I Was So Happy To Hear From James Taylor Again. Until I Really Listened To What He Was Saying.
What if someone you had spent a lot of time with back in the day called you up and just wanted to share something that was on his mind? You'd give him a minute, wouldn't you?Well, James Taylor is that friend. And he only wants half a minute.
Is there somebody in your life who walks around the house humming "Carolina in My Mind"? Maybe they'd like to hear from James. Go ahead and share this with them.
Mia, Leo, Colin, and Laurent Pelletier pose on top of their camper van in front of adouble rainbow while in Mongolia.
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“Blink,” a new film by National Geographic Documentary Films shows how a family with four children, three of whom are going blind, embraces life in the face of an uncertain future. It’s a testament to the resilience of the Lemay-Pelletier family but also a reminder for all of us to seize the day because all our futures are uncertain.
Edith Lemay and Sébastien Pelletier are the parents of Mia, a 13-year-old girl, and three boys: Léo, 11, Colin, 9, and Laurent, 7. Over the last six years, they’ve learned that Mia and the two youngest boys have retinitis pigmentosa, a rare genetic disease in which the cells of the retina slowly die. As the disease progresses, the person develops “tunnel vision” that shrinks until very little vision remains.
The diagnosis devastated the parents. "The hardest part with the diagnosis was inaction. There's nothing they can do about it. There's no treatment,” Edith says in the film.
However, even though the parents couldn’t affect the progress of the disease, they could give their children’s senses an epic experience that would benefit them for a lifetime.
“We don’t know how fast it’s going to go, but we expect them to be completely blind by mid-life,” said the parents. Mia’s impairment advisor suggested they fill her visual memory with pictures from books. “I thought, I’m not going to show her an elephant in a book; I’m going to take her to see a real elephant,” Edith explains in the film. “And I’m going to fill her visual memory with the best, most beautiful images I can.”
The Pelletier family (from left): Mia, Sebastien, Colin, Edith Lemay, Laurent and Leo inKuujjuaq, Canada.via National Geographic/Katie Orlinsky
This realization led to an inspiring year-long journey across 24 countries, during which every family member experienced something on their bucket list. Mia swam with dolphins, Edith rode a hot-air balloon in Cappadocia, and Léo saw elephants on safari.
Colin realized his dream of sleeping on a moving train while Sébastien saw the historic site of Angkor Wat.
“We were focusing on sights,” explains Pelletier. “We were also focusing a lot on fauna and flora. We’ve seen incredible animals in Africa but also elsewhere. So we were really trying to make them see things that they wouldn’t have seen at home and have the most incredible experiences.”
Cameras followed the family for 76 days as they traveled to far-flung locales, including Namibia, Mongolia, Egypt, Laos, Nepal and Turkey. Along the way, the family made friends with local people and wildlife. In a heartbreaking scene, the boys wept as the family had to leave behind a dog named Bella he befriended in the mountains of Nepal.
But the film isn't just about the wonders of nature and family camaraderie. The family's trip becomes a “nightmare” when they are trapped in a cable car suspended hundreds of feet above the Ecuadorian forest for over 10 hours.
Leo, Laurent, Edith, Colin, Mia, and Sebastien look out at the mountains in the Annapurna range.via MRC/Jean-Sébastien Francoeur
As expected, NatGeo’s cinematographers beautifully capture the family's journey, and in the case of “Blink,” this majestic vision is of even greater importance. In some of the film's quietest moments, we see the children taking in the world's wonders, from the vast White Desert in Egypt to a fearless butterfly in Nepal, with the full knowledge that their sight will fail one day.
Along the way, the family took as many pictures as possible to reinforce the memories they made on their adventure. “Maybe they’ll be able to look at the photographs and the pictures and they will bring back those stories, those memories, of the family together,” Edith says.
But the film is about more than travel adventures and the pain of grief; ultimately, it’s about family.
