned.
Naval Ladies are given a sheet that details the deceased’s biography, rank, service awards, and passing. They’re allowed to briefly introduce themselves to family prior to services; after the widow or other attendee is given the folded American flag, the Arlington representative approaches the bereaved to offer condolences and two cards—one from her, and one from the Chief of Staff. When they’re finished, they walk backwards; turning their back on the flag is prohibited.
Their duties don’t end there. If a family member is unable to attend, a Lady will write a letter offering details of the service—what was said, what the weather was like, and what she felt during the proceedings. They’ll also extend an opportunity to tend to the deceased’s grave by placing flowers on it on anniversaries or holidays.
If family members are present, the Lady is a welcome sight: although they have a dress code (no slacks or loud colors), they help ease the tension of a highly structured military funeral. If no members are present, then the Lady acts as a surrogate witness to a soldier being laid to rest.
The Ladies are expected to maintain their composure, however difficult it may be. The organization’s chair, Margaret Mensch, told The Washington Post in 2007 that she tries her best not to tear up, even when it’s a former Honor Guard escort of hers that was being buried. “You are still,” she said. “You just don’t cry. When I got there, I thought, ‘Just concentrate on that leaf on that tree over there.’ A military funeral is very dignified. Very precise. It may sound cold, but that’s the beauty of it.”
A mourner typically volunteers one day a month. With more than 30 funerals at Arlington a day, she might attend up to six during a single shift. Doreen Huylebroeck, whose late husband was a chief petty officer, has attended more than 500 since beginning work in 2009.
Getting an Arlington Lady to discuss her duties on the record can be daunting. Most are averse to publicity, wary that someone might think of them as self-congratulatory. A portion of the Army’s contingent, however, had to endure some recognition in 2015, when Army Chief of Staff General Ray Odierno held a reception to acknowledge the Ladies for their selfless service.
“There’s no more important time than when a family is going through the incredible grief of loss … that they understand the Army is there for them and you all make that a little easier by what you do,” he told the women. “By letting them know that we do care about them, so for me this is very important for us to have you here to thank you for helping our soldiers, past and present, as they continue to serve through difficult times.”
The Ladies were cordial, but the session was brief. Seven funerals were still scheduled for that day.
September 12, 2016 – 9:30am
Olga Kotova // Etsy
Owning a pet octopus requires a lot of upkeep. Even if you have the resources to care for one, carrying it around on your back like an eight-armed Yoda isn’t recommended. For cephalopod enthusiasts looking for an alternative, artist Olga Kotova has crafted an octopus-inspired backpack from felted wool.
The bag—covered by Laughing Squid—is large enough to transport large books and notebooks. The cargo compartment is located in the head of the octopus (who is affectionately named George). Tentacles reach around the shoulders to act as straps, with the extra arms left to dangle down the wearer’s back.
Marine life-inspired book bags aren’t Kotova’s only specialty. She also sells whimsical dolls and colorful felt blankets on her Etsy page.
[h/t Laughing Squid]
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September 12, 2016 – 9:00am
Pringles—and other stackable chips like them—are known for their distinctive concave shape, good for making an impromptu duckbill, eating as many as you can in a single bite, or just shoveling into your mouth as is normal with all manner of endlessly snackable treats.
So just how do they get that perfect curve? Machines, of course. In the video below from the Science Channel’s How It’s Made, you can see the full journey of the stackable chip (in this case, Chip Flix), from a potato-flake-and-water mix, to a big potato sheet, to a delicious fried chip. Along the way there are cutters and a rolling mold and even a real, live human being to make sure the individual pieces are as perfect as can be. The whole process only takes about 20 minutes, and while you probably already knew that these delectable creations weren’t the most natural or organic of food products, watching this might make you think twice next time you want to pop open a can.
A bit of bonus canned-chip content: the name Pringles is sort of random. When Procter & Gamble introduced the snack in 1968, they wanted a name that started with a “P,” so a brand manager used a Cincinnati phonebook to make a list of street names that began with the letter. Pringle Drive in Finneytown, Ohio had a nice ring to it and, more importantly, was available as a trademark.
[h/t Digg]
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September 12, 2016 – 8:30am
