FRIDAY, Aug 15 – DAILY PREP TEXT VERSION

MORNING SIDEKICK DAILY PREP TEXT VERSION FOR FRIDAY, August 15, 2025

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.)

LEMON MERINGUE PIE DAY

NATIONAL BEST FRIENDS DAY

NATIONAL CHECK THE CHIP DAY
The American Veterinary Medical Association website says this:
“Each year on Check the Chip Day, check your pet’s microchip registration information and update it if it’s incomplete or no longer correct.”

NATIONAL LEATHERCRAFT DAY
Created in 2018 by leatherworking supplies retailer Tandy Leather to promote leathercrafting.

NATIONAL RELAXATION DAY
Proposed in 1985 by nine-year-old Sean Moeller of Clio, Michigan, who felt that he, along with everyone else, needed a break from busy schedules. Moeller’s grandfather was William D. Chase, founder of Chase’s Calendar of Annual Events, a listing of special events, holidays, federal and state observances, historic anniversaries, and offbeat “special days” created by Chase and other family members. Chase included Sean’s National Relaxation Day and it has been growing in recognition ever since.

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

THE BUZZHARMLESS LIES

Reddit asked, “What’s the most harmless lie you regularly tell?” Some of the responses:
– “I don’t watch many movies. Just not my thing. So when someone asks me if I’ve seen a popular/classic movie, I just lie and say I have so they don’t go ‘Oh my god you never saw Barbie???.'”
– “I always tell my friends I’m on my way even though I’m still deciding what shoes to wear.”
– “I tell my kitty he is a good boy, even though he is a monster.”
– “I tell my plants they’re my favorite so they grow better but truth is I say that to all of them.”
– “Hello, nice to see you. It’s never nice to see you.”
– “Just one more episode, every night.”
PHONE TOPIC: What harmless lies do you tell?

U.S. NEWS

NEIGHBOR BLASTS TRAIN HORN EVERY DAY

Residents in a Van Nuys, California, neighborhood are angry at one of their neighbors who blasts a set of train horns from his house every day. They say the daily blast has been going on several times a day for months and the man responsible for it, Gary Boyadzhyan, said he has no plans to stop. Boyadzhyan claims he has a long-running grievance with the local police and that the loud sirens are his way of getting the department’s attention. But he won’t say what the grievance is. LAPD said that, to issue a citation, they would need to witness the horns blaring when they arrive, but that has not happened. Boyadzhyan always turns off the horns by the time officers arrive. Boyadzhyan apologizes to his neighbors but, he says, “I don’t know what else to do.”
* He could just stop blasting the horn, but that would be stupid.
* He wants to get the LAPD’s attention. He blasts the horn. Neighbors call the cops. They arrive. What’s the problem?
* Maybe he’s running a business, selling train horns out of his house.
* With that train horn going, I bet the neighbors can’t hear all their annoying dogs barking all day.
* At least it’s a train horn and not, say, a jet engine.
* PHONE TOPIC: Have you got a horrible neighbor? What do they do?

RIDE-ALONG ACCIDENTALLY EJECTS FROM FIGHTER PLANE ON THE RUNWAY

A ride-along backseat passenger in an F-15D Eagle fighter jet accidentally ejected from the aircraft while it was on the ground at Barnes Air National Guard Base in Westfield, Massachusetts. In a video posted on social media, a puff of smoke is seen wafting from the backseat as the F-15 is taxiing. The canopy, having been blown off during the ejection sequence, is lying on the Eagle’s left wing. The passenger appears to be crawling next to the runway near what looks like a parachute as the F-15 continues to roll by.
* “Stop the ride, stop the ride!” That doesn’t work at the carnival, either.
* “Oh— DON’T pull the yellow handle. Sorry, I got confused.”
* It was embarrassing, plus he had to put a dollar in the Dumb Passenger jar.
* Maybe he didn’t eject, maybe the jet canopy was just built by Boeing.

