Born on this day!! Actor-comedian Garrett Morris is 84. Singer Don Everly of The Everly Brothers is 84. Bluegrass singer Del McCoury is 82. TV personality Joy Philbin is 80. Guitarist Mike Campbell of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers is 71. Blues musician Sonny Landreth is 70. Actor-writer-producer Billy Mumy (“Lost in Space”) is 67. Singer Exene Cervenka of X is 65. Actor Linus Roache (“Law and Order”) is 57. Actor Sherilyn Fenn (“Twin Peaks”) is 56. Singer Lisa Marie Presley is 53. Comedian Pauly Shore is 53. Actor Brian Krause (“Charmed”) is 52. Jazz saxophonist Joshua Redman is 52. Drummer Patrick Wilson of Weezer is 52. Actor Michael C. Hall (“Dexter,” ″Six Feet Under”) is 50. Rapper Big Boi of Outkast is 46. Musician Jason Isbell is 42. Singer Andrew VanWyngarden of MGMT is 38. TV personality Lauren Conrad (“The Hills,” ″Laguna Beach”) is 35. Actor-singer Heather Morris (“Glee”) is 34. Singer Harry Styles (One Direction) is 27.
THIS DAY IN GENIUS HISTORY
1790 – The Supreme Court of the United States convened for the first time, in New York City.
1862 – Julia Ward Howe’s poem “Battle Hymn of the Republic” was published in the Atlantic Monthly.
1884 – The first volume of the Oxford English Dictionary A–Ant, was published.
1946 – A press conference announced the first electronic digital computer, ENIAC, was held at the University of Pennsylvania.
1960 – Four black college students began a series of sit-ins at a white-only lunch counter in Woolworth’s, Greensboro, N.C.
1968 – During the Vietnam War, a Viet Cong officer was executed with a pistol shot to the head by Saigon’s police chief and the image captured in a famous news photograph.
1979 – Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini returned to Tehran after 15 years of exile.
2003 – The space shuttle Columbia disintegrated as it tried to reenter the Earth’s atmosphere after a sixteen-day mission in space. All seven members of the crew were lost.
2004 – Janet Jackson’s famous “wardrobe malfunction” occurred at Super Bowl XXXVIII.
2009 – Johanna Sigurdardottir takes office as Iceland’s first female prime minister.
Today Is: Candy-Making Day, Car Insurance Day, CBC Day, Change Your Password Day, Decorating With Candy Day, G.I. Joe Day, Hula in The Coola Day, International Brownie Camera Day, International Day of Black Women in The Arts, International Face & Body Art Day, Freedom Day, National Get Up Day, Robinson Crusoe Day, Spunky Old Broads Day, World Hijab Day
TODAY ON TV!
Primetime TV (All Times Eastern)
CBS – 8:00 – The Neighborhood / 8:30 – Bob Hearts Abishola / 9:00 – All Rise / 10:00 – Bull
NBC – 8:00 – Ellen’s Game Of Games / 9:00 – The Wall / 10:00 – The Weakest Link
ABC – 8:00 – The Bachelor / 10:00 – The Good Doctor
FOX – 8:00 – 911 / 9:00 – 911 Lone Star
CW – 8:00 – All American Stories / 9:00 – Batwoman
TV Talk Shows
Jimmy Fallon: Bryan Cranston, John Cena, Remi Wolf
Stephen Colbert: Ethan Hawke, Mickey Guyton
Seth Meyers: Post Malone, Mary Steenburgen, Matt Cameron
Conan: Jay Baruchel
The Talk: Josh Lucas
Live with Kelly and Ryan: John David Washington, Katherine Heigl, Dr. Gail Saltz
Ellen DeGeneres: Tracee Ellis Ross, Rita Wilson
The Real: Remy Ma, Papoose
WHAT ARE YOU TALKIN’ ABOUT? Here are today’s PPM-Friendly Topics!
QUESTION: Why is this man going to jail for a THIRD TIME?? He keeps CATFISHING WOMEN by pretending to be a lawyer or surgeon!!! Is he YOUR online boyfriend??
QUESTION: Were you looking for BIDEN BITS on SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE this week??? Keep on looking!!! Biden is getting the honeymoon that Trump never got!!!!!!!!!
