FRIDAY, Feb 14 – DAILY PREP TEXT VERSION

MORNING SIDEKICK DAILY PREP TEXT VERSION FOR FRIDAY, February 14, 2025
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COMEDY MP3s POSTED ON OUR PREP SITE FOR TODAY: THE FRIDAY CLUSTERFLICKS

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 – including “holidays” created by the National Day Calendar and Wellcat websites to drive traffic to their websites – or the hundreds of disease awareness listings which occur each year.)

LIBRARY LOVERS DAY

NATIONAL CREME-FILLED CHOCOLATES DAY

NATIONAL FERRIS WHEEL DAY

NATIONAL ORGAN DONOR DAY

VALENTINE’S DAY

February is:

Adopt a Rescued Rabbit Month
African American History Month
Celebration of Chocolate Month
International Boost Self Esteem Month
International Friendship Month
National Bird Feeding Month
National Snack Food Month
National Sweet Potato Month
Spunky Old Broads Month
Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Month

ENTERTAINMENT & CELEBRITIES

KANYE AND BIANCA: WE THOUGHT IT WOULD LAST FOREVER

(note: by Friday Morning, this story very well may be proven as false. Proceed with caution.)
Media sources all over the internet are reporting that Kanye West and Bianca Censori’s marriage is on the rocks. You may remember Kanye from the swastika T-shirt he was selling on his website, and you might recall Bianca from when she stood virtually buck naked on the red carpet at the Grammy Awards. Once unnamed source says, “She’s had enough. The swastika shirt was the last straw. She told him that’s not who she is, and that she can’t be associated with that.” The couple was married in a secret ceremony in December 2022. The London Daily Mail tabloid broke the news, with a source close to Kanye revealing the couple broke up and are expected to file for divorce in the coming days. Meanwhile, a TMZ insider reports both parties have been shopping for divorce attorneys.
* She needs to sue the pants off him. Because she really needs the pants.
* Bianca said, “I’m going to go clean out my closet. Hand me that shoebox.”
* She’s had enough? I had enough of Kanye years ago.

THE BUZZ

VALENTINE’S DAY SURVEY

A survey of 2,000 Americans, by Talker Research, asked questions about Valentine’s Day. Here is what they found:
– 30% of married respondents see Valentine’s Day this year as a needed boost for their relationship.
– Men were more likely to feel their relationship needs a Valentine’s Day boost than women were (35% men, 26% women).
– The average American polled estimates you need to spend $133 per person in total for a good Valentine’s Day overall when factoring in food, gifts or activities.
– Twenty-eight percent of Americans polled said a good Valentine’s Day shouldn’t cost anything at all.
– Women were much more likely to feel Valentine’s Day shouldn’t cost anything than men were (34% women vs. 21% men).
– A third of couples polled (32% married or in a serious relationship) are deliberately not spending this Feb. 14 in order to save money.
– One in six couples say this Valentine’s Day could be “make or break” for them this year. They felt this year, for some reason, was particularly crucial for their relationship.
– 64% of those surveyed feel Valentine’s Day is overrated.

U.S. NEWS

THE COST OF VALENTINE CHOCOLATES HAS GONE UP

If you’re buying chocolates for Valentine’s Day today, it could cost you more. The price of raw cocoa, chocolate’s key ingredient, has surged by 200% over the past year. Global warming has led to a decimation of cacao crops worldwide. Researchers say the cocoa supply deficit is now the worst it’s been in 60 years. As a result, the chocolates inside many of this holiday’s heart-shaped boxes will likely contain more filler ingredients like nuts and fruits to offset the cost of pure chocolate. Jacques Torres, a chocolatier in New York City, says, “We used to look at hazelnuts and pistachios as an expensive inclusion. Today, those nuts allow us to lower the cost of our chocolate bar.”
* Well, it’s more of a nut bar with a hint of chocolate, but whatever.
* Yes, there’s definitely a chocolate shortage, as you can tell by the 8 million candy bars sitting at every checkout register in America.
* I’ll start worrying when they change the 100 Grand bar to 150 Grand.
* The Willy Wonka chocolate river is at its lowest point ever. They’re finding old cars and mob snitches in metal barrels.
* This could be the break that carob has been waiting for.

