CONNECT SELECT A wide selection of interesting and trending stories – rip ‘em, read ‘em and post ‘em! WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2020 TODAY IS… FESTIVUS – ‘A Festivus for the rest of us!’ The holiday made famous by ‘Seinfeld’ actually existed before the show. Daniel O’Keefe wrote the episode based on a holiday invented by his dad as a way of ‘airing family grievances’. In the show, they displayed an aluminum Festivus pole (like a Christmas tree), but in real life, the O’Keefe family put a clock in a bag and nailed it to the wall. Dinner is followed by the ‘Feats of Strength,’ which involves wrestling the head of the household. Festivus isn’t over until someone ‘pins’ them. o HERE’S A LINK TO ‘THE STORY OF FESTIVUS’ FROM SEINFELD NATIONAL PFEFFERNUSSE DAY – PRONOUNCED: FEFF-er-noose. Good luck pronouncing it! They’re German spiced cookies that are kinda like soft, frosted gingerbread and only baked during the holidays. What’s the German word for ‘freakin delicious’? o HERE’S A PFEFFERNUSSE RECIPE (IF YOU KNOW WHAT’S GOOD FOR YA!) NATIONAL ROOTS DAY – Encouraging all of us to dig into our family histories. Maybe you descend from Royalty. Or came from Vikings. Who knows until you start sniffing around. It’s also a good way to know what to expect when you get older (maybe your great-grandma had a mustache, too). BIRTHDAYS: EDDIE VEDDER, 56 – Musician. Pearl Jam frontman and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer. He was voted one of the top-10 lead vocalists of all-time in a Rolling Stone readers’ poll. Before rock star fame, Vedder worked as a hotel security guard. o HERE’S A LINK TO PEARL JAM’S “JEREMY” FINN WOLFHARD, 18 – Actor. He plays ‘Mike Wheeler’ on the super-popular Netflix series “Stanger Things.” He also starred as Ritchie in the “IT” and IT 2” films. Last year, Wolfhard became the new face of Yves Saint Laurent's Fall/Winter 2019 Campaign. o HERE’S A LINK TO MIKE WHEELER SCENES FROM “STRANGER THINGS” SUSAN LUCCI (loo-chee), 74 – Actress. Known as the ‘Queen of daytime drama’, she played ‘Erica Kane’ on “All My Children” for 41 years. In 1999, Lucci finally won a Lead Actress Daytime Emmy Award after 19 nominations. She famously spoofed herself on SNL and the sitcom “Hot in Cleveland.” o HERE’S A LINK TO SOME OF ERICA KANE’S MOST MEMORABLE MOMENTS HOLLY MADISON, 41 – Model/Reality Star. She was ‘just the girl next door’ who shacked up with Hugh Hefner and Kendra Wilkinson. The former Playboy bunny worked as a Hooters waitress and as a Hawaiian Tropics model before life at the Playboy mansion. She later wrote about her life in the mansion in a book called “Down the Rabbit Hole.” o HERE’S A CLIP FROM AN INTERVIEW MADISON DID ON HER BOOK TOUR NAKED COWBOY, 50 – New York Street Performer. It’s the big 5-0 for Robert Burck, also known as Times Square’s “Naked Cowboy.” For 22 years, he’s been playing guitar wearing only cowboy boots, a hat, and some tighty-whities. His guitar is strategically placed over his briefs so people think he’s naked. His job is way better in the summertime. o HERE’S A VIDEO OF “THE NAKED COWBOY” TRENDING/ODD: FLORIDA IS UNDER A ‘FALLING IGUANA’ ALERT (00:22) Parts of South Florida are under a frost advisory, which can only mean one thing: it's gonna be raining iguanas! This sorta thing happens at least once every winter. The iguana's like to sleep in trees, and when it gets cold enough, they kinda freeze and plop to the ground. They're fine once it warms up. Last year, falling iguana's caused dented cars and even a few injuries to people. DOES CHICK-FIL-A SAUCE SPONTANEOUSLY EXPLODE? (00:19) Is Chick-Fil-A's Polynesian sauce suddenly exploding? A Reddit post has uncovered a weird phenomenon that has packages of the popular sauce just busting open on their own. Even a Chick- fil-A employee says they've found exploded packages in cases of the sauce. But it's not like anyone's ever gotten hurt from it...maybe just a little messy. FLAT BACK CHRISTMAS TREES ARE NOW A ‘THING’ (00:25) Having a flat backside might be a Kardashian's worst nightmare, but it's also the newest Christmas tree trend. Someone really smart has finally invented a Flat-back Christmas tree that is perfect for people who don't have a ton of space. The new fake-trees can be put in a corner or against a wall, giving the illusion of a full tree. But if you think buying half