Over the past 40 years, a sea change has occurred in how kids get to school. Throughout most Western countries, an increasing number of children are driven to school instead of walking or taking a bike. In a new video called “Why did kids stop walking to school?” About Here’s founder, Uytae Lee, cites the U.S. Department of Transportation statistic that in 1969, 48% of kids walked or biked to school, and that number has plummeted to just 11%.

Uytae Lee is an urban planner and videographer passionate about sharing stories about our cities. The video was produced in partnership with TransLink, Metro Vancouver’s regional transportation authority.

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The video makes a compelling case that more children should walk to school. It’s better for children’s health and reduces congestion and pollution from car exhaust. In a world where we are pushing for people to be greener, flooding the road with cars every morning to take kids on a short drive seems counter-productive.

Some parents drive their kids to school because they fear they could be abducted or hit by a car while walking to school. But Lee doesn’t believe that those fears should be a reason for parents to change their behavior over the past few decades. “As terrible as [kidnappings and car accidents] are, the statistics behind those risks haven’t changed significantly over the decades,” Lee says.

The video is a great reminder that reevaluating how kids get to school may be a good idea. When they take a bike or walk, it’s better for their health and that of the planet as well.

This article originally appeared on 5.9.23

Simon Beck didn’t set out to become a world-renowned snowshoe artist, yet here he is. The former cartographer was trained in engineering at Oxford, but has spent the past ten years making jaw-dropping art in the snow and sand using only his feet.

Beck uses geometrical and geographical tools to plot out his designs, but it’s still baffling to see him walk exactly where he needs to to create them. His designs can take 12 hours of walking or more, and he’ll take around 40,000 steps for an average-sized piece. It’s beautiful, it’s creative, it’s exercise—and it’s fleeting.

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Being made out of snow and sand, which are constantly being blown or washed away, Beck’s artwork doesn’t last. Such is the nature of creating art in nature, but that doesn’t bother him in the slightest. “Most people will only ever see most of the world’s artwork as photographs,” he said in an article in Artsy. “Even with the Mona Lisa—probably only a minority of people have actually seen the real thing, but everyone’s seen a photograph of it.” As long as Beck gets a photo of his massive designs, it’s all good.

And the photographs are truly something to behold. Check out some of his snow creations on Facebook and Instagram.

See on Instagram

See on Instagram

One of the challenges of working in the snow is that conditions can change throughout the creation of a piece. Snow might melt or become exceptionally icy.

Or, other people might not realize what is happening and inadvertently mess up your work. For instance, there’s nothing to stop a skier from plowing right through a design.

Beck’s sand drawings offer a different kind of challenge. Timing out the tides and dealing with the wind—as well as other beachgoers—makes sand art tricky, but the final product is totally worth it.

See on Instagram

On occasion, Beck even uses his art to make statements about issues in the world. For instance, there are 81 triangles in this drawing, but he says he left 77 unshaded to represent “the 77 countries where LGBT people are given a hard time.”

Beck has created most of his 300-plus land drawings in Europe. However, he will be spending two weeks of January 2020 in Silverthorne, Colorado, where he will create between five and 15 of his iconic works of snow art.

ABC News did a segment on Beck and his work, where he explains a bit of his process and how he uses a ski pole to measure parts of the design. Watch and enjoy:

Simon Beck has become a global sensation for his installations made by stepping through snow with snowshoes and a ski pole.

This article originally appeared on 01.01.20

It’s almost time for Offset to return with his new album, Set It Off. The album will be his first solo release since 2019’s Father Of 4. You can check out the tracklist, which features Cardi B, Chlöe, Don Toliver, Future, Latto, Mango Foo, Travis Scott, and Young Nudy, below.

Offset originally planned to release Set It Off in 2022, but he pushed the album back in response to the death of his friend and Migos bandmate Takeoff.

At the time of Takeoff’s death, Offset was on the outs with his bandmates, but after reportedly getting into a fight with Quavo backstage at the 2023 Grammys in February, the two Atlanta natives were apparently able to settle their dispute, reuniting with a performance at the 2023 BET Awards.

Quavo released the reflective solo album Rocket Power in August, while Offset kicked off his own album rollout with “Jealousy” in July.

1. “On The River”
2. “Say My Grace” (Feat. Travis Scott)
3. “Worth It” (Feat. Don Toliver)
4. “Broad Day” (Feat. Future)
5. “Fan”
6. “Freaky“ Feat. Cardi B
7. “Hop Out The Van”
8.“ Don’t You Lie“
9. “I’m On“
10. “Big Dawg“
11. “Night Vision“
12. “Skyami” (Feat. Mango Foo)
13. “Dissolve“
14. “Fine As Can Be” Feat. Latto
15. “Buss My Watch“
16. “Dope Boy” (Feat. Yung Nudy)
17. “Princess Cut” (Feat. Chloe)
18. “Jealousy” (Feat. Cardi B)
19. “Blame It On Set“
20. “Upside Down“
21. “Healthy“

This syndicated game show has been using recycled clues and contestants due to the Writers Guild of America strike.

