Category: News

As if the Loki Season 2 premiere didn’t have already fans losing their minds over the show’s return, the episode also dropped a post-credits scene for a little extra fun.

In the stinger, Sylvie steps through a time door into 1980’s Broxton, Oklahoma. From there, she makes her way to a nearby McDonald’s. Clearly unfamiliar with the fast food chain, she attempts to order some sort of meat before the cashier recommends the Chicken McNuggets. (A solid option.) But before she makes her final choice, Sylvie looks around and notices all of the happy people enjoying themselves. After a moment, she decides she’ll have “everything” as the scene fades to black.

But what the heck does it all mean?

For starters, Sylvie spent her entire life seeking revenge on the TVA for taking her away from her family. With the agency seemingly doomed thanks to her killing its secret architect and mastermind, He Who Remains, she can now pursue a life of happiness. That apparently includes stuffing her face with McDonald’s, but hey, it’s her first day.

However, judging by the trailers and promotional materials, it appears Sylvie will end up working behind the counter. Could that be the result of her ordering everything on the menu and having no way to pay for it? Or will reality break itself even further thanks to the death of He Who Remains?

In the meantime, Broxton also has a notable connection to the Thor comics. From the mid-2000s to mid-2010s, Thor operated out of the Oklahoma town, and at one point, Asgard itself was relocated to the skies above. The town’s inclusion could just be a neat Easter egg, but you never know with Loki, which is part of the fun.

Loki streams new episodes Thursday on Disney+.

You’re not gonna believe this, but October 6, 2023, is World Smile Day!

A commercial artist named Harvey Ball created what we think of as the classic smiley face—yellow circle, black dot eyes and upturned smile— in 1963. Over the years, he grew concerned the smiley face was becoming over-commercialized, and he thought we should all devote one day each year to smiles and acts of kindness throughout the world. As the World Smile Day website states, “The smiley face knows no politics, no geography and no religion. Harvey’s idea was that for at least one day each year, neither should we.”

Since 1999, World Smile Day has been celebrated on the first Friday of October. The instructions for celebrating it are simple: “Do an act of kindness. Help one person smile”!

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We’ve got 10 smile-worthy finds for World Smile Day for ya! Enjoy!

1. Watch heavy metal singer Dan Vasc slay ‘Amazing Grace’ in the best way

So, so beautiful and powerful. Learn more about Dan Vasc’s performance here.

2. 104-year-old Dorothy Hoffner broke the world record for tandem skydiving

See on Instagram

Dorothy is our hero. Read more about Dorothy’s skydiving experiences here.

3. People share words they’ve egregiously mispronounced and it just gets funnier and funnier

@susanmorrisontiktok2

Best trend ever! #LaughWithMe #BestTrend #Trending #Funny #FunnyVideos #MispronouncedWords #FunnyTikTok

“A VAH ca doo” got me rolling. Then “sha ma meh leh” did me in.

4. Is there anything sweeter than this Valentine’s Day card from a sweet grandpa?

See on Instagram

That one’s a keeper.

5. 11-year-old kid got the giggles over his National Spelling Bee word and cracked everyone up

His laugh was infectious. Read all about Kennyi’s spelling hilarity here.

6. Stories of the culinary kindness of immigrant neighbors are so heartwarming

See on Instagram

Swipe through. Just gets better and better.

7. 10,000 people spontaneously burst into song with Freddie Mercury impersonator

Marc Martel captures Freddie Mercury’s voice almost flawlessly. So beautiful. Read the full story here.

8. Entire neighborhood goes all out to create a Halloween Barbieland

@paseo_forever

When the whole neighborhood likes halloween (and barbie) a lot #barbie #barbiehalloween #barbiemovie #mattel #fyp #halloween2023 #pink #foryoupage #surprise

Wow. And there’s even more. Read the whole story here.

9. This is the best pet protector story ever. Charlie was a real one.

See on Instagram

Good boy, Charle.

