Month: December 2016

Before you’re able to raise a glass and cut a rug on your wedding day, you’ll likely spend months planning and budgeting for the event. Because the unfortunate truth is, whether you have 10 guests or 300, celebrating your love with the people close to you is going to cost you some money. Save yourself heartbreak and headache by anticipating these 11 often-overlooked or hidden expenses.

1. HAIR AND MAKEUP TRIALS

You want to look your best on your big day, and that may mean hiring a professional to do your hair and makeup. But when all eyes are on you, the last thing you want is to feel uncomfortable with a new style. A trial with your hair and makeup stylist—in which you test a number of looks and pick your favorite—is a smart idea, but it doesn’t come free. While it varies from stylist to stylist, you can plan on spending $100 to $300 (or more) on your trial. 

2. GRATUITY

A service charge is a mandatory charge your vendor may add to your final bill. While this is often used to pay the staff (servers, bartenders, etc.), it does not always take the place of gratuity. Be sure to ask your vendor whether this is the case and if any extra gratuity is expected. While another charge may be hard to swallow, it’s much better to face it head-on than to accidentally stiff the staff their tip.

3. RENTALS

Unless you’ve chosen an all-inclusive venue, you’re going to have to pay someone—be it the venue, the caterer, or a rentals company—to rent just about everything you can think of. For starters, you’ll need chairs, tables, flatware, silverware, and linens. Start by talking to your venue about what is included in the price, then see if your caterer (if you have one) can help you fill in any holes.

4. DELIVERY FEES AND SETUP COSTS

All those rented items—as well as your flowers, cake, lights, sound equipment, and more—will also need to be brought to your venue. And unless you plan on setting everything up yourself, you’ll need someone to put things in the right place. These delivery and set-up fees can run you hundreds of dollars.

5. SOUND EQUIPMENT

Talk to your venue and band or DJ about what equipment will be needed early in the game. While your music vendor will usually be able to provide their own equipment, your venue might have special needs that must be taken into account. And don’t forget that you will need microphones and speakers during your ceremony and toasts as well—if neither your band nor venue provides these, you’ll need to find them elsewhere.

6. WELCOME BAG DELIVERY

Having goodie bags waiting for your out-of-town guests when they arrive at their hotel is a nice touch. But in addition to the cost of putting the bags together, you might need to plan on paying for their distribution. Hotels may charge up to $7 per bag.

7. CAKE CUTTING

If your venue or caterer allows you to bring in your cake from an outside bakery, they may charge you a fee to serve it to your guests. This could run you an additional $2 to $5 per guest.

8. CLEANUP COSTS

Again, a full-service venue won’t charge you to clean up after the event. But if you rented a raw space for your wedding, you may need to pay for trash removal and a cleanup crew at the end of the night. Read your vendor contracts carefully to see what is included in their services; your caterer or another vendor might already have this under control.

9. VENDOR MEALS

These costs aren’t exactly hidden, but they’re easy to forget about when making your budget. In addition to your guests, you’ll need to feed any of your vendors that will be around during the reception—this typically means your band or DJ, photographer, videographer, and event coordinator (but not your florist or ceremony musicians, who will have left by dinnertime). Check with your caterer or venue to see what this will run you—usually at least $20 per person.

10. OVERTIME FEES

If your party is still going strong when the clock strikes midnight (or whatever time your event officially ends) and you’re loathe to wrap things up, be prepared to pay. If your musicians, photographer, and event space charge you by the hour, additional costs will rapidly skyrocket.

11. EMERGENCIES

When creating your wedding budget, it’s smart to expect the unexpected. Whether your mother insists on extra flowers at the eleventh hour or you decide you hate the shoes you’ve chosen and need to buy a new pair, you want to have the financial wiggle room to make the problem go away.

For the tools and resources you need to plan your wedding and embark upon your new life as a married couple, head to Allstate.com.

Optimizing your life may be as easy as changing your lightbulbs. Read on to find out how you can make the important things in life—from falling asleep to falling in love—even better.

1. SLEEPING

Light and sleep are inextricably linked. Our body clocks evolved to wake us at first light and send us to sleep when the sky grows dark. But electricity upended that scheme, and these days very few of us head to bed at sundown—a fact that’s messing up our circadian rhythms. But you can improve your sleep with two very easy tricks. First, cut down your exposure to blue light (the kind that comes from TVs, computers, and phones) in the hour before you lie down. Next, switch the bulbs in your bedroom or night-lights to red or pink; studies have found that these colors work with your body to help keep you asleep.

2. WORKING

Sometimes, less is more. Light levels in most American workplaces are twice as bright as the levels recommended by health and safety experts. This excess light can actually create a glare and make things harder to see. It’s also not great for our eyes or our minds and can cause headaches, eyestrain, and trouble concentrating.

Scientists suggest that the optimal workstation setup uses natural light as much as possible, and allows workers to adjust bulb brightness to the level that’s comfortable for them.

