Ricky Gervais Wants To Live Long Enough To See Young People Cancelled By The Next Generation



Ricky Gervais is a known critic of cancel culture and he hopes to one day see young people slammed by the next generation.

Some young people are often described as 'woke' or 'snowflakes' for seemingly being offended at everything.

They view things in society with a new lens and call out older people for having views that seem outdated to them.

But comedian Ricky Gervais is hoping that those who cancel will one day get cancelled by a younger, even more progressive generation of people.

In an episode of his podcast Absolutely Mental with neuroscientist Sam Harris, the two discuss why we care about the future.



They go into all sorts of aspects about the future, legacies and the philosophical reasons behind worrying about what might happen.

But Ricky noted how it will be inevitable that 'woke' people won't be 'woke' enough in the future.

"I wanna live long enough to see the younger generation not be woke enough for the next generation," he said. "It's going to happen. Don't they realise that, it's like, they're next. That's what's funny.

"We kicked out the old guard. We did it. There's only so woke and liberal you can get and then you start going the other way. But it's inevitable."

Sam said progressiveness isn't necessarily something generational and added that 'no matter how left you are' there is seemingly always someone who is 'further left' who will treat you 'like a Nazi'.

Ricky replied: "Virtue signalling is literally people saying 'If I'm picking on you for this minutia, think how good I must be, think how good I am if I care about these things that don't matter'."

The comedian has long hit out against cancel culture in the past and believes he will eventually get cancelled for his comedy.

But according to The Daily Star, Ricky said he won't really mind if that happens because he'll just carry on.

"You don't know what the world's going to be like in 10 years' time," the After Life creator said. "You can get cancelled for things you said 10 years ago because you don't know what it's going to be like in 10 years' time."

"If I have to, I'll go to Hyde Park and stand on a bench and shout s***."

Series 2 of Absolutely Mental with Ricky Gervais and Sam Harris is available now at absolutelymental.com.

[johngriffen]

I sometimes get REALLY DEPRESSED reviewing the news these days.
It's always about a global pandemic threatening life as we know it,
protests around the world, stupid politicians, natural disasters,
or some other really bad story.
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH

Welcome to The mobi weekly news magazine
IN OTHER NEWS
SATURDAY OCTOBER 23
What is it?
Here is your chance to become an "ACE REPORTER" for our weekly news magazine.
It is your job to fine weird, funny or "good feel" stories from around the world and share them with our readers in our weekly magazine

How do you play?
Just post a story that you have come across that made you smile, laugh, feel good...
BUT NOTHING DEPRESSING

EXAMPLE POST

​Naked sunbather chases wild boar through park after it steals his laptop bag

A naked sunbather was seen chasing wild boar through a park after it stole his laptop bag.
Amusing photographs from Germany show the man running after the animal to try and claim the plastic bag back.
But the cheeky boar and its two piglets appear to be too quick for the sunbather, who can't keep up with their speedy little trotters.
As the incident unfolds, groups of friends and family sat on the grass watch on and laugh.
Heads are seen turning in surprise and amusement in the hilarious photographs.
The incident happened at Teufelssee Lake - a bathing spot in the Grunwell Forest in Berlin, Germany.

Rules:
Each Edition of IN OTHER NEWS will be open for 7 days...
You can post as many stories as you like, but you will only get paid for One Story in any 24 hour period
So in other words, you can only earn WRZ$ once a day.
Each news day will start when I post announcing it
OR at:
9:00 AM CHICAGO TIME (UTC -5)
2:00 PM GMT (UTC -0)
on those days I space out and forget to post or can't due to Real Life
Stories may be accompanied with images - but No big images, please! 800x800 pixels wide maximum
Videos are allowed, but please keep them short, and post a short summary for those that don't like to click on videos
No Duplicate stories - Where a post has been edited resulting in duplicates, then the last one in time gets disallowed.
And please limit this to reasonably family friendly stories

Reward:
Each news story posted that I feel is acceptable (must be a real story, too few words or simply a headline are not considered acceptable) will earn you 50 WRZ$
If you post multiple stories on any given day, you will only earn 50 WRZ$ for the first story of the Day
All payments will be made at THE END of the weekly news cycle.
Special Bonus - Each week I will award "The Pulitzer Prize" for the best story of the week
The weekly winner of the "The Pulitzer Prize" will receive a 100 WRZ$ bonus
It's just my personal opinion, so my judgement is final

So help bring GOOD news to the members of mobi, and join our reporting team...

