Page 1726 – fakuto

December 23, 2016

McDonald’s tried to sue a man legally…

McDonald’s tried to sue a man legally named Ronald McDonald for running his family restaurant by the same name in 1956. The real Ronald won. 00

December 23, 2016

Katy Perry, whose real name is Kate…

Katy Perry, whose real name is Kate Hudson attempted to sue a woman who is actually called Katie Perry who ran a fashion line in Australia. 00

December 23, 2016

Finish Last-Minute Holiday Shopping With These Great Amazon Deals

Smart Shopping Team

filed under: shopping

Image credit:

amazon / istock

As a recurring feature, our team combs the Web and shares some amazing Amazon deals we’ve turned up. Here’s what caught our eye today, December 23.

Mental Floss has affiliate relationships with certain retailers, including Amazon, and may receive a small percentage of any sale. But we only get commission on items you buy and don’t return, so we’re only happy if you’re happy. Good luck deal hunting!

December 23, 2016 – 11:00am

December 23, 2016

Starbucks Is Handing Out Free Coffee for the Next 10 Days

Jennifer M Wood

filed under: coffee, holidays

Image credit:

Starbucks

If “free espresso” is at the top of your holiday wish list, you’re in luck—at least if you live near one of the Starbucks outlets that will be giving away its dark-roasted goodies over the next 10 days.

As part of the coffee chain’s “10 Days of Cheer” event, select Starbucks locations across the country will be hosting Pop-Up Cheer Parties, where they’ll be handing out tall espresso beverages—at no charge—from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. at 100 locations every day. The locations will change daily, but you can keep track of which stores are hosting with Starbucks’s online map.

December 23, 2016 – 10:30am

December 23, 2016

21 Things You Might Not Know About ‘Elf’

Kristy Puchko

filed under: christmas, christmas-movies, Lists, Movies

Image credit:

YouTube

Everyone knows the best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear! But the second best way is to enjoy Elf. Revel in the giddy glow of this modern holiday classic with a slew of secrets from behind the scenes.

1. JIM CARREY WAS INITIALLY EYED FOR BUDDY THE ELF.

When David Berenbaum’s spec script first emerged in 1993, Carrey was pre-Ace Ventura: Pet Detective and attached to front the Christmas film. However, it took another 10 years to get the project in motion, at which time Saturday Night Live star Will Ferrell was signed to star. Carrey would go on to headline his own Christmas offerings—the live-action How The Grinch Stole Christmas and the CGI animated A Christmas Carol.

2. WILL FERRELL WAS ONCE A MALL SANTA.

And his A Night at the Roxbury co-star Chris Kattan was his elf. This was back when the pair were pre-Saturday Night Live, and part of the comedy troupe The Groundlings. Ferrell recollected to Spliced Wire, “I have some experience playing Santa Claus … Chris Kattan was my elf at this outdoor mall in Pasadena for five weeks, passing out candy canes. It was hilarious because little kids could care less about the elf. They just come right to Santa Claus. So by the second weekend, Kattan had dropped the whole affectation he was doing and was like (Ferrell makes a face of bitter boredom), ‘Santa’s over there, kid.'”

3. DIRECTOR JON FAVREAU FAVORED PRACTICAL EFFECTS.

Inspired by the Christmas specials he grew up with, Favreau explained in the film’s commentary track that he employed “old techniques” instead of CGI whenever possible. This included stop-motion animation, and using forced perspective to make Buddy look like a giant among his elf peers. For North Pole scenes, two sets were built—one larger scale for the actors playing elves, the other smaller to make Buddy and Santa look big. These elements where then carefully overlaid in camera, using lighting to blend the seams.

4. SNOW WAS OFTEN COMPUTER GENERATED.

Some effects just couldn’t be practical. These included the snowflakes that drift over the opening credits, and many of the snowballs in Buddy’s pivotal fight scene. It’s probably not much of a shocker that much of these were added in post, considering Buddy’s perfect aim. But to further underscore the drama that is a snowball fight in frosty New York, Favreau asked composer John Debney to give this section a Western vibe that would recall The Magnificent Seven.

