Welcome to the Bright Side, a weekly roundup of all the good news and ideas you might have missed from the past week.
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Okay, we’re officially up to here with ranch dressing, but after surviving the longest tournament in the history of sports — and the popularization of “hydration break” aesthetic — the World Cup final is happening on Sunday. If you haven’t watched this season of America Doing Fútbol, Spain v. Argentina will be a great game to play in the background while you’re scrolling your socials. (More below for the girlies who just realized how hard soccer stars are hotmaxxing sports.)
Just mix enough margs to get through the Super Bowl-style halftime show featuring Madonna, K-Pop’s BTS, Justin Bieber, and Shakira, who wouldn’t let an international sporting event pass her by if it kicked her in the shins and got a yellow card.
Tom Cruise will also have something to do with the festivities, along with Jennifer Hudson handling the U.S. National Anthem (this is all going down at the place temporarily not-known as New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium, after all). Even if you don’t love soccer, cheering for sports is good for your health, providing an instant sense of community and belonging, and a serious chance of chips and guacamole.
The kids are owl-right
Many innocent youth may be permanently affixed to Roblox, but others are taking their phones outside for their favorite rizz: birding. Yep! Checkin’ up on birds in nature isn’t just for your retired gammy anymore.
It may have risen out of pandemic times, but new tech brings birding to life like never before. The first time I walked around Hollywood recording with Merlin Bird ID, I tracked over 20 bird species (I assumed there were maybe two) including ducks, parakeets, hummingbirds, and hawks. After immediately sharing my bird list with everyone I know, I suddenly had no shame about appropriating the leisure activities of the elder set. Being able to name the bird you’re watching pop-off in a tree is great.
@diabetic4one Bird call request’s part 2! Keep sending your request, Samuel loves to do them #fyp #nature #birds @Bird Collective Shop ♬ original sound – Lori, Samuel’s mom
But I would love to know how bird-listening apps respond to one unique human talent. Twelve-year-old Samuel Henderson from Oklahoma City went viral after performing his spot-on bird calls for his classmates. Now, he’s everywhere. “I’ve always wanted to share my bird calls with the world,” Sam said. Show me an American crow that does a more realistic “caw” than Sam’s, and we’ll talk.
Snakes, but make it fashion
I’ll be on the lookout for PETA, but one fashion designer is turning the Sunshine State’s wildest invasion into sustainable style. We can’t all be as elegant as Kate Middleton at Wimbledon, but we can realistically don the Florida gal fashion that (ahem) “repurposes” invasive Burmese pythons.
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Spotting a niche market for recently departed 20-foot, 200-pound snakes, New York City fashion school grad Elle Barbeito boats into the Florida Everglades to hunt down her muse. She then preserves and dries the python skins in her backyard, south of Miami. Letting nothing go to waste, she flips her snake leather into boot straps, bustiers, handbags, jackets, and belts.
But she’s not the only one cashing in on Florida’s Python Challenge, running July 10 to 19, where whoever catches the most snakes gets $10,000. One “swampreneur” is even accepting captured pythons as fair trade for free pizza. (He also uses the fat for soaps and lotions, the bones for jewelry, and the skin as pepperoni — upon request.) It’s unclear whether the competition will solve Florida’s South Asian snake infestation, which arose from exotic reptile trading that nearly obliterated the rabbit and raccoon population of the Everglades. But we’ll take a plain cheese to go, easy on the “special” sauce. I think I have exact change in my python clutch.
Soccer’s greatest bromance
Sometimes you just need a gateway into a sport to appreciate it. For example, I just discovered that baseball involves dancing and singing per the Savannah Bananas performance opening the ESPY Awards on Wednesday. Five, six, seven, and — Take me out to the ball gaaaaaame …
Norway and England have officially lost hope in making it to the World Cup final this year, but what they haven’t given up on is love. Between the handsomely talented Jude Bellingham (England #10) and the iconic Erling Haaland (Norway #9), it’s clear the chemistry between teammates (and fans) knows no bounds.
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For the record, both stars are dating models (please see: Jude and Ashlyn, Erling and Isabel). Proving that two guys from different teams can forge a platonic friendship in elite sports, Bellingham and Haaland have no chance at the FIFA trophy, but at least they have each other.
“Welcome to Jurassic Park”
If you were around to witness the jaw-dropping dinosaur reveal in 1993’s original “Jurassic Park,” you probably felt a little tug on the ol’ heartstrings when news broke that Sam Neill, who played paleontologist Dr. Alan Grant, died on July 13.
I re-watched the first installment a few years ago at the Hollywood Bowl with live orchestra accompaniment, and I broke into tears at the first sweeping lines of the orchestral theme. I also wondered if young kids could appreciate ’90s-era special effects and slower pacing. I stand by this: Nothing beats the O.G.
When the world seems close to pear shaped,
When leaders fill you with despair
When things look dark and dreary
And love seems far too rare –
CUDDLE A DUCK
[ It works …] pic.twitter.com/S3YP5E5eob— Sam Neill (@TwoPaddocks) December 30, 2019
More recently, Sam used to drive around his New Zealand farm and share short clips of his life with fans. The one where he cuddled his “gorgeous” duck named Charlie is particularly soothing to watch. His poem feels appropriate:
When the world seems close to pear shaped, When leaders fill you with despair, When things look dark and dreary, And love seems far too rare — CUDDLE A DUCK [ It works …]
I can’t help but think of Jeff Goldblum’s iconic line in the movie: “Life, uh, finds a way.”
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If you’re watching the World Cup, just making guacamole, or trying to get a duck to come closer by practicing your bird calls, tell us about it in the comments — or send me an email! I get a kick out of hearing all about whatever’s brightening your day. And I know someone else will, too. See you next week! — Lauren
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