Monthly Archives: July 2016

Awesome Places

Germany’s Nuclear Alternative!

When is a nuclear power plant not a nuclear power plant? When it winds up being turned into an amusement park… which is what happened when Germany found itself having to make alternative plans for  a nuclear plant that went belly up!

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Way back in 1972, construction began on the proposed power plant, which was located about an hour outside of Dusseldorf. But as will happen with such projects, it quickly ran afoul of skyrocketing costs and public controversy.It was completed in 1985… just in time for the Chernobyl  disaster make the world think twice about the viability of nuclear power.

By 1991, the whole project — which had never gone operational despite an investment of over $5 billion — was scrapped, with the property put up for sale.

And that, friends, is where the awesome begins.

Because in 1995, the whole kit-and-caboodle went up for sale, with a Dutch investor named Hennie van der Most buying it up and transforming into into what was originally known as Kerwasser Wunderland. Now, seeing as that translates to “Corewater Wonderland,” it’s probably pretty easy to understand why in 2005, they changed the name to Wunderland Kalkar.

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Amazingly, the cooling tower — aka that thing most people think of, visually, when they picture a nuclear power plant — still sits at the center of the park. But now, the exterior has been transformed into a pretty amazing 130-foot-tall rock climbing wall, while the inside houses a chair-swing ride.

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While the park isn’t exactly a Walt Disney World size resort, it does cover a pretty respectable 136 acres, and includes a hotel, several restaurants and more. It also features about 4ml0 attractions, with a heavy emphasis on rides that are kid/family friendly. (Never fear, thrillseekers… there’s also a roller coaster!)

A one-day ticket to the park will cost around $25, including a tour explaining the history of the unique park.

 

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Awesome Animals

Shelter Puppy Heals Fractured Hearts

Chiliana Kennedy may be the lead in Broadway’s “Beautiful: The Carole King Musical,” but at home, pups Molly and Dolly are the real stars. And the story of how Dolly, an adopted shelter puppy, helped the other members of the household learn to love again is truly something to sing about.

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In a recent New York Post piece, writer Barbara Hoffman shared the heartwarming story just as New York City is preparing for the 18th annual Broadway Barks event. Kennedy reveals that six years ago, both she and Molly (a Portuguese water dog) were taking her divorce pretty badly.

Proving that people and pets are deeply connected on an emotional level, Kennedy says that Molly was “lethargic and didn’t even want to eat. When I went to work, the look of sadness on her face broke my heart.”  Deciding Molly needed a friend, Kennedy eventually added a poodle-terrier-dachshund mix she found on a rescue Web site into their household. And the rest, as they say, is history!

Although Dolly was petrified of people after having been taken from an emotionally abusive home, she quickly adjusted to life with her new forever family. And the newbie helped Molly, too! “They healed each other,” Kennedy tells the paper, adding that they had the same effect on her.

Flash-forward a few years, and the household now includes a new man and a baby. Because what sort of fairy tale would not include high school sweethearts reconnecting 14 years later, as Kennedy and beau Jacob James did? Making the story even more dramatic: He actually tried to stop her first marriage by calling, out of the blue and after having not spoken for two years, to say she couldn’t go through with it! (In recounting the tale to Playbill, she admitted, “I hung up on him!”)

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Next on Kennedy’s appearance list is the aforementioned Broadway Barks, an amazing event created in 1999 by Bernadette Peters and Mary Tyler Moore. Featuring, as they used to say, “more stars than light up the heavens,” BB helps New York City’s shelter animals find forever homes while also raising money. For those who’d love to show their support, but can’t actually attend the event, the organization sells Man’s Best Friend bracelets, which can be purchased here!

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Awesome Music

Choir Creates A Musical Moment You’ll Never Forget

Take a second to go get a pair of headphones and some tissues. We’ll wait. Now… get ready to be transported by a 1,500 voice choir led by guest vocalist Rufus Wainwright. And then, after you’ve watched the video and said to yourself, “I must take part in this,” keep reading. We’ll tell you how you can do just that!

Okay, now take a moment and compose yourself.