“By balancing [the parents’ grief] with a more innocent and joyous tale of childlike wonder and discovery, we felt we could go beyond a mere catalog of locations and capture something universal,” the directors Edmund Stenson and Daniel Roher, said in a statement. “Keeping our camera at kid-height and intimately close to the family, we aimed to immerse the audience in the observational realities of their daily life, as well as the subtle relationships between each of them. This is a film built on looks, gestures and tiny details—the very fabric of our relationships with one another.”
Ultimately, “Blink” is a great film to see with your loved ones because it’s a beautiful reminder to appreciate the wonders of our world, the gift of our senses and the beauty of family.
The film will open in over 150 theaters in the U.S. and Canada beginning Oct. 4 and will debut on National Geographic Channel and stream on Disney+ and Hulu later this year. Visit the “Blink” website for more information.
A third of the greater gliders' remaining habitat was destroyed in the Australian wildfires, and researchers didn't know if their high-tech box idea would work.
Greater gliders are endangered in Australia and rely on old-growth tree hollows to make their nests.
When a team of Australian researchers started checking the high-tech boxes they'd installed to help save endangered greater gliders, they weren't sure what they were going to find. The hope was that the tree-dwelling marsupials would use them for nesting—a replacement for the tree hollows they normally nest in—but no one knew whether or not the creatures would take to them.
So when Dr. Kita Ashman, Threatened Species and Climate Adaptation Ecologist at WWF-Australia, found a glider in the second box she checked, she was thrilled.
Greater gliders are nocturnal marsupials that live in old-growth forests of eastern Australia. They have large ears, fluffy fur, long tails, and they can glide up to 100 meters at a time. The species is only found in Australia.
"I grew up looking at greater gliders all throughout the Dandenong Ranges. So they have a really special place in my heart," said Dr. Ashman told ANU.
The special nesting boxes were designed and created through a partnership between Australian National University (ANU), Greening Australia and the World Wide Fund for Nature-Australia after bushfires destroyed a third of the greater gliders' remaining habitat. The tree hollows that greater gliders rely on to nest can take over 100 years to form, according to ANU, so it's not like they can just find some new trees to live in when their homes are destroyed.
Nesting boxes that are commonly used for wildlife aren't a good fit for greater gliders, as the thin walls and lack of thermal protection can result in gliders overheating. (Heat-stressed gliders will slow their eating, which can be life-threatening, according to ANU.) The high-tech boxes in this project are insulated and include a non-toxic, heat-reflective, fire-resistant coating to keep gliders safe.
"I've affectionately been calling this design the Goldilocks box because we hope it will keep greater gliders not too hot and not too cold and will help to increase the species' resilience in a changing climate," Ashman said in July 2022.
"Producing and installing high-quality nest boxes is costly," added ANU research fellow Dr. Kara Youngentob, "so this project is very important because it will help us understand if expensive interventions like nest boxes are the best use of funding in our urgent mission to save greater gliders."
It appears that their efforts are paying off.
"What we didn't know was whether these boxes worked and whether they have an impact on the glider population," Dr. Youngentob told ABC News Australia. "Much to our delight, within a few months of them going up they are already being used by gliders, so we know the individuals themselves like them and use them."
According to Youngentob, greater gliders are the largest gliding marsupial at risk of extinction. More than 200 nesting boxes have been installed in Victoria's East Gippsland and in Tallaganda National Park in New South Wales. Youngentob told ABC News Australia that this project will help researchers learn more about how many of the species are left in the wild.
"They're a treasure for this country." Dr. Youngentob told ANU. "And I think the more people know about them, the more that they will fall in love with them and want to protect them too."
"Fill you own cup" is good advice fro nearly every situation, isn't it?
Listen, not every mother-in-law disregards boundaries, questions their kid’s parenting styles, tries to manipulate, and so on and so forth. But there’s a reason why the stereotype exists. Plenty have their own horror stories of being on the receiving end of toxic MIL behavior.
