Rachel

Flashback Friday.

In the U.S. men’s and women’s bikes are built differently, with women’s bikes lacking the bar that goes from the handlebar to just below the seat. The bar is a matter of tradition.  According to Andrea at Bike City Recyclery, when women began riding bikes in the 1800s, they were required to wear heavy skirts.  The low bar allowed them to mount the bikes “modestly” and was a space for their skirts to go.  Back then, bikes also had “clothes-guards” that would keep women’s skirts from being caught up in the mechanics of the bike.  This picture is from the 1890s:

Today most women riding a bike do not wear heavy skirts and clothes-guards are rare, but the low bar persists.  This ad from 1971 assures parents that  “girl bikes” can be converted to “boy bikes” and vice versa. The upper bar is purely “decorative,” but boys apparently must have it.

Selected text:

A popular 16-inch beginner’s bike. Top bar removes easily to convert it from a boy’s to a girl’s bike in minutes… The perfect first bike that’s built to last from child to child.

This goes to show how strongly we invest in purely symbolic gender differentiation.  There is no need for a high bar and there is no need to differentiate bikes by gender in this way. We could do away with the bar distinction in the same way that we did away with the clothes-guard. But the bar is a highly visible signal that we are committed to a gender binary (men and women are “opposite” sexes). It is some men and the defenders of masculinity who are most opposed to this because collapsing the gender differentiation means collapsing a devalued category into a valued category. For individuals who embrace the valued category, this is a disaster. A male-coded bike frame is just one small way to preserve both the distinction and the hierarchy.

Originally posted in 2010.

Lisa Wade, PhD is a professor at Occidental College. She is the author of American Hookup, a book about college sexual culture, and a textbook about gender. You can follow her on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

(View original at https://thesocietypages.org/socimages)

Hello, friendly friends! We’re here to discuss the men of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. As any feminist musical comedy is wont to do, this show has set up a super-acute love triangle for our heroine, Rebecca Bunch. Who should our favorite Shebrew from Scarsdale be with: Her ex-boyfriend and longtime crush, the beefy Josh Chan, or her current flame, the sarcastic and troubled bartender Greg Serrano? There's been some friendly disagreement in the Vulture nest, so let's grab a boba tea and dive in.

Tara: Alex, I hear you are Team Josh, which I think is crazier than a Dream Ghost hallucination. Explain yourself.

Alex: Here are the facts: Josh is a babe — and I love me a babe. He’s sweet, handsome, athletic, and can do multiple back flips in a row. (Can you imagine how that would translate in bed?) He’s kind, thoughtful, and will put up with your bullshit. Even though he only considered Rebecca a friend, he helped her when she needed it, like when he made her house party seem cool on Instagram. His popularity is the kind that doesn’t require demeaning other people, but lies in being generous and confident. Plus, I have a soft spot in my heart for the Asian bro.

Now, tell me why you’re into the cantankerous and insecure Greg?

Tara: Let it be known that I have always been, and forever will be, on Team Nice Guy. Greg may have a hard exterior, but he is all gooey at the core. The way he cares for his sick dad and searches for Rebecca when he thinks she’s missing. The get-well-soon Jesus balloon! There is a sweetness to Greg that far surpasses the dopiness of Josh. Sure, Chan has the classic leading man bod and charm, but he doesn't care for Rebecca the way Greg does. When Greg realizes he doesn’t love his girlfriend like he does Rebecca, he runs to her immediately.

Would Josh do that?

Alex: Well, I would argue that Josh Chan hasn’t had the chance to care for Rebecca the way that Greg has. After all, he had a girlfriend! And if their relationship is any indication, he was kind and patient with Valencia despite her heinous behavior. In this technicolor reality though, both Josh and Greg are inherently nice guys. This isn’t a Fitz-Jake or Big-Aiden dyad, where one man is the “bad boy” and the other is the puppy dog waiting for our gal. I concede that Josh is a little dumb, but that simplicity might be just what Rebecca needs to counteract her own neurosis. Is it healthy for two neurotic people to be together? I ask this as a deeply neurotic person.

Tara: I feel you on the neuroses. So know that it comes from a place of experience when I say yes, two neurotic people can be together. I’ve dated Gregs. They’re self-destructive and unpredictable, but they often don’t expect perfection because they know they can’t deliver that, either. Rebecca needs someone she can be herself around. Someone who doesn’t expect her to be Little Miss Sunshine everyday because that person knows that not every day is going to be her best. Greg understands Rebecca’s crazy (yes, I know it’s actually a lot more nuanced than that) because he has baggage, too. They’re both damaged by their past, and Rebecca needs someone who gets that side of her. Mr. Chan is not that guy. Weren’t you put off by Josh’s face after Rebecca’s confession at the end of the finale?

Alex: Josh Chan is clearly a dim bulb, and the fact that he didn’t realize Rebecca had in fact moved to West Covina for him is evidence of that. But aren’t you put off by Greg’s own insecurities, and his need to play the aloof asshole as a way to maintain the upper hand in the relationship? For me, the question between Josh and Greg is, who is confident to be himself? Greg dithers, puts on airs, and torpedoes his chances with Rebecca. Really, he’s the one who drove Rebecca into Josh’s well-muscled arms. But just as we saw what happened to Greg when he finally got his dream girl, I think we’ll see what happens to Rebecca now she has her dream guy.

Tara: I just want our full-breasted heroine to be happy and find a man that matches her sparkling wit and makes her feel warm inside. Perhaps a third suitor can swoop in?

Alex: True! Honestly, I wouldn't be opposed to a third-party candidate. Both Josh and Greg are probably unhealthy attachments for Rebecca. As a therapist might say, she needs to work on herself first. Choose yourself, Rebecca! That said, the one couple I am firmly behind is White Josh and Daryl. Those are two men after my heart.

Darlings, let’s all be trend whores together!

