THURSDAY, July 18 – DAILY PREP TEXT VERSION

MORNING SIDEKICK DAILY PREP TEXT VERSION FOR THURSDAY, July 18, 2024
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COMEDY MP3s POSTED ON OUR PREP SITE FOR TODAY: BROUGHT TO YOU BY

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.)

NATIONAL CAVIAR DAY

NATIONAL SOUR CANDY DAY

NELSON MANDELA INTERNATIONAL DAY
The United Nations website says this:
“In November 2009, the UN General Assembly declared 18 July ‘Nelson Mandela International Day’ in recognition of the former South African President’s contribution to the culture of peace and freedom.”

July is:

Adopt a Rescued Rabbit Month
Air Conditioning Appreciation Month
Baked Bean Month
Cell Phone Courtesy Month
Family Reunion Month
International Blondie and Deborah Harry Month
National Blueberries Month
National Grilling Month
National Hot Dog Month
National Ice Cream Month
Melon 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, July 18

“Kite Man: Hell Yeah!”
Max – New Adult Animated Series
Synopsis: This Harley Quinn spinoff follows Kite Man and Golden Glider, who level up their relationship by purchasing Noonan’s — Gotham’s seediest dive bar.

“Lucky 13”
ABC – New game Show
Synopsis: Tests contestants’ knowledge with 13 true-or-false trivia questions. Hosted by Shaquille O’Neal and Gina Rodriguez.

“My Spy: The Eternal City”
Prime Video – New Movie
Synopsis: In this sequel to 2020’s “My Spy,” Dave Bautista and Chloe Coleman are back as a CIA agent stepdad and precocious stepdaughter who get caught up in a terrorist plot in Europe.

“The Commandant’s Shadow”
HBO – New Documentary
Synopsis: Follows Hans Jürgen Höss, the son of Rudolf Höss, the Camp Commandant of Auschwitz, when he confronts his father’s involvement in the murder of over a million Jews during the Holocaust.

“Those About to Die”
Peacock – New Series
Synopsis: Set in the corrupt world of Ancient Rome, where life and death are at stake in the arena.

Season Premieres:
ABC – “Press Your Luck”
Hulu – “How I Caught My Killer”
Netflix – “Cobra Kai”

FRIDAY, July 19

“Find Me Falling”
Netflix – New Movie
Synopsis: After a failed comeback album, a rock star retreats to a cliffside home on Cyprus, only to find his new life complicated by visitors, and an old flame.

“Lady in the Lake”
Apple TV+ – New Series
Synopsis: When the disappearance of a young girl grips the city of Baltimore in 1966, the lives of two women converge on a fatal collision course.

“Omnivore”
Apple TV+ – New Docuseries
Synopsis: Explores the cultivation, transformation and consumption of eight of the world’s most essential food ingredients: banana, chile, coffee, corn, pork, rice, salt and tuna.

“Skywalkers: A Love Story”
Netflix – New Documentary
Synopsis: Two real-life daredevils test the limits of their love and trust by illegally scaling one of the world’s tallest buildings to perform an acrobatic stunt.

Season Premieres:
HBO – “Love Lies Bleeding”
Netflix – “Sweet Home”
Netflix – “Too Hot to Handle”

SUNDAY, July 21

Season Premiere:
AMC – “Snowpiercer”

RYAN SEACREST FILMS FIRST “WHEEL OF FORTUNE” SHOWS

Ryan Seacrest filmed his first Wheel of Fortune shows on Tuesday. Seacrest shared a video on his Instagram, giving fans a behind-the-scenes peek at what his first day as host looked like. He wrote, “A glimpse of my first day at @wheeloffortune, and I’m still spinning with excitement!”
* Uhhhh… yeah, so that happened.
* “What a life! I’m so glad I’m not one of you people,” he added. “I’d jump off a building.”
* One day down. See how excited you are in year 28 having to say, “No, no H’s.”
* Tell me there’d be any difference if it was an AI-generated Ryan Seacrest.
* Vanna must be happier being able to spend all day looking at somebody who’s not Pat Sajak’s backside.

