From the DHT to Prow, there are just some things you’ll never forget about the ‘Burgh.
Which you know is pronounced "Tea-viot".
Eleri Boyesen / Buzzfeed
You sang to it on Burns Night.
Eleri Boyesen / Buzzfeed
Needless to say, it’s brilliant.
Will Smith popped into the Palms Casino Resort pool party in Vegas on Friday. He was supposed to be going to watch a set by his son Trey, aka DJ Ace, but being the showman he is, couldn't resist getting up onstage himself.
BuzzFeed
No, this article is not satirical.
A Facebook representative told BuzzFeed: "We are running a small test which shows the text ['Satire'] in front of links to satirical articles in the related articles unit in News Feed. This is because we received feedback that people wanted a clearer way to distinguish satirical articles from others in these units."
Mornings are hard. French toast made out of cake will help.
Crumb cake is delicious. French toast is delicious. French toast made out of crumb cake (and infused with coffee, for good measure) goes beyond delicious and into new, unexplored territories of decadence. But you know what? You did the hard work of waking up this morning, and you deserve it.
Lauren Zaser / BuzzFeed
Recipe by Rachel Sanders and Christine Byrne
Makes 9 slices
INGREDIENTS
French Toast:
6 eggs
pinch of kosher salt
1 1/2 tablespoons instant coffee or instant espresso powder
1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 18-ounce storebought crumb cake, cut in 9 squares
3 tablespoons butter, divided
Coffee Whipped Cream:
1 cup heavy cream, chilled
1 tablespoon confectioner's sugar, sifted
1 teaspoon instant coffee or instant espresso powder
Optional: fresh berries, maple syrup
PREPARATION
French Toast:
Preheat oven to 200°F to keep slices warm as you finish them.
In a medium bowl, beat eggs with salt and 1 1/2 tablespoons instant coffee. Whisk in milk and vanilla.
Lay out the coffee cake squares in a single layer in a large baking dish and pour the egg mixture over. Soak for about 30 seconds, flip cake squares, and let sit for another 30 seconds or until the squares are fully saturated.
Heat a 10-12" nonstick or cast iron skillet over medium-low heat.
Melt 1 tablespoon butter (or less if you're using a nonstick pan) in the hot skillet and add one or two slices of soaked crumb cake, crumb side up, making sure to leave space between the pieces. Cook 2 to 3 minutes, until golden-brown, then flip with a spatula and repeat on the other side. If the cake is burning, turn the heat down a little. When the top and bottom are brown and crisp, use tongs to turn the cake sideways and brown each of the four sides for about 30 seconds each side, just to until a light crust forms. Repeat with the remaining slices of cake and butter; you can eat right away or keep slices warm on a tray in the 200°F oven while you cook the rest.
Coffee Whipped Cream:
Whip cream in a bowl by hand or with a mixer just until it holds soft peaks. Add 1 teaspoon instant coffee and 1 tablespoon confectioner's sugar and whip for another 10 seconds just to blend.
Serve slices of French toast with a dollop of whipped cream, with berries and maple syrup on the side.
Lauren Zaser / BuzzFeed
Tune into GMA on ABC between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m., August 18-20, to see more awesome food mash-ups and cast your vote for the winner!
GMA
Adam Hills has just set the church quite the challenge. NSFW language.
Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4
Remembralls are so useful.
Warner Bros. / Via acciomigs.tumblr.com
Which is a major flaw in the device, admittedly.
Warner Bros. / Via hellogiggles.com
Everyone else at the meal is wearing robes, except Neville.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Illustration by Kim Sielbeck for BuzzFeed
I was about to jump off a trapeze platform 23 feet in the air when my instructor remarked, way too casually, "We are all dust." I thought I must have misheard him — after all, death, in this scenario, was a not completely crazy possibility. Not a time for nonchalant pronouncements about my mortality.
"What?" I said. The instructor was a friendly twentysomething guy with California-tanned skin and messy brown hair, like a crunchier, older Seth Cohen from The O.C. He didn't seem like the morbid type.
