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CONNECT SELECT WEEKEND EDITION A wide selection of interesting and trending stories – rip ‘em, read ‘em and post ‘em! FRIDAY, MARCH 5th, 2021

TODAY IS…

NATIONAL EMPLOYEE APPRECIATION DAY (first Friday in March) – A thank you note from the boss would be nice. A crisp ‘hundred’ would be nicer. NATIONAL CHEESE DOODLE DAY – Get ready for a whole bunch of orange fingers! The origin of the cheese doodle is debatable, but it’s thought they were born in Wisconsin in the 1930s - I mean, where else would you expect to find an invention so cheesy? NATIONAL MULTIPLE PERSONALITY DAY – Either a day to raise awareness about a truly debilitating disorder, or for looking within to find the ‘true’ you. You can also take a minute to scoff at your two-faced ‘ex’ NATIONAL DRESS IN BLUE DAY (first Friday in March) – You’ll probably see a lot of people wearing something blue today. It’s supposed to raise awareness for colon cancer, one of the deadliest types of cancer. NATIONAL DAY OF UNPLUGGING (first Friday in March) – Encouraging everyone to take a break from technology, electronics and social media (good luck with that!)

SATURDAY IS…

NATIONAL DENTIST DAY – Raise a glass (of mouthwash) to your dentist. Because sticking your head in someone else’s mouth for a living can’t be easy. HERE’S THE SOUND OF A DENTIST’S DRILL NATIONAL OREO COOKIE DAY – The Oreo was born in in 1912. Back then, they came in a glass jar and a pound of them cost a quarter. The design on the face of the cookie is trademarked. DID YOU KNOW…Oreos were made by the National Biscuit Company, which had to change its name because there was already another NBC out there. So they just mushed the words together to make ‘NaBisCo’. HERE’S AN OLD OREO COMMERCIAL JINGLE NATIONAL DRESS DAY – Because sometimes you just don’t wanna wear pants! Ball gowns and evening dresses were invented in the 15th century. Back then they were heavy, hot and made of wool which made dancing in them about as graceful as dragging around a mattress. NATIONAL FROZEN FOOD DAY – Without the invention of the freezer, most of us would starve! Clarence Birdseye patented the ‘flash freezing’ process in 1927. Back then, only 8 percent of American households had a fridge.

SUNDAY IS…

NATIONAL CEREAL DAY – Long before Cap’n Crunch and Frosted Flakes, cereal was a modest invention that started with a hand-cranked oat grinder and a dream. The pieces were so hard to chew they had to be soaked in milk overnight. In 1863, a surgeon named Harvey Kellogg invented granola and then corn flakes. A few years later, Grape-Nuts would become the first product to offer a discount coupon. NATIONAL FLAPJACK DAY – Flapjacks are either another way to say ‘pancake’ or something completely different. Early American settlers ate flapjacks that were made of rolled oats, honey and butter, and baked in an oven. In England they also call them ‘oat bars.’

BIRTHDAYS:

FRIDAY, MARCH 5:

EVA MENDES, 47 – Actress. She first got noticed in films like “Hitch,” “Training Day,” “The Women,” and “2 Fast 2 Furious.” She’s also the lucky woman who gets to go home with Ryan Gosling every night. PENN GILLETTE, 66 – Magician/Author. Famously known as the talking half of the magician duo Penn & Teller. He also acts, he’s written books, and he’s a graduate of Ringling Brothers’ Clown College. EDDY GRANT, 73 – Singer. Guyanese-British singer who had a big solo hit with “Electric Avenue” in 1982. Before solo success, he was a member of the band The Equals, one of the United Kingdom's first racially integrated pop groups. CLICK HERE FOR “ELECTRIC AVENUE” JOHN FRUSCIANTE (fru-SHAN-tay), 51 – Musician. Guitarist with the Red Hot Chili Peppers. In addition to his work with the band, he’s released 12 solo albums and seven EPs. He dropped out of high school at 16, with his parents’ permission, to pursue a music career. HERE’S A LINK TO THEIR HIT “UNDER THE BRIDGE” JOEL OSTEEN, 58 – Televangelist. He’s the leader of Houston’s Lakewood mega-Church and the preacher and author with a huge pulpit – his TV and radio sermons are seen by a hundred million people around the world. CLICK HERE FOR A LINK TO A MOTIVATIONAL SPEECH ON NOT GIVING UP

SATURDAY, MARCH 6:

SHAQUILLE O’NEAL, 49 – NBA Hall of Famer. Shaq played for six teams over his 19-year NBA career and is regarded as one of the greatest players of all time. He’s an analyst for “Inside the NBA,” has released five rap albums and has been a pitch-man for Epson Printers, Papa Johns and at least 48 other products and companies. CLICK HERE FOR A LINK TO SOME OF SHAQ’S CLASSIC COMMERCIALS CLICK HERE FOR SHAQ’S HALL OF FAME INDUCTION SPEECH DAVID GILMOUR, 75 – Musician. Guitarist, singer, and for the classic rock band Pink Floyd. The Hall of Fame rocker has also produced other artists and is ranked by as one of the “greatest guitarists of all time.” CLICK HERE FOR PINK FLOYD’S “ANOTHER BRICK IN THE WALL” TYLER THE CREATOR (Tyler Okonma), 30 – Rapper. He co-founded the alt hip-hop group before releasing a solo mix tape in 2009 and five albums since. His 2019 album “Igor” won “Best Rap Album” at last year’s GRAMMY Awards. HERE’S A LINK TO HIS SONG “EARFQUAKE” MARTIN KOVE, 75 – Actor. He’s most famously known for playing the evil instructor in the “The Karate Kid” movies. He also reprised the role in the current “Cobra Kai” series on Netflix. CLICK HERE FOR A CLIP OF KOVE AS SENSEI KREESE IN “THE KARATE KID” HERE’S A FIGHT SCENE FROM “COBRA KAI” CONNIE BRITTON, 54 – Actress. Best known for her roles as Country star Rayna James in the TV series “” and in “Friday Night Lights.” Some her earlier roles were in the indie film “The Brothers McMullen” and the sitcom “.” HERE’S A CLIP OF RAYNA JAMES SINGING “THIS TIME” IN “NASHVILLE”

SUNDAY, MARCH 7:

BRYAN CRANSTON, 65 – Actor. Forever known as “Breaking Bad’s” Walter White, the four-time Emmy winner also played Hal on the sitcom “Malcom in the Middle. He won two Tony awards for his Broadway performances in “All the Way” and “Network.” HERE’S A CLIP OF SOME OF WALTER WHITES BEST “BADASS MOMENTS” , 47 – Actress. Best known for playing receptionist on “,” she also recently starred in the sitcom “Splitting Up Together.” She currently hosts the podcast “” with former co-star . HERE’S A CLIP WITH SOME OF “THE BEST OF PAM” MOMENTS AMANDA GORMAN, 23 – Poet. The first ever National Youth Poet Laureate wowed everyone with her poem “The Hill We Climb” at the Presidential inauguration. She also read her poetry at the Super Bowl. In 2017, she became the first youth poet to open the literary season for the Library of Congress. HERE’S A LINK TO GORMAN READING “THE HILL WE CLIMB” WANDA SYKES, 57 – Comedian/Actress. The stand-up comic and actress is known for multiple roles, including Daphne in “Black-ish,” Dr. Karl in the “Bad Moms” movies, and Ruby in “Monster-in- Law.” She also voiced “Granny” in the Ice Age” films. TAYLOR DAYNE, 59 – Singer. Powerhouse singer who had a string of hits in the 80’s and 90s, including “Tell it to My Heart and the power ballad and ever-popular wedding song “I’ll Always Love You.” In December she performed as The Popcorn on “The Masked Singer.” CLICK HERE FOR “I’LL ALWAYS LOVE YOU” LAURA PREPON, 41 – Actress. Best known for her role as Donna Pinciotti on “That 70s Show,” she also played Alex in “Orange is the New Black.” One of her earliest roles was playing Reanna in the film “Slackers.” CLICK HERE FOR THE “THAT 70S SHOW” THEME RACHEL WEISZ, 51 – Actress. The English actress first got noticed for her role as Evelyn in “The Mummy” and then for her star turns in “Beautiful Creatures,” “About a Boy,” and “Oz the Great and Powerful.” She is married to James Bond actor Daniel Craig.

TRENDING/ODD

NEW WRESTLING-BASKETBALL LEAGUE (00:20) If you can't get enough of flagrant fouls, you're gonna love a new basketball league in Russia. They call it Reg-ball - it's like basketball with football, plus wrestling, and it could become America's favorite sport! The players wear singlets (wrestling outfits), you don't have to dribble, you can pin a guy and headlocks are legal. The only rule: 'no acts of blatant violence'. CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO (WITH SOUND) OF A REG-BALL GAME

MMA FIGHTER INJECTS ARMS WITH VASELINE TO LOOK MORE ‘SWOLL’ (00:25) A Russian MMA fighter now admits he was an IDIOT for injecting his arms with petroleum jelly. The 24 year old thought he'd look more 'swoll' by shooting Vaseline into his biceps. He was kinda right; his armed got so 'jacked' they started calling him Popeye, until his arms almost fell off. Doctors urged him to have surgery to remove his fake muscles before the real ones died. Now he's left with a bunch of hardened Vaseline and not much else.

