Christopher Grady, a father and teacher from Toronto, was struggling with anxiety and depression. That’s when he started drawing.
He describes his early cartoons and illustrations as a journal where he’d chronicle everyday moments from his life as a husband, elementary school teacher, and father to two kids.
“I needed a positive place to focus all my thoughts and found that when I was making comics I felt a little bit better,” he says.
He began putting a few of his comics online, not expecting much of a response. But he quickly learned that people were connecting with his work in a deep way.
The comics series called Lunarbaboon was born, and the response to the first few was so powerful that Grady was inspired do more with his comics than just document his own experience.
“I began getting messages from many people about how they connected to the comics and it gave them hope and strength as they went through their own dark times,” he says.
“When they look back…they probably won’t remember what was said…or where you were when you said it. They may not remember any details of your time together. But they will remember that you were there…and that’s what matters most.”
“Usually the circle of people we can support, help, influence is limited to our families, friends, coworkers, random stranger at the bus stop, but with my comic I suddenly found my circle of power was much much larger,” Grady explains. “I guess I decided to use this power for good.”
Grady continued to draw, making a point to infuse the panels with his own special brand of positivity.
“Kids are always watching adults and they look to the adults as role models,” he says. “I try to show (my kids and students) that even with all my flaws and weaknesses I am still a good person and I can still make a positive change in the world.”
Lunarbaboon comics tackle huge, important subjects with an effective, lighthearted touch that you can’t help but smile at.
Check out Grady’s take on teaching his son about consent. (All images by Christopher Grady/Lunarbaboon, used with permission.)
Here’s one about parents being supportive of a gay son or daughter.
On raising girls in a patriarchal world.
And here’s a sweet one about appreciating the heck out of his wife.
Big topics. Important issues. Grady tackles them with humility and ease.
As Lunarbaboon has continued to grow, Grady says the messages of support he gets have become increasingly powerful.
He certainly doesn’t claim to have all the answers to all the complexities of parenting, but he does say that “people like knowing they aren’t alone in life’s daily struggles. Most people who contact me just want to say thank you for putting something positive into the world.”
Grady doesn’t expect his Lunarbaboon comics to fix rape culture or end bigotry. He just hopes his message of love, inclusion, and positivity continues to spread.
“My hope is that for the short time people read it they smile and feel good,” he says. “Then I hope they take that good feeling and smile into the world and make it slightly brighter.”
You can check out even more of Grady’s awesome work over on his website or in his newly published book.
There are few things as frightening to a parent than losing your child in a crowded place like a shopping mall, zoo, or stadium. The moment you realize your child is missing, it’s impossible not to consider the terrifying idea they may have been kidnapped.
A woman in New Zealand recently lost her son in a Kmart but was able to locate him because of a potentially life-saving parenting hack she saw on TikTok a few months ago.
The woman was shopping at the retailer when she realized her two-year-old son Nathan was missing. She immediately told a friend to alert the staff to ensure he didn’t leave through the store’s front exit.
“Another friend searched the area he was last seen,” the mom wrote in a Facebook post.
The mother began looking for him by rummaging through clothes racks and running through the aisles.
It was the “scariest 10 minutes of my life” she later wrote.
But then she remembered a parenting hack she saw on TikTok by blogger Jess Martini. “If your child goes missing, screw the stares and start calling out their description,” the mother recalled.
“I’m missing a little boy, he’s wearing a yellow shirt and has brown hair. He’s two years old and his name is Nathan!” she called out to the rest of the store while reminding herself not to “break down” in tears.
“You need people to understand you loud and clear,” she said.
The mother’s calls immediately deputized everyone who heard them to begin looking for the child. It was like multiplying the search by a factor of 10. “I turned an aisle and heard ‘He’s here!'” she wrote. “I turned back the way I came and there he was. A man had walked past him after hearing me calling out.”
She immediately thanked the man, realizing that if she hadn’t called out he may have never known the child was missing. “Nate would have walked past him and he wouldn’t have blinked,” she said.
In November, parenting blogger Jess Martini posted a video sharing the best way for parents to locate a missing child. It’s great advice because the knee-jerk response is usually to just call out their name or silently run around looking.
“To all parents out there, if your child goes missing, do not search in silence or just call out their name,’ Martini says in the video. “Shout out loud and clear. Say they’re missing, give a description and repeat, repeat, repeat!”
“Everyone will be on alert, and if someone is trying to take off with your kid, it will decrease the chances of them getting away,” she added.