3. CREATING

Waiting for your muse or struggling with a complex problem? Turn your lights down low. Studies have found that dimming the lights can reduce people’s inhibitions, make them feel freer, boost creativity, and trigger a “risky, explorative processing style” that leads to out-of-the-box solutions. The relaxing, encouraging effects of low light are so pronounced in these experiments that even just talking about being in the dark made people more creative.

4. FALLING IN LOVE

Candlelight is romantic for some very unromantic reasons. Our eyes are not fixed, static entities; rather, they’re constantly working to make sense of what we see and control the amount of light we take in. Our pupils contract in bright light and expand in darkness. But light isn’t the only thing that influences pupil size. When we’re faced with something new or exciting, our pupils dilate so we can take it all in. Whether the cause for the dilation is dim lighting or attraction, the people around us subconsciously pick up on the signal. Because of this, our prehistoric ancestors learned to pay attention to one another’s eyes, and we’re far more likely to find someone interesting when their pupils are dilated.

So yeah, stock up on those candles.

5. EATING

Different types and levels of light have very different effects on our bodies and behavior.  So what kind of light is best for eating? That depends on what you want from your food. If you’re trying to cut calories at home, bright fluorescent bulbs may be the way to go. One 2016 study found that diners in well-lit rooms were between 16-24 percent more likely to choose healthy foods than people in dimmer conditions. And the color blue, including blue light, like that emitted from fluorescent bulbs, is known to decrease appetite.

But if you think eating is about pleasure, throw all that advice out the window. A 2012 paper concluded that low lighting and soft music (like the ambiance you’d find in a fancy restaurant) made people both more relaxed and more likely to enjoy their food.

6. STUDYING

We know now that dim, warm light can help us relax and sleep, so it’s no real surprise that cool, bright light can do the opposite. A recent study from Korea tested three types of LED lights in the classroom: a warm, yellowish white light; a neutral light; and a cool, bluish white light that resembles daylight. Another classroom, the control group, kept its standard fluorescent lighting. Then all the students were given a difficult exam. Their scores were calculated, and the students interviewed about their experiences. The results showed that kids felt calmer and happier under yellow light—but their test scores improved under blue. The researchers concluded that the best classrooms would be equipped with both kinds: warm light for recess and other calm activities, and cool light to boost focus when it was needed most.

Looking to enhance the everyday? Consider switching to GE reveal bulbs. Their clean, beautiful light can help transform the ordinary into the extraordinary. See their effect on different rooms by clicking here.

Comienza la primera edición de #Ñuqanchik con Clodomiro Landeo y Marisol Mena. Sigue la transmisión en vivo aquí ►https://t.co/Lc3uKSKNJ7 pic.twitter.com/FPVD3owFSc

— TVPeruPE Noticias (@noticias_tvperu) December 12, 2016

Of all the remaining indigenous languages of South America, Quechua is one of the most robust. It has approximately 8 million speakers distributed across areas once belonging to the ancient Inca empire; about half of them live in Peru.

But despite its relatively healthy numbers, Quechua is threatened by the same forces that indigenous languages in many places face. It is marginalized and looked down upon as a language of the poor and provincial, and children who grow up in Quechua-speaking households increasingly abandon it in favor of Spanish. Now, reports The Guardian, in an effort to raise the profile of the language and reach out to its community of speakers, Peruvian television will air a regular news program in Quechua for the first time. It is called Ñuqanchik, which translates as “all of us.”

The broadcast team for the program is made up of native Quechua speakers who will report the news not only in the Quechua language, but from a Quechua cultural perspective. Prime Minister Fernando Zavala hopes that this effort “will transform the relationship between the government, the state, and those people who speak a language different from Spanish.”

More news programs are planned for other native languages in Peru, including Aymara, Ashaninka, and Awajun.

[h/t The Guardian]

It’s been more than 40 years since George Lucas and director Brian De Palma opened their communal casting sessions for Star Wars and Carrie, pooling their resources in a combined search for actors who could carry either Lucas’s space opera or De Palma’s adaptation of the Stephen King novel.

Obviously, the Lucas cast—led by Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, and Carrie Fisher—worked out just fine. But those inaugural sessions led to a line of performers in the next decades who either auditioned or were strongly considered for roles across the multi-part franchise. With the eighth feature film, Rogue One, arriving in theaters this week, we’re taking a look at 15 performers who once had a chance at co-starring with a Wookiee.

1. CHRISTOPHER WALKEN

Droll, droopy-eyed character actor Christopher Walken first garnered notoriety for 1978’s The Deer Hunter, where he played a psychologically immobilized Vietnam veteran. Prior to that, he was one of several actors who visited with Lucas to read for the part of Han Solo, by some accounts doing so well that at one point Lucas narrowed his choice to between Walken and Ford: Ford, who had been in Lucas’s American Graffiti and was helping feed lines to auditioning actors, got the part.

