Latest news with #HuntingtonLibrary
CBS News
31-07-2025
- CBS News
Stinky Corpse Flower blooms at the Huntington Library, but not for long
A putrid-smelling, not-so-dainty flower bloomed overnight in San Marino. The Huntington Library's Corpse Flower bloom emits the stench of rotten meat, and it attracts the curious who want to see and smell the rare plant. Its scent has also been likened to stinky cheese or boiled cabbage, but the window of opportunity to take it in is very brief, as the bloom lasts for less than 24 hours once every few years. The short-lived Corpse Flower bloom size is part of the plant's lure, but Huntington Library Associate Curator Brandon Tam says it's really about the odor, which also attracts natural pollinators like flesh flies. "Everyone's nose is a little different. But no one forgets the smell once you have smelled it," he said. The plant grows from a large corm, a bulb-like tuber under the soil, and is native to the rainforests of western Sumatra, Indonesia. It can grow to more than 8 feet high and 4 feet in diameter. There has been a Corpse Flower in bloom 28 times at the museum. The first one at the Huntington was in 1999, and it was historic as it was the first recorded bloom in California, according to Tam. He said very few botanical gardens had the plant at the time, so it was the Huntington's mission to conserve and share them. "One of our core responsibilities as a botanical garden is to share plants, propagating and distributing rare species to help ensure that they aren't lost," Tam said. In honor of one of the most famous paintings housed at the museum, "The Blue Boy," this year's bloom is named "The Green Boy." The Huntington is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Monday. Reservations are required Friday through Sunday.
Elle
19-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Elle
Jason Segel Proposes to Dance Star Kayla Radomski
On June 18, Jason Segel and Kayla Radomski announced they were engaged with photos from the proposal shared on Instagram in an adorable carousel. The So You Think You Can Dance star captioned the post 'FOREVER YES,' adding a diamond ring and heart emojis. In the photos, they're stationed in front of a classical statue and columns at the Huntington Library in Pasadena and surrounded by massive flower arrangements. Segel, wearing a suit, is kneeling before an emotional Radomski who is wearing a sleeveless black plaid dress with fringe details. They are seen smiling, sharing a kiss, and then seated at a romantic meal with champagne. So who is Radomski and how did she and Segel connect? Here's everything we know so far. Kayla Radomski was born in 1991 in Denver, Colorado, per her IMDB profile. She was interested in dance from a young age and started dancing competitively when she was only seven-years-old. In 1999, she was named Miss Pre-Teen Colorado and in 2004 she appeared in a Britney Spears Tour concert video. She is perhaps best known for competing in season 5 of So You Think You Can Dance. Radomski was living in Aurora, Colorado, when she auditioned, and won praise from choreographer Sonya Tayeh, who called her audition 'smoking hot, slick, and slippery.' In her audition introduction, she shared that she lived with her mom and grandparents, who were very supportive of her dance dreams. Radomski came in fourth place on the show, and went on to have a number of roles acting and dancing in film. She appeared in Quentin Tarantino's 2019 film Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood. In 2024, she appeared in the short film Ukrainian Dance Movie as Katya, and in the horror movie Bunker. She also dance live at the 2019 Billboard Music Awards for Taylor Swift and Brendon Urie's performance of 'ME!' She shared a picture of herself hugging Swift, writing, 'I am forever grateful to be a part of this special moment!!' Segel and Radomski were seen in photos published by the Daily Mail in October 2023, holding hands at Universal Studios Hollywood's Halloween Horror Nights. In January 2024, they made their red carpet debut at the Golden Globes were Segel was nominated for his performance in Shrinking. Radomski celebrated Segel on Instagram writing, 'I am so incredibly proud of you!!!! What a dream. You are absolutely one of the hardest working and most deserving humans on this planet. My Golden Globe Nominee! I love that we got to spend a whole day celebrating YOU and your talent!!! I love you so much baby!' In April 2024, she shared a picture of them enjoying a tropical vacation.
Pink Villa
19-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Pink Villa
Who is Kayla Radomski? Find All About Jason Segel's Fiancée and So You Think You Can Dance Alum
Jason Segel is officially engaged to Kayla Radomski. The Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Shrinking actor proposed in a romantic garden setting at the Huntington Library in Pasadena. Radomski shared the news on Instagram on June 18 with the caption, 'FOREVER YES.' The couple has been together since late 2023. The proposal featured pink and red flower arrangements and rose petals scattered on the ground. Kayla appeared surprised and emotional as Jason got down on one knee. A day later, the couple was spotted having lunch at El Cholo in Los Angeles, with Kayla's engagement ring on full display. Jason Segel and Kayla Radomski's relationship timeline Segel and Radomski were first seen together in October 2023, holding hands at Universal Studios Hollywood's Halloween Horror Nights. They made their red carpet debut at the 2024 Golden Globes, where Jason was nominated for his performance in Shrinking. At the time, Kayla celebrated the moment on Instagram, writing, "What a dream. You are absolutely one of the hardest working and most deserving humans on this planet. My Golden Globe Nominee! I love that we got to spend a whole day celebrating YOU and your talent!!! I love you so much baby!" Since then, she has continued supporting Segel at events like the Shrinking Season 2 premiere and the 2024 Emmys, calling him "the best man this lady could dream up." Here's what to know about Kayla Radomski Kayla Radomski is a professional dancer and actress. She gained national attention in 2009 as a finalist on Season 5 of So You Think You Can Dance, where she finished in fourth place. At the time, she was 18 and living in Aurora, Colorado. She has since worked on several significant projects, including dancing alongside Taylor Swift and Brendon Urie in their 2019 Billboard Music Awards performance of ME!. Radomski also had a dance scene in Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Hollywood with Leonardo DiCaprio, as per PEOPLE. In addition to her dance career, Kayla has acted in films such as Bunker and the short film Ukrainian Dance Movie. Speaking about her role in the latter, she said the character holds a very special place in her heart.
