When we hear that someone performed at a sold-out concert at Carnegie Hall, we generally understand that to mean the person has talent. Carnegie Hall has long been seen as the epitome of "making it" in the New York music world, but one woman's story of selling out Carnegie Hall turns that entire idea on its head. Florence Foster Jenkins was a terrible singer. She sang off key, her voice was shrill, and she was considered the "world's worst singer." And yet, she sold out concerts repeatedly in the early 1940s. A self-professed coloratura soprano, Jenkins sang famous opera pieces and even made recordings of some of them (which you can find on Spotify), and her singing is objectively terrible. So how did she get to where she was if she sang so poorly? According to the story told by music teacher David Hartley, it was essentially a combination of being a New York musical socialite and simply embracing the fact that people were entertained by her bad singing. - YouTube www.youtube.com Jenkins grew up in a wealthy family and was a piano prodigy as a child, even performing at the White House for President Rutherford B. Hayes. She wanted to study in Europe, but here parents wouldn't let her. So, she ran away at 14 and married 30-year-old Francis Thornton Jenkins. Her father cut her off, she contracted syphilis, her marriage didn't last, and she ended up living in Philadelphia an all but destitute single woman. She taught piano to make ends meet, but an arm injury in her late 20s ended any dreams she had of becoming a concert pianist. So she turned to singing instead—except she couldn't sing.She moved to New York with her mother, who supported her musical ambitions, and began taking singing lessons. When her father died, she and her mother inherited a significant amount of wealth, giving her financial security. She joined women's clubs and music clubs and soon became a respected member of the musical elite in Manhattan, organizing concerts and other musical events. She founded a musical club herself that nurtured other musical artists and became a much respected musical director. Florence Foster Jenkins performed to a sold-out audience at Carnegie Hall on October 25, 1944.Public domainPeople in her circle who knew she was taking singing lessons began asking her to perform at her club. She obliged, which led to a combination of loyal members praising her and pretty much everyone quietly laughing at her. The more she performed, the more members would bring guests just to hear the "worst singer in the world." Word spread, and so did Jenkins' popularity. The recordings she made in the early 1940s began circulating around the city, confirming that the rumors about her terrible voice were true. So what did she do? She put together a concert at Carnegie Hall, the most prestigious venue in New York. Tickets sold out in just two hours. A thousand people who couldn't get tickets were turned away at the door. Carnegie Hall's main auditorium seats nearly 3,000 people.Diplocult/Wikimedia Commons She put on a dramatic performance with spectacular costumes, dancing, and of course her tone-deaf singing. The review in the New York Sun wrote, "Much of her singing was hopelessly lacking in any semblance of pitch. But the further a note was from its proper elevation, the more the audience laughed and applauded." The question is, did she know she was that bad? "There's no way she could not have known," acclaimed voice teacher Bill Schuman told NPR. "No one is that unaware, especially a person who has developed so much of her time and resources to helping young, really good singers." Schuman himself had been trained by a singer Jenkins had supported, and that teacher had told him that Jenkins was in on the joke. "She loved the audience reaction and she loved singing," he said. "But she knew."Others aren't so sure about that, but does it really matter? Clearly, Jenkins was happy about singing for an audience, whatever the reason they came to hear her. In fact, the quote attributed to her sums up her motto we can all take to heart: “People may say that I can’t sing, but no one can ever say that I didn’t sing.” - YouTube www.youtube.com Jenkins had a heart attack just five days after the Carnegie Hall performance and died the following month. But at least she fulfilled her lifelong dream of musical renown in perhaps the strangest way possible. She also became the subject of a 2016 film starring Meryl Streep, so clearly her voice struck a chord throughout history—even if it was an off-key one.

Listen: adulting is hard, especially when you were born into a world that already had smartphones and Google while relics of the past still hang around like analog boobytraps. It is not your fault if you don't know who Dewey is or why he has a decimal system; you simply reserve the book ahead of time online or listen to the audiobook like a person born in the 2st Century. But those analog traps left by those of us who lived through the late 1900s are around every corner, waiting for an unsuspecting Gen Zer to encounter them. Antonia Lopez, a 25-year-old Army soldier, found herself staring down one of these old school relics while getting gas recently. The soldier should've suspected she was about to be transported to the 1900s when the pump didn't have Apple Pay.Instead of using a card at the pump, she had to walk into the gas station and interact with other humans to prepay. Many of us, no matter the generation, would risk running out of gas trying to get to the nearest gas station that allowed pay at the pump just to avoid talking to the cashier. Clearly, Lopez was already doing hard things, so a vintage gas pump should've been easy. Empty gas station under a clear sky.Photo credit: CanvaIt wasn't. She was struggling to figure out how to get the gas to come out of the nozzle, so she did what any Gen Zer would do and whipped out her phone to document it. Lopez uploaded the video to her socials, where it has started going viral. When the video starts, Lopez is dressed in her Army uniform, staring at the gas pump in a puzzled way."Please tell me I'm not stupid. I'm trying to pump gas, but the gas..." she trails off as she turns the phone around to show the gas pump. "Like this is not a button. Do you know what I mean? Like, I'm trying to...hello?" She says as she's aggressively pushing the yellow sticker on the gas pump that identifies the unleaded gas with a percentage of ethanol added. Fueling up for the day's journey ahead.Photo credit: CanvaObviously, she was not having luck trying to use the sticker like a touch screen. Lopez then moves on to attempt to press where the pump indicates up is for on and down is for off. After having no luck pushing everything that could be a button, she reads the directions out loud several times while looking over the gas pump. Eventually, she gives up and goes to ask the attendant, who also sounds young. The attendant confirms that she has already prepaid for $25 before adding, "These things were built like when Reagan was in office." He then demonstrates flipping the lever that the gas nozzle rests on up and down. According to the gas attendant, he sees people struggle with the pump all the time. @retiredhotcheetogirly I was thoroughly confused ?#oldgaspump #genz ♬ original sound - retiredhotcheetogirly The amusing generational fight with the Reagan Era gas pump had people laughing and yelling at their phones, trying to send the soldier instructions. One person laughs, "I was SCREAMING, flip the handle up!!!!! Too funny."Another writes, "I honestly felt for her; nobody likes being in a situation like that. But this did really make me smile. Him saying it was made when Reagan was in office made me snort. What really makes me feel old is that I remember when those were new, back when the numbers physically flipped over as you pumped; all analog, nothing digital." Hiding a smile behind her hand.Photo credit: CanvaSomeone else admits that these pumps are no longer common: "I was literally yelling to flip the holder. I haven’t seen pumps like that in a long time."Overall, most people were very compassionate, even though they found it amusing. One person reminded her that people learn new things all the time, writing, "You learned something new, that’s always a good thing. Congrats. Don’t let anyone else tell you otherwise. There are people who think they were born knowing everything, forgetting they all had to learn it the first time."Everyone has to learn something new at some point. The older generations poking fun have likely had to ask someone younger to teach them a technology they don't understand. Learning something new on your own or from others is something to be celebrated, and thanks to Lopez sharing her experience online, she just taught others how to work the same kind of gas pump. The more you know!

