How About Just Saying You're Sick?

Career Builder just released its annual list of the craziest excuses people have used for calling in sick to work. Have you used any of these:

1. A guy claimed his grandmother poisoned him with ham.2. An employee said they couldn't make it in, because they were stuck under their bed.3. A guy's sandwich fell on the floor, and he broke his arm trying to catch it.4. A guy claimed the universe was telling him he needed a day off.5. A guy's wife caught him cheating, and he had to get all his stuff out of a dumpster.6. A woman said she was brushing her hair, and poked herself in the eye.7. A guy couldn't come to work, because his wife put all of his underwear in the wash.8. A guy was too embarrassed to come in, because the food he'd made for an employee potluck didn't turn out well.9. A woman said she had to go to the beach, because she needed more vitamin D.10. A woman said she couldn't come in, because her cat was stuck in her dashboard.

The survey also found that 38% of us have called in sick this year when we actually felt fine, which is up from 28% last year. So what's the craziest excuse you've ever used to get out of work? Drop me an email: john@kicks1063.com

Get The Popcorn Ready!

We all have at least one movie that we can watch over and over and over and over again without getting the least bit bored. According to an online survey, the most  rewatchable movie is "Star Wars". Here's the Top 25 . . . well, 26, thanks to a tie at #25:

1. "Star Wars"2. "The Wizard of Oz"3. "The Sound of Music"4. "The Lord of the Rings" series5. "Gone With the Wind"6. A tie between "The Godfather" and "The Princess Bride"8. "The Shawshank Redemption"9. The "Harry Potter" series10. "It's A Wonderful Life"11. A tie between "Forrest Gump" and "Grease"13. "Dirty Dancing"14. A tie between "Pulp Fiction" and "Titanic"16. A tie between "The Lion King" and "Pretty Woman"18. "Casablanca"19. A tie between "The Matrix" and "The Notebook"21. A tie between "Finding Nemo" and the 2009 reboot of "Star Trek"23. "Goodfellas"24. "Pride and Prejudice"25. A tie between "Caddyshack" and "The Avengers"

      For just women, the most rewatchable movies are "The Wizard of Oz", "The Sound of Music" and "Gone With the Wind". For men, it's "Star Wars", "The Godfather" and "Lord of the Rings". One thing about the list thats interesting: only one Disney animated flick made the Top 25, "The Lion King".      So what's the one movie you could watch over and over? For me it's the "Lord Of The Rings" series. Drives my wife crazy, by the way. Drop me an email with your pick: john@kicks1063.com.

Oh, The Stress!!!

I'm not sure I can trust a list of stressful things at work if it doesn't include "getting an email from your boss that says 'we need to talk.'" But here you go. A new survey found the real top five things that stress people out at work. Check 'em out:

1. Having to wait for other people to get the info you need to work on something.2. Not knowing which tasks should be priorities.3. Unrealistic expectations and goals for projects.4. Moving deadlines.5. Bosses not quite making it clear exactly what they want.

The survey also found that 34% of people go to at least six meetings a week. So what stresses you out at work the most? Drop me an e-mail: john@kicks1063.com.

The Great Pumpkin Might Just Really Be Gone!

Pumpkin mania is spreading like a virus -- and that could cause some problems this year. Apparently, the pumpkins can't quite keep up. And that means we could have a shortage of pumpkin pie mix by Thanksgiving. About 90% of the pumpkins in America come from central Illinois, and the crop is down almost one third this year because of records amounts of rain in June. Meanwhile, demand is as high as ever. So if you want to make sure you can bake pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving, you might want to stock up on some cans right now.

Libby's is the biggest pumpkin pie mix company in the country, and they think they should have just enough inventory to get everyone through the holidays. But if you want a pumpkin pie on a random day next spring, forget it. A spokeswoman says, quote, "Once we ship the remainder of the 2015 harvest we'll have no more to sell until harvest 2016."

What About Bonanza!?!

Do you find TV theme songs memorable? They don't really do memorable ones as much these days, but Billboard did a list of TV theme songs that actually climbed up the charts. Here are 18 of them, along with their peak position on the Hot 100:

1. "I'll Be There for You" from "Friends", which stayed at #1 for eight weeks
2. "How Do You Talk To An Angel" from a show called "The Heights". The song was #1 for two weeks.
3. The theme from "S.W.A.T.", which was #1 for one week.
4. "Welcome Back, Kotter", which was #1 for one week.
5. "Miami Vice", which was #1 for one week.
6. "Greatest American Hero", #2
7. The original "Hawaii Five-O", #4
8. "Happy Days", #5
9. "Cops", #8
10. "Peter Gunn", #8
11. "Hill Street Blues", #10
12. "Party of Five", #16
13. "Batman", #17
14. "Bonanza", #19
15. "Magnum P.I.", #25
16. "Mission: Impossible", #41
17. "The Wonder Years", #68. The theme song was Joe Cocker's version of "With a Little Help from My Friends", and was on the charts back in 1968, not when the show ran from 1988 to 1993.
18. "iCarly", #100

But some made charts other than the Hot 100. For instance, the themes from "The Beverly Hillbillies" and "The Dukes of Hazzard" made the Country charts.

 "Those Were the Days" from "All in the Family", and the theme from "Cheers" both made the adult contemporary chart, and the"X-Files" theme was apparently a hit in dance clubs.

"I Got A Rock"

We've all got weird stuff for Halloween, right? Like from the old lady down the street who used to give you pennies! Weird and a little creepy. Well, Buzzfeed just asked people to share the weirdest things they ever got trick-or-treating. Here are nine favorites . . .

1. "Potato salad in a plastic bag."
2. "One year I got an actual cat. I still have him 17 years later."
3. "A gingerbread cookie in the shape of a penis."
4. "Pamphlets about why Halloween was a celebration of Satan."
5. "A Christmas crossword puzzle."
6. "I got a small plank of wood."
7. "A pack of cigarettes for my dad, who was with me."
8. "Live goldfish, not even in plastic bags . . . they just dumped fish into our bags."
9. "Hotel toiletries and Mary Kay samples."

So what's the weirdest thing you've ever received trick-or-treating? Drop me an email: john@kicks1063.com.

Boo Boo Is Right!

It just happened. Alana "Honey Boo Boo" Thompson has recorded a song. It's called "Movin' Up", and it's as horrific as you'd expect. There's also a video. It's just Alana and her family, including parents Mama June and Sugar Bear, dancing in the studio. So yeah, it's just as horrific as the song. Take a look and listen...if you dare!

The mastermind behind this is a guy named Adam Barta. You might remember him because he also helped Tan Mom, Farrah Abraham and the Octomom make "interesting" music.