A Japanese man who spent $14,000 on a lifelike, custom-made collie costume is shutting down speculation about his unique lifestyle after recently going viral.
The man, who identifies himself only as Toco, has been documenting his canine transformation on his YouTube channel, aptly titled "I want to be an animal," for over a year now. However, after posting video from a German interview in which he took the costume outside for his first-ever stroll in public, Toco has found himself under the scrutiny of a less-than-understanding internet.
In the video, Toco interacts with onlookers and their own dogs, most of which regard the costume with a mix of confusion and apprehension. He also performs tricks such as rolling over, giving his paw, and even waving at the cameras.
But while most of the humans he interacted with seemed curious or delighted by the costume, the comments were another story. "Men will literally spend $20,000 to transform into a border collie instead of going to therapy," quipped one commenter, while another said, "You cannot convince me this isn’t some weird sex thing."
"I’m just sad that people can think that, Toco explained to the New York Post over the backlash to his costume. "I love animals and enjoy play-acting like a collie."
"This is my hobby, so I will carry on," he added. "It makes me happy and other people happy, too."
In another video posted last year in which Toco took questions from commenters, he shared that he had always wanted to be an animal since he was a child, even writing in his grade school graduation book that he "wanted to be a dog and walk outside." As far as why he chose a collie, in particular, he said it was because it was his favorite breed of dog, and that its size made it conducive for role play.
But while Toco may have amassed nearly 40,000 subscribers on YouTube, like Batman, some of those closest to him don't even know his real identity.
"I rarely tell my friends because I am afraid they will think I am weird," he told The Mirror last December. "My friends and family seemed very surprised to learn I became an animal."
Toco worked with the Japanese costume and sculpture company Zeppet to create his collie costume, which reportedly took 40 days to construct. An employee with the company said that the team working on the costume went so far as to replicate the skeletal structure of a collie to make it as realistic as possible.
"In addition, we collect photographs taken from various angles so that the beautiful coat of the collie can be reproduced and devised so that the coat will flow naturally," the employee added.
In other words, it seems like money well spent to realize a lifetime dream.
Manchester, VT, is something of a time capsule. It’s a two-stoplight town lined with marble sidewalks, manicured lawns, and immaculately restored colonial homes, many of which date back as far as the late 1800s. Driving down the main drag feels like watching a black-and-white movie bloom into technicolor outside your window, and if it weren’t for the occasional Tesla or e-bike sighting, you might actually believe you’d traveled back in time crossing over the New York state line. It’s a stark juxtaposition of old world meets new, which also happens to be the perfect analogy for the township’s most well-known resident, the Orvis fly-fishing shop.
Most anglers, hunters, and wingshooters know Manchester as home to Orvis’ flagship store, a two-story pipedream packed to the gills with premium hunting and fishing gear, but it’s the nondescript wooden building hidden in the back parking lot that’s brought me here today.
I’m speaking about the Orvis Rod Factory, which is the brand’s epicenter for all things fly rod. Every step of the rod creation process from conception to prototyping to production happens right here in the Manchester facility, and it’s something you have to see to believe.
Shall we take a tour?
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Enter Through the Brain Center
“We need to make the world’s lightest fly rod.”
That’s how the modern Orvis fly-fishing rod started some 15 years ago, or at least that’s how Orvis’ director of design and development, Shawn Combs, tells the story. Combs is standing in the middle of Orvis’ newly minted R&D lab, a stark white room loaded down with all manner of laboratory equipment from microscopes and precision scales to electronic ovens and diagnostic computers.
Combs is responsible for the lion’s share of innovation that’s taken place at Orvis over the last decade or so (you can thank him for their current Helios series, for example), which makes sense once you understand his background. See, Shawn has always been a consummate angler, but before fly-fishing paid the bills, he was working at the Knolls Atomic Power laboratory where he designed propulsion systems for nuclear submarines.
Keeping this in mind, I can’t say I’m surprised when Combs takes us for a tour of his pride and joy, the rod testing lab. This portion of the facility comprises Shawn’s custom-built testing equipment, none of which would look out of place in his old nuclear lab.
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It’s here that prototype rods are tested for strength, accuracy, and precision, and hundreds of them are destroyed every year in the name of science. Combs says every time he sets out to design a new rod, he expects to destroy somewhere in the neighborhood of half a million dollars worth of prototypes before he’s satisfied and ready to send a finished product up for production.
I can only watch in horror as he loads a $1,000 fly rod into one of these torture devices, slowly turning the screws to bend the rod past its breaking point. Eventually the rod explodes and swings limply from its station, and I’m left not quite knowing how to feel.
On the one hand, I’m appalled: That rod could have lived a full life pulling trophy fish out of rivers and streams the world over. On another, I’m relieved to know there are guys like Combs out here destroying rods in a lab so we don’t have to break them in the field.
Orvis proudly describes these as the most accurate fly fishing tools ever created. There’s no denying the Helios series is positively dripping with innovation, but to understand what truly makes Orvis’ American-made rods unique, we’ll have to head over to the room where they’re produced by the thousands.
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Onto the Cutting Floor
Mass production, efficiency, and economy are rarely words we associate with quality or craftsmanship. A walk through Orvis’ fine-tuned production line, however, may change your tune on that subject.
