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Joy

A mechanic found hundreds of canvases thrown into a dumpster and now they're worth millions

One man's trash is another man's treasure. Literally.

mechanic finds canvases in dumpster worth millions
Photo by Alfonso Navarro on Unsplash

When dumpsters become gold mines.

An odd trinket bought at a thrift shop turns out to be a bona fide antique. A small fortune is found stashed inside a piece of furniture on the side of the road. These are the magical jackpot moments that seem almost too good to be true. And yet, real stories like these keep the hope alive in our hearts.

In September 2017, auto mechanic Jared Whipple received a call from a friend about an abandoned barn house in Watertown, Connecticut, filled with several large canvases, each with bold colorful displays of car parts. Considering Whipple’s line of work, along with his general love for vintage items, the friend thought the artwork would be of interest to him.

By the time Whipple arrived on the site, all the pieces had been disposed of into a dumpster (next stop: landfill) and were covered in debris and mold. Luckily, each was individually wrapped in plastic.

Curious, Whipple began to unwrap a few of the canvases to get a better look.

Not only were they in good condition, but the quality of art was impeccable. Whipple immediately wanted to know more about the creator of these lovely works.

The answers didn’t come easy. In fact, the research ended up taking Whipple four years, but here’s what he found:

The works were created by Francis Mattson Hines. And he wasn’t exactly a no name. According to the Mattatuck Museum, Hines’ big claim to fame was weaving giant pieces of diaphanous fabrics around the Washington Square Arch in geometric patterns back in 1980. And though his story was publicly recognized in books and documentaries, much of Hines’ fame had diminished by the time of his death in 2016. Hence the less-than-fruitful Google search.

“Not only was this artist a ‘someone,’ but he was even more well known in the New York art world than we could ever have imagined,” said Whipple.

CT Insider reported that Whipple has collaborated with art gallery Hollis Taggart to give Hines’ work the proper respect and celebration it deserves, setting up a large exhibit in both Southport, Connecticut, and New York City. Each one will showcase 35 to 40 pieces, all available for sale.

And just how much will a Francis Hines piece go for? CT Insider also spoke with art curator and historian Peter Hastings Falk, who estimated that his drawings could go for $4,500, and wrapped paintings around $22,000. This makes the entire collection, full of hundreds of pieces, worth millions of dollars.

That’s right. What nearly went into a trash heap is now valued at a mega fortune level.

Go ahead. Pick up your jaw from the floor and read that again.

Of course, selling the art isn’t Whipple’s main focus. In addition to keeping some pieces for himself that he fell in love with, Whipple aims to work with major galleries in New York to establish Francis Hines as “a significant artist of the 20th and 21st century.”

The mechanic-turned-art-dealer told CT Insider his new purpose "is to get Hines into the history books.”


This article originally appeared three years ago.

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Motherhood

A Patagonia employee breastfed her baby in a meeting. Her male VP's response was perfect.

"It’s no wonder that Patagonia has 100% retention of moms."

Holly Morissette/LinkedIn
When a Patagonia employee breastfed her baby in a meeting her male VP's response was a masterclass in workplace values

Years after first engineering it, Patagonia's approach to the "family-friendly workplace" is on a whole new level that still deserves our attention - and praise. Unfortunately, parents all over the U.S. are struggling with burnout, high costs, unreliable childcare, poor paid leave, and more — in short, they're hanging on by a thread. But it's extremely reassuring to know that there are still some companies that value parents in the workplace and are fighting hard to keep them happy.

The outdoor clothing and gear company has made a name for itself by putting its money where its mouth is. From creating backpacks out of 100% recycled materials to donating their $10 million tax cut to fight climate change to refusing to sell to clients who harm the environment, Patagonia leads by example. It's made them not only an admired brand when it comes to values and integrity, but a beloved one with its own customers, who are fiercely loyal.

That dedication to principle is clear in its policies for parents who work for them, as evidenced by a 2019 viral post from Holly Morisette, a recruiter at Patagonia.


patagonia, workplace, office, career, benefits, paid leave, parental leave, parentingPatagona has always done a great job taking care of its employeesYukiko Matsuoka/Flickr

Morissette's stunning story begins with bringing her baby into a meeting at the office and proceeding to breastfeed as the team around her continued to discuss ROI, KPIs, EBITDA, and all those other acronyms corporate office culture loves so much.