IN OTHER NEWS

[ozswede]

Gandhi in heels? Maria Callas statue hits the wrong note

Drama in life, drama in posterity. For Maria Callas, Greece’s greatest diva, there is, even 44 years after her death, no let up from the artistic wrangling that was her lot.

But this time the uproar is focused on a statue erected at the foot of the ancient Acropolis, opposite the Roman theatre where the world-renowned opera singer made her debut.

The 1.8 metre-high work, created in honour of the soprano by fans who regard Callas as one of the country’s most overlooked assets, has been criticised for being kitsch, unbecoming and, even worse, bearing no resemblance to “La Divina”.


The sculpture stands opposite the Odeon of Herodes Atticus in a small park close to the Acropolis of Athens.

The golden sculpture was unveiled by Kostas Bakoyannis, the mayor of Athens, last week, and ever since it has been ridiculed in cartoons and generated a social media storm. Opponents have complained that it is more redolent of “Ghandi in heels” or an Oscar statuette - without the attendant Hollywood glitz - than the prima of all donnas.

For Michael Moussou, a former opera singer and artistic director of the Athens festival, held every summer in the Herodes Atticus theatre where Callas first performed, the work commits the cardinal sin of getting her posture wrong.

“Nothing could be less representative of Maria Callas, as no opera singer, not even a second-grade student at music school, would ever adopt such a pose with crossed arms in front of their chest,” he said, noting that to do so would “block voice production”.

“Opera is about singing and … freeing up the voice. If Callas were to try singing, in real life, in the stance conceived by the sculptor, the result would be like a violinist trying to play on a broken violin.”

Created by Aphrodite Liti, professor of sculpture at the Athens School of Fine Arts, the statue was several years in the making. Approval from the ephorate (council) of modern monuments and the country’s powerful archaeological watchdog, KAS, was required before it was erected alongside the cobbled Dionysios Areopagitis boulevard before celebrations designed to mark the centenary of the artist’s birth in 2023.

Liti was inspired by photographs of the singer provided by the Maria Callas Greek Society, the group of devotees that commissioned the work. A picture of the soprano in costume for a performance at Milan’s La Scala opera house stood out to her “because of its Greek features, Doric style, and simplicity”, and it was on this that she ultimately modelled the work, said the sculptor, responding to the furore.

“I was given the joy of studying a unique personality and [the ability] to speak of her through emotion,” Liti, who has donated the piece to the nation, told the Greek daily newspaper Kathimerini.


Callas acknowledges applause in 1959 at the Royal Concertgebouw in Amsterdam.

Few performers have revolutionised opera as much as Callas. Born to Greek immigrant parents in New York, she was christened Maria Anna Sofia Cecilia Kalogeropoulos before returning to Athens and rising to stardom.

But admirers have long complained that, while lionised for her vocal range abroad, the great dramatic singer has remained inadequately recognised at home, where she is better known for her ill-fated affair with the shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis, and by extension her tempestuous relationship with Greece, than for any of her supreme operatic skills.

A four-storey museum constructed in her honour and set to open within sight of the Acropolis six years ago remains an empty shell.

By contrast, the Italians, who also see Callas as one of their own because of her marriage to industrialist Giovanni Meneghini and her long sojourn at La Scala, named streets after the opera singer years ago.

Liana Skourli, who founded the Maria Callas Greek Society and helped raise funds for the statue, described the criticism as “totally unfair”.

