The Legacy of Star Wars’ Journal of the Whills. The early idea was to narrate the saga, and you won’t believe who was going to do it.
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J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis went to the theater together to see Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs together. They both hated it.
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Minoule is an urban cat who discovers that there’s a canary living in the building across the street. He takes grave risks to get that bird, and along the way, a lot of other things are going on in the city.
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There Is A Venomous Snake In This Picture, But Good Luck Finding It. Even after it’s pointed out, you might easily step on it.
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If a Unicorn Frappuccino doesn’t turn you on, maybe you’d prefer some charcoal-black Goth ice cream! Get them at ice cream shops in Los Angeles and New York.
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The new issue of National Geographic features an in-depth look at What Makes a Genius. We meet examples of genius, from Leonardo da Vinci to jazz pianist Keith Jarrett, with the research into what makes those people different from the rest of us.
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Gen. George Patton’s wife put a Hawaiian curse on his ex-mistress. She was dead within days.
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12 Creepy Lullabies From Around the World That Will Keep You Up at Night. They make “Rock-a-bye Baby” seem sweet and innocent.
From cactus to aloe, drought-resistant succulents come in an amazing variety of shapes and colors. This variety, and the fact that they’re easy to care for, make succulents the perfect plants for everything from a tiny planter on the counter to a lavish outdoor display—and all the creative displays featured below.
1. IN SHELLS
Megan Andersen-Read stuffed snail shells with cuttings of various small succulents that had begun to root, and then added just enough potting soil around those roots. She had enough shells that she was able to put some of these gardens around the house and more outside as accents for her larger garden.
It’s hard to throw out obsolete books, but it may be easier to turn them into something pretty, like a miniature garden. Instructables member loveisinmytummy found this project to be easier than it looks. You hollow out the pages and build the garden of your dreams in tiny form. The accessories are optional; use your imagination to create the literary world you want.
3. ON A WREATH
We expect fresh greenery on a Christmas wreath, but a wreath of live flourishing succulents is a lovely celebration of warm weather. Stephanie at Garden Therapy shows you step-by-step how to make your own succulent wreath, whether fully planted like the one shown here, or partially-covered. She also teaches you how to care for it, and how to refresh your wreath when the plants begin to show their age.
To freshen up a space that’s too small for a wreath, how about a simple succulent ball? Instructables member marcellahella will help you create a little garden ornament that can go anywhere, and even move around to take advantage of different light and temperature conditions.
There’s no reason why your backyard fence or garden wall shouldn’t have its own artwork. Vertical gardening goes in a picture frame to display outdoors in this living painting project from Instructables member algert555. Once you have your framed shadow box built and loaded with soil, the fun comes in artfully arranging different succulents to create your masterpiece.
6. ON MAGNETS
Does your refrigerator get sunshine? If not, there must be some metal surface in your home that does. Instructables member AlexeyY4 offers a tutorial on putting living plants in wine corks that you can stick on a metal surface and move around as you see fit.
Isn’t this charming—a miniature living diorama in a teacup! Muhaiminah Faiz made this one and gives us all the steps to create it and the accessories at Instructables.
8. ON A CHAIR
How many times have you seen a nice chair abandoned in the street because the seat was broken or missing? Instructables member DIYwithCaitlin rescued an old chair frame to make a lovely planter filled with succulents. If you have plants on the ground and hanging plants, this idea gives you an intermediate level to balance the visuals on your porch or in your garden. Succulents look great in a metal chair as well.
Succulents can survive well enough as to be wearable for your wedding or other special occasion. Susan McLeary at PassionflowerMade will make custom necklaces, crowns, bracelets, and more composed of living succulents. After you wear them, they can be transplanted to soil to serve as a cherished souvenir. And if you have a gentle hand and patience, you can make your own succulent rings and earrings with instructions from Succulents and Sunshine.
10. IN WEARABLE TERRARIUMS
If the conditions are right, you can wear succulents for a long time. They can be small enough to fit into a jewelry-size terrarium and stay green for years, with proper care. Boobooplant sells them in tiny terrariums that you can wear as a necklace, keychain, or pendant.
11. IN PINE CONES
Megan Andersen-Read knows you can display succulents in anything, if you keep your eye out for possibilities. Even pine cones! Read her tutorial on how to build a hanging succulent garden in pine cones at Creative Live. A year later, she says the plants in the pine cones are doing just fine. Andersen-Read has also placed succulent gardens in toys and even shoes!
12. IN BROKEN POTS
Since succulents can be tucked into tiny spaces and they don’t need much water, they are the perfect plants to set into broken pottery. You’ll find instructions for building a broken pot succulent garden at MidwestLiving.
