Top 5 Ways to Clean Your House without Actually Cleaning Your House
According to a new survey, the average person uses five shortcuts to avoid housekeeping. You can join them by following anything on today's list of the . . . Top 5 Ways to Clean Your House without Actually Cleaning Your House. Paint the rest of the shower black so it matches the mold. Adopt a dog with a long tongue and then squirt syrup all over your fixtures. Cover your shelves with so many knick-knacks that the dust has nowhere to fall and just kind of floats in the air. You know, like at grandmas Before you set the Roomba loose, give it a bump of cocaine. Hand your kid a broom, threaten to take your phone away then sit back and watch the little turd sweep. Tape a Swiffer to the cat and then bounce a laser pointer up-and-down the hallway. Just throw all your clutter on the mattress and cover it with the comforter. It will be the most action your bed's seen in years! Admittedly, this should be your last resort, but . . . you can't go wrong with arson!
The Average Person Uses Five "Cleaning Shortcuts" . . . Like Covering Up Smells with a Candle
Remember when you were a kid, and your trick for cleaning your room fast was just shoving everything under your bed? Apparently, that carries over into adulthood. The average American admits to using FIVE different "cleaning shortcuts." The most common one is air freshener. 40% of people say they'll just spray it, rather than cleaning the root cause of the smell. 37% will light a candle to mask all the bad odors. Other "shortcuts" include: Making the bed but leaving the room a mess . . . and packing clutter into a closet or cupboard. Not surprisingly, young adults use the most shortcuts. 72% of all people say their cleaning routine has improved as they've gotten older. And 60% have adopted new cleaning habits since the start of the pandemic.
TikTok Is Obsessed with a $24 'Illusion Dress' That Makes Your Waist Look Tiny
Remember "The Dress" that went viral in 2015, because some people saw black and blue, and others saw gold and white? Well, a different "optical illusion" dress is going viral now. But this illusion was intentional . . . TikTok is currently obsessed with a $24 dress made by a company called Fashion Nova . . . because it makes you look THINNER than you actually are. It's called the "Mind of My Own Maxi Dress." It's got black, white, and brown vertical stripes all over it, which tend to be thinning in general. But the real illusion has to do with a built-in belt that cinches at your waist. Once you cinch it, the sides of the belt blend in with the dress, so you can't really tell it's there. And that makes your waist look smaller, almost like you're in a corset. A woman on TikTok posted a video of herself in the dress last week. And when she pulls the belt tight, it looks like her waist shrinks by three inches. It's already sold out on Fashion Nova's website, and women are asking them to get more in stock. The best you can do is sign up and be notified by email as soon as more arrive.
Men Think They're Better at Pumpkin Carving Than Women
Here's an insecurity we weren't aware of: Two-thirds of Americans think they're bad at carving pumpkins. In a new poll, only 1 in 3 people said they're good at it . . . 8% said "very" good, and 24% said "somewhat" good. Everyone else said bad. Around 1 in 4 people never carve pumpkins, so they don't know if they're good at it. And this is interesting: Men tend to think they're better at it than women, or might just have lower standards. 36% of men and 28% of women said they've got a knack for carving pumpkins. The poll also asked people what they do with all those pumpkin SEEDS after they've scooped them out. The #1 answer was eat them. "Throw them away" was a close second.
Over 40% of People Who Plan to Dress Up for Halloween Still Don't Have a Costume
Halloween is less than two weeks out. And if you just thought, "Wow, I need to find a costume," you're not alone. A poll taken yesterday of 17,000 Americans found 26% of adults plan to dress up this year. But almost HALF of those people still don't know what their costume will be. 58% of people who plan to dress up said they've got a specific costume in mind, or already bought one. The other 42% still don't know what they're going as, but said they'll figure it out between now and October 31st. Young people were the most likely to say they don't have a costume yet. Over half of people 18 to 25 who plan to wear one said they don't know what it is yet.
17% of Adults Say They've Had a Rivalry with Their Siblings Since Birth
How long does "sibling rivalry" last? A year or two? All of childhood? All of eternity? In a new poll of adults with at least one sibling, 51% say they STILL have a competitive relationship with their siblings . . . and more than 20% say they still argue over who's the "favorite child." 17% admitted they've felt a rivalry with their siblings at EVERY stage of their lives. The poll also asked what things they're most competitive with their siblings about, and the #1 answer was career success. Housing success is also a big one . . . like who bought their house first or who has the biggest or best house.
Other battles include: Sport skills . . . cooking skills . . . parenting skills . . . who drives the best car . . . who got the best grades in school when they were kids . . . and who gives the best gifts, especially to the parents.
