By Julie Steenhuysen

CHICAGO (Reuters) - The Food and Drug Administration is too slow to order companies to recall tainted foods, leaving people at risk of illness and death, a government watchdog said in a review of the agency's food safety program.

The Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Inspector General reviewed 30 recalls that occurred between 2012 and 2015, including two in which companies did not recall all affected items until 165 days and 81 days after the FDA became aware of tainted foods. The watchdog issued its report on Wednesday.

"FDA does not have adequate policies and procedures to ensure that firms take prompt and effective action in initiating voluntary food recalls," the report said. "As a result, consumers remained at risk of illness or death for several weeks after FDA was aware of a potentially hazardous food in the supply chain."

The watchdog urged the FDA to address the problem immediately.

In a blog post, FDA food safety officials Stephen Ostroff and Howard Sklamberg called the report's findings "unacceptable" and said the agency is "totally committed" to food safety.

Representative Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut in a statement said it was "mind-boggling" that the FDA does not have policies or procedures to ensure swift voluntary food recalls.

DeLauro, who oversees drug and food safety in her position on the House of Representatives subcommittee responsible for the FDA, pointed to a salmonella outbreak last year in cucumbers, which sickened nearly 900 people, hospitalized 191 and killed six. The outbreak began in July, but it took until September before producers started recalling product.

"Delays like this one - and others found in the report - are completely unacceptable and leave American consumers at risk for illness and death," DeLauro said.

Ostroff and Sklamberg said the FDA has a plan underway to strengthen compliance and enforcement policies, including both voluntary and mandatory recalls.

But they said recalls must be based on scientific evidence borne out of an outbreak investigation. And while timeframes for recalls need to be set, "they must be done on an individual basis rather than by setting arbitrary deadlines."

To speed the FDA's response, Ostroff and Sklamberg said the agency has established a team of experts from different scientific disciplines to oversee outbreak investigations. They also cited FDA's adoption in 2014 of the use of whole genome sequencing, a more precise technology for determining the genetic fingerprint of foodborne pathogens.

In addition, provisions in the 2011 Food Safety Modernization Act that require companies to minimize food safety risks, and require companies to have a recall plan, will begin to take effect this fall.

(Reporting by Julie Steenhuysen; Editing by Leslie Adler)

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This was definitely made by Sir Reads-A-Lot.

The Virginia Beach Public Library recently shared a viral photo on Facebook of one of its book displays, featuring a twist on Sir Mix-a-Lot's "Baby Got Back." 

And it's really going to make you appreciate big books. 

"I like big books and I cannot lie," reads the display, which showcases only "big books," (either long reads or books that are oversized). "You other readers can't deny; when a book walks in with a good plot base and a big spine in your face you get interested!"

Christine Brantley, community relations and development manager for the library, told The Huffington Post that librarian Brittney Ash is behind the display, which is located at the library's Joint-Use location. Ash, who is known for her creative book displays, found the lyrics on Pinterest and thought it'd be fun to use words and attract readers to take on a big book. 

It seems to have worked as Brantley said it has certainly grabbed people's attention. 

"It's gotten great reactions from library-goers," Brantley said, telling HuffPost that the display has brought a lot of giggles to people who have witnessed it. 

This particular set-up is just one example of the many cool and kooky displays that Ash has created. She's made a Shark Week-themed one, as well as displays for Banned Books Week and a reading igloo made from recycled milk jugs so kids can have a fun place to read. 

Brantley said that the librarian is "just blown away" by the positive feedback she's received for her big books creation, and that we'll be seeing more fun from her. She suspects that Ash and her other colleagues will really be amping up the creativity for future displays. 

Other book lovers have adapted Sir Mix-A-Lot's funky track to show their fondness for big reads. In fact, a similar concept went viral on Reddit about a year ago as Redditor and bookstore manager ihazahapee shared the window display she created. 

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The world said its final farewell to boxing legend Muhammad Ali on Friday during an incredible interfaith funeral service held in his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky. 

Cheering crowds lined the streets of Louisville before the burial service began to chant Ali's name during an open and inclusive memorial service Ali designed himself.

"When he was younger, he said 'I used to dream that I was running down Broadway in downtown Louisville, Kentucky and all of the people were gathered in the street waving at me and clapping and cheering my name," his daughter Hana Ali wrote on Twitter Friday. "'I waved back, then all of a sudden I just took off flying. I dreamed that dream all the time.'"

Children and families cheered for the boxing and civil rights champion as the funeral procession made its way through the city, passing by Ali's childhood home. HuffPost reporter Travis Waldron captured the events on Twitter.  

Ali, a man known for his quick feet, remarkable wit and unending activism, died at the age of 74 on June 3. Thousands gathered on Thursday night to honor the late legend in a Muslim memorial service that included an Islamic prayer service.

On Friday, former President Bill Clinton, who presented Ali with the Presidential Citizens Medal in 2001, as well as, comedian Billy Crystal and news anchor Bryant Gumbel were among those who presented stirring eulogies.

"We all have an Ali story," Clinton said, as he reflected on memories of Ali and the lessons he taught the world. "We should honor him by letting our gifts go among the world like he did." 

Other distinguished speakers included his daughters Maryum Ali and Rasheda Ali-Walsh as well as President Barack Obama's Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett. Jarrett read a statement on behalf of Obama and the first lady where Ali was described as, "a loud and proud and unabashedly black voice in a Jim Crow world."

Attallah Shabazz, the daughter of famed activist Malcolm X, fought back tears as she delivered a searing speech on the relationship he had with her father and the influence Ali had on her, too. 

"My dad would often state when concluding or parting from another, 'May we meet again in the light of understanding,' and I say to you, in the light of that compass, by any means necessary," Shabazz said. 