It wouldn’t be Walken’s only flirtation with sci-fi: Decades later, his name was batted around for the part of James Kirk’s great-great grandfather in a Star Trek prequel film project that never got off the ground.

2. AL PACINO

Already a huge star thanks to a string of 1970s hits including The Godfather, Serpico, and Dog Day Afternoon, Al Pacino apparently had the luxury of being offered the role of Solo without having to audition. “Star Wars was mine for the taking but I didn’t understand the script,” Pacino admitted in 2013.

3. JODIE FOSTER

Jodie Foster’s role as a teenaged prostitute in Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver apparently impressed Lucas enough that the 15-year-old actress was brought in to read for the role of Princess Leia. Discounting the awkwardness of any possible flirtation with a 30-something Solo, she was passed up in favor of 19-year-old Carrie Fisher, who had only one movie credit (Shampoo) to her name at the time. 

4. ORSON WELLES

Although Lucas needed a complete cast assembled for the start of principal photography in 1976, he had the comparative luxury of deliberating on how best to personify respirator enthusiast Darth Vader. David Prowse was in the suit on set, but his lines could be dubbed over later. For a time, mercurial director and former radio star Orson Welles was considered. Deciding Welles’s voice was too recognizable, Lucas opted for James Earl Jones instead.

5. MEL BLANC

As with Vader, Lucas was free to mix a physical performer with a voiceover artist for the role of C-3PO. Unlike Vader, he opted to use one man to accomplish it. Anthony Daniels voiced the chirping droid, although animation legend Mel Blanc was considered for a time. It was Blanc who told Lucas that Daniels had a better take on the robot.

6. ROBERT ENGLUND

Before landing the part of Freddy Krueger in the Nightmare on Elm Street series, Robert Englund tried his luck at auditions for the role of Han Solo. He didn’t get it, but he did tell his roommate about the space film that was about to start shooting, and that he should try out for a part: Mark Hamill decided he was right and paid Lucas a visit.

7. JIM HENSON

After conceiving of a wizened old Jedi who would train Luke Skywalker in the squalid swamps of Dagobah for 1980’s The Empire Strikes Back, George Lucas asked Muppet creator Jim Henson to perform the Yoda puppet for his cameras. “I thought he was the best puppeteer,” Lucas once said. But Henson’s schedule didn’t allow for it, so the job went to a colleague at the Muppet Workshop, Frank Oz, instead.

8. GARY OLDMAN

The brooding British actor has been in some of the biggest franchises of the past 20 years, including Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy and the Harry Potter films. Lucas wanted him to voice General Grievous in 2005’s Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, and Oldman was apparently agreeable—until he found out that Lucas was shooting the movie as a non-union project. In a press release, Oldman’s management company stated that the “snag that made it impossible … is that this film is being made as a non-SAG (Screen Actors Guild) film. George Lucas and gang agreed to hire Gary Oldman if he in fact would become a union buster, and perform work illegally overseas. As a resident of America, and also a member of SAG, out of respect and solidarity with the other members, he could not and would not consider violating his union’s rules.”

9. SYLVESTER STALLONE

During auditions for the original Star Wars, Lucas seemingly had few reservations about who he might consider for the roles. Fatigue, however, would sometimes get to him. At one point, Sylvester Stallone walked into the room and walked right back out after assessing that a tired Lucas wasn’t going to be a receptive audience. “Guys in space don’t have this kind of face,” he said. “I get it.”

10. LEONARDO DICAPRIO

Leonardo DiCaprio had just come off starring in the then-highest-grossing film in history, Titanic, when George Lucas approached him to a play a young Anakin Skywalker in 2002’s Episode II: Attack of the Clones. He declined. “I just didn’t feel ready to take that dive, at the time,” he said. The actor might have struggled a bit with the decision, since he’s an avowed fan of the series who once auctioned off a toy collection valued at over $100,000. He was even in line at 1 a.m. for the release of Phantom Menace figures in 1999.

11. *NSYNC

The 1990s boy band *NSYNC is an anomaly on the list, in part because they were more than just considered for small roles in Star Wars—they actually filmed them. Lucas’s daughters were so enamored with the group at the time their father was shooting Attack of the Clones that he invited them to the set to appear as background characters. Justin Timberlake and Lance Bass declined, but Joey Fatone, Chris Kirkpatrick, and JC Chasez showed up for fittings. All three played Jedi Knights during the battle on Geonosis. The parts were cut for reasons unknown, although fan backlash may have played a part; Fantone’s family later insisted he could still be seen during the fight sequence.

12. MICHAEL B. JORDAN

In 2013, Creed and Fantastic Four star Michael B. Jordan told press that he had gone on an audition forEpisode VII: The Force Awakens. Jordan had previously worked for Lucas in 2012’s Tuskegee Airmen drama Red Tails, but the creator was not involved in the Disney-produced sequel.