That a work in Callas’s image had been erected at all, she insisted, was testament to “the blood and tears” of the hardy few who wanted to see the singer given her due.

“The whole philosophy behind this statue was about promoting her Greekness,” she said. “Conveying the inner passion of any celebrity is always hard for any sculptor. We expected a bit of noise, a bit of fuss, but nothing like this.”

Source Sure, it’s striking, but “Gandhi in heels” is a bit rough…

A mysterious 'A Team' just rescued dogs from a volcano's lava zone in La Palma



Drone operators were preparing to launch a daring rescue mission to carry several dogs out of a volcano's lava zone when they realized something had changed: All of the dogs were already gone.

It was apparently the work of a group of mysterious rescuers who left a spray-painted banner reading, "The dogs are fine." The message was signed "A Team."

The dogs' plight has made headlines for weeks after emergency teams realized the animals had been stranded by lava from a volcano's prolonged eruption on the island of La Palma, Spain.

Drones have dropped food and water for the animals as officials considered ways to rescue them. It was deemed too risky to attempt by foot; helicopters were ruled out due to ash and pyroclastic rocks in the air.

Animal advocacy group Leales then asked the drone company Aerocamaras to use large cargo drones to fetch the dogs, trapping them in nets and flying them to safety. That plan moved ahead this week as special flight permits were approved.

But then the animal rescue story turned into a dog-gone mystery.

"This morning we have made reconnaissance flights of the area where the dogs were, but at the moment we have not obtained any trace," drone company Aerocamaras said Wednesday via Twitter.

Leales said Thursday that "anonymous animalists" seem to have entered the area and rescued the dogs, citing a video it had received by email as well as footprints that were detected by Aerocamaras' drones.

The animal group posted a video to YouTube showing a banner on a wall where one of the dogs was located. The footage opens with the famous opening lines of the 1980s TV show The A Team, describing (in Spanish, in this case) a band of commandos who became soldiers of fortune after being accused of a crime they didn't commit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSpZkP7YHgQ

Footage in the anonymous video was shot by a drone. Leales said it suspects that the unknown rescuers might have used a drone's thermal imaging to determine a relatively "cold" path through the lava field.

Leales said the video arrived via a brief email that was also signed by the A Team. The message thanked the group for its work and concluded with the hashtag many locals in La Palma have embraced: #masfuertesqueelvolcan — stronger than the volcano.

Aerocamaras said that its drone flights Wednesday had shown the banner where one of the dogs had been, but because the wind had seemingly flipped the large sheet over, the message wasn't visible at first sight.

While it seems that the dogs have been carried to safety, Leales said it would like to know who the rescuers are and for them to share proof that the dogs — some of which had been emaciated by their ordeal — are in good condition.

[Fatima99]

Bloke panics after catching rare bright yellow Catfish that can grow up to 400lbs



A fisherman in the Netherlands has been left stunned after hauling in an extraordinary catfish that was bright yellow.

Professional angler Martin Glatz had been out fishing when he snagged the impressive wels catfish.

Wels catfish are native to lakes and rivers throughout Europe, and can grow to 2.7 metres long if they live to become fully grown.

But this example of the incredible fish may have had a rare genetic disorder known as leucism, which turns the skin a bright banana yellow.

"I have never seen such a catfish before," said the amazed Glatz, "I am still overwhelmed by it."



Leucism is a condition that causes a loss of pigment in the skin and hair, with the condition being observed in birds, mammals, and reptiles, giving rise to striking sights including yellow penguins and white orcas.

It's different from albinism in that it does not affect the eyes.

Despite looking very striking to humans, animals with leucism often live at a disadvantage as their bright pigment can make them easier to spot, making it more difficult to avoid predators or to sneak up on prey.

Nonetheless, this monster wels catfish appears to have survived despite this.

[PennySerenade]

Spooky season is just around the corner and that means the resurgence of trick-or-treating, pumpkin parades, and haunted houses.

