Mikkele.bringard

Yo, teens. Wassup. You know how most cups are totes lame-o? They don't have any rad mustaches on the straws? That's so not raven. Well 7-Eleven—a supes groovy gas station that you can go to with all your friends—is going to change all that. Gnarly, right? Their new cups have mustaches on them, but not boring mustaches like your old man. Gross. We're talking about cool, ironic, hipster mustaches like Michael Cera would wear. So dope. Now when you're enjoying a 26-ounce tankard of Slurpee, you can do it while rocking a totally stylish 'stache. And what's more, the cups are now shaped like mason jars. Leave it there, Bon Iver. See you at 7-Eleven. Peace out ...

In an interview on Swiss TV, the president of FIFA said that the selection of the country Qatar to host the 2022 World Cup was poor judgment. When asked about why the summer tournament is being held in a desert where temperatures regularly reach 120 degrees, Sepp Blatter bluntly responded, "Of course, it was a mistake. You know, one makes a lot of mistakes in life." The admission comes months after an investigation by the newspaper The Telegraph found evidence that a former FIFA executive accepted bribes in exchange for granting the tournament to Qatar. (Sepp has denied these allegations.)

Along with the extreme heat—which may cause the entire event to be rescheduled for winter months—there have also been major concerns raised over Qatar’s human rights record. A recent ESPN investigation uncovered the awful working conditions the country’s migrant workers are subjected to, and found that there have been hundreds of deaths during construction of the World Cup venues. Though officials have promised to reform the country’s labor laws, ESPN noted that at the current rate, 4,000 workers will be killed by the start of the 2022 tournament because of the terrible conditions ...

Chipotle continues to set the bar for cool, forward-thinking fast food places, in terms of their business ethics, ad campaigns and now, cupware. Their new paper cups are going to do a lot more than just feature the usual branding blasts on them—they're going to feature original pieces from authors like Jonathan Safran-Foer (Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close), Toni Morrison (Beloved), Malcolm Gladwell (this article) and more.

The idea was actually Foer's, who came up with it while dying of boredom while eating a burrito. As he told Vanity Fair, he wrote an email to Chipotle's CEO, saying "'Wouldn't it be cool to just put some interesting stuff on it? Get really high-quality writers of different kinds, creating texts of different kinds that you just give to your customers as a service' ...what interested me is 800,000 Americans of extremely diverse backgrounds having access to good writing. A lot of those people don't have access to libraries, or bookstores. Something felt very democratic and good about this."

Chipotle liked the idea, so there you have it. Now, when you go to Chipotle, you have three guarantees: food for the body, food for the mind and guacamole costs extra ...

Students in Brazil were looking for some native english speakers to test their language skills out on. Senior citizens in Chicago were feeling lonesome, looking for someone to chat with. CNA saw an opportunity, and put together this "Speaking Exchange Program," putting the two in contact with each other. The result not only helps teach new language skills, it provides genuine, heartwarming connection for people on both sides of the camera. Watch and see for yourself ...

Even though it’s been 10 years (don’t you feel old now?) since Tina Fey’s Mean Girls first became an unexpected comedy classic, we may not have seen the last of Regina and her crew of disloyal high school besties. Vulture recently spoke with Fey and her husband—who just happens to be a composer—Jeff Richmond, who revealed that they are still hard at work on a musical version of the cult classic. And, though Richmond joked that the plan was to have it ready by the movie’s 15th anniversary, the stage production may be a reality sooner rather than later. He told the outlet, “I think we are looking to do some workshops and readings during the course of this year. Maybe during the summer and into the fall.” Jeff, if you don’t deliver on a Mean Girls musical in the next 12 months, you’ll officially be in our burn book ...

A donut shop employee and aspiring comedian is paying tribute to one of the late Mitch Hedburg’s most beloved jokes, about receiving a receipt for a donut, on an actual receipt for a donut. Even though his boss initially made him stop adding the joke to receipts, after a Reddit post showing the meta homage to the comedy great went viral, the owner of Stan’s Donuts in Chicago brought it back. Mitch would be proud. The original bit, delivered in Hedburg’s legendary mellow style, can be heard here ...

If you watch almost any Pixar movie closely enough, you will probably, at some point see the code A113 subtly hidden somewhere in the film. (The only Pixar film that doesn’t have a known reference to the number is Monsters, Inc.) The strange four-digit code has also been spotted in big-budget, effects-heavy action movies including The Avengers, Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire and others. So, what are filmmakers trying to tell us? As John Lasseter explains, A113 is a tribute to the place where many animators first got their start: “A1-13 was the animation classroom at California Institute of the Arts in the Character Animation Program. Cal Arts is one of the best animation schools…and a lot of the students…as they created films—short films and feature films, they've kind of hidden A113 in the movies." Or maybe, just maybe, that’s what Lasseter wants us to believe. Maybe the code is actually somehow the key to finally unlocking the notorious “Pixar Theory” that places each movie in the same universe ...

