January 28th is the 28th day of the year. There are 337 days remaining until the end of the year

Today is National Blueberry Pancake Day, National Gift of the Ladybug Day, International LEGO Day, Pop Art Day and National Kazoo Day

ON THIS DAY WITH NICOLET
— On this date in 1911, The Hope Diamond is sold by jeweler Pierre Cartier to socialites Edward and Evalyn McLean of Washington, D.C., for $180,000.

— On this date in 1958, The Lego company patented the design of its Lego bricks, which are still compatible with bricks produced today.

— On this date in 1978, Ted Nugent carved his autograph into the arm of a fan using his bowie knife.

— On this date in 1985, “We Are The World” was recorded

— On this date in 1985, Jimmy Buffett opened his first Margaritaville retail store

THINGS U NEED 2 NO
The rumors were true:  Wendy’s is partnering with the Girl Scouts for an official Thin Mints Frosty.

Coca-Cola is launching a new Orange Cream flavor. The soda combines cola with orange and vanilla flavors and will be available in the U.S. and Canada on February 10th. The flavor, inspired by Creamsicle ice cream bars, will be sold in regular and zero sugar varieties. 

Pringles is collaborating with Miller Lite to create beer can chicken-flavored potato chips. The unique flavor will launch in May 2025. Pringles promises a crispy hoppy aroma with a roasted chicken taste. 

People are now staying warm by placing hot potatoes in their pockets. The trend started in England.Tik Tokers have been posting videos of themselves staying warm by pre-heating their clothing, and dancing around to get their blood moving. 

Someone put together a list of the “most popular Super Bowl foods, by state” . . . and to do it, they say they analyzed internet “search volume data” in the weeks around last year’s Super Bowl. Then they went through some kind of process to figure out which food items were particularly popular in each state. Something must have been a little funky about their analysis, because despite 1,300 possibilities, every state had one of 14 foods as their #1.  And pizza and burgers weren’t the top food anywhere . . . but “knoephla soup” was. That’s a German soup, which usually includes dumplings, potatoes, chicken, vegetables, and cream.  It’s popular in the North Central part of the country . . . but not pizza-level popular. Anyway, here are the results . . .Buffalo chicken dip is America’s favorite Super Bowl food by a landslide. And most popular in Minnesota & Wisconsin.  It’s the top-searched dish in 29 states in the Midwest, Northeast, and Southeast. And then there’s the Spanish pastry sopapillas, which is #1 in New Mexico . . . crawfish étouffée, which is #1 in Louisiana . . . and knoephla soup, which is #1 in North Dakota

The Adams County SPCA, in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania is hosting a unique Valentine’s Day event called “Neuter Your Ex”. They are offering discounted spay and neuter services for pets they will name after exes. The event aims to promote responsible pet ownership and help control the pet population. The SPCA says, “Please know no humans will actually be castrated during this fundraiser, this is all in good fun to raise money for our FREE program to help stop the spread of unwanted litters in Adams County.’’

PETA wants Punxsutawney Phil to be retired to an animal sanctuary, and replaced with a “Weather Reveal” cake, which would be like a gender reveal party.  Of course, there’s basically no chance of that happening. 

A new study in rodents found that males who had won more fights are more willing to fight in the future.  Where as novices didn’t want to fight at all.  Scientists are using rodents to find patterns in how humans interact and react in these situations. 

Are you on a diet? Odds are, this time of year, you are. Maybe you’re not calling it a diet — you’re just eating differently. Either way, a study found the average adult will try 126 different diets during their lifetime. Assuming you begin adulthood at 18, that’s about two diets a year.

A small Australian town recently banned showers lasting longer than five minutes after the entire community’s water pump failed. Residents of the town of Mungindi have been urged to avoid all non-essential water usage until the problem can be fixed. The town is home to 600 people. An official says, “A pump failure caused dirty water to enter the clear water tank, and therefore, no water can be supplied to the reservoirs until this tank has been emptied, cleaned and refilled.”

Super Bowl 59 tickets start at $4,800, with the most expensive seats costing up to $525,000.