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15 pictures that are not at all what they seem

2023-04-19 01:23:20 author：dointy.com

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15 pictures that are not at all what they seem(图1)

In the age of Photoshop, you never know what photos have been edited beyond belief.

But sometimes, weird optical illusions can occur. These photographic tricks leave our brain filling in the gaps in hilarious, weird, and sometimes raunchy ways.

SEE ALSO: 23 Pictures That You Have to Look at Twice

Let yourself do a double take, because not everything is as it seems.

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15 pictures that are not at all what they seem(图2)

15 pictures that are not at all what they seem(图3)

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New study says dozens of people have died while attempting dangerous selfies
New study says dozens of people have died while attempting dangerous selfies
A new study published by the National Institute of Health confirms what most of us already knew: taking dangerous selfies is dumb and has killed dozens of people(opens in a new tab) over the past few years.
The study, titled "Selfies: A boon or bane?,"(opens in a new tab) concluded that 259 people across the world died between 2011 and 2017 due to incidents that occurred while taking selfies, with drowning (32 incidents killing 70 people) and falling (41 incidents killing 48 people) being the top reasons.
A few other take-aways from the study:
- Three times as many men as women died from taking selfies, often because of "risky behavior."
- An overwhelming number of deaths (182) occurred for ages 10 to 29.
- India accounted for over half of the deaths attributed to selfies during that time (159) followed by Russia (16) and the United States (14).
And, the study notes, the number given here is probably low because selfie deaths are underreported and often attributed to other causes.
None of this is a surprise to people who read the internet enough to come across headlines about multiple people dying in a single selfie incident or more people being killed taking selfies than being killed by sharks.
SEE ALSO: Americans hate selfies, but can't stop taking them

