What I Heard This Week! March 1, 2018
There is a revival of the cocktail culture, and in an attempt to encourage more women to drink scotch whiskey, Johnnie Walker is rolling out a limited U.S. edition and changing their logo from Johnnie, the traditional top hatted man, to Jane Walker, a female version. Women, are you encouraged to go buy Johnnie Walker or is this just plain silly. Why do women need their own whiskey?
The Family of a Houston woman is suing her former landlord and a pest control company, claiming that a bedbug-killing heat treatment used in the woman’s apartment, killed her. The treatment was a non-chemical method which raises the temperature to above 139 degrees. The woman entered the apartment after treatment and in a short time, lost consciousness and was rushed to the hospital where she died of hyperthermia – a condition that results when the body absorbs more heat than it can dissipate.
Flu activity has declined for the third straight week, so it’s a hopeful sign that the season may have peaked – but no one will say that out loud since it’s been such an unusually bad year. I still have tea tree oil and other essential oils running at my office every day. None of us had the flu.
Rita Schiano – “Talking about our problems is our greatest addiction. Break the habit. Talk about your joys.” This was very interesting to research because it makes you think about ‘The Laws of Attraction.’ Do you want to attract people that only talk about their problems or do you want to spread positive energy that creates an environment for others around us to do the same. Could we change the world by letting go of negative conversation? This has my attention.
Mattel, best known for clean-cut Barbie, is releasing a game called Flushin’ Frenzy that sends brown plastic poop flying into the air. Hasbro released Toilet Trouble where water squirts on you from a toy toilet. This year they are releasing Don’t Step In It, a game where players are blindfolded and have to avoid stepping in piles of poop made out of a clay-like substance. Hog Wild Co. has Sticky the Poo, where you throw a squishy poop shaped mess with eyes and it clings to the wall. Their rainbow version is called Sticky Unicorn Poo and it has rainbow colored poop. Poopeez makes squishy collectibles with names like Pooji, Skid Mark and Dumpling which is aimed at boys age 7-years and up. Geez. Go buy your kids a game where they can actually learn something.
March 2nd is “Read Across America Day,” Grab a book & read so your kids don’t have to play poop games.
In early 2016, General Mills starting using natural sources for color, such as turmeric, strawberries and radishes in their Trix cereal. Well, people whined… “natural just doesn’t taste as good as artificial dyes and flavors,” so now Classic Trix is back on the shelves, along with the healthy version. Hmmm.
Reddit cofounder Alexis Ohanian, installed four giant billboards in California proclaiming that Serena Williams is the “greatest momma of all time,” to welcome her back to tennis after giving birth in September. Eighteen years ago, I had my daughter and went back to work (with her in tow) in less than a week and no one gave me a party.
Barbara Streisand loved her Coton du Tulear, Samantha, so much that she recently revealed that her two new pups, Miss Violet and Miss Scarlett, were cloned via cells extracted from Samantha’s mouth and stomach.
RECENT BIRTHDAYS: Singer Mitch Ryder is 73. CC Rider, Devil with a Blue Dress On. Singer Michael Bolton is 65. Film music company executive David Geffen is 75. Asylum Records in 1970, Geffen Records in 1980, DGC Records in 1990, and DreamWorks SKG in 1994. Actress Tyne Daly is 72. Cagney & Lacey. Country singer Mary Chapin Carpenter is 60. Actor William Baldwin is 55. Author Amy Tan is 66. The Joy Luck Club. Actor Jeff Daniels is 63.
Britain’s Prince Andrew is 58. Author Toni Morrison is 87. Beloved. Movie director Milos Forman is 86. Amadeus. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. The People vs. Larry Flynt. Musician Dennis DeYoung is 71. He is credited as the writer of more Styx songs than any other Styx member. Actress Cybill Shepherd is 68. Moonlighting. The Last Picture Show. Taxi Driver. Psych. Actor John Travolta is 64. Game-show host Vanna White is 61.
Actor Matt Dillon is 54. Rapper Dr. Dre is 53. Actress Molly Ringwald is 50. American artist, author, actress, fashion designer and heiress Gloria Vanderbilt is 94. Actor Sidney Poitier is 91. Actress Sandy Duncan is 72. Newspaper heiress Patricia Hearst is 64. Basketball Hall of Fame Charles Barkley is 55. Model Cindy Crawford is 52.
Nanette Fabray, Broadway actress and singer, died at the age of 97. In her 20’s, she began to lose her hearing and several years later she learned that she had otosclerosis, a disease of the bones of the inner ear that limits the transmission of sound. She underwent several operations from the 1950s to the 1970s that helped restore her hearing. She learned sign language and served on several national commissions to help provide education and job training for people with hearing loss. On the Carol Burnett Show in 1968, she performed an a cappella version of over the Rainbow singing and signing.