Lonnie Ali, Muhammad's wife of almost 30 years, highlighted how he persevered during a time when the "men he admired were gunned down, and Nelson Mandela imprisoned, for what they believed in." She also reminded the world of Ali's amazing accomplishments.

"For his part, Muhammad faced federal prosecution," Lonnie said. "He would not be intimated so as to abandon his principles and his values." 

She added, "If Muhammad didn't like the rules, he re-wrote them."  

The memorial service showed beautiful diversity both in the crowd and on stage. It began with a recitation of the Quran by Imam Hamzah Abdul Malik. It was followed by powerful speeches from Rabbi Michael Lerner, indigenous rights activist Oren R. Yons and Christian pastor Rev. Kevin W. Cosby, who each spoke of their admiration for Ali and collectively highlighted the importance of interfaith. 

"Before James Brown said, 'I'm black and I'm proud,' Muhammad Ali said, 'I'm black and I'm pretty,'" Cosby told the crowd as he spoke about the significance of Ali's love for black people and his own blackness. Cosby then went on to discuss how Ali relentlessly amplified the issue of racism in America and highlighted what the legend meant to black people everywhere.  

"[Ali] dared to affirm the beauty of blackness," he added. "He dared to affirm the power and capacity of African-Americans. He dared to love America's most unloved race." 

May Ali rest in eternal peace. 

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Warning: This post features some seriously strange nudity and may not be suitable for work environments. 

An erection in a priest's robe, standing arms raised amidst a popsicle-colored wash of blues and pinks. A vagina in a leather face mask and red "Lolita" sunglasses, baring her front teeth. An anus squirting toothpaste onto a crisp, clean toothbrush.

This is just some of the fantastical freakiness that goes down on the Tumblr Girls Unawares. 

The Tumblr, run by a Hamburg-based male artist who asked to remain anonymous, celebrates the gnarly weirdness that makes up the bodies we look at every day. Removing genitalia from their owners and reinterpreting them through a funhouse of textures, colors, ensembles and activities, Girls Unawares creates monstrous, virtual private parts that ooze and squeak and pop like overzealous cartoon characters. 

"Dear human body!" Girls Unawares writes on his Tumblr. "You are our willingness clay! We feed you up or slim you, we stretch or shrink you, we add or cut something off, we even switch your gender due to our needs! You are our media-morphed, sexually-reduced, ad aestheticized and fetishized perception of ourselves!"

In an interview with The Huffington Post, Girls Unawares explained how he was inspired by the young Tumblr community, particularly the way identity and appearance become as malleable as the three-dimensional clay he works with. 

"These young bloggers are very open, very political and very critical," he explained. "Their aesthetics differ from the media's clean and artificially beautified bodies. They realized a body can have fat, stretch marks, scars. They use BDSM as their playground or just as a fashion statement. And most importantly, they want to decide for themselves about their bodies and their sexuality. That's the Tumblr generation I portray!"

To pay tribute to the generation of virtual activists and creatives, Girls Unawares deconstructs their Tumblr profiles -- upon their request -- and presents them with surrealist takes on online vibes. Great hair? You're a giant boob with legs. Sweet arm tattoo? You're a pair of boobs chopped in half and floating in a tank like a Damien Hirst installation.

Girls Unawares is a delightful translation of Tumblr's ethics and aesthetics into a visual equivalent, one that appeals to the post-internet generations in particular. At the core of his project, the artist hopes to spread the gospel of Tumblr nation, mainly their messages of self-love and radical acceptance.

"Forget about the media's body ideals," Girls Unawares concluded. "It's all fine! No, you don't have too much fat, you're not too skinny, not too short or tall. Yes, it's ok to be gay, bi, cis, fluid, trans or binary. Sure, masturbate or let someone you love choke you. Your body hair, stretch marks and freckles are beautiful! It`s all only your thing ... Have fun and enjoy the short time we have!" 

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A band of volunteer crime fighters is hoping that wine drinkers can help them solve a number of cold cases.

The Cold Case Investigative Research Institute, a Georgia-based nonprofit, has partnered with Benefit Wines to feature information about unsolved crimes on custom wine labels.

"It's powerful, because eyes and ears are key to unraveling mysteries," Sheryl McCollum, director of the institute, told The Huffington Post. "The more people that come into contact with a case, the greater the potential of solving it."

McCollum said that the label of each bottle will carry the name, photograph and description of a missing person or unsolved homicide. She said the photos will be changed on a regular basis.

It's a fresh new take on an old idea: the milk carton campaign of the 1980s that featured missing children. That initiative, which began in 1985, lasted roughly two years until milk companies yielded to critics who claimed the photos unnecessarily frightened kids.

But the new twist on the old tactic, McCollum said, is necessary to raise awareness in a tech-saturated world where the average person is oblivious to a flier on a cork board.

"The goal was to reinvent the missing person poster so people actually stop and take a look at it," she said. "Most people don't stop to read them anymore because they get their information so rapidly on social media. We want people to go, 'Hey, what is that? That’s interesting.'"

Currently, six types of wine carry the cold case labels. The bottles of merlot, cabernet sauvignon, chardonnay, malbec, carmenere and sauvignon blanc are imported from La Fortuna Vineyards in Chile's Lontue Valley and can be purchased on BenefitWines.com for $19.99 a bottle or in a collector's package.

"Crack open a bottle and start working on a case," reads an advertisement on the website. 

For every wine bottle sold, $6 of the purchase price goes to the Cold Case Investigative Research Institute to cover research expenses for the case that's featured on that particular bottle, McCollum said.

