Men Spend More Than Women?!

Say it isn't so!  Men, who traditionally scoff at the idea of shopping, actually spend more during the holiday season than women?  Well, according to a survey conducted by ESPN, that's the case.

I suppose, if we break it down, it makes sense.  Women prefer to shop, often without buying at multiple stores, whereas men are more apt to buy more products at one store.  Read: They want to get it over with and onto something else.  

This theory completely explains why anyone who receives a gift from my husband ends up with a flashlight.  He shops at Menards, so while he's picking up his aluminum for making brackets on the race cars, he'll grab a couple of flashlights and voilá, his Christmas shopping is done!

In fairness, I've never heard anyone on the receiving end complain about receiving one of his flashlights.  As a matter of fact, the common response is, "This is great!  I needed one!"  To which, my husband smugly smiles and looks at me, as if to say, "I told you so!"

Not all men opt for such "practical and useful" items, like my husband.  When it comes to their wife or girlfriend, they're likely to spend more because they "want to get it done and please" that person, according to the ESPN research.  That would explain the spending more, if they aren't price comparing.  The study shows that men outspend women by a whopping 39%, when it comes to Christmas shopping.

With that in mind, I fully anticipate receiving a Lightsaber from my husband this year.

Does your husband spend more than you at Christmas time?  Drop us an email!

Look at Her Rack!!

Phil Klein of Champlin, MN landed a buck over the weekend. Or at least he THOUGHT it was a buck.  Turns out it was a doe with antlers!  Apparently, this phenomenon happens, but it's quite rare.  Over the past two years in Minnesota, approximately 197,000 deer were harvested, but only one was reported to be a doe with antlers.

Then again, some hunters may not even realize they have a doe, as they were too enthralled by the antlers? Although, for the life of me, I can't imagine a hunter not first checking out the rack and then slyly lowering the gaze to a buck's nether regions, just out of curiosity.

The Department of Natural Resources says that antlers on a doe would be caused by an overproduction of testosterone.  It makes sense.  I played basketball in middle school with a girl who had the same situation.  She had whiskers, could bench press 300 pounds and emitted a scent similar to my brother's sweat socks.  Sometimes biology is a crazy thing.

It's kind of amusing.  Men chasing after a big rack in the woods and doing the same thing in the bar after the hunt!  And in the case of Phil Klein, he would've landed a female both times.  Here's hoping you land the rack of your dreams this weekend!

  

A Little "Bromance" For Tim McGraw!

Move over Blake Shelton and Adam Levine; we have another bromance brewing. According to People, Tim McGraw was spotted chatting with George Clooney at the bar at The Florida Hotel in Orlando. The two were in area shooting scenes for their upcoming sci-fi film Tomorrowland at NASA's headquarters located close by. The reports say that the two celebrities were seen at the bar talking well into the night. Tomorrowland will also star Hugh Laurie and Britt Robertson and is slated for a release in 2015. What do you think of these "bromances"? A bit weird? What two male celebrities do you think would make a good bromance pair? Drop us an email johnandjacklyn@kicks1063.com.

It's Still A Wonderful Life

Here's an update to our story from earlier this week on the proposed sequel to It’s A Wonderful Life. As you can read below in our earlier post, we don't feel it's a good idea. You just shouldn't mess with a classic like this. Well, reports of a planned It’s A Wonderful Life sequel may be premature. Earlier this week, Variety claimed Star Partners and Hummingbird Productions were developing a sequel to the holiday flick, but Paramount Pictures, which owns the rights to the 1946 original, plans to fight it. “No project relating to It's A Wonderful Life can proceed without a license from Paramount,” the studio said in a statement. “To date, these individuals have not obtained any of the necessary rights, and we would take all appropriate steps to protect those rights.” We don't know if Paramount is against the sequel for artistic reasons or if they just want to make sure they get their cut, but hopefully it makes those involved look at it a bit closer before they go ahead and screw around with classic!

Beaver Anal Gland Secretions Revisited

Yesterday, I had my semi-annual check up at the dentist.  These visits generally don't rattle me, as I take pretty good care of my teeth.  I haven't had a cavity since I was a kid and I brush and floss regularly.  

As a matter of fact, I purchased one of those nifty Sonicare toothbrushes and quite frankly, it's been one of the best investments I've ever made.  Rarely, am I at the dentist for more than 30 minutes and it would be less than that, if the hygienist and I didn't chatter so much together.  I do not have to endure that awful scraping sound in my head, as the hygienist uses her steel tools to clean the plaque off of my teeth.  There simply isn't that much there, thanks to the electric toothbrush.

When my hygienist commented how good my teeth looked, I gave credit entirely to that wonderful toothbrush of mine.  She laughed and informed me that there are LOTS of people who actually purchase one of them, but fail to use it enough to make a difference.

