TheTrend

Leap Day, Timeline for Pages and Paper Airplanes

 

It's Leap Day!   The day that occurs only once every four years and helps keep our calendar is in-line with our seasons so that over time winter doesn't feel like spring or summer… Hmmm…. Well, anyway, it's Leap Day and the kids over at Google have doodled up some frogs as they have for the past couple of February 29ths.  

This time the frogs are musical, drawn on a grassy stage to pay tribute to Gioachino Rossini's comic opera The Barber of Seville.  Rossini was born on February 29, 1792.

Here's a helpful video that explains Leap Year in four minutes.

 

Facebook has chosen this day to roll out the new Timeline for Pages.   Businesses have until the end of March to flip the switch.  The new pages come with all sorts of nifty features and moderation tools, even messaging.  We've already switched our main Eyewitness News page.   Timeline will be coming to all others soon.

iPad 3 is trending in anticipation of Apple's big announcement next Wednesday.  The company emailed invitations to its "special event" in San Francisco.  The invites show a screenshot of what appears to be a new iPad.  It's expected that the iPad will have retina display - which is Apple lingo for a really sharp display.   There are also reports that Apple will be announcing a new version of Apple TV at the same time.

What is a railgun and why are people searching for it?  It's a new generation of weapons that can fire missiles at more than 5600 miles per hour.   The US Navy is testing the gun at a facility in Virginia.  A railgun users a magnetic field and electric current, instead of chemicals, to fire the missiles at those incredible speeds. The Navy describes it as an important step toward a future tactical weapon for ships.  Here’s the demo video:

  

Dancing With The Stars is still hot after yesterday's cast announcement.  Donald Driver is leading the search trends as people search for more information about the Green Bay Packers wide receiver.  He's not just a football player, but also a philanthropist who's Donald Driver Foundation helps sick children with big hospital bills and helps the homeless find housing.  Driver, a dad of two, is also an author of children's books, including "Quickie Handles a Loss," "Quickie Makes the Team" and "Quickie Goes to the Big Game."

Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner are making news, welcoming baby number three to the household, a baby boy, according to Us Weekly.   No name yet.  He joins big sisters Violet, 6, and Seraphina, 3.  

Nobody hit the big Mega Millions jackpot last night and that means Friday's drawing jumps to $108-million!   You can see the drawing Friday night on Channel 7.

Hot on YouTube, a world record paper airplane throw. Joe Ayoob tossed the plane 226 feet, 10 inches, topping the old mark by more than 19 feet.

  

If you thought Siri was cool on the iPhone, check out the Kinect grocery cart.

 

A music video out of Russia has gone viral.  Everybody do the Putin!

 

From Amsterdam, fishing in the canals for… bicycles?   A lot of people apparently dump them in the canals.

 

And finally, it’s not every day you see a cat taking a swim, but in this YouTube video, a cat takes a dip in the ocean.

 

That’s the trend!

Have a great day,

Bob Monek

 

 

 

Dancing Stars, Free Pancakes and Delayed Daytona

 

Dancing With The Stars has jumped to the top of the trends this morning, as people are tweeting about the new cast for season 14.   Jaleel White, Gladys Knight and Jack Wagner are the top celebrity names from the new cast being tweeted.   You can see the full list by visiting our Mirrorball Blog.  The new season premieres on March 19th with a two-hour event starting at 8:00 p.m.

Happy Pancake Day!  It's an annual event to celebrate the breakfast favorite, but it's not an official birthday.  

Pancakes date back to prehistoric times, if archaeological evidence is correct. Pancakes shape and ingridients vary depending on where you are located in the world.  In Germany, potato pancakes are popular.  A crepe is a French variety.  Blueberry pancakes are my personal choice!   IHOP is celebrating by offering each guest a free short stack of buttermilk pancakes until 10:00 p.m. in an effort to raise awareness and funds for Children's Miracle Network Hospitals and other local charities. 

Well, the Daytona 500 was certainly one of the most bizarre races in history, complete with rain, fire, laundry detergent and live tweets.   As you may know, the race was delayed for 30 hours by rain.   Once the race started, Juan Pablo Montoya crashed under caution into a safety truck filled with jet fuel.  

