Alex’s Antics

December 10th is the 344th day of the year. There are 21 days remaining until the end of the year

There are 15 days until Christmas

There are 36 days until we make “the turn” (Jan 15^th.. Our daily average high starts going up (22 to23)

Today is Dewey Decimal System Day, Human Rights Day, National Lager Day and Nobel Prize Day

McDonald’s plans to launch cheesy bacon fries in early 2019. They had been testing the fries in Hawaii and Northern California

Here’s a deal for you:  Right now you can buy a $40 tumbler at Starbucks . . . which they’ll fill with free coffee or tea every day in January.  You’ll need to go around 16 times to break even.

The cast of Friends is going to earn an extra $1.4 million a year because Netflix picked up the sitcom for 2019.

So it turns out Marvel fans were serious about wanting to see the Avengers 4 movie trailer. The long-awaited trailer, released Friday morning, captured 289 million views in 24 hours, breaking the record held by another Marvel movie: Avengers: Infinity War, which collected 230 million views in 24 hours when it came out in November 2017.

How far will Olympic leaders go to attract a younger audience? For now they’re drawing the line at video games. Not long after expressing interest in esports, representatives of the Olympic movement issued a statement Saturday explaining that “a discussion about the inclusion … is premature.”

Freddy Nock, of Switzerland, recently set a new Guinness World Record for sitting on a chair on a tightrope for 8 hours and 30 minutes. He killed time by eating and chatting with fans.

“Ralph Breaks the Internet” won a slow week at the box office, with $16.1 million.  The new “Grinch” was a close second with $15.2 million.  This is the first time in history that animated movies claimed the top two spots for two consecutive weeks. With three new films and and more kid-friendly version of Deadpool 2 in theaters, next week’s chart will be refreshed.

Netflix is now 15% of the web traffic worldwide.  General web browsing is only 17%.

One million seconds ago, it was November 28th . . . one billion seconds ago, it was 1987 . . . and one trillion seconds ago it was roughly 30,000 B.C.

If you fall from 48 feet or less, there’s at least a 50-50 chance you’ll survive.  10% of people who fall from 84 feet survive.

According to the Trader Joe‘s website, the reason the stores have a tropical theme and the employees wear Hawaiian shirts is, quote, “we’re traders on the culinary seas, searching the world over for cool items to bring home to our customers.”  Huh.

Mickey Mouse has an older sister named Felicity.  She’s the mom to his nephews, Morty and Ferdie, but has never been in any of the animated cartoons.

The Ford Model T could run on gasoline OR fuel made out of hemp.  But when oil prices started dropping, Ford phased out the hemp option.

 

December 7th is the 341st day of the year. There are 24 days remaining until the end of the year

There are days until Christmas

There are approximately 56 days until I get Morgan’s 2019 calendar

Today is Faux Fur Friday, International Civil Aviation Day, Letter Writing Day, National Cotton Candy Day and National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day

KEVIN HART stepped down as the host of the Oscars late last night, because the Academy was forcing him to apologize for some old homophobic Tweets, and he didn’t want to.  Strangely, as he was announcing that he was stepping down, he DID apologize to the LGBT community.

The nominees for the Golden Globe Awards are out, and the movie “Vice” led the way with six nominations.  “A Star Is Born”, “The Favourite” and “Green Book” all tied for the second-most with five.  The ceremony airs live on Sunday, January 6th.

Kellogg’s and a UK brewery have teamed up to create a new beer made from rejected Corn Flakes. The flakes are either too big, too small or overcooked. The beer is called Throw Away IPA and has helped Kellogg’s reduce their food waste by 12.5%. The beer has an alcohol by volume of 5% and will be available later this month.

The Ohio Pork Council has installed a bacon vending machine at Ohio State University. A strip of bacon costs $1. Proceeds from the machine are going to the school’s meat science program.

A new poll found the top ten Secret Santa gifts people actually want are alcohol, chocolate, a gift card, a book, candles, money, candy, socks, perfume or cologne, and bubble bath.

A FOURTH pro football league is on the way.  It’s the THIRD new league to be announced THIS YEAR.  A group of 50 former NFL players are behind this one, which they’re calling the ‘Freedom Football League.’  It’s not clear when it’ll launch, but they announced teams for 10 cities. They’re starting with 10 teams: The San Diego Warriors . . . the Oklahoma City Power . . . the Portland Progress . . .the Texas Revolution . . . the Birmingham Kings . . . the St. Louis Independence . . .the Ohio Players (???) . . . the Florida Strong . . . the Connecticut Underground . . . and the Oakland Panthers.