In case you missed the first two entries in the series (LEOPARD! & PURPLE!), we’re looking at the trends for the upcoming season and translating them into real-world options for people who don’t walk runways for a living! We’ve long told anyone who asked that the best way to freshen up your wardrobe without blindly chasing after every trend and breaking your bank on things that you’ll only wear once is to scan the mags and the runways, make note of what’s hot for the coming season, and find ways to appropriate that trend in items and pieces that fit your life. Personally, we’ve always found this to be one of those approaches that makes shopping more fun.

As the title suggests, one of the must-haves for fall 2016 is a bold plaid. Call it the Outlander effect. Given how beautiful the costumes are on that show, we wouldn’t be surprised if it continues to influence designers for a couple of seasons, much in the way Mad Men and Downton Abbey did.

 

Balenciaga | Barbara Bui | Bottega Veneta | Burberry Prorsum
Calvin Klein | Chanel | Coach | Daks
DKNY | Dolce&Gabbana | Etro | Gucci
Isabel Marant | Jacquemus | Jean Paul Gaultier | Les Copains

Loewe | Michael Kors | Missoni | No. 21
Prada | Preen | Rachel Zoe | Ralph Lauren
Sonia Rykiel | Suno | Tod’s | Tory Burch
Trussardi | Vetements | Victoria Beckham | Vivienne Westwood

One of the great things about compiling a trend list like this is that it handily illustrates just how arbitrary and non-revolutionary most trends are. Purple, leopard and plaid. These are not shocking ideas about style, but that’s entirely the point. Fashion is consumer driven, and most consumers can’t be talked into something totally off-the-wall, avant garde or impractical for their wardrobe. You’re just not gonna see many “The hot item everyone must have this fall is a MINK TURBAN!!” trend pieces. And if you’re a smart and savvy consumer with an interest in style, buying a select few items to try out is a great way to find out if, say, you’re feeling a big purple coat or a leopard dress or a plaid jacket might work for you. Style is a laboratory, darlings. A constantly evolving experiment we get to enact on ourselves just to see if we like the results.

Anyway, plaid isn’t exactly something new, nor is it something missing from most of our wardrobes, but it never hurt to toy with the idea of freshening up the arsenal, now does it?

Ding! First floor: BAGS.

There are a couple of pricey options here, but some of those Vivienne Westwood bags are really, really cute. There’s a great range of colors there that definitely gives these plaids a modern and fresh feel. LOVE that Under One Sky backpack. And that little Nila Anthony backpack is adorable. All of the Kate Spades are classics.

Second floor: FOOTWEAR.

How cute are those Bella Vita flats? Those Boston Proper pumps are the perfect Holiday party shoe. Kinda living for those shit-kicking GX (by Gwen Stefani) boots too. They would be a lot of fun with skinny black jeans. And those old school high-vamped plaid pumps from Stewart Weitzman are classic and elegant. Can’t go wrong with any of those J. Crew options either. Or the Converse or TOMS, for that matter.

Third floor: RANDOM ACCESSORIES

Well, who can’t use a plaid scarf? Aside from people who live in arid or tropical environments, that is. For those folks, have a phone case. But for the rest of y’all… well. It would be silly for us to talk up something that almost everybody’s had at one time or another in their wardrobe. But as we said, if you’re freshening your style, it’s not a bad idea to look at what the colors are – and some of these scarves are loaded with modern and on-trend colors. We love the blue Marc Jacobs and the Bindy especially, but the Steve Madden one is nice too. The Ralph Lauren gloves are bargain, but the RGLT gloves are really cute.

What’s catching your eye here?

 

 

Standard disclaimer: All of the above are clickable links that will take you to online retailers who give us a commission based on any sales we send their way. Daddy and Papa gotta pay their telephone bills, kittens. Please note that the sale runs for these items can be brief and some of the links may either take you to an item that’s no longer available or no longer available at the sales price. On the flip side, you’ll sometimes find these items marked down even further than the price listed above, but you gotta be quick!

[Photo Credit: IMAXTree]

• Bags
• Fall 2016 Collections
• Fall 2016 Trends
• Shoes
• The Accessories Wall
• Translating the Trends
• Trends

The post Translating the Trends for Fall 2016: Plaid/Tartan appeared first on Tom + Lorenzo.

Hopefully, you've had a few minutes to play around with our Fall Entertainment Generator. But if you’re looking for straight and simple lists of things to look out for by medium, we’ll be breaking them out separately. Here's a look at fall movies.

SEPTEMBER

9/2
The Light Between Oceans
A lighthouse keeper (Michael Fassbender) and his wife (Alicia Vikander) raise a baby they found in a rowboat. Directed by The Place Beyond the Pines’ Derek Cianfrance.

Morgan
A large cast led by Kate Mara tackles the question of how, exactly, one terminates the life of a sentient robot.

No Manches Frida
When a released bank robber finds that a school has built a gymnasium above his stashed loot, there’s only one way to get it back: Pose as a teacher.

9/9
Kicks
When a 15-year-old’s box-fresh Air Jordans are stolen, he embarks on a journey through Oakland to get the shoes back.

Sully
In 2009, Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger gracefully landed his disabled passenger jet in the Hudson River. Clint Eastwood directs a white-haired, amply mustachioed Tom Hanks.

Before I Wake
Things get scary when a grieving couple (Kate Bosworth and Thomas Jane) take in an orphan after their son dies, in an entry in this fall’s robust child-in-danger subgenre.

The Wild Life
A seemingly anti-imperialist animated adaptation of Robinson Crusoe told from the point of view of the animals who share an island with the shipwrecked interloper.

Author: The JT LeRoy Story
This documentary revisits the real-life tale of Laura Albert, the Brooklyn mother who became a literary celebrity by posing as an HIV-positive, transgender male ex-prostitute.