This year, you can go experience Halloween in a unique but much cuter way.

Located in Uxbridge, just an hour's drive from Toronto, Farmhouse Garden Animal Home is opening its doors to celebrate Halloween on the farm.



You can spend the day trick-or-treating around the farm, going on a haunted hay wagon ride but most importantly you can feed all the 25 adorable cows.

After you've fed the cows, check out the local vendors and grab yourself a fall treat and maybe pick up another basket full of vegetables to feed the cows again.

The proceeds raised from this event will go towards covering animal care costs.

Tickets must be purchased online prior to visiting the farm since there are two different time slots available, one at 11:00 a.m. or at 2:00 p.m.

You can go feed all the adorable cows on Oct. 24.

[goldie0608]

Florida Boaters Rescue Dog Struggling Alone in the Open Ocean and Find Pet's Family

A group of friends from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, saved a dog they found swimming by himself in the ocean, and the video of the rescue has more than 9.9. million views on TikTok



A casual day on the water turned into a heroic boat trip for a group of friends from Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

According to NBC2 News, Bryn Crowell and her friends recently took a boat ride in the waters around Fort Lauderdale and discovered a small dog struggling to stay afloat alone in the open ocean.

The group on the boat decided to rescue the dog from the choppy waters they found the canine in and brought the pet aboard. On Monday, Crowell shared footage of the life-saving effort on TikTok, and the clip now has over 9.9 million views.

"Just Florida things," Crowell captioned the viral clip.

The video shows someone from the boat in rough water holding onto the small dog. The pair paddle back to the boat, where another individual helps the pooch on board. Concerned animal lovers quickly surround the canine.



In a series of follow-up videos, Crowell explains how she and her friends reunited the dog, named Zuko, with his family and how the pet ended up alone in the ocean.

After saving Zuko, Crowell and her friends "called the number" they found on the tag connected to the dog's collar, according to Crowell's TikTok. Zuko's relieved owner, who lives a 20-minute boat ride from where Crowell found the canine, answered the phone "crying and thankful."

After Crowell and her friends rode over to reunite Zuko with his family, the pup's owners gave the group $300 to cover their gas costs as a thank you.

In a third TikTok, Crowell shared a text exchange with Zuko's owner about how the dog ended up in the water.

"He was hopping around in the back of the boat 'biting' the waves that were passing by, and I guess in one of those moments he must've jumped a little too high and jumped overboard," the text from Zuko's owner shown in the Crowell's TikTok reads.

The owner added that once they noticed Zuko was missing, they searched the boat with their family, assuming Zuko was hiding. After they didn't find him, they tried retracing their boat ride but still didn't locate the dog, so they see it as a "miracle" that Crowell and her friends brought Zuko home safely.

In a fourth TikTok update on Zuko, Crowell shares that the pooch is in good health after his ocean ordeal and that his owners are incredibly grateful for Crowell and her friends' quick thinking.

[Mintydreams00]

Sheep run amok in Dayton neighborhood



Sheep have been running around in Dayton’s Western Hill neighborhood, startling residents and visitors and eluding capture.

“We have had three sheep in our neighborhood, they started coming around about Oct. 6, then they left,” Eva Boddie said. “Then yesterday, we see this other sheep and it stayed, walked up and down the street, up and down sidewalks, eating grass.”

In particular, she said the sheep enjoyed eating the grass of her neighbor known as “Uncle Larry,” likely because of his organic yard treatments.

Boddie said she is concerned for the safety of children walking to and from their school bus, the letter carrier and other delivery drivers who come to the neighborhood.

“It jumped over that trash can like it was nothing. It was kicking and bucking. Yeah, it’s gotta go,” she said.

However, Boddie said she does not want the sheep harmed, or for any people to get hurt, either.

“We want people to know yes there’s sheep running around, be cautious but we want the sheep gone,” she said. “We just want the sheep out of the neighborhood and to a safe place.”

