Happy Friday! Annie Reneau introduces us to an otter whose idea of a catch-up involves a kayak and cuddles. Then we tour a New York apartment with a price that sounds like a typo, investigate what John Krasinski has done to TV commercials, and head to a Roman piazza where two dancers have the right idea about enjoying an evening.
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Man who raised and released an orphaned otter films her swimming to his kayak for cuddles | ||
Leya’s bond with her human rescuer is so beautiful. | ||
By Annie Reneau | ||
When Mats Janzon found Leya, she was just a tiny baby curled up alone in the grass near his home in Sweden. Janzon was out on a quiet walk in the woods when he heard a soft peeping sound and saw it was a baby otter. He kept his distance for several hours, hoping her mother would return. When no one came, he searched the area and found that her mother had been killed on a major road nearby. Leya appeared to be starving and barely breathing, and he knew she wouldn’t make it without help. | ||
Janzon had volunteered with animal rescues while working as a pilot in Cyprus, but after moving back to Sweden several years ago, he felt a pull to leave his job and spend more time in nature. “This shift led me to focus on helping wildlife,” Janzon tells Upworthy. “I’ve cared for various animals, mostly birds, that seemed to find me. Huginn, a crow I rescued, stayed with me for three years before he was ready to join his own flock in the wild.” | ||
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A woman ruffled some feathers with a tour of her $650 NYC micro apartment. | ||
Woman gives tour of her $650 New York micro apartment and people were unprepared | ||
Could you live in this apartment? | ||
By Evan Porter | ||
They say New York City is the City of Dreams. Young people all over the world flock to the city when they’re ready to start chasing after their biggest ambitions. If you have a passion for theater, television, or the arts, there’s no better place to be. Want to become a successful and prestigious stock broker, lawyer, or investment banker? It’s all New York, baby. It’s a city of immense opportunity and tough competition, but that’s what makes it full of life and culture for those who choose to live there. | ||
But all of that doesn’t come cheap. The average rent in New York for even just a small, studio apartment is now over $4,000 per month. That buys you less than 500 square feet. And, even though it seems like you’re really pinching pennies by living somewhere so cramped, that price tag is enormous! Even if you account for the higher-than-average salaries in New York. | ||
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It’s year 10 for me
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A voiceover artist says John Krasinski helped define the literal "voice" of a generation. | ||
Voice actor says John Krasinski is single-handedly responsible for changing how every TV commercial sounds | ||
The ‘Millennial Voice’ redefined TV voiceovers for a generation. | ||
By Evan Porter | ||
It turns out “the voice of a generation” isn’t just a metaphor. Different generations have different ways of speaking, and nowhere is it more obvious than in our television, commercials, and other pop culture. | ||
Even more interestingly, the way people talk in these cultural artifacts sometimes says more about culture in general than the way real people actually speak. For example, the classic “old-timey” accent you hear in films and radio from the early to mid-1900s, called Good American Speech or the Transatlantic accent, wasn’t exactly a reflection of how real people talked. It was adopted by actors to sound more refined and elite, but it’s how many of us often remember the period sounding. | ||
So, too, do modern Millennials have their own distinct voice. And one voice artist says it’s all Jim Halpert’s fault. | ||
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An Upworthiest Quiz
What did America's first authorized TV commercial advertise?
Yesterday’s Results
In yesterday's issue, we shared a Japanese exchange student's charming observations about American life.
And we asked: In which month does the Japanese school year typically begin? 35.2% of you knew it was April. Spring means more than cherry blossoms in Japan.
January (46.6%)
April (35.2%) 🏆
September (7.5%)
November (10.7%)
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An old man and woman dance to pop music in a Roman piazza, not a tip jar in sight | ||
There’s something beautiful about watching seniors do a choreographed dance to Michael Jackson just for the joy of it. | ||
By Annie Reneau | ||
In a piazza in Rome on a lovely summer evening, an elderly duo set up a speaker and pressed “play.” The familiar beat and guitar intro of Michael Jackson‘s “Beat It” filled the air, and the man and woman began to dance. | ||
They didn’t dance randomly, but in unison with simple choreographed dance moves. No camera set up. No tip jar. Just two older Italians enjoying their evening in the piazza and bringing joy to themselves and others. | ||
The Tour Guy, a tour operator headquartered in Rome with tours across Europe, shared the delightful dance clip on Instagram, where it had been viewed more than five million times. | ||
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