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Overnight Briefing & General Reality Check - Feb 14, 2012
February 14, 2012
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Valentine's Day Overview:
A little history: St. Valentine's Day celebrates the feasts of two Christian martyrs of this name back in 269 AD. The festival, however, is connected with fertility and dates back, some historians believe, to the Roman fertility festival of Lupercalia, which traditionally took place each Feb 15. Europeans of the Middle Ages believed that birds choose their mates on Valentine's Day.
Another says that ever since St. Valentine drew a picture of a heart and wrote inside it "From your Valentine" back in 270 AD, hearts have been a symbol of love. The custom of ending verses has been traced back to the 13th century, though the first commercial Valentine's didn't appear until the early 1800's.
Editor's note: Like American men care. They just wanna know where the nearest card, candy and flower shop is. (Maiman)A few Valentine's Day quotes:
--"Without love in the dream, it will never come true." --Grateful Dead
--"You shouldn't listen to a woman who's just had her heart broken. We tend to lie." --Bree Van De Kamp, "Desperate Housewives"
--"When you are in love with someone you want to be near him all the time, except what you are out buying things and charging them to him." --Miss Piggy
--"I'll be the moon when the sun goes down /Just to let you know that I'm still around. /That's how strong my love is /Oh that's how strong my love is." --Otis Redding
--"I was nauseous and tingly all over. I was either in love or I had smallpox." --Woody AllenTop-10 most romantic love songs:
The NY Daily News compiled a list of the "100 Most Romantic Love Songs Of All Time." The criteria was each song had to have been in the Top 20 during the year it was released, and be at least 10 years old. Here's the Top 10:
10. "I Can't Stop Loving You" --RAY CHARLES
9. "Michelle" --THE BEATLES
8. "Are You Lonesome Tonight" --ELVIS PRESLEY
7. "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" --ROBERTA FLACK
6. "In My Life" --THE BEATLES
5. "You Are So Beautiful" --JOE COCKER
4. "I Just Called To Say I Love You" --STEVIE WONDER
3. "Wonderful Tonight" --ERIC CLAPTON
2. "I'll Be There" --JACKSON 5
1. "My Girl" --THE TEMPTATIONSTop talkables of the day:
Nothing says love on Valentine's Day like a tour of a New York City sewage plant.
The Newtown Creek Wastewater treatment plant in Brooklyn is yours for the asking. JIM PYNN, your tour host and superintendent of the plant, says the highlight of the tour will be the plant's giant egg-shaped digesters, which break down the noxious waste into harmless sludge and gas.
As a bonus, each Valentine's Day visitor will get a Hershey kiss.
Editor's note: Just don't go at low tide.
--Romance. It's in the air. (Maiman)Like you really care:
Are you too shy to approach the object of your affection? Perhaps you should tell ROSIE O'DONNELL about your Valentine's crush! In Touch Weekly reports the chatterbox was interviewing JENNY MCCARTHY during the Super Bowl festivities and the perky blonde revealed she's got a thing for TIM TEBOW! Ro jumped right up, grabbed the former Playmate, introduced her to the Broncos cutie and instructed them to "exchange phone numbers." The approach seemed to work --she got his digits despite being 15-years his senior! (Lee)
Models:
The cover girl for the 2012 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue is KATE UPTON. The 19-year-old blond Michigan native wears three red tiny triangles in a barely-there string bikini. T-M-Z.com leaked the cover on its website yesterday afternoon, but it was supposed to be officially unveiled on "The Late Show with David Letterman" last night, anyway. (Bartha)
Grace notes:
When MICHAEL JACKSON died, his music earned millions for his estate. That's not going to happen with WHITNEY HOUSTON. See, Michael wrote most of his songs, and that's where the real money is. Whitney didn't write anything, and she was told what to sing by then Arista Records chief, CLIVE DAVIS. But, DOLLY PARTON is going to add to her fortunes. She wrote one of Whitney's biggest hits, "I Will Always Love You," and since that's being played literally non-stop on radio stations all over the world, Dolly will earn around eight cents every time it gets played. You do the math. (Marino)
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