(AP Photo/Bill Friel)

That caused a massive fireball that engulfed the truck and caused another two hour delay so crews could clean it up.   What did they use?  Tide laundry detergent.    While all that was happening, driver Brad Keselowski live tweeted while driving.   Yes, he live tweeted from his race car…. until he crashed at 190 mph, although he provided updates minutes after that accident.   No word if texting while driving was a factor.   At the end of a six hour marathon, Matt Kenseth picked up his second Daytona 500 title.

In Russia, video of an apartment building collapsing has gone viral.  At least eight people have been killed and 12 were injured after the building in southern Russia collapsed following a natural gas explosion.  The collapse occurs about 2:20 into the video.

 

Actress Sean Young is a hot search this morning after her arrest at the official post-Oscar party, the Governors Ball.   She was apparently trying to crash the party, but a security guard would not let her inside, so they scuffled.  Young, who starred in Blade Runner, Stripes and Wall Street, was booked on misdemeanor battery and freed on $20,000 bail.

Angelina Jolie's right leg is still trending.  We understand her left leg may be getting jealous.

(AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Jimmy Kimmel's post-Oscar event has produced yet another viral video - Movie: The Movie.

 

Jimmy Kimmel's post-Oscar event has produced yet another viral video.  Wait, didn't I just write that?

 

A woman who really likes a hula hoop is trending.   A copy of the original is currently getting all the attention, but this is the actual video uploaded in December 2010.

 

A basketball player who wanted to impress his friends a long range no-look trick basket hit the wrong target!

 

And finally, an overexcited kid was caught on video poking himself in the eye while celebrating Liverpool winning the 2012 Carling Cup.  He kept on celebrating!

 

And that's the trend!

Have a great day,

Bob

 

 

 

 

Oscars, Sacha Baron Cohen and Stampeding Dolphins

Good morning!

The Oscars set social media abuzz with chatter on Facebook and Twitter.   The Internet-tracking firm Bluefin Labs counted 3.4 million Oscar-related comments on Facebook and Twitter, way up from 966,00 for the 2011 Academy Awards telecast. 

(AP Photo/ Mark J. Terrill)

The most buzzed about celebrity was Meryl Streep.  The 62-year-old actress won the third Academy Award of her career for her role as former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in "The Iron Lady."

Jennifer Lopez also had Twitter users tweeting madly over her extremely revealing wardrobe that they thought revealed more than even she expected during her appearance with Cameron Diaz to present awards for costume design and best makeup. 

(AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Many were convinced that Lopez exposed part of her left nipple during the presentation, but others disagreed.

A new Twitter account was inspired by Angelina Jolie's right leg.   She repeatedly exposed her right leg on the red carpet and later while presenting an award.  The new Twitter account
under the handle @AngiesRightLeg will send out mock posts purportedly from the limb. "I'm a leg, get a load of me!!" the user wrote.

(AP Photo/ Amy Sancetta)

The Artist may have claimed Best Picture, but Martin Scorsese's Hugo ranked as the most mentioned film on social sites. 

Supporting actress and actor winners Octavia Spencer and Christopher Plummer are the most searched Oscar celebrities on Google.   Spencer, who had been favored to win, gave a tearful speech, in which she thanked everyone, from her family in Alabama to the entire state of Alabama.   Plummer became the oldest-ever Oscar winner for his performance as a gay man who comes out of the closet after the death of his wife in the film, Beginners.  "You're only two years older than me, darling," he said to the 84-year-old Oscar. "Where have you been all my life?"

Before the show, comedian Sacha Baron Cohen set Twitter on fire by "accidentally" pouring what he called the ashes of North Korean Leader Kim John Il on Ryan Seacrest during an interview.  Security whisked away Cohen, who dressed as a General Aladeen from his upcoming film The Dictator.   Members of the Los Angeles fire department swept up the ashes, forcing some reporters on the red carpet to cut their interviews short. 

 

Cohen had originally been banned from dressing as his character for his red carpet arrival.  Wonder if he'll get another invitation?

