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Unless you’re someone who manages to keep a perfectly neat, tidy and sparklingly clean home every minute of every day, you’re probably familiar with the mad-dash-to-clean-before-company-arrives. You know, when you start shoving random piles of things into drawers and closets and bedrooms, simultaneously dusting and vacuuming while yelling, “OMG, WE LIVE IN A PIG STY! DOES ANYONE EVER CLEAN THIS HOUSE?!?”

If that drill sounds familiar, wait til you see this parody video from online creators Micah and Sarah Wallace.

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Micah shared a reenactment of his wife greeting guests at the door and “apologizing” for the state of their objectively clean house, claiming it’s “a little messier than usual” and that they “have just not gotten around to cleaning it.”

Lies. All lies, as evidenced by his reenactment of his wife 10 minutes before those guests arrived. That you just have to see.

Watch:

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A post shared by Micah and Sarah Wallace (@micahandsarahhh)

“WE NEED TO SET UNREALISTIC EXPECTATIONS OF HOW WE LIVE!”

Feel that one? Yep.

“There should be NO TRASH in the TRASH CAN! I want them questioning if the bin is even real!!!”

Umm, ouch.

It’s exaggerated for comedic effect, but it’s actually not that far off of how many people panic imagining all of the imperfections someone might possibly judge them for when they come over and frantically clean accordingly.

“I DON’T APPRECIATE THIS ACCURATE IMPERSONATION OF MY HUSBAND’S WIFE!”

“Bro you took me out running the vacuum on the ceiling because it’s literally what I feel like I had to do‼️🤦🏾♂️😂😂😂🫠”

“The quick mental break sitting on the toilet and staring into space just makes this a relatability masterpiece.”

“‘There should be no trash in the trash can!!’ 😂😂 I feel attacked!”

“She’s 1000% correct bc why is there Trash in the Trash can 🫣🤯🤯 Thats Honestly a serious violation in “Guests are coming Over 101” in my House 😂😂”

Some commenters added things he left out, many of which had to do with what the husband would be doing during the frantic clean-up.

“Forgot the part where you pretend to be a guest.. you go outside and come in the front door to make sure everything looks good!”

“You forgot to light the scented candles and make sure the wall flowers are full.”

“Now make one where the wife needs assistance making the house presentable and the husband does some nonsensical unrelated chore like cleaning out the gutters.”

“Meanwhile the husband is doing something completely useless like using the leaf blower on the roof 🤣”

“Every single time when we expected guests my husband do some nonsense stuff…like organizing his screwdrivers or something like this.”

Some shared that guests coming over is the only thing that gets them to clean the house.

“Guest coming over is my biggest motivation for clean up the house within a day😎”

“Yes!!, for normal days, it feels like why the housework got no ending…
Before the guest coming over, oh so it’s possible to clean the whole house 😂”

“I only invite guests to finally be able to enjoy my clean home 😂”

“I invite friends so I clean the house 🤣🤣🤣🤣”

There’s nothing wrong with wanting to provide guests with some nice, clean home hospitality, but there’s also nothing wrong with letting people see that you actually live in your home. Micah and Sarah clearly hit a nerve with this one. You can follow them for more comedy on Instagram.

Romantic stories often involve people searching for “the one” or their “soulmate” who they fall in love with at first sight because their relationship was just “meant to be.” From a young age, we are sold the idea that the name of the person we’re destined to marry is “written in the stars” and that all we have to do is keep our eyes open and one day, they’ll cross our path.

Then, the only thing left to do is live happily ever after.

However, those who are skeptical about soulmates believe that relationships require work. These people think nothing is meant to be without hard work, couples therapy, and a little luck; even Cinderella and Prince Charming shouldn’t depend on living happily ever after.

So, the question remains: Which relationships end up being more successful? Couples who believe they were “destined” to be together or those who think that “love grows with effort”? Researchers recently studied the topic and published the results in the European Journal of Personality.

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“In the case of the present study, our interest was sparked by the robust research finding that, on average, relationship satisfaction declines over time, meaning that for most couples, it gets worse – however, there are always exceptions who manage to maintain or even increase their relationship satisfaction,” Fabian Ganer, a research associate at the University of Basel, said according to Psy Post.

First, the researchers studied a sample of 904 couples who live in Germany, Switzerland and Austria, examining “whether destiny and growth beliefs predict current levels and trajectories of relationship satisfaction across 2 years.” Participants with a “destiny” mindset agreed that a “successful relationship is mostly a matter of finding a compatible partner.” Those with growth beliefs preferred statements such as a “successful relationship is mostly a matter of learning to resolve conflicts with a partner.”

