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As Neil Gaiman die-hards know, The Sandman‘s second season is currently filming, and given the show’s wealth of special effects, it’s unlikely that we’ll see episodes materialize until, hmm, maybe mid-2025. The wait will be worth that long and more, but for those who need a Vertigo-imprint fix now, a new Netflix series about ghostly teenage detectives hails from the same universe.

Dead Boy Detectives revolves around characters who surfaced during Season of Mists, which is the fourth graphic novel volume of The Sandman comics. These detectives solve crimes that human souls cannot hope to reconcile, and Gaiman previously explained to Tudum that he only felt it natural for these teenagers to take up the profession: “Who amongst us can honestly say that if we were hanging around the Earth as a ghost we wouldn’t want to start a detective agency?” Exactly. Co-creator Steve Steve Yockey has duly added that this series is like “the Hardy Boys on acid.” He believes that this show is as compelling as The Sandman “but through a severely cracked lens.”

So, where’s the connection to The Sandman? The detectives’ boarding school is awash with the consequences of Lucifer’s petty grudge against Dream/Morpheus. The story eventually struck such a chord that Gaiman branched the ghostly duo into their own comic. Via the official series description:

Meet Edwin Payne (Rexstrew) and Charles Rowland (Revri), ‘the brains’ and ‘the brawn’ behind the Dead Boy Detectives agency. Teenagers born decades apart who find each other only in death, Edwin and Charles are best friends and ghosts… who solve mysteries. They will do anything to stick together – including escaping evil witches, Hell and Death herself. With the help of a clairvoyant named Crystal (Nelson) and her friend Niko (Kitamura), they are able to crack some of the mortal realm’s most mystifying paranormal cases.

Could we also (pretty please) have a Death spin off series to match those comic-book miniseries? Nobody could be mad at that.

Dead Boy Detectives‘ first season is streaming now on Netflix.

With every passing year (and every instantly forgotten streaming service action movie), the Lord of the Rings films seem like even more of a miracle. Peter Jackson‘s trilogy — The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and Best Picture winner The Return of the King — are rightly hailed as modern classics. And great Christmas movies, even if they have nothing to do with Christmas. Do hobbits even celebrate a Christmas-like holiday? (That’s a redundant question: please do not direct me towards the 700 page entry in The History of Middle-earth that gets into the history of holidays in the Shire.)

You can still have your annual winter-time viewing of the battle at Helm’s Deep during the holidays, but this year, Warner Bros. and Fathom Events are re-releasing the trilogy into theaters during the summer. According to The Hollywood Reporter, “the versions screened will be Jackson’s extended editions (so you might want get the jumbo tub of popcorn), and also the versions that the filmmaker remastered in 2020 for a 4K Ultra HD rerelease. This is the first time the remastered versions will be in theaters.”

Here are the dates and times:

June 8: The Fellowship of the Ring at 4 p.m. local time
June 9: The Two Towers at 4 p.m. local time
June 10: The Return of the King at 7 p.m. time

Looks like searching Google for “when to take a pee break during The Return of the King” is back on the menu, boys.

You can buy tickets here.

(Via The Hollywood Reporter)

When blizzards line up to rip through the Northeast, schools close, flights are canceled, and people even board up their houses. Though missions and homeless shelters do what they can to provide safety to those who have no homes to go to, thousands of people still have to weather the cold outside.

At Carnegie Mellon University’s 2015 Impact-a-Thon, students were challenged to provide a temporary low-cost shelter for homeless people during the winter.

One team of students came up with the “Satellite Shelter,” an insulated sleeping bag that converts into a tented structure. The students used mylar, a reflective material frequently used in greenhouses and space blankets, and wool blankets to ensure the shelter would keep anyone in it safe from the cold.

“We wanted to make sure it was super-portable and durable so that it’s easy to carry,” said student Linh Thi Do, who worked on the project. “We have wheels on it so it’s easy to move from place to place.”

“Satellite Shelter” is a sleeping bag that expands into a tent for housing the homeless https://bit.ly/1t2FsZtu00a0pic.twitter.com/L7Jdqxy2RU

— Inhabitat (@Inhabitat)
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Solutions like this one are handy in an emergency. Perhaps, however, other cities should take note of the city of New Orleans’ success in providing long-term housing solutions for its homeless veterans. The only perfect solution to homelessness is giving people permanent homes to go to at night.