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. “Here’s What You’re Really Eating When You Crack Open A Can Of Haggis”
2. “Why People Run From Bears”
3. “Can Big Butts Trigger False Alarms At Airport Security?”
And here’s a spare, in case you don’t like one of those three: “The Stars Who Aren’t Afraid To Wear Shorts on the Red Carpet”

LUCKY ME

Reddit asked, “What’s the luckiest you’ve ever gotten in your life?” Some of the tales of luck:
– “I once got 3 Starbursts in one of those little fun size 2 packs.”
– “I entered and won one a year worth or 52 free Chick-Fil-A chicken sandwiches.”
– “16 years old, me and my buddy took a very large pumpkin and rolled it down a big hill. Then noticed it was heading for a man walking at the bottom of the hill. The pumpkin WENT THROUGH HIS LEGS AS HE WALKED, and he DIDN’T EVEN NOTICE that it happened, and kept walking. It was the most shocking thing I’d ever seen.”
– “Tried on Jeans at goodwill…fit perfect found $100 in the pocket…wore them that night…got laid…still had $20 left over.”
– “One time my car got towed but they just moved it to where it was allowed to be parked.”
– “I had to go to Vegas for a work thing, had no extra money and was not excited about going. I was there for 3 nights. First night I decided that I would play in a $50 poker tournament. Won $1500. Second night, took $200 out of that to the craps table, cashed out with $28,000. Third night did it again, cashed out another $18,000. I basically parleyed $50 into $46,000 which was more than my annual pay at the time. That will never happen again.”
– “I was at a mall and heard a woman scream from the upper level. I turned around, looked up….and reflexively caught a toddler who had somehow managed to squeeze between the iron safety rails and fallen literally on top of me, a good 20-25 feet below. Perfect catch, not a scratch. I’ve replayed this in my head dozens of time and still to this day do not know how the hell I did this.”
* PHONE TOPIC: What is your story of incredible luck?

U.S. NEWS

UCLA PROPOSES ROOFTOP PSYCHEDELIC GARDEN

UCLA in Los Angeles has a plan to build a rooftop garden designed specifically for psychedelic-assisted therapy sessions. Psychedelic-assisted therapy, in which people take drugs like MDMA under the supervision of a psychiatric professional, has generated intense interest at universities across the country. The therapy has shown promise in treating a wide range of mental health disorders, including depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. UCLA currently has nearly a dozen different ongoing clinical trials studying psychedelics, including work with MDMA and magic mushrooms. The new garden has been proposed on the eighth floor of the university’s Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior. Current plans for the outdoor deck include group areas and private rooms as well as a garden of native plants aimed at attracting butterflies and birds, to cultivate a soothing environment.
* Now THIS is what I call higher education.
* Psychedelics on the roof. Have they really thought this through?
* In case your kids aren’t taking enough drugs in college, there’s UCLA.
* “Come to UCLA – It’s Worth the Trip!”
* UCLA now offers a master’s degree in double rainbows.

90 GIANT SNAILS SNAGGED AT AIRPORT

Ninety giant African snails were confiscated by US Customs and Border Protection at the Detroit Airport late last month. An odd odor coming from a passenger’s bag tipped off agriculture specialists. The passenger was arriving from the West African country of Ghana. The African snails – ranging from 3 to 6 inches long – were subsequently seized, according to customs agents. The Giant African land snail is one of the most damaging snails in the world because they consume at least 500 different types of plants, can cause structural damage to plaster and stucco, and can carry a parasite lungworm. They grow up to eight inches in length and more than four inches in diameter. It is believed the snails were intended to be eaten.
* Boy, airplane food has really gone downhill.
* Unless they were being flown in to appear as a dinner in the next season of The Bear.
* “Please, these are my emotional support snails! This is Charlie, this is Anna, this one is Lester …”
* I guess when it comes to bad odors from luggage, this could have been much much worse.
* It’s lucky they caught the snails. The TSA was having trouble keeping up with them.

A BOARD GAME FOR DOGS

There’s a new board game that lets your dog play. “The Dog’s Best Friend Game,” newly released by West Paw, costs $30. (* Oh – should I stop right there?) It comes with challenge cards, training tip cards, plastic cups, a non-slip playing mat, plush dog toys, and an egg timer. The game allows three humans and two dogs to participate. You – the human – pick a “challenge card” which tells to to play, for example:
– “The Smell Game.” Place 3 cups upside down. Show your dog a treat and hide it under 1 cup. Another player shuffles the cups around 5 times. Every time your dog touches a cup is 1 guess. The dog is supposed to sniff around to find the treat.
– “Hide and Squeak Game.” Take the squeaky bone, go hide, have another player start the timer as you squeak the bone. The dog needs to find you before time runs out. If he does, he gets a treat.
– “The Stacking Game.” Stack the three cups and place the toy bone on top of the cups. Teach the dog to grab the bone without knocking over the cups. When he does, he gets a treat.
* I’m just wondering how many dog treats $30 would buy.
* Is there a “Wipe up the dog vomit on the floor” game? We already play that all the time.
* I can see where this would be fun if you’re drunk with friends. And then, you wouldn’t even need the dog.
* I hope it’s a good egg timer. After you play with the game the second time, everything else is pretty much going to stay in the closet from then on.