Among places she called was the Montgomery County Animal Resource Center. She was told they don’t do anything unless it was a farm animal.

“Isn’t a sheep a farm animal?” Boddie said.

But the ARC said it wouldn’t take the animal, Boddie said.

Her next idea was to call Dayton commissioners and candidates, which she said led Dayton police, Five Rivers MetroParks rangers and sheriff’s deputies to respond Friday in an effort to capture the sheep.

It is not clear where the sheep came from.

[prokroustis]

Man broke his ‘package’ during sex!

Doctors claimed that the man is the first known case to have damaged his penis this way during sex

A British man broke his penis vertically when it buckled during sex, doctors have reported.

Doctors claimed that the man is the first known case to have damaged his penis this way during sex.

The case was published in a report by the British Medical Journal (BMJ) and the experts say the injury is rare.

A broken penis is also referred to as a penile fracture and occurs when the protective layer around erectile tissue that pumps blood to the penis is damaged.

Doctors say that the reason it feels like a broken bone is because most injuries happen during sex when the penis is erect, The Sun reports.

It buckles under pressure and then causes blood to leak out and this is usually accompanied by a popping sound – but doctors said that this sound didn’t happen with this case.

The case study had been 40-years-old at the time and medics said his penis “buckled against his partner’s perineum (the area between the anus and the genitals)”.

He didn’t show any classic symptoms such as the popping sound or the rolling of the skin of the penis.

The case had a swollen penis and his erection gradually faded, whereas in most cases the erection is lost immediately.

On analysing the results of an MRI scan the doctors discovered that the man’s penis had a three centimetre long vertical tear along the right side.

It was around the middle of the shaft rather than a horizontal tear.

In any case of a penile fracture, doctors have to treat it within 24 hours as it can lead to complications such as permanent erectile dysfunction.

The man had surgery which was successful and is now fully recovered and was able to have sex once more, six months after the injury.

The experts concluded that the case raises the question as to whether or not a vertical penis fracture “alter either the presentation or long-term outcomes following operative repair”.

They added: “This patient was able to resume sexual activity within 6 months of the injury, achieving erections of the same quality to those prior to the injury, denying any penile curvature or significant palpable scarring.”

[BigGlen]

Pilot Sets Records by Flying Upside Down
BY RHONDA NOWAK



Joann Osterud’s upside-down view of the world has earned her aviation records three times now.

The 43-year-old Oxnard pilot returned Tuesday night from Vanderhoof, British Columbia, where she recently broke a 1933 record for flying upside down for 4 hours, 38 minutes and 10 seconds, she said. The previous inverted-flight record was set by Milo Burcham when he flew from Long Beach to San Diego and back for 4 hours, 5 minutes and 22 seconds.

Osterud simultaneously broke a 60-year-old distance record for flying upside down more than 650 miles in a stretch. She had previously broken a record for flying 208 upside-down loops in a row two years ago.

The pilot set the two recent records partly as a publicity stunt for the Vanderhoof Air Show, partly to raise money for the Canadian Air Cadets and partly to prove that she could do it, Osterud said. She tried to break the records last year but had to end the flight when oil leaked out of her plane.

She was better prepared this time, she said. “We’ve been working nonstop” since last year making improvements to the plane, Osterud said. Her Ultimate biplane was outfitted with six fuel tanks, special oil and electrical systems, tubes for drinking and special seat belts to make the flight more comfortable.

Not that the flight was that comfortable, Osterud said.

“The world looks real weird upside down,” she said. “The normal points of reference just aren’t there.”

Osterud said she experienced painful leg cramps a little way into the flight. “You start to feel like you have a really bad head cold. Your face starts to swell up and your eyes swell up,” she said.

The stunt pilot said she didn’t have much time to think about her discomfort because it was a real effort to keep the plane going. Five other planes accompanied her, including a guide who did all the navigating for her, and an official observer from the Federation Aeronautique Internationale in Canada, she said.