This article originally appeared on 01.26.15

You always stole my thunder. You gave them everything they wanted. You never said no when they asked for anything.

Tina Platamura

A second helping of dessert. Candy before dinner. A few more minutes in the bath. Money for the ice cream truck.

I struggled to show you respect and appreciation while trying to make sure you didn’t spoil my children. I thought you would turn them into “selfish brats” by giving them everything they wanted. I thought they might never learn to wait, to take turns, to share, because you granted their wishes as soon as they opened their mouths and pointed.

You held each one of my babies long after they fell asleep. Didn’t you understand that I needed them to learn to fall asleep on their own?

You ran to them as soon as they made the tiniest sound. How would they ever learn to self-soothe?

I resented you for buying the best and most expensive gifts on their birthdays and on Christmas. How could I possibly compete with you?

“I thought they might never learn to wait, to take turns, to share, because you granted their wishes as soon as they opened their mouths and pointed.”

And how they loved afternoons spent with you. You made their favorite things for dinner — three different meals for three different boys. And you always had a little surprise. A present, candy, or a special treat. I didn’t want them to associate you with gifts and sweets. I thought they should love you for you. I tried to tell you this, but you wouldn’t listen.

I spent a lot of time wondering why you did all these things and how I could get you to ease up. I know grandmothers are supposed to “spoil the kids” then send them home, but you were … ridiculous.

Until you were gone.

I had to hold my boys and tell them that their grandma died. It didn’t seem possible — you were supposed to be there for all the other special moments: proms, graduations, weddings. But they lost their grandma too soon and too suddenly. They were not ready to say goodbye.

During those years when I wished you’d stop spoiling them, I never thought about how much you loved them. So much that you showed it in every way possible. Your cooking. The gifts. The candy and sweets. Your presence. The way you could recount every detail of a special moment, whether it was a perfect catch in the outfield or a sweet and slightly off-key note sung at a school concert. Your grandmotherly love for them knew no bounds. Your heart poured love from every place possible — your kitchen, your pocketbook, your words, and your tireless arms.

It’s pointless to dwell on regrets, but I often think about how I had it all wrong. I was so wrong in how I perceived your generosity.

My kids, now in their teens, miss you dearly. And they don’t miss your gifts or your money. They miss you.

They miss running to greet you at the door and hugging you before you could step in. They miss looking up at the bleachers and seeing you, one of their biggest fans, smiling and enthralled to catch their eye. They miss talking to you and hearing your words of wisdom, encouragement and love.

If I could speak to you one more time, I would tell you that every time a precious moment steals my heart, every time I watch them arrive at a new milestone, and every time they amaze me with their perseverance, talents, or triumphs, I think of you. And I wish that they could have you back.

Come back and love them one last time, like no one else in the world but a grandmother could. Bring your sweets and surprises. Reward them with gifts for the smallest accomplishments. Painstakingly prepare their favorite meals. Take them anywhere they want to go. All and only because you love them.

Come back and see how much they’ve grown. Watch each boy becoming his own version of a young man. Be in awe with me as we admire how family, friendship, time, and love helped them grow so beautifully over the years.

The more I long for you to come back, though, the more I realize that in a way, you never left.

I understand now. I know you loved them in every way you could. I know that being their grandma gave you joy and purpose. And of course I know that you can’t come back, but I do know that your love for them will always remain. Your love built them and sheltered them in ways that cannot be described. Your love is a big part of who they are and what they will become as they grow. For this, and for every treat and gift, and every time you held them too long or consoled them too much or let them stay up too late, I will always thank you.

And I will wish a million times that you could do it all again.

This article was written by Tina Plantamura and originally appeared on 04.14.16

Optical illusions are universally beloved for how they trick our brains and blow our minds. There’s a reason we enjoy magic shows and Escher paintings and are mesmerized by fake oases in the desert. We love seeing things that bend our perceptions of reality, and the science behind the magic always proves fascinating as well.