That just boggled my brain.  I mean, how could you NOT brush your teeth?  Especially if you sunk some serious cash into a primo electric toothbrush?!

While pondering the insanity of that statement, my hygienist asked me what flavor of polish I wanted: cinnamon, mint or raspberry?

I normally opt for mint, but I have been missing my grandma a lot lately, so I went with raspberry, as she always had a lot of them in her garden.  As soon as the word, "raspberry," left my lips, I had an overwhelming wave of regret, thanks to beaver anal gland secretions.

Yes, beaver anal gland secretions.  We've discussed them previously in this blog.  Also known as Castoreum, beaver anal gland secretions are commonly used in artificial raspberry flavoring.  Also strawberry and sometimes even vanilla, according to my research.

So, as the hygienist continued to polish my teeth with that little motorized metal piece, I had this evil little beaver giggling at me in my mind.  He was dancing and spinning around to wave his tail at me, or his "anal glands" more aptly.

Never before have my teeth felt so clean and so dirty all at the same time.  

Things That Go Snork in the Night

Last night, my husband was working late, which means that he usually toddles home about midnight or later, so when I woke up around 11:30pm to the sound of snoring and saw he wasn't in bed next to me, I was completely befuddled.

I sat up and cocked my head, trying to figure out where the loud sawing of logs was originating.  I'm not going to lie. I was scared.  When you're jolted awake by a noise that you can't identify, it's frightening.  

Sliding my legs over the side of the bed, I began to creep quietly out into the dark kitchen, where the snoring noise got louder.  This caused even more confusion for me.  I flipped on the light and pondered, "Was my husband sleeping somewhere out here tonight?!"

Then I realized exactly who was snoring.  It was our dog, Bo.  He was oblivious to the light being on or me standing over his slumbering body with the thunder emitting from his flapping jowls.

Like I have to do with my husband, I nudged Bo.  He continued to snore away, undeterred.

 Finally, I bent down and shook him awake.  He immediately started wagging his tail, excited that I was there to "play."  I got a big lick to the face and then he promptly rolled over, exposing his belly, beckoning for a scratch.

I obliged, giving him a few extra scratches around his ears and massaged his neck, before heading back into the bedroom, laughing to myself about this adorable, silly snoring dog.  I slid back between the sheets and nestled down, trying to not think about the fact that my alarm would be going off in just a few scant hours.

I was almost nodding off, when the snoring started again.  This time, I just dug the earplugs out of nightstand.  Something I never thought I'd be doing because of the dog!

This whole incident got me thinking, "Can dogs have sleep apnea?!"  I'm clueless, but will be googling that today.  In the meantime, I'll be swinging by the drugstore to pick up more earplugs. 

Dancing & Laughing to the Finals

Bill Engvall did it AGAIN!!  Well, more aptly, his fans did it again!  Bill, who has forever found himself in the bottom with the judge scores has narrowly escaped elimination for weeks on end now, thanks to the fan votes rolling in for him!

Last night was another repeat of this same cycle, as the viewers had to watch Leah Remini go home, after the full combined vote of judges and fans was revealed.  I don't think Leah was that upset to have to go home.  I think she was probably grateful to not have to continue with the brutal physical demands of the competition.  And quite frankly, I wouldn't doubt if Bill Engvall is secretly thinking, "What the heck?! I don't know how much longer my body can keep doing this!"  But I'm sure he'll push through.

I'm not sure if Bill will win the whole thing and snatch the mirror ball trophy from any of the other more proficient celebrity dancers, but I do hope that he will.  Although, in brutal honesty, I don't think that any of the remaining "celebrity" dancers are truly that good anyway.  Further, the only other contestant that I'm familiar with is Jack Osbourne, son of Ozzy & Sharon Osbourne.

That being said, I believe now more than ever that Bill Engvall will win the whole shebang and I couldn't be happier about that prospect!  What do you think?  Drop us an email!

It's A Wonderful Life....Again!

OK, this begs the question: Are there some movies that you just shouldn't screw with? We think this is definitely one that shouldn't be touched. Variety reports that a sequel to the holiday classic...are you ready for this...It’s A Wonderful Life is in development. The film, It’s a Wonderful Life: The Rest of the Story, focuses on George Bailey’s grandson, who is visited by an angel who shows him how life would have been like for everyone if he’d never been born. You can get more details here on the production, but c'mon, really? There are just some films that are so classic they should always stand alone without a sequel, and this is one. Casablanca and Gone With The Wind are two others. You probably have some of your own. And don't accuse us of living in the past. We know we're dating ourselves a bit in our appreciation of these old films and that kids these days probably have never even heard of these masterpieces, but it's the stories that are told in these films and the performances of the actors that are so timeless What do you think? Should any films be considered "sacred"? Which ones? Drop us an email with your thoughts: johnandjacklyn@kicks1063.com

A Star Wars Sneek Peek!