5. ELF‘S PRODUCTION DESIGN WAS HEAVILY INFLUENCED BY RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER.

The classic stop-motion Christmas special from 1964 gave a memorable presentation of Santa’s winter wonderland to which Favreau wanted to pay tribute. The elves’ costumes in Elf were inspired by those worn by Hermey and his peers in the animated film. And Elf’s workshops were modeled after the Rankin/Bass designs, as were the stop-motion animals of the area. The production did secure permission for these allusions, and was even granted the privilege of using the company’s signature snowman.

**6. THERE’S A CHRISTMAS STORY CAMEO.**

Peter Billingsley, who memorably played the Red Ryder-wanting Ralphie in the 1983 holiday classic, popped in to play Ming the elf. It’s an uncredited role, but between the glasses and those bright baby blue eyes, Billingsley stands out as an A Christmas Story Easter egg. This marks just one of many Billingsley and Favreau’s collaborations. Billingsley has been a producer on Favreau’s films Made, Zathura, and Iron Man, as well as his talk show Dinner for Five.

7. FAVREAU PLAYED MULTIPLE PARTS IN ELF.

As a writer/director/actor, Favreau has often appeared in his own films. He fronted Made with friend Vince Vaughn, and later found a sweet supporting role for himself in Iron Man. You may have picked him out as the doctor in Elf, but on the DVD commentary, Favreau reveals he also tapped in to his inner narwhal and provided the voices for some of the stop-animation critters who see Buddy off from the North Pole. He also voiced the rabid raccoon Buddy encounters.

8. BABY BUDDY WAS FIRED.

To play the bubbly baby version of the titular elf, Favreau had initially cast twin boys whose blonde curly hair made them great little doubles for the mop-topped Ferrell. However, the production ran into a problem when the boys couldn’t perform. Instead of smiling and crawling as needed, they cried relentlessly. To replace them, brunette triplet girls were brought in, who were far perkier and more playful, and thereby ready for their close-ups.

9. BUDDY WAS BULLIED IN AN EARLY VERSION.

In first drafts of Berenbaum’s Elf script, Buddy’s decision to seek out his dad was in part because he was being hassled by the actual elves for being different. Favreau pushed to take out this element. He preferred to keep the North Pole characters warm, even when Buddy bugs them. In the DVD commentary, Favreau offers, “It explained why Buddy was doing all these good things in New York if he grew up in a world where everybody was so sweet even when he’s obviously screwing everything up and doesn’t fit in at all.”

10. ELF HOCKEY HIT THE CUTTING ROOM FLOOR.

Poor Buddy accidentally wreaks all kinds of havoc on his elf community because of his ungainly size. One such scene of his well-meaning mayhem featured Buddy playing hockey on a frozen pond. The friendly game becomes unintentionally violent when the too-big Buddy takes to the ice. Though it was shot, it ended up being chopped from the finished film.

11. ELF WAS SHOT ON LOCATION IN NEW YORK WHEN IT COUNTED.

Like many productions, this one took advantage of the financial benefits of filming in Canada, and much of Elf was shot in sound stages in Vancouver. However, when Buddy comes to New York, it was important to Favreau to shoot on location whenever possible. This includes all the Manhattan exteriors, as well as scenes shot at Rockefeller Center, Central Park, and Central Park West, where Buddy’s dad lives.

12. SOME OF THE SETS WERE BUILT IN A HORROR FACTORY.

Okay, technically it was an abandoned mental hospital, where the production team constructed the interior sets for Walter’s Central Park West apartment, Gimbels’s lavish toy department, and that grim prison cell. The facility is called Riverview Hospital, and it has played host to a long list of film and television productions, including The X-Files, Final Destination 2, Jennifer’s Body, and See No Evil 2.

13. MACY’S STOOD IN FOR GIMBELS.

The sprawling department store that takes up a whole block in Manhattan was digitally altered to transform into Elf‘s Gimbels. A bit awkward: Gimbels was once a real department store, and a noted rival of Macy’s. Though immortalized here and in the 1947 classic Miracle on 34^th Street, the department store closed its doors in 1987, its 100^th year of operation.