The Ames window is a pretty well-known optical illusion, but it’s always cool to see. When spun, the angled window appears to oscillate back and forth instead of spin all the way around. But this video adds a twist that makes the effect even more mindbending—our brains simply can’t process objective reality mixed with an optical illusion.

The YouTube channel Curiosity Show explains the science of the illusion and gives a DIY demonstration for making your own Ames window. But wait until the pen gets taped to the window and spun. This is some real-life magic right here. Mind. Blown.

This article originally appeared on 02.21.20

Kayla Berridge had been walking her normal 9-mile delivery route in Newmarket, a small town in New Hampshire, when she noticed something unusual.

The mail she had been delivering continued to pile up over a matter of days at one resident’s home. The resident was an elderly woman in her 80s, and would occasionally share a chat with Berridge, according to CNN.

Berridge told CNN that after noticing the unattended mail pile, she got “a little concerned.”

“I just had this gut feeling and wanted to make sure,” Berridge told WMUR 9 News, explaining that “most people put a hold in if they’re not there, so when people pick up their mail every day, you start to notice their habits.” Not to mention, the woman’s car was still in the driveway.

Berridge followed her instincts and called the local police department for a wellness check, and in the process saved the elderly woman’s life.

CNN reported that officers found the woman trapped on her bedroom floor under heavy artwork and frames. The theory is she tried to use her bed for support, and in the process these items on the bed fell onto her, pinning her down for three full days. Though she was suffering from hypothermia and dehydration, Police Lt. Wayne Stevens confirmed she was stable and recovering.

I can only imagine the agony and fear this poor woman was in, lying in the cold and not knowing if help would come. Luckily, help was on the way, and this story has a happy ending.

In this instance, the familiarity that comes from living in a small town really paid off. “Everyone has each other’s backs,” Berridge told CNN.

But Officer Stevens wanted to give credit where credit was due. He agreed that Berridge’s quick thinking was “part of being a letter carrier in a small town,” he added that her actions were “taking your job to the next level.”

While wellness or welfare checks have historically been associated with the elderly, they are seen as an equally “critical tool” for the safety of many young people as well, especially with the “rise of suicide rates among adolescents and young adults.”

An example of this is when “Saturday Night Live” star Pete Davidson received a wellness check back in 2018. The comedian posted an alarming message to Instagram, saying “I really don’t want to be on this Earth anymore. I actually don’t know how much longer I can last.” This was after breaking off his engagement with Ariana Grande.

Though it certainly didn’t happen in a small town, the interconnectedness of social media helped raise some red flags and prompted authorities to make a visit.

If there’s anything to make you question someone’s well-being, it’s better to be safe than sorry.

This article originally appeared on 02.02.22

Gyms are communal spaces where people can come to improve their health, fitness and/or overall well-being.

However, it’s no secret that many gyms have also become a production studio of sorts where influencers can set up a tripod to demonstrate the most cutting-edge squatting technique or where the average Joe can take that obligatory gym selfie to prove that the workout did, in fact, happen.

There’s nothing inherently wrong with either of these activities. However, they have sparked a new kind of behavior in gymgoers where they feign extreme frustration if folks walk from one machine to the next or grab a piece of equipment and, heaven forbid, enter the frame.

Take for instance a video shared to Reddit by u/ASTATINE_628, where we first see several cuts of a young woman at the gym, seemingly perturbed that people are continuously walking through her frame in her video.

The clip then cuts to a guy who breaks down what’s wrong with this scenario in a very clear and concise way.

“This sense of entitlement has gotten out of hand,” he said, noting that “for you to get upset because there’s people simply in your video going about their workout, not bothering you, minding their own business, is ridiculous.”

To act like she owns the gym.
by u/ASTATINE_628 in therewasanattempt

He certainly has a point. Of course, when personal space is actually being infringed upon, like when someone is facing harassment, that’s a different story. But in this case, as the man stated, there is no wrongdoing by simply existing.

The man then summed it all up with a short and sweet reminder about common decency. Or maybe not-so-common, since we’re needing reminders.

“Unless your name is on that gym, your filming is never a priority over other people. They pay the same gym membership that you do. If you can’t film responsibly, if you can’t respect other people in a shared space, you don’t belong filming at all,” he said.

