WEDNESDAY, Jan 3 – DAILY PREP TEXT VERSION

MORNING SIDEKICK DAILY PREP TEXT VERSION FOR WEDNESDAY, January 3, 2024
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COMEDY MP3s POSTED ON OUR PREP SITE FOR TODAY: A & M AUTOLAND – Baby New Year

TODAY IS …
(All days repeat annually on today’s date unless otherwise noted; days may or may not be called “National”/”International”/”World” depending on source; sources listed often have additional info. We generally do not list special days which were created by commercial companies for the purpose of marketing, or the hundreds of disease awareness listings which occur each year.)

FESTIVAL OF SLEEP DAY
The Cute Calendar website says this:
“This sleepy day offers a cozy opportunity to rest after the New Year’s celebrations. Taking part in the Festival of Sleep Day is easy. All one has to do is find oneself a comfortable spot somewhere and fall asleep. Beds are not required. You are absolutely fine with napping on the sofa, your favorite pillow, on your teddy bear or anywhere you want. It is a nice occasion to invite friends for sleepovers, too. But beware of the fact that even on Festival of Sleep Day sleeping at school, at work or behind the steering wheel of a vehicle is not recommended.”

J.R.R. TOLKIEN DAY (The author’s birthday)
The Tolkien Society website says this:
“Each year on 3 January, the Tolkien Society encourages Tolkien fans from across the world to celebrate the Professor’s birthday with a simple toast-drinking ceremony. At 9 pm your local time, simply raise a glass and toast the birthday of this much loved author. The toast is simply: ‘The Professor!’ All you need to do is stand, raise a glass of your choice of drink (not necessarily alcoholic), and say the words ‘The Professor’ before taking a sip (or swig, if that’s more appropriate for your drink). Sit and enjoy the rest of your drink.”

NATIONAL CHOCOLATE COVERED CHERRY DAY

NATIONAL DRINKING STRAW DAY

January is:

Adopt a Rescued Bird Month
Be Kind to Food Servers Month
Family Fit Lifestyle Month
Financial Wellness Month
Get Organized Month
National Candy Month
National Clean Up Your Computer Month
National Hobby Month
National Skating Month
National Train Your Dog Month
Walk Your Pet Month

ENTERTAINMENT & CELEBRITIES

JEREMY RENNER BACK ON THE SNOWPLOW

Actor-slash-heavy equipment driver Jeremy Renner says he has started using his snowplow again, a year after he ran over himself with it. On Tuesday, the actor said during a radio interview (on KOST 103.5 FM), “You have to go the eye of the storm of something, of anybody’s problems. Fears can prevent you from actual healing, prevent you from moving forward in your life or stop you from doing things that are helpful or growth in your life, so I always go to the eye of the storm. I’m not going to allow fear to dominate my actions or lack thereof of actions, so I got back on that machine and I start it up and I move it around.”
* You fool! This is just what the Snowplow was expecting you to do.
* Just remember those two all-important words when you’re facing a fear like this: Emergency Brake.
* Maybe he should start small with, like, a rider mower.
* Five Marvel movies and two TV shows, and he still can’t afford to have someone plow his driveway? Guy needs a better agent.
* It’s been a year. Is there anybody left who sees “Jeremy Renner” and “snowplow” in the same headline and doesn’t roll their eyes?

THE BUZZ

STRANGE KITCHEN HABITS

Reddit asked, “What’s the weirdest habit you’ve witnessed in a friend’s kitchen?” Some of the responses:
– “Knew a guy that kept his chef knifes stabbed into the wall.”
– “My friend’s parents made everyone drink a full glass of milk with every meal, including guests.”
– “I opened a friend’s fridge and it contained 30-40 cans of whipped cream and NOTHING ELSE. Family of 3.”
– “The dish rag gets used once only. Do the dishes, wipe down the stove top, counters, cupboard fronts then throw in the trash and get a new one.”
– “I worked with someone who told me that if she ever cooks and bakes for other people she will strip down to her underwear to avoid any cross contamination of dog hair from her clothes.” (* I believe Martha Stewart also does this.)
– “My husband will leave every cabinet door and every drawer he goes into open and walk away. I can go into our kitchen and know where he’s been and likely what he’s eating.”
– “At a friend’s house for spaghetti. When everyone was done, the mom scraped all the uneaten spaghetti on everyone’s plate back into the big pot.”
– “I watched my coworker wash his potatoes with dish soap. Threw the chopped, unpeeled, soapy potatoes into a pot. Boiled them, mashed them. Tasted like a sad, soapy pile of compost.”
– “My husband has a habit of just putting used utensils in the freezer. Not washed, just licked clean. Says the freezer kills the bacteria and he can reuse them as many times as he wants.”
* PHONE TOPIC: What’s the strangest kitchen habit you’ve seen?

