This baby panda was born in 2013 and is now big enough to explore and run wild with our emotions. There is not a more perfect way to kickoff 2014 than with an adorable baby panda, playing on a pony ride. OMG I want to watch the baby panda rock back and forth all day. And then he (or she?) falls on his (or her??) butt! And my heart explodes.
After seeing his parents interact with a local Applebee's on Facebook, Chip Zdarky noticed that unlike Chili's, the prettiest girl in school with 12 billion likes, Applebee's was mostly talking to itself. Just like the lonely but very friendly kid you sometimes encounter in a middle school lunch room, Applebee's was cheerfully sending out questions about salads and boneless chicken wings out into a cold and unforgiving void. Zdarsky decided to change that by engaging the franchise in conversation over facebook. And the restaurant responded.
Usually Craigslist Missed Connections posts are devoted to lost potential love connections, but not for this guy. A nameless Los Angeles man, "white, 42 years old, 5'9 and 175," is looking for another man, "white, probably in his late 20s or early 30s, stocky," who pepper sprayed him outside Intelligentsia in Silver Lake on New Year's Day. He writes,
I went to Intelligentsia in Silver Lake today around 2:00 P.M., and I took my place in line behind a man who was holding a black pitbull-looking dog on a leash … As we stood in line, his dog walked toward me and sniffed me, and I took a step back. When I looked up, the dog's owner was turned completely around, staring at me. I asked him what the matter was, and though I forget his exact words, he was offended that I was fearful of his dog. I told him, "I didn't do anything; your dog came towards me and I took a step back." "Would you do that if a black person came up to you?" he yelled. At that point, his girlfriend yelled, "Don't be a pussy," and stood in between us.
Then the man told me, "I'm pissed off and my dog is still wagging his tail," which was his way of showing me how harmless his dog is. Then he called me a fucking asshole. At that point, I asked him if he wanted to fight. I tossed my newspaper to the ground, took my glasses off, and told him to leave his dog and walk around the corner with me, and I put up my hands. Then he took out pepper spray and blasted me in the eyes and face.
Turns out Downton Abbey's Michelle Dockery is a good sport when she's not playing mean girl Lady Mary Crawley. The actress made us giggle in Funny or Die's new spoof Tough Justice, narrated by Jon Hamm.In the faux TNT cop drama, Dockery plays Connie Tough (great name btw), a detective who can't decide whether to have tea or rough up a suspect alongside partner Michael Chiklis. I especially like her look of horror when her boss almost assigns her a new black partner, oh old time-y racism, you're so funny!
The Northeastern US has been buried in snow today thank to Winter Storm Hercules, and the Midwest and even the South are shivering through record lows. Meanwhile, here in sunny Southern California, temperatures hit a high of 81 yesterday, way above what the National Weather Service calls the "normal high" for January 2 (68 degrees). We're calling it Sunny Day Xena! Temps today were also above normal, reaching as high as 81, and are expected to be so balmy this weekend that Santa Monica's Annenberg Community Beach House is opening its pool for a couple of off-season days. We combed through Instagram for these photos of people enjoying the beautiful weather in LA's fave outdoor hangout spots (Runyon Canyon, Santa Monica Pier, The Grove)—suck on this, New Yorkers! Just kidding, the climate has gone completely out of wack and we're all totally fucked.
It was once written (in the Bible, maybe?) that "two are better than one" and it's a statement true enough for a lot of things. It's true for cakes, kittens, Weasley twins, bingo drums, socks and chopsticks, but is it also true for one man with two penises? Apparently, it is — at least according to one individual who has two dicks and totally happens to love it.
Organizers were expecting about 10,000 people for Los Angeles's first-ever big public New Year's Eve party at Grand Park a couple nights ago (and they didn't schedule any stars or big musical acts because they knew the park couldn't handle too huge a crowd), but they got more like 25,000. The LA Timesreports that the gates had to be shut before midnight, "leaving thousands to watch the show from side streets." Clearly Los Angeles, historically a pretty private city, is just begging for more public life; Stephen Corwin writes on his CityGrows blog: "We've landed. We're uniting as Angelenos. We're building a community. And most importantly, we're doing away with the sub-city barriers that have for so long divided us, whether financially, racially, politically, or else." And one of the event's organizer echoed that last bit: "It really did look like all of Los Angeles ... It was an unbelievable evening."
