On Today’s Show

➢ The U.S. Navy Band recorded a sea shanty using the lyrics of Taylor Swift’s“We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” . . . and the video is racking up the hits on Twitter.

“We were very much into this music before it was cool.”

➢ Back in 2013, a guy in England named James Howells threw out an old hard drive that had the password to 7,500 bitcoins he’d bought in 2009.  And he’s been trying to get a landfill to help him dig for it, because it’s now worth over $250 MILLION.  It might be impossible to find at this point.  But his newest idea is to offer 25% of the money to COVID relief if the landfill helps him look.

(Here’s an interview he did a while back where he explains why he threw the hard drive out.)

➢ A man in Mexico named Alberto dug a lengthy underground tunnel in order to have regular hookups with his married mistress, Pamela. How lengthy? It crossed beneath several streets from his house to hers. A newspaper report says it took Alberto several weeks to dig his tunnel of love (sorry, not sorry) and the story ended just the way you would expect it to. Alberto and Pamela were in the act when her husband Jorge arrived home from work early. It gets better. Alberto tried to hide under the bed and when the husband looked for him, Alberto was gone, escaped through a tunnel leading to his house. Jorge followed the tunnel and eventually found Alberto, who “begged him not to make noise because his wife was asleep.”

➢ You may have seen a similar scene in a horror movie, but this is real life. Stephanie Williams of Port Charlotte, Florida, says she was driving on Interstate 75 when she noticed a load of wood carried by a large commercial vehicle ahead of her did not appear to be tightly secured. She says one of the pieces lifted up off the back and caught the wind, swaying directly towards her car. It crashed through the driver’s side of her windshield, but it broke when it struck her door frame. Williams says she was unable to get enough information to identify the truck or the operating company.

➢ Peter Jackson has given fans a sneak preview of the upcoming film “The Beatles: Get Back”. The documentary, culled from 56-hours of never-before-seen footage of the iconic band, is set to hit cinemas Aug. 21, 2021. Ahead of its release, which was pushed back from this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the director has shared a five-minute taste of the movie, which he says will “take audiences back in time to The Beatles’ intimate recording sessions during a pivotal moment in music history”.  LINK: https://youtu.be/UocEGvQ10OE

TODAY IS……………….

• “Australia Day”, the national day for our mates Down Under, commemorating the 1788 landing of Captain Arthur Phillip at Sydney to establish a penal colony. Records of an annual celebration date back to 1808.

• “Plan for Vacation Day”, in the US, celebrated on the last Tuesday of January, a day to encourage Americans to plan their time off. Recent stats show 52% of Americans don’t use all their vacation time, and 24% haven’t taken any paid leave in more than a year.

2020 [01] LA Lakers basketball legend Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna and 7 others die in a helicopter crash in foggy conditions in the hills above Calabasas, California

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COUNTRY MUSIC NOTE

2006 [15] Garth Brooks’ “Double Live” album, released in 1998, becomes the first live album certified Double Diamond for sales of over 20 million in America

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AMERICAN’S BEARD’S GOT TALENT:
The owner of America’s “Most Talented Beard” has used his $20,000 in prize money toward the fees for adopting a baby boy. 31-year-old Jonathan Brannan won the title in a contest by the grooming supply company Wahl.

He and his wife Alyssa, who live in Ocean Springs MS, had begun the pricey adoption process about 2 years ago, but ran into a financial hurdle: The typical adoption costs about $43,000. Jonathan says he happened to be sporting a beard when scrolling through Facebook a day before the deadline and he saw an ad for the contest. They quickly put together a video of Brannon’s many talents — including singing at the piano and “Annoying your offspring as much as possible.”

He made sure his beard was especially sculpted for the video. And his hard work paid off. The $20K grand prize is almost exactly the amount he and his wife needed to complete the adoption. Brannan says he and Alyssa believe his winning the contest is “totally and absolutely a meant-to-be thing”, but he also admits “It’s kind of every man’s dream to be recognized for his beard.”

FOUR RANDOM FACTS

1. Turtles and honeybees are both deaf.
2. Bears have favorite trees and will walk for miles just to scratch their backs on them.

3. It takes approximately 12 hours for food to entirely digest.
4. Leonardo Da Vinci invented scissors.

GOOD NEWS

A waiter at an Indian restaurant in Missouri turned down a $2,021 tip the other day, and the whole thing is on video.

He thanked the customers, who were doing a Venmo Challenge thing.

But he said he’s doing okay.  So he told them to hang onto the money . . . go to a different restaurant later . . . and give it to someone else.

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BIRTHDAYS

[87] Bob Uecker, baseball announcer (comedic play-by-play announcer for the Milwaukee Brewers’ radio broadcasts since 1971)/movie actor (“Major League” movies)

[63] Ellen Degeneres, TV personality

[60] Wayne Gretzky, former NHL player (9-time MVP, 10-time scoring champ, 4-time Stanley Cup winner)

MINNESOTA POLICE CATCH ‘DECENT RUNNER’ ‘NOT THE BRIGHTEST CRAYON IN THE BOX’

Being a criminal certainly doesn’t make you smart. Police in Chisago County, Minnesota say they arrested a man on Saturday night (January 9th) who they note is a “decent runner,” but “not the brightest crayon in the box.” The man is accused of stealing another man’s truck while the owner was fueling up at a gas station. The suspect was spotted by police less than 60 seconds after the theft was reported, which led to a pursuit, right up to the doors of the Sheriff’s Office. Police forced the man off the roadway and into a ditch, and he then got out of the vehicle and ran. After another chase on foot police eventually arrested him again—the man’s identity has not been released.