When she’s not in the air performing in one of 20 to 25 air shows yearly, Osterud is a pilot for United Airlines. She said the difference between the two types of planes is “the difference between driving a Cadillac and riding a dirt bike.”

Osterud, who said she hates roller coasters, never planned to spend her life doing somersaults in a plane but became hooked after she was introduced to the sport 20 years ago, she said. She intends to keep flying until “it gets to be like real work.”

Kellogg's faces lawsuit over lack of real strawberries in Strawberry Pop-Tarts
By Maureen Breslin - 10/22/21 01:29 PM EDT

A class-action lawsuit is being filed against Kellogg's by plaintiff Anita Harris claiming that the company is falsely advertising by labeling its Frosted Strawberry Pop-Tarts as containing "strawberry," according to a report from NBC 10 Philadelphia.

The lawsuit asks Kellogg's to ensure it has more accurate labeling and seeks over $5 million in damages over the false advertisements.

Harris filed the lawsuit in late August and claims that Kellogg's is designing Pop-Tarts advertisement to "give consumers the impression the fruit filling contains a greater relative and absolute amount of strawberries than it does," reports NBC 10.

Kellogg's highlights strawberries in its advertising with phrases such as "timeless yet yummy" flavor of strawberries and its packaging showcases online recipes on how to make strawberry shortcake, which makes strawberries appear as the "categorizing ingredient" in the product, NBC 10 reported.

Yet dried strawberries are not on the product's list of ingredients until the "contains 2 percent or less" section appears where strawberries are listed alongside other fruits, including dried apples and pears.

The plaintiff also highlighted that Frosted Strawberry Pop-Tarts include a synthetic food dye known as Red 40, which is used to make the product's filling appear "bright red, like it is only strawberries or has more strawberries than it does," reports NBC 10.

Kellogg's in response to The Hill said it does not comment on pending litigation.

The lawyer who is representing Harris, New York attorney Spencer Sheehan, said that the lawsuit's goal is to ensure Kellogg's maintains more accurate product labeling while speaking with TODAY Food.

According to NBC 10, Sheehan — who has represented clients in other lawsuits of the same vein involving King's Hawaiian Rolls and Kraft's Bagel Bites — said of the lawsuit, "If it doesn’t have mostly strawberries, if it’s mostly pears, then you know, just call it pear Pop-Tarts."

Man With Full Face Tattoo Dubbed 'World's Scariest Criminal' Arrested



A man whose face is covered in tattoos and has been dubbed the 'world's scariest criminal' has been arrested once again.

Michael Campbell, from Missouri, has undergone a transformation over the years, with his face now covered almost completely in black ink.

His countless tattoos include a depiction of a pentagram on his forehead, a bow tie and a dog on his neck and the number 88 across the side of his head.

The convicted paedophile was recently arrested for attempted rape, after allegedly trying to sexually assault a woman while her partner slept next to her.



If convicted, the 46-year-old faces life in prison for the crime, which is said to have taken place on 30 May this year.

According to documents obtained by the Smoking Gun, Campbell was described as a "persistent sex offender" and allegedly tried to attack a woman, pulling down her pants as her boyfriend lay next to her.

When the woman's partner woke up, he chased Campbell out of the property and he made his escape on a bike.

The documents state that when police contacted him, he was riding a gold bike that "appeared to have been freshly painted", with "blue and purple paint under the gold paint".

Campbell has since denied the charge of attempted rape and says his actions were consensual, claiming that the woman had in fact made "sexual advances towards him".

He then told officers that he "told her no", informing her that he had a curfew and had to leave.



Last year, Campbell was convicted on charges of property damage, assault and violating a protection order, and sentenced to six months in prison.

Two years earlier, he was charged with third-degree assault after reportedly attacking another man and beating him in the face for not flushing the toilet.

In 1995, when he was just 20 years old, Campbell was convicted of attempted assault in the first degree after trying to rape a 14-year-old girl in Denver, Colorado.



