In the one year since the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre, the public's stance on gun control has reverted largely to where it was before the tragedy. 

The debate that ensued between gun rights and gun-control forces hardened the lines on each side and led to a higher intensity of opinion on both sides.

Like everything else, Americans remain divided along party, ideological, gender, racial, and socioeconomic lines on the subject of gun control, according to years of polling on the subject. But some of America's agreements might surprise you. 

The 1999 Columbine, Colo., massacre briefly pushed support toward "controlling gun ownership" up 8 points to 65% of Americans.

Source: Pew Research Center

In the last 12 years, though, there has been a rapid rise in support for gun rights. After the movie theater shooting in Aurora, Colo., more people supported protecting rights of gun ownership than controlling it.

But after Newtown, 49% thought it was more important to control gun ownership, compared with 42% who thought it was more important to protect gun rights.

Source: Pew Research Center

In the hotel business, loyalty still has its rewards: free Wi-Fi, loaner BMW bikes, and spa discounts are among the perks you receive for joining Fairmont's free Presidents Club program.

That's just one of the tips and tricks we've compiled that will improve your next hotel stay—and before you even arrive. Some are easy adjustments to your travel habits like bringing your own bottled water or checking in later in the day when managers have a better sense of their inventory and will be more open to a spontaneous upgrade.

Other hotel strategies involve taking advantage of tools that do the research for you. Hipmunk's new last-minute deal aggregator compiles rock-bottom prices for unsold rooms up to 72 hours ahead of arrival. And online service Tingo will automatically rebook you at a lower price if your room rate drops.

Now that's the peace of mind that sets you well on your way to a good hotel night's sleep.

Consult the Algorithm

New website TheSuitest has a Hotel Time Machine that predicts the average room rate in a destination six months out, making it easy to see when rooms will be at their most affordable.

Track the Hotel Rate

Book with online service Tingo, which will automatically rebook you at the lower price if your room rate drops.

Bundle your Room with Air Fare

Hotels drop rates when they can disguise them in travel packages offered by websites such as Expedia, Travelocity, and Orbitz.

Pick a Card

If you want to stockpile airline miles and hotel points, finding the right travel-rewards credit card is key. Compare your options on the websites Nerdwallet and Cardhub. Both offer comprehensive card comparisons and sound advice on maximizing benefits.

Take a Calculated Hotel Gamble

Turns out HotelTonight, the pioneer of same-day mobile bookings, partners with select hotels in each destination so it can guarantee availability. Check the app leading up to your trip to get a sense of what will be on offer in your destination. Then be quick on the draw the day of: deals go up at noon each day.

Look for Unsold Rooms

Don’t want to cut it too close? Hipmunk’s new last-minute deal aggregator compiles rock-bottom prices for unsold rooms up to 72 hours ahead of arrival.

See more travel tips at Travel & Leisure >

More from Travel + Leisure: 

America's Best College Towns

Best Travel Gadgets

Best Places to Unplug

America's Favorite Towns

Best Indian Restaurants in the U.S.

Join the conversation about this story »

You don't need the most expensive photography equipment to take awesome photos.

Photographer Alexey Kljatov took an old lens from a Russian Zenit camera, flipped it around backwards, and attached it to a run-of-the-mill point-and-shoot camera.

Then he took macro shots of snowflakes, and the images are absolutely enchanting! Kljatov allowed us to share some of them here.

This is how Kljatov created the camera he used.

Not all of us can take time to fly to Germany to clink steins with local fräuleins for days on end. You can, however, visit some top-tier breweries in the U.S. To that end, we've created itineraries for five great American beercations in cities with a high concentration of excellent craft breweries — plus the hotels in which you can sleep your hangover off in style.

Click here to see the 5 best cities for a "beercation">>

More at Details.com:

Fall Fashion Preview: A First Look at the Season's Must-Have Styles

The 5 Exercise Machines You Should Never Use At The Gym

5 Must Have Waterproof Devices 

The Virility Diet – What to Eat for Better Sex

5 Anti-Aging Tips For Men

1. Grand Rapids, Michigan

Now that the Furniture City has taken first place in the annual Beer City USA poll for two consecutive years, even the local visitors bureau has spearheaded a new campaign dedicated solely to beer tourism, with a comprehensive brewery-hopping guide and annual beer events.