"All we are is dust. You gotta enjoy your time on this earth because it's short. That's why I do this," he said with a proud smile as he caught the swinging trapeze bar and pointed out to the horizon, the Santa Monica Pier and beachfront in front of us.
I really did want to embrace that idea — that humans should fling themselves into an abyss for joy — but instead this trapeze class had started to feel like a very bad, very unsafe plan. It was very clear from this moment that I would never be one of those "thrill-seeking" people who jump out of planes or get tattoos of their significant other's name. I would make a horrible Bachelor contestant.
"Ready?" he asked as he gripped the back of my harness. I didn't answer as I leaned out over the ledge to grasp the bar. It already felt like I was falling.
I could only think one thing: This is the last time I am doing this. And I jumped.
It pains me to admit that the idea to take a trapeze class in the first place was planted in my head after seeing it on Sex and the City. That episode — where Carrie tries a trapeze class but fails to make a "catch" (because, you know, MEN, GODDD) — aired 11 years ago.
But it didn't cross my mind to actually do it until recently, when I woke up at age 28 and realized I'd spent the last few years gradually withdrawing from anything that didn't involve sitting on my couch reading magazines, pointless interneting, or producing amateurish nail art while finishing off a bottle of wine.
I blamed L.A., in part, for making me more relaxed: Things move slower here than they do in New York, where I grew up; in a seasonless climate, moments seem to last longer. I stopped feeling pressure to "be somebody" like I did in New York's boozy media circles or in the expat crowd of artistic individuals in Paris, where I'd lived for a couple years after college. I felt quiet. It was nice. I ended up spending a lot of both my working and spare time sprawled out on my couch — grounded, anchored, held down to something familiar and secure.
After a few years, however, sitting still became my default. I'd often feel guilty about doing nothing (especially on weekends after I went to a full-time job) but settled on the rationale that L.A. just wasn't a city where you go out and do things, especially alone. Walking, visiting museums, reading at cafés: All of this somehow seemed like things you did in other cities. I did manage to work on and accomplish one great project — a book I co-wrote with my sister — but I'd given up on working on anything of my own. There must have been hundreds of days I told myself I'd spend the afternoon writing, and I never did it.
Then, after two years of being single, I met Drew, and we found ourselves having lots of new experiences together. My personal sense of adventure, however, still seemed lost. I knew I wasn't challenging myself, or even trying to tap back into my creativity.
Drew told me I was being too hard on myself. That inspiration can't be forced, and who knew? Maybe I hadn't really found my "thing" yet. Maybe it wasn't just writing, but something else.
"Like what?" I asked him.
"I can't tell you. Maybe you do something more physical. Make things."
I pictured myself opening an Etsy shop filled with handmade animal figurines. Tiny crocheted mice. Or miniature stuffed squirrels.
I thought maybe I needed a jump start. Something that would literally get me off my ass and flung into something new. And for some reason, the idea of a trapeze class seemed to be the answer.
Illustration by Kim Sielbeck for BuzzFeed
When you see someone take the trapeze from the ground, the activity looks graceful and freeing, and that's something I wanted to feel: the experience of weightlessness, the rush of flight. To do twists and turns in the air, I imagined, must feel like pure elation. Just the type of adrenaline rush you might need to reset your view of the world.
There's another thing about looking at the trapeze from the ground: It doesn't seem so high.
When my turn came to climb the ladder, I got halfway up when I realized, Jesusfuckingchrist, this is high. The top seemed days away. And while I knew the ladder was sturdy and safe, I felt like something bad was about to happen to me.
Hyperaware of every micro-movement I made toward the top, I wondered if it was too late to reverse and climb back down: I could just make something up and run out of the class. Lady problems. A meeting I forgot about. Diarrhea. I could be back home in about 35 minutes without traffic.
I reminded myself that this is a challenge I'd given myself and when you are in a situation where you are uncomfortable, the grown-up thing to do is face the issue. So I kept moving up.
By the time I reached the platform, I was quaking with fear — but also trying to imagine how much fun it would be once I just went for it, flying through the air with all the greatest of east and whatnot. I thought of one of those Nike ads with a sweaty woman running with determination and focus. Just do it.
