Now that home is your new office, making it comfy and congenial will only add to your productivity at work. A green patch at home always brings in positivity. While rows of potted plants can adorn your balcony or terrace, hanging planters can jazz up your empty vertical space. Here are a few easy-to-grow plants that you can decorate your corner withPOTHOSPothos, popularly known as the Money Plant, is a variety that can be easily grown at home. You simply need to put them in a pot and place it somewhere on your bookshelf. Alternatively, you can hang the pot near your window and you are sorted. This plant is easy to maintain, and does not require watering every day. Pothos prefer moderate light, so just make sure you place it in a brightly-lit room.

SPIDER PLANTSThese plants come with long, thin curved leaves, and are another good option to add greenery to your house. The plantlets of Spider Plants can be pinched off and grown again. This variety also loves bright light, and looks beautiful when hung from a pot.BURROS TAIL

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Add a touch of greenery to your home workspace with these hanging plants - Times of India

Our heroine attends an influencer event at Paris Fashion Week overlooking the Place Vendme. The bronze column topped with a statue of Napoleon seen in the background is the historic landmark Colonne Vendme.

Chteau de Sonnay

Watching the show, it's hard not to think about how this would be an ideal place to quarantine.

Emily and friends take a weekend excursion to the French countryside, staying in a classically designed country manor and vineyard. We filmed at the Chteau de Sonnay in Cravant-les-Cteaux near Chinon. It belongs to a friend of mine, Frdric de Foucaud, and the producers fell in love with it, says Seibel, who completely redressed the interiors and planted a garden.

Montmartre

The Montmartre neighborhood is best known for its nightlife (including the Moulin Rouge) and lively art scene.

In this scene, filmed on the picturesque Place Dalida at the intersection of rue Girardon and rue de lAbreuvoir in Montmartre, Emily sets up a photo shoot for her client, the Swedish luxury mattress company Hstens. Located on a hill in the citys 18th arrondissement, the colorful neighborhood is known for its winding hillside cobblestone streets, artist community, bistros, and the Basilique du Sacr-Coeur.

The Seine

There are 37 bridges that cross the Seine; four of them are pedestrian only.

Bustling and lively in the day, moonlit and romantic at night, the Seine is known as the most romantic river in the world. The Pont des Arts, a pedestrian bridge, was filmed between the Louvre and the Institut de France, and Seibel had to remove the love padlocks left by locals and tourists (the city removed over a million in 2015 alone).

Palais Garnier

The opulent structure was built by architect Charles Garnier.

The gilt- and marble-laden ceremonial grand stairs at the Palais Garnier make an appearance in the show. The famed opera house, built in 1874, is one of Pariss most popular attractions and heralded as one of the most famous in the world. Boasting a ceiling mural of Isidore Pilss depiction of Triumph of the Apollo, the double staircase is lined with female torchres.

Terra Vera Restaurant

Lucas Bravo plays Emily's restaurant-owner love interest.

The shows designers converted the Italian restaurant Terra Vera, located on Place de LEstrapade in the 6th arrondissement, into the restaurant of Gabriel, Emilys love interest. Seibel and Maisonneuve also redesigned the neighboring shops in the square, transforming an ordinary photocopy shop into a beautiful flower stand.

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Emily in Paris Is Darren Stars Love Letter to the City of Light - Architectural Digest

Twinkle Khanna posted this image with son Aarav. (courtesy twinklerkhanna)

Twinkle Khanna's idea for her latest Instagram post arrived freshly baked from an oven. The author might not be a fan of cooking but her husband Akshay Kumar and son Aarav do share the same love for culinary arts. On Sunday, Twinkle Khanna shared a post which showcases the mother-son duo's "divergent skill sets." In simple words, Aarav baked a cake and Twinkle made a cup of coffee to go with it. Adding the hashtags #whatsinyourdabba and #hopelesschef to her post, Mrs Funnybones captioned her post: "Today as I am prepping for a cook-off with a recipe from our What's In Your Dabba cookbook, I wish I could send my son to do my bit instead. Our divergent skill sets are clearly depicted in this picture. He baked the cake and I made the coffee."

Check out Twinkle Khanna's post here:

On Aarav's 18th birthday, Twinkle Khanna shared a picture from Glasgow. An excerpt from her post read: "Happy 18th birthday Aarav! Here is something I had written for you once and to keep loosening the strings and finally cutting them off this year has not been easy. All these years, you have been as much my teacher as I have been yours. I learned optimism, kindness and wonder from you as I taught you maths, a few manners and how to switch the lights off when you leave the room."

Twinkle Khanna and Akshay Kumar co-starred in films such as International Khiladi and Zulmi. They got married on January 17, 2001. The couple are parents to 18-year-old Aarav and Nitara (8).

Twinkle Khanna is a celebrated columnist and the author of bestselling books such as Pyjamas Are Forgiving, The Legend Of Lakshmi Prasad and Mrs Funnybones. She is also an interior decorator, the owner of The White Window, and a film producer. Twinkle Khanna also runs a digital content company called Tweak India.