This Christmas, Kanye West got Kim Kardashian a one-of-a-kind Birkin bag. It is one-of-a-kind because it bears a customized mural of a psychosexual nightmare loosely based on the monkey Jesus fresco and/or The Mask starring Jim Carrey (a seminal art film).
In 2011, Pietro Lamberti, a 60-year-old social services worker in Catanzaro, Italy, was convicted of having sex with a minor. The girl in question was 11 years old, and Lamberti was sentenced to five years in prison. But wait! Now, Lamberti's conviction has been overturned. Sex with an 11-year-old? No harm, no foul. Why? They were in love.
Part of what makes professional basketball appealing, for kids who love to play as well as fans, is the idea that a person can come from humble beginnings and become a star. The players on the court, the narrative goes, are ones who rose to fame as a result of incredible dedication and extraordinary talent. Basketball, then, is a way out of poverty, a true equal opportunity sport that affirms what we think America is all about.
Seth Stephens-Davidowitz crunched the numbers to find out if the equal opportunity story was true. Analyzing the economic background of NBA players, he found that growing up in a wealthy neighborhood (the top 40% of household incomes) is a “major, positive predictor” for success in professional basketball. Black players are also less likely than the general black male population to have been born to a young or single mother. So, class privilege is an advantage for pro ball players, just like it is elsewhere in our economy.
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The richest Black men, then, are most likely to end up in the NBA, followed by those in the bottom 20% of neighborhoods by income. Middle class black men may, like many middle class white men, see college as a more secure route to a successful future. Research shows that poor black men often see sports as a more realistic route out of poverty than college (and they may not be wrong). This also helps explain why Jews dominated professional basketball in the first half of the 1900s.
LeBron James was right, then, when he said, “I’m LeBron James. From Akron, Ohio. From the inner city. I am not even supposed to be here.” The final phrase disrupts our mythology about professional basketball: that being poor isn’t an obstacle if one has talent and drive. But, as Stephens-Davidowitz reminds us, “[a]nyone from a difficult environment, no matter his athletic prowess, has the odds stacked against him.”
At first glance, these t-shirts look like they have really cool patterns on them, but in fact, they are designed as a way to help remove the stigma that often comes with mental illness. Dani Balenson began Living With: as a college thesis but it quickly grew into a much larger social endeavor that brings about mental health conversations and compassion through design.
Each screen-printed shirt is printed with a design that’s based on behavioral patterns of mental disorders. Wear one to show your support and know that Living With: donates $2 of every shirt to Active Minds, an organization that works towards removing the stigma of mental illness on college campuses.
I always thought that photo of the round, yellow Shiba Inu that everyone was Dogeifying was a painting that perfectly mimicked the Thomas Kinkade aesthetic, but I was much wrong. That there is a real picture of a real dog, named Kabosu, who was saved from a puppy mill by Japanese kindergarten teacher Atsuko Sato.
It’s hard to say what a hawk was doing tangled up with a snake in the middle of Scott Avenue in Echo Park on Friday afternoon. But David A., who snapped the photo above, and a few other people watched and waited as the serpent and bird of prey were locked in a strange embrace on the pavement near Elysian Park:
I thought I heard one person say that they thought the hawk had been run over as it just came down with the snake in the street. It must have just grabbed it. I was there maybe five minutes. In that time, the hawk was in the position pictured and the snake was slowly freeing itself (not so much wrestling). The hawk wasn’t moving much. We stood by to make sure no cars would run them over. Once free, the hawk flew off and seemed to not be harmed.
The drama ended with the snake slowly slithering back in the direction of the park, David said.
On November 2, a fluffy Tawny Frogmouth chick hatched at St. Louis Zoo! This strange and wonderful bird has grown a lot over the course of its first month, and is doing well under the care of keepers and its parents.