The study’s foundation was the idea that relationship satisfaction declines over time. So, which couples would be happier? Those with a “destiny” or growth mindset?

The initial study found that those who believed they were “meant to be” were happier during the first 2 years of their relationships, and those with a “growth belief” were less satisfied during the same time frame.

However, over time, things change.

“Our results suggested that those with higher destiny beliefs were more satisfied with their relationship at the beginning of the study. Over time, relationship satisfaction decreased on average. However, this decline was weaker for those with stronger growth beliefs,” Gander told The European Journal of Personality blog. The study also found that happier couples were more likely to develop stronger growth beliefs, creating a virtuous cycle that strengthened the relationship.

Ultimately, the study shows that a couple’s perception can help determine their relationship’s success. Relationships tend to become less satisfying over time, so the key is understanding that, much like a garden, they need tending to grow. Sadly, those who believe they are destined to be happy are likelier to follow the path of least resistance, leading to gradual dissatisfaction.

“However, for those who consider ‘love to grow with effort,’ relationship satisfaction goes down less strongly over time and they have better future expectations for their relationship,” Gander told The European Journal of Personality blog.

The USA Basketball men’s team made its way to Las Vegas this week as part of its preparations for the Summer Olympics in Paris. As is tradition when the senior side is out there, a number of younger players get to go as part of the Select Team, and there are famous stories of that squad taking it to the Olympic team in the past.

This time around, much was made of one particular addition to the Select Team: Cooper Flagg, the 17-year-old incoming college freshman who is headed to Duke and is the first college player to get an invitation since 2013. Flagg, who is the favorite to go No. 1 overall in the 2025 NBA Draft, has earned praise during his stint in Vegas, and on Monday, he turned heads during the scrimmage between the two teams, as Ben Golliver of the Washington Post tweeted out a collection of his highlights during the game that made him look like much more than a talented teenager who has yet to play college ball.

At one point in the scrimmage, Flagg pulled up for a three over Anthony Davis and knocked it down, got back on defense, and after a turnover, ran the floor for a putback with no one near him.

Ultimately, the senior team picked up a 74-73 win, but Flagg received some awfully high praise after the game ended.

The No. 1 recruit in the class of 2025, Flagg is a Maine native who attended Montverde Academy and is the headliner of Duke’s top-ranked recruiting class.

Warning: Spoilers for this week’s episode of House of the Dragon below.

Many people would like to think that they have a “ride or die” type friendship a la the duo in Bad Boys or Shrek and Donkey from Shrek, but few actually follow through with the whole “die” part. That is until Rhaenys Targaryen upped the standards for everyone.

In the latest episode of House of the Dragon, tensions are rising, which means death is right around the corner for some more than others. In the episode, Rhaenys steps up to the first real dragon battle, which actress Eve Best knew would be the end for her iconic character.

“Somebody had to plunge in, and somebody had to press the red button, and start the nuclear war, effectively,” Best said on the Official Game of Thrones Podcast. That somebody was her in Sunday’s episode as she and her dragon Meleys succumbed to their death in order to help defend Rook’s Rest.

Best called the ordeal a “kamikaze mission” because she knew Rhaenys would not survive. She added, “It became like her final piece of wisdom, like her final gift to Rhaenyra, which is, you know, this is how you are a good leader, this is the way.” Now it’s time for Rhaenyra to step it up!

She added, “She’s just looking after everybody in the room. She’s looking after Rhaenyra. It’s her last piece of wisdom for Rhaenyra.” Suddenly…The Queen Who Never Was became..the queen who sure did that!

(Via People)

LeVar Burton is probably best known—and loved—for his role as the host of the children’s television series “Reading Rainbow.” But his career as an actor has spanned a full 47 years, from his debut role as enslaved African Kunta Kinte in the mini-series “Roots” to his ongoing role of Geordi La Forge in the Star Trek spin-offs.

Now, he’s playing another iconic role—a fictional version of himself.

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In the FX mini-series “Clipped,” Burton plays himself as a friend and confidant of former LA Clippers coach Doc Rivers, played by Laurence Fishburne. In a scene in the series finale, Burton and Rivers have a one-on-one conversation in which Burton shares that he has the chains he wore in “Roots” hanging above his 12 Emmys over the hearth in his living room—a real-life fact that he confirmed on social media after the episode aired.

“America first met me as Kunta Kinte, a young African kid who was kidnapped, tortured, refused his slave name,” he told Rivers in the scene. “Then I read to their children and maintained the integrity of their favorite spaceship. Pretty soon, people began to think of me as…safe.”

