INTERPREP ★ FEBRUARY 7, 2020

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Audio • Bits & Breaks • Country Prep • Datebook • Datebook Tomorrow • Entertainment • Fun & Games • News & Nuggets • News Attack • Number for the Day • Television • Wacky-But-True • User’s Guide    Facebook Group

DATEBOOK: FEBRUARY 7, 2020

BIRTHDAYS

• James Spader is 60

• Actor-comedian Eddie Izzard is 58. Eddie is currently running 28 marathons in 28 countries in 28 days. • LINK

• Chris Rock is 55

• Ashton Kutcher is 42

IT HAPPENED TODAY

• 1964: The Beatles arrived at JFK International Airport to begin their first tour of the United States.

• 1985: New York, New York became the official anthem of the Big Apple.

• 1990: The Central Committee of the Soviet Communist Party agrees to give up its monopoly of power. It was the beginning of the collapse of the Soviet Union.

• 2006: A dentist in England was banned from working after allowing her unqualified boyfriend to carry out dental work on patients in her surgery. The boyfriend worked on more than 600 people, drilling out cavities without local anesthetic and installing expensive fillings that crumbled within days, often leaving patients in agony.

• 2014: Jay Leno said goodbye after 22 years of hosting The Tonight Show.

SPECIAL EVENTS

• Ballet Day

• Bubble Gum Day

• Harry Potter Book Night

• Laura Ingalls Wilder Day

• Wave All Your Fingers At Your Neighbor’s Day. Instead of giving your neighbor one finger, wave with all of them.

• Wear Red Day

• Working Naked Day

• Send a Card to a Friend Day

• Fettuccine Alfredo Day

DATEBOOK WEEKEND

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 8

• Composer-conductor John Williams is 88. Newscaster Ted Koppel is 80. Nick Nolte is 79. Robert Klein is 78. Mary Steenburgen is 67. Vince Neil of Motley Crue is 59. Seth Green is 46.

• Opera Day. Kite Flying Day. Potato Lover’s Day.

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 9

• Carole King is 78. Joe Pesci is 77. Mia Farrow is 75. Judith Light is 71. Country singer Travis Tritt is 57. Charlie Day is 44. Tom Hiddleston is 39. Michael B. Jordan is 33. Rose Leslie is 33.

• Academy Awards. Autism Sunday. Man Day. Pizza Day. Read in the Bathtub Day. World Marriage Day. Bagels and Lox Day.

NUMBER FOR THE DAY

69: The record for the most babies born to one woman. While the woman’s name is not known, she lived in Shuya, Russia, from 1707-1782.

NEWS ATTACK!

People who drink two or more sodas a week have a much higher risk of pancreatic cancer. [That’s why I try to stick to whiskey.]

Biologists discovered that male birds will work like crazy to attract a mate but once they have her attention they lose interest. [The biologists are calling this the Leonardo DiCaprio Effect.]

There’s snow everywhere. [Didja ever notice, even though no two snow flakes are alike, all slush looks exactly the same?]

You can tell Valentine’s Day is just around the corner. [(Jock) has been wearing his red shirt even on days when he doesn’t have spaghetti for lunch.]

The Oscars are Sunday night. [It’s like the Super Bowl for movies, but without the entertainment.]

A new report says taking vacations is good for us. [So is pizza — and it’s cheaper.]

A golden retriever has set a new world record by carrying six tennis balls in its mouth. [Now that’s a Super Bowl halftime show.]

Commuters are loving a new cereal to-go cup that mixes the cereal with the milk as it enters your mouth. [Sure beats how I eat on the drive in to work: I’ve lined the inside of my center console with plastic and fill it with cereal and milk before I leave the garage.]

Donald Trump addressed the nation Thursday and ripped into everybody from Nancy Pelosi to the FBI. [So it was like any other day.]

NEWS & NUGGETS

NIGHTCLUB APOLOGIZES FOR PROMOTING ‘CORONA CHINESE NEW YEAR’ PARTY _ A nightclub and promotion company in Australia has apologized for hosting a “Corona Chinese New Year Special” amid the deadly coronavirus outbreak. Promotion company Mr. Chan’s was set to host the event at the nightclub Pawn & Co (in Melbourne) tonight (Friday). Mr. Chan’s advertised the event beforehand, offering a limited-edition face mask and $8 Corona beers. They also promoted it through an Instagram post that featured a graphic of a man in a cartoon rice hat holding a beer with a face mask covering his mouth.