PILOT CANCELS FLIGHT, WAS “NOT REALLY FEELING IT”

This happened on a recent American Airlines flight from Los Angeles to Hawaii: everyone was boarded at 8:45 am when the pilot announced there was an issue with a leaky faucet in the galley. Mechanics boarded and worked on it for almost an hour. The flight crew weren’t too happy because they said the plane had been in the hangar all night, so everything should have been working. The passengers were deplaned. A new plane was located a couple hours later. The plane pushed back from the gate just before noon, but after a few minutes, the captain announced there was a minor issue with oil pressure on engine number two “trending upwards.” The captain said, “They’ve told us that the plane is good to go, but I’m not really feeling it. I’m not going to leave the ground if I’m not completely certain that we have an airworthy aircraft. So, I’m going to probably err on the side of caution, and I’m refusing the aircraft.” He added, “I feel a lot more comfortable making this call than flying six hours over the water and maybe having an issue.” Despite the hassle, the passengers applauded.
* And those were just the problems with the plane he admitted to.
* The first plane had a leaky faucet. The second one, an engine oil pressure issue. The third one would have had a missing wing.
* Of course the pilot was more comfortable. He just hops in a cab and goes back to bed. Meanwhile, the passengers just lost a day out of their Hawaii trip.
* I bet the real reason was the captain also had a Number 2 “trending upward.”
* Back in the terminal, he refused three burritos from Chipotle because he wasn’t feeling those, either.

FLORIDA SNAKE HUNT WINNER NAMED

A woman emerged as the top snake slayer of the 2025 Florida Python Challenge. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission announced Taylor Stanberry removed 60 invasive Burmese pythons and claimed the $10,000 Ultimate Grand Prize. Stanberry, alongside her husband, Rhett, runs a Facebook page dedicated to snakes and hunting. In this year’s Python Challenge, 934 participants from 30 states and Canada removed a record 294 pythons during the 10-day competition. The goal is twofold: reduce the impact of the invasive species and raise public awareness about the threat these animals pose to native wildlife in the Greater Everglades ecosystem.
* $10,000 and all the snake you can eat, I guess.
* “By the way,” she said, “Anyone seen my husband?”
* 294 pythons. Are we ready to declare “Mission Accomplished”?
* The hardest part of snake catching is learning how to do the snake call.
* You know, every year they call this a success, and every year they remove a record number of snakes. How do you call that a success?
* Okay, snakes, the Python Challenge is over. You can relax now and go back to having lots and lots of babies until next August.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

10-YEAR-OLD GIRL BEATS CHESS GRANDMASTER

On Sunday, at the 2025 British Chess Championships in Liverpool, a 10-year-old British girl became the youngest female player to ever defeat a chess grandmaster. Bodhana Sivanandan beat Peter Wells, 60, at the competition’s final. She’s about six months younger than the American who previously held the record in 2019. Bodhana is now considered an international master of the game, just one rung below grandmaster. Bodhana told the BBC last year that she began playing when she was 5, during the Covid lockdown. A chess set was among a bunch of toys and games a father’s friend gave them before returning to India. Her father taught her how to play, and she took off.
* She also whipped the guy’s butt at Chinese jump rope and tetherball.
* The hardest part about playing against a 10-year-old girl is she keeps humming K-Pop songs. It’s very distracting.
* It’s hard enough focusing on the game, and it’s unnerving when your opponent has all of her squishmallow dolls staring at you from her side of the board.
* If it helps the loser, an AI chess player could beat that little brat in one round.

ALMANACNOTABLE 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

Jennifer Lawrence (actress) … 35
Joe Jonas (singer, “The Jonas Brothers”) … 36
Natasha Henstridge (actress, “Species” movies) … 51
Ben Affleck (actor, director) … 53
Anthony Anderson (actor, “black-ish”) … 55
Debra Messing (actress, “Will and Grace”) … 57

Today’s Birthdays grade: Actors and actresses from A-list to C-list and a Jonas brother. Also – not listed here but a milestone Boomers will appreciate: Little Richie Petrie from “The Dick Van Dyke Show turns 70 today! Grade: Ben and Jennifer lift us up to an A.

