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There is one question chef Christine Ha fields more than any other.

But it’s got nothing to do with being a “Masterchef” champion, New York Times bestselling author, and acclaimed TV host and cooking instructor.

The question: “How do you cook while blind?”

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Ha has a rare autoimmune disease that attacked her spinal cord and optic nerve. She started losing her vision in 2004 while she was in her 20s.

Ha compares her vision loss to “looking at a very foggy mirror after a hot shower.” After her diagnosis, she worried she’d have to give up cooking. It was an interest she was just beginning to explore and one she had a serious talent and passion for. Instead of shying away from the kitchen, Ha decided to learn to navigate her new reality.

“It’s like any other challenge in life; you just face it head on and hope for the best,” she said in one of her recent videos.

A seasoned chef, Ha leans into her other senses to bring her culinary creations to life.

In a video for her YouTube channel, Ha wears a GoPro camera while expertly preparing a mouthwatering meal of steamed whole snapper with black bean sauce and blistered green beans. She describes it as a “typical weeknight meal,” the very thought of which separates home cooks from Masterchefs.

Watch Christine Ha make a delicious dinner … just maybe not while you’re hungry.

Ha is patient, taking her time to feel, smell, prep, and cut ingredients.

She sometimes uses adaptive tools, but much of her cooking is done by touch. She deftly guides her knife to accomplish intricate cuts.

Just like a sous chef in a professional kitchen, sometimes Ha’s partner lends a quick hand.

Ha uses cooking, food, and telling her story to connect and communicate with people around her.

Preparing and sharing meals is a great way to unite people and celebrate what makes each of us unique. Plus, you get to eat tasty food with your favorite people. And if it’s Gordon Ramsay approved, it’s that much sweeter.

Watch and learn a little more about Christine Ha in the video below:

This article originally appeared on 05.26.17

“Vocal Fry” is a term for the glottal, creaking sound of lower-register speech oscillation.

You know, like that raspy Zooey-Deschanel-type thing where your voice has that little “GuUuUuUuUuUuUuUh” crackle, instead of the smooth, consistent “Guuuuuuuuuuuuuuh.”

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That really didn’t help at all, huh?

OK, it’s this:

We’ve noticed women using “vocal fry” for a while now…

A scientific study was reported in a 2011 issue of Science magazine that’s generally credited with adding the phrase “vocal fry” into the popular lexicon. Before this point, according to the magazine, apparently vocal fry did not exist, although Britney Spears anachronistically employed it in the first line of her debut single, “Baby One More Time” all the way back in 1998. And she wasn’t the only pop star to do so.

The study from Science purported that women are often different than men (groundbreaking!), and thus, women talked less good with their mouth-sounds. (I’m paraphrasing, but that was the gist.) (Please excuse my rolling eyes.)

Specifically, vocal fry was said to be a trend among college-aged women of a certain social standing. “Young students tend to use it when they get together. Maybe this is a social link between members of a group,” noted one female researcher.

…but recently it’s been recognized that us dudes have been getting in on the action for a while too.

All right, guys! We’re finally getting closer to true gender parity! But the question remains: How come no one noticed that men have been using vocal fry for years?

“This American Life” host Ira Glass recently admitted that he uses vocal fry. But in a conversation with Chana Jaffe-Walt (who is not a dude), Glass also admitted that no one notices his vocal fry. And it’s not that no one notices — women are criticized for using vocal fry while men have been getting away with it for years.

“I get criticized for a lot of things in the emails to the show,” Glass said. “No one has ever pointed this out.”

Noted academic and anarcho-syndicalist advocate Noam Chomsky has also been known to employ vocal fry (presumably as a means of dismantling capitalism). Chomsky certainly has his detractors, but none of them seem to take issue with his vocal quality either. And even The Hairpin noted over 6 years ago that male vocal fry has become “a thing.”

In reality, associating the vocal fry trend only with women — both in practice and in naming — is a really just another way of trying to define gender roles.

It’s certainly interesting to observe the trends in human social interactions in the same way we observe a pack of wild capuchin monkeys. But the way that vocal fry gained traction in popular culture was, well, kind of weird.

After that Science magazine article came out, women were suddenly being judged for the supposedly abrasive way in which they spoke when they used vocal fry, even though both women and men had probably been talking that way since well before 2011.

There are many legitimate reasons — beyond gender — for why a person might develop vocal fry.

The simple truth is that vocal fry is just one way that people talk, regardless of their gender. Some people employ it as a means of being heard, as differentiating their voices from the rest of the masses. Other people really do just talk that way!