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A Tale Of Twinkle Khanna And Son Aarav's "Divergent Skills Sets." He Baked A Cake, She Made... - NDTV

Hilary Duff rose to fame in the early 2000s as the title character of the show Lizzie McGuire. The series was a big hit on Disney Channel, with many dedicated fans tuning in to watch Lizzie and her friends navigate life.

Now, after over 15 years since Lizzie McGuire went off the air, the show is coming back with a reboot. Duff has revealed that she was initially against taking part in a reboot. However, she eventually changed her mind. Find out why below.

Lizzie McGuire premiered in January 2001. The show followed junior high school student Lizzie McGuire as she goes through the ups and downs of being a teenager.

Lizzie McGuire was highly successful. It was nominated for numerous awards and turned Duff into a household name.

In 2003, the show even had a movie called The Lizzie McGuire Movie, which followed Lizzie as she went on an adventure in Rome after graduating from junior high.

Lizzie McGuire came to an end in 2004, though the series was announced to be getting a reboot in August 2019.

RELATED: Hilary Duff Explains Controversial Photo of Son, Tells Trolls Get a Hobby

Its hard to do a Lizzie McGuire reboot without Duff, and for the longest time, she was against the idea of taking part in a reboot.

Duff recently shared with Cosmopolitan UK that she has been asked to do a reboot many times after the original series ended. Yet, she always refused.

They asked me for years and years: Lets do a reboot, lets do a reboot, and I was like, No, no, no, Duff said.

The star revealed in the interview that she struggled for a long time with being typecast. Given her well-known image as Lizzie McGuire, it was difficult for her to branch out in Hollywood. It seems acting in a Lizzie McGuire reboot would only add to the problem, so Duff was not comfortable with it until recently.

Finally, last year, I was like, I feel ready, Duff revealed.It just doesnt annoy me any more when people refer to me as Lizzie McGuire or say that was my biggest role, because it paved the way for all the other roads Ive been able to take.

RELATED: The Steamy Reason Hilary Duffs Fianc is Thrilled About the Lizzie McGuire Reboot

The Lizzie McGuire reboot will follow an adult Lizzie now in her 30s. Lizzie now lives in New York City and works as an interior decorator. As Duff has shared, she hopes the show will be relatable to women her age like how the original Lizzie McGuire was for tweens and teens back then.

I think its the right time to set back in and have her go along with you in your 30s and all the fun times, and all of the big monumental moments, and all of the challenges that youre faced with, Duff told People. I just thought that there was an opportunity there for her to be grown up and for her to be there for women again.

The reboot was originally set to be released on Disney+, but production has since halted due to the show no longer aligning with Disney+s PG image.

In February 2020, Duff took to Instagram to express her frustration and urged Hulu to take on Lizzie McGuire.

She wrote, I feel a huge responsibility to honor the fans relationship with LIZZIE, who, like me, grew up seeing themselves in her. Id be doing a disservice to everyone by limiting the realities of a 30 year olds journey to live under the ceiling of a PG rating It would be a dream if Disney would let us move the show to Hulu, if they were interested, and I could bring this beloved character to life again.

So far, there has been no official report about when or if the show would begin production again.

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Hilary Duff Had Refused to Do a 'Lizzie McGuire' Reboot for YearsWhat Eventually Changed Her Mind? - Showbiz Cheat Sheet

Photo Credit: Jewish Press

Although Ludwig Bemelmans (1898-1962) is not a universally recognized name, one of his fictional creations is: Madeline, an indomitable little Parisian girl.

Although he was a hotelier and restaurateur; a cartoonist and illustrator of hundreds of magazine articles; a novelist, anthologist, and journalist; a theatrical designer and screenwriter (his best known work being Yolanda and the Thief); an advertising man (including a famous ad for Jell-O) and interior decorator, he achieved everlasting renown for his six Madeline books, the first of which was published in 1939 and was named a Caldecott Honor Book (1949).

Considered one of the leading classics of childrens literature for ages 3 to 8, the Madeline books have sold well over 10 million copies and spawned an entire merchandising industry. The first story was later adapted into a short animated film by United Productions of America (1952), which earned an Oscar nomination for Best Animated Short Film. A subsequent book, Madelines Rescue, earned a Caldecott Medal (1954) and a New York Times Outstanding Book of the Year designation.

Each Madeline story begins in identical fashion with a rhyming cadence well-known to generations of parents and their children for over 80 years:

In an old house in Paris,That was covered with vines,Lived twelve little girlsIn two straight lines.

The book tells the story of 12 little girls, the smallest and most adventurous of whom is Madeline, who live together in a boarding school in Paris under the supervision of Miss Clavel. Most critics claim the girls home is an orphanage and that Miss Clavel is a nun which is simply incorrect; in fact, in one story, Madeline receives a beautiful dollhouse from her father, which makes her the envy of the other 11 girls, and there is considerable evidence to support the proposition that Miss Clavel is, in fact, a nurse.

As Bemelmans tells it in the first Madeline book:

In the middle of one nightMiss Clavel turned on her lightand said, Something is not right!Little Madeline sat in bed,cried and cried her eyes were red.And soon after Dr. Cohncame, he rushed out to the phone,Nurse, he said, its an appendix!not a single eye was dry.Madeline was in his armin a blanket safe and warm.