Finally, "Who is Billy Crystal?" was another popular trend with tweets like "Is Billy Crystal a comedian or an actor who has been in comedies?" and "I'm 19, should I know who Billy Crystal is?" and "Who is this Billy Crystal guy and why does his face look like a sponge?" and "Who is this Billy Crystal, and why is he getting all this screen time?"   

(AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Billy probably should not feel too bad, as he has good company among the “Who is?” tweets.  The same thing happened during the Grammy Awards two weeks ago when Twitter users asked who is Paul McCartney? 

A view trending videos to note… First, amazing pin art has gone viral in a video that shows how it's created.

 

Former NFL wide receiver Terrell Owens is trending after scoring three touchdowns in an Arena football game.  Owens, who once commanded millions of dollars in the NFL, earns about $225 a game.

 

All I can say about this next video is at least they were on the ground.   Someone was rolling when a helicopter landed, and then abruptly fell apart in Brazil.

 

Finally, a huge dolphin pod stampeding across open water north of San Diego was caught on video. They were filmed from the Dana Pride, a whale- and dolphin-watching boat operated by Dana Point Whale Watch.

 

That's the trend!

Have a terrific Monday,

Bob

 

 

 

RIP Gregg Jevin, Steve Jobs' Birthday and a Dancing Baby

Good morning!

The world is mourning the loss of Gregg Jevin this morning.   Tweets have been pouring in to remember this man among imaginary men.  "Devastated by the loss of Gregg Jevin," tweeted @CharltonBrooker.  "Just heard about Gregg Jevin. He was the first comic I ever saw live. And now he's dead. Weird," added @SarahMillican75.   Some are wondering what will become of his 'Just Giving' page to save the giraffes, but there's no word yet.  Friends say a tribute is even being planned for April 1st, which would be appropriate.   Word of his death has been traced back to a single tweet using the hashtag #RIPGreggJevin.  Michael Legge, a comedian and consummate tweeter, broke the news overnight - "Sad to say that Gregg Jevin, a man I just made up, has died #RIPGreggJevin."  

Many are wishing a happy birthday to Steve Jobs.  The man who taught us to use an Apple a day would have turned 57 years old today.

Doctors at Houston's Memorial Hermann Northwest Hospital made social medical history by live tweeting an open heart surgery.  Dr. Michael Macris performed a double coronary artery bypass on a 57-year-old patient while his colleague, Dr. Paresh Patel, provided updates to @houstonhospital's 5,100 Twitter followers.   The tweets, photos and videos are compiled on a Storify page created by the Hospital. Some of it is very graphic.  Also good to note that the patient made it through surgery successfully. 

 

Call it the Ryan Braun loophole.   The National League's reigning most valuable player won his appeal of a 50-game suspension triggers by a positive drug test last October.   Braun, 28, is the first big league player to successfully win such an appeal.  "It is the first step in restoring my good name and reputation," the Brewers leftfielder said in a statement.  ESPN, citing two anonymous sources, reported in December that Braun tested positive for synthetic testosterone during the playoffs, but the three panel appeals board voted 2 to 1 in favor of Braun.  Sources told the AP that Braun's case revolved around the chain of custody from the time the urine sample was collected until when it went to the lab.   According to the report, the collector took the sample on a Saturday, but waited to send it until Monday, thinking it would be more secure at home.   Baseball's drug agreement states "absent unusual circumstances" the sample should be sent by FedEx the same day.   Hence, we have the Ryan Braun loophole.  I suspect MLB will be quickly closing it.

Kathy Ireland has gone from super model to super rich.   A new article in Forbes labels her the richest model on the planet, although these days her focus is not on the runway, but a $2 Billion business empire.  She sells more stuff than Martha Stewart!   The bulk of her revenue comes not from a fashion line sold at K-Mart, but from thousands of home furnishings - ceiling fans, flooring, mattresses, desk, end tables, beds, even bookcases.   You can read the article in Forbes here.   Kathy Ireland is scheduled to appear on The View next week.

Harry Potter fans are excited to learn that author J.K. Rowling is writing a new book, but this time the story will be for adults. Rowling provided few details about the book.  She sent out a rare tweet this morning, "As you may have heard, I have a new book out later this year. Very different to Harry, although I’ve enjoyed writing it every bit as much."  Stay tuned.