13. TUPAC SHAKUR

Although it hit theaters in 1999, filming on The Phantom Menace began in 1997, with pre-production and auditions taking place in 1996. That’s reportedly when rapper Tupac Shakur pursued the role of Mace Windu, the Jedi Knight role that ultimately went to Samuel L. Jackson.

14. EDDIE REDMAYNE

Eddie Redmayne won an Oscar in 2015 for the Stephen Hawking biopic The Theory of Everything, but that honor didn’t do him much good during auditions for The Force Awakens. Aspiring for the part of Kylo Ren, Redmayne says the production was so secretive that he really had no idea who the character was or how he fit into the story. To compensate, he tried doing a Darth Vader imitation. “That’s a childhood dream crushed,” he told Moviepilot.com earlier this year.

15. MICHAEL JACKSON

As the most contentious character in the entire Star Wars saga, bumbling Gungan sidekick Jar Jar Binks has been a mixed blessing for Ahmed Best, the actor cast for his voice and motion-capture work in 1999’s Episode I: The Phantom Menace. According to Best, though, Jar Jar could have been even more infamous. Discussing the role with Vice in 2015, Best said Lucas had taken him to a Michael Jackson concert and told him that Jackson was toying with the idea of playing the alien. “[Lucas] said, ‘Well, Michael wanted to do the part but he wanted to do it in prosthetics and makeup like Thriller. George wanted to do it in CGI. My guess is ultimately Michael Jackson would have been bigger than the movie, and I don’t think he wanted that.”

All images courtesy of Getty Images.

Winston Churchill had no time for silly military codenames. In a 1943 wartime memo on the subject of coining operation names, he cautioned: “Do not suggest the character of the operation or disparage it in any way, and do not enable some widow or mother to say that her son was killed in an operation called ‘Bunnyhug’ or ‘Ballyhoo.’” Understandable. However, military operations—British or otherwise—haven’t always followed these principles, and some of their names seem downright ridiculous. Although there’s rarely a (public) explanation of why the weird names were assigned, that doesn’t make them any less amusing. Here are just a few of the more memorable.

1. OPERATION DRACULA

Operation Dracula was the Allied South East Asia Command’s plan to reconquer the Burmese capital of Rangoon near the end of WWII. Part of the Burma Campaign, the operation was led by British and Indian forces via sea and sky to wrest the region from Japan, which had invaded in 1942. Begun in 1944 as an outgrowth of the earlier Plan Z, the mission was abandoned—maybe because the sun came up?—but then reinstated the following year. The British and Indian forces encroached on Rangoon as monsoon season began, only to find that the Japanese had skipped town a few days earlier, whereupon it was occupied by the Indian 26th Division without opposition.

2. OPERATION POWER GEYSER

 
This one was a counterterrorism effort that involved a group of 13,000 top-secret commandos who served as military security to support the 2005 U.S. presidential inauguration of George W. Bush. The elite troops carried state-of-the-art weapons as they lurked in the shadows of the White House and the Capitol while the inauguration went down. A Power Geyser, by the way, is a fighting move from the video game series Fatal Fury, where character Terry Bogard blasts the ground with his fist, thereby devising a field of explosive energy around him that sends his opponents flying.

3. OPERATION ALL-AMERICAN TIGER

 
Tigers are pretty boss by themselves, but what if you had not only an American one, but an ALL-American one? The U.S. military ended up giving this name to the November 2003 Iraq War mission to search and clear farms and villages around the Euphrates River in the Northern Iraqi town of Al -Qaim as they tried to capture a handful of insurgent leaders. They ended up detaining 12 men as a result, including a few who were on the American “Most Wanted” list. Not bad.

It’s fun to make up origin stories here, but this codename is actually no mystery. It stems from the nickname for the 82nd Airborne Division—“All-American”—and the “Tiger” squadron of the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, both of which launched the first phase of the plan. And for what it’s worth, it was specifically the 1st Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment from within the 82nd who worked on this plan, and those guys have their own nickname: “The Devils in Baggy Pants,” plucked from the diary of a disgruntled Wehrmacht officer who was killed in WWII.

4. OPERATION BEASTMASTER

 
From the name, this one sounds like it absolutely, positively must have happened in the ’80s, but actually it was not until 2006 that Operation Beastmaster cleared three neighborhoods in the Baghdad suburb of Ghazaliya—an area itself codenamed “IED Alley East.” Even though none of them used scimitars or were able to telepathically communicate with animals like in the movie, U.S. troops worked in tandem with the Iraqi Army to great success, leading the latter to uncover seven weapon caches as well as a deposit of roadside bomb-crafting supplies. The mission also resulted in the capture of an (unnamed) high-value target. Sounds like that beast got mastered.