If your answer in the form of a question is “what is Jeopardy!?”, congratulations you won [frantically looks around the room for a prize] a half-eaten bag of Oreo Minis. But wait, there’s even more good news.

TVLine reports that Jeopardy! writers have returned to work following an agreement being reached between the WGA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). The show will return to “normal,” with new clues and new contestants, before the end of the year.

Beginning Tuesday, Dec. 19 (or the week of Jan. 1, if the show chooses to fill 2023’s remaining days with reruns), the season 39 “postseason” — which, pre-strike, was intended to kick off season 40 — will begin. At that point, viewers will see new WGA-written clues, essentially returning the show to normal. (Reminder: The postseason is comprised of season 39 Second Chance, season 39 Champions Wildcard, and the Tournament of Champions.)

In other Jeopardy! news, super-champ Amy Schneider weighed in on the Ken Jennings vs. Mayim Bialik debate. “I only had Ken as a host, so to some extent, I can’t judge exactly, but I loved Ken as a host,” she told TV Insider. “I think that it’s so comforting as a contestant to know that he has been where you are, and I think he has a real feel for the flow of the game.” I’m sorry, but the correct answer is: Will Ferrell’s Alex Trebek.

(Via TVLine)

Russell Wilson has had a pretty tremendous NFL career, winning a Super Bowl in Seattle and helping the Seahawks be a perennial playoff contender for the first decade of his career.

However, despite the on-field success of the Seahawks, he is not exactly a beloved figure with his former teammates, with plenty of them willing to call him out on isolating from the team and having less than flattering recollections of playing with Wilson. On the most recent episode of Shannon Sharpe’s “Club Shay Shay” podcast, Marshawn Lynch spent a good bit of time talking about his former QB and how there wasn’t any relationship between the two stars off the field — to the point that Lynch does not even have Russ’ phone number.

The best part was Shannon trying to understand how he and Wilson never spent time together off the field, explaining that even “7” (John Elway) would come to the original Club Shay Shay at Broncos camp to have beers, play cards, and hang out with the guys. However when asked if he ever went to a party with Russ, Lynch, without saying a word, gave a priceless reaction.

I do love the visual of Lynch and Wilson going to a function together, as you’d be hard-pressed to find two guys in the NFL with more opposite vibes. That said, given Marshawn seems capable of getting along with just about anyone, as evidenced by pretty much everything he’s done in the media space, it does feel notable that he didn’t have any kind of off-field conversations with Wilson. Marshawn also knows that the way things ended in Seattle and the notable Super Bowl loss where he didn’t get the ball on the 1 yard line will make anything he says about Russ come off as sour grapes. He was quick to note he thought Russ was a great QB and he’d happily play next to him, but even by saying very little, Lynch was able to tell an awful lot about Russell Wilson off the field.

Grimes and Elon Musk have three kids together, with their oldest being named X AE A-XII. That’s not exactly a common name for a person, but there’s one criticism about it that Grimes just doesn’t get and she recently addressed it on X (formerly Twitter),

It started when Grimes saw a tweet introducing a product that functions as an always-on microphone that allows users to play back what they say at all times, as well as ask an AI model questions about whatever audio the device captured. Grimes doesn’t seem to be a fan of the product, as she tweeted, “I feel like a lot of the people making this stuff have either never been in an abusive relationship or don’t have kids and aren’t thinking of the impact constant surveillance has on child development.”

An X user replied, “That’s funny coming from you Claire did you name your kid something that humans can’t even pronounce? How’s that gonna go down for him when he’s in school? Why did you feel like you need to make a comment on this? Bored?” To that, Grimes responded, “This is the most bizarre criticism. He loves his name and mostly ppl think it’s cool. X men etc. x is popular at school lol. Also, I don’t wanna say his friends names cuz they’re civilians but most millenials named their kids weird names – not just me.”

Yesterday (October 3), Spotify announced that premium subscribers in certain countries will receive 15 hours of free audiobook streaming per month. According to a report from NME, the feature has launched in Australia and the UK, and is set to launch in the US by the end of the year.

Spotify is primarily a music streaming platform, however, with the launch of the new feature, many Spotify users have questions about Spotify’s audiobook collection and how to listen to these books.

Do you have to pay for audiobooks on Spotify?

Spotify began carrying audiobooks last September, but at the time of their arrival to the streaming platform, they weren’t free. All users, including premium users, had to pay by the book to listen to each title.

According to a press release, Spotify currently carries “upwards of 70% of bestselling books, with titles from major publishers including Hachette, HarperCollins Publishers, Macmillan, Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, and RB Media, as well as independent authors and publishers globally, including Bolinda, Dreamscape, and Pushkin.” Spotify users can begin streaming audiobooks by selecting books marked with “Included With Premium.”

Other titles, as well as the premium titles, will be included in the Spotify library for purchase as à la carte titles.

You can see a trailer for the new feature above.

Despite reportedly solid ratings and positive reactions to its two-part premiere, Ahsoka arrived with minimal fanfare on social media as cautious Star Wars fans were afraid to get burned again after The Mandalorian Season 3 failed to deliver.

