CONNECT SELECT WEEKEND EDITION a Wide Selection of Interesting and Trending Stories – Rip ‘Em, Read ‘Em and Post ‘Em! FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26Th, 2021
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CONNECT SELECT WEEKEND EDITION A wide selection of interesting and trending stories – rip ‘em, read ‘em and post ‘em! FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26th, 2021 TODAY IS… NATIONAL PISTACHIO DAY – DID YOU KNOW?…Pistachio shells are naturally beige. The green and reds ones are just dyed with food coloring. PISTACHIO FUN FACTS: California produces almost all of America’s pistachio crop - about 300 million pounds each year. The shells naturally split when the nuts are ripe, so don’t bother breaking a tooth on the closed ones. NATIONAL ‘FOR PETE’S SAKE’ DAY – This has absolutely nothing to do with ‘Pete’. Instead it’s all about replacing an offensive word or phrase with something else: like ‘For Crying out loud!’ or ‘Dang!’ NATIONAL TELL-A-FAIRY-TALE DAY – Back in the 16th century, Fairy Tales weren’t cute little stories with a happy ending. Their sole purpose was to scare the crap out of little kids so they’d behave. For example, in the original version of Cinderella, her toes were cut off so they’d fit into the slipper! But over time, the stories became more magical, and now everyone ‘lives happily ever after’. SKIP-THE-STRAW DAY (4th Friday in February) – The world has a major plastic straw problem, and if you think skipping just one day won’t make a difference, consider this: Americans use half a BILLION plastic drinking straws every day! SATURDAY IS… NATIONAL RETRO DAY – Whether you’re just ditching your phone for the day or going full-80s with some ‘Hammer pants’ and a ‘side pony’, dust off your favorite ‘throwback’ and bask in an era long forgotten. CLICK HERE FOR THE VERY RETRO-SOUNDING ‘AXEL F’ BY HAROLD FALTERMEYER NATIONAL KAHLUA DAY – Celebrating the creamy rum-coffee liqueur that even your lightweight mother doesn’t mind chugging. Kahlua was invented in 1936 and is the basis for the Mud Slide, White Russian, B-52 and other delicious cocktails you’d be embarrassed to be caught drinking. ANOSMIA AWARENESS DAY – Thanks to COVID, most of us know what this is. Anosmia (ah-NOZ-me-ah) is the medical term for the loss of smell. It’s most commonly caused by upper respiratory infections (like COVID) and in some cases can be permanent. NATIONAL POLAR BEAR DAY – Celebrating the cuddly-looking arctic bear that won’t think twice about ripping you in half. Polar bears can grow to be 9-feet-tall, weigh half as much as a car and have been known to swim hundreds of miles just to find food. The species is threatened by melting arctic ice and loss of their natural habitat. SUNDAY IS… NATIONAL PUBLIC SLEEPING DAY – Whether it’s on a bus or in the park, today is the one day where falling asleep in clear view of strangers is actually acceptable. So go ahead and take a nap! Just try not to do it at work. HERE’S THE SOUND OF SOMEONE SNORING NATIONAL TOOTH FAIRY DAY – The Tooth Fairy’s gotta work every single day - even holidays! So today we give a shout-out to the little winged pixie with a pocket full of quarters and a weird night-time obsession with loose teeth. BIRTHDAYS: FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26: NATE REUSS, 39 – Musician. Lead vocalist for the band Fun. He scored a #1 hit in 2013 with his duet with P!nk, “Just Give Me a Reason.” HERE’S A LINK TO FUN’S “CARRY ON” HERE’S A LINK TO “JUST GIVE ME A REASON” ERYKAH BADYU, 50 – Singer. She’s known as the Queen of Neo-Soul and for her jazzy voice and large colorful head wraps. CLICK HERE FOR BADU’S FIRST HIT “BAG LADY” MICHAEL BOLTON, 68 – Singer/songwriter. How many weddings in the 90s had this guy as their first dance? AND THAT HAIR! Did you know…Michael Bolton actually started out in heavy metal bands? He eventually covered other people’s hits to become an R&B superstar. CLICK HERE FOR BOLTON’S “HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO LIVE WITHOUT YOU” MARSHALL FAULK, 48 – NFL Player. Hall of Fame running back for the Colts and the Rams. He was named NFL MVP in 2000. MITCH RYDER, 76 – Musician. The 60’s rocker is best known for this classic hits ‘Devil With a Blue Dress’ and ‘C.C. Rider’ He was a huge influence for guys like Bob Seger, John Mellencamp, and Bruce Springsteen. CLICK HERE FOR RYDER’S “DEVIL WITH A BLUE DRESS” HERE’S A LINK TO ‘C.C. RIDER’ SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 27: JWOWW (Jenny