Lifestyle

Tell us: What's your highest vet bill?

Published

3 hours ago

August 14, 2024

Meet Zia, my dilute calico who enjoys chasing droplets of water in the tub and lying flat on her back, like a fluffy rug in a log cabin. In her two years of life she’s spent quite a bit of time at the vet, for eye infections and painful cold sores, among other things. The bills from each visit have added up, making her an especially costly member of my household.

Zia, a frequent visitor to the vet for minor but costly issues.

(Deborah Vankin)

The cost of veterinary care has ballooned over the last decade, rising more than 60%, according to a recent New York Times report. This is due to a number of converging factors, among them: more expensive drugs and vaccines, the rising cost of staffing vet offices and the ongoing corporatization of independent veterinary practices. And as medical technologies and treatments for our pets advance — MRIs, chemotherapy, allergy testing, even acupuncture — so too has the average cost of a vet visit.

I know I’m far from alone in bearing the financial burden of this expensive system. We’d like to hear from you in the form below, with stories of your vet bill woes throughout the Southern California area. And if you’ve discovered more affordable or alternative treatments for your pets’ medical needs, we’re all ears. Please be sure to include your first and last name, where you live in SoCal and your contact information. We may email you with follow-up questions and may include your response in a future story.

Lifestyle

For Ukraine’s Olympic breakdancers, ‘shining’ is more important than winning

Published

2 hours ago

August 14, 2024

Press Room

For Ukraine’s Olympic breakdancers, ‘shining’ is more important than winning

Oleh Kuznetsov, who goes by B-boy Kuzya, performs the freeze element, freezing for a few seconds in unusual and extremely difficult positions.

Anna Gondek-Grodkiewicz for NPR

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Anna Gondek-Grodkiewicz for NPR

NPR is in Paris for the 2024 Summer Olympics. For more of our coverage from the Games, head to our latest updates.

WARSAW, Poland — A rocking beat of energetic music fills every corner of a spacious, sun-drenched sports complex in the Polish capital. After some stretching and warming up, three breakers and their trainer are practicing complex dance and acrobatic moves.

Breaking, also known as breakdancing, is making its Olympic debut as a sport this week in Paris. A team of female and male Ukrainian athletes, called “B-girls” and “B-boys,” have gone through a three-year selection process on their way to the Summer Games and finally got together in a training camp here last month.

Breakdancing In The Olympics? Paris 2024 Organizers Say, 'Oui, Garçon!'

Kateryna Pavlenko, 29, or B-girl Kate, looked at herself in the mirror as she danced, a look of growing confidence on her face. “When we just knew that breaking is going to be in the Olympics, I had no doubt I’m going to do everything to end up there,” she said.

Kateryna Pavlenko, B-girl Kate, prepares to compete in the debut breakdancing competition in the Paris Olympics.

Kateryna Pavlenko, 29, aka B-girl Kate, was born in Kharkiv and moved to the U.S. in 2021. As soon as she found out that breaking would be in the Olympics, she knew she would be there.

Anna Gondek-Grodkiewicz for NPR

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Anna Gondek-Grodkiewicz for NPR

Pavlenko, another Ukrainian b-girl, Anna Ponomarenko, and two B-boys came here to train for the Games. In a one-on-one breaking competition, two dancers take turns showcasing their skills, moves, character, style and musicality, each trying to outshine the other. After all the rounds are completed, judges determine the winner.

Ukrainians have known breaking since Soviet times, when authorities disapproved of it, which gave it a special appeal as a kind of cultural forbidden fruit. They usually first discovered it thanks to video cassettes of movies such as Breakin’ (1984) that were brought home by citizens, often diplomats, who had the right to travel abroad.

After the Cold War ended, many teenagers watched battles — or competitions — of American B-boys and B-girls on pirated hip-hop music videos, pausing them to learn the moves and style.

Georgii Matiukhin, the team manager, was one of those teens.

Gold medalist Yaroslava Mahuchikh celebrates her win in the women's high hump final at the Paris Olympic Games, on a day when Ukrainian athletes won three medals. Ukrainian athletes are dedicating their victories to the Ukrainian people who face a grinding invasion by Russia.

“We were a generation without any school,” Matiukhin said. “We found VHS tapes, watched them, and tried to repeat. The first tapes we watched were American breakers Rock Steady Crew, from New York, and style elements from the West Coast.”

Breaker Kateryna Pavlenko (from left), team manager Georgii Matiukhin and coach Denys Semenikhin show their pride in representing Ukraine at the Olympics.

Anna Gondek-Grodkiewicz for NPR

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Anna Gondek-Grodkiewicz for NPR

In the early 2000s, Ukrainian breaking made its way to international battles and championships, where Ukrainians showed good results.

Matiukhin said he believes breaking has gained such popularity and development in his country because dance “has always been in the blood of Ukrainians.”

Breaking, which was born in the Bronx, now shows many cultural influences, notably from South Africa and Brazil. Ukrainian folk dances, such as the arms-crossed, foot-kicking hopak, are also an inspiration to many — especially the three athletes training here.

Denys Semenikhin, B-boy Gimnast, is the coach of the Ukrainian Olympic breaking team. He started breaking in 2001 and was born and lives in Zaporizhzhia, in southeastern Ukraine. He says the psychological state of athletes is no less important than the physical. The opportunity to represent Ukraine during the war is a great honor but also a challenge for the athletes, he says.