Where to Drink

Hopcat
Ranked as the country's top brewpub by multiple sites, Hopcat showcases 200-plus bottled beers sourced from all over the world, in addition to 38 taps (with a heavy bent toward Michigan-made brews). House beers, which in the past have included unorthodox flavors (like cucumber and rice, and sage), are swapped out every season and produced in small batches.

Brewery Vivant
Located in a former funeral home, the Belgian-and French-inspired beers here are sipped with near reverence. The Farm Hand Ale is based on what French fin-de-siècle brewers might have served in the countryside. Hazy, faintly sour, and with a bit of funk (derived from a special yeast), it pairs with heartier fare like pâté, duck confit, and the Belgian frites served on-site.

Founders Brewing Company
The award-winning portfolio of beers, pristine brewery, and taproom with live music keep fans and critics coming back all year long. Follow up a round or two of the best-selling All Day IPA, an aromatic and assertive session beer, with a glass of the Harvest Ale, which uses wet hops (as opposed to dried or pelletized) for a bright and citrusy beer that finishes delightfully warm and malty.

Where to Stay

JW Marriott Grand Rapids
Recover from a bout of day drinking at the top-notch spa (renowned for seriously skilled masseuses and their use of local ingredients like Grand Haven beach sand) at this modern high-rise. Return to a room outfitted with ultra plush beds, 37-inch flat-screen TVs, and sweeping views of the river, or round out the day with a concert or game at the Van Andel Arena.

The largest insects that ever lived were dragonfly-like bugs of the order Protodonata, sometimes referred to as griffinflies. They had wingspans of nearly 2.5 feet across and huge mandibles, making them formidable predators.

Thankfully, they went extinct a long time ago at the end of the Paleozoic Era. Although insects can't grow quite that large in today's world, there are a few that are nevertheless large enough to give even seasoned entomologists a good fright.

Check out 10 of the largest insects alive today>>

1. Giant Stick Bug

The longest insects on the planet are stick insects, which have evolved a bizarre shape to hide themselves from predators among branches, twigs and foliage.

The giant walking stick from Southeast Asia is the longest variety, growing to as long as about 2 feet in length. Some species can produce a pungent-smelling defensive spray, but these bugs are mostly harmless and are often kept as pets.

2. Giant Weta

Endemic to New Zealand, giant wetas are enormous bugs that are related to crickets. The largest giant wetas can weigh in excess of 70 grams (about 2.5 ounces), making them among the heaviest insects in the world. (They can weigh more than a sparrow.)

They are long too, with bodies measuring as long as about 4 inches not including the legs and antennae. Because these giants are only found on islands, they are an excellent example of island gigantism.

3. Goliath Beetle

Based on weight and bulk, goliath beetles are strong contenders for the title of largest insects on Earth. Native to Africa, males of these species can grow to over 4 inches, and can weigh as much as 100 grams (3.5 ounces) in their larval stage.

Though they are believed to be primarily vegetarian in the wild, they have shown a voracious appetite for protein in captivity, and captive beetles are often fed dog and cat food.

Ski season is upon us, and mountain resorts across the country are preparing for an influx of daredevils and thrill-seekers.

The most difficult runs in the U.S. serve up 50-degree pitches, drop-offs upwards of 30 feet, and frozen waterfalls buried under powder. Navigating them requires mental stamina and fast footwork.

Our friends at Liftopia, an online ski marketplace that offers discounted lift tickets, helped us find the trails that have even the most expert skiers shaking in their boots.

Corbet's Couloir – Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, Teton Village, WY

The Ride: Corbet's Couloir starts with a massive drop off a snow-covered cleft in the rock face, so you're free-falling two to nine meters, depending on the snow. If you stick the landing on the 50-degree slope, you must immediately throw all your weight forward and make a right-hand swerve to avoid smashing into a Precambrian rock.

The Couloir's upside down funnel shape opens into a super powdery 200-meter run.

Pro Tip: Some skiers panic down the chute and try to stop after landing, which is unwise at 40mph. Jackson Hole's ski coaches say, "Don't stop, stand up and ski!"

The Fingers – Squaw Valley, Olympic Valley, CA

The Ride: Squaw Valley's unofficial morning ritual is the Fingers Race, where skiers show up at the KT 22 lift at an ungodly hour and elbow their way in line to be the first to bomb the 2,000-foot vertical.

