Healthy lifestyle
A healthy lifestyle is one which helps to keep and improve people's health and well-being.Many governments and non-governmental organizations have made big efforts in healthy lifestyle and health promotion.
Mental Health
Mental health can be considered a very important factor of physical health for the effects it produces on bodily functions. This type of health concerns emotional and cognitive well-being or an absence of mental disorder.
Public health
Public health can be defined in a variety of ways. It can be presented as "the study of the physical, psychosocial and socio-cultural determinants of population health and actions to improve the health of the population.
Reproductive Health
For the UN, reproductive health is a right, like other human rights. This recent concept evokes the good transmission of the genetic heritage from one generation to the next.
Health
Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.
vendredi 29 décembre 2017
This Man's Bewilderment After Entering Ikea For the First Time Is Hilariously Relatable
Ikea may be filled with affordable wonders for the home, but it's a notorious headache to navigate. Some even consider a visit to the Swedish mega-retailer the ultimate relationship test. But for one 32-year-old man, entering Ikea's cobalt blue doors for the first time was more of a survival challenge. Reddit user JasonOnTheBeach chronicled his first time at an Ikea store in a hilarious Reddit AMA that is garnering a lot of attention.
From getting lost upon entering to questioning the "creepy" prebuilt rooms to roaming the store without seeing another shopper for ten-plus minutes, we can all relate to his utter bewilderment. "Panic has begun to set in as I'm lost somewhere between lawn chairs and utensils. Pray for me . . ." he writes. Check out the full thread – and the hilarious reactions to it – below.
32 y/o man about to enter IKEA for the first time. AMA! from AMA
31 Stars Who Made Us Feel Great About Turning 40 This Year
If you're one of the many people who turned the big 4-0 this year, you're not alone. This Is Us costars Milo Ventimiglia and Justin Hartley both hit the big milestone this year, as well as musicians Kanye West and Chris Martin. In addition to sharing the same birthday, John Cena and Kal Penn also turned 40 along with Tom Brady, Jessica Chastain, and Liv Tyler. If we didn't know any better, we'd say these stars have found the fountain of youth.
Bono Thinks Music Is Too "Girly" Now, And I Think Bono Should Stop Talking
If you thought we were going to be be able to kiss this awful, dumpster fire of a year goodbye without another set of misogynistic quotes from a misguided celebrity, you thought wrong. Squeaking in just under the wire, Bono sat down with Rolling Stone to give an interview that is, well, actually a very fitting end for 2017 when you think about it. In addition to opening up about his near-death experience, the U2 frontman also discussed why he thinks it's sad that male musicians no longer have an outlet for their rage. And why is that? Well, apparently because women know how to dominate the charts now, too.
"I think music has gotten very girly," he said. "And there are some good things about that, but hip-hop is the only place for young male anger at the moment - and that's not good. When I was 16, I had a lot of anger in me. You need to find a place for guitars, whether it is with a drum machine - I don't care. The moment something becomes preserved, it is f*cking over. You might as well put it in formaldehyde."
So, what do you think he means by "very girly"? Have you noticed an abundance of, say, pink satin bows spilling out of your speakers anytime you turn on the radio? Does body glitter ooze from your headphones whenever you accidentally put Spotify's New Music Friday playlist on shuffle? I'm willing to bet that's code for "a lot of women at the top of the charts." Take Cardi B becoming the first female rapper to have a No. 1 solo hit on Billboard charts with "Bodak Yellow", for instance. Or all of the records Taylor Swift has smashed to pieces with Reputation. Or pretty much whenever Beyoncé breathes near a mic.
To be fair, that's just in the pop and hip-hop genres - the rock charts are a totally different story. Nine out of the top 10 tracks on Billboard's Hot Rock Songs chart, at the time of publishing, were released by male artists and bands like Imagine Dragons, Thirty Seconds to Mars, and Theory of a Deadman (Alice Merton's "No Roots" being the only exception).
"In the end, what is rock and roll?" Bono continued. "Rage is at the heart of it. Some great rock and roll tends to have that, which is why The Who were such a great band. Or Pearl Jam. Eddie has that rage."
The popularity of hip-hop or female artists (or female hip-hop artists) does not negate the years of male "rage" put to music by bands like The Who, Pearl Jam, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Nirvana, The Clash, Metallica, The Rolling Stones, and so many, many more. The landscape of modern music is changing just as it always has will continue to. Fortunately for Bono, his 18-year-old son Elijah just might save us all from the tsunami of femininity washing over the music industry: "[Elijah] believes that a rock 'n' roll revolution is around the corner."
Can't wait.
The Most Underrated TV Shows of 2017
The best shows of 2017 have rightfully gotten a lot of our attention, our ink, and many awards this year. But there's so much excellent TV out there that it's hard to narrow it all down into the best of the best, and sometimes, some of the best TV series are the ones that you tell your friends they should be watching and they look at you with the blankest of expressions. So this best-of list is to them, the unsung, the under-rewarded, the "who's in that?" shows that you keep telling your friends they are not watching but need to.
A Comprehensive Guide to Who Taylor Swift's Songs Are About
In the wake of Taylor Swift's recent release of Reputation there's no better time to make sure you have your Swift facts straight. Most importantly, she writes from the heart, and a lot of her songs are about certain people. She doesn't reserve her songwriting for romance gone bad, either: she's also called out a couple of ladies and exes. Here is a brief history of Swift's songs about other famous people.
A Computer Ghost Wrote a Brand-New Harry Potter Chapter, and I'm in Tears
By now, diehard Harry Potter fans have probably read the book series countless times. Even so, there's a 100 percent chance they have yet to read this never-before-seen chapter. Before you get too excited, we need to add context. This "chapter" was written by a predictive keyboard that was developed by Botnik Studios. The keyboard was programmed using all seven Harry Potter books, and then it wrote its own chapter of its own imaginary book. Yep.
The brand-new, computer-generated Harry Potter "book" is called Harry Potter and the Portrait of What Looked Like a Large Pile of Ash. We've specifically been treated to Chapter 13, which is titled "The Handsome One." There's not much else to say; you really, really need to read the chapter for yourself. Even Voldemort and the Death Eaters make sensational cameos.
We used predictive keyboards trained on all seven books to ghostwrite this spellbinding new Harry Potter chapter https://t.co/UaC6rMlqTy http://pic.twitter.com/VyxZwMYVVy
- Botnik Studios (@botnikstudios) December 12, 2017
What's your favorite quote? Mine is "'Not so handsome now,' thought Harry as he dipped Hermione in hot sauce." But there are almost too many good ones to pick. Other standouts include, "Ron's Ron shirt was just as bad as Ron himself," and "Ron was going to be spiders. He just was," and "The password was 'BEEF WOMEN,' Hermione cried."
Can we, like, get a whole book of this please?!
A Marlon Brando Biopic Is in the Works - Here Are 8 Smoldering Casting Ideas
Over a decade ago, Marlon Brando's best friend, George Englund, released a memoir about their enduring friendship titled The Way It's Never Been Done Before. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the memoir is officially being optioned by New Republic Pictures as a biopic about the life of the American actor, film director, and activist. The production company is the same one that's been behind critically acclaimed films such as Black Swan, Hacksaw Ridge, and more, so we have faith the story is in good hands.
Once the project gets greenlit, the difficult task will be finding a classically handsome actor with the right depth, complexity, and furrowed eyebrows to portray the iconic star. As for that, we have a few ideas. Fortunately, there are plenty of babes who seem to have what it takes for this epic leading role. They make our job so easy.
The New Roseanne Trailer Hints at How They'll Address Dan's "Death" in the Reboot
Although we're excited about the Roseanne reboot, we do have one lingering question: how are they going to address the series finale death of Dan Conner? The beloved '90s comedy is bringing back the show's original cast, including John Goodman, who played the Conner patriarch from 1988 to 1997. That means Dan's death is likely going to be ignored à la the Will & Grace revival. We get a taste of the tongue-in-cheek way they're going to tackle that plot twist in the latest teaser for Roseanne, above.