It was really only a matter of time before someone released “Cage, Cage Shorts.” These $40 athletic Cage-emblazoned shorts from Raven Fight Wear are so cool, that it can make even the most passive Cage fan take up the dangerous sport of MMA, just to have an excuse to own them ...

One of the most glaring holes in the e-book revolution was the absence of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, one of the greatest American novels of all time. That gap was due to Lee herself, who was never comfortable with the e-book format. Or, she wasn't until Monday, her 88th birthday. She's announced that she'll be giving a birthday present to the world: a digital version of her book, the only novel she ever published. It's a rare move from Lee, who tends to shun public appearances and interviews. However, in a statement released through her publisher, she maintained that, "I'm still old-fashioned. I love dusty old books and libraries. I am amazed and humbled that Mockingbird has survived this long. This is Mockingbird for a new generation." In addition, HarperCollins' Michael Morrison declared that, "Every home has a dog-eared copy of To Kill a Mockingbird, and now readers will be able to add this favourite book to their digital libraries. Although today is Nelle Harper Lee's birthday, she is giving readers around the world the gift of being able to read or listen to this extraordinary story in all formats" ...

All good things must come to an end. It’s starting to look like next season of Parks and Rec will literally be its last. In a long interview with Entertainment Weekly, series showrunner Mike Schur discussed this year’s plot twists, the future of Pawnee politics and the coming end of Parks and Rec. He told the magazine, "It’s fairly likely that next year will be the last. The natural rhythm of the show and the big creative jump we take at the end of this season certainly suggests that we’re moving in that direction." Enjoy it while it lasts, Knope fans; your favorite show may soon just be a fond memory, just like Li’l Sebastian ...

Finally, a single map that identifies the “most famous” book set in every state across the country. Unless you’re familiar with the cover art of these novels, it’s a little hard to see which book goes with each state, but a full list—organized alphabetically by state name—is available here. The map was actually created by the magazine Business Insider last year (who didn’t give too many details about their selection methodology), but has gotten some renewed attention this week after being spotlighted by Mental Floss’s Afternoon Map series and Buzzfeed. Sorry Washington, you’re just never going to be able to live down that whole Twilight thing ...

CBS’s spin-off How I Met Your Dad has found its narrator. According to EW, Meg Ryan has been cast as the never-seen voiceover of a parent relaying her love story to her children: “She’ll supply the voice of ‘future Sally’ (played during the series in flashback by Greta Gerwig), the same way Bob Saget supplied the voice for future Ted in HIMYM.” If the pilot is picked up (which is likely, considering the franchise’s built-in audience), How I Met Your Dad would debut this fall ...

The Lego Movie—a film based on a wildly popular brand of toys that holds licensing deals with some of the most popular franchises in media history—was a hit, so what could possibly go wrong with a Peep movie. Sure Peeps are an inanimate novelty candy with no real back-story, only purchased once a year, but why not make a feature length major motion picture out of their brand. What could possibly go wrong? Everybody loves Peeps, right? ...

The Humor Research Lab (which is evidently a real thing) has formulated the Humor Algorithm (which, is also evidently a real thing), to create the definitive list of America’s funniest and least funniest cities. The project was organized by University of Colorado professor Dr. Peter McGraw while researching his book The Humor Code, and is insanely detailed. In addition to looking at geographic factors (number of comedy clubs, the hometowns of comedians, comedy radio stations, etc.), the team also turned to the Internet. They factored in funny Twitter users, visits to meme sites and humorous web searches traced to cities around the country. Chicago, Boston and Atlanta took home the top three spots, followed by Washington D.C. and Portland. You can go here to see the entire list of rankings and learn more about the team’s methodology ...

The Chicago Tribune has posted this touching look at Lurie Children’s Hospital “Superhero Day.” Once a year, several of the building’s death-defying window washers don comic book-inspired costumes to cheer up the young patients inside while dangling hundreds of feet above the city. Well done heroes ...

To promote this year’s annual Easter Egg Roll event—which will be streamed live on April 21—the White House went old school. Their video promo, inspired by the opening credits of a cheesy sitcom, totally nailed its ‘90s vibe. It’s not as good as last year’s Kid President video, but then again that’s setting the bar pretty high ...