TUESDAY, Aug 12 – DAILY PREP TEXT VERSION

MORNING SIDEKICK DAILY PREP TEXT VERSION FOR TUESDAY, August 12, 2025

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.)

IBM PC DAY
Wired magazine says this:
“On August 12, 1981, IBM introduced its 5150 personal computer. It swept away the competition and effectively had the market to itself, until the original Apple Macintosh appeared two-and-a-half years later. For its operating system, IBM went to a small company called Microsoft. The success of the IBM 5150 established the dominance of the Microsoft operating system.”

INTERNATIONAL YOUTH DAY
Established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1999, to promote youth participation in society, highlight youth issues on the global agenda, celebrate young people’s contributions to their communities, and encourage governments to develop youth-focused policies and programs.

JULIENNE FRIES DAY

MIDDLE CHILD’S DAY

NATIONAL SEWING MACHINE DAY
On this day in 1851, Isaac Singer received a patent for a commercial sewing machine design. His innovative model incorporated features like a straight needle, a reciprocating shuttle, and a friction pad for thread tension control. It also utilized a foot treadle to power the machine, freeing the user’s hands. This machine was designed for manufacturing rather than home use. By 1860, the Singer Manufacturing Company had become the world’s largest sewing machine maker.

VINYL RECORD DAY

WORLD ELEPHANT DAY
Established in 2012 by Canadian filmmaker Patricia Sims and the Elephant Reintroduction Foundation of Thailand to unite elephant conservation organizations, zoos, and wildlife advocates around the world in their efforts to protect elephants.

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 & CELEBRITY

HALL v. OATES SETTLE

At last, peace is at hand. No, not Ukraine, not Gaza… the OTHER major conflict: Daryl Hall and John Oates have resolved their dispute over their business partnership. Details of their rift went public in court documents filed in a 2023 lawsuit concerning Oates’ plan to sell his share of their joint business venture, Whole Oats Enterprises LLP, to a third party. Hall filed a restraining order against Oates in Nashville, claiming Oates couldn’t sell his share without Hall’s approval. Hall’s lawsuit included a temporary restraining order to prevent the sale until an arbitrator could review the case. While details of the settlement remain private, it effectively ends the legal battle between the two musicians.
* President Trump has a press conference scheduled for this 10 o’clock morning where he will claim credit for this.
* Now, everything is equitable. Hall owns “Sara,” Oates owns “Smile.” Hall owns “I Can’t Go For That,” Oates owns “No Can Do.” Hall owns “You Make-a My Dreams”, and Oates owns “Come True Ooo-Ooo, Ooo, Oo-dee-Ooo.”
* Now if we can only get Seals and Crofts to see eye-to-eye.

THE BUZZ

THE WORST AIRPORT FOR LOSING LUGGAGE: MIAMI

Arka, a California-based provider of custom shipping packaging, has analyzed data to identify which airports are the most prone to baggage loss. The title of “worst hub for handling luggage” went to Miami International Airport, whose code letter just happen to be MIA (Missing In Action!). According to Akra’s survey, 52 million passengers go through the Miami airport each year and it loses roughly 306 bags for every million flights and 5.5 bags per 1,000 passengers.
– Coming in at No. 2 is Chicago O’Hare International Airport. Third is Singapore’s Changi Airport.
* Here’s how bad it is: this story came out in March, but it went through Miami and we’re just getting it now.
* Honestly, if you fly with anything beyond paper bag with a toothbrush and a change of underwear, you’re just asking for it.
* You should know that your lost suitcase is going to build an artificial dike in front of Miami to keep the sea from rising.

EXCUSES CALLING IN SICK

Reddit asked, “What is the most unusual excuse you’ve ever heard of from somebody calling off work?” Some of the responses:
– “I recently had to call in because lightning struck my home and caused a fire. True.”
– “Dropped a frozen turkey on their bare foot.”
– “One girl said she got lost on her way to work and ended up in a different state.”
– “Guy said he couldn’t come in because his goldfish was depressed… and he needed to ‘be there emotionally.'”
– “Guy said he couldn’t come in because his dog had peed in his shoe and he only had one pair.”
– “A guy I worked with in retail called in to say he had a nightmare and didn’t think he’d be able to get back to sleep. He came in to work 5 hours later.”
– “I once had a coworker call in sunburnt.”
– “I had a coworker that called in because she dumped hot ramen noodles all over her lap.”
– “My wife called me from home to say she called in sick. Why? ‘There’s a big bug by the door.’ I told her to step on it. She was too afraid. I told her to sic our dog on it. Dog ignored it. Upon further examination it turned out the bug was actually just a ball of loose thread.”
– “My coworker called in because the rod in his closet fell and he wanted to fix it and rehang his suits so he didn’t have to pay the dry cleaner to iron them for him again.”
– “One girl didn’t show up so we called her and she said, ‘I forgot that I worked there.’ (as in, forgot they worked for our store.)”
– “‘I am so sorry. I can’t come in today. I’m trapped. There’s a moose on my porch, and it’s been sleeping in front of my door for three hours. I can’t get out.’ He emailed me a picture from his upstairs window. There was a full-grown moose, curled up and fast asleep on his front steps like a giant, antlered dog.”
* PHONE TOPIC: What are some of the real excuses you’ve heard for calling in sick?