When the Bough Breaks
Like The Hand That Rocks the Cradle, but pre-cradle: A psychotic surrogate (Jaz Sinclair) gets obsessed with the family who have employed her to carry their little bundle of joy to term.

9/16
Bridget Jones’s Baby
Bridget’s hit 40, been promoted to news producer, and is single and knocked up. But she doesn’t know who her baby daddy is.

Snowden
Oliver Stone takes on the multi-tentacled story of the multi-tentacled surveillance state and the alleged traitor (played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt). Needless to say, Stone does well with manic, paranoid conspiracy narratives (JFK was insane but wildly entertaining).

9/23
The Magnificent Seven
Denzel Washington and his Training Day director Antoine Fuqua head up this remake. (Read our interview with Fuqua here.)

Storks
A stork who works as a deliveryperson gets some feathers in a fluff when he accidentally activates a machine and produces a baby girl in this animated romp.

Queen of Katwe
Director Mira Nair again examines a culture clash in a film based on the true story of a Ugandan chess star. Starring Lupita Nyong’o, David Oyelowo, and newcomer Madina Nalwanga.

Goat
Andrew Neel directs Nick Jonas, Gus Halper, Danny Flaherty, and James Franco in a hazing drama about a boy determined to join his brother’s fraternity.

The Lovers and the Despot
A documentary about the 1978 kidnappings of the South Korean actress Choi Eun-hee and director Shin Sang-ok — ordered by Kim Jong Il. Lots of found footage and the secretly taped voice of the dictator himself.

9/30
Denial
Lawsuits, Holocaust deniers, and Rachel Weisz are featured in Mick Jackson’s take on historian Deborah E. Lipstadt’s book about a painful libel lawsuit.

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children
Tim Burton’s latest fantastical adventure is set on an island for abandoned “peculiar” children. Eva Green plays the den mistress.

Deepwater Horizon
When the Gulf of Mexico oil rig exploded in 2010, it led to the worst oil spill in U.S. history. Mark Wahlberg is the roughneck hero, John Malkovich the BP suit, Peter Berg the director.

Masterminds
Zach Galifianakis works his loopy southern accent alongside Kristen Wiig and Owen Wilson in a comedy drawn from the true story of 1997’s Loomis Fargo robbery.

American Honey
A band of runaway teenagers (Sasha Lane, Riley Keough, Shia LaBeouf) party hard and increase circ numbers even harder while driving across the Midwest selling magazine subscriptions.

OCTOBER

10/7
The Birth of a Nation
In this Sundance hit, Nate Parker tells the true story of the slave Nat Turner (played by Parker), originally dispatched by his master to control other slaves but then moved to lead them to freedom. There’s big awards buzz on this — and also buzz of a very different kind, about the reemergence of the fact that in college, Parker and his Birth co-writer, Jean Celestin, were accused of sexual assault by a young woman who has since committed suicide. This will be one hell of a conversation.

The Girl on the Train
Can 2015’s “next Gone Girl” the book become 2016’s “next Gone Girl” the movie? The always-excellent Emily Blunt will do her best.

Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life
Based on a kids’ novel by megaselling human fiction mill James Patterson, this family comedy features Griffin Gluck as a creative genius stifled by his school’s fuddy-duddy principal.

10/14
The Accountant
Ben Affleck is a math savant moonlighting as an accountant for criminals in this soon-to-be-favorite of CPAs everywhere.

10/21
Jack Reacher: Never Go Back
Tom Cruise in his second go-round as author Lee Child’s zero-BS ex-military badass who says very little and runs with truly remarkable posture and determination.

In a Valley of Violence
A drifter (Ethan Hawke, in his second Western of the fall, after The Magnificent Seven) and his dog attempt to make their way to Mexico. A marshal played by John Travolta puts a hitch in the travel plans. 

American Pastoral
For many years, filmmakers have wanted to adapt Philip Roth’s powerful and unwieldy novel, which is both the archetypal story of a teenage girl who becomes a political terrorist in the ’60s and another Roth meditation on Jewish assimilation. Ewan McGregor makes his directorial debut and stars as the former high-school athlete who searches for his wayward daughter (Dakota Fanning).

Boo! A Madea Halloween
Tyler Perry is in drag for the ninth time, now with jack-o’-lanterns.

A Monster Calls
A reworking of a children’s fantasy novel, in which a boy enlists the aid of a monster, played by Liam Neeson, to deal with the pain of his mother’s illness. Fall’s very busy Felicity Jones plays the mom.

10/28
Inferno
Ron Howard and Tom Hanks reenter, for the third time, the adventurous world of symbology scholar Robert Langdon. Like their previous two efforts, Inferno is based on a Dan Brown best seller.

NOVEMBER

11/4
Doctor Strange
The next chapter of the seemingly endless Marvel Cinematic Universe unfolds. Dr. Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) is radicalized, in a magical way, after he meets a sorcerer played by the oft-ensorcelling Tilda Swinton.

Bleed for This
Miles Teller beefs up to play boxer Vinny Pazienza, who attempts a comeback after a car crash.

Loving
Jeff Nichols (who scored earlier this year with Midnight Special) directs this drama about the plaintiffs in Loving v. Virginia, which struck down laws against interracial marriage. Joel Edgerton and Ruth Negga are the couple.

Hacksaw Ridge
Mel Gibson directs his first film in a decade — a WWII drama about a violence-averse medic (Andrew Garfield) who saves nearly 100 soldiers during the Battle of Okinawa.

11/11
Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk
Ang Lee’s study in the psychological fallout of combat: A 19-year-old Iraq War hero, played by newcomer Joe Alwyn, has an existential crisis during his “victory tour.”

Shut In
The endangered-child trend continues, this time with Naomi Watts as an isolated widow desperate to rescue a young boy from a deadly storm in rural New England.

Arrival
Aliens come to Earth; Amy Adams and Jeremy Renner greet them. (Read our chat with Adams here.)