Farley), 36 – Reality star. One of the original cast members of MTV’s “Jersey Shore” and the spin-off “Snooki & JWoww.” Before TV fame she owned a graphic design business. JOSH GROBAN, 40 – Singer/Actor. The multi-platinum artist with the deep voice turns 40! He first got noticed when he filled in for Andrea Bocelli on the Celine Dion duet “The Prayer” at a GRAMMY rehearsal in 1998. He can act too! He recently starred with Tony Danza in the Netflix series “The Good Cop.” CLICK HERE FOR GROBAN’S HIT “YOU RAISE ME UP” ROZONDA “CHILI” THOMAS, 50 – Singer. Best known as one-third of the group TLC, one of the best-selling girl groups of the 90s. TLC sold over 65 million records. Thomas went on to a solo career and also did some acting. CLICK HERE FOR TLC’S “WATERFALLS” NEAL SCHON, 67 – Musician. The Rock and Roll Hall of Famer and lead guitarist and songwriter for the band Journey. He started playing guitar at age 10 and by 17 was playing with Santana. CLICK HERE FOR JOURNEY’S “ANY WAY YOU WANT IT” KATE MARA, 38 – Supermodel. The supermodel with the famous mole was once named one of the top three of VH1’s “Hottest Hotties of the 90s” list. She now has a successful beauty line and is the mother of model Kaia Gerber. SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 28: JASON ALDEAN, 44 – Singer/songwriter. The Country music star has had 22 #1 Country hits and was honored with the ACM Dick Clark Artist of the Decade Award in 2019. CLICK HERE FOR ALDEAN’S HIT “BIG GREEN TRACTOR” PATRICK MONAHAN, 52 – Singer/songwriter. Lead singer and frontman for the band Train. CLICK HERE FOR A LINK TO TRAIN’S “DRIVE BY” JOHN TURTURRO, 64 – Actor. The versatile actor is known for his roles in the films “Barton Fink,” “The Big Lebowski,” “Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?” and “Do the Right Thing.” He’s appeared in more Spike Lee films than any other actor. CINDY WILSON, 64 – Singer. She is one of the founding members of new wave rock band The B-52s. She plays the drums and bongos with the band. CLICK HERE FOR A LINK TO THE B-52s’ HIT “LOVE SHACK” MARIO ANDRETTI, 81 – Race car driver. Considered one of the best race car drivers of all time. He’s the only driver ever to win the Indy 500, Daytona 500, and the Formula One World Championship. He’s also what old people call you when you pull out of the drive way too fast (WHAO there, Mario Andretti!) CLICK HERE FOR CAR RACING SOUND EFFECTS BERNADETTE PETERS, 73 – Actress. She’s a star of stage and screen and is well- known for her TV roles in “The Good Fight” and “Smash” and her Broadway roles in “Sunday in the Park with George,” “Into the Woods,” and “Hello, Dolly!” She’s recorded six solo albums and has authored a children’s book. TRENDING/ODD SOMEONE SHOT LADY GAGA’S DOG WALKER, STOLE TWO OF HER DOGS (00:28) Lady Gaga is offering a half-million dollar reward to get her stolen dogs back. Two guys jumped out of a car near Gaga's Hollywood mansion, shot her dog walker and took off with two of her prized French bulldogs, Koji and Gustavo. The dog walker survived the attack. Gaga wasn't at home; she's shooting a movie in Italy. Stealing fancy French bulldogs, like hers, has become a 'thing' since they can be sold for more than 10 grand a piece on black market. Anyone with info can email [email protected]. MR POTATO HEAD GOES GENDER NEUTRAL (SORTA) (00:20) Look who's getting all 'gender neutral'! Mr Potato Head has dropped the mister. Hasbro is rebranding the 70-year-old toy as just 'Potato Head,' and Twitter is blowing up about it, with one Twitter user asking if Mr Clean and Mr Bubble are getting nervous. Hasbro says it's only the logo that's changing. You'll still be able to buy them in Mr or Mrs packages. (HERE’S A LINK TO AN OLD MR POTATO HEAD COMMERCIAL) NYC STEAKHOUSE GETS WAX FIGURES TO FILL EMPTY SEATS (00:18) Wanna grab a steak with Jimmy Fallon or Audrey Hepburn? The famous Peter Luger steakhouse in Brooklyn has filled its empty seats with wax statues from Madame Tussauds. Restaurants in New York can only fill up to 35 percent capacity, so ‘famous fakes’ like Al Roker and Jon Hamm are filling in the empty the seats. (Just don't try to outdrink Don Draper) AMERICANS ARE GETTING SICK OF PIZZA (00:18) Looks like a year of pandemic ordering has made us sick of pizza! Domino's and Papa John's say sales have gotten soggy in the last few months. Pizza delivery was doing bonkers business for most of 2020. It didn't help that almost a third of all restaurants added delivery, so now pizza's no longer the only option.