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☆ Lego is reinventing its iconic brick sets and keeping the toy industry afloat
▼ + stars: | 2024-12-23 | by ( Sarah Whitten | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

At a time when toy companies are struggling to match the massive gains of pandemic-era sales, Lego is growing rapidly. "When you look at toy sales, Lego has just been driving all the growth in the industry this year," said Eric Handler, managing director at Roth MKM. LegoLego's first licensed partnership was in 1999 when it linked up with Lucasfilm to bring Star Wars sets to the public. Being relevant to them and in spaces that they already occupy has translated back to sales of physical Lego kits. Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga game allows players to relive the epic narrative of the Skywalker Saga told through the lens of hilarious Lego humor.

Persons: it's, Eric Handler, Roth MKM, Harry Potter, James Zahn, Zahn, " Zahn, Jenna Ortega, they've, Sanderson, Julia Goldin, Vincent van Gogh's, Leonardo da Vinci's, Mona Lisa, Goldin, James Manning, Fortnite, Niels Christiansen, Pharrell Williams Organizations: Bloomberg, Getty, Star, Lucasfilm, Rings, Marvel, Pixar, Lego, McLaren, Star Wars, Games, Disney, Warner Bros Locations: London, Danish, Emerald City, New York, Hollywood, Tinsel

☆ Magdeburg: Anti-immigrant anger rises at scene of German market attack
▼ + stars: | 2024-12-22 | by ( Matthew Chance | Benjamin Brown | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Magdeburg, Germany CNN —Its glühwein stalls, festooned with Christmas lights and tinsel, stand emptied and shuttered. The horrific car-ramming attack on this Christmas market on Friday night left at least five people dead, including a 9-year-old boy, plunging this provincial German city into shock. Security and rescue workers at the site of a Berlin Christmas market targeted in an attack in 2016. RAIR Foundation/ReutersBut for many Germans in Magdeburg, the fact the latest Christmas market attacker doesn’t fit the expected security profile simply doesn’t matter. It seems this horrific and deadly Christmas market attack, despite allegedly being committed by a self-confessed Islamophobe, is fueling Germany’s angry anti-immigration mood.

Persons: Germany CNN —, “ I’ve, ”, Corinna Pagels, Michele Tantussi, Taleb Al Abdulmohsen, Abdulmohsen, Germany “, “, Taleb, doesn’t, Barbara, Tom, Sahra Wagenknecht, Nancy Faeser “ Organizations: Germany CNN, CNN, Security, ISIS, ” Reuters, RAIR, Reuters Locations: Magdeburg, Germany, Berlin, Saudi Arabia, Saudi, Islam, Islamize Europe

☆ I got my first Christmas tree at 42. I might never take it down.
▼ + stars: | 2024-12-16 | by ( ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Growing up Jewish, I've never had a Christmas tree in my house. Growing up Jewish, I never had a Christmas tree in the house. AdvertisementOur family put up a Christmas tree for the first time this year. Andrew BehrendtI love it as much as they doIn the end, I love the Christmas tree in the corner too. In a search for the holiday spirit I have never quite identified with, my first Christmas tree feels just right.

Persons: I've, hasn't, Santa, —, Andrew Behrendt, I'm Locations: Chile, Santa Claus, Colorado

☆ As a professional declutterer, here are my 3 tips for purging holiday decorations
▼ + stars: | 2024-12-13 | by ( Julia Williamson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

I'm a professional declutterer and work with clients in helping them get rid of things. Regardless of how hard you go with your holiday decorations, chances are you have too much. At their best, holiday decorations conjure warm images of childhood. If you're decorating for Christmas, for example, take the time to determine which lights work and which do not. If you're a varsity-level decorator, color code your bins so it's easy to see which one holds the decorations for a particular holiday.

Persons: I'm, decluttered, you'll, you've, Queen, it's, It's, paring Locations: England

☆ Vintage photos show how people decorated for the holidays over the last 100 years
▼ + stars: | 2024-12-04 | by ( Erin Mcdowell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

AdvertisementThrough the years, families have decorated their homes for the holidays. Tinsel-covered Christmas trees and brightly colored stockings are trends that now seem dated. However, some common holiday decorations like tinsel, ceramic Christmas trees, and colorful stockings, feel more nostalgic, and could even be inspiring holiday decorating trends this year. Many resurging decorating trends, from cranberry or orange garlands to vintage Christmas villages, can either be made at home or found in thrift stores. Take a look back at how people decorated their homes for the holidays in years past.