They charge from the Nose down the Fingers in mass chaos, one person after the next at 40mph. The two iconic lines on the Fingers — Main Air and Middle Knuckle — offer 40-foot flights and blind 60-degree pitches, respectively. The whole base of the mountain looks at the Fingers, so expect an audience.

Pro Tip: Avoid the center of the run, where transitions get swept away and snow sluffs expose hidden rocks.

Paradise – Mad River Glen, Fayston, VT

The Ride: This steep, sheltered run is a labyrinth of dense glades and open headwalls. It starts with a plunge off an eight-foot cliff, then morphs into a windy, super-steep trough lined with six-foot frozen waterfalls, big soft moguls, and side gullies with monstrous pockets of powder.

There's a 38-degree pitch in there that will keep you on your toes.

Pro Tip: It's easy to lose people in the trees, so try to stay cognizant of your group's whereabouts at all times.

Yes, you make a lot of money when you work on Wall Street, but you're going to have to spend a lot of money to stay there.

To go to work every day you'll need to look the part — the suit, the shoes, etc. To live every day with a banker's schedule, you'll need people to take care of you — maid service, dry cleaners etc.

And then there are the social obligations — trips, schmoozing, memberships ...

Wall Street is full of Joneses, and as the saying goes, they're hard to keep up with.

Here's how much money it takes to try.

From the start, prepare to drop $3,000+ on an apartment in the Financial District

Rents may have slightly declined in Manhattan in 2012, but the average rent is still more than $3,300 a month according to Citi Habitats.

We searched two-bedroom apartments in the area and turned up a few for less than $3,000, but they were few and far between.

Luckily, the Financial District/Battery Park City area saw the biggest drop in asking prices — down 12 percent at the end of the year from October.

And given the beating Superstorm Sandy subjected the area to last fall, you'll definitely want to budget for flood insurance.

Men need at least $200 to invest in a solid pair of dress shoes. That figure doubles for women, who will need at least two pair.

What good is a $5,000 suit if you're rounding it out with the same pair of kicks you used to hit the streets in as an intern? 

Men, invest in a solid pair of black or brown dress shoes that meet these three critera: They won't scuff easily; they'll hold up to daily beatings running around the office; and you can go from work to cocktail hour without having to change. 

Let's be real, if you want to look great, you'll need more than one pair.

Ladies, unless you're willing to teeter over potholes and cracked sidewalks in 4-inch Manolo's, you'll need a sturdy pair of flats to trek to and from the office as well. 

Trust us. Nothing ruins a $300 heel faster than a puddle of mystery Subway sludge. 

And it costs at least $20 per month to keep your soles from caving in.

Unless you've nabbed a private office with a view by now, chances are you're not in any hurry to burn cash on shoe replacements every few months. 

For a few bucks, turn over your weary kicks to the plethora of time-tested cobblers on Wall Street.  Judging by dozens of glowing reviews, few are as beloved as Minas Shoe Repair. 

"[Minas Shoe Repair] is the only place I take my designer shoes for repair," writes one Yelp reviewer. "It can get pricey, but paying a little under $100 for resoling and re-heeling and fixing up a $700 pair of Chanel flats definitely beats shelling out another $700 for new ones." 

Wall Street's also one of the few places you can pop in for a $3 shoeshine at the corner drugstore.

As one of the largest jackpots in U.S. lottery history climbs to $550 million and potentially beyond, we're reminded that winning the lottery will not solve all problems.

In fact many people's lives became notably worse after they got super rich, and they managed to lose it all quite quickly.

The Griffiths bought their dream home then life fell apart.

Before they won a $2.76 million lottery jackpot, Lara and Robert Griffith hardly ever argued.

They bought a million-dollar house and a Porsche.

But 18 months ago, six years after their win, Robert drove away in the Porsche after Lara confronted him over emails suggesting he was interested in another woman.

Their 14-year marriage was over, a freak fire gutted their house, and every penny of their fortune was gone.

Bud Post lost $16.2 million within a nightmarish year — his own brother put out a hit on him.

William "Bud" Post won $16.2 million in the Pennsylvania lottery in 1988 but was $1 million in debt within a year.

"I wish it never happened," Post said. "It was totally a nightmare."

A former girlfriend successfully sued him for a share of his winnings and his brother was arrested for hiring a hit man to kill him in the hopes he'd inherit a share of the winnings.

After sinking money into various family businesses, Post sank into debt and spent time in jail for firing a gun over the head of a bill collector.

