Uncategorized

Summertime Clues

Today’s episode “Summertime Clues” is on  iTunes/Apple PodcastsSpotifyOvercastLibsynPocket CastStitcher or anywhere you listen to podcasts.

Why did we call today’s episode “Summertime Clues”? Because if you listen you’ll discover we have no clue about anything in today’s show! We start of with such a great topic: The End of Summer. And we quickly derail just by talking about watermelon. Watermelon derailed us. Listen. You’ll get it. How could anyone not be confused by watermelon? We’re still baffled. And slightly unnerved. Even Google left us with more questions than answers. For shame Google. So, yeah, we talk about some interesting summer and August facts but for every new thing we tried to learn it seemed like we left with more stuff we needed to find out. We left the episode clueless. Ergo the title of the show. But redemption is here!! Thank goodness for this blog. Because the summertime clues blues have been cured! We have answers! We love the interwebs.

Does Hobby Lobby Sell Halloween Decorations?

Why yes, HL does sell Halloween decorations! HL definitely does not turn it’s back on guaranteed profit so gladly gives the public plenty of cute Halloween decor to choose from. Who knew? (DUH. Not us. Obviously.) For more details, check out Hobby Lobby’s website. But if you are into the horror, gory, gross stuff, sorry, you won’t find it. But because we are so excited about shopping for Halloween (and it is our pleasure to help you find that perfect witch, skeleton or spooky ghoul over the next month – yes, people, you only have one more month until OCTOBER) here are a bunch more opportunities to find what you want:
Target
Walmart
Michael’s
Home Depot
Lowes
Amazon
Spirithalloween.com

Tenant vs. Tenet vs. Tennant

Kris knows these words are not only pronounced differently, they mean different things, and also she knows what they each mean. But occasionally Kris’ mouth and brain do not sync up, therefore when she thought “tenet,” she said “tenant.” It happens to the best of people. But mostly a lot to Kris. Just in case you were wondering:
Ten·et  /ˈtenət/ (noun) : a principle or belief, especially one of the main principles of a religion or philosophy.
Ten.ant /ˈtenənt/ (noun) : a person who occupies land or property rented from a landlord.
Speaking of lords…
Ten.nant /ˈtenənnt/ (noun) : an actor, especially known for portraying the Doctor in Doctor Who, Barty Crouch Jr. in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, and Demon Crowley in Good Omens, also referred to as David Tennant.

We’ll Take What is an Inflatable Snowman for $200

Kris was talking about putting a snowman decoration on her balcony for Christmas, but worried the neighbor would be pissed off. Just in case you were wondering – because, again, the thoughts in the head don’t seem to want to come to the mouth part of communication – that whole part of what kind of snowman would piss off the neighbor sort of disappeared into the ether. That would be an INFLATABLE snowman. Inflatable lawn decorations = motors = annoying noise = angry neighbor = no inflatable decorations on Kris’ balcony ever. Please note that very important keyword “lawn”…this is a big clue as to who should actually invest in those things.

Are We Heading for a Warm Winter?

We ponder if having a mild summer means we’ll have a hotter autumn and winter or will it be colder? According to this website, it’s pretty much impossible to tell, so, yeah, if you’re hoping for your autumn/winter seasons to be predicted by the kind of summer we’ve had, you’re going to have to wait til it gets here like the rest of us. Seriously read the article. The folklore behind some of the methods of predicting weather are hilarious and the author has fun describing them.

What Are the Days Between End of Summer and Beginning of Fall Called?

We still don’t know! But the British tabloid The Sun just might shed some…ah…sunlight on the whole reason why it seems there are a couple days between the end of summer and beginning of fall. See what we did there? We couldn’t help it. It was right there. WAITING to be said. The British like a good pun. Hey if you’re British and you liked that pun leave us a comment. Oh, here’s the article.

Is Watermelon a Fruit or a Vegetable?