Really, this behavior stems from something larger than modern-day gym culture. We film ourselves a lot these days, and often in public. This has undoubtedly caused a shift in how we view personal boundaries in the outside world, with both positive and negative effects.

On the one hand, it can be fun and self-esteem-boosting to treat your life as one big video diary. On the other hand, we bring strangers unwillingly into our orbit, treating them as punching bags, entertainment, or, in the case of the miffed gymgoers, nuisances. We vainly stop treating other people like fellow humans sharing life on this crazy blue planet. No video seems worth forgetting that.

Even for those who have never set foot into a gym, and never will, this is a poignant reminder to not lose our humanity as our relationship with social media grows. It’s perfectly fine to tap into “main character energy.” Let’s just keep in mind that really, we’re all part of the same story.

This article originally appeared on 3.28.23

Over the past few years, book bans have been happening in public libraries and schools across America. In the 2022-2023 school year alone, over 3,300 books were banned in 182 school districts in 37 states.

Most books that have been banned deal with LGBTQ and racial themes. According to a report from PEN America, Florida has been the most aggressive state regarding book bans, accounting for about 40% of those taken off the shelves.

On November 5, Collier County, Florida, announced that it was banning 300 books from its school libraries out of an effort to comply with state law HB 1069, which says books that depict or describe “sexual content” can be challenged for removal.

Among the books banned by the school district was “Shopgirl,” a novella by author Steve Martin published in 2000. Martin is also the star of the hit Hulu show, “Only Murders in the Building,” featuring Martin Short and Selena Gomez.

Upon hearing about his book being banned, Martin responded with his iconic wit on Instagram, saying, “So proud to have my book Shopgirl banned in Collier County, Florida! Now, people who want to read it will have to buy a copy!”

See on Instagram

“Shopgirl” is a story about a young woman who works in a luxury department store and has an affair with a wealthy older man. It was made into a movie in 2005 starring Claire Danes and Martin. It’s believed the book was banned for its mild sexual content. On Amazon, the book is recommended for readers ages 13 and up.

This article originally appeared on 11.11.23

The only thing tougher than being “the most beautiful woman in the world” (that’s a lot of impossible beauty standards to live up to!) is being the child of the “the most beautiful woman in the world.”

In an interview with Harper’s Bazaar, supermodel Christy Turlington revealed that her teenage son, Finn, was heckled by the opposing team during a high school basketball game when they passed around a nude photo from a photoshoot of hers.

“I was surprised it hadn’t happened sooner,” Turlington said. “But at the same time, I was like, this is so rude!”

The incident turned into a “bigger thing” once the school got involved. “All I wanted to do was disappear,” she says, growing more animated. But she quickly returns to an even keel: “I don’t feel embarrassed about anything,” she explains. “Regretting things is a waste of time.”

Later in the interview, Turlington, who is also a singer, founder of the non-profit organization Every Mother Counts, and a marathon runner, described herself as “quiet” and someone who “studies people.” She added, “I think I learned how to not stand out. My mom never said, like, ‘Oh, here’s how you’re going to protect yourself.’ I think I just really paid attention, honestly.”

You might even say she respects her… freedom (sorry).

(Via Harper’s Bazaar)

St. Vincent has offered some tantalizing teasers of her upcoming album, All Born Screaming. For those who have been digging the rollout so far, the good news is that the project is, as of this post, just hours away from release. So, here’s what to know about when you Apple Music users will be able to check it out.

When Can You Play St. Vincent’s New Album ‘All Born Screaming’ On Apple Music?

The new album is set to drop when most high-profile new projects do: On Friday (in this case, April 26) at midnight ET, which converts to Thursday, April 25 at 9 p.m. PT. The project should be available when new albums typically are in other time zones, too.

St. Vincent previously said of the album, “There are some places, emotionally, that you can only get to by taking the long walk into the woods alone — to find out what your heart is really saying. It sounds real because it is real.”

She worked on the project with a list of collaborators that includes Foo Fighters members Dave Grohl and Josh Freese, Stella Mogzawa of Warpaint, Cate Le Bon (the project’s only credited feature), Rachel Eckroth, Mark Guiliana, Justin Meldal-Johnsen, and David Ralicke.

All Born Screaming is out 4/26 via Total Pleasure Records/Virgin Music Group. Find more information here.