… The president of the Chinese-Australia Friendship Association called the event “ignorant, racist and insensitive,” which led to Mr. Chan’s and Pawn & Co issuing apologies.

HUNDREDS AT FUNERAL FOR WW2 HERO _ Hundreds of people turned out for the funeral of a World War 2 veteran who had no surviving relatives. Jim Auton, who died aged 95 in January, had been awarded 20 medals by six different countries. Veteran groups put out an appeal for attendees at the service. Hundreds answered the call to pay their respects on Thursday, including fellow veterans.

POSTING STRONG OPINIONS ON SOCIAL MEDIA CAN RUIN YOUR CHANCES OF BEING HIRED _ On the hunt for a new job? You may want to cut back on time spent posting to social media. A new study from Penn State finds that people who come across as conceited and self-absorbed, or tend to post frequently with strong opinions on controversial topics, are less likely to be hired.

… Posting about alcohol or drug use is also a red flag among hiring managers or recruiters. All in all, the study makes a strong case for just logging off in general until you secure that dream job.

VIRAL PHOTO SHOWS POLITICIAN DRINKING FROM CHOCOLATE SYRUP BOTTLE _ It was, for a few hours, a perfectly silly mystery for Twitter to try and solve: Why was Tennessee Rep. Kent Calfee photographed drinking from a bottle of Hershey’s chocolate syrup while he was at work? • IMAGE

… Social media lit up with joy, jokes and confusion after a photo showed the 70-year-old drinking from his chocolate syrup bottle on the floor of the Tennessee House of Representatives before the State of the State address. The mystery isn’t such a mystery to those in Tennessee. Political reporter Natalie Allison tweeted that Calfee regularly brought the syrup bottle with him. Calfee explained, “It’s a repurposed syrup bottle that I drink my water out of. I’m not going to buy a $25 or $35 or $45 water bottle that’s not worth what it costs because I’ll probably put it down and leave it somewhere.”

FB icon Start it on Facebook, take it to the phones: Using an old Hershey’s chocolate syrup bottle for water is odd, but frugal. How does the super frugal person in your life save money?

BURGER KING IS LETTING PEOPLE EXCHANGE A PHOTO OF THEIR EX FOR A WHOPPER _ Burger King restaurants will celebrate Valentine’s Day by turning ex-flames into flame-grilled Whopper sandwiches. In honor of the release of the new film Birds of Prey, in which Margot Robbie plays the lead who embarks on her post-breakup emancipation from The Joker, four of the fast-food chain’s major locations across the country will give “scorned” lovers the chance to exchange one printed photo of their ex for a flame-grilled Whopper.

… For those who don’t live near a “breakup box” location, Burger King is also launching an in-app quiz on their app that will give participants a chance to get a $3 Whopper. In order to receive the deal, guests must answer four out of five questions correctly.

… The four participating locations.

  • New York City – 327 W 42nd St, New York, NY 10036 (Valid from Feb. 14-16)
  • San Francisco – 35 Powell Street, San Francisco, CA 94102 (Valid Feb. 14)
  • Los Angeles – 545 North Victory Boulevard, Burbank, CA 91502 (Valid Feb. 14)
  • Boston – 150 Everett Avenue, Chelsea, MA 02150 (Valid Feb. 14)

PEOPLE ARE LOVING THE CEREAL TO-GO CUP _ Cereal is the easiest meal to make: pour it into a bowl or glass, add milk, use spoon. But if you’re the active type, people are going nuts over the CrunchCup, a travel mug where your cereal and milk don’t meet until they hit your mouth. You can eat everything from sweet Fruit Loops to crunchy granola on the go without ever slurping soggy cereal. • LINK

MAN ACCIDENTALLY KILLED NEIGHBOR WITH A CROSSBOW WHILE TRYING TO SAVE HIM _ A Massachusetts man accidentally killed his neighbor with a crossbow while trying to save him from a dog attack. When police arrive they found the dogs “engaging in a volatile confrontation,” and they then “turned the attack onto responding officers.” The dogs, which were said to have a history of acting aggressively, were killed by the officers.

… Inside the apartment, police found the body of an adult man who had been killed by a crossbow. A child, who was unharmed, was found in another room. Authorities said they believe a neighbor heard the mauling in progress, called the police, and then entered the apartment and shot at the dogs with a crossbow. The arrow struck one of the dogs, went through a door, and then struck the man being mauled as he was attempting to barricade himself from the attack.