The nonprofit organization is made up of detectives, prosecutors and crime scene investigators. "Criminal justice students also help work on our cases," McCollum explained. "Our experts guide them and train them as they go. On any given case, you can be talking about 1,000 people working 20 hours a week. That's a lot of man hours."

McCollum said there has been a "tremendously positive" reception to the new endeavor.

"The victims' families are overwhelmingly pleased and the law enforcement community loves the idea," she said.

It's not yet clear how successful the venture will be, but McCollum said her organization is already exploring similar ideas.

"We're actively looking for a brewery that will put photos of fugitives on beer labels," she said. "Our thought process is to use their own devil against them. Imagine a perp walking into a bar or restaurant and their face is all over the beer bottles."

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From the moment “Megaplex” begins, with a seizure warning, you know it’s going to be a good time.

Hulk Hogan! Tina Turner! Michael Jackson … Skeletor! They’re all here, alongside countless other '80s icons, backed by a pulsing electro soundtrack so catchy you won’t believe most of the songs are unknown or forgotten. The result is a movie mashup that feels like boiling down several hundred bargain bin VHS tapes and a blotting sheet of acid, then mainlining it directly into your brain.

This labor of love (and psychosis) marks the third collaboration between editors Ben Craw and Brendan Shields, (collectively known as “Smash TV.”) It is also their most nightmarish and transfixing work, practically daring you to keep watching as it turns down increasingly dark and bizarre paths, like a maniacal psychiatrist unearthing suppressed nightmares from your ill-begotten childhood.

So grab a 40-ounce soda, a bucket of popcorn soaked in “butter-flavored topping” and some Jujyfruits, then head on into "Megaplex." The air conditioner is keeping things at a pleasant 70 degrees, and there’s only a small chance of irreparable psychological damage.

For more information on the songs and movie clips used, as well as some insight into Smash TV's process, check out their description on Vimeo.

Full disclosure, Ben Craw is a former HuffPost employee. 

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When Madonna performed "Borderline" on 2008's Sticky & Sweet Tour, she strapped on an electric guitar and turned the song into a headbanger. On Thursday night, after omitting the 1984 classic from her last two tours' setlists, Madonna appeared on "The Tonight Show" to perform a chilled-down version, with The Roots accompanying her. 

The performance is, simply, wonderful. Madonna sounds fantastic, and she looks happy -- perhaps because she finally accomplished her goal to meet President Barack Obama. (He was the episode's lead guest.) It's a bit inexplicable to see her performing more than a year after her previous album, "Rebel Heart," was released, but hey, it is the president. And after the unnecessary vitriol she received for her Prince tribute on the Billboard Music Awards last month, seeing her nail "Borderline" is a welcome treat. It is one of the songs that made her famous, after all. She even borrows some of the swishy dance moves from the video! 

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"Hamilton" has broken boundaries on Broadway. That we know. 

With a cast almost entirely composed of people of color playing historically white individuals, the current of subversion runs throughout Lin-Manuel Miranda's smash hit. Now it's time to take it one step further. 

Every year, the Broadway community gathers at MCC Theater’s Miscast Gala to give performers the chance to inhabit roles they might never have the chance to play. "Hamilton," given its popularity and progressive bent, was a natural choice to deconstruct and put back together during the event this past April. 

Three young Broadway stars -- Luca Padovan of "School of Rock," Joshua Colley of "Les Misérables" and Douglas Baldeo of "Kinky Boots" -- took the stage to perform "The Schuyler Sisters," a song typically performed by the leading ladies of "Hamilton." Ana Villafañe from "On Your Feet" was also on hand to play Aaron Burr. 

The performance slays so hard we're at a loss for words, but if we were to sum it up in one GIF, it would be: 

And for the record, "Hamilton" creator Lin-Manuel Miranda is totally behind the idea of a person of any gender playing any role, as long as it makes sense with the music. 

"It's a complicated answer," Miranda told an audience during an event at the Smithsonian Museum of American History. "My only trouble with doing it on Broadway is [music] keys. Because changing keys is a pain. You can actually hear ... how tough it is just to write a duet for a guy and a girl to sing together. It's a challenge as a writer for them both to sound good. So that's my trouble."

"That being said, no one's voice is set in high school," he added. "So I'm totally open to women playing founding fathers once this goes into the world. I can't wait to see kick-ass women Jeffersons and kick-ass women Hamiltons once this gets to schools."

The 2016 Tony Awards will air on CBS on Sunday, June 12, at 8 p.m. ET. From “Hamilton” to “Spring Awakening,” “Eclipsed” to “The Humans,” Sophie Okonedo to Leslie Odom Jr., check out our live coverage of all things Broadway on Twitter this weekend.

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HuffPost Religion is highlighting the voices of Muslim artists this Ramadan. Every Friday of the holy month, we'll feature artwork and reflections from artists around the world on our Instagram account. You can follow along at @HuffPostRelig.

We're starting off with Marryam Lum (@lifeofmyheart), a photographer from Adelaide, South Australia. She specializes in brush lettering work and uses verses from the Quran as inspiration. Calligraphy is a fundamental element of Islamic artwork. The language most often used in this sacred art form is Arabic. As a non-Arabic speaker herself, Lum wanted a way to read and share Islamic verses and teachings in her own language, English.

Lum took over HuffPost Religion's Instagram account on Friday to share some of her favorite pieces that relate to Ramadan. Read on for an interview with her.

