Take a Look at These Old Pics of Celebrities We Think You’ll Recognize

Even celebrities were young people once!

I wouldn’t go so far as to say they’re actually LIKE us, but we all go through our teenage years in one way or another.

Check out these pics of celebs when they were younger.

We think you’ll love them!

1. Jessica Biel.

She pretty much looks the same.

 

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2. Gwen Stefani.

Before she hit it big.

 

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3. Jonah Hill.

What an adorable kid!

 

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4. Justin Theroux.

Portrait of a bad boy.

 

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5. John Stamos and the Olsen twins.

A long, long time ago.

 

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6. Jennifer Garner.

America’s sweetheart.

 

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7. Two basketball legends.

Back in the day.

 

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8. Betty White.

She’s always been awesome.

 

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9. Reese Witherspoon.

When she was just a kid.

 

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10. Nicole Richie.

Now she’s a big star!

 

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11. Emma Watson and Tom Felton.

Check it out!

 

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A post shared by Tom Felton (@t22felton)

Now we wanna see what YOU looked like when you were a youngster!

Share a pic with us in the comments.

We can’t wait to see them!

The post Take a Look at These Old Pics of Celebrities We Think You’ll Recognize appeared first on UberFacts.

What Did You Do “Before It Was Cool”? People Responded.

I remember when I first started going to punk rock shows in small coffee houses, garages, and basements, it was a little bit intimidating.

I was a normal suburban kid without a chip on my shoulder, but some of the people at these shows clearly didn’t want new kids coming in and being a part of a scene they’d been in for a while.

But I guess this sort of stuff happens all the time, right?

Folks on AskReddit talked about what they did “before it was cool”.

Let’s take a look.

1. Ahead of the curve.

“Listened to podcasts before they were podcasts.

Recorded shows (just like today, some were for online distribution, others were recorded versions of broadcasts) were put on a web server or FTP server where you could come download them.

They weren’t quite podcasts yet, because the idea of hooking them up with an RSS feed hadn’t come out yet (not even sure if RSS had been invented yet, TBH) so I had a script that ran as a cron job on my desktop, which would grab a directory listing at regular intervals and download anything I didn’t already have.

Most of them were MP3, of course, but at least one was RealAudio.”

2. Now it’s cool.

“Everything nerdy. I attended high school in the 90’s and you kept the nerdy s**t hidden.

Then came the Star Wars special editions. Then LOTR won a bunch of Oscars. Nerd stuff became more and more mainstream. Then the cool kids started watching Game of Thrones. Now dungeons and dragons is having its biggest growth ever.

So grateful. I love how it’s no longer niche targeted at young males.

Now, the neckbeards who get triggered over “fake geek girls,” I dont understand them. I’m old enough to remember when a girl who had the same interests as you was “a good thing” and “the basis for a relationship.””

3. Nerdin’ out.

“I was a big nerd and gamer in the late 1980s and 1990s.

In 2000 I went to an EverQuest guild meet up in Toronto and customs was incredulous.

“You’re coming to another country to meet people you met in a video game online?” They asked like 10 times in different ways.

Then in 2008ish I went to Toronto again for a (then-WoW) meet up. “Why are you coming to Canada?” “World of Warcraft guild meetup.” “How long are you staying?” “A week.” “Enjoy your visit.””

4. A great man!

“Watching Bob Ross.

Literally the only channel that was decent in my house was PBS.

As soon as I came home from school it was on.”

5. A huge hit.

“Black Panther was my son’s favorite superhero back in like 2014.

There was no character merch and I paid ridiculous money to find discontinued Black Panther toys.

Flash forward a couple years and we’re at the theater on opening day in full Black Panther costumes.”

6. They came around.

“I was the first boy in my middle school to pierce my ears (trying to be like my big brother).

Everyone roasted my a** to the point I just had to take them out.

Fast forward a couple years to high school and every dude that gave me s**t for pierced ears had gotten it done themselves.”

7. Wildly successful.

“Minecraft.

I pl ayed it way back in the Alpha version before everyone and their mom knew about it.

Watched Seananners make a video about it and bought it immediately and that video was the first spark towards it being the giant it is now.”

8. Youtubing.

“Youtube. I had a video in 2006 get over a million views.

That was big back then. I got some ad revenue, a couple of sponsors, and people putting my videos in compilations.

Haven’t done anything with it since then.”

9. Trendsetter.

“Reading Harry Potter.

We had a copy of the Philosopher’s Stone before a second book had been announced, and before either of them had come out in the US.

Absolutely obsessed with it – you couldn’t really get any toys or merch back then besides the books themselves so we would make our own.”

10. Awesome.

“I was into Nirvana early on.

I was a subscriber to the Sub Pop single of the month. I heard their cover of Love Buzz before it appeared on Bleach I think it was November of 1988.

Saw them twice before Nevermind was released.

Feb 1989 at Marsugi’s in San Jose with Mudhoney. Was a spectacular show in a venue that held less than 70 people. I think it took a couple days of days for the ringing to stop. But it was worth it.