… The death is being treated as an accident.

OBVIOUS: TAKING REGULAR VACATIONS IS GOOD FOR YOU _ Ready for this earth-shattering news? Making time for regular trips or vacations with family and friends is linked to higher overall well-being. Yep, taking time away from the daily grind is good for you. In a study, Americans who say they take regular trips have significantly higher well-being than those who say they do not.

WHY DO CATS LOVE BOXES? _ Large boxes, shoe boxes, and even just items that look like boxes — cats, it seems, can’t resist squeezing into cardboard spaces. Scientists say they haven’t fully understood why our feline friends have a love for boxes, but they have a number of theories. The most popular is that cats are instinctively drawn to boxes because they offer security and shelter from predators while they stalk their prey. A veterinarian in the Netherlands (Utrecht University) recently studied stress levels in shelter cats. She discovered that cats who had boxes got used to their new surroundings faster than those who didn’t because the boxes acted as a coping mechanism. Boxes also offer safe places for cats to take a nap. Felines can sleep for 18 to 20 hours a day, so seeking out a hidden place would help their chances of survival in the wild.

… They could also be trying to escape unwanted attention. According to The Domestic Cat: The Biology of its Behavior, cats don’t have good conflict resolution strategies and running and hiding is a coping mechanism for this.

… But it’s not just boxes. Cats appear to try to fit into any enclosed space such as drawers and shopping bags. Wired magazine claims that this may be because cats are trying to stay warm. Compared to humans, felines have a much better tolerance to higher temperatures. Small places are ideal insulators, which may explain while a cat will try and curl up in a shoe box.

30 PERCENT OF U.S. ADULTS HAVE USED ONLINE DATING _ Dating app usage in the U.S. is on the rise, but so are the issues it brings. According to a new study (Pew) on online dating, 30 percent of U.S. adults have at some point used a dating app or website. That’s up from just 11 percent in 2013. A smaller number of U.S.adults, 12 percent, said they found a long-term relationship via online dating. A majority of users reported an overall positive experience with online dating.

… However, the study found that 37 percent of online dating users said someone on a site or app continued to contact them after they said they were not interested. 35 percent said they were sent an explicit message or image they didn’t ask for. 28 percent called them an offensive name.

HOT WHEELS CAMARO VALUED AT THE SAME PRICE AS FOUR REAL CAMAROS _ Toy collector Joel Magee of Pawn Stars fame has acquired a prototype of an original Hot Wheels Camaro that was part of the 1968 “Sweet 16” series of the first Hot Wheels cars. Magee says the Camaro is valued at $100,000.

… Only a few prototypes are known to have been mistakenly sent to retailers and most buyers would have been clueless. That appears to be what happened to the Camaro as it was found among a set of several other Hot Wheels cars. Joel examined the collection and consulted a Hot Wheels expert to determine that the “lone white Camaro was, in fact, the rarest of rare.” Magee says the Camaro is the third rarest Hot Wheels car and the only one of its kind believed to exist. That puts it in rare company as The Beach Bomb and the Olds 442 are the only other rare Hot Wheels on the level of the white enamel Hong Kong Camaro.

DOG BREAKS GUINNESS WORLD RECORD FOR AMOUNT OF TENNIS BALLS IN MOUTH AT ONCE _ A New York golden retriever recently set a new Guinness World Record. Finley is capable of fitting six whole tennis balls in his mouth at once. The old Guinness World Record, set by a Texas golden retriever named Augie in 2003, was for only five.

NOTHING SAYS ‘I LOVE YOU’ MORE THAN TACO BOUQUET _ Forget the flowers, get spicy this Valentine’s Day with tacos. Pig Floyd’s in Orlando is offering a ValenTaco bouquet box for your special someone. Select three specialty tacos that will accompany an assorted floral arrangement. You can choose between eight types of tacos including pork belly, butter chicken, pork al pastor, shrimp and sausage and Korean Kimcheeze. • IMAGE

TO SLIM DOWN, BRUSH AFTER EVERY MEAL _ If you want to keep trim, forget the diet books and gym membership — you may be better off just brushing your teeth more often. In a survey of the everyday habits of nearly 14,000 people, researchers in Japan found that those who managed to stay slim tended to brush their teeth after every meal. Overweight men sometimes went more than a day without brushing their teeth, according to the study.