While Dan and Becky (Alicia Goranson) watch a Bulls game, he brags about how the 1996-97 team is so much better than the current line-up, to which Roseanne (Roseanne Barr) fires back, "You can't live in the past, Dan. When things are gone, they're gone forever!" Very clever, you guys. See the rest of the trailers below before the reboot premieres on March 27!
The Trailer For Mom and Dad Might Be Nicolas Cage at His Most Insane
The brutal first trailer for Brian Taylor's Mom and Dad shows us a whole new side to Nicolas Cage. Sure, we've seen the actor go nuts before in movies like Face/Off, Vampire's Kiss, and The Wicker Man (the man loves a meltdown), but the footage from this upcoming horror flick sees his character in an attempt to murder his own kids. Alongside Selma Blair, who plays his wife Kendall, Cage's character sets out to kill his two children when a bout of mass hysteria in their town results in parents violently turning on their own progeny. Will the kids survive their father singing "The Hokey Pokey" while destroying a pool table with a sledgehammer? We'll find out when the movie drops in theaters and on demand on Jan. 19.
Why Isn't There Explicit Gay Sex in Call Me by Your Name?
Warning: slightly explicit sexual details pertaining to Call Me by Your Name lie ahead.
Without a doubt, Call Me by Your Name is one of the most beautiful and well-executed films of the year. The Oscar front runner paints the picture of a gay romance in 1980s Italy that blossoms over the course of six short weeks. With delicate dialogue that belies the real feelings of the characters, powerhouse performances from Armie Hammer and Timothée Chalamet, a dreamy soundtrack driven by Sufjan Stevens, and so many other small moments of magic, it's easy to see why the film is such a masterpiece. And yet for such a seductive and alluring story, the film remains shy about one crucial aspect of the smitten lovers' romance: sex.
For the first half of the film, Elio (Chalamet) seems to struggle with his emerging sexuality. Despite his obvious feelings for Oliver (Hammer), he ignites a short-lived romance with Marzia (Esther Garrel), the local girl he's grown up with. In this brief tryst, Elio loses his virginity. We watch as he absconds to the forest with Marzia, and we watch him on top of her, writhing, presumably mid-act. He finishes and rolls to the side, breathless and ecstatic.
When Elio finally succumbs to his feelings for Oliver, they meet in his room at midnight. Elio is visibly nervous; his foot creeps over and rests on Oliver's. They kiss and undress, but before they actually get into the heat of their sexual encounter, the camera pans away and takes us out the window. Only a few extra gasps and kisses can be heard as we fade to black. When the two escape for a final trip before Oliver heads back to the States, we again don't witness any explicit sex. Only Oliver's nude silhouette can be spotted, staring out into the early-morning light.
Perhaps the only explicit onscreen demonstration of gay sex comes after Elio and Oliver's first night together. Oliver, suddenly worried he may have scared off Elio, knocks on his door. He tells Elio to pull down his swim trunks and gives him a blowjob in the doorway, then slams the door in his face. While it's an interesting and playful moment that comes right after their first night of romance, it doesn't quite show the intimacy and intense connection between two smitten lovers.
It's also true that Elio masturbates with a peach, which is a pretty explicit scene in itself and carries quite a bit of homoerotic thematic significance. And though Oliver takes a bite out of that same peach once Elio is done, it's not the same as the intimacy depicted when two characters make love.
It turns out this decision not to depict gay sex was very deliberate. In a Q&A, director Luca Guadagnino said he "wasn't interested at all" in showing explicit sex.
"The tone would've been very different from what I was looking for. I wanted the audience to completely rely on the emotional travel of these people and feel first love. I didn't want the audience to find any difference or discrimination toward these characters. It was important to me to create this powerful universality, because the whole idea of the movie is that the other person makes you beautiful - enlightens you, elevates you. The other is often confronted with rejection, fear, or a sense of dread, but the welcoming of the other is a fantastic thing to do, particularly in this historical moment."
While the director makes excellent points, I'd argue that there are tasteful ways to show their sexual interactions on screen without changing the tone of the film. I think you can depict gay sex without it coming across as "dirty" and without tainting the innocence of a first love. And for what it's worth, the screenwriter behind the adaptation (James Ivory) has spoken about the lack of nudity. "Certainly in my screenplay there was all sorts of nudity," Ivory told Vanity Fair. "But according to Luca, both actors had it in their contract that there would be no frontal nudity, and there isn't, which I think is kind of a pity. Again, it's just this American attitude. Nobody seems to care that much, or be shocked, about a totally naked woman. It's the men."
When you consider the onscreen sex scene with Elio and Marzia, and the fact that Marzia has the most nudity in the film, the exclusion of male nudity and gay sex certainly make for an interesting choice. I still loved the film, and I thought it was beautiful and heartbreaking in all the best ways (that speech from Mr. Perlman, Elio's father, at the end, am I right?), but perhaps it's worth it to meditate on this specific decision. Why is the inclusion of gay sex perceived as something that would "change the tone" of the film? How would it take away from Elio and Oliver's sweet romance? We may never know how it would have been received this time around. But, hey, there's always the potential sequel.
12 Fascinating Things You Probably Didn't Know About Titanic
It's been two decades since Jack and Rose's ill-fated romance broke our hearts and turned "never let go" into the most romantic vow one could make. At the time of filming, Titanic was the most expensive movie ever made, and no one could have predicted the monstrous success headed its way. The blockbuster went on to become the highest grossing film of all time (before being dethroned by James Cameron's 2009 film Avatar), and has entered the pop cultural zeitgeist as one of the essential films to see before you die. But even after dissecting the film, its stars, and the real-life events that inspired it, there are still some things about the movie that remain endlessly fascinating. Here are 12 interesting facts about Titanic!
1. There Was Almost a Different Jack and Rose
It's impossible to imagine the film without Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio, but rumor has it they were not the first choices for their characters. Gwyneth Paltrow and Matthew McConaughey were reportedly in talks to star before things fell through. With that said, don't expect James Cameron to reveal the truth. "I will neither confirm nor deny," he said. "I just don't think that's cool to talk about actors that either chose not to do it, or were unavailable, or stupidly decided that there wasn't enough meat on the bone of the character, or whatever it was."
2. Winslet REALLY Wanted the Part
In order to secure the lead role, Winslet reportedly got ahold of director James Cameron's number and called to tell him, "I just have to do this, and you are really mad if you don't cast me." She'd go on to deny doing this years later, but admitted to sending him roses with a note signed, "From Your Rose" after her audition. "Jim took a risk in casting me," she said. "A lot of my contemporaries - Uma Thurman, Gwyneth Paltrow, Winona Ryder - were much more likely candidates. I got lucky."
3. DiCaprio Got Crabby on the Set
Fourteen-hour days are rough for anyone, so it's understandable that Leo would have moments of weakness amidst his 70-90-hour work weeks. While filming that famous dinner party scene in which his character coins the phrase "Make it count," he reportedly leaned over to Kathy Bates and asked (while pointing at the cutlery),"Which one of these do I use to lobotomize myself?" A 1998 Vanity Fair article also quotes him as being less than thrilled on a different day. "[DiCaprio] was sick of the brown land, the mariachi merriment, and Cameron's big tub," the story read. So one day "he ambled over to the set, took a good look at the four soundstages, the 17-million-gallon water tank, the smokestacks rising majestically against the sky, the hordes of extras running around in period clothes - and thought, 'This is bullshit.'"
4. Cameron Was Extremely Thorough
The director went through great lengths to ensure the film's authenticity, and his thoroughness extended to the movie's characters . . . even the extras. "One night toward the climax - it was 4:30 a.m. - and the ship is dipping into the very chilly Pacific waters, and 2,000 people are scrambling toward the stern, [Cameron] yells, 'Cut!'" Billy Zane, who played Cal, recalled. "Climbs onto the deck from the crane basket swinging him around with the sky cam, goes up to an extra, who's this old lady, and says, 'You're not just running. You need to go down to the sea deck because your daughter told you she forgot something very dear, her wedding ring, and she's going down there and you gave her five minutes, and she's taken 10, and you regret making that choice.' He's giving backstory to a background artist, which elevated the moment for her and spread like wildfire to the other extras." Neat.