Bud now lives quietly on $450 a month and food stamps.

Martyn and Kay Tott won a $5 million jackpot, but lost the ticket.

Martyn Tott, 33, and his 24-year-old wife of the U.K. missed out on a $5 million lottery fortune after losing their ticket.

They were able to convince officials but since there is a 30-day time limit on reporting lost tickets, the jackpot became the the largest unclaimed amount since the lottery began in 1994.

"Thinking you're going to have all that money is really liberating. Having it taken away has the opposite effect," Kay Tott told The Daily Mail. "It drains the life from you and puts a terrible strain on your marriage. It was the cruellest torture imaginable."

The annual office Secret Santa game can be a major source of holiday stress.

And there's good reason: You need to stay in the price limit, find something a coworker (and possible stranger) will actually like, and hope you don't have to pretend to like whatever you receive.

Even worse, maybe this year you drew your boss' name.

Well, fear not. These 25 Secret Santa-appropriate office gifts are not only all under $25, but there's something for every type of coworker — from the kid-at-heart to the CrossFit fanatic.

For the work friend who's also a music lover, pick up this three-way earphone splitter. It's great for watching movies with a buddy on a long flight, or sharing a favorite album.

Buy it here for $10

If your coworker can't get enough tea, get her this playful ManaTea Infuser (get it?). Put your loose leaf tea inside and take out the infuser when the tea has been steeped.

Buy it here for $10

With the weather getting colder, any coworker will appreciate these touchscreen gloves. They're warm, convenient, and come in five different colors.

Buy them here for $14

Apple and Google celebrated a big milestone this year.

The App Store commemorated its fifth anniversary with a fire sale of free downloads, while Google Play touted 50 billion downloads and over 1 million apps posted in the platform.

Despite the abundance of programs housed within these separate stores, quite a few slip below the radar that don't receive the recognition they deserve.

We've rounded up the most underrated apps you really should be using. Check out our top 15 picks.

Oyster is an on-demand e-book service every voracious reader should have.

Dubbed the "Netflix for E-books,"Oyster is a digital library that contains over 100,000 books for browsing. Available for the iPhone & iPad, the system requires a $9.95 monthly fee in order to download and read this extensive collection. Books can be synced between devices and the app has features like a bright light for reading in the dark. The fee is a small price to pay for the numerous options encased within this application.

Price: $9.95

Available: iPhone.

IFTTT syncs apps together to create powerful multi-tasking concoctions.

The best apps are the most simple. IFFT is one of them. By creating "recipes", IFTTT works with 75 programs to form powerful ways for your device to communicate. One experiment could be telling the built-in weather app to directly email the day's forecast to your inbox. Think of it as an app that you can program to do just about anything useful. As of right now, it's only available for iOS, but it should be expanding to Android within the year.

Price: Free

Available: iPhone.

The Moviefone app is a better alternative than the website.

By adjusting your location, the Moviefone app quickly scans the surrounding area to find the closest theater. If you see a new film emerge on the list but have no idea what it is about, the app connects you to its selection of reviews found on critical aggregator Rotten Tomatoes while watching high-quality trailers.

Price: Free

Available: iPhone and Android.

A couple weeks ago, I flew to Beijing on a Saturday to speak at conference.  

I'd never been to China or even Asia before, so I decided to use the opportunity to see some other parts of the other side of the world.

So, Monday morning, I woke up at 4:30 A.M. and headed to Beijing Capital airport (PEK) for an early morning flight 800 miles south to a city near Shanghai called Hangzhou.

To get there, I flew Hainan Airlines – a domestic carrier.

In many ways, the experience was just like flying a US carrier from New York to Chicago, also an 800 mile flight. But there were some key differences.

I got to the airport before having breakfast. So I stopped at this place for a dumpling filled with mystery meat. I regretted it.

My gate looked like La Guardia during the holidays.

I got to the airport so early because, according to Flight Stats, 80% of all flights in China leave late. I heard only the first flights out leave on time.

Employees at Pfizer really love their jobs.

The pharmaceutical giant was voted the happiest company in America by its own workers for the second year running, according to an annual survey from job site CareerBliss. Health care company Kaiser Permanente took second place, followed by Texas Instruments.

To come up with its ranking, CareerBliss evaluated thousands of employee-submitted reviews across hundreds of companies. Workers were asked to rate their employers on several happiness factors, including work-life balance, company culture, compensation, and growth opportunities.

