Month: August 2023

BooBoo’s parents had all but given up, nearly a year after their beloved cat disappeared.

Vanore Voaklander and her husband were diligent after BooBoo disappeared during what was supposed to be a short trip outside from their home near Edmonton.

They searched local parks, put up posters and offered a reward. But still their cat was nowhere to be found.

“We were getting leads from all different neighborhoods. We would rush there and find out there would be no cat,” Voaklander told the Global News.

But the Global News reports that seemingly out of nowhere, tow-truck driver Darren Labelle spotted BooBoo wandering around near his shop, nearly 10 miles from his home.

Describing the cat as looking “sick, dirty and beaten up,” Labelle slowly began feeding BooBoo and offering him shelter inside.

“He’d actually jump up on us, head butt you and lay on my keyboard while I was trying to work,” Labelle said. “I realized this cat has to be domesticated.”

So, he put a photo of BooBoo up on a Facebook page for lost animals and within an hour the Voaklanders were on their way to rescue their beloved cat, whom they say slept for three straight days after getting back home.

Hero’s don’t always wear capes. Meet the rescuers. The world needs more people like this. We are forever grateful.
Posted by Boo Boo Come Home on Wednesday, August 15, 2018

They may never know what happened but they think someone may have stolen BooBoo then abandoned him. Regardless, they returned to give Labelle some thank you gifts, including a $1,000 reward.

Labelle initially declined, but now will use the money to help feed some of the other stray cats who have wandered near his shop looking for their own homes.

This article originally appeared on 09.26.18

Ask almost any woman about a time a man said or did something sexually inappropriate to them, and she’ll have a story or four to tell. According to a survey NPR published last year, 81% of women report having experienced sexual harassment, with verbal harassment being the most common. (By contrast, 43% of men report being sexually harassed. Naturally harassment toward anyone of any sex or gender is not okay, but women have been putting up with this ish unchecked for centuries.)

One form of verbal sexual harassment is the all too common sexist or sexual “joke.” Ha ha ha, I’m going to say something explicit or demeaning about you and then we can all laugh about how hilarious it is. And I’ll probably get away with it because you’ll be too embarrassed to say anything, and if you do you’ll be accused of being overly sensitive. Ha! Won’t that be a hoot?

Perhaps women’s familiarity with such episodes is why writer Heather Thompson Day’s tweet about asking her male boss to explain a sexual joke to her has had such an enormous response. Day told a story of working at a radio station when she was 19 when her boss, who was in his mid-40s, made an inappropriate comment:

“When I was 19 my boss said I should be a phone sex operator & laughed.

I said ‘I don’t get it’

He said ‘it’s a joke’

I said ‘explain it to me’

& that’s how I learned that once sexual harrassers have to explain why their inappropriate jokes are funny, they stop laughing.”

Day’s tweet has been shared more than 130K times. Other women also chimed in with similar stories of stopping sexist men in their tracks with their responses to inappropriate jokes.

RELATED: Woman’s explanation for being ‘standoffish to men in public’ brings up an important point about unwanted attention.

What’s baffling is that some men may think that women actually might respond positively to such jokes. One woman simply responds to random harassers with “Please tell me about the last time this worked on an actual woman for you.” Works every time.

Of course, sometimes it takes more than just a no nonsense response to get some dudes to back off.

RELATED: Emma Watson launches hotline that provides women legal advice on workplace sexual harassment

Sometimes it simply takes repeatedly being called out, especially if a man holds a position of power.

As one woman pointed out, it might take the threat of being documented to put an end to it. (Or, you know, actually documenting it can do wonders as well.)

Several men jumped into the conversation with words of support—and even a wicked burn about mansplaining.

Because of course plenty of men are bothered by sexist “jokes” as well and understand that genuine jokes can be explained without hesitation or embarrassment.

Men can also use a similar approach when confronting their friends, acquaintances, and colleagues when inappropriate comments or jokes come up.

