Alex’s Antics

RANDOM TIDS & BITS- Fri 9/22/17

Sour Patch Kids are called “Very Bad Kids” in France.

Carrots were originally several colors, and the most common one was purple.  But Dutch farmers in the 16th century bred red and yellow carrots to make orange ones, since it was their royal color . . . and those became the standard.

It takes 248 years for Pluto to orbit the sun.  That means between the time Pluto was discovered in 1930, named a planet, and then eventually declassified and demoted to a “dwarf planet” in 2006, it didn’t even make it halfway through one orbit.

September 22nd is the 265th day of the year. There are 100 days remaining until the end of the year

There are 39 days remaining until Halloween

There are 44 days remaining until Daylight Saving Time Ends (Nov 5)

Today is Dear Diary Day, Love Note Day, National Elephant Appreciation Day, National Hobbit Day, National Ice Cream Cone Day, National Legwear Day, National White Chocolate Day, Proposal Day and World Rhino Day. AUTUMNAL EQUINOX DAY!

Starbucks is introducing its brand new Maple Pecan Latte today.  They say it’s a mix of, quote, “espresso and steamed milk, combined with notes of maple syrup and pecan, and finished with a colorful autumn topping.” It’s only going to be available for a limited time, but if the MPL gets anywhere close in popularity to the PSL, we’ll be like four years away from maple pecan EVERYTHING at this time of year.

Some McDonald’s restaurants in Japan are selling cheese smoothies. They cost $4.40 and feature fluffy cheese

McDonald’s restaurants in Japan are now selling chocolate-covered French fries.

General Mills phased out artificial colors and flavors from Trix a few years ago . . . and apparently people hated the results.  So they just announced they’re bringing back “Classic Trix” with all the artificial colors and flavors you can handle.

The original MARS BAR is coming back.  Mars stopped selling them in the United States 15 years ago, but now it’s back . . . and they’re using better ingredients, so it’ll cost $3-a-bar.

According to a new study, the beer that makes you burp most is Budweiser, followed by Coors Light and Stella.  If you don’t want to burp, go for Peroni or an IPA.

Been a while since the world was supposed to end, hasn’t it? Four years and nine months to be exact. But according to Christian conspiracy theorist David Meade, it’s finally coming this Saturday (September 23). According to Meade, the author of Planet X: The 2017 Arrival, this is how it’s all going down: Planet Nibiru will swoosh by our planet this weekend, a catastrophic event that will bring about volcanic eruptions, earthquakes and other natural disasters of apocalyptic scale.

Spanx for ARMS are going on sale on Monday.  They work just like the Spanx for every other part of your body . . . squeezing and flattening and all of that.

A website called Lyst analyzed Pinterest searches to figure out the hottest costumes for the year . . . at least for women.  I’m not sure men go to Pinterest to search for Halloween costume inspiration.  Anyway, here are the top 10 . . .

1. Pennywise the Clown from “It”.
2. The “Stranger Things”characters.
3. Belle from “Beauty and the Beast”.
4. Giraffes.  No, really.  For whatever reason, searches for giraffe makeup and costumes are up 1,200% from this time last year.
5. Wonder Woman.
6. “Game of Thrones”characters.
7. “Baywatch”babes.
8. Hippies.
9. Unicorns.
10. Mermaids.

A Pennsylvania high school golfer got two holes-in-one in the same round. The achievement came during a nine-hole practice round Monday.

A new study found three of the top five cities with the happiest employees are in California.  The top five are San Francisco, San Jose, Salt Lake City, San Diego, and Boston.

 

Beyonce and Jay-Z are going to play a hurricane benefit show on Tuesday, October 17th in Brooklyn. Proceeds will benefit victims of both Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma

Salma Hayek has raised over $250,000 for victims of the Mexico Earthquake.

Matthew Broderick is joining the cast of Fox’s musical ”A Christmas Story Live.” He will narrate the show as an adult Ralphie.

A woman in England (Slough) has been turning up at funerals and wakes and stealing food. She blends in with other mourners and pretends she was a friend or coworker of the deceased. The woman has been showing up for free food for at least 14 years.