Yep. Here we go. Well, it’s both, but if you’re from Oklahoma, you know watermelon is the OFFICIAL VEGETABLE of OKLAHOMA (if we could also underline that bold italic we would). Oklahoma. Ok.LA.Ho.MA! We don’t understand. Well, we do, it’s just…why? Couldn’t you have picked something less enigmatic? Why not something like…(thinking)…you know what, we don’t even know what’s real anymore, so fine. FINE. Watermelon’s a vegetable. Pluto isn’t a planet. Have your vegetable fruit melon. Have it. The upside to all of this malarkey is that if mom says “EAT YOUR VEGETABLES!” you can go slice a hunk of watermelon, eat it, and throw some gnarly trivia back at her that you DID eat your vegetable and you LIKED it even. Wipe your dripping mouth covered in watermelon lies on your shirtsleeve and then spit those seeds that aren’t fruit on the ground for emphasis. Watermelon is a vegetable. We just…we can’t…we…completely…no words…. But here’s a link to find out wayyyy more than you ever thought was possible to know about watermelon.

First Women’s Bathing Suits Were Made From…

…Wool or flannel. Because nothing says refreshing seaside shenanigans like 20 pounds of wet, stinky wool clinging to your body. We’re wondering how many women drowned from being dragged beneath the waves in such heavy neck-to-knee (or in the 1800’s, neck-to-ankle) swimwear. Thank goodness for the Olympics in the early 1900s, which made intercollegiate swimming an official sport and shone a spotlight on the unwieldy dysfunction of the woolen suits (for men and women). For more information on women’s bathing suit history, this is a nifty article.

Can Metal Fillings in Your Mouth Attract Lightning?

Well, if you’re old enough to have amalgam fillings still, your bigger concern should be the amount of mercury toxins that have been leaking into your body all these years. Seriousy, get those removed and replaced, stat. But as for lightning striking you because of those nasty metal fillings? It’s pretty much a no-go. We’re 99.9% sure of that because we couldn’t find an answer on the first page of the Google search, but we did find this entertaining thread in response to a question asking if lightning striking you would weld your teeth together because of those fillings. Again, we’re thinking if you’re hit by lightning, there are so many other things you’ll be worrying about. Like, breathing, living, etc. Oh, here’s the CNN video of the guy almost getting hit by lightning, and a link about the guy who got hit twice (spoiler alert: fake video. Sorry Kym).

What’s a Cross-Quarter Day?

There is SO much to answer this seemingly simple question. In a nutshell, cross-quarter days have pagan origins, are associated with fire, and are usually celebrated with festivals. Imbolc, Beltane, Lammas, and Samhain (halloooo Halloween!) are cross-quarter days. For details, read this great article on Cross-Quarter Days (and Quarter-days too. Don’t ask. We are linked-out).

What is an Indian Summer?

Is Kris right or is Kym right? Drumroll please: Well, we were both on the right track. An Indian Summer is a period of unusually dry, warm weather occurring in late autumn. It also means a period of happiness or success occurring late in life. We like that version and are rooting for our own personal Indian Summers happening sooner than later.

What Does .ws Mean in a URL?

It is the internet country code for Samoa. Sleep well dear friends.

Crepuscular (and Kris May be Psychic)

This is weird. In the episode as Kris tries desperately to pronounce the word crepuscular, she states (we are paraphrasing), “this is blog entry number 12” and IT IS! Go ahead. You know you’re going to count them. We’ll wait.

See? Anyway, welcome back. Kris is PSYCHIC! Or, maybe her brain does math subconsciously and she really is a numbers genius but doesn’t know it. Either way, CREPUSCULAR is pronounced kreh-pUSk-yooler and it means “of, resembling, or relating to twilight”. Please, use in a sentence. Ok. “Team Edward and Team Jacob fans are crepuscular” No? Drat.

Aside: the girl who says the word in the Google Dictionary sounds kind of creepy. Sorry crepuscular girl. We know you’re just trying to earn a living. But your voice is actually perfect for the word, so, clap clap clap clap clap.

Abolition of Slavery

Yes, Kris, “abolition” is the word you were looking for. And let’s all just take a moment to say HELL YEAH 13th AMENDMENT!