A.I. MAKES OLD PICS COME ALIVE (00:25) The internet's discovered a new time-waster. It's an artificial intelligence app called 'Deep Nostalgia' and it can bring your dead grandparents back to life…sorta. It animates old family pictures so the heads move and the eyes move around and blink (it's even creepier than it sounds). It was created with good intentions by one of those genealogy websites, but already people are using it to animate ugly statues of soccer stars, old internet memes and terrible yearbook pictures. CLICK HERE TO SEE ‘BACK LUCK BRIAN’ GET ‘DEEP NOSTALGIA’D’

EBAY PULLS AUCTIONS FOR DR SUESS ‘CANCELLED’ BOOKS (00:20) Thought you could make a fortune selling some of your old Dr Seuss books on eBay?… nice try! eBay is no longer allowing the re-sale of 6 Dr Seuss books that are now considered racist. The auction pages have been taken down. Ever since Dr Suess's publisher announced they'd stop printing them, some of the books turned up on eBay selling for as much as 600 bucks.

CDC WARNING: SKIP THE ST PATRICK’S DAY PARTIES (00:24) St Patrick's Day is just a couple of weeks away and the CDC wants to ruin your party plans. They're worried indoor gatherings could lead to another spike in cases, so they've published a bunch of lame tips on the CDC website to keep you from getting drunk with your friends. Instead of partying, they suggest doing stuff like: 'decorating your home in St Patrick’s day colors' and 'watching a virtual St Patrick's Day celebration' (does that mean watching people puke on Zoom?) HERE’S A LINK TO SOME TRADITIONAL IRISH FOLK/DRINKING SONGS

PRINCE PHILLIP WAY SICKER THAN THE PALACE ADMITS (00:16) You can't trust a word the Royals say: Prince Philip was WAY sicker than they let on. Queen Elizabeth's 99-year old husband just had heart surgery (which is never good if you're 99). They haven't said just what's wrong with 'his highness' and they probably never will, but they say he's had some 'ticker' issues in the past. CLICK HERE FOR THE ‘ROYAL FANFARE’ AND ‘GOD SAVE THE QUEEN’

U.S. CAPITOL PUT ON HIGH ALERT (00:20) The US Capitol is on high alert after new threats of another attack. The National Guard is positioned around the Capitol building after an FBI bulletin warned Internet conspiracy theorists and extremist groups are planning some kind of siege and overthrow. It freaked out politicians enough that many left the Capitol, and yesterday's House session was cancelled.

LAW & DISORDER

NATIONAL GUARD ASKED TO PROTECT U.S. CAPITOL UNTIL MID-MAY (00:20) The Capitol Building is gonna look like a war zone for a bit longer. Capitol Police have asked the National Guard to stick around for at least 2 more months. They're worried a bunch of crackpots and militias are still planning to attack the Capitol. The internet's filled with Conspiracy theories and calls to storm the place and overthrow the government.

CEO OF TEXAS POWER GRID FIRED (00:22) Heads are rolling in Texas. The top boss of the power grid system has been fired. The former CEO of ERCOT (err-cot) is now the highest ranking official to lose his job after that deadly power outage. Last week he defended how the outages were handled and said it all could have been much worse had it not been for power operators. At least 40 people died in Texas during the blackout and storms.

WEIRD SCIENCE & TECH

SCIENTISTS DISCOVER GLOW IN THE DARK SHARK (00:17) What more terrifying than a shark? How about a glow-in-the-dark shark? Scientists in New Zealand have discovered a breed of shark that comes with its own headlights. The species lives about 3- thousand feet below the surface of the ocean, and they think it uses bio-luminescence to find food on the ocean floor (kinda like their own refrigerator light) CLICK HERE FOR THE ‘JAWS’ THEME

MC HAMMER SONG LIGHTS UP BRAIN OF ZEBRAFISH (00:25) A researcher with a background as a dance music DJ has been studying the brains of zebrafish and how they react to sounds. She played the fish a bit of MC Hammer's, "U Can't Touch This." Their brain neurons lit up to the beat of the music. From this study, researchers are hoping their data on sound processing can help them better understand autism. There are similarities between a young fish's auditory system and that of a human's. Who knew?

ALABAMA NOT ENDING MASK MANDATE JUST YET (00:25) Alabama's governor is not ready yet to follow Texas and Mississippi and drop the state's mask mandate. The governor says masks will be required at least through Easter and wants to see more people get vaccinated. She's prepared to end the mandate in April if all goes well. In Texas, they may be able to go mask-free, but some major stores say not so fast. Target, Starbucks, CVS and Kroger insist they will continue to require customers to mask up.

STUDY: COLLEGE FRESHMAN MORE DEPRESSED & ANXIOUS THROUGH PANDEMIC (00:19) Tack on "nerves shot" to the Freshman 15. Thanks coronavirus! New research finds first year college students are experiencing higher rates of depression and anxiety since the pandemic began. Anxiety is up 40 percent and depression is up nearly 50 percent. Those having a really hard time are Black students. Their depression grew nearly 90-percent.