Saw them a year later after Bleach was released at the Cactus Club.”

11. Before it came overseas.

“Watching the Office as an American when it was only the UK Version as it first aired in the US.”

12. This is funny.

“F**king everything. I’ll start doing something and it blows up in a few years. And I am far from cool.

I am a 33 year old fat white lady who can barely use her cell phone. My husband calls me “accidental hipster.””

13. Livin’ the vinyl life.

“When I was growing up, my dad had an extensive record collection from the 50’s and 60’s. And I always loved putting them on and listening to them.

They were all country/bluegrass, and some jazz. But I was huge fan of folks like Patsy Cline, Buck Owens, Dolly Parton, Eddy Arnold, Chet Adkins, Boots Randolph and Johnny Cash just to name a few. Also had some musicals in there like Annie Get Your Gun. We had so many, we hand to store them in a trunk since it collapsed out bookshelf.

This was of course during the rise of CDs, so finding vinyl was hard unless you came across them at a flea market, or Goodwill or something.

Seems weird now that Vinyl is outselling CDs and Dolly Parton and Johnny Cash are legends in our generation now. And my favorite song from Annie Get Your Gun is now remixed for athletic commercials (anything you can do I can do better)

For the longest time I couldn’t talk about it for fear I was a dork. Now I can’t talk about it for fear of being a hipster.”

What did you do before it was cool?

Talk to us in the comments.

Thanks in advance!

The post What Did You Do “Before It Was Cool”? People Responded. appeared first on UberFacts.

People Talk About What They Did “Before It Was Cool”

I was into that before it became cool!

Whether it’s music, video games, movies, fashion, or a million other things, people like to make this claim and to put other folks in their place.

I guess you can classify it as shaming of some sort.

What did you do “before it was cool”?

AskReddit users shared their stories.

1. Cool!

“The Martian.

I read “The Martian” back when it was just a text file on some backwater website.”

2. All the rage.

“I had a fidget spinner on my desk for about six months before they blew up.

At that time they weren’t being mass produced at all. You pretty much got them 3D printed or laser cut from acrylic.

I thought they were neat and sent them to my dad and brothers for Christmas.

I still have my first one on my desk. It’s laser cut neon yellow acrylic.”

3. Back in the day.

“Geocaching.

My friends and I were doing it with a Palm III with the GPS attachment back in 2000.”

4. Bitcoin.

“Bought Bitcoin in late 2010. Was on a malayasian private server for an old game I used to love, called Risk Your Life (RYL)

This server has a real money mall and of course I am dumb enough to want to pay to win.

So I go on their site and they don’t take normal credit card or PayPal but they offer some weird s**t called Bitcoin.

So I go through the steps to buy it, spent around $100 USD for around 1000 Bitcoin.

Spent 600 of the Bitcoin on some rings/ a sword/ an amulet and an armor

And 400 sat on my wallet until I sold most of it in 2017 for an absolutely massive profit. Still holding a few and changed my entire life.”

5. Early to the game.

“When I was a young kid, my dad brought home a Fairchild gaming system, and I got addicted to playing video games like Pong and Breakout on my home television.

This would have been 1976.”

6. Grunge kings.

“I ordered Nirvana’s ‘Bleach’ on cassette before Nevermind came out.

Saw in a magazine that they were supporting Sonic Youth, and Daydream Nation was my favourite album at the time, so that was enough of an endorsement for me.

I was the coolest 14 year old in New Zealand for, like, two months. Then Smells Like Teen Spirit came out, and I spent the rest of my teenage years declaring that i liked them before they were cool.

Nobody cared. And I still miss Kurt.”

7. Storage wars.

“Storage unit auctions

Before 2010 when the Storage Wars show first started, you could find auctions with a few bidders, mainly pawn shop guys, but find smaller ones on the cheap for furniture, especially during my cheap college years. Show up, place a bid for $20, get a couple end tables, bed and chair.

Thanks to that show, everyone thinks they’ll hit the jackpot, as if people who default on their units all leave behind 1940s memorabilia or something. Bids skyrocketed beyond comprehension on or around 2011, it just hasn’t been worth it since then.

Most the stuff is junk, people. The tv shows are fixed and edited. It’s not worth it thinking something is always hidden. People with valuables many times put that in a safety deposit box, not a storage shed unit.

I feel bad for the college kids who not only can’t get decent apartment rent levels, but also can’t get furniture on the cheap from storage sheds like I used to, simply because of the false expectations from a fixed TV show.”

8. Pre-Twitch.

“I used to record with a VCR when I played Mario bros 2.

When VCR recording came out I thought, hey, I could record whatever is on the TV right? It worked, I was floored. I ended up watching the tape once and thought it was the coolest thing ever.

This was on a huge furniture tube TV that sat on the floor and only had a few channels you selected with a dial. So, I pretty was a twitch streamer before it was cool. The only minor difference was I didn’t make millions of copies and mail them out to the masses. Minor.”

