WEDNESDAY, Aug 14 – DAILY PREP TEXT VERSION

MORNING SIDEKICK DAILY PREP TEXT VERSION FOR WEDNESDAY, August 14, 2024
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COMEDY MP3s POSTED ON OUR PREP SITE FOR TODAY: A&M AUTOLAND – The Valve Store

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 CREAMSICLE DAY

NATIONAL FINANCIAL AWARENESS DAY
The NationalToday website says this:
“… the aim … is to develop and instill good financial practices that will solidify a person’s current financial status and serve them through retirement.”

NATIONAL SOCIAL SECURITY DAY
The Social Security Act was signed into law by President Roosevelt on August 14, 1935.

NATIONAL V-J DAY (Victory over Japan Day)
The National Day Calendar website says this:
“On this day in 1945, news broke around the world the Imperial Government of Japan would surrender ending a long a grueling world war. In the United States, President Harry S. Truman announced it in a press conference at the White House later that day. The peace treaty was officially signed on September 2, 1945. A year later on August 2nd, Truman signed a proclamation declaring August 14, 1946, as Victory Day.”

August is:

Black Business Month
Family Fun Month
International Peace Month
National Back to School Month
National Catfish Month
National Crayon Collection Month
National Goat Cheese Month
National Golf Month
National Panini Month
National Peach Month
National Sandwich Month

ENTERTAINMENT & CELEBRITIES

SQUID GAMES – LIVE!

Netflix is creating “Squid Game: The Experience” in New York City in October. The pop-up will let people experience the thrill and stress of the popular series firsthand. Participants test their skills and strategies in challenges inspired by the series, including the red light/green light game. Squid Game: The Experience will be open Thursdays-Mondays starting Oct. 11.
* This is great ’cause where in New York City can you experience thrills and stress?
* So you’re gonna pay, what, 30 bucks to play red light/green light and I bet you don’t even actually die. What a ripoff.
* For extra queasiness, have a pop-up food booth selling squid sushi.
* Because it’s New York, the giant doll will be a giant hooker.
* Isn’t just standing on a subway platform a real-life Squid Game?
* In New York, red light/green light is replaced by a life-or-death game called walk/jaywalk.

WALT DISNEY REVIVED AS AUDIO-ANIMATRONIC

Disney Imagineers are currently working on the first audio-animatronics figure of Walt Disney himself. They are making an animatronic Walt Disney, to be a part of an upcoming show called “Walt Disney – A Magical Life.” The show will debut next year, in 2025, and will be set inside Disneyland’s Main Street Opera House, playing in rotation with “Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln.” Walt first introduced the groundbreaking technology of audio-animatronics about 60 years ago at the New York World’s Fair in the “Carousel of Progress” ride, which is still in operation at the U.S. theme parks.
* When the robot Disney finds out he owns Deadpool, he’s gonna go haywire.
* Maybe he’ll be like Frankenstein and demand they build him a woman.
* I hope they program the thing to say, “Wherrrrre’s my heeeeeaaad? Wheeeerrrre’s my frooooozen heeeeeaaaddd…?”
* Or how about “We should let our park workers unionize. It’s the right thing to do.”

“POLTERGEIST” HOUSE FOR SALE

The house used for exterior shots in the classic 1982 movie “Poltergeist” is for sale. The home at 4267 Roxbury Street, Simi Valley, California is listing for $1,174,999. According to the listing: “For the first time in 45 years, the legendary house from the movie *Poltergeist* is back on the market! Yes this is the home where much of the first movie of the series was filmed but ‘This house is clean.’ Seriously, it is! Well-loved by its original owners, this charming 4 bedroom, 2 1/2-bathroom home is ready to welcome a new family, without the ghostly antics, we promise!”
(Note: the living room interior is different from the move – no grand staircase – but the kitchen layout looks pretty similar to that of the movie – even the table where the ghosts stacked the chairs.)
* And… it has a pool! If you dare… (* true, it has a pool.)
* I hope it was remodeled by some really good carpenters, because at the end of the movie it got scrunched and sucked through a tiny portal to the dark side.
* The only downside is, the TV reception sucks. But you can always send a family member into the closet to fix it.
* And you don’t have to do any work when you move in – the furniture moves itself!
* Don’t even ask how much the homeowners insurance is.