Each employee review was given an average score between one and five. These scores were tabulated to produce a company's overall rating, or "bliss score," with a higher score indicating happier employees.

Here's a look at the happiest companies in America, as well as each business's bliss score, average employee salary, and ranking on last year's list.

25. CBS

What it does: An American Comerica TV network that broadcasts everything from news to home entertainment to sports coverage

Bliss score: 3.974

Average salary: $78,000

Last year's ranking: No. 48 

24. Philips Electronics

What it does: A diversified technology company that services the health care, lighting, and consumer lifestyle sectors

Bliss score: 3.975

Average salary: $78,000

Last year's ranking: No. 25

23. Accenture

What it does: A multinational company that provides technology services, management consulting, and outsourcing

Bliss score: 3.979

Average salary: $80,000

Last year's ranking: No. 24

The best photographs work on multiple levels, capturing what’s happening on the surface while transcending two-dimensions to invite viewers to dig into whatever’s pictured.

That’s literally the idea behind Nick Veasey’s x-ray photographs. He uses five x-ray machines to take probing photos that provide an intimate, even eerie look into everything from robots to firearms.

“Sometimes I think about [the process] as a metaphor for life,” he says. “You are often attracted to people by their physical appearance, but you fall in love with them because of who they are. It’s what’s on the inside that counts. Same thing here.”

The English photographer makes most of his photos in an 800-square-foot studio with concrete walls 30 inches thick. The lead door weighs 1,250 kilos, or more than 2,700 pounds. The heavy fortification is necessary because Veasey is constantly bombarding his subjects with radiation.

He says the machines he has emit a type of radiation that doesn’t contaminate the object after it’s been x-rayed.

His studio isn’t large enough to photograph an airplane, obviously. Anything that won’t fit inside is disassembled and photographed in pieces; Veasey then combines all those images into a composite using Photoshop.

There are other tricks involved. Instead of shooting the entire fuselage of the Boeing 777 — which is 242 feet long and has a wingspan of almost 200 feet — Veasey shot one curved section and duplicated it in Photoshop. And he shot just three rows of seats because compressing dozens of rows would have made the photo too crowded.

“I try to be as accurate as possible, but I’m also working within certain constraints,” he says.

Even with these tricks, Veasey says he shot more than 1,000 pictures of the airliner to create the final image. If one of the pieces of the plane was too big for the 14 x 17-inch X-ray film he uses, he had to combine multiple exposures.

The skeletons featured in some photos were captured in one of two ways. For some of the photos, Veasey used a cadaver, preserved in a pressurized suit, borrowed from a nearby college. Others relied upon skeletal models radiology technicians use to train on.

Veasey is working on several new projects at the moment. One is about famous guns like the M16 and Walther PPK. Another project looks at robots. He chose robots because they’re getting more sophisticated by the day and he wants to look inside to see what makes them tick.

A third, and larger project, focuses on classic cars, including the Ford Model T, the Mercedes-Benz 300SL “Gullwing” and the iconic Mini. To get around the problem of disassembling the cars — something the owners almost certainly would frown upon — Veasey has tracked down an X-ray machine in Germany big enough to shoot them intact.

He chose older cars because he’s a classic car fan. But he also favors classic cars because modern vehicles are packed to the gills with technology with would muck up his shot — air bags, electronics, etc. Classic cars are simpler, more elegant and would make for far more interesting photos.

“All these cars are beautiful things in the flesh, but I also want to celebrate the engineering that went into making them,” he says.

Check out more of these X-Rays >

More from Wired:

13 of the Year’s Best Infographics 

How to Make Star Wars Snowflakes With Papers, Scissors, and Force

The 13 Best Movies You Didn’t See in 2013

16 Gifts Every Music Freak Will Love

Twitter Founder Reveals Secret Formula for Getting Rich Online

The Best Map Ever Made of America’s Racial Segregation

Veasey is currently looking for classic car owners who would like their cars photographed. To contact him, please send an email to nick@nickveasey.com

Join the conversation about this story »

One of the most challenging and important issues in the U.S. right now is the rise of income inequality.

The country's highest earners are taking home a bigger percentage of the national income than ever before.

This trend is hurting the economy — because the middle class consumers who spend most of the money in the economy don't have much money to spend.  And middle-class folks are understandably frustrated about that.