“Oh, the safest,” agreed Rivers.

Burton then explained how he read the famous children’s book, “Go the F**k to Sleep” for charity and lost one of his brand partners over it—a consequence of stepping out of line with expectations of him.

“If I showed how angry I really am?” Burton pondered. “But I’m not going to hide it. So I keep my chains on the wall in my living room. I want my guests to know, while I am unquestionably their friend, I am also absolutely filled with rage.”

Watch:

Levar Burton on reminding people that he’s quietly one of the realest 🥷🏾’s breathing pic.twitter.com/uHXVtgOo2Y

— Naima Cochrane (@naima) July 5, 2024

According to an interview with “Clipped” creator Gina Welch in Vulture, Burton and Doc Rivers are not actually friends in real life, but Burton and Fishburne are, and this conversation is reflective of their real-life conversations about race they’ve had in the sauna.

At first, Fishburne didn’t think Burton would be on board with playing the role. “Clipped” deals with the downfall of former Clippers owner Donald Sterling, who was caught on tape making racist remarks. “The kinds of things we’re talking about in the show are really not part of his [Burton’s] public persona,” said Fishburne, according to Welch. Burton agreed to be part of the production on one condition.

“The conversations really changed once LeVar agreed to do the show,” Welch explained. “He was great. He read the scripts very quickly and called me, and then we met and his caveat was, ‘I’ll do the show as long as I can talk about my rage.’ I was like, ‘Welcome to the party.'”

When most people think of LeVar Burton, “rage” isn’t usually the first word that comes to mind, which is part of what makes this clip so powerful. As writer and civil rights activist James Baldwin famously said in 1961, “To be a Negro in this country and to be relatively conscious is to be in a state of rage almost, almost all of the time.”

Baldwin’s full quote offers even more context:

“To be a Negro in this country and to be relatively conscious is to be in a state of rage almost, almost all of the time — and in one’s work. And part of the rage is this: It isn’t only what is happening to you. But it’s what’s happening all around you and all of the time in the face of the most extraordinary and criminal indifference, indifference of most white people in this country, and their ignorance. Now, since this is so, it’s a great temptation to simplify the issues under the illusion that if you simplify them enough, people will recognize them. I think this illusion is very dangerous because, in fact, it isn’t the way it works. A complex thing can’t be made simple. You simply have to try to deal with it in all its complexity and hope to get that complexity across.”

Hopefully, hearing that one America’s “safest,” most wholesome and most beloved Black celebrities experience the inner rage that racism engenders will help get that complexity across to more people who can benefit from hearing it.

These mustached Canadians decided to treat older shelter cats like used cars.

Why?

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Because in a world where around 8 million pets enter shelters and only around 4 million get out, that’s a lot of sad math.

In an attempt to stop that sad math, the kind folks from the Calgary Humane Society got creative.

The fastest domestic cat running speed appears to be 29.8 mph. This salesman knows his product!

They got weird.

They discovered some very adept cat performers.

Call Hollywood!

They pulled out all the stops to help future cat owners realize that pre-owned cats are the way to go!

And in addition to the commercial, the cats were priced to go on a very special Saturday.

Kittens are popular. There’s no way around it. They’re kittens! I used to be kitten-crazy (I was a child!), but I’ve adopted older cats and so have my friends. They’re special. They’re cute. They’re soulful. And instead of adorably biting your fingers until they grow up past kittenhood, older cats chill out on your couch and teach you about relaxing.

I’m sharing this because it might save a pre-owned cat.

We missed the Big Sale Saturday (but let’s be real, pre-owned cats are always priced to go), but the love for pre-owned cats continues. And this commercial, well … it’s timeless.

And worth a watch below:

This article originally appeared on 08.29.15

In addition to being the star of Marvel franchise “Thor,” actor Chris Hemsworth is also a father-of-three? And it turns out, he’s pretty much the coolest dad ever.

In a clip from a 2015 interview on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” Hemsworth shared an interesting conversation he had with his 4-year-old daughter India.

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“My daughter’s kind of envious of my boys,” Hemsworth told Ellen. “She came to me the other day, and she’s like ‘You know, Papa, I want one of those things that Sasha and Tristan have.’ And I’m like, ‘What do you mean?’ She said, ‘You know the things in between their legs that you have.'”

Hemsworth said he tried to explain the differences between male and female bodies, but his daughter wasn’t having it.