5. OPERATION MINCEMEAT

 
Guess the British military managed to sneak this strangely named mission under Churchill’s nose somehow. Operation Mincemeat involved a decoy corpse—a possible (if gross) clue for the name’s origin. As Allied forces were preparing an attack on Sicily in 1943 during World War II, they wanted to convince the Germans that they were headed to Greece and Sardinia instead. So they took the body of Welsh laborer Glyndwr Michael, who’d died from eating rat poison, and planted some phony top-secret papers describing a plan to attack Greece and Sardinia on it, as well as a photo of a fake girlfriend, then let it float to an area off Spain where a particular Nazi agent was located. It worked perfectly. The plan was initially part of a memo containing possible ideas to lure German U-Boats toward minefields and was titled #28: A Suggestion (not a very nice one).

If this sounds like something from an old-timey detective pulp, well, there’s a reason for that. The scheme originally came from the mind of Ian Fleming, who later authored the James Bond books, back when he was an assistant to the head of British Naval Intelligence. Fleming confessed that he’d borrowed the idea of a dead body with false papers from a spy novel he’d once read.

6. OPERATION VIKING SNATCH

 
Despite what you might guess given some slang connotations here, Operation Viking Snatch—which attempted to stop a rash of weapons-smuggling during the Iraq War—was named and carried out within the last decade. The operation took place in September 2007. The name almost certainly derives from a snatch strap, which is a kind of tow rope used to pull bogged-down vehicles out of sand or mud, with Viking Offroad being a company that manufactures them—so, a Viking snatch strap. However, it can probably be assumed that whoever picked this codename was quite aware of its additional entendres and used it anyway.

7. OPERATION BEAVER CAGE

If you thought the last one sounded crass, there’s also this one. Operation Beaver Cage was a helicopter assault launched by the U.S. Marines upon on a Vietcong base in the very populous Que Son Valley, south of Da Nang. Lasting from late April through mid-May of 1967, the Marines walked away with 66 captured Vietcong soldiers and the operation was considered a success. No word on where exactly the name came from, but it’s worth pointing out that although beavers are native to North America and Eurasia, there are none to be found in the wild in Vietnam.

8. OPERATION SAFE NEIGHBORHOOD

 
Although it sounds like it’s an edict by the street captain to drive slowly when kids are at play, this endeavor—along with its little sister, Operation Safe Market—was actually a 2007 effort to make residential neighborhoods, marketplaces, and areas of traffic congestion safer for Iraqis to live and work in during the Iraq War. Basically, they were cracking down on car bombs, with additional measures to decrease general sectarian violence. Not much of a secret codename, but it’s kind of adorable.

9. OPERATION GRIZZLY FORCED ENTRY

 
The “forced entry” part makes sense, anyhow: In the summer of 2004, U.S. soldiers went out on a counterinsurgency raid in Iraq under this codename, busting into private homes to search and seize high-value targets. The guys they were looking for were suspected of attacking coalition forces, and the search was conducted in Najaf, a city just south of Baghdad. The grizzly bit is less clear, but the Americans might just have been flattering themselves.

10. OPERATION MAGNETO

 
Almost 20 years before the superhuman mutant of the same name was DIY-ing magnetic fields in the 1963 debut issue of X-Men, Allied forces were using this word during WWII to refer to a 1945 conference among Winston Churchill, Josef Stalin, and FDR. While not strictly a military operation, the three leaders met in Yalta, USSR, in February of that year to discuss how to secure an unconditional surrender by the Germans (and also how to divvy up all the post-war geographical spoils). Operation Magneto, along with Operation Cricket, the prep meeting that happened few days prior, were collectively known as Operation Argonaut.

11. OPERATION TOENAILS

 
A part of the Solomon Islands, the isle of New Georgia was invaded by the WWII Allied forces over the summer of 1943, and they called it Operation Toenails. The reason behind the name seems to have been lost to history. This mission was the first major Allied offensive exacted in the Solomon Islands since New Georgia’s neighbor, Guadalcanal, had been secured the previous February, and it led to the subsequent capture of the rest of the Solomons, concluding with the island of Bougainville. This invasion was part of the two-pronged, equally-oddly named Operation Cartwheel, the group of attacks that the Allied troops conducted in order to first isolate and then descend upon the Japanese military base at Rabaul, on the Solomon island of New Britain.

12. OPERATION CHATTANOOGA CHOO-CHOO

 
The plan here was to systemically bomb German railways in 1944. Seems as though someone was like “Okay, we’re bombing trains. Okay, what’s a train-themed name that we can use that doesn’t actually have the word train in it? Or railway? In any known language?” “I’ve got an idea, sir. The Nazis will have no idea what a ‘choo-choo’ is.” This was a successful mission, by the way—the railways were extensively damaged, forcing Germany to scramble for laborers to repair them when there was already a huge labor shortage. Glenn Miller would be proud.

