Trending This Morning
Happy President's Day!!!! Read on for Quirkie Presidential Facts under Lar's This & That.
A cold morning at the bus stop. Fortunately, no cold wind. Sunshine.Hi 49 - 52 today. Winter Weather Advisory tomorrow from 3A to 10A. Mostly rain, but some will get rain, snow, sleet mix. Sunshine with some strong winds tomorrow. Hi 50. Breezy Wednesday. Hi 41. Partly sunny Thursday. Hi 50. Showers likely on Friday. Hi 41. Mostly sunny weekend. Hi mid 50s.
Rivermont Pizza is hosting a special art show again today to help the Lynchburg Humane Society. Hours 5 to 10. The idea came from the owner of the restaurant, Nate Hall, after his dog Lucy died in September. He asked local artists and friends to incorporate Lucy's picture into their work. You can buy the art by giving a donation.
BMW is recalling almost 570,000 cars in the U.S. and Canada because a battery cable connector can fail and cause the engines to stall. The recall affects 3-Series sedans, wagons, convertibles and coupes from the 2007 through 2011 model years. Also included are 1-Series coupes and convertibles from 2008 through 2012, and the Z4 sports car from 2009 through 2011. Federal safety regulators say the connector and a fuse box terminal can degrade over time. This can break the electrical connection and cause the cars to lose electrical power and stall unexpectedly.
Happy belated birthday. The Texas Tavern turned 83 on Saturday. The restaurant, located on Church Avenue in downtown Roanoke first opened in 1930.
She's the fastest girl in town. Here's one for the NASCAR record books. Danica Patrick is the first woman to have the Daytona 500 pole, as well as the top starting spot in a NASCAR Sprint Cup race. Patrick went out eighth in the qualifying session Sunday and covered the 2½-mile superspeedway in 45.817 seconds, averaging 196.434 mph. She waited about two hours as 37 fellow drivers tried to take her spot. Only four-time Cup champion Jeff Gordon even came close to knocking her off. Stewart-Haas Racing put all three cars in the top six during Sunday's qualifying for the Daytona 500.
Lookin' Back
1841, the first filibuster in the U.S. Senate began. It ended March 11.
1856, The American Party, also known as the "Know-Nothing Party," nominated its first presidential candidate, former U.S. President Millard Fillmore. But, he carried only Maryland and the party soon vanished.
1861, Jefferson Davis was sworn in as provisional president of the Confederate States of America.
1865, after a long Civil War siege, Union naval forces captured Charleston, S.C.
1884, "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" by Mark Twain was published.
1930, Pluto, once identified as the ninth planet of the solar system, was discovered by astronomer Clyde Tombaugh.
2001, Dale Earnhardt Sr., stock-car racing's top driver, was killed in a crash in the final turn of the final lap of the Daytona 500. He was 49.
Cuttin' Cake
Molly Ringwald is 45
Matt Dillon turns 49
Jillian Michaels is 39
Vanna White is 56
John Travolta turns 59
Cybill Shephard is 63
Joke of the Day
What do you call a bee born in May? A: A may-be!
Weird News Today
Last week, police and drug agents stormed a family's property in Illinois . . . because they suspected the family was COOKING METH. Though suspicious because they were using a bunch of tubes and buckets - they were actually making their own MAPLE SYRUP.
The mess was quickly cleared up . . . and they even thanked their neighbors for being vigilant enough to report a possible meth lab. **No word if they had a big neighborhood pancake breakfast or not.
Smarter Than Question
62% of men believe they will find this in heaven. What is it? Rhonda got it. The answer is baseball.
Entertainment Dish
Box office:
1) A Good Day to Die Hard $25 million (projected)
2) Identity Thief $23.4 million
3) Safe Haven $21.4 million
OBIT: Troubled country star Mindy McCreedy was found dead yesterday from an apparent suicide. She was 37. More under News from Nashville. She hit the top of the country charts before personal problems from depression, drugs, and alcohol, sidetracked her career.
Congrats to Hugh Grant. The 52 year old is a dad again for the second time.
Tiger Woods joined vacationing Obama in Florida for a little golf yesterday.
Robin Roberts is back on Good Morning America this week. A fascinating story about her in People this week.
A judge has set a May 6 trial date for Kim Kardashian's divorce case; estranged husband - Kris Humphries - wants an annulment. The trial is expected to last three to five days and could reveal details about Kardashian's reality show empire, which includes "Keeping Up With the Kardashians" and several spinoffs. Humphries' attorney had asked for a delay until basketball season is over, but the judge denied it.
Roll out the red carpet. Who will take Oscar home? The Academy Awards air this Sunday night.
