All posts tagged: Celebration

Pokémon TCG 30th Celebration: Viral video shows fans racing for cards

Pokémon TCG 30th Celebration: Viral video shows fans racing for cards

Published by Miika Tikkanen

Thirty years ago, catching Pokémon meant booting up a Game Boy. In 2026, apparently, it means getting to Target before sunrise and hoping the person in front of you doesn’t clean out the shelves. The Pokémon Trading Card Game’s highly anticipated 30th Celebration expansion arrived worldwide on Sept. 16, and fans have been extremely normal about it. By which we mean: not normal at all. SEE ALSO: 30 years of Pokémon: The memes that made it immortal Videos of the launch have flooded social media, showing enormous lines of would-be buyers waiting outside retailers and, in some cases, rushing for the cards once doors opened. One video, posted by a Pokémon card collector on X, captured adult shoppers sprinting toward a display and frantically shoving merchandise into their baskets. “It’s like wild chickens during feeding times 😭😭,” the poster wrote. This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. It’s the kind of scene that feels ripped from a Black Friday sale in the early 2000s, except everyone is here for …

A Celebration of Our Close Kinship with Other Primates

A Celebration of Our Close Kinship with Other Primates

Published by Jenni Sidey

While there are a good number of photographic books about a wide variety of non-human primates, renowned photographer Lennette Newell’s new book Primates: A Kinship with All Creatures stands out by offering unique, science-based insights into this group of fascinating, diverse mammals. Here’s what she had to say about this highly unique collection of photographs and facts. Marc Bekoff: Why did you publish Primates: A Kinship with All Creatures? Lennette Newell: I did not set out to do a primate book. I started photographing some primates that were confiscated after being brought into the U.S. on the black market. My work as a commercial photographer (in the niche market of pet advertising) gave me contacts across the entire animal network. I was able to photograph these primates, and from there my interest only grew. I began photographing every available situation, whether in a studio set at a facility or at a location; it became a fascination I wanted to share with a broader audience. My world has become clearer through these experiences, and they have …

The Other Celebration of America

The Other Celebration of America

Published by Daniella Wilson

The celebrations of America’s 250th birthday, though they offered many wonderful moments, did not provide the sweeping sense of national unity for which some people had hoped. Some Americans found the July 4 weekend too political, too polarizing, and offering too much President Trump. But another event this summer has proved to be a source of infectious patriotism: the World Cup. A tournament that started with so much angst—so much “ugh,” some might say—has turned into a joyful celebration of America. A nation that, by reputation, doesn’t even like soccer is now rallying around its upstart team. TV ratings are at an all-time high, attendance records are being set, and the American squad can advance to the quarterfinals if it triumphs in tonight’s game against Belgium. Politics have mostly been irrelevant (well, until yesterday’s red-card controversy), and many Americans have briefly set aside their red-versus-blue differences to rally together in the nation’s swirly red, white, and blue soccer kits. Something else has happened over the past four weeks of this tournament: People from around the …

A Celebration of Self-Care

A Celebration of Self-Care

Published by Jenni Sidey

It was the destination wedding to end all destination weddings. Just outside of Dublin, on 560 acres of emerald green countryside, sits a castle dating back to 1420. Queen Victoria stayed there. More voguish royalty, Sir David and Victoria Beckham, were married there. Now it was time for a new couple to fall beneath the castle’s spell—along with approximately 100 people who loved them enough to come from all corners of the planet to share their enchantment. And enchanted it was: The bride could not have been more beautiful, and the groom looked properly awestruck as he watched her approach, tears coursing down his cheeks. Every last detail of the ceremony flowed in perfect synchronization, without feeling too regimented; nothing had been left to chance except the weather. Normally, Dublin in May is a dicey time for an outdoor event, but on this day, even the sun couldn’t resist spying on the proceedings. It shone so brilliantly every guest seemed to glow from within. I was one of those guests, and, yes, I suspect I …

Rugby greats gather for celebration of Scott Hastings’ life

Rugby greats gather for celebration of Scott Hastings’ life

Published by Sam Flores

Scottish rugby greats have gathered in Edinburgh for a service in memory of Scott Hastings, who died earlier this year. The British and Irish Lions centre passed away on May 17 aged 61, following complications arising from his cancer treatment. Hasting won 65 caps in an 11-year Test career that began in 1986 and was part of the most recent Scotland team to win the Grand Slam in 1990. On a warm Saturday afternoon, members of the rugby community gathered at George Watson’s College – Hastings’ former school – for a celebration of his life. Among the hundreds in attendance were many of Hastings’ Scotland and British and Irish Lions team-mates, members of the wider rugby community and friends and family. Guests had been encouraged to wear colourful clothing and many sported bright pastels, colourful designs or tartans. Ahead of the event, the guests milled around in the front of the grand school building, with many former players chatting and reminiscing, before being piped up the steps and into the school. Scott’s brother Gavin Hastings, …