We’re led around the various sections of the factory floor by Don Swanson, Orvis’ Rod Shop manufacturing director, who came to the company from a background in the aerospace industry. Swanson makes no effort to mask his enthusiasm for the production line as he walks us through the manufacturing process one room at a time.
Each step along the way, Swanson highlights the role precision plays in the production of each rod. In one room, sections of carbon are cut with computer-guided razors to ensure complete uniformity. In another, those sections are meticulously inspected before being rolled onto precision-machined mandrels.
Resin is added and securely wrapped into place by yet another precision machine. Sections are then baked and cooled at precise temperatures in massive ovens to ensure uniform hardness and flexibility.
In the not-so-distant past, each one of these processes was performed by hand with a keen eye for quality. Back then, the performance of a rod depended heavily on the person who put it together, which unfortunately meant that not all rods were created equal.
“It used to be the case that ‘no two rods are exactly the same’ was a good thing,” Swanson says. “Unfortunately that meant if you broke a rod, you were looking at 4-6 weeks of shipping it back and forth to get it repaired, and that’s 4-6 weeks you’re not fishing.”
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Swanson tells us that Orvis’ refined manufacturing processes have improved the tolerances of individual sections of a rod down to 1/1000th of an inch, or roughly one-third the thickness of a sheet of paper. This newly found uniformity means that the individual sections of any two rods are now completely interchangeable, which cuts repair times down to under a week.
Orvis has been quietly utilizing this technology on its American-made rods since 2017 to great effect. Rods made prior to this period, however, do still break and need to be repaired from time to time, which is why you’ll still find an entire wing of the factory floor dedicated to legacy rod repairs as well.
It’s here that highly skilled workers build and repair rods using traditional methods, which is how Orvis remains faithful to its “25-year warranty” while also embracing these new manufacturing processes. Seeing a technician restore a 20-year-old rod to like-new condition is an incredibly satisfying thing to watch, but when it comes to old-world craftsmanship, nothing compares to our final stop on the tour.
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Welcome Back to 1946
In an age where robots perform open heart surgery, cars drive themselves, and AI fakes its way through deep discussions, there’s something strangely therapeutic about seeing human skills that can’t be replicated. Here at Orvis, you’ll get that therapy in the bamboo room, a 200-square-foot workshop where rods are still made entirely by hand using centuries-old techniques.
Interestingly enough, this entire operation revolves around the skills of a single man. His name is Shawn Brillon, and he’s the only person in the Rod Shop who knows how to build Orvis’ bespoke line of bamboo rods from scratch.
To hear Brillon describe his process is truly awe-inspiring. He starts with raw bamboo strips, splitting and selecting specific pieces for their strength, color, and appearance. He then cuts, mills, and shapes each piece himself using a combination of hand tools, milling machines, and lathes, all of which have been around the Orvis facility since the 1940s.
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From here, Brillon glues, binds, bakes, and tests every single section of rod himself. From start to finish, Brillon is the only person to touch an Orvis bamboo rod right up until it’s deemed ready for its final winding and six coats of high-gloss varnish.
He estimates that crafting a single 1856 model rod involves anywhere from 30 to 40 hours of work on his part, and because he’s the only person in the facility with the skills to do the job, the total production of bamboo rods is limited to roughly five finished rods every month.
When Brillon isn’t building new rods, you’ll find him repairing old ones. Because the process for building a modern bamboo rod hasn’t really changed since Orvis patented the first one back in 1946, Brillion is in the unique position of being able to identify and repair virtually every single bamboo rod the company has ever built and sold.
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In fact, next door to his workshop, Brillon takes us on a tour of Orvis’ records storage, where they’ve kept documentation on file for every single bamboo rod they’ve ever sold to a customer. Brillion says this comes in handy whenever someone finds a dusty, old Orvis rod in a basement or at a yard sale and wants to get it back out on the water.
Tucked away in this room Brillon keeps all the measurements and instructions for building rods that craftsmen have passed down to him through the decades. Some are hand-written, some are type-written, but the records are complete, and if Brillon wanted to repair or rebuild the first rod the company ever sold, he’d have everything he needed to do it right here.
The skills required to reproduce these age-old pieces are even more complex than building a new rod, and Brillon tells us repair times for an antique bamboo pole can take anywhere from six to 12 months. The finished product is a masterful piece of art, however, and one you can take out fishing or proudly display up on the mantle.
Since 2020, John Maxim and David Cline have been producing the annual Utah Treasure Hunt, inviting adventurers from around the country to search for a cash prize hidden somewhere in the Utah foothills. This May, Chelsea Gotta of Pella, IA found the $25,000 treasure after 51 days of searching. But her win has been mired in controversy as she stands accused of cheating.
Reddit users were quick to call Gotta's win into question. Skeptics claimed that a purported leak led a woman named Jaqui to help Gotta find the cash in exchange for $5,000 of the prize money. Maxim and Cline appeared on the Cache Me Outside podcast, which centers around the annual tradition, earlier this month to share their side of the story.
To locate the treasure, hunters need to solve a poem created by Cline and Maxim. Gotta confessed to the founders that Jaqui sent her the solution shortly before she found the treasure, but they believe that it didn't disqualify her as she did almost all of the searching on her own.
