IKEA Monkey

Belt Looks Weird On Child

If he maintains his significant lead Men’s Health’s “Ultimate Guy Search,” 27-year-old Aydian Dowling could be the magazine’s first transgender cover model. He spoke with People about the “outpouring of encouragement” he’s received since entering the competition.

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Sbarro's X-treme Double Duo Pepperoni Pizza comes topped with Sbarro's regular pepperoni, Hormel Rosa Grande Pepperoni, mozzarella cheese, and pepper jack cheese.

An over-sized slice goes for $4.39 but I received this one courtesy of Sbarro.

When I ordered my slice, they heated it up in the oven, which gave it a wonderfully thin crisp quality to the crust surface.

The pepperoni were pretty nice with a lot of flavor and just a bit of heat. The regular pepperoni was thick and meaty but along with that it doesn't really crisp up. The little Hormel pepperoni as sliced thin and pack a lot of spicy flavor and crispy texture. The pizza is pretty oily from the pepperoni and cheese as they cooked.

I'm couldn't really pick out the pepper jack cheese and the cheese coverage in generally was a little lacking, especially given the amount of crust to the pizza.

For a New York-style slice (usually thin crust but not Neapolitan thin), the pizza was pretty thick and bready and halfway to Sicilian territory (thick-crust pizza).

The sauce kept it pretty simple and neat with a nice tomato flavor and light seasoning.

Overall, I enjoyed Sbarro's X-treme Double Duo Pepperoni Pizza even though it's an unnecessary mouthful to say. I would have liked it more if it has a thinner crust to strike a better balance with the toppings. I really liked the two types of pepperoni though.

Janelle Monae and Jidenna’s Yoga expertly brought a little sex into yoga and a little yoga into sex. In the new video for the song (off the upcoming Wondaland Presents The EEPHUS EP), the yoga studio (literally) becomes the club, as Monae steps down from her floating lotus position, dons a tiara, and performs an unexpectedly straightforward pop-dance routine, with backup dancers strutting around yoga mats, bringing life to their tranquil environment. Watch below:

The man who jumped his Jeep off a tow truck in a video on Youtube recently has unwittingly shed some light on towing policies in the state of Illinois. [ more › ]

BuzzFeed beauty editor Arabelle Sicardi, who wrote a post criticizing a Dove soap advertising campaign that was later deleted (and eventually restored) at the request of editor-in-chief Ben Smith, is resigning from the site, according to an internal memo distributed by BuzzFeed Style editor Julie Gerstein.

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Corner Bakery's Banana Walnut Pancakes are available at select locations and feature buttermilk pancakes topped with sliced bananas, walnuts, and powdered sugar. A small cup of syrup comes on the side.

A small order of two pancakes was $3.59.

The buttermilk pancakes are soft and fluffy with a note of buttery goodness. I've had them before with just syrup and they're excellent.

The bananas and walnuts add some variety with just a light dusting of powdered sugar. There's enough flavor and sweetness that I didn't even bother with the syrup. The crunch of the walnuts makes for a nice contrast with the almost cloud-like pancakes.

Overall, Corner Bakery's Banana Walnut Pancakes were really good and relatively inexpensive for a breakfast (or lunch) that won't sit too heavily in your stomach.

Because no one wants to arrive in their hotel room and find used soap awaiting them in the shower, guests are always given a fresh bar upon checking in. While many of those partially used bars surely end up wasted in the trash, one non-profit group is collecting a bunch of leftover hotel soaps to help people in need.

Clean the World started seven years ago, founded by a tech company worker who traveled often. He tells the Associated Press he was hit with a thought one night while staying at a Minneapolis hotel.

“I picked up the phone and called the front desk and asked them what happens to the bar of soap when I’m done using it,” recalled Shawn Seipler, the group’s CEO. “They said they just threw it away.”

He did some research and found that millions of used bars of soap from hotels around the world end up in landfills every day. Meanwhile, people in developing nations are dying from illnesses that could be prevented simply with better access to personal hygiene products.

That’s how Clean the World began, and it has now expanded to include industrial recycling facilities in Las Vegas, Orlando and Hong Kong, places where there are plenty of hotels and used bars of soap can be collected by the thousands. Heck, they’ll even take half-used bottled shampoos and the like as well.

Though people in the U.S. and other developed countries might take hygiene products for granted due to their ubiquity, soap and other items aren’t as plentiful in many other nations.

“A lot of people are surprised to find out that one of the most effective ways to prevent many deaths is actually just hand-washing with soap,” Global Soap director Sam Stephens said. “We’re hoping to make a difference.”