Ah Ah Ah Ah Stayin’ Alive Goat Swagger

For the record, we’re sorry if you Googled Goats Stayin’ Alive and found this video. Although we’re not really that sorry because screaming goats are hilarious.

Chewbacca Mom

And our last but totally favorite shoutout goes to Candace Payne, aka Chewbacca Mom! Here’s her website if you’re as much a fan of her pure joy and love of Chewie as we are.
Added bonus! Here’s the video that started it all:

Here’s another video of an interview a year later in which she discusses making the viral video and how it changed her life for the better.

Finally…here’s some photos of the decorations Kris bought for bringing on the Autumnness:

Here’s Mooch the Pooch’s tush which shows either a Batman or a Motorola insignia. You be the judge. Let us know in the comments below.

Duh nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh BATASS! Mooch is either a spokesdog for Batman or Motorola…you decide.

And the candid moment Kris caught Rocky the Podcat contemplating life whilst sitting on a scale staring at the wall. Raise your hand if you relate. Also, we wish more than anything in the world she captured Rocky actually staring AT the wall. Hey, does anyone notice a pattern with Kris and Kym’s animals looking at walls? Just wondering if you’re seeing it too.

Sorry Rocky. I posted this on Instagram. No way I’m not posting this here too. Love you!

Check out our “Summertime Clues” episode on  iTunes/Apple Podcasts, SpotifyOvercast, Libsyn, Pocket CastStitcher or anywhere you listen to podcasts. Then all you need to do is 1) subscribe 2) download and 3) listen! AND!!! 4) If you enjoy what you hear, please leave a rating and a review (pretty please?). The more subscribers and reviews we get, the more opportunities we get to grow this podcast and bring you richer content.

And don’t forget to follow us here at themuglytruth.com (click that blue WordPress Follow button on the right side of your screen) so you get notifications every time we post an episode blog! You can also follow The Mugly Truth on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

© The Mugly Truth 2019 and © The Mugly Truth Podcast 2019. All rights reserved.
Intro and outro music, “Clever as a Fox”  by Espresso Music through premiumbeats.com.
Feature Sunflower photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com
Mooch the Pooch photo by Kym Wagner, © Kym Wagner 2019. All rights reserved.
Rocky the Podcat photo by Kris Core, © Kris Core 2019. All rights reserved
.
Episodes

Saint Valentine’s Day

beverage breakfast close up cocoa
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

D’awwwwww LOVE!!! Isn’t it…lovely? And here we are smack in the middle of the loveliest week of the year. Saint Valentine’s Day is right around the corner. Can you feel the energy? The warm, soft fuzzies? The excitement of a gorgeous bouquet of flowers, maybe a box of nummy bon bons, and the anticipation of an ahhhh-maZING dinner and maybe some “dessert” (know what we mean wink nudge???). Isn’t this beautiful day the perfect way to show your special love just how important they are to you and you cannot wait to snuggle up on them with all the giddiness that comes with those butterflies you still feel for him/her like you’re a danged teenager all over again?

OR maybe you’d rather tromp through a dank meadow of mildewed crabgrass with a handful of dead, black daisies and hurl them at the first person who offers you even a stick of gum let alone a Godiva nut-chew. Maybe you want to break that heart-shaped box into a million pieces like yours has been SO many times!!) Maybe you’re just waiting for 11:59 p.m. on February 14th to turn…the…hell…over! MAYBE – yeah JUST MAYBE!! – you think SAD old Single Awareness Day can go eff itself and Valentine’s Day – aka VD muahahahahahaha! – should be banned!

Yes!

YES!

YESDOIT!

Ok Kris. Settle down. 