5. The Director Has Settled the Door Debate
The last half of the film finds Rose on a floating door, while Jack remains submerged. The moment has sparked heated a debate over the years: "Why didn't they just take turns? There was room for him on that thing," and so on. Now, consider those arguments settled because Cameron has provided the definitive answer. "Look, it's very, very simple: you read page 147 of the script and it says, 'Jack gets off the board and gives his place to her so that she can survive.' It's that simple." If the director says it is so, then so it shall be.
6. Jack Had an Unexpected Hand Double
Perhaps one of the most romantic (and most quoted) scenes of the film is when Rose asks Jack to draw her like one of his French girls. However, the hands you see on screen don't belong to DiCaprio. Since he's more of an actor than an illustrator, Cameron stepped in to do the actual sketching.
7. J. Dawson Was Real
Jack Dawson might have been a fictional character but, as it turns out, there was a J. Dawson aboard the real ship. It's a mere coincidence that the two share such similar names because Cameron didn't find out about the latter until after the film wrapped. Since its release, the real Dawson's gravesite has been extremely popular among tourists.
8. Jeremy Sisto Was Nearly Cast
Could you imagine? Nope, me neither. But before Leonardo DiCaprio signed onto the film, Clueless hunk Jeremy Sisto did a screen test with Kate Winslet. However, they didn't have much chemistry and he was soon let go. "It was exciting to be a part of the process," he said. "To be involved in something that had that kind of scope - anything James Cameron does has this huge scope to it. He's trying to push the limits on things. So I was just insanely inspired by it and a little heartbroken when the role didn't come my way."
9. Lindsay Lohan Almost Had a Part
Yep, you read that correctly. The Parent Trap star, who was 8 at the time, was supposed to play Jack's "best girl" Cora, but Cameron thought her red hair made her look too similar to Rose and her mother Ruth.
10. Celine Dion's Hit Song Wasn't Originally Planned
For the soundtrack, Cameron only wanted songs without words. Things changed when composer James Horner hooked up with lyricist Will Jennings and singer Celine Dion to secretly create a demo for "My Heart Will Go On," which Cameron loved. The song made it into the closing credits, and the rest is history.
11. Titanic Holds a Unique Record
These days, movies tend to disappear from the theater after a month and a half. Back then, they were around for months. Titanic, which was released on Dec. 19, 1997, was still in theaters when it also came out on VHS on Sept. 1, 1998. It's the first and probably only film to accomplish such a feat.
12. The Crew Was Reportedly Drugged
After a long and difficult shoot, the cast and crew were nearly ready to wrap when many of them came down with a mysterious illness. Fifteen minutes after eating lobster chowder, "the crew was all milling about. Some people were laughing, some people were crying, some people were throwing up," actor Bill Paxton recalled. "One minute I felt okay," he added, "the next minute I felt so goddamn anxious I wanted to breathe in a paper bag. Cameron was feeling the same way." It turns out that someone had spiked their food with PCP. To this day, no one knows the culprit behind it.
Us the Duo Combines All of 2017's Catchiest Songs in This Brilliant Medley
As you get ready to say goodbye to 2017 for good, it's the perfect time to wind back through all of your favorite songs from this year. From Taylor Swift's "Look What You Made Me Do" to Demi Lovato's "Sorry Not Sorry," this year was full of bops. And what better way to listen to them all than through a show-stopping medley? After going viral with their impressive cover last year, Us the Duo is back with another top hits mash-up. Get ready to relive 2017 (the songs, at least) as you watch the video, above.
Laura Dern Gets Hot and Heavy With NBA Star Baron Davis in LA
Love may be in the air for Laura Dern! The 50-year-old Star Wars actress was photographed kissing 38-year-old NBA star Baron Davis outside the Beverly Hills Hotel in LA on Dec. 20. According to Us Weekly, the duo was seen "talking, laughing, and having a great time" and seemed "infatuated with each other" and "very much like a new couple in love." Baron even held on to Laura's purse during their passionate makeout session.
Laura was previously married to musician Ben Harper from 2005 to 2013 and shares two teenage children with him, son Ellery and daughter Jaya. She was also linked to Common in 2016, while Baron filed for divorce from then-wife Isabella Brewster-Davis in June, whom he shares sons Kingman and Luke with. Laura and Baron have yet to publicly address their relationship.
Lin-Manuel Miranda's Tribute to His Late Grandmother Will Break Your Heart in 2
Broadway star Lin-Manuel Miranda is mourning the death of his grandmother. "Abuela Mundi passed away this Christmas morning," the Hamilton star and creator tweeted on Christmas Day. "I may have more words in the days to come but for now my heart is in pieces and that's where it's gonna be for a bit." The Tony, Grammy, and Emmy-award winner ended his heartbreaking post with a tribute to his late-grandmother in black and white photos, which you can see ahead. Our condolences go out to Lin-Manuel and his family during this difficult time.
Abuela Mundi passed away this Christmas morning. I may have more words in the days to come but for now my heart is in pieces and that's where it's gonna be for a bit. http://pic.twitter.com/f9Iia15Z9n
- Lin-Manuel Miranda (@Lin_Manuel) December 26, 2017
In Memoriam: 82 Stars We've Lost This Year
We lost so many famous figures in 2016, and while we're all hoping that the last few days of this year are a little brighter, a handful of stars have already left us too soon. From Mary Tyler Moore to John Hurt, we're paying our respects to all the celebrities we've said goodbye to in 2017.
16 Times Harry and Meghan Made Their Love For Each Other Loud and Clear
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have been going strong since the Spring of 2016, but it wasn't until this year that we got a closer look at their romance. Whether they're out on a romantic date night, a sports event, or a royal engagement, Harry and Meghan never shy away from showing PDA. The two always look so in love, and Harry has even said that he knew Meghan was "the one" from the very first time they met. In honor of their recent engagement, take a look at Meghan and Harry's sweetest PDA moments.
35 Songs to Turn ALL the Way Up to This New Year's Eve
In spite of all the terrible things that happened, 2017 was filled with some pretty solid music. From the waterfall of Summer jams to all those sexy songs that had your hips moving, it seems the plenitude of bops was actually one of the bright spots of the last 12 months. And what better way to bid farewell to this garbage year than to remember some of the best pop songs it had to offer? This New Year's Eve, turn the volume all the way up, put your worries to bed, and dance. We even made a Spotify playlist for you. (You're welcome.)
Why the Music in Grey's Anatomy Matters So Much
Let's be honest: the music in Grey's Anatomy is absolutely iconic.
"I distinctly remember discussing how important it would be that the show's music should be its own character," wrote Alexandra Patsavas, the show's music supervisor, in a post on Shondaland. "This character would have a place in both the operating room and the break room. It would be there in elevators, bars, and homes. And, of course, it would be there for all THE BIG STUFF - for weddings and funerals, for births and deaths, for the grittiest moments and the most lighthearted."
Patsavas isn't alone in this sentiment. The medical drama's creator, Shonda Rhimes, recognizes the undeniable impact of the show's impeccable music selection over the years, tweeting in November that she only included "the most iconic" Grey's songs in the 300th episode. Over its 14 seasons, Grey's has featured a lot of soul-stirring, toe-tapping songs that trigger some really memorable moments for fans. A lot of the songs featured throughout the series are often attached to huge storylines or finales, such as "Chasing Cars" in the season two finale, the former Grey's theme song, "Cosy in a Rocket," and "Keep Breathing" from the season three finale when Meredith has to cut Cristina out of her wedding dress. The music in the show has arguably been just as memorable as the characters, and it's something fans can't help but to gush about.
The Roseanne Reboot Has a Very Clever Plan to Fix That Second Becky Problem
When it came time to round up the original cast for the upcoming Roseanne reboot, the producers realized they had a few tricky problems to deal with. Not only does John Goodman's character, Dan Conner, die in the series finale, but the '90s comedy also had two actresses play the role of Becky Conner during its 1988 to 1997 run: Lecy Goranson (Season 1 - Season 5) and Sarah Chalke (Season 6 - Season 9). It appears the production team is ignoring Dan's death completely, à la the Will & Grace revival, and as for Becky, they have a much more creative idea in store.