"She worked her butt off, and she was, like all the other treasure hunters, up late trying to get stuff," Cline said. "Even if it was leaked, which we're pretty sure it wasn't, [Gotta] still did nothing wrong." He acknowledged that she "doesn't know who this person is" and that Jaqui is "just some random person in the ether that has another idea, just like hundreds of others."
"She won this thing fair and square. One hundred percent," Maxim added. He explained that Gotta was one of the top treasure hunters the whole time and didn't like the "guilty until proven innocent" attitude that many online users were taking.
As for future treasure hunts, Cline and Maxim plan to have a "heart-to-heart" and see how they want to proceed.
"We still don't know if we're going to do another [treasure hunt], but we'll see," Cline said. He and Maxim put in $22,000 toward this year's hunt with the condition that it remain fun for them. Needless to say, it wasn't. "Once this whole thing broke, that was the very first time that me and John looked at each other and were like, 'Why are we even doing this?'" Cline said.
"I hope after four years of doing this, even after all this craziness, that people believe that we really are trying to be as fair and honest and open as possible," Cline continued. "But even after all of this, if you still don't, then just don't waste your time in the future looking for it."
Stay tuned to learn the fate of Utah Treasure Hunts and whether you can lace up your boots and try to find another prize yourself.
A trio of humpback whales put on quite the show for a family off the coast of Provincetown, MA last week. And the so-called "whale ballet" was all caught on video, showing the three mammals jumping completely in unison.
Robert Addie of Portsmouth, NH had been on a fishing excursion with his three adult daughters for his 59th birthday when they caught the thrilling scene. In addition to his birthday, they were also celebrating Addie's safe return from a humanitarian aid trip to Ukraine, where he came under heavy artillery fire.
During the fishing trip, he had been attempting to film some humpbacks about 300 yards from their boat, but had been having no luck until the triple breach.
As you can see in the below footage, the whales jumped in perfect synchronization before a fourth juvenile whale breached seconds later. The feat was something Addie, who now remodels homes, says he had not seen in the decades he spent as a commercial fisherman in Massachusetts and Alaska, during which he experienced "thousands" of whale sightings.
"I was stunned, because it's one of those thing that, you can tell the story and nobody's really gonna believe you," Addie later told CBS Boston. But catching it on video—oh my. And then the little baby, the juvenile whale jumped afterwards, just stunning. We were all gobsmacked.
"I've literally seen thousands of whales. I haven't yet run into anyone that's seen a triple synchronized beach," he continued. "A triple breach is unheard of and a synchronized triple breach is even rarer. It's once in a lifetime. Just very fortunate. I feel God shined down on me to allow me to capture that."
Since his video went viral, whale experts have reached out to Addie with theories about the aerial maneuvers, such as that the whales may have been attempting to remove parasites or aid digestion. According to Whale Watch Western Australia, other possible reasons for whales breaching are for communication or to claim territory.
But having witnessed the display firsthand, Addie thinks that the whales "were teaching or training" the younger whale. "Even some of the whale experts that have reached out to me, they’re all jealous because they’ve never seen it," he added.
Interestingly enough, Addie's sighting was not the only majestic humpback whale sighting in Provincetown this month. Just a few days before Addie's video went viral, another local, Kyle Curran, caught a group of whales breaching during a whale watching expedition.
Kate Laemmle, a naturalist with the New England Aquarium who was on the boat, likewise told CBS Boston that typically only about five to 10 percent of whale watching trips capture a breach.
"It's just been a fantastic summer," Laemmie gushed. "I mean, we have definitely a higher proportion of humpback whales than we can have in other seasons. Breaching, in general, we have the statistic of about five to 10 percent of our trips but it actually seems like in the last couple of weeks they've really been putting on a show!"
A lot has changed since Josh Herrin took his first Superbike championship title back in 2013. He graduated to the world stage of Grand Prix racing, had a bad year and lost all his major sponsors, built a social media following that’s made him the most marketable face in American road racing, and over the last two years he’s firmly established himself as one of the great comeback stories in the history of the sport.
Perhaps most importantly of all, Herrin became a father.
“It’s nuts how literally everything I do for myself just immediately went out the window," he says. "Now I just want to be winning races for my son, and I want to still be winning races when he’s old enough to remember it so he can use that to fuel his own dreams. It’s been such a motivator for me to get my shit together and train hard.”
This year marks Herrin’s return to the ultra-competitive MotoAmerica Superbike race series, a contest where motorcycles crank out well over 200 horsepower and regularly approach speeds of 200 mph in the straights. Both Herrin’s wife, Rachel, and son, Griffin, are regulars in the Ducati paddock, and if this year’s performance is anything to go by, they seem to be just the motivation he needed.
Herrin has been fighting at the front of the pack all year, and by all accounts is making the strongest showing of his career in nearly a decade. At 33 years old, he’s now among the oldest riders in the running for the title, but Herrin has never been the type to let his age slow him down.
Brian J Nelson
Fast Runs in the Family
Herrin started racing at an age when most of us are learning to read, write, and count to 100. While you and I were hustling the tooth fairy for dollars, Herrin was out hustling a minibike around the racetrack with his dad, and by the time he was 10, things were already getting serious.
