It honestly seems like the beginning of September really isn’t the best time for New York City. Twenty years ago, we had the attack on the Twin Towers that changed the world forever. This year, Hurricane Ida made sure that it would be another September for New Yorkers to never forget. The rain downpour was so bad, it looked like the entire city was underwater.
Sadly, at least 45 people have been reported dead after this insane storm. This was the very first time in New York City’s history that a flash flood emergency alert was issued, which is a pretty big deal. Residents were stuck in basements that were flooding rapidly, and in many places the electricity was out. It’s a historic amount of damage and a historic amount of human loss, that just further raises awareness for global warming and what it’s doing to our climate.
A lot of hard work, sweat, and dedication goes into making a movie. Even though it seems like actors are the only ones working since they are always on the screen, there are dozens of people doing their job right outside the frame. In huge movie productions, something can go wrong at any moment: loose lights crashing, sound cutting out, and of course, there’s always a chance a stunt could end in an ambulance.
Many actors get injured on set, and some even die, which makes you wonder if the price they pay for entertainment is worth the risk.
1. Isla Fisher — “Now You See Me”
Isla Fisher almost died while filming a stunt. She went into the tank filled with water, but something went wrong. The actress couldn’t break the chains! She started panicking and screaming, but the water muffled everything. One of the chains got caught on her bathing suit, and Isla was essentially stuck underwater for five whole minutes until the crew realized she needed help.
2. Jaimie Alexander — “Thor: The Dark World”
Jaimie had no idea that she would get injured on the set by just walking. She came to the set to do a casual scene that didn’t involve any risky stunts or complicated actions, but the situation changed in a matter of seconds. It was a cold rainy night. The actress was going down a metal staircase and… slipped, just like that. The fall was quite literally bone-shattering, as she displaced a disk and fractured the 11th vertebra.
3. Michael J. Fox — “Back To The Future III”
When filming one of the scenes in Back to the Future 3, Michael decided to make it more realistic. The scene in question is the one where his character almost gets hanged. The actor decided to knock out the box from under his feet, effectively hanging himself for about 30 seconds. He almost died of suffocation before Robert Zemeckis realized what was going on.
Flight attendants have always been the embodiment of elegance, sophistication, and self-confidence. Despite all the difficulties of their profession, flight attendants always manage to look perfect. And that starts with their unique and stylish outfits designed for them by the largest fashion brands like Dior, Balenciaga, Vivienne Westwood, and more.
1. Qantas Airlines
The uniform of the Australian airline Qantas, designed by Martin Grant, is considered one of the best in the world. In his collections, he did something different with the shades and made the pink pop. The red and black blocks look really stylish and bold, especially when worn by Victoria’s Secret model Miranda Kerr.
2. Air France
The French fashion designers are known for their fashion sense, so you expect their national airlines to fall in line with that presumption, and you’d be absolutely right to do so. In the 60s, Balenciaga and Dior designed outfits for flight attendants, and in 2005 Christian Lacroix updated their uniforms. The designer used the dark tones and combined them with the signature scarlet gloves and a bright red bow-tie belt. *Chef’s kiss*
3. Turkish Airlines
Milanese designer Ettore Bilotta, who was inspired by the beauty of Istanbul, worked on the design of a brand new uniform for Turkish flight attendants. He brought elements from traditional calligraphy and mosaics and combined them with contemporary interpretations of Turkish motifs. The easily recognizable patterns can be seen on every piece of clothing, from hats and gloves to bags and accessories.
The world of video gaming has never been as vast as it is today. There’s a game out there for everyone and it’s become simply impossible to keep up with all the newest releases and updates. This sheer wealth doesn’t mean that every new game that comes out is a total home run, though. A larger amount of games will inevitably mean that the bar gets raised for all new releases that arrive on gaming platforms, and sadly some just can’t make the cut.
Some developers haven’t quite written off their love project as a total loss, however, and moved digital mountains to make their game fresh and slowly rerelease it the way it was meant to be. Let’s take a look at some of those games.
1. Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn
This was supposed to be a WoW killer at release, but the game was so bad the developers actually took it offline. After a few months of silence and hard work, the game was re-released under the moniker “A Realm Reborn”, and with its fourth expansion Endwalker coming up near the end of this year, the game is more popular than ever.
2. No Man’s Sky
When it comes to huge reworks, this game takes all the cakes. The hype level for this project before its release was impossible to achieve and sadly its release proved just that. Many people were disappointed, lots of refunds were issued and it seemed like this project was dead on arrival. The devs spent months almost rebuilding the game from the ground up, and it’s now one of the best open-world space sims money can buy.
3. Star Wars Battlefront 2
While the game in itself wasn’t bad when it was released, the big issue here was with its loot box system. Many countries deemed it illegal, and this forced EA to rework the entire cosmetic system in the game and for all their future games. If they didn’t, there was a high possibility of them not being able to sell their games in many European countries.