9. Now a household name.

“My college roommate was from Seattle- he had been to a few Macklemore shows when he was in high school.

I remember when “Language of My World” came out, my roommate was certain that Macklemore would go from being a semi-underground PNW rapper to a household name.

Later on, we had tickets to see him at a small show in Vermont. We bought the tickets a few weeks before “The Heist” came out. I think we bought the tickets for $15 each?

We bought three tickets and our other friend couldn’t come. We ended up selling that ticket for a few hundred bucks- it paid for our gas and drinks for that weekend trip.”

10. Local band.

“My high school friends were convinced that local band Slipknot was going to be some big deal.

They’d go watch them play in like basements and s**t.

I saw them play in a field once with people gathered around them in a circle.”

11. Whoa.

“I was on the Internet in the mid 1980s.

I was the only kid in high school that printed book reports and probably one of the few that even knew what a MODEM was.”

12. Blades.

“Rollerblading.

I bought a pair in the US circa 1989, when the only people using them were ice hockey players doing summer training, and they were completely unheard of in Europe.

Brought them back to the UK, and for a while, I was the most cutting edge skater in town. By the time they became popular, and dare I say, ‘cool’, I’d already ditched them and moved on.”

13. Would have been amazing.

“Saw AC/DC in concert before they were cool (at least before they were cool in Fresno.)

There was a lot of serious heckling and booing — cups and stuff thrown onto the stage. Bon Scott dropped his trousers and bared his a** to the crowd then walked off the stage.

If I recall correctly, there was nothing wrong with the performance, but the people were there to see Aerosmith, and were just didn’t want to wait.”

14. You have no idea…

“Read Game of Thrones in 1998.

I had to wait for book three.

You kids have no idea.”

15. You’re crazy.

“I saw The White Stripes open for another band before they blew up.

I thought they sucked. My BF at the time thought they were amazing and was convinced they were going to be huge. I thought he was crazy.

He was right and I was not.”

What are some things that you did before they were cool?

Tell us all about them in the comments.

We’d love to hear from you!

The post People Talk About What They Did “Before It Was Cool” appeared first on UberFacts.

People Discuss What Celebrity They Think Had the Worst Fall From Grace

Hollywood and the folks who inhabit it might look glamorous, but the fact is that people tend to come and go in a huge hurry.

Sometimes it because they’re outed for terrible things they’ve done and other times it’s through no fault of their own.

But there’s no doubt about it: a fall from grace in Hollywood is a movie in its own right.

Folks on AskReddit talked about what celebrities they think had the worst falls from grace.

Let’s take a look.

1. You know his face.

“Jeffery Jones: Best known for Mr. Rooney in Ferris Bueller & Mr. Deets in Beetlejuice.

He has had numerous problems with profession of child p**n, solicitation of child p**n, problems with registering as a s** offender and updating his s** offender registration.

And finally problems with his employers where people were invited to be on set but parents and visitors were up in arms when they were not formally notified he was a s** offender and on set.”

2. Trouble.

“Danny Masterson.

That 70’s Show was a constant joy since childhood, but after hearing Leah Remini interview a few of his victims, can’t even stomach the thought of watching it.”

3. A big one.

“OJ Simpson

All-time football great, cultivated a public persona as loveable nice guy in TV and movies after his playing career, and then the real OJ was revealed to the public.”

4. Former teeny boppper.

Aaron Carter belongs on this list. The purist teeny bopper heart throb back in the day.

Now, Nick Carter has to get a restraining order against him for threatening to hurt his kids, he’s clearly dealing with m**h addiction and the lowest of his lows.

He did an IG live where him and a friend are driving around, hyping up Aaron, they go through a drive through and Aaron gives the girl a concert tee with his face on it…she had no idea who he was.”

5. The Subway guy.

“Jared Fogle

Fame out of nowhere to convicted p**ophile.”

6. Poor Britney.

“Britney Spears. Poor Britney.

I know it’s said often but when I was a kid, I thought her head shaving and all that was really crazy.

Now that I’m 27, I 100% am surprised she made it that long without snapping and that she hasn’t snapped again.”

7. Fall from grace.

“Harvey Weinstein’s fall from grace was more …Shakespearean .

4 years ago he was the biggest , and most powerful movie producer in the world.

Now he’s a bum convict, a s** offender.”

8. I love Pee Wee!

“Paul Reubens (Pee Wee Herman)

As far as I’m concerned, people like Bill Cosby more than earned their fall… Paul Reubens had an undeserved fall.”

9. Fatty.

“Silent film star Fatty Arbuckle was accused of r**ing and accidentally k**ling actress Virginia Rappe. Allegedly in his attempt to r**e her, he squashed her to death with his great girth.

He was tried three times and was eventually acquitted. Rappe most likely d**d from appendicitis. His career limped along until he d**d of a heart attack in 1933.”

10. A bad one.

“Can’t believe nobody mentioned Whitney Houston.