a tree is cheaper, think again. The trees cost about 200 bucks at Target and Home Depot. COVID HAS NOW MADE IT TO ANTARCTICA (00:18) COVID has now reached one of the most isolated places on Earth; the virus somehow made it on to Antarctica, where it's infected at least 36 people stationed at a research base near the South Pole. All of them were airlifted outta there and brought to a military hospital. Until now, Antarctica was the last continent without COVID… (or Tiger King). LOOSE CHEETAH WAS ACTUALLY A STUFFED ANIMAL (00:21) Put away the tranquilizer darts! A report of a cheetah on the loose in Oregon didn't turn out to be a cheetah - well, it wasn't a 'live' one, at least. Someone called the cops to report a big cat on the loose in the woods near the Zoo. They said it didn't appear to be aggressive, and they were right, because after searching for 2 hours it turned out to be just a stuffed animal. XMAS HANKY PANKY? NOW IS NOT THE TIME FOR SEX (00:27) If you're wondering why your lady is giving you the 'cold shoulder', new research says: blame Christmas. Researchers used data from a women's health app to understand exactly when people do "it". And it turns out those three days leading up to Christmas are when most women don't want any! For single gals, it may be because they're home with their parents. Just be patient: the research suggests things pick up again by New Year's, including 'getting lucky' at the stroke of midnight. LAW & DISORDER WOMAN BLAMES DOG FOR DRUNK DRIVING (00:21) When a woman in Canada was busted for drunk driving, she gave cops the kind of excuse you'd only expect a drunk person to give: she said her dog did it. She claims her black lab was the one who drove her car into the ditch, and that she was just along for the ride. The cops say her story sounded fishy, and her breath: more like vermouth, so they arrested her instead of the dog. PASSENGER & TRAVEL COMPANIONS SLIDE OUT OF MOVING PLANE (00:22) A freaky moment at New York's LaGuardia Airport. A passenger on a Delta flight opened the cabin door as the plane was taxiing. The inflatable slide popped open, and he and his female partner and service dog slid out. The two were taken into custody. Prior to the escape, he told the flight attendant he had post-traumatic stress disorder, and now it's likely the rest of the passengers have it too. WEIRD SCIENCE & TECH STUDY: FITNESS TRACKERS & APPS DO WORK (00:22) Those COVID pounds packing on? May wanna put a fitness tracker on your Christmas list. A new study finds wearable trackers and fitness apps do help people move more; over 18-hundred more steps a day. Researchers say it is a small amount, but some is better than none. They add, the self- monitoring and feedback are effective motivators. Sure it works! If you charge and wear the thing! APPLE WORKING ON A SELF-DRIVING CAR (00:18) Sure they make watches, but would you buy a self-driving car by Apple? Sources say the company's goal is to have their own vehicle out by 2024. It's called "Project Titan," and the tech giant is even determined to use its own battery technology. Who would build the cars? Apple would likely partner with a well-known auto maker. YOUR MONEY/SHOPPING VIDEO GAME BUSINESS IS NOW BIGGER THAN MOVIES AND SPORTS COMBINED! (00:20) The pandemic has been great for the video game business. Gaming is now a bigger industry than sports and movies COMBINED! Video game sales jumped 20 percent this year…that's 180-billion dollars, beating out Hollywood's best year ever in 2019. And they think gaming will only get bigger now that everyone's trying to buy the new PlayStation and Xbox. CORONA BEER DOES OK THROUGH PANDEMIC (00:20) In case you were wondering, the Corona beer brand did NOT take a massive hit because of COVID- 19. 2020's in-store sales were about the same compared to 2019. Beer lovers at first may have shied away, but marketing experts say the brand held up well. Corona's new hard seltzers likely helped too. Plus the fact that many were self-medicating with alcohol this year! LIFE/SURVEY SAYS… STUDY: WORST HOLIDAY DRIVERS (00:20) A new study (by Gasbuddy) has ranked Los Angeles as the worst city in America for road-raging holiday drivers. They tracked stuff like aggressive driving, hard braking and speeding. San Diego, Memphis, Dallas and Detroit finished among the worst cities. Atlanta's doing something right.