13. OPERATION FREQUENT WIND

 
Transpiring at the end of April 1975, Operation Frequent Wind was the wrap-up phase of the evacuation of American civilians and at-risk Vietnamese in Saigon prior to the Fall of Saigon, wherein the North Vietnamese Army showed up and took over. Hours after the mission ended, North Vietnamese tanks came crashing through the gates of the Independence Palace, and President (of two days) Duong Van Minh surrendered, signifying the end of the Vietnam War. One can guess at the codename’s origin here, considering it was a helicopter-based evacuation and that it was also tremendous—81 helicopters transported 7000 people to offshore aircraft carriers over the course of two days, making it the largest helicopter evacuation on record.

14. OPERATION LION CUB

 
Operation Lion Cub had two very important missions on December 21 and 24 of 2004—to commandeer a convoy full of toys to the villages of Wynott, Al Alam, and Al Owja in Iraq, where soldiers would hand them out to Iraqi children. The codename is perhaps a nod to the ancient symbol of Iraq, the Lion of Babylon. Family Readiness Groups in the U.S. and Germany had collected the toys over several months as part of a Christmas donation drive, and the operation received a very positive response from both the kids and their parents.

15. OPERATION GIMLET VICTORY

 
There’s not a whole lot of info out there on Operation Gimlet Victory, other than that it happened in 2004 during the Iraq War. There were a handful of other U.S. counterinsurgency operations with gimlet in their names—Operation Gimlet Crusader, Operation Gimlet Silent Sniper—that were staged in the city of Kirkuk during the same year, so one can assume that this one was, if not the victorious denouement of those operations, at least related to them. The name likely refers to the tool kind of gimlet and not the cocktail kind, but it still sounds like what happens after you slog through your tedious Friday at work and finally make it to happy hour.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council have just announced the creation of a new marine protected area for some of the ocean’s humblest heroes: deep-sea corals. The Frank R. Lautenberg Deep Sea Coral Protection Area will be off-limits for commercial fishing practices that affect the sea floor.

Sessile and stoic though they may be, corals are both crucially important and in need of our help. These fascinating animals—yes, corals are animals—provide beautiful living habitats for all kinds of organisms and serve as the foundation for marine ecosystems.

 
Corals are fragile and slow-growing, which makes them simultaneously more prone to injury and slower to recover; a dangerous combination in areas regularly visited by clumsy, bulky commercial fishing equipment.

Corals aren’t flashy, but they do still have their defenders. Among them was the late New Jersey senator Frank R. Lautenberg, who pushed the coral agenda hard during his five terms in office. It’s thanks to him that the Magnus-Stevenson Act includes provisions allowing regional fishery management councils to protect deep-sea corals through commercial fishing bans.

The new marine protected area stretches through more than 38,000 square miles of federal waters off the coasts of New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia—all regions where scientists have spotted or anticipate the presence of vulnerable deep-sea corals. The new protected area is the result of recommendations informed by enormous scientific efforts, including repeated deep-sea surveys by NOAA and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.

“Today’s action is historic not only because it creates the largest protected area in the U.S. Atlantic,” Joseph Gordon, manager, Mid-Atlantic ocean conservation for The Pew Charitable Trusts, said in a statement to mental_floss, “but because so many different groups and interests worked together to protect these fragile deep-sea corals. Healthy habitat supports ocean ecosystems and thriving fisheries, and this success stands as a challenge and inspiration for other fishery managers around the country.”

In the coming weeks, a fat man in a red suit may be shimmying down your chimney to leave presents (or, if you were naughty, coal) under your tree. Though you’re not likely to raise a fuss because the only thing Santa takes from your home is that plate of cookies, you might wonder: Is old Saint Nick actually breaking the law by coming into your house?

Continue reading “Are Santa’s Visits Legal?”

Of the many dual titles that exist in Hollywood, actor-musicians may be some of the most frequently encountered hyphenates. But for every individual who has shown genuine talent in both disciplines (see: Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand, Tom Waits, Zooey Deschanel, Mos Def, Liza Minnelli, and Jamie Foxx), there is, well, a Steven Seagal. Here are 15 well-known actors with all-but-forgotten musical careers.

1. EDDIE MURPHY

The 1980s were a very good decade for Eddie Murphy. In addition to being one of Saturday Night Live’s biggest stars, he was drawing huge crowds as a stand-up comedian, turning those comedy shows into iconic pieces of pop culture history with Delirious and Raw, and headlining some of Hollywood biggest blockbusters. In the midst of all this, he somehow found the time to try and launch a singing career and actually managed to produce two hits, 1985’s “Party All the Time” and 1989’s “Put Your Mouth on Me.” Rick James, who produced the former tune, was clearly a fan. Though it’s actually kind of catchy, it’s regularly been cited as one of the worst songs of all time.

