The mascot for the annual Halifax Oyster Festival is an anthropomorphic oyster named Pearl, who has over a dozen eyes, long legs, and a luscious pair of red lips. This odd choice of mascot was the brainchild of Christine Oreskovich, the publisher of the local newspaper The Coast and the festival organizer, who spoke to the CBC in 2022 about Pearl’s origins.

This was the fun part of the festival, trying to create a look and an ambiance that was just not your regular kind of food festival.

Pearl Has a Partner Named Earl

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Comedic musician Tom McGovern, who previously recorded a modified version of “Jack and Diane”, quite skillfully turned various bird calls into stripped-down heavy-metal breakdowns, mimicking each with his guitar. McGovern used bird footage shot by wildlife photographer Navarre Marshall.

Turning bird calls into breakdowns

Drummer El Estepario Siberiano incorporated his own breakdowns into McGovern’s mix.

‘Jack and Diane’ Sucking on a Chili Dog

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The great Bob Odenkirk recreated his inimitable Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul character, Saul Goodman, to inform Americans of their rights under the United States Constitution.

Did you know you have rights? Well, you do! Sure, they’re old-timey. They were written by a bunch of guys  in powdered wigs and knee socks. Boring. But believe it or not, they’re still surprisingly relevant.

Goodman was particularly familiar with this document, as his entire office was completely lined with it.

You lucky so-and-so, look at you, you got rights coming out the wazoo! All because a whole bunch of good people — two  hundred and fifty years’ worth – sacrificed   everything they had for this awesome wallpaper behind me. Know your rights. And for the love  of Mike, don’t ever give ‘em up.

Jonathon Banks also reprised his role of tough guy Mike Ehrmantraut.

I’m Mike and I approve this message.

How to Get Out of Jury Duty

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While in Boston for the FIFA World Cup, a group of Norwegian fans, some wearing horned helmets and flags as capes, collectively sat on an escalator at South Station as if it were a boat and performed a synchronized “Viking Row” up to the next floor. This amusing footage was captured by WGBH news host Jeremy Siegel ahead of the opening game against Iraq.

How do Vikings go up an escalator? They row! Norway fans arriving at South Station in Boston before taking on Iraq at Boston Stadium in the World Cup.

Another Viking Row on an Escalator

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José Bello, a music teacher at Colegio Alicante del Valle in Puente Alto, Chile, taught his young students to sing the classic Depeche Mode song “Enjoy the Silence”. The kids played xylophone with Bello on keyboards and Manuel Molina on guitar.

Enjoy the silence?- DEPECHE MODE

4º básico – Colegio Alicante del Valle (Puente Alto)

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An unexpected orange tabby with perfect timing wandered onto the stage during the incredibly emotional final scene of Romeo and Juliet, as performed by the Imperial Russian Ballet in Izmir, Turkey, and became part of the play.

Juliet tried to save Romeo. The cat had other plans. And by the end of the performance, the entire theater had fallen in love with the unexpected guest.

Photographer Vladimir Snezhin captured this endearing footage of the cat playing with the dead Romeo’s hair, as if to join Juliet in her efforts to revive him.

During the final scene of a ballet performance in Turkey, a curious ginger cat wandered onto the stage and decided that Romeo’s hair was far more interesting than Shakespeare.

The Cat Took a Bow at the End

This is not the first time an animal in Izmir has wandered onto the stage during a performance.

via Neatorama

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George Ntavoutian, a freestyle BMX rider and Red Bull athlete from Greece, completed a daring bike flip between two boats moving in opposite directions on Gooimeer (Gooi Lake) in the Netherlands.

In the open waters of Gooimeer, The Netherlands, Greek BMX athlete George Ntavoutian pulls off a unique open loop between two moving boats sailing in the opposite direction.

The challenge required precise coordination to time the jump perfectly as the platforms drifted apart. Challenges included navigating unpredictable wind and waves, as well as shifting gaps between moving boats. Ntavoutian practiced this amazing feat numerous times before finally making a perfect landing.

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An incredibly affectionate Australian Shepherd named Blue absolutely refuses to let his humans, Ted Danson and Mary Steenburgen, meditate in peace.

Our dog believes that the best way to meditate is to climb in our laps and kiss us. …And you know what, its pretty divine.

