1/12/26 - Bob Weir, Resolutions, Smart Phones, and Numerical Songs
- bribriny
- Jan 12
- 4 min read
Monday 1/12/26
Celebrate:
Feast of Fabulous Wild Men Day
International French Onion Soup Day
International Kiss a Ginger Day
National Clean Off Your Desk Day
National Curried Chicken Day
National Glazed Doughnut Day
National Gluten-Free Day
National Hot Tea Day
National Marzipan Day
National Pharmacist Day
Stick to Your New Year's Resolution Day
Work Harder Day
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The Golden Globes were held last night.
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Weekend Box Office
1. Avatar: Fire and Ash (fourth week at #1) $21.3M
2. Primate $11.3M
3. The Housemaid $11.2M
4. Zootopia 2 $10.1M
5. Greenland 2: Migration $8.5M
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Bob Weir, rhythm guitarist, co-vocalist and founding member of the Grateful Dead, has died at the age of 78.
Weir co-founded Grateful Dead with Jerry Garcia, Phil Lesh, Ron “Pigpen” McKernan and Bill Kreutzmann in the San Francisco Bay Area in 1965, with drummer Mickey Hart and lyricist Robert Hunter joining the group in 1967.
Weir was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame with the Grateful Dead in 1994. The band also received the Kennedy Center Honors in 2024, and was honored as the MusiCares Person of the Year in 2025.
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Ok. One more on resolutions.
We are approaching the statistical "danger zone" for New Year's resolutions.
The Failure Rate: According to YouGov polling, while about 37% of people make resolutions, nearly 25% of them have already given up by the end of the first week of January.
Most cited reason for quitting isn't a lack of willpower; it’s that the goal was "too ambitious" (e.g., trying to go to the gym 7 days a week when you previously went 0).
What is the success secret? Keep it secret! People who share their resolutions on social media are 10% less likely to keep them than those who keep them private, likely due to a psychological phenomenon where "announcing" the goal gives the brain a premature sense of accomplishment.
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One of the most consistent "secret" human behaviors revealed by polling involves our smartphones and our plumbing. (but is it?)
A BankMyCell poll found that roughly 80% of men and 69% of women admit to using their phones while on the toilet.
About 1 in 5 people admit to having dropped their phone in the toilet at least once.
Most people aren't doing work; they are scrolling social media or playing "match-three" puzzle games.
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A friend of mine on Facebook has been doing a challenge of every day, posting songs with that day's number in the title. It's been fun, and for the tenth, challenging.
Ranker.com has a ranking of the best songs with numbers in the title.
The 1980s produced the greatest number of popular songs with numerical titles,
The Beatles stand out with multiple numerical hits.
Here's how the ranking sat when I checked them out.
1. Another One Bites The Dust - Queen
2. Summer of '69 - Bryan Adams
3. One Way or Another - Blondie
4. Eight Days a Week - The Beatles
5. 9 to 5 - Dolly Parton
6. When I'm Sixty Four - The Beatles
7. I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles) - The Proclaimers
8. Edge of Seventeen - Stevie Nicks
9. 99 Luftballons - Nena
10. 1999 - Prince
11. One (Is the Loneliest Number ) - Three Dog Night
12. 867-5309/Jenny - Tommy Tutone
13. Seven National Army - The White Stripes
14. 25 or 6 to 4 - Chicago
15. 19th Nervous Breakdown - Rolling Stones
16. Three Little Birds - Bob Marley
17. Love Potion Number Nine - Clovers
18. ...Baby One More Time - Britney Spears
19. Love Me Two Times - The Doors
20. Two Out of Three Ain't Bad - Meatloaf
See more and rank them yourself here,
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Consumer Electronics Show roundup.
Samsung stole the show on the final day of CES by demonstrating a foldable display with no visible crease. This has been the "holy grail" of phone tech for seven years, and it’s expected to hit the market in major devices later this year.
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Nostalgia is hitting the tech world hard. One of the hottest trends from the start of 2026 is the return of physical keyboards for smartphones. The "Clicks Communicator" is gaining major traction for people who miss the tactile feel of a BlackBerry and are tired of "glass screen fatigue.
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AI-powered pets were all over CES this year. Most can respond to gestures and petting, follow you about with lifelike eyes, recognize your voice, and some can even tell what kind of mood you're in.
AI gives them a personality and enables them to learn as you play with them. While they can definitely be seen as toys – most have the option to purchase natty outfits and accessories, like a souped-up Build-A-Bear – many brands stress that they can have real value as emotional support companions, providing company and comfort for those who perhaps can't have a real pet.
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Today's Useless Fact of the Day - On January 12, 1885, Dr Pepper was reportedly sold in bottles for the very first time in the USA.
This makes it the oldest major soft drink brand in America—older than Coca-Cola by one year. It was created by a pharmacist named Charles Alderton in Waco, Texas, who supposedly named it after his friend's father (though there are at least a dozen different legends about who the "real" Dr. Pepper was).
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