2. ALYSSA MILANO

Having conquered the small screen as the star of Who’s the Boss?, Alyssa Milano set her sights on the music world and, at least internationally, actually had some success. Her 1989 album, Look In My Heart, turned out to be pretty big in Japan. Stateside, she was best known for singing the theme song to her workout video, Teen Steam. Though she told Paste Magazine that she’s never pulled out the old cassette tapes, she said that she has “watched a couple of the music videos, because my brother is in them with me. It was definitely ’80s pop, so it was just singing and dancing, all that stuff I love to do, but there’s nothing too outrageous. We were able to control all of that. It was like that bubble gum pop era… that Tiffany, Debbie Gibson era. Clean, good fun. I was 14 or 15, so I don’t really remember a lot of it.”

3. LEONARD NIMOY

In the late 1960s, one science fiction icon paid tribute to other sci-fi greats with a pair of albums that celebrated the genre with a lineup of songs with titles like “Alien,” “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Earth,” “Lost in the Stars,” and what is perhaps his most famous recording: “The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins” (see above), which appeared on his second album, Two Sides of Leonard Nimoy.

4. WILLIAM SHATNER

Though more of a spoken word artist than a full-on musician, Leonard Nimoy’s Star Trek co-star also made a bit of a splash on the music scene, beginning with his 1968 spoken word album The Transformed Man, where he gave well-known songs like “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds” and “Mr. Tambourine Man” a Shatner-esque twist. He has recorded a handful of albums since, including 2013’s Ponder the Mystery.

5. STEVEN SEAGAL

In addition to his run as one of Hollywood’s best known action stars during the late 1980s and early 1990s, Steven Seagal has attempted a number of other careers: aromatherapy specialist, energy drink maker, law enforcer, and, yes, musician. Years after giving his music a part in a few of his own films, including Fire Down Below, Seagal released his first album, Songs from the Crystal Cave, which Sputnik Music described as “the Plan 9 From Outer Space of records.”

6. BRUCE WILLIS

Steven Seagal is far from the only action star to try his hand at music-making. In 1987, at the height of Moonlighting’s success, Bruce Willis released The Return of Bruno, an album that mixed pop music with blues and managed to produce a hit single, “Respect Yourself,” featuring The Pointer Sisters. The accompanying video (above) was appropriately cinematic. In 1989, he released a follow-up album—If It Don’t Kill You, It Just Makes You Stronger.

7. JENNIFER LOVE HEWITT

Thanks to her early acting career on the variety show Kids Incorporated, Jennifer Love Hewitt has been singing for as long as she has been acting—and even sang backup on fellow Kids Incorporated co-star Martika’s hit 1989 song, “Toy Soldiers.” Though she released her first album, Love Songs, in 1992—when she was just 12 years old—it wasn’t until after she gained fame as an actress that her music career found some steam. “How Do I Deal,” a single she recorded for the soundtrack to I Still Know What You Did Last Summer in 1999, became her first song to chart. In 2009, it was reported that Hewitt was working on material for a country album; sadly, that has yet to surface.

8. JOEY LAWRENCE

Jennifer Love Hewitt wasn’t the only ’90s teen heartthrob to take a stab at a recording career. In 1993, at the height of Blossom mania, Joey Lawrence released his self-titled debut album, which included “Nothin’ My Love Can’t Fix,” which became a bona fide hit around the world. In 2014, he told Queen Latifah that he was thinking about making a return to the music scene. Whoa!

9. JOE PESCI

Before he was an actor, Joe Pesci was a barber. In between, he attempted to mount a musical career—and didn’t do too badly at it. In his earliest days, he played guitar with several bands, including Joey Dee and the Starlighters (the band went through a few rotations, but Jimi Hendrix ended up playing the same gig as Pesci at a later point). In 1968, Pesci released a solo album as “Little Joe” called Little Joe Sure Can Sing!, on which he covered a handful of major hits—including several Beatles songs. In 1998, six years after My Cousin Vinny, he released an album in character called Vincent LaGuardia Gambini Sings Just for You.

10. DON JOHNSON

While his Miami Vice co-star Philip Michael Thomas was busy trying to become an EGOT, Don Johnson was making a foray into the music business as well. During the 1980s, he released two solo albums, and scored a major hit with “Heartbeat,” which made it all the way to No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. His cover of Aaron Neville’s “Tell It Like It Is” (above) also managed to log some radio play.

11. MR. T

Mr. T made no secret about pitying the fools who didn’t take advantage of getting an education, and he released a series of videos on this very topic­—plus a 1984 rap album titled Mr. T’s Commandments, which basically implored kids to stay in school and to just say no to drugs.

12. MILLA JOVOVICH

Today, Milla Jovovich is best known as the ass-kicking hero of the Resident Evil movie franchise. But her first step into the spotlight came as a model, a career she began at the age of 9. She broke into acting as the star of a made-for-TV movie called The Night Train to Kathmandu, which premiered in 1988—the same year she began recording her first album. In a 1990 interview with Rolling Stone Australia, she described her style as “a mix between Kate Bush, Sinéad O’Connor, This Mortal Coil, and the Cocteau Twins.” Her first studio album, 1994’s The Divine Comedy, was well received by critics (Rolling Stone called it a “remarkable recording debut”). While she has continued to record since (her last single was released in 2012), acting has remained her busiest career.