A trip to Amsterdam's Artis Royal Zoo turned out to be a real lesson in nature when a Heron picked the wrong place to land for a break - the lion's den.

 

Danica Patrick's first Duel at Daytona ended with a huge crash on the backstretch.  She was okay.  The Daytona 500 is Sunday.

 

Zac Efron had one of those "I wish I was somewhere else" moments when he apparently dropped a condom on the red carpet premiere of The Lorax.

 

Disney has rolled out a new trailer for the latest offering from Pixar, Brave.  It's due in theaters on June 21.

 

Finally… well, I can't say anything about this one… just watch.

 

That's the trend!

Have a fantastic weekend,

Bob

 

 

 

 

Whitney's Coffin Photo, Kate Walsh and Have You Ever Flashed Anyone?

 

The National Enquirer has sparked outrage after using a photo that appears to show Whitney Houston in a gold casket on its cover.   The tabloid claims the photo was taken at Whigham Funeral Home in New Jersey.   Several websites and blogs republished the photo without any warning to visitors.   It's not known how the Enquirer obtained the photo, but it's not a first.   The tabloid published a cover photo of Elvis in his casket, and that issue sold 6.5 million copies.  We will not publish the photo here nor provide a link.   On Twitter, the decision to publish the photo drew condemnation and calls for the Enquirer to be shut down.

Another cover photo causing an internet sensation features Private Practice star Kate Walsh in her birthday suit.   Walsh appears on the cover of Shape magazine's March issue.   Walsh says she decided to pose nude for the cover because she feels good about herself - healthy, confident and sexy, "I’m enjoying my 40s and wanted to share that. Is it a mid-life crisis? I do drive a Porsche, so maybe it is!" she told HuffPost.  Shape hits the newsstands on February 27.

The Bridge to Nowhere is back in the news after last night's Republican debate. Mitt Romney tried to cool off the Santorum surge by going on the attack. "While I was fighting to save the Olympics, you were fighting to save the Bridge to Nowhere," he said, trying to drive home the point of government excess and attach Rick Santorum to it.   Santorum came under fire from both Romney and Ron Paul, but for the most part held his own.   The debate is the last one scheduled, but more could wind up on the calendar if a likely nominee does not emerge after Super Tuesday.

Star Jones returned to The View for the first time in six years on Wednesday.   Jones left the show in 2006 in a bitter separation over contracts and gastric bypass surgery, but that's water under the bridge to nowhere.   Her return was amicable as she made an appearance to raise awareness of heart disease.

Former Seinfeld actor Daniel von Bargen critically wounded himself in a suicide attempt.  Von Bargen played Mr. Kruger in Seinfeld. 

(Zuma)

The 61-year-old actor called 911 on Monday and told the operator that he shot himself in the head, but it didn't work.    On the 911 call, he is heard telling the operator that he was supposed to go to the hospital to have a few toes amputated (he's diabetic), and he didn't want to go.

Qnexa became as trending topic after Vivus Inc. won the backing of a US advisory panel as the company seeks to gain approval for the first new obesity drug in 13 years.   The drug was previously rejected over safety concerns.  The panel backed the drug this time due to its impressive weight loss results, with most patients reporting nearly 10 percent weight loss. A final FDA decision is expected in April.

The Daytona 500 is starting to trend ahead of this Sunday's big race.  Twin 150-mile qualifying races will be held today.   Most of the drivers in the races are already guaranteed a spot, but a small group will be trying to gain a position in the 500.

President Obama has a trending video on YouTube after joining in on "Sweet Home Chicago"at In Performance at the White House: Red, White & Blues - a tribute to the Blues influence on modern American music from soul to rock'n'roll.

 

Jimmy Kimmel has yet another viral video, asking women on the street if they ever flashed anyone.

 

Guyism.com went around New York City asking kids to predict this Sunday night's Academy Award winners.

 

Finally, Germany's Dergin Tokmak, a Cirque Du Soleil performer, uses crutches in ways you cannot imagine.

 

That's the trend!