Regardless of how you feel about it all, today’s episode will offer up some fun facts about this day of feels. Did you know, for instance, its bloody and somewhat violent origins? (And extra points for a correct guess on which civilized empire started it all.) Who the very first Valentine was? Do you know in which plays Shakespeare mentions St. Valentine’s Day? Any idea why your favorite conversation heart candies are scarce in 2019?

holiday sweet conversation hearts
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

And there are BIG numbers surrounding this one day of the year (it isn’t even a season for crying out loud!). We’re talking Billions (with a capital B) of dollars spent on sweets, flowers (mostly roses), dinners, jewelry, and lingerie. Millions of pounds of chocolate are produced, as are billions of those cute itty bitty heart chalk candies (let us remind you: except for this year – GAH!) which we adore almost as much as candy corn (and by we, we mean us)

Kym and Kris have some ideas about what you can do to save some bucks if you choose to celebrate, and encourage those who are not in a relationship right now to be completely and 100% a-okay with that.

(((((It’s just ONE measly single day a year! We can get through this!)))))

The episode wraps up with some pretty sweet stories about love. Because even though Kris sounds like a jaded cynic, she really does have a big lumpy heart full of hope. *sigh*

For more information on the podcast called Sweaty and Pissed (10/10!!), find them on iTunes or wherever you listen to podcasts, and visit their website here. For the NPR and BBC articles about the origins of Valentines, please go here and here. And for the Groovy Candies stats, go here. And finally, for the Good Housekeeping article about über-romantic stories across the world, go here and be sure to take a tissue.

Check out our Saint Valentine’s Day episode on  iTunes/Apple Podcasts, SpotifyOvercast, Libsyn, Pocket CastStitcher or anywhere you listen to podcasts. Then all you need to do is 1) subscribe 2) download and 3) listen! AND!!! 4) If you enjoy what you hear, please leave a rating and a review (pretty please?). The more subscribers and reviews we get, the more opportunities we get to grow this podcast and bring you richer content.

And don’t forget to follow us here at themuglytruth.com (click that blue WordPress Follow button on the right side of your screen) so you get notifications every time we post an episode blog! You can also follow The Mugly Truth on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

© The Mugly Truth 2019 and © The Mugly Truth Podcast 2019. All rights reserved.
Intro and outro music, “Clever as a Fox”  by Espresso Music through premiumbeats.com
Photos courtesy WordPress free library, by Pexels.com.

 

 

 

Episodes

31 Days of Feastember

Let the Feasting BEGIN
This week’s episode talks about all the feastable events you can celebrate every single day in December PLUS we announce our gift giveaway CONTEST. How amazing is all of this stuff? Totally. Photo by Kimberly Sickel, @riverdeer at 500px

Happy Tuesday! Today is JAM PACKED with TONS of information, our new contest rules (see below), “stolen” internet pics (WITH credit, c’mon now.) and most importantly 31 DAYS OF WAYS TO EAT IN DECEMBER! Today’s episode covers all the things besides Christmas that you can celebrate during the last month of the year. You like socks? There’s a day for that. Have a penchant for rhubarb vodka? They put aside a day for your drunk ass my friend. Want a Pal? Pick a Pathologist! (You do you honey.)

Emmett Kelly as Weary Willie
Weary Willie as portrayed Emmett Kelly.

Even Weary Willie has his own day and it turns out to be NOTHING like what Kris and Kym thought it was. Our sincere apologies for any disrespect towards the venerable actor Emmett Kelly and his lovely sad-faced hobo character.  We hang our heads (slightly) in shame. BUT! We do not regret having our minds in the gutter, because what fun would our podcast be if we didn’t slither in to the dirty side once in awhile. Ew, actually.

We pull out of that nosedive and continue to cover all sorts of fun from the 1st to the 31st, so YOU can go forth and make merry (sans-Christmas) over the little things in life. There’s National Dewey Decimal System Day (used in the LI-BRAR-Y, remember?), Pie Day (um, will the real pie day please stand up? We’re looking at you March 14.), Pearl Harbor Day, Rosa Parks Day, Wright Brothers day…you get Red Apple day, Cookie Day, Cotton Candy Day, Bathtub Party Day (they did not combine that with the Rhubarb Vodka Day, but you might be able to stretch that party out), Pawnbrokers Day….wait, hold up. Listen to the podcast man! We go over every inch of the dailies for you!