REMEMBER THIS? A YEAR AGO THIS WEEK: NFL FANS EAT ‘TIL THE PAIN GOES AWAY _ A study that looked at 475 NFL games among 30 teams found that in cities where the home team lost a game on Sunday, the following Monday there was a 16 percent spike in the consumption of high-fat, high calorie processed foods.

WACKY-BUT-TRUE

WACKY-BUT-TRUE: GUY POSTS PERSONAL AD WANTING TO MEET WOMAN WHO FARTED NEAR HIM _ We’ve heard of unique ways to try to hook up, but a guy in the UK came up with a new one. The man was apparently in a train station when he noticed a woman sitting near him who tried to play it off like she hadn’t just passed gas. This must have appealed to the man because he posted this personal ad online: “To the blonde in the red rain coat … you looked around to see if anyone heard you pass wind. We shared a smile. Coffee?”

WACKY-BUT-TRUE: HOMEWORK KEEPS THE FIRE GOING _ In Canada, two 16-year-old boys went snowboarding in the back country and were reported missing when they didn’t return as scheduled. Search efforts were hampered by bad weather, so they spent the night in the wild, but the next day a helicopter found the boys, and brought them out. They survived by building a fire: one of the boys said he had homework in his backpack “and that definitely helped keep the fire going.”

WACKY-BUT-TRUE: DON’T COMPLIMENT MY JACKET _ Two men in a Palm Coast, Florida, McDonald’s told LDarius Smith that they liked his outfit. The men say Smith got irate, flipped the bird, and started yelling at them. They ignored Smith, who left the restaurant and allegedly started recording video of them. Concerned, one of the men called 911, which they say prompted Smith to pull a bat out of his truck and take a swing at them. Smith allegedly threw a nickel at the men, hitting one in the forehead hard enough to leave a mark. Police are still searching for Smith: he was last seen wearing a black-and-yellow jacket with the Batman logo on it — the same jacket the men had complimented.

WACKY-BUT-TRUE: 13-YEAR-OLD WILL BE A DELAYED DRIVER _ A policeman England spotted a car running at 70 in a 30 mph residential area and gave chase. In addition to the speeding, the driver was going the wrong way, in the dark without lights, and drunk. He was also just 13 years old, and police caught him when he lost control and crashed. A judge banned him from driving — to start when he becomes eligible for a driver’s license.

WACKY-BUT-TRUE: YOUR KID IS NAKED IN YOUR WINDOW _ Kids are weird. Fortunately, most of their weirdness is pretty comical. An eagle-eyed neighbor recently texted Cedar Rapids, Iowa, mom Jeni Boysen to let her know that her 2-year-old was up to no good. When mom Jeni made a bold decision to take a quick shower, her 2-year-old son Dax was happily watching Peppa Pig in the other room. “What could go wrong?” she thought.

… Unbeknownst to mom, Dax apparently decided pretty quickly that he was over Peppa. So over it, in fact, that he decided to shed every last piece of his clothing and roam around the house. Within minutes, he had found a pretty good hiding spot. It was there that, moments later, a neighbor spotted him — and instantly snapped a photo to send to Jeni. The text read: “Your kid is naked in your window.” The photo showed Dax standing naked as a jaybird in an upstairs window. Had Jeni gone looking for Dax she may have had a hard time finding him since he was naked at the window with the curtains closed.

WACKY-BUT-TRUE: SHOCK AFTER ALCOHOL FLOWS FROM KITCHEN TAPS _ Residents of an apartment building in southern India were left in shock after a mix of beer, brandy and rum started gushing out of their taps. The smelly, brown liquid began flowing from kitchen taps in Kerala Monday morning. Residents contacted authorities for help and discovered their water well had been contaminated by officials accidentally. It was learned that over 1,500 gallons of confiscated alcohol had been buried nearby. The alcohol, which officials had placed in a pit after it was seized on court orders, had seeped through the soil and into a well — the same well which supplied the residents of 18 apartments with drinking water.

ON TELEVISION

FRIDAY

SEASON PREMIERE: MACGYVER (8p ET, CBS) — Henry Ian Cusick (Lost) joins the cast in the Season 4 premiere.

THE DEMOCRATIC DEBATE (8p ET, ABC) — New. Chief anchor George Stephanopoulos, World News Tonight’s David Muir and ABC News correspondent Linsey Davis will moderate the debate in New Hampshire.

