TheTrend

Puppy fakes own death

For those of you who may have missed it, check out the puppy who fakes its own death.

 

#neverinamillionyears

Good morning,

#neverinamillionyears is the hot topic on Twitter this morning as people tweet what they would not do in a million years….

@GrandadFreeman_:  #Neverinamillionyears Will I read the terms & conditions, but i will always accept.

@AnitaSabri : #neverinamillionyears would I turn my back on my family

@TeamBieberArmy : #neverinamillionyears will i stop being belieber.

@StompEmInDaNuts : #neverinamillionyears will i grow to like Rihanna.

@JayTheWanted : #neverinamillionyears could anyone live to 1,000,001.

@PullOnMyDreads : #neverinamillionyears will myspace make a comeback.

@WhenTheresA_Wil : #neverinamillionyears will i understand why your listening to your loudmouth girlfriends about relationship advice when they're all single.

Of course, this naturally transitions into whether in a million years Congress will figure out how to agree on anything.  The Tea Party is stirring up a storm of searches from the center of the debt ceiling stalemate.   Anyone who doubted the strength and determination of the movement only needs talk to House Speaker John Boehner and his fellow party leaders, who can't seem to get the Republican members to vote for Boehner's plan to solve the crisis. 

Searches for “mortgage deduction” are spiking 1,338% this week on Yahoo! as lawmaker eye tax deduction for mortgage interest to help fill the growing debt problem. According to Yahoo!, adults aged 35-44 account for 30% of searches, while California, Texas, Illinois, New York and New Jersey round up the top state searches.

The NFL remains a hot topic with plenty of wheeling and dealings.    Topping the list is Vince Young - that calm, cool under pressure quarterback is heading to Philadelphia with those easy-going Eagles fans in a non-starting role…  Free agent Darren Sproles agreed Thursday night to a four-year contract with New Orleans, which will be his second NFL team. .. Meanwhile, tight end Greg Olsen is gone to Carolina, traded by da Bears for a third round pick… And Cincinnati ended the Chad Ochocinco era with a trade to New England, where the man who changed his name to his jersey number may need to change his jersey number. Trouble is tight end Aaron Hernandez wears #85 in New England, so Ochocinco says he'll pay "whatever it takes" to get his number as a Patriot.   It's not unprecedented.  Clinton Portis paid a teammate $18k to get #26 when he became a Redskin. Of course, Henandez could say #neverinamillionyears!

A much-hyped weekend adventure entitled "Pastranathon" ended before it even began…  Travis Pastrana planned to go back and forth between the X-Games and his NASCAR Nationwide Series debut. Those plans ended when this happened:

 

On the charts this week, The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie by Red Hot Chili Peppers is the hottest mover this week, debuting at number 38 on the Billboard Hot 100.   The top song remains Party Rock Anthem….  Free Music Download is the top free app on iTunes. However, the reviews are unkind with customers complaints.   Wrote one visitor, "All it does is gives you a list of sites you can go to but have to register for and they never have what you're looking for. Deleted the app an hour after downloading."

Saturday is National Cheesecake day and searches for “cheesecake recipes” are spiking 14% today on Yahoo!. It seems people prefer convenient desserts as “no bake cheesecake” is the top searched cheesecake this week on Yahoo! followed by strawberry, New York,  blueberry, chocolate, key lime, red velvet and Oreo.

Among the trending videos on YouTube…. A crazy driver causes a bad accident.   It's caught on a dashboard cam.  The crazy driver may have caused the accident, but escaped actually getting into it.

 

I might say #neverinamillionyears after seeing the preview of the Edgewalk in Toronto.  CN Tower gave reporters a chance to try out the walk, which bills itself as “the world’s highest full circle hands-free walk.” Participants strap onto an overhead safety rail and then walk on a 5-foot- wide ledge encircling the top of the  Tower’s main pod, 1,168 feet above the ground.

 

Scarlett Johannsson is the latest celebrity to get a YouTube invite to the Marine Ball.  She turned down the invite, but apparently sent a bottle of champagne.

 

From Libya comes what looks like a clip from a war comedy, but this one really happened.

 

And the San Diego Zoo is showing off  5-month-old hippo calf, Adhama.   The hippo has developed  a talent for water ballet.

 

That's the trend!

Hope you have the best weekend in a million years! :)

Bob

NFL deals, Joan of Arc and crime-fighting citizens

 The NFL is back and trending in a big way. 

Reggie Bush is hot because the Heisman Trophy winner is headed from New Orleans to Miami…. QB Kyle Orton may also be headed to Miami as rumors are swirling that they are close to a deal… WR Sidney Rice signed with Seattle a day after former Vikings teammate and QB Tarvaris Jackson signed there… The Minnesota Vikings are also trending because they landed QB Donovan McNabb… and even the 49ers are trending with rumors RB Frank Gore is holding out… the only thing missing from this trend is Brett Favre.