In fact, Heather Thompson Day said it was her dad who originally instructed her on how to respond to men’s inappropriate comments. “Don’t laugh,” he told her. “Ask them to explain the joke. They will stop making them.” Well done, Dad.

It was also pointed out that this approach works with “jokes” that are racist, homophobic, or otherwise harmful as well. When people have to explain their prejudice and bigotry, they usually can’t.

And then there’s always the next level “You remind me of someone heinous” response, which may be a bit brutal, but is sometimes necessary to drive home the point.

People in marginalized groups have had to put up with hurtful jokes for far too long. Asking people to explain them and making them sit in the discomfort of their own filth is an excellent way to shut that garbage down.

This article originally appeared on 11.13.19

It’s the 21st century, and as a civilization, we’ve come a long way. No, there are no flying cars (yet), but we all carry tiny supercomputers in our pockets, can own drones, and can argue with strangers from all around the world as long as they have internet access.

And yet women are still having to ask their partners to help out around the house. What gives?

Recently, Blogger Constance Hall went on a highly-relatable rant about spouses assuming responsibility for housework, and women everywhere are all, “🙌 🙌 🙌 .”

Recently while bitching about the fact that I do absolutely everything around my house with a bunch of friends all singing “preach Queen”, someone said to me “if you want help you need to be specific… ask for it. People need lists, they aren’t mind readers.”

So I tried that, asking.. specifics..

“Can you take the bin out?”

“Can you get up with the kids? I’m just a little tired after doing it on my own for 329 years”

“Can you go to woolies? I’ve done 3 loads of washing and made breaky, lunch, picked up all the kids school books, dealt with the floating shit in the pond.”

And yeah, she was right… shit got done.But I was exhausted, just keeping the balls in the air.. remembering what needs to be asked to be done, constant nagging..And do you know what happened the minute I stopped asking…?

NOTHING.Again.

And so I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s not your job to ask for help, it’s not my job to write fucking lists.

We have enough god dam jobs and teaching someone how to consider me and my ridiculous work load is not one of them.Just do it.Just think about each other, what it takes to run the god dam house.

Is one of you working while the other puts up their feet? Is one of you hanging out with mates while the other peels the thirtieth piece of fruit for the day? Is one of you carrying the weight?

Because when the nagging stops, when the asking dies down, when there are no more lists….All your left with is silent resentment. And that my friends is relationship cancer..It’s not up to anyone else to teach you consideration.

That’s your job.Just do the fucking dishes without being asked once in a while mother fuckers.

Hall’s post touches on the concept of emotional labor, which can be defined as “the process of managing feelings and expressions to fulfill the emotional requirements of a job.”

In other words, although Hall’s partner may be the one carrying out the tasks she assigns him, it is still Hall’s job to be the “manager” of the household, and keep track of what things need to get done. And anyone who runs a household knows that juggling and keeping track of chores is just as exhausting as executing them.

At time of publication, Hall’s post was shared nearly 100,000 times. That’s a lot of frustrated ladies!

When your girl Far Kew sends you the perfect present. You will find this and more cunty cups on her facebook page 👌🏽
Posted by Constance Hall on Thursday, November 30, 2017

Women in the comments section seemed to overwhelmingly agree with Hall’s post.

Let’s all learn to share the load…laundry and otherwise.

This article originally appeared on 08.27.18

Over the weekend, Bleachers frontman Jack Antonoff married actress Margaret Qualley in an intimate wedding. Although the band’s fans were obviously not invited to attend the ceremony, there is one special day they hold dear: when The Bleachers performed at Radio City Music Hall.

The Bleachers have announced that on Friday, August 25, they’ll release an album containing that show. Antonoff took to X (formerly Twitter) to announce the news, writing, “On July 26, 2022, we played one of our best shows for a sold-out crowd at Radio City. That night meant so much to us that we turned it into a live album. This album is the document of the wild and intense tour behind ‘Take the Sadness Out of Saturday Night.’”

Fans replied to Antonoff’s post with their own recounts of the night. “My very first Bleachers show. Unable to put into words how it felt. Something shifted in me that day, and now I can listen to it forever and ever, every day,” wrote one.