“Back then, you weren’t allowed to race until a certain age, so we were always lying about my age to get on the track," Herrin admits. "When I was a kid, I was always racing against guys who are as old as I am now.”
Before long, Herrin was attracting sponsors. European companies sent him minibikes to race. Invites came in to race overseas. All the while, he was balancing the life of a normal kid, which for Herrin included a love for baseball and basketball that still lingers today.
“During the week, I was with my grandma doing stick and ball sports, and on the weekends I was with my parents doing racing. There were times I’d break my wrist on the bike during a race, but I still wanted to play basketball so I’d cut my cast off before the game.”
You could say not much has changed in that regard. As I sit across from Herrin in the Warhorse Ducati team trailer, he’s currently nursing a torn rotator cuff and a fractured ankle. He picked up both injuries from a nasty 120-mph crash earlier in the season, but taking a weekend off to heal is out of the question if he wants a shot at the championship this year.
The ankle has left Herrin with a pronounced limp as he walks through the pits, and the torn shoulder means he can’t properly bend his arm for braking. Neither injury seems to have slowed him down much, though, as he’s racked up five back-to-back finishes in the top three since, netting him major points in the series and leaving him in third place in the overall standings.
Brian J Nelson
Looking Ahead at the 2023 Season
With nine races remaining in the season, Herrin still has plenty of time to pull ahead. The only question now is how hard he’s willing to push for it, but that answer isn’t as cut and dry as it might have been back in 2013.
“I don’t want to always [be] getting hurt," Herrin says. "I want to be able to throw a baseball with my kid in five years. I don’t like to say it but we truly are risking our lives when we’re out here. Don’t get me wrong, I’m doing it for people I love and it’s not like I’m forced to do it, plus I’m getting paid, so that’s great, but every time you get on the bike, it could be the last time.”
Clearly, family life is a double-edged sword in this profession, but Herrin wields it well. In fact his son, who turns two in September, is a regular fixture throughout Herrin’s various social media channels. That doesn’t mean those channels are kid-friendly, mind you, as Herrin’s love of four-letter words, interstate wheelies, and drifting around public roads have been well-documented. And now that he’s picked up OnlyFans as a sponsor, you can even find him on OnlyFansTV.
Of course I can’t recommend all three highly enough (Herrin swears the OnlyFans account is work-friendly, so you’ll have to get your feet pics elsewhere), and it was actually seeing Herrin slide a superbike down a canyon road on Instagram that put him on my radar back in 2017. It’s been a hell of a show ever since, and while it may be controversial at times (especially if you have strong feelings about posted speed limits), Herrin’s “tell it like it is” persona has made him a fan favorite in the motorcycling community.
“It’s all about eyeballs, you know? I know that if I have more eyeballs on me, I’ll be worth more and it’ll bring more people into our sport. Sometimes I get eyeballs in ways people don’t like, but for every person who gets bent out of shape about something I say or do, there are 100 people who love it and they’re going to be a fan of the sport forever now.”
To know Herrin is to know that he's exactly the person you see online. He’s genuine, easy going, outspoken, and incredibly passionate. I can’t say I’m surprised that he’s managed to build such a loyal fanbase throughout his career, but where there are fans, haters are never far behind.
Disproving the Naysayers
In fact, over the past few years Herrin has suffered more than his fair share of naysayers. He’s had people try to get him fired from teams, been told he’d never be fast enough to win on a superbike again, and he’s even had people level personal attacks at his family and friends.
He shut them all up this June, however, when he nailed down the first win of his comeback season during race weekend at Road America. With that win came even more momentum, and Herrin hasn’t missed a podium finish since.
“We waste so much time in life trying to make everyone happy or worrying about that one person who’s trying to bring us down. You don’t need their opinion, just go out and do it. Fuck what those people say. If I’d have listened to them I wouldn’t have tried. That’s the best advice I can give anyone: Make your circle smaller. Give me my wife, my kid, and a few close friends and I’m good.”
Kurt Spurlock
So what does the future hold for Herrin? Well, don’t expect him to quit racing anytime soon. Herrin says his current race team, Warhouse HSBK Racing, is among the best he’s ever worked with, and he plans to stay the course with them for as long as they’ll have him. He’s particularly impressed with his new race bike, a 250+ horsepower Ducati Panigale V4R, which he says is easily his favorite motorcycle of all time, as well as the fastest and most physically demanding machine he’s ever ridden.
“It’s difficult to explain," he says. "For someone who’s never been on one before, it’s basically like riding a bull at 200mph. It’s gnarly.”
When the time finally comes to hang up his leathers, Herrin isn’t quite sure what will come next. He’s spent some time coaching on the racetrack, loves woodworking and, of course, there’s always OnlyFans if things really go sideways. One thing's certain: If becoming a parent has taught him anything, it’s that he won’t be wasting a minute of the time he’s got left.
“You need to have fun. That’s the biggest thing I’ve learned and it took me 15 years to figure out. If you don’t enjoy it, don’t waste your time doing it, and that goes for everything you do. For me that’s racing, banging bars with the other guy. It’s training all day, then coming home to my wife and playing with my son. Having my son there with me when I win races. I see Lebron James holding his kid up after winning a championship, and it’s things like that I look up to. To bring a trophy home and be able to explain it to him in a few years. That’s what’s important for me.”
