Latest news with #Dr.Seuss
Boston Globe
17 hours ago
- General
- Boston Globe
Tear it down, they said. He just kept building.
Advertisement From the ninth floor, he surveyed the sturdy, standardized apartment buildings in the distance where his neighbors live. 'They say the house is shabby, that it could be blown down by wind at any time,' he said — an observation that did not seem altogether far-fetched when I visited him last month. 'But the advantage is that it's conspicuous, a bit eye-catching. People admire it,' he added. 'Other people spend millions, and no one goes to look at their houses.' Chen's house is so unusual that it has lured gawkers and even tourists to his rural corner of Guizhou province, in southwestern China. It evokes a Dr. Seuss drawing, or the Burrow in 'Harry Potter.' Many people on Chinese social media have compared it to 'Howl's Moving Castle.' Advertisement To the casual observer, the house may be a mere spectacle, a Frankensteinian oddity. To Chen, it is a monument to his determination to live where — and how — he wants, in defiance of the local government, gossiping neighbors and seemingly even common sense. He began modifying his family home in 2018, when the authorities in the city of Xingyi ordered his village demolished to make way for a resort they planned to build. Chen's parents, farmers who had built the house in the 1980s, thought that the money that officials were offering as compensation for the move was too low and refused to leave. When bulldozers began razing their pomegranate trees anyway, Chen rushed home from Hangzhou, the eastern city where he had been working as a package courier. Along with his brother, Chen Tianliang, he started adding a third floor. At first, the motivation was in part practical: Compensation payment was determined by square footage, and if the house had more floors, they would be entitled to more money. They visited a secondhand building materials market and bought old utility poles and red composite boards — cheaper than the black ones — and hammered, screwed and notched them together into floorboards, walls and supporting columns. Then, Chen, who had long had an amateur interest in architecture, wondered what it would be like to add a fourth floor. His brother and parents thought there was no need, so Chen did it alone. Then, he wondered about a fifth. And a sixth. 'I just suddenly wanted to challenge myself,' he said. 'And every time I completed my own small task or dream, it felt meaningful.' Advertisement He was also fueled by resentment toward the government, which kept serving him with demolition orders and sending officials to pressure his family. By that point, their house was virtually the only one left in the vicinity; his neighbors had all moved into the new apartment buildings about 3 miles away. (Local officials have maintained to Chinese media that the building is illegal.) Mass expropriations of land, at times by force, have been a widespread phenomenon in China for decades amid the country's modernization push. The homes of those who do manage to hold out are sometimes called 'nail houses,' for how they protrude like nails after the area around them has been cleared. Still, few stick out quite like Chen's. A former mathematics major who dropped out of university because he felt that higher education was pointless, Chen spent years bouncing between cities, working as a calligraphy salesperson, insurance agent and courier. But he yearned for a more pastoral lifestyle, he said. When he returned to the village in 2018 to help his parents fend off the developers, he decided to stay. 'I don't want my home to become a city. I feel like a guardian of the village,' he said, over noodles with homegrown vegetables that his mother had stir-fried on their traditional brick stove. In recent years, the threat of demolition has become less immediate. Chen filed a lawsuit against the local government and the developers, which is still pending. In any case, the proposed resort project stalled after the local government ran out of money. (Guizhou, one of China's poorest and most indebted provinces, is littered with extravagant, unfinished tourism projects.) Advertisement But Chen has continued building. The house is now a constantly evolving display of his interests and hobbies. On the first floor, Chen hung calligraphy from artists he befriended in Hangzhou. On the fifth, he keeps a pile of faded books, mostly about history, philosophy and psychology. The sixth floor has potted plants and a plank of wood suspended from the ceiling with ropes, like a swing, to hold a mortar and pestle and a teakettle. On the eighth, a gift from an art student who once visited him: a lamp, with the shade made of tiny photographs of his house from different angles. With each floor that he added, he moved his bedroom up, too: 'That's what makes it fun.' (His parents and brother sleep on the ground floor and rarely make the vertiginous ascent.) Each morning, he inspects the house from top to bottom. To reinforce the fourth and fifth floors, he hauled wooden columns up through the windows with pulleys. He added the buckets of water throughout the house after a storm blew out a fifth-floor wall. Eventually, he tore down most of the walls on the lower floors, so that wind could pass straight through the structure. 