LINCOLN RHYME: HUNT FOR THE BONE COLLECTOR (8p ET, NBC) — New. A bizarre murder at a university research site thrusts Amelia and Kate into the world of post-mortem forensics.

WWE SMACKDOWN (8p ET, FOX) — New.

CHARMED (8p ET, CW) — New.

HAWAII FIVE O (9p ET, CBS) — New. Grover’s niece (guest star Nia Holloway) goes missing from the police academy and it’s discovered her boyfriend is an undercover member of the Yakuza. The episode was directed by series star Ian Anthony Dale and co-written by series star Chi McBride.

DATELINE (10p ET, NBC) — A new, 2-hour edition

DYNASTY (9p ET, CW) — New.

MO’NIQUE & FRIENDS: LIVE FROM ATLANTA (10p ET, Showtime) — New stand-up special

SEASON PREMIERE: HIGH MAINTENANCE (11p ET, HBO) — Ben Sinclair is back with new episodes.

HONEY BOY (Amazon Prime) — This 2019 drama was written by and co-stars Shia LaBeouf. Based on his own life, the film follows a former child star as he looks back on his tortured relationship with his troubled father.

HORSE GIRL (Netflix) — Alison Brie (Glow) stars in this new psychological thriller as a shy craft-store employee slowly losing her grip on reality. Molly Shannon and Paul Reiser also star.

SERIES PREMIERE: MYTHIC QUEST: RAVEN’S BANQUET (Apple +) — This new series follows a group of video game developers as they navigate the challenges of maintaining a popular video game. It was created by It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’s Rob McElhenney and Megan Ganz. McElhenney, F. Murray Abraham, David Hornsby, Danny Pudi, Ashly Burch, and Charlotte Nicdao star.

SERIES PREMIERE: LOCKE AND KEY (Netflix) — Based on the comic books by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez, this new series follows three siblings who move to their family’s creepy, ancestral house after their father is murdered, only to find it filled with supernaturally powered keys and a malevolent force.

SATURDAY

XFL (11a ET, ABC) — After a one-and-done season in 2001, XFL Football reboots with the Dragons vs. the Defenders and the Wildcats vs. the Roughnecks.

MA (8p ET, HBO) — Octavia Spencer stars in this 2019 thriller as a lonely woman who invites a group of teens to party at her house, and then things get weird.

SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE (11:30p ET, NBC) — New. RuPaul hosts with musical guest Justin Bieber.

SUNDAY

THE OSCARS (8p ET, ABC) — No host again this year for the Academy Awards. Joker leads with 11 nominations, followed by The Irishman, Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood, and 1917 with 10 nominations each, and Jojo Rabbit and Little Women with six. All six films along with Marriage Story, Ford V Ferrari, and Parasite are competing for Best Picture.

… All five nominees for Best Original Song will be performed by Cynthia Erivo, Elton John, Idina Menzel, AURORA, Chrissy Metz and Randy Newman, and there will be a special performance from multiple Grammy winner Billie Eilish.

AMERICA’S GOT TALENT (8p ET, NBC) — Repeat. Followed by 2 repeats of Ellen’s Game of Games.

NCIS (8p ET, CBS) — Everything on CBS is repeats.

SEASON PREMIERE: HOMELAND (9p ET, Showtime) — After addressing Russian interference in American affairs in Season 7, the series returns to the Middle East for its eighth and final season, with Saul (Mandy Patinkin) summoning Carrie (Claire Danes) to Afghanistan.

AVENUE 5 (10p ET, HBO) — New.

SEASON PREMIERE: KIDDING (10p ET, Showtime) — Jim Carrey is back for Season 2, as the children’s TV show host with issues.

ENTERTAINMENT

IN THEATERS TODAY _ Birds of Prey will open with around $50 million.

… In theaters: Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) (R)

… Opening next weekend: Downhill (R); Fantasy Island (PG-13); The Photograph (PG-13); Sonic the Hedgehog (PG); What About Love (NR)

OSCAR NOMINATIONS _ The Oscars are Sunday night.