AUDIO: NASA BEAMS RAP SONG TO VENUS

NASA has beamed a rap song to the planet Venus. The space agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory says the Deep Space Network beamed Missy Elliott’s hit “The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)” to Venus last Friday. The agency says it’s the first hip-hop song transmitted to space. The transmission was sent from a 112-foot wide radio dish antenna nicknamed “Venus” at the Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex near Barstow, California. Radio waves travel at the speed of light, so the song took nearly 14 minutes to reach Venus.
* “That’s really great,” said those two astronauts stuck up on the International Space Station because their Boeing space capsule is broken.
* Is there anybody on Venus who’s going to hear it? Besides Dennis Rodman, I mean.
* So stupid. Everybody knows Venus is into classic rock.
* Maybe some Venusians can hear the song and figure out what “Supa Dupa Fly” means. It probably translates to “Hi, come invade us.”
CLIP: A bit of Missy Elliott’s “The Rain”
CLIP URL: morningsidekick(dot)com/prep/wp-content/uploads/MissyElliott-TheRain-edit(dot)mp3

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

PARIS MAYOR GOES IN SEINE

Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo fulfilled her promise to swim in the city’s River Seine on Wednesday in a bid to demonstrate the cleanliness of the river for the Olympics. The 65-year-old Hidalgo had announced that the water would be “depolluted” before the games. Swimming has been illegal for more than 100 years due to pollution levels, and concerns remain over the river’s suitability for swimming events. Tests last week for the first time showed acceptable bacteria levels, according to a statement by the mayor’s office. Mayor Hildalgo said, “It’s very, very cool to be here and it was a dream and now it’s real … after the Games we will have a swimming pool in the river for all the people, for the Parisian people and for the tourists also.”
* Just don’t try to charge tourists money to go in the river. In fact, you might have to pay them.
* She did add that the river water tastes like American wine.
* Yeah, let’s see if she’s fine for the next 72 hours, or if she spends them in the bathroom.
* Next week, she plans on fulfilling her promise to breathe Paris’ polluted air.

TRENDING

EMMY NOMINATIONS ANNOUNCED

The 2024 Emmy Award nominations were announced Wednesday morning. Shogun received the most with 25, followed by The Bear (with 23 nominations), Only Murders in the Building (21), True Detective: Night Country (19) and The Crown (18). The Awards will be broadcast Sunday, Sept. 15. Here are the major categories:
– Best Drama Series: The Crown, Fallout, The Gilded Age, The Morning Show, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Shogun, Slow Horses, 3 Body Problem
– Best Comedy Series: Abbott Elementary, The Bear, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Hacks, Only Murders in the Building, Palm Royale, Reservation Dogs, What We Do in the Shadows
– Best Limited or Anthology Series: Baby Reindeer, Fargo, Lessons in Chemistry, Ripley, True Detective: Night Country

SAMMY HAGAR SEEKING COP WHO INSPIRED “I CAN’T DRIVE 55”

Sammy Hagar was once pulled over by a New York state trooper for going seven miles over the speed limit. The ticket inspired his 1984 song “I Can’t Drive 55.” Now, Hagar wants to reconnect with the trooper gave him the ticket. He says, “This man would be backstage with his family and he would be treated like a king. I would do a shot with him, I’ll take pictures, I’ll give him a swag bag. I might bring him out on stage and introduce him.”