THE BUZZ

TOP TEN CAUSES OF DEATH IN AMERICA

According to U.S. News and World Report, here are the Top Ten Causes of Death In America:
10, Covid
9. Liver disease
8. Kidney disease
7. Diabetes
6. Alzheimer’s
5. Chronic Lower Respiratory Diseases
4. Stroke
3. Accidents
2. Cancer
1. Not cleaning your cutting board at Thanksgiving. They remind you EVERY YEAR, but nobody ever liste—- No, just kidding, it’s Heart Disease.
* Honorable mention: Slurpee Brain Freeze.

WHICH COUNTRY SWEARS THE MOST?

Which country swears the most? WordTips analyzed a sample of 1.7 million English-language tweets and found the percentage of swear words used by X users from different countries.
– The U.S. ranks number one as the country that swears the most, with 41.6 tweets per 1,000 featuring curse words.
– The UK comes in second place, with 28.6 posts including swear words per 1,000 tweets. Australia, New Zealand and Canada are third, fourth and fifth.
– Maryland is the U.S. state that swears the most with 66.3 swears per 1,000 tweets. South Dakota swears the least, with 21 out of 1,000 tweets.
– Baltimore, Maryland, is the U.S. city that swears the most (78.2 swears per 1,000 tweets), and Lexington, Kentucky, swears the least (20.2 posts per 1,000).
* It makes sense. Isn’t Baltimore known for its crabs?
* We didn’t need an Olympic medal to know America is #1 in cursing.
* And these were based on tweets? Imagine how many more curse words they would have found if there wasn’t auto correct.
* Are U.S. kids swearing in tweets? Are their parents threatening to wash their thumbs with soap?

U.S. NEWS

MAYONNAISE COLOGNE

Hellmann’s, maker of mayonnaise, has now recreated the aroma of its mayonnaise in a cologne, in a special new collaboration with Tennessee Titans quarterback Will Levis. Back in 2023, the quarterback went viral when it was discovered that he put mayonnaise in his coffee. This led to Hellmann’s striking a deal with Levis. Now, the result is Hellmann’s Will Levis No. 8. The cologne is described as having notes of lemon, coffee, musk, vanilla, and “mayonnaise accord.” One reviewer said it smells like something you could “wrap up in a nice bow and gift to a regular cologne wearer.” He also noted, what’s most surprising is that it does not give off an egg smell.
* For the first few hours.
* Speaking of which – remember to keep it in the fridge, and mind the expiration date.
* A dab behind the ear, a dollop on the sammich.
* Give a bottle to the bear hunter in your life.
* If I was Will Levis, I would have made a deal for some Levi’s jeans, but whatever.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

FISHERMAN CATCHES LONG-LOST LEGO SHARK

A British fisherman managed to hook an incredibly rare shark – a tiny Lego shark worth a few hundred dollars on the resale market. Richard West, 35, netted the Lego shark 20 miles off of Cornwall’s coast. Lego experts know that particular Lego piece had gone missing from a cargo ship in 1997 – along with 62 other shipping containers worth of Legos – during an intense storm. Of the nearly five million plastic pieces that went off the ship that day, 51,800 Lego sharks are said to have gone overboard. West contacted the “Lego Lost at Sea” project – where folks flag the Legos they’ve managed to recover from the sea. The site confirmed the find as the first shark from the lost cargo ever to be located. It belonged to one of three sets: Shark Cage Cove, Shark Attack, or Deep Sea Bounty. The sharks are selling in the Lego resale world for between $105 to $532 apiece.
* Incredibly rare? I must be missing something ’cause up to now I thought Legos were molded plastic made in machines and if you lost a shipment of sharks you could just push a button and make 100,000 more.
* If only my life could be this interesting.
* The best way to catch Legos from the sea is to use one of those severed feet that wash up on the Oregon Coast every few months.
* One missing Lego from the cargo ship found and removed from the ocean, only about five million more to go.

TRENDING

KATY PERRY IN TROUBLE IN IBIZA

Katy Perry is under investigation in Ibeza after filming her music video for “Lifetimes” without the correct permits. The pop star and her production team filmed her new single’s visuals without getting a permit from the local Department for Film. The video shows Perry and friends partying oceanside atop sand dunes and cliffs around Ibiza and Formentera before dancing the night away under the lights of a beachfront club. Island authorities were concerned about the filming in the dunes, which is a restricted area of “great ecological value.”