According to Entertainment Weekly, the producers are bringing back both actresses who played Becky. Chalke took over the role from Goranson when she left the show to go to college, but in the new season the Scrubs alum will play "a middle-class married woman named Andrea who hires Becky (Goranson) to serve as her surrogate." It's a clever plot twist that allows both the writing team and fans of the long-running sitcom to acknowledge both of the women who helped bring Becky into living rooms across the country.
Although we haven't caught a glimpse of Chalke's character just yet (Goranson's Becky appears in the most recent trailer), it sounds like she couldn't be more thrilled to be involved.
"I love the part! It's such a fun part to play," Chalke told EW of her new role. "I was so excited to hear that it was coming back. I think the timing is perfect. I think it's exactly what is needed right now. Right now when the country is so divided, I really think it's a show that brings people together. The writing is so unbelievable. It's so funny."
Roseanne premieres on March 27.
jeudi 28 décembre 2017
Obama Reveals How He Felt at Trump's Inauguration, and It Might Not Be What You Expect
Barack Obama sat down with Prince Harry for an intimate interview that aired on BBC Radio 4 on Dec. 27, and the former president's words of wisdom are making us miss him even more than we already did. Before diving into a round of humorous quick-fire questions, Harry asked Obama to relive January, 20, 2017, the day he passed the White House keys to Donald Trump. "You sat through the inauguration with your game face on, not giving much emotion away - as we all saw. What's going through your mind?" Harry inquired.
Obama, being the truly eloquent gentlemen he is, didn't bash his successor; rather, he focused his recollection of that fateful day on his family. "The first thing that went through my mind was sitting across from Michelle, how thankful I was that she had been my partner through that whole process," he said, before describing her as a "spectacular, funny, warm person." Obama also noted that during Trump's inauguration, he felt grateful to be leaving the Oval Office with his marriage still "intact," adding that Michelle is still his best friend.
That, paired with the fact that his two daughters were in turning into "amazing young women," left the now-former POTUS filled with a sense of accomplishment. "You know, the sense that there was a completion and that we had done the work in a way that preserved our integrity and left us whole and that we hadn't fundamentally changed, I think was a satisfying feeling," he said. "That was mixed with all the work that was still undone and concerns about how the country moves forward," he continued, "but overall there was a serenity there - more than I would have expected." Heck, we didn't expect that either, Obama!
Listen to the audio clip below to hear Obama open up about how he really felt on that day when Trump took his presidential oath.
"Overall there was serenity there. More than I would have expected."@BarackObama on his feelings after @realDonaldTrump was inaugurated as US President #r4today http://pic.twitter.com/lNilKhml6D
- BBC Radio 4 Today (@BBCr4today) December 27, 2017
Tech, Sex, and Mrs. Fletcher: A Conversation With Tom Perrotta
Tom Perrotta has perfected the art of transforming the everyday into something spectacular. Nobody is able to make a mundane argument or festering secret into a page-turner quite like him, and his books speak to the larger societal issues of the day while retaining a focus on protagonists who feel like our neighbors, our coworkers, our friends. As a result, Perrotta's portrayal of life's lessons are often uncomfortable, are always intricate, and frequently bring the reader back to their own successes and shortcomings. And it should come as no surprise that his works have served as source material for some of the most critically acclaimed adaptations, films such as Election and Little Children as well as The Leftovers, which ended its run on HBO earlier this Summer.
For his latest novel, Mrs. Fletcher, Perrotta hones in on two specific characters: Eve, a recent empty-nester and divorcée who is experiencing a sexual revolution as a result of technological advances, and Brendan, her son, who's just begun college and is forced to reconcile his feelings of entitlement with the cold, hard reality of life in 2017. While other voices are heard throughout, it's these two individuals who take us through what it means to be mother and son in an era where anything is possible but nothing comes without consequences. And as we follow their journey through that first separated year, Brendan and Eve attempt to understand from two unique generational perspectives the most difficult issues out there - from autism to sexual assault on campus to transgender rights to internet porn - and, as to be expected, neither one emerges unscathed.
Perrotta spoke with POPSUGAR by phone on Aug. 14, and below is a lightly edited transcript of the wide-ranging conversation.
POPSUGAR: What was the inspiration behind the book?
Tom Perrotta: My kids have gone to college recently - I have a daughter who's 23, and a son who's 20 - and in bringing them back to college, I had this flashback to my own college days. I was also just pondering what this time of life means; when you're effectively done raising your kids, and the possibilities that are opened up by that - and somehow the two things came together. I'm sort of jealous of my kids in college, and I imagine that Mrs. Fletcher, too, is feeling like, "Where's the fun for me?"
PS: What made you hone in on technology and how it affects culture in such a big way throughout the book?
TP: I was just thinking about the world that was right in front of me. And certainly when people my age think about the sex lives of their kids, or their kids' peers - they're always imagining they're filming themselves with their phones, or sending dirty pictures or, you know, swiping right. And that's the big difference between then and now, and the real question is whether that's a superficial difference or a profound one.
PS: And what did you ultimately think the answer was, after working on the book?
TP: For Mrs. Fletcher, it was highly profound. Part of the fun of the book is that she becomes a college student, to some effect. She takes a class, she starts meeting all these people - but she also has a kind of erotic life that's mediated by her laptop, and it's her phone that gets her in touch with her sexuality in a way that she might not have been in touch with it before. Human longing is a constant, but the way that we're able to deal with it is really contingent on the time that we live in, and with the technology available to us.
PS: For the most part, I felt like Eve was liberated by technology whereas Brendan felt baffled by it. Do you think that these are the two binary effects, which two generations feel in different ways, or was it a product of the characters themselves?
"I feel the same way about technology that I do about capitalism, or cars. It's such a big phenomenon that it's almost impossible to put a single judgment on it."
TP: I feel the same way about technology that I do about capitalism, or cars. It's such a big phenomenon that it's almost impossible to put a single judgment on it. For some people, capitalism works great. For lots of other people, it works terribly. And for some people, pornography is liberating - for others, it limits them and gives them a wrong-headed idea about what sex is. As a writer, I'm more interested in trying to fairly observe the effects on different characters, rather than trying to come up with it with a single judgment on the subject.
PS: On the subject of different characters: I know you've written novels with multiple narrators in the past; what made you decide to do that again with Mrs. Fletcher?
TP: That was an accident, really. I wanted to write a very short novel about Eve, a woman who goes into this erotic reverie when her kid leaves for college and she's alone for the first time. A porn-fueled reverie, where her fantasy takes over her reality. It's still in the book, but the second I wrote that I was like, actually, I'm really interested in her son - and they are both involved in the same story. They're both trying to create new lives, and they're both encountering new people, and they both have an identity that's in flux. And those two stories just started to speak to each other.
As a writer, when important characters enter the story and they're going to affect my main characters . . . I want to get to know them too. So every now and then I'm like, "Oh man, that Amanda girl, what's she up to?" From there I decide I'm going to spend some time on Amanda, or Amber, or Margot. It's just the way my stories seem to build themselves.
Image Source: Getty / FilmMagic
PS: Did you notice any difference when tackling the same events from both a male and female perspective?
TP: What I was so conscious of - and it's one of the reasons I used first person for Brendan and third person for Eve - was just how different their worlds were. Even though they're mother and son and they should know each other really well, in the book it feels like their worlds barely intersect. They just exist in entirely different realities. And I think that goes into gender, as well as age. So the short answer is yes.
PS: On the subject of age: it seemed like person-to-person conversations were much easier for Eve after she found the internet, whereas it made it so that Brendan couldn't really interact with people face to face without things falling apart. Do you think the same is true for people of different ages in real life?
"If you ask people my age, what they find super shocking is that when there's a group of kids at a table, they all seem more interested in their phones than the people right in front of them."
TP: If you ask people my age, what they find super shocking is that when there's a group of kids at a table, they all seem more interested in their phones than the people right in front of them. I know that I've started to do that, too, and I feel terrible about it. I'll be looking at my laptop and people in my family will be talking to me, and I'll be half here and half there. So I don't know that it's an age thing, but maybe people that are the same age as my kids take things for granted and don't feel guilty about it, whereas I at least feel guilty about it.