13. IN A BRICK
Bricks aren’t something you’d normally put on your dinner table, but as a planter for attractive succulents, they make a nice centerpiece, with or without candles. Arianna Thomopolous shows us how she carved holes in red bricks to make one for Mother’s Day. Those planters will last forever.
The Real Zorro? How tales of the bandit Joaquin Murrieta put on a mask and became a pop culture staple.
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Tips are taxable, but gifts aren’t (up to a point). So what if we gave waitresses gifts instead of tips?
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Edward Gory was a masterful storyteller and artist, and he was also a collector. Not of anything in particular that he could become an expert on, but everything.
* Rethinking Critical Thinking With the Help of Carl Sagan. One place to start would be Sagan’s “baloney detection kit.”
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Although Less Deadly Than Crinolines, Bustles Were Still a Pain in the Behind. Get a look at both and be thankful you live in the 21st century.
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A father turned two Cozy Coupes into Mad Max: Fury Road vehicles for his children. They are now the coolest toddlers in Glendale.
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Aristocrats of the 18th century were always on the lookout for something new and impressive to spend money on. For some, that meant hiring their own hermit, to entertain guests and to, let’s say, outsource their interest in philosophy.
* A Rainbow of Butterflies. They come in more colors than flowers do.
The Creators of This is Spinal TapStill Haven’t Been Paid. It’s lawsuit time in a 33-year-old case of Hollywood accounting.
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Why Poverty Is Like a Disease. The effects can last for generations.
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In April of 1945, Swedish Jew Norbert Masur met with Gestapo chief Heinrich Himmler as a representative of the World Jewish Congress. Himmler spent the time rationalizing his actions and covering his tracks. [PDF]
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Does Iceland Really Have the Best Hot Dogs in the World? Here are opinions from two correspondents who tried them.
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Disposable lighters come in all colors, but the white ones are bad luck. How did this superstition ever come about?
* DoggoLingo is the internet language about dogs. Even if you’ve never heard of it, you recognize it when you read it.
* No one understands health insurance. That’s a problem.
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19 Fictional Characters Whose Names You Don’t Know. But you will after you read this!
Saturday, April 22 is Earth Day, celebrated since 1970 to raise awareness of global environmental issues and activism. Events and celebrations, coordinated by the Earth Day Network, are held around the world.
1. SUSTAINABILITY AND SOCIAL GOOD POP-UP // NEW YORK CITY
More than 70 organizations come together for Earth Day in New York City, and one event sponsored by the Earth Day Initiative and Kargoe (a social shopping app) is a pop-up shop of sorts featuring companies and groups that support sustainability and social responsibility. The event will be held near Chelsea Piers from 11 a.m. until 6 p.m on Saturday.
Earth Day United will be held at Christiansborg Castle Square in Copenhagen on April 22. It will begin with an address by organizer Angajoq Nattortalissuaq (a Greenlandic shaman), and then a circle will be formed for sessions of drum-playing, aimed at all four corners of the world. Participation is free; bring your own drum or other musical instruments. There will be 15 minutes of drumming every half-hour for two hours, then the group is invited to join the March for Science.
3. EMPOWER EARTH DAY CELEBRATION // LONDON
There are at least seven bands scheduled to perform at The Hive in London for an Earth Day celebration sponsored by the Gaia Warriors, a collective of activists and musicians. The event will raise funds for British charities and groups fighting climate change and will feature environmental speakers, dance, yoga, shamans, a vegan cafe, and more.
4. EARTH DAY PARADE AND FESTIVAL // VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA
The 7th annual Earth Day Parade and Festival will take place in Vancouver on April 22 beginning at 1 p.m. A parade starts things off, with the festival, which includes various educational talks and activities, continuing at Grandview Park until 5 p.m. The event is sponsored by Youth for Climate Justice Now.
5. GLOBAL UNITY AND REGENERATION GATHERING // LANJARON, SPAIN
New Earth Nation in Lanjarón, Granada, Spain, will hold a 24-hour Global Unity and Regeneration Gathering with presentations and workshops on environmentalism, healing, and awakening. Stop by to learn how to cultivate spirulina pools or make a self-regenerating water system for use at home.
In Tokyo, Earth Day is a two-day celebration, this year on April 22 and 23 in Yoyogi Park. Around 100,000 visitors are expected to enjoy family activities and learn about businesses that use sustainable methods and materials and organizations that promote environmental protection. There will also be plenty of vegetarian food and music from socially conscious entertainers. Admission is free.