14. WILL FERRELL BROKE JAMES CAAN.

The Academy Award-nominated Godfather star was hired to play Walter in part because Favreau wanted a stern persona to play against Ferrell’s giddy Buddy, and Caan took the comedy of Elf seriously. He knew it was crucial for Walter to be annoyed—never amused—by his supposed son’s antics. But when it came to the blood test scene where Buddy bellows when pricked by a needle, Caan cracked. Watch closely and you’ll see he turns away from the camera so as not to ruin the take.

15. THE STUDIO DIDN’T GET A JOKE FROM THE MAILROOM SEQUENCE.

This was the last set piece shot for Elf, and one that filmmakers were wavering on from its conception late in production. Grizzled Mark Acheson’s casting as Buddy’s drinking buddy concerned execs because of the line, “I’m 26 years old.” The studio noted the actor does not look 26, to which Favreau—who had previously cast Acheson in a small role that had been cut before production—responded that this disconnect was part of the joke.

16. FERRELL WENT METHOD WITH THOSE JACK-IN-THE-BOXES.

In the scene where Buddy suffers as a toy tester, he’s subjected to popping open an endless stream of menacing jack-in-the-boxes. The anxiety etched on Ferrell’s face in these scenes is real. Rather than standard jack-in-the-boxes that would pop at the song’s end, these were remote controlled by Favreau, who purposely manipulated their timing to toy with his star and get authentic reactions.

17. FERRELL FROLICKED ALL OVER NEW YORK CITY IN CHARACTER.

The final day of Elf’s New York shooting was pared down from a massive crew to just three people: its star, its director, and one cameraman. Together, this trio traveled around the city, looking for mischief for Buddy to get into with random passersby turned background extras. This included him leapfrogging across a pedestrian walk, happily accepting flyers, and getting his shoes shined, all of which made it into the movie’s cheerful montage.

18. THAT EPIC BURP WAS REAL, BUT OVERDUBBED.

Though uncredited, that lengthy belch came not from Ferrell, but from noted voice actor Maurice LaMarche, who might be best known for Brain of Pinky and the Brain. LaMarche shared his secret to such an impressive burp with The AV Club, saying, “I’ve always been able to do this weird effect, where I turn my tongue, not inside out, but almost. I create a huge echo chamber with my tongue and my cheeks, and by doing a deep, almost Tuvan rasp in my throat, and bouncing it around off this echo chamber, I create something that sounds very much like a sustained deep burp.”

19. ELF MADE ITS STAR STICK.

In the movie, Buddy is happy to gobble down an endless supply of sweets, including maple syrup-coated spaghetti and cotton balls made of cotton candy. But this sugary diet played havoc on Ferrell, who told About Entertainment, “That was tough. I ingested a lot of sugar in this movie and I didn’t get a lot of sleep. I constantly stayed up. But anything for the movie, I’m there. If it takes eating a lot of maple syrup, then I will—if that’s what the job calls for.”

20. FERRELL **REFUSES TO MAKE ELF 2.**

Though the comedian reprised the role of Ron Burgundy for Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues and returned as Mugatu in Zoolander 2, he flat out rejected the possibility of bringing back Buddy, even after being offered a reported $29 million. In December of 2013, he told USA TODAY, “I just think it would look slightly pathetic if I tried to squeeze back in the elf tights: Buddy the middle-aged elf.”

21. ELF BECAME A HIT BROADWAY MUSICAL.

From November 2010 to January 2011, Elf the musical ran on Broadway, boasting songs like “World’s Greatest Dad,” “Nobody Cares About Santa,” and “The Story of Buddy The Elf.” This run was a huge success, taking in more than $1.4 million in one week, a record for the Al Hirschfield Theater where it debuted. Plus, The New York Times called it, “A splashy, peppy, sugar-sprinkled holiday entertainment.” A revival hit in time for Christmas 2012, and national tours have been recurring.