1. Tell us about yourself! How did you come to embrace Islam?

My name is Marryam Lum, I’m 30 years old and I’m from Adelaide, South Australia. My parents came to Australia from Malaysia as young students studying Medicine, and they both went on to build their medical practice here. My mum is Malay and was born as a Muslim, my dad is Chinese and he converted to Islam before I was born. My two siblings and I grew up here in Australia, with strong identities as Aussie Muslims and all that that entails. Growing up, my parents were very involved in the Australian Muslim and wider community as educators and mentors -- their generosity, inclusiveness and kindness to everyone they meet has had a major impact on my life and my values as an Australian Muslim.

2. What's your earliest Ramadan memory? What are some Ramadan traditions that you still cherish in your family today?

My earliest Ramadan memory would be breaking our fast (iftar) at the mosque with many other families from around the world -- each night, the mosque would be full, with a the families each taking turns to cook the Iftar for everyone else so that we would all get to experience food from many different cultures. It was such a beautiful time of closeness and happiness, sharing our food with others, and as kids getting to run around having fun in the mosque with friends was a bonus.

Nowadays my family and I do the same thing -- we now have a little mosque of our own that we open every weekend during Ramadan for others to come and share food together at Iftar time. There are families who come to break fast together, as well as people who don’t have families such as converts to Islam, or travelers who don’t have family nearby to share Ramadan and Iftar with -- we all become a big family ourselves! It’s always a beautiful experience that I’m grateful I can share with my own young children.

3. What is it like to produce art during a time of Islamophobia in Australia? 

This time of Islamophobia directly affected the start of my brush lettering work. Like most Muslims I felt frustrated and saddened at the state of the world and the growing Islamophobia. Islam requires Muslims to be the best type of people that they can be, but it can sometimes be difficult to be the best type of person you can be when you are riddled with growing negativity and feelings of hopelessness as a result from the current negative state of the world. I wanted to cultivate more positivity, more light, more hope.

I wanted to bring light to the importance in Islam of the heart and the importance of journeying into oneself in order to truly grow. I believe that once we are able to gain a greater and truer insight into our hearts and ourselves, we will be in a much better position to improve ourselves, to improve the situations of our communities and of those around the globe, to be the best people we can be and therefore create positive change in the world.

I wanted to curate and share words from the spiritual tradition in Islam in a modern, relatable way, to hopefully inspire and motivate others (and myself!) to start or continue on this journey to getting closer to God and therefore improving ourselves as human beings, and so Life Of My Heart [Lum's printmaking initiative] started.

This current climate has affected my work, but not so much my identity or what clients expect from me. I still feel the same about my faith and my identity as an Australian Muslim, but if anything it has made me more determined to do my best to affect some positive change in the word.  

I wanted to cultivate more positivity, more light, more hope.

4. Is there anything in particular you are praying or thinking about this Ramadan? 

This Ramadan, like always, I’m praying for a more positive outcome for humanity and for the future of my kids living as Aussie Muslims themselves. On a personal level, I really want to use this month to seek more knowledge on the self, the heart, and how to improve myself and further my spiritual journey. I also want to make this Ramadan an enjoyable time for our kids at the same time as reinforcing the importance of giving and helping others, and of course, gratefulness for everything that we already have.

Click through the slideshow below for examples of Lum's brush lettering work.

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This 22-year-old teaches ballet to young girls in her low-income neighborhood, because she wants them to learn discipline, but also how to dream big.

Tuany Nascimento teaches classical ballet to almost 50 girls in Complexo do Alemão, a Rio slum, according to Marie Claire. The classes are free, as long as the students show their report cards to prove they're passing all their classes.

"Classical ballet is one of the art forms that most transforms a person," Nascimento told the magazine. "You have rules, you have discipline. The majority [of the girls] think: I'm going to get a job near my home, then I'll be a mother. I want to show them that the world is large. Let's have girls who have an educated mind and are looking for a better future." 

Complexo do Alemão, where they live, is a collection of slums known for its frequent violence, according to local news outlet Folha. Gun fights are common and curfews are imposed by drug lords of the Comando Vermelho criminal group. Last month, seven people were injured from gun shots and two were killed.

It is in this environment that Nascimento started her ballet class in 2012, calling it “Na Punto Dos Pés” -- or “On Tiptoes,” according to her website. After having to stop pursuing her own dreams of becoming a ballerina in order to work, she decided to turn her passion toward her community instead.

She started teaching girls, ages 4 to 15, how to dance classical ballet in the neighborhood community center, according to her site. From just a handful of students at first, the classes have grown to include almost 50 girls.

“For people in my neighborhood, dancing ballet isn’t a common thing,” Nascimento says in the video above from Nowness. “I try to show them that they can have much more than this, that they don’t have to limit themselves. You can’t accept the life you have as your destiny.”  

The dance class has few materials: At first, students would wear their own clothes and dance barefoot, according to Extra Globo. But after local media covered the project in 2013, some donations came through, allowing them to buy leotards, slippers, and a new coat of paint for the community center walls.

But they still don’t have a ballet bar, mirrors or a good floor, reports Veja Rio.

“What makes me go on instead of quitting is that I realized dancing is my life,” Nascimento says in the video from Nowness. “Dancing transformed me -- so why not use this art to transform these girls?”

H/T Marie Claire.

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We just can't. Stop. Watching. 

Vancouver, British Columbia-based artist Sára J. Molčan's shares paint-mixing posts on Instagram and has generated quite a bit of attention on the social media site for it. The posts, which are a way for the artist to showcase an intimate part of her creation process, are incredibly beautiful, relaxing to watch and listen to and just straight-up mesmerizing. 

Watch as the artist, who made her first mixing video back in November, blends gorgeous, vibrant hues together for perfect, uniform shades. She mixes many different shades, and the results are always stunning -- especially since you can see the blending happen. Molčan told the Huffington Post in an email that she chooses colors based on the painting she's working on along with her own knowledge of different pigments. 