The advice is a great reminder to make a mental note of what your child is wearing when you go out, so if they go missing, you can easily provide a description. It also proof that when a parent needs help, most people are more than willing to lend a hand.
Becca Moore is a popular TikToker with over 800,000 followers who’s known for her funny, laid-back takes on dating. Like any influencer-type she was at the Coachella music and arts festival in Indio, California recently. While she was at Coachella, she was robbed of her phone, rental car keys and wallet.
“I went to Coachella this weekend and I thought this guy was kinda hitting on me but then he just robbed me,” Becca says at the beginning of her three-minute TikTok video with over 3 million views. After the festival, she was left with no ride, money, or means to get in contact with friends and family. She was stranded in the desert.
Becca’s friend’s hotel called her an Uber so she could get to a local store to buy a new phone. The driver she was incredibly lucky to be connected with was a lot more than a guy with a car in a time of need, he was a guardian angel named Raul Torres from Fresno, California, six hours north of Indio.
“A normal Uber driver takes you to a place and then drops you off. He insisted on coming in with me and making sure that I was going to have a ride after that,” Becca said.
The store wasn’t able to get her a new phone because she didn’t have access to her current plan. But Raul wouldn’t give up, so he took her to the local police station where they were able to locate the Airbnb where the thief was staying. The police let them into the room and they searched it but couldn’t find the phone.
the uber driver that saved me from going missing is @buds4u559!! 😭 after spending the day w him he told me his daughter is a senior in high school & is having a hard time going through chemo. i made a gofundme, he could’ve left me and didn’t have to help me the way he did! I’d love to help his fam give his daughter a normal end to her senior year of high school this year (prom!!) i’m putting it in my bio!!
After the big let-down, Becca and Raul decided to take a break from their quest and refresh their spirits with some margaritas, on Raul. “Just because he’s an angel on this Earth,” Becca said in her TikTok video.
While the two bonded over drinks, Raul told Becca his daughter had been battling cancer and that’s why he’s been working as an Uber driver. “He told me all he wants is for his daughter to have a normal end to her senior year, and to be able to go to big events like prom and graduation,” Becca said.
Raul also revealed that his father had cancer as well.
His revelations put Becca’s troubles in perspective and made his decision to drop his driving for the day to help Becca all the more incredible.
thank god he refused to leave me 😭 raul’s tiktok is @buds4u559. also you can donate to the fam in my bio!! thank you all for your donations and generosity. you today, me tomorrow!! #TipsForRaul
After the final slurps of their margaritas, Becca still wasn’t sure how she’d get home. But Raul wouldn’t give up. “We’re getting your phone,” he exclaimed. He drove her back to the thief’s Airbnb where she found the phone sitting on top of the outside gate. Becca believes the robber abandoned the phone after realizing the police were involved. Then, Raul helped Becca get a rental car so she could get home. Before saying their goodbyes, the two had spent eight hours together.
“Raul ended his Uber shift that morning to spend his day helping me, expecting nothing in return,” she said in her TikTok video. So she used her considerable audience to ask followers to help contribute to a GoFundMe page for Raul and his family. Over the first 4 days, the campaign has raised over $144,000.
“When I was in the car with him it seemed like we were both so focused on my situation. We were only talking about me getting a phone and like things that did not matter. And he completely glazed over the fact that his daughter and his dad were the ones that needed help,” she admitted.
On Friday, April 29, Raul’s dad passed away from cancer.
The story of Becca and Raul is a great reminder that no matter how big our troubles seem, it’s always important to put them in perspective.
Spooky season can be a fun time of year for people. There are folks that wait all year for the official start of fall just to decorate for Halloween. Costumes are bought in advance and bags of candy are purchased and stored, but not everyone buys their costume. Some spooky season lovers get really creative with their Halloween costumes out of household items.
There are some homemade costumes that are so funny and realistic that you have to do a double take. Two sisters are going viral for their ultra realistic roller coaster costume made out of cardboard and foam noodles. But it’s not just their costumes that are stealing the attention of millions, it’s their acting skills.
In the video uploaded to TikTok by Laurie Dabbs-Gayton, the sisters stand side-by-side, though it looks like their sitting. They begin to shake and jostle as if they’re on a track before screaming like they’ve just rounded a bend or flew down a hill quickly.
The pair is in total sync with each other adding to the realistic vibe of their costume for their employer’s costume party. It was so convincing that people watching the video were confused at first thinking it was a coin operated ride. Commenters didn’t realize it was a costume until the women stood up fully.