“This day healed me. Every chance to be in a bleachers room with my Bleachers people. So excited to have this forever. Love you so much,” said another.

“Can’t believe I get to relive the best day ever all over again. Thank you, thank you, I love you ,” chimed in yet another.

View the full tracklist below.

1. “91”
2. “Mickey Mantle”
3. “Wild Heart”
4. “How Dare You Want More”
5. “Big Life”
6. “I Miss Those Days”
7. “Everybody Lost Somebody”
8. “Good Morning”
9. “Heroes”
10. “Chinatown (Feat. Bruce Springsteen)”
11. “Don’t Go Dark”
12. “Juno Interlude”
13. “Rollercoaster”
14. “Let’s Get Married”
15. “The Whole Of The Moon”
16. “Wild Heart Reprise”
17. “45”
18. “Mystery”
19. “I Wanna Get Better”
20. “Don’t Take The Money”
21. “Stop Making This Hurt”

Live At Radio City Music Hall is out 8/25 via RCA. Find more information here.

Pam has a little brother, who recently learned that he is actually her half-brother.

Of course, half-siblings are still very much siblings, but Pam’s brother doesn’t quite grasp the concept yet and seems upset about having to part with 50% of his sister.

So when she came home recently, she found this letter he’d written. It will make you cry, so have off-brand tissues on hand:

OMG.

As if this letter isn’t enough to turn your heart into a soft pile of oatmeal, he also left her some of her (presumably) favorite snacks, like Chips Ahoy and Takis (excellent choices!).

Pam, being a human with a soul, was deeply moved and tweeted out a photo of her little brother’s letter:

My little brother found out Iu2019m not his fully sister and I came home to this.. Iu2019m crying..pic.twitter.com/DAC0yUUBt4

— ua9c1Pamua9c2 (@ua9c1Pamua9c2)
1532413776

It quickly went viral. And now the whole internet is now welling up with tears.

pic.twitter.com/8EP4hcS2oq

— LUNA (@lilialunav) July 25, 2018

And others are sharing their own sibling stories:

These are so, so sweet.

I was introducing my kids to my new wife and stepson. When I explained that she was their new Stepmom, My Stepson (5) said to my kids Mom “Well if my Mom is going to be their Stepmom, you’re going to be my new Stepmom!”

— Disco Stu (@wharrrgarrbl) August 28, 2021

When I found out my oldest brother wasn’t my full brother I said and I quote “I thought he was different. But I like him more anyway”

— Liy (@Its_Montana_) July 25, 2018

Don’t say we didn’t warn you about the tissues.

Remember this next time you get into a fight with your sibling. Half or whole, doesn’t matter. Love/hate is love/hate!

This article originally appeared on 11.04.22

No, Charlize Theron hasn’t had “bad plastic surgery.” Like many women (scratch that, make it all women, all people in fact), her face simply looks different as a byproduct of growing older.

“My face is changing,” the “Atomic Blonde” actress told Allure. “People think I had a facelift. They’re like, ‘What did she do to her face?’ I’m like, ‘B—-, I’m just aging! It doesn’t mean I got bad plastic surgery. This is just what happens.'”

While Theron doesn’t condemn cosmetic procedures, what she “despises” is a societal double standard where “men kind of age like fine wines and women like cut flowers.”

This isn’t the first time Theron has used that analogy to highlight the glaring discrepancy between how we collectively allow men to gain value as they grow older, while women are given an invisible expiration date.

Back in 2012 for a Q&A with WWD, she said, “It’s like we wilt for some reason. And men are like fine wines — the older they get, the better they get,” adding that the misconception is “such a lost opportunity because that’s when I think women are really in the true moment of their sensuality.”

See on Instagram

That latter point is one echoed by several other fellow actresses of a similar age and beyond, such as Kate Winslet, Andie MacDowell and Jane Fonda, who have all shared anecdotes of feeling more confident, more sexy and overall more in their element during life’s later chapters.