So obviously, you’re thinking, “How can I join this awesome group of people?” Well, the first step is… to go to or already be in Canada. Normally, Choir! Choir! Choir! meets weekly in the backroom of Clinton’s Tavern in downtown Toronto.

How It Works

As their site explains, “You show up, you get a lyric sheet, and become part of Choir! Choir! Choir! You will join a group of highs, mids or lows, and by the end of the night, master three-part harmonies for a pop song or two.” They have two Facebook groups: One for those who want to attend on a Tuesday and one for those who want to attend on a Wednesday.

Meet The Founders

Daveed Goldman and Nobu Adilman launched Choir! Choir! Choir! back in 2011 as a “weekly, no-commitment singing event.” Since then their musical empire has expanded to include singing workshops, music festivals and even leading corporate team-building sessions. Meanwhile, their weekly sessions have found their devotees singing songs from the catalogues of everyone from A-Ha to Yazoo. (Come on, guys! We’re gonna need you to do a ZZ Top number, if only to complete the A-to-Z thing we’ve got going here!

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Got a special event coming up? You can even hire the Choir folks to perform. They’ll gather a group of singers, train them and put on a show! Imagine wooing your special lad or lady by having a bunch of people to stand outside their window and sing “In Your Eyes.” On second thought, no need to imagine it… here’s what it would sound like!

For more on Choir! Choir! Choir!, click here.

Awesome TV Shows

Happy Endings: The Lost Episode!

Ready for the most ah-mah-zing news of all time? You’re not, trust us, but we’re going to share it with you anyways: Happy Endings, aka the funniest show in the history of television (and that’s just science!), is coming back!

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Okay, sure, it’s only for one episode, and it’s not actually going to be airing on TV. But if you’re like us, you’ll take another dose of the gone-too-soon sitcom any way you can get it!

The Details

The live reading of the never-aired script will take place at EW PopFest this October. Presented by the folks at Entertainment Weekly, the “ultimate pop culture  event” will also feature a performance from Nick Jonas, the cast of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend crooning a coupld of that show’s signature tunes, and a closing-night celebration marking the 20th anniversary of the flick Scream.

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All this and more will take place at The Reef in downtown L.A. on the weekend of October 29 and 30th.  But let’s get back to why we’re really stoked…

The Main Event

For those not in the know, Happy Endings focuses on the comedic misadventures of six friends who don’t live in New York City or hang out in a coffee shop. Sadly ratings would indicate there are a lot of people not in the know. Heck, Rolling Stone called Happy Endings “the most underrated, under-watched series on TV… that may also be the funniest.”

But nothing we say here will actually sell you on the cancelled show the way the show will sell itself. So here’s a fantastic introduction in the form of a 10-minute mini-episode comprised of the six webisodes known as “Happy Rides.”

Having now met Penny, Brad, Max and the rest of the gang, your new mission in life is clear: Head to Hulu.com and watch all 57 episodes. Then, stay tuned for the inevitable moment when the PopFest reunion hits the web… and you know it will! And if you’ll be in the L.A. area and want info on attending Popfest, click here!

Awesome Apps, Awesome Websites

Pokémon Go Ultimate Hack!

Confession time: We have not caught a single Caterpie or thrown even one PokéBall. But we get that a whole lot of folks think Pokémon Go is the most awesome thing to come down the pike since Candy Crush (which is the game we’re still playing, thank you very much!). With that in mind, we’re pointing you toward a guide that is going to change how you play the game.

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The folks at Lifehacker.com — which describes itself as offering “tips, tricks and downloads for getting things done” — are ready to help you take your game to the next level. Literally. In fact, they claim that by following their extensive list of helpful tips, you will “go from novice trainer to unbeatable gym leader faster than you can spit out the PokéRap.”

And yes, there’s such a thing as a PokéRap.

Live and learn, kids. Live and learn.

In any case, the article will teach you tricks like how to earn more experience points, why you want to transfer pokémon with low combat power to Professor Willow in exchange for candies, and how a Lucky Egg can give you a major boost.  (It almost sounds like we know what we’re talking about, doesn’t it?) And we’re told the advice on how to “take over PokéGyms With Ease” is a must-read for those playing in teams.