Buckle up, because this story is about to take you on an outrageous, bonkers, and absolutely adorable ride. Dae'lan Scott, a resident of a neighborhood in west Detroit, was just minding his own business when a very energetic goat began chasing him. He screamed a high-pitch squeal, which many commenters have described as the "screams of a lady," while seeking higher ground atop the roof of a car.And the whole thing was caught on video surveillance camera. Reporter Jessica Dupnack shares the coverage on the Fox 2 Detroit Instagram page with the comment, "Pet goat runs loose in Detroit, forcing a 20-year-old man to leap onto his car for safety, in a now-viral video." See on Instagram What happened was this: Dae'lan Scott spotted the goat, whose name we now know is Smokey (AKA Smoke), and believed it was charging at him. When Dupnack mentioned to him that a "lot of people thought it was a woman screaming," he laughed and said, "It scared the female out of me. Know what I'm saying?"She reports that Dae'lan and his brother "Jupiter Star" (noting that's not his real name) were both pretty freaked out by the incident. Jupiter points out that he stayed safe while keeping an eye out. "Just looked through the window making sure he was okay." Then he adds a real West Side Story element, "And my mom running outside with a knife. But she's so scared of animals."Dupnack shares, "With mom's help, Dae'lan made it inside their west side Detroit home." And when Jupiter is asked what he thought was going on with Smokey he theorizes, "The goat trying to hump us!" herd of goats just hanging out. Photo by chris robert on Unsplash But the story is far from over. Just down the street is a vegetarian café called The Psychedelic Healing Shack (because of course it is). Owner Robert Pizzimenti, AKA Dr. Bob, shares, "I kinda look like a goat. But you know, they're just gentle creatures. And they're biblical. And they're very healing." The Fox reporter adds "The 'doc' took in Smokey and Perfect and Angel." Of them, he says, "If it were up to me, they might be in the house, but my wife's not going for that."Now the story does have Detroit on high alert regarding the proper paperwork to own goats or other "wild" animals, and Pizzimenti is reportedly working on obtaining the permits. But here's, quite possibly, the best part of the whole ordeal: The brothers, Dae'lan and "Jupiter," are now buddies with the goats. Dae'lan tells the outlet, "Smokey, here, is a neighborhood favorite" as he pets the silly, wild-eyed, precious little goat. See on Instagram The comments are equally as hilarious and heartwarming. One Instagrammer writes, "Smokey is doing his best to look non-threatening and FAILING spectacularly." Another adds, "Omg the screaming, the mom, the knife, the old hippie. It’s all great!" And quite possibly the most perfect comment ever: "Mom brought a knife to a goat fight!"According to a website dedicated to all things "goat," (aptly called Goat Journal), writer and animal welfare advocate Tamsin Cooper highly stresses that, like most beings, goats have individualized personalities. "Anyone who has spent time with a goat herd will notice the different individual personalities of herd members. We may characterize our goats as shy, nervous, curious, affectionate, or aggressive, for example. Some show more or fewer of each trait than others."In the case of Smokey, it seems like he was just curious as to what Dae'lan was all about. Looks like the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

Soothing his musical being. The post The tour that helped Chris Cornell heal his soul: “It’s facing the reality” first appeared on Far Out Magazine.

The two sparked rumors by unfollowing each other on Instagram.

by A Midwestern Doctor, Lew Rockwell: How vaccines became the holy water of Western civilization As more and more people are awakening to the dangers of vaccines, they are gradually discovering a problem vaccine safety advocates have had to deal with for decades—talking to vaccine zealots is like speaking to a brick wall and regardless […]

by Caitlin Johnstone, Caitlin Johnstone: Just as things cool down a bit in the middle east, the US has relocated the USS Gerald Ford from the Mediterranean Sea to the Caribbean while the Trump administration discusses plans to bomb Venezuela. The violence of the empire remains constant. Peace is never the goal. You get happy they’re pulling the […]

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