THURSDAY, Mar 14 – DAILY PREP TEXT VERSION

MORNING SIDEKICK DAILY PREP TEXT VERSION FOR THURSDAY, March 14, 2024
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COMEDY MP3s POSTED ON OUR PREP SITE FOR TODAY: ST. PAT’S SONG – WHEN YOU’RE IRISH IN A BAR; PROMOS-TO-GO

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.)

INTERNATIONAL ASK A QUESTION DAY
The KeepIn Calendar website says this:
“International Ask a Question Day falls on the birthday of Albert Einstein, born on this day in 1879. One of his famous quotes was ‘The important thing is not to stop questioning.’ So, if you’ve been curious about something, unclear about something, or just want more information, ask a question today. The best way to learn is by asking questions. No question is a stupid question.”

LEARN ABOUT BUTTERFLIES DAY
The Holiday Insights website says this:
“Today is Learn About Butterflies Day. It is fun day, because everyone likes butterflies. When we first heard about this special day, we thought…Oh, how cool! Butterflies are neat and fun to watch, flittering about the yard during the summer months. But, then we thought: Why hold Learn About Butterflies Day in March? There’s logic to this. As we approach summer, we get outdoors and become busy with all of the activities of summer. It’s far better to do a little learning in the winter, so we are prepared to better appreciate these colorful, winged creatures, as they re-appear in our backyards. In keeping with the spirit of this very special day, celebrate by learning a little more about the wide range of butterflies. Buy a butterfly identification book, so you will know what butterflies inhabit your yard. Importantly, learn how to attract them to your yard. You can do this by planting flowers that they like.”

NATIONAL PI DAY
The Holiday Insights website says this:
“National Pi Day celebrates Pi, a mathematical concept and a number that never ends … at least no one has found the end yet. Often, we round it off to 3.14. If you are a mathematician, this is your day. For National Pi Day is a celebration of mathematics. And, more specifically … it celebrates Pi.”

BAKE A PIE IN SOLIDARITY DAY
The Journal Star website:
“March 14: Pi Day. This is actually a mathematical holiday based on the infinite number pi. But what fun is pi day without pie? And so, March 14 is also Bake a Pie in Solidarity Day. In other words: let us count the ways to eat pie.”

NATIONAL POTATO CHIP DAY
The Holiday Insights website says this:
“National Potato Chip Day celebrates the ever popular potato chip. Potato chips are America’s #1 snack food. But, its not just a snack food. It’s the potato of choice for many lunchtime and dinner meals. Regular (or plain) potato chips are by far the most popular. Other popular flavors are barbecue, sour cream & onion, oil & vinegar, and ranch. Did you Know? Potato chips were first made by Chef George Crum in Saratoga Springs, NY on August 24, 1853. Americans have been in love with them ever since. Celebrating National Potato Chip Day is easy … eat potato chips during meals and snacks.”

SAVE A SPIDER DAY

March is:

Adopt a Rescued Guinea Pig Month
American Red Cross Month
Employee Spirit Month
Expanding Girls’ Horizons in Science and Engineering Month
Gender Equality Month
Irish-American Heritage Month
National Craft Month
National Women Inventors Month
National Women’s History Month
Read an E-Book Month

ENTERTAINMENT & CELEBRITIES

WHAT TO WATCH – New and Returning Shows and Movies
Premiering Thursday through Sunday
Listings sourced from the TV Guide and EW websites

THURSDAY, Mar 14

“Apples Never Fall”
Peacock – New limited Series
Synopsis: When the Delaney matriarch suddenly goes missing, her four children are left to piece together everything they thought they knew about their parents.

“From Dreams to Tragedy: The Fire that Shook Brazilian Football”
Netflix – New Docuseries
Synopsis: After a tragic event at a youth football facility, grieving families demand answers and justice from Brazil’s most popular team.

Justice, USA
Max – New Docuseries
Synopsis: A compelling 360-degree view of Nashville’s criminal justice system through the eyes of inmates, legal counsel, administrators and policymakers.

“The Girls on the Bus”
Max – New Series
Synopsis: Follows four female journalists who get a front-row seat to the media circus that is the United States presidential campaign trail. Though they work for different outlets, the girls quickly bond over their careers and personal lives.

Season Premieres:
ABC – “9-1-1,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Station 19”
Netflix – “Girls5eva”
Prime Video – “Invincible Season 2 Part 2”

FRIDAY, Mar 15

“Dream Scenario”
Max – New Movie
Synopsis: Nicolas Cage stars as a professor who somehow becomes the star of everyone’s nighttime subconscious mental parties, turning him into an overnight pop culture sensation. But when the dreams become nightmares, the attitude toward him changes.

