Monday 5/9/22
Celebrate
Hurray for Buttons Day
Lost Sock Memorial Day
National Butterscotch Brownie Day
National Moscato Day
National Women's Check-Up Day
Tear the Tags Off the Mattress Day
--
How bout that Kentucky Derby?? More than 100,000 spectators at the historic Louisville racetrack gathered to watch Rich Strike, an 80-1 longshot who was a late addition to the field, roar past the competition for a stunning win in the 148th Kentucky Derby. Epicenter finished second, and Zandon was third.
Rich Strike became just the second horse ever to win the Kentucky Derby from the No. 20 post position and one of the biggest long shots ever to win the race, with 80-1 closing odds.
Rich Strike's win puts him near the top of the list of biggest upsets, but not quite the No. 1 all-time stunner. That honor belongs to Donerail.
In 1913, Donerail started in the No. 5 post position but went off at 91-1 odds. Similar to the win by Rich Strike, Donerail was trailing for much of the race but made a pass in the stretch to win.
Did you bet? Did you bet the long-shot???
--
Country singer Mickey Gilley, best known as the pioneer of the "urban cowboy" style, died Saturday in Branson, Missouri, his publicist Zach Farnum said. He was 86.
The Natchez, Mississippi native "passed peacefully" surrounded by family and close friends, according to a statement issued by Farnum. He had recently returned home from the road after playing 10 shows in April, according to the statement.
Gilley had 17 number one country records, starting with "Room Full of Roses" in 1974. Gilley also had major crossover success in 1980 with a country-flavored cover of Ben E. King's "Stand By Me," going to number one on the Billboard Hot Country listings and number three on the Adult Contemporary chart.
Gilley's musical career got new life with the film "Urban Cowboy," which starred John Travolta and was set at Gilley's own honky tonk club in Pasadena, Texas. The movie helped to popularize country-western culture in urban environments, including mechanical bull riding, which was the focus of the film's action.
--
Someone polled 1,000 Americans and asked if they think different "emerging technologies" will eventually catch on and become widespread. Here are ten of them, and what people said . . .
1. 3-D printing? Meaning most people will have one, and just print products at home. 82% of us think it'll happen.
2. Virtual reality? 70% said yes. And 60% think augmented reality will take off too. But only 43% think the Metaverse will be big someday.
3. Artificial intelligence being a big part of your everyday life? 69% said yes.
4. Artificial organ transplants? 68% said yes.
5. Self-driving cars? Only 66% think they'll be the norm.
6. Gene-editing technology? 62% said yes.
7. Lab-grown meat? 51%.
8. Cryptocurrency? 50% think it's in for a boom. But only 39% think NFTs will survive.
9. Brain implants that work alongside computers? 50% said yes.
10. Normal people going to space? 44% think it'll be common someday.
--
If you've got a great idea for a new emoji, now's your chance. Wired.com just did a big write-up on how to officially submit them to the group that handles this stuff . . . a nonprofit called the Unicode Consortium.
They won't approve an emoji idea that's already been rejected in the past two years, and there's a huge list of ALL the emojis ever submitted. Here are a few they've already decided NOT to add for various reasons . . .
An angry poop emoji
Bitcoin and Dogecoin emojis . . . a marijuana leaf . . . a condom . . . two different "dumpster fire" emojis . . . a "hangover" emoji . . .
Feet . . . floss . . . flip-flops . . . jail . . . Jesus . . . rosé . . . a tampon emoji . . . a mic drop emoji . . . a pinky swear emoji . . . and a half-human, half-unicorn emoji.
Lots of face emojis have been rejected too, including "disgusted face" . . . "determined face" . . . "tired face" . . . "hangry face" . . . "impressed face" . . . "angry crying face" . . . and a "drooling face with heart eyes."
--
Do you have a "magic number" for the amount of sleep that you need? Is it wishful thinking . . . or something that you make a priority?
Researchers from the University of Cambridge say seven hours is the perfect amount of sleep to "maintain strong cognitive performance and mental health."
The study involved nearly 500,000 adults between the ages of 38 and 73. Each person had to report their sleep patterns . . . and complete cognitive tests.
The team found insufficient sleep AND excessive sleep were both connected to impaired cognitive performance, like poorer processing speed, visual attention, memory, and problem-solving skills.
People also experienced more symptoms of anxiety and depression . . . and worse overall well-being if they regularly got less than seven hours, or more.
Officially, the study wasn't able to determine that poor sleep CAUSES cognitive problems . . . but they say their long-term analyses "appears to support that idea."
--
Did you hit your snooze button at least once this morning? A new poll found it's a normal routine for two-thirds of us now.
So which day are we most likely to hit snooze? Well it's not Monday.
The day we're most likely to do it is on a Wednesday. 40% of people said they're "likely" to do it then. 28% said the same about snoozing on Mondays.
If you hit it once, there's a pretty good chance you'll hit it again. 72% of people said they hit snooze between one and four times each morning.
Only 16% said they never do . . . including 10% who don't even use an alarm.
63% say sleeping in makes them happier.
--
Today's Useless Fact of the Day - Christopher Walken and Jeff Goldblum have been in four movies together . . . but never on screen at the same time: "Next Stop, Greenwich Village", "Annie Hall", "The Sentinel", and "Man of the Year".
And they never even met, until they randomly stopped next to each other at the same red light in L.A. a few years ago.
--
Comentarios