According to a microbiologist, the dirtiest thing in a restaurant is . . . the pepper shaker.  It’s covered in more germs than the toilet.  It’s because pepper is plant-based, and no one ever cleans the shaker.  So apparently E. coli loves to grow there.

SLEEP TEXTING is now a real thing, according to a new study.  The researchers found about one-quarter of college students have sent a text while they were asleep . . . and most of them had no memory of sending it the next morning.

People are rushing to get divorces in before the end of the year, because alimony won’t be deductible next year under the new tax plan.

A guy in Oregon was waiting to cash in a lottery ticket that won $1,750 . . . and while he was waiting, he played again, and won $118,000.

IN THEATERS TODAY – Schindler’s List is back in theaters this weekend to celebrate its 25th anniversary. It’s not expected to make more than a few million dollars, and Ralph Breaks the Internet will remain the top box office draw for a third weekend.

The guys making “The Blair Witch Project” had so little money that they returned one of the cameras they used to Circuit City for a refund once they were done filming.

It’s legal to kick the ball in volleyball.

A Congressman named John Harrison is the only person who was the parent AND the child of U.S. presidents.  He was William Henry Harrison’s son and Benjamin Harrison’s father.  William was our 9th president.  Benjamin was our 23rd.

December 6th is the 340th day of the year. There are 25 days remaining until the end of the year

There are 19 days until Christmas

There are 2 days until Morgan’s dress gets here for our party tonight

Today is National Gazpacho Day (a Spanish-style soup made from tomatoes and other vegetables and spices, served cold), National Microwave Oven Day, National Pawnbrokers Day and Put on Your Own Shoes Day

You can now get your sandwiches at Subway on garlic bread covered in melted cheese.

Someone took stats from Rotten Tomatoes and Google Trends and came up with the most popular Christmas movie in every state.  “Gremlins” is #1 in seven states, and “Home Alone” is the most popular in six.  However, the holiday classic “It’s a Wonderful Life” got snubbed. Kentucky is the only state where “Elf” took the top spot. The top Christmas movie in Mississippi is “The Best Man Holiday” from 2013 . . . in Utah, it’s the 1995 Sandra Bullock movie, “While You Were Sleeping” . . . in West Virginia, it’s “The Ref” starring Denis Leary . . .And in Montana, the most-popular Christmas movie is the 1945 classic, “Christmas in Connecticut”. In Minnesota it is “White Christmas.” “Die Hard” is #1 in Wisconsin.

A new study by the Social Security Administration reveals that couples are naming their children after Melania and Ivanka Trump.The name Melania has surged by 227% in the last year while the name Ivanka has surged by 362%

One day after Kevin Hart confirmed he would host the Oscars in February, the Golden Globes announced Andy Samberg and Sandra Oh have been chosen to host the 76th edition of the awards show in January. Nominations for all of the categories including film and television will be announced today

A clairvoyant event in Scotland was canceled this week and the reason was . . . quote, “unforeseen circumstances.”

A grocery store in Colorado just decided they should move their Tide Pods out of the candy aisle.

A new survey asked people a CRUCIAL Christmas gift question:  Is it cool to give someone exercise gear as a present if they didn’t specifically ask for it? 45% of people say . . . no, don’t do that.  25% say it’s okay, and 30% aren’t sure. Women were definitely more against unsolicited exercise gifts than men.  49% of women say it’s not okay versus 41% of men.

A guy in Michigan made the heartbreaking decision to take his wife off life support back in August . . . but somehow, she survived and now she’s almost made a full recovery.

 

Scorpion venom is the most expensive liquid in the world, at $39 million per gallon. And the main reason is it could be the key to developing next-level medicines that could fight things like malaria, bone disease, and even cancer.

The “chung chung” sound from “Law & Order” is a combination of nearly a dozen sounds, including a gavel, a jail door slamming, and 500 monks walking across a hardwood floor.

The first man to go over Niagara Falls in a barrel and survive died 15 years later . . . when he slipped on an orange peel and got an infection.

December 5th is the 339th day of the year. There are 26 days remaining until the end of the year

There are 20 days until Christmas

There are 198 days until Summer!! (Fri June 21)

Today is National Comfort Food Day, Bathtub Party Day, International Ninja Day, National Blue Jeans Day, National Communicate With Your Kids Day and National Commute With Your Baby Day

Prince Charles will attend George H.W. Bush’s funeral today in Washington D.C.. The Daily Mail claims Condoleezza Rice, Peyton Manning, Coach K and Phil Mickelson were among those who paid their respects to Bush yesterday

The steam from a factory in Nebraska caused parts of the state to get an extra two inches of snow on Monday.  Here’s a guy from the National Weather Service explaining the science behind it.