The artist has gotten a lot of positive feedback from people both interested in her color combinations as well as others who find the paint-mixing videos soothing or satisfying. And for that, the humble artist feels honored. 

"It's a little embarrassing, but also delightful," she said. "I'm quite introverted, so this has felt like a bit of a whirlwind that's taken me out of my comfort zone."

If you're feeling inexplicably happy when watching the mixing videos, and don't understand what's happening, we might have an answer for you. You could be having an autonomous sensory meridian response, or ASMR. People who experience ASMR say they feel a tingling sensation in the scalp or back of the neck and can be triggered certain noises or visuals. Many look to late painting instructor Bob Ross and his show “The Joy of Painting” as some serious ASMR-inducing stuff. 

So don't mind us as we climb into bed and just watch these soothing clips for the next five hours. 

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The internet and smartphone are slaying the workhorse of our language, says The New York Times.

In a June 9 article, "Period. Full Stop. Point. Whatever It’s Called, It’s Going Out of Style," Dan Bilefsky cited the work of several linguists, such as the eminent David Crystal, on punctuation usage in digital communication to argue that the period, the end point of most sentences, is fading away. 

Adorably, Bilefsky emphasized this point by ending nearly every sentence in the piece with a paragraph break rather than a period, a headache-inducing choice that hopefully offered no true glimpse into newspaper stylings of the future:

One of the oldest forms of punctuation may be dying

The period — the full-stop signal we all learn as children, whose use stretches back at least to the Middle Ages — is gradually being felled in the barrage of instant messaging that has become synonymous with the digital age

Bilefsky quotes Crystal on the waning presence of periods in brief digital messages -- such as texts -- as evidence for this rather bold theory: "In an instant message, it is pretty obvious a sentence has come to an end," Crystal told The Times. "So why use it?" 

Indeed, many don't. One 2007 study found that of messages studied, just 39 percent of sentences in texts and 45 percent of sentences in IMs ended in periods.

Crystal, like other researchers, has noted an accompanying perception that full stops in IMs and text messages connote aggression, dissatisfaction, or hostility. "The period now has an emotional charge and has become an emoticon of sorts," he told The Times. Another linguist, Geoffrey Nunberg, agreed. "It is not necessary to use a period in a text message, so to make something explicit that is already implicit makes a point of it." 

All this, apparently, seems to add up to the point that the "point" is soon to be no more.

But it's never made much sense for periods to be incorporated into text messages, which resemble formalized writing less than they resemble speech. Text messages and instant messages replaced, for most people, phone conversations -- quick chats over where to meet up or long, late-night heart-to-hearts by the landline. These exchanges replaced meeting in person for a conversation. These interactions, formatted as responsive, chatty exchanges of short statements, mimic spoken conversations rather than written letters or articles. One linguist even found our diction in text messages shows verbal speech patterns rather than written ones.

This particular New York Times piece aside, there hasn't been much evidence that a laissez-faire attitude toward the period is migrating from digital messaging to the broader category of the written word. Actually, this article is a great example of why: In longer, formalized pieces of writing, the natural breaks that might be signaled by pauses in speaking -- or by the end of a text message -- need to be clearly shown by other means.

The period has done a laudable job of that for centuries. Will we simply give up on it now? Having read an article without periods, and developed a corresponding eye twitch, I can confidently say: We. Will. Not.

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Like much of the country, Jon Chu has a case of sequelitis. 

Over the past eight years of the director's career, six of his seven feature-film projects have been sequels or reboots. After "Now You See Me 2" opens this weekend, he'll have had enough. Mostly.

When the original movie's director, Louis Leterrier, bowed out, Chu joined the magic caper with most of the cast intact. Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Mark Ruffalo, Dave Franco, Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman reprised their roles from the 2013 hit, which took in an unexpected $352 million worldwide. Lizzy Caplan replaced a pregnant Isla Fisher, and Daniel Radcliffe came aboard as a villainous tech prodigy who sets the film's bonkers events in motion. 

Chu, 36, had sworn off sequels before he was approached to helm "Now You See Me 2," but in a lengthy conversation with The Huffington Post earlier this week, he said he took the project because he was a "big fan" of the original. "I’ve never worked with a whole cast at that caliber," Chu said. "It’s pretty amazing."

"Amazingly unconventional" would be an apt description for Chu's career. While Chu was in film school, Steven Spielberg saw a short he'd made and opted to mentor the young director. From there, a series of starts and stops plagued his early days in Hollywood. Circa 2003, Chu was set to launch his career with a contemporary "Bye Bye Birdie" update, going so far as to meet with several A-listers about the project, including Britney Spears. "Birdie" and several other films fell apart, and it wasn't until Chu landed the gig directing 2008's "Step Up 2: The Streets" that things took off. He has since given the world two Justin Bieber documentaries, a "G.I. Joe" sequel and a "Jem and the Holograms" movie that bombed. And boy, does he have stories from the front lines.   

Everyone wants to talk about Justin Bieber.

Chu flew around the world to meet with the original "Now You See Me" cast. He went to Atlanta, where Jesse Eisenberg was shooting "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice." He ventured to London, where Mark Ruffalo was shooting "Avengers: Age of Ultron," and Berlin, where Woody Harrelson was making the final "Hunger Games" installment. 

"It was intimidating because I’m the guy who did the Bieber movie," he said. "They never want to talk about 'G.I. Joe' -- they just go straight to Bieber."

When a pregnant Isla Fisher dropped out, Chu and screenwriter Ed Solomon concocted a role with Lizzy Caplan ("Mean Girls," "Masters of Sex") in mind. It didn't take much to convince her, and Caplan's rapport with the dudes on set, as Chu explains it, became a contest to see who could make the bawdiest quips. Caplan always won. "I had to cut out more dirty jokes and raunchy things than in any movie I’d ever done," Chu said, referring to the cast's improvisational takes. 