But for those wanting to avoid being that stereotype, Janelle Marie, or @millennialmatleave on TikTok believes that she has found the “key.” And it’s all about “filling your own cup.”
“Fill your dang cup. Something outside of your children that makes you feel good, makes you feel fulfilled, makes you feel happy,” Janelle begins in a TikTok.
That means that besides devoting your identity towards nurturing kids, you should be “nurturing” your marriage, as well as other relationships, like friendships, she notes.
“I unfortunately feel like a number of mothers-in-law that are feeling really confused about this role of mother-in-law or dissatisfied with the role of mother-law, and it ends up meaning that they act in a way that comes across as desperate or controlling or with guilt trips — women who don’t have enough going on outside of their relationship and their role as a mom. And so when their kids grow up, they’re ill-equipped to replace that relationship with other things.”
Janelle concludes by acknowledging it’s “easier said than done,” and reiterates that she isn’t trying to place blame, but rather just point out that “it’s something we need to be aware of.”
Down in the comments, folks seem to clearly resonate with Janell’s stance—many have MILs of their own who could really benefit from a hobby or friend circle.
“My MIL’s hobby was getting into my marriage,” quipped one viewer.
“My toxic mother in law has had zero friends in the 18 years I’ve known her,” said another.
A few MILs even chimed in. One shared, “I noticed I got too involved/emotional/bothered by my son’s relationship and immediately looked in the mirror! Poured that energy into my marriage, friends, and hobbies.”
“OMG, you’re right,” reflected another. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m a good MIL, I don’t meddle or overstep, but boy do I struggle. I definitely need to get a hobby!”
As we know, it can be hard for any mom to not lose themselves in the demands of raising a child. And only up until recently were women allowed by society to see themselves as anything beyond being a mother. Self care is also a fairly new concept for everyone. So it is understandable that many MILs find themselves in this struggle without proper coping mechanisms.
But still, if the goal really is to maintain loving, healthy family relationships, it’s crucial to be mindful of any self sabotaging behaviors, and continuity working through those insecurities. That goes for MILs and non-MILs alike.
For those booking to be the best mother-in-law they can be, here are a few pieces of advice:
Don't make it about you
It can be difficult to accept that you might not be the #1 woman in your kid’s life anymore, but it’s important both for you and the couple that those potential feelings of rejection get reframed. After all, there's truly no love lost.
Use your words to uplift, not criticize
Words are powerful. Use them wisely. A little complement now and then goes a long way.
Back off
Let the couple raise their kids, and solve their problems, as they see fit. Trust that you can let them handle their own. Even when intentions are good, offers of help without being asked for it can be seen as criticism.
Invite and Include
Leaving people out leads to resentment. Always invite kids and their spouses to join performances, graduations, birthday celebrations, and other family events, whether or not you think they want to or can attend.
Actor Mark Wahlberg recently attended a daddy-daughter dance with his 10-year-old, Grace. Sadly, Grace had no interest in seeing her father strutting his stuff on the dance floor.
"I didn't get one dance," Wahlberg told Ellen DeGeneres. "And I told her we were going to do the whole big circle and I was going to go off. And she said, 'Dad, if you embarrass me, I will never talk to you again.' But what she did do is she hung out with me."
No matter who your dad is, especially if you're a 10-year-old-girl, you have zero desire to see him dance in front of your friends.
But the parents at the dance probably would have had a blast seeing Wahlberg bust out some of his old-school '90s Marky Mark moves.
However, Wahlberg couldn't help but leave his mark on the music being played at the dance.
Let's not forget, he didn't get famous for his acting but for showing off his abs in the "Good Vibrations" video.
Being that Wahlberg's time as a pop star was three decades ago, he couldn't believe it when he heard the music being played at the dance.
"[Grace] sat there on the edge of the stage, by the DJ. And then I'm sitting there with one other dad and I'm like, 'This is not an edited version of this song. There are explicit lyrics being played at a school dance for girls and I'm like no good,'" he said.