And it’s another example of the way we treat women like Goldilocks (“This one’s too sexy, and this one’s too prude, and…”). If a woman uses a higher register to speak, then it’s classified as ditzy, valley-girl uptalk. If a woman uses her lower register, it’s vocal fry. If she speaks in the middle (modal range), her words often get lost entirely.

Maybe, just maybe, we should all try to worry less about the way people speak (or dress or…) and instead try to actually listen to and hear what they’re saying.

So vocal fry? Don’t vocal fry? Do what you want! Because if our crappy earbud headphones have taught us anything, it’s that content matters more than the quality of delivery.

This article originally appeared on 07.28.15

Warning: The following video contains disturbing imagery.

Security camera footage out of Thailand is a warning to people everywhere about the importance of making sure children are safe around pools. It’s also a wonderful story about a toddler being brave and looking out for her younger sister.

Kana Kanuengnit, 3, and 2-year-old Kaning were hanging around their family’s pool in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand on Friday, April 1 when the incident happened. Their father, 29-year-old Apisit, was watching the kids while their mother was inside the house.

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“I was sweeping near the pool and my wife was cooking in the kitchen behind the house,” he said according to Yahoo. “We weren’t planning for any pool activities so I didn’t notice what was happening. But after a moment of me sweeping with my back to the pool, my younger daughter fell into the pool.”

Kaning fell into the 4-foot-deep pool and immediately struggled to keep her head above water. Her older sister, Kana, realized she was in danger and immediately called out to her father, whose back was still turned while he swept near some patio furniture.

The girl screamed to her father that Kaning was in the pool and quickly sprang into action.

“I didn’t know what to do, I forgot to think about my phone and things in my pocket. I threw it all and just jumped in the pool,” Apisit said. The father was fast on his feet and pulled his daughter out of the pool before she sank to the bottom. We’re pretty sure the father could care less about his phone knowing that his daughter is safe.

Apisit hopes that the harrowing video serves as a warning for parents everywhere. “I think this is a great example to remind people that you cannot take your eyes off even for a split second when there are children and water,” he said.

“I want to stress this to parents with small kids and a pool to put up a barrier around the pool if not, they should always be careful,” he added.

The story brings to mind one that Upworthy covered in the 2020. A 3-year-old boy named Henrique in Rio de Janeiro snuck away from his parents and was playing poolside with another child his age named Arthur.

In the video, Henrique is seen stretching to grab an inflatable toy and then falls into the pool. For 10 seconds Henqriue struggles to keep his head above water until Arthur bravely extends his hand and pulls the boy up. If Arthur didn’t have the strength, he could have fallen into the pool and both boys may have died.

Summer is coming up and kids will be playing in or around pools. Every year, around 400 children aged 15 and younger die in a pool or spa incident. Three-quarters of those deaths involve children younger than 5, and 83% of those occur in residential pools.

Three rules every parent should follow:

1. Never leave a child in or near water unattended.

2. Make sure there are barriers around your pool or spa to prevent unsupervised children from getting into the water.

3. Learn how to perform CPR on children and adults.

This story originally appeared on 04.08.22

Have you ever come across something online that instantly made you smile? That’s what happens when people see Locklan Samples pop up on their Instagram feed. The cute dimple-faced toddler has a rare condition known as uncombable hair syndrome, which results in locks that stick straight up no matter how you try to manipulate them. It also causes the hair to be extremely fragile, so frequent combing can cause it to break off. The syndrome is so rare that Locklan is just one out of 100 people known to have it.

Locklan’s parents spoke with People magazine about how they discovered he was living with this ultra rare condition. Katelyn Samples, Locklan’s mom, explained that when he was born he had a head full of jet black hair, but eventually it fell out and was replaced with peach fuzz. A newborn baby’s hair is often completely different than the hair they end up with by the time they’re toddlers. It’s not uncommon for their hair to fall out in one spot or another, but it’s also not unheard of for their whole head to end up bald while their second sprigs of hair grow in.

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Hair can grow back coarser, curlier or a completely different color. In Locklan’s case, his hair went from being jet black to platinum blonde peach fuzz, which eventually grew into hair that stood on end. Locklan’s parents said the color of his hair matched his brother’s hair, so it wasn’t a surprise, but the texture threw them for a loop.