The only category you care about: Best Film

  • Ford v Ferrari
  • The Irishman
  • Jojo Rabbit
  • Joker
  • Little Women
  • Marriage Story
  • 1917
  • Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
  • Parasite

The only category your kids care about: Best Animated Film

  • How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World
  • I Lost My Body
  • Klaus
  • Missing Link
  • Toy Story 4

DISNEY APOLOGIZES TO SCHOOL AFTER CHARGING THEM TO SCREEN LION KING _ You know those warnings that show up at the start of a DVD or Blu-ray which warns you that the movie is for home use only? Most people probably pay them little to no attention, but it turns out Disney takes them very, very seriously. As you may have heard, Emerson Elementary School in Berkley, California screened 2019’s The Lion King recently during a “parent’s night out” fundraising event, and shockingly, Disney charged them for doing so. Yes, several months after the event took place, the school got an email from Movie Licensing USA, informing them that they’d illegally screened the film and now had to pay $250.

… Facing a whirlwind of backlash online after word of this got out, Disney’s CEO (Bob Iger) issued an apology to the school Thursday, revealing that he’ll personally be donating to their fundraiser initiative.

GAL GADOT MAY BE RETURNING TO FAST AND FURIOUS FRANCHISE _ By this point, the Fast & Furious series is pretty familiar with resurrection: a number of ‘dead’ characters have come back in later films. Now there’s word that Universal wants to bring back another character from beyond the grave: Gal Gadot’s Gisele, who, if you’ll recall, met her end back in Fast & Furious 6.

… A source says the studio is hoping to have Gadot star not only in Fast & Furious 10 but also have her in the all-female spinoff movie that’s being planned.

DISNEY MAKES BRUNO MARS DEAL _ After months of discussion, Disney has set a deal with Bruno Mars. The studio will develop a music-themed theatrical narrative feature that Mars will star in and produce. The plot is being kept under wraps. This comes in the wake of a a deal with Lin-Manuel Miranda for the Hamilton musical film, for which the studio paid $75 million for worldwide rights.

HEINZ SALUTES ITS FAMOUS KETCHUP’S FILM CAMEOS IN OSCARS CAMPAIGN _ Kraft Heinz Canada has launched a fun campaign around the Oscars that has included trying to get an official IMDb page up for Heinz Ketchup, recognizing all the cameos the condiment has enjoyed in movies over the years. The IMDB page was taken down by the site — which Heinz is taking as an Adam Sandler-level snub. Now, it’s asking fans to find movies featuring Heinz Ketchup and share them on their social feeds, with the promise of free ketchup for those who take part. • VIDEO

STREAMING SUBSCRIPTIONS AND MOVIE TICKET SALES RISE TOGETHER _ A study commissioned by the National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO) found that subscribers to multiple streaming services were also more likely to buy more movie tickets.

… In addition, the survey found that 53 percent of all respondents were more likely to stream a movie if they knew that it had been released in theaters, compared to 6 percent who said they were less likely.

FOX PICKS UP MUSICAL GAME SHOW I CAN SEE YOUR VOICE WITH KEN JEONG _ Ken Jeong will host I Can See Your Voice for Fox, a music mystery game show. Like The Masked Singer, which also involves music and mystery/guessing, I Can See Your Voice is based on a South Korean format. The series will premiere later this year.

… Unlike The Masked Singer, I Can See Your Voice does not involve actual singing until the reveal. Each week, one contestant will have the chance to win a cash prize if they can tell the difference between the good and bad singers, without ever hearing them sing a note. Helping the contestant navigate through rounds of lip sync challenges, comedic hidden clues and true-or-false evidence will be a panel of celebrity comedians/experts and a musical superstar, an element that mirrors The Masked Singer. In the end, the singer whom the contestant picks will reveal if they are good or bad in a duet performance with the musical superstar. If the chosen singer can hold a tune, they will receive a special reward, but if the singer is tone-deaf, they will receive a cash prize.

DEMI LOVATO IS GETTING HER OWN TALK SHOW ON QUIBI _ Demi Lovato, who recently sang the national anthem at the Super Bowl and delivered a heartfelt performance of her new single Anyone the week before at the Grammys, is getting a 10-episode Quibi series called Pillow Talk With Demi Lovato. She will have unfiltered conversations with both celebrity and expert guests on topics including activism, body positivity, sex, relationships, social media and wellness.

… Quibi will launch on April 6. It’ll cost $4.99 per month for ad-supported streaming, and $7.99 for ad-free service. It’ll have 175 new shows in its first year.

NETFLIX WILL LET YOU STOP THOSE ANNOYING AUTO PREVIEWS _ Your long global streaming nightmare is finally over. At long last, Netflix is letting users turn off those annoying previews that automatically play whenever you fire up the app. Netflix said that although some people find the previews useful, it gets that many, many others can’t stand them. From the Manage Profiles settings on a browser, you can enable or get rid of “Autoplay previews while browsing on all devices.”