11/18
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
A magician (Eddie Redmayne) is at large in Jazz Age New York in this adaptation of a J. K. Rowling Potter-verse spinoff.

The Edge of Seventeen
An awkward high-schooler, played by Hailee Steinfeld, endures romantic indignities in director Kelly Fremon Craig’s feature debut. 

Manchester by the Sea
An uncle (Casey Affleck) steps in to care for his teenage nephew following the death of the latter’s dad. Expect Oscar momentum for Affleck.

Nocturnal Animals
Jake Gyllenhaal, Amy Adams, and Laura Linney will attempt, and probably achieve, the near impossible in Tom Ford’s latest: Make a thrilling movie about a writer. 

11/23
Allied
Secrets, lies, and (more) war: A WWII operative (Brad Pitt) discovers a disturbing secret about his wife (Marion Cotillard).

Bad Santa 2
Billy Bob Thornton is back as the degenerate department-store Saint Nick.

Moana
Disney’s first Polynesian heroine, Moana, and Maui, a demigod, team up to find an island in the South Pacific. With music by Lin-Manuel Miranda. Just buy your kid a ukulele now.

Rules Don’t Apply
Warren Beatty returns after a long absence to direct this comedy-romance, in which he plays a Howard Hughes whose puritanical rules get in the way of a relationship between an actress and her driver in 1950s Hollywood.

11/25
Lion
Dev Patel gets his meatiest post–Slumdog Millionaire role in a drama based on the true story of a man who used Google Earth to track down the family he left in India when he was adopted by Australians (Nicole Kidman and David Wenham).

DECEMBER

12/2
La La Land
Crazy, Stupid, Love co-stars Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone are reunited in this musical as a jazz musician and an aspiring actress. Whiplash’s Damien Chazelle writes and directs.

12/9
Office Christmas Party
A CEO (Jennifer Aniston) threatens to close down her brother’s (T. J. Miller) office branch. His response? Throw an out-of-control party.

12/16
The Founder
Michael Keaton plays Ray Kroc — who took McDonald’s to the big time — in this seriocomic business saga. Let’s hope it’s not a bouquet to rags-to-riches capitalism, given the horrific impact of fast food. But the writer is Robert D. Siegel, of the weird Big Fan — promising.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
A prequel of sorts to the very first Star Wars movie, about a gang of rebels attempting to pilfer plans for the Death Star. 

Collateral Beauty
Will Smith plays an ad executive spiraling out after a tragedy.

12/21
The Assassin’s Creed
Michael Fassbender, Jeremy Irons, time-travel, and sword-fighting in this adaptation of a popular video-game series.

Passengers
Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt romance each other as two interstellar colonizers who awake from hibernation years before their ship reaches its destination. 

12/25
Fences
A Denzel Washington–directed adaptation of August Wilson’s acclaimed play. Denzel also stars, along with the great Viola Davis.

*This article appears in the August 22, 2016 issue of New York Magazine.

Gabriel and Sarah Chrisman of Port Townsend, Washington wear Victorian style outfits every day. They run a website called This Victorian Life, which chronicles their "long-term experiential study of culture and technologies of the late nineteenth-century." They don't have cell phones or watch television. "This is who we are," they state on the site. But when they traveled to Victoria to celebrate their 14th wedding anniversary they were turned away from Butchart Gardens because their "costumes" are forbidden.

The website for the Butchart Gardens has a link to a PDF with a list of "Garden Etiquette" rules, which includes a ban on costumes:

The Chrismans say their clothes are not costumes, and it is wrong for the park to deny them entry. From CBC:

"We've worn this type of clothing before and we've never been turned away before. Never had this sort of official banishment," Gabriel told CBC News.

"These are not costumes — it's just our everyday dress," Sarah told CBC News

The couple blog and write books about their favorite era. They cook with a cast iron stove and even ride a replica 1885 Victory bicycle.

After the Chrismans wrote about their experience, Butchart Gardens issued a statement, that read, in part: "For the enjoyment and safety of all visitors, and to preserve our tranquil atmosphere, the Butchart Gardens joins many international attractions … in not permitting costumes or masks to be worn on-site."

Link to job posting. Deadline: 8/21/16Filed under: 0-2, Public, Wisconsin Tagged: library page, public, Wisconsin

The Wisconsin State Law Library is searching for a Library Assistant LTE, 15 hours per week. Qualified applicants must be available to work Monday through Friday, 8-11 AM. Duties include staffing the circulation desk, filing looseleaf services, shelving, moving and … Continue reading →

Finally, one weird trick that might actually work.

If you were hoping to see more of Veep Hugh Laurie than House Hugh Laurie in the near future, you're going to be in for a little disappointment. Laurie's new Hulu series, Chance, is a tried and true psychological thriller with a menacing edge — it revolves around a San Francisco-based forensic neuropsychiatrist who winds up getting involved with the violent and dangerous world of mistaken identity, police corruption, and mental illness when he tries to help one of his patients. Based on the novel by Kem Nunn, the 10-episode series will premiere on the streaming network on October 19. Try not to mutter "where's your cane?" while watching.

By now you may have grown tired of hearing about zucchini noodles (aka “zoodles”) but I’m here to break up your veggie noodle boredom with eggplant noodles. You don’t even need a spiralizer.

Read more...

Until just a few years ago — when The Internet Archive brought the game to most current browsers — the only way to relive your virtually Typhoid-filled childhood traversing The Oregon Trail was to hook up that ancient computer still stored in your parent’s basement. Now, you don’t even need a computer, or any electronic device, as there’s a tabletop game.

According to the Oregonian, the tabletop card will hit select retailers’ shelves this Sunday, July 31, giving people everywhere the opportunity to gather around the kitchen table to hunt game and avoid dysentery as they make their way west.

The new tabletop version of the classic game — which was recently inducted into the Video Game Hall of Fame — was first spotted by a redditor and confirmed to be in stock at several Portland-area Target stores.