QUESTION: Are you FIXING and MAKING DO?? Many people are using very old household items!!! What is the oldest thing in your household still in regular use?????????
QUESTION: She said WHAT??? Singer Halsey has announced that she’s PREGNANT, and calls her bun in the oven a “little MINI-HUMAN!!!!” We say right on to that!!!!!
QUESTION: Wondering what the GAME STOP short-selling saga is really all about?? Trading app RobinHood stopped the little people from selling.. and they have a message!!
Snoop and Martha To Host The Puppy Bowl
Snoop Dogg and Martha Stewart are set to host Puppy Bowl XVII on Feb. 7 at 2 p.m. EST on Animal Planet and streaming service Discovery+. Snoop Dogg and Stewart will be representing the blue Team Fluff and red Team Ruff, respectively, during the special, while also creating drinks and dishes for the event. The duo will also be bringing their own dogs, including Snoop Dogg’s French bulldogs Juelz Broadus and Chalk, and Stewart’s French bulldogs Creme Brulee and Bete Noire along with her Chows Chows, Empress Qin and Emperor Han. The puppies participating in Puppy Bowl XVII hail from rescues Annenberg Pet Space, Paw Works and SPCA LA. The three-hour special will feature 70 adoptable puppies who are competing for the Lombarky trophy. Referee Dan Schachner is returning and Kristen Bell will be on hand as she works with Annenberg PetSpace to feature labrador mix Java who is looking for a home.
*******How about the “Blouse Puppy Bowl???” We used to like that one!!
******Is it just us, or is Snoop Dogg turning into the 2021 version of Donny Osmond?? He’s everywhere!!
*******We just heard about the Lingerie Bowl being canceled!! Nobody tells us anything!!!
*****In last year’s Puppy Bowl, the QB went under center and stayed there for 10 minutes, sniffing his butt!!
Jessica Simpson Weighs In On The Subway Tuna Lawsuit
Jessica Simpson has weighed in on Subway’s latest lawsuit. Subway was sued for fraud by two plaintiffs who claim the sandwich chain doesn’t use actual tuna in its tuna sandwiches. The fast-food giant denied the claims on Friday, writing, “There is simply no truth to the allegations in the complaint that was filed in California. Subway delivers 100% cooked tuna to its restaurants, which is mixed with mayonnaise and used in freshly made sandwiches, wraps and salads that are served to and enjoyed by our guests.” Enter Simpson, who on Friday reacted to the viral news story on Twitter. “It’s OK @SUBWAY. It IS confusing,” she tweeted. Her tweet comes 17 years after she admitted she was unsure if she was eating chicken or tuna when consuming Chicken of the Sea tuna. “Is this chicken what I have, or is this fish? I know it’s tuna, but it says chicken…by the sea?” Simpson asked Nick Lachey during the 2003 episode of their former MTV reality show, “Newlyweds: Nick & Jessica.” Lachey, who was shocked by her request, tried explaining: “‘Chicken of the Sea’ is the brand because, you know, a lot of people eat tuna, and a lot of people eat chicken, so it’s like ‘Chicken of the Sea.'” “I understand now, I read it wrong,” Simpson replied.
********We’re just glad to get out of Subway alive!!!
*******We were confused when we got the Italian sub, had it tested, and they found no Italian in it!!!
******The last time Subway was sued, it was because their bread has so much sugar, it’s technically not bread!! (true)
The Weeknd Spends His Own Money On Halftime Show
The Weeknd is shelling out the big bucks for his upcoming Super Bowl Halftime Show appearance. He and his team recently spoke with Billboard magazine and revealed that he spent a whopping $7 million to ensure his Halftime Show performance would go as planned. “We’ve been really focusing on dialing in on the fans at home and making performances a cinematic experience, and we want to do that with the Super Bowl,” the Weeknd told Billboard. His manager, Wassim Slaiby, then pointed out that, even though the event organizers will foot the bill, the Weeknd has contributed $7 million of his own money to “make this halftime show be what he envisioned.” “We always had the Super Bowl on our bucket list, and we’ve always had timelines for all of our goals,” says co-manager Amir “Cash” Esmailian. “It came a few years earlier than we expected.”