Fast Facts With Josh Herrin
Men's Journal: A lot of people don’t know how much physicality goes into this sport. Run us through your training regimen. How do you get into shape to wrangle these big bikes?
Josh Herrin: Racing is weird. You need to be in great shape, but the best practice is just riding the race bike. Unfortunately we don’t get to do it a lot because it’s so expensive. If you crash one of these bikes, you’re looking at something like $10,000 just to fix it and it’s a huge mess. In the past I trained in the gym, had a trainer, was on a road bike, all of that. This year I’m just riding my mountain bike and it’s the best I’ve ever felt. To clarify, we’re not doing a bunch of gnarly downhill stuff. We go out and do 5,000-plus feet of climbing—an hour or two of straight grinding uphill. Guys that come to join us for a ride never come back to ride with us again. This isn’t a fun time.
I’ve gotta know, how did the OnlyFans sponsorship come about?
Honestly, I just sent them a DM on Instagram. I’ve always had these kind of off-the-wall sponsors, but if you really think about it guys who are into motorcycle and car racing…it’s kind of in line with OnlyFans.
You know, you can’t promote something you aren’t interested in. How easy is it to promote OnlyFans? I love naked women. What straight guy doesn’t? OnlyFans is like a strip club online, or at least that’s how people initially think of it.
Now they’ve got a new platform online called OFTV, which is all job-safe material. They’ve got cars, UFC, whatever. It’s sick. It gives you a place to go look at stuff you like at work without worrying about some naked girl popping up.
Brian J Nelson
What’s your favorite motorcycle of all time?
It’s the V4R! It’s such a great bike. You can ride it on “screaming” mode, or you can drop it down into street mode for less power.
Either that, or the 1972 Yamaha 250B, which is this old two-stroke dirtbike. I got a chance to ride one at Kenny Robert’s house and I just couldn’t help myself, I rode it all day. I ended up looping it out and crashing it but he was very cool about it.
Who’s your favorite racer of all time?
Nicky Hayden, hands down. But also any Americans who made it to MotoGP. If it’s not an American, then I’d say Maverick Viñales. I also love John Hopkins because they compared me to him in an article in Cycle News when I was 12 years old and that was so cool to me.
Kurt Spurlock
What’s your least favorite part about motorcycle culture?
For some reason people see a motorcycle rider and they immediately think they’re a bad person or something. At the end of the day we’re just big kids on a toy having fun. Nobody is trying to hurt anyone out on the street. If anything, we’re the ones in danger. People are so quick to judge. I also don’t like it when fellow riders give people reasons to think that. Kicking mirrors in traffic, stuff like that.
Who were your most influential figures outside of motorsports?
My dad, for sure. I grew up in a racing family and he was a racer himself, but he never pushed it on me or was the kind of dad who would yell at me if I didn’t do good. You know you see these “soccer dads” at races just screaming at their kids and I think, Your kid is never going to enjoy their sport if you act like that.
Plus, you’ve got to live with the knowledge that your kid is going out on the track after you screamed at them. They can get hurt or worse, and you’re going to feel like a piece of shit. The consequences are high. This isn’t basketball where you might fall down and hurt your ankle or something. These kids are going 100 mph out there. When people you care about say things to you, it effects you. You need to pump them up and just let them know you’re there for them.
Other than my dad, it’s gonna be Kobe Bryant. Him and guys like Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, Mark McGuire. I grew up in that era and I’ll always love baseball and basketball.
California’s San Diego Zoo is celebrating the milestone birth of two Sumatran tiger cubs.
In a press release issued last week, the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance reported that the boy and girl cubs are the first of their “critically endangered” species to be born at the zoo since 2016.
The yet-to-be-named cubs were born on July 12. They “appear strong, and are nursing frequently” while their first-time mother, Diana, is said to be “extremely attentive and gentle.”
San Diego’s ABC 7 obtained footage of the cubs shortly after their birth.
Diana can be seen nursing the two cubs while she looks off calmly into the distance. At one point, she begins to groom one of her kin.
Diana will remain with her cubs in their den for the next eight to 10 weeks, or whenever she feels they're ready to emerge. During this time, they’ll spend “critical” time bonding with their mother and learning behaviors from her.
“We are elated about the birth of these tiger cubs,” Lisa Peterson, the executive director of the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, said in the zoo’s statement. “It has been years since we’ve had cubs at Tiger Trail, and we can’t wait to share them with the community.”
“These births are so important to the conservation of this species,” Peterson continued. “Our hope is these cubs will provide an opportunity for our guests to gain a greater appreciation for tigers and the important need to conserve them in their native habitats.”
The announcement came just in time for Global Tiger Day, which was on July 29. According to the San Diego Zoo, there are only 400–600 Sumatran tigers left on Earth.
A Wisconsin air show ended in tragedy over the weekend after four people were killed in two separate incidents, including the 30-year-old daughter of two-time Super Bowl-winning offensive lineman Bruce Collie.
Devyn Reiley had been piloting a vintage North American T-6 Texan along with her co-pilot, Zach Colliemoreno, 20, during the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) AirVenture Oshkosh air show at Wittman Regional Airport around 9 a.m. on Saturday, when the World War II-era craft suddenly lost control. The aircraft reached approximately 3,900 feet in the air before spinning out of control and crashing into nearby Lake Winnebago.