PS: Do you think that the characters ultimately benefit from having this rabbit hole of information on the internet, or do you think that they're stunted because they're finding this on the internet as opposed to finding it in real life?
TP: I think that the internet has evolved the way it has because, at least superficially, it meets a lot of our needs. So the problem may be that it meets our needs so successfully that it's kind of expanded to take over the space that used to be given to other people. I also wonder if we're just in a transitional phase, and ultimately we'll figure out how to not be completely absorbed by our technology. Right now, I do feel like it's taking up huge parts of our mental energy, and it's a little scary. But in terms of getting people connected, it's kind of amazing. It's just such a huge phenomenon that I don't know if it's good or bad - I see some effects that are good, and some that are bad. It also feels transformative, like people are just becoming different, and society is becoming different.
PS: You touch on a lot of really hot-button issues in society right now, from autism to sexual assault to internet porn and shaming. Which one was the most difficult to tackle when writing the book?
TP: When you talk about shaming, and call-out walls, and sexual assault . . . there's a cluster of issues there that are just so powerful. There have been attempts to create a more just system, to have people take responsibility of their sexual behavior, and to punish sexual assault - especially because so many rapes and assaults go unreported and unpunished. And there can also sometimes be a rush to judgment, or an unfair accusation - it's just this really complicated, messy situation right now and I was trying to write about it and do justice to as much of it as I could.
I definitely felt that when I was writing, like, boy, this is a territory that is just filled with landmines. It should just be a very simple morality, that no means no, and people should be held responsible for their sexual misdeeds. But on the other hand, hookup culture is so complicated and often it's the story of two people who are both really drunk, and in writing about it I felt sort of in the mess - in the way that college students feel that they're in the mess.
I was just so interested in trying to look at that night [in the book] that it happens between them. When they go to a documentary about social injustice, and then they go to a party where they're in their underwear, and then Brendan has this weird encounter with his roommate - it was a really complicated section to write, you know, because it all seems to be happening in some weird gray area.
PS: It's often hard to swallow Brendan's sense of self-entitlement, but I think there's also this sweet, misguided kid under all of that. I'm curious as to what you were trying to achieve with his character.
TP: I think a lot of the debate around sexual assault ultimately does involve guys like Brendan. And they're easy to vilify, because they often do behave badly. But I'm just curious as to who these guys are, because our society seems to produce them at a very high volume. And weirdly, they're often the sons of moms like Eve who consider themselves feminists and want their sons to be decent and be respectful of women. And it is sort of a question of "Where do they come from?" and "Why do they think this way?" and "Why do they think they can get away with the stuff they get away with?" Guys like that are often written off as a type; if you say he's a "frat boy" or "bro," we all think we know who they are. But the fiction writer in me is like, wait a minute, it's got to be more complicated than that, they're individuals.
The other part of it is that we're seeing him through his mother's eyes. It's harder to write him off when we're looking at him through Eve's eyes - she wants him to grow up and be a decent man, she wants him to be happy, and she wants him to succeed. So we have a stake in him through her.
PS: As a writer, what was the most interesting or enlightening thing you learned when doing your research for writing this book?
"One of the inspirations for the book was the explosion of consciousness about transgender people during the past five years."
TP: One of the inspirations for the book was the explosion of consciousness about transgender people during the past five years. Obviously, transgender people and gender studies have been around for a long time, but what had once been an academic subject has entered more into the mainstream. I felt a lot of responsibility when writing Margot's character; describing her class, trying to understand who she was, where she came from, what her life was like to the best of my ability.
PS: I was also fascinated by the relationship between Brendan, Eve, and Margot, the transgender professor in the book. What were you thinking with that dynamic?
TP: Eve is having the college experience she wishes her son could have. She's got this amazing teacher who is presenting her with new ideas and new ways of thinking, and she's meeting cool people in the class , she's going out and having fun with them, and it's transforming her sense of her own sexuality in some interesting way. What Brendan has is Amber, and she's trying to be the same for him - but he's just not ready somehow. He's not ready for all of it, but she does at least expose him to things, and make him think about things, and as a result the guy he is when he leaves college is a slightly deeper person than the one who first went there. But he's not a willing student in the way that Eve is a willing student.
PS: So, to switch topics a bit: I'd be remiss if I didn't ask you about the ending of The Leftovers. How does it feel now that the show has come to an end?
TP: I'm just so proud of the show. It was a difficult show to make, because it wasn't really like anything else and we had to figure out what it was on the fly. Anybody who watches it can see that at the beginning we're not completely sure what the show is. But then we slowly start to pinpoint, "Oh, this is the tone," or "This show can be funny," or "This character is important," or even "This is a Leftovers moment." That's what we would often say in the writer's room, "This is a Leftovers moment, this is so Leftovers." It was obvious to us in the beginning, but by the end of it we were were really sort of fully in it, and I just love the way it ended. It felt just right. It was an intense and wonderful creative experience for me.
The Founder of the #MeToo Movement Will Kick Off the Times Square New Year's Eve Countdown
The astronomical rise of the #MeToo movement was one of the most stunning developments of 2017; it broke the silence that lingered in workplaces for decades and empowered women across the country to come together to speak their personal truths. As a result, #MeToo was recognized as the coveted Time Person of the Year, and now, The Times Square Alliance is granting the highest possible honor to the movement's founder, Tarana Burke: she'll be pressing the button that kicks off the countdown for Times Square's annual ball drop.
"I am delighted to be participating in this momentous occasion," Burke said in a press release about the event. "I think it's fitting to honor the Me Too movement as we close a historic year and set our intentions for 2018. With the new year comes new momentum to fuel this work and we won't stop anytime soon."
Last year's ball was released by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, in honor of the work that the UN does on a daily basis and to signify unity and strength. Burke, who founded Just Be Inc. a little over a decade ago to support victims of sexual harassment and assault, initially created Me Too in order to provide victims with a safe haven to share their stories and has been widely credited as the true founder of the movement we know today.
"We are very proud to highlight Tarana Burke and the important movement she began," said Jeff Straus, President of Countdown Entertainment, who hosts the annual event. "As the world joins together to welcome 2018, we are inspired as Tarana will lead our countdown and represent our commitment to continue to stand together and support each other in the upcoming year."
You Can Now Share a WiFi Password in iOS 11 in 1 Quick and Easy Step
Most people know that the true test of friendship isn't texting someone every day, or being the first one at the bar for their happy hour - it's actually all about feeling comfortable enough to ask for the WiFi password. Think about it: it means you'll be over enough times to hop on the WiFi and that you're not just trying to check Facebook to meet up with more interesting people. But with iOS 11, asking for WiFi will be easier than ever and won't require someone to dig up the piece of paper where they wrote their password in the first place. So we can kiss that friendship test goodbye, but say hello to not sucking up quite so much data when we're out and about in the world.
In iOS 11, as long as you and your friend already have each other in your contacts and put your iPhone, iPad, or Mac near each other, you can share the WiFi password without needing to divulge what it is. Whoever is already on the WiFi network will receive a notification that another person is trying to join. If that person is your friend or someone you know, you can approve the request and they'll be put on the network. This works for personal cases, as well as at big offices (I tried it at the POPSUGAR office in San Francisco, and it went pretty smoothly.)
If you're still confused, not to worry; just look at ahead at how to use it and what the WiFi sharing feature looks like. After that, you can try the other useful updates on iOS 11 like new screenshotting tools and a one-handed keyboard.
Hm, Who Could Barack Obama Be Roasting in This Interview With Prince Harry?
On Dec. 27, BBC finally aired Prince Harry's interview with Barack Obama, which was initially conducted during the Invictus Games back in September. Prince Harry, of course, seized the opportunity to dig deep with the former president, who spoke pretty candidly about his feelings on Inauguration Day. And while he may have been pretty direct about Donald Trump at that point in the 40-minute chat, he also used the opportunity to talk more cryptically about Trump's social media habits at another.