However, Ahsoka quietly picked up steam before fans started going absolutely wild thanks to Episode 5 bringing The Clone Wars to life thanks to knockout performances by Hayden Christensen and Arianna Greenblatt. That fan fervor only increased as Grand Admiral Thrawn arrived in Episode 6 along with the live-action debut of Eman Esfandi as Ezra Bridger. Add in Ray Stevenson bringing dramatic gravitas week-after-week as Baylan Skoll, and Star Wars fans were fully hooked going into the Ahsoka finale.

As you can see by the reactions below, fans couldn’t get enough of the climactic ending, which hopefully, set the stage for Ahsoka Season 2. The feedback was off the charts as some fans as Ahsoka seems to have leap-frogged The Mandalorian as the best Star Wars TV series.

On top of the badass lightsaber fights and Clone Wars lore, there was also lots of love for Christensen making a last-minute appearance as Anakin’s Force ghost proved he’s never stopped watching over his apprentice:

Speaking of master and apprentice, Star Wars: Rebels fans could barely contain their emotions after watching Ezra pay tribute to Kanan Jarrus by crafting a lightsaber just like his fallen master’s:

And, of course, there was a Kevin James meme as is the style of the time:

Ahsoka Season 1 is now streaming on Disney+.

Modeling isn’t always as glamorous as it looks.

Sure you get to wear fun clothes, have crazy stuff done to your hair and get paid for having people take pictures of you. But on the flip side, you have multiple people critiquing your body and how clothes fit you to your face. Gaining or losing a few pounds can be a contract breaker leaving you looking for work.

Some models have an extra layer to worry about when it comes to landing the right jobs – makeup. Megan Milan recently shared her experience during New York Fashion Week, a high profile week of fashion shows where celebrities flock to get first looks at designer collections. The model was getting ready for a photoshoot before a show later that night when the makeup artist didn’t have the correct shade of makeup.

Milan is a dark skinned Black woman and the shade of makeup used appears to be for someone about 15 shades lighter. When she saw the results, the runway model left the chair to find the closest Sephora.

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@megan.milan

I normally bring my own foundation just incase but i let my guard down. Plus i didnt want to carry a makeup bag all day, this was my first job of the day 😭. I had to go ti Sephora, do my own makeup then come back 😀. #nyfw #modelproblems #blackmodels #blackmodelsmatter

Milan shared the video of her makeup disaster on TikTok where it amassed over 13.7 million views and over 1 million likes. In the caption of the video she wrote, “I normally bring my own foundation just incase but i let my guard down. Plus i didnt want to carry a makeup bag all day, this was my first job of the day 😭. I had to go ti[sic] Sephora, do my own makeup then come back.”

By the time she started talking to the Sephora employee, Milan starts to cry saying, “if you don’t know how to do Black girls makeup why would you even…you guys knew what I looked like before I came.”

Lack of representation in hairstylists and makeup artists has been a problem for decades. Celebrities from Cicely Tyson to Gabrielle Union have expressed frustration around industry hair and makeup artists not having the right shades or not knowing how to work with kinky hair. Sadly this trend has continued and Milan is the latest Black person on the receiving end of the lack of diversity amongst makeup artists.

Thankfully for Milan, the employees at Sephora corrected the mess. The head of makeup in the store personally made sure the model was camera ready and the shoot turned out beautiful.

You can watch the full video below:

@megan.milan

For those sho wanted to see the full video 🥹💗. Thank you for all of your support as always!! Not trying to blast anyone, just want to bring awareness for my sisters who may be too shy to speak up or dont have the platform, i got us. #nyfw #blackmodel #donnidavy #euphoriamakeup #models #mua #sephora #halfmagicbeauty

Garret Wing is the founder of Florida-based American Standard Dog Training. For 20-plus years, he’s trained countless dogs, beginning as a K9 trainer for law enforcement and eventually opening his business to civilians.

Wing has developed a massive following on TikTok, where his tips and training success stories have earned him over 3 million followers. Recently, he released a video revealing the 3 dog breeds he would never own, and it’s been seen over 25 million times.

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Unfortunately, these three breeds had to get called out, but everyone has different needs in a pet, and these dogs aren’t a great fit for Wing.

@americanstandardk9

Top 3 Breeds I WOULDN’T Own as a Dog Trainer #dog #centralasainshepeard #alabai #bloodhound #chihuahua #puppy #doglover #dogs #fyp

1. Central Asian Shepherd

“Starting with number 1, the Central Asian Shepherd, also known as the Alabai,” Wing says. “The males can get over 170-plus pounds, and they’re great livestock guardians, but the problem is, I don’t have any livestock,” he continued.

2. Bloodhound

“The males can get up to 110 pounds. But it’s not the size that concerns me, it’s their oily skin,” he explained. “That oily skin makes them stink like no other dog. I don’t care how many baths you give them; they just have a smell about them that’s hard to get rid of.”

3. Chihuahua

“If I needed a 3-pound demon from the underworld that served no other purpose than to sit on my lap and bite anything that comes within 3 feet range of me, then I would get a Chihuahua, but it’ll be a hard pass for me on that one,” Wing admitted.