Clean the World announced this week that it’s teaming up with another initiative called Global Soap to step up production, hygiene education and delivery to those in need.

Together, they say they’re now collecting used soap from more than 4,000 hotels, and have delivered about 25 million bars to 99 countries, as well as homeless shelters right here in the U.S.

Here’s how it works: The soap is collected, shredded, run through machines that get rid of any residual bacteria another guest may have left, and then get shaped into new bars and packaged up. People get soap to wash their hands and possibly prevent the spread of common infectious diseases, and everyone wins.

Group hopes recycled hotel soap helps save lives worldwide [Associated Press]

 I literally almost typed, “AnnaNicole Smith,” which is ONLY a statement of how zonked I am this week, and not at all a judgement on ASR, who is adorable and whenever I have interviewed her, has been DELIGHTFUL: To the point where I am tempted to give her a pass on this outfit. Yes, I Read More ...

It's time, once again, to marvel at some idiots who don't know how to handle the world:

Cry-Baby #1: Robert Bonzani

[body_image width='1000' height='713' path='images/content-images/2015/04/09/' crop='images/content-images-crops/2015/04/09/' filename='cry-baby-of-the-week-233-body-image-1428622199.jpg' id='44736']

Screencap via Google Maps.

The incident: A man went through a lengthy divorce.

The appropriate response: Doing everything you can to finalize it, then moving on.

The actual response: He allegedly desecrated the grave of his ex-wife's attorney's deceased daughter.

Robert Bonzani is a 49-year-old urologist in Mokena, Illinois.

In 2012, he and his wife divorced. Though this was several years ago, the divorce proceedings are still going on. According to a report in the Chicago Tribune, the most recent filings relate to child support payments.

Throughout the divorce, Robert's wife has been represented by an attorney named Edward Jaquays. Back in 2012, Edward's 17-year-old daughter Kiley died after a hiking accident while attending a retreat for troubled teens in Utah.

According to charges being brought against Robert, he has waged a campaign of harassment against the attorney in order to get revenge on him for representing his former wife during their divorce.

Police say that Robert stole photos and an artificial tree from the attorney's daughter's grave site, and vandalized her headstone with spray paint. He also allegedly sent several letters to Edward and his wife that mentioned their daughter. The content of those letters has not been released, but CBS reports they were "designed to cause the divorce attorney and his wife emotional pain."

Robert turned himself into police last week. He is currently free on a $10,000 bond. He faces misdemeanor charges of criminal damage to property and theft, as well as a felony charge of stalking.

Cry-Baby #2: The City of Ogden, Utah

[body_image width='1269' height='717' path='images/content-images/2015/04/10/' crop='images/content-images-crops/2015/04/10/' filename='cry-baby-of-the-week-grave-desecration-box-fort-233-body-image-1428681513.png' id='45048']

Screencap via Fox 13.

The incident: A couple built a box fort outside their house for their kid.

The appropriate response: Nothing.

The actual response: They were threatened with a fine by city officials.

Last weekend, Jeremy Trentelman built a fort for his three-year-old daughter from several cardboard boxes and a slide in the front yard of his home in Ogden, Utah.

On April 1, Jeremy returned home to find a city code enforcement officer had stuck a note to the door of his home. The note was to inform Jeremy that he was in violation of a city ordinance that prohibits storing junk outside your house. The note warned that if the fort is not removed within 15 days, he would face a fine of $125.

The note was reportedly the result of an anonymous complaint made to the city by a passerby.

"I just thought it was an awesome way to use boxes and my kids' imagination," Jeremy told his local paper, the Standard Examiner.

"It's obvious it's not junk," he added. "There is a slide over the side and child graffiti all over the boxes. It looks like a fort."

According to the Standard Examiner, this is just the latest in a string of irrational tickets issued by tyrannical code enforcement officers. The paper reports that another person in the neighborhood was issued a citation on the same day for temporarily parking their car on their own lawn in order to load it up with yard clippings.

Jeremy's wife, Jan, intends to keep the fort up for as long as possible as a fuck you to the haters. "There was never any plan to keep it up for an extended period of time," she told the local Fox affiliate. "It's a box fort, it's supposed to be temporary. We're leaving it up till day 14, and doing repairs if necessary."

Who here is the bigger cry-baby? Let us know in this poll down here:

Previously: A cop was disciplined for posing for a photo with Snoop Dogg and a gas station attendant was accused of sexual harassment for cleaning a windshield with a plastic "pee pee toy".