Kids love the Nintendo DS, but 3DS is a whole other story.   Nintendo, which reported a loss and a grim outlook for the second half of the year, decided to slash prices in hopes of increasing demand.  The price of the Nintendo 3DS will drop from $249 to $169 on August 12.

Madeleine McCann has been on the rise this morning after word that her parents were informed of a possible sighting of their missing daughter in India.  Madeleine vanished from an apartment in Portugal in 2007 days before her fourth birthday as she holidayed with her parents, Kate and Gerry.  A spokesman said the sighting was "no more credible" than many other leads they receive.

Joan of Arc is trending apparently for two reasons….  First, vandals damaged religious statues of St. Joan of Arc and the Virgin Mary at St. Joan of Arc Parish in Evesham, N.J. earlier this month.  Statues were also damaged at five other churches in Mount Laurel and Cherry Hill, all in South Jersey.  The vandal broke the noses, fingers and hands on the statues and caused more than $30,000 in damage to at least 40 statues.

The other reason Joan of Arc appears to be trending is British singer Anna Calvi, who was nominated for the Mercury Prize.   The award is bestowed upon the Best Album of the year according to a panel of  musicians, music executives, journalists and other figures in the music industry in the UK and Ireland.   As one writer puts it, "To understand the power of Anna Calvi’s voice, it helps to listen to her cover of Leonard Cohen’s Joan of Arc. It’s an instrumental." 

The winner will be announced on September 6.

Neutrogena made it on the hot search list, but apparently it has nothing to do with the product.  Instead, people are looking for pictures of Vanessa Hudgens hair.   She chopped it off for an appearance at Neutrogena's 2nd Annual Wave for Change By Helping Kids Make A Difference bash in Los Angeles.  Hudgens and Hayden Panettiere are spokesmodels for the company.

Alex Trebek is hot on Twitter after his takedown of a burglar at a hotel in San Francisco.

It seems citizen crime-fighting in San Francisco is trending in general as one of the hot videos on YouTube is a bicycle-stealing thief getting taken down by a group of office workers.

 

Video of some intense flooding in South Korea is also trending.   Massive rainfall in Seoul since Tuesday produced the flooding and a landslide.  At least 47 people have been killed, and another four were missing.

 

And from Poland comes a hot video of Spider-Man that would make J. Jonah Jameson's front page as this Spider-Man goes around Warsaw menacing people!

 

 

That's the trend!

 

Have a great day,

 

Bob

Show Your Hearts

A new campaign is underway to help three orphaned children in Texas, and it's getting hot on Twitter and Facebook.

The story is tragic.  The Berry family of Houston was returning from an annual family road trip in Colorado when another vehicle crossed the center line and crashed head-on into their minivan.

 

Joshua and Robin Berry were killed.   Their children (Peter, 9; Aaron, 8; and Willa, 6) survived, but both boys sustained serious spinal cord injuries and they are both paralyzed below the waist.

The children are currently being treated for their many injuries in a Houston, Texas area hospital.

ABC News talked to family members.  You can read that story by clicking here.

Show Your Hearts was launched to raise funds to aid these now orphaned children's ongoing needs, including medical rehabilitation, physical therapy, psychological support and education.

Celebrities including Justin Bieber, New Kids On The Block, Lady Gaga, Ryan Seacrest and Britney Spears have been tweeting at #showyourhearts and encouraging people to donate and to change their profile pictures to the image below.

According to the website, Show Your Hearts will facilitate the efforts of all people who want to come to these children's aid and support them in this time of need.

Donations will be made directly to the Joshua and Robin Berry Children's Trust.  Learn how you can help by visiting the website: www.showyourhearts.org.

 

 

Jerry Meals, Donovan McNabb and an unusual cup trick

Good morning!

We begin with the worst call ever.   That's what many fans tweeted overnight as a 19 inning affair between the Pirates and the Braves ended with a controversial call at the plate.   Scott Proctor hit a grounder to third baseman Pedro Alvarez, and Julio Lugo dashed for home.  Alvarez's throw to catcher Michael McKenry easily beat Lugo to the plate – by like six feet.  Lugo tried to avoid McKenry's tag with a pop-up slide. Replays indicated McKenry made the tag, but home plate umpire Jerry Meals called Lugo safe.  The Braves won 4-3.

Almost immediately Twitter exploded and Meals became the hottest Trend:

@rrothfeldt: Just saw the #pirates #braves replay. Jerry Meals needs to be fired. That call was beyond awful. #MLB

@howaboutafresca: Craziest thing about the Jerry Meals call is he's in perfect position to get it right...