Don’t read this one if you don’t care for blood and guts talk. There is a 26-acre research farm affiliated with Texas State University close to San Marcos, called the Freeman Center ‘body farm’ (Forensic Research Anthropology Facility.) Yep, for the past ten years researchers have been studying how human remains decompose and what that means for solving crimes involving dead bodies. 500-bodies later, there are remains in various stages of decay, bodies under tarps or tires, under the ground, and tied up. The lab trains cadaver dogs and helps locate human remains. What happens to a body depends on the season, heat, humidity, whether the person was on strong antibiotics, the intensity of the sun – all such interesting information.
Singer Paul Simon announced that his 2018 spring tour will be his last. He feels that the travel and time away from his family, detracts from the joy of playing. Simon is 76. He definitely “still has what it takes.”
American Farm Kids: At a high school in North Dakota, a group of students played a prank. They let three goats loose inside the school. But before turning them loose, they painted numbers on the sides of the goats: 1, 2 and 4. School Administrators spent most of the day looking for No. 3. And you thought there was nothing to do in North Dakota!
“To make an oven interior look new, put ¼ cup baking soda in a bowl, then add enough dish soap to form a paste. Remove the oven racks and set them aside. Wipe out scorched food bits with a paper towel and then rub the paste on with a sponge. After 10-minutes, scrub and wipe the interior clean with a damp microfiber clot.” HGTV Magazine
Two shoplifting suspects running from police scaled a fence to get away…oops, they landed in the secure parking lot of the police station. They were arrested.
This is too funny, and I need to share it with you. I’ll set the scene. Boudreaux and Thibodeaux are on their lunch break: Boudreaux and Thibodeaux dey work togetter on da Red River near Moncla. One day, dey sit down to eat when ole Boudreaux pulls out dis long round plastic ting out his lunch box. Thibodeaux say, “Mais, Boudreaux, what dat is you got?” He tell Thiboudeaux, “Dat’s someting new dey done come out widt. It’s what you call a Termis Bottle.” So, Thib ask, “A Termis Bottle…..,what dat do????”
Boudreaux say, “Mais, you put someting hot in it an it keep it hot. You put somting cold an it keep it cold.” Thibodeaux reply, “Oh man, what dey gonna tink of next????? Hey, by da way, what you got in dat new Termis Bottle?”
Boudreaux say, “A cup of soup an two popsicles!!!”
In California, an employee of Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia (40) has filed a complaint with the state. He was fired after he refused to play ‘spin the bottle’ with his boss. It is the second accusation of sexual misconduct against Garcia, who is currently on a voluntary unpaid leave of absence while the Assembly investigates claims that she drunkenly groped a former legislative staff member. Staffers have accused her of fostering an improper work environment, including allegations that she discussed sex and used alcohol at work. Hmmm.
A librarian who had been cataloging old books at New York’s Union College found a grimy, leather-bound 1793 almanac where tucked inside was a yellowed envelope with the hand-written words “Washington’s hair.” Inside was a silvery lock of hair tied with a thread. The book belonged to Philip Schuyler, son of General Philip Schuyler who served under Washington during the Revolutionary War and founded Union College in 1795. It is likely that Martha Washington gave the snip of hair to Eliza Schuyler, daughter of the general and wife of Alexander Hamilton. The envelope notes, “from James A. Hamilton given him by his mother, August 10, 1871.” And that is your wee bit of history lesson for today.
Pollutants are generally associated with cars, but according to a study published in Science magazine, our deodorants, perfumes, hair sprays and soaps that keep us smelling good and petroleum-based chemicals in paints and other consumer products, along with pesticides, are as harmful as the emissions from today’s cars and trucks. So, use as little of the product as you can to get the job done. I use a natural mineral salt deodorant that contains none of the harmful chemicals found in regular deodorants. It’s called Crystal and I give it five stars. Years ago, you could only find it at health food stores, but I now buy it at HEB.
Dick’s Sporting Goods Inc. one of the largest retailers of its kind in the US, is ending sales of assault-style rifles and banning the sale of guns to people younger than 21, according to company Chairman and CEO Edward Stack. He said, “We support and respect the Second Amendment, and we recognize and appreciate that the vast majority of gun owners in this country are responsible, law-abiding citizens. But we have to help solve the problem that’s in front of us. Gun violence is an epidemic that’s taking the lives of too many people, including the brightest hope for the future of America – our kids.”
An impressionist painting by Edgar Degas that was stolen from a Marseille museum in 2009, was found by French customs officers. It was inside a suitcase on a bus and none of the passengers claimed the suitcase during the search.
Thank you for reading this today.
Hope you have a great week…
– Lisa
