Friday 4/19/24
Celebrate:
Bicycle Day
Education and Sharing Day
Humorous Day
National Amaretto Day
National Chicken Parmesan Day
National Garlic Day
National Hanging Out Day - as in like laundry
Rice Ball Day
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New in theaters this weekend
The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare - Based upon recently declassified files of the British War Department and inspired by true events, tells the story of the first-ever special forces organization formed during WWII by UK Prime Minister Winston Churchill and a small group of military officials including author Ian Fleming. Starring Henry Cavill, Alan Ritchson, and Cary Elwes.
Abigail - Horror - This 12-year-old ballerina is no ordinary girl.
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Journey's "Greatest Hits" album just hit 800 weeks on the Billboard 200 chart. That's 15 years and almost four months.
The album first debuted on the chart in December of 1988.
Only two others have done this. Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon" reached it in 2012, and Bob Marley's "Legend" did it last September.
Here are the Top 5 longest-charting albums:
1. "Dark Side of the Moon", Pink Floyd: 989 weeks
2. "Legend", Bob Marley: 830 weeks
3. "Greatest Hits", Journey: 800 weeks
4. "Metallica", Metallica: 747 weeks (You'd know this as the Black Album.)
5. "Chronicle: The 20 Greatest Hits", Creedence Clearwater Revival: 689 weeks
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Pringles has teamed up with Crocs for the ultimate snacking accessory: An ankle holster for your potato chips.
"Classic Crush" boots come with a mini-can of a new Pringles flavor called "Croc-tail Party" — which the company describes as "watermelon chili lime."
Other products in the shoe line are $70 "Classic Clogs" and $50 "Classic Slides" that come with charms called Jibbitz that can be plugged into holes on top of the shoes. (Shapes include a miniature can of Pringles.)
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Hey, Barbie! Want some barbecue?
It's Barbie’s 65th anniversary, Mattel and Heinz UK announced the kind of unconventional collaboration Heinz Classic Barbiecue Sauce.
It's a mix of vegan mayonnaise and barbecue sauce, and yes, it’s Barbie pink.
The sauce straight out of Barbieland gets its signature pink color from the addition of beetroot extract. Heinz suggests using it to “brighten up a burger,” both figuratively and literally, we imagine, as well as drizzling it “over a crisp salad,” which seems like a somewhat unusual choice for a BBQ sauce — but you do you, Barbie!
The sauce will first be available exclusively in the UK and Spain; however, Heinz says it could potentially expand the offering to other markets in the future.
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"Time" magazine released their annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world. You know, the Time 100. Here are some names you'd recognize:
Artists: Dua Lipa . . . Dev Patel . . . 21 Savage . . . Colman Domingo . . . Da'Vine Joy Randolph . . . Fantasia Barrino . . . and Leslie Odom Jr.
Icons: Taraji P. Henson . . . Kylie Minogue . . . Elliot Page . . . Michael J. Fox . . . director Sofia Coppola . . . business shark Mark Cuban . . . and Studio Ghibli director Hayao Miyazaki.
Titans: Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes . . . Kelly Ripa . . . WNBA star A'ja Wilson . . . and record producer Jack Antonoff.
Leaders: The "first lady" of the Russian opposition Yulia Navalnaya . . . Texas governor Greg Abbott . . . Argentina president Javier Milei . . . and California governor Gavin Newsom
Innovators: Maya Rudolph and fashion designer Tory Burch.
Pioneers: America Ferrera (birthday today 4/18)
A "Time100" TV special will air May 12th on ABC.
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Mariska Hargitay got to help a child in real life, while filming "Law & Order: SVU" in Manhattan's Fort Tryon Park last week.
The little girl got separated from her mother, so she approached Mariska for help. She saw the badge on Mariska's belt and thought she was a real police officer.
She was apparently oblivious to the entire film crew . . . or the presence of Ice-T. She was obviously too young to know what either of those things are.
Anyway, production was halted for about 20 minutes while Mariska helped the girl find her mom.
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How can American University get more American? Well, they just created a class called Swiftonomics. Yep, a study of Taylor Swift's economic impact.
Students will take a look at her business footprint, earnings from her Eras Tour, her influence on Ticketmaster and "more".
One of the students who proposed the idea says, quote, "Many other universities are creating Taylor Swift classes, but mostly in subjects such as sociology or literature . . .
"I figured that this was a unique topic and an opportunity to capitalize on an academic trend. My hope was to get people more interested in an economics course by focusing on someone as popular as Taylor."
In related news, it's one more day until "The Tortured Poets Department" drops. Taylor will also release a music video tomorrow at 8:00 p.m. Eastern.
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If you're stressed out and then go take a walk in nature, usually you'll feel much better afterwards. But now there's a study that says it can even help restore your attention span, too!
Scientists from the University of Utah first made all the test subjects count backwards from 1,000 by sevens. This was designed to "deplete participants' attentional resources" right before they were given an attention task.
Then they were sent on a 40-minute walk, either through a beautiful garden, or through a medical campus with asphalt parking lots. After their walk, they were then given the same attention task to complete again.
The study came to two main findings: 1) The participants that walked in nature reported their walk to be more restorative than those who walked in the urban setting. And 2) Those who walked in nature showed enhanced executive control at a neural level.
"Executive control" involves mental flexibility, working memory, and attention span. And the walk in nature improved all of that!
So, the moral of the story is, turn your phone off, and go for a long walk in nature. You'll feel restored, and your brain will be ready for tough tasks after.
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If you didn't know already, Katy Perry is leaving "American Idol" after this season.
Katy was asked who she'd like to see take her spot on the judge's panel and Jelly Roll's name immediately came to mind. She said, "Jelly Roll was crazy . . . I was convinced at anything he said. He could run for president, he could be my pastor, I might go back to church for him.
"So, I love him . . . And to have [Luke Bryan, Lionel Richie], and Jelly on the show would be amazing."
She thinks it's his ability to give constructive criticism in a kind way that would make him an awesome "Idol" judge. She said, "I want a truth-teller, that's what I want. I want someone who's not afraid to tell the truth in a graceful way."
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Today's Useless Fact of the Day - Sour Patch Kids were originally called Mars Men. They changed the name in the early '80s to capitalize on the popularity of Cabbage Patch Kids.
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