3 Caribbean Romances to Start the Celebration

3 Caribbean Romances to Start the Celebration

Published by Jenni Sidey

June is Caribbean History Month! What better way to celebrate than to explore some romance novels set in the Caribbean by Caribbean authors! This list is only a mini cupcake in the greater buffet of romance, and these picks are primarily set in the islands themselves, though a couple of the ones I couldn’t resist including feature characters traveling for work or vacation. These selections include people from across the region, with different traditions born from different colonizing, enslaving, and indigenous cultures past and present. We’ve got contemporary romance and historical fiction, and if you would rather read something fantastical but inspired by various Caribbean cultures and places, I’ve got a few recommendations for you at the end.  Once you’ve explored these books, make sure to further explore the reality and kaleidoscopic experiences of the people who live across the Caribbean, which extends beyond the four or five islands we as Americans think to visit via cruise stops, all-inclusive resorts, and Carnival vacations. Grab a map and point to one of the islands you see; …

War Horse review: A celebration of British literature and puppetry

War Horse review: A celebration of British literature and puppetry

Published by Daniella Wilson

A star rating of 3 out of 5. From Roald Dahl to Jacqueline Wilson, Enid Blyton and Anthony Horowitz, there are certain authors that have played a key role in inspiring a love of reading in British children. One of these authors is Michael Morpurgo. Morpurgo has a signature storytelling style, blending lyrical language with first-person narrative, often featuring historical tales and stories about animals. Speaking of which, War Horse, the story of a horse during the battles of World War One, is one of his most beloved tales. Despite achieving little commercial success after its publication in 1982, Morpurgo was approached by then National Theatre Associate Director Tom Morris, seeking his permission to adapt the book into the play. Few could have predicted the immense impact this would have on the future of theatre. After a hugely successful run at the National Theatre, War Horse transferred to the West End where it ran for eight years after winning two Olivier Awards. Since then, it has toured the world, dominated the Tony Awards and reached …

Trump’s 250th Celebration Is a Fiasco

Trump’s 250th Celebration Is a Fiasco

Published by Daniella Wilson

“You talk too damn much, and it’s too damn much about you.” That quote from Raymond Chandler’s The Long Goodbye is a good summary of the fiasco Donald Trump has made of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. You might have thought that presiding over such a celebration would be an easy success for Trump. He is a showman after all. He loves parades and extravaganzas. It was all an easy layup, a gimme, a chance for a now-unpopular second-term president to reinvent himself as the leader of all of the American people. The only thing he had to do was—for once in his life—not act like an insane egomaniac. He couldn’t do it. As things are developing, we’ll remember the story of America’s grandest commemorations as follows: One hundredth: a giant industrial exposition in Philadelphia. Two hundredth: a tall-ships regatta in New York harbor. Two hundred and fiftieth: a Trump flop in Washington, D.C. Trump knows he has botched the anniversary. He says so himself. Last night, he posted the following indictment …

Anti-Trump Entertainers Bolt From Freedom 250 Celebration

Anti-Trump Entertainers Bolt From Freedom 250 Celebration

Published by Jenni Sidey

Several entertainers abruptly backed out of President Donald Trump-linked Freedom 250 concerts this week after learning more details about the patriotic celebration planned for the National Mall. As American Greatness reports, the cancellations add to the long-running tensions between Americans and the politically progressive entertainment industry. Young MC, Morris Day, the Commodores, Bret Michaels, and country singer Martina McBride were among the performers who announced they would no longer appear at “The Great American State Fair,” a series of concerts and events scheduled for June 25 through July 10 in Washington, D.C. The event is being organized by Freedom 250, a group launched by Trump late last year that describes itself as a “national, non-partisan organization leading the celebration of our Nation’s 250th birthday.” Trump selected former State Department official Keith Krach to serve as the organization’s CEO. The cancellations came just one day after organizers unveiled the first wave of performers. McBride said on social media that she initially agreed to participate because she believed the event would remain politically neutral. “Yesterday things started changing and …

Darwin Day: A celebration of science and shared humanity

Darwin Day: A celebration of science and shared humanity

Published by Sam Flores

Author: Andrew Copson Charles Darwin by John Collier, 1883, based on a work of 1881 © National Portrait Gallery, London On 12 February, we celebrate the birthday of Charles Darwin, one of the most influential thinkers who ever lived, and one of Britain’s greatest scientists. To celebrate his life and legacy, an international coalition, including Humanists UK, campaigns for the day to be a public holiday and Humanists UK awards a Darwin Day medal at our national Darwin Day Lecture every year. The obvious way in which the life and example of Charles Darwin calls out to us today is in his scientific achievements. By establishing evolution by natural selection as a central explanatory principle, he demonstrated that through independent thought, careful observation, and the gathering of evidence, the enterprise of science can revolutionise not just how we view the world, but how we view ourselves.  Darwin’s work didn’t just revolutionise science; it had a profound impact on religion and philosophy. While the ‘crisis of faith’ in the 19th century predated him, Darwin’s work on …