She wasn't in a bucket. It wasn't some hijinx or PR stunt. But in an attempt to click just the right shot of one of the most picturesque Wonders of the World, a young woman fell from a railing into Niagara Falls.
Although authorities plan to continue their search for her body, they are presuming the woman has drowned in the Canadian side of the Niagara River.
Niagara Parks Police in Ontario say the Toronto area student was visiting the falls with a friend on Sunday night when she daringly climbed onto a railing near the river's edge and sat on a block pillar, her legs straddling the railing.
Then she stood and apparently lost her footing, falling into the river "about 80 feet upstream from the brink of the falls" with the river's strong current presumably sweeping her over the Falls. A foolish but incredibly tragic accident.
For Elisabeth Röhm, best known for her role as Serena Southerlyn on Law & Order, one is a very lonely number.
The 38-year-old actress lamented on her People.com blog about growing up as an only child and debated about inflicting the same upbringing on her 3-year-old daughter, Easton August.
"You see, I always wanted a big clan. I had visions of having five kids and living in a perpetual whirlwind — which so different from my own very simple only child existence with a single mother. Our house was chill, to say the least. No big fights on a daily basis. No mountains of laundry. No sit-down dinners where everyone talked over each other in a familiar rhythm. Nope, it was just me and my mom."
With upcoming roles in Chlorine, Transit, Abduction and Officer Down, Röhm hardly has time to consider an addition to her family, especially as she had to take the IVF route first time around.
30-year-old star of Spy Kids 4: All the Time in the World, Jessica Alba, who just gave birth to her second child -- a little girl named Haven Garner Warren -- recently expounded on the virtues of having more than one child, saying you're only “really officially, really truly a mom when you have two kids. [With] one kid you’re a mom for sure, but two takes it to another level.”
Röhm claims her single-kid home is "a breeze" and although she isn't pining for a baby, she really just wants it for her daughter so she "wouldn’t have to do this life thing on her own, as I’ve had to".
Is bigger really better when it comes to raising a family? Would you have a second child, as Röhm is suggesting, for your child's sake rather than for yours?
Ever since Bert and Ernie, Sesame Street's oldest Muppet characters, first made their appearance on the show's first episode in 1969, there has been speculation as to whether they were best friends with benefits.
The couple, who've shared a room and a bathtub over the years, led many to believe they were actually a gay couple living in a civil union.
On change.org, a petition was launched in the hopes of finally getting Bert and Ernie out of the closet once and for all.
"We are not asking that Sesame Street do anything crude or disrespectful," stated the petition. "Only that they allow Bert & Ernie to marry or even add a transgender character to the show. Let us teach tolerance of those that are different."
The petition, which gained 250 signatures on its first day alone, eventually garnered more than 5,000 'likes' on its Facebook page.
As you can imagine, quips galore ensued. "With all this talk about Bert & Ernie's sexual orientation, why is no one concerned with Oscar's homelessness?" tweeted @TheBillWalton.
Finally, Sesame Street had no choice but to deliver its official response and burst the bubble of homosexuals everywhere:
"Bert and Ernie are best friends. They were created to teach preschoolers that people can be good friends with those who are very different from themselves. Even though they are identified as male characters and possess many human traits and characteristics (as most Sesame Street Muppets™ do), they remain puppets, and do not have a sexual orientation."
Thank you, Sesame Street, for pointing that out. Next you'll tell us buxom blonde pigs can't sing and dance, either.
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