“Frida”
Prime Video – New Documentary
Synopsis: This biography of artist Frida Kahlo explains how she channeled the pain of a crippling injury and her tempestuous marriage into her work.

“Irish Wish”
Netflix – New Movie
Synopsis: Maddie’s dream guy is days away from marrying her best friend when a wish for true love made on an ancient stone in Ireland magically alters her fate. Starring Lindsay Lohan.

“Manhunt”
Apple TV+ – New Limited Series
Synopsis: Historical drama digs into the aftermath of Abraham Lincoln’s assassination, following his secretary of war, Edwin Stanton, as he leads the hunt for the president’s killer, John Wilkes Booth.

“The Bloody Hundredth”
Apple TV+ – New Documentary
Synopsis: Meet the real-life airmen who inspired “Masters of the Air” as they share the harrowing and transformative events of the 100th Bomb Group.

SATURDAY, Mar 16

“55th NAACP Image Awards”
CBS/BET – Awards Show

SUNDAY, Mar 17

“Alice & Jack”
PBS – New Series
Synopsis: Over a decade since their great romance started, Jack and Alice face their greatest obstacle. Their relationship has survived everything thrown their way, but with the greatest battle ahead, can love overcome anything?

“In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon”
MGM+ – New Docuseries
Synopsis: Juxtaposes the legendary artist’s present life and music with his long and storied career that began in the 1960s collaborating with friend Art Garfunkel.

Season Premiere:
PBS – “Call the Midwife”

THE BUZZ

DUMB HEADLINES

Time for another episode of Three Dumb Headlines. These are actual, word-for-word headlines of stories found on the internet. There’s no story, no context, just the actual headline. Discuss them amongst yourselves. Then, encourage listeners to vote for the Dumbest Headline on your station’s social media page. Maybe ask them to leave a comment. Reveal the results in the next break.
Today’s Dumb Headlines:
1. “The Best Time Of Day To Get An Eye Exam”
2. “I Got Bored With Disney World After 300 Visits”
3. “Don’t Wipe Off Your Sweat, Do This Trick Instead”
And here’s a spare, in case you don’t like one of those three: “‘Godzilla Minus One’ Director Says His Pets Inspired the Big Monster: ‘I Love My Cats So Much’”

MAN THROWS MOM OUT OF HIS APARTMENT FOR MAKING HIM BREAKFAST

A story on Reddit has stirred up the masses. On the Reddit site, “Am I the A–hole”, user “Ok_Lavishness_3277” said his sister just had a baby and his mother came to town to help her out. But the sister’s apartment was too small, so mom was staying with him. He woke up to find his mom had cooked him a big breakfast. He told his mom he only eats one big meal a day, and that’s dinner. He threw the food out. The next day, mom made him breakfast again. He threw it out and asked her not to waste his food. She did it again a third time. He asked her if she “was developing dementia.” Mom said he was being ungrateful. She did it a fourth time. The son took mom and her luggage over to the sister’s home, dropped her off, and alerted his doorman that his mother was no longer welcome. In the nearly 800 responses so far to the post, most people were in support of the man’s position, saying that his mom was not respectful of boundaries.
* Sad. I’ll bet the doorman would have loved those breakfasts.
* I think we can all see why the man and his sister moved far away from home.
* He only eats dinner? Should have set mom’s clock 12 hours ahead.
* Sounds like not eating in the morning is making him cranky.
* Everybody’s overlooking the possibility that maybe mom is just a lousy cook.
* PHONE TOPIC: You’re a grown-up. How does your mother still treat you like a child? Do you let her?

U.S. NEWS

PAPER TOWEL THIEVES

A couple of guys with knives stole 20 packs of Bounty paper towels from a CVS store on New York City’s Upper East Side on Tuesday. The two pulled 20 packs of Bounty off the shelves – six rolls in each pack and worth more than $200 – threatened the clerk with the knives and then fled the store, heading for the subway. Police arrested one of the men, found with packs of paper towels. At last report, they were still looking for his accomplice.
* I’m guessing the accomplice was an octopus, because YOU try holding more than two 6-packs of paper towels, much less 20.
* When the clerk was threatened with the knives, he decided to just roll with it.
* It’s strange that they stole Bounty, because they looked like a couple of Brawny guys.
* They were hoping to clean up.
* Bounty, the crooker picker-upper.
* For a petty theft story, it’s pretty absorbing.