*********He actually bought those shark costumes from Katy Perry!!! That was $3 million right there!!
*******In his honor, they’ll play the game on a weekend day!! Probably a Sunday!!
TOPIC: Greatest Super Bowl halftime show?? For our money.. Prince!!
Meghan Markle Changes Her Name On Archie’s Birth Certificate
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have changed up Archie’s birth certificate with Markle erasing her first name and both adding royal names. After Archie was born in 2019, many royal watchers learned Markle’s true given name — Rachel — for the first time when his birth certificate was revealed. Now the latest copy of the document, obtained by The UK Sun, shows Markle edited the certificate about a month after Archie’s May 6, 2019, birth, nixing “Rachel Meghan.” Now she is listed as “Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Sussex.” Prince Harry also added “Prince” to the document to complete his title of “His Royal Highness Prince Henry Charles Albert David Duke of Sussex.” Archie, who turns 2 years old in May, is seventh in line to the throne. The revisions were made days before they announced they would sever ties to the charity they shared with Kate Middleton and Prince William, amid rumors of a rift between the brothers and their wives. Meanwhile Saturday, Harry’s summer travel plans to London were revealed. He is expected to fly there in June to attend his grandfather Prince Phillip’s 100th birthday party and the Trooping of the Colour, among other festivities. Meghan and Archie are expected to remain at the couple’s home in Los Angeles.
********We’re tellin’ ya… she doesn’t want the Queen to take Archie and make him stay in the UK!!
******Meghan doesn’t have time for the old people in London!! She’ll be hanging with Oprah, the Queen of the Universe!!
*******You would think she’d want to be there for the Trooping of the Colour, since she’s a woman of colour!!!
*******She told Archie, “You can’t go to London until they’re ready to make you King!!!”
Matthew Perry Wrote Physics Paper For Julia Roberts
Matthew Perry went the extra mile to convince Julia Roberts to star in the 1996 post-Super Bowl hour-long episode of “Friends.” “Matthew asked her to be on the show,” the executive producer Kevin Bright told The Hollywood Reporter. “She wrote back to him, ‘Write me a paper on quantum physics and I’ll do it.’ My understanding is that Matthew went away and wrote a paper and faxed it to her the next day.” Roberts and Perry hit it off over fax. They may have met before the episode, but she was interested in him from afar because he’s so charming,” staff writer Alexa Junge said. “There was a lot of flirting over faxing. She was giving him these questionnaires like, ‘Why should I go out with you?’ And everyone in the writers room helped him explain to her why. He could do pretty well without us, but there was no question we were on Team Matthew and trying to make it happen for him.” Apparently, the extra help worked. During shooting, co-writer, Jeff Astrof recalled: “She kept saying, ‘Chandler’s so funny!’ And I’m like, ‘I wrote every one of those lines!’ I don’t know if she fell in love with Matthew on the spot but they soon started dating. I felt like Cyrano [de Bergerac]. Like, ‘Chandler is going to date Julia Roberts and I’m going to go home to my horrible girlfriend.’”
*******So that’s what it takes?? Quantam Physics??? He wanted to see her “quark??”
******We thought dating was just biology… but there must be some chemistry involved, as well!!!
******At some point, Matthew ran out lines, and she dumped him!!
Kelly Clarkson Selling Marriage Home
Kelly Clarkson is re-listing the final home she shared with her ex, Brandon Blackstock, for $9 million — shaving a million dollars off her original asking price. The Encino home was first listed back in May 2020 for $10 million one month before Clarkson filed for divorce after seven years of marriage. She initially bought the home in June 2018 for $8.5 million after landing a spot as a judge on the singing show “The Voice.” The property also comes with a two-story guest house that has a full kitchen and two full bathrooms. The outdoor area is situated on park-like ground with palm trees surrounding the gated area. It includes a sparkling pool, spa, built-in lounge, firepit and fully equipped kitchen with a pizza oven. Clarkson also slashed the price of her Tennessee home by more than a half-million dollars on Jan. 6th.
********Times are tough… not!!!
********Maybe he can buy the houses with some of the money he embezzled!!!!
Ripping The Tabloids (Throughout the week, we’ll give you the stories from that weeks tabs!)