And the NIH used news reports to compile the totals the study could confirm. From the methodology:
Initially, we made an exhaustive list of the English newspapers of various countries using Wikipedia or Ministry of broadcasting of respective countries. We performed a Google search for keywords such as “selfie deaths; selfie accidents; selfie mortality; self photography deaths; koolfie deaths; mobile death/accidents.” The web link addresses of the news from search results were cross-matched with the web links of list of prepared English newspapers of various countries. The results that did not match were excluded from the study.
So it's a thorough search, but still likely leaves a lot of incidents out.
The study suggests the creation of "no selfie zones" at high-traffic tourist areas, "especially places such as water bodies, mountain peaks, and over tall buildings" which, actually, makes sense. Many of these already exist(opens in a new tab), but there's always room for more if the goal is to curtail these types of incidents.
For example, there are popular selfie destinations along the rim of the Grand Canyon where there are no rails or other means(opens in a new tab) of preventing someone from walking right up to the edge and pitching over.
While instituting no selfie zones might seem like a bit of an over-reaction, it seems that people can't be trusted to look after themselves, so someone has to do it for them until they wise up.
There's never been a worse time to be a statue of an old racist dude.
There's never been a worse time to be a statue of an old racist dude.
The global protests against systemic racism and police brutality, in solidarity with the U.S. Black Lives Matter movement as well as individual nations' own institutional issues, have been spreading and strengthening since the death of George Floyd, who died after an officer kneeled on his neck for nearly 9 minutes on May 25. The protests have already had a tangible effect on policy decisions(Opens in a new tab) and public opinion(Opens in a new tab), but one of the most visible achievements of the protests has been the toppling, defacing, and even removal by authorities, of racist monuments and statues.
From former Confederate president Jefferson Davis to Christopher Columbus and Winston Churchill, statues of historical figures have been coming down or getting makeovers — primarily statues of European colonizers, slave traders or owners, and other Great Men whose racist opinions or policies have been airbrushed out of the version of history we learned in school. Some were removed by protesters, others by city authorities(Opens in a new tab). Many others have been splashed with blood-red paint, creatively annotated, or decorated in other ways to indicate that enormous likenesses of known racists towering over people in public spaces are not seen as a neutral invitation to reflect quietly upon the nuances of a violent, racist history, but an institutional refusal to reckon with it.
The push to remove Confederate and other racist monuments from public spaces continues, with the potential for them to be rehoused in museums where they can be displayed alongside other historical artifacts in context. Meanwhile, a 55-year-old woman in Atlanta has been charged with a felony, namely interference with government property(Opens in a new tab) for writing "TEAR DOWN" on a Confederate statue plinth with chalk, and Australian authorities are making noise about "tougher anti-vandalism laws"(Opens in a new tab) after two statues of British colonizer Captain James Cook were spray-painted by activists.
If you're interested in the process of bringing down statues, here is a purely hypothetical guide to how it can be done safely. The safest way to get these pompous eyesores out of public spaces, though, is to pressure your local city council or mayor's office to remove them, and vote for representatives who have no interest in preserving public monuments to oppressors. As Taylor Swift said, villains don't deserve statues(Opens in a new tab).
In the meantime, please enjoy these striking images of shrines to violence and genocide being treated with the respect they deserve.
A woman looks at a statue depicting Christopher Columbus, which had its head removed at Christopher Columbus Waterfront Park on June 10, 2020 in Boston, Massachusetts. The statue's future is yet to be decided.Credit: Tim Bradbury / Getty Images
A statue of Christopher Columbus lays next to a city owned flatbed truck after a crew removed the statue from its base at Farnham Park in Camden, New Jersey on June 13, 2020.Credit: Bastiaan Slabbers / NurPhoto via Getty Images
The pedestal where a statue of Christopher Columbus stood is pictured on June 11, 2020 in Richmond, Virginia. Protesters also tore down a statue of Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate States of America during the Civil War.Credit: Zach Gibson / Getty Images
A vandalized statue of Christopher Columbus is seen at Bayfront Park on June 11, 2020, after a protest the previous day against George Floyd's death, police brutality, and racial inequality in Miami, Florida.Credit: Eva Marie Uzcategui Trinkl / Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
A Richmond police officer stands by the statue of Confederate President Jefferson Davis after it was pulled down from its pedestal on Monument Avenue in Richmond, Virginia on June 10, 2020.Credit: John McDonnell / The Washington Post via Getty Images
A vandalized Civil War statue looks over the fourth consecutive day of protests on May 31, 2020 in Denver, Colorado.Credit: Michael Ciaglo / Getty Images)
Protesters gather around a vandalised statue of Former Governor of Puerto Rico, Juan Ponce de Leon in Downtown Miami on June 12, 2020.Credit: CHANDAN KHANNA / AFP via Getty Images
A vandalized statue of Boer leader Paul Kruger on Church Square on June 10, 2020 in Pretoria, South Africa.Credit: Alet Pretorius / Gallo Images via Getty Images
The statue of former British prime minister Winston Churchill is seen defaced in Parliament Square, London after a demonstration outside the U.S. Embassy, on June 7, 2020.Credit: ISABEL INFANTES / AFP via Getty Images
Graffiti covers a statue of Robert Dundas, 2nd Viscount Melville, on Melville Street in Edinburgh on June 12, 2020.Credit: ANDY BUCHANAN / AFP via Getty Images
A statue of journalist Indro Montanelli after it was vandalised with red paint and graffiti in the gardens dedicated to him on June 14, 2020 in Milan, Italy. Montanelli claimed he bought a 12-year-old Eritrean girl as his wife while serving in the Second Italo-Ethiopian War in 1936.Credit: Jacopo Raule / Getty Images
The statue of slave trader Edward Colston is retrieved from Bristol Harbour by a salvage team on June 11, 2020 in Bristol, England. The statue was pulled from its plinth in the city centre and thrown in the water by anti-racism campaigners during a Black Lives Matter protest.Credit: Andrew Lloyd / Getty Images)
A bust of former Belgian king Leopold II daubed with red paint is removed by a city worker in Auderghem, near Brussels on June 12, 2020. Several statues of the late monarch, a symbol of Belgium's bloody history as colonial power in central Africa, have been defaced as the U.S. campaign for racial justice re-energizes the struggle in Europe.Credit: KENZO TRIBOUILLARD / AFP via Getty Images
The iconic statue of the Duke of Wellington sports a traffic cone with a Black Lives Matter logo in Royal Exchange Square, Glasgow, Scotland on June 12, 2020.Credit: ANDY BUCHANAN / AFP via Getty Images
People visit the graffiti covered statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee on June 13, 2020 at Monument Avenue in Richmond, Virginia. Many have long called for taking down statues of Confederate Generals who fought a war to defend slavery, and later, were erected by southern states to help justify the disenfranchisement of Black citizens.Credit: Andrew Lichtenstein / Corbis via Getty Images
Disease experts weigh in on crowded White House coronavirus briefings
Disease experts weigh in on crowded White House coronavirus briefings
On April Fools' Day in the White House, inside the infamously cramped(Opens in a new tab) James S. Brady Press Briefing Room, reporters sat spaced three seats apart at the day's coronavirus(Opens in a new tab) press briefing. Meanwhile, General Mark A. Milley (Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the highest-ranking officer in the United States military), the U.S. Attorney General, the Secretary of Defense, President Donald Trump, and others crowded behind the lectern(Opens in a new tab) to provide Americans an update on the rapidly spreading coronavirus.
These Coronavirus Task Force briefings, often indoors, have been occurring regularly(Opens in a new tab) for nearly a month, after starting in late February(Opens in a new tab). An average of 8.5 million Americans tune in(Opens in a new tab) on TV, and the briefings are live-streamed on YouTube. Political, military, and public health leaders crowd into small areas, during a time when the CDC urges Americans to stay six feet(Opens in a new tab) from each other to avoid catching, or transmitting, the microbe.
Infectious disease experts say this public, televised crowding is a negligent show of public health behavior amid the pandemic, and gives irresponsible social distancing guidance to Americans. With a vaccine still about a year away at earliest, and testing still lagging(Opens in a new tab) far behind other nations, social distancing is a primary weapon in curbing the relentless spread of the coronavirus, which results in the respiratory disease COVID-19(Opens in a new tab).
"This is at a minimum sending the wrong and discordant messaging to the public," said Jason Farley, a nurse practitioner in the Division of Infectious Diseases at the Johns Hopkins Schools of Nursing and Medicine. "It is only a matter of time before one of them becomes ill with coronavirus given this behavior."
"These people are supposed to be setting a good example — and they’re not setting a good example for the nation," said epidemic expert Suzanne Willard, the associate dean of Global Health at Rutgers School of Nursing.
Other than living on surfaces, the coronavirus travels in respiratory drops that can spread when someone nearby sneezes, coughs — or just talks(Opens in a new tab). There's mounting evidence(Opens in a new tab) showing the virus can spread effectively in the air.
"It is possible for viruses to be released into the air from just talking and breathing," said Linsey Marr, an expert in airborne disease transmission at Virginia Tech. "It wouldn't be a lot, but the chance of those viruses landing on someone else or being inhaled by someone else is higher if people are closer together."