December 23, 2016 – 10:00am

December 23, 2016

France Debuts World’s First Solar Panel Road in Normandy

Michele Debczak

filed under: tech, technology, transportation, travel

Image credit:

Wattway

A one-kilometer stretch of road in the French town of Tourouvre-au-Perche in Normandy is officially the world’s first public “Wattway.” As France 24 reports, the solar panel road was opened by French Ecology Minister Ségolène Royal on Thursday, December 22.

The panels cover 30,000 square feet of roadway and have been reinforced with layers of plastic to support the roughly 2000 cars that use the road each day. It can generate up to 280 kilowatts of energy, which will be used to power the town’s street lights.

The project is a big step forward for sustainable energy, and Colas, the company behind the solar road, is optimistic about what lies ahead. As of November, the company plans to build similar sites in North America, Europe, Africa, and Japan.

But there are still several challenges to overcome before solar roadways go mainstream, the biggest of which is expense. Normandy’s Wattway required $5.2 million to build, which means that each kilowatt peak it produces costs $17.74 compared to the $1.36 per kilowatt cost of a conventional solar roof. Colas representatives say they’re working on ways to make the roads cheaper, and Ecology Minister Royal says “the costs will be driven sharply down” as more of these roads are built, according to France 24. Royal’s hope is that before long, France will reach the point where every 1000 kilometers of highway contains at least one kilometer of solar cells.

[h/t France 24]

December 23, 2016 – 9:30am

December 23, 2016

Watch a Glowing Hot Knife Slice Through a Coke Bottle Like Butter

Michele Debczak

filed under: video

Image credit:

iStock

There’s a whole corner of YouTube dedicated to destroying random objects in oddly satisfying ways, and the channel Mr. Gear may have hit the sweet spot with this experiment. This video of a red-hot knife slicing through soap, post-it notes, a plastic Coke bottle, and more has racked up over 41 million views in just four days.

The experiment begins with someone heating a chef’s knife up to 1000ºF with three blowtorches. From there it’s ready to slice through everyday items with sizzling ease. It’s fascinating to see how the different materials react to the heat, from the instant grilled cheese to the ping pong ball bursting into flames. After watching the video above, heed Mr. Gear’s advice and refrain from performing any tests of your own at home.

December 23, 2016 – 9:00am

December 23, 2016

Can You Spot the Sheep Among the Santas?

Jennifer M Wood

filed under: art, fun

Last year, Hungarian artist Gergely Dudás, better known as “Dudolf,” created a viral sensation with his drawing of a panda hiding among a group of snowmen. In the past 12 months, he’s delivered some other fun graphic brain teasers—including a cat among owls and a fish hanging out with some octopuses. Now, just in time for the holidays, he’s back at with another winter-themed illustration. There’s a sheep hiding amidst all those Santas above—can you spot it?

Image courtesy of Dudolf via Facebook.

December 23, 2016 – 8:30am

December 23, 2016

15 Fitness Tips From 1800s Bodybuilder Eugen Sandow That Are Still Good Today

Jake Rossen

filed under: exercise, health, Lists, retro

Image credit:

Wikimedia Commons

At the turn of the last century, there were only a handful of fitness enthusiasts America turned to for wellness tips that didn’t involve enemas or strange contraptions. One of them was Eugen Sandow (1867-1925), a German-born bodybuilder who appeared to be carved from marble. Sandow’s physique was so impressive that he regularly toured to perform feats of strength; other times, he simply stood on stage like a statue while a gawking audience counted his abs.

But Sandow wasn’t content merely to be admired: He wrote books, started his own magazine (Physical Culture), wrestled a muzzled lion for the sport of it, and regularly opined on how his pear-shaped fans could work toward better physiques. While not all the advice was salient, Sandow did have a grasp of fitness principles that magazines and coaches have gone on to repeat for decades. Here’s what the pioneering bodybuilder had to say to those seeking the body of a Greek god.

1. YOU CAN EXERCISE WHILE SITTING DOWN.

In his 1897 book, Strength and How to Obtain It, Sandow advised readers that sitting down and straining one’s muscles was virtually as good as hitting the weights. “When you are sitting down reading practice contracting your muscle,” he wrote. “Do this every time you are sitting down leisurely, and by contracting them harder and harder each time, you will find that it will have the same effect as the use of dumb-bells or any more vigorous form of exercise.”