Says Matt Schamberger, keeper of birds at the zoo, "Our goal is to always have the parents rear their own birds, but this pair is a pair of first-time parents and often times the learning curve is pretty steep, so we try to help out the parents if we can."
The Saint Louis Zoo received the chick's parents as part of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums' (AZA) Species Survival Plan (SSP) for this species. An SSP coordinates breeding and conservation of a species between AZA accredited zoos, with the goal of maintaining healthy genetic diversity.
"The tawny frogmouth population in the United States is about 125 birds in zoos around the United States," Michael Macek, curator of birds explains. "And what we're trying to do is maintain genetic diversity in the population."
Photo credits: St. Louis Zoo / Michael Macek (2, 3); Matt Schamberger (4, 6, 7)
Watch the chick develop over the course of a month:
See and learn more after the fold!
Tawny Frogmouths are nocturnal birds native to Australia, Tasmania and southern New Guinea. They are named for their large mouths, which look frog-like when opened up wide. While they might look like owls, these bird's aren't raptors like owls, hawks and eagles. They sit quietly during the day, camouflaged on tree stumps, and at night feed on insects, frogs, and small rodents. The International Union for Conservation of Species lists them as a species of Least Concern, as their wild populations currently seem to be stable.
#1 - I don't think the parents of this B- list television actress who is way under the legal age of consent would be thrilled to know she is sleeping with her much older television B+ list actor co-star.
Today we learned that the Fairfax/Beverly Grove/Mid-City area is a lot cooler than it seems, via artist Jay Shells's Rap Quotes project, which has just expanded from New York to Los Angeles (via LA TACO). Shells puts up rap lyric signs in the specific locations they reference--so, for instance, there's a sign up in Compton with "I met her at this house party on El Segundo & Central" from Kendrick Lamar's "Sherane aka Master Splinter's Daughter"--and the central city area is far better repped than we would've expected. (At least in part because Odd Future hangs out/has a store in Fairfax; still, you wouldn't expect anyone to refer to anything Canter's-adjacent as "the block.")
Christmas came early yesterday to Steve Lucarelli, a waiter at Hollywood pub The Pikey. Last night two guys in suits ordered a burger and the vegan curry plus a Laddie Dill and a whiskey to drink, adding a $1,750 tip to an $88 bill. Stamped with the TipsForJesus badge, this is the handiwork of mystery tipping clan TipsForJesus, those responsible for thousands of dollars in tips at restaurants and bars across the country.
Restaurant staff say that the TipsForJesus guys were low key, and when it came time to pay they told Lucarelli that the service, food and drink was phenomenal, and not to freak out, that they would be leaving a large tip and that it was for real. Just like reports in the past, they paid with a black AMEX.
And this isn't the first time TipsForJesus hit Los Angles. Right around Thanksgiving TipsForJesus left $1,000 each at The Hungry Cat and Fig & Olive and $500 at Jumbo's Clown Room.
While the identity of TipsForJesus is not known, Eater National was able to score an e-mail interview with the mysterious mega tippers last week.
· All TipsForJesus Coverage [~ELA~]
Homesickness for my native Canada always hits me the hardest during the weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Typically, I can dial it back by checking the Toronto weather forecast, but that doesn't stop the food cravings. Visions of honey dip Timbits, Voortman Gingerbread Kids, and heaping plates of poutine dance through my head nightly. So when I discovered that poutine is now available at Trader Joe's, I made scoring a bag my top priority.
The poutine ($3.99) consists of a bag of frozen, straight-cut french fries, packed with a baggie of frozen cheddar cheese curds and a baggie of frozen "beef sauce", the main ingredients in which are water, cornstarch, beef fat, beef, and yeast extract. There's also small amounts of salt, garlic powder, onion powder, and tomato paste for flavor.
Preparation is pretty simple: bake the fries in the oven, thaw the sauce and curds in simmering water, then put it all together on a plate. The final step (putting the assembled plate back into the oven for a few minutes) is essential. It warms the sauce and curds up a few important degrees—don't worry, the cheese won't melt.