Persons: WalletHub

☆ The Art of Competitive Tablescaping
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-25 | by ( Tejal Rao | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

I’m sorry, you were expecting the quiet drama of a seasonal floral arrangement? Maybe some muted tablecloths and tapered candles? These are extravagant, excessive and technically precise set pieces that some contestants will spend all year designing and crafting. “People think it’s trivial,” said Ava Tramer, a film and television writer who started competing in 2018. “But I take the idea of getting everything right and respecting the sport very seriously.”

Persons: ”, Ava Tramer Locations: Angeles County

☆ Why the drag looks in ‘The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert’ are still iconic, 30 years on
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-15 | by ( Caitlin Chatterton | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

This is the opening scene from “The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert”, which first screened at Cannes Film Festival 30 years ago this month. In the film, Tick (Hugo Weaving) and Bernadette (Terence Stamp) help Adam (Guy Pearce) realize his dream of climbing King Canyon in full drag. “I think that’s definitely one of the most iconic looks,” drag artist and costumer Philmah Bocks told CNN. Bocks has been designing costumes for 30 years, having broken into the drag scene around the same time “Priscilla” was hitting screens. The film’s legacy can also be seen in Australia’s drag scene today and, since 2021, has been broadcast to new audiences via contestants on “Rupaul’s Drag Race Down Under”.

Persons: CNN —, Belrose, Hugo Weaving, Mitzi Del, Priscilla , Queen, “, Tim Chappel, I’d, Elliott, Bernadette Bassenger, Terence Stamp, Adam Whitley, Felicia Jollygoodfellow, Guy Pearce, Priscilla, Queen, Bernadette, Adam, Chappel, ” Chappel, Susan Barber, Priscilla ”, Lizzy Gardiner, Oscar, Mitzi Del Bra, ”, Gloria Gaynor’s “, costumer Philmah Bocks, Bocks, Tim Chappel's, Priscilla ’, they’ve, couldn’t, I’ve, “ Priscilla ”, she’s, London’s, Katy Perry, they’re, Katy Perry’s, ” Bocks, Felicia Jollygoodfellow's, ” Stephan Elliott Organizations: CNN, Cannes Film, Miss Teen USA, Sydney, Cannes, Chappel, First Nations, Royce Locations: CNN — Sydney, Silicon, Sydney, Australia, Tasmania

☆ Seeing Stars, Sperm and Millions of Spawn After a Valentine’s Day Rendezvous
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-06 | by ( Kate Golembiewski | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The happy couple, a pair of sunflower sea stars, belonged to a species that has nearly vanished because of climate change. Sunflower sea stars are a far cry from their smaller pink cousins that you might know from Finding Nemo and SpongeBob SquarePants. “In a perfect, climate-change-free world, they would be keeping the kelp forest ecology at a perfect eco-balance,” Ms. Torres said. As a consequence of the heat, a strange wasting condition began spreading among the sunflower sea star population. Since then, an estimated 90 percent of all sunflower sea stars have perished.

Persons: Melissa Torres, Nemo, SpongeBob, They’re, Ms, Torres Organizations: Scripps Institution of Oceanography Locations: La Jolla, Calif, Pacific Northwest, North, California, Oregon

☆ Broadway’s Crunchtime Is Also Its Best Life
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-20 | by ( Jesse Green | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Broadway is the pinnacle of the commercial theater, a billion-dollar cultural enterprise and a jewel of New York City. So why is it run like a Christmas tree farm? I don’t mean that it invites too much tinsel. I mean that it operates at a very low hum for 10 months of the year and then goes into a two-month frenzy of product dumping. From a business standpoint, this is obviously unwise.