She went from being America’s sweetheart and favorite singer to literal crackhead, topping it all off with a very sad and untimely death.”

11. Sad.

“Ashley Judd got her career tanked because she pushed back Harvey Weinstein.

She lost her chance with a role in LoTR because of him and she mostly vanished from the screens after he tagged her as a “nightmare” to work with.”

12. Wrestling superstar.

“Chris Benoit. Great WWE wrestler.

Then he k**led his wife and son. Autopsy report showed his brain was like that of a 70 year old Alzheimer’s patient.

Then WWE went and deleted EVERYTHING that had to do with him. They didn’t want him associated with them after that.

He did all that wrestling, got so damaged he k**led his family and WWE just wiped him out”

13. OMG.

“Mark Salling from Glee.

He got caught with kid p**n and then hung himself in the forest.

There is a lot of darkness around many members of the Glee cast.”

14. Grunge king.

“Layne Staley, singer of Alice in Chains

He suffered from drug addiction for years, but once his fiancée d**d in ‘96, he basically abandoned the band and accepted that his addiction was going to k**l him.

He never got over her death.

He was found in his apartment weeks after he d**d because he had blocked everyone out of his life.

Truly such a loss to grunge and the music industry in general. And such a great guy that just didn’t want to get better.”

15. Crazy story.

“Aaron Hernandez, if he counts as a celebrity.

Star Patriots tight end, Super Bowl at 22. His last NFL game was an AFC Championship game. 6 months later, he was arrested for m**der. Convicted, sentenced to life without parole, committed suicide in prison at 27.

He was tried for 2 more m**ders and found not guilty but there’s a good chance he did it. The m**der he did get convicted for made sense if he thought that guy was blabbing about the other 2 m**ders he was caught up and wanted to shut him up.”

Now we want to hear from you.

In the comments, tell us what celebrity you think suffered the worst fall from grace.

We can’t wait!

The post People Discuss What Celebrity They Think Had the Worst Fall From Grace appeared first on UberFacts.

What’s Considered a Kids’ Movie or Show, but Has Really Dark Moments? People Responded.

I watched The Iron Giant not too long ago.

Are you familiar with this kids’ movie?

I gotta say, I was not expecting it to be that heavy and that sad. I was practically in tears by the end of it!

And it turns out there are a lot of movies and shows like this that are geared toward kids.

What kids’ movies and TV shows are actually pretty disturbing?

AskReddit users shared their thoughts.

1. Now you get it…

“The Last Unicorn.

Wore the VHS out when I was a kid, but didn’t truly appreciate the darker moments until I grew up.”

2. Here’s a secret…

“The Secret of NIMH.

The animal testing scene, scary owls with lamp like eyes, bloody sword fights, and characters being crushed to d**th.”

3. Too upsetting.

“All Dogs Go to Heaven was one of my favourite movies he’s made as a kid.

But it is too upsetting for me to watch after learning about Judith Barsi. RIP.”

4. Not over it.

“Courage the Cowardly Dog.

That was a pure nightmare fuel.”

5. A classic.

“Chicken Run!

The movie that turned my mom into a vegetarian.”

6. Go ahead and cry.

“My Girl.

“He needs his glasses! He can’t see without his glasses!””

7. Cover your eyes.

“The Road to El Dorado is extremely s**ual for a kids movie.

A lot more than I remember it being.”

8. Why, Mom?

“The Dark Crystal.

I remember when I was a kid my mom introduced me to the movie, and all I could think of was “wtf is this movie my mom is trying to show me?”

I was really young when I first watched it and had no idea what was going on, no matter how much my mom tried to explain it.”

9. Scary stuff!

“Return to Oz.

I’m 38 years old and I’m still horrified by the wheelers.”

10. And it’s Disney…

“The Hunchback of Notre Dame is pretty scary for a Disney flick.

The kiddos should consider themselves lucky that they deviated from Hugo’s ending.”

11.

“There was an animated movie of Animal Farm, based off the novel by George Orwell.

I absolutely loved watching it as a kid. I did not understand the symbolism. I saw it when it aired on tv a couple times during the day in the 1990s.

I remember during Christmas I was unwrapping at video tape and saw a pig on the cover. I was so excited! I didn’t know my parents knew I like animal farm. But then I read the title on the vhs and saw it was Charlotte’s Web. A movie I h**ed.

Also, Charlotte’s Web. A movie about a pig that is trying to be k**led for its meat, depends on a spider and other farm animals to come up with words to impress people to not want to eat him.”

12. Dealing with grief.

“The Neverending Story is actually about dealing with grief.

Bastian lost his mother at the start of the movie and depression is causing him to fail in his fathers eyes. In the imaginary world the “nothing” is consuming everything endlessly because Bastian will not confront his loss.

Bastian’s participation at the urging of the Empress, is to confront the loss and participate in the world.”

13. Disturbing.

“Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Watership Down.

These two are disturbing.”

14. I’m freakin’ out!

“Willy Wonka- are they on a boat ride or an acid trip?