U.S. NEWS

DUMB CRIMINAL: CAR CHASE SUSPECT STOPS FOR GAS IN MIDDLE OF CHASE

A California man in a Toyota RAV4 suspected of DUI was being chased by the California Highway Patrol Monday evening. Deputies called off the chase as the driver approached speeds of 100 mph. Thinking he’d lost the cops, the driver pulled into a gas station to refuel, unaware that a TV news helicopter was monitoring his location from above. Police quickly sped toward the gas station just as he was finished pumping. He sped back onto the freeway and plowed through several red lights before finally surrendering to California Highway Patrol officers.
* He would have made it if he hadn’t squeegeed the windshield.
* Nice of him to fill up the car for police impoundment. That’s, what, 50 bucks down the drain?
* DUI, huh? Shoulda chugged a large coffee while he was at it.
* Imagine if he’d also bought a winning lottery ticket. Now THAT would be a story!
* We have the first “blooper” footage for that new Car Chase Channel.

WOMAN’S MISSING HUSBAND WAS AT A DIFFERENT RESTAURANT

This happened back in November, but is just coming to light now. In Longboat Key, Florida, a woman called police to say that she had dropped her husband off at the front door of a restaurant before parking her car nearby. When the woman entered the restaurant, her husband was nowhere to be found. In a state of panic, she called the police for help. After a search, the officer found the husband eating lunch at a different restaurant nearby. The woman joined her husband, and the officer left.
* “Thanks a lot, officer,” said the husband. “Thanks a helluva lot.”
* Boy, that cop’s on the fast track to detective, huh?
* He may have been missing, but he wasn’t missing that delicious conch salad.
* If only there was some kind of personal communication device people could carry around that would let them get in touch with each other when stuff like this happens.
* Happy ending, but now their meal schedule was off for the rest of the day.

GIRL SCOUT COOKIE-SCENTED DEODORANT

The Native deodorant company has partnered with the Girls Scouts for a line of Girl Scout cookie-inspired hygiene products. The limited-edition collection features scents emblematic of five iconic Girl Scout cookies: Thin Mints, Trefoils, Samoas, Do-si-dos and Lemonades. For example:
– The Thin Mint scent is available as a body wash, shampoo and conditioner.
– The Trefoils vanilla scent comes as deodorant and body wash.
– Samoas – caramel, coconut and chocolate – is available as a deodorant, body spray, body wash, shampoo and conditioner.
– Do-si-dos, the peanut butter cookie, comes in deodorant and body wash.
– Lemonades come in deodorant and body spray.
Products range from $9 to $14 and are available on Native’s website now through late June and at Target through early March.
* You know, maybe 2024 ain’t gonna be so bad after all.
* It’s about time, because I’m tired of holding those Thin Mints under my armpits.
* I’ve put on five pounds reading this story.
* You go out on a date with somebody who suddenly smells like Do-si-dos. Are you intrigued, turned off, or or just wish you were home with a sleeve of Do-si-dos?
* It’s fun now, but come Spring – ANTS! LOTS AND LOTS OF ANTS!!

TRENDING

JANUHAIRY

Did you know that it’s “Januhairy”? Januhairy is an initiative to celebrate body hair, challenging women to put down their razors for the month. The campaign’s official Instagram account, which has over 40,000 followers (* Out of a population of 332 million? WOW!!!), posts images of women celebrating their body hair in a bid to normalize it. Januhairy founder Laura Jackson says, “Januhairy is liberating because it gets you thinking about the way you treat your body and why. Maybe soon we’ll be at a point where people can just do what they want in relation to body hair and we won’t even need to talk about it.”