But when I actually, finally jumped off the platform, it was nothing like I'd hoped. My fear quadrupled as I braced through the giant swoops, but my body didn't know what to do with all the confusing sensations. Besides the horrible awareness of falling, it also feels like the world is moving around you. And then imagine trying to invert yourself to lock your knees over the bar.
It was torture, but I forced myself to go for a second jump, and then another. Five total. And after each one, I told myself, That is REALLY the last time you're doing this. It did not get easier or less scary with each go.
At some point, I scrambled off to a corner in a break area to text Drew about the scary trapeze. He told me to "go big or go home," and I laughed because GBOGH was an affirmation constantly thrown around when I was an assistant at my first job, a glossy women's magazine. That was when I was 22 and had all the ambition in the world and also way too much ego. A time when all I did was put myself out there. When it became normal to live in extremes — much like a swinging pendulum.
By my last swing, I managed to get my legs up over the bar and release both hands so I was hanging upside down. When I came off of the net that time, there was clapping and encouragement all around me. It was actually pretty embarrassing. Everyone else in the class got the hang of it so easily. I felt like a toddler who'd succeeded in not pooping her pants for once and it was a big achievement.
I drove away from Santa Monica with my hands still shaking, and I let go of all the fear and tension bouncing around in my body only when I walked in the house. Drew was watching Dance Moms. I plopped down on the couch next to him, and I didn't even care that my sweat and sunscreen were getting all over the cushions.
"So, how was it?" he asked.
"Awful."
"But do you think you'd do it again?"
I started to say no, but then I actually thought, Well, maybe? Because as much as jumping off that ledge was pure terror, I was actually feeling more aware and alive. And part of me wanted to see if I could get to the point where I wouldn't feel afraid of swinging up and down.
There's probably a balance.
It’s time to meet Celestina Warbeck. H/T Today .
i.e. Shirley Bassey. As J.K. Rowling has posted on Pottermore – and shared with Today:
David Moir / Reuters
Although we never lay eyes on Celestina during the whole seven volumes of the Potter books, I always imagined her to resemble Shirley Bassey in both looks and style.
As well as talking about the "glamorous witch's" Hogwarts house, wand, family and hobbies, Rowling goes on to describe how popular Celestina really is:
Three devoted fans were involved in a nasty three-broom pile up over Liverpool while trying to reach the last night of her Flighty Aphrodite tour, and her tickets often appear on the black market at vastly inflated prices (one reason why Molly Weasley has never yet seen her favourite singer live).
Everything you love about brunch, tucked between layers of pasta.
Christine Byrne / BuzzFeed
Recipe by Christine Byrne
Serves 8
INGREDIENTS
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup all purpose flour
4 cups milk
kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
1 8-ounce bag baby spinach
2 7-ounce packages deli ham, cut into strips 1-inch thick
1/2 lb lasagna sheets, cooked al dente according to package directions
8 large eggs
PREPARATION
Preheat oven to 375°F.
Make a bechamel sauce: Melt butter in a large (at least 3-quart) saucepan over medium heat. When the butter is completely melted, sprinkle in the flour, whisking constantly. Continue to whisk until the mixture is smooth and sticky, about 2 minutes. Gradually add the milk in a steady stream, still whisking constantly. Season with salt and pepper and cook, still whisking, until the sauce is thickened and smooth and can coat the back of a spoon, 5-7 minutes. Turn off the heat, add spinach and stir until the spinach is wilted and completely coated with the sauce. Add sliced ham and stir to combine.
Spray the inside of a 13 × 9-inch baking dish with cooking spray. Arrange half of the pasta sheets in an even layer over the bottom of the dish, then spread half of the bechamel mixture over the pasta. Arrange the remaining pasta in an even layer, then spread with the remaining bechamel mixture. Bake the lasagna in the preheated oven until the top is starting to bubble, about 20 minutes.
Take the lasagna out of the oven, and use the back of a spoon to create 8 evenly spaced craters in spinach/ham/bechamel layer, then crack one egg into each crater. Return the lasagna to the oven and cook until egg whites are opaque and cooked through, but the yolks are still runny, about 10 minutes.
Let the lasagna cool slightly. To serve, cut it into 8 slices, each with an egg on top.