A spokesperson for the retailer tells The Oregonian that the game will officially debut on July 31, although some store chose to sell the product earlier.

Despite advancements in technology since the game first debuted in 1971, a post on the game by the Reddit user shows the new card version has kept many of the aspects The Oregon Trail is known for: cards feature 8-bit imagery of oxen, bullets, food, and other things you would have previously seen on the computer.

Additionally, it appears the cards include tombstones in which players can write their names and cause of death on the Trail.

The game is reportedly one of several Target exclusives that were released without promotions or fanfare, The Oregonian reports.

‘The Oregon Trail’ released as a Target-exclusive tabletop card game, on sale July 31 [The Oregonian]

Things are getting a little bit Game of Thrones over on Sesame Street right now, minus the sex, plus the emphasis on children's literacy. Apparently three long-standing Sesame Street actors, Emilio Delgado, Bob McGrath, and Roscoe Orman, known respectively as Luis the fix-it man, Bob the music teacher, and Gordon the science teacher, have been axed from the new HBO version of the show. “They let all of the original cast members go, with the exception of Alan Muraoka — who is probably 20 years younger than the rest of us — and Chris Knowings, who is also young,” McGrath told Florida Supercon 2016 earlier this month. “I have completed my 45th season this year. And the show has gone under a major turnaround, going from an hour to a half-hour. HBO has gotten involved also.” McGrath had been on the show since its premiere season in 1969, while Delgado became Luis in 1971, and Orman assumed the mantle of Gordon in 1974. Reports also claim the new HBO Sesame Street will seek to appeal to “tech-savvy” kids via Muppets using smartphones. All of which begs the question: Which classic character is the next one to get the boot? Mr. Snuffleupagus doesn’t have hands to hold a tablet, so he seems like the obvious choice. And really, is a giant, semi-imaginary woolly-mammoth kindergartner even “relevant” anymore in today's fast-paced child lifestyle?

If you believe in the personality profiles generated by the twelve signs of the zodiac then you probably use those profiles to help you look for and understand your romantic partner.

Many believe the zodiac holds the key to long lasting relationships because the 12 profiles help daters weed out all the bad matches ahead of time.

Taking dating advice from the zodiac hasn't worked that well for me in the past, but maybe consulting these charts created by Summer Anne Burton for BuzzFeed will work for you.

I'm a Gemini so naturally my chart is spot on in every way.

See 12 Charts That Explain What It's Like To Date Every Zodiac Sign here

Television’s golden age of white male antiheroes may finally be over, but pessimism still reigns on TV. The shows with the largest audiences and the most critical buzz are overwhelmingly grim, gritty dramas that feature self-destructive protagonists or are set in cold and unforgiving worlds. From HBO’s new crime drama The Night Of to returning favorites UnREAL and Mr. Robot, the summer’s most lauded series explore isolation and the oppressive weight of an uncaring society. These are stories worth telling, and all three series are strong, but the sheer quantity and continuing popularity of bleak and cynical television paints a disquieting portrait of what we value as a society. (And that’s to mention the overwhelmingly dire picture currently being presented by TV news outlets.) To those tired of this trend and hungry for television that nourishes the soul while it entertains, I present The Great British ...

Netflix knows it's your favorite place to procrastinate. To help you kill more time,  it's added a new feature---Flixtape, a playlist function that will enable you to make Netflix TV and movie "mixtapes," because you don't need to do errands or clean your house, you need to make an "Every Show You Liked in 1999" playlist (Start with Buffy, proceed with West Wing...)

If you're looking for inspiration, Netflix has some premade Flixtapes all lined up for you. The "Besties or Frenemies" playlist contains eps of Pretty Little Liars, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, New Girl, and wild card 1997 film Good Burger, while the "Summertimes" playlist features Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp, Moonrise Kingdom, Grease, and, ahem, High School Musical 2.

Before you commence your Flixtaping, remember John Cusack's High Fidelity mixtape advice: “The making of a good compilation tape is a very subtle art. Many do's and don'ts. First of all you’re using someone else’s poetry to express how you feel. This is a delicate thing.” Truer words.

Nintendo Announces Mini-NES Console with 30 Games Coming in November

Nintendo of America has announced today that come November, you’ll be able to walk into a store and by a brand-new Nintendo Entertainment System. That’s right, the original NES. The Nintendo Entertainment System: NES Classic Edition, launching in stores on November 11 at a suggested retail price of $59.99, is a near-identical, mini replica of Nintendo’s original home console and plugs directly into your high-definition TV using an included HDMI cable. The console comes complete with 30 NES games built in, including:

• Balloon Fight
• BUBBLE BOBBLE
• Castlevania
• Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest
• Donkey Kong
• Donkey Kong Jr. 
• DOUBLE DRAGON II: THE REVENGE
• Dr. Mario
• Excitebike
• FINAL FANTASY
• Galaga
• GHOSTS’N GOBLINS
• GRADIUS
• Ice Climber
• Kid Icarus
• Kirby’s Adventure
• Mario Bros. 
• MEGA MAN 2
• Metroid
• NINJA GAIDEN
• PAC-MAN
• Punch-Out!! Featuring Mr. Dream
• StarTropics
• SUPER C
• Super Mario Bros.
• Super Mario Bros. 2
• Super Mario Bros. 3
• TECMO BOWL
• The Legend of Zelda
• Zelda II: The Adventure of Link

“We wanted to give fans of all ages the opportunity to revisit Nintendo’s original system and rediscover why they fell in love with Nintendo in the first place,” said Nintendo of America President and COO Reggie Fils-Aime. “The Nintendo Entertainment System: NES Classic Edition is ideal for anyone who remembers playing the NES, or who wants to pass on those nostalgic memories to the next generation of gamers.”