CBS NEWS RESPONDS TO GAYLE KING’S CRITICISM OF EDITED CLIP _ Gayle King said she was “embarrassed” and “mortified” over a clip from an interview she did with basketball star Lisa Leslie discussing the legacy of Kobe Bryant that King says was taken “out of context.” The clip focused heavily on the late Bryant’s rape trial from 2003, and King had asked Leslie if that news tarnished his legacy in her eyes. The moment sparked outrage from stars like Snoop Dogg and Vivica A. Fox, as well as many others on Twitter who said King was being opportunistic in the wake of Bryant’s death.

… On Thursday however, King said that the clip from the interview was shared by the network without her knowledge, and it failed to show the full scope of the interview King did with Leslie.

… King said that after the full interview aired on Wednesday, she spoke with Leslie, who said she was satisfied with the full interview. Leslie in the clip said it’s time for the media to move past discussing the court case, and King stressed in her Instagram post how powerful that moment was to her and said she insisted that moment be in the interview to provide a full sense of context.

MATTHEW PERRY BECOMES THE SIXTH AND FINAL FRIENDS STAR TO JOIN INSTAGRAM _ Matthew Perry has become the sixth and final Friends star to join Instagram. His sitcom costar Lisa Kudrow wrote on her Insta: “Finally!!! Yay!! Can’t believe my eyes MY EYES.” Perry has yet to make his first Instagram post. • LINK

KEITH RICHARDS QUITS SMOKING _ Keith Richards finally has quit smoking. The Rolling Stones guitarist, whose body was already a marvel of human endurance, has finally lit up for the last time. Richards, age 76, says he’s been cigarette-free since October.

SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE ADDS JOHN MULANEY, DANIEL CRAIG AS SEASON 45 HOSTS _ Comedian John Mulaney will host the February 29 episode of Saturday Night Live, marking his third visit to Studio 8H. Formerly a writer for SNL, Mulaney previously hosted the show in April 2018 and March 2019. He’ll be joined in February by musical guest David Byrne, who also recently appeared on Mulaney’s Netflix special John Mulaney and the Sack Lunch Bunch.

… Actor Daniel Craig will then host the March 7 installment to promote the upcoming James Bond film, No Time to Die (in theaters April 10). This will be Craig’s second time hosting, while musical guest The Weeknd will be back for his third appearance.

… As previously reported, RuPaul will preside over SNL’s February 8 episode with performances from Justin Bieber.

AUDIO

Find these audio files on the PRO AUDIO PAGE.

  The Oscars are Sunday night. Do do you remember which film won in 2019?

  The rebooted XFL begins this weekend. The commissioner shares with ESPN a couple of rules he likes.

BITS & BREAKS

THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT KISSING

• Men and women kiss for different reasons. Males tend to kiss as a means of gaining sexual favors, or as a means of affecting reconciliation… Females kiss more as a mate-assessment device.

• The odds a woman will kiss her partner on their first date are 1 in 1.85, or about 54%.

• Most people naturally turn their head to the right when kissing, whether they’re left or right handed.

• Kissing is healthy. Couples instructed to kiss more “experienced improvements in perceived stress, relationship satisfaction, and total serum cholesterol.”

• Men are more likely to enjoy their first kiss than women are. In fact, women are more likely to remember their first pair of shoes than their first kiss.

CUPID WITH CLASS

Avoid these common Valentine’s Day mistakes with the help of Phineas Mollod and Jason Tesauro, authors of The Modern Lover: A Playbook for Suitors, Spouses, and Ringless Carousers…

• Roses are wrong. Roses once a year means the calendar, and not romance, motivates you. Offer something unique, like a bunch of wildflowers or a houseplant that will last all year.

• Cards can kill. Women sniff out drugstore cards from 20 paces. Homemade is better. Use construction paper to make old-school valentines, then stick them in her path. She’ll be giddy as a schoolgirl.

• Dinner is dull. A romantic evening shouldn’t include a restaurant crammed full of other couples. Use the home-field advantage and serve her a meal you make.

SIX EASY DIET TIPS

If you’re tired of counting calories and measuring everything you eat, don’t despair. Here are some simple, easy-to-remember diet tips from doctors, chefs, and the general public. They’ve been compiled by Michael Pollan in his book Food Rules.