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Anna Gondek-Grodkiewicz for NPR

Oleh Kuznetsov, or B-boy Kuzya, age 34, says his footwork demonstrates how classical elements from Ukrainian folk dances can be interpreted in modern breaking. For him, representing Ukraine is a great honor.

“I want to show that we have nice big and shiny souls and that I am representing my country and my culture,” he said.

50 years ago, teenagers partied in the Bronx — and gave rise to hip-hop

At the Olympics, Ukrainian breakers will compete in groups of athletes in a battle format. Nine judges will evaluate the athletes according to criteria including originality, technique and “vocabulary,” or the variety of dance moves deployed.

Unlike in figure skating, where athletes practice the same choreography for months, even years, in breaking, the athletes do not know the music in advance, so the ability to adapt and improvise is key.

Oleksandr Gatyn-Lozynskyi, B-boy Lussysky, the team reserve (left), and Oleh Kuznetsov, B-boy Kuzya, work out and stretch as part of their preparation for the Olympics.

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Anna Gondek-Grodkiewicz for NPR

Denys Seminikhin, the team’s coach, says the breakers’ psychological state is no less important than their physical fitness, emphasizing that representing the country during the war is a great challenge for the athletes.

“Shining is more important than winning,” Pavlenko said. With her performance, she says she wants to return the world’s attention to Ukraine.

“Of course, I want to win a medal,” she adds. “I feel proud to represent my country and I want to make my people proud, as well.”

Oleh Kuznetsov, B-boy Kuzya, trains for the Paris Games. “I want to show that we have nice big and shiny souls and that I am representing my country and my culture,” he says.

Anna Gondek-Grodkiewicz for NPR

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Anna Gondek-Grodkiewicz for NPR

Lifestyle

Sunday Puzzle: This puzzle is as easy as 1-2-3!

Published

9 hours ago

August 14, 2024

Press Room

Sunday Puzzle

NPR

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NPR

On-air challenge: The word BANANA is spelled with 1 B, 2 Ns, and 3 As. Identify each of the following words from their 1-2-3 combinations of letters.

1 A, 2 Os, 3 Ts
1 H, 2 Us, 3 Bs
1 L, 2 As, 3 Ms
1 N, 2 Cs, 3 Os
1 H, 2 Os, 3 Rs
1 P, 2 Os, 3 Ws
1 L, 2 Gs, 3 Os

Last week’s challenge: Last week’s challenge came from listener Judy Seaman, of Sandy Springs, Ga. Think of a famous American woman with a two-syllable last name. The first syllable is spelled like a body part, but isn’t pronounced like one. The second syllable is pronounced like a body part, but isn’t spelled like one. Who is this famous woman?

Challenge answer: Amelia Earhart

Winner: Michael Carniello of Deerfield, Ill.

This week’s challenge: This week’s challenge comes from listener Greg VanMechelen, of Berkeley, Calif. Think of a popular food item in six letters. Change the last two letters to a K to make a common five-letter word in which none of the letters are pronounced the same as in the six-letter food. What food is this?

Submit Your Answer

If you know the answer to the challenge, submit it here by Thursday, August 15th at 3 p.m. ET. Listeners whose answers are selected win a chance to play the on-air puzzle. Important: include a phone number where we can reach you.

Lifestyle

'It Ends With Us' Cast and Crew Don't All Hate Justin Baldoni, But Feud's Real

Published

10 hours ago

August 14, 2024

Press Room

'It Ends With Us' Cast and Crew Don't All Hate Justin Baldoni, But Feud's Real

Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively‘s cast and crew agree there’s conflict between the “It Ends With Us” costars — but we’ve learned he’s not the clear-cut villain, as some people who worked on the film are standing with Justin.

Production sources tell TMZ … JB, who directed and co-starred in the romantic drama, is actually viewed quite favorably by a lot of the crew, as he was generally a nice guy to work with and cared a lot about the production.

blake lively getty 2

Despite reports the cast and crew are rallying around Blake in the feud with Justin over creative differences … we’re told that’s an overstatement.

Our sources say the truth is more like civil war — there are definitely people siding with Blake, but there are also those who feel like Justin got screwed. While he’s gone solo on the press tour promoting ‘It Ends’ … we’re told several people on the crew understand why.

For instance, Blake — who produced the flick — did hire her own editor and had her hubby Ryan Reynolds do last-minute rewrites on the script, even though this was supposed to be Justin’s project.

MAY 2023

We’re told the creative struggle was obvious, at times, on set — as we showed you one animated convo between Blake and Justin was captured by bystanders during filming.

The sources we spoke to felt Blake was eager to be seen as a creator, and that’s why she tried to seize creative control of the film from Justin.

We’re also told he’s over the drama and looking to put it all in his rearview — which is why he suggested last week Blake should direct the sequel.

As for all the stories about the on-set beef … one source says cast members are milking the drama by design. It’s called marketing.

The source pointed to similar buzz 2 years ago about director Olivia Wilde and her “Don’t Worry Darling” stars Florence Pugh and Harry Styles feuding — and that movie earned nearly $90 million at the box office.

We’ve reached out to Justin and Blake’s reps for comment … so far, no word back.