I couldn’t find the clip, but Will Ferrell even lampooned that scene on SNL- he was like “hey, this movie’s for kids?!””

15. This one goes deep.

“The Transformers: The Movie (1986 animated film, not the Michael Baysplosions ones).

Like most of its 1980’s Saturday-morning peers, the purpose of the Transformers cartoon was to make kids want to buy a line of toys. The feature-length movie took everything about the cartoon and kicked it up a notch, including the capitalist motivations.

Hasbro had an entirely new generation of Transformers toys lined up, and the movie was meant to introduce them, and convince kids to buy the new Transformers instead of the existing Transformers they already had.

So how did the accomplish this?

Gratuitously murdering all of the existing characters.

They don’t even wait. Less than ten minutes in, Prowl and Brawn get shot with lazer beams just like they have been dozens of time in the cartoon, but they actually f**king d**. Ironhide, the grandpa who yells at kids from his rocker to get off the lawn, tries to d** with his boots on but suffers what can only be described as a literal execution.

Optimus Prime is a better father than your real dad, and this is what happens to him. This isn’t even the movie’s climax, this is immediately after the opening set-piece. That color of gray will haunt me.

This approach was, in retrospect, a mistake (the crying children in theaters was a tip-off). Hasbro and others have since learned to take different approaches to updating the character line-up in their toy lines and associated cartoons. The modern standard seems to be power-ups and new suits, rather than wholesale slaughter.”

What kids’ movies and shows do you find disturbing?

Let us know what you think in the comments.

Please and thank you!

The post What’s Considered a Kids’ Movie or Show, but Has Really Dark Moments? People Responded. appeared first on UberFacts.

Lord of the Rings Fan Offers Unexpected Analysis of Boromir’s Demise

JRR Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy, along with The Hobbit, have inspired a cult following among readers and movie-goers.

Personally, I enjoyed the movies but never finished the books. (I’m sorry ?)

And I haven’t joined my mother in semi-annual rewatching events.

So when a Tumblr user wrote an essay about the death of Boromir my first thought was which one was that again? (Don’t stone me ?)

And my second thought was is he the one that’s in EVERYTHING? (I looked it up. Sean Bean, and yes.)

But a lengthy, viral thread from Tumblr made me want to go back and rewatch, and give Boromir his due.

SPOILER ALERT – Boromir dies. And the topic of this particular essay is the reason why his death gets more meaningful the older we get.

The user @letmetellyouaboutmyfeels believes this is because Boromir is the every man, the character we may not have aligned ourselves to as children, but who we most identify with as adults.

Image credit: Tumblr via Cheezburger

It’s an interesting critical analysis worthy of any film studies or literature class, but the user didn’t stop there.

They explained why life beats you down until you are more aligned with the every man than your hero Aragorn.

Image credit: Tumblr via Cheezburger

The user, @letmetellyouaboutmyfeels, has lived to see some stuff, it seems.

Image credit: Tumblr via Cheezburger

And when it comes to Tolkien, they know their stuff.

Tolkien embraced the archetype. There’s a reason we all love Aragorn, and it’s not just because of Viggo Mortensen and his beautiful face.

Image credit: Tumblr via Cheezburger

But Boromir served an integral part of the story. He has agency.

Without him, as with any great character, the story would have turned out differently, maybe for the better, maybe for the worse.

Image credit: Tumblr via Cheezburger

Then @letmetellyouaboutmyfeels brings it all back into context of modern life.

They explain how like Boromir we tend to be–stuck in cycles of expectation, trying, and failing, and just being human.

Image credit: Tumblr via Cheezburger

But, they also point out, that there is strength in Boromir’s frailty, in his humanity.

Because he admits when he fails. And he tries and he tries and he tries again.

Just like we all do–or should–or strive to.

Image credit: Tumblr via Cheezburger

@letmetellyouaboutmyfeels brings it all full circle, showing how Boromir was instrumental, before his death, in handing things off to Aragorn.

They describe how even in his last act, Boromir–human that he was–ensured the final success of the Fellowship.

Image credit: Tumblr via Cheezburger

They write about the evolution of their heroes, from childhood to teenage-dom to adulthood, and how in adulthood we lose sight of the ideal, and begin to focus on our own humanity and failures.

Image credit: Tumblr via Cheezburger

They point out again, all of the good that Boromir did, and all of the ways that Aragorn and the others might not have succeeded without him.

Although he was his own worst critic, as are we all, Boromir was not a complete failure. He had success too.

Image credit: Tumblr via Cheezburger

And that is why his death might hit much harder now than it did as a child.

As a kid, you were probably thinking “Darn, but thank goodness it wasn’t Aragorn! He can still save the day!”

As an adult, you look at Boromir, and you just might see yourself.

Image credit: Tumblr via Cheezburger

The essay took quite a turn when you realize that it was written by, not someone in their 40s or 50s, but by someone mid 20s who has seen a lot of life.

But there’s a lot of truth in it. What about you? Does Boromir’s death get you every time?