Danson gave a funny explanation of why Blue acts this way.

This is called facewash meditation…It cleans all the bad karma on Mary’s face. Oh she seems to have a lot of bad karma because he’s licking her like crazy.

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Alexander Mercieca, a musician and certified CrossFit instructor, demonstrates excellent multitasking by playing different instruments during his weight-training routine.

Examples include doing heavily weighted squats while playing the bass on “Take the Power Back” by Rage Against the Machine, “Sabotage” by Beastie Boys, and “Head Like a Hole” by Nine Inch Nails. Mercieca has between 250 and 315 pounds resting on his upper back during these unique performances.

 Playing bass and signing “Take the Power Back” by Rage Against the Machine while squatting 315lbs (to depth) for reps. 

Mercieca also played keyboards on “Girls” by Beastie Boys during a one-armed bench press and attempted to play the guitar solo on “Eruption” by Van Halen while riding an exercise bike.

via The Awesomer

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Prolific folk singer Jesse Welles played a surprise acoustic set in Washington Square Park in New York City while he was in town. Every song in the set was an original composition, except for a gorgeous cover of the classic John Prine song “Angel From Montgomery” that he performed with country singer Margo Price.

Welles plays a surprise show in Washington Square Plaza in New York City on Tuesday June 2nd 2026. Margo Price joins him late in the set and they sing Angel From Montgomery, a John Prine song.

This impromptu show was recorded by filmmaker Santo Donia, who has been capturing amazing shots of Welles throughout his 2026 tour.

Welles on ‘The Late Show With Stephen Colbert’ in 2025

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In an envenomed TED-Ed lesson that was written by biologist Stephanie A. Poindexter and animated by Reza Riahi, narrator Addison Anderson explains how the uniquely adorable slow loris is incredibly deadly.

Get to know the slow loris, the world’s only venomous primate, and explore this complex creature’s fascinating characteristics.

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Alayna of Three Little Pitties Rescue proudly spoke about her five-year-old son, Cash, who helped her rescue two abandoned puppies from a roadside in Houston.

Alayna shared how rescuing these friendly puppies sparked something in her son — and now he’s ready to rescue more!

Alayna said she got a tip that there might be dogs there, so she decided to stop by. When she found the puppies, Cash was with her and more than willing to help her get the dogs into the car.

I really wanted to save the puppies. I just picked them up and mommy said we can put him in the car.

One of the volunteers at Three Pitties Rescue offered to foster the pups for a couple of months to prepare them for adoption. A couple of months later, Alayna presented the puppies to Cash.

I have a surprise for you. I am going to show you the puppies that you saved. Would you want to see them again?

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The night before the release of their album Siamese Dream in 1993, The Smashing Pumpkins performed a stellar acoustic version of the song “Mayonaise” during an in-store appearance at Tower Records in Chicago.

Smashing Pumpkins Tower Records Mayonaise Acoustic Live 1993 Night before release of Siamese Dream

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The very talented Nina Conti performed a hilarious bit during a performance on the British program Live at the Apollo in which her wisecracking dummy “Monk” repeatedly hypnotized her so that she would be asleep when he performed a short aria for the audience.

Nina Conti and her good friend Monk demonstrate the perils of mixing ventriloquism and hypnotism.

Monk also tried to get away from Conti in a separate performance.

More Nina Conti Ventriloquism

via Miss Cellania

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Czech artist Petr Válek creates incredible kinetic sculptures from found objects that use various voltages to make discordant music. Some of the sculptures feature actual musical instruments amongst the detritus, while others use more natural elements. According to a 2020 art gallery biography, Válek began as a stonemason before moving on to multimedia art.

Válek approaches sound from the perspective of the visual image, and image and sound are increasingly intertwined in his idiosyncratic poetics…Crumpled pots spin on prepared turntables, and pieces of boards, colanders, slicers, wires and springs are assembled with electronic devices. At the same time, Válek’s musical set is always also a visual installation: he sometimes paints the instruments or incorporates “decorative” elements into them. Some objects lose their musical functionality completely, turning into bizarre, injured toys, generating vague and chaotic unrest. Even then, they do not cease to be an integral part of the sound performance.