And while ageism certainly affects both the sexes, there’s no denying that the beauty industry specifically profits from the notion of women “wilting” after 30—and that’s being generous, coming from someone who was already up-to-date with all the anti-aging trends at the ripe old age of 23.

via GIPHY

At the same time, society has also taken to shaming women (female celebrities in particular) for “getting work done”—often labeling them as vain, superficial, insecure, fake, etc. It’s a precarious place to be in, being either shunned for growing older or lambasted for trying to avoid it.

America Ferrera said it best in her “Barbie” monologue: “It’s literally impossible to be a woman.” That goes for beauty icons and regular folks alike.

As for Theron, her changing face is seen as a good thing—doubles standards be damned. What she does take umbrage with is how it’s affected her fitness.

“More than my face, I wish I had my 25-year-old body that I can just throw against the wall and not even hurt tomorrow. Now, if I don’t work out for three days and I go back to the gym, I can’t walk. I can’t sit down on the toilet,” she told Allure.

Stars—they really are just like us.

Read Theron’s full interview with Allure here.

There are few things more refreshing than hearing a profound truth. These bits of wisdom can clear our internal confusion and shine a big spotlight on what really matters in the world.

Profound truths can also help us reframe a situation, see things from another perspective and realize that we have much less power over other people and events than we think. They can also be reminders to live life to its fullest because you never know how much time you have left.

A Reddit user named Some_Being_Online asked the AskReddit forum, “What is the deepest thing someone has said to you?” and a lot of the quotes were profound in a way that you don’t hear every day. A lot of them were about dealing with difficult people and situations.

All in all, the thread was life-affirming because people shared honest takes on what it’s like to be human—no easy task.

Here are 21 of the “deepest” things that people have heard.

1. “The grass is greener where you water it.” — Acceptable_Cup30152.

2. “Worry is not preparation.” — Big-Routine222

3. “I stopped giving a sh*t about my birthday when I was 27. I used to request off or at least the day after off to recover from the previous night but I just stopped caring. Last year, an old lady at my job found out it was my birthday and surprised me with a card with money in it, the kind of way a grandma would. I tried to tell her it wasn’t a big deal and give the money back, but she insisted saying “You should always celebrate your birthday. You don’t know how many you have left.” — Sol-Blackguy

4. “Prepare your child for the road, not the road for your child.” — dvmdv8

5. “A person’s actions are a reflection of their character, not yours.” — YaaMindIfIJoin

6.
“Everyone is someone else and they’re all just trying to find themselves. Let them.” — builtproofwest

7.
“When you’re about to become a parent the amount of shit you get told is unreal. Parents can’t wait to tell you ‘you’ll get no sleep, you’ll have no life, it’s all changing nappies etc.’ However, I was in a meeting with a guy at work, we were making small talk before the meeting and I told him I was about to become a dad expecting the usual. Instead, he just went really deep but really chilled and just went ‘You’re about to have the most amazing thing happen to you ever but never forget, they’re not yours. You’re just borrowing them while they need you but you need to get them ready to not need you anymore.’ The older my kids get the more I appreciate it.” — Educational-Act-6602

8.
“When my baby died and was a mess someone told me, ‘I can’t imagine the pain you’re going through. I know your heart, expectations, assumed roles and future memories have been broken. But to your child, they had a perfect life. All they ever knew was your love.’ I still cry thinking about it but it really did help. I know some may take this differently, but it was what I needed at the time.” — BallerinaBuscuits

9.
“Sometimes, the best way to help someone is to let them help you. You may not need their help, but it will make them feel useful.” — Amor_Armadillo

10.
“Grief is love with nowhere to go.” — LB-Dash

11. “Sometimes a hypocrite is just a man in the process of changing.” — little-bird89

12. “I’m a rep at a cellphone store and an old Austrian woman, a reg customer of mine said randomly, ‘Chelsea, all we have in this very second is each other. Right now all we have is each other. There is nothing but this one second right now. You see, people drag the past with them and that’s why there is so little forgiveness in the world.’ Afterward we both cried together a little and that has positively affected every day of my life since.” — Chemto90

