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Heroes

Many musicians have strange tour riders, but Pharrell's is simply awesome.

He's just one happy guy, suspended on a sunbeam.

It's no secret that musicians have a history of making some strange requests when it comes to touring.

There are more "weird rock star rider" stories than any reasonable person could keep track of. Examples include Van Halen's famous insistence on a bowl of M&Ms with the brown ones removed, or Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor's request that every venue provide him with two boxes of corn starch.

In Van Halen's case, the rider item was placed in there as a way to test whether concert promoters read the contract. For others? Who knows.

Pharrell Williams' rider might have the most interesting line item yet.

The request? A framed photo of Carl Sagan.

The Smoking Gun obtained a copy of the "Happy" singer's rider and noted that buried among items like "1 Litre bottle of Kettle One Vodka" and "1 loaf of Gluten free bread" was a request for a framed photo of the famed astronomer.

One of these things is not like the other. Photo via The Smoking Gun.

Is this a Van Halen-like test of the venue promoter's contract-reading skills? No, Williams actually just really likes Sagan.

While the request for Sagan's photo isn't anything new, to those not familiar with his work, it's kind of a strange request.

The perfect rider...candy, Pedialyte and Carl Sagan.
A photo posted by Pharrell Williams (@pharrell) on

When he appeared on "TODAY" as part of their summer concert series last year, Williams commented on his admiration for Sagan's work.

“I watched 'Cosmos' as a child and I was always blown away by [Sagan's] mind and the way he thought. When I look at that picture I realize how lucky we all are ... to be on this planet and be able to do what we love to do every day. Seeing Carl's face reminds me of it."
— Pharrell Williams

He's got a great point. Listening to Sagan — who you might know best for the series "Cosmos" or for "Pale Blue Dot" — gives you a little perspective on just how big the universe is and how tiny of a role we play.

Listening to Sagan, feeling so small has never felt so great.

GIF via Joel Somerfield.

Before Bill Nye was a "science guy," and before Neil deGrasse Tyson became the cosmologist who could make even the most complicated issues accessible to a wide audience, there was Carl Sagan.

In "Cosmos," his 1980 PBS series, Sagan explained everything from the Big Bang and evolution to comets and the search for extraterrestrial life.

Also, this sick burn. GIF via "Cosmos."

Before he died of pneumonia in 1996, Sagan's work helped inspire a future generation of scientists and thinkers.

Last year, deGrasse Tyson helped reboot "Cosmos." During the first episode, he told the story of how in 1975 Sagan tried to recruit him to study at Cornell University. He eventually chose to attend Harvard University, but he noted that while he was already sure that he wanted to be an astronomer, "I learned from Carl the kind of person I wanted to be."

And in a weird-but-not-really sort of way, it's understandable that a framed reminder of just how small we are as individuals in the universe might appeal to someone with as much fame, fortune, and success as Pharrell Williams.

Carl Sagan is a treasure, and seeing his work live on in tour riders and pop culture is so cool.

Because while we may be just mere specks on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam, it's powerful to see that it is possible to leave a lasting mark long after we've left this pale blue dot.

Family

Korean mom has a perfect response to the teacher who called her son's lunches 'disgusting'

Good for her for standing up for her child's culture.

via Roman Harak/Flickr

A Korean mother and her son

A recently posted story on Reddit shows a mother confidently standing up for her family after being bullied by a teacher for her culture. Reddit user Flowergardens0 posted the story to the AITA forum, where people ask whether they are wrong in a specific situation.

Over 5,600 people commented on the story, and an overwhelming majority thought the mother was right. Here’s what went down:

“I (34F) have a (5M) son who attends preschool. A few hours after I picked him up from school today, I got a phone call from his teacher,” Flowergardens0 wrote. “She made absolutely no effort to sound kind when she, in an extremely rude and annoyed tone, told me to stop packing my son such ‘disgusting and inappropriate’ lunches."

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parenting
Pop Culture

Mississippi meteorologist paused for a 'human' moment while reporting on devastating tornado

"Oh, man. Dear Jesus, please help them."

WTVA 9 News/YouTube

Meteorologist Matt Laubham prays for the people in the path of a deadly tornado.

Broadcasters who have to report on tragedies as they are happening have a tough job. On the one hand, they have to maintain their professionalism and inform the public of what's happening in a factual way. On the other hand, they're still human and sometimes humanity trumps the traditional perception of what's "professional."

