CONNECT SELECT WEEKEND EDITION A wide selection of interesting and trending stories – rip ‘em, read ‘em and post ‘em! FRIDAY, APRIL 16th, 2021 TODAY IS… NATIONAL WEAR YOUR PAJAMAS TO WORK DAY Really?! Most of us have been doing this for a year now. DID YOU KNOW?…the word ‘pajamas’ comes from the Persian word ‘Pay-jama’, which just means loose-fitting, draw- string pants. But PJs, Jammies and Jim-jams are 100 percent American! NATIONAL CLEAN OUT YOUR MEDICINE CABINET DAY (3rd Friday in April) You don’t want your next date to accidentally find that old fungus medication, do ya? But seriously, expired medicine can make you sick. Take all your old drugs back to the pharmacy where they’ll dispose of them safely and never, ever flush ‘em; that’s how they get into the water supply. NATIONAL EGGS BENEDICT DAY Eggs Benedict is named after a real-life guy! Lemuel Benedict was a stockbroker. In 1894, he went to the Waldorf Hotel in New York and ordered ‘buttered toast, poached eggs, crisp bacon and a side of Hollandaise’. The restaurant staff was so impressed, they stole the recipe and put it on the menu - with a few minor changes. SATURDAY IS… HUSBAND APPRECIATION DAY That’s enough appreciation…now go clean the garage! NATIONAL HAIKU POETRY DAY Celebrating the Japanese art form. In case you skipped that class in middle school, a haiku is a 3 line poem with a syllable count of five-seven-five. EXAMPLE: Five syllables here… And seven syllables there… Are you happy now?! BLAH, BLAH, BLAH DAY Today’s the day you finally get around to doing all the things you’ve been nagged to do: clean the car, change that broken light bulb, quit smoking, blah-blah-blah… NATIONAL KICKBALL DAY Kickball was invented about 100 years ago in Cincinnati. Gym teachers first started using it to teach kids the basics of baseball (it doesn’t hurt that it’s nearly impossible to strike out). NATIONAL AUCTIONEERS DAY (3rd Saturday in April) Celebrating the lightning-fast talkers who keep auctions rolling along. That rhythmic cadence isn’t just entertaining, it’s also uniquely American. It was developed during the Civil War - back when folks didn’t have a lot of time to wait around for the next bid. SUNDAY IS… GO FLY A KITE DAY Seriously, go fly a kite! DID YOU KNOW?…Kites were invented in ancient China. They were used to communicate between villages, usually as a way to say ‘send help’. NATIONAL TRANSFER MONEY TO YOUR DAUGHTER’S ACCOUNT DAY We’re not even kidding, this is a real thing! So Venmo some cash or you’ll never hear the end of it. DID YOU KNOW?… The first wire transfer service was started by Western Union in 1872. INTERNATIONAL PIÑATA DAY Celebrating the ultimate violent party prop! Piñatas (pin-YAH-taz) are usually made of paper- mâché and filled with toys and candy. We know them as a Mexican party favor you smack with a stick, but they were actually invented by the Chinese as a new year’s celebration. Back then, they made ‘em out of clay pots, so it took a bit more muscle to get to the goodies inside. NATIONAL ANIMAL CRACKERS DAY Celebrating the childhood favorite that’s a little sad when you think about it. For more than a hundred years, the animal-shaped cookies came in a box that featured all the animals in train cages. In 2018, Nabisco changed that so now the animals on the box are roaming freely in nature. BIRTHDAYS: FRIDAY: ANYA TAYLOR-JOY, 25: Actress. Check mate! She got us through the last leg of quarantine with her Netflix smash, “The Queen’s Gambit.” CLICK HERE FOR “THE QUEEN’S GAMBIT” THEME CHANCE THE RAPPER (Chancelor Bennett), 28: Rapper. His third mixtape “Coloring Book” earned him three GRAMMY Awards, including “Best Rap Album.” CLICK HERE FOR “FAVORITE SONG” CLEAN KAREEM ABDUL-JABBAR, 74: NBA Hall of Famer. He’s the NBA’s all-time leading scorer. He was a 6-time NBA Champion, 6-time NBA MVP and 19-time All-Star. HERE’S A CLIP FROM HIS HISTORIC RECORD-BREAKING MOMENT (00:28) DAVE PIRNER, 57: Musician. He’s the singer/songwriter with the alt-rock band Soul Asylum, known for their 1993 hit “Runaway Train.” CLICK HERE FOR “RUNAWAY TRAIN” MARTIN LAWRENCE, 56: Actor/Comedian. He starred in his own 90s sitcom “Martin” before bigger fame as one of film’s “Bad Boys.” CLICK HERE FOR THE “MARTIN” THEME SONG BILL BELICHICK, 69: NFL Coach. Legendary NFL coach who led the New England Patriots to six Super Bowl wins. BILL SPOONER, 71: Musician. “Sputnik” Spooner was the guitarist for the band “The Tubes,” known for songs like “White Punks on Dope” and “She’s a Beauty.” CLICK