Madelines surgery was successful, though she was left with a scar, and all the other girls wanted to have the same surgery so that they, too, could get toys and candy.

In his June 22, 1954 speech accepting his Caldecott Award, Bemelmans disclosed the origins of Madeline and said he purposely made Madelines doctor a Jewish physician and that he modeled Dr. Cohn after Lon Blum, the first Jewish prime minister of France.

The Madeline stories began to take shape during a family vacation in France when, while riding home on his bike, Bemelmans was struck by a car. While in the hospital having his injuries treated, a little girl who had an appendix operation stood up in bed and proudly displayed her scar to him.

He was apparently inspired by the tenderness of the doctor who treated the little girl. As he tells it, if you take a look at the book, you will see that the doctor who runs to Madelines bed is the great patriot and humanitarian Lon Blum. He was thinking specifically of Blums kindness and gentleness in describing Madeline being safe and warm in the doctors arms.

However, notwithstanding his affection for Blum, there is evidence that Bemelmans was an anti-Semite. Benno Weiser Varon, a leader of the Jewish community in Quito who knew Bemelmans well, declared that Bemelmans was a Jew-hater who, among other things, urged the Quito Tennis Club to exclude Jews. Varon, a fascinating character in his own right, served as editor of Quitos leading newspaper; played a crucial role in securing Ecuadors pivotal vote in favor of the UNSCOP partition plan for Eretz Yisrael; and served as Ecuadors first ambassador to Israel and later as Israels ambassador to Paraguay.

There are any number of other specifically Jewish characters in Bemelmans work. For example, in the humorous The Eye of God (1949), set during the Anschluss and World War II, he writes of a Jewish banker who has managed to buy his security with money and lies. In the hilarious When You Lunch with the Emperor (published posthumously in 2005), he draws on his experiences working his way up from busboy to waiter to banquet manager at the Ritz-Carlton hotel, and describes some of the entertaining characters and crazy scenes he saw along the way, including those at big Jewish weddings.

Moreover, Bemelmans agent, who was sometimes described as his ghost artist, was Ervine Metzl, the Chicago born son of Jewish immigrants from Bohemia. Metzl (1899-1963) was an American graphic artist and illustrator best known for his posters, including several still-famous posters he designed for the Chicago Transit Authority in the early 1920s, and postage stamp designs, including commemoratives for the first World Refugee Year, the Lincoln Sesquicentennial, and the 1960 Winter Olympics.

Readers may be interested in Avigail, a Jewish takeoff of the Madeline stories by Chana Zauderer and illustrated by Mary Abadi (Feldheim, 2015) in which four Jewish girls engage in various Jewish activities with the youngest, Avigail, always the last to do everything.

* * * * *

Distinguished lawyer, jurist, journalist, poet, drama critic, and political leader, Lon Blum (1872-1950) is perhaps best known for being the first Jew and the first socialist to become French Premier.

During his three terms, he forged closer relations with the United States, worked to suppress fascism, introduced a 40-hour work week and paid vacations for workers, nationalized the Bank of France and the war industries, and carried out an extensive program of social reform including, in classic socialist fashion, redistribution of the nations wealth.

After graduating the Sorbonne with the highest honors in law, Blum became close with French Socialist leader Jean Jaurs, which led to his joining the Socialist Party in 1899 and his later election to the prestigious Chamber of Deputies in 1919. When the party split in December 1920 with the Communists winning a majority, taking control of the machinery of government, including the national press, Blum became the unquestioned leader in the reconstruction of the Socialist Party.

After the 1934 Paris riots, which many consider to be the beginning of fascism in France, Blum began to work on the left-wing alliance that became the Front Populaire. In the 1936 elections, the Front won a large majority and Blum, its chief architect, became Premier. At the same time, his social reforms aroused the bitterness of French industrialists as well as the French right wing, which displayed pro-German tendencies and conducted a violent campaign of personal vilification against Blum tinged with anti-Semitism.

After the French collapse in 1940, Blum, refusing to flee he was in great danger as both a Jew and a Socialist bravely remained in France, where he was indicted by the Vichy government and brought to trial. His brilliant defense, however, so embarrassed the Nazis that they ordered the suspension of his trial; he was incarcerated for five years, first in Buchenwald and then in Dachau, before being freed by U.S. forces in May 1945. After World War II, he was again elected prime minister of France and became a respected elder statesman.

Exhibited here is a June 30, 1949 correspondence to Paul Angoulvent from Blum on his Le Populaire letterhead written as director of the Organe Central Du Parti Socialiste (the Central Organ of the Socialist Party) in which he sincerely and cordially acknowledges receipt of Angoulvents June 20th letter and for the works he was kind enough to forward.

Angoulvent (1899-1976) was a French publisher and Louvre museum curator who directed the University Presses of France beginning in 1934. After Frances liberation in 1944, he was convicted of ousting Pierre-Marcel Lvi, the Jewish director of his publishing house.

