FRIDAY, Apr 25 – DAILY PREP TEXT VERSION

MORNING SIDEKICK DAILY PREP TEXT VERSION FOR FRIDAY, April 25, 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. We present only those specially designated days we feel your listeners would find most interesting or significant.)

ARBOR DAY
This holiday encourages people to plant trees and appreciate the environment, with various events and activities planned in many communities.

EAST MEETS WEST DAY
The National Day Calendar website says this:
Also known as Elbe Day, this day commemorates the day the Eastern front of the Allied forces met the Western front on the River Elbe. World War II had been raging for over six years. On April 25th of 1945, American troops fighting in the East and Soviet armies from the West met south of Berlin outside Torgau on the River Elbe. The first to make contact were American First Lieutenant Albert Kotzebue and Soviet Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Gardiev along with their commands. Two days later, photographers commemorated the event of the Eastern front meeting the Western front.

HAIRSTYLIST APPRECIATION DAY

NATIONAL MANI-PEDI DAY

NATIONAL PLUMBERS DAY

WORLD PENGUIN DAY

April is:

Adopt a Greyhound Month
Car Care Month
Celebrate Diversity Month
D.E.A.R Drop Everything and Read Month
International Guitar Month
Jazz Appreciation Month
Keep America Beautiful Month
National Card and Letter Writing Month
National Garden Month
National Humor Month
National Poetry Month

THE BUZZNORMAL THINGS THAT CAUSE IRRATIONAL ANXIETY

Reddit asked, “What’s a completely normal thing that gives you irrational anxiety?” Some of the responses:
– “I don’t answer unscheduled phone calls. I wait until they leave a message saying what it’s about.”
– “When I just finished paying at a grocery store and it takes me a second to put my card/change back in my wallet I get overwhelming anxiety about the people behind me waiting.”
– “When someone says ‘Let’s go around the room and introduce ourselves’… suddenly I forget my name, job, hobbies, and how to speak like a human being.”
– “If I don’t make my bed first thing, the whole day is ruined.”
– “Popping open a Pillsbury tube of biscuits. I know the pop is coming every time, I still jump. ”
– “The parking situation at a new place I’m going to.”
– “Walking on manhole covers. I just can’t.”
– “Tying my shoes when somebody is watching.”
– “Grocery store without a list.”
– “The socializing that’s expected at the hairdresser. Please. Just let me be silent. You’re playing with my hair, after all. Let me enjoy this time, completely quiet.”
– “Costco on Saturday.”
* PHONE TOPIC: Do any of these sound familiar to you? What normal think causes anxiety for you?

THE DIRTIEST CITIES IN AMERICA

A publication called HouseFresh, which focuses on indoor air quality, analyzed 12.3 million sanitation-related complaints to cities and has come up with a list of the Dirtiest Cities in the U.S., based on complaints in the past year about things like trash, dirty streets, pests, healthcare problems and poor sanitation.
1. Baltimore, Maryland 47,295 calls
2. Sacramento, California 34,186 calls
3. Charlotte, North Carolina 31,112 calls
4. Los Angeles, California 21,616
5. Memphis, Tennessee 17,408
6. Boston, Massachusetts 10,252 (* I bet it’s because of that old “Dirty Water” song.)
7. San Antonio, Texas 8,929
8. Kansas City, Kansas 8,874(* Must be all that dust.)
9. Buffalo, New York 8,509 (* Must be all those buffalo.)
10. Dallas, Texas 8,382
11. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 7,854
12. Nashville, Tennessee 7,703
13. Chicago, Illinois 7,376
14. Houston, Texas 6,275
15. Oakland, California 6,139
16. New Orleans, Louisiana 5,295 (* This is the city they literally hose off each morning, and it’s only #16?)
17. New York, New York 3,728
18. Miami, Florida 3,284
19. San Francisco, California 2,411
20. Austin, Texas 2,245
21: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 2,144
22. Riverside, California 1,609
23. Milwaukee, Wisconsin is the cleanest city in America with only 309 calls.
* I would posit that Milwaukee is actually the dirtiest, but people are just so use to all the filth they don’t bother calling anymore.

U.S. NEWS

YET ANOTHER CHILD FIGHT CLUB

A school director in Jonesboro, Arkansas, is accused of encouraging a makeshift child fight club. Mary Tracy Morrison, owner and director of The Delta Institute for the Developing Brain, has been charged with permitting child abuse. Police arrested Morrison and three of the school’s employees on Monday after a video surfaced of them watching an incident at the school that lasted 30 minutes and included a teacher instructing a student to hit another “in the private area.” Prosecutors called Morrison “the ringleader of this makeshift child fight club. She was the ringleader of this particular incident.” The school describes itself as a “unique learning center that teaches children with autism the executive functioning skills that will make them accomplished, goal-driven adults.”
* Is this the school of hard knocks I’ve heard so much about?
* I guess we should be glad the fight club wasn’t using actual clubs.
* A good fistfight is part of executive functioning skills in Arkansas.
* To be fair to the teachers, you can only tolerate so many games of “Duck Duck Goose.”
* The school teaches grades K thru 12, or more like K.O. thru 12.