A Bunch of Marvel and Disney Flicks Have Been Delayed
Disney just pushed back a bunch of its long-awaited movies, mostly Marvel flicks. "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" was supposed to come out next March . . . now it's dropping May 6th. "Thor: Love and Thunder" WAS slated for May 6th, now it's coming July 8th. "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" is being moved from midsummer to November 11th. The "Captain Marvel" sequel, "The Marvels" is being pushed back from November 2022 to February 2023. And "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania" is moving to July of 2023. Finally, "Indiana Jones 5" is being pushed back a full YEAR, from July 2022 to June 30th, 2023.
Mel Brooks Is Making "History of the World: Part 2" as a Series
t's been 40 years since MEL BROOKS promised to bring us "Hitler on Ice" and "Jews in Space" . . . and now it may finally happen. It was 1981 when Brooks released his classic comedy "History of the World: Part 1", basically an anthology film with skits based in several points of human history, like prehistoric times and the Spanish Inquisition. At the end, there was a trailer for a Part 2, but Mel wasn't actually planning to make it, and he never did. Well, Hulu is making it now . . . as an eight-episode SERIES. Mel will be one of the writers, along with NICK KROLL, WANDA SYKES, and IKE BARINHOLTZ. Mel says, quote, "I can't wait to once more tell the real truth about all the phony baloney stories the world has been conned into believing are History!"
Four Tricks to Save More Money . . . So You Can Spend It on Something Big and Crazy
Saving money for things like retirement is important, sure. But it's way more exciting . . . and probably more motivating . . . to save money so you can buy something BIG and CRAZY in the much more immediate future. Here are four tricks to save money without even noticing it so you can get that Lamborghini Countach or trip to Antarctica you've always wanted. 1. Deposit all of your coins into a savings account. When's the last time you used change? Probably when people were still arguing about "Lost" theories. So sweep your house, find every single coin, hit up Coinstar, and deposit it all. 2. One streaming service at a time. You have streaming services right now you haven't watched in at least a month. Plus all those choices make it hard to pick what to watch, right? Rotate in one streaming service a month and put away your savings. 3. Get a savings goal app. There are lots of really good savings goal apps out there to help you set a goal and work toward it. Plus some of them, like Stash and Qapital, will automatically invest your savings to help you hit your goal faster. 4. Get a cheaper cell phone plan. You really don't need to pay big money for cell phones anymore. Services like Visible and Mint Mobile work on the bigger brands' networks and give you all the same features for a fraction of the price.
Today's Showbiz Highlights
1. Did you know that CHRISTOPHER WALKEN auditioned to play Han Solo in "Star Wars"? He also tried out for the Ryan O'Neal part in "Love Story". And DAVID DUCHOVNY auditioned for every male part on "Full House". 2. A list of actors who refuse to watch themselves on-screen includes: Emma Stone . . . Adam Driver . . . Joaquin Phoenix . . . and Nicole Kidman. 3. KANYE WEST legally changed his name to just YE . . . without a middle or last name. He says its for "personal reasons", but he chose "Ye" three years ago for its mention in the Bible. Also, have you seen the creepy masks he's been wearing lately? Classic Ye. 4. Disney pushed back the release dates of several upcoming sequels, including the new "Dr. Strange", "Thor", and "Black Panther" movies, plus the fifth "Indiana Jones" movie, which has been postponed a whole year. 5. Original TV Wonder Woman LYNDA CARTER will return for the third "Wonder Woman" movie. She says, quote, "Who would have thought . . . at this time in my life . . . that this gift would just present itself to me, and that's so cool." 6. Starz is making a limited "John Wick" prequel series called "The Continental", which is also the name of the hotel where international assassins gather. The first actor to be announced is MEL GIBSON. 7. MEL BROOKS is doing "History of the World: Part 2" as a series on Hulu. His classic comedy "History of the World: Part 1" came out 40 years ago, in 1981. He ended it with a fake trailer for Part 2, which was never made. 8. Some of this year's Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony presenters have been announced. They include Paul McCartney, Taylor Swift, Drew Barrymore, and Angela Bassett. The ceremony takes place October 30th, but won't air on HBO until November 20th. 9. There's a Twitter account that uses A.I. to create silly metal band and album titles. For instance, the A.I. came up with a band called Massive Blood Sacrifice, which has a fake album titled "You Can't Make a Bone-Crusher Without Crushing a Few Bones". 10. LUKE BRYAN will be hosting the "The 55th Annual CMA Awards" on November 10th. Luke is the show's first solo host since Vince Gill ended his 10-year run in 2003. 11. In a recent interview, ZAC BROWN challenged JASON ALDEAN to an MMA-style slap fight, with proceeds going to charity. There's no bad blood. Zac loves MMA and thinks Jason "might be game to do it."