13. “A 5-year-old told me ‘Loneliness is when you have lost yourself.'” — Pass_The_Lasagana

14. “The opposite of love isn’t hate; it’s complete and utter indifference.” — Dragonfeet1

15. “All that you’ve gone through: the good, the bad, the in-between has led you to exactly where you are now. You had to go through it all in order to be here, with me now.” — tvaldez19

16. “‘It’s better to appear rude and live than to be nice and get killed.’ This was from a self-defense instructor, and it just blew my mind. They were talking about listening to your instincts, and not worrying about appearing rude when your gut is telling you something is off.” — Unhygienictree

17. “My Mom said to me once ‘Sweetheart don’t go through life reading a road map, make your own path.'” — Content_Pool_1391

18. “Even when you are right you don’t always win.” — Curlytomato

19. “Yes, of course, heaven and hell are great and terrifying and all. But what if you did good just for the sake of it? No eternal reward or punishment afterward. Would you still do good if you knew at the end, there is no reward?” — Roguereider1

20. “Don’t be afraid of fear. Fear is natural and encourages thought and action. Do not, however, give in to panic. It is irrational and can lead you to harm.” — Slight_Bodybuilder25

21. “There is a different version of you, in the head of literally everybody that knows that you exist. Stop worrying about what everyone else thinks. You know the truth about you.” — WhatInTheActualfeth

A new version of Queen’s Greatest Hits has been released on Yoto, an audio streaming platform for children. The album includes favorites like “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “Another One Bites the Dust,” “We Are the Champions” and “We Will Rock You,” but this release is missing one notable tune—”Fat Bottomed Girls.”

The exclusion prompted a wave of speculation about why it wouldn’t be included, which in turn prompted debate over whether the song is offensive and outdated or an inspiring ode to larger body types. One of the most common guesses for why they may have decided not to include it on a platform aimed at young children is this line:

“But I knew life before I left the nursery/ Left alone with big fat Fanny/ She was such a naughty nanny/ Hey, big woman, you made a bad boy out of me.”

A celebration of larger-bodied women? Sure. A reference that could be interpreted as a young boy being molested by his nanny? Maybe not so appropriate for a young audience.

(It’s worth noting here that the lyrics of some songs that were not cut from the album include, “I’m a sex machine ready to reload” and Yoto does include the following disclaimer, which only mentions references to violence and drugs, not sex:

NOTE: Please note that the lyrics in some of these songs contain adult themes, including occasional references to violence and drugs. These are the original and unedited recordings. Whilst no swear words are used parental discretion is advised when playing this content to or around younger children.)

It appears the primary reaction to the song’s exclusion spawned from complaints over political correctness—”woke cancel culture” as a writer for the U.K.’s Daily Mail referred to it—which has triggered a weird situation where online culture warriors can’t seem to figure out what side they’re arguing for.

Oddly, the same people who keep referring to LGBTQ people as “groomers” and “pedos” seem to be defending a song sung by a famous LGBTQ icon with lyrics that point to a sexualized relationship between a child and his nanny, simply because someone called the song’s removal a “woke” move. And on the flip side, the same people who decry removing sexual material from the children’s section of libraries seem to be defending the removal of this song from a child’s audio platform for its adult-oriented theme and lyrics simply because the anti-woke crowd is complaining about it.

It’s all just a little silly, really.

— (@)

— (@)

Popular music has long been a battleground for debates over what’s appropriate or not for kids to be exposed to, and there are countless songs we could point to for lyrics that would be disturbing coming out of a child’s mouth. I imagine few people would argue that nothing is off limits for children to hear or sing along to, but where does the line get drawn?