@trettbang: Jerry Meals is the new sousaphone player in my band The Human Element

@johnqpubliq: That game-ending bad call at the plate by ump Jerry Meals is an instant SW Airlines "Wannagetaway?" ad.

You can watch the video of the play here. You can see a photo here. And a better one here.

Hey, maybe Meals was just tired and wanted to go home.  The game ended at 1:50 a.m., and at 6 hours, 39 minutes, it was the longest by time for both teams and matched the longest in the Bigs this year.

Meals will be back on the field today as the third base umpire, right in front of the Pirates dugout.  That should go over well.

Donovan McNabb appears headed for Minnesota.   ESPN reports the Washington Redskins have agreed to trade McNabb, who is coming off arguably his worst season ever.    The 35-year-old All-Pro was benched near the end of the season in favor of journeyman Rex Grossman.    The Redskins acquired McNabb in 2010 for a couple of draft picks from the Eagles, and then signed McNabb to a gaudy $78-million dollar contract extension.  The deal with the Vikings is contingent on restructuring that deal.  

Keeping with the sports theme, check out this viral video on YouTube… 9-year-old Jayden makes a spectacular, big league worthy catch in the outfield….

 

With the release of Captain America and after the close of Comic-Con last week, superhero related searches are spiking across Yahoo!. Among the many superhero searches spiking : “how to make a super hero cape,” “batman cake,” “green lantern birthday cake,” “superman quotes” and “superhero party ideas.” The fun is to be had by all, even adults, who are searching for “superman checks.”

Not sure why, but searches for “homemade dog food recipes” are also spiking 62% on Yahoo! as owners look to give their best to their dogs. Also spiking this week on Yahoo!: “homemade dog treats,” “homemade dog biscuits,” “homemade dog shampoo,” and even “homemade dog uniforms.”

Also trending on YouTube is Picanto nail art animation, which was posted about a month ago.   It shows how the commercial for KIA was made.  It required 25 days and 1,200 bottles of nail polish.

 

And a video of a cafeteria cup trick from last fall went mostly unnoticed until yesterday when it suddenly went viral…  I'm still not sure how he does it.

 

Finally, out of Seattle comes the heart-wrenching story of Rachel Beckwith that we first posted yesterday.  She told people that instead of giving her presents for her 9th birthday last month, they should donate to a charity providing clean water to families in developing nations.   She raised a couple of hundred dollars…  And then a week or so ago, Rachel died in a car crash….   As word of her death and her birthday wish spread on a Facebook and Twitter, it sparked an outpouring of giving on her fundraising page for "charity: water. "  Her campaign has now raised over $348,000.... more than $100,000 in the last day alone. http://www.mycharitywater.org/p/campaign?campaign_id=16396

That's the trend!

Have a great day,

Bob

Little girl's death inspires a wealth of giving

 

 

A young girl's death has inspired a remarkable trend of giving.

For her 9th birthday last month, Rachel Beckwith told people that instead of giving her presents, they should donate to a charity providing clean water to families in developing nations. 

She wrote: "On June 12th 2011, I'm turning 9. I found out that millions of people don't live to see their 5th birthday. And why? Because they didn't have access to clean, safe water so I'm celebrating my birthday like never before," her fundraising page says. "I'm asking from everyone I know to donate to my campaign instead of gifts for my birthday."

Beckwith raised $220, which was $300 short of her goal, but she planned to keep raising money. 

Then came a multi-vehicle accident last week in Bellevue, Washington… Beckwith was killed, but her dream lives on.

As word of accident spread on Facebook and Twitter, so did news about Rachel's fundraising wish.

Her online fundraising page for the nonprofit group "charity: water" has landed more than $200,000 in donations and it's still going.

Rachel chose to help charity: water, a nonprofit group, after its founder spoke at her church, Eastlake Community Church in Bothell.   The charity funds water projects around the globe, helping more than 1 million people in 16 countries, mostly in Africa and Asia.

Here is the original story from KOMO:

 

 

Mariah Carey's sales pitch

 

The viral video of the day features Mariah Carey on HSN this past Sunday.   Her bizarre two-hour live sales pitch is shrunk into a couple of minutes in this video posted by Gawker.   She talks about everything from her difficult pregnancy (she had twins last April) to her nails, and even barks orders at the camera crew.

 

 

 

The debt crisis, Doug and the Old Spice challenge

Good morning!

The debt crisis is back on the top of the trends following partisan speeches by President Obama and House Speaker John Boehner on the need for compromise to avoid the looming apocalypse. 