Screenshot of April 1, 2020 White House coronavirus press briefing. Credit: Youtube / white House

Screenshot of Vice President Mike Pence at a White House coronavirus press briefing. Credit: Youtube / White House

White House staff and journalists entering the premises are now given temperature checks(Opens in a new tab), to identify fever, before entering. But up to (Opens in a new tab)one in four people(Opens in a new tab) may carry the virus without ever showing any symptoms, and it takes an average of five days for an infected person to start showing any symptoms at all. Infected people may be attending these briefings.
Around the world, national leaders like UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Iran's Deputy Health Minister, the UK Health Secretary, and the Prince of Monaco have tested positive.
How should U.S. leaders act during briefings?
At a minimum, the coronavirus task force should underscore, through their actions, that social distancing to curb the spread of disease is critical — for everyone.
"You should lead by example," said Sharona Hoffman, a professor of both bioethics and law at Case Western Reserve University.
"It would be good if they took better precautions, wore masks, and went on stage one at a time," Hoffman said.
The White House Coronavirus Task Force is expected on Friday to recommend Americans now wear face masks(Opens in a new tab) in public.
"You should lead by example."
If multiple leaders insist on being onstage at once, they should give each other ample space.
"I think our leaders should model social distancing by standing at least six feet apart during press briefings," said Virginia Tech's Marr.
Farley, of Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, recommends going even further.
"[The briefings] should be moved online with the President and his advisors NOT in the room," said Farley, advocating for ending these close-quartered, daily press room interactions. He noted that while reporters in chairs are appropriately spaced six feet apart, on the White House stage these rules go out the window.
The virus doesn't discriminate. Even Anthony Fauci, the venerated director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases who has become the nation's de facto coronavirus leader(Opens in a new tab) and calming truth-speaker(Opens in a new tab), could be exposed.
"If Tony Fauci gets sick, that would be catastrophic," said Hoffman.
UPDATE: April 3, 2020, 3:07 p.m. EDT: When reached for comment, a White House representative did not respond to the inquiry but forwarded Mashable to a non-functioning comment line.
Hollywoods Walk of Fame vandalized with dozens of Donald Trump stars
Hollywoods Walk of Fame vandalized with dozens of Donald Trump stars
We regret to inform you that the streets of Hollywood were cursed with multiple replicas of Trump's star on Thursday.
The president's Walk of Fame star was destroyed on last month by a guy wielding a pickaxe, who was later bailed out by the guy who also destroyed Trump's star with a pickaxe two years earlier. In response, the West Hollywood City Council unanimously voted to recommend getting rid of the star altogether on Tuesday because of Trump's "disturbing treatment of women and other actions," though Trump's star isn't even located(opens in a new tab) in the city limits of West Hollywood.
SEE ALSO: West Hollywood City Council votes to remove Trump's Walk of Fame star