Winner: The people who hate Snoop Dogg!!!

Follow Jamie Lee Curtis Taete on Twitter.

The Hardee’s/Carl’s Jr. Thickburger El Diablo features Jalapeno Poppers, sliced jalapenos, habanero sauce, bacon and pepper jack cheese with a ½ or ⅓ lb. patty served on a fresh baked bun.

I got the ⅓ lb version at my local Hardee’s for $5.99.

The Thickburger El Diablo had a lot going on. It definitely brought the heat. The habanero sauce didn’t seem particularly spicy when I tasted it independently but as I ate, I noticed it building up. The Jalapeno Poppers and sliced jalapenos lent another level of heat to the burger as well as providing some nice texture. The Poppers added a bit of crunch but, as Q pointed out in his review of them, weren't satisfyingly gooey. It would have made for a messier sandwich but I think it would have been a good trade off. The sliced jalapeños were moist, plentiful, and flavorful. No complaints.

Of the four spicy ingredients the sandwich boasts, the pepper jack cheese was the least prominent. The cheesiness on the burger came more from the Jalapeño Poppers, while the slice of pepper jack took a backseat. The bacon also didn’t stand out consistently. It seemed like an afterthought on my burger and wasn’t even present on a large portion of it. The large beef patty proved to be the dominant meat and luckily Hardee’s burgers feature good seasoning and grilled taste.

Overall, Hardee’s Thickburger El Diablo delivered what it promised but didn’t quite live up to my expectations. I was looking forward to this sandwich, but nothing about it makes me want to go back and get another one.

Nutritional Info - Hardee's 1/3 lb. Thickburger El Diablo (393g)
Calories - 1170 (from Fat - 670)
Fat - 75g (Saturated Fat - 23g)
Sodium - 3190mg
Carbs - 83g (Sugar - 11g)
Protein - 44g

Dogs are lazy.

There, I said it. And you know it’s true. Look who’s sleeping on the couch, look who’s drooling on my socks, look who’s wandering around in circles. Dogs, my friend. Dogs, dogs, dogs.

And sure, maybe the dog economy has dried up a bit and it’s not as easy to give a dog a bone. But before this old man comes rolling home let’s take a moment to say thanks to the K9s actually earning their kibble:

• Seeing eye dogs. I feel bad for blind people of three hundred years ago. We hadn’t invented glasses yet and Seeing Eye dogs weren’t around. People like me probably walked around aimlessly till we fell in sewer holes or tried to pet a bear. Lucky for us, now glasses and seeing-eye dogs come through in the clutch – leading us out of harm’s way and letting us live another day.

• Junk yard dogs. Who else is going to guard all the spare tires, rusty chains, and piles of gravel around here? Braving rainstorms, mud puddles, and barbed wire makes junk yard dogging a tough life … but an honest life.

• The dalmation on the fire squad. Apparently firefighters took dalmations with them in the early days to be a sort of barking siren. Their aggressive nature and loud barks helped clear the streets for fire trucks to get to the blaze. It helped that they had a ton of energy and got along great with horses. Thanks, Spots.

•Bomb sniffing dogs. These four-footed beacons of courage are keeping our skies safe. I mean, would you enjoy inspecting suspicious duct-taped packages making ticking sounds? I didn’t think so. So make sure you give these weekend warriors a grateful head nod next time you walk past.

• Hunting dogs. Remember when you weren’t clay shooting back in Duck Hunt there was that friendly neighborhood hunting dog scaring the ducks out of the bushes so you could pop them? These guys are close cousins of the bloodhounds who help detectives find clues in the forest. They follow a work hard, play hard philosophy.

• Sheep dogs. Herding sheep over grassy hills is no walk in the park. While his friends are pissing on trees outside the pizza place the sheep dog runs around barking for hours. Fierce determination and a tireless work ethic are hallmarks of the role.

Yes, dogs with jobs keep the rusty gears of our economy creaking as they dedicate their noble lives to service. Dogs with jobs help our world go round.

Dogs with jobs are

AWESOME!

— Email message —

Classification: UNCLASSIFIED

Mr. Pasricha, I am in the army and my Colonel suggested watching your video about the 3 A’s of awesome. I found a picture online long ago that I showed to him and he laughed and thought it would be cool to send it to you. So attached is the picture. Also, here is a photo of me when I was promoted to SFC. It was an AWESOME day. Thanks,

Sergeant First Class Wayne Gray

Photos from: here, here, and here

Barry Manilow and his longtime manager Garry Kief, are now, it seems, married. They allegedly exchanged wedding bands last year in a private ceremony at Manilow’s Palm Springs house—but few took notice, save for only 20 to 30 guests who were initially told that the ceremony was going to be a luncheon. The couple also did not sign any paperwork, but both Manilow and Kief now wear the wedding bands. “[Manilow]’s in love and happy,” a source told People.