That's when a male colleague took note of what she was doing.

Morrissette described the incident later on LinkedIn:

While nursing my baby during a morning meeting the other day after a recent return from maternity leave, our VP (Dean Carter) turned to me and said...”There is no way to measure the ROI on that. But I know it’s huge.”

It got me thinking...with the immense gratitude that I have for on-site childcare at Patagonia comes a responsibility to share a “call to action”. A PSA to tout the extraordinary benefits that come along with not asking employees to make the gut wrenching decision to either leave their jobs or leave their babies. TO HAVE TO LEAVE THEIR JOBS OR LEAVE THEIR BABIES. That perhaps just one person will brave the subject with their employer (big or small) in the hopes that it gets the wheels turning to think differently about how to truly support working families.

That with a bit of creativity, and a whole lot of guts, companies can create a workplace where mothers aren’t hiding in broom closets pumping milk, but rather visiting their babies for large doses of love and serotonin before returning to their work and kicking ass.

It’s no wonder that Patagonia has 100% retention of moms. Keeping them close to their babies keeps them engaged. And engaged mothers (and fathers!) get stuff done.

Thank you, Patagonia, for leading the way.

patagonia, kids, children, parenting, employee benefits, company culture, parental leave, paid leaveWhile nursing my baby during a morning meeting the other day after a…www.linkedin.com


The post gathered massive attention on social media where commenters were smitten, if a little jealous:

"I was never so confident to nurse during a meeting, but I love that you were. I especially love the response. No different than an adult eating a protein bar. No one should bat an eye."

"I am in absolute awe over your story and I thank you so much for sharing it. We go to work to support our families, but we stay with great companies because they support us as people, as humans, and they see us and appreciate us where we are at. Beautiful."

"Amazing! How I wish I had this with by kids. One of my "fun" memories was when I worked for an insurance company with no room available for nursing moms. I pumped 3 times a day in an empty office with no window shades nor a lock."

Just the first eight words of Morissette's post are extraordinary. "While nursing my baby during a morning meeting..."


the office, office, workplace, career, parenting, working moms, breastfeedingNot sure if Dwight Schrute would be as accomodating.Giphy

As if that's totally normal. As if everyone understands that working moms can be much more engaged and efficient in their jobs if they can feed their baby while they go over sales figures. As if the long-held belief that life and work must be completely separate is a construct that deserves to be challenged.

And then the comment from her male colleague about the ROI (Return on Investment) of breastfeeding—witty, considering the time and place, and yet so supportive.

On-site childcare so that parents don't have to choose between leaving their jobs or leaving their babies. Letting life integrate with work so that working families don't have to constantly feel torn in two different directions. Flexibility in meetings and schedules. Allowing for the natural rhythms and needs of breastfeeders. Making childcare as easy and accessible as possible so that employees can be more effective in their jobs.

All of this seems so profoundly logical, it's a wonder that more companies have not figured this out sooner. Clearly, it works. I mean, who has ever heard of a 100% retention rate for mothers?

But that's not all folks! Patagonia has extended its support for parents in recent years by allowing up to a staggering 16 paid weeks off. Parents and non-parents alike also enjoy top-notch healthcare, college tuition reimbursement, and so much more.


Patagonia founder discusses why the company's values are so importantwww.youtube.com

The company could almost be a case study in employee retention when it comes to parents. Experts say the things workers value the most in their career when they have children are paid time off, flexible scheduling, and help with childcare.

One more thing that makes a huge difference? A great manager who understands and supports the parent's needs. In this case, maybe one who doesn't flinch at a breastfeeding mother in the workplace.

Patagonia's got it goin' on. Let's hope more companies take their lead.

This article originally appeared on six years ago.

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Education

American English includes one of the rarest sounds on Earth, but we use it all the time

Er…this is odd.

Photo credit: Canva

Learning to make sounds we didn't grow up with can be tricky.

When (or if) kids learn phonics at school, they're taught the symbols that go with sounds of their country's native language or languages. People all around the world grow up learning to make specific sounds with their mouths by imitating the language(s) they are immersed in, which can leave us completely unaware of how many other sounds there are until we hear a language that's far different from our own.