**Please Credit Publication!
McCartney Ex Heather Engaged To Boytoy-(National Enquirer)
Paul McCartney’s ex-wife Heather Mills, 53, is reportedly engaged to boytoy beau Mike Dickman, 36. Pals said Heather and the film producer recently exchanged commitment rings after 18 months of dating. They met on a train when Heather slipped Mike a note, saying: “I think you’re hot. Email me.” She and the Beatles legend, 78, divorced in 2008 and share daughter Beatrice, 17.
Pregnant Ashley Moves On Up-(Globe)
Zac Efron’s “High School Musical” cos-star Ashley Tisdale, pregnant with her first baby, is looking for a new place to call home. The 35-year-old blonde’s selling her L.A. pad to the tune of nearly $6 million. She and hubby Christopher French, the 39-year-old singer of band Annie Automatic, just bought the five-bedroom place in 2019, but she now reportedly wants even bigger digs for her sprouting family.
Loose Talk-(Us Weekly)
“I’m the voice from the ceiling coming in.”-On installing cameras in her kids’ rooms to keep an eye on them at all times, Jessica Alba.
“These emojis have come to bite me in the ass.”-On how using a baby bottle on a post lead fans to think she was pregnant, Dua Lipa.
“They’re very cheeky.”-His response when asked about the personalities of his two eldest children, Prince George, 7, and 5-year-old Princess Charlotte, Prince Williams.
Ben’s Bad Break-(Star)
Not taking it well! Days after news broke of Ben Affleck’s split from Ana de Armas, the 48-year-old was spotted looking haggard and forlorn in L.A. Jan. 19. “He’s been very down and still can’t seem to get it in his head that it’s totally done,” a source says of the Oscar winner, who has been very public in his affection for the 32-year-old actress. The pair got together early last year after meeting on the New Orleans set of the thriller Deep Water. As lockdown hit, the lovebirds were photographed almost daily walking the dog, picking up his favorite Dunkin’ coffee or hanging with his three kids with ex-wife Jennifer Garner. In recent months, however, sources say Ana pumped the brakes. “Ana started to crave space,” says the insider. “So she asked Ben for a time-out.” Still, Ben, whose high-profile romances have included Gwyneth Paltrow and Jennifer Lopez, is having a hard time getting over the breakup.
Inside Gwen’s To-Do List-(Life & Style)
When it comes to Gwen Stefani’s upcoming “I do” with Blake Shelton, there are still a lot of decisions to make. A source says the bride is choosing between spring and summer dates, Southern California and Oklahoma settings and John Galliano and Vivienne Westwood gowns. Plus, there’s whether or not to perform her and Blake’s latest duet, “Nobody But You,” at the reception. Blake, 44, “definitely wants to sing it, but Gwen is on the fence,” adds the source, noting that it’ll be one more aspect of the wedding the bride, 51, has to worry about. “Irregardless of if they duet or not, though, the nups are going to be epic!”
Court-(People)
Singer Adele, 32, and her ex-husband, entrepreneur Simon Konecki, 46, reached an agreement on their divorce settlement. They first announced their split in April 2019 after seven years together. The two share 8-year-old son Angelo.
Winner of the Week-(In Touch)
Josh Duhamel
The actor is tapped to play Jennifer Lopez’s fiancé in Shotgun Wedding after Armie Hammer drops out amid the release of his alleged explicit DMs.
STUPID NEWS
Tallest Dog Dies
Freddy, a Great Dane known as the tallest dog in the world, has died. Guinness World Records, which conferred the tallest-dog honor on Freddy in 2016, announced Freddy’s passing in a press release Wednesday. He was eight and a half. When measured by a veterinarian and the book’s editor-in-chief, Freddy stood three feet, four inches “from foot to withers” — the withers being the tallest part of a dog’s shoulder. Standing on his hind legs, he 7 feet and 5.5 inches tall. “He was not just the tallest dog but the dog with the most love and the biggest heart. A total soppy bugger who was hand fed,” Freddy’s owner, Claire Stoneman, told Guinness World Records. When Freddy was named the tallest dog in the world in 2016, Stoneman said it cost her about $123 a week to feed him a diet consisting of whole roast chickens and peanut butter on toast.