The post Lord of the Rings Fan Offers Unexpected Analysis of Boromir’s Demise appeared first on UberFacts.

6 Facts About “The Monster At The End Of This Book”

If you have kids or have ever had occasion to read books to children, there’s a good chance you’ve come across The Monster at the End of This Book.

First published in 1971, author Jon Stone and illustrator Michael Smollin struck gold, and you’d be hard pressed to find a children’s library that doesn’t contain at least one copy.

It’s sold more than 20 million copies worldwide – from the title pages, which freak Grover out, all the way to the hilarious conclusion, we know it cover-to-cover.

Still, there are probably a few things you don’t know about the book – we think the six facts below or definitely worth sharing!

6. It only took a few hours to write it.

The Washington Post claims Jon Stone wrote the book – all 350 words – on a legal pad as he flew home to California in late 1970 or early 1971. He hated flying and would write to ease his anxiety…in this case, by giving his character intense anxiety.

Once on the ground he showed the manuscript to Christopher Cerf, who was helping develop books and other products to fund Sesame Street.

Cerf thought Stone was onto something, and as someone who had worked with several famous children’s authors (including Dr. Suess), he knew what he was talking about.

5. The author was one of the architects of Sesame Street.

 

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As for Stone, he started with CBS after graduating from the Yale School of Drama in 1955. Prior to the debut of Sesame Street he’d written for Captain Kangaroo, and after being recruited by co-creator Joan Ganz, Stone was tasked with assembling Sesame Street’s original, inclusive cast.

He also developed some of its best-known characters, wrote the pilot episode, and helped bring Jim Henson on board.

4. The illustrator was a decorated war veteran.

 

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Illustrator Michael Smollin was born to immigrant parents in 1925 as they fled the chaos of WWI. Smollin himself fought in WWII, earning a Purple Heart for his actions during the Battle of the Bulge.

He was a commercial illustrator for many years with a huge and important client list that included Milton Bradley, TV Guide, and Time magazine.

3. This book has influenced many others.

 

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From award-winning thriller authors like Brad Parks, who said “There is a monster at the end of all of my novels, and I want you to feel this unbearable compulsion to turn pages and find out what it is,” to science fiction novelists like David Burr Gerrard, who say The Monster at the End of This Book taught him what literature “could and should do,” Stone’s small tale has inspired giants.

Riley Sager, New York Times bestselling author, expounded on why they believe the book is the force behind so many careers.

“I suspect The Monster at the End of This Book is one of those influences many thriller writers have in common, even if we’re not aware of it. It was certainly my first encounter with suspense – knowing from the title that there’s a monster waiting for us on the last page and feeling both dread and delightful anticipation as I made my way through the book – and of experiencing a twist ending. In hindsight, The Monster at the End of This Book acts as a sly commentary on the sometimes cruel curiosity humans possess. Grover implores us not to turn the page. Yet we do. Every damn time. Which, in a twisted way, makes us monstrous as well.”

2. The Muppet who became Grover first appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1967.

In the 1967 Christmas Eve episode of The Ed Sullivan Show, a green Muppet with an orange nose – a proto-Grover known as Gleep – starred in a sketch where he and a crew of burglars set about disrupting work in Santa’s workshop.

Grover became a regular on Sesame Street three years later, in 1970, one year before The Monster at the End of This Book was published – blue fur, pink nose, all lovable anxiety and sweet agreeability.

1. The book also inspired many other projects.

Several more Grover books, all created by the team of Stone and Sullivan, were published after The Monster at the End of This Book, and sequels have been published as recently as 2006.

The books has been translated into an award-winning interactive app, which has been downloaded more than half a million times, and in 2013, the official Sesame Street Twitter account warned their followers not to retweet “There is a MONSTER at the End of This Twitter Conversation.”

HBO Max also debuted an animated special called There is a Monster at the End of This Story in late 2020.

This definitely makes me want to read this with my kiddo sooner rather than later?

How many times have you read this book to littles? Drop an educated guess in the comments!

The post 6 Facts About “The Monster At The End Of This Book” appeared first on UberFacts.

People Share the Fashion Trends They Really Don’t Like

I’ve seen some pretty funny and embarrassing fashion trends over the years.

HyperColor t-shirts, enormous JNCO pants, tight-rolling your jeans, etc.

And the big one that sticks out now to me is how young hipster types in their twenties are now dressing in awful clothes from the early 1990s. I’m talking about Vuarnet France t-shirts, fanny packs, colorful shorts…it’s just really terrible if you ask me…

What fashion trends do you really not like?

Here’s how AskReddit users responded.

1. Enough with the toes.

“Peep-toed shoes. Who thought showing off your big toe and maybe the one next to it looked good?!

Drives me up the wall when they do it to boots, because they’ve defeated the purpose of keeping my feet warm.

Congratulations, you look like a fancy hobo.”

2. Brutal.

“A lot of Gen Z fashion is dressing like a boomer at a cook out.