Blum was born into a Jewish family where his mother kept kosher, regularly lit Shabbat candles, and taught her children to recite prayers in Hebrew. He celebrated his bar mitzvah in synagogue, and the family regularly gathered together for the Jewish festivals. He remained observant early in his life, though he characterized Judaism as nothing more than a collection of superstitions observed without any conviction, simply out of respect for ancestors.

When he was admitted to an advanced French school, he brought kosher food with him and, on one occasion, his professor noted in his diary that Blum brought unleavened bread and meat prepared according to the Jewish rite. He married Jewish women three of them (his second wife was the sister of composer Paul Dukas, famous for The Sorcerers Apprentice) and the first wedding was held at the Grand Synagogue in Paris.

Like many of his countrymen, however, Blum later became wholly assimilated and non-observant, although he was always conscious of his Jewish origins something that French anti-Semites would later never let him forget.

Notwithstanding his assimilationist desire to become a successful socialite and to blend into the upper echelons of French society, Jewish issues played an important role in his life. His reporting on the infamous Dreyfus Affair was perhaps the formative event of his political life, and his strong support for Dreyfus resulted in a massive escalation of anti-Semitic allegations and activities against him.

The anti-Semitism against him only grew as he gained political power, and a most powerful tide of anti-Semitism was unleashed when he was elected premier in 1936 as leader of a Socialist government. Before his election, he was dragged out of his vehicle by an anti-Semitic group and nearly beaten to death and, upon his election, opposition leader Xavier Vallat took the floor of the Chamber of Deputies and made the following infamous statement:

Your coming to power is undoubtedly a historic event. For the first time this old Gallo-Roman country will be governed by a Jew. I dare say out loud what the country is thinking, deep inside: it is preferable for this country to be led by a man whose origins belong to his soil than by a cunning Talmudist.

Vallat further alleged that, rather than acting in the best interests of France, Blum would be making foreign policy only after consulting with his fellow Jews. With calls of death to the Jews!, the fascist right, which would later comprise the pro-Nazi Vichy French government, enthusiastically endorsed Vallats speech. Urging the Chamber of Deputies to take seriously the Protocols of the Elder of Zion the notorious and disgusting fake anti-Semitic screed it announced that the Government of Lon Blum puts the Jewish Question [sic] before the French people for the first time since the Dreyfus affair.

In response, Blum proudly acknowledged his Judaism and answered: I am a Jew. That is a fact [and] you do me no injury by reminding me of the race to which I belong and have never renounced and toward which I feel only gratitude and pride.

Sympathetic to Zionist aspirations, Blum was one of the founders of the Socialist Pro- Palestine Committee (August 1928), which formally expressed recognition of the achievements of the new Jewish commonwealth in Eretz Yisrael; resolved that Zionism based on work, on Socialist transformation and international solidarity, deserves the assistance of all Socialists; and cited the Biblical prophecy of Amos 9:15: They will never again be uprooted from the land I have given them.

A close friend of Chaim Weizmann, he accepted the Jewish leaders invitation to represent French Jewry in the Council of the Jewish Agency. He was also a strong supporter of Keren Hayesod and served as a member of the French Palestine Committee in Paris.

After World War II, Blum did not merely pay lip service in support of increased Jewish immigration to Eretz Yisrael, but rather championed the Zionist cause. Citing Herzls famous motto, If you will it, it is no dream, he publicly and dramatically declared the birth of the Jewish Commonwealth in Eretz Yisrael; assumed a leading role in influencing the French governments pro-Jewish vote on the United Nations decision on Palestine (1947); and was instrumental in preventing British diplomatic pressure from stopping the flow of Jewish illegal immigration from Central Europe through France to Eretz Yisrael.

Kfar Lon Blum, a settlement begun by the Labor Zionist Habonim on the banks of the Jordan River at the foot of Mount Hermon about four miles from Kiryat Shemoneh as a permanent memorial to Blum, was formally inaugurated on November 10, 1943 during a ceremony attended by representatives of the Jewish community of Eretz Yisrael and the French Committee of National Liberation.

Speakers included the French consul-general, who expressed his appreciation for the friendship extended by the Jews of Eretz Yisrael to France; Golda Meirson (later Meir), on behalf of the Histadrut; and Dr. Abraham Granovsky (Granot), a JNF director and later a signer of Israels declaration of Independence.

One of Blums greatest wishes went unfulfilled: he desperately wanted to be able to visit Eretz Yisrael and to see Kfar Blum, but it was not to be. In his adult life, Blum had nothing to do with Jewish practice, and so in his death: in disregard of Jewish law, he was buried at the Montmartre Cemetery in Paris on the first day of Passover after a non-Jewish funeral service.

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Ludwig Bemelmans' Madeline And The Jewish Connection To Lon Blum - The Jewish Press - JewishPress.com

How does a bakery located in what many would consider a small town sell upward of 3,000 doughnuts on a busy day? If you are Huron Mountain Bakery in Marquette, you make 42 different flavors for people to choose from.

Marquette has about 23,000 residents, which makes it the largest town in the Upper Peninsula, and yet it still is considered a small town. Locally-owned Huron Mountain Bakery has baked their way to being one of the top bakeries in the country by sheer volume alone. The shop makes everything from bread to pie, cookies to pastries, and wedding cakes to doughnuts.