The Great Lakes U.S. Coast Guard responded to the scene and dive crews later recovered both bodies. The Winnebago County Sheriff’s Department is working with the EAA, National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to conduct a full investigation into the crash, according to a press release about the incidents.
Reiley was the eldest of Collie's 13 children, and she had just celebrated her third wedding anniversary just days before the tragedy. Collie was known for winning two Super Bowls with the San Francisco 49ers in 1989 and 1990, before being traded to the Eagles following the latter season and retiring in 1991.
One witness, Brayden Hiebing, who had been fishing on the lake with his grandfather and saw the accident first-hand, told NBC 26 News that he initially thought the plane was doing a trick. "I heard the plane start coming out of the sky, and it started like spinning and all of a sudden it just made a big splash," Hiebing recalled.
A second accident that claimed the lives of two event attendees occurred that same day, shortly before 12:30 p.m., when a ELA 10 Eclipse gyrocopter collided with a RotorWay162F helicopter in mid-air. The victims were identified as Mark Peterson, 69, who was piloting the helicopter, along with his 72-year-old passenger Thomas Volz.
Both aircraft involved in that crash had belonged to the victims and were not part of the air show.
Operations at the air show were briefly halted during an initial investigation into the second crash, but resumed around 2:45 p.m. after a short delay.
Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay is known for his quick wit and harsh criticism of cooking videos online. The food whiz often shares hilarious and relatable videos on his social media profiles for millions of fans all over the world. Recently, Ramsay himself was in for a sweet surprise from one of his young fans. Levi, a 2-year-old, has gained popularity for his love of delicious food, which he enjoys thanks to his chef father. Gordon Ramsay took to Instagram to react to one of Levi's videos. In the video, the young food enthusiast was seen savouring a very special kind of meat, cooked and presented just like a dish served to an adult. Take a look:
Also Read: Gordon Ramsay Reacts To Hilarious Video Of Chef Mimicking Him
"Levi eats slow-braised oxtail with jicama slaw and lotus root chips," read the description in the original post. The clip shared by Gordon Ramsay has received over 1.4 million views and 75k likes. In the video, the two-year-old's chef dad asks him what he wants to eat and then proceeds to cook it. He uses aromatic spices and brine to make the meat, then prepares the coleslaw and fried lotus root chips. "That's a Michelin-star plating right there," exclaims Gordon Ramsay in the video.
Then, when the two-year-old finally got to taste the meal - Gordon Ramsay was impressed yet again. He was surprised to see that the baby had a liking for the Michelin-star meal and also commented on the food. "Masterchef Junior Junior Junior coming your way soon," laughed Ramsay in the video.
Several fans of Ramsay reacted to the video in the comments section. "I'm a firm believer in feeding your kids good food. Especially if you're cooking it for yourself anyway, why should they get anything different," said one user while another wrote, "Give that baby a cooking job NOW!"
What did you think of the video shared by Gordon Ramsay of the 2-year-old food critic? Tell us in the comments below.
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Masaba Gupta is a true inspiration for those who prioritise a healthy lifestyle. The fashion designer loves to share glimpses of her day-to-day life with her followers. The diva recently treated her followers to a mouthwatering picture of her nutritious breakfast via her Instagram Stories. The wholesome meal comprised three layers of delicious goodness. At the base, there was a moong dal chilla. On top of it, she spread a generous layer of creamy guacamole, adding a delightful twist to the traditional chilla. And, the crowning glory was a perfectly fried sunny side up, adding more protein and flavour to the already tempting combination. Describing her 8.30 AM meal, Masaba wrote, "Tried a fried egg on a moong dal chilla with some guac." Her dedication to a balanced diet and sharing her healthy choices with her followers serve as an encouraging reminder that staying fit can be as enjoyable as it is beneficial. Also Read: Anupam Kher's Sunday Indulgence Featured The Delhi Classic - Chole Bhature
Also Read: Shraddha Kapoor's Sunday Binge Featured This Beloved Maharashtrian Snack
Masaba Gupta's love for moong dal chilla is evident in her creative experimentation with various versions of this wholesome breakfast. A few weeks ago, the talented designer treated her followers to another mouthwatering delight – a kala chana and green moong chilla. This delectable dish is a power-packed combination of essential nutrients that would allow anyone to kickstart the day on a healthy note.
Intriguingly, Masaba also shared a fascinating insight related to Ayurveda – the ancient Indian system of medicine. According to Ayurveda, kala chana, a key ingredient in her chilla, helps balance "all three doshas" – vata (related to space and air), pitta (related to fire and water), and kapha (related to earth and water). The harmonious balance of these doshas is believed to promote overall well-being and vitality. By incorporating this Ayurvedic wisdom into her breakfast choices, Masaba not only satisfied her taste buds but also embraced a holistic approach to nourishing her body and mind. Read the full story here.