[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 don’t think there are too many people who don’t know somebody who has had a problem with infidelity. I’ve found that it bothers a surprising amount of people.”

(A) Hillary Clinton
(B) Tiger Woods
(C) Ben Affleck

ANSWER: (C) Ben Affleck

THIS DAY IN HISTORY

2001 – Astronomers announced the discovery of the first solar system outside our own – two planets orbiting a star in the Big Dipper.
* And we finally knew for certain there’s someplace out there to escape to.

1877 – Thomas Edison wrote to the president of the Telegraph Company in Pittsburgh, PA to suggest that when answering the telephone, the word “Hello” would be a more appropriate greeting than “Ahoy.”
* To which the Telegraph Company president replied, “Avast me hardy, we’ll think about it! Arrr.”

1876 – The U.S. passed a law removing Indians from the Black Hills after gold was discovered there.
* “Oh, our mistake. We meant to put you on this totally worthless piece of land over HERE …”

1848 – The dental chair was patented by M. Waldo Hanchett.
* It had been bad enough getting root canals without having to stand up the whole time, too.

1635 – The first recorded U.S. hurricane hit the Plymouth Colony.
* “Man, it BLOWS around here.”

1620 – The Mayflower set sail for the New World, freeing the Pilgrim Fathers from the tyranny and oppression of Europe and helping them start again in a land of opportunity where you could be anything you wanted to be.
* As soon as you stole a nice patch of land from the natives.

THIS DAY IN MUSIC HISTORY

2020 – Taylor Swift’s surprise eighth studio album, “Folklore,” broke the world record for the biggest opening day on Spotify for an album by a female act. The album would later become the highest-selling album of the year.

2009 – U2’s first gig in Great Britain on their “360°” tour broke the attendance record for a Wembley Stadium concert. Over 88,000 people attended the show.

2004 – Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts was being treated for throat cancer after being diagnosed with the disease in June.

2000 – David Bowie and his wife Iman welcomed their first child, Alexandria Zahra Jones, into the world. A statement reported that Bowie was involved in the delivery and even cut the umbilical cord.

1992 – Boyz II Men started a 13-week run at No.1 on the U.S. singles chart with “End Of The Road,” the group’s first U.S. No.1. Taken from the Eddie Murphy film “Boomerang,” it broke the 36-year-old record held by Elvis Presley for the longest run at No.1.

1991 – Paul Simon played a free concert in New York’s Central Park before an audience of 750,000 people.

1981 – Diana Ross and Lionel Richie started a nine-week run at No.1 on the U.S. singles chart with “Endless Love.”

1976 – ABBA released the single “Dancing Queen.” The song was an instant global hit and the Swedish group’s one and only No.1 hit in the U.S.

1969 – The three-day Woodstock Music and Art Fair began on Max Yasgur’s 600-acre farm in Bethel outside New York. Attended by over 400,000 people, the free event featured: Jimi Hendrix, Joe Cocker, Crosby Stills Nash & Young, Santana, The Who, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, The Band, Canned Heat, Joan Baez, Santana, Melanie, Ten Years After, Sly and the Family Stone, Johnny Winter, Jefferson Airplane, Ravi Shanker, Country Joe and the Fish, Blood Sweat and Tears, Arlo Guthrie, and Joe Cocker. During the three days there were three deaths, two births and four miscarriages. Joni Mitchell was booked to appear but had to pull out due to being booked for a TV show. She later wrote the song “Woodstock.”

1965 – The Beatles made history at New York’s Shea Stadium, as they performed in front of 55,600 fans – the largest concert attendance ever at the time. Among the famous attendees were Mick Jagger and Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones.

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. THIS industry – operated from people’s homes – generates about $3 billion a year. What is it?
Yard sales

2. Americans spend $5 billion a year doing THIS to themselves. What is it?
Tanning

3. Americans spend over $10 billion a year on THIS. What is it?
Movies

(c) 2025
MORNING SIDEKICK RADIO SHOW PREP & COMEDY
8062 West Massey Circle
Littleton, CO 80128
USA
morningsidekick(at)gmail(dot)(com)
Tel: 303-727-9111