SERIAL TOILET THIEF ARRESTED

A serial toilet thief has been caught in Japan. Police there say 26-year-old Ryusei Takada is suspected of stealing a number of toilets from houses while they were under construction. Police arrested him after he sold a brand new toilet to a second-hand store in the city. Takada worked as an office worker at one of the construction companies, and police say he used his knowledge of the worker’s schedules to sneak onto site and steal the toilets while workers took breaks. They say he stole a total of 18 items, most of them toilets, between October 2020 and now. He reportedly told local media he sold the toilets to cover his living expenses.

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ORANGE IS THE NEW FAT BLOCK:
Many of us think of oranges as an excellent source of Vitamin C. And they are. But according to a new study, there are benefits to eating oranges that you probably never expected.

They just might be the ultimate weight-loss food. And help you avoid heart attacks and stroke.

Researchers at the University of Western Ontario introduced nobiletin, which is extracted from oranges, to the diet of overweight mice.

Not only did this reverse symptoms of obesity in test mice, but it also reduced the harmful build-up of plaque in their arteries, known as atherosclerosis. Separate research has found that nobileton helped rodents that were given a high-calorie diet to stay lean.

TUESDAY JANUARY 26^TH  

1. Vancouver 7 Ottawa 1

Last night’s (January 25th) scheduled NBA game between the San Antonio Spurs and the New Orleans Pelicans was postponed because neither team had enough players available due to contact tracing related to the coronavirus. There have been 22 NBA games postponed so far this season, which began in late December, all but one of those games since January 10th.

2. For just the third time in 48 YEARS, “Jeopardy” ended in a tie.  On Friday’s episode, the contestants were given a final, sudden death question, and the returning champion ended up winning.  (From “Jeopardy!” on Friday, January 22, 2021.)

3. Because of the whole Brexit thing, people in the U.K. can’t bring meat, dairy, and other products with them when they travel into Europe now.  Someone posted footage of cops in Amsterdam, who recently seizeda guy’s ham sandwiches when he arrived on a ferry.

4. Here’s comedian Jeff Foxworthy on how Google will not help with real-life skills.

• Eric Church – has announced that he has not one, but three new albums coming in April! “Heart”, “&”, and “Soul” are the names of the three projects, with the & album coming out April 20^th, exclusively for members of his ‘Church Choir’ fan club. “Heart” arrives April 16th, and Soul will be available April 23.
• Lady A – are now members of The Grand Old Opry. While recording their part for the Feb. 14 TV special “Grand Ole Opry: 95 Years of Country Music,” they were surprised onstage by long-time friend Darius Rucker, who extended the invitation. They later tweeted: “To say we are honored is an understatement. We are so grateful to be a part of this amazing family.”
• Gabby Barrettand her husband, Cade Foehner, welcomed their first child, daughter Baylah May, on Jan. 18th. Gabby shared the news via Instagram last night (Monday, Jan. 25th) with a picture of their daughter swaddled and sucking on a pacifier, although her face wasn’t in full view of the camera. She captioned it, “Gotten to spend a very sweet week with our newest addition.. meet our girl.”

Gabby and Cade met as contestants on American Idol during season 16 and got married in 2019.

Why Is Carrie Underwood So Afraid of Turtles?

CARRIE UNDERWOOD is a vegetarian who loves all animals.  Well, except maybe turtles . . . but that’s only because she got nipped too many times when she was a kid, and now she’s afraid of them.

She talked about it on “The Drew Barrymore Show”.  Quote “It’s not a petrifying fear of turtles.  Out of all animals, they’re the ones who have bit me the most.  I grew up in the country, and turtles were the easiest things to catch because they’re slow.

“I would catch them, and I love animals so much that I’d always try to pet or hug them and that led to them taking opportunities.  I’ve been bitten by lots of turtles.  It does not feel good.”

(Animal bites can be deadly, so let’s NOT go there.  Instead:  “What animal gives you nightmares for no reason?  You haven’t been bitten or attacked . . . they just scare you witless and you don’t even want to be in the same room?”)

FGL’S BRIAN KELLEY CALLS TIME DURING QUARANTINE A ‘CREATIVE RE-BIRTH’

Florida Georgia Line recently shared the news that in addition to their duo project, both Brian Kelley and Tyler Hubbard will spend some time exploring solo projects. For Brian, that means an entire album, which kind of came together during quarantine when he became what he calls “reconnected” with his guitar.

[“I feel like I’ve reconnected with my guitar and my instrument.  I stopped playing with a pick, and I didn’t plan on that.  I just started playing a bunch this summer and kind of would walk out to our porch, and I had this smaller guitar. I could just kinda walk around carrying it and it was super easy.  And then the next thing you know, I tried to play with a pick and I’m like, ‘that feels crazy.’  I used to play with a pick all the time and that felt really weird.  So, just a different kind of thing for me and just really enjoying trying to better myself on the guitar and play a bunch of different songs I never learned before, and just try to work on my skills a little bit.  And I think that’s also helped me through quarantine and through this time help my songwriting.  So, I’m just excited about, kind of a creative re-birth in a sense.”] 

So far, no release date has been released.

Florida Georgia Line will release their new album, Life Rolls On, next month.

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KENNY CHESNEY

Yesterday was the 16th anniversary of the release of KENNY CHESNEY’s album “Be As You Are (Songs from an Old Blue Chair)”.  He celebrated by posting a video on Facebook where he called it one of his favorite albums, and thanked everyone for supporting it.

Then he performed an unplugged, abbreviated version of “Old Blue Chair” . . . while sitting in his old blue chair.  (Here’s the link.  The song starts at 0:30.)

Categorised in: Mornings

This post was written by Dave Palmer