Organizations: Broadway Locations: New York City

☆ Why Gucci’s New Creative Director Counts Princess Diana Among His Muses
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-18 | by ( Laura May Todd | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Alessandro Michele’s departure as the creative director of Gucci hadn’t yet been announced. By his own account, he struggled to express himself; young, gay and interested in fashion, De Sarno felt out of place. He did stints at Prada and Dolce & Gabbana before, in 2009, making a more permanent home at Valentino in Rome. During his 14-year tenure there, he cycled upward through various departments until he became the label’s fashion director and the right-hand man of its creative director, Pierpaolo Piccioli. Recently, Gucci announced that the company will relocate the design office from Rome to Milan, where De Sarno feels most at home.

Persons: Sabato De Sarno, Alexander McQueen, Balenciaga, Saint Laurent, “, Alessandro Michele’s, Gucci hadn’t, ” De Sarno, Maria, Raffaele, De Sarno, Pierpaolo Piccioli, Gucci, ”, “ It’s, Sabato, “ I’m, ‘, I’ll Organizations: Gucci, Istituto, Prada, Dolce, Gabbana Locations: Kering, Bottega, Cicciano, Italy, Naples, Milan, Valentino, Rome

NEW YORK (AP) — Shimmer and glimmer with a dash of the majestic was on display Monday as Tory Burch showed her 2024 Fall Winter Collection at New York Fashion week. Inspired by ordinary objects like a lampshade or well-worn coat, Burch set out to redefine the form of her designs with this collection. “I started with the concept of how to make the everyday sublime,” Burch told the Associated Press at a post-show interview. While many of the designs took Burch out of her comfort zone, the one that stood out was the hooded sweater with orange lampshade skirt. Burch says the vibrancy of color juxtaposed with the “beautiful neutral tones” in the collection’s palette.

Persons: — Shimmer, Tory Burch, Burch, “, ” Burch, Emily Ratajkowski, Paloma Elsesser, Irina Shayk, we’re, ”, it’s, AnnaSophia Robb, Natasha Lyonne Organizations: New York, Associated Press, New York Public

☆ I spent Christmas and New Year's Eve on a cruise with a few family members. I don't think I'd ever do it again.
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-16 | by ( Erin Yarnall | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

I spent the holidays away from home for the first time by going on a 22-day cruise over Christmas. I woke up on Christmas to views of Antarctica but missed my traditions and the rest of my family. download the app Email address Sign up By clicking “Sign Up”, you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . But this year, I spent Christmas and New Year's Eve on a 22-day Holland America cruise around South America and Antarctica. I traveled with my grandma and cousin, and our cruise began in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and ended in Santiago, Chile.

Persons: —, I've, Erin Yarnall Organizations: Service, Holland America, Southern Locations: Antarctica, Holland, South America, Buenos Aires, Argentina, Santiago , Chile, Aysén, Chile, Puerto Madryn, Chicago, Puerto Aysén, Santa, Antarctica's, Shetland

☆ The Wild Beauty of Moss
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-21 | by ( Jenny Comita | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +4 min

And yet moss — unassuming and literally underfoot — has long been overlooked by Western naturalists. In fact, some of the most popular plants known as moss are not actually mosses (Irish moss belongs to the carnation family; Spanish moss is a bromeliad). SOPHIA MORENO-BUNGE, the founder of the Los Angeles floral design studio Isa Isa, especially enjoys working with Spanish moss around the holidays. In Los Angeles, moss can be hard to come by, but farther north, it’s a defining element of the landscape. The Portland, Ore.-based floral designer Françoise Weeks uses several types to create her abstract woodland wall sculptures, which also feature curling bark, dried seed pods and wildflowers.

Persons: Emily Thompson, “ Moss, ”, “, they’ve, Wall Kimmerer, Moss, Kimmerer, SOPHIA MORENO, BUNGE, Isa Isa, Maurice Sendak, Kelly Wearstler, Françoise Weeks, Weeks Organizations: New York Locations: Kingdom, New York, Angeles, Los Angeles, Portland, Pacific

☆ Holiday horror films, like ‘Gremlins’ and ‘Thanksgiving,’ turn jolly tropes on their heads
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-26 | by ( Scottie Andrew | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

CNN —“Gremlins” turned a benign Christmas holiday into a snowy backdrop for cartoonish murders. Holiday horror films work for the same reason holiday tearjerkers do: There’s already an “emotional foundation” with holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas, DuPée said. Holiday horror is especially taboo because so many of its tropes are sacred — innocent children in footie pajamas! “It can be exhausting to be constantly faced with scenes of happiness, togetherness and love,” said Alexandra West, an author of several books on horror films and co-host of the “Faculty of Horror” podcast. “Putting a horror spin on these holidays offers an antidote and, in some cases, a reprieve.”Olivia Hussey in "Black Christmas," 1974.