7. NURRAGINGY RESERVE NATURE WALKS // SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA
Nurragingy Reserve is a public park in Doonside, New South Wales, near Sydney. For Earth Day, the park has a full slate of activities, including four different nature walks with experts, storytelling, a recycled bike giveaway, and talks on attracting frogs and birds to your home garden.
8. EARTH DAY SAN FRANCISCO // SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA
San Francisco will stage their street festival for Earth Day at the San Francisco Civic center. Events include the sustainable chef showcase and organic food court, an eco fashion show, DIY workshops, activities for kids, an art gallery, and lots of live music. This will be the 46th year the city has held an Earth Day Festival and is being held in conjunction with this year’s March for Science.
South Africa is among the countries that call April 22 International Mother Earth Day. The Rand Show is the biggest consumer exposition in South Africa, held this year from April 14-23 in Johannesburg, and a big part of the exposition is Earth Expo, which is sponsored by several environmental organizations. Earth Expo will present educational forums on topics like nutrition, fashion, and technology, and discuss entrepreneurship and developing skills with those who want to make their businesses more sustainable.
10. THE MARCH FOR SCIENCE // UNITED STATES AND ELSEWHERE
There will be Earth Day celebrations all over the United States, but the one you’ll see on the news will be the March for Science In Washington, D.C., with satellite marches in at least 425 other locations around the world. Scientists, science students, and science fans will converge to advocate for evidence-based government policies and environmental protection. The march is sponsored by 170 partner organizations, including the Earth Day Network. Many European countries are participating, too.
The Many Possible Reasons British People Hire Chimney Sweeps for Their Weddings. Mainly because they are good luck.
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10 Things You Should Never Do to Your Lawn. You want it to be a nice place to walk through in your bare feet.
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How Realistic are New York Apartmentson TV Shows? Hint: less realistic as time goes by.
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New Super-Earth May Be Best Yet for Finding Signs of Life. Until a better one is discovered in another week or so.
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How To Know When Your Roommate Is Bad. Some annoyances are trivial, others are a sign that you need to get out.
* The Silence of the Lambsas a romantic comedy. Selective editing and mood music can make a movie into anything you want it to be.
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Fox News dumped Bill O’Reilly over money. It’s that simple. Change comes when it affects the bottom line.
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Women in Medicine: 6 Pioneering Activists. They had to fight for the right to save lives.
Dogs live to please us, and some are bred to love work. Give them a job helping people, and the rewards go both ways. Here are nine dogs who do amazing work every day.
Veteran Lon Hodge suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder after his military service and was declared 100% disabled. Hodge was paired with a Labradoodle service dog trained through Freedom Service Dogs of America, an organization that rescues dogs from shelters and custom-trains them for veterans with differing needs. Gander was slated to be euthanized when he was taken for training. Now he is Hodge’s constant companion, trained to intervene when his voice changes or when there’s too much noise.
Gander can also open doors, pick up objects, help Hodge rise from the floor, and about a hundred other tasks. Hodge was so inspired that he and Gander now travel the country, advocating for service dog programs that help other veterans. Gander won the 2016 American Humane Hero Dog Awards for top service dog. He also has his own Facebook page.
2. AND 3. DENVER AND ANNA
Denver and Anna are full-time hospital dogs. They go to work every day at the University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital, where they interact with the young patients. The two golden retrievers (Denver also has some Labrador in him) provide a bit of normalcy for children going through scary procedures who may be a long way from their homes and their own pets. Denver and Anna were specially trained to behave themselves, show affection, and calm and soothe anxious patients. Both Denver and Anna came from Canine Assistants, an organization in Milton, Georgia that trains dogs to help people with disabilities or special needs.
4. AXLE
Milk-Bone
Axle is a therapy dog that belongs to Tom Meli, but he is open to helping a number of people with his calm, comforting demeanor. Axle and Tom visit schools, hospitals, and senior centers to share the love. Axle provides stress relief for people with epilepsy and sits with children while they learn to read. He’s become quite an ambassador for therapy dogs! Axle was also trained by Canine Assistants.
5. EGGROLL
Milk-Bone
Eggroll is Elizabeth’s service dog. He helps her control her epilepsy by providing a calming influence, opening the refrigerator door, fetching medication when needed, and has even learned to dial 911 when he sees an emergency. Eggroll’s help means that Elizabeth can safely live on her own.