My parents were big Queen fans and I recall having “Fat Bottomed Girls” blaring on the stereo when I was a child. Musically, it’s a great song—very catchy. And as a girl whose body did not align with the flat-bottomed models of the 1980s, I appreciated what felt like a personal shout-out. My fat bottom actually made the rockin’ world go ’round? Sweet. (This was over a decade before “Baby Got Back” and the only time I recall a large butt being portrayed in a positive light in popular culture.)

On the other hand, some of the lyrics are definitely questionable for a child to be belting out, so I can see why it might not be included on an album specifically released for kids. However, the same could be said for some other song lyrics on the album, so why remove this one and not those?

To be fair, the reason why “Fat Bottomed Girls” wasn’t included on Yoto’s release of the Greatest Hits album is just speculation at this point. But it did get people talking about what’s appropriate for kids and highlights the challenge of determining what should be included or excluded from platforms specifically aimed at children, and that’s always a worthy discussion to have.

Ronan Farrow has a new, epic New Yorker piece on Elon Musk, and boy is it wild. Contained within are several new revelations, shocking even for arguably the world’s second most famous chaos agent (after You Know Who, of course). There are earth-quaking tidbits, like how he briefly interrupted Ukraine’s fight against Russia, or how he’s reportedly upped his Ketamine use. On a lighter note, there’s another bit about farting cars.

Early last year, Tesla cars boasted a strange function: Because their cars made almost no sounds, they were required by law to make humming noises. But instead of hums, they offered drivers the choice of farts, or goat bleats, or whatever sound they wanted. That did not go over well with government officials.

“We’re, like, ‘No, that’s not compliant with the regulations, don’t be stupid,’” said Steven Cliff, then the deputy administrator of the Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

That did not go over well with Musk and other Tesla higher-ups. They fought with regulators for over a year. They finally relented. After recalling the function, Musk moaned on Twitter, “The fun police made us do it (sigh).”

The recall, as it happens, came a mere nine days after Tesla recalled a more dangerous function: their Full Self-Driving software allowed cars to roll through stop signs, up to six miles an hour:

This was clearly illegal. Cliff’s enforcement team contacted Tesla, and, in several meetings, a surprising conversation about safety and artificial intelligence played out. Representatives for Tesla seemed confused. Their response, as Cliff recalled, was “That’s what humans do all the time. Show us the data, why it’s unsafe.” N.H.T.S.A. officials told Tesla that, regardless of human compliance, “you should not be able to program a computer to break the law for you.”

Tesla eventually recalled the feature, but only after “a lot of back-and-forth,” as per Cliff. He didn’t exactly have a good time dealing with Tesla and their willingness to push buttons.

“It’s a little like Mom and Dad and children. Like, How far can I push Mom and Dad until they push back?” Cliff told The New Yorker. “And that’s not a recipe for a strong safety culture.”

(Via The New Yorker)

Jonathan Taylor and the Indianapolis Colts have spent this offseason at odds with each other, as the young star back is seeking a contract extension, while the Colts have refused to give him the long-term deal he wants. Taylor had a sensational first two seasons in the league, rushing for nearly 3,000 yards and 29 touchdowns in his first 32 games as a professional, but dealt with injuries a year ago that limited him to 861 yards and four touchdowns in 11 games.

Taylor has been away from the Colts for parts of camp amid the contract dispute and requested a trade at the end of July, leading to a truly wild response from owner Jim Irsay. Finally, three weeks later, the team gave the young running back permission to seek a trade, per Adam Schefter and Ian Rapoport.

According to Stephen Holder, the Colts will be asking for a first round pick in return for Taylor, which will only make it more difficult to find a trade partner.

The task for Taylor and his agent is to find a team that’s willing to part with serious draft assets — either a first round pick or a collection of picks not dissimilar to the package the Niners gave Carolina for Christian McCaffrey a year ago — and give him the long-term deal he’s seeking. One team that would certainly seem to fit the bill would be the Chicago Bears, who have cap space and could create a dynamic rushing attack with Taylor in the backfield alongside Justin Fields. The question is whether the Bears would give up what the Colts want for Taylor, or if there’s another team out there that values Taylor highly enough to do so.