 

New Movies Opening Tonight

The LEGO Ninjago Movie (Rated PG) … STARRING: Dave Franco, Justin Theroux, Fred Armisen, Abbi Jacobson, Olivia Munn, Kumail Nanjiani, Michael Pena, Zach Woods, Jackie Chan … the Green Ninja (Dave Franco) and Master Wu (Jackie Chan) must save NINJAGO City from an evil warlord (Justin Theroux)

Kingsman: The Golden Circle (Rated R) … STARRING: Halle Berry, Sir Elton John, Channing Tatum, Jeff Bridges, Colin Firth, Julianne Moore … agents from the “Kingsman: The Secret Service” team with a U.S. spy organization called Statesman in order to save the world from a common enemy.

Stronger (Rated R) … STARRING:Jake Gyllenhaal … Jake plays Jeff Bauman, a man who lost both of his legs during the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing. He was at the race to cheer on his ex-girlfriend. Jeff helped law enforcement officials identify one of the bombers

It takes 872 gallons of water to produce one gallon of wine.

Princess Diana and Prince Charles had only been together in person 13 times before their wedding day in 1981.

The fax machine was invented the same year people were traveling on the Oregon Trail . . . 1843.

September 21st is the 264th day of the year. There are 101 days remaining until the end of the year

There are 25 days remaining until Boss’s Day

There are 161 days remaining until Spring

Today is Miniature Golf Day, National Pecan Cookie Day, The Start of Rosh Hashanah and World Gratitude Day

Kellogg’s is releasing a limited edition Fruit Loops cereal called Unicorn Fruit Loops. The cereal has sparkly rainbow colored bits and is only available in the U.K.

Limited edition Pumpkin Pie Pop Tarts have hit store shelves.

A company called Simply Beyond is selling “Pumpkin Spice Organic Spray-On Spice,” which lets you add a dose of pumpkin spice to ANYTHING.  Your eggs?  Your sushi?  Your fettuccine alfredo?  Sure, go nuts. The stuff sells for $11 a bottle with free shipping at SimplyBeyondFoods.com.  And they also have gingerbread and cinnamon spray-on flavors too.

The Texas State Fair will have some crazy food on the menu later this month, including deep-fried Froot Loops, and deep-fried chicken noodle soup on a stick.

Taco Bell is opening about 300 more locations over the next five years, but they WON’T have drive-thrus . . . instead, they’re going to serve ALCOHOL.  It’s part of Taco Bell’s plan to be more hip and upscale.

A hotel in Taiwan is offering rooms that have two full gaming rigs in them.  So you can go on vacation and just play video games the whole time.

 

 

A fifth Game of Thrones prequel is in the works at HBO. No premiere date as of yet

Major news networks have no plans to hire Sean Spicer because they believe he has a credibility issue.

Laurence Fishburne and his wife of 14 years, Gina Torres, have split up. She tells the paper; “There are no bad guys here. Only a love story with a different ending than either one of us had expected.”

Floyd Mayweather’s new $26 million Beverly Hills mansion has a 50-seat movie theater complete with a fully stocked candy bar

 

 

 

New Movies Opening Tonight

The LEGO Ninjago Movie (Rated PG) … STARRING: Dave Franco, Justin Theroux, Fred Armisen, Abbi Jacobson, Olivia Munn, Kumail Nanjiani, Michael Pena, Zach Woods, Jackie Chan … the Green Ninja (Dave Franco) and Master Wu (Jackie Chan) must save NINJAGO City from an evil warlord (Justin Theroux)

Kingsman: The Golden Circle (Rated R) … STARRING: Halle Berry, Sir Elton John, Channing Tatum, Jeff Bridges, Colin Firth, Julianne Moore … agents from the “Kingsman: The Secret Service” team with a U.S. spy organization called Statesman in order to save the world from a common enemy.

Stronger (Rated R) … STARRING:Jake Gyllenhaal … Jake plays Jeff Bauman, a man who lost both of his legs during the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing. He was at the race to cheer on his ex-girlfriend. Jeff helped law enforcement officials identify one of the bombers

We all know the first flight Orville Wright took . . . but it turns out his LAST flight was on a plane that Howard Hughes was flying in 1944.  The plane had a wingspan of 126 feet . . . which made it six feet longer than the DISTANCE of Wright’s first flight.