The infamous real-estate heir may have written a letter to a Los Angeles Times reporter from the Elayn Hunt Correctional Center in Louisiana.

Why is Minneapolis's population growth so much stronger than Chicago's? Researchers from the Metropolitan Planning Council examined the economic and social factors at play. [ more › ]

And so continues one of the most confusing relationships of my adult life: that between myself and Fox News’ Megyn Kelly. Once again Kelly brought out her “sensible adult” side during an interview with Rand Paul, taking him (as well as other male journalists) to task for sexism.

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“Can you smell what The Rock is cooking?”

No, literally, can you smell what he’s cooking for his seven daily meals? Last week, Muscle and Fitness gave readers the ins and outs of The Rock’s caloric intake. And what do you know, it’s completely insane. Ten pounds of food every day, to be exact.

A brief sampling:

Meal 1

10 oz cod
2 whole eggs
2 cups oatmeal

Meal 2

8 oz cod
12 oz sweet potato
1 cup veggies

Meal 3

8 oz chicken
2 cups white rice
1 cup veggies

Meal 4

8 oz cod
2 cups rice
1 cup veggies
1 tbsp fish oil

That doesn’t include all the protein shakes he takes in or the 32 oz. of Gatorade he chugs after his workout. The man is a freakin’ garbage disposal.

ESPN’s Five Thirty Eight broke down The Rock’s eating habits compared to an average male of the same age.

The average American man in his forties consumes 2,734 calories daily, according to data from the USDA. Johnson eats roughly 1,000 calories a day in cod alone. Annualized, Johnson eats about 821 pounds of cod per year. According to FishChoice, Pacific cod goes for $1.75 per pound, meaning Johnson spends roughly $1,400 per year on cod. As all our cod consumption slowly progresses past sustainable levels, let’s all consider Dwayne Johnson uniquely responsible.

In short, this proves what many of us already knew: The Rock is not human. He is a superhero. He is a mutant. He is a real life X-Men with a very expensive grocery bill.

[Via Barstool]

Income mobility—moving up from below-median income to median or above-median income—varies depending on where you live. A statistical study from the Equality of Opportunity Project reveals the areas with the greatest and least upward mobility.

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Kodak is very loving, happy and intelligent. He's already mastered sit and down and is crate and leash trained. Kodak loves everyone he meets and is constantly looking for his big brother to play all day and night.

First Lady of the United States Michelle Obama graced the stage of BET’s Black Girls Rock on Sunday night to champion the accomplishments of three teen girls. For some, her words were problematic, but for others—like the other little black girls in the audience—all that mattered was that the first African-American FLOTUS was speaking directly to them.

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The New York Times just posted a horrifying video of a white North Charleston police officer named Michael T. Slager tussling with a black man named Walter Scott—then shooting him eight times in the back as he fled, then planting what appears to be a Taser by his prone body (to support the false statement he would report on his police radio soon afterwards, a blatant and egregious lie nullified by this video). From the Times:

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South Dakota is the only state that President Obama hasn’t visited while in office. Have you been? Let us know.

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No churn required.

Our submitter, Lee, says he recently went to the library in search of some subjects for drawing practice. While browsing the botany section, he flipped open a particularly old and musty book when suddenly…OH, SNAP!

related: Pages missing (all)

Floyd Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao has broken yet another record. For the first time in pay-per-view history, a bout will cost fans $99 for a high definition feed. It’s by far the most expensive fight to date.

Via WSJ:

Under the terms being discussed, the fight will be sold for $99 for a high-definition feed and $89 for standard definition, both of which are record prices. The previous high was $74.95 for high-definition and $64.95 for standard.

Initially, pay TV distributors were asked to give up as much as 70% of the revenue instead of the usual 50% to 55%. That offer was quickly rejected.

Just when you thought it couldn’t get any crazier…

Some industry observers have predicted that it could top three million pay-per-view purchases, which could amount to upward of $300 million. The current record is $152 million for Mr. Mayweather’s fight with Saul “Canelo” Alvarez.

If you’re wondering why Mayweather and Pacquiao set aside their differences, well, there’s your answer.

[WSJ]