When Katelyn posted pictures of Locklan on Instagram, a stranger messaged her asking if he had “uncombable hair syndrome.” This started Katelyn on a journey to find answers to what was going on with her infant’s hair, and if the condition was something she needed to be concerned about health-wise. Katelyn told People, it sent her into a “tailspin on Google.” Eventually, after climbing out of the Google rabbit hole, Katelyn called her son’s pediatrician to get answers. This turned out to be the first step toward an accurate diagnosis.

See on Instagram

See on Instagram

Locklan’s pediatrician had not heard of the condition and referred them to Atlanta’s Emory Hospital to see a specialist. It was there they got the diagnosis. Katelyn explained to People, “We went to see her and she said she’d only seen this once in 19 years.” The doctor “didn’t think it was uncombable hair syndrome because of how rare it is, but they took samples and a pathologist looked at it under a special microscope,” and confirmed the diagnosis, she said.

He joins the very small club of people with the syndrome. Thankfully, this condition only affects the toddler’s hair and he is developing normally in all other aspects of his childhood. Katelyn revealed she hardly ever has to wash his hair unless it gets visibly dirty as it doesn’t collect oils at the scalp. Everywhere they go people are fascinated by Lock’s locks and ask to touch his soft tresses.

See on Instagram

The family documents their journey on their Instagram account, and have found a support group via Facebook, where Katelyn says “it’s cool to see how other kids’ hair has changed over the years—for some people it does not go away, and for others it becomes a little more manageable.” For now, Locklan enjoys the attention he gets from strangers, and he continues to bring a smile to people’s faces wherever he goes.

This story originally appeared on 03.02.22

Earlier this week, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis tried to end his bitter feud with Disney by simply announcing that he’s “moved on” from the fight he’s been losing from the jump. Unfortunately for DeSantis, Disney has other plans.

The two have been locked in a legal battle ever since DeSantis and state Republicans openly announced their intentions to retaliate against Disney for opposing Florida’s highly controversial “Don’t Say Gay” bill. Making good on his threat, DeSantis created a hand-picked tourism board in an attempt to take control of the special district where Disneyworld operates. Disney called the move a violation of its First Amendment rights, and the lawsuits have been flying back and forth ever since.

However, Disney is showing no signs of backing down. Just days after DeSantis attempted to wave away the dispute, Disney has filed a countersuit against the governor’s tourism board. According to the latest lawsuit, DeSantis had several opportunities to “move on,” but instead, let things get to where they are now.

Via The Messenger:

“Amid a climate of escalating retaliation against Disney by the Florida government, Disney sought de-escalation, including through several attempts to spark a productive dialogue with the DeSantis Administration. These efforts were unsuccessful” Disney says in its lawsuit filed Thursday in the Orange County Circuit Court.

Disney is alleging that DeSantis, a Republican, wrongfully removed members of the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District Board that Disney had selected, according to the suit. In doing so, DeSantis violated a contract the state board had with the company. Disney is arguing for $50,000 as well as a new board.

In the same CNBC interview where DeSantis claimed to have “moved on,” he also encouraged Disney to “drop” their lawsuit because they’re “going to lose.” Clearly, they think otherwise, Ron.

(Via The Messenger)

For a long time, there was a heated debate on if The Flash would ever make it to theaters, which it did, although semi-reluctantly. Though the reviews were promising, the movies underperformed by a longshot, which was just another nail in the DC coffin. If you were one of the millions who decided to skip out on the movie opening weekend, then you’re in luck! The movie is heading to streaming much sooner than anticipated.

The film, starring Ezra Miller, Sasha Calle, Michael Shannon, Ron Livingston, and Michael Keaton, will be available on DVD and Blu-ray on August 29th. The movie follows Miller as The Flash as he travels back in time to try to save his family from meeting their untimely death, though he subsequently re-writes history into a grim timeline and must enlist in former superheroes to help get the world back on track.

The Flash will run all the way to Max on Friday, August 25th, nearly two months after the film hit theaters. For comparison, last year’s summer blockbuster Top Gun: Maverick landed on streaming over six months after the film’s release. But then again, The Flash didn’t have Tom Cruise, though it did have a small dose of Ben Affleck. It’s all about celebrating the small wins.

Will there be a sequel? Probably not, but now that James Gunn has taken the reigns, you never know what could happen. Maybe Henry Cavill will return after all! Though it’s unlikely.

(Via Variety)

If you were thinking about buying a MacBook from an Emmy-winning actor on Twitter, maybe don’t?

Last week, The Americans star Matthew Rhys had his account hacked by spammers selling laptops. “I was hacked and locked out of my account for over a week. I sincerely hope that no one paid any attention (or more importantly money) to those who were trying to sell computers on the account In that time. Many apologies,” he wrote once he got his access back.