In a tweet announcing the city council's symbolic vote, West Hollywood's mayor John Duran added "#horcruxdestroyed."
Overnight, dozens of Trump stars appeared on the Walk of Fame. The anonymous artist warned(opens in a new tab) the Hollywood Reporter, "Rip up the president's Walk of Fame star or try to have it removed -- like you're the mayor of West Hollywood or something -- and 30 more will pop up."
An account that calls itself "The Faction" claimed responsibility for the installation.
"Take down his star, and we will descend upon you with 30 fresh new stars," the account tweeted. "We are MAGA Legion."
Right, OK.
Tweet may have been deleted (opens in a new tab)

View this post on Instagram

(opens in a new tab)

The Faction also tweeted a video of their crew putting the installation together early in the morning. Wearing neon vests and hard hats, the crew surrounded actual stars with realistic vinyl stickers that looked like Trump's.
The stickers were partially funded by a "young and anonymous entrepreneur." The Faction is a self described "rogue right-wing street artist," according to their Instagram(opens in a new tab) bio, and vows to "shower you Useful Idiots in glorious memes to manifest your Trump Derangement Syndrome demons." They collaborate with Sabo(opens in a new tab), another conservative street artist who tries to troll Hollywood with "provocative" art.
In what they probably wanted to be a formidable message, The Faction tweeted, "Keep taking down the @realDonaldTrump star, and we will further spread Trump Derangement Syndrome by installing a never ending stream of stars."
Tweet may have been deleted (opens in a new tab)

While "installing" the fake stars, the crew kept Trump's name covered until the last minute so bystanders wouldn't attack them.
"I didn't want to get hit over the head from behind," the artist told the Hollywood Reporter. "We thought Trump Derangement Syndrome was a joke, but I'm pretty sure it's real."
Trump Derangement System, according to Urban Dictionary(opens in a new tab), is a "mental condition in which a person has been driven effectively insane due to their dislike of Donald Trump, to the point at which they will abandon all logic and reason." CNN calls it(opens in a new tab) the "knee-jerk opposition from liberals (and Never Trumpers) to anything and everything Trump does." In other words: If you disagree with everything Trump says, a Trump supporter might diagnose you with TDS.
Although The Faction's video showed mildly interested onlookers, not everyone was amused by the stunt. A Ripley's Believe It or Not! employee said that they started peeling off the stickers because they were worried about angry protestors destroying their property.
"We didn't want to have what happened to the old star here," the employee told the Hollywood Reporter.
A member of the service that cleans graffiti off the Walk of Fame said they found about 50 stars.

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Little girl screaming when her dolls head pops off makes for a great photo-op
Little girl screaming when her dolls head pops off makes for a great photo-op
Being a parent gives plenty to document.
In this case, Twitter user Emily Griffin(opens in a new tab) shared a photo she saw on Facebook of a doll head broken off of its body with a child screaming in the background.
Tweet may have been deleted (opens in a new tab)

When I first saw this I was disturbed, but the daughter seems old enough that it is kinda funny, right?
The internet loved this photo not only for its content, but also its composition.
Tweet may have been deleted (opens in a new tab)

A true artist indeed.
People also wanted to find the answer to the most pressing question:
Tweet may have been deleted (opens in a new tab)

I don't know why a parent would post this on Facebook, but the world is thankful they did.