Such was the case for WTVA meteorologist Matt Laubhan, who found himself live on the air staring at a radar scan of a deadly tornado as it moved towards the small town of Amory, Mississippi. He, more than anyone, understood the severity of the situation, and he did his best to convey that to his viewers.

"This is a strong, life-threatening tornado that's going to move either extremely close to Amory or in through the northern part of the city of Amory."

He added, "Y'all trust me too much," explaining that people sometimes take his predictions of where the tornado will go as hard fact, but the reality is that tornados can change directions at any time. "So Amory, we need to be in our tornado safe place," he said.

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humanity
Family

Dad found out his son bullied a kid at school and came up with a brilliant teaching moment

"I told him that we have the opportunity to make things right."

@thehalfdeaddad/TikTok

Dad on TikTok shared how he addressed his son's bullying.

What do you do when you find out your kid bullied someone? For many parents, the first step is forcing an apology. While this response is of course warranted, is it really effective? Some might argue that there are more constructive ways of handling the situation that teach a kid not only what they did wrong, but how to make things right again.

Single dadPatrick Forseth recently shared how he made a truly teachable moment out of his son, Lincoln, getting into trouble for bullying. Rather than forcing an apology, Forseth made sure his son was actively part of a solution.


The thought process behind his decision, which he explained in a now-viral TikTok video, is both simple and somewhat racial compared to how many parents have been encouraged to handle similar situations.
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fatherhood
Pop Culture

Rick Astley covered Foo Fighters' 'Everlong' and it's shockingly great

Consider yourself Rick-Grohled.

Rick Astley/YouTube

Rick Astley rocking his Foo Fighters 'Everlong' cover.

Rick Astley has to be the luckiest '80s musician on the planet. The whole "Rickrolling" phenomenon has given his hit song "Never Gonna Give You Up" a reach far beyond its natural life span, and kept the guy a household name far longer than he probably would have been.

(For those who are unfamiliar, Rickrolling is when you make someone think they're being sent to a website, but the link goes to Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up" video instead as a joke. It's a silly viral bait-and-switch gag that's been going since 2006.)

But what people may not realize, because his most famous song has become an internet joke, is that Rick Astley is actually a really freaking great musician. The man can saaaang and it seems he's only gotten better with age.

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Education

People are raving about how much easier it is to read with 'bionic reading' font

This viral tool could be a game-changer for some.

Photo via Canva, @WhattheADHD/Twitter

The 'bionic reading' font is designed to help keep you focused and read faster.

Reading is a fundamental tool of learning for most people, which is why it's one of the first things kids learn in school and why nations set literacy goals.

But even those of us who are able to read fluently might sometimes struggle with the act of reading itself. Perhaps we don't read as quickly as we wish we could or maybe our minds wander as our eyes move across the words. Sometimes we get to the end of a paragraph and realize we didn't retain anything we just read.

People with focus or attention issues can struggle with reading, despite having no actual reading disabilities. It can be extremely frustrating to want to read something and have no issues with understanding the material, yet be unable to keep your mind engaged with the text long enough to get "into" what you're reading.

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Joy

Airbnb host wakes his guest up in the middle of the night so she wouldn't miss the northern lights

Best. Host. Ever.

@penslucero/TikTok

Pency Lucero taking in the Northern Lights

Seeing the northern lights is a common bucket list adventure for many people. After all, it ticks a lot of boxes—being a dazzling light show, rich historical experience and scientific phenomenon all rolled into one. Plus there’s the uncertainty of it all, never quite knowing if you’ll witness a vivid streak of otherworldly colors dance across the sky…or simply see an oddly colored cloud. It’s nature’s slot machine, if you will.

Traveler and content creator Pency Lucero was willing to take that gamble. After thorough research, she stumbled upon an Airbnb in Rörbäck, Sweden with an actual picture of the northern lights shining above the cabin in the listing. With that kind of photo evidence, she felt good about her odds.

However, as soon as she landed, snow began falling so hard that the entire sky was “barely visible,” she told Upworthy. Martin, the Airbnb host, was nonetheless determined to do everything he could to ensure his guests got to see the spectacle, even offering to wake Lucero up in the middle of the night if he saw anything.

Then one night, the knock came.

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nature
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