+
Videos

Fellowship of the hip-hop: Watch 'The Lord of the Rings' cast reunite in an epic rap battle

lord of the rings, lotr, stephen colbert, lord of the rings anniversary, fellowship of the ring

Like many a fantasy-loving adolescent, I was completely obsessed with "The Lord of the Rings" growing up. It had everything: honorable heroes, compelling storylines and a rich, captivating world full of lore and intrigue. It helped me, and many others, escape to a place where good guys would win and where magic was undeniably real.

Every year, my grandmother and I would head out Thursday night to catch a midnight showing … which coincidentally always fell on a testing day at school the following morning. But nothing could stop us from experiencing Peter Jackson’s undaunted, bold and ultimately touching movie trilogy masterpiece.

So to see The Fellowship unite together once again on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" … let's just say it filled my nerdy heart to the brim. Along with countless others.

The fact that it was part of an epic rap battle made things even better.


Colbert jokingly complained that he would not be on air to celebrate the 20th (yes 20th) anniversary of "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring." In case you didn’t know, Colbert is a loud and proud LOTR fan.

Noting that the “just okay” Harry Potter franchise marked its anniversary with a cast reunion, Colbert lamented that “Peter Jackson’s towering achievement” got no such honor. To be fair, LOTR was added to the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress. So there's that.

Either way, Colbert decided to create his own anniversary tribute … in the form of a rap, appropriately titled “#1 Trilly.”

Next thing you know, we see a puffy jacket sporting Colbert delivering a brilliant rap alongside not one, not two, but all FOUR hobbits. That’s Sean Astin, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan and Elijah Wood, people!

Plus a Gollum, everyone’s favorite arrow-shooting elf and the rightful King of Gondor: Andy Serkis, Orlando Bloom and Viggo Mortensen.

Anna Kendrick even has a hilarious cameo. Not to mention Method Man and Killer Mike playfully trash talking other, lesser franchises. You know, titles like “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Boring.” Savage.

Of course, I haven’t mentioned the video’s MVP yet: Hugo Weaving, who raps. In Elvish. Yes, dreams really do come true.

You can catch the amazing spectacle below:

Thank you to Colbert and the cast for giving us something to smile about. It truly was “one celebration to rule them all.”

True

In a flurry of heavy headlines that constantly inundate our feeds, acts of good connect us back to our faith in humanity. Witnessing just one person go out of their way to make the world a better place is a powerful healing salve against apathy. It reminds us all of what we are collectively capable of creating. This is the philosophy that Upworthy wholeheartedly believes in, hence why we’re always sharing uplifting stories of people giving kindness, generosity and support to their fellow humans.

That’s also why we’re partnering with P&G, the maker of some of our favorite household products like Tide, Always and Pampers, to bring you the 2023 Acts of Good Awards, and celebrate the individuals who are giving back and strengthening their communities.

Think of it like the Oscars of kindness. Half as formal but twice as feel-good.

Besides providing the world with brands we know and trust, P&G is a company doing good acts, whether it’s supporting hygiene education, helping struggling communities gain access to basic necessities or delivering essentials for families impacted by disasters.

Keep ReadingShow less

Pete is officially an #opentowork #jobseeker!

LinkedIn is primarily a platform for working professionals to connect and find employment that aligns with their skills and values. With company layoffs continuing (even increasing in some industries) people have also used the website to courageously share their layoff experiences.

While the main intent behind this is, of course, finding a new job, there have also been some lovely displays of humanity that not only challenge the stigma of being laid off but show the power of a supportive community.

Take this heartwarming story, for example.

Patrick McCarthy, Communications Management & Marketing Leader, recently posted about a layoff that quickly went viral on the platform. Not for himself—for his father.

“This is Pete. He’s my dad,” his post began. “My dad lost his job yesterday. I would tag him here, but he doesn’t have a LinkedIn.”

Keep ReadingShow less
Sponsored

ACUVUE launches a new campaign to inspire Gen Z to put down their phones and follow their vision

What will you create on your social media break? Share it at #MyVisionMySight.