After the president appealed to the American people to contact their lawmakers and press for a compromise, numerous Congressional and Senate websites went down.  Among them, Rep. Charlie Rangel, Rep. Elliot Engel, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Sen. Mike Crapo, Sen. Jim DeMint and Speaker Boehner.

People also took to Google to search for Congress, Obama speech, White House and John Boehner in large numbers, perhaps in hopes of figuring out a way to get Washington to search and find a solution before the U.S. government joins the many in America who are short on cash with too many bills.

The whole mess makes me want to go back to the 90s…  and it appears much of the country is thinking the same way as #doug and Doug are hot trends on Twitter and Google.   Nickelodeon began running  a two-hour block of programming called "The 90s Are All That" featuring shows, like Doug, that raised so many people now entering the workforce.  Doug is a cartoon about Doug Funnie and his best friend Skeeter and their adventures in the fictional town of Bluffington.  The show was originally on Nickelodeon then switched to Disney, ran for a total of 116 episodes and even spawned one movie.

Searches are up in response to the death of the tormented singer, Amy Winehouse. Searches for the "27 club" are spiking off the charts this week on Yahoo! as folks remember rockers and musicians who passed at the age of 27, including Kurt Cobain, Jimi Hendrix, and Janis Joplin. According to Yahoo!, 57% of searches for Amy Winehouse are by women, while California, Texas, Massachusetts, New York and Florida round out the top states searching for her.

Lauryn Hill has given birth to a baby boy, according to a message posted on her official web site. The singer did not release her sixth child's name.

14-time Olympic gold medal winner Michael Phelps is up in the trends after his rocky season took another turn for the worse on Tuesday…  He was stunned in the world championships' 200m freestyle by US team-mate Ryan Lochte.

Old Spice is getting its money's worth with its new true Old Spice Guy campaign.  Two of the most shared videos on YouTube are Fabio throwing down the gauntlet...

 

Hours later, wide receiver Isaiah Mustafa responding accepted the challenge...

 

Not exactly sure what the two will be doing, but you can follow the action at http://www.youtube.com/user/OldSpice?blend=1&ob=5

Also starting to move in the YouTube trend is a golf cart planking accident.   The poster never says how badly this person was injured, but it is another example of why planking can be a very bad idea.

 

Finally, a video from a little girl singing a song that might provide some inspiration for those in Washington…

 

That's the trend!

Have a great day,

Bob

Kardashian, Kunis and krazy soccer shots

 

Celebrity news tops the trends this morning.  Kim Kardashian is a hot talker after she was diagnosed with psoriasis.

The diagnosis was revealed on the latest Keeping Up with the Kardashian episode.   The skin disease affects millions of people and is generally harmless.  She wrote in her blog, I head to the dermatologist after I discover a weird rash on my legs. Khloe freaks me out saying it’s ringworm, but it turns out I have psoriasis!! My mom has had psoriasis for years, so it’s good that I can talk to her about it.

Mila Kunis wants the world to know that's not her butt in the movie Friends With Benefits.  Starring in the romantic comedy with Justin Timberlake, Mila admitted to Ryan Seacrest that they hired a butt double for her nude scene. 

The 27-year-old actress said that she just wasn’t ready to show off her butt on film.

Actress Kristin Cavallari is back on the market just two months after announcing her engagement to Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler.   According to reports, Cutler got cold feet and called the whole thing off.

With the NFL lockout nearing an end, Brett Favre's lockout -- I mean retirement -- may be ending too.  He is trending over a rumor sparked by Philadelphia radio personality Howard Eskin's tweet that the Eagles have some interest in Favre once they trade Kolb.  Favre would be reunited with Andy Reid, who was his quarterback coach in Green Bay.   For the record, the Eagles say they have no interest. 

Soccer is often a hot trend with some amazing shots.  Mario Balotelli of Manchester City is trending because of a "showboat" back heal shot that failed in preseason against LA Galaxy.  Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini was so angry that he substituted Super Mario seconds later.

 

In another bizarre soccer highlight and one of the most watched on YouTube this weekend, Arsenal's Carl Jenkinson put the ball past his own goalkeeper just before halftime of Saturday's match against FC Cologne.

 

Attempts to cool off from the absurdly hot weather produced an unusual video of a bulldog named Gus.  Its owners put out a kiddie pool for their two pitbulls.  Gus appeared to like the pool, but not the outdoor heat… so the dog tried to bring the pool inside.

 

Then there's the video of two kids fighting because she wants to marry him.  He's putting up quite a fight, so my guess is they will get married in about ten-plus years and live happily ever after.

 

That's the trend!

Have a great day,

Bob

A FAN-tastic play

It's probably the play of the week in Major League Baseball featuring a young fan named Ian at Chase Field for a game between the Diamondbacks and the Brewers.