U.S. NEWS

CAR CRASHES INTO RESTAURANT THREE TIMES

In University Place, Washington state, a runaway car hit the same storefront multiple times. Security video shows a white Honda Pilot with a trailer dolly backing up to a red sedan in a parking lot on July 30, about 3:45 a.m., and attempting to pull it away with a tow strap. After pulling about 50 feet, the strap breaks, and the car rolls down the parking lot and smashes into the glass front of the Pho and Teriyaki restaurant. The two people in the Honda tried towing it a second time. Again, the strap broke and the car rolled back, crashing into the restaurant. They tried a third time, and failed a third time, sending the sedan back into the restaurant. A fourth time, they managed to tow the car away from the restaurant, but in doing so they kept hitting parking lot curbs and, finally, clipped a retaining wall. The two ultimately gave up and left the scene, leaving the smashed up vehicle behind. Police are still searching for the owner.
* Sounds like it could be that Delta pilot who clipped that other plane at the Atlanta airport.
* Just a wild guess here, but I think they need towing chain instead of a towing strap.
* Fast & Furious 9: Completely Out Of Ideas!
* Like they say, if at first you don’t succeed, try to not succeed three more times.

LEWD DJ ARRESTED IN FLORIDA PARK

Police in Jenson Beach, Florida, responded to an indecent exposure complaint last Thursday and found Anthony Smith, 32, walking around Indian Riverside Park wearing, according to the police report:
– Women’s lingerie, the bottoms of which “were of the thong variety” and left Smith’s genitals “fully exposed”
– Fake breasts
– A wig of long black hair
– A black mask around his face
– A “ring.” (You can imagine what kind it is.)
– A black fox tail “protruding from his posterior.” Yes, it was attached to “a rectal plug.”
Mr. Smith, who says he works as a party and wedding DJ, said that he “suffers from some sort of sexual addiction,” and that engaging in lewd behavior “arouses him.” He also admitted that “this was not the first time he had a run in with law enforcement for this same kind of behavior.”
* What, no hat to complete the ensemble?
* Not a great outfit to be wearing when you’re thrown into a prison cell.
* Are they sure it wasn’t Andy Dick? This sounds like one of his meltdowns.
* You should know that this kind of behavior is not at all common among DJs. I mean, I don’t even own a black mask.
* How does he make it as a wedding DJ? You’re never supposed to upstage the bride.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

TOURIST ARRESTED FOR LIGHTING CIGARETTE ON PARIS’ ETERNAL FLAME

In Paris, France, a tourist was arrested last week for using the eternal flame at the city’s Tomb of the Unknown Soldier to light his cigarette. The tomb, and the flame, sit under the famous Arc de Triomphe. The man, who turned out to be from Latvia, was caught on video walking on the gravestone, bending down and lighting the smoke on the flame. He was charged with violating a burial site. Said Patricia Miralles, minister for veterans: “You cannot ridicule French remembrance and get away with it. This is an insult to our dead, to our history and to our nation.”
* You thought it was going to be an American didn’t you? Everybody did.
* No, an American would be arrested for toasting a marshmallow, or making S’mores.
* On the other hand, the amount of smoking in France is ridiculous. They literally hand you a pack of cigarettes as you get off the plane. So what’s a guy to do?
* Really. France’s national anthem is the sound of a Zippo lighter.

AUDIO: PASSENGER HANGS ON TO OUTSIDE OF BULLET TRAIN

For the second time this year, a man has survived clinging to the outside of a high-speed train. The previous time, in January, it was a Hungarian hanging onto a German bullet train for 20 miles. This time it’s an Algerian on an Austria bullet train. The man had hopped off for a cigarette during a stop in in St Pölten. As the train pulled away, the 24-year-old man jumped into the space between two cars. As the train climbed to its top speed of around 175mph, the man panicked and banged on the train’s windows to attract the attention of other passengers. Eventually, the train’s conductor hit the emergency brake and the train crew brought him back onboard. After the train arrived in Vienna, the man was led away by police.
* He was fast-tracked to jail.
* Cigarettes. Not good for you, in so many ways.
* This is the stupidest TikTok challenge ever.
* Now they have to buff out the fingernail marks from the outside of the train.
* On the bright side, the Guinness Book of Records has just awarded him the title of World’s Fastest Hobo.
CLIP: Daffy Duck flies by on a rocket, screaming.
CLUP URL: morningsidekick(dot)com/prep/wp-content/uploads/daffy-flying-past-on-rocket-screaming(dot)mp3

600 WATERMELONS STOLEN

Around 600 watermelons were stolen from a field in Matsumoto City, Japan, on Saturday. The farmer said the watermelons, which were ready to be harvested, had disappeared. The grower told police there was nothing unusual when he left the field at 11 a.m. on Friday. They were valued at 1.2 million yen, or US$8100.
* On the bright side, that’s the retail value at a market. The farmer would have gotten much less. Hmm. Maybe that’s not such a bright side.
* The suspects are described as armed and herniated.
* In other news, the record for the World’s Largest Fruit Salad was set in Nagano over the weekend.
* Do regular people in Japan not realize you can plant seeds and grow your own watermelons?
* Notice how none of these produce thefts ever involve zucchini.