"One of the dangers of the internet is that people can have entirely different realities."
At one point during the interview, Prince Harry brought up social media and Obama warned about the inherent harm that platforms like Twitter and Facebook can cause. "One of the dangers of the internet is that people can have entirely different realities," Obama said. "They can be cocooned in information that reinforces their current biases," he said. The way Obama dances around Trump's name (but almost certainly seems to be referencing him) is reminiscent of his comments at this year's New Delhi Summit, where he said "certain politicians" need to think before they tweet.
Trump's "alternate reality" and myopic Twitter usage aren't the only aspects of his online presence that Obama cryptically referenced. He also touched on Trump's obsession with "fake news" and the "dishonest media" in a rather telling anecdote about the way things used to be. In another era, there weren't "alternate facts." Instead, everyone used the same information to come to different conclusions.
"All of us in leadership have to find ways in which we can re-create a common space on the internet. It used to be, in the United States, for example, we had three television stations and everybody watched Walter Cronkite or David Brinkley or whoever the chief anchor was. Everybody had a common set of facts, and so there might be conservatives and liberals, but people could generally agree on a baseline of reality."
While Obama's interview may have been recorded in September, it couldn't have dropped at a more poignant time. After all, sources in the White House said as recently as November 2017 that Trump still "privately questions" the authenticity of Obama's birth certificate. If you can think of a better example of someone living in a completely different reality than everyone else, I'd be very keen on hearing about it.
Donald Trump Stars in This Hilarious (and Holiday-Themed) Bad Lip Reading
It wouldn't quite feel like the holidays without a new Christmas jam to get us dancing. Luckily for us, the Bad Lip Reading YouTube channel has come in clutch, just in the nick of time, with a horrifying yet hilarious new video starring President Donald Trump. This time around, Trump is singing "Christmas Is Here," a tune that's a little too catchy for its own good. Don't worry, Trump is also backed by a chorus that includes a desperate-to-escape Melania Trump and that terrifying Trump robot that was unveiled by Disney just this month. Perhaps the best lyric is, "When I finally speak, I won't tell you anything at all." Tell us how you really feel, BLR peeps.
This Epic Troll Will Make Feminists Everywhere Cheer
It is incredibly hard to pull off a perfect troll these days. Between a dramatic uptick in bad news stories and the rise of a certain flavor of "fake news," the internet is always bracing for the worst - and very rarely can humor cut through that sort of set-in-stone mentality. But on Oct. 22, one Minneapolis, MN, alternative newspaper managed to turn the announcement of the Super Bowl halftime artist into a story that drove feminists everywhere to give a standing ovation.
The headline of the must-read City Pages story? "Husband of Ely, MN's Jessica Biel to perform at Super Bowl"
BREAKING: Husband of Ely, MN's Jessica Biel to perform at Super Bowl https://t.co/SVBpxoQonW http://pic.twitter.com/hM2kSuOhIH
- City Pages (@citypages) October 23, 2017
There are so many things outside the headline, though, that make this article a true work of art. For starters, the performer's name (spoiler alert: Justin Timberlake) isn't revealed until the third paragraph. And the great reveal is delivered in the form of a sick burn: "Though he's known for dating non-Minnesotan stars such as Britney Spears and Cameron Diaz before he was lucky enough to wed an Iron Range gal, Biel's husband Justin Timberlake isn't just celebrity arm candy. "
The article also praises the NFL for choosing to honor Minnesota - future home to the 2018 Super Bowl - by choosing a former resident's husband to perform, since "the nod to Biel, who tops IMDB's list of 'Most Popular People Born in Ely/ Minnesota /USA,' is a nice touch."
And, of course, there's this perfect bit of shade, used to describe why readers might recognize JT's name: "Minnesotans will probably remember Timberlake best as a member of 'N Sync, the turn-of-the-millennium boy band whose 1999 autograph-signing at the Mall of America was cut short when some anti-poptimist bushwhacker dropped a water balloon on the crowd."
Well done, City Pages: we applaud you for one hell of a perfectly executed troll.
This Robot Wants to Be Your Personal Assistant, DJ, and Photographer - and Won't Break the Bank
Despite all the technological advances of the last couple decades, we still haven't seen the robot butlers and personal assistants that we were promised back in the olden days of the 20th century. To Yossi Wolf, cofounder of the wildly successful Roboteam - which provides tactical robots for militaries around the world - this became the ultimate challenge. Wolf set out on a mission to create the world's first "truly intelligent, mobile, personal robot for your home, that places you at the center of your technology," and as of November 2017, the very first personal robot, Temi, will begin its initial roll-out on the path to making that dream a reality. And the best part? The price tag won't stretch beyond the $1,500 mark - which means you, too, can own your very own personal assistant, DJ, photographer, and video hub for the price of less than a MacBook Air. Behold, the robot of our dreams:
POPSUGAR sat down with Wolf on Aug. 22 to discuss Temi, which he described as "the iPhone of the home" but with the capability to "make you move." The upright robot comes when you call it and acts as the hub for all of your technology, content, and devices. It runs on an Android operating system - which means that it's compatible with all of your favorite apps - and is built on a set of algorithms that are constantly evolving and becoming smarter about you and your habits.
Temi has also been specially programmed for "autonomous navigation" alongside its artificial intelligence, which means that it adapts to your movement and the terrain in your household and is constantly mapping out how to get from its current location to where you are. That's right - this is a robot that comes when you call it and won't just bowl over anything that's in its way to get to you. What Wolf is alluding to, though, when he says that Temi will make you move is the fact that it enables you to go hands-free on all of your devices. "Hands-free is the future," Wolf said, and having a robot that runs Alexa and allows you to put down your phone enables you to "bring your eyes up again" and enjoy a more active life. We've all come home from work just to stare at our phones on the couch - with Temi, that no longer needs to happen. It does the heavy lifting for you.
But what exactly does Temi do, and what makes it special? For one, it has an 8-megapixel camera and Harman Kardon speakers - and is open to third-party developers alongside being fully integrated with Facebook, Uber, Spotify, and YouTube. It can play your music, connect you to your loved ones for a video conference, remind you to buy the milk - and even play your favorite movie or television show, following behind you when you move from room to room. But Temi isn't just for the able-bodied individuals who desperately want a robot to trail behind them playing their theme song as they clean their apartments. It's also the hands-free device that can help connect elderly people who may not have the ability to hold an iPad or see the screen on an iPhone. It opens up a world of innovation for everyone, and in seeing the machine face to face, it's hard not to feel like it's the exact thing that was predicted in some of our most classic American novels.
Temi officially launches in November, with an initial roll-out of 1,000 units, which will be distributed to a group of influencers and early adopters. Those robots will serve as the initial in-home beta test - Wolf wants to develop the product through user feedback and commentary - and he stresses the importance of making Temi the best it can be while keeping the price as consumer-friendly as possible. And while his personal robot will come loaded with the tools needed to get your news, sports, music, movies, friends, and family via simple voice command, Wolf is confident that there's a strong future in areas like telecare, education, and language learning, among others.
For now, it's hard not to be insanely excited about this massive step toward a future we've always hoped for but never quite had in our grasp. Check out more about Temi at its newly launched home on the web, and sign up for your chance to get included in the initial launch.
In 1997 Interview, Trump Joked About Giving Princess Diana an HIV Test
In the weeks before the 2016 election, it became clear that Donald Trump had little interest in backtracking the very, very many missteps of his past. From the myriad accusations of sexual misconduct to the jaw-dropping Access Hollywood tape, we got a good long look at the deeply inappropriate way in which now-President Trump behaved in the past. And while it seemed like there would be an endless stream of reveals throughout the course of his presidency, the media has remained largely silent when it comes to Trump's absurdly vocal past - that is, until now.