Kevin Hart is going to host the Academy Awards on Sunday, February 24th on ABC

Subway sub shops in the UK are selling a new Christmas Dinner sub. It features turkey, cranberry sauce, gravy, bacon, pork, sage stuffing and cranberry and orange chutney.

Annoying toys are a part of being a parent, but the latest craze might just be crossing the line. Just in time for the holidays, there’s now a line of singing Baby Shark plush toys. The toys play the viral “Baby Shark” song every time kids press the little button on their fins. … The toys retail for $17.99, though they’re going for much more from third-party sellers after the first batch sold out in just three days. That was a presale batch, though, so don’t worry: More should be on the way.

There’s a tweet that’s going viral right now from Business Insider’s food website, Food Insider. They say we’ve been eating burgers WRONG for our whole lives . . . and we’re supposed to eat them UPSIDE-DOWN. The theory is that the top bun is bigger than the bottom bun, so it’ll do a better job absorbing all the juices and condiments, and keeping everything together . . . so your burger won’t be as likely to fall apart or drip as you eat it. People are split on social media between “that’s interesting, I’ll give it a try” and “you guys should be shunned from society for suggesting something so blasphemous.”

Hulu and AT&T have found a new way to slip ads into the streaming experience.  They’re going to start running ad content whenever you PAUSE a show.  Theoretically, these ads can help keep subscription costs down, so there’s that.

The average American drinks TWICE as much during the holidays, according to a new survey.  Our favorite holiday drinks are eggnog . . . coffee and Baileys . . . holiday beers . . . cider . . . and hot buttered rum.

A new study found that the longer a couple has been married, the less they argue and the more they laugh together.  And it’s especially true for marriages that are at least 35 years long.

A hotel chain in Switzerland is offering a “social media sitter” service . . . meaning they’ll post the perfect photos for you, update your Instagram story, and reply to comments for you.

Bees stop buzzing during a total solar eclipse.

Jimmy Carter has lived longer after leaving office than any other president.  It’s been more than 13,800 days and counting since his presidency ended.  Herbert Hoover had the second longest retirement, at 11,553 days.

The “Mighty Morphin Power Rangers” TV show was banned by the Malaysian government in 1995 because they were afraid “morphin” was too close to “morphine,” and kids would think drugs were the key to becoming a superhero.

December 4th is the 338th day of the year. There are 27 days remaining until the end of the year

There are 21 days until Christmas

There are 174 days until Memorial Day (May 27)

Today is Extraordinary Work Team Recognition Day, National Cookie Day, National Dice Day, National Sock Day, Santa’s List Day, Wear Brown Shoes Day, Wildlife Conservation Day and World Trick Shot Day

A new survey by Bankrate reveals that 13% of people are planning to boycott holiday spending. 45% of shoppers plan to spend beyond their comfort zone

HOOTIE & THE BLOWFISH are reuniting next year.  They’re embarking on their first tour in more than a decade, and they’ll also release their first new album in over 13 years.  BARENAKED LADIES are opening for them on the road . . . but there are no details on the album yet.

Martha Stewart tells Ellen that she puts up 40 Christmas trees every year

Walmart is going to begin using robot custodians in January. The robots look like a cross between a miniature Zamboni and a motorized wheelchair. The robots are already scrubbing floors in airports in Seattle, San Diego, Boston and Miami.

A guy in Miami proposed to his girlfriend last week, and he bought SIX rings so she could pick the one she liked.  And now the proposal is going viral, and some people online think that’s an amazing gesture . . . but some think it shows he’s indecisive or doesn’t know her that well.

Waitrose is selling an edible vegan Christmas tree. The tree is an 11-inch rosemary plant that people can decorate with lights and ornaments. The plant will live longer than an actual Christmas tree and is completely safe to eat.

The next trailer for Captain Marvel’s upcoming standalone movie aired during Monday Night Football.… A source claims we’ll finally get an Avengers 4 trailer on Wednesday morning.

The average American drinks TWICE as much during the holidays, according to a new survey.  Our favorite holiday drinks are eggnog . . . coffee and Baileys . . . holiday beers . . . cider . . . and hot buttered rum.

Parents will have an average of more than 4,200 BATTLES with their kids before they turn 18, according to a new survey.  That’s an average of just over five arguments a week for 16 years.

A new study found that people would rather STARVE than go without their phones.  The researchers offered college students either a snack or phone time after they took a long, boring test for several hours . . . and they were MUCH more likely to go for the phone.