OPEN SAFE WITH MONEY BY THE SIDE OF THE ROAD

On Tuesday, traffic was halted on a road in Knightdale, North Carolina, after a safe on the side of a road caused people to stop and scramble for loose bills blowing around. The Wake County Sheriff’s Office said there was a significant amount of money that was in the safe and also blowing onto the road. It was not clear where the safe came from or how much money was in it. The Wake County Sheriff’s Office has possession of the safe and is trying to track down the owner.
* Just look for the guy sitting at home banging his head on the kitchen table.
* So – this is the opposite of highway robbery.
* Don’tcha hate when you absent-mindedly leave your safe full of money on top of your car when you drive to the store?
* Suddenly, everybody’s interested in adopting that particular section of the highway.
* Wake County. It’s right next to Woke County, where everybody worries about hurting other peoples’ feelings.

SCIENTISTS: HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT A FOURTH TRAFFIC LIGHT COLOR?

Researchers from North Carolina State University have come up with a plan for a fourth color on traffic lights. Besides red, green and yellow, this one would be white. The white light would be for self-driving Autonomous Vehicles. In the future, when a group of autonomous cars approach an intersection, those cars would communicate with not only each other but also with the traffic light, and coordinate traffic through the intersection in the most efficient way possible. The white light would tell human drivers that computers are in control and to simply follow the autonomous car in front of them. Again – the white light is a signal that autonomous vehicles are coordinating their movement to facilitate efficient traffic flow through the intersection. (* Simple, right? What could possibly go wrong?) The researchers claim that this system, along with a major increase in autonomous vehicles on the road, would decrease delays by more than 25%.
* I’m still trying to wrap my brain around a flashing yellow arrow, and now they want to add a white light?
* Get the name of the researchers, so we know who to sue when all the crashes start happening.
* It’ll decrease delays by more than 25%, except when intersections are closed down with all the firetrucks and ambulances.
* Wouldn’t it just be easier to have a traffic light look down the road, see that there are no cars for a half mile, and let the waiting cross traffic have the green light? Is that so hard?

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

YOUNG FRENCH PEOPLE DON’T KNOW WHAT A ZUCCHINI IS

According to a new study from the French government:
– One in five young French people (aged 15 to 24) are unable to identify a zucchini in a photo. 18% called it a cucumber and 2% said it was an eggplant.
– Among people over 24 years old, 11% cannot recognize zucchinis and 10% confuse them with cucumbers.
– 16% thought a grapefruit was a blood orange.
– 4% could not recognize cauliflower
* This is why the salads they try to make are so horrible.
* Yet those same 15-year-old French kids can drink 25 different wines and tell you what region they came from.
* Maybe those fancy French schools should spend a little less time on cheese and more time on vegetables.
* Interesting fact: in France, the people call French fries “Our Fries.” Same with French’s mustard: “Our mustard.”
* Nice to know the French government has as much money to waste on stupid studies as we do.

TRENDING

THE MOST VALUABLE SPORTS TEAMS IN THE WORLDAccording to Forbes, here are the most valuable sports franchises in the world:
1. Dallas Cowboys – $9 billion
2. New York Yankees – $7.1 billion
3. Golden State Warriors – $7 billion
4. New England Patriots – $7 billion
5. Los Angeles Rams – $6.9 billion
6. New York Giants – $6.8 billion
7. Chicago Bears – $6.3 billion
8. Las Vegas Raiders – $6.2 billion
9. New York Knicks – $6.1 billion
10. New York Jets – $6.1 billion
11. Real Madrid – $6.1 billion
12. Washington Commanders – $6.1 billion
13. Manchester United – $6 billion
14. San Francisco 49ers – $6 billion
15. Los Angeles Lakers – $5.9 billion

ALMANACNOTABLE DATES, UPCOMING U.S. OBSERVANCES

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
March 31, Sunday – Easter
April 1, Monday – April Fools Day
April 15, Monday – U.S. Tax Day
May 12, Sunday – Mother’s Day
May 27, Monday – Memorial Day

BIRTHDAYS

Taylor Hanson (singer, musician, “Hanson”) … 41
Chris Klein (actor, “The Flash”) … 47
Grace Park (actress, “Hawaii Five-0”, “Battlestar Galactica”) … 50
Betsy Brandt (actress, “Life in Pieces,” “Breaking Bad”) … 51
Kristian Merrill Bush (country singer-songwriter w Sugarland) … 54
Tamara Tunie (actress, “Law and Order: SVU”) … 65
Billy Crystal (comedian/actor) … 76
Michael Martin Murphey (Country singer-songwriter) … 79
Michael Caine (actor) … 91
Quincy Jones (music producer and musician) … 91

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

“First of all, I choose the great (roles), and if none of these come, I choose the mediocre ones, and if they don’t come, I choose the ones that pay the rent.”