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From Serena Williams to Amal Clooney, all the celebrities at Meghan and Harrys star-studded wedding
From Serena Williams to Amal Clooney, all the celebrities at Meghan and Harrys star-studded wedding
It was always going to be a wedding like no other. But, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's big day is shaping up to be a royal wedding like no other.
Notably absent from the usual guest lists are heads of states and politicians. In their stead, Meghan and Harry have chosen to send their invites to celebrity A-listers. Like, Oprah Winfrey, Serena Williams, Idris Elba, George and Amal Clooney, Elton John, David and Victoria Beckham and many more.
SEE ALSO: How guests will be expected to behave at Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's wedding

Here are some of the celebs who showed up for the happy couple's nuptials at St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle.
Serena Williams and Alexis Ohanian

Credit: Shaun Botterill/Getty Images

Amal and George Clooney

Credit: Chris Jackson/Getty Images

Oprah Winfrey

Credit: Ian West - WPA Pool/Getty Images

Victoria and David Beckham

Credit: Shaun Botterill/Getty Images

Elton John and David Furnish

Credit: Danny Lawson - WPA Pool/Getty Images

James Cordon

Credit: Shaun Botterill/Getty Images

Guest list made in heaven.

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Everything you need to know about wax play
Everything you need to know about wax play
The first time I ever attempted wax play was about six or seven years ago. I went about it all wrong, in a very teenage, expectedly naive sort of way. I had a random candle I’d found in the house — probably a Pumpkin Spice Yankee Candle — and I asked a partner in the middle of a different sex act if he’d ever wanted to try messing around with wax. He was an older guy, and I think I was trying to embody the same sexiness you’d see in random Tumblr gifs on your feed, but what I actually did was spring BDSM into the conversation when neither of us were expecting it. We didn’t end up doing it, which was probably for the best.
For those who don’t know, wax play is a type of kink activity in which hot wax, usually from a candle, is dripped or poured onto a partner. It falls under "temperature play" in the kink world, which is exactly what it sounds like: Using hot and/or cold objects or liquids to create fun sensations during sex. Back then, I thought I was a little weird to want to try wax play, but Derek Newton, founder of Simpatic.us(Opens in a new tab), a site that helps couples find their mutual sex interests, says differently. He tells Mashable: "Wax play remains consistently popular among couples and has strong connections to intimate power and control dynamics. It’s by no means uncommon or unusual." In fact, Simpactic.us(Opens in a new tab) shared that among the 10,000 couples using the site, 36 percent of couples want to give it a go.
SEE ALSO: How to perform cunnilingus like a pro

Wax play stimulates so many of our senses, elevating the pleasure we usually get from sex to new heights. The physical reaction to heat, liquid — and pain if you’re including it — grounds us and helps us stay present in sex. It also increases our sensitivity, giving us a lot more intensity as we touch one another. A hand brushing up against a thigh can feel like a thousand alarms going off in your brain (in a sexy way) when a bit of hot candle wax is involved. What’s more, putting all of that pleasure and control into someone else’s hands can be really, really sexy.
"Wax play stimulates so many of our senses, elevating the pleasure we usually get from sex to new heights."
And, if you needed another reason to think about wax play, or a new sexual act (whether it’s of the candle variety or something else entirely), doing it brings partners — long term and casual — closer together. Learning and experiencing something new with a partner is an intimate act in its own right. Mixing the joy of sex with candle wax is bound to turn up the heat.
Wax play isn’t something you want to happen spontaneously, trust me. When it comes to trying new kinks (or BDSM, and some people consider wax play to fall under that umbrella), preparation, communication, and consent is everything. Those are key components of all good sex, of course. But if you’re planning on literally dripping hot wax onto someone’s skin, it’s especially important! So, here’s everything you need to know about wax play, from how to get started talking about it to sourcing the right candles, preparing equipment and safety plans, and how to bring some fire to the bedroom (not literally).
How to talk to your partner about wax play
The first step to wax play is to initiate a conversation about it with your sexual partner. Don’t do what I did, and start it mid-sex!
Emerson Karsh, who has a degree in human sexuality and is known professionally as the Kink Educator(Opens in a new tab), says the best way to talk to a partner about a kink you’re interested in is by doing it away from the bedroom, a sexual setting, or anywhere where the kink activity might eventually happen. "This alleviates any pressure off the other partner,” she explains. “Other ways to bring up this conversation are by creating a more generalised, open dialogue to discuss interests and fantasies where you both can equally share."
For example, try asking your partner, "Hey, have you had many sexual fantasies?" or "Is there anything you’ve really wanted to try out in the bedroom?" That way, your partner can also bring up sexual ideas they’ve had on their mind, making for a more balanced (and sexy) discussion.
"Consent and aftercare are super important when trying wax play."
Karsh recommends bringing any relevant educational sources to your partner, so they don’t have to feel confused or intimidated about wax play, or like they’re relying on your information alone. You could give them a book on kink or send them an informative article that helps them explore and learn about wax play outside of your conversation.
So that everyone’s on the same page and feeling comfortable and confident, make sure you’re exchanging consent and keeping communication open at all times. "Consent and aftercare are super important when trying wax play," says Karsh. "Consent conversations should include boundaries, picking a safeword or safe system, and discussing risks." As for the risks, there's more about that below.
When it comes to aftercare, it’s important to do what makes each partner feel comforted after the kink activity. “For wax play, this could look like showering and getting all the wax off, drinking lots of water, eating snacks, putting an ointment on any burned areas, or cuddling,” she adds.
Is wax play safe?
Wax play does come with a degree of risk management; after all, you’re literally playing with fire. Emerson explains that in her career helping educate people about kinks, she tries to reframe the idea of "safe" into "risk aware."
"Nothing in life is 100 percent safe, so we do things where we are safety conscious and aware of any risks," she explains. "When it comes to wax play, the main risk is burning yourself, your partner, or your space."
One of the best ways to avoid this is by using kink specific candles that have a lower burning temperature, like this one from Maude(Opens in a new tab) or this one from Knude Society(Opens in a new tab). "A large safety consideration is to not drip wax on the face, in the ears, in open cuts, anywhere inside the body, or in hair, as wax removal in hair can be difficult and sometimes painful."
SEE ALSO: How to have sex using a strap-on