"I told the DJ and he's like, 'Oh, I thought it was.' I said, 'What are you doing?' I'm hearing F-bombs and this and that's not okay," Wahlberg said.
He's right. There's no place for music with explicit lyrics at a dance for 10-year-old children.
Wahlberg says the DJ didn't know he wasn't playing the edited version, but it's probably more likely that he didn't even realize the song was a problem. Pop music these days is filled with a numbing amount of violent and misogynistic lyrics.
A recent study from the University of Missouri found that nearly one-third of pop songs contain lyrics that degrade or demean women by portraying them as submissive or sexually objectified.
Currently, three of the top five songs on the Billboard Top 40 contain the word "bitch." One of them is sung in Korean.
It's odd that Americans have become more sensitive to misogyny in pop culture in films, television, and comedy, but still have a huge cultural blind-spot when it comes to music.
That's not a good thing, especially when pop music is marketed to teenagers.
"We know that music has a strong impact on young people and how they view their role in society," said Cynthia Frisby, a professor in the Missouri School of Journalism.
"Unlike rap or hip-hop, pop music tends to have a bubbly, uplifting sound that is meant to draw listeners in," Frisby continued. "But that can be problematic if the lyrics beneath the sound are promoting violence and misogynistic behavior."
Let's face it, pop stars are role models. Their examples show young people what to wear and how to behave. That's not to say that kids will blindly follow someone just because they like their music. But it has an undeniable effect.
Wahlberg, and any parent who monitors what their kids are listening to, deserve credit for protecting the minds and hearts of their kids.
Frisby has some great advice for parents concerned about negative imagery in pop music.
"Ask your daughters and sons what songs they like to listen to and have conversations about how the songs might impact their identity," Frisby said.
"For example, many songs might make young girls feel like they have to look and act provocative in order to get a boy to like them, when that isn't necessarily the case. If children and teens understand that what they are hearing isn't healthy behavior, then they might be more likely to challenge what they hear on the radio."
He's right. There's no place for music with explicit lyrics at a dance for 10-year-old children.
Wahlberg says the DJ didn't know he wasn't playing the edited version, but it's probably more likely that he didn't even realize the song was a problem. Pop music these days is filled with a numbing amount of violent and misogynistic lyrics.
A recent study from the University of Missouri found that nearly one-third of pop songs contain lyrics that degrade or demean women by portraying them as submissive or sexually objectified.
Currently, three of the top five songs on the Billboard Top 40 contain the word "bitch." One of them is sung in Korean.
It's odd that Americans have become more sensitive to misogyny in pop culture in films, television, and comedy, but still have a huge cultural blind-spot when it comes to music.
That's not a good thing, especially when pop music is marketed to teenagers.
"We know that music has a strong impact on young people and how they view their role in society," said Cynthia Frisby, a professor in the Missouri School of Journalism.
"Unlike rap or hip-hop, pop music tends to have a bubbly, uplifting sound that is meant to draw listeners in," Frisby continued. "But that can be problematic if the lyrics beneath the sound are promoting violence and misogynistic behavior."
Let's face it, pop stars are role models. Their examples show young people what to wear and how to behave. That's not to say that kids will blindly follow someone just because they like their music. But it has an undeniable effect.
Wahlberg, and any parent who monitors what their kids are listening to, deserve credit for protecting the minds and hearts of their kids.
Frisby has some great advice for parents concerned about negative imagery in pop music.
"Ask your daughters and sons what songs they like to listen to and have conversations about how the songs might impact their identity," Frisby said.
"For example, many songs might make young girls feel like they have to look and act provocative in order to get a boy to like them, when that isn't necessarily the case. If children and teens understand that what they are hearing isn't healthy behavior, then they might be more likely to challenge what they hear on the radio."
A teen was elated getting his first paycheck from McDonald's.