Persons: ”, “, Valentine ”, Eli Roth, Pilgrim finery, Nell Verlaque, ” George Mihalka, ” Mihalka, Matthew DuPée, DuPée, Krampus, Emjay Anthony, ” DuPée, Claus, Malcolm McDowell, Alexandra West, ” Olivia Hussey, ” West Organizations: CNN, Tristar Pictures, Universal, Hollywood, “, Horror Locations: Canadian, tinsel

De Sarno’s debut Friday, nine months after being hired in the wake of Michele’s surprise departure, was the most anticipated on the Milan Fashion Week calendar for next spring and summer womenswear. The fervor was enough to fill the front row with Hollywood A-listers including Julia Roberts and Ryan Gosling. In one recent interview, De Sarno professed admiration for Brutalist architecture, suggesting a love of the essential, and his collection was exactly that. A tiny leather bra top in embossed leather was paired with a matching midi skirt. The conversation started this week by De Sarno is to be continued.

Persons: — Sabato De Sarno, Gucci —, “ Gucci Ancora, “ Gucci, De Sarno, Alessandro Michele, Sarno’s, Julia Roberts, Ryan Gosling, Tom Ford, Guccio Gucci, De, tinsel, — Organizations: MILAN, Prada, Dolce, Gabbana, Milan, Hollywood, Gucci Locations: Valentino, London, Brera

MILAN (AP) — Designers Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons achieved a state of unbearable lightness in a series of translucent chiffon dresses that gently cosseted the form, trailed by wispy strands of chiffon. The series of dresses dubbed “Haze,” previewed during the runway show Thursday for Prada Spring-Summer 2024 womenswear collection, never altered shape; only the shades of muted pastels shifted. “The whole thing started from lightness,’’ Prada told reporters backstage. “We wanted to do a really light, light show. The accessory of the season were belts with long trailing fringe: tinsel silver, coppery gold, leather with eyelets or silky strands.

Persons: Miuccia Prada, Raf Simons, “ Haze, ”, ’ Prada, “, Miuccia’s, Mario Prada, Scarlett Johansson, Benedict Cumberbatch Organizations: MILAN, Prada Locations: Hollywood

☆ Stagwell's Mark Penn explains why he's betting on AI, and what brands get wrong about supporting social issues
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-23 | by ( Lauren Johnson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

He said brands often botch supporting social issues because they lack a balanced worldview. Insider spoke with Penn about why he's betting on artificial intelligence, buying experiential marketing shops, and how brands should handle thorny social issues. Big brands like Bud Light and Target have been in the news after backlash for supporting social issues. How should brands handle supporting social issues? I don't think people are spending enough time or thinking about that as the fundamental change.

Persons: Mark Penn's Stagwell, —, Mark Penn's, Hillary Clinton, He's, Stagwell, Penn, Bud, We've, Johnny, latelys, — we'll Organizations: WPP, Publicis, Service, Democrat, Republican

☆ Robert Patrick, Early and Prolific Playwright of Gay Life, Dies at 85
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Penelope Green | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Robert Patrick, a wildly prolific playwright who rendered gay (and straight) life with caustic wit, an open heart and fizzy camp, and whose 1964 play, “The Haunted Host,” became a touchstone of early gay theater, died on April 23 at his home in Los Angeles. One day in 1961, a 24-year-old Mr. Patrick followed a cute boy with long hair into the place, where the playwrights John Guare, Sam Shepard, Lanford Wilson and, soon, Mr. Patrick, all got their starts. The cute boy was John P. Dodd, who went on to be a well-known lighting designer and die of AIDS in 1991. No one was paid, except the cops, because Mr. Cino was not just running an unlicensed cabaret but also a gay hangout, which was illegal in the early 1960s. Its young playwrights, particularly Mr. Patrick, churned out plays, playlets and monologues akin to TikToks, as Don Shewey, the author and theater critic, said in a phone interview.