Other safety precautions to consider while exploring wax play: Keep a cold wet washcloth nearby, as well as a bucket of room-temperature water (very cold water can make burns worse by damaging tissue), a first aid kit including burn cream, and a fire extinguisher. All of these are “just in case” items. You shouldn’t let them scare you away from trying this kink you’re excited for, but they are vital to have around. Better risk aware than sorry!
The type of candles you’re using on each other are also really important.
Soy-based candles are best, as they have a low burning temperature. Soy is natural and tends to cause less irritation, and the wax cools quickly on contact. It’s best to get your wax play candles from a reputable sex toy company, since they’re made with wax play in mind. A lot of them are also massage candles (packed with essential oils, adding aroma to your play) which can be fun to incorporate in sex. "For those interested in wax play, but who don’t want to have a scene involving wax drippings," Karsh says, "I would recommend exploring massage candles, which are candles that create a hydrating, lotion-like wax to massage your partner with."
Some people like a bit of pain with their sex, though, and for those interested in wax that burns a bit hotter and stings, Karsh recommends paraffin candles. "Paraffin has a slightly higher burning temperature than soy,” she says.
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Whatever you do, stay away from beeswax, says Karsh: “The candle type you want to avoid is beeswax due to its high burning temperature.”
Trying wax play out
Before you go running off, lighter, bucket and candle in arms, Karsh suggests trying wax play out on yourself first, which can make a big difference to your comfort and confidence when doing it with a partner. “If you don’t know how it feels, how will you know how to play with it?”
Take it easy. Don’t rush. “The best way to start with any new kink activity is to go slow and to not do too much too quickly. If you’re interested in wax play, I suggest exploring it in smaller, shorter amounts of time before creating a whole scene surrounding it,” she says. Allow yourself to get comfortable with the activity and sensation before dedicating a significant amount of time in playing with it.
The great thing about wax play is that it's really easy to adjust to the pain level, temperature level, and amount of related anticipation. Dripping the candle on your thigh is a great way to get used to the sensation and handling of it. Then, experiment with height. As Karsh points out, the further away you drip the wax from, the colder it is when it hits the skin. The closer it is, the hotter it will be. Experiment on your own skin, dripping from different heights, to see what feels the best on you.
Try teasing yourself, too. Drip tiny amounts or wave the candle over yourself before actually dripping. It might actually be the anticipation of knowing the wax is about to hit your skin that brings you pleasure.
Karsh notes that some areas of the body are more sensitive (such as breasts and genitalia), which means close wax drippings there would be more painful. It’s important to work out on your own whether wax play in those areas are right for you.
If your partner fancies having wax dripped on them, too, ask them to work out their own fantasies in private. The more informed you both are about your bodies and preferences when it comes to candle wax, the better the experience will be.
Once you’re ready to engage in wax play together, bring what you’ve learned in your private sessions to the bedroom, telling your partner how high you want them to pour the wax from, how fast, and how much wax you want. Ask them to massage it in, if that’s what you're into. Check in with each other occasionally to make sure everyone’s having a great time, and have fun.
Fat flightless parrot left out of New Zealands Bird of the Year vote because its too popular
Fat flightless parrot left out of New Zealands Bird of the Year vote because its too popular
Voting for New Zealand's Bird of the Year(Opens in a new tab) opened this week, as conservation organisation Forest & Bird(Opens in a new tab) kicked off its annual quest to find Aotearoa(Opens in a new tab)'s favourite avian. However, this year there is a notable absence on the ballot. The country's beloved kākāpō has been barred from this year's competition, allegedly due to concerns the two-time winner will once again dominate his opponents.
"It’s a hiatus. It’s definitely not a lifetime ban," a Forest & Bird spokesperson Ellen Rykers said to The Guardian(Opens in a new tab) regarding the kākāpō's untimely exile. "You know, if the same bird keeps winning every year, that might make it not so interesting."
Perhaps most popularly known as Slack's party parrot and for mating with a British zoologist's head(Opens in a new tab), the kākāpō is a chonky, flightless green parrot that deserves a better world than we've given it. Predators introduced to New Zealand during British colonisation have hunted these native birds almost to extinction, with only 252 left alive today(Opens in a new tab).
Now even its candidacy for Bird of the Year has been taken from it.
Speaking to Mashable, Rykers said that Forest & Bird does still love the kākāpō, but wanted to give other birds their time to shine.
"At its core, Bird of the Year(Opens in a new tab) is a competition about celebrating and raising awareness for all of New Zealand’s amazing native bird species," said Rykers. "We want to keep the contest fresh and interesting every year, and share some of that kākāpō-green limelight with other species that have equally cool back stories, fascinating lifestyles, and good looks. We’d love voters to discover some of our hidden gems!"
"New Zealand is known as the land of birds – but sadly we’re also the land of endangered birds. More than 80% of New Zealand’s bird species are threatened with or at risk of extinction – and several are in just as much trouble as kākāpō."
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SEE ALSO: The only extensive voter fraud in 2020 was the New Zealand 'Bird of the Year' vote