********The peanut butter is what killed him!!! His mouth was stuck closed!!
******That dog was taller than Shaq!!!! (7’1″)
******Where did he sleep?? Anywhere he wanted!!!!
Woman Saves The Wrong Wedding Dress
A Minnesota woman who had her wedding dress packaged for preservation 14 years ago said she opened up the box to show it to her daughter — and discovered it was the wrong gown. Wendie Taylor said she was watching a wedding episode of TV series Gilmore Girls with her 12-year-old daughter, McKayla, when she started telling the girl about her own wedding dress. “After the episode, McKayla and I were talking and said, ‘You’ve never actually seen my dress.’ And she said, ‘No, I haven’t I’ve just seen pictures,'” Taylor told WCCO-TV. Taylor said she opened the box that she received after taking her dress to Evans Garment Restoration, where she worked at the time in 2006, but was shocked to see the dress inside was not her own. “It’s a beautiful dress. It’s not my dress,” she said. Evans Garment Restoration has since changed ownership and installed a new software system, so employees have not yet been able to find the records that might lead to the other person involved in the dress mix-up.
*********She also got the wrong husband… but that’s another story!!!
KC Chiefs Memorabilia Record
A Kansas man seeking a Guinness World Record for his collection of Kansas City Chiefs memorabilia said his collection has grown to 643 pieces — and garnered international attention. Curt Herrman, of Manhattan, said he started collecting Chiefs memorabilia after the team won Super Bowl IV when he was 8 years old. He applied for a Guinness World Record in early 2020 to have his then-collection of about 550 pieces of memorabilia officially recognized as the world’s largest. Herrman said he has yet to hear back from Guinness, but his application led being contacted by Spain-based Official World Records. We’ve approved you for the world record,'” Herrman told KSNT-TV. He said the international attention his collection has received has helped him grow it to 643 items. He said he hopes to one day have a Kansas City Chiefs player tour with his collection. Herrman said his collection is likely to grow further, as the team plays the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Super Bowl LV on Feb. 7. See the video HERE.
*********Mahomes would like to send him the head of Tom Brady!!!
TOPIC: What do YOU collect???
Chimp Escapes Zoo Then Returns Later
A chimpanzee at an Australian zoo escaped from its enclosure early Thursday morning, but it returned to the exhibit without any intervention, officials said. The Taronga Zoo in Sydney said a contractor doing work at the facility spotted the male chimpanzee sitting calmly outside of its enclosure at 5:47 a.m. Thursday and alerted officials. The zoo’s emergency response unit was activated, but ended up not being needed, as the chimp returned to its enclosure on its own a few minutes after it was seen by the contractor. “The chimp is safe and well and is being monitored by our specialist keepers and vets,” the zoo said in a statement.
********This is like a wandering husband… they always come back for the food!!
******Didn’t you feel like that when YOU left home?? “It’s scary out there!!!”
STUFF THAT’S COOL AND VIRAL
VIDEO: PARROT SINGS STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN.
VIDEO: GRANDPA CAN STILL DO TRICK ON THE BMX BIKE.
VIDEO: CARGO SHIP BREAKS IN HALF!
A LIST FOR MONDAY
7 Things Anyone Working From Home Must Know Before Deducting a Home Office
The Penny Hoarder
- You can’t claim it if you’re a regular employee, even if your company is requiring you to work from home due to COVID-19.
If you’re employed by a company and you work from home, you can’t deduct home office space from your taxes. This applies whether you’re a permanent remote worker or if your office is temporarily closed because of the pandemic. The rule of thumb is that if you’re a W-2 employee, you’re not eligible.
This wasn’t always the case, though. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act suspended the deduction for miscellaneous unreimbursed employee business expenses, which allowed you to claim a home office if you worked from home for the convenience of your employer, provided that you itemized your tax deductions. The law nearly doubled the standard deduction. As a result, many people who once saved money by itemizing now have a lower tax bill when they take the standard deduction.
Top of Form
- If you have a regular job but you also have self-employment income, you can qualify.