While we know today that you need a balanced fitness regimen (one that includes both cardiovascular exercise and weight training) in order to stay healthy, Sandow was ahead of the curve when it came to incorporating exercise into stationary periods of your daily routine.

2. WOMEN CAN LIFT WEIGHTS, TOO.

The idea that women could become overly masculine or muscle-bound due to weight training was an idea that persisted well into the 20^th century, but Sandow was quick to shoot it down:

“The influence of exercise on the bodily frame of women is, strange to say, still indifferently recognized. The prevalent idea is that muscular exercise of any active kind, for a young girl, coarsens and makes a boy of her. The idea is a delusion; mischievous, indeed, when we realize the value to a growing girl of gymnastics, in their milder form of calisthenics; and its evil results are seen not only in the ailments, among many others, to which we have just referred; but also in the absence of comeliness, grace, and that beauty and shapeliness of physical contour which we associate with a perfectly-formed and finely-conditioned woman.”

3. FITNESS MAKES FOR BETTER POOPS.

Even though Sandow looked like an anatomy chart, he never endorsed weightlifting for purely aesthetic reasons. Fitness, he wrote, could have a beneficial effect on your digestive system. “Muscular exercise improves the powers of nutrition and stimulates and strengthens the digestive apparatus … a salutary effect can also be exerted on the bowels and intestines, which otherwise not infrequently become torpid,” he wrote. “The effect of exercise on the secretions is no less beneficial, for accelerated circulation, it is well known, hastens the gathering up of the waste matter in the body and its exudation by the great organs of excretion—the skin, the lungs, and the kidneys.”

4. DRYING YOURSELF OFF AFTER A BATH ACTUALLY MAKES YOU COLDER.

While preaching the benefits of a nice, cold bath—something modern researchers have endorsed for recovering from muscle soreness in some instances—Sandow implored his followers not to towel off afterward. Instead, he told them to stop being children and just tolerate being in wet clothes:

“I have no hesitation in saying that this is a great mistake. Let me explain the reason: As you get out of the bath you rub down first one part of the body and then the other, and thus, whilst one part is being warmed by the friction, the other is getting cold. Many people who take cold baths in this way complain of touches of rheumatism, and the whole trouble arises, I believe, from different parts of the body being alternately warmed and chilled…If you do not like the idea of getting into your clothes wet, just take the water off the body as quickly as you possibly can with a dry towel, jump into your clothes, and let Nature restore your circulation in her own way.”

5. ESTABLISH A FITNESS ROUTINE WHEN YOU’RE YOUNG.

“If I had a boy,” Sandow said, “I should start him with ½-lb. dumb-bells when he was two years old, and then gradually increase the weight with his years. My idea is that boys from ten to twelve should have 3-lb. dumb-bells; from twelve to fifteen, 4-lb.; and from fifteen upwards, I consider 5-lb. dumb-bells quite sufficient for any one … It should be compulsory in all schools for boys to have regular training with dumb-bells, and if this were universal there would soon be a most beneficial change in the physique of the rising generation.”

6. SKIP THE GYM MACHINES, THEY’RE OVERRATED.

Sandow maintained he achieved his physique strictly through the use of barbells and dumbbells, avoiding any complicated gym apparatus. “I have never fancied, nor found need for, the elaborate equipment of the modern gymnasium,” he wrote. “Nor have I ever exercised except on the ground, eschewing such appurtenances as the trapezium, the rings, the plank, the ladder, the mast, the vertical pole, and other paraphernalia of gymnastic training.”

7. IT’S OKAY TO CHECK YOURSELF OUT IN THE MIRROR.

“It is desirable to exercise before a looking-glass,” Sandow wrote. “For you can thus follow the movements of the various muscles; and to see the muscles at work, and to mark their steady development, is itself a help and a pleasure.”