Before this, Masaba Gupta once treated her Instagram followers to a glimpse of her South Indian meal. Her platter showcased idiyappam, a beloved rice noodle dish from Kerala, paired with red amaranth and cowpea curry. To add more goodness to her plate, Masaba savoured the flavorful avial, a traditional mixed vegetable delicacy, and complemented it with refreshing raita. Completing the wholesome feast was a bowl of hearty stew. Click here to read the full story. Also Read: Anshula Kapoor's Foodie Throwback Is All About "Making Pizza From Scratch"
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Anupam Kher's food diaries just got updated. After a delicious vegetarian meal at a Mumbai restaurant, the actor has added another chapter to his gastronomic adventures. And, it is hands down an all-time favourite meal of almost every Delhiite. Any guesses? Hint: From Indian cricketer Virat Kohli to Bollywood actresses like Sara Ali Khan and Anushka Sharma, all have expressed their love for this Punjabi native dish. Yes, yes… we couldn't be talking about anything but chole bhature. This north Indian indulgence includes spicy and flavourful chole (chickpeas), served with puffy hot bhature, a side of onions, masaledar green chilli, as well as some green chutney. Anupam Kher, who was accompanied by his friends, also relished this Punjabi delicacy. He shared a video on Instagram Stories, which featured his chole bhature platter, along with some stuffed parathas and grilled sandwiches. The actor spanned the clip to capture his friends, who were busy digging into their delicious-looking meals. In the background, Anupam Kher was heard saying, “khao khao.”
Chole Bhature has a tantalising mix of earthy Indian spices, evenly layered on the boiled chickpeas cooked with a hearty mix of tomatoes and onions. When paired with puffy, stuffed bhaturas, this meal gives the perfect foodgasm every foodie looks for. Looking for the full recipe to replicate street-style chole bhature? Click the link here.
Even Sara Ali Khan is a fan of chole bhature. She once shared her indulgence of Delhi's street-style chole bhature on Instagram Stories. The photo showcased the wholesome spicy masaledar chole, fluffy and soft bhatura, chopped onion rings and some amla pickle. "Chole Bhature. Dilli se”: Sara Ali Khan captioned the post and added several heart emojis to her post. Read the full story here.
Remember when Anushka Sharma found out her husband and Indian cricket Viral Kohlti's favourite cheat-meal (of course chole bhature) in Mumbai? We all know that Kohli, who hails from Delhi, absolutely loves the classic street-style chole bhature. Last year in October, Anusha revealed that she was searching in vain for an outlet in Mumbai that would serve them this Punjabi delicacy, exactly like the ones sold in Delhi. Well, the actress turned out to be successful. She did find Delhi-style chole bhature in Mumbai and it was nothing short of a foodie milestone. FYI: It got Virat Kohli's stamp of approval. Check out the full story here.
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Indian Lunch Recipes- Who doesn't wish for a wholesome lunch? But the times we live in today, getting even 15 minutes off to savour our meal seems like a distant reality. As such we tend to quickly grab a meal without caring much about the calories or the nutritional content, and this is where we go wrong, causing harm to ourselves. The lunch hours of the day are when our metabolism is at its peak. You're partially burned out and are looking forward to the first long break of the day. You might huddle in front of a television, eat at your desk or at the small table in your office cafeteria, but what you need to remember is that lunch helps you recover from the first half of your day and recharge you for what's about to come. Which is why it needs to be the ideal balance of protein, fiber, sugar and fat - basically all things good.
According to Rev. Benita Francis Chemnitz, author of the book How to Maximize Your Brain, "the calories you consume at lunch should have fewer carbohydrates and more protein. Increase your intake of protein foods like seafood, turkey, tofu and legumes. And eat them before you eat the carbohydrates because they'll wake up your brain!" A light and lean source of protein helps provide your muscles with amino acids they need to continue rebuilding and reshaping themselves.
Add some vegetables to this mix and we promise you'll feel healthier than ever. Some basic dishes you could try are healthy chickpea and corn salad, chicken sandwich, a bowl of quinoa, poha or a big bowl of soup and chicken. Roger Troy Wilson, author of the book 'Let's do Lunch' says, "adding vegetables and fruits in your lunch provides lots of valuable vitamins and minerals to a person's overall eating plan. This includes potassium, folate, niacin, vitamin A, vitamin B6 and B12, vitamin C, minerals and phytochemicals." He also suggests that you lose potato, rice and foods made from flour. This means no rolls, buns, bagels, pasta, noodles or crackers. Not unless they're made with whole wheat flour.
So, learn to cook. Food that's new and the kind that you'll want to savour. Don't sweat the meal prep and just follow our lead.
Take a look at our 15 heart-stoppingly delicious recipes. Find an apron and get cooking!
A delicious dish made with freshly bought okra. Grab some mustard oil, cumin seeds, fennel seeds, finely-chopped onions, ginger and a pinch of amchoor. We promise you'll make this recipe a regular affair in your weekly menu.
Masala Bhindi is a perfect side dish for lunch which you can cook in a jiffy.
A classic dish that never goes out of style. The quintessential chana kulcha needs only a few ingredients - cumin powder, ginger, coriander powder, carom powder and some mango powder, which is what gives the chana it's sour and tangy taste.
A popular dish from Punjab that is loved throughout the country.
