Wednesday 10/30/24
Celebrate:
Buy a Doughnut Day
Checklist Day
Create a Great Funeral Day
Haunted Refrigerator Night
Mischief Night
National Candy Corn Day
National Publicist Day
National Speak Up For Service Day
National Text Your Ex Day
Pumpkin Bread Day
Sugar Addiction Awareness Day
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Teri Garr, the quirky comedy actor who rose from background dancer in Elvis Presley movies to co-star of such favorites as “Young Frankenstein” and “Tootsie,” has died. She was 79.
Read more here from the AP.
According to Google, "soup season" is officially upon us and Soup-related Google searches always spike in October, so they posted a bunch of soup-centric stats.
"Soup vs. stew vs. chowder" has been a breakout search this month. The main difference is consistency. The main difference between soup and stew is the ratio of liquid to solid ingredients. Stews and chowders tend to be chunkier. (And if you really want to get into it, a bisque is a soup that's been puréed.)
Soup searches are up nationwide this month. But the state that's been googling it the most is Vermont.
The top-trending soups we're googling are: roasted butternut squash soup . . . acorn squash soup . . . and pumpkin soup.
But here's where it gets fun: The top "Is [BLANK] a soup" question we've been googling is . . . CEREAL. "Is cereal a soup."
Over 20,000 people took a BuzzFeed poll last year, and one in eight people said YES. 12% think cereal is soup . . . the other 88% said shut up, that's stupid.
Here are the rest of the Top Five "Is [blank] a soup" questions . . .
2. "Is chili a soup?" Some people say it's a stew. Others think it's its own type of food altogether.
3. "Is menudo a soup?" Yes, a traditional Mexican soup made with tripe, or cow's stomach. (It's also a Puerto Rican boy band Ricky Martin was in.)
4. "Is gumbo a soup?" Some say yes, a hearty soup. Some say stew.
5. "Is ramen a soup?" If you leave the broth in, most people say yes. (Follow-up question: If you drain the broth, is ramen a pasta?)
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The election is next week, and Halloween is this Thursday. So someone polled over 6,000 people and asked, "Have you ever dressed as a politician?"
8% of Americans have dressed up as political figure for Halloween before. And at least 13% of us know of someone who's going as a politician THIS year. Here are a few quick stats from the poll . . .
1. More people are dressing as Trump than Kamala, but it's close. 6% know someone who's planning a Donald Trump costume, and 5% know of someone dressing as Kamala Harris. 3% said the same about Joe Biden.
2. Vice presidential costumes are less popular. Only 1% know someone planning a Tim Walz costume. J.D. Vance, also 1%.
3. Which costume would be scarier to encounter on Halloween, Trump or Kamala? 30% said Trump, and 22% said Kamala. Everyone else said "neither," or they're not sure.
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Do you have a favorite celebrity chef? A new survey of 2,000 people revealed America's favorite is Gordon Ramsay (40%). He's followed by Rachael Ray (31%) and Bobby Flay (28%).
Rounding out the Top 5 is a tie between Martha Stewart and Emeril Lagasse with 26%.
The survey also found that Americans are willing to spend an average of $340 to eat a three-course meal prepared by their favorite chef, and 48% have bought kitchen products that were endorsed by them.
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We're all watching scary movies this week, right? But there are tons of subgenres. What's your favorite?
According to a new poll, it's Psychological horror . . . like "Silence of the Lambs" or "Misery" . . . with 18% of the vote.
Next up with 15% of the vote is Comedic horror. Think "Shaun of the Living Dead", "Tucker and Dale vs. Evil", or "Return of the Living Dead".
Supernatural horror came in third, with 11%. That includes anything from the "Conjuring" universe or, if you're into the classics, "The Exorcist" or "Candyman".
Next up is Vampire flicks with 7%.
By the way, Not Sure got 8% of the vote, and 25% are apparently NOT horror fans, because they said None of the Above.
In a related poll, 31% of Americans say they Never get nightmares from horror movies . . . and 3% say they Always do.
22% say they never watch horror movies.
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Campbell's Soup released its annual Thanksgiving poll on America's favorite sides . . . and in a major upset, mashed potatoes is NOT #1. It fell to #2 this year behind stuffing.
The Top Five are: Stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, and mac-and-cheese.
56% of Americans like Thanksgiving sides more than the entrée . . . so turkey, ham, or some sort of nut loaf if you're vegan. And 38% say they'd be fine to fill their plate with JUST side dishes.
Also, 43% of adults say they will celebrate Friendsgiving this year.
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Askreddit asked What's something so simple, yet you're so horrible at it?
Here are some highlights:
1. Estimating how much pasta to cook.
2. Wrapping gifts.
3. Following driving directions. Or giving directions. Or having a sense of cardinal directions. Or even telling left from right.
4. Parallel parking. This isn't always simple, depending on the space you have.
5. Perceiving time.
6. Whistling.
7. Sleeping.
8. Doing anything while someone is watching.
9. Applying eyeshadow.
10. Hula hooping.
11. Making rice.
12. Making hard boiled eggs.
13. Operating a manual can opener.
14. Eating with chopsticks.
15. Shuffling cards.
16. Playing hacky sack.
17. Writing an ampersand.
18. Someone said, "Rolling my Rs."
19. Someone said, "I can't tie a balloon after blowing it up."
20. Someone said, "Drinking out of a glass. 9 times out of 10 I'll slam the cup into my teeth or pour the drink on myself. I don't have good depth perception."
See the thread here.
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Today’s Useless Fact of the Day - The name "Gary" is only popular thanks to the actor Gary Cooper . . . whose real name was actually Frank Cooper. He adopted the first name Gary after the city of Gary, Indiana, because it seemed like a TOUGH place and he wanted to be tough.
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