10. Speaking of doggos, let’s leap through the weekend like these water-loving pups

Dog pool party.. ud83dude05

— Buitengebieden (@Buitengebieden)
1696188075

At first, I thought they were trying to rescue one of them. Nope, they’re just having a ball.

How’s that for some World Smile Day celebration?

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After falling victim to a scam on Facebook Marketplace, Michel Janse (@michel.c.janse) hopped on TikTok to give everyone a heads-up so they don’t have to go through the same thing. “Be smarter than me!” she said in the video.

Janse posted some furniture on the marketplace and chatted with a woman who seemed interested in purchasing it. She even looked at her profile to get a “vibe check,” and everything seemed legit.

The potential buyer seemed to be careful to protect themselves as well. “For my safety, I just want to confirm that you’re a real person,” the buyer messaged Janse. “Are you ok if I voice call you from Google?”

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Even though the request seemed odd, Janse went through with it. She subsequently got a message containing a Google Voice code. When the buyer asked Jane to send her the code, she did, only to quickly discover she had been duped.

It seems that Janse had a gut feeling that the woman was a scammer but didn’t act on it til it was too late.

@michel.c.janse

oops dont fall for this scam like me

Janse fell victim to a common scam through online marketplaces. According to the Federal Trade Commission, the scammer could use the Google Voice number to rip off other people and conceal their identity. “Sometimes these scammers are after a Google Voice verification code and other information about you,” the FTC wrote. “If they get enough of your information, they could pretend to be you to access your accounts or open new accounts in your name.”

We’ve all been there. Standing in line to be seated at a fairly busy restaurant while your stomach growls in protest. But when two women left a concert August 22 in search of food, they had no idea they’d find themselves taking orders and cooking food. Sylvia Arrendondo and her mother Idalia Merkel went to a local Denny’s in Texas and were seated by another customer before realizing the restaurant was extremely short-staffed. Instead of taking their business elsewhere, they decided to roll up their sleeves and get to work.

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Arrendondo wrote about the unique experience on her Facebook page where she explained that only two people were working. One was serving tables and the other was the cook. As for the man that was acting as host, seating new guests, he had no idea what he was doing because he didn’t work there. He told Arrendondo and Merkel that his wife used to work at Denny’s so she started helping to serve tables and he decided to help get people seated.

The service industry has been hit hard by the pandemic and the subsequent “great resignation.” Complaints about low wages, poor management and rude customers that abuse staff members are just a few of the reasons cited by people who have left the industry. It may be surprising for some to learn that the federal minimum wage for tipped employees like servers and bussers is just $2.13 an hour. The rest of the wage is supposed to be made up of tips, which, depending on where you work, may be split at the end of the night between other workers. This act of splitting tips is called “tip pooling” and is calculated by number of hours worked.

Splitting tips after a long day of work dealing with customers who may not have been so kind would understandably make some people upset. But it didn’t take a deep dive on the treatment of restaurant employees for Arrendondo and the other customers who helped out. They saw two seemingly college-aged kids doing their best to keep the place running and they didn’t hesitate to jump in to help, completely unpaid.

When asked why she didn’t just leave, Arrendondo said, “We just looked at each other and it wasn’t even a question. We both knew what we had to do.”

“This was probably the most beautiful act of American unity that I have personally encountered,” Arrendondo told Upworthy. She added that the sole paid server would occasionally start to cry before being comforted by the cook, only to return the favor when he would get overwhelmed.

Talk about community.

These two kids had exhausted all of their resources, including calling their manager multiple times. And instead of customers getting angry, demanding better service or walking away, Arredondo and Merkel stepped up. The kindness of this group of strangers will surely stick with these employees and the people who were involved.

“The strength, courage and integrity by these two workers was beyond admirable. My mom and I have never been so proud and happy to help,” Arrendondo told Upworthy. “After all, we have all been there.”

Eventually after some convincing, the two employees shut the restaurant down and Arrendondo and Merkel went home much more tired than anticipated. Still hungry, but full of gratitude and pride.

This article originally appeared on 08.26.22

What gives dogs the right to have such big and hilarious personalities? It seems like these dogs have found a way to make their humans laugh while also annoying them until they’re ready to come apart. It’s truly a skill that only dogs and toddlers seem to possess in great quantities.