Chunky shoes with mom jeans, the largest t shirt you can find, and a bucket hat??

Idk guess I’m old now, LOL.”

3. Unflattering.

“Not sure what fashion trends are hot at the moment in other countries or cities but here in Dublin, Ireland, cycling shorts are having a moment and they look hideous.

It’s mostly younger women, teenagers and women in their early 20s – the kind of people who have the figures to pull off such an unforgiving item of clothing…yet they don’t look good at all on any of them.

They wear them with heels mostly – all dressed up on the top half like they are going out clubbing then, on the bottom half, cycling shorts and heels.

I just do. not. get. it! It’s such an unflattering look and it also looks ridiculous.”

4. Still around!

“Still has to be guys with their pants falling down and their underwear showing.

How in the world did THAT ever become fashionable?”

5. They’re back!

“The 1980s is back.

I lived through it & didn’t like it.

Now I watch my 20 yr daughter loving it.”

6. You been dumpster diving?

“Wearing ripped clothes that cost you your whole salary but it looks like you borrowed them from a homeless person.”

7. Free advertising.

“Wearing a billboard.

For example I saw someone today in a bright red coca cola shirt, literally just a huge block of text with “coca cola”. Why do you pay money to purchase a shirt to advertise for someone?

They had a matching red laces and a purse so it’s not like they pulled some random promo shirt on a laundry day.”

8. Creepy.

“The kids clothes are hyper gendered before they have even gone through puberty and in many cases are smaller and slimmer fit for girls, s**ualizing them at as young as baby age.

Let’s let the kids dress like the mother loving kids that they are!!”

9. Where’s the back?

“Women’s sweaters that are completely normal in the front but the back is nonexistent.

Either a super deep v, or connected at the neck and wide open the rest of the way down.

Why would I choose a sweater, but want my entire back exposed???”

10. Think of your future!

“Excessive face tattoos.

Call me old, but since Trap music became a thing, the face tattoos seem to have exploded.”

11. Cheap knock-offs.

“Women’s sports apparel thats not just a smaller version of the men’s (i.e. smaller hockey jerseys), but a tight fake looking version.

Or the ones with weird colors or frigging rhinestones.”

12. Oh yuck.

“Sweaters with a hoodie but short sleeves.

They’re popular but I really don’t like them.

Why wear a sweater if you’re not going to cover your entire upper body?”

13. Come on, guys!

“I’m disappointed that at some point in the last 30 years, bright colors were suddenly not something guys wanted.

It’s so hard to find any clothes that aren’t grey, black or some muted color.

While women get to strut around in real yellows, pinks and blues, I’m over here wondering which shade of grey I should wear out to dinner.”

14. No middle ground.

“Women’s fashion is either ‘young teen, perfect body’ or ‘middle aged mum/office worker’.

As a 27 year old I find it SO difficult to find an outfit I like where I don’t look like I’m either dressed completely inappropriately or in something from my mom’s wardrobe!”

Do you really dislike some fashion trends?

If so, tell us all about it in the comments.

We can’t wait!

The post People Share the Fashion Trends They Really Don’t Like appeared first on UberFacts.

People Talk About the Advertisements That Made Them Not Want to Buy Products

There’s a recent commercial I’ve seen several times lately that I really, REALLY don’t like.

It’s a Kraft cheese commercial with a close-up of a grilled cheese sandwich in a frying pan and some guy singing a stupid little song about wanting to eat it.

Really? You had millions of dollars for advertising and that’s what you came up with?

Well, now you’ve annoyed me!

Which advertisements made you actually avoid buying a product?

People on AskReddit answered that question.

1. Not realistic.

“Baby commercials where the dad is just a bumbling idiot.

I can have the diaper off, cleaned, and new diaper on before baby even knows I’m changing them.”

2. Getting old…

“All the Liberty Insurance ads.

It’s been played out too long.”

3. Better be careful…

“Manscaped.

Their ads about how if you use their competitors you’ll cut your d**k off.

Didn’t make me afraid of their competitors, they just made me associate Manscaped with severe genital trauma.

Good going, fellas.”

4. What’s he up to?

“Mr. Clean sniffing around that housewife.

I won’t let my wife buy their products for fear that creep is gonna sneak into my house and put the moves on her.”

5. No thank you.

“Quiznos ran a series of radio spots many years ago in which it would open with something along the lines of “when you’re hungry, trying to resist a Quiznos sub is like” and there would be an absurd no-competition comparison with apt sound effects.

One of the spots was (I may be misremembering but was along lines of), “trying to resist a Quiznos sub is like a puppy taking on an alligator.” You then heard a bunch of yipping sounds ending with a big chomp.

That one spot turned me off ever being a customer of that restaurant.”

6. For macho men.

“Dr. Squatch soap.

It’s just obnoxious, macho-man, “natural is better”, “oh no, chemicals!” bulls**t. I don’t even care if the soap’s good, their advertisements have ruined the brand for me. Come to think of it, any brand that targets insecure men through their advertising. There was a supplement company with a probiotic promising to make your balls bigger.