ALMANAC

NOTABLE DATES, UPCOMING U.S. OBSERVANCES

January 15, Monday – Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
January 26, Friday – Int’l Holocaust Remembrance Day (UN)
February 2, Friday – Groundhog Day
February 10, Saturday – Chinese New Year (The Year of the Dragon)
February 12, Monday – Lincoln’s Birthday
February 14, Wednesday – Valentine’s Day
February 19, Monday – Presidents Day / Washington’s Birthday
February 13, Tuesday – Shrove Tuesday/Mardi Gras
March 10, Sunday – Daylight Saving Time Begins
March 17, Sunday – St. Patrick’s Day
March 19, Tuesday – Spring begins, Spring Equinox is 11:06 p.m. EDT
March 20, Wednesday – First full day of Spring

BIRTHDAYS

Florence Pugh (actress, “Don’t Worry Darling,” “Little Women”) … 28
Eli Manning (legendary NFL quarterback) … 43
Mel Gibson (actor/director) … 68
Victoria Principal (actress, author, businesswoman) … 74
John Paul Jones (bass guitarist with Led Zeppelin) … 78
Steven Stills (musician with Crosby Stills Nash) … 79
Dabney Coleman (actor, “9 to 5”) … 92

BIRTHDAY QUOTE QUIZ – Ask your listeners “Who said it?” HINT: Today’s their birthday!

“I got to a very desperate place. Very desperate. Kind of jump-out-of-a-window kind of desperate … when you get to that point where you don’t want to live, and you don’t want to die, it’s a desperate, horrible place to be.”

(A) Tom Hanks
(B) Oprah Winfrey
(C) Mel Gibson

ANSWER: (C) Mel Gibson

THIS DAY IN HISTORY

2022 – Apple became the first U.S. company to be worth $3 trillion in value, after tripling its price in under four years.
* And they asked me to pass along that their nextiPhone is gonna be really, really, great and you should get one.

2004 – NASA’s Spirit rover landed on Mars. Three hours after landing, the craft was able to send back black and white images.
* And even now, the Hollywood versions of the Martian surface are still better looking.

2000 – Charles M. Schulz’s final original “Peanuts” daily comic strip appeared in newspapers.
* RATS!

1984 – A woman died at Disneyland after falling from a ride. She had apparently unfastened her seatbelt while on the Matterhorn bobsled.
* It’s A Cruel World After All.

1957 – The first electric watch was introduced, in Lancaster, PA.
* It was pretty cool, if you didn’t mind dragging the extension cord around.

1947 – Congressional proceedings were televised for the first time.
* It would be the most boring thing on TV until the invention of the PBS pledge break.

1888 – The first wax drinking straw was patented, by Marvin C. Stone in Washington, D.C.
* Followed 10 minutes later by the first spit ball.

1847 – The California town of Yerba Buena was renamed San Francisco.
* Good thing, too. “I Left My Heart In Yerba Buena” just doesn’t cut it.

THIS DAY IN MUSIC HISTORY

2020 – Rod Stewart was charged by police following an alleged altercation at a hotel in Florida on New Year’s Eve. A police document accused Stewart of punching a security guard after he and his companions, including his son Sean, attempted to get into a private party in a children’s area at the Breakers Palm Beach Hotel.

2004 – After hosting the show for over 30 years, Casey Kasem gave up the hosting duties of “American Top 40” to Ryan Seacrest.

2000 – Luciano Pavarotti agreed to pay the Italian authorities $2.72 million after losing an appeal against tax evasion charges. It was reported that the singer was worth $510 million at the time.

1987 – Aretha Franklin became the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

1981 – David Bowie made his final appearance as the Elephant Man in the Broadway show.

1979 – The band “The Hype” appeared at McGonagils in Dublin. They would later be known as U2.

X-TREME TRIVIA CHALLENGE

Every installment of X-Treme Trivia Challenge includes three mystery factoids. Create your own “Impossible Question” contest – great for listener giveaways and phone interaction starters! Also a perfect sponsorship opportunity!

1. Kids were asked what they most hate to hear their parents say. Number One was, “Money doesn’t grow on trees.” THIS was Number Two. What is it?
“We’ll see.”

2. Almost half of kids today will have one of THESE before they’re four years old. What is it?
A cavity

3. Three quarters of preschoolers can use a computer, but fewer than 10% of them can do THIS. What is it?
Tie their shoes

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