TRENDING

CARLY PEARCE CUTS HAND ON RANCH DRESSING

Country star Carly Pearce was rushed to the hospital recently after she cut her hand open on a jar of ranch dressing. She had just performed at the Country Music Festival in Butler County, Ohio, last Thursday, and was preparing her dinner when she opened the bottle of ranch, it snapped off and a piece of glass cut her thumb. Paramedics on site believed she’d sliced her hand pretty deep, and recommended stitches at the hospital. The told her she could ride in the ambulance, but there was a policy that she had to be strapped onto a stretcher and loaded into the back. She was not happy with that.

ALMANAC

NOTABLE DATES, UPCOMING U.S. OBSERVANCES

Sept. 1, Monday – Labor Day
Sept. 11, Thursday – Patriot Day
Sept. 19, Friday – National POW/MIA Recognition Day (The third Friday of September)
Sept. 22, Monday – Fall begins (Autumn Equinox is 2:19 p.m. EDT)
Oct. 13, Monday – Columbus Day
Oct. 16, Thursday – National Boss’s Day
Oct. 31, Friday – Halloween

BIRTHDAYS

Casey Affleck (actor, director, screenwriter, producer, Ben’s brother, “Oppenheimer,” “Manchester by the Sea,” “Interstellar”) … 50
Bruce Greenwood (actor, “Dark Winds,” “The Fall of the House of Usher,” “The Resident”) … 69
Jim Beaver (actor, “Supernatural”) … 75
Mark Knopfler (rock musician and singer with Dire Straits) … 76

Today’s Birthdays grade: The Oscar-winning little brother of somewhat bigger star, a co-starring actor whose name you might not know but who you’ve surely seen in something, and the writer/singer/guitarist behind a little song about MTV you just might have heard. Grade: B-minus.

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

“Does celebrity interest anyone? It’s definitely not appealing to me. I think anyone who’s had any real exposure to it would probably regret ever having even entertained the idea.”

(A) Kim Kardashian
(B) Snoop Dogg
(C) Casey Affleck

ANSWER: (C) Casey Affleck

THIS DAY IN HISTORY

1981 – IBM unveiled the company’s first personal computer, the IBM PC, at New York’s Waldorf Astoria Hotel, priced at $1,565 with 16 kilobytes of RAM, helping bring home computing to the masses.
* But the real money would end up being in ink cartridges for home printers.

1964 – Mickey Mantle set a major league baseball record when he hit home runs from both the left and ride sides of the plate in the same game.
* What a hot dog.

1898 – Hawaii was annexed by the U.S.
* It was one of our prettier land grabs.

1877 – Thomas Edison invented the phonograph and made the first sound recording.
* He spoke into the amplifying horn and chanted, “I am so smart! I am so smart! I am so smart …”

1865 – Disinfectant was used for the first time during surgery by Joseph Lister.
* “Listerine” mouthwash came later when the nurses asked him if disinfectant would help his horrible breath.

1856 – Anthony Fass patented the accordion.
* A torture device that should long ago have been banned by the Geneva Convention.

1851 – Isaac Singer received a patent for the sewing machine.
* He almost single-handedly revolutionized sweatshops!

THIS DAY IN MUSIC HISTORY

2015 – A second postage stamp was issued in the U.S. bearing the image of Elvis Presley (the first was introduced in 1993). This one featured a black and white photograph of Elvis taken in 1955 by William Speer, and was part of the Music Icon series that began in 2013.

2012 – The London 2012 Olympics ended with a spectacular musical closing ceremony. The three-hour show featured some of the biggest names of British music from decades past, including the Spice Girls, George Michael, The Who, Take That, Muse, Jessie J, Emeli Sande, Elbow, Madness, The Pet Shop Boys, One Direction, Ray Davies, Liam Gallagher, and Brian May and Roger Taylor from Queen.

1999 – Shakira recorded her first live album in New York City, titled “MTV Unplugged.”

1991 – Heavy metal band Metallica released its fifth album, “Metallica,” which debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 chart.

1984 – As The Olympic Games came to a close, Lionel Richie performed “All Night Long” live from Los Angeles.

1977 – Henri Padovani, guitarist with The Police, quit the group after nine months, leaving them a trio.

1968 – Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones and John Bonham played together for the first time when they rehearsed at a studio in London. The first song they played was a version of “Train Kept A-Rollin.”

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. 12% of people surveyed say they have left the house wearing THIS. What is it?
Mismatched socks

2. About 45% of American adults are wearing one of THESE right now. What is it?
A ring

3. 38 million Americans wear THESE daily; two-thirds are women. What are they?
Contact lenses

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