13. BURT REYNOLDS

One year after infamously posing nude for Cosmopolitan, Burt Reynolds took another chance and released an album, Ask Me What I Am, and also put his pipes to use alongside Dolly Parton in The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. Music fans didn’t seem all that interested.

14. COREY FELDMAN

If you’ve noticed ’80s star Corey Feldman’s name trending lately, it’s likely due to a couple of odd live musical performances he’s put on for the Today Show. And while the fallen star definitely began his career in front of the camera—he began landing some television roles back in the late 1970s—he did try to make a go of a musical career dating all the way back to 1992’s Love Left. And he’s still trying. Some people have called his latest album, Angelic 2 The Core, the year’s worst album. His prior attempts—both professionally, and one incredibly embarrassing performance he concocted for his ex-wife on an episode of his reality show The Two Coreys (above)—haven’t fared much better.

15. SHAQUILLE O’NEAL

Yes, Shaquille O’Neal is best known as a superstar athlete. But don’t try telling fans of Kazaam—or users of Icy Hot, Gold Bond, or the dozens of other products Shaq has endorsed over the years—that the man is not a consummate actor as well. In the early 1990s, Shaq added “rapper” to his repertoire and gave music fans the platinum album known as Shaq Diesel.

Winter may not be great for weather, but the cold months propel professional football into heavy rotation in living rooms and bars across the country. Take a look at 15 things you might not have realized about the most popular sport on television.

1. IT’S BEEN PLAYED EVERY DAY OF THE WEEK.

While Sunday is pro football’s flagship day and Monday and Thursday nights get in on the action, there have been a handful of pro games played on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, usually as a result of weather delays.

2. OVER A THIRD OF REPLAY REVIEWS ARE OVERTURNED.

There’s a good reason coaches challenge official calls by demanding instant replay: they stand at least a one in three chance of having the play overturned.

3. COWS ARE IMPORTANT TO THE GAME.

To make sure that easily gripped “pigskin” is in high supply, equipment makers turn to cows. One cowhide can make roughly 10 footballs. If the balls aren’t made of pig leather, why is it still referred to as pigskin? Early players used inflated pig bladders for game balls.

5. QUARTERBACKS CAN HAVE RADIOS.

Originally seen as a method of cheating, radio devices in quarterback helmets allow them to stay in touch with coaching staff during plays. Helmets are expected to get more tech upgrades in the near future, including sensors that can measure the force of an impact so players can leave games to avoid further injury.

6. JERSEYS DIDN’T ALWAYS HAVE NAMES.

In football’s early days, it could be very difficult to identify players. While numbers have always been used, it wasn’t until the 1960s that jerseys were produced with the last names of the wearers sewn on.

7. THE HOME TEAM HAS A BALL QUOTA.

While playing in a home stadium has its perks, it does come with some responsibilities: Home teams are expected to have 24 game balls on hand.

8. THE ACTUAL GAME IS PRETTY SHORT.

Television coverage of games can last hours, but the ball can actually be in play for as little as 11 minutes in a given game.

9. THE HUDDLE WAS INVENTED OUT OF NECESSITY.

Players that gather in a tight circle to discuss the next play are a product of a college player who was legally deaf and needed his teammates to pack in closely so he could hear them.

10. THE GAME FOUND AN EARLY HOME IN BASEBALL STADIUMS.

Because baseball was the country’s premiere sport long before football rose to prominence, several pro teams were without home stadiums and were forced to play in major baseball venues—sometimes for decades at a stretch. Today, only one pro team shares its stadium with a baseball squad.

12. THERE ARE SPECIAL BALLS FOR KICKING.

When a punter tees up a ball for a kick, he’s not using a conventional game ball. Known as “K-Balls,” these balls are a little slicker because they’re brand-new, a step that is taken to avoid kickers making any modifications to them. (Some enterprising players used to microwave the footballs to soften the leather.)

13. THOSE ARM BANDS ARE JUST THERE FOR LOOKS.

While some fans may think bicep bands sported by players aren’t a fashion statement, they have no practical use. Athletes use them to make their upper arm muscles “pop” more.

14. THERE’S NO TAUNTING.

Players that want to antagonize opponents shouldn’t go too far. The pro leagues have rules in place that make verbal taunting a penalty that can be called by officials. Celebratory spiking or spinning of the ball at an opponent is another recipe for a 15-yard penalty.

15. ONLY 500 PEOPLE WATCHED THE FIRST TELEVISED GAME.

Granted, it was in 1939, when few people had televisions. But for a sport that would eventually draw well over a hundred million viewers for its championship games, that’s still a pretty modest start.

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