In a bid to distract Bird of the Year voters from the missing kākāpō, Forest & Bird are attempting to draw attention to a collection of eligible "underbirds" (the feathered equivalent of underdogs). Underbird status was determined by various criteria, including "popularity in previous Bird of the Year competitions, media mentions and conservation status." Birds afforded this designation include the pied shag, red knot, and New Zealand dabchick.
"Aotearoa is home to so many fantastic birds, and we’d love for voters to check out the full suite of candidates — including the underbirds, who are often overlooked and underappreciated," said Forest & Bird chief executive Nicola Toki.
Forest & Bird have run the Bird of the Year competition since 2005, with the esteemed kākāpō taking the title in both 2008 and 2020. However, the organisation has historically played rather fast and loose with the competition's rules. Last year's Bird of the Year contest was won by New Zealand's long-tailed bat(Opens in a new tab), which you may note is not a bird at all. That didn't seem to bother a significant chunk of voters though.
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I understand and sympathise with Forest & Bird's decision to temporarily bar the kākāpō from competition to some degree. It can feel unfair to see famous birds consistently showered with attention while less popular feathered hopefuls are relegated to the sidelines.
Even so, a democracy that disqualifies a candidate purely because they previously received a high number of legitimate votes cannot be called a democracy at all. It is meant to allow the people to decide, and the people have already made their wishes clear.
Reinstate the kākāpō as a nominee for Bird of the Year. Let the people have their fat parrot.
UPDATE: Oct. 19, 2022, 12:16 p.m. AEDT This article has been updated with comment from Forest & Bird.
Star Wars same-sex kiss is a dispiriting reminder of how far we havent come
Star Wars same-sex kiss is a dispiriting reminder of how far we havent come
Light spoilers for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker ahead.
In what's become an annoyingly familiar pattern over the past several years, a blockbuster franchise has touted "LGBTQ representation" in an upcoming installment, only to deliver the barest minimum imaginable.
This time, the film in question is Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, and the exclusively gay moment is a kiss between two female Resistance fighters.
One of the characters is a speaking role — Commander D'Acy, played in TROS and The Last Jedi by Amanda Lawrence. The other is just some lady; if we've ever seen her before, I don't remember it. Their embrace plays out in the background and is over so quickly, you might have missed it if you reached for your popcorn at the wrong moment.
It's bullshit that this is the best Star Wars can do in 2019.
The timidity of this scene did not stop J.J. Abrams from talking it up to Variety(Opens in a new tab) weeks before TROS' release. In the same interview where he confirmed Finn and Poe would not be boyfriends, Abrams hinted at the possibility of other queer characters coming to Star Wars and stressed that he wanted the world of his film to reflect the real-world population.
“In the case of the LGBTQ community, it was important to me that people who go to see this movie feel that they’re being represented in the film,” he said at the time.
The tiny smooch in TROS echoes the unnamed gay support group attendee in Avengers: Endgame(Opens in a new tab), the two men making eye contact in Beauty and the Beast, the two dudes standing next to each other in Star Trek Beyond, the girlfriends who never even touch hands in Deadpool 2, the husbands with blink-and-you'll-miss-it wedding rings in Alien: Covenant, and the superheroine who didn't go out of her way to deny her "girlfriend troubles" in Power Rangers.
In each case, the amount of self-congratulation on display seemed wildly out of proportion with the content of the supposed LGBTQ representation itself. (And that's not even getting into characters whose sexualities were mentioned by their performers and writers offscreen but never acknowledged at all onscreen, like Valkyrie in Thor: Ragnarok and Lando in Solo: A Star Wars Story.)