IGLOO COOLER RECALLED OVER FINGER AMPUTATIONS

Popular cooler company Igloo has recalled more than one million rolling coolers over concerns that they could cause fingertip amputation. The recall involves the 90-quart Flip & Tow Rolling Coolers. The tow handle can pinch consumers’ fingertips against the cooler, posing fingertip amputation and crushing hazards, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission. There have been a dozen reports of people injuring their fingertips, including amputations, lacerations and bone fractures, the commission said.
* Boy, THERE’S a buzzkill for your tailgate party.
* And I thought it was annoying that my cooler leaks melted water.
* At least there’s a cooler handy to transport the severed fingers to the hospital for reattachment.
* And ice, too, in the cooler. And probably beer, as an anesthetic.
* The company is called Igloo, as in, “Let’s get you to a doctor. Igloo your fingers back on.”

104-YEAR-OLD WOMAN GOES TO JAIL FOR HER BUCKET LIST

A New York woman celebrated her 104th birthday by visiting the local jail. She said it was an item on her bucket list. The woman, named Loretta, told staff at the Avon Nursing Home that she wanted to celebrate her 104th birthday with a visit to the Livingston County Jail. The Sheriff’s Office agreed to the request, and Loretta was treated to a tour of the lock-up facility. The sheriff’s office said in a Facebook post that Loretta “had a great time touring our jail facility. We are so glad that we were able to make her birthday wishes come true. Thank you for all the laughs today and for being a great sport!”
* About the body cavity search, he means.
* Gray must be the new black.
* And yet there are probably criminals’ with the bucket list item “Never ever get caught and go to jail.” Life is funny.
* Did she have time to get a prison tat with a sharpened paper clip and a ballpoint pen?
* She asked to take some of the prison food; it was better than what they serve back at the home.

TRADER JOES SELLS FERTILIZED EGGS. SOMEBODY HATCHED THEM.

Did you know that Trader Joe’s sell fertilized eggs? These are eggs that have been “in contact” with a rooster. But, the chain says, if you keep them refrigerated, the eggs will not develop, and you can just eat them as regular eggs. But, if you warm them up… Well, a TikTokker, with the handle @thecaliforniahome, bought one dozen fertile eggs from Trader Joe’s, stuck them in an incubator and three weeks later eight of them hatched baby chicks. “No egg shortage here!” she quipped. Experts note that there are no adverse effects from eating a fertilized egg, nor is there any taste difference.
* Although your scrambled eggs may be a little crunchier. And then there’s the feathers.
* So now they’re stuck with eight baby chicks on TikTok. Chicks for the clicks.
* I’m getting this mental picture of baking a Duncan Hines cake and opening the oven to find three baby chicks in there.
* Fertilized eggs will hatch when you warm them. INCREDIBLE! Next, @thecaliforniahome put water in an “ice cube tray,” and to find out what would happen, she put it in the freezer. And guess what!!
* If this is supposed to deflect attention away from the Trader Joe’s killer botulism tuna recall, it’s not working.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

WHALE SWALLOWS KAYAKER, TEMPORARILY

At least you weren’t swallowed by a whale today. A humpback whale briefly swallowed a kayaker off the coast of Chile before quickly releasing him unharmed. Last Saturday, Adrián Simancas was kayaking with his father, Dell, in the Strait of Magellan. Dale was filming his son when, suddenly, a humpback whale surfaced, mouth open, fully engulfing Adrián and his yellow inflatable kayak for about five seconds before Adrian and the kayak popped up back on the surface. Dell, just yards away, captured the moment on video while encouraging his son to stay calm. “Stay calm, stay calm,” he can be heard saying after his son was released from the whale’s mouth. Adrián told The Associated Press: “I thought I was dead. I thought it had eaten me, that it had swallowed me.” Despite the terrifying experience, his father remained focused, filming and reassuring his son. Adrián managed to reach his father’s kayak and both returned to shore uninjured.
(Amazing video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muOBrsm5DPc)
* Though one of them was a little slimy.
* He could have been krilled.
* Pinocch-uh-oh.
* He’s lucky the whale was into catch-and-release.
* I guess whales don’t like the spicy food.
* Nice of dad to keep that camera steady while his son is swallowed by a whale. “This’ll REALLY get the clicks,” he thought, in Spanish.