So, how does it taste? Pretty delicious! The fries baked up beautifully, and while the sauce was slightly gelatinous, the balance between its muted beefiness and the extra boost of savory flavors from the onion and garlic powder made it tasty enough to satisfy my craving. Best of all: despite being thawed from frozen, the cheddar cheese curds had a mild tang and actually squeaked! This is the hallmark of quality poutine, and where most imitators fall short.
You could achieve much tastier results by making your own gravy from scratch, but even if you go that route, it's still worthwhile to buy the kit, especially if you live in a part of the country where squeaky curds are impossible to find. Four bucks for a bag of frozen fries and a generous handful of curds that squeak is still a solid deal in my book.
Trader Joe's poutine isn't on the level of the top poutineries in Montreal, but as an introduction to the dish, or a means to satisfy a craving (when the real thing isn't in reach), it's awesome. I'll be back to buy more, in bulk.
About the author: Erin Jackson is a food writer and photographer who is obsessed with discovering the best eats in San Diego. You can find all of her discoveries on her San Diego food blog EJeats.com. On Twitter, she's @ErinJax
Oh boy. So. Shia LaBeouf debuted a short film at the Cannes Film Festival last May called “Howard Cantour,” which he posted online yesterday to HowardCantour.com. Without giving any credit, it features lines and visuals taken directly from (Ghost World and Art School Confidential writer + famous cartoonist) Daniel Clowes’s Justin M. Damiano. The Internet figured it out somehow? And now you’re caught up! His apology came late last night in a series of tweets:
“Copying isn’t particularly creative work. Being inspired by someone else’s idea to produce something new and different IS creative work. In my excitement and naiveté as an amateur filmmaker, I got lost in the creative process and neglected to follow proper accreditation. Im embarrassed that I failed to credit @danielclowes for his original graphic novella Justin M. Damiano, which served as my inspiration. I was truly moved by his piece of work & I knew that it would make a poignant & relevant short. I apologize to all who assumed I wrote it. I deeply regret the manner in which these events have unfolded and want @danielclowes to know that I have a great respect for his work.”
Oh boy. Using the word “assumed” rather than “believed” might have been the worst part of the apology, had Buzzfeed not discovered that the opening sentences were lifted from a years-old Yahoo Answers post. YAHOO ANSWERS! Shia! ARE YOU OKAY?! This doesn’t seem like the kind of behavior that a young man would display if that young man were, indeed, okay! Either the belief that he would never get caught or the hope that he would get caught (after his last strange plagiarism goof) seem like they would point to a think spot that is nono good and hurty-bad. Will someone check on him? (CAREY?) His final tweet last night about the incident was pretty spot on, though.
This weekend, a photo bubbled up on Reddit: Somewhere in America, a bunch of girls—decked out in their finest Christmas attire—gathered on a sofa to take a celebratory snapshot with three newly engaged friends. Except for a lone dissenter in the lower lefthand corner, who had apparently reached her breaking point with the hoopla.
During The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, the elf prince Legolas (Orlando Bloom, returning to the role) gives Tauriel (a new elf character played by Evangeline Lilly) such penetrating looks, we got to thinking: What would happen if these two went for it, despite the fact that he's a royal and she's just a common Sylvan? What would elf sex even look like? We shared our impure thoughts with Bloom earlier in the week, at a screening of the movie hosted by the Cinema Society and Moncler — and he actually obliged us on the matter. "Elf sex is Tantric," he told Vulture. Because "if you live eternally, then you got a lot of time to contemplate everything, to enjoy it." Everything? Because Tauriel seems to be taken with the hot new dwarf on her scene, Kili, so ... "A threesome?" Bloom jumps in, seeing where we're going with this. "Is that what's called for? I like it!" Get ready for an outpouring of slash fan fiction.