Now the hackers have gone after another Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series winner.

That’s classic Bryan Cranston for you, always signing his tweets and misspelling his name. “Say my name.” “Brian Cranston?”

In a follow-up tweet, the “Breaking Bad star” “wrote,” “It still continues to be sold. In answer to many questions, our sponsors are the reason why the payment method is Crypto. It was reported that the majority were sold. Follow the steps from the link to buy.” Please do not follow the steps from the link to buy.

The tweets have since been deleted (the real Cranston hasn’t tweeted since February), but now I’m concerned. Which prestige drama star will the hackers come after next? Look out, Bob Odenkirk!

The Afro Nation festival series is arguably one of the most important live events in today’s Black music market as it bridges together the genres pioneered by Black entertainers, including Afrobeats, Afro-fusion, Amapiano, R&B, hip-hop, and more. At the inaugural installment of Afro Nation Detroit 2023 this weekend (August 19 and 20) held at the Bedrock’s Douglass site, artists such as Burna Boy, Davido, Ari Lennox, Latto, and will amplify the sounds heard around the world.

Burna Boy spoke with Los Angeles Times journalist Kenan Draughorne about the growing movement amongst native Africans and people with African ancestry living around the world, saying, “They’ve successfully broken us apart, to where many of us don’t even want to identify with each other. The primary objective for our people should be unity, and to build a bridge between us that can never close or break. With the music, I try to play my little part in trying to do that.”

Afro Nation Detroit is a mere example of this comradery, with music at the center of it all. View the set times below.

Limited VIP and general admission tickets are still available for Afro Nation Detroit 2023. Find more information here.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Back in April, after Bud Light teamed up with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney for an ad campaign, Kid Rock expressed his dissatisfaction with the brand and it was pretty extra: He shared a video of himself shooting a bunch of Bud Light cans with a gun before saying, “F*ck Bud Light. F*ck Anheuser-Busch. Have a terrific day.”

It appears, though, that Rock didn’t keep up his boycott for too long. In July, his Nashville bar was selling Bud Light. Now, Rock isn’t afraid to throw one back himself: TMZ has photos and videos of Rock attending a Colt Ford concert at Skydeck in Nashville last night (August 17), holding one of the distinctive blue Bud Light cans and enjoying the beverage.

It’s not just Rock who’s softening on Bud Light, it seems: Business Insider reports that according to a recent Deutsche Bank survey, “Crucially, the proportion of former Bud Light drinkers who are say they are very unlikely to buy the brand in 3-6 months time has reduced from 18% to just 3%, a significant improvement.”

As CBS News notes, after the Mulvaney video, the next month, Bud Light lost its longtime status as the best-selling beer in the US, falling behind Modelo Especial. To get into specifics: “In the month ending July 15, Bud Light’s US sales were down 26.5%, while Modelo’s were up 13.5%. Bud Light held a 6.8% share of the US beer market in that period, while Modelo held an 8.7% share.”

There are some people who live under the illusion that everything they say is deeply interesting and have no problem wasting your time by rambling on and on without a sign of stopping. They’re the relative, neighbor or co-worker who can’t take a hint that the conversation is over.

Of all these people, the co-worker who can’t stop talking may be the most challenging because you see them every day in a professional setting that requires politeness.

There are many reasons that some people talk excessively. Therapist F. Diane Barth writes in Psychology Today that some people talk excessively because they don’t have the ability to process complex auditory signals, so they ramble on without recognizing the subtle cues others are sending.

It may also be a case of someone who thinks they’re the most interesting person in the conversation.

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For others, it’s a symptom of a disorder. Michelle C. Brooten-Brooks, a licensed marriage and family therapist, writes that excessive talking can also be a symptom of, among other things, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or anxiety.

“Anxiety can cause someone to speak excessively,” Brooten-Brooks writes at Very Well Health. “While many with social anxiety may avoid social interactions, some may inadvertently talk excessively when in social situations out of nervousness and anxiety.”

So what do we do when we’re stuck in a situation where someone just keeps talking? A Reddit user by the name of Spritti33 asked for some advice about how to “politely end a conversation with a person who won’t stop talking” and received some very practical and funny responses from members of the online forum.

A lot of folks pointed out that it’s not impolite to walk away from a person who is incessantly talking because they are being rude by disrespecting your time. Others shared how, in some cultures, there are ways of shutting down a conversation while allowing both parties to save face.

Here are 19 of the best responses to Spritti33’s question, “How does someone politely end a conversation with a person who won’t stop talking?”