Zoe is a pit bull with a bombastic side-eye that makes it clear that she only tolerates her mother, Raven, but adores her grandmother, Yonika. There is no confusion about who her favorite person is, and Zoe’s grandmother only seems to encourage the behavior. The two of them are the best of friends, and Mom…well, she’s the third wheel.

Sure, Zoe likes her mom a little—she does feed her, after all—but the verdict is still being determined if love can be claimed. Raven can’t even convince the sassy pittie to go on a walk with her.

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Zoe lays on the ground like a chubby little pancake any time her mom tries to take her for a walk. Raven has even pulled on her leash, slowly dragging the dog down the hallway, but Zoe insists that her legs do not remember how to work. But as soon as Grandma takes the leash, a miracle occurs. Suddenly Zoe is a spry whippersnapper with four working legs and a happy tail.

“She refuses to walk whenever I take her outside,” Raven explains. But that’s just not the case for Grandma, and there really doesn’t seem to be an explanation for it other than preference.

“When I’m around, she is an absolute angel. She listens,” Yonika says.

In fact, Raven says when Grandma is around, Zoe completely ignores her so she can continue getting Grandma cuddles. This dog has mastered the side-eye, and Grandma is only assisting in her snubbing her mom in the cutest way. It’s something you have to witness for yourself to fully appreciate, so check out the video below.

This article originally appeared on 7.19.23

Paramore are back today with Re: This Is Why, a remixed version of their latest album. It has artists like The Linda Lindas, Wet Leg, Bartees Strange, Julien Baker, and more. To celebrate, Hayley Williams went on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and discussed influences.

She mentioned some classic bands like Deftones, Failure, and The Cure. However, she also mentioned an unlikely one: Fallon himself.

The singer explained she met the rest of the original lineup, Zac and Josh Farro, at a homeschooling supplemental program in Tennessee, where Fallon’s comedy song from 2003 titled “Idiot Boyfriend” was a big deal to the students. “[It was a] huge hit with the Paramore crew!” she exclaimed.

When asked if “Idiot Boyfriend” was an influence, Williams confirmed, “Yes! 100 percent!”

About the release of Re: This Is Why, the band originally shared a statement on social media about how they recruited musicians who have inspired them to do the remixes. “We’ve long wanted to recognize the connection we have with some of the artists who’ve influenced us as a band and/or who have cited our band as an influence,” they wrote. “It’s incredible to hear all our worlds colliding.”

Watch the interview above.

Re: This Is Why is out 10/6 via Atlantic. Find more information here.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

As rapped in his cult-classic song “Know Yourself,” Drake enjoyed riding around his hometown, Toronto, Canada (or the 6), with his woes. According to TMZ, fellow rapper and collaborator 21 Savage might be riding shotgun with him soon. The outlet has reported that 21 Savage will appear at both Toronto dates (October 6 and 7) of the It’s All A Blur Tour.

The joint tour initially kicked off in July. However, due to 21 Savage’s immigration case, he hasn’t been allowed to perform during the international dates. When the tour made a two-night stop (August 29 and 30) in Vancouver, Travis Scott filled in as a special guest. Before that, J. Cole did the honors for the Montreal shows on July 14 and 15.

On Drake’s new single, “8AM In Charlotte,” he hinted that 21 Savage’s immigration issues were nearly behind him, rapping, “Savage got a green card straight out of the consulate / Where I go, you go, brother, we Yugoslavian.” The legal battle began in 2019 when 21 Savage (real name Sha Yaa Bin Abraham-Joseph) was arrested by Immigration And Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents for overstaying his visa in addition to possession of a schedule II controlled substance and possession of a gun.

Many entertainers, including Jay-Z, Meek Mill, and more, have thrown their support behind 21 Savage as he continues to fight to gain US citizenship.