"There are no remarks available" on this listing for a three-bedroom house in Fairfax, right near Pan Pacific Park, because the photos say it all: Buy this house and a parade of buff dudes will arrive to stare pensively into the distance, relax in your new bathtub, meditate in your yard, and engage in general bro-y homoeroticism. It's unclear if the house is actually for sale--it was listed for $1.795 million the same day records show it sold for $1.8 million--so you might just have to use Grindr like everyone else.
A warm welcome to the newest White-handed Gibbon born at Mississippi's Jackson Zoo! The baby is a little female named Jari, an Indonesian word meaning 'fingers'. She was born on November 22 to mom Mia and father Cookie-Man, and weighed 1.3 pounds (.6 kg) at birth.
The infant is being hand-raised by veterinary staff due to complications and an unreliable parenting history. Animal care staff feel this is the best way to ensure that the little baby will grow up healthy and safely. The newborn is now under the constant care of veterinary technician Donna Todd. She is being fed half an ounce of formula every 2 to 3 hours, 24 hours a day. Visitors can see the new White-handed Gibbon weekdays at the 11:00 a.m. feeding at the Vet Hospital nursery window.
Photo credit: Jackson Zoo / Chris Todd
The Jackson Zoo houses a breeding pair of White-handed Gibbons as part of the Species Survival Plan (SSP). An SSP is a cooperative breeding program between zoos accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. The programs help to coordinate breeding between zoos to keep the captive population healthy and genetically diverse. This management is especially vital for the conservation of species that are threatened in the wild.
White-handed Gibbons are listed as Endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Living in the evergreen forests of Indonesia and Malaysia, the White-handed Gibbon eats mainly fruits and leaves. Because they consume both the fruit and the seeds, these small apes are important seed dispersers, with some plant species relying solely on the Gibbon for dispersal. Currently, the main threats to the wild Gibbon population is hunting and habitat loss.
I was the Maid of Honor in my friends' Jamie and Tim's small wedding ceremony in their home.
They are also World of Warcraft nerds to the nth degree. So I wrote a WoW-inclusive ceremony for them. It was about 10 minutes long.
Here it is:
Officiant: Friends and family, we have gathered here today to bear witness in the matrimonial Bind-On-Pickup of Jamie and Timothy. This day celebrates the commitment and love with which they start their epic quest chain together.
What greater thing is there for this Shaman and Paladin than to feel that they are joined together, to strengthen each other in all trials and quests, to minister to each other in all sorrow, to share with each other in happiness.
Both Jamie and Timothy have agreed to come together before you without reservation, declaring they are free to offer themselves to the sacred quest of matrimony. If any among you have reason that this should not take place, please hold your troll, and feel free to /gquit.
[Pause, and then move on.]
Please take each other's hands.
These are the hands of your best friend, full of love for you, that are holding yours on your wedding day as you promise to love each other today, tomorrow, and forever.
These are the hands that protect each other in PVP, looking for a group, raids, and any other gaming adventure.
These are the hands that will work alongside yours as you build your future together.
There are the hands that will countless times wipe the tears from your eyes, tears of sorrow, joy, and irritation while waiting for rez-sickness to resolve.
These are the hands that will give you support and encouragement to chase down your dreams and destroy the Lich King.
These are the hands that will offer you Mana and Health when needed, and Tank for you so that you can loot to your hearts content.
These are the hands that even when wrinkled and aged will still be reaching for yours, still give you the same unspoken tenderness with just a touch.
Do you have the rings?
[Rings are handed over.]
A circle symbolizes wholeness, a commitment of love that is also never ending, unbreakable by even the most wicked of the Horde, an outward symbolic armor that is a visible sign of your desire to be soul-bound to one another.
Do you, Timothy, take Jamie to be your lawfully wedded wife, to live together in everlasting matrimony? Will you love honor and keep her, in rez-sickness and in full bars of health, taunt and tank for her, for richer or poorer, for better or worse, in all character levels and abilities, in good raids and bad, for need and greed, in this world and all others?
Timothy: I do.