LOS ANGELES TREE FELLER ARRESTED

A suspect has been arrested, believed to be the man who took a chainsaw to rows of mature trees along streets in Los Angeles. Samuel Patrick Groft is accused of felony vandalism for allegedly using a chainsaw to cut down trees in areas of downtown Los Angeles, the Westlake District, and Glassell Park. The crimes happened between April 17th and 22nd, which also happened to be Earth Day. Police believe 11 trees were cut down. The damage was estimated to be at least $347,000.
* What’s the punishment for felony lumberjacking?
* Now he’s going to be logging … some time in jail.
* Was it revenge? Maybe when he was a kid he was bitten by a dogwood.
* I really hate bringing you this story today – it’s Arbor Day!
* So he’s the opposite of a tree hugger.
* When he gets out of jail, Elon Musk says come talk to him about a job.

SCRATCH AND SNIFF BILLBOARDS

New Yorkers are being asked to try out a new scratch-and-sniff billboard. Personal care brand Billie has posted several street-level billboards around the city showing closeups of people’s armpits. If you scratch it, or lean in to sniff the armpit, it gives you a whiff of the company’s new deodorant scent called Coco Villa, described as a sweet vanilla coconut scent, featuring spiced vanilla, coconut cream and sunny sandalwood.
* It’s the pits!
* Coconut armpits? At least it’s not pumpkin spice.
* Like you don’t get enough armpit odors riding the subway.
* Wait’ll you see the billboard they have planned for jock itch.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

PRINCESS OF DENMARK POSES FOR OFFICIAL PHOTO WITH CELL PHONE

Princess Isabella of Denmark — who is second in line to the throne after her brother Prince Christian (* but you knew that) — has just released a series of official photographic portraits of herself in honor of her 18th birthday. She’s wearing a beautiful orange gown, tasteful earrings, a modest tiara and, in one photo, she’s posed holding her cell phone. Some people have complained, but many fans defended the princess as they hailed her modern touch, writing, “When old world royalty meets today’s tech reality,” and another commenting, “Hello relatable Princess.”
* She should have posed in front of an IKEA shelf unit holding an Allen wrench.
* There were supposed to be other pictures, but the prince came by and photobombed them.
* A lot of royalty posed with technology of the day. King Louis the 14th was painted sitting at a writing desk, and a painting of Queen Victoria has a carrier pigeon sitting on her head.
* I’m sure mom and dad are just thankful she didn’t pose in a hoodie with jeans.

WOMAN TOLD HER NEXT BRAZILIAN WAX WILL COST MORE, DUE TO SIZE OF THE ACREAGE

In Melbourne, Australia, a woman named Sarah Button, 27, posted a video after her first Brazilian wax complaining about the message she got afterwards from the waxer. A Brazilian wax is when you get your pubic hair removed, quickly and painfully. Button said the waxer texted her: “Thanks, hun, just in the future, I’ll have to charge you a little more for the size of the area. I hope that makes sense, nothing crazy, like $5 or $10 extra.” Button said she replied, “No worries,” because she was in a state of shock, but now that she’s had some time to reflect, she’s furious, mostly that the waxer hadn’t mentioned anything at the session, and took the chicken way out to text her afterwards.
* I believe the Australian expression for this is Bushwacking Down Under.
* Things are getting hairy at the waxing salon.
* What is the waxer supposed to do, holler out the door as she’s leaving: “HEY SARAH! FORGOT TO TELL YOU I’LL NEED TO CHARGE YOU MORE NEXT TIME BECAUSE OF ALL THE EXTRA HAIR!!! OK? SEE YOU NEXT TIME!!”
* “AND MAKE THE APPOINTMENT EARLY SO I CAN ORDER ALL THE EXTRA WAX YOU’RE GONNA NEED!!! YOU KNOW, FOR YOUR CROTCH!!!”
* Does this qualify as a bad hair day?

NAME THE NEW POPE!

The Fark website asked readers to name the next Pope. Some of the responses:
– Pope Secret
– Sir Popes-a-Lot
– Popey McPopeface
– Grey Pope-On
– Pope Onarope
– Mr. Big Hat
– RuPaul II
– Pope Sicola
– Pope A-cabana
– Pope Fabulous the First
– Goes the Weasel
* PHONE TOPIC: You got a good name for the next Pope?