“I thought it was a mini roller coaster,” one person writes followed by multiple rolling crying laughing emojis.
“Took my brain a few extra seconds to process what my eyes were seeing,” a commenter says.
“I thought for a second it was like the pony ride machines outside a grocery store,” someone admits.
“It took me far longer to figure out than it should have,” one woman writes.
Watch the fantastic combination of acting skill and costume design below:
Ever stop to think how bizarre it is that the United States is one of the only countries to not use the metric system? Or how it uses the word “football” to describe a sport that, unlike fútbol, barely uses the feet at all?
What must our forefathers have been thinking as they were creating this brave new world?
Wonder no further. All this and more is explored in a recent Saturday Night Live sketch that folks are hailing as an “instant classic.”
The hilarious clip takes place during the American Revolution, where George Washington rallies his troops with an impassioned speech about his future hopes for their fledgling country…all the while poking fun at America’s nonsensical measurements and language rules.
Like seriously, liters and milliliters for soda, wine and alcohol but gallons, pints, and quarters for milk and paint? And no “u” after “o” in words like “armor” and “color” but “glamour” is okay?
The inherent humor in the scene is only amplified by comedian and host Nate Bargatze’s understated, deadpan delivery of Washington. Bargatze had quite a few hits during his hosting stint—including an opening monologue that acted as a mini comedy set—but this performance takes the cake.
Watch:
All in all, people have been applauding the sketch, noting that it harkened back to what “SNL” does best, having fun with the simple things.
Here’s what folks are saying:
“This skit is an instant classic. I think people will be referencing it as one of the all time best SNL skits for years.”
“Dear SNL, whoever wrote this sketch, PLEASE let them write many many MANY more!”
“Instantly one of my favorite SNL sketches of all time!!!”
“I’m not lying when I say I have watched this sketch about 10 times and laughed just as hard every time.”
“This may be my favorite sketch ever. This is absolutely brilliant.”
There’s more where that came from. Catch even more of Bargatze’s “SNL” episode here.
We have all sent accidental texts to our friends, loved ones, and potential enemies. But normally, you can just brush it off with a “sorry! wrong person!” follow-up, or just use the nifty “unsend” feature, because that’s how technology works these days. But for those who are technologically challenged (or above the age of 55) that option just doesn’t exist. And sometimes, you have to double down, but that might make it worse, which is what happened with Rob Lowe.
Lowe revealed to Jimmy Kimmel that he was trying to congratulate his friend Robert Downey Jr. on his Golden Globe win when he accidentally texted the wrong famous friend. He explained, “So Downey does this amazing acceptance speech at the Golden Globes, and I’m so excited for him,” he said. “So I text him, ‘So glad you won! That was the most beautiful acceptance speech I have heard in a long time. Boy do you deserve it,” and I hit it, and I realize ‘oh, s***, I just sent that to Bradley Cooper.’” Cooper was also nominated that night but failed to bring home the statue and now he was being mocked for it.
He continued to try and explain, “So then I was like, ‘Oh I gotta make it better,’ and I [write], ‘No, I meant that for Robert Downey Jr.,’ but that’s even worse! I’m making the guy feel worse!” he continued. “Terrible. I’d inputted the wrong numbers under the wrong names.”
It gets worse: when asked if he sent an actual text to RDJ, Lowe revealed that he made the same mistake and sent another accidental text. “I did it again! I mistakenly sent another one to Bradley. Again,” he said, adding that Cooper responded with, “It’s fine, I like living vicariously through these mistakes.” Okay, but did Downey every get that congrats? Doesn’t seem like it.
While Cooper is over there crying over his loss, Lowe reflects on what it means to him to see his pal doing so well. “When we were kids, the grown-ups won the awards,” he said told Kimmel. “And now that we’re the grown-ups, we’re winning the awards. So to watch Downey go out there and do it, it’s just the best.” It is the best!
For everyone besides Bradley Cooper, who still lost.
It has been a while since released a new album. Her last project, Special, was released in July 2022, and since then, she’s seen both highs and lows. While the early part of 2023 saw her continue her tour for the album, give a standout performance at the Grammys, appear on season 3 of The Mandalorian, and popped up on the Barbie soundtrack, the gravy train was seemingly derailed when she was sued by a trio of her former backup dancers over creating an alleged hostile work environment (she’s denied the accusations).
