Tuesday February 12

This is day 43 of 2013. There are 321 days remaining.

Today is

Mardi gras is French for Fat Tuesday, referring to the practice of the last night of eating richer, fatty foods before the ritual fasting of the Lenten season, which begins on Ash Wednesday Tomorrow.

This Day in Music

1956, Dean Martin was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Memories Are Made Of This'.
1961, The Miracles' 'Shop Around' became Motown Record's first million-selling single. It was also the label's first #1 hit on Billboard's R&B singles chart.
1964, The Beatles returned to New York City by train from Washington, D.C. for two performances at Carnegie Hall. Tickets ranged from $1.65 to $5.50.
1965, Pye Records announced that they'd signed 'the British Bob Dylan', when they added Donovan to the label. The Scottish singer-songwriter produced a series of hit albums and singles between 1965 and 1970
1967, 15 police officers raided Redlands the West Sussex home of Rolling Stone Keith Richards during a weekend party. The police who were armed with a warrant issued under the dangerous drugs act took away various substances for forensic tests.
1968, Billed as 'Tour 60 cities in 66 Days' The Jimi Hendrix Experience appeared at the Centre Arena, Seattle.
1969, (If Paradise Is) Half As Nice by Amen Corner was at No.1 on the UK singles chart, the group's only UK No.1.
1970, John Lennon performed 'Instant Karma', on BBC TV's 'Top Of The Pops', becoming the first Beatle to have appeared on the show since 1966.
1972, Al Green went to No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Let's Stay Together', his only US chart topper. Tina Turner took the song to No.26 in 84.
1977, Barbra Streisand started a six-week run at No.1 on the US album chart with 'A Star Is Born.'
1977, The Police recorded their first single, 'Fall Out' for £150 ($255) at Pathway Studios, London, England.
1977, Blondie, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers and the Ramones all appeared at the Whisky a Go Go in Los Angeles, California.
1978, Rush appeared at the Birmingham Odeon, England, promoting their new single 'Closer To The Heart', which was in the shops for 99p.
1980, Iggy Pop and The Psychedelic Furs appeared at the Hammersmith Palais, London, England, tickets cost £3 ($5.10).
1989, Aretha Franklin lost a court case against Broadway producer Ashton Springer, who sued for $1 million when Aretha failed to turn up for rehearsals for the stage show Sing Mahalia Sing, blaming her fear of flying on the non appearance.
1994, Alice In Chains entered the US album chart at No.1 with 'Jar Of Flies.'
1994, Celine Dion started a four week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'The Power Of Love', the singers first US No.1, a No.4 hit in the UK.
1995, Van Halen, scored their first US No.1 album with 'Balance.'
1997, David Bowie received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
2000, US blues singer Screamin' Jay Hawkins died aged 70. A Golden Gloves boxing champion at 16, he was married nine times, spent two years in jail, was temporary blinded by one of his flaming props on stage in 1976. He recorded 'I Put A Spell On You' in 1956
2000, Mariah Carey started a two-week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Thank God I Found You.'
2003, Former Doors drummer John Densmore took out legal action against The Doors keyboard player Ray Manzarek and guitarist Robby Krieger for breach of contract, trademark infringement. The band had reformed with Ex- Cult singer Ian Astbury and former Police drummer Stewart Copeland. Densmore said "It shouldn't be called The Doors if it's someone other than Jim Morrison singing."
2004, Eminem's ex-wife Kimberly Mathers was jailed for a month after being found using cocaine while on probation.
2006, Meck feat Leo Sayer was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Thunder In My Heart (Again)'. DJ Meck's remix of Leo Sayer's September 1977 hit which only reached No. 22.
2007, During a press conference at West Hollywood's Whisky a Go Go club Sting confirmed that The Police were getting back together.
2008, Ronald Isley's appeal against a three-year jail term for tax fraud was rejected by a US court. The 65-year-old singer of the Isley Brothers argued against being imprisoned in an Indiana jail on the grounds of age and poor health. The court heard he cashed royalty cheques belonging to his brother O'Kelly, who died in 1996. Isley was ordered to pay more than $3.1m to the US tax service for "pathological" evasion.

Top of the Charts!

In 1966 the won-woman answer to The Beatles from England topped the charts with this rousing song. It was her second and last #1 song.

"My Love" by Petula Clark

This and That

The great Walter Cronkite knew a thing or two about the future, and here is the proof!

Prescription to Success

Stereotypes in the workplace survive. Most construction workers are men, and most teachers are women. There is one profession, though, that's split pretty much 50/50, and the salaries are in the six-figure range... pharmacists!

50 years ago, only 8% of pharmacists were women; today it's 55%. The salaries are almost identical, too, with men getting a slight edge only because they work longer hours. The research shows that "women with children earn less largely because they work fewer hours."

Numbers don't lie...people do

A British woman discovered that she lost more than $40,000 in pay over two years because she typed in the wrong number as she made a bank transfer and the money went to the wrong account. Her salary went to someone else — who doesn’t even have to return it to her.

Posting Bad

You can bet Facebook doesn’t like this. The social network is currently being sued for its use of the Like button, a feature which was patented by a Dutch programmer (Joannes Jozef Everardus van Der Meer) in 1998, five years before Facebook’s launch. The patents were granted as part of the functionality of Surfbook, a social diary that allowed users to "like" each other’s content. The original patent holder has passed away. But the current patent holder (Rembrandt Social Media, LP) has chosen to seek legal action against Facebook.

The Morning Dew

Since coffee is for wusses and tea is too dainty, Mountain Dew has a new morning soda to start your day off right. It's called Kickstart. Kickstart is a "sparkling juice beverage" that contains only 5 percent real juice and 95 percent who-knows-what. Not quite an energy drink, not yet a soda, it comes in "energizing orange citrus" and "energizing fruit punch."

TV Tonight

  NCIS: LOS ANGELES (8p ET, CBS) -- Repeat
BETTY WHITE’S OFF THEIR ROCKERS (8p ET, NBC) -- Two new episodes air back to back.
THE TASTE (8p ET, ABC) -- New
  RAISING HOPE (8p ET, FOX) -- Repeat. A repeat of New Girl follows.
  THE 137th WESTMINSTER KENNEL CLUB DOG SHOW (8p ET, USA) -- Tonight’s finale features the Sporting, Working and Terrier Groups, plus find out which dog is named Best In Show.
  STATE OF THE UNION 2013 (9p ET, ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX) -- President Obama will address a joint session of Congress, and the nation, about the current condition of the country.
MIKE & MOLLY (10:30p ET, CBS) -- Repeat
MODERN FAMILY (10:30p ET, ABC) -- Repeat

New DVD's...

The Man with the Iron Fists (Russell Crowe)
Skyfall (Daniel Craig)
Billy (documentary)
The Sessions (John Hawkes/Helen Hunt)
The Perks of Being a Wallflower (Emma Watson)

Birthdays

• Hall of Fame basketball player Bill Russell is 79
• Sportscaster and former baseball player Joe Garagiola is 87
• Joe Don Baker (Cool Hand Luke) is 77
• Author Judy Blume is 75
• Michael Ironside is 63
• Michael McDonald (Doobie Brothers) is 61
• Joanna Kerns (Growing Pains) is 60
• Arsenio Hall is 58
• Josh Brolin (Milk, No Country for Old Men) is 45
• Jesse Spencer is 34
• Christina Ricci is 33