Each console will come packaged with a NES Classic Controller, though a Classic Controller or Classic Controller Pro can also be used. When connected to a Wii Remote controller, the NES Classic Controller can also be used to play Virtual Console NES games on a Wii U or Wii system. 

The post Nintendo Announces Mini-NES Console with 30 Games Coming in November appeared first on ComingSoon.net.

Rice Krispies treats are pretty close to perfection — a sweet, buttery, chewy, and crunchy snack that requires only three ingredients. A full batch takes very little effort to execute, so why would you ever need a recipe for a single Rice Krispies treat?

This recipe is ideal for using up that last cup of cereal, making one, but is also great for teaching your little ones how to safely use the microwave. All you need is a microwave, a mug, and a minute.

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We know that Bill Skarsgård and his glorious cheekbones will be playing Pennywise the clown in Stephen King's upcoming film adaptation of It — an It who can get it, hardy har har — but that still didn't adequately prepare us for this nightmarish first image of Skarsgård's demonic entity. Compliments of EW, the first look may very much induce some serious coulrophobia. Beware!

“It’s such an extreme character. Inhumane," Skarsgård says of his character. "It’s beyond even a sociopath, because he’s not even human. He’s not even a clown. I’m playing just one of the beings It creates.” The film will haunt you from under your bed for an indefinite period of time — we mean, it'll arrive in theaters — on September 8, 2017.

The biggest stars of a TV show are the good guy characters, the ones we are supposed to relate to and root for. At least, that was the tradition in TV for decades. But it’s not nearly as much fun to play the good guy as it is to play the villain. That’s where the evil twin comes in. The much-used plot device opened the way for mysterious dramas that could only be explained by an evil twin. It gave a “good” character room to do things he or she otherwise wouldn’t do, and it baffled audiences until the  big reveal. And there was another benefit: it was a way to have two characters on for the price of one actor. For soap operas, these plots could go one for months or even longer.  

In 1983, Brian Patrick Clarke began his run as nice married guy Grant Andrews and his Russian spy doppelgänger Grant Putnam on General Hospital. Ellen Wheeler picked up the dual roles of Marley and Vicky on Another World in 1984, eventually leaving the part to Anne Heche. David Canary would also start his decades-spanning work as ruthless businessman Adam Chandler and his gentle, artistic brother Stuart on All My Children that year. But perhaps most interesting was the case of Frannie and Sabrina Hughes; the half-sisters appeared on As the World Turns between 1985 and 1987, and the dual role was originated by a not-yet-famous Julianne Moore.

And that’s only a few years. Evil twins have been spicing up soap operas for decades, which you can read about at mental_floss. 

Who killed Mrs. White? It wasn’t Colonel Mustard in the Billiard Room.

The buzz around the new Netflix series Stranger Things has been building for a while now. When the first look at the series hit the web, fans were treated to a throwback in every sense of the word. From the cast including Winona Ryder and Matthew Modine, to four kids riding bikes through the echoes of suburbia, to the the eerie combination of a Stephen King novel and the hauntingly familiar images of a Steven Spielberg coming-of-age tale, Stranger Things promises to be a respectful throwback that stands firmly on its own two feet.

A visit to the Atlanta set was a treat for this genre fan in every sense of the word. The locations and sets were done with incredible detail and the cast and crew were the most enthusiastic. We had the opportunity to speak with the set of young actors and the Duffer Brothers, who created, show-ran, wrote, and directed a big portion of the series.

Working in the time period was not only fun and nostalgic for the Duffer Brothers but also a necessity, as Matt Duffer explained: “Well, there were a couple of reasons [for the 80s setting]: for the story it’s important to have that – we needed it during the Cold War and during the paranoia then and experimentation, and a lot of it is based around MKULTRA and things that were going around during that.” He continued, adding, “There’s the aesthetic thing and it just felt like a time when, especially when you’re kids, your parents can’t text you or they’re not tracking you on a GPS; there’s this sense of when you go outside you’re free and you’re on this adventure.”

Ross Duffer sums it up, saying, “I think it was realizing this is a good time to tell the story and it also allows us to pay homage to all of these movies that we grew up on. So that was kind of when the idea clicked into place.”

Considering how tech savvy children are growing up with phones and access to the internet living in their pockets, you’d think it would be a challenge for the young cast to get used to the time period but in reality, for the actors, it turned out to be quite the opposite. The time period even led to star Millie Bobby Brown, who plays the mysterious and powerful young girl Eleven, to her favorite Christmas gift from 2015. “I worked in the basement [set] and I saw — this was before Christmas — and I saw this thing, it had a disc in it and I was like, ‘what is that? What does that do?’ That’s a record player, Millie. What does it do? It plays music. So I got one for Christmas and I love it!”

It appears the boys who spent a lot of time in that same basement set, filled with Dungeons & Dragons, movie posters, and vintage toys, also enjoyed the time warp. “Did you guys like it? Because I fell in love with it,” Finn asks co-stars Gaten Matarazzo and Caleb McLaughlin.

I want to live in there!,” Matarazzo proclaimed. “I walked in there and I was like, what’s that? It’s a typewriter?”

Lack of technological advances aside, the kids also fell in love with something else during the making of Stranger Things: the coming of age movies of the 80s. Required viewing from the Duffers, the cast screened The Goonies, E.T., Stand By Me, and Poltergeist if they hadn’t seen them before. With CGI and animation taking over film and television today, how did the kids react to stories about kids from 30 years earlier? The answer was, somewhat surprisingly, with major enthusiasm.

“I love 80s movies. When I watched The Goonies I was like, Ah, this is great! I love this! And then I watched Poltergeist, it’s great,” Millie Bobby Brown exclaimed. The boys echoed a similar excitement when I brought up The Goonies with an enthusiastic, “Oh yeah!!!”

There was a similar affinity for Stand By Me with Caleb McLaughlin explaining, “I love the bond in that. Because I see the bond in the movie with our relationship.”