Even the common foreign languages that American school kids learn have sounds that can be tricky to get down. The rolled "r" in Spanish. The nuances of French vowel pronunciations. The glottal stops in German. The sound that's a mix between "r" and "l" in Japanese. And for people learning English, one of the trickiest sounds to get down is "er," as in the American pronunciation of "bird," "world," "summer," or "percent."

Oddly enough, for as common as the "er" sound is in English, it's linguistically rare. According to the Linguistics Channel @human1011, the "er" sound is found in less than 1% of the world's languages, rarer than the click consonants found in some languages in East and Southern Africa.

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

As rare as the sound is, there are a lot of people in the world who use it, mainly because it's also used in Mandarin Chinese, or at least many variations of it. So, while there aren't many languages that use it, by sheer numbers of people, it's not that uncommon.

"So, a sound that's so rare that it's in less than 1% of the world's languages just happens to exist in the two most spoken languages on Earth? Can that really be a coincidence?" the @human1011 video asks. Well, yes. English and Chinese don't share a common linguistic root, so those sounds just happened to evolve in very different parts of the planet. According to some people in the comments of the video, there are regional dialects in Brazil where the "er" sound is used and in certain parts of the Netherlands as well.

Pronouncing the "er" sound is hard if you don't grow up with it, largely because it's all about the placement and shape of the tongue inside the mouth combined with the way the lips are positioned. That combination is physically tricky to show someone. This video, from a non-native-English-speaker does a good job of explaining the mouth movements that create the sound.

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

What's particularly interesting about the "er" sound in American English is that it functions as a vowel sound. Most of us learned that the vowels in English are a, e, i, o, u, and sometimes y, and that's true as far as written vowels go, but vowel sounds are different. In the word "bird," the letter "i" is a vowel, but doesn't make any of the "i" sounds that we learned in school. Instead, the "ir" combine to make the "er" vowel sound. It's called an r-controlled vowel, and we see it in tons of words like "work," "were," "burn," "skirt," etc.

Learn something new every day, right?

Here's another video that explains the physical aspects of articulating the r-controlled vowel sound.

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

Most of us don't think about the fact that sounds we pronounce without even thinking about it have to be specifically learned and practiced by people who didn't grow up with them. It's not until we start trying to learn a language that's different from our own that we see how many sounds we have to work hard to make, sometimes even having to train our mouth muscles in ways they've never been used before.

It's also a good reminder to be patient and kind with people who are learning a language. It's not easy, and anyone making an effort to communicate in someone else's language deserves our grace and kudos.

You can follow @human1011 on YouTube for more interesting linguistics trivia.

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Education

Swim coach's reaction when toddler tries to kiss him is a masterclass in teaching boundaries

People are impressed with how expertly and professionally he handled it.

Representative photo credit: Canva

It takes a village, as they say.

People who work with children—teachers, coaches, mentors—are often beloved by the kids they serve, especially if they're good at what they do. Those caring adult relationships are important in a child's life, but they can also lead to some awkward situations as kids learn appropriate ways to show affection to different people. A baby might cover their mother's face with slobbery kisses, but other adults may not appreciate that very much. As kids grow, they learn what's okay and not okay, not just from their parents but from the village of adults in their lives as well.

A perfect example of what that looks like was shared in a video showing a swim instructor at the end of a swim lesson with a toddler who hugged him and then went in for a kiss. The hug was expected and welcome—"Thank you, Mila. I love Mila hugs!" the swim coach said. But when she started to go in for a kiss, he immediately pulled back, gently saying, "No, no kissy. No kissy 'cause I'm coach. You only kiss Mommy and Daddy, okay?"

The little girl looked a bit dejected and started to cry, and he quickly gave her an acceptable alternative. "Okay, hey! High five!" he said, while holding up his hand. "High five 'cause we're all done!" She calmed right down, gave him a high five, and then he moved on to clean-up time.

Watch:


Teaching boundaries to children
byu/alucard_axel inMadeMeSmile


His expression at the end of the video says it all—he knew that was a teachable moment that could have gone very wrong, but he handled it with clear professionalism and toddler-friendly expertise. People loved seeing such a great example:

"So sweet... I sometimes have young clients who want to give kisses and it's so cute but you do have to tell them "no" because it's an important boundary to learn. Not everyone wants kisses!"

"On top of knowing not to do it to other people, it also teaches them for themselves that other people shouldn’t be just giving them kisses."