'There's a law of increasing entropy,' Chen said. 'This house, if I didn't care for it, would naturally collapse in two years at most.' He added, 'But as long as I'm still standing, it will be too.' Maintenance costs more time than money, he said. He estimated that he had spent a little more than $20,000 on building materials. He has also spent about $4,000 on lawyers. His family has been, if not enthusiastic about, at least resigned to Chen's whims. His parents are accustomed to curious visitors, at least a few every weekend. His brother came up with the idea of illuminating the house at night with lanterns. They have all united against their fellow villagers, who they say accuse them of being nuisances, or greedy. Advertisement 'Now we just don't go over there,' said Tianliang, Chen's brother. 'There's no need to listen to what they say about us.' In town, some residents said exactly what the Chens predicted they would: that the house would collapse any day; that they were troublemakers. (The local government erected a sign near the house warning of safety hazards.) But others expressed admiration for Chen's creativity. Zhu Zhiyuan, an employee at a local supermarket, said he had been drawn in when passing by on his scooter and had ventured closer for a better look. Still, he had not dared get too close. 'There are people who say it's illegal,' he said. Then he added, 'But if they tore it down, that would be a bit of a shame.' This article originally appeared in
IOL News
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- IOL News
Explore exciting new children's books and games this holiday season
This is the sequel to "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" by Dr. Seuss Image: Loot Description: How The Grinch Lost Christmas - Dr. Seuss A sequel to the timeless classic How the Grinch Stole Christmas! featuring all your favourite characters. Price: R375 Visit: Walk further into the deep dark wood, and discover what happens when a quick-witted mouse comes face to face with an owl, a snake . . . and a hungry Gruffalo! Image: Loot Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Ad loading Description: The Gruffalo - Julia Donaldson Walk further into the deep dark wood, and discover what happens when a quick-witted mouse comes face to face with an owl, a snake . . . and a hungry Gruffalo! This editionfeatures the classic story with a stunning redesigned cover and beautiful finish, making it amust-have addition to the bookshelves of all Donaldson and Scheffler fans – big and small. Price: R185 Visit: Trio is a card game in which players are looking for three of a kind. Image: Loot Description: TRIO Trio is a card game in which players are looking for three of a kind. The deck consists of 36 cards, numbered 1-12 three times. Players receive some cards in hand, which they are required to sort from low to high, and the remaining cards are placed face down on the table. Price: R210 Visit: Encourage a love of storytelling while you construct beautiful towers fit for a princess! Image: Loot Description: Mega Bloks Big Building Bag (60 Pieces) Accented with bright yellow and lavender, these big blocks are perfect for creating colourful castles for whimsical adventures. Encourage a love of storytelling while you construct beautiful towers fit for a princess! Price: R489 Visit:
GMA Network
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- GMA Network
Ariana Grande to star in Jon M. Chu's new movie
Ariana Grande is set to work with 'Wicked' director Jon M. Chu again! Warner Brothers on Instagram announced that Ariana and "Frozen" star Josh Gad are starring in the animated adaptation of Dr. Seuss's 'Oh, the Places You'll Go!' It will be directed by Chu and Jill Culton, and will feature original songs by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, the songwriters behind 'The Greatest Showman,' 'La La Land,' 'Dear Evan Hansen,' and more. Ariana teased the film with a studio picture with Josh as they held up their scripts. 'Oh, the Places You'll Go!' is a children's picture book by Dr. Seuss. It follows the protagonist, or the reader, who travels to several places and is inspired to discover new things. Ariana is best known for playing Glinda in 'Wicked,' for which she was nominated for the Best Supporting Actress Oscar. Meanwhile, Josh is best known for voicing Olaf in 'Frozen' and playing LeFou in the live-action 'Beauty and the Beast.' —Nika Roque/JCB, GMA Integrated News
Newsweek
04-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Newsweek
Dad Tests Parenting Tip From Internet 14 Years Ago, Results Blow Him Away