6. PIPER
Milk-Bone
Piper combines fierce loyalty to her human with willingness to help whole classes of children. Kaitlin Miller has epilepsy, which Piper is very aware of. She can fetch medication when Miller needs it, and calms her through seizures. Miller conducts horse riding lessons for children with special needs at her riding stable, and Piper has become an integral part of the class, by showing gentleness, stress relief, and infinite patience for the students. Piper, Eggroll, and Axle have all been named to Milk-Bone’s third-annual list of “Dogs Who Changed the World.”
7. FARLEY
Farley is still a puppy, but she recently got her first full-time job at East Tennessee Children’s Hospital in Knoxville, Tennessee. At seven months old, Farley is undergoing a six-week training course, after which she will be the hospital’s first full-time facility support dog.
The children’s hospital has used part-time volunteer therapy dogs for their young patients before. One patient, 16-year-old Kristyn Farley, loved the therapy dogs so much that she suggested the hospital take one on full-time. Kristyn did not survive her cancer, and the new puppy Farley is named in her honor. Farley was purchased through a grant from PetSmart Charities.
8. ANGUS
Angus the springer spaniel has a hospital job, but he’s not a therapy dog. Instead, Angus is an inspector, trained to sniff out the highly contagious bacteria Clostridium difficile, commonly called C. diff, the scourge of modern hospitals. Dog trainer Teresa Zurberg almost died from a C. diff infection a few years ago. Her husband, who is a nurse at Vancouver General Hospital, suggested she train a dog to detect the bacteria. Zurberg did so, using the same methods she already used to train dogs to sniff out drugs and explosives.
Angus began learning as a puppy, and was deployed last summer to work at Vancouver General. He identifies areas where C. diff is growing so that the hospital can do a targeted cleaning and ultraviolet disinfection. Angus is doing so well in his job that Zurberg is kept busy training dogs for other hospitals. In fact, he’s been so impressive, the Vancouver hospital is adding a second C. diff-detecting dog. You can keep up with Angus through his Facebook page.
9. JUDGE
Chief Lee Laubach of the Allentown, Pennsylvania, Fire Department took on a trained arson investigation dog in 2011. Judge is a Labrador retriever who can recognize the scents of many different accelerants commonly used in arson cases. He’s investigated hundreds of suspicious fires, leading to quite a few arrests and a substantial drop in arson cases in Allentown. Judge is also a public relations dog, accompanying Chief Laubach to schools to teach children about fire safety. Judge won the arson dog category in last year’s American Humane Hero Dog Awards. Judge has his own Facebook page.
The Lost City of Zand Its Brutal Production. Director James Gray talks about the difficulties of filming in the Amazon rainforest.
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WLKY wasn’t allowed to take video of a football game, so they had to get creative for the TV broadcast. They used an “artist” to produce a reasonable facsimile of the plays.
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Peter Flax crossed the U.S. four times in a 36-hour period for The Hollywood Reporter. That sounds like pure hell for most of us, but his assignment was to experience and compare four different airlines’ premium first-class service.
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Screenwriters Share Their Weirdest Script Notes from producers and studio executives. Many of the best stories are about “totally missing the point.”
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Unsuspecting Woman Brings Therapy Dog to Local Furry Convention. She was invited, and figured it was about pets.
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Prince Harry reveals his mental health struggles as he was growing up. His mother died when he was only 12, and he didn’t get counseling for 16 years.
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Got a big tax refund? Here’s what you should — and shouldn’t — do with it.
* 10 Cute and Creepy Crochet Creations. Even monsters are adorable rendered in yarncraft.
The Witty Epitaphs of Key West Cemetery. That’s one way to make sure people visit your grave.
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Here’s what it’s like to be a ‘Quiet Tiny Asian’ every single day. A YouTube series by SJ Son and Ginny Leise get the heart of the matter in minute-long vignettes.
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Ornithologists Tim Gallagher and Martjan Lammertink went looking for the possibly-extinct Ivory-bill woodpecker in the protected Ojito de Agua area of eastern Cuba. “This gives you a little idea of how hard it is to study these birds. And why nobody’s doin’ it.”
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The Political Cartoon That Explains the Battle Over Reconstruction. Andrew Johnson was no Abe Lincoln.
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That Viral Story About a Japanese Man Crushed to Death by His Porn Collection is Totally Fake. How an everyday tragedy became an uncontrollable tale.
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This ‘Random Act of Kindness‘ Highlights a Sad Reality. Schoolchildren shouldn’t be hungry in the first place.
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The hunt for better psychiatric drugs. After decades of decline in drug development, we may have some new tools to point the way.
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11 Video Games That Embarrass You for Poor Play. Just in case you want to show off in front of people.
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