ALMANACNOTABLE DATES, UPCOMING U.S. OBSERVANCES

May 11, Sunday – Mother’s Day
May 26, Monday – Memorial Day
June 14, Saturday – Flag Day
June 15, Sunday – Father’s Day
June 20, Friday – Summer begins (The June solstice occurs at 10:42 P.M. EDT)

BIRTHDAYS

Jayden Rey (actress, “The Conners”) … 16
Jason Lee (actor, “The Residence,” “My Name is Earl”) … 55
Renee Zellweger (actress) … 56
Hank Azaria (actor, many voices on “The Simpsons”) … 61
Bjorn Ulvaeus (Swedish singer with ABBA) … 80
Al Pacino (actor) … 85

Today’s Birthdays grade: A mixed bag with a Simpsons castmember, a member of the Swedish Bee Gees (or the Swedish Fleetwood Mac), constant screen presence Renee Zellweger, capped by a Godfather screen legend. A pretty good bunch. Grade: 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!

“The things that fame brings – the trappings … the privileges – don’t necessarily appeal to me … The things that I value are much more simple than that.”

(A) Madonna
(B) Kim Kardashian
(C) Renee Zellweger

ANSWER: (C) Renee Zellweger

THIS DAY IN HISTORY

2022 – Twitter announced a deal to sell itself to Elon Musk for $44 billion.
* Good for him. I went on a spending spree recently, too. I got a Big Mac and a LARGE fries.

2019 – Microsoft became the third U.S. firm to be listed with a market worth of $1 trillion, after Apple and Amazon.
* Wow – imagine how much they’d be worth if Windows always worked right.

1990 – The Hubble Space Telescope was deployed from the space shuttle Discovery.
* After 3 years and over $50 million of troubleshooting, they finally removed the lens cap.

1961 – The computer revolution got a jump start when Robert Noyce of Intel Corporation was awarded a patent for the “integrated circuit.”
* The 60s were a big decade for integration.

1960 – A nuclear submarine went around the world underwater for the first time.
* Then the captain finally remembered where the brake pedal was.

1953 – Scientists first modeled the DNA molecule.
* The famous twisting double helix ushered in a new age of biology … and roller coaster design.

1950 – The first Dunkin’ Donuts shop opened.
* And since then they’ve made a whole lot of dough.

1901 – New York became the first state to require auto license plates.
* With the additional requirement that the office to get them have long lines and surly civil servants.

1792 – France began beheading criminals with the guillotine.
* Bad guys flipped their lids!

1684 – The thimble was patented.
* Yes, it took several centuries of people sticking needles in their fingers until somebody figured out they should cover them with something.

1507 – The word “America” was first used on a map when a German cartographer named the newly discovered western continents after explorer Amerigo Vespucci.
* Lots of other people visited the New World, but it was Amerigo who slipped the mapmaker a couple bucks.

THIS DAY IN MUSIC HISTORY

2009 – A man suing rapper Snoop Dogg told a court he received a “brutal” beating from the star’s security. Richard Monroe Jr. also claimed that the rapper hit him with a microphone after he climbed on stage. Mr. Monroe was asking for $22m in damages from the rapper and others. Jurors cleared Dogg of civil assault and battery claims. The jury did find that Richard Monroe Jr. suffered serious injuries during the concert and awarded him $449,400 in damages to be paid by a record label, another performer and others involved in the concert.

2008 – The Empire State Building in New York City was lit up in Mariah Carey’s motif colors, lavender, pink, and white, in celebration of her achievements in the world of music. Carey was the first person in history to be honored with this event.

2007 – During The Rolling Stones’ world tour, aides to George Bush were told they couldn’t book a luxury five star hotel suite because Mick Jagger had already booked it. Jagger had splashed out thousands of dollars a night for the suite at the five-star Imperial Hotel in Vienna, Austria, in advance of the band’s appearance there. Prior to the attempted booking, US Secret Service agents had already vetted the hotel, but to no avail.

2003 – Britain’s “Sunday Times Rich List” named the world’s wealthiest musicians. Paul McCartney topped the list ($1.3 billion); Madonna was 4th ($404m); Mick Jagger was 6th ($312m); Elton John was 7th ($303m).

1990 – The Fender Stratocaster that Jimi Hendrix played at the Woodstock festival was auctioned off for a record $295,000.

1988 – Bon Jovi’s manager Doc Mcgee was convicted on drug offenses arising from the 1982 seizure of 40,000 pounds of marijuana smuggled into North Carolina from Colombia. McGee was sentenced to a five year suspended prison term and a $15,000 fine.

1987 – U2 started a five-week run at No.1 in the U.S. album chart with “The Joshua Tree.”

1984 – Paul McCartney’s band Wings disbanded.

1977 – Elvis Presley made the last recordings of his life during a concert at the Saginaw, Michigan Civic Center. Three songs from the show appeared on the posthumously released Presley album, “Moody Blue.”

1970 – The Jackson Five started a two-week run at No.1 on the U.S. singles chart with “ABC.” It was the group’s second U.S. No.1.

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 American goes through 3640 of THESE a day. What are they?
Calories

2. According to a recent study, you’ll eat 9% fewer calories if you do THIS while eating. What is it?
Wear a blindfold

3. An hour of THIS activity burns as many calories as an hour on an exercise bike. What is it?
Mopping floors

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