We stopped by to try their doughnuts during our search for Michigans Best Doughnut, and were amazed when we were told that they make so many different kinds, every single day. And while they make a pretty incredible variety of flavors, they keep all of them pretty traditional. You wont find any bacon on top of your long john here, or matcha tea in your icing. Joe Heck, head cake baker and decorator, explained that We stay with the good classics. If it aint broke, dont fry it.

Huron Mountain offers all kinds of doughnuts, including raspberry jelly filled.

While we didnt try all 40 varieties during our stay, we did try quite a few.

Classic sour cream cake is Hecks favorite, and it didnt disappoint. Simple, yes, but fried perfectly to create a lovely crispy edge, while maintaining a tender interior. Heck explained that the moisture in the sour cream causes the doughnut to split a bit when fried, creating even more crispy edges. It doesnt have any bells and whistles, he said. And that is perfectly just fine with us. Huron Mountain typically offers several flavors of the cake-style doughnuts, from traditional vanilla and chocolate, to seasonal offerings like pumpkin, which will be starting soon.

Raised doughnuts here have a lightness and depth of flavor that you just dont normally find. Thats because these get time to rest according to Heck, a rest that is much longer than most bakeries allow. These were like lovely clouds, from the jammy raspberry filled one to the signature angel doughnuts, that come filled with a light angel cream" which is kind of like a whipped buttercream, and comes in both vanilla and chocolate.

The apple fritter comes out extra caramelized from the fryer, with loads of crunch chunks, offset by the sweet apple filling. Cooking this one just a bit longer than most, its the right call to really develop that flavor.

Our list of doughnut varieties could go on and on. Just trust us, there really is a flavor for everyone at Huron Mountain Bakery.

Huron Mountain Bakery employees Drake Scheidt and head cake creator Joe Heck, show how to make apple fritters at the busy bakery's location in Marquette.

Owner John Scheidt is a true entrepreneur, who just fell in love with baking when he was in college and worked at a local supermarket baking bread. When he and his wife, Darcy, decided that it was time to open his own place, they came up to Marquette for the weekend and promptly fell in love with the town.

Since he opened Huron Mountain in 1996, hes added another location in nearby Ishpeming, and also took over long-time Marquette bakery BabyCakes, where you can enjoy beautiful, French-inspired desserts. Scheidt also partnered with long time local baker Heck in 2016, and now Joes Cakes are sold at Huron Mountain. You can see Heck above, as he showed us the doughnut-making process at Huron Mountain. Next to him rolling out apple fritters is Scheidts son, Drake, who now works at the bakery full time.

We named Huron Mountain Bakery one of our top spots during our search for Michigans Best Bakery.

A chocolate covered Long John from Huron Mountain Bakery in Marquette.

Heck shared his personal "Doughnut Buyers Guide with us. He uses this system to predict what doughnuts a patron will order when they come in. The most obvious observation is that anyone middle school and younger will inevitably order the doughnut with sprinkles, the more the better, and with no care to the actual flavor of the doughnut under its sugar crown. If you are older than 70, youll most likely indulge in a maple iced, coconut, or lemon filled. Huron Mountain opens early every morning at 5 a.m., so its not unheard to have someone coming in who may be a bit hungover, or still enjoying the rhythm of the night. Hecks theory on these guests is to get them any doughnut, as quick as possible, and then get them out.

Huron Mountain is a busy spot every day, but on doughnut holidays things almost come off the rails. On National Doughnut Day (first Friday in June) and National Donut Day (November 5), the bakery will do triple the regular number of doughnuts that they typically do. On Paczki Day, the bakery is filled with a forest of racks, filled with those famous Polish fat balls. Theyll fry upward of 16,000 paczki that day. Its out of control. Its the busiest day of the year by far, Schiedt said.

No matter what day of the year you stop by Huron Mountain, you are assured a high-quality and delicious doughnut. You are also assured an incredible variety of flavor choices, what might just be the most in the entire U.P.

A jelly filled doughnut from Huron Mountain in Marquette.

Huron Mountain Bakery

1301 S. Front St.

Marquette, MI 49855

906-225-1301

Facebook

US 41 West

Ishpeming, MI 49849

906-485-6848

Facebook

A classic sour cream cake doughnut at Huron Mountain Bakery in Marquette.

More Michigans Best Doughnut coverage:

See our first 11 finalists in the search for Michigans Best Doughnut

We tried doughnuts at three popular chains, see who came out on top

You can check out all of our nominees here.

And read some of the most passionate pleas from our readers here.

Special thanks to Michigans Best Doughnut search sponsor, the Michigan Sugar Company, makers of Pioneer Sugar.

Continued here:
You can try over 40 different doughnuts at this U.P. bakery - mlive.com

O.J. Simpson met Nicole Brown in 1977 and divorced his first wife, Marguerite, in 1979.Hemarried Nicole on Feb. 2, 1985; their daughter Sydney was born eight months later, and sonJustin was born in 1988.