Daniel Radcliffe, playing against type as a scoundrel who is no good at magic, did not have the American cast's penchant for ribaldry. "You put Daniel in a group of people who are completely crass, and he’s very proper," Chu said. "He’s like, 'Oh, my god, what movie am I in?' He made some good attempts."

And why wouldn't they want to talk about Bieber?

Chu, who grew up watching Madonna's seminal "Truth or Dare," turned Bieber's burgeoning fame into the highest-grossing concert documentary of all time. After Chu directed two lucrative "Step Up" movies, Paramount Pictures approached him to make 2011's "Justin Bieber: Never Say Never." ("An Inconvenient Truth" and "Waiting for 'Superman'" director Davis Guggenheim, pegged in the industry as an unlikely contender for the job, was originally tapped to direct but dropped out.) Chu didn't know who Bieber was, but he found the 16-year-old's YouTube evolution "fascinating." But in making the movie, Chu realized Bieber hadn't matured enough to have a "perspective" on his stature. Cue a sequel. 

"After doing the first one, we always talked about, 'What happens to the kids who this all happens to?' Chu said, referring to the unruly fame the befalls certain child stars. "Even today, Justin and I are always like, 'Well, let’s tell more.' Let’s follow what happens through time and we can really get in there, because the first one is the origin story and the second one is in this weird transitional period for him."

Does that mean a third Bieber doc is on the way? Chu smiled, responding, "We'll have to see. It's up to him whether he would allow access."

Chu, a celebrity-gossip hound who's found it hard to process the balance between Bieber's public fiascos and the media's prying eviscerations, saw the singer last month when he performed in Brooklyn. Chu went to a club afterward, not knowing Bieber would show up. When the singer spotted him in the crowd, he pulled him into the DJ booth. 

"We had this great conversation," Chu recalled. "He was like, 'Jon, I think about you all the time. I want you to know I’m praying for you, and will you pray for me, as well?' It was a very mature, adult conversation. He was like, 'I’m in the best place of my life.' And he looked like it. He was having a good time, but he wasn’t out of it or anything." 

Beyond the Bieber mania, Chu has watched the star market evolve in real time.

After Spielberg saw a short Chu made in film school in 2002, the famed director helped him land an agent and set up meetings with studio execs. He brought him to the set of "The Terminal" to watch Spielberg in action. That led to a slew of projects that, for various reasons, never came to fruition, including a contemporary hip-hop reboot of the musical "Bye Bye Birdie," which was set up at Sony Pictures. 

Chu made it far in the "Birdie" development process. Future "The Girl Next Door" and "The Kids Are All Right" scribe Stuart Blumberg wrote a draft of the script, to which Tina Fey later contributed. Chu storyboarded the project and made concept videos showcasing the movie's tone. Circa 2003, the studio encouraged him to meet with actresses to discuss the lead female role, a teenager who wins a contest to meet her favorite music star. Chu sat down with Kirsten Dunst, Katie Holmes, Lindsay Lohan and Britney Spears, among others, before Sony axed the project due to financial concerns. (Chu would love to cast Spears in one of his next movies, for the record.)

Chu had signed a pay-or-play deal, a contract negotiation that has grown increasingly rare. It ensures directors or stars receive their salary even if the studio drops the project. As more of his potential movies stalled, Chu lived off that money, until Disney hired him to direct 2008's "Step Up 2: The Streets." It was originally intended as a direct-to-DVD sequel, and Chu was reluctant. But his mother reminded him he had yet to make a movie, so he agreed, ripping apart a "dark" script that had a "crackhead mom," "drug deals" and hardly any dance numbers. Channing Tatum, who starred in the first "Step Up," wasn't quite the name brand he is now, but the studio knew they needed him to help usher the franchise forward. Chu got him to appear in the movie's opening sequence, and Tatum later volunteered to cameo in Chu's 2013 "G.I. Joe" sequel, despite Tatum's open disdain for the original. "Step Up 2" went on to gross $150.8 million worldwide.

Between the Bieber docs, another "Step Up" flick and the lucrative "G.I. Joe" follow-up, Chu's success was fermented. But it suffered a major setback with last year's "Jem and the Holograms," an adaptation of the 1980s animated series that met critical and commercial failure. Chu struggled with the reception at first, especially seeing the sometimes racist reactions on Twitter, where the noise unfolded in real time. He said he never got a full handle on what went wrong, but he realizes the movie's demographics -- it was marketed to 10- to 12-year-old girls, even though the show's audience was now in their 30s -- never added up. 

Along the way, like many directors these days, he's turned down superhero movies, wanting to "experiment" with other genres. He wouldn't reveal which ones he was offered. And anyway, he considers "Now You See Me 2" and "G.I. Joe: Retalliation" superhero movies. (By the way, that comment he made last year about a Hasbro crossover featuring "Jem and the Holograms," "G.I. Joe" and "Transformers"? It was a joke, even though the remark is currently presented with complete seriousness on the "Jem" Wikipedia page.)

"If I’m lucky, I’ll have many more failures and many more victories," Chu said. "That’s if I get to do this for the rest of my life. I see this as a step in that direction, and I don’t let that be the roadblock for me. I definitely had to go through my own thing with ['Jem']. ... My biggest thing was I didn’t want the fear of that happening again to ruin my creative flow now because fear is the most poisonous thing to creativity."

But now, it's on to originals.