HERE FOR THE TUBES’ “SHE’S A BEAUTY” SATURDAY: PHOEBE DYNEVOR, 26: Actress. She made corsets trendy again. The British actress wowed as Daphne in Netflix’s giant hit “Bridgerton.” CLICK HERE FOR “BRIDGERTON” OPENING THEME ROONEY MARA, 36: Actress. “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” is also the fiancée of actor Joaquin (wa-keen) Phoenix. VICTORIA BECKHAM, 47: Singer/Designer. She’ll always be “Posh Spice” to us. The singer and fashion designer is the wife of soccer superstar David Beckham. CLICK HERE FOR THE SPICE GIRLS’ “TELL ME WHAT YOU WANT” JENNIFER GARNER, 49: Actress. She’s no longer “thirty, flirty and thriving.” But the “Yes Day” star seems to just be getting better with age. CLICK HERE FOR “ALIAS” THEME LIZ PHAIR, 54: Singer/songwriter. The “Why Can’t I” singer and songwriter is just “Everything to Us.” CLICK HERE FOR PHAIR’S “WHY CAN’T I” BOOMER ESIASON (Uh-SIGH-uh-son), 60: Former NFL Player/Sportscaster. The former MVP quarterback hosts a syndicated morning radio show and is also a CBS Sports NFL analyst. SUNDAY: CONAN O’BRIEN, 58: Talk Show Host. He wrote for “SNL” and “The Simpsons” before becoming a late-night talk host. CLICK HERE FOR “LATE NIGHT WITH CONAN O’BRIEN” THEME SONG KOURTNEY KARDASHIAN, 42: Reality TV star. She’s the eldest sibling of the Kardashian clan. And the *most* ‘interesting to look at.’ (“Keeping Up” fans, you get it.) AMERICA FERRERA, 37: Actress. The star of the TV shows “Ugly Betty” and “Superstore” is also one fourth of the “Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.” CLICK HERE FOR “SUPERSTORE” THEME NATHAN SYKES, 28: Singer. The pop singer rose to fame as a member of the boy band The Wanted. CLICK HERE FOR THE WANTED’S “GLAD YOU CAME” MELISSA JOAN HART, 45: Actress. She’s the star of “Clarissa Explains it All” and “Sabrina the Teenage Witch.” CLICK HERE FOR “SABRINA” OPENING DAVID TENNANT, 50: Actor. The Scottish actor who played the 10th “Dr. Who” also appeared in “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.” KENNY ORTEGA, 71: Director/Choreographer. He choreographed the iconic film “Dirty Dancing” and directed the popular film “Hocus Pocus” and the “High School Musical” series. TRENDING/ODD GOOGLE EARTH NOW SHOWS THE PLANET’S SLOW DETERIORATION (00:22) Have you seen the new time-lapse feature on Google Earth? It stitches together satellite imagery going all the way back to 1984 to show how the world has changed since Wham’s first hit. You won’t be able to zoom up onto your neighborhood (and see how many Starbucks have popped up), instead ‘EarthEngine’ focuses on specific areas like the melting Columbia Glacier in Alaska, urban sprawl in Las Vegas and deforestation in Brazil. CLICK HERE TO SEE HOW THE WORLD HAS CHANGED IN 37 YEARS HERE’S WHAM’S ‘WAKE ME UP BEFORE YOU GO GO’ AMERICA HAS BOBA SHORTAGE (00:19) If you like bubble tea, you may be out of luck soon. There’s a nation-wide boba shortage. The bubbles in bubble tea is mostly made in the US, but the tapioca it’s made from is shipped from Thailand. Some boba shops are already out and others only have enough to last ‘em the next couple of weeks. They say the shortage could last into the summer. MYSTERY CREATURE TURNS OUT TO BE A CROISSANT IN A TREE (00:22) For two days, a neighborhood in Poland was terrorized by a mysterious tree creature. Turns out it was a croissant. Residents of an apartment building in Krakow spotted it in a tree; they couldn’t tell if it was reptile or a big slug. Regardless, they kept their windows closed and wouldn’t go outside until an animal control officer climbed the tree and confirmed it was just pastry. VACCINE HESITANT STATES (00:17) For some reason, folks in Wyoming really, really don’t want a vaccine. The US Department of Health says Wyoming has the most vaccine-hesitant counties in the country, where a third of residents are turning ‘em down. Mississippi, North and South Dakota are also ending up with a whole lot of leftover vaccine. LAMARCUS ALDRIDGE ABRUPTLY RETIRES FROM NBA BECAUSE OF HEALTH ISSUE (00:17) NBA All-Star Lamarcus Aldridge has abruptly retired, shocking the basketball world. The 35-year-old big-man is suffering from an irregular heartbeat. He had just signed a deal with the Brooklyn Nets, but only played 5 games with them. Aldridge played for 15 years (so he’s not hurting for cash) and is likely headed for the Hall of Fame. A THIRD OF U.S. ADULTS ARE NOW FULLY VACCINATED (00:15) According to the CDC, a third of American adults are now fully vaccinated.