Now, for those of us uneducated in all things Pokémon Go, a lot of this reads like wildly entertaining gibberish. For example, this pro tip the site offers up: “Evolving four Pidgeys into Pidgeottos will cost you 48 candies and net you 4,000 XP with a Lucky Egg activated, but just one Pidgeot will cost you 50 candies and only get you 1,000 XP with a Lucky Egg.”

But for those in the know, the article not only contains lots of helpful tips, but contains a ton of helpful links. So read it, absorb it… and then go forth and capture!

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Awesome Music, Awesome Videos

The Beards Bid Farewell

We’re pretty sure that when you think bands with beards, you think of ZZ Top. Who doesn’t, right?

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Anyone who’s ever heard the awesome music of the Australian group The Beards… that’s who!

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Originally founded back in 2005 in Adelaide, South Australia — not be confused with Arendelle, the fictional home of Anna and Elsa — the foursome have since developed a cult following by singing about nothin’ but beards, beards, beards. (In fact, that happened to be the name of their second album… <i>Beards, Beards, Beards</i>!

Now, most people consider their breakout hit to be a tune called “If Your Dad Doesn’t Have A Beard, You’ve Got Two Mums,” we’re partial to a tune called “I’m In The Mood For Beards.”

In 2015, the band marked a decade of making music by putting out a 2-disc compilation called “Ten Long Years, One Long Beard” and now, it looks as if they are doing a farewell tour, with their final performance slated to be held October 28, at The Governor Hindmarsh in the place where it all started, Adelaide, Australia.

We’re not sure exactly why they’re calling it quits… heck, maybe they’re just itching to shave! But we know that if they put on a show anywhere we can get to, we’ll be there!

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Awesome People, Awesome Products, Awesome Websites, Uncategorized

Anxiety Blob Is Here To Help!

We’ve all felt anxiety at one point or another, but have you ever wondered what it might actually look like? When Nanea Hoffman, founder of Sweatpants & Coffee, decided to not only face her anxiety but give it form, she found it to be slightly lumpy, vaguely worried… and surprisingly cuddly! And thus, the Anxiety Blob was born.

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Before long, the folks at SP&C had teamed up with Fleece Menagerie, makers of a pretty fantastic assortment of stuffed animals, to turn AB, as we like to call him/her, into a creature so adorable, you’ll happily take your anxieties to bed each night.
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If you’re not familiar with Sweapants & Coffee, you really should be. The site — which bills itself as “a bastion of comfort and sanity in an often uncomfortable world” — has been providing readers with thoughtful commentary, inspirational memes,  hysterical weekly tweet round-ups and so much more on a daily basis since it’s inception three years ago. And given that our own mission here at Moment of Awesome is to offer people a daily respite from their worries, cares and concerns, it’s only natural that we’d love a site devoted to helping people feel better about themselves and the the world in which we live.

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Better still, Nanea — yes, we’re fortune enough to be on a first-name basis with the site’s Big Cheese — is one of the best people you could ever hope to cross paths with. She and her crew work hard to cultivate a cross-section of regular and guest columnists who give the site a true feeling of community. There’s a reason so many visitors walk away knowing that they’ve found their “tribe!”

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Now, if you’re wondering how in the world you’ve lived without an Anxiety Blob of your very own for so long, then click here to order your very own. Like the anxieties which spawned them, no two Blobs area alike. And because everyone — including that friend you think has it all together — has things bubbling beneath the surface you probably know nothing about, they also make the perfect gift!

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Awesome Animals, Awesome Videos

Fall In (Puppy) Love With This Corgi Video

The whole reason we created Moment of Awesome was to make people smile. So when we sat down to think about what we’d feature on the first day of our launch (technically, a re-launch), we knew it had to involve a puppy. Who doesn’t love puppies in general, and corgi’s in particular? And once we’d made that decision, well… the rest fell into place.

Meet Hercules, a Welsh Corgi who is about to take you through a typical day in his life. You might as well bookmark this page right now, because you’re going to find yourself wanting to spend time with Hercules every time you need a pick-me-up.

So welcome to Moment of Awesome… which will likely never be able to post anything better than this in the future. But we’ll try!