Christine Byrne / BuzzFeed
Tune into GMA on ABC between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m., August 18-20, to see more awesome food mash-ups and cast your vote for the winner!
GMA
The Last Week Tonight talked at length Sunday night about the unrest in Ferguson and the police response, and militarization of local law enforcement.
"We're gonna stop a burglary at Little Caesars."
LINK: War Zone In Ferguson: How Billions In Military Weapons Ended Up In The Hands Of Local Police
The bun is made of hashbrowns cooked like waffles. There is also bacon, egg, and cheese involved, obviously.
Lauren Zaser / BuzzFeed
You know when you wake up on a Saturday around 1pm and think, "Why am I awake where is the Advil how can I eat everything and what do I have to live for?" This answers most of those questions. And that's very comforting.
Serves 4
INGREDIENTS
8 strips bacon
Cooking spray
16 frozen hashbrowns, thawed
2 teaspoons canola oil, divided
4 eggs
8 slices American cheese
Optional: ketchup
Special equipment:
Waffle iron
PREPARATION
Cook bacon: Preheat oven to 400°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Spread the bacon slices out on the baking sheet, making sure they're not touching. When the oven is hot, cook the bacon until it's golden brown and crispy, 15-20 minutes. Remove from the oven, let the bacon cool for about 3 minutes, then transfer the cooked bacon to a plate and set aside.
Make hashbrown waffles: You need to make eight waffles total. Preheat a waffle iron to the highest setting. (Most waffle irons let you choose the brown-ness of your waffle, and for this you want to select "dark" or the hottest setting.) Coat the waffle iron with nonstick cooking spray. The number of hash browns you put in the waffle iron to create these waffles depends on the waffle iron: If you have a waffle iron that makes one waffle at a time, stack 2 thawed hash browns on top of each other and place them, stacked, in the waffle iron. On the other hand, If your iron makes more than one waffle at a time, strategically place 2 stacked frozen hashbrowns in each waffle "space" so that when each stack is squished it turns into a waffle. Close the waffle iron and let the hash browns cook for about 10 minutes. When hash browns are waffled, lay a slice of cheese over each waffle and transfer them to four separate plates, with two waffles on each plate.
Cook eggs: To fry the eggs, heat 1 teaspoon canola oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Crack 2 eggs, one at a time, into the pan, making sure they don't touch. Turn the heat to medium low and cook eggs until the whites are set and the yolks are still runny, about 3 minutes. When the eggs are cooked, place each one on top of one of the cheese-topped waffles, and repeat with the remaining teaspoon of oil and two more eggs.
To finish the assembly, lay two slices of bacon on each egg-topped cheesy waffle, then create a sandwich by placing the second cheesy waffle, cheese side-down, on top. Serve with ketchup if you want.
Lauren Zaser / BuzzFeed
Now you can impress your friends on the internet too. H/T TechCrunch .
Step one: Turn on your favorite playlist and drink a beer.
Jenny Chang / BuzzFeed
Jennings started his career as a cheesemonger running the cheese shop Farmstead in Providence, RI. He later opened an adjoining restaurant, La Laiterie, and was a three-time finalist for the James Beard Foundation's 'Best Chef - Northeast' award. Earlier this year, he left Providence to focus on a new restaurant, Townsman, which will open in Boston later this year. If you know what's good for you, you will make it a priority to try Townsman once it's open.
Victor Tatum / BuzzFeed
(Clockwise, from left):
Charcoal Grill (Gas works too, but charcoal grills rule, and you should learn to light one.)
Plates to hold burger toppings
Medium mixing bowl
Grill chimney
Cutting board
Charcoal briquettes (not "matchlight")
2 seasoning trays or baking sheets
Grill brush
Grill spatula*
Spoon
Sharp knife
Parchment paper
*Our grill spatula is comically large. Yours doesn't have to be.
Victor Tatum / BuzzFeed
Coming soon to Washington and London.
RT
RT
WASHINGTON — The Kremlin-funded news channel Russia Today (RT) has launched an advertising campaign in the United States that implies that the station could have prevented the Iraq War.