"The kid is absolutely adorable but that coach is on another level. Creating the boundaries while keeping it cool and recording the whole thing so the parents are extremely comfortable. Dude is setting a hell of example."

"It sounds like he's got a good balance between encouraging her growth and setting appropriate boundaries. Kids can be incredibly affectionate, and it's important to gently guide them in understanding what's suitable."

Jake Johnson Fox GIF by New GirlGiphy

"I also think it’s important for the parents’ comfort that a grown man swimming with their young girl isn’t overstepping boundaries/being predatory. From the outside looking in, it’s hard to know for sure when something is innocent or not. It’s better to just stay away from those situations as a whole."

"The little girls I used to babysit always tried to give me kisses (they were between 2-5) and I had to tell them that I’m not related to you, so you can’t kiss me. You can hi-five or hug me, but no kisses! They still give me running tackle hugs when they see me!"

A few commenters pointed out that some cultures see kissing as totally acceptable, as it's frequently used as a friendly greeting for people of all ages and genders. But even in those cultures, boundaries based on relationships and contexts are important to learn, and it's helpful when adults help teach those lessons so it doesn't all fall on the parents.

Well done, Coach. Thanks for giving us all such a fabulous example to follow.

This article originally appeared in January

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Pop Culture

People are loving this Irish language short film based on 'Mean Girls'

Cailíní Gránna celebrates the vibrancy of the Irish language in such a fun way.

Mumbro Top/Youtube

Never knew we needed this version.

The enduring appeal, relatable themes, and oh-so quotable lines of Mean Girls has not only made it a pop culture mainstay, but the inspiration for countless recreations—from musicals, to movie musicals (still pretty baffled by that) to hilarious skits. Still, even the most avid Internet consumer has probably never seen a Mean Girls parody quite like this one.

In honor of the iconic film’s upcoming 21st anniversary, as well as Seachtain na Gaeilge, the largest annual celebration of Ireland’s native language and culture, a drama company called Mumbro Top released a 10 minute short version of the movie, spoken entirely in Gaelic.

mean girls, film, 2004, classic, actresses, comedy, dramaIconic.media3.giphy.com

Cailíní Gránna (Mean Girls in Irish) certainly achieves both those goals—paying tribute to Tina Fey’s sharp and witty comedy, while championing the Irish language. You especially see this in some of the added fresh touches, like incorporating St. Brigid’s Day, having the Plastics wear green Irish garb instead of Santa suits for the talent show, and (my personal favorite) swapping Gretchen Weiner’s infamous “fetch” for “coolah boolah.”

Even the end credits play out over a lovely Irish cover to Chappell Roan’s hit ‘Hot to Go!!’ (aka Mhac Go Deo).

Watch:

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

Since its release, Cailíní Gránna has been met with glowing praise by viewers, many of whom gained a newfound appreciation for Gaelic because of it.

“Well... I'll never forget the irish word for ‘to die.’"

“I do not speak a hint of Irish and I'm not even from a place at all related to the country, nevertheless I watched all of this and it was great!!”

“help ‘an queercail cómhra’ is too good i'm definitely stealing that.”

“I don't speak a lick of gailge but this was so fun to watch & super well-made… I love how well you adapted gags from the original movie into an Irish context!!”

Gaelic (or Gaeilge) is one of the oldest and most historical languages in the world, dating back to as early as the 4th century. However, it was heavily suppressed during the English colonization of Ireland in the 1600s. In the 1800s and 1900s, there was a big revival movement, resulting in the establishment of Irish language schools, as well the creation of new literature, poetry and theatre trí Ghaeilge (through Irish).

Seachtain na Gaeilgem which translates to "Irish Language Week" was part of this movement. Back when it first began in 1902, it was indeed just a single week and limited to Ireland. However, over time it became a global event that couldn’t really be contained to a mere seven days, so festival organizers decided to extend the ‘seachtain’ to 17 days, but kept the original name due to its worldwide recognition.

Nowadays, Seachtain na Gaeilge (or ‘SnaG’, as it’s also known) is a truly global event, beginning on 1 March (St. David's Day) and running until St Patrick's Day on 17 March each year, with community-organized events including traditional céilís, concerts, quizzes, competitions, parades, history tours, lectures, and poetry nights intended to encourage the use of Gaelic.