At the same time, in part because of this rising income disparity, the country's highest earners are paying the lion's share of the nation's income taxes.

The highest earners are understandably frustrated about that.

It's easy to hear all the talk about inequality and taxes without being able to visualize this. So, last year, BI's Eric Platt and I put together some charts to illustrate it.

Let's start with incomes...

In aggregate, American taxpayers made just under $8 trillion in 2009.

The top 1% made more than $350,000 apiece. The top 5% made more than $150,000. The top 10% made more than $110,000. The bottom 50% — half of the country's wage earners — made less than $30,000.

As if the Wii U, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One weren't enough, there's another major player in the video game industry dipping its toes in the video game console race.

Valve, the company responsible for the immensely popular Steam digital distribution platform and revolutionary games like "Half-Life 2" and "Portal," is giving 300 gamers around the country a free prototype version of its Steam Machine game console for testing.

The Steam Machine is based on standard PC hardware, just like the PS4 and Xbox One. It runs SteamOS, an operating system based on the Debian Linux distribution, modified for increased game compatibility and performance.

Reddit user colbehr was one of the 300 lucky gamers to receive the first round of Steam Machines from Valve. The Steam Machine is currently being tested in three models with increasing levels of processing power; his came with approximately $1,500 worth of PC hardware components. He graciously gave us permission to run his photos of its unboxing.

If you like your premium gadgets to come in premium packaging, Valve doesn't disappoint. The first round of Steam Machines were sent in crates made out of real wood.

While it's really big, it allows for a ton of padding for the ~$1,500 worth of hardware in the Steam Machine.

Below the console, we see the innovative touch-based controller Valve has designed for playing games originally meant for keyboard and mouse.

Tattoos are pretty popular in the NBA. Lots of players have them, and several of them have tattoos covering their arms and chests.

But even the guys who are covered, like Birdman and J.R. Smith were once a clean slate.

Some of the most tatted-up NBA players looked like completely different people early in their careers.

NOW: Chris 'Birdman' Andersen

Chris 'Birdman' Andersen in 2003

NOW: J.R. Smith

The past 12 months had more great music going on than any year in recent memory.

Some of the most innovative artists of the last decade — Kanye West, Daft Punk, Queens of the Stone Age, Vampire Weekend and Arcade Fire — all made watershed albums.

Rock & roll greats like John Fogerty, Paul McCartney and David Bowie proved they could be as vital as ever.

The EDM explosion kept blowing up thanks to artists like Disclosure and Avicii; old-school titans like Eminem and Pusha T pushed hip-hop forward alongside new-school innovators like Chance the Rapper, Earl Sweatshirt, J. Cole and Danny Brown; Kacey Musgraves and Ashley Monroe made country that was traditional and iconoclastic.

But the most exciting news of the year might've been the astonishing number of breakout new artists, from retro-Eighties sister act Haim, to Brit-folk prodigy Jake Bugg, to indie-rockers Parquet Courts, to post-punkers Savages to chart-topping 17-year-old truth-bomber Lorde.

Even Miley Cyrus' wrecking ball of an adult-oriented breakout album was kinda awesome.

Oh 2013, you gave so much and asked so little; 2014, get crackin'. You've got a lot to live up to.

Rolling Stone's 10 best albums, ranked >

10. John Fogerty, "Wrote A Song For Everyone"

The songs Fogerty wrote in Creedence Clearwater Revival are as embedded in the American grain as any in rock & roll.

But this collection of recut CCR hits and solo tracks — recorded with fans like Bob Seger, My Morning Jacket, Keith Urban, Miranda Lambert and Foo Fighters — shows how vital and relevant his songwriting remains more than 40 years after it owned the radio.

Fogerty updates his Vietnam War missive "Fortunate Son" for the Iraq-Afghanistan era backed by the Foos, belts out "Born on the Bayou" alongside Kid Rock, unspools the ballad "Someday Never Comes" with roots rockers Dawes, and gets locked in a guitar duel with Brad Paisley on the underrated solo gem "Hot Rod Heart."

The result is a wonderful conversation of an album — not to mention a damn good time.

9. Arctic Monkeys, "AM"

On its fifth album, this quintessentially British band moved to L.A., took inspiration from old Aaliyah hits and glam Bowie, and made a spiky, slinky beast of a record, perfect for that moment in the evening when you just realized that maybe that seventh drunk text you sent to your ex-girlfriend wasn't such a hot idea.