"You guys never do anything," Nicole told police when they arrived at the Simpson home at 360 N. Rockingham Ave. in L.A.'s posh Brentwood neighborhood, responding to a domestic abuse call in the the early morning hours of Jan. 1, 1989, according toreports about that night. "You never do anything. You come out. You've been here eight times. And you never do anything about him."

Simpson insisted he didn't beat Nicole, only pushed her out of bed. Then, told he needed to go with the officers to the police station, he drove off instead. A few days later, Nicole went to the station and said she didn't really want them to proceed with a prosecution, but she consented to out-of-court mediation.

On May 24, 1989, Simpson was sentenced to 24 months of probation, ordered to perform 120 hours of community service and pay fines totaling $470, and was told to attend counseling twice a week (he was allowed to do it by phone) after pleading no contest to misdemeanor domestic violence.

Nicole eventually moved out with Justin and Sydney and filed for divorce in February 1992. They settled that October, with O.J. agreeing to pay her a lump sum of $433,750, plus $10,000 a month in child support, and she retained the title of a rental property. She eventually bought a condo at 875 S. Bundy Drive in Brentwood and moved there in January 1994.

All the while, Simpson was alternately threatening her and trying to get back together. According to prosecutors and witnesses, O.J. had stood outside andlooked through her window onmultiple occasions, including one time when she was havingsex with a boyfriend. Per Jeffrey Toobin's 1996 bookThe Run of His Life, in a diary entry from June 3, 1994, Nicoledetailed a recent threat from Simpson:"'You hang up on me last nite, you're gonna pay for this bitch...You think you can do any f--king thing you want, you've got it comming [sic]..." and so on.

She called a battered women's shelter in Santa Monica on June 7, 1994, to lament that her ex was stalking her. Five days later she was dead.

See more here:
"Absolutely 100 Percent Not Guilty": 25 Bizarre Things You Forgot About the O.J. Simpson Murder Trial - E! Online

If youve ever daydreamed about walking through the halls of the White House during the Obamas eight-year stay, youre in luck!

In a newly-released book titled,Designing History: The Extraordinary Art & Style of the Obama White House, the Obamas entrusted interior designerMichael S. Smithgives us all a behind-the-scenes look into what it took to create the perfect home for the family of four.

(Photo: Amazon.com)

Highlighting all the detailed workincluding a $1.5 million renovation of the residence that the Obamas paid out of pocketthe $60 book featuring 372 color photographs and illustrations is undoubtedly a must-have for any coffee table or bookshelf.

According to a press release obtained by theDaily Mail, the book explores how the house reflected the youthful spirit of the first family and their vision of a more progressive, inclusive American society.

Along with behind-the-scenes stories of the redecorating efforts, the images showing the living quarters of the 44th president and his family are worthy of conversationespecially since the book was described as both a historical document and a voyeur's delight.

Highlights of the book include taking a glimpse inside our forever POTUS and FLOTUS master bedroom.The warm and neutral room, whereBarackandMichelleslept, seemed to echo the couples warm disposition.

(Photo: Brooks Kraft LLC/Corbis via Getty Images)

It was personally very important to me to design a master bedroom that would be a true refuge for the president and first lady, Smith shared.

Overlooking the South Lawn below, the naturally sunlit room featured design elements chosen by Michelleincluding an early 19th-century American high-post bed with a canopy that Mr. Obama wasnt too excited about initially.

I had proposed a canopy bed to them early on, and though the president wasnt keen on the idea at first, he graciously deferred to his wife, saying, If Michelle wants it, then we can have it, Smith recalled.

He continued, Its ironic, but nearly everyone who is initially hesitant when I suggest a canopy bed ends up loving it. I find it creates a real sanctuary in a room, a retreat within a retreat and it can be especially helpful in establishing a sense of architecture within a minimalist space.

It is interesting to note that the Obamas, who moved in during the Great Recession, turned down the $100,000 in taxpayer money typically allotted to new presidents to redecorate. Instead, the family financed their own redecorations and used methods like budget-shopping and borrowing art from museums to help keep interior designing costs down.

And this is why they are our forever favorites!

To see more highlights of the homeincluding their antique furniture, art loaned by museums, and a pair ofMuhammad Alis boxing gloves autographed to Barack,you may want to get your hands on this iconic book that was released today!

(Photo: ANNIE LEIBOVITZ/AFP via Getty Images)

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The Obamas' Interior Decorator Releases Photos Of Their Self-Funded $1.5 Million White House Renovation - BET

Your fall formalwear is going to join your summer dresses and spring gowns on the bench. After much of the spring season was rapidly canceled or postponed to the fall, back when we were all still in denial over the longevity of the pandemic the reality of the upcoming fall social season is beginning to take shape (well, sort of).

Some of the seasons most anticipated events most of the performing arts fund-raisers, for instance are off the schedule for the rest of the year, without a fall performance season to account for. Many of the more social causes have committed to virtual benefits. First up is the Kips Bay Presidents Dinner on Sept. 10, which the team says is practically sold out. The evening will feature video messages from Misty Copeland and Lin-Manuel Miranda and will honor interior decorator John Rosselli; pre-event cocktail hour will happen in the form of individual breakout rooms, so each table can have a chance to mingle. The Restoration Hardware table, for instance, will be chatting over a bottle of wine from RHs wine cellar at Yountville in the Napa Valley, which will be sent to each table guest.