Chu appreciates the challenge of stepping into another director's blueprint, but it's time to transition out of franchise properties. That hasn't stopped him from agreeing to make "Now You See Me 3," but the other projects Chu has his eyes on are ones that he can help to originate. He still wants to make a musical, and he said he has one in the works that we "may hear about soon." He's also attached to "Crazy Rich Asians," an adaptation of the well-received 2013 novel about a family of, well, crazy rich Asians. 

Chu noted that he's never made an all-Asian project before. (He grew up in San Francisco, but his family came from China.) Amid all of the recent talk of Hollywood's diversity hurdles, he said he's never felt like an outcast, partly because his parents encouraged him as a kid not to dwell on racial disadvantages. 

"Now that I’m in a position of more power, I can help build a stronger path or open more paths for people coming down because the need for more different voices is necessary," Chu said. "We need that in this day and age, especially as cinema is gong through these growing pains and figuring out where it lies on the big screen and the small screen. When I watch 'Master of None,' I'm like, 'Oh, my god, these are the voices we need." Those are very important things because they show up in my studio meetings. Whereas those conversations never happened, they’re suddenly happening. And not just, 'Oh, throw in a black guy or an Asian guy.'" It's like, 'How can we make this substantial?'"

And what about the "sausage party" in "Now You See Me 2"? Was there no discussion about needing more than one substantive female character?

"We knew we needed Lizzy to own those scenes because it’s a dude-fest there," Chu said. "We definitely made jokes about it on set, but I think I didn’t fully realize the lack of females until we’re literally sitting on set. But that’s why Lizzy was great, because she shook that whole thing up. It’s weird because sometimes you iinherit those things, and what are you going to do? Kick out Jesse and Dave and put in two other people? At some point, you have eight cast members already there, and what, you’re going to add five more? I would think, if we ever got a chance and were lucky enough to do another one, there’s definite moves that we can do in that direction."

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Sunday night's Tony Awards will be dedicated to those affected by the mass shooting early Sunday morning in Orlando, Florida, the organizers announced.

The massacre at Pulse, a gay nightclub, left at least 50 dead and 53 wounded. The Twitter account for the award show, which honors the best of Broadway theater, offered condolences to the friends and families of the victims.

Following the news of The Tonys dedication, Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer, Orange County Mayor Theresa Jacobs and Kathy Ramsberger, President and CEO of the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, shared a video online thanking Broadway for the support.

Plenty of actors and musicians have already spoken out about the shooting, which police said is the worst in American history.

This post has been updated to include the video message from Orlando officials. 

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In the wake of what's being called the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history, the cast of the musical "Hamilton" will reportedly drop the use of muskets from its Tony Awards performance Sunday night.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the decision to nix the props surfaced Sunday afternoon, noting that Lin-Manuel Miranda's musical, nominated for a record-breaking 16 Tony Awards this year, features a scene -- based on historical events -- in which Aaron Burr fatally wounds Alexander Hamilton in a duel. 

The "Hamilton" performance of two battle songs, "History Has Its Eyes on You" and "Yorktown (The World Turned Upside Down)," featuring nominated actors Miranda and Christopher Jackson, is set to take place near the end of the ceremony, sans the traditional infantry weapons.

Organizers of the 70th Annual Tony Awards released a statement in response to the death of at least 50 people in a gay nightclub in Orlando, Fla., early Sunday morning.

"Our hearts are heavy for the unimaginable tragedy that happened last night in Orlando," the statement from Tony Award Productions reads. "Our thoughts are with the families and friends of those affected. The Tony Awards dedicate tonight's ceremony to them."

Prominent members of the Broadway community have also taken to social media to document their reactions to the horrific instance of gun violence, committed by Omar Mateen at the downtown Pulse nightclub:

The Tony Awards, hosted by James Corden, will air on CBS at 8 p.m. ET. 

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In the wake of the mass shooting early Sunday morning at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, the theater community paid tribute to the victims of the attack on the red carpet of the 70th Tony Awards. Attendees wore silver ribbons on tuxedo lapels and gowns specially created by costume designer William Ivey Long to honor the at least 50 dead and 53 wounded. 

The award show announced earlier in the day that Sunday's ceremony would be dedicated to all those touched by the tragedy.

"Our hearts are heavy for the unimaginable tragedy that happened last night in Orlando," the statement read on Twitter. "Our thoughts are with the families and friends of those affected. The Tony Awards dedicate tonight's ceremony to them."

Take a look at some red carpet arrivals below: 

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"Eclipsed"
"The Humans"
"King Charles III"
"The Father"

Best Musical:

"Bright Star"
"Hamilton"
"Waitress"
"School of Rock"
"Shuffle Along"

Best Revival of a Play:

"Long Day’s Journey Into Night"
"Blackbird"
"A View from the Bridge"
"Noises Off"
"The Crucible"

Best Revival of a Musical:

"The Color Purple"
"Fiddler on the Roof"
"She Loves Me"
"Spring Awakening"

Leading Actor in a Play:

Gabriel Byrne, “Long Day’s Journey Into Night” 
Jeff Daniels, “Blackbird” 
Frank Langella, “The Father”
Tim Pigott-Smith, “King Charles III”
Mark Strong, “A View from the Bridge”

Leading Actress in a Play:

Jessica Lange, “Long Day’s Journey into Night” 
Laurie Metcalf, “Misery”
Lupita Nyong’o, “Eclipsed”
Michelle Williams, “Blackbird”
Sophie Okonedo, “The Crucible”

Leading Actor in a Musical:

Zachary Levi, “She Loves Me”
Alex Brightman, “School of Rock” 
Danny Burstein, “Fiddler on the Roof”
Lin-Manuel Miranda, “Hamilton”
Leslie Odom Jr., “Hamilton”

