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Inspired by a Renaissance writer who said “a well-rounded man should be an artist, a warrior and philosopher” Jason Everman, original bassist for Nirvana, joined the US military, the Special Forces, studied under monks in Tibet and earned a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy from Columbia. 00
Many African-Americans have Irish last names (e.g. Shaquille O’Neal) because Irish and Blacks lived side by side in the ghettos of 19th century America. 00
In Ancient Rome, commoners would evacuate whole cities in acts of revolt called “Secessio plebis”, leaving the elite in the city to fend for themselves. 00
The Blue Mustang, a 32-foot tall sculpture of a blue horse at Denver International Airport, was designed by sculptor Luis Jiménez who was unable to complete the project after the head fell on him and severed an artery in his leg, killing him. His staff and family finished the job for him. 00
After being falsely arrested for a bombing, George Engel; an American anarchist, wrote a letter asking the judge not to give any clemency. His last words before being hanged were “Hurrah for anarchy! This is the happiest moment of my life”. 00
Ever since Pixar stepped on the scene, kids movies have really stepped up their game. Not only are they putting in jokes and references to keep the parents entertained, they’re going above and beyond – even if you’re expecting the cleverness.
These 12 examples will have you re-analyzing every scene you ever watched while trying to make sure your kid didn’t dump the popcorn all over the floor.
Image Credit: Pixar
In the opening credits, one of the constellations is the Pixar lamp logo.
Image Credit: Pixar
There are different sized cups in the break room to accommodate different sized monster hands.
Image Credit: Pixar
One of the toys is a tool box emblazoned with the word “Binford.” Binford Tools is a fictional company from Home Improvement, the sitcom that launched the career of Buzz Lightyear (or, Tim Allen).
Image Credit: Pixar
There’s a picture of the twins from The Shining on the wall – someone is a King fan!
Image Credit: Pixar
Did you notice the receding hairline given to the dad angelfish? That’s some imagination.
Image Credit: Pixar
Another fan reference – there’s a nod to the original Alien in the arcade scene.
Image Credit: Pixar
The writing on the bottom of Andy’s toys shows how his handwriting has improved over the years.
Image Credit: Pixar
When Rex appears in the rearview mirror of a car, it brings to mind another famous T-rex giving chase – Jurassic Park, anyone?
Image Credit: Pixar
All of the possessions on Ellie’s side of the bed are round, whereas everything on Carl’s side is square, matching their character design.
Image Credit: Pixar
Sully’s chair has a hole in it so there’s a spot for his tail to go comfortably.
Image Credit: Pixar
WALL-E’s battery light recharges after he’s hit by lightning.
Image Credit: Pixar
The phone number on Mirage’s business cards spells out “SPRHRO” if you use the keypad.
Crazy, right? I can’t wait to re-watch!
The post 10+ Pixar Movies That Were Way Smarter Than We First Realized appeared first on UberFacts.
Gaming has finally reached a point where there are older games completely deserving of a remaster. Perhaps the technology wasn’t quite there at the time it was released, or maybe the only console you can play it on has been out of production for years. No matter the reason, gamers are looking for any excuse to visit the best games from their youth. Below are 15 that these serious gamers wish would come back after a revamp.
“Battle for Middle Earth games. Both. Don’t change everything just a Graphic update. Sad thing this will never happen, those games are no longer supported and you can only play a pirate version of them. I would love to see them suported in a gaming platform like Steam, Origin or whatever…”
“The original Star Wars Battlefront 2. All it REALLY needs is better ai behavior and scripting.”
“I’d love to play the original Deus Ex in the engine of Mankind Divided.
Human Revolution is such an excellent game and it’s always made me want to experience the franchise’ roots.”
“1st pick: Legends of Dragoon
2nd pick: Arc the Lad: Twilight of the Spirits.”
“MediEvil
This hack n’ slash epic had an anarchic sense of humor and was billed as the spiritual sequel to Ghosts n’ Goblins with a Tim Burton-esque aesthetic to it. You play the skeletal Dan Fortesque, a failed hero of an ancient kingdom, who is brought back to life by powerful sorcery and is now out to rightfully become a hero. It was beautiful and fun but the camera angles were a mess and controls were sometimes a bit clunky.”
“Burnout 3 takedown.