On Sept. 25, an anonymous source provided Factbase with recordings and transcripts of Trump's many interviews with Howard Stern. The two appear to be friends - or at the very least, acquaintances who sought each other out for publicity purposes - and the dozen or so appearances take place between 1993 and 2015, adding up to about 20 minutes of dialogue in total. From Beyoncé to Angelina Jolie to First Lady Melania Trump, Stern and Trump discuss women in terms that are impossible to listen to without feeling sick to your stomach - but there's one segment in particular that is so stunningly vile that it's almost impossible to wrap your head around the fact that the same person who said these things now holds the highest office in America. The 1997 interview on The Howard Stern Show is really a conversation between Trump and Stern and centers on Trump's sex life in relation to the late Princess Diana.
A portion of the interview is transcribed below, and two other individuals, Robin Quivers and Kate Bohner, were present at the time and have minimal dialogue throughout. Please note that "doctor" and "test" refer to a recurring theme in Trump's appearances - Trump's penchant for requiring his sexual partners tested for HIV before engaging with them - and it probably goes without saying, but the text is borderline NSFW.
Howard Stern "Why do people think it's egotistical of you to say that you've gotten Lady Di, right? You could've gotten her, right? You could've nailed her."
Robin Quivers "Yeah, but could you have sent her to the doctor?"
Donald Trump "Of course, I don't know, maybe that one, that was a tough one."
Robin Quivers "He wouldn't answer it."
Howard Stern "Hey, Lady Di, would you go to the doctor?"
Kate Bohner "I don't think he would have asked her."
Donald Trump "Go back over to my Lexus because I have a new doctor, we wanna give you a little check up."
Howard Stern "Lady Di you would've gone out with. Not that she was not attractive."
Donald Trump "She was actually really beautiful."
Howard Stern "You think so? More beautiful than supermodels?"
Donald Trump "I thought she was supermodel beautiful. I'm telling you, I said this the other day. I said Lady Di had supermodel beauty."
Howard Stern "Really?"
Donald Trump "She had times, you know, it was interesting, she had times when she didn't look great, and sometimes you look better than anybody in the world. But she was a supermodel."
Howard Stern "I'm shocked that you say this. I can't believe it."
Donald Trump "She had the height, she had this, she had magnificent skin. She really had - she was a great beauty."
Howard Stern "And did you meet her?"
Donald Trump "She wrote me a letter."
Howard Stern "Oh, she wrote you a letter, go ahead."
Donald Trump "About a couple of months before she died, thanking me because I did a favor for something."
Howard Stern "What did you do?"
Donald Trump "Like a schmuck, I went back to work. I did - I just -"
Howard Stern "What was the favor that you did for her?"
Donald Trump "I just did her a favor. She asked me to do something, I did it, and she wrote me a really nice letter."
Howard Stern "What was the favor?"
Donald Trump "I can't tell you."
Howard Stern "Yes, you can. Please, please what was it?"
Donald Trump "It's a personal thing."
Howard Stern "Share your privates? What are you a doctor? Come on, tell me what you did, please."
Donald Trump "I did something, and then I sent her some flowers."
Howard Stern "What did you do for her?"
Donald Trump "I can't tell you."
Howard Stern "Yes, you can. Come on."
Donald Trump "But she really thanked me for the flowers more than the favor."
Howard Stern "What do you think he did for her?"
Donald Trump "I have no clue."
Howard Stern "Ever pleasured yourself to her."
Donald Trump "No, never."
In an ideal world, there would be some sort of repercussion for Trump talking about any woman like this - let alone a very famous, very well-respected woman - under any circumstance. But as he seems to be immune to responsibility, it's unlikely that these tapes being surfaced will provoke a response from Trump in any meaningful way. Instead, we have to hope that young American men aren't taking a lesson from our current president, and that at some point in the future Trump will be forced to acknowledge the real, true fact of the whole situation: this is unacceptable behavior, and it will never be considered OK.
This Genius Changing Pad Could Be the Answer to Your Poop Prayers
Any parent who's struggled to keep their baby's busy hands or clothes out of the danger zone during a diaper change can attest to the fact that it isn't easy. The SnoofyBee Changing Pad, a product that triples as a changing pad, playmat, and diaper clutch all in one, offers a brilliant solution to keeping your baby distracted and out of that dirty diaper. A soft barrier shields your baby from what's going on downstairs, provides a place to hook up baby toys, and folds up into an easy-to-carry clutch. Invented by a couple with five children, it's safe to say they have some experience! Check out the video to see how it works, and order your own SnoofyBee Changing Pad if you like what you see.
Infuriated by His Daughter's Sexist School Activities, This Dad Wrote a Letter About "Gender Lines"
I wrote a letter http://pic.twitter.com/oFJp7egVnf
- Grumplestiltskin (@2FBS) December 6, 2017
A dad in New South Wales, Australia, made sure his opinion was heard after his daughter told him about the sexism she experienced at school. The dad, Stephen Callaghan, wrote a letter to his daughter Ruby's school after she explained the gender-specific activities planned as a celebration for her year-six graduation. The girls were scheduled to get their hair and makeup done in the school library, and the boys were to be sent on a trip to Bunnings, a hardware-store chain. Stephen didn't find it very appropriate to divide the celebratory activities in such a clear way - who's assuming all the girls want hair and makeup done and wouldn't prefer to go to the store?
In a letter to the principal that Stephen shared on Twitter, he wrote, "When Ruby left for school yesterday it was 2017, but when she returned home in the afternoon she was from 1968." After explaining the activities Ruby informed him about, he continued to sarcastically ask, "Are you able to search the school buildings for a space-time continuum? Perhaps there is a faulty Flux Capacitor hidden away in the girls toilet block?" referencing Back to the Future. In a separate tweet, Stephen mentioned his daughter wants to be an engineer and doesn't "give a rat's arse about make-up."
My daughter's end of year activities for Year 6.
Girls - hair and make-up in the school library
Boys - DIY workshop at Bunnings.
Sigh.
Will things ever change?
My daughter wants to be an engineer. She doesn't give a rat's arse about make-up.- Grumplestiltskin (@2FBS) December 6, 2017
Ruby and I would like to thank you for the great comments of support. At 12 years of age my daughter is starting to notice there are plenty of people prepared to tell her what she can & can't do based solely on the fact she is female.
She would like this to change.
So would I.- Grumplestiltskin (@2FBS) December 7, 2017
Many people responding to the tweets seem to have had similar experiences with their kids. Here's hoping the dad's letter doesn't go unanswered.
I Was a 9-Year-Old Babysitter - and There's a Good Reason We Don't Let That Happen Anymore
My 9-year-old is about as responsible as any kid his age. He always does his homework and helps out with his little brother. But he also has to be reminded to feed his turtle every day and that showering involves the use of soap. So would I entrust him with any great responsibility, like taking care of a baby? Probably not.
Yet I was exactly his age - in the fourth grade - the first time I babysat . . . for an infant. By the time I was 12, I was routinely sitting for multiple kids at a time - for babies, still in diapers and taking bottles, and their slightly older siblings, mobile and potty-training and getting into stuff. I thought I was mature back then, of course (and I probably was at least a little more equipped to handle the responsibility than my own fourth grader), but when I think about it now, a part of me is a bit appalled.
Granted, the world was a different place when we were growing up. I can remember freely roaming the mall alone when I was 7 or 8, waiting for my mom to finish getting her hair permed at Regis (and when your mom's hair closely resembles Peg Bundy's, that's a long process). Yet the thought of my kids being let loose on their own in the mall is literally laughable to me. File that one under "I would never." And letting them babysit someone else's children, at least at the age I started, isn't much more likely.
Look, I don't think kids that age are incapable - and if we could guarantee that nothing out of the ordinary would happen during the time they'd be watching another child, they'd probably be fine. But we all know that even in the care of an adult, things can go south pretty quickly. Everybody has a horror story about something their kid has done: cutting their own hair until it's an inch long, coloring all over the couch with a permanent marker, turning poop into finger paint for the wall. (That last one? Yeah. Mine.) And even though it could happen to anyone, we would automatically blame the sitter. That's to say nothing of more serious incidents, like choking or a bad cut or a broken bone. Things happen, but to saddle a young kid with the responsibility of handling any of those things seems not only kind of stupid, but also unfair.