True

If you’ve always lived in a world with social media, it can be tough to truly understand how it affects your life. One of the best ways to grasp its impact is to take a break to see what life is like without being tethered to your phone and distracted by a constant stream of notifications.

Knowing when to disconnect is becoming increasingly important as younger people are becoming aware of the adverse effects screen time can have on their eyes. According to Eyesafe Nielsen, adults are now spending 13-plus hours a day on their digital devices, a 35% increase from 2019.1. Many of us now spend more time staring at screens on a given day than we do sleeping which can impact our eye health.

Normally, you blink around 15 times per minute, however, focusing your eyes on computer screens or other digital displays have been shown to reduce your blink rate by up to 60%.2 Reduced blinking can destabilize your eyes’ tear film, causing dry, tired eyes and blurred vision.3

Keep ReadingShow less
Thoraya/Youtube

We need more strangers dancing in public.

Imagine going about your day, a million things weighing on your mind, when suddenly you see a red circle drawn on the sidewalk. Next to it, a sign reads, “Dance Here.” Would you bust a move?

That’s certainly what this group of random Californians did.

A Youtube user by the name of Thoraya conducted a lighthearted social experiment where she placed a red circle on the ground with the words “Dance Here” written next to it. Anytime someone would walk across the circle, music would begin to play.

Keep ReadingShow less
Joy

Instacart delivery person followed her instincts and ended up saving the life of a customer

"You're supposed to take a picture and leave, and I could not just leave."

Jessica Higgs had a sense that something wasn't right at a customer's house and her action saved his life.

One the more mysterious aspects of being human is our sense of intuition. This "sixth sense" isn't something we can see or measure, but many people have experienced it in some form or fashion. Maybe it comes as a strong feeling that something isn't right, or that we or someone else should or shouldn't do something. It can be hard to read—not every feeling we get is truly our intuition—but there are plenty of examples of people trusting their instincts and being glad they did.

One such story has gone viral on TikTok. Jessica Higgs, a mom who works as an Instacart grocery delivery person, shared a story in an emotional video that illustrates the importance of listening to that inner voice when it prompts you to make sure someone is OK.

"I just want to start this off by saying if you see something, say something," Higgs said.

Keep ReadingShow less
Science

Researchers dumped tons of coffee waste into a forest. This is what it looks like now.

30 dump truck loads and two years later, the forest looks totally different.

One of the biggest problems with coffee production is that it generates an incredible amount of waste. Once coffee beans are separated from cherries, about 45% of the entire biomass is discarded.

So for every pound of roasted coffee we enjoy, an equivalent amount of coffee pulp is discarded into massive landfills across the globe. That means that approximately 10 million tons of coffee pulp is discarded into the environment every year.

Keep ReadingShow less
via PixaBay

Being an adult is tough.

Nothing can ever fully prepare you for being an adult. Once you leave childhood behind, the responsibilities, let-downs and setbacks come at you fast. It’s tiring and expensive, and there's no easy-to-follow roadmap for happiness and success.

A Reddit user named u/Frequent-Pilot5243 asked the online forum, “What’s an adult problem nobody prepared you for?” and there were a lot of profound answers that get to the heart of the disappointing side of being an adult.

One theme that ran through many responses is the feeling of being set adrift. When you’re a kid, the world is laid out as a series of accomplishments. You learn to walk, you figure out how to use the bathroom, you start school, you finish school, maybe you go to college, and so on.

Keep ReadingShow less

A TV set on the Disney+ streaming channel

It’s often said that we live in the "Golden Age of Television," also known as “Peak TV” or “Prestige TV.” Although some say this era goes back to the turn of the millennium, since 2010, we have had the joy of watching shows such as “Game of Thrones,” “Girls,” Better Call Saul," “Ted Lasso,” “Orange is the New Black” and “Stranger Things,” just to name a few.

Over the past decade, there has been so much good TV that people’s biggest complaint is that they don’t have enough time to get to it all.

A viral Reddit thread started by a user named Head_Hauncho may give you some ideas to choose the next show you’d like to binge. He asked the online forum, “What is the single best episode of television you’ve ever seen?” There were responses from shows as old as the ‘80s, but most of the responses were from the past 20 years.

Keep ReadingShow less