As part of his conviction at the time, he was ordered to stay away from places where children could meet up to play.

However, in 2011, Campbell was arrested for being within 500ft of a public pool or playground.

Following his latest arrest, Campbell is now being held in a Missouri county jail on a $100,000 bond.

He is set to go before the court during a hearing next week.

(How do you do a lineup with this guy? Because in a lineup, your supposed to use four other similar looking people. I guess you have to like take a sharpie and draw on four other dudes faces or something? Hmm)

CAUGHT ON CAMERA Disturbing video shows how ‘ghost’ takes off dog’s collar while tormenting family every day

A woman's video has gone viral after she caught the disturbing moment a "ghost" allegedly took off her dog's collar*



The TikTok user, who goes by the name of Shanny Fantg, has been posting several videos as proof that her home has been visited by a paranormal guest.


Caught on her home's surveillance camera, two dogs can be seen barking loudly from the inside of their crates.

A brown one barks while laying down and a black one barks incessantly while standing up.

The two also face each other as they bark before suddenly going very quiet.

Suddenly, the black dog's collar twitches around her neck, which terrifies the canine.

The dog immediately jumps back, trying to get away from something before the collar slips off her neck.

She barks one more time before sniffing her collar.

Along with the video, the woman wrote: "Watch my black dog. Ghost takes her collar off in her crate."

In a previous video, the woman had also caught on camera a doggy door between the kitchen and living room swinging open in the middle of the night.

The videos have captured the attention of social media, as she gathered more than 15.2K followers.

In the video of the dogs barking, one person wrote: "I've never seen such a convincing ghost video."

A second one shared: "Something that messes with the dogs doesn't sit with me."

And a third commented: "They both got very quiet ... they felt the energy. That silence was unsettling."

WATCH VIDEO: https://youtu.be/VXJahnGpIvg

NOTE: Britty is not convinced, but found this piece of "news," the videos, and the commentary hilarious as I thought of all the bizarre evil my own collection of endearingly spastic critters could convince the interwebs of. Mwahahahaha >=)

[lush]

8 Strange and Fun Facts About Fall
October 21, 2021*

• Here’s a fantastic feast of facts to fill your fall with fun.

We’re well into fall, but it’s not over quite yet. In many places, the prime fall foliage season is still ongoing, and with the temperatures cooling down, it’s a great time for many outdoor activities.

But if you (like us writing this article) are spending your fall days in front of the computer, here’s something to still get you in an autumnal mood. Here are eight facts about fall that you may not have known about.

Most Babies Are Born in Fall



Although births are sprinkled fairly evenly all throughout the year, there’s a clear spike in fall, particularly September. Nobody knows exactly why, but there are some theories.

To be born in September, the babies would’ve had to be conceived in mid-to-late December. That’s also when most people are at home enjoying the holidays, so they have more time to spend… Together.

Some studies have also found that human bodies may be biologically programmed for winter conceptions. That makes sense — the abundance of a fall harvest seems like a good time to squeeze out a baby.

The Season Didn’t Use to be Called Fall or Autumn



Depending on where you’re from within the Anglosphere, you’ll call this season either “fall” or “autumn.” But originally, English speakers didn’t call it either of that.

In 12th- and 13th-century England, fall was known as “harvest” — or “haerfest” as they would’ve written it. It’s not difficult to see why they would call the season that, considering it’s when you, y’know, harvest the crops.

People only started popularly calling the season “autumn” in the early 15th century. The name “fall” came up in the 17th century, probably as a poetic counterpart to “spring.”

We Like Pumpkins Because of Nostalgia



Pumpkin spice is a popular flavor in fall, and the upcoming Halloween will definitely boost pumpkin sales. But why exactly do we go nuts for pumpkins around fall?

Sure, you can eat them, but according professor Cindy Ott the flavor isn’t why we like them. Instead, she says we adore pumpkins because of pure nostalgia.