Daily Mail
18-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Jason Segel's new fiancee Kayla Radomski flashes giant engagement ring in first sighting since proposal
Jason Segel and his fiancee Kayla Radomski were spotted in their first sighting since getting engaged. The movie star, 45, and the professional dancer, 34, looked loved up as they enjoyed a casual stroll in Los Angeles. Kayla proudly flaunted her stunning diamond engagement ring during their outing while rocking a casual look of a brown shirt with jeans. Their sighting comes after exclusively reported that he officially popped the question to her at The Huntington Library in Pasadena on Monday evening. Kayla confirmed the news on Tuesday morning with a carousel of images from their engagement to her Instagram page. For their engagement at Huntington Library on Monday, Kayla wore a fringed black dress with her hair loose around her in waves. Jason was pictured down on one knee for the proposal, wearing a black suit and tie with a white button up top. She shared a series of snaps from the special moment, adding the simple caption: 'Forever yes,' with an engagement ring and heart emoji. A source told 'The proposal occurred in the Huntington Library's rose garden, and was captured by a photographer hired by the actor.' Radomski said 'yes' to Segel and 'the teary-eyed couple enjoyed a private dinner together in the Huntington Library's rose garden' afterwards. Both Jason and Kayla also took time to express their gratitude towards employees who had helped set up for the big moment. The lovebirds were first romantically linked in October 2023 when they were spotted during Hollywood Horror Nights at Universal Studios. Kayla proudly flaunted her stunning diamond engagement ring during their outing while rocking a casual look of a brown shirt with jeans At the time, the pair were seen holding hands as they strolled through the crowded amusement park. They made their red carpet debut together last year during awards season. In early 2024, Segel and Radomski made their red carpet debut at the Golden Globe Awards as she cheered on the actor who was nominated for his role in Shrinking. The two cozied up together at the event as they paused for a brief photo session before the main ceremony kicked off. At the time, the actress had also jumped to her main Instagram page to share snaps from the night - and also penned a sweet tribute to Segel. 'WOW..... @jasonsegel I am so incredibly proud of you!!!! What a dream. You are absolutely one of the hardest working and most deserving humans on this planet. My Golden Globe Nominee!' She added, 'I love that we got to spend a whole day celebrating YOU and your talent!!! I love you so much baby!' The same month, the couple walked the red carpet once again as they made an appearance at the 2024 Emmys. Despite their few red carpet appearances, Segel and Radomski mainly keep their romance out of the spotlight.
New York Times
09-04-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
A New Thomas Pynchon Novel Is Coming This Fall
The elusive novelist Thomas Pynchon will publish a new book this fall, his first in more than a decade. The novel, 'Shadow Ticket,' is due out on Oct. 7 from Penguin Press, and looks to bear many of Pynchon's hallmark elements — paranoia, espionage, musical motifs and wacky, larger than life characters who get in over their heads. Set in 1932 during the Great Depression, it follows a Milwaukee private eye named Hicks McTaggart, who is sent on a mission to find the runaway heir to a Wisconsin cheese empire. This routine mission goes dramatically awry when McTaggart ends up on a trans-Atlantic ocean liner and then in Hungary. In pursuit of the rogue heiress, he gets caught up in political undercurrents roiling Eastern Europe — tangling with Nazis, Soviet agents and British counterspies, as well as swing musicians, criminal motorcyclists and practitioners of the paranormal. 'Shadow Ticket' is Pynchon's 10th book and his first new release since 2013, when he published 'Bleeding Edge,' a surreal detective story about a fraud investigator in New York City in 2001, who gets in trouble when she starts digging into the finances of a billionaire executive of a computer-security company. Pynchon cemented his reputation as a literary giant with his third novel, 'Gravity's Rainbow,' a sprawling, 760-page postmodern metaphysical masterpiece set in Europe after World War II, which was published in 1973 and won the National Book Award. In the decades since, he continued to dazzle critics and readers, with dense, comical, idiosyncratic works like 'Vineland,' 'Mason & Dixon' and 'Against the Day.' Yet after more than six decades as a literary celebrity, Pynchon, 87, has remained extremely private, shunning interviews and public events and rarely being photographed. (He rejects the label 'reclusive,' once complaining after a news crew filmed him in Manhattan without his permission that the term is used by journalists who are irritated when people won't talk to them.) He's occasionally poked fun at his reputation as a misanthrope, and voiced a cameo appearance on 'The Simpsons,' gruffly yelling into a mobile phone with a paper bag over his head. His opacity has frustrated scholars and journalists but has only added to his literary allure and mystique. Many were surprised in 2022 when Pynchon sold his archive to the Huntington Library in San Marino, Calif., which included his research notes, typescripts and drafts, and publishing correspondence, but no personal letters or photographs. 'Shadow Ticket' will likely spur renewed interest and speculation about Pynchon's private life and legacy. A description of the book in a news releaseannouncing the publication on Wednesday sounded suspiciously like it might have been written by Pynchon himself, and Penguin confirmed it was his handiwork: 'Surrounded by history he has no grasp on and can't see his way around in or out of, the only bright side for Hicks is it's the dawn of the Big Band Era and as it happens he's a pretty good dancer. Whether this will be enough to allow him somehow to lindy-hop his way back again to Milwaukee and the normal world, which may no longer exist, is another question.'