• Rule #1: If it grew on a plant, eat it. If it was made in a manufacturing plant, skip it.

• Rule #2: Avoid foods with ingredients you wouldn’t buy for your pantry, like celluose, ammonium sulfate and xanthan gum. They’re simply additives created to extend shelf life, make old food look more appetizing than it really is, and get you to eat more.

• Rule #3: Don’t eat breakfast cereals that change the color of your milk. Cereals like that are highly processed, and full of refined carbs, sugars, and chemical additives.

• Rule #4: Do all your eating at a table. Your desk is not a table. Pollan points out that if you eat while you’re working, watching TV or driving, you’re eating mindlessly, which means you’re eating a lot more than if you were at a table, and paying attention to what you’re doing.

• Rule #5: You can eat all the junk food you want – as long as you make it yourself. After all, it’s a lot of work to make French fries, cakes and ice cream. If you had to make them yourself, you’d eat a lot less.

• Rule #6: Eat when you’re hungry, not when you’re bored, or need comfort, a reward or entertainment. Try this test: Reach for an apple. If you’re not hungry enough to eat it, then you’re not really hungry.

FEBRUARY IS CHOCOLATE LOVER’S MONTH

A lot of chocolate is sold in February. Here are some things you may not know about the sweet treat.

• A recent study indicates when men crave food, they tend to crave fat and salt. When women crave food, they tend to desire chocolate.

• Most space flights have always included chocolate.

• Chocolate contains phenylethylamine (PEA), a natural substance that is reputed to stimulate the same reaction in the body as falling in love.

• Chocolate manufacturers currently use 40 percent of the world’s almonds and 20 percent of the world’s peanuts.

• German chocolate cake did not originate in Germany. In 1852, Sam German developed a sweet baking bar for Baker’s Chocolate Co. The product was named in honor of him — Baker’s German’s Sweet Chocolate.

• It’s a common myth that chocolate aggravates acne. Experiments conducted at the University of Pennsylvania and the U.S. Naval Academy found that consumption of chocolate — even frequent daily dietary intake — had no effect on the incidence of acne. Professional dermatologists today do not link acne with diet.

• One plain milk chocolate candy bar has more protein than a banana.

• Pet parrots can eat virtually any common “people-food” except for chocolate and avocados. Both of these are highly toxic to the parrot and can be fatal.

• The daughter of confectioner Leo Hirschfield is commemorated in the name of the sweet he invented: Although his daughter’s real name was Clara, she went by the nickname Tootsie, and in her honor, her doting father named his chewy chocolate logs Tootsie Rolls.

• The Swiss consume more chocolate per capita than any other nation on earth. That’s 22 pounds each compared to 11 pounds per person in the United States.

FUN & GAMES

TRIVIA: In England, what is the hobby of people known as “twitchers”? (Bird-watching. In the United States they’d be called birders.)

TRIVIA: 80% of snake bite victims get bitten how. (After harassing the snake)

TRIVIA: Every minute, a person goes through 7 quarts of what? (Air)

TRIVIA: Thomas Edison had a collection of 5,000 what? (Birds)

DATEBOOK: FEBRUARY 10, 2020

BIRTHDAYS

• George Stephanopoulos is 59

• Laura Dern is 53

• Elizabeth Banks is 46

• Emma Roberts is 29

• Chloe Grace Moretz is 23

IT HAPPENED TODAY

• 1949: “Jumping Joe” Fulks of the Philadelphia Warriors introduced the jump shot, scoring a then-NBA record 63 points against the Indianapolis Jets.

• 1957: The Styrofoam cooler was invented.

• 1987: At the Maritime Aquarium in Gothenburg, Sweden, 65-year-old Smiley became the oldest alligator ever to freeze to death when someone apparently turned off the electricity heating her pool.

• 1993: With 90-million Americans watching, Michael Jackson told Oprah Winfrey his light skin was caused by a disorder called Vitiligo. He admitted he had had “minor” plastic surgery on his nose.

• 2014: A report (from The Center for Responsive Politics) said that millionaires made up the majority of Congress.

SPECIAL EVENTS

• Children of Alcoholics Week

• International Flirting Week

• Jell-O Week

• Secondhand Wardrobe Week

• Freelance Writer Appreciation Week

• Westminster Dog Show

• Have a Brownie Day

• Clean Out Your Computer Day

• Umbrella Day