Eggs are a versatile food that can be cooked for any meal of the day. From breakfast to dinner, it can be a go-to food. Here is a mildly-spiced egg curry made with garlic, onions, a whole lot of kasuri methi, fresh cream, yogurt and fresh coriander. It can be paired with plain chapati, paratha, rice, biryani or pulao depending upon your choice. You can also serve pickle along with it
This egg recipe is super easy and quick to cook for lunch or even a dinner party.
A staple in almost every household, Gujarati kadhi is a lovely curry which is simple, light and it's very easy to make. A lovely Gujarati-style kadhi made with yogurt, gram flour, curry leaves and ginger, this one has sweet undertones. This cooling curry is great to escape the heat.
A kadhi with a sweet and sour tinge. this is easy and quick. Pair with rice for a whole meal.
Also known as vegetable pulao, this one pot rice meal is unique to the rich state of Uttar Pradesh. It's aromatic, made with a lot of bright vegetables, fiery masalas and topped with desi ghee. Cook for lunch accompanied with curd.
With a spoonful of ghee on top, this Allahabad Tehri recipe is a must try.
A low-fat chicken curry made with marinated pieces of chicken, turmeric, red chilli, garlic paste, green chilli, tomatoes and fresh coriander. A perfect chicken recipe to cook for lunch, pair with rice or chapati. Relish your favourite chicken, guilt-free!
Your favourite chicken dish made completely low cal.
A vegetarian dish with its root in Maharashtra, Kohlapuri vegetables are made with a string of glorious vegetables, ginger-garlic paste, grated onion, cinnamon, cloves and a lot of coconut.
Kohlapuri vegetables is an eclectic mix of vegetables with dessicated coconut and is traditionally known to be spicy.
A light stew which brings together delicate vegetables like zucchini, eggplant, bottle gourd and black channa, is one you should be having. Especially if you're looking for a healthy quick fix.
A host of veggies and herbs come together to make this healthy, hearty treat.
Don't get intimidated by the list of ingredients because not only are already in your kitchen cabinet, but also because all they'll need is 20 minutes of your time. Chunks of cottage cheese cooked in some exciting spices, yogurt and a pinch of sugar.
A vegetarian's delight, paneer achaari is packed with chatpate flavours.
A Punjabi staple, Dal Makhani is a quintessential Indian dish with many variations found in different regions of our country as well as abroad. A luscious, creamy dal recipe loaded with butter, this can be served with naan or paratha or accompany with some cooked rice. YOU can prepare this for lunch or cook for dinner parties as well.
The quintessential North-Indian delight, Dal Makhani is an irresistible dal dish, loaded with butter.
This paneer kofta is stuffed with aromatic goodness of raisins and khoya along with various spices, deep fried and simmering hot in a creamy gravy.
Some of you might find cooking lunch to be a daunting task. With an exhaustive list of chores, pending work and an untidy house, who has the time to wake up early and pack lunch? And even if you were able to drag yourself off the bed, you'll usually end up cooking what you already know. Where's the fun in that? If truth be told, there's a war on health going on and the only way to make it through is to ditch packaged and processed food. And also the local restaurant that's on your speed dial.
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The internet has a plethora of video content that we scroll through daily. From entertaining and funny videos to informative ones about a variety of subjects, there is so much to choose from. While some videos bring a smile to our face, others make us question why they were created in the first place. Recently, one such video shared on Instagram Reels has stirred up a debate. The clip was shared by popular content creator Timsy Jain (@tims_island) and it was widely circulated across social media. Take a look:
Also Read:Viral Video Of A Famous Street Food Disapproved By The Internet; Here's Why
In the video, we could see her having lunch with her husband. The duo ate rice, dal and sabzi - a common staple meal in many Indian households. Meanwhile, the husband was demanding more rice and the casserole of rice was empty. So, the wife took some rice from her plate and pretended that she was serving it from the casserole when actually it was from her own plate. The husband did not realise what she was doing and continued to eat his food while browsing his phone.
The video shared on Instagram Reels has received over 228k views and 14.4k likes. A number of comments and reactions also poured into the video. "Sweet but not something to be proud of. Why sacrifice," said one user. A few others pointed out that she was serving rice with her hands while she was eating it with a spoon. "Eating with a spoon and serving with hands...wow," wrote a user. Others suggested she could just have cooked a bit extra instead of making the exact amount of rice. "Why don't you cook a bit extra, my mother hates cooking the exact amount thinking any guest may arrive so that they can also have some food," commented a user.
Meanwhile, a discussion erupted on Twitter too about this video. Take a look at the comments and reactions:
Irony is that they are eating with a spoon and she serves with her hand???
— Varsha Menon #FoodDetective?️ (@menonvarsha) July 30, 2023
People are not having a problem because wife is serving her husband with bare hands. People are having an issue because the ungrateful husband is busy scrolling his mobile as if his wife is not at all sitting next to him and sharing the table. There is something called courtesy!
Masala Bhindi is a perfect side dish for lunch which you can cook in a jiffy.
A kadhi with a sweet and sour tinge. this is easy and quick. Pair with rice for a whole meal.
With a spoonful of ghee on top, this Allahabad Tehri recipe is a must try.
Your favourite chicken dish made completely low cal.
Kohlapuri vegetables is an eclectic mix of vegetables with dessicated coconut and is traditionally known to be spicy.
Serve Urlai Roast along with rice or appams and you'll not be able to resist this dish.