Plus we expound a bit on some events that piqued our interest. It’s a mashup of obscure and popular as we discuss celebrations including The Greater Feast of Aliester Crowley (see photo below, here is the link to the “Unexplained” podcast), Krampus (photo below),  Our Lady of Guadalupe (photo of Juan Diego’s tilma below), Chanukah, St. Lucia’s Day (see photo of Paul Hollywood’s buns below), Kwanzaa, Boxing Day, Saturnalia, and so on. The real point is that every single day seems to involve feasting in some way. We are totally good with that agenda. Food totally rocks! So why not come up with Fritter Day or Cupcake Day to indulge some more? Oh wait. Yep, already a day.

And yes, we promise the contest rules are still below. Keep scrolling non-readers!

Aleister Crowley
This lovely lad is Aleister Crowley, founder of  the spiritual philosophy called Thelema. To hear more details, we highly recommend the podcast “Unexplained” by Richard Maclean Smith, Season 1, Episodes 10 and 10 Extra, in which Mr. Smith delves into the background of Mr. Crowley’s life, and how extremely bizarre (and scary) this cat really was. He has quite the reputation in Britain, and his home is Scotland was once purchased by Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin. Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.

Krampusnacht-theatlanticdotcom
That’s Krampus carrying off an unhappy juvenile delinquent. So, timeouts are no longer a thing? Just asking for a friend. Photo courtesy of theatlantic.com

StLuciaBuns_GreatBritishBakingShow
St. Lucia Buns. Kris’ favorite silver fox baker Paul Hollywood featured his buns on The Great British Baking Show. They were…ahem…lovely. Thank you Paul. Photo courtesy of The Great British Baking Show.

juandiegotilma_beliefnetdotcom
This is the actual 500 year old tilma (cloak) of Saint Juan Diego with the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe embedded into the fabric. It is a science anomaly no one can explain. Photo courtesy beliefnet.com

Courtesy SD Times Tamr
Nostalgia time!! This is how we used to find things in libraries. We had to use our thinky stuff to get a book. Fun times. Yay Dewey Decimal System! Photo courtesy of SD Times and Tamr.

Truth be told, this is just one list out of SO MANY on the internet. If you want a more somber and international flavor, check the United Nation’s list of international days of observance, or if you want inspiration to make up your own damned day to celebrate, check out this Mike Kerr’s fun workplace list. Of course, you can check out the list we used here.

BUT WAIT THERE’S MORE!
(CONTEST! CONTEST! WHOOOOOOOOP! )

Today’s episode ends the show talking about our contest Mugly Truth Christmas 2018 Gift Giveaway! YES! Our contest details are finally HERE and they are outlined below! So now you have even more to celebrate! Did we not just make December the most amazing, wonderful, gorgeous, fun-filled time of the year or what? NOW you have another reason to jump for joy! Go ahead, find out all the ways you can enter the contest (soooooo many danged ways! It’s crazy) and then go to town!

But before you dive in, can we just say we so very much want your worst gift stories. If you do nothing else at all, at least share your stories with us because we want to hear from you and read your stories on the podcast!  Ok, now…ready…set…GO!

CONTEST DETAILS

The contest begins December 11, 2018 and ends December 21, 2018. It is a random drawing with no restrictions on who can participate. Completing a qualifying action equals one entry. There are multiple ways to enter the contest as described in “How To Enter” below. The winner’s name will be announced on our December 25th podcast episode and a video of the drawing will be posted on our Instagram account.

Once the winner is announced, the winner will have until January 1, 2019 (7 days), to contact us by email at sipsters@themuglytruth.com. The winner will need to provide their name, mailing address, email and phone number. This contact information is only for the purposes of the contest in delivering the prize to the winner. The information will remain private, will not be shared, and will not be retained for any purpose other than delivering the contest prize. Please note delivery may not be possible to a PO Box address.

If the winner fails to contact us by the end of January 1, 2019, a new winner will be drawn from the same pool of names, and announced on the next episode of the podcast. The new winner will have 7 days to contact us, in the same manner as described above.

HOW TO ENTER

We have given you SO MANY WAYS to enter! Check it out! Do one, some or all of these things to boost your chances of winning.