Have a great day,

Bob

 

 

 

 

Where the celebrities live in New York City

Gotta thank the folks at Huffington Post for pointing us to this blog. Rentenna is a search tool for New York apartments, but they've rolled out a "where do the celebrities live?" map of New York City (below).

On its blog, the company writes Rentenna's first-ever New York City Star Map features the buildings of over 100 celebrities across Manhattan and Brooklyn, so everyone can look up their famous neighbors, gloat to friends elsewhere in the country, then quickly go back to pretending they never cared in the first place.

When we posted the story on Facebook, it drew an angry response from some users who believe the map promotes stalking.   You can voioce your opinion by clicking on comment below.

 

NYC Celebrity Star Map by apartment ratings and reviews site Rentenna.com

Kabul, Marie Colvin and Ash Wednesday

 

Violent clashes in Kabul have been a very hot topic on Twitter this morning.   NATO troops burned copies of the Quran. 

According to U.S. officials, the Qurans were "inadvertently" put in an incinerator at Bagram airbase after being confiscated from Taliban prisoners, who they said may have been using the books to pass messages to each other.   Local laborers found the charred remains of the books, setting off a furious display of anger and outrage.   The U.S. Embassy in Kabul was placed under lockdown as police and protesters clashed.   Twitter users there tweeted updates and photos from the scene.

Journalist Marie Colvin, a Long Island native reporting for The Sunday Times of London, and French photographer Rémi Ochlik have been killed in Syria. 

(AP Photos)

Forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad bombed the building where they were staying.  Colvin, 55, won numerous awards for her writing covering conflicts in the Middle East, the Balkans and Chechnya.   She wore a distinctive black eye patch after losing an eye covering the civil war inn Sri Lanka.   Colvin appeared on Britain's Channel 4 News on Tuesday night, hours before her death.  Anchor Jon Snow called her "the most courageous journalist I ever knew and a wonderful reporter and writer."

It's Ash Wednesday, so don't tell anyone they "have dirt on their forehead" today.  Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the Christian season of Lent.  It is a season of penance, reflection and fasting ahead of Easter Sunday.  The ashes are made from the blessed palms used in the Palm Sunday celebration from last year.   They symbolize penance and contrition.  Foreheads marked with ashes also remind us that life passes away on Earth.

Space.com reports that scientists have discovered a new type of alien planet.   Observations from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope suggest the planet is a steamy water world that is larger than Earth but smaller than Uranus.   To date, astronomers have discovered more than 700 planets beyond our solar system and another 2,300 candidates as possible planets. This one is located about 40 light years from Earth.

Today's Google Doodle looks more like a heart monitor in an operating room than the company's logo.  It celebrates the 155th birthday of Heinrich Rudolf Hertz.  

If you own a computer, smart phone or tablet, the processors have a heartbeat expressed in hertz, megahertz or gigahertz.

The last version of Edvard Munch's masterpiece The Scream still in public hands is headed for the auction block this spring in New York.   Sotheby's estimates the work will sell for $80-million.  

The drawing is one of four versions created by the Norwegian artist in 1895.   The image of a man holding his head and screaming under a streaked, blood-red sky has become a modern icon for human anxiety.

You have to wonder if Denver will resign quarterback Brady Quinn after some comments attributed to him in Sports Illustrated.  Tim Tebow leapfrogged him to replace Kyle Orton as the Broncos quarterback after a 1-4 start.  "I felt like the fans had a lot to do with that," Quinn said in the article. "Just ‘cause they were chanting his name. There was a big calling for him. No, I don’t have any billboards. That would have been nice."   Quinn also said in the article that the way Tebow expresses his faith doesn’t "seem very humble to me."   After the article was published on Tuesday, Quinn took to Twitter to set the record straight, writing, "deserves a lot of credit for our success and I'm happy for him and what he accomplished. Most importantly, he is a great teammate."

Adele had another big night, this time at the U.K.'s Brit Music Awards.  The soulful songstress took home prizes for album of the year and best British female solo artists.   She also flipped the bird after the show's cut off her acceptance speech.  Afterward, she stressed that the obscene gesture was not intended for the audience.  "I'm sorry if I offended anyone but it was the suits that offended me," Adele said. "Thank you all very much and thanks to my fans. I don't want them to think I was swearing at them."