Besides Cailíní Gránna, there have been a few recent pop culture moments that have also thrown Gaeling into the spotlight. Back 2023, two Irish-centric films, The Banshees of Inisherin and An Cailín Ciúin (The Quiet Girl) received Oscar noms. That same year, Paul Mescal received a bualadh bos (round of applause) for using his cúpla focal (few words) of Irish in an interview on the red carpet.

@dublinsfm104 “Go out there and use your cúpla focail.” ☘️ Paul Mescal talk about speaking Irish 😍 #paulmescal #dublin #diff #fyp #irish #ireland #normalpeople #aftersun #godcreatures #irishfilm ♬ original sound - dublinsfm104

Point being, all these efforts to keep the mother tongue alive seem to be working, and that’s so coolah boolah.

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Humor

1984 video of Robin Williams cracking up at his mom's jokes is the perfect comedy origin story

"So that's where he got it from."

YouTube | Awards Show Network

Robin Williams and his mom can't keep it together in 1984 video

Robin Williams kept audiences laughing for decades. From his early days on shows like Mork & Mindy to blockbuster hits like Mrs. Doubtfire and Aladdin, his comedic timing and sense of humor could tickle even the harshest critic. Since his tragic death in 2014 when he lost his battle with life long depression, people love to dig up his old comedic gems to reminisce on how funny he was.

Recently, a video resurfaced of the comedy actor, but this one is a little different. Instead of watching Robin razz talk show hosts or pull pranks on Muppets, you get to see him in a much more natural state–with his mom. It takes no time at all to see where Robin likely got his sense of humor from. The video is from a 1984 interview where celebrities were interviewed with their parents, so naturally Robins' mother Laurie Williams joined him for the segment.

The pair discussed a variety of topics as they seemingly took breaks between their tennis matches and the laughter is contagious. The laughter starts while they're volleying the ball back and forth over the net and continues well after with Laurie telling Robin to stop telling interviewers that he was a "fat little boy." She even pulled out an old black and white photo of the two as proof that he was a child of normal weight saying, "Is that a fat little boy?" to which Robin playfully interjects, "No, it's a marionette."

Robin Williams, Mrs Doubtfire, film, actor, comedy, legendRobin Williams Hello GIF by 20th Century Fox Home EntertainmentGiphy

Before long they were off to another subject, this time about Robin being a serious child while it was his mother who was the queen of jokes, often at his father's expense. They reminisce about Laurie pulling a rubber band out of her nose, tricking his father to sit on whoopee cushions and flapping her cheeks at the dinner table, a move Robin was known for.

In one part of the interview, Robin shares a story about how trusting his mother was when he became famous, saying, "Mom is so trusting, she's actually one of the few people who gave the Inquirer every picture we had in the house." Laurie replies, "That's right" before Robin finishes the story. "They came to the house going 'oh we represent English Space Magazine we'd like to..." Robin trails off then imitates his mother's response, "'OH! Here take everything! Here's a...here's a little picture of him as not as a fat little boy. Here's a picture of him in the tub'," he goes on playfully as Laurie watches and laughs.

The video has been shared on multiple social media platforms with people commenting on how much fun the mother-son duo seemed to be having. It made others miss seeing him on their screens or miss hearing the sound of his laughter, while others came to a realization about the genuine nature of his laugh with his mom.

"This is wonderful. The saddest thing about this is that when you hear Robin's real laugh, you realize you've never actually heard him laugh before... just act like it in films. He was never not funny. He was never not surrounded by laughter. But to hear his own real laugh, you realize, was a rare thing his whole life," one person writes.

robin williams, robin, comedian, actor, comedyWhats Up Hello GIFGiphy

"This entire video had me smiling from ear to ear. I honestly lost it at the part where Laurie did the rubber-band trick. Robin's laugh over seeing her do it makes it all the more hilarious," someone else says.

Another person shares, "I love the moments where Robin's mom is even more outrageous than him. You can see where he got his humor from. It's wonderful that he had a good relationship with her. RIP to both of them Laughing and smiling together now too hopefully."

While one commenter chimes in with, "that infectious laughter he had here, makes me sooo happy! The laugh, the facial features, the humor, he DEFINITELY inherited all that from his mom. Mrs Laurie Williams, I'm sure you are so very proud of your boy. <3"

Robin will always be missed by his adoring fans for not only his talent but for who is was as a person. He has left behind a legacy of kindness, advocacy, and laughter that has continued and will continue for years to come.

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