A Documentary About Válek’s Work

via Weird Universe

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Michael Kolence and Jessica Kolence of The Grimm Life Collective traveled to Munich, where they visited the site of the chocolate factory depicted in the superlative 1971 movie Willie Wonka & the Chocolate Factory.

Join us as we visit Munich, Germany to search for the filming locations to the 1971 movie…Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.

While they were exploring the area, the couple noticed how much the site had changed in the more than half-century since the move was filmed. They also talked about how Gene Wilder was cast, his iconic grand entrance, and how he insisted that it be included in the movie. Michael was so impressed with that move that he wanted to replicate it.

I don’t remember the first time I saw “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” but I remember watching Gene Wilder do do the somersault and I wanted to do the somersault in the same exact spot but I’m a lot older now so I’m not going to do it.

They further explore the area, seeking out recognizable landmarks used in the film. This includes where Charlie Bucket went to school, the clock tower, the candy shop, and more.

“Willy Wonka in the Chocolate Factory” was filmed in 1970 and it came out in 1971 so a lot has definitely changed and this part of this video is going to really showcase just that…now we are at the first people to play this game where are the filming locations to Willy “Wonka the Chocolate Factory” but it does take having your boots on the ground to kind of figure it all outto walk the history and see it.

Willie Wonka’s Grand Entrance in the Movie

Charlie Bucket Finds the Golden Ticket

Gene Wilder Talks About His Acrobatic Grand Entrance

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Filmmaker Andrew Muir of The Art of Storytelling explored the story arc of the distinctly human Star Trek: The Next Generation character, Commander William T. Riker, noting that the distinctly human “Number One” was portrayed by Jonathan Frakes with quiet dignity, loyalty, and an innate sense of morality.

Commander Riker is just a guy with a beard who plays the trombone. So, for a show all about strange new worlds and places no one has ever gone before, this relatively normal character might have been forgettable. And the reason he’s not is that his story arc asks some profound questions about loyalty, friendship, and personal ambition.

Muir also addressed how the character was someone viewers could fully relate to without knowing his entire history.

Commander Riker was clearly written as an everyman, a kind of surrogate for the viewer, the one whose perspective we might find the most familiar or relatable to our own. This type of character is generally advisable in any fictional world that is strange or foreign to our own. ….So instead of getting a ton of background on Riker, he’s used as a way in to learn about the other weirder characters. 

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Craven Moorhaus and Zak Koonce, the talented team behind Auralnauts, quite flawlessly mashed together the classic Bee Gees song “Stayin’ Alive” with “Another One Bites the Dust” by Queen. Since both songs have a 4/4 time signature (exactly four beats per measure), the combination was absolutely perfect. According to Auralnauts, this was created to accompany their “Cassette Deck Vader” video.

Originally produced as a b-side joke for Cassette Deck Vader – Episode 1, the mashup slaps a little too hard to leave on the cutting room floor.

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A beautiful Bengal cat named Rory is so smart and chatty that she seems to let her human, Hannah, know exactly what she’s thinking and what she wants. Hannah explained that Rory isn’t shy about making her opinions known regarding people she doesn’t like.

Three years ago, there was a guy that I dated who seemed amazing. And so I introduced him to Rory, and Rory hated him. I’m talking biting the soles of his feet to the point where he was like, “Can we like put her in the bathroom or something?” And as that was going on, I was looking at it, and I was like, “I think this is a bad sign.”

As it turned out, the bad sign was worth looking into.

Then I realized he was actually not a great dude. Actually was lying to me about a lot of stuff, and I was like I’m always going to trust Rory’s intuition now. Don’t ask me to be your girlfriend until I’ve seen how my cat is with you, cuz I cannot give you an answer before that.

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A truly adorable senior Chitaffy (Chihuahua/Staffordshire Bull Terrier mix) named Pepper is so attached to her family that she sits up and cries whenever they go somewhere without her, perhaps thinking that they won’t return.

When she knows we’re about to head out, she sits up and whines and cries.

Pepper’s human, Molly, explained that Pepper had done this even before she was rescued.

Before I got her, she was surrendered just for being,…Destructive. I think they said that she was destructive. So they her previous owner surrendered her. Since the beginning. She’s stood up on her two back legs. She’ll literally stand up with her hands like this like and she just learned it on her own.

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