Looked into the research, it was a single, small study on rats, which is… barely evidence, and definitely not enough to launch a product.”

7. Tone deaf.

“The completely tone deaf Cascade Platinum commercial where they try to claim that running your dishwasher every night will somehow save you water because it uses less water than a sink.

How the f**k does that make sense? You think I’m looking at my half empty dishwasher every night and saying “oh s**t. Better take all of these dishes out and wash them by hand or else the dish fairy is going to k**l me in my sleep”?

Of f**king course not. I’m going to wait until it’s full because I’m a grown adult with enough kitchenware to last me a full load in the dishwasher. It’s just a blatant “f**k the environment. Just use our product more so we can sell more s**t.””

8. Brain poison?

“I already don’t smoke ci**rettes, but those anti-s**king ads that refer to nicotine as a “brain poison” just sounds stupid to me.

It’s a drug, just call it what it is.”

9. Enough with the slurping.

“Beverage radio commercials that use lots of slurping or soda can popping sound effects.

Gave me another reason to avoid Dr Pepper and light beer.”

10. Not working.

“Morningstar Farms selling vegetarian burger patties. “If I’m a kid and I like it…” has the opposite effect they intended.

You know what kids like? Ketchup sandwiches. Spoonfuls of sugar stolen from the bowl. Taking a bite out of a stick of butter. Plain cheese pizza. Burgers with no toppings.

When I was a kid I once dumped a packet of Gushers into a bowl of cereal and happily ate it. Morningstar Farms, the fact that some little girl likes to eat your fake meat means nothing to me.”

11. Not appetizing.

“A few years ago Dominos had a commercial campaign where they said things like “People told us our sauce tasted like ketchup and our crust was like cardboard. We listened and we changed the recipe!”

Those ads sure didn’t give me an appetite for pizza.”

12. Weird.

“Dr. Pepper Ten.

Its ad campaign was literally “Not for Women”.

Normally I’m a huge Dr. Pepper fan, but I found that entire campaign so f**king stupid and aggravating that I swore I would never drink it.”

13. Cringeworthy.

“That Grubhub commercial with those disgusting looking 3D characters dancing in a really cringe manner.

It makes me embarrassed on behalf of those people who don’t even actually exist.”

14. Calm down…

“F**k Flo from Progressive, and all her sh**ty friends.

They’re bad and annoying, but I’m not sure that Progressive has realized that their “spokesperson” is a f**king terrible, obsessive, aggressive psycho.

She’s so nosy, and the commercial where she c**kblocks two young people in the laundromat made me wish they threw her into an industrial washer.

“Oh tell me more about bundling insurance, Flo! We’d never flirt with each other when there’s insurance to be discussed, but you’ve only got another 30 seconds before the rinse and spin, and I just don’t think you’ll be able to talk during that! Or after.””

15. Over the top.

“Jimmy Dean frozen breakfast sandwich commercials only had the discordant rooster-sounding riff at the end.

Now it’s every couple of seconds throughout the entire commercial.

It’s like a knife in my ears. “

Are there any ads that really make you not want to buy certain products?

If so, talk to us in the comments.

Thanks a lot!

The post People Talk About the Advertisements That Made Them Not Want to Buy Products appeared first on UberFacts.

People Talk the Small Movie Roles That Left a Lasting Impression

When we decide on what movie or TV show to watch next, who’s starring in it will often sway us one way or another. We’re looking for the big names, the faces we recognize, and the talent we depend on to keep us entertained.

That said, it’s often the smaller characters who bring those shows or movies to life, and on rarer occasions, they’re also the ones that keep us coming back – or the ones that stick in our minds going forward.

Here are 15 roles that were meant to be small, but that viewers just couldn’t shake afterward.

15. She doesn’t even need a name to be memorable.

Now that’s really something.

14. Every single character in Mean Girls is perfection.

There is no way to complain about this movie. Full stop.

13. Who could have guessed how iconic this role would become?

Not even Drew Barrymore, I bet.

12. She really nailed this.

And elevated it, honestly.

11. I think we sometimes forget how little screen time he had.

He definitely used it to his full advantage.

10. He’s the best part of many of them.

Which I don’t think is saying a lot, but there you go.

9. The maid in the original version was great, too.

It’s just a fun part, I think.

8. Stockard Channing never lets us down.

She’s literally always the best.

7. A great role in a great series.

We’ll never forget it.

6. There are so many great roles in The Office.

This is one of the most underrated, I think.

5. I just love her.

She’s great in everything she does.

4. In a film full of great performances, she shines.

As usual, of course. Just an emotional punch.

3. Some of the most quotable lines in the film, right?

She just made the most of her time, for sure.

2. We’re all just chanting along, right?

I know I am, because yay!

1. She nailed those ten minutes.

The most memorable part of the movie, I think.

I agree with all of these – characters I’ll never forget, to be sure.

What part would you add to this list? Tell us in the comments!

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