Wednesday 3/13/24
Celebrate:
Donald Duck Day
Earmuff Day
K-9 Veterans Day
ken Day
National Chicken Noodle Soup Day
National Coconut Torte Day
National Ginger Ale Day
National Good Samaritan Day
National Jewel Day
National Open an Umbrella Indoors Day
National Riesling Day
Registered Dietitian Nutritionist Day
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'70s power pop singer Eric Carmen passed away in his sleep over the weekend. He was 74.
He found success as the lead singer of the Raspberries with hits like "Go All the Way" and "I Wanna Be With You".
After the band broke up in the mid-'70s, he launched a solo career, and had several hits including "All By Myself", "Never Gonna Fall in Love Again", and "Hungry Eyes" from "Dirty Dancing".
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Want to smell like Easter?
Peeps Body Spray is now a thing that exists. Bottles of it have been spotted on shelves at the discount chain Five Below for $5 apiece. People are already reselling them for more than that on eBay and Poshmark.
They've got it in two different colors, pink and yellow. The yellow is "marshmallow scented," and the pink is "strawberry creme."
It might be meant for kids, but don't let that stop you. There is also a video of Peep-scented body wash.
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The National Confectioners Association says our obsession with candy is at an all-time high. Their annual "State of Treating" report just landed yesterday and found we spent $48 BILLION on candy last year.
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Chewing gum sales are down . . . by a lot . . . still.
Gum purchases dropped by nearly a THIRD in the U.S. in 2020, which makes some sense. For one: We didn't need our breath to be as fresh since we were social distancing AND wearing masks.
But the weird thing is: Gum never rebounded. Last year, gum sales rose less than 1% to 1.2 billion units, which was still 32% fewer than in 2018. And globally, sales are down 10% from 2018.
There could be changes in "generational trends." Some experts believe chewing gum peaked with Generation X (those born between 1965 and 1980).
Millennials have generally shown less interest in gum and candy, while Gen Z seem more interested in novelty candies like sour gummies.
Marketing has changed now hyping gum as an instant stress reliever rather than an occasional breath freshener.
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Rumor has it Apple is planning to add a "hearing aid mode" for AirPods. They already have a "Conversation Boost" feature, and something called "Live Listen". But this would be a more robust feature that's more like actual hearing aids. It would be big, since AirPods are cheaper and more accessible for a lot of people.
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Big news in women's sports: The 2024 Olympics will be the first with full gender parity. That means the same number of women and men are competing. The International Olympic Committee just did a big write-up about it for International Women's Day on Friday.
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According to a new report by the Pew Research Center, 38% of teenagers acknowledge that they spend "too much" time on their phones . . . and 27% admit they spend too much time on social media. Teen girls are more likely to admit they're spending too much time on those things than teen boys.
39% of teens say they've cut back on social media . . . although they didn't ask how many of those cuts have stuck.
That said, more than half say they spend "about the right amount" of time on phones and social media, and more than 60% haven't cut back on them.
A whopping 95% of American teens say they have access to a smartphone . . . and in a separate study, about 33% of teens say they use at least one of the five major social media platforms . . . YouTube, TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, and Facebook . . . "almost constantly."
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A study found the average March Madness fan will dedicate a full day-and-a-half of their life to it this year . . . 36 total hours.
That includes 3 hours filling out brackets . . . 13 hours watching games . . . 5 hours of highlights . . . 5 hours discussing it with friends and family . . . 5 hours reading about it online . . . and 3 hours placing bets.
It also found 26% of people who are obsessed with March Madness have skipped work to watch a game before . . . 76% have a favorite team they're pulling for . . . and 30% plan to pick them to win the whole thing. So, pretty optimistic.
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By the way, the correct abbreviation of St. Patrick's Day is. St. Paddy's Day.
Patty is the diminutive of Patricia, or a burger, and just not something you call a fella.
You can use St. Pats, if you must.
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Today's Useless Fact of the Day - We call chicken and turkey legs "drumsticks" because it wasn't polite to say the word "leg" at the dinner table in the 1700s and 1800s. Thighs and breasts were called dark meat and white meat back then, for the same reason.
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