Gaten Matarazzo agrees, noticing common threads and themes in the movies, “It’s really similar, they’re looking for someone, they’re all together, they become better friends.” He continued, “In The Goonies you can definitely see that Lucas’s character is Mouth probably,.. and he’s [Finn’s character Mike] definitely like Mikey. People will think [of my character Dustin as], ‘Oh, Chunk from The Goonies but I think he’s a mix of all of them.”

—

Stranger Things, starring Winona Ryder, David Harbour, Finn Wolfhard, Millie Bobby Brown, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Noah Schnapp, and Matthew Modine, premieres on Netflix Friday, July 15.

Image Credits: Netflix

Outlander fans will finally see Roger Wakefield in the flesh come tomorrow (or tonight) when Richard Rankin steps into the central role.  Entertainment Weekly interviewed him pre-finale about his role. Below are excerpts, but head over to EW to read the whole interview.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: How much time did you spend on the episode?
RICHARD RANKIN: I believe it was about two to three weeks.

Is he immediately smitten with Brianna?
Yeah, pretty much.

Is it mutual?
I spoke to Sophie quite a lot about this, about where we wanted this relationship to go and how we wanted people to see us. In the books, they immediately fall in love. Obviously we wanted to take it a bit more slowly for the TV version just because on TV it’s more realistic. We wanted to give it a few beats, a few hints of what may happen with Roger and Brianna, and drop a couple of hints at what their relationship might become, especially for the people who haven’t read the books, who don’t already know what happens. Obviously there’s a lot of people who know exactly where they end up together. Roger probably falls for Brianna much more quickly, or at least that’s what seems to be the case. But Roger is a much more open character. He’s more open emotionally. He’s more inclined to say what he feels, where I think Brianna needs to be brought out of her shell a wee bit. She’s more guarded. She’s more closed down and has much more reason to be, I suppose. So, I think for Roger she’s a bit of a challenge. But then she’s also got a lot of other things on her mind.

Source: EW

The Road So Far

Welcome back to the rewatch, superfans! This week we begin Season 8 with a new goal—permanently closing the gates to Hell and an old villain: Crowley. Yes, again.

Cheers to even more of Mark A. Sheppard’s excellent snark!

THE OFFICIAL FYA SUPERNATURAL DRINKING GAME:

Take a drink every time:

•  There’s a corpse

•  A demon possesses/de-possesses and/or makes a deal with some hapless schmuck

•  Someone on the show takes a drink

•  Dean crams his face full of junk food

•  Anyone is tied up

•  Either brother picks a lock

•  Someone employs a Titan of Classic Rock as an alias

•  The Glorious and Faithful Impala is damaged in the line of duty

8x1: We Need to Talk About Kevin

Monster of the Week: Crowley

It’s been a year since the Leviathans were defeated and Dean suddenly appears in the middle of the Maine wilderness, covered in blood! He then travels to Louisiana to resurrect a vampire called Benny. Apparently the vamp helped him find a portal out of Purgatory that only humans can pass through on the condition that he resurrect him once he’s on the other side.

Meanwhile Sam gave up hunting and has spent the last year growing his hair into “the Rachel,” and living with a veterinarian named Amelia and an Australian Shepard named Riot. He got rid of all his old phones, which means he never got the many messages Kevin Tran left him about having escaped the demon’s custody and needing help. Dean is not pleased.

They look up Kevin’s old girlfriend, Channing, who claims not to have seen him. She’s also a demon and immediately sends a blood goblet message to Crowley to alert him. They track Kevin to Iowa. He tells them Crowley had him a warehouse, making him translate another Word of God, this one on demons. He tricked the demons, momentarily banishing them so he could escape with the tablet, which contains instructions on permanently closing the gates of Hell.

Crowley shows up almost immediately with Channing. Kev offers to trade himself for her. Then he dumps a bucket of holy water on both of them and effs off because Mama Tran didn’t raise no fool. Crowley kills Channing in a fit of pique.

The Angst of it All: Dean is super sad Sam didn’t look for him after he disappeared, and didn’t dedicate his life to fighting monsters. He also flashes back to the time he spent in Purgatory, which consisted of a lot of running through the woods, looking for Cas and murdering monsters with Benny’s help. Benny later implies that Dean really took to the Purtagory lifestyle.

In the real world, Benny calls Dean, saying he’s feeling strange about being out of Purgatory. Dean says he needs distance, but Benny should reach out if there’s an emergency.

Drink Count: 10 for corpses, junk food, and a jimmied lock.

The Quotable Winchesters: “No visible signs of douchery, I’ll give you that.” –Dean upon having Sam return The Glorious and Faithful Impala to him.

Most GIF-able moment:

Puppy dog eyes while carrying an actual puppy dog. You’ve outdone yourself, sir.

Notable Cameos:

Liane Balaban of Covert Affairs and Alphas plays Amelia.

8x2: What’s up, Tiger Mommy?

Monster of the Week: Plutus/Crowley

Kevin has declared he will do no further propheting until the Winchesters rescue his mother. They head to his suburb, where every one of his neighbors has been possessed by demons. But they are the Winchesters for a reason and they manage to extract the mom who is kind of a BAMF and insists on travelling with them.

Together, the Winchester/Tran clan go to retrieve the Word of God. But it’s already been stolen. As they track it down, Mama Tran brings her knowledge of tax law to bear when pressuring suspects. They trace the tablet to Plutus, a “right-hand” of a god who is auctioning off rare supernatural items, including the tablet. He invites them all the auction.

They come, hoping that if Kev gets close enough to see the tablet, he can simply memorize the relevant passages. Dean has to turn in his demon-slaying knife to enter. Alas, the tablet is shielded by lead. Further alas? Crowley’s also at the auction. The better news? Mama Tran straight up punches Crowley in the face. Samandriel, an angel, is also at the auction and asks Dean what happened to Cas. A flashback shows that Cas had a price on his head in Purgatory and he kept running from Dean to protect him.