With the Oscars on Sunday, the Academy has rolled out a refresher course on Oscar etiquette with Academy Award winner Kevin Kline and Mike Myers.

 

If you like watching stuff blow up, here's a view of the Fort Steuben Bridge blowing up.  The bridge once provided an essential path to and from Steubenville, Ohio and Weirton, West Virginia.

 

A guy with a dashcam is showing off its value.   The video shows another driver stopping in the middle of a highway, and then backing into his vehicle in what the poster says was an attempted scam.

 

Then there's this guy in England (we think) who tried to cross a frozen canal that wasn't quite frozen.

 

And that's the trend!

Have a great day,

 

Bob

Fat Tuesday, Lava Falls and A Flying Baby

 

It's Fat Tuesday!  The culmination of Mardi Gras is a feast of indulgence ahead of Ash Wednesday on the Christian calendar and a 40-day period of sacrifice better known as Lent.   New Orleans, the city that sits below sea level, is the pinnacle of this hedonistic celebration of food, booze, parades and decadence inappropriate to describe in a blog for all ages. 

(AP Photo)

The tradition of Mardi Gras is said to date back to a time before refrigeration.   All the food had to be eaten because none of it would survive the 40 days.   Nowadays, it's all about indulgence… or over-indulgence… and eating pancakes, doughnuts and other carbo-loaded delights so you need the next 40 days to work off the pounds that you pack on during this single frenzied day.

People on Twitter are having fun with the Fat Tuesday celebration using the hashtag #ReplaceBandNamesWithPancake.  Some of the top choices:

30 Pancakes to Mars

Selena Gomez and the Pancakes

Pancake Girls (Wonder Girls)

Red Hot Chili Pancakes

Pancake Brothers

Guns N' Pancakes

Pancake Day (Green Day)

My own offering is The Rolling Pancakes.

A once a year site at Yosemite National Park is trending.   It happens at sunset in mid-February, weather-permitting.  The sunset illuminates the Horsetail Fall so precisely that the water resembles molten lava flowing over the sheer granite face. Horsetail Fall drains a small area on the eastern summit of El Capitan and flows only in the winter and spring in years with adequate rain and snow, which is scarce this year. 

(AP Photo)

The fire lights up around dusk and lasts for about two minutes.  Park officials think the last day to possibly see it this year will be February 24th.  Every year, more and more photographers gather hoping to capture the event.   Photographer Galen Rowell first captured it on film in 1973.

A flying baby is making news.   Okay, it's not really a flying baby, but a really cool series of pictures taken by photographer Rachel Hulin.  

(Photo from http://rachelhulin.com)

In an interview with Time magazine, Hulin wouldn’t divulge the exact details of how her baby Henry flies. "I wanted the flights to feel genuine," she said. "These are places we are really in everyday, it’s not a cut-and-paste job on random interiors and landscapes."

Some sports news trending this morning….Major League baseball players are arriving in Florida this week for the start of Spring Training.  One of those players is Manny Ramirez, who has signed a minor league deal with Oakland.   Billy Beane has, of course, become famous for signing castoffs for the Oakland A's, but where the team puts Ramirez after signing Cuban defector and workout video star Yoenis Cespedes last week is anyone's guess.  Ramirez must sit out the first 50 games of the season after testing positive for PED last year, so they have time to think about it.

Deron Williams is trending after putting the kibosh on Jeremy Lin and the Knicks in 100-92 Nets victory last night.   The All-Star guard scored 38 points in the win.

Portland's 7-foot center Greg Oden will miss the rest of the season after yet another setback with his troublesome knees.  He was undergoing a minor procedure Monday to clear out debris in his left knee when the surgeon determined there was additional damage and performed microfracture surgery.  The former No. 1 pick in the 2007 NBA draft has now had two microfracture surgeries on his left knee, and one on his right. He has also undergone surgery for a fractured left kneecap.

High school basketball standout Gabe York from Orange, California has a viral video that displays his well-regarded leaping ability with a slam dunk.   The 6-1 guard will be playing next season at the University of Arizona.