8. MIX IT UP.

Open a bodybuilding magazine today and you’ll see variations on the advice Sandow was passing out from the beginning: Keep weights, rep, and volume mixed up to keep your body in a constant state of response. “Don’t always train with the same amount of weight,” he wrote. “Some days use more moderate weights to tone the muscles, on other training days really exert yourself, give the muscles plenty of work to do, then nature will take care of building more strength, muscle and better health.”

9. REACH FOR WATER INSTEAD OF COFFEE.

“Let me say that tea and coffee contains alkaloids, which are injurious to the nerves and stomach,” Sandow wrote. “I never drink either. Water is nature’s offering to the thirsty, and when distilled can not be improved upon.”

10. MODERATION IS THE KEY TO SUCCESS.

Despite having the body of an action figure, Sandow claimed he never sweated over his diet—he just didn’t enjoy anything in excess. “It may be said at once that I have no belief in special diet. There is no better guide to good living than moderation. Be moderate in all things, and you need fear no interruption in gaining strength by my system of training.”

Sound thinking, although Sandow probably wouldn’t have thrilled the Surgeon General. “A man should be denied nothing which he desires within certain limits,” he once said. “I never refuse myself anything—I take wine, beer, smoke, and take a turn all round as other men who make the most of life … I just eat and drink what I want, when I want, and in what quantities I want.”

11. TAKE YOUR WORKOUT OUTSIDE.

According to Sandow, exercising indoors was a fate to be avoided at all costs:

“Exercise, I would also impress upon the young reader, ought to be taken in a well-ventilated place, not in a contracted bedroom or thronged hall, where the atmosphere is likely either to be close, and therefore poisonous, or contaminated by many breaths, each throwing off at every expiration about twenty cubic inches of impure air, which occasion headaches, labored breathing, and stagnation of the life-processes.”

12. IF YOU CAN’T AFFORD A HORSE, BUY A BIKE.

While Sandow bemoaned the ill effects of a sedentary desk job, he lacked interest in walking for walking’s sake, calling it “tedious” and “defective.” Instead, he advocated bicycling. “Each week the bicycler acquires an added skill, and power which could not be done the week before.” And while he found horseback riding “exhilarating,” he admitted bikes would be the more practical mode of transport for most: “A clerk on a salary of fifteen or twenty-five dollars a week, to whom the purchase and keep of a horse would be impracticable, can easily buy a good cycle, which, with reasonable care, should last for many years, requires no feed and almost no expense for keeping it in order.”

13. KEEP YOUR ROOM TOASTY FOR RELAXED MUSCLES AND A GOOD NIGHT’S SLEEP.

Sandow would have had no patience for people who try to conserve energy by crawling into a bed while the ambient temperature is below 50 degrees. “The surface of the body is chilled and the internal organs congested,” he wrote. “In a warm room one is disposed to disrobe slowly, a sponge bath or a plunge is agreeable, and a little exercise is a pleasure. Then sleep comes gladly and without wooing.”

14. WOMEN SHOULD LOSE THE HEELS.

Calling corsets and small shoes “incalculable evils,” Sandow lobbied for women to rid their wardrobes of clothing that prioritized looks over comfort. “With these objectionable things discarded, or structurally modified, so that they will not occasion the ills for which they are now responsible, the health and vigor of women would sensibly improve, the resort to cosmetics would become unnecessary, and the nervous disorders and ailing feeling, which deprive the sex of half the joy of life, would vanish.”

15. PERSEVERE.

Sandow never minced words when it came to the discomfort the pursuit of physical fitness—or life—can sometimes provoke:

“It sometimes happens that a young man or woman, or perhaps a middle aged one, sets out on the course of training with the greatest enthusiasm. After the first two or three days the enthusiasm perhaps wears off. Then comes a period of stiffness, and the pupil is inclined to think that he cannot be bothered to proceed with the course. To such pupils, I would say, in all earnestness, “Don’t be overcome by apparent difficulties; if you wish to succeed, go forward; never draw back.”

Additional Sources
Strength and How to Obtain It [PDF]; Sandow on Physical Training; “How to Preserve Strength and Attain Health,” Cosmopolitan, May 1894 [PDF].