Officiant: Do you, Jamie, take Timothy to be your lawfully wedded husband, to live together in everlasting matrimony? Will you love, honor and keep him, in rez-sickness and in full bars of health, taunt and DPS for him, for richer or poorer, for better or worse, in all character levels and abilities, in good raids and bad, for need and greed in this world and all others?
Jamie: I do.
Officiant: Remember then, that as the ring never ends, so should your love be. As you exchange these rings, you shall become more than man and woman, more than Shaman and Paladin, you will be together and one and shall be forever soul-bound.
As you would gird yourself with armor before a raid, so now gird one another with this symbol of your fidelity, commitment, and love for one another.
[Jamie and Tim exchange rings.]
Timothy and Jamie, your friends and family, all of us hear and those who could not make it yet reside with us in spirit, we all rejoice in your happiness and know this day marks only one of many blessings you will share in your life together. You have spoken the words, declared your intent, and we bear witness to this Legendary Achievement. Therefore, by the power invested in me by the state of Alaska, and all the worlds we have explored and will explore, I declare you husband and wife.
May you raid together forever. You may now kiss the bride.
[SMOOCHIES]
Ladies and gentlemen, creatures of all kinds, I present to you Timothy and Jamie — Mr. and Mrs. Lastname! May they raid together for an eternity!
Jamie giggled every time there was a mention of World of Warcraft, which means she was smiling and beautiful through the whole thing. Tim looked vaguely terrified, but steadfast and willing. And they even logged into WoW for a few pictures afterwards, still dressed in their wedding finery…
Recent Comments
Kalillea of Saurfang: Thank you so much!! I've been angsting over how to get WoW into our wedding vows. Not only have you … [Link]
Lessa: Thank you! My daughter took the photos during her ceremony (I'm the one on the edge of the top picture … [Link]
Lessa: Thanks! Some of the older guests didn't get it either - but most of us giggled right along with her. … [Link]
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The late Fast and Furious star, in life a brown belt under Ricardo Miller, has been given one last belt promotion as a way to honor his memory.
Paul Walker, the 40-year-old star of Fast and the Furious who passed away in a November car crash has been given a send off from his BJJ coach. Fox Sports has the deets:
When he passed away, Walker was already a brown belt studying under instructor and mentor Ricardo 'Franjinha' Miller at the Paragon Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu academy in California. Following the news of his tragic death, Miller decided to honor Walker's memory by giving the actor his black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu posthumously at a memorial held by his family after his passing.
Although he came looking for lessons in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, our bond went beyond the student and teacher dynamic. We became fast friends. He brought me down to Ensenada for the filming of "The Life and Death of Bobby Z." We travelled to L.A to watch the UFC. More recently, Paul had me in Montreal to add a personal touch to the fight scenes in his movie, "Brick Mansions."
He always wanted to showcase Jiu-Jitsu in his movies. Rather than the punches and kicks so common to many action films, he wanted to use his movies as a stage for Jiu-Jitsu. Some of the Jiu-Jitsu techniques from our training sessions were utilized in the Fast and Furious series. Paul would always tell me that he did not just want to be known for fast cars. He wanted to be known for fast cars and Jiu-Jitsu. He wanted to be an ambassador for Jiu-Jitsu.
His dream fight sequence was to end with a bow and arrow choke. We even worked out a sick Hollywood-style set up for the choke. Unfortunately, it was not to be.
World Champion (1996 brown belt); 5x Pan American Champion (2010 Senior 2weight & absolute, 2007 , 2006 Senior 1, 2003 Master); 2x World No Gi Champion (2008, 2007 Senior 1)
Lineage: Mitsuyo Maeda > Carlos Gracie > Helio Gracie > Rolls Gracie > Romero Cavalcanti > Ricardo Miller > Paul Walker
It seems BJJ has lost a good friend in Hollywood. RIP
Those who wish to be cynical should be reminded that it was Rorion's tireless efforts to promote BJJ in Hollywood that led directly to the birth of the UFC and the incredible fight scenes in some Mel Gibson movies.
James Avery, best known for playing Will Smith's no-nonsense rich uncle on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, has died. He was 65.