The ads have begun appearing in New York and will soon appear elsewhere, an RT spokesperson said.
"The campaign will be comprised of several different posters, and we kicked it off with wild postings in the New York City," RT spokesperson Anna Belkina said in an email. "Soon it will be extended to Washington, DC, and London."
Belkina declined to name which ad agency worked with RT on the ads.
"We are working with a number of partners on this international ad campaign, but, as it is still in the roll-out stages, we are not disclosing the details of our advertising partnerships at this time," she said.
The ads feature a picture of Colin Powell with the tagline: "This is what happens when there is no second opinion. Iraq War: No WMDs, 141,802 civilian deaths. Go to RT.com for the second opinion."
Another poster says, "In case they shut us down on TV, go to RT.com for the second opinion."
Asked whether RT believes it is in danger of being shut down on American television, Belkina provided a statement from RT editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan: "Alternative voices, however rare, are often met with fear, hostility and bureaucratic obstructionism in the attempt to stifle them — because they are inconvenient to the establishment. We want the viewers to know that no matter what, RT will remain THE place to go to for that second opinion."
RT, which has operated a Washington-based affiliate since 2009, has become an object of fascination over the course of the conflict in Ukraine as its singular take on the news has been thrust into the spotlight. Opinion host Abby Martin from its American network spoke out against Russia's invasion of Crimea earlier this year, and news anchor Liz Wahl resigned in protest on air shortly thereafter. RT, which generally hews closely to the Kremlin's line on the news, suffered another high-profile resignation after the network blamed the Ukrainian government for shooting down the Malaysia Airlines plane that went down over eastern Ukraine in July, despite evidence pointing to Russian-backed separatists having done it.
Don’t forget to thank the bridesmaids.
It's an awesome moment.
NBC
NBC
Charity = Ice bucket = ice = art = art pop.
"Getting ready to ice myself for #ALS"
"#IceBucketChallenge #ALS #SharePainShowCompassion I nominate Adele, Michael Rapino, Vincent Herbert, and Arthur Fogel #RichPeople"
*pop ding!*
Manfred accurately copies text, WhatsApp and - with the help of a glass - Facebook notification noises, as well the sound of a vibrating phone, which repeatedly fools his exasperated buddy.
The Vine has been looped over 4.6 million times so far.
Manfred Hanberg/Vine
The channel Dave has released its list of the funniest one-liners from this year’s Fringe. How many of the following make you cackle or cringe?
You can watch Felicity Ward's show The Iceberg at Underbelly at 9.25pm daily.
Jason Cook's Broken is at the Pleasance Dome daily at 5.40pm.
Name one thing better than a dog. See? You can’t.
Minta is an assistance dog specially trained to help people with autism. She was paired with a little boy named Jacob, and has changed his life as the two formed a deep bond. You can read a profile on Minta and Jacob in the Daily Mail and keep up with their progress on Facebook.
Minta the Austism Assistance Dog / Via Facebook: Minta-the-Autism-Assistance-Dog
Lentil is a French bulldog born with a cleft palate. He needs special medical care to be able to eat and drink on his own, but with help from his owner, The French Bulldog Rescue Network, and his many, many fans and supporters, Lentil has been giving a fighting chance. His mission, as stated on his Facebook page, is "to raise awareness for those with craniofacial differences and to teach all of us to be kind." You can follow his progress and adventures on Facebook and Twitter.
"My Name is Lentil" Facebook page / Via Facebook: MyNameIsLentil
There are several organizations that train dogs to be companions for veterans. For someone who has faced trauma and injury, physical or otherwise, having a loyal friend around to comfort and aid you can mean venturing closer to recovery, mobility, and/or independence. You can follow one such organization, Pets for Patriots, on Instagram and check out how they pair at-risk dogs in shelters with veterans in need of a helpful companion.
As the story goes, a little girl who went missing in Siberia was saved after her puppy led rescuers to where she was. The little girl had been missing from her home for 11 days, and survived by eating wild berries and drinking river water, according to The Siberian Times. The dog had reportedly remained by the girl's side for 9 days before returning to her village.
youtube.com / Via Via NTV Broadcasting Company / ntv.ru