Before the 19th century, pumpkin was considered a borderline inedible vegetable — it was practically emergency rations. But as people began to move out of the countryside and into the cities, pumpkins became romanticized representations of the disappearing idyllic rural life.

That fondness has carried over to this day. And before you start saying how much you personally like pumpkin spice, consider this — you’re actually tasting a mix of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves, but not pumpkin.

Fall Foliage Gets Its Color from Sugar

https://www.oddee.com/wp-content/upload ... 50x300.jpg

Ever wonder why some leaves turn out yellow in fall, while others become red or orange, even on the same tree? The answer is sugar.

When the green chlorophyll disappears from leaves, it reveals the colors hiding underneath them. If the leaves have a particular high amount of sugar in them, they will also contain lots of anthocyanins — pigments that give the leaves a red or purple color.

If the leaves didn’t have as much sugar in them, they won’t produce anthocyanins. In this case, they’ll turn yellow or orange due to carotenoids, the same pigments that give carrots their color.

Fall is the Best Time to See the Northern Lights



We usually associate the aurora borealis with the pitch-black skies of mid-winter. But the best season to spot the Northern Lights is actually fall.

During geomagnetic storms, the sun spews particles towards Earth that create the aurora as they collide with elements in the atmosphere. According to NASA, geomagnetic storms are twice as common in fall than during other seasons.

It’s a good thing the nights are already getting darker in the autumn months. That gives us plenty of time to catch nature’s greatest light show.

Americans Have Fewer Heart Attacks in Fall



Most of the U.S. observes daylight savings time, and in early November you get to turn your clock back. Doing so doesn’t only add an hour to your night’s sleep, but also potentially to your life.

According to Swedish research, the rate of heart attacks in America falls drastically after the end of daylight savings. Similarly, the rate rises when the clocks are turned forward in spring.

The scientists assume that this phenomenon is mostly due to people getting that extra hour of sleep. Turns out, not sleeping enough is bad for your health — who knew?

Fall is Good for the Economy



With fewer people dying of heart attacks, they can go and gawk at the gorgeous colors of fall foliage. And the droves of autumnal tourists are really good for the economy.

At least if you live in New England. Millions of leaf-peepers flock to the Northeast every year to take a break and see the beautiful trees.

In Vermont, for example, fall visitors generate around half a billion dollars in extra income every single year. The same is true for many other New England states.

Your Sex Drive Peaks in Fall



They say fall is the season for love. Our biology seems to support that.

According to studies, both male and female testosterone levels reach their highest peak in fall. And with increased testosterone comes a higher sex drive.

That could explain why so many people feel the need to find that special someone in the fall months. But it doesn’t explain is why fall is also the month with the most babies.

Maybe it just takes most people until Christmas to get busy.

Child with special needs forms friendship with sanitation worker



No one is more excited to see the garbage truck driving down their street than Emma Grace Johnson, who lives in Vestavia Hills, Alabama.

Every Tuesday and Thursday, she waits anxiously for her best friend in the garbage truck, Elbert Berry, to pull up to her house.

Isolation and the loss of her terminally ill grandfather made the pandemic especially difficult for the 5-year-old, who has special needs, and her family.

"Emma Grace was devastated," Laura Johnson, her mother, said. "Her best friend was gone."

But then one day she finally caught the attention of Berry. And with the wave of her hand, a friendship was born, one that has served as a bright spot for a grieving family.

When school resumed in-person learning, Emma Grace wanted to bring her new friend to school with her. She asked Berry if she could take a picture with him so she could take the photo with her every day.

This summer, Emma Grace did something extra special for her new best friend for his birthday.

"The baby made me a birthday card, a handmade birthday card," Berry said. "It said, 'I love you,' and she stuck the picture inside."

Touched beyond belief, Berry decided to return the favor by giving Emma Grace a special gift of her own — a photo locket necklace with their picture inside and a message engraved on the back that says, 'You are the Best Part of my Day!'