JON GOSSELIN TO ALEC BALDWIN: DON’T DO REALITY SHOW

Jon Gosselin is warning Alec Baldwin: Don’t do reality television. Gosselin, 47, infamously starred in TLC’s “Jon & Kate Plus 8” from 2007 to 2017. The show followed Gosselin, his ex-wife Kate Gosselin, and their eight children. He said in an interview with “Entertainment Tonight” that Baldwin, 66, should think twice about starring in the upcoming reality show, “The Baldwins,” about Alec, his wife Hilaria Baldwin, and their seven children. Gosselin said, “I did it for the money in the beginning ’cause I didn’t know how I was gonna support my family.” He recalled “the nuclear fallout” that he and his family experienced from their own show. Jon and Kate went through a tumultuous divorce and then custody battle while their show was still airing. Currently, Gosselin only has relationships with two of his eight children: Hannah and Collin. Hannah is estranged from her mother. Son Collin, now 20, has accused his mother of abuse, which she denied.

ALMANAC

NOTABLE DATES, UPCOMING U.S. OBSERVANCES

Sept. 2, Monday – Labor Day
Sept. 11, Wednesday – Patriot Day
Sept. 23, Sunday – Fall begins (Autumn Equinox is 8:44 a.m. EDT)

BIRTHDAYS

Chace Crawford (actor, “The Boys,” “Gossip Girl” … 39
Kristen Bell (actress, “The Good Place,” “House of Lies”) … 44
Vin Diesel (actor, “Fast and Furious” movies, real name Mark Vincent) … 57
Elizabeth McGovern (actress, “Downton Abbey”) … 63
Ricky Skaggs (country singer/songwriter/musician) … 70
Sir Richard Branson (UK tycoon, owner of the Virgin group) … 74
James Brolin (actor, “Life in Pieces”) … 84
Paul Verhoeven (director, “Basic Instinct,” “Robocop”) … 86

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

“The fan base I’ve been lucky enough to accumulate is made up of enlightened people. Just smart individuals. Every now and then, I read some fan mail, and these people can write better than me.”

(A) Ryan Seacrest
(B) Mike Tyson
(C) Vin Diesel

ANSWER: (C) Vin Diesel

THIS DAY IN HISTORY

2018 – Google was fined a record $5.1 billion by the EU for abusing the dominance of its Android mobile operating system in the mobile phone market.
* Relax. Google has that much stuck in the cushions of its couch.

1995 – The oldest known musical instrument in the world was found in Slovenia. It was a crude wind instrument dating from 45,000 years ago.
* And buried alongside: one of The Rolling Stones’ first roadies.

1986 – The first videotapes showing the wreckage of the Titanic were released to the public.
* Giving James Cameron a great idea for a movie.

1969 – Senator Edward Kennedy drove off a wooden bridge leaving Chappaquiddick Island, Massachusetts, killing his passenger, an aide named Mary Jo Kopechne. The incident is thought to have forever barred him from a run for the presidency.
* Thereby probably saving HIS life.

1940 – The first successful helicopter flight took place in Stratford, Connecticut.
* “Successful” means the pilot lived.

1936 – The first Oscar Meyer Wienermobile rolled out of General Body Company’s factory in Chicago, IL.
* And it came loaded – mustard, ketchup, onions …

THIS DAY IN MUSIC HISTORY

2019 – Ed Sheeran broke yet another streaming record when his latest collaborative album “No. 6 Collaborations Project” racked up 69 million streams in a month on Spotify, which was the highest by any artist.

2008 – Rolling Stone guitarist Ronnie Wood was “seeking help” with his battle with alcohol in a rehabilitation center. The move followed tabloid speculation over the state of his 23-year marriage to former model Jo Wood.

2007 – Sting and his wife, Trudie Styler, were ordered to pay their former chef compensation after losing a sexual discrimination case. Jane Martin, 41, was fired by Styler after she became pregnant.

2001 – Kiss added another product to their ever-growing merchandising universe: the “Kiss Kasket.” The coffin featured the faces of the four founding members of the band, the Kiss logo and the words “Kiss Forever.” Pantera guitarist Dimebag Darrell was buried in one after he was shot and killed onstage in Dec 2004.

1991 – Bobby Brown married Whitney Houston at her New Jersey estate.

1953 – Truck driver Elvis Presley made his first ever recording when he paid $3.98 at a Memphis recording service to record two songs, “My Happiness” and “That’s When Your Heartaches Begin.”

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. The average teenager does not own THIS once common accessory. What is it?
A watch

2. 25% of people owned one of THESE in the 80’s. What is it?
A “black” light (ultraviolet lamp)

3. One-third of people in a recent survey said they own two or more of THESE. What are they?
Dogs

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