The world’s oldest beer receipt is from 2055 B.C.  It’s from Sumer, which is where southern Iraq is today, and the amounts and types of beer served to different people is carved in a stone tablet.

“Jingle Bells” was originally written as a Thanksgiving song.

September 20th is the 263rd day of the year. There are 102 days remaining until the end of the year

There are 41 days remaining until Halloween

There are 96 days until Christmas!

Today is National Gibberish Day, National Punch Day, National School Backpack Awareness Day and National String Cheese Day

New Jersey pizza chain Villa Italian Kitchen has created Pumpkin Spice Pizza. A spokesman for claims they “landed on the perfect Pumpkin Spice Pizza balance. It’s a magical place where all the deliciousness of pizza meets the flavors of pumpkin spice.”

Edy’s Ice Cream is now selling a pumpkin spice latte flavor ahead of Halloween

Sam’s Club is selling a 72 oz pumpkin cheesecake ahead of Halloween. The cheesecake weighs 4 pounds and has 14 slices. The pumpkin cheesecake will be available through Thanksgiving.

Olive Garden’s never ending pasta passes are selling on eBay for as much as $1,200. They cost $100 when they sold out in two seconds last week

A designer in London named Albert Pukies created a fanny pack that looks JUST like a hairy belly.  So when you wear it around your waist, it really looks like your sexy gut is flopping out of your shirt. It’s just a prototype for now, but Albert says he’s already gotten SO MUCH interest that he’s probably going to do a Kickstarter to start selling them.

Hey, here’s something worse than showing up to a party and seeing someone else wearing your outfit.  Showing up and seeing FIVE other people wearing it. A woman named Debbie Speranza from Sydney, Australia went to a wedding last weekend and found FIVE other women wearing the EXACT same dress.  And they weren’t bridesmaids . . . they all just shopped at the same store called Forever New. The six of them took a photo with the bride, and Debbie posted the photo on Forever New’s Facebook page the next day . . . where it’s going viral

There’s something called “astrological snooping,” where someone quickly asks a potential date for all the info they’d need to look into how the stars and planets were aligned when they were born . . . to make sure you’re compatible.

Over 80 Kohl’s stores in Chicago and Los Angeles will start accepting AMAZON returns next month.

A 19-year-old guy in the U.K. recently raised money for charity by climbing a mountain in nothing but a pair of Superman underwear.  Then he had to be taken away in an ambulance after he developed hypothermia.

A former middle school math teacher from Virginia Beach, Virginia is being sued for $3 million for writing FOCUS on a student’s forehead. The student’s parents claim the teacher picked on their son because he was not focusing on his worksheet. He wrote FOCUS on the student’s head in bold black letters. The student wasn’t allowed to wipe off the word until he completed his schoolwork.

TMZ, has identified the woman in Kevin Hart’s extortion video as a traveling exotic dancer named Montiah Sabbag.

10.8 million people watched the season premiere of Dancing With the Stars on Monday. That’s down 19% from last year

Select Costco stores are selling 8-foot tall teddy bears for Christmas. The tan, 93-inch bears weigh 40 pounds and cost $336

Breaking Bad star Aaron Paul and his wife Lauren are expecting their first child together. He instagrammed a picture of her holding her pregnant belly.

T-Mobile and Sprint may merge.

Billy Bush and his wife of 20 years, Sydney Davis, are separating.

Halle Berry is dating British music producer Alex Da Kid.

Rachel Bilson and Hayden Christensen have split up after 10 years together. She is living in Los Angeles while he is in Toronto.

Donald Trump Tweet of the Day: ”I was saddened to see how bad the ratings were on the Emmys last night – the worst ever. Smartest people of them all are the “DEPLORABLES.”

A woman in Ireland, apparently high on something, was found standing in the middle of a road, shouting at passersby and paramedics trying to help her. When a female officer showed up to take control of the situation the woman bit her then yelled, “If you can’t beat them, eat them!” She was taken to jail.

Jamie Lee Curtis has signed on to star in a CBS sitcom set at a funeral home. In Quality of Life, Curtis will play the matriarch of a family that’s run a funeral home for generations.