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. A dad is going viral after sharing a simple parenting tip he "stole," which made his daughter cry 14 years later. In a post on Reddit, u/MYSTERees77 said he had read a comment on the discussion platform how they had received a book called Oh, the Places You'll Go! by Dr. Seuss at their high school graduation. The original poster, who did not share any of the names in his family, loved the idea and started the tradition behind the scenes with his then-4-year-old daughter. Stock photo: A woman smiles at her graduation outdoors. Stock photo: A woman smiles at her graduation outdoors. PeopleImages This week, as his daughter graduated high school at the top of her class, decorated with awards, her parents finally presented her with the book—now filled with handwritten messages from every one of her teachers from kindergarten through 12th grade. "At first, [she] thought it was just the book, with the first two pages being recently written notes by her mother and I," the father told Newsweek. "It wasn't until the third page or so that she realized it wasn't just recent teachers, but all her teachers that she started to cry," the dad said. "Then she started laughing when reading some of her favorite teachers' comments." The father said that they had a couple of close calls when it came to keeping the book a secret. "We were lucky that some of their friends had parents who were teachers in the school," he said. "They also went to small public schools where the teachers were all very involved, so getting in touch with their teachers has always been easy. My wife would put it in a manilla envelope and send it to the office." The book even traveled across the world with the family, as the children spent a year living abroad in Austria. "Their teachers in Austria, although they only knew them for a year, had a great sense of the kind of kids they were," the father said. Reflecting on the past 14 years, he added that it made him realize how fast time goes, especially as a parent. "It seemed like only a couple of years ago that I saw a post on Reddit, you blink and they're grown," the dad said. "But, for my daughter's journey, it's been her whole life. And you can see that spunky, delightful, smart little girl with a bob at 4 being the same core person throughout, minus the bob." To those inspired to start the tradition themselves, the father advised parents to start early and be organized. "Inform their teacher at the beginning of the year when you first meet them," he said. "And, most importantly, talk to your kids' teachers!"
Time of India
01-07-2025
- Time of India
NCB busts major LSD darknet vendor, seizes over 1,100 ‘stamps'
New Delhi: The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) busted a major darknet-based drug syndicate named Ketamelon, which supplied drugs to distributors and end users across the country. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now The syndicate shipped LSD to major cities, delivering 600 shipments in 14 months, the probe revealed. The suspects revealed that they sourced the drugs from a UK-based vendor, 'Gunga Din', a known re-shipper of the globally infamous Dr. Seuss (aka DS or Tribe Seuss), believed to be the largest LSD source in the world. The operation resulted in the seizure of 1,127 LSD blots and 131.66 grams of Ketamine, with an estimated value of Rs 35 lakhs. Additionally, digital assets worth Rs 70 lakhs were seized, including USDT cryptocurrency. Two suspects were taken into custody, and further investigation is in progress," said a senior officer. Ketamelon, the NCB said, was India's only Level-4 darknet vendor, operating actively over the past two years, deriving its name from the vendor's early involvement in Ketamine smuggling. Ketamelon established a widespread network, shipping LSD to Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai, Bhopal, and Patna, besides Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. T Tired of too many ads? go ad free now he investigation began after intercepting 280 LSD blots from three postal parcels on June 28, 2025. Further probe led to the seizure of 847 more LSD blots and 131.66 grams of Ketamine. Additionally, incriminating materials were recovered, including a pen drive containing a bootable 'Kites' operating system used to access darknet markets, cryptocurrency wallets, and hard disks with incriminating documents. LSD (lysergic diethylamide acid) is the most powerful hallucinogenic drug available. They mostly come as 'stamps', and a sheet of LSD has around 100 of them that people lick or swallow. It is also available in the form of drops and consumed after being poured on sugar cubes. Each LSD stamp or drop is priced at Rs 3,500-5,000, depending upon quality and potency, which is measured in micrograms. The most powerful LSD sold to date has been 1,200 micrograms. An LSD or acid 'trip' is described as a psychedelic experience that alters the state of consciousness, causing significant changes to a person's thoughts and feelings. The experience lasts anywhere between 8 and 12 hours. "LSD alters the sense of space, distance, and time. People say they 'hear' colours or 'see' sounds and have strange feelings and strong emotions," said a source. Earlier in 2023, NCB busted the then biggest darknet-based LSD cartel named "Zambada", seizing 29,013 blots of LSD, 472 grams of MDMA, and Rs 51.38 lakh cash, and arrested 14 persons, out of which the main kingpins are under judicial custody. The Zambada cartel was the only cartel in the country with a 5-star rating most of the time in India, operating from Delhi NCR. Dr. Seuss, aka DS and TS (Tribe Seuss), coordinated with the kingpin of the Zambada cartel with plans to open outlets in India. The cartels on the darknet are rated on a scale of 1 star to 5 stars based on the potency of the drug sold and their customer service.