When the auction starts, bidding begins at three billion dollars, then the Mona Lisa, then the real Mona Lisa (where she’s topless), up to Vatican City, then Alaska, finally topped by the Moon. But none of that meets the reserve, so Plutus adds Kevin Tran to the auction lot. Mama Tran offers her soul. Plutus determines that the winning bid. Samandriel offers to angelic protection for Kevin, but she declines. Just as she’s about to hand herself over to Plutus, Dean realizes that Crowley has possessed Mama Tran after burning off her tattoo.

There is a chase! Crowley de-possesses Mrs. Tran after stealing the tablet back and warning Kev that around the Winchesters, secondary characters tend to die. Truth. Kevin demands a moment alone with his catatonic mother and uses it to vamoose.

The Angst of it All: Dean brings a little bit of his Purgatory psychopathy to the table when trying to get information out of regular human beings. Sam? Is worried. Later, it is implied that Dean willfully left Cas behind while escaping Purgatory.

Drink Count: 9 for corpses, possession and lock-picking.

The Quotable Winchesters: “Say it and I will kill you, your children and your grandchildren.” –Dean before Sam can suggest putting up the Impala for their auction bid.

Most GIF-able moment:

Apparently, Sam is worthy of lifting Mjolnir (which was also up for auction).

Notable Cameos:

Lauren Tom of The Joy Luck Club and Futuruma plays Mrs. Tran.

Next Week: Werewolves in love

Parents may not understand their child's selfie obsession, they may not get why their kid stares at that screen all day or why they feel the need to post pics of themselves on a daily basis.

But one thing parents do "get"- how to make fun of their teens for posting stupid pictures of themselves online, just to keep the kid's swollen head from eclipsing the sun.

Proud father Burr Martin wasn't afraid to poke some fun at his daughter Cassie's selfie obsession by recreating her pics with dear old dad as the subject, but he may have gone too far.

Not because young Cassie disliked his take on her pics, because that was the point, but because Burr appears to have become a bit selfie obsessed himself!

You know what Nietzche said about "He who fights with monsters" Burr...

See more from Dad Trolls His Daughter By Recreating Her Selfies here

 
Well, that’s what folks on Twitter and reddit want to know, anyway. Is she or he okay, dammit? I mean, just look at some of...

[That Quote]

Just Shoot Me! was an interesting case in TV history. While it didn't have the fanbase or ratings like other NBC darlings (cough Friends cough), most episodes were extremely well put together, and offered a solid amount of laughs per half-hour. Plus, one might argue that it was the best thing that a post-SNL David Spade could sign up for.

But, it was guest star David Cross who, weirdly enough, helped put the show on the map. In the Season 3 episode "Slow Donnie," Cross guested as the titular Donnie, brother of photographer Elliot DiMauro (Enrico Colantoni). As a child, Donnie fell out of a tree, and has been mentally delayed ever since -- or so he would have everyone around him believe.

It turns out Donnie has a secret, which he shares with Maya (played by Laura San Giacomo, quite possibly the queen of incredible eyebrows): "I'm not really slow. I just faked falling off that tree, and now they wait on me hand and foot. It is the sweetest scam in the world."

While Maya tries to clue Elliot in, Elliot refuses to believe her. After all, he feels partially responsible for Donnie's accident, and can't even think that such a sweet, innocent boy could pull such a con.

And what a con it is! Donnie has "bits" that attract both compassion and cold hard cash. And people just can't say no to him, because the last thing they want to do is crush his fragile feelings.

It's intriguing that the most iconic quote of Donnie's is, technically, a very brief song. And apparently people have shouted this song out on the street to David Cross on multiple occasions.

Cross nails the line, which is a reference to nothing. It's not a well-known jingle (à la "I feel like chicken tonight") or tune. It's simply an ode to one of America's well-known yet rarely eaten dinners; Steven Levitan, who created the show and also wrote and directed this particular episode, came up with it. And every time I hear it, I get a craving for chicken pot pie. Know when else I get the craving for chicken pot pie? Trick question: no time, ever.

For the record, Cross told David Itzkoff in Mediaite, "The chicken pot pie thing blows my mind...It's a phenomenon...I finally saw it and I'm like- why? I don't get it." The interview happened in 2012, and this episode aired in 1999, so -- yes. That's how big that line was.

Second runner-up to "Chicken Pot Pie" is probably this line, after Maya tries to seduce Donnie to prove to Elliot that Donnie is a big liar. Of course, the plan backfires -- Donnie knows he's getting set up -- so he wriggles out of Maya's trap with this plaintive wail.

With a face like that, no wonder why Elliot believes him. (That, and refusing to imagine his brother would scam his family for years on end based on personal laziness.) After Elliot comes in to rescue Donnie, Donnie makes it obvious that he actually is receptive to Maya's advances. Solid acting, Donnie.

Thankfully, Maya isn't stuck in this tough spot for long. After her father Jack (George Segal) tries to spread some scientific misinformation Donnie's way, Donnie explodes.

And then tries to recover.

But the jig is up.

Donnie's episode was so popular that Cross showed up for two other episodes -- one in Season 5, and one in Season 7, during the final year of the show's run. While Donnie tries hard to redeem himself, it's a bit difficult for both Maya and Elliot to take him seriously -- I mean, sure. It was a "sweet scam," but it was also hilariously heartless.

Today is the day that the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly hits newsstands and is arriving in mailboxes.  While Rogue One covers the front of the magazine, Outlander also is on the cover (you can’t miss the large “Outlander” at the top).  Inside, there is one new official photo of Roger MacKenzie Wakefield (Richard Rankin) and Brianna Randall (Sophie Skelton) and one behind the scenes photo.  There are also interviews with both Sophie, Richard, Ronald D. Moore, and Sam Heughan.

Source: EW, EW #2