With the recent developments in Afghanistan, the Taliban is back in the current conversation of global news. Just two weeks before the United States had plans to withdraw its troops, the Taliban have occupied Afghanistan. The militant organization seized power in all major cities in just the span of a few days. The US had been backing the government in Afghanistan since the 1990s, which has been running the country since it regained power from the Taliban in 2001. But the country’s government has crumbled, and now Afghans are fleeing the country. What many want to know is, who is the Taliban? How has this organization regained momentum and recaptured the entire country of Afghanistan? If you would like to learn more about this historically significant and very dangerous group, read on to learn 7 important things to know about the Taliban.
What is the origin of the Taliban?
Back in 1994, the Taliban emerged in response to the chaos surrounding the Soviet’s withdrawal from Afghanistan in 1989. The group came from the Kandahar Province, which is located in the southern Pashtun region of the country. The Soviet Union invaded back in 1979 in support of the Communist government in Afghanistan. The mujahedeen defeated the Soviets, who were a group of factions brought together in the name of defeating a common enemy. But after victory, the groups began fighting and the country was overtaken by civil war. The Taliban was a group that promised to alleviate the civil war and put Islamic values as a priority. This is when they first overtook the country.
What does the word “Taliban” mean?
The “word” Taliban literally means “students” or “seekers” in Pashto, which is one of the two official languages of Afghanistan. This refers to the origin of the group’s original members, who were religious students educated in the Islamic tradition.
Why did the US originally invade Afghanistan?
While the Taliban were in rule originally, a former mujahedeen fighter by the name of Osama bin Laden built up a terrorist group that would wreak havoc of global proportions. This group was called Al Qaeda, and it was responsible for the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, on the World Trade Center towers in New York and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. In response to this fatal attack where thousands lost their lives, the US sent troops to take down Al Qaeda and bin Laden, after which they fled to Pakistan. The US had left its military presence there for 20 years.
Food is one of the best things on the planet, isn’t it? Just looking at it in the right context can instantly make you hungry and awaken your deepest cravings for a lovely meal. Movies know this and have actively tried to capitalize on this phenomenon by providing us with some of the most delicious-looking movie scenes that’ll have you running to the fridge.
Let’s take a look at some of those iconic scenes.
Macaron Eating – Marie Antoinette
There’s still some doubt on whether or not “let them eat cake” was an actual thing she said, but we’re pretty sure that sugary treats were a thing she ate. The whole scene looks decadent, delicious, and like it could induce a sugar-filled rush like none other. If anything ever made you want to be a rich person in the Victorian era, it’d be this.
Great Hall Feast – Harry Potter And The Sorcerer’s Stone
The first Harry Potter movie introduced us to the world of wizardry and magic, but it also introduced us to the huge feasts Hogwarts has. The way the kids react to this insane amount of delicious food is also pretty on point, with Ron pretty much burying his face in it instantly. Being able to cast magic is cool and all, but dining like kings is where the real power is at.
Ratatouille – Ratatouille
Having an animated movie do an excellent job of making food look tasty is something only Pixar could ever achieve. The whole movie exists around building up this legendary dish and when it finally gets served, you feel sad that you can’t eat a chunk of it yourself.
We all know that dinosaurs appeared on our planet around 235 million years ago. For tens of millions of years, these giant lizards have been the real kings of the world. Back in those days, flora and fauna were incredible in size, so archaeological finds never cease to amaze our imagination. That said, our modern world also has quite a few giants to spare.
Here are the most amazing giant animals that have ever roamed the Earth.
1. Titanoboa
Titanoboa is an ancestor of the boa constrictor now living on Earth. This death noodle lived on the planet about 60 million years ago and could grow up to 13 meters in length. Modern snakes like pythons can only reach half that size at best. This thing could easily squeeze the juices out of a person and swallow them whole.
2. Syrian camel
This giant desert-dwelling sand horse lived in Syria about 100,000 years ago. The remains of the animal were first discovered in 2005, and according to the archaeologists, the creature could easily reach 4 meters in height, which is pretty much the size of a small giraffe. According to scientists, the local tribes of early humans loved this camel’s meat, so they just wiped it from the face of the planet.
3. Arthropleura
Giant centipedes and dragonflies the size of a helicopter are by no means only found in Monster Hunter games and horror films. These creatures existed on Earth long before the dinosaurs – in the Carboniferous period. Arthropleura, the largest of the terrestrial invertebrates, lived in what is now Europe and North America. Its segmented body reached 2.5 meters in length, and it used 30 pairs of the world’s creepiest legs to move around.
4. Megalodon
Megalodon – the beast, the myth, the legend. Thanks to all the movies, books, and games dedicated to this monster, even pre-schoolers have heard of the world’s biggest shark. Megalodon was a 22-meter creature with jaws so huge that it could swallow a standing man whole. According to the ichthyologists, Megalodons lived from 25 to 1.5 million years ago, and some say they may still lurk in the deepest oceans.