Ffs gimme, and on pc too this time please.”
“Super Mario RPG
Imagine those sprites at high resolution.”
“Vampire The Masquerade: Bloodlines. Seriously, it’s a whole other level of experience. I know nostalgia plays a huge part and all that, but I think a remaster with just a few quality of life adjustments would give this game the chance to shine. I wish a remake would be announced someday, but I really don’t know what’s up with the rights and all that.”
“Black & white. In VR. Let me use my actual hand to pick up people (and throw them around) and cast spells by tracing shapes.
The dream.”
“Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
Hand-drawn HD sprites and backgrounds. 4k/widescreen support. Weapon/equipment/enemy collection and gallery. Restored content from Sega Saturn version.
Soundtrack to remain untouched, though. It is perfect the way it is.”
“Kotor 1&2
https://kotaku.com/star-wars-kotor-fan-remake-shutting-down-after-cease-a-1829720602
I was so sad.”
“Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy.
Best Star Wars game ever made.”
“Thief 1 & 2. I’d play the hell out of those, and no one seems to be able to do a proper Thief game now.”
“Timesplitters: Futures perfect. The controls are just bad compared to today. Like that is all they need to fix.”
“I’d like a Goldeneye remake, not remaster as the controls and mechanics need overhauled completely.”
Which would you add to the list?
The post Gamers Reveal The 12+ Games They Want Remastered appeared first on UberFacts.
It doesn’t take a history degree to know that King Henry VIII of England was a few apples short of a full cart. In addition to imprisoning and sentencing to death several of his wives, his brain was literally being eaten away by syphilis, so perhaps it’s not all that surprising that he had a collection of peculiar things.
The 6 objects below are only some of the most bizarre pieces, so buckle up.
Photo Credit: Wikipedia
Henry VIII popularized the Tudor fashion of wearing exaggerated codpieces, which were supposed to be symbols of a man’s virility and masculinity. Of course, the king had the biggest one of all — one roomy enough to be used as a pocket or to conceal a weapon, jewels, or other valuables (besides the obvious).
Photo Credit: Flickr.
The bespectacled, demon-faced Horned Helmet was a gift to Henry VIII from the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I in 1514. Court jester Will Somers took possession of it after Henry’s death in 1547 and likely earned some pretty awesome laughs because of it.
Photo Credit: Wikipedia
In 1526, Henry VII commissioned a pair of leather football boots that would cost around $130 today. 14 years later, he banned football on the grounds that it incited riots. It didn’t stick, obviously, though that thing about the riots remains true.
Photo Credit: Wikipedia
This brutal instrument of torture was invented during Henry VIII’s reign and crushed its victims until they bled from the face. It’s basically the opposite idea of the more popular rack.
Photo Credit: Wikipedia
Henry VIII was actually a very talented musician — he played the organ, lute, flute and the virginal — an early form of harpsichord. A 1547 inventory lists among his instruments 20 recorders, 19 viols, 2 clavichords and 4 sets of bagpipes, which included the purple velvet set with ivory pipework.
Photo Credit: Public Domain
Though not particularly concerned with the happiness of his many animals, Henry VIII nevertheless had a fondness for collecting them. He owned ferrets, hawks, falcons, canaries, nightingales and numerous dogs, along with more exotic pets like the marmoset he received as a gift in the 1530s.
Just a few tidbits to pull out at your next dinner party!
The post Henry VIII Owned These 5+ Bizarre Objects appeared first on UberFacts.
The new Halloween movie is getting rave reviews, which is impressive considering the franchise’s long history of corny sequels diminishing box office returns.
But there’s one thing you can’t deny: Michael Myers is one of the scariest, most infamous movie villains of all time. In honor of 40 years of terror, here are 15 frightful facts about one of the most iconic movie franchises out there haunting your dreams.
The original Halloween film, released in 1978, is one of the most successful independent films of all time. The budget was a mere $300,000, and it raked in $47 million at the box office.
Photo Credit: Compass International Pictures
Horror buffs know this, but non-weirdos might not. Michael Myers’ mask is actually a William Shatner/Captain Kirk mask. The props department bought the cheapest mask they could find, spray painted it white, stretched out the eyes, and messed up the hair. The result? A terrifying, iconic image.