Leading Actress in a Musical: 

Laura Benanti, “She Loves Me”
Carmen Cusack, “Bright Star”
Cynthia Erivo, “The Color Purple”
Phillipa Soo, “Hamilton”
Jessie Mueller, “Waitress”

Best Director of a Play:

Rupert Goold, “King Charles III”
Jonathan Kent, “Long Day’s Journey Into Night”
Joe Mantello, “The Humans”
Liesl Tommy, “Eclipsed”
Ivo van Hove, “A View From the Bridge”

Best Director of a Musical:

Michael Arden, “Spring Awakening”
Thomas Kail, “Hamilton”
John Doyle, “The Color Purple”
Scott Ellis, “She Loves Me”
George C. Wolfe, “Shuffle Along”

Best Book of a Musical:

Steve Martin, “Bright Star”
Lin-Manuel Miranda, “Hamilton”
Julian Fellowes, “School of Rock”
George C. Wolfe, “Shuffle Along”

Best Original Score:

Steve Martin and Edie Brickell, “Bright Star”
Lin-Manuel Miranda, “Hamilton”
Andrew Lloyd Webber and Glenn Slater, “School of Rock”
Sara Bareilles, “Waitress”

Best Featured Actor in a Play:

Reed Birney, “The Humans”
Bill Camp, “The Crucible”
David Furr, “Noises Off”
Richard Goulding, “King Charles III”
Michael Shannon, “Long Day’s Journey Into Night”

Best Featured Actress in a Play:

Pascale Armand, “Eclipsed”
Megan Hilty, “Noises Off”
Jayne Houdyshell, “The Humans”
Andrea Martin, “Noises Off”
Saycon Sengbloh, “Eclipsed”

Best Featured Actor in a Musical:

Daveed Diggs, “Hamilton”
Brandon Victor Dixon, “Shuffle Along”
Christopher Fitzgerald, “Waitress”
Jonathan Groff, “Hamilton”
Christopher Jackson, “Hamilton”

Best Featured Actress in a Musical:

Danielle Brooks, “The Color Purple”
Renee Elise Goldsberry, “Hamilton”
Jane Krakowski, “She Loves Me”
Jennifer Simard, “Disaster!”
Adrienne Warren, “Shuffle Along”

Best Scenic Design of a Play:

Beowulf Boritt, “Therese Raquin”
Christopher Oram, “Hughie”
Jan Versweyveld, “A View from the Bridge”
David Zinn, “The Humans”

Best Scenic Design of a Musical:

Es Devlin and Finn Ross, “American Psycho”
David Korins, “Hamilton”
Santo Loquasto, “Shuffle Along”
David Rockwell, “She Loves Me”

Best Costume Design of a Play:

Jane Greenwood, “Long Day’s Journey Into Night”
Michael Krass, “Noises Off”
Clint Ramos, “Eclipsed”
Tom Scutt, “King Charles III”

Best Costume Design of a Musical:

Gregg Barnes, “Tuck Everlasting”
Jeff Mahshie, “She Loves Me”
Ann Roth, “Shuffle Along”
Paul Tazewell, “Hamilton”

Best Choreography:

Andy Blankenbuehler, “Hamilton”
Savion Glover, “Shuffle Along”
Hofesh Shechter, “Fiddler on the Roof”
Randy Skinner, “Dames at Sea”
Sergio Trujillo, “On Your Feet!”

Best Lighting Design of a Play:

Natasha Katz, “Long Day’s Journey Into Night”
Justin Townsend, “The Humans”
Jan Versweyveld, “The Crucible”
Jan Versweyveld, “A View from the Bridge”

Best Lighting Design of a Musical:

Howell Binkley, “Hamilton”
Jules Fisher and Peggy Eisenhauer, “Shuffle Along”
Ben Stanton, “Spring Awakening”
Justin Townsend, “American Psycho”

Best Orchestrations:

August Eriksmoen, “Bright Star”
Larry Hochman, “She Loves Me”
Alex Lacamoire, “Hamilton”
Daryl Waters, “Shuffle Along”

See a complete list of the 2015 Tony Award winners here.

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James Corden began the 70th Tony Awards with a sobering tribute to the victims of the mass shooting early Sunday morning at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida. 

Before launching into a "Hamilton"-inspired opening number, a somber Corden addressed viewers at home on behalf of the entire theater community in a pre-recorded message. 

“Good evening. All around the world, people are trying to come to terms with the horrific events that took place in Orlando this morning,” Corden said. “On behalf of the whole theater community and every person in this room, our hearts go out to all of those affected by this atrocity.”

“All we can say is you are not on your own right now," he continued. "Your tragedy is our tragedy. Theater is a place where every race, creed, sexuality and gender is equal, embraced and loved. Hate will never win. Together, we have to make sure of that. Tonight’s show stands as a symbol and a celebration of that principle.”

Earlier in the day, the award show announced that Sunday's ceremony would be dedicated to the friends and family of the victims of the attack. 

"Our hearts are heavy for the unimaginable tragedy that happened last night in Orlando,” the statement read on Twitter. “Our thoughts are with the families and friends of those affected. The Tony Awards dedicate tonight’s ceremony to them.”

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Not only did Lin-Manuel Miranda win a Tony for Best Original Score for his historic musical "Hamilton," he opted to accept the award by reciting a heartfelt sonnet. 

"Senseless acts of tragedy remind us that nothing here is promised, not one day," he said. "This show is proof that history remembers. We live through times when hate and fear seem stronger. We rise and fall and light from dying embers, remembrances that hope and love last longer."

Watch the original speech above, and listen for references to his wife, the banality of senseless violence and the enduring power of love.

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