Finn and Poe: Still not gay. Credit: Lucasfilm Ltd.

It's worth acknowledging that, yes, the lesbian couple in TROS is indeed a first for Star Wars. Yes, it's a step forward. Yes, it's better than nothing. Yes, it surely means something to someone. That does matter.
And yes, I'll even grant that it's an improvement on other examples of this trend — like Beauty and the Beast, which never actually confirms that Lefou is gay, just halfheartedly implies it.
But after a while, those yeses feel less like markers of progress than of the lack of it.
LGBTQ characters shouldn't have to be relegated to the sidelines of our culture's biggest, most beloved stories.
The relative insignificance of these particular characters is a reminder that more prominent characters like Poe and Finn can't be canonically gay because, as Oscar Isaac put it, "it's a time when people are too afraid." The briefness of the women's embrace reflects the studio's desire to keep even this meager bit of LGBTQ representation contained within a tiny box that they can throw out of the plane if the going gets too rough. Indeed, The Hollywood Reporter(Opens in a new tab) writes that that's exactly what Disney has done in Dubai, where the kiss was edited out altogether.
And the fact that it still "counts" as an historic first speaks poorly of this franchise and others like it. Even as explicitly queer films from Call Me By Your Name to Love, Simon have wowed critics and cleaned up at the box office, the decision-makers behind Hollywood's biggest blockbusters remain too timid to offer up more than a tiny peck between minor characters.
SEE ALSO: 'Avengers: Endgame' has the MCU's first canonically gay character

It may not be the end of the world that Star Wars won't make StormPilot canon, or Disney won't give Elsa a girlfriend, or Fantastic Beasts won't explore Dumbledore's sexuality, or what have you. There's no shortage of queer characters and queer stories to be found outside these gazillion-dollar properties in 2019; even major movie studios have proven willing to get on board with LGBTQ characters as long as they're not part of a $400 million action-adventure sequel.
But LGBTQ characters shouldn't have to be relegated to the sidelines of our culture's biggest, most beloved stories. It's bullshit that this is the best Star Wars can do in 2019, and even more bullshit that this is the second version of this story I've written this year, following Endgame. Make it so I don't find myself rehashing this story yet again in 2020 or 2021 or 2022, Hollywood, and then we'll talk.
Melania Trumps blood red Christmas decorations have given us the gift of memes
Melania Trumps blood red Christmas decorations have given us the gift of memes
Melania Trump and team attempted to "Be Best" this holiday season, but the White House Christmas decorations are still getting brutally mocked.
After the FLOTUS shared a minute-long video on Monday to show off the 2018 presidential "American Treasure" themed holiday decorations, Twitter users couldn't help but critique the, uh, unique ways the administration chose to deck the halls.
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SEE ALSO: Melania's White House Christmas decorations are up, and there are blood red trees

From the blood red trees straight out of The Shining, to the variety of confusing crafts that displayed the first lady's "Be Best" slogan, the White House decorations got straight up trolled.
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Here's a closer look at some of the other decorations featured throughout the White House — including pencil wreaths and a golden replica of the New York city skyline — so at least you know they're not all concerning or blood-colored.
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At least the Trump's didn't decide on an extra dark Game of Thrones theme.

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