Would I trust my 9-year-old to help entertain a baby in the presence of an adult? Absolutely. He's great with babies. When I was watching my neighbor's 18-month-old a few days ago, I asked him to help me out by keeping an eye on her while I finished up a little bit of work. He did so, dutifully and willingly, making sure she was out of harm's way (and keeping her laughing, to boot). But that was his only responsibility at the moment, and it was a simple one; he wasn't in charge of cutting up her food into small enough bites or changing a poopy diaper or any other more complex caretaking task. I was there to supervise and to take charge if anything serious happened. But to leave him alone - no matter how good he is - is putting an amount of responsibility on him that I'm just not sure he's equipped to handle. And if he mishandled it, heaven forbid, I don't think he's equipped to deal with that aftermath, either.
Maybe when he remembers to, say, flush the toilet with regularity, we'll talk about letting him take on more responsibility in the form of babysitting. But judging by the floaters I'm still constantly finding in the toilet when I go to the bathroom, that's going to be a good long while.
80 of the Best Kid-Friendly Recipes
Kids love macaroni and cheese, pizza, and lasagna, but the same old recipe gets boring for kids and adults. Mix things up with reinvented recipes and spins on the traditional and try one of these dishes. Tried and tested by moms, these recipes are sure to become new family favorites - from 30-minute pasta recipes to slow-cooker dishes that take only minutes of prep work. Invite your child into the kitchen to help make one of these quick and easy kid-friendly recipes tonight.
Yikes! Power Outage Strikes at Disneyland Just 2 Days After Christmas
Just two days after Christmas, Disneyland wasn't quite as holly and jolly as its thousands of visitors anticipated. The Anaheim theme park was reportedly struck with an abrupt power outage caused by a transformer glitch on Dec. 27, ABC7 reports. The outage affected attractions in both Toontown and Fantasyland, forcing park crews to escort guests off "about a dozen" rides, including the Monorail.
Shortly after the outage struck, the Disneyland Today Twitter account shared an update that commented on the "busy" nature of the park, which prompted one visitor to share a snapshot of the jam-packed amusement park.
PARKS UPDATE: The Disneyland Resort is very busy today. Please check the Disneyland App for the latest wait times and schedules to plan your day.
- Disneyland Today (@DisneylandToday) December 27, 2017
And this what it is like trying to walk anywhere http://pic.twitter.com/non2qHvXFk
- Tyson Downs (@ty_downs) December 27, 2017
Soon after, the same account issued two more updates announcing that the park would only be accepting guests for reentry and ensuring that they were "working diligently to restore power."
PARKS UPDATE: Disneyland Park is currently only accepting Guests for re-entry at this time. Disney California Adventure Park remains available for your enjoyment. Updates to follow.
- Disneyland Today (@DisneylandToday) December 27, 2017
PARKS UPDATE: We have experienced a power outage near Mickey's Toontown and Fantasyland. We are working diligently to restore power to the affected areas as soon as possible. Select offerings are now available such as Toontown and "it's a small world" Holiday.
- Disneyland Today (@DisneylandToday) December 27, 2017
How a Necklace Made Me Question My Abilities as a Mother
While celebrating a past birthday with friends, we decided to wander the shops of our edgy downtown street. We stepped into one of my favorite places, a shop where vintage artwork popped from every corner and handmade jewelry hung from pegs. I hadn't planned on buying anything, but then I saw it: a pendant necklace that said, "Best Mom Ever."
"Can I buy this for myself?" I chuckled to my friends. Immediately, of course, they all said, "Yes." I took it to the register and paid.
I am my children's only mom, and therein lies a gift beyond any bronze chain, a gift that says no one else can validate nor eradicate what I know to be true.
When I got home, I showed it to my husband. "That's hilarious," he said, and we laughed together. I admit that I felt somewhat like Michael Scott from The Office, who kept a self-purchased "Best Boss Ever" mug on his desk. I know these types of things aren't meant to be purchased by the wearer, but given as a gift. But that necklace was beautiful and seemed like the perfect thing to dress up my frequent outfits of t-shirts and jeans. So why couldn't I get it for myself?
My children are still in the stages where they constantly shower me with love no matter what. They still want to snuggle in the morning and they always want extra hugs at bedtime. I'm still a valuable teammate for checkers, and I do all the good voices when reading their favorite books. "Your kids are great," my family and friends assure me, "and you're a great mom." But those words are just flattery unless I believe them, too.
When my oldest child - an always curious 6-year-old - saw my necklace, he read it out loud. "Best. Mom. Ever." Then he snickered and continued playing. A couple weeks later, he asked me why I wear it. "I like it," I said. "Do you agree with it?" "No," he said, "because sometimes we do bad things and you yell at us." I nodded, impressed with his honesty, and kissed him goodnight.
And he's right. I yell sometimes, frustrated over the little things. I can be grumpy every morning and snippy in the afternoons, and I question anyone's authority to speak to my parenting strategies. I know that no matter how rightful and loving my motherly discipline is, it doesn't always come out in the calm manner I know it should.
No, when compared to many other moms, I would likely not win the title that my necklace boasts. Still, I wear it because I have three children whom I love. Three self-purchased red words hang over my heart and speak a truth that goes beyond opinion or anecdotes. This truth is something that may take years to develop, but something that seeps positivity into all the minutes I spend with my children.
I am my children's only mom, and therein lies a gift beyond any bronze chain, a gift that says no one else can validate nor eradicate what I know to be true. I am the best if I choose to take on the title.
16 Signs You've Made It Through the Worst of the Newborn Phase
The newborn phase is pretty darn difficult. Don't get me wrong, I loved loving on my brand-new babies and the whole miracle-of-life bit, but what I didn't love was the other stuff: the sleepless nights, the endless diaper changing, the feeling that I couldn't leave the house, etc. So I'll be the first to admit that I was more than OK when I started to see the light at the end of the proverbial newborn tunnel and my babies went from being mushy newborns to being just regular old babies.
So whether you've just brought your bundle of joy home from the hospital, or you're in the thick of it, here are a few telltale signs that you've made it through the newborn phases.
What Every Nursing Mom Needs to Know About Avoiding Foods
One of the hardest parts of being pregnant was having to avoid some of my favorite foods and drinks (things like sushi and certain teas were forbidden). I thought that once I had given birth, I could go back to eating and drinking to my heart's content. While this is mostly true, there are still some things that need to be limited by women who nurse. Here are 10 foods and drinks to be careful of when breastfeeding.
- Coffee and chocolate. Even though this is the time where you need caffeine the most, it's still best to limit caffeine while nursing, especially while the baby is young, since newborns have difficulty metabolizing caffeine. Chocolate, which contains caffeine, should consequently also be avoided.
- Fish. Mercury is a worry for nursing moms, thus fish is problematic. It's best to limit fish to no more than twice a week, choose fish that is lower in mercury like salmon, and avoid sushi to prevent the likelihood of food poisoning. According to the FDA, nursing women should still avoid tuna, swordfish, and other fish with high levels of mercury.
- Dairy. Some babies develop dairy allergies that can surface in things like eczema or trouble when breathing. It's a rare condition but still best to talk over any concerns with your doctor.
- Peppermint. That soothing cup of tea may sound great, but it's also possible that it lowers milk supply. It's best to proceed with caution.
- Orange juice. Even though there aren't any studies to support this claim, women are often told to avoid orange juice and other citric-heavy foods. Considering the potential risk of doing damage to the baby's GI tract, it may be best to limit just in case.
- Wheat. If your baby starts to show signs of stomachache and painful stools, talking with your doctor about avoiding wheat for a while might help.
- Garlic. Yes, garlic is flavorful, but it also can flavor your milk, which might not be the desired taste you were going for. If your baby starts to avoid the breast or seem discomforted, try limiting your garlic intake.
- Sugar. Sugar can dehydrate you, and when you're nursing, you need all the hydration and healthy nutrition you can get.
- Gassy foods. If a food, like beans and cauliflower, makes you gassy, it's possible that the baby will get gassy too.
- Spicy foods. Those flavorful and hot dishes, while delicious, can alter the taste of breast milk. Beyond creating a flavor that might be unappealing to babies, there is also a potential for the baby to experience gastric distress and become colicky.
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