Halloween was originally called The Babysitter Murders, but the small budget made Carpenter and his team decide to set the film in one day rather than over the course of several days.
Director John Carpenter spent nearly half of his $300,000 budget on Panavision cameras so the original Halloween could be shot in widescreen. Carpenter and his crew had to get extremely creative to complete the rest of the film.
Photo Credit: Compass International Pictures
1978’s Halloween was shot out of order, so the actors often weren’t sure how scared they were supposed to be in a given scene. John Carpenter created a “fear meter” that showed Jamie Lee Curtis how frightened she was supposed to be during specific scenes.
The newest Halloween was written by David Gordon Green, Danny McBride, and Jeff Fradley as a direct sequel to the original film, not taking into account any of the films that followed the original 1978 classic.
All the girls in 1978 film were supposed to be teenagers, but only Jamie Lee Curtis was under 20 years old at the time. Curtis was 19, and her role as Laurie Strode cemented her role as a scream queen.
The mask in Halloween II, released in 1981, is the same one from the original film. It looks different in the sequel for several reasons. The first is that the paint was peeling off because actor Nick Castle always put the mask in his pocket between takes during the original film. It looked yellow in Part II because producer Debra Hill kept the mask in her house between films and she was a smoker. Also, a different actor played Michael Myers in Part II – Dick Warlock (what a name) took over the role from Nick Castle, and the two men had different shaped faces.
Photo Credit: Universal Pictures
Halloween II (1981) is the only film in the series not set on the actual day of Halloween. In that film, the chaos takes place the day after, on November 1.
When Jamie Lee Curtis appeared in Halloween H20: 20 Years Later in 1998, she admitted that seeing Michael Myers on set still scared her.
Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers (1989) is the lowest-grossing movie of the series.
Photo Credit: Dimension Films
Paul Rudd’s first film role was in 1995’s Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers. It wasn’t too much later that he became a star after appearing in Clueless.
Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988) was written in only 11 hours. Writer Alan B. McElroy knew a writer’s strike was looming and he was determined to get the film written before the strike started.
Surprisingly, Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers was the only film in the series filmed entirely in the fall. Movie magic!
John Carpenter wrote a treatment for Halloween 4, but the producers were looking for a standard, by-the-book slasher film, and they weren’t interested in Carpenter’s take on the story. Because his script was thrown out, Carpenter decided he didn’t want anything to do with Part 4, which made it the first Halloween movie he wasn’t involved with.
The post These 12+ Facts About the Halloween Movie Franchise are Terrifyingly Informative appeared first on UberFacts.
A string of Victorian row houses went up on St. Patrick Street in the center of Toronto between the years 1890 and 1893. Each one was an identical, connected home and they were numbered 52 1/2, 54, 54 1/2, 56, 58, and 60.
Today, just 1 remains – 54 1/2 St. Patrick Street – and it turns out it was aptly numbered, since it’s standing as “half” a house.
Photo Credit: Google Maps
In the 5 decades between when the houses were built and the 1930s, developers were keen on obtaining the buildings, and used aggressive tactics – one resident told the local newspaper he had received upward of 300 requests in a year.
One by one people gave in and the houses were demolished to make room for “progress,” until only the Valkos family at 54 1/2 remained. And they weren’t going anywhere.
That fact didn’t stop the developers who had bought the rest of the row – they tore down all of the surrounding (and connected) properties until only 54 1/2 remained standing, looking as if a whole house had been cut in two.
Photo Credit: Google Maps
The actual process of disconnecting the homes from 54 1/2 was a dangerous undertaking – load-bearing walls connected bedrooms, and a single miscalculation could have caused the Half House to tumble along with the rest. Though it remained standing, the owner at the time of the demolition (Emily Brown, the Valkoses daughter and her husband) complained to city officials about seeping rain water, insulation, and the unfinished appearance of the outside of their home.
Emily moved into a nursing home in 2012, selling the property to Albert Zikovitz, who worked in an adjacent office building, before leaving her childhood home.
Photo Credit: Google Maps
Today, the building is privately owned and vacant, a remnant from a different time. Valued at over $650,000, the Half House of Toronto has been standing next to a housing project since 1975, and it doesn’t seem as if that will be changing anytime soon – if ever.
The post The “Half-House of Toronto” Still Stands Strong After All These Years appeared first on UberFacts.
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