FISH FARM OFFERS $45 BOUNTY FOR ESCAPED FISH

A Norwegian seafood company called Mowi, the world’s largest producer of farmed salmon, lost about 27,000 salmon Sunday night when they escaped from the fish farm and entered the coastal waters of northwest Norway. The company said the fence separating the farm from open waters was damaged by stormy weather. The company called on registered fishing professionals to go out and catch the fugitive salmon, for which they will be paid a bounty of $45 per fish. Experts said the escaped farm fish could pose a major risk to wild salmon in the area – the escaped salmon compete for the same spawning grounds and also could spread infections such as sea lice.
* Sea lice give Mowi farmed salmon their unique tangy taste.
* They’re offering $45 per fish but the local bears are countering with $49 per fish.
* Humans: is there nothing we can’t screw up?
* Escaped fish. Didn’t I see this movie – “The Shadshank Redemption”?
* You can tell they’re farm fish because of the little straw hats and corncob pipes.

TRENDING

LAINEY WILSON ENGAGED

Country music star Lainey Wilson and her boyfriend, former NFL quarterback Devlin “Duck” Hodges, are getting married. The couple revealed the news in a social media post on Wednesday. In a series of photos posted to Instagram, fans could see the couple celebrating, hugging and sharing a kiss in front of a house and an impressive ring that came in a box shaped like a tiny cowboy hat. Hodges, a former quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Rams, retired from football in 2022.

ALMANAC

NOTABLE DATES, UPCOMING U.S. OBSERVANCES

TODAY – Valentine’s Day
February 17, Monday – Presidents Day / Washington’s Birthday
March 4, Tuesday – Shrove Tuesday/Mardi Gras
March 9, Sunday – Daylight Saving Time Begins
March 17, Monday – St. Patrick’s Day
March 20, Thursday – Spring begins, Spring Equinox is 5:01 a.m. EDT

BIRTHDAYS

Freddie Highmore (actor, “The Good Doctor,” “Bates Motel”) … 33
Danai Gurira (actress, “Black Panther”) … 47
Rob Thomas (musician with Matchbox 20 and Santana) … 53
Simon Pegg (actor, “Mission: Impossible” and “Star Trek” movies) … 55
Teller (silent comedian-magician with Penn and Teller, born Raymond Joseph Teller) … 77

Today’s Birthdays grade: Freddie Highmore is fresh off a seven-season run as “The Good Doctor,” a show that started hot but shed 75% of its opening audience by its last year. Ouch. Penn & Teller are still grinding away after … 50 years together. And it’s hard not to like Simon Pegg – “Mission Impossible” ensemble member and star of several of his own films. Grade: A not-spectacular but nice B-minus.

[Want to try something different with the daily birthdays? Try grading them! Some days have “good” celebs, some have “great” celebs, some have “lousy” celebs. For fun, give the group an arbitrary grade: A-plus through F-minus. Sidekick will give you our take on it; you can to take the concept and run with it.]

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

“I’m not a sad person, upset the whole time, but I seem to be quite emotional.”

(A) Eminem
(B) Joker
(C) Freddie Highmore

ANSWER: (C) Freddie Highmore

THIS DAY IN HISTORY

2011 – The TV game show “Jeopardy!” began airing the first of three episodes pitting human players Brad Rutter and Ken Jennings against an IBM computer named “Watson.” Watson received the first place prize of $1 million.
* The weird part? He blew it on booze and broads.

2003 – “Dolly” the sheep – the first mammal cloned from an adult – was put to death at age 6 after premature aging and disease marred her short existence.
* So we’re still a bit away from cloning Scarlett Johansson.

1990 – Space probe Voyager 1 took a photograph of the entire solar system.
* I HATE that picture. I look fat and my eyes are closed.