The album was reportedly inspired by Alex Turner's breakup with model and TV host Alexa Chung, and songs like "Why'd You Only Call Me When You're High" and the achingly slow "Do I Wanna Know" are full of slow-simmering heartache.

The careening "chip-shop rock & roll" (as Turner called it) of previous records was replaced by a creeping desert-rock paranoia. And the frayed party's-over lullaby "Mad Sounds" might've been the sweetest Velvet Underground echo of Lou Reed's final year.

More from Rolling Stone: 100 Best Songs of 2013

8. The National, "Trouble Will Find Me"

These Brooklyn guys have spent the past decade building their rep as the most resplendent sadsters in indie rock, a band whose ornate music matches the Cure-size heartache of singer Matt Berninger.

But on the best record of their career, they pare back that richly ornamental sound to reveal its black-candy pop core. Berninger moans his afflicted romantic entreaties like a man drowning in too much merlot and just enough Leonard Cohen, over tensely coiled rhythms and hazy guitar shimmer. 

The National's fast songs have never had such immediate surge, and their slow ones have never had such elegiac power. "If you want to see me cry, play Let It Be or Nevermind," Berninger sings on "Don't Swallow the Cap," nailing the album's ambition to make mood-swing rock with old-school gravitas.

Week 15 of the NFL season is nearly over. While we wait for the Monday Night Football game, let's take another look back at the best highlights from Sunday's action.

This week's collection includes a brutal hit on a punter, Vernon Davis's brutal hit on a wall, and the Dolphins holder's embarrassing miss.

Here are our 19 favorites.

Chiefs fan rejects Mychal Rivera's leap into the stands.

Steven Jackson destroyed a Washington defender.

This is a bad sign for those hoping Tony Gonzalez won't retire. The legs just aren't there anymore.

The Midtown Manhattan penthouse Leonardo DiCaprio's character Jordan Belfort used in the upcoming film "The Wolf Of Wall Street" is on the market, New York Daily News reported. 

The Penthouse B at the Milan Condominium at 300 East 55th is for sale for $6.495 million.

"Million Dollar Listing" star/Nestseekers broker Ryan Serhant has the listing, the NYDN report said.  

The apartment is the location of the infamous scene where Belfort's crew beat up the butler and dangled him over the balcony threatening to drop him.  

The Penthouse is located on the 32nd floor of the Milan Condominium in Midtown East. It offers stunning views of the East River.

This is where Belfort's crew beat up the butler, Patrick, after Belfort's mistress Nadine caught him having a gay orgy in the apartment. 'Victor threw the first punch and Patrick's face exploded into raw hamburger meat...,' Belfort wrote in his memoir.

The Wolf Of Wall Street 

After it was revealed that Patrick took $50,000 from Belfort's sock drawer, Victor Wang hung him over the ledge of the balcony and threatened to drop him.

The Wolf Of Wall Street 

Metro News UK has a heartwarming tale about how a little girl was reunited with her lost stuffed animal through social media.

The story goes that Lauren Bishop Vranch found a "well-loved bear" at London's King's Cross station last Friday. She tried to give the lost bear to the train staff, but was told he'd be dropped off at Inverness Station — far away from the York-Kings Cross line she found it on. So she tweeted:

Found this well loved little dude on an East Coast train at Kings Cross - let's find the owner, Twitter! pic.twitter.com/nKB5CMkApM

— Lauren Bishop Vranch (@laurenannbishop) December 13, 2013

She then started using the hashtag #lostbear to try and find the stuffed animal's owner. She documented her weekend with the bear, watching plays, hanging out in Newcastle, and staying at a hotel.

Little bear has found a nice hotel to stay in. Tho the more I look at him, the more he looks like a dog. pic.twitter.com/69CstuhsBK

— Lauren Bishop Vranch (@laurenannbishop) December 13, 2013

The pictures were soon picked up by the Facebook group "Spotted: On the Train."

Finally after a long weekend of searching, Yorkshire father Ben Simpson realized on Sunday that the #lostbear was actually his daughter Phoebe's stuffed lion Roar, who she had been missing since Friday.

Roar is now on his way back to his rightful owner and all is right with the world.

I spoke to Phoebe's dad this morning and Roar is now on his way to Yorkshire to be reunited. Thanks to everyone who RTed and shared.

— Lauren Bishop Vranch (@laurenannbishop) December 16, 2013

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