There are certain moments and milestones in life that hit harder than others. There are the biggies, of course—graduations,weddings, births, etc.—but there are also the smaller-but-still-significant ones that mark a major shift in life, when you officially cross a threshold into a whole new stage in your life's journey.
The video shared on Reddit shows a teen in a McDonald's hat sitting in the passenger seat of a car opening an envelope that contained his paycheck. His mom said it should be "200-and something" dollars, and after a hilariously long struggle to open the envelope (these Gen Zers have never snail mailed, no judgment), he looks over the check stub to get the full picture.
"That's $283," he says in astonishment. To his credit, he asks "After tax, what's that?" not realizing that the amount of the check is the after-tax take home amount. His smile and laughter says it all.
"Let's take it to the bank, then!" Heck yeah, kid.
People are remembering with fondness their own first paychecks
Many viral videos of first paycheck reveals include complaints about how much is taken out it in taxes, so it's refreshing to see this young man's joy at his after-tax pay. It was a beautiful moment to capture on film, as most of us remember that feeling of empowerment that came with our own first real paychecks.
People in the comments are feeling the nostalgia:
"I remember that feeling - pretty sweet to see money you earned yourself. Feels good earning your own cash."
"God that first paycheck felt so unreal. I will never forget you ace hardware."
"I remember my first paycheck was for like $300 after two weeks of being a counselor and I felt RICH. I immediately spent it all on a guitar that I still have 20 years later."
"I remember mine - from my first proper job. £64.29 in a little brown packet with holes in it to see the cash inside. 1980. 😂"
"My first “paycheck” was like $65, I was so proud. I took my mom to pizzeria to treat her and she was very very touched."
"Man… I remember my first paycheck… 23 years ago now. For two weeks of what limited hours I could work being 14 years old… that baby was $96.19! HO-LY smokes was I on cloud 9. Cashed it right there at work and bought myself a bag of Skittles. It was a good day."
Ah, to be young and unencumbered by adult expenses
Part of what makes this endearing is the innocence of it. As a teen, he's not worried about affording a mortgage or groceries or diapers or retirement savings. His elation over making $283 is adorable because he's just starting down the path of adulthood. Soon enough, that paycheck will seem small, but he's not there yet.
When you're a kid, money is kind of an abstract concept. Maybe you get a small allowance or get paid a few bucks for odd jobs, and opening a birthday card with some cash in it is exciting. It's not until you're fully into the working world for a while that the regular flow of money and what it means for your life really sinks in.
And it's not until you're a fully independent adult that you really grasp how relative your feelings about your paycheck can be. There's a big difference between being a 16-year-old getting your first paycheck and being a 30-year-old trying to raise a family on wages that don't cover all your needs. Things like cost-of-living and inflation start to actually mean something as you get older and experience their impact. You might find that you can make a lot more money and yet feel poorer than ever as expenses pile up into adulthood.
Don't we all wish we could go back to the hopeful, happy days of making our first real chunk of money before all of those grown-up concerns arose? That simple sense of pride in having worked hard and earned something. The excitement of being able to pay for something you want yourself. The sense of freedom that comes with those early earnings. We see and feel all of that in this teen's bright smile, and it's glorious.
He may not realize how different he might feel opening his paycheck down the road, but there's no need to tell him yet. We don't need to ruin this moment with "just you wait." He'll find out soon enough, as we all have, so let's just let him enjoy this moment of bliss. He's earned it.
The soil in an Irish churchyard has proven healing properties
We’ve all heard an old wives tale—a superstition or belief that seems ridiculous but just might have a kernel of truth to it. For instance: An apple a day keeps the doctor away? Probably not literally true, but there’s no question that good nutrition helps keep you from getting sick. Counting sheep will help you fall asleep?
Well, it might, for some people. In other words, old wives tales might not be true for everyone all the time, but there’s often a little bit of truth in there somewhere. For centuries, the people of northern Ireland had an old wives tale of their own: A small churchyard in a hamlet called Boho has soil that is rumored to have magical healing powers.