U.S. GYMNAST JORDAN CHILES OFFERED A FLAVOR FLAV CLOCK

American gymnast Jordan Chiles has to return her bronze medal from the 2024 Paris Olympics. However, rapper Flavor Flav has offered Chiles a bronze clock necklace to replace the medal. Flavor Flav is known for his trademark timepiece necklaces. He was in Paris for the Olympics as part of his duties as the official hype man for USA Water Polo. Flav posted a message saying, “Ayyy YOOOO @ChilesJordan … imma make you a BRONZE CLOCK NECKLACE,,, and that’s something NO ONE else has,!!! Hit me up my girl,,, I gotchu!!!”

ALMANAC

NOTABLE DATES, UPCOMING U.S. OBSERVANCES

Sept. 2, Monday – Labor Day
Sept. 11, Wednesday – Patriot Day
Sept. 20, Friday – National POW/MIA Recognition Day (The third Friday of September)
Sept. 23, Sunday – Fall begins (Autumn Equinox is 8:44 a.m. EDT)
Oct. 14, Monday – Columbus Day
Oct. 16, Wednesday – National Boss’s Day
Oct. 31, Thursday – Halloween

BIRTHDAYS

Mila Kunis (actress, “Bad Moms,” Meg Griffin on “Family Guy”) … 41
Halle Berry (actress) … 58
Susan Olsen (actress, Cindy on “The Brady Bunch”) … 63
Earvin “Magic” Johnson (basketball legend) … 65
Gary Larson (cartoonist, “The Far Side”) … 74
Danielle Steel (romance novelist) … 77
Steve Martin (comedian, comic actor) … 79
Dash Crofts (singer with Seals and Crofts) … 86

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

“I believe entertainment can aspire to be art, and can become art, but if you set out to make art you’re an idiot.”

(A) Adam Sandler
(B) Amy Schumer
(C) Steve Martin

ANSWER: (C) Steve Martin

THIS DAY IN HISTORY

2003 – A major outage knocked out power across the eastern United States and parts of Canada. Beginning at 4:10 p.m. ET, 21 power plants shut down in just three minutes. All told, 50 million people lost power for up to two days in the biggest blackout in North American history, estimated to cost $6 billion.
* All the inconvenience of a blackout without the fun of the alcohol.

1953 – Russia announced it had tested a hydrogen bomb.
* And a young Boris Yeltsin drank his first official toast.

1953 – The Whiffle Ball was patented.
* Filling the gap for sports enthusiasts too wimpy for softball.

1945 – President Truman announced the surrender of Japan and the formal end of World War Two.
* And the formal end of wars we could unabashedly feel good about.

1932 – The inventor Marconi finished work on the first short-wave radio.
* And just minutes later, advertisers produced the first radio commercial for a carpet warehouse.

1925 – The idea for Mount Rushmore was first proposed.
* Now there’s a national monument that rocks!

1923 – The comic character “Felix the Cat” debuted.
* Little did he know he’d soon be surpassed by a mouse in red shorts.

1873 – Field & Stream magazine was first published.
* Of course, back in 1873, America still HAD fields and streams.

THIS DAY IN MUSIC HISTORY

2009 – George Michael was arrested and held on suspicion of driving under the influence of drink or drugs after his Land Rover was in a collision with a bus.

2006 – Boy George was sweeping streets in New York as part of a five-day community service sentence.

1999 – Backstreet Boys sold all 765,000 tickets for their North American tour in just one day, generating an estimated $30 million. Most of the tickets were sold within one hour.

1995 – Members of the Grateful Dead met and decided to cancel their fall tour in the wake of Jerry Garcia’s death.

1992 – Wayne Newton filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The singer, a former owner of the Alladin Hotel in Las Vegas, was one of the highest paid performers on the Vegas strip.

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. A recent study found that the peak time for THIS on the weekend is between 4 and 6 p.m. What is it?
Getting a speeding ticket

2. According to a recent study, 25% of us have gotten into a car accident HERE. Where?
In a parking lot

3. According to AAA, during rush hour, you’ll find about 20% of drivers doing THIS. What is it?
Eating

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