If you’re self-employed — whether you own a business or you’re a freelancer, gig worker or independent contractor — you probably can take the deduction, even if you’re also a full-time employee of a company you don’t own. It doesn’t matter if you work from home at that full-time job or work from an office, as long as you meet the other criteria that we’ll discuss shortly.
You’re only allowed to deduct the gross income you earn from self-employment, though. That means if you earned $1,000 from your side hustle plus a $50,000 salary from your regular job that you do remotely, $1,000 is the most you can deduct.
- It needs to be a separate space that you use exclusively for business.
The IRS requires that you have a space that you use “exclusively and regularly” for business purposes. If you have an extra bedroom and you use it solely as your office space, you’re allowed to deduct the space — and that space alone. So if your house is 1,000 square feet and the home office is 200 square feet, you’re allowed to deduct 20% of your home expenses.
But if that home office also doubles as a guest bedroom, it wouldn’t qualify. Same goes for if you’re using that space to do your day job. The IRS takes the word “exclusively” pretty seriously here when it says you need to use the space exclusively for your business purposes.
To avoid running afoul of the rules, be cautious about what you keep in your home office. Photos, posters and other decorations are fine. But if you move your gaming console, exercise equipment or a TV into your office, that’s probably not. Even mixing professional books with personal books could technically cross the line.
- You don’t need a separate room.
There needs to be a clear division between your home office space and your personal space. That doesn’t mean you have to have an entire room that you use as an office to take the deduction, though. Suppose you have a desk area in that extra bedroom. You can still claim a portion of the room as long as there’s a marker between your office space and the rest of the room.
PRO TIP
An easy way to separate your home office from your personal space, courtesy of TurboTax Intuit: Mark it with duct tape.
- The space needs to be your principal place of business.
To deduct your home office, it needs to be your principal place of business. But that doesn’t mean you have to conduct all your business activities in the space. If you’re a handyman and you get paid to fix things at other people’s houses, but you handle the bulk of your paperwork, billing and phone calls in your home office, that’s allowed.
There are some exceptions if you operate a day care center or you store inventory. If either of these scenarios apply, check out the IRS rules.
- Mortgage and rent aren’t the only expenses you can deduct.
If you use 20% of your home as an office, you can deduct 20% of your mortgage or rent. But that’s not all you can deduct. You’re also allowed to deduct expenses like real estate taxes, homeowner insurance and utilities, though in this example, you’d only be allowed to deduct 20% of any of these expenses.
Be careful here, though. You can only deduct expenses for the part of the home you use for business purposes. So using the example above, if you pay someone to mow your lawn or you’re painting your kitchen, you don’t get to deduct 20% of the expenses.
You’ll also need to account for depreciation if you own the home. That can get complicated. Consider consulting with a tax professional in this situation. If you sell your home for a profit, you’ll owe capital gains taxes on the depreciation. Whenever you’re claiming deductions, it’s essential to keep good records so you can provide them to the IRS if necessary.
If you don’t want to deal with extensive record-keeping or deducting depreciation, the IRS offers a simplified option: You can take a deduction of $5 per square foot, up to a maximum of 300 square feet. This method will probably result in a smaller deduction, but it’s less complicated than the regular method.
- Relax. You probably won’t get audited if you follow the rules.
The home office deduction has a notorious reputation as an audit trigger, but it’s mostly undeserved. Deducting your home office expenses is perfectly legal, provided that you follow the IRS guidelines. A more likely audit trigger: You deduct a huge amount of expenses relative to the income you report, regardless of whether they’re related to a home office.
It’s essential to be ready in case you are audited, though. Make sure you can provide a copy of your mortgage or lease, insurance policies, tax records, utility bills, etc., so you can prove your deductions were warranted. You’ll also want to take pictures and be prepared to provide a diagram of your setup to the IRS if necessary.
As always, consult with a tax adviser if you’re not sure whether the expense you’re deducting is allowable. It’s best to shell out a little extra money now to avoid the headache of an audit later.
The preceding material was compiled and edited by Brandon Castillo. The Editor-In-Chief is Gary Bryan. The Radio Genius Show Prep Service is licensed for use on-air only by subscribing radio stations. Other means of redistribution is forbidden.
© 2020 – Radio Genius Show Prep