(A) Nicolas Cage
(B) Robert De Niro
(C) Michael Caine

ANSWER: (C) Michael Caine

THIS DAY IN HISTORY

2017 – The world’s oldest golf club, Muirfield in Scotland, voted to admit women as members for the 1st time in 273 years.
* Male chauvinism? Par for the course.

1989 – Imported assault guns were banned in the U.S. under President Bush #1.
* ‘Cause if you’re going to shoot up your workplace, for heaven’s sake buy American!

1979 – The Census Bureau reported that 95% of all Americans were married or would get married.
* 25% of those would marry Liz Taylor.

1943 – U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt became the first U.S. President to fly in an airplane while in office.
* “The only thing we have to fear – is hitting the ground really hard.”

1938 – “Superman” appeared in a comic book for the first time.
* “Is it a bird?” “Is it a plane?” “I don’t know, it’s very badly drawn.”

1903 – The U.S. Senate ratified the Hay-Herran Treaty which guaranteed the U.S. the right to build a canal at Panama. The Colombian Senate rejected the treaty.
* So in true blue American fashion we just took it.

1794 – Eli Whitney patented the cotton gin.
* And tomorrow is the anniversary of the first cotton hangover.

THIS DAY IN MUSIC HISTORY

2016 – Sony ATV Music Publishing announced that it would buy out Michael Jackson’s share of a joint music publishing venture for $750m. The purchase gave Sony the rights to about three million songs, including works by The Beatles, Bob Dylan and Taylor Swift, but did not include Jackson’s master recordings.

2006 – U2 topped Rolling Stone magazine’s annual list of the year’s biggest money earners from 2005 with $154.2m. The Rolling Stones were listed second with $92.5m and The Eagles third with 63.2m. Paul McCartney was in fourth place with $56m and Elton John in fifth with $48.9m.

2005 – Michael Jackson was blasted by British Army veterans for wearing military badges while on trail for child abuse. The singer had appeared in court on most days with either an Army motif on his breast pocket or a cap badge tied around his neck.

2001 – Former Spice Girl Geri Halliwell was banned from driving for six weeks and fined $680 for speeding in her Aston Martin DB7. Geri was caught on a speed camera doing 60 mph in a 30 mph zone.

2001 – Peter Blake, who designed The Beatles’ classic Sgt. Pepper album cover sued the group’s record company for more money. Blake was paid $340 in 1967, but was “cheesed off” that EMI never offered to pay more money.

1998 – Will Smith started a three-week run at No.1 on the U.S. singles chart with “Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It.”

1995 – With the release of “Me Against the World” Tupac Shakur became the first male solo artist to have a No.1 album on the Billboard chart while in prison.

1990 – Michael Jackson was voted artist of the decade at the annual “Soul Train Awards.”

1990 – Flea and Chad Smith from The Red Hot Chili Peppers were arrested for sexually harassing a woman on Daytona Beach, Florida, they were each fined $1,000.

1987 – Huey Lewis and the News went to No.1 on the U.S. singles chart with “Jacob’s Ladder.”

1984 – Annie Lennox of The Eurythmics married Hare Krishna devotee Radha Raman. They started divorce proceedings the following year.

1983 – Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora and Alec John Such got together and formed Bon Jovi.

1981 – Eric Clapton was hospitalized with bleeding ulcers, causing a U.S. tour to be canceled.

1973 – Elton John was at No.1 on the U.S. singles chart with “Crocodile Rock.”

1958 – The Recording Industry Association of America certified the first official million-selling single, awarding the first “gold record” to Perry Como’s “Catch a Falling Star.”

1955 – CBS talent scout Arthur Godfrey turned down the chance to sign Elvis Presley. Instead, he signed singer Pat Boone.

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. THESE emit 3,000 tons of toxic soot, 95,000 tons of smog-forming pollutants, and 11 million tons of “global warming” gases each year. What are they?
School buses

2. 26% of adults surveyed never did THIS when they were teens. What is it?
Attend a school dance

3. A majority of Americans surveyed said THIS is their biggest high school regret. What is it?
Not learning a second language

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