 

A sneak peek of wingsuiter Jeb Corliss crashing into Table Mountain has become a hot video on YouTube.   He did not die in the accident, but he was pretty banged up.

 

Mariah Carey has a viral video with her own tribute to Whitney Houston.

 

Batman had a night out in Toronto captured on video…  The producer says it started out as a "Sh** Batman Says" video, but turned into something much different.

 

Weekend snow at Virginia Tech was just enough to allow for the annual Cadet vs. Civilian snowball fight.

 

And finally, a five-month old apparently learned the art of teething from the family dogs.

 

That’s the trend!

Go easy on the doughnuts,

Bob

 

 

President's Day, John Glenn and Rihanna

Happy President's Day!  

It's a day off for most Americans, but at least some probably don't have a clue why their employer is closed for the day.   We celebrate President's Day today to honor the birthdays of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, arguably our two most important presidents. 

Washington was born on February 22, 1732 while Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809.  However, the holiday is officially just a celebration of Washington's Birthday.  In 1885, Chester A. Arthur (Yes, he was a president too) signed the bill to make the third Monday in February a federal holiday called George Washington's Birthday.  The snub of Lincoln's birthday did not sit well with many, and the holiday became a celebration of both men's birthdays.   There was an attempt in 1968 to officially change the holiday to President's Day, but it died in committee and so to this day the holiday that we refer to as President's Day is really just George Washington's Birthday.  

Many mark the day by eating cherries.   I can remember as a child, my grandmother giving me candied cherries to mark Washington's Birthday.  The legend goes that a young, rebellious Washington chopped down a cherry tree, but later admitted to his father that he did it.    He could not tell a lie, the story goes.  Of course, the story itself is a lie.  Washington's biographer Mason Weems made up the story for the book The Life of Washington.  He created the myth as a way to show Washington's honesty.

Fifty years ago today one of the original Mercury seven Astronauts, John Glenn, became the first American to orbit the Earth.   Glen trained for three years for his four hour, 55 minute, 23 second three orbit flight in Friendship 7 on February 20, 1962.

Lots of people are searching for King Cake recipes ahead of Fat Tuesday tomorrow, the last day of indulgence before Lent begins.   The cake has origins in the Old World from the French and Spanish.   It's decorated in the traditional colors of Mardi Gras - purple (justice), green (faith) and gold (power).  A token, usually a plastic baby symbolizing the infant Jesus, is hidden inside the cake.  The person who finds the baby is crowned king of the party, or wins a trip to the emergency room for eating it.

Happy birthday Rihanna!   She turns 24, and she received a birthday wish tweet from Chris Brown, adding even more fuel to rumors that the couple is back together.   

Rihanna's birthday is also trending as "Robyn."  Her real name is Robyn Rihanna Fenty.

Kurt Cobain once said "We're so trendy, we can't even escape ourselves."  Twenty years later, he is a trend on Twitter.  Cobain, who inspired a generation and influenced the music industry, would have turned 45 years old today.   His band Nirvana has sold over 25 million album in the U.S. and more than 50 million around the globe.  Cobain, a musical genius, fans and critics will tell you, but he struggled with the glare of the spotlight and lifelong personal pressures during his rise to fame.   His short life, that seemed to never recover from his parent's divorce, ended in suicide in 1994.  Much has been written about his heroin addiction and rebellious behavior, but I always thought of Cobain as a guy with a big heart so broken that he could not figure out how to fix it.  "If you die, you're completely happy and your soul somewhere lives on," he said.  "I'm not afraid of dying.  Total peace after death, becoming someone else is the best hope I've got."

Carlos Pena Jr., one of the members of Big Time Rush, has a music video gone viral on YouTube.   He put together the video featuring some of his friends, including Justin Bieber, Selena Gomez and Ashley Tisdale.

 

This next video stinks, but it's gone viral anyway.   A guy was rolling at sewage plant when a scum pot valve failed as someone was working on it.   Yes, the scum goes everywhere.  (Note: Foul language in addition to the foul smell.)

 

We may not have had much snow this winter, but they got a pile of it in Poland.  So when one man went outside to snow blow the street, his neighbor was rolling and posted the video as a "fail."   At first, I didn't realize why the snow blowing failed, but if you look closely you will figure it out.   The poster says the guy kept going for an hour and a half, frustrated that the snow did not seem to be going away.