John here-- OK at first I was getting really "geeked out" when I heard that they had released the first photo from the production of the new Star Wars movie. Would we see the old cast together again? Some fantastic new ships or planets? Nope. Just good old R2D2. Not that I don't love the little guy, but I was hoping for something more substantial! Just a week after Disney announced the film’s official release date (December 18th, 2015), director J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot posted the first photo of the production. The pic shows Abrams and other staffers standing around R2-D2, with the caption, “Hi from the workshop!” Yeah, hi yourself, J.J. C'mon, gimme something more to stimulate my geekiness!

Rubber People

I've always been amazed at the Asian acrobats in the Cirque du Soleil shows in Vegas.  It would appear that type of performance has now become a gymnastic category, with a 3-person insane floor routine.

I have to be honest.  And I'm going to date myself here, but when I was a kid, gymnastics entailed the uneven bars, the balance beam, the vault horse and that artistic floor routine with the long ribbon. (I used to beg my mother to buy me one of those things.)  OK, maybe I actually felt this kind of "Wow" factor, while watching Kurt Thomas on the rings, back in the day, but seriously?  These girls are crazy flexible and strong.

As I sit here, eating a cream-filled donut, I'm pondering the fact that these girls likely have ZERO body fat and most of their "weight" comes from muscle.  If I were a man, I'd be afraid to date one of this women.  Despite the allure of that flexibility, the insane muscles could be dangerous.  I'll let you use your imagination there.

Are you ready to have your mind blown?  Watch the video and know that these Ukrainian girls only placed 3rd behind Russia and Great Britain:

Is There A "Ghost" Of A Chance?

It was probably the biggest chick flick ever: Ghost. And now it may be making a return to the small screen. Paramount Television is developing a TV pilot based on the hit Patrick Swayze/Demi Moore flick. The film starred Swayze as Sam, a murdered man who becomes a ghost and teams up with a psychic (played by Whoopi Goldberg) to avenge his death and communicate with his girlfriend Molly (Moore). So far there’s no word on how the film’s story will be adapted for the small screen. Read more details here. So really, wasn't this the greatest chick flick ever?

Having Your Cake and Eating It Too

I am forever amused by those who participate in or follow along with reality television shows and the "horror" of the results when they don't match up to their expectations.  I mean, you're putting the reigns into the hands of America.  We struggle to get presidential elections right, do you really expect anything different with this stuff?!

Case in point--last night's eliminations on "Dancing with the Stars!"  For weeks, comedian Bill Engvall has found himself at the bottom of the judges scoring.  And for weeks, thanks to America's votes for him, Bill has been "saved" and other dancers have gone home!  Hysterical!

Bill knows he's not a great dancer.  He's never claimed to be one.  And his partner, Emma Slater, a professional dancer had tears rolling down her face at the prospect of going home, as she was fully aware that her partner's effort at the Charleston this last round resembled an epic bit of physical comedy, rivaling side-splitting moves of the legendary Tim Conway.

However, America had other plans.  America LOVES Bill Engvall!  And America instead sent  the feisty and talented Elizabeth Berkley and her pro partner packing.

And the judges went ballistic.  The crowd booed.  And Bill Engvall gave his boyish innocent look to the camera.  He didn't do anything wrong.  He's just an affable, lovable comedian.

Honestly, these reality shows that allow the public to determine the outcome are foolish if they want to cry foul when the results are read.  You put the American people in charge!  We are notorious for rewarding those who have not earned it!  Why should reality shows be any different?!

It's a popularity contest and America would obviously rather sit down and have a beer with Bill Engvall than Elizabeth Berkley!  Boom!  I hope Bill wins the whole kit and caboodle!  GO BILL!!

And Our Picks Are.....

Some years we agree, some years we differ widely. This year a little of both! Here are our picks for the major awards in tonight's CMA awards:

Entertainer Of The Year: Jacklyn-Luke Bryan, John-Blake Shelton
Male Vocalist: Jacklyn-Eric Church, John-Blake Shelton
Female Vocalist: Jacklyn-Miranda Lambert, John-Kacey Musgraves
Vocal Group: Jacklyn-Little Big Town, John-The Band Perry.
Vocal Duo: Jacklyn and John-Florida-Georgia Line
New Artist: Jacklyn-Kacey Musgraves, John-Florida-Georgia Line
Musical Event: Jacklyn and John-"Highway Don't Care", Tim McGraw with Taylor Swift and Keith Urban