With the arrival of Loki Season 2 came a new set of problems for the titular Trickster God: Time-slipping. Thanks to being shoved back into the Time Variance Authority from He Who Remain‘s Citadel, Loki can’t stop horrifyingly moving through time at random intervals. While Mobius assures his disappearing pal that it doesn’t look that bad, he eventually admits that, okay, it’s terrifying because Loki looks like he’s being born and dying all at the same time.

According to Loki producer Kevin Wright, the effect was significantly aided by Tom Hiddleston, who gave it his all with every transformation, of which there were many.

“There is a ton of raw material of him. If he’s being pulled in five different directions, he’s giving you those bespoke performances for each one of those,” Wright told TVLine. “If you were on set, what you would see is Tom Hiddleston performing his heart out and acting those things. And so much of the pain that comes through is because it is baked into his performance.”

Obviously, there’s some CGI thrown into the mix, or else Hiddleston would seriously need to see a doctor, but Wright couldn’t emphasize enough that it was mainly the actor working without a motion capture suit or even a harness.

“It’s his physicality,” Wright said, “He was pulling from many years of dance lessons.”

Loki streams new episodes Thursday on Disney+.

(Via TVLine)

Taking two of the most campy movie tropes (slasher and time-traveling) and combining them might seem a little too out there, but if you bring it to the 80s, then you’re in for a wild ride. The latest movie to tackle this trend is Amazon Prime‘s Totally Killer, a comedy/horror which stars The Chilling Adventures of Sabirna’s Kiernan Shipka as a teen who unintentionally goes back in time and must stop an infamous killing from taking place…while also befriending her mom as a high schooler. Like Back to the Future with more blood and weirder outfits.

In order to make the killers spooky (it’s a Blumhouse film, mind you) the team created a mask that looks like a cross between Beavis and Tom Cruise. With an earring. It’s chilling for sure.

Director Nahnatchka Khan explained that they needed the killer to resemble the era. “We landed on the idea of a handsome man being terrifying. Tony Gardner [and] our design team started pulling ’80s heartthrob references, like Kiefer Sutherland and Rob Lowe and Dolph Lundgren, and even Johnny Bravo, and then exaggerated it and made the teeth oversized. The idea [was] that the last thing you see is this beautiful smile as you’re being killed.” This could also be applied to a killer that targets dentists, but their idea seems a little more fun.

It seems pretty messed up to turn beloved icons like Rob Lowe and Johnny Bravo into terrifying figures, but then again, Jason made a normal hockey mask look terrifying, so context really matters here.

It’s fair to say that the Johnny Depp and Amber Heard defamation trial — in which a jury awarded Depp $15 million, later settled down to $1 million — led to a lot of heated and subjective takes. Some of those takes were even reportedly from pro-Depp bots, and as Amber described the experience, she never stood a chance in “a courtroom full of Jack Sparrow fans.”

Amber had originally been sued by Depp for $50 million over a Washington Post online op-ed, in which she never mentioned Depp’s name but identified herself as follows: “[T]wo years ago, I became a public figure representing domestic abuse, and I felt the full force of our culture’s wrath for women who speak out.” Depp’s U.S.-based lawsuit over this op-ed proceeded after his loss in a U.K. libel suit against The Sun; the U.K. court had ruled that the tabloid’s use of the term “wife beater” to describe Depp was “substantially true.”

The subsequent defamation trial devolved into a media circus with accusations involving bodily functions and tons of mudslinging following from supporters of both actors. Even now, to publicly take a side in this saga often invites a pile-on from the other camp. However, The Boys spinoff Gen V isn’t afraid of upsetting anyone.

In this week’s episode, Tek Knight descends upon Godolkin University as part of his true-crime show. He’s hunting for a public-facing answer for why Golden Boy killed himself, and Dean Shetty wonders aloud, “You’re going to blame an innocent student for Luke’s hysteria?”

Tek Knight’s answer: “I’m gonna Johnny Depp someone so hard they’re gonna want to crawl into a hole and die.”

Gen V quickly moved on from that discussion, but it was more than mere shade. The series used “Johnny Depp” as a verb, and people noticed. You can see the clip below.

Amazon’s Gen V streams new episodes on Fridays.