A picture of the Boho Church of Ireland Churchyard in County Fermanagh. Found on the Church’s facebook page.
According to legend, in 1815, a local folk healer named Reverend James McGirr supposedly said on his death bed that “the clay that covers me will be able to cure anything that I was able to cure when I was with you when I was still alive.” After the reverend died and was buried, parishioners started traveling to his gravesite in the churchyard to sample the “clay” (aka, the soil) from his grave.
A picture of Father McGirr’s grave, from findagrave.com.
The local custom went like this: A person would kneel beside McGirr’s grave and collect a “thumbnail size patch of dirt,” likely no more than a teaspoon or two, and put it into a small cotton pouch. After that, the person would take the soil home (being careful not to speak to anyone on the way home, since it would interfere somehow with the healing) and place it under the pillow of the person who was sick. After placing the pouch under the pillow, that person was required to say prayers for the person who was sick, as well as for the soul of Father McGirr and all of his deceased relatives and friends, along with a few other Catholic prayers for good measure.
A letter from the parish priest instructing people on how to use the clay and when to return it. Photo credit Simon Watson.
Within a few days, the sick person would supposedly be cured, and the dirt would be returned to the churchyard and placed back on McGirr’s grave. (Failure to return the soil within four days meant bad luck and that your healing wouldn’t be granted.) For centuries, the soil was used to heal flesh wounds, toothaches, sore throats, and more—and according to legend, it actually worked.
Microbiologist Gerry Quinn, who grew up near Boho, had heard the old wives tale throughout his childhood. As a researcher at Swansea University Medical School in 2018, he decided to dig into the old wives tale and find out the truth about the soil once and for all. Was it purely superstition, or could the soil somehow really be healing people?
“There seemed to be a lot of superstition around [this folk remedy], but in the back of my head I realized that there's always something behind these traditions or they wouldn't be going on so long,” Quinn said in an interview.
Quinn and his colleagues collected soil samples from McGirr’s grave and the surrounding churchyard and found something surprising: The soil contained Streptomyces, a bacteria that’s found in highly alkaline environments and is responsible for producing about two-thirds of all the antibiotics we currently use. Streptomycin, for instance, which is derived from Streptomyces, is one of the few antibiotics that can treat tuberculosis.
In just a small sample of the churchyard soil, the researchers were able to isolate eight different strains of Streptomyces, which could potentially produce hundreds of different antibiotics. But wait—there’s more. One of the strains, the researchers discovered, had never been previously identified, and that’s great news for scientists (and, frankly, for the rest of the world).
Streptomyces sp. myrophorea under a microscope, courtesy of G. Quinn, Swansea University.
Antibiotics have revolutionized medicine, saving millions of lives every year and preventing an untold number of infections. Unfortunately, antibiotics have also been overused, which leads to something called antimicrobial resistance. This is when bacteria mutate and become harder to kill, eventually becoming “superbugs” that are resistant to antibiotics altogether. The more resistant the bacteria, the more infections become impossible to treat—and this leads to more disease, disability, and death. Antimicrobial resistance is one of the world’s leading health problems, according to the World Health Organization.
And this is exactly what makes the discovery in Boho so important. When the Swansea researchers tested the never-before-seen strain of Streptomyces, they discovered it was able to kill four of the top six multi-resistant bacteria that are responsible for most healthcare-related infections, such as MRSA.
“Our discovery is an important step forward in the fight against antibiotic resistance,” wrote Quinn and Swansea microbiologist Paul Dyson in an article in Newsweek. “The discovery of antimicrobial substances … will help in our search for new drugs to treat multi-resistant bacteria, the cause of many dangerous and lethal infections.” The Swansea team is currently identifying strains of bacteria from the soil and testing them against other multi-resistant pathogens.
Lesson learned: Sometimes old wives tales aren’t “tales” at all—they can actually save lives.