☆ Christmas meant real Christmas trees for my family. Then my husband got a fake one.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-25 | by ( Elizabeth Grey | Elizabeth Grey Is An Essayist | Cook. You Can Find A Link To Her Highly Unprofessional Cooking Show | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +7 min

My origin story begins on Christmas Eve. I asked my mother once if we could get silver tinsel icicles, having seen them at a friend’s house. When my brother had kids, we started driving to his house on Christmas Eve to be with them. I would use the fake tree as Exhibit A in the court wrangling over our inevitable divorce. I believe there are two kinds of people, real vs. fake tree, and real tree people are superior.

☆ The Magical Curve for Holiday Lights and Sturdy Domes
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-24 | by ( Eugenia Cheng | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Mathematician Eugenia Cheng explores the uses of math beyond the classroom. Read more columns here. When we hang strings of Christmas lights or tinsel, we often drape them in curves instead of pulling them taut, to look more festive. In math, the curved shape they take is called a catenary. The word is derived from the Latin for “chain,” as it’s the curve that a chain or rope will make when hanging just by its own weight.

For startup founders and venture capitalists, the office holiday party is a December tradition. For many venture capitalists and the startup founders they invest in, December is synonymous with two things: end-of-year paperwork and office holiday parties. But this year, holiday parties in startup-land look a little different. "Align those goals with your holiday party, and you can do something powerful and cost-effective," she said. "You should maybe cut some travel, maybe you don't have a big holiday party, but that's all drop in the bucket compared to head count," he said.

☆ Tinsel and Lights Won’t Cut It. This Mansion Has a Grinch-Themed Living Room and Christmas Tree Farm.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( E.B. Solomont | Photo Jennifer Boomer For The Wall Street Journal | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

“Everything I do is so big now, but I always think about that one strand of Christmas lights,” she said. These days, she tries to re-create the feeling at the home she shares with her husband, Steve Houghton, an investor and entrepreneur. Jason Gilmore for The Wall Street Journal

☆ How to attend 7 weddings across the country in a year and not break your budget, from a 27-year-old who did it on a $50,000 salary
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-04 | by ( Jacob Zinkula | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

She says there are plenty of ways to save money on hotels, gifts, dresses, and makeup. It's why she's attended 15 wedding events across the country over roughly the past year, including seven weddings, four bachelorette parties, and four bridal showers. She sometimes feels she has "no excuse" not to attend every wedding, bachelorette party, and shower she's invited to. She was set to attend weddings in New York and Oregon over back-to-back weekends when she decided she needed a break and decided to skip both of them — the only two weddings she's missed this year. But she says she's learned how to budget, save money, and when it gets to be overwhelming, prioritize which weddings she will attend over others.

☆ Fact Check-Swastika-shaped symbol on Christmas decorations in Latvian town stems from country’s history, not Nazism
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Social media users are sharing images of Christmas decorations in Lielvārde, Latvia, and claiming they show Nazi-style swastikas. However, the symbol is not inspired by the swastika used in Nazi Germany. Rather, it is called an ugunskrusts – meaning ‘fire cross’ – in Latvia and is rooted in the country’s history and folklore. Latvian news reports about the decorations do not mention the symbol being inspired by Nazism (here, here and here ). Although the symbol on the Christmas decorations looks like a Nazi swastika, it is an ugunskrusts, which originates in Latvian folklore and history.

☆ My partner and I earned over 14,000 points from our first credit card — here's how we're using rewards to save big at Amazon this holiday season
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( Tessa Campbell | Personal Finance Reviews Fellow | Read More | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +15 min

The author, Tessa Campbell, is using rewards from her Amazon credit card to save money on holiday shopping. Tessa Campbell/Tessa Campbell's phoneOpening the Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature Card helped my partner and me earn over 14,000 points in the first four months of opening the card. My partner was already a Prime member, and since we both frequently shop at Amazon.com, it was a no-brainer to get the Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature Card. Here's how we earn points fast, and how we plan to use the Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature Card to save money this holiday season. How I plan to use my Amazon Prime Rewards Visa card to save on holiday shopping in 2022The more my partner and I spend on the Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature Card, the more bonus points we'll earn.

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