“She goes, ‘I really want one!’ Hemsworth said. “I’m like, ‘A penis?’ And she’s like, ‘I want a penis!’

And then, Hemsworth had the best possible response. He recalls:

She’s four and I’m like, ‘You know what, you can be whatever you want to be.’ And she goes, ‘Thanks, Dad.’ Runs off into the playground and that was it.

And then, I cannot confirm, but I’m pretty sure the Ellen audience did this:

Major kudos to Hemsworth for taking a potentially awkward parenting situation and turning it into a lesson about love and acceptance.

You can watch the full clip here:

This article originally appeared on 08.27.18

Eminem and Cole Bennett’s productive working relationship continues to bear fruit, four months after the release of their latest video, “Doomsday 2.” They return to the drawing board for a new concept for the “Tobey” video, reminiscent of featured rapper BabyTron‘s “100 Bars.” Just like in that video, Bennett produces duplicates of Eminem, BabyTron, and Big Sean that each rap a line from their respective verses while they scroll through various tableaus, from a busy packing plant to the bloody, brutal murder scene from the teaser Em shared ahead of the single’s release.

“Tobey” will presumably appear on Em’s upcoming album, The Death Of Slim Shady (Coup De Grâce). First announced in April after a “shady” pump fake for April Fools’ Day, Eminem’s twelfth studio album seems to be a return to form after the more political leanings of prior recent projects like Kamikaze and Revival. At the very least, it teases a return to the tongue-in-cheek, comedic material he created early in his career, judging by the video and lyrical content of lead single “Houdini.” Even so, he still finds time on “Tobey” to do a little more Music To Be Murdered By-style grousing about his placement on a recent “best rappers” list.

Watch Eminem’s “Tobey” video featuring Big Sean and BabyTron above.

A lot of people slept on Doctor Sleep, and without any context, that sounds like a good thing. But it’s not. The sequel to The Shining expanded the Stephen King universe beyond what Stanley Kubrick brought to the screen in 1980. Ewan McGregor starred as the now-grown Danny, who is still coming to terms with his traumatic childhood and psychic powers after that catastrophic ending which turned his dad Jack (Jack Nicholson) into a glorified ice pop.

While Doctor Sleep wasn’t a blockbuster hit (why would a horror film hit theaters in November after everyone is all spooked out?!), the movie has received more favorable reviews in the years since. Probably because people are just now recognizing the genius of Rebecca Ferguson, or maybe it’s because two-plus hour movies have become the norm again.

This week, director Mike Flanagan reacted to The Hollywood Reporter‘s list that ranked Doctor Sleep as one of the best sequels of the last 20 years. He seems vindicated.

On X, The Haunting of Hill House creator posted, “After a disappointing opening weekend at the box office, @StephenKing predicted time would be kind to DOCTOR SLEEP and I love that it continues to find and build its audience half a decade later. This movie is close to my heart.”

Right before the film’s premiere in 2019, King was hard at work praising Flanagan and the film (while throwing a slight dig at Kubrick). “Mike Flanagan, I’ve enjoyed all his movies, and I’ve worked with him before on Gerald’s Game,” he told EW. “So, I read the script very, very carefully and I said to myself, ‘Everything that I ever disliked about the Kubrick version of The Shining is redeemed for me here.’”

Flanagan and King are teaming up once again for another film, this time based on King’s novella The Life of Chuck, starring Tom Hiddleston.

Jay Johnston, an actor and comedian best known for starring on Mr. Show and voicing Jimmy Pesto Sr. on Bob’s Burgers, pleaded guilty for his involvement during the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. He faces up to five years in prison on a charge of obstructing officers during a civil disorder.

“Video footage captured Johnston pushing against police and helping rioters who attacked officers guarding an entrance to the Capitol in a tunnel,” according to The Hollywood Reporter. Johnston was also reportedly filmed holding a “stolen” police shield, which he passed to other rioters.

Three current or former associates of Johnston identified him as a riot suspect from photos that the FBI published online, according to the agent. The FBI said one of those associates provided investigators with a text message in which Johnston acknowledged being at the Capitol on Jan. 6. “The news has presented it as an attack. It actually wasn’t. Thought it kind of turned into that. It was a mess. Got maced and tear gassed and I found it quite untastic,” Johnston wrote.

Johnston hasn’t voiced Jimmy Pesto Sr. since season 11’s “Bridge Over Troubled Rudy,” back in 2021. He was replaced by Eric Bauza, who also voices Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and about 900 other cartoon characters.

A judge will hand Johnston his sentence on October 7.

(Via The Hollywood Reporter)