 

And finally, a video upload in December is suddenly viral.   It shows a bird feeding a dog, beak to mouth.

 

That's the trend!

Have a great Monday,

Bob

President's Day, John Glenn and Rihanna

Happy President's Day!  

It's a day off for most Americans, but at least some probably don't have a clue why they're employer is closed for the day.   We celebrate President's Day today to honor the birthdays of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, arguably our two most important presidents. 

Washington was born on February 22, 1732 while Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809.  However, the holiday is officially just a celebration of Washington's Birthday.  In 1885, Chester A. Arthur (Yes, he was a president too) signed the bill to make the third Monday in February a federal holiday called George Washington's Birthday.  The snub of Lincoln's birthday did not sit well with many, and the holiday became a celebration of both men's birthdays.   There was an attempt in 1968 to officially change the holiday to President's Day, but it died in committee and so to this day the holiday that we refer to as President's Day is really just George Washington's Birthday.  

Many mark the day by eating cherries.   I can remember as a child, my grandmother giving me candied cherries to mark Washington's Birthday.  The legend goes that a young, rebellious Washington chopped down a cherry tree, but later admitted to his father that he did it.    He could not tell a lie, the story goes.  Of course, the story itself is a lie.  Washington's biographer Mason Weems made up the story for the book The Life of Washington.  He created the myth as a way to show Washington's honesty.

Fifty years ago today one of the original Mercury seven Astronauts, John Glenn, became the first American to orbit the Earth.   Glen trained for three years for his four hour, 55 minute, 23 second three orbit flight in Friendship 7 on February 20, 1962.

Lots of people are searching for King Cake recipes ahead of Fat Tuesday tomorrow, the last day of indulgence before Lent begins.   The cake has origins in the Old World from the French and Spanish.   It's decorated in the traditional colors of Mardi Gras - purple (justice), green (faith) and gold (power).  A token, usually a plastic baby symbolizing the infant Jesus, is hidden inside the cake.  The person who finds the baby is crowned king of the party, or wins a trip to the emergency room for eating it.

Happy birthday Rihanna!   She turns 24, and she received a birthday wish tweet from Chris Brown, adding even more fuel to rumors that the couple is back together.   

Rihanna's birthday is also trending as "Robyn."  Her real name is Robyn Rihanna Fenty.

Kurt Cobain once said "We're so trendy, we can't even escape ourselves."  Twenty years later, he is a trend on Twitter.  Cobain, who inspired a generation and influenced the music industry, would have turned 45 years old today.   His band Nirvana has sold over 25 million album in the U.S. and more than 50 million around the globe.  Cobain, a musical genius, fans and critics will tell you, but he struggled with the glare of the spotlight and lifelong personal pressures during his rise to fame.   His short life, that seemed to never recover from his parent's divorce, ended in suicide in 1994.  Much has been written about his heroin addiction and rebellious behavior, but I always thought of Cobain as a guy with a big heart so broken that he could not figure out how to fix it.  "If you die, you're completely happy and your soul somewhere lives on," he said.  "I'm not afraid of dying.  Total peace after death, becoming someone else is the best hope I've got."

Carlos Pena Jr., one of the members of Big Time Rush, has a music video gone viral on YouTube.   He put together the video featuring some of his friends, including Justin Bieber, Selena Gomez and Ashley Tisdale.

 

This next video stinks, but it's gone viral anyway.   A guy was rolling at sewage plant when a scum pot valve failed as someone was working on it.   Yes, the scum goes everywhere.  (Note: Foul language in addition to the foul smell.)

 

We may not have had much snow this winter, but they got a pile of it in Poland.  So when one man went outside to snow blow the street, his neighbor was rolling and posted the video as a "fail."   At first, I didn't realize why the snow blowing failed, but if you look closely you will figure it out.   The poster says the guy kept going for an hour and a half, frustrated that the snow did not seem to be going away.

 

And finally, a video upload in December is suddenly viral.   It shows a bird feeding a dog, beak to mouth.

 

That's the trend!

Have a great Monday,

Bob