However, it looks like she’s ready to return the focus to where it should be: On her music. In a new post on Instagram, the “Truth Hurts” singer shared a video of herself back in the studio recording new music, writing, “To my dearest lizzo fans, the magic is back.” While the audio from the new song is cheekily cut out to maintain an air of mystery, she does leave in a bit after the take in which she tells her engineer, “I felt like Gwen Stefani in the ’90s on that one.”
While it’ll clearly be a while more before we get to hear just how much her new music resembles the pop-punk hero, it’s clear Lizzo is feeling good about it.
Lizzo is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
When Emma Stone revealed that she’s been fruitlessly applying for years to be a contestant on Jeopardy! — actual Jeopardy! not the celebrity version, mind you — she probably had no idea that it would spark an online feud between two former champs. Yet here we are.
James Holzhauer and Matt Amodio recently went it on Twitter after Holzhauer took a shot at Amodio while commenting on Stone’s Jeopardy! prospects.
[I know] she doesn’t want to go on Celebrity Jeopardy because the competition there is beneath her,” Holzhauer tweeted in response to Stone’s admission. “As someone who shared the stage with @AmodioMatt, I sympathize.”
The tweet sparked a reaction from Amodio, who fired back with a reference to Stone’s latest film Poor Things.
@James_Holzhauer is also unimpressed by Emma Stone playing someone with a child’s brain in an adult body in @PoorThingsFilm, as he does this every day and nobody gives him a Golden Globe for it
“@James_Holzhauer is also unimpressed by Emma Stone playing someone with a child’s brain in an adult body in @PoorThingsFilm, as he does this every day and nobody gives him a Golden Globe for it,” Amodio shot back.
According to TV Insider, the public spat surprised Jeopardy! fans who commented that Holzhauer “woke up and chose violence” as another user quipped “What’s an unprovoked attack?” However, some fans were thrilled to see Jeopardy! bad boy Amodio get taken down a notch: “I like it, don’t back down Matt, his ego is even bigger than his winnings.”
Emboldened by the encounter, Holzhauer took one final jab at Amodio by posting a Stone Cold Steve Austin meme of him besting Amodio on the hit game show. Amodio’s response was… surprisingly weak.
First, there was Indiana Jones. Then came Uncharted, the awesome video game series heavily inspired by Indiana Jones. Now there’s Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, the Bethesda-published game which, in a full (great) circle moment, has a connection to Uncharted — and The Last of Us.
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is a a first-person, single-player adventure set in 1937, between the events of the first movie, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and the third, The Last Crusade (real ones know Temple of Doom, the second film, is a Raiders of the Lost Ark prequel). The official game description reads:
“Sinister forces are scouring the globe for the secret to an ancient power connected to the Great Circle, and only one person can stop them: Indiana Jones. You’ll become the legendary archaeologist in this cinematic action-adventure game from MachineGames, the award-winning studio behind the recent Wolfenstein series, and executive produced by Hall of Fame game designer Todd Howard.”
Great Circle Indiana Jones looks like Harrison Ford, but the character is played by Troy Baker, who also plays Joel in Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us games (he had a cameo on the show, too) and Sam Drake in, you guessed it, Uncharted.
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is an Xbox console exclusive and comes out later this year.
One of the most fascinating things about Odeal is the diversity of his cultural background. The 23-year-old singer was born in Germany and spent time in Nigeria, Spain, and the UK over the years. In turn, that granted Odeal an artistic palette that many would dream of. He’s collaborated and excelled with UK artists like Nines and Enny. The same goes for afrobeats artists like Gabzy. Odeal proved that he could wear many hats and wear them well. Additional proof of that can be found in his 2023 EP Thoughts I Never Said.
Released back in November, the project is a 20-minute confession of the raw emotions and heart-wrenching feelings felt in romance. Overall, Thoughts I Never Said captures Odeal’s rise and fall from love to loss in a moment-by-moment account detailed through the EP’s nine songs.
It begins with “Landmine,” an enchanting intro that details the unmatched feelings he has for the significant other in his life. The EP continues with “Bedroom Weather” and “Water” which both capture the euphoric intimacy that lives between partners whose chemistry is sky-high. Odeal’s love takes a turn for the worse on “Rigamortous” and another vulnerable moment on the album is instead, now used to showcase pain and anger. By “Fine By Myself,” acceptance amid the pain has set in as Odeal finds the silver lining within rain clouds.
Just a couple of months removed from the release of Thoughts I Never Said, Uproxx caught up with Odeal to discuss how Burna Boy inspired him, a feature he needs in his career, and what he’d be doing if it weren’t for music.