1. 

“In Flanders we have a word for it, ‘bon,’ and then you say something ‘I have work to do,’ ‘It’s time to go home,’ ‘It’s time to get drinks.’ And people realize the other person wants to leave without being mean,” — ISuckAtRacingGames

2. 

“In Ireland we do like a little clap/slap our thigh/clap the person’s shoulder and say ‘Right! Shur look, I’ll let you go…’ as if we’re being polite and letting the other person off the hook, but actually, it’s like get me the fuck out of here haha!” —funky_mugs

3.

“If they keep talking over polite cues, I have found there really isn’t a polite way to exit the conversation,” — Binder_Grinder

4. 

“This is so true. People that do this don’t care whether you’re into the conversation or not, they’re talking simply because they want to. I’ve gotten better at just interjecting (even mid-sentence if I’ve already tried everything else) with, ‘I’m sorry, I have to go. (start walking away at this point) It was nice talking to you.’ Don’t give any excuses or reasons for leaving, just do it otherwise they’ll try to talk about your reasons.” — PSSaalamader

5. 

“As a teacher, I have learned how to interrupt people who do not leave any pauses when they’re speaking: start nodding and verbally agreeing with them, ‘Uh huh, uh huh, uh huh…’ You can’t interrupt these people, but you can start agreeing while they speak, then raise your voice and say, ‘Yeah, wow, excuse me but I must go,'” — Janicegirlbomb2

6. 

“Remember that it is them who is being impolite by talking incessantly about things of no interest to their audience,” — Orp4mmws99

7. 

“Source: am a therapist. What you do is recap their last story and in the same breath add a goodbye.

I.e. ‘Sounds like you guys found a bunch of great deals at the mall, that’s awesome! Thanks for meeting with me, you’ll have to tell me more next time we run into each other. It was great to catch up!'” — pikcles-for-fingers

8. 

“Just start coughing these days it’ll clear a whole room in seconds,” — Sinisterpigeon

9. 

“People who are like this expect folks to just walk away from them while they are talking because that’s the only way the conversation ends. It’s not rude to them, it’s normal. So, it’s entirely okay to say, ‘all right this has been great, see you later,’ and then just walk away smiling,” — Underlord_Fox

10. 

“If you can practice this, start to train one of your eyeballs to slowly drift off whilst the other eye remains locked on theirs. That should do the trick,” — The-Zesty-Man

11. 

“At 62, I just walk away. My bullshit filter has disappeared,” — Negative_Increase

12. 

“You gotta realize that everyone else they talk to just walks away. They’re used to that. They think a conversation is you just talk at someone til they walk away. It’s not weird to them,” — DelsmagicFishies

13. 

“I don’t know why some people are so afraid of this. It is not rude. You don’t need to lie. ‘We can speak more other time. Goodbye,’ is fine,” — Kooky-Housing3049

14. 

“On a more serious note, I typically do an ‘oh shit’ type of face like I’ve just remembered I had something important scheduled. I say ‘Sorry, what time is it? check the time Ah crap, I hate to cut you off but if I don’t head out now I’m going to be late for ____.’ Then I scurry away like I’m really in a rush. If you’re in a situation where you can’t straight up leave, I swap ‘gotta head out’ for ‘I told someone I’d call them at [time] and they’re waiting on my call’ and then make a fake phone call,” — teethfairie

15. 

“‘Wow, you have a lot of opinions about this subject…’ and then never stop angling the conversation back to how weird it is that they’re still talking,” — Ordsmed

16. 

“Had a friend who would put his hand gently on your shoulder and kindly say, ‘I love you , but I just don’t care, good (night/day),'” — Think-Passage-5522

17. 

“While not exactly polite, my Aunt Sophie had a great way of ending a conversation. When the monologue got too much she would nod her head like she was listening and then at the slightest pause she would go, ‘The end.’ And walk away.

She mostly did it with kids who didn’t realize they were yabbering on about Thundercats too long. (It was me, I was yabbering on about Thundercats too long.)” — theslackjaw727

18. 

​”Change your stance, instead of facing them head on turn 90° your body language will end the conversation quickly without being rude,” — Zedd2087

19. 

“Where possible, I’ve always found it best to tell these people up front that you have somewhere to be 15, 30, 45, etc minutes from now. If that’s not realistic, I’ve found that if you can usually find a gap to say you need to run if you focus on doing only this for 3-5 minutes,” — Pretend_Airline2811

This article originally appeared on 06.22.22