If you have already followed/liked/subscribed/ or reviewed our podcast prior to the contest, you are already entered!

So here is what you can do to enter:

Follow Us!

  1. Follow us on our website at https://themuglytruth.com by clicking on the blue follow button on the right sidebar of any blog post
  2. Follow us on Instagram at  https://www.instagram.com/themuglytruth/
  3. Follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/MuglyThe
  4. Like our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/themuglytruth/

Subscribe and Download, Rate and Review On iTunes

  1. Subscribe and download our podcast episodes via the Apple Podcast app or through the iTunes store at The Mugly Truth Podcast. Take a screenshot or photo showing you’re subscribed and email it to sipsters@themuglytruth.com (that’s the only way we’ll know you’ve subscribed since iTunes doesn’t tell us who our subscribers are).

  2. Rate and Review our podcast (we can only track reviews, so if you only rate us, we can’t count it).

Post a Worst Gift Story Using #MuglyTruthChristmas2018

PLEASE PLEASE post an original story about your worst gift ever (doesn’t have to be a Christmas gift). Use the hashtag #MuglyTruthChristmas2018 and tag us!

  1. Post a story on Instagram, use the hashtag, tag us @themuglytruth
  2. Tweet on Twitter, use the hashtag, tag us @MuglyThe
  3. Post a story on your Facebook page, use the hashtag, tag us @themuglytruth
  4. Go to our website, post your story in the comments section of our blog announcement.

We will try to read as many stories as possible in a future episode, so if, for some reason, you don’t want us to read your story, or use your name, please indicate that in your story. And, while pictures are not a requirement for entry, they will make the post a lot more fun! We’d love to see photos of your “worst gift” if you still have it. If not, a lovely picture of you sipping coffee from your favorite mug will be just as wonderful!

Repost/Retweet/Share Each New Contest Post (don’t forget to use #MuglyTruthChristmas2018)

  1. Repost each new contest update we make on Instagram
  2. Retweet each new contest update we Tweet on Twitter
  3. Share each new contest update we post on Facebook

Like and Tag Each New Contest Post

  1. For Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook, each time we post a new update, LIKE the post AND tag friends in the comments section. Please note tagging your friends does not enter them into the contest, they will need to enter as outlined in HOW TO ENTER

That’s it…that’s ALLL the ways you can enter. How can you NOT participate? We will be posting short shot episodes, blogs or updates as needed to bring more information about the gift itself and to address questions that might come up.

QUESTIONS? Email us at sipsters@themuglytruth.com

DISCLAIMER: This is all for fun and for free and we are having a great time with this. The contest prize giveaway is paid for by Kym and Kris. There are no strings attached for participants, no list to be used for marketing purposes, entrants’ usernames will not be shared or given out to any marketing companies. This is a simple random drawing with a gift lovingly created by Kris and Kym. There is no third party company running the contest or in charge of tracking entries or computing results and there are no sponsors providing any portion of the gift as a promotion. It’s just you and us, kid. 

We reserve the right to refuse entry of any comments posted on our social media sites that contain derogatory, hateful, degrading, or threatening language. Basically, trolls need not apply.

Check out our 31 Days of Feastember episode on  iTunes/Apple Podcasts, SpotifyOvercast, Libsyn, Pocket CastStitcher or anywhere you listen to podcasts. Then all you need to do is 1) subscribe 2) download and 3) listen! AND!!! 4) If you enjoy what you hear, please leave a rating and a review (pretty please?). The more subscribers and reviews we get, the more opportunities we get to grow this podcast and bring you richer content.

And don’t forget to follow us here at themuglytruth.com (click that blue WordPress Follow button on the right side of your screen) so you get notifications every time we post an episode blog! You can also follow The Mugly Truth on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

© The Mugly Truth 2018 and © The Mugly Truth Podcast 2018. All rights reserved.
Intro and outro music, “Clever as a Fox”  by Espresso Music through premiumbeats.com
Location photo by Kimberly Sickel, @riverdeer at 500px