STUDY: RURAL LIFE LINKED TO MORE HEART PROBLEMS (00:16) You would think the stress of city life brings on more heart attacks, but new research compares country living to urban living. And it's in rural areas where heart failure and deaths are higher, particularly in the South. The largest increase in cases was among young black men.

YOUR /SHOPPING

AIRLINE OFFERS ‘MYSTERY FLIGHTS’ THAT DON’T EVEN LAND AT DESTINATION (00:21) Who would shell out 15-hundred bucks for a plane ticket and not know where they were going?! In Australia, Qantas airlines has started a new 'mystery destination' promo. It's kinda like those 'flights to nowhere,' except this time they don't tell you where you're going until you get there. And then you don't even get to land - you just fly around for a couple of hours.

A LITTLE LESS MALL MAGIC - DISNEY STORES ARE CLOSING (00:14) Say it ain't so Mickey! Disney is closing 20 percent of its stores by the end of the year. Even the house of mouse is hurting through the pandemic. Disney says it'll beef up its online shop and offer more adult clothing, home goods and collectibles.

LIFE/SURVEY SAYS…

POSTAL SERVICE LOSES WEDDING RING (00:21) A couple from the Chicago area got married last year. She bought his wedding band online in November, and they're still waiting for it. It's a special ring, inscribed with the GPS coordinates of where they met - Soldier Field. The US Postal Service marked it as in transit on December 4th and they've gotten NO answers since. The newlyweds have filed a claim with the post office.

HIGH SCHOOL SWEETHEARTS REUNITED 50 YEARS AFTER THEIR PARENTS SPLIT THEM UP (00:24) There's something about a second chance at love. In Indiana, high school sweethearts were split up by their parents after she got pregnant in 1968. They never spoke until their daughter came looking for them more than 50 years later. She reconnected her biological parents. Each had been married twice before, and both happened to be single. Their forbidden romance rekindled. Those two high school love birds are now married.

ENTERTAINMENT

‘FRIENDS’ REUNION FILMING SOON (00:23) It was delayed because of COVID, but now a "Friends'' reunion is finally happening. David Schwimmer spilled the tea to Andy Cohen on his radio show. Schwimmer will be out in LA in a little over a month to film with the rest of the cast. To do it safely, some of the reunion will be taped outside. And no, they won't be in character. Don't expect to see Rachel and Ross in action. The special will air on HBO Max.

WEEKEND/ICYMI

REESE’S MAKING CHOCOLATE-FREE PEANUT BUTTER CUPS (00:21) Monday was National Peanut Butter Lover's day, so the guys who make those Reese's peanut butter cups went 'all in' by taking out the chocolate. They unveiled a limited edition ‘Reese’s Ultimate’...that's a peanut butter cup with a peanut butter candy shell. No chocolate at all! It'll be in stores next month and guaranteed not to be allowed within 100 feet of a school cafeteria.

WALMART DROPS $35 MINIMUM ORDER FOR DELIVER (00:14) No need to find something cheap to add to your shopping list just to qualify for shipping. Starting today, Walmart is dropping the 35-dollar minimum for its Express delivery service. But they'll still charge you 10 bucks for same day delivery.

IKEA NOW INCLUDING ‘DISASSEMBLY’ INSTRUCTIONS (00:21) You buy something from Ikea, you have to put it together, right? Well, now they're including ‘disassembly’ instructions so you can take that stuff apart when it's time to move or throw it out. It's no secret Ikea furniture doesn't last forever, especially when you drag it to a new apartment. They hope the new online instructions will keep people from just throwing it out. (Ikea will even buy back your old furniture)

PLASTIC SURGEON LOGS INTO TRAFFIC COURT FROM OPERATING ROOM (00:24) On Thursday, a plastic surgeon in California logged into a traffic court hearing on Zoom while he was in the O-R with a patient ON THE TABLE. Dr. Scott Green assured the clerk that he was able to participate in his hearing while doing surgery. The judge wasn’t having it. He told the doctor to reschedule when he wasn’t attending to a patient. Ya think?! (Can you imagine being the poor soul on that operating table?) The distracted doc is now under investigation.

WOMAN TAKES OFF THONG TO USE AS FACE MASK (00:22) Clever or Ewww? A woman in South Africa was in a supermarket checkout line and wasn’t wearing a mask. A guard asked her to put one on or leave. Well, she didn’t have a mask. So she went under her dress, pulled off her black thong underwear, and then used it to cover her nose and mouth. The whole thing was caught on surveillance camera. Some people are calling her a resourceful renegade. Others are just grossed out. Thoughts?

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