 

 

TV TONIGHT: SEASON FINALE: AMERICA’S GOT TALENT – The $1 million winning act is revealed in the season finale. (7p CT, NBC)

RANDOM TIDS & BITS- Tues 9/19/17

You can’t cry in space.  Astronauts have found that because of the lack of gravity, their tears don’t fall . . . they just kind of stay in the eyeball, and they sting.

The shortest English word that has all five vowels is “eunoia” . . . which is six letters long.  It means “beautiful thinking” or a positive mental state.  (The pronunciation is “yoo noy uh.”)

The average cloud weighs 1.1 million pounds.  But the weight is distributed across such a big space, it still floats.

September 19th is the 262nd day of the year. There are 103 days remaining until the end of the year

There are 42 days remaining until Halloween

There are 24 days remaining until the next Friday the 13^th.. (Oct 13^th.. only two in 2017.. Had the other in Jan)

Today is National Butterscotch Pudding Day and Talk Like a Pirate Day

A new survey found how many people HATE different vegetables.  It found 41% hate beets . . . 31% hate Brussels sprouts . . . 15% hate cauliflower . . . and only 8% hate broccoli.

According to a new study, the most fun city in America is Las Vegas, followed by Orlando, New York, Miami, and Portland, Oregon.

A guy in Arizona caught a rattlesnake in his yard earlier this month and planned to cook it . . . but it BIT HIM twice.  He was rushed to the hospital where doctors saved his life . . . but the treatment is so hardcore that he was blacked out for FIVE DAYS.  Now he’s finally home and still recovering.

According to a new book, teenagers are dating a lot less than their parents did at their age.  And it’s partly because they spend so much time online.  In 2015, 56% of kids between 14 and 18 said they’d been on a date.  When their parents were that age, it was around 85%.

The dumbest things people have put on their résumé include a guy who claimed he studied under Nietzsche, who died over 100 years ago . . . someone who claimed they’d worked at Microsoft, but didn’t know who Bill Gates was . . . and a guy who said he was a former spy for the CIA when he was in elementary school.

A new study ranked the ten most and least stressful cities in the world.  The least stressful is Stuttgart, Germany.  The least stressful in the U.S. is Seattle, which just missed the top ten at #12.  And the most stressful city is Baghdad.

Some guy in Connecticut who won $200,000 in the lottery last year just won another hundred grand . . . by playing the exact same numbers again.

Researchers in Canada teamed up with researchers at the University of Pennsylvania, and the University of North Carolina.  They had about 1,300 people answer questions about their work schedule, health, and wellbeing. And they found that working long hours when you enjoy your job can have POSITIVE effects on your health. Workaholics who loved their jobs were LESS likely to have risk factors for things like heart disease and diabetes.  But people who worked long hours and DIDN’T love their job were more likely to end up with health issues. So if you constantly work 10-hour days just to get ahead . . . or so you don’t get fired . . . it can have a negative effect on your health.  But if you do it because you love your job, you’re fine.

Now you can buy a luggage cover with a giant picture of your FACE on it . . . which actually seems like a pretty smart way to make sure no one else confuses your bag for theirs.  They’re available at Firebox.com and start at $26.

There’s a new dating app called Taffy that only shows you someone’s photo after you’ve exchanged about 10 messages with them.  The goal is to make it so people’s personalities are worth as much as how they look.

A video showing a Seattle man wearing a Nazi armband being punched and knocked unconscious went viral on Monday. In the video, the man can be seen shouting white supremacists slogans at a group of strangers in what appears to be a Seattle public transit station. An African American man then walks over and punches the man wearing the Nazi armband, who falls to the ground unconscious.

11.38 million people watched the Emmys on Sunday night. That tied last year’s all-time ratings low.

Jeffrey Dean Morgan and his wife Hilarie Burton are expecting their second child. The couple has a child named Gus, who was born in 2010

James Corden and his wife Julia are expecting a baby girl.

 

NEW ON DVD – Released September 19:
• Close Encounters of the Third Kind 40th Anniversary
• Wonder Woman
• The Big Sick
• The Hero

Biggest iTunes Streaming Releases This Week: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales

Pez dispensers were designed to look like cigarette lighters . . . because they were supposed to encourage people to stop smoking and have a mint instead.