What is your earliest memory of music?
My earliest memory of music would have been me listening to Frank Ocean’s Channel Orange. At the time, Facebook was prominent, and I thought, you know what? As I moved around quite a lot, I had loads of friends in different places, so I posted a video of me doing a cover of Frank Ocean’s “Thinking About You.” Once I posted it on Facebook, everyone was like, “Yo, this is crazy. You should do this more. When did you start singing?”
Who inspired you to take music seriously?
I think it was Burna Boy. I went to his first show when he came back to the UK in 2016. It was his first time back in the UK in 6 years after not being allowed to perform here for a while. He came back and did a show, and I saw how everyone came together to listen to him. Bear in mind he wasn’t the biggest Afrobeat artist at the time; it was Wizkid, Davido, and maybe some others. So, for him to come back from Nigeria, just the same way I came back from Nigeria, and then he was having an immense amount of love. I saw so many different people there to see his performance, to see everything. From that day, I was like, yeah, man, I need to take this seriously. Before that, it was just a hobby.
Do you know how to play an instrument? If so, which one? If not, which instrument do you want to learn how to play?
The only instrument I can play right now is my voice. I play keys, but I just figure out the chords as I go along. If I could play any instrument, I would love to know how to play the keys even better than I know how to play now.
What was your first job?
My first job was working in Subway at a highway service station.
What is your most prized possession?
My hard drives and my laptop.
What is your biggest fear?
My biggest fear is not achieving all my dreams.
Who is on your R&B afrobeats Mt. Rushmore?
D’Angelo, Lauryn Hill, Brandy, and Usher.
You are throwing a music festival. Give us the dream lineup of 5 artists that will perform with you and the location where it would be held.
Tems, Wizkid, Burna Boy, Santi, and Rema. I’d love for it to be held in the Sphere in Las Vegas!
You get 24 hours to yourself to do anything you want, with unlimited resources: What are you doing? And spare no details!
First things first, I’d have a massive breakfast. Next, I’ve been blessed with unlimited resources, so I’m praying. I’m going to give God thanks. And then, what else am I going to do? From there, I think I’m going to chill, taking in the scenery in my huge kitted-out house somewhere in Spain. I’ll hop on a private jet because I want to hop on a private jet. I’ve always wanted to. Eat fried rice from this spot in Ghana that I love. So, I’ll have fried rice from Ghana on the plane.
We’re going to take the jet to Tanzania. We’re going to take the private jet to Tanzania where I’ll get on an island where there’s like lunch or dinner prepared, then I’d have a studio session in a hut on an island. For the rest of the evening, soak in the scenery and make crazy music! And then sleep in a huge, you know, them extra-large king-size bed I want to sleep in. That’s how the day ends.
What are your three most used emojis?
What’s a feature you need to secure before you die?
If you could appear in a future season of a current TV show, which one would it be and why?
Power, as I’d like to see how serious I could be in it, and it’s an all-time great series for me. Sex Education – I feel like the chaos of the school matches the energy that I’ve got.
Which celebrity do you admire or respect for their personality and why?
Vince Staples, he doesn’t care, and Odumodublvck matches that energy as well.
Share your opinion on something no one could ever change your mind about.
I genuinely haven’t missed in my music. Ever. I don’t think I’m missing any time soon!
What is the best song you’ve ever heard in your life and what do you love about it?
“Rock My World” by Michael Jackson. The lyrics, melody, and feel of the record speak to my inner soul!
What’s your favorite city in the world to perform, and what’s a city you’re excited to perform in for the first time?
My favorite city I have performed in is London, and I’m very excited to perform in Lagos, Nigeria.
What would you be doing now if it weren’t for music?
I’d be a film director. Or a creative director. Or a fashion designer.
If you could see five years into the future or go five years into the past, which one would you pick and why?
I’ll go into the future. See the future, yeah? Yeah. And why? Because I want to prepare myself. For good, for the bad, the ugly. At least if I know, I can, like, just prepare myself for what’s about to come.
What’s one piece of advice you’d go back in time to give to your 18-year-old self?
I would say, it’s going to work out, just stay consistent.
It’s 2050. The world hasn’t ended, and people are still listening to your music. How would you like it to be remembered?
I’d like to be remembered as someone who brought different kinds of people together, music-wise. I want to be remembered for having made people’s favorite songs in my lifetime.
Thoughts I Never Said is out now via OVMBR. Find more information here.
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