Also on the online social schedule is Planned Parenthood of Greater New York, which will host a party (Questlove is DJing) and benefit auction with a bevy of artists slated to attend on Sept. 21; the BCRF will host a virtual symposium and luncheon on Oct. 16, following the success of their virtual hot pink party in May that raised $5.2 million (not bad considering last years IRL event raised $6 million).

The New York Academy of Art is also pivoting to digital for its fall fund-raiser auction, re-branding it from Take Home a Nude to Artists for Artists. Works by artists like Jeff Koons, Kiki Smith, Lola Schnabel, Shepard Fairey, Laurie Simmons, Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin will be exhibited at the Academy for a month visitors can stop by for a socially distanced viewing and auctioned through Artsy. NYAA will also host a livestreamed event on Oct. 20 with a live auction component.

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October (usually) culminates with Hulaween, New York Restoration Project founders Bette Midlers Halloween costume benefit gala. Plans for this year are still in the works, but it will include a virtual event on Oct. 30 as well as pre-Halloween treats and entertainment. Hulaween could not come at a better time as there is a renewed need for funding to support NYRPs 52 parks and gardens, says Erica Helms, chief advancement officer for NYRP. All of which provide green space for historically underserved communities to grow their own food, connect with neighbors, and access safe, open space close to home during the COVID era and always!

Hopeful in-person events include the New York Botanical Gardens, which are uniquely well-positioned given, you know, its an outdoor garden. Their Fall in Love With the Garden Again fall party, honoring Hearst director Gilbert C. Maurer, is planned for early October, and still set for in-person. The Golden Heart Awards, which benefit Gods Love We Deliver, have shifted back from their usual October date to early December, on World AIDS Day, with both a virtual option and a plan for in-person, if such is allowed in New York by then. If virtual, the committee will send a care package to guests homes to re-create the usual dinner gala as best they can.

As for the seasons other hallmark charity events The Central Park Ladies Luncheon, American Natural History Museum gala packed with SNL personalities, the MAD Ball, MoMAs Chanel-supported film benefit no word yet on whether they will sit the season out altogether.

Although Broadway remains dark until at least early next year, the industry will gather belatedly virtually, that is to honor talent from the shortened season. The Tony Awards, typically held in June, will take place this fall on a date still to be revealed. Eligible shows to be nominated include Slave Play, Moulin Rouge, Jagged Little Pill and The Inheritance. The IFP Gotham Awards, which honor independent filmmaking, were originally scheduled to take place at Cipriani Wall Street on Nov. 20 but have been postponed until January.

On the film front, the New York Film Festival will play on. The festival runs Sept. 17 through Oct. 11, with films screening virtually and at drive-in theaters at the Brooklyn Army Terminal and New York Hall of Science in Queens. The opening night film is Steve McQueens Lovers Rock, with other anticipated premieres to follow, including Chlo Zhaos Nomadland and French Exit.

Cinema Societys Andrew Saffir, who has been hosting socially distanced outdoor screenings in the Hamptons all summer, is optimistic that events will slowly but surely start to take place this fall. I do think it will take some time before people are comfortable in a crowded theater (and were still waiting for theaters in New York City to open back up), but I do think theres an opportunity to do something along the lines of what weve been doing this summer smaller screening events, where everyone is spaced safely apart, in nontraditional spaces acting as theaters, and with invitees we know have been careful, Saffir says.

The season wont be going on with its usual warm-weather bang, since Art Basel Miami Beach has officially been canceled as of this week. In the meantime, well see you online.

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What Will the Fall Social Season Look Like This Year? - Yahoo Lifestyle

For those of us who compete in the sport of Olympic Weightlifting, there are legions of greats, unknown to the mainstream, who inspires us and we aspire to emulate. This cohort usually exhibit similarly characteristics: they are top level competitors who have exhibited incredible feats of strength, showcased technical prowess, or displayed formidable tenacity. Oftentimes, they also inspire because they have demonstrated resilience in the face of adversity, both in their personal and athletic lives, that invoke feelings of awe and admiration.

For instance, scar Figueroas incredible journey to finally becoming Olympic champion at the 2016 Rio Olympics comes to mind; Lu Xiaojun overcoming his back injury mid-competition during the 2019 World Championships to set new world records at the age of 36 is another good example. Many of us also have a hard time forgetting Matthias Steiners spine-tingling victory at the 2008 Beijing Olympics after promising his late wife that he would bring her home a gold medal. All of these individuals are pioneers of the sport in their own right. However, there is one name that has been left out of the history books of Olympic Weightlifting, yet whose deeds and character, at least in my humble opinion, puts him at the apex of the heroes of Olympic Weightlifting and Olympic history: Israeli Olympian, Yossef Romano.