When the Beatles were making “Abbey Road”, they originally planned on calling it “Everest”.  But they decided they didn’t want to fly over Mt. Everest to take a cover photo . . . it was easier to just walk outside and take a photo on Abbey Road.

Almost all mammals, including humans, pee for the same amount of time . . . an average of 21 seconds.  Different species all have different sized bladders, but compensate for it with their “flow.”

 

 

September 18th is the 261st day of the year. There are 104 days remaining until the end of the year

There are 43 days remaining until Halloween

There are 99 days remaining until Cora’s Birthday or Anniversary … or something

Today is International Read an eBook Day, National Cheeseburger Day and Rice Krispies Treats Day

Drought conditions may cause a Halloween pumpkin shortage this year. Pumpkin growers in certain parts of the country that have experienced hot, dry weather may have trouble fielding large crops because pumpkins don’t grow well in this kind of weather. Pumpkins will rot if they stay too warm for too long.

Chipotle finally rolled out its new QUESO nationwide last week, and the reviews are almost unanimous . . . it’s awful.  Chipotle says, basically, it’s because they don’t use the artificial ingredients we’re used to in queso . . . and we have the wrong expectations on how it will taste.

NFL star JJ Watt has ended his Hurricane Harvey fund. The total raised on the YouCaring website comes to $37,131,917. A total of 209,429 people donated.

Two brothers who were stuck in Hurricane Irma were rescued and flown to safety in a private jet, provided by an anonymous donor . . . who turned out to be Kenny Chesney.  CNN reporter Sara Sidner is the one who did this report, and presumably used public records about the plane to connect it to Chesney.  These two brothers lived on the island of St. John with their grandfather, and their house was destroyed.  Chesney provided his plane to reunite them with their mother in Philadelphia

Ig Nobel Prizes celebrate the DUMBEST scientific studies of the year, and they were given out on Thursday.  This year’s winners include a study that asked if cats can be both a solid and a liquid . . . and one that tested if people would gamble more if they were holding a live crocodile on a leash.

A 30-year-old woman in England wanted to lose weight without spending a ton of money.  So she started working out to a DVD, and used two cans of BAKED BEANS instead of weights.  In the first few months, she lost 30 pounds.  Then she joined a gym, and went from 225 pounds to about 125 in less than a year.

According to a new book, teenagers are dating a lot less than their parents did at their age.  And it’s partly because they spend so much time online.  In 2015, 56% of kids between 14 and 18 said they’d been on a date.  When their parents were that age, it was around 85%.

The world’s oldest living person passed away last Friday . . . a 117-year-old woman in Jamaica.  Now the oldest living person is a 117-year-old woman in Japan.

And the world’s oldest CAT has also passed away . . . a tabby named Nutmeg that lived to be 32 years old.  That’s like 144 in human years.

 

 

Now you can buy a luggage cover with a giant picture of your FACE on it . . . which actually seems like a pretty smart way to make sure no one else confuses your bag for theirs.  They’re available at Firebox.com and start at $26.

 

 

TV TONIGHT: SEASON PREMIERE: DANCING WITH THE STARS – The celebs competing this season are Nick and Vanessa Lachey, Debbie Gibson, former NFL star Terrell Owens, Sasha Pieterse (Pretty Little Liars), Drew Scott (HGTV’s Property Brothers), violinist Lindsey Stirling, Barbara Corcoran (Shark Tank), WWE star Nikki Bella, ESPN personality and former Paralympian swimmer Victoria Arlen, Jordan Fisher, former NBA player and coach Derek Fisher, and Frankie Muniz (Malcolm in the Middle). Longtime judges Len Goodman, Bruno Tonioli and Carrie Ann Inaba will all be back, but Julianne Hough will not. (7p CT, ABC)

The Stephen King adaption It continues to dominate the box office cash register, taking in an estimated $60 million in its second week. The psychological thriller mother bombed, making just $7.5 million

Here are this past weekend’s box office results.

1. It — $60 million
2. American Assassin — $14.8 million
3. mother! — $7.5 million