TONIGHT ON TV
ABC: The Bachelor is new and 2-hours followed by a new Castle
CBS: How I Met Your Mother, Rules of Engagement, 2 Broke Girls, Mike and Molly and Hawaii Five-O are all new
NBC: The Biggest Loser and Deception are both new
FOX: Bones and The Following are new
CW: The Carrie Diaries and 90210 are new
News from Nashville
OBIT: How sad, country singer Mindy McCreedy was found dead yesterday in her home of an apparent suicide. She was 37. Her boyfriend died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound back in January. She leaves behind two sons, the youngest born last April. Your heart breaks for those boys. McCready's country hits included her 1996 debut single, Ten Thousand Angels, and the chart-topping Guys Do It All the Time. She released her last album, I'm Still Here, in 2010.
Tim McGraw has the No. 1 with the album with Two Lanes of Freedom while The Band Perry manage to leapfrog to the top of the singles chart with "Better Dig Two" on the Billboard charts.
(Photo: Heidi Gutman/ABC)
He married his sister. Chris Young told Katie Couric last week he recently officiated his sister's wedding ceremony after getting his license to perform the rite.
Must read in Country Weekly, the one thing Tim McGraw wouldn't do. Check it out - Blake Shelton is on the cover this week.
Have you seen Kenny Chesney's video for Pirate Flag? Wouldn't you have loved to be on location with him to shoot it?
Thought I'd share a sunrise with you from our cruise in the Western Caribbean the other week. Those Caribbean Islands make up some spectacular sunrises and sunsets. I know why Kenny Chesney loves 'em so much.
LeAnn Rimes is reportedly suing her dentist over ten botched procedures that are apparently affecting her singing career.
After receiving her 7th Grammy the other week, Taylor Swift may need to make room for more awards. He's been nominated for three 2013 Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards.
'American Idol' contestant Crystal Bowersox - runner-up during Season 9 - will play Patsy Cline on Broadway.
Lar's This & That
Know Your President's
One President liked to skinnydip in the Potomac. Another became stuck in the bath tub. Another was squeamish at the site of blood. Check out the Quirkie Presidential facts.
Spelling Major
I can't tell you that much about Missouri State University . . . except here's a BIG oops for the school They recently printed up 8,500 custom book bags for students . . . and misspelled the word UNIVERSITY. They spelled it U-N-I-V-E-R-I-S-T-Y. They handed out 6,000 of the bags, and say it would cost about $71,000 to remake them. (Yahoo News)
You May Want To Sit Down For This
A new study has proven the impossible: Children eat more vegetables when they're sweetened with SUGAR!
The researchers, by the way, think this is just fine if sugar is used as a tool to get the kids eating vegetables in the first place. Once that's achieved, sugar can be left out of the meal.
Blasting Into Space Is Safer Than Walking
Did you know of the nine types of travel, motorcycles are the least safe. Not surprising? Blasting into space is actually safer than walking. Trains are the safest followed by buses and airplanes. (Daily Mail)
How To Get On Your Bosses Good Side
OK, I told know if the mug will work, but read on. It's always good to score "good points" with the boss. All bosses hate to hear a phrase like like, “That’s not my job.” On the flipside, here are a few things your boss likes to hear.
•The next time your boss wants you to take on an assignment, say “I’d love to – no problem!” Even if that assignment is boring or not your job, showing the boss you're willing to go with the flow will go along way.
•Volunteer to increase that workload. By asking “How can I help?” shows you're full of initiatives and you're a go-getter.
•It's hard for all of us to ask the question “How can I improve?”, but it's a good question to ask because it shows your boss that you want to be a better employee. It also highlights a quality that career experts say is crucial to getting ahead: Self awareness!
•There was a problem and here’s how I fixed it. The best bosses aren’t micromanagers. They trust their employees to do their jobs. When you run to the boss with every problem, the boss will see YOU as the problem. Instead, come up with your own solutions.
Wow...
Two weeks ago, the Harlem Shake was just another odd video on YouTube, today it has 10-million views. 4,000 "Harlem Shake" parodies are being uploaded to YouTube every day, and the track has made it to #1 on iTunes. Why? Who knows. Here's the original:
Firefighters version
Underwater version
Hey' it's catching on.
Good News Story 
Imagine shopping at Michael's yesterday and someone walks up to you and hands you a FREE gift card ranging from $5 to $25. It was all part of Random Acts of Kindness.
Store managers say every customer reacted differently when they received the gift card.
Not only were the recipients happy, but they extended their gratitude by letting customers ahead of them in line. Doing nice things. It might just catch on.
Across the country, the crafts store chain handed out 100-thousand dollars in gift cards.
Lar's Thought of the Day 
Most people have no idea of the giant capacity we can immediately command when we focus all of our resources on mastering a single area of our lives. Tony Robbins