All images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

December 23, 2016 – 8:00am

December 23, 2016

Everyone Really Hates the Word “Whatever”

The Week

filed under: language, Words

Image credit:

iStock

by Jeva Lange

Never mind that the best quote of 2016 contains the dismissal “whatever”—the word is universally abhorred for the eighth year running, a new poll released by the Marist Institute for Public Opinion reveals.

Thirty-eight percent of Americans this year reported that “whatever” annoys them more than any other word or phrase commonly used in conversation, with 20 percent despising “no offense but,” 14 percent disliking “ya know, right?” and “I can’t even,” and eight percent saying they can’t take the word “huge.”

“Like” and “no worries,” which made the list last year, did not appear on 2016’s list. “Huge” saw a three percent increase in irking people—though why that is, of course, remains a mystery.

Also from The Week:

How Do You Pronounce ‘In Excelsis’?

What Darth Vader Sounded Like on the Star Wars Set

The Enduring Appeal of the Record Cover

December 23, 2016 – 7:00am

GADGETS, TOYS, AND MEDIA

KITCHEN

HOME

HEALTH AND BEAUTY

OFFICE, SCHOOL, AND CRAFTS

OUTDOORS, GARDEN, AND SPORTS

ELECTRONICS

TOOLS

1. JIM CARREY WAS INITIALLY EYED FOR BUDDY THE ELF.

2. WILL FERRELL WAS ONCE A MALL SANTA.

3. DIRECTOR JON FAVREAU FAVORED PRACTICAL EFFECTS.

4. SNOW WAS OFTEN COMPUTER GENERATED.

5. ELF‘S PRODUCTION DESIGN WAS HEAVILY INFLUENCED BY RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER.

6. THERE’S A CHRISTMAS STORY CAMEO.

7. FAVREAU PLAYED MULTIPLE PARTS IN ELF.

8. BABY BUDDY WAS FIRED.

9. BUDDY WAS BULLIED IN AN EARLY VERSION.

10. ELF HOCKEY HIT THE CUTTING ROOM FLOOR.

11. ELF WAS SHOT ON LOCATION IN NEW YORK WHEN IT COUNTED.

12. SOME OF THE SETS WERE BUILT IN A HORROR FACTORY.

13. MACY’S STOOD IN FOR GIMBELS.

14. WILL FERRELL BROKE JAMES CAAN.

15. THE STUDIO DIDN’T GET A JOKE FROM THE MAILROOM SEQUENCE.

16. FERRELL WENT METHOD WITH THOSE JACK-IN-THE-BOXES.

17. FERRELL FROLICKED ALL OVER NEW YORK CITY IN CHARACTER.

18. THAT EPIC BURP WAS REAL, BUT OVERDUBBED.

19. ELF MADE ITS STAR STICK.

20. FERRELL REFUSES TO MAKE ELF 2.

21. ELF BECAME A HIT BROADWAY MUSICAL.

1. YOU CAN EXERCISE WHILE SITTING DOWN.

2. WOMEN CAN LIFT WEIGHTS, TOO.

3. FITNESS MAKES FOR BETTER POOPS.

4. DRYING YOURSELF OFF AFTER A BATH ACTUALLY MAKES YOU COLDER.

5. ESTABLISH A FITNESS ROUTINE WHEN YOU’RE YOUNG.

6. SKIP THE GYM MACHINES, THEY’RE OVERRATED.

7. IT’S OKAY TO CHECK YOURSELF OUT IN THE MIRROR.

8. MIX IT UP.

9. REACH FOR WATER INSTEAD OF COFFEE.

10. MODERATION IS THE KEY TO SUCCESS.

11. TAKE YOUR WORKOUT OUTSIDE.

12. IF YOU CAN’T AFFORD A HORSE, BUY A BIKE.

13. KEEP YOUR ROOM TOASTY FOR RELAXED MUSCLES AND A GOOD NIGHT’S SLEEP.

14. WOMEN SHOULD LOSE THE HEELS.

15. PERSEVERE.

**6. THERE’S A CHRISTMAS STORY CAMEO.**

20. FERRELL **REFUSES TO MAKE ELF 2.**