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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
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Who’s the Fairest Food of All?

Today’s episode “Who’s the Fairest Food of All?” is on  iTunes/Apple PodcastsSpotifyOvercastLibsynPocket CastStitcher or anywhere you listen to podcasts.

In case you didn’t hear us in our last episode: IT’S SUMMER TIME! This time of year hits and most people think of pool parties, barbecues, camping trips, and goin’ to the local fair. (TBH, we also think about air conditioning and how soon Halloween will be here.) And when you think of fairs, you think of… Rides? Weird people beckoning you to throw balls at things? Petting baby goats? The world’s biggest horse? Blue ribbons for best in show livestock, crafts, pies, and art? Yes, yes! Yes to all that amazing stuff. But one of the biggest draws to boogie on down to carnival-town for is the fantastic, fabulous, fried FAIR FOOD! (They have healthy options as well, but, CHYAA, AS IF! #eyeroll).

In case you were wondering.

If you are particularly interested in the marvel that is carnival food, and you have saved up a wad of cash and have prepared by fasting for two days, one of the most fun (we refuse to say funner…ew) things to do is eat your way through the fair. We would advise a well thought out plan for your day of stuff-n-play. Let us help with this: In a nutshell, do not eat your way around the fair and THEN go on rides. No one wants to deal with that. No. One. Ever. Don’t do it. Ride first, eat after. Morning = rides, afternoon into the night = fry coma. Stay hydrated. Take your acid relief medicine with you. Pro tip: SHARE. Do not try to go into that platter of Fries/Tots Brick topped with Jalapenos, Bacon and Cheese Dip solo. Split that foot-long dog drenched in four kinds of weirdness with a buddy or six. Share, people. There you go. Plan complete.

Get your Zyrtec® ready. Photo by Jer Chung on Pexels.com

Our local fair – The Orange County Fair (12 July – 11 August 2019) – has been around a lonnnnnng time (129 years to be exact) so their list of foodie-goodness is equally long. With the help of foodbeast.com we go through 125 OC Fair Foods you may or may not have heard of. Cotton candy? Check. Fried Pickles? Check check. Kettle Corn? Check Check CHECK! Fried Slimfast Bar? Where’s our pen…we can’t…there’s…no check-marking implement here. *looking…for…pen* Nope. No checkmark for Fried Slimfast Bar. Nope.

We also go through foodnetwork.com’s not-in-chronological/alphabetical-order list of many (sorry, Kris may have missed a couple) of the state fairs in the US with the food they’re most famous for. We throw in dates and locations from travelawaits.com for your convenience. There are some states we’re on board with (Hello Ohio, Vermont, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Utah, and Tennessee…winkwink) and some we will be avoiding. Sorry Nevada, you just keep your Basque Fries to yo’self.

Basically, if you’re hungry, this episode is gonna make you want to drive to your nearest fairgrounds and dig right it. If you don’t have time for that (or the extra cash…because we don’t know about YOUR fair, but OUR fair is not cheap) we’ve got this handy-dandy link to foodiecrush.com with 25 fair food recipes you can replicate right in the air-conditioned, Netflix-blaring comfort of your own home.

Photo by Lalu Fatoni on Pexels.com

But before we cut you loose to check out this fair foodgasmic episode, here are some links to people and restaurants we mention:

  • Go check out listener Jill’s and her daughter Ruby’s prize winning table decorations at this year’s OC Fair!! Check out Jill’s Instagram page with photos from their Blue- and Red-ribbon tables.
  • The tiny Nathan’s Hot Dog champion Kris mentioned is named Sonya Thomas – nicknamed The Black Widow – and she is a Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest Hall of Famer!
  • To see two people eat a Depression Era-style sandwich mentioned in our episode – pickles and peanut butter – watch this YouTube video with Ali Spagnola and Shira Lazar. Let’s just say Kris might give it a go after seeing these two naysayers finish their sammich with nums and yums and much disbelief at the goodness.
  • Wikipedia does a much better job than Kris in describing the lovely Basque region and peoples.
  • What’s a Bierock? This is a bierock.
  • What’s a Koolickle? THIS is a Koolickle.
  • For chicken and waffles in Old Towne Orange, CA, (and other various locations in California, Las Vegas, NV, and SEOUL, KOREA) go to Bruxies. Be prepared to stand in line awhile with a bunch of 20-something hipsters nice Chapman College students.
  • For the best lobster roll on the west coast (according to Kym…well, she didn’t say THAT exactly…anyway, keep reading…), try Provisions Deli & Bottle Shop in Old Towne Orange, CA. It’s a bit pricey at $16 but…hey…it’s LOBSTER.
  • If you’re in the mood for an amazing dessert after gnoshing on a lobster roll or chicken & waffle (or both if you’re trying to beat Sonya Thomas), pop into The Aussie Bean – get your coffee while you’re there – and plant your lips around a scrumptious ice-cream cookie sandwich from Chunk-N-Chip.
  • If you’re going to the OC Fair, take Kym’s advice and get your Ten Pound Buns while you’re there because according to their Facebook page, they’re only available “at the fair.”
  • And if you’re a fan of the T.V. show The OC, please check out a great podcast called “Let’s Talk OC” where three friends – obsessed fan Michelle, Liss who has seen the show once, and Ingrid the newbie – get together to discuss each episode of The OC. If you loved that show and miss it, this is the podcast for you! Follow along as you stream on Hulu.

CORRECTION We erroneously cited the devastating news that multiple children died from Salmonella after visiting a petting zoo or other animal area at the San Diego County Fair in June. Sadly, one 2 year-old child did die after being infected with the E.coli bacteria after visiting the petting zoo. Four other children were infected after visiting the same animal areas, but thankfully are recovering. All five children visited animal areas between June 10 and June 22. Our sympathies and condolences go out to the family of the child who passed. Please read this full article which lists symptoms of E.coli and ways to prevent becoming infected.

Check out “Who’s the Fairest Food of All?” 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.
Featured Photo by Amanda Cottrell on Pexels.com