Yossef Romano, one of the Israeli Olympians who were murdered in Munich in 1972. (Wikipedia)

Born in Benghazi, Libya on April 15th, 1940 to a Jewish family, he was one of 10 children. When Yossef was six years old, the Romano family migrated to then-Mandatory Palestine. An interior decorator by trade, he discovered his love for Olympic Weightlifting at the age of eighteen and dreamed of representing the newly founded nation of Israel on the world stage at the Olympic Games. Competing in the lightweight (67.5kg) and middleweight (75kg) categories, Yossef held the Israeli national champion title for ten years. So dedicated he was to his craft, he often missed work for training, and was even fired from several jobs as a result. Not only that, Yossef also gave his time in service to the sport, simultaneously coaching and managing his association of Hapoel Tel Aviv. In 1971, his hard work finally paid off and his lifelong dream was realized when he was selected to represent Israel at the XX Olympiad in Munich, West Germany in the 75kg category. But Yossef was also a dedicated husband and loving father of three daughters, so he made a promise to his wife Ilana, that after he competes at the Olympic Games, he will retire from competition.

The competition itself however, was not the dream-come-true that Yossef, or any competitor, would have wanted. On the day of his competition on August 31, 1972, Yossef ruptured a tendon in his knee mid-competition and was forced to pull out with a DNF result. Yossef decided to stay for the remainder of the Games in support of his team, and was scheduled to fly back to Israel on September 6th for surgery.

On the evening of September 5th, just a few hours before his scheduled flight, a militant group known as the Black September Organization stormed their way into the Olympic Village in Munich where the Israeli athletes were staying and took hostage 11 members of the Israeli team including both coaches and athletes. Many scholars and journalists, more articulate and well-read than I, have recounted this event in great detail, so I wont delve into the specific chronology of events here. Instead, I want to focus on the acts of heroism displayed by Yossef.

A veteran of the Israeli military who have seen action in the 1967 Six Day War, Yossef sprang into action when the intruders came to their apartment block with the other hostages in an attempt to round up the remaining Israeli team. As they were being led out, Yossef attacked one of the gunmen and tried to disarm him so that he could give his teammates the opportunity to escape. He was able to injure the gunman and take his weapon away, but not before being overwhelmed by the rest of the assailants. Yossef was reportedly shot and tortured to death in front of his teammates, with his body left at their feet as a warning to others who dare to try. Tragically, a massacre ensued after a botched rescue attempt by the West German police, and none of the 11 Israeli hostages taken that night survived. Other victims from the Olympic Weightlifting community include coach and judge Yakov Springer (1921 1972), a Holocaust survivor and member of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, flyweight (52kg) Zeev Friedman (1944 1972), who finished 12th at Munich which was the highest rank achieved by any Israeli athlete at the time, and lightheavyweight (82.5kg) David Mark Berger (1944 1972), who was the Asian weightlifting silver medalist in 1971. Yossef Romano is survived by his wife Ilana, and his three daughters, Oshrat, Rachel, and Schlomit.

Yossefs story resonates with me on so many levels. For one, he and I competed in the same weight class, he at 67.5kg, and I at 67kg. Second, and most importantly, we are both military veterans. So each time I read about Yossefs story, I ask myself, would I have had the courage, the selflessness, and the gumption to do what he did so that my team can have a fighting chance, however slim? We all want to think of ourselves as the heroes of our stories, and we all want to believe that when the chips are down, we too would also act without hesitation to do the heroic, and right thing. But is this really a reasonable expectation to hold for ourselves? I argue, in these circumstances of extreme duress, its not reasonable for us to expect that we will spring into action the way Yossef did, simply because most of us wont have the training and preparation to overcome our fear and instincts of self-preservation in the moment. And we should not feel any guilt and shame for it. In the military, they train and drill us for years upon years to overcome this basic survival drive, so that we are able and willing to put ourselves in harms way, but that takes a lot of conditioning and training that is neither reasonable, desirable, nor practical for most people to undergo. This is precisely why I believe Yossef deserves to be placed on the pedestal of heroes for our sport. He really is extraordinary in every sense. Even as I write these words, I have goosebumps running down my back, and my eyes well up thinking about the character of this man.

Legendary weightlifting coach Greg Everett once wrote that he doesnt care about his athletes physical potential so much as he cares whether or not they have good character. So the question that Yossefs story makes me ask myself is, who am I outside of weightlifting? Not what am I, but who am I? This is a lesson I strive to impress on my athletes: before you try to be a good weightlifter, be a good person first, and the rest will follow. In the words of Auschwitz survivor Primo Levi, I also know how important it is in life not necessarily to be strong but to feel strong, to measure yourself at least once, to find yourself at least once in the most ancient of human conditions, facing blind, deaf stone alone, with nothing to help you but your own hands and your own head.

Thank you Yossef, for helping us understand what it means to be, and to feel strong. On this month, the 48th anniversary of your tragic passing, we remember you. May you rest in power.

Cheng Xu is a PhD student in political science at the University of Toronto. He has served for nearly 10 years in the Canadian Armed Forces as an infantry officer and paratrooper. He is also a nationally ranked competitive Olympic weightlifter, and is currently the head coach of a Toronto based Olympic weightlifting club, Rx Weightlifting.

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The forgotten Olympic weightlifting hero of the Munich massacre - The Times of Israel