1989 – Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeni ordered the execution of British author Salman Rushdie, after the publication of his book, “The Satanic Verses.”
* So he didn’t like the book, then?

1971 – President Richard Nixon installed a secret taping system in the White House.
* Smart move.

1962 – President John Kennedy’s wife conducted the first televised tour of The White House.
* “And in this room is … oh, why is this door locked? And what IS that noise?”

1929 – The infamous “Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre” took place in Chicago when seven members of Bugs Moran’s gang were shot by the Al Capone gang.
* You could feel the love in the room.

1899 – The U.S. Congress began using voting machines.
* Aren’t you glad we have modern voting booths and not those primitive, unreliable ones?

1876 – Alexander Graham Bell and Elisha Gray applied separately to patent the telephone. The Supreme Court eventually ruled Bell was the rightful inventor.
* Elisha Gray spent the rest of his life making late-night crank calls to Bell.

1848 – James K. Polk became the first president photographed in office.
* 150 years later Bill Clinton would be the first president pornographed in office.

1803 – Moses Coats of Downingtown, Pennsylvania patented the apple parer.
* Just goes to show how much productive work you can get done when you don’t have a date for Valentine’s Day.

1477 – The earliest recorded Valentine card was sent in Norfolk, England.
* So the person getting it must have had no idea what it was.

THIS DAY IN MUSIC HISTORY

2016 – Adele was at No.1 on the U.S. album chart with her third studio album “25.” The album was a massive commercial success, debuting at No.1 in more than 25 markets and broke first-week sales records in multiple countries.

2005 – A 1965 Fender Stratocaster guitar belonging to Jimi Hendrix sold for $166,000 at an auction in London. Other Hendrix items sold included a poem written two weeks after his appearance at the Monterey Festival which went for $16,000 and the first Jimi Hendrix Experience’s single “Hey Joe,” signed by all the band sold for $3,300.

2004 – Dave Holland, former drummer with Judas Priest, was jailed for eight years for indecent assault and the attempted rape of a 17-year old boy. The youth, who had learning difficulties, had been taking drum lessons from Holland.

2003 – Stolen reel-to-reel studio recordings by The Beatles were found in Australia. Police recovered the tapes of the bands 1968 “White Album” and the “Abbey Road” album after they were advertised for sale in a Sydney newspaper. Australian police had been tipped off by British detectives from Operation Acetone, an investigation into thefts of original Beatles music from Abbey Road studios in London in the 1960’s.

1999 – U.S. rapper Foxy Brown was at No.1 on the U.S. album chart with “Chyna Doll.”

1998 – Usher started a two-week run at No.1 on the U.S. singles chart with “Nice & Slow.”

1998 – Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On” set a new recorded for the most radio plays in the U.S. with 116 million plays in one week.

1992 – The film “Waynes World,” with a brief cameo appearance from Meat Loaf, premiered in the U.S.

1990 – The Rolling Stones played the first of ten nights at the Korakuen Dome, Tokyo, Japan. The shows were seen by over 500,000 fans, making the band $20 million.

1987 – Bon Jovi started a four-week run at No.1 on the U.S. singles chart with “Livin’ On A Prayer,” the group’s second U.S. No.1.

1984 – Elton John married recording engineer Renate Blauer in Sydney, Australia. The couple divorced three years later.

1978 – Dire Straits began recording their first album at Basing Street Studios, London. The whole project cost $21,250 to produce.

1977 – U.S. singer, songwriter Janis Ian received 461 Valentine’s day cards after indicating in the lyrics of her song “At Seventeen” she had never received any.

1973 – David Bowie was knocked unconscious and carried offstage after an excited fan rushed the stage at Radio City Music Hall, knocking him down. Bowie was performing “Rock and Roll Suicide,” the final song of the show.

1972 – John Lennon and Yoko Ono started a week-long run as co-hosts on the “Mike Douglas” TV show.

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. People spend 3 hours of their lives waiting in line HERE. Where is it?
A drive-thru bank

2. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Americans spend about 1,000